Real Kyper & Bourne - Plenty of Fight in Florida

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look at the NHL's playoff picture as the Islanders claw their way back into contention on the back of a 6-game winning streak. They are joined by Panthers analyst Jeff Chychrun (2:19), who weighs in on Paul Maurice's impact on the team, Florida's physical presence, what Vlad Tarasenko brings and where Barkov ranks among the best players in the league. Then, he looks at what went wrong for his son, Jakob, and the Sens this season. Then, they regroup with Sam to chat about how the cap puts Canadian teams at a disadvantage and how the divide can be fixed. Finally, news and notes - the Wild pull their goalie in OT for a gutsy 2 points, Tortorella receives a 2-game suspension and the Canucks lose Demko to injury.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 back into the real kipper and born show this is our national hour we are live on sports net sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee In the next few minutes, we'll welcome in Jeff Chickren, who covers the Florida Panthers as a TV analyst, former NHLer, a roommate of mine with the Hershey Bears. I want to call their cup. In 1988, that means nothing to you guys back then. That was the year I was born, Kippy. Was it?

Yeah. We just saw a glimpse of his office before he comes on. Thanks. He's living right. That's all I got to say. Your boy's doing well. He is. All right.

So as early as last week, I said, boys, we're the playoff races. We have no playoff races in the NHL. Nothing. And now with the work of Patrick Waugh in the island, your Islanders, JB, have been resuscitated. Yes. He applied the paddles to them. He did. And they are in a playoff spot.

Six straight wins. And the biggest thing about it all is it's not fool's gold. They no longer are spending all this time in their d zone they're uh first or second in expected goals for like they're they're doing things differently and it's starting to work so uh i'm i'm a buyer of the islanders even though i already had plenty of stock i'm buying more here's who they had beaten because you'd like to do this and yes they beat the stars in overtime real team beat Wings, a team that they're directly chasing. They're real.

They beat the Boston Bruins 5-1. They beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2. San Jose Sharks 7-2. And the Ducks 6-1. So there you go. Not all fools gold.

Nope. You mentioned one of those losses to the Detroit Red Wings. Oof. They've also lost to Florida. They've also lost to Colorado. Bad 7-2. Arizona 4-0. The Red Wings, they've also lost to Florida. They've also lost to Colorado.

Bad 7-2. Arizona 4-0. The Red Wings? Yeah. Vegas. That's like, that's the invitation. Yeah, they let everyone back into it. Detroit did.

All right, as promised, Jeff Chikrin's going to join us from the lovely estate buddy listen whatever you say for the next 10 minutes or so our guys won't hear a word of it because they're looking at all your memorabilia we're looking at the palm trees off of the zoom you've got what the 40 foot ceilings for those of you that aren't watching right now we've got jeff chickering on zoom and it looks like the place you never want to leave hi nick how are you buddy you see the bears jersey right there for you buddy that's i wanted to make sure you see saw that one yeah we got it yeah we got a little bit of it uh the

that that has to be uh the playoff jersey where we did lose one game during the playoffs. It was a game 12 and O to win the championship. No big deal. No big deal. I'm not sure anybody's done that since, or we were pretty good group. Put a bunch of this back in the national hockey league to Nick looking back. Well,

we know teams are more than welcome to try to tie it. We know you can't't can't do better than it yeah which is an awesome feeling so uh how are you and uh how are things down south besides uh you know your your lovely home yeah thanks buddy we're we're really good here uh lucky enough to follow the panthers around uh obviously i follow the sends a little bit too which is a little bit tougher that's why my my hair is a little grayer these days. But we're good here. Thanks very much.

Really enjoying the run. I was down at the Panther practice this morning, and it's pretty jovial down there right now, I must admit. Well, we're going to get into that, and we may ask you a little bit about the Sens as well. But first and foremost, what's it been like following the Panthers? It was almost a surreal moment watching Paul Maurice snap on the Toronto Maple Leafs last March on the bench. And since then, they've been the best team in the National Hockey League, in my opinion. It's phenomenal, the run that they've been on last year in the playoffs

and how it's absolutely bled into the regular season. Just give us your thoughts of the way this team has turned around in a relatively short period of time. Yeah, it's been something, hasn't it? Yeah, the buy-in, you know, we're in a lot of rooms and you sort it um yeah the buy the buy-in every you know we're in a lot of rooms and we you know sort of hear you they talk about the buy-in and and you never know if it's a song a dance or um but everybody every it seems like every game post game um there's someone mentions it you know the other day it was kevin stendland it could be matthew kachuk it could be barkov um

anthony stolarz brings it up when you're talking to him so there's something to that mix um but i'll never forget that game either nick uh i think mo actually i think he turned it going went a little postal on them but uh you know it definitely was a turning point or maybe it was just something that had to be said um because they do pride themselves so much in that i believe it was a turnover by carter verhage in the neutral zone that led to a goal and they just they just don't seem to do those things very often and uh just but whatever it was, it certainly, it certainly helped. But yeah, you know, they talked since Paul Murray Scott here and I've,

I talk about a ton blue in the face. The first practice he had there, he said, we did a lot of stuff three feet from the boards, you know, sort of being on that right side of the puck and playing what he would call the right way. And you know, they,, you know, they seem to live by that. And really, they're so deep now. They've got three lines, really, that can score, it seems. And their energy line, centered by Kevin Stenland, you've got Lomberg and Cousins. But, yeah, sort of long-winded, Nicky.

