Real Kyper & Bourne - The Flames' Fresh Start

Episode Date: October 16, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with the news that Kirby Dach will miss significant time for the Canadiens with a lower-body injury, and the guys share stories of their own ACL and MCL injuries. They are joined by Sportsnet columnist Eric Francis (9:57), who discusses the fresh feeling in Calgary with new coaching and management, the importance of Jacob Markström having a bounce-back season and his early thoughts on the top teams of the Western Conference. The guys close with some news and notes, the Canucks having the top-end talent to be competitive, trade requests in the NHL vs. the NBA and Sam's issue with Connor Bedard's jersey number.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 welcome you back into the real kipper and born show on our national hour we are live on sportsnet sportsnet 960 in calgary and sportsnet 650 in vancouver I'm Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, as we get ready for five games on tap in the National Hockey League, including Calgary at Washington. We'll welcome in Eric Francis in a moment. This hour is brought to you by Bet365. Some big stories right now going around, guys.

And kudos to the Vancouver Canucks for back-to-back wins against a team that everybody thought for sure was going to a stanley cup final yeah and still may but yeah yeah it's definitely maybe not based on how everybody feels after watching two games but just we gotta we gotta start a little bit on uh montreal canadian fans out there and kirby doc uh it was suspected he's out long term now jb news sammy uh that he's out with a torn acl mcl yeah that's the fear the early fear the early fear yeah which would require surgery and that's trouble when you're a pretty thin team already. So, big ask. And a guy that looked like maybe ready for a bit of a breakout season, too.

Doc, yeah. Like, big, strong guy. He did play really well. Chicago, a top pick in Chicago. I don't know why they kind of gave up on him early, but from what I was gathering, he was a guy that wanted to puck an awful lot yeah and had a presence out there and his lines typically by the numbers had looked better whoever played

with him seemed to have more success and so yeah that's tough when you're a young team trying to develop and you don't get that developmental year that's a big loss bit of a bit he had to me a little bit of a tage thompson look to him that's the compliment and a half yeah just i know what you mean he's big big strong lanky toe drag kind of guy i think i actually want that on my tombstone big tall lanky toe drag kind of guy yeah that's no golf missions no that's toe drag kind of guy that's the dream i had that injury a mcl mcl i also tore my mcl not awesome just the worst yeah that was a lost how was your rehab i was really great uh my team pushed me along a little quick i came back and tore it the first game back retort no you did not i did yeah i played 11 games my what was the what

was the uh what was the time frame from your your first time to tearing it again how long my mcl is about a month it's about four weeks i tried to play okay mine mine was five and a half the time frame from your first time to tearing it again? So it wasn't my ACLs. My MCL was about a month. It was about four weeks I tried to play again. Okay, mine was five and a half months. Oh, you tore everything. I tore everything. All the CLs. I had a complete reconstruction of my ACL. Oh, I didn't have to figure it out.

Whoa! And so did that affect you when you came back? Did that affect you when you came back in terms of like your stride after? I never felt the same ever again. Oh, God. Just Habs fans just going, oh. I never felt the same ever again. I did not.

Really? I did not. You still, when you go play Thursday mornings, you think about it? Actually. Do you pivot on it when you swing or is it the other one? No, I pivot on my... I thought he was going to stand up and do the post. I was just going to hope for that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, I still play pro hockey. This is at the beginning of my career. And there are some people telling me that you may be done done. Jeez. What, did you fall into a wood chipper? What happened? I shredded it.

Yeah. Absolutely shredded it. That was a long time ago So We've come back The technology's gone Actually the technology was brand new It was a cadaver Oh really?

You got some dead guys? Dead guys Yeah I'm way too fascinated by this You know how crazy You want to know how crazy So you got a haunted knee Do you know the guy

Haunted knee No no This is how This is how crazy it was. Here's something that will never happen to today's athlete, okay, is that I'm in a hospital bed, and I got my parents who drove down because they heard, you know, I snapped my knee.

And there's, like, the three of us and the doctor, and we don't really have a clue what he's gonna do right he's just like i'll fix you up don't worry about it we're like okay i'm a little worried about it to be honest yeah so now they're about to put me under and he and he picks up with his those you know his instruments tongs and it's like hey take a look at your new knee and i'm like oh my what now take a look at your new knee yeah and it to, it looked like he just went to the produce section and picked up a chicken breast. And I'm like, what? Yeah.

It's like, that's your new knee. Did they get the knee of an athlete? It was an Achilles tendon that he was now going to put into my knee. So that was my new ligament. We have officially entered spooky season. Never did he once come up to me and say, hey, listen, there's this new procedure out there and here are the odds and here are the pros and cons.

You're like, I'd like to get a second opinion and weigh in on this. No second or third opinion. Just like, here it is. Organic chicken breast from Costco. That was pretty much yet. So, you know, one of the fears years later I heard was that, that your body could reject something foreign.

Just take it all. There were odds that sometimes your body does reject it and, and it doesn't work. And I mean, listen, you scored 60 in junior. I don't think you scored 60 in the NHL. Maybe you didn't. 24 in the A with that chicken breast. Oh, you did?

