Real Kyper & Bourne - ROR Returns & Playoff Rundown

Episode Date: April 5, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee open with the rumours that Kyper is involved in the sale of the Ottawa Senators before they touch on last night's Leafs' win over the Blue Jacket, the boost to the bottom six since the deadline, concerns starting to mount for William Nylander and John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly turning up his offensive game. They are joined by Rangers analyst Stephen Valiquette (42:25), who looks at the Leafs' goaltending situation, the positive impact of Mattias Ekholm on Stuart Skinner and what a Rangers-Devils series could look like. Later, Ken Wiebe, Sportsnet Jets columnist, tees up a high-stakes game between Winnipeg and the Flames tonight, which players are under the most pressure and how missing the playoffs can alter the Jets' offseason plans (1:05:56). The guys close with a conversation about the Western Conference playoff picture.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 Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. From a half a dozen games to a handful of games left for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last night, they took care of business against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Here to talk about that and apparently so much more nick kiprios justin bourne david sisboomba derrick brandeo and in the co-pilot seat today we got a semi-cam i still don't like being on this side of it boys but i'm here borny's home uh tending to himself how you feeling bud a little cold sweats last night yeah one of those ones where you're freezing but also sweating into

your eyeballs nightmare i'm gonna spare you that today no one wants to bring that home to their families you know jb you're not allowed to get sick is that true yeah you're not allowed these games are too big you can't be safe crunch time right now i know we gotta lay it on the line well listen i'm here as best i can i thought uh good good hockey they took care of business they have home ice yet kip or what uh yeah i'll say yeah i'll say yeah listen i i gotta be honest you know now that i'm not behind the glass and i'm out from behind the glass to in front of it i was you know tagged in a tweet today that i feel like an awful producer kipper that you know there's some rumors swirling around you yeah how you feeling about

that you look you gotta look on your face like you feel a little smug i am older than you guys the first line of this article maybe there's a new twist to the sale of the Ottawa Senators, and it includes a former NHL heavyweight. Oh, juicy. I mean, I just, I can't believe that we've worked two seasons with Kip, and I couldn't tell you what's going on with this guy from day to day. I have no idea. I'm fascinated to hear. I noticed the gentleman has quite the Greek last name. I'm curious to hear your ties, Kipper.

What are you, going up against Ryan Reynolds? Is this why you're trashing the guy? It makes a lot of sense, actually. First of all, I just want to say I love you guys. You know that, right? I love you guys. I love you too, buddy. But you guys and you, that, right? I love you guys. Love you too, buddy. But you guys and you, Sammy, are clueless.

A hundred percent. Clueless. Couldn't feel more clueless. So this story from Ottawa. Yeah. Bruce Garriott wrote it. Was on Monday. Monday, yeah.

That came out. It's now Wednesday. No, no. Yeah, it came out. It's now Wednesday. No, no. Yeah, it came out. It came to my attention at about 2.57 on Monday, three minutes before we're going on air. And I'm like, oh, God, here we go. And then the first three, four minutes, nothing.

And I'm like, oh, they're going to hit me. They're going to hit me hard here. Nothing. Half an hour later, nothing. I'm like, oh, maybe not a lot of people saw it. It also explains why we were like, what you're doing with Bill Burr, and you're like, oh. Oh, my God.

Yeah, again, just to, you know, I want to reiterate one more time, I love you guys. Do you think I end up in a seat like that beside that guy just because I happen to be going to the game? Listen, I'm feeling like a major bozo. Like, I don't think I've felt like, listen, this is a high bar for me. But I'm not sure I've felt like, listen, this is a high bar for me. But I'm not sure I've felt dumber in the last two years than right this moment. I do like you guys clueless. I really do at times.

It's like the lead story in the Ottawa Sun. This is our audience. How has someone not tagged us in it or something? How is this the first time I'm hearing of it? I showed it to Kipper today. I'm like, Kipper, what's this? He's like, he looked at me. He's like, do you not read the paper?

And I'm like, no, I don't read the paper. And I'm like, I don't even want to draw attention to it. But I got to tell my boys. I can't have that story out there without my boys knowing about it. So? You buying the sense? I'm evolving. I got no change.

I got, I don't even have any loose change right now. You know, what's funny too, before I kind of move anywhere else, when the story broke about the Apostle Opelous family with the commanders, with the commanders, JB, you're beside me. And you're like, you tried three times to pronounce his last name right and you gave me no help i changed the subject real quick okay here it is in a nutshell yeah okay uh there is interest from the family. They called to invite me if I wanted to go and just help them understand the culture of the game and they know my history and where I've been involved as a player,

a player rep, NHLPA, broadcasting, all of it. So I just tagged along. Okay. That of it. So I just tagged along. Okay. That's it. Well, if this works out for that family, so this might be like the real Sens and Born here or what? Like we're going to be doing content in Ottawa, the three of us, just breaking down Brady Kachuk.

I've got no other comment. No comment. No comment from here on in outside of what I just said. The only other comment is your producer and co-host are bozos. That's the only other comment. Let's get you back on the rails. All right, all right. I had to ask.

In about 40 minutes, we got Steve Valliquette, course analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG. He does a great job of breaking things down from the net on out. Of course, it's a hot-button topic right now for the Toronto Maple Leafs because we saw Joseph Wall come back into the mix last night where the Leafs go with Matt Murray. We're going to get Vall Valley's thoughts on that. And then in the second hour, Ken Wiebe is going to join us from Sportsnet, a great contributor, follows the Winnipeg Jets.

Big game tonight, big loss by Calgary. We'll talk about that as well. That is unacceptable for them to lose that game. Well, you can talk about that later. Yeah, we'll get into that later. But let's start on what we saw last night, a 4-2 victory by the Toronto Maple Leafs, a much, I guess, stronger roster than we saw against Detroit.

And let's start with you, Sammy. You're in the JB chair chair right now yeah uh i was happy that jet graves greaves he didn't get lit up because they spent a lot of time on the broadcast talking about how he's like a local kid and his dad had to get the night off at the fire hall and his mom and dad were there and the way it was going early in that game the first one goes in zach aston reese kind of beats him and not the best spot i'm like oh please god for this kid don't let it be eight one they're just putting him in there because they're trying to tank and for me i thought he was maybe the story of the game i thought he was excellent in the you know from that first one that went in until the end of the game

i think he was their best player so i was happy that old jet didn't get lit up too much but i thought it was kind of a weird one for the leafs in terms of them controlling the play so much they really dominated from start to finish but they didn't get a ton of results which is something we've seen in the past but it's hard to take a lot out of it don't you think like are you guys thinking even any differently about them after watching that game last night i don't know you look at the boston bruins the team that we've praised all season long and one of the reasons we praise praised them is they got that depth. Some days your best guys don't score, and they have these guys that find a way and put them through.

I thought that was the story last night for the Leafs. They've got a good bottom six. The Columbus bottom six is like an American Hockey League team. So, yeah, I thought they handled their business pretty well, got 50 shots on that guy or whatever it was. You know, 2-1 wasn't awesome going into the third period, but, you know, overall, pretty expected showing, I thought. Yeah, I thought they worked for it.

Yeah. Listen, you come out and you got 50 shots on goal. You're pushing hard. Right? Yeah. And I thought Columbus, outside of the effort from Jet Reeves. Reeves? Reeves.

Reeves? Yeah. Graves or Reeves? I said both three times. I said I did Leafs talk last night. I did both. Let's just go with Jet. Jet.

Jet from now on. A great effort by Jet. Big time. I think the game-winning goal was off Aston Reese's ass. Yeah, it was off some part of his nether region. Something. So a bad bounce against him. He could have found a way to send the game in overtime quite easily.

Absolutely. And that's one of those games where they the leafs statistically dominate i'm sure the puck possession the all the analytics were heavily in their favor but you know i thought columbus presented as a a big strong team that fought back that they didn't lie down and and and roll over boone jenner to me was was great. I watched Karali run over Nylander. And I thought it was a good game for at least the Leafs to say it had a feel of a simulation of what could happen in the playoffs. You can out-shoot teams 2-1.

You can have dominant puck possession, but you could still be in a very close game on the score clock. Columbus did what you expect teams to do when they're under-talented. They pack it all to the inside and say, okay, shoot it from out there, and they challenge you to get in. And I think they struggled a little bit at times getting in, but found a way. Zach Aston-Reese had some funny comments at the intermission

where he was like, you know, looking back uh zach aston reese had some funny comments at the intermission where he was like you know looking back at my play this year's a lot of bad things i regret or something you know like he really was all over his play but he gets two he gets 10 goals on the year same as alex kerfoot a couple of good storylines for the bottom six guys yeah alex kerfoot scored the only goal alex kerfoot can score which is just like poking it in to an empty net. Like it was just a seal. The puck landed on his stick in the sweet spot, and he was able to poke it home. But give him credit.

He scored a little bit over the last bit here. All right, let's start with Aston Reese. Two goals last night. Let's get Sheldon Keefe and his thoughts on Zach. He's been excellent. I would say from the trade deadline, and maybe even just maybe a week or two before the trade deadline. He's really settled in.

He's played a lot of time with camp. And those guys have really had some great chemistry. They're talking a lot. They know what their expectation is and what we need from them. Obviously, he's scored some good goals for us, which has got his confidence offensively really going and scoring the right kind of goals for a guy like him. You know, he's not cheating for offense.

He's not getting, you know, odd man rushes or anything like this. He's working for it. He's around the net, whether it's pucks hitting him or he's tipping it or, you know, he's finding pucks in the slot. It's all coming from a really good process of working hard, being above a puck, being physical, all the while giving up almost nothing defensively. And apparently he only scores goals when the games are broadcast on TSN

and not Sportsnet, which means... They were bragging about that yesterday. Yeah, great. I'd rather Matthew score my broadcast. TSN disappears in the playoffs, so is that bad news now for Aston Reese and league fans? It's a great point. Didn't think about that.

You're done. Oh, yeah, that's it. Now he's got 10 of them and what, nine of them are on TSN? So, yeah, he's hoping that they steal a couple for the playoffs. But I think the trade deadline, like he mentioned there, it's been pretty clear, and I'll get both of your guys' takes, that, like, the trade deadline bringing in more bottom six guys and Lafferty and Achari, I think it did a couple different things.

