Real Kyper & Bourne - Presidents’ Trophy Race Too Close to Call

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look at the race for the Presidents' Trophy as only one point separates the top 7 teams. They are joined by former Red Wings goalie and now-analyst Chris Osgood, (6:15) who shares his thoughts on Detroit's sloppy finish to the season as they compete for the final Wild Card spot in the East, short & long-term solutions in net, the jumps from Mo Seider and Lucas Raymond, and Patrick Kane's impact on and off the ice. Finally, they regroup with Sam for news & notes - if Vegas missing the playoffs is a good or bad thing for hockey, rumours that Tortorella will move to management and which competing teams have the easiest schedules down the stretch.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.

time to go national on the real kipper and born show the kipper host justin born sammy mckee we're live on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in vancouver sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 in a few moments we'll welcome in chris osgood 13th winningest goalie not a coach nope in nhl history with 401 it's a big number it is also we should mention for this hour uh also uh brought to you by beladia st patty's day we know we're all wearing green. Thank you for the texts. We know. How does that happen?

I never wear this pullover. I do. I've seen you wear that before. Twice. I feel like it's like a universe thing. We all checked the weather and looked outside and said maybe it's spring is starting and we all thought green. I don't know. Or it's just random chance. And you didn't want to change and I didn't let you.'m like no be who we are we're doing this we all look

spectacular don't worry about it uh last night vancouver blown opportunity to go number one overall get 100 points yep clinch a playoff spot they're gonna do all those things but la maybe a little hungrier last night i don't know the it was like a very playoff feel game a lot of the goals were like the ping pong at the net front crease battle chaos it's starting it's starting where everyone is starting to feel like these are teams that may see each other, you know? Sam Lafferty scores an all-world goal. Looking very Zach Hyman-ish. Yeah, for sure.

Except it was his first goal in 12 or 13 games. Good 12 in the year. He couldn't miss for the first month. And we're like, what happened? And then he went away for a long time. But anyways, it's cool. How about the President's Trophy race right now? Five teams in the league have 97 points and two have 98.

So like no one even with a leg up on the competition here. I don't, you don't want it. You don't want the President's Trophy? No. It's a, no one wins. I hate that. It's true.

I hate that you're going to what uh i don't care about the percentages and i don't care about superstition i don't care okay it's there it's on the table and you're gonna tell me in the last 10 to 12 games you're gonna go let's not win this thing. Yep. Are you nuts? Teams that win when the moon's in retrograde and Mercury is in the house of... Went awesome for the Bruins last year. It was really great. And that's it. We have our definitive proof.

President Strobe, you can't win because the Bruins lost last year. The last team to do it, I think, was the Blackhawks in the shortened season. That one doesn't even count. We're avoiding Stanley Cups now. That's just a bad attitude, Sammy. It's a curse.

It's worse than you wearing green. It's a true curse. If you win the President's Trophy, you don't win the Cup, unless it's the shortened season. I don't know why anyone would disagree with me. Okay. Throw it. Throw your last game.

Don't win it. Did Detroit win it with Chris Osgood? I don't know. Well, research, please. Detroit Red Wings 2008. He was probably on that team. That was a really good team. I think they won the cup.

Yeah. Oh, God. Is he on the line? We'll ask him his thoughts on the president's trophy. But we'd love to see the Vancouver Canouver canucks or the you know jets are kind of they've fallen off if i'm not mistaken the vancouver canucks won it in back-to-back seasons and horrible things happened in the stanley cup final would they take that this year do you think i think they would yeah i think any team would take that oh God. I'd take game seven of the second round.

Why hand it to the Rangers or Colorado when you're right there? Yeah. Another banner up. Yes. Build the banners. And also, I do think there's some real merit. We should give more credit, more props, more love to the regular season champion. I know. Calm down before you start

i'm okay look at other sports like european football like soccer you know those guys do a whole year-long thing is it not a better judge of who's had a better year over the course of seven months of hockey i think it's a huge accomplishment. It is. For sure it is. 32 teams. There is money involved, too. I do think you get league money for winning it. If I can remember. Arby's coupons? What do you get? I don't know.

Yeah. I don't know what you get. But still. Yeah, coupons to the store in New York City, I guess. It should be more of a playoff reward, too. But it should go back to the one through eight seed. But still, I guess you get the eight seed. Okay, let's not change anything right now.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. 12 games on hand tonight, as Sammy, I think you mentioned. Yeah. Some good ones tonight. Some really good ones. We'll get Chris Osgood talking Washington and the Detroit Red Wings tonight. Vegas-Nashville is a great game. Edmonton-Winnipeg is a great game.

Boston-Florida is a great game. Philly and New York, another good one. There's some really good games on tap tonight. No kidding. And heading out west. Boston-Florida is great. This Washington-Detroit game is massive stakes. What do you got, Drew?

78, Washington. This is one of two remaining between Detroit and Washington. Oh, really? I think they got another one. what do you got true 78 washington this is one of two remaining between detroit and washington oh really i think they got another one yeah there's one point separates them so it's not it's not do or die but it's amazing it's big for the wings they're one back it's amazing in in the next in the next 10 games what a loss a regulation loss can do in certain scenarios because we know the ties aren't good enough, right? It's got to be regulation wins. So that's like a point in itself.

