Real Kyper & Bourne - Quest for the Cup Commences

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee open with last night's Leafs' win over the Rangers in their final game of the season, William Nylander getting to 40 goals, Mitch Marner missing out on 100 points and if Matthew Knies proved enough in his limited action to warrant some time in the playoffs. They are joined by David Amber (22:52) who discusses the mental aspect of the Leafs/Lightning series, the impact of Ryan O'Reilly's experience, and the possible consequences if the Leafs can't get it done in round one. Then, Doug MacLean - on for his Off-the-Rails Firday visit (40:12) - shares his thoughts on the Leafs' bottom six finally ready for a run, why Knies shouldn't be rushed into the lineup, why it's now or never for this core and some playoff matchups he's keying in on. Finally, Oilers Now's Bob Stauffer gives an outlook for Edmonton's first round matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' career season, the irreplaceable impact of Mattias Ekholm (1:04:07).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.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Our last off the rails Friday of the regular season. Next two hours, Nick Kiprios, Justin Born, Sammy McKee, David Sissboomba, Derek Brandeo pushing all the right buttons for y'all. Thanks for coming along for the right buttons for y'all. Thanks for coming along for the ride for the next two hours. JB via satellite on YouTube. Semi in.

Would that be considered the on deck circle or are you at bat right now? I think I'm at the plate. Barney is whatever AJ Hinch did to Javier Baez last night. That's what you are right now. That is a hyper-specific scenario that I did not see. Last night, he made a base running error, big-time bozo base running error. And A.J. Hinch said, come with me, bud. They went down into the clubhouse, had a conversation. Javier Baez came up, untucked his stuff, grabbed his hat, and walked out.

How early was that? What was that? Maybe second inning? Third inning? That is... I love that story. Me too. I mean, they're a terrible team.

They are a dreadful baseball team that's probably going to lose close to 100 games. But you still have to act like a professional, right? And Baez is making a lot of money. A lot of money. So, yeah. Like, and... Humiliating. Humiliating. But the Jays did end up losing. So, to a humili of money. A lot of money. So, yeah. Humiliating. Humiliating. But the Jays did end up losing, so

to a humiliating team. And now the 13-0 Rays come to town, baby. A chance at history for them if they win tonight. It's the first time in the history of the Major Leagues of Baseball the team has started 4-0. Well, actually, the modern era. Who's on the hill for the Jays? I believe it's Jose Barrios. So the question I ask

you, Sammy, and JB as well, are the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, is that what they're called? Devil Rays? What are they? No Devil in a long time. They haven't been Devil Rays in 20 years. Are the Rays the Jays

or the Jays Boston Bruins to the Leafs this year? No. The Rays are always going to... Not just this year, forever. The Rays have always been a pain in the ass to the Jays. Are they going to run away with this? My point is, are they going to be this year's version of the Boston Bruins

from start to finish running away in the division? I haven't watched enough of them, but they have absolutely elite pitching, and their lineup is absolutely elite pitching and they're and they're their lineup's pretty good and they've been red hot hitting so i don't think their hitting is going to keep up but if you can pitch you can win a lot of games their run differential through 13 games is plus 71 yeah they're 13 games they are playing well i mean they're 13 and oh

they're playing literally as well as you can play. So anyways, our daily five minutes of Blue Jays talk now. I didn't watch the game, but I did notice a lot of empty seats towards the first and third baseline. Was everybody just at the patios? People are in the patios. And people, it's getting contentious in the ejection section. I don't know if you've seen those at all. There's some videos coming out now. Oh, really?

Yeah. Ejection section. Is that what we're calling it? That's what I'm calling it. That's what you've seen those. Oh, there's some videos coming out now. Oh, really? Yeah. The Jackson section. Is that what we're calling it? That's what I'm calling it. That's what I've coined it. And it's getting contentious. There was one where, because they have to, well, they go, it's up top, right? And that's it.

They walk down the steps. And right beside there is like a big seating section. And as the guy, Jason Shreve, which is the weirdest name of all time, when it's going down the steps, a guy came over out of the stairs and like, from me to you away, Kipper. Not even like, went grabble, grabble, grabble

right in his grill and he just walked straight past him. So, yeah, I don't think they're going to let it continue. I bet you there's some changes before the end of the year. It's too close. Anyways. Well, let's just hope the cooler heads prevail before something bad happens and then you're forced into it. Yeah, I would years too close anyways well let's just hope uh the cooler heads prevail before yeah something bad happens yeah and then you're forced into it yeah i would agree but we'll see there's some

some drunk people near professional athletes is probably not a great combo but we'll see okay the toronto maple leafs and their 82 game season in new york is the rangers madison square garden in fine fashion come from behind win. You want to talk about baseball, another no-hitter. Milestone no-night for some, including Willie Nylander, including the Leafs getting their 50th win. But Marner falls short. Were you watching towards the end just for that moment of Mitch

getting a point? Empty net? I mean, the script was written for him to hit it. Barney, I don't know how you feel, but I was really, really invested in him getting it. I just feel the way he played this year. It's a season fitting of having that nice milestone on top of it. And I loved the broadcast last night. Give the other guys credit. They're talking about Sheldon

Keefe just went over to him and said, no matter who comes, they're going over the boards. And Luke Shen comes and then they send Mitch Vard out there. Mike Johnson's like, oh, they really meant anyone. That's pretty good. It's stunk that he didn't get it. You sit him down

two games in the last week. The Red Wings one is the one. The Red Wings one is the it. You sit him down two games in the last week. The Red Wings one is the one. Right? The Red Wings one is the one. You sit him down in two weeks, but now you're like, whatever it takes in the last minute. 100%. It's kind of strange.

How many did you play last night? I'm just looking up. Minutes? I don't know, but it must have been two of the last three. I would think he still got 18 and a half in. I don't think it crawled up there. I mean, we saw too much of Timmons last night to think that he was up. Like he has been on top minutes this season for him.

You got it? Leafs finished with 100. He was 23. Oh, he was that much. We probably played the last four minutes of the game. Well, his tongue was hanging out towards the end trying to get it. And that play that Keiondre Miller made on the pass, I don't know who made the pass, but he was leaking.

He had him wide open, and he tried to saucer it to him, and Keiondre knocked it down out of midair to deny him a breakaway to the empty net to get his hundredth point of the season. But JB, do you remember playing and certain guys needing milestones and the team rallying around that and, and saying, come on, we got it. We got to get it for this guy. We, we got to, we got to, we got to do this for him. Yeah, I do. I was a kid in junior, you know, that we liked and who was close to 100 points

i just i remember as a player like it's really hard to do anything about it you're always trying to score i was anyway trying to create like i wanted the puck in the net all the time so you know i personally don't remember feeling like you know you force a pass here and there if you can but it's tough as a teammate to make it happen. A couple stories. One junior one in particular. We didn't have a great team, but one of the veterans on the team in North Bay, Rob Nichols, was going after 40,

which, you know, he's never a real top prospect. It was just a great number and how we felt when he got it. And it was like a victory number and and how we felt when he got it and it was a it was like a a victory in itself for the team and you know the other thing too is i played in an era where individual bonuses made some guys a lot of money they're not allowed right now because of the salary cap you can't go and say hey austin you hit 50 and 60 goals. We're going to give you an extra 200 grand.

Those days are over. That's too bad. I like performance bonuses. But we had them. We knew who had them. Sometimes it got out in the media. Sometimes it didn't. But when we knew that certain guys needed one or two goals to hit a bonus,

and knowing that a really nice team dinner was coming after that bonus, and the player made that announcement, that, boys, I'm in for 40 grand on this next game if I can score one or two goals. But trust me, we're going to go out and have a good time on it. Boys would go hard. Let me just throw this to you. I'm going to throw this to JB and then you.

Did some of his teammates let him down in the last last night or in the last week not not helping him achieve that goal i you know personally i don't think so i you know everyone's trying to do their best i don't think anyone looked them off and or denied him it or whatever i you know they they played them when the they could last night and i think you'd see everyone trying for them at the end. Did they go over the top last night to try to get it? Willie took it into his own hands. Oh, my God. Willie didn't need anybody last night.

No. Right? He was looking for All-Star Game MVP last night, Willie Neely. Willie hurt his own stock last night by being that good because it's like, wait, you could do that whenever you want? I know. It all depends on what... If that was a game in November,

I'd be calling him the biggest puck hog I've ever seen my whole life. He was not thinking fast last night. No, he wasn't. But that's okay. Yes, of course. Because there's nothing on the line. We all know that you're going after 40. It's, you know, last night you were the ultimate cookie monster.

But the difference between Mitch and Willie is Willie will wear it. Like, he was the most selfish hockey player on the ice last night. No question. But Mitch doesn't play that way. It's never his look that he's going to do anything different than what he's done all season long. There was one play, I don't know when it was in the game, but Marner got it to Matthews beside the net, and he made the nice move to the backhand,

and he just missed by like a centimeter. He had the top corner and it would have rounded off everything because willie had already got his 40th at that point you know achari had got his 100th points which was just as important as these other ones right kipper could charlie get into 100 points and that's a big one for him too and then um having matthews get his 300th marner get his 100th it was centimeters away so it's here's the thing it's hard to get points in an NHL game. And the fact that Marner got 99, he's a 100-point player.

We will be talking at the end of his career, Kipper, that he has had five, six, maybe seven 100-point seasons in his career. Like I think I saw someone say that McKinnon got his first one. Was it this year or last year? Like it's hard to get to, obviously, unless you're Connor McDavid or someone like that. But it just, I think he's going to get to it, but I just really wish that he had to put a bow on the season that he's had.

Yeah, you certainly don't want him feeling disappointed or anything like that. You want him feeling good going into the postseason. But, you know, can't be everyone. There are a lot of guys who accomplished great things, and Mitch is foremost among them. The team got to 111 points last night. I mean, that's a heck of a season for a team that started,

I forget what they were to start the year, 2-4-1 or whatever it was. You know, just one more note on Marner. And, you know, this is a guy that gets 100 points. And if you really look at the lines that he's played on, this isn't for the most part of like even a guy like Brad Marchand where you can sit there and say, okay, off and on, on and off. But it's been Patrice Bergeron, right? It's been Pasternak.

