Leafs hire John Chayka, dreaming of Jon Cooper, and the Oilers' coaching situation

Thursday afternoon means a fresh episode of Real Life was recorded and edited, and it's ready to help you wrap up the week. On today's podcast, the guys discussed the Oilers ' playoff exit, the John Chayka announcement in Toronto, who Edmonton may need as a new head coach, and much more. The guys kicked off the Monday episode of Real Life with a conversation about the Toronto Maple Leafs hiring John Chayka as their new general manager, and specifically how Steven Simmons dunked on the team for this decision. As you'll hear in the clip, Simmons did not pull any punches with his questioning, and watching the interaction was pure theatre for fans of any other franchise. Needless to say, the start of the Chayka era kicked off with a bang. Changing gears, the conversation turned to the rumour that the ON staff is starting about Jon Cooper being the coach of the Edmonton Oilers. The problem, of course, is that Cooper still has time left on his contract and has not been fired by the Lightning, but that isn't stopping the staff from imagining what this partnership would look like. Sticking with the coaching conversation, the boys also discussed Bruce Cassidy as a very competent Plan B. Given that he also won a Stanley Cup, would it make sense for the Oilers to hire the former Vegas Golden Knight? Finally, the guys wrapped up the podcast on the Thursday episode of Real Life with a run of topics, starting with what needs to happen with the Oilers to bring more of a playoff effort during the regular season. Would a new coach help with that? How much would it help to bring in other players that can fill proper roles in the lineup? The guys also spoke about concert tickets being out of control, and how tours are being cancelled because of how tickets aren't moving. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Leafs hire John Chayka, dreaming of Jon Cooper, and the Oilers' coaching situation is an episode from Nation Real Life by The Nation Network.

This episode is 48:26 long.

This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

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