I'll even go with three. Obviously, it made your bottom six better. You brought in two guys that know their role, play in that bottom half of the lineup. It inspired your guys that are already here camp has played better since the since the trade deadline zach s and reese has played much better since the trade deadline and the third thing is it's going to be tough for knives to get in this lineup now uh yeah you know like it just takes it takes the pressure off of knives to come in and be an impact guy. Sure, you can think about putting him in the top six, I guess,

if you're really desperate or whatever. But I kind of find it, where are they going to fit him in for playoffs? Who are they going to take out? This lineup looks pretty solid right now. So I'll get you guys' take on that. But it's just been an interesting look since the trade deadline. Yeah, the Nyes thing is interesting just because looking at it right now, it's like, how do you take out Aston Reese, who's, you know,

on a relative tear and, as Keith mentioned, been very good defensively. Everyone's lineup I've seen when they do their, you know, Leafs game one lineup has Aston Reese out and Nyes in. You know, this might, you're right, give him a little more time to practice with the team and get a feel for things before he jumps right in because, yeah, Aston Reese certainly deserves to play right now.

So on the topic, before we get into more Aston Reese here, do we have an update on Nyes and how the team's going? They play this weekend. They play this weekend. Yeah. So they play, I guess, I'm not even sure who they play, but they play their first of the Frozen Four this weekend. Okay. play uh guess who i'm not even sure who they play but they play their first of the frozen four to uh this weekend okay so in theory then we are talking really about one of three games

for nize if he comes in yeah and that is uh florida tampa bay or new york he's gonna get one of those games for sure. Yeah, I could see him getting more than one because they're probably, depending on what they've done with the home ice stuff here, like if they, because they're getting pretty close here now, if they start doing a little bit of load management for some of their bigger guys, like we were talking about yesterday with Tavares or potentially Matthews or whatever,

that opens up a forward slot where, like, I wouldn't be surprised to see him play two of the three games when he's eligible to, all three of them even, depending on what they do. I see we have a clip from Zach Astin-Reese himself. Should we check out what old Zara has to say? Yeah, this is a debut for Kippers Clippers, I think, but he had some pretty good stuff to say after the game, so I put this one in there. I think it's just effort and consistency.

I know they expect me to be physical and finish hits and it doesn't have to be blowing up guys every night but it's just being stiff and you know aggressive on the puck and getting in front of guys hitting guys. I think I've been doing that well lately and I've been moving my feet and skating and I think all that stuff is just tying into the production right now. For sure, he's been able to do the things that should make you successful on a bottom six.

I look at the goals and it's a cherry on top. Yeah. The one thing you gotta watch out for when guys like Aston Reese, like we can go back, we can look at other rosters today or even in the last 10 years and just say, okay, you know what your role is as a fourth liner.

You know what your role is. You go out there. You focus on that. And then if you happen to get a shot in in the slot hey try to make the most of it get a bounce off your your your skate make the most of it but if you are a fourth liner who thinks now that you're going to go out there and start looking for goals this is where these type of guys get in trouble yeah but didn't that's what keith said though that he hasn't done that and that's what he's like yeah like he scored the type of goals get in trouble. Yeah, but didn't that's what Keefe said, though, that he hasn't done that, and that's what he's liked about it.

He scored the type of goals by being in front of the net like last night. Both of them were just him standing in front of the net, and one landed on a stick, one bounced off of him. Yeah, but to me, Kip, when you're watching him play and he's thinking about goals, let's not forget what his motivations are. He was a PTO player this year who signed for 850. He wants a one-way. Ten goals gets you a one-way contract.

And a top score in college. Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of college, they play Boston University tomorrow at 4 p.m. That's one and out then, right? We're in the one and out. Yep. One and done. Yep.

Losing your out? I out then, right? We're in the one and out. Yep. One and done. Yep. Losing your out? I think so, right? Yeah. At this point, you just might as well root for him to win two games over the next three days and win the championship and call it good. So coming in hot. Yeah. Yeah.

Right? Like, who cares if you get him two days earlier? Just that long saying for fourth liners, right? Crushers that become rushers soon turn to ushers. And that's where Aston Reese needs to be wary of. I agree. Want to go in against Tampa Bay? What is your focus here?

To find loose areas in the slot? Or is it to go in there, hit somebody, piss somebody else off, get their focus off, wear somebody down, hurt somebody with a hit? Those are the things that make teams successful in the playoffs. They seem to love him defensively, Zach Aston Reese. They really, you know, a lot of times we've talked about him this year when he wasn't playing this well and we were always saying, like, what is he doing?

Like, what has he done to stay in the lineup constantly? And I think it's just he's really, really responsible defensively, so I think that role is also huge in the playoffs. Okay, let's get Sheldon Keefe's overall view of what he saw last night. Challenging game here tonight, right?

Like, we have the puck a lot. We're getting lots of shots, getting lots of chances. It's a close game, and you still have to be really smart and really disciplined defensively. But I think ultimately this is really kind of a perfect game for us in a lot of ways that we had the puck a lot. We were in control of the game, yet it's still keeping us honest and keeping us playing with the mindset that's going to be required here

the rest of the way. So just what you said in terms of the way that they have to play and the way that that kind of game is going to be around. So I thought you kind of nailed that. Go ahead, JB. I should say keeping us honest is funny because I do find that when they go up too spit on a bad team, they just like, ah, and they shut her down,

and that's when they blow those games. So it's funny that close games are better for them somehow based on their motivations. Seems like yesterday we were saying, okay, there's about 18, 17 games to go. What do you want to do? What do you want to focus? We are now single digit handful not really liking still trying to figure

out the lines and i know ryan o'reilly's coming back yeah and we'll play against boston and now he's slated on the third line with kerfoot and achari i i'm a little unsettled on the first two lines. And with five games to go, I feel a little nervous for them. Yeah, even Marner couldn't save DeVaris and Nylander last night. Like, he did not bring them up. They brought him down, I felt. I think he's playing on his offside a little bit. I just don't like that mix at all to me.

JB, what do they do here well it's a good question and like all their lineup construction right now hinges on matthews bunting with yarn crock being able to be a line like if this i gotta believe they're trying out what they think is a game one lineup here but you know they've played together two games now, those three guys, against two bad teams and haven't produced any goals. So I don't feel awesome about that. Maybe this is one last crack at that before they say we've got to go in another direction. Matthews has the puck a ton on that line.

That's what I've noticed when he's playing with those two guys. He's doing so much work on the ice. To me, it's too individual. I agree. It's not. It's too much. Yeah, there's no one he's bouncing the puck off of. He's picking it up.

He's carrying it the whole way, shooting it, and then they're kind of hoping for a good bounce. If you, my opinion is, if it is bunting Matthews and Yarncroft predominantly against Tampa Bay, they lose in five or six. Really? Yes. Why do you think that? It's not a line that's going to beat Tampa Bay.

It's not. And we just said it. You said it. It's predominantly on Matthews. And I'm Tampa. And we just said it. You said it. It's predominantly on Matthews. And on Tampa, I got Anthony Sorelli against Matthews. That's your focus. And we'll see if Yarncrocker, Bunting beat us. But I don't think I need to worry about that as much as, hey, Anthony Sorelli, you focus on Matthews and we'll take our chances.

I wonder, though, if you do have them saying, all right, Sorelli and Hedman are going to get Matthews. I mean, what does that do for Nylander, Tavares, Marner or whatever that line looks like? Obviously, it shifts the pressure, but you're hoping to create a mismatch at some point. I imagine the first thing you would do is put a big line against Tavares, Marner, and Nylander, and maybe even O'Reilly, Kerfoot, I don't know. It does create some complications for the coach about, are we really going to let Matthews play third pair D?

Probably not. Yeah, from the Tampa perspective, let Matthews play third pair D probably not. Yeah. That's yeah. From the, from the Tampa perspective, you put immediately put Sorelli on Matthews and then you let their big line go up against Tavares, Nylander and Willie. Yeah.

And then you're kind of, yeah, then it's to the bottom six where then you're not Riley. So now you got, you got point, you got point and Kucherov against Tavares and Marner. I like that from Tampa Bay, too. Yeah, listen, Tampa's really good.

I'm just looking at their lines here and how they match up. It's not like Point has to carry Kucherov or Kucherov's got to carry Point. They're going. They're both going. Marner has to carry point. They're going. They're both going. Marner has to carry Tavares in this. Yeah. With less than five games to go unless Tavares hits a switch and becomes this dominant 200-foot center,

which we know is not coming. You know, looking at the Tampa Bay forward forward lines as of right now sorelli's playing with maroon and cologne their second line is paul colton and haggle like i feel good about the least chances down the lineup but i think i agree with you kip like i i think you got to give kneelander back to matthews have o'reilly deal with uh I actually, if you're going to load up a line, I liked O'Reilly Tavares and Marner more than I do Willie in that, on that line. But yeah, then you have O'Reilly Kerfoot,

a charry, something like that. I just, I, you can't leave Matthews on an Island like that. We'll see what happens tomorrow night. Yes. We are going to see bunting Matthews and yarn crack.

That should give Sheldon and the whole management team a better feel a playoff feel with what that line could be capable of I think I'm really interested to see how the Bruins look at tomorrow night because

you know they've been resting guys and people have been sitting out and you know they've been playing some shaky games against bad teams here down the stretch too. They're still winning. They win every game, but they've been in tight games against Columbus. They almost lost to St. Louis the other

night. They've been playing tight. They lost to the Blackhawks within the last few weeks. They haven't been winning as they still win. Let me just say they still win but it doesn't hasn't looked as good as it did earlier so it'll be interesting to see what switch they flip who they rest what they're looking like when they put the lead go against the Leafs tomorrow night how seriously they take that test okay from Sammy we'll go to Sheldon Keefe on the

Boston Bruins uh from what Sheldon sees it'll take to beat them. No, I don't know if I have, frankly. It's been, it's just been impressive to watch, you know, to see the way that the players have just done it night in, night out. And the coaches have kept things moving and keeping guys on board there. Yeah, it's been really impressive. They make it host the NHL Awards in their building this year. To me, they should be cleaning up.

It's been so impressive all the way through their group and what they've done. They're so far away from the pack. It's impressive. Let's wait the line, eh? Sheldon listens to our show. He literally stole my thing. They're the perfect team.

Nothing could ever hurt them. They're perfect. That's all that is. Just hard reverse jinxing. He's just saying, like, he's effusive in his praise because he's just like, yeah, they're perfect. No one would ever touch them. They're the best. They're the best.

I imagine nothing will ever go wrong for them. And if it does, they should panic. Of respects them like there's he's being genuine but in the back of his mind he's like i'm gonna go over the top here right like there's no way that's like they could host the nhl awards in their building really yeah that's great like you can't lose saying that because you're you're you're respecting them. I mean, deep down, you do want to jinx them. Of course. Of course.

