OverDrive - OverDrive - December 11, 2024 - Hour 2

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Frank Corrado for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Former NHLer and NHL Network Analyst Scott Hartnell joins to discuss the biggest storylines around the NHL. The guys go around the sports world in the latest edition of Role Play Level of Concern and Bill Belichick becoming the head coach at the University of North Carolina.

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or visit askkelvin.ca hour two overdrive continues brought to you by fanduel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score brian hayes frankie corrado jamie noodles mclennan we got a big hour scott hartman will join us here in a few moments role play level of concern later in the hour where one of us will be playing the role of bill belichick and it sounds as if bill and the university of north carolina are closing in on a contract that will see him be the head coach of a college team i am absolutely floored by this like i i cannot reason with it i can't make any sense of it this is arguably the greatest coach in professional sports history you can make that argument he's certainly on a short list certainly on a short list deciding after a year off i'm not going to chase the wins record which he's chasing and we all thought was a priority for him.

I'm going to go to North Carolina, not a football factory, nowhere close to it, and take over a college program and have to recruit and have to deal with the portal and have to deal with paying players, young players, who are getting a lot of money. Like, it's not college like it was 20 years ago, where you go in there and you run the show and you're the man and you can do whatever you want. These players don't like Bill Belichick. They're like, screw it, I'm out of money. Like, it's not college like it was 20 years ago, where you go in there and you run the show and you're the man and you can do whatever you want.

These players don't like Bill Belichick. They're like, screw it, I'm out of here. I'll go somewhere else and get paid. And having to talk to them, Hayes. Like, isn't that the craziest thing, that he's going to have to actually talk to young football players because, I know you talk to Luke all the time, you talk to guys that played in the NFL,

you didn't even look at him if you were a rookie or a young guy. It was like, you don't exist. Meanwhile, now that's all he's going to be dealing with. And he's going to recruit guys. Not only is he going to have to talk to them, he's going to have to give them the hard sell as to why you should come here. And then he's going to lose out on those to Alabama.

How does he handle that? I think it's bizarre on so many levels. Okay, so here's my initial thoughts right away. What is the number? Did they go, here's $20 million? It may be. It may be.

We talked about his son being connected to the program. There's a belief that there's a Bronny James element to this, that his son could take over at some point down the road. Right. So that's my first thought is, Cash is king and he's probably getting a boatload to do it. Now, he's got a boatload, I'm sure, and all of that. But Cassius King. Secondly, isn't his girlfriend like 24 years old?

Yes. She might be majoring at something. I was just going to say, like, maybe that, you know, he is a guy that is relating to younger people. He's relating to younger people now. By dating a 24-year-old. Hear me out. Hear me out. Hear me out.

Here's my skinny jeans, kids. Here's a video of me coming out of my girlfriend's house at 6 o'clock in the morning with no tarp on. That is relatable for a lot of college people. Here's the video of me coming out of my girlfriend's house at 6 o'clock in the morning with no tarpon. That is relatable for a lot of college people. Here's the last thing. If you're the other way, this is a legendary coach who's saying he's going to have to listen to these young players. Do these young players not want to go and be coached by arguably the greatest coach of all time? He's a draw, is he thought. For sure he would be.

For sure. Listen, it's the era of superstar coaches in college sports. Look what Deion Sanders has done in Colorado. He has built that program up. I think they went 9-3 this year. That was a program that was never on the radar of basically anything. Now, a lot of that is because his son is a superstar quarterback. That's another thing. Shadur, he may go first overall in is a superstar quarterback. That's another thing.

Shadur, he may go first overall in the draft this year. He's that good. So that helps that Deion's got his son, and he's got that Travis Hunter kid who's probably going to win the Heisman. But Hunter came there because of Deion. So that's the question. Can Belichick get recruits to flip where historically they would go to Alabama or they would go to Michigan or Ohio State?

Are they, you know, within the region, they'd maybe go to Clemson in past years. Are they going to start going to North Carolina? I don't know. I mean, obviously, if you're North Carolina, that's what you're banking on. You're paying him a fortune. You're bringing in an icon, and you're banking on Bill Belichick alone bringing relevancy to your program. But I never in a million years would have seen this coming.

A year ago when he was at the end with New England, you knew it was going to be over. I thought he'd get right back in. We thought he was going to go to Atlanta, and he did not end up getting that job. And then he's on every media platform on earth for the better part of six months and now he takes a college job he's everywhere now man it's like he did it's like

he did the belichick personality tour where it's like hey people kind of have their thoughts about me but i'm gonna put myself out there and i'm gonna come across as you know who i want to be but at the end of the day okay he's not back back in the NFL. And doesn't part of you wonder, like, did they not really want you? Because you would think someone would pursue Belichick hard enough where it's like, just, you know, Bill, blank check, whatever you need to make us a good team. Like, how does that situation not come up for Bill Belichick, and now he's at UNC? It's a legitimate question. Is this him also looking at it thinking, I may not get in to the NFL again or not get into the place I want to be in?

