Real Kyper & Bourne - The Messy Metro

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne kick off the second hour with NHL Network's Mike Rupp (4:42), who weighs in on the Flyers' decision to make captain Sean Couturier a healthy scratch, why Tortorella continues to return to this coaching tactic and how this type of move impacts the locker room vibes. Then, a look at the Wild Card chases and the bunched-up Metro Division. Later, they regroup with Sam McKee to chat about possible landing spots for Sidney Crosby if he jumps off the Penguins' ship. Finally, news and notes - reviewing early returns of the big deadline acquisitions, changes coming from GM meetings and Ovechkin inching closer to Gretzky's record.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.

it's the real kipper and born show the national edition live on sports that sports that 650 in vancouver sports that 960 in calgary this hour hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. In a few minutes, we'll welcome in Mike Rupp, NHL analyst, former NHLer. We get set for a slate of games tonight. But first of all, sad news in the hockey world. Glenn Healy and our NHL alumni issued this release earlier today. The NHL Alumni Association is devastated to learn that Stanley Cup champion Chris Simon has passed away at the age of 52.

Simon became a Stanley Cup champion with the Avalanche in 1995-96 season. Chris was never afraid to stand up for his teammates and played a key role in the dressing room. He was a beloved friend, father, brother, and son. We send our deepest condolences to Chris's family, friends, and former teammates during this very difficult time. As we also send our condolences

from the real Kipper and Bourne show. Yeah, echo that sentiment. Guy who scored 29 goals went to three stanley cup finals um you know had some challenges post-career and um just really thoughts with the family it's a tough time sounds you know sounds sudden and shocking so as someone that competed against him and had a couple of battles on the ice with him i could tell you that i cannot believe you fought chris uh i was never more fearful for my life than going up against him he was big and mean and the one thing that i always loved hearing is he was he was gentle off the ice i never to know him. But one of my best moments

came off of fighting him at Madison Square Garden. And this was because we, the Rangers and the Nordiques, we had something going there. I watched the bout, by the way, today. 95, right? 94, 95. He was at 251 on his1 and he was all over me like i could not shake him and it was like either i stand up to him or i'm just gonna eat a crap sandwich the rest of my life i'd have eaten

so many crap sandwiches rather than do that and it didn't get off to a great start with me but i i got two or three lefts in and i cut them open and then i held on for dear life did the refs find the brass knuckles you used no no and then if you google and watch the fight you can actually see him whisper in my ear you're a lot tougher than i thought which is that which is that you're smarter than your luck but for fighting exactly a bit of a backhanded call and i can't tell you like after that never had any issues with him i was never stupid enough to ever try that again but it was enough to earn his respect yeah and. And it was a good feeling knowing that... He felt like you could stand in there.

I'm still standing. I'm still here. Man, there's a fight of him and Ty Domi too where Domi goes down to his knees and gets back up. To me, Domi loses the fight, but it's the biggest validation of his toughness ever that he stood back up to continue fighting the man. Anyway, Simon was a great player. And again, it's a big loss for the hockey world.

Yeah. And listen, I know there's going to be a lot of follow-up stories to this. And it's probably going to revisit the whole fighting thing, CTE. And I get all of that. And perhaps we can participate in conversations like that moving forward. thing, CTE, and I get all of that. Perhaps we can participate in conversations like that moving forward, but today's not the day to do it. Once again, we can

send our condolences to Chris Simon's family. All right, how's Ruppert? We got him ready? Apparently, we're going on a tour of the Prudential Center right now. We're told 10 more seconds. Okay.

10 more seconds. Plenty of action tonight, including the Philadelphia Flyers, who have scratched their team captain. My God. I can't wait to talk to Rupert on this. You go ahead and ask him first. All right. Is he all set?

There he is. There he is. Rupert, how are you, pal and ask him first. Alright, is he all set? There he is. Rapper, how are you, pal? Good. Sorry, guys. Took me a little while to get it set up in here. I'm at the Prudential Center. I got Devil's Pens game tonight. And of course, I go to set up in the bowl and you know how it is in this business. They start checking all the audios for tonight.

So I move up to the concourse here. We love that you've made the effort. We love that you're on Zoom. For those of you that can see him, you look great. And we'll get into the pens and the devils. But first and foremost, I think one of the biggest stories in the National Hockey League going into tonight has to be the Philadelphia Flyers trying to hang on to a playoff spot

and benching their team captain. Ruppert, I sat here and talked to the boys earlier, and I'm like, I don't ever recall anything like that happening. How about you? Where does that start in terms of intrigue for you going into tonight? I didn't see that coming. I don't think anybody did i mean you got sean couture he was just named captain a few months ago so um but the one thing i have

you know i'm not speaking necessarily to this situation but just knowing torts i joked around about this with scotty harnell a little while back too obviously he had him in Columbus. When Torts gives you a letter or Torts, I don't know, when he feels like you're one of his guys, this stuff's going to happen. Because he knows he's going to get a reaction, the right reaction, right? Like Sean Couture, he would never have gotten that C if he's not going to handle a situation like this appropriately, right? And some people might say, well, that's garbage. I've never seen it.

