Real Kyper & Bourne - The Oilers' McDavid-Less Mission

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Former NHLer and Oilers analyst Rob Brown (2:07) joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne to discuss Edmonton's task ahead without Connor McDavid. He discusses their schedule picking up in difficulty, how they're different from this time last season, whether they need to make a trade and their Broberg regret. Then, he shares his thoughts on the Pacific Division landscape this season. Kyp and Bourne regroup with Sam McKee for news and notes - Pettersson's concerning play in Vancouver, Valeri Nichuskin returning to Avs practice and pressure mounting on Montgomery in Boston.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.

real kipper and boring go national we are live on sports net 650 in vancouver and sports net 960 in calgary nick kiprios justin bourne sammy mckee nice jersey there sammy mario i have a bunch of jerseys but i i brought them in last year and then i forgot to bring them back listen penguin fans who may be in for a very long year appreciate bringing back some good memories i don't know that there's a better looking back of a sweater ever than that name that number number, that sweater. That's good. I mean, that's a hockey jersey, boy.

Woo! Good old DH gate. Got it right there. Can he come back and play? Yeah, it's like, it's not exactly official, but. 40 bucks. I know we touched briefly in the first hour about that World Series last night. Oh, yeah.

But, like, the one thing that all of us felt in 1994, especially when we were up 3-1 against Vancouver, is, like, we can't blow this for no other reason because it's New York City. Right. And it's like, I want to come back to New York City. Yeah. It's a good city. I'd like to be allowed to be here again, but I can't, if we blow a three, one, we can't say, Oh, you're a part of that team. That fifth inning. Yeah. They're wearing for the rest of their lives. I will never, ever understand why Garrett Cole didn't just run to first base. Yeah. It's pitcher's fielding practice.

PFP, they talk about it every spring. They do it. It's like fundamentals. Run to the base. He's thinking about a lot of things, I guess. Run to the base. He pitched his heart out. Heart out.

It was awesome. Buddy, that K on Otoni. He had a brain cramp there. Brain fart. Tired brain. Bad. Nothing Rob Brown's ever experienced. Never been.

When he was playing with Mario Lemieux. Let's welcome him in. Former NHL player. Does a great job covering the Edmonton Oilers now for Ched. Mr. Rob Brown. Brownie, how are you, pal? I'm good. I was listening to you guys.

I had brain farts when I was fully healthy and rested. I did watch that fifth inning. That was unbelievable. And you're right. They'll wear that forever. They were that close. That game should have been in hand. And then mental mistakes.

You just can't make mental mistakes against great teams. They'll make you pay. Certainly. And maybe that's a good segue into the Edmonton Oilers and life without Connor McDavid. Now, you tell me they've got a game tonight against the Nashville Predators. The Predators, this underachieving team that many believe that could compete for a Stanley Cup

after their moves. Is playing them without Connor tonight a good thing or a bad thing? Well, the Oilers right now have left their easy schedule behind. They played a lot of the lower lights in the National Hockey League non-playoff teams to start the season with a fully healthy lineup. And they struggled. They didn't come out playing as well as they should have. They're about to play a long stretch of games

against the top teams in the league. Nashville right now is, I think, 3-0-1 in their last four. They're playing better hockey. This is a team that, with Connor and Leon, both healthy, this is a team that the Oilers beat up on consistently and by wide margins. And Connor and Leon light it up. Nashville must be pretty excited to not have to face Connor McDavid.

But I don't think the Edmonton Oilers right now can look past any team. I think they have to look in the mirror because this has been a slow start to the season for everyone in this organization. And they cannot afford to throw away any points in this next little while because they got to try and face as many games as they can without with con without connor and find themselves back into the to the playoff race brownie how does this start uh feel compared to last year when they were much worse in terms of wins and losses i shouldn't say much worse but they were worse how does it feel similar to last year?

Like at some point this should start to click? Well, from a player standpoint, you look at the players, they seem confident. There was a time last year early in the season where they would show the faces on the bench during games, and it was just blank look after blank look. There was an expectation last year that they were going to go to the Stanley Cup Finals at the beginning of the season. They had the cup or bust mantra going.

And when they got spanked 8-1 in the first game of the season, it was like, okay. Then they lost their second. And all of a sudden, they were at a loss. I've seen this year with the players, they're still confident. Right now it's, you know what, we're just not getting the bounces. We're just not getting the breaks. Zach Hyman's a great example.

Probably should have seven goals on the season, has zero. So there's a strong confidence that this team is better than what they've shown. But when you have a slow start, your one fear is if you have to play an extended period of time without star players. The Oilers didn't have that last year. They started poorly, but then they were healthy all season long

and started playing up to their capabilities. Well, they started poorly this year, but now they got a stretch without Connor. And God forbid anything else happens injury-wise in the next few games. So I think the players still have strong belief that they are better than they are. The fan base here, I think because of what they went through last year, there's still a confidence that, okay, they're going to come through this.

