Real Kyper & Bourne - Trio of Authors

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne start the second hour with Doug MacLean (1:14) for his weekly, Off-the-Rails Friday appearance! Mac weighs in on the Blue Jackets' wild win over the Leafs, Berube's dismissal in St. Louis, Crosby carrying the struggling Penguins and the Jets' miraculous turn-around after last year's mess.  Later, news and notes - Jordan Kyrou gets emotional after getting booed on home ice, Stuart Skinner has some refreshing honesty in his post-game presser and the league investigating potential medical negligence in Juuso Valimaki's injury last month.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. 

let's welcome everybody into the national edition of the real kipper and born show nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee on assignment we haven't mentioned yet yeah there we go we got our zags shirt up for him there sammy it's almost like he's a ghost it is old is he there is he watching me i don't know that's what i look like after not getting outside in the winter i'm almost there we are live on sports net and sports at 650 in vancouver and sports net 960 in Calgary. This hour of real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. On the on-deck circle, Doug McClain. Going to get his thoughts as we go around the National Hockey League. Last night, Vancouver doing a pretty good job of thumping his former

Florida Panthers for nothing on Luongo night. You know, you just need a goalie whose last name has an O at the end. Just Luongo, Demko, you got a number one, you're good to go. It was very poetic. Okay, let's welcome him in. Why wait? Right? Why?

He's a busy guy. Former NHL president, GM, head coach, author of Draft Day, How Teams Pick Winners or Get Left Behind. Doug, we're going to go to the CAF, maybe get a coffee. You can talk about where your book is on the bestseller list. And we'll be back here in about five or seven minutes. You know what? I think you probably know where it is on the bestseller.

It's 11 weeks in a row. Oh, I have a prop here. See, when you on the bestseller. It's 11 weeks in a row. Oh, I have a prop here. See, when you're a bestseller... Vanna White in the house. You're brutal. So, look, guys, 11 weeks in a row on the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail bestseller list. But I went to PEI to do a night last week, and it was unbelievable. They sold out.

They had 350 people show up for this event, and it was about the book. But George came with me, and we did a hot stove. We had a ball. And George Matthews, the former play-by-play man of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who was a buddy of mine, said that he doesn't mind introducing me as a former coach and a former GM and a former president and a former school teacher and a former TV radio star in Toronto. He had trouble saying best-selling author. That's what he had trouble saying. And you know what? I'm kind of pleased about it. But I had a call yesterday from my good friend, Jimmy Devolano called me. And Jimmy says, Doug, Doug, Doug, Doug, Jimmy Devolano here. I'm a hockey historian, Doug. As you know, I'm 80 turning 81 and I love hockey and I love the history of it. Your book was so accurate. It was unbelievable.

So there's the compliment. What more of a compliment can you get than from a Hall of Famer, Jimmy DeVolano, about the book? Enough about the book. Let's talk Leafs. God, you write. You do impressions. Like, when do the movie rights come out to your book? Did you retain the movie rights?

I retain them. Did you guys retain them to your books, the movie rights come out to your book? Did you retain the movie rights? I retained them. Did you guys retain them to your books, your movie rights? I did retain mine, yeah. Who's going to play you, Mac? Because all the actors I can think of are dead. Rip from Yellowstone is going to play me. Jason Momoa, second in line. And beth is gonna play jill okay make sure uh i don't think uh beth's hands are as nice as jill's uh okay let's start let's start with today who you

think is the best team in canada because i don't think it's that easy to, to come up with an answer and has a lot to do with maybe Winnipeg and Vancouver right now and Edmonton coming off their eight win streak that ended last night. Yeah. And look, look, you can't, you can't throw Toronto to the side either,

because I mean, what are they second in the, in, second in their division right now? And, you know, without playing probably as well as they can play. So all of a sudden, Edmonton's on top of their game till, you know, Skinner missed a beat last night with a couple of dreadful goals. But overall, you've got Vancouver looks real good. Winnipeg looked pretty good. Edmonton looked pretty good and toronto looked pretty good uh you know except remember i used to go and watch you and that and

that noon hour hockey used to play with eric lindros and mike gardner and all your buddies i used to show up there and i was like yourboy, carry your kit bag in and watch. That's what that game reminded me of last night. I was expecting to see Mike Gardner and Kiprios break down the wing with a big slapper. I mean, that was pond hockey. That was the ugliest win in the history of the National Hockey League. Oh, boy. When you have a 5-0 lead and you win 6-5 in overtime.

It had to be the ugliest win in the history of the National Hockey League. Agree or disagree? What do you – yeah. The third period is barely hockey. What do you do as a coach there? You just – You know what you do? Hold on.

