OverDrive - OverDrive - April 17, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Join Aaron Korolnek, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the upcoming Battle of Ontario. We talk about the Canadiens clinching a playoff spot and their first-round matchup with the Capitals. We also discuss Gabriel Landeskog return to play and what role he will play for the Avalanche.

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Join today and be part of something amazing. This Hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Welcome into Overdrive on this Thursday afternoon. I'm Aaron Kirolnik in for brian hayes today that's dave festrick from the toronto star the old audit jeff o'neill to my left game eighty two

the end of the regular season national hockey league for the toronto maple leafs the playoffs on the horizon fellas the best time of year is here they should just have a rule in the league where toronto can call detroit or the other way around and say do you really want to play this game like you can have the two or we can have the two give fans some kind of jersey and say it's not happening tonight because who the hell wants to watch it or I mean at least let a team sit out players I know there's cap restrictions where you

can't sit guys because you have to do this or that but to play this game and I am on the broadcast. I want to watch it. TSN 4, I can't wait. I don't even think anything about the actual game will be discussed in between periods. It's going to be the playoff matchups, what's going on. Are you like most people around here by the way, youngsters? Youngsters? I'm not a youngster now? Come on. That like, what are you like, Dougie, our producer.'m not a youngster now come on that like what are you like doogie our producer had a youngster he had to go on youtube to watch clips you know thirty six years old i remember how old people working together for

fourteen years i didn't know i'd say you're well aware of what was going down when joe newindyke sniped a call to snipe on patrick laleem one of the defining moments of my childhood not for the lean they one of your memories of the old battle of Ontario well I mean I think I covered a lot of it that's how old I am I mean the thing that sticks out to me oh oh dog that's a terrible goal why are you reaching over there with your glove I have my locker save that he tried to save with his glove. But as he shoots that shot, oh dog, the thing that kills me about how largo that was,

first of all, it's in standard definition. That he's standing up? The goaltender's standing up, and Joe Neuendijk in that clip is using a wooden stick. A stick made of wood. They haven't used those in quite some time. I think he used that for his whole career. I don't think he ever made the shift

to like any type of aluminum, but I don't know I'm looking forward to it man. They got to get through this game and I would assume tonight Like fourth liners always want more ice time third liners want more I like Austin Matthews is on the fourth line tonight Oh, I might give you a sniff on the power play you might get some I don't know what I'm gonna do with you But you're not gonna play a whole lot lineups the same as Tuesday night against Buffalo dude I get it but as far as deploying the guys for sure

the top line you're now our fourth line tonight you're hardly going out there I don't know when I'm gonna put you out there but they might set a record in their careers for minutes played in a game because I wouldn't it wouldn't be that much well we saw a prime example of what tonight could hold for the Leafs and you hope that's not the case last night with Dallas, right? Jason Robertson gets hurt and that's got to be the worst nightmare for everybody involved. If you're playing a game tonight, doesn't matter if you're playing with Toronto or Ottawa or Carolina, a bunch of teams play tonight who have playoff aspirations, deep playoff aspirations and you got to be very careful.

That's the thing. It's a no-hitter, man. It is a no-hitter, but sometimes... Going in and walking a shot No, thanks. I never liked the mentality of going out there saying I Got to mail this one in because I don't want to get hurt because sometimes karma gets you or it's just you You put yourself in a stupid position and you ultimately do end up getting hurt Well, I guess if you're gonna put your jersey on and and do it the right way You might as well go out and play the game the way it's supposed to be played

Well, that's the thing like you got to go full speed because if you start going three-quarters speed guess what there's guys in the other team that don't care and they'll be happy to drill you and I'm with you like if you're Craig Barube it's like short shifts you know limit your time out there but I think you want the guys just sort of getting the getting the legs going just keeping their timing it's it's really just a prep game in a lot of ways. And I'm sure Detroit's on board as well they just want to get out of dodge and get the hell out of here preseason game

that's what it has to be it has to be a preseason game and you mentioned the lineup being the same or I mentioned the lineup being the same Joe Wall will start and I think perhaps the most important thing coming from practice today is what Craig Barube had to say about Oliver Ekman-Larson, Jake McCabe and David Camp saying he's fairly confident that all three will be ready for game one. Now we have been led astray by Craig Barubei and the Toronto Maple Leafs with regards to injuries in the past, but I will take Barubei at his word there and if all three guys are in the line up for game one, that's obviously huge for Toronto. McCabe and Tanev as your shutdown pair against likely Brady Kachuk and Tim Stootsla, that

top line. And you'll have all of Ekman Larsson slotted properly playing the third pair. The Leafs are going into the postseason as healthy as they've been all year. You just mentioned Brady Kachuk. It's going to be fascinating how that plays out because I don't think it's going to be a four nations type scenario where he's gonna want to kill somebody in a fight off the first face-off I mean I'm not gonna put it I'm not gonna put it past them but who's gonna be the taker on the other side is it Brandon Carlo is

it max I don't know I just don't know if there's a taker and I mean we were talking yesterday with Ray Ferraro where it's like you almost like just let him go crazy out there and see if he takes a penalty Because he has to focus on Kind of meaningful physicality purposeful stuff where he just gets in on a four-check and he's a bear that way in the playoffs There's no sense. I mean scrums are gonna happen But if you think you're gonna bully somebody with scrums and punches, I just don't know if that can happen Well, I mean Brad Marsha made a career out of it