Because that was what was believed, that at some point some team would say, here you go, take over our whole program. And maybe it finally dawned on him the owners have effectively turned on him in the NFL, or no owner was going to give him carte blanche. He'd have to come in and be a regular coach and prove himself again. He decided, forget that. I'm going to detour and go down to Carolina and be the king. That's what he'll be.

He will run the whole program. An athletic director is not going to knock on his door and be like, Bill, you think you could do this differently? He's going to have carte blanche down there. It's a wild story. Someone will play the role of Bill belichick later in the hour um but there's a lot going on in the nhl a couple of games tonight big one buffalo new york someone's got to win sabers and rangers someone's got to win and to chat about it we're joined now

by a long-time nhl or nhl network analyst here on the maple toyota hotline back on overdrive here's scott hartnell how you doing scott i'm wonderful How are you guys? We're doing well, man. What do you make of this battle up in western New York tonight? Sabres, Rangers. What's on the line for both teams? I don't even want to say a labialette's job, but the way they've been playing, man, it's kind of do or die for them. They're over 500 still.

The Sabres have been kind of the mediocre team for them. They've, you know, they're over 500 still. The Sabres have kind of, you know, they've been kind of the mediocre team. Great games, terrible games. But the Rangers, man, I kind of, you know, you pick them always to be at the top of the Eastern Conference, right? And they just kind of haven't, you know, been delivering here the last like three weeks, right?

So it's frustrating for them. But, you know, my heart's kind of with Lavi. He was probably my favorite coach in the NHL here in Philadelphia my last year in Nashville. So I'm pulling for them. I don't even want to say that. Philly fans will probably be mad at me that I'm cheering for the Rangers right now, actually.

So I better watch my mouth. No kidding. But, yeah, you were a part of that strange La Violette fired after three game scenario. You were on that team, right, in Philly? Yeah. What was that like? It was wild because we had a great season the year before. We lost against the Devils, I believe, in the second round the year before.

And then we came into training camp and we changed everything. Our system, our, like, kind of we were offense of we're just go, go, go. We signed Vincent Lecavier. Like, we're like, oh, we're going to score a bunch of goals at games. And then, you know, Lavi kind of switched our systems to be more defensive, right, to make sure we're staying back and this and that, protect the house. And that was kind of not the way that we were built with our players, you know, with Carter and Richards and, you know, Danny B and myself

and, you know, kind of go on and on, right? We just wanted to, you know, obviously play defense. That's kind of the name of the game. But we wanted to go on the offense and score goals. But I think our exhibition, we were one and seven or eight, so it was kind of we were struggling, right? And we had meetings with Lavi and say, hey, I don't know, we were 1-7 or 8, so we were struggling. We had meetings with Lavi and said, I don't know why we're changing what has worked the last couple of years.

We started 0-3, so it was almost like we were 1-10 to start the season, even though there were rookies playing and things like that. It was a little tricky situation. And then, you know, Craig Berube steps in and, you know, he was, you know, we're going to check, we're going to do this. Obviously different things, blah, blah, blah. But it was, you know, Craig Berube was good for us, obviously. And then he got fired, went to St. Louis, wins a cup, and now he's with you guys up in T.O.

and having a heck of a start to his career. What's your read on how Laviolette would be handling all this kind of stuff? Because you talk to guys that played for him, you played for him. You hear he wants to play up-tempo, it's giddy-up-and-go style hockey, and the New York Rangers can do that, but they really leak oil defensively. How much attention would he be paying to that, and can he get that message across to the top players to really buy into that in New York?

Well, it seems like a few of their top dogs, especially, I don't want to single out any guys, but Zemanijad, you've watched his games, and the Flyers have played them, and he had an empty net with a minute and a half to go against the Flyers, and just kind of duffed it off the side of the net instead of burying a top shelf where there was so much net.

It's just kind of not like him, right? So he's struggling big time. I don't think they found their kind of cohesiveness, the lines that they're going to run with. So it's been a little tricky for them scoring goals. They're not giving up a bunch, right? It's just Jerkins making big saves. They lose to Chicago.

He saves a breakaway with five minutes left to go in the game and keep it a 2-1 game. And they just can't get that equalizer to tie it up. So it's not just the end of the games or whatever. You've got to start better. You've got to defend better. You've got to score goals. You've got to capitalize on your chances,

and it just seems like they're all kind of stung right now, and it's an unfortunate business for a coach or whatever, a team, right? You can't score goals, you're not going to win hockey games. If you can't keep the puck out of your net, you're not going to win hockey games either. So it's kind of like both of those of uh variances are going to kind of screw us through uh you know a team and you know maybe a coach is uh uh you know bench boss right yes i mean do you feel like the team is waiting for a shoe to drop too because obviously the jacob

truba situation is uh the they trade him but they've cleared up some cap space but to me it's okay what are you doing with that cap space? You're bringing somebody in. It's easy to blame the coach. And, yes, we can circle Zibanejad. I mean, Keiondre Miller is a guy that's taken some fire as a guy. He hasn't turned the corner as an elite guy. When a team is kind of on pins and needles

