Real Kyper & Bourne - The Utah Ultimatum

Episode Date: April 11, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Daniele Franceschi start the second hour with a chat about reports around a likely relocation coming for the Coyotes with Salt Lake City as a landing spot. Joining the conversation, Elliotte Friedman (9:53) shares the latest on the move, the future of hockey in Arizona if they do move, where it went wrong for owner Alex Meruelo and how it impacts the players. Finally, they regroup with Daniele for news & notes - the Oilers closing in on the Canucks for the division lead, concern levels rising for Vegas and going over the results of the NHLPA's player poll.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right let's kick it up it's the national edition of the real kipper and born show nick kiprios justin born disco dan franceschi in for the master masters watcher sammy mckee he's got the master's flu any update do we know what's going on? Oh, he's got IV bags, I've heard. Don't forget Sammy. Oh, Sammy, the Masters. Yes, the Masters. Like Tiger. Yeah, Tiger was one under par through one. He is one under par through three still.

DeChambeau, seven under. Seven under. Is he done? He's done now. What a round. I know. And I didn't pick him. I think he'll blow up.

Do you? Good. Good. Corey Connors inside the top ten. Two under. Let's go, boys. Two under. And I didn't pick him. I think he'll blow up. Do you? Good. Corey Conner's inside the top ten. Two under. Two under. Here we go. Here we go. Plenty to get into.

We're going to be joined momentarily by Elliot Friedman. Talking the league right now. The Coyotes. Utah. We'll get up to speed on that. Hannafin signs a brand new contract. What is that, $9 million per? What did he get?

$7.35. It was $7.35 over $8. We've got NHLPA poll out where Sid dominates in probably the best category of them all. So we'll get into that. In the meantime, I wanted to ask you guys during commercial break, if you remember, maybe you weren't born, but I did a Hockey Central at Noon show with Doug McClain and Darren Millard, and the roof caved in.

Pardon me? Yes. Yeah, the roof fell. Okay. Yeah. And I only bring this up because as i sit here with my notes and my computer i noticed this this screw in this washer and i don't know where they're from but like every once in a while if you look if you find me looking up at the ceiling yeah

just give me a heads up if something drops okay okay hopefully that's the last of it when i was in 11th grade math i brought a screwdriver and i would take one screw from the room every day so by the end of their year the room was just in shambles really enjoyable uh we're gonna get into elliot of course with the the coyotes news but uh let's go to you first jb and just you know it for me it's like nothing nothing nothing and then hair on fire yeah i know unbelievable turn hold on before i answer that because i'm gonna answer that we also forgot to mention oj simpson passed away that's good news all right do you like to comment on it or is it political i got no comment no comment yeah let's preserve the integrity of oj where do you think

we're going with that conversation there's nothing good that's going to come from that yeah a lot of jokes um what we're talking about oh yes the arizona thing that was left field absolute left field like yeah no they're they're going to bid in this auction we're doing everything we can years of just down the road down the road oh they're going to move in nine days and you think it's like like you don't hear this from 10 insiders and then have it be like oh it's not happening they're actually going to stay in arizona they go they're gone it's just uh for for me it's like we all know the way the league conducts their business when it comes to what the fans know, what the media knows.

They're strictly on a you need to know. And right now, you don't need to know. That's the way they conduct their business. But it does make you skeptical of everything they say. So what happened in the last week here that went from yeah we're looking to uh see ya yeah gone you tell me what did happen like is it basically been they've just been this is the plan all along and now it's happening in a week and so now we have to find out because people have to kind of know now was it the mayor of scottsdale that shut that potential site down

and it was like help well we're out of sand yeah in the desert i think which is tough to do i think that might have been part of it but not really to me like i just think they couldn't they didn't want to say anything until they knew they had as many pieces in place as possible and it really is at the point where if they're going to move a week from today people have to be notified plans have to be made so now it's starting to come out that this is real are there coyotes in solely city people have to move that is the least of their worries when it comes to what What, letting people know is the least of their worries? Who needs to know? I don't know.

Like the secretary needs to know if she has to move her whole family to a different state? Like I said, you're on a need-to-know basis, and right now you don't need to know. Borny coyotes are common in Utah. Are they going to just be the Salt Lake City Yotes? I don't know. Do you think they made some level of assurance to, and forgive me, I don't remember the Coyotes owner, his name. Alex Marulo.

Alex Marulo. Did they make, you think there's assurances there that, hey, first kick of the can, we're going to do this, but don't worry. You'll get your franchise back. It just will be as an expansion team. Like, let's go away for a little bit. Why would you do that? Why?