Look at Mitch's left wingers this year. Malgan. Yarncroft. I forgot Malgan that happened. Kerfoot. He's not playing on the left side with a huge point producing

guy here. It's either Matthews or Tavares. We're both pretty good. If he would have had a I don't know, a guy like Matthew Nyes maybe in a few years in his prime, the guy could be looking

at 130 points, 140 points. How many points has he left on the table because they've never gave him a front line left winger to play with as well. That's another thing to add to how good he is at 100 points playing with one point producing

legitimate number one guy. I don't know. I'll let you get in here too, JB, but I feel like a lot of lines are more two guys and one other not as good guy. I don't feel like it's a lot of times across the NHL where it's three top guys in a line. Outside of Boston, like you said, Tampa

maybe. The teams that are going right up against... But those are contending teams. Yeah, for sure. I'm just saying, what do you think, Barney? The last thing I want to do is come on here today and take anything away from what Mitch Marner has done. It's been an unbelievable season. He's been essential for them.

I don't know that having bad line mates is fair. Like, Jason Robertson's got 109 points with Ropey Hintz and Joe Pavelski. Like, it's, you know, guys play with guys that are not superstars. But I do think that, you know, what he has done has been, without him, you know, they're behind Tampa in the standings. Absolutely. No question. Okay, so maybe just to transition into that left wing position.

Again, last night, Matthew Nyes in a position now to be in game one. And again, when I look at the opportunities he has, one main one for him is the fact that he plays the position which is the weakest on the hockey club. And there are openings there for him. But, yeah, our boy Luke Fox, if you want to play a clip here, asked Sheldon about the potential of seeing him in a playoff series which luke fox just doing doing the lord's work and this was his answer so i'll let you guys determine what he fit

what do you think yeah i i would certainly i would feel very comfortable you know uh i mean the playoffs still remains to be seen right that's a different animal but as far as the only test you could have is these three games for him. And he certainly fit in. It's three very good teams, three playoff teams that he's played against. There were four of the teams that were desperate. The same team were going to play in Tampa. And then he went. So in all three games, it certainly looked like he belonged to me.

I'd be very comfortable. You know what I didn't hear? I'm not sure about Kyle or Brendan, but I would be very comfortable. So, I don't know. Did he leave it open that if they're deciding as a group that he's giving Nye his vote? But not sure, really. Let me ask both you guys this. How much time are they spending on this thing?

Because, you know, as a sports talk radio station, it is great fodder for us to talk about, right? Like, it's a thing that we all, it's fun to talk about. It's the shiny new toy. It's a new thing that's a prospect that looks somewhat good in the lineup but in reality matthew nye is like we've talked about he's not gonna win or lose the leafs the playoff series there's so many other things but there are signs now that we've seen that may have been more questionable than they are now one of them is uh speed quick. Can he look like a guy that can fit in?

Can he have more moments like he did, JB, where he's coming off the wall and in a split second driving to the net and trying to stuff off the far post? That to me is a play that I seldom see out of Kerfoot and Bunting in the last half of the season already. He's doing things that maybe some other guys don't necessarily have the skill or the IQ to do. No, listen, I think you guys are probably heading towards being right here

about him maybe getting into the lineup here early. I still just, I don't know. It just feels like such a rush to me. It feels that way, Sammy, because, JB, it doesn't happen very often when guys can step in like this and not look out of place. You know, I think the game has changed a lot. Like, a lot of people are looking for previous reference points. They're saying, who has come out and done this and had great success?

And there's the handful of guys, be it Makar or Kreider or whoever you want to point to. And, you know, obviously Makar is elite, elite, elite. But, you know, the game has changed. And it's not as physical, mean, grindy. It's more speed and skill. And a guy out of college with his size is maybe better equipped to have that success in today's NHL than they would have been 10 years ago so i can't help but say but look at him to

my eyes it's like a no-brainer he is one of the most interesting players on the ice at all times i know i'm watching for him but it just seems to me like he's he's a no-brainer like zach aston reese can't do what this kid does. It just depends how conservative they want to go. I'm not sure Bunting can either. Yeah. That's a good question. So are you... Yeah, I'm starting to come on board a little bit more.

I am. Up the lineup. But we are, again, I've stressed this all season long, weakest link left wing. I'm watching last night they've got panarin they got crider i look at boston they've got marshand they've got bertuzzi they got taylor hall i look at uh tampa bay and you see uh probably goals between Hagel, Colton and Stamkos if he's playing the left side with with point and Kucherov. OK. And then I look at Toronto and I'm going Kerfoot, Bunting and why not Nyes? Yeah, but then you look at those teams and you match up against the right side

and down the middle and it's probably going to be the big time advantage for the Leafs, right? Don't you think? If on the opposite side? I do, but I don't think that's reason not to make to plug Nyes in and fix it. I am going more

and more towards the side of he's going to be in the lineup here. I am going more and more towards the side of he's going to be in the lineup here. I really understand it, but it just seems like such a huge pivot. Yeah, I know. I know. It is. They spend all this time acquiring these bottom six guys

and building up this identity. Listen, they were heartbroken last year that he didn't turn pro. I know. That's how much they loved him and believed in him they waited a whole year and they they loved what they saw right up until unfortunately for him the overtime loss but they've been waiting for him so you both are saying game one he's in i think there's a there's a good opportunity should be right okay and it's a tough decision

should be for you or will be gut feeling says that he'll be in but you know i i they should know their team well enough to understand that uh you know if you have to go to an Aston Reese and say, hey, listen, I know you've come on strong, and I know you've been real good, and from 99 out of 100 times, you wouldn't come out of the lineup, but we're going with a gut feeling. Be ready. I'm going to need you.

We're going to need you. We're in it for the long run here. If you feel like he can handle that and the team's ready for for matthew nice to step in and nobody's nose is out of joint because sometimes that does happen it does it's a reality and i know what the proper answer is hey you're this is the way it is and be a pro about it but if you've got a team that can can handle that and you want to give it a chance, then game one's the right start. And I think you've gone 11 and seven enough over the last month where if you

get him into a game early and you feel like he can't do it, like you feel like it's like, oh boy, I don't think we're going to be able to, he's not, he's, he's out over his head that you would be able to be like, okay,

well we've been juggling with 11 guys, 11 forwards, a lot of different games down the stretch here. Maybe we're a little bit more used to it or whatever, but I just, I'm terrified of the big mistake. I've seen too many big mistakes over the last five playoff runs. So anyways, I'm going to go call DA. JB, like, is that a,

is it set up that if the Leafs lose game one with Nyes in it, that will be a major reason why for you? Because it isn't for me. No. You know, the other thing, you know, the only thing I can think of, Kip, well, there's a couple things. You make a really good point about guys getting their nose out of joint because it's real.

You don't want to, like, upset the apple cart. You got a good team mojo going into the postseason here. But, you know Matthew Nice hasn't been to Toronto yet right like they flew to Florida they went to Tampa they went to New York like he's landing in New York in Toronto for the first time last night and he's got to find where he's staying I presume at a hotel like I wonder if they won't give him a day or two to get settled I know he's got three days till the postseason. I wonder if there wouldn't be some ease him in, give him the scratch for game one,

knowing you're going to put him in game two regardless. I still think he starts game one. That's totally legit on your part of coming in and at least getting to know your surroundings a little bit before you have the weight of the world on your shoulders as early as game one tuesday uh i just don't know if this if they feel like their roster uh is built strong enough on the left side to uh to not get him in early and uh and get him used used to playoff hockey right away. We'll have to wait and see, but it is fascinating.

Do we have Sheldon on Nyes, or should we just go to Sheldon on Willie Nylander? How about that, Derek? Yeah, I think he definitely did. I thought he was excellent, his first period especially. I think he had eight shot attempts in the first period. He was carrying play, obviously got himself a breakaway. So I thought on this road trip, while our team played well,

I thought really Willie in particular had a terrific trip. So it was really good to see him get rewarded in the end with the goal because I think he's really had a nice trip here and should be feeling a little confident going into the playoffs. That's head coach Sheldon Keefe on Willie Nylander. Let's welcome in David Amber, host of Rogers Monday Night Hockey on Sportsnet DA. Thanks for joining us, man. Did you see enough out of Willie last night to say this guy is ready to rock and roll game one?

He certainly looks motivated to get ready. I don't know. Is that too hard? Is that too critical? Oh, you're back. Okay. I thought Sammy lost you there for a second. Are you good? I'm here, but actually I'm hearing myself on repeat.

Yeah, you know what? We're going to try to call you back. Are we, Sammy? No, hold on. Can you hear me? Yeah, that's so much better. All right. I thought you were on Doug McClain's patio for a second there. No, I said Nylander looked motivated to get 40 yesterday,

so I'm not sure. We need some sort of milestone hanging over his head during the playoffs to get him geared up for it. How about that Stanley Cup milestone? Oh, yeah. That would be a welcome idea. I know you've come around on old Willie and some of his play and his motivation level, so I'm sure you're pleased seeing him get to 40.

We were just having the debate about Nye's in or out for game one. What are your thoughts after three days on the top prospect? I might let him watch game one, I'll be honest with you. I didn't hear your guys' debate on it, but I think I'd let him watch game one. I'm of the mindset of having Wayne Simmons draw in. I just have a feeling we saw what Cooper did against Boston, Maroon dropping the gloves nine seconds in. I think he's maybe going to see the skill and the depth of this Leafs team

and see where his team, where they've been pretty inconsistent this year at times, and think about dragging it into the gutter early. And I'd like to have that deterrent there. You know, you have other guys like Luke Shen, et cetera. But I would draw Simmons in in game one and see how it shakes down. And you always have Nyes there as a guy who can sit and watch and sort of see the difference in intensity and pace and drawing. Do you anticipate this kind of series

that maybe the ripple effect of playing Tampa this week will create for seven games? Do you see it, or do you see it kind of settling in? And, you know, at the end of the day, are the Leafs going to have to out-skill Tampa Bay, or is it more in the lines of what we saw the last game well I I think you know last game wasn't a true indicator you know it was very different it wasn't the lineup that the Leafs are going to run out there and and it might be very different for

Tampa as well I I do I think there's going to be a sense of purpose right at game one for both these teams and I certainly hope there is for the Leafs, guys. I mean, they came out of the gate so well last year. I know it didn't finish well, but they won game one 5-0 and tried to make the statement we're ready to sort of slay the giant. And I think they have to take that same approach going into this year's seven-game series. I don't think there's going to be a feeling out process. I think it's going to be ratcheted up pretty quickly to start the series.