It's impressive how they've really come together in a period of time. But I do go back to, I was talking the other day, they had two runs with Bill Zito as the general manager against Tampa, and they lost the first one in seven games, lost the next year in round two before he brought in his guy. And I feel like this has definitely been learned behavior. Barkov's in his 11th year, Ekblad's in his guy. And I feel like this has definitely been learned behavior. Barkov's in his 11th year. Ekblad's in his 10th.

So these are the guys they drafted to lead the franchise. Yeah. So every time we turn on the highlights here, it seems like they're in a street fight with someone. You know, this is a team that's atop the Atlantic Division. But every other game, it feels like it's just melees going on. What part of that confrontational nature, how important is it to who they are

that they have this element of combativeness? Yeah, it's definitely competitive, right? I think I mentioned, I think Sam Bennett really does a lot to bring them into that fight and sort of lead by example in that regard, along with the skill level he brings. Obviously, Matthew Kachuk, he's very good at stirring things up. But it's really a team toughness.

I mean, even that fourth line, they've got Ryan Lomberg, who's feisty as can be, but, you know, not the biggest guy in the world. So it's really a sort of a team toughness thing, I think, or just what do you call it? What type of aggression that they use as a group. And it's easy to back up sometimes, too, when you know you either have a lead or you know you're confident enough to get that lead. So, you know, without taking the bad penalties.

I think they are pretty high in the league. They kill a lot of penalties. That's what I'm trying to say. But I think they are pretty high in the league. They kill a lot of penalties. That's what I'm trying to say. So, yeah, I don't know. But they do get in a lot of those. And perhaps it's the other team wanting to sort of stir it up physically, maybe try to get them off their game.

But controlled aggression was a term I was looking for with a lot of discipline. We're talking to Jeff Chikrin, former NHL or Panthers TV analyst. So, Chick, when we talk about the players, like you just mentioned, Sam Bennett and Kachuk, who drag you into the fight, who are the players on this roster that have maybe even surprised you that maybe you didn't think had a willingness to be dragged into a fight that are now? Yeah, well, you see everybody's sort of getting. I think people were surprised.

You know, I saw Oliver Ackman-Lyerson for five years in Arizona as a parent teammate. And he doesn't, you know, there was not a big team out there the five years I was out there where my son played with them. And it seemed like on a nightly basis he had to defend himself. And he's very good with the pushback. You got Dmitry Kulikov on the back end who's never afraid to sort of stick his nose in it. And Nick Cousins is another one.

I think he's kind of well-known around the league. They just signed Gajevic to a two--year deal which he's really earned didn't have a lot going on i think he was actually hurt in training camp but everybody you know everybody sort of sticks their nose in uh sam reinhardt's not afraid to you know get involved physically if someone gives him a push or as he's driving the net um and, yeah, so I don't know if anybody surprises me. And if I look at it, you know, I suppose, sorry, Brandon Montour is another one that plays a pretty skilled yet pretty tough brand of hockey on the blue line.

Maybe it goes a little bit understated. But, again, it's overall kind of – it's a mentality, I guess, right, with the group. And maybe that's part of their plan too nick when they get bernie when they get on the ice they want to see if they can go with the other team into a into a bad one for a couple minutes um but it's it's interesting to watch so just on that topic i gotta ask you Cousins, easily the most hated guy in the league this year. So I haven't watched enough to understand that. Is he beloved by his teammates,

or are there sometimes a few nights when even a teammate can go, would you knock it off? Yeah, I think he is. I mean, he plays up and down the roster, too. I'm not even sure from where I stand. I mean, I watched that game in Arizona, and he got drilled from behind. And, you know, sort of look at the play. I can't remember the defense's name. Had the mask.

But I didn't think he looked terribly upset. But then he just got drilled from behind. Missed quite a bit of time. Yeah, I think he is. He's the guy that he definitely, you he definitely plays up and down the lineup. He played on the second line for a couple weeks there. They took Rod Grigas off the first line. Verhege went up, and he sort of substituted in there for a little bit

until they filled that hole with Tarasenko. I believe he is pretty loved. He sits beside Matthew Kachuk in the practice facility. I noticed there today and I think they got a pretty good thing going with him. Jason Zucker? Yes, Jason Zucker. No, who was

the defenseman? Good Branson. Oh, that's right. I forgot about that. There's a few on his list. They're adding up now. So they had a, I won't say a quiet deadline. They added Vlad Tarasenko. What, you know, how did that make them better?

