Real Kyper & Bourne - Senators Selling D-Men

Episode Date: January 24, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with more comments on the 2018 World Juniors investigation. Joining the conversation, Senators reporter Ian Mendes (3:10) shares his thoughts on the new developments to the investigation, whether the Sens' deadline plans will include Jakob Chychrun and if Korpisalo can turn his rough season around. Finally, news and notes - the owner of the Utah Jazz pushes for NHL expansion in Salt Lake, Edmonton's win streak reaches 14 games and time running out for the Flames to pick a direction.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.

all right let's get her going here the real kipper and born show this is the national edition we are live on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in calgary It's our real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. In a few minutes, we'll welcome in Ian Mendes. Covers the Ottawa Senators for the Athletic. Former Sportsnet broadcaster.

Shared a few road trips. A milkshake. With Ian Mendes. A few straws. Yeah, a little bit, yeah. Yeah, including New Year's Eve in New York City. Oh, yeah? Covering...

You guys go to the ball drop in that Sea of Humanity? We were close. Did you? I don't think you'd pay me to be there. You couldn't um obviously uh we got to touch base uh on the breaking news of the day just in terms of uh oh man five players told to surrender in connection with the 2018 world junior investigation this was of course brought to us by the Globe and Mail. They've been told to surrender in connection with allegations

of a sexual assault in June of 2018 to a woman, on a woman by members of the 2018 hockey club. It's been a while, JB, to the point where a lot of people weren't even sure where this investigation was going a lot of people would there well would there be anything at all it was almost like it was forgotten and a lot of people thought maybe this thing could actually just disappear but that that certainly isn't the case today yeah and i would say in terms of you know justice and you know the the woman involved i'm glad it didn't disappear

um i guess this is the first step in towards you know towards getting things figured out you know there has to be an end point at some point, so we got to get started. And, you know, impossible to anticipate where it's going to go from here and the cascading effects of it. But I'm glad to see, you know, they're getting proceedings underway.

Yeah, it's like I heard Merrick say today, it's the end of the beginning. Yeah. So it's kind of getting into the meat of it here. The London police, they let a, there's a statement from them today too, that we understand there's significant public interest in relation to the sexual assault investigations

dating back to 2018. While we were unable to provide an update at this time, we anticipate that the London police service will hold a press conference on Monday, February 5th, 2024 to share further details. Location and timing of the press conference will be shared once details are confirmed. Thank you for your patience.

So that's not this coming Monday. It's the following Monday, the 5th. Okay. Let's welcome in Ian Mendez, senior writer for The Athletic based in Ottawa, covering the Senators. Ian, thanks a lot for joining us. I mean, we're going to talk Ottawa Senators, of course, but just in your thoughts, a lot of people have been waiting one way or the other on news or updates. How surprised were you to hear the news that the whole hockey world is hearing today?

Yeah, Kipper. As you guys were saying, it has taken a long time, right? It's over two years since the uh the kind of around two years since this story first broke um and what i find really fascinating is the london police department has called that press conference for february the 5th i can't recall too many instances where somebody calls a press conference for 10 days from now it's usually a little bit more imminent right and pressing so um i i think we're all trying to be very cautious, try not to connect the dots as obvious as they may seem

with where certain players are and what they might be doing. But it does feel like obviously that there is some sort of break here and we have to give full credit to Robin Doolittle of the Globe and Mail, who has been all over this story from the get-go. And really I think there's been so much attention and so much scrutiny, guys, on this story that the London Police Department can't get this wrong.

And for people who are saying maybe this took too long, I think they have no margin for error. There's a tremendous amount of scrutiny on this case. There's going to be a lot of questions, regardless of how this turns out. So I think they had to make sure that they were absolutely 1000 sure and i guess we're going to get some answers on on the 5th of february and do you think the results of the case matters in terms of uh nhl fallout like what happens for these players or is it just being tied to this at all we'll have a you know some uh detriment to their careers? I'm trying to anticipate what this means for the players involved.

It's a great question, Justin, because I think right now, I think you have to go with a presumption of innocence of everybody involved. I think our judicial system is predicated on that. I think even the National Hockey League, everybody that's involved here, that's what they're going under the assumption. And so what I'm interested, what I think is interesting National Hockey League, everybody that's involved here, that's what they're going under the assumption. And so what I'm interested, you know, what I think is interesting here, guys, is that there's almost like three investigations that are kind of concurrently happening, right? There's the London police investigation. The NHL is at its own investigation and Hockey Canada has had its own investigation. And I think that the latter two, Hockey Canada and the NHL,

are simply waiting to hear what the London Police Department says. I don't think the NHL wanted to come out and exonerate anybody only to have the London Police Department say, actually, they're guilty. So I do think that the playing future of any players involved is going to be tied to what comes out of the London Police Department on the 5th of February? We're talking to Ian Mendez, senior writer for The Athletic. Ian, I know you've got a great rapport with a lot of broadcasters, writers, a lot of them your competitors. But do you have a sense on how big this story is about to get from a hockey story to a Canadian human interest story

to international? What are we in for moving forward when it comes to coverage? Yeah, Kephart. No, I think it's a significant story, right? Because I think you're talking about some of the dynamics that are so ingrained in Canadian culture, right? There's hockey. There's hockey culture. There's power dynamics.

