Real Kyper & Bourne - Winning Ways in Winnipeg

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

Jets reporter Sean Reynolds joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne to break down Winnipeg's perfect start to the season through eight games (2:32). He gets into the sustainability of their start, Rick Bowness' lingering influence, Nikolaj Ehlers' unique usage and tees up their matchup against the struggling Maple Leafs tonight. They regroup with Sam McKee for news and notes around the league - Steven Stamkos returns to Tampa Bay, the Predators' new additions adjusting slowly and the Bruins' nebulous negotiations for a Brad Marchand extension.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.

welcome in as we go national on the real kipper and born show we're live on sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet365 net kip reals justin born sammy mckee in a few minutes we'll welcome in Sean Reynolds Sportsnet reporter in Winnipeg and co-host of the Kenny and Rennie with Ken Wiebe. Exciting game tonight Kip. There's one really good team playing. A back to back prime Amazon. Get your subscriptions in. Do you know how to find it? Have you been able to? Yeah, we've been, we got the Prime. We do. Yeah, I've had that, but only because. Got the Prime?

Got the Prime. With the YouTube? The wife's ordering every other day from Amazon. Yeah. So I think it comes with it. Is that the deal? I think so. I think it's all part and parcel.

I mean, we truly do live in the future. I hold my liquor, whatever it's called, remote. Thanks, Canadian guy. And I go, Amazon Prime, and it just comes on. That's how you find things. Now you just yell at your remote. Well, I press the button. I know.

Rogers Ignite does that. Yeah, it's incredible. It is a great service. When I want to watch any sporting event, I know it's on. I know how to search. I go, the New York Yankees Pop World Series. It is pretty incredible. It's very great.

Thank you for that. A commercial. I love it. the search ago the new york yankees pop world series it is pretty incredible it's very great before we commercial before we bring in sean just uh like your biggest takeaway out of uh winnipeg jets team that's been perfect so far this season as according to the record says you know i think they're i may have over overly been concerned about players that they lost in the offseason without recognizing that the parts that made them great are primarily still there. I think what's unfortunate is they have done, have played well early enough in the season, often enough that it's almost like people are going, well, we'll see later without recognizing that, you know, this is that this is a pretty incredible run

and sets them up for what could potentially be a fight for the number one seed, which really changes your chances in playoffs. So they've been great. That third line, by the way, he mentioned in the last hour is unbelievable. Well, and the third line is captained by adam lowry which typically isn't left to a role type of player but so far it's working well let's welcome in sean reynolds and maybe we'll start there

sean how are you welcome to the program i'm doing great how are you guys are you as perfect as the jets right now that hat is perfect. And I'm not even joking. That's a perfect Spurs hat. Yeah, I love the Spurs hat. That's about the only perfect thing about me, though. So and the team that I cover, that's about it. Okay.

So, yeah, we'll get into Adam Lowry right now. But overall, just your thoughts are coming out of training camp. And if you had to pick one team that could have been perfect up until this point, it probably wouldn't have been the team that you cover. Correct? Yeah, I wouldn't have had that. But in retrospect, it actually makes a lot of sense. A, you, Borno, was talking about it and talking about he may have misjudged by the guys you lost.

When you lose Sean Monahan, when you lose Brendan Dillon, when you lose Tyler Toffoli, it sounds disastrous until you remember that the vast majority of the season the Jets were one of the teams competing to be the top team in the NHL with this

exact same forward group that they're icing right now. And then on the back end, yes, you lost Brendan Dillon. The other guy, Nate Schmidt, who you lost was one of their, you know, like basically their number seven slash six guy last year. So what they lose really isn't that big of a deal. What they gain essentially is the consistency that a lot of other teams don't have.

Like the Nashville Predators are trying to bring in, you know, a new core, right? They're trying to augment their core and that takes some time for guys to get to know each other and guys to get to know what they need to do in those big situations on the ice. The Winnipeg Jets, this is just business as usual for a team that was very good at their business last year. So they roll in here. They've got, you know, they know who they are.

They know what they're supposed to do. They know what the guy beside them is doing. There's consistency here where the rest of the league doesn't really have that to start the season and on top of that you've got you know a group that that i i mean knows exactly what they're supposed to be doing and they're doing it in their first eight games and guys i bring this up not because i'm trying to pour water on this it's just part of the overall picture but if you would have looked at the jet schedule coming in seven of their first eight games are against teams that missed the playoffs last year, and their first game that they had against the team that did make the playoffs

was the Edmonton Oilers, who we all saw fell flat on their face coming out of the gate and was not ready to start. So I'm not saying that this is the entire reason. The Winnipeg Jets are playing really good hockey. They are winning games. They are better night in and night out than the teams that they are playing. But if you would have looked at this schedule,

you would have said this is the kind of schedule you'd want the Jets to make hay on. Maybe you would have thought they'd be 6-0-2. Maybe you would have thought they'd be 7-0-1 or 7-1 or something like that. So it's not outlandish that they're 8 and 0 with this schedule, and it's not outlandish because this is a team that, again, knows who it's supposed to be and has all the consistency in the world because not a lot has changed. Yeah, you know, literally was the question I was going to ask you

was about the schedule, which looks softer, but then, you know, we cover the Toronto Maple Leafs who just got destroyed by Columbus the other night. So, you know, they're NHL teams that they're beating. You still have to handle your business and they've done a great job of that. From the outside looking in, it looks like they've gotten good performances from some D-men. On a D-core that a lot of people are like, I don't know, is that a good D-core or not? DeMello's playing a lot of minutes.

