OverDrive - OverDrive - April 21, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Marc Methot joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' opening win, the Senators' inadequate start and the penalty problems in the spotlight for Ottawa. They also discuss Jim Rutherford's comments on Quinn Hughes' future and the interest to play with Luke and Jack, Dylan Larkin calling out the management's moves and Justin Thomas' RBC Heritage victory.

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Join today and be part of something amazing. Hour two Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score, Brian Hazio, Doug Jeff O'Neal, Jamie Noodles-McClennan. We've got our buddy Mark Mathaught coming up here in a few moments moments get his take on what happened in game one last night from his standpoint from a sense

standpoint was a big one for the leaves uh... they don't want at home often in the matthews mariner playoff era and they don't win game one often in the matthews mariner playoff there they did both last night they won big and uh... it was an electric evening It was a really fun crowd and I do think there's something to the Battle of Ontario. I've said this a lot throughout the second half of the season when it looked like it

was trending towards this. I think if that's Boston, if it's Florida, if it's Tampa, it's a nervous energy. I think the fans are really, really kind of bundled up and thinking, where's this going to go? There's dark energy there. I thought it was an incredibly confident crowd, electric, fun-loving crowd last night. I think that dates back to 20 years ago. It's one thing Leaf fans have had.

I've said it 15,000 times in the last three months. The battle of Ontario is comforting for Leaf fans. I give credit to the coach. I obviously give a ton of credit to the fans for having a different vibe where it's like the big debate has been is it the chicken or the egg? Do we need to make some noise or do they need to show us something to make some noise? What the but they showed up there and they were just fans like I don't know if the suits got rid of their tickets and they sold them or what the hell, but that looked like Leafs Nation that was in there last night. Why do you use you said there you saw a lot of jerseys.

It was like that's a nice thing. No, sir. Yes. One great suit. Great. And if you want to if you sold them last night, sell them again, because that was a crowd. But I give credit to the coach because they seem prepared. And he knew what he was up against.

He knew why he's brought here. He knew the history. He knew the performance in the past. And the guys won a Stanley Cup. He's got experience. He's a great coach. And to put that all in a blender and try to get his team ready, as I said earlier, it's one game, but game one was good job.

Well, I knew some like Bay Street people that were down there but it's a Sunday so I get like I agree with you Hayes like I think it was more they just relaxed and went to the game like it wasn't about it's a Thursday night I got to entertain a guy from here and all of that and we're gonna go down to the club and eat and half the game we're gonna be underneath here and and come out they went as fans they went as hey I happen to have season tickets here and I'm not entertaining I'm going down with my son I'm going with my brother we my wife you name it like I knew a few people that were we'll call them you know Bay Street people

that were down there as fans and I don't think they're wearing suits I think they're wearing their i think they're wearing their own center is using your rock and i really think the outlier in the section i was in was that the kichucks kiskeet was like twenty feet from where i was and you can you talk about having a presence everyone was like he could check straight up there there's could chuck like any dissent there was a game and i you know i I was in front of him. I don't know what he was doing during the

game, but it was an interesting night because again, speaking on the fans and what I wanted to get to was I've never thought of that building or this fan base as a chanting fan base or a chanting building. There's another thing, never heard it one time. All of a sudden Brady sucks was Ringing out the whole night like it must have it must have picked up steam five six seven times Dude, I don't even care if it was about Brady if it could have been go Leafs go anything, right? But what I'm saying go Leafs go you hear sometimes or you hear some people try to get it going

Like Brady sucks was really ringing out last night. There were all mark kind of cat calls in the third period last night. And you know, Brady was a big topic of discussion. Like what's he going to look like? And I'm curious if he's 100%. We're not going to get that answer. Like we don't we don't know. But he had the he had the breakaway opportunity. And beyond that, I I didn't notice him a lot.

I know the analytics of their line five on five was whatever but i thought the matthews line did a really good job and tana mccabe did a really good job of pushing them out and and students of the same thing like he was frustrated with the penalties uh... he never really broke loose like students who was never really in a position where he he broke loose and that's his first playoff game. You know, like it's a lot.

You guys played in your first playoff games. Like, there's a lot of nerves. You know, it doesn't matter that you went 3-0 in the regular season. It's completely irrelevant. You convince yourself that the stakes are so much higher, which they ultimately are, but when you just come back to reality, you're like, it's the same game. It can be faster, it can be more intense, but you can't like psych yourself up into thinking you're playing a different sport.

Like I don't know, hit early, get hit early or throw a hit early was the best recipe where it's like, get that out of the way and then just play the game. I think the game is the same. You just play, ice is more the game is the same you just play ice is more contested that's that's the only thing like on a back check we see it on a tuesday night november guy maybe stop skating are you can out there is a two-on-one on our yes exactly that's a

great way to to frame it is like all right now let's trust the goalie to make a safe here and you know uh... in in in the playoffs is to make a save here and you know in in in the playoffs it's like okay you can't give up that chance because it might be in the back of your net that's why you know you i was talking about the the critical areas of the ice i didn't think ottawa defended those critical areas very well

