Leafs Part Ways With Brendan Shanahan | Real Kyper & Bourne Full Episode

Leafs Part Ways With Brendan Shanahan | Real Kyper & Bourne Full Episode

[Music] We are live for our 5:00 PM Eastern special 1hour edition of Real Kipper and Bourne. We are live on Sports 590 The Fan Sportset 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet 365, Nick Grios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKe, Derek Brando, and Jake the Snake Schultz. Jen. Oh, it’s Jen. Yeah, I got no names at all on them. No, it’s Jen today. It’s Jen. Welcome aboard, Jen. All right. I could tell it’s Jen because all of uh it’s a different style of shooting for television. Is that right? Well, we’re a little closer. Feel a little softer. Not sure where anyone stands on uh the official announcement that Brendan Shanahan is no longer uh a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the executive leadership team. Uh it was a uh an announcement that became official maybe a few hours ago, three hours ago. Um, I’ll start with you JB just in terms of uh big surprise, not a surprise at all. Yeah, not a surprise at all. You know, I think we made that clear uh earlier and throughout this week that we expected it to happen at some point. Uh Brad Tree Living, they have announced, will keep his job. Elliot Freedman reported that. Um yeah, I it’s tough it’s tough to really know. You know, here’s my comparison for the Shanahan era. It’s a lot like the John Tvaris contract that he, you know, oversaw come here where I don’t think you can look at it and go, “Well, that was an abject failure, but it definitely didn’t get you where you hoped it would.” Is that a fair comparable? I love that. I think that’s very well done. You know, in both cases, you kind of leave going, “It went pretty good.” Yeah. Like, you know, there’s other ways it could have gone. It could have gone worse, could have gone better. It was okay. Yeah. Brendan put out an official statement, right? Yeah. You have in front of you? I can find it here quickly. Yeah, you find it cuz you’re you’re the I put a find it. It’s the front. No, I put the reader on the show. You think I’m good at this? Okay. Yeah, you are. Oh, that boy. It’s pretty small. I think I got my glasses on today. Following a meeting today, I was informed that I was no longer going to remain as president and alternative governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I want to thank the board of MLSC for the tremendous support they have shown me over my tenure. Toronto, where is where I was born and raised, where my family still lives, and being a part of the historic franchise will always be one of the greatest honors of my life. I want to thank the entire Maple Leaf staff for their commitment and hard work over the years. They are second to none in the National Hockey League. I want to thank the alumni for all their support and the tremendous work they do at our games and within the community. Many of them uh were my heroes growing up and it has been a pleasure to get to know them on a personal level. I want to He’s talking about you there, Kipper, for sure. I want to thank the fans for their passion and their loyalty. Your love for the team inspire me every day. While I’m proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately I came here to help win the Stanley Cup and we did not. There is nothing more I wanted to deliver our fans and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job. I greatly enjoy working with Brad and Craig. I firmly believe they are excellent in their roles and have done a great job in their time with the team. Also, I want to thank the players and their committed and passion. Oh, I was getting so good. They are committed and passionate about delivering a championship to this city and will do everything within their power to accomplish that goal. I want to wish them all the very best. Thank you, Brandon. Well done, Sam. Thank you. Only one stumble. No, it’s fine. It’s well done. And I mean, I know you were kind of saying it tongue and cheek, but I I’ll talk about that personal part first and foremost that I love that he mentioned the alumni and the support and the community. To me, there was no better guy for us as an alumni, selfishly speaking, than him. And at times over the years with the Leafs, and a lot of clubs go through this throughout the the NHL is sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not so great, and you kind of get forgotten a little bit, and it’s tough on guys that have worn another Milberry era, and it didn’t go over well. You grew up with it, right? you know, in in the island there’s not a lot of teams just yeah, they like you, but they don’t really like like you enough to actually want you around, want you around, invest in you, find value in you. Brendan was amazing for our alumni and uh on a personal note, he was always great to me. Always a gentleman. Took my calls, had lunch with him on a on a few occasions. I mean, he tried. You know, we did that show yesterday. Yeah. And I thought it was a good show, right? And then I kind of got a little cringy on myself that that, you know, we we sit here and you Brendan, Kyle, all those guys, John Ferguson, we go down the path, right? All the way down. They’re like they’re they’re made to make really tough decisions. And at the time, you just don’t know. And then there’s the three of us and thousands of us who have shows that just get to go on the air. Sometimes a little pompous and play Monday morning armchair quarterback. Yeah. And that’s all I was yesterday was just after the fact. Like who can’t who can’t No, I’m telling you. No. A lot of it’s after the fact. I’ll stand by what I said. I’ll stand what I But you I’m an idiot sometimes because I come across like I had all the answers all along, right? I’m just speaking about me, Sam. I’m not speaking about anybody else. No, no, it’s it’s a great point and I I appreciate the point you’re making. It’s really hard what they do and all of those decision makers. There’s only one team that gets to say, “I did it right every year.” One. Yeah. and the rest of them we can go through some tough decisions. I mean that list was pretty bad. It’s not the point I’m making money management. I I understand the point that Kip is is making which is, you know, not to say that anyone else in those roles would have been mistakree over the past decade, 11 years, whatever. But