Real Kyper & Bourne - Vally's View: Torts' vs. Cassidy's Coaching & Leafs' GM Search

Episode Date: March 31, 2026

New York Rangers analyst and CEO of Clear Sight Analytics, Steve Valiquette (3:27) joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne to chat about the pressure on Ilya Sorokin down the stretch for the Islanders, the Golden Knights' late season coaching change, John Tortorella vs. Bruce Cassidy's coaching style, why playstyle should dictate the direction of the next Maple Leafs' front office, analytical-driven management, Linus Ullmark missing a game, and the Leafs' strong response to Radko Gudas in their first game since Auston Matthews' knee-on-knee collision. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee look at the Dallas Stars extending Jim Nill's contract, Jason Robertson's looming next deal, and Flyers prospect Porter Martone making his NHL debut. 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 back at you as we go national on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet as always 650 in Vancouver, Sportsnet 960 in Calgary and streaming always on Sportsnet Plus. If you miss our show live, that's your convenience, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the ever-reliable YouTube where we love the chats and the thumbs up. This hour of Real Kippering Born brought you by Bet365. Nick Caprio's Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee in a few minutes, Steve Aliquette for his regularly scheduled a Tuesday in which I'm still in last place on girl time. Not by much.

I haven't got a point in about three weeks. Ooh, I like that. Didn't we, did he send out the leader board? I haven't seen a new set of faces. He did. He's a busy guy. My mentions are crazy today. What are people on about?

Just, please. I just kidding. Leif's did some stuff if your NHL watcher, Brad Tree Living, fired yesterday. Yep. And I went on. The rankings are 35, 34, 32. There you go.

Yeah. Vancouver fans are kind of wondering a little bit as well on what ultimately will go down there. Jimmy Rutherford, of course. Patrick Alveen still there. I did mention in my sports. SORC.a yesterday that there's not a real strong feeling one way or another, but there is a feeling that there's going to be changes to what degree we don't know of.

Jimmy Rutherford's 77 years old. What kind of rebuild is, where's his appetite for the long haul? I re-up what I said about Gary Bettman the other day. I love Jim Rutherford. Like, don't you like fishing or something? I don't know. He made lots of money now. Did you like golf?

But he could have been fishing a long time ago. He's done great. Great career. Cups. With Sid, he's probably great. Yeah, get a ticket to like eight games a year, check in. Yeah. I don't know.

Special advisor. Maybe I'm just showing my own. Yeah. What I would do. But anyway, yeah, so fascinating times around the league. Big decisions get made. We know Nashville needs a general manager. We don't know what's going to happen in New Jersey.

A lot of questions about Detroit. And ultimately, if they miss again, would they dare make any changes there? Tonight, they play the Pittsburgh Penguins. Detroit, Pittsburgh. Monster, monster game. Another couple of big ones, the Islanders play the Buffalo Sabres. Like, there are, there's big matchups in the East today. Philly, Washington, if you're into that sort of thing.

What did you make of Pittsburgh in? Put in the boots to the island. Yeah, what happened? Up 3-1, comfortably. I would say I am curious about why the islanders sometimes just can't defend. I like a lot of their defenders, so I can't quite make sense of their defensive lapses. But anyway, we got the man. You know who would be really good at answering how Sorokan allows seven goals is our next guest? Analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG, clear site analytics.

of Tuesday, our very own Steve Ellicott. How are you, buddy? Very nice to see you, boys. How are we? The star of Tuesday. I like that title. Okay, so, what do you make a Sorokin? Did he lose awards last night? Not yet. Not yet.

He's still a top guy, but you know, it's funny, guys. We've seen this with a lot of the teams, a lot of the players. Right when they're pushing to the top, it's almost like they're tripping over the line because of the expectations that come with. the scrutiny, the intensity of being there, just holding the line or teams that have gone on these massive runs, like you think of Columbus, and then at the end, you know, they find themselves

tripping over their own skates as well. It's not just Sorok and it's not just the Islanders. I think we're seeing it with Detroit. We're seeing it with Ottawa. We're seeing it in the west. We saw Seattle fall out the last couple weeks. Nashville's in. But now that Nashville's in with expectations do they stay in and LA's close. I'm looking at LA's schedule and they've got six home games in a row coming up. They only have one game in April against a playoff bound team in Edmonton. So with the Islanders, what I've seen is a blood and guts team, a comeback again on the weekend that I was watching against Boston. I'm just like, I love this team right now. I know that they're going to be able to find a way. It just seems like two steps forward, one step back,

rather than two steps forward, one step back, for whatever reason, tripping over themselves just a little bit. So I guess there's some large stories around the league for us to ask you about. Vegas yesterday, or day before, whatever it was, Tortorella takes over in Vegas. Their goaltending has been atrocious. But, you know, I don't think they have three atrocious goaltenders there.

