Real Kyper & Bourne - Playoff Opening Weekend Impressions

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee go over the Game 1 action over the weekend, a barn burner in Winnipeg and the hometown dominance thus far. They are joined by Hall of Famer Adam Oates (7:50), who dives deeper on the series openers we've seen thus far - Canucks getting secondary production at the right time, how the Leafs adjust to the Bruins' style of play, the pressure on Matthews and more! Later, they regroup with Sam McKee for news and notes - the Avs running out of options in net, Maurice downplays Reinhart's free-agent value and the Sabres name Lindy Ruff head coach (again).The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

welcome into the real kipper and born show this is our national edition on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee We are off and running. Stanley Cup playoffs. Big wins for the home team. Yeah. Including the Vancouver Canucks, including the Winnipeg Jets. Some crazy games out there. You fans out there who watch that Canucks game and watch that Jets game.

That was the old Smythe division. Buddy, what a show. Oh, the fans, the crowds? Yes. Yeah, the crowds were good. The crowds were unbelievable. The crowds were very, very good. What was it?

What do you mean, what was it? I thought you had some, I was waiting for a butt on that. Oh, no. Okay. All good. All good. Yeah, I mean, it's going to naturally get compared to be like, oh, the suits, that Scotiabank arena, blah, blah, blah.

But whatever. That's low-hanging fruit. People love that. So they can have it. We'll welcome in Adam Oates in a few minutes here. Where do you want to start? You want to start with the fact that Hellebuck gave up six goals and still won?

Yeah. That's for the Avs and you're sitting at home today or in the hotel in winnipeg going we scored six and lost that's kind of out of ideas you don't have any other ideas that's bad can't shoot it in the net many more times than that no i what are you going from the jet a lot of goals seeing eye dog is that what they call them in baseball like base hits that find a way to get through seeing i think it's just seeing i seeing i single okay seeing i yeah i don't know i don't think there's anything to do with dog in that no no all right i don't think how many how many shots went through bodies yeah that ended up in the net 13 yeah it felt like an awful lot the killer goal the one that like really seemed to break gorgiev

was the adam lowry coming down off the left wing triple post no the one that he just like kind of fanned on it like went through his chest seemingly i don't even know how it went in and he's the body language is bad with him he's twisting all around it's not great so yeah you never want that from your goalie but yeah there was a sam you're saying there's a tweet from the avalanche uh uc antonin their backup or ananin sorry their backup is sick and so they called up Yeah, you never want that from your goalie, but yeah. There was a tweet from the Avalanche. You see Antonin, their backup, or Ananin, sorry, their backup is sick. And so they called up Ivan Prosvetov, I think is his name. And someone said, whoever that is, put him in.

That's where house fans are with their goal-tending right now. But I think the Jets deserve a lot of credit. They created a lot of action around the net. Adam Lowry, you know. Stud. Stud. Stud. What a, you know, the finish he makes on the triple post goal the patience the poise um you know that that's a real show of confidence have you ever seen that in your life three posts and it went in would it go down and ride the goal line and it was only, I guess, that one snap of a picture that it was up on its end and you saw some white.

But outside of that, I don't know. We'll never see that again. That's almost impossible to replicate, but I thought Lowry deserved a lot of credit for not just grabbing it and stuffing it into the goalie taking it around him and what impressed me the most with that is how incredibly adamant and he was that it went in well do you see where he he was though he saw it he looked back and he was kind of like along the goal line a great angle and he's like i was in i was in and i wasn't sure even on the the replays i was watching over and over i wasn't sure. Even on the replays, I was watching over and over. I wasn't sure that it went in.

It defied physics. The way it spun off the post. That was a crazy one. Yeah, they get seven. I don't know. You can't see Hellebuck having another night like that. I also cannot see him having another night like that. I also don't think the Jets are built to score seven at night.

But, boy, if Gorgiev looks like that, that's a big open door for Winnipeg. Canucks rally. In our Leaf edition of our show, I went on and I briefly talked about what I liked about the Vancouver Canucks and you were there to tell me that you did not like their game

or you didn't think they looked... The first period, I thought they looked terrified. I thought every rush they were on, they overhandled it. They just looked. Well, they had three shots in the first period. They were really squeezing it. Some pressure, I think, felt early on. I think off the one face-off,

they didn't establish their responsibilities. I think two guys went out to the same point, man. Yeah. That led, who scored the first goal there? Riley was the second goal. That other seeing eye. Seeing eye dog? Seeing eye dog.

