OverDrive - Olczyk on Crosby's prime leadership, the captain of Canada and Ovechkin's goal chase

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

NHL on TNT Eddie Olczyk joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the 4 Nations Face-Off experience, the views of the roster in the tournament, Sidney Crosby leading the Penguins, Alex Ovechkin's goal scoring run, the Capitals' elite season and more.

2025 is your year. 2025. Started right with New Year, New You on iHeartRadio. New year, new you. Good vibes playlists like party hits, chill tracks on lo-fi, and motivational podcasts to crush your resolutions. From wellness, finances, travel, and more.

Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. Here is Former Leaf, one of our favorites here. You see him and hear him on the NHL on TNT. Joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline, here's Eddie Olchuk.

Eddie, we're just discussing the captains, the four captains named for the four nations as a proud american yourself what you make of austin matthews being the captain of the team u.s.a. uh... can't go wrong uh... plenty of ops obviously uh... on all four teams but nice to be with you guys happy new year haven't talked to you guys in a while hope everything is going well hard to believe we're, what, it's less than two weeks now, right? We're gonna be getting this opportunity to see the,

you know, I'm calling it the appetizer for the Olympics, you know, from almost a year and a month from now. So it should be great. But look, I mean, you know, I, Austin Matthews will do an amazing job and he has obviously a boatload of help inside that locker room, just like the other teams do and you know, you got, you know, you probably legitimately have, you know, 15, 16, you know, leaders and captains and alternate captains inside each room. So, uh, I don't think you could go wrong, but great choice.

I certainly wish Team USA well in the foreign nations faceoff. Edzo, what's your assumption on the intensity? I've heard wavering things like, it's just going to be some kind of weird extension of the All-Star game and I'm not sure guys are gonna be Individ and then you hear some of the American guys like the Kachaks. They're gonna be going yes and crushing guys What do you think it's gonna be like? Oh, I think once they're in it old dog. I think it's going to be for keeps I mean, I sure hope so me too, you know, we you know, we we we

TNT down here in the States, we're sharing with our partners at ESPN and we're doing, you know, we're doing game one in Montreal and then we're getting, we're getting the last few games in Boston in the preliminary round. So we have a double header that day and I think it's the 17th of February, but, you know, sure hope both those

games mean something, you know, because there could be a possibility where you get to a game, you know, obviously at the end of the, you know, the round robin or whatever we're calling it, the preliminary round is where you could get, I mean, it could happen that the last couple of games don't mean anything, you know, and I've obviously, you know, for us selfishly or I mean, just for hockey fans in general, I mean, that would be, you know, that wouldn't be the greatest thing. But look, I think it's going to be a competitive tournament. I mean, you know, highly unlikely that both games aren't going to mean something, but that is a distinct possibility. But look, I would hope that these

guys will look at this as a, as an opportunity to set up what's going to happen in 13 months from now and set themselves up and, you know, for the Olympics. But, you know, it's an opportunity here to get away from the regular season for a while and go play with the best players in the world and represent your country. Any of the guys I've talked to from any of the four countries, they all theme and are saying the right things. So I'm anticipating a plums to the wall type of feeling for these games. If you get a game where it doesn't mean anything, okay, yeah, maybe we do have an exhibition.

Maybe, maybe it does. But I would say when there's money on the line and there's a chance to get to the championship to me, I think that these guys want to win and I don't think anybody wants to embarrass themselves and I think it's going to be all out. So I could just speak from experience again. It's a different time. I know it's in the middle of the season, but having gotten the chance to play in the 84, 87 and 91 Canada Cups, uh, you know, going into a season, I mean,

that was as high intense and, uh, you know, just, it was just, it was just another level. I mean, it really was. And all its different times and different type of tournament, but I think there's something to it when you're going up against the very best. I played in the Olympics in 1984 for Team USA as an amateur, So I mean even though every other country was you know was you know so-called professional you know now we have there you know we have the best players in the world playing in the Olympics now again. I think that it's as a player I think you go out there and you just you know you give it all and