Unless something was in part of the deal that the owner had something on the NHL for maybe pushing you out? Well, I don't... Like, was there... And we'll ask Elliot, there there is some belief that alex had some sort of he had something over the nhl where he could sue them maybe yeah well that's right that does seem relevant like you can't the owners own the team and presumably like donald sterling in the nba did something that they deemed egregious and unacceptable conduct and you got to sell your team you know he got a bunch of money for that I guess if can it not be similar

here where the league says you can't provide us a place to play so like how do you sue the league when they say you just you can't have a team here if you can't put us in an NHL ring? So the belief is that this is, you're selling the team, right? But you're forcing them to sell it. Yeah, you are. And there's relocation fees and there's, right? So who sets that

up, right? Who decides what that fee would be? Usually you sell something to somebody, you give me the money, I give you this. But that's not the way it works in the NHL because there's the league going, okay, what's in it for me?

Does that league mean the other owners? Yes. The other owners somehow are profiting from this. Yeah. Right? So you assume it's in a relocation fee because you just can't pick up and sell your team. You need a board of approval by the other owner saying, yes, you can move your team there. So like Forbes estimates of the value of the Arizona Coyotes, I don't remember offhand totally guessing, like $600 million or something like that.

Like a low number. But the feeling is, hopefully Elliott will join us soon and verify it. Who are we on? $1 billion. So the league gives Marulo a billion for his 600 million? No. No. Ryan Smith in Utah gives Marulo $1 billion.

Okay. And then with that, he gets to pay off his debt, which could be in the vicinity of $1 billion. $300 million. Okay. And I don't know what he's in for, $300 million maybe to begin with. Could end up profiting $300 or $400 million out of the deal. That's nice. That's nice.

So, yeah, tough to sue someone who makes you $300 million. Speaking of getting away with murder. Yeah. Aren't you glad I brought it up? You got to land that tremendous joke. I was, the question I thought of, and I've thought about this a long time, and yesterday I was on in the evening

and I posed this question. I just, what is the fascination with Arizona? It's the size of the market. Is that as simple as that? It's the fifth largest television market in the United States. I am in more belief than ever it's a fantastic market. You believe it's a fantastic one? I said it's a big one.

I don't know. Yeah, no, I think it's fantastic. I think it could be a home run for the league. What's changed your mind on this? That it's a great sports town. Okay. And the one fault in 20 plus years is just you never found the right owner. No. And you never found the right facility.

Buddy, they started in an NBA building without hockey sightlines. And they ended in a goofy minor college rink. How do you do that then? How do you give a franchise to a place that can't, doesn't have a facility? I guess they thought Glendale was coming and they didn't anticipate the location stinking.

Eventually it's up to an ownership group to build one. Yeah. And I guess that's what Glendale was. And they never did. And Glendale, they got for free and they, it was like pulling teeth

to get people to go there. I lived there and I was a hockey fan and I went to three games in three years because it was an hour and 20-minute drive through Phoenix at rush hour. It's a bad experience. That location that they just listed that was going to go on auction and still will

is a home run. Nice piece of land. It's gorgeous. It's between Phoenix and Scottsdale. Downtown Phoenix and 10 minutes from Scottsdale. I have no doubt in my mind if they built it, it would have been spectacular. Alright. Alright, let's welcome

in Elliot Friedman to add to this story in terms of Elliot. We were just speaking moments ago how it felt like for 20 years we've been talking about this market and needing to leave and not leaving and then in a blink of an eye

everybody's got them going to Utah. So maybe just give us what you know or the latest or what's still out there to truly dive into. Well, Nick, I think that they are working hard to get something done.

There's no guarantees. There's a lot of egos involved and there's a lot of lawyers involved. That can be a bad and volatile combination. But they're definitely working at it and there's a will to do it and a want to do it. And I think there is definitely – I don't know if framework is the right word, but I'm going to use it. I think there is a framework of a deal there that everybody is prepared to do.

You just have to pay for it and get it done. Now, I think this. I was in Vancouver last night. The Coyotes played. They didn't say anything. They were really, like, basically they told the media none of these guys are going to talk about it. But the sense I really got just from being around them, Nick,

is that there was a lot of shock. I don't think they believed that this was going to happen this quickly. I think I really got the sense that they really, that they thought that they were going to go to the auction and see what came out of it. And over the last couple of weeks, I think two things came up. Number one was they weren't, what happens if they don't win it? And number two is even if

they do win it uh they weren't going to be there until the fall of 2027 at the earliest and they didn't want that anymore there was a lot of pressure from the players association and there was a lot of pressure from other owners eventually you reach a point where you have to concede this doesn't work. And I don't know if it's going to happen, Nick, but I do think that they want to get it done for next week because I think that they want to meet with the players while they're still there. You know, when a season ends, guys, as you know, you stay for a couple of days, you have a team party, and then everybody kind of goes off in their own way. And I think they want to do it while most of the team is still around.