There's money. There's influential people. There's all the elements for, I think, public interest to be at its high point here. And remember, when you go back to the summer of 2022 and you saw all of those sponsors leaving, these were big sponsors, right? These are the Canadian Tires and the Scotiabank. These are some of the biggest sponsors in Canada with the deepest pockets saying, we're not going to stand by and support this with Hockey Canada. So I think, guys, this thing sort of came in waves. Right. I think the summer of 2022, it was at a high point.

It kind of went away. My anticipation is we're about to hit another high point here. And I think all of, you know know hockey canada will be in for another reckoning um you know the players involved will be in the reckoning there's going to be a lot of questions and i do think that this is going to be what did merrick say this is the uh the end of the beginning type of thing and that's that's probably a good way of phrasing it is that um i do think that we're into the next phase here, and it's going to have a tremendous amount of interest in the public here in Canada. Well, stick to Ian Mendes and the Athletics.

Stick to sportsnet.ca for the latest on this developing story. In the meantime, you had a chance to kind of hang out with new owner Michael Anlauer prior to the Montreal Canadian game. Not often, Ian, that writers or broadcasters get to hang out with owners at any time at all. So I know you wrote about it in The Athletic, but share a little light on that experience. Yeah, and you know, I reached out to Michael Landlauer, guys, because last night was his first game in the Bell Center as the owner of the Ottawa Senators. And this is a guy who is a diehard, born and bred Montreal Canadiens fan. So not even, like, strip aside the fact that Michael Landlauer was a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens.

This guy grew up as a diehard Montreal Canadiens fan. So last night was the first time he was ever in that building and cheering against the Habs. And so I loved it. So, you know, Michael Anlauer for years, guys, had three season tickets right at the corner of the Zamboni at the Bell Center. And obviously when he sold his share of the team and he got rid of those season tickets,

he went to Jeff Molson and he said, I got one request. On the night ottawa comes back for the first time i want my old seats back and so he sat there and i'm sure if you watch the highlights last night uh you would have seen michael and lauer on the glass pounding the glass celebrating those were his old seats that he used to sit in cheering for the habs for years and last night he cheered for mont for ottawa and and they pulled out the win so he you know it was a great conversation with him he was gracious enough on a night where i think he had some emotions going through him to spend some time with me and and just kind of walk me through what it's like to be a diehard

fan of a team for 50-ish years and then suddenly at the snap of a finger switch allegiances yeah that's a super uncommon weird scenario it's crazy that he would want to do that and follow through and they did that's that's super cool so give us the status of his team what's going on win a couple of hockey games here i mean just what a strange year versus expectations where are things at ian yeah it's really crazy the way that this season is gone. And right now, they're at a point where they've got five of their last six points. And this was a really fun trip. I was in Philadelphia for the return of Shane Pinto. And all of the moms were on this trip.

And you might have seen some of this kind of going viral. But this is probably the best vibe around this team all season. And yet you still look at the standings and they're in last place, right, in the conference and last place in the division. But it does feel different. There's a little bit more structure. Claude Giroux told us after the game last night, and Jake Sanderson too, that a few weeks ago, if they were in the lead, they'd get super nervous.

And so they'd be up by one, and all of a sudden they'd squeeze the sticks, and the game would get away from them. And that was going on for a long time. And they say that they've been able to calm down a little bit. And I think that there's a little bit of credit that goes to Jacques Martin. It's just his personality is very calming. He's, you know, behind the bench. Daniel Alfredson's been doing a lot too.

So I think you're starting to see a little bit of the Jacques Martin, Daniel Alfredson, kind of their fingerprints on this team. And they're playing good hockey. Now, granted, in the last week or so, they've beaten Montreal twice, San Jose, you know, Philadelphia. So not necessarily the best teams in the league,

but they hung tough with Winnipeg on the weekend. They scratched a point out of them. But now you look at the schedule, they got Boston tomorrow and the Rangers on Saturday. So maybe we'll have a better idea if they've actually legit turned a corner by the time they play that game on Saturday. And where's the fan base?

Because there was so much positive vibes with the new ownership group. A new billionaire is going to come in. And we're not going to have to hear nickels and dimes stories anymore. And here you are right around Christmas. Now the all-star break. And the sense is that can we get hot? Can we get ourselves back in a race? Or we're in a position where we just got to play 40 plus games thinking that

we got to get ready for next season. Yeah. Kipper. I think it's the latter, to be honest. Like I, like you can't. And I think if you're a player,

you go in with the mindset of, Hey, until we're eliminated, we have a chance. But I think from a fan's perspective, the ship is probably sailed. Like, they would need a Hamburglar 2.0 run. Like, the year that Andrew Hammond took them on, he went like 20 wins, one loss.

