OverDrive - OverDrive - April 17, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Join Aaron Korolnek and Dave Feschuk for Hour 3 on OverDrive! The guys are joined by Pierre LeBrun to discuss the Leafs playoffs readiness, Feschuk provides a power ranking of Canadian playoff teams, and Korolnek gives his FanDuel best bets.

That just happened with me, Vashi Kapelos. Canada decides 2025. Stay informed with my exclusive iHeartRadio podcast, 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 Vashi Kapelos. Canada decides 2025. Fresh every Friday. Stream on your schedule with the free iHeartRadio app. Final hour of Overdrive for the week. Big Easter Friday. Tomorrow. I think it's called Easter Monday. Yes, you're right. My Judaism shining through there, Dave. Okay. Lack of knowledge about certain holidays I know Passover it's not so good for you yeah it could be a great Friday yes hour three of the show Aaron Kuralnik Dave Festchuk in for Brian Jamie and Jeff Overdrive has brought you by Fandl bring you everything from the opening line to the final score Pierre

Lebrun will call in about five minutes and I'm gonna read you Pierre's tweet from yesterday. Dave, my opinion this is the most playoff ready Maple Leafs team in the Matthews Marner era but the Senators are playing with House Money. You could talk me into so many plausible scenarios with this series. The guys on overdrive have three shows this week to stress over it. Really just two but in any case a lot of the run really out on a limb there yeah these guys are good but so are these guys I know you know I had your bets hedge your bets to use fan duo parlance but there is still one game to play before game one game 82 has to be played tonight it's on TSN for

Toronto Maple Leafs you think would be rolling out a lineup of Alex Steve's and Kyle Clifford coming up and all types of AHL guys that is not the case. In fact the Maple Leafs will be using the exact same lineup that they used on Tuesday when they clinched the Atlantic Division against the Buffalo Sabres. The only change is that Joseph Wall will start a net and not Anthony Stolarz and you may be wondering why that is the case. The answer is the salary cap and the Maple Leafs don't have any other choice but to dress the guys they have because Jake McCabe probably don't want to play him Oliver Ekman Larsen David Camp those three guys according to Craig Brubay fairly confident they will be ready for

game one on Sunday so that's the good news the bad news is the Leafs have to ensure or do their best to do so that they don't get any injuries tonight because the last thing you want if you're Toronto is to have a Jason Robertson situation in Dallas where he's walking out of that rink last night with his knee and a brace. You got to find a way to emerge unscathed if you're the Maple Leafs. You have 60 minutes to go before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin and I don't care if you're flamingoing in front of every shot that comes your way, no one's blocking shots, no one's taking any unnecessary contact, get through it in a healthy fashion and get ready for Ottawa Sunday night

at 7pm. I got news for you. Chris Tanner will block some shots. I really hope not. That's just who he is. We've discussed this so many times with different coaches and GMs over the years, like how do you approach a meaningless game before a playoff run? And I mean, the overriding kind of sense that I've always gotten is most people just believe

you just got to go out and play. Like you can't, if you start thinking, we cannot get hurt tonight, fellas. Like if your pep talk is, stay healthy, what do you think is going to happen? You know, like it's's not gonna go well. You can't, like, it's not like you can just play hockey sort of halfway. So, Max Domi's playing, or he's starting on a line with John Tavares and William Nylander tonight.

Do you think that he starts game one on that line as well? He hasn't been the primary winger on that line for most of the season right? That's been Bobby McMahon's job. I think Matt's patch already he's been there occasionally. Patchy ready is the interesting one for me here because Craig Brewery loves him and as O'Dogg was saying before he headed off to the panel, like, Patch Ready brought something that they don't have in quantity, which is a physical presence,

like a missile out there that can really destroy people. And to top that off, he's got hands, right? Like, Max Patch Ready can score goals, he's proven that. Even at age 36, even coming off a couple of Achilles. So, game one, if we're going to see patch ready, where do you think he slots that might be his most likely? Spot now is he gonna play the full contingent of minutes probably not so you'll probably I could see them rotating Patch already onto that line For a while bring back Domi like I don't yeah, it's gonna be fluid

Well, I would definitely keep Scott Lawton Steven Lorenz and Callie Yarncroke together because they've looked really good since they've been put together the last three games and whether you call them the third line or the fourth line it doesn't really matter because again those are just labels but as far as guys like Nick Robertson Pontus Holmberg I mean I don't know if Patcha Ready is ready to return and David Camp is ready to return. I think those guys could very well be the odd man out and I don't think that's necessarily deserved. I think Nick Robertson has shown a lot here over the last month or so since he's been given that opportunity since the return from that healthy scratch. I guess staying three straight

healthy scratches and scored a bunch of goals, playing with a little bit of an edge and I'd like to see him get an opportunity, but again, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was Max Patcheretti who slides back in, because the way that Barube has talked about it, it leads you to believe that that is the most likely outcome. Yeah, and I also think, like, Bobby McMahon, Bobby McMahon to me, is the guy they need there. Like, he brings something that Domi doesn't and that is a bigger body.