Do you think it's a fit for what this team needed? Yeah. So if you listen to Bill, you know, I think it's a real fit. Well, it was impressive on Saturday. I'll tell you, two goals a helper. Could have had three. Thing I noticed about him, when he came from St. Louis, I heard it from a St. Louis Blue that they didn't think Vladdy wanted the puck

until he sort of exited the defensive zone and sort of came through the middle of the ice. What I saw in Ottawa could have been the complete opposite. I mean, he was, I thought he was really responsible in his own zone. I thought he really worked hard to get down low to support the defenseman and did a lot of things on the other side of the park that really impressed me. He was plus 13 on that Ottawa roster, which he might have been leading the club when he was traded.

So when you translate that and you come to this team here, and all of a sudden he's playing with Barkov and Reinhardt, the first game he was okay, he'd flown all night to get here. Then the other day, it was lights out, a little chemistry. I didn't realize Tarasenko's father and Barky's father played together many years ago. Oh, really? Yeah, that was brought up the other day.

But so, yeah, so Fitz, I think it was very economical trade. They didn't pay a big price to get him, I don't think. And no players left the rooms. He was very concerned about disrupting the apple cart and the emotion of that locker room. Added Tarasenko and Ocpozo without anybody leaving. the apple cart and the emotion of that locker room added a Tara single and, um, I pose out without anybody leaving. So,

yeah, I think it could be a really good fit. He's got that. Obviously the Stanley cup pedigree wants to win. His family had a, he had bought a place here in Western Florida a year ago. So they, his family stayed here,

uh, all year. I know he had an older boy. He was in Ottawa. I believe it was playing minor hockey there. But, yeah, so I think there's a lot of positives with him there. Hey, Jeff, when we often hear the term best player in the world, names are dropped, McDavid, McKinnon, Matthews,

but seldom do we hear Barkov's name. Like, you watch him every day. Yeah. Unlike a lot of people that don't. How good is he when you want to compare him to the great centers in our game? Right. Is he ever.

I know he was that number two pick, I believe, behind McKinnon that year. But he's got that big frame he takes all the all the uh a lot of the defensive zone face-offs right but that big frame he creates so many outnumbered situation because he's able to carry uh defenders with him and and force an open lane. And whether he's on the power play or regular, but he is that special talent, the way he skates and gets up and down the ice,

really unselfish too. You see a lot, he's not shooting the puck. I wish he'd shoot the puck more. If someone's open, he loves to set them up. But yeah, the little things wish he'd shoot the puck more if someone's open he loves it loves to uh set them up but yeah the little things that he does um you know sort of you know for a big man you know you give that a la bobby clark that's sort of fake and then you throw that cross ice backhand sauce across ice to a streaking uh you know, Reinhardt or whoever's going. Vision is excellent.

Really humble, humble, humble superstar. And you're right, Nick. I think his presence is really understated in the league. And we had this conversation on set on Saturday. I think too many of us throw best player in the league out there. One of the top three in the world out there all the time. Because it's easy to say at the moment, but he is a special talent. I wish everybody had a little more availability to watch him play and,

and appreciate what he does matches up against all the big guys in the world for sure. So you mentioned that Tara Sanko came from Ottawa, which, you know, not a lot of great plus minuses out there, but one thing that's going well, your boy's fifth on the team in, in points this year, he's, you know, not a lot of great plus minuses out there. But one thing that's going well, your boy's fifth on the team in points this year. He's, you know, as dynamic as usual.

Nine goals in the season. How would you qualify this Sens season? Not just for him, but the Sens in general. What has gone on this year to make it such an unusual year? Yeah, I wish I knew. I tend to still think they're a young group um you know and and i preface that by saying you know my son talks about claude drew all the time and he like he's cherishing the time that he has he's had to spend with him you know jake was fortunate to have

a very veteran group in in arizona on the blue line. Ekman, Larson, Jalmerson, Demers, Skolikovsky and such. But I think that, I don't know where it went off the rails because they started off, the preseason was incredible. I know that's completely different than the regular season. And then, you know, they had some really big victories early early in the year and um i'm not sure i think you know maybe obviously on the defensive side of the puck there was there was some gray area i think structurally and systematically that um i don't think everybody was always on the same page just looking at it from from where i was and uh some things needed to be

addressed um and and i do believe there's a look at the panthers i mean they're i i look to me they're in like year five of what they were trying to accomplish and and i just think it takes time sometimes and and uh they're winning is learned behavior And to get to that point on a nightly basis is, is difficult. I think there's, I think one thing, if I could look back at it, you know, I think the line shuffling and the defensive combinations changing so much has really hurt them. Um, but that's, you know, that's not for me to, uh, to decide it's, it's, you know, that's not for me to decide. It's, you know, I guess whoever's available on any given night. But, yeah, I don't know.

