Real Kyper & Bourne - Playoff Basics with Kevin Bieksa

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne welcome in Hockey Night in Canada's Kevin Bieksa to break down the first round. They go through each series - the Leafs' chances at coming back without Matthews, the Can...ucks' slow adjustment to playoff hockey, what went wrong for the Jets and much more. Later, they regroup with Sam McKee for news and notes - the Oilers' imposing special teams, Pietrangelo's costly slap on Seguin, Hellebuyck's interesting end-of-season presser and Rod Brind'Amour's bizarre contract situation in Carolina.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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 all right here we go national hour on the real kipper and born show we are live on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 as promised star of hockey night in, Kevin Bieksa, joins us now. Former National Hockey League, 808 games. You know, I've always wanted to ask you this. How do you keep a straight face looking at Elliott's crooked tie every night? I can't offend his wardrobe because it goes right back to Dad Berman. We all know. The outfits are great. It's the tie. you know how many people on the streets say can you get him to just put it snug it
Starting point is 00:00:50 up snug it up a little bit so a little backstory about elliot when we get changed before every show it's just a battle to get him in the makeup room to get him with the hairstylist and there's some days where he just puts his foot down he's like no i'm fine like this and then it's it's funny who nobody wants to be the bad guy so everybody starts kind of asking the next person oh can you ask him oh can you ask him and then if i if i can if i really can tell that they want him to do it then i'll be the bad guy like hey go get your makeup and your hair done go do that you know what it's like you've worked with them sometimes he's just no oh natural elliot tonight and maybe that's why we love him. Yes.
Starting point is 00:01:25 Part of the allure. As far as tonight goes, it's been a busy first round so far for sure. Is it kind of nice knowing that you only have to focus on one game tonight? And that, of course, is Toronto and Boston. Yeah, that's what I like about the playoffs is even when we do have a double header, we are just focusing on the one game. We can give it our full attention. And there's times during the regular season where you have Montreal,
Starting point is 00:01:47 Ottawa, and Toronto playing the 7 o'clock game. So you're trying to watch all three at the same time. And then oftentimes you neglect one or two markets, and then you hear about it from Montreal and Ottawa. Oh, they hate us. They don't like us. Well, no, we're focusing on the team that's probably a little bit closer to the playoff race.
Starting point is 00:02:03 So one game is awesome. You get to watch everything. I love watching things like the warm-up and the camera angles on the benches in between. And you can really pick up a lot there. There's a lot going on. A ton. And we're going to get into it coast to coast, of course,
Starting point is 00:02:18 Vancouver Preds, Edmonton just knocking off LA. So we're going to get into a ton of that but help us tee up tonight's game a little bit for you and just in terms of the the glimmer of hope for Leaf fans here and is it legit yeah it's legit for sure because I think because Boston went through this last year in the first round where they were up 3-1 against Florida and they watched it slowly fall away and I thought last game Boston looked a little bit nervous and tentative and the Boston fan base tended to disagree with me but I saw what I saw and I saw a team that wasn't quite sharp feeling you know oh my god is this going
Starting point is 00:02:56 to happen again is this going to slip away again so every good period that Toronto has it just just brings more doubt into the minds of Boston now Now, Toronto hasn't played well in home ice. I'm sure you guys have talked about that at all. And I know I've talked about the last few days how the Leafs kind of get away from their style of play in the playoffs and they become a more north-south dump and chase when really they should be trying to skate the puck through the neutral zone. I think the easiest games for me in the playoffs were on the road, where there's no expectation and you go in as the underdog and you don't have to put on a show and you don't have to play with the lead you just have to play a good tight road game and survive now to take advantage of your home iso other than
Starting point is 00:03:35 scoring a goal what's the one thing that's going to get the crowd yeah run into people out of the body contact so i think in san jose had a rule uh the years that they were always a perennial contender with joe thornton marlo in the first period and i actually uh stole this from my team first period if it's not an all-man rush the puck goes in deep and the first guy finishes his hit second guy finishes his hit and you just get used to defenseman going back for puck so might not be a bad strategy for the leafs time even though they're not quite built for the dump and chase game just because they haven't played very well in home ice and they've looked nervous with the bad strategy for the Leafs time even though they're not quite built for the dump and chase game just because they haven't played very well in home ice and they've looked nervous with the puck at
Starting point is 00:04:10 time remember game game one yeah and they were just bobbling the puck around and everything just take that out of the equation put the puck in deep and just go finish your checks get the crowd into it get the people out on the streets into it and then the game can kind of unfold from there yeah which Reeves did earlier in the series, but got caught on a two-on-one, you know, unfortunately. A little overaggressive. So I was hoping you could take us behind the scenes a little bit from the players' perspective with this Matthews injury
Starting point is 00:04:37 and before that the Nylander injury. How much would the other players be aware of what's going on with those players? How much of it is a need-to-know basis? And how distracting would it be for a team being like, do we have Willie? Do we have Matty? What sort of situation are we in here? Usually when a player is not going to be playing and in the lineup,
Starting point is 00:04:54 you kind of forget about them and you focus on, okay, what are the lines? Who's playing? Who's in the power play? But those are two major pieces to this team. You're talking about a big, big chunk of the team and the salary cap, so they haven't had both those guys together in a game. That's tough. I don't like blaming injuries for losses,
Starting point is 00:05:13 but you start the series without William Nylander, who's your best playoff player last year, and then he comes back, and his first game, he didn't look quite normal. He's getting better, and then you lose Matthews, who's arguably the best offensive player in the NHL right now, not named Conor McDavid. So you sympathize a little bit.