I got some guys who are OK Valley. Can things be salvaged there? Can torts play net? It's interesting because I played for for Bruce Cassidy. I played for torts. The thing with Bruce guys is that, you know, I know he's not well liked. And I didn't like him, but that goes with, it goes with an asterisk because I have this belief that when I ask my former, you know, teammates and friends in hockey who their favorite

coaches are, and if I look at their hockey DB, it always aligns with their career years. Totally. So I had a bad year under him, but I can tell you that he was the kind of coach that you're walking through the hallway and you give him a good morning. He just looks right through you and keeps walking. I just be like, I'm already playing terrible right now. I need something. So I can remember once where I was getting sent down, but the day before I got pulled in a game with Bruce Cassidy as my coach, and he brings me into his office and he says, you know what your issue is? you think you're too good to be here.

Now, this was when I was in the East Coast League my second year. And it was my issue. I was having a hard time being in the East Coast League after having a good enough year the year before. And he says, now you're not good enough to be here. You're going to sit for the next two weeks behind Buiar Amadowski. Really good goalie that I played against the O.HL were good friends. This guy was, he was a nasty goalie.

And now I get sent home. I'm just driving home. And I could have taken my vehicle right off the road. When I get there, there's a sign that posted on my front door from my roommate, Scott Bertoli, that says, call Butch. And I'm like, what else could this guy say to me right now? So I call him off and he says, Valley, sometimes good things happen to people when they deserve them. Well, this isn't the case right now. Come on.

Then he goes, Wade Flaherty just blew his shoulder up on the island. Luongo's going up. You're going to the American Hockey League. The hardest part about leaving Trenton for me was not squealing my tires on the way. And did you ever play in the East Coast League again? That was it. That was it. And I had a good run in the H.L. And I played my first game in the NHL a couple months later.

So things can happen and turn that quickly. But Bruce Cassidy, he's tough. I heard for months, even years now that, you know, he's been wearing on the guys in Vegas. And that's going to happen. But he's won a championship and he's going to get hired probably next week. And torts guys, you know, when I played for torts, he is the guy that can come in and change it right away. You know, and the thing with torts is he's going to come in

and he'll change things like there was a time where we had like the doctors in the gym and the elliptical next to us. We'd be walking into meetings with breakfast sandwiches. Like the country club closes with torts. Like he buttons it up tight. But to a certain degree, his honesty can be misguided. You know, and one thing that he did in our first meeting when he came over was he kind of took Marcus Naslin's legs out from underneath him and, you know, said a few things that were very belittling in front of the group. We're like, oh, like, he didn't have to go there on NASI.

Naze actually gave his next year's contract up. He didn't even take a, he had a $5 million, I think it was $5.5 million deal to next year. He just retired. Wow. He didn't want to play into those conditions. And then Torrance, of course, brings me into the office. And this is after I played 15 games the year before. I know exactly what my role is.

And he goes, Valley, it's fun to talk to you about your role. I'm like, okay, I already know, 15 games. Like I played behind the best goalie in the NHL right now. And he goes, you're going to play the games that we don't think we can win. And if it's not going well, and if it's not going well, you're not going to get saved either because I'm not going to risk my number one. Yeah, he's like, you're meat, bud, get in the net. It was the worst thing you could have said to me.

Like, I felt like I wasn't even a part of the team any. anymore. So the honesty can be misguided. And that's where a short burst and torrents can be really good, but it can just goes a little too far sometimes as much as I like playing for him. You know, Bruce Cassidy

has that reputation of being really hard on the players to Valley and to the point where I think in Boston, a few of them shut it down as well. You know, the story is maybe Kreichie, you know, would rather have left than go back to

a demanding coach like that. But now you're bad cop, bad cop, not bad cop to a good cop or, you know, a softer guy that maybe we often see when there's coaching changes. So like, is this going to work? Well, the thing with torts is, Kipper, as much as you may not like him, his honesty is rooted in the right spot

and you want his respect. I can't explain that exactly, but I'm sure you guys played for coaches where, like, I really want this guy's respect. because, you know, he drives hard, but he is an honorable man. But at the same time, in 09, we're up three to one against Washington. He's talking about discipline. And then he throws a Gatorade bottle at a fan and gets suspended.

And we lose the series after being up 3-1. Yeah. So he just goes, he goes over his own line is what Torts does. And I think that after all these years, I mean, you are what you are. How many people really change in life? In fact, I think my biggest weakness is get worse as I age. I think a lot of people have that theory that you become more of who you really are as you get older. So Torts is going to lean into it.

