OverDrive - Ferraro on Pettersson's subpar stretch, Marchand's status in Boston and Ovechkin inching close to Gretzky

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

ESPN Hockey Analyst Ray Ferraro joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the 4 Nations Face-Off experience and Canada's victory in the tournament, Alex Ovechkin's incredible goal-scoring chase, Brad Marchand's role with the Bruins, Elias Pettersson's performances under the spotlight, the Maple Leafs stars leading the team and more.

We're back on Kidsplained. Today's breaking story, what's missing in schools? Let's go live to a classroom to find out about the lack of school supplies. Thanks Kate. We always seem to be out of paper and pencils and we don't have enough textbooks. Ugh, it's like trying to do math without numbers. What we need is more investment in schools, right Jamal? That's right Kate. It's hard to learn without the basics. Want to help support students? Go to knowmore.ca. That's K-N-O-W-M-O-R-E.ca. A message from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association. Here's Ray Ferraro, our ESPN hockey analyst joining us on the Maple Tidal Hotline.

Do you support that move by Ovi? I do, but it's so good to come on in here that nothing's changed. It's like riding a bike, buddy. Same thing every day. here that nothing's changed so you're right about it is a little bit and john garrick will still be looking at uh... he's the he's the call to get a go get it a fresh get and so what he came there and i had

and he left it into a long it was kind of like an orange sort of thing there was no nowhere to go. Like they had the game that night. And Cheech is just the best. So he just went on with it. And they could barely get through the open. They were all, I mean, it was impossible to miss.

So if Ovi goes on there, and for the anthem, you know, pulls off the lid and it's like just polished and back and dragged back, I mean, that would be an amazing look. That's- Ari can do it. He can go full Giuliani and do a ringside interview and have the dye going down the side of his head.

Dripping down his head. That subway thing, like the other day, the capitals put out a picture of, you know, like they're starting the second half of the year, or, you know, that post foreign nations thing. And he's got that some way and they like always talking about in the clean bag or clue bag with the chips, um, extra hot sauce. It's like he's, it's like he's a beer league guy.

And he's, when he sits on the boards, uh, at a commercial, it's like looking around a soda machine. Like he's so big. Massive. Massive. And on the bench, his water bottles, right, they got the eight on it that are different and it's full of Coke.

Like, it's crazy. I mean, like, and he's going to be in short time going to be the greatest, most prolific goal scorer in the history of the game. And I'm fascinated that, you know, some guys, you know, they're, they're measuring, literally measuring food and, you know, they're, it's the temple, you got to feed the temple and all that. Braven points is like Ovechkin. He's got, there's a gas station with a subway in it and it's on the way home and he always gets his subway there.

I love that. This guy's one of the best players in the league. Yeah. And you know, I guess I don't know what he gets there but I'm assuming it's double guess i don't know what he gets there but i'm the two minute double cold cuts and all that stuff to her i think i think well and if you're all the why would you change anything like he's okie thirty nine years old he's got twenty nine goals and forty six points in forty one

games it's one of the great late your career seasons of all time i forget the gretzky pursuit right the guy is dominating on the arguably the best team in the league. It's incredible what he's doing. So on Saturday we had the game in Pittsburgh and oh my gosh, that was a four ball. It's a bit of a drop off, eh, from Thursday night?

Oh my gosh. It was an ever, the first drill, before I'm gonna get the Ovi in a sec, the first drill before I'm going to get the OV in a sec. The first drill I was watching said, you know, I mean, he must be just white exhausted. So they do, you know, the two corners and one guy comes out. So Sid comes out to get the pass from the other guy from the other corner. The guy rifles it into his feet.

And I'm like, he must just be like, are you kidding me? I'm back at it already. Right? Like there's no more playing with Nate McKinnon here. But in that game, the caps had a four minute, uh, power play. It was a five on three to a five on four. Oh, we took, Oh, we stayed out the whole four minutes. He took four shots. Plus he hit the goal post, and he missed the net once.