and and that's the difference you know for me you give up great days now ottawa generated a couple great days But the goal has made the stars made the stops all mark didn't make those stops That was ultimately you can lay it all down power plays refs all of that Exactly you only get so many Ottawa didn't the Leafs did and you know another example of playoffs Decisions compared to regular season decisions, Matthew Nias blocked that shot at 5-2 and it looked bad. It looked like that could be trouble. It's 5-2 game one, did he just break his wrist or hand or finger and he scores a goal two

minutes later to close the game out. That's a big moment that's putting your body on the line. I think from Brady's perspective, he know He was trying to rev the engine up But I thought the Leafs did a really good job of diffusing the situation and just like I was saying early flip-pucks out Make a quick pass and you're gone and he just couldn't get going and Stutsela wasn't helping him enough to really push them over the top But we've talked a lot about game one last night from our perspective You know a lot of it leaning in terms of where the Leafs are at and what they did last night. Let's chat with a guy that's very familiar with playoff hockey and playing for the Sens

in particular. Here's our TSN hockey analyst, former NHLer joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Here's Mark Mathod. Would you make it that game last night? Matt, if there's one thing in particular from a Sens perspective, once the game came to an end, what was it? Like what was the one thing you were kind of hammering on last night

thanks for having me guys yeah i i i listen to know that the tail end of noodles and i heard you to hazy i i think you guys kind of nailed it pretty good there as far as the goaltending matchup was huge we knew that going into the series uh... yeah the penalty kill was atrocious but again i i i say this to people this this has been an issue for this group all season.

So there was no surprises there. You're hoping for a spark and getting a couple of kills and we can squabble about the re-efficiating all we want. I don't like doing that, especially as a former player. I think it's a bit of a cop out, but maybe there's a little credence there perhaps with a couple of those first penalties, but I won't get into that. I think ultimately the team, and I'm talking about Ottawa, they looked like they were playing in their first playoff game. I know they've got some experience.

They brought in Perron, Amadio, they've got Cousins who didn't obviously play last night. Zerou's got a lot of playoff experience. It's just their core guys couldn't come through. And then I heard you guys mentioning Brady a little bit there as well. I mean, they took 14 minors yesterday. I mean, that was the most. Now, a lot of them were coincidental and toward the end, but that was the most amount of penalties, like minors at least, that any team has taken since like I think Montreal in 2013 in their respective playoffs. So, uh, you know, you're, you're going to take a ton of, you're going to, you're going to take a ton of penalties, guys like Brady, guys like Tim Stooslid,

they're not going to be on the ice, right? They don't kill penalties. So they're not getting the puck. They're not getting into the flow of the game for them either. So, um, I dunno, I dunno if it's because it's raining in Ottawa today, guys, but today's been a tough day, you know, I'm hoping. And I talked to Josh, your producer, just before I came on with you guys, but today's been a tough day, you know, I'm hoping. And I talked to Josh, your producer, just before I came on with you guys, I was mentioning to him, like, I just want a competitive series.

Like I know a lot of Toronto fans think I'm like the residents, you know, sends fanboy and to a degree, I suppose I kind of am, but I think first and foremost, I just want a competitive series. You know, you heard Stolar's reference the series potentially being a bloodbath heading into it And I'm obviously not advocating for a bunch of you know, gooning out there or anything like that But I just want I want some drama and I didn't feel like I got enough of it yesterday It just sort of felt underwhelming from a sense fan Perspective so that's kind of where I'm at with it math

I think we discussed in the first hour that there needs to be a lot of elevation from some of the Sens top forwards. I think if you go through it, I think Batherson, maybe Pinto at times were the only guys to kind of, where you notice, like we basically broke it down where you said who played, like Hayes was in the building, it was like who really had played great for Ottawa? And it's not a whole lot lot So they need a lot of elevation The question is is it a layup for who leads the charge in that like we just Brady is connected to this team It's like you say this ends and then the next thing you say is Brady Kachuk like to see the guy that has to lead

The charge as far as the elevation of the top players Yeah, well, he's well, I mean I'd be lying if I said he wasn't a huge part of that. I mean, it's Brady Kachuk, right? And I do think that, you know, we probably set the bar a little high for him. You know, he comes off relatively successful by the US's standpoint, I suppose. Like at the Four Nations Cup, he was terrific, right? Like he was impactful. He was scoring.

He was fighting. Like it was just, it was Kuchuk style hockey. Um, but the NHL playoffs are different animal. I mean, you're playing the, you know, the, the, the top seed in the Atlantic, Toronto is a well oiled machine. You have to respect that. So, you know, matchups are a big part of it. And I think, you know, from my experience playing, I mean, when you get to, when you get a chance to play against that same line night in and night out, and you're already very familiar, particularly in the first round matchups, when you're playing against a divisional opponent, you know what their tendencies are. Like when I played against Sid in the conference final, just as an example, back in 2017, I knew the tendencies of that line. Like it's easier to defend as the series prolongs, right? So my point is, and to your point there, oh, like you have to start relying

and getting some secondary scoring. And this, the big question for me leading into tomorrow night is, and I don't know where you guys stand on this. I know Noodles has been exposed to a ton of Sens hockey this season. What do you do with Zetterlin? Like I watched him play last night and I made a comment on X after the game about it

where like you have to elevate that man. Like he's right there and he brings it, Like I watched him play last night and I made a comment on X after the game about it where like you have to elevate that man. Like he's right there and he brings it. He's got the leg speed. He's got energy. And in a game where it felt like Otto was sort of kind of a passenger. And again, you can chalk that up to nerves, but I don't know who you move. Like do you move Giroud? Like how do you say that to Claude Giroud if you're Travis Green? I mean, I get it. It's a playoff game and you got to do it. You know, the team first kind of thing, but like there's him, there's maybe David Perron you slide down, but, and I realized moving a player like Zetterlin doesn't necessarily move the entire needle like all the way, but it's those little tweaks that you have to make.

