Real Kyper & Bourne - Rectifying a Lost Season + Oilers' Frustrations

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Nick Kypreos and guest host Gord Stellick are joined by former NHL president, general manager and head coach Doug MacLean (1:31) to discuss Radko Gudas' knee-on-knee collision with Auston Matthews, how Leafs' GM Brad Treliving can rectify the losing season, Detroit Red Wings' slide, why the Edmonton Oilers can't rely on just Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to help them win a Stanley Cup, how he would rebuild a team through the draft, and which teams could sneak into a post-season spot. Then, Nick, Gord and Sam McKee weigh in on the NHL Global Series shifting to Germany in December for the 2026-27 season, if fans saw the last game with Matthews in a Leafs jersey, and Connor McDavid dropping the gloves against the Dallas Stars. 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.

What is better than off the rails Friday on the Real Kipper and Bourne show? Nick Kiprios, Samuel, McKeigh. James Wilson, Wilson, Wilson. Right, right, right. And Alex Gomez Adams. I had someone to say, like, is that his middle name? Was it, yeah, Gomez, wasn't it Preston? I think a Preston Gomez was a baseball manager.

You know who Gomez Adams is? From the Adams family, John Aston was his real name. And Morticia was the wife. Yes. And worst of all, it's Andrew Adams. Not Alex? I said Alex. You told me Alex.

I know I did. I soured you. You sued me. I think you did it on purpose. Definitely. I've been a little tough on you this week. What? You have?

Have I? I don't take so. Some people think I don't like you. Oh, is that true? I mean, it could be true. We have been yelling at each other for five years now. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

Wherever everyone is watching and listening, we're glad you're aboard. 650 in Vancouver, 960 in Calgary, streaming always, sportsnet, TV, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, where we can appreciate a thumbs up for our wonderful and talented Gorge Stellik in for Justin Boren. Thank you. Thumbs up. Good to be here. Yeah, yeah, great to be here. Great to be here.

I mean, 14 games last night, get off the rails with our buddy Doug. And it's on a Friday, a big weekend coming up. This hour of Real Kippron Boran brought to you by Bet365. you know who's probably muddling under his breath. Get going, please. Get going. Yeah. Would be Doug McClain.

Absolutely. Mac? Like, listen, seriously, you know? You just didn't get to see Gord very often. He's bumped me for Burke. Burke's taking my spot on his show. Pretty good, though. He's good, though, Mac.

He's what? He's good. He's good on air. He says great stories. He's got. get serious. Serious information. I talked to Berkey the other day about it.

I said, like, what are they paying you? And he said, not a lot. I said, okay, join the crowd. We had a great chat. I love Berkey. Berkey and I used to go to the Ritz after we got off the air at Sportsnet and tell each other how great we were on the air. The only problem with Berkey,

the only problem with Berkey when he worked with us, is that he would sleep during the day. during the game and then we'd go on the air and we'd have to, you know, tell him what happened. I'd be poking him. He'd be sound asleep. He was exhausted. I'd be poking him. Burkey, we've got to go on set. We've got to go on set. Then they let me go and keep him.

Who was waking him up after I was. Elliot, I think. All right. Are you done ripping like Berkey? Or are we, We're fine now. No, Burke and I had a great champion.

I know, I know. But listen, I'm having fun. I was, I flipped away a little bit from Toronto last night. And, you know, I was, think about this, the Toronto Maple Leafs Blue Line, which I have said they don't have a number one, two guy on their back in. And then you look at the Dallas Stars. And they have five first rounders. on their blue line. Five first rounders.

And they go into the deadline, and they've got the Bixel kid or Brexel, whatever, a kid from Switzerland was a first round check who's six foot eight or something. They pick up Myers, who's like six foot six or whatever. And all of a sudden you add that to Heisken and then Lundell. And I mean, you know, it's on Harley. It's unbelievable this back end. And then you say, okay, Dallas's back end is really good. and I've got Minnesota's rated a little bit ahead of it.

And then you look at Colorado's, which is pretty good. I mean, that's, when you look at the blue lines of these contenders, it's absolutely frightening the work the Leafs have to do on that back end to refurbish it. It really is. Mack, have you been sleeping the last like 12 hours here? Because no one's talking about the Leafs Blue Line today. Everybody's talking about Matthews and Goudis. Well, yeah, I, you know, I watched that last night and everybody's talking about it.

I'm talking about what they have to do to fix this team to become, you know, a legitimate NHL team. And it starts on their back end. And we've talked about that plenty. I know Matthews, it was horrific. Goudis, Goudis is the dirtiest player in the NHL. He's been that way forever. Yeah, he's the captain. Yeah, he's competitive.

I get all that. That was a dirty, dirty hit. And then there was no response until they got on the power play and they weren't going to get hit. So the response was really good. But it was, it was embarrassing. It was embarrassing what Goudis did. Be anxious to see what the league.

Have they ruled on it yet? We haven't heard. No, but we expect something. But it's on a phone call, so it can't be more than five games. Yeah. But anyway, I mean, look, the guy, the guy, I read somewhere today, $750,000 he's paid and fine since he came in the league.

