OverDrive - Johnson on Matthews playing through an injury, Murray's return for the Maple Leafs and the Senators' winning run

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the Maple Leafs and Sabres' matchup, Auston Matthews playing through an injury, Matt Murray's return to the crease, the Senators' winning run and the opportunity in the playoffs and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca here's mike johnson our tsn hockey analyst joining us here on the maple turtle hotline what do you expect tonight johnny well i mean i don't even know where you begin i mean you kind of summed it up hayes is. It's like, you think they're going to hit rock bottom. You think the owner flying in and having a rah-rah pep talk where all good, you know, settle things down and then they go get smoked from the, what, the third worst team in the league, 6-1? I don't know.

I don't know what to make of it. I mean, I think at this point everybody, no matter how long you've been in Buffalo, is feeling the weight of the length of the failure. And it's hard to shake. And so I don't know. I mean, I think it's more than just the owner.

I guess it's the owner establishes everything. It's more than just the GM. It's more than just the coach. It's more than just the players. It's sort of a combination of everything else. It couldn't be as bad as it has been for as long as it has gone on. And you look at the roster, and they have talented players. There's no doubt about that.

It's just they don't have – I think they need some steady-eddy, veteran, strong, defensive-minded, but guys who've been through the wars a little bit. I was talking to Brent Seabrook, who's one of the guys running the World Junior Tournament here in Ottawa, one of the guys in management for Team Canada. I'm like, they need Brent Seabrook. They need a player like that. You know what I mean?

Like a guy who will be tough on guys, but also play well, but be demanding, has had success. They're lacking that. And I think until they get it, I don't think the coach sort of matters or what else they do, because this group is just too beat down

and they're not maybe sort of mentally strong enough to get through the wilderness. But they're in right now. Yeah, they're in one. And now you've got the Leafs in town tonight. And listen, if they were 11-0 going into this game tonight, it would be 50-50 Leaf fans. If the Sabres had not lost a game all year, there'd be 50% Leaf fans tonight. But it feels like it's going to be overwhelmingly the other way.

Here's what Lindy Ruff had to say about that, and I guess how to address the fact that so many Leaf fans are likely to be in the building tonight. You know, you were here a long time as a player and a coach and played the Leafs in basically split buildings. This isn't going to be a split building tonight. So how does your team deal with essentially playing a road game in your home rink? Well, you know, I think it's something you've got to embrace the challenge.

It's not what you want to see in your building, obviously. But we've got a challenge ahead of us. We know it's all about the two points, not about the fans. If we play well, we can take the fans out of the game. If we play well, we can take the fans out of the game. Hayes, I get gallows humor, right? It's going so bad, what else can you do? Like, if you weren't going to be able to laugh, you'd be crying.

But given the palm tree and taxes from Kevin Adams, and given the discontent of the fan base, that's not a good time to be funny that way. You think they want to hear about being outnumbered by Leaf fans, getting the home crowd out of it? We used to make that joke in Arizona. We'd play Toronto like yeah get one early take the fans out of it but not publicly and not when you've lost whatever 12 in a row right like it's not like I get what he's doing I don't want to overreact but that's not the time of the play for because you know

what the fans are going to say win a game and guess what We'll show up a lot more often. I had the same reaction. I mean, the clip, you know, he does say at the start, you don't want to see that be the case, but I thought the same thing. You already did the palm trees and taxes thing. Now you're goofing on your fans who have decided, you know what? I'm not going to show up for this, and I'd rather just sell my tickets. It's, you know, the fans are just getting crushed there.

If you're a Sabre fan, it's not like they won a cup three years ago and now you're being impatient or irrational. They haven't made the playoffs in 13 years. The playoffs in 13 years and now you're the laughingstock of the league based on the way you're playing. And your coach and your GM are like, hey, what do you want us to do? No fans in the building and no palm trees and bad taxes. I don't think that's helpful.

I don't think so, Noodles. Don't you think Lindy could have just said, you know what? Our focus is to try and win to get out of this funk. Like, you just spin it and go, listen, regardless of who's here tonight, we're going to try and win a game. To me, I don't know if you guys read it or saw it, his body language looked defeated. Yeah, he's in a bad place.