And there's gonna be a lot of talk about matching Otto's physicality with physicality and wearing that D down with a great forecheck. And Barube is all about the forecheck. Now, McMahon hasn't exactly been a model forechecker at times and I think that's part of the reason why he hasn't been a staple on staple on that line but because he can obviously score and he can obviously skate and heck he can fly he's one of

the he's one of the better skaters on the team but yeah I mean he's he's right there too it's it'll be interesting to see I think my instinct with Perube is if patch ready is an option he's gonna want to use them in a pretty prominent way now if that's realistic at age 36 is another question again would you rather is if Pat Ready's an option, he's gonna wanna use him. In a pretty prominent way. Now, if that's realistic at age 36 is another question. Again, would you rather have Pat Ready who hasn't played in three months in your lineup or Nick Robertson who's been in there every night?

I think that's the question that Greg Berube may very well be wrestling with here ahead of Sunday. Well, Pat Ready, again, brings something that Nick Robertson can never bring, right? Nick Robertson's not hitting anybody. And Nick Robertson does have a bad habit of taking dumb penalties. That is true. That is. And so does Max DeHomey. So those two things...

Bad penalties are one of the things... You talk about the Leafs beating themselves, AK, and the moments where they've kind of thrown the opportunity to seize a series and not seize it and allow another team back into it. Like, how does that happen? Start with dumb penalties. That's a good and not seize it and allow the other team back into it like how does that happen start with dumb penalties that's a good way to do it let's welcome in Pierre Lebrun at TSN hockey insider who again said that this is the most playoff ready Maple Leafs team in the Matthews Marner era but the Senators are playing with house money we could talk him into so many plausible

scenarios heading into the Battle of Ontario let's see what we can get into good evening pierre how are you i am good i am packing my suitcase off to dallas tomorrow very excited that i got the series that i put my number one bid on for the athletic i'm is there a bidding system at the athletic is that how it works you guys put in bids and that's where they said we communicate we communicate they valid the you know you know the drill there over the years of the star you know guys put in bids and that's where they send you? We communicate. We communicate. They

know the drill there over the years of the star. But of course, Leafs 24-7 at the star, but I will tell you that I'm pumped about Avalanche and Stars. It's a series I've been eyeing for a couple months and it's coming together and I look forward to it. So we'll get to that series in a bit, Pierre, but I am curious to know about your thoughts with regards to the Leafs. You talked about how playoff ready they are and perhaps the most playoff ready team that we've seen here in a long time for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Take us through your thought process here. Yeah, I, you know, I agree to that because obviously that's how I feel. I think, you know, Craig Borube has in fact, to me, gotten this team in a place where I believe they're more comfortable in low event games and Gwine your games

I mean, we'll have to see it obviously, but I think he's done an excellent job this year Transforming that team that way in terms of style of play and simpler plays and You know so on and so on but I also think the way that Brad Tree of Living has continued to tweak the roster in the last two years has made this team more playoff ready to you with especially Chris Tannum you know it's funny I covered Dallas Colorado last year too the second round they're gonna start to think I'm stalking them but Chris Tannum was unbelievable last year at the playoffs for Dallas.

I know a lot of people listening probably didn't watch a lot of Wes to come to talk to you but you know in the first round he really limited Jack Ico in the Vegas series for Dallas and the second round he was unbelievable against Nathan McKinnon. Of course McKinnon had his moments because he's Nathan McKinnon but to watch Tanneb up close last year in that series and I made a point of sometimes just watching his shit and not even watching the puck. I remember thinking, my goodness,

this guy's even better than what I've seen on TV when you watch him live in a playoffs series when I was a Leaf. And that's why they went out to get him. And so all those things are positive. I truly think the Leafs are more playoffs ready than they've ever been in the Matthews-Marner era. I can't buy that. However, I heard you had Paul McClain up earlier talking about the Demons. If Ottawa takes game one, I'll bet they're off to me because that's the human

side of it that is so hard to coach and control. I mean, the original Leafs here of this team only know one thing at playoff time. I mean, I's cool to pay but i don't know how to put it like that's just what we know what the core of the team so it seems silly to say that because you know good teams overcome the one lock the old time but i think that's what that's the temple for the bowel on terry and right from

game one well in that case, Pierre, the stakes are as high as they could possibly be on Sunday night and there's a little bit of intrigue about who might play for the Leafs as much as I understand you believe in this team and you believe it's a better roster construction than we've seen to date but the roster construction depends on health here and we've heard from Craig Barube today that he's that he's fairly confident I believe is the quote that Oliver Reckman-Larson, Jake McCabe and David Camp will play. I think the two names well the one name that sticks out is the most important there obviously is McCabe because he is of course Tana's

partner on their number one shutdown D line. What do you know about how would you speculate decode leaf injury language for fairly confident when it comes to these guys playing? Yeah, I think, listen, they're gonna obviously wanna play and the question is, you know, you know, you, one of the reasons you can't come out today on Thursday is because those three days matter. From the same way you notice the way Paul Maurice

answered the math, he could check questions today. Everyday matters at this time of year, as far as whether a player is ready. So no one within the Leafs is ready to say either way right now, because tomorrow's a new day. Tomorrow's another day to check on these guys. So that's the truth, and I know people think that it's, you know, everyone's in playoff mode already, and they're not being as forthcoming some of that is true but the

