Real Kyper & Bourne - What's Next After Jets' Players-Only Meeting?

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

Jets beat writer for the Winnipeg Free Press, Ken Wiebe, joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne (6:53) to chat about Jonathan Toews' adjustment into the team's system, Mark Scheifele carrying the top line to success and Team Canada contention, the recent struggles without Connor Hellebuyck in net, the fallout of a closed-door players-only meeting, and the state of the Canadian-NHL teams. Then, Nick, Justin, and Sam McKee discuss the correlation between the lack of goals and shot attempts across the league, Steven Stamkos reaching 1,200 points, and Connor Bedard's spectacular goal against the Vegas Golden Knights, as well as his chances of making the Winter Olympic roster.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.

Time to go national on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, and streaming always on Sportsnet Plus, also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to by Bet365. Nick Kipriels, Justin Bourne, our very own Sammy McKee, Ken Weeb, who covers the Winnipeg Jets for the Winni Press and co-host of the Kenny and Rennie Show will join us to give us a real deep dive in our Jets talk.

Yeah, that's good, because they're going to be on Sportsnet tonight and I need all the info I can get. Yeah. What do we like, I know we'll get into this with Ken, but like, what do we, like, this is not supposed, this is one team that we didn't have many questions like Edmonton and Toronto and Vancouver and Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, but not Winnipeg. You know, it's one of those things where it's like, you know, at least Louis Martin and that's a big deal, but they added this, this and this. And it's like, you know, they lost Nick Eilers and Mason Appleton, a couple of pretty good hockey

players and then some age going on. And not having the literal MVP. between the pipes. And injuries to Lowry and Sanbrose. A lot of focus on Jonathan Taves coming in and giving them the real stability of a leader. Of course, they got Adam Lauer there with the captaincy. He's missed most of the year for 13 now.

Taves was supposed to come in and just kind of settle everyone down. But in the process, I didn't expect to see him playing 18 minutes a night. I did not, like especially with a guy that's been off all this time. Yeah. to come back in your late thirties he was earlier yeah wow but that's not your that's basically he's presented himself as a second line centerman well yeah i kind of thought like lowry was supposed to be that he's supposed to be their third line guy and lowry missed the first 13 games of the year with injuries so maybe that put more on taves early than he was ready for at that time but you know

it has come back now he's he's averaging 1608 now per game so he's getting more They're pulling them back a little bit, I think. But even 16s, like a big ask. It is. He hasn't played in years. And I will say his, I'm sorry, you're right there. I was sneezing. I'm looking at his last, you know, eight games, or nine games.

He's minus one and seven of them. You know, it's not, you're supposed to be their kind of guy they can count on to shut things down here. So I'm sure he's frustrated. It's got to be hard to keep up. up after years off. It feels like it's their opponent tonight. I mean, it's a bit of a bit of a anguish bowl tonight.

Like there, it's kind of gone south for them after their good start too. So Habbies aren't looking as good as they did. The media there is already starting to get a little bit hot. That is one of the questions we'll deal with which team finishes higher in the standings. Well, which team gets goal tending tonight? Connor Hellebuck. Is he the type of guy that goes, hey, I'm pretty important. He's back in tonight?

Is that? No, no, I'm just saying that he's gone. Oh, yeah. And he's thinking to himself. Oh, yeah. Like you, yeah, I guess. I'm not changing anything. We really got to figure out who the MVP of the team is.

Yeah. It's been tough. Like, Comrie, it's a big ass. They, uh, typically when you look at their numbers, they're a team that is pretty good defensively, but then they way outperform their defensive metric because of. And Valley said yesterday that last year, they were one of the best environments in the league for goaltending.

And if they had to had that this year with Connors, really they would be better but it hasn't been nearly as good so yeah looking at uh even strength slot shots against last year they were third in the nchel this year they're 29th so you know you go from one end of the spectrum to the complete other uh possession time 14th to 29th expected goals against 6 to 28th like defensively it's been bad uh the shin stanley pair has left a lot to be desired lucky for them they're in a pretty easy division so well that's the problem is you you fall behind early in the central Minnesota is pretty legit

Yeah they're then they're 8-0 and 1 in the Oh sorry 8 0 and 2 in their last 10 They're on fire Did you guys catch any of the Shutout win By Minnesota last night against Edmonton Wallstead is going to be a Calder 4 of 6

Yeah Is that what the number is Four shoutouts in his last six games Yeah and he's like a 970 percentage on the year or something crazy I thought Good process in some of that game for the Oilers I thought they look pretty good

I think that goal is just on an all-time heater. I think if they play that way, you know, more, they'll win some more games. Minnesota won last night because their blue line is better than the Oilers. Like, they just... The Jonas Brodine talk from the local media was the highest praise I've ever seen a player get. Everyone's saying best game of his career, fantastic.

You know, they love Brodine. And apparently he hates playing against Connor McDavid, too. It's just nightmare city. He's for him. Oh, tell me the guys who like it. No, no, I know, I know, I know. But for a guy to get that much praise off of a guy that makes you nervous is saying something. Yeah, you know, but like that, that blue line's solid.

