Real Kyper & Bourne - The New Coach Bump With Bruce Boudreau

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with Carter Hart taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Flyers shortly after Dillon Dube did the same with the Flames. They are joined by former coach and NHL Networks' Bruce Boudreau (4:31), who discusses his transition from the bench to the media, the influx of mid-season coaching changes, Quinn Hughes' Norris-Trophy-jump and why Toronto's slump will help in the long run. Finally, news and notes - Oliver Kylington returns to the Flames after 19 months away, Jakob Chychrun voices frustrations for being in trade talks again after being traded last season and the Devils extend and promote GM Tom Fitzgerald.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.

welcome into the real kipper and born show this is the national edition where you can watch us live baby sports set sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary it's our real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 in a few, we're going to welcome in former NHL head coach, 617 career wins. And now on the NHL Network as an analyst, drops in on the Real Kipper and Bourne show on occasion, Bruce Boudreaux. Bruce. Nice. Thanks.

Here to help. Good job. All right. Bruce, this is going to be great. It is going to be great. It is going to be great. Before we do that. Yeah, before we do that, just to touch a little bit more on Carter Hart is going to be taking a leave of absence from the Philadelphia Flyers.

It's indefinite is the word that they used. There's no sense on when he'll be back. This is now coming off of Dylan Dubé from the Calgary Flames. Both members of Team Canada 2018, where there's been an ongoing investigation. Three parties involved there, the London Police, Hockey Canada, and the National Hockey League, and we have not heard for a very long time any developments in this investigation.

No, and waiting for a report? Is that the league's findings, right? The league is doing their own investigation? I'm under the impression that the league's findings right the league is doing their own investigation investigation i'm under the impression that uh the majority of any investigation has been predominantly done and they're just figuring out uh what to do with the information in terms of like punishments or yeah i guess yeah you know in terms of where is that line drawn between, say, the police? Does there need to be legal? Do they need to be charges?

Is there anything criminally coming down? Or is this code of conduct? They were junior players at the time. They weren't members of the National Hockey League. Where does that line get drawn between? Can you penalize them when they weren't a member of the league? JB, your guess is as good as mine. Yeah.

Where this can go or where this heads. But, I mean, two guys. Either a massive coincidence or it does point to something developing. Yeah. But it can't leave us without the impression that some sort of ruling may be coming shortly. Now, at the risk of, I don't want to find out that both these guys, that it's unrelated to this, you know, and they're totally just taking separate leaves for separate things

and whatever. So I would just like to clarify that we don't actually know why these guys are at the same time taking leaves of absence but it's not unlike the nhl to leave us guessing with a lot of open-ended um thoughts coming from the hockey world yeah like do you think that there is some public explanation oh do you yesterday we did a lot of Corey Perry talk. Is there some public explanation coming? I wish I had answers to tell you what's the right answer and what's the not. But you just asking, is this related?

Is it unrelated? If it's unrelated, I would hope between Calgary, Philadelphia, and the head office of the NHL, they would come out very quickly and say this is not related. These are isolated incidents, and this has nothing to do with an ongoing investigation. But we won't get that. I don't get the sense we're gonna get

any of that anytime soon all right okay let's welcome in bruce budro former nhl head coach always welcome on this show yes he's now doing his thing on the nhl network there's the man there he is bruce you guys have got me all right you're a hard man uh to track down man is he man seriously so how are you how's uh how's the world as the media world for you lately well you know what uh it's something I think you have to get used to. I love talking hockey with people, but I mean, it's fun, but it's not like you're, as you know, Kipper, it's not like you're in a battle with a group of guys anymore and fighting for your life. It's a lot of fun, but it's a little different it's a lot of fun but it's a little different you know actually that's funny to hear you say that after hearing patrick waugh yesterday or the day before talk about um you know so someone's like why don't you just go golf or something like that patrick waugh was like this is what makes me feel alive and i i get the sense

bruce you feel the same way 100 i was talking to somebody about the same thing today. I mean, I think it was actually Chuck Fletcher. I was chatting with him and I was saying, you know, there's nothing like being, you know, you can do a lot of things individually in that, but being in a battle with your group here. I mean, we've done it our whole lives. So it's hard not to think of doing that it's a it's hard to all of a sudden become an individual when you've been in a battle with 20 20 people for everything you've done since you've been 15 years old bruce we've seen uh half a dozen coaching changes the most recent one lane lane uh lambert uh in the island uh are you surprised at uh the amount of

of changes we've seen behind the bench over what the course of half a season you know i i mean i think it's almost every couple years it goes through this i mean well last year i remember very well that there was only one coaching change during the season. And because it was me. Unfortunately, but this year, there's been a few more. I think, you know, with what comes when there's so many teams that are that are good now that everybody expects to be the best and to jump on. And in reality, I mean, only 16 teams make the playoffs. So there's a lot of teams that either underachieve or aren't as good as the people think they are.

