Real Kyper & Bourne - Team Canada's Opportunity with Doug MacLean

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee kick off Friday's edition of the program getting set for Canada's second Olympic matchup against Switzerland this afternoon. Doug MacLean, former NHL coach and GM, shares his view on the men's hockey tournament through early portion of the schedule, the difference makers up and down Canada's lineup, and the contenders to take home Gold. After the break, the boys open up the text-line to hear your thoughts ahead of puck drop between Canada and Switzerland and take a look around the Games at some other Olympic sports.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, it's our special afternoon edition of the Real Kipper and Born show. Nick Kiprio's, Justin Boren, Sammy McKee, Jennifer Rollnick. Yeah, I saw Jennifer up there. David Sis, Boomba. The schedule said, Brandero. The schedule said this. I don't know. Sorry.

Well, I'm throwing some love to Jen. Good for her. She's the best. She's been here. She does do this a long time. And she got me changing the channel to get the. men's curling on. I don't know why she put me on TV

while I was doing the remote. Here we go. We are live on SportsSet 360, Sports at 590, the fans, Sportsnet 960, Sportsnet 650, Sportsnet Plus, Spotify, Apple podcast, and the YouTube where the chats are always great.

This hour of Real Kippur and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Yes, it is an afternoon edition of our program as we get you set for another hockey game between Canada, team Canada, taking on Switzerland, this hour of real Kippin-Born brought you by Bet365. Even though we're compressed a little bit here, we will have Doug McLean on in a few minutes for our regularly scheduled Friday.

For our Olympic expert, Doug McLean. Exactly. In the meantime, let's get everybody ready. Sammy, for 12 years, you've been barking out. I want best on best in a tournament. This is going to be backhanded. I don't know how this is going to get back. Today, you've got.

Sondro Smey. Dennis Malgan versus Connor McDavid. You got to be thrilled. Yeah, I mean, you can purposely edit out all the NHLers that play for team Switzerland and say Dennis Maligan. That's fine. There's, you know, there's a, I'd say it yesterday. This game will be closer than yesterday. Hesier.

Yossi. Fiala. Fiala. Pimo Meyer. Pino Nieder. Yeah. Pairs Souter. J.J. Moser, Yona Saganthal.

Who's paras, who's paras, who's paras, who? What's his first name? Puse. Puse. Puse, Puse, the pair. Listen. And Akir Schmeier. Yeah, they got players.

That's actually, listen, we're kind of making life. That's like eight good NHL hockey players. NHELders. And then it's not. Then it falls off a cliff. Then it's Calvin Thurkhoff. Easy for you to say.

I don't know. What did we hear today about Thompson playing or warming up for about 12 minutes, 13 minutes, and then bolted. Yeah, he's playing. He must be the dude. Elliot Friedman just tweeted, we are expecting Thompson to start, but we'll see when warm-ups begin in about 40 minutes. Have some conviction, Fridge, but I'm sure

he's, he knows. He knows it's him. Is he nervous? Guess who's out, according to Cal Buchascus. Brad Marchand, taking a rest today. Makes sense. Yeah, to me, he's the guy who typically he played the least of the Four Nations. He played the fewest minutes yesterday. I probably think it has to

do with how beat up he is. Oh, do you think So, totally. It literally from Calabacostas says, he missed. Looks like Josh Morrissey out tonight. Brad Marchand taking a rest to Jarvis and Sandheim will both come in. Thompson and Kemper, the two goal is dressed for Canada. I like that. Just spreading it out a little bit.

Yeah. Right? Okay. Doug McLean. Oh, boy. Former NHL president, GM head coach, looking mighty fine with your new hat on for those of you that can see. And a Canada shirt. on our Zoom chat with him.

How are you, my friend? Well, I'm excited, obviously. You know, I'm very excited. I'm excited that your vacation is over and you're back to work, for one thing. I did go visit. It affected my relaxation time here. I know.

To be quite honest. I know. How was your guys' time together? Yeah, well, listen, he... Oh, look at this. You got a pick of them golfing? Took me gone. Dolphan, Indian Creek, home of Bezos and Tom Brady and...

Can Doug see the pick? Doug, did that one stay dry? Can you see it? More importantly was your stance, Matt. Look at the stance. Good. Look at the focus. Head up, right?

Which I don't think is a good thing in golf, to be honest. It was actually mid-swing. Went a little right. Just yanked it a little bit right, right? or left? Was it wet when you finished? No, no, it went right. It was I had a, I had a bogey in that hole.

So listen, a week before I got there, it was like 30 degrees or minus 30 degrees. And people were freaking out. I had some good weather when I was down there. Is the weather stayed? We got into the low 70s for you. Are you watching hockey now, or is the weather too nice?

Not really. No. But I do have to say, and I've been very critical of the lack of pay for this job. But I got to tell you, Nick was really went out of his way. I set him up at Indian Creek the most prestigious golf course in South Florida, maybe more than South Florida. And I thought, you know what, it's nice. He took me out to dinner, bought Jill and I dinner, which had a nice Italian place.