reality is because the series doesn't start till Sunday there's still information to be gained here over the next couple days and that's where the Leafs are at with those guys. TSN hockey insider Pierre Lebrun our guest you mentioned you're covering the Dallas Colorado series Dallas gets Kyler Sagan back last night Pierre but they lose Jason Robertson in the process with a knee injury what can you tell us about his prognosis? Yeah we'll find out more tomorrow

the Stars had the full day off today so there were no updates on Robertson but you could tell from how annoyed Pete DeBoer was the Stars coach post game last night and in his crumb that he wasn't very happy about it. And it does, you know, it stinks when, you know, the Stars have been playing meaningless games for a better part of a week or week and a half ever since it became clear they

couldn't catch Winnipeg for first. And you lose guys in meaningless games. And you know, it's just, it's your worst nightmare in a way but on the other hand I go back to I think it was 1996 when when the great Scottie Wolman decided to rest Blitztram and I think Eisenman at one point I mean Detroit was so far ahead of everyone in the conference and their division they started resting guys late in the regular season and in hindsight there was some talk when Detroit didn't win that well maybe that hurt that hurt them you know so I know you guys talked about this earlier about game 82 for the least but I don't know

that there's a perfect handbook like I think if you're a player who's not on a percent it's a no-brainer to rest and not playing game 82 but there's also some gain and benefit in playing if you are 100% so that you continue your rhythm and you go into the playoffs feeling good about your game. And especially some of these things don't start till next week, the way the schedule was announced today. So, you know, I think Florida is going seven days between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs so it's an eternal debate but you know you just feel for Dallas that

you know there was Jason Robertson last night and a completely me who was game for them. Yeah so you're gonna be in Dallas Saturday up here and I mean like in a lot of ways this is the most intriguing series I mean we're gonna be focused on Leafs Ottawa and obviously we're always keeping an eye on the five Canadian teams, Montreal, Washington, Winnipeg, St. Louis, Edmonton, LA. But when you think about the main storyline or the most intriguing storyline of this NHL season in terms of transactional trade news, the ranting and saga is number one by a mile

and it's not close. Um, the idea that now these two teams, Colorado decided to punt on Ranton in and he, he spent a little time in Carolina and now he's in Dallas. And he hasn't really been the same player. He hasn't been terrible, but he hasn't been anywhere near the force. He was playing alongside Nate McKinnon. Um, how do you see this sort of meeting of, you know, former Stanley Cup champion teammates,

McKinnon, Rantinen, Colorado, Dallas? Well, it's, Dave, that's why I want to be there, man. Like, first of all, these are two of the top five teams in the entire league, in my opinion, and they're facing off in the first round. So the playoff format is kind of nutty that way. But the Mico Rantanen bowl for sure. I remember I interviewed both GMs from Dallas and Colorado the day after the March 7th

trade deadline, or sometime that week in LA. And that was the piece was, you know, Dallas, Colorado on a collision course and Mico Rantanen now in Dallas. And I asked Chris McFarlane, the GM of the Avalanche that day, can you imagine your reaction the day you traded Ranton into Carolina if someone had told you, well, he'll be in Dallas in the first round of playoffs and you'll be playing them? He kind of laughed. He could have never imagined that Carolina was going to flip him. But that's life. And not only flip him, but Rantaman ends up signing for 12 million a year in Dallas

after being offered his last offer from Colorado a few months before that was 11.65 million a year. So not a whole lot of difference other than tax-free in the state of Texas, so I guess take that into consideration. But I will tell you this, I don't know if Miguel Ranzin would ever come out and say this publicly, but I am 100% sure that if Miguel Ranzin truly knew that when Colorado offered him that in, I guess it was in December, December or January, I forget when he got traded to Carolina, but when he got offered that by Colorado, 11.65 million a year, if he knew that by rejecting

that offer he would get traded, I think he would have signed that offer. He was so blindsided by getting traded by Colorado. He was for sure in the mindset that he had until July 1st, just like Mitch Marner, that he could wait and wait and wait and get their best offer and stay in Colorado forever because that's what he wanted. And I think it's one of the reasons he never found his sea legs in Carolina. I just think he didn't know where he was after the time he was there and then four nations game. And then the Dallas opportunity presented itself and I think he knows the stars well. He just played them in the playoffs again last year. And I think he said, figured to himself, you know,