Pionk's been pretty good. He's had 10 points in eight games. Looks like that D- decor holding up so far yeah well de mello got paid like a number two defenseman because when you put him beside josh morrissey that's exactly what he is so he's not a guy that you're looking at he's a very good defensively he competes i don't know that there's anyone who's stolen more pucks off the line like dylan de mello is con Connor Hellebuck's best friend because he's probably stopped 9, 10, 11 goals

that should have been in last season. So he's going to do his job. Josh Morrissey, we've been saying this loud for a long time, I think is very solidly one of the top five defensemen in the entire NHL. The one here that really stands out is Neil Pionk because a lot of people thought with Brendan Dillon leaving, his game would maybe go down.

He struggled at times last year, but he's from the same hometown as Dylan Samberg, who steps into Dillon's role. They worked with each other in the offseason, got that consistency with each other that you would have expected him to have with a Brendan Dillon. Guys, his heart was

ripped out because his best friend died tragically last season, so he wasn't the best version of himself. And I was talking about this earlier today when Rick Bonas came in and changed this team's philosophy into being a defense first. Neil Pionk before that was an offensive defenseman that maybe wasn't the strongest defensive defenseman. This is year three of him working into that system and he's finding the balance between playing that system that he's being asked to to find or to play now and rediscovering that offensive flair that he had before that so it's kind of everything's coming together for the winnipeg jets right now and remember this last year everyone looked at this

defense core and thought that they weren't going to be a capable defensive team and they go out and allow less goals than any other team in the entire nhl so the system is key the defensive philosophy is key in winnipeg and it probably shields a lot of things about this defense core that keep in mind guys i know you talked about it a little earlier on probably got exposed during the playoffs last year and who knows that it becomes the litmus test for this team going forward the defense doesn't look great on paper didn't catch up with them in the regular season last year caught up with them in the playoffs so last year we're talking to sean reynolds who does a terrific job here at sportsnet covering the winnipeg Jets. Key matchup tonight is the Jets

try to continue an unbeaten streak against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sean, where does the power play of importance come into play here to start the season for the Winnipeg Jets? Because they're playing a team tonight that can't basically carry a puck in a bucket right now through the neutral zone on a power play what have you seen so far out of that power play that has played such a key role of winning the first eight games well it was their weakness last year their their special teams both their power play and their penalty kill was their weakness last year so the goal uh for scott arniel as he was coming in was to continue everything that was working for them defensively this is still the rick bonus system guys and the jets

are playing that what they tried to add what they went out and got dean chanoth and davis pain to do is to supplement the the penalty kill and the power play and that's exactly what's happened so last year this jets team as good as they were fourth overall in the nhl at the power play. And that's exactly what's happened. So last year, this Jets team, as good as they were, fourth overall in the NHL at the end of the year, had terrible, terrible special teams. And it was costing them games. Now they've flipped that. It's winning them games.

So a very capable Jets team last year that I take a look at this schedule, and I think they probably would have gone 6-2-0 or something like that in these first couple of games. They're that power play scoring those extra goals and it's just putting them more on the right side of the ledger uh this power play feels like it can't miss right now so so you need to come in with a good game plan i can't remember which team it was guys but one of the opposition teams came in and you could see, OK, these coaches did their homework. They are finding a way to shut down this power play. But even if you do your homework and you're trying to shut down that first line that includes, you know, Nick Ehlers and Kyle Connor and Mark Shifley and Josh Morrissey,

what's happened is the second power play unit is coming out and it's doing its job. They won against Calgary because the second power play unit scores a goal. Cole Perfetti scores the game winner against Calgary. So what you're seeing there is the first power play goes out with this very definitive kind of philosophy. And then you throw the second power play unit and it's got a different philosophy. And what you see happen is it's like the team that's defending the power play is like, okay, we've figured out this first power play. And now all of a sudden it's like you're given a test in an entirely

different language because everything's changed and what they're doing has changed. What they're trying to do has changed. So it's not just that they've been effective. It's that it's kind of like a two headed monster. And just when you think you've figured out the second, you better be, sorry, the first, you better be ready to figure out the second. And most teams haven't been so far.