You know, I mean, you know, it just, you know, I didn't like it at all. It was as bad a knee on knee as I've seen in a long time. I understand when a guy knows he's beat, he goes to that, but it was horrific and the response by the Leafs was pathetic. Now,

I guess they didn't see it. No wonder they can't read a rush. No wonder their defense can't read a rush when you miss that. Oh my God. How do you miss that? But anyway, it was not good day, and they battled back and won the game. But I'll tell you what, I'm watching Anahe and I'm looking at that team and I'm thinking, wow, have they got the makings of a, have they got the makings of a Stanley Cup contender in the near future?

When you look at the Carlson kid who reminds me of Matt Sundeen like so much. and then you look at Cutter Goce who Philly decided they wanted to send them back to college and he told him to get lost and he's at 33, 34 goals. Seneca, what about this kid? I remember at the draft,

they were ripping Anaheim for taking this kid. What is he, third overall? I mean, he looks like, he's got the same amount of points as Demadoff in Montreal and nobody ever hears about him. I mean, the kids are, is terrific. Toronto, consider going after

McTavish. What did he play eight minutes last night? And this guy's a player. There's a guy you might be able to get from Anaheim. Mason McTavage. I mean, they've got the makings of a heck of a team there, guys. They really do. So, okay, if you are Brad for a living, okay, the culture. Thank God I'm not. Okay. God I'm not. So like, like, now, I'm retired. Okay. Brad maybe should be as well, but I'm retired. So maybe in some ways, do you build from hitting rock bottom, culture-wise, what happened, moving forward? Do you try to get the McTavishes of the world? Like, I mean, you cannot do, you can't do the rebuild.

It's not there. You don't have the futures. Like, do you go back at it one more time with your core players and see if it's a one-off and you bounce back? I mean, where do you think is heads at? I don't know where his heads at and I feel for him because Brad Tree Living's a good guy. He's a good guy. And, you know, but like, just to give you an example, I was looking at Anahein's roster, okay? They have got 11 defensemen in their organization who are NHL, high NHL prospects in San Diego, one in Everd,

and the group of kids they've got on their back end right now. 11 potential guys that can play defense in the NHL. And that's where you got to zero in on some organizations like that that you may end up getting a break and getting a top young defenseman out of there. I mean, but you can't come back with the same group. You've got to, like, I know Marcelli's a star right now. All you guys are in Toronto are going flip doing flips over Marcelli,

come on, you know, they've got to rebuild is what they have to do. They've got to rebuild, you know. I'm watching the game last night. I'm thinking, please, please, Craig, can you give me one shift with Nylander, Tiberas, and put Matthews on the wing? Matthews isn't making plays, but he can shoot. Put him on the wing with Tavares and Kneelander and see if you can get one line that has a chance to create scoring chances.

But anyway, that's just me, you know. You're watching and listening, a sleepless in Florida, Doug McLean, former NHL president. By the way, by the way, one other thing I want to get off my chest really.

Did you watch Allmark play the other night against Montreal? Yes, we all did. And did you see his post-game press conference after? Yeah. I mean, Sammy didn't clip it for me. That was the biggest, one of the biggest games of the year.

Now, I looked at Ottawa, they got two, they're two great goaltenders. They've got the best goaltending tandem in the NHL with Gustafin and Dacord, DeCord. Unfortunately, one's in Minnesota and one's in Seattle. And they don't have, they don't have them. They got Omerk, who acted after the game. Well, I tried. You know? I mean, it is so bad what's happened with that goaltending in Ottawa this year.

This team should be in the playoffs. They should be six, eight points, ten points ahead of where they are if they had any type of goal to docenting. Anyway, Mac, they are in a division where I thought, you know, even the Leafs with their eight game losing streak could have found a way to maybe get back in because we're watching a Detroit Red Wing team that is like, I don't know if they're in trouble, Matt. but like they're kind of in trouble here. Yeah, I mean, Larkin, what's he going to miss? How many more games? Two weeks? Yeah, and they're imploding.

And this is the problem when we talk about where you are as a franchise. If Detroit happened to fall out, and they have had a decent year, if they happen to fall out, that's 10 years in a row missing the playoffs in Detroit. Who could ever believe that? And you're right, they're slipping a little right now and there's major concern. Columbus looked like they're going to get in. Pittsburgh's hanging in.

Boston have started, stumbled a little bit. You know, Washington have played too many games, so they're going to have their hands full getting in. But, I mean, you look at, you know, can Detroit slide out of it? They very well could with the way the teams below them are coming on. So imagine if they're out 10 years in a row. That's how hard it is to make the playoffs. And that's what the Eiser plan, you know?

It's tough. Well, like you said, tough losses for them in Boston last night in the east. But what about in the West? So we have Austin Matthews going down on one coast. And then Connor McDavid just seems to be pissed off all the time. Leon Drysidal is frowning all the time. And it's like, you know, you got Tristan Jerry, yet another game like that. Losing to Dallas, everyone's losing to Dallas.