All right, let's welcome in Chris Osgood. Hey, Ozzie, thanks for doing this, man. I know it's been a bit of a challenge. Did you find your, what are they called again? Earbuds? Earbuds. AirPods. AirPods.

Yeah, AirPods. No, no, I have not found them. It's the third pair I've lost. So that's what happens when you turn 50 and 51. Things like that start to be missing, and you get worse with technology. I think I've accepted it, so I'm going old school, holding the phone up for the year. I'm pretty good about myself. For $79.99, you can buy strings on the Apple website

and go back to the old-fashioned ones. I know, and I've considered that. I was looking for them today, could not find them in downtown Washington. So I decided to abort that mission and go old school. So here I am. Well, good. We're glad you are, and we're teeing up the most intriguing game of the night. There's a dozen of them,

but all eyes are Detroit and Washington. And are the Red Wings kind of kicking themselves for even being in a position to let a team like Washington in the mix here in the last 10-odd games? Well, they wouldn't have been. At the start of the year, they would have liked where they are now. But when they went 16-4-2, I believe it was, and they're eight points up in the playoffs and looking real good.

I mean, they were beating teams. They were beating Colorado. They were beating the upper echelon teams and looking good doing it. And then went into a pretty big swoon and go 1-9 and didn't look good at all and kind of lost their way defensively. So, yeah, for sure. I mean, now they're feeling it. They got a tough road trip here.

They lost their first game, played fantastic in Nashville, but lost 1-0 and come to Washington here, and this is pretty much, to me, a must-win for them. Washington has that game in hand. If Washington wins, they're up by three with a game in hand with not a lot of games left so for the wings this is important and then if you look at farther down the schedule for the red wings well you got carolina in carolina then you got that trip now it's difficult down to florida nice weather but hard games tampa bay who's playing great and you also got the florida panthers so it's not like it used to be no no kidding so what

are the themes of where the Red Wings are at? You mentioned, I know Dylan Larkin had been out. He's back and, you know, looking pretty good for them. Where is their game at and where are the hiccups in terms of, you know, falling back from that 16-4-2 run you talked about? Well, if you look at the evolution of their season, they started to play good when they started to play better defensively. I mean, it is an offensive league now, but two things happen,

and these things will never change, is you've got to be good defensively and you've got to have good goaltending. That never goes away, and they're getting that Alex line caught on fire. They needed somebody to go midway point, and they absolutely went lights out for a while. Well, that went away. They became a miss, kind of really struggled defensively. Then Dylan L larkin gets hurt and that's the one thing that couldn't happen and then their matchups all went away uh they struggled with their matchups and i said dylan

larkin's officially a star to me now not only when he's in the lineup he's a point per game guy but he's really really missed when he's not in the lineup especially here in detroit and it made that top line look a heck of a lot different nothing against the guys who were playing but the guy is the engine that makes the red wings go and when he's playing they look a heck of a lot different and even in nashville they could have won that game and it was a tough loss for them score uh forsberg scored i think just for five minutes left so with dylan larkin i i still believe they're going to make it this is a tough road trip yes but their schedule favors them I still believe they're going to make it. This is a tough road trip, yes, but their schedule favors them. I think they're turning upwards, not downwards like they were

if we were to look at them two weeks ago. Washington's a difficult schedule. The Islanders aren't getting any traction. New Jersey, which shockingly is behind them by four and out of the playoffs after a fantastic year last year. So the Red Wings still have a pretty good chance, in my estimation, to make it make it they've tightened up defensively i do believe they're trending in the right direction so that's a good thing gotta ask the 13 13th winningest goalie in nhl history about the situation in net for detroit alex lion who's looked awfully good uh throughout this season

we'll get the the all-important start tonight, James Reimer, backing him up. But just your thoughts on Ville Huso and what he's gone through this year. We know he's injured right now, but is he still the long-term solution for the Detroit Red Wings? I'm not sure. I think that's an open book going into the offseason for sure um puso had a real good year last year this year kind of didn't come out of the gates great was starting to get his game before he got hurt and then they needed somebody to really get hot and

that was alex line and he played had a nice little run in florida last year he's just waiting for that opportunity and he played great for a long stretch. Maybe played a little bit too much. There's no easy games in this league anymore. There's no nights off, especially for a goalie. And I thought he played great in Nashville. And James Reimer went in and played a real solid. He went 3-0 in his three starts.