I think. Yeah. Right? So what did you like that put them in a position then? I just think that they're a much better forechecking team. They're much heavier on the puck. They have purpose. If they don't get it, they're well-positioned,

well-structured to cut the ice in half. Go to Joshua, gets the big goals, turns all over it. Turn pucks over. And I just think that there was a comfort in them uh familiarity yeah where they're like we just played like we've played all year we'll we'll get our breaks we'll get our chances that's the best mindset to me such a confidence builder for the canucks to go down at home with the pressure find their way back through to a win then you feel like every game going forward if they're up a goal

if they're down a goal you're going to get the same effort and being a better team the confidence to come with that I think that's a huge night for the Canucks in terms of mindset that you know not to panic that this series is slipping away even if you're down and then if you're nashville disheartening to feel like you played a pretty good game and still didn't get the win in vancouver tough to believe nashville has much better than that i i think it's i think it's going to be a tight series i still do i think we'll get some games uh i think they i think they got a couple in them yeah to to take this thing to six or seven but i after watching last night i think they'll probably fall a little short but they think they gave vancouver just

working on out to here boys sorry all right they gave vancouver a gift with the um saros is so good but the p the um elias lindholm goal is not a great goal, right? Kind of goes under his arm and kicks up into the top half of the net. That one got redirected. And that. A D on the way? A tad. Yeah. But it's, he was loose there between his arm.

Yeah. And suddenly the door's open. But I think, so you get that one, and then you get the Demko post-to-post splits early in the game. That if you're the Canucks, you're like, okay, we got our guy back. We got our difference maker back. That save was otherworldly. The energy in that building was awesome last night.

And the physicality, too, I think is a challenge here. Zdorov was a beast last night for me. He just had such a presence. Yeah, they out-hit the Predators 41 to 32 or something like that it was a pretty lopsided affair that way now the other thing too is of course it's nice to see certain guys rise this tummy time of year i experienced one of the best in history of the game with with uh john druce oh yeah uh in in uh my early days i think he scored 14 and 17 games maybe a couple against adam oses team against the boston bruins all right otc let's welcome you in thanks for joining us

again how are you pal do you remember that name you remember druce on the loose i remember i was not playing for washington then but he scored he scored a lot in that playoff, didn't he? So I think you were at Boston Bruin, right? Maybe you weren't there yet? I might have been in St. Louis. I don't know if I was there yet. 90, 91. Were you gone?

No, I'm in St. Louis still. Oh, you were in St. Louis. There's so many, it's hard to keep track, right? It is. It is. Okay, let's start with the Vancouver Canucks in terms of, you know, it's always nice that your best players are your best players, Otsi, but, man, when you see a guy like Dakota Joshua come up big with a couple of goals and an assist, man,

what does that do for the rest of the team, or what does it do to the star players to say, hey, you've got some support? You know, it's obviously great for him, great for the team. They've had a great year. They've got a lot of depth. And, you know, you know this better than anybody. Like, as you're going to go through the playoffs,

you're going to need everybody. You're going to need your stars to play like stars and they're going to get their points and but when you're so so-called role players can chip in obviously opening night uh you know it's fantastic for everybody to get on the board so you know huge for them and a big win oh see i want to get your take i know you love to talk about sort of the technical aspects of the game sometimes uh i was just talking about a Demko post-to-post save he makes last night. And in the Leafs game, we saw a two-on-one where the D-man lies down. You know, Puck gets sauced over him.

In terms of defending rushes like that, defending two-on-ones, how do you like to see D-man approach it? Because a lot of guys just default to lying down. You know, the first thing you got to, as a good defenseman, the first thing they will pick up is which way does everybody shoot? So the two guys that are coming at them, are they both lefties? Are they both righties? What side of the ice they're on?

And they've played enough hockey in their life that they know this kind of stuff. A good goalie knows that kind of stuff as well because it does affect the angles coming at them. And, you you know depending on the type of player he's going to try and make the defenseman move his stick you know offensively and there's a magic moment where i i have to shoot or i have given up the pass and you know defensemen do lie down a lot because you know what if they're going to pass now they can't and and i actually don't have a problem with that at the right time because if a guy sauces it over him,

the goalie's got plenty of time to track that. So the goalie should be there square to that shot. Oh, so we had a conversation in our first hour a little bit about coaching. And, you know, when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, you know, we all think that there's a certain style that they have, and one of them is that, first and foremost, they can score off the rush. They like to push, pace of play.

And I'm sitting there going, well, I don't want to see them give up a 2-on-1 in the first three minutes either. And how much can a coach dial in from what he's probably had pushed over the course of 60 or 80 games to you know dial it in is it possible is it not possible are you married to a certain style for over 82 games that it it naturally just goes right into your your your playoff rounds well you know what your your team is your style for sure. But you've had so many meetings and there's so many adjustments in meetings.

For example, penalty killing. You're playing a particular team. They want to do this type of style. The penalty killing coach goes over. How are we going to try and prevent that tonight? What side of the ice they're on? So there is a lot of adjustments over the course of the season. I would say game one and game three of the playoffs, every round is critical because you're in someone's home ice

for the first time. And obviously opening night, the place rocks. Can you handle the emotion? Can you handle the stress of the moment? We don't want to take a dumb penalty to let their power play get going. We don't want to be overaggressive. And, yeah get going. We don't want to be over-aggressive. And yeah, we got to keep our emotion in check, make the right read. And I would say the team meeting before the game

should be talking about that kind of stuff. I'm curious to get your take on, you know, so I heard, this is just an example because I happened to hear in Toronto, Mitch Marner said, you know, we need to get pucks to the net from everywhere on this guy. And I want to get your Toronto, Mitch Marner said, you know, we need to get pucks to the net from everywhere on this guy. And I want to get your thoughts just generally in the playoffs on the idea of holding pucks and looking for a great opportunity versus throwing pucks to the net and trying to create as much chaos.

