OverDrive - Boudreau on the Maple Leafs' stars focus, the Jets seeking consistency and the Oilers' series comeback

Episode Date: April 28, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Bruce Boudreau joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' mindset against the Senators, the importance of stars in the playoffs, the Jets looking for success and Connor Hellebuyck's significance in the crease, Matthew Knies' ceiling, the Oilers' comeback against the Kings and more.

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Join today and be part of something amazing. Here he is, our main man, Bruce Bujaw, our TSN hockey analyst joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline. Bruce, what do you make of the game of Austin Matthews in particular through four games this series? Well, all I know is there there are three games to one whether he's got one goal and four assists or uh... it doesn't matter he's

doing his part you'd like to think that he did have five or six goals but he's not but you know what matthew nines has taken over for that spot so he's doing what uh... austin or would have done say this time last year. But I mean, talk about responsible play. He's been as responsible as you can get. And I think that's one of the reasons that the Leafs are where they are right now.

I agree. I think he, Marner, I think all of them have clearly kind of bought in. They have a formula here, Bruce, where they're making it very difficult for Ottawa to get on the inside you know they're trying to be on the right side of the puck they're they're playing with poise I think they played well with the puck they have not turned it over a ton or in bad areas so I mean I think the Leafs have played as well as you could expect through four games what would you think the messaging is from Craig Borubei going into game five tomorrow night my message would be you play like you did the other night which i thought they were great

the other night in Ottawa i really did in game four i mean what did they allow Ottawa six shots in two periods that um they blocked another 20 plus shots i I mean, there was one, I wish I had this, was in radio and TV and I could demonstrate there was one shot from the point where you could see all five guys in perfect position in front of the net. There's no chance this puck is getting through. And so they're all coming back.

Where at this time last year, there might've been four guys in front or even three guys, and two guys anticipating the puck getting picked up by a leaf and they're already at the red line looking for the breakaway pass and that's the big difference is they're they're taking care of their own zone. They are not allowing anything and that's the way in the end if you look at how Stanley Cup is going to get one It's not going to be a 7-5 game in the finals. It's going to be a two to one, three to two, nail biter. And you know, Stowell-Lars for the most part

has been really good. He might've had a little bit of a stumble last game. But boy, I came away from that, watching the game really closely saying, man, I know they lost, but I love the way they're playing the game right now for the plow not as exciting as and winning six to four but

you know i don't think there's a hockey fan or troppo hockey fan in toronto that cares how the game looks at one of the day and up on the right side of the score brucey what is it about star players and making things happen in the playoffs you had all the in wash What is it about star players and making things happen in the playoffs? You had Ovi and Wash. We've talked about Marner and Matthews. The Hellebuck discussion has come up in the last 48 hours. Is it fighting through adversity?

Is it just getting it done? Is the intensity have to go up or is it simply you've got to find another level? How could you put your finger on it, how you would address it with a star player and what they actually need to do to have success in the playoffs well you know what the never being a star player at that level i don't really uh... know what they should be doing but i mean because their stars because they do what they do and uh... uh... it

seems like for me if it was it's Halliburke I think confidence it happens to the the guys that are the the 13th forward or it happens to the best goalie in the world and I think with him confidence is the matter right now and I'll tell you a couple examples of what I've seen of that there was one one goal that got scored on him and then the first thing he did, Jamie, you looked to the ref to see was that interference instead of, hey, it was a goal, I don't need help. There was another one, he went off the ice. I think

he was so upset that he went off and he didn't come back to the bench. These are signs where if you're the coach, you've got gotta just, no matter who it is, you've gotta build them back up. And if you're one of the players on the team or if you're the captain of the team, you gotta sit there and go, hey boys, this guy has bailed us out every game. There are so many games this year.

We gotta maybe be able to help him a little bit. And the reason I say that is, Winnipeg had not one block shot in the third period last game. And they only had two forwards block shots in the whole game. And that's an 11 total. That's not enough when teams are coming at you the way St. Louis is coming at you. You've got to have help from the forwards, the D, and the goalie if you want way St. Louis is coming at you. You got to have help from the forwards, the D and the goalie if you want to succeed. That's why I think the Leafs are doing it so well is because they're getting help. Everybody is bought into the way this thing is going

to be played and that's why I think they're going to win. So Bruce, when you look at the buy-in, how about your adjustments? And I just, you know, I mean if you're Scott or Neil and you look how well you played in the first two games on home ice and then you go On the road and they're extremely physical st. Louis extremely physical on Shife Lee and they you know They they make him pay a price they get to your starting goaltender You know, what do you what is your messaging to those? Individual players either on the plane or when you get back home to maybe build them back up? Like you said, you just laid out how you would talk to the team and say, hey, let's help

bail these guys out. But would you pull them in individually and have those conversations? Well, I mean, for a guy like Shipley, because they're running them every time he touches the puck, and I believe that's the right thing to do if you're the opposing team. The only thing you could say is, hey, they're not going to stop doing it. You got to fight your way through this and prove to the world how great a player you are by fighting your way through this and going out and being the successful player that you are.

