Real Kyper & Bourne - Vally's View: Wolf, Stolarz, and Media Etiquette

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look back on the Blue Jays' World Series loss to the Dodgers in an 18-inning marathon before welcoming Steve Valiquette in for his weekly appearance (11:54). Vally weighs in on Dustin Wolf calling out the Flames' offence, the challenges for Joseph Woll to get back up to speed, and Team Canada's thin options in net for the Olympics, and more. Later, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss Sidney Crosby reaching the 1,700-point mark, the Penguins' unexpected hot start, and the shaken-up Atlantic Division landscape.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.

Nickyprio's Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Jake the Snake Shultz, Derek Brandeo, and we're so tired. So tired. Hit the ball. God. Do I have to tell everybody where we are? We're live on Sports at 360. Vancouver, Calgary.

And you can catch us somewhere else too on many platforms. Yeah. And this hour, Real Kippur and Bourne brought to you by Beth 365. I'll give them the juice. But as far as having any juice left for the next two hours, Listen, guys, I know we're a hockey show, but last night sucked the life out of me. Okay, who's with me? Well, yeah.

You too? Yeah, I'm not. I still feel some life. No, I said it for 15 innings. I was till 2 a.m. Sammy? Yeah. I witnessed the finale.

And then I closed my laptop in my bed, and I laid awake for two more hours, which probably would have equated to around five a m you know it's hard to just kind of shut the old brain off after witnessing one of the more heartbreaking losses of your sports life so yeah i i'd be lying at it boys if i said i wasn't down bad today i'm down bad that that that really really really hurt i was a ballgame so no it was everyone's like what a ball game it stunk it stunk for 80 percent of the game the end results stunk it was it was a fantastic yeah the first seven innings were unbelievable and then it sucked for three and a half hours. Well,

extra innings was, why? Because nothing happened. Because in baseball, unlike any other sport, you take out good players, right? And that's what happened

to the Blue Jays. It's like all of a sudden some of their best hitters are no longer playing. So this is one of the stupidest things in sport in a championship type atmosphere where you,

like what world are we where like, okay, now I'm going to take Sidney Cross. Cosby out of this game in the third period. That's all the strategy. Do you know how many times a team has put four pinch runners in a game in a World Series game? How many times? Once last night.

First time in baseball history, it's ever happened. What? Yeah, it's the first time. The Jays did it. They were straw for barger, Heinemann for Kirk. I mean, you can go through it. There's two more. Schneider for Thai France and would have been, I guess, Springer.

My KF for Springer, yeah. No. Whatever. I can't for both. The barge, the barger leaving the game bothered me the most. Yeah, I think it bothered. Like, why? Why?

Because he, he can't run. Can I play the devil's advocate here? Okay. I hated the move at the establishment I was at. I exclaimed loudly that that feels stupid. That was stupid. Turned out to be stupid. But it's a tie game in the seventh inning.

Barger gets on. And they bring in Miles Straw. who is a, I think I saw it from Brendan Kuhn on Twitter, is a 95 percentile sprint speed guy. He is one of the fastest guys in the league. He's really fast. Barger in that same category is a 55 percentile sprint speed. A much slower base runner.

It's a tie game. You want to win that game. You know that you need to press. It's a bit of a panic move, but you can see the vision. Doesn't mean it was a good move, but I can understand what they were doing. but to have straw come up in multiple massive spots with runners on it was I almost swore freaking painful boys I sitting there watching that game because it's just inning after inning like you just kept thinking yourself how are they going to get six outs

how are they going to get six out and god love eric lauer pitch until his arm falls off to get them through was it four and a third of no runs against the best lineup maybe in the history of the game. Unbelievable effort. Poor Brandon Little, they throw him out there. He gets one inning. Then Freddie Freeman takes him deep. I mean, what can you do?

I mean, if anyone's blaming Little, you need to get your head checked. It's just, it's a painful loss that goes on to the Mount Rushmore of painful Toronto losses. It's as bad as it could be. We're going to have Steve Aliquette up in a few minutes here, just to let everybody know it's still a hockey show. Yeah.

But a couple things bothered me last night. Okay, what you have a say here too. Because obviously, Sam and I are. I was just going to say in terms of the game kept that prior to, you know, all the pinch runners and the thin lineup and the Bisons versus whatever that it ended up being last night, the plays on the bases, you know, multiple plays at home where you force them to make plays and they executed. Flattie's throw to the third base.

I mean, a rope was it 95 miles per hour. And then L.A. Dodgers executed two back-to-back throws to throw out at the plate as well. Yeah. I mean, that's what Sammy Winner said. Like, that's a, it was a great game until it wasn't. It was a really thrilling. There was some phenomenal moments, but, but I think, what do you think other than the

barger thing? I think a lot of people are pissed at Carlos Fablis, the third base coach. Yeah. I don't even know what inning that was in. But Lucas ropes a double down the right field line. Schneider, you know, chugging hard. He sends them. In that situation, and everyone's like, oh, Vlad's coming up.