That's what they would need in order to get back to playoff. So I don't see them replicating that. So for the fans, I think they're just looking for some stability. They want to know kind of who can you win with. I do think that there's a feeling that they can't run it back with the same group you know what i mean like like even if they played really well down the stretch i think there's been too many years here where this team has lost games to start the year like the the act has been the same so maybe it's time to change one character or two and i'm not talking about br Brady Kachuk or Timmy Stutzler or Jake Sanderson.

I think those guys are untouchable. But I do think that the fans would be open to the idea of, okay, if you play well down the stretch, that's great. But we've learned that that doesn't necessarily carry over. I think they'll have a new coach to start next season. And I think maybe a roster move as well. If those two things are done and they look a little bit better down the stretch i think fans will be happy i just don't think that there's a a playoff spot uh in the cards

for this team in talking to a couple of my senators buddies their concern is that you know you turn it around and you start to win some games okay so you make the draft pick a little bit worse or whatever but in the process you trade away guys who help like Like Jacob Chikrin is a name that has come up. Or, you know, we've mentioned Shabbat. Not that that's really, you know, just potential, you know, changes they could make. You know, you need good players to win games. And I think the temptation to sell for teams when it's tough

to get these guys. What are your thoughts on heading towards the trade deadline? What they will do? You know, Chikrin to me, and I had a great conversation with Jacob Chikrin in Montreal. And look, guys, I want to say something. He was really, he's been really disappointed and hurt. He understands why his name's in the trade rumor mill.

Like, don't get me wrong. He knows, he gets it, he's a smart guy. What he doesn't like is that there's people suggesting that he doesn't like Ottawa. And he doesn't like being there. So he just wanted to correct that. and he was pretty adamant that, look, I love it in Ottawa. I'm living five minutes from my sister, ten minutes from my grandpa.

Like, this is an awesome setup for me. I love it. So that part of it notwithstanding, I do think where it's going to be interesting for Steve Stahels and Dave Poulin is they have three, and not to get too into the weeds here, but they have three left-shot defensemen, all of whom are kind of premium players. You're paying $8 million to Jake Sanderson, $8 million to Thomas Chabot, and Jacob Chikrin has a year and a bit left at 4.6. And theoretically, he's going to need more money, right? So can you guys think of a team in the NHL that pays three defensemen $8 million each and they all play on the same side? Okay, Ian, hold on for a second, though.

Sorry, I don't want to cut you off, but I know it was Pierre Dorian that traded for him, but we all saw that coming. So what was he thinking? Yeah. It's a great question, Kipper. And the thought was one of them would play on their offside. And I think the feeling was Chikrin. It just hasn't worked.

Shabbat and Chikrin have played together. It hasn't been a great pairing. Sanderson's been good with Artem Zub, but it feels like almost the old square peg round hole with Chikrin. But somebody's got to go. And I'm not saying it's Chikrin. I'm just saying somebody amongst that group of left-handed shots is probably going to have to go. And I'm not moving Jake Sanderson if I'm Steve Stales.

Yeah, it kind of puts you in a little bit of a log jam there. You talk about not being able to really look at this as a year. You make a push for playoffs or whatever, and that's really unfortunate because I believe they have enough talent there to have done more than they did. Did they wait too long to make the coaching move? And to add on to that, is there any chance they don't change the coaching staff

that they have in there now? Yeah, boy, the hindsight is 20-20, right? But I think what's frustrating for Ottawa fans, guys, is that the story of this season in October, November, that was the story of last season, and the season before, and the season before that. Like every year this team would come out and they'd win four of their first 15 games.

They'd submarine their playoff chances right away. Then they would play really well. So this year when they did the same thing and they face planted out of the gate, I do think that there was an appetite from the fan base to change it out. Where I think there was an appetite from the fan base to change it out where i think there was an issue was that mike and lauer and steve stales felt like they just showed up the first week of october they were trying to just dip their foot into the pool so

to speak and ottawa fans were like ready for the cannonball in the middle of the pool so there was a there was a disconnect there and finally we got to the middle of the pool. So there was a disconnect there. And finally, we got to the middle of December, and it became a, you know, the situation was untenable for DJ Smith moving forward. The fan base was all over him. There was a lot of problems. So they had to let him go. But in hindsight, yes.

I think all things being equal, if Mike Andlauer took over the team in June, I think maybe he would add a little bit more of a chance to come in and, you know, say, I'm going to make some changes and do what I wanted to do. But he didn't really have that opportunity. And he waited for two months into the season. And unfortunately for Ottawa fans, they've seen that movie, you know, three or four years in a row.

And where would this team be if they just had better goaltending? That's it. There. Fair. Yeah. You know what? I bet you if you injected DJ Smith, actually you probably wouldn't have to inject him with truth serum. You could probably just ask him off the record.

Like DJ, what's the biggest reason why you're out of a job right now? I think he would say goaltending. And that's where I will defend him. He's got a lot of people that have said he ran a loose program and he didn't hold people accountable and whatever. But boy, oh boy, he just didn't get help from goaltending. And it's part of the problem. And you're getting an 880, say, percentage, I think,

on most nights when he was there. That's not good enough to win. Corpus Allo's been a lot better lately. But yeah, absolutely. And I think the issue, too, for DJ Smith, if you go through his tenure, like they had Matt Murray, they had Phil Gustafson, they had Cam Talbot, they had now it's Corpus Allo. It's not like they just had one goalie.