I thought, like, his arms were gonna fall off. And he just stands there, and he's like, boom, and there goes another one, and boom, there goes another. It's like he's a machine. It's really something to watch. And then they get a four on four, oh, he's not on the ice. Like, Spencer Carberry's like,

I'm gonna give him the big minutes when he's gonna be at his best. The Caps are a really good team. It's just really cool to still watch them score. It's incredible. It really is. It does feel like a formality now that he will pass Gretzky at some point. It's more about will he do it this year but just an incredible story and you know the the drop-off we were just talking to Jordan Bennington and he did say it was a bit strange and I guess you just used your own anecdote going from calling the game Thursday night Four Nations face-off to then you know calling a game on

Saturday are you still kind of coming down from cloud nine yourself you were a part of the whole tournament you were there ice level for what was truly an incredible game on Thursday night. And you know what, Brian, I don't know how those guys do it because when I went to the game Saturday afternoon, I was exhausted. I'm just standing there and talking. They must be those guys that played, those 40 guys that played must be just totally wiped. Like to go and play and these are important games and important points, but I'm sure their brain must be still a little bit behind.

Like how could it not be? And so for those of us that got to do this, it was like, it was so great. It was amazing. Darren Pang used this analogy we were talking yesterday. He called it a, like a pop-up Christmas store, the tournament. He said, you know, like when they put up at Christmas time, they, in the town center, they just put up like, like a pop-up Christmas village. And it's like, it's all the best things about Christmas

and then it goes away. And that's what he equated the tournament to. And I'm like, man, that's exactly it. It was way better than I thought it could be. I'm sure most people felt that. Like it was so good. That, from the first shift when McKinnon ran at Headman, like took a run at him and hit him in the corner. I was like, wow,

this is, they're going to play. And then I knew it was real. But after the first period I was walking out, you know, I'm at the bell center and walking out under the tunnel where the whole team comes out and some guys yelling at me, Ray, Ray. And I look up and he goes, Hayes is a fraud. And I'm like, this is real. This is real. It never stops. As long as Hayes is a fraud is around, it's a real event. Ray, you just mentioned Sid, like in getting

the pass in his feet and that team is a dumpster fire. What do you think him playing with Nate for 10 days maybe made him realize that there's something else out there? Like, cause I just can't see him finishing that stretch out two more years and they're terrible like that like they're flat out awful. They're so far away from being an average team like they're not big, they're not fast, they're not skilled. They got 30 draft picks in the next three years and that's all awesome except each year you have to add three years on to the draft pick before the guy that you draft is really kind of a legit NHLer. And that's if it all works in time. In three

years Sid's going to be 40. Like he's going to, you know, hard to believe, but he's going to retire thereabouts around that time. So, I mean, he deserves to do whatever the hell he wants to do, but I don't know how he would be able to, you know, as they chug through this rebuild and like how like mentally you could stay in it. Because when you, what are you playing for? Like if the capital sucked, Ovi would be playing for the goal record. What, what's the motivation to it for, for sit in? And I don't know, but man, doesn't it seem possible to your point?

Oh, like, like the Ray Bork Ray Bork thing, could that not get into your head? I think it could and whether they execute it or not, it's totally Sid's call. If he wants to stay, he's staying. If he wants to go, then they have to move him. To me, there's lots of question marks leading up here for the next couple weeks Ray And if you take a look throughout the league there is a little bit of starting to be separation But you know if you look at let's let's throw the East out there

I mean it seems like we've been talking about this for weeks. It seems like the East is kind of wide open for business There's some really good teams teams but they're outside of Washington there hasn't been a separate. Washington's got the points and you and Ira Texan yesterday like I don't see a weakness on that team but you know are they a Stanley Cup contender and a lot of a lot of people are you know they get regular season great team I don't know but what do you make of just how wide open the East is right now? There doesn't look like a Vegas from a couple of years ago. Like when they won, it almost felt like, well of course they were going to win. Like they had put all the pieces together and you're like, geez, that's a really good

team. When Tampa won their two cups, like you looked at them at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year and you go, man, that's a really good team. When Tampa won their two Cuts, like you looked at them at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year, and you go, man, that's a really good team. Like it's going to be hard for somebody to beat them. I don't, I don't really see anybody like that. Like, I mean, Washington in the East is really the team you would say, but you could see them losing four games. Like Logan Thompson's never been a playoff goalie.