And so, yeah, like responsibility for sure falls on Brady and Stutsel up front, I would argue, you know, there are the two guys in their prime up front. They're the two star players, but I'm looking around the lineup at other players. Like you mentioned, Pinto had a pretty good evening. I think you're right there in Bathurston as well. That's not enough, right? And then there were some huge blunders on the back end. Like I didn't think Shabbat and Jensen had a great evening either.

They were pretty bad on the first two goals. So, you know, and then you couple that with all the penalty killing they had to do. It's a great evening either. They were pretty bad on the first two goals. So, you know, and then you, you couple that with all the penalty killing they had to do it's a recipe for disaster. So yeah, I think, I think tomorrow night it really just comes down to matchups. Like I think, uh, I really liked what Barube did. I mean, he was playing Matthew's line straight up against Brady. They were challenging them. Yeah.

Like that was my first thing I noticed. And I'm thinking like me just, just having that experience playing in those, like you're always looking for your matchups, right? I thought, I just assumed Pinto's line was going to be, was going to get a lot of Matthews and Nyes and Marner that night yesterday, but it didn't happen. And I know they have the second change, but you can still fight to get the matchup a little bit.

But all in all, yeah, I mean, it was, that was all Toronto in my opinion. So was it treating tomorrow, is it water off a goose's back? Did you hear that saying? What happened in the post game? I heard something. Okay, so Hayes, Linus Almark in his scrum was, you know, being philosophical and just saying, hey, you know, you got to, all of that stuff.

But he said, you got to treat it like a goldfish that's the ted lasso comment and have no and then he goes just water off a goose's back and i'm bro like does that mean water off a duck's back like well jamie i'll ask you first was that like nervous energy or was that really calm and you're like yeah that guy's kind of cool and he's ready to rock or was it bizarre? I think it's too. So I let meth answer, but I want to get, I think Greeny's gonna have some adjustments quickly down the Zetterlin-Jerue in that. Doesn't matter who's a vet and who's a not. You have to go with who you believe is going to give you the best opportunity in game, so there should have been an in game adjustment, or heading into the next game. I would argue that Nick Cousins is gonna come in probably tomorrow for Ottawa just to you know

He's a different dynamic that you know that type of you know guy who likes to get underneath the skin But getting back to all mark and the comment Oh, I think it's a little bit of both let's lean us all mark if you've ever talked to him But he can't be happy with with that performance so you know you have to put it behind him Whatever it's water off the goose's back, but he has to be better and he has to show his teammates that it'll be better in game two. I don't know how you feel about that, Matt. Yeah, well, I mean, well, and, and, and, and again, like any Canadian market

that is down one game after, you know, the first game of the series in a playoff round, you know, people are starting to panic and there's a lot of kind of chatter going around about potentially who would you start in that second game? Well, I mean, right off the top, you obviously go back with Almark. That's an insane thought to even go elsewhere. But having said all that, I think, yeah, it was a tough one for him last night,

but at the same time, if you break down every goal on an individual level, goal by goal by goal, I mean, the number one thing I'm noticing, and particularly through the first, I want to say the first four goals for Toronto, it was all middle ice. Like Ottawa was just giving up middle ice everywhere and that's how it started on the Shabbat, or excuse me, on the Olivier Ackman-Larson goal. So basically it just comes down the ice with lot and yarn croak, they kind of do their thing in the neutral zone and wide open in

the middle ice. No one's challenging anybody. So again, it's like, is that just a one-off? I think Olmert might be correct there. I think nerves played a huge part of it. Like you guys know when you played, I, I go, I always go back to my first playoff game back in like Oh nine, we were playing the red wings. I was with Columbus, Hitchcock was our coach and I was a rookie. We got swept that series and obviously Detroit ended up winning the Stanley Cup that year. But my point is I remember how I felt in that first game. My legs were shot.

Like it felt like I was skating through mud and no matter how hard I wanted to work, I just couldn't get through. And by the, you know, by the end of the first period, I was exhausted. A lot of that was just nerves, being anxious, you know, you're, you're overthinking everything and you're trying to compensate with hard work by running around. And so I think for them, yeah, like if you're, if you're, if you're going into tomorrow night's game and you're looking for a projection, sure, you're probably going to get more pushback from Ottawa.

They're going to settle in a little bit more, but I'm concerned about that penalty kill. I'm concerned about Ulmerk. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care if you want to Vezina. There were a lot of inconsistencies throughout the season. He finished strong a lot like Stollers has or did rather, but he was like wildly inconsistent at times in the regular season. So you're, you're worried.