Sean, this is like an annual question at this point, but Nick Ehlers is tied for the team lead in points. He's tied for second on the team lead in shots. He plays 15 minutes a game, 1530. You know, it's an annual thing. Just like this guy seems to be the best lead in shots he plays 15 minutes a game 15 30 you know it's an annual thing just like this guy seems to be the best player in the league that the coaches don't want to play what what are we missing here is he going to stick around in winnipeg those are two different questions okay let's do the first one let's start with what what we're

missing so this one was baffled people for years. And then what was revealed to us by Rick Bonas last year is if they don't take a look at his time on ice, they look at the amount of shifts that he's given. And so what you would find typically if you compare Nick Ehlers' shifts to the rest of the players on his team, they're quite comparable, but Nick Ehlers does one thing and has done so consistently is he goes out, burns his way around the ice, and then he gets off in short order. There was a perfect example of this two games ago against Seattle,

where he goes out, Josh Morrissey jumps into the play. He gets the puck to Nick Ehlers. Nick Ehlers does a drop pass and turns it over, but busts over, breaks that up and catches the other, the Seattle Kraken sleeping, gets the puck

in the zone, and rather than going to the slot and trying to capitalize on the chaos that he's created, he skates over to the bench and changes. Most players wouldn't do that. I've created an opportunity in the offensive zone. I'm going to benefit from my own work. Nick Ehlers gets off the ice.

Kyle Conner steps out on the ice, gets the puck, shoots and scores, right? That's what makes him a valuable player, even if you don't see it, because his details are right. He's not a selfish player, and he basically is saying, I don't need more ice time. I just want my shifts, and I want to leave my team in a good spot so the coaches will tell you nick ehlers gets the same amount of opportunity as everyone else when it comes to shifts he's just really responsible turning and

burning and doing it the right way now do we want to do you want to set up the next thing or should i just launch into whether or not let's just put a comma in there and carry on. Okay, so let's launch into that. Nick Ehlers, I take a look at this. The one thing I will say, despite the fact he's given those opportunities, if you remember last year, there was a point of time where Kyle Conner was injured. He got his knee and someone stuck out a knee on him. He was out for a while.

And you see that Ehlers goes on to align with Mark Scheifele and Gabe Velarde. And they tear up the league, guys. They are on fire. They are burning everything up. And there was one point I had a conversation with him, and it kind of dawned on me. I've been covering this team for a long time, and I said, you know what, this is weird, but I feel like I don't have a book on you

and you playing with Mark shifley that seems odd they've been on the same team for like eight years guys both of them in the top six and we didn't know what a top six winger looked like with one of the top two centers why because he almost never gets that opportunity to play with mark shifley and the times where he's proven he would be very good with him when the other player gets back typically Kyle Connor then he gets booted off that line so I feel like from that conversation Nick Ehlers was a little like right isn't that crazy and so I do think that while you can give an explanation of why his ice time is short and why he may not be being as short changed as

the league thinks i still do think nick ehlers is a bit of an unexplored talent here in winnipeg i think that he believes that and i do think the idea of going to unrestricted free agency and going around the league and looking i wonder if these guys would really dig into what my true overall potential is. That may be hard to turn down. Put it this way, guys. I think Nick Ehlers looks at a guy like Kyle Connor and says, if I had every opportunity Kyle Connor had,

I wonder what my numbers would look like. And maybe that answer lies outside of Winnipeg. So does that mean he stays or he goes? Well, hey, we thought that Mark Scheifele was gone uh we thought that mark shifley was gone we thought that connor hellebook was gone they found a way to make them stay we know a team like winnipeg isn't high on losing talent so they'll want to keep them and they can offer that extra year in the end though the difference between those players is that connor hellebook mark scheifele have been given every single opportunity under the sun in winnipeg and nick ehlers has not they're trying to rectify that this year i don't know if it's too late but i would say if i'm a betting man guys i think he

waits out the string and then he goes around the league looking to see what Nick Ehler's true value is. The play of Cole Perfetti has been a bright spot, I think. Has this been everything you expected out of him this season, taking a step? Yeah, so this is an interesting one. I was joking. I was on Toronto Radio the other day, and I said, I always know when I'm talking to people in the East because Cole Perfetti is like the biggest thing. I won't name names, but one of our analysts basically said the Jets were in trouble this year.

And if they do do well, it will be because of the emergence of Cole Perfetti. I've said this before. You take a look up and down the Jets roster. Cole Perfetti is probably 10th in importance on this entire roster. Their third line, 1-2-3, you've got to put ahead of them. Their top line, 1-2-3, you've got to put ahead of them. Their top line, one, two, three, you got to put ahead of them. Nick Ehlers is probably ahead of them.

Josh Morrissey is definitely ahead of them. Connor Hellebuck is definitely ahead of them. Add it all up, he's like the 10th most important guy on this team. That said, Cole Perfetti has a lot that he can offer. Last year for a part of the season, he was a point perper-game guy. And then he went entirely asleep and was basically a three points

in 22 games guy. So I think the difference between the two of those, and I think it'll show in what we've seen from him this year, no points in his first four games, and then he plays the San Jose Sharks and he destroys them, four points, right? And then he goes and he plays a defensively kind of deficient. I look at the St. Louis Blues, and I think they just don't want to grind. They play run-and-gun hockey.