You know, there's sort of different theories. And it used to be when I grew up, it was shoot everything. There's no such thing as a bad shot. And it feels like there's such a thing as a bad shot watching the Leafs power play in particular. What are your thoughts on patience? Well, you're talking to a guy that there is such a thing as a bad shot for sure. Right.

And, you know, you look at this year, everybody's playing this spread out offense, right? So everybody's skating around. And there's been a lot of guys that have had slumps. Right. Why? Well, it looks pretty good, but we're not shooting the puck where last last how many years we need net front traffic right so i'm a believer that if a defenseman can get it through at the right time with traffic you take that shot yeah if you if you can't get it through don't please

don't get it blocked please it's a wrister right like that cannot be blocked right there's an alternate play available if you're only taking a wrister and you know there's a wrister, right? Like, that cannot be blocked, right? There's an alternate play available if you're only taking a wrister. And, you know, there's a magic formula, right? Again, there's time to shoot it. If there's someone open for a better play, possibility, right? If we don't have it, where do we put it? So, to your point, yeah, I mean, I'm a guy who likes shots, but I'm also a guy that really likes correct decisions.

We're talking to adam oates former national hockey leader hall of famer uh and president of oats sports group so when it comes to this time of year oatsy and i'd classify you in with the any star player today the the pressure of needing to deliver and perform and what is that like on a day-to-day basis? How do you control it? Sometimes can it get away from you a little bit? You know, Austin Matthews has this incredible season, 69 goals, and yet pointless in game one.

And I'm wondering what he's feeling today as a guy that knows that everybody's saying you have to score well look look what you're asking me look what you're talking about it's one game but the magnitude of it is already out out there it's already on the media i turned on espn in the morning and they said he hasn't scored in seven games in a row in the playoffs like So, of course, every guy feels that. Right? You know what? To act like you're not, that's very difficult to do.

So, clearly, we need to get him one as fast as possible. Right? He needs it. He wants it. And there are going to be nights it doesn't happen. But, clearly, the stars have to deliver. It's part of the deal. Absolutely.

And they know it. Yeah, of course. That certainly is a mention. That weighs on you going into the game. Do you think it's almost easier for a team like the Winnipeg Jets, who doesn't really have, you know, they don't have a leading scorer in the league or one of those guys. It's by committee.

And in playoffs, can that be advantageous to have a team where you want scoring from all throughout your lineup? You do want it's by committee. And in playoffs, can that be advantageous to have a team where you want scoring from all throughout your lineup? You do want it through your lineup, but to the point, they got the power play guys. They got a first unit. Those are the guys that technically got to produce. Right?

The longer you have a drought, the more it's talked about. Obviously, in the Canadian markets, it's pretty serious. Even if we're winning, it's talked about. That's the severity of it, know it's pretty serious and uh you even if we're winning it's talked about yeah that's the severity of it right like we're winning let's say we're up 3-1 in the series well technically if matthews has a score you guys gonna be mentioning that aren't you yes we are certainly uh no shortage of offense between winnipeg and colorado what would both coach coaches meetings how would the what would both coaches' meetings start today?

Well, I presume that Winnipeg won, so they're a little happier, but they can't be happy giving up six. So you're looking for some solutions. Was it one of those nights? Like we talked about, the place is rocking, a lot of goals early. Clearly, we've got to clean up defensive mistakes, special teams. You're talking about the place is rocking a lot of goals early clearly we got to clean up defensive mistakes uh special teams you know you're talking about the whole gamut for sure uh initial thoughts on the florida tampa bay series florida gets off to a good start did you

anything in that game or does it give you a sense that this is going to be florida's for the taking and we've talked about them all year but but Tampa did have a late surge in the season where they kind of came around, didn't they? They did. And you know what? When I watched the game over, there was still, just like Toronto, like Toronto had some chances to score early in the game

that could change the momentum swing. Tampa did as well. I think that, yeah, Florida better keep Tampa off the power play because that's their bread and butter. That's what makes them tick. You know, they get a lot of power plays. But I also thought Florida played very well in that game.

They had a lot of chances as well. Both goalies played well. So I'm not really to give a decision yet on who I think. What is OT? Correct me if I'm wrong, but were you much on the penalty kill? Yeah, I killed a lot. Yep.

What does that do for guys like Tavares or other stars that don't kill? And you know, how important is it that they find a rhythm this time of year a little bit? You know, Mitch Marner is a penalty killer for the Leafs. He ends up playing probably five or six less minutes, even strength than Tavares did.

Are those factors in for some of those stars? Yeah, I would say that you think about Patrice Bergeron and Marchant, right? They did everything. They played every situation. They were very critical in their killing. I liked killing because like you said, it got me a few more minutes.