I do think it’s important to comb through the tenure. We did how we got here. We did for sure. And I’m not I’m not not apologizing for the angles we took or what we said. And I I stood by what I said told you guys last year. Somebody’s got to go last year of the core four and I said I told you guys last year Mner’s got to go. Like you got to trade him. You just got to trade him. You just can’t go back to the well again. So I mean it’s not like we completely Monday morning armchair quarterback. We stuck with a lot of the things that we said. Yeah. But yesterday I was like a little over the top. Ah I I think it was important to go through it all and you know whether it was harsh you know you can you can have regrets. I I no but that’s just maybe the ex player in me a little bit. No absolutely and like I say what I do was doing video coaching. If you you can make anyone look good or bad on any given day we have that opportunity to you know highlight certain things as well here. So go ahead. What do you think? What do you think will be like when people look back on this tenure in let’s say 15 years? Yeah. Will what what will people say about it when you’re having a you know having a beer with your grandkids? What will you say? Maybe not a beer with your grandkids. Having a beer with your grandkids around. I don’t know how well how will you speak of it? Can I jump in on that? Yeah, absolutely. So the one thing you know I I wanted to add on the whole Shanahan thing. I moved to Toronto in 2012 and the reputation of the Toronto Maple Leafs when I moved here is not was not then what it is now. He is leaving them better than he found them. I think they’re a bit of a punchline when I when I first moved here. Yeah, I remember the uh there’s a cover of I think the Toronto Sun and it’s like Phil Kessle is a superhero and Dion Fenuf and all this like you know I think the organization’s in good shape. I tweeted that for the Islanders fans, this would be an awesome hire if they could get Shanahan. And I I had some people write to me, well, they didn’t win. Why? And I understand that they didn’t win, but there’s a lot that goes into being a president of a major organization. And they are respected. They did things the right way by the alumni. They got a lot right, okay? But there’s a chance you can get a lot right when you have unlimited funds, too. And I will say this, he he he he made a great decision because he had to go upstairs or at to the board and explain that why he wants to invest money in the alumni and he got it. He got it. But that’s that comes with power that comes with uh the funds like there’s 29 other general managers or presidents that will go to their owner or their or their board and say I I really want to do this for the alumni and it’s like nope. Yeah. Nope. Yeah. So I mean it really helped him that he had the unlimited funds including building departments that rank amongst the biggest in professional sports at any cost. The not sure the ROI on those has been great. You know the large departments it listen it it there’s no there’s no there’s no link to success right is your point. So where is where is the value in the money and and the departments that we spent and I’m sure as we’re speaking they’re combing through that right now. Yeah. I would say that to your point about the punchline thing. Mhm. I think he came in and they were a punch line for one reason but I wouldn’t say with him leaving they’re any like on the way out I’d say they’re a punch line in a different way. Like a lot of a lot like as a fan Yeah. looking across the league and they’re all people are always going to hate on Leaf fans but like his decision which ultimately it is to stick with the core four and try to see it through and and not trade Marner when they had the chance not trade Willie when they had the chance whatever with Matthews all these different things his decisions yes led to where we are now you’re a you’re a punchline because you’re not winning the Stanley Cup Not because you don’t matter. It felt like the Leafs didn’t matter. Sure. That’s for sure. But like the playoff failures of these guys where they’ve won two rounds over their nine and their first round stuff and all these different punchlines that have come with it. Like I understand and I respect his decision to be committed to a core four and I understand. But he needed to pivot earlier. That’s what people will remember is that you you double down and you triple down on the same group. Quadruple down. How do you say nine down on on the same group when others said that’s enough and Yeah. And it’s just it’s really hard now that and you wrote about Marner today and Toronto Star Toronto Star today. It’s a really, I’m sure, part of what was talked about today at their meeting before he was eventually, you know, not having his contract renewed, the handling of Mitch Marner and the way this is gone. Like, I just I don’t know how that isn’t a big- time factor in being the president. Like that is a huge well is it it’s a big deal because he’s he you got to explain why a guy that was destined to be the all-time leading point getter in the history of the franchise is walking out the door in the prime of his career for nothing. For nothing. Like there’s a world where you make the Marner trade two years ago and you have whatever you get back in that and you can look back and have having him leave for nothing and seemingly with this resentment towards the franchise and the hate with the fans and all this stuff is an abject failure. It is. And it’s like it it just that’s a huge detriment to his time here where there’s lots of great things and like they like you said I used to just be like can they make the playoffs and then they never stopped making the playoffs and it was a different hurdle that they couldn’t get over but the Marner thing is massive. It just is. So I don’t know. We’ll see. Uh okay. Um let’s go to our first guest. Our only guest only for an hour. All right. All right. David Amber. Hey. Hey. How you guys doing? of Sportsnet NHL and Hockey Night in Canada. We’re we’re well um covering the the Stanley Cup playoffs for Sportsnet. Uh thanks for joining us on an off day, correct? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, a busy day obviously with all the news that’s breaking. I just heard Canada lost to Denmark at the World Series. Whoa. What? David, just give us a chance to get our our breath here on on the Leafs before we go to the rest of the country. Okay. Um, just just your overall thoughts after 11 seasons for Brendan Shanahan and uh there’s no question with the press release uh through Keith P the the respect factor goes into a guy of that stature. Uh but you know 11 years is a long time also to get a crack at uh winning a Stanley Cup. Yeah, I mean we all know the stakes in pro sports are incredibly high. Um there is a lot of turnover we see with coaches with GMs and even at the president level and the expectations are high and this isn’t a unique thing to the Toronto Maple Leafs. I mean sports is at its base about winning and losing and the Leafs have had a certain level of success certainly under Brennan Shanahan and I don’t think we can dismiss that. And you know, I think we even made a point on on Sunday’s broadcast of saying, look, there’s 26 other teams that would have loved to been there in the final five teams standing this year and to have taken the defending champions to the seventh game, uh, you know, in a winner take all scenario like that. There’s there’s something to be said for that. But when that is the greatest achievement that’s been accomplished through a 10-year tenure uh with the expectations to be much much higher based on you know the skilled players at the Leaf’s disposal and and all the expectations that came with getting these skilled players lined up um and where this franchise was hoping to go. Um there’s been an equal amount of disappointments and then there’s going to be change because of those things. So, um, you know, I I think Brennan Shanahan could probably be really proud of some of what’s taken place in his tenure leading, uh, the Maple Leafs, and I’m sure there’d be some missteps along the way that he’d like to have doovers, and he probably understands that. I I’m, you know, he’s he’s a smart guy. He’s been in an executive role in some capacity since he left his playing days in the NHL. He understands how the executive offices work and I’m sure he respects, you know, what’s what’s taken place and understands that. And, you know, there have been cries three, four years ago, what’s going to happen with Brenda Shannon? And I think, you know, Maple Leaf Sporting Entertainment really allowed sort of not second chances, but allowed this whole process to take full uh bloom. I I I don’t think anything was left to to be discovered. I think, you know, the plan was in place and there was aspects of it that worked really well and aspects clearly that didn’t get the Leafs ultimately where they wanted to go and there’s going to be change because of that. I mean, I I don’t think anyone’s saying this with any surprise. I listen to your guys show on a regular basis. I I you know, we we’re in the studio talking about these sorts of moments and this has been sort of um predicted or expected uh by many in the hockey community for some time and today is that day. D, you’ve been in your role for some time and following all these teams and and the evolution of of the president role. Am I out of my mind and feeling like I don’t know when Brandon hired it didn’t feel like the president was so tied to direct hockey results? Like I understand that when you’re the top of the pyramid, you’re on the hook at the end of the day, but it felt like the general manager was the player decider. Yeah. And just before you go on, DA, I I know that Brendan was under that roof for many years and and it was really a lot about corporate, right, meeting and and marketing and there’s so many aspects outside of uh who’s on the ice and what lines are going to be going. And he he did he did leave it from everything I gathered to his general manager and his coach. Yeah. I mean, listen, I do I know the inner workings of the relationship between Brandon Shannon and Brad Trey Living. I’m not going to pretend and Craig Barub. I’m not going to pretend to know that. Um, what I’m going to say is there’s some owners in professional sports and certainly in the NHL that don’t really feel they need an intermediary between the GM who’s calling the shots hockey-wise and and themselves. They feel they can just reach out to their GM and they don’t need that extra layer. We’ve seen in Canadian markets where we seem to have that, you know, whether it’s in Vancouver, whether it’s in Montreal, we see that in most Canadian markets there is that intermediary and how much they’re involved in the business side of things because MLSSE is an incredibly huge business. Um, and how much they’re involved in the hockey side of things. So, that’s interesting. That that is an interesting sort of comment to make, uh, Nick and Justin. And I think, you know, there’s going to be a president. I don’t think they’re suddenly just going to say, “Well, we don’t need a president anymore.” But there are teams that operate without that buffer. Um, I mean, look at the Dallas Stars, right? They’re a team, uh, they have their ownership and below their ownership, there’s Jim Nil, who’s the GM, and they don’t really have an extra layer, an extra person there. Uh, and obviously things are working very well for the Dallas Stars. So, every group’s different. How much say Brennan Shanahan had in the hockey part of things, I’m not sure. I think Well, it did change, though. It did change. It evolved. It went from Lou, obviously, to Kyle. those guys seem to have more control on the day-to-day part. And then even recently with Brad Tree living, I think it did force Brendan to to focus more on the hockey department than the business of the Leafs the last year and a half. So in in in essence though, it may have been too late. Right. Well, one one thing, Nick, is there was certainly a philosophical change between the way Kyle Dubis oversaw this team and the way Brad Trey Living and he made it very clear from the day he walked in the office. You know, Brad Trey Living is someone who who is from the same school as Brian Burke as far as the hockey product and what will cause success on the ice and he said it, you know, Brian Burke used the adjective tculence and and and Brad Trey Living, you know, used it, you know, very clearly said, “We need more snot on this team.” Kyle Dubis was more reluctant to speak in those terms. He always thought, you know, puck possession, skill, power play, skill, skill, skill. And I think Brad Trey Living said, “We love the skill. We