And that seems to matter. And they've got a lot of guys like McMichael and Protus, they've taken huge steps. They've never played where they're counted upon. Last year they played in the playoffs. I mean that series with the Rangers was a mismatch. But so I guess they got four playoff games, but never when you had to score. Like that was all just like a dream last year for the Cavs. So if I'm one of those teams

that around the top four or five in the East six, I'm like, yeah, I'm going to try and improve because why not? Like why not? The teams near the bottom of that group, you know, like Columbus, Detroit, the Rangers, Boston, like they'll all do different things, but there's also the pressure to remember, like, and we all know it, is like,

sometimes the owner says, you know what? I want a playoff team. Like, I want us to push for a playoff that maybe we didn't expect. Like, do you think Columbus is gonna sit there and go, oh yeah, we're just gonna wait until our young guys mature? They're like, they're right in it. Like, I expect them to be a team that adds.

I don't think they can win more than, I don't even know if they can win a series. But I expect them to go a team that adds. I don't think they can win more than, I don't even know if they can win a series. But I expect them to go, you know what? We're gonna try. We're gonna try and get in. Like from ownership to the fans, like to reward the fans, to reward these players. Detroit, same thing.

You think they're gonna sit this out? Not a chance. And every time I think the Rangers are dead, I look up and they're like, eh, they're three points out. Like they can make that. I don't, I don't think there's a great team that that everybody should fold their cards with. Like I don't see it. I'm with you on that. And you know, Boston's in that kind of wavering territory where Okay, but haze, they shouldn't be. They just got bonked on the head with the Lindholm basically is out for the season and

whatever is going to happen with Charlie McEvoy. They don't have enough skill anyway. I think this is the time they need to, if they can. Take a step back. Yeah, take a step back. Maybe you can add a player, you can add some picks. They just don't have enough in their system. They tried to win and have had an amazing decade, but two years ago was their real time

and somehow that fell apart in 10 days on them. Right now, I think they've got to be one of those teams that says, you know what, this is not the time to take that step. I hear you. And that that leads to the Brad Marchand question, because he's a UFA at the end of the year and you know, you've seen him up close and personal calling his games. I don't know how much you think he has left in the tank. But, you know, you talk about an ad at the deadline.

I could think of a lot worse than a guy like Marshand. If he's healthy and motivated, come play out of time. You could do way worse than that. He's not a top line 20 minute player anymore. But if he's in a second line, and he's playing 16 to 18 minutes in there, and he's playing on to 18 minutes in there and he's playing on your power play, like the guy can still play. Like he can, he can still play. But if you're another team, what are you giving up for an unrestricted 36 year old player? Like as much as you can

say for Bruins, oh yeah, they should reload and rebuild and maybe they should trade Marsha and you're not, you're not getting the first should trade Marsha. You're not getting a first round pick for them. You're not getting a prospect and a pick, I don't think. I mean, maybe the market will dictate that, but if I were a good team and I was a forward or so short, man, I would be calling Boston for sure. With Ray Ferraro. So we've talked about this past weekend where it was you know at least one both games edmonton got pumped twice vancouver lost two tight games

and in vancouver not surprisingly alias peterson's name is uh... man is he get some pop out there and it is now bringing out throughout the country with what talk it had to say about him after the game not moving his feet doesn't shoot enough uh... and i guess he did an interview with Ian McIntyre and kind of gave a snooty little what, basically what sucks is me dealing with the media as opposed to, you know, actually talking about what's going on with him or his response to Hockett. You know, Miller's out, Miller scores twice last night and helps the Rangers win and Pedersen

obviously is not producing. I couldn't think of an uglier scenario here and JT Miller's out yet they're still clinging to a playoff spot race. So are you holding out hope Pederson will snap out of it and get them into the playoffs or is that ship sailed in terms of Pederson's role in that happening? I thought last night he played his best game in about, well, since into January. Like he set up a couple of really great chances early. He had a breakaway in the third period that he shot over the net when the game was 1-1.