Okay. 24 in the A and 17 in Hartford. Not horrible. One of the most un-contact sentences would never make any sense. 24 in the A with that chicken breast. I really hope Kirby can figure it out without the chicken breast. But okay. Just one last note on my knee.

Please. Every once in a while, an orthopedic surgeon will look at both my knees and say that my reconstructed knee is tighter than my good knee. Really? All these years. And I did run a marathon on it. Wow.

10 years ago. You're hard on your body parts. Not bad. So Taylor Hall is back in the lineup tonight for the Blackhawks. And there was talk that he would have been out week to week. Week to week. Which usually means four to six weeks. Yeah.

Awkward collision, but that's great. Because, like, you need Bedard to have someone to work with. Yeah. A guy who's been there before. Yeah, and then when they sign Willie, according to Kipper, they can have him on the other wing. What was that? What just happened at the end of our last hour?

I just said that when I look at that lineup, there's no one. By this time next year, there's going to be such a demand to help Con Connor Bedard that they to me would be an organization that would clearly overpay now I don't know we're gonna have Eric Francis come on in a few minutes out of Calgary we'll get his thoughts on Lindholm and whether or not he's gonna be around but there's another guy if i'm chicago i will hope like crazy he doesn't sign because that's those are the type of players i want around conor bedard and i'm just looking at their cap friendly like they have no players they got cap space like for the next year it's just like all rfas no players ufas they only have hall athanasiu i can't say it uh donato yeah seth jones and connor murphy they got that's all that's under contract for 24 25 that's crazy yeah obviously bedard it's a blank

slate for kyle davidson and a million picks they can do so much with that room they're gonna be you can't take your time now with connor bedard there you can't no well you can but you can't i agree with you that you can't i agree with you that you can't yeah i think you need to start getting better tomorrow you're not you're not dumb about it right but you're you don't want you you gotta be able to sell talent with that talent can i ask a uh flammable question here yes about my my chickenast, knee? Sorry, seven-year contract, $9.2 million. Do you want Willie or Elias Lindholm? I know people are like, are you insane?

Of course, Willie, right? Okay, I'll get to Lindholm, too. I love Lindholm. That ain't doing it for Willie. Willie, get out of the nines with Willie. Did you see that? Okay, nine and Willie gets ten. Did you see the goal that he scored, you know,

from one side of his skates to the other edge of his skates? That's legit beyond world class. There's ten guys on earth that do that. He's one of the guys. Okay, so he's ten. If he's moving to a place like Chicago or anywhere else outside of Toronto, I think the number that by june and oh no everybody's everybody's uh everybody no put a full visor on no put a cage on sammy okay 11 oh no way that's a lot of number you

gotta first of all you overpay the caps going up if it's one of those things not, you overpay. The cap's going up. If it's one of those teams. And you overpay. You overpaid that time of year. For a player to leave another team, you overpay. What's Pasternak? 11 plus. 11 and a half. He took that big discount. I forgot.

Yeah, God, Kip's right. I hate when that happens. It's 11. It's 11. Who? You got to get over it, boys. That's great. The Leafs finally had patience to develop this guy.

It's like, let's let him go for nothing because of a number. Lindholm, it ain't. I don't think it's nine. I don't think it's nine, Calgary. All right, well, let's talk to Eric. Let's get his take on some of this. I'll let you do the intro. Is our senior columnist on the air?

Yes, I am. I don't love that word, senior. I don't like senior, but whatever. All right, no senior. The key is you're young-looking, though. Oh, God bless you. How are things out west? You know what?

I don't really know how to answer that. Like they're one and one, you know, they haven't played very well. Markstrom has been good, but not good enough. And nobody really knows what this team is. Ask the players and they're like, well, we'll see. We don't really know what we are. We don't want to know what their style of play is going to be under the new coach.

We don't know if they're a playoff team. We don't know if what we are. We don't know what their style of play is going to be under the new coach. We don't know if they're a playoff team. We don't know if they're nowhere close. We don't know if they could challenge for the division. It's going to be a fascinating year because we're going to get a lot of answers in short order here. If we went back, Eric, and especially you, because no one covered this, you know, as close. At least you were right there with everybody else in terms of this whole dynamic with Daryl and looking back at it and saying, when you first started hearing rumblings of dissension,

did you ever envision the major changes, i.e. coach, i.e. general manager, quite like this? You know, there did come a point near the end of the year where it was clear to me that I think true living was done. He'd had enough of this, of the situation. And I'll go to my grave believing that if true living doesn't fall on his sword and quit, then Darryl's still the coach of this team. I think it took a tremendous sacrifice,

if you want to put it that, for Tree Living, for ownership to realize, oh my God, we've got a much bigger issue than we thought. Like our GM has told us how this situation is, but we didn't realize the extent of it. So when you talk about rumblings of discontent from the players, hey, you guys know players don't like coaches. For the history of hockey, there's players that hate their coach.