I can't really go back to Colorado. This might be, as good a fit for me, any time for eight years. But it's an incredible backstory. Rantanen and McKinnon were inseparable forever, both on and off the ice. Now they're facing off in a playoff series. Colorado and Dallas are two of the busiest teams in the entire league, not just at the deadline but throughout the year and everything they've done. of them is going home early after all that and and it's the the stakes are super high for first round series. TSN hockey insider Pierre Lebrun our guest in hour three of overdrive the Montreal Canadiens punched their ticket last night they beat Carolina excellent record post

four nations what type of chance are you giving the Habs of beating the Washington Capitals? I think a better chance than the Vegas books I mean I still think Washington should be favored for obvious reasons but let me just say this about this league that is like no other for this. 12 months ago what did you guys think of Washington when they when they backed into the playoffs of the 8th seed with a minus 37 goal differential. Seriously, what did you guys think of them? Yeah, I thought, kind of similar to what I view Montreal,

frankly, even though Montreal's coming in with a much different pedigree as far as their play over the last 20 games. Sure, and my point is, and listen, I do think, give credit to the Habs, they took advantage of a weak race for eighth. Let's just call it for what it is. It wasn't the same as the West,

but they won out and they deserve to be there. My point is that we are all guilty of this. I'm guilty of this. Washington's a tremendous story. They've been one of the most aggressive front offices in the league in the last three years. The way they've retooled that team on the fly and not bottomed out, it's all positive. It me when I tell you how the GMs are taking notes

about what Chris Patrick has done there in Washington. But it doesn't change the fact that we're all guilty of looking at a first-place team in real time and thinking, oh yeah they've always been... No, this team backed into a playoff spot last year. Now they're better. But how much better are they really? And maybe they win the cup and you guys can radio me with this clip, but I think the reality is that somewhere between last year's eighth place team and then adding Pierre Louboutin, Pierre Loujouboua trade, Logan Thompson trade, they're obviously way better. Their record tells you that. But are they really seven spots better 12 months later?

Yeah. I don't think they are. And so, you know, I think they're a playoff team. I think they're probably, you know, certainly worthy of having a chance to go all the way in the East. But they are beatable. They are beatable. And that's what will give Montreal a puncher's chance. Yeah, no doubt about it here. It's a toss-up for sure. I mean, there's a lot of talk about the way it's fallen off

for the Capitals down the stretch here. Obviously, Logan Thompson's injury looms large. The kind of the emotional deflation of going through the incredible high of of etchkin breaking gretzky's record and then you know a couple of big party nights it looked like for the capitals and now the come down has been kinda cruel for them

uh... on the other hand to your point about much rather punchers chance like when you look at this team like marty st louise never coached in the playoffs a lot of these guys are essentially playoff neo fights you know as much as they're coming in on a high as an unexpected playoff team do you think they actually have the sort of the substance to bring the kind of game you need to bring to

win a seven game series yeah it's a good question and I think there were some red flags over the past week when it took them a number of games to take that final step in. You know, I mean, last weekend they only picked up one point over 24 hours in Ottawa and Toronto, and then they lose and shoot out to Chicago at home. And I thought the nerves were really on display that night at the Bell Centre, despite the amazing debut of Ivan Demidoff. And then last night I actually thought they came out really nicely against Carolina. That's as good as they looked in a while and deserve to win even though the Hurricanes wrested some regulars.

You don't know because this team really hasn't been there so it's sort of the unknown with this group but and listen they are way ahead of where they should be. You know, Ken Hughes and Jeff Gordon will never admit this publicly, but I don't think they ever saw this as a playoff team this year. I thought they were hoping to take really important steps and knocking out the door,

but then next year would be the year. So they're ahead of schedule. They're year three of a pretty substantial rebuild and they're already in the playoffs. So, you know, again, odds are Washington's going to win, but you know, I just tried to answer your first question, which is, is Washington beatable? And the answer is yes in my mind. Pierre, I did a list in the four o'clock hour about the players on Canadian teams that have the most to gain heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs. And I had two Winnipeg Jets

in my top five. Horace Connor Hellebuck who's a total no brainer but also Mark Shifely. How are you feeling about Winnipeg's playoff chances considering they won the president's trophy. Everything seems to be trending in a very positive direction for them but they've got a very difficult first round opponent. It's funny you can link it back to our Washington discussion in some ways but isn't that funny that now I haven't looked at every publication and everyone's picks yet but from what I can gather so far I haven't seen

a whole lot of Winnipeg-Washington out there as a Seneca final and they think Black are the best teams in each other's conference and so we've covered Washington where does that come from on Winnipeg? Why is Vegas, to me, a more popular pick or a return from Mendenzine if they get their act together or the winner of Dallas, Colorado? It seems like people just want to overlook the Jets. And I think it starts with what we saw 12 months ago. I mean, the Jets got destroyed by Colorado in the first round and some of that was going to Alibucks play but I think that has put some people in a position where despite an amazing regular season where the Jets really went wire to wire and almost barely showed any signs of slowing down throughout the

year. People like yeah but now now it's the real hockey and you know there's an argument to be made that the Jets have a bit of Leafs West in them and that since their ride to the 2018 Western Conference Finals, which I really enjoyed covering with fans in Winnipeg or Unreal, the Jets haven't done much in the playoffs since then. That's a pretty long chunk of time. You know, losing last year is the favorite in the first round in Colorado. Losing to Montreal in the bubble in 21, this is a really good team that since 2018 has not gone deep. And so I think there's a lot of pressure on them, to be honest. And it certainly starts with Hellebuck. Your point on Scheifele would be this to me. He was by far in my estimation the biggest snub of

Team Canada's Four Nations team when they announced their team on December 2nd this year just based on his production, his consistency and it's almost like you know is he paying the price because Winnipeg hasn't you know answered the bell at this time of year who knows but I agree with you Aaron that a big deep playoff for the Jets you know it helps guys like Halbuck and Shifeley and their perception around the league but I'll tell you this we're asked by the PWA not to divulge our ballots because we don't want to influence other voters who haven't voted yet but Conor Halbuck figures pretty prominently on my

Archokey ballot. When you say prominent, I think I guess I can guess where you're leaning, Pierre. Wink wink. Corrado already revealed he took dry side. Corrado broke the rules, by the way. Corrado's telling us who he voted for. I've been saying I'm undecided. I've still yet to vote, Pierre, so I'm following the protocols. Thank you very much.