So it doesn't surprise me at all that there's these changes because we're in a win-now league. We're in a win-now league. We're in a win-now the way everything is. Everybody wants things done right now. It's very hard to say, you know, we're going to take five years and do this the proper way type thing. What are your thoughts on like the, you know, when you took over Vancouver, you guys got real hot. You know, Chris Knobloch has taken over the Oilers and they got real hot.

You know, is it a coincidence? Is it, is there something to the new coach bump? You know, when a guy takes over a team, kind of get that renewed effort from the guys sometimes? Well, I mean, I think when you first take over a team, everybody's sort of auditioning again. Yeah. It's like a new start for everybody. Like no matter how bad you were doing, this new guy hasn't seen me play really bad. So maybe if we change everything up and I play good, I'll get more ice time.

Things will work out better for me. And so, I mean, I think that happens. With Chris Knobloch, it's almost different. He's been there 20-some games now. He's gone through the eight-game win streak, and he's gone through a 13-game win streak. So I think whatever he's selling, they're really buying into, and maybe he's doing something different than what he did before him.

And so, I mean, maybe the team is just this is exactly what they want, than what he did before him. And so, I mean, maybe the team is just, this is exactly what they want and what they wanted, and maybe they weren't getting it before. I don't know. We're talking to Bruce Boudreaux, former NHL head coach, now doing a great job on the NHL network as an analyst. So prior to you leaving Vancouver, Bruce, and we're talking about just the 180 of the Canucks in general,

but did you see signs that Quinn Hughes was on the cusp of potentially being a Norris Trophy winner this year? Did you see JT Miller on the cusp of being one of the best power forwards in the game? Like how close were they that we didn't see that perhaps you did even from the view you had prior to leaving? Well, I mean, starting with Quinn, I mean, we had talked a lot in the course of the summer and we fully believed him

and I that he was an 80-point-plus defenseman. And, you know, the biggest thing he wanted to work on was his shot. And I was really noticing it in the Leaf game and then watching the highlights last night. It sort of just struck me. His shot is much better. Like, he used to shoot to get it on the net so it could get tips. Bo Horvat would be the guy doing an awful lot of tipping.

Now he's shooting to score. Now he's got 12 goals. I mean, I think it's something he works on all summer, and I think he's become great at it. And, I mean, he is definitely, in my mind, the favorite to win the Norris. I mean, he's plus 30-something. The team's first or second overall. He's got 12 goals.

So, yeah, I mean, we both saw it because I still think, even when I was there, he was the best passer that I had seen. And I had a lot of good passers on coach from Mike Green to Nick Backstrom to Ryan Get gets laugh and and beyond and and quinn was the best at it that i'd seen um jt miller um is as competitive as anybody and he got 99 points um the the year the first year that i was coaching so you knew he had that i thought and i would tell everybody i thought i thought he had the best shot. Like, I mean, coming off the left wing, that wrist shot was A, accurate,

and it was hard. And you add the fact that he's not scared, he goes to the tough areas, I could see it, you really could see it happening. And, I mean, you put him together with Besser and Miller, or Besser and Pettersson, and they're as dynamic a line as anybody in the league. Well, you talk about Quinn Hughes being such a great passer. Kipper on our show always says,

you need your best passers at center. That's the best place to have them. Had you ever considered having Hughes play center? I had to ask bruce that's that's such a loaded question i know i know i mean my answer quickly is no on that and uh but you know you get suggestions from everybody all the time coaches do and i mean uh you either take them or you don't we used to have meetings every morning on what to do in practice and uh i had my ideas the assistants would have their ideas what videos what video to show we'd share ideas and there's uh i agreed with them sometimes i didn't agree and as the the coach, you're the one that makes the final decision.

So, no, I didn't think Quinn Hughes. I thought he was a great defenseman, and he's proven it this year. It's not a big deal if you tell us the person that suggested it. I want to tell you right now. We're all over you. It's a big deal to me. Yeah, no kidding. It's not going anywhere else except the four of us here.

Yeah. Yeah, nobody kidding. It's not going anywhere else except the four of us here. Yeah. Yeah, nobody's watching. Have you spoken to the person who suggested it since you said it? No, I have not. Okay. We're doing 20 questions here, by the way. Do they still have a job? All right, Kip.