I don't know if it's garbage or not. We'll have to see. But I'll tell you what, he's very calculated in his decision that he does these types of things. And the thing I mentioned about Scott Hartnell, I remember he sat out Scotty Hartnell the one year in Columbus. Scotty came back the next game, got a hat trick. And you know, all that does is allows Torts to take that,

put it in his back pocket, and he knows that he's got that card to pull it anytime he needs a spark. So I think that this is one of those situations with John Tortorella. They know they're in a spot right here. They've got to get a reaction. This is a big game, huge game. And I would have to assume that it's more about getting a reaction this game and getting sean couturier a proper reaction the next game and give this team a spark we'll see if it

works so we had scotty hartnell on before you and and we just we asked him about this and hartnell failed to mention the follow-up patrick he just left out the the crucial detail of why torts has gone back to this. That's very funny. It would have given him credit, I think, torts then. He didn't want to validate torts. Okay, so aside from how Couturier would feel about this, you're Garnett Hathaway or whoever sitting in the room. How do you feel?

You're a point up on the Capitals, two up in the second wildcard spot. You need to win games here. how do you feel about the decision well i i think i'm i think it pisses me off i mean you know that's that's your leader that but is maybe that's the point again i'm at i'm trying to fill in the blanks here it doesn't make sense the knee jerk doesn't make sense like why would you do that in such an important game but But it would tick me off. I think I would come out and want to, you know, it's going to give everybody a little bit of a wake-up call because if it's happening to him, it could happen to any single one of us.

And, yeah, I mean, I think that that's one of the big things. And it's big for someone in that room, and they've got some leaders in that room and leadership guys to step up and say those right things in this moment but listen i don't believe at all that this is a oh we're going to start scratching sean couturier down the stretch here to make the playoffs like i think this is just to throw some gasoline on the fire and uh throw some gasoline out there and this is maybe late in that match we're talking to Mike Rupp, NHL network analyst, former NHL and, of course, Stanley Cup champion. So, Rupp, Flyers are holding on right now.

There's a strong push by the Washington Capitals. Two teams that you're covering tonight are on the outside looking in. How does it all unfold for you in the Metro? It's been one of the weirder, I guess, wild card. Chase is being very generous saying a wild card. Turtle race? Yeah, that's being very generous. I've never seen anything like this, guys.

So we were talking about this yesterday, actually, on NHL Network. I have certain measurements, and I'm sure you guys have your own and fans have their own of who's real who's not how do we get to that right like I have certain things that I go by a lot like uh an example this late in the year I go by goal differential I go by regulation wins um I've always had this weird thing where I've always said show me any team team's third line. I'll tell you if they're a Stanley Cup contender or not. And then show me if your superstars compete as hard when they don't have the puck to get it back as they do when they have it. Those are all things. You got all four of those things. You're going to be a contender for me.

The Washington Capitals going into last night's game, whether they're at minus 31. Like, I don't understand how you can be a playoff team or in that picture minus 31. The only way you can is everybody else around you is really struggling too. And that's what's happening here, right? Like, I've been impressed. Spencer Carberry, I think, has done an incredible job. I remember the first five games of the season, I watched probably three or four of the Washington Capitals.

Fellas, it was one of the worst hockey teams I've seen in the National Hockey League. It was terrible. And it took some time. They got it going. And the fact that they got it going with Ovi, well-documented, he hasn't been like himself. The injuries they've had, no Nick Backstrom. Power play hasn't been laid out.

Spencer Carver, he's done a great job. But then I still wonder to myself, is this a good hockey team? Like everything else I've measured with says no, but they're the only team that seems like they're kind of winning and trying to force their way into the playoffs here. Okay, so, you know, take Philly, Washington, Detroit, the Islanders, Sabres, Penguins, Devils. Do any of your personal metrics tell you that's a good hockey team?

No. I know. They don't. I mean, the one the one that would maybe stand out but you know it's at the end of the day we can have all of our metrics and measurements but at the end of the day you got to get points you got to get wins and you got to find ways to do it and not shoot yourself in the foot i'd say all season long probably until the last month or so the penguins had these underlying numbers that I'm like, they're going to get in.

It's going to happen. It's just a matter of time. And it hasn't been the case, right? Like they just can't find ways where they kind of, you know, they can't string anything together. The Islanders have been one. I've been on here with you guys this year saying, no, that team's an absolute farce.