Starting point is 00:05:31 But, you know, no one's going to feel sorry for you. Boston's not. But it definitely, in that room, it affects your team, much like when Ademko goes down and he's your clear-cut number one and you're thinking about, you know, all the great things you're going to do in the playoffs. We're going to get to the second round, third round. And then your number one player goes down and you're like about you know all the great things you're gonna do in the playoffs we're gonna get to the second round third round and then your number one player goes down you're like oh my god so i'd be lying to say oh yeah it's business as usual bill belichick next man up yeah
Starting point is 00:05:53 that's not the case you're like oh crap this sucks oh crap this sucks and now like we're gonna have to play out of our minds most teammates know what they're dealing with would you agree with that which is why it's crazy there's no leaks. They know what Matthews has, for sure, just because he's not isolated. So it's not an illness. If he was isolated, it'd be an illness. It's not, for me, and we're speculating,
Starting point is 00:06:15 it's not concussion stuff because he wouldn't be skating. I don't think he'd be testing it every day for eight minutes. You know the protocol for a concussion. I do. You have a concussion. When you're symptom-free, and I know they're trying to expedite it when you're symptom three you get a 15 minute bike ride then you go home you sleep if you come back without symptoms you can do a 20 minute one and a workout and then you can get the third day you can get on
Starting point is 00:06:38 i appreciate all of that but i also appreciate that this is the playoffs and sometimes you'll take advice from the doctors, and sometimes they'll shoo-shoo them away. They're trying to subvert the system a little bit. You watch the spotters. That guy gets to stay. You're pulling that guy off. What is going on here?
Starting point is 00:06:55 There is no protocol, to be honest with you. Clearly, I've played with concussions, so that's why I don't think it's a concussion, because I think you can play through a concussion. And I'm not advocating for that. I'm talking about the NHL, the highest level, a billion-dollar business. I'm not talking about minor hockey. But if you had a concussion, if I play through a lot of concussions,
Starting point is 00:07:15 and who's going to tell me that I'm not going on the ice? I can manipulate what I say to the trainer and the doctors. So that's why I don't think it's that. Concussion or migraines, big difference, right? Yeah. I think it's something. Concussion or migraines, big difference, right? Yeah. I think it's something, and again, speculating, this is not my area of expertise. You know what show you're on?
Starting point is 00:07:33 It's the Real Speculation and Born Show. That's what it's called. Okay. I think it's lower body. I think it's something that's preventing him from skating. So someone whispered ankle to me on a couple of occasions. That would make sense to me. And that's why he's constantly trying to test it.
Starting point is 00:07:49 He didn't look that bad on the video I watched today. And can you give me 10 minutes? Can you give me something on the power play? Because 50% of you is better than 100% of me. So I had a game, Dallas, my first playoff series was against Dallas. First game of the series, we go to a quadruple overtime. My first ever playoff game. I played 56 minutes of ice time.
Starting point is 00:08:10 And I'm a meathead, right? I'm running around trying to hit everybody. So we win that game. And I remember Medano skating around. So I can someone just win this game. Like, who cares? It's game one. Well, fast forward.
Starting point is 00:08:19 We end up going to, like, game seven, right? But in game six, I tear three muscles in my abdominal just shooting a routine puck out on a penalty kill guy puts a stick in and I really feel is because of that first game I just was overtired and my body never recovered so for game seven we go home and I have three tears in my abdominal MRI and everything I can barely move my core I can't shoot the puck but I'm playing and Alain Vigneault brings me into his office and he says if you're starting the game you better finish it otherwise we can't afford to play five defensemen the whole game so I'm gonna put in Rory Fitzpatrick if you're not and I'm like
Starting point is 00:08:56 okay I'm gonna take warm-up and I'll let you know eight injections to freeze my whole core which helps nothing right because they're so I'm on the and I'm just flicking pucks with my wrists and I go on and in my head I'm like, oh my God, how am I going to survive this whole game? But you know what? I made a selfish decision because I thought, like you said, I thought 25% of me is going to help our team win over maybe this. And it's no disrespect to the guys that were coming,
Starting point is 00:09:22 but I thought I made a call and it ended up, and then Sammy sallow gets hurt first period so now we're at 5d so it ended up warming up a bit and i was survived yeah but matthews can make that call that's why i really think it's something that he's not able to do but if it's power play i'd love to have him just sit on the half on wire biscuits it is funny because we've been kind of debating particularly when it was illness like i was, there's basically no illness where hockey players will look at it and go, sometimes you're just sick. Like, you got to play.
Starting point is 00:09:50 Yeah. You know, they had enough days off. So curious to see. Because, yeah, there's injections. There's all sorts of. I know the pendulum swung in my era to today and even yours a little bit. But there is something about our game
Starting point is 00:10:03 where if you're not showing up at the most critical time, whether or not it's legit or not, we'll judge the hell out of you, right? You're not there. You're soft. You can't be counted on. Like, that stuff still happens today. It happens with us here.
Starting point is 00:10:22 It happens with the fans, and it happens with teammates as it happens with the fans and it happens with teammates as well that's still that stuff still goes on it's the best part of hockey but being a hockey player is watching how tough they are and how resilient and it's the only sport not everybody though not everybody but the majority the majority of players i think matthews is tough i don't think he i think if he could play i'm just saying in general with the way we treat our athletes, like we like to beat them up if they're not there doing what they're supposed to do when we want them to, right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:54 And it's funny because around society, a lot of other people aren't doing the same, yet we judge a hockey player if they're not playing because they have migraines, right? And I would say culturally it's changed a lot. in the regular season i think well i think during the regular season the standard has changed a lot we the leaf fans proved it hasn't changed that much well to me though kip that's been a matter of uncertainty of not knowing what it is and if he has the sniffles people judging him i do think that once people hear he's got a torn groin or
Starting point is 00:11:24 let's reserve judgment until we know exactly what we're dealing with and then we can i really thought brendan dylan should have played even though his hand was sliced in half you know and the mess of cob even though his face was caved in you know yeah your opinion i'm joking but if you can if you can like we've got this perception of bobby bonds out there there breaking their leg and still playing, right? I mean, that's still the measuring stick for a lot of people. That's tough to live up to. It is.