You know, I think it came in around 400 bucks. He was trying to figure out how to submit the receipt to a sports now when he got back. I already tried. I went to Fabro's office and I said, you know, Matt's been pretty good to us. Yeah. So I bought him dinner, but it'd be nice if you guys, you know, and he said, you know, and he said, no. So I was quite impressed then. Then I get two hats.

I get the real Kippen-born hat and I get the NHL alumni hat from them, which I thought was really nice. Then we go to dinner the next night. I pick up the tab and it was 600. I'm down, I'm down 200. I'm down 200, but I got two hats. 100 bucks a hat, not bad. Not bad, no. No, we had a great, we had a great time.

So it was, it was good to spend some quality time with Nick and Anne-Marie. We had a great time. Awesome. Great visit. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Now, like, seriously, have you watched a little bit of hockey? you're still working on your game?

No, you know, I'm actually, I got a busy week of golf coming up, but it's morning golf. So I'm really, I'm excited about the hockey. I really am. I mean, the first, you know, early on, it's a little hard in the head watching these games. I mean, I was looking at the USA paths. I mean, they don't play anybody until I get to the semifinals.

It's embarrassing. But anyway, that's fine. Canada, it's going to be fun to watch. And I'm very excited about getting to the playoffs. But I'll tell you something, guys, you've got to be real careful. There could be, I think this is an Olympic year where there could be a lot of upsets. You know, Finland, Sweden, I mean, Serro steals a game. I mean, he steals a game.

Finland will get a little energy off that game. I wouldn't be surprised that the bad teams to me look like they're better. And I think that makes up that we could have the odd upset, especially if they have great goal to be. Do you like that, you know,

you were seeing Italy and Latvia and Denmark? Do you like seeing these countries in the games against Canada and the U.S.? Or does it kind of seem like maybe that should be before the Olympics or the women do it in a way where there's not as much of that sort of mismatch happening? Yeah, I don't really, I don't really like it.

I, you know, but, but I, and I think it, I'm nervous about, I'm nervous about the odd upset here. I really am. And it, because it's 60 minutes, guys, basically, once you get into the, the real serious, you know, part of the tournament. It's a 60 minute shootout. And you don't know what's going to happen. So, you know, the bad teams are better. The bad teams look better to me. And that makes for some dangerous games for some people.

But, I mean, look, watching Canada the other day, I mean, I thought they played extremely well. Celebrini just blew me away. And all I could think of, I'm sorry if I have to bring this up, I keep talking about Celebrini and these kids, and I'm telling you, they still may need a kid like Schaefer,

and I know I don't want to keep going back to it, but I'm telling you, boys, he'd look pretty good out there. So anyway, Mac, did, I like how they played? Did Bennington do enough in the old, opening game to just shut people up? Look, he was real good. And I give full marks to Bennington. You know, look, I felt nervous going into the Four Nations and he was unbelievable.

He's had a rough year in St. Louis. Is it his fault or is it the way the teams played in front of him, combination of both? I'm still a touch nervous. And if I'm the U.S., I'm still a touch nervous on Hellebuck. I really am. I mean, he's got a, he's got a, you know, Ottinger, as well. But I mean, they've got a couple of guys that have got to win a big game for them eventually, you know, and win a big game in their careers, I should say. And Bennington to me makes me a little nervous. And, you know, Morsey goes out. You know, now San Hein's got to be the extra guy, Theodore, I guess he'll play ahead. But, you know, San Hein comes in. I don't think Sanhine should be on the team compared to shit my boy Schaefer. But, you know, we'll see. I mean, they're really good.

Here's the question at the end of the day for me. Can this dynamic group of Canadian forwards get quality scoring chances against a great USA blue line? That'll be a really interesting question before this is over. I think USA have got his top-notch blue line. They're puck controllers. They move the puck. It'll be tougher to get great chances against them. But Canada, to me, is the best team.

I wonder if they don't play the U.S. if that would make them change the format. Because there's a real chance, right? Like the way it's lined up, they go to semis, Sweden beats U.S., something like that. Right. Don't take Sweden and Finland for granted either, guys. I mean, I mean, didn't Finland win recently?

You know? Yeah, I'm not great at this. Did Finland win recently, Sam? What did they win? Finland won the gold last Olympics without any of any of the NHLers there. Yeah. So I look at that U.S. roster, Mac. I look at it and Slavin is the true shutdown guy.

So the matchup is pretty self, you know, explained in terms of McDavid with Slavin. But after that, are there true shutdown guys there, McAvoy, Sanderson. I don't know that they're shut down guys, but I think they're puck control guys. and I think they have the ability to move the puck out of their own zone efficiently and quickly. And I don't know if that'll throw off this, you know, this ferocious forecheck that Canada typically brings to the table. Sellebrini has changed their depth a little bit with the way he all of a sudden stepped up. Can he do that throughout the whole tournament? I mean, he's a franchise player today.

Usually it takes those guys a few years. Celebrini is a franchise player today and with watching what he's done in San Jose and what he's done all year and what he did the other day. I mean, but, you know, after McCar, after McCar, I'm a little nervous about the offense from the back end.

