OverDrive - Boudreau on the Sabres' ongoing issues, the Canucks' search for success and the Maple Leafs' star line

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

TSN Hockey Analyst and Longtime NHL Head Coach Bruce Boudreau joined OverDrive to discuss the latest around the NHL, the Sabres' rough losing skid and ongoing issues, the Canucks' search for success, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander playing on the same line, Joseph Woll's role with the Maple Leafs with Anthony Stolarz's injury and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca joining us here on the maple toyota hotline here's our tsn hockey analyst bruce boudreaux bruce i'm sure you love some chaos is there one team among the whole bunch here in the league right now that gets your attention the most in terms of the negative, in terms of the chaos right now, and which team would that be? Well, I think you have a few to choose from. Yeah. But, I mean, off the top of my head, like, I mean, the Rangers and Buffalo, you wonder what's going on.

And that chaotic situation has sort of made the Nashville situation feel like normal. You know, when you look at those three teams that have had very little success, but Nashville won the last game, so everybody's leaving them alone. Poor Rangers and, you know, and Buffalo. I don't know where they go from here. No kidding. Yeah, that's the biggest thing, Bruce. So I don't know.

I mean, you had a long career as a player and as a coach. Have you ever been a part of a team that has had something like Buffalo, like where it's 10, it's 11-game streak, the owners come in and talk, and I'm sure they've had closed-door meetings and, you know, trying the nice approach, the hard approach. Have you ever been a part of that? And where do you think they go from here? Just even if they decide they're not going to make any moves,

they believe that it's in the dressing room. As a coach, where do you go from here? I mean, it's tough. Like, Lindy called a timeout last night very early in the game uh if you if you recall like i mean and the goal didn't even count from line a that that after he called a timeout so they're feeling the pressure and the heat and he's trying to do different things not calling it late not calling it now i don't know what's said in between periods type of thing. But, I mean, to me, I've never experienced it where the owner has come in

and they've talked about the situation, about the team, and I don't even know what they talked about. The only time it ever came close to something like that was before I got into the, as soon as I got signed by the Vancouver Canucks, when I went into coach, they had a meeting where the GM and everybody came down and talked while I was there, before I was introduced to the team. And that was the only time I'd been in a meeting where the actual management has come in and really sat down and sort of said, Hey, boys, we got to pick it up. This is not the kind of hockey we play.

We got a new coach here. I mean, I don't know what they're saying in Buffalo, but they might have said, Hey, guys, hey, this is a good team. We got things going. Let's go out and get them. Rah, rah. And then they go out and lay that six-to-one egg. So I kind of think that wasn't the message. I wonder if there was a different message sent in the locker room at that day.

Bruce, I'm kind of curious to get your take on what's happening out in Vancouver. Obviously, you were there. You know that team pretty well. And Elias Patterson is kind of a fascinating player right now. And his splits are interesting when you look at with him, with JT Miller in the lineup and out of the lineup. He's got 15 points in the 10 games that he didn't play, just 11 points in the 20 games when Miller was there.

What do you make of that whole situation? Is that a problem that you think vancouver needs to address well i mean it's the easy thing would be to say yes it is a problem and i knew they had a little bit of a problem uh between them uh before i got there but i thought that was all straightened out and and everything so I'm hoping it's a coincidence. What I think, the point production-wise, is Miller was always getting Besser and Garland. This was before DeBrusque started scoring type thing, and Petey was getting Mikheyev and Dakota Joshua as a line. And so I think the line discrepancies in Vancouver scoring-wise,

he didn't have the wingers he needed to score. Like when he was getting 100 points, like the year with me, he was playing the wing with Miller and Besser, or he was playing the wing with Horvat. So I think a lot of it has to do with who he's playing with and how good the power play, the rate of the power play is going with him. I'm hoping that it's not a situation, and I haven't phoned anybody, and I don't want to.