Although he is wearing a suit, which was a shocker. You know, looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs here, obviously big news with the tree living out. They're going to pick a new head of hockey ops. I don't know, Valia. I'm not even going to be too specific. Just wanted to get your thoughts on what's gone down with the Leafs organization. You know what I think, Borny? So I was talking to a good friend of mine, really good hockey guy in Connecticut.

that loves the Leafs. His name's Steve Rosencrantz. And Steve, I call him up sometimes just to talk to Leifes because this guy watches every minute as closely as you guys do. And, you know, he said to me, when I watch other games around the league, nobody has more difficulty getting out of their own zone. First pass, clean exits, and then getting through the neutral zone without getting stopped. And I was like, well, that's a really good lead. And he told me this before the Rangers played the Leafs last week. and I go into, as Kippa refers to my little computer,

and I look for a few stats on how unsettled offense would support what the Leafs are doing. Now, again, unsettle offense would be when the Leafs do give the puck away, how quickly does it turn into a scoring chance against them, or how many times do they get handed on a forecheck and then a scoring chances against them, or a neutral zone stop in transition, a back checking chance, giveaways, takeaways. All of that hockey that we watch that is just unsettled. It's not controlled hockey.

Well, they led the league as of last week, and I just checked up on it. They've given up more goals than any other team in the IHL in unsettled offense. They've given up 340-some chances in unsettled offense. And I'm watching the Leaf Ranger game last week through that lens. And what am I seeing? I'm seeing like one giveaway after another. You know, you can remember the first period, because the bandage had rid on his tape from Carlo scoring opportunity.

So it put my package together for my intermission because I was working the games as you guys were. And, you know, I think that what I'm going to settle on here, guys, for advice, if I'm Keith Pelly, you've got to find out what playing style you want to go with. So what playing style do you want to go with? Do you want to be an offensive rush team? Do you want to play Colorado Avalanche hockey when they want in 22? or do you want to play Florida Panthers? We're not going to give up anything against off the rush.

We're going to own you an unsettled offense because Florida's the best team in unsettled offense, creating off the for check, etc. So you're trying to do one of those two things because when I've gone back now, guys, all the way to COVID with Tampa winning twice, there's really only been two styles that have won in the NHL. and the one outlier has been Vegas because they did have Aiden Hill at their time on a heater. He had a 935 safe percentage,

but he really went on a heater. They defended with the Big D in front of him and Netfront packed it in, but they didn't have that rush offense, and they didn't really own anybody on the transition offense of unsettled. So when I look at the way the Leafs are formulating their next plan, they have to settle on,

What is our playing style going to be? What type of team are we going to be? What's our playing style that we can be with what we currently have if we're going to turn it over on a retool and get the right general manager in here with the right coach so we're on the same page? Because that hasn't happened yet. You guys know that.

Valley, we heard from CEO of MLSE Keith Pelley today and he did speak specifically about data centers and wanting to go to the next level. and we assume that the Leafs are already one of the leaders in this. And, you know, Justin brought up the point, well, maybe it was just embraced enough out of Brad Tree Living. And we're just speculating at this point because we just, we don't know what we don't know. But like ultimately, where is this heading for the next guy coming in?

Because certainly it did lend towards Keith Pelley saying, I need someone to go to this a little more honest. But where is that fine line between for you, between hockey guy, gut instinct, and letting a computer decide on who should start your next night? The computer never decides. The computer only leads you to video. And, you know, look, if I was to have it my way, I would have player development, understand that there's a conduit that. have to be to the coaching staff. And that could mean, you know, this player here is the best at screaming a goalie

while getting deflections on goal. He should be a centerpiece of our power play. Let's just say that Erickson Act is available next year and Toronto wants a net front player. Like, he's the best in the league. And then there are a few other options below him. But let's look at those seven options and see if we can't take something from Erickson and act right now and put that into this new guy's hands. But you only get there if player development and coaches are talking on the same page.

And that would have to be, you know, we're talking right now on PowerPlay. And then the coaching staff would have to be able to take the information they're getting between the periods, which really illustrates the scoring chance types, as in what types of chances are we giving up? Are they all in transition? Are they happening in an unsettled offense, which would, again, lead us to not being able to get out quick enough, or are the chances that, you know, we're having difficulty off the face off tonight.

But they're all isolated. The problem with a lot of the data out there right now is that it's just telling you that it came from the middle of the ice, and it's not categorized by title. And that's the difference. You can't just say we have to protect the middle of the ice. That doesn't mean anything to me, because a pass coming from the same side of the ice to a one-timer

is not nearly as valuable as one going across the ice for a one-timer. So without that information, without that detail, you can't differentiate the two. The managers have to be on the same page as the coaches so that we can have this organizational philosophy work with the proper players. But it is three prongs, guys. It's player development, which includes goalie development, the coaches and the managers, and the coaches, their practices have to be, have to, to be managed in a way that these skills can improve

so that we can be a better team. But not enough teams are doing it, guys. Not enough. I mean, a handful of teams are doing it. Yeah. The one I wanted to make sure we got in today in our segment was to we've done a lot of Allmark talk over the years with you. And just wanted to make sure we got in a chat.

Because last week, well, a few days ago, Saturday night, he misses a game where they're in the thick of a playoff race and the coach says we want them, we want to play them every night. And you sent a tweet that basically, you know, a lot of people, everyone who ever played hockey agreed with basically. It was, you know, Glenn Hall played 502 consecutive games. And, you know, this guy just hasn't been able to be available, whatever the cause. And that's part of goaltending. I don't know.