and you're still waiting for something to happen, because it's, yeah, the trade of the captain, but captain but now is it okay you're going to fire the coach or is it going to bring somebody else in um to me that can be disruptive and they just look like a distracted team when you lose against chicago 2-1 i was watching that game it was uninspired they almost looked afraid to lose instead of trying to win you know do you feel like they're just waiting for something else to happen as well well you look at i i compare new york rangers kind of right now with the nashville predators right that they're last in the league i believe uh last time i looked uh you know that andrew brunette is a hell of a coach he's a great offensive coach he's got a great

hockey mind uh you know look what he did did in New Jersey when he took over in Florida there, blah, blah, blah. He's a really good player. They signed these guys this summer and it just hasn't worked out. Whether it's chemistry, whether it's this, whether it's that, they're struggling. They're stuck in the mud.

You fire a coach, you bring someone else in, it's not going to fix it. You have to do it together. You You have to kind of do it together. You might have to have some, you know, grinding it out in the trenches or whatever to get things going. Lavi's had a great couple of years there, and now they're in the mud a little bit. So do you just cut, you know, cutthroat him and try and move on

and maybe try and save the season, or do you believe in this guy? And if I was Chrisris jury and i'm looking at lavi and how well he coaches how he can inspire players how he can you know get the group kind of assembled uh you know i don't know what's going on in that room or what what what have you but uh you know i believe in lavi that he can kind of fix his team and get going but uh yeah it's it's kind of crazy but if you're a player and you're trying to you're you're waiting for something to happen or bring bring the savior in it's not going to happen in the cap world. You're not going to bring in a Brady Kachuk and not lose any players

and all that kind of stuff. It's on you guys. You guys got to look in the mirror. And that was my biggest thing. It was like, did I give everything in practice to make sure I was the hardest working player? That was what my parents said to me when I was a kid. Are you the hardest working player in practice every day?

And that's kind of how I, you know, kind of grew up, right? Just kind of just giving it all, like working on every battle, trying to score every shot, you know, and kind of just kind of, it was just inbred in me, right? And that's kind of what I brought to, you know, I think to the NHL and to my teammates and things like that. So it's, those guys got to look in the mirror and say, hey, did I give it my all today? Scott Hartnell, and you mentioned Brady Kachuk.

Ottawa is at home against Anaheim. Man, they need one tonight. It's almost a must-win for them as well. They're trying to break the mold there, haven't been in the playoffs in six years, and trying to break the Toronto, Florida, Tampa, Boston four-pack that have owned this division for quite some time. Brady's been in the news because of the soft tampering stuff and the Rangers connection. What would you expect to see out of Kachuk tonight?

And how important do you think the rest of this year is for him to drag this team, if he has to, the Ottawa Senators, into the playoffs? It's wild, right right we've been saying this for probably two or three years which team is it buffalo is it detroit or is it ottawa it's going to make the playoffs and none of them none of them come close to yeah not even close right like they're not even in uh in the wild card race that that's the that's the wild part for me right like you should have some momentum to build these teams. And, you know, the skill in Ottawa, you know, the young kids in Buffalo as well, too.

And it's just like, holy smokes. Like, how are you guys not, you know, like in the mix every single year? So something's up. I'm not sure what it is. But, you know, every game is huge right now. Everyone's like, oh, the last, you know, three weeks of the season, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you are pissing away points right now against, you know,

an Anaheim team for Ottawa, for example, you're not going to make the playoffs if you let this one slide, right? And that's when maybe something does happen to happen with personnel or what have you. But, you know, for me, you've got to win the games that you have to win, that you should win, excuse me. And, you know, you kind of build on that and then you then you surprise some teams then you can come out you know and have a four or five game winning streak right you gotta you gotta win eight out of ten two or three times out of the year to to you know come out of a hole

and and try and make the playoffs so they gotta got to obviously sharpen up as well. If you looked at the Eastern Conference standings right now in the second wildcard position, you would see the Philadelphia Flyers, a team you're obviously very close to, played there a long time. Just what do you make of the Flyers? And I guess more importantly than that, has Mitchkoff been as advertised, or has he kind of exceeded your expectations this year yeah no i well i do the flyers pre-intermissions and post stuff so i you know watch all their games and you know the young kid 19 year old rookie you know not knowing any english you know you

can't really talk to them obviously uh you know but i know guys absolutely love them right if you watch closely their games that someone comes near him, there's three or four guys kind of sticking up for him. He's doing that for other guys. So there's a little bit of love in that dressing room, right, to protect this guy. He was, I would call it piped in quotations

by John Tortorella for two games in a row, maybe 12 games into the season. Just kind of wasn't up to snuff, wasn't up to playing like Torrella wanted him to play. After those games, he's been on fire. He's got a bunch of multi-point games here. He's just kind of one of those guys that thinks a game way better than a really good skater.