People have been asking me to phone and get the nitty-gritty going here, and I don't want to phone, and I don't want to find out whether they're having a problem with each other, because I think they're both great players, and I think that it shouldn't be happening, but I'm one of those guys that wants to dig my head in the sand right now and not know, like it's a hate each type thing you know it's uh it's just one of those things because i like i said you know you get attached to players when you coach them

and uh i i like both the guys a lot and i don't want to see think that one's a being a real butthead and to the other one so i'm not wanting that situation okay how close or how hard does that make it i guess to coach knowing that there's like a rift in the locker room with two of your best players well i mean if there's a rift in in the locker room i mean it's up to the coach in all of these situations like i know uh the coach is the easy one to move and everything else but it's up to him to read the room and to if something is wrong to to fix it and to to fix the room and bring the guys in and and talk to them about it i mean vancouver's not doing too bad they're 16 and 9 i think right now i mean and they haven't't played as well as their record would indicate from last year,

but Demko just looked like he started to get going the way he can play on the last game. And so I anticipate them to start to really put on a pretty good streak and contend for the Pacific Division. But, I mean, it hasn't happened yet, so we all want to surmise that certain things are happening, whereas I don't think they are. I hope J.T. Miller, for example, like when he took his month off, I hope it was for him and it was, like, I mean, for him to get back together.

And I just hope Petey's back to playing the way he can because he's a great hockey player. Staying out of the nitty-gritty. I like that, Bruce. Who's bothering you trying to get you to call people? I hope it's not Doogie. It better not be our producer, although that would be pretty good production work by Doogie.

No, no. You know what? I just happen to be working with the NHL Network, with the Washington Caps, with you guys. Everybody wants the scoop. We need scoops. We need a scoop here.

If I give you one scoop on something like that, I don't think I'm getting a lot of calls from anybody anymore. So you've got to really watch what you say sometimes. Absolutely. With Bruce Boudreaux. So the Leafs are in Dallas tonight, and it's being tabbed as the most expensive line in NHL history. Marner, Matthews, and Nylander.

Again, they finished the game together the other night. They will at least start the game tonight. Craig Berube has issued basically a warning shot. Don't be too cute. Get in on the forecheck. Play nitty. I was going to say nitty gritty. Steal a line from you. How long do you think this will last? Are you intrigued

by this line? What do you make of the most expensive line in NHL history playing for the Leafs tonight? Well, I don't think it'll last too long. I mean, if if they win five nothing tonight and that line scores three goals i think it'll last into the next game but i mean to me it's putting an awful lot of firepower on one line and um you know it i i've never been one that to like to

load up the one line for as a. Like, you like to have balance, and you think that you're going to win with balance. So, I mean, as opposing coaches, it's usually not too hard to check one line because your best defensemen are always playing against that line. I mean, every single shift rather than if you have two lines out there, then sometimes they can't go against each other if they go back to back. So, I mean,

and then you can have one defensive line if that's the way you want to do it, is putting them against them. So, I mean, it's usually easy to check those guys, but I don't think it'll last too long. I mean, listen, Matthews and Nylander are all great players, shooters. it'll last too long. I mean, listen, Matthews and Nylander are

all great players. Shooters, now Mitch is going to be looking for both guys who are going to want the puck. You know, I just think it's great when things are going not good during the course of the game and you can all of a sudden put them together. But I think

if you want to have a team that's going to win consistently, you've got to have a team that's going to win consistently, you've got to have more than the top three and nine other guys that are hoping to contribute, even though Tavares has been fabulous. And, I mean, you know, you'd like to be able to think that it gives him somebody to continue the way he's been playing. Bruce, do you think it says much more about maybe Craig Berube wanting to keep that second and third line intact or at least see if they can get...

Well, we lost noodles. I think he was going to say, you know, considering the way they were playing, Tavares with three goals, Max Domi off the snide the other night, how much of it could be just Craig wanting to keep them intact as opposed to Nylander, Marner, and Matthews as a line isolated, Bruce? Well, that could be it, too. Like, I mean, boy, like with Domi getting a goal,

I wouldn't, and an assist in that game, I would keep his line together for sure. Because, I mean, usually what happens, it's like I always said, losing streaks follow winning streaks, and winning streaks follow losing streaks. It's the same with scorers. If they go eight games in a row without a goal or 28 games in a row without a goal, usually you get one, you get another one right away, and you want to keep that unit together for at least a short period of time

until their their uh good energy runs out but uh um that might be the case too that he is everybody's talking about the marner uh matthew's line i'm thinking maybe more it's keeping the other guys together because they were successful as well so i mean but mean, but Craig's got his own ideas, and his ideas have been working, so whatever he would say, I would say I would run with it. Okay, you're not going to make any calls to the Leafs and try to figure out exactly what's going on in the room, are you?