Just wanted the Allmark thing. Where are we at on this? Well, I think they've gone past the point now because where do you go from here without doing something, getting somebody else? else in here next year. I can't imagine this team not making the Stanley Cup playoffs with how good of a season they've had. Travis Green, he should be up for coach of the year without question. Since the Olympic break, they have played, I'm looking at a sheet here guys in front of me. They played a game against the Rangers last week where they have nine high dangers. The Rangers have one. The game against the Islanders, they have eight three. They're nine five against San Jose.

15, 7 against Anaheim, when you have a difference of plus eight high danger chances in a game, you should never lose. You should never lose. And so the fact that they're even in this position boarding, Linus Allmark, it's not for everybody, right? Like, I know there's a sensitivity here that you have to have for mental health, but that sort of doesn't belong to sports.

It just doesn't. You don't get all the way through unless you are mentally tough. It's a prerequisite to the position. So I don't trust you as a manager right now. And I'm sure the coaches, as much as they love his A game, they can't stand the infrequency. And what do you think that does for the players? You know, it kills the team.

It kills everybody's energy. And it's very difficult to believe in anything changing in the field. future. The only predictor of future performance is past performance and behavior. And what we've seen up until this point doesn't lead you to believe that he's going to be there for you. And that's the reality of it. I think they have to move on.

And to me, I think he's stuck on whether he still wants to be a hockey player or not. Valley, we've seen various degrees over the years where some volunteer their information on mental health and some will go privately and not bringing it up

at all. We know where Allmark is. with his interview with TSN and that exclusive one-on-one on his challenges with mental health. So when we hear of him needing arrest in a critical game against Tampa Bay, is it fair for Ottawa fans to ask if this is related to mental health? Or is that on the side and he's just a regular player who just needed arrest? Do the fans deserve to know if one has to do with the other at this point? Because you've already volunteered it publicly? Well, we're all blue-collar workers to a certain degree.

I don't care where you work. You know, look at my job here. I get paid by the game, not in salary. If I'm not here tonight, I don't get my appearance fee. Do you only games that I've missed in 12 years at MSG? Zero. Yeah, zero. You know?

Sheep bastard. This guy loves money. No, well, if he didn't have a guaranteed salary and it was based on games and practice, I can guarantee you he'd be there every day. Yeah. It's a bit of a soft landing for the professional athlete to be able to hide behind that paywall.

And that's where it's dangerous. This conversation is always, you open this Pandora's box, and it goes, you used to get called the P word if you didn't play, okay? And you'd have to prove you were injured with something like a sling or a hard cast, you know? And like, I remember, I remember hearing from Scotty Nickle and he was saying Matt Sundeen came in the locker room and saw a young guy on the trainer's table with a sore shoulder. And Maddie Neckle goes, you know, Sundin says, what's wrong with the shoulder? And the guy's like, oh, I got this going on here.

And Sundin just looks at him. He goes, yeah, me too. And he walks out of the train. That's great. That's really good. Like, that's the way it used to be. We used to shame guys for people at table. My junior coach took my crutches away.

I had like a hairline fracture my foot. He's like, I don't ever heal using those. Oh, in our line. Yeah. We all have these stories. We all have. I remember being an. in an islander practice, I open up my foot to make a save,

and a guy from the corner shoots it. It goes off the inside of my foot, my in step, in my head right away. Broken. Like, I just know what broken feels like. Yeah, yeah. You know? So, sure enough, I go to our coach, I'm like, hey, I think it's broke my ankle. And then, you know, the next day, in the next three days, we've got games.

And he's, like, teasing me like, Val, is your ankle okay? How's your bruise? Are you going to be all right? No, my bone's broken. Sure enough. Get an x-ray, MRI, broken, eight weeks. You know, like, that's just totally different the way we were. But not to say it was better, and I don't want to sound like a knuckle-drager,

but, you know, at the same degree, we're playing football on ice here, boys. We've got a man up. Yep. Going to be some contact along the way. You know, I know we're going to get to grill time here momentarily, but just your thoughts about that whole Toronto, Anaheim, Goudis, Austin Matthews, how it played out, and, you know, watching Goudis off the opening face-off

to get into the longest fight without throwing a punch I've ever seen in the history of the game. What was that? You were a fighter. Was he not trying to throw and just show honor by receiving? I think that might be valid. But it's never had, I've never heard of that in all my years at any level. That was the only thing I could take from that.

Everybody has said it immediately. We all said that he just tried. tried. Did he just take his lumps? I've never heard of that. I think he just got his face caved in. And now it's like the, no, I was doing the noble thing, you know, like I meant to do that. He could throw a single punch. I didn't know what to make of that. I felt like I was back in the American League. One of the sobering feelings for me was getting sent back to the American League after being up in the NHL at the end of my career and getting to the back of the bus. And it was all like 19 and 20 year olds. I'm like, well, what happened to the back of the bus used to be

NHLers back here? You know, like, and they were all setting up their fights going into Hershey. And I was like, what are we doing? Setting up fights. And so it was like that was the American League at the time. And at any rate, it felt like one of those rehearsal fights, W.W.E. style. I mean, how I thought it was bizarre.