Rewind two weeks ago, they were the only team winning, right? Like they're the only team kind of finding their way or forcing their way in. Detroit, I mean, I don't, none of these teams to me, I think if any of them, one of them will make the playoffs, but it's by default. It's by default because you're going to be backing your way in. This is going to be a pretty big drop off uh with wild card two and the rest of the pack i believe in the east you know the the interesting part is is we look at the washington capitals at a goal differential of minus 27 i don't know what

the breakdown is but where are those fall on darcy keper and where are those fall on Charlie Lingren? And I'm just looking at Lingren's last five starts and there are two goals or less. And where's this guy in the storyline if he manages to get the Washington Capitals in the playoffs? Like far and away mvp of the team but can you credit him like league-wide mvp votes for being most valuable to his team i mean you know it's for if you go off of what he was deemed as at the beginning of the year like if you were to slot charlie lingren is what he is and then what he means to this team and what he's done for this team you got an argument there uh I mean Charlie Lindgren's been awesome I actually think

I'm a big I like Darcy I played with Kemps in Minnesota so I'll put some of that aside um you know I I think that the contract he signed after they won the cup there in Colorado I mean when we look at it now what he's's making, it's not like crazy money, but he hasn't been probably as solid as they wanted. But Charlie Lindgren's kind of grabbed a hold of this. I was actually shocked. I would have been on the horn with the Washington Capitals trying to trade for Charlie Lindgren at the deadline.

For me, to get a guy in, I mean mean you talk about what he doesn't make salary wise and what he's worth on the ice it would have been lights out and i think we're seeing it right now i mean it's crazy what'd you say it was 27 is that what they are now minus 27 yeah it's hey hey uh if you're getting in the playoffs at minus 27 you've got to have a couple special stories i think charlie lingren's one of them so you know aside from the fringe teams in the conference there's four teams the legit shot to win the east uh boston florida the rangers and the hurricanes um is there anyone that stands out to you since the deadline where you say okay you know that team is probably the best of the bunch i know everyone loves florida because they're a little bit mean are you on team panthers with everyone else i'm on team panthers i i i kind of am embarrassed to admit this but i'm kind of

flowing with the wind in the last few weeks because all of a sudden now i'm team canes carolina hurricanes right now what they did and um you know i don't know i did a couple interviews with with koozie since all that went down. It's just you get a vibe. You get a vibe right now in Carolina. Like Kuzi's got another effort or second chance, I guess, at his, you know, he's been around a long time, not a second chance at his career, but another effort to go and win a Stanley Cup.

He seems rejuvenated. Jake Gensel, he's playing well. They're just a team that they manufactured a second line. Like, who does that? When the trade deadline time, can you manufacture a legitimate second line with a stud they already had at Marty H's? So that's kind of, I think in the East I've been Florida Panthers the whole time. But in the last two weeks, right in the rearview

mirror is probably the Carolina Hurricanes. I think that team's legit. Rupert, you just missed a New Jersey goal, I think. Someone scored. No, they won't score. No one will score in this game until the third period. Actually, there might be a bunch in the first period. We don't know. I mean, that's

the crazy thing. We never know what you're going to see with the Devils and Penguins. That's why both these two teams are in the position they're at okay so saying that you uh you spent a large uh majority of your career uh with both these hockey clubs who's hurting more right now for the position that they're in um for me i think it's the penguins. I think so. The New Jersey, New Jersey is interesting to me. Last year was a magical season. Like guys, you've been, you've played the game, been around the game a long time. When everyone, when you're in the, in your locker room stalls and you're looking next to you, that guy's having a career. You're on one side. You look over

here, this guy's having a career. You're playing your best season of your career I mean you can't that's not going to be matched next year and the way things went in Jersey with you know a couple young players on the back end getting more opportunity which is great but there comes growing pains with that the goaltending the way it was last year is not the same the scoring that they were getting last year not the same injuries this year all that stuff. I think this Devils team is still set up to be very, very nice. I think that everybody just got a little too

ahead of themselves from what that team did last year, and they're having a little bit of a market correction right now. They'll be back next year. I think they'll be stronger. They'll make their adjustments. They see their needs. The Penguins, on the other hand, are a team that I think is going to look a lot different next year. I think Kyle Dubas went out.

He tried to do what he could at deadline time, saw the market wasn't bearing what he was hoping, and they kind of parked it. And, you know, they knew they needed to move Jake Gensel. They did that. And quite frankly, and you guys know Michael Bunting really well, he looks awesome in this lineup. You know why? Because no one on this Penguins team consistently goes in the net and scores greasy ways. It's hard to play against. It's a nuisance. Like, he is at big value with this team. He's fitting in really nice. But outside of that, I mean, I think there's guys that they feel that phone calls on at the deadline probably

with, you know, Ricard, Raquel, Lars Eller, Riley Smith. I bet you the phone calls on the deadline probably with you know ricard raquel larzeller riley smith i bet you the phone was off the hook with a guy like marcus petterson because his value and how good he's been he's been arguably the best defenseman of this organization last two years um we'll see what happens down the stretch i think prior draft we're going to see lots of movement here in pittsburgh and they're going to really recalibrate going into next year because Sidney Crosby's elite. He's still elite right now, and I think Kyle Dubas is going to do anything he can to change the face of this team going into next year. Just quickly on Crosby, listen, I was one of those guys a few weeks ago

that said he's not going anywhere. That guy is definitely retiring a Pittsburgh Penguin, but just listening to him or watching his body language here i'm i'm not as convinced as i was weeks ago repper how about you i've got i've got zero inside scoop on this obviously i played with tanger or sorry tanger and well tanger gino answered i would never ask him this. I can never imagine him playing in a different uniform. But I also can't imagine him dealing with losing much longer. And that's a big difference. Like this guy, Sidney Crosby, the face of hockey, he's been –

I don't need to tell you all the things. Everybody knows he's highly, highly regarded as a human being. People don't realize he will rip your limbs off to win in hockey. To win in any competition if you're playing soccer warming up in the hallway. He is a competitor.

