Real Kyper & Bourne - Wild West, Team USA & Patrik Laine

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne are joined by Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin (7:18), who provides his assessment of the team through 30 games. They discuss the importance of having a full training camp with head coach John Hynes, the players' buy-in to the system, and Kirill Kaprizov's performance and future contract projections. Guerin also shares his thoughts on areas he plans to strengthen on the roster and offers insight into his approach to building the Team USA roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Later, Nick, Justin, and Sam McKee evaluate Patrik Laine's shot among the league's top goal scorers and discuss the Buffalo Sabres' struggles as they continue their losing skid.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right here we go the national hour on real kipper and born we are live on sports at 650 in vancouver sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour of real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. A couple minutes, we're going to welcome in another general manager. Nice to have Jim Nill with us in our Leaf Edition hour. And now we're going to soon connect with Bill Guerin, who's done a miraculous job with the minnesota wild i don't know if he's as nice as jim nill but he's certainly funnier he's

no no disrespect to jim nill i haven't heard his stand we got a couple chuckles out of jim that's true right that's true you know who's not chuckling kevin adams oh and the buffalo sabers you watch that game last night and catch did not. No, good for you. I did not. Can I ask you a question? What is a worse loss? Losing 6-1 to the Montreal Canadiens, the Buffalo Sabres, or the New York Rangers losing 2-0 to the National Predators?

Which is a worse loss? The only reason, so I would say losing the Preds, if you're the Rangers, because of expectations. But the Sabres were fresh off the owner traveling to Montreal to tell them he believes in them and everything they need is here in the room. And then they went out and said,

don't gaslight us. We know it's not. There's nothing in this room. And they got scored on 19 seconds into the game. They gave up what turned out not to be a goal. They went down 2-0. It was awful. Awful game. First of all, we can kind of lump them together because it is the state of New York. Well, the Islanders aren't doing so hot either.

All right, so let's put them in a melting pot. Yeah. You could put together a pretty good group between the three teams. But no, it's ugly. And particularly what I've been able to read, I mean, both fan bases are, it seems like they're going out of their minds. But the one at Buffalo, to me, because of the ongoing struggles,

like let's face it, the Rangers were still a contending team prior to the season starting. They won the President's Trophy. But the Buffalo scene has been too ugly for too long yeah and they they want they want somebody's head to roll yeah and so why do you think the owner would go in there and say everything's great like everything is clearly not great just doesn't want to pay for another gm or another you kind of get back to the bills that's why just tell them tell them whatever can get you out of their room

fast enough. I mean, honestly, I think that's what, that could be why the Sabres were so bad. Like, you know it's not true and you know he's just like, it just feels like lip service when it's you're literally on fire. And he's like, but you're not on fire. And they're like, no, we're like, we're actively on fire.

And he's like, nah. Do you know the last season that the Buffalo Bills made? Buffalo Bills. You're talking about the Buffalo Sabres made the playoffs? 2011. 12? Yeah, 2011, 2012. This is a remarkably bad stretch. The Buffalo Sabres in that time from 2013 to 2022

have drafted in the top 10, 10 times. 10 top 10 picks, including two firsts and two seconds. It's just, it's so, so, so hard to rebuild. And you don't have the right people in charge. Their picks were good since 12. They're fine. Right? No, but like, where they picked in the draft

should have gotten them far and away contending by now. Yes. Even if you don't keep the players and you trade them for assets, you should have a whole bunch of assets. It's, it's like, it's just, it's, it's not even like right now. It's to the point where even if they did fire somebody and brought somebody else new, you'd have to look down that roster and say, if I don't necessarily believe that Owen Power is going to be this can't-miss

stud for the next 12 years, like I'm giving him over $8 million a year here. Like how do you dig yourself out of some of these contracts if you don't believe in them? I just think you have to see it through a little bit with some of these guys and give them a chance to find it. Yeah, like, I get it. I get it. Defense is hard, and I'm not giving up on Owen Power to be a solid blue liner.

But if you missed a little bit bit those are huge mistakes that you cannot dig yourself out of no and like you can read my article today on sports and dot ca which is about the idea of watching like jacob truba go to a different team or cam fowler go to a different team and it's like you need that needs to be you you need to go get guys that you don't love the contract maybe. You don't think they're, you know that they're flawed. Okay. They're better than your worst guys. They're NHL pros.

They're proven guys. You just need to support your young guys so they can develop. Look at the way that Dallas develops these young guys within a successful team and how much better they are as a result. I look at, you know protests and mcmichael on washington this year all of a sudden they're surrounded by who'd they get this year chickron and roy and mangi apane and dubois like you put nhl players around these guys suddenly it makes them better that has to be buffalo they need to go get those players. Bid in UFA. Don't accept losing for a better pick anymore.