There you go. I don't think it's the slam-dunk year I think that's what's great about the heart debate this year is legitimately there's some great cases You know, I think between dry title McKinnon Hallibuck Jack Eichel, how about Kale McCarr? His defensive never get to win the award, you know Chris Pronger is the last defenseman to win the heart trophy Yeah, Nick Lindstrom won seven Norris trophies and is considered a top five defenseman of all time,

I think by most, and never won a heart. Blame the hockey writers, Pierre. Blame the hockey writers. Well, Pierre, safe travels out to Dallas. We know you love the Cowboys, and I'm certain you'll love covering the Stars in the Avalanche series. Thank you for doing this.

We'll talk to you again soon. And I should have mentioned Kucherov, another good heart candidate. All right, see you guys. Thank you. Bry Cytle too. Yeah. Let's throw it out there.

Pierre Lebrun, TSN Hockey Insider. Pretty good gig covering Dallas, Colorado, Denver, Dallas, two great cities, and the level of skill between those two teams is almost unprecedented. And I think you could argue that the two most talented teams, maybe not the two best teams, and even though Heiskeden probably won't be ready

to start the series for Dallas, we don't expect Jason Robertson to be ready to start the series for Dallas, they're still absolutely loaded on both sides. That's gonna be so fun to watch. It's fascinating stuff, it really watch. It's fascinating stuff it really is it's just it's just tremendous and I mean you know that you know the random thing to me is fascinating because like you look at his his career

stats in the playoffs he's right up there in the top 10 in terms of career playoff points. I believe he's sandwiched between Mike Bossy and Mark Messier yeah career playoff points per game that's how incredible he's been in the postseason. That's why he in large parts why he got paid. I mean it's not a coincidence. Certainly Dallas is looking at the body of work and what he's done alongside McKinnon without McKinnon in the regular season. But it's not a coincidence that Dallas is like all right we're getting one of the preeminent playoff performers in the history of the sport on our team in this trade Yeah, no, but the question is this like a Juan Soto situation where you know

If they don't play the way they want to play and he does not perform the way he wants to perform Does he is he sitting there saying hey, it's not the same as you know playing behind Aaron judge It's not the same. You know right now that he's been playing with Wyatt Johnson Johnson a great same you know right now that he's been playing with Wyatt Johnson a great Johnston yeah yes a great Toronto kid who I watched play minor hockey many times why it's a great player but he ain't Nate McKinnon you know Rupe Hintz is a good centerman but he ain't Nate McKinnon you know you wonder like can Ranton and do it I think that's that's one of the great questions of the series can Ranton to do it without McKinnon and can he do it to McKinnon?

Well that's exactly what he's going to have to do. It's gonna be an incredible series that starts on Sunday. Of course the Leafs also start Sunday. They'll take on the Ottawa Senators in the Battle of Ontario, which is official. 7 p.m. puck drop on Sunday evening. TSN 1050 has games 2, 4, and 6. We also have tickets to give away for Leaf playoff home games here on the station. We'll fill you in on how to win those as overdrive continues on TSN 2 and TSN 1050. Melodin Friday was brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. This playoff season Boston Pizza is planning the parade. It has a new all-star

playoff menu for you to enjoy. For pizza pints and puck drops, visit your local Boston pizza today. Our three continues. It is Thursday evening. Aaron Kowalnyk, Dave Festruck from the Toronto Star filling in for Hayes, the O-Dog and Noodles. And we've got the debut of the Festruck Five

coming up momentarily. Should tell you you first tsn 1050 is giving away tickets to every maple leaf playoff home game and all you have to do is listen to tsn 1050 on the iheart radio app for your chance to win them to enter download the iheart radio app create an account and listen to tsn 1050 for at least 15 minutes straight you can can enter twice per day, so listen to first up between 6 and 10 a.m. and over-try between 4 and 7. The more times you listen, the better chances of winning. And there's not much better of a ticket you could win than a Maple Leaf playoff ticket, which is a hot commodity, needless to say. Very hot in both arenas. Yes, which I kind of view them as Maple Leaf tickets in Ottawa as well.