I got to touch the puck more. It's responsibility. It keeps you in the game. If your team has a lot of penalties, it can really hurt a guy like Tavares' rhythm because you don't get out there that often. So it is important. And obviously a coach thinks of that as much as possible. I would say a lot of guys, there's been times where a player maybe plays too much

because he's doing every situation. Some defensemen get in that role. Next thing you know, they're playing 29. But I would say it's a subject that everybody talks about a lot. So, you know, tonight, Connor McDavid starts his series. And, you know, last night, Nathan McKinnon did. Matthews also a couple nights ago. When these guys are keyed on, when other coaches say,

here's what we want to do to slow down this elite player, what does that look like? And, you know, what are some ways that those players can still have success despite that? You know, it's funny, like when you think about it, every year that's exactly what every single coach talks about, every opposing good player yeah yet yet the good players still seem to survive right yeah so because they're good right you know like so you're

trying to minimize every possible opportunity you can um for a guy to get going like like just it could be one poke check and all of a sudden, Conor's going tonight, right? Dreisaitl sitting back door, one pass, one rebound, he scores, he's flying. So you're trying to look for every possibility to not let a guy get going, but they are good players. They are going to. Got to ask you about your old team, Washington Capitals. Man, the Rangers look good.

I thought the Rangers played great. It's going to be a short series? Yes, I think so. I do. Washington was 0-4 in the power play, and they gave up two, I think. It just can't happen, right? They played hard.

The goalie played good. I think the Rangers are a very good hockey team. You've got to find ways to score, and power play is obviously critical. The Toronto, same thing, right? Boston got two find ways to score. And you know what? Power play is obviously critical. The Toronto, same thing, right? Boston got two. We didn't. So the special teams war is very important.

But Washington still played a good game. They did. So while we're touring around the league, is there any chance the Islanders can get more wins than the Capitals? I may be the only person who watched that game, but they played really well. They gave Carolina a run. You know what? It was one all midway through the second,

and the Islanders got three straight chances in front. If one of those goes in, now they're up 2-1, and it's a different game. And then you never know. Maybe they win 3-1, and we're having the same sort of talks about Ajo, right? Yeah. It's crazy how this stuff happens.

But it is the storylines that we do talk about. And Kipper, you know this. Every guy's thinking that. Every guy. You know, I'm not saying that history's following the Carolina Hurricanes, but they sometimes have trouble scoring this time

of year. I mean... They got their second one. The power play was a little bit fluky. Islanders didn't clear it. They really got two. They only got two. It's an empty netter, but it's really two goals. And it was one-all late in the second, right?

So they've had a tough time scoring, but they also prevent pretty well. Without a superstar in dallas the the feeling is that they they may have the deepest roster with uh no superstars but exceptional good solid hockey players here are you expecting dallas to to get through vegas i i dallas is kind of my favorite team they are you know i work for pete deborah he's a great coach uh to your point yeah they're pretty solid they got you know you might not call one particular guy a superstar but they got a lot of good hockey players and they play very well and they got a

really good goalie is there any way to have any impact on the goaltending as a coach like my god it's so much of this comes down to gorgiev didn't play well for them or swayman played great for them like as a coach is there an utter feeling of helplessness when you're like well just hope our guy doesn't stink hopefully you don't really think like that is that on a positive angle you know what you want to try and minimize the great age of course yeah You know, you're asking a guy to make saves on players from 15 feet. That's pretty tough to do. How hard is it?

And speaking of maybe not considered a true superstar, but a very, very good hockey player in Mark Stone, how hard is that coming into tonight, you know, but coming off an injury like that or being more importantly off so long here? Yeah. You know what? Obviously conditioning for sure. I'm sure they're going to talk about it.

I don't know the extent of the injury. How good is he moving? I'm sure they're still very happy to have the impact of him back. How much they're going to play him, all that kind of stuff to be seen, Kipper, for sure. Yeah. All right, pal. Well of stuff, to be seen, Kipper, for sure. Yeah. All right, pal.

Well, listen, we really appreciate your time. We're going to lean on you throughout these playoffs. Thanks for doing this, Otsi. Okay, thanks, guys. Appreciate it. That's Hall of Famer Adam Oates. The Mark Stone thing, we haven't talked about that yet. We're not revisiting Sammy's spilt milk, are we?

What? I don't care. I'm the last. I don't care. All right. Good. No? No.

Good. I am a Golden Knights fan. I went to a game. I loved the game. I won lots of American dollars on them. I am a fan. All right. But, yeah. I'm not any different than you where I think it kind of is stinky a little bit,

but it's within the boundaries. Here's what I will say is that, you know, they made some points. I think it was Kelly McCrimmon basically said, the NHL is involved in these processes with like the long-term IR guys. You can't just like say a guy is hurt and have him not play. So I have no doubt that Mark Stone had some spleenleen issue i do think that there's a lot of flexibility around he has a spleen issue

we think he's ready we think he's not you know it's subjective you can't tell someone they're ready to play so they are hiding behind he did have a spleen thing and i think they did i also think they're gigantic fibbers in a good way that they're competitive and i get it and all that but it's funny seeing mccrimmon be like people say we're just doing this but the nhl is involved okay there's some shenanigans here he's back it could hurt them though right like the guy hasn't played in six weeks i don't know where i saw somebody called him mr game one mr game one. Game 1. Justin Williams is Mr. Game 7. You're Mr. Game 1.