I mean he has made a career out of it you can't I think you can do it if you know who you're doing it to but I would rather see him run guys over in the corner get the puck and and and make plays off of that as opposed to the suit the stupid stuff because it'll get to a point where it's so distracting for his own game there's only so much you can do in 60 minutes of hockey yeah I mean look it kind of reminds you of like the Nazem Kadri conundrum in Toronto, right? Like you loved everything about that guy when you were a Leaf fan. You also hated a lot of things about him because the line between being an unpredictable menace out

there, which he could be at his best. Well, what you hated, David, is- And being a liability. Yeah. What you hated is he wasn't on the ice. He took himself out of the series. Right. So that's the thing. Like you you want a Brady Kuchak on your team But you don't want the negativity that a guy like that can bring a cadre s scenario So I'm with you. Oh Doug like, you know, if you're the centers in some ways It's a massive opportunity here because like there's there's zero pressure on your team

You know We're listing off all the guys who've never played in the playoffs that are on that roster that are prominent guys from Kachuk to Stutzla to Shabbat to Sanderson to Greg to Pinto. They've got some guys with experience, but the idea that they have zero experience, the Leafs have all this baggage, if you're the Senators, this is the easiest setup going

in terms of having no pressure and no expectation. Well, and would you rather have the experience of getting blasted in the first round almost every single year, especially recently when you're a favorite in most series, like the Toronto Maple Leafs have been, or no experience at all? Would you rather this baggage, as you call it, or the demons that Paul McLean, who's going to join us at 5.30, said the Leafs have in the Stanley Cup playoffs? It's a fair question. Yes, the Leafs have been in the playoffs for nine straight years, depending on how you view the play-in

against Columbus. While the Ottawa Senators, most of their core pieces, save a couple of guys, haven't been there at all. And I don't know if that's an advantage or a disadvantage, but we'll find out Sunday at seven o'clock. I think it would be the wrong way to look at it if you're the Ottawa Senators to say there's just no pressure on us. Whatever happens whatever happens happens I think you can talk yourself into a losing mentality I think they should be excited oh yeah because of one thing they've got a goaltender and if you talk to anybody around that team this year when that guy's dialed in and he plays good it's all they've all said the same thing

people in the media you talk to anybody in Ottawa it's like when that guy's dialed in and he's he's real good and on his game. It's almost like they feel like they can't lose That's how good he can be and if he gets anywhere close to that They they could put it together and in and cost some harm to teams, man I just think looking at it is now there's no pressure here. I think that's stupid. It's a stupid mentality really yeah I mean, I'll tell you what Oh dog you cannot tell me that the pressure has not affected the leaks i mean the idea that they've beaten themselves more than they've been beaten

in this run of the one for nine playoff series in the shana plan era you know they shouldn't lost a columbus just when you thought they were gonna snap out of it and when the game for her own fashion they don't show up to game five it shouldn't you know we go down the list of games where they showed the weight of expectation and the weight of the moment was too much for them so you can say that no pressure is no big deal

you know my experience watching athletes is it can be a big deal and it becomes overwhelming at times. Well it's going to be fascinating because we break down the Toronto Maple Leafs on the daily and it's the micro it's Craig Barube is a new coach and it was needed in there's a different voice there's a different approach there's a different for check there's better play when games are tight they did they displayed that the last month back-to-back situations the way they play they give themselves a chance to

win from key games like going into carolina they always seem to find a way to lose that came back to back or carolina good team they lose the game but now it's kind of big picture. What's the new approach because in years and past We really didn't know what they thought of the playoffs because they never really talked about it Like nobody really came out and said man This is like you know we've had some disappointments and we're really gonna try to make it count this year like we're cupper But it's just Hayes has mentioned it a bunch of times the the idea of the Stanley Cup playoffs they never talk about it mm-hmm so we don't really know where their head spaces are at although they

probably wouldn't tell us but can they change that approach because it seems like in years past and it's been a bunch of years now their approach when the playoffs start is well this is here again I hope nothing crappy happens or nothing goofy yeah which is kind of a crazy approach when you got a quality team in a chance to win all the time it's never like let's lay it on the line and make our own breaks and we're going to come out of the gates and we're going to be flying its all the playoffs are here like i hope nothing crappy happens that seems to

have been there kind of approach to it you guys know exactly what i'm talking about when i bring up this reference and there are times you're in a golf match with someone who you play with a lot and they have a tendency to melt down when the pressure ramps up. If I'm Ottawa, well I am talking about Carlo although he does come up clutch in C-Flight Club championships everybody knows that and the Nationals well but there are guys you look at you're like I know this guy is going to choke it away like a dog down the stretch. Or have a play on the negative end where it's critical.