But I can tell you, with Conor being out, there is a little more concern in oil country right now. I get texts all the time saying, have you heard anything else? Like, do you have inside information, anything like that i don't but i do believe that the slow start is magnified by the fact they're going to be missing their star player for a little bit here outside of missing a star player we look at this roster and it looks a lot different than the one that ended disappointing game seven. And at what point does it come off of waiting for a good bounce or a good break to, okay, Skinner, not the biggest guy in the world. Arvidsson, not the biggest guy in the world. The blue line got smaller with Travis Dermott and Stetcher.

And when do you start looking at the roster and saying, we're not, we're not exactly the same as before. Well, I agree. I don't think the Oilers today are as good as game seven Edmonton Oilers. They, they lost some key players. They lost three guys on their back end who are probably, right now, all stronger than the three they brought in. I think this next 10-game segment,

the Oilers will have a good idea of where they are as a team, with or with Connor in the lineup, because they're playing good hockey clubs, teams that they're going to have to challenge for playoff spots, teams that are going to be first or second round or third round opponents in the playoffs. So I think they'll start to see what warts they have, what problems they have that may have been bad bounces or maybe we're not as big. Maybe we're not as fast. And then you see some of the players that left the Oilers as a success.

They're having to make Fogles up to four goals. McLeod's up to five. Broberg's been a stud in St. Louis. So it's the Oilers, I think, in the next 10 games will start to five broberg's been a stud in st louis so it's the others i think in the next 10 games we'll start to realize where they are as a team the gm will look at it and say okay 20 games in what do we have to do to improve our team uh to get back to where we want to be and having connor out and having to call players up that takes away from the money that they're trying to save uh in cap space for a move

later in the season i always thought that a move for a defenseman a top four defenseman would come in february early march but if the oilers struggle over the next 10 games maybe that move has to be made earlier brownie what do you make of being the same player and the puck just not going in for you and hyman obviously is the the best example but the underlying numbers for this team where it's like they're first in the nhl in ozone possession they have the puck and the other teams end the whole game i think they're first in some of these other categories expected goal shot attempts whatever it may be they're doing pretty good and just not going in the net i mean how much can you chalk up to luck obviously there's some of it and I think maybe it's a lot.

What do you think? Well, I think at the beginning, a lot was bad luck. There was a game where Leon had a wide-open net. Puck came to him, he hit the post. Like, he was literally by himself. Zach Hyman's had two or three wide-open nets where he's put it over the net or he's shot it wide. I think early in the season, it was bad luck.

I think as the season moves on, and I was a goal scorer, when they don't go in, then you start putting more pressure on yourself. And then you start, I don't know if it's panicking, but you start getting a little itchy. And you shoot a little quicker. Or you pass instead of shooting because, okay, the goalie's in my way, I've got to move it this way. So you start second-guessing yourself.

The problem I see for the Oilers. I do believe the offense will come around. This power play is too good. With or without Connor here. The Hyman could have seven goals this year. And they are eventually going to go in for him. Nugent Hopkins is going to be better. Leon is going to be better.

The problem I see is this Oiler team. When the puck doesn't go in. Because of puck luck or great goaltending, they're not winning 2-1. They're not winning 3-2. They're still giving up the four or five goals against. And that, to me, is the biggest problem here is they're making big mistakes. And if you're not scoring, you buckle down, play better defensive hockey, and you win the game 2-1.

And eventually the goals will come. But right now, I mean, they gave up six the other night to Columbus. And, yeah, they had some bad luck the others did in that game but columbus still scored six goals on you yes and and and it wasn't you can't hang them all on stewart skinner so they're giving up too many grade a chances so until the puck luck turns offensively this team has to be a better defensive team and they were last year they just haven't been so far this year you describe uh broberg as a stud in st louis and i'm just wondering now is it just a foregone conclusion that if the oilers could go back and take a mulligan like we've often have on the first tee no uh would they do it or is it to the point where let let's see if they didn't envision paying him $5 million a year, let's see what they fill the gap in between now and the trade deadline.

But you just mentioned earlier, if the slow start continues, they're going to have to fill that gap in a heck of a lot sooner. Well, it's funny. I just read a tweet that Jim Matheson, Hall of Fame sports writer, put out. And he said, more or less along the lines of, I'll paraphrase, Edmonton Oilers not going to go out and get a defenseman to play in the second

pairing for about the same amount of money as Broberg. He's going to be probably the same, if not might not be as good as Broberg because that's what they're looking for now is a second pairing defenseman. For someone that's second pairing, that's probably four or looking for now is a second-pairing defenseman. And for someone that's second-pairing, that's probably $4 million or $5 million a year.