I think I was on a podcast the other day, and I said it'd be really neat to see where this team is come October because, you know, I think there's an opportunity there for them to really turn things around quickly. I do believe that. I think, obviously, they struggled in net for a bunch of the season as well. But everybody goes through those things. So I don't know.

There's a lot of things to put your finger on, and we'll see where they go from here. Jeff, I'm sure Jacob heard all the rumors about his name being out there again in ottawa he already experienced it in arizona he's smart enough to understand it's big business he still has a contract that may be very attractive to other teams but how how was the experience that he went through in arizona helping him deal with that at least, you know, up until Friday. Right. I think they were completely different.

And I think he was, you know, going through it in Arizona, obviously helped him. Now that was different. You know, he requested a trade in Arizona. So then you land in Ottawa with really two years left in your deal, you know, something was going to come up, right? So your name's going to be out there and it hasn't changed. And I don't, I don't know when it will,

I guess until you either sign an extension or you are moved. That's just sort of the way of, of today's game. You know, and they've got some great defensemen locked up for a long time. So we'll see the way it all pans out. But I, I really, I really appreciate how he gets, how he prepares himself to play on a nightly basis. And, yeah, I think he just tried to put his head down and have at it. You know, it's really tough when the team's not winning. And I believe that's his, obviously, number one goal, you know, the wins and Ws and get in the playoffs.

It was part of the reason for wanting to come east. But it's tough. I really hope they're not that far off. But, yeah, the trade deadline, I don't see how it couldn't affect any individual, quite frankly. But I thought he did a pretty good job of sort of blocking it out. Well, Jeff, we really appreciate your time. And, Woody, you got a really appreciate your time, man.

What do you got, a tee-off time in about a week? I am playing them. Don't tell anybody because I'm doing the Panthers Dallas tomorrow, too. So I'm looking forward to that. Oh, the life down south. Jeff Chikrin, thanks for doing this, pal. Hey, thanks for calling, guys. Great talking to you. Thanks for your time.

We appreciate it. Panthers TV analyst, Jeff Chikren. Kippy, I say this to you a lot. Yeah. What are you doing? What are you doing here? Like, you should be down there covering the Panthers. This is the Matt Damon speech from Good Will Hunting.

Listen, you're failing us all being here. Sure, I could be having a cold one on the ninth hole right now. But being here with you, Sammy, I'm an obligation to the hockey world to educate you a little bit. Thanks, Kiffy. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, yeah, looks like a pretty good life he's got down there.

But, yeah, fun team to follow, too. I think it was Elliot on Hockey Night in Canada spoke of the push towards the South players wanting to go there. No state tax. We're seeing a push now down South. It's always had no tax and warm weather, but now you're a good team and people go, okay.

They asked Gajevic about his contract extension. He signed a two-year and he said, it's Florida, baby. It was his exact words. No one's ever gone, it's Columbus, baby. What's still probably being a little underspoken of, if that's

a word, is that it's only going to get worse and tougher for certain markets as the cap goes up so does the savings for teams like vegas florida and it becomes even a greater tool than it does today. Like we're talking about the difference, $10 to $15 million to sign free agents now. Teams in Canada cannot compete with that. Listen, here in Canada,

we already have a little bit of an inferiority complex about it, but we love the scrappy underdog role. Now we're just going to play with a lower cap than the rest of the league. Awesome. Here we go. Break this 30-year drought. I don't know what the answer is, and I'm not here to suggest that there is. There should be some sort of equity. I'm starting to

buy into you. Like a percentage of whatever, you know, they should take state tax into consideration for how much it's been. i don't know how you do it you get to pick one contract you went off the books you've you've you've won me over on that yeah i know because it's gonna get uglier as the cap goes over 100 million dollars and you've heard people and agents talk about what you can do in canada to shelter your money to get it later to predict but then yeah you see what Tavares is going through and what

Batista went through and it's just like I'll just avoid the hassle and just go to the place where it's cheaper I do think it is something the league needs to seriously consider yeah well I go to Florida and have a chance to win or and have no one tax me and no one accost me or talk to me about hockey or go to

Toronto and be taxed and be accosted and not win I'm trying to remember when I played me or talk to me about hockey or go to Toronto and be taxed and be accosted and not win. I'm trying to remember when I played and I want to say early 90s that they had a program for Canadian teams it was like an equalization

program that had to that played off the American dollar. Oh yeah. But now it's all in the American dollar, the cap. Yeah, it is. But the rate of return was a huge disadvantage to Canadian teams. And I'm not going to pretend I know how it played out. You're saying it's possible to consider these things.

But I'm saying, is there now an equalization program that we can add moving forward that could just, I don't know, tip the scales more favorable for markets like New York, California, and Canada. Yeah. Actually, you know, throwing in the other states that are highly taxed is a reasonable point, too.

