Real Kyper & Bourne - Young Sens, Veteran Pens, and NHL Fun Facts

Episode Date: October 17, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne are joined by Coming In Hot podcast host Jason York (7:35) to get his thoughts on the Ottawa Senators' roster construction and performance to start the season in comparison to last year, the team's goaltending depth, if Tim Stützle is ready to lead the Sens in the future, Travis Green's coaching style, Jake Sanderson's star potential and the team's projections for the playoffs. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee look at both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin hitting milestones against the Buffalo Sabres, who starts in net for the international teams in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and fun facts of the NHL season.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.

the real kipper and born show goes national we're live on sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee in a few minutes we'll welcome in jason York, co-host of the Coming in Hot Sens podcast. Always fun to have Jason York on. Close to 800 games played in the National Hockey League. Coming in hot. Sens. Eight goals last game.

Tons of pressure on them. Our Elliott Friedman said that they will win the Atlantic Division. I think he said they'd win the cup. What? No. He said they'd win the Cup. What? No. He said they'd make playoffs. Make the playoffs. Oh, okay.

But let's build them up. Still no Allmark tonight. No Allmark. I had my buddy, Chris Jetty, he's a Sens fan. He said, you know, he's a little worried about the way you and Valley have been talking about Allmark. And yesterday the joke was, oh, they're playing New Jersey next. I bet you Allmark's not ready.

Allmark's not ready. And I think people are getting nervous. I don't know. Listen, Valley's my goalie expert. Yeah. I'm just a follower. Is there a coach that can wash your hands of it? Like, that's our goalie guy.

I don't know. He just gave me a whole new world to think about on top of what I ever thought as a player looking at a goalie. Yeah. Where I just, at the end of the day, looked at him and said, yeah, you guys are nothing but targets. Forsberg going to have to be pretty good. Oh, and he was not very good last time we saw him.

But he can be. I like Forsberg. Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, it'd be interesting to get Jason York's take. Because we saw a huge signing by the Dallas Stars. And how the goaltending market apparently has been reset at $8.25 million.

Jake Ottinger. You tweeted about the tax difference. Eight times, 8.25. Identical contract to Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins. But not identical money. Well, my good friend Stu Gavin and Gavin Management, but now it's Cardinal Point because Stu made a lot of money. Way to go, Stu.

He managed that well pretty damn good but my good buddy Matt Baggiolchi still has this calculator on their site that you plug in everyone's salary and then you can go literally

team by team to see what's left after taxes and the difference between ottinger's 8.25 and jeremy swayman's 8.25 is 415 thousand dollars i think per season oh my god nice just to get the difference i mean it's almost like it's a competitive advantage three point three point three million dollars over the course of the contract i wonder why all these guys sign in these places with no tax but a great advantage it also doesn't even take into effect you know what's the cost of living in Dallas compared to Boston? I tried to rent an apartment in Boston once.

But you can't go within like a half an hour for a decent hotel these days in New York and Boston for like 800 bucks a night. It's insanity. It's crazy. You can buy a home in dallas for yeah the cost of hotel one night at hotel to fall asleep 800 bucks it is wild hotel prices are insane insane but the industry's never been hotter like yeah people are challenged up to their eyeballs with inflation and cost of living and grocery prices. And these guys have never made more money. The hotel industry.

Did a City News 680 segment just break out here? Here's what we think the feds should do about it. What were we talking about again? Ottinger's contract making $400,000. But, okay, not to be Toronto guy in the national hour, but I will represent Toronto guy. I'll represent other markets that have high taxes. Shouldn't the league do something about this? No.

Why the hell not? Why do you always say no to that question? It's not their business. Taxes aren't their business. So they want, so I guess the answer to my question is yes, but Gary Bettman wants the non-traditional markets in the South with no tax to have more success than the ones that drive the revenue of the league. Because that's what's happening.

It is happening, I agree. It happens every year. I don't think Gary gives a flying you-know-what about taxes. It sucks. Because you look at, I mean, every final for the last five years or whatever has had a no-tax team in it. It's a competitive, these have the proof of it being a competitive advantage. So, I don't know. It sucks.

Do hockey players, would they start, like, would they get paid as a business? Are they able to? Yeah? Sure. They can incorporate. They can find different ways to save money. And there's... To not pay it all as personal.

There is this deferred RCA. And I think... Well, that's the Tavares thing. I think it may have to do with Tavares trying to save $8 million. I can't blame him. Buy a lot of amulets for that. The biggest argument now... You need to do it.

The biggest argument now, I think... Glorious amulet. The biggest argument now, I think, where governments are looking at especially signing bonuses, right? What is a signing bonus? A signing bonus should be, this is your money just for stroking your signature on a check. It's an incentive for you to sign. But is it really incentive or is it hidden in real money as a salary? And if you're incentivized to sign the contract, you're incentivized once. You're getting that signing bonus in some cases every year.