Yeah, because you've had the picks. You've had a million picks. And also probably a GM with experience like Don Waddell or Rutherford in Vancouver. Those guys went in and gave those organizations instant credibility. It's also really hard to kind of look at certain players when you have them and then look at them objectively outside of maybe a lack of chemistry with your team.

And Chikrin's the prime example. Like, I thought he was just no good in Ottawa. At the end of the day, he's just no good, didn't fit. Now it's like you're questioning how good is he? And then he goes to Washington and looks like a stud. All right, let's welcome him in, Billy Guerin, as we – oh, phone issues. We'll be right back.

We were supposed to have him on Zoom, but I don't know. Is he not? Maybe not. Anyways. We'll see. We'll see. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out.

But Chikrin looks like a complete different player than whatever we saw in Ottawa. This is when you're supported by other good players. That gives you the chance to reach your own potential, and that's when you have young guys find it all of a sudden on good teams. And another guy who I think is still underrated for me is John Carlson in Washington. And Chikrin's come in

and done a wonderful job supporting him. We're going to talk about how good this favor is. Part of it is Brodine is very good, his partner. Anyway. All right, let's pick up this conversation a little bit on development as we welcome in General Manager of the Minnesota Wild, Billy Guerin.

Billy, how's it going, buddy? It's going great, guys. How are you doing? We're good. We're good. You know, we're just talking about hit and miss and the struggles of teams that we don't expect and then others that we thought were going to suck and they don't.

And, Billy, I'm the first one to wave the white flag, man. I thought your team was going to stink this year, and they don't. No. And, Billy, I'm the first one to wave the white flag, man. I thought your team was going to stink this year, and they don't, and they don't. Well, you know what? I appreciate your honesty. Do you? I love it. Yeah, I do.

I actually do. You got the stones to say it. And, you know what? Look, it's hard to look at a team with 15 million in dead cap space and say, oh, yeah, there's my team. So I get it. But, you know, I give our players and coaches a lot of credit. They've really, that's never mentioned.

They had a great training camp. they're all on the same page uh players are hungry to win they're hungry to play the right way and um you know it's it's it's been a good first uh 30 games that's how many we've played so when you're going into the season i'm sure you saw a path to you guys being a pretty good team um what what has gone most right what is it for you that you're like all right we needed this to work and it is working for you to get where you are in the standing i think our coach needed a full training camp i think he needed time to create relationships with the players when you come in mid-, there's just not that type of time. And I think just to get the messaging across, what's expected?

How are we going to operate every day? The detail in which we're going to operate, all those things. And then the players have to buy into it. And to their credit they have and like i said they're they're playing a good brand of hockey and i think it it it shows in in how we play with the lead and in tight games and you know it's it's been it's been nice for me to watch to be honest with that i'm i'm very proud of these guys yeah you had mentioned uh the record 27 and 4 44 points uh good enough to just be three points off uh the jets um i do look at uh the loss against uh edmonton where it just looked like you were

thoroughly played but like you know you also look at the guys that weren't in the lineup as well and that played a key part so you know it can I ask you is that loss against Edmonton a good loss or a bad loss in your eyes because sometimes it can reset you uh just as well right Billy yeah, it is. And you know what? We didn't worry too, too much about it. Look, we were without a bunch of guys. We had just been on the road again. You know how the travel home goes, and then your first home game.

A lot of the times you're just not at your best. And, you know, honestly, we took too many penalties, and Dreisaitl and McDavid were spectacular that night. And that's a hard – if you're not at your best against that team, they will beat you. Those two players are world class, and that's just – but, you know what, when it's 7-1 or whatever, and you take a step back,

you realize the situation, that's the first one of those we've had this year. And it's coming around Christmas time. We've afforded ourselves the ability to say, you know what, guys, let's just throw that one out and start fresh. And we were much better against Philadelphia the next game. You know, Bill, when I watch NHL teams, it's like the teams that are real cup contenders tend to have these elite, elite guys, the top of the top.

You mentioned McDavid and Dreisaitl. The Wild, historically, in their franchise history, hadn't really had a ton of those guys. Maybe Marion Gabryk, Arvisey, Kirill Kaprizov is that. He's that dude. brings you you know you guys have one of those players you know where are you surprised that he's reached these heights what is it like having a guy like this go out there for you every night it's well it's awesome yeah i love it i love watching him go out there every every night. He is a top player in the league.

He's having a, you know, an MVP-type season. You know, he's been good for, you know, since the day he stepped in the league. But he's just taken his game to a whole new level. And, you know, for me, I love it because it's not, there's one thing that drives him, or one thing that drives him to play the way he does, and that's winning. He wants to win. You know, he loves scoring goals and this and that, but that's not what he's about. He wants to win.