Dallas is playing phenomenal. articulated why but what's going on in edmondson and and you know connor mc david and and the frustration about they cannot talk about off the rails with you they can't get on the rails yeah it's it's really hard to believe how long we've talked about team defense with them and you hear dry sightal talk about it you hear macdavid talk about it you hear the players talk about it but they they they refute you know i saw bushard like stumbled again and that's why people get down on him when he has an off game yet you love him lots of nights what he does and what he brings to the table but you can't score your way to a championship

unfortunately it scoring is great but you don't score your way to a championship you've got to be able to defend and it is a knob block comes in there you know i thought they would straighten it out when he come in and it hasn't happened but gold tending there is still a problem. It's still a major problem. Stan makes a big move on Skinner for Jari. We said on this show at the time that it was a non-impactful trade because it was basically two guys that are the same,

that you don't see as Stanley Cup winners. I hope I'm proven wrong on that, that one of them win it eventually. But, you know, team defense starts with great, goal tending. That's where it starts. And they don't have that and they don't have a dedication to play in team defense. And

you know, five goals, the game is great. But if you give up six, what's the good of it? And they got spank last night. I mean, did you see Jamie Ben? Jamie Ben, I thought he was done at the end of last year. What is

what's happened to him? All of a sudden, what's he got 14 goals? He gets two last night and he looks like a horse out there again. you know, because there's energy in Dallas and they look like they, you know, they think they have a chance. Unfortunately, it's going to be Colorado, Dallas, many, you know, and one's going out in the first round, which is really unfortunate. Quiet night tonight, Mac, just two games, but huge implications.

I need a night off. No, I'm not giving you a night off. I want you to watch. Watching that Leafs game last night, I just, I was so excited with their big comeback that, you know, I need a night off. No, I'm not giving you one because I want you to watch Edmonton tonight against the hottest team in hockey post-Olympics, the St. Louis Blues.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Honestly, we might be... We might be talking about the blues, maybe making some noise once again to get in. They're in 28th place today? I don't know where they are. All I know is if they win tonight, there's going to be a lot of nervous people in Edmonton.

If they win tonight, they're four points out. Wow. And hey, look, that's what happened to them with Burubi and Binnington when they won the cup. I mean, it was the same sort of thing. They come on late in the season when Bittington got called up, and they won the cup. So who knows, you know, Army would like to add to his resume, I'm sure, because he, I don't know if he's going to stay as president or he's going to move on, but that would be a great story if they get in. You know, it's funny, you know, because obviously I'm not watching the game, though, sorry. Okay, well, I'm taking tonight off.

I, okay, so part of it, I was talking to Andy Strickland and St. Louis today, and he was just talking about, okay, they're winning, but fans now are tick because they want, once you, they figure out, you want your draft pick. You want the team to tank, right? Toronto, they're talking about if the team tanks, they get in the top five, they get their pick back, they just defer it. But, you know, they get a decent draft pick. So being president, I know scouts, there's a lot of scouts, secretly, hope you get a better draft pick. how do you balance that when your president general manager like the product you got to put on the ice when it's garbage time when you have a team in garbage time and then the other thing about okay the future it does help the better your draft pick is well you know what it's funny and i've said i've told you guys this before what burke said when i told him i got the job in columbus he said well that's it that's an easy job you just finish last every year you get five great picks and all of a sudden you have a good team and i was was dumb enough not to follow Berkey's advice.

And, you know, I went on to have to wake him up to get him on the set after that, but I should have followed his advice on building a team. Because, you know, in our second year, we picked, I think, eighth in the, after our first year, we picked eighth in the draft. Like, seriously, what was I thinking about? But you know what you think about is pressure from your owner to be as good as you can possibly be. And that's what happens with GMs, the pressure. to win and you're not

you're in marginably you're not really worried about draft picks as much as yours appeasing your friends and trying to keep your fans happy and trying to do everything you can to get in the playoffs and is that why the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning

have been so successful over the last few years because of that pressure you're talking about in your state of Florida no it's because they got Kachuk because Dale Tats Allen drafted Barkoff.

The owner told them to sign Bobroski. And they got Kichuk in a trade. And that guy, Kuturov. It's not bad. Yeah. And they got Kuturov and what round did he go in?

Actually, you know, I was reading, what's his name? Jason or Justin? That's with you. That would be, Justin. I was reading his article on what makes a good GM today.

and, you know, and I'm thinking, oh, man, it's really a great article. It's a great article. Wow. A compliment. What makes a good GM. And then he put in there that Brisbane gave up a first, second, third, fourth, and a fifth for Generon. You know, to, you know, to Genoa. Genoa.

And, you know, I mean, Billy Zito gets forzeling on waivers from Chicago, you know. Dale Tallon gets Bennett from the Calgary. he gets, Zito gets Kuchuk. I mean, it just, it's unbelievable how the panthers were able to be lucky, lucky to be good. I know. And when I was reading Justin's article, it was, you know, you've got to be, you got to get some luck and you got to get some breaks. And I thought that about Shanahan and Dubas and them when they were getting murder early and they're getting Matthews early and they were getting Nylander. Well, he came before.