That's an RJ of all RJs right there. It's Brad Marchand saying he loves Mitch Marner. Marner's my favorite player in the league. All right. All right, buddy. Yeah. So, listen, it's going to be an awesome task for the Leafs. Like, I think it's nice for them to not be ending against duds right yeah boston and then next week against tampa and against florida who's in a dog fight for their life so it's gonna be a good test for that right now yep

yeah steve alicant will join us in uh what about uh 16 17 minutes to talk about the goaltending here in Toronto and around the league sure how about Rangers New Jersey in the first round possibly baby that would be awesome yeah that's gonna be good but your thoughts on Joseph Wall we'll start with you JB I don't think he was tested a whole ton you know not a tough game to get a read on a guy and probably a tough game to play where he's not really under duress uh you know didn't love the robinson goal that he just shoots it by him yeah it's you know i i he was fine his numbers were good but not one of those games that made me go i agree with everyone who tells me he should play in the playoffs and he's going to be Jordan Bennington.

Yeah, like that first one, he just falls over. He just blew a shoe. He was... Speed wobble. He actually is hilarious. We have a clip of him talking about it. We should listen to it. It's hilarious. You have that clip from Joel Wall? I can't say that's happened to me before.

I wish I could blame it on the skates or something, but I just fell. So, just, yeah, caught a rut or something and tried to make a save in the midair. Didn't work, so. Is that an easy one to shake off or you just, like, kind of laugh it off? Yeah, I mean, there's not much I can really linger on. It happens, so I'm just happy,'m just happy the guy's got a couple goals

for me. He looked like a guy that like any other top goalie prospect that got his feet wet. I like him. I think there's a lot to like.

The size, his mannerisms, the way he quietly goes about his business. He looks like he belongs. This is anecdotal. We'd have to ask McKenna about this, but it really feels like pucks stick to him. When I'm watching him play, it really doesn't feel like there's a ton of loose change

at the top of the blue when there's a wrist shot from the point or a shot. It really feels like he swallows up the puck, which is very important obviously it just that's completely anecdotal it's just eye test but he really does seem solid athletic in position i like him i like him but there's still something to be said that would make management leaf fans awfully nervous to put a guy in there in a backup position if anything happens to samsonov here well then i

mean listen they're done anyway like if he if wall's playing they're like well okay either he beats tampa or we're done so but championships are about when when goalies are lost or when uh there's a small window where you need someone to plug a couple of games is is he capable of it jb i you know i don't know that you're gonna get any worse goaltending than you got a jack campbell trying to do it last year like i do have the confidence that he'll make most of the saves he should if you can keep the other team to the outside it just it changes the math you know you don't get to play the other team 50 50 and help to score more. You have to outplay them 60-40 to give your goalie that benefit of the doubt.

So it just puts so much pressure on your team, even if he is fine. Derek, can we play the Joe Wall, Keith on Joe Wall clip one? Because there's a little part of it that I wanted to see if you guys agree with me on it. I thought it was good. He falls down and catches an edge there on the first goal. Puts himself in a tough spot there, of course. But I thought in the second period, you know, there was more action for him. And I thought he was really good there.

Held them off the sheet. At the end of the game, he keeps them at two. And when that's the case, we're going to win a lot. Keeps them at two. Yeah. And others can't keep it at four. and others it's a matt murray is that is that four others keep it at four and we lose am i reading too much into that but that just felt way too direct for him to say that yeah i think that's that's a fair observation just that like as the

guy who coaches this team if my goalie gives up two goals every night i will not complain yes he's like two goals regardless of how they go in, if you do a somersault in the blue paint somehow, and it goes to that, I don't care. I like that. Pressure's on you, bud. Keep the goal number down. How about the D in front of him? How many shots did

Morgan end up with? Nine. Nine shots on that. Did he really? Yes, sir. Oh, my stars. He's been buzzing a little bit i has been i would think i would say it's probably the last five ish games he's really starting to find it's we've talked about it before it's the decision making and the picking the time to jump up jump back and it really feels like he's in a groove with that recently all. We'll get to your comments, JB, after listening to Sheldon Keefe on Morgan Riley. We don't have a Morgan Riley clip.

Oh, we don't? Nope. No Morgan Riley clip. I have O'Reilly. It says clip right here. Keefe on O'Reilly. Yeah, I know. Make the O bigger.

All right. I'll make... Would you? Listen, I'm hosting. I'm producing. I got to get the font right for you. Is this... I want to talk...

Is this though... Is this Morgan Riley now trying to ramp up the last five games to be more of a threat offensively? Hope so. Is he ready for that? Hope so. Is he kind of cleaned up and quieted his defensive aspect? Now it's time to crank?

Yeah, I think so. What do you think, JB? I think so. I've liked him the last few games. He's hit a couple of posts. He's had a goal fairly recently. I did an article on giveaways and takeaways today. The ratio between your giveaways

and your takeaways. I gotta tell you, Morgan doesn't grade out great on the season in that regards, but I still feel like that they've got him slotted in with luke shen feels like they can get so much more from him and i just i'm curious to see if he can be the guy he was in round one last year for them that would sure make a huge difference if they can have that morgan riley yeah it's i think it's going to come down to even strength minutes versus power play,

how many power plays they get versus Tampa or whatever. But it really does feel like they're going to shelter them. The way that they're playing McCabe and Brody again together, you know, Giordano Hall, Lilligren on the outside looking in right now, I do get the feeling that it is going to be a little bit less Riley than we're used to in the playoffs. Don't you? 11-7?

No. No, 11-7. I don't want to go 11-7 in the playoffs. They got enough good forwards and everyone's healthy. But it is curious if you have an injury. You know, looking right now, it's Abruzzese and Simmons are the next guys in. Like, if you had a forward injury, would they make the switch? Yeah, probably. in like you had a forward injury would they make the switch yeah probably why did you feel it was

uh uh worth putting a clip in of keith talking about 11 and 7 he was talking yeah we're past that point now we were talking about it was just basically him the effect that it's had on the bottom half the lineup with like zach aston reese and all those guys but we've we've we've exhausted that conversation so we don't need to go to that one. Did you want to talk about what almost happened to Mitch Marner? Yeah, we will, but just one more on the D, and that is we saw Hull on a nice pass to Aston Reese. Shen will come back in tomorrow night. Yep, Shen's back in tomorrow night.

And Lilligren's out? Yep, he's on the outside looking in right now. You okay with that? Is it shaping up like let's just say it's a hard game tomorrow night and it's a physical one and you're glad you had shannon does that not almost guarantee a game one start for luke shen a good showing against a physical strong team like boston Yeah. Listen, I'm on Team Shen in there for game one. I think I would rather the coach not go out there and say there's going to be violence this time because it seems like the refs were kind of on to that and called every penalty in that first-round series last year.

So I think I want Luke Shen in there. We'll see how the series progresses. But game one, to me me it feels like he's a lock now jb are you on that side or no i am i what i'm more curious about so i agree that he probably you know things go well tonight whatever he's a lock i am curious to know then do you make sure that gustafson and lilligren have been playing in case you need to go to them if shen's bad game one or two or you want to switch it up on the road or whatever you know we talked about having a set playoff lineup over the next 10 days here you know you don't want to take lilligren out and say now you're not going to play until late april you know when

we may need you so i am curious to know how much that they maybe they do go 11 and 7 again just to make sure all the deer getting some run how about the the layoff on gustafson he's been out for personal reasons for quite some time went back home he's got to get a couple of games here maybe maybe three or four of the five to to really have him as an option you got to get him back in the the fold here yeah back in the flow back in the rhythm absolutely i mean that's a long time away and last night during warm-ups was his first time on the ice since then apparently so he hadn't been on the ice which is pretty concerning in terms of how much time he was off so yeah you got to get him back in the fold okay let's go to uh sheldon keith for our last kippers clipper on marner and

the close call so it's marner talking about it it's always mitch marner mitch marner talking about it i put it on there it says marner on about it. Oh, is it Mitch Marner? Yeah, it's Mitch Marner talking about it. I put it on there. It says Marner on the... You're... What's wrong? Your lineup's like a... What? Much like the news on me.

It should be two days old, this thing. What are you talking about? It could be laid out nicer. Okay, first of all... It's laid out beautifully. The next show is Ben's show. Okay? Okay.

Ben's show. Every day he comes in yeah quick comment and i look down at his lineup and it's beautiful it's got colors it's so organized and it's just like someone actually spent more than five minutes on it at least an hour on this every day kiffer look at that people that? How nicely laid out that is. Marner on the injury. Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, he's not meaning to do it at all. It's a scary incident there. And, yeah, I mean, right away it just felt weird.

Didn't know really what it was. Assumed it was a skate. But, yeah, obviously when I got back, I just asked our trainers there if there was a cut or anything. Didn't feel like there was a cut, so, you know, pretty lucky, but definitely a freak little incident there. Did you wear a protective mesh at all down there? No, you're looking at it. I mean, this is, you know, I got the cut-proof stuff on my wrist,

but not on my legs or anything down there. Like I said, you know, maybe I was lucky it just wasn't a heavy guy, and, you know, it was a bit of a free play there, but luckily enough, nothing came out of it. They lose Marner, our show gets canceled. Listen, the thought crossed my mind that we spent so much time this year talking about the Leafs, watching the Leafs, not just us, Leafs Nation, where you're just investing yourself in this somewhat pointless regular season where you're watching all Leafs, not just us, Leafs Nation, where you're just investing yourself in this somewhat pointless regular season

where you're watching all these games and it just flashes before your eyes right there. Like, it was just that moment. I saw it happen live and I went, oh my God, he got stepped on and he like rolled around for a second because he's probably panicking that he got stepped on. And it's like, they're done. That's, your season's over, right?

Like there's just- Two inches. It's, that's it. Two season's over, right? Two inches. That's it. Two inches. And similarly, when Toronto plays Montreal, if Tavares is in two inches different position, he's probably okay. There's a lot of luck in this, and you've got to stay healthy, but not much you can do to control it sometimes.

So fortunate he got pant and not socked there. No more games for Mitch. I think he should rest for the rest of the season. No more games. No, that's not the answer. The answer is that he starts to... I get a sense

of frustration from him the last little while. The points aren't there. Now he's with Tavares. Tavares is struggling. Nylander's struggling. Is he still stuck at 95 points? Yes, he is. He wants to get to 100. Fair enough. Why wouldn't you?