It's like five or six goalies struggled, right, under the system. And at some point, you have to say, okay, let's change out the coach. But, yeah, absolutely, I think goaltending was a huge factor to say, okay, let's change out the coach. But yeah, absolutely. I think goaltending was a huge factor. Okay, just one more on the goaltending. There's only one that had signed a five-year, $4 million contract. It's like that contract ain't going away anytime soon here. So is he playing now for the thought that you could still be our guy come next October?

Isn't it remarkable that three months into his five-year deal, we're having this conversation? And I'm not going to suggest that this is like Jack Campbell. But it can be. But it could be a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. It could be. It could be.

I don't think they're at that point yet. But, you know, he's been up and down. But, again, that's also a yet, but he's been up and down. But again, that's also a function of the team has been up and down in front of him. And he's looked a lot better in the last week or so. And the team has looked a lot better. So there's absolutely some room. And look, the cap hit is $4 million. It's not $5.

It's not $5.5. But still, I think if you went back to July 1st and you asked people, what was the biggest kind of, what was the contract that made you, your eyes pop out the most? I think the term on Corpus Allo was the one for a lot of people. And it was a gamble. It was a risk.

And so far it hasn't looked good, but, but he has played a lot better here in the last, in the last week or so. It was a gamble. I was going to ask you about Shane Pintointo I didn't even mean to do that I swear so he's come back for two games he's been very good I think you know you would expect what have you seen out of him through two games and where does that go is this a guy that they'll want to

see a run of games from before they sign his next contract or is it would that be underway already well it's yeah i think they had talks like like in talking to shane they absolutely it sounded like they they discussed the idea of longer term whatever but i think for the here and now he was like i just want to get up and running let's just do the one-year deal but this is going to be really interesting we talked about a log jam for ottawa on defense um they also have an interesting situation at center ice where Tim Stutzler is they're they're locked in number one guy but they got Norris they got Pinto they got Ridley Gregg like those are four they've never really had a stretch of

games with all four of those guys in the lineup and what are the what are the puzzle pieces look like so I'm curious like if you're Pinto if you sign a long-term deal, my guess is they're paying you to only be a number three center, right? Because Norris and Stutzler are ahead of you. If you're Pinto, do you want to pigeonhole yourself into that? That's what I would wonder. So he's looked really good, guys. He's so responsible defensively.

The kid's only played 100 games in the NHL. He is a really smart 200-foot player, always supporting the play, always just at the right place at the right time, wins face-offs. He's your prototypical 2-3 centerman, and I just don't know where, again, all the puzzle pieces fit.

But the irony in all of this is Ottawa is capped out. They have no real farm system, and they're not in a playoff spot. Like, it's kind of nuts when you think about it in the big picture. But they were able to get Pinto in without having to do too many capped gymnastics there. And as far as Stahels is concerned, he's not scared at all to tell anybody that he'd like to kind of shake it up. He's looking for something that can just

maybe jolt this team into something that could get out of the gate real strong next October. So you tell me who that is. There's a lot of young pieces here and some of them are making really good money. But if there was one that could move, who would you trade? Would you move, you know, Batherson? Would you move Norris?

Like, who are we talking about to jolt? Yeah. And like I said, I wouldn't move Stutzla. I wouldn't move Kachuk and i wouldn't move sanderson like those for me if i'm in steve stales this year those are my untouchables uh batherson at 4.9 million when he's playing well it's a really good contract he's super uh uh skilled guy when he's going at under five million he gives you a top six production. I'd be hesitant to trade him based on the cap hit. To me, it comes down to Shabbat and Chikrin.

It really does. Like to me, that's the conundrum. That's the room. And they have to make a decision. And this is why I think Steve Stales and Dave Poulin are in an advantageous situation. They can make a move here with either of those guys or any guy. They're not emotionally attached to anybody. They didn't sign any of these guys. They didn't sign any of these guys they didn't draft any of these guys they didn't trade for anybody as you guys know general managers you can sometimes become you almost get guilty of falling

in love with players when you draft them and you sign them and you become emotionally invested steve and dave are not invested emotionally in any of these guys but if you're asking me i think it comes down to those two, and they have to make an organizational decision. Do they see Chikrin as their guy, or Shabbat as their guy? And if the answer is one or the other, you trade them

this summer. Shabbat, by the way, guys, has a no-trade clause that kicks in July 1st. Something to watch for. Yeah. Hey, Ian, great stuff, man man really appreciate you coming on the show just prior to you coming on i told the guys that we kind of hung out with each other every once in a while uh here at sports net and new year's eve well i love you you always had that night uh when when i was in the mix with my group to buy the Ottawa Senators, Ian put out a story about me and him where I bought him lunch New Year's Day,

and he told this story. And I just want to say, Ian, in the future, do not tweet anything that remotely describes me as being nice. Please. You're ruining my reputation. I'm evolving. You are one of the nice guys, and you're ruining my reputation. You are. You're one of the nice guys, and you know it. And everyone knows it.