This is different. This was en masse. It was openly discussed how heavy the room was. And so anyway, not to go back to the whole dot thing, but yeah, it was, it was, I give tremendous kudos to the ownership group for swallowing $8 million and realizing that for the, for the greater good of this organization, they had to move forward with a new coach.

It cost them their GM. The coach cost them their GM and was threatening to cost them a whole lot more in terms of a mass exodus from players. And we've already seen guys like Backlund sign and stay. He would never, never have stayed had Darryl stayed. So we're already seeing signs that at least they salvaged some things from that era. So it's interesting to hear you say that they're not,'re not really sure what they are what they're going to be in

terms of style like this flames team seems one to me that kind of perennially has underachieved right i mean they have talent up front a very good decor great goaltending in theory you know are things different in terms of the vibe and energy with a new coach? Is there any signs that he can breathe life? And to me, what looks like a pretty good roster. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And, you know, mission accomplished in terms of taking the heaviness out of the room. That, you know, whatever weighed on this entire organization was kind of lifted. And Husker is a breath of fresh air for the players, certainly for the media.

There are a lot of reasons why this was, it so far has done exactly what they hoped it would do, which is turn the whole thing on a dime. Now, does that translate into wins? We're going to find out, but I know the coach is respected. He's certainly a tremendous communicator. I think the big question with huska and i think he knows the big question is can he be tough enough on these guys in this city we've seen them

go back and forth in their last six coaches it's always been a dramatic turn from a guy who's too hard on the players like bob hartley and then they go to someone who's too easy on the players like glenn gullison then they go to someone who's like bill peters who's too hard on the players and then to someone who's a little too easy. It just kept going back and forth, and here we are again with going from a guy who's a little too hard to a guy who we're going to find out if he's too easy.

We'll find out. I'm optimistic that this guy's smart enough to understand that he can't just be easy. He's got to create a standard, and if players don't live up to it, he's got to be a hard-ass. We't live up to it, he's got to be a hard ass. We're talking to Eric Francis, a youthful columnist and analyst with sportsnet.ca.

Eric, it doesn't, it's not a real secret here that you get great goaltending, man. And it just changes your look beyond belief. And there were some issues going on in Calgary's net last year. You know, even Vancouver with a healthy Demko look a lot different here.

Markstrom's bounced back in his ability to now be a $5 or $6 million looking goalie again. You know, I think he's looked good for the most part. I think it was a Kyle Connor goal I saw in the first game that had kind of a look to it that a lot of the goals last year went in. How much faith is there in Calgary that this guy's back? He's going to have to earn that faith back from people, right? I mean, he went from being, second in vesna trophy voting two years

ago to last year arguably the worst starter in the league statistically and otherwise so i think he let in nine first shots of the game last year i mean that's deadly you guys know how bad that is so he's been really good this is the craziest part and this is where i still don't have answers on this team we're only two games in but he's been their best player so far in their first two games. No question about it. Without him, there's no chance they win the first game and the second game. They don't go into the third period leading one, nothing without him being absolutely spectacular. However, at the end of the day, I think his save percentage is 892. His goals against the average is 356. Like it's the, you know, it just speaks, I think, to just how bad this team has been so far in the first two games.

Defensively. They've got a whole new defensive structure. Instead of going man to man, they're going, they're going zone on their defensive coverage, which is a radical difference between what Daryl wanted and what Brian Husker wants. And I think there's going to be an adjustment period there. And that means it's an adjustment period for the goaltenders too.

So Markstrom has to bounce back. I mean, it's absolutely crucial. If he doesn't, this team doesn't make the playoffs again. That's a pretty easy statement to make. Dan Vodar is a capable backup. Didn't have the greatest year last year, but I think a lot of people think he's a starter in this league. And then, of course, you guys probably know the elephant in the room

in this city is Dustin Wolfe, the greatest goalie on the planet that's not in the NHL. You know, he's waiting in the wings right now for whenever this team decides it's finally time to trade Dan Bledar and start moving on and giving Wolfe that NHL chance. So I don't know when that's going to happen, but I think how this team plays in the first two or three months will dictate a lot in terms of how they proceed with their goaltending don't worry if ilia samsonov doesn't start playing better least fans will be clamoring for anyone you got out of calgary pretty soon so um you know we did discuss your title senior nhl correspondent it's not a senior flames correspondent so i want to ask you about another team uh in your province the edmonton

oilers have started by giving up 3,000 goals in two games. What are your first impressions about the rival team there in the Battle of Alberta? You must have hated that, eh? Well, yeah, people in southern Alberta are just devastated. I'm sure. It's really sad and hard for people to get over

while they're having their morning coffee. It is, it's funny because I was talking to a number of scouts uh about the oilers i just happened to be sitting there with three scouts the other day and they all just said without that comb this team has no chance no idea how to defend this is just from the words of scouts you know and i put a lot of credit to what they have to say that everybody's been worried about how this team defends forever. And it's not just the defensemen, it's the forwards. It's even guys like Dreisaitl and McDavid,

and they vowed to be better defensively and understand that to win championships, you've got to play a 200-foot game. I haven't watched those games too, too closely. I'm too busy following these guys around. But I do know from the clips I've seen and the breakdowns that have led to a lot of those goals it's pretty evident that they miss at home tremendously and uh and and and you know and they're going to have to shore up that blue line in a big big way i'm not worried about the oilers i still think they'll win the division i'm not think anyone i don't think anyone north of north of red deer is thinking that they're not going to but that's going to be their bugaboo all year long and it has been for years.

