OverDrive - OverDrive - April 21, 2026 - Hour 2 - Mike Johnson

Episode Date: April 21, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to go across the Stanley Cup Playoffs diving into the matchups throughout the first round, the guys play Confirm or Deny and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

Come on in, friends. Hour 2. Overdrive. Come on in, friends. I like that. I wanted to start on the camera because I was going to go. Come on in, friends. Hour 2, Overdrive.

Come on over. Come on over here. Just like Mr. Rogers with his little tickled trunk. Come on over. Everyone come on over and hang out. You guys are a creep. You don't want that. Boys, we've got to figure out what we're doing for the second installment of hashtag data-driven overdrive with

Mike Johnson. What do you want to know about this? The data. Disardata with MJ. Yeah, that's coming up in about five minutes. Yeah, JP, did you keep that clip of Marty when he said, I don't know what the hell he said. Yeah, he kind of did like a player thing. No, he said, this is disordat,

hashtag, I don't know what he did. Did you guys ever do that when you're players for local stations? Like, hey, it's Jamie Noodles-McClinning. You're listening to Hayes in the afternoon on Classic Rock in Calgary or whatever. You guys did that sometimes? Dude, there was a guy in Carolina. He was a diehard fan.

He ran the rock station, and his name was Chopper Harrison. You got to love a chopper. He was that guy who he created these relationships where it was like, and then it turned into after every game, like, 15, like, dark and dirties. And, like, I'm talking, he's the godfather of race. Rick breath after a game. Oh, yeah. Like, I wouldn't be surprised that back in the early days in Carolina, there was some kind of, he found some kind of smoking room.

And this guy would peel in the locker room, and it would just be hugs and great game. You were awesome. And the voice sounds like it was raspy, like Chopper Harrison. What a handle. And you know his name was like Jerry Schwartz or something. Yeah, Rick. Rick Williams or. And he had like.

The hair is exactly what it would, what you think it would be. It was like a curled perm and then a rat kind of like back, long. Like it was, yeah. He looked like he was in the band Van Halen, Chopper Harrison. And he loved Van Halen and he loves Zeppelin and he just. Doogie, try to find a picture. He passed away, unfortunately. Try to find a picture of Chopper Harrison.

Okay. So he was like the rock voice of North Carolina? Yeah. And he loved the, like he was probably. like shoving shit down. Oh, stuff down. Chopper. Are you kidding?

Shuffing stuff down people's throats about the canes because he was like, we've got like, you know, there's a cane coming up at 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and people listening were like, we don't want to listen. So you do interviews with Chopper Harrison? Oh, yeah. I remember, like, me and Ronnie Francis went in and sat with Chopper and did like an extensive interview. No way.

On rock radio. That's great. And then because like with music radio, it's like maybe you got three minutes in between songs and commercials, right? You're not, you're not doing extensive stuff. No, it's like, hey, the moon, we get the weather today. Here's Jeff O'Neill. Like, what do you think of the game tonight? All right, here's Van Halen on Classic Rock.

Like, that's it. That's what it would be. What do you think of the game tonight? You guys are going to win? Yeah, we're going to kill them. Thanks a lot. Here we go. That's so good.

Those shock jocks and morning shows and morning. and morning jungle. I remember we played Detroit in the playoffs when I was St. Louis. You know how the morning shows would try and mess with you? Like they would mess with the hotel. Like they would call the hotel room. Definitely. They called Grant Fier's Room,

morning of a game at like 6 o'clock in the morning. He answered and did like a 30-minute interview with them. I love that. In Detroit. We were playing for St. Louis. He didn't care. Yeah, happy to. He was laughing about it.

Happy to. No problem. Whatever you need, whatever you got. Yeah, it's so good, man. Because he used to be able to do that more with, like, when there wasn't caller ID, you'd just call people and they'd answer, you know? Like, you'd actually have people that would answer calls. Guys, before we talk to Mike Johnson, I want Marty Broder.

I don't have enough tough minutes. Man, you got to watch yourself. Swearing and Marty Broder's. Marty Barron kick off our new analytics segment. Yes. Welcome, everyone, to this or data? All right, there's Mike Johnson. Johnny, I mean, that's pretty good stuff, right?

Pretty good production level here. Uh-oh, and then it's Mike. Now we don't even hear him. There he is. We got you. Now we got you. Go ahead. Continue.

What's going on? What's going on? You got me? We got you. Diser data. Diser data. How we feel? Diss or Diss or D'S.

Spared no expense. Marty Burrell is a big star or Marty Burdur. I'm going to try not to swear. I think, oh, got that all of our system. time? Just casually just dropping these words. Now, this or data, I'm doing some data. Whole question for the crew here. What is a more annoying afternoon? Because I did both this afternoon. Dentist or taxes? Dentist.

Tough, tough afternoon. Depends on what you're getting at the dentist. Like if you're going through a real operation, that is very punishing. If you're root canals, you know, you've got a bridge issue. If it's just a standard, you know, cavity or cleaning, then I would say taxes is more painful because if you miss something, you're in trouble, right? The dentist isn't going to get you in trouble. The CRA is going to come knocking.