That's what I'm anticipating, and I'm hopeful for that. I wrote an article today, DA, about the weight of both teams' pasts and how they kind of hang over this series because the reality is, you know, Toronto finished well ahead of Tampa Bay in the standings, I think 13, 14 points. You know, every metric I could find, the Leafs are the better team than Tampa Bay in the standings. I think 13, 14 points. You know, every metric I could find, the Leafs are the better team than Tampa Bay. How much do you think that mental stuff, though? Tampa Bay's done it. They've won it. The Leafs have been, you know, perennial disappointers.

How much does that stuff weigh on the current rosters as they head into the series? That's a great question, eh? That's a great question. I'm not 100% positive, you know, the Leafs have gotten over the psychological damage, some of the guys. Like, it's going to – they've changed up the roster. That's one thing, right? Like, you know, they brought in a guy like Ryan O'Reilly. They brought in some guys, Luke Shen. These guys have won Stanley Cups, right?

So you've got to feel they're not wearing the burden of what's happened in the past. But for the strong core of this Leafs team, you have to imagine there's still going to be some of that doubt that would creep in if they don't kind of come out of the gate strong and sort of establish right away that they're, you know, a team that they're ready to take on. You know, this foe that's been so incredibly poised for the last three years and have shown they have sort of the the you know championship pedigree so that's the thing i'm really there's this there's the physical part of it but you know kipper's been there and done this before he didn't tell you there's the emotional and psychological part of it right like in 94 when you're looking around your dressing room and there's leech and messier and there's these you know there's these championship caliber

guys you guys probably have the utmost confidence right and that's probably how it is in campus dressing room. Who knows what it's like in the Leafs dressing room? I like to think they're past that psychological bump or they can get past that bump. But if there's any stumbles early in this series, then those questions are going to probably resurface once again. You know, the one thing about 94 is when there was adversity, we had guys that have done it before with Messier, Kevin Lowe, Craig McTavish, for goodness sakes.

All of these guys were so instrumental in calming us down when it needed to happen. When you look around the room of the Leafs, that's where Ryan O'Reilly comes in. No question about that. But is that enough for them? Like this will be Austin's seventh chance to get out of the first round. Is he a guy that brings experience in, or is he still waiting to go through the process first? You know, I, listen, I think, I think some of the moves were very tactical by Dubas, right?

I mean, even the Matt Murray move, and I know it hasn't worked out, but you have to think part of the logic in signing him or trading for him, I should say, was the idea of like, here is a guy who has gotten through that mental block and the ability to win, you know, series and win championships. You know, they add Shen, championship winner. They add O'Reilly, championship winner, con smite winner. You know, that's not nothing, right?

And it also changes the complexion. We're talking about the psychology of it, but it changes the complexion of the lineup. I like the fact that certainly on home ice, you can run Matthews out there against different looks, and then you can run Tavares out there against different looks, and then you can run O'Reilly out there and say, hey, we want you out there, let's say, against Kucherov's line,

and we don't care about you scoring, but we want you to be a thorn in their side and shut them down. So I think it's going to help everyone, the depth that you now have up the middle. And, you know, Austin Matthews, of course, because of who he is, he's going to take a lot of the criticism. But it's been a collective failure. Like, it's just been the whole team, you know,

collectively not getting things done from the goaltender out. So I'm expecting great things from Austin Matthews in the sense that I think is arguably his best six weeks of the regular season were the last six weeks when he's been 100 healthy seemingly he seems to have a bit of that swagger back a bit of that mojo back he's you know shoot I heard your show a couple days ago where you're talking about man he's shooting the puck a lot and he is and that's what he should be doing that's what he's paid for so i'm i have some pretty good optimism that we're going to see the best of austin matthews and and i think you know we don't

need to tell him and marner and riley and all these guys who've been there throughout the last six years what is at stake here and i think we all recognize you know if there's repeated failure that this thing is you know they're not running it back another time there would be massive massive change coming so they know what's at stake and i do feel they're probably more prepared emotionally for that well that's you know kind of where i wanted to go next with you is you know you've been in this market for a long time and seen how the market reacts to failures and disappointments and you know we're looking around the league right now and you know Hextall and Burke are already out in Pittsburgh after a

fairly short 10 years what are the stakes here like is it Dubas is it Keefe is it Matthews I know Kipper wrote a column about that affecting his decision that lays ahead you know do you think it would be that drastic I think it has the potential to be i mean i don't have any inside knowledge you know guys like elliot nick know a lot more than i do about the inter you know workings of of mlse and the maple leafs but you know it goes without saying this is a results oriented business and well this is a they want to avoid the most dubious history you could have i mean they would become the first team ever in the history, a hundred-year history of the NHL. They'd be the first team ever to lose in the first round

in seven successive seasons. Like, that's not something you want to hang on your head. And, you know, Kyle Dubas, we all know it's well-documented. His, you know, it's the end of his contract reign, and that would be sort of the first decision that would have to be made. But I think it could go all the way up to the top, you know, rain and and that would be sort of the first decision that would have to be made um but i think it could go all the way up to the top you know as far as what changes could happen without some level of success here in the next few weeks and you know kyle dubas to his credit i think

he really addressed some of the biggest needs that you guys discuss five days a week on your show right for the least they didn't need to add a ton of skill but what they needed to add was essentially some depth some experience and some pushback and they're gonna have to add a ton of skill, but what they needed to add was essentially some depth, some experience, and some pushback. And they're going to have to meet the intensity you're going to see from Tampa night in, night out. And you know that's coming. I mean, that team has made for this time of year. Even with the attrition they've had and even with their stumbles this year,

you look up and down that lineup and those guys are gamers. And I think you now have added, you know, the Acharis, the McCaves, the O'Reillys, guys who are certainly not going to get bowled over. Leafs might lose because they might lose because that happens, but I don't think they're going to get bullied. I don't think they're going to get intimidated. I don't think they're going to get pushed over the way we've seen in previous years where it hasn't been pretty when the moment's the greatest,

the other team seems to have come out on top and has had sort of that more, the greater ability to rise to the occasion. So how big could the changes be? I mean, I think they could be colossal. They're certainly not just going to say, okay, let's try this one more time. We're talking to David Amber, host of Rogers Monday Night Hockey on Sportsnet. So they announced Berkey Hextall, Chris Pryor gone from Pittsburgh this morning officially. All reports say that Berkey's got his job back at Sportsnet.

So how early is now this schtick that you guys did together? What was it called, you and Berkey, last year? I think you called it What's the Point. What's the Point? It's been a few years. It's been a few years. Dust it off, DA. He's coming back.

You know more. Again, you know more than me. Oh, no, I just read clips. I just scroll Instagram, and I'm getting all my information from the reports, but not a real surprise there. Hey, with the pressure of Pittsburgh needing to win now. Yeah. And you know, we shouldn't, and we're not, and just so we're clear,

we're not laughing about anyone losing their jobs and making light of that because you know, it's a very tough situation. And Brian, we're both friends of his and he's a great guy and a great hockey executive. I just want to make that clear. But yeah, I mean, there's not a surprise. I think when new ownership came in, right away there was people speculating, what's that going to mean for Ron Hextall, for Brian Burke, et cetera. And, of course, they did stick it out and sort of said, well, let's see what we get.

And people got to remember, we're looking at this through a vacuum of, oh, wow, they've had arguably the worst loss in Penguins' regular season history, that loss to Chicago, knowing all they had to do was go in and beat the 32nd-place team and the 31st-place team, and they'd be in the playoffs right now. But we can't look at it in a vacuum. You've got to remember, this is on the heels of last year, having a 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers and having them seemingly down and out and letting them off down and out and letting them off the mat to come back and win that series in seven so this is on back-to-back extremely

disappointing ends to the season and it's a results-oriented industry you know not you know it's it's a very tough industry uh professional sports and you know it's not about what are you going to do for me tomorrow it's like what are you doing for me right now? And if there's dissatisfaction and you have a new ownership group, then it's, you know, you can connect the dots pretty quickly. Now, you know, Brian, you know, I'd love to think he'd have other opportunities in the NHL. And if he so chooses to come back to sports now, that would be fantastic. As you know, he's a good teammate, a great guy and a great TV personality.

So it'd be fun to have him back as a teammate. Last one for me da if if the leafs aren't going to go ahead and win us uh a stanley cup here at sports net which you know we just want a canadian team too we don't care who it is you know i i get to stay employed kipper which would be the goal the uh the question is your thoughts on the oilers odds as they go up against the Los Angeles Kings uh and have won nine straight games heading into playoffs I mean I I like their chances I you know a lot of people are saying Boston Boston Boston and I'm not going to discredit Boston what they've done it's been amazing but I do think there's a tier of three or four teams right there with Boston that I wouldn't bat an eye if they want to Stanley cup.

And Edmonton is one of those teams. I really love the makeup of the team, you know, kudos to Ken Holland. I think he looked at his team and he said, what were the issues we needed to address? And he looked at that series last year versus Colorado and he added some depth.

They, you know, maybe they won the lottery in a sense by Stuart Skinner coming out of the woodwork after the Jack Campbell signing was a failure so far. Stuart Skinner has looked more than serviceable. They don't need Vasilevsky to win the Stanley Cup. They need a Darcy Kemper from last year

because the team in front of them is that talented. And Ekholm, you guys have talked about this on your show, it's re-slotted Darnell Nurse, it's re-slotted Bouchard. It's added a little bit of swagger on the back end that they, you know, quite frankly, were missing for some time. And the size is the other thing, guys, right? Like this DeJarne on the point, he's 6'6", he's a beast. Bukestad is a big man.

Koston, I don't know how they somehow, how they somehow got Koston from St. Louis. That was a brilliant move. He's added a ton of size and a fair bit of skill and certainly maybe some swagger to a team that already has the two best players in the world. Right now, honestly, if Edmonton wins the Stanley Cup, I don't think there's a lot of people in the hockey community who are going to be overly surprised.