So, yeah, I think they were caught off guard with the Broberg signing, with the offer sheet. They envisioned him being here. He was supposed to play with Darnell Nurse this year. He was really good for the Oilers in the playoffs. And I think everything that happened after that offer sheet was kind of trying to stem the bleeding. Like, how can we stop the bleeding

and somehow get this thing going in the right direction? So, yeah, I think they would love the opportunity to rethink that. 4.5 is a lot of money for him, but if he turns out to be what St. Louis thinks he is, I think the Oilers would be really happy paying a guy in the second pairing right now, 4.5, knowing that he's 25 years old or whatever he is i think the others would be really happy paying a guy in the second pairing right now 4.5 knowing that he's 25 years old or whatever he is and he's got another seven eight years in the organization how have the new guys been for the team this year uh specifically jeff skinner and

arvidson up front who i thought were both well i shouldn't say i didn't love the skinner one i liked arvidson quite a bit but it's not quite going in for him yet either, is it? Well, it isn't. Arvidsson's got three points on the season. They all came in one game. I love his work ethic. I really do. And the last two playoffs when he was with LA, he was LA's best player against the Oilers. He plays like he's 6'4

when he's probably 5'8. But offensively, it hasn't been there for him. Skinner's been good. He's contributed. He probably deserves a couple more goals. He has been good. He had a really off preseason that people were really worried,

but he's probably been the most consistent of all the forwards for the Oilers. It's on the back end where it's been a struggle. Dermott and Stetcher have been flip-flopping in and out of the lineup. Emberson, who they wanted to be in the top four, he's now the number six defenseman. He's been in and out of the lineup. So it's one of those things right now. They're not scoring goals.

They're not defending goals. Their power play is not very good. The penalty killing is awful. They're not getting the big save when they want it. Every coach's challenge goes against them. There's been no puck luck for it. This is like their team Schlepprock right now. They got the rainy cloud over top of them all day long.

So eventually it's got to turn. And maybe the injury to McDavid will do it. Leon Dreisaitl has won a heart trophy in the National Hockey League. And it was the year that Connor McDavid got hurt. And Leon put the team on his back. They need Leon to do that again over the next little stretch. Speaking of a Hart Trophy, how many games does Connor need to miss before you say he's out of the running for a Hart or an Art Ross Trophy?

50? 50? 60? Well, if he's got 60 games left, he's capable of two points a game. There's 120 right there, and he's already got 10. So that's 130 points. So he can afford 10 games, and I still think he's got a good chance of winning the scoring title. He's that good. And the thing with Connor McDavid, he gets better as the year moves on. He always struggles early in the season and struggle means point to a point

and a half a game. As the season goes on, he gets better and he'll be rested. And I think that's scary for the rest of the national hockey league. If Connor McDavid gets a little bit of a rest at the beginning of the year, you can never count him out. He's the best in the world for a reason. Yeah.

How, how do you like the rest of the Pacific division? I think going into the season, people thought Calgary not going to be great, and maybe they won't be, but they had a good start. Vegas probably better than most expect. What are your thoughts so far? I think Vegas

is good. Vegas will always be good. I've got a newfound respect for Jack Eichel over the last couple of years in Vegas. The way he plays, he's both ends. He's good. Mark Stone, fantastic. So I think Vegas and Edmonton will fight for the division

during the regular season. I think Vancouver without Demko, that's a big loss. He's their MVP. And with Pedersen being pedestrian, I mean, that's a lot of money tied up in a guy that's supposed to be your number one center, who right now is struggling to keep up as a third line. So I think

it's a two-team race for the division. I think Vancouver will be your third-place team. The one team that surprised me is the LA Kings. I didn't pick them to make the playoffs. And they've started better than I thought they would. I thought there would be three teams from the Pacific in,

and I thought five teams would come from the Avalanche Conference or the Avalanche Division. So I don't think the – I think the Pacific Division is probably the weakest of the four divisions in the National Hockey League, which is good if you're an Edmonton Oilers fan. Calgary took a bit of a hit the last few games, but even the fact that they got off to such a good start uh must have surprised you a little bit it it was uh

their work ethic is fantastic they've played the oilers they beat the oilers and they were good uh anderson's having a fantastic year like wieger on the back end huberto started well they got a bunch of young kids that play with some grit. They were physical, very physical against the Oilers' best players in that game. I mean, I know that Edmonton Oilers fans can't stand the Calgary Flames, but to me, the Battle of Alberta is better if both Calgary and Edmonton are playoff teams. The games mean more. So I hope Calgary hangs around and plays meaningful games as this season moves on because then just every time edmonton and calgary plays each other is

that much more important and there's that much more intensity brownie we were talking uh on the first half of the show with jason bucala about like scouting and players getting drafted and then developing into what they're going to become and kind of when you know when you when you've seen what they're going to become in the league tim you know when you when you've seen what they're going to become in the league timothy lilligren was the topic you know for a reason he's just got traded out of toronto i was looking at your stats while we're sitting here i mean the one year in junior year 212 points 76 goals 212 points in one season 60 some games guys the year before we had 100 anyway uh so you made it to the nhl you had a 50 goal season how long did it take you i died for

one minute i'm back how long did it take you to feel like you were the player you're going to to be in the nhl well if anyone's ever seen me skate or play defensive they'll know that i was only going to be an offensive player in the national hockey league um i was put in a position for success in pittsburgh when i got there i had high big numbers in junior and my first game i got to play with mario there was an injury i missed the first three or four games of the season bob erry got hurt and i played on a line with mario uh first game two shots two goals so i was i was more or less set as an offensive player having said that uh my skating eventually did not improve i went to the minors and had to come back as a different player.