Minnesota Wilde, probably the league's most underrated team, Brodine, Faber. Faber's elite, Middleton, Spurgeon, this boo-ium kid. Yeah. They really like him, and then Bogosian on the third. So they call him the St. Paul Wall. That's pretty cool name. It's good. The Wall of St. Paul.

everybody yeah the fans now oh yeah i was thinking it's funny big minnesota reddit guy over there what's going no i i saw god i heard that oh tim mccall have said that on oh did he he's the best coming up with so this guy like he's it's not like he's a nobody here the guy was drafted with the oilers 20th overall on an oiler pick that they traded away and they traded away for the 22nd overall pick plus the 90th they could either of whom became They think Oilers missed an opportunity, I think, on that draft of Wyatt Johnson, too, I think. But this is the thing we always do. And I'm guilty of it, too.

Like, I do it with Sebastian Aho and Travis Dermott and, like, all the, and Will Cooley couldn't. Like, you do it all the time. But as a fan, it's incredibly frustrating. And also, they didn't need a goalie then. Skinner was 22 or three and tall and blah, blah, blah. Koskin was lighting it up for them. Miko. All right, as promised, let's bring in Kenway, Winnipeg, Jets.

writer for the Winnipeg free press co-host of the Kenny and Rennie show Kenny what's going on great to be with you fellas how's going there we're good we're hanging in here and can we say the same thing for Winnipeg jet fans because I was just saying earlier Ken that we had a lot of question marks on a lot of Canadian teams but they weren't supposed to go Winnipeg's way and now they are yeah it's been a little bit of an interesting start especially after going nine and three out of the gate for the jets. They've sort of fallen pretty flat here. You expected them to sort of more like tread water with Connor Hellibuck out,

but they've sort of fallen pretty quickly. And as we've seen in the Western Conference, man, if you go on a losing skid, you can be on the outside looking in pretty quickly. So some things have not gone their way. They've looked a little slower. Obviously, we know they got older in the off season, but you guys talk about guys they're missing.

Man, Nikolai Eilers' speed is sure been missing on that second line. far. And Kippa, as it relates to Taves, I mean, he had a pretty strong start, I think, but it hasn't gone quite as smoothly. There's just been quite a few five-and-five goals against that line. They just haven't found any synergy out of the gate. And to Justin's point, some of that has to do with Cole Perfetti being a bit slow out of the gate with the injury, and he just hasn't quite found his form. And when you're a guy that he's not reliant on pace, but he's not a burner. So when you have a high ankle sprain. It's really sort of set him back.

He's had a ton of chances. That is accurate, but there just hasn't been a lot of cohesion on that second line. And after a really good start, Vladislav Nemestikoff, his point totals have dipped. He had six goals quickly out of the gate, but I think one assist in the last 12 or 13 games here. So that second line's really got to get going for them. Ken, as far as Taze is concerned, we know the time that he's missed. And I'm asking you, how much, how fast has the game gotten since he left? and when he returned, and is that an issue at all?

Well, I mean, his pace is certainly not at the place it was, you know, four or five years ago, but he's always been able to get by with his elite hockey sense, and that has still been on display, Kipper, and his vision is on display, but there have been times where he's gotten caught on some long shifts, and then maybe the, you know, the conditioning, it's not quite as there. He's in good physical condition,

but it's been so long since he's been in game shape that, I mean, it's been a tough goal for sure of, late, especially offensively, but I think for a guy who won a Selkie trophy, I think he's probably more frustrated with how it's been going defensively. But at the same time, there have been signs that, you know, he's been able to pull himself out here and there, but I think he'd just like a little bit more consistency with this game. And guys, we saw last night, there's obviously some parallels with Gabe Landisg and Colorado, right?

And, you know, Gabe's got a couple more goals, but very similar paths. Obviously, the injury and the illness are totally two different things, but Landisoggs only got 14 points, and two last night, whereas Taves has, you know, nine. So I don't think it's that dissimilar, but we always knew that the first probably 25 games would be the toughest with those guys missing so much time. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, it's not like the Jets came out of the gates and they're 2 and 18 or anything like that.

There's still some things going right. One of them, Mark Schifley, in contention for this team Canada coming up, what have you seen out of his game? It seems to me like a lot of the numbers. or at least are, have taken a positive turn from last year. Yeah, I mean, he had a great year last year with those 87 points, but just his improvement in the 2A game, Justin, that's really stood out with Mark.

And obviously there's huge motivation. Mark had an incredibly emotional end to last season. You guys saw it unfold on live TV, which is tough for anybody to go through in terms of losing a parent. But highly motivated to make that team counted after getting so close for four nations. He's really continued to gel really well with Kyle Connor and Gabe Valardi. I can't wait for the matchup tonight, guys. I mean, we've been talking about the debate for the last two or three months,

and, you know, Shifley versus Suzuki is going to be on full display this evening. Now, there obviously still could be room for both of them on the roster, but, you know, given how tight it's going to be for those 14 forward spots, I think it's a great opportunity for both players here to sort of go head to head. And we know that Suzuki's kind of forced himself into the Selkie discussion as well, and yet he's only two points behind Shifley. So that'll be something that we'll be watching closely this evening. Mark's play has been really excellent and he's driving the top line and the top line has been, you know, on fire for the Jets.