And all the great, and Morgan Riley, they lucked out, got him fifth overall. And, you know, it looked like the makings of a potential Stanley Cup team. It really did. In fairness, to Shanney and Dubus and all them, they, it looked like they were building a Stanley Cup contender, of which they were. I mean, they made the class, what, nine years in a row? Yeah. Now, I want to ask you where we started. Okay, so about our conversation today, okay, you go back, you're the general manager.

of the team, the Leaf team last night. Now, your general manager of any team is not the expectation, the understanding. Like I said, I used the Islanders this year with Matthew Schaefer. Like, if you take any kind of little shot at him, you got four Islanders in your face. You got Matt Barzel in your, whoever, whoever's on the ice is in your face. They don't have fighting the guy because you're four on one. But that's the expectation. Was that the understood expectation for all 32 teams, what the Leaf should have done last night and

failed to do? Yeah, probably. It would be, you know, when your top player gets hit like that in a dirty situation, yeah, that's the expectation. It really is. Schaefer, the other thing about Schaefer is, and why these guys are so important, these franchise players, is all of a sudden people are looking at the islanders saying, I'd like to go to the Islanders.

I'd like to play for the Islanders because this kid is going to be. a special kid. Maybe it's a macar type of thing, you know, but those guys draw players for you. And yeah, I didn't like, you know, nobody in hockey would like what happened. Nobody in hockey would

like what happened last night with their best player. And Matthews, it was really interesting. The guys in the broadcast said right away, Matthews doesn't lay on the ice. He doesn't lay on the ice. He's, you know, he gets hit plenty, but he doesn't lay on the ice.

And in other words, we know he was hurt and hurt bad, you know. So, yeah, I didn't like it. Did you like it, Gord? No, no, no. But again, we're going back to the response. Yeah, just sort of just saying, like to me, that's a microcosm of the year. Now, I don't know, is it something you relearn and you rebuild and you reinstill that culture? Or is just as emblematic of what you say that you have to make massive changes?

how can a how can a Craig Barubi coach team and we all know Craig Barrube I coached against him and managed against him for a long time and he was a competitive, tough, hard-nosed battler, you know, how can a Craig Barrube team not respond? That's one thing you would expect them to do, wouldn't you? From the type of guy that Craig Baruby is?

Mack, that's what... There is also the possibility is he's tried over and over again, but he just, he doesn't have the right guys to do it. Can it be is that simple too? Yeah, but wouldn't it be just, wouldn't you be bright enough

as a player to know that that's what he wants in that situation? I mean, I watched Cowan later in the game jump in, you know, when the other kid get hit. You know, he jumped in and, you know, and tried to do something. And that messy, you know, It looked good on the kid, count.

He's not that he's a fighter, but at least he jumped in to protect a teammate. Now, did nobody see this? Is that what happened? Maybe we're wrong in this. Maybe they didn't see it happen. Well, I mean, that's... It has been said.

Yeah, been a bit of a claim. Yeah. Mack, how much, how much easier was it when you were a general manager to go find certain guys, like that, I mean, are they still out there? Can you train

them, you think? Can you or it's just too hard to find those type of guys? The guys that respond, you mean? Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't think it is. I think I think, I think, like, what would John Tvers have done?

Was he on the ice last night? No. What would John Tvers have done if he saw it? I don't know. Well, I'd hope he'd be one of before. Like I would. I've never seen him jump in a pile for anybody. No, but this was,

this was Matthews. This was the captain. This is a guy that's down in a dirty hit. I would think anybody would jump in if they saw it, I guess. Yeah. But, you know,

there's so much confusion with the team right now. There's so much, their heads aren't in it. They're, you know, what, they lose eight in a row going into last night. I mean,

they're, they're not. they can't wait for the season to get over by the way they're playing. So they're going to miss some of those things. Maybe they're going to miss that. I just can't believe that that team would not have done something, something. If we looked at the standings, Mac,

who do you like in terms of on the outside now looking in to catch, I guess San Jose got in last night and Seattle got bumped, but L.A. and Nashville, When it's all said and done, can the kings get back into this? Who do you like? I mean, look, I got to say right now, I see Columbus getting in. I mean, the way they're playing in the east. I see them as the, you know, can they knock out Boston, Pittsburgh?

I mean, the good thing Columbus have is they got a chance to get number three, you know, in the metropolitan, because it's really stumbled this year. So I see Columbus getting in. I mean, think about this. Anaheim, Anahein are in first place in their division ahead of Vegas and Edmonton right now. Is that accurate? Yeah, it is. No one saw that coming.

It's by a point over Vegas. And Edmonton, you know. And four over Edmonton. You know, I mean, the first, Colorado, I mean, I love Colorado. We know they're getting in. I'm just wondering about their blue. line after a couple of guys and I'm not sold on their goal tenet and they're going to have to go against

Dallas and Minnie obviously one of those because it looks like Dallas and Minnie are going to play in the first round which I mean we're going to start hey how can we have this one of those teams missing out in the first round but I mean the others are pretty well set I don't see LA getting in I you know it's what's interesting it's so different because in the east they're charging in the west nobody seems to want like St. Lee, Seattle had the final playoff spot.