But this isn't see to me this is not um it's not even a cba thing this is the owners getting together and going okay what do we do yeah and i don't know if it's the rich owners with the no state tax going to the ones that don't have it yeah i don't know yeah no one's helping, nah, nah, nah. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, no one's helping them out. That's not, it's not coming from the owner's help, I don't think. I mean, they have like a smaller cap,

the non-tax teams. I mean, so the non, like the, you know, the Floridas. Yeah. Like Vegas, isn't that, aren't they, isn't they some tax breaks? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And they've just traded for Hannafin.

Hurdle. Manta. Yeah, but Hannafin's unique here because everything was pointing to the direction that he's a Boston guy. He wants to get back to the East Coast. And last time I checked, Vegas wasn't close to the East Coast. No. But they can check off boxes boxes number one is he's

out of canada number two it's warm weather and number three no state tax uh i heard that uh tomas hurdle immediately by getting traded from californ California to Nevada, saves $6 million in taxes. Gets to keep an extra $6 million. Yeah, like how is that? I told you. Like UFAs could be looking at $15 million in difference. We just got a great suggestion on the text line. Lower the taxes in Canada.

Great idea by this guy. I don't know who is that textingxon but that's an excellent suggestion so hennepin could resign if he doesn't care so much about just being on the east coast and he doesn't have to sign seven and a half to equal the same amount of money he could have gotten calgary that's that's huge for a team that's already looking like they've finding loopholes in the system there's some attention on Vegas right now between the long term IR

salary cap and the tax and it'll pass and nothing will change correct and they'll be hoisting the cup and people will be mad I'm not convinced of that neither am I

the West is an absolute it's a disaster to get through there but I think there's a chance there's going to be a lot of people cheering against Vegas in the first round I won't be one of them I won't dare wear that on TV during the playoffs

but maybe you want to go to your game time? yeah we'll rip game time here I won't dare wear that on TV during the playoffs. No. But maybe. You want to go to your game time? Yeah, we'll rip game time here. Let me get my read ready here. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365.

Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, I was looking at the futures here because the playoff stuff got a little bit more interesting. At the bottom of the Eastern Conference that we were talking about off the top of the futures here because the playoff stuff got a little bit more interesting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference that we were talking about off the top of the hour here. So the Detroit Red Wings, who would have been prohibitive favorites to make the playoffs

before their long stretch, Vegas still thinks that they have a chance to make the playoffs, a pretty good chance, minus 145. For Detroit? Yeah, minus 145 plus 115 to miss. I'm looking down here. The Tampa Bay Lightning are minus 400 to make. And they are

plus 300 to miss. So they think they're a pretty big favorite to make. The Washington Capitals, who are also in that race, are a huge favorite to miss. They're at minus 600 to miss plus 400 to make it and your new york islanders borny are minus 200 to make it plus 160 to miss i'm so shocked so i don't really know where the value is in all those but i think let me have it uh go ahead what was

the uh detroit to miss detroit to miss was plus 115 i I like your getting money there. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's a pretty good spot. The Washington, I can't believe they're minus 600 to miss. Yeah. I had a bunch of Capitals fans tell me the Capitals are going for it today. Deadline, they just cut off the dead wood, addition by subtraction,

look out for the cap. So, we'll see if that's just my mentions or reality. An alumnus of the Capitals. Certainly be nice to see them get in personally for me, but I just look at that roster and I'm like, they're swimming upstream. Here is what I was told today. By the way, this is just a bunch of fans.

It's not any like heavy, hard-hitting inside stuff, but they're saying get rid of Kuzi, who's been a problem. Kuznetsov there. Edmondson, Mantha, who was inconsistent. Make some room for this Lapierre, who's playing well. And Fever, Hari's coming back. I don't know, guys. They believe in the team still down there.

Lapierre. Oh, and Ovi's getting hot, right? McMichael and Strom. Those are your centermen. I mean. I'm not a C a caps guy i think they're missing so hey it'd be great if they you know you want to talk about 16 the unknowns um they play tonight against winnipeg jets they are pretty favorable underdogs plus 180 in winnipeg will play rick bonus's thoughts on his team's effort from um effort from Saturday night after they got starched by the Canucks

on Hockey Night in Canada. They are minus 220 at home. If you like them, to me, that's a great spot for a minus one and a half at plus 125. Feels like that's a big bounce back spot after their coach absolutely blasted them. And Barney, your Islanders looking to stay red hot in LA tonight to take on the Kings. They are plus 120.