So, got to get going right now, but the question is, is Tavares going to get an element that he can play 180 feet away from that radius in front of the net where he's so good at.

That's where he's the most effective and one of the best in the league. And he continues to rack up points with that area. But Tavares has got to get a lot more playmaking in his game here. And is it up to Mitch to get that going?

Or is Tavares going to do it himself? Listen, they're asking a ton of them. They literally took the two struggling guys and were like, play with Mitch, that'll fix it. Tavares sometimes gets a puck, and he gets locked in on shooting. Once he's decided he's shooting, no one's getting a touch. Tunnel vision. He does that toe drag kind of into the middle where he fires it,

and half the time it goes off a stick and off the glass. They got to get him going. Not even him as more so it's willie for me more so like i i don't know if he's in cruise control towards the end of the season here but how long has it been because we were it wasn't that long ago we were saying him and mitch may be neck and neck for how valuable they are to the team he had it going yeah he was he was awesome awesome awesome and it's just how long do you think it's been now i know the numbers suggest he's got two or three goals in the last 14 yeah he scored he scored he scored on against ottawa right willie yes he did saturday night he did yeah so i think that was his first like he went nine games i think with one goal and he was and eight of them were pointless is there

is there's still five games here to to get him feeling good here jb or is there a real concern here well i actually kind of like like he's one of those guys to me that's just like too good to be ineffective forever like he's not just done being good so i don't mind that it's happening i'd like to see some flashes here that that bill's starting to figure it out so it's it's gone on a little bit too long um yeah the couple of good teams down the stretch here but yeah a lot of these guys know it's it's ramp up time here god i i couldn't even play in game one with all this pressure building up for three months or whatever it's been now i'd take a 10 off the first draw yeah you'd be cal clifford you'd bash somebody's brain into the glass two minutes into the game get a five minute

major yeah exactly okay we're gonna break steve valaket analyst for the new york rangers on msg is going to break down a ton for us uh not only with the leafs uh but around the league valley after the break you're watching and listening to Real Kipper, Born and Semi. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Marriott 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 sammy doing a real good job filling in physically mentally and emotionally It's another story. Another guy who brings it all physically, mentally, and emotionally, Steve Alliquette. What's up, Kipper? Often carrying Henrik Lundqvist on the panel.

Oh my goodness. Do you know how much more money I've spent this year working with that guy? No, tell us. Oh, it's killing me, man. It's just killing me. I'm in like 20 or 30 grounded suits and I still can't keep up. Going to nice dinners too, I'm sure. He's just a beautiful man.

Just admit it. Oh, my God. It's tough. It's tough. There's no keeping up. And I mean, I'm bringing it. Like, I've got my own suit guy now. I've got new shoes.

I'm still getting chirped on Twitter. Buddy, you bring it every time you're on our show. That's all that matters. How are the races for you down the road here? We're watching Florida get into it. We're watching Pittsburgh probably giving it away. Outside of that, is it

something that you look at and go, is it enough right now? Would you like to have seen more? I'm sure you guys feel the same way. Who wants it? That's been bizarre for me, just watching teams not want it, not take it, not take ownership on it it's

been a troubling that way just watching it break down nobody really wants it i don't know it's not like i don't know nobody wants it i mean that's my feeling i'm just surprised nobody's really taken it yeah you know we've been watching a lot of interesting playoff battles uh the leafs obviously sort of embroiled in their own uh you know decision making having known where they're going to be in the standings for so long what were your thoughts seeing matt murray get hurt again uh seeing joe wool get some starts are you at all a believer that wall could be okay do you think matt murray can come back and play what do you make of the leafs goaltending situation as it currently stands so murray's injury it's a concussion right I mean I saw the play but that's that's the call on it or is it

not a head injury yeah I think we're safe to speculate yeah all right I'm a doctor I uh I do play one on television so here's the thing I we saw this last year when the Rangers played against Ottawa. If you remember the game, the Rangers were trailing by two, five minutes to go. Kreider scores, but he steps past Murray after he scores a backdoor goal where he was stationary. He wasn't skating into him. And as he stepped by him, he jarred his head back a little bit. It was more of a glance than a direct blow. Murray leaves the game and there's speculation that he's got a concussion, and it was called a concussion after the fact.

But on that play, I'm saying to myself, like, I mean, seriously? Is that really? I don't know. I want to give guys the benefit of the doubt, but two things. Either you want to leave the game because you just want to get rid of the game, or you're that susceptible to concussions which to me both are problematic and that's what I get worried with I saw the play Raymond slides into him and you know he hits hand ass back then head head wasn't primary again I'm saying does he just want out because he's not having a good night, or is he really injured right now, in which cases both are bad?

So I wonder about it, guys. I've got to be honest with you. I mean, I've taken so many bombs off the head of my life. And you know what it was like? It was like before games, in warm-up, guys on the way out, hey, boys, let's warm up Hank, ladies' tees on Valley. You think I didn't hear that all the time? You know?

And it was a thing. Like, I took – so I – geez, I had been run and everything. I never got hit and hurt hard enough. But at the same time, if you get one, as I went through with my best friend, Steve Montador, they're so cumulative, the smallest glance can set you off. So that's where the other side of me, not the guy that's in the locker room or having a beer with you guys, just saying, like, I'm kind of worried about him too, you know? We're talking to Steve Vallecat, analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG.

Valli, have you ever played with anyone that's had worse luck than Matt Murray? Seen it? Well, no. played with anyone that's had worse luck than matt murray seen it well well no and and that's why look i know there's there's a thing out there where can you okay a few things number one i remember talking to uh maddie nickel um bio steel a couple years ago and he said he said valley there is no excuse for a soft tissue injury at this stage in the game. We were just talking openly about injuries at the time. It makes so much sense because here's my past history with injuries. The only time I ever got injured was when I was coming out of the shower

and Jean-Guy Trudel, there was two guys fighting in the locker room, he was at the Gatorade, didn't see me, and stepped back on my foot. Blade, barefoot. I slid on my back into the shower and saw my toes fall off and just the back of my foot was keeping my toes on my body all right and like that was a three months of maybe a four months with two surgeries and career threatening and other than that I never felt like I had a career that I couldn't not be available. And I remember actually one injury, having an injury where I was in Toronto and the Raptors trainer came in afterwards and said to me,

you know, what happened type of thing. And it was we're playing against, it was when I was with the Miners because I played for Toronto Roadrunners. We were there one year. And we were playing against Ottawa's farm, Binghamton. Ray Emery was in that. I remember the game because I thought I was going to have to fight that night. And I moved to my left out of my butterfly, and my right knee just went.

There was no contact. There was no strain or stretch. And I thought to myself, like, am I that sensitive? Am I susceptible? Am I going to be that guy right now? And I remember the next day, the Toronto Raptors trainer said to me, and we had a bit of a personal relationship because we're sharing the building. He said, you need to be in the cold tub after every single workout, whether you're on the bike, running off the ice, we do it preventative for all of our

players with the Raptors and we've knocked our injuries down, et cetera. Well, I put a cold tub into my house, so I did it after summer workouts. I had one every day at the rink, on the road. I was in the cold tub every day, and I didn't have a single lower body injury from age 23 to 35. And that's one way of, as Nickel was saying, you know, take care of your body. And maybe this game's not for everybody. That's some of the unknown.

But there's certainly steps you can take to take care of your own health. Valley, I find this conversation absolutely fascinating. And I just want to kind of talk a little bit about, you know, your comment. I don't know if it was a throwaway or not but you know you you're asking questions and it's like does he want out and you know even at this level are there scenarios where you've even felt like i gotta find a way to get out of this game whether it is an injury or i'm hoping that the coach pulls me. I mean, is there a way even subconsciously for goalies to manifest maybe an injury? I don't know.

Well, Kipper, when you play at the highest level, we all have pretty healthy egos just for us to be able to get there. Let's just call it that. How do you protect your ego? How do you protect it? And sometimes you're protected by, well, I can't lose if I don't play. And that's what I worry about for some guys, especially during their careers, because they're going to look back and they're going to have regrets.

Now, I never had the luxury to do that. I just didn't. You can look at my career from the minor leagues. I was a really good minor league backup. That's how I became an NHL backup. It wasn't like I ever had the luxury of being able to pull that move. But trust me, I saw it plenty. And you can't fool the boys. And you've been in locker rooms, Borny, you know, like, come on. Like, we'd be kidding ourselves if we weren't having an honest conversation about how guys stay away from certain challenges to protect their ego, meaning, quote, unquote, you can't lose if you're not in the game.

And sometimes guys save their careers that way long enough by being frauds. And I'm not saying that about Murray, but I wondered when I saw the clip against Detroit, and I also wondered when I was covering the game against Ottawa last year, I'm like, ah, I don't know about that one. But at the same time, I'm also worried for the guy because he might be that susceptible too for sure which also brings up sort of a related thing and what i wanted to

ask you about is the idea of guys who i don't want to say they don't try but save themselves for certain times a year the great players have the luxury to kind of not push themselves a hundred percent we see as soon as as the playoffs start every year. Guys find another gear. Right now Vasilevsky is on a tear. Two shutouts in his last three games, stopped 99 of his last 100. Is it possible that this is a guy who's just been kind of playing his way through the year and is looking to dial it up now? Well, he certainly has that luxury.

Like, Borny with us in New York, Patrick Kane right now, Panarin, they're not all the way peddled down right now. And you can see the pace they're playing with. And you think Kaner doesn't know how to win a cup? He's got three. The team here in New York has a very recent memory of how hard it was last year to go Eastern Conference final against Tampa and lose and how much it took to get through Carolina and Pittsburgh and it's a recency there too where I'm sure they're saying all right we got two weeks like I'm gonna I don't even care about these games right now I don't care at all what happens but I do understand that these guys would have that feeling and Shusterkin is no different.

He's done the same thing. The best goalie in the NHL, now I did this because it's based on March 9th. That's when I thought he turned the corner. They played a game in Montreal where he looked dialed in. His feet were back under him. He's got big posture again. And I just was looking at my own database. The best goalie in the NHL since that game,

when I felt like he really turned it back on, is Igor Shusterkin, best goalie in the NHL since that game, when I felt like he really turned it back on, is Igor Shostakhin, best goalie in the league, second best, Vasilevsky. So it's been a few weeks now where Vasily's been right there with Shostakhin, the top two guys in the NHL again. UC Soros is close there as well. But yeah, do these guys have the ability to do that, either consciously or subconsciously? So that's, yeah, I absolutely believe that's a thing. When we speak of Vasilevsky, Shosturkin,

even Allmark now is in the conversation. How can you not put him in the conversation after the year that he's had? They all have a ton of depth up front. Sorokin, on the other hand hand is a guy where you go not so much up front like the other three I just mentioned is he in a position now where he can go old school and win a series by himself or does the depth the lack of depth catch up to even his brilliance you know you know what? I think it helps, Kipper, because Hank and I had this conversation on TV recently where, and I felt this, of course, but he really brought it home.