That's going to stick. Is he 60%, 80%? I've heard his spleen is still in a cast. Petrangelo? Where's he? Is he healthy? They're coming in limping. Yeah.

I think it's harder the longer they go the better this all looks for them right like eking out a win where stone gets another game to find his footing and his timing and all that the longer they go the more dangerous vegas becomes so the whole league and i bet the nhl who doesn't want to see this little loophole get exploited the whole league is looking for them to get squashed out as soon as possible or this could get challenging. Just don't, I don't think, you know, I think everybody's going to get mad at the Golden Knights and it's, you know, opposing fan bases.

You can get pissed off, but like every team uses LTIR. They just use it the best. They've just figured out the best loophole. They've got a guy that'll clearly take a dive with his spleen and whatever it was in years past you know he'll take a dive and he'll be ready to go right at game one i mean it's a he has to be incomplicit with it he you know he his spleen recovered in perfect timing he's ready to go i he had a spleeniotomy i i don't want to say that kind of give him credit for it to be honest the true competitor would do this this is savvy tonight game one edmonton and the la kings is is everybody expecting a short series here too

what is the scenario where la beats them and i'm not saying that from it can't be done i'm asking you truly what what does the math look like let's let's start with a close series first okay so like what does that look like for them to make it with a close series first okay so like what does that look like for them to make it close like talbot gets hot you know what it looks like uh pierre luke dubois looks like okay guy that you signed like drew dowdy crosschecks mcdavid in the neck or something like no no i mean i'm sure some of that will go on, but I just think that there's that team in there that got off to one of the best starts in history. There's the team in there that had really good success,

being big and strong and protecting the puck and making it very difficult to get it back. I don't know what happened to him in the back half yeah but if there is some signs of that early early la kings team then then then we're gonna have a fun series to watch this is like dallas vegas where i think edmonton just needs to take away any hope right away just don't let la start to feel like because an even score is a win for for la right the longer they hang around and make it feel like a hockey game the better well they've played this is their third time they've played in the playoffs here now and uh edmonton's dusted them

the other two times right i don't know but they went like six or six games if i'm not mistaken six or seven games like yeah they've played each other a lot over the past three years. There's a ton of familiarity between these two teams. I am expecting Edmonton to win, but that's a prideful team with the Kings. They've got a lot of stars who have won cups. Kopachar can shut guys down. Deneau can shut guys down. Dubois can be a four, so they can be guys.

And he's going to have to find a way to contribute. Yeah, not be a fourth liner making eight million. I do think that it'll be a longer series than people expect million. I do think that I think it'll be a longer series than people expect. I do think Oilers will win, but I think it could easily go six games. I really do. Do you want to do game time now or after the break? Let's do that after the break. Okay.

We'll take a quick break here and we'll get Sammy to set us up with game time. Also, Sabres have a new coach. We'll talk about some of the thoughts about coaching including what's going on out of the Buffalo Sabres. That and more

when we return to Real Kipper and Born. Diving deep into Leafs, Raptors, Jays and NFL. The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Sammy, let her rip, buddy.

It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app, play this dog to find out why it's never ordinary. At Bet365, must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. I was just perusing this here. You can bet on the series correct score.

And I'd like to go through a couple of them and tell you what the favorite score of the series is. Would you like to know what the favorite score, what Bet365 thinks is the most likely outcome in Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins? Boston 4-2. Boston 4-1 is the favorite on outcome in Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins? Boston 4-2. Boston 4-1 is the favorite on Bet365 right now. Wow. I can't even give the blue and white two goals. Plus three. No, no.

That's the series score. Oh, the series. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you said tonight's score. No, the series score. The favorite is plus 350. Can't give them two games. All right.

Okay. Can't give them two games. If you'd like the Toronto Maple Leafs to win in seven games, which was Kipper's pick, it's plus 550. And the Leafs to win in six, which was yours, is plus 800. Got some work to do.

600, sorry, plus 600. Oh. A lot of work. We're in deep here. We're in deep as a show. A lot of work. The show's in trouble. Looking at the Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes, I'm sorry to tell you that the favorite for that plus 200 is Carolina to win the series 4-1. Sammy, how's your boy Freddie in that series?

I didn't see that game. Do you guys remember who I picked for the consomite? Dr. Ganderson. How did he play? Good? He took Freddie? I did. Freddie Krueger?

Yeah, he played well. I just think Carolina is super good, and he's their goalie, and they don't have any superstars. Looking at the Colorado Avalanche Winnipeg Jets one, which we think is going to be maybe a little bit closer, interesting to me that the favorite in that is, and it's not a big one, it's the Jets to win in seven. It's plus 425.

Wow. So it's really close all the way through there. And just to go back to the Edmonton Oilers, the favorite there is them to win in five games at plus 350.