So good. No, not huge, but a big dog. Looking decent value for a team that's on a six game heater here. Going up against the Kings who I don't think are perfect. So there's a couple looks for tonight. And that was game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19+.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, let's take a quick break because we've got some nice topics of conversation in our NHL news and notes. Including the Wild pulling their goalie in overtime

to get an extra point. Love it. We've got Tortorella suspended and fined. Oh, let's put on our surprise faces for that one. Can we talk Kyle Clifford too? And a Kyle Clifford story of old-time hockey at its finest there you go sammy that more when we return on real kipper and born everything raptors before and after the games the raptor show with will lou subscribe and download the show on apple spotify

or wherever you get your podcasts. It's prior to the break. We're talking Minnesota wild in a, in a look that we have ever seen since the inception of overtime, where a team pulls their goalie in this situation. It was a 3-3 tie. They ended up winning on a boldy goal for a 3-3 tie. They ended up winning on a boldy goal for a 4-3 win. But it had a lot of people scratching their heads on the gamble of pulling the goalie to try to win a game in overtime.

Truth serum. Did you both know that that was the rule? Okay, hold on. Let's just speak of the rule because I'm sure there's a lot of people that are listening right now that don't know the rule. Yeah. And the rule that you're speaking of is if you pull the goalie and your opposing team scores in the empty net,

you lose the extra point that you had earned going into overtime. I did know, and I'm shocked how many people didn't know. Didn't know. Didn't know. It's one of those things where... You didn't know. No, no. I knew, but it's been so long that I've forgotten.

Yeah. Right? And then it's like, oh my God. Think about it. We've had this rule for like 20 years it's never come up yeah you know why because i think they probably anticipated yeah that it would happen a lot more than it has well yeah i think that rule has been a deterrent but why would we want to deter this so i didn't hear any of the post-game comments my first thought was did the wild know this rule i'm yes they did they did i mean absolutely did so and they still wanted to

risk yeah the point they need every point they are six points out of a playoffs i have the quote from john heinz here yeah we need two points, Hines said. One point, zero points. It's not doing us any good. Two points, that's what we need. Okay, but you either score it with a goalie still in or you get to a shootout.

You still have an opportunity to get that point. This is full desperation, baby. What I like about this... It's a huge advantage. We suck at three-on-three or I have no faith At that point, this is full desperation, baby. What I like about that. I don't understand. What do you say? We suck. We suck at three on three,

or I have no faith in my goalie in a shootout. Well, we just want to take our chances of having a four on three on a power play. And we think it's going to help us score before you do. I don't listen. It turned out great. It turned out great. It was a hell of a gamble.

It really was big gamble. But I mean, I love his point that it's like you pull the goalie in the game when you think you're going to lose the game. You don't care if you get scored on again. For them, if they get zero points, the season's over. So what are we not pulling out all the stops here for? It's a meta pull. They pulled the goalie on the season.

Yeah. And I think four on three is a much bigger advantage than six on five. I would agree. Way more, way more ice. Yeah. No, I think it's like if you took the percentages of four on three power play goals. 30% of the time? It's higher.

I think it's higher. Is it? Maybe 35? Something like that. But yeah, it's a big risk. Are we all under the agreement, though, if in fact the Preds were able to score in the empty net, we would be ripping them beyond belief for losing the point that you had in your back pocket?

I don't think so. Oh, no, no. I fully put my hand up. I would absolutely rip them. I'd be going. You threw away a point that you could have used. Maybe it's a point that costs you a playoff spot at the end. Minnesota has a lot of games played.

They only have 17 games left. They have to make up six points after getting two points. So they would have had to make up seven if they had got one point or eight. To me, it's like if they're sincere about a playoff chase this was crucial and so i i think i could have defended it i don't know if i would have i think i would have i think i would have i think it's a stupid i think it's a stupid rule it's a stupid rule i'll give you that because i i don't really get if you pull your goalie the other team has like a 60 chance of scoring and you have a 40 chance like you earned you no here's the thing to me to me the rule is the rule you've fought all

the way through a nhl game where the nhl has deemed it good enough for you to get a point where it's like that to me if you're tied to the other team is worth a point why the hell should it matter what you do in the three-on-three? To me, that doesn't make any sense. It's a weird, stupid rule, in my opinion. I think you're right. Right? Like, it's like, what does it?

He's won me over. Yeah. It doesn't make any sense. Has that ever happened on our show? Like, maybe three times. Yeah. Tops. But it just, I don't get it at all.

Whatever. Yeah, go nuts. Pull your goalie. Oh, you're writing the date down there, Kipper? Yeah, I'm going to write the date down. March 11th. Yeah 5 42 eastern we'll see if it happens to the increasing frequency maybe get some ratings or something i don't know really smart okay we got a lot to get to um just kind of a follow-up a A week ago, Toronto versus the Rangers, there was like seven seconds left.

Mitch Marner was going to go down the ice on a scoring opportunity to win the game in overtime, and the Rangers took a too-many-men penalty. Yeah. Yes. Okay? Yep. Yes.

So another one of those head-scratching... They threw an extra guy on the ice did you did you know the rule of of awarding uh a penalty shot if it's deemed yeah um deliberate i'm gonna go ahead and give you the truth again no didn't know that one either in overtime if the other team takes a penalty late in overtime or just in overtime in general, the ref has the discretion to call a penalty shot, which they took away a rush from the Leafs.