He's like, I kind of like playing for the teams that I had in front of me that didn't have a lot of scoring because the game, every goal mattered so much. It's like I want to feel that level. I want it to be heightened. I want that to tighten my focus. And, you know, he want to feel that level. I want it to be heightened. I want that to tighten my focus. And, you know, he was really emotional about it and I could get the sense from him that he felt like that brought the best out of him.

And I certainly felt the same as a goalie. You know, you know your team's only good for two a night. I mean, I'm, I'm one, I'm one or a shutout. And if it's two, we're getting into overtime, but it certainly brings out the best. I mean, anything that kind of, anything that really converges your eyes more on the puck and less with distractions or expectations helps. Hank said it, and I agree with him 100%. I saw him, too.

He dragged – you guys – I don't know if you remember or not, but you guys now, I'll tell you what, 08, 09, 10, Henrik was going on runs in the last 30 games to get us in that were just absurd. But it was because we were a low-scoring team and every goal counted. I've loved getting your take on all this goalie stuff, and I think tonight is maybe one of the best goalie matchups,

or most interesting, not the best, but Hellebuck is going up against Markstrom, and Markstrom is supposed to be in that class of guys, these elite guys. I know you've been watching closely with these guys can this guy find it again like what is going on this season that Markstrom is nowhere near one of the top echelon guys I didn't hear that Mark he was going again tonight he is playing tonight that's last I had heard he was going back to back yeah wow man

you know what um he for a very long time guys and i'm talking like six years to me has been an elite goalie undercover in vancouver even undercover in vancouver before he was uncovered because i'll never forget this like six years ago dan clucci had called me in the summertime he knew i had started the stats company and he's like look we're having a little bit issue here in van about, you know, Marky and whether or not he's number one or not. And I'm like, man, he's like 15 to top 10 in everything that we have. Like, he's absolutely legit.

And I know he took that information back there, and we've talked about it since. He's been one of my favorite goalies to follow, cover, clip film for, used as an example with the younger guys that I coach. I can't believe his game off a cliff this year. It only shows me that, and I don't, this is not insider information or anything like that. There's no way he has a good relationship with Daryl. I'm sorry.

Like he is not himself. And when somebody falls off that hard and doesn't look himself and isn't playing, I don't know if you guys saw the goal, the breakaway goal. It wasn't last night's game. It was a previous game two games ago. I was like, he didn't even try it. Like, he's not – you can't tell me that he's all in right now. I think he just wants – talk about getting out of the game. I think he just wants his season to be over.

He doesn't look good. One more on your – the psyche of a goaltender, and that's where we've where we've been watching edmonton the last little while or since they traded for um matthias ekholm and what that's done to skinner and you know your scenario as a goaltender can can one guy on your blue line make you feel that much better can it improve improve you 10, 15, 25%? Yeah, it sure can. And the other way too, if you have one there, that's a distraction that you think you'd rather be playing five on the edge.

Get rid of that guy, please. And I'll get better. I'll tell you what, Robert Schnabel. Have you ever heard this guy's day before this guy? I played with him at Springfield, oh my goodness. Anytime he was on the ice, I'm like, I'd rather just be five on three. I'd rather just play five on three. This guy's killing me. And it becomes such a distraction that you end up pulling the puck out of the net and you're the guy that pays the price until you wise up to it.

It constantly hurts you. I've had that conversation with a lot of goalies and everybody's got one or two names where they just couldn't stand the guy in front of them. And by the same respect, can you play in a game, any sport, that becomes predictable? It becomes a lot easier. And as long as when you're in hockey and you're protecting the middle of the ice, and I'm talking about goalie against the pass so they can lock in on shooter is the more that Skinner can do that in the game and and by that same fact if Edmonton can defend that imaginary line that cuts

the ice into the same way they're able to expose it offensively and reverse engineer it in their own end I mean that's that's a cup winning team I mean they're a cup winning team on paper now but uh and and I wonder about the goaltending. It's hard to say that he'll be able to keep it up through a long run as well. Yep. Last one for me, Valley, is just, you know, potential cup-winning teams might meet up

in the first round. Rangers, Devils, how do you handicap that series? So Devils scare me. Right off the bat, the Rangers had them last week and had their hands full in the first period the reason why they're scary is because they're so fast and they jump you all over the ice and there's two areas where the rangers have had difficulty this year it's through the neutral zone and it's their power play against a very aggressive penalty kill and the devils are really good in those two areas and they're very good at countering

and uh there's one thing you can't hide from if you are the Rangers, and you have to know this about yourself going into the playoffs. It's a famous line from Bill Parcells, who was the New York Giants head coach at one point, and he famously said, when you are what your record says you are, there's total truth in that. And what the Rangers are right now is they are 28th off the rush in chances against and i took a deep dive into this today and it kind of pissed me off

because in the full season off the rush against the rangers were 23rd i'm like okay let me just like dial this back to maybe december 5th because that's when the season turned for them they beat st louis in a comeback game after Truba had thrown his helmet the night before against Chicago in the loss. So up until December 5th, I kind of moved my cursor over that it's, all right, they were 19th, okay. And then I went after December 5th, they were 28th. And then I went to March 3rd deadline to today, and it's 28th.

So I'm like, okay, you are what your record says you are, as Bill Parcells said. And that's going to be the key for that match 28. So I'm like, okay, you are what your record says you are, as Bill Parcells said. And that's going to be the key for that matchup. It is, can they manage the puck, reduce it, turnovers and foolishness in the neutral zone? You know what it is too? When you're up against a really tough neutral zone, I think the teams don't shoot it on the opposing goalie enough from the neutral zone, off the blocker, low on the ice, hard slapper, because then it's at least going into the corner. It's not as predictable for their D to recover.

The devil's just destroyed pit last night. I mean, yeah, that's, that's another reason to maybe make the Rangers feel a little nervous. They're fast, man. They're fast.

What do you guys think about Samsonov? How's he going to do? Well, listen, I lied. I do you guys think about Samsonov? How's he going to do? Well, listen, I lied. I want one more question on Samsonov. Listen, I love talking to you, man. I could talk to you for an hour. We're going to have to break soon here. But one more on Samsonov now that you brought it up.

Where does his psyche go knowing that there might not be a safety net? Does that change his psyche, his mindset at all? Well, okay, so number one, I think there's so much pressure and expectation on the team that now he just knows I have to be the guy. And you know what? Maybe it's better not having a safety net because then you have full responsibility of it.

So you're all in mentally and there is no, I can get out of this one. There's two things with Samsonov. Two things that kind of stand out for me on this scouting report. If these two things don't happen, you guys will be all set. East to West passes, he ranks 46th out of 47 goalies that have faced 50 or more this season. And on clear-sighted shots, when guys get into the slot area, he also ranks 46th out of 51 goalies that have faced 50 or more. So if he doesn't face an east to west or a clear-sighted shot from the slot, you guys are all set.

Wow, that's fascinating stuff. Hey, JB. JB, useful. Useful, not useless. Yeah, I love it. Well, you know what? You guys know I listen to you guys all the time. I got to tell you this one.

This is a good one. So I'm in my hot, I got a hot tub in Vermont. I'm in the hot tub. My son comes out. This is a couple weekends ago. We're hitting our last couple of runs of skiing. And 7 in the morning, i'm in the hot tub before i ski and i've got the speaker on and i'm listening to you guys right if he pokes his head

out it's like seven in the morning he goes hey dad what you doing listening to kipper and barn proud to be a part of your routine i'm absolutely sharing that with the boys. That's awesome. Well, listen, big hello to your kid, all right? What's his name? Yeah, that was Dean. So Dean's named after Dean Youngblood and my older guy Dalton Roadhouse. Oh, my God. That is awesome.

Yeah. All right, Valley. We'll bring you back in the first round round okay all right see you boys have a good one ciao see valicat that is just he's awesome dean and dalton are awesome that's class does a terrific job for msg as an analyst and uh all right we're gonna go to uh anything else before we go to break, Sammy? You can go to break if you want. I don't have my headphones back here, but I can talk to you and then talk back to me.

JB, you okay? Yeah, you know, I think it's interesting chatting about the Leafs' goaltending, you know, and his thoughts on Samsonov and, you know, what they need to do. You know, I see a tweet here from my friend, The Oak Leafs, who says that after December 1st last year, the Leafs' goaltending was sub-900. After the December 1st this year, Samsonov and Joseph Wall have both been 913, 932.

Pretty good guys. So I'm encouraged by the Leafs' goaltending talk is all. Okay. Just a note. I know we're going to go to break soon, and not that we have to deep dive into it, but JB, 0-3 on the power play last night. Yeah, but I thought they were really good. I thought they created a lot, moved it around.

It looked like, I don't know, they were all 5-on-3s, didn't it? 0-3. You got to score. Well, I mean, when you're going up against the Jet, it's... Okay. Trust the process. It's the Jackets and the the jet um all right speaking of jet well i was just gonna say that those two stats that valley gave us at the end there about the

cross crease passes and it's not and that's where wall is way quieter do the lightning like to go side to side on their power play or is that just i feel like i've watched that a little bit kucherov a little bit to stamkos once in a while there's nobody that can disguise a shot pass better than kucherov that one's gonna give nightmares he's still he's still playing right he's still on their team i think so oh boy i think so all right ken weeb's gonna join a sportsnet contributor uh based out of winnipeg. We're going to tee up. Speaking of a jet, the Jets and the Flames tonight. Hey, game seven for Calgary and Winnipeg. More of that 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 Apple, 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 Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. If there's ever been a game this regular season that comes across as a game seven, this is it tonight. Calgary Flames versus the Winnipeg Jets.