So, Elliot, what does this mean for the city of Phoenix and hockey in the future? And how about for Salt Lake City and hockey? Like, this is a permanent fix. They're going to stay. I guess where are they going to play? Can you give us the answer on the two cities relationship to their new teams or no teams? Sure, Justin. You know, right now they're going to play in the Delta Center, which is where the Jazz play. I think they have to do a bit of retrofitting there for hockey to do some work. However,

basically, they're getting a new arena. The bid process now for the Olympics is a little different than it used to be. They give you preferred bids, and Salt Lake City is the preferred bidder. And off the top of my head, I can't remember if it's 2030 or 2034. I think it's 2030, the Winter Olympics. And as part of that, they're going to get a new arena. So that's why Salt Lake was coming into the league at some point. They wanted this owner, Ryan Smith, in the league, and they knew they were getting a new arena eventually.

So they'll be in this one for a little bit and then we'll see as for arizona part of this and this is one of the reasons that look there there's two things here they've sold alex morello on one i think he's getting a billion dollars for his team so he'll be made whole and then some and number two there's going to be an exclusive window i believe for five years of him to put a new team in arizona now it doesn't mean he can just sit around for five years and hold on to it from what i understand it's written in a certain way that there's certain benchmarks or things he has to accomplish or else he could lose it. But if he can go out and he can get a new building and he can get construction done and he hits those targets,

he's going to have five years to bring the team back. So like the NHL is not abandoning Phoenix. They are going back or Arizona. They're going back to that market at some point. It's just a matter of how and who it's with we're talking to elliot friedman from 32 thoughts hockey night in canada talking to arizona coyotes so alex morello we just mentioned uh could be upwards of a billion dollars he pays his debt it's a nice chunk of change but this guy has not been able to

convince anybody in arizona uh that and he had ample time to get this thing done yeah why would the league still want to give him first rights of refusal this this guy does not have a great reputation he didn't pay his bills elliot why why do they feel loyal to this guy to not have a great reputation. He didn't pay his bills, Elliot. Why do they feel loyal to this guy to give him a first crack at another team? What did he have on the NHL that they wouldn't open this up to a lot more billionaires out there? Nick, I don't think it's about what they owe him. I think it's more on what did he have. And I don't think it's about what they owe him i think it's more on what did he have and i don't think it's pictures of anyone if that's what you're asking uh i think it's uh

i think what it is is they wanted to get this done as smoothly as possible alex morello was willing to fight them he was willing to make this very difficult on them he was willing to go to court um that's who he is. He's going to fight you. That's his, that's, you know, that's what his, that's how he built his business, not being a shrinking violent, not a violent, not being somebody who could be easily intimidated.

He's a fighter. And the easiest way to get this done in terms of as quickly as possible and not get tied up in court or anything like that was to make sure a he was okay with the payout which he apparently is and b there is a level of him i understand that wants to prove that he can do this he doesn't like that people think that he can't do it even though there's good reason for that he doesn't like it, even though there's good reason for that. He doesn't like it, and I think he wants the opportunity, at least the league feels he wants the opportunity to prove it.

So that's what you have to do. You have to, like Nick, sometimes in a negotiation you have the hammer and sometimes you don't. And in this case, Murillo had a hammer. He couldn't make this really difficult on the NHL. So he gets a bit of a better deal. The one thing I do think is I do think there are people in the league who think that he's getting away with too sweet a deal.

But he had the ability to hold this up and make this difficult, and they didn't want that. I will say this too, Nick and Justin. It's really obvious to me that there's an anger. I mean, you can see it on social media from the Coyotes fans. Like, people didn't want to talk last night. You know, to be honest, Nick, when I went down to the dressing room after the game, I didn't even want to stand near anyone from Arizona because I don't want anyone to think,

like, these people are giving me information. But, like, you can just see how mad these people are giving me information but like you can just see how how mad some people are they're concerned about you know the staff members their jobs i mean you know much how much the the trainers the equipment staff all those people who work so hard they're not as protected as the players and coaches you know how this how this is going to affect families like they're angry and there's a certain feeling of and i think it's a very fair feeling that it's not acceptable to stand out there and say okay we're going to get this auction done and we're going to build a new arena and we're

going to save hockey and in arizona and then when this story breaks suddenly you don't say anything like the the people yeah there yesterday you know I tried to ask have you guys heard anything and I I didn't get the impression that anybody did and so you can't do that you have to I think that's where the real they all got played yeah they all got played you're right they all got played and they're mad about it so you know so much of this feels like it's driven by frustration. They can't get it done. Impatience. But the whole mullet arena thing and the way players were feeling about this,

I can't help but wonder about Marty Walsh who, you know, came in and really made strong statements about how this just can't continue. He seemed to be a good advocate for the players how much of this is driven by the players and marty walsh saying we're just sick of whatever this temp situation is i don't think it it hurt and and i and i think you're right about one thing justin i definitely feel the players believe that Walsh was a good advocate for them. You know, he made his feelings heard. He said his piece.