There's not much you can do. You can't, there's not a chance you could say as a coach, hey listen I'm going to get them away from this guy or that guy because everybody on St. Louis is doing the same thing. That's why they lead the league in hits and one of the reasons I think they're being successful right now is they haven't stopped. They're wearing down this Winnipeg team. They keep hitting and hitting and they haven't changed. The first game, I mean they're hitting and Winnipeg team. They keep hitting and hitting and they haven't changed the first game. I mean, they're hitting and Winnipeg wins the second game.

They're hitting more, but now it's into overtime. The third game, they're just keep pounding at them. And then it ends up a big, big loss and the same with game four. So you have to expect that St. Louis is going to come out and keep doing the same things. So these guys, sometimes the goalies can look for help, like from the forwards and that, but individuals, sometimes you have to say, hey, Ben, listen, I want to help you. I'll help you any way I can. I'll get you away from this guy that's running

you all the time, but they're all going to come at you. So you better be prepared and fight through it and do what you can do and to deliver for us because you're the guy we count on. Bruce, I'm sure you'd agree it also makes you, it forces you to be dialed in on your power play because it might be one of the only times you have some time and space and to make some puck plays. As you go back to my days playing against the Devils, like there was nothing five on five. You know how they used to check. And if you got a power play, like you better make them pay and you better be at your best

because that might be your only time to do something different than five on five. Agreed, 100%. Because I mean, if you score on the power play, then maybe they don't come running at you as much because they're afraid to take penalties. And right now, I don't think St. Louis has a fear because, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know if Winnipeg has got a power play goal yet in the series.

So, I mean, if they have, they haven't got many. But I mean, that's one of the ways they lived and died during the regular season having the best power play. So when they get an opportunity they have to bear down and they have to score. It's the number one way to stop the other team from being aggressive is to score on the power play. Because if you're scoring on the power play you just sit back and say, run me do whatever you want we'll take the two minutes and we'll score a goal and right now I don't think st. Louis has any fear of Winnipeg in that regard. With Bruce Pujo you mentioned Matthew Nyes kind of pulling the weight for Matthews in

particular in terms of goal scoring the goal he scored the other night was unbelievable unbelievable man and this guy you know there's certain players in particular in terms of goal scoring. The goal he scored the other night was unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable, man. And this guy, you know, there's certain players that just have that type of ingredient where they're better in the playoffs. You know, Josh Anderson is one in Montreal. I think Tom Wilson is probably one in Washington. These are all great players, but they get to playoff time and they show skill, they

show physicality, they're ready to play. Like what is your ceiling for Knives? Where do you see, he's 22 years old. Look how he played last year against Boston, even the year before coming out of college. What he's done through four games this year. Where do you see this going for him in the next two, three, four years? Oh, to me, he's going to be a star. Like I mean, if he's not already a star, he's a star in Toronto, but he is going to be a

star. Like, I mean, he takes the hits, he goes to the front of the net, he can make plays and with a big frame that he's got, like, I mean, I don't think 30 goals is a ceiling. I think he's a 40 goal guy, especially with the power play that he's on and with the players that he's playing with. And he's just learning to play in the NHL. It's only been three years right now. So I mean, or two plus years. So I think the ceiling is so high. The Leafs have got another star right there. A star with size that can go in there and you want to hit, you want to hit him, he'll hit you back. You want to

fight him, he'll fight you back. I just love the way this guy's playing. To me, he's a guy that teams are going to want like the Tom Willsons, maybe not as cuckoo but I mean he's that kind of impact on your team and the Leafs hit a home run when they hit him they got him. Brucey how pissed would you be if you were the coach of the LA Kings and you weren't going back home with a 3-1 lead? Well I might have, you're talking about having talks with people, I might take Quinton Byfield and say, hey, Hugh, I put you out there to get the puck outside the blue line. Like, I mean, 25 years ago, you guys all know this, the coach would have killed you. Nowadays, you can ice it, you can go for goals,

you can do everything, and the analytics say that's the way to go, but man, when you've got a puck and there's nobody, I mean, there was nobody in the middle of the ice when he got the puck, and he skated towards Bouchard, and it was almost like, hey, I want to de-cut the defenseman before I have a breakaway of score. And like, I mean, it might be forgotten to de-cut the defenseman before I have a breakaway score.

It might be forgotten if LA goes on to win the series, but if it doesn't, if they don't go on to win the series, that play will not be forgotten for an awful long time in California. Yeah, I agree. Jim Hiller was a little bit chippy after in his media as well. He was being asked why you're sitting back. And Jim Hiller was a little bit chippy after in his media as well as, you know, he was being asked why you're sitting back, you know, you had your foot on the gas for a period and a half, almost two periods, and then they just basically sat back and let and tried to like defend the lead instead of going at it.