need more will.” And I’m not sure where Brennan Shanahan played out. He might have seen it from both sides. You know, he’s a very smart and and thoughtful hockey executive. And how much of his input and imprint was there with Brad Shay living? Again, I’m not sure. But at the end of the day, I think all it comes down to is you have you have a decade to sort of figure out where this team is going to get it to to as far a place as it can go. And if it doesn’t meet the expectations of the fan base, the media, but most importantly internally, internally what the expectations were, then there’s going to be changes. We just saw this in Los Angeles and and we’re seeing it now and we saw it in in New York Islanders and we’re seeing it now um you know, here in Toronto. And I I just, you know, I don’t think we should need to read much more into it than it was maybe the natural evolution that, you know, this was sort of the last kick of the can for both some of the players. We know the the core group’s going to change and for some of the the management as well. I think it’s just sort of all goes hand in hand. You uh Kip, this is as much for you as DA, but like as he leaves, is there really anything you can point to organizationally where you’d say this is something they got to do better? Like I have the one beef. What’s yours? Go ahead. Uh public relations. That’s it. That’s exactly what mine is. Of course it is because we’ve worked for four years together. Yeah. Well, it’s the sim similar complaints and and I can’t speak DA. They got to get reconnected with theans with the Yeah. with the fans. It does feel right now, DA, that like expectations. It kind of feels like the fans are a little taken for granted. I just know personally, you know, I’ve I’ve been doing the show with four years for Nick. We’ve never talked Austin Matthews, you know, like it not once, you know. So, some of that stuff to me I feel like you could would work for the fans a little bit more to bring down the wall a bit. No, I agree with you guys. I really would like to see more access. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I I understand. And you know, we had Lamarillo who wouldn’t allow us to speak to any of the rookies in their in their rookie season. Austin Matthews scores four goals in his first game as a Maple Leaf. And you know, our poor our poor ringside reporters asking Brad Boyce, “What’s it like watching Austin Matthews score four goals?” You know, yeah, it’s it’s so implausible. It’s so It’s laughable because it’s seem like PR 101. And again, I don’t want to be sitting here crapping on on anyone, but I just I philosophically believe the media doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s a liaison to the fans. And the more access you have, they get to see these great personalities. They get to see these great characters. They get to see this great will. Um, there’s a fine line. I get it. You want to protect these young 18-year-old players as they come into the league. There is there’s a there’s a there’s something that ends up causing a level of resentment sometimes through the media or through the fan base if they feel, you know, they’re held on a pedestal, but they’re not necessarily always held accountable or we’re not getting a chance to see the human side. Um, you know, and and access has been a real issue. And I I think that’s something that philosophically I’d like it from the top them just to discuss it. What are the upsides and what are the downsides? And at the end of the day, I’ve always said, look, I I interview a lot of people as do you. They have control of the interview. As the interviewer, we can guide where it’s going, but they always have the choice to be like, yeah, I’m not comfortable talking about that or I’d rather, you know, next question, let’s talk about something else or I don’t have a comment on that. I don’t have a thought on that. They always, the person you’re asking controls what’s coming out of their mouths. So, I’ve always felt like as much as I can control some of the areas with which the discussion will go, ultimately I’m at the mercy of what the interviewe has to offer. And, you know, again, I’ve always said I’m not Mike Wallace walking in there trying to, you know, bring down the doors. if you don’t know who Mike Wallace is, you know, the old journalists on 60 Minutes. Um, but you know, I don’t mean you, but you know, some of the younger listeners and viewers, um, we’re, you know, again, we’re a liazison for the team. We’re there. I’m always of the of the mindset, I’m an enthusiastic sports fan. I want to promote the game. I want to promote the players. I want to tell good stories. It’s not about bringing people down. And certainly, there’s got to be accountability held, but I don’t think the average person in in sports broadcasting, in the media, is there to destroy lives and destroy careers. I think it’s about let’s embrace the great moments and let’s share it all together because there’s such a passion especially with a fan base of a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs and I think a lot of that’s just been forgotten uh throughout the years and I’m not sure why because when I broke into this business back with the Matt Sundines and everyone else the the relationships were much stronger. Um, you know, Nick, you played in the 1990s and you know, it just it feels like there’s a lot more acrimony now between the fan base and the players and the media and the players and it really doesn’t have to be that way as the price keeps going up to go watch these players. You are watching and listening to David Amber, studio host, Hockey Night in Canada, NHL on Sportsnet in Dallas, covering the Oilers and the Stars. So, uh, I I think in in Keith Pelly’s, uh, press, uh, release, he talked about, if I’m not mistaken, Sam, a new voice. Um, and if if, uh, if it is, do we expect someone in to come in at at at a president type of position or do we expect it to disappear and and stay in the hands of just Brad Tree living, which Elliot reported will be back next season? We know Greg Bubie is not going anywhere. So what do you expect on if if there is a a different voice in charge at what level? Wow. This is that’s a very tough question to ask someone who’s not inside. Okay. Okay. Let me rephrase it. Do do you expect a new voice or or can they get away with just eliminating Brendan’s job and just