Yes. So what sense does it make? So there's so many arguments from the government side to say it's not a signing bonus because if the guy quits tomorrow a signing bonus is guaranteed and he doesn't have to return the money and if if he quits tomorrow you're not you're not paying him the signing bonus right so you're just hiding it well and into a base salary and now there's guys deferring salary so they can collect it when they live somewhere with lower taxes which i'm sure the government is yeah like shohei otani he's getting paid he's getting

paid three bucks a year and he's gonna make 750 million down the road so yeah so don't get taxed on it now get get taxed on it uh when you retire and you're back in Sweden or back in wherever you're from. Do you think people are enjoying this? It wouldn't take my taxes in Sweden, I can tell you that. Do you think people are enjoying this CPA hour here? I think it matters, though, in the conversation in terms of these teams. Being able to tell a guy you're going to make

$400,000 extra a year is a pretty easy sell it's a pretty easy sell so Stamkos goes from Tampa Bay to Nashville and they're very friendly too on the taxes too he's laughing do you think Jason York paid his taxes

are people looking for him let's welcome in Jason York co-host the coming in hot sense podcast yorkie did you like how how creative was your accountant okay well is there a statute of limitations here seven years i think buddy seven years listen this whole tax thing in canada is hogwash you can actually make more money if you play in canada if you have a proper tax account guys do it all the time it's called an rca you can pay you can pay 20 tax you know the cash so kipper you just gotta you gotta be able to go to an American

city later in your career and spend two years or so. I don't buy that thing. I listened to a little bit of your guys' conversation there. If you have the right people around you and you do some good tax planning, it could actually be more advantageous for you to play in Canada.

It really can. Curious, because Tavares is going through some debate with the government over that, right? Yeah. Yeah, I saw that. So later in your life, you have to spend two years in an American city? Don't quote me on this, but you can

basically set up a tax planning strategy where your money goes into a trust and you take X amount of dollars out to live on, and then when you go to the States, you pull it out at a lower tax rate. It's a little bit of a loophole. I'm probably going to get some guys in trouble here. But it's

totally legal. It's totally legal. And some players take advantage of it. Some players don't. But the smart players do. All right, pal. Enough of the accounting. I'm not an accountant, boys. I've got great love and math.

You do? I failed your love and math. We play one on TV. Every year, whether we played or not, Yorkie, a lot of optimism when it comes to training camp. Everybody's got great draft picks. Everybody's got the guy that's going to be the answer for their hockey club. And then the dust settles, and then we get to American Thanksgiving.

But where are you now when it comes to the Ottawa Senators compared to what you saw last year moving into this year? Travis Green, you know, the blue line without Chikrin. A lot better, Kipper, a lot better. If you look at what Steve Stahels addressed in the summer to where this team was last year and to where they are right now, number one, they couldn't get a save last year to save their lives. I think they led the league in goals scored on first or second shots of the hockey game. So 22 times last year, Barney.

I know you're a stats guy. You'll love this. 22 times last year, they gave up a goal on the first or second shot of the hockey game. You can't win that way. It's insane. It's insane. So you got to think just having Allmark here is probably going to account to at least, I don't know, 10 to 12 more points in the standings than add in what they get on the blue line. Like, they had way too many left shots to play the same way.

They had Shabbat, they had Chipper, they had Sanderson, and they had Branstrom, all left shot, like, pretty well power play guys. So, you bring in Jensen. I know he's older, but I think he's a better fit. And he's a right D that just plays defense and that's what they needed uh Clevin's a rookie he's a big body which they need it's gonna take him some time but they did some nice things I love the Jensen move the all-mark trade was to me an absolute steal and then getting him signed to the contract they did a couple weeks ago I thought was a real nice number. And then you brought in some veteran skipper.

That core needed guys like David Pearl to come in, say the right things. He's been there, done that. He's won a cup before. So I like the moves they did. Also, too, I thought Amadio was a nice under-the-radar signing guy. He's on their third line. So to me, they've got some more depth. They've got a goaltender.

They've got a right shot. I think they're a much better hockey team. They're 2-1, but tonight's going to be a really good test, guys, because I think New Jersey's a real good team. How do you think the organization views themselves competitively, like in terms of making further additions this year? Do you think that is a, you know, they'll be saying, hey, we've identified where, you know,

we could still a couple of pieces and we might be able to actually get in. Do you think they would do it? I think so. I think anytime you go out and you pay for a number one goaltender, right? Like what they did. And you go out and sign some veterans.

I think in a perfect world they want to be a team that's right there come the last 10 games of the season and be in the mix to get in the playoffs i think that's where this team is right now that's where they view themselves as a team that can get in if if they get goaltending the signings play the way they do and their young core which is which is stipsler which is kachuk, Bathurst, and Ridley Gray, Pinto. If those guys all take another step this year. So, yeah, I view them that way. They view themselves that way.

But, you know, you've got to do the math, right, guys, every year. If they're getting in, who's coming out? That's what I always do. And it just, man, it's never been tougher to make the playoffs. But I think they'll be there in the Knicks in those last 10 games. I always do. And it just, man, it's never been tougher to make the playoffs. But I think they'll be there in the Knicks in those last 10 games. I really do. You mentioned Allmark. The hope, I think, was to see him against New Jersey, but he's going to take an extra day off.