Now they don't. And how about Nashville last night, Doug? Like, I mean, give Vancouver credit. They scored two goals late. They ended up in the game. But you're Nashville and you're there and you're up three one with two minutes. What is it? Three minutes left or whatever.

That's the point that could decide their season. Yeah, I know. And we see it every night. I mean, that's like, you know, Columbus have stumbled a little bit, given up where they've got leads and all of a sudden they lose an overtime in, what, three of the last four, although they had a big win in Tampa the night before. But it's, you know, Washington have played too many games, so they're probably not going to get in.

You know, they're three games ahead. It's Philly. Can they get in? I mean, Ottawa, like, can Ottawa get in? I mean, losing them against Montreal the other night is devastating for them. And, you know, Sanderson's out. It's a big loss for them when you've got a handful of, you know, when you've got 15 games left, that's a tough loss.

But I don't, you know, I mean, I don't really spend a lot of time worrying about who's getting in or not, you know, to be quite honest. Because the only thing I have to prepare for all week is this show. That's really all I have to prepare for. Well, I don't pay that much of attention is what I'm saying. I don't know if Ottawa gets in or not, but it's... And once a month, once every two months, I have to go on the NHL, serious NHL. I don't know if Ottawa gets in, but it's already a winning.

season because they get their first round pick back, Mac. Gary's got a soft spot for them. Yeah, no, he sure does. Yeah. You found that out firsthand. No, we got a good relationship now. Very solid. He did the same thing with New Jersey, right?

I mean, there was a precedent, right? When they circumvented the cap, he took away the first round pick. And he gave him the last pick of the first round. I don't blame Gary for doing that. I mean, look. They need help, Mac. They need help. And Ann Lauer's a nice guy.

And they got, you know, they got to, they got to build that new. But when does that building starting, by the way? You were the king of sarcasm. Oh, my God. I've been waiting five years for the groundbreaking. I'm just wondering when it's starting. You were a lot nicer when you were looking for your next NHL job.

I can tell you that. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. All right, Mac, I'm not sure. what the plans are tonight with no hockey you're going to watch maybe a dinner with Jack Armstrong or the World Baseball? You're going to

watch the World Baseball? Canada. I'm out with Jack and Dina last week. We go up for dinner and we're sitting there and all of a sudden Jack said, let's get a bottle of red wine. I said, great, great. So I look and he's ordering a bottle

and we split the bill. He's ordering a $350 bottle of wine. I said Jack, I don't know what you're making a TSN, but I ain't paying for a $350 bottle of wine. So he backed right off and went to a 175.

Good on him. Good on him. All right, Mac, we're going to let you go. Thanks for doing this, pal. Guys, thanks for having me on. Gord, great to see you. Again, I haven't seen you in a while, but great to see you, man. Always great catch it up. He really should go on his show. We got to get him on more. Yes.

We got to, well, he was trouble. No, you don't. No, you don't have to get me on more. Well, don't. Oh, now, now, okay. You know what? There's one time this year, like, he, he, he never hung up. He's still there right now, 100%. Oh.

So what are you supposed to go, no, you hang up? You hang up? You hang up. No, you hang up. Hot. Listen, I hate long goodbyes. There's no longer goodbyes than with dog on Friday. The goodbyes are so long.

He doesn't know what you're saying goodbye. No. There's all such, yeah. He's always got. I roomed with Terry Yake, and it was like, he wasn't married then, but it was like, I know he's talking to him because it was the, you hang up first. No, you hang up first.

Oh, gosh. And then I picked up the phone and I said, I'll hang up first. It's game time. Resented by Bad 365. Visit the app Played at Stodge. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

Only two games on tap tonight, L.A. in New York to take on the Islanders and Edmonton taking on St. Louis. But the game I'm looking at tonight on Sportsnet, the World Baseball Classic, Canada taking on the state, I believe in Houston at the Astros Park. They're a minute-made, I think it's called down, or maybe something else at this point.

America, huge favorites in this game. Really? Minus 900 in this game. Canada is 6 to 1 versus the States. Huge underdog matchup. I saw that the Americans are drawing inspiration. from the American hockey team. Wow.

Yeah, because they need, I mean, their jerseys on the way to the rink. They're minus 900 favorites. I don't know why they need to draw so much inspiration from the American team to be Canada. But anyways, it's a big game. It's tonight on Sportsnet. You can watch it. I can't wait to watch. It's a big one.

And the other game in the World Baseball Classic tonight is the South Koreans taking on the Dominican Republic. Former Jay's pitcher Ryu is going up against one of the most potent lineups in baseball history. So we'll see how that goes for him. Anyways, that was game time presented by bet 365. Visit the app to Lillia Sides must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, we'll take a quick breath.

