OverDrive - Duthie on the Battle of Ontario in the playoffs, Ullmark's return to Ottawa and the Turks and Caicos' experience

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

TSN Host James Duthie joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, Maple Leafs' matchup against the Flames, the playoff battle against the Senators, Linus Ullmark's return to the team, an experience in Turks and Caicos, the Super Bowl matchup and more.

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Listen on the free iHeartRadio app. There he is, James Duthie. Panel night tonight, Leafs Flames on TSN4. And then are you off to New Orleans or what? Yeah, tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning, very nice. I stayed, usually we go Sunday for the full week, but because we had a Leafs game Tuesday night,

and my dedication and love for Leafs Nation, I wanted to stick around. Jimmy, we're starting a blockbuster news segment this week. Oh. You know how your boy Puffy always brings up trade possibilities, and he says, who says no at the end of it? That's the name of the segment. It's called, Who Says No? We're bringing together different packages trade opportunities in which side with are they stupid once because he's all i said joe from the bridge is not

included and always like to borrow us in all we all for mckinnon who says no we're not partaking in that nonsense we're getting legit transactions okay here's one for you which and base says no battle of ontario in the first round of the playoffs none no who said well? Otto was not saying no They never win that's what I'm saying yeah, they haven't had been in the playoffs forever of course

They're saying yeah, you think Jimmy. They're just happy to play not just in the playoffs Battle of Ontario I think they're gonna forget about the past I think they not not just I think it's too long gone And they've had too much suffering in between that they've forgotten The suffering of a release you think they're I do not think that I'm gonna be good series I think they would relish the opportunity to say that we have been out of the playoffs and irrelevant for so long And you have been knocking on the door and we just got here and we beat you and there's not one player on that team That was involved in any of that stuff before. So what about from a Leaf fan perspective?

Don't you think they'd like it? I think the Leaf fans feel confident because of the past. Like a Leaf fan would have more ties to the Senators Leafs than any of the Senators players would, right? Because they lived through it and they would be confident and I think it would just add juice. Plus a Leaf fan is so sick of Boston and Tampa and everybody else in that division in Florida that they want fresh blood too. Yeah, I also think it's a win-win bud. Listen, I support it. I want to see it happen exactly. I think you're overlooking the terror and the anxiety that would come from Leaf fans for a couple of different reasons. One,

Ottawa has owned the Leafs during the regular season over the past couple of years. They have. Secondly, that Habs series in 21 was so scarring and so disgusting that the Leafs were so heavily favored and they were gonna dummy them and biggest rival and then the Habs came back and we know what happened. There would be such fear from Leaf fans if Ottawa beat the Leafs. Would it be worse than some of the stuff that's happened in the last few years? I think it's the worst thing that could possibly happen because for Leaf fans of a certain age the one thing you've had for 30 years is the Battle of Ontario is completely lopsided in your favor.

It's completely lopsided. It's The one thing you're grasping on to. The one thing you have is that they never lost and Leaf fans take over their building and Sens fans do everything they can to stop it there's nothing you can do and we're the big bullies in the province if Ottawa got into the playoffs for the first time in what seven years or eight years or whatever and beat the Leafs i don't know how they recover from that. Yeah, I guess.

I really don't know how they recover from that. Stop it. What are you talking about? How do you recover from that? You have talked about time and time again. Every year you say how to recover from that. And they seem to recover. They do recover.

This is what you say every year. After last year, I didn't think it could get any lower and then I And this is the low I'm saying this is rock bottom be the worst after everything This has been those losses to Boston. This would be the worst. This would be rock bottom the bottom of the barrel man The bottom of the barrel you can't you can't take battle of Ontario supremacy away from Lee fans It's the one thing they've got in the playoffs the last 25 years the one thing they've got

Challenge me. I gotta put something I'm gonna put a prop on to reflect this commentary. Okay. What do you have for me? Is this a bit? There's the clown the clown here you call me a clown This is a running bit. There's the clown clown here. You're calling me a clown That is a clown comment bro clown question bro clown comment, bro. That's what you're telling me Yes, hey, can we steal this for TV? I was gonna say this is trade center Yeah, I think with all these trades happening right now. This is what we're looking like carrot top It is actually pretty strong on you. I like that you got a little case of

Little bits that you pull out and do comedy yeah every once in a while for those listening I'll just put on how would you describe that clown wig a clown Ronald McDonald wig a big Ronald because we're gonna bring in old suits that used to fit us when are we gonna do that maybe Monday after Super Bowl Monday because we both have suits that are tarps. Yeah, like covered cars. Both of you guys? Oh yeah.