That's a very different story. That is true. But, I mean, last time I was at the dentist, they told me they were just going to do a routine thing. And then, remember, I looked like I had a stroke. Like they had frozen. and everything and I couldn't talk and I was swollen. They did some sort of bridge or something. I didn't even know about it.

They didn't even tell me about it. They got to tell you what's going on. They just, you can't have that kind of. They did not tell me. They just started operating. That's dangerous, dude. Just rumming to you around in there. That's like, I'm not sure they're qualified to do that.

I was. That's what I was. That's right. I was trying to say. Mel Tourmey. It was tough. How long you've been on your own? So, Johnny, what kind of?

What kind of data do we have from the... What numbers are sticking out in the playoffs? Johnny, who's dominating because of numbers? Give us something to chew on. Okay. Interesting. I think a lot of people might be surprised. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh. Philly up to nothing.

Pitt had this great year. I talked to you guys about Pittsburgh being the number one five-on-five goal-scoring team since January. What people don't realize, when it comes to chances, low event, expected goals, high danger chances against Philadelphia, surprisingly good. And in this series, it's basically Philly defense versus Pittsburgh offense. And right now, when Pitt's sitting there halfway through a game with six shots, eight shots, whatever it is, it's the defense and the underlying numbers, oh, that I know you are well aware of, of the flyers and how good talk has them playing without the puck.

It's surprising because you don't think necessarily them as a defensive juggernaut. But when you watch them play, you call their games, you look at their numbers, they can slow the game down to a grind. And when they play it that way, it is advantage them over Pitt. Johnny, just before we get into the Canadian teams and what they're doing, that Porter Martone at the juniors, did you sniff this out at all? Because I didn't. You were sitting about 200 yards away from me at a different van.

vantage point. I didn't see it. No. So, oh, that same year we played juniors, he played at the World Championship. And he was like an extra guy and he played like two games at the end. And in those two games, I said to Gore, I'm like, he's better at this tournament than he was at the juniors. He was like, he was really pretty, for a guy that was, you know,

maybe contending for first overall, he wasn't great at the World Junior. And maybe that system or whatever was going on that year. but maybe he's just a guy that plays better with men. And I think, oh, if you think about Porter Martone's game, what little we see of it, he's not a guy who's going to blaze you up and down the ice and beat you on transition. And in the world juniors,

a lot of that game is transition chances, rush chances, because guys make mistakes, you take off down the ice and you score. That's not really his game. His is, like, cycle, crafty plays. He's Matthew Kachuk. He's a new age Matthew Kachuk. Maybe not quite that good. but that style of player where he's not fast,

he's just got great hands. Two games, two game winners, 10 points in nine regular season games. He had about 40 shots in 10 games. Like every number you can think of for this guy since he turned pro is through the roof good. So you think why Philly's different too, right? Martone comes in late,

as well as Tyson Forster, who missed most of this year, who's a pretty good player as well. You dump those two guys in our lineup that's whirling well, played well down the stretch. and now that looks like they're going to get to the second round. That Martone could totally bypass Michkoff

as their go-to guy. Oh, yeah. For fun. For fun. Johnny, what is it that is it that Philly's doing a great job or Pittsburgh's not doing a good enough job?

Because Crosby looks like frustrated and Philly's right in their face. I mean, Lidar's made a couple real good timely saves, but outside of that, it's been the Philly show. And Philly is really, like you say, defensively really blanketed them. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to give Philly credit

because it's the playoffs. Pits's doing their best, they're trying their hardest. I wonder sometimes, though, noodles, when you watch Sid, like I know he's frustrated, they're all over him. Yeah. I wonder how healthy he is. I wonder if that knee, like, when he stops and starts, he's not getting the same sort of separation that he wants to.

But I give Philly the credit. I mean, they're playing very well, always guys back, clogging up the, neutral zone, not giving off the rush. So Philly's got to find answers, though. Like, they were a team that got up and down, attacked with pace. They're not getting any pace out of their own end through the neutral zone, and they're not

getting into offense because of it. With Mike Johnson. So in terms of that, you know, job that Talk is doing, obviously we talked to with the Leafs'all. You can't defend. Can't defend. Give up everything. You look at Zegras there. You look at

young guys, Meechka. Martoon's a kid. I mean, these are forwards. Obviously, the defense is going to have to factor in. But it's not like they have the, you know, 70s halves defense back there either. Like, isn't that another example of like the coach is the one that's going to drive

home the performance of the team? Like, players got to follow suit. But if you get your message across and demand its plate a certain way, you can have this level of success. Yes, except they don't score well either though.

That's the flip side. It's not like they can do Both. They can defend excellent, but they don't score well. So, you know, you can get guys to buy illison. I mean, Austin Matthews is the best player of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He's a good defensive player. It plays well defensively. So, but all the rest of the stuff, you're right. Like, you could, you should as a coach, if you're not worried about scoring, be able to turn any group of NHL players or just about any group of NHL players into a good or at least average defensive team. And the least we're never that this year. So they net. And maybe the conversation might not be could he do it? I'm not sure if like, did they ever try to pivot and say, listen, maybe we got to try something totally different. Like let's lock it down for a bit.

