OverDrive - OverDrive - December 13, 2024 - Hour 1

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

Join Michael DiStefano and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' victory against the Ducks, Anthony Stolarz's lower-body injury in the game and De'Vondre Campbell's refusal to play in the Rams' impressive win. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins to discuss Stolarz's injury status, Nick Robertson's stance with the Maple Leafs and the Sabres' possible changes to the roster. 

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 we are off and running here on overdrive it is not the sweet tones of hazy b my part c whom was correct about last night's game i might add al's brother filling in for the day alongside Dave Festchuk. We mail it in Friday. Brought to you by Boston Pizza. Boston Pizza's new game day menu stopped by a local BP for $7 touchdown pine shareables for the whole crew and weekly prizing up for grabs.

Football game days are better at your local BP. What's happening, Dave? We got no haze, but I'm happy to be with the bro himself. You guys are hot. We are pretty hot, I will say. We've won a lot of games in a row here. A good stretch of games. We've won three straight so far.

I think we were 7-20 at one point. Since then, we've rattled off, I want say like nine like what are we now 23 17 and one i think we were 13 and and 14 13 and 12 at some point i don't know we were terrible and we came and clawed ourselves back and uh we picked a winner last night with the rams it was an ugly ugly football game but uh we got the win nonetheless. Yeah. I mean, how about a touchdown? Mixing a touchdown, fellas. Would have been nice. First game of the season without a touchdown in this NFL

year. And I mean, look, you look at a game like last night, it's so hard to play in elements like that. It was an absolute monsoon. And you could see the way that those quarterbacks were trying to throw the football, everything was sailing, leaving their hands. And I'm surprised that there weren't more turnovers in a game like that

that's so wet and so gross. We didn't get a pick until the fourth quarter when the game was basically decided with that pick in the end zone. There was a few that were dropped, but again, wet ball, they weren't able to hang on to it. But it wasn't a clean game. It was not a clean game. It was an ugly one.

But 12-6, very low scoring, and it was't a clean game. It was not a clean game. It was an ugly one. But 12-6, very low scoring, and it was just a field goal fest. But anytime that Hazenbro could pick a winner, I'll consider it a good game. Yeah, I'm happy for you guys. I was worried about you. I mean, I've sat in this very seat a few times this season where Hazenbro

has taken his shots at you, basically threw you under the bus, blamed you for the team's problems. And the team had problems. Yeah, there was issues. There was issues. We battled back. We were down by, what, eight, nine games at one point.

Now we're plus three. We're feeling good. Another big slate of games coming up this weekend, too. So Luke's going to join us at 6 o'clock. No haze, though. So it's mono-y mono. No haze, no oh. It's just bro versus pro today. And that's going to be up at 6 o'clock. That'llze, though. So it's mono-y mono. No haze, no oh. It's just bro versus pro today.

And that's going to be up at 6 o'clock. That'll be good. Now, is there no haze lurking in the background? Is he not micromanaging you over text? We are in conversation. He shot me a text about 30 minutes ago asking for my lean. So at some point, we're going to be mixing it up. We'll go back and forth.

And we make our picks in unison. We are a team, unlike those losers on the other side, who very clearly it's a one-sided group over there. They share one brain, I would say, if you know what I'm saying. I don't know what you're saying. No? All right. One man makes the decisions over there. It's very Bill Belichickian over there, if you're catching my drift.

Chapel Bill? Little Chapel Bill. Owen Wilson territory? That's basically what it is. And not the Brady Belichick era. The Belichick-Mac Jones era. That's what's going on over there. Well, you guys turned your season around, but you know the team that I thought was

going to turn its season around, I was waiting for it to turn its season around? The Niners? The Niners? How baders? Yeah. How bad? Like, if you would have sat here, you know, at day one of the NFL season, when they were among the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the Super Bowl, and certainly the NFC, I mean, what were the odds you would have been saying, these guys are 6-8, they just lost to the Rams,

and couldn't score a touchdown. I mean, this has been a massive, massive plummet. It has been. High expectations. It has been. And look, it's been a tough year for them right from the get-go, right? Like you had Trent Williams who held out all summer. And then you also Christian McCaffrey injury obviously plays a big role. Brandon Ayuk held out and then came back.

He got hurt. Debo has dealt with injuries. Nick Bosa has always been banged up. Dre Greenlaw, obviously, he returned to action last night. Only played one half pretty much. And then there was another situation with a linebacker. We'll get to in a second. But there's just been a lot of distractions.