Catch ours after Doug McLean. Completely. Text. 59590 text. Is that what we're doing? And I don't want it to be totally Toronto-centric. So 595-90- Actually, you do, but you just say it.

Well, no, we're in the national hour. All right. Okay. Take a quick break when we return. We'll go around the National Hockey League for some news and notes with our good friend, Gord Stelich. That more when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Hey, it's Ben Ennis.

And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things, Leifes, Raptors, and Blue Jays. Every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the fan morning show. Sportsnet 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the program, Nickyprios. Sammy McKee, Gort Stelich, just two games on hand in L.A. Kings and the Islanders at 7 p.m. and one worth watching tonight,

the Edmonton Oilers and the St. Louis Blues. 72 points. Yeah. Sorry? 72. St. Louis? No. Edmonton.

Edmonton has 72 and Anaheim has 75? Yep, that's correct. Okay. I said. Vegas is 74 and Utah. Again, I know Utah is in a different division, but. And the ducks have played one last game than the oil. All right.

NHL returning to Germany for the global series. You don't want to talk about the, Was that about the oil a little bit or no? I'm okay with the oilers. You brought them up with it. Yeah. I mean, outside of obviously a tough loss, I did watch their wins in Vegas and, of course, Colorado.

I thought they turned a little bit of a corner. And then it got ugly last night in Dallas. And I thought Tristan Jerry being thrown in the game in Colorado, the way you played, right? That maybe that. will change things. So first I got to think they're going to run Connor Ingram, right? I mean, they just have to.

And do they like, much like we talked earlier about the Leafs and the response, the delayed responds and will it matter the rest of the way? Edmonton again, the perennial frustration, but maybe even to a higher level of Connor McDavid, does that spur them a bit to stop having nights off like the other night and go beat what should be a winnable game except St. Louis playing. really well now. Like, it's just weird that you're languishing trying to make the playoffs when you start, when you should be looking, saying the team that ended our dream the last two years

won't be in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. So we got to get back to where we were. And you know what, Kipper and Sammy every year, they've done it in the playoffs. I got to say, whatever it's been necessary, they've done it in the playoffs. I think that's all people are just hoping for no matter what, that they'll just find that switch. Because even if they find the regular season switch now, what does it matter? if you get eliminated in the first round. Like, as long as you get in and you can play like you did the last couple of years.

But anyway. And listen, I know Bouchard, again, has these moments, but there's something to be said about his demeanor in the playoffs. And for somehow, some way he can kind of calm himself down and limit those mistakes and have the upside being a lot better. Obviously, power plays are a big deal. I don't, there's nobody better than him back there. Nobody.

Just that jari thing's a disaster right now. Yeah, it's the one that sticks out like a sore thumb. Well, you're stuck. Well, you may be, you put pickard ahead of him. You're stuck. 26 goals in his last five starts for Jari. Yeah. A reminder of this hour of real Kippern-Born brought to you by Bet365, Germany.

Oh, you want to do some tags? Well, I just want to get over a few little nuggets here. You like the global series? I mean, I like Germany a lot better than Sweden again. Yeah. Well, really, if you're not going there, what do you care? So it's fine. It's growing the game.

The teams that go there seem to really enjoy it. Yeah. I don't know if you can, when they come back, are they tired and they're 0 and 3 generally? I don't know. So it's kind of like the All-Star game. If it comes to your area, it's fun, enjoyable. But if you're watching somewhere else, you don't really get it. So, yeah, I'm okay with it.

Did you ever go on one of those? But you're the, you... No, I did those neutral site games. Yeah, that's right. What was the best one? Saskatoon. Okay. Because I think I scored two goals.

Well, there you go. But you're always talking about Germany. Every time we bring up... That's like, when you say grow the game, that's what you always bring. Yeah, I like it. I like it, but it's... I don't know what I mean. Still tough.

Still tough to sell it like a... Like they're looking at it, like one of the top four sports in the world. like we do in North America, usually around baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Well, yeah, but you're in, so, like, what does it do licensing-wise? Yeah, but there's, like, it is considered the financial engine of Europe, so. Yeah. Oh, as far as Jeremy the country.

And also, you know, hey, our buddy Todd Aleusco, like, he runs that Mannheim organization. Oh, yeah. And they've worked, well, you know that, right? Oh, yeah. And we've been taught about, like, actually it was funny once he had, you've ever thought. They bring a kid's team in, right? They've been doing that for a while, like young kids team to grow in North America.

Like they're really working the grassroots thing. You remember that Sammy? He was organized in a camp. He was the worst camp director. Like he screwed up luncheon. Like he was trying to do buses. He was exhausted, whatever, sending them up lunch somewhere. He remember that?