All right, all right. What's next? Yeah, what is next? All right. Corey Perry in Edmonton. People are excited that this might be enough to really make them a legitimate contender here. Is there more to the picture than adding a wily veteran like this for you in edmonton i mean i think he's a good fit i mean um you know what cory's a great uh like i had him for five years and i thought he was a great

teammate uh and you know I mean obviously his play has diminished I mean the last three or four years he's been a third or fourth line guy at best on really good teams and and and I think he'll be the same way there but he's accepted his role it's not like he he's a heart trophy winner anymore he's accepted his role as a as a fourth line guy and all these young players will look up to him. I'm telling you, he loves talking hockey. He's a hockey guy, and I think it's a great fit. I mean, and I think he adds really well if he's on a fourth line there. And, you know, he can talk about the experiences of being in the finals

three out of the last four years. And I don't think he wants he wants nothing more than to win a stanley cup so he will be a positive guy in that room um and i think it's a really good a really good pickup i mean it's not like all of a sudden you're making a trade for another connor mcdavid though let's not get crazy i just think he's a he's think he's a great veteran guy that will be really solid in the locker room. We're talking about some – oh, go ahead. Just one more thing on Edmonton. The winning streak reminds you of a winning streak you had

with the Washington Capitals? Yeah, we had 13 in Washington the one year, and it was – man, when those things are happening, you never feel out of the game. And that's, that's what makes it great. We could be losing four to one in the third and then you just say, okay, let's go. And the biggest thing about winning streaks is you have that belief that you're going to always, always be there until it isn't.

And usually when you end up losing for the first time, it's usually a one goal game or it's really tight and you just don't get there. But, I mean, I believe every game that they play right now, as long as they're winning, no matter what the score, they think they're going to come back in. And they have in recent games. But, I mean, eventually it catches up to you

because you can't come back all the time, even though you think you can. Bruce, I wonder if you've seen a pattern over your career of great players whose style of play carries on into the latter half well. Like Sidney Crosby right now is tearing it up. I don't know what his goal pace is, but it was 45, 50 goals. Ovechkin right now is on pace for 15 goals, and I'm not ready to say that he's,

that's the player he is now. Maybe he's having a tough season, but your thoughts on those guys having very disparate years and just maybe the type of player that tends to have success as they age. Well, I mean, I really didn't think that Alex would have this slow a start.

I mean, I still believe in him. I mean, he's got, you know, unless he's just at some point, he's 38, he just gets old. I mean, and they've got a different kind of team. They're not a really high-scoring, high-paced team. They're more of a defensive team. So he's not getting the looks that he always has in the past. It's tough all of a sudden to

start scoring as a team five goals a game where you're getting one or two. When they win, it's two to one or three to two, and when they lose, it's one to nothing, two to nothing, three to nothing. It doesn't really give them an opportunity to be the high-scoring guy. As far as Sidney goes, he's nothing three to nothing so it doesn't really give him an opportunity to to be the high scoring guy i

mean as far as sydney goes like i mean he's like to me a fine wine like i mean i've haven't seen him play this well on a day in and day out and we get all the pittsburgh games here in hersey and uh all the time and i haven't seen him play this well in five years. And he is just, he's got his 27th goal last night. He's, you know, taking that team on. I don't know how, if the team can make the playoffs, if the Penguins can make the playoffs still. But, I mean, he's sure carrying them on their back. And, I mean, and he's coming to play every night.

Like, there's very rarely you look at the Penguin games now that Sidney's having a bad game. He's the one carrying the team game in and game out. But I will say this, the one year we had Timu Solani when he was 43, led our team in scoring, I think my second year in Anaheim. And then the next year, he just really slowed down. So sometimes you just, you know, age catches up to you one year to the next i don't know if that's what's happened to alex obviously i haven't talked to him but i mean um you keep

waiting i look every time when i'm when i'm not watching their games is is to see when they when they've got goals who scored them and you're hoping that he scores because you want to see him keep this thing going um but i mean i think he's got to pick up the pace hopefully uh a little bit if he wants to continue on this search or this uh this track to catch gretzky bruce no one would know him better than you uh person a lot personality wise or or just in terms of his demeanor day to day how do you think he's handling it because you've been this amazing goal scorer you've sat on top of every list since the moment you came in and now you're not does he have the capabilities of making adjustments to not be a top goal scorer

anymore to hang in there and and get the record still? Or is this a type of guy that has to be the best? Or if it is what you're saying and he falls off, does he even want to stick around just for the sake of breaking a record? Well, the one thing I do know about Alex, when he was younger, he wanted to be the best at everything he did. I mean, you put anything in front of him, he wanted to be number one in everything. But the thing that I've really noticed is, and I think it's a great attribute to him,

is every time they score, he's still just as happy. Like, I mean, it's not like he's looking disappointed on the bench or anything. When that team scores, he still jumps up. He's still jumping on every teammate. I still think he's so involved with the team game that, I mean, I don't know if it matters all that much to him to break the record. I know it matters to everybody else that's watching hockey. They want to see that chase go on.