Let me stop you. Call a damn timeout. Oh. He didn't call one. I know. I know you only know i know it was unbelievable but he was you know i i don't know what went on but the timeouts was bizarre to say the least but you know what it just shows you the firepower toronto can bring oh it went hey listen matthews is on pace for 70 goals boys who would believe that when you look at a lot of nights the way they

played but hey they they've won they've got points and and keep set it after the game it was a big point we got and i i thought for sure they'd win the game when it went to overtime but man it was ugly it was ugly to watch yes but fun it was it was fun it was all those things so uh last night in vancouver they uh honored roberto luongo but they didn't retire his jersey do you have any feeling whether one matters or not or if he should be upset fans i only ask because fans in vancouver a lot of them believe this guy's in the hall of fame how are we not putting him up there with Naslin and the rest of the guys? Like, seriously, I don't get that. I'm 100% on with you, Justin. I just think it doesn't make any sense to me.

I mean, the guy took them to the Stanley Cup finals. They should have won that series. Nick, we were there. They should have won that series against the Bruins. Remember, it just collapsed on them. He should be in the Hall of Fame. He should be in there. He should have their jersey retired.

Well, he is a Hall of Famer. How do you not retire a Hall of Famer's jersey? They do things different in Vancouver. They do things different in Vancouver. Are you scared to hurt Kirk McClain's feelings? I grew up with Kirk, and I played against Kirk and saw how great he was in 1994. But he had a couple of great years

and some really great moments, but it's not Luongo's career. Are they waiting for him to be like Rick Nash and come run Columbus now? Is that what you want to see? Lou come home and do it? I think it's King Brodeur they must be worried about upsetting. Isn't that like, I mean,

how long ago was he the goalie? 40 years ago? Maybe it's John Garrett. Did he ever play for the Canucks, Garrett? No, I don't get it. I really don't. And, you know, if I'm Roberto, I say, look, boys, I'll fly out, but put me up there. Put the jersey up there. I'll fly out.

But, you know, I'm not going cross country for a circle in the upper concourse. You know? Mac, we know general managers in the National Hockey League, how they're trying to covet defense and how hard it is, especially teams like Edmonton and Toronto right now, between now and the trade deadline. Yet you look at Vancouver and where they were and where they are, particularly on that blue line.

And it's almost as if within, what, less than 12 months, you've got almost a brand new blue line here with Hronik, Zdorov, Cole, Sushi. And I'm like, time to give some credit where credit's due here, you know, with their management team. Alvin. How long have we talked about the Toronto Maple Leafs needing? We love Morgan Riley.

We love Morgan Riley. If you take Morgan Riley off that blue line, it's an American League defense. That's what it is right now. With the injuries they have, it's an American League defense. If you get that number one bona fide superstar and they've got him. Guys, who are you picking for

the Norris today? Makar? Quinn Hughes. That's close, but Quinn would I think take it today. He's that good. And all of a sudden, it elevates your entire group. And the great trade with Detroit, there's no denying that. And the emergence of a couple of guys.

But I look at Toronto's blue line last night. Lagerson played Chicago Wolves last year. LeJoy, the Chicago Wolves last year. The other kid played in San Diego, Benoit. I mean, Timmons played in the American League. That's four AHL blue liners on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And you wonder why they can't get the puck going out of their own zone. You've got Quinn Hughes. What he brings to the table with Vancouver has transformed their team. Between him and pedersen best has gone to another level this year after such a bad year last year i i i'm i'm really impressed with talk it's the coach of the year today um they're that good and demko has gone to another level well and how much to like how much can you control or how much are you at the mercy

of sort of this randomness where like brock besser is on pace for 60 he's a goal behind matthews this year meanwhile kuzmenko who had 39 i know he's starting to heat up lately but you know like you're just kind of at the mercy of these guys having good years sometimes right and and they didn't like come on bester they wanted to trade him last year they were like trying to figure out every which way to get him out of there. I mean, so, look, Alvin's done a pretty good job. Full marks to him. I think he's a hockey guy.

He's been a longtime scout. I was a little skeptical when he got the job there, but he's done a good job, and talks come in, and you know what? He's a Berube type of guy. He's a guy that has, you you know i love those type of coaches whether it's it's tippet or whether it's lindy ruff or i just love those type of guys that have a joy glad who've been around the game and uh can walk into a dressing room and speak to a team and command respect i I really like them. Okay.

You mentioned it, the St. Louis Blues, Craig Berube. What did you make of it, Mac? Is it because teams in the West now can look at even a year where they think that they might be on the cusp of missing the playoffs, think that they can still make it? Is that what is going on between say nashville's coaching change and the st louis blues it's there's some underachieving teams we want to go back into the playoffs we want to make our million dollars a night yeah i think it's look dog dog armstrong's a proud guy and he's won a stanley cup and they have a pretty good team

they've got a pretty good hockey team there. And the fact how they were playing was, I mean, when you lose to Columbus, Chicago, and who else did they lose three in a row? Was it Seattle or somebody? And I'm thinking, oh, something's coming here. Craig Berube's a good coach. But you know what? They want to make the playoffs.