Okay, one more. And then we'll get to grill time. The Flyers, they're right in this thing. Yeah. They're shocking to me because, okay, they've got a wildly, offensive offensive rush game. And defensively, they don't mind

just trading with you. I watched the game the other night, and Erison is just spitting out one rebound after another. He wasn't very good in that, but he got the job done. Vladar, when he goes in, keeps things steady. But I'm wondering if it's what I said

off the top. Are they going to get right there and then find a new way to disappoint their fans? Because that's what I see with them. They get right there, and then find a new way to disappoint you. And I think they're really one of five or six teams right now that are doing this song and dance where they trip over the wild card line.

It's funny. Their last two games of the year are Carolina, Montreal. So you can see them getting close and then just taking two straight to the nose to end the season and losing. Yes, I feel like somebody's going to trip in. Nobody's just taking it. And we've seen a lot of that in this year, both east and west. Yeah.

So anyhow. A lot of love for my trip. Hold on. Just a lot of love for my trail right now with Suzuki and Coffield and what they're doing. Yeah. Geez, what did I just see? Caulfield. How many goals are you at now?

45. 47 maybe? 46 and then McKinnon is 48, I think. I remember being on with you guys a couple weeks ago saying this is definitely going to be a career high for him. Well, his career high keeps getting higher. But you know what? They have a lot of good energy. You know, boys, I'm experiencing it right now with the Rangers.

They call up Sikora Hamlosh, like these guys that are Hartford guys. We have six of them. They bring in that new energy. And you know what Montreal is going through? They're going through that phase of the three E's. It's like the early excitement. Everybody's happy to be in the NHL still. They've got a young vibe.

They've got great energy. And they've got a good balance between the excitement, the entitlement, and not not really anybody in their lineup that's nearing the end. So I always think about that as, like, guys, if you saw me in my first year pro versus my eighth year versus my 15th year, you got a different personality on each visit. Like, I was at different stages of my career. There were times when I realized, especially when I got to like year nine and ten, I'm like, I've got to make some money.

I don't have that much time left. Like, you know, and that's where the entitlement comes in a little bit. And I took a big deal to go to Russia just to make some money. And I think that sometimes those lines get crossed and at some point they'll get crossed in Montreal, but there is definitely value and understanding where the timeline is with your team. Early excitement, entitlement, and then the ending. Totally. All right. We're good to go, my friend.

All right. Grill it up. I'm going to start with the worst safe percentage on the low catching glove because we've seen so many low glove goals this year. it's become the new honey hole. And the three goalies that have allowed the most goals, low glove, Ascarov, Dostal, or Dobish?

Asgrove, Dostal, or Dobish? I'm jumbled like you here. It's Ascarov. Okay, I'll do Doebus just to mix it up. I'll do Ascarov, too. He's got the right-hander, doesn't he? He does, but it's Dobish. Hey. Right back. back on the board.

Right back on the board. Yes, sir. All right, so we're going to stick to scouting reports. Worst low blocker. Worst low blocker. We've got, on this list, Greaves, Swayman, Saros.

They're good goalies. I know. Really good goalies. But if you're paying attention to the highlights the last few nights, you would have seen a few low blocker on this guy. Greaves. Who's the middle one, sorry? Grieves for sure.

Grieves, Swayman, and Soros. I go Soros. I'll take Swamen. Swamen. Hey. Oh. I just feel like Soros is too short to have a bad blocker, low blocker. Wow.

Okay. Another list that Soros is on. Worst high glove side. Soros, Dostal, Wolf. Give me Wolf. Dostal. I'll go wolf he's had a tough year good call wolf god this is bad for me yeah I'm ruined yeah so 42 times he's been beat over the glove like the interesting thing with wolf guys

coming off of last year and looking at the amount of opportunity teams have with time and space on high danger chances and if you have a smaller goalie it's just not a lock that looks out because he's got the space between the shoulders and the crossbar and then you add more high danger chances and you add time and space and it's been lethal. Calgary is in a massive rebuild

here with the scoring chances that they're allowing and the goalies mask it up to a certain degree but it's catching up to them. Awesome stuff, Valley. You're the best. I'm exhausted. You're on the broadcast tonight I take it? Yes, sir.

Just got my hair highlighted. I'm ready to go. Rangers got who? Who they got something? Devils. Devils. Don't say anything about Jack Hughes. All right. Oh, I'm going to get brutalized on Twitter.

Hughes four goal game incoming. Valley, you? Every time. Every time. I just get owned. We hope you and your frosted tips. Have a great night, my friend. Oh, well.

Looking sharp, fella. All highlights. Everybody will talk to you soon. That is Steve Alicat, analyst with the New York Rangers on MSG. And, of course, The CEO, the big cheese. Real talk here and I'm not even being.