That's my only concern. Yeah, curious to see, Harley had a good first game, but yeah, it's definitely different levels on the American side. Is there any chance, you know, I was going to get in on the goal tending piece,

any scenario, anything Logan Thompson can do to be the guy in the net when they play a big game in this tournament. Like, if he shuts out Switzerland today, they're going to go back, I assume Team France.

Do you think they give Kemper a game or probably back to Bennington? I don't think they go to the third. So Bennington back to France. Is there any scenario where Thompson plays a big game or it's going to be Bennington until they lose the big one? Is Thompson playing today? Yeah.

Is Thompson playing today? No, Thompson. Oh, it is. We believe it's Thompson. Oh, and I heard it might be Kemper, so we'll see. You know, I mean, you guys are usually right, but... Hey, I don't think there's any way... I don't think they become factors.

I think it's going to be Bennington. I think, you know, what he did in the Four Nations is solidified his role with Cooper, and I don't think that changes. Mack, what about John Cooper in his ability to come? kind of keep everybody's interest all these years. You know, sometimes you look at some of these top coaches and there's a shelf life and you always hear rumblings. They're getting tired of this guy.

They're getting tired of that guy. But he finds a way still. I heard they were getting tired of him eight years ago. I know. It's amazing. Listen, I really like this quote where he said, when you have the best players in the world, sometimes it's really important to stay out of their way

and just let them, you know, let them give them the freedom to play. And I thought that was a great line when you're dealing with this type of, you know, sure they need some structure, but this is a seasoned group of quality, quality players. I mean, when you watch what I, you know, you watch McKinney,

and shift after shift and McDavid shift after shift and what they do to set the tone in games, you know, what they, what, how they'll step out of their skill area and do whatever it takes to, you know, to make it go. And it's pretty impressive. And then Sid, I was listening to a clip today on, on five or seven great NHL players, talk about Sid Crosby. And it, it's unbelievable to listen to them, these great NHLers, talking about the first time, the first impression that Sid Crosby made on them. This guy is on, now I've, I've seen him. I watched him when he was nine at, at Al Andrews hockey school in Somerside. I mean, but this guy, I watched him skate with my son in the summertime. I mean, this guy is unbelievable what he brings to the table. And the

admiration and respect he has amongst his peers is I don't know if I've ever seen it I'm serious I don't know if I've ever seen it just just to follow up on that and listen we all can sit here and see team USA this is the most talented team we've probably ever seen but they don't have a sid crosbie and you can sit there and go okay matthew kuch to stanley cups he's gone to another level austin's hit uh Austin matthews is hit level where you go, oh my God, he's like one of the best players in the world. But, you know, after that, like, I don't know who they lean on there. He's just such a pro's pro.

I don't know in my career. Like, look, I was a GM when Sid was drafted. And I was sitting in the room because it was that, it was that fake draft that we all had to put up with because everybody had to have a chance to get Sid. Like not the expansion teams didn't, you know, everybody had a chance to get Sid and it came down to Pittsburgh and Anahein and I'm sitting there so pissed off watching this episode of the draft. It made me puke. But anyway, and watch him go to Pittsburgh.

But since that day and even before that, this guy, there's not a blemish there with respect to a pro with the respect to the way he plays, with how he carries himself. three times Stanley Cup winner I mean at 37, 38 he's still a dominant force in the league there's no but no US don't have anybody close to him and I don't know if we've seen anybody close to him in a long long time you know we go back to the Gretzky-Lamuse

you know. The only guy that people talk about like that but it's just a smaller level of it is Patrice Bergeron wherever loved him and respected him whatever but Crosby is the volume around Crosby obviously because the points and the longevity and all that is just so much different. That American team in general, I would like to get your take on because, you know, obviously a ton of great players.

That decor is unbelievable. But, you know, really good team. Really good team. Interesting team too, right? Like Brock Nelson was lightened it up the other day. The Kachuk line is fascinating. Matthews as a captain is interesting. I don't know.

Just overview. Look, I get at. down in Florida here a lot, you know, do the Americans have a chance? And I, and I, all I say is to my, in my golf buddies here, is like, seriously, they have a chance. There's no denying. They have, how hockey is growing. And I've witnessed how hockey's grown in the U.S. from my time here. Hockey, I mean, when you look at the pockets of the, around the U.S.

where hockey is Florida, hockey is through the roof, producing NHLers, Tennessee. producing NHLers. I mean, it's just taking it Chicago. I mean, it's unbelievable the hockey markets in the U.S. now. And yeah, they've got a heck of a team. And yeah, the Kachukes are great. I didn't like Brady's way he played going into the, into the, with Ottawa, those last few games there.

He wasn't, he was kind of invisible to me. But this is a big issue for Team USA. This, this has got to be a statement of Olympics. for Team USA. Four Nations was a statement from them. They played, you know, they were good. And we won, but it's going to, they're going to be tough to be.