That's worked with you. Hey, Ian, great stuff, man. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, Ian. Appreciate it, man. You got it, guys. Thanks for having me. Wow, that's good stuff right there on the Ottawa Senators.

Just in terms of what would you do? Well, you know, I am a believer in a lot of the players in Ottawa. I really love watching Stusla play. You know, love Brady Kachuk. I just, I like a lot of what they have. I don't think trading Jacob Chikorin helps you. The Shabbat thing's interesting. I understand what he's talking about with, you know,

a lot of money on one side of your D. I don't know, man. It's just losing environments lead to bad choices. Yeah, totally. And it's a losing environment. They've been losing for a long time. One of those guys goes, they're all really good. How do you

replace them? I never understood Pierre Dorian's push for Chikrin when you had Sanderson, Shabbat. Like Ian said, three guys that kind of play a similar type of role. Yeah, same side. It reminded me exactly of San Jose going and getting Eric Carlson. Yeah, when you had Brent Burns.

When you had Brent Burns leading the way. So it's a chemistry thing. I think a lot of this, you know. That's a good comparison, Kim. It is. You bring in a guy that's the exact same thing. What are the guys thinking? And, you know, maybe they're thinking is, hey, you know,

we could trade this guy if we had to again or something. But, you know, maybe the more I think about it, Chikrin does make sense. Shabbat and Chikrin,rin, they both want the puck. They both want to go. Both top power play unit kind of guys. It's a chemistry thing. It's not a talent thing.

Ottawa's close, man. 14 is dead last. I wouldn't say they're not close. I don't look at Columbus or San Jose or Chicago and go, a couple pieces. We'll talk about Columbus a little bit more in News & Notes with their loss to the Edmonton Oilers last night, but I don't hate the Jackets.

Jackets are dusty. Ah, they got some guys. Anyways, you want to hear some game time? They got some guys. They got game time? It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary.

At Bet365, must be 19 plus. On terror only please play responsibly so a couple of them i'm looking at tonight if you like the winnipeg jets in this game they're undermanned uh obviously shy fleas out plus 125 leafs are huge favorites on home ice minus 150 planet leafs are minus 150. Really? Are the Leafs favorites? Leafs are favorite? Big, yeah, minus 150. Pretty sizable favorite. Are they still favorites to win the Stanley Cup? No.

I can check who's still favorite. I don't know who. I can check the favorite on that. If you have half a gambling mind, you wouldn't bet a dollar on the Leafs in that game. So they're minus 150. Yeah, I would recommend that. They could obviously win, but that's not a good number. It's great value on the Jets, who are one of the best teams in the league

coming in Toronto, who love playing in Toronto. And one of the other ones I'm looking at here, where did I have it? I like the Boston Bruins against the Carolina Hurricanes on home ice. Love the way the Bruins looked the other night against the Jets. I just think they're

humming along again. They look so good. Still not sold in Carolina. They're minus 140 not that huge a number but i do don't usually take favorites like that but i do like the bruins a lot on home ice tonight carolina at a goalie did they claim spencer martin was that them that did that and your answer kipper for who do you think the favorite for the sanley cup is according to bet 365 yes they did claim the spencer last time i got it right it was vegas was i no i think it's the edmonton oilers have you looked have they snuck in there the edmonton oilers are the favorite to win the sanley cup at plus 750 you obviously you obviously have never seen a turnaround you obviously have to take in some like hey they're hot right now let's get your money kind of thing like it's it's all top of mind but for them to put that at plus 750 is

crazy and guess who the second favorite is not the leafs vancouver yeah the top two favorites are vancouver and edmonton boston's plus 850 and then you have the jets at nine to one so in the top three favorites according to bet three and the top three favorites according to Bet365 in the top four favorites according to Bet365 three of them are Canadian teams. What are the Leafs? The Leafs are down the list fellas. Plus 1700. Do you have five there? Colorado or Dallas? Colorado

is plus 900. Dallas is 10-1 Kip. Alright. So there you go. I'm looking down. There's not a ton of value outside of that. Like it really. Can I tell you my theory on these stanley cup bets is that you don't tend to get a ton more value by placing these bets early like going into playoffs you'll still get comparable odds generally so i tend to wait on and uh just that the president's trophy favorites to the boston bruins at plus 275 canucks plus 350 and jets plus 400 so there you go for the President's Trophy favorites too. The Boston Bruins at plus 275, Canucks plus 350, and Jets plus 400.

So there you go for the President's Trophy. All righty. And that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, we're going to take a quick break.

When we come back, we'll get into some news and notes, including expansion. What? Yes. What? I'm telling you. There's just so many good players in the league. I think we need another team.

It is out there. Buddy, you're up. You're next in. The talk is out there. Let me tell you from a guy who played at the East Center in Salt Lake City, I got thoughts. Oh. You've got thoughts.

All right. There's Gerard Gallant thoughts. There's the Oilers and their record-breaking goaltender, Skinner. There's the Calgary Flames, their playoff aspirations. Bad L last night for them. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. No, not yet.