And that helped him mentally. He got back. So that's the biggest key for me, going down. Besides them playing good defensively, if Alex Lyon can get his game back to where it was i believe they're gonna make it if he doesn't it's it's rolling the dice again for them so tonight's a big game for him he played great in nashville he needs to do that again and needs to get himself on a roll like he did earlier i'm not sure at this point can can huso get in the net and play make a difference right now i'm not

so sure about that this late in the season he hasn't played for a heck of a long time so to me we're looking it's going to be reimer and it's going to be alex line moving forward and those are the two guys that are going to help push them in the playoffs or or or in the end be part of the reason they don't make it so uh for the wings it's all about that third man high and playing great defense and the goalie playing well if they can do that their power play hasn't been quite where it was earlier in the season or midway point but i believe with dylan larkin back getting his legs back getting getting that underneath them that will come back as well so like i said i still like their chances i'm not a homer but i just believe looking at the schedule and analytically looking at it, they have the best chance

if they play the way they can play. Yeah, Caps have a really hard schedule too coming in, I know. One of the things that has helped the Red Wings take some strides is a couple of young players getting better and finding themselves a little bit. Tell us about Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, two guys who I think are pretty important NHL players now for the Red Wings. Hey, Ozzy, is the Mo and Mo Seider short for Muhammad Ali?

What a fight. His first ever fight. Now, he went Forsberg, so we'll call that. Right, yeah, yeah. It's a middleweight matchup. But nonetheless, I mean, that was an entertaining fight. People out there love fighting still, which I know there is that group. And there definitely was. the middleweight matchup but nonetheless i mean that was an entertaining fight if you if you people out there love fighting still which i know there is that group and there definitely was and cider

is a beast he has become a real solid defender he's still young um offensive upside he's kind of he's kind of less than that this year to to uh really round out his game uh his his offensive numbers you know aren't where they could be but he's still young he's learning to play a complete game as a defenseman and he reminds me of a younger dowdy now is he going to be as good offensively i i don't know that's up for debate but defensively this guy can shut guys down the last five minutes of games he's a he's an absolute warrior out there uh and he's just hitting the tip of the iceberg and for raymond when when Larkin was out, he was the one guy that stepped up. They needed guys to step up.

They didn't get that. That's what hurt them. Their matchups were a mess, like I said, lineup-wise, but he was the one constant. He was the guy that kind of kept them afloat, kept them in games. He's had himself a year. He's a restricted free agent for the Wings, so Steve Eisen will have some decisions to make.

Obviously, these two will be high on his list to get done for sure. They have other guys coming that are great. Evanston's come back here late in the year after a real solid year in Grand Rapids, and he's been great as well at 6'6". So, I mean, you guys know Chris Draper. He's done a heck of a job here the last three years of drafting guys, and the wings have tons of guys coming. And if anything, they're just looking to make it this year,

take that next step, continue to develop these young guys and move in the right direction. And I believe they're doing that. Drapes has got time to look at young talent past his pickleball career. Oh, I know. Well, I talked to him today. He not only played pickleball today, he also worked know. Well, I talked to him today. He not only played pickleball today, he also worked out.

I know you're surprised by that. But he likes to let me know. And then what he does is when he sees you and he hasn't seen you before, he looks at you to see what kind of shape you're in. He turns you to him and tells you what you need to do. It's like, great. It's like, I'm not you.

I don't have that same mentality anymore. He was on the front of Pickleball Magazine, you know, that same mentality anymore he's he's he he was on the front of pickleball magazine you know that mission that's no he was not into it you gotta post that he was he's a diehard i have the picture somewhere on my phone but i can't find it because i don't my earpods in so it's up but he he but jokes aside drapes has done a heck of a job captain guys steve eiserman the both of them and the rest of the scouting staff, they have a ton of young guys coming. Future looks bright in Detroit.

This is a great experience. If they make it or not, they want to, though, because like you said, Nick, because of where they were, they'll feel like if they don't make it, they let it slip away. So there is pressure in that aspect. But this team to me is going to be a team to reckon with here in the next next couple years and they're coming on whether or not i'm not going to say they're a stanley cup contender in the next two years but they're they're coming in the right direction so where does patrick kane fit into the picture how has that sort of marriage been and and

is there a future for it well i know two things he's he loves detroit um his dad's in buffalo who's been to detroit lots he loves it so it's easy chicago is on the other side which isn't that far from detroit so he's kind of right in the middle he has the best of both worlds without being inundated with people from either place um he's friends with the brinkett. Their families are close. I mean, obviously they've had success on the ice, but he likes the culture and he loves playing Detroit. So hopefully he, Stevie is probably, I would think, I'm not going to speak for him, make an effort to have him come back. He's been fantastic.

I mean, and beyond the points, he brings that aura. He brings something the Wings haven't had for a while since they've had the Zetterbergs and the Datsuks and Lindstroms that were here. And that's a superstar, and he is that. And he's won. And that's the biggest difference with the Wings. You have a Comfrews one. You've got Mata.

That's one. They've got guys that have won in the dressing room. So that's another belief of mine, whether they're going to make it. And I do think Kane's going to catch on fire again. He's had a heck of a year in, in, in a little short sample size here, but what he's bringing the games beyond points,

he's moving fluently. He's skating has been fantastic. He looks like he's back. He's put the work in. I know everybody looks at the other side of that hip surgery he had, but to me, I haven't seen any effects of that as of right now. He has his movement laterally, the way he's skating his speed it's been all there and then the points come with that so as a fan of the red wings and a former player i sure hope he comes back for

sure and as a former player you sit at 401 wins in your career you You are an analyst for Valley Sports as we tee up a big game tonight. So, Ozzy, 27 years ago, what were you doing? 27 years ago? Yeah. Where was I? Was I on the road or was I... I think you were brawling.