They're immediately holding. for and it's ICF hit and cleanup. So obviously it's not going to be Vladdy factoring in that situation. You have to send. Everybody's at the bar. Send up. Everybody watching is like, oh, you shouldn't have sent them. Everybody that's saying they shouldn't have sent them.

What a 100% of sent them. They had to send them. They didn't execute on defense. The only thing that bothers me, you have to. The only thing that bothers me is you're banking on a top baseball team to make one out of two throws or not to execute.

But one of the, but one of the, calling cards been bad defense all year kick you have to bet there you have but the judgment should have been that it's going to be two decent throws and he's not going to get there in time that's all he was out by a country mile it wasn't even close i think if they felt offense is coming easier to them maybe they wouldn't have but it just felt like god you don't know if you're going to get many of these windows to maybe get one in i just hate the oh vladdie was on deck no he He wasn't. Take Vladdy out of the, you think IKF's going to get it?

Oh, we got. He rips it off Freeman. Okay. Oh, no, this is the one that way. Yeah. At this point now, he's waving in. Yeah. And he's.

He blocked the base, by the way, but you're allowed to do that now. Yeah, you are. It's not, you're not allowed to. As soon as he get the ball, though, you're allowed to. No, you can't put your foot. First. Yeah, it was. Whatever.

They're not going to call that in that spot. But, yeah, he's out by a couple steps. No question. Okay, the other one is, and I only bring this up because we had a bit of a conversation with Josh Anderson in Edmonton, whether or not he showed up an official or not, right, for a penalty. So last night, I don't know where Bo, Bichette, getting picked off in the grand scheme of things really mattered. But it mattered. It mattered. It mattered a lot.

So who's at the plate again? Bar show. Bar show. So he thinks it's ball four and he goes into, but he would be right. But he goes into the, they all do it now. When they think it's ball four, they're going to make it abundantly clear. It's ball four as if you're showing up the ophish or the yump and you're going to tell him what his call is. And it's to the point now where you didn't just tell him what you thought of.

You told Bo on first base. Bo moved because Marshall did an unbelievable sales job on it being ball four And it's like Varshal walks back to home Like he must have heard something different Before he turns around and throws the bat Just the whole

The whole episode of Selling a ball four You know is It caught Bo I don't think he's selling anything Oh no no he's telling the official I think he believes it's ball four It was ball four

It was I know It was ten inches above the strike zone. It was at his chin. Whatever you believe. That ump was brutal the whole night. Why don't you just wait for the umpire to call it ball for before you go into this whole routine because all you did was you sold it to Bo and Bo got caught.

The ump has to communicate that clearly immediately. Immediately. And that's what Schneider said he wanted out of the ump. There's more clarity. He was way too deliberate. He was deliberate the whole night. He was a slow strike three call and he's already like, Sam,

more the reason not to get caught in it then because you got a guy that just won't call like wait for his call can everybody don't move bow don't move until you're 100% sure because the world series can I ask you something what is the biggest mistake in all of this to me I the umpiring is my number one of course the ump who's umpiring a world series game that called a pitch

that was five inches above the strike zone of strike whatever you gotta be better whatever you think of a referee or an umpire you have to work within whatever he shows you. It's up to you to adjust to him, not him to you. It's easy to say that, but you're standing there and the guy throws one that's out your chin, you're going to throw the bat away. But he also, he started to walk away,

and then he's like, okay, it's not ball four, and he like turned back. Then he turned away again and tossed the bat. Yes, he still didn't know, though. Twice. He didn't know. I don't think he was being showy. I think he was, okay, I'm confused.

Yes. I thought there's a lack of clarity, and Bo saw the, like you mentioned, he was like, no, must have been a walk. Tossed. Sick. Right? Anyways.

I mean, it's not like it's not like Alejandro Kirk roped a single after that. They would have had a base loaded nobody out against Tyler

Glasna who was already starting to struggle. It wouldn't have been a big moment in the game. The other thing I'm absolutely falling in love with is the super slow motion especially on Vladdy's

throw to third base and how they can just slow it down and you could literally just make your own call whether a guy's safer out. In hockey, of course we've got judgment on goaltender interference or not and what you think.

But at the end of the day, I mean, a guy safer out with that type of clarity on a super slow camera is really cool. How was Otani telling them to challenge the tag when it was clearly on him the whole time? He thought that he pushed him off. He's claiming a push there. So last thing, and I was at the game on Friday night,

my section started the We Don't Need You Chant. Yeah. Specifically you? No, I didn't say it one time Because I've heard The Curse of McKee I've heard We Want Florida

I've heard Bad chance Did you tell people in your section It was overwhelming The whole You couldn't have said Listen, I'm Sammy The guy in front of me

All time ball nowhere Turns for me and says No way No way I'm doing that And I'm like Damn right you're not I didn't say it once Whole crowd gets into it

And then in the first game at home He hits two home runs Which I gave out on bet 365 game time yesterday he gets on base nine times that good seems good we could have used them okay we do need them clearly okay let's start the chance let's start a chant sorry we want valley we want valley we want steve aliquette analyst for the new york rangers msg what are we doing okay what yeah what are you doing buddy we buried that hat Hey, let's go.