And sometimes it's just a matter of shaking it up. We know that. We've watched this for 50 years. That's what happens. Good coaches get fired because team, the GM, is under the gun. And you know what? Don't ever kid yourself. The owners are in their ears nonstop.

I've told you that. I fired three coaches in Columbus. I fired Dave King, Gerard Delan, and myself. And every time the owner phoned me the night before and said, make a coaching change. Sorry, yourself? Make a coaching change.

You fired yourself? Well, I was in Burns & Noble shopping a couple days before Christmas. When you got the call from yourself? Oh, sorry. And my daughter and myself were in there looking for Christmas presents

for stocking stoppers. And the old man phones me. Hey, it's Mr. McConnell. I said, you know, Mr. Mack, yeah, I want you to step down tomorrow morning. And I said, sorry, Mr. Mack, I'm not stepping down tomorrow because we've got four defensemen injured. Luke Richardson's out. Spotchick's out. I'm not stepping down.

I'll step down when some guys come back, and we've got a chance to win. So that's when I'll step down, and that's when Gerard Gallant went in as the head coach. So, yeah, three times he phoned me. One time it was 11 o'clock at night. He phoned me after a 5-0 loss to Nashville. Fired Dave King.

I said, who's going to coach? He said, you are. He thought I was running the Pee Wee Triple Travel Team. Anyway. When you stepped down, did you have to negotiate your own sort of severance package with yourself? Or how does that work? It's funny. I think I was making $800,000 as a GM at the time you know and and so I I get I

you know when they fired Dave King I move in as coach so I phoned the the guy that was his financial I said what about a raise oh you get a raise when you take over coaching I said well yeah I'm doing another job so so they bumped me up to a million. And so I was pretty pleased with that. So the only negotiating was the difference from my GM to coaching. That's what came off when I stepped down. So that was the negotiation. Wasn't that tough.

Mac, in the first hour, we had Phil Bork talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins, and I think a lot of people are surprised to see them close to the bottom of the Metro. But it ain't Sid Crosby's fault, that's for sure. It's incredible to watch this guy. I watched him the other night in the Montreal game. Seriously, guys, how good was he? How pure a talent. I mean, character, leadership, class. He brings everything to the table, this guy.

Work ethic. I mean, he just won't let them go. And then you've got Carlson. He should have been playing in that game last night. And he should have been with you and Lindros and Gardner. That's how he plays. Men's League hockey. He's like Riverboat.

What? Men's League hockey. Oh, oh my god he loves to play he loved he would be great in lake louise when they have that big game up in lake louise honest to god if if sid can't guilt them into playing better defense then who who's gonna do it he can is that i mean we talked a little bit with Borky about it. You know, Sullivan's got to be trying. But at the end of the day, that's still Kyle Dubas' guy, right? Yeah, I mean, look, I wasn't a big fan when Carlson came. I know he won the Norse.

I know he had a fantastic year. I mean, I remember watching him in the playoffs. I mean, it was frightening how loose he even played at playoff time. But I thought, you know, last year he went to another level. I thought he'd be better. I thought, I mean, what about the power play?

What is wrong? I mean, I know they've picked up a few goals lately, but oh my God, how can that power play look like that? It's hard to believe. It really is. So anyway, he's got to figure it out. He's got to figure it out.

And what's Kyle going to say to him? You know? Very little to say. He marches to his own drum. But this is kind of... 100%. You know, when you have these... Go ahead, Doug.

No, no, he's always marched to his own drum. And look, I'm not taking away from the unbelievable career he's had, and he is a great player. But I can't believe with Letang and he and Malkin and Crosby and Gensel and whatever, that this power play can't be one of the best in the league. I thought that's the one thing he would bring to the table that was a guarantee. And it hasn't been there.

No, it really hasn't. So then I wonder with these elite guys, how much coaching can be done with them? And I want to talk about the Oilers specifically. Chris Knobla comes in and all of a sudden, you know, McDavid's McDavid again, Dreisaitl's playing, the team, you know, Bouchard. They're good again. And how much of that is just great players you

know they play great eventually or does a new coach come in and do something say something different the only guy that can handle superstars in the league is Pascal Vincent and Columbus he's taking Boudreaux from a 50 goal guy and line a from a 50al guy to three-goal guys by benching them. So, like, seriously, I mean, how much coaching do you think I did with Steve Iserman in Detroit? Very little. Very little. You know, just a little. He didn't even know who I was, let alone coach him, you know?