Because that would be a real scoop for us. We would like to hear what's going on. Oh, yeah. I would think it's a kumbaya type of vibe, wouldn't it? Like, they're kind of playing with house money. They've been dealing with injuries, now stole arses out. But they've really established, you know, a winning culture. Let's put it this way.

I played against Craig for many years, okay? I played against Craig for many years, and I don't want him peed off at me because that's one guy I don't want to get mad. So I would never say anything that went on in that room because he's a dude I'd be taken away from. I don't want to get mad. So I would never say anything that went on in that room. He's a dude I'd be taken away from. I don't blame him. I don't think you're alone when it comes to that. I think most people would suggest the same thing.

Joseph Wall getting the start tonight with Stolarz out four to six weeks. What would you expect out of Wall and how important is it for him to stay healthy now and prove that he can he can weather that storm and be a guy they can rely on over the next month and a half well i think it's vitally important that he stays healthy i mean because he's been hurt off and on his whole

career in toronto so i mean i think uh you know like i mean if you want a long-term contract i know he's got three years now but if you want to stay in and the next one be even longer, you've got to stay healthy. And this is his opportunity. Look, he was hurt earlier in the season. This is his opportunity now where Stolarz sort of stole the 1A position for him to say, hey, this was my job at the beginning of the season. I'm going to show everybody I earned it and i don't see any problem i mean they got a couple back-to-backs but uh you

know like what we did when when uh we would have to play a goalie um for many games in a row like when i first went to anaheim, we played Jonas Hiller 32 games straight. I mean, all of a sudden his practice time became very little to keep him energized so he didn't fatigue. Maybe on the back-to-backs, if it was three out of four that he wouldn't play. But, I mean, I think this is a time that if I'm Wall, I'm sitting there, oh boy, I can't wait to show my stuff and how good I am, and I want that 1A job back. And I think he's taking this, and he'll want to do it well, and he'll want to play every game.

He'll need a little bit of rest, but he'll want to play every game. Bruce, we've got the NHL trade freezes coming up, and I don't expect the Leafs to make a move now, but eventually it sounds, you know, we've been talking about how this team could use, you know, an addition down the middle, and I'm curious, when you watch this team, do you think that they'd benefit more from, like,

a quintessential shutdown third-line center, or do you think they could maybe use more so of an offensively productive second-line center and then shove Tavares down to 3C, which would be, I guess, the better option for the Maple Leafs? Well, it's an interesting question. If Tavares was, if you could give him the minutes that he warrants,

him being on the third line would certainly awaken every other team that they played against because even if they're playing against the number one line, they know they're going against a guy that can not only score but can defend. So that would be an interesting thing. I thought when Ryan O'Reilly was with the Leafs and when they traded him, he would have been the perfect third-line center, and I think they tried to make him a top six forward to play left wing with

John and stuff but I mean I think a guy like that that can play both ends if they could go out and get a guy that you know like a lot like Erickson in Minnesota they're not going to get this guy but this is the kind of guy they need a guy that can score, defend, play against

every other team and be tough to play against. I mean, that's the kind of guy that I would like in that position right there. And I think they're looking around. I mean, they know they're good, but I think they want to be better. They've got to get more balance. Their top six are scoring. Their bottom six aren't. And if they could get more balance. Their top six are scoring. Their bottom six aren't.

And if they could get more balance out there, I think they'd really be improved. Great catching up with you, Bruce. We always appreciate you doing this. We'll do it again soon. Yeah, well, you tried doing this driving down the 400 at rush hour. I'll tell you, it's not easy. It's a disaster, isn't it? And it's raining outside.

I mean, just 10 and 2 it. 10 and 2, Bruce. Take your time, man. Middle lane. 10 and 2, and now I'm trying to find my way around the airport. You know what this airport's like? Let me tell you. We know, and we hate it just as much as you do.

Believe me. Try to protect yourself out there, Bruce. Take it easy. Thank you for doing this. Okay. We'll see you later. You got it. There's Bruce Boudreaux joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

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