A guy can skate like the wind or whatever. He doesn't have a speed that's going to blow you away like a McDavid or a Matthews or whatever, but he can put passes into places that not maybe 10 or 12 other guys in the NHL can put these passes. Look, for example, last night against Columbus, the frost goal, he just kind of laid one into him.

He beat two or three guys to the front of the net, shot it, got the rebound, put it in the back of the net, right? So this guy can make plays like a Kaprizov, I guess, would probably be the closest example. Both small guys, both not super fast, but just can dangle and hold on to the puck and things like that. So I wasn't sold, actually, the first 10, 15 games. But since he had the benching there, he's really come out strong

and looked really, really good for the Flyers. He got kicked out the other night, and he signed a fan's water bottle. Water bottle. I guess the back story is when he was going out, the guy, you know, I think it was a kid or whatever, said, can you sign it? He said, after, after, after. And then he gets kicked out and he stops and signs it. Have you ever seen anything like that?

You probably got kicked out, I'm sure, a bunch in your career, Scott. Would you ever stop and sign something on your way out of the ring? Well, it's actually a great story. So just to go on that story, I the kids uh spoke in russian to him so he kind of got caught off guard so he did stop he looked up and the kid said something in russian i don't know if he was practicing russian say can you sign this or whatever so he did stop and and that's awesome and torts got asked in the morning skate and he didn't know what the heck the the reporter asked him or whatever but my funniest thing thing, I was in Pittsburgh at the Igloo.

It was the shoot. It was the shootout, like one of the first couple years. And it went to like nine shooters, and I hadn't gone yet. I was like, oh, and, you know, a little nervous, obviously. And sure enough, they shot first. They score. So I have to – I got picked the next guy. So I have to score.

So I go in there. Puck starts bouncing, wobbling on me. Like I had my move already picked out my head right fake shot fake shot back end shelf so i fake the shot starts bouncing bounces over my stick again i hit the goalie run over the goalie and the and the is right to the left if you can imagine this so i hit the goalie nets off i go you know right down the tunnel i you know swing my stick or whatever and i hear this guy he and he had this jersey it was uh it said fart smell instead

of heartnil and uh number 19 flyers jersey whatever and i was like i was so mad i was you know in there first my gear was off and literally you know 90 seconds probably right and and uh you know we got a point or whatever and i go up there so i went back out to the tunnel after i kind of calmed down and i kind of went out there looked around and i'm like hey where's my stinkiest fan he's like oh he's like oh hey you you heard me you know so i ended up signing his jersey uh to my stinkiest fan scott farts now so that was that was my one story i didn't i didn't do it right after because I was flashing red, as you can imagine. But, you know, I went back afterwards.

So kind of a fun memory. You know, it's all about the fans too, right? Like, you know, if he walked by this young kid and, you know, he didn't, right? He goes up there, signs his water bottle, and the kid is going to remember this thing. That's the whole thing about us hockey players or, you know, the players that are playing now. Those little things that you do for these kids, for the girls, for the parents, you know, this and that. Throw a puck to a kid in a warm-up.

It's like it just makes their night. It makes their week. It makes their month. It makes their year, right? So it really kind of makes them kind of, you know, kind of try to achieve something or be a hockey player whatever it is right and it's just so cool for for you know mitch koff who you know has been here for two months and played in this nhl and and he does that i thought it was super

super cool for him and and uh the kid that got his water bottle uh autographed by mitch koff so it's probably up in a a little shelf in his room, and, you know, just awesome stuff. It was so awesome. Yeah, that's a really cool story. It's always great catching up with you, Scott. We appreciate you doing this, and we'll do it again down the road. Yeah, thank you, guys, anytime.

You got it. Scott Hartnell joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Check out Maple Toyota's huge truck and SUV lineup, including Tundra, 4Runner, Highlander, and Grand Highlander in stock and ready to deliver. Visit mapletoyota.com. Such a great story. Farts. Eddie signs it.

He signs it. I would be so mad. Imagine going to get that thing made. You go to the store. You're like, I want fart smell 19, and here's 300 bucks. Right. An official jersey. I want fart, smell, 19, and here's 300 bucks. Right. An official jersey.

You can picture him because he played with an edge and an attitude. Hartnell was always on edge. He was such a good player. But I can picture him being so pissed, fumbling the puck, running over the goal. You're probably embarrassed. I think Hartnell used to do something where if he fell during a game, he would donate a certain amount. Yeah, Hartnell down because he would fall all the time.

That's right. But Michkov, I was looking up stats on him today. He's leading rookies in stats, but also even strength points. There's a bit of a race. Celebrini's been really good, and Hudson's put up numbers clearly in Montreal, and Dustin Wolfe in Calgary. But for my money, if it was handed out tonight, I mean, Mieczkow has got to be the Calder, has to be the rookie of the year.

