OverDrive - Corrado on potential lineup changes, how to use Matthews, the Leafs defensive core

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

TSN Hockey analyst Frank Corrage joins the show to discuss the potential lineup changes heading into Game 5. Corrado shares his thoughts on how the Leafs should deploy Matthews and the Leafs defensive core.

Introducing Brian Adams Radio on I Heart Radio. Hosted by Brian Adams himself. Join me for an insider look on a wild ride through 40 years of global rock and roll. Brian Adams Radio. Now available on the free I Heart Radio app. Or ask your smart speaker to play brian adams radio and i have radio radio frankie carados join us in studio that's not your concern frankie i feel for you man thank you now again the dvd

thank you for your concern of i've always said this there should be a helicopter service from somewhere in bondughan or somewhere in that North King or whatever. It takes you to be down there in seven minutes, drops you off somewhere on Bay, around there on the top of a building and you walk down and away you go. Oh perfect. Why do we not have that?

Why don't we have that? That's a Vegas thing, that's a New York thing. Yeah, come on. We should have that. It's a New York thing, it's a Vancouver thing. Is it big in Vancouver? I don't know why it's not a Vancouver. No, it's a Vancouver thing. It's It's a Vancouver thing Is it big in Vancouver? Big in Vancouver. How is it big in Vancouver?

Dude, there's cities where it's like an uber you go like you can uber can you not noodles? Well in Vancouver you can take a helicopter from Vancouver to Grouse Mountain like right up the right around to Whistler to all of that. What's that costing you though? It's not it can't be $58 when it's during prime time. It's not $58. No. You know. I didn't say that it was cheap. I'm saying if you want to beat the clock, you want to be there for puck drop, that's the difference. That would be incredible. You got to put it in Vaughn because all the, all the builders and all the builder sons, they'll hop on that. They've got a way of like, is this a pure

cash transaction? Yeah. Exactly. Yes, it is. That would be epic, that. They've got a way of like is this a pure cash transaction? Yes, it is. That would be epic man. If I got helicoptered in tonight for the game, man That would be amazing right into Maple Leaf Square. Yeah, just drop me right into Maple. That's Hazy B There he is in my in my suit cruising into the rink tonight Well, what are you expecting this evening Frankie? Dude? I have no idea what to expect right now. Like you talk to people in this market and you get, I find, I'm getting both ends of

the spectrum. I'm getting the guys that say, it's over, seen this before, they're not going to do it and they get like the people that are truly optimistic that, no, it's just a little blip, we're good, it's different. So I really don't know what to expect. I think, like you guys have talked about this all afternoon, of course Austin Matthews has to score. It's just they're not gonna beat the Florida Panthers by winning the depth battle.

It's just that's not, I would be shocked if that's what's available to them. The other thing, if you go to games one and two, did you guys not think the Leafs were a step faster than the Panthers in game one and two? And now Florida's found a way to slow things down a little bit, and that obviously plays into their hand, but I think Toronto, they were good off the rush. They were making plays and they made the Panthers look slow. And the Leafs are not the fastest team in the NHL by any stretch of the imagination but in those two games they look really fast so like that'll be an early indicator I think as far as what kind of game we're gonna get but as of right now I don't have a like I don't I

don't I don't have a still out there man I'm with you and I actually think that's that's probably a testament to the Leafs in the way that they played through 10 playoff games that I don't I don't have a feeling it's gonna go wrong for them right which I think I have had at times in the past I think you know it's it's a great opportunity we've been we've been expressing this for the past couple of days like you can't ask for anything better you got a best two out of three against the Cup champs to knock them out you got home ice yeah and yes Storrs is not healthy but everyone else is you got a full lineup yeah and you got options because you might have guys coming in that might

be able to help okay you talk about having a feeling do you remember the year that Toronto lost to Tampa in the first round what was that 2022 22 2022? 22, yes. So they won game five, they lost game six. I had a feeling they were going to lose game seven. Like that had a feel. It's like, man, if they didn't do it in six, I can't see them winning a game seven based on their track record, their history, their inability to get it done. But I don't have that feeling yet. But like there are options for them today. Like David Camp could come in, Nick Robertson could come in. I mean, they're small things, but at least you're healthy and you're not hampered by

guys' inability to be out there. That's the one thing where I was going to go, Frankie, is you talked about guys potentially coming in. And it's not, you know, they aren't, and I'm trying to be respectful, they're not the biggest difference makers, they're a different look of a player. And give an example, like, you know, Edmonton puts in Kapanen and puts in Stetcher. Just two players, you know, Kapanen gets a look with Dry Settle, that's a pretty, you know, good look to play with.