Okay, for the record, you and Brian Burkeke had a segment called to the point right oh i just we just got the doink did we did we lose him anyway we lost him okay yeah i think that's what it was called to the point and we'll just have to anticipate whether or not that might be coming back but our thanks to david amber who always does a terrific job, not only for Sportsnet, but for us when he comes on the show. What did you think about the clean slate as early as today, JB?

I know we're going to break in a few minutes here, but I don't know. Don't you wait till the season's over? It's a good question. My impression, Kipper, is that they just waited on the announcement that this had happened. I forget who it was who tweeted it, maybe Rob Rossi, that Burke said goodbye to the staff there on Wednesday,

that Pryor had stopped basically coming in for I don't know how long. It sounds like these guys knew. Yeah, you're right. Maybe the moment that Islander, or sorry, they lost to Chicago. Yeah, again, for me, that's okay. Brian probably knew a while ago. Hextall, probably the same thing. But, like, let the regular season end in the National Hockey League first.

Sammy, let me ask you this. This is more NFL type of style. Don't they just fire like the moment the team... Sorry, Sammy's not in right now. Oh, where is he? Did he go to the bathroom on us? I do not know where he is. I'm sorry.

JB, isn't that the way NFL teams do it now? Like the moment their team is done, they clean house. Yeah. No, you're right. It is. They showed a real urgency to start over. So interesting to see who comes in there next. I know you had mentioned Dubas's name had come up.

I guess it depends how things go in Toronto for that to be of real interest. Listen, we're going to go to break, but we're going to follow up that comment that you just made about Kyle Dubas all of a sudden being linked to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Also, Doug McClain, what would Fridays be without Doug and taking us off the rails? Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, will come by and talk to us about a first-round matchup with the LA Kings.

Plenty of more still on Real Kipper and Born. Don't go away. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Merrick Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Nick Kiprios, Justin Born. Let's welcome in the guy that we named Off the Rails Friday for,

Doug McClain. What's going on, Mac? You okay? Yeah. Tough grind. Working the real Kipper and Bourne show for 82 regular season games. I did.

I did 55 minutes of yoga this afternoon. And I, I feel like a pretzel. I feel like I'm, I feel like a million dollars, a little stiff, but anyway, I got to get on.

I have a little swim after, but no, you know what? I feel like a million dollars. A little stiff, but anyway, I've got to go down and have a little swim after. But no, you know what? I feel like 1967. I just think it's the year. I think the Leafs are going to do it. I really, really, after watching that Ranger game last night and the last couple of games, I feel like it's 67, punch him, lack King Clancy all over again.

Okay, I don't... Yeah, listen. Let me tell you something. I can't tell you the number of messages I got after you last week saying, okay, you were at your crustiest best. And now I don't know what to make out of this comment about 67 Leafs. Well, you know what? Here it is.

If you, what is it, 19 years since they went around? All right. Sammy? Whatever it is. I was in high school. Whatever it is. Yeah. So it's been a long time.

And, like, they've had five or six tries with this group to get it right with their bottom six. It looks like they've done a good job with their bottom six. We know they have the star power up front. We know they've got the great power play. We know that they've entered their mind that they should check a little bit, that they should, you know, play, you know, on the right side of the puck in the right situations. You know what I mean?

It looks like they've caught on to that. My only concern is who is Samsonov back? Is he going to play? Samsonov is healthy. He's ready to go. So he just had a rest is what he did. He just took a rest and put the university guys in there, and he just had a rest.

Good. And the young kid from the Marlies. So, hey, you know, right now, if they don't win this series, if they don't win this series, I will never pick the Leafs to win a series again. That's how bad they

better win this series. Tampa do not look good. I said a month ago, and you guys laughed at me, I said Vasilevsky doesn't look good. You guys said I was crazy. Their penalty killing is horrible. It's been horrible. They've got some injuries.

Like if you can't beat them right now, you are in a world of hurt. So I'm picking the Leafs to win the series i am and i think they may win it in five or six games maybe five well you know the things that they need the other team to be uh include a team that gives up some chances and doesn't penalty kill well and yeah tampa has been that for them so you know if it's coming down to the margins for them their lineup decisions will be important they don't have a ton to make but there's nize or like aston reese or lafferty one of those guys and then there's shen or lilligran where do you sit on who should draw in for game one i in game one i'm going with the most experience they can put on the

lineup. That's where I'm going. I mean, you're playing one of the most experienced playoff teams in the NHL. You have got to go with your veteran lineup. Look, I like Nyes. I love the play. Hey, what a great move he made to the net last

night. I don't know who was defending against him, but he made a hell of a move to the net. He looks good in the two games I've seen. But, but, I, you've got to go with your most experienced group. Austin Reese has had a good year. Lafferty has come in. I was a big fan of his. Nick sort of said he was a pretty good player.

I watched him a couple nights. I liked his game. So he's a more experienced guy than Nyes. And Nyes is a guy, if you have success and get some injuries, don't rush this kid. He's a kid. He's got no experience. This is a Stanley Cup playoff.

This isn't the silver stick in Sarnia, for God's sake. You know? It's good hockey. Seriously. Silver stick. What is? The silver stick. I know it, for God's sake. You know? It's good hockey. Seriously. Silver stick. What is? The silver stick. I know it is.

I've been there. I was there with Clark. But anyway, this is big boy hockey. So, you know what? Go with your best lineup. That's who you got to go with. Hey, is there a chance that Tampa Bay knows that they are inferior in a lot of ways and will be the underdogs, and they're just going to try to drag the Leafs into the alley here.

Well, I hope, you know what, if they try to drag the Leafs into the alley, then you better be smart about that and let Tampa take the penalties. Let Tampa Bay take the penalties. Let Perry, don't let Perry, who, you know, you love Perry for what he's done and accomplished in his career. You love him. But don't let him drag you down unless, you know, let him take penalties. And Bunting, tell him to shut his mouth, keep his mouth shut,

just play hockey. That's all he has to do. Forget about all the other garbage that he loves to get into. He drives me crazy, this kid, by the way. And I hope he's smarter because he's a good player. So I hope he plays hard, hard-nosed hockey, and helps them. But they can't get – if they're going to get dragged into this dogfight, I don't like that.

I think they should let Tampa push that envelope and kill them on the power play. I asked this to David Amber, but I'm curious to get your take, too. Do you think their pass is a matter? David Amber is – just a minute. David Amber is a host. I'm an analyst. That's why it's getting re-asked, Doug.

We're getting another crack at it. What are you going to say to piss me off right now? That David Amber said this? David Amber disagreed with me? Okay. I want to know, do you think their pasts matter? We've said that we think Tampa Bay is struggling. The Leafs look better. Do you think that there is some mental block for the Leafs

or some mental advantage for Tampa having had success in the past? There's been enough turnover. There's been enough turnover that it shouldn't be a factor. Really, with the turnover they've had in the last year. And also the fact that Marner's a star, Matthew's a star, Nylander's a star, Tavares better be a star, O'Reilly's a leader. At this stage of these guys' careers,

if they don't win this series, they may never win a series they they are mature enough now they're talented enough now they got enough new guys that haven't been through this i i don't think it's a factor i really don't we're talking to doug mcclain former nhl president gm and head coach you know tons of speculation now that the word came out that Ron Hextall and Brian Burke are no longer in Pittsburgh. There's a lot of people linking Kyle Dubas' name to Pittsburgh. Mac, we've had conversations about how rare it is that general managers and coaches do not get the last year on a deal just as a buffer.

He's got no job as of July 1st. I imagine that his contract aligns with the players. Behind the scenes, is it rare for a guy like that to not have at least his reps or people around him feel other scenarios out. And I only say this because I lived through it in 1994, going through the Stanley Cup, and then us hearing the rumors of Keenan linked to Detroit

and how you had to kind of battle through that. And we had a veteran team that could do it. But, you know, what are your thoughts now on how coaches or GMs, if they feel like something may be up with their immediate future, is it unheard of to think that you might be interested in finding out what other markets and what's going on there? Funny, I heard the Dubas thing today that, you know, whoever's contacted who, there's been some talk. I've heard that.

I heard it today. So I chuckled when I heard that. And I really chuckle about the Keenan thing. I really chuckle about that. So it's gone on since 94. And I told you this story before i get fired in detroit the day when you guys were in the finals brian murray and i got fired detroit and i'm talking to scotty bowman the night i got fired and he said uh scotty was the head coach i was assistant gm

brian was a gm and scotty says to me well it't matter, Doug. I'm not going to be here either. Keenan's coming in here. So I tell my buddies in PEI, one of them happened to be the radio station guy that Keenan was going to Detroit and all of a sudden he puts it out on the wire and Keenan goes to a press conference the next day in front of 750 people and said, oh, it's all BS.

Doug McClain just made that up and said it. Did the radio guy say that you were the source? No, he didn't say I was the source, but Keenan knew it was this Summerside radio station and Keenan knew I was from Summerside.

So Keenan says that in front of 700. It's in the damn book. Barry Mizell's book. It's got the whole story in there. You're a leak. You're a leak. So I was a leak. So anyway, the guy, my buddy at this little radio station in PEI is losing his marbles.

He put his phone underneath six pillows because he said it was ringing nonstop. People from New York wanted to talk to him and people all over north america in the meantime i hear keenan say at the press conference that it was me i phoned keenan's house that night and scream into the get his voicemail and scream into his voicemail you idiot keenan what are you doing shooting your name up, shooting your mouth up? It wasn't. How do you know it was me, you clown? And I'm screaming in the phone. And Jill sitting at the kitchen table with two little kids saying, have you lost your marbles?

What are you really doing? Oh, my God. Anyway, and then I phoned the radio guy. He said, I can't believe you put that out, you idiot. And he said, when I phonedoned him his phone was jiggling on the receiver he said he knew it was me so anyway that was the keenan story so yeah it happens the guys are looking for damn jobs all the time you know it's a tough business so i don't know if dubas is phoning them or who is but i've heard his name i've heard it today so if i've heard it

and i'm not spreading it this time you you spread it. I'm not spreading it. I'm not saying a word, bud. What is proper etiquette, Doug? Like, you know, should you wait until you're fired to start looking for jobs? Or is it fair once you're worried about your position to start talking to people? What would be decent etiquette for a GM? You know what? I told you the Craig Patrick story when the resume came

and I was still working, looking for a job. I told you guys that story. I think it's horrific. I've never, you know, I've heard of guys in the league doing it. It drives me crazy. It drives me crazy. And I've seen it. I've been with a media guy in Toronto when the Leafs job was open

and this guy who was a leading candidate for the job texted the media guy sitting next to me and said, hey, get my name out there. It's starting to slow down a little bit in Toronto. And this guy was a GM for another team at the time. I hate it. I hate it. And, you know, if you have a contract, you have a contract,

and you go until the end of the contract. But there's lots of guys around the league that uh that pull it and you know they can do what they want i never did it maybe i should have done it i don't know if i would have done it maybe i wouldn't be doing these damn radio shows i would be still working but i never it never entered my mind to pull something like that it really didn't jb you want to know the proper etiquette? Don't get caught. Yeah, that's the proper etiquette. Don't get caught.