He used to call me Donnie. He used to call me Donnie he called me he used to call me uh don mcclain from uh american pie is what he thought i was you know but mac if if teams like nashville and watch st louis if they get a bump and they look a lot better does that not encourage more teams to kind of revisit their situation if they think that Craig Berube's not that far off his Stanley Cup championship is there a chance that we see Berube come back before the end of this season as a NHL head coach well you know you've got Dean Ederson you got George Glant and you've got Berube three guys that have have had reasonable success, especially Juard and Craig Berube.

Berube with the Stanley Cup. You know what? It always makes you a little nervous when you see those names out there. Craig's the guy that I don't know. Is Craig ready to jump back in, or would Craig take a step back and wait until next year to come back? I wonder about that, you know? If Craig Berube's going to go back, doesn't he have to

go with a team that has a chance to win a cup? Maybe there's going to be some teams that think that that's the only change I've got to make. Leafs or what? Is that what you're getting at? No, listen. There's a lot. There's a few teams that's under the gun

to win. Yeah, look, there's a few teams that's under the gun to win. Yeah, look, I think when you've won the Stanley Cup and it's on your resume, it means something. And Craig is one of those guys that can be tough on his players, but he's got a demeanor. And you know him a lot better than I do, Nick. But he's a guy that can be hard on his players, but there's a respect factor there because he knows how to treat pros. He knows how to treat

NHLers, and I've respected that about him watching him. What has he been, five years in St. Louis? Yeah. I think he's a good man, and he's paid his dues. I mean, this is a guy that was a tough guy as a player, worked hard as an assistant coach. You know, I think he's got to be the number one guy in a lot of teams lists, but we'll see what happens. I wonder if that hasn't come back. I'm a draw a glam fan too. Yeah.

But I wonder if that hasn't come back as like a desired quality in a coach. You look at the guys who would be considered kind of hard ass coaches around the league. Torch is having a ton of success in Philly. You know, Talk's having a ton of success in Vancouver. You know, are these sort of the guys that everyone thinks you need to communicate well? Maybe someone needs someone in charge here.

You know, I'm not suggesting that Sheldon Keefe's job is in trouble here, but, you know, when you speak of Talk, when you speak of Tortorella I see a team with an identity now right and you know for the Leafs I see a team that gets its points but where would you put the Leafs identity at just being this team that will outscore you with the last shot on goal yes I can't figure out you know until they get back to a respectable health situation on the back end if that's gonna happen or they bring in if they bring in a uh a defenseman or two yeah um you know there there's no identity there right now

and it's certainly not a playoff identity i I said the other night, I tweeted out and I got ripped by a few people, which is kind of fun. I said, I'm watching Ottawa and Toronto play a total non-playoff style hockey game. Fun to watch, but not the way you're going to win playoff games. And it was like frightening watching that style of game. So until, I haven't seen it all year you gotta give uh winnipeg a little bit of credit here for rick bonus obviously dealing with a a family uh situation there uh scott arneal's there but come on they've done a heck of a job there so what happened in Winnipeg? They were a disaster last year.

And everybody was leaving. And everybody was, you know, Wheeler. Wheeler is gone. Wheeler was a great player in Winnipeg. He was a great player. But has it come to a point that Wheeler and Shifley and whoever else was too much for the group and one of them had to go? We thought it could have been Shifley and him go at some times.

I've heard rumblings that, you know, there was problems in the dressing room. Well, you know what? What did Rick Bonas do at the end of the season? He called them out. He called them out big time and if you're a coach in the nhl you better be strong enough to be able to take the big stand and if you don't you know look i go back i interviewed in boston for the assistant gm's job okay when years and years ago after detroit and i remember harry syndon said to me when he was interviewing me, by the way, Harry Sinden's 91 years of age. Who would believe that?

91 and still as sharp as a tack. But anyway, he said to me in the interview, can you talk in front of the dressing room? I said, yeah, I think I can talk in front of the dressing room. He said, I will never hire a management guy who can't walk into the dressing room as an assistant GM, a GM, or whatever role that can't speak to the team and be hired on.

And it's not easy, guys. It's not easy walking into that room and taking charge. Rick Bonas did it. Don't think Torts hasn't done it. Don't think Lindy Ruff hasn't done it. Don't think Lindy Ruff hasn't done it. Don't think all those types of guys haven't done it. It's part of the job. And you've got to have a lot of experience and you've got to have more than that to be able to step in and really put people in their spot. And it's awful because you hate to make guys cry, but it happens

sometimes. You're siren on them and they break down. Look at Kairou crying, bawling his eyes out last night. You know? We're going to get to that. You know, you're a terrific storyteller and you do great impressions. Have you ever thought about writing a book? I'm scared to death they're going to ask me to do another one. I'm scared to death they're going to ask me to do another one I'm scared to death they're going to

ask me to do another one you know the more popular uh this book gets uh the more people are going to figure out that Scott Morrison wrote the book you know I was just going to say that Scott Morrison should be a little bit Scott's name should be a little smaller on that cover, don't you think? How many more copies you got to sell to upgrade your Porsche? Yeah, I want to get an anniversary edition. All right. Go and enjoy your weekend.