whatever happens happens but I just I just got a feeling that it's going to be some entertaining hockey and hopefully everybody will be able to enjoy it and then get back to the national hockey. John Betty Olchuk, Eddie, much like yourself I have some international experience. I dominated the Spangler Cup. It sounds like you played a few more tournaments than I did. So chemistry, how do you get the chemistry quickly for any of the teams to be ready? Because it could be over before you even know it. Yeah, that's a tough one, Strati. I mean, that is going to be the difficult part for

everybody. You just better hope that your goaltender or goaltenders have the chemistry, because maybe they can weather the storm in a game or weather a couple of periods and allow you to get a goal on a power play or whatever, you know, like, yeah, it's fair. It's a fair question. I don't think that there's, you know, I don't think that there's an answer to it. Now, I would assume that these coaches would look at players and the teams that they come from or if there's been a relationship in prior years with teams or whatever, is that you're gonna go ahead

and label guys up and let them play together like McCarr and Taves, obviously, for Canada. You can just go up and down and you can see where you can get that chemistry right away. But it is all a part of the process. And look, a lot of these guys, and that's what these tournaments are about, is all of these guys are usually on the first power play. All these guys are usually going over the board's first kill penalties. All these guys are usually out there at the end of the game. Well, that's not going to be the case. I think accepting and executing your role, regardless of what it is, and there's well-documented

stories over the years, and all these great tournaments that have happened from Canada Cups to back in 96 and the World Cup of Hockey and all that kind of stuff. You got guys that, hey, I need to go out and take a face off and get the hell off the ice and get the big boys out there. That's what you got to do. So I think you could develop chemistry I think off the ice and hopefully it carries to on the ice and I think only time will tell but to me the most important part will be is it might take a little bit of time and there is no time so your goaltender or goaltenders

might have to be the ones that you've got to make sure that they're ready to go and give yourself a chance to get your seed legs under your so to speak. Eddie, you were calling the Penns win last night and Sid's always going to be a guy that I think a lot of Canadian hockey fans are tracking just because of who he is and we referenced he's the captain and he's going to the four nations but the fact of the matter is Pittsburgh's in a they're in a pretty tough place second last in the East yet you got to see him up close it's been like that I mean exactly like yeah you know exactly a handful of you know a handful of years now you know so I think it's you know

it's obviously I mean it's sad because you look at Sid like last year I thought he was I thought he was I Thought he should have won the Selkie Trophy last year I mean, I know Barkov had an unbelievable year, but I thought it had just as good as a year Maybe one of the best years he's had in a very very long time when it comes to the 200 foot game so look I didn't mean to interrupt you there, but I mean this is like I like I, I sometimes, I, when, when people say, you know, like they're really surprised that the penguins are, are where

they are or whatever, I mean, unless you just kind of woke up and you just see what's going on and go, geez, well, yeah, how does this team, you know, but like, if this has been on the horizon here for, you know, a good, what, four years, five years, maybe, I I mean I think that's that's fair now look at he does have said still has the ability like he did last night to keep you and drag you into the fight and give you a chance but you know like you know last time I checked father and mother time are undefeated and you know like he needs help I mean there's there's no doubt about it and they're there in must-win situations you know each and every night now and I'm talking to Mike Sullivan you know before at the morning skate yesterday I mean you could just you know you can just

tell like he feels like they played their best game of the season in LA a couple of games ago and then they go and lose to Anaheim and you know in Seattle and then they lost I think you know they lost to San Jose I mean I I you know I didn't think they played all that great in San Jose but I mean not that that really matters but you know they think that they kind of deserve better in some of these games but you know you know you've played 50 games now and you know you're a bubble team I mean you were a bubble team last year, you missed. You're a bubble team this year and unless you go on a you know 8 of 10 or 15 of 20 here you know you're gonna be on the outside looking in. So I mean I mean it's I feel you know I feel for Sid but I mean look