Sure, and if I'm Ottawa, and maybe this is the wrong outlook for them, the number one reason why I believe, whether it's right or wrong, is because they've seen it, they've been sitting on the sidelines for the entire time, a lot of these guys watching the Leafs blow big leads in playoff series, not being able to score losing

game sevens i'm hyping myself up and like sure the Leafs won the Atlantic division and sure they're probably the better team on paper but these guys have choked it away and they're going to choke it away again and we're going to be the ones on the other side winning the round and moving on around too whether or not it happens we're going to have to wait until Sunday night to find out but as far as the reasons if I'm Ottawa to believe in my chances me say say what you will about all mark I think they've got quality depth up front Jake Anderson's a stud on the back end but I think you have to look at the other side of the ice as to why you should be more optimistic than anything well the one thing for the Ottawa Senators and it's

got to be their main focus is and it's been true with all the series that we watch that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been on the losing end the Ottawa Senators have to go into this series and it's going to be the most critical thing that other teams have accomplished is if you give the star players from the Toronto Maple Leafs time and space they will kill you oh yeah if you turn pucks over and let them go the other way Mitch Barner and Austin Matthews the last three or four games have been torching the opposition on turnovers. Tampa there was two in Carolina and in Buffalo.

So if you want to do that, they might crush you. But the big thing is, everyone says after the series, where were those guys? When the time and space is taken away from them, they have not had success come playoff time at making plays. So that's got to be Ottawa's number one goal. Take away their time and space, make their life miserable, and let's see if this series, they wanna battle through it or can battle through it or find a different way to create offense because in the past they haven't done that.

Let me ask you this. The Sens beat the Leafs 3-0 in this season's series. Toronto scored three goals in those three games. How much meaning, if any, do you put in those results well if anything all that is is just some video for Travis green to show their team this is this is how you guys were successful when this happened when that happened but I don't I don't buy any regular season matchup it's just it's a different animal when the puck drops and I don't think you can say there's gonna be definitely things to

draw on yeah and for Toronto too they had they Ottawa came into Toronto I don't know which game it was it might have been in November it might have been in January but I think they won three nothing and they were dialed in like it was a playoff type game where they took away time and space they were physical they were structured and they played well and they got the job done look you're right it's hard to say what it's going to be like because we just haven't seen Ottawa in this and we have seen the Leafs. But I'll say like when you think about the way the Leafs have played down the stretch here, you know, Stolarz has been central to it, right?

And the only thing that I am a little bit concerned about if I'm Craig Berube is, you know, Stolarz's next start in the class will be his first start in the class. And you just never know. It shouldn't make a difference. It's the same game. It's the same players, same equipment, same ice, same net. But we've seen plenty of Vezna caliber guys look like you know complete duds when it matters the class and thinking about

leafs east in winnipeg mister connor hellebuck your with the last couple years has gone from vizna to absolute not by ability in in the class so you just never know how the moment is gonna affect guys now my read of anthony still ours and i don't know but you guys is I'm not particularly concerned if I'm Craig Berube but the fact that he has no history he has zero

resume in the playoffs it's not a mop-up duty last year for one game in the final that is that is a nice interesting kind of you know like an unknown that you really just gonna have to keep an eye on what I find really interesting about how a lot of people are looking at this series are pointing to Anthony Stolar's and goal which is clearly a huge upgrade over what the Leafs had last year in the year. It's still a major it's gonna be a major talking point for sure lose. Yes the new defenseman on the team Ekman Larsen, Jake McCabe and Brandon Carlo coming over from Boston the deadline very important but the point remains that the reason the Leafs continually lose in the post

season, especially in game sevens, especially over the last couple of years, they don't score. So if Matthews and Marner and Tavares and Nylander and Matthew Nyes and Morgan Riley and the guys who are expected to contribute offense aren't able to score more than two goals, I don't care how good Stolarz is, I don't care how good the newly revamped defense is, they could still very lose, very well lose to the Ottawa Senators. I get it they don't score. They need to produce offense. I get it they don't score but that game seven in Boston last year where Samsonoff was put in the net and I understand that that was kind of an awkward situation

where Joseph Wall at the last minute couldn't go but that Lindholm goal terrible. That was a Lilleam goal is what that Linn. Oh, that's exactly was terrible Yeah, and even the overtime winner Pasternak was terrible. It was like oh that was totally terrible It was all terrible so you can say oh, you know they got to score the goal But if your goaltender doesn't give you a chance to score the goal it all goes hand in hand I think it's just guys stepping up goaltenders best players goes hand in hand I think it's just guys stepping up, goaltenders, best players, depth guys, like just guys stepping up to make positive impacts in games as opposed to being the guy that cost you the hockey game. Let me ask you this, O,

with regards to Canadian teams, Montreal they win last night, they clinched a spot in the playoffs, they'll play Washington. Ottawa taking on Toronto. Between Ottawa and Montreal, who's the more live dog to emerge victorious in the series for you. So basically you're asking me who's got a better chance. Who would you pick to win who's more likely to win the series again Washington has not been good down the stretch they don't have Logan Thompson we don't believe for at least the first game and Montreal has been pretty hot since the four nations anyways they get in and Ottawa I would have to say

looking at it maybe Montreal like them riding momentum in the way that Washington has played I'm sure their coach is hoping that they can flip the switch but if they don't get saves because they've been giving up a lot lately for a month three or more goals in 11 of the last 12 games for well that's got a song but I'll say Montreal has a better chance. Yeah, I would go with that too. I think Washington's vulnerable,

because this season kind of came out of the blue. Like nobody saw this team challenging for the President's Trophy. We all, every expert I have encountered and read back and kind of looked at predictions, I didn't see anybody predict the Washington Capitals to have the year they've had. And a lot of it was fueled by the emotion of the