So you know, that is something that I think LA has to try and change maybe in their own building. I mean, they're they're dominant in their own building though bruce like that's one thing that they can hang their hat on is you're you're going home to a uh... a place where they've lost that belief seven games all season long you know which is what yeah go ahead go ahead sorry i was just saying well here here's my reason why i've been talking about

this all day and different platforms is and for defenseman that played uh... over thirty minutes last game i mean uh... you know i mean in the reason they can't

continue it that's too much hockey they're going to have to have some faith they want to present in a basically a four period gameplay two minutes. Okay. One defenseman play 11 minutes, one defenseman play 36 minutes, 34 minutes, 32 minutes. You can't expect them to keep going up the ice and down the ice. I mean, it's like you're sitting there and you're hoping to win when they in the first two periods when you're fresh. Yeah, they've had commanding leads,

but I mean it's like Edmonton has just sort of waited and started churning and churning, and now they're not coming up to the red line, they're not following up with the play, because they can't. And I think Heller's got to understand that that five and six defensemen, you got to have a little bit of faith in, even if it's just putting them on in positions where, hey, go for 30 seconds. But I mean, when you play almost 80 minutes and the one guy plays two minutes, that means basically five defensemen played the whole game and one of them only played 11 minutes. You're not gonna be offensive in periods three and four you can't

there's just no energy with bruce bujow uh... mike sullivan was let go down at pittsburgh today and now you're looking at vacancies around the league bruins rangers flyers blackhawks ducks cracking penguins seven teams but basically twenty five percent of the doesn't have a coach right now

what do you make of all the turnover in the league Bruce? I mean I think it's it's almost that hockey like I mean I don't like it unless when I'm working yeah you get one of those jobs. You know but I mean it is what it is right now. Like, I mean, I think Mike is going to get a job as soon as he wants a job. I think there's other teams in the league that are saying right now, hey, we don't mind our coach. He's got another year left on his deal, but we've got a chance to get Mike Sullivan. Let's go get him." And they might do that. So, I mean, it opens the door, and I think Sully is going to have a chance at any job that he wants, I think. I mean, I almost feel, and I have no clue,

but I feel that the conversation when he called him in, Mike said, you know what, I don't know if I can do anything more with these guys. I've been here 10 years. Maybe my, what I'm trying to say isn't getting through to a few of them now. So maybe it's time to make a change. I don't, because he knows he's going to get another job as much as he's done with that group. I don't think he wants to go through another year or two of missing the playoffs and as it stands right now I mean, I don't think they're good enough to make the playoffs for another year or two and then who knows what's gonna happen after Sid retires Well, that's it. That's the next question. And I mean, it's not going anywhere anytime soon

You don't think that's the part of the problem is it's it's like you can't disrespect That's the part of the problem is it's Sid it's like you can't disrespect Sid by saying we're gonna suck And it's like you have to have this fake object like this fake idea We're gonna be a contender because we have said the team's terrible Yeah, they proved it in two years, but you're not allowed to say it cuz Sid's there Well, they're begging for him to want out like let's be clear here I'm sorry if you're dubious you're begging Sid to pick up the phone and say trade me, please Get me out Then you could turn the leaf over then you can actually launch into a new era and do something different

And maybe think about how painful it would be to watch another third season of what we just watched Oh, yeah, we're gonna compete this year. We got a new coach a new vibe and they're gonna stink It's just crazy. Listen Yeah, no disrespect to any of the players or anything But in the summertime when your big signing is Kevin Hayes soon as I said that I said, you know what? They're not gonna win again They're not trying to win because I mean they got a they got to go for somebody better Like I mean if all of a sudden they opened everything and said, Mitch, what do you want?

And we'll give it to you, and you get to play with, or Sid gets to play with you for a year. Not that it's gonna wow Mitch, because he's been playing with Matthews for umpteen number of years, but I mean, it would show the Penguins that they're looking to get better, and they're looking to make the playoffs.

So, but if they end up signing guys that they're looking to get better and they're looking to make the playoffs. But if they end up signing guys that are middle of the road guys just to fill up the roster, I mean if I'm sitting I'm going, I can't go through this again, can I? But I mean I know how much he wants to stay a penguin, but I know how much he wants to win too. So I mean it's a real the real tug-of-war between your car your conscience with the one angel on the one shoulder in the devil on the other shoulder

talking to each other and we've seen in many movies before absolutely uh... thank you for this bruce will do it again soon appreciate it no problem thank you guys first blue jerry's joining us in the maple toya hotline drive the built in canada fuel efficient funded drive toyota raf forward No problem. Thank you guys. We are Nickelback, Made in Canada, on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip-hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada.

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