Feels like there's a lot of opportunities in all those series to take game six rather than game five. Take the team they like with an extra game. And just looking

at the games tonight, Leafs are a big dog in Boston, plus 120, minus 140 for the Boston Bruins. So if you think the Leafs are going

to bounce back, good spot for that. The New York Islanders are plus 205. Huge underdogs there. Vegas, plus 125 in Dallas. And the Edmonton Oilers are minus 170 on home ice in the opening game of that series. Maybe a little bit of value on the Kings at plus 145.

And that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Dakota Joshua has two goals last night. Helped lift the Vancouver Canucks over the Predators.

Let's get head coach Rick Talkett's thoughts on Dakota's effort. Well, last year I believed in him. Like I said, he's a – like I've really – the local guys, I thought he could score 20 goals, and he probably should have if he didn't get hurt. He just – Dakota just doesn't know how good he can be. He knew there was another level there.

We just had to either push him or find it. And I gave him all the credit in the world because he you know, I think he knows now what it's going to take. You know, he needs a, I thought this summer he learned from it. And I

think him and Garland together have really kind of added this, like a swagger to our team. right he was in beast mode yeah he's huge he is he's six three two oh six um and the play by uh lindholm the four check to get the puck out i was just like wow he flew in there makes a great play and that's a like joshua that's a tough play the way he drags that more into the middle and goes top shelf short side i was i was impressed so two years ago he played go ahead yeah go ahead as he played 11 23 for the canucks two

years ago like on the season that was his average and then 14 23 this year where he scored 18 times in 63 games he played uh almost 18 minutes last night for for the canucks only behind the five names you would know besser miller petterson, Lindholm. Do you know where he first started his NHL career, Sammy? I'm not sure if I do. Do you know who drafted him? I didn't know this. He was a Leafs pick? Was it a Mark Hunter pick?

He was picked 128th overall in the 2014 NHL entry draft. Yeah. Kyle had hated him. Oh, yeah? I'm too big? Not a fan. Too big and strong? Listen, I'm going to defend Kyle Dubas here. Oh, yeah?

Yeah. It's like... Look at him. He's 27 years old. He's 27. He bounced around a bit. It takes some time. It does.

And we just listen to talk. And it's... Sometimes guys get it early. Sometimes they get it late. Sometimes they don't get it at all. And it took a while for him to understand. He's got to work on some skills, some skating, some bring the package together.

And now he's put himself in a very good position to sign a very, very good contract. I will say he's like the perfect like almost central casting for guys that's about to have a hot run yeah in the playoffs like the big guy he's on elias lindholm is your centerman connor garland digging pucks out on the wall in front of the net like is there a more annoying guy to play against in the league than connor garland you would hate his guts over seven games. He's extremely punchable and I love him. I think he's a great

player. And Vancouver Canuck fans have got to stop saying we're going to lose him. About Joshua. Yeah. He's on your team. He's had your first home playoff games in nine years. Try to enjoy him

because this stuff does happen yeah right guys get out priced when who knows can't afford them just no he will what do you mean he won't well it's just whatever who knows i'm just saying yeah like that's but i used to do that too and it's like no just stay in the moment don't worry about it it. You've got a great team here. Try to have some fun. Take this for a conference final, Stanley Cup final. Try to win the whole damn thing. Enjoy it. He's going to get paid, though. You know who looked awesome in that game?

Ryan O'Reilly. Yeah, he did. Great shot. And killing penalties, just playing heavy. He's just such a pro. God. Right? Wish he was like the spotlight.

Wish he didn't hate Toronto so much. Wow. imagine they had ryan o'reilly right now listen and he helped is is he uh is he a better skater than john tavers i wouldn't say a ton not a ton not a ton not a ton but just a little bit more economical with his movement i think he's effective in different ways, right? He's just defensive. Yeah. Defensively committed. I think he understands the 200-foot game a little better. Absolutely. Right?

Yes. That's going to be a good series. I was impressed with Nashville last night. They easily could have won that game. So that'll be a good series. All right. We also got a Kippers Clipper out of Bednar. Bednar. Bednar, head coach of the Colorado Avalanche

on his goaltending. This is a great clip. It was – you probably need to be better. I thought we played well. We created some chances. He made some good saves, but we're going to need a couple more saves than that probably to win. But it is what it is. We'll regroup.

We made some mistakes in front of him that we'll have to clean up and try to get the job done. It's a team game. I sometimes feel sorry for coaches because it's so easy to say the wrong thing quickly and then it's gone forever and you can never get it back. That's why you get the... It's just like there's no... First off, reporters have to ask the question.

It's an important topic to get the coach to weigh in on. But yeah, when a guy stinks, you can't burn him because your backup is Yussi Ananen and Ananen's hurt and you've got Ivan... I don't know, Provorov? It's not Provorov. Prozvatov? Did you...

Sportsnet stats put out Gorgiev's numbers against the Jets in three games this season. Good. Good. 6.42 goals against. We suck. 7.85 save percentage, boys. What do you do? I mean, what do you do?

You just can't win. No, the Connor one where Kyle Connor gets a puck in front of the net. He's a lefty. He's in traffic. He doesn't really get it up. And Gorgiev is so low, it goes over his glove. And even the one in the power play that's a one-timer, Gall said it best.