Is that rearing its ugly head again? Is this going to persist or is he going to find his game again? But that only works if you can limit those high danger chances. You know, if you're a defenseman or a forward, you gotta come back to the house, you gotta protect it, you can't let them get in there. So again, I can talk about Ottawa ad nauseum,

but like, you know, you lost to the division champs and they played like it, and that's what it came down to. With Mark with thought, and yeah, Lena Solmark now has allowed four goals or more in six of his 10 career playoff starts. And last year, you know, the Leafs had issues with Swainman. They did not have issues necessarily with Allmark. But to your point, he's going in. He has to be. He's your guy. He's the guy. He's the franchise. He's the guy that you got to rely on and he's got to have a big game tomorrow night. And I'm curious, you mentioned Barube and his approach, the politicking after the game where you said fans are going to have their reaction to the calls, the players are going to have their reaction, but game one is where you can lay a framework down. If

you're Barube, he started doing it. If you're Green, he started doing it. What would you anticipate the officiating could look like tomorrow night? Oh, you're putting me on the spot. I mean, you guys are calling it from Toronto, but you know. Do you think we have, we're like in the ear of the NHL office here? I'm not suggesting that, but I think, I think ultimately the consensus generally,

I'm being very careful around the league is, you know, it's good for the league when Toronto does well. And it's like sort of hockey central if you will when it comes to the NHL and biggest market in the league. So Now I'm not suggesting that the for the the refs are throwing a game and they're gonna sort of be a little more biased I just I didn't like how soft those initial calls were especially for a playoff game like the one on I'm trying to I'm trying to reference the call the first one I thought was the boarding call was soft. And if you're a Toronto fan, you're going to have a different perspective. And I understand that too. And that's just the way the game is. And then of the Godette call in the second period, I think it was on Matthews.

It was. Put them down at five on three. Like again, like, and I'm, I maybe I'm cherry picking a little bit, but like I can remember playing and I know it was a while back, you're going back seven years, but you'd get away with a little bit more, the physicality and that's what kind of raises the drama up in a series. But in any case, the more, like Ottawa's not even thinking about it. I'm sure they've addressed it. I'm sure Travis Green saying like, guys, we have to stay out of the fricking box.

We need our top players on the ice here. And, and, but at the same time, you don't want to neuter your team from like playing hard and, and going hard out there and getting in their faces. Cause I think if you're going to, if you're, if you're the senators, you're not going to go out there and trade chances with Toronto all night. You can't play their game.

You're going to get worked. So you're going to have to get in their face. You're going to have to get uncomfortable. You're going to have to get in front of Stolar's talk to them, try to get under his skin. Like those are things that I'd be encouraging. And again, that's just me, but those are sort of the elements that I would be encouraging forwards to do. And even with the defense, like be hard around Omar,

like punish guys that are going in there with the extra jab at your goal, tender on a rebound. Like you got to do something about that. But again, it comes down to mindset mentality, your personnel, Ottawa's personnel doesn't necessarily fit the bill that well when it comes to the PK so I don't see a whole lot changing there. Ultimately they need the goal-tending to pick up they got to stay disciplined and they got to steal a game tomorrow night and that's their best chance. Yeah exactly and that's why it is a long series and if they listen the Leafs have been in the position Ottawa

is in right now so many times in the last decade where you know they either lose in game one or get blown out they lost 5-1 at home to Boston last year in game four or in Boston and it was like all right here we go you got to reset you know you end up winning game two you split it and it goes seven ultimately that's really all Ottawa was looking for here was come in get a split But you know if you're the Leafs now math, you know, they're the veteran team. They're in the driver's seat They have home ice. They won last night. They're goalie up perform the other guy Yeah, what would scare you from a sense perspective?

Like if you see something through 20 minutes tomorrow night, is it stole ours is dialed in Is it you know, Matthews is is cooking with a play really well last night but he's capable of breaking games open unlike anybody else on the ice uh... is there anything in particular the least might do through twenty minutes tomorrow night we'd sell this this could be trouble for game two well i i i i i i i think it ultimately just come down to the the discipline angle that I keep mentioning

with Ottawa. Like if you're going to give them those chances to get good puck touches, lots of time and space for guys like Nylander, Matthews, Marner, and they're just feeling it, that's when they start connecting and then they're confident. I think the one thing I want to see Ottawa do tomorrow night is just match that physicality. It just felt like they were always chasing it earlier on in that game. And that's, that kind of set the tone and the penalties set them back, of course. But ultimately, um, and I know fans don't want to hear that over here, over there,

but you got to get under their skin somehow. You have to play physical. Like you have to make life incredibly difficult for Toronto's top guys. The only counter to that is Ottawa doesn't really have outside of Cleven and Matt and Paolo, perhaps on the third pairing, which I think analytically, they were probably their best pairing last night outside of Sanderson.