But there wasn't really much they could do. And even now the players are saying, hey, what are my rights? And they're being told not a lot, really. You know, their contracts are going to be purchased as part of the sale. Now, it's going to be interesting to see if some players say they want to be traded or they give Smith a chance to speak to them. We'll see where that goes. But really, this came down to, from a business point of view, it couldn't continue.

Like, it just couldn't continue this way. And that's why I think that while it helped what Walsh did and the players appreciated what Walsh did, it became more about this mullet situation becoming untanable. From a revenue point of view, big picture, 100% the right move. Yep. That's it. this if you're if you're ryan walsh do you or sorry ryan smith do you do you want this to happen this way with no lead up in branding no ability to get the rink set up the way you want it like the amount of money he's going to

spend for this is this the right way will he be happy with how this is happening listen it's an exclusive group there's only 32 of these things. You take them when you can get them. Is that it? 100%. Well, I think he would have preferred an expansion team. He's on record as saying that. He would have preferred it.

But they wanted him in the league, too. You know, I remember a few years ago when we reported that Wallace had first met with Bettman. You know, Nick, in particular, you've done the job that I do. There are times that people want things out there. And I just remember the way that Walsh came across at the time. There were people who wanted everyone to know that this guy was interested in the NHL

and the NHL was interested in him and this is a good thing. You know, he's seen as a very good owner in NBA circles. He's a very smart guy. He really wanted the NHL. People wanted him in the league. And, you know, I think it just came down to he wants it they wanted it would he have preferred to do an expansion team yes but there was a problem they needed to solve

and he could solve it and it became like he's i think he's very happy i think he's very happy. I think he's very eager. I think he's happy to prove what he can do. But it is no question that right now he was the right guy in the right place at the right time, and people wanted him in the league. I agree with you, Elliot, that Arizona is very much on the plans for the future here. And I would say three to five years, we will hear hockey going back there. I'm with you. For one thing, players like playing there. They love living in Arizona.

It's a great place to live. Number two, they've got a minor hockey program that is turning out Hall of Fame-level players, and that's important. It's a big TV market. They'll go back. I'm with you. And, you know, I don't think that,

I don't believe that there was ever anything serious, if anything at all, with Matt Ishbia, who's the current owner of the Suns. But I find it hard to believe that at some point after this is all over, there isn't going to be a conversation with him if, assuming Morello can't pull this off, there isn't going to be a conversation with him about, okay, how do we get all in bed together here? How do we turn this into a big Pauly Morris or whatever they call it relationship? So then Houston and Atlanta,

and we're just going to have 100 teams? We're good with 100 teams? No, no, no. We're going to have 100 teams all south of the border. Like if I'm a Canadian right now and I'm watching Utah over anything in Canada that we have to offer, I think it's kind of a sad day for Canadians, too. It is, Nick, but it is.

And, like, as a guy who grew up watching the Nordiques and Canadians and would love to see that again, like, my question is, can it really work with two teams in the province of Quebec? And I, I would love to have someone prove me wrong. I just, that's what I think the issue is. Do they really think it can work in the soon to be a hundred million dollar salary cap NHL? That's my question.

And I hope someone can prove the doubters wrong. But, you know, the other thing, too, is, and I've said this a lot, the NFL has 32 teams in the U.S. The NBA has, what is it, 31 in the U.S. Major League Baseball is 29-1. The NHL is 25-7. And the NHL believes there's room for more and that's why you're going to see it i justin i don't know what number we're going to go to here if it's going to be 34 um i know there's some people predicting it's going to be 36 there's not enough good players. Yeah, I'm not convinced of that yet, but I can see 34.

I can. I don't think that's out of the question. Yeah, I don't disagree. And regardless, if you think there's enough talent to produce top-rated pro hockey players, I don't think it matters to them. I was too late, Kip. I missed my window. Yeah, you did, buddy.

You did. All right, Elliot, Kip. I missed my window. Yeah, you did, buddy. You did. All right, Elliot, we're going to let you go. We'll see you a little later on tonight on our telecast, Sportsnet Ontario Leafs and Devils, along with the very talented and muscular David Amber. The steroid-aided David Amber. Oh, my gosh. You can't put that out publicly.