If they don't make the playoffs this year, it's a long shot for them to do it. And next year something happens and it doesn't look the same, I think all bets are off. I mean, there's going to be some question marks this summer when the contracts can start coming up and be able to happens and it doesn't look the same i think all bets are off i mean there's gonna be some question marks this summer when the contracts can start coming up and be able to talk about it but yeah i can't imagine him being anywhere else but i even more can't imagine this guy not going on a deep run before he retires and if he doesn't see that here i don't know what's

gonna happen you know it's not impossible for them to get in just based on how poor the teams above them are it's a very very long shot but assuming he misses the playoffs two two years in a row to make a big move dubas would have to do a big thing up here in canada people are talking about could eric carlson end up back in ottawa are you thinking is it unrealistic to think that something huge like that where you know a big payroll guy is on the way out well i mean listen i i think that they're looking to do anything i don't believe and i know you can go back to last season you can mention some of the the new guys that cal davis is brought in but in all honesty like he he inherited kind of a mess right like And he was very limited in how he can put his fingerprints on this team.

If he can move out any decent salary, I think he'll do it. And if that's Eric Carlson, I think they'd do it. If there's a taker out there, I think they would do that. And that doesn't mean that Eric Carlson's been an absolute disaster. That has not been the case. He's actually been pretty good in a lot of games. It's just a little bit of a miscast in kind of what we're seeing this year and what they actually need

as a team. And you can't fulfill those needs when you've got money tied up with some of these other contracts. So, yeah, I think it's either a big one like that or some of those players like I mentioned. You know, you go $4 million here, $5 million there, $4 million there. Start adding that up and giving yourself some money to go out and make some moves

i expect some big things to happen though once the season ends rumper one more for me before we let you go and that's the trade deadline we haven't talked to you since that happened and in the west we saw teams load up particularly color Colorado and Vegas. Did Edmonton do enough with Carrick and Adam Henrique? I think they did. I was one. I would

have gone and gotten another insurance policy and that just because they're great. Nothing to do with Stuart Skinner like he's the guy calvin picker's been awesome but i mean you're literally one goalie going cold or an injury away from you don't know and you have a lot riding on that but i mean i'm okay with what they did because i thought that they got specialty players and i'm big on getting specialty players not changing the whole format of your team.

So I'm okay. I don't think they needed to do much more. I probably would have done something in that. But, man, I mean, you talk about the big moves, the Vegas Gold Knights. These guys are like the New York Yankees of hockey every single year. And what they just swing for the fence is they don't care about tomorrow. Colorado, the moves they made man uh some pretty pretty interesting ones role-playing guys that can can provide the intangibles come playoff times

west got better for sure um i still i still think edmonton's gonna be a tough out rupper really appreciate you making an effort for us uh have fun tonight uh covering the penguins and the devils all right guys thank thank you. Thanks, Rapper. That was awesome. He's so good. What a guy. What a man. That's a workout. Was he holding his phone the whole time? That's tough to do. I don't know. It was good. He's tough because he's got a show from 4 to 6 a lot on Sirius, so it's hard to track him down.

So anytime we can get him, he's the man. Okay, just a little bit of a follow-up off our Crosby Pittsburgh conversation. And I don't think the story's going away anytime soon. I think Sid could turn around this summer and sign a three-year deal. And I don't think that that storyline is going anywhere anytime soon. Even if he signs.

Even if he signs. the way he articulated it there to me was a way that i hadn't really heard and it really makes sense that like you go into next year sure i'm eligible to sign i'll sign for my money you pay me some of the money maybe a little more than 8.7 that i've been making for the last little while and you see the direction you see how the season starts you see what's going on towards the deadline we still stink yeah then it's time then and those conversations will have to happen this summer before he signs so he would say i'll sign yes i'm gonna have a no move so i can dictate some terms yes and if i don't like what's happening come january you're gonna do everything

you can to get me where I want to go. Which is going to make them. And Kyle Dubas goes, okay. My one team trade list, the Toronto. No. Anyways. But you're right. If you're Dubas, then you're like, okay.

We need an overhaul. You don't cut those Tim Horton commercials with your buddy all these years. He's going to Colorado. 100%. Go to Toronto. It's Colorado. There's no question it's Colorado. If it's anywhere, it's Colorado.

Not Montreal. But when you're still at the level he's at, and this organization is heading south before it heads north anytime soon, then I cannot believe that he can go through 82 games like he's gone the last three weeks yeah what's crazy about the colorado suggestion is there aren't many teams where he would go and you'd be like i get it because he can't play in the metro he's not gonna go play for the flyers he's not gonna go play for the rangers or someone he's been head to head with you're not gonna go to canada really none of the teams make sense. Boy, the Flyers, I mean, that would be...