I'm bad now. Clear sight analytics. Bad grow marks for your boy there. Not even remotely, you know, whatever here. Why would someone doing a GM search, would they not talk to Steve Ellicott? And I'm not just booster in the boy. He's the first five calls I'm making.

You know, it's like this guy. He's not that great on TV. I think that's the reason. This guy knows the league in and out. He pours over the stuff. He's thoughtful. He's been around the league forever. Like, how is that not a conversation?

I don't know. Personalable guy, I can talk to the GMs. What am I missing? Oh, he hasn't done it before? Okay. Well, I tell you a lot of guys who have done it before who are doing a terrible job. So, anyway, next. So what you're saying is just not that hard of a job.

No, I'm not. I'm saying there are more than 32 people who can do it. I would hire him tomorrow. And I would hire him and then figure out where best to use them. Just get them. Just get them. So quick story, when I was, with the Leifes and Marley's.

They had Barb Underhill as the skating coach. Yep. And so, she was like the one at the time. Like everyone wanted to work with Barb. Yep. And so she works for the Leafs in the morning and they're playing Tampa Bay this next day and the next day. Stam Coast, right?

Well, yeah. So after the Leafs are on, Barb is out there with Tampa Bay. And so I'm saying if she's that great and I believe that she was, why wouldn't we give her a million dollars and say no one else gets to use her? She's, you know. Yeah. Like you pay to so not everyone has access. And I know they had Daryl Belfrey, who was a skills coach.

They worked with all the teams. He claimed to be an organization with all this money. Use it to hoard the good ones. Yep. Horde the good people. It's game time presented by Bet365, an official partner of the NHL, almost 19 plus, Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Two big ones tonight. First of all, Detroit in Pittsburgh to take on the penguins. God, all these games are huge for Detroit. They are desperate for some wins. Minus 115 for the Red Wings on the one side of the money line. Pittsburgh minus 105 on the other side. Really good one in Tampa Day.

Montreal down there to take on the lightning. Plus 145 for the Montreal Canadians on the money line. Canadians win the division. Yeah. They're, listen, they're really good. I said that they might miss the playoffs this year at the start of the year. I was very wrong. The more I think about that Canadians roster, boy, they're cup contenders.

Yep. In Florida, another massive one for another Canadian team. Ottawa Senators, Linus Allmark, will get the start tonight. They are huge faves against the straight-up tanking Florida Panthers, minus 185 on the money line. Florida Panthers plus 155. Florida arrested their equipment manager. Everyone's like word out. And no one's participating. Anyways, that was game time presented by Bet365.

An official partner of the NHL must be 19 plus Ontario only. Please play it responsibly. Okay. Let's take a quick break. As you alluded to, 10 games on tap. We'll touch on a few of more. And just an update, if you're a soccer fan, while you guys are talking to Steve Belichette,

I had the second half of Bosnia versus Italy to see who's going to go on to play Canada. Bosnia has just eliminated Italy in a penalty shootout. They just eliminated. No, we don't get the dream matchup. Italy will not be coming to BMO field. They are not taking part in the World Cup. They have been eliminated in penalty shooting.

dating for so many people here in Toronto. Oh, sorry, Italy. I guess you guys want to pretend to cheer for Italy when you're from Canada. Oh, you guess you have to cheer for your actual country now. Sorry. Well, that's too bad. And I was going to have pasta tonight, too. Yeah, was that directed right at Matt Marquez?

It's directed at everyone. Everyone that's more. You don't know who you are. All right. Chow, Italy. Chow! More of Sammy. When we return.

It's a cackle. After the break. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things, Leafs, Rafters, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the fan morning show. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts.

As a reminder, this hour of Real Kippur and Bourne brought to by Bet365. Nick Kippreel's Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. The Dallas Stars have extended the contract of General Manager Jim Nill for two more years. You like Dallas? You like their chances. still he consistently runs an organization it's my mic on my life

yeah you're good you're good all right he consistently runs an organization that wins that's competitive he really did a good job bridging the ben segan era Dallas stars into sort of this new iteration that now has Robertson and Wyatt johnston and you know rantan in so he's done a great job there tough to argue with

what he's done, 100 points with still eight games to go. They're very good. But are they... They're one of the five-based teams in the NHL. Are they better than Colorado? Can this lineup? And Rantanin was a huge commitment. And then the signing...

It doesn't cost anything. Is it... Are they ready to challenge? Yeah, I mean, they're... Do I think they're going to win the Stanley Cup? I don't. No. I don't. They could be out in the first round.

For sure. I think you guys are underestimating the Dallas Stars. They could absolutely win the Cup. And that conference? Yeah. Like I guess you have to beat two really good teams, but like... I take it Wyatt Johnson's their number one centerman, right? I don't know.

I think they're pretty good. Is you ready to go head to head? I know. But is you ready to go head to head? Maybe not. Maybe you lose there. But, you know, you also have some places where you're stronger that maybe other teams aren't. Miro Heiskin and Esselandell, Thomas Harley.