He was just bagged. It was a one week where like a bunch of 12-year-olds came in. And it was that old show Camp Runamuck on camp director, Hulushko. The best Tolushko story is him talking about Yager When he He did the worm on stage or something at an event And Yager went to one of the teams Like that guy's funny, who is that guy

And he'd been playing on the team for like 40 kumings It was 1999 He gets called up to the Penguins the end of the season This is when the least played I think Pittsburgh in the playoffs, yeah And so he's just around The Gary Volk goal The Garry Volk goal

And he just said Like he's the life of the party and then two did the and finally he goes, who is this guy anyway? He's on our team. Between Todd and Justin Bourne, like they must feel like a voodoo doll right now

with us talking. Doug McLean talking about Jason Bourne. And it happened in Calgary was, let me get it right here. No, he was playing for Calgary. Todd. So he's a fourth line guy. And Darcy Tucker's playing with Tampa

and he's chirping Paul Stewart, the ref. And then Paul Stewart's by the boards. And then he says to Todd, he goes, if you jump him, I won't give you an instigator. And Todd's going like, I'm a fourth line guy. So this is great. I go out there and I jump him. Five each for fighting. You know, anyway.

That's the best. We had a lot of fun with Todd. All right, Tammy. What do we have? Speaking of stories, somebody texted in and said, Hey, Kipper, do you have any Tim Tookie stories? I mean, I don't know if I've got any Tim Tookie stories. I just remember Tim being like the MVP of the American Hockey League.

Like Mitch Lamarrow, Tim Tokey, those kind of guys. I do remember him leaving our team and not being as good. I think L.A. claimed him, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. Prolific score in the H.L. Yeah, he had a set of hands on him, unbelievably. But, you know, that jump for a lot of guys. And the other one that sticks out for me in that wave after Tim Tooky was Mitch Lamarrow.

Remember Mitch? I just said that Jody Gage. Like all these guys who are like 40, 50 goal scores and a hundred point guys in the American Hockey League. But that next level to get that same opportunity that they do in the American Hockey League was just never truly there for them. But Tim Tuky was a hell of a player. Yeah. And usually it was skating.

And to be truth, Sammy, most of those American Hockey League players, there'd be stories out there that we couldn't tell. Oh, yeah. More than because they took the bus together. There was a real camaraderie there. And Tim Tuckie had these like Lang skates. Do you remember the Lang skates? They were like the skier boots. Yeah. Yeah. And it was like, man,

you got to oil those things. I can't take the sound of the squeaking in there. Oh, sir. Dreadful wheels. Dreadful. They're so bad. Langs. If you saw somebody wearing langs now, you would. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. That's what. All right. That's about Tim Tuky Lang's story, I think. Here's a loaded question for Saturday at 5.45 p.m. Was last night Austin Matthews' last game in a Leafs, Jersey?

I wouldn't say 100% no. Wow. I wouldn't. It's inevitable. And whether or not you want to address it this year or next year, but it's coming. It's coming. And I don't know if he's going to want to see whatever's in store for the Leafs for the next. Two years, three years, four years.

That's it's up to him. And he's a guy that's re-upped in Toronto twice, okay, on his own volition. He is re-uped twice. And it is indicative of when things fall apart in an organization, like Quinn Hughes in Vancouver. He re-uped there. But it's a part of it. He didn't re-up for everything to fall apart. And he's much younger than Austin.

or he's younger than Austin Matthews, not younger, not much. So if Austin Matthews doesn't play a game this year, and we await to find out about his prognosis, I agree with Kippey that there's a chance. So obviously he's going to be discussed. He got himself to be the highest paid guy in the league without committing eight years on a max deal. He's never had a max deal.

Why? Was it just simply about finding another contract as fast as he can? to make more money, or was it to leave himself a window where he could still get out in his prime and sign a long-term deal with someone else? Why not both? Okay, both.

Bet on yourself short-term. It always works better monetarily. And they're leaving out for you to leave. And it gives you the flexibility. And that's what he has today. McJesus throws off the gloves last night. That's worth a mention. Love the show.

Yeah, absolutely. And again, not overly surprised when I saw it, this is the fire in his belly to win. And I've never seen him with a shorter fuse now moving forward. And we've seen it at times with the media and now on the ice. So it's crunch time for him,

the Oilers, making sure they got a spot at the dance in April. But you talked about the moment situation. Yeah. And I just thought, you know, I'm not going to try to pronounce the guy's name that shot it at Drysidal. But he rips a clapper after the whistle goes right at dry saddle,

hits him in the Nether regions. And McDavid is just like, I hated that. You do an immediate glove off. So, and what it does mostly is send shock waves to your bench. Yeah. And whether it was Doug Gilmore for me or Mark Messier or Matt's, when you see those guys doing that, you know what it does? It instantly makes you look.

look in the mirror and go, okay, if he's doing that, what are you doing? Yeah. Right? And it makes you, it guilts you and it actually makes you feel bad as an individual. And that to me has to be a response now for the Oilers tonight in St. Louis. If that guy who is considered the greatest player on the planet and maybe in history is doing that, let's revisit what I'm doing for them. Totally.