OV chase. And now that that's over, you've seen a real deflation of that team. But I think it ultimately is what you said, AK, like if Logan Thompson gets back and he's going to be okay, now we don't know, doesn't look particularly good that he's not going to dress for game one in all likelihood. Then then that does kind of alleviate the concern there but the completely unproven team i mean as is montreal so it that is a that's a dice roll series what is really interesting is that there's a bunch of dudes who are returning from long absences tyler segan returns last night for dallas

dougie hamilton top fifty dougie he's back for new jersey man do they ever need him because they are just can killed by injuries we expect reagan chuck to play play tonight Matthew Kachuk in game one Landis Kog with Colorado I mean it sounds like he might actually play again the last time we saw Gabriel Landis Kog in an NHL game was in the final years ago and it seems like he'll be ready to rock that'll be quite the experience but you know all the guys that are out long term like the

Matthew Kachak, LTIR situation, Evander Kane, another one now. As soon as tomorrow happens, it's like, yeah, these guys are good to go for game one. It's like, wow, it's shocking that everybody's ready to go. But I think Landis Gogg's in a different category, right? Like I would be, like, I don't know how you see it,

oh, dog, for this guy to be off as long as he's been off, to have these, you know, devastating career threatening knee injuries to the point where a lot of people assumed he would never play again. Best, I give him credit for even attempting it because it would have been so easy for him to say, not check, please, but I'm going back to Sweden or wherever he lives and I'm just not doing this anymore.

Doctors have told me the percentages of me actually playing a game after the surgery because I think the odds of him playing were very minimal. Yeah. So for him to even like put two years into it, it's crazy stuff. He could have easily said, that's it for me. Thank you. Oh, I agree with you. Like I admire the persistence, but I just, I just have a hard time imagining how he is

going to hit the ground running in a playoff series. Having not played in a preseason game, a regular season game. Played two games in the AHL. He did score. He did score. He did score. It's going to be a nervous watch watching him. Where it's like, you know, when guys come back from a catastrophic injury and you're just, every time they hit somebody or bump into somebody, you're like, what's that going

to mean for that guy? What is going to, is he going to go down? And if he goes down, you know, he's never playing again. It's a nervous watch. It is. Yeah. And I mean, thinking about last night where Dallas, who have now again. It's a nervous watch. It is. Yeah. And I mean, thinking about last night where Dallas, who have now lost seven games in a row heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs, it does suck.

And Jen, Jason Robertson leaving with a brace on his knee and you would expect him to be missing some time to start the Stanley Cup playoffs, which is a massive loss and which really underscores the importance of tonight for everybody around the NHL. Be careful out there. Don't get hurt because the playoffs are here and there is not a single game tonight that means anything as far as standings go. Again, everything's locked in. Everything's locked in. And I'm sure there's guys chasing milestones. You know, John DeVars has 38 goals. Would he like to score twice tonight? Sure. Would Matthew Nives like to score his 30th goal this season? Sure. But who cares? it's all irrelevant the only number that should matter is 16 the number of wins that requires Stanley Cup

that's as I mentioned I heard Neil Bianchi was interviewed today I was like we just want to win a Stanley Cup that's all yeah I just thought you weren't you haven't getting the you didn't order your Maple Leafs Atlantic division champions t-shirt I have and I have not are those available for sale oh yeah not seller I don't think so like and I thought it like I'm not saying you shouldn't so it's not an Atlantic division there is on their team store and I thought that was like okay the Raptors put up a Atlantic division champion banners in the Colangelo era

because they hadn't won it before and it was like a milestone for the franchise and I guess you could make the case like the Leafs have won the division well you guys have gone through those numbers. Was it 99-2000? I hope there's not some kind of banner that goes up tonight because they'll get No please no no no they can't do it. Save it for next year. They have to acknowledge it. Save it for next year. Every team has this division championship now you're right you just slide that there's the shirt up on the S. My thing with this shirt was like I looked at it. I got it.

I like it. I like this. I got an email alerting me to the presence of this shirt. And the thing that just struck me was like my eyes were adjusting to the light on my laptop. And I was like, champions, like look at how big champion Atlantic divisions in like small print and it's Maple Leafs. All victories, Dave, when it it's as long as it has been for the Toronto Maple Leafs and any

Substantive success I guess they have to play off around a couple years ago. You may you may as well embrace it I don't know how many of those they're selling text us 1050 50 or tweet us at overdrive 1050 if you bought the shirt and And why you did but I respected none if it was English soccer They'd be given a trophy or sort of silverware for winning the division and people will be celebrated in the streets I don't know what we've done in North American sports where we're like the regular season. Ah, we play six months It doesn't matter. I mean, I mean it should it should matter more probably but we just we just don't find that banner up in the summer Yes I think the Vigil is right next to the Bon Jovi banner. Yes

That would be a very wise choice. So we've got a great show lined up for you today the debut of AK's list AK's list on the other side Hope this isn't a situation where Brian Hayes comes at me with a lawsuit like Tati would for some kind of one Yes, guy. No guy situation. Don't even say the words It's coming some litigious manners come in my way courtesy of Mr. Taddy Hopefully not AK's list will feature the players on Canadian teams with the most to gain heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs That is an intriguing list. It is coming your way on the other side here on overdrive