But was the game against L.A. a friendly reminder of, if you don't have great goaltending, you're in big, big trouble. And they, LA left Kemper in for all eight fellas. All eight. Like that was tough to watch on both sides. It wasn't bad. Even Travis Green came on the other day and he asked and he goes, yeah, we need some saves.

So it's a good reminder. I'll give Forsberg a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, though. One of the three goals he let in, one was unstoppable, one was a lucky bounce. I think out of the three, he probably wants one back. He wasn't terrible. It was just they came so quickly in the first period. So, yeah, for sure this team this team's not going to be a playoff team without without light it's all marked that much

is for certain like that's why they brought him in guys he's he's uh that's why he's here yeah there's no doubt about that and he is going to play an important part tell me about the core of that team and where you think it's at you know we've watched it in toronto for years you get excited about good young players and then you kind of wait for them to become winners you know are is stutzler ready to find that next level and is drew still got it in him at this stage in his career i think claude still got it guys he that fire in him still burning like He's a competitive guy. He stays here in the summer.

I know he trains with it. He trains hard. He's still in great shape. So to me, Claude Drew is still a good player. The question is, is Stutzler ready to lead this team? You know what? Time will tell. Let's watch the first 10 to 20 games here.

I know he had a great summer. He's put on a little bit of that man strength. He started getting a little bit later. Early on, you don't have it. Now he looks like he's thicker. He's more filled out. He's off to a good start. I think he's got six points in his first three games. He can be dominant at times. The thing with Tim Soutza, he just has to eliminate the decisions, the bad decisions you make, the young decisions you make at the blue line. And we'll see. Like, I think he's going to be a star in this league. At times he shows he's a star in this league,

but he's got to be consistent all the time. Has Stutzel been their best forward? He's been really good. Do you know who's been really good to start the season off, guys? It's Drake Batherson. That game against L.A., he made two really big plays. He got the primary assist on Norris' time goal, and then he made a heck of a play in overtime.

Stutzler started it off, but Batherson, he's just got really good patience with the puck. He takes a lot of heat in Ottawa for his defensive side of games, but he is, for people that don't really follow the Ottawa Senators, he's a really sneaky, good player. So I think between Bathurst and Stutzler, they've been the two best forwards. Now, where's Jake Sanderson on the scale of about to be an NHL star?

Is this the year? Is it going to happen? Because he seems real close to me. I love the player. Yeah. Hey, Barney, he does. Like, if you're a hockey nerd like yourself, like me, you watch little things that players games.

Like, I watch when he goes back for pucks. And if he doesn't have some time, he's able to get separation. Maybe it's a spinorama move. Maybe he'll go slow, then go fast. But he just, he does so many little things. I don't know if he's ever going to be a guy that gets 70 points because he loves defending. And when you defend that much you got to give up some offense right so I I am a big fan guys that much I can

tell you I I just think of all the young defensemen in the league right now I'd put my money on him with being the best two-way defenseman I'm talking about defending and offense because he can skate, he can move the puck, but I also love how he defends. He's just, this guy loves to be matched up against the other team's top forwards. He takes it on as a challenge, and you don't see that often in young defensemen who just come into the league. So here in Toronto with Craig Berube, there's been a feel that things are different. We got an example of it last night when the Leafs were up by a handful of goals and he still called a timeout to give them crap.

Where's Travis Green on his impact so far for the Ottawa Senators? First of all, I love our Berube coaches, fellas. I love that guy. I actually think he's going to change some of the culture to trauma. I really do. But as far as Travis Green is concerned, they had a really tough training camp. He's notorious for having hard camps. So number one, he came in and in years past,

Otto was accused and being a little bit of a country club, like guys would, you know, it wasn't a lot of guys were pretty comfortable. I thought he came in and had a real tough camp. And then now they've got some competition with those guys they brought in, like Amadio, like Perron. There's going to be internal competition throughout the lineup. Ridley Gregg's actually another player that's taken a step. So I think the players amongst themselves are going to be, you know,

Kipper, if you want to be a good team, to me, it's got to come from right through your room. So I think internally that's going to happen, but I think Travis is going to be a guy that holds these guys accountable as well. So if you see a guy having a shift off, he's not going to be afraid to sit him down and put somebody else out there. So kind of a fun stage in Ottawa Senators fandom, I would say. You just got a new owner who's willing to spend money.

You have some bright young stars, and you're hopeful. You got a goaltender now. You got a new coach. Things are coming together. Where are we at on the rink? Is this sort of the next step? I think fans have a lot to be excited about. Is that one of them?

I think so. I think the rink's still a little bit away this morning. Yeah. I think in a perfect world, it's there in probably six years. Oh, really? Yeah, because there's still, I think that's probably the timeframe. There's still a lot of stuff that needs to get done, but I do think it will be down there.

It's just going to take some time. And in the meantime, they're doing some work here on the rink. They're fixing things up. They're making the viewer experience better for the fan. I know they've done a massive rental on the players' locker room, the gym, and all that. It's going to come. It's like everything, especially in Ottawa, guys.