Sorry Ottawa fans, but clearly Leaf fans are doing their best to get in the building and I think they'll be very successful. Very successful. It's like former Ottawa Senators coach and former Maple Leafs assistant coach Paul McClain said on the show earlier, you know if you don't want so many Leaf fans in the building,

buy the tickets. That's exactly it. And the season ticket holders don't sell the tickets Maybe more appropriately and clearly in Toronto on Friday on Sunday night, excuse me. It's going to be an electric atmosphere the o-dogs Thought earlier. I think it's a great thought you have Gary Roberts and I don't know you're talking out there waving towels getting the fans fired up Maybe the fans in the lower bowl will emerge from their sushi or state consumption and taking the festivities as well So I doubt that as well, but maybe you know, maybe you never know That's what you have to hope for through the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, take the take the sushi to go You know take you should go take the Chardonnay and the sushi to go. So all show long

We've been talking about the FestChuck 5, a brand new idea come up with by producer Cam, and the notion behind the FestChuck 5 is simple. It is the five teams that reside in Canada that qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. You are going to rank them starting at number five with the least chance to win the Stanley Cup to number one, the team with the best chance to win the Stanley Cup, to number one, the team with the best chance to win the Stanley Cup.

Dave Festruck, are you ready to present the Festruck Five? Oh, never been readier. Give us number five. The team with the worst chance, if you want to say it, to win the Cup coming out of Canada. Okay, well it's very clear to me that the fifth best Canadian team is Montreal. I mean, they are the youngest team, I believe,

I've read this, I haven't verified it myself, but I've been told they're the youngest team to ever make the NHL playoffs. And that is not an asset in the NHL playoffs, right? To me, experience means a lot, both negative and positive. Losing the playoffs can help you,ning the playoffs obviously can bolster confidence. These guys just haven't been in the playoffs. Marty St. Louis never coached in the playoffs.

They barely snuck into the playoffs as Mr. Lebrun was pointing out earlier in the show. Had a hard time, had a few hiccups in clinching. That concerns me, all those things concern me, as does the matchup against a team that challenged for the President's Trophy. See, that's where I would push back, in that I think you could make a case,

and my co-host on First Stop, Carlo Coliacamo, has made the case in favor of Montreal, potentially going on a decent playoff run, in that they have to go through the Metro. If they get past Washington, they're going to get the winner of New Jersey and Carolina, and I think Carolina will win that series. I think they're the superior team even though Dougie Hamilton back for the Devils. Still no Jack Hughes who's their

best player by a mile and missing him is going to be very consequential for New Jersey but I'd still rather play Carolina than I am in Tampa or Florida. That's for sure coming out of the Eastern Conference which is what the winner of Toronto or Ottawa has to do so I think you could maybe make a case that Montreal's path is I say easier but me preferential to that of those coming out of the Atlantic Division. Yeah, you can make the case we're not talking about path that we're talking about team and they are the weakest team.

All right, give me number four. Four is Ottawa. And look, Ottawa's gonna have something to say about this because I'm obviously ranking them below the leaf. To me, they're a team that they've probably been in this sort of unfulfilled potential mode. There's a lot of young guys in this team that have been paid big money to perform that haven't performed.

They finally have got it together this season but I think that brings enormous pressure and the fact that you know you're 25 years old Brady Kichuck and you're pointing at me being 25 years old I wish the fact that you're 25 years old Dougie's what a Dougie's birthday Dougie's in that range lucky man but I think Matthew the Brady Kichuck is older than doogie who's celebrating his birthday today It took the day off to do so as the odog rightly pointed out You're that old and you're making your playoff debut like it's in some ways that could be good like yeah He's not scared. We know Brady Kachuck is not gonna be scared to play in the playoffs

He's we know he's probably gonna be a good fit to play in the playoffs But I don't know man like these guys are kind of, it feels like they're late to the party. They feel like the 2017 Leafs in some respect, where again, no one necessarily had the utmost of expectations for what that team was going to do back in 2017. And they got a matchup against Washington, who was a really good team at the time, a veteran team. And Leafs were taking Washington overtime seemingly night after night. Everybody remembers that incredible behind the back pass from Ryan Boyle to Caspari Capita. I think that was in game two, if I'm not mistaken, perhaps game three.

Yeah, they went up 2-1. Yeah, exactly. I think it was in game three. And sometimes when you're this young upstart with no demons, and seemingly that's been the theme of the show today, talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the demons that hide underneath their beds at night. That's what Paul McLean, their former assistant coach, had to say earlier on the show this afternoon. So yeah, for Ottawa, they're kind of playing with house money in many respects, right? And people will point to David Perron and Claude Giroux and Nick

Cousins and Michael Amadio. Yeah, but those are not as a bit players closure who certainly not but all their best players get shocked and Stutzla and cousins and Batherson Jake Sanders and Shabbat Greg I mean into a long list of guys who have never been in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Maybe that's a good thing. I think the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2017 and they came close to beating a team in Washington that like really had no business beating depending on how you view it again a lot of a lot of overtime games But they didn't and that's what I think the Maple Leaf fans have to be hoping for all right this Experience that has been built up over these nine playoff runs if you want to call them that is a Positive as opposed to a negative meanwhile for Ottawa. There's nothing to look at because it's all fresh, it's all new. That's fair, but I do think

ultimately the lack of experience is a liability. I can't go away from that. I'd rather have experience. The idea that the Leafs could beat themselves is very plausible, but that has nothing to do with the Senators. Alright, number three on the FestJ fest chuck five best teams in Canada or yes the third best team in Canada is Is coming up go three is the team that Paul McLean former leaf assistant coach talked about They're gonna go to bed tonight after playing game 82 and what's gonna crawl out from under their beds According to Paul McLean who's coached these guys But some demons the demons of playoff failures passed that have haunted them for most of a decade here in the

Shannon plan era. Beliefs are my third team here because again, they should be higher. They've got talent that suggests they should be higher. They've got, you know, stats that suggest they should be higher. They are goaltending that suggests they should be higher. And the goaltending might be the fact that that brings them higher at the end of all this. But until you do it, you're a suspect in every way. And this team is still a suspect.