They will be tough to be. Are people going to be? Sam Oakley, he fall asleep. If we go back to your earlier points that, there could be a few upsets here. I, like, are people going to be really down on anything but a U.S. Canada? Yeah. I'm going to be really down on anything but a U.S.,

but I'm telling. you right now be careful because it would not surprise me that there's when you get when it comes down to a 60 minute game I don't care who the better team is a 60 minute elimination how many times have we seen it and I as I keep saying though the you know Saros can steal a game I mean that he if he gets on a role in some of these guys so we'll see I I just I just hope it's Canada U.S. in the final that's all I hope. Matt did you ever have any involvement with hockey Canada stuff? Like, do you have any opportunities to wear the jersey represent it?

After the, when we went to the finals in Florida, I was up for the team Canada coach for, and I would have given Gretzky the penalty shot. Yeah, the fate of it all would have changed. Yeah, sure. Mark Crawford, you know, he got, he got the job. And that was it for me. But I, as I've said to Mark, I would have definitely

let Gretzky take that penalty shop. I would have a coach. But no, I haven't. You know, I went to all the hockey Canada clinics and all the level fives and all in Calgary. I was a coach of Team Atlantic one time when I was coaching college, but not really. I was I was sort of too busy to get as involved.

And maybe I should have, you know. The only thing I probably would have had a chance to coach was a Spangler Cup. That would have been great. But, you know, you're, you're, your all-star appearance, getting that many talented players and egos together under one roof. You were a part of that for a very short period of time. Now, were you at the All-Star game when somebody left like halfway through the second period?

Who left? Was it your All-Star game? Pavel Bury, somebody left. Come on. Somebody left before the game was over. Nobody left, because I threatened them after the second period. I said, I don't care about you guys. You know, it was a funny game in San Jose.

We ended up being 9-7. And they were floating. And I said, boys, here's the deal. Maybe the 10 grand doesn't mean much to you guys, but I guarantee it means a lot to me. And if you don't play, I'm going to bench you. And I ended up going down to Lindy. Who was the kid from Tampa Bay there, the first round pick?

Osalinch. No, no. Hammer. No, no. Hammerlick. Roman Hammerlick? Roman Hammerlick. I go down to Lindy.

Lindy was my assistant coach in the officer game, San Jose. I said, don't give him another shift. He's done. He's done. Is that what happened? Lindy looks at me. You serious? I said, I want the 10 grand.

I want the 10 grand. He's not playing well enough. Let him just sit. Maybe that's what happened to OEL with Team Sweden, who didn't get a minute in the opening game. Yeah, him in Forsberg. Like, how bad is that? Who's the coach?

I like, who, who, anyway. You know. See the reports out of Finland? when you have extra forwards on the bench, you know. Hey, Mac, do you see the players out of Finland want Paul Maurice to coach the team? They're not happy with their coach and they're clamoring to get Paul Maurice in there now.

I don't feel great about guys from other countries coaching other countries. I'm not a fan of that personally. Certainly, there's a Finnish guy who can do that job. And you couldn't pry Mo off the beach. Yeah. I know right now he's like, why am I in the news? Can we not?

Tell Finland, tell Finland, they'll be lucky if he even With Barkoff out, tell him he'll be lucky if Mo even watches a game. Listen, if Mo loves 10 grand as much as you do, he might go. You know what? That 10 grand, two years in a row was pretty nice. I mean, it makes up for my lack of, you know, funds late in my career here with getting hats and half a dinner, you know. $100 hats. I mean, I did.

And I did have to pay 150 for the caddy the other day, which I wasn't happy about, but I guess it was worth it. Well, I'm not picking up your 150 when I got to dish out 150 for mine. I thought that was a rip-off. The caddy carries both our bags, and we both had to give him 150. But he was a nice guy. He was a great guy, you know.

That's a good couple. That's a good four hours for the looper. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Without a doubt. Hey, I would have a legend. I like the story. The best story of the day was that some people at the golf course are upset with Tom Brady

because he goes out without his shirt on and does wind sprints on the fair way. Is that right? God, what a loser. What an absolutely. We don't want that getting out. No, don't not let that out. Okay. Leave Tom alone.

Anyway, it was funny. Nick and I played in this little tournament. I was walking around the clubhouse and it was like, It was almost like I was walking around, you know, when I used to go to SportsNet and I'd run into the guys some Schitts Creek in the hallways, you know. And I'm walking around the clubhouse that was built in 1928. And I meet six guys at lunch when Nick and I, who I see every week on CNBC. One's an attorney general. And you're like, what is going on here, you know?

And no one recognized us. We went by Ivanka, Trump, and Jared Kushner. house with the security. I should point it out to Nick when we're driving on the island. Now, Mac, were any of them complaining about the cost of the caddy fee? No, it didn't come up with that group.

I said, Matt, go borrow a cup of sugar. See what happens. Howdy, neighbor? I would imagine, you know, if you were part of Team Canada and you asked about staying in the village or a five-star hotel, I know what you would

pick, eh? Yeah, the five-star. Live Star Hotel, yeah, for sure. I mean, who cares where they stay, seriously, you know? The village would be fun, though. Like in Vancouver, when we were there in 2010, and I was in Salt Lake City as well, and oh, man, I mean, the atmosphere around the, I've been to Milan, I can't imagine.