Starting point is 00:11:50 That's really tough. And it's uncomfortable playing injured, and not everybody can do it well. All right, let's switch gears a little bit, go to Vancouver, somewhere you're familiar with, and what do you see overall there, including Petey and the you know, the people, the expectations, the new contract, and is he uncomfortable right now?
Starting point is 00:12:10 Yeah, I mean, a little bit. Maybe trying to do a little bit too much. In Vancouver, they won their division, and I tried to caution people back in January. We're in Hockey Day in Victoria, and everybody's asking me. I'm walking around the hotel in the streets in Vancouver, and Victoria's there for about a week. They'reucks gonna win the cup or they can I'm like pump the brakes all right like they weren't even supposed to make the playoffs like they won they're
Starting point is 00:12:32 gonna probably win their division like just pump the brakes and get through the first round it's hard to win rounds in the uh in the NHL they haven't won a round a a real round, you know, since 2011. So pump the brakes. It's hard to get out. And it's hard to be a productive player, I think, in the playoffs too. And Petey's finding that. The game's different. Time and space gone. Yeah, there's so many guys during the season that wouldn't finish their hit on Petey
Starting point is 00:12:58 because they're more worried about getting caught or angling. But in the game plan, I guarantee you, Andrew Burnett is saying, every time Quinn Hughes and Patterson touch the puck, I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're out of position. How late it is. You finish. So it's a lot harder to hold onto the puck and make plays.
Starting point is 00:13:12 And his game is holding onto the puck, being shifty, juking guys, skating it through the middle. And he's not able to do that. And neither is Quinn. So Quinn's finding a way to be effective still. He's still pushing through it. He knows he can't go back for the puck and break it out and skate through everybody because two guys are going to hit him so he's moving it
Starting point is 00:13:28 quick and he's joining and he's creating his offense from the blue line so Petey's got to find a way I like when he does the the reverse hit the cold shoulder yeah I think that gives him just a little bit and and be a hunter go out and hunt early and and hit guys and then I feel like that'll create more space much like our Jerome McKinley used to do. Yeah, you know, one of the guys who feels like a little bit more tailor-made for playoff hockey, JT Miller, he's just got that mentality that sort of, I don't know, looks like he thrives in this.
Starting point is 00:13:56 Do you see today him wearing the She Loves dress shirt on the ice? Good, yeah. Which, I mean, you lose a game, you're going back home, pressure starts to mount. I mean mean that sort of thing it plays well with the team does it not it's awesome i think it's awesome and it it loosens everybody up a little bit i think like see i i'm sorry i'm going to get no no i reserve
Starting point is 00:14:16 judgment to see after the game okay because i think you're taking a little bit of a chance here. I agree. It could be the right tone. It could be loose enough to win. But it could also be loose enough to lose. So the reason I think he did it, I think he's not a guy that jokes around like that. We rarely see him like that. I think he has a pulse. I think he feels their nerves.
Starting point is 00:14:42 I think he feels that. That's going to loosen it up. Because he'll be a hero forever. think he has a pulse i think he feels their nerves i think he feels that and i hope that's going to loosen it up because he'll be a hero forever oh yeah fans will be wearing that exact shirt but in the next round you know if they if they have a poor showing there there's going to be some that say okay you didn't take it that seriously and no not him not him maybe if it was peterson okay but not jt but you know what the bigger problem is their power play and if you look at special teams they've never been more deciding of a playoff series than this season you look at the power play five of the top teams for the top five power play or already punched their ticket
Starting point is 00:15:16 through and the other one's Boston who has been up three one three two yeah and then the same thing for penalty kill the Canucks are the only team I mean they're leading their series but they're high up their penalty kills done really well but special teams has never been more important than this playoffs because five on five people are defending better yeah and the shot how many games have we seen shot totals at 15 20 insane like Edmonton Oilers yeah and Vancouver and even Toronto the shot tolls have been down everyone's defending well so more of an onus and on special teams and the power plays that have been down. Everyone's defending well. So more of an onus on special teams. And the power plays that have struggled,
Starting point is 00:15:46 those teams are gone, most of them already. So you coach your boys' team, I believe, right? Yes. And so the power play has changed. The way that you're on, almost everyone runs some sort of 1-3-1, but most teams have someone who can hit it at the top. And Morgan Riley for the Leafs is not someone.
Starting point is 00:16:01 And I don't think Quinn hits it a ton either, doesn't he? No, he's more of a wrister if he does. So how important, what do you prioritize in today's power play world? What is effective and does it just depend what tools you have, I guess, what unique tools? Yeah, so for me personally, you've got to know your personnel. So we have one kid on our team, our 17-year-old prep team, that can shoot a one-timer consistently and it's heavy and it's dangerous.
Starting point is 00:16:24 And we have like one or two guys that can shoot a one-timer consistently and it's heavy and it's dangerous and we have like one or two guys that can shoot it from the flank so depending on i like to have two competitive units with each other so depending on what units they are you got to have options we have a couple guys that are really good on the goal line attacking down low so you got to kind of know what your options are i think i know you're saying to have a guy on the top and with a heavy heavy shot keeps everybody on it's like bouchard exactly but even like headman doesn't like rip it but he can do it you know mcdavid does though like he he'll attack a guy one-on-one on a penalty kill and just dance them and now it's a it's a mess now it's a four on three so a lot of bouchard's success is mcdavid
Starting point is 00:17:04 and dry sidle you know like he's not he's good but he's there's So a lot of Bouchard's success is McDavid and Dreisaitl. You know, like he's not, he's good, but he's, there's not a lot of Edmonton fans that watch this thing. I just say be careful with the Bouchard thing. Okay. He's got a good shot, but I think we all know who runs that power play. Right. So last night, elimination game that you guys covered,
Starting point is 00:17:21 and I know it was a hot button topic in between periods, was the Kevin Fiala penalty. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And I want to get your thoughts. And I know there's a history there, as Elliot, you know, articulated very well. But I don't care.