Do you not know that he was a monster too? You kept them all over the years. Why? Are you going to drag me into it? Do you not know that he was a monster too at one point? An absolute atrocity. An absolute despicable scum human being i love people i i love talking to people when i'm out and about but they

just they can't stay away from the negative like they say hey man you look really good like and i'm at this one guy from a farm boy and he's like you're looking great man he's like couple years ago as a golf down and you walked in and you were shy yet couple years ago as a golf down and you walked in and you were chai uh... the way he said that was like the you can say the first part but i don't have to backtrack to golf town where i was a monster and you saw it

and you you don't need to say that yeah it's not necessary. Well i did hear you the other day you talking about luca and i thought it was it was cute because you were like luca i hear he was pushing three bills. Yeah and i was on stereo to on 511 Luca could give you a little call. Yeah, hey, you should put him in your program. Yeah, absolutely Well, he just brought it up him being three bills cost him a hundred and seventeen million dollars

Yeah, I be super max super max right? Yeah And the taxes that body of mine brought that up and i've seen some other people point that out going from texas to california if he signs with the lakers like that's a lot of money man is a lot of money just wanna throw up the bodies everyone like we're just so desensitized to the amount of money that that's insanity it's crazy and again i'm not shedding a tear for luca but a hundred and

seventeen million dollars that is a massive amount of money that he just lost because Dallas said we don't like you anymore and you have to leave. Like it's crazy when you put it, or we don't trust you we don't want to pay you that which is their right but it's crazy amount of money. Yeah, I thought somebody said like could the Lakers still, this sound may sound stupid, Lakers could still give him that. Not the supermax. They can't, they don't have, stupid the Lakers could still give him that not the supermax No, they can't they don't know under the CBA. Yes under the CBA. That's been rescinded. It's all only Dallas had the ability to do that I guess he could make money other ways in LA. He'll be fine. Make up for it. He'll be fine. Yeah

So we got a lot of Canadian content tonight right in on TSN. Of course, you got leaves flames Frankie you're doing the Habs game tonight, right? Sh Sharks 10-30. You got Ottawa and Tampa tonight. Sounds like Lena Solmark may be playing. That's why I volunteered to go late to the Super Bowl to do the Flames the nine o'clock but then Seattle Thursday. I wasn't going into the, I wasn't going Friday to the Super Bowl. I draw a line. There's a big difference between the 8.30 pregame and the 10 pregame. We have the game on Thursday too?

Yes, we do. You know what happens every year? Lindsay Hamilton comes in, my Twitter feed just gets rolled with don't ever come back. It's the same thing every year. All you people out there are going to write that, then just write it because I know it's coming. And I don't blame any of you. Get out in front of it. Yeah. It sounds like Lena Solmark may be playing tonight and you know. Better be. He had his gear on last night and he was the back. I know he did the

Demko I'm coming back but I'm only gonna back up which is really unique and that's modern hockey in a nutshell. I can I can back up and take some shots and warm up, but I'm not playing But it sounds like he's he's gonna have to play tonight Obviously if he was backing up you would assume but a lot of pressure on him, man They've won five in a row Forsberg's been really good. They're in third place in the division Absolutely, but both their goalies have been excellent. Absolutely since he went out save their season. Yeah I went down. I don't know if he went down in the midst of that span when they were losing you know whatever was five in a row or something are great before that in the

same as i said when i want to get back spasms yeah it was written for now he went out i believe in a game in edmonton right before the christmas break and then force for a while they went on a shit well force for was out at the time in Levy, like a Chevy, had to go in. Yeah. He played and then he played well and then Forsberg came back and then Forsberg couldn't play well and then Levy had to keep it going and now they got all the work. And then Forsberg's been ridiculous the last six games or something. Yeah, that's the biggest difference with that team because they were the biggest goal-tending graveyard since