What is all Brombie doing out there and Garrett? What are they doing there? keep getting notes from them, sending me pictures, you know? His bomber took one. Sorry, man. Bombers sending me pictures and,

and Garrett. Remember Garrett, our producer? Yeah, he's still producing. In 2010, what was the, in 2010, we couldn't get you, what bar restaurant

were you in Vancouver every night? We couldn't get you out of there. I went in, I went in, checked into the hotel. I was doing a, a three-minute show every day at noon, three-minute show. Sportsnet had me doing,

and I check into the bar and they said, welcome, Mr. McLean. We're really looking forward to having you're here for the next 17 nights. Well, when I checked out of the bar at this, what was it called, the Sutton Place, anyway, checked out, it had a great bar,

great bar. I held court there every night. I can't even I mean, I don't even want to think of what that bar bill was, but Vancouver Olympics was terrific. Did someone else pay it or was that you? Oh, no, that was me. No, no, I, I did the two-minute show every day.

I mean, they weren't going to pay me that much, you know. Just the blind sign for whatever it is. There was one hotel, though. It was like the main hotel for CTV and TSN and Sportsnet where all the bigwigs were there. And if you could get through the door, like everything was free. everything like the meals the drinks you know you're just holding up a plant so mr shickettance didn't see you on the way through

leaving with the garbage bag but I can't believe I can't imagine how great it would be in Milan I can't imagine you know yeah what if we were to guess what sport you would have picked other than ice hockey like what would you have done as an athlete curl at the beer in your day I see you as a Curling. You look like a doubles luge guy to me, Mac.

A top in doubles luge. I probably would have been a downhill skier. I was at in Salt Lake City, we stayed out in the summit. It was an unbelievable ski resort outside Salt Lake City. And Jill and I and the kids were skiing.

And of course, they took me up to the black so that you know because they they wanted to get rid of me you know so that that was that was the time in my career when i when i took a tumble glasses went one way skis went another way and i jill came about me okay i said i just quit ski and i haven't had the ski done since so much i uh but downhill would have been my sport much safer in the pool right now for you yeah and i'm gonna go down have a swim here shortly all right well listen we uh we appreciate this this mid-afternoon special today for you. You're okay?

You woke up, we gave you enough time to wake up 2 p.m. It really threw me off, you know. But anyway, oh, one final thing. No. Please. Oh, no. Tell Ron McLean not to put a hockey stick in his hands on a broadcast place. Like, he's showing how Bradmer, Sean releases the puck.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I don't want to watch that. All right, all right. We'll get that message out. All right. Fabro. Fabro. I'll get a note from Fabro on that one. You'll get a few notes, I'm sure.

All right, Mac. Give us a score. See you, boys. Give us a score. Take care. Yeah. And Canada. Give us a score.

5-1. That sounds reasonable. Safe. Okay. Thanks, Mac. Appreciate it, man. All right, Mac. Doug McLean, everybody.

Former NHHL president and head coach and smart ass. and bus throw her under guy. I was bra. I was bomber to catch a straight. These guys are actively still working in sports, and that's what they're doing there. Can I, what was I going to say to you? Can we talk about that Maurice thing?

Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's a ton to it. Well, Luke Fox did a piece on it. Yep. And he talked to people while over there. And he said that a lot of the players wanted him to be, the head coach. Yeah. So,

just looking at it here. Sorry, I don't mean to say there's not a ton to it in terms of like validity or anything. I just, they're not happy with their coach, right? Maurice probably doesn't want to do that.

You're halfway through now. Like, there's no time for this. But this was leading into this. After the four nations, they were met. Not now. Which,

you know, okay, but you're here now. So. And you lose your first game to Slovakia. They're like, Mo, wouldn't have lost that first game.

Well, that's how this came up. Yeah. You know, is that frustration coming out after the opening game loss, then they hand it to Sweden. There was like, oh. I just, the game's been around a long time.

So are the complaints on coaches. Yeah. Been around for a very long time. Yeah. To actually think that you might have power over that. Like, you'd have to be. Well, but they do. You'd have to be, but you'd have to, like,

like, threaten to, like, not play. But I think if enough guys go to the team manager and go, hey, look, we're collectively not happy here. Okay, but what does that mean? You can still not be happy and suck it up or you can be like, man, we're not playing. Now, tell me which power trip you want to be on. I don't really agree there just because I feel like if the guys know, if you know that

your important NHL guys are not happy with the leadership, this guy's not going to coach Finland in the next international event. Book. He's done. He's done. But like, they didn't have to hold out to make it happen.

I mean, Paul Maurice, and you're Finland. You're a real hockey nation. Yeah. You got to have a Finnish guy behind the bench. Team working coach? He knows what's going on. He's not getting up to be.