Let's go. Hey, listen, I'm with you guys. I'm going to be at game six, so I need there to be at game six. Got my tickets. That's cool. My boy Rafi Torres, so I'm hoping to meet some Kipper and Bourne fans while in that game. Oh, you will. You certainly will.

Awesome, awesome. Yeah, I don't think you made it all through 18 innings, did you? No, I got to be honest, guys. I'm a baseball guy now because I'm a baseball guy now because I don't. as I've talked about, my son's a pitcher, um, 12, 13, I was done. I had to get up early this morning. Good choice. All right, uh, Valley, plenty of, uh, talk around the league.

Uh, we can start on many different, at many different spots here, but I want to pick up a little bit. We, we, we had a conversation on Stolars and, you know, whether, where's that line for, for goaltenders making comments and what they want to say and sure. enough within a week we get Dustin Wolf, a situation in Calgary where, you know, and I don't, you know, I wasn't

there. I don't even know how the question was phrased on whether or not, you know, how frustrated are you that you can't score goals and maybe that started something. I'm not sure if I would put Dustin Wolf's comments up there right with Stollars last week and being critical in

multi ways on your hockey club, but what did you make out of Dustin Wolf's comments that really started and was focused on, I did my job. You know what, boys? I'm going to lean on the legend himself, Tretiak. Yes. And, you know, one of the things that saved me, I have to say, over the years is just

spending time reading. You know, there's a lot in there that can confirm that you're doing things the right way. And his passage in this book, when I read it at the time, this is a book that came out in 87, but I read it on the bus in Sudbury. when I was playing junior hockey, and it goes like this. It's worth listening to. The goalkeeper has to be respected on his team.

He must learn to manage the defense of his own team as a conductor handles the orchestra. I would even call the management of the defense one of the main responsibilities of the goalkeeper. He has to notify his players quietly but clearly about movements of their rivals on the ice. Jacques Plont recommended that goalkeepers never blame their team, teammates. They should suggest, but never criticize. I tried to follow this rule. A quarrelsome

character doesn't belong to a goalkeeper. I have met with many goalkeepers around the world. Almost all of them are quiet and steady people. A goalkeeper should never be reproached for his mistakes during a game. On the contrary, he should be constantly encouraged and he should do so with his teammates. So, love that. It is, it is strong, right? Borney? And it's poignant and somewhere along the lines, these guys just either weren't raised right or weren't corrected when had bad behavior at some point. And you're going to, you lose your teammates, you lose the room, you lose hockey games. And what happened with Dustin Wolfe, to me, it's an extension of what happens in his next game. It doesn't go so well. I think

you gave up four or five in that game. And it always finds a way on the ice. If we're talking about upper management, anything that happens with the coaching staff, it always finds a way on the ice. And I feel like goalies can shoot themselves in the foot there, guys. Dustin Wolf, Stolars, you need to really take the advice of Vladislav Trejak there and just keep it positive. I'll weigh in on this too where I remember twice during my career I had teammates go to bat for me, guys, like where I'm down and out and probably getting sent down.

One of them was Yager, and once, Brendan Shanahan, and I was ready to get sent down. I was told on Tuesday that I wasn't going to be playing, that I, excuse me, I was going to be playing three games and three nights going back to Hartford. So on Thursday after practice, Shannie came in the locker room, and he's like, you know, Val, here's what I want to do after practice. I want to take, you know, these extra shots, do this extra work.

And I was like, Shanny, I'm out of here. As soon as practice is over. So practice, you know, ends. He comes up to me. He's like, hey, Valley, we're going to take those shots. I was like, shit, I told you. I'm, I got to go, man. Like, I'm getting, got to get back to Hartford. And he says, you're not going anywhere. And he went right into Glenn Sather's office. And I was riding the bike at the training center at Madison Square Garden. You can see the people walking behind you. He came in a few minutes later, the head coach, Tom Rennie, tapped the bike that I was riding and said, Val, you're staying.

You know, and I know what happened there. Shannie was walking by a few minutes later. And, you know, I was like, Shannie, I'm staying. I'm staying. I was so excited to tell him. He's like, you know, be quiet, you know. And I think that there's times that you're going to have your team back you up that you don't even see coming yet just based on good behavior.

That's really cool. That's a great story, Valley. You know, it's always interesting because I think about the coach, or sorry, the goalies I played within my life and almost none of them spoke in the room right like none of them a lot of headphones before the game almost the max shurs are starting pitcher thing you don't talk to them between periods whatever but the time or two that you did hear a goalie speak up in the room meant something because it was like okay this guy's coming out of the you know the cone of silence to get a message across it means something so you do have that sort of position

of authority within the team where it's like everyone respects you and needs you happy and so what you say matters probably more than what some random defenseman or right winger says. Yeah, that's exactly it. When you do speak up, it should land on, on ears that are listening, especially when you're playing with like star players. I mean, come on, Henrik Lundquist, when he spoke up, it was rare, but, you know, he's out there performing at such a level that he has a voice. And I think that's what it always comes down to, whether you're a team captain or you're a starting goalie, if you're playing really well and you're following the right rule of the law and you're playing at the standard, not just performing, but every day living

it. You know, you're the first guy on the ice or the last guy off the ice. You're always going to have a strong voice in the room. And you know what? As a player, I'd certainly welcome to any challenge from any player in the room. And, you know, just to go back to Stolars a little bit, it was pretty clear that he did talk to the guys after the game and voiced some of his concerns. but then the question all these guys have to ask after is if that's the case, then why was it necessary to say it publicly? What's to be gained publicly other than maybe trying to, you know, I don't know, embarrass the guys into playing better?