And you can't buy into the, you're right, I think it's tongue-in-cheek and he makes a comment, but you can't feed into it. That's the one thing. That's where I think it's tongue-in-cheek, and he makes a comment, but you can't feed into it. That's the one thing. That's where I think you were at, Johnny. Why feed into that? Because all it does is it's a soundbite. Instead of going, you know what, we're going to try and get out of this. This is a big challenge against a really good team, against a rival.

This is what we're going to try and do is break our streak here tonight. You don't talk about the fans. Go listen. Whoever's in the building, we're going to try and have a game for them tonight. That way I think you remove yourself. And as a coach, if a player, because believe me, these are all sound bites. Players are on their phones all the time. They're going to see that sound bite today.

To me, I think it's a miss where Lindy could have just said, we're focused on two points, guys. We're going to try and break the streak tonight. And no better team to do it against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And the flip side, it may not matter, but I wouldn't be shocked if Leaf fans are driving over the border saying, we got something coming for you, Lindy. You're not taking us out tonight.

Like, no chance. You thought we were obnoxious before? Wait till we take over this place now. You hear me? We're going to burn down Chippewa Street with the parade road afterwards. Yeah, like, it's, you don't want to make too much of it, but it probably could have been handled better. But I think it does speak, because Lindy's been around forever.

He's a smart guy. And yet he is at a loss. You can see it in his post games. You can see it on the bench. He is just like, I don't know what to do. I don't know where to begin to try to unpack this this struggle he just doesn't he doesn't have the answers and he knows he doesn't have them and that's a weird place for a coach to be yeah i agree johnny do you now conversely i brought this up with the guys in the last hour it's not like the leafs have been

world beaters in that building is there any chances could be a bit of a scary trap game for the Leafs? I think any time you play a team that's at the bottom and they're really struggling and you're not, it's dangerous. Because, of course, you're going to feel confident about winning the game. And the idea that you might lose to that team when they haven't lost forever, it's, you know, it's the downside. If you win, it's sort of like, well, big deal. You're supposed to win. Everybody beats that team.

And if you lose, especially when it's Toronto, it's a bigger deal than it otherwise would be. At some point, Buffalo's going to win. At some point, they're going to win several games. You don't want it to start with you. But, yeah, I mean, they have, what, Buffalo tonight and the Islanders tomorrow? And that's still the two makeable games, you know, thinking mean, they have what? Buffalo tonight and the Islanders tomorrow? And that's

two makeable games, you're thinking bank and points and all the rest. And we know one thing about Toronto, and I think this is not just sort of feels this way. I read a stat where Toronto, when they're a whatever, minus 250 favorite,

they've lost more games than any other team in the league in the last three years. It's a thing. One, they get lost more games than any other team in the league in the last three years. It's a thing. One, they get favored a lot because they're popular and they're good, but they also don't always beat the teams they're supposed to. Mike, we heard from Craig Berube today that Austin Matthews continues to play through something. I wonder what you've seen since he's come back.

It's been about, I think he came back November 30th. What have you seen from him since he came back from the original, I guess not even the original injury, but since he came back from the three-week absence? Yeah, seeing that, it did not raise your eyebrows, guys. Yeah. Like big time, big time. And I guess I haven't seen, you know,

you want to grasp on to something positive, like, oh, it looks like he's back, and I guess it sort of looks like the same. He's still getting sort of chances, but not to the same degree, and for whatever reason, the shot's not as lethal. I mean, that's the reality. The shooting percentage will regulate to some degree,

but I think there's something to the fact that the shot, whether it's because it's a core thing, back, whether it's a wrist elbow groin i have i honestly have no idea what it could be but the shot is not as dangerous like he is getting looks we run the numbers expected goals like he gets a lot i think he's second league and expected goals per game but those shots that he was converting on, he's not converting on. So I guess that's what I'm seeing, is a guy that has taken his singular greatest skill in which he is better than anyone in the world at

by a bit of a margin at this point, and it's come back to the pack where it's still exceptional, but it's not as good as it was, and that's what I've seen. But guys, he has to be healthy for the playoffs. Like, they're not going to win anything unless Austin Matthews is healthy, like 100% healthy and good to go.

That's just the way the team is made up. He's that good. They need him that much. They've been really good without him. I get it. But for them to do what they want in the playoffs, they need him. And he it. But for them to do what they want in the playoffs, they need him. And he took, what was he, four or five weeks the first time through?