We already established. My whole point in all of this is any time this has happened and you go to a general manager or a president, it's like, okay, what are your complaints? Well, he's too, you know, he's too rough on us, store. I don't like this. Okay, we'll talk to them. We'll fix it. We'll do this. That's what happens.

Happens in the NHL. All the time. And you manage it. But that's a big difference between how badly do you want this guy out. And the only card you'll have to play if you want to make a coaching change so badly is I'm not coming. I'm not coming with this guy. Is there money involved with this? Because we know there's not for the player. So why would Paul Maurice possibly go coach Finland Unless he's paid You know what I'm saying? Like I don't think it would be

His decision wouldn't be based on money Yeah It would be like He's a proud Canadian I'm just I'm not going there To try to like I know Canadian national team Is coached by is Jesse Marsh He's an American

Yeah like it happens a lot Yeah and I still don't like that We don't have a Canadian Yeah it happens a lot in soccer Yeah I mean Our boy Ted's Nolans Did

Yeah, Latvia. Yeah. Right? And they... Ted's Nolan. So, anyways. Game time? Just, it's all about the birth certificate, right?

Well, not necessarily. Well, the link, the link to the birth certificate. I'm just more of... You're Finland. You're one of the top... Got a proud finish player. Yeah. Yeah.

I think that's just a weird. Oh. Now we're into Brett Hall. Is he Canadian or is an American? He's born in Belleville. He's Canadian. By the last time I checked, he was wearing USA. Yeah, well.

Lauren and Belleville. It's game time. Is it by Bet365? Visit the outflated's odds. See why it's ever ordinary. At Bet365, must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

So there's one game left today. It's the one that we've been talking about here. Canada versus Switzerland. 310. Tomorrow there's four games on tap, including a pretty big one in the morning for Sweden. Because they are up against Slovakia, and they have lost one and one in Slovakia.

has won both. Two and O. Yeah, so it's a big one for Sweden. They are huge faves. They are minus 715 in that game. Slovakia plus 500. I believe if Slovakia doesn't lose by more than three, they still win the group.

Good for them. They get the buy. Another early game tomorrow at 610 a.m. Germany taking on Latvia. Germany minus 286 in that game. Latvia plus 225. Surprised by that number. Go ahead.

There's a path for Germany here. Yeah, for sure. But I just think that's... Hockey needs Germany to do well. Yeah, you've been saying that. You think that it's the right sort of population. It is the financial engine. Yeah.

Our game goes to another level if Germany really catches on. Hey, have you guys listened to the guys pronounce their own name? You've been listening to those clips all? I think the Canadian ones are hilarious. Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby. Yeah. And then you heard, you don't need a writer, need don't need a writer,

needer, needer, needer, he's at it like five times. Yeah, yeah. But like, the German ones are jarring. You know, Leon Dreissaitel. Like, whatever the, it's, I can't. Swedish ones, too. Yeah. And then Oliver Bjork Strand did it in his national, you know, the heavy accent.

And then he was followed up with an Americanized, Oliver Bjork Strand. It gave you both version. That's great. Callie Yarn Kruk. Yarn Krook. Anyways. In Greek, I'm Kipreos.

Kipreos. I'm the key. English. You are extremely Samuel McKee. You are. Owens Sound. Mockie.

If we reduced the nation down to a single being, it might be Sam McKee from Owen Sound. That's a little European, is it? You're a Canadian reduction. I don't know. People have always been like,

have you done your 32 of me or everyone? Is it 23 in me? Or like, you're, I'm like, nah. Probably English. Pretty generic. Like I'm Canada. Probably English.

That was game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the athlete of Saus at CY. It's ever ordinary at Bet365. Must make it. Plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

All right. Getting closer to puck drop here. We're going to take a quick break, Sammy. We got a little text. Yep. Send in some texts. $5.9. All right.

Send them in. Back after these words. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things, Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays. Every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the fan morning.

Morning Show, Sportsnet 590 the fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. Back to the program. As a reminder, this hour of Real Kippur and Bourne brought to by Beth 365. Nick Kippreel's Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee, just a little under maybe 30 minutes to puck drop, Switzerland versus Canada. Yeah. We'll take you right there.

Fresh content. After Sammy reads us some text messages. I have to talk amongst yourself. My computer's about to die, and I don't have it plugged in. So I'll ask you this question, then I'll run away. You ask Mac what Olympic event you would like, you'd think that you could you could do. Yeah. Like if you had to pick one.

Yeah. Would be. For Mac? No, for you guys. For you other than hockey. Well, speed skating. I think you. Beads skating.

Yeah. I mean, I got to believe if, I mean, I'm not saying I'd be good at it, but it's the one I got the best chance at outside of strapping me to a bob sled and hanging on. I'd be I'd have some fun I think cross-country skiing and and then shooting like a slope style snowboarder to me shooting a gun so Biathlon is that what it's called I don't know I just see skis and a gun It's actually called cross-country skiing and shooting a gun Yeah that's the technical that's the actual name of yeah that one no wouldn't have a chance it in any I mean I watched a bit of the the the cross-country skiing like that what's the Nordic

track Nordic that's a machine it looks like the most unenjoyable tiring here's what I don't get

why are you going skiing you're supposed to go down the hill why are you going but why do people ever get involved with a thing that you need to practice a lot

to be good enough to compete in the Olympics that sucks to do yeah it's like hey this is really hard and unfun would you like to try

to be the best at it by grinding every day absolutely not I would not like that I always thought like the Bob's letters. Yeah.