Or kind of curry favor a little bit with the media and the fans, and that's never good, right? Because that's division. Yeah, never good. And, you know, so you're not going to win that game. I can't even think of it ever working, to be honest with you. You know, I just can't. And any goalie from this point forward should just pay attention to those two examples

because both guys got pretty beat up in their next games. And I just think it's always going to work that way. I don't care if you believe in mother hockey or, you know, what it is, the karma of the game. You know, it always falls that way. You guys have been around the game forever. You know how it works. It's never going to start with, you know, they're never. next game's going to start with a shutout.

You know, it's always going to come back and bite you. I've never seen it. Never seen it. Calgary is set to play the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. In our second hour, we're also have Eric Francis, senior columnist with Sportsnet based in Calgary. He'll help us tee up that game. But as far as on the Leaf side, we just mentioned Stolars. Comes the news that Joseph Wall is back with the Toronto Maple Leafs at practice

after an extended leave of absence, which pretty much excluded him from training. camp here. What are the challenges? What is realistic to get himself mentally, physically, emotionally ready now to go and play in the National Hockey League? And boys, up until right now, he has not addressed the media, correct? Correct. Yeah, okay. So, okay, it is speculative, I'm going to speculate here, but I did live it. When I was coaching, we had a goalie, Anders Nielsen that was going through it a little bit mentally. Two years ago, we saw it with Spencer Knight where he left the Florida Panthers for a period of time. Here's what I do know. I know that

you need a strong room. We had Anders Lee, we had Brock Nelson, we had Casey Szekus, like, high character guys. And Garstino called me one day and he said, look, Valley, Anders is going to go home for a couple weeks you know and um i didn't ask too much i was i was told that he needed time and i all i said to snowy was i was like snowy uh what do i tell the guys you know because the other goalies want to know where he's going to go and so do the players in the room but what snowy said to me was very poignant he was like this is more about the person than it is the the the goaltender on the ice that you coach and i was like okay i got it and um anders nelson was, by the way, like salt of the earth human being, he stayed at my house here for a couple

weeks every summer. He's an awesome guy. He just needed some time. Now, of course, the way that we were all raised in the game, and Borny and Kipper and I were all around the same generation, I just never had seen that before. You know, we, it's hard to sympathize when you haven't experienced it except when you go through it with the athlete and then when he comes back and you can see that he's still a little shy to get in the game and wasn't 100% sure. And look, I've had my teeth kicked in in this game many times. So I do know how to come back from embarrassment. And then fear of future embarrassment is a real thing for a lot of professional athletes.

So I understand that, you know, if Joseph Wall, if this is what he's going through because he did have a couple of tough games last year in the series against Florida, if that's the case, he just needs somebody to. just to give them the, you know, the personal time where you're kind of saying, hey, look, this is not unique to you. I've seen the top guys go through this. And I have, and I mean that. I mean, I've been with, you know, Roberto Luongo, Rick T.P.H.

Oh, Henrik Lundquist, of course. You know, and I remember just going through different situations with these guys. I remember being a car once with Roberto Luongo in summer training. And it was right when he was going through it all in Vancouver, all of the off-ice distractions, everything that was happening with, him and Schneider splitting time and he got the call from his agent and his agent said look like you're going back to vancouver like we're not able to get a trade happen here you're going back and this was in the off season and i remember him hanging up the phone call he's like

valley how can they expect me to go back you know and i'm like holy cow do i understand like it's brutal like you got you know he went through it with the media for a whole year you've got to go face it again but you know he Roberto went out there he had a great year you know he went back to Vancouver had a great year and then got moved to Florida. And Spencer Knight, he went back to Florida and he played terrific and he got moved to Chicago. You know, guys go through this. It happens. I see that, you know, Joseph Wall is one of the most talented goalies in the league. When he's on his game, all day long, he's a top 10 goalie in the league for me. So if he's going to go through it, it'll be on the other side of that fear will be his freedom. And I hope the best

that for him, he gets through this because he's too good. And you know what it is too, guys? You'll love the game enough. You'll always find a way. And, you know, I feel like that's what I went through. Boys, I was in a game in Dallas where I gave up 10 goals. 10 goals. It took me like a year to get over that. And I remember getting into the next game after I got back and I just wanted to get through it without having a high score. Like we lost 4-1 in my first game back against Carolina and I remember feeling like that was a win.