He's got a world championship. He's got an Olympic gold medal. I think he's got a world junior, tooic gold medal um i think he's got a world junior too i'm not sure about that one but he wants a stanley cup and and that's that's what i love about creel wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't ask the tough questions on the real kipper and born show so here it goes um don't sound so thrilled you're happy you were telling me we were going to stink. All right, so how are the talks going? Are they heating up?

Like, how close are you to getting this guy signed on a long-term deal? Well, we can't right now, so we haven't even started. But there is a lot of noise around it. Are you comfortable that this guy will be there long-term for the fans? Yes, I am. Okay. You know what? I believe he – I believe Kirill really not just likes it in Minnesota and enjoys playing here and living here.

I think he sees a clear path for us to be a very good team and contending team for years to come okay and just for the record he has one more year on his deal but he is eligible eligible to be signed july 1st yes yeah all right so then he would be one of your 10 poll guys uh you're you're looking pretty good too because you got matt boldy and brock faber two guys that you will be bringing with you to uh the american team for the four nations face off uh these guys have very quickly become elite players in the nhl uh easy choices for you for uh for team usa yeah they were for me but you know what i have you know chris kelleher who works with me in in minnesota um chris jury bill zito and tom fitzgerald who work with me as well

uh for the for the four nations and olympics and uh i put it to them um you know i didn't want it to be like hey i'm taking my guys like I didn't want it to be like that. They all agreed that those two guys should be on the team. It's nice to have the mixture of veteran guys and some youth. It'll be fun. Hey, Bill,

you guys are coming off three games in four nights. That seems to be the norm with the compressed schedule to get to the four nations here just in terms of you know the the stress that we're putting on our top players to perform almost every other night i mean does that kind of get lost sometimes on on the ask of of of the stars to just show up every night and be great? Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, you come to expect so much from them. And then when they do have an off night, you're like,

what's wrong with them, you know? But, yeah, you have to take a step back again and remember that this is a human being. They, you know, these guys are all human. They get tired from travel. They get tired from, you know, a compressed schedule. So there will be the off night. We're not going to play 82 great games. We're just not.

And we have to be, you know, sympathetic to that. And, you know, there are those games, like you mentioned the Edmonton one. We just got to move past it and get ready for the next one. Make sure that we're, you know, giving the guys the rest, the nutrition, the treatment that they need to be ready for that next round. So in terms of guys that aren't on your U.S. roster

and how many are on high alert, like what was the roster and how many are on high alert like what was what was the protocol on on how many players you could have on the on-deck circle or is it unlimited or how many did you guys actually get to to say possibly you may be next man up I I talked to seven players um and you know it just there were just guys that were having really good years or veteran players or no, I guess I talked to eight And that's the, you know, that's a shame. And, you know, they were all very professional about it and supportive and, you know, it's a terrible call to make, but you just have to make it.

Yeah, I guess what else can you do? How much of your team building focused on very specific roles you know needing a guy to kill penalties or a left-hand shot for this pair versus just trying to bring the best guys a lot of it a lot of it and that's what we said we have to build a team and i think i think look you know it looks like everybody's kind of had that same mentality. And I think that's right. I think that's the way to do it. We really focus on hockey sense, versatility, guys that can play up and down the lineup.

I mean, look, these guys are all stars. They can play up and down the lineup. But, yeah, who's going to kill penalties? Who's to take face off so all those things um go into it um you know and what what do we want the identity identity of our team to be and and those are all things that we that we laid out before we started um making the decisions are you going to play the Kachuk boys together? Because that's just pure chaos. You can't do that. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, that would be...

Yeah, maybe. I don't know. That's Sully's job. For the Canadian team, they don't want to see that. The good news is... Nobody wants to see that. Hey, Billy, the good news is

their dad will be in your ear every day. Yeah. Every game. Oh, God. You know what? You know what? see that hey billy the good news is uh their dad will be in your ear every day yeah every game you know i you know what i i actually had custom made uh keith kachuk earplugs you're gonna need a man i know i remember i remember when matthew got drafted by Calgary, and I saw Big Walt talking to Craig Conroy in the back of the draft floor, and I yelled over to him. I'm like, Walt, he just got drafted. Stop trying to get him on the power play so quickly.

Wow. I don't think Matthew needs any help from wall getting on the power play anymore i know uh here at sports that we're gonna have the walt cam that uh just stays with him 24 hours a day it'll be uh probably the highest rated uh out of anything uh we have um let me ask you about the the trade freeze and and what it's like for you. We just had Jim Nill on. And, you know, while some players may be not really conscious but can get distracted this time of year

and what it's like for you going into the trade deadline, I think Emily Kaplan from ESPN says, like, you're on the phone constantly with the New York Rangers. So, like, you know, what's it like right now? It's not true. But it's, you know, yeah, I mean, look, some days are busier than others. Our team's played well. We're in a good spot right now.