Starting point is 00:17:39 That is a horrible call on that particular player calling that. I don't see a dive. I didn't like the dive call on it. I thought it should have been a five on three. And I get the history, but that's a penalty. There's no way a guy dives like that in a scoring opportunity going towards the net. And I just thought, man, that in a scoring opportunity going towards the net and i just thought man that's that's a penalty that's a referee call that won't get you a conference final that's what i thought
Starting point is 00:18:12 last night yeah i don't know about that but first of all the first thing i noticed there's no people in here at all right it's just you guys it's like ai running the show sometimes we forget we're on the air or anything no camera guys. It's just us in this room. Nothing. Chris Stewart. We got you. We got a great picture of you. And we can't even tell the camera guy to show it.
Starting point is 00:18:32 The thing about the Fiala embellishment, it's not a dive. It's embellishment. So he's not diving. When the stick is in your hands and you fall, that's the one thing that makes me think it's a bit of embellishment. The stick is in your hands and then you just fall forward i don't know i don't know he had a scoring opportunity he has a history he has a history of embellishment and i know a few officials that said he's on the radar whatever that means yeah he's on the he's on the radar and there's a couple
Starting point is 00:18:58 other guys uh i love victor arvidsson he's on the radar too though he goes down a little bit easy like there's a lot you know the guys bunting goes down easy this is the time i'm sure you could still name the guys that you played against that went down easy for sure like you never forget those guys yeah oh yeah i love drawing panels fiddler went down easy like adam burrish like those kind of guys right it's it's it's a performance and you weren't even on the power play think about the guys that are on the power but they're like i want it like bur the power play. They're like, I want it. Like Burroughs. Burroughs would flail everywhere because he knew he was going on the ice
Starting point is 00:19:28 for a tap-in. That's pretty savvy right there. So looking around the rest of the series, has your perspective changed on potential cup faves? Colorado Avalanche taking care of Winnipeg. Do you feel differently about Colorado after their success or Carolina and New York? Has anything changed your mind so far about a team i think the east is right what we thought
Starting point is 00:19:48 it would be we thought it'd be carolina and new york as it should be and then we thought it'd be boston or toronto and florida so it's the top four it'll be the top four in the east so i i like that and then let's see who it is i i don't know like i i still like carolina i've always liked carolina maybe i'm partial to them because my son's his team and he watches every game and i watch a few more than probably most people watch the carolina hurricanes but i've also always liked the rangers i know you're just like oh okay they won the president's trophy i like the rangers two months ago i just like their makeup i like their rangers fan no i'm not a headster rangers fan i just I like their D. I like Miller and Truba and obviously Fox and Braden Schneider, Lindgren. I just love their defense.
Starting point is 00:20:30 And if Shusterkin can play like Shusterkin, they're a tough team to beat. And then in the West, yeah, I mean, collision course is Colorado and Edmonton. That's the collision course. That's what I think we deserve to see. And then from there, who knows? You got New York Rangers and maybe Florida, and then you got Colorado and Edmonton. It's still pretty open.
Starting point is 00:20:50 You can't tell me you're going to Vegas with a for-sure bet right now on who's even going to be in the Cup. It's still pretty out there. I think we got rid of all the stragglers, like the Washingtons and the Islanders, the teams that we didn't really take serious. And then, you know, hopefully, like, once Nashville goes away, like, we, the teams that we didn't really take serious. And then, you know, hopefully like once Nashville goes away, like we have the teams who we thought would be here.
Starting point is 00:21:07 Were you surprised Colorado's slicing through Winnipeg like a hot knife through butter? I wasn't. No, I honestly wasn't. Is it because of just elite players like Makar McKinnon? That's the difference for you? And when everyone was saying, oh, well, they dominated the regular season
Starting point is 00:21:22 and they won that game towards the end of the year. I asked Elliot. I was like, no, I don't think so. And I think Colorado, when it's time to play, they dominated the regular season and they won that game towards the end of the year. I asked Elliott. I was like, no, I don't think so. And I think Colorado, when it's time to play, they're just so elite. And if they can just play 80% of their potential, and I love the Jets, I love their team, I just think Colorado's at another level, much like I think Edmonton's at another level than everybody else in their division right now.
Starting point is 00:21:41 Funny watching Dallas, though, right? Maybe the team with the least game breaker per se superstar yet some nights you're not sure who's the first second or third line and that wyatt johnson what a player but is that good like in the playoffs in the final minute when you need one to not know who's the guys i don't know the best thing ever for jamie bannon second was wyatt Johnson and Stankoven. Yeah. I think.
Starting point is 00:22:06 Those two young guys and even Povolsky, right? They live with Povolsky, I guess. Oh, is that right? Yeah. I think they both live with Povolsky. But just like those guys bringing in a new, an injection of fun and, you know, swagger and all that because it was a stale, stale group for a little bit. So, I don't know. That's the one team I group for a little bit so i don't know that's the
Starting point is 00:22:25 one team i i just don't know i just don't know about dallas because ottinger has been so average all year and he's an amazing goalie but he's been average all year long but he can be great so do you find that the playoffs taper off in terms of physicality i know that sounds crazy as you get towards the stanley cup but it feels like coming out of the gates round one everyone bangs into each other. But by the end of a series, and I am thinking about the Leafs series with like Ryan Reeves,
Starting point is 00:22:49 it's almost like he becomes less relevant. And actually last year, they dressed Simmons and Clifford to start the series. And by the end, not so much. So over the course of a series and then the whole playoffs, is there an evolution in physicality? Yeah, and I think it's like you said,
Starting point is 00:23:04 series, every series individually. You want to start off the series yeah and i think it's like you said series every series individually you want to start off the series because you think about it's like banking banking contact so you know yosi goes back and he gets hit and he gets hit and quinn hughes gets hit and he gets hit and then eventually when the games become more important you're putting guys that are a little bit better on the wall in their zone that are going to make sure they get the puck you start to prioritize that maybe the defensive play over the guy who's bigger heavier and the physicality but that being said i've liked the least fourth line yeah and i think you do keep them intact because it's not very physical amongst the rest of the forward group so i think you need that i like doer a lot and
Starting point is 00:23:38 reeves has played well like yeah he goes out of position and throws that hit in the one game in boston but it's a miscommunication with the defenseman and everyone's running around at that point and guys weren't refiring quick enough i don't think that's enough reason to take him out of the line it's also a war of attrition too and the ability to just stay with it jb and to your point when you start the first round there's such an emphasis on it like it's like you've just had your meetings your countless meetings your video meetings and it is a top priority as you go four weeks six weeks seven weeks guys fade off yeah and it's really the ones who have probably made it more of a habit over 82 games that are able to stay stick with it and sustain it and that's where the Florida
Starting point is 00:24:24 Panthers to to me, is that how many games did we watch during the regular season where you're like, well, I could look like a first round. Yeah, that's how they play. That's how they play. Right. And they've got a better chance to sustain it than, say, the Toronto Maple Leafs,
Starting point is 00:24:37 where it was some nights it was there, some nights it wasn't, and you're in and out. But to me, the Florida Panthers, over 82 games, were the most prepped team for the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. I think the Florida Panthers, when you watch them, the main thing that stands out to me is they have pushback. So when there's a bad shift or a goal against, it's not just one line they can put out.