Like, you know, he's not trucking along on a fourth line. Stetra plays on a third pairing. Different look and they end up having success. I thought Kapanen looked really good. He didn't score, he didn't do anything, but he was a difference maker to help them. Could Nick Robertson come in and be a difference maker, even if he doesn't score, but maybe it's, you just talked about, maybe it's speed, maybe it's tenacity, maybe it's drawing a penalty.

How about one shot shot one shot with conviction passer gave a brothesky but at least that has nick robertson does that he can do that and yes you're putting in a guy that it has the ability to do that if he goes into my what do you what do you guys think of this like if david camp for to play you obviously trust in killing penalties like if he does anything that's what he what he can do Austin Matthews played almost two and a half minutes short-handed last game

Don't you think if camp comes in you don't play Matthews as much or even at all for that matter Short-handed and just say save it for the five on five in the power play shifts I want you to be really fresh for those see if you can score well that would be Deviating from you know the way that that Berube has coached and his philosophies really have played out all year though I mean that would be a significant change because Berube has clearly looked at at Matthews and said you got to be a leader in every single area of this team including penalty kill and I honestly think like a kill is is more important five on five play

my opinion of the playoffs unions score i'd i understand that but he should be able to do both i think i think in a way that's let them off the hook like you know we got okay but what does that mean five on five is going to get double shifted five on five what if you know what if there's six seven penalties or tonight against you need them on the ice there's more part of that too more fresh at five on five maybe that was always the stance from Sheldon Keefe

yeah was I want to save them for the shifts particularly after a kill get them out there take advantage of a fourth line for the opponents or whatever I can reason with that philosophy but I honestly think Perube is looking at this as as more of a big picture like this is a an identity thing you're our leader you got it killing penalties are very important in the playoffs you got to kill him well and I think that's the way he looks at it and I think you should be expected to do that and score goals you know because everything else he's doing he's doing well like he's doing this isn't an effort issue this is no it's, you're making mental mistakes all over the ice. None of that has happened.

He doesn't, I don't, I don't think he's got body image, like body language issues or anything. Like I think everything Matthews has done across the board has been very, very positive and very good. It's very, very precise. It's scoring goals that we're talking about here which if anything i would have figured it would have been the opposite you know he's cheating for off a's getting his offense but man defensively struggle is not is not as the op it it up it but he's got to connect both worlds man you got to do it that's why you're one of the best players in the world that's who you are

it and if you know what in the end you can change that they can you can score and and and you know, it silences the critics on one end, you know ultimately You'll take a win any way you it gets delivered. It would it be nice if your top players deliver it Absolutely, but it doesn't have to be your top players every night and it absolutely but it doesn't have to be your top players every night and in a game like this it's a game of inches and it's a game of maybe one mistake here or there a puck pops over a stick or a breakaway or a missed assignment I don't know I've got this feeling like I think somebody will win like decidedly tonight I don't I don't know how you guys five to win by the way going away well it's been one goal games the whole time I last game

was for the most part a one goal game yeah it was like it's been even game one where Bobrowski was terrible they come back I know there's an injury and all of that and I wanted to say you know you said the Stolar's injury Joseph Wall played 42 games this year like he played more than Stolar's injury Joseph Wall played 42 games this year like he played more than Stolar's and there were times on the show where like yeah it's Wall's net well he's done a good job so I don't think they're playing shorthanded or anything they're playing different goaltender obviously Stolar's handles the puck better and he was playing so well like he was winning basically every game yeah I agree but yes you're not dealing

with it's not a massive drop off that's my point like it's you've got a really good goaltender in there but in the end like we haven't seen uh... a game where it has a bit of a albiter yeah really though they've been for in this area says that if if austin matthews scores two then we might not be talking about a one goal came right like that's

that's something that just hasn't factored in and the games have been close. Last game Matthews had seven shot attempts, three hit the net, one got blocked, and three missed the net. And I don't know about you guys, but I find, like if you go back over the years of playoffs, I just have like memories of Matthews getting chances and hitting glass. Like the Montreal series, I just have like memories of Matthews getting chances and hitting glass.