So I don't see any reason why anyone would think that all of a sudden over the summer that changed. If Calgary does find a way to get back into the playoffs here, is it Seattle? Is it Vancouver? Who are they in a fight with to make the playoffs? Yeah, it's tough to look at it and say, okay, if the Flames do make the playoffs, who are they going to knock out? And I don't know.

I'm sure, I know there's still a number of people around the league that aren't convinced Seattle's as good as they were last year. But then you talk to other people and they'll say, oh my God, they're sneaky good and they're so fast. They're only going to get better and better as they grow as an organization. I think the easy answer is to say that they're going to have to knock Seattle off. So I do think it'll be a battle with Seattle and Vancouver. I think you nailed it, those ones right there.

But who knows? It seems like Vegas has alternated one year. They're great. They missed the playoffs, what, two years ago? I'm not anticipating that to be the issue this year. It's pretty evident that Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle, to me, are going to be the ones right at the bottom of this race. Not at the bottom of the division,

but the guys fighting amongst each other for that final playoff spot. Usually, for a team to go from one of those cusp teams to getting in it takes some good goaltending which you mentioned is a bit of a question mark but also some surprisingly positive players there is some new names there in calgary um you know matt coronado's got his start with them i know walker doers played some games with a young guy too you know what are the odds that those guys are able to contribute something meaningful and just rookies in general at the flames this year i i think they're significant you know they they did leave room open for for young guys to make this roster

and not many guys really kind of stepped up and took on that challenge and were successful so they had to go to the waiver wire to get aj greer but walker doer is a you know a fourth liner who's going to be on the third line soon. This guy is a real popular player in Calgary, one of their fastest skaters, and he does it all. And Matt Coronado, there's the name. If you were doing a pool, if people listening were doing pools last week, I hope they considered grabbing this guy or did grab him. There's a 20 to 25 goal scorer either this year or next.

He got one the other night for his first NHL goal. He's got a world class release. His teammates will say that he's got one of the better shots in the league already. They think, of course, they're going to pump his tires, but he really does have a world class release and I encourage you to watch him on the power plays

already on their first power play unit. Matt Coronado will be the story of the season for the Calgary Flames if they're going to make the playoffs. Because I think they need this young guy to step up. And I think every sign we've seen, I think he finished like fourth in preseason scoring. I know that means nothing. But it just speaks to the fact that he's pretty comfortable already.

And, you know, they're going to keep him on that. You know, they're going to give him prominent ice time and power play time, and I think he's going to fill the net plenty this year. Eric, one more before we let you go, and that is to pick up on our conversation just prior to going and grabbing you, and that's Lindholm and Nylander, two of the biggest names that seem to be heading towards UFA. A lot can change.

I know there's a lot of people that believe that lynn home uh isn't going anywhere but the thought that uh bedard at times probably has felt as early in his career that he's a man on an island right now and he could use some of that talent is there any world that you envision Lindholm leaving Calgary and maybe signing with a team like Chicago? Well, I can't imagine a superstar ever leaving Calgary. That hasn't happened in almost a whole year. But I absolutely could see Lindholm leaving. I think it's a coin flip as to whether or not he stays in Calgary.

And I think so much will depend on how this team starts this year. If they have a good start by Christmas and he's feeling good and he's saying, you know what, this is home and I want to stay here and spend the next eight years here, he'll sign. But I think if they don't get off to a good start and this team's really struggling like they did last year, even under a new coach, I think there's a very good chance that he finally says to him, look, this is not going to happen, so do what you got to do.

I think the number – I just caught the tail end of you guys talking about it, and I think with Lindholm, I think on the open market, there's no doubt in my mind he's in the nines. He's getting nine and a half somewhere on the open market when a couple teams are battling for him. I think if he signs with the Calgary Flames and gets that extra eighth year, I don't think it can start with a nine. At least I know that that's what I do believe that that's what management thinks.

There's no way they can go up to nine for this guy. It's got to be somewhere in the eight, eight and a half range. Now, Shifley signing the other day, I think helped the Flames cause because he took a, you know, he took a nice deal, I think, for the Jets off. It's a nice deal for him, too. But seeing more and more guys staying with their teams, taking the money, taking the long-term money, and just realizing there's no sense in chasing greener pastures because

they're not always greener. Ask Johnny Gaudreau if he thinks it was a good idea to leave Calgary. I bet if he gave him some truth serum, he'd tell you that he probably shouldn't have left Calgary. But either way, Lindholm in Calgary, 50-50 proposition. They need a good start, and he'll be a big part of that. Great stuff, Eric. Really appreciate your time, man. Have a great game tonight, okay?