They don't really have a lot of bite back there. And that's where I was critical of Toronto's back end to a degree, because I didn't think they had a game breaker. But I mean, based on game one, I underestimated the experience, and that's the biggest thing. So, you know, try to get physical on them, try to get under the skin, draw some penalties. based on game one i'm under a i underestimated the experience and that that's the biggest thing so uh... you know try to try to get physical on them try to get under the

skin drop some penalties they drew the most penalties in the n.h.l. this past year gotta see that continue in the postseason but that only happens if they're confident they're feeling good and i grew up in their six not for that math thanks a lot for doing this uh... really appreciate it i want to get you out here with this question if you were at the game and brian haze approached you

and he had a nice suit on and in the front of the suit because this is what he actually wore to the game he had a fanny pack because he had some so i can i have to be in a pen and a phone. So this guy wore a blue suit with a fanny pack above his privates. But if he went in for a bro hug and said,

Math, what's up? And you saw the fanny pack, what is your first initial reaction? Man, I couldn't cold shoulder that man. Not in Toronto at least. If it was in Ottawa, I'd probably come in pretty strong, try to embarrass them a little bit and try to wonder what that bulge was that was leaning up against me when I was serving them a hug. Fanny pack. Fanny pack.

But I would suggest carry a briefcase. I don't see enough of that in the sporting world. Noodles and I, like whenever I run into noodles at the rink, we've always got our little backpacks. Wear a leather suitcase. You'll look classy. Kramer, I got one. There's a long story, man. I got one.

Right in front of this. I was in the seats, all right? I'm not carrying a briefcase around in the seats. And that's what threw me off, Matt. Usually I'm in the bus box. I'll bring a backpack. I'll bring a whatever. You know, I've got everything covered.

It's in the seats. And I'm like, I gotta bring an IFB. I'm doing TV after the game. I gotta bring a whatever you know I got I've got everything covered so the seats and I'm like I gotta bring an IFB I'm doing TV after the show after the game I gotta bring it down I gotta bring a phone charger so I had the fanny pack and I think I pulled it off beautifully it turns out were you go ahead were you were you sitting were you sitting among the common folks yes crowd oh I was I was among the people I am a man of the people. The only guy in a suit last night in the lower bowl and it was an exciting night to be there. But that's why I was rocking the fanny pack and people are sending me pictures of me walking down Front

Street trying to get into the game. They're snapping pictures of me with the fanny pack on. And I find that very unsettling that there's paparazzi out there trying to... there it is. Look at me, I'm just trying to cross the road. I don't see the pack though. Here's why, okay, if you're on TSM4, if you're watching, I have a brown belt on, you can't see it because I have the blue strap over the brown belt. But where's the actual pack?

It's behind me. Oh, you got it in the back. Behind the jacket, you'd never know I had the fanny pack.. Oh, you got it in the back. Behind the jacket. You'd never know I had the fanny pack. Oh, so you rotated it around the back. Yes. I'm not a buffoon. Okay, well that's somewhat better, but it's still, I mean, I don't know.

Look, I don't want to make fun of you. I find it cool. Dude, yeah, you do. Yeah, you do, man. It's just like of all the choices you had, like you probably have backpacks laying around and old sports bags, something cool with a Toronto logo on it, but you opted to go with, yeah, I don't know. The fanny pack. It's a lifestyle choice, man.

I think it's a whole, I'm going to bring in a whole new era. You're going to see tomorrow night, game two, fanny packs. That's what the Leafs should hand out. Fans can fling them around like the towels last night. Get fanny packs going. Make the fanny packs great again, please.'t know what you're doing a lot of leaves awesome awesome i'd better good luck tomorrow night will do it again soon thank you for the

regard to your paper mark i thought said raining in autowa i know that we all know that feeling man like literally last year this time last year member they lost five one in boston it's like here we go they lost were they get like the least lose game one almost every year and yet in here we go they lost what are they going to do like the Leafs lose game one almost every year and you can the fans panic and then you think they can't possibly get back in the series and then they win

game two this is what will happen tomorrow if Ottawa wins tomorrow Sens fans will come out and be like I knew it Sens and Six always believed Ottawa's going to win this series All Marks the best you know that's the ebbs and flows of a playoff round. It's everywhere. I mean, oh, we're going to get to that when?

Next hour? The mini Jerry's? Yeah, we can do that with CJ. It's only one game. Who are we going to come back with? Because I know which team I... It's only one game, but... No, I know which team that lost game one that I feel that there's going to be a big response.

Okay. So that's a response for game two two but you're saying you think a response for the whole series of mine and i'll carry a percentage it's just it's an umbrella anyone of the teams that lost game one one of them can win the series one percent higher on it all i need to yeah i i i just fire out your answer also ninety percent i think ninety percent at least yet I'll go first if you

go ahead. I think Dallas but I know Dallas is in one but I like Pete DeBoer is not he's a hell of a coach. They're gonna be there's gonna be adjustments. Now I think Colorado is a better team just because Dallas is weakened without Robertson without Pave it noodles. You got to give a percentage or you a hundred percent no no no no no I I'm in the 50-50 but I Dallas didn't look good game one and Colorado looked like rock stars but I could see Dallas coming back you're saying any of the team so Ottawa any other st. Louis all of the teams that dump the game ones that we've seen thus far. Any of them come back to win. I'm going to go 85%. One of them is going to come back and win.

Oh yeah, for sure. I would expect that. I think... Well, I thought you meant choose a team. Sorry. But Dallas is, I think, the reasonable choice. I think you can make a case. St. Louis, they threw everything at Winnipeg and Winnipeg still found a way to win.