I mean, that's Brett Favre, one of the Vikings. Yeah, there's no world. Like, Colorado, you can do it. The only thing there is Landis Gog will come back. No. Listen, everybody, everything that I've talked to says it is. He's got a very unique injury. Sure.

The cartilage replacement? No one's been able to kind of recover from well no one's i don't think done it in hockey where they've tried to it's a long shot at best to play period to play well to yeah like in the nhl play but at 50 or 60 percent of your your strength that you need right so him playing in playoffs this year is not happening again i've the people that i've talked to yeah highly highly unlikely well there's your crosby bunny abs fans right there yeah it just makes the most sense like but you can't picture him think of the canadian markets like he's not gonna go play for the

stinky habs they're not ready for it. Put it this way. They went into the trade market. Colorado went into the trade market without any thought that Landis Cog was going to return ever. It is almost like a bonus if some miracle happens. Round three. And his contract comes back on the books right but in playoffs doesn't matter no it doesn't matter but it does matter if you traded for

something that carried over to next season and then you had to bring his contract back right so they have they they've moved on as if he's never coming back their game plan going into the trade deadline was that he's not coming back ever and if he does figure it out then we'll figure it out then makes a lot of sense and i agree with the decision to do that i hope for his sake the last time he played a game he lifted the stay on the cup that was two seasons ago now so it's crazy yeah been a long time but yeah Sid to Canada would be very fun it would I wonder if he would ever work well the I mean I was gonna say the Jimmy Rutherford connection but it's like everyone loves Sid they're not gonna be like no what's his favorite team growing up? Montreal. But they're not ready for it.

Listen, a couple signings since Sid. Oh, come on. I'm just, come on. We're just throwing things at the wall here. Are we? Absolutely. What do you think we do on this show? Buddy, Slavkovsky's taking a step.

He has. He looks good. I've noticed him for the first time ever. What a step. Forget about reality here. Just Sid is a Montreal Canadian. I mean, my God. Yeah, listen.

That's a game changer. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing that would break my heart more than that. But for the game, it's amazing. But for Leaf fans, it's a nightmare. It's a total nightmare. Just given how different the colors are. Yeah, very, very weird. It's a total nightmare. Just given how different the colors are. Yeah, you're very,

very weird. Very weird, yeah. Anyways, we'll do Game Time on the other side of the break. Oh, okay. My producer has spoken. There we go. Game Time, when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The

Jazz Mary Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back. What time is it, Sammy? Oh, sorry. I was just looking at you. That's stupid.

It's game time. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Buddy. Okay. I gave him a fastball, and he just kept the bat. No, you didn't even game time. Presented by Bet365. Buddy. Visit the- Yeah, okay. I gave him a fastball, and he just kept the bat. No, you didn't even whiff.

I look like- You didn't even lift the bat off your shoulder. You got caught looking. I look like Isaiah Kiner-Falefa out there. Can't touch a heater. Such an obscure reference. I hate a pitcher. No, he's a Jays guy. Oh.

What's going on with the Jays, by the way, real quick? I don't know. So, Isaiah Kiner-Falefa is a guy that the Jays, kind of like a utility guy that the Jays gave a lot of money to. And there's been multiple articles about how he got the most, he got the best contract in the offseason by far. Based on his actual ability? Yeah.

Awesome. That's great to hear. People are going to not enjoy him. I promise you. But hey, the Jays, a lot of them are having hot springs. Varsho's been Awesome. That's great to hear. People are going to not enjoy him. I promise you. But hey, the Jays, a lot of them are having hot springs. Varsho's been good. Vlad's been good.

Okay, listen. But all the pitchers are hurt. I am an absolute nobody to give Joey Votto any advice at all. Oh, boy. Okay? The guy's made like $250 million

on an MVP. But buddy, don't ever tell anybody that you rolled over your ankle stepping on a bat okay make something up but do not admit that that listen my dad's

90 that's what he's doing right now he's rolling over his ankle somewhere I thought you were going to say don't write pretentious handwritten notes and post them on Twitter that's what I thought you were going to say don't write pretentious handwritten notes and post them on Twitter. That's what I thought you were going to say. I'm going to roll my eyes at you.

Oh, yeah. What was this last year? All of a sudden, it's like he's trying to make the J's. Anyways, it's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary. Let me just stop you.

Did you read the notes? Bet365 must be 19 plus. Probably not, right? Ontario only. Cursive's hard for you. Please play responsibly. Please don't read during our sponsor read. stop you. Did you read the note? At Bet365, must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Cursive's hard for you. Please play responsibly. Please don't read during our sponsor read. Thank you.

I didn't read it. Shocker. I read Adam Lascaris, who put it out in regular typed out. So I read a version of it where I could actually read it. I'm impressed you read it. Because his handwriting is impossible to read. I couldn't read it at all. Could you read it?