Philly in the 90s and 2000s over the last 10 years. So it's going to be a great first-round playoff series. I'm looking forward to it. Can I do a Dear Hazy B question for you? Yes, what do you have for us? Well, I came back from the lovely Turks and Caicos and I wanted to share with you a taxi ride I had.

Rich, you live there. I don't live there. I'm a non-resident. Tax havens. I. Which you live there. I don't live there. I'm a... Tax haven. I have no accounts down there. It's not a tax haven. Okay. Steven Ames lives there.

So he pays no tax. Like I was asking him about this down there. He, like, he has to pay... if you win money on the tour, you have to pay in the... wherever you win. So you win in Louisiana, you have to pay Louisiana taxes or whatever or whatever but in there's no income tax in Turks and Caicos So everything else he just takes home which is Significant what were you talking about taxes with Luca? Okay, so I go out for dinner I

Call it could get the restaurant to call a cab for me very friendly Cab drivers in Turks and Caicos, where I am staying, it's probably about a seven minute cab ride from the restaurant, one way down the beach. I already know what this guy is. He starts going, he's got a bag of chicken fingers, and he says, I'm not going to try to do the Caribbean accent and insult this poor guy, but very laid back guy, he says, I got to take these chicken fingers to my wife. And I'm like, okay, I've had like a bottle of wine

with our people there, so I'm in a good mood. I have nowhere to go. You know, it's 10 o'clock, what am I gonna do? I'm just gonna- And why couldn't you just say, not on my dime? So I said, okay, right? Because I figure it's gonna be on the way, right? Gladys, or whatever his wife's name is,

I gotta take these chicken fingers to Gladys. He goes up to the highway and turns the opposite way. Dude. So now my wife is squeezing my hand because she's nervous, but I'm not nervous. I'm a good judge of people. I can tell this guy's an okay guy, just no self-awareness. So I'm like, okay, where are we going here? And they go, ah, it's just down the road here. It's, you know, eight minutes down the road, onto a dirt road, onto another dirt road, onto another dirt road, onto another dirt road. Dude, I am losing my mind.

But the question is, is the meter running? So I'm assuming no, and I wouldn't, but I'm like, I'm just going to let this play out, right? And we finally pull up to his little apartment and poor Gladys comes out. She's terrified because I don't think she thought he would be bringing people to his house. She comes out and I go, hey Gladys, and she goes, ah, and screams, right? So she gets her chicken fingers. So hungry.

Yeah, and then he's driving out and his kids are driving back and he stops and has a five minute stop and talk with them. And so it's a seven minute cab ride turns into a 30 minute cab ride. Now I just took it now i just took it i just took it he did not charge me extra but i just wanna know what what percentage of people in that cab are not going to put up with third this is all i i've learned my deal with the person i

think you might be a man i i i'd go ahead oh how do you respond to that well two things as soon as he started going the wrong way to stop the car i'm getting out or drop me off somewhere i'm not going this way, I'm never doing it. But the second thing, and the most important thing I've learned is, as soon as he says, I gotta go drop these off to my wife, you just say, someone else is going with you man, because I ain't doing it.

Save yourself the heartache. I think that's the appropriate. I think that's appropriate. It is, dude! We were already driving about two minutes and he's like... you say how far if he says 15 minutes which it was 25 you say sorry pal i'm not along for the ride like god knows what the hell could have happened that's the thing you're in a foreign country like they're they're very safe i feel safe i'm sure you feel very safe issues right now but yeah i hear you man just, I think you let that one go a little too far.

I think it would have been very reasonable. I think you'd be in for the adventure, wouldn't you? No, I think what you gotta do is you gotta have some kind of scapegoat. You gotta say, listen, my wife and I, we gotta get back. We got kids or something. Like, you need an excuse. Well, right away, you gotta have an excuse.