I came back as a third-line player and played three more years. So I had to reinvent myself. I think sometimes situation dictates it. I know that both Ray Ferraro and Dean Everson both went to Hartford. They're both great offensive players. Dean Everson turned himself into a checking line forward and a penalty killer because he realized that in that situation, he wasn't going to be able to be a top six forward.

So you got to realize what your situation is on the team you're with, and then you got to accept your role. And a lot of players don't want to do that, and they'll fight it. And if they fight it, they find themselves out of the league and they find themselves in Europe. So realize who you are and having an honest conversation with yourself will probably allow you to fulfill a dream of playing in the National Hockey League.

Fighting it will probably have a long European career instead. Well said. Speaking of scoring goals and having pressure to score goals, you mentioned Zach Hyman. Earlier this year, we've heard from two star players, highly paid players in Zibanejad in New York, and recently today or the other day, Willie Nylander here in Toronto saying,

I need more ice time. I want more ice time. I want to stay more active. How did you go about it when you felt like you weren't getting the minutes that helped you, support you to score goals, or one of your teammates, how would you have handled it back in your day when you felt like, hey, you want me to score goals? Put me out there more.

Well, it's true. Scoring is hard in the National Hockey League. And if you're not on the first power play unit, and if you're not playing with one of the top players, you're not going to be a 30-goal scorer, a 40-goal scorer. You watch a lot of video. You try to talk to the assistant coaches. You usually go to the assistant coaches first

because they're the sounding board, and they'll go to the head coach for you uh but when you kepper when you and i played we didn't get to complain we didn't get to tell the talk to the press or the coach more or less yes sir no sir because if if we would have said something and spoke up we probably would have found ourselves in the minors but uh it is tough and and different today but it is different today, right, Brownie? I mean, the players feel freer to go and express themselves, even if it is through the media. Oh, 100% it is.

And, well, I mean, first of all, when we played, I know in Pittsburgh we had one beat reporter. So I'm going to go talk to Dave and say, hey, Dave, they're not playing me, play me more. Whereas nowadays there's all of the social media, the podcasts all the so there's way more media so there's a lot more pressure on a player i've been more so if you're in toronto in edmonton in pittsburgh i could go 12 games without a goal no one would know because i'd be behind high school football on the weekend in the in the sports So it is tough, and you were quiet.

But nowadays they come out and talk about it, and a lot of it is money. What are you going to do? A guy's making – you're paying a guy $10, $11 million. You're not getting rid of him. You can't. And he'll come out and say. And the pressure is way different now than when we played, I believe. Last one from me.

We had Steve Allicat on earlier in the week, and we were talking about goalie save percentage way down this year it's like 897 i actually think it's 898 today but league average last year was 903 league average seven years ago years ago it was like 915 what's your personal theory why are shooters starting to win back you know some ground in the battle with goaltenders the skill set is way higher way way, way higher nowadays than when I played. I'm on the ice every day here in Edmonton with sports academy kids. Oh, cool.

And these kids, they shoot better than I did. They're in grade four, grade five. I had years ago, I worked with an academy, and we had Dylan Gunther in it. And I was out there doing skills with them, and they said, okay, you're going to take these forwards down there, work with them on quick releases, quick shots. So I went down them. And they said, okay, you're going to take these forwards down there, work with them on quick releases, quick shots. So I went down there and

I said, okay, you guys have a competition. You'll have five shots and then the winner, I'll take the winner in the final. Dylan Gunther won. Then he goes five shots in the final. He scores five straight. And I just like put my stick down. There's nothing I can do. He's finished. The cake is baked.

He's U15, this kid. I was just indoors. We're doing indoor stuff shooting. And these kids can all go bar down. They can pick spots. All the stuff that when I played, Mario Ogretski would try to score from behind the net where he tried to bounce it off a goalie and in. They're all doing it now.

There's that little teeny spot where a goaltender kind of leans. They're all going short side top shelf now. In my era, there was two guys on a team that could do it now you got fourth line guys that are capable of it and kepper you know when we played the fourth line guys usually weren't as skilled as they are usually there were exceptions i don't i don't think today there's there's there's there's anybody going back to the bench and someone's saying to them that's a stupid shot you know right true yeah and that's all we had is like you're never gonna score from there and now it's like they all think they're gonna score from anywhere yeah and it's it is true and and they can and they're they're picking core they're standing in the

corner well last year in the playoffs that or i'veov scored on Skinner from the board's corner. He was number five defenseman and he ripped it top shelf. Why wasn't the reverse VH invented when we played? Just give us a chance to go top shelf. It wasn't there. Well, we weren't allowed to take

top shelf shots in practice either. Tommy Barasa was my goalie. If you didn't hit him he was yelling at you so we weren't allowed waist down audacity to go high it hurt someone well listen we'll see what happens uh starting tonight for the edmonton oilers uh with the nashville pet predators but uh the world without uh connor mcdavid starts tonight hey brownie thanks for doing this pal thanks a lot guys take care thanks brownie uh related to that dylan gunther story i i was a skating coach at the okanagan hockey school and in my group was shea weber he was like 14 i would oh my god 18 or something did he bomb it we