Let's see if we can just become something different because the way we're trying it, it's not working. And then maybe we have to switch something up. Maybe that's the bigger conversation. I'm not sure if they tried to play like Philadelphia at times this year. Right. But yeah, like they don't have a great defense. They don't, but they do have a lot of good forwards.

Like whether it's Noah Cates or Couturier or Glenn Denning or Forster or Bobby Brink when he was there, they had a lot of good defensive forwards that could also sort of chip in to go along with the Michkoffs and the Zegris as you don't. But yeah, I mean, watching any team that's good defensively only makes the teams that are bad defensively look worse. Absolutely. Better chance of going up 2.0 tonight. Buffalo or Montreal? Oh, Buffalo. For sure.

for sure. Not that I don't believe in Montreal. I just think, you know, Tampa is certainly much better than Boston. And I just think the Bruins will really regret not getting game one. Because the Bruins are carried by some great players. Pasta, geeky, Zaka was pretty good, Maca Boy's great, and Swamen. So they have some really great players, but they don't play a great team game. And they know it.

You talk to people around the ruins, like, we get out shot, we get out chanced, we go against the run of play, but we have these great difference makers that can win games for us. So, hey, I'm thinking, Buffalo, second time through, through the jitters, can you expect Swainman to stand in his head for 36 of 39 again? I don't think so. Not against that offense. So, yeah, I think Buffalo, good chance, Montreal, it'll be tough because Tampa is such a game opponent. that is going to be tough to get both down to Tampa to start the series.

Would you say the Bruins are kind of like a fatter guy with skinny jeans on where you look at it and you're like, nah, not bad. But it's just not good enough. Yeah. Not bad, but not. They're trying hard. If he bends over to tie his shoe and you see what's really under there. Yeah, when you look under the hood, they're like the nice body package on it, but a bad engine.

They got sweet rims, but a terrible two cylinder in there. Yes, that's kind of what they are. And they know it. That's the thing. They're not going to, they know that's what they're good at and what they're not. And, you know, nothing's easy. It's the playoffs. Nothing will be easy,

but I just don't know if the rest of their lineup carries play enough to compliment the other good guys against the team that's really pretty good in Buffalo, who I think gets better. Like I think Buffalo gets more comfortable. I think the hype and the excitement probably hurt

them in the first game. Like it was such a buildup. Pulling up in these old school cars and Rick Jennerette's wife banging the drum and the crowd ready to go crazy. Tables breaking everywhere. They hold outdoor festivities and then like the pressure to kind of live up to that.

I don't think they have to deal with that anymore. They may be freed up to play even better game two and going forward. So Johnny the Carolina Ottawa game last night. I mean And what do you make of Ottawa? You know, we talked about the replay, all of that type of stuff. I mean, we all thought it was an unbelievable game,

but unfortunately Ottawa's chasing it now at 2-0. Okay, quick, I didn't see the first hour. Did everyone agree with the off-side call on Jordan's talk? Oh, I didn't even think it was off-side. Noodles? I thought it was off-side, but it's by interest. You know, I mean, again, we don't know. his he believes he has control of it like that's the thing like we're not in his mind of going i thought

that was on side i just hate the rule yeah i just hate the rule i think it's so stupid i'm 100% with jeff o'neal like these are nchl players i don't need to touch the puck with my stick to have control of it i can handle it on my skates yeah i can skate away with it he already touched it once and maybe it wasn't a perfect position but like there's no one near him he's got how pal out of Ray used to just kind of push the puck into an area while he was skating with it. It's like he never had control of it. He kind of would just skate like this and he'd like shove it a little bit, shovel it. I thought it was ridiculous, man.

That was not offside. Yeah. Well, you don't have, the rule doesn't stipulate you have to have it on your blade. But I think because he only touched it once and never kind of re-handled it on the way of cross. But I'm like, he's got possession. And that was not, does he have control? To me, he did. To them, he didn't.

But anyways, that would have been, can you imagine if Carolina lost that game? Like how big that story would be and how it would be dissecting the English language to a point of nausea? Like, it would be awful. And that's sort of the risk you run with these kind of rules. But anyways, as far as a game,

Ottawa can't feel good. They're down 02. But Ottawa played that game, the second half of the game, more than good enough to win. Yeah. And Tim Stutzla will be having nightmares until next April. He will never in his life, in his life, play a game the same he just played and not score.

He will never generate those clean looks and not score. He had an empty netter in the first shift of the game. He somehow managed to shoot it off the side of the net. He had, you know, they had all these chances in overtime. This was the one for me, the five posts. Brady in front. That was the best chance of the game, in my opinion. I can't believe.

This one. This one, it goes, hits the post, goes behind Freddie. I know, but I hear they're both great chances, but Freddy's waiting for him. Like, Freddie had no idea that Chuk was there. It just hit him. Yeah. He just didn't get enough on it. Brady needed another two inches higher, and he would have had it in the back of the net.