I'm not in a hurry to do anything. But I do talk to you know i talk to people almost every day and hey look if something makes sense and we can get better then then we'll do it but you know like i said our guys are all playing well as a team right now so um i'm not really going to rush into anything we open the show by talking about that uh that cap money next season the cap's gonna shoot up a bunch and you're gonna have 13 14 million extra free excited to spend like a drunken sailor or what um i i'm worried that our owner's listening so yeah yeah exactly no we we will

listen we're gonna we're gonna to go about it as we always do and, you know, do our due diligence and make sure we're going after the right people, you know, when we do. And, yeah, that's kind of it. You know what? We're focused on this year right now and just trying to stay on that. Our players don't want to hear about next year. Neither are our coaches.

They're focused on the task at hand, and I think that's really good. Bill, just one more, and we'll let you go as you get ready to face off against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers tonight. We've seen two struggling teams this week, the New York Rangers and Buffalo, and it seems like every player is on high alert with the Rangers and then Buffalo got kind of reinforcement from their ownership group that don't expect big changes. But as a general manager, to walk in that room

and send whatever message that you feel that the team could use, that can't be an easy decision when to do it and when not to do it correct yeah yeah you're so right kipper and um you know i was doing an interview last week and i tell you as a general manager you only have so many bullets right and you you've got to be smart and decide when to use them. And you have very few. And if you talk to the team once during the year, that's probably it. Because it's usually the coach that does it.

But, you know, we've all been in those positions, you know, as players and as managers and stuff. And it's not easy. A lot of the times I just think, hey, look, when you're not good, nobody knows it more than the players, right? And we've all been through it. And sometimes you need a kick in the pants, and sometimes you need a little love.

And I think that's the big decision for a GM addressing a team is what do they need. Well, with a record of 27 and four over 31 games, not too many kicks coming from you and your players. Billy, always fun having you on the show, man. We love it. Thanks, fellas. Have a Merry Christmas, and we will see you in the new year.

You bet. Thanks so much, Billy. Appreciate it. That was Billy Guerin, general manager of the Minnesota Wild. he's always fun walt custom walt earplugs i don't blame him oh that one's getting back to walt like i mean listen they're gonna put the kids on the ice as much as they can anyway so walt's not gonna have much to say it's funny we used to i guess used to get keith kachuk once in a while on the show, and then he went on. Then he got the other guys. He got whacked.

Yeah, he went on with the other guys and said some bad things about how the team was soft. And then you know what happened? They got hot. Matthew said, Dad shot it. Yep, and I've yet to get him on set, so there you go. Bill was the captain of the islanders team the year i went to training camp and was uh you know a delight to be around the you know train

all summer my first nhl camp night before my first exhibition game garen came in the room and said uh all the rookies two beer minimum tonight at the bar i'm paying you better be there you know it's like you train all year for this like one opportunity and it's like i the captain says i have to go and have two beers tonight you told me just go to hey i actually did have two okay yeah that's good job we're the really good cats say you're going to bed right now yeah that's right that's funny um anything else you get out of that uh you know i think he's aware that they have a ton of cap space coming up i think he's excited about some of their tent poles i would be shocked if they don't spend some of that money this wild team could be pretty good

with faber boldy caprizov and whatever they add gustafson looks like a good goalie he's one of my favorite players. Yeah, you do like both. I do. Oh, he's a big boy, which is the overtime winner against the Leafs when they played there the game before Matthews flew to Germany. But yeah, I think it's got to be a pretty exciting feeling. If you are Bill Guerin, who's been dealing with basically handcuffs on you, where you've been doing a really good job and now you

get to have that freedom it's like oh my god you know plus the cap going up like you said like it's a huge difference they just have a couple guys you know i always thought of bill garren and brendan shanahan as fairly comparable style players both pretty tough both could shoot it in the net you know i don't know is that reasonable I think so. I think as far as just pure performance, Shen has got, you know, the 600 goals. Yeah. You know, but so to me, like seeing a Bill Guerin-built team that does have all this talent,

they do have Ryan Hartman, who's annoying and effective. Marcus Foligno, who plays really tough. Had a great fight with Shen recently. Just very old school mentality. For sure. And you mentioned Boldy's a big guy who can play like they. Bro Dean's good defenseman. Yeah, he's got some guys kind of out of his mold a little bit

that you can see why he likes what he's got. All right. Game time. Game time? It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app, play the stars, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365.