Off? It was nine games. Nine games? That took him so much. Day-to-day for four, three, or three and a half weeks. And he came back, and he's still not healthy. So that's the concern. Like, he took a month off, and he didn't get healthy. He went to Europe to get treatment, and he didn still not healthy. That's the concern. He took a month off and he didn't get healthy. He went to

Europe to get treatment and he didn't get, he might have got healthier but he's not yet healthy. What do you do? Isn't my first reaction like, well then, how about you sit him out until he gets healthy? That's what I said but that didn't work. Don't let him play through.

Again, without knowing what it is, can they do a procedure to expedite? Is it something that's never going to get healthy? Is it going to take five months? Without knowing what it is. But if it can get healthy in two months, I think it's almost better to take the two months

and then have him right to the playoffs. I don't know, guys. It does seem very concerning that he's not healthy, but not surprising to hear that he's not. Well, and they were winning without him. And listen, I appreciate any athlete. We were just talking about this with Patrick Mahomes this weekend, that he's likely going to play.

He is going to play. If Austin felt like he was ready and he could play, then he's going to play. But they weren't in a desperate situation. The idea that he had to come back on November 30th, I think we pretty clearly know the answer that that was simply not the case, that maybe he needed, maybe he gave him another month. Again, hindsight being 20-20. But if he's still laboring and still fighting through whatever it was,

and this is dating back to camp. Forget going to Germany. This guy's been dealing with this for like four months now. Yeah. laboring and still fighting through whatever it was and this is dating back to camp forget going to germany this guy's been dealing with this for like four months now summer yeah like that that is that is concerning and i again i don't i don't know because they don't give you any information and everything's day to day and no one knows exactly what's going on you don't know what it is if it's muscular or what have you. But you can see something is in. Yeah. There's been some shifts where he's been laboring.

Well, Hayes, if you look at actually the NHL has all those NHL edge stats. If you look at his skating stats, he's below 50 percentile in all of them. And it's like, yeah, that kind of tracks. That's not good for an MVP caliber player. But you know what, guys, though? Like, I thought it was weird at the end of the season he wouldn't share what he had wrong. You know, remember, like, it was in the scrum. It was like, you know, what were you fighting, whatever.

I just prefer not to talk about it. So is it something that he just has to live with? Like, I don't know. Like, is it the same potential thing that he was dealing with last year that's just has to live with. I don't know. Is it the same potential thing that he was dealing with last year that's just like, hey, this is how your body's going to be? I don't know what it is, and I don't like to speculate because all we're doing is throwing spaghetti at a wall. But I just thought it was peculiar.

Last year, at the end of playoffs, always, it's like, yeah, that guy was playing with a broken thumb. Right, who cares? The ankle, the thumb, or the ribs, or whatever. It's like, yeah, I'm not going to talk about it. Brian Marchand had four surgeries this summer. We heard about all of them. I know.

Yeah. Hernia, elbow. The fact that he didn't share it, it just leads me to believe that maybe it's something that is going to potentially linger for a long time for him. I don't know. Well, I mean, if that's the case, then that's a real concern. Again, we don't have a definitive answer on that, but if he is going to be playing at 80%, that's trouble. Big time.

Yeah, it's big time trouble. As for Matt Murray, making his return to the NHL, first time in, I believe, 628 days. Not only that, Joseph Wall was not a participant in the skate this morning. Oh, boy. So he's not playing tonight. He will back up, but they play the Islanders tomorrow, and then they got an afternoon game against Winnipeg on Monday. I wouldn't be surprised if Murray's playing tonight and Monday, and that's already been determined because they don't want to tax Joseph Wall. What do you expect out of Murray, and where's already been determined because they they don't want to tax joseph wall what uh

what what do you expect out of murray and where's your head at when it comes to the volatility of the goaltending position well first on murray i think the toronto maple leaf always intended for matt murray to be their third goalie i think they wanted hill to be to be in the minors they wanted murray to get healthy. He himself, Murray, had surgery on both hips. He now feels like he can move better. He's freed up. He went through a tough time, both physically, off the ice.

He lost his dad. There's a lot going on in his life, and I am sensitive to that. I'm glad that he's back sort of invigorated enough to want to play because I think he was probably at a point in his career where I wasn't sure if he was going to keep playing because it was not going the way he wanted it to go.

So in that sense, I'm happy for him. You look at his numbers in the minors, he's got a 931 save percentage. He's played eight games. It feels like a viable option to come play. You forget he's only 30. He feels like he's 36 because he's been around so long and he's been through some stuff. And Canadian markets, some stuff.