You're watching on TSN 1050 or listening on TSN 1050 watching on TSN 4. Hour 1 continues. Mail-in Thursday is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. This playoff season Boston Pizza is planning the parade and has a new all-star playoff menu for you to enjoy for pizza, pints and puck drops. Visit your local Boston Pizza today. We should wish our friend Doogieie the producer of this fine radio program a very happy birthday he is probably crushing pints at a Boston pizza right now which I respect immensely such a 23 year old thing to do take the day off on your birthday never actually heard of that shame I wouldn't even think about it but Dougie you deserve it and you're

not mailing it in I mean look you're here as far as the regulars of overdrive I think you're the only mainstay you deserve to be commended Exactly a personal day later in the summer by the way at Boston pizza That's a ballsy promo planning the parade is it is a crest Wow Maybe they're on a son. That's like maybe they're on some big I hope they're doing that in every major Canadian city that made qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs Not getting the reads are being done in Ottawa. They do AJ Jakubic's like all right in Boston pizza. You're in Ottawa They better be they better be doing it in Winnipeg in Montreal, Ottawa

Is there not a little tree-living family connection there too? Like that's a little leaf-esque. I mean, that's a little close I like it confidence battleman or go all zee but confident I like it I hope ball see but confident will also describe a case list the debut of a case list and I have compiled a list of the Five players with the most to gain coming up in the Stanley Cup playoff. Is that slash is most to gain? Does that basically mean the most pressure? No, no, it is a different spin out because I've seen people do segments on most pressure I think that as a negative connotation. This is a positive connotation This is a guy these are guys who can overcome the obstacles

Step up when their teams need it the most and maybe emerge to a different level than we thought previously This is a positive spin on the most pressure list. Okay is so smart oh wow there you go all right look at the look at the drop that we use on first up i will say though i don't want to be the negative person on this show when you compile a list of the most to gain it usually means that they're just going to get torched because they crap the bet if they don't play well that's exactly which also means there's some pressure involved there's definitely they're they're intertwined to some extent. There's no doubt.

Let me start with number five. Player with the most to gain. These are Canadian teams. Players on Canadian teams. Brady Kachuk of the Ottawa Senators coming in at number five. Think about how long we've been talking about Brady Kachuk. Oh, when this guy gets into the playoffs, he is going to be an absolute menace. 2017, the last time the Ottawa Senators were in the Stanley Cup playoffs, they are back

in the playoffs. He is the captain of that hockey team and what an incredible opportunity for him. And he's playing tonight. We think he's healthy. We think he'll be raring and ready to go in game one. To oust the Leafs in the Battle of Ontario. Think about the first foray into the Stanley Cup playoffs. The opportunity that Brady Kachuk and the Ottawa Senators have as the captain of that hockey club, what if he puts that team on his back and just dominates physically and is an absolute menace in this series? He has an incredible, incredible opportunity in front of him and that is why he is the fifth on my list of players with the most to gain in the Stanley Cup playoffs. You think of what goes into

playoff hockey and what's required as far as what a player needs to have success in his own brother has been pumping his tires saying this guy needs to get in the playoffs because he's going to dominate and he was born for this and we're going to see what what kind of leader because he's one thing i'll give the guy credit for and i was actually

a little bit critical of it where it was like the fights every night but when his teammates in Ottawa decided to mail it in the games weren't important they were losing that guy at least showed up every single night showed his teammates like no matter what the situation is here I'm gonna fight for you guys whether it's right or wrong because I have to show everybody that we're just not gonna stop so he could be massive for Ottawa on the playoffs You know we're making a lot out of the fact these guys haven't been there before and I don't put a whole lot of Into that man like well, that's that's sort of what I'm thinking like this guy's not a rookie like Brady

Kichuck's 25 years old making his playoff debut now It's a shame that it's taken this long for this franchise to get their acting gear and get into the class and provide Their best players with a chance and it you know obviously a lot of that's been on their best players for not performing but but I yeah I don't know if the lack of experience card is really gonna be a storyline that we explore beyond right now like I think game one role that's exactly and he may look pretty damn comfortable in a playoff game. He sure as all didn't look uncomfortable in the four nines. That's exactly and he may look pretty damn comfortable in a playoff game He sure didn't he sure as all didn't look uncomfortable in the four and that's exactly what I was going to say

I completely agree he looked like he was born for that and I think that's exactly what we're gonna see on Sunday night and That's gonna be a very difficult thing for the Maple Leafs to contend with number four on my players on Canadian teams With the most to gain ahead of the Stanley Cup playoffs is Mark Scheife Lee of the Winnipeg Jets. He's the number one center. 39 goals, 87 points. The Winnipeg Jets win the President's Trophy. They're the best team for the, I guess they in Washington, they're the best teams in the NHL all year long and we can't forget the last two playoff runs for Winnipeg where they lost 4-1 in the first round. Once to the Vegas Golden Knights led by Jack the first round. Once to the Vegas Golden Knights, led by Jack Eichel.