But, I mean, I have no idea because he looks so involved with the team. And if the team wins, you just watch tonight. I mean, they're playing in Minnesota. If the team wins 4-1 and he's on the ice for two goals, he will still be jumping up and down every time they score and look so embraced in the wind so uh i don't know if when he's done like i mean at the end of the game and and he goes home and and he's talking to his wife whether he sits there and says i can't do it

anymore i'm or whatever and i don't know if i can go through it i don't know any of that because he still looks very happy during the during the game when the team's winning. Last one for me, just we wrapped our Leafs hour. I want to get your thoughts. I don't know if you've had a chance to watch them much, but talking about Sheldon Keefe a little bit, the job he's done, you know, kind of trying to keep this thing afloat well,

having some sort of down years from a variety of guys, Tavares and Bertuzzizi and you can go on and on yeah like i mean i've been watching them pretty close uh lately here because you know i mean you hear a lot of the criticism about the team and the one thing i think they found out about themselves just in the seattle game is how hard you have to play in this league to win. I think sometimes the team used to think that they could just go out there and, you know, we use the phrase, just throw your jersey at center ice and everybody's going to get afraid.

But nobody's afraid. And they had to play so hard against Seattle, and they all did, every one of them. And, I mean, it was such a good team win. But I'm thinking that, you know, they said, you know, they might have been in the dressing room going, man, this is how we've got to play every night. Because everybody contributed that night. The four lines contributed. All six defense.

They got great goaltending. They didn't give up a lot. But when they needed it, their goaltending was there. Because if you've ever played against Seattle or watched Seattle, they're the hardest-working team you're going to play against. And the Leafs matched them shift for shift that way. And if they play that way, there's no problem. And I was talking to somebody yesterday, and I was saying, you know what? They're not at the top of the list anymore when you're looking at the great teams.

But this might really help them because they're going through adversity almost the whole course of the year, where the last few years they've been in a solid second place or third place, and they knew they were making the playoff, so there was no real adversity. This year, they're going through a little bit, and I think it'll make them a better team come April. Gabby, great stuff today as always.

But on a last note, I'm a very perceptive guy. I see you in a hoodie that says power training on it. And then I look behind you. Doesn't that have me written all over it? Yes. And then I look behind you and there's more booze that could fill an LCBO. So which one is it, Gabby? Is it the training or is it the social?

Well, this is what you do. You train all day and you drink all night. That was hockey in my dad's era. How else can you survive being an NHL head coach these days? Hey, thanks for doing this, Gabby. Absolutely. Thanks, Gabby. My. Thanks, Gabby. My pleasure.

Thanks, guys. Bruce Boudreaux. Wouldn't tell us who suggested Hughes as a center. I'm really disappointed. Sammy and I were just calling off the dogs. Quit leaning on him, Kip. The best, I mean. He doesn't want to say.

The best thing he says is, what's next? Yo, what's next yo what's next that's that's probably his coaching coming out there's time to move along so not to do too much leafs in the national hour here but i did like what he said about the it's a good point it's one that's crossed my mind and a few leaf fans minds that this would be the year where they kind of struggle in the regular season that they go into the playoffs and they surprise you, where they go through adversity. And it's like, that thought's crossed my mind.

Okay, it has crossed your mind, but it's just a hope. Of course. There's no substance behind it. Why are you cheering for this kid? Is Lawrence Costanza, when he just tries to do everything different and he gets the salmon on toast instead of the tuna on bread or whatever? Listen, I know it's dumb. I know it's hope. But at this point, what else do I have?

I mean, Leaf fans since I was four years old, all I've had was hope my whole life. I haven't had a cup. I haven't had a final. Yes. So I've just had hope. I think we can go across the country and say a similar thing for everybody, right?

As you're falling down the cliff, though, you're grabbing it. Are the Leafs destined because they're choosing a different path to backdoor the playoffs? the vancouver canucks now going to win the stanley cup because they were so bad last year no but edmonton oilers going to win the cup because they were so bad at the start i mean i think it's all hope for everybody i do think though if i had to pick a team from canada it would be the oilers yes i i to the one thing i'll say in your defense is that this leafs team cannot handle the pressure of expectations like when they're supposed to be

the better team now we're talking baby never are columbus regular season against bad teams let's go like the best thing their coach could do going in the first round is be like we are massive underdogs and him and cooper battled it out last year to be the bigger underdogs. 100%. The Leafs have the Winnipeg Jets back-to-back. If by chance, and this is a big if, they win both games, everybody's expectations are back to where they were

at the beginning of the year. It doesn't take much, does it? No. There's suckers everywhere. It might be the best thing for them to go in against the cats meow is massive underdogs yes massive underdogs it doesn't matter what kind of dogs they are against those cats buddy they're dead it doesn't matter the boston ruins beat the winnipeg jets last night did they ever and it was a close game though great game

as good as we think the florida panthers, are they catching Boston in the back half? No, I don't think so. They're seven points back, same game plan. I'm going to say yes. Another year where the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing a team out of the state of Florida. No, no, I think it's going to happen. Florida's going to catch Boston still.