There's a lot of bureaucracy to get around here. Oh, yeah. You know what? That will all get sorted down, but I think realistically, in a perfect world, you're probably looking at six years. Is downtown still the only spot for the new rink?

Because there has been growth over the years outside of downtown. And yeah, I think 10 years ago, five years ago was a no-brainer. You'd love it downtown. But is it still today the place that they have to be? You know what's funny, Kipper? Where they're going to put the rink, LaBreton Flats, if you're familiar with downtown Ottawa, it's not exactly right in the downtown core.

It's kind of off to the side. But the nice thing about this site, it's really accessible to Quebec. And one of the big things Michael Andler and his group have tried to do is they've tried to re-engage the fans from Gatineau and the fans from Hull. And in years past, those fans were ignored. So being there, it's basically just a five-minute drive over the bridge. That's a big reason why they like this parcel of land. And it's also, you know, downtown Ottawa, it's close enough where this is going to help invigorate it. Because don't forget

what's going on in Ottawa, guys. You got the government of Canada here. Nobody was going to work for the last four years. So they built this light rail system that's going to take everybody to downtown. So now they really need this rink, not only for the hockey club, but to get people going back downtown again. So the Senator has actually had some leverage in this where city wants it, team wants it, everybody wants it. It's good for everybody. They need to work on the transit though, correct? Like that's a big deal. If it gets too cold here, the transit doesn't work.

It's ridiculous. And it's taken forever to build. It's been a complete gong show. It'll eventually get going, but it's just, you ask anybody in Ottawa what drives their gears, it's this light rail that they started to build. It cost them way too much money and taken way too much time. Just a fantastic political show we're doing today. Yes.

Yeah, for sure. We got tax advice. We got politics. What else do you guys want? How about the infrastructure issues of Ottawa? So, okay, let's turn it back on Elliot Friedman. He said that the Senators are the next dynasty in the NHL. They'll win three consecutive Stanley Cups.

He did say that. Where are you on the Sens making the playoffs this year? I'm in the mind they're going to be in the mix at the end, fellas. Are they going to get in? I predicted they would get in. I see them as a wild card. That was my prediction. We did our coming in hot show, so I got to stick with it.

To me, it's going to be all dependent on Linus Hallmark. Like we can talk all we want about the young core. We can talk about the D. If you don't have a goalie, it doesn't matter what you do. You got to have a goalie. So in my opinion, they have a goalie now, which is why I have them to make the playoffs. What is Hallmark's issue?

How come he's not playing tonight? Did he pull something? He's not feeling right? I think it's a great strain. This is my personal opinion. It's just based on training camp. He was out skating today, looked pretty good, taking his goalie drills.

I think they're just being cautious. You know the old thing? Why turn a strain into a pull? It's like mad cow disease. Mad cow disease. How about the competitors trying to climb into the playoffs in the Atlantic? Do you like Buffalo or Detroit more? Who's more of a threat to the Sens?

I'm not, you know, I think Detroit's not quite at Ottawa's level. I just, I look at the goaltending again. I look, who's your goalie there? If it comes down to the last 10 games, I'm going to take Olmark over Detroit's tandem. Same thing with Buffalo. To me, if you look at the good teams in the league, they all have something in common versus, you know,

Edmonton's different, Colorado's different, although Colorado's 1-4. But there seems to be a good – you look at Dallas, Ottinger. You look at the Rangers, Shosturkin. You look at Florida, Bobrowski. You can go around the league. Like, you've got to – unless you've got a supercharged team, you need a goalie.

And that's why I kind of have Ottawa a nudge above the Buffaloes and Detroit's of the world. Jorgen, we saw the Edmonton Oilers save uh their last game late late uh in the third period to come up with their first win but nashville oh for colorado oh for what do you attribute to to these teams that we thought were going to compete for the stanley cup this early so who who's so who's carrying the puck through the neutral zone in Nashville? Like, you've got a bunch of shooters. Like, you've got guys that aren't puck carriers,

guys that transit the puck through the neutral zone. I know they've got goaltending, their defense, but I love Stan Kost as a player, love the other moves they've made. I just don't find them down the middle to have the guys that you need to create time and space so your shooters can get the shots off. So I was a little bit bewildered by some of the moves. And I love Trotsky. I played for Trotsky for a couple years.

I hope they do well. I hope it's a blip in the radar. I just don't see Nashville as a playoff team this year. No, I'm good. All right, pal. Really appreciate your time. Yorkie, always a pleasure to have you on our show. Anytime you want tax advice, Kipper, just let me know.

Thanks, Yorkie. Appreciate your insight, buddy. Do you do medical advice? I know we've got an orthopedic surgeon now on our show, but Jason Smith, but do you do medical? Dude, I've had so many injuries. Like I'm actually probably could be a registered physiotherapist.

Injuries, just let me know. I'll help you out. Sounds great. Awesome. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate your time. Jason, you're a co-host of the Coming In Hot Sens podcast. So a lot of excitement there.

About our political conversations? There is excitement in Ottawa. Yeah. And not to go back and beat this up, but like he talked about the location, downtown, and the ability for people maybe to come from Quebec. But like so if transit sucks as bad as he said, like where is everybody parking? Buddy, I don't know.