So this is always the plan. Get him healthy, get him up and running, and then have him be a third option in case they needed a break or someone got hurt. And unfortunately, someone did get hurt. And I don't know, maybe he needs a break, which is crazy to me. I don't even want to believe that anything other than Wall is getting a scheduled day off just because.

Because he's got to stay healthy. He cannot get hurt. Not right now. The Leafs are a good team. Matt Murray in net. He'll be in net. They'll still win games. They'll still win games. They'll still make the playoffs.

But the concern to start the year was always, can both these goalies stay healthy the majority of the season? And it was an understandable concern given their track records. And it would be a real shame for the Leafs, who's done a lot right this season, and their goaltender has been spectacular, to have them. I mean, Wall's already missed time with injury.

Now we're going to have Stollers miss a whole bunch of time with injury. Like, it's already sort of reared its ugly head. You don't want it to happen anymore, even though the Leafs will keep winning, regardless of who's in that. With Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, so the Ottawa Senators went again last night in overtime,

and they're on fire. They've won more games in the month of December than any other team in the league. And based on points percentage, if the playoffs were to start tonight, Leafs-Sens, Battle of Ontario, if that ends up happening, which fan base or which team do you think would be happier with that? Wow. See, that's a good question. I mean, I think Ottawa would be happy because they love the idea of ruining Toronto's life.

I think as a fan base, they would probably be just as happy about beating Toronto than happy about winning themselves. You know what I mean? Just ruining it for Leafs and Leafs fans. So probably that. I mean, if you're a Leafs fan, you'd be like, okay, we're happy because I guess we think we're better than them. And it's not Tampa and it's not Florida.

It's not the teams that we've struggled against. But at the same time, I guess maybe then you feel more pressure when you're a decided favorite and you're supposed to win and what an upset it would be if you don't. Maybe that resonates the wrong way. I want to see it. I don't care about the pressure. That would be awesome. That would be incredible. I think the answer

is Ottawa, too, because that would mean Ottawa's in. If you're a Sens fan, regardless of who you're playing, you're in. You're guaranteed your playoff spot. It's funny, the Battle of Ontario stuff, and Johnny, you lived it. You know, 20 years ago, Leaf fans were putting their hand out. It didn't matter what Ottawa did.

You're dying to play them because you always believed the Leafs were going to beat them. Now, like that doesn't count anymore. You know, like the Leafs are the modern-day Ottawa Senators of the late 90s and early 2000s. Great team, loaded with talent, regular season, get to the playoffs and can't find it. As much as I think if you're a Leaf fan, you'd appreciate not playing Boston, Tampa,

Florida. You'd certainly be a favorite. You'd be at home. Allmark's a guy they've had some success against when he was in Boston. It was Swayman that got him last year. But the psychology of Leaf fans, the idea of losing again, but this time to Ottawa, would just be

crushing, man. That would be so tough. It would be devastating, and you would hear about it forever. Forever. And they would hold it over forever, which, you know, why not? Listen, Ottawa's no joke. They're a good team.

They're playing well. They are sort of the underlying numbers are matching up with goaltending and the overriding ones now. Yeah, their best will be pretty good. Although I still think Toronto would be quite a favorite in that series. Yeah, good on Ottawa, though.

One good run, goaltender playing lights out, and all of a sudden they're the hottest team in the league and up in the playoffs. Yeah. Brady Kachuk, what happened last night? I was just going to say, do we have the clip there? It's pretty good. Kenzie does a postgame with him. Yeah, we have it.

Why don't we play it? He was banged up. Let's play it. Was this after the game? He scored the OT winner last night. Yeah. Because he's got the shirt, the undershirt is, like, hysterical on this guy postgame.

But here's Brady Kachuk with Kenzie on TSN postgame last night. Let's talk about the obvious here. The work around the mouth here. How was the mouth? How were the teeth? How are you feeling? I don't feel too good right now, but it'll be a tougher day tomorrow. But, yeah, nine be a tougher day tomorrow.

But, yeah, nine stitches, one tooth gone. So, oh, Jesus, I've got a face for radio right there now. So, that ain't good. You know what? You can barely talk, man. You know what? He's got a list going. Yeah. He's a mess.