And look at how important he's been. He's scoring OT winners all the time for a Philly team that's in transition right now. He's been great, and you're right. Now, I don't know, Hayes, would your philosophy come in, if they make it into the playoffs, then you lean that way because he's been impactful for a team that is playing, we'll call it meaningful hockey, where San Jose isn't in that picture, right? So Celebrini. I've seen them both live.

I think Celebrini is, like, he's wow. And so is Mieczkow. But I told you, like, the night I watched Mieczkow, he's an opportunist, right? There's a little bit of laziness to his game, but I think he's got elite skill as well. I don't think there's a bad answer with this. It's just it would be interesting to see how this falls, you know, as we go down the stretch with meaningful hockey. If they were completely tied statistically, would you lean Mieczkow because of the playoff situation?

Possibly, yeah. I don't think that should hurt your case. Generally speaking, with the Calder, it's usually a player on a bad team. Generally speaking, it is a phenom coming up, like Bedard last last year where wins and losses are largely irrelevant because you're so young you're probably not on a great team so it's more of a like most outstanding rookie instead of valuable rookie and yet i i think value to your team in in bigger you know more important situation should count for something so i think meach got probably should be helped by that or celebrating shouldn't be hurt if his team doesn't have it

but um it's it's still a long season to go i mean this could go up and down there's like we said lane hudson in montreal dustin wolf logan stankovic's had a good rookie year he qualifies there's a there's a number of them. The Hudson thing is wild. We pull up stats and boards for the games all the time. We're trying to find new things. And every time you look at, I don't know, offensive stats with this guy, he's in the top three to five with Hughes, McCarr, and Fox. It's really eye-opening when you see it put that way,

that he's not even 30 games into his NHL career, or 30 games in, and the guy's already in that kind of company. As far as the smaller day-to-day stuff, yeah, there's a lot of runway. We'll see what he turns into. But it's not easy to hang with those guys, and he's consistently doing it in so many different categories. He's a special player.

That's where I was going to bring up, too. The Canadian market might push him over the top into those conversations, right? Montreal is a big market. They've got a lot of play. They get a lot of fan push. I would argue that Hudson might have a little insight on that as far as he's a guy that's watched every night. Regardless of where the Canadians are in the standings,

Montreal is a giant fan base. He's probably got a score, though. I think he can't win the Calder with a goose egg. You can't have 51 assists, no goals, and win the Calder. I don't think. You've got to sneak in a goal. You have to sneak in a goal. There's also the element that I think it's more difficult as a rookie defenseman

where Mieczkow is taking advantage on the wing, and he's playing up the lineup, and he's a power play merchant. He's doing stuff on five-on-five, but it's easier to kind of gloss over the deficiencies of his game, to your point, Noodles, where Hudson's out there playing 25 minutes a night. He played 30 minutes one game this year, over 30 minutes one game. You can't hide from any of that.

And listen, there have been times where he's been exposed defensively. That has happened, where he's got burned or he's got pushed off pucks, and that's going to happen. But I think, again again being on a good team should count for something i think the position you play should should count for something and i think hudson should be in a better position to make his case because of the position he's playing um especially with the points and the minutes that he's putting up because it really is crazy how many minutes he's playing basically every night um so yeah it looks looks like it's

pretty much done here bill belichick to north carolina uh yeah we'll get into that jay's made a trade yesterday and you know defense and base running defense and base running quite elite and the question is are they ever going to hit a home run again are they going to bring in anyone that even resembles power him and as a good player it's it's an upgrade based on the roster that they have today compared to where it was you know a couple of days ago but they still have got to add like they're they've got to find a way to compete in the american league east with arms we saw max freed and what happened there and we saw crochet got traded to the red socks today he's a stud so you got to figure out what you're going to do with

the rotation the bullpen third base maybe left field there's a stud. So you've got to figure out what you're going to do with the rotation, the bullpen, third base, maybe left field. There's a lot that still has to happen here. So more on that still to come as well. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. It's a brand-new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025.

Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions. And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal, plan, portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN or visit askkelvin.ca. You can never, never ask me to stop drinking.

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Bill Belichick is the head coach of North Carolina. Love it. And, Noodles, you're playing the role of Bill Belichick is the head coach of North Carolina. Love it. And, Noodles, you're playing the role of Bill Belichick. What is your level of concern coaching in college could tarnish your legacy? Rick Bushwood. It's Rick Bushwood. Six Bushlight, six Budlight, and I love them tall boys. But here's the thing.

Let me follow up with that. I don't think he cares. Like, I think he's a guy who's, I mean, put it this way. When you see him behind the scenes, I think he's different than his public persona. But I think, like, look at his life. He's dating a young girl. He's gotten caught on video with no tarp on. Like, you're starting to see Bill Belichick like the stone-faced, miserable old man,

and then you're seeing behind the curtain, you're like, this guy could be a mess. We don't know what he is. You know what I mean? I think he doesn't care. They've dangled some ridiculous check in front of him. He's going to go coach a college team. I just don't think he cares about legacy as much as maybe we do or other people on the outside i i but i do believe just

on the surface that's why it should be rick bushwood because he should care he's arguably the greatest coach of all time absolutely and if this is it this is him declaring i'm done with the nfl which right i think we'd all presume that's the case. You never know. But he's not a young guy. He's 72. You're going to go coach college for three or four years and then go back to the NFL? I find that hard to believe. If this is it, then you've established what you did throughout your professional career.