It's a small piece of land. I've been to Ottawa, I think, twice ever. So I don't know. And we looked at it. My group looked at it. And it was a challenge. Downtown. Well, I like that he said that the city is incentivized to build transit.

Yeah, I know. Everyone's on the same page here. Eventually it'll come's that's good when you have everyone on the same page all i know is watching the difference for the new york islanders when they finally got a proper rink with proper transit to the building yeah it's night and day when you can get mass people to the rink it's really nice yeah i take the subway to Leaf games. So does Willie Nylander. Yeah, you and Willie. Do you? I do.

You'd be nuts not to take it. Yeah, it is the easiest way to get in there. And the way everybody left the lower bowl last night in a 6-2 win, you'd think that they all were driving on the Gardner. Don't fan shame. That was a joke. Why are you leaving? Your team, you're not going to say the 7 30 start oh yeah it's late people gotta get up in the morning yeah all every single person in the lower bowl who had had

seven glasses of chardonnay had to leave immediately give me a break you're not gonna stay for the the maxi nightingale the three stars you're at the leaf game they just don't care that's the thing that drives me crazy they don't care they're just like oh yeah we get to come and watch our lease we got our ticks comped we don't care out we go people oh no they're not rich they're not true hey they paid they paid 800 for a pair out of their pocket in the golds they're like oh we don't care this is disposable income who cares this is easily the weirdest show we've ever done no it's just it drives me crazy like the least sort of literally put a beat down on a team and you're up 6-2, Tavares scores.

Everyone heads for the exits. What are they like? What are we doing? They're winning. It's insane. Just go to the next game and stop them. I would like if I was. Can't afford to.

Yeah. Are you kidding me? Buddy, I thought you guys, I don't make all the money on this show. I can't afford to go to a Leaf game. If I'm going, I'm going to the press box. I'm applying for a press pass. Anyways.

It just pissed me off last night. I couldn't believe that. I'm blocking you on my Twitter. Yeah. What a loser. You'd be already. I mean, you'd be halfway home by this halfway through the second period. There's the Joe Bowen and the Mercedes.

One or the other. Do you need a break to calm down or would you like to go to break game time we all need a break we'll take a break we better head out early okay just in case just in case you know if you leave the game two minutes early you might not get stuck in traffic in the gardener pal oh yeah it's it's gonna be a lot better if you leave one minute

early no question they're beating the gardener it earth two lanes. It's going to be bad. Time to go to commercial break? Yes. And get Sammy to calm down. I'm done. More real Kipper and Bourne.

And a meal tea for everyone. After these words. Hey, it's Matt Marchese. And I'm Mike Futa. We're discussing the top stories of the day across the NHL and the hockey world. Weekdays at noon. It's the Fan Hockey show on Sportsnet 590, the fan and wherever you get your podcasts.

Last block game time, news and notes. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Let her rip, Sammy. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app, latest odds, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Bet365, SB19+, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. A couple ones I was looking at for tonight.

Edmonton Oilers minus 130 at the National Predators. Plus 110 on the money line for the Preds. Feels like that was a bit of a monkey off the back for the Oilers. They're going on the road for the first time here. Maybe a little bit, you know, team bonding. Guys getting together. They're going out there. Maybe Conor McDavid will crack a smile on this road trip and they can have some fun maybe win a game uh maybe not maybe him and leon

will just be grumpy the whole time as usual but uh give me a edmonton oilers win tonight on the money line at my 130 aren't they they are like every so long year god they're just grumps i guess they've been losing um are you so pissy b Bingo. The San Jose Sharks are in Chicago. The Chicago Blackhawks are minus 190 favorites against the San Jose Sharks. I don't think either of these teams are particularly good. I think they both actually reek, in fact. I think they both suck. So give me the San Jose Sharks.

Plus 160 as an underdog. Absolutely. Sharks are bad, though. Yeah, they're both bad. They're both bad hockey teams. Well, kind of lends towards a lot of bad teams out there. Yeah, absolutely. And the L.A. Dodgers, again, minus 135 tonight at the New York Mets.

I picked my Mets last night, and boy, they got smoked. Nine-zip final? Well, New York, the state of New York would love a Subway Series. It's got to be Yankees and Dodgers for the ultimate. If you're MLB, you're dying. You can't. At the end of the day, say what you will about New York being the biggest city in the world. It's still like, it's a regional world series.

That's like getting Rangers Hawks in the finals. Like that's like the cream of the crop for them to have. But I'm actually going to go back to the well tonight. New York Mets have been bouncing back all year, and I think they're going to bounce back again tonight. Give me the New York Mets again tonight. As we have Mr. Met on our TV here. And they are plus 115, so a bit of a dog, a bit of a plus money.

They've been bouncing back all year. A couple of bucks. And if they're going to have any chance, they've got to win tonight, so give me the Mets. The amazing Mets. There we go. What do you call of bucks. And if they're going to have any chance, they've got to win tonight. So give me the Mets. The amazing Mets. There we go. What do they call them now? Of course, they're amazing.