He had one other chance. I thought he played quite well. Then they pulled the goalie. He's got the puck 30 feet in front of the net and he double clutches and then passes it off to his right. And so that's the stuff they're talking about there. Like, and so as I'm watching, I had this, and you guys tell me like when you fell into a place where you weren't playing very good, if this ever happened to you, you almost can't figure out what the answer is. Like you think you're doing the right things,

but nothing happens. And the harder you try, the worse it gets. It's like, I don't know why he doesn't shoot the puck more. Because he's got a great shot. I don't know why he's always looking for the next play instead of just delivering the puck to the net. To me it's like a golfer with the yips. You just got to let it go.

Just do it. He can't quite get there right now. If he doesn't, they're in big trouble. He's so pissy, Ray. He looks like he's so miserable every day. And I get it, we live in a world where somebody might have something going on. But if you don't have any kind of jam and excitement

and you're just like, the media, and you're just pissy and whiny, it's like you've got no shot, man. None. Well, first of all, the media stuff, I will mention there. Apparently there were two, um, non rights holders reporters there last night. It's not like you walk out and there's a scrum of 25 guys. Right. Right. Like this and Ian McIntyre, I know Ian, you would be hard pressed to find a more respectful, um,

patient, uh, legit, honest guy than Ian. Like he's not in there stirring it up. He's in there to write his story and he waited apparently for the camera to go away. Uh, so, you know, you know, cause otherwise I know why guys are careful cause you know, you, you do it on camera and they can take a clip and that's not really the whole thing. But he waited until that went away. And we said, it's more frustrating dealing with the media. That's not really, that's not, you're not being pressed there. They're just asking. You get two points in six games in February, you haven't scored in 11 games, the team needs you. And so it's a really weird spot

because he is a very good player. And I can't tell you what's happened, but what I can tell you is he looks like to me, like he just can't quite figure out the answer. And it lends to, you're just kinda out there. He needs to be dangerous. You know, last night, like I said, I thought he was dangerous,

but there's not been enough nights like that. With Ray Ferraro, and you know, again, getting back to Thursday night, obviously the reaction up here when Canada won in overtime was just the immediate and people were freaking out and then you know i'm sure every different fan base looked at it through their scope and said okay i'm i guess factor into this and

from a lead perspective uh... very directly with the way barter played set up the benet goal that setting up the winner and matthews for that matter what i thought was phenomenal had great chances in overtime and then gets stuck out there off on icing and loses his man and McDavid scores and I'm curious from a Leaf perspective because of their history Ray we've talked about it for a decade. Marner winning and the positivity that comes with that Matthews losing again and any inspiration that could come with that. Do you think they can draw off that and if so which force Do you think they can draw off that? And if so, which force do you think would be more likely

to help in the long term? The winning by Marner or another loss by Matthews? I think the winning by Marner, and the reason I'll say that is when we talked to Mike Sullivan, you know, we got to talk to him quite a bit, and he said, I asked him, I said, hey, of the guys, like who's stood out for you? Like maybe you didn't quite know them as well as you do now.

And right away it took him zero seconds. And he said, Eichel and Matthews. And he said, those guys know how to win. You know, if they play their 200 foot game, their commitment to the winning style of hockey, the way they see the game, the way they play, their size. He couldn't have been more positive in his assessment.

And so I think the tournament aside, I think there's a view of Matthews that might be different than what maybe some fans might think of because he lost coverage in front of the net. Like I think there's a bigger picture there, I guess, is what I'm saying. That play, by the way, I didn't have a stopwatch, but I can guarantee you, when the puck went to McCarr, if you started your stopwatch just before the puck

got there to within the net, it's less than two seconds. And Matthews saw that Marner was open. It's easy to say now, he should have just stayed where he was, but he saw a guy that was open. Adam Fox went around the net, he was chasing the puck. Like you're not gonna catch the puck, he should have gone in front of the net, or just stayed there.

So two guys made a read in literally a half a second, and it turned out they left the most talented player in the game standing all alone. Bad play. Yeah. Right? But I don't think that takes away from his ability to play as Sullivan called it, winning hockey. I think they probably, like the Leafs probably benefited from that in the long run.