Right. I read today Berkey's going back to Sportsnet. We just had David Amber. I thought he could get an early scoop on their segment, but David clamped up really fast. He needs to be elite like you.

I read it in Pittsburgh today that he was going back to sports then. I'm thinking, wow, that happened really quick. Anyway. Fast negotiation. Yeah, I know. It's amazing. Yeah. It's amazing how quick negotiations go when you're not making anything.

That's why you're here with us. Exactly. Anyway, so it's going to be fun what about the jersey new york ranger series like seriously how good a series can the rangers slow down new jersey speed it's going to be really interesting i i mean, I love the Ranger blue line. I really like their toughness of the blue line, the skill of their blue line. Obviously, Fox, you love. And, you know, I mean, the physicalness of Trouba.

I like, you know, the DeAndre Miller. I like the group a lot. I really do. I love. So, Shusterkin, there's no comparison to goaltending. Shusterkin is way ahead. Defense, New Jersey defense has shocked me how good they've been and how effective they've been.

So I think it's close to a wash. Maybe I'd give the edge to the Rangers. But up front, I don't know if it's a Stanley Cup type of group with the Rangers, the way they're two-way game. There's too many of the same type of guys and I'm a little nervous. That's what bothered me with the Tarasenko

and Kane acquisition. One or the other, but not both of them. Now it's throwing off their power play, which is their bread and butter. I'm just nervous about that, but I think it's going to be a hell of a series. I really do. Every year we get all fired up for the postseason.

We talk it all through, and then we come in a couple days in and go, what about the refereeing in that game? It feels like it ends up being a storyline. What are your thoughts on the standard that refs should hold and do hold in the playoffs do they let more go should they let more go that sort of thing you know what i it's really interesting i remember you know yelling at the referees all the time and complain at the referees all the time they remember it too i know they do and i feel like an idiot every time I run into them. I really do. I feel terrible.

You should, you know, some of, you know, every referee that's written a book, I'm a page in one and it's really bothersome. But about what a jerk I was, but you know what? I remember when we went to the Stanley cup finals, I hardly talked to the referees. I hardly, I, I made a pact that it was not going to bother me. It wasn't going to throw me off. And, you know what, we had success, so it was fine. But I'll tell you what, it's so hard on the head. And I hope – there's going to be issues, but I don't know what you do about it. Every year, you're right on the money with your commentary.

Every year, it's a major conversation. And I hope it's not this year, but we're dreaming if we don't think it will be. It'll be front and center, especially if Tampa and these teams try to drag the lease into the gutter, especially if they try to do that. It'll become a major factor. It's like Jersey. You look at their two-way game. You look at the way Heischer plays.

You look at the way the kids play. Look at Brad. They're so fast. Five on five, they're a threat every time they're on the ice. I watched them last night. There was no chance they were going to lose that game, you know, with the way they play the game and the way they play with speed and the way. I just love the way they play.

Lindy Ruff's a hell of a coach, boys. Doesn't get credit, but he's a hell of a coach. I'm telling you that right now. He was my assistant for three years, and I've watched him and talked to him over the years a lot. He is one hell of a coach and doesn't get anywhere near the credit he should. And, of course, you know what I think about Gerard Gallant. So I'm really – this series might kill me, watching this series.

What would be off the rails Friday without mentioning your former team, the Columbus Blue Jackets? I'm watching the stretch. I'm watching the stretch here end it. And you watch Chicago. That looks like an American Hockey League team. And Columbus, who bottomed out to tank for Bedard. And then last night, I'm watching Columbus win. And Chicago fighting for a point.

And Columbus plays tonight against Buffalo. A win tonight in regulation and they'll climb over San Jose. Like, what is going on here? Like, Kekeleinan comes out with a comment. They've hardly won a game all year. And he comes out with a comment that the coaches will not be, will be evaluated at the end of the season, but it won't be on wins and losses.

What the hell are you? Do you evaluate them on what's left? How their practice drills are? What do you evaluate them on? So then, then I'm like, okay, well, maybe it's just, they want everybody to be happy and everybody to be cozy and comfortable and, you know, blah.

Oh, my God. I'm thinking, what am I reading? Then I watched last night when they have a chance to get a generational guy like Bernard and even the second kid out of Michigan is a star. Van Tilly. Van Tilly. Van Tilly. Van Tilly. Van Tilly. And Johnny Gugel placed 23 minutes last night.

23 minutes he played in that game last night. And I'm thinking, maybe sit Johnny down and give him a break, you know, let him have a rest for like a period maybe. Like maybe the third period in overtime, send him in to have a shower. But where is the management? Where is the guy saying, you can't play Johnny Goudreau 23 minutes when you don't want to win? Anyway. Oh, I just, I talked to Jeff Rimmer about it today,

but he had to hang up on me because he thought he was going to have a heart attack. But you can't be a negative influence on him. You saved that for us and our listeners. But like I said, you can still win the lottery. I'm still hoping they're going to win the lottery. All right. So how do you feel about the Canucks? The Canucks are one of the best teams in the last month or two.

They're down to a 3% chance after hiring Rick Tockett. And Bernard's from Vancouver. Yes. Maybe they should have thought of that. Hired Boudreaux and just say, hey, Bruce, we want you to coach the rest of the year, but we really don't want you to coach. We just want you to stand behind the bench.

And listen to the cheers. And listen to the cheers. And listen to the cheers. That big cheer of the head going for them. And let it go. And finish. But no, no. They're the new model franchise. They're the new they're way ahead of everybody and all the analytics and all

my God. Anyway, I just shake my head. Anyway, I'm excited about Monday. Monday, I'm very excited about Monday. Yeah, yeah. Monday, Tuesday, Leafs open up, Tampa Bay. You know what bothers me about this show, though? Let me tell you what really bothers me. We've run out of time.

You guys are so Leafs-centric that I don't even know who's playing who in the West other than L.A. or playing Edmonton. Other than that, I don't even know who's playing who because you guys, all you ever want to talk about is the Leafs. Well, imagine that, having a Leafs show and talking Leafs. Oh, I thought it was your producer there. We've got Bob Stauffer talking Oilers after the break here. We spread the love around.

Bob Stauffer's your Western expert, like I'm the Eastern expert? Yes. Thanks. Yes. and we pay him the same as we pay you seven dollars a show have a good weekend guys go back to your yoga thanks Mac take care guys

alright god we just yeah he didn't disappoint this one this friday either i don't think no the uh it was a good conversation the the nhl draft lottery odds are uh all but finalized if they're not exactly finalized anaheim mighty ducks 25.5 chance of getting Bedard, followed by Chicago at 13, Columbus at 11. San Jose 9. Montreal has an 8.5% chance to get Conor Bedard. Wouldn't that be fun?

Wow. Anaheim just locked it in. And then there's also word that Dallas Aikens will not be back as head coach in Anaheim. Yeah, eight years in that organization. They're really turning it over. There's still plenty to discuss on other organizations. Calgary I want to get to after the break, guys.

And where's Tree Living in all of this in your eyes? So much more to dive into on Real Kipperenborn. Do we want to go to break sammy or are we good yeah i think we're all good i mean um the columbus what they're doing doug nailed it about the playing johnny gaudreau 23 in a meaningless game it's insane i just where we're load manage them we're not listen come on just give the ice time to other players that you're still maybe evaluating or there's just many reasons to just not push like that. There's just no reason to push like that.

And I hate tanking and I hate all of that, but the system's built that way. He's going to be there for the eight years. You don't think that maybe he might want them to have a better player, you know, like I just, it's insane. They played him that much.

Okay. Let's throw it to break and we'll bring back Bob Stauffer. We'll talk Oilers and their chances to really make a mark in the Western conference. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. After the break.

Unrivaled insight, analysis, and opinions on all things, Blue Jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on insight, analysis, and opinions on all things Blue Jays. Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van.

All right, if the Toronto Maple Leafs are the hope in the East, we know who the hope in the West is. Bring in Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now, panelist on Rogers Regional Broadcast for the Edmonton Oilers. Stauff, how are you, pal? Good, Nick. I don't think the Leafs are just a hope. I think the Leafson Oilers. Stoff, how are you, pal? Good, Nick. I don't think the Leafs are just a hope. I think the Leafs are beating Tampa.

So when I see Tampa having to resort to what they've done multiple times here in the back half of the season and going old school, and don't get me wrong, I got nothing wrong with old school. I grew up playing against Todd Ewan, and Mark Tenorti generally stayed on the other side of the ice when Tenorti was out there because he was a killer. But it's a different time and I saw

the Leafs answer the physical challenge the other night against Tampa. I think Leafs fans should be fairly excited. The time has come. They're going to win that series. Alright, so let's just chalk up a Toronto Oiler final right now and ESPN folds. I'll take it.

That'd be awesome. What's going on there with that Oilers team? What, nine straight games here? Like, if they finally put all the pieces there together, it doesn't feel like they have an equal in that conference. In 1990, on February 28th, the Oilers, they got beat by la the 89 playoffs and they went into la and they just threw down and they just got nasty it was one of the most penalized games in nhl history and it was a galvanizing point for the oilers team of 89 90 which by the way

was not as deep as this team is now um and on January the 9th, the Oilers were in L.A., and it wasn't just limited to on the ice. It was an ugly, hostile game. Philip Deneau got upset at Pogliarvi, thrown a big hit and jumped him, and Jesse doesn't know how to fight. The Oilers players were not very happy. Banner Kane was out.