Like, all you need to do is, like, run 15 feet and then just jump in us. And then you're like no different than anyone else in us. I know everyone's had these conversations, but let's get, we're in the trustry here. I mean, the pressure. Yeah, let's have it. Okay. Kind of a fraudulent event, the sliding events.

Here's why. It's a sled. No, it's not that. There's four places in all of the USA where you can do it. How many people on the planet are doing it? Yeah. 20 of them make the Olympics. are 38 people trying it?

Do you any of your friends do this? I think it's all descendants from bobsled people. Like the first people that ever bobsled it are related to the people who are bobsledding now. It's the nepotism sport. We recruit athletes from other sports. You're like, that guy's got big thighs. If you tried this?

What was the CFL guy? Was it Lumsden? You're right, Jesse Lumslin? Jesse. Yeah. One of our, won gold for Canada four years ago. It just looks like a lot of fun. It looks awesome.

And I'm sure it's super hard. I'm not saying it's not hard. I know. We're just having fun right now. We totally get that, like, you've got to be really good at it. The most fun is, the most fun one would be like the insane downhill skiing. Like those guys are going down.

That looks terrible. Oh my God. That's like bungee jumping. But if you were really good at it, it would be electric. For sure. If you're going on the hill, how fast you're going, you're flying, you're great at it. Probably feels great. Feels awesome.

Yeah. I don't even think the flipping events would feel good. I think that looks terrible too. You know, like, Lindsay Vaughn, like, you risk everything. Oh, you know, everything. Yeah, you're a race car driver. Right.

If it goes wrong, you're maybe severe damage. She caught her hand in like a gate. Yeah, she was skiing with no ACL. There's actually a tremendous breakdown of this about how she couldn't put appropriate weight shift and how it affected her. Is that what they, like, included? Yeah, she couldn't put that proper weight on the outside ski into that gate. So she had to lean her full body rather than a different angle.

Anyway. Well, then the odds of that happening are tremendous then. Right. I mean, I'm a curler now. Curl every Saturday morning at High Park Crick. Have you curled 10 times near life? Yeah, yeah. Do you drinking curl?

I drink after I curl. Oh, not before. Here's what I'll say. I'm still a very young man when it comes to curling. I'll be my prime in about 15 years. I'll be on the Olympic Day. But here's the thing. People curl.

Yeah. Like the best are the best. Curling is insanely popular. There's a zillion curlers. Yes. Look at the ratings for curling. They do really well. Curling rocks.

That's just boo. I didn't mean it. It's really good. Yeah. But like you're the best of a large number of people. You could have that touch too, eh? Soft hands. I know that's a sport I would be horrific at it.

It's the number one sport of harder than it looks. Yeah. Like on TV, you're like, oh, they're just sliding. But the amount of things you've got to think about before you let that rock go and the curl and the sweep. I'm surprised more people just don't fall. You know, I know a guy who brings me. broke his wrist curling this winter.

So it happens. Okay. It does happen. Most of the people on Saturday mornings are wearing buckets. No. Because people wipe out? Yes. People eat it.

We're in the boria salming helmets. No. No. Like snowboard helmets. Yeah. I don't wear one of the place. I got to tell you. If you're curling wearing a helmet, boy.

Hey. Don't discourage the good Imperial League. I just upset a lot of people in this segment. You are on fire. Sorry. Hey guys. Boy, if you came to get your winter Olympic coverage. I'm getting on my take.

These are my chat. Did you just. Private chat take. Seven minutes of pure garbage of the Olympics. You know what, the easy? The Olympics. The real Kipper and Board Shell. What are they have guns in the skiing?

This is easily the dumbest block of a radio show we've ever done. One hockey game to talk about. This is what happens. And they did everything right. Like it's not fun to do analysis when the team is everything right. Tune in for the Summer Olympics in two years, folks. Boy, they run fast. Hi, guys.

Love the show. in the current H.L. Who would suit it better? Mario or Wayne from Adnan in New York? I mean, both. They would both. There's insane athletes. One of the worst takes you can have is Gretzky wouldn't be great in this era

because it's bigger guys, fashion guys. Gretzky is. Who's, who ever said that? That's a thing? Oh, yeah, it's a thing that like this era of hockey, Wayne was slight and he was not fast and he couldn't handle. It's like Wayne would score a bajillion points. Never ever had an issue of having the inability to get somewhere.

Yeah. Ever. No. Because he was there so mentally before anyone else knew where to go. Mario too. Mario is, you know, what if Tage Thompson were three times as good as he really is? Yeah, I would say Mario. I'd say Mario.