Probably a two-on-one, was it? Yes. For the chance to win the game. Yeah. Why not throw an extra guy over the boards every time and sniff that out? I'm with you. You're not going to give up a penalty shot. I'm with you.

If it's the last 20 seconds, throw seven guys out there. And throw the whole team over. Throw the whole team over. All right, boys, fire drill, boys. Let's go. Five seconds to go. Throw your stick out. Go, go, go.

Yes. But that's why, I guess, the rules are there because they want to avoid that. You got to allow it. And so the ref either didn't think of the rule or he's a coward. Or it kind of blended in, though, for a line change a little bit. So there was a little bit of a gray area. But if you're saying it's too many and they're taking away the rush,

I think you got to call a penalty shot. No, I'm with you. I'm with you. All right. We're just all very agreeable. The agree show today. What do you want to do?orella okay tortorella uh suspended two games like we knew there would be a fine coming 50k is a lot boys holy two games folks

how about the uh the philadelphia flyers uh i don't know if this is their ceo they just said we'll pay it we'll pay we'll pay i love I love that he said, we all bleed orange or whatever. We're going to have his back like he had ours. Culture. It's a dumb word. But the players don't get that same benefit when they do something on the ice. If you got paid that fine yourself. Maybe if they're sticking up for each other like this, they do. No, no, no.

That's a circumvention of the salary cap. Yeah, that's circumvention of the salary cap. Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Can I ask you that Tortorella standing on the bench screaming at one of Gary's beloved henchmen is refusing to go to the locker room, is worth two games and $50,000, but Jacob Truba literally slashing a guy in the head is worth $5,000. Yeah, you're apples and oranges here.

You just, it's just, no. There's nothing to compare, Sammy. Zero. I think it's Bundesliga from torts, though, by the way. This is so out of the box. Yeah. I'll give you the equivalent of Tortorella. I get a two-minute penalty, and I refuse to go in the box.

Yeah. For 10 minutes while we all sit here with what? Our thumbs up, our you-know-what. Right? You just can't have a guy shut down the game for 10 minutes because he's having a temper tantrum. And while I don't think two games is, you know, it seems like a lot or whatever,

I do think you have to send a message to all the other coaches that, like, there's repercussions if you want to do what torts did if torts was allowed to do that and they give him a fine that the ceo pays which by the way the ceo saying he would pay that before any sort of ruling came out probably hurt torts because they had to do something to punish right added another 25 grand no just i think probably maybe another game like to say we don't care who's paying this but also you have to miss games now as i think it's a big time as much mariah said that i was liking torts kind of back but didn't that's the beauty of come talk to him sorry torch just wanted the ref to talk to him he wasn't trying to like get an answer right

come to the bench he was being being so reasonable. Pointing his broken finger at him the whole time. Do we know what happened, by the way? He just hated the call. He broke his finger? No, I mean his broken situation. Is it a thumb? What is it? I don't know. It's a bad look. Just go to the locker room, bud. You're down

four zip. Hit the showers. It's a bad look. I agree. So the comment that you just said moments ago about hating torts again, that's the bad luck so the the comment that you just said moments ago about hating torts again that's the beauty of torts is that you you can love them and hate them it's just never happening at the same time it's like willie kneelander you don't get to enjoy the offense with not getting the defense as well this part comes with this part but i think he's he adds so much like the flyers of the flyer fans have not felt this kind of i don't know passion he brings passion yeah into everything he does jones credit since the moment he got hired this feels like they're trying to be the flyers again

which i couldn't respect more. Yeah. Love Jonesy. Love Danny Breer. Didn't trade Konechny. They, you know, they kept their... They brought them back to life. Yeah. We've lost two of our favorite guests to big jobs who've done great at them. Talk.

Talk and Keith Jones. Seems like they're good at what they do. I was, you know, we were going to mention Rempe and, you know, who's going to fight a big mutant tonight, but we should but we are on Vancouver. We should probably talk about how they lost a starting goalie for... He's had a month. Yeah. Yeah, that's a big deal.

Demko, out of the lineup, did they say... I'm laughing because it's an obvious statement. What did they exactly say? I did not see the latest report on it. I just saw that he was out a month. I don't think we have any more than that, do we? Any more details? Did they say specifically lower body?

Or, I mean, I don't expect much more than that. The reality for the Canucks here is, you know, this is a team that really, like, I want to see these, you know, post-trade deadline, see it come together and believe that they can hang with these teams at Colorado who made big additions and Vegas that made the big additions. You know, Dismiss is a pretty good goaltender,

and I think he can keep them in there, but this is a crucial time for them, you know, for... Yeah, three to four weeks with a knee injury. Is that what it is? With a knee injury? Yeah, that's not what you want to hear big stretch of hockey well you know between demko now and uh in vancouver and mitch marner in toronto like these are these are those type injuries that you got to be so careful with because you don't want them bleeding into a playoff scenario. What do we think Marner's is?