You cannot not be suspicious about what might befall this team. You want to believe they can do it just like you wanted to believe Roy McIlroy could get over his demons and win the Masters Maybe they'll follow that trend. Maybe they'll look up Bob Rotella the great sports psychologist and get him on speed dial I don't know what will be the fact that actually delivers on the promise that this team has had for so long But they haven't yet they're my third team stole ours Ekman Larsen McCabe Tana and Barube, the emergence of Matthew Nyes. I think there's a ton of reasons why you should expect things to be different for the Toronto

Maple Leafs. But we were having conversations with people in the hall before the show began talking about the Leafs and why things can be different. But in many respects, their best players remain the same. Their core players, the guys that they need to perform in these big moments. We've seen how they've performed in those moments in the past, we're gonna find out as early as Sunday night at seven o'clock if it will be different.

Number two on the Fest Truck Five. Well number two, Pierre Lebrun called them Leafs West, the Winnipeg Jets. And I apologize to all my Manitoba family, I do apologize for linking the jets to the Leafs. I know there'd be a lot of resentment around that if I happen to do that at a Prairie barbecue this summer, but we'll see how it goes. The difference is though for me, AK, why I put the jets ahead of the Leafs is because at least they have a memory, albeit a distant

memory of winning something. They got to a conference final in 2018. That matters to me. You talked about the pressure on Shifely, who was, you know, obviously, who's been a part of a lot of the failures since 2018 in the playoffs, who was a snub from Team Canada. You talk about Hellebuck, how he's been 2-8, 2-8 as a goaltender with a 875 save percentage in the past two playoffs in both obviously first round exits these past two years. That's some baggage but at least they have something the Leafs don't have. They at least have the

memory of a playoff run, the guys that matter on that team or matter most on that team. So I think yeah they've got a lot to prove and they've got a lot they've got their own demons out on the prairie but the Jets are my second ranked team so number five was Montreal number four was Ottawa number three was Toronto number two was Winnipeg so number one by default I can do math here Dave is the Edmonton Oilers the only remaining team that we have not mentioned Why are they the best Canadian team in your opinion? Well, if people would point out they haven't been the best Canadian team this season

But to me, I'm not gonna put too much stock in the hiccups of the regular season that the Edmonton Oilers have endured I'm not gonna put too much stock in Connor McDavid not being the particularly dominant Connor McDavid that we're used to because guess what? You know I believe McDavid can flip a switch, can become that guy and they got another guy that is in the conversation for the Heart Trophy and Leon Dreisaitl who happens to while Connor Mcdavid resides at number three all time in playoffs points per game career. Dreisaitl's fifth. I mean we're talking about a list that includes it begins with Wayne Gretzky at number one. Marilyn Mews number two. McDavid three. Barry Pederson four. Leon Dreisaitl five. So I'm gonna roll with those guys. You know,

they've done it in the playoffs. They got to a final last year. We know about the story of the nearly miraculous comeback against the Panthers and it is, I do think, the Stanley Cup run fatigue can be a factor here but look man these guys realize these chances don't come up very often. They're ending, if they're not at the end of their primes, they're coming close. I would have to believe that guys that are this good understand the essence and the sort of urgency of this moment. And I just, if I had to bet on one of these five Canadian teams to break the circa 1993 drought, I'd only bet on the Eulers. It's funny, I would have the Leafs at number one.

I would, and that's not Homer Aaron speaking. I think that's purely a byproduct of the Eastern Conference relative to the Western Conference. There's a massive spread between the two conferences as far as quality of the teams. That doesn't mean the teams are better. That is true, that is true. We're talking about the best teams.

But if you're talking about winning a Stanley Cup, like for Winnipeg to win a Stanley Cup, think about the gauntlet that they'll have to go through. It is, I mean, someone's gonna do it, whether it's Dallas or Colorado or Vegas or Edmonton or LA or Winnipeg, whoever it might be, St. Louis, Minnesota, we'll have to wait and find out. But you're gonna have to beat two of the top five teams

in the NHL to get to the cup final. In the case of the Eastern Conference, I mean, are we sure Florida is still at the top of their game? I mean, Matthew Kaczak hasn't played in months. Sam Bennett's been sitting out for games. Aaron Echblet was suspended. He's coming back in game number three. I mean, there are some question marks with the Florida Panthers. Tampa, I mean, for Toronto, I mean, they've owned the Lightning over the last couple of years. That's just, that's indisputable. I mean, Lovasz-Glewski's numbers against the Leafs are terrible, terrible. He's a different guy this season. Maybe he is, but I mean, we saw pretty recently Leafs put up four on them, and the Leafs have put up, I believe, five, five and four