I did, but I admit it was hard to read. It was really hard to read. I gave up. My ADD, I'm like, nope. I ain't getting through this. Alright, so there's some hockey games tonight. 13 games, I think, in fact, tonight. Lots of teams playing. There's a couple that I'm looking at. I do

the, sorry, where was I it i just lost it here the blues in colorado are two hot teams uh i think the colorado avalanche are going for seven straight wins tonight and the st louis blues have won four in a row who are starting to creep up the standings towards giving the um giving the golden knights a bit of a you know a bit of a scare so they're a big time long shot on home ice against the hot Colorado Avalanche, as they should be. But, you know, as I like to do once in a while on this show, I like to take a shot.

So give me the red hot St. Louis Blues at plus 180 on home ice against the Colorado Avalanche. And if you wanted to do the anti-Vegas parlay, where you're thinking that you want the Vegas Golden Knights to lose and miss the playoffs, like many of our Edmonton listeners probably do and Vancouver listeners probably do, give me a Tampa Bay Lightning who are in Vegas tonight to take on the Golden Knights at plus 115 who have been playing well recently and the St. Louis Blues.

That parlay with those two teams plays plus plus 502 so buddy the little anti-vegas golden knights parlay i can't imagine something that would unite hockey fans like the golden knights missing playoffs could you imagine the support the outcrying of applause from around the nhl if this team pulls all those strings to get all these guys and their million dollar or a hundred million dollar cap and they miss playoffs?

It is not that far into the realm of possibility. Why is it pulling strings? Why don't you just say cheated to get this line up? Well, yeah, that's what I did say. They didn't cheat. They didn't cheat.

There's not one bit of cheating. There's no cheating. No. Oh, the smart GM, you know, used a loophole to get a sick team in the most important time of the year? I think it's semantics here. If a guy can play before the end of the regular season,

you have him not play so you can rig the salary cap. I'll call that cheating. Are you done? I just had one thing I wanted to mention, that the San Jose Sharks are in Nashville tonight. You don't see this very often. The Nashville Predators are minus 525 favorites against the San Jose Sharks.

Oh, my God. They don't consider them an NHL team anymore? That's basically what they're saying. That's an NHL team playing an AHL team. Minus 525 is a massive number. What's the other side of that? Plus 390. Still a hockey game.

You win a game in the NHL. I'm not telling you to bet on the Sharks, but I'm definitely not telling you to bet the Preds. Take on plus a couple of goals. Minus 525. Okay, I'm done. Let me read my end because he was so rudely reading. That was Game Time presented by Bet365.

Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Thank you, Bet365. Must be 19+. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Thank you, Bet365. I'm just wondering on your Colorado tonight, if they get any

goaltending at all out of Georgiev, are they not the team to beat? I love the Trennan and Duhame additions. I know know middle stat uh goes a long way for them but i love that they suddenly have this like hard for checking physical fourth line that's something to me that they were really missing down the down the order and it reminds me of adding

goodrow and coleman for tampa bay you know it's like a couple guys i don't think they have that level of offense but i i just like the way we never thought that they have that level of offense, but I just like the way that we never thought that they had that level of offense back then to Coleman. Those guys, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. You can see some potential.

And actually Trennan scored 24 as a rookie, if I'm not mistaken. So I'm going to go ahead and say he can shoot some in the net if need be. I just starting to think too, that Edmonton just didn't have that same push. And I just wonder if there's a psychological disadvantage for that team to go okay we added a couple of depth guys but we didn't do what vegas did and we didn't do what colorado did just to go back to trennan he had 24 points 17 goals

my bad right 17 goals is still yeah very good so i know that from following they're like more analytics bent fans they're not happy with henrik so far he's been playing with kane and connor brown and that line is underwater like below 30 percent and most like shot attempt stats and yeah um around 30 percent there wasn't a tortorellas scratching the captain story, but Sam Carrick was a healthy scratch, I think, in the second game. I'm not shocked by that. He's kind of fringy. But when you make a trade,

I don't know if you want a healthy scratch a guy two days after or two games in off of a trade. A playoff game, but but right away didn't he score he scored a big goal recently against colorado he scored a big goal didn't he fight that mutant olivier in his first game olivier and he scored he's been a couple games and he's out yeah i don't know but yeah the carrick perry yanmark fourth line not bad but it's not trennan duhaime cog leano for me just Just to me, the Colorado Avalanche, when push comes

to shove, I just, I worry about Edmonton against them. I really do. Walker looked kind of good Saturday night. Kind of good Saturday night. I still, like, I think this offense, this Oilers offense is so head and shoulders above

even Colorado in terms of creating offense. I just don't know if anyone can beat them. But there's just a part, this Oilers offense, is so head and shoulders above even Colorado in terms of creating offense. I just don't know if anyone can beat them. But there's just a part of the Oilers still defensively. And I don't know if you went back and we saw the game-winning goal Saturday, of course, off of the Nathan McKinnon play out of the corner. Yeah. To Leckanen. It's Leckanen right yeah but go watch leon

bouchard go in with nate mckinnon and how it was almost as if he said nothing's gonna happen and i don't have to play them that this hard and i'm just gonna through the skates he'll pick up one touch but even if even if bouchard's just 15 harder on nate you know they go into a shootout yeah well i mean leon too who's just like yeah nothing's happening here and then yeah yeah it's in the back of your net i mean they have one you accept i mean leon's never gonna win it he's not gonna win a selkie no and he's never been that. I will say there's a guy on every pair for the Oilers in Bouchard, Nurse, and CeCe who...