Cheers, boys. I appreciate the encouragement on the youth. Yeah, you're welcome. It's really nice. Thanks, Eric. Cheers, boys. Eric Francis. Johnny Givero just hanging out in Columbus losing hockey games, huh?

Way to go. Anyway. Yeah. Very rich. Bigger picture there because that's not you. There's family and lots to consider. Sure. I don't know.

Watching Shifley get out of the gate like he has too. It's not Austin Matthews' six goals, but he's been really good and really edgy. I loved him going after Kachuk when Florida came into town. He looked like me fighting. No, I'm with you. You got to do it. It's great. It's just that message. Show, I'm with you. It doesn't really matter. Show the willingness. Fire in the belly.

Pretend you're willing. Just do it. If I asked you real quickly, Shifley or Lindholm, who do you want? Oh, Lindholm. Block. Lindholm. So that means you're up an extra mil for sure.

Yeah. So if it was eight and a half, is there a Winnipeg tax, you know, to stay in Winnipeg? I'm just asking. I don't know. Sometimes some people think there may be. Is Calgary exempt from that? I don't know. I can see.

You're not. I don't think you're getting. I think it's better taxes there than a lot of other places in Canada, I think. I don't even mean actual taxes. I mean just to stay in Winnipeg. Stay in the birthplace of winter. Yeah, just because it's really cold. Birthplace of winter.

Because the tax thing is a big deal for the players. Yeah. That's why Tampa's been cheating for 10 years. Right. Lindholm, I can see him having a lot of value to someone else. He signs the same deal in Toronto, or he can make an extra $500,000, $600,000 in Nashville with the same contract.

It's a big deal. And nobody knows who he is there. Sounds fun. No, I think for Lindholm, it's like, does he believe in the Flames and their direction or not? You know, one thing that I think that people don't maybe consider as much, but it would matter to me, is like, they're going to get a new building in Calgary, but they don't get it for three years.

I don't want to play in an old building. You don't want to get a 15-year NHL career, 10-year NHL career. Nobody would play in Arizona if that was the case. Well, but look who Arizona gets for free agents. No one chooses Arizona unless they're like, okay, I'll take a one-year deal so you can trade me at the deadline to a team. You know, like it's different.

People don't sign eight-year deals there often. Clayton Keller? Anyway. Well, he likes golf a lot. That's true. He's a different sort of commitment. All right, Sammy, what do you have for us? All right, it's game time.

Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary to bet at 365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Play responsibly. A couple things for you today.

I was looking at the favorites to win the Stanley Cup because I look at that every day. Do you know who it is? Gotta be Vegas. They've looked really big. Oh, is it the Leafers? It is the Leafs.

The Leafs are the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Seven and a half to one. I just think that's crazy. You can get Vegas at 10 to one. They're protecting themselves against everyone in Ontario making that bet, basically. I don't want to know anyone who makes that bet. Have they been watching them defend

nope yeah i mean great like if if sheldon gets them to tighten it up yeah okay i can see it yeah but there's so many things that you have not liked from the beginning of training camp and one of them is defensively for the toronto maple leafs i don't get these people picking the leafs to be a favorite i don't understand it yeah the leafs have given up it's more public i think it's more about the public teams i can you know it's like the packers or like the dallas cowboys toronto attracts the most eyeballs it's strictly about the eyeballs it is the book protecting themselves against a gigantic loss if it ever happened.

I truly cannot imagine knowing any of my diehard Leaf fan buddies. If one of them said they bet on the Leafs, you'd be like, what? In a million years, betting a cent on the Charlemagne police to win the cup. They all hate the Leafs way too much for that.

It's funny how the most diehard Leafs fans just can't stand them. Can't stand them. But still watch every night. Of course. I mean, you're looking at one. Make them long shots and everybody will bet them. Yeah, but then when they win, they go broke. All right.

Oh, okay. Is that the way it works? So I was looking, you mentioned earlier about the odds of a Matthews hat trick. Yeah. It's 14 to 1 tonight for three goals or more for uh matthews to score another hat trick that's pretty good yeah that's like saying they they kind of think it might happen yeah it's not for someone to get three straight hat tricks is a truly absurd thing and it's never been done before no never for to only be 14 to 1 is insane really yeah

yeah the only people to ever start the season with back-to-back hat tricks it was him ovechkin in 2017 18 and then a you got it i have a bunch of guys from 100 years uh it is see sai danini definitely not denny denny denny joe malone and reg noble ah reg love this game Dennehy. Dennehy, Joe Malone, and Reg Noble. Reg. Love Reg's game. Aggressive player. I think they're clueless on the Leafs being the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, but actually they're smart now because there is a possibility he could score three tonight against this Chicago Blackhawk team.

Oh, there's a possibility. For sure. In what game would you ever bet the under for the Leafs right now? Never. Just give up a ton. They create a ton. And last one quickly before we go. A parlay of Matthews and Bedard both scored tonight plus 375. Austin Matthews

is so good at hockey that he is a, it's like minus money. You have to put juice for him to score a goal. Like that's how, that's how good he is at hockey. Bet 10 bucks and if he scores, you win five. Yes. On him to score a goal. That's how good he is at hockey. Bet $10, and if he scores, you win $5. Yes. On him to score. That's how likely it is.