And it's a different way of evaluating. But if you go to North Carolina and they're paying you a ton and I do wonder if there's like a realignment element to this I believe they're still in the ACC they're going to go to the SEC or the Big Ten everything's like a mega conference thing now and the college playoffs and all that

he's going to be expected to get them in like to get them cooking as a program and if that doesn't happen and if players are like, I don't want to be around Bill Belichick, that's going to feel strange you know it's just if he if he doesn't have the aura of a guy that can have that kind of power at the collegiate level then it's it's going to have a weird vibe to it but it's like back to school remember that rodney dangerville yes remember he converted the dorm from like three small dorms into a huge dorm room.

That movie was awesome. Sam Kiddison was in that movie. He had a great role in that. That's going to be Belichick cruising around like a Porsche or Ferrari. Remember Sam Kiddison? Doesn't the Belichick thing kind of feel like one of these great bands that have been around for decades? We know all the hits. You play them all the time.

They made some terrible albums later in their careers, but you never talk about it. No one cares about it because you always just go back to the hits. Isn't that what it's going to be like with Belichick? We're just going to talk about the Super Bowls and the Pats. And, hey, when it's all said and done, oh, my God, I totally forgot. This guy was at UNC. Like, yeah, you don't play those songs. songs you never hear them i think a very appropriate analogy and it actually makes me think of a conversation i had with someone recently might have been my wife about taylor swift and i was

completely off the beaten path but that's coming for taylor swift yes she's going to be a weathered and old and you know like yeah as an artist it's coming like she's going to be weathered and old. Yeah, as an artist, it's coming. She's going to put out a couple albums where you're like, this is brutal. You can't connect with youth forever. You can't connect with whatever. And I know that's going to cause a storm now. People are going to freak out that I said that or we said that or that's our take on it. But it's just the truth.

Every single artist ever eventually moves you know moves into a different category it's like you used to be great now you're playing your hits but you're not expected to make new cutting-edge music anymore it's not gonna happen it's fair and it's not disrespectful i had this conversation because i told you guys my daughter went to taylor swift on the weekend for her 12th birthday and i we were driving to school. I was dropping her off. And she was like, Daddy, it was amazing. And I said, four years from now, you might not like her like you love her right now.

I said, you know, that's just, oh, Daddy, I will always love her. You know, that's what she said. Like, I will always, always love her. You go through cycles exactly with music. That's exactly it, man. So I don't know. You go through cycles exactly with music. That's exactly it, man. So I don't know. I mean, that's the bottom line is I think that she's going to be in a scenario where she'll move on to the next big artist, whatever it is. Exactly.

Shout out to Taylor Swift and the Heiress Tour. But it's just a reality. Like Bill Belichick and other musicians and artists, over time, you know, it's about what you used to be and what you used to do. All right, Frankie, you're playing the role of golfer's not namedotty scheffler you see scheffler won um player of the year there was some debate should it have been him or zander like shawfly won two majors and scheffler ran away with it what is your level of concern that scheffler is going to dominate in 2025 again and there's simply nothing you can do about it play it you can never ever

ask me to stop drinking now is it a little extreme to say play it sure um you know like you just brought up the the example of xander shoffley who won two majors like there's gonna be players that win big tournaments that aren't scottyffler, but Scotty Scheffler's dominance from tee to green, no one can compete with that. And if this guy has been able to work over the fall, winter months, whatever you want to call it, on making more putts, I don't know what more he can do. I don't know what more anyone else can do to compete with that.

And if he has that dialed in and he's healthy, I just don't know how you stop this guy. That's the only thing that you can really look to to say that holds him back. And even with the putting that he had, he's always in the top ten. He's sniffing around it, and a lot of the times he's winning. So, I mean, it feels like he is as unstoppable of a golfer since Tiger. I think that's the window that we're in right now. Now he's got the claw grip.

He's rolling in everything inside 10 feet. He just lapped the field on Sunday at the hero. Yeah, I think that's reasonable. All right, I'm playing the role of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Vladdy Jr. Cha-ching. Yes, what is my level of concern? Staying a Blue Jay long term is becoming less and less likely.

I'm not going to play it, but I'm definitely not a pint on the patio. There's no way you could be a pint on the patio. It is closer to Nick Cage. I'll throw a little Stevie Caldwell in there. A couple of Westies and five or six beers. Yeah, I'll mix it up, kind of somewhere in the middle there. Go ahead. You want to answer this before I get to it?