That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app, play the songs, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. It's 19+. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Pittsburgh Penguins in the Buffalo Sabres last night went into overtime. Yeah. And a Malkin-Crosby show last night.

Both hitting milestones. And we saw the love fest, I think, after the game with those two guys. And the panel of TNT. So life's all good. You listened to it? So Lungfist goes on and he's talking about how basically miserable he made them yeah like and then who's the host there again liam mccue does a great job he's really but then he's just like hey hank did you know that they have he uh you're the goalie that sid has

the most points against and gino has the most goals against did you know that hey you guys must have a great relationship like holy crap but gino was right they've played him a hundred of course they played a million games against him so it makes sense but yeah i i think it's pretty amazing and listen we can talk all you want about the dubious stuff and it's hard for me to root for them because of that but it's incredible that these guys are still playing together and it probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for sid wasn't like the hex doll the end of the hex doll burke thing they were gonna let him walk and then there was that the conversation with sid there's a whole story about how they wanted to

keep all those guys together it's amazing that they're still playing together it's a year he's in year 18 they're gonna have to have a lot of fun nights like last night to to get them close they uh let five up against what a goal by gino from yeah on his ass yeah third or second in scoring in the nhl has eight points of genny malkin leading your national hockey league with 11 that's awesome and really cool they put uh Danny Mugger. They put, is it Rutger? Rutger? Rutger McGrody. Which is the hardest name ever to say. They eat a spoonful of peanut butter and say that name. Rutger McGrody.

This is the guy that kind of gave Winnie the Peg the, I want to go play in the NHL somewhere else. And now he's not playing in the NHL. Yeah, he's a young buck. Yeah. He's got time. But yeah, I know some some people you thought that was you enjoyed that as a dubious guy that he's a kid he's going up and down yeah it was more bucks i was

fired up but here's what i'll say on the broadcast on saturday night chris cotford is a wonderful job for sports that was talking about um rucker's dad and how jim mcgrorty's like if you should this is how i know he's a hockey guy he's's like, go check out Jim's Hockey DB. It's one of the best hockey DBs you'll ever look. So I went and looked at it. It is an incredible hockey DB. Like some of the weirdest teams

that I never even knew existed. He played with Wayne Gretzky's brother, Brent, for the Asheville, with the Asheville Smoke for a year. Oh, you don't remember

the Asheville Smoke? No, I do. I actually went to a game when I was a kid there. Or is Asheville, Ontario? No, no, it's in North Carolina. No idea they existed. North Carolina. Oh, yeah. Asheville, North Carolina. Went to a game with my dad and kid there. Or is that in Ontario? No, no, it's in North Carolina. No idea they existed. North Carolina.

Oh, yeah. Asheville, North Carolina. Went to a game with my dad and my great uncle. That's very obscure. Yeah, so there you go. Favorite hockey DB page, Jared Scaldi. I think he played for 21 teams or something, like seven leagues. Good one.

Anyway. What were the 1993-1994 Daytona Beach Sun Devils like? What was that like as a hockey DB? I know we got into all the tax talk about Jake Ottinger's contract, but they're all in with this guy, obviously. And he had that incredible playoff series against Calgary, but is there enough for you to say that, or is it kind of split whether or not this guy will will be the man that they think

you know i think you gotta do it right like you it's so hard to find a number one goalie get him in your jersey and then keep him you just gotta hope right you cross your fingers i don't have like some impassioned opinion that he's like garbage or he's amazing he just i'm with i actually hate this take more than any take particularly when we have guests on and they're like we'll see but that's kind of how i feel about ottinger where it's like i agree there's been some concerning playoff moments but you just gotta i'm not your fingers not convinced on him no i think he's good i think he's good enough but there's been moments where i think he could be a lot better especially

in that series against the Oilers. I thought they shot a few holes in him pretty convincingly. For sure. They made a lot of goalies look like that, including Conrad. Can I, oh, by the way, I did think of the U.S. team's goaltending situation,

heading into the face-off. Could they make a trade? What's it called? Could we trade for one of them? Four Nations face-off. Come on, it's our product. Ottinger, Swayman. Yeah, they're going to have Hellebuck and Swayman and then Ottinger. Isn't Demko American too?

Yes, but Demko is. Who's starting for you right today? Swayman. Honestly, it's probably Swayman, but Hellebuck is everyone. He just won the Vezina, guys. He's okay. I've seen him in a lot of big games. Swiss cheese in the playoffs.

But it's more what Valley said about his playoffs. That he's like, I thought I played pretty good. That wasn't on me. Yeah, I think I would be happier with Ottinger or Hellebuck as a Canadian hockey fan. I mean, I watched Connor McDavid shoot holes in him. I watched Nathan McKinnon shoot holes uh or hellebuck as a canadian hockey fan i mean i watched conor mcdavid shoot holes in him i watched nathan mckinnon shoot holes in conor hellebuck it's definitely where canada is weakest you look at like finland they got uh soros and lukinen yeah and then uh sweden is markstrom and allmark yeah and then where you and me. Kipper is third string. Yeah, Montembeau is on some boards. Yeah.