Now that was not the right way to think. No, it wasn't the right way to think. But, I mean, it was my only way through it, Kipper. Like, you know, it was so, you know, as much as you see the athlete, you know, with the big moments and everything in this game, guys, there's a dark side to it. and it's just tough every day and by the way you know kipper you talk to glen healy and i've talked to him

over the years with um helping certain teammates of mine over the past and you know glen will tell you like he gets a call a minute on this stuff so you've got a what i hope is that this is a really strong room in toronto like the one that i'm referring to with uh with unders nielsen and you help the athlete through anders nelson went on and had some really good years in the nachel he played for six seven years after that in the NHL. So again, these guys can get through it. I've been through it. I think the bottom line is,

if you love this game enough, you will always find a way to keep playing no matter how many times you get kicked in the teeth. Well, sad, my friend, that's Steve Alicat analyst with the New York Rangers on MSG and CEO of ClearSight Analytics. Valley, what are your thoughts on goalies playing through poor play

in terms of like Wolf is going out there for what is eighth start in 10 games? stole ours is I think similar right is he played eight to ten something like that these guys haven't exactly set the world on fire do you think it's good for these guys to play a lot when they're not playing well to find their way through or does that is that a negative thing to continue you know such a good question such a good question always been debated you know what I found Borny I played a lot less when Henrik was struggling right right swear like I actually didn't play

when I I remember this I'll give you this one example too So I kind of tripped myself about the 10 goals. So I'm going to make myself feel a little better right now. I went shut out. 10 days later, shut out in Philadelphia, 10 days later, went back into Philadelphia, shut out again. And then I played it back to back. That next day was an afternoon game in Washington.

We lost 2 to 1. So I went shut out, shut out, and then one goal against, excuse me. Well, yeah, one goal against during regulation, lost in overtime. And, Bordy, I didn't play for the next 42 days. Come on, really? I swear to God, you can look on hockey reference. They're like, we've seen enough. No, because it was like, it was, hey, sometimes, Bordy,

I know you guys have talked about this, and this is a thing. Sometimes, if you're not slotted where you're slotted, they don't like it when you get out of where you're spotters, you know? It was like, Valley, get back to where you're supposed to. Yeah, don't forget who you are. And then to a certain extent, it was at that time, Henrik just wasn't playing at his level. So it was like, we got to get Hank going.

We got to get Hank going. And when Henrik was going, it was, I would get, more starts. That was just a thing. But personally, I feel like the answer is if I was coaching the athlete or for me personally, if it's not going well, it's better to do a reset. Like, I mean a five day, get out with the goalie coach. There are certain days where you need days of just confidence. And I mean, just chest angles, which would be just put it in the body and let the goalie just come down with the puck. On the ice, just work with your stick, like five whole shots. just get confidence and then when you get confidence you just start you know stacking those good

practices on one another and five days later you're usually like okay i got my game back i've looked in a video i'm ready to go so where is jeremy swayman on the um grand scheme of things here is this officially his second bad start to a season because his numbers do not reflect a guy making over eight million bucks yet again you know you know uh i see this every night um a lot with Lena Saul, Mark, a lot with Swayman. Oh, I just called out the Hug Brothers. All right, so Swamen. Swayman.

They could use a good hug, both of them. Yeah, that's right. So Swayman last night, okay, if you remember the Drake Batherson goal, it's from the slot, and Swayman is like on him. It was a pass from below the goal line to slot, but he's facing a shot that's

a straight on shot at this point, but it's from the slot. And it goes in, but he goes into like a full split. And the full split is oftentimes the goalies tell of, I'm doing everything I can out here. Can you guys help me? You know, and it's always in a way calling your teammate out. And it's a pose or move for any goalie to hold the glove up there longer after it goes in and then like kind of stare around at your teammates.

You know, don't do it. If I'm going to give a message to any goalie listening, after every attempted save, calibrate yourself, go through your post-goal routine. Everybody has a post-goal routine. Most goalies get a drink because they get thirsty after getting scored on. And then go for your skate to the corner if you have to, but change the channel and be ready for the next shot, rather than anything that makes your teammates look like you're doing.

Dude, Kip hate fun. Does that include my signature Bernie Prunk, glove-saving road hockey? No, so, no, that is. That's a save. I'm talking about what the guys are scored on. Okay. I'm talking, no, fun is fun. I know when the goalie, yeah, no,

Borny, I don't want to misconstrue this. I'm talking about when it's in the net and it's like this one. It's like, uh, you know, you're like looking at the guy like easy. Put your arm down. Like I know it went by. It's not my guy. I don't know. But that to me is always a tell.

I think that in Swamen, he looked on his heels, no intensity. and posing after each goal against. And to me, those always make me nervous about what's happening in the room, what's happening with the team, what's happening with your goalie, who is the spine, the beginning of the spine of the, you know, extension through the D and the centerman. So I get worried about that.

So if you got any Canadian front runners for the Olympics, I did the team Canada goalie list the other day. And, you know, Biddington was there. And I look in Binnington has got an 872. Montembow is dead last and save percentage among guys who played five games. Logan Thompson is having a good year for a second year in a row, but they just don't seem to want that guy for whatever reason. We're back to that conversation again.