Yeah, cause it's amazing when you, when you look at the numbers, that's a team sport, Matthews doesn't own them himself. But when you're as high of a profile of a player as he is, he's one of the best players in the world, makes more money than anybody in the league. You know, now he's 0-7 lifetime and must win games 0-6 with the Leafs, now 0-1 with the American team, 0-4 in that building-win games 0-6 with the Leafs now own one with the American team Oh and for that building, you know in 2018 19 20 24 and 2025. It's incredible

It just you know, it's kind of an astonishing Resume right considering how great he is and what you just told us about Mike Sullivan. We're like this guy's a winner He does everything right? So is it's Now you start to wonder if he's cursed, man. Yeah, exactly. Like, is that a loser mentality by Lee Fan? Wow, he's cursed. I don't know. I don't know how to-

It's a 1967 from Lee Fan's. Yeah, exactly. Like, for all those years, it's got nothing to do with him, but now it does have to do with him. And we all have seen it, like Ray Bork could never win the big one either. And then he won the big one. Like he was a Hall of Fame player

before they won the Stanley Cup, he's a Hall of Fame player after the Stanley Cup. But it changes the resume. Ovi had the same thing. Oh yeah, he scores lots of goals, they never win. Well then they won, and that's the only way to shut that down is to win. Yeah.

Right, and so I look at them and I'm like, I kinda don't think they're very far away from anybody else in the East. Like, can you look at that Leaf team and go, oh man, they don't have a chance? I don't, I think they do. It would be nice to add if they could, but you're not gonna add a better player than Matthews.

Like, that's not happening. So, you better hope that, you know, they get good enough goaltending, their D hangs in there, that he scores a couple of big goals that Marner plays. By the way, Marner was on the third line when that game started. It wasn't until halfway through the game

that they moved him off. They flipped him in stone because he was playing with Sorelli and Hagel. And so it's not like he played 22 minutes and dominated the game. I thought he was awesome in the third period, Marner, awesome. And then, you know, like he,

it seemed to me that the one thing that was learned by, if they didn't know it, by all these players is at that level of play, you can't trick the game. There's no time to slow the puck down, slow the play down. It's get it going forward. And if they didn't get it going forward, they got checked. And I thought later in the game, like Marner had it. Like it looked like he got it and he went straight. He didn't go side to side. There's no time. It was really something to watch. It was an incredible event. It really, really was. I guess we've got the Olympics next year,

the World Cups coming after that, so we don't have to worry about any more 10-year gaps or 8-year gaps, best on best. Which is ultimately a real positive. Yeah, it was long overdue for sure. How about the people that were watching it that had no, you never heard of them watching hockey? Amazing. And they were just so into it. It was just, it was so awesome.

Yeah, it was great. It was just a grand slam. There's no other way to put it. Yeah, it was great for the league. Oh, it was incredible. It was a great product. I think they stumbled into it. I, you know, like, there's no way anybody thought this was going to happen.

After those three fights on the Saturday night, it was like, oh, are you kidding me? Everybody was into it. People that had never seen it before. It was cool. It was amazing. It was amazing to see. Now we've got the stretch run. We're 10 days out or whatever from the trade deadline and play also be here before you

Know it we'll do it all over again with that level of intensity Alright, right. We'll leave it there. Always appreciate you doing this. Thank you Thanks guys, and hey, thanks for the Thanks for the laugh. I know you weren't there but Thanks for the last you got a case is a fraud. He's a crack me up like you read about Appreciate it as always. Great theme on the show today. Thank you Ray.

There's Ray Ferraro joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Count on Maple Toyota for the right winter tire package for your Toyota. Trade in your old tires, buy a new set and get $40 back. Visit mapletoyota.com. Lights, camera, action. The 2025 Juno Awards are hitting Vancouver on March 30th and iHeart Radio is your ticket to the stars. visit mapletoil.com. and more. You can win an iHeartRadio experience with tickets, flights, and a three-night stay at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Head online to answer the Daily Juno's trivia question at iHeartRadio.ca