You know, Aiden Hill, Bennington is on some boards. Like, it's roll those dice, baby. Roll those dice. Kipper playing craps. I will say our forwards are still absurd, and, like, the demise of Hockey Canada. People need to get a little bit loaded. I just hear a lot of other nations getting a little bit horned up

about how they're catching up and they're getting better than candidates. Sam McKee, I have some information for you. Oh, do you? Yeah. The amount of Canadians in the NHL compared to Americans. There is 41.2. James Myrtle wrote an article he does every year for The Athletic on stats, heights, weights, whatever.

And I think it's fascinating. 41% of the NHL Canadian this year. 28.6% American, which is way, way up. 20 years ago, 15% of the NHL was American. We're almost at 30. They're going to take over. They are. A decade ago, it was 23.

We're up to almost 29. Yeah. So... It's just hockey almost 29. Yeah, yeah. So. Hockey's growing. Texas, California. Pittsburgh, Chicago, California. They're all. It's all.

D.C. It's just the percentages. Yeah. They got nine times the population or whatever. Yeah. We got to fight. We got to dig in. I'm okay.

Honestly, like, they can create as many hockey players as they want. It's fine. But they just can't have the best ones. Until they lose the gold medal game to the U.S. And you're crying like a baby. I will be weeping. Weeping. Weeping.

And then Justin and I and Stan the man will call you a loser. I have to say. Loser. and I and Stan the man will call you a loser. There's not a lot of outcomes that horrify me more than losing a gold medal game to the USA. I'd take any other nation. I would take

Russia, I'd take Sweden. Go ahead, Czechs. Take it in the shootout. USA? That's an outcome I have a tough time with. Let me give you some interesting factoids and you can tell me if they're interesting or not what i think are interesting uh no 40 year olds in the nhl right now i don't know when the last time that ever would have been mark andre flurry the oldest player 39.9 ryan suber 39.7 that should surprise you 40s old league getting too fast for 40 year olds 40s tough um ochkin, the fifth oldest at 39.1.

Ten youngest players in the NHL. The youngest is Jet Luchenko from Philly at 18.2 years old. 18.2. Looked okay in Edmonton. Yeah. All right, size-wise, the biggest teams in the NHL, good news. The Boston Bruins are by far the tallest team in the league. Right.

Adding Zdorov and Riley Tuft had something to do with that, I think. But the tallest guy, who's the tallest player in the NHL, fellas? Hockenpah. No. No. The kid in New York. Do you know how tall? Oh, Rempe, duh.

Listen, he's growing. He's still growing. I think he started at 6'6". He might be 6'9". Right now. 6'9". Really? 6'9". Yeah. He's a forward in the NHL. growing i think he started at six six he might be six nine right now six foot nine really six nine as a forward in the nhl and he's not done klapka six eight there's 29 players who are six foot six or taller in the nhl at this point six six or taller almost a player per team they're all goalies

that's true actually not there is a lot of goalies that's's true. Hildeby, Sogard, Fedotov. All right, shortest players in the NHL this season. Would you like to take a guess who a couple of the shortest are? Zuccarello. Zuccarello is tied. Yeah, five foot what? Nothing. Five foot?

No idea. Two. Eight. Five foot two. I don't know. Who was that guy that played for the sabers forever who was tiny gerby yeah gerby he was five or something yeah five eight but at five eight you got stankoven brink caulfield the brinkett blackwell robertson uh is he fine no he's bigger than that is he i want to see one

player go through someone's legs is that the mighty ducks player mvp all right heaviest player in the league is not matt rempe it is who 250 257 jamie alexiak oh my god almost 260 and how tall is he he's big too oh my god not a person that's a guy. And the lightest player in the league is a new player in the league. And people are very excited about this player. And he's on a Canadian team. No. Okay. Lane Hudson.

Tipping the Toledo at 160. Oh, my God. 160. That's a bag. That was me in grade seven. That's a bag of feathers. 160 is crazy. Man, Habs fans are really excited about him dash four every night and they say he's the best player in the ice stankoven's 165 too he's also a a wee fella um and finally he how how big is stankoven

uh 165 and five eight or something 25 of that is a shoulder pads yeah football pads what percentage of nhl players currently in the league do you think were drafted in the first round i never would have gotten a number so low i have no idea or is it no i think it's like i'm gonna say i'm gonna say 40 42.6 percent first round i was drafted in the first round. I would not have guessed that. That makes a lot. I mean, these scouts are pretty good. And only 11% were undrafted.

Congratulations to you. That's incredible. One of the few. Yeah. To slip through the cracks. And find your way there. Wow, that's a big number. I thought it would be low.

It does go to show show when you are trading picks try to chill out about thirds and fourths and fifths and yeah sure there's the odd dats that shows up but mostly there's not the braden point to the world and yeah it happens obviously it happens yeah but you got to remember too that like even when you've missed it takes a long time to kick them out of the league because you're too embarrassed. So you give them chance after chance after chance. Oh yeah, once you've drafted a guy,

oh God, these guys fail and fail before someone like yourself gets a look. They hang on for a very long time because somebody doesn't want to be embarrassed. Yeah, people whose careers are tied to your success they've said that's a player absolutely it's frustrating for other players when they know that you're you're better than them yeah but they get chance after chance after chance speaking of first round picks a lot of them on the colorado avalanche what's going on how how happy is n Nate going to the rink these days? Not. Speaking of grumps. 0-4.