Cole Perfetti comes out. He's got another three-point night. So he's got eight points in eight games, but five of those games he's been held pointless. I would usually suggest the difference between him getting points and not getting points is the harder of a grind that he faces, the less likely he is to get points. But if you're playing loose and wide open, he's surgical. He'll slice and dice you and he'll do it from distance. What I see from him is the way he gets over that is when he gets a little more engaged, when he drives to the front of the net, he gets dirty when he tries to create different kinds of offense rather than picking the defense apart from distance that's

just another toolkit and it makes it less likely for him to be shut down by those teams that just aren't going to let you slice and dice them from distance so i saw a little bit of that i thought his game-winning goal against calgary was a little bit of that even though it's on the power play if he can get into more of that and add different kinds of offense to what he's capable of we already know he is elite at tearing you apart from distance when the other team isn't overly interested in playing defense if he can be start adding to be that grinding kind of player that still gets his points when the other team is really trying to focus and not let you get those points, he could become a hell of a threat and really move up that order of importance

that I referred to at the top of the answer. Niederreiter, Lowry, and Mason Appleton now regarded as the best third line in hockey here. Islanders used to have that identity line. Feels like this is the new version, the upgraded version. So where are they in the importance of this start? Oh, number one.

Number one. And to be honest with you, I don't even think it's close because I think we were looking, Mark Scheifele's line that keeps going out, and you got to give him credit for this, guys. They keep going out and scoring the biggest goals and the biggest moments.

And when they play the other team's stars, goals in the biggest moments and when they play the other team stars they're they're the star that's what you have stars for right kipper like you need those guys to show up in the biggest moments and they've done that they've also been outscored i believe seven to two at five on five right so i'm a big believer pacing matters so even though they're out on the ice and they're getting scored on, the pacing that they're playing in is making them ready to go win that game when it's time. But what keeps this team in a position to win games night after night is the fact that the third line, A, is outscoring its opposition at an alarming rate, but B, that when the Jets fall down in games,

and I believe they've been scored on first five of their eight games it's that line that just goes out ends the other team's momentum doesn't allow goals to pile up on this team makes it a grind often gets the other team to quit because they just don't hey you saw when they played pittsburgh earlier on pittsburgh started the game and they were getting to run and gun, and they loved it. And then when the Jets turned it into a grind, those guys were like, we don't want to do this. Forget it.

You want it that bad? Go take it, right? The third line wants it that bad. Night in, night out. It doesn't matter if it's February or if it's the beginning of October. They want to out-compete you. The third line is the secret sauce of the Winnipeg Jets and the biggest reason by

far they are 8-0 right. Kip, I gotta tell you, that sounds like Leafs kryptonite to me. So one more, Sean, before I let you go, and it's around Adam Lowry, and tonight you're gonna see the Toronto Maple Leafs

and a C on Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews is their best player he's the face of the franchise debatable whether or not they should have taken the C off of Tavares or not that's for other people to talk about but it's clearly this is you're the best player you're the captain this is not the Winnipeg Jets if that was the case we'd see shifley with it morrissey with it eelers with it the decision to go to adam lowry as the captain and so far it looks okay but what makes him in your opinion a good captain or a great one right now well the jets were that system before blake wheeleler wore the C. He was their best player.

He got the letter. And you're right. I had thought there was a really good chance they were going to put Josh Morrissey as the captain. At the beginning, guys, I thought it was a mistake that they went with Adam Lowry. And I've been proved entirely wrong. The importance of Adam Lowry comes in a number of things. A, the Jets talked about needing to change their culture over after Paul Maurice left. And Adam Lowry has been central to that because he's humble.

He's hardworking. He's easily approachable. He's a really nice guy. So there's not one person in that dressing room that would feel alienated by Adam Lowry. And I think that a lot of people over the years did feel alienated in that Jets dressing room that would feel alienated by by adam lowry and i think that a lot of people over the years did feel alienated in that jets dressing room but beyond that the importance of that becomes that uh the the blueprint that the jets have tried to set up the rick bonus blueprint that they still are using to this day it's hard it's hard to play rick bonus talked about this

guys don't want to do it. It's a grind. So you need leaders to kind of show the way. And that third line has shown time and time again that in games where the Jets come out, I thought the beginning against Seattle was like this. It was like this to a degree against Calgary. They come out and they don't have their fastball. Lowry comes out and Appleton comes out

and Niederreiter come out and they grind and they grind and they grind and they grind and they grind and they keep grinding until everyone kind of starts grinding they're the motor boat that everyone else is rolling in their wake right now so that's why that Lowry is so important because he never gives up on his team he's always putting in the hard work that is demanded of this team if it's going to play this system. And beyond that, they've got a knack, too, of scoring really big goals at really big times. So he kills penalties.

He does it all great with the media. There's nothing that this guy doesn't do outside of having superstar-level talent, but you get the feeling it's easier to follow a guy who's not superstar level talent, but gets so much more out of himself than he probably should compared to someone who just seems like he's going out there and it just naturally comes to him.