literally should have switched spots like i should have gone in the drills and he should have been the instructor it was like so evident he was the best athlete out there. And hammering the puck. Yeah, oh my god. You know, he skated and he was just huge. And he'll be inducted in the Hall of Fame next week. Yeah. Two weeks. You shot one through the net in the Olympics. Yeah, my god. Yeah, so Elliot Friedman

has an article today that talks about his billet family who family friends of mine from Kelowna, he billeted with Barry and Ingrid and they also had Mikael Backlund thousand NHL games Luke Shin thousand NHL games Tyler Myers thousand NHL games Shea Weber obviously hockey hall of fame they were like the billets were like they're good cooks yeah Ingy does a good job um I'm just looking at that 88 89 roster because you did what I love bringing up junior stats.

Thanks, Barney. 212 points. So Rob had 115 points. That's the year that Maryland U had maybe the greatest statistical season in NHL history with 199 points in 76 games, 85 goals. Like, you know, that's obscene. What is that? But Paul Coffey. That's in the NHL, by the way.

Yes. Paul Coffey on that team the NHL, by the way. Paul Coffey on that team had 113 points in 75 games and he was a minus 10? There were so many goals. Oh my god. Action. Action. That's wild.

I played against Rob Brown. Like, we all wanted to kill him. Yeah. Just kill him. Just cocky. like because he was oh and he'd run his mouth right really good goal scorer yeah you could put points up yeah and when you were head and shoulders above everyone else there and did a couple of windmills in front of your bench if you uh follow our friend sean mackind, Down Goes Brown. His name is Down Goes Brown because the Paul and Rob Brown lost a fight. I forget who.

Somewhere in Toronto, I presume, at Center Ice. But Brownie tells that story pretty well. He was on Chicklets this week too. Spectacular guy. Yeah, he does a great job. Game time? Yeah, we're glad he joins us. Game time.

It's game time. Visit my bet365. Visit the app for the saw. Don't want baseball. Find out why it's ever ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly so like you said no more baseball for me to talk about in this segment but i did have to go to the nfl because i looked at who's playing tonight j e t and it is justin bourne's pathetic new york jets that are playing on Thursday Night Football tonight. And they are minus 130 favorites against the Houston Texans. I guess Vegas thinks that they need it. Houston's banged up.

They got some injuries on offense. I got to tell you, if you bet the New York Jets as a minus 130 favorite, you are a sicko. Give me the Houston Texans as an underdog. Plus 110. Hold on. This is like when the Ottawa Senators get hot in the final month and a half of the season. Maybe. You know, and like get a worse pick for it.

That's the Jets are about to win. That's when any team gets hot. Right. Already eliminated. Speaking of insane favorites, the 3-7-1 Pittsburgh Penguins are minus 190 favorites tonight on home ice against the Anaheim Ducks. Sure, the Ducks stink, but I'm telling you something else, boys. So do the Penguins.

They stink. So, you know, that's two stinky teams playing in a toilet bowl. Give me the Anaheim Ducks as a plus 160 underdog tonight in Pittsburgh. And the last one I have, hey, you said no when the Columbus Blue Jackets beat your beloved Islanders. And the last one I have

for you tonight, Jared McCann, goal against the Leafs tonight, plus 220. That is definitely happening. The man that Kyle Dubas let go for Justin Holl. And that was game time. Visit my bet365. Visit the app latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet365. Must be 19 plus.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. He'd look good in the middle six. Sure would. He's a 25, 30 goal scorer. At least, right? Right. Fast.

They signed him to a $5 million contract. Yeah. A little while ago. And he's. Scored 29 last year. 40 the year before 40 he had a crazy shooting percentage here that year i remember but even last year he almost he's almost scored 30 this year he's got 14 points in 10 games yeah probably a little better just at all kerfoot

kerfoot they kept it was kerfoot i thought it was hall that they protected hall and kerfoot they kept both of them so one of them could have. But there was something on the math there with like, you know, five, four, three, D, I forget. Yeah, it was bad math. That's what it was. Yeah, they didn't math out, did it? They are better, Seattle, are they not? They are better.

I like Montour as an ad for them. I like Chandler Stevenson as an ad. I do love Chandler Stevenson. Way too much money, but I do love him as a hockey player. I'm not sure that they needed to climb that high to pay him. Yeah, what was it? Five, 525. I think it was more than that.

Maybe six. Tell us. I'm Googling it. What is it? What's the new website called? Cap wages. Cap wages. He makes 6.25 per year.

Boys, that's not right. For how long? I like him. Great age. But he's not. Seven years. Great age. How old is he? he's got to be old he's already 30 yeah and he's not the he's great he's a great skater but he's not the hardest working guy is that right i will say like watching when i went to that vegas game when i was down last year. Him live was the only time I've ever seen him live.