We might. Listen, I was always a team Mario guy. He was my favorite player growing up, but come on. Love Mario. Way no. Better your Veronica. Eddie. I'm expecting a big game from Seth Jarvis today.

How do you guys think he'll play? I like Seth. I think he'll be one of those guys that just fits in. And I looked at Nick Suzuki yesterday, and I think he's just going to get better as this tournament goes on. But in a supporting role, I don't know. Maybe he could star one game, maybe a big one. I think what's challenging is that a lot of guys are going to look great

over the next two games against lesser teams. Totally. And it's like, so if Seth Jarvis scores three times against France or whatever, are we suddenly going to put them on the top line against the Americans? Nothing will change. No, so I do think we're going to run the risk of going, God, that guy looked good. Nick Suzuki was unbelievable against Switzerland. And it's like it's not the same as the guys we're going to need when it's Sweden, Finland, USA.

Boys, I've seen the size of Kipper's head. You throw him on a sled head first And he's placing on that podium That skeleton, isn't it? That one, you gotta have a dead fish. I don't know. Well, I don't know. What are you, a nine and a quarter or something?

What do you know when you throw your pro fit on? It's like, it's not like Tidonleys. No. Yeah, I got a little head. So maybe it's just sitting by me is. Hey, hi folks. Maybe a little bit off topic. But can you give your thoughts on why so many players

seem to go low when looking to score. Seems to me that the goaltenders have the bottom covered most of the time. Well, I will say this is an evolution where for years, everyone went low because they couldn't raise it enough and goalies didn't go down.

Eventually, goalies started going down in your generation. And some of mine, it was like, get it up to score. That's all we had to do is just get it up over a guy who's laying on the ice. And now goalies are aware of that, right? They take away the glove, everything's up here. So if you can get it under the holes,

under the glove, whatever, those are kind of the new hotness. Plus it feels awesome. Just. Yeah. Yeah. Five hole. Backhand five hole.

Fire one five hole feels better. The whole thought, like in my era was the message from the brain to the feet takes longer than the message from the brain to the hands. Right? So. What? Doctor. Doctor? The message.

The message to stop a puck. Yeah. Takes twice as long to reach the feet than it does the hand. Okay. You following me? Yeah. Listen, I'm... That's it.

Right. That's it. So now, now these goalies at 6-4, 6-5, they drop. Their first instinct is bar under the bar, because no matter how tall you are, you're going to go down in this reverse VH or whatever you want to call it. And it's like, how many, like, Tage Thompson's goal? the other day. Yeah.

Just wait, wait. Just wait. These guys will drop. And I think it's all upstairs now for these guys. Well, there's also like a science of there's some places that you just, you can't cover everywhere at once. And for a goaltender, between the heel of their stick on the ice and the toe of their right pad for most normal goalies, like you just physically, there's a spot there, right?

Same with low ball. There's just spots. So these guys are just so good now and you sell somewhere else and put it somewhere different. and I don't think they care where it goes, but there's spots. Oh, you found your charger. I did. My computer's working.

Okay, here we go. Now, I'll ask you the question already, right? Thoughts on the players in the Olympics. They would rather win a gold medal more than a cup. We talked about this last week. We did that. And it was obviously the cup, right? There's no argument.

I think, you know, this Olympics does highlight that this is a four-team tournament. There's just no way that you can put so much stock into 10 days. Like, I get the representing the country in that feel for sure. But something that may take 10 years for Connor McDavid to achieve

as a Stanley Cup, he cannot compare in 10 days in a five-game tournament. Yeah. Now, it's obviously big. I saw someone tweeting today about, this is interesting. I think there's Neil Greenberg. He's a Washington guy who wrote that

if Tom Wilson were to win a gold medal here he's gold medal Stanley talking hall of him Stanley Cup the power forward of his generation he didn't make this comparison but I was like I guess that's kind of how Clark Gillies got in right you know it's like I mean four extra cop selves right but like could could Tom Wilson make a case that he's putting together a hell of a career a gold medal here to go with the cop would be does he have the world junior you got a I think there's a bit of a hang up with Hall of Famers when it comes to certain guys

that look like their numbers might support it, yet they have like 2,000 penalty minutes or 2,500 penalty minutes. Keith Kachuk, correct me if I'm wrong, isn't in. You know, Dale Hunter was this one of the top PM guys, but he also had a wonderful career. Pat Verbeek, like, you start seeing that those guys... You think the penalty minutes heard him?

Sorry? You think the penalty minutes heard him? I don't think it's helping. For sure, I don't think it's helpful. Part of me thinks if you have that many penalty minutes and that longevity, that should help your case. But there's just, for Tom Wilson to get in, I'd like to see a few more guys before him get in. Yes. Like that.

To me, it's also, I think sometimes we overthink the idea of fame, like the, you know, who was really important? And Tom Wilson's never been a top 10 guy in the league. 20 guy, not even anywhere near it for me. I put him in. Just like that. We're done. We got to go. Enjoy the weekend, everybody.

Enjoy the games. Canada, Switzerland, in a few moments.