He was born with it. He was blessed with it. You know, yeah, they do hard work, but are they doing the hard work when we're down 4-1 kind of thing? Adam Lowry is always doing his homework. He's the class president. Terrific stuff, man.

Thanks for doing this, Sean. Have fun tonight covering the game. Great hat. Enjoy the night. Sean Reynolds, Sportsnet reporter in Winnipeg, co-host of Ken and Rennie. Did we even ask him about Connor Hellebuck? Not 940 state percentage.

Six starts, giving up 10 goals. Great regular season goaltender. Yes. Well, it was ugly. It was absolutely ugly for him in the first round versus Colorado. As a hat guy,

that's a beauty. So I was a Spurs fan when I was young just because I liked the low he has a kid yeah i like the sharks so usually usually i'm uh i'm the type of guy that says that you you need your captain to be probably a little bit more skilled than an adam lowry but i guess it's working there and he he does reek of character. But he is, like, he's the real deal when it comes to true character. And that's probably because his dad had a ton of it, too. I got to compete against his dad in junior.

And at the pro level, Dave Lowry, like, solid, solid quality guy off the ice. Sometimes that's not Maybelline. Sometimes they really are born with it that really is a big part of it for him but i do wonder like there's a level you have to be at play-wise to be able to speak up in the room and so yeah there's a random name that comes up remember andrew ference became the seventh d for the oilers for a while and it's like if you're not involved on the ice you can't speak up in the room you have to play at a certain level and i think part of it with tavaris and toronto got to that point where

it was like in the biggest moments i don't you know they weren't looking to him anymore right they were looking to austin tavaris he didn't carry a presence for the Toronto Maple Leafs from day one oh you don't nice guy yeah right nice guy but quiet guy doesn't say too much uh lacks emotion yeah and those are pretty important pieces here yeah if I may I think in hockey we all too often associate seriousness with professionalism like someone who just kind of takes the job seriously is like oh that guy you got to be like him because he look at him and it's like you know some people are just quieter a little bit more reserved and john might be that where he's just that's his personality luckily i wear this magical amulet where's the magical so like do you have to be a full-on grump well Like McDavid and McKinnon? I think this is how we make coaches often get hired

because they come off as grumps. See Steve Stahels interviews in Ottawa all the time. It's like, this guy. Well, it depends on who you're coming off to. Yeah, it's true. Like, if you're a happy-go-lucky guy, then you want the grump. Yeah. So it's just, it's where you are following

what you've just experienced a while ago. People do that with dating partners. But in the real world. Lowry plays 14 minutes a night, 15 minutes a night. I don't think he goes. He's not a 17 guy. He's not a 19 guy. He's not 21 on some nights.

15, 28, Kip. He's got two goals, five assists, seven points in eight games. But it's enough to influence a hockey game clearly the jets have eight guys at a point and he's an emotional guy right he'll grab somebody oh he'll grab someone he's big man he fought somebody he would there was a moment of last year i wish i could remember who it was but like he hammered a guy and then the guy came after him and then he beat the crap out of him and the other guy got an instigator i don't know who it was i wish i could remember but it's him and he can score he could score he could yeah he could finish plays not too many captains like him around the

league if you look around like what it's like oh it's nico he's here because he's you know a serious person who you know plays some defense well i'm looking down the list of captains and it's you know it is interesting i don't think everybody like not all the teams have their best player as a captain like i don't know we don't need to go through all the no but let's give us some names okay so well i mean this list starts with the anheim ducks shocker of shocker radko gudas is the is the captain of the ducks i wouldn't say he's your best player that's a real reflection kind of looked like uh truba on the weekend hammered sam carrick oh my god by the way uh characters on the marlies and i was there. Carrick is a human refrigerator.

He is a big dude. That was a great hit. Brad Marchand, not the Boston Bruins best player, but presence. Presence and attitude. And he's never looked more of like a captain

than wearing the fact that he hasn't been very good and he owned it. Just a perfect example. I'm not going to go through all the teams, but here's a perfect example. Jordan Stahl is the captain of the Hurricanes. Perfect.

Right? That's like the example of what you're talking about. Yeah, but that's just like he's the oldest guy and everybody loves him. Like there's not a person, you're not going to find many people maybe outside of some Leaf fans. Yeah, looking for some one-offs like that.

There's not too many. Andrews Lee in New York. I don't know who else you'd give it to there. Yeah. Braden Shen. Yeah, so like, you know, but... Mostly it's the best player. Yeah.

Ovechkin. Mark Stone, leading the league in points. That's bizarre. Captain. Captain. Team Canada. Yeah. Maybe assistant.

Yeah. Listen, Matthews can develop into a good captain he's clearly got to learn a few things here first moving forward but the the question you may ask is was it the time to do it in the middle of the most important time ever to start to teach him if you guys think tavaris have not having to see and matthews not having to see has affected this season one goal for their team or against you're out of your mind. Just imagine now the drop off that Tavares has experienced in Toronto and he's still wearing the C.

Yeah. It probably raises the temperature. It's a great point. He's pretty close to not being on a power play. And I don't know how much it gets past that. If he's not on the power play and he's not contributing five on five, then, you know, how far is he from a healthy scratch? Oh.