Was he not? Was that 27 years ago? Playing Colorado at home? Yes. Fighting Patrick Law? Was that 27 years ago? Playing Colorado at home? Yes. Fighting Patrick Waugh, is that right? Yes. Really?

I did not know. Was that Vernon? Was it with Vernie? Was it Vernie with Waugh? I think it was Vernie with Waugh. Were you on the bench? It was Vernie. Yeah, I was on the bench.

I had a front row seat. You had a front row seat. You had a front row seat. That was the brawl at home. Where they connected in midair. That was that one. Yeah, when Shanahan jumped over top. And I remember it's Bernie wanted to get kicked out of the game, but the referee never kicked him out. He's exhausted.

Nobody's going to accuse Mike Vernon, unlike Chris Dra draper of being in great shape we're not going to do that so he was exhausted and actually i think the game ended up six five and from experience when i fought him the next year i was done exhausted like i i had to go in the room and the trainer came and i said please tell me i don't think i can even move my arms so i didn't have to go back in he did and i can't believe he did that. And it ended up 6-5. I think McCarty scored in overtime. That kind of kick-started where we went from there. Before that, we were kind of sputtering.

We lost some tough rounds in the playoffs and weren't winning when we should have. And that kind of was the building block for the Red Wings to win some cups in the future. So McCarty with a huge goal and a great game. And Mike Vernon ended up winning the cons might that year and went to the Hall of Fame this year. I was there to see him.

So, it was wonderful seeing all that business there in Toronto. I had a great time. So, to me, one of the best goalies and guys I've ever played with. I'm fortunate to have got a chance to play with him for so many years. 27 years ago tonight. I could tell you other stories, but I can't tell the stories depending on who's listening right now.

On and off the ice. I'll just say that. How about that? He's great on and off the ice. Could have made the Hall of Fame in both. We'll bring you on for another time and we'll get into those stories. How about that? I would love it. I'd love it. Ozzie, have a great call tonight we'll be watching

okay thanks for doing this okay guys all right guys thanks a lot appreciate it chris osgood holding the phone to his ear for 15 straight minutes that's work his arms probably more tired than uh so uh the hour detroit i think it's called, or Detroit hour. I just found this. A article by Nolan Bianchi. Pickleball isn't just for seniors. Just ask Stanley Cup champion Chris Draper. It's shortly after 11 a.m. on a Thursday. So Drapes and I go.

Do you know where your seniors are? We go back as Toronto guys training together. You know, there's a group of us that hung out at a fitness institute. And, like, he was just a machine of a fitness guy. So, you know, deep down he's really training because he hopes that Stevie Y can say, I need you one game. Like, just in case. Just in case.

One of the all-time great moments is at the Leafs-Wings Centennial game where it was him and Roberts get into it on the ice. Oh, the alumni. Yeah, the alumni. The outdoor alumni game. Before the one. He is one of the most competitive guys I've ever met. What I would kill for a shred of that. We golfed together

at Magna for a lot of years. And you don't want to golf with him if his game's not on. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Oh, he's getting a little sour. That's an understatement. So if he had a shot at 101 with Bernie at Scarborough,

he wouldn't have been as pleasant as me? You're ducking. If he's really golfing poorly, you gotta duck because you may get a one of his sticks. Chris Draper played 222 playoff games. God, that's work. And he got traded for

a dollar from the Winnipeg Jets. Probably want that one back. You know what i think we need to do a better job of is when we talk about players careers is cumulative games we do regular season games all the time with guys like why do we discount the value of playoff games in a guy's career totals actually it's a great idea to discredit ovi be like well if you count wayne's playoff goals and he's over at that why is that unreasonable like he's got that many nh those games were less important why is that were they against easier

teams why wouldn't we count that that myth on on uh suspensions like a playoff game is worth right two regular season two goals give them a game and a half for a playoff game i had you know like as much as that's a silly recommendation it is worth more and so i'm not saying we should adjust the stats but we should at least count them for crying out loud and it's you you know that is the hardest roster to break in right is a playoff roster like you're playing a good team every time there's huge who want to kill you in that era right huge decisions rosters are open up usually you call up three or four from your farm team now your expanded rosters like 26 27 and like to crack a playoff roster yeah and to play 222 of those games a very big compliment

for sure so worth a lot so at the end of everyone's career i think i mean i don't even know this but i feel like i should know this i mean it's wayne so that's easy but who has the most combined between regular season and playoffs that should should be the ultimate list. Of course it is. It's like, do it. No, do a list. So that would be Chelios and Messier would probably have the most. I feel like the list would probably be somewhat similar. The really good players were good in both times.

Who has the career, most games played career? I think it's Marlo. Was it Gordy? Isn't it Marlo? Didn't Marlo just get by it? Marlo got it? I don't know. I think he did.

That's a good question. Gordy Howe's not. Gordy played until he was like 62. Yeah, Patrick Marlo passed it. Most games all time. Most games all time. 1,779 games played from 97 to 2021. Gordie Howe's second.