Why didn't the Oilers bring Pickard back and send Jari down? At least when Pickard played instead of Skinner, I always thought we had a chance to win. Pickard was really well-liked and a guy that sometimes played over his head. Oh, yeah. And I mean, it's, those are tough decisions, man. Those are tough decisions to lose a guy like that who's well-respected, but you want to try to go to the next level,

and clearly Jari isn't doing it for you right now. Well, and the trade deadline wasn't that long ago, but it's also the clear day list. So you couldn't send Jerry down now anyway. He'd have to clear waivers, couldn't go down to the American. And a lot's happened. I'm pretty sure you're clear. Well, no, but there's no waivers anymore.

Whether he clear or not, he probably would. But they, you know, he would. Get rid of that contract. Oh, my God. If someone claimed them, they had the same with Jack Campbell, right? So that's something in the offseason they'll have to look at. But, yeah, they, they, they didn't decide not to go in whether they could have for Bennington, Bobrovsky,

whether they're available to go to Edmonton or not. So they're stuck. And that's not a, that's not a, you know, you got to hope just one gets hot. And if it's Ingram, if it's Pickard or heaven forbid Jerry gets a chance and is, that's what you got to hope. Lots of texts, separate text with a similar message about Matthews, about how, you know, if he, would he have jumped in for somebody else and maybe that's part of the problem?

I'm not going to. You know what, it is fair. And we've had a million of those texts. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's actually about knowing that the sea is on a guy's jersey, the same one that you're wearing, should stand alone to go in there and help them.

Regardless of how you feel about Austin personally, it's the symbol of a captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Totally. Is it true that Bobby McMahon has not played for Seattle yet due to visa problems? That is true. Yeah. It's always the case. Canada to the U.S.

Yeah. But, I mean, he's a UFA. You traded for him a week ago today. But you need working papers, Sam. For sure, I understand that. This isn't a surprise, and especially since 9-11. And I remember even way back when, when I was with the Rangers, and we traded for Randy Moller from Quebec.

And I had to come. I got finally his stuff done, and they happened to be on a road trip. So I flew to Canada to help Randy Mulder enter legally, and he missed one game, which is considered a big deal back then. Yeah, it takes a little bit of time. and Seattle would have known that. They're not caught with their pants down here.

That's cool. Seattle's going to find themselves, I think, on the outside. Looking at when this is over. Last Saturday. With all due respect, nothing to take away from McMahon. Come on. Try a little harder at the trade deadline, Seattle. Okay, you're trying.

Then also Saturday, you're at home. You're in the playoffs. You let Ottawa put seven by you. Then you're up two on Nashville, and Nashville beats you four, too. Guess who's no longer in a playoff spot in the Western Conference? Yeah. And yeah, I thought there'd be something bigger there in Seattle.

Hi, it's Rod and Scarborough. Love your show. As a guy in his 70s, I still wear my lang skates from 50 years ago. And I still really liked them. I wouldn't play hockey in them, but they're still pretty comfortable on outdoor rinks. Don't bad mouth the langs, eh? Oh, my gosh. Well, I get chirps in grass.

Were you in, what would he call them back then? Ankle burners, right? when you used to skate on your ankles, like your, your skates would bend? Oh, God, yeah. No chance in history to ever be an ankle burner

with the Langskates. Yeah. I remember getting a tack, tackleberry skate was considered the crem to the crem when I was a kid. CCM tax. CM tax. And super tax.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I didn't have them. But anyway, yeah. I knew Sittler wore them. Yep. Super tax.

What was the first pair of skates you had? Do you remember? Like, maybe not your first pair, but like when you were playing. Canadian tire. I don't know if there was a brand too And I can't remember it now

Cheap Yeah cheap Really cheap And my dad would buy him like four sizes too big So I can wear them up until I'm 17 The old super cheap How much Canadian tire money would he pull out as well To supplement the cash

I didn't have new skates Like I had Playmakers Playmakers That's what they were called Really? Playmakers Wow I actually had bought use skates

Forever I loved use skates when I was younger because it was easy to break in. But now you're going to put them in an oven and they'll mold to your feet. Yeah. But anyways, that's it for text, boys. We've got to go anyway.

Hey, nice job, Gord Stelick. Thank you, Nick Caprios. Big weekend. Big weekend for the least tank. Got to win, lose both games this weekend. You say Paul Coffey's getting honored? Yeah, Paul Coffey's, we got a man-of-the-year concert. Nice.

Yeah, NHL alumni. It's going to be a fantastic Saturday night. Can I come? Yeah, you can. Oh, I didn't think I was going to be able to. I got to work anyway. Heels involved? See, I knew that.

That's why I said yes. I don't want you to come and I never invited you, but I said yes, because I knew you wouldn't go. Is there a buddy Glenn Healy involved? Oh, he's the guy. He's Mr. Water Buffalo. Yeah.

What was that guy's name? In the Flint, Tom of the Flintstones? Puba. Grand Puba. Yeah, Glenn's the Grand Puba. You know, you know something, man. He talked. You know, he talked.

Yeah, I know. But he started with the alumni about licensing and all that stuff. and then he's helped if you're in trouble, you phone the grand pooh-a, and he sends some of his poohas out. All poobas, we've got to go. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening.

It's a real Kippen-Born show. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Thumbs up on YouTube, everybody.