So I guess what Ottawa would be saying, listen, we got Mantem Paulo playing 40 minutes of a double overtime game, and we generated as much or more as that game went along. We got Jordan Spence playing 45 minutes. We have some issues on the back end and we are right there with them. In fact, we probably should have won that game. So I guess you're trying to tell yourself, do it again, find a way to get off the mat, play in our home building. Timmy will score those goals.

Their power play's got to get much better. But, you know, get the next one and then, you know, try to feel like they're back in the series. But that's a gut punch game to go that deep, play that well. have your goalie to that good noodles and lose? That's brutal. That's what O's said, and that's true. Not that it wasted, but that performance from Allmarry. That's wasted.

That's the best I've seen him play. Like, that's literally the best game I've ever seen him play. I thought he was unbelievable. Yeah. It's one of the best games I've ever seen any goal to play this year. Like, they were, I don't know, you call him five alarm, 10 alarms saves where you call him noodles. He must have had 10 to 15,

crazy saves. Like not just okay, that's not a bad save, but wild saves. And you think about Allmark, when he's at his best, you don't think of him at all as being athletic in the way he plays goalie. And yet last night he had to be, and he was

so good, and I'll say it, totally wasted. He gave you a chance early, made all those saves. You had all those looks yourself, you have to find a way to score more. I mean, Freddie gave you a gift through Dylan Cousins. He thought maybe this is it, But they'll just be frustrated. Their overall sentiment will be frustration, disappointment,

regrets that they shouldn't have done better when they played well enough too. Yeah, that's it, exactly. Like, I've liked their game through two games. You know, I've liked Carolinas too. Like, it's not that Carolina hasn't been worthy of being up to nothing. Carolina's a really good team. But it could be 1-1. It could be 2-0, Ottawa, but ultimately they're in the position they're in.

And I don't think that series is over, but they're in tough now. As for the Edmonton game last night, you know, what do you think Anaheim's thinking? Because they, you know, they, they had ample opportunities themselves. Like, they showed up ready to play. Their young guys were flying. And Caponin kind of steals it with 90 seconds to go. That feels like a bigger gut punch game one than others because of the fact that they're in one against Edmonton on the road.

Edmonton's got the history. They've got dry settles back. You look great. McDavid didn't get a point. didn't have a point and didn't do much. You know that's not going to continue. What do you make of that outcome last night? So if I'm putting myself in the ducks room, I'm like, yeah, of course, you're upset.

Like, that's a bad loss. But I think they showed themselves if they had to, or at least us, they're not getting run out of the building. They're not sort of scared of Edmonton. They don't need to back off of Edmonton. They're pop guys, like, we'll sort of play with them and we'll be fine. I think that's what they would take out of it. but for Evanton to win

for the first time, I'm sure you guys have said this, the first win this year, when McDavid didn't get a point, the first entire season for them to win, that's great news. Jason Dickinson, who barely said he scored one goal in Evanton

since he out-traded, was brilliant and the first goal was incredible. Radical Gudis, that is some kind of blown tire right here. Whoa! That is a nasty heel pick at the worst possible time. That's an ACL blowout right there somewhere else than Matthews saying, see, that's what you get for taking

on guys' knees. But that one is tough. But the other part about it, guys, is Leon Drysadle is a sporekazoid. Like, he is a playoff. It's not supposed to be, it's not easy. It's not supposed to be this doable. That you can

miss, what do you miss? Six weeks? Seven weeks? And go back and he's, still he's not 100% healthy and be as good as he was. That, to me, is the best news for Edmonton and the worst news for Anheim. That Leon looked totally capable of doing

whatever he wants to do in the playoffs like he always does. I wasn't sure if he had, if the knee was going to let him or if he had to play with McDavid, he's playing with his own line, but Colson and Caput. Those guys are not great offensive players. And they were really good. They're the best line for Emerson in the night.

That is reassuring, if you're an Oilers fan, thinking about we want to go deep again. Big time. Yeah, that's a message to the whole. league. Like, did this guy reset? Did he refresh himself? We'll see if he's running off adrenaline. That's possible last night. You know, we'll see. Maybe he slows down for game two. I think if you're in Anaheim, you're hoping that. But if Dry Settles at 100% and now has had a chance to kind of refill

the tank, that is a terrifying proposition because he is the definition of a gamer in the playoffs. And I thought he was phenomenal last night. So we'll see. All right, Johnny. All right. Dis or Data. I love it. I love where we're at right now. Hang on, JP. Play it on the way out too.

Welcome, everyone to Diss or Data. Yes, there you go. All right. It's got a nice ring to it. Got a great ring to it. We'll continue this later in a week. Thank you, Johnny.

I need to download that for my ringtone. That would be something. That would be. Imagine if you put that up for sale and said, like, you want to buy this for $0.99. 99 cents. Yes, or data. He would be big pimping in Hollywood, that guy. Serious money.

Serious. All right, Johnny, look into that. Let us know how it goes. We'll do, fellas. See you, buddy. Mike Johnson, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Red Tag days are here. Check out the Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Tundra pickup trucks,

both available as hybrids visit Maple Toyota right near Canada's Wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall. This or Data? Yes, I love it. I love it. The Raptors need some diss or down out of that Brandon Ingram. Man, was he horrendous again? Hang on a sec. I don't know if you know, but the Raptors have great culture.