Marc Messier, Jager, Francis is the top five. Those are minus playoff games for some reason. Chelios is 1,651. He's number nine. Chelios played, I want to say, in the East Coast. How many did Marleau get? They had some good runs. How many playoff games did he get?

Would he have been close to 200? 150? How many did Marleau get? They had some good runs. How many playoff games did he get? Yeah. Okay. Would he have been close to 200? 150? He got 195 playoff games. Oh, my God. What? Yeah. With one Stanley Cup final.

They had some good. I mean, yes, I know that. They had some good runs. Didn't realize they had that many. They just couldn't get over the hump. That one year when they, the reverse sweep sweep kings year remember when they were high flying and they went up three nothing and the kings came back and got them yeah so and they won the cup that year so i guess tonight's homework well after before i watch the least game is to come up with who has

the most combined points of all time the most uh NHL playoff games by a single player is... Chris Chelios. 266. Lidstrom, 263. Messier, 236. Wow. That's like a lot of games. To me, that's the most badass stat.

Gretzky's got 208 with... 208 with 122 goals. 382 playoff points. Yeah, count that in the total. How does that not count? Additional 122 for Waino. That's crazy. That is.

All right. It is goofy that it's not factored in. Yes. Outwardly weird. I like that. I like that word, goofy. Oh, my God. I have too many pages today, boys.

Okay. We're going a little game time, Sammy? Yeah. If I can find my correct page here here it is uh it's game time presented by bet 365 visit the app the latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus until only please play responsibly now like i said there's some really good games on the ice tonight which i'll get to but you guys were talking about the president's trophy. So first of all, I had a texter come in and tell me that FYI, the NHL teams to win the president's trophy and win the Stanley cup since 85

are the 86, 87 Oilers, the 88, 88, 89 Calgary flames, the 93, 94 Rangers, the 98,

99 Dallas stars. Oh, one Colorado avalanche. Oh, two Detroit Red Wings. Oh,-99 Dallas Stars. 01 Colorado Avalanche. 02 Detroit Red Wings. 08 Red Wings. And 13 Chicago Blackhawks. That's a lot. It happens. It's a good list.

It's a good list. It happens. Quick look up, by the way. Gretzky has about 40 more playoff goals than Ovi. So give him another 40-point start. We're laughing. So during the parade, Stanley Cup parade,

of course, the back of the float, all the big boys with the Stanley Cup, they gave me the President's Trophy. And the thing looks like a dish. It's like, who wants that? So ugly.

It's like, I was like. You've got the red, white, and blue metal around your neck. I was trying to pass it on to like some of the guys. I'm like, hey, you carry this thing for a while. They're like, I don't want that thing. President's trophy. So the Rangers are the favorite at plus 225 for the President's trophy. The Panthers are the next closest, plus 350.

Colorado, plus 450. The Canucks are plus 550. So I guess they have the most points. Tied for the lead and plus 450. So good value there, but they're obviously hedging against not having Demko there. Right? Like they think that they may go on a little slide here without Demko. And I know Smith's been good since he's come in, but, you know, that's probably the reason there.

And then the Canes are 7-1. So that's who... Just get Demko ready. Canes 7-1, 98 points. Buddy, there's your bet. That's actually a great bet. There's your bet. Oh, go ahead.

I was just going to ask about Detroit and Washington. Where is it laning? Detroit is a underdog tonight. They're plus 105 in Washington. Washington's minus 125. I don't know. To me, they're just two teams. I have no idea.

Yeah. What side of that would you be on? I didn't love, I don't, like the Red Wings, it's like if you can just take away the grade A scoring, like who's in that Reimer East? That Reimer is like, you know, they're going to be leaning on here. I don't feel super confident in their goaltending.

And Charlie Lindgren in Washington has had a very good year. So I guess I prefer Washington. Yeah, that Huso contract for them has not worked out. Got the Corpus Allo ones badly. Some off-season contracts for goalies. So Huso has played two games since december 18th there's just no way and i include corporate sallow here uh and and

huso like you just you write it off yeah and you're let's see them in training camp let's see what kind of start they can get but you're you're you cannot embarrass yourself by admitting you made a bad decision in 12 months it's just not happening yeah you got to get give these guys a chance next year to come back and save your decision yes um the other ones i was looking at quickly the oilers are pretty big favorites in winnipeg tonight winnipeg's been struggling a bit. Maybe we'll talk about that a bit in news and notes. But, you know, I think Edmonton has minus 130 faves on the road against the Jets. If you think the Jets are going to bounce back in a big game against a, you know, conference rival, another Canadian team, not bad value on the Jets there.

And the last one I'll bring up is the Florida Panthers are minus 140 favorites on home ice taking on the Boston Bruins. So that's a big one yeah that's the right odds though at least or at least are huge favorites by the way all right minus 160 all right that's game time presented by bet 365 visit the app the latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly all right with the loss last night, the Vancouver Canucks missed an opportunity to clinch, but that doesn't mean multiple teams

won't have that same opportunity tonight. As many as four teams get a chance to clinch tonight. We'll tell you which ones after the break. You're watching and listening to Real Kipper and Bourne. Teeing up the biggest games of the night it's the fan pregame with alish forfar and justin cuthbert weekdays at 6 p.m on sportsnet sportsnet 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcast 12 games on tap tonight with the Bruins, the Rangers, the Panthers, and the Hurricanes all in a position to clinch tonight.