There you go. That was playoff pick. We're going to take a quick break. He's got to do the... Let him read the... He's got to do the thing. Well, I almost did the playoff one, but I'll do this one.

That was Game Time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary to bet at 365. Must be 19+. Ontario only. Play it responsibly. God it's never ordinary to bet at 365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Play it responsibly. God, you're getting so good at that.

He's a pro. Well, I mean, I'm doing it every day. I show up. Like, I've been butchering it for a week. I should probably get good at it. Actually, a lot longer if you consider when we started our show a few years ago. Yeah, yeah.

All right. Just kidding, Sammy. You're awesome, buddy. Okay, we're going to take a quick break and then we'll just pick up a little bit on the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver because that's their best start, what, in seven years to go 2-0 in regulation. Wow.

That's pretty impressive against the Edmonton Oilers despite their deficiencies defending. So that and more, and we still got to get into, Sammy, what your issue is with Conor Bedard and number 98. That still to come on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Raptors and the NFL. The JD Bunkins podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the Real Kipper and Boren Show.

Pick up where we left off. You've got to give some love to the Vancouver Canucks because there's just a team that everybody just said was going to be a throwaway year. And I'm not to suggest that they're going to make the playoffs now, but it's clear the Rick Talkett effect of just a little simpler, tougher along the walls, doing some little things right has had a good effect on them to get out of the gate here because that's not an accident winning two games. No, I don't think so either. I've always been a huge believer that the Canucks are kind of a high ceiling, low floor team.

Like, you know, we joked you're mouthing to me before during our interview with Eric Francis. He's like, some people are not cracking believers. And you're like, you. And that's me. And part of the reason is you look at what Vegas did. They said, we got all these sort of great third line guys, but we need elite talent to put us over the top. And they went and got

everyone. Petrangelo and Eichel and Mark Stone. That's why I'm not a Seattle believer. I think they got a lot of great players and they can beat teams every night, make the playoffs. Not a cup team. The Canucks are the opposite of that, where Elias Pettersson is a Selke and Hart candidate and Quinn Hughes is a Norris-type candidate

and Demko is a Vezina-type candidate. They have such high-ceiling guys that you feel like if everything goes well at the same time, JT Miller's really good and they get a lot out of Kuzmenko again, they can be a good team. Yeah. Besser. good and they get a lot out of kazmenko again like they can be a good team yeah i better i i think defensively when you got demko playing at a high level and just these meat and potato guys like

ian cole yeah right big big gets out it gets in people's way steady not gonna excite anybody but even they got he's not susie's going to play their next game. Trade for Hironic last year. He's come in and played big and looks like he competes. I don't know where they got this Sam Lafferty kid, but what a player he is. 80 minutes, scores

a goal. That's a sleepy move picking him up. Good player. Yeah, he flew into the goalie after he scored. He was going so fast. Speed's been an issue for them. Yeah. But I think you can make the argument Quinn Hughes is one of the most underrated guys in the league.

Like, when they talk about the top defenseman, you always think of McCarr. You always think of, I guess, Fox in New York. But, like, I don't know. To me, he is really, whenever I watch him, he jumps off the ice to me. Imagine how good he would be when they finally find somebody that locks in every night with him.

Because now it's just going to be by committee, and some days it's going to change. But that's what they're looking for right now, is someone to play with Quinn Hughes. And seeing if that piranha can be it yeah who knows but quinn hughes interesting you mentioned that he led the nhl last year among d in ozone possession he had the puck more than any d-man you know kale mccarr fox whoever quinn hughes has the puck over a minute per game in the ozone which is insane for a defenseman he's unique how proud are their

parents he's fair oh my god how rich they were but no it's just like oh yeah they're very proud every night you're like jack is lighting it up he looks so good they got luke coming up quinn's one of the best players in the league defensively it's three like studs studs like core guys gonna be this the core of america's next front line guy the next sutter family. It's unbelievable. It is. They're going to have to find a way to still make that move, I think,

to find eventually a guy to play with Quinn Hughes, Connor Garland's a guy that we keep hearing names bandered about, including his. There just seems to be too many of those type of guys. I like Garland. he's competitive right like i know but he's another small guy making five million bucks or whatever but they want to trade her yeah you know uh competitive jt miller's got brock bester but uh pavilion is a guy who can skate you know they've they've gotten faster yeah yeah so i don't know i don't know how much i believe i believe that they're a chase the wild card where's um the the scale of

one to ten on concerns deep concerns for edmonton oilers back end or or maybe it's not maybe it's unfair to say back end but maybe it's more fair to say just playing defense or defensive responsibilities two two i think connor just scored a goal early in the second and they go on this rush saturday night with darnell nurse giving it the beaver tap did you see that one oh yeah and then two on oh the other way yeah when there's a two on, usually like a guy blows a wheel. Yeah, no. It's like the puck skips on someone. That was just like the puck came around the boards,