But for me, this is what drives Leaf fans insane, is wasting these stupid games against these stupid teams that they lose to. And it's like, if you just beat the Sabres and you just beat the Habs and beat the sense and just took care of your business against the bad teams, you'd have six or seven or eight more points where it's like, then you don't have to play one of the meat grinders in this stupid division.

My junior coach used to say if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, every day would be Christmas. But these aren't ifs and buts. They're playing bad teams that they always play down to. Yeah. No, I don't disagree with that. It's been a big time issue for three years. And now they're going to play an absolute meat grinder who they're terrified of.

Should be fun. Anyways. Take us to game time. Sorry to get so pissed off. Anyways. Good energy. Anyways. Take us to game time. Sorry to get so pissed off. Anyways. Good energy. Thank you. It's game time.

Yeah, it's 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. Now, I'm looking at the games for tonight.

We'll probably talk about the Oilers and their winning streak because they played tonight against Columbus at home. You can't lose the streak to Columbus, can you? You literally couldn't if the Oilers played with wrong-handed sticks tonight. Columbus is plus 290 in this game.

Teams eventually do lose. There's not a lot of teams that have won more games than them in a row in the history of the NHL. I think there's four or five teams that have ever won. You do lose at some point. Let me just say something. Columbus can score.

I've been on a Columbus team. They were called the Hartford Whalers. This is their cup. Yeah, they get a chance to end the streak. This is their Game seven stanley cup if you cannot come up with enough energy or focus or mustard say whatever you want to describe it if you can't do it here against a team like this the best player on the planet this streak then you can't do it anywhere do you think cbj gives them well come on they can score i'm not saying that they're going to win,

but what I'm saying is you have to have your best effort of the season. This one has to feel like. Yeah, at least when the season's over, you can say, but we did beat the Oilers. This is all they have to hang their hat on if they win tonight. And if you don't, you're not a dummy like me thinking about betting on Columbus. The over-under on this game, the total is seven. They're expecting some goals.

Because both these teams can fly and score. We've seen Columbus score five or six against the Leafs a couple times. So, yeah, maybe look at the over there too. And what was the other one that I was looking at here? Flyers and Lightning is an interesting matchup to me. They're even money for both sides of it. Kind of just betting against the Lightning here because I don't want

them to catch the Leafs, but I do like the Flyers and I think that they can give them a game. Are you going on the other side of that? I am. Okay. There you go. I feel like Tampa's going to come around at some point. And I've also had some success fading teams that I think suck really bad

and shouldn't be favorites. And the Ottawa Senators are specifically one of those teams going into Montreal tonight. Minus 150 favorites. Just to touch base a little bit on your

Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. Carter Hart. Yep. 12-9-3. Having a pretty good year, I think. Yep. Like, where are you on

this being a distraction? This is a big loss for them. This is not, with all due respect to Dylanylan dubay this is your starting goaltender this is your backbone so how big of a distraction will this feel like starting tonight you know i don't know that the distraction factor is as big as just the loss of the actual player you know carter hart is a 906 save percentage guy samuel airson has been very good for them this year but it's a big ass to ask that guy to consistently do what carter hart's done so for sure maybe they feel good about it maybe not but it's definitely not good to lose a guy a player of heart's ability all right uh that

was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. At Bet365, must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll get into a few different elements of the news and notes, including Jacob Chikrin. He's starting to hear some of the rumors. He's not too happy.

Yeah, saw that. We'll get into that and more as the real kipper and born continues after these words breaking down the top stories in hockey and elliot friedman every day the jeff merrick show subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts mckimpery of justin bourne sammy mckee thrill kipper and bourne show uh oliver shillington shows up for practice after 19 months yeah uh with an emotional day for him uh no question he's he's been through a lot that once again has to be a an incredible feeling for him and his teammates to to be back together once again yeah that's great right a mental health break and spend some time practicing back in the american League, only 26 years old.

So, you know, the Flames are kind of a sneaky good story this year where, you know, they're going to sell, they're going to sell, they're going to sell, and, you know, they may in the end. But, gosh, they're not that far out of, you know, the mix here for a playoff team. Yeah, I don't know. Could they draw any parallels at all to Vancouver last year where you just, you know, it's perhaps an underachieving team.