Oh, yes. Great culture. I love that one. I think Keith Pelley mentioned just how great the culture is. He's like, the Raptors do this and the Raptors do that. They got their best player bitching and complaining, and they just got spanked two games in Cleveland. How good is their culture.

Making excuses, though. That's the thing. Just own it. Well, I mean, he had no points in the first half last night after what he did in game one. Like Ingram... Well, after game one, he was like, yeah, you got to get me the ball. Like, that was what Kauai said, but Kauai was a different animal. You want the ball and you're going to play like that?

Come on, dude. You got it. Yeah. And Kaui would never ask for it because he'd just go get it. He'd take it in game one. He'd be like, give me the ball. Like, if we're going to lose, we're losing on me. Ingram's not wired that way.

They got real problems. I mean, clearly it's... They may get swept. They're facing that reality right now. Cleveland's got too much talent. The Raptors, Pertles Unplayable, quickly's hurt all the time, didn't play the first two games. Man, he's a Band-Aid. Always heard.

Always heard. By the way, that's one of my favorite Nick Nurse stories. We had that open forum at the Hall of Fame and that, like, that big room in there. Yeah. And Nick Nurse came, and he was sitting beside me, and he told me, he said, we were having a meeting. and somebody said, we want to have this, like, open for ideas because they were struggling offensively, and they needed to get it going. And guys would come up, and they'd draw all these fancy plays.

And if you get me the ball there and we could do this and switch and swing and do this, and a couple of guys went up. And then all of a sudden, Kauai Leonard's hand went up like this. And he said, just get me the bleep and ball, and I'll score the ball. And then that was the end of the meeting. Yeah, Class of Smith. And he said from there, things took off. Like, he just put up his hand and said, cut the crap here and get me the ball, and I'm going to score the ball.

Yeah, that's the nature of the NBA. I mean, your best players, they've got to be killers. You know, it applies to every sport. You've, you know, quarterbacks, wide receivers, big bats in the lineup, obviously superstar hockey players. You know, they've got to drive the bus. You know what I've gotten a lot lately, and I don't know why I usually field only like hockey stuff. Did you see that game? People are coming up to me at the gym,

and they're like, NBA product, even in the playoffs is garbage. I don't know what's going. They can't watch it. There's too many blowouts, man. Dude, they're like, the product in the NBA is, they're complaining about it. And I'm like, I ain't even watching, bro, so I don't even know what you're talking about. But that's the complaint I'm getting. It's not even good in the playoffs now.

Yeah, I mean, the first round, there's always a juxtaposition between the Stanley Cup playoffs and the NBA. The NBA players get better as it goes on. better the NHL kind of You could get into Start with slow Well, come on I hear you, but there's just talent discrepancy You know, and there's a sense in the NBA

Where it's like this team's got no shot And they have no shot Like Oklahoma City's not losing San Antonio's not losing in the first round Like it's not, it's just not going to happen You know, there's going to be some good series The Knicks might be in one here You know Atlanta

We'll see And Detroit maybe they're in one But it's just the nature of the beast. And yeah, there's been too many blowouts early into the playoffs and that's clearly not the case in the NHL. Confirm with tonight coming up. Best bet still to come later in the hour. Jay's back

in action against the Angels tonight. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. IHeart Radio is throwing it back. To the days of huge hits and unforgettable items. A non-stop stream of the biggest and best. Drake, Rihanna, Beyonce, Katie Gaga,

The Weekend. And more. decade defining favorites all in one place. Hi, it's Katie Perry. Hey, it's Bruno Mars. This is Keshe. Find 2010's The Decade on the free IHeart Radio app. Preset the station so it's always one tab away. I can neither confirm or deny that this is in fact a segment.

Austin trades Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Tuka Rass. It's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the gentleman. manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club. It's time for confirm or deny. Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no trades or no movement clauses? I can either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny. All right, confirm or deny.

Brought you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. This playoffs BP is summoning the hockey gods to tilt the ice in Canada's favor. Join us in feast like a hockey god on our brand new playoff menu. See you for PuckTropper. local BP. Are you guys ready to rock here? Yes. Confirm or deny. Okay. Let's start with this one. Confirm or deny. There will be a sweep, at least one sweep in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Dude, of course there's going to be. Someone's going to get pumped at all.

Not one sweep. I'll bet you both 500. There'll be one sweep. Anybody interested? Well, I'm not, I don't think so. I'm not interested in betting on it because I think You know, Colorado's got a real good chance clearly. Hazie, you always stick your hand out. I do, generally. I do. I mean, there's, there's, I don't know. Ottawa, I don't think is getting swept.

I don't think Pitt will get swept, but it's possible. I don't think any of these teams are getting swept. You think L.A. is going to get a win noodles? Yes, I think that. They are, they are. What has L.A. showed you, Jamie, just say that they're going to get a win. They can't even get the puck. Or a goalie steel.