Vincent Desjardins had just been recalled. They were watching up in the press box. I don't think they were very bemused by it. Zach Hyman went and fought Sean Dursey and beat him totally on dry saddle, not to worry about the face-off because he wasn't going to need to finish. There wasn't going to be a face-off because they were going to scrap. Clem Coston finished the game fighting Brendan Lemieux. And then the next time the Oilers played L.A.,

they had DeJarne a 6'6", shot suppressing right D. Kane was back in the lineup through seven hits in the first period against L.A. McDavid knocked Mikey Anderson out of the game. A minute into the game, they had the same Mikey Anderson who, you know, if you're an Oider partisan, you'd say slew-footed Leon Dreisaitl. If you're a Kings partisan, you'd say that he separated Leon from the herd last year in the playoffs.

And the Oiders pounded Los Angeles physically. Every hit was an investment. That game on January 9th turned Edmonton's season around. They have the best points percentage in the NHL, guys, since that game. They went 29-5 and 6 in their final 40 games of the season. They had the best points

percentage in the second half of the year in the Western Conference, even if you include the loss against LA back on January the 9th. They shot the lights out offensively, but it's not just their top-end guys. All 12 of their forwards finished with 10-plus goals.

And then in the last seven games of the regular season, they only gave up six goals against. Oh, and they added Matias Ekholm. He changed things, too. So they've got lots going on. They're a way better team even than the one that you guys saw play in Toronto back in the second week of March. Like the Oilers, they've grown and elevated. Dallas Aikens said late in the year, I know he got fired today,

but he said the Oilers can play it any way you want, and that's changed the complexion, the makeup of the squad. So they're deeper, they're bigger, and they will be the favorite to beat Los Angeles in that opening round. We're talking to Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers Now. Starting the season,onto and edmonton mirrored themselves uh in in a lot of ways one of them was big stars the other one was uh i don't know goaltending um jack campbell was supposed to be the guy never happened in many ways matt

murray was supposed to be the guy here in tor. Never happened. And here we are with Samsonov and Skinner leading their respective clubs into the playoffs here. What's the biggest difference for Skinner and what separated him besides Jack Campbell's inconsistencies? Well, I mean, you guys know the numbers on Jack. He probably finished at minus 22 or 23. Goal saved above expectation. Might have cost Edmonton eight or nine points in the standing. Seriously, it was – now, he did pull it together down the stretch and play better. Skinner's an awesome story for the Oilers.

He's a drafted and developed goaltender. He's right from Edmonton. He actually played for the same athletic club that I used to play with. You know, he's a first-round pick in the Bantam draft, so people knew he was going to be pretty good. I think the Oilers thought they got a break. Nick getting him in the third round. He had one tough year in the minors,

but the Canadian division year was huge for him because he spent the first half of the year up in Edmonton. You guys would both love him. You both played. There's goaltenders that drive you nuts, and then there's goaltenders that just you nuts and then there's goaltenders that just make you believe them because they're calm and they react the same way and they never show up a teammate after a guy makes a bad play that leads to a goal because they know there's

going to be times they give up bad goals he's 24 going on 34 in terms of his maturation he's athletic he's a big man rob Robin Lehner might be one of the guys a little thicker than him. That's about it in the league. He's 6'4 and all of 220. He's a good goaltender. He's on the rise. He's going to be good for a number of years. Tell us about this Edmonton

Oiler power play. I don't know if it finished as the best all-time in history. I imagine it did. But either way, it was one or two. Is there a plan? I know that sounds like a silly thing to say, but is there a structure to it, or is it a lot of

McDavid and Dreisaitl just putting defenses on their heels? I'll tell you a little story about it. They did finish number one all the time, 32.4%. That's the best ever. The Canadians in 77-78 were at 31.9. And Washington, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and L.A. were in their division that year. Those were not world beaters in that division.

So people need to remember that. Leiter's at 32.4. But Monday we were in Denver, you guys. And Edmonton was going pretty good. Leiter's at 32.4. But Monday, we were in Denver, you guys. And Edmonton was going pretty good. It won seven straight games. It only had one power play in the two previous games and wins over Anaheim and San Jose. The Oilers have won 6-1 Saturday against San Jose.

And we're in Denver, and we're about 40 minutes into the practice. And McDavid, Dreisaitl, Newton Newton Hopkins, Hyman, and Bouchard stayed out for 25 minutes after all the other guys were off the ice and sat and worked on switching the positioning and rotating. Traditionally, Dreisaitl plays sort of the right half boards, and McDavid's the middle buffer, and then Newton Hopkins is the right half boards, and McDavid's the middle buffer,

and then Nugent Hopkins is the left half boards, and Hyman's the net front. And they were switching McDavid and Dreisaitl around to change the looks. And Nugent Hopkins and his career, guys, historically, if you look at his points per 60 on the power play, he's been a first-line performer since coming in as a rookie. He's a very underrated part of that power play. They play a ton together. This is, you know, they've been, last four years,

Edmonton's been above 25%. First time that's happened in over 30 years in the NHL. And this year they cleaned up. They were at 32.4. First team in NHL history with four guys, 15-plus goals. We've got that 32, Connor 21, Hyman and Nugent 15 each. So they're good, but they constantly work at it. And I guess that's one of the things I'd say to your listeners is, you know,

David and Dreissel are the Oilers' two hardest-working players. And when you have that, and that's the standard that they're set for all the other guys, that helps other younger players grow and progress and realize what the standard is stuff when when you're drafted first overall like nugent hopkins as a center iceman people expect one day to have 100 point seasons consistently not wait a dozen years to have your first one is is this just a career year for him or it was he always capable of of pulling this off and it just didn't materialize or where is he in your eyes it's funny nick because until this season like first couple years you look at nugent hopkins and shifley and go well rnh is way than Shifley. And then the last three or four years, you'd say Shifley was way better than Ryan.

You know, Shifley finished with 40 goals this year. Nugent gets 100 points. A couple things. I do think it's a career year. He only had 11 goals and 50 points last season in 63 games. But saying that, you know, a couple of seasons, there wasn't one single 100-point score in the games. But saying that, you know, a couple of seasons there wasn't one single 100-point score in the league. Jamie Banton led the league in scoring

one year with 87 points. Like, scoring's gone up. I think Ryan finished eighth. I think he's eighth right now in the league with 103 points at the end of the season. I do think he was capable of more. There's stuff that he does that, well, I mean, you guys would have seen it

because the Oilers played the Leafs and he dusted off Justin Hall. Like, Ryan's not a timid player. I mentioned what happened with L.A. and Deneau pretty much, you know, got a real decisive upper hand on Pugliavi who doesn't know how to fight. Well, Ryan asked him to fight later in the game. He said, why don't you fight a guy that's actually fought before? You know? And

Justin Hall sort of got a backside shot in on Kyrie Yamamoto and he's 6'2", 210, and did a pretty good number on him. So he's a beloved figure here. I don't know if he'll ever get 100 points again because I don't know if the scoring will continue at the pace we saw this season.

But I did think when the Oilers drafted him, he could be a 100-point man in the NHL, I'll be honest with you. I saw him play in Red Deer a lot. Out of the World Juniors one year, he had 27 points in five games. So he's different. You know what?

Like Bedard and McDavid, they're obvious in completely different ways. There's a degree of subtlety to Nugent Hopkins' game, but he makes a lot of quick little plays that puts other guys in real good positions offensively. So what are your thoughts on that first-round opponent, the Los Angeles Kings? I think I've seen Philip Deneau in the number he did against Matthews once upon a time. Kopitar is a perennial Selke type guy. They're among, if not the best defensive team in the NHL.

Is that enough to give you any pause for concern, given the Oilers' main strength, obviously, being an offensive team? Well, I see Todd McClellan every summer. He's a good coach. He is a good coach. They play that 1-3-1. I'm not the biggest fan of that style, but the Oilers showed in the last two games that they played against

LA. They only gave up one goal against. They beat the Kings 2-0 and 3-1. Edmonton didn't have a banner. Kane in the first two games they played against LA, and Kane ran around against the Kings in the final two games. He had seven hits in the first period in the 2-0 win in Edmonton and five hits in the first period in the win in Los Angeles.

The Oilers are a different team than they were last year. They're much more physical, and they've played L.A. a bunch. And when the games have, you know, tightened up, there's been times that McDavid's been able to get a 35 year old Anjay Kopitar out in those deep water, where Connor is just, he's just on another level, right? Like I know they didn't have Dowdy last year in the playoffs, but

I think the Oilers are better equipped to deal with the frustrating style that LA has played and the proof's in the pudding. But this is the playoffs. You can't predict. I mean, nobody would have predicted Columbus beating Tampa Bay in fourth straight. Nobody would have had the Canadians coming back against the Leafs a couple years ago

in the Scotiabank North Division. Nobody had the Oilers beating Detroit in 06. I did, but I got lucky on one because I rarely picked the Oilers back in those days. Things happen. L.A. can win this series, but I like what we've seen out of the Oilers here

in the second half of the season, and I think there should be a fair amount of confidence that them and you can match up with pretty much anybody. Bob, any disappointment or letdown at all not being able to catch Vegas in the division? You know, you go 29-6-5 in your final? Um, you know, you go 29, six and five in your final 40 games. You think you might scale a little further up the standings.

Vegas has done a great, I mean, you guys know Kelly McCrimmon. Like I advise, you know, I have friends that bought teams in the WHL and they said, you got any advice? I'm like,

yeah, hang up the phone when Brandon calls. Cause they're winning the trade. And I'm like, yeah, hang up the phone when Brandon calls because they're winning the trade. You know, like Kelly, Kelly McCrimmon's ruthless. And all you need to do is look at the whole sequence of patch ready. You know, like they're all in. So I think it's amazing what Vegas accomplished given the injuries they had, especially in goal. So they're a really well-run organization.

So our disappointment, I don't know about disappointment. Some might say I'm lucky they avoided going up against counter Hellebuyck. Winnipeg's had a good close for the year. The Oilers have beat the Kings before. They know L.A. and they beat Kings twice down the stretch. So, you know, you guys know it's, I mean, Nick, you're on the 94 champs, right? Like, at the end of the day, it's what your team does, what your team brings. And that's ultimately what's going to happen.