They've been taking care of the bulk of the scoring, as you guys know. Ken, when it comes to the identity, of course, of the Winnipeg Jets, Mark Schafeely is a big part of it. But, you know, the guy in that Connor Hallibuck, how much can we attribute what's going on with Winnipeg just simply that he's not there right now? Well, certainly a factor, Kipper, anytime a team loses, you know, the reigning MVP and three-time Ves a trophy winner, it's a factor. But my bigger concern is it relates to identity is that they're not playing cohesive defense. Like, this is a team that won the Jennings trophy in each of the last two years. And of course, goaltending was a factor.

But they limited the high danger chances against, they turned defending from a weakness into a strength. And this year, their attention to detail has not been there at all. and that's probably the most troubling thing for Scott O'Neill and his coaching staff. I mean, again, this is a team that knows how to defend. They just have been making, you know, we call them uncharacteristic mistakes, but they've been happening so often in the 25 games. It's hard to continue to give them the benefit of the doubt because of how leaky they've been defensively, quite frankly.

So I'm not here saying they're having an identity crisis, but they're certainly not playing to their identity so far. no identity crisis but you know they had they did call players only meeting boys wanted to have a chat about things without the coaches in the room what do you make of why why that came to be well i think i mean adam lowry is someone who is is a great leader and i think that you know scotter neal kind of took his team to task a little bit after the carolina hurricanes blow out earlier in the road trip so uh you know once the coach has already kind of gone to that card i think he is incumbent but upon the leadership group to take the next steps here.

And I think it sort of is relating to what we were just talking about in terms of the lack of the defensive detail that has been missing from their game. So again, we know that the Jets are a team that plays with pride, but they need to play with more of it right now. And yes, we understand this is game 11 of 14 on the road, but they've got to sort of push through and try to get back to doing the things that have made them successful. And that will allow them to do more than just tread. water when they're missing helllbuck and he'll be out for you know a few more weeks for sure

even though scotter neal did mention this morning in montreal that he's getting closer at least to getting back on the ice but i think it was a smart move by lowry and uh you know it's upon the players i mean nick you know this i mean players when they're struggling you know when a team is struggling players got to pull themselves out of it here they can't you know rely on the coach to motivate them i mean this team's got to be motivated coming off the president's trophy finally you know you find yourself below the playoff line there's got to be that's got to be coming internally here. Can we also know when teams are struggling,

especially in Canada, that there's a fan base that go far beyond just the players here. So there's a general manager and Kevin Shevolday off and a head coach and Scott or Neil. Like where, where is that fan base when it wants more questions answered, you know, to pertaining the direction that the Winnipeg Jets are moving,

are they short term or long term now? Yeah, for sure, Kipper, you know, you'd look at the message boards and think the Jets would be trading for Kiefer Sherwood and every other available player over the next couple of weeks. I mean, I mean, Sherwood's an interesting guy, right? I mean, he fits a lot of the areas that the Jets are lacking right now, right? Speed, tenacity, physical force, secondary scoring, you know, his age fits with the window that the Jets are looking for. So, I mean, they'd definitely be among the teams interested, but they'd be more interested if they could sign him long term, right? If you throw Kiefer Sherwood beside Cole Perfetti and Jonathan Taves, now all of a sudden that second line looks a little bit different, right?

Especially if you can, you know, lock them up for five-year extension or whatever it's going to take to get that done. But, yeah, I mean, the other one, too, what about Lauren Bresla, right? Starting his conditioning stint with Rockford of the American Hockey League, this is a guy that Jets are obviously familiar with, you know, from being in a tandem with Connor Hellebuck previously. But, yeah, there's definitely some angst in the city here for sure, but, I mean, I think that because they got off to a nine and three start,

I think people are generally thinking that they're going to be able to get it sorted out. But now they've got to do it. It's one thing to say it, but now you've got to do it. Yeah. You know, I know the return of some injured players probably should help the defensive metrics. Dylan Sandberg's back. Did it become more apparent how much they need him when he wasn't there? Yeah, for sure, Borny.

I mean, it's been interesting, right? Neil Pionk got off to a bit of an uneven start without his partner, Dylan Samberg. Then when Samberg came back, now Pionk is going to be back in the lineup for the Jets in Montreal this evening after missing four games with the lower body issue. But now, Samberg didn't quite look like himself in a game or two of late also. So that's appearing that they need to be going.

I mean, Josh Morris, you guys know this. He's outside of Kail McCar. He's probably, he would be second in Norris voting if the season were to end today, not just because of his high offensive totals, but he's defending really well and logging huge ice time and playing heavy minutes. But, yeah, the Jets need more, not only just from the second line, their second pairing has been a little bit up topsy-turvy, I guess, you could say.

So that's definitely a place where they would look. I mean, we know that Sambric had such a great year last year, sort of like Jacob's Slaven light. But, yeah, he's been playing catch-up. And the unfortunate thing for the Jets is that, you know, the injury of the broken wrist for Samburg just came in an exhibition game that was kind of a nothing burger hit by Ryan Lomburg, but he just went into the boards kind of funny

and ended up injuring his wrist. So they need to get him going. Cole Perfetti is a guy that's got to get going as well. We knew that with Nicola Euler's departure, the Jets were really banking on Perfetti to become, you know, 65, 75 point player eventually here. And again, you expect it to take a while, given the nature of the injury.