Like the Montreal series, I think I remember it. The Boston series, I remember it. And you know, chances are not always plentiful, but I find the like in these moments, it's like maybe he's trying to just pick that perfect corner because he's so good at it. We see him do it so often and maybe we almost take it for granted but it's like I don't know it's just something that's like banked in my memory and then you look last game and there it is three miss three miss nets like that's seven shot attempts for Austin Matthews in a game you got to think one of those is going in mm-hmm yeah or like a glorious chance yeah the goalie has to rob you type of thing like I thought Bob made a good glove save on the one where he was

kind of alone on that back door I think he double pumped it he over thought it to rob you type of thing like i got bob made a good glove save on the one where he was kind of alone on that back door i think you double-pumped it he overthought it yes he did they take a shoots it quick right well they clearly the scouting reporters like go high on bob but if you're if you're thinking that and i mean that that may speak to why the

the miles per hour on a shot is down a little bit too like if you're if you're trying to place it instead of blasting it that can have an effect on the shot yeah it's not but it's not the old school just like close your eyes and shoot it you know what I mean like that's such a grinder fourth-line mentality that is the best goal scorer in the world he obviously knows what he's doing he doesn't need us to tell them what to do how to show that's just an observation that he just misses the,

seems like he misses the puck a lot. Well, he's leading the league and miss shots through these playoffs. I mean, again, I take that for what it's worth, but he's not alone. You know, you look at Marner tonight, like Mitch is not a guy that he hasn't, he hasn't supplied a lot of offense in games

like this one tonight. You know, games five, six, and seven throughout his career, the stats are everywhere, everyone's seen them. They fall off a cliff for him. He hasn't generated much offense. He scored the game winner in game two, that was big. Hasn't, I think he's registered, what, one shot in the last three games.

And I think it was the winner. So, you know, it's, and again, you don't look to him necessarily as a goal scorer, but I think it was you saying this yesterday, Noodle, maybe Jonas, you don't look to him necessarily as a goal scorer, but I think it was you saying this yesterday, Noodle's, maybe Jonas, he scored 30 goals this year. Yeah. Like if you score 30, you're a goal scorer in the league.

He's a 30 goal scorer. Yes. Like he can score 30 basically every year, I think. Yes, exactly. He has that ability. That's a guy that needs to be expected to score as well. Not to the same extent as Matthews, but not far behind him. Like the pecking orders, Austin, Willie, Mitch, in terms of who's going to score as well not to the same extent as Matthews but not far behind him like the pecking orders Austin Willie Mitch in terms of who's going to score maybe you thought Tavares in there yeah but it's not like not

Stephen Lawrence and Mitch Marner on the same same level I mean the thing is is you need scoring but you also need to keep the puck out of the other yeah of course you like that's the biggest challenge too is is, you know, as much as we're talking about Matthews and that, I guarantee you, I mean, the overdrive of Florida is going, where's Kachuk, you know, as Kachuk had a statement game yet, where is he hasn't scored in the series. He hasn't scored since game three of the Tampa series. And I, it clearly looks hurt, but I thought he, I thought he played better

last game. I actually thought last game he was noticeable, not just because he had the pass on the back door in the power play. He actually looked like he was getting to areas on the ice where he couldn't get to in the previous games. But that's the challenge too, is we're all talking about offense. Defense wins, man. You've got to keep it out of your own net like that's the that's the the beauty of this it's gonna come back to discipline to i hope the rest i don't know who's reffin tonight but i hope we're not talking about poor calls

well let them play tonight well i mean that the toronto penalties in the first period of last game they're kind of all you have to make those calls to the point i get it like there's a high stick the hook even the boring and the puck over glass. That's a dumb play by him though. To me, you've got to read the game. I know you're aggressive and want to finish your check, but it's clear right now, regardless if a guy turns or not, you've got to be in control of your body. Because we have seen some hits from behind,

you know, that whether a guy's done it to himself or he's put himself in that position, or the player that's hitting him is a little overzealous and maybe wired up and goes, I'm just going to go through the numbers here and you've got to be in, in like that was a dangerous zone hit. You know, it was a couple, a couple feet off the boards. Well, you know, you know what Rodriguez isn't playing tonight. Yeah. Yeah. You know what though?

Like if, you know, it sounds, it always sounds so barbaric to say this type of stuff, but the guys on the bench would be thinking, if you're going to take that penalty, we can kind of kill that one off. You know what I mean? Like if you're going to run a guy through the boards, you know, it's like that gray area for sure. We're not supposed to talk about it, but like those are the ones the guys will be like, take a pound of flesh, we'll kill that one off. one the high stick the hook that that's the stuff you want

to get away from your net like that's the one on the offensive like when you're for checking in you know hook a guy in their hands 200 feet away from me like if you're gonna take a penalty what you're saying Frankie is make the guy pay it make the guy pay for it a little bit you're gonna take a slashing penalty hit him in the somewhere where it's not padded. Take a little chunk of it. Yeah, for sure. It's completely barbaric, but that's what everyone's thinking on the bench. The Marner thing, since we brought up Marner, it almost has sometimes a feel in these moments where