Why do you think he has so much energy? All right. Thanks, Elliot. Thanks for you guys. Thank you so much. Elliot Friedman. So, listen, spent the majority of my broadcasting career, like, thinking about the players, supporting the players, players' rights and all of that. Yeah.

You know, I get how difficult this could be for some of the players. But if you recently bought a home there or got a golf membership lately there, you're dumb. You're just, that was a dumb decision. I see your point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want to hear. You're not saying in general if you do that you're dumb. You a dumb i see your point okay yeah yeah yeah i don't want to hear you're not saying in general if you do that you're dumb you're saying it's arizona have you not been aware of the circumstances around the team 100 you're playing in a building that looks like something from like that would be men's league top performance yeah would come out of that building yeah where would you have joined

arizona and thinking i'm gonna buy a home here and if they buy home you can sell it same market so i don't want to hear that i don't want to hear a player say i just bought a home there yeah like i got no tears for you okay this team should have been moved 10 years ago yeah and they're not you know i know it's not the point necessarily but they're not moving you to nowheresville salt lake city in the winter is sunny and beautiful and it's a lovely place to live they got hockey it's going to be a great hockey town team got traded to utah you got dealt. Just. But I am curious to know. It's a guaranteed contract. Like what happens with no trade clauses?

Because a lot of players would have had Arizona on their list. Who maybe they didn't. They didn't get traded. Maybe they played in Salt Lake though. They didn't get traded. I know, but I'm saying other people have Arizona on their no trade list. Maybe they play in Salt Lake City. You know, maybe guys will.

I think they'd probably honor. Chance to revisit. I think they'd honor that part. Yeah. That's not that hard of a decision. Figure out some of that stuff. You know. But.

The Salt Lake. It's the right decision for the league. It is the right decision. At the end of when it's all said and done. Let's be honest. This should have been done two years ago. You're going to play in front of. This has been embarrassing.

15,000 people. There's mountains there. Skiing. Golf. You can000 people. There's mountains there. Skiing. Golf. You can golf year-round. You're good. You'll be just fine. Maybe not year-round.

I have felt, you know, the Lenny and the Simpsons don't let them see how I live or don't tell people how I live sort of thing. I felt like that about Mullet Arena. Like, don't let NFL fans see that one of our teams plays here. Like, ugh. It's not been a point of pride. What pride we should do you want to do game time let her rip okay you're gonna have yela do uh do game time let's go it's game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary a bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only play responsibly all right it's game time i love it

yes darren great intro by disco 10 games in the national hockey league tonight um all right i had a few that stood out and just kind of scoping up through the different lines and what's going on um i'm gonna be a homer and i'm gonna take the Leafs. I do like the Leafs minus one and a half here against the Devils. I think Matthews is hunting. They're chasing 70. They're motivated and eager to try and get it. He's had a ton of success against them, as you pointed out, Borny, earlier in the show.

Plus 125, minus one and a half. I like the Toronto Maple Leafs there. That would be the first time someone has ever picked Leafs minus one and a half on this show. Really? He doesn't have the he's afraid of jinxing it. Okay. Sort of thing.

Well, I get that. He's a true hardcore fan. I get that. And Matthews, by the way, to have two goals or more in this game, plus 325. Not a ton of juice for, I mean, essentially banking for two goals. They're nervous. Yeah, but interesting. Particularly when you know he's hunting for it.

Could get four. Yeah. You're the books. You're like, we like we'll move that number down a bit you remember it's funny because we looked at that shot total from the last i think it was 11 12 games whatever and he's got 62 yeah it's a number last 11 games 62 shots he has he's averaging about six six shots a game uh the other game i was looking at capitals on the road at buffalo really Really like Washington in this spot. I don't know. Ovi's just, he's hitting other gear.

He's been hot, staying hot. He got 30, man. It's crazy. Think about where he was in November, December, and he's at 30 now on the season. 14 goals in the last 20 games. I just think that they've got, they're playing for something. There's stakes there for them.

And they're dogs. I like them to win on the road. And my last one that i wanted to circle lightning tampa at home they've won six of their last eight vasilevsky started to look like the old vasilevsky i like the form that he's shown in the last month or so uh tampa at home uh they are playing just to confirm uh ottawa tampa at home against ottawa uh those are the three that i sort of circled on the board tonight for game time and that of course was brought to you by brett 365 thank you sir

and just a reminder though that uh this hour of real kipper and born is brought to you by bet365 as always yes sir all right what do you got break break we go to break we got so much stuff to get tons including a crazy western conference that got a little crazier with the Oilers. 5-1 victory over Vegas. And the Canucks take one on the chin against Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City Coyotes. That sounds so wrong. It's too many words.