Let's bring in Ken Wiebe, sports net contributor based in Winnipeg, co-host of the Kenny and Rennie Show. This is it. Ken, isn't it tonight for both these hockey clubs? It sure feels that way. Yeah, absolutely, K kipper thanks for having me uh you and borny uh yeah definitely if it's not a game seven it feels like it's winter go home here even though it's not technically that but uh the jets have a two-point lead but really it's three because they have the tiebreaker if they went in regulation to put the flames essentially five back

with three to play, that is an awfully steep hill to climb, given the fact that they will only have three games left. So definitely expecting a lot of intensity and urgency from both clubs. It'll be interesting. The biggest question for me, can the Jets deliver the knockout punch? They were able to get themselves in order with a 12-goal weekend and a couple of wins after a tough stretch. But this is something that we learn a lot about teams at this time of year,

and this is a first opportunity for the Jets to really, they've got their opponent on the ropes, and let's see if they can deliver a sneaky left cross instead of the right hand that everyone's looking for. Well, you know, we're certainly excited about it. And in trying to tee up the game, I would love to just get an overview of where the jets are at right now how they've come to this point in your opinion i know at one

point a few months ago it it seemed like they were all but a lock to finish uh outside or above the wild card spot so uh how do they get here ken yeah bernie it's a great question last time we talked i think i was in detroit and the Jets were seemingly battling for first overall in the West, and now they're scratching and clawing just to get eighth. So they sort of went a bit sideways in a couple areas. Their goal scoring dried up quite considerably. We talked about the concerns about complementary scoring at that time, but their primary scorers kind of went cold for a stretch.

Their power play has been in the futility range, now one for 36, but it's been tough for about two months overall. Even though the Jets got healthier and conceivably should have improved their lineup, their quality of play in terms of their defensive structure kind of slipped a little bit, and their offense kind of dipped, and next thing you know, they're really struggling. Prior to the outburst, they had nine goals in seven games. And no matter who you have in net,

even if you have a Vesna-caliber netminder, you're putting a lot of pressure on the masked men if you can't put the puck in the net. So they've been a little Jekyll and Hyde here for sure. And we'll see which version shows up for this game against an equally desperate Calgary Flames team that really coughed up a hairball, to borrow the praise of our colleague Elliot Friedman.

We're talking to Ken Wiebe, Sportsnet contributor, co-host of Kenny and Rennie. Who's got the most pressure tonight going into this game individually for Winnipeg? Would it be Kyle Connor? Would it be Shifley? Pierre-Luc Dubois? Who's feeling it right now?

Yeah, it's a great question, Nick. Basically, all three of those guys kind of had a pressure release, to be quite honest, on the weekend. They'd all been struggling to a certain degree offensively. Connor had one goal in 14 games going into Friday's action.

He scored an important tip-in goal and got himself and his legs really motoring. Mark Scheifele had no goals in nine games and came up with an important goal in a three-point weekend. So I feel like he was able to get himself going as he moved to the wing on that line with Dubois and Connor. And then Blake Wheeler got himself going too. Kipper, that was a big thing for the Jets.

He had gone through a bit of a tough patch on the road trip, 21 games without a goal. He had a pair of multi-point games and kind of hopped in, you know, to borrow Valley's term. He jumped in the old hot tub time machine to about five years ago and really got his legs going on the weekend too. So that top line has been loaded up, but the undercurrent to that is that it allowed a line of Vladislav Mestnikov

with Blake Wheeler and Nikolai Ehlers to really shine as well. So they weren't just putting, even though they put most of the eggs in one basket, they got complementary and balanced scoring. Out of those 12 goals, 11 were at even strength, and they got goals from all the lines, including a fourth line penalty shot goal from Morgan Barron. So I don't think any of those three are necessarily under pressure Kipper, but you know, for lack of a better term, we know what's at stake here.

And we know that Mark Shifley was one of the players Rick bonus was talking about when he needed, when he said he needed more from his top guns. So I would say that it's that it's an opportunity for that line to have a bit of a statement game here because we know they're probably going to see a lot of the Lindholm line. And if they don't see the Lindholm line, they're going to see the Cadry line. And we know that after things didn't go well last night, I would expect a big game from Nazem Cadry

after a couple of costly turnovers in that tough loss to Chicago. You've mentioned Rick Bonas and his handling of Scheifele, moved him to the wing, but also just like the evolution of Bonas over this year was like, oh, they brought in like the kindly coach who's been around that everyone loves to these days. He seems like a pretty frustrated guy. You know, what have you seen out of Bonus from the start of the year to bring him to where he is now? Yeah, super interesting, Borny.

And for those who haven't read, you had a great column on this topic with Bonus and Paul Maurice and the way it's important. And he sort of has changed the way he's dealt with the media. There was a lot more truth serum in the earlier going when the Jets were vying for first in the conference. And I wouldn't say he's taken a kid gloves approach in the second half, but he hasn't, you know, for the horse racing terms, he hasn't gone to crack the whip overly often here in the second half, though he has had moments where his honesty maybe gets the best of him,

if you will. But I think it's been interesting to see. I mean, this group has gone through so much in the last couple of years and haven't really gone on a run since 2018. So I think there have been times where his truth maybe hit a little bit home for some of the established members of the Corps. But I think overall his message has still resonated with the group. And I think Rick has done a really good job of, you know,

preaching accountability to the tip at times. Maybe, of course, it probably did. But overall, I think he's really done a good job of resonating with the group. But there have been times during this last month where, you know, he looked like he was – I wouldn't say he looked like he was out of answers, but he definitely had a lot of head-scratching moments, and I think he changed his tone in terms of how he you know was doing a lot more propping up of the players rather than asking for a whole lot more when he talked about the responsibility of battling for first overall

in the western conference so i think he's done a good job but you know we'll find out ultimately in these last five games if if his approach and his evolution of that approach you know hit struck a chord and allows them to get into the playoffs again we can look at this roster as i did before the season and and understand that uh you know whether it was the the statement they made with blake wheeler's captaincy or just the fact that some contracts are going to be coming up and who stays and who goes but does that fork in the road come a lot sooner, missing the playoffs?

And does that drag in Cheval Day off and to a certain extent, Bonas moving forward? Yeah, it's a great question, Kipper. I do think that missing the playoffs would be a bit of a nightmare for this group. Two years in a row would be very costly at this time, knowing that contracts that you mentioned and not just Sh know shifley dubois hellebuck um you know all those core pieces so it would probably expedite things for sure even getting into the playoffs

and squeaking in maybe i think there there probably need to be some difficult decisions that are made uh with the organization but i mean we've seen this before with the L.A. Kings. I mean, the similarities between the Jets and the Kings would be that, you know, the net minding. I mean, if the Jets get in and squeak in, they would have Connor Hellebuck who can be the great equalizer. Now, does that impact the future decisions on some of those important players? I'm not sure.

But I think the roster is going to look a lot different come the fall and running it back is a lot less appealing for a team. That's an eight seed rather than a one or two seed, which is what they were looking like for a long time. So what that looks like exactly. And I just don't see a rebuild happening here, guys. And look at the central division. There are a lot of teams already that have cast their lot in the,

for lack of a better term, rebuilding or tanking mode. I don't see the Jets casting their lot in that field, given they're already going to be a year or two behind most of those other teams. But having said that, if they don't get a couple extensions involved, they'll have no choice but to make a couple moves, whether that's in the summer or prior to the deadline. And that's when things get really dicey.

Because what if all of a sudden the Jets are having a great season? Now you're going to tell me, oh, by the way, we're going to trade two of our best players because their contracts are ready to expire and they're not willing to extend. So I would say the Jets are going to be one of the most active teams the week of the NHL draft. But a lot of that could still be determined by what happens in the next couple of weeks and maybe months if they get to where they want to be. It's a lot of jobs hinge on making playoffs and not, and Calgary is no different. I assume you've been putting in some time looking at the Flames and what their team is all about.

What are your thoughts on what's going on there for a team that really had very high expectations, I think, going into the season? Yeah, fascinating, Borny. And sorry, Kip, as far as Rick Bonas, if the Jets are reloading, I think you could see him stick around. But this year has been really taxing on him emotionally and mentally. I think he got COVID early, and that's been a factor for him. But in terms of Calgary, Borny, they've been one of the bigger disappointments in the year. There's no other way to put it jacob markstrom looks like he hasn't recovered from the playoff uh you know the playoff toll that was extracted from the series with the oilers

on the back end i think one thing that we don't talk about enough and you know i know he's not a marquee name but not having having Oliver Shillington. Yes, I understand he was available on waivers, but he really established himself as a top four defenseman with the Flames last year. He's such a mobile guy. It was a short summer for Nazem Kadri. We know about the issues that have been discussed about with him and Daryl Sutter.

It's not really clicking super well. One guy who's had a great year is Toffoli, but a lot of guys had drop-back seasons, and nobody bigger in that category than Jonathan Huberto, who is expected to be, if not a 100-point guy, an 80-plus guy. And his production has dipped dramatically. And the guy he was in the trade for just so happens to be in the middle of the Hart heart trophy race for second place.

We know who's going to win first place, but if, if the Florida Panthers get in, Matthew Kachuk is right in the middle of the heart race for number two with guys like Jason Robertson and Nathan McKinnon and Miko Rantanen and David Pasternak. So McKenzie Weger, the adjustment has been a little up and down there.

And, and the one thing we found out about the flames and the playoffs we're seeing again now when they don't have Chris Tanev in the lineup, they don't defend nearly as well. And their scoring hasn't really been there. So I'm fascinated to see both these two teams that are playing tonight, guys. They have been masters of inconsistency at times.

And that's what sort of created this turtle derby. And whoever can play the best in these last four or five games, respectively, is going to be the team that punches their ticket unless there's a miracle finish for UC Soros and the Predators who don't seem to want to go away here in this race either. Can you mention Tanev and what he means to Calgary? And then you watch Matthias Ekholm added to the Edmonton Oilers lineup

and you watch two struggling teams going at it tonight and it's as if edmonton now has been like shot out of a cannon moving towards the playoffs are you surprised or was it just plugging up a little bit of a deficiency on their blue line yeah absolutely i mean you guys know i've watched that home so closely in the central division these last decade plus here he was such a smart addition i know the jets were airing him a couple years ago before he signed the extension uh he is a game changer not only for what he brings no he's not the same player he was in 2018 either five years ago but he's such a good partner for evan bouchard and he brings that physical element he's not

necessarily a massive open open ice hitter like a scott stevens but he plays such a good partner for Evan Bouchard. And he brings that physical element. He's not necessarily a massive open ice hitter like a Scott Stevens, but he plays such a firm and physical game. And it has allowed Darnell Nurse to go back into a manageable minute role for the Edmonton Oilers, and that's benefited everyone. And I think he's made, you know, Kipper, you know this from being in those rooms. He's made everybody an inch or two taller and allowed them to stick out their chests a little bit more. We talk always about the Oilers and their two big guns,

but I also don't think we're talking enough about Ryan Nugent Hopkins, the kind of year that he's going to have going from 69 as his career high to he's going to be eclipsing the century mark. For a team that didn't have enough secondary scoring for a long, long time, Nugent Hopkins has been know maybe as critical up front as as patching the hole on the back end with matthias at home one more kenny before we let you go and that is which team tonight shows up oh man i if i knew that question uh we'd have a much better answer i think the jets will land that right cross or that left cross while the flames are looking for the right the right right to the chin

but i wouldn't i wouldn't say that confidently if folks were going to be uh you know to whatever bedding line they may be going to but i think the jets are feeling better about themselves and that was such a demoralizing loss for the Flames last night. But you know what they say about a wounded animal. Oh, yeah. I constantly work with two here. Exactly, exactly. Really appreciate your time.