Lost to Boston last night. Yeah. 0-4. That was one of the interesting things from that article, too. They're a really short team. They've got like 13 players, six foot and under. But to Sam's point earlier today, when we're talking about the Avs, you always thought of their elite players,

and they're always going to be good because it's not just Ranton and McKinnon, but it's Landis Goggin, it's Nachushkin, it's Makar. So without two of those, they're hurting. And he was talking about watching the game last night. A lot of Colton. A lot of Ross Colton. A lot of Casey Middlestat. Very involved.

Like, he's PP1. It's like, really? They're probably okay. They're not going to be the shirt. Goaltending, Georgiev was not the guy. Turns out he's not the guy. Not the guy. Forgiev? Forgiev.

Georgie. I saw Georgie. Georgie the fourth? That was Rob Brown. Jason Brough sent out a tweet. Or maybe Mike Halford that said Forgiev, which is very good. I just I know we talked. I wrote an article

for the Toronto Star today around Mitch Marner. I know we had that conversation on Leaf Nation but I did bring up the thought that I believe off of that conversation that we could see more scenarios with teams just running out their star players and then filling the void.

And I use Stamkos in Tampa Bay leaving and Gensel coming in. Rantanen, I wrote my article today, not close to signing a contract. Colorado's reluctance to bring him close to nate mckinnon's 12 million brad marchand is gonna have a bar brad brad marchand here's one for you sammy no real talk about him resigning in boston as of yet and he's free he's older which means that he's not going to get a seven or eight year deal but i'm sure he's looking for two or three years i do think sam bennett's out there so will we will we see more scenarios like the one that just played out recently uh in tampa bay with stamkos my thought

on that is that stamkos is not this unbelievable play driver to me. And I think it's a hockey evaluation as much as anything. And I think you're going to see more of that where like players. They won two Stanley Cups with him and he scored 40 goals. Like what do you. Okay, well Gretzky has five cups. You want him on your team? Not today.

Sorry, whatever. Not today. No, that's my point. Like these guys move past the point where they're helping win you cups. And if they've viewed, that's their, that they don't think he's there, my point is, I don't think Mikko Rantan is Stephen Stamkos. Brad Marchand is. I love Rantan.

Watching him play, he is so, so good. I think he's still underrated how good he is. Yeah. Does he have a 50-goal season? He's 26. Back-to-back 100-point seasons. 6'3", or something. He's a player.

He is. He's a 55 goal. Last year, he scored 42 goals, 62 assists for 104 points, plus 19 playing 22 minutes a night. He's a legitimate star. If they don't sign him, and Landis Gogg can't play hockey, and

Nachushkin is a wild card, the Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche are going to be closer to a rebuild than another cup. Don't tell Nate that. Oh, man, Nate. Nate's a bulldog, man. He's scary.

Sour. He is not in a good mood today. No. No. So, anyways, I mean, I love Rantan, but you got to think they get it done. I do have to believe they get it done like nathan mckinnon's gonna be like okay yeah like you're gonna let him walk over how much like he's the second best player on forward on this team i need him you know what i'm curious to see um

if we're good on colorado is this jack eichel start so far eight points in four games you know he's got a stanley cup under his belt is this is this kind of the year this Jack Eichel start so far, eight points in four games, and he's got a Stanley Cup under his belt. Is this kind of the year? A thrilling cameo on the Amazon series where we found out that he has a personal chef and the boys come over and they have lunch before they have a nap, which was a really, really exciting part of that show.

That is how I would spend my money if I were really bad. But it's like, we need a documentary on this? Great. So do they, like, right after they eat, do they all lay out mats like we used to in kindergarten? No, they all live in, like, the same area in Vegas. And he's like, oh, Jack Eichel hosts his friends for lunch. And then they have a nap. I'm like, oh my god, I'm about to have a nap.

Anyways, he's good. He's really good. The Swayman Kachok one's good. He was banged up all year last year. It's just, he's a pretty good player. So every once in a while in New York, you always go out with Marque and it's like, okay, I got an offer to pay, right? Yeah. And he'd look at me and he'd go, oh, I think I could handle it.

And I go, you're the best. But that's what those guys have to do, right? That's the way they have to be with their club. You're making 10 sheets. Give the boys a personal chef. It was cool to see the guys come down to the American League when I was there. You see Milan Mihalic come down

and no one pulled out a wallet on the team for a month. That's awesome. Good for him. It was not the case with everyone else. There were some other people. That's nice. Awesome for him. It was not the case with everyone else. There were some other people. That's nice. Awesome stuff. He's a good player. Yeah. Very political today.

That was our most political show. News and traffic. Weather next. Alright, thanks to Jason York. Beautiful guy. Co-host of Coming In Hot, The Sense Podcast.