It's 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. So like we were talking about earlier in the Leafs hour, the Stars and Leafs tonight, two of the stingier teams in the league going head-to-head. And I'm just interested to see what they'll have the total out here as I'm logging into Bet365. Look here.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars total, they're onto it, is five and a half. So they are pretty aware of what the number is. If you want to go under it, you still get plus money. If you want to go under 5.5 goals tonight,

it's still plus 105. It's just so hard to go under that number. It is. Like, it's really got to be a slog. So the Stars are pretty big favorites tonight, minus 135. A rare chance to get the Toronto Maple Leafs at plus money. And they're a healthy team finally

going in there tonight so it should be a good game and pretty good value on the Leafs if you're into that we just had Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin on they're hosting the Florida Panthers tonight which will be an excellent hockey game Minnesota Wild home dogs plus 125 in the money line Florida Panthers Florida Panthers big on big uh big favorites minus 150 on the money line the total on that game is five and a half as well and the vancouver canucks are in utah to take on the hockey club a plus 100 underdog the utah is minus 120 on the money line and the total in that game is five and a half as well park off is sick tonight by the way wild uh getting money at home i like that one okay and i'm just trying to see if i could uh the exact score of a hockey game here but i don't think i can pick it up here

quick enough but i was just looking to see if what the the total would be on a leaf's exact score three two tonight because it feels like that's what kind of game they're looking for tonight so anyways feels like another nick rober of game they're looking for tonight. So anyways. It feels like another Nick Robertson OT winner 3-2 game. How about you trying to trade Jason for Nick with the GM of the Dallas Stars the first hour? Jason's struggling. Nick's red hot. That's his justification.

And Nick's red hot. He scored last game. One of the hottest third lines in the last. Look at their head-to-head stats. Head-to-head. Nick has owned Jason. Yeah, you're a little bit spicy with both the general managers today. It's the holiday season.

Kip told them he got owned by the Oilers. Their team, we thought they were going to suck. Do you fight, Garen, or what? I've not had a good record out of the gate with... I thought... I watched L.A. real early, and I'm like, fight garen or what i i've not had a good record out of the gate with uh i thought i watched la real early and i'm like without true doubt either gonna stink too in fairness i was wrong in fairness i didn't think the kings were great either yes and minnesota and he said it you got 14 million dollars of dead money you're pulling a rabbit out of your you know what no they're good they're good they're good

anyways that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus until only please play responsibly all right let's take a quick break we come back we'll pick up on uh some news and notes including a very hot shooter for the montreal canadens who looks like the old version of himself. Plus, we'll get into the Western Conference a little bit and discuss who's got a legitimate shot

of taking a wild card spot. And are the Ottawa Senators good now? Well, that's my point, is in the Western Conference, is there an Ottawa Senator hockey club that can sneak in? In the West? And take a spot.

The Ottawa Senators in the West? No, you're saying they're a version of them in the West. Is there a version? Okay. Sammy, do I have to send you back to Detroit to watch another football game? No, I didn't know what the hell you were talking about there. I'm talking about whether or not we see a team. Detroit ruins that.

No, I'm fine. No, but you're sick now. It's like your defenses were down Detroit ruins that. No, I'm fine. No, but you're sick now. It's like your defenses were down. You're crippled. No, I'm fine. If you're two weeks, then you're better. I'm totally normal. You just killed my break.

Take a break. My going to break. Take a break. All right, we're going to break, and you know what I'm talking about. We'll explain it to Sammy during this commercial break. Back after these words. Hey, it's Ailish Forfar.

And I'm Justin Cuthbert. Join us as we discuss the most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. It's the Fan Pre-Game, 6 p.m. weekdays on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. As a reminder, this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. I'm Kipper, that's Justin Bourne.

This is Sammy McKee as we bring it closer to your puck drop. Five games on tap, if I'm not mistaken, including Vancouver and Utah, Winnipeg and Anaheim. We mentioned Florida and many. And Toronto and Dallas, which goes 7.30 Eastern. During the break, I looked up if you ever had fought Bill Guerin. Yeah. And you did fight Bill Guerin.

Oh. April 9th, 1995. And Kipper was a member of the Rangers, and Bill Guerin was a member of the New Jersey Devils. Unfortunately, there is no uh no video for the fight notes on hockeyfights.com other penalties kiprios received an elbowing penalty received and garen a game misconduct so i think he wanted to kill me that game oh really one of those so you threw those so you threw a big old elbow i did and then he jumped in on you and you guys fought he got kicked out yeah and all I really truly remember is how bigger and stronger he was than I was.

And like he had the. Bigger. Yeah, he was bigger and stronger. No, he was bigger and stronger. And he had the head the size of a buffalo. Strong man. That's what I remember. He was a very strong man.