I just want to jump in. I'm leaning more Rick Bushwood towards you. Like, don't you think? It's getting scarier as the Instagram posts continue to get out there. You see that Vlade liked the posts saying at least $500 million. I don't know what that's worth. Who knows what he's doing on Instagram. But Vlade knows he's in the driver's seat. He's 25 years old. he's doing on instagram but vladdy knows he's

in the driver's seat he's 25 years old he's coming off i wouldn't say a career year i think in 21 he had a better statistical year but this year he was close to it and soto just got 765 million is soto better than vladdy yes is he 400 million dollars better no he's not and vladdy it doesn't even matter how much better he is it comes down to a marketplace and what people are willing to pay and the fact that the jays have not been out in front of this the fact that shapiro and atkins and i guess ownership have not been willing or at any point really been pushing to get an answer as to whether or not he'll stay out of price would lead me to believe he's going to test the market and maybe it's flipped and i'm speaking

as vladi maybe it's flipped where you've waited too long and i'm going to play it out and maybe i'll sign with the blue jays next year after a great year if you pay me what i deserve to be paid but i'm not giving you a discount i'd like to be here i think vladi's made that very clear and i think he's being genuine i think he's very comfortable in toronto i think he loves being a blue jay but he's not giving them a discount and you know a year ago it was 285 million and then during the season it was 300 and then at the end of the year it was 325 it legitimately may have gone up like 100 million dollars plus because of juan soto and the blue jays missed their opportunity to get out in front of it and And I don't know if the Jays are going to be comfortable paying them. I don't know if they see them that way.

I don't know if this front office will be. What I'm curious is if the owner will step in. And I'm playing the role of Vladdy. I'm calling out Rodgers right here, right now. Do you want me or not? Because you got the money. You've proven you got it for Juan. You've proven you got it for Shohei.

Maybe Ross doesn't see it. Maybe Mark doesn't see it. This is a scenario where I wonder if the owner comes over the top and goes, pay him whatever you have to pay him. Do not let him go. Because if he walks on us and he goes down the street to Boston or New York or whatever, that is going to be so embarrassing. And so inexcusable.

You know that's where it's going because Yankees wanted Soto, couldn't get him. Red Sox were meeting with Soto, couldn't get him. And it's like, the Soto deal is, can't say it's one of one, but it really is one of one. Like, Otani, I feel like is separate, although they're in the same

ballpark money-wise. The Soto deal is different. Now, even if you take that away, there's still someone out of these group of teams that have a ton of dough that are going to be willing to pay this guy close to $500 million. Is there not? I think so. Just because the bar has been

raised so high, and they have the money to spend. He's a star. His name, he has a legacy name that goes a long way in marketing too like everyone knows vladdy guerrero everyone knows him everyone knows what he's about and and listen there's a business and there's a discipline that has to come with it i understand that what position is he going to play is he going to stay healthy who is he consistently because he's been inconsistent throughout his career all these are reasonable questions that the blue jays have to ask and every other team in the league has to ask but you need one owner it could be steve cohen it could be

cohen in new york right valadi's really close with soto bile accounts i think him and lindor like who knows maybe cohen goes screw it man let's go way over the threshold just give them the give them the 500 let's bring them all here and let's win a world series or two and that wouldn't shock me here's a question for both of you though what would be regardless of what we believe wouldn't you rather and this is the wrong terming but but make a mistake on an overpay with Vladdy and keep him? Or if we're talking, hey, you know what, the bar has moved, and we believe he's worth $380 or $400, $410, $425, and he's asking for $500.

Like, you at least know the player. Like, if it's an overpay, it's not like a gross, gross overpay. It's an overpay to keep him and believe if you get him to 500. Where if he moves on and gets 500 somewhere else, all you're looking to do is replace that player. And he might get to 35, 40 home runs consistently every year. My point is maybe it's $100 million over a 12- or 15-year deal. That's the overpay. So it's $10 a year.

You're right. It's $8 to $10 to keep them. Exactly. I don't want to be accused of any soft tampering here, but wouldn't it be hilarious if Vladdy did get to market, and all of a sudden we don't hear anything, and the Atlanta Braves are just going stealth mode, and they lock them up. Wouldn't that be the ultimate?

Even Anthopolis. Gotcha. Very well. Gotcha, guys. Thanks for everything. We'll take him. Wouldn't that be something, man? They got Acuna for like five bucks, so they're not paying him anyway.

Yeah. You've got Matt Olson down there. Yeah, that would be something if Atlanta came over the top, and Anthopolis in particular. All right, we'll come back and continue role play. Noodles will be playing Barry Trotz. Frankie will be playing Connor McDavid. Why do you make me play Trotz?

Barry Trotz is coming up. Role play level of concern continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025. Kelvin, the money guy, suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions.

And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal, plan, portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN or visit askkelvin.ca. All right, role play level of concern continuing here. And we tease noodles playing the role of Barry Trotz. And as a result, we've got to follow through, right? You say you're going to do it, you've got to do it.

We are men of integrity on this show. This is a tough one, too, I've got to admit. It's a tough one, but I know you can handle this. You want me to take it? I can take it if you want to. No, I want it. I want it, but I just know my answer already. It's a tough one.