I think that's going to be tough. But St. Louis is a resilient team, Bennington and that. And I think from Ottawa and the Leafs standpoint, the Leafs still have to prove completely that they're different. And this is different, right? It's on the Leafs as much as it is Ottawa. Oh yeah. Let's not get carried away here. Exactly. Like the Leafs have, they got to get to the finish line of a series before anyone's going to completely breathe and believe That they're gonna take care of business

So yeah, I'm high on that and it's gonna be even higher after tonight, right? You got LA and Edmonton you got Montreal and Washington starting tonight Tomorrow, you've got the battle of Florida beginning. I saw a stat today. I think that Edmonton in game one I think they're like two and eight in their last 10. They lose game one every year, it feels like. And it doesn't cause them any problems, especially against LA. They always find a way to win that series.

In the end, you know, the thing is, is one of these series, like there's gonna be a shock, who knows what the shock's gonna be? 100%. It feels like one of those years. Like that really, who knows what the final combination's gonna be at the finish line. But I think you got to brace for chaos. That generally is the way it plays out. All right. There was some chaotic pressers around the league today. Dylan Larkin speaking

on the trade deadline. Talk about a message to management and ownership. He sent one. ownership he's someone jimmy robert for that and coover is basically channeling our boy who was the former gm ebony ebony ebony ebony ebony ebony ebony ebony ebony ebony must be something that i'm a lawyer like ever going after sue bennett's anticoast i mean it's not that those comments i've got to defend them but i thought i have to do an s c hit but i'm i want it and we will get an opportunity to defend well i gotta hear them later on because i want to hear it it's luke and jack this time but we'll get to that and some change in seattle pretty significant

change will tell you about that as well overdrive continues tsn ten fifty and on the tsn app all right chris johnston joining us in about a half an hour and uh... bruno gervais will join us as well of rds ahead of uh... habs caps game one tonight we got the oilers in action we joining us in about a half an hour and Bruno Gervais will join us as well of RDS ahead of Habs-Caps game one tonight. We got the Oilers in action, we got Winnipeg in action, sets up beautifully for a lot of Canadian content tonight. So we'll start looking ahead to those games and yet a lot of the teams throughout

the NHL that didn't make the playoffs, what you're getting is locker cleanouts and press conferences and there's a couple of clips here that are ringing out so to speak in the hockey world and in the sports world for that matter. I think let's begin with Dylan Larkin because we've talked a lot about Steve Eisenman and the Eiser plan and he's been there in Tampa for a long or in Detroit for a long time. They have made the playoffs and that's hockey town USA prior to them missing the playoffs they had the longest streak I believe in pro sports history like 26 years in a row.

23 years. Yeah. Crazy and they won all those cups and they went all to all to those cup finals and all those Hall of Famers and they've been an afterthought in the league, quite frankly, for the better part of six or seven years. Like really just not a player. And that sticks out this year, I'm getting off track already, but with Boston not in it, the Rangers not in it, you know, Chicago not in it, Detroit not in it, Pittsburgh and Sid not in it, it's just, it feels different.

By the way, I think it's nine years for Detroit. Nine years without making the playoffs. And Eisenman's been there for a lot of it with the understanding that he's going to reload and retool and it was going to take some time. But Dylan Larkin has been there for the whole time as well. He's their captain. And he was asked about the trade deadline and his view on what happened or what didn't happen and here's what he had to say

you gotta come up with with uh... with wins and i think uh... especially march it that uh... it was hard uh... you know that we didn't do anything and and then i felt the group kinda uh... gain any momentum from from uh... and guys were kind of down about it so it would be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.

I don't like that comment. It's like you guys, maybe a bunch of you guys got to play better. How about that? I mean, yeah, you could go get somebody else, but I don't know, bunch of those guys wanted the contracts and they're just, they don't play that well. Well, they had to fire a coach, right? Todd McClellan came in and they went on a heater and they got into the playoffs the year before they were in the playoffs with 10 games to go, give or take. They did the same thing. As soon as they got McClellan came in and they went on a heater and they got into the playoffs the year before they were in the playoffs With ten games to go give or take the same thing as soon as they got McClellan in there They went on a heater and then they just come back to earth and they're the same old team. They're not that good I mean that that is one thing I understand the frustration of Larkin now

It's it's conflicting because you're the captain and it's like what kind of impression are you supposed? You're a competitor, but to say like we were bummed out that we didn't get anybody it's like I don't know a bunch of those guys they need to play better, but for the organization and Noodles isn't here, but if you want to piss around with all those goaltenders They've gone through and I don't know what else was available But if Colorado could flip their goaltenders and have two different guys in there when you're pissing around with who's our guy from st. Louis Billy who so whatever so Billy who so and Talbot and Alex Lyon like I don't know man like did those guys weren't good enough they were not good

enough watching games it wasn't and listen i i think larkin has a uh... but on an understandable case to make for why he's frustrated but yeah there's there's no star power there is not patrick kane is over the hill he still a quality player terror and go it's a risk i know it your your and dylan larkin's a good player but he's not they don't move the needle man they're not there's there's it's easy that like to have a bunch of players and to have a game changer

They don't have enough game changers, man No, they don't and I'm curious who's the break gets like a notch-down game breaker. He is the I agree No, and Raymond and you know Larkin to like Larkin He's that's not McDavid or dry saddle or now Matthews there. They don't have any of those guys but He's that's not McDavid or dry saddle or McKinnon or Matthews there. They don't have any of those guys. Um, but this is where it can get, it can get complicated. It can get emotional. It can get difficult to handle cause Isaman is a legend in that market. And he did a great job in Tampa before handing over the reins.