He's like, I know. Like, you got to make a save for your team. Yeah, they clocked that when he hit it 81. Yeah. It wasn't like he hit a. He was in position. This one under. Yeah. What does he make?

Like. Well, he was the Rangers guy and they were like. I know, but he was never like considered a bonafide starter. Well, it was a big deal to get him out of there. No, it wasn't that big of a deal. I don't remember it as a big deal. I remember him being the guy. 3.4 times 3. Until when?

10-2. My whole point is that you were never sure about this guy. It was always with the the potential yeah it's three cried and he cried in new york that i want a chance to be the number one goalie i'll never get it here with shisterkin and colorado said we'll make you the number one goalie yeah maybe the uh new analyst on sportsnet shouldn't be analyzing. He should be playing in Colorado, Jake Allen. He's the ultimate, when you Colorado, or Colorado, I guess, is the ultimate,

like goalies are running backs. Like they didn't believe, who was it that let go to Grubauer to Seattle after he won the cup? Was Grubauer in net when they won the cup? No, Washington. It was Kemper. Kemper and Washington signed him. Okay. Yeah. You you know and the ultimate for

colorado and then it's like we'll just get this guy goldies are all the same he's probably just as good yeah yeah if a guy has shown you he can do it maybe just keep him i don't know when the cup's not that easy so tough spot for a pretty good team to have a guy who can't make a save yeah they and they played so good they were awesome in that game. Who's that? Colorado. You liked him a lot? Yeah. They were all over it. They scored six on. McCarr's goal.

Oh, my God. McCarr's so good. Oh, my God. He's so good. Vancouver, don't listen. He's my favorite guy in the league. Oh, I love Quinn Hughes. And I've said a million times on this show, but like, I know who I'm taking.

Hughes versus Yossi is pretty good, too. It is. You see Yossi's clapper off the bar. I mean, he absolutely murdered that. Yossi down the wall and cutting into the net is really impressive too. I was actually thinking like maybe one of the more underappreciated inevitable Hall of Famers in the NHL is Roman Yossi. Yossi?

Oh, we're doing the underappreciated thing again? Well, okay. Well, underappreciated as Hall of Famers go okay they do have them in that classic oh yeah he's playing in nashville yeah it's tough yeah it's hard it's tough when you're there by the way a little quinn hughes love when i looked at some stats um in terms of puck touches on the year like how many times you carry the puck he carried the puck 700 times more than the next highest guy set 700 which was eric carlson include warm-up and practice yeah and at home he's just stick handling in his kitchen he anyway point is he has the puck and controls the game like no one else i

just love the way he gets that puck through on the tying goal for vancouver just that low gets the shoulder down snap in the line it's a very good so if there's some superstars feeling the heat to put the puck in the net uh sam reinhardt doesn't oh yeah well so moving on the power play right the goal he scores where he comes around the pile and gets the backdoor tap in which i don't know how no one else saw but that's gonna be a war that's serious it's gonna be a good series all right let's go go to one of our favorites on Kipper's Clipper, Paul Maurice. He goes to the net at the smart times, right?

Like he's scored within a 15, 20-foot area of that net from all different sides, both sides of the net. I wonder, I've always wondered, like, Matthew Kachuk is so great at that. It's almost like Reinhardt kind of learns. He's watched the way he rolls across the front of the net. I wonder if it's in some ways a bit of a mentor. Why is he so good? Because

he's a goal scorer like that, but he'll be on the ice at the end of the game and also killing penalties at the end of the game when we've got a one-goal lead. If you were to ask me what's his greater value, I don't have an answer, except that nobody else should try to sign him in the offseason because he's got a terrible attitude. You know, I like to make fun of Maurice. That's funny.

That's a funny thing to say. It's really funny. If I'm the GMm i'm like shut up stop it you're not helping he's really like him and zach hyman mirrored each other right where you go okay maybe on a good year there's there's 30 goal scores but how do you go from that to 55 like you play with one of the best players on earth for both of them yeah but i think you know he's better off on his own yeah right he's not playing with conor mcdain if he's playing with barkov yeah barkov's very good i know he's very good but he's not like a hundred point guy good mcdavid is like hold your stick out near the net and i'll shoot it off it a bunch of times.

Barkov's like, we're going to play at that end the whole season. Yeah. You know, it's a different type of help. It's true. It's like, we're always going to be in the offensive zone and the puck's going to land on your stick in good spots. And you're still going to have to shoot it in. Shoot it, yeah. But it's going to be in good spots.

Yeah. I think that series is going to be awesome. Very, very good. All right, let's touch. Would you sign him? Would you try to steal him from Florida? Sam Reinhardt? I am worried about his ability to repeat this.