And I know CeCe's been better, but who you're like, they can make a mistake. You know, there can be some misreads. There can be some moments. Did you see that the person that tweeted there, they got their Fanatics Oilers jersey? A 97 dry side. Yeah. Fanatics Oilers jersey. A 97 dry size. Fanatics taking a beating.

I didn't see that. They're taking a beating and they haven't even started with the NHL. Send that out. I mean, I'd keep it. At that point, it's like, well, this is a collector's item. No one's going to have this baby. Someone say put Connor and Leon's body and see what happens. Pretty special.

That would be interesting. All right. Did the NHL general manager meetings end today? Or is it still going? Are they going to milk another couple of days out of it? They're doing stuff. What are they doing? Kip, you can't put your leg over the boards anymore.

It's huge news. Let's look important here. They should just release a press statement of what they've... So they agreed to go to the rules committee to make a few tweaks, including a leg cannot be on the boards now? Yeah, because the linesman got cut. But there are some interesting things. Mark Messier would never have played at all.

Was he always hanging the leg over? It's insane that you were ever allowed to do it to be honest it's one leg over the boards and then looking at keenan going who's up and then he goes uh you are yeah that's what i thought yeah you're already on the ice so i guess that's you um but two changes that are really interesting to me so if a penalty is called for puck over glass they can ask for video to review to prove it did hit something. In the case they're wrong, Insta five on three.

You know how hard it is? Like that you're, like you're banking on video evidence. If it barely touches a board or the tip of the glass, like it'll be, we're not sure. So the call will stand as is. Five on three is a board or the tip of the glass like yeah it'll be we're not sure so the call will stand as is five on three is a really it's significant punishment to me for challenging they don't even need to announce that because that'll literally never happen no one will ever challenge that

nobody it was one thing to have jordan bean for the leafs who gets these offsides and these hand passes and he nails all those. There's four officials closer than you as a head coach or anybody that's in a video room buried in a dressing room somewhere that you're going to see it better than them. But there are times when it did touch something and it goes to a power play where it shouldn't. So if those guys can catch it, I mean, I love the risk. The other one, Kip, is if you get a high

sticking penalty and you challenge and say it was actually friendly fire, it was their own stick, which happens, right? Guys, teammates hit them in the face, whatever. And you're wrong. It was your team. Five on three. You've given up a five on three by getting that challenge wrong, which they're really trying to deter challenges.

But if it's a blatant one and you know. So they needed to go spend $1,400 a night at the Boca Raton resort to come up with this. You know what this sounds like? This sounds like sour grapes for a guy who doesn't get to go anymore. That's what this is. You're damn right. You were literally just informed.

Oh, isn't there one that goalies, now you warm up? Yes. What is that? If a goalie is pulled with a concussion, like he gets hit in the head and they pull him, the backup can go in and get a warm-up. Which, does that mean you dump a bucket of pucks into the hash

and shoot him? I specifically remember being a kid going to Own Sound Players games with my grandparents and when the goalie got pulled or a goalie got hurt, they would go out there with like one guy with like three pucks and you just shoot.

Fire, make a little saves. I remember that specifically. Did that ever happen in the NHL? I don't know, but it's not. It's strange and embarrassing and weird, but. It does happen in the NHL? I don't know. I can't think of a worse way for 18,000 people to sit around.

We're all going to watch this guy get hit in the pants seven times. Thumbs up their you-know-what while this guy's catching pucks it's actually really bad it's a horrible it's a horrible look and especially because if it's the other team's goalie just a great chance for chance for bronx cheers yeah every time he stops one of the warm yeah how about this if your player so we're in the neutral zone. I high stick the puck, and you know it's me, and you can play the puck next and don't. The faceoff will move up a zone. Or sorry, for the other team.

They'll get to go into our zone for the faceoff. So if you play it right away, it'll be right where it happened. But if you don't, then we're going to move the faceoff a zone. They don't even call, like like offsides, deliberate offsides. They're supposed to go in their offensive zone too. They never do that. They don't. You're right.

They don't want to accuse guys of doing things. No. So all these things, to Kipper's point, feels like this could have been a Zoom meeting. Feels like the fellas could have gone on a room once a year for what why are we going to south dakota to do it you might as well go to florida they killed the nhl draft traditionally because they didn't want to spend the money and then they went to the sphere in vegas but they'll go down there for that for these

rule changes yeah don't don't tell trotsky that they're going to this year. I have some ideas on how it should be covered. Sportsnet, talk to me. Send us down there. We'll show you how to do it. Oh, will we ever. Even if we do a bad job, we'll just do it once, right? We'll just do it with Reynolds.

Yeah. We'll go down with Reynolds, poolside. We'll be ready to rock. The only brutal part is, like, you can't golf. Like, there's no time. Oh, really? No, they sit around all day. What do you mean you can't golf. Like, there's no time. Oh, really? No, they sit around all day. What do you mean you can't golf?