Yes. So there you go. He was good though. Good size target to hit anyway. He was a very strong man. Yes. So there you go. He was good, though. Good-sized target to hit, anyway. He was a really good player. Yeah. I think he left Jersey and he signed in Dallas for like $9.5 million. In 1996.

I think probably. 2000-something. Yeah, maybe late. I don't know. Do you have his history? Can you pull up his history he signed with the oilers no no no he signed the dallas stars he signed in 0203 0203 yeah so you want me to look and look up yeah how much was it and this does give me an opportunity

to tell my favorite bill garren story which i've told a hundred times so stop me if i've told it before but i don't remember you telling me one story about it. That training camp, my dad was there. I played golf with Garen after. We're all sitting around. And, you know, Garen's talking about four kids. He's like, my daughter's in show jumping. My son's in all this stuff. And I was like, God, they're in all those events.

That's got to be expensive. And he goes, well, not to be a dick, but I'm rich. He was getting paid by San jose saint louis he was getting like four nhl checks because of buyouts at the time cool he was it killed me at the time like yeah fair enough that's probably not a big stress at all for you so he signed with the dallas stars on july 45 million no not it was no it was am i way off 31 million okay a five-year 31. 45 million. No. It was 31 million. A five year 31.2 million dollar contract.

With the Dallas Stars on July 3rd, 2002. I'm off 14 million. Well, in that time, that was probably 2002. That's 22 years ago. And it still hasn't I mean, that would be a big contract

now yeah like if sean tavarez gets that now we're gonna be like oh my god so it's kind of sad i mean if i'm not mistaken yogger made 10 plus what did bobby holick make wasn't that a big deal too anyway uh just one more note while we're talking about money. The Canadian dollar dipped today. Yeah. So I was talking to an agent the other day. Sub-70, right? This time's March 2020. I don't know if you know what happened in March 2020.

The effect it has on HRR and the salary cap, when it goes down a penny, we're talking millions of dollars lost for the how does that make sense because it's all u.s cap right so you still spend the same u.s dollars it's it's a cheaper it's a it's cheaper to convert the money as a canadian team oh i see what you're saying yeah so they're like yeah it's an international. It's getting more expensive for Canadian owners every time. Way more. Yeah. Way more.

Yeah. Amazing. More disadvantages for the Canadian teams. Who would ever talk about that? Us, twice a week. I mean, it's good for the players. They're all getting U.S. money living in Canada. Actually, that's true.

Not terrible to come here. It's great for that. It's for the owners that it's... It's just for cap purposes, you're losing money because you've got to convert it to an American dollar. Let's discuss interest rates and bond yields. That's the extent of our cap money. It's gone full City News 680 here all of a sudden.

The Canadian dollar. All right. That's all. Traffic on everything. new 680 here all of a sudden. The Canadian dollar. All right. Do we give Montreal credit for going out and getting a natural goal scorer once again? Patrick Laine? Sure. Three power play goals last night? Yep.

They all kind of look the same, don't they? I don't know which one is which. Has it ever happened in a game where a guy just shot the same shot in the net three times? It's all world, though. His ability to look so like, I don't know. He looks like Rory hitting a golf ball from that spot. It's Steph Curry from the logo when he has, like, prime Steph Curry

and he just, like, looks easy and he's just like, oh, cheesy. Just goes in. Just goes in. I think it's the best shot in the league. Right? Yeah, right. Or Stamkos Ovechkin. I think it's different than those. I don't i i feel i mean those guys have clearly i mean

the one the goalie was over online i don't even know where that went and ovechkin is gonna maybe break the all-time goal scoring record yeah but i just i do think that there's a different sort of sound it makes when it hits the post when line a shoots it it's almost like a deeper i don't know it just feels i don't even love him shooting the last one that went in he's so far outside the dots and low it's like don't shoot that one but yeah okay it went in so this is more about buffalo than montreal what's that i do want to talk more okay i just want to say one more thing about patrick linea that uh i got so upset at him when he got hurt because he i don't know if you remember at the exhibition game against the him when he got hurt because he, I don't know if you remember at the exhibition game against the Leafs where he tried to, like, carry the puck through the neutral zone.

Cedric Paré. Cedric Paré. Did you guys, by the way, quickly, did you see him in, when they were playing Laval, Paré? Oh, like he scored like a shootout winner against. Oh, really? And he was, like, doing this to the crowd. Oh, yeah.

They were, like, booing him. Oh. Oh, yeah. They were, like, booing him. Oh, yeah, yeah. He should have dragged his leg. That was a couple weeks ago and that was just reminding me. Just on my final thought, that he missed so much

of the season because he was doing something that he shouldn't be doing. And last night, he's doing what he should be doing. You're not a guy to carry the mail.