That type of stuff. way there's your first sweep right there Colorado Los Angeles they look like they're in different leagues sorry L.A. Kings fans I bet you 150 bucks not 500 take it there you go I'll bet you five grand they get pumped

he just offered you something else I'll see that's beneath you to accept those terms okay how many sweeps do you no you don't see no he's the type of guy that goes I'll bet you 500 and then you go and then he loses and you go I said dull hairs not dollars

Like he's that type of stuff. Semantics. It's like the dad that goes, it's like the dad that goes, you want 20 bucks, son? I don't have 10 bucks. Ask your mom for five bucks. Exactly.

But I definitely think there's a sweep for sure. I'm denying it. I think that least. I know you're confirming it, bro. Say it. I lean sweep. I will say I get caught up in it. Like the Colorado Kings won.

I could see Colorado winning. Three in a row. Seven one tight. They won the same. Series 3 nothing. Yeah, I could see it for sure. And listen, Pitt, I hope they got some receipts. I hope they got some receipts if they get swept, right?

You get the playoffs, you better have some receipts on them. Those penguinos are just so smart. Yeah, they're the greatest team in the history of civilization. If they come back and win in six, this is the clip that they're going to take this one. Good for that. I hope they do it. I hope they do it. I hope they do it.

Because if they get pumped in four, They played six days more than everybody else with their little video they put out. You know they're down there watching, right? It's their favorite show in Pittsburgh. They love Overdrive down there. They're sitting there watching. I know what they're doing. I know what they're up to.

Yeah, I'm going to confirm it. I'll quietly confirm. I do feel like there might be won. All right, confirm and I, the Montreal Canadiens will be the favorite to win the East starting next season. Next year, the Havs will be the favorite to win the East. You know what? I'm going to deny it because I think a healthy Florida team, and when people start getting the clips of them in training camp saying we're coming for blood,

it's going to push everybody towards saying, wow, watch out for the Florida Panthers. They're going to be the beast of the east, so I'm going to deny it. But I'll tell you what, they look awfully good, and their patience is paying off. They drafted these guys, they developed them, they didn't rush it. and Michael Fuda, who works at the other network, told me the biggest key for a rebuild is not deviating off the path. You know what I mean? It's like you can't jump at something.

Like the Leafs, you could say that they deviated a little bit. They were young. They were bringing these guys up, and you know what? They were driving by a gas station, and they saw John Tavares, and they said, oh, we got to get off and get a little snack in there that we don't need. And they did it, and they deviated a little bit. It's like being on a diet, man. Like those chips call your name at 10 p.m. when you're watching the West Coast game. Dude, those chips, they open the drawer above the TV, and they blow kisses at you.

Sour keys are yelling. They're whispering. I love you. You look great. Just a bag of them in the living room. Just whispering. Sweet nothing's in your ear. Just come get me.

Don't worry about you. You don't need a diet. You look great. Not tonight. You look too skinny. You need to put on weight. Those sour keys, those bastards had a stranglehold on me, right? Stranglehold.

I know it, dude. I've been there and I've done it. And you're right. Those free agents and the trades and the throwing money around. Yeah, it's like you, and Montreal hasn't done it. They haven't done it. And you could argue that Dobson might be a little. bit off the beaten path, but I don't think it is.

I think it was smart, aggressive, and it was still on the highway. It was still on the tracks. But see, the only thing I would say is, I think there's other teams that, if they have a good summer, that could be right there. Oh, your Buffalo Sabres. I heard a story today about your grandpappy taking you down to Buffalo. I felt bad. What are you talking about, dude?

I was on, I did. Who calls them their grandpappy? I was on Ray and Dregs, and I said to Dregs, because Dregs was like, oh, is Buffalo your team now? And I said, honestly, Dregs, when I was younger, my grandpappy, we couldn't afford to go to Leaf Games, and he would drive us down to Buffalo, and he goes, oh, I didn't know that. That is awesome. He must be fired. He did, and I said, but I got to tell you, I'm lying, man.

My grandpappy, I didn't call him that, first of all. And he never, we would never go to a Buffalo Sabres game. My grandpapy. We're going to get in the car. kiddo. We're going to see the Buffalo Sabres play. Your Buffalo Sabres might be right there, you know? Yeah. I don't know, man. I think the haves I am going to confirm this.

Like, they have layer after layer after layer of debt. Like Hage isn't even coming next year. It's like go back to Michigan. Ryan Bacher hasn't even played. Fowler, they got Dolbish and Fowler as their tandem next year. And you've got, you know, like, sure, they could add. Oliver Capner had a really good year. Is he a number two sentiment?

I don't know. We'll see. Maybe they add there. But they're going to have cap space coming up, like Linnae's coming off the books. We'll see what they do with Gallagher in the future. You're right. They're a good team. They're in a really good spot.

And really well managed. Yeah. I don't know what, I don't know what Hage that kind of caught me off guard a little bit for, I don't know what guy. And I know Craig, who I really value his opinion, said he's not ready to play in the NHL next year. Seeing what Porter Martone is doing in Philly right now, I might want to have a sniff at it and see what he's going to look like because he was pretty damn good.

So it was weird, and I think it caught Ken Hughes off guard too because when he brought it up, it looked like, that bugs me a little bit. I don't know. If you have the chance to play in the NHL, aren't you like dying to get to the NHL? Yeah, I would think so. Keep in mind, there's one thing if we should have paid attention to the Olympics and to this year period at the NHL. These young kids, they're stepping in and they're being difference makers. They're not just waiting their way.