What is your level of concern that stephen stamp goes and jonathan marsh is so will simply never fit with the preds play it you can never never ask me to stop drinking and here's why i'm going to say this because because you said both of them. Yes. Because one might come around quicker than the other. When we had Barry on, Barry made a good point, and he said he did his research where it takes guys to settle in, when they've been legacy players in other situations, to settle into their new environment. One manager even told him it took a full year.

Well, that's concerning because all it does is take a full year out of their career where they both didn't sign eight-year deals, right? They're somewhat shorter. No, four years for Stamkos, I think five for Marchessault, I believe. And by that time, it's too late, too little, too late, all of that. I do believe one of them will come around. I think Marchessault scored a six the other day. He's kind of around it a little bit, but I am concerned.

I have a personal bet with a buddy of mine in Alberta. I was like, I think Nashville's going to come back. They're going to push into a playoff spot. You know what the bet is? The bet was cheese toast at this steakhouse in Calgary

called Caesars. I love this place. I've eaten there. That's unbelievable. They've got the big fire pit in the middle of the restaurant, and you watch them cook the steak. It's amazing. It's unbelievable.

But I'm like, I bet you some cheese toast that Nashville's coming back. And every time I talk to him, he's like, cheese toast. They lost eight in a row. They lost again. You're buying. You can basically prepay for that. Marshall's coming back, and every time I talk to him, he's like, he's toasted. They lost eight in a row. They lost again last year. You're buying. Yeah, I think you can basically prepay for that. They're 7-16-6, man.

They're like 14 points out of the playoffs right now. We called their game last week on Thursday, and boy, was that like uninspired hockey. Like, there was nothing. That Montreal like no jam turning and yeah that was line a second game back and like Montreal handily won yeah that's not good um all right Frankie you're playing the role of Connor McDavid um shout out to Summer McIntosh who who won the northern uh what was it northern star star the northern star war Canadiane of the Year. I don't think it's a surprise.

Whenever there's an Olympic Games, I find more so at the Summer Games. If we have an Olympian that does great, great things at the Summer Games, it's over. It's just going to be a formality. And Summer was phenomenal. Summer McIntosh was great. But McDavid has never won this award. He just had 100 assists.

He won the consm He just had 100 assists. He won the consmite in a losing effort. Frankie, what is your level of concern? You will never win the Northern Star Award. Two crown and waters with a lime and a short glass, I think. Yeah. Making your own up. I like that, yes.

It's making its own up. I love that. Frankie Bar. Yeah. I like that, yes. It's making its own up. I love that. The Frankie bar. Yeah. If Connor McDavid wins a Stanley Cup and he has the points, which he's going to have because that would factor into McDavid winning a Stanley Cup or the Oilers and the Consummate Trophy, if that happens and it's not an Olympic year, I don't know how you look past it.

Because all the individual milestones as far as points, goals, If that happens and it's not an Olympic year, I don't know how you look past it. Because all the individual milestones as far as points, goals, and then awards, and then you kind of put the cherry on top of the Stanley Cup in a Canadian market when we haven't won here in Canada in over 30 years, I think that's going to be too difficult to ignore. And listen, Edmonton was one win away from doing it last year. We all, I think, I don't want to speak out of turn, I think we all believe at some point McDavid is going to win a Stanley Cup in his career. So with that being said, there's probably a good chance this guy's winning this award at some point.

Okay. I agree with everything you said, but I think he's got like a two-year window. I don't think he grew up thinking, I need to win the Northern Star Award. I don't think it's a high priority for him. But he's got this year, next year, I think the Olympic Games, if he's – like I don't think the Four Nations face-off does anything for him. That'll not push you over. But if he wins the – if they win the Olympics next year

and he's the superstar of that, puts up big numbers, he's the face of the Olympic Games. That goes a long way. Maybe he wins a heart that year. But once you get to 30, 31, you're going to start slowing down a little bit. At some point, he's going to slow down a little bit.

He's in his prime right now. I agree. I also think that committee is always looking to think outside the box instead of what's in front of you. Definitely. It's like, hey, can we get this person that did this or whatever. But that's why it's got to be a Stanley Cup. Because if that's not included in the package, then he won't do it.

It's true, though. It is true. There's a bunch of different voters, and everyone, I'm sure sure has different cases and sound cases for who they think should win but it always is overthinking it a little bit and it's usually unique athletes in unique sports right there's a lot of that too you're you're it's too too easy to give it to a hockey player so you gotta you know think beyond that role play level of concern brought to you by boston pizza's new game day menu stop by by your local BP for $7 touchdown pints, shareables for the whole crew, and weekly prizing up for grabs.

Football game days are better at your local BP. Tim Kirkjian coming up. Bobby Marks on the Scotty Barnes injury and what's going on with the Raptors and some LeBron James rumors connecting him to a big powerhouse team out west. We'll tell you about that as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. TSN Plus is taking game day to a whole new level with NFL Red Zone.

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