You know, what the Oilers bring is, you know, we talked about the offensive side of things, but they have gotten way better defensively too. You know, I know Skinner has, has made a lot of saves and all that too,

but, you know, talk about the evolution of Edmonton as a team that defends, because you don't put up the record they've put up being a one-way team. I still think people think of them that way, but they really show up, I think, in some expected goals number over the last couple of months as one of the better defensive teams as well. Yeah, you know, Justin, I have a lot of time for Kevin Lowe, as does Nick.

And he always used to tell me, stop, the thing that people didn't realize about the Oilers' 80s is they cranked it down down the stretch. And I even think to the Stanley Cup championship in 1990, Edmonton gave up eight goals in that series to Boston, five games. That's 1990. That was

a higher scoring time. They outscored them 21-8. So good teams are capable of doing it and sucking the life and the belief offensively of other teams. And that's what Edmonton did down the stretch. Their shot metrics improved. And ironically enough, their better games were against the better teams

with the exception of, you know, they had a bad five-minute window in Toronto. Toronto can do that to you. Toronto's got some good offensive players, you know. They can come at you with a couple different lines. Toronto's fast. But the biggest thing that happened in Edmonton is they added Matias Echol. And that, it was, and Nick, you can speak to it because you're on the 94 Rangers and you guys, I recall that year you traded Gartner and you brought in Glenn Anderson

who knew how to win and he scored some big goals for you at times. I can just tell you that Conor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl are sitting there, you know, when are the Oilers going to make an impact move at the draft? Who cares about futures? And that team trades away basically two number one picks to get that goal, and he's been the perfect guy for the Oilers. He went plus 28, 21 games. He got over the 30-point plateau for the sixth time in his career.

Evan Bouchard, Jeff Jackson's smiling like a butcher's dog right now because Evan Bouchard finished the year in the final 21 games with 19 points and plus 13. It just slotted everybody on the D in the right spot, right? Darnell Nurse didn't have to play 25 minutes. He could play 21 and a half, 22 minutes. And if somebody's being a, you know, getting a little out of hand out there,

Nurse isn't saying, I got to, you know, I can't go off the ice here. We don't have the depth of analysts. He can go down that path, but that conversation needs to occur. And long-term, Ekholm's going to help out Brobert. So a lot of it was the addition of Ekholm, and I wouldn't underestimate Vincent Darnay.

He's a 6'6", right shot, kind of like Yanni Hockenpah, a bit of a throwback player, nasty to play against, shot suppressor in the PK. They're way better defensively, just their decor itself, heading into this playoff year than they were a year ago at this time. Stop it. It starts Monday for you. LA and Edmonton, we can't wait, man. Thanks for doing this as always.

Hey, thanks, guys. See ya. Bob Soffer, host of Oilers Now. Panelist on NHL for the Oilers on Rogers Regional Broadcast. And racing a cigarette boat tonight. Today. Every time. There's a motorcycle. There's a boat. tonight. Every time. There's a motorcycle, there's a boat, there's a scooter.

We ask guys to come on the radio for free a lot. I do that a lot. Every single day, you can say. For two straight years. You're on for free right now. Yeah, basically. Might as well be free. But yeah, and it's hard to get, you know,

he's probably on the way home from his radio show. He's in his big truck that sounds like it's got great acoustics, but he drove past a couple of stadiums. Hey, listen, we're grateful for all of our guests. Absolutely. Week after week coming on and giving up their time. So stop. Driving a good throaty Harley on the way home.

Okay, boys, little Oilers talk here just to kind of wrap that segment up. Are they good enough right now, in your opinion? I still, at home, it's been awesome. But for two months to get to a Stanley Cup final or win it, I'm still not completely sold on, you know, Nurse and Cody Ceci as a pair. What about you, Born? I just think the West is so weak. That's a big part of it.

Like, in the Eastern Conference, I would agree with you, Kip, but I don't know. Like, they got to go through the Kings, who earlier this year i would say and be careful of the kings i think oiler's going to dispatch them in five or six games and then six is way different than five by the way when you say someone in five five is like hey we kicked your ass mac coming on here and saying leafs in five was like j Jesus but like oh my god anyways so and then they go against Vegas and who's Vegas got net like I going

up against that power play and that offense and then you got to go through I guess Colorado is probably going to be their match up and they're nowhere near as good as they were last year that'll be a tough series for the Oilers but I just I really do think they kind of have a pretty golden opportunity here in a down year for the Oilers, but I really do think they kind of have a pretty golden opportunity here

in a down year for the Western Conference. What you say is right. They are not really solid defensively in terms of who they've got, but I don't think they necessarily need to be, Borny. 97 has the puck all game. Well, 97 is like, I can't ever remember someone who just so controlled a hockey game the way he does right now.

But yeah, like, I mean, if the Leafs had CeCe, Bouchard, DeJardin, Kulak and their decor, we'd be like, oh boy. But, you know, when you're playing a Kings team that doesn't score a ton, you know, they're okay offensively. It just feels like a much easier path through for them. So, I mean, guys, they went to the conference final last year, and they're a lot better than they were last year. So, not ruling them out.

They're a cup hopeful, for sure. They had Mike Smith in that last year. What was the first game they had in the Battle of Alberta? What was the score of that game? 9-7? Seems like a gazillion years ago. It really, really does. Mike Smith.

Yeah. Was that last year? Yeah. Or was that like three years ago? No, that was Mike Smith. Yeah. Was that last year? Yeah. Or was that like three years ago? No, that was last year. Amazing. It wasn't a walk for Colorado either. Like, they weren't that far off last year.

No, they swept them, right? Was it a sweep? Yeah, it was a sweep. I thought it was six. Oh, ignore me. Ignore me. No, but that was the first game was when we had that controversial offside call. I remember we bantied that about for a little bit.

But, yeah, I think they swept them. Correct me if I'm wrong. I obviously can't. All right, we're going to do texts and tweets a little bit. Yeah, let's let a couple pour in here. You can YouTube us. You can text us at 59590. You can send me a tweet.

But we had a couple other things. The Anaheim, I know you guys mentioned it. I really hope the Ducks don't get bedarred. Listen, they quietly solidified that one. Holy hell, did they rot this year. I believe the kids would have said they knew the assignment. They certainly did. They understood it 100% clearly.

If Brian Burke and Ron Hextall knew their fate i can't imagine that dallas didn't know his oh yeah right he knew last year of his deal didn't they sign him to a one-year deal last year something like that yeah i can't recall i remember they i thought they signed him to like a basically they're like you're gonna you-know-what this year when we stink, and then you're gone, basically. They finished with 58 points this year. Yeah. A dash 129. I can tell you, though, that they probably knew that they're not going to make the playoffs,

but it still sucks to be that bad. It's a horrible environment. Whether you're not in management you're in management with on padra beaks team or one of the players stars or otherwise young stars like zegers it just sucks well and they have guys there that they hope are part of the future you think back to when the leafs tanks and got matthews it was just a team full of cast offs and no real like there wasn't like a zgris and a mctavish i know jamie drysdale got hurt this year but they have real guys there troy terry that they probably would like to be part of the future that just picked up probably a lot of really bad habits this year right well let's not let's not forget like going into this season anaheim was like

there there's rumblings from stat people that they may be underrated. They traded for Frank Vetrano. They gave a five year contract to Strom. They signed Shattenkirk. No, not Shattenkirk. Was it Klingberg? Who was that? Klingberg for a one year deal. Yeah. You know, like

they tried to win hockey games this year until it was clear very early they were bad. And they pulled the chute. Yeah, they thought they might be not bad. They were very bad. That's worse to me than trying to be bad. Yeah, you can hit a home run and get a franchise player like Bedard.

But there's no guarantees. As Connor has proven that for Edmonton. There's just no guarantees that you know you're going to snap your fingers and all of a sudden be a team that uh either contends or is well respected yeah but they are kind of now turning into what you what happens when you get a generational guy like a lot of times you're kind of down for the first couple years and then you kind of it's a gradual build gradual build last year they made to the conference finals this year like oilers you're talking about yeah this year they every i know they had a couple

taylor hall was that by the way for them by the way and yakupov this was not the conversation we're having about the oilers in october and november by the way yeah but i mean they've played way better than i expected them to. Well, yeah. They made a... A lot of these teams, though, guys, it takes forever. You get one guy, and it's like, oh, Sabres got Eichel. Here they come. Bad for a decade, you know?

Like, oh, New Jersey has Heashier now. They get a first overall pick. It's their turn. Took them six years to get good. Like, it takes a long time. Unless you're in Toronto, it was like they tanked, got Matthews, and they were just good again.

It doesn't happen. I'm sure there's a lot of teams that looked at that and were like, we can do that too. It hasn't worked out. Never been to the second round, but they're good. They just haven't been to the second round good. They're the best first round exit team in NHL history, Sammy.

It's hard to quibble with that one, Kiffy. Hard to quibble with that one. Jonathan Taves? Yeah, did you see? Yeah, a little bit. You know how I felt. I kind of spilled my guts on it. For the life of me, I still don't understand why you couldn't wait it out before you

told the whole world uh your your your franchise face is uh no longer welcomed here yeah scored a goal the last night yeah gave a pretty heartfelt speech did you hear any of it he was he's pretty pretty emotional my home blah blah blah the crowd gave him a nice nice standing ovation the score of the game or they lost in overtime to the two or three years. No one's going to remember. They lost in overtime to the crappy Flyers. And took a point and solidified that they don't have the best odds. It's heartbreaking.

Like if you're down at the bottom and that stuff's happening, it's terrifying as a fan. It really is. Just sub awesome. Big points down the stretch. All right. So we got our first question here and it's from Mackles on YouTube. He says, do you change your lineup

being at home and on the road versus Tampa? Say the Leafs are up 2-0. Do you feel Tampa is going to goon it up at home? Do you go heavy? Add Simmons, etc. Love that question. Thanks, Mackles. Good question. Mine is of a traditional kind of feel is you do not touch a winning lineup. There you go.

That's it in a nutshell. So I actually reached out to SportLogic today to get Matthew's numbers, his line's numbers against different centers on Tampa Bay. It's interesting. So last year on the road, they got Sorelli and Point against him for like 33 minutes, 32 minutes, and then Colton got four minutes and Stamkos got seven minutes. Like they really matched Point and Sorelli really hard against him on the road. At home, Keefe was able to get him away from Sorelli and Point

playing a lot more against Colton and Stamkos. against him on the road. At home, Keefe was able to get him away from Sorelli and Point, playing a lot more against Colton and Stamkos. Their offense came against Colton and Stamkos. So I'm curious, like, how much can they get the Matthews line away from Point and Sorelli at home? That's going to be crucial. And then you're not going to be able to do anything about it on the road. But, like, yeah, we can sit here and be like, should they bring in this guy, that guy, whatever.