We just talked about Seneca. Look at Matthew Schaefer. Look at, you know, throughout the league, these Dolbush. Celebrini, like young players that are 20, 21, they're not overwhelmed by the situation. If anything, they're like, yeah, give me the puck. I'll go play. and that's the one thing that maybe this year has pointed out more than any other year that I've noticed. Well, actually, with that in mind, Joe, I'm going to put you under toes because I'm going to fly to this confirm or deny, okay?

All right. With what you just threw out there. Confirm or deny, if the Maple Leafs win the lottery and take Gavin McKenna, he'll play for the Leafs next season. Confirm or deny. You just had to go there, didn't you? Well, it's possible. Like, they could win it. And if they win it, do you take him and does he step right in and play?

Most 18-year-olds that go first overall step right in and play. He's had an up and down year, really good second half at Penn State. He's a winger. You know, he's a skill guy. Does he want to go back to college? The guys that go back are the college guys, right? Owen Power. Hage is different because this is a couple of years past his draft.

But confirm and deny if the least win the lottery and take McKenna, he plays for the Maple Leafs next year. I'll confirm it just because it's a high profile first overall pick. And he'll be expected. Like it's just Toronto's different than everywhere else. Buffalo is like, nah, I'm going to go back to Power is going to go back to college.

Yeah, that's probably cool. Here will be like, what the hell's going on? That's a first overall pick. He's got to play. It'll be mayhem. Well, that'll be the expectation who plays with Matthews in the future, right?

Like, is that your guy? And is he your winger you've been waiting for us since Marner left? Depends on the direction of the new manager and what he wants to do. Because if they want to do the Montreal model, then they've got to be patient and develop and allow guys to go at their own path. But we just pointed out their own path that a kid might be ready. I don't know if he's ready for the NHL next year. Depends on the organization, too.

If there's low expectations, probably step in. If there's high expectations, might be better served to play one more. Careful, Jamie. I said in the first pre-tournament game with the world juniors, I'm like, he needs to get kind of stronger along the walls if he wants to play at the next level against growing men. And a bunch of donkeys on X were like, after he scored a nice goal in the juniors, they were like, how about the dinosaur, oh, dog, he said this guy needs to be stronger along the board. I'm just like, I cannot handle, I can't handle people that have no idea what they're talking about. Can't do it.

You know what? I'm pretty sure he can play next year, but again, what situation? And that's what Brian's pointing to. That's exactly, yeah. Is it a high-pressure situation like this market? Again, depending on what the new manager is going to do with this roster, is he going to retool and kind of break it down on the fly? And that would open the door for a young player to step in,

or are they going to try and double down and add players here in the off-season to play with Matthews and Neela. Right. And is he a Depp player in that situation? You know, is he 10 minutes a night on the fourth line? What is that doing for development? You know, can he play in the American League? I don't know exactly what the rules are if he's coming out of college. And historically, you could.

But I don't know how that works with him being a WHL product and them looking at changing the rules and allowing your team to have a 19-year-old play in the American League. So we'll see. But listen, this could be a reality. reality. As of now, it's not, but it could be a reality. Same thing in Vancouver. Like if Vancouver gets the pick and they take him, I would think he probably steps right in.

If Calgary gets the pick and they take him, I would think he probably steps right in. Question for you guys. Are we going to head down the path? Remember, we used to do the draft simulator and we would, O. said, if we get the Leafs, he would do a run around the desk. Which was a very significant. Was it for McDavid or Matthews? I think probably for both. It was for Matthews, I thought. It was McDavid, too. They were in the heart for McDavid. That was Randy.

I don't know. I'm sure most people know, maybe some don't, listening. After, like, the final, when it was the final two teams, like, the Leafs had the best chance to get McDavid. Oh, for McDavid. Oh, yeah. They were a lottery ball when they had, like, three of the nine lottery balls left were going to land. And Edmonton had won, and it landed on their number. I know.

It was so close. But McKenna is just nowhere close to the hype and expectation of McDavid and Matthews. You never know, though, man. Like that, Macklin-Cellibrini, we all watched him at the juniors, and we said, this guy's going to be a real solid player. Now he's on the cusp of having the title of the best player in the world. You're right. And listen, like, Cal McCar went fourth overall.

When he got picked, no one was like, this guy's a lot to be the greatest defenseman of his generation. It was fourth overall. That's interesting. He's a high school kid out of B.C. You know, let's see what he's got. I remember at the World Juniors in Buffalo. This guy would go on the ice and he'd score a goal every time he stepped on the ice. And Steve Dryden said to me over my ear, he goes, it's kind of weird how McCarr does something amazing.