Hmm. Out of the four, who do you like? I mean, tonight in their games or to finish atop? The best team of those four. Best team of those four. Bruins, Rangers, Panthers, Canes. I like the Panthers in the playoff series, the Hurricanes in the rest of the regular season.

How about you? The Hurricanes intrigue me. I like their D. Up front, they've had some success in the playoffs, but they have not been able to get over the hump either. Yeah. And I'm just wondering if they've got that, that to go up against the Panthers.

You know what I'm talking about. Listen, F-U. They're a little leafy, you know? A lot of skill guys. Not a ton of heavy playoff. Not a ton of, I will fight your mom. Martin Nook. He'll do it.

Jordan Stahl. And the little Brad May attitude. Yeah. Right, Derek? I don't know if you can find that. He's probably busy recording something I say. But on the back end, like, they're long, they're not mean. Slavin, Burns, Pesci, Orlov, those are big bodies,

but they're not mean. So, yeah, it will be interesting to see if... Can you just good your way to a Stanley Cup or do you have to be angry too? They're very good. Yeah. And the times, the viewings that they've had against the Leafs times i've watched them i just think i mentioned this yesterday when we're talking about it but i love the way they pass they they snap it around and that top line they

got going there with genzel ajo and seth jarvis they give you everything you want speed skill they just they fly around out there good defensively i to me i've our bookmaker line's ridiculous it's really good well again gensel 15 goals for zero again he's been a hurricane already returning to pittsburgh tonight so oh yeah yeah so that'll be an interesting that'll be an interesting response to see what they think him and sid will hug at opening face off i mean sid loved playing with them they were a great pair. Yeah. And he was really good for them.

And he's been really good for... Turns out he's just really good. Yeah. And he's probably going to get a massive payday this offseason. Did the Blues miss an opportunity last night to keep it close? I think they missed the opportunity. Yeah. I mean, they had a penalty shot in overtime to cut the gap.

The points would have... If they score on that penalty shot, they'd have 81 points. The points would have, if they score on that penalty shot, they'd have 81 points and Vegas would have 84 points. You know, they have three points left there. Is that right? Yeah, I did that right. So that would leave them, you know, a catchable distance away, but instead a five-point gap.

The other team has more games remaining. They have more regulation wins. It's just the mountain's too big. Let me ask you, were they in John Hines' territory, pulling the goalie in OT? That's a great question. Like, it really feels like they were. Yeah.

To me, where it's like, you need the two. The one's not going to help you at all. You got to make sure the other team doesn't get one, too. And I know you'd love to see Vegas miss. I wouldn't. I like Vegas. Oh, okay. No, the whole hockey world wants him in the West. Okay, I like that. Yeah, you're right. okay no the whole hockey i would the whole hockey world okay i like that yeah you're right you got the hat i got the hat i remember you got the hat i

really hope i'm playing the playoffs because i'm wearing it i think it's a horrible message that a team that takes their bat off the shoulders or is aggressive or finds ways to get it done for their fan base, keep it excited, misses the playoffs. I don't want that. I don't want that. So I get that. I like that. I think they should be, like, good for you. That general manager that sits on his butt and does nothing

because he wants to save his job and would not put, you know, his neck on the line doesn't deserve to be rewarded. Yeah, it's the man in the arena, quote, who, you know, better to have been in the arena covered in dirt than be the man judging from a phone, whatever it is. I have no idea what you're talking about. No, you know, the man in the arena story is like a Tom Brady. You don't know it?

Don't look at me. The idea is that better to have been in the arena and fought and lost, covered in blood, sweat, and tears and all that, than to be the person looking in on the outside commenting on it. Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. There's also a Lombardi quote about... Anyway. Let me Google it.

I'm not going to do it. But no, I think it's more interesting... But yes, but I do want to say, it's not that people don't like a guy who's aggressive. Then what? They don't believe it's honest or fair. Oh, okay. We're back to...

We're not back to it. that's what it is it's that if a guy is healthy enough to play and you're saying he's not you're doing a thing that we're saying you can't do it's illegal it's against the rules it's against the spirit of the the whole thing i think it's awesome that it's vegas that's doing this like as just recently being to vegas i've been listening to this podcast about the Mafia in Vegas and how they ran it for years and all this stuff. It's just fascinating to me. And the fact

that they have an NHL team that is just playing by the rules. Running the numbers. Kind of playing by the rules. It's just to me, it's the perfect Vegas team. This is no different than Otani right now. It's like, okay. It's a little different than Otani. You have your theories. It's just to me, it's the perfect Vegas team. This is no different than like Otani right now. It's like, okay, you have your theories, but what are you proving? What are you proving?

Well, that's my comparison. He stole all the money from him. There's nothing else. What are you proving? The burden of proof is on you to prove we're. Vegas bent the rules? No. Otani right now is looking, who's challenging Vegas bent the rules? No. Otani right now is looking...