Anyone that needs scoring that can afford him. That's what Borny said. Yeah, and I'm worried about not having Barkov to give him or whatever. Like, can he drive a line for me? Do you believe he can drive a line? You know what? I just go, is he a winner do i want that guy representing my team

yes yeah that's where i start yeah i mean overpay yes maybe give him an extra year or two yes i get all of that but he's he's not even 29 yet i don't know i worry about his foot i love him it's older too i know i know i get all of that i just think he's a he's a winner awesome player just take less stay with barkov yeah you know that sounds like it's gonna happen yeah i mean it should if i'm him you know what i'm doing signing with the florida panthers for a little less. What's your first offer? Sounds good.

We're in. Let's rock and roll. Sports Ed, don't listen to my negotiating skills. Before we went to break, we mentioned Lindy Ruff returning to the Buffalo Sabres. Yes. Reunited, and it feels so good. What happened was the Buffalo Sabres looked at the Ottawa Senators and they saw what great success it was with Jacques Martin coming back.

Why can't we have that too? I think they probably, Pagula probably looked at his team and said, the last time we were in playoffs, who was the coach? Hire that guy. Well, listen, it's a weird one. He looked like a pretty good coach in new jersey for good stretches here and i think he kind of got railroaded without a goalie here so to be fair to lindy yeah i think there's there's a lot of good coaching still left out of him and he's got a

great relationship with kevin adams i think if i'm not mistaken, Lindy gave Kevin Adams his first start. Oh, really? I think so. Oh, boy. On the bench. Didn't, wasn't Kevin Adams? Oh, like he was an assistant for him or something? Yeah, I think so.

Look that up, Sammy. I'll quickly Google that. Oh, adding up. Wow. And he probably doesn't command what Berube is going to command or whatever you think the big name is this offseason. I would think that this wouldn't have cost them $3 million. But in 2011, 2012, Lindy Ruff was a head coach. Kevin Adams was a assistant coach.

Along with goalie coach Jim Corsi, who ruined hockey. There's a connection there. Yeah, Kevin Adams talking with the Pagoulas. I got a name for you. And they're both like, I do like that guy. We've had success with him. So what happens now is Lindy just signed an a an extension right is that right well with new jersey so actually then buffalo just pays that deal plus maybe a premium on it yeah that's the

way it works they have to which i think stinks for the coaches i agree you should get both contracts i'm sorry you fire me really you owe me I think so. Yeah. They get to piggyback off of the old deal. What? Yes. So New Jersey's like, great. So they just take the contract from New Jersey? That can't be true. No, no, no.

I'm pretty sure it is. This is the way it works, okay? You have Lindy Ruff under contract for two years. Yeah. You're paying him to stay home. You're not paying him. Right? years. You're paying him to stay home. You're not paying him. Right? You're paying him to stay home.

Lindy goes back and says, well, I don't want to stay home. I want to go coach the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah, right. And then they say, okay, we'll let you go. But they pick up your contract. Hopefully Lindy said to Buffalo, also I would like. Which, again. A of lenovo wings needs to change i'm sorry like yeah like players get to get bought out and keep and keep the money

you can get triple paid you get bought out a couple times um other series we haven't talked about much rangers capitals um we do have a clip on the great Matt Rempe burying. Buddy, people don't want to see him turn into a player. He's a stud. They just want him to. Think so? Oh, there's people cheering against Matt Rempe. He's awesome.

He took a penalty early in that game. Because of what he represents. Do you see the play with Trevor Van Riemsdyk where someone clipped Lindgren, JVR saw it, or sorry, TVR saw it and jawed at the Rangers, and Rampe came up and just put his arm around him and was like, it's a reminder I'm here, pal. Do you want to listen to LaViolette talk about Rampe? I can't think of a player that's come in and had that impact on a team, on a fan base, on a city. He's, you know, if you watch him and you look at him, he just smiles.

You know, he's just happy. Loves being here. Loves to play the game. And he's been great. But I can't think of anybody off the top of my head. I love him. Rempe? Yes.

Oh, my God, I love him. Love him. Me too. And what I love about him is he's completely disrupted the National Hockey League. He has. Oh, yeah. He's like a tech founder. When you force the Devils now to go get a guy,

and there's other teams now this summer, they're looking for guys. Where is he? Get a guy. Yeah. No. Now he's starting to turn into a player. It reminds me of like a chocolate lab or something.

He's just happy to be there. What are we doing? Oh, was I overzealous there? Did I hurt him? Well, sorry about that. Did you see his first penalty? Yeah. No.

Garbage call. Garbage call. He hammered him. Garbage call. What was it? I did see it. It was just a body check. Yeah, it was.

He's having a good old time, though. What is it? He made a name for himself this year. Well, boys. Four games on tap tonight, boys. Heading to the torture chamber some scores here toronto boston give me a score four two bruins you have four three leafs overtime win all right three two leaves islanders carolina do they go up to nothing carolina? I think Islanders win tonight. Okay. No, I got Carolina too. Vegas and Dallas.

Dallas takes a 1-0 lead here. Yeah. Vegas wins. Mark Stone, overtime winner. Oilers over the Kings by how much? 8-1. Yeah, 4-1. Two goals?

4-2. Enjoy your games tonight on the Sportsnet Network. And we're back tomorrow on Real Kipper and Boring. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Have a great night, everybody.