it's like Marner defers to be in the the playmaker. Marner can be the goal scorer. Like he doesn't always have to look for Matthews. And the thing like that it's funny because the two can go hand in hand. Matthews isn't scoring. So Mitch might feel like oh I got to get it to him. I got to get it to him because he's got to score. Meanwhile it's like you can you can do it yourself too in certain situations, right? You don't always have to just force feed everything to him. Right. Well, he's more than capable of doing it. You know, you look back game one against Ottawa where he broke loose. Matthews was the playmaker. Made a beautiful pass. Mitch scores. It's 2-0. The building's going crazy. You know, like there's

opportunities to break loose. They've had breakaways every single game. It's about-nothing, the building's going crazy. You know, like there's opportunities to break loose. They've had breakaways every single game. It's about capitalizing on them and who's the one with the puck on his stick. Frankie Corrado with us in studio, do you think any of the teams that are currently down 3-1, because the other series, they're starting to run away. I mean, Winnipeg's down 3-1, Washington down 3-1, Vegas down 3-1. Any of them you think have the capability of pushing it to 7, not necessarily winning the series, but

winning the next two games to stay alive. I mean, I think that the Jets one is tough because they have such a hard time on the road. Yeah, they might win game 5 handily, you know, and then so they win game 5 at home, sure. Then you go back into Dallas, your goaltender hasn't played particularly well on the road as a team. Like they haven't had much success there. So that one seems hard. I think if Aiden Hill can put it together

for a couple of games, then they would have a chance. But then, you know, I just, did I not read today that Mark Stone is out? Yeah, he's not playing. He's banged up all the time. That's not gonna help them. And Edmonton, like Edmonton's the best version

of themselves right now because they're getting it from everyone. They can have the Henrique game. They can have the Connor Brown game and they're, you know, they're just they're playing well as a team. And the other one, I think that the Carolina Washington, you know, there's just there's no room for Washington. There's no room. Isn't that a weird series, like isn't it weird games to watch? They are weird games to watch. And you know what is interesting? If you guys have watched Spencer Carberry,

you know, whether it's like in the morning or after games, not a lot of coaches talk about puck touches in their post game availability, but he says it a lot. And even sometimes if they go in the dressing room, his like, you know, 45 second to minute speech before, let's make sure our puck touches are clean, puck touches. Like puck touches aren't available to you against Carolina.

It's just, you're not gonna be clean in those situations as much. And I feel like they're a team that values possession and making nice plays. Credit to Carolina, they've just, they've suffocated that that out of their game It yeah, it's it's impressive like especially we talked a lot about Washington How big they are and what they did to Montreal they just kind of bullied Montreal around

They got in on the for check and they made them uncomfortable and they forced their defense into mistakes and then all hell was breaking loose Carolina just doesn't allow for that to happen. The way they defend, the way they transition out of the zone, they got big veteran defensemen, they're like, come get some, you want a piece, come get it. In years past, Carolina has missed that one offensive guy that really goes off, and this year Svechnikov is all of a sudden going off, where he's got a goal,

one less goal than games played in for him and numbers but yeah like you know if only played nine right now he's got eight goals i got a lot of the special coffins is kind of doing that right now though i did it it's a little different there as well and taylor hall found one the other night like you know you're getting you forget the taylor hall's there

you know you forget the contract extension new yeah i two weeks ago there he's played well there like they they're a team that you know isn't as sexy but they're really well-rounded that's the biggest thing so to answer your question the long-winded way of saying I don't believe any of those series will go seven based on where they're at now three ones tough man yeah it really is like it's a big hill to climb man like you need you need your goalie you need your goalie to be the where they're at now. Three-one's tough, man. Yeah, it really is. Like, it's a big hill to climb, man. Like, you need your goalie, you need your goalie to be the best player at that point.

Like, ultimately, because you just, you can't allow, can't allow bad breaks. You can't give up, you can't recover from anything. And you know it mentally, like your back is up against the wall. Yeah. So, it's- If I had to hedge, the best chance would be Winnipeg out of those

three. Mm-hmm. But I mean then you're saying Jake Autinger is gonna have to play poorly for three games. Although that's just not really in the card. The flip side of that is in Edmonton like if Skinner tonight after a very good game goes you know what I'm gonna revert back to the old game one and game two LA through Skinner. Yeah. Then all bets are off because Pickard it doesn't sound as if he's available on the hamster That sounded like yeah, it sounded like he's a week So I don't know that that puts you into next week type of thing. So the third round probably Yeah, you might be looking at the conference final at that point