You're a guy to shoot the puck. Yeah. I'm curious to see. They can't just have the plan be, I guess Ovechkin did it for a lot of years. Maybe that can be the plan for him. I think you have to be genuinely

really happy for this guy. I wouldn't love to say great things about the Montreal Canadiens ever, but it's really nice to see them going in the net for him here and he's flying on his mojo. They're chanting his name. No, I am. Really big of you. I know. I'm just, what a big guy I am.

It's so nice. But it is. This guy's had some big time struggles. He said he considered putting the jersey on a win again. Yes. It's gravy. It's a lot of gravy so far. He's, I think, sixth in the NHL in power play goals.

And I think he's played seven games this year. Yeah, all his goals are power play goals, right? Yeah. Just get him in the pot. Okay, you wanted in this segment to fix the Buffalo Sabres. Did we do enough to not kick this team when it's down, but to just like highlight. Try to wake them up a little bit.

This is really disastrous. This was the year that it was like, who's going to break into the playoffs from the Atlantic? Is it Ottawa, Detroit, or Buffalo? Who's it going to be? And Buffalo is very close to last. I think they're last in the East and not last in the NHL, but getting there. 11 in a row is crazy.

That's like a really, really bad, bad losing streak. Like, I know Darlene's been hurt, but you're supposed to have really good D and Darlene and power and they paid that Rass whatever Rasmussen was it I don't know should be good decor so Billy Guerin earlier in the show if you didn't hear him please

download it because Billy's great and you know very transparent you know with his thoughts and certainly had a good one in in saying that as a general manager or in this case even an owner to come in you only get really one possibly two opportunities during a season to have an impact on your hockey club and after that it gets lost and did did terry pagula the other night in montreal waste a bullet to me it's tone deaf it's like when kevin adams called the press conference to well didn't call a press conference but did a press conference and all he said was hey our town

stinks so josh allen yeah so you know it's like well what do we have in this conversation like pagula went there and said i don't know i got no answers good luck like why why why go there for that kept i don't know like to me it's just you can't fire a coach he's been there for 30 games i'm looking at the all-time losing streaks in NHL history, the longest. I guess there's no ties involved here, so that's what we're doing, but it's 17 games in a row is the longest by the Washington Capitals in 74, 75. It's like, you know, 11 isn't that far down the list when it comes to losing streaks. Cousins, Paterka, Paige Thompson, Tuck, Jack Quinn.

Like, is a big trade going to be the thing that does it? Like, I just, I can't imagine being more dejected than what a Buffalo Sabres fan feels like right now. It's a shame. Love Buffalo, love the Sabres. Can they grab some inspiration from the Ottawa Senators to say,

you know, we were in that race with them to step up. They are, we're not ottawa in now a position to make the playoffs well i think part of it for ottawa is their goalie is playing like a vesna candidate again and that's you know can uka peka lukin and do that james reimer probably can't anymore they need to be healthy tholene Lafferty and Greenway out, but it's the goaltending for me. So why don't we turn this to Ottawa? Six straight wins now for Allmark.

He has been a 972 save percentage over those six games. The Sens are in it now. They're in a playoff spot as of today. Can Allmark be this guy guy do you believe in him has he changed your mind on him at all i i don't think we've ever not thought he's a talented guy like we saw it in boston right um yeah the only question was i think in terms of his mental pressure uh that he had to now step up. This window's been fantastic. It's a good sign.

I mean, I'm not completely sold on him just as of yet. Maybe he's just warming up and the best is still yet, but he is acting right now like an $8 million goalie. No one can ever take that away from him right now. This is a wonderful stretch it coincides with the rangers i think winning three out of 13 that helps because they're yeah can't take two steps forward if you know one team doesn't take one back and that was the that's the new york rangers you know you need like to he got a four-year contract and like i think most fans

would say you can live with like a bad year in there over four years but you need good ones so to get started he's a 9 10 right now for them that's awesome and then i think we've seen that they're top guys that you need to get to those top levels have taken steps drake batherson is over a point per game now uh stutzler's humming um you know norris kachuk these guys are they're good their top end's good now and they're getting goal technique so and we were making fun of how bad the atlantic division was a little while ago and you're talking i mean the sabers are clearly awful the habs aren't very good but you look at the the these atlantic division they're the records in the last 10

leafs are six and four florida's seven two and one boston's seven three and oh tampa's seven three and oh uh ottawa's seven two and one in their last 10 like it's starting to starting to happen here and tampa may be the most under discussed story in the atlantic they are they almost blew it last night i could tell you yeah Yeah. It was, what, 4-0, 4-3, 5-3, empty net. Hung on. But they're plus 32 goal differential, which is second or third best in the NHL. Like, they're sneaky really good again.