But, you know, Cole's got, I think, two goals and four or five points. And then that's some, he's someone that's got to become not just a secondary score. He's got to be a primary score for the Jets. And, again, nobody puts more pressure on himself than Cole. them. Winnipeg Jets and the Montreal Canadians

tonight on Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey with our buddy Justin Bourne there's one fan base

that's going to still have more questions after tonight in Montreal or Winnipeg are you surprised when you look

across the country at at so many challenges with respect of clubs maybe with the exception

of I don't know Ottawa right now yeah Ottawa you know Travis Green's got those boys going pretty well right now

for sure But, yeah, I mean, we knew there would be some issues around the league in Canada. But it's definitely been surprising out of the gate. Obviously, the Canadians got off to a great start on a lot of fronts recently not as good. Vancouver, we knew there would be some challenges there. Calgary as well. But, you know, Edmonton sort of was sleepwalking for a long stretch. And, you know, with Edmonton, I mean, they've got secondary scoring from Jack Roslick,

a former Winnipeg Jets player and, you know, hide first round draft pick in 2015, same year as Kyle Connor. So he's been a really good fit there. But yeah, a lot of the teams not, you know, performing to expectation in the Toronto Maple Leafs, you guys know would fall into that category as well. And some of these teams would be shopping in the same aisles, I think, when it comes to trying to get some upgrades. So that makes things even more interesting. And, you know, think about Calgary Kipper. I think Blake Coleman would be another guy if he became available because he's got another year of term.

He would fit some of the areas that the Jets would be looking for as well in terms of. of a, you know, feisty, speedy, secondary score that has Stanley Cup experience. Ken, how's the central different around Winnipeg? Like, in terms of them trying to climb up, you know, what are they trying to catch here? Yeah, it's super interesting guys, right? I mean, I think that for folks who watch, I mean, that Chicago Blackhawks, Vegas Golden Knights game might have been one of the best games played this season. You know, Connor Bedard has really taken his game to another level.

I mean, his ability to change the angle on that wrist shot was just exceptional. I mean, in speed doing that in traffic, that was just an unreal play. Chicago's sort of, you know, and then with Spencer Knight and Net, it's totally changed the dynamics around the Blackhawks. I mean, the Utah Mammoth are a team that is super interesting here. They've got all that young talent and they've got some, you know, they've got some prospects and guys that they can maybe upgrade. But then there's also the other question marks.

I mean, what are the Nashville Predators going to do? What are the St. Louis Blue is going to do? Doug Armstrong sort of has the for sale sign up again, but you know how serious is he about selling and which which guys are he interested in selling right i mean another thing too i mean we've often talked when you saw it the four nations the way that colton preco played with josh morrissey that's always been sort of a dream pairing for folks around this market here thinking a guy with size and mobility to pair with morrissey but he also has trade protection and you know i don't think they're actually that willing in in moving him so

i think the division is very interesting we knew it would be tough it was a grind last year, and it's going to grind this year. I mean, the Minnesota Wild, too, guys. I mean, what a year they've been having. I mean, there was a time in October when I went and covered a game in St. Paul, the Wild were 3, 5, and 2, while the Jets were off to this crazy good start. And now they've got the wall of St. Paul and Philip Gustafson and Yesper Walsstad. You guys were talking about him earlier.

Incredible job the goaltending has done there to stabilize. And now their secondary scoring has come around. and Jonas Brodine, you guys were talking about him earlier. I mean, he's a very good defenseman at this age. So they're interesting as well. And then again, obviously Colorado, look at what Colorado's just been exceptional. And, you know, Nathan McKinnon would be the Hart Trophy winner if we're voting was being done right now, right?

I mean, if Kevin Chevaldeoff wanted to hit that dream trade for a guy like Colton Pereko, So what do they have to dangle? What would Doug Armstrong look out of Winnipeg for? Well, it's interesting. I mean, we're talking about the game tonight. I mean, Elias Solomonson is the Jets' top defense prospect. He's got two games under his belt so far. I mean, you'd have to think that either Solomonson or Brad Nieger would be the guys, you know,

we know that Brad Lambert situation is out there. So, you know, that could be a player of interest. But, again, you're also looking at a first round pick. So, I mean, the price is high for guys of that nature. But I'm looking, I'm really looking forward to. of seeing Solomon's play again this evening. I mean, there were some, yes, he was on the ice for four even strength goals against and one empty netter, but this is a guy that plays with pace.

He plays with an edge. He has a pretty high hockey IQ, can move the puck. And he would be a guy that when the Jets are asking for, you know, an asset, he's probably the first guy that's being asked about. And then Braden Yager, I think would be the second. Sounds a lot like Broberg before he got picked up on, in an offer sheet. Familiar. Very familiar.

Hey, Kent, great stuff, man, on the Jets. We really appreciate you stopping by. Thanks, pal. My pleasure. I have a great night, you guys. You too. Thanks a lot. Ken Weave, who covers the Winnipeg Jets, does a great job.

Yeah, you know, I think as much as the Jets are disappointing this year, they were shocking last year. Like, the President's trophy good was a real surprise. I do remember maybe picking them to be outside the playoff picture last year or having conversations about them taking a step back. back last year. And then they went, like, the first 20 games of the season and lost once. Right. So it was kind of, it was kind of set in the stones.