Not yet. Okay. Plenty more. Plenty more after the break plenty more after the break listen to these commercials so we can pay our bills and we're back after this get smarter when you listen to hockey talk the hockey pdo cast with dimitri filipovich subscribe and download the show on apple Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. MacCabrio's Justin Bourne.

Sammy McKee. We're talking expansion. Why? Because the Utah Jazz owner expressed the desire for the NHL to bring a team to Utah. So you can just do that? I don't know. I'm going to go be like, yeah, I don't know anything, but I desire another one in Toronto. Is that allowed? Yeah, the West End weapons.

Play at Renny Park. I'm just thinking out loud here. Let's play the did you ever notice game that I don't know is it a coincidence that this story is out the same day that listen I'm glad you said it

let's be honest here great observation is it a coincidence because people are saying it so I'm glad that's being represented here. However, it can be other things are happening at the same time. For sure. I don't think it's impossible that this news, it's just news that came out on the same day.

I think it's an excellent theory, Kipper. How's that sound? Do you? That you're right. It's just a crazy tinfoil hat to be like, all right news is coming out we need something what do we got expansion in salt lake city like there's got to be meat to this you got to dig up a better story than that for to cover something up like what's going on like it's not no one cares about expansion can't do it all right i think there's there's. No, no. Listen, it's coming.

It's real. Expansion. Yes. Oh, they're going to 34 teams. They can't. There's not enough good players. And you know what? Fans can't even follow the league anymore.

You can't have 500 teams. They're going to send scouts to Sammy's games now. Who are the Zags? It doesn't matter. Matty Hughes can fly. Matty Hughes can fly. He can fly. They don't care about how great. Quality of the product.

Listen, you're going to find players to play. It might be on some nights. It might not be very pretty to watch. But they want. We're talking about. $2 billion on the table to split with 32 teams. Yeah, you'd have played second line at least your whole career in a 34-team league.

Yeah, the building might have been empty, but I wouldn't care. No, you'd be making that second line money. The building might have been empty, but I wouldn't care. No. You'd be making that second line money. 17 goals in a 21-team league. You'd be a rich man. If only there was a semi-failing hockey team that played in a college arena that they can't find a rink that you could move to Salt Lake City. If only there were one like that. Great observation.

I got to tell you, I think players would be falling all over themselves to go play in Salt Lake City. If only there were one like that. Great observation. I got to tell you, I think players would be falling all over themselves to go play in Salt Lake City. Really? Really. Well, I mean, it's a... Isn't it kind of a dry place? Well, it depends if you like to have fun or not. If you're a family man, you'd love to live there.

Buddy, listen, I just went and watched a hockey game in Vegas. Yeah. I'd like to play there, please. Yeah, well, young guy, I can see that for sure. You know, when I was in Utah, you have to be a member at the bar to enter it, so you have to pay, like, your $10 membership fee to get a card or whatever.

You can't order a double, like, so they give you a sidecar of alcohol to pour in your own drink, and the bars close at 10 or 11, sir. Who wants to play there, Slavin? No, that's the thing. It's not for partiers. But for a family, man, what a great place to live.

It's beautiful. So you got a high character team. So what you're saying is this team will have 23, 35-year-olds. And Vegas is going to have 35, 23-year-olds? Does that work? Yes. Pretty much. I'm telling you, it's a great family environment.

But I really don't mind Salt Lake City as a, you, it's a great family environment. But I don't mind. I really don't mind Salt Lake City as a, hey, let's try it. The Atlanta thing to me is the most offensive thing ever. They're building an arena. No. No more arenas. No, no, it's coming. Stop that.

It's coming. Stop. One more thing on Salt Lake City. I'm starting to believe Atlanta's coming back. I suppose it's the second most sunny days of any city in the U.S. outside Phoenix. Arena in Atlanta? Do you think Atlanta's real? Yeah, it's coming.

Salt Lake and Atlanta? What was that you said there? I don't know. Second most sunny days per year in Salt Lake City. What? The sunny, sunny place. Wow. Yeah.

The city of Houston's name is out there as well. To your point, do you move Arizona up to Utah and then slide in two more teams? Oh, my God. So we're going to trade Arizona to Utah. We're going to add Atlanta, and then we're going to add... Houston. Quebec City can just go kick rock.

Not to get the great observation drop ready again here, but if only there was a country just north of America that really loved this sport. You know what I heard? What would that be like? More teams in that country? I had heard that the league looks at Canada and says, we've got seven, and we only have 25 in the U.S.

And they don't think 25 is enough to cover the U.S. So what about the second team in Toronto theory, which we've kicked around a little bit in the past? That'll come around. That's team 35, you think? We don't know where a few other teams might be in the equation either by then. But we're talking about something that might be, I don't know where a few other teams might be in the equation either by then, but we're talking about something that might be, I don't know,

two or three years from deciding, but yeah, it's out there because we've got this question mark on what the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to look like in two or three years with ownership between Bell and Rogers. Yeah. If there's a potential split down the road, then you start trading pieces.