Hey, guys, I thought we're... You phoned me to go over the show, and you said we're going to talk Ottawa, so I do all this prep with Ottawa. Well, we should do some. We got nowhere to be. And you don't bring it up. Give us your thoughts on, is Ottawa going to make the playoffs,

or is this going to be another disappointing year for them and their fans? If they miss the playoffs, like it's bad enough for Gary Ock that Trudeau's popularity is where it is because he's a big Trudeau guy. If the Ottawa Senators miss and Trudeau loses the election, Gary Och will be in therapy for sure.

I mean, they can't handle it. This is the work he's done for the show, by the way. That's your homework. That was your homework. But listen, Tarasenko, Kubelik, Chikrin. I mean, guys, they've all got to be a lot better than Drew. He's got to be better. Everybody raves about Drew, and I'm thinking, he's got to be better too.

I mean, come on. And their goaltending is horrible. And Kubelik, somebody tell DJ Smith, Kubelik plays on his off wing. He got 30 goals in Chicago on his off wing. He got 20 in Detroit on his off wing and he's not playing

his off wing in Ottawa. Like, come on, give me a break. I'm tired of giving tips. I'm exhausted from giving tips. So they're missing the playoffs. That's what you're telling me. It doesn't look good. It does not look good.

Okay, can I tell them we've had enough of them? Yeah, it's time. Okay. It's time. Listen. Hey, listen. We know it's, you know, you got the next few hours going door to door selling your book. So good luck with that with Jill.

You know, I got Clark. Clark's here. Clark's been helping me with the props, so I just picked him up at the airport. He listened to your show the other day. He thought it was a little deadass, so he thought you need a little bite today. So I tried to bring him.

Well, you did it. You did it on Off the Rails Friday. Okay, Mac, thanks for doing this. Hey, guys, I really appreciate you having me on, and I really appreciate you promoting the best-selling book in North Isle, Canada. Thanks, Mac. We appreciate it.

It's a wonderful book. Okay, let's go two for two here. And we've got to mention that this is a great time of the year to give somebody a book, down and back. Is this my camera? Where's my single? Yeah, down back. My book, which I have not promoted on this show.

I don't know. Very often. Yeah, what is it? 10 Days Till Christmas now? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. But it's still for sale, and I wrote it, and it's about stuff. I wrote one, too.

I didn't bring it. Yes, undrafted. Very good book. Simon & Schuster. I don't really like selling that stuff. You want to buy it? Oh, it exists. It exists.

You have an amazing story. Thanks. Mine. What is mine compared to it? Oh, it exists. It exists. You have an amazing story. Thanks. Mine, what is mine compared to yours? Oh, it's a Stanley Cup at Club 54 with Madonna. No, there's a million of those. Not many. Just the mere fact we're here doing this, me and you, is a story in itself. You know what else is a story?

Game time. All right. No Sammy for game time. I know. You, I'm passing, I'm betwilling i'm passing i'm betwearing my notebook here all right it's game time presented by bet365 visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet365 must be 19 plus ontario only play responsibly it's game time oh hey colbs what's up little shout out there so i was looking at

stanley cup odds today the odds of teams winning the stanley cup you want to guess who the favorite by beth 365 gambling odds is to win the stanley cup at this point of the season oh gosh does are they dumb enough to think that eight games in a row would push Edmonton right back up at the top? It's actually not a bad guess. Edmonton is fifth above the Toronto Maple Leafs in terms of Stanley Cup odds at this point. Would they be smart enough to go

with what every other gut instinct has told us for the last 30 or 40 years? Just pick the year before. There it is. There's the guy. You got it. Vegas. Vegas is the Cup favorite. Colorado nipping at their heels in boston and third rangers and fourth at least as i said in fifth the one that shocks me you kind of ticked down so yeah toronto and sixth winnipeg right behind him in seventh you got to go farther back to find florida still really yeah florida's close to 10 that's a pretty good pick and la is right there too at um yeah it's plus 1500 because the team

that i watch sometimes that look like the russian red army is the tampa bay lightning and then there's other times i'm like oh no they're no good they're no good yeah and that blue line and what you get out of it and yeah kudos to steven stamp coast who believe it or not had his first four goal game that is shocking his first in the national hockey league future hall of famer 200 power play goal last night too wow and uh marvelous career but that that team and you watch kucherev undress cody cc like they should be one of those top teams yeah you know what they're uh mid-pack they're 15th in the nhl in terms of cup odds right now plus 2200 those are the type of bets you should make right not a team who's got short odds but someone that you think can kind of figure something out mid-season tampa's there i like florida and la those are good ones the other ones i wanted to bring to you kip were will these teams make

playoffs or not and they're teams with pretty even odds on both sides of yes and no uh the toronto maple leafs go up against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night who are favored to miss the playoffs barely. There are longer odds plus 110 to make the playoffs seventh in their division. What do you think? Is this a team that's going to sort it out? I never