Who's challenging him on the rules? This is not the Supreme Court, brother. We do not need... We can infer that it's probably a little dishonest without me having to drag out Mark Stone's spleen for you. It's perfectly Vegas. It's what it is. It is very Vegas.

You know, I just... If Gary Bettman had his choice, I think he'd rather have the Vegas Golden Knights In there than the Blues Sorry to Doug Armstrong and the Blues who we love But if he had his choice I think he's taking Vegas They're looking into it like they're looking into Otani

They're like ah checks out That verbal meme of the guy That's like Totally derailed this But what's going to happen with that guy nothing otani nothing he didn't do anything i that's what i said about vegas two seconds ago they didn't do anything illegal i really think that i mean who knows what happened it's all alleged all the details who knows but i saw someone tweet thatonnie has the worst best friend the worst accountant the

worst interpreter the worst bank manager of all time it was like it's an unfortunate he's a great ball player he can't hire worth a damn he just gets his blind spot he can he can throw a slider hit one 500 feet but i cannot do a job interview this guy you catch can't find good help rose yesterday yeah i did What did he say? I wish I had one of those interpreters. I wish I had an interpreter. Yes, back then. Ooh, that's a good line.

But then he made some, actually I did see it, and then he made a joke that explained his joke, and he was like, to cover it up. We got it. We got it. We got the joke. Go back to signing hats in Vegas, pal. I think what's going to happen is that Ipe, his interpreter,

completely takes a fall for him. And maybe in 10 to 15 years. Catches the check. There's a real expose in the story. 10 or 15 years. I don't think there's going to be a huge. I think they're covering it up. It's too big.

He is way too important. Do you know how much money Otani brings into the MLB? Especially him playing for LA and going back to Japan. That is such a massive cash cow for the MLB. They are getting out their industrial broom, baby. They're sweeping. They're sweeping it. I don't know.

This guy just deferred all of his money so he doesn't have to Give the state any taxes Well Is he playing for A million a year Yeah he's playing for A bag of chips And a half Yeah

Then he's gonna be Bobby Bonilla Times a thousand Till he's dead I don't know what happens Alright Good hockey talk Listen

He's my least favorite Player in the league And I hope he gets busted And never plays again There you go He broke your heart Broke my heart him and jonte porter can start a uh anyway okay let's get it back on the rails here with uh with torts because he went back on the podium yeah he didn't end a press conference the other night very well and he apologized for is

that what happened he got asked about the backups felix sandstrom right the and he got asked about him and basically he was like being a big double tap the podium was like you know being a piss baby i don't know if i can say that on the radio you can say anything once but it just not answering a question being upset being emotional no different than how he treated his captain. Yeah. Well, the funny thing is I actually heard Torts made an apology for how he handled the post-game press conference. It was what I had heard.

Yeah, do you have the clip? Oh, no. Yeah, no, do you want to hear it? Sure. But I was just going to say I thought it was going to be about Couturier. No. It isn't. Are you crazy?

Yeah. Let's hear the clip. We'll go tonight, and we'll make decisions as we go through here. So I made a terrible mistake with you guys. I'm not sure. I think you might have asked me about Sandy. My body language is wrong. What I should have said to you was I tried to communicate with you guys after.

He's trying. Sandy's trying we've been uh things happened this year that put this our goaltending situation into a a little bit of a state of flux Sandy did not deserve that for me you had a perfect right to ask the question uh he did not deserve that for me um and it was wrong so how we go about it with him uh we're just not getting too far ahead we're just worried about this game here tonight earth gets a start oh god he voted shelvin keith he apologized i've made a huge mistake that reminded me of uh daryl sutter with jacob pelchier i mean i don't think daryl apologized but they're like randomly dismissing a young guy what number did he wear tonight just that it like just the the process the tug of war with him and what he's thinking at the time and how he's not able to necessarily control his emotions

just kind of yeah torts and then he has to come out and apologize like that and i just i just wonder like how stable is he well is that a fair question to ask when a guy swings like that on the podium yes it's fair It's like the third time this year we've had torts at the podium stories. There are 32 teams and 32 coaches, and we haven't had three per coach. I can tell you that. He has a history of it. He's been around the game a long time. When he's asked about his goaltender,

how can he not come up with the process of coming to the conclusion that he can say what he just said then yeah how do you need 24 hours to go back and go i made a terrible mistake one or two things you're a pro he's doing around forever or he likes it maybe he likes the attention loves it maybe he likes attention i I just don't understand. Like, you've been around the game such a long time. How can you not come to that quick conclusion that you need to answer this in a professional manner

without degrading your player? Particularly when you've just been through such scrutiny in press conferences over Couturier, you think you'd, I don't know, kind of be on guard and trying to avoid making waves. you could apologize for the way you handled that too if you're forgetting apologies i don't know i am curious to see how that plays out with him i thought it was really an interesting story doug mclean saying that he could see torts going into management with philly maybe barubi coming in to coach the team. Like, I don't know.