Starting point is 00:24:56 They can put out four lines, and there's immediate pushback from the drop of the puck, whether it's Sam Bannett or my buddy Cousins or, you know, Kachuk, obviously. The whole lineup has pushback, and they're team tough. I don't really look at anybody on that team and say, wow, that guy's really tough. Like, Lomberg's not that tough. He's not that big.
Starting point is 00:25:13 But he's willing. But he's willing, and he's gritty, and their whole team is gritty. And you know the Finns, like Lundell and Listerine. You know Finns. Finns are gritty. They're not backing down. They're not going to beat you up in a fight, but they're not backing down an inch not gonna beat you up in a fight but
Starting point is 00:25:25 they're not backing down an inch they'll cross check you right in the chest they'll you know and every scrum with florida's everybody's in and they have skill you gotta get in first though right it's not necessarily who's the toughest guy but who hits first and who makes the other team respond and it's that old saying initiate don't retaliate like that's being beaten to death in every dressing room on every bench on in every second florida's the team that gets in first on you they're not reactionary they're the ones that are starting it and they make you chase them yeah and then they make plays when they get the puck that's the hard thing it's hard to program your head okay i'm gonna run around and be physical and but then when i get the puck i'm gonna be
Starting point is 00:26:04 poised yeah it's two different parts of your brain right you're like aggression aggression aggression and you're like poised and then aggression poised it's tough to like go back and forth but the best teams are able to do that because it's a part of who they are yeah all right you good we're good we need sammy great stuff kevin thanks for joining us, man. Terrific work. Love listening to you and bringing me back into the modern age. Sometimes I get into those dinosaur years. So appreciate all you do. I'll make sure LA looks good tonight. All right, Kevin BX, a hockey night in Canada.
Starting point is 00:26:38 Make sure you're watching 8 p.m. tonight. Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins. All right, we're going to take a quick break. We'll welcome in Sammy. We'll get into some game time. And then after the break, the coaching carousel continues. We'll give you a bit of an update on what we think
Starting point is 00:26:53 might be happening. More real Kipper and Bourne after the break. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Marys Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. MacGyver, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee.
Starting point is 00:27:19 Plenty to get into still. We mentioned that coaching carousel. We'll get into that. Listen to maybe connor mcdavid yeah it's a door off talking about jt miller's fashion show fashion show today but first it's game time with sammy uh it's game time presented by bet365 visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet365 must be 19 plus on terror only please play responsibly i do feel kind of a little guilty
Starting point is 00:27:45 being back in here after having bx in here that was just awesome great now i'm sitting here like why the hell am i here we've got him to do game time we've been getting some great guests lately yeah he uh he texts you back not me uh what was i doing oh Bet 365. So there's one show in town tonight. And as I've been wanting to do here, I love the happiness hedge. Yes. But unfortunately, for all the fans out there that want to bet on the Boston Bruins. Let me guess their number. What do you think it is?
Starting point is 00:28:21 Bruins minus 105. They are minus 125 tonight. Really? Yeah. The Leafs are plus money, plus 105. I mean, all the stats that go against it. You know, they've lost six in a row at home. They can't score at home. Their power play sucks at home.
Starting point is 00:28:40 Like, they're obvious underdogs from a betting perspective. Clear value there for sure, but it's not a great spot for the happiness hedge if you want to kind of go for a player happiness hedge you know everybody hates brad marchand if you want to bet on a brad marchand goal maybe as well as your happiness hedge you know getting i'm trying it out there you're gonna get a brad marchand goal anytime at 200. If you want to bet on him to get the first goal, which would really sting, it's 10 to 1. So there's a potential spot to maybe get a little bit of value on a happiness head against the Leafs. All right.
Starting point is 00:29:14 And, yeah, so that's pretty much it for tonight. I could give you a Blue Jays line, but they're not playing tonight. But if you want to look ahead to tomorrow, bet under on the runs. That would be my advice. That was game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the would be my advice. 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.
Starting point is 00:29:32 Please play responsibly. All right, before we go to a few kippers, clippers around the league, I love all the conspiracy theorists out there. What's the latest on Austin Matthews? Who sent the – I don't know why.ews that uh who sent the i don't know why i don't care who sent it but you saw you just showed me a video what was the video of well people are taking a look at the charlie mcavoy takedown of austin matthews that was actually before the trent frederick goal was it not yeah it was sort of part of the sequence it was the
Starting point is 00:30:00 most like i whined about that right i don't whine about refs and i whined about that one that was that was the pull down right it leads the league and I don't whine about refs and I whined about that one. That was the pull down, right? He leads the league and I don't whine about the refs. I don't whine about refs. But yeah, I saw some doctor in the thread saying it looks like he had some stress on his MCL and you had said you'd hurt ankle, but it does look like that potentially
Starting point is 00:30:18 could have been the moment. Could have been when he got in his car one day. I don't know. Rather large moment in the series if that's true but yes that would be significant and it it does look a little awkward yeah i don't know i saw him skate pretty good today pretty well yeah i don't know maybe he's really close i think kip he's 100 fine he just doesn't want to play yeah i think it's he's like that kip rios you're not the only one he's like that kip rriyos is too mean. Hey, hey, hey, hey, you're not the only one. He's like, that Kipriyos is too damn mean.