Just so bad. So what does that mean? Right? Yeah. What does that mean? Right. Yeah. What does that mean? We're going to figure it all out when we return to real Kipper and born. Get smarter.

When you listen to hockey, talk the hockey PDO cast with Dimitri Filipovich, subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Podcast. Nick Kiprios. Justin Bourne. Disco Dan.

All right, Western Conference. All we got was more confused last night. Well said. But I will say this. As far as looking at the Oilers' win last night over Vegas, above all standings or no standings, a convincing win without Connor McDavid, I got to think there's more confidence right now in that room just for that very reason than maybe anything we've seen all season long out of the Oilers yeah you think of them I would say

as much as any team that boy you know they rely on this one guy to drive everything and to have Vegas come in and just get worked over the way they did was yeah, I would say somewhat heartening for Oilers fans to see that there's some more juice past the top guy there. Now. Now, we look at Vegas. Like, not a great time to get cold here.

There is still a lot of meat in the bone here to finish their season off. They lost three in a row. Yeah, and, you know, they're fairly good teams. The Coyotes, Salt Lake City Coyotes beat them once too. Like they're giving life. They're giving some life, have they not, to the St. Louis Blues?

Well, the Blues, yeah, the Blues could get to 95 points. Vegas is sitting on 92 with four games left. So, yeah, I mean, maybe there's a shred of hope there. Vegas does have to play Colorado, Minnesota. So, you know, maybe they'll lose a couple. The other thing that kind of stands out for me watching the Oilers get ready for the playoffs is how good is Eckholm.

He almost killed that poor goal yesterday. I think there's an appreciation for him. There's no question league-wide. But he's, for me, I'm looking at him in a much different light than I saw in Nashville, where for me, he's almost got Zidane O'Chara presence for the Edmonton Oilers. Yeah, see, because O'Chara would fight you, right? And the other day we saw that Eckholm's not doing that.

Yeah, listen, I mean, the game's changed enough where I think he's big enough, strong enough, he can hit. He's competitive. Like there's enough of a streak in him that you better keep your head up against him no he cannot scare you physically that way like chara but i think he has that presence for me on the blue line that this is the guy you know it's going to be interesting because you know i've said this for a long time, but Edmonton's chase of Vancouver is as real as ever with Vancouver giving up a point last night.

Oilers four points back with two games in hand. So obviously they can catch them. They also play Vancouver a couple days from now on Hockey Night in Canada, if I'm not mistaken. And that's for winning the division. Essentially. You know, if Edmonton were to win that and to narrow that gap to two points

and then also have two games in hand, including two games against Arizona and one against San Jose, you got to believe Edmonton's walking away with it at that point. So HNIC, Saturday night, Edmonton has a chance to say the division after all this long slog is ours what's crazy to me is who are they going to play in round one right now if season ends today they

play Los Angeles if they catch Vancouver it could be Nashville it could be Vegas they could stay where they are it could be Vegas they could play any number of teams right now. There's just nothing decided. And I get as well that no Petrangelo last night. And they've got Mark Stone. We don't really know for sure whether or not he's got a chance to. Is his spleen better? I don't know. Your guess is. Spleens heal quickly.

I've not heard. Magically show up for game one. Magically. That would be possible. I've not heard. Magically show up for game one? Magically? That would be possible. But even if there's no guarantee once you get these guys back that you can just find your mojo still. Hill didn't look that great, especially on the wraparound goal of Holloway's.

It's like, who's your goalie? Thompson? Like, Hill won the Stanley cup, but I don't, I think there's people still questioning who's your goalie in Vegas. Big questions. I mean, you got,

you know, one of the best decors in the NHL, if not the best. So you think you can insulate either guy pretty well, but yeah, Vegas has got to sort it out. I still say though, you don't want to play him in playoffs.

You don't want hurdle to start getting, you know, find find a stride you don't want stone to come back you don't want hannifin to be at his best and petrangelo to come back it could all come together in a scary way still so yeah lots to be determined on on where vegas ends up but certainly a little concerning that they're not winning more games than they are of all the big contenders or paraphrase contenders are they the one that maybe doesn't concern you or give it gives you the least amount of pause because we've seen them do it i would say it's very much like tampa bay for me yeah it's like this team might come in a wild card spot they don't care i mean they're still tampa bay they still have great players they can still beat you any night well coach, yeah, I think that's a reasonable way to look at it.

As far as one of ten games tonight, Detroit and Pittsburgh, that comes on the news that Andrew Kopp has been diagnosed with a broken cheekbone and will not play against Pittsburgh. That's significant for them, man. That's your typical Game 7 type of player. Yeah. Like, that one stings. Detroit-Pittsburgh is monstrous tonight.