Laying low in the weeds right now. I got to say, they're a playoff team. I do think they deserve some criticism for the Jonathan Taves signing. Oh, I don't know about that. It's a lot to ask, boys. I didn't expect him to play that prominent of a role. I thought he was going to come in. They paid him like he was going to.

Well, it's all bonuses, though. Still. Yeah, but it's real cash. Yes, they got to pay him. It's real achievable cash, right? Is it really, is it low bars on the cash? I think it's... Two million A.A.V.

Yeah. Which is fine. Yeah. But I think the contract is up around, I don't know, maybe $6 million. Seven. Seven. Yeah. I don't know what the bonus is all.

I don't think they really care about that. I mean, he played, the last time he played was 2023. I just, to bring him in as like your second line... Well, third line. Yeah, for sure. But they knew Adam Lauer was hurt. They knew they were going to have to lean on him. They knew that, I don't know, I just,

I think it was a bit of a misjudgment. He's not been very good this year. And he's had a fantastic career. It's a hometown team. I understand all that. But I just didn't love it from the stuff. You look at the free agent market out there. I get it.

You don't know what you're going to get. And it's like, you know, we'll give him performance bonuses. If he's healthy enough to play the full season, he should be able to think his way around out there. I, you know, I still think that there's life left in tapes. but it's not not gone as planned so far rooting for him anyway do you think they'll turn it around like are you or are you kind of worried that

I mean that division like I think they've got some pieces like Ken mentioned to to play around with another big trade and yeah if they make a trade or two and then you look at like right now the teams in the wildcar spots in the west are San Jose in Seattle Chicago Utah head of them like it's an achievable climb I think there'll be a wild car team this year. Still a challenge. You get people if, you know, Colton O'R who's, or Colton

Pereco, I don't know where I pulled that one out. Colton Paraco. There's only one, Colton, right? That's the toughest guy. Toughest Colton of the mall. Yeah, he was really tough. I love them on the least. If he's okay if he's okay with

waiving his protection rights to go to Winnipeg, I'd be all over that. Yeah. If I'm Kevin Shelday, Luke Shen, unfortunately, another great guy, great story, great career who... It's on the other side of it. It's really not going good for him.

So I'm not sure if they'll replace him or not or they love him too much. But he's a lot like Corey Perry where people thought five years ago he was done. He was in the American League in 2019. 20, 20 years ago, you were done, pal. He was a stud in between the years since, so... I didn't expect to go here,

but do you think Army would trade Pareko? I do. I do, yeah, I do. Why? But it's just time. I think it's just time that I think Justin Fulks the easier one. But if you get an offer, you can't refuse, you've got to rebuild. You've got to.

They also do a good job of, they cut ties. I thought he was a little younger than that. They cut ties while guys have value before, you know, it's all dried up as an asset. I always go back to the Stasney and Chattonkirk trades. which keeps them relevant to this day and the offer sheets like he keeps that team afloat man the way that Nashville tried to do and I think there's a team out there ready to

ready to move and they want to get out of the gate early there's going to be a rush because of the Olympics there's going to be a really big rush I think to get in some some bodies some fresh movement before the Olympics

really yeah like maybe a little a little pre deadline I think there's something in common i don't know it might be quiet through christmas and then i think come january like there's going to be some teams wanting to be the first ones out of the gate to to push and interesting if teams are still this close in the standings you'll have a lot of teams that are believers in what they're doing the chance of them salvaging the season so yeah you could see some real buyers just looking at the at the teams that could potentially trade for for

But, I mean, that does make a ton of sense, the Jets. It actually does. I mean, there's also something with Bittington and Pareko. How's the Leafs work for you? I love, I mean, not to go full Barouba here, but I love the player. I love the player. I do. I mean, I've always, this rangey, it's going to shoot it, can skate.

I mean, I've always loved them. Six and a half, Braco. And he'll make it next year, and I'll make it the year after that, and he'll make it the year after that. It's just, I'd be talking out of both sides of my mouth if I think the least are in a position to be making a decision. a decision like that. He may be a little older than I would like a guy to be. But he'd fit that bail. He'd probably a little bit better than Troy Stetcher, if I had to be honest with you.

But, no, I like him a lot. Say goodbye to Eastern Cowan. No, thanks. I'll hang on to. Okay, you want to go to break or you want to... Let's do game time. Let's do game time quickly here as I bring up my read. But I think I can do it without it, but I'm going to have it in case just I can.

It's game time. Visit it by Bet 365. Visit the app for latest odds and see why it's ever ordinary. Bet 365 must be 19 plus. only please play responsibly um borny on the panel tonight very exciting thrilled who's on with you we got uh luke azdick d a and jen bauderl every time every time i see you up there just makes me so happy um i'm just looking at the game that you're doing tonight the jets are in montreal to take on the haves the jets are big favorites actually my not big but sizable minus

one 30 favorites uh montreal canadians plus 110 they've been struggling a little bit recent I recently showed up my boy, Dave, our steak dinner bet, looking a little bit better every day that goes by. I got the least to finish ahead of the HABs for a steak dinner at the cake. So I'm heading the right direction. So the HABs are plus, like I said, they are plus 110 on the money line. Good matchup. Looking forward to seeing you on the panel tonight. Colby doing play by play, by the way.