I don't think he would have turned around. It doesn't sound like he was interested in you at all. I had the same issue. Husband of the year too, should we point that out? Imagine telling a customer, I don't care if you leave, I'm getting these chicken fingers to my wife. She needs these chicken fingers. I had the same experience.

That's extreme. I'm like, I take an Uber so I don't have to park down there. On the way back, a couple's like, where are you going? I go, I'm going to Etobicoke.'re like us too let's share a cab I go great idea they get in the car and then they start going north up Spadina I go where the hell are we going and I'm in a mood I'm tired it's after the game and my head's about to pop off. Why would you get in a cab with someone then? That's exactly what Bob McKenzie said to me yeah they said they're going to eat tobacco what who cared i live in etobicoke cab is not a good a tobacco is not a

street though like a tobacco is a large i know but these people were so drunk and they were going to a bar like north spadina and queen a king or queen i'm like this is not etobicoke and I start blowing a mini gasket And they could tell that I'm losing it and as soon as and then they started asking they're like, what do you do? I'm like I work in television And I have steam coming off my ears and the one guy goes did you supply for the Leafs and I just said no And they got out and the driver was like, you hate those people, don't you? I said, there's no one on this earth I hate more. Did they pitch in?

Did they give you any money? They did. They attempted to. And I said, please, I got it. You just got to get out of the car. Okay, well, that's a good narrative. Just awful. But again, never share a cab with somebody.

It's just trouble. Well, on the flip side, we went grocery shopping the first day and I was looking for a cab. And this old couple heard me talking To the manager saying could you call a cab for me? And they said hey, we'll drive you back to your hotel That's a very nice thing to do so we stick our groceries in this couple from Michigan's trunk They go. Oh, we always wanted to see why Mara where I stay so they drop us off I'm like, do you want to come in and see the resort?

I'm not gonna show my room or anything like this but they were kind enough to drive me back so they come in and it's kind of a not exclusive resort but you know there's like security there you're only supposed to be staying there so I got three bags of groceries I'm not gonna show them like hey just you know we go down to the pool like two hours later they're in the pool. No they're not. Dude this is a curb your enthusiasm. I know and now I'm like the wife gives me a wave and I'm just headed straight to the beach. They're in the pool? They're 70 years old. I don't care man. That's extreme but good for them. That is a Larry Day moment. I got a whole lot of weird rides in Turks and Caicos this time I just simply would not like a part of you not say you and the husband get

out of the pool well no they drove me back what am I gonna do I know but that's the thing that does not give you a right to jump in the pool that's part of the transaction it is extreme all right what do you make of the Super Bowl you got a like the line hasn't moved at all. Chiefs one and a half, it has not moved at all. I feel like Philly, but I said the same thing about, I feel like when a team has everything go right for them all year, like this was a crazy year by the Chiefs, you go game by game,

the games they won, they shouldn't have won, although I don't think that's been that way in the playoffs, they played great. So I want to take Philly, but'd just get fooled every year and i know and then you watch my home to go why the hell did i pick a dozen for the reality getting swayed in the states by the pundits saying and they all refer to them as this they see philadelphia has the best roster like top to bottom it is the best roster i'm like

maybe they did they say that about Sam Fran last year to probably they did Oh, yeah, I was favored last year and had no business being out favored. Yep. They would have though That's exactly what it would have been Started to bite a little bit I'm like maybe the best roster and football has a chance against my homes But then I just keep deferring back to my home is where he always wins the guy always figures it out man Eagles were big favorites or like six and a half I think the year that a couple years ago or at least I remember on our panel we all thought they were gonna win by ten I think unanimously yeah he looks like idiots so I'll

probably pick KC because I can't do it again. Gonna be a great game. Alright JD enjoy the panel tonight good luck down in New Orleans. Thank you. Do not take cab rides in New Orleans wherever they want to take you. That's not a spot I want to do that. No chicken fingers for Gladys. Good seeing you. There's James Duffy.