Like, it does seem a little dangerous because of what you talk about having him coach right now. Just emotional. Great stories. I don't know what we're putting him in a president of hockey ops. Like, that's what Keith Jones is for is for where would he fit in probably like a special where between briere and do they make up keith jones they do they'll be like he'll be the special assistant to the general manager's friend he's the tree planters assistant and if

you're craig bruby and you'd really like job, but it comes with Tortorella above you looking down and dealing with him. It's funny because him and Keith Jones, I mean, the three of them, Torts, Keith Jones, and Berube, none of them are take BS guys. Like you could see it being perfect or awful. You know, like if they don't fit on an issue it could be dramatic yeah and is i like the powder keg idea is is berube different enough from torts that's a good point too right like i i think they're obviously different guys but like their styles i think would be pretty similar or whatever i heard you know uh on jd's show berube went on

there and said that like he didn't have a problem with the scratch and that he hadn't played. Oh, it's Couturier. Yeah. Really? And that he hadn't, like, scored and that he hadn't played very good and he had no problem with it sort of thing.

So, like, if he's saying that, you know, would he be the type of guy that's going to change? I don't know. Anyways, interesting. To me, they're one of the more fascinating teams in the league. Keep an eye on them. They're not going anywhere, though. They're going to make – they're fine in their position.

They're not going to blow this, are they, with that goal, Tenny? No, they're not going to blow it. There's not anyone good enough chasing, I don't think. You? The wheels would completely have to fall off, right? Yeah, they're all right. Well, so, yeah, I guess it's, they could drop down to the, no, they could, I mean.

Right? No, they, what do you think wins it? I think 91 points gets you in. You do? 91 points. I think if the Caps lose tonight, maybe it's 90. If they win, maybe it's 92. But you're talking between 90 and 92 points gets you in.

So if you're the Devils, you got 10 games remaining. That means 20 possible points. That's 94 points. They can only lose a couple of points down the stretch. But above that, Islanders, Red Wings, any of them get hot, it could be conceivable. You'd have to get really hot. So here's the Flyers' remaining schedule.

They play the Rangers tonight, which is a tough one. And they go Habs, Blackhawks. Dub-dub. inconceivable you'd have to get really hot so here's the flyers remaining schedule okay they play the rangers tonight which is a tough one and they go habs black ox dub dub uh islanders sabers blue jackets canadians and then rangers devils caps pretty soft schedule down the stretch so i think they should be all right we shall see see. All right. Jets have kind of fallen down the Central Division race a little bit here. They lost three road games in four days by a combined score of 13-4. Meanwhile, the Preds, by the way, 15-0-2 in the Central of late. Climbing up, getting hot. But, yeah, the Jets are interesting.

I know that in the first half of the year and more, Connor Hellebuck had interesting i know that uh in the first half the year and more connor hellebuck had been the best goalie in the nhl they've been okay in front of them and only okay um you know he's been a little bit better than okay but yeah a little concerning that they're kind of trailing off a little bit edmonton and vegas the next two games tonight and thursday so it kind of you'll get a better feel for where they're at yeah i think going into the last few weeks playing a couple really good teams definitely one of the races to watch nashville five points behind them i don't think there's any concern there who've won five in a row you're usually just going to continue to yeah uh listen i did it with the oilers when they were struggling early in the year sometimes you

gotta stick to your guns and preds are plucky man they play hard they've won five in a row and ever since they banned the the sphere they've been red hot yeah okay and is roman yosi not like one of the best defensemen who just doesn't ever really get the notoriety he should? Yeah, you'd love him to be somewhere people watch him more. And I'm not saying Nashville's not worth watching. He's so good. Yeah, he is unbelievable. I mean, he's won the Norris, hasn't he?

Yeah. Yeah, okay, so people know that he's good. I know, but you don't... Here we go with the underrated thing again. Yeah, he is, But it's Nashville. It's just Nashville. He's not underrated. He's been on this all-star team multiple times.

He's talked about as one of the best guys in the league. Most underrated player in the league is Nick Ehlers. I was going to say Rupe Hintz. And I don't know. The sleeper signing, too, is Ryan O'Reilly in Nashville. God. Yeah, but, like, if your team and your first line center is Ryan O'Reilly, you're probably not that great.

20 minutes every night. Man, Yossi is having a monster year again. Monster year. 24 minutes. He plays 24 minutes a night plus 18. 72 points in 71 games. 18 goals, 54 assists. Massive season.

Yeah, like he could be in the heart conversation. He won't be because we always give it to the points guys. Norris? Well, yeah, the Hughes... Not even a sniff. People like made their mind up on Hughes. Kael McCarr or Hughes, but no Roman Yossi ever in the conversation.

81 points. Maybe he should be. McCarr is at 78. What did you say Yossi was at? 72. So he's nine points behind the leading defense. Is that like, do nine points just take a guy right out of the equation? No, they don't. Absolutely not. And I think it does.

That's when you go to the underlying stats and everything else. But no, he's in the mix now for sure. He has a great 10 games to close. Look out. All right. Big games on tap tonight. Pick your favorite and then join us tomorrow as we dive right back into the real Kipper and Bourne show.

Our thanks to general manager of the New Jersey Devils, Tom Fitzgerald. Yes, sir. And Chris Osgood, who's covering a big Washington-Detroit game tonight. And held the phone to his ear. Have a great night, everybody. And we're back tomorrow.