Just a monstrous game. Both teams one point behind the Washington Capitals for that final playoff spot, and both with four games remaining. It is, you lose tonight and you're done. Season's on the line. And no cops, so that is a big one. Islanders have kind of pulled themselves out of the fight, Kippy.

NHL playoff odds via money puck have the Islanders with an 83.6% chance of making it. Patrick, why? Patty, why? Can we not give them a ton of credit here i'll give him credit for a couple things underlying numbers did change when he came in their defensive metrics got better that's a tangible change that they saw the other thing is that when they almost peed down their leg and let the season get away from him with a couple of losses. He didn't go in front of the microphone and act like John Tortorella

and say, these guys don't know what it takes to win. They got to play different now. I'm going to sit my captain down. He just said, I actually liked our game tonight. And I think that let them kind of stay in the fight a little bit and still believe. All right, we got some sound also from Peter Laviolette

who had a very big issue with the New York Islanders on Dobson and his collision with Zibanejad. Can I weigh in on this before we hear the coach? You can. It was Adam Pellick. Oh, it was Adam Pellick, sorry. Dobson on Troach. Correct. That's what I'm

thinking of. Just a quick reminder as well that this segment of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Hyundai. All right, let's go. We're off to Labulet. You want to go to him first? Yeah, let's go to Peter Labulet. He came back at the end from that vicious hit. Yeah, he came back.

That vicious shoulder elbow to the head. Watch it. You think it was intentional that it wasn't a collision? I do. You weren't with the cops, were you? Vicious from behind. Both. All right, let's pick it up with Patrick Waugh's reaction to vicious.

Patrick, Peter Levilette just said that he felt the collision between Pellick and Zibanejad was an intentional... Intentional, you're right. But he said intentional by Pellick. No, it was accidental. The referee was in a really good position to see it. He saw it. I was more afraid that Pellick might get hurt on that one. I mean, he's the one that hit Pellick.

I mean, it was the opposite, I think, of what happened. I mean, the same thing happened in Pittsburgh with the referee. So, I mean, it was totally accidental. There's no doubt in my mind. I mean, and I think Kelly was in a really good position to see everything, and he made it clear right away that it was accidental. But sometimes frustration makes you say things. Sometimes frustration makes you say things.

I think we're all leaning towards patrick waugh on this buddy it was absolutely accidental you know like if one guy did run into one guy you fine make the case that it's a bandage ad but yeah both guys are looking somewhere totally different it's not at all in the history of the islanders defenseman pellick and i know people are like islanders watch the head he doesn't see him coming. He's looking completely the other way. The guy runs into his shoulder. If anything, honestly, the second one is more egregious.

Oh, it's way worse. It's brutal. We are closing in on silly season where there's going to be accusations. I love this. Two competitive coaches. It doesn't look remotely with what we saw yet. The posturing now from here on in between coaches and referees or the league.

This is when it gets interesting. This is where these guys think that they also have to make their money. These head coaches. They're working the media. I mean, this is really good. I loved Wah interrupting the question. Laviolette said he thought that it was accidental. it accidental you're right accidental you're right yeah um but you know we've talked for years about the way the coaches try to portray their teams as the underdog

or being wronged by the refs they're trying to push everything in their favor um but that was a big big game i mean big game for the islanders who you know now up to 87 points probably under the carolina hurricanes which isn't great but you know they've got montreal tonight and can really you know get to 91 points and you probably got it four points away all right uh we want to get into the nhlpa players poll as well but before we get into that did you guys catch jo Joel Quenville at all? He appeared on the Cam and Strick podcast where he spoke candidly about the handling of the Kyle Beach situation.

Did you catch any of it at all, JB? No, I didn't, but I have read quotes. Disco, how about you? Saw a little bit of it. Gave it a brief listen. Didn't listen to it in its entirety. It's interesting. Like he tries to show that he's culpable.

Like he understands the culpability that he bears for his role and his presence there during that time. But yet he sort of pleads ignorance when it comes to knowing all the particulars or tries to distance himself enough to say, well, I knew, but I didn't really know. And I think that's where then you got to ask yourself, okay,

well, what's genuine and what's not, how much of what he's telling us is truthful versus is he, is he sort of spinning a narrative here? Cause he wants to get back into the league. I think that's where it's, it's tricky and it's going to be sort of discretionary depending on who you ask for their opinion. And you're bang on because that's – I did listen to it,

and I just wondered. I don't know what Joel was trying to accomplish through it because like you, Disco, I got more questions that you try to pick and choose which ones you wanted to say and which ones you didn't. And on a number of occasions, it's like, I don't want to talk about that. Well, okay, then we're all here to guess what happened. And that's all we've been left with since they closed this investigation is we really know Jack jack squat here still and