Yeah. Does one end up with the Leafs and the other one says, okay, maybe a second team? Does a side go, can we have a baseball team too in Montreal? So, yeah, you look at like Bell getting their own versions of whatever. Yeah. Got two great texts contributing to this, which I love. Said, I hope Atlanta comes back to the NHL. It's the only way Quebec City will ever get a team

when Atlanta inevitably moves. That's good. Good point. That's good. And George Oakville says, but what about a tiering, like a premiership league? Yeah. 24-1. Yeah.

And a bunch in the other. Just so sold. You couldn't sell me harder on that. Like, it's still the NHL. You never do it. It's still the NHL. Yeah. But there's tier one, tier two.

Yeah. Listen, in three or five years, like, who knows what this league's going to look like? Two leagues. Easy. Yeah. One good one, one bad one. That's what the American League's supposed to be, isn't it? years, like, who knows what this league's going to look like. Two leagues, easy. Yeah. One good one, one bad one. That's what the American League's supposed to be, isn't it? Yeah, I guess, yeah.

I guess you're right. You just need to relegate San Jose and call up, quick Google, good American League team X. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know who they are. Peoria still have a team? Definitely not. Okay. What's the Sound Tigers?

Do they still have a team? They're for the Sound Tigers. Yeah, call them up. Play for them, yeah. All all right let's go to uh alberta where do you guys want to go edmonton or calgary i think we should probably talk about edmonton winning 14 yeah that's uh it's impressive i will say columbus took it to them for two periods they didn't have anything and then columbus did what they always do in the third period, and they blew it. But I came away from watching that game,

and I watched them play the Leafs earlier in this year a couple times. They're not that far away from being a competitive team, Columbus. They have some players in that team that are really – that Fantilli is unbelievable. Just stop it for a second. I know. What? I know. it for a second. I know. Everyone has a cup.

Can we see if the current players still want to be there in two years? Johnny Goudreau is having a down year, but he doesn't suck. He had moments in that game. Like, I'm telling you, they're not terrible. We can't go. Boone Jenner is a hard guy to play against. We can't take three steps without hearing another player wants to leave the Columbus Blue Jackets. I just don't think they suck that bad.

Counterpoint, yes, they do. Okay. They can play. They can score. They have offensive talent. They're a flashy, fun team to watch. They could win your Tier 2 NHL in a few years. For sure.

Okay. They could be the 25th best team. I, you know, I just, I've watched them a few times this year, and I've been impressed with their talent. I know. I'm being unnecessarily ridiculous. I like Voronkov. I think he's a good young player I've watched them a few times this year, and I've been impressed with their talent. I know. I'm being unnecessarily ridiculous. I like Voronkov. I think he's a good young player, and then Chinnikov's all right, too.

But I just feel like everyone has a couple guys. That's all. Fantilli should be Rookie of the Year. He's amazing. He is really amazing. Should we be talking about Stu Skinner and his turnaround since, what, they sent Jack Campbell to the minors? What, did they just unplug them and plug them back in

like what happened you know breaking grant fear records and 11 straight wins for skinner yeah which breaks fear's record wow i don't know that's one of the more inexplicable things ever he was dreadful at the start of the year i can't believe jack campbell hasn't got another sniff i i don't know i haven't checked in on his game logs i've heard he's playing well really yes so but if i'm them i ain't screwing with this no like you're i mean i guess you could call him up to be the backup goalie and play him the same amount you play pickard or whatever if that's how you want to do it but you don't doing anything like i said just sign cory perry so but you don't want to do anything to upset this streak. Yeah.

But, man. Let me give you Jack Campbell's last four games. 939, 944, 941, 931. Those are quite quality numbers. Four AHL starts. Yeah. A warm welcome, Campbell. Jack will stay.

Oh, good. We get Jack back in the league. Yeah? What's the rush? Skinner, he kept them in that game. That could have been 6-1 in the second period. He was really, really good. Dude, he looks so good against the Leafs.

What do the Oilers have on top here to close out? They go to Chicago, comes there, and then they play Nashville, I think. Yeah. Okay. You got it. So both at home both at home nashville at home there's a real good chance this thing can keep going here yeah and can we not have the all-star break yeah they would love to keep going uh i guess cory perry will get in conceivably the saturday night before the all-star break against the Predators. Imagine they lose that one first game. Yeah, imagine. I can imagine. I can see it. The Calgary Flames, that's a tough pill to swallow,

blowing a lead. It is. And listen, it's got to be inevitable now just in terms of what pieces you want to move off of. But they got to prep now. Think so? Yeah. I mean, the West is almost set, you know,

basically a little battle for Arizona and St. Louis, maybe Seattle to try to find their way in there. But, you know, the Flames are lagging a bit here. And if they are going to make moves, I mean, you should kind of sooner the better, right? Yeah, that one hurt. That one hurt. Yeah, against a team that you're kind of in the hunt with.

Directed with, yeah. Where are you on Noah Hannafin in Calgary? Do you sign him or you do not sign him? So I'm a big, I don't believe in tanking outright, and I think he's a good a really good player I think you do sign him you know I would love to see teams say we don't want to give Noah Hannafin eight years he thinks he's worth seven or eight million we're gonna give him nine million times five or something you know like you know I'm just saying keep a guy I know but not give him an eight

year contract like they tend to do with everyone. But in this case, it might be okay. And I only say that because I think he's one of the younger UFAs. Yeah. Like, it's not like he's 30. No. He was Marner's draft. Right?