Thanks for doing this. Yeah, I look forward to talking to you guys in the playoffs. Enjoy all the tilts. And, Borny, I hope those book sales continue to roll, man. Thanks for doing this. Yeah, I look forward to talking to you guys in the playoffs. Enjoy all the tilts. And, Borny, hope those book sales continue to roll, man. Thanks for sharing your story with everyone. Thanks so much, Ken. Appreciate it. Thanks for coming on, man.

Have a great day, guys. Ken Wiebe, co-host of Kenny and Rennie Show. With Sean Reynolds. Does a terrific job, yep. With Sportsnet.ca as well. So, I don't know. We had a very good conversation on yesterday's show with Eric Francis. And Eric, no one's followed that team in Calgary more than him.

Did he know or what? There was that twinge in his voice that suggested that maybe, just maybe, they were coming on. Wow, but he knew. He called the Chicago thing pretty hard. His eyes were wide open. Yes. And he nailed it. That's embarrassing.

Like, you're at home. That's a team that's trying to lose. Actively. Actively. You have Peter Mrazik in that, and you are set up to win that game, to go into the biggest game of your year where you can turn the whole narrative around,

and they could not have looked more like the Flames of this season. They just flamed it hard. Just before, JB, you jump in. I had a year with Hartford. We knew we were going to miss the playoffs. The only ones that hope that, you know, you end up with a better draft pick are the guys upstairs that don't play. No, you're right.

I'm watching Boone Jenner last night. Playing hard. Yes. Yeah. And I'm watching guys on Chicago, Athanasiu. I'm watching these guys go for it. What do I care? What do I care what draft pick they have?

Trying or not, you're supposed to be able to overcome the crappy roster the team's playing that night, whether they're trying or not. You've heard the expression, when someone tells you who they are, believe them, that sort of thing. The Flames have told us who they are 77 times, 78 times this year. Francis doesn't believe in them, so it's hard to. No, the guy watches them every single night. And did you see the Cadre play?

Yeah, there was two of them. He had another one in the neutral zone. I mean, that looks like a group that can't wait for the summer. Gosh, i know some nights you just don't have it no i'm not putting it all on him i'm just saying the relationship that they've had but that's a guy that you expect to play a prominent role in a big game yes caudry did you hear francis i don't know if you guys heard francis at intermission last night after caudry's turnover what hery's turnover. They were talking about something

else and he was like, I gotta stop you guys. I just gotta say, that turnover by Caudry is unacceptable. Like at this time of year, that moment, that lack of effort, like he went out of his way to be like, that was brutal. And you know what? It was pretty brutal. It was brutal. You know, like let's have a little more, I don't know, take it seriously or whatever you want to call it. Those guys just hate Sutter. I'm sure he's not getting abs vibes.

You know what you think? You think they're the first group that's hated their coach but did not find a way to win? Kipper, you know better, but I just mean, like, you know what Valley said about Markstrom? How? You know, it's like, these guys are just like, do I want, like you know what Valley said about Markstrom? How? You know, it's like these guys are just like, do I want, like, there's probably a back of their mind.

They're like, do we want to get in the playoffs here and potentially save this guy's job that we absolutely hate that's just leaning on us every night? I don't know. I think it's such a toxic. I think it's an easy out once you start losing for people to take that narrative. Yeah, for sure.

I think guys should have too much. Guys are too selfish to think about the effect of losing on anyone else. They got to look at themselves and say, how does losing affect me? And then it doesn't really matter, you know, whether or not we want to save a guy's job or not. You don't think about that when you're on the ice. How does it affect me? Losing sucks for me.

That's what it does. Makes me look like a loser. Makes me look like I can't get another contract. For Kadri, it's like I signed this massive contract to be the centerpiece of a team that's supposed to be a contender, and I'm giving the puck away. He's not thinking about the coach when he's on the ice in that moment. But he's probably thinking about the coach when he sees the lineup

and he's playing with Milan Lucic. Calgary, Tyler Toffoli shouldn't be leading your team in scoring. No. Agree. Maybe goals if he's having a career year, but the lack of a game breaker. Yeah. Well, that was supposed to be Huberto, right?

Yes. Yeah. And he is having his most miserable year. He's having a rotten year. But outside of that, you know, Lynn Holmes' numbers are down. He was one of the best centermans last year. Best line. Centered the best line last year.

Yeah, I mean, playing with two of those guys probably helps your numbers a little bit. So it's a tough one. He got Selke votes last year. He was close to winning that. Like, he's just been not the same guy. Do you know what the betting line is for tonight, Borny, by any chance? Like, do you have this stuff in front of you because i actually don't know i

like i guess the back-to-back that the jets would be favored but like this is a real something's gotta give scenario where two teams that love to lay eggs and play badly like i have no idea what to expect out of this one tonight i got the j J's. J's with Minnow on the mound in this game, back and forth. Oh, baby, what a sports night. Love it. Love it. Jets 139, Flames plus 118. So Jets are favored, yeah.

But not that heavily. No. Because the books are like, we have no idea. Yeah, no one's any good. No. I sent you guys a random tweet about the Arizona Coyote situation. They're now suing the city of Phoenix for interfering in their Tempe plans. Like, guys.

Just put one in Old Town Scottsdale. That'll get everybody going. I know that. I know that area pretty well. Put a bar down. Put it down there. We'll have some fun. Anyways, this is enough.

I'm going to have to mention that. Enough of this. I'll have some fun. Anyways, this is enough. I'm enough of this. I have to mention that. Enough of this. I did write last week that, did I tell you that Conor Bedard, he'll go there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you think, they've lost eight in a row, by the way. Yeah. Do you think that the PA and the league can find how, somehow, not let him get there. The opposite of the frozen envelope, the hot envelope.

If they became the bad guys and said, he's not good for us to drive revenues up in Arizona. We got to stick him in Chicago or somewhere. I think the initial reaction would be, that's a dangerous precedent to set in terms of not letting him go there. But this situation has no parallel, right? Like there's no, you know, it's... The fact that they're not even trending towards getting a rink.

There's lawsuits against them and they're suing the city about the idea of even getting permission to build. How big is Ol' Gare's ego? Just get them out of there, man. Admit defeat. It's done. It's over. Move them somewhere. Where were we last with them?

There was a vote in the hands of the people. Yeah. Tempe, yeah. Yeah. And it didn't work out so well. Nothing's working out. Move them to London, Ontario. They're getting 20,000 people a night. It's insane to me.

Well, it's too close to Toronto. At least never let that happen. Houston seems to be a very popular town. Another place where it's going to fail. If you want to do a warm, giant market, Houston makes sense more than Phoenix does. They can't, well, I don't know.

Another team, like, do they even sell out their basketball team? Like, it's just, why? Put hockey where hockey is. Yeah, like, is this really going to grow the game more? It's like they get, they've been getting pretty consistent numbers, people watching the game for a long time. Like, why don't you just give it to people who like it?

This is going to put a lot of pressure on the NHL now to, where do you go from here? If you cannot find a place to build, you have to get them out. It's a, this is one of the biggest things that pisses me off in the world. Is this Phoenix coyote situation or Arizona coy pisses me off in the world is this phoenix coyote situation or arizona coyote situation that we have to talk about this like every so well about once a

month this bubbles up and i'm just like we're still doing this just move them to where people like hockey it's not that hard there's a ton of markets in like move them back to your beloved hartford like i don't care Like somewhere other than the South. People don't like hockey there. They don't care. Like they care more about golf and college football in Arizona than they do about hockey. That's for sure.

Anyways. May 16th. There's something going on. A referendum. Referendum. Referendum. Referendum. A referendum.

Yes. A referee. I don't know. I don't know. I have no a referee i don't know i don't know i have no idea i don't know i tried to block this out i have no idea last night i said on lee's talk that the coyotes were hot and then i looked and they lost eight in a row so that tells you how little i pay attention to the coyotes i just block them out i block them out i don't want the one thing that's good though is that austin matthews is not going there so you can cross that one off the list it's a plus you know what would be interesting though is like even if he ended up going there would it really change anything no one guy go in there and absolutely not one guy went into philadelphia and built a new rink you know one guy went into pittsburgh and eventually eventually built a new rink.

I mean, guys can do it. Yeah, but... Superstars can do it. Franchise players can do it. It's a great question, but I don't think so. I would look at that the same way as I look at Johnny Goodrow going to Columbus or something. Oh, really?

No. No, I think one guy could get somebody excited there. Yeah. And get a rink. Their last, almost the last place team in the league. Like, when are they going to be good? Five years from now? He's not going to try to win Jurness Prime?

No, I'm just not. They traded a defenseman who's like 25 with three years left on his contract for nothing. Like, what are they even doing? Are you trying to win? I just, please, for the love of God, move them to Canada. Or move them to, I don't know, Hartford. What are they like hockey in America?

Move another team to another Minnesota in Minnesota. St. Paul and Minneapolis. Put them somewhere where they care. It's not that hard. I don't think Gary would ever look at Canada again right now. It's rude. It upsets me. Yeah, I know. Put it with Quebec City. It's rude. It upsets me. Yeah.

Quebec City, there's a rivalry built in. You could put Imagine Hamilton. You could do the LA thing and put a team at Scotiabank Arena. Guess who would not let that happen? I know that's not going to happen and I know the Leafs would hate it, but you could. Put one in Vaughn. Could you do something

like with what the Rays did with Montreal in baseball where you say they're going to be in Quebec City until they have a rink in Phoenix. They're just going to play in Videotron in front of 18,000 people until you figure it out in Phoenix. Then we'll send them back and figure it out from there. That's the crazy part is there's actually just a rink that's ready. And it's in a city where they really like hockey there. That's the crazy part is there's actually just a rink that's ready. And it's like, and it's in a city where they really like hockey there.