Buddy, yeah, we're going to, how many days, 100 days till pop-trop? And then you're starting it already. Well, you know what, though, Borny? I don't think Aiden Hill's going to be available either, right? He's out with injury right now. Right. You know, so, yeah. So Montembow, analytically, is the worst ranked goalie in the league right now.

He's a minus 765, so he's given up almost eight more goals than he should have. Bennington's not far off. He's a minus five. So these guys are in the bottom five. And, you know, yeah, I've got Logan Thompson is top five right now. And he's been incredibly consistent now for two years. But when he was in Vegas, it didn't go so well. with the coaching staff.

Now, DeBoer, is he on the coaching staff this year? He is. He is. He is. Okay. So those guys, I don't think it went well

with Cassidy, DeBour, and their trust of going long with Logan Thompson. Now, I don't know if that changes a little more times past, but I don't know

where they're going to go in that. I've got to be honest with you. It's very, it's extremely thin. And, you know, I don't know where they're going to go. And unless there's anybody in the American League

that I'm not aware of, I don't know where they go. It's, that's a, it's thin. But I hope that. Talbot is Jake Allen. He's American, right? Cam Talbot's Canadian. Joey decor.

Jake Allen's America, Jake Allen's Nova Scotian, right? So, I mean, I don't know, guys. It's thin. I don't know what's going on. Not great. All right. We got time for a segment.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. All right, boys. You wouldn't believe this, okay? I am this close to get Morton's Steakhouse. I'm this close, right? Are you listening, Mr. Morton? Yeah.

All right. Expected goals. Now, you guys know what those are, right? You take all the scoring chances that the hockey player has and you add quality to it. So what player has the highest expected goal? Not total goals scored, but basically the best chances. So the players in the list, we're going to have four of them here, multiple choice. One point question.

Jake Gensel. Mark Schifley Nathan McKinnon Jason Robertson those are your four four choices I'll go Shifley I'm going to take

Jake Gensel I'm just going to take Nathan McKinnon yeah that's the right you got the right one McKee sometimes the cigar you know what I think

yeah the best player on the list there I'm taking them yeah okay well how about this one right now the luckiest player this is just a part of the conversation based on the expected goals and everything. So the one player that is overshooting big time has expected

is Shane Pinto in Ottawa. And then Sherwood and Geeky. Those are the three luckiest players in league. The unluckiest players in the league are Lafranier, Hince, and Jason Robertson. So just for a little food for thought there. All right. So I started the stack company in 2014 season, right? And Scott Gomez was trying to make a comeback with the New Jersey Devils at the time.

And he was frustrated because he was trying to move up the lineup from like the third, fourth line into the top six. And he calls me once. He's like, Val, you're so into all these stats. Well, how about a stat for when I passed to a guy on the back door, but he doesn't bury it? He's like, how about a stat for that? Because I've got guys, I mean, he said, I remember I'm saying, I've been dropping dimes to these guys in the back door and nobody can bury. Anyhow, that with that conversation, I started the expected assistant. Okay, and your top four players in expected assist

or your top playmakers this year are Jack Hughes, Nathan McKinnon, Artemey Panarin, or Connor McDavid. Sam, you're going to do the same thing you did last time? No, I'm going to go with Jack Hughes. I'll take McDavid, I guess. I learned from the first question. Panarin, I don't know.

I'm going off the board. I was looking for Matias, Machiel. on that list. Connor McDavid. Hey, all right. I mean, that's funk right now.

Okay. Yeah, you know what, Kipper, you are falling behind now, and I should tell you guys, it's Kipper was seven, tied with Borny was seven,

McKee was six. That's not even counting today what's going on. So Kipper, you're getting passed. I know. All right, we need to rally here.

I do. So this one here is a little interesting. I'm going to have to walk you through it. What I did was I took, I want to find out who the best net front player is, okay? but that could be the player that is delivering it to netfront,

so rolling up high and shooting it through a screen and getting it to the net front, or sorry, I should say, including the same player being able to get net front, screen the goalie, get a rebound, get a broken play, score that way. So who is the best at creating net front, either from high ice or getting down to the net front? So the options are, and this is we're going to go by goals here, who has the most net front goals? Carrille Caprisov Pastranak

Nick Schmaltz or Tom Wilson I'll get on the board first with a David Pastornak vote I'm going to go Nick Schmaltz because he's lightened it up You can also take it if it's the right answer Because I want to pass him I don't want to talk I am

What was my other What was last? It was either Schmaltz or Caprisov All right I'll go Carreel the thrill wow you are back in the game you are back in the mix all right

grill the panel well done bowie just keeps getting better and better baby do not substitute that hat the rest of the day I want that nail to your head I'm telling you guys I'd love to see you at game six gotta get there

we would love it let us know if you're in town about Steve Aliquette is always on our Thursday edition of the real Kipper and Bourne show that was awesome H-O-F guest right there. Good as it gets. Nice to see him put on the blue. It really was. Where's he from in, uh...

It's from Etobico. Yeah, okay. Uh, quick break? Yes, sir. All right. When we return, plenty more to get into, including Sidney Crosby's 1700 point. That's so many.