Yeah. That's who I wanted them to take. So, it's not crazy. Like, he's, yeah, it so it's not crazy like he's yeah it's hard to believe but he's just 26 years old is he 26 yes so even if he gave him an eight year deal you're right you're right it's not the end of the world and you need in that case to your point you need players you need them and he is a legit 20-minute muncher. And what do you think the career peak, age-wise, of defensemen is? I bet you don't think it's younger than 26.

I would say probably hitting their stride around 27, 28 would be exactly the point. So if you're placing the bet on getting the prime of Hannafin's career for $8 million, I'd make that bet. Like I said, he's 26 now he fits into the younger mold still yeah of your your next up and comers yeah i'm gonna take that back on hannifin that was a bad contract by me i've been fired by myself and i'm hiring yeah he's a good guy to give eight years to after all i'm gonna sell you some swampland i'm convincible that's that's my strength is i'm i listen change my opinion i yeah all right uh i don't have a great feel for

hannifin's game really like he's never like he's never been a obviously he's pretty good at hl he's been around a while he's he's just to me i would be scared to give him a long contract. It's not going to kill you, but he just... I think he's one of those guys where you can safely say that he'll never win a Norris. So don't pay him like he's going to win a Norris. And there is a group of guys that we say are still good. But... And Morgan Rielly may be one of those guys in Toronto. And here he is the number one guy.

But do you believe that Morgan Riley has ever a chance to win a Norris? Maybe if the stars are aligned. But he's got to be surrounded by some eagles that can really soar around him on that blue line. I think. I think Hannafin knows all the tools. I don't think he has the hockey IQ to be quite that level. I think Morgan Riley is better than Hannafin, though. Yes, I do, too.

For sure. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. I understand the comparison. I don't know what skills contest defense he would win against Hannafin. I think he's a better defenseman. I've got Jacob Chikrin in Ottawa right now in the same place as I do Hannafin where, listen, you can find some warts in his defensive game but the

guy's gonna play 20 minutes 22 minutes every night for the next five seven years dying to get good d and then the big thing for calgary and ottawa well i mean not ottawa but calgary is if you if you let him walk out the door when he leaves like who's coming back in and taking those 22 minutes? And how much do you have to pay that guy? And he's going to have to pay the next guy $5, $6 million anyway to get less than you were going to get from Hannafin. So take him. I'm sure that's where Calgary is at that they would.

It's just if I'm Hannafin and I look at where the group is at and where it's going, I'm not sure. I'm not sure about Calgary. And we've heard sometimes he wants to sign there. Sometimes he doesn't want to sign there. He's American. Does he want to go back home? Does he not?

But like anything else, throw him a number, $50,000,000, $55,000,000, and now you get him to start picking the contract and not the city. Yeah. No, I like that too. And there is a couple million bucks that changed a lot of minds. So pay him a couple extra. Mrazik got paid now. The latest in the line of.

What did he get? Yeah, I think 4.25 for two years. Not per year. Yeah, per year. This guy has to have made the most money of a not good nhl goalie the last five years and they're just they're just overpaying he's never gonna get that anywhere else in the league 4.5 for two years it's a two-year 8.5 million dollar contract so 425 per year he's never gonna get 4.25 anywhere else are they just anticipating sucking for three more years like

they're just gonna waste these these years of Bedard? Two. Two more years of suckage seems to be the commitment. And we're overpaying for two years. That's the Foligno contract. That's Mrazik. That's wrong to me. That's wrong to me.

They're saying to Bedard, here's where we're at for two more years. We're doing the salary floor thing. How many years did the Penguins suck with Sid? Couldn't have been more than one. Yeah. Oilers sucked for a while. Matthews rookie year, didn't they make the playoffs? They did make the playoffs.

I just think, like, I'm watching it with Webb and Yama in the NBA, where Spurs are awful. Like, they're an unwatchable, terrible team, and they surrounded them with nothing. It's like, you don't want to waste years of Bedard, nothing it's like you don't waste years of bedard where it's like get better help them get better like put some guys around them you're just admitting you're gonna stink for a couple years i don't know it's a bad look to me all right seven games on tap including winnipeg toronto and vancouver three canadian teams Give me a score. Winnipeg and Toronto, boys.

Ah, Leafs are going to find a way to get it to overtime and then have their hearts broken. Four to three. Oh, they get back in the beloved loser point category? Four to three. Yeah. You're giving three against three. But not four. But not four against Alabama. Sammy?

Three to Jets. Regulation. Vancouver, St. Louis? Vancouver wins a lot. Vancouver wins a lot. A lot. A lot. A lot. A lot.

A lot. A lot. All right. Pick your game. Watch it. Enjoy it. Because you know where you're going to find us. Same time tomorrow on the Real Kipper Inborn Show.

Our thanks to Ian Mendez, Ken Wiebe. Great stuff. And if you get a chance give us a rating and review we'd love to hear from you we're back again tomorrow have a great night everybody