Do we know? Listen, Marner landed awkwardly. I mentioned that the other day to you. Weird fall. He had a weird fall, which means to me that he tweaked his knee or he's got a sprain. On the other hand, with these guys. Or he tweaked his knee or he's got a sprain. On the other hand. An ankle sprain.

With these guys. Or he tweaked something. Hope it's not an ankle sprain because those are no joke. I think for both these guys, let's say they come out okay. Like they're three, four weeks, they're good to go or whatever the time frame is. They're both guys who are crucial and play a lot of time. One of those things where you're like, if you get through it okay, maybe the break right now is not the worst thing if you're looking for a deep playoff.

That terrifies me for a goalie though that's if you heal it a hundred percent and very seldom do guys go in a hundred percent even with their wear and tear groins are the worst is this sorry for marner though is it longer time frame you think than just listen he he he did finish the game yeah uh that he played the other night in boston which lends to you saying how serious can it be because he he did he did play but i don't think he played a ton in the third period but he played so it's it's one of those nagging whatever it is it's he can feel it enough to warrant going to the trainers and saying something's not right.

So these guys, you get their MRIs right away. They know exactly what they're dealing with, and it's just a matter of what the doctor says. Week 10 days, two weeks, or four to six weeks, depending on the severity. So the Canucks beat up on the Jets the other night, and we have a clip from Rick Bonas talking with the Jets, right? We do have that clip.

That was just ugly. Would you like to hear what the head coach had to say about it? Okay, let's play it. The bottom line is that's the worst game we have played in my two years here, by far, because we didn't have one player play a good game. Not one. It starts there and

it ends there it's as simple as that so none of this was on the Canucks oh yeah they played a great game but it's the same team we came in here three weeks ago and played so uh that's on us we just again we didn't have one player play a good game so it starts there when When you did the line blending, was... Well, listen, the line blending, nothing. We had nobody going. It's that simple. Don't overanalyze anything other than that. Again, it's the worst game we've played in the two years I've been here, and we didn't have one player play well.

So line blending had absolutely nothing to do with anything. Can't make a good smoothie out of running shoes and dirt and you know i can't blame him anyway i love that man what i love about him is that he's so notorious for being this like beloved kind soft-spoken guy but when his team's battle he says there's no protecting it no protecting just calls it you know with him though he he's not saying anything that they haven't already heard. Oh, yeah. Which is the key for any head coach.

No surprises through the media. Casey DeSmith, okay for you guys? I think he's all right. He's had 19 starts this year. He's got a 280 goals against a 900 save percentage, 9-11 career. They can survive with him in net. Yeah. But, I mean, it's just.

If there's consistency in their game and they look like the team before they went into their small little funk, I think you should be fine. They have a pretty hardy lead. They're 10 points up on the Oilers. Oilers have three games in hand. But, you know, you're getting to that point of the schedule where you just run out of games at some point.

Last thing we'll mention, Madison Square Garden tonight, Devils, Rangers. You're teaming up a fight. Are you promoting fighting on the real Kipper and Bourne show? Yes. The last time we saw the Devils and Rangers play, Rempe turned Bastion into the extra from a war movie. So there might be some repercussions tonight

considering they traded for Curtis McDermott of Sauble Beach, Ontario. Listen, I don't bet, but can I put money down on a fight? I don't think you can, pal. No, but there's going to be one, I think. How can there not be yeah yeah they didn't trade for curtis mcdermott to not fight him yeah to not fight him speaking of uh fit this in real quick so kyle clifford uh oh yeah gotten a little hullabaloo with the place for the marlies guy who played on the marlies was on the other team kids scores a goal

sorry i should mention the kid quit the marlies with three games to go or something this season last year, and they missed playoffs by a point or two. Yeah, it was like he didn't play in a win-and-get-in game. Scores against the Marlies, goes down the bench, pumps it out, celebrates. Right by the bench. Right by the bench. Which is a no-no in any era.

Yeah, next shift, Kyle Clifford just chased the kid around. Good old-fashioned. The kid went full turtle. It really looked like a scene out of the 1990s. You're underselling full turtle. Oh, it's the worst turtle I've ever seen. I've never seen someone stay in the shell so long after the violence. This guy was in the ice deeper than the Canadian coin at the Olympics.

How about Clifford? Down there, two cups. Down there, grinding away, carrying hockey guy through and through. Hockey lifer. Love it. Hi, boy, Cliffy. There you go. There's our violent portion of the show. All right. How many games on tap?

Four games. Four. Pick your game. Enjoy it. We're back tomorrow on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Our thanks to Jeff Chikrin for joining us. Give us a rating and review if you get a chance have a great night everybody