We S we've seen what's happened there since he left. They've been great. And he's been in Detroit a long time. Well, and if you're an owner you say Montreal So they did a three-year rebuild and that's what they snuck into the playoffs So what exactly are we doing here and Ottawa started where you started six seven years ago? you guys were in the same spot they're in yeah, right they're in and Montreal's in and

Detroit doesn't feel like they're even close, you know, they're not a bottom feeder. They're not tanking. They're trying to compete. They're spending money They're turning rosters over they're getting new coaches and it's not going anywhere Now one thing you can look back on and I believe Steve Eisenman I believe he was the guy running the show When Quinn Hughes was on the board and went to school at Michigan right down the road I want to say Detroit had the fourth or fifth pick that year they might have taken Lucas Raymond in that draft Quinn Hughes won seventh they could have taken Quinn Hughes they chose not to and that's a miss clearly I mean every team has it every team can go back and review their

draft board and say man we screwed that screwed that up. Not a small one either, dude. He was down the street at Michigan and you decided not to take him. And Hughes is in the news today, not because of anything he had to say, but because of what Jim Rutherford, the president of hockey ops in Vancouver had to say. Let's play this clip. He was asked about the future of Hughes. He's got two years left on his deal, right? Like let's clarify here. Quinn Hughes is not going anywhere for the next two years.

He has two years left on his deal, but by next year July 1st, he can talk extension and Rutherford was asked about his future, the money that would be needed to sign him and here's what Rutherford had to say. The one thing that we will be sure of that we will have enough cap space to offer him the kind of contract that he deserves. That's the one thing we can prepare for and it may not boil down to money with him. You know he said before he wants to play with his brothers and that would be partly out of our control, in our control, if we brought his brothers here. So there's many moving parts here. I agree

100 percent this franchise cannot afford to lose a guy like Quinn Hughes. And we will do everything we can to keep him here but at the end of the day it'll be it'll be his decision. It's kind of just honest comments. It's either he goes to New Jersey, like he wants to play with his brothers one time and I'm sure Brady and Matthew at some time in their career are gonna want to play together and he says either he goes to New Jersey the other two guys come here I don't know what Fitz you would think about that but well if I'm in New Jersey I love hearing that because they're Vancouver's not getting Jack and Luke Hughes to say

we're out of here and we're only going to Vancouver yeah the idea of moving one guy the one guy American to go to the American city exactly right he's a very easier transaction they grew up on the East Coast his brothers are in Jersey if i'm jersey i'm not i'm not filing a complaint i'm not saying of i'm what all the leaders say don't you even complain about do not find this guy don't find the team don't say anything and. And if I'm the New Jersey Devils, I have my feet up for July 1st, 2027, I guess it would be. And I'm just blank checking Quinn Hughes.

And I'm making sure Jack is happy. I'm making sure Luke Hughes is happy. And I'm bringing the trio into town. And that's, I just, I think that's an unfair comment for a couple of different reasons one for Quinn not to have to answer for it like I'm a little surprised Jim Rutherford who's been around forever you know him better than anybody he knows what he's doing here there's there's some politicking because now the media goes right to Quinn and it's gonna ask him are you gonna go to New Jersey in two years are you whenever the devil's roll through town? It's a huge story now is Quinn here. Are you gonna play with your brothers? Jim Rutherford said it's not about money It's about playing with your brothers

puts pressure on Quinn Hughes the last guy in the organization that deserves any of it because he's the only guy out there that pulled his weight this year nobody else did and Conversely, it's a message to the fans that I don't think will be received well. Like they, if I'm a Vancouver Canuck fan, I despise what happened this year. It was a disaster. Like last year everything worked. This year everything was awful. They can't have nice things.

They had one dream season where it all worked out and then it just went up and smoked. And now you're telling me that it doesn't matter What Vancouver does what they build what they have what money they offer how much they win that Quinn Hughes may just leave because his Brothers are in New Jersey. Well, dude, everybody has that wants to hear that you have I know they don't want to hear it But you'll you'll find out very quickly like come next July. It's either That's what happens like it's either gets done come next July, it's either, that's what happens. Like it either gets done. There was some concern around here when Austin Matthews,

July 1st came around and that didn't get done right away. Everyone was like, oh boy, here we go. Yeah, for sure there was. And that's the nature of superstars in particular, but American superstars playing in Canada. I know, but when you get that one shot at a UFA, you're like, in the back of my mind, as much as I love the city of Vancouver, I love the fans, I have a decision to make where it's all what I

want to do if there's somebody on the other end that wants the same thing. And I'm pretty sure in Quinn Hughes' situation, any team would be like, you want to play here? If it's not Vancouver. Of course, of course. He's one of the five or six best players in the in the league of course and I'm sure the fans would love it if he came out and said I Have because this is what I would do just be just for ego alone I would come out and say Vancouver fans you've got nothing to worry about because this is the only place I'm gonna play my whole career, So don't even think about me leaving. It's not even a chance.