Colby Armstrong. Fantastic. Give me, like Ken said, it's a matchup sort of between. Shifley and Nick Suzuki and they're both kind of pushing. Give me a Nick Suzuki goal tonight at plus 175. Yeah.

Looking a little bit later on, two good later games. Anaheim hosting the mammoth, Anaheim minus 105 in the money line, minus 115 for Utah. And Washington is in San Jose to take on the sharks, plus 130 for the San Jose sharks, minus 155 for the Washington Capitals,

who are really starting to look like they did last year. The sharks are in a playoffs. The sharks are, I mean, they've got one of the best players in the league playing really great. So that helps. They're getting some saves. Ask her off. Real deal. That was game time presented by Bet365.

Visit the Afflead of Sods and C. Y, it's never ordinary at Bet, 365 must be 18 plus and Terry only. Please play responsibly. Okay. We'll take a quick break. Plenty to go around the National Hockey League when we returned. Carter Hart makes his debut for Vegas. Tyler Sagan's season is.

over with a horrible knee injury we'll tell you about it after the break and also 10 teams 20 teams played last night how many scored two goals are under last night I'm going to guess the high number if you're asking me 12

I have no idea half 10 yeah that's a lot just those pathetic Florida Panthers they couldn't get into like why we're seeing these low-scoring games here and even shots down. I want to get your thoughts on what you see out there. All that when we return to Real Kipper and Born. Hey, it's Matt Markeese.

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 podcasts. Welcome back to the program. As a reminder, this hour of Real Kippin-B-B-R-N-B-R-R-N-B-R-R-O-N-Brought to you by Bet-36-5, Nick Kippreos, J-B-S-M-M. You're S-M-M-A-M-K-E.

Maybe I'm just overdone in the S-A-A-P part. Did you know my middle name? My mother's name is Alton. So my initials, spelled my name. Samuel Alton McKee, S-M-S-A-M. Sam. Sam. Well, there's a bit of information I'll forget.

It's actually my greatest talent. JBS has a little bit, Stuart. How did you listen, I believe? Yeah, she does. Brand of ours. On break, I mentioned to you that like 10 teams last night scored two or less. We're seeing, like, why are we seeing zero, zero scores and one nothing now and two and under and I'm seeing some shots on goal halfway through the third period at like 12 or 14?

what is going on jb here yeah i don't know exactly like is it blocked shots like what's happening here goals are not down it depends how far back you go but like shots on goal are definitely down maybe the lowest i can ever find going back to 2000 what's that 25 years yeah go back to 2000 27.7 shot attempts per team per night on average valley talked about it that teams that teams are much more reluctant for the throwaway shot. So they want to hold and hold to the A position. They're not warming up the goalie. I'm telling you.

It's starting to suck to watch it. What's crazy is four years ago, shots were 31.1. So we're down almost four shots, three and a half shots per team per game, seven fewer shots per game compared to just four years ago. However, goals are not down. Yeah, so they're just waiting for the perfect opportunity to shoot. This year, 3.01, last year, 3.08 year before that. The one thing that I am seeing now, and I saw it a lot out of the Leafs, and they've gotten better at kind of curtailing it, is this spread-out offense

where it's just like, it's just the whole ice somehow between five guys and the space between them has never been larger for me. And it's like the puck spends a lot of time. on the walls, and then they'll hold on to it on the walls. No one will challenge first chance they get. It's too spread out for me. The game's too spread out for me. And I think it's got a lot to do with this newfound patience that they have,

that they're waiting for the perfect opportunity. And if it doesn't come, I'll get it next shift. Well. And if it doesn't come next shift, I'll get the next period. Or maybe I'll just wait until tomorrow. I'm totally in favor of this offense you're talking. about you know first off you're playing in their end and not yours which is good and so you're spread out let me just go back a step i'm on your page coming out of the d zone and neutral

zone i think it should be tight find your way through the maze once you get in there i think you want to be in there and wait for breakdowns and seams and you know as a defensive player breakdowns happen when you change sides and you go okay am i taking him now are you carrying on and i just think you're trying to make guys make decisions and find those seams and you're right it involves a lot of holding the puck and rolling up to the blue and using the whole zone making the puck do the work I like it I don't offensively anyways that's I just see these low scoring games now or team struggling and it's like what would be coming down typically scoring is higher early in the year and

tick tick tick to come down I would not be surprised right now it's 3.03 I bet you it finishes is below three, two points something this year. And it hasn't been below two or below three since 2020. And they're fascinating numbers because I think has saved percentage ever been worse? Save percentage, no, you'd have to go way back. So save percentage league average is 897. And it was just 915 10 years ago. And it's just gone down by about two points every year.

So goals are up, shots are down, safe percentage is down. My hypothesis here, if I'm doing my little science project, guys just shoot way better than they used to. Shoot better and shoot less. They wait for a shot and they rip it. They wait until they get to the absolute sweet spot before they rip it. Save percentage is at the same level. It was last this low in 1993, 94. So 30 years since safe percentage has been this low.