And can they rebound next year? But can you, it's not like Quinn Hughes needed a contract, JT Miller needed a contract. There's question marks on Demko, with the exception of Pettersson needing one perhaps as early as July 1st. If not, you wait another year, you go through the year, but there's no sense of urgency that it has to happen tomorrow. That's where it differs from Calgary. Yeah.

I would also say the top-end talent, like I was frustrated with the Flames, who I often thought you could have looked at like the Canucks, like, hey, all these good players, but they just can't get it done. But they had Matthew Kachuk and Johnny Goudreau and, you know, Foley. Gone, gone. Yeah, and like these guys that I was like, okay, their top-end game breakers are gone.

Now they have Conor McZerry. Yeah, exactly. Lindholm, question mark. Question mark. I like, like I could look at their decor and say Wieger and Anderson, Hannafin and Tanev, like that. I like a lot of their players, but I just don't think they have the ceiling.

I'm just looking at the western conference standings too and it's the national predators are sitting there in the final playoff spot with 51 points and the only team between the coyote between calgary in that final spot is the coyotes yeah and nashville's a minus two goal differential team like they're not exactly a i don't think powerhouse there's there's one spot basically unless you think the kings are going to continue to fall down, which is potential, but it really does feel like it's that one last spot. They're not catching the Oilers. Dude, the Kings cost me my third strike in a survivor pool last night

that cost me a couple of losing the Sharks. So I'm anti-Kings, fire McClellan, trade Kopitar. Markstrom. Markstrom's going to start tonight. He's missed the last three games. Pretty good goalie. Save percentage of what? 9-12 maybe.

Now rumors. Could you see him moving? Could you see the L.A la kings interested in markstrom and let me say one thing about the la kings they have a boatload of prospects and their cupboards are full yeah they're stocked so well that kaliev sounds up for grabs right right? Like could Kaliev go to Calgary and some sort of package that brings I like him a lot. I like him a lot. I think he's a legit 25, 30 goal score for whatever reason.

I put that fire out. I just totally pulled out of my back pocket. You know, I have no idea, but I mean, I could, you know, here's what I'll say about the trade deadline this year is that the salary cap situation for so many teams is the worst it's ever been so as much as teams want to do things it's super hard which brings me to a question i was looking forward to asking you today what teams team or teams do you think were most hurt by the pandemic fueled flat cap because here in toronto all you ever hear are that the plan was for the cap to go up the

stars contracts were gonna look better that was the dubious fans that number one defense and it's not an unreasonable for sure i think the leafs are in the handful of teams most screwed by it at the time prior to paul maurice's meltdown in Toronto last March. Yeah, that was a good one. Florida was as bad as the Leafs in terms of no room. What do you do? Yeah. They had nothing.

They had nothing. And again, it's remarkable to see that turn around. That was very Vancouver Canuck-like. I thought they were done and they needed to clean house. They made playoffs by a point, right? They miss it. It's a whole different situation there. And then they were able to get rid of Huberto.

Yeah. That's a tough question. What's your answer? Don't say the lightning it is all older cups oh they had to win cups oh well oh they got all the good players they won the cup we could be talking about them like the 1980 islanders they went just three straight cup finals and they have eight players left on their roster from their cup three years later let me weep for them bor. No one's asking for weeping.

I'm saying. I get what you're saying because. Coleman, Goodrow, Yanny Gord, Kalorn, Platt, McDonough. Like they got rid of a cup team and still have a good team. And they're still like on any night can beat any team. And if I'm Julian Brisebois,'m saying the the leafs were sitting there going boy if we had more money we could have added someone good and he's saying we literally got so many good players we have to throw them overboard to compete edmonton's been in jail for a long time with their

cap too sure yeah i mean they they haven't i guess i should say they haven't had the success where you think god now that i think about it a couple million bucks could have gone a long way for them with an addition here there so sure that's a team that's probably worth being in the conversation too but right now i think 20 of the 30 teams in the league are within a few million dollars the salary cap and it's just really hard to be like who wants markstrom who's pretty good when he makes six million i mean the lightning when they won the cup both times, they were like $25 million over the cap anyway. So, oh, they got screwed by the cap.