Once to the Colorado Avalanche, led by Nathan McKinnon. It's time for Mark Scheifele to step up, prove he's worthy of Olympic consideration next year, and prove he's a legit number one center that can go toe to toe with the best in the world. That is a huge opportunity for the stud for the Winnipeg Jets. Well, him, like the whole team,

I don't know how many years, I went through a stretch of years, it's been a long time now. opportunity for the stud for the Winnipeg Jets. Well him like the whole team I don't know how many years I went through a stretch of years it's been a long time now I mean how long's Mark Scheifele been in the league has been in league 10 years? Probably close to that. When that team moved to Winnipeg and they got good I was all in on them for a lot like through the buffling years and one year they made it to the conference final against Vegas and Vegas ultimately beat them but you just wonder they've kept that window open a long time man like usually the window people always talk about me somebody tweets it out as soon as a team gets eliminated

the window is just closed on that even if it's like their second time there are playoffs they're like the windows how many times as the Leafs window but the bottom line is guy they're not much different from the Toronto Maple I agree where they've had real quality teams and they've dominated the regular season Racked up regular season points individually as a team and they haven't found a way to get it done But he's their best player and he's a part of the big part of the reason they have the record the way they do And he's got to be great and their goaltenders got to be great because I think they won game one against Colorado last year And then after that it literally came apart at the same or straight yeah it was it

was incredible what happened with Georgie Evan net too so it there this kind of like they have a fresh mindset and they have a diff maybe a different belief but it's probably still in the back of their minds it's like man I hope that doesn't happen again the difference with them in the Leafs is that they did have that run to the conference finals, but it was in 2018 That's right It's a long time long it was a long time ago and now they've proven they can do it But it's been a long time since they've done it a lot of that has been You know hella book not being hella buck in the big moments

But it can't just be on the goalie and I'm a hundred percent we only might factor into this only may factor in at some I don't I died I don't disagree with that but I do think that look it's you know it's got to be a team game it's got to be we're gonna talk about the Maple Leafs a lot about the the best guys becoming the guys they can be in the playoffs and they haven't done that in the playoffs I mean Shia Flea fits in that category. Number three. For the Winnipeg Jets it's not exactly a nice gift to win the president's trophy and get the st. Louis blues One of the hottest teams in the league like it just that's the gift. Nobody wants have we heard an update on Robert Thomas

I know he left that game a couple nights ago. I would be a huge loss for the that would be huge It's just crazy how down the stretching games that don't mean anything. I think he's a leading point getters in a big He's been a beast for st. Louis. Number three on my players on Canadian teams with the most to gain, Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers. Think about the conversations we were having about this cat a year ago. One of the best young defensemen in the NHL, the Bush bomb, unstoppable power play quarterback and was left off Team Canada at the Four Nations, had a really poor seasons by his standards defensively and now for Edmonton, Matias Ekholm,

we have no idea if he will return, when he will return. Evan Bouchard is putting a lot on his shoulders and the contract he could be staring at if he steps up and plays like he did last year for the vast majority of the season and think about the impact that he could have for the Edmonton Oilers who desperately need an impact offensive defenseman, especially with Ekholm who's more of a defensive guy of course, but clearly Bouchard's going to have to step up and play a much more prominent role on both sides of that coin. So Evan Bouchard, a lot of pressure on him, but also a lot to gain. A lot to gain because I think July 1st somebody's phone could ring and they are gonna have to want

To re-up this guy. I think I don't know what his deal looks like right now. He's an RFA. He's an RFA He's gonna be an RFA. So they're gonna be he's gonna say if it doesn't start with nine you better Go running because I had him last year as one of the major X factors for the Ebb and Tornado there's because sometimes he was a little dopey out there and he'd fall asleep in his own zone during the regular season and that guy flipped the switch come playoff time and I thought he was incredible. Obviously, he leaned on Ekholm but his play alone, he was fantastic. He was competitive.

He put up points. He had critical points where it was like he was the guy. He was fantastic last year in the playoffs and if he doubles down on that again you talk about the most to gain July 1st is probably when it's gonna happen yeah and I think flip the switch is a great phrase for this team because you know that the regular season hasn't been what they wanted it to be for sure and I think that I think the Oilers are in tough man yeah and I think I gotta give it's not just because of injuries or you know worn down

or guys coming back, the LA Kings are a hell of a team and nobody's stated that. It's like they've hardly lost that home the whole year. Five times. Yeah. And I think for years, the last couple anyway, they're like, we're probably going to get Edmonton. We got to find a try to way to beat them. They look good, man. Yeah. They just might have the squad to do it this year. That's a well-built LA team for sure. But I do think, like, you know, I think it was, you know, a lot of guys have always said to me, don't always put too much stock in the recent regular season for a team that's done it before. And this is a team that's, you know, they've been to a cup final, you know, last year.

This is a team that, you know, has overcome a lot of stuff in these handful years that they've been going at it and you know I I do think they might have the ability to flip that switch and make us remember who they are after a regular season where they didn't look like themselves. Let's move on to number two on my list AK's list players with the most to gain heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs we talked about the Winnipeg Jets with Mark Shieffley number two on my list is Connor Hellebuck. If you looked at the list, and Connor Hellebuck's about to win his third Vezina trophy, you're talking about him joining a group of goaltenders like Mark Tamborodur and Patrick Waugh and

Dominic Hasek and Terry Satchuk and Ken Dryden, all-time great goaltenders. But the one thing that a lot of those guys have if not all of them is playoff success meanwhile Connor Hellebuck is 18 and 27 with a 2.85 goals against average in his playoff career He is regarded and rightfully so as a completely different player in the regular season Versus the postseason and he's got an opportunity to completely change the script and the way he's discussed because Winnipeg they just won the president's trophy, and I know they've got a very difficult matchup in round one. He might win the heart trophy. I mean, he might win the heart trophy, absolutely.