And then we'll follow that up with... What is Pittsburgh doing? 7-2-1. What is going on there? Hey, Crosby, he's not in this game to rebuild. He's a winner. Plenty more when we return to Real Kipper. and Bourne.

Hey, it's Matt Marquesie. And I'm Mike Futa. We're discussing the top stories of the day across the NHL and the hockey world. Weekdays at noon. It's the fan hockey show on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcast.

Reminder this. Our Real Kippin' Bourne brought to by Bet365. Nick Kippreel's Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Can I give a quick shout out? Because the game went very late last night, obviously. I think last the last pitch that went out of the park by

Freddie Freeman. God, he's so likable. Canadian boy. Love him. Not so much last night. But I think it was close to three when it finished. You know, Ontario people, we had it bad. But, like, we have a ton of great fans in Nova Scotia and on the East Coast. Those games start at nine in Nova Scotia.

And there's a huge Jay's fan base out there. So that game ended at almost 4 a.m. They're having pancakes and... It's insane. Omlets. So shout out... Shout out the buys in Nova Scotia. They were up there grinding last night

Talked to Fabs too He talked to Barker on the way in So they worked that game They did post game Which went until 4 or whatever You should have done gunner And Anna sure just come on and done it You're an hour away

But I guess they said phone lines For that 4 am show Just hacked With calls People care man The last guy I would think Would be By the last guy I believe

That's us at least ever going to run. The last guy I believe that We'll feel tired today is Barks Oh Barks has got it Okay Well we'll see in about a No, no, he'll be fine. He'll be the same.

You know, I'm going to... What about Blair? He's the closest to a farmer you'll ever meet, Barks. What about Blair? Yeah, he's a mess. He'd be a mess. He's a city boy, you know? No, he lives in Hamilton.

I don't know. I don't want to tell stories from off air, but it sounds like Barker said to our boss, something to be effective. You need someone in a foxhole. I'm your man. You know, like, I'm ready to get back in there. Can he pitch tonight?

I know. You know, you were talking about, like, who's going to, off air you were talking about who may be tired who's not this Otani he's not human no he's a machine he's a bit of an alien yeah a bit of an alien that question

that guy looked fresh as a daisy I mean he already kind of pulled up a little weird at second I mean I'm not counting on that they were cheering for Springer's injury he pulls up lame I'm like yeah I hope your legs fall off we can only hope

you know who hits Otani Springer Listen, they said he left the game with side discomfort day-to-day, didn't say totally out, I bet you play us tonight. No chance. Oblike? No chance. I'm still feeling ribs.

Anything in that area? If it's tweaked, if it's just a little bit, I don't see how 24 hours. They're going to try it. They're going to juice him up and he's going to. Listen, jam them full or whatever. Roll them out there. I'm telling you right now, George Springer is going to try it. Oh, that's nice.

Just shoot him up. Shoot him up. Hey, get them out there. Shoot them. Get the horse on the track and run. Roll that course out there. Buddy, I could only watch the Bisons for so long. We need the boys out there. Penguins Crosby becomes ninth player to reach 1,700 points.

Speaking of almost machine-like, Sidney Crosby. Yeah, he's currently fifth in league scoring. Is that something? By the way, I love the scoring leaderboard is Malkin-Celebrini-Crossby. Crosby, right now. Is that pretty or what? I'm just looking, I pulled up the all-time points leaders. And so, Sidney Crosby now, in 1362 games, who he's played, is at 17101 points. He is 22 points away from tying Mario Lemieux.

It's unbelievable. How are we here already? He's moving up, like, you know, for me, he's already on my Mount Rushmore of hockey, but like he's getting close to undeniably. With his concussions, what did he miss a year and a half? I thought it was the neck thing. Was it the concussion? Whatever it was.

We had a period where we didn't know if we could get to see his career player. He's missed a lot of hockey, too. Now, in Mario's defense, he also missed a lot of. Yeah, those 1723 points were in 915 games. So, yeah, a little bit of a different. Jesus. He was my faith. Yeah, he's, those seasons you talk about with Sid Kipper,

Yeah. He, in 2010, 2011, he played 41 games. In 2011, 2012, he played 22. And then the next year he played 36. Also, two lockouts and a pandemic. So, yeah. But I mean, if he plays 75 in all those, we're having the conversation about him being the next 2,000 point guy, right?

Like, that's another 100 points that he's had in maybe 150 points that you add onto his total. Here's the thing. How many more years do you think Sidney, Crosby can play in the NHL. Not at this level, but how many more years do you think he'll play? I think probably the end of this contract. Three at least four?

The end of this contract? Well, he's only got two left, doesn't he? This and two more, right? I could see him. Does he strike you as a guy that needs to kind of get kicked out a little bit of the league or he'll call his own shots? I don't know. That's a great question.

And, and outside of that, is he care about the legacy totals? Are we, is he, is he still in Pittsburgh? Is he, and where is the team in three years? like I can appreciate right now the start that they've had. It is something that no one saw coming at 7-2-1, right? Yeah, yeah, they're lighting it up. Like, that 7-2-1 right now completely takes you out of the McKenna conversation.