His skating was mind-blowing live. Like he flies, effortless stride, really gets around the ice well. The guy they love and could easily be the captain of that team, you know, Eberle's the captain, but is Brandon Montour. They've loved him from day one cool dude and that guy they say in the gym in practice never never takes a day off yeah and that's where yeah that's value yeah that is absolutely uh they have shane wright playing as the third line center this year which is interesting in seattle there like he's kind of found the only thing these guys are taking time

like lafreniere took years and all of a sudden it's like damn this guy's a player and and uh byfield same difference if this guy keeps getting stronger and gains a little bit more confidence and he could have a breakout year coming i don't know if he'll ever be a flashy or score like Lafreniere. But he could be a really important piece still.

Tanev versus Tanev tonight. Oh, the Tanev bros. He was, but the thing with Wright, he was supposed to go number one, right? And then Slavkoski goes and then three, was it two or three other, was he fifth or fourth overall i can't remember i feel like fourth but he went he was me mugged wasn't he staring at the table which i liked at the time i loved it but like and pen notes in yes anyway anyways okay did you wrap up uh game time for us i did i did

already okay all right let's take a quick break we come back, we'll get into some news and notes. Seven games on tap. We'll go through a few of them and get you ready for a big night in the National Hockey League. That and more when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Gunning. We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the Fan Morning Show. Sportsnet 590 The fan and wherever you get your

podcasts we're back on the real kipper and born show it was pretty ugly loss from vancouver canucks against the new jersey devils but i mean the big picture is it's is they're okay in the standings. It's not like they're Boston right now, scraping the bottom of the barrel in their division. So how concerned are you about, let's start with Pettersson. I'm just watching the wrist shot that's been all over the internet last night. You know, just a really passive effort i don't know

you know i see people in vancouver's market tweeting things like can we just let him be can you just let him play or like you know maybe he's hurt or i think fans have every right to you know not like the way he's playing compared to how they know he can play to that pressure is a natural result of they've loved them they've paid him they've committed to him and he's not playing well i don't know like i i don't i don't think there's some big magical thing that's going to change he's got to figure it out and confidence comes in waves now kip real's justin bourne sammy mckee this hour of real kipper and bourne brought to you by Bet365. Sammy, a lot of people are speculating and our own Elliot Friedman, I think,

wrote about this or talked about it on his 32 Thoughts that he's too sensitive or he's basically, you know, is maybe bothered by that marketplace? Shouldn't have this all been kind of put to bed when you signed your big contract? Have you ever heard anyone suggest anything

that he was pressured into signing a contract or that maybe he didn't want to but he had to take the money and when that comes up, it's like you can figure it out after you get the money i don't know if that's the case here but there must have been some athlete in some environment that said i don't love it here but if they're gonna throw me that type of money man i'm i'm taking it and running with it yeah and if i don't like it we can figure it out after that. I got to be honest with you, man.

I thought it was touch and go before they announced his big contract. I thought he could leave. The feeling was that maybe he needs just a quieter environment for him. And Vancouver ain't it. Toronto ain't it. Toronto ain't it. Montreal ain't it. Edmonton ain't it. You know, I would love to know what the numbers are literally since the day he signed the contract forward. Because he hasn't had nearly the same sting in his game.

I can't speak to the last few games but the last i looked into it which is about a week ago for a hockey central show he had played 39 games and had one goal one even strength goal sorry so i don't know what the actual numbers are i just remember that standing out he's four points this year through nine games he's a dash three i've watched a couple of their games it's just not and he could shoot the pill oh he could find it he can even one time the one timers but like the zip that he used to have on his shot is no longer there rick talk had talked about maybe opponents knowing this taking away his his ability to one time a puck and but hey time to get his feet moving more to me do you

see any stylistic comparison to kyle connor i see petterson as a guy who can be more physical than connor um but the same sort of like creative dash maybe connor's more of a pure goal type guy than than petterson petterson's a little bit more of a dish or two or a little bit more well-rounded i should say but i i just i'm watching kyle connor right now got he has nine goals in 10 games people know he can score he's firing it in people know he can score. He's firing it in. People know he can score. They're taking it away, too. Oh, man, he can zip. Last night, he flew by the Detroit D and caught a pass at a spot where someone without confidence just shoots it,

and he catches it, takes it to his backhand across the net. It's confidence for me. And one guy has it, one guy doesn't. I wonder who you put on the line with him and Matthews. The pass to those two guys can be a pretty dangerous line. USA. I mean, you think they'll play together him and Matthews. The past of those two guys can be a pretty dangerous line. USA. I mean, you think they'll play together? Montembeau will be fine.

Montembeau's going to be fine. Bennington's okay. Hofer's going to be fine. Anyways. No, but if I'm a Vancouver fan, and I'm sure there's Vancouver fans listening to this right now on Sportsnet 650, I'd be panicking about him.

Why are you going to panic? Because I'm a fan, and that's what fans do. You've signed this guy to be a massive contract, boys. Like, it's huge. Are you saying you're panicking that he would leave and that he'd want out? No, that, like, he's just not the same guy since he signed the contract.

The bigger concern is it kind of, it's bled from the end of last season into this season. Exactly. You'd think it's a summer off. You refresh. You're back. You know, you got a good team. You're ready to go.