He's got a shot, it's probably a coin flip with him and Drisital. Connor Hellebuck, I mean, what a massive chance for him just to state, hey, listen, I'm the best goaltender of this generation, and I'm gonna prove it, and I understand that I have been not good in the postseason over the last seven years or

however long he's been starting for the Winnipeg Jets, but that's a guy with a lot of pressure on him and I think simultaneously an opportunity for him to establish himself as a bona fide Hall of Famer, which I think he probably already is. You win three Vezinas, that's where you're at, but he's also regarded as a guy who just doesn't come up big in the postseason and that's Not a connotation that anybody wants to have I think I'm confident that he's gonna bounce back I am too first for I don't know what the hell happened last year in the playoffs after that first victory and then all the sudden

Goals are going in left right and center and noodles will talk about what happened in front of them That wasn't good either, but the bottom line is he was the guy in net so for some reason I just think he's gonna move on from that and be dynamite these playoffs but puck drops you never know well it's it's not just last year was the year before too like he's two and eight in the last two playoff runs you know they got beaten five both times and so that concerns me but I agree with you AK like you can spin it positive for him you can you can if you're Connor Hellebuck and you've got your Bob Rotella a la Rory McElroy

in your ear trying to give you the sort of talking points that you need to put your mind right as you enter these playoffs, you could say, hey, you were a stud in the Four Nations. Now you didn't win, but he had a 932 save percentage in the Four Nations, and it wasn't his fault that the D left you know a guy named McDavid open in the slot for the winner. I mean that was certainly not the goaltender's fault. So you know he's had some recent success in big moments in

that Four Nations and he's also had like I like I'm looking at the voting for hockey writers awards and I don't know how you don't give this guy the heart like I haven't voted yet but I'm I'm having a hard time not given this guy the heart trophy is just he's been the most important player on the best team in the league and And his numbers are absolutely ridiculous ridiculous numbers. it's difficult because kucherov was so good for the tampa bay lightning and it's almost like his brilliance gets overlooked year after year where it's like all that's just what you do coach and i think the overlooking aspect is going to be a factor in connor halibut ultimately winning the heart trophy because the on dry side was fantastic for the ebb and to no one else in rey

discussed yesterday hardest thing to do in the world to score goals he got fifty i think he was the only guy in the league to score 50 goals. Unless Neal Anderson scores five tonight. Okay. But people are gonna say he's already done that and he's won a heart and not that Connor... I think Connor Hellebuyck deserves it too. He just he was so good this year. You look at the stats for only one major category because of last night the safe percentage he was second. I think he's gonna win because people are gonna look at Kucherov and I also think they're gonna look at Dryasidle and say those were fantastic seasons but that's kind of what you do and this is just so brilliant from a goaltender and the record is so good

and he was such an important factor in the record for the Winnipeg Jets that he's gonna win it. Yeah I mean 47 wins second most all-time. Braden Hobey had 48 wins back in 2017. Hellebuck got to 47 wins. That's an incredible accomplishment. In an era where goalies don't play. Exactly. This guy comes out there every night. Alright, number one, I think you can probably take a guess as to who it is.

It's Mitch Marner. He has the most to gain in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I think you could probably argue that he has the most pressure on him as well. There's no denying the fact that the Maple Leafs fan base is a little bit ambivalent when it comes to Mitch Marner And I totally understand why the playoff performances have not been commensurate with the regular season performances But I think his future Whether it's in Toronto or otherwise could very well be crystallized as to how he and the Toronto Maple Leafs

Perform in this playoff round if they're ousted in five games by Ottawa What does that mean for the future of Mitch Marner? We know the Leafs wanted to sign him before the trade deadline. Does that opinion, does that evaluation change if they're ousted in a way that is completely disgusting? And well I mean maybe it doesn't. Maybe there's a decision that's already been made regardless of what happens here with the Toronto Maple Leafs. We want Mitch Marner back in the blue and white for a long time maybe that's the decision they've made but what if it goes poorly to the point where even if Marner does

want to return maybe the Leafs are thinking no I don't think so and on the other side if Marner just kicks ass all playoffs gets the Leafs to a cup final one of the leading point producers in the playoffs, then this guy will be an absolute legend in the city. Everyone will love him and will revere him. And that's the opportunity that he has in front of him alongside his teammates. It's a good list and it's a great number one with Mitch Barner. And it's very simple.

He has to find a way to be a great game breaker come playoff time. Four nations. He did not start the game with Connor McDavid, but he made some plays and John Cooper recognized that and said, I'm going to put you back with McDavid late in the hockey game. And he made the defining play in the hockey game. He had confidence to do it. I don't know how much one in like one particular play could help his confidence, but you'd think it would help him a little bit. But it's not like he's going to run people over. It's not like he's going to get into scrums. not like he's gonna get into scrums, he's not gonna fight. He has to be a game breaker because that's what he does

and that's what people adore about him every night down at that arena. They're like, this guy's a difference maker. He's the one that gets it in overtime against the Montreal Canadians and rips it home against the Edmonton Oilers. He can play defense against McDavid and Dry-Seidel and stop them both and then go the other way and score a goal. He's a game-breaker and a difference-maker, one of the best, if not top five in the league, difference-makers in a game.