Starting point is 00:30:46 I'm not going out there tonight. I've had enough. Okay, can anyone stop the Edmonton Oilers on specialty teams? No. Because this is a big part of trying to win a Stanley Cup, and if they've got this thing down pat, then they're well on their way. Well, I wouldn't know anything about that special teams in the
Starting point is 00:31:06 playoffs what are their numbers they're 12 they went they went 12 for 12 they went 100 on the pk and they uh went 45 they're 45 on the power play they went wow yeah they were really good 45 i know mcdavid last i checked had eight power play points i I think he had 12 assists. No one on the Leafs going into game six has more than three points. Yeah. Let alone eight power play points. All right, let's listen to the captain of the Edmonton Oilers.
Starting point is 00:31:34 And he was asked what he thought was more impressive, 45 or the 100%, and I'll give you one guess at his answer. The penalty kill, not giving up a goal. That's real impressive. The job that those guys did killing off you know big ones along the way you know I think of the penalty kill in game four in the third period you know that's huge. I thought everybody on the kill was you know
Starting point is 00:32:00 moving their feet and doing their job and sacrificing their bodies, which is something that's not always the most fun thing to do. But yeah, the kill not giving up one is a great thing. Captain. Yeah. Nothing to do with me. You have to say that. And he's like, are you 45%? Of course it was the power play.
Starting point is 00:32:22 Yeah, I'm pretty good on the power play. Are you watching our power play? I'm unbelievable. They literally cannot stop me. It'd be great if you just turned full heel. I would love that. Yeah. I'd love that.
Starting point is 00:32:32 And how huge is that that they don't have to go back to L.A.? It's huge. That's the type of thing that kind of catapults you onto a playoff run where, okay, everyone else is going to battle it up and take more. You talked about attrition. Take more injuries. We're going to rest up ours. And boy, it's a big advantage while you're sitting there waiting for who's next.
Starting point is 00:32:48 It was going to hurt for Leaf fans when fan favorite Zach Hyman left Toronto. It was always going to hurt. There was no question it was always going to hurt. But, I mean, I didn't know it was going to be this bad. I didn't know it was going to be a broken fibula here. I didn't think about it. The pain is. But he noticed. Seven goals.
Starting point is 00:33:05 No, listen. Seven goals in five games. In five games. There were some that thought Edmonton overpaid for Zach Hyman at five. I think Kyle Dubas is probably one of those people. Yeah, for sure. Whoopsies. Seven goals.
Starting point is 00:33:19 And now, man, he'd like to be a UFA right now. He'd be worth $11 million. No, no, no. He'll never get $11. And Sam Reinhardt. He's Sam Reinhardt. No, he's not. He's so much more effective than Sam Reinhardt minus the scoring.
Starting point is 00:33:37 I'm just talking the scoring. I know, I know. They're both like Sam Reinhardt's not going to make $11 million next year. No, he's going to play in Florida and play for the tax rebate state. Eight, eight and a half. I don't want to do this, but I'm going to do it because I'm a little bit sour about where the Leafs are at. I said I believed, and I do believe,
Starting point is 00:33:54 but how many playoff goals does Zach Hyman have? Seven. In his career? Yeah. Oh, I don't know. 26. Is that right? Would you like to know how many career playoff games austin matt
Starting point is 00:34:05 the goals austin matthews has half of that 23 oh yeah sick yeah love that love that stat oh that's fun all right you okay no i gotta i gotta get can you get out of the puddle you're standing in right now i'm back at it back okay good um did you listen to us talking about uh jt miller's uh i did and i heard that you didn't like i mean this is a great thing like it i didn't say i didn't like it listen i i was that guy and i'm not here to compare jt miller status to mine my minuscule one i had with the rangers but on occasion, I try to do the same thing, keep the guys loose. My most famous one was Keenan loved walking
Starting point is 00:34:49 through the practice facility, crisp white shirt, you know, Italian jeans, the alligator shoes, and a red scarf. Really? Yes. What a fit. I'm in New York City.
Starting point is 00:35:04 What a fit. One'm in New York City. What a fit. So one day he walks through practice while we're stretching and then passes, you know, the group and I go grab a red sock and wrap it around my neck just like he did. And I walked right behind him and he stopped and turned around and i got busted and i'm like did you play the next game no no healthy scratch yeah no healthy scratch i will say this is one of the more legendary moves you can do like a being do people know how we told them about the background that she loves were just like a paisley salmon yeah it's an absurd shirt it's a loud shirt it's a horrible shirt now for me on a game day in the stanley cup playoffs i would have been scared to
Starting point is 00:35:50 death to try anything like that well it's not this guy's confident well i mean going into going into uh tomorrow night right during a playoff series i would have been i would have been nervous to try something like that yeah no it's uh this kid is obviously very confident he wore it there and so at the start of this of canucks practice miller wore it over his gear he wore this shirt as a jersey as a practice jersey which is hilarious and i've watched all the canucks games he's been dynamic like he is always good six or seven points already through the the first five games that series i've loved his game and he's got six or seven points already through the first five games that series. Like, I've loved his game. And he's not that good. Like, BX was saying, he's not really that guy.
Starting point is 00:36:28 So, it carries a little bit more weight or whatever. But we got to hear Zdorov talk about it. Love to hear. Yeah, okay. Play the clip. He's got to know better. He's not in nightclub in the Riga Latvia. He's not in the nightclub in Riga Latvia.