But guys don't do that now. They like the, I don't know if they like the intrigue or it's actually a decision to make. The wine and dine, the exactly it's and listen. Dude, it's intoxicating when you've got like different scenarios, possibly ones that you never thought possible where teams are like, whatever you want, all kinds of different scenarios pop up, where you're like, I didn't know that was available. Also internally, there's a bit, listen,

Quinn Hughes has got a ton of power in that market and with that team, and he can't like what he's seeing right now, right? Like JT Miller's out, Besser's probably gonna walk, they can't score, what's gonna happen with Rick Tocket? He and Rick Tocket by all accounts very close. That might be his biggest factor. Here it is.

I'll sign here, but we better have a team that looks like they can compete because I want to win and don't want to spend the next two or three years on a garbage team. Right. If I can't win, I might as well play with my brothers. What's the point of being here? But if you're the organization, you want also some guarantee too. What do you wanna get rid of assets and try to bring some guys in here and then you're gonna just stiff us at the end of it?

I think that is ultimately the conundrum here or something they have to flush out. What are you doing with Pedersen and what are you doing with Quinn Hughes? That is what, you know what, it might be better. If you go to him and say, what the hell do you think you're gonna be up to? Because if you're gonna stiff us, it might be the best time to get the best haul back

where somebody is going to get two years of them or something. Because you're either coming back here or not. Well, what would Jersey be willing to trade? Because that's ultimately what the deal would be. If you're Quinn Hughes, you're not going anywhere likely. I don't know his trade protection situation. This is such pie in the sky. We just talked about him staying to be a Vancouver Canuck forever.

But it would just be, I think it would be the biggest trade we've talked about 10 years. I mean, it's got to be, you got to have like Heesher coming back. You've got to have, I don't even know, man. I'd have to, the crazy thing is you'd be saying, I want Jack and Luke Hughes coming back for Quinn Hughes. Exactly. That's probably the deal. Again, the guy is a rock star superstar,

Norris winning 25 minute a night, absolute stalwart on the point. He's 25. Top 50 Dougie, Niko Heesher in a first? I don't know if that cuts it if I'm Vancouver. Of course not. Yeah, I mean, listen, Quinn Hughes, like it's McDave. We don't have to go down the i'm back of course not yeah i mean it listen quinn hughes like it's it's mcday we have to go down the list but we'll know is we

know it is and what he always has a player in the world after these unbelievable and it would cost of of fortune but if you're gonna do that then i would say paterson maybe's got to go to like rather for it was talking today about how he has to become more of a complete player they've already paid on Like Rutherford was talking today about how he has to become more of a complete player. They've already paid him.

Dude, you know how disgusting it is. How do you ask that out of the guy when you've already given him 11.6 years? Do you know how sad it is for the president of the team to say, you know, it's starting off pretty good because he's been in here working out and rehabbing and he's taking it seriously. Do you know how much of an indictment that is on the player? Like for someone to actually say that when he's got a contract that pays him 11.6 million dollars. Like what was this guy like he like he's he's a skinny little guy and he's been good in the past but what has he been doing for the past two years? Is he just saying

piss on it? I'm not stepping foot in a gym. I'm just gonna try to play hockey My god, that's a question. That's a damn mess with that guy. It is it's an indictment All right, Chris Johnston coming up something to chew on brought to you by Boston pizza coming up as well We'll turn the page and start looking at the games tonight Including Edmonton Montreal Winnipeg in action and our best but still to come overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. Alright the overdrive PJ picks brought to you by TaylorMade introducing the all new QI 35 drivers for more distance from more of the face. Unlock another level of your game at TaylorMadeGolf.ca.

Did anyone take them? No one had JT. None of us had Thomas. Like loser picks man And I will say this Scheffler was kind of hunting but never really pushed. Neither of us had Thomas. No one was picking Andrew Novak. But Mackenzie Hughes top five. Mack needed that. Looked good top five. A lot of Canadians top five and in top 10 in this year. Well, my boy Rusty Henley, he made a run. Yeah, he always does. Keegan made a run.

Yeah like a lot of the guys who you know didn't make noise really at the Masters, they showed up and Thomas needed that. He's been in the hunt before, he was in the hunt like a month ago. Dude that course looks fascinating. It looks like there's just tree problems. There's no room man. It's trees and water. Yeah over. Yeah. It's like a video game almost. The way that course looks and the way it plays. But yeah, Justin Thomas with the winner. We've been picking some winners, but we've got to get back into the winner's circle here. Well, next week's a team event.

Yeah, they're down in New Orleans for the team event. McRoy will be back with Lowry. So we've got to do that. And then we've got the PGA coming up before you know it, the Memorial, the RBC Canadian Open right around the corner. McElroy is going to be up there. It's going to be amazing. If you're not before, you know, we could be golfing in the next month and a half or two months. Right? You never know. It's just ridiculous. The weather and the course. Well, it's nice for like half a day. Then you wake up the next morning and it snows

or it's so cold. You're like, this is garbage. It feels like minus one this morning or something. It's terrible, man. Terrible. Overdrive PJ picks brought to you by TaylorMade introducing the all new QI35 drivers for more distance for more of the face. Unlock another level of your game at TaylorMadeGolf.ca.

We'll get noodles back in here. Little mini Jerry's continuing. CJ coming up, best bet, something to chew on, overdrive continues. Made in Canada on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada.

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