keeping it in the hands of Brad Tree Living and and Craig Bruy? What if and this is speculation I’ve heard and not like more more just people talking. You know, I’ve talked to a lot of hockey people asked you guys. What if Brad Trey Living was promoted to the president’s level and there was another person brought in um as a GM under Brad? I I don’t know. Could that is that a possibility? Is that something? So, could a could a new voice go to Brad Tree living at at a higher level? JB, you know, I I don’t see why not. I mean, it’s possible, right? This I think he’s a pretty wellrespected guy. And I, you know, it doesn’t quite seem like a new voice at that point to me, Kip. It seems like that vision has would have been aligned the past couple years. But yeah, I don’t for me it’s less about like whose voice it is and more about like what’s being said and how it’s being said and how will it sound different from years past. So in the PR department, it’s not you don’t necessarily need a new voice, but you need a new message is more important to me than a new voice. Right. Let me ask you guys something though. Um, Brad Trey Lavine, I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but he’s been in for is it two two plus years? Is that right? Wasn’t he hired in May? That’s right. Yeah. So, you know, he he could argue that this group of players, as much as he liked a lot of it, wasn’t, you know, he was handed this group of players and he’s then started in the two years to put some of his identity on the team, which he did, but just not enough or or, you know, not enough time. Yeah. Not enough time. I I think if I was if I was Brad living and I was arguing, you know, like, well, you’re part of the problem or whatever, someone’s addressing him or that, he’d be like, well, wait a minute. You know, I took over this team and there was things I liked about it. There’s a lot of things I didn’t like about it and it took it’s taking some time to move through it all and I’m, you know, helping putting my identity on the team. It just doesn’t seem like he’s been given a full range of of of to create a team under the, you know, the the guise of what he necessarily would want. And I think he’d put pieces in place, but it probably didn’t completely fit the vision that he’s probably had of the of what the team would be when it’s complete. Yeah. Uh, are we good to turn the page on that? I’m good. Uh, okay. Let’s just quickly Canada lost, huh? Yeah. I don’t have anything to tell you. I’m on a text chain and it’s like Denmark beats Canada. I’m like, what? I’m honestly I’m I’m surprised I’m breaking news here. Eers to Olison. He got in behind Philip Deno on the back door and put it over Bennington. 18 to1 underdogs. 18 to1 dogs. Like they’re eliminated. That wasn’t Yeah, they’re eliminated. They beat Crosby, McKinnon, Celibbrini, Flurry. Who’s And there two NHL players on the team. Who’s the general manager of the team again? Oh, come on. It’s Kyle. Those are pretty good players. He picked Kip. Taken those guys, too. I I so desperately want him to do well. Seriously. I No, no, no, no. I’m serious. I’m No, I’m dead serious. It’s like this guy cannot buy a break. He can’t buy a break. Can’t say he didn’t bring the best players available. Yeah, without watching a second of the game, it’s really hard to comment what the heck happened. But I’m just shocked that No, listen. I watch March Madness religiously when it comes out. Every year, most every year, this year was an exception. All the four number ones got to the final, but every year there’s seemingly a two lose to a 15 or a three to a 14. On any given Sunday, as they say, anything can happen. And I guess that’s what happened. without watching the game, I don’t know. But man, that is a bit of a shocker because they did assemble essentially as good on paper a world championship team as as Canada’s had in some time. All right, Oilers time. Oilers time. We’re going to talk about the playoffs. Okay. Yeah. No, you go. You You were there covering game one. The Oilers uh leading 3-1 in that game and had it all go ary. What did you see, Da? And they were good, too. They were really good. McDavid was flying. Luke Gastic and I were on at the first second intermission and talk about eating your words. We talked about the maturity of the Oilers, how they were playing with purpose and passion and it was the best 40 minutes we had seen. I went as far as to say the thing about this Oilers team is, you know, in the first round they gave up multiple goals in eight different periods. In the second round against Vegas, they only gave up multiple goals in a period three times. Uh, you know, talking to the players this morning, which we did talk to them, they said, you know, we just won’t let things get away from us. the game won’t slip through our fingers. D we said all this and then they went out and allowed period. Ah, it’s all slipping through their fingers as they’re challenging. Yeah. And I turn to Luke and I’m like, “Oh my god.” Like it it was the second time this year they’ve allowed five goals in a period. A lot of chatter before the series is the special teams and it’s been almost this freaky Friday flip around. Last year the Oilers, they were, you know, you know, their PK was historical, right? 94% 66 of 70. Last year in the Western Conference Final, Dallas went 0 for 14 on the power play. I said to Peter Dbor, “What did you learn about last year’s Western Conference final? That’ll help you this year.” And he goes, “Well, we can’t go 0 for 14 on the power play.” And he laughed. And we said, “Yeah, special teams will be big.” Well, special teams were huge. Uh, I mean, that was the difference. It was a fiveminute implosion of a meltdown. Three power play goals by Dallas. There’s so many things you could point out. Guys not getting in the lane. Steuart Skinner not battling hard enough like we saw Hellbuck didn’t battle hard enough to find those loose pucks in the first round versus St. Louis. It was this eerily similar um to that or it was it was eerily similar to Steuart Skinner in the first round versus LA. And I was a little surprised Chris Nobel didn’t call a timeout at some point to try and just calm the team down because it just slipped through their fingers in a matter of five minutes. Um give Dallas some credit. They don’t give up. They have resilience. You know, they came back obviously in game seven versus