Starting point is 00:36:43 He's got to know better. That's great. I'm telling you, Canucks win the next game. He's got to know better. That's great. I'm telling you, Canucks win the next game. People are going to be wearing that as a jersey. Some of the stuff that guys would walk in and veterans, like young kids and veterans would look at it and go, get me the scissors. Buddy, yeah, you guys actually cut up clothes.
Starting point is 00:37:00 It's funny because Matthews and Marner come and look. Ball it up. Ball it up. And use like four rolls of tape around it seen it thrown in the shower that's hockey culture in a nutshell how dare you express any individuality i mean if i'm a canucks fan i love that my rookie candy is wearing that shirt to practice yeah oh he's not he's not showing up in like his little sweat shirt like he's like i am the man yeah and then jt probably thought he was gonna be wearing that into utica he probably he didn't anticipate it was gonna be starting for the canucks in playoffs a great point about that shirt but i i think like you said if this is you know like the first question
Starting point is 00:37:39 at every scrum and a super you know tense off day practice everybody's like what about the shirt what like it just takes a little tough loss just a little bit of weight if they win bingo bang you're you're it's a legendary move they'll be talking you win you win the series they'll be talking about that for the next 20 years right i'm dying for them to win i want that canucks oiler series oh bad that would be i want that really bad sports that would probably like that too better than a nashville oh yeah i mean nashville here comes tommy novak gimme the canucks baby pander pander pander yeah that would be fun it would be a fun series city uh what do we got next sammy uh did you want to talk about the hockey game last night with the with the slap in the face from Petrangelo? Great slap. I love Petrangelo.
Starting point is 00:38:26 Did you ever see those Instagram videos of the slap contest? Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Those people are out of their ever-loving minds. The winner wins like five grand. Lifelong CD. And people are screaming, we got to get the head hits out of our game.
Starting point is 00:38:44 Watch that thing for like 30 seconds. You'll leave our game right alone. But the point is that that kind of happened. It was just a spinning back list. It was exactly a slap contest. But I mean, it was a two-minute minor. You probably shouldn't have done it, and off you go. So they review, they did it twice in that game the five minute major review which is great call it a major check
Starting point is 00:39:09 it out because sagan threw up an elbow at uh i think it was shea theodore early in the first period yeah and then that was kind of retribution that was a two minute but so we can all love the the retaliation or the petrangelo's wires cross they take the penalty penalty. They score on the power play. That's the winner. And the first question to Bruce Cassidy right on the press conference was about it. So if we want to hear his answer on it, we can go. Alex Petrangelo's captain of the cup team. He's a leader. He knows
Starting point is 00:39:36 how to win. So it's two games now. He's taken a roughing penalty. It's led to a power play goal. Are you surprised? Disappointed? What's the word? Both. Veteran guys should know better. Listen, we didn't like the hit on Theodore Bice again. Quite obvious, left his feet, targeted the head.
Starting point is 00:39:53 So you're going to be upset, right? But that's playoff hockey. You've got to find a way to channel it, and then there's controlled aggression out there all over the ice in every series. So that's an area you've got to take a number and try to get those things squared away lately. Listen, Dallas went through it last year, right? Ben got thrown out, if you remember.
Starting point is 00:40:14 And so there's a little bit of a learning curve that goes into it. And, you know, we should know better, to go back to your question, but it happens. And we've got one more game, to your question but it happens and we've got it got one more game obviously to get it squared away because margins are too thin right now especially their power play yeah i mean he he everyone gives petrangelo all the required respect but you can't as a coach be like it's good i liked it well he's his live by the wire cross dive of the wire cross these wires cross he just slapped i don't remember him like this earlier in his career and we i don't even recall you know for sure the edmonton oiler i said i'll slash i'll slash and then this
Starting point is 00:40:54 one like when did his views get that short i think you know what that happened a little bit to me as i got older as a player like i don't know just maybe more confident that you can handle yourself it's just angry all the time oh you start chasing people on the on the highway i mean you feel about you feel it though he's like i mean something about getting older potentially he's getting older he feels the series slip away maybe he's not as quick as he like i don't know if he no i don't think that i mean i don't always remember remember Joe Thornton in that series they lost in the final. The one time they got to the final and they got beat by Sid. Where he was just, I mean, Petrangelo and Thornton at that point are very different points in their career.
Starting point is 00:41:32 But I'm just kind of making a comparison. He was slower. It was frustrating. He's chasing everybody around. He's hacking everybody around. It's frustrating, I guess, to feel a step slow. He's looking for retribution. His wires cross and he does something dumb, costs him the game.
Starting point is 00:41:43 Sure, he feels worse than anybody about it. So, away you go. But love Pat Drangelo. Really do. But that was a tough moment for him. Yeah. Okay, the Winnipeg Jets. Today they had clean out already.
Starting point is 00:41:55 Yeah, quick one. No team party? See you later, guys. Well, that's going to make a joke about a disco ball and a red light. It's a crazy clip from Halibut. You guys want to hear it? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:08 Okay, you say it's a crazy clip, and then you ask us do we want to hear it. Why don't you decline that? Yes. Let's play it. Yeah, you know, you're probably not going to believe when I say I was playing the best hockey in my career, but that's truly how I was feeling. And not only was I playing some of my best hockey,
Starting point is 00:42:27 but I was in that zone where you're not thinking, you're just playing. And that's what you seek after. That's a dangerous thing in sports. And to not be able to keep four goals off the board, it's just, it's heartbreaking. It really is heartbreaking. I mean, you've got to give them some kudos for what they did, but looking back, I don't know if I even saw half of the pucks go in the net.