and it was a 2-on-0 breakaway. Yeah. It was bad. You know, I will say for the Oilers, they have given up the most goals per game, right? They've given up six goals a game on average in two games. But they've given up the second fewest shots. Like, they've only given up 21, 22est shots like they're only giving up 21 22 shots

all right so you're you're blaming the goalies i am blaming the goalies yes oh no listen hang it on them oh they've been even two on oh everyone's gonna say i can't blame the goalie in a two and oh i don't know he got a shot out on the ice through his legs didn't he wasn't exactly you know tic-tac-toe be nice to get a save there and argue that, but... Mix one in for us, boys. I'm just thinking that if the five of you are that brain dead, then what else

is going on? What else is, like... Come on. I know it's going to be okay. I think it's quite funny, though, that ten people here picked them to win the Cup, and I'm looking at the standings, and they are 32nd. Yeah. Minus eight gold.

It's funny to me to look at the standings and have them be 32nd. This is such a critical year. Critical. And it's critical for Dreisaitl, who would be eligible to sign a contract July 1st. He still looks pretty good. I love watching him play. If they go out early again next year or next spring,

what are you signing? I don't know. A $14 million, eight-year, eight-by-$14 million contract and staying, trying to win cups with Conor McDavid. They've got a lot of the mirror thing going with the Leafs where it's just the cap is killing them the cap has hurt the Leafs

and I don't know I don't see an automatic if they if they if they lose early again this year I don't see it a lock just to sign Leon at your 14 or 15 and think

everything's going to be okay you know what also mirrors the leafs is like they acquired jake muzzin this one big bearded defenseman you know who can kind of take care of things physically break the puck out and when muzzin would get hurt in playoffs it devastated them ekholm not in the lineup for edmonton devastates them right now i tweeted earlier today that if your team has a time on ice guy who's just okay and it's you know you're in the top 20 in time on ice you're in trouble i love this i love this angle and and so my examples were matheson falk uh san jain those guys are top 10 in time on ice. That means their teams aren't good.

The top time on ice guy for the Oilers is Bouchard. Bouchard's playing 25 minutes a night for them in the absence of Ekholm. It doesn't work. You can't have Bouchard playing 25 a night for you. They need Ekholm so bad, so quick after acquiring him, that, yeah, the rest of the D needs some work. That's something they're gonna have to plug at some point this year and between kulak and cody cc they they need

they need somebody else that can lock in they need someone else those bigger minutes yeah and so any d man that's available we know the god being a defenseman right now they've huge value leafs are chasing one or two. Oilers probably are too. They just, they're too weak behind Ekholm. There's so many parallels between those two. No pressure. All right.

Did you want to touch a little bit on Pierre-Luc Dubois before we go to Conor Bedard? I was looking through the news and notes, and he got asked about the double, two trade requests, right? Luke Dubois, yeah. And now he's in the Kings. He signed that long-term contract. And he said, everybody's entitled to their opinion. At the end of the day, it's my life.

I only live once. And I think there's a big thing with hockey players versus NBA players and other sports where, like, the trade demands in hockey are a little bit more, you know. Frowned upon. Frowned upon. And this guy, you know, has two trade requests. Like, what do you make of him saying that?

Does it, like, rub you the wrong way at all? Today's world with today's athletes under the conditions of the salary cap, I'm surprised we don't see more of it. Yeah. The conditions of the salary cap, I'm surprised we don't see more of it. So there's a lot more forgiveness to it than there had been in the past. Before the CBA dropped down to 26 or 27 as UFAs, it used to be 31. You were in jail that long. You only got your money after you did it over and over and over again. Now these guys, they understand their leverage.

They understand what choices they have. And Connor Hellebuck was a perfect example where you would have said, listening to him the last few months, he's done. He's gone. He wants to go win somewhere else. He's telling the whole world yeah ain't winning in winnipeg but then something happened i think the thing what happened yeah dollars 8.5 yeah i think the dubois thing can be two things it can be he can be well within his

rights 100 you're i mean you don't have to just stay in a town if you're unhappy there whatever i think you're fine nba has taught us that that's just stay in a town if you're unhappy there or whatever. I think you're fine. NBA has taught us that that's fairly common. No problem. You're allowed to do that. On the other hand, I think it is a little instructive about the type of guy he is that maybe he's willing to put himself first, which fine too. But you know what?

We don't get to look back and make that decision until we see how the story turns out. Does he win in LA? Is he a major contributor? You're saying if he's a problem there too or once out again. Or is he asking for a trade in three or four years? Yeah. Like part of his character, anyone's character, is eventually you you gotta stand up

and be the guy that some people still think you may be including yourself and that's like go there go there help them win and then no one will sit there and say you made a bad call or you didn't know what you were doing

but if you go there and it turns out no different than it did in columbus and no different in winnipeg and then no different in la then you're just a another guy who thinks way too highly of himself and sure and uh black's character how's that i think well i think that's fair that's that's kind of what you're watching for i want to get in the last point on our news and notes by the end. The Conor Bedard number thing. This to me is almost up there with the goal song,

but Sammy felt really... Hey, the goal song got changed again. No more pursue happiness. Yeah, pursue the happiness is out. Gone. It turns out the happiness he was pursuing was a substance. Yeah. So it's gone.