Sammy fit it in. Like, you can't get up at 6.30 and go play golf? No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay. No, the meetings start at 8, and they go until, like, 3 or 4 o'clock. There's no time. Oh, so you just sit around. They just sit around and do nothing.

It's a Seinfeld episode. Nothing. So, I know we're going to probably get into this a little more tomorrow. Cover the Washington Capitals a little closer tomorrow because at least play them on the second half of back-to-back. Starting to come to... What's with the...

What does that mean? Sorry, SportsBeard, but I'm starting to come to the realization that this record's probably going to fall. Ovi's getting hot again. hot again yeah so he'll finish with 27 29 what's he at 20 21 21 he scored this two he had two last night so just one of how many guys have done it 19 years in a row yeah not many goal seasons already how and jogger yeah breie Howe. Yager. Yeah. Brendan Shanahan. Really? Yeah. I don't know how many.

Brendan Shanahan? I think so. Wow. I do recall hearing his name. Yeah, I just. But Ovi's the only one to do it with the same team. Yeah. Buddy, they'll bring Ovi out there.

He's beating the record. He'll be on the, like, a Russian gas with a mask. They'll bring him out there and, like, Bane. It is still unbelievable how durable and healthy he can still stay. He's playing 20 minutes a night. He doesn't come off the power play. At times, I'm sure it drives the coaches'm sure he was at 96 percent of power play time on ice for his team last i checked i don't know where he's at now just looking at his hockey db

page 843 it just jumps out to you and it's 894 is the record it's like oh boy it's falling oh he's gonna be the guy unfortunately guys uh you also have also have on the lineup, Dubas wants Crosby to finish his career. I know we've had this conversation, but he did speak a little bit to Pierre Lebrun, did he not? Yeah. And did he also mention not talking about Toronto's situation at all? Well, he said, I think it's pretty clear where we stand on the fact that everyone would like to see him and his career in Pittsburgh. It's my intention that those years that we're back and definitely competitive. It's my intention, and everyone would like to see it.

To me, that's not like he's definitely back. Right. I don't know if he wants to be the guy that traded Sid. I think that's just... That's career defining. That's career defining. You will always be the guy that ended Sidney's run with the Pittsburgh Penguins ugly. And could you ever get over again with the Penguins fans?

No. You know? I don't think so. Like, you don't want to be in year two of your tenure and have everyone be like, that's the guy. But you need, you need, you can sign Sid, but you need to move him for a couple of firsts or a top blue chip prospect.

It's just, it's a waste having sid score 90 points and you're going to miss the playoffs again next year for the third time and i still think they might get in and this year uh they may they're gonna win tonight and oh so buffalo's getting into no who else who else have you got nope just pittsburgh pittsburgh you had the thes thing. You wanted me to mention the quote that he had? Yeah. He said, I think it's more that I simply don't want to create any waves in my wake because they impact a lot of people who I care about and loved working with. And I want to see them have success.

Unloading my personal feelings is what a lot of people want. And it may make me feel good in the short run. But it's not of any benefit to the Pittsburgh Penguins or the dozens of players and staff in Toronto who I want to have success. Oh, so he's thinking about the staff in Toronto. He's taking the high road, boys. Taking the high road.

He's thinking about the staff in Toronto. But I think he said some things without saying them. You know what I mean? By being like, I'd like to get it off my chest, and personally it might feel good in the short term. Does not reek of someone who's holding back praise and love for the organization. Oh, that's just got a book written all over it. Does it ever.

And they'll be like, that damn Nick Kiprios. It all started with that article in the Toronto Star. No, it did not. It's like, that's when I became the Joker. The Joker. Huge night in the NHL tonight. So we mentioned the Pittsburgh Jersey game, whatever. But you got the Rangers playing the Winnipeg Jets,

which is two teams trying to win their... Two hot teams. Yeah, trying to win their respective divisions. The Islanders fighting to stay in it against the Avs. I mean, we got pretty much... Is that all the Canadian teams going? We got lots of good hockey tonight, including the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Philadelphia Flyers

who are minus their captain, Sean Couture. I know I mentioned Buffalo, and nobody believes that they're going to get in. But I really like Middlestad for Byram. Byram is a good, he's worked out in Buffalo so far. Yeah. And his minutes are huge. And I think those defensemen are hard to find. He's going to take heat off of Darlene and power

and allow them to be better, right? No, I think he defensemen are hard to find. He's going to take heat off of Darlene and power and allow them to be better, right? No, I think he's thriving there, and I think the Buffalo Sabres are a better hockey club for it. They're getting a thump tonight by the Canucks, though. That trade could be a disaster. Could be. For Colorado? Yeah.

Yeah, I'm not a huge middle stat fan. And he's a UFA, which I didn't realize. Look at this year, he's a UFA. All right. They gave him. Anyways, so like jb said pick a game enjoy it and we're back tomorrow on real kipper and born if you get a chance give us a rating review we'd love to hear from you enjoy your games everybody