Oh, yeah, they cheated their way to two cups. Yeah, Vegas might have been higher. And they might get Eichel back after the season this year too. Your favorite team. Oh, boy, they had a wild one last night. Aiden Hill due back tonight for the first time in a while. Jacob Chikrin spoke with Ian Mendez in The Athletic today, and he said on the buzz now that potentially he could get traded,

he was quoted as saying, I think it's ridiculous if I'm being honest. I went through it in Arizona, and that was a different situation, but to see it now is a bit ridiculous, and I don't think it's based off anything i get why he'd be pissed yeah i do too i listen to living in london listen to it for four years after he signed that contract down in zona and now he comes here he's been there for what was it even a year yet no and he's got to listen to it again he 100 get why he's pissed yeah i do get why he's pissed but i also get the fact that when he was traded here and then

they were moving forward all the losing was supposed to be put right behind them. So when you come here and expectations are so high and you and your teammates don't deliver, all bets are off on where's the basis coming from. Don't think for one second they're not behind closed doors. That new ownership group with Stahels and Lauer and David Poulin now, that they aren't throwing everything up,

including do we need to sign Jacob Chikrin or do we need to trade him or maybe keep him and try to move Shabbat? And is that even realistic with his eight million dollar aav yeah you know i like shabbat a lot i would take him on for eight million bucks if i were another team in heartbeat you would i would i i yeah i'm not sure all teams are convinced that he would be yeah i think that's a bet on situation and he's still young in that contract if he takes even one little step forward yeah he's immediately a steal well and what's his toi been on ottawa and in his young career like 20s playing 26 minutes a night i don't know what it's been

this year but previously he's been a guy that they've relied on heavily i think any 24 oh five no sorry 23 24 this year this year 24 of year, 24 of Kawhi for his career. It's a pile of minutes. If you think he can suddenly, as you mentioned, take one step at a young age here, you know, for a guy who can play like that, I think there's, I like him. But, I mean, them trading him would be wild to me.

Yeah. Because he was in the conversation, like everyone was like, he'd be a Team Canada type guy. Like, he's a stud D man. You wouldn't want to ever give away that type of guy. Yeah'd be a big move i actually think the way the atlantic currently sits so i think ottawa and you guys know i've been stubborn about this i don't think they're as bad if they win four straight games they would have to win another game to get out of eighth in the atlantic i think they're going to pass montreal eventually and i think buffalo

will too so i you know that they're a long way back right now. I think they're 18 points behind. No, sorry. They're only 10 points behind Montreal. I think Buffalo and Ottawa get ahead of Montreal at some point still. What you're saying right now is you are guaranteeing that the Ottawa

Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens tonight. I think I am. That's a big guarantee to make. Do you guys want to talk about winning streaks? Sure. Because the Oilers are going for a pretty historic number tonight. 14's a lot. So Gabby said he had one in 2009.

He said 13, but it was 14. It was 14. I'm not going to quibble with him, but it was 14. And so of all the longest ones in the history so how many we got here one two three four five six so only one only one of these teams is that the count yeah that's the count only one of these teams in that list went to win the cup and it was probably your dad's team 81 82 where they were um down in the third period of a winner to take all game five against the penguins trailing 3-1 the idols got two final frame markers to tie it up and an extra time winner from john pennelly this is a great man john pennelly so there you go and they went 12 and

2 for the rest of the way and won the cup the one that's mind-boggling is the 35 undefeated. What's that? The Islanders. They won 19 straight playoff rounds. To me, that's the... Yeah, that's one that's pretty cool, too. That's unbelievable. But just, I thought that was interesting from Ryan Dixon on Sportsnet.ca

that, you know, you can, if you win that many games in a row, you think you're a pretty good team, but for them to have that many on the list and only one win the cup, pretty surprising. Yeah, and they obviously think there's work to be done with the cory perry edition right they're not sitting on their laurels

but can i just say i saw someone uh do the meme of like going along happily on a bike and like putting a spoke in your own bike tire it's cory perry's head on the you know 13 in a row cory perry into your yeah i you know i just think when you're at this point where there are 13 games and the record is 17 and you look at their schedule. Columbus, Chicago, Nashville. Yeah. Is that right? Yeah.

You got to be going all in on this. Like, you have to be pressing hard to me because, you know, you may not win the cup, but that is a flag that flies forever to have one of the longest winning streaks in NHL history. It does matter. To see Columbus on that list too is pretty surprising. Didn't you already quibble about the streak because they got a bunch of

OT wins or shootout wins or whatever? It's not apples to apples for me. So if you want to just for the sake of a nice board for TV, put up that they're tied with the Montreal Canadiens from 1967. But the Canadiens didn't have the chance to go to shootouts. No. No, it should be based on 60 minutes. And you know, can I tell you,

I saw a great tweet last night that reminds me of this. Joel Embiid scored 70 points for the Philadelphia 76ers last night. And Bunk, J.D. Bunk has tweeted like, you should talk about nba points the way we talk about like old-timey inflation like that guy used to make 35 cents an hour that's worth 150 grand now because like kobe's points when he had 81 was in a different era of nba basketball the final score last night was like 133 to 100 there's so many points in the nba now and that's how i feel about this it's like today the streaks are not quite didn't mean what it meant to the to the early i guess i'm just uh i guess i'm just a

much younger man than you guys it means it means enough to me yeah that's all you remember it's real not that many guys in the 70 point club in the nba is that i would have michael jordan never did it yeah yeah uh the new jersey devils signed signed Tom Fitzgerald to a multi-year contract extension that gives him the additional title of president of hockey ops. That is the ultimate shield that every guy wants. Just a general manager. Yeah, GM. Now he's GM and president of hockey ops.