I don't know. You guys okay? The heck of a suggestion. We're all offended for Tavares, but, you know, I get your point. The Leafs don't have a second line center, and that's saving Tavares right now because Max Domi's not it.

Holmberg's not it. Guess who's doing the second line center tonight that's saving Tavares right now because Max Domi's not it. Holmberg's not it. Guess who's doing the second line center tonight? Is it Tavares? It's Tavares with Willie Nylander and Max Pacioretty, baby. Maybe your keys are in, have you checked your pocket? Oh, no, they're not there. Try there again. Game time? Game time.

Something that we haven't really looked at much. That's a great drop. All right. It's game time. We're set by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Three things for you tonight. First thing, we're going to talk about it a little bit in news notes, but Stephen Stamkos returns to Tampa Bay to take on the team that he was the captain of. One of their all-time great players. The all-time great player.

Best player in franchise history, two cups, leading goal scorer. Bringing his raw, exposed feelings, where does this rank on the scale of like Brett Favre playing for the Vikings sort of thing, where you just like... Vikings were a rival. I think what he means,

coming home with the Leafs would be different or something. I appreciate that it's not a rival, but it does still feel like I'm going somewhere else to show you, to spite you. The feelings seem very hurt. Okay, let him go and then we'll get way more into it. Stephen Stamkos, anytime goal tonight, plus 160. Love him scoring in his return.

Seems like something that might happen. Motivated goal scorer. The San Jose Sharks have yet to win. They may never win. They're plus 230. They might go 0-82. They're playing against the Utah Hockey Club tonight. They gotta win eventually. They gotta win eventually. We suck.

Tonight's the night, boys. Tonight's the night against the Utah Hockey Club. And finally, the World Series returns to New York. Hitting third for the New York Yankees is Aaron Judge. There is a potential that Aaron Judge could get booed in his return.

Swing and a miss rate of 43%. He has been never seen before in a baseball playoff. There's actually a chance that he could get booed. I think tonight he rewrites the script and he hits a home run. Big moment for him. Big moment for the Yankees. Give me an Aaron Judge anytime homer at plus 225.

Not a chance. Not a chance. Short porch. Shoot it to the right. I haven't watched a lot of baseball playoffs, but like that Freddie home run to win the game. I had to say. He goes over to his parents.

Unbelievable sportsman. Forget about who you're cheering for for a second, Yankees. That is a great sport moment. You'll have to find him for the rest of his life. Listen, on Friday night, that was one of the best baseball games I've seen, period. It was just back and forth nature. Awesome game.

And then Sunday afternoon, late afternoon, around 6.30 p.m., we get an absolutely amazing Hail Mary from Jaden Daniels and the Commanders Bears game. Sports are awesome, boys. Sports are one of my favorite things. Sports are very good. I could watch sports all day long and I do. How about the cornerback? No, I'm talking about the Jets.

The cornerback on Chicago. Stevenson, what's his name? Waving to the Washington Commanders fans like, we got the game and he's not even aware the play's happening. And Hail Mary scored behind him. Maybe one of the worst things you've ever seen. Yeah.

I think that's like a post game. You cut him before he gets to his car. But you're not up two or three touchdowns. The game is you only play your position like for, I don't know, a hundred minutes a year. And would you like to know whose hand the ball touched last before it landed in Noah Brown's head? It was that guy.

All right. That was game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary at Bet365. It was that guy. All right. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19+. I'm Terry Only. Please play responsibly. We should have a non-leaf,

a non-hockey take corner at the end of our show for two minutes. I'm into it. You like that idea? How about we do Jersey Hour where we talk about Jersey? We've never done anything in two minutes. That's a great point.

Great point. Great point. Five. All right. But we need a break. And as Sammy teed up, Steven Stamko set for an emotional return in Tampa Bay. We'll get into that more when we return to Real Kipper and Born.

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. This is our Real Kipper and Born, brought to you by Bet365 as we go down the stretch run before eight games on tap

in the National Hockey League, including five that have Canadian matchups. Yes, I am on the television doing some intermissions tonight with Danielle Michaud. Should be good. Should be great. Atta boy. One of those eight games include the Tampa Bay Lightning

and the Nashville Predators. Stephen Stamkos going back to Tampa. Going, going. And, like, this one's going to be a tough one to get through. We've seen scenarios over the years of guys going back in town, getting the video tribute. Some of them very, very deserving. I can't think of a more deserving video tribute

than Stephen Stamkos in Tampa Bay. This one's going to be a tearjerker. The Leafs did some wild ones. Pierre Engvall got one in Toronto. I just like to remind people. But he played one game. He's been waived by the Isles. He played one game.