You know, like they got some guys in the back end. You believe in Ottinger. So White Johnson and Matt Dushane right now and Rupert Hintz is out. Can you list me? The only case you have is that Colorado is better. But I think Colorado is better than everyone. So they're in first. Yeah.

Could they, is Edmonton, like could it be Edmonton, Colorado, Edmonton Dallas again in the conference finals? Like, do you think that they could beat Edmonton this year? Yes. Absolutely. Like I really, I think they are as well run. as any team in the league in terms of them drafting, bringing guys in terms of turning guys over,

developing. They just haven't won that. They just haven't won yet, but they're really good. I know they're good. McKinnon, Brock Nelson, and Cadre, 1, 2, 3. That's what Dallas is going to have to go through. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's a big challenge.

Sorry. I sent out an incendiary tweet about Italy, and some of the responses are really making me laugh. Sam is really loving that fans of Italy soccer have to cheer for Canada. You're not welcome to Little Italy. You cannot go over there for dinner. The finest parts of Toronto right there. I think I could.

I think I could. They'll all be put on the Canada. What happens to Jason Robertson? That's going to be a fun one to watch. They haven't committed to them. I think the Leafs dive in with both feet on that one. By the way, these contracts that, you know, Randon got 12 million,

Marner got 12 million. These are going to be peanuts. Just peanuts in the next five years. Those guys are going to be bargain basement. So what does Jason Robertson get then if you're a perfect world? And again, he's not UFA. He's got one year of Arb rights. So do you think Dallas would be looking to trade him instead of pay him?

Yes, I do. I think they made the, big decision to keep them at least for this year's run. Yeah. They're going after it. Okay, so what, okay, if you're the new general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and you're a year away and you either trade firm or you wait for him in free agency, what does Jason Robertson get on the new pay scale?

You know, because of who he is compared to who Miko Ranton and Mitch Marr and those types are no one in the world thinks Jason Robertson's better than those guys, do they? It's kind of weird now because you don't have to be better. You just have to be in a better spot more leverage. With the cap and the percentage. Sure. So is you can get 12 and a half?

What's that, 100 million? Well, you don't have to pay him anything because they have to say tax and we'll get to pay him two and a half million dollars less than everybody else. I think if Dallas wants to go in the ballpark of 12 and 12 between 12 and a half. I think that's realistic for Robertson and his numbers. But if you're thinking about the Toronto Maple Leafs, they probably have to go 14.

14 and a half. Give them 14 then. You got to have talent. They need a winger. You know, there's a really good article. Thomas Trans wrote it. I think it's in the athletic. And it's on the way the salary cap is now.

And changing the way that people think, think about contracts. And as we think about contracts over the past decade, it's been flat cap, no room. How do you drive the AAV down as much as possible, right? And it's extend the years. And in many cases, give them a no moves. You can bring it down a little bit.

And, you know, you do everything you could to bring it down. It's not really going to be the case. Like, I think people are going to be surprised at how, to your point that you've made, how many teams are going to spend to the cap? Half them? less. Yeah, I think it's a real challenge for some teams. So teams who are willing to have a great advantage that they don't have to give as much term,

they can say, come play for us for 15, 16, a number that makes people go, but then you have more flexibility if it's not working out, if you don't want to give a guy a no move. And I just think that's going to be kind of the new way we have to think about some of these guys. Pay more, less term, have more flexibility. So what you're saying right now is that a team, that generates way more money and brings way more fans to the league

is able to spend more money than some of the teams that don't do anything for the league. Interesting concept. Wow, it's almost like every other sport ever has done that. And it's like the Leafs have, they've got a billion dollars for the naming rights of their arena, but they've had to be able to spend, what is going on? I've just lost my train, I thought.

They've been able to spend $78 million in their team. So, yeah, anyway. They're able to spend $130. I do. I do think there's going to be a wave of, of finally some of these bigger revenue teams will get an advantage back again. Yeah. You know, and I know for years the Leafs didn't wield it wisely at times, right?

But I think it felt like some of the management at that time was maybe willy-nilly, like, ah, yeah, whatever, throw it around. I think you have the opportunity to be savvy about how you deploy the money now. Big debut in Philly tonight, boys. Porter Martone slated to make. his debut. Pretty exciting, man, if you're a Philly fan. One of the top prospects in the league. You're in a playoff race. Sounds like a fine kind of meat.

They really are kind of... Fine cut of meat. They're kind of parading him a little bit like he could be the next kind of celebrini for us. Wow, they're excited. I know they're excited. They need a guy. He's got guy status. It'll be interesting how much he plays, where his minutes are allocated.

You know, can he give him? him a short boost here. Do you think that there's some fear of not giving him opportunities after what happened with Cutter Goce? Like, you know if they could go back in time. They would re-sign. They would give Cutter. They'd handle it differently.

Cutter's so good. God. So good. You know what I was saying during the game last night? He reminds me of confident Matthews where he just pulls the trigger at a time where you're like, oh. Drops the shoulder. No one even had thought that was a scoring chance and it's in.