And there was some F-bombs in that song too, right? Yeah. Not when they play. Well, I'm just saying that. Detroit Red Wings are using Eminem for their goal song. Have you ever listened to one Eminem song? Does he do curses? He does like the curses.

Oh, no. Anyways, we don't need to get bogged down. We need a song we can play like during that generation game for the Leafs, right? And they invite every seven-year-old in the city. It'll be Bieber for sure. It's 1,000% Bieber. There is no question in my mind it'll be Bieber, and all the hockey world will make fun of him.

Okay, what is your problem with Conor Bedard's number? Okay. We've made this a much bigger deal than Sam ever did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just too close to 99. I love that we can't even get close to the number. I'm going to put you to the test. How close is it?

It's one off, I believe. 99 minus one carry. Okay, that's good. Yager, we're 98? No. Because you got something right in the show today. Yeah. Oh, thank you.

It was a good 98. There's lots. Okay. There's no good 98s. 98 is way too close. 96 is no good. 95. No, I honestly.

We have to go down. We got a few 91s in the league. I draw the line at 97. 97 is okay. But because it doesn't look like a nine like if you looked quickly at conor bedard it looks like 99 oh what's his name uh pool yarvey wore 98 in edmonton until he got told to take it off he wore 13 you think he's highfalutin fancy guy it's just too close oh my god i like you weren't in junior like i understand but like wearing 98 tells me a lot and i. You've worn it in junior. I understand. Wearing 98 tells me a lot.

I know he's a stud and I know I like him a lot. It's the only thing I don't like about him. Is it true that some people push for 23 in Chicago? We were talking about that before the show. 23 in Chicago would have been good. It's hanging in the rafters in Miami. That's just crazy talk. What? 23?

He would want to wear like a comparison in Chicago to Michael Jordan. Sam thinks he's doing it already. I think he's doing it with Is he saying I'm one step below Gretzky? But who is the other guy that we're 99? I think. You do?

I think we got to temper all that. As much as I think you're 23. That's not my choice, that number. But no, as much as I think that logically, who cares? When we were younger, it was like if you were a high number, you thought you were being a showboat. Those days are over.

I still got a bit of that in me. It's a bit of a look at me. To me. And I understand he's one of the best young players in the league. He's going to be a stud. He's probably going to score 500 goals. I love him. But it's just.

I think you're going to catch heat for this take. That's fine. I'll eat the heat. I didn't even think for one second that it was too close to Gretzky. But now are you thinking I'm stupid? Or are you thinking I'm more right? No, I think you're stupid. Okay.

I'll eat it. I'll eat it. It's just a little too close. I think you're representing an opinion that is out there. You think so? That big numbers are. You think there's more people out there like Sammy? Yeah, that are just like, ah, these kids, they're big numbers.

You know, we're 19, for crying out loud. Yeah. You know, the high numbers was a thing for a while that you thought you were cool. I think it was gutsy when I was a lot younger that Wilf Paymont went to 99 as a Toronto Maple Leaf. That's insane. Like, how long Toronto Maple Leaf. That's insane. How long ago was that? That is insane. Would he have known?

I got traded for Lanny McDonald in, I don't know, 70s? Do you guys remember? No, 80s? You know who should have worn 99 for the Leafs? Wayne Gretzky because he wanted to. All right. You think McDavid does too. No, he didn't want 99.

No, he should have played for the Leafs. Oh, gosh. Do you guys remember Josh Hosang played for the new york islanders what was his number he was 66 in the nhl and that's goofy to me there's also a guy named josh juris who played for the flames and were 66 at one point too when he came out yeah you just don't want to touch that number so should we as a league retire 66 and then all of a sudden he gets subjected. It's a slippery slope. And Gordie Howell, he's going to retire his number? Eric Smith, our wonderful Raptor analyst here at Sportsnet, said that Miami Heat has retired 23 for Michael Jordan,

which I think is stupid. It's absurd. It's truly absurd. But it's in the NBA. It's got nothing to do with not honoring Michael Jordan. It's like, come on, don't give up numbers that no one's done anything with. I think it's one of the biggest feather in anyone's cap ever

that 99 has retired across the league. You are so unbelievably good at hockey that no one knows. It's a no-brainer. Of course, that's what I mean. It's a tap-in putt. No one's stupid enough to ever want it anyway, so it's dead. Yeah.

Well, he got pretty close. Pretty close. He's as close as you possibly can get, boys. By one, according to you, Matt. Yeah. Thanks for the math. Okay. Just like that, we're done.

Connor Bedard, 98, at it tonight with the Toronto Maple Leafs. You can catch that on sportsnet we will be going to the game live tune in tomorrow sammy and jb i'll tell you all about it i'm nick thanks for tuning in real kipper and born back again tomorrow have a great night everybody We'll be you next time.