And he just looks exactly the same as he looked in the playoffs. Like, exactly the same. It's just, I don't know, man. I'd be concerned big time if I'm a fan. I think concern is legit for him right now. For sure. All right. Your buddy, Freddie Anderson in Carolina, hurt again?

Yeah, he's hurt again. What's his problem? Lower body? Yeah, lower body. Week to week. So, Kip. Week to week. Week to week.

Is he on the ice? Week to week is like, could be four to six. Yeah. We're all week to week is he on the ice week to week is like could be four to six yeah the uh week to week you wrote an article yesterday uh in which you mentioned something about the franchise valuations um just a passing comment about the leafs being worth 3.66 billion dollars now the most valuable franchise in the nhl up a billion dollars year over year which doesn't make sense it's like when houses go up it's like what what are your thoughts on every franchise in the nhl now being worth a billion dollars which has

never happened in the history of the league before yeah um well great for owners yeah yeah gary's done his job sucks for the players because they don't get to participate in any of that no right play you always I'll tell you what. You'll never ever not be a player. Thank you. I love it. That's just the first thing that comes to your mind. Sucks.

Give me that cut. And the reason why those numbers are going so far up this quickly is because of the deal you cut yourselves way back when. But that's for another story another day let's uh i want to talk about a couple of the teams the the biggest risers and fallers in franchise valuations um chicago blackhawks fell to they're now behind the los angeles kings were the fifth most valuable franchise that surprised you at all no not really because it wasn't too it wasn't too long ago pre-Jonathan Tays,

pre-Pat Kane, pre-Stanley Cups, modern-day Stanley Cups, that they were having trouble filling the building. So that market's clear. You give me stars, you give me cups, and we'll bring that value right back up. The biggest jump in franchise valuation by percentage was Boston, which is 50%, but then right behind them at 49 was the New York Islanders, the Dallas Stars, and the New Jersey Devils.

Islanders' new building is a big one, right? That's probably part of their franchise valuation. Boston, 50% more valuable this year than last year. I think you can definitely look at new buildings and where the revenue is coming from and stuff like that. But when the dust settles, it's just really a bunch of rich billionaires going, I want to get into this club.

I want to get in the club. Like we have clubs losing money. So you tell me how anything can be worth a billion dollars if you're losing money. But that's not Uber. That's not what it's all about. What it's all about is strictly what one person's willing to pay to get into this club. And now they're attracting. There's never been more billionaires in this world.

And they continue to, like, come on strong. And then they get bored and they're like, I want one of those shiny things. And there's only 32 of them. What's the Utah? Utah, I was just going to say, Utah is up four from dead last to 28th. They're 78% more valuable this year than last. Yeah, that tracks.

That tracks. They're 1.14 billion. And the more concerning one is the Jets fell three spots. Still 19% more valuable than they were last year, though. So, you know, if you're Batman, you're going, that's a win. If Winnipeg is going to sell their team for over a billion dollars, it's going to be because someone's going to move them. It's not because they're going to sell it for a billion dollars

and keep them there. That's the value of the franchise, right? That's what a franchise is worth. And watch their attendance down 25%, 30% and non-sellouts. So what's the Leafs? The Leafs being up 38% at at 3.66 billion ahead of the Rangers who are at 3.25 billion can you imagine what that number would have been if the Leafs actually got past had one round ever in 10 years yeah I see past right so like five is

Toronto Rangers Montreal Canadiens Boston Bru Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, now ahead of Chicago and Edmonton who sit at 6-7. Edmonton at 2.4. The real money has to be made in postseason where you don't pay the players. That's where, like the Edmonton Oilers, I don't know what that number was.

How much money they made in playoffs last year? Listen, I golfed with a few boys out in lacombe alberta and i know personally in that clubhouse they gave a billion dollars each in canada like one game could attract 20 30 million dollars to a team right one game and they had in a stanley to find the home games they had. In a Stanley Cup final. How many home games did they have last year? 13, 14, something like that. Average price of a ticket could be $1,500 now. It's like, you going to see the Beatles? I would pay $1,500 to see all of the Beatles alive.

Yes. I might consider it. So, look at all these valuations. And, you know, all these teams that are the most worth the most are the most popular, right? So the most fans, I just don't understand. I'll never understand the hard cap. There's no other.

We can tell you all about it. I know, but there's no other league that like, don't you want your best teams to be able to spend and be able to be the most like you know the most popular teams to be the best and have the most money you think it'd be good for the league yeah where the most interest is you'd want them to be more successful like yankees dodgers the rangers should be able to spend 140 million dollars on the roster the least should be able to spend 200 million dollars on the roster like i i've never understood where it's like they all have to be the same level of mid and you can't pay guys and you can't keep them in the same place.

It's like, don't you want your most popular franchises to be the most successful? I've never understood it. It's like salary cap and the luxury tax, the NBA, competitive something tax in the MLB. NFL's a weird thing with the cap. Like, I just don't get it. I just don't understand. I'll never understand it. And Kipper could be like, oh, well, there's no... No, it's Bettman trying to protect the franchise valuations of

these lower teams and... I don't know. It's hard to argue when you think that you could sell your worst franchise ever for over a billion dollars right now. And can I say that... Something's worked for them. So you go the luxury tax

and get to pay into the luxury tax. So would the Leafs, would MLSC pay into a luxury tax to be able to spend $120 million? In the past, there has been taxes like MLSC, yes, in the cap era,

they've stroked checks that ended up with Nashville, right? The lesser teams. Oh, like you mean like... It's revenue sharing. Revenue sharing. Oh, I know, but I'm talking about being able to spend more on the Leafs. Or maybe... No, no, that's capped.