I'm never one to say yes or no right away. I go to the process of elimination so if you think they're in who's out that's a great place to start and I'm just sitting watching the Philadelphia

Flyers and here they are what three points out of the lead in the Metro and they're not going away the Islanders who we were giggling at, what, three weeks ago? Yeah. Four weeks ago? And you were like, yeah, I see it.

They're no good. They're no good. Look at them. Look at the run they're on. Was it four straight games? Carolina has never looked like a team that we thought should be competing for the Stanley Cup. And there's some goaltending inconsistencies there.

And then the Washington Capitals, they are one of the worst scoring teams in the league. Are we still on five? Still at five. Pace for 16 goals. I don't know if there's three teams that have more goals than the Washington Capitals. Oh, I didn't realize it was that bad. Yeah, they're at the bottom. I don't know where they are. Goals for, they are

literally second last. Only San Jose. Second last. San Jose has three fewer goals. Second last. And they're 14-8 and four. So tell me where Pittsburgh now is going to come in and just, I don't know.

Is Pittsburgh capable of doing what the Edmonton Oilers just did and rip off eight in a row? You know, I think they, maybe not eight in a row, but they're not that many points back. I think the Capitals are going to come back. You know, I think they can catch. I don't like only saying it but they don't think the islanders are as good as their record so either way they're running out

of time they are a team that you know if you want to say they make the playoffs plus 110 pretty good bet there other question i'll bring to the table for you is they have a line on how many points the leafs will finish with 103.5 is the line do you think they'll finish with more or less than 103.5 points i probably would think that uh i like their chances at 104 or 105 i think so too yeah you know they just find their way they just they've got this arrogance about putting the puck in the net they don't even last night that third period we're we're sitting on the desk and we're watching it and we're like they're gonna they're gonna score yeah when he's gone he's gone right they just you can just feel like how confident

they are that they're gonna get one or two good looks and austin's just gonna find a way to put the puck did you see neil anders post game quote too he's like you know talking about what they were thinking going into the third and he goes well we're thinking we know we can get five like what's an insane thing to think oh and he believes it yeah like you average three and a half goals per game as a team and he's like yeah we know we can get five just gotta try i guess i don't know but keep in too, that the Edmonton Oilers have had an incredible run here. Yeah. And there's just a 500 team right now. I know.

They rip off eight in a row. And they're 13, 13 and one 13, 13, one in the West. There are two points out of the wildcard spot with games in hand, but they're also like two or three losses away from sinking right back in the bottom.

See, that's the problem that their bad start put them in it's just like let's say connor were to get hurt or you know like just a bad thing were to happen to them you don't have that sort of built-in buffer but boy they are back looking like you know as good as vegas and vancouver in the in the west okay you're wrapping up that's it oh yeah let me do the whole thing all right here that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only play responsibly

might be gonna be the guy to tell sammy now that you're taking over that spot i'm definitely not okay it's all his. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, and when we return, we're going to get into Jordan Cairo's night in St. Louis, a very emotional one. And also this story that Frank Cervelli, who's been a contributor on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show

through Daily Face-Off, is telling us about Balamaki from the Coyotes having a very tough night after taking a puck to the face. I can tell you I've been there, Kip. And the quote in the story from Frank was unable to function as he went to a hospital in Dallas only to kind of be rejected. Yeah, they're like, go to a hotel. We'll get into that.

Plus more on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Don't go away. Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, and the NFL. The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back.

Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne. Is that my book up? Look at this. All three books promoted in one day. Wow. Friday before Christmas, everyone's going to be shopping. This is prime time here. Look at this. Now, any

big thought on the cover? Do you post for that or is that another picture somewhere? You know what's funny is they actually originally did the cover of me as like a three-month-old sitting in the Stanley Cup when I was just like a little baby. And I didn't think that that was what I wanted. So we had to go back and forth. Whereas you just chose a handsome picture of yourself.

I'm going to ask the same question I asked Doug McClain. Once your book goes into movie rights who's playing justin bourne oh boy i don't know i know it can i get like young jim carrey or something like that would that work who's nick caprio well um you can kind of do the reverse thing because I've been working with you and sometimes for you for three years. I'm terrified of this answer. What's the over under on the people that have called you Jason Bourne? Oh, my God. Kip, I don't even argue anymore.