against Tampa this season. So they have continued to do their thing against the Lightning. I think the path, not to not to say that least will win the Stanley Cup But the Western Conference you have a tough time selling me on a team coming out of there simply because of how difficult it is to Get through that's been the case for a while and I didn't did it last year, right? They did oh look at that comb with everybody healthy There's there's still some question marks and I know Connor McDavid doesn't want to hear about Edmonton being the walking wounded it says they're healthy and then they have the two best players if there's a's still some question marks i know conor mcdavid doesn't want to hear about and then to be in the walking wounded says they're healthy and then they have to best players

if there's a draft of players to start a playoff run it was mcdavid one and try settle to every single time yeah maybe you could argue for hellebuck but again the playoff resume is not exactly sparkly no you look at me you make a lot of great points i'd look i a i think it's kind of ignoring history to start looking at the Maple Leaf's path

as the reason they might make it because they've had some paths. They've had some incredible paths. They've had some really, really well, you know, blazed paths. Very much so. Very clear paths, smooth sailing paths. No plow has just cleared the way for I mean So we've talked about easy paths in the history of this iteration of the team the Matthews Marner

Nylander the various teams so Like I have a hard time going back to path as the reason they're gonna make it happen when they had paths before so Like that's gonna be on them like they've got a the Leafs have to make sure they don't beat themselves let's be honest here and and they haven't shown they can do that. Excellent job on the Feshtruck five I think both the Feshtruck five and AK's list major successes. Gonna get us kicked out the show but we had fun. Absolutely not I think very good stuff Game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Leafs Sunday night at 7 o'clock down at Scotia Bank Arena. Game 82 tonight down at Scotia Bank Arena. The Maple Leafs and the Red Wings. You can watch it on

TSN4. Our final segment, my FanDuel best bets and we'll wrap up a very busy week here on Overdrive TSN2 TSN1050. Alright, it's time now for today's best bets. They are powered by FanDuel. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the FanDuel Sportsbook app. I'm looking at the playoffs, the Stanley Cup playoffs. By the way, they're not the NHL playoffs people. That's not what they're called. They're called the Stanley Cup playoffs. Very important to me to be accurate. As a writer, I'm sure you agree with me. Well, it's the greatest trophy in sports. It is indeed. Here's the parlay I'm putting together the Montreal Canadiens plus a game and a half against the Washington Capitals Meaning they either win or lose in seven and a cash the bet so that's plus money gonna stick that in the parlay

Carolina over Jersey. I think that's an easy one. I think Jersey. This is too much attrition I like Carolina in that series Matthew Nye's two plus goals in the series for the Leafs against the Ottawa Senators. This guy has shown a penchant for scoring in the Stanley Cup playoffs and I have a hunch he's going to be a big time performer for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Senators. Today's best bets powered by FanDuel live same game parlays are now available for every NHL game on the FanDuel Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. So final

night of the regular season tonight. We're almost there. Playoffs on Saturday. It's going to be absolutely sensational. I think we all just need to hope and cross our fingers that no more notable players suffer injuries. Again we saw that in Dallas last night with robertson hopefully everybody emerges unscathed tonight and we get rock and rollin on saturday and for the lease on sunday night can be a fun one man and look if you're parlay one of that leg one of the legs of your parlay there

matthew nice leg comes true you very good sign from a police right right? I almost took three plus goals for Maple Leafs. Yeah, well he got two in the series last year against Boston and he didn't win, so maybe he does need three. They needed one more goal. They needed one more against Boston, and who knows where we'd be now,

but needless to say, Matthew Nye's a huge part of the Toronto Maple Leafs, first line, first power play, and he's caught 29 goals in the regular season at this point, looking for number 30 tonight. Well, when you think about how they had success when they beat Tampa a couple years back, right, play and he's scored 29 goals in the regular season at this point looking for number 30 tonight. Well, when you think about how they had success when they beat Tampa a couple years back, right?

How did they do it? They've gotten in front of the net and Knives can supply that physical presence in front of the net. Patrick Reddy, if he's going to be healthy, I think they can lean on him to do that. They got to get those tips. They got to be nuisances in front of Linus Almark because that's where the goals are scored, man. And I think if you look at why the Leafs haven't scored in their most recent couple of playoffs There is two or fewer goals in 13 the last 14 playoff games. There you go

Want to thank cam want to thank JP want to thank Joe from the bridge Thank our audience most importantly for the last three hours. Hope everybody has a terrific Easter weekend Good Friday tomorrow Easter Monday coming up on Monday. And certainly be a ton of leaf talk over the weekend and an overdrive on Monday. And until then, we'll chat then. Melodin Friday was brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar.

This playoff season, Boston Pizza is planning the parade. It has a new all-star playhouse menu for you to enjoy. For pizza, pints, and puck drops, visit your local Boston pizza today. That just happened with me, Vashi Kapelos. Candidate decides 2025. Stay informed with my exclusive iHeartRadio podcast, 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.