And he knows tomorrow it's going to really be painful. All I could think about is that's twice's twice in what a week and a half because the tom wilson one was just as bad like that was and hyman was worth how about zach hyman hyman broke his nose like what he scored last night too i would score and his face was mashed man you're right between wilson and kachuk and hyman, it has been a tough, tough week. Advisors are mandatory. It's an old school look. I don't know if you guys heard Brad Marchand. Did you hear Brad Marchand's comments about Hyman breaking his nose?

Because Marchand's like, I've broken my nose. He was pretty funny in the scrum in the morning. Because Marchand's pretty funny. But you're right, that's some pain that those guys have had to go through. Brady, there was a weird game for the Sens last night. It was kind of a methodical. Calgary kind of plays and clogs you up, and there wasn't much going on. But we were saying in the booth, it's like, man,

if Brady ends up coming back off of that split lip and losing a tooth and winning the game, that would be pretty impressive. And sure enough, he does it. So, you know, the Sens are on a roll here. They're on a heater. They're on a heater. Lastly, we'll get you out of here with this, you know, the Vancouver story. They lost again last night. Their offense has dried up.

Demko's back and has been playing decently. But this Pedersen-Miller stuff, which is now, it's completely taken off in the market. It's like everyone is buzzing about whether or not Elias Patterson, JT Miller, can they get along? Do they get along? Is it going to work? I mean, what do you make of, I guess, as a player in the room, player dynamics? Like, I don't know if they like each other or not, if they're friendly or not, but you would know this.

I mean, there's a lot of guys in the room. Not everyone's best friends, but you've got to be a professional and play through it. If you can't, then something's going to have to give, I would assume. It's amazing how much traction this has gotten. I think we all have been around long enough that we've heard

Jamie McLennan doesn't like Mike Johnson. You kind of hear stuff every now and then. There's no doubt that teams can be very successful. Not every Stanley Cup winner is full of 25 best friends. Absolutely. Guys are different.

They get along differently, whatever it might be. To suggest that this is news, if you've been around the NHL, it's not really news. That there's maybe been a little friction there over the last few years. But to get to this point, and the thing is, Hayes, the fact that it's so public is only going to exacerbate whatever issue there is.

Right. Because now it's out in front of everyone. Like, now everyone knows, you know, Miller doesn't like Pedersen, or Pedersen doesn't like like Miller or they don't get along or they don't like to play together or whatever, however you want to phrase it. And now they're going to get it. Like, now they don't get asked about it every single day. What's your relationship like with him?

What is the problem with him? But if it gets to the point, and I've seen definitely, I've been on teams where guys didn't care for each other 100%. But never to the point where it ever bled over to the ice. I don't want to play with Brian Hayes because I don't like that guy. I'm not going to flask him the puck. I'm going to, you know, whatever. I won't feel good about my own game

unless I... That stuff doesn't really happen. So that's the surprising part. But at the end of the day, they're going to have to make a decision. If it's to that point, and it's so public, and it's so distracting, they'll have to pick. Now, you'd think you'd pick Patterson almost just because of the age.

He's like, whatever, four or five years younger than JT Miller. But the contract's heavier, and if you're asked Rick Tauk, and which player is more Tauk's kind of player, you might say it's JT Miller, with sort of his in-your-face style of play and style of carrying himself. So I don't know. I just think the worst thing that could have happened

for this already maybe fractured relationship is for it to be this public that there is a fractured relationship. That's not going to help anybody at all. No, that is for sure. And again, they're still hanging on to a playoff spot, Vancouver is, but it's tedious. They don't have a ton

of wiggle room right now and it's only December. You've got a lot of time to figure it out. I think if they're all healthy again and moving in the right direction, you would think they're going to be a very good team by the end of the season. There's been a lot of these stories in the NHL, man. It's pretty wild. It's like a lot of these stories in the NHL, man. It's pretty wild.

It's like a soap opera right now. And I'm sure that'll be the case in Buffalo tonight, and I'm sure it'll be the case in Ottawa come Boxing Day. So have yourself a Merry Christmas, buddy. Have a great World Junior call. I'm sure we'll catch up during the tournament. I certainly hope so, and we appreciate you doing this as always. All right, boys, thank you very much.

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, And we'll talk next week. You got it. There he is, Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Check out Maple Toyota's huge truck and SUV lineup, including Tundra, Forerunner, Highlander, and Grand Highlander in stock and ready to deliver. Visit mapletoyota.com.