I just respond to it. Like in wardrobe, that's how it's written on my bag it's it's no one's fault except matt damon's fault is it robert ludlum or something who wrote the books he's something to blame too so i'm telling you that it needs to be matt damon who plays you because you've played him all these years the one thing it does do for me is it helps me helps people spell my name like reservations i just say like the movies like the movies yeah i would get uh liam neeson to play me that's a great pick for you because all i want at some point is for him to say i will look for you i will find you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

Did you ever say that on the ice? You should have said that on the ice. Exactly, exactly. Okay, last night, just the opposite of maybe wanting to kill somebody was the emotion of Jordan Cairo. He's been through a lot a little bit here, and there's no question that there was something between him and Craig Berube that probably didn't connect but so what the game's a hundred years old not the first player

coach relationship that wasn't the best will not be the last but I want to ask you about his initial comment is it you know initially they asked him yes you know, what was your relationship like with Berube? And he said, I have no comment. He's not my coach anymore. What did you think of that response? What I thought about it was if you're trying to not make a story out of it, that's the worst thing you could say. So he didn't think it out very well no i think there's a part of him that just had this emotion of he's gone now so um i can i don't need to tip my cap

to him i don't need to tip my cat cap to him and i don't need to have people under the impression that um it was is rosy and lovey he I don't know if he just knew the implications of what he didn't say and that's what we do on this show all the time it's not what you say sometimes it's what you don't say right and we read between the lines and people come to their own conclusions and clearly the fans of st louis came to their own conclusion on uh on how jordan kairu uh went about his business on uh not maybe showing the respect a stanley cup champion head coach should get and kairu won a cup with craig berube and all these people loved berube for what he did for the organization, the first Stanley Cup they've ever won there in St. Louis.

I had tweeted that it seemed like an immature answer to me and I had people saying to me, like, what, like telling the truth is immature? He didn't tell the truth. What would be mature is if you have a bone to pick or it didn't go well, you could say, it didn't work at the end. You know, you'd say what the problem is

or if you're not willing to say there's a the end you know you'd say what the problem is or if you're not willing to say there's a problem then don't say there's a problem don't do the passive aggressive it's fine okay let's go to uh jordan kairu last night uh on a kipper's clipper on hearing the boos last night how difficult is it to have the fan base react the way they did tonight? Were you hearing the boos on the ice? Yeah. I definitely heard those. I mean, it's not easy, obviously, but I see where they're coming from with how my comments sounded, so

that's definitely tough. I mean, I love playing here. I love playing in front of the fans, so yeah. What would you want to say about Craig Broby? You mentioned that he was your coach for a long time, but how did he impact your career? What can you say about that? Yeah, I mean that he was your coach for a long time, but how did he impact your career? What can you say about that? He helped me in a lot of ways.

He's really helped me around it all in my game and tried to be more of a complete player. Like I said, I respect him as a guy and no hate towards him at all. I want to say two things off of that. One is that I also don't think it was a very big deal. I can't believe people booed him for that. I was just like, it was kind of an immature comment.

But I, okay. You know, to me, it was a bit of a nothing. And I'm shocked that fans cared the way they did. The other thing, point I'll make is, I feel like that follow-up question, what did Craig Berube do for you? You're holding the guy hostage at that point. The fans just booed him.

He's crushed by it. He can't give an honest answer now now he has to say all's gravy so i got my two takes okay um i'm gonna follow it up after we hear uh jordan get a little emotional uh with this next clip you're getting pretty emotional here. Where are the emotions coming from? I mean, it's just tough, right? Like, you know, I love playing here, so it's just tough to hear the fans booing me there.

That's right. They'll obviously come around. I mean, they know you want to be here and play hard and produce for them. I mean, do you feel like, you know, it's just a bump in the road that it can be overcome they'll love you again um yeah definitely i mean you know like i said i just want to focus on my future and focus on you know trying to be a more complete player and you know what i can do to help the team win right so yeah that's just my goal right now yeah listen my first thought is i feel like you know how much he's feeling it himself

and i i don't mind i don't mind hearing a guy like if he shrugged it off i'd be more pissed off than like i'm not necessarily you know patting him on the back for crying either. I mean, we don't need a ton of criers in the game. It's all a bit much to me. It's a little much, but at least he's sensitive of it rather than standoffish on it. So either way, maybe it's not a great win situation, but I think it's a fair comment to say he was just an, it was, he handled it in not a mature way. I would agree.

But if he just would have come out with those comments last night, the first time they asked him about his coach, that he helped me in a lot of ways. That's it. If he just would have come out with one of those, we want to cup together. He helped me out in a lot of ways. This wouldn't have even turned into a story.