It's like, you just move them there. You got to sell out every night. You get the rebrand. You got the Nordiques back. That's an, I don't want to talk anymore. And it just pisses me off. Puts me in circles. Okay.

And it just upsets me. Anyways. You guys want to? Oilers? Oilers. 3- It just upsets me. Anyways. Do you guys want to... Oilers? Oilers. 3-1 over LA. Mm-hmm. That's the matchup.

Mm-hmm. Now they're ahead of them. Home ice advantage. What kind of statement in the last two wins against LA did the Oilers make? So, Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell have combined to stop 99 of 100 shots in the last three games for the Oilers. The Oilers' one goal against ties their franchise record for any three-game span in a single season. So, now they're not letting in goals either? That's helpful.

Yeah, like now they're really looking dangerous. I know we talked about Matias Ekholm a little bit, but I think every contending team out there should be kicking themselves, including the Toronto Maple Leafs. And McCabe's okay. It's a fair take, but he is not. Shane Ekholm. No, you're right. He's not there.

And I think it was just trying to play both sides. Middle it. Yeah. And you can't you can't play both sides in a flat cap when you're trying to contend right now you're either all in or you're all out i think at home was the guy that would have made a bigger impact for the leafs listen i want to sit here and say you're wrong kip but you're not i we talked about how many times do we talk about Ekholm for two years before he was traded,

about how that's a guy that we would just love on the Leafs back end. That's a guy that just would fit perfectly. And he got out of there, and everyone was kind of having a down year. And he goes out of there, goes to a contending team, and all of a sudden he's just a stud. But I don't think they chose Ekholm over McCabe, or sorry,ccabe over ekholm they chose ryan o'reilly and achari over ekholm yeah they chose to prioritize a different

part of their lineup listen yeah you can you can skin it any way you want uh but you you didn't get them you didn't you didn't make it a priority i'm sure the leafs are not like you said i'm sure the leafs are not the only team watching this kicking themselves i mean look at tampa they're probably like oh my god how could we have made it work to get him on the books instead of trading a draft class for tanner who has one goal and however many long although i'm not making fun of them yet because the playoffs hasn't started and he's gonna get a big goal against the leafs but i just there's a lot of teams that probably are pretty pissed off themselves for not going deeper on Ekholm because, boy, he's been amazing. Listen, we spoke of New Jersey kicking Pittsburgh's ass last night.

Kicked them ass. It's not even close. Not even close. Like, you go and sign Malkin and Letang. And your statement alone on those signing is, we got to win now. Yeah. And Pittsburgh doesn't go and get a comb?

Yeah. You know, I think that's the complaint and had been the complaint about Ron Hextall is he's very like prospect and draft obsessed. Hey, I got news for him and doesn't push the chips in. Pay the tab later. Those first rounders mean crap to Sidney Crosby.

Okay, zero. Yeah, Sidney Crosby who is having another unbelievable season. And you're wasting it. Yeah, he's got 88 points in 78 games this year, Sid. You wasted Sid Crosby's year. You wasted it yeah it's a way like he's so he's got 88 points in 78 games this year said you you wasted sid crosby's year you wasted resigning malkin and latang because you want to protect first rounders

it's insane it's but i mean say what you will about jimmy rutherford his whole tenure there he traded the boat every trade deadline to acquire guys every single year and like you know we can talk about his vancouver exploits but while he was there he understood that and just traded like you think of all the guys they got at deadlines aguila uh marion hosa like you know they would just be trading all their picks for these guys you know kunitz they maybe that was pre maybe that's but they just always went all in at the deadline with Sid, which is what you should do. And when Jimmy Rutherford left, he left those guys a mess.

For sure. A mess. Yeah, but he also left with hardware. Yeah. Which, you know, I'll deal with a mess any day. But how long ago? Quite a while. Yeah, quite a while.

2017? Yeah, yeah. 2017? Like, you leave a mess two years, three years later, but six or seven years later? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Come on.

Another team like that's Carolina for me. That's how deep the hole was. Yeah. Right? No, at least, you know, at least we're not sitting here and the Leafs decided Tampa Bay's just too good to go in, which I will remind some people on this show was

a conversation I fought back against once upon a time. The Tampa's just too good and it's not worth it. At least the Leafs did at least get somewhat aggressive, if not fully aggressive. No, hey, I was fully on that boat. Absolutely. But guess what? There's a first time for everything. I was wrong about that.

So Pitt's loss last night slides the Florida Panthers right in there. Yeah, so I think I'm just looking at the standings here now. It's the Panthers are in the first wild card spot. Borny's beloved Islanders holding on for absolute dear life at 87 points. They're tied. And Pittsburgh's one point back with 86. So it's, you know, Islanders have lost two in a row here now.

It's going to be a really, really compelling finish here. Do those teams play each other at all? No. The thing that's interesting, too, is regulation wins, right? Regulation or overtime wins is the first tiebreaker. Pittsburgh has far fewer than Florida and the Islanders, so they actually have to finish a point up

on those teams, which is another twist. The Islanders have Tampa Bay tomorrow, and then they finish Flyers, Capitals, Canadians, so they should be able to get some points. I don't know if they play because I didn't get my colorful remaining schedule from my producer.

The only time they play because I didn't get my colorful remaining schedule from my producer. JB, the only time I get anything colorful is off the NHL remaining games on respective playoff teams. You want more colors? I could add some colors for you, bud. Listen. JB was so excited

about being on the show in one of the big boy seats. No, I actually prefer behind the glass. I really do. You guys have offered me multiple times to sit in here with you, and I prefer not to do it. But when you're not here, Borny, I like to sit in and help you out. I appreciate it.

Listen, I can add multiple colors to your little booklet over there if you want. Okay. Tomorrow, you'll be Joseph in the Technicolor Dreamcoat on your lineup. I love it. On your lineup. Marc-Andre Fleury will be in the playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. Amazing. Wow.

It's a nice run. And I feel so bad for Sid if they miss because he's got a run going. Yeah. Yeah. It's just... Hey, listen. Get in and get swept. Just a run going. It's just... Get in and get swept. Just a friendly reminder. Every time someone writes him off,

comes back and just finds a way. I know. And I am a Mike Sullivan fan too. Me too. Pittsburgh's road ahead is not that bad. It's Wild, Red W red wings, black Hawks, blue jackets.

I mean, red wings, black Hawks, blue jackets are games. They should get, it's just Minnesota tomorrow night. That is the only playoff team left for him. And then Florida,

uh, where's Florida? Florida's got Ottawa, Washington, and then the Leafs. Ottawa can mess Florida up. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. For sure.

And they finished Leafs Hurricanes, Florida. Yeah. So, and the Caps are officially out for the first time in eight years. They're not in the playoffs. Yeah, that'll be interesting offseason for them yeah love what they did at the deadline though hey like if you ever seen a team pivot that hard and just say

all right we're gonna stink now didn't work out for us I think you know when they have to strip it down this offseason when they had to trade Tom Wilson to the Leafs you know Wilson might be a guy they do trade, guys. You know, like he's, they're not going to be good. How are they going to fit Tom Wilson and his $5 million?

5.166 for Tom Wilson. When there's a fresh set of eyes looking at this roster. July 1st, they're going to stroke some big checks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe. That's the focus. Maybe. That's the focus. Maybe. I don't know.

When there's a fresh set of eyes looking at the Leafs roster, you never know what's going to happen. You think Ovi just upped five years there, and he's going to let Tom Wilson walk out the door? Well, he's not going to let him walk out the door, but the general manager might. I think Ovi's more. Is he like LeBron? Ovi's more the general manager

there than even Brian is. Yeah, LeBron, he's like LeBron. He builds the team just like him. He is the team. There would be no more popular... He'd be the next Wendell Clark, Tom Wilson if he played in Toronto. He'd be the most popular guy in the history of the league.

I like Jimmy. Oh, yeah. He would command so much in a trade, which is why they might do it. Like, you know, get a good salary. Look what Janot got. Yeah. What are you guys? Like, we just had a conversation on Sid getting totally screwed over this year

with not going for it yeah where do you think ovi is gonna let washington trade tom wilson yeah he did not he's not he's not aren't they like best friends like no there's just no chance you're right kipper's right all right well too bad i can dream on that for a second caps Buy my caps. Josh Anderson is another one that Montreal could let go. No. He's a poor man's Tom Wilson. He's not the cachet of Tom Wilson.

He's not going to run you through the end glass like Tom Wilson is. Kipper likes him. I don't mind him. I'd like him to be more consistent for sure. A couple good games in the docket tonight, boys. Calgary, Winnipeg. What do you think of Tampa Bay and the Rangers tonight? You know me, boys.

I always got my pre-scout going. I've been watching Tampa a lot. Vasilevsky back in tonight? Yeah. And it's two guys, two of the best goalies in the league going head-to-head. Tampa, I just am really fascinated watching them every night and their pursuit of trying to make that game on next Tuesday matter against the Leafs for home ice advantage,

which I don't think it's going to, but they could help tonight with a win. Yeah, we'll have an eye on that. We'll be watching Calgary-Winnipeg, which is available on Sportsnet tonight. I don't know which channel because I don't know those sorts of things, but it's on Sportsnet. And I could have put which channel because I don't know those sorts of things. But, you know, it's on Sportsnet.

And I could have put that in the colorful lineup for you, Borny. And the Jays with their second must-win game in a row tonight. Alec Manoa on the bump. The ace. Are we good now? Are we feeling better? They didn't give up nine. No, their pitching looked really good last night. Hey, here's – you say Kikuchi to save the day last night,

just like everybody had on their bingo card. Pitched excellent, five strong yesterday. Got the win. He plays every other year. We're going to catch him on the good year now. He's got 97 at the top of the zone. He's chalking it pretty nicely offside. So, good sports night tonight.

And when do we open up here for the Jays? Next? Next Tuesday. Next Tuesday. Next Tuesday. Are you going? No. Leafs, baby. What game's that? Leafs and Bolts. Why would I want to go to the home opener?

I'd rather watch meaningless hockey. Just say you can't get tickets. Just say the truth. Nobody's invited you. Yeah, that's true. Okay, our thanks to Steve Valiquette and Ken Weave. Enjoy the big game, Jets and the Flames. We're back tomorrow, Real Kipper and Bourne.