That's unbelievable. Speaking of ripping it, Stamco's gets his 1,200 points. No, Baderd. Speaking of ripping it, talking about Bada. Yeah, yeah, Bard. Well, you got to rebuild that net after he blew the elbow. 1,200 points. Stamcoast, 1,200 points.

Okay. There's a few active guys that have 1,200 points, obvious ones. You can probably name. Can you probably name them? Yeah, I mean, Zovie and Sid and probably McDavid already. No, it's Malkin. Patrick Kane, 1,200 points. Will Stamcoast show enough to go to get traded somewhere?

Yeah, if you're a contending team. She's just going to play out the string there, I don't. see that the only thing that's going to possibly look at the pass in this goal if you're heard here though this is such a good back check oh the only thing that can hurt stammer is even at 50 percent teams got to commit to eight million dollars right and if he just shows a little bit of a flash for doing what he does best like listen his best years are behind him we know that but he could still find a way to contribute, then there's an opportunity,

but he's making $8 million. Yeah, so if he's making $6 million, so you've got this year and two more. Yeah. And if he was making $6 million and he could get you 25 goals, would you do it? By the way, he's up to seven goals in 26 games. You know, like that's a pace for a 20-goal season.

He had a really slow start. He shot a few in more recently. I would think teams would try to get him at four and a half or five. that's that's the window but yeah i think i think if he can if he can shoot it in the net on a couple occasions here and show he's got some zip and power play would be really important last year he scored 27 goals and was minus 36 yeah minus 36 yeah that must have been the master's that's the green jacket marcia so is much easier yeah by five is his same duration And you can bring that down.

I will tell you. I like 5-5. He's got an extra year than stammer. I should say I like the idea of Marshall. So I liked him on Vegas. I haven't watched a ton of their game since he went there. He was a gamer. And we'll see Ryan O'Reilly.

Did he win a consmithe? He was really good when they won. Who else would have won? Maybe he did. And Ryan O'Reilly's got to end up somewhere, right? Like they've got to unload some of these kids in this. He did win the consmite. O'Reilly, you know, how slow can you be and still be effective?

And, hey, I'll do respect to guys who are unbelievable players, unbelievable talent. John DeVarer is not a fast skater. Still effective at his not fast. Stephen Stamco's other question. Well, Jonathan Taves is experiencing that. Like, you can be the best thinker in the world. Taves a great example. Pretty quick game out there these days.

How much can you be slower than everyone else and still be. Amazing. Good question. Every clip you see of a guy who's playing in the IHL who's like a veteran and just fresh out of the game like, holy crap, these kids are so fast. Oh, my God. It's like they were crossing the highway on foot. And when they get to the other side and they retire, they're like, thank God.

Holy crap, it's quick out there. It was absurd. Yeah. By the way, just shout out to the line from Scott Lott and Austin Matthews ran into Derek Lalton practice recently, moat him over. And I guess they watched the video on. the video session they watched it happening and Lawton's line was no bicycles

on the highway. So basically Lalonde, keep your back on the boards well, we're back. There's a few bikes on the highway in the NHL. No bicycles on the highways are great. Connor Bardard. Okay, yeah. Just, did you watch that goal in real time live?

Not live. I did and I don't know what time it was like 1130 Eastern and I was like a very loud, wow. And I was like, everybody's like, what, what happened? Yeah. I said, oh, no, there's just a Connor Bedard goal. If you wanted to, like, disassemble a hockey net, you would start with the shot, like,

right at the elbow, full force. That was an unbelievable shot. And he's, he's taken over from Austin Matthews is the guy with the best pull drag release placement shot in the league. He is a combination right now of your. young marner and young matthews oh i love that i love that's true like he's you know what he's he's got a little fire in his belly too oh my god that's off the back hurts like uh he's he's not scared to get in other people's faces now and yap a little bit because he's we've seen on a number of occasions he seems

extremely arrogant and in a way that makes you a good hockey player back foot and by the way it's shay feodor yeah that's not some bum yeah oh by the way his stick handles this a couple times in the way and so i think he was selling that he was going to do the datsuk right and then he lifts up his leg and just shoves it right under there that is beautiful stuff her heart was like uh yeah maybe yeah he's come back it's didn't sign up for that it's go time right now in his third season yeah yeah he really has i think we i said this during our thankful segment but it's pretty grim there for two years and i know yeah and he's really young really young really young but now watching him play and just watching these games it's like oh my god thank god

you know there's still deer in headlight moments for even these general generational type of guys where it's like okay that's new that feels new that feels new and then they're like now he's beyond that now it's like this is work this is what it's expected of me this is what i'm supposed to do it's just not good enough now me doing it by myself i got to make sure that other guys are with me because I got to make them look better than they really are because that's what great players are supposed to do, have everybody else rise. And it's starting to set in for this guy. You know what would make me sick to my stomach is if I were selecting Team Canada

watching Connor Bedard because I don't think he's been on their list. Like I think he's on their list. But I've gone on record and said I don't think there's enough time. I don't think they have him on the team currently. I think it would be making me sick, watching him being like, he's third in the league in scoring. He is a highlight real every night. He looks like he's quickly becoming one of the world's best players.