I mentioned Jim Carrey, and I'm reminded of the movie Liar, Liar, where the kid says something to him. Have you seen Liar, Liar? Yes. Great movie. You know, sometimes grownups have to lie. You know, like sometimes that's part of the whole thing. Yeah, he was great.

And he was just not prepared. Yeah. Like he wasn't, he was great. And he was just not prepared. Yeah. Like he wasn't, he hasn't been around long enough. He hasn't experienced the media enough to understand the dynamics of maybe just how much Craig Berube was respected for being the guy that delivered a Stanley Cup to them. Yeah. And he deserved more respect from you, Jordan, even if you didn't believe it, to your point. Just don't pour gasoline on the fire.

And he did, and he learned a very valuable lesson that choose your words wisely. I'm sure PR was in his ear after the game. Okay, you're going to do this presser and follow up on it. Because I did notice that he said, I understand where they're coming from about the fans, which is pretty. Yeah.

So I bet you he gets like rousing cheers next game. I really do. And one more thing. It is the perfect storm for him because it's just not about that situation. It's the fact that he's a star on that team. He's paid like a star, and he's disappointing himself. That's what happened there.

He knows he's underperforming. He's not living up to the contract right now. That in itself has put a tremendous strain on him, and I think in many ways it was just the tipping point of the whole situation with Berube. Came at the wrong time on him. And I think in many ways it was just the tipping point of the whole situation. Came at the wrong time for him. Let's make sure we get to everything before the end of the show. Talking about being honest

in interviews. Stuart Skinner yesterday, the Oilers lose to the Lightning. They were heavily outshot. The Lightning, Stuart Skinner had this to say post-game about his performance. Yeah, I think the guys played a heck of a game. I don't think anybody in this room should be upset except for me, to be honest.

I think that I ended up kind of losing us the game. And that's something that I'll take on, and I'll be better for it. But I think these guys in here should all be very happy with how they played. They were fantastic. Refreshing. Loved it. Right? You know, yeah.

But he. He's taking too much. No, no. He went on a terrific run with the rest of the team for eight. Like a guy with a roll of dice at the crap table. Not like you. Didn't you have a bunch of crap ones? I ran a table for almost an hour.

Like an hour. Yeah. But, you know, you're going to crap out every once in a while, right? You're going to snake eyes. Most times, yes. Unfortunately, for a team that's supposed to win the stanley cup this year or be really close to it i think it's another reminder of you got this kid that i'm not sure how much weight you want to put on his shoulders and you don't want too many nights when he ends the game going i was the

reason why we lost yeah right you got to be careful with putting that type of pressure on a guy yeah and that's okay to do it once but you don't want him feeling like that because that's what Jack Campbell did to himself a few times in Toronto and it didn't didn't help him that's for sure no it's you know if Vasilevsky after two Stanley Cups says I lost is the game everyone goes all right well he's owning up to that one we move on. You don't want to draw too much attention to yourself when you're an 885 save percentage guy like Stu Skinner here. Okay. We mentioned it before break.

Valimacki, Coyotes took a puck to the face. Was taken to the hospital. Yeah. And I don't know. Helicopter to the hospital, I believe. Did he? Yeah. Dallas.

Basically, they had told him, we've got gunshot wound victims here. We don't really prioritize you. And no one's arguing that. Well, and imagine you're in Dallas, and they're like, sorry, you took a puck to the face. We got things going on. Yeah, but, you know,

you shouldn't also shrug off the fact that he did have a fracture in his face. He had a hole in his mouth. Oh, God, yeah. And he needed 60 stitches either. So, like. I don't mean to make light of it all. No, no, no.

I've been there. Oh, no, for sure. You know, I've had that experience. He shouldn't be told, go away and come back tomorrow either. And his wife had to call the NHL PA. And the PA, I did some advocating on his behalf to get him care sooner. I think the PA had issues with the fact that

there was no one of any medical status that escorted him as well. Which I've never heard of. I've gone to hospitals after games on a number of occasions, either doctors coming with me or the head trainer,

someone with some, some real medical background. So that's, this is a strange story, but for more of that, go to daily face off and, and read the story. Yeah,

that goes. All right. How do we do without Sammy? Did it feel a little... The love of the Zags jersey, the Owen Sound players in the background. We repped him, his vibes, as best we could today. Where is he, in London tonight to watch his Owen Sound team? He's literally just going to watch a junior hockey game.

He doesn't have some pressing function. Man, oh man, he's got a good life. Things go pretty well for Sammy. Our thanks to Doug McClain in this hour. Give us a rating and review if you get a chance. We'd love to hear from you. We're back on Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody.

Real Kipper and Born.