at we've seen this in a lot of different markets where you have Hall of Fame players playing in their 16, 17, 18 season and having a difficult time getting their teams to where they were before. I mean, it's happened in Detroit, it happened in Chicago, it's happening in Pittsburgh now, so I mean it's just inevitable is that if the ownership and the franchises aren't ahead of it, this is what's going to end up happening. I mean look what's happened in Chicago here now. You're going on almost eight years now. Detroit, it's been a battle, right? I mean since the days of Lichtrom and Datsuk and Zetterberg and Holmstrom and Steve and all those guys. I think a lot of hockey people saw this coming

a couple of years ago as if they didn't turn the page or try to go in a different direction and they just kept coming back with it and now they're in a you know, they're in the same spot that they were last year and you know, I mean, I How did he get out of it and it be I mean they're gonna be a bubble team again next year, right? Oh at best at best don't know, you know don't know how they're gonna get out of it and Look, I mean watching him play is still amazing I mean look I was lucky enough to be there in Pittsburgh when he came, when he was a rookie in the National Hockey League, and the move was going a lot of control, and

did not disappoint. I mean, from the first day he stepped on the ice to practice, he just knew that this guy was breathing different air, and this guy is going to go down as, without a doubt, one of the greatest players ever playing in national hockey. Absolutely. With Eddie Olchuk and that's kind of where I was going was the teams not helping him but he still looks great and then you look at the other end of the spectrum in the east you got the Capitals running away with the conference. Amazing. And there's Ovi doing his thing and I'm curious are you a believer in Washington and how big

of an impact do you think Ovi can have you know every other night in the playoffs? Yeah well Shreddy and O'Dock can I mean they can certainly relate is that you know when you do have that you know that rallying cry or that rallying point inside that locker, this is as big as it could ever get, right? When you've got a chance to take down the greatest goal score in the history of the National Hockey League. There is something, I think, inside that locker room that is galvanizing that team and wanting to be a part of it

and wanting to see Ovi to get it. Now, whether or not he gets it or not this year, I mean, who knows what's going to happen, right? Like, he's going to have a couple of weeks off here. And, you know, when he comes back, how, you know, is he going to be able to be moving like he has been here recently? I mean, you know, there's, you know, he's kind of slowed down here a little bit. And, you know, but the team is playing unbelievable and that's certainly

an important part for them too. But I think, you know, Ovi's chase, I think, has a lot to do with how well that they're playing collectively. They are playing so well without the puck. They're defending very well. And look at it. I mean, when you add experienced defensemen, you know, on the back end, like they have over the course of the summer, it's such an important part. You get Chickren in there, you got Matt Roy in there. You know, they went a little bit younger last year and it didn't work jersey did that two years ago they went younger it didn't work to have the injury to hamilton that really hurt

that all of a sudden jersey goes out and in gets you know gets brendan dylan and gets brett has she you know they get hamilton back and all of a sudden the devils when they're going there you know they look like they're a team that should be competing for a conference final in the East. But for me, when I watch the Washington Capitals, they just look like they're very comfortable. They play, they check very well, they're not giving up a whole heck of a lot. And they can play any way you want.

You want to play a 7-6 game? They got guys that would love to do that, but they got guys in that team that, you know what, they're willing to go ahead and play a 2-1 game or if you want to go ahead and drop the gloves and play a real physical game, they can do that too. So I think you're looking at the coach of the year right there with Spencer Carberry. He's done an amazing job and all the moves that have been made off the ice but long-winded yes I think that the Caps can carry over what they're doing into the playoffs. Now we know the game is much different in the playoffs, the rink gets a little bit smaller but I think

the chase for the grade eight is certainly a big reason why that this team has you know kind of just found that chemistry and is having an unbelievable season. And they don't look like they're slowing down really. I mean, they've had maybe a blip or two, but other than that, they've been pretty damn consistent and that's pretty damn impressive. Absolutely, it is. Always great catching up with the Eddie. Enjoy the Four Nations face off and we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this Okay, guys nice to be with you. Thanks for having me There is Eddie old Chuck 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 maple Toyota comm