That's never going to happen. He wants to pay the league $10 million to spend an additional $10 million. But who does that hurt? Yeah. I guess just the small market teams with no money, which should be punished for not trying to be as competitive. Move them to somewhere where it's popular. But not only that, if they're all...

You're not wrong. I know I'm not wrong. It drives me crazy. And if they're all billionaires right now, what do they care? You're right. The salary cap right now is a joke being $88 million. If they're willing to spend $1.5 billion on the Ottawa Senators or the Anaheim Ducks, then

make them spend too. What's Giannis make for Milwaukee? $60 million a year or something? He almost makes the whole team's cap. What's his name? The guy from the Sixers that never plays. Joel Embiid just signed literally a $300 million contract. For four years?

Yeah, and he plays twice a year. Like, it's just, I don't know. I think the luxury tax, I'm saying as a fan of a popular team. But that's. They tried. The players tried everything. But this is the way the owners wanted it. They're not going back.

Start their own league. Road league. Live hockey. Where's Versteeg? Clever NHL pal. Launch it. But it's just, you're not going back. Start their own league. Road league. Live. Live hockey. Where's Versteeg? Clever NHL, pal. Launch it. But it's just, you're not serving your fans. Anyways, we don't need to keep going.

It's been a hobby horse of mine forever. But, you know, the Leafs got paid a billion dollars to have a bank put their name on the team. They can only spend 80 on the team. All right. You're done. I'm done. Nachushkin has likely to join practice before he's actually cleared

for reinstatement to play games. I'm nervous. Yeah. About a guy that's failed a couple of times to, you know, stay on this straight and narrow. But, I mean. And you know more about this. I do.

I get defensive about this. It's, you know, what's the guy's going to try? He's going to come back and play and try to be around? If you're Colorado and you... Some guys need, I would imagine, some guys can do it after four weeks and some guys need a year and some guys never can.

Yeah. So what do you do? Just throw him back in the fire? I'm not asking you. You just want to tell him to get a job? No, I'm not the expert. I'm not the expert. I'm just saying that, like, he's failed once when you've brought him back.

Yes. And this isn't going to work nine to five. This is professional sports where it's a different beast. I mean, there's doctors and lawyers dealing with it too, right? It's all high risk, and it's important for their companies that these people be able to do it um i hope they put them in a position of to succeed that's my only point and i after that i'm not an expert no and i hear you and that's totally fair it is uh obviously i'm a guy rooting for him yeah we're all rooting for him sorted out and if you're colorado it's like there are a few players on earth like Nachushkin. You know, he is a

big monster. He's their leading goal scorer in playoffs before falling off the rails. So, you know, I don't blame them for saying, God, he doesn't make a ton of money compared to his value. Let's see. Let's see what he can do. And they need him bad. And you have to think. And that's the other thing, too, is like they need him bad.

Oh, yeah. They need this to work. It's a professional sports franchise. You have to think that they're going to do everything in their power. Right. To protect them. To put the people, the right people in charge talking to him and sticking with them and giving him the support he needs.

It's a major league operation. You'd think they'd treat him as such, you know. I would be curious to know what they put in place. Maybe we should talk to someone from Colorado and just what what are what does this support look like for a guy like that like yeah i don't know i also mentioned in my article today that i wrote for the toronto star that uh there's gonna be some some pressure now on the boston bruins to get going here between now and how are we talking about american 552 yes american thanksgiving you mentioned like it is unacceptable right now their start especially with their commitments in free agency and to

swayman that uh that's uh lindholm swayman all got looking at looking at the standings and you're you're you're tied for the basement in the Atlantic Division. So the conversation we're not having that we're beating around is about Montgomery, who's going to be under fire. And you just wrote the word Quenville, not about he could take that job, but just that he's a name who's out there. He's a name that's out there,

and we saw Stan Bowman end up in Edmonton, and he's free and clear now. And if there's struggling teams going into Thanksgiving, that name is going to pop up. Red Wings too? That's outside. That's out of saying that the Boston Bruins are considering him right now. That's not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is it'll probably be the first name that kind of comes up having that name out there adds a lot of pressure you mentioned detroit i like colorado tons of pressure on colorado team we just spoke of moments ago and bednar's been great but tough on five billionaires billionaire owners want to keep it going me too i want to be a billionaire owner as well. Yeah. We'll get you there on this show. You can only spend $10 on your team, though, in the NHL. Seven games on tap, including a pretty important one,

a statement game for the Edmonton Oilers tonight. Enjoy your games tonight, and we're back tomorrow on Off the Rails Friday with Doug McClain. See you tomorrow. From Florida. Have a great night, everybody.