Now you get to fire yourself before you get fully fired. He's built it up he's been around now for the last little while and they they were a team that we thought could compete this year they got the toronto maple leaf thing going where they're just kind of on the outside looking in they could need a goalie they could use a goalie maybe now that he's got that position the next order of business should be fine on a goalie maybe that's a spot for markstrom so i believe josh harris and their group owns the devils and they're like very analytical Maybe now that he's got that position, the next order of business should be fine on a goalie. Maybe that's a spot for Markstrom. So I believe Josh Harris and their group owns the Devils, and they're like very analytical, right?

He owns Liverpool? Nope. He owns the Commanders. Okay. And he owned the Sixers at the time of the process, right? So, you know, this is like a very analytically-minded group, and it is curious to see, you know, like the success the team has or doesn't have. I like following these teams.

I read a book called Game of Edges by Bruce Schoenfeld about these teams and like how some of these pro sports teams are now being run like, I mean, I don't know, accounting firms basically. So I think that my point is I think the Devils are going to be consistently good like, I mean, I don't know, accounting firms, basically. Okay. So I think that my point is I think the Devils are going to be consistently good the way that analytics can get you, but it's really hard to get over the hump. So they're in the picture. They just need a goal. They need a little help and numbers.

There's a pretty famous baseball movie about this as well. Yes. About the ball with the money involved. I believe it stars Brad Pitt. Have they won? No, they never won, unfortunately. It was a sad ending to that one, and they were moving. But like won? No, they never won, unfortunately. It was a sad ending to that one.

And they were moving. But like the devil's good and can go deep. Yeah, yeah. You know? But I think they had more stars. Like it was a different sort of thought. Are we doing a segment called useful or useless right now? And you're finding it useless?

Is that what's happening? Yes. Yeah, it does seem fairly useless. That's fair. I see a pendulum swinging with the rick tockets of the world and the tortorellas and the patrick was but you know what kip so i agree with you that there's a pendulum swinging where it's not all uh you know dubocytes and glasses you know being first up but you know what when i heard patrick waugh give an interview the other day he goes you know i'm looking at this Patrick Waugh give an interview the other day,

he goes, you know, I'm looking at this team where we're weak. And he says, we're last in defensive zone exits. And the first thing he referenced was D zone exits, which 10 years ago, you'd have been like, what do you mean you're 32nd in D zone exits? He tracks that. It's worked its way into even the hockey men. Yeah.

Because it's worked its way into even the hockey men. Yeah. Because it's good information. But I think that was, it was not phrased that way, and it was never made a public. Yes, I agree with you on this. The thoughts were there back then. You knew you had to break the puck. We knew. We suck at breakouts.

Yes. That's been around for 80 years. Yes. It just wasn't. Quantified. It wasn't nerded up. What's different is you when a narrative sets in about what a team is it was impossible to change it and now you can

show the numbers and say it's actually not true the Leafs are actually good defensively not this year but you know in previous years I get numbers to say I get it and it's it's the well actually club it's easier to absorb it it's easier to understand it i i get all that yeah for sure um just and you brought me over over the last little while a little bit here and there just quickly before i go just one last note on uh reeves from kevin pepetti on twitter that they're going to have to make a cut. Obviously when Tyler Bertuzzi returns, Reeves, Lagas and McMahon or Gregor would require waivers and Nyes, Holmberg or Robertson would not.

So did you see on our show the other night, Kip talking about sending Nyes to the minor? No, I did not get the story straight. That's as straight as it gets, buddy. That was an arrow during the all-star break. I don't want him going to Florida or going on vacation.

I want him to go to the Marlies and play one game and hang out there, get on a power play, and just keep your tools sharp physically, and then come back. I heard you say you want him doing the VO2 max every day with the sandbag on his back. Not at all. All right, once again, biggest probably story of the day

is Carter Hart is taking a leave of absence from the Philadelphia Flyers. There is some speculation that this may have something to do with something coming down when it comes to the investigation of the Team Canada 2018 World Juniors. We will have to wait and see if anything happens in the next little while. More names, or something coming down? Are names going to be made public?

We'll have to wait and see on this ongoing development. Yeah, we will have more on that tomorrow. All right, our thanks once again to Bruce Boudreaux. We're back tomorrow. More Real Kipper. Have a great night, everybody.