Colorado. They’ve shown that ability. That was their sixth comeback win this postseason. Edmonton has six comeback wins and now Dallas has six comeback wins. but has put a lot of pressure on Edmonton to to find their way in game two because Dallas in a way stole that game, gentlemen. They were they were done after 40 minutes. Um wasn’t based on the two goal deficit they faced, but it was just Edmonton was winning every metric of the game and looked in complete control and it completely fell apart like a $2 watch in in a five minute span. Um yesterday we had uh we had Kevin Lo, six time Stanley Cup champion on the show and then I I posed this question to the guys as well. How important was it for Skinner to get off to a good start so no one can turn around and start questioning him? Uh does does game one unfortunately plant a little bit of the seed of doubt uh in terms of is the Oilers goending going to get them through? Um to me it does. I mean and and I like Steuart Skinner. I think, you know, and we talked a lot about how he has a, you know, he’s working on his mental game and all that, but at the end of the day, this is Stuart Skinner’s statline this year. Six goals allowed, five goals allowed, four goals allowed, zero goals allowed, zero goals allowed, five goals allowed. It’s been an all or nothing proposition, guys, allowing four, five, and six goals in a game. And and that’s basically what we’ve seen. Um, except for those two shutouts, which were which were great. Um, you know, which Steuart Skinner is going to show up. And then at the other end of the ice, um, you know, Jakeer has been rock solid. I think he’s been the best game for-game goalie so far in the playoffs, but Broski’s been right there as well, but Auter just solid as a rock. And um, that’s hard when you’re staring down the other end and you know the other guy, you’re going to have a hard time beating him. And if your guy is on, great. But if he’s not on, not so great. And let’s remember Calvin Pickard who’s a perfect 6 and0 who battles, he’s out. He’s not even with the team. So Rodriguez, who’s 158 pound backup, he’s played one NHL game, there’s nowhere really to turn. If you’re Chris Knoblock, I’m not quite sure what option you have. I mean, Steuart Skinner is going to start. You hope he’s going to be the good Steuart Skinner who who got his swagger back in in those two games versus Vegas, but um you know, he was part of that meltdown yesterday. Uh 100%. I’m sorry. Did you say 158 pounds? That’s what I’m hearing. Yeah, that’s not very many pounds. That’s half of Anthony stole ours. It’s um that’s your left leg. We were we were talking about that. I was talking about that with some hockey guys today and and one of them said, “Yeah, you know, he’s 158 pounds.” I said, “No, that can’t be.” And I remember who was it? Ryan Miller was about 160 pounds and you know Darren Payne Rodri. Yeah. What does it say? What does it list him out? 61158. That’s me in high school. Oh my god. Tread water puberty. Yeah. I mean, so listen, it’s gold denning is not about his weight. But my point is, are you going to take at the most important time of year, are you going to put in a guy who’s just untested? And and it doesn’t seem fair. And that’s not even being discussed, but my point is it has to be Steuart Skinner right now. And you don’t want to get into another two nothing series deficit. tomorrow’s game is is is really big. And listen, Steuart Skinner has shown the ability to bear down and be great. He has shown that ability. Hopefully, he can show that ability in game two because if if if it, you know, if he’s subpar, I I think you’re going to get a better game from Dallas than you got in that game one victory. So, you’re going to get Dallas’s better game. You’re going to need better goalending to, you know, combat that. Uh, one more for me. Mero Heiskin, of course, factoring in huge in game one. When does uh Matias Ekholm factor in for the Oilers? First question we asked uh today in in Chris Knobblog’s availability and he said not ready to go game two. I I watched him skate yesterday and Chris Cuth and I were talking like he looked pretty good like maybe he’s ready and I was surprised when they ruled him out of the first two games and I thought maybe after losing game one they would change that whole ruled him out of game one and appar or out of game two and uh Chris Nlo uh today said not ready will not play in game two. So, he would he’d be helpful. Um, and that’s part of the PK, guys. Like, that was a big reason why, you know, the traffic in front of Steuart Skinner will be appreciably less when you have the Viking there, you know, forcibly moving bodies out from in front of the net. He can do that. So, that will be a big addition. Let’s hope we see him in Edmonton for games three and and four. Um, so that that is a good question, Nick, and and let’s be hopeful he’s back because that is a big part of their blue line. Having said that, guys, he’s played three shifts since March 26. So, it took Hastin and a few games to ramp up. Hasten went 14 minutes, 18 minutes, 23 minutes. Last night, he was excellent. 24 minutes. He was everything you would expect. It might take a game or two to get back into that, you know, game ready Stanley Cup playoff Western Conference final shape. What are you guys doing in Dallas tonight? Cool stuff. Yeah, you and Luke. Where are you guys going? We are heading out. We’re grabbing dinner uh with a few other colleagues. Hopefully Gene will join us and we’re going to watch the uh the Panther game. I call it the Panther game. I guess I should call it the Hurricane Panther game, but we’re going to go watch um Carolina and Florida game too and and have a bite to eat. And it’s it’s sizzle. I know it’s horrible in Toronto right now. My wife tells me it’s like two degrees. It’s like 35 degrees and and and hot here. So, Jean is three more shades darker than me. I want you straight home after dinner. We’ll be home early. You got a curfew for me? Yes, I do. I do. All right, David. Thanks for doing this, pal. Keep up the great work and uh enjoy the rest of the series, Oilers and the Stars. Yeah, it should be great. Thanks for having me on. Busy, busy time in the world of the NHL and you guys are all over. It’s great to see. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. David Amber, host of Hockey Night in Canada. NHL on Sports Net. So, 158 pounds. Yeah, that’s insane. Do you know at 158 pounds, you don’t you don’t go for an X-ray. They just hold you up in front of a light bulb. Any you got any more you got any more knee smackers over there? It’s crazy to be 158 professional athlete. 158 is wild. That’s tough. Maybe grade six. Is he a jockey? Like one of their one of their athletes 150. I know. Like that’s crazy. Uh game time. Game time. Uh it’s game time presented by Bet 365. Visit the afflictist odds and find out why it’s never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. I’m looking at the Panthers and Carolina again tonight and Bet 365 is going back to the well with the Carolina Hurricanes as big phase. It just feels like this is a way to make money here. Minus 135 tonight are the Carolina Hurricanes. The Florida Panthers are plus 115 on the money line. I you did Panthers asking. Yeah, I did. I did. And then I lost my winnings last time. Are they getting better? Are they just getting better? They’re Listen, if they win tonight, it’s four games. Four. So, I guess that’s what they’re kind of playing in here that how bad Carolina needs this game and all that, but I just think Florida’s way better. But how many goals did AJ Greer and Jonah G scored in the Leafs and they scored last game and they weren’t even playing. He put in a whole new third fourth line and they just immediately started lighting it up. It’s really frustrating career as a guy down the lineup. Oh, really frustrating. Really good. He’s heavy. Um, yeah. So, that’s surprising. And looking ahead to tomorrow night, Oilers underdogs in Dallas. Uh, definitely has the feel of letting one get away. I guess we’ll talk about that a little bit more uh as we get into it. Um, and give me tonight a goal score. Give me Sam Reinhardt to score a goal tonight at plus 200. I like Sam Reinhardt to score a goal. I’m gonna bet Aaho to get a zillion shots. Oh, AO to get shots. How many shots do you want? I think he’s going to get four shots tonight. Uh, Sebastian Aaho shots. Uh, why am I having such a hard time with this? Uh, you want How many shots did you say? Four. It’s plus 230. There you go. Yep. One of my biggest misses was Sam Reinhardt when he was in Buffalo. And I thought never saw it. No. I thought he couldn’t skate. I was like, he’s not tough. He can’t skate. Can’t skate. Not tough. Like I He’s going to be this third. He’ll be lucky to stay on a third line in the end. I thought he was a Buffalo Saber. Like a perfect toil there getting 25. I know he’s done. The only thing I’ll remember about really this Stanley Cup playoffs this year is Simone Benois burying him behind the net. Absolutely filling him in. Can’t get hit much harder quite honestly. And he gets up like he like nothing. No look at the referee. No shaking his head. No on one knee. Nothing getting up to me. Just continuing to play hockey part. Think about that. Elevating your team and and Benois hit supposed to do that for the Leafs and Reinhardt gets up like it’s nothing. Like that’s the best you got. I’m coming right back at you. Uh so I guess you like a plus 200 goal for S for Sam Reinhardt tonight. Uh that was game time presented by Bet 365 is the absol odds and find out why it’s never ordinary at Bet 365 and 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. All right. Boy, that was a fast what, 40 minutes? Good chat, boys. Really good chat. Okay, we’ll take a quick break. When we return, Sammy wants to talk a little docuer with the Oiler Dynasty. Yeah. Have you seen this? No. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Okay. We’ll discuss when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Welcome back to the program. As a reminder, this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet 365. Nick Kipel’s Justin Bourne, Sammy McKe. So, I just want to ask you a question. Yeah. Off the top, we talked about the Shanahan stuff. Yeah. And yesterday, I thought we did one of I got a lot of messages about yesterday saying it was a fabulous leaf hour and people where we broke down the best of and the worst of the last decade. Did Did you get a little Maybe you’ll hear something about that one. Uh I’d like you to walk it back. Did you get a little I did. I got a call. Okay. And and then I responded with, “Well, Sammy and Justin were just as bad. They did. They were just as bad.” But guess what? I’m not Nick Ciprios. And then she said, “What is wrong with you?” Oh. Oh. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I got a call from my wife. Wow. Wow. Okay. Uh, I wanted to ask you guys about something. Did you see this is there’s a two-part question here. Okay, I mean we’re just doing leafs. We’re in the sorry story national, but there’s a picture floating around on the internet of these guys. Uh it was like ri Riley and Matthews and Marner McCabe all at uh a golf club near here up in Kaladan pulpit pulpit in the in the and people were like sent the tweet about that and I mean I don’t care really about them like whatever. But the question I had for you, because I sent a tweet about this today, the hat in the clubhouse thing, okay, this is the question I want to ask because I wear a hat on hair all the time. I wear a hat 95% of my life. But like if you were sitting down to dinner and you saw somebody wearing a hat, does that make you physically recoil? Like I I do. Like if I’m out for dinner with my wife and I sit see a guy like out on a date and he’s wearing a hat at dinner, that’s dinner. But I mean, you’re in a clubhouse. Shouldn’t your hat be off? I would take my hat on a clubhouse no matter Hold on for hold on for a second. Okay. Yes. We don’t know what the rules are regardless of rules. Okay. All right. So, like Okay. Who had a napkin in their lap? Sam. So, I just think wearing a hat sitting down in a clubhouse is a little bit I I don’t have many old school morals, but that one for me is a little bit. You came off the golf course and you’re having some beers and your h your hat’s still on. What is the big deal? The funny thing is at Rosedale you actually have to dawn a top hat. So that’s why he’s not offended by it. Okay. Okay. This You know what? I am offended. You know what? I’m offended that that that picture got out. Yes. Yeah. It’s stupid and stupid. And whoever wrote it puts 72 hours later. Oh my god. Supposed to be doing 72 hours later. They better. I want you in a dark room for a week crying. 