If we lose and leave him at home. I wouldn't mind a McDavid cross-scene pass on the power play to that shot. Wouldn't be too bad. God, he's getting hard to leave it home. We're talking about Shifley or Suzuki, and it's like, boy, are we sure? I'm not. I'm no longer sure.

I was sure before, and I'm not. no longer sure. At the end of the day, they're just going to have to take their best educated guess. Yeah, that's true. Right? That's it. And don't overthink it, too.

Well, overthinking it is Shifley or Suzuki over the guard. When they lose. Yeah. That's the only time you have to worry about overthinking it. It's funny because we have people who talk about this stuff and they go, you can't have four scoring lines. And I think there's a lot of people going, but why? You know, like, couldn't we try that and see how it goes?

according to reports though the rank might be shorter so oh according to reports yeah there's a lot of reports out there that the rank might be shorter anonymous credit we got it's like oh the reports it's like the reports are the assistant coach coming on with you guys and telling them it's shorter that's the report what a report Sammy we we don't need well come on we don't need other people patting us on the back come on come Sammy oh what a report I could listen to our show every day I get a lot of points you're hilarious Anyways. Sad news for Dallas, especially fans of Tyler Sagan,

because he looks like an ACL injury. I think Dallas reported today that... Out for the year, Gulletson said out for the year? Yep. You know, this is a guy that's come off. Hip surgeries, shoulder surgeries, and how much can a guy take? Well, and how much should a guy take at some point?

It's like, okay, you could physically. come back your body doesn't want to do this he's been pushing it and pushing it and pushing it for years he's he's got one year left on his deal after this he was playing he was playing well he's like he's a great player he he he was the glue in the room by the way in the last few years guys like him eh 17 points and 27 games so far this year for him yeah you know the year before he played 20 games and then 18 playoff games so it's it's been a struggle for a guy who's going to play 47 seven games over two full years and now you're talking about stuff like Landisog

and Taves and it's like he hasn't really played in X amount of time. How much does he make again? 9-8. There's your Malkin destination. Well, this is it. They now can spend that money. Philip Forsberg. Dallas is going to be aggressive. This is a year they can win the cup.

Stamco. You're building towards beating Colorado. That's it. Good luck. You need a hit man. Well, I guess they did. They did be him last year the guy that they traded away scored a third period hat trick in game seven to eliminate oh boy that was one way to do it he's so good i watched that game i watched that game at points now isn't he i watched that game at real sports last year the game seven the moose and there's a guy

there diehard i guess die hard um Colorado fan weren't a mckinan jersey and i left the bar and he was outside having a smoke and i just said i'm like boy you probably shouldn't have traded that guy and he looked to me he's like why don't you shut the f up oh really i was like that's fair yeah yeah yeah i will you know i'm gonna leave now he's got 34 rantan and has 34 points in 26 games man what a what if mariner waves and he's a minute of ice time per night carter heart uh made his debut an emotional one too as well yeah i mean yeah he gave up three got the win um you know sammy i i don't know you you didn't love i just listen i inkies eligible to play. I think he's had his day in court. He's

eligible to work again. He's eligible to play. But I'm not going to like sit there and watch him cry about coming back from this. I know it's a tough time for him, but like there's not going to be a lot of people to have a ton of sympathy for him. Yeah, that's where I'm disagree. There were a couple of stories on the internet about great detail of the case all over again. And I think it's because Sinbin Vegas did a story on it. Huge. And it was a long piece talking to survivors. And it was a exactly telling story it's just like and i think i think it's a reminder to a lot of clubs too that

like it he can play of course he can play and you can cheer for him you can cheer against him you can do whatever you want but it won't go away it won't go away and for some in in that market like they never got any of the details they weren't paying attention it wasn't like canada coverage so all of this is kind of fairly new still to a lot of people people in that type of market and that's that's what teams would worry about if they were to sign any more players yeah you know he you certainly he's been through it you know the last couple years and you understand why he's emotional and as you said he's his right to be back yeah uh so you understand why he was emotional about it that's a long a long couple years for

him obviously long couple years for a lot of other people involved that's exactly right so i'm just i'm not like he's back he can play like i said but I don't I still don't feel pretty good too I mean nice pads was a pretty good goalie before I will say his setup looked fantastic really good looking pads that's the best positive thing I'll say about him yeah I thought he looked good in there well done

look like a goalie you see marner 17 minutes last night oh boy trouble in paradise no I didn't see that he's just maybe trade him to the leaves what would you I don't trade cowen today I don't think I oh now now we're talking leaf's line baby how far back do you got to

go, to see Mitch Marner play 17 minutes. I mean, like I was going to say junior, but not junior, but 40 minutes and junior. A little over 17 minutes with overtime. That's weird, but it's, well, but Vegas uses four lines and, you know, he's got a lot of choices there, Cassidy. Yeah, it's not team A, team B there.

No, no, no. It's team, Vegas. Yeah. All right. All right. Our thanks to Ken Weeb, who joined us from Winnipeg. That was fun Yeah, fun

Good luck tonight, Borny Yeah, thank you tonight Game of the Week Scotiabank hockey Our very own Justin Bourne Montreal Canadians And the Winnipeg Go Jets go

Oh boy Time's to start 735 735 735 All right Enjoy your night Everybody

Thanks for joining us If you get a chance Give us a thumbs up on YouTube Thank you.