and you are telling me you want to pick and choose what you want to say and what you don't want to say and all you've done is just leave us as confused as ever and to your point if it's just all about trying to rehabilitate your image or get back in you you got to come a little bit more truthful than that i think i don't think he i don't think joel did himself any favors no i think i understand the like desire that like if you don't get out there and talk and be you know front facing you're never it's not going to happen they're not going to pull you out of the shadows and say now you're allowed back so i get the attempt to kind of be out there again um but you're right that there needs to be some sort of airing of what's gone on here and it'll probably stir up some bad

emotions and then people won't like it but at least you start down the path of healing in some way right now it's still a lot of questions so there was one answer in particular and i don't know he was sort of sharing an anecdote but then it sort of morphed into just kind of him imparting his view of what the front office was at that time and he referred to them as the firm the firm is what he called them and and i don't and i feel like that was sort of by design of trying to say hey see i was just as much out of the loop as an outsider i exactly yeah like i was an outcast and i didn't have my fingerprints on in the way that people might assume i did and i thought that was an interesting point that he made sort of went out of his way it morphed

from a story into him just talking about how yeah they were the we all used to call them the firm because they did their own thing and i think that sort of paints enough of a picture as to some of the motivation behind him appearing and talking. So you took the hit, right? You took the hit for the firm. Yeah. Which doesn't help, right, moving forward. I don't think that's part of the healing process. That just revisits a lot of unanswered questions,

which, again, I don't think helps him. Nope. Anyways. All right. Let's move on. Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, the big winners, I guess, in the NHL players poll, which we kind of like because this is your peers. This is not, you know, a bunch of writers

who go to bed early like they do when they vote for the awards. But hey, there's significant information in here. If you need to win one game, who's the forward you want on your team? They still have Crosby second. Like it's McDavid one. Crosby's still second among NHL players who almost 12% of guys say, give me Sid, one game.

Guy's 36. That's pretty incredible incredible isn't it i kind of get wanting the fastest most talented player i guess i mean there's so many factors into wanting a guy for game seven nathan mckinnon i i know i know it doesn't get enough love but i don't think there's a higher compliment than the most complete player in the league still is. They said Sid. A guy in his late 30s. They said he's the most complete player in the league. Number two is interesting.

It's Barkov. And I think, I know on your guys' show, he's universally loved. Because Bukola comes on all the time and talks about how great he is. And he doesn't get enough respect. And he's right up there as one of the most complete two-way players in the game. I think it's interesting that he's second like it i think it's interesting that austin matthews isn't on the list 100 for a guy who you know i think you got some stats on here for matthew so what do you have on matthews okay so off the top of my head i'm just going to pull it up because i had it i had it in here as well okay here's here's Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews, third in the NHL among forwards in takeaways,

third in the NHL among forwards in blocked shots as well, and then he was fifth in on-ice goal differential with him on the ice. He's always a top face-off guy too, so funny he's not in the top five. Some Leafs resentment in here, you think, Kip? Leafs always get a bunch of... To me, Austin's still not a top, selkie type of guy, right? But, I mean, McDavid's on the list. It's hard to imagine talking about scoring 70 goals

and being one of the best defensive forwards you just kind of you kind of push on scoring goals above yeah above defensive responsibilities yeah but the numbers i'll tell you what if austin really really wants to change that narrative for next year beat barkov in the first round yeah 100 there you go yeah mcday uh that list is crosby, Barkov, Kopitar, McDavid, McKinnon for complete players. Yeah. And tell you what, that Kopitar is doing everything he can to carry the LA Kings as well.

No kidding. There's still plenty of juice in that guy. Yeah. Okay. Best playmaker. We got to go. We're on TV. Give me one more.

Okay. Who do you at least enjoy playing against but would like to have on your team? Marchand. Marchand? Yeah. Where's Bennett? Not on there. Good pick.

Tom Wilson. Third. Good pick. Yeah. Hunter McDavid's number two there. I guess I could. Really? Well, because he's going to embarrass you.

That's right. He might be in Petri Angel going, oh, boy, as he comes down the neutral. All right. Our thanks to Joshua Cloak, who joined us in the first hour, and then Elliott Friedman on the latest. Thanks to Marty Walsh, to Ryan Smith. Good riddance to Arizona. See you soon.

This isn't goodbye. It's see you later. That's the expression on it. All right. Hyundai. Oh, yes. This segment brought to you by Hyundai. I don't know. We're too late. I'll catch you tomorrow. I'll make it up to you. We'll brought to you by Hyundai. I don't know.

We're too late. I'll catch you tomorrow. I'll make it up to you. We'll make it up to them. All right. Have a good one, everybody. Enjoy the games.