You could get a video tribute now in the NHL. And who was it that didn't? Was it Dubas who didn't when he came back? Not that I do a video, I guess, for GM. No, there'll never be one for him as long as. Well, one day. A lot of people got to leave. But, yeah, so I am curious we have steven

stamkos right uh sammy yeah we got a clip from him uh it's yeah on returning to tampa steven i don't know what to expect really it's um it's not something that you really know i think until you go through it it's you know i've got that question a lot leading up to to this game and you know obviously the excitement level to be back in in this city and and in this building where like i said there's been so many uh amazing memories for for a really long time so i'm sure the emotions will will kick in as uh game time approaches and you get it on the ice and um it'll be it'll be special for sure one of my favorite things that i've uh written for sports net was a full breakdown of uh the two minutes and 39 seconds he played that one stanley cup playoff run where he got us he did got himself back on the ice and scored a

big goal high high short side too what a shot beautiful goal you know like it there's big memories here it's gonna be in all honesty he didn't say it but it's like just get this thing over with that's i think yes who do you think he's most mad at and is it julian brisebois oh gosh uh probably do you think he's mad at cooper or it's not cooper's role to sign him to a contract? No, that's an upstairs decision. Yeah. Right? And that includes ownership too because ownership can override and say, I want this guy back and this is what I'm willing to do.

And I'm not saying like it was like Ovi's last contract in Washington with the owner that just... What happened there contract in Washington with the owner. What happened there? Well, just the owner said. You're bringing him back. He's coming back, and this is what it's going to take, and we're going to be here for him when he sets his record. So that's really out of the hands at that point for a guy of that magnitude.

That's out of the hands of the general manager. 40 times last last year what do you think the stat line is through eight games it's just gonna ask you that very question because it's noteworthy i'll tell you if you like yeah it's not it's not a pretty start one and zero for one point yeah uh minus seven yeah it's not pretty it's uh and it's it's reflective of the start that nashville's had yeah I mean, he's a great player and a great Canadian. You know, he's well-loved here. My first thought when he goes to Nashville, they don't have a coochie of. No.

Listen, I can appreciate Philip Forsberg, and I can appreciate Jonathan Marsh's show, what he's done in Vegas, but let me say that again to you. There is no Kucherov. Yeah. Kucherov ain't walking through that door. No.

Right? Yeah. Nick Backstrom ain't walking through that door. Braden Point and a few of them, and when you've got this rhythm, when you've got this dance going, especially with him on that wall waiting for a one-timer and his only goal has been a one-timer right but it's it's out of sync right now and he's

it may take him 20 games who knows how long it takes for him to find some chemistry with some of these guys night quest yeah listen it's a tough it's a tough thing so i thought nat last year nashville they had this kind of like scrappy no one believes in this thing i was one of the people who didn't believe in them i was like looking at their lineup tommy novak and colton sissons and they win 18 in a row or don't lose in 18 games or whatever points in 18 games right yeah and then they try this year to like all right let's inject some names into this lineup o'reilly marchesau and stamkos i don't think that's gonna get it done for them they are starting to win some hockey games it's coming around a little bit but they are struggling to find what their identity is with this new mix

they are no longer a scrappy underdog there's some expectations now how's your uh boy sorrows that you wanted to see last year in a Leaf uniform? I don't think great. It's been okay. It's 908 save percentage. Not a total dog. That's okay. Listen, that was before I knew of the great Anthony Stoller.

He's great. How could I say anything bad now that he's here? But, yeah, that is a must-watch game tonight, so tune in to that one. Marchand? Marchand? Is that what you're going to do? Yeah. Scores the game-winning goal against

the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night. First of the season. R. Elliot Friedman on Saturday night reported that he thought that a deal was getting close. It was kind of cut off at the knees by Brad Marchand alone by saying that that's not the case. Always an agitator. I will say this, you know, one time being that guy as a newsbreaker,

there's going to be times when you throw something out there and someone may want to squash it for various reasons. Sometimes they tell the truth. Sometimes they skew the truth. And sometimes they're just lying through their teeth. We'll see where this plays out and where it goes. But it would not be shocking if Marshand was signed. Where are you with Marshand and the Boston Bruins? Personally, where do you think that this thing can go?

Because he's not 32 or 34. He'll be turning, I think, 37 soon. And he's not a toolsy guy, right? Not big, not fast, not an overpowering shot. He does it with craftiness and finding every edge and advantage he can as you get a little older and the game picks up. It's going to be harder for him to find those edges.

I said Stephen Stamkos because I do believe that there is, with a lot of these guys, ego involved. God, look at Aaron Rodgers in the NFL right now. It's like no one believes they're done who's been great. And Brad Marchand is going to,

you know, I'm sure he thinks he's a player who wants a couple of bucks. I'm not sure if it's still there for him or not, but I don't think he's going to sign for another discount because he's been under paid for years. Can I tell you that I didn't notice him until he shoveled the puck in the net for the Leafs? Against the Leafs, sorry?

Right. Maybe he shoveled a few in the net for the Leafs next year or two, maybe. What do you think, Kev? I think the Boston Bruins are... They have to resign him. Yeah. I do. Yeah.

And... He's a beloved... I do believe that... Long-time... Elliott's right when he said that it needs to be a three-year deal. I think, again, at his age, minimum is three years. He's going to want the third year.