But he has failed to do that come playoff time. And I'm pretty sure when the brass of the Toronto Maple Leafs sat up there at their year end and they said there's some traits and some things that we're seeing that are consistent year after year his play and other star players play would be one of them because they just don't do enough to help their team win and if he does that things will be different and you talk about I talked about Bouchard with the ability to have financial gain come July 1st the same is gonna be for Mitch if they get to a cup final if they win

the Stanley Cup it's just an open piece of playing shag whatever number you want on the well that's a great way to serve it i had that's a great way to say yourself up for the future of the uh... but luck i mean martyrs under the microscope it's a great list a k i i i think you know i think it's a really good student list and i think that the show's been really good it's been incredible i agree i will say this like we're talking about Marnica's the contract year and he's the polarizing guy. You look at the

Shannon Plann era since 2016-17. He leads the Maple Leafs in playoff scoring. Okay. Let's not forget that. He now all of their numbers are lower than they should be and much lower than their regular season numbers. But he does lead the team in scoring in the playoffs since he got here. And that includes Austin Matthews, that includes William Ely, they played very similar numbers of games. So let's not forget that. Okay. I think it's been overblown a little bit of how he has not shown up because, you know, they've all not shown up in big moments. Yes. And he's just one of the gang But he's just one of the gang and it just so happens I would be saying this about Austin Matthews or William Nylander

It just so happens that his contract is up and hasn't got done right. That's exactly it. Those guys are locked That's why that's why he is so polarizing right now it's because it's your turn now and nothing got done like William Nylanders did and it's like After all these years if you don't have success, what's the sense of bringing the band back together? We've had that conversation. How many times? How many times? And we might have the conversation again in 10 days.

It could happen. Well, my thing is, look, they're one for nine playoff series. If they win a series here, is two for ten good? No, if they go to the conference final is three for eleven good? It's not like my thoughts on this. If they beat the Ottawa Senators, the first wildcard team, I'm not gonna say man open up the book give these guys like that's one playoff series. You should be. You know they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning everyone was excited as they should be but they followed it up with getting dummy by the Florida Panthers the very next round a team that everyone was begging for.

So it's I don't know it's got to be way different. It has got to be way different and it all starts Sunday night at 7pm TSN 1050 has games 2 4 and 6 on the station so we will be locked in for the Maple Leafs and the Battle of Ontario. I really like the list and what I'm hoping is we can get rid of Hazy's list and you could kind of pre-record something and we could just flip it on. I'm sure Brian would appreciate that.

I'm telling you, we're gonna start next week. All right. AK's list is gonna make a relist. It's gonna have to be recorded because we're gonna surprise him with it. Yeah. But weekly, we're getting AK's list. Just imagine the disgust on Brian's face. Hey Brian hold on a second before you present hazy's list

Here's a case list. Let's just break it down before you good I think he would run back there and give JP the stone cold stunner and it would be deserved It would be dessert hazy's list exceptional stuff Frank Corrado in about 15 minutes overdrive continues on TSN for in TSN 1050 overdrive is brought to you by FanDuel bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score kuralnik o'neill fest chuck on this thursday afternoon you see justin thomas fire sixty one today

at the rbc heritage i saw a stat that justin thomas over the last twenty five years as fourteen rounds on tour of sixty two or lower just dwarfs anybody else tirely is nine when jT goes low, he goes low and today he most certainly did. Unfortunately for him though he's got multiple personalities on it because he could show up tomorrow when Paul was 78 and it's like what was that? Like he just he can't him and his buddy Jordan Spieth they're fascinating to

watch because it's one day it's like I can't imagine what Greller Spieth Caddy has to live through like watching that guy Like don't you say to your player if you can't hit a fairway like figure out your driver or don't hit it hit Get me in the fairway somehow. He's crazy to watch dude. I remember watching him 2015 to 2016 Masters on the practice tee Like he didn't know which way it was going with his driver Like it was one was going left his next was going. Dude, and that's when he was good. He won.

And then he almost won 2016 before he cacked it up and raised Creek on 12. But I mean, the thing about Spieth, and Thomas to a degree, I was at the Masters this year and I heard a number of the patrons who know a lot about golf just turn around after watching Spieth and go this guy is so slow like he is the worst ever to hit every shot like you talk

about needing a shot. Guys aren't shy about it Rory McIlroy came out and says I can't stand being paired with Jordan Spieth because I can't watch him I can't stand watching him. Well you Brian Harmon you've got a lot of dudes who are the slow on PGA Tour, but Speed is like the worst to watch. Well, they're putting the range finders in this week. Yeah, that'll do it. They're starting something on the corn ferry where guys are going to get penalized and

they're going to see how it works out. If it speeds anything up, maybe they'll start bringing it to the PGA Tour. Let's hope so. Let's hope so. Just get somebody out there with a stopwatch and say you're on go. Yes. You got 40 seconds hit the thing. If you don't, you get one-shot penalty.

Right. Something like that because yeah, watching speed is agonizing at times. Frank Curato very quick prompt golfer he's going to join us to kick off our number two Paul McClain former head coach of the Ottawa Centres worked with the Toronto Maple Leafs he's coming up in our two as well you're watching overdrive on TSN 2 and listening on TSN1050. available Friday afternoon straight through till election day and beyond. I'll have your weekly highlights and my unvarnished analysis of the campaign of a lifetime. The candidates, the quotes, the polls, and the momentum. That just happened with Vashie Capello's Canada Decides 2025.

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