72 hours. Do you know why? Like you guys don’t know what I would have been 72 hours after a season. Do do people not understand that like the correlation between golf and the NHL playoffs? It’s it’s an ongoing joke because it’s true. It’s true. It’s been true for a hundred years. season’s over. That night, you probably all get together, drink, do whatever you want to do, cry in your beer, whatever. And then it’s like, we’re going to go out for dinner the next night, which they all did. You as a team, it’s just standard. We’re going to go out because everybody’s planning on going home. So, we’re going to spend two or three days together because that’s what teams do. And then on the third day, you’re going to go golf. Okay? And people are are are linking their their lack of uh caring to that picture. It’s it’s not people who I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for that picture. Yeah, I agree. Totally agree. 72 hours later, because 96 hours later, everyone’s gone. I I’m glad that we I mean, it’s not good radio, but we all just agree. But uh but just to confirm the dinner thing, I do believe you should not be if I go to a restaurant and I see a person wearing a hat at dinner, I think it’s the most offensive thing, but I wear a hat on TV and people hate that too. So maybe I’m talking both sides of my mouth. I don’t know. Also possible. It’s a possibility people see us at dinner and they’re offended at all. I’m leaving. I’m leaving the room. Oh my god, I got to go. No Kipper and Bourne show. No, I’m out of here for me. Uh this is really I know I we only have a couple minutes here, so maybe it’s a perfect time to bring this up. I saw this on the Sportset website today as I was looking for our news and note segment that there is going to be a while away 2027. So, I mean that’s not breaking news, but there’s going to be a docu series on the Oilers dynasty with, you know, it’s apparently Ryan Reynolds production house is putting, you know, Gretzky Messi. It’s going to be called The Great Ones. An unprecedented look at the lives and careers of the Oilers players who helped them win five Stanley Cups between 1984 and 1990. I Okay, there’s I’m counting down the days, but there’s been a ton of stories already. Like, what is left to cover? Like, is there new footage? Has there been has there been a comprehensive one? Checks to cash. Has there been a I I don’t I mean I I think there has been I don’t know. I mean I feel like I would have seen boys on the bus. I don’t know. But is there new footage? Is there new angles that you can go through? It’s been pretty well though the stories over the years have been pretty well. It is pretty cool though. Usually tip, you know, when a major production house aims at an event like this like in the 30 for30s, so they start digging in for footage and stuff. Yeah. I hope you’re right. If it comes out, I hope that there’s some new some new good stuff. I I do think like I love these kind of things and during the pandemic that um the Michael Jordan one. Yeah. Last dance. My problem with all these docu series that they’re produced by the people that are in them. Now we are no longer getting third party. Yes. We’re now they’re now like the players tribune articles where it’s just you know whitewashing the events. For sure. I get that. Victor gets to tell the stories. But I’m just hoping for new footage and all that sort of stuff. I love sports documentaries. I’m just like any sports documentary you put in front of me, like those bad sport ones on Netflix, I’ll watch any any sports documentary. I will watch literally any of them. They’re really good. Yeah, they are. They’re really good. I like the new ones, too, because the one that we broke down for the Leafs, all or nothing. Yeah. Told us a lot. Well, the original Road to the Winter Classics were unbelievable. The first year with Babs, Detroit, you know, you could actually see the white boards and I used to take screenshots. I don’t know. If I ran a team, I’m be like out of out. Well, H hard knocks is like the most famous one. It kind of start like it’s the one that HBO does every NFL training camp and they’re doing the Bills this year, which is really exciting. Teams want nothing to do with that. Of course. I mean, it’s you know what good comes of it? It’s horrible. It’s like full act. I mean, look what happened to the Giants. They have that meeting with the owner where he’s like, if Saquon goes to the Eagles and he’s good, I’m really going to be pissed. He goes and wins the Super Bowl. 2,000 yards like Yeah. It’s like that’s not what you want. It does really expose that. I’ll never forget Ray Ferraro dressing beside him with the Rangers and Dick Todd’s doing a speech for us and he’s joking around of course, but then Ray looks at me and goes, “You know, you spend your whole life in the greatest league in the world and that’s the help you get.” Yeah. And I feel like I feel like I feel like people like that have this mystique about professional sports and then it’s like drawing the curtains and seeing you know that wizard who’s we’re going to have to let the the curtain go and teams are going to have to be accepting of that. It’s a bunch of doof doofus jocks being like I don’t know what and even doofus owners and doofus general managers and rich people not all that smart necessarily full of crap like everybody else. The last one was like Jack Eel goes out for dinner. I’m like, “Oh my god. Oh my god. I’d rather watch paint dry.” Wow, that’s a fast hour. I will say this, of all the shows that we’ve done, this is one of them. It was our thanks to David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, NHL on SportsNet. We are back tomorrow off the rails Friday. We’re going to find Doug Mlan and Keith Py’s talking tomorrow at 1. So, we’ll have a leaf sour tomorrow. Big day. Have a great night, everybody.

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee reflect on Brendan Shanahan’s tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs. David Amber shares his thoughts on Shanahan’s departure, Canada’s shock exit at the World Championships, and a dramatic Game 1 between Edmonton and Dallas.

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0:00 – Brendan Shanahan’s Departure
13:00 – David Amber on Shanahan’s Tenure, Canada’s Loss to Denmark & Oilers/Stars Game 1
40:40 – Edmonton Oilers’ New Docuseries

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