Starting point is 00:42:55 They did a great job, but for me to not be able to put my foot down on a single game is really heartbreaking because it's not it's not typically how i do things oh oh whoa um so the av score what did you get out of that i got that he put it on his team i was good but you weren't well no i didn't see half the goals going the now he said i was playing some of the best hockey in my career i didn't see half the pucks go in which means they're back door they're you know they're all i mean yeah and he gave up six five six five six in terms of goals against and he's basically saying check any metric they filled us in and they did kept he's not wrong by the way nothing he said there is inaccurate yeah and it's kind of i'm happy
Starting point is 00:43:43 he said it but it definitely wasn't what we're used to in hockey where you go you just can't give up that many and i just need to be better i just need to be better yeah you said i was playing great and they absolutely pumped us i think i'd prefer i need to be better yeah well yeah yeah i mean as a teammate probably i mean they lost by three lost by four lost by four, lost by four, lost by three. All that matters is results. Lost by one. You know, after watching, you know, we do our picks and whatever,
Starting point is 00:44:11 and they're always stupid. It doesn't matter. Like, the predictions. But, you know, I got swept up in the Canada feeling. It's like, in retrospect, that was really stupid. I think I've, yeah, I've said that myself, too. It was very stupid. That's my one that I was like, ah, bet against McKinnon-McCarr.
Starting point is 00:44:26 Yeah, like they, I mean, we could be sitting here with them winning their second cup. The way that they looked in that series. And the Jets are not terrible. They're a good hockey team. Not terrible, yeah. And they made them look silly. So. Was Shovel Day off and Rick Bonus speaking today as well?
Starting point is 00:44:42 Yeah. Anything on? I mean, nothing like last year. Yeah. On the... Anything on Rick Bonas coming back or not? Not that I heard, no.
Starting point is 00:44:51 They might be looking for a new head coach. Did he fire him? No, absolutely not. He would just step away? Yeah, he would step away. He was here. He had a long year.
Starting point is 00:44:59 Yeah. Family, personal reasons with the family. You know, you get to that age, you're like, it's a big commitment. Yeah. Oh, God, to be traveling and even when you're home, just focusing on video and it's a lot of. Someone mentioned to me maybe that is undecided yet.
Starting point is 00:45:15 We'll have to wait and see, but they could be one of many teams looking for a new head coach. There's a lot of openings, isn't there? What's going on with Brenda Moore? Yeah. That's what lot of openings, isn't there? What's going on with Bryndamore? That's what I want to know. Bryndamore, I think, has a deal pretty much in place, but there still might be some money
Starting point is 00:45:32 involved here. I hear it's nickels and dimes, guys. Let's push this baby over the line. I'm talking about $25,000, $50,000. Oh, no. Okay. It's not a ton of money here so let me
Starting point is 00:45:47 Carolina going up against the New York Rangers need this uh this topic of conversation this distraction like they need a hole in the head right I think it's bad for Carolina I you know what I can't i think the thing we're all saying is it feels like tom dundon is trying to take advantage of rod brindamore they know that brindamore wants to be in carolina he has a kid that plays hockey he coaches his kids team there he is a committed carolina hurricane does not want to go anywhere doesn't want to coach for another team wants coach canes so immediately he. Yeah, so Dundon has leverage there. But, if he is
Starting point is 00:46:28 a free agent on the open market in the NHL, he probably gets six million a year somewhere. Babs money. Maybe seven. Babs money. Babs money. Yes. You know. But he doesn't want it. He doesn't want it. That's fine. He could have had it before they, in New York. Fine. But the point is for
Starting point is 00:46:43 then Dundon, you say say i'm worth this i want to stay here i'll give you a discount let's do it for five or whatever and it feels like dundon's being like i got you where i want you i'll give you less than that and that to me is a not it's too it's not a healthy foundation all the ways you spend money you want to take care of your own i don't like that we even have this conversation if it's about 50 grand it's mind-blowing to me it's that would blow my mind do you think anyone in new york will ask him about it in the first round in the second round i don't know i don't know i don't think anybody would ask him about that i need to put this to bed absolutely sap absolutely yeah uh cooper came out spoke about uh
Starting point is 00:47:22 maybe a change one day, but not anytime soon. Still feels like they can win, but probably would like a new contract if he's going into his last year here. Or does he cut ties? Do you have any sort of... No, I don't. I'm speculating. I'm just...
Starting point is 00:47:44 I think he'll stay. I think he'll stay. I think he'll stay. I think they would extend him. I think he's a great coach. Those are tough to come by. There's one thing that would entice him, though, and that is... Toronto?
Starting point is 00:47:55 Ottawa? Toronto? I think, no, regardless of what team, if there's an opportunity for him to become a president of hockey operations. Whoa. As well as or only? The Pac-Qu become a president of hockey operations. Whoa. As well as or only? The back win?
Starting point is 00:48:07 Just to move up. Oh. Just to move up. Or is he too much of a coach to want that? No, he's a lawyer. He's won cups as a coach. He would happily do that. That makes sense to me.
Starting point is 00:48:18 Yeah. What are you suggesting? Oh, God. I just did the math in my head too. I'll tell you who. Salt Lake City. Oh. Well, it's a big game tonight, Kip.
Starting point is 00:48:31 Kip, why did you bring this up at 5.53? I don't know. It's the juiciest thing you said all day. Salt Lake City. Wow. So right now they just have Francis' GM. No, no, Francis. Bill Armstrong.
Starting point is 00:48:48 Bill Armstrong is GM and no president. And this is like, this guy's taking it to the next level from what I hear. Ryan Smith. And they might know each other. Oh. Okay. Or they might not. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:49:03 What do you want to be? If things go to hell tonight, what do you want to be in Toronto? John? Johnny? Nope. Not even going there. All right. Listen.
Starting point is 00:49:12 Listen. We've got plenty of time to discuss after we find out what happens in this series. Go Toronto Maple Leafs. Go. Hey, stop that. It's a national show. Oh, yeah. Sorry, guys.
Starting point is 00:49:24 I like the Leafs. I don't know if you figured that out yet. One game on tap. Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada. Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston Bruins Game 6. Enjoy it. And we're back tomorrow on Off the Rails Friday?
Starting point is 00:49:38 I don't know either. Have a great night everybody and if you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you.

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