He just shoots so much. Yeah. Big body. Porta Martone in 35 games at Michigan State this year had 25 goals and 25 assists, 50 points. Yeah. No, he's good. 78 pimms, too. He's definitely a...

So if you had Bartone and Go-Chayne? He's an S-disturber. I don't know how great he's going to be, but... You don't like him. No, it's not that I don't like them. But there's times to over-hype sometimes, guys. Yeah. And I...

6-3-2-10. I wonder if... At 19. Maybe they're just hanging a little bit too much on this guy right away. Can I make a bowl prediction about Porter Martone? He will be a feature part of Team Canada in the future. Ooh. He's big, strong, kind of mean.

Like, he captained them already at the last world juniors. He's a pedigree guy. I love this kid. Huge fan of him. All right. What are we hearing on McCar? A shoulder? I haven't heard shoulder.

I just watched him go to the bench and go, ah. My shoulder. Well, holding a shoulder. Emily Kaplan just sent a tweet about it. Cutter Goce and Kil McCar both hurt last night. It appears neither are too serious. Goce won't travel to San Jose. The Ducks are hopefully returns this weekend.

Markar's timeline is still DVD, but not believed to be long term. So that's good news. McCar, Taves, Manson, Brent Burns, Brett Kulak. That good enough to win a cup? Probably. I forgot Kuulak got traded there. Yeah. I'm going to say that's a probably.

I don't know. I mean, if it's always just... just left up to the goalie when it's all said on who who knows what you're going to get anymore. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's, it is fascinating to try to figure out. I'm trying to remember last night, one of those conversations we had about teams.

Anyway, normie, move on. I have something I want to say and I'll get to it. You know what I get a lot of in when I see the chat in our YouTube thing and some DMs here and there from Habs people who hate me that we don't talk about the Habs enough. We take a beating for not giving the Habs enough credit for fabulous season. Yeah, that's just bad producing. Well, I mean, it's bias producing, that's for sure.

But they really are having a fabulous season. I actually saw Ryan Whitney tweet a thought that I had, and so I'm sure other people have had it too, which is, you know, Demadov has the potential to be the next Kucherov. You know, he is that shifty, creative, driven sort of combination to guys. You know, Caulfield shoots a net.

Slavkovsky's huge. That decor with Hudson back there is so good. Like, they're really, really good. Yeah, they are. They got a lot of actual threats and why not now? You know, you got to come back to how serious

were they with the Toronto Maple Leafs on a guy like Matthew Nyes. Oh, they could have been for them. Just a Perfect fashion. A chef's kiss. Just an extra big body, 70 points shoot it in the net guy. And I got to tell you,

playoffs starts today. I wish they were starting today. Buffalo, Montreal as a first round playoff series, would rock. That would be an excellent. My two cents is that Montreal would steam roll. You think? Yeah. Really?

I do. In those... That's interesting. Those droughts... That's not statistically driven. That's pure opinion. In those droughts for the Leafs, we always got assigned Montreal.

playoffs to cover for Sportsnet. I'm telling you, there's nothing that can compare that city in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the excitement and the vibe and then the presentation before puck drop is electric. I got to tell you, though. You mean the 17 minutes they spent retiring another number? Everyone's always going on about their ceremony.

I've never once watched one and not been like, can we do this faster? Remember when they got mad at us because he didn't do Andre Marcotte? To be there. To be there. Not through your television screen when the kids are screaming and you just spilled something on the carpet. And the wife's all over you. I'm like, can we drop it? No, no, no, no.

I'm talking about being in that building. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And just that the anticipation to Stanley Cup playoffs. Nothing like it. Buffalo is much better offensively. Montreal, much better defensive. That playoff game last year, when I remember Tom Wilson ended up in the bench against them? And it was, I think that was the game they ended up.

I think they lost in five to Washington last year, but that was the game they ended up winning, made it 2-1 in the series, and that building is bananas. So there you go, Habs fans. I said nice things, and I love Nick Suzuki, my darling Nick Suzuki from the Owenside attack, who, by the way, boys, I update on the Onside Attack series. They lost 10-0 last night at home. So somebody called you out yesterday or the day before on your, who is the general manager and Owen Sound.

Mike's a computer? No. Oh, now? Dale DeGray. No, no. But when they won or when... Futes. There's Futes when they won.

Yes. So did they think that you mentioned that it was still Futes? I don't know. Because I thought... Who's on first? No, somebody mentioned that it was Dale DeGray when you were talking. But it was Futes as a champion. It's got to be your bowl.

Okay, we'll figure it out tomorrow. We'll figure it out tomorrow. We'll figure it out tomorrow. Attack him and out scored 29-2 in the first. free games. Our thanks to Steve Aliquette. We're back tomorrow.

I hope so. All right. I'm going to be. And now guess what? All our Italian listeners have the whole summer off. Ciao! Thanks for watching.

Thanks for listening.