It's going to come down to, can Matthews and Marner do their thing, even when they go directly against Point and Sorelli. Can Tavares get more of a five-on-five threat in his game? That's, I don't know. That's a big question mark. For sure. And he's had a long time off here now to kind of rest the old bones. I like that for him.

Yeah, me too. The Braden Point difference between this year and last year is such a massive one. Last year, he was big time compromised. He wasn't himself. And this year, he is. Oh, he didn't play. He played a bit. Ugh.

Exactly. But this year, he is. On one leg. This year, he is full steam ahead. Yeah, he's going. Yeah, he's a 50-goal scorer. Yeah, he's full steam ahead. And, Bornyy you sent that

the the even strong strength scoring stats what was he fourth or fifth in the league and even strength scoring he is a big time problem for the leafs i'm sure that when they're prepping for this series sheldon keith and co they're spending a ton of time on how to limit him yeah he's just so good i know you guys know how i feel about him. No, we all love him. He's so strong. He's such a strong, fast skater. He's a competitor. I think he's in the second or third round.

Third round, maybe? I don't know. He's not a first-round pick, I don't think. Whoopsie. That's panned out pretty good. Love the show, guys. What happens first in Calgary? Does Sutter get the axe?

Does Brad re-sign? It's from a nameless text. I do not see a world where Brad Tree Living returns to Calgary. Really? Yeah. No, I don't see it. The way it ended,

the way people are feeling right now the fact that he didn't sign either they didn't offer him a contract or they offered him and he didn't want to sign just read the tea leaves here what makes you think like uh they're gonna they're gonna reunite here moving forward you know what's crazy is i was digging around in stats today for that article i wrote and like the flames have been really good for like two and a half months you know they just didn't quite get the goaltending lost a lot of one goal games top team in terms of hitting posts they They were really unlucky. Go look at their record against Chicago. Yeah, they lost three to Chicago this year. Three. Yeah.

Not even a point. Yeah. Right? I think they lost three in regulation to them. Three regulation losses. Not one point. It's not good. Chicago alone would have put them in the playoffs.

Yeah, that's tough. That's unbelievable. It's a hard pill to swallow for them. Yeah. The name I wonder about is Craig Conroy. Really? Yes. That could be a name that could surface as the next general manager of Calgary.

Beloved Calgary flame. Now, sometimes, you know, when a guy's been there that long, he kind of gets lumped into maybe the whole managerial team having lack of success. Yeah. But I don't know how that's going to play out for for for craig i sure he feels like he's ready for it he wants it if if in fact he's the agm now he's the agm yeah so if brad doesn't want it or isn't offered it i gotta think he'd be a front runner isn't he like a notoriously cheerful happy guy that's all of my like recollections of him and

it's a hilarious contrast big smile big smile all the time yeah and a hilarious contrast with the current head coach sunshine and literal rain so the only thing i remember about craig in his career is uh i he found out he was traded one year from me. Really? Yes. And they actually used it on a Sportsnet promo. Like, yeah, I was watching, and then Nick Caprio said I was traded, and that's how I found out. Oh, my God. That's hilarious.

Here's one. Any thoughts on how the playoff matchup would look different if the NHL went back to the old 1-8 format. So I just pulled it up. You would still have Boston, Florida. You would still have the Islanders in Carolina. Then the next matchup would be

New Jersey versus Tampa Bay. And then the 4-5 would be the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers. Yeah, you'll take the way it shook out for him this year. Okay, so let me ask you something. Under this present regime, we knew in November that the Leafs were going to play Tampa Bay. Yes.

Under this system that's being proposed now, when would we have known Tampa and the Leafs were going to play? Last night. Okay. Okay. Maybe. Or they wouldn't have played. It's tight. Would have been a lot more fun to watch the other way, though.

Absolutely. There's some, you know, a little bit of intrigue. The NHL is leaning on this thing that, like, not all the series have been finalized until the very end. It's like, right. But, you know, there are so many potential variations that we could have had that we never got to even hypothesize about. But, you know, there are so many potential variations that we could have had that we never got to even hypothesize about.

Listen, we know our market here. We know the market in Canada. In the States, would they be watching all their local markets with great intrigue, who they're playing in the first round? Would that be of great interest to them? I, I, I don't think, I don't think majority of fan bases really watch or care that much. Maybe I'm wrong. I think they probably a little bit more interested in who their football team

signed at left tackle than that. But you know, in the Northern, in the Northern States, I think they probably care a little bit more, you know, your traditional hockey markets. Yeah.

Right. But it's really, there's niche fan, like all these other fan bases that are in like the south or in you know i think they're just not as widespread i think there's niche fan bases in all these places it's just i don't think it's not the same passion if you the passion if you will that's in toronto and in other parts of canada it's our sport right so it's it's gonna be hard to to drum that up down there so anyways i thought that was i. I'm looking at

the Western Conference now for the old one versus eight, and it would be Vegas versus Winnipeg. That's what's happening. That's happening, right, already? That's happening, yeah. Edmonton versus Seattle. That's better for Edmonton. Dallas versus Minnesota and Colorado, LA.

And I told you guys a while ago, doesn't sound good for Landis Cog. No, he's out. I know. Yeah, you called it. I told you guys. It was not, it's not good as Mayday would say on our show. It's not good.

And I feel bad for him. This is a full year with knee issues. And I wish him all the best. But that's a huge hole, guys, for Colorado. And Makar's not great. And Josh Manson's playing but needs

surgery for whatever ails him. And all he did was prolong it, try to hang in there, manage it. Colorado is going to have a tough time here. Doors open for Edmonton. Doors open for Vegas, who's been dying to break through. And the other team, no one ever talks to it, and I don't want to,

because the Dallas Stars are pretty good too. But Vegas and Oilers have a real shot. Earlier in the show, we didn't get to a couple clips. If you guys wanted to do that, Keitheefe had an overview of the season, which might be interesting. But Sam, if you've got other questions. I've got a couple. Stick with that then.

This one's from Mike in Hamilton, and it's something that we were kicking around a little bit about Dubas. If the Leafs lose, Dubas is going straight to the Pens for sure, says Mike in Hamilton. And I've been thinking about this a lot, right? And now this is coming out in the lexicon about him going. There's two ways this goes. I think the Leafs win a round or go past the first round,

maybe go past the second round, God forbid, and he stays. And if they lose, he goes. And they are 0- six in the first round with him as the general manager and you probably that's that's just that i i i'm getting a little bit perturbed by the amount of talk about this like obviously he's not going to be around if they lose and i think he stays if they go through so what you're saying is winning you're fine lose and it's well no because they're still he's saying losing they're Because they're still a good team. He's saying, losing, you're making the right call. Oh, no. It blows up, bud.

If it loses. If they lose, it blows up. Blows up. Blows up. But it's... Not blows up, Kemper. What are you talking about? If they lose against Tampa,

the whole thing blows up, Kemper. What are you talking about? If they lose against Tampa, the whole thing blows up. Like what? Like what? The whole thing. New general manager. Yeah. And changes. How's that?

Well, it's on. Like the core? Like they're going to trade Mitch Marner? Everything's up for grabs, bud. Everything. Wow. Yeah. Okay, then.

Well, go Leafs go, I guess. No. No, you see a different vision. You see a new general manager going, hey, everybody, Kyle was really close. I'm just going to kind of keep on the path of the Kyle Dubas strategy. That's what you see. No, there's obviously going to be changes. But when you say blow it up, I think of, I just think of Matthews.

All I think about is Matthews. No, no. It doesn't have to be Matthews. Could be Willie. It could be Marner. No. I have a very simple message to the economy. Please, Tony. Please win. It could be one of them. It could be

Tavares. Hey, JT. Who's taking that? Listen, JT can still put up points. Yeah, you're right. It could be anyone, but win, and you avoid all that. Listen, JT can still put up points. Yeah, you're right. Okay? Yeah. It could be anyone. But win, and you avoid all that. Yeah, easy.

No problem. Well, not all of it, because it's still a flat cap next year, and there's still going to be issues. And listen, Samsonov's played himself off the roster next year. No. I don't think they can afford samsonov you want to get samsonov out of the first round samsonov gets you out of the first round what do you think he's making next year by five million bucks but you couldn't afford that for jack campbell yeah but so on a flat cap yeah you can afford it yeah you know forward when

kerfoot doesn't make $3.5 million anymore and when Michael Bunting, his $900K comes up. So I'm doing some quick math here. We're getting to, you know, I'm up to about $4.5. Wall may be able to come in and save you $4 million next year. Well, he's huge for them next year. Samson off. Well, no, but I think their dream world is they send

Matt Murray on a ship to Robida Island and then they pay their goalie tandem next year $6 million or $5 million, whatever much you have to pay. I'm not sure it's that easy to do. If Matt Murray still wants to play next year, you've got to keep that contract

or convince somebody to take it. Yeah. Anyways, that's for next season. But when I wrote the article on, I just wanted to kind of revisit that what's at stake here, Sammy. There's a ton at stake between winning and losing in the next two weeks.

And all of it's on the line. And it all starts next week. And the Stanley cup plan. JB, you want to add anything to that? No, not a thing, man. You're not touching that. Oh, I love it. Bring it on Tuesday night.

Go big or go home. I want to see a lot of leaf flags out there. People send goalie goals to your group chats. All right, our thanks to David Amber, Doug McClain, Bob Stauffer. Derek, we good? How many seconds do I have left? 30. 30.

Oh, boy. What are you up to this weekend? There's no hockey. I'm playing hockey this weekend. Oh, you are? Yeah. JB, how about you? You know, barbecue, be outside, enjoy this April wave. Hey, I got Greek hockey this weekend. Oh, you are? Yeah. JB, how about you? You know, barbecue, be outside, enjoy this April wave.

Hey, I got Greek Easter this weekend. Oh, baby. Yes. Lamb it up. Lamb it up. Love it. Okay. Everybody have a great weekend, a safe weekend,

and we're back Monday to tee up round one.