I got something on that, though. Okay? Does it? Now, I don't know if, no, I don't think so either. 10 games, like, you're going to have to say, okay, great 10 games. Now let's see the next 10 games. plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 but they're also an organization that seems to be in a little disarray which includes ownership and we've had gary betman on we asked him about pittsburg

the fenway group has you know choices keep the team sell the team sell minority don't sell at all. But there's a lot of unanswered questions right now, which could trickle into Kyle Dubus's decisions moving forward. And I don't know where Sidney Crosby is as well in those decisions. But there are seven, two, and one at the end of the day. And I would think whatever fans are going to games these days, and it's still a challenge. Or sometimes I look at that building, man. I see a lot empty seats, which is another concern in itself. there's a lot of them going, I've noticed that this team is way better. From the net on out, they're just way better than they were last year.

Credit to Dan Muse, eh? Like first year NHL head coach, and it sounds like they're all on the same page fire. And, you know, they've had some things go pretty well, a bit of a softer schedule. They've taken advantage of it. Raquel is now out, I believe. Six to eight weeks. That's a significant blow.

A big trade ship for them, we thought. and if they're middling. Do you remember last year we had on, was it Breyer or maybe he's Keith Jones like Christmas? And we're like, the Flyers are in a playoff spot. Do you guys think, you know, it would be buyers. It was Dan.

It was then. It was Breyer. And he was like, you know, we're not in denial, but what we are, we're not. But he doesn't sit on his team. No. And, and, you know, he didn't have the challenges of trying to get a,

a fan base back on board. They're not. In Pittsburgh, they're not on board. They're not, no. Well, first of all, that's concerning. Well, they've missed the playoffs the last three years. Yeah. Have they not?

But they haven't been bad. They're not used to that, though. We suck. They're not used to that, okay? They're used to challenging and being this organization through Mario's years to SIDS's, most of Sid's career of being, hey, we're the Pittsburgh Pinguists. We're not these bottom feeders. So do you have, like, some fears for the viability of the franchise in Pittsburgh?

Oh, I think it's a great market. Okay. No, it's a great market. But they're not New York and they're not Toronto. You've got to win there. And you're up against the Steelers, you know, and history. And people want... Great pirates.

People want them to win. Not tough to outdraw the pirates these days. I don't know, I don't know what that looks like now in the next two or three years. You assume, you have to assume now from the next two years or three years on, there's no Malkin, there's no Latton. There's no Crosby. What's in store for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next three, five years? But are they thinking that way now? Are they going, we're seven, two, and one?

Maybe we can get into the playoffs. Maybe we can make some noise. Maybe. They want to have it. They want to have their cake and eat it too, right? They want to do the Washington, the St. Louis. Although I'd argue that both those teams had nice dead cat bounces. And this year, it's like, ah, the blues are struggling pretty good.

Yeah. One of the cats up to. Cats have been pretty good, I think. I wouldn't be nice. You know who's probably really happy, and that makes me happy? Sid's probably just so happy. Even like this start that they're just winning and like he's playing well. And it's like, it makes me happy.

I want that guy to be happy. And the games matter. Yes. And also like for Team Canada and all that, it's nice to not have to think about Sid. Just be like, Sid's our guy. Yeah, Sid's lighten it up again. It's unbelievable. Stud.

And, you know, I'll say it, I've been critical of Kyle Dubus, but he's found some nuggets too in the lineup as well. Brazil's been good. He's big. The Anthony Manth is when he's really good. Brazow wasn't a, he was a... No, but he was a... I was going to say he was a Greyhound, but he wasn't.

He was a North Bay guy, right? Yeah, North Bay guy. Yeah, he almost tied to record. He only scored 60 times or something. Yeah, he scored 61. And he's like, I don't know. And the other one that's looking pretty good right now is Carlson. Yeah.

He's... He's moving the puck. He's not the liability that he's been the last few years. that's helpful all right uh quick thought uh ottawa senators uh you know kind of had them dead and buried you had brady kachuck down and out for a couple of months and lenis olmark is you know a borderline punch line this is that last week and all of a sudden they hang a touchdown on back-to-back opponents they're five four and one you know they they kind of look like they're in a better spot here batherson and spitzla two goals and assist each last game top three in the

atlantic division montreal detroit and ottawa just like we all predicted gosh Leafs firmly out of the playoff picture. I don't know if we're going to just start seeing. Are we going to see some separation now in the next 10 to 20 games? Or are we just going to see a lot of this kind of middle? Yeah, like the Atlantic Division is gross. This is like the high and mighty Atlantic Division where it's like Florida's winning cups and Tampa Bay's winning President's trophies, the Leifes win the division.

vision last year. All three teams combined are sub 500 right now. If you're watching on on Sporset or on YouTube after these Ottawa Senators jerseys could be the worst jerse of all time. They look like... They're the ducks. They look like they got them a giant tiger.

They're awful. I like them. Just a bad red. Bad red. Awful. Awful. The other ones are so nice. It's what are those. Our thanks to Steve Valacette on our Tuesday. Plenty more in our Leaf Hour edition, including Eric Francis. He'll help us tee up, Calgary, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

6 p.m. start. Note the time. More when we return after these words.