Every time he steps on the ice, but the coach never plays him because the coach didn't trust him. But every time he was out there, he would jump into the rush and score a goal. And then the coach would say, sit there on the bench. Yeah. But, dude, you talked about that Seneca, Brian. about him just not even sniffing the juniors last year i know you look back on it now you're like what are you guys thinking like in ottawa the juniors the guy went third overall he's in the nchal but he didn't have a sniff at the juniors yeah guys the progression is is weird for some players

some guys are just can't miss prospects others it takes time to develop and and you know what they get it wrong sometimes too team canada and and the people select they're good people but they may make mistakes too. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Mistakes, they happen 100%. Last one here, speaking of which, Confirm or Deny, Boba Shett is already regretting his decision to sign with the Mets.

Come on, dude. That's the biggest layup in the history of confirm or deny. He... Which one is it? Because I don't know. Deni. Or, sorry, confirm. He completely regrets signing with the Mets.

43 million, dude. He's still making the money. But they've lost 11 in a row in Bichette. is just getting destroyed in that market. Like his numbers are terrible. I mean, Bo has been awful early on in the year, but he's making $42, $43 million. Yeah.

Right? And it's not much better in Toronto. Let's clarify things. You can throw $43 million at anybody when you're waking up knowing that everybody hates you when you're going to the ballpark. It's not that fun. I get it, you go home and there's cash lying all over the living room, but not that fun.

Yeah. Yeah. But, I mean, it hasn't been better. If things were better in Toronto, although they've won two in a row. Yeah. Right? We've got a bit of a hot street going here. Hanging in there.

I'm denying it, though. Yet you look at the five highest spending teams in the league. Dodgers and Yankees off the good starts, pretty good starts. Phillies disaster. Mets have lost 11 in a row in the Js. Like three of the five highest spending teams. I get it. It's still April and more early into the season.

But one of the Mets or Phillies are probably going to miss based on this start. Both of them are dreadful to start the season. And the Jays are in one. A lot of it is injury related, but still. There you go. Confirm with Denai. All right, Best Betts coming up. We'll look ahead to a busy night in a Stanley Cup playoffs. NBA playoffs.

Jay's back in action. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. I'm Cynthia Lois. And I'm Josie Dye. And we're done pretending we have it all figured out. Each week we laugh, cry, and talk our way through life's messiest moments. The things you think about but would never say out loud.

The questions you are always too shy to ask. relationships, regrets, awkward moments, and the stuff no one warns you about. It's honest, it's funny, and sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable. But that's kind of the point. This is Cynthia and Josie's Unmentionables. Listen on the free IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Confirm or Denai is brought to you by Boston Pizza. This playoffs BP is summoning the hockey gods to tilt the ice in Canada's favor.

Join us and feast like a hockey god on our new playoff menu. See you for PuckDrop at your love. Local BP. All right, best feds powered by Fanduel. Make your picks and assemble the same game parlay and seconds on the Fandau's Sportsbook app. I'm taking the over in the Havs game tonight. I know Vasselowski historically coming off a loss,

generally responds, but I just feel like the total is five and a half. I see another four or three game tonight. I'm on the over. Got to pay a little bit of juice. Best Fets powered by Fandual. Same game parlay is available. For every Stanley Cup playoff game on the Fanduals Sportsbook app,

please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. I took a risk last night. I didn't know how it was going to land, but Walt Kachuk took a picture with his wife and Matthew Kachuk. And I sent Walt to text and I said, Stop wearing Skechers with jeans out at hockey games. Did he respond? Yeah, he thought it was funny.

And I was like, man, I don't, that one could go either way. Yeah, he may not love that one. No. Anyway, Hasey, I got a quick favor for Leafs Nation. Okay. And it's kind of weird. What do you got? If anybody is in Dubai and coming back to Toronto, shoot me a note.

Shoot me a note. I've got a pair of shoes at my buddy's house, Robbie Dobby, in Dubai. And there's some weird stuff going on over there. And he's having trouble getting them over here. If anybody's coming from Dubai to Toronto and you're a Leaf's fan, I'll take you to a game next year if you grab my shoes for me. Your shoes are in Dubai. I had to buy a pair of shoes in Dubai.

I was looking online for them. The only place I could find them was Dubai. That's so weird, dude. So what? I get it. They don't have a bailout. Why can't they FedEx that kind of stuff? You can't get it.

Because my buddy Robbie Dobby said it's $800 to FedEx. Well, yeah, I can understand that from halfway around the world. Okay, so they're at his place. Bring the chocolate over. They've got that pistachio Dubai chocolate. They're not chocolates. They're nice shoes. If anybody's going over there, and I'm going to hunt you down if you try to steal my shoes from Robbie Dobby.

Robbie Dobby. There we go. Ricky Bobby and Bobby Dobby. I love it. Sounds great. All right, boys, good stuff. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out today. We appreciate it.

Everyone for tuning in today, TV, radio, podcast, web, and of course up on YouTube live. Every show up on TSN's YouTube channel, we're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at. Wenzern McCracken. going to pop up in the playoffs. Never know.

Forth. Fourth. Hello, Canada. This is Brian Adams Radio. Hosted by Brian Adams himself. We'll play a few of mine, a ton of my favorites, and some must-hear behind-the-scenes stories from the world of rock and roll. One thing about doing rock and roll so long as you end up meeting a lot of the people that you admire.

Sometimes you even get to work with him. Brian Adams Radio Now available on the free IHare Radio app Hey everybody, how are you?