And Victor Hedman still being good as part of that. Sorelli, Hagel, Nick Paul. God, a bunch of random guys. So, the Leafs have their hands full still, Sammy. Yeah. Rangers? What's that? Rangers?

I don't know. What's left to beat up on now? What's around here? What? I want to praise some teams. Just be nice. I mean, it is a huge story. Every awful loss after the next is just a huge story.

There are two schools of thought for the New York Rangers right now. Getting shut out by the Preds is as bad as it gets. One is that it's the players aren't receiving much love from their general manager or the owner or, right? And it's like can't play under these circumstances. And then there's the other side that says you know just shut up and play right so tough to give them love when they're three and ten where are you on on you side more with the players or you side more with management to squeeze these guys yeah to the point where if you don't deliver, sorry.

Here's where I'll side with the players, that they got off to a good start and a good record and had a chance to recognize their shortcomings and fix them within the context of the season rather than the team, which was outspoken about wanting to make changes at 12-6. I mean, they're 15-15 now, and at 12 and 6, we knew that they wanted to trade Trouba. Part of that is forcing a trade on a guy who maybe didn't want one.

Like, was that part of the public shaming? Is that why they did that? And the team does not seem to have responded well. But who? Hey, guess what? Credit to Drury. He knew his teeth stunk. He could try to fire it up.

That's standard for any player. We don't believe in you. We don't want you. We trade you. That's standard for any player. We don't believe in you. We don't want you. We trade you. That's been going on for 100 years. So, like, why is that any different? Is it going public being a big deal? Well, he went from a no move to a limited move, right?

So, I think the writing was on the wall. The question is, did it need to be as public maybe as it should have been? Could you have disguised it better? I just am shocked, guys. Like, again, 12-4 to start the season. They're behind the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins right now in the East. Like in raw points, points percentage. It's like a stone.

Yeah. I have to say. How do you come back from that? I have to give my boy Dubas, he's got to give his Penguins some credit. Good win for them last night. They're hanging in there. They actually deserved to win that game they're still it's still tough right oh yeah even if you factor in a couple of games in hand you know it's still gonna be tough but they but but you know to be where they are right now as opposed to at the start of the season where it looked like they were gonna to be down with the Habs and the Sabres.

Like, they are at least in the conversation and Sid's playing in meaningful games and all that. That's what you want. So, right now, it looks like there's one playoff spot, the second wildcard spot for Ottawa, Pittsburgh, the Rangers, Islanders, Red Wings. Yeah. The only thing that I would say here is

I'm not sure about the Boston Bruins. I'm still not sure about the Bruins. What's their goal differential? Last night. Minus 18. Yeah. Last night, coming back from a 3-1 deficit, they managed to get two points. They won 4-3.

Yeah. I think Calgary's kind of kicking themselves a little bit for losing a point, being up two goals with about 15 minutes to go. Yeah. At the same time, I believe they they hold one of the wild card spots today who's that Calgary Calgary yeah I think they do so I asked you before the break is there an Ottawa scenario here yeah they're brewing are they the equivalent to the Ottawa Senators and is the equivalent to Colorado being being a team like the rangers where like for whatever

reason they're on the outside looking in you know i don't think it's the flames i would love for it to be the flames they're in the second wild card spot i like that they're you know i i've used other teams as an example of how you develop players you be competitive they're in games that matter that's great utah right behind them no but colorado and st louis who are not too far back are two pretty decent teams the blues are getting better colorado we know what they can do so i a couple of teams on the outside that i think will climb but i'm not sure the flames are central is brutal we're having the central just i mean in terms of how many good teams are in there.

To start the year and having the Avalanche out of the picture, the Jets and the Minnesota Wild being two of the best teams. One rule in the NHL. If you're the general manager of the Avalanche, you probably didn't see that coming. No. So that's two spots where you're like, that probably hurts. Utah, 550 winning percentage plus three goal differential.

They're sniffing around. Yep. Seattle can't get themselves, I think, in a spot where they can make a big push here. They don't have the top end guys, and Vegas didn't after the expansion draft, and they got aggressive together. Yeah. Got to get weird. They built the most mid team ever.

Super mid. Like, just a bunch of mid guys. Seattle and the Islanders are the middiest of the mid. We never, we talked about it. They didn't treat themselves to one thing in that draft. You pick yourself up interesting. It was just not like, no, just take it to Shane. Yeah, go get someone fun.

Yeah. Hope you enjoyed our national hour of the mid hockey league. Yeah. The MHL. A lot of that. Our thanks to mid-general managers. No, just kidding. Elite.

Top elite general managers. Jim Dale. Billy Garrett. Five games on tap. Pick yours. And we're back tomorrow on the real Kipper and Bourne show to discuss. Have a great night, everybody.