Yeah, that'll be a wild story though I give him when they get there and if they can sit tight for a bit and get them some time but Skinner closes the deal tonight and plays well. Then I think it's Skinner's net. You think they'll stay with Skinner? Really? You think they'll stay with Skinner? Just give them the benefit of the doubt? It was a little blip. I don't think it's the benefit of the doubt. I think it's, hey we need two goaltenders to get this done. And it's Skinner with like, now you look at it as a tandem instead of

a starter and a backup. That's the way I would look at it as a tandem instead of a starter and a backup That's the way I would look at it but again You got a you know Skinner's got to close the deal out and then give Pickard time to get healthy And then you look at it and go okay. Let's see how this unfolds We can we can have two goalies that we trust keep in mind like Calvin Pickard doesn't have a long history of playing deep in The playoffs or starting or any of these types of things a A lot like Anthony Stoller's, a lot like Joseph Wall. They're just still going through the process right now. Yeah, Pickard's 6-0, but

what if a week off his mojo kind of is a little messed with? Now he's not in a groove. Now you've got to chase your game a little bit. So I think if Skinner can finish this series off for them, I do think he gets his net back with a very short leash. That's what I would say. Yeah, it's like 1-8-8. We get into the conference final. Let's say you play Dallas. You lose game one. It's pickered back in. It can't be a two-game thing. Yeah, I think It's pickered back in like it can't be a two-game thing. Yeah I think it's I think it's a tandem situation and you go with who you feel can get to their game But we'll see I mean, yes, it's no mark stone But you know there all teams are playing banged up a little bit like you can't tell me Chris Tannib's not banged up

Yeah, the guys have been hit more than anybody else in the league by a mile And he owns even close. And he's a guy that is an absolute warrior. But I would, there was one hit where I thought he wasn't coming back. Like he's had shoulder issues and stuff and I thought he got hit really hard. But he's out there, he's a warrior man. Well that is the amazing thing, like there's no discussion of them changing up the defense or the pairings

that now but nor nor should they but i'm just saying like we're ten games in the playoffs and you know in past years someone was coming in or coming out or was already got a flip this pairing or someone's gonna play with somebody else like that is something that he is not deviated from nor should he again but you got mccabe intended you can have carlo and Tanev you're gonna have Carlo and Riley and you're gonna have Benoit and Ekman Larsen and that's the way it's gonna go and they're all gonna play about the same minutes. Oh

that's it that's a credit to Tree Living and what he's called. They've built this decor now this year it's it's the best version that they've had over the nine years. And that's what gives me confidence for them you know tonight in this mini two out of three series yes a lot of focus on Matthews and Marner and Willie and all those guys and that's natural. But if wall can play well, slash very good, I trust the way they defend, I trust their defense, I trust the size, I trust the way that they've had the

ability to push pucks outside, block shots, defend, hit, be physical, that's gotta continue, but it's gonna be challenging for Florida, man. We've laid it out on what the Leafs have to do. The Panthers have to deal with the same thing. Like, they gotta break through. Let me ask you something. Do you think Austin Matthews scores

before you get into the building tonight? I'm gonna say no, but he's got about seven or eight minutes of live act of like game action to do it. Yeah. Because against Ottawa game six, again, every game is different. But remember, he scored not only did he score, he scored on the power play. And there were a lot of issues with the power play in the previous few games. Power play goal Matthews checks a lot of boxes

check, check, check, check, play with the lead, which again is incredibly important. Yeah, you, check, check, check, play with the lead which again is incredibly important. Yeah, you got to get game five tonight, man. Like it's a must win I think for the... If they, if they win game five and Auston Matthews does not score, I will be flabbergasted. Yeah. I will, yeah, I'll be shocked. I would, I would, I would apply that to one of him or Marner. Like one of them has to score a goal tonight for them to win the game. I would agree with that.

I don't see one nothing Joseph Wall stands on his head, Jake McCabe sneaks one in. You know, I just- Yeah, one nothing, two one, where like Pontus Holmberg and Domi score and like you hold off the cats on like a Lundell goal. I don't know.

I don't know if that's in the card. It seems like a four, two win. don't know I don't know if that's in the cart. Seems like a 4-2 win Matthews has one Marner has one and Nye scores an empty netter to close. All right we started without a feeling of how it's gonna play out I think we just landed on it. We talked ourselves into it. Talked ourselves into exactly how it's gonna play you don't even have to watch tonight just listen on TSM radio Leafs Panthers game five all right Frankie we'll catch you on the panel tonight. Hey boys enjoy the game. You got it there's Frankie Corrado our TSN hockey analyst. Mark Masters from the rink and our best bet still to come.

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