The question is, like, what's he worth to you now as a captain still and as a guy that's supposed to lead a team that thinks that they can win a Stanley Cup this season? I mean, he's not john tavarez right like he is a emotionally involved motivator yell at the bench you know he's got other elements of that c i think for them we loved his comments didn't he say like why is everybody to him and he said why are people so sensitive now is that the world we live in everybody needs to have their feelings hurt i love that yeah no i do too and i think it's uh

you know it's a little bit old school to that and i think it sends a message to the rest of your team that if i can take it you should be able to take it and let's just move on there's nothing to see here but you got pasternak you got mcavoy then they go make a huge commitment to trading for lindholm out of anaheim and then they go and sign the other lindholm the door of the door off like this team's got to win the stanley cup now and he has to be the captain now how do you let him walk out the door in july so what do you think? Five million? You're right. You can't let them go. No. Five million a year then?

No, keep going. Higher. That's not getting it done. What does that mean? Last week, listen, I wrote in my Toronto Star article on Thursdays that in my notes that it didn't appear to me as of last week, and this is well before Elliott reported what he did Saturday night, that Boston didn't appear in a big hurry right now to get this done. And again, anything can change overnight, during the week.

A lot of things can change, and maybe they bridge something. Clearly, Elliott's talked to somebody. So the question is now now what do you think at his age if his production's gone down and to your point he's he feels like he's been on a discount all these years at six one feels like he has yeah he has so it's like bautista in Toronto. Me personally, I think the number for three years is between seven and eight. I mean, last year he scored 30 goals. He's a 29 goal, 29 goals specifically, almost 70 points in 82 games. Playoffs, he's a point per game guy.

Going back to previous years, his point production is maintained in playoffs, like few players. Yeah. I mean if the question is this if if the ask is 24 million times uh uh for three years it's a bad deal for boston but they they owe him but they may be in a position where they gotta give it to this guy he's just well maybe they do like uh the his fellow nova scotian be like.3, just like 8.7 maybe, like his number? Yeah. I mean, listen, I don't think,

I actually think that's a pretty reasonable number in contract, but it sounds like some other people would like it higher. 6.3, like Sid goes 8.7, like his jersey number. And he was born in 1963. Yeah. If you can convince him that. Did you happen to see Garnet Hathaway

hammer Joel Eriksson-Eck with an elbow without the puck blindside? No, I didn't see that. No. Well, I'm just telling you, if a Leaf didn't even kick out that. He wanted to give you a Leaf take on it. That's all that had a Leaf done.

They've been ejected to the moon. They've been kicked off the tour. You and our national show on a leaf thought on somebody else's suspension. This is exactly, it wasn't even a suspension. This is fine, but this is exactly the problem.

It happens in a Sunday Minnesota Wild Philadelphia Flyers game on a Sunday afternoon. No one's saying it gets lost. But if tonight, on Amazon, you know,

I don't know who, David Camp goes bang and hits somebody with an elbow in the face, he's getting suspended for three games. Three years. The only thing you have me at is there's more eyeballs.

Yeah, there is. And people are talking about it. And people talk about it more. And George Peros loves the Wild and the Flyers. He hates the Leafs. Right now, there are 11 teams in the NHL that are at 500 record by points percentage. Buffalo, Toronto, Detroit, Montreal, Boston, Edmonton, Seattle, Utah, Ottawa, the Islanders,

Columbus. I see. 11 teams are 500. I see that pack sliding right into Christmas, right into February. Do you really? Oh yeah. There's a couple names that are going to tease out of there.

The Oilers are not going to be 500. Columbus is not going to be 500. They actually play tonight. They could go in different directions. Specifically though, that Eastern conference, the Atlanta Atlantic, like Ottawa had a bad loss against vegas for me yeah oh yeah really

bad i was last in the division and they're at eight points and they gave that game away all mark had a chat with dr season off after that game yeah he's not happy cousins with maybe one of the dumbest penalties i've seen this early in the season. He does that. He is known to do that. But that division, the Atlantic, to your point, every single team in the Atlantic division is 500 or better. That's correct. All eight teams, which is wild. Really only Florida is pulling away from 500, though,

in any significant way. So obviously lots of hockey season left there. Okay. Tonight, around the NHL. What do you got for us on your uh six you're on at 6 30 uh no we're just doing intermissions just intermissions oilers blue jackets seven o'clock game and then uh vancouver carolina at 10 p.m where did leon dry settle have a game on his birthday yeah i mean i love watching him play hockey. Motivated individual.

Flames also play the Golden Knights tonight in Vegas at 10 p.m. So a lot of... That's a good test for them, eh? It is, yeah. I think some things are getting sorted out right now. All in all, eight games tonight. Enjoy the one that you pick. And we're back tomorrow on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. If you get a chance,

give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Give us your thoughts on Sammy squeezing in a Leaf conversation on the National Hour. Oh, yeah. You guys aren't doing it at all.

Talking about Matthews captaincy in the National Hour. Have a good one, everybody. you