And right from the start of training camp from uh right away with the holdouts the contract situations with uh with brandon iuk the injury to christian mccaffrey just so much has gone wrong for that team and they just weren't really ever able to get their feet underneath them and then last night i think was maybe the biggest dagger of all first of all they lost the game and now they pretty much put themselves out of it this year. I think now at this point, they had to win. It was must-win territory and they not only lost, couldn't even muster up

a touchdown and they had a guy quit on them at halftime. Devondre Campbell apparently said he did not want to play for the team. He just didn't want to play in the second half. Didn't want to play football. It was absolutely... It was Antonio Brown a couple years ago

kind of had a similar situation. Had to dance off the field, threw his gloves in the stands, took his shirt off. Vontae Davis that one year with the Bills, they were getting wrecked and he's like, I'm out. Retired mid-game. Mid-game, I'm done. He was in the locker room and he was on the

freeway literally by the start of the third quarter basically yeah and devon dray campbell uh basically did the same thing i believe he's been cut officially uh he was cut last night and look that's just that's just awful to do to your team like that's the really the the thing that that stinks i i feel for the team and for the guys who are going out there and put their bodies on the line, and in a must-win game like that to quit on them at halftime, it's just super selfish. And you could really feel from the players. And there's a couple of guys yesterday, George Kittle, Traverius Ward,

they were definitely quite upset with Devondre Campbell. Here's what they had to say postgame. That is one person who just decided not to, you know, play for his teammates. And I don't think that, that doesn't like, that doesn't make our offense look at each other like, wow, man, you know, we're falling apart. It's more of a, we're like the defense, hey, we're falling apart. It's more of a one person making a, like Mooney said, a selfish decision. And I'm with Mooney on that.

And I've never been around anybody that's ever done that. And I hope I'm never around anybody that does that again. I mean, he's a professional. He's been playing for a long time. I mean, if he didn't want to play, he shouldn't have dressed up. You know, they could have told him that before the game. So I feel like there was some subtle s**t that he did. Definitely hurt the team because, you know, D went down.

And we needed a linebacker, you know. and i think flam was named up too so for him to do that that's some that's some sucker stuff to me in my opinion like it's probably gonna get cut soon so you know it is what it is with that yeah and there's no coming back from that i mean once your teammates are suing you the coach came out afterwards, and he was obviously, he tried his best to hide the frustration and basically tried to act like it was a nothing burger. He very clearly was going to move on from Devondre Campbell, but the teammates really came out and sued him

and said exactly what they should have said. He quit on the team, and I thought Traveris Ward coming out and saying he's going to be cut soon, doesn't matter. That's exactly what ended up happening today, given his walk in papers, as he should have said he quit on the team. And I thought Traveris Ward coming out and say, he's going to be cut soon. It doesn't matter. That's exactly what ended up happening today, given his walk in papers as he should have. And I'm not sure another team is going to be willing to give him a chance in the NFL.

Well, I'll tell you what, it's bizarre to me that in none of the reporting I've seen, has he been quoted or has his agent been quoted? And they better step up to the mic pretty quickly and explain this. Because you're right. Well, what can you say? You better have a reason you you better have a reason you better have like i had a mental health episode or i i just you know i had this or i had that you better have a reason because to your point if you don't have a reason and it's just well they started

another guy in front of me and i was starting most of the year and i lost my job and i wasn't happy and i didn't want to go back in just to spite him, if that's the reason, and we all think it is, until we hear otherwise, if that's the reason, you're right. What are the odds that any other team is going to take a chance with this guy? I just don't think that he'll be accepted into another locker room. And like I said, Luke's going to join us at about 6 o'clock, and he's someone who played in the NFL.

He's played for a few teams, many locker rooms, and I texted him last night, and I'm like, we're going to have to talk about this because he's a former player. How hard would it be if your team signed Devondrick? And he's not a terrible player. This is a guy who made a Pro Bowl a couple of years ago when he was playing for the Packers. He's a good player. He was.

And now he's a little bit older and whatnot. And he was upset that Dre Greenlaw came back. Snaps got limited, whatever. But you can't quit on your team like that. It's outrageous. I'm with you. It was kind of weird because the Dre Greenlaw story was kind of like a story of triumph. It was supposed to be.

He hadn't played since the Super Bowl. He'd had the Achilles problem. He was coming back for the first time, and it was, you know, if you're any kind of teammate, aren't you happy? To galvanize around that. Aren't you happy for the guy? Yeah. He made it back from a very difficult injury, and here he is taking the field.

And the bottom line was, you were going to get opportunity because Dre Greenlaw wasn't going to be able to play every snap. So it was very clear that he was going to be needed in this scenario. Yeah, 100%. And then, for whatever reason, and I would love to hear it, he just decided, you know what, I'd rather not. Well, here's what really, I think, makes that team, the 49ers and the people in that locker room

and the people in that organization even more upset. Because, again, it was a must-win football game. And there's only limited roster spots that you're available to have. So it's not like you can, you know, there's no e-bug situation where you can grab a guy off the stands to play linebacker for you. Imagine that. That would be outstanding. I'll sign up for that any day.

Let's let Michael Pinball know that I'm willing to be an e-bug fullback for the Argonauts next season, maybe a little nose tackle or something. But that's not a thing in the NFL, obviously. Almost had an e-bug situation last night with the Maple Leafs. Get to that in a second. But here's something that really kind of broke my heart. Emmanuel Acho tweeted this out

yesterday. Fred Warner is playing with a broken ankle. Ricky Pearsall got shot and came back to play this season. Charverius Ward lost a child and went on to play in that football game. Those guys are doing what's

best for the team because they have respect for his former teammates and everyone in that building, that locker room, etc. And Devondre Campbell, what Emmanuel Ocho says, quit because of a bruise. A bruised ego. Good line. A great

line from Ocho. And it it really made me think like wow everyone else is is paying the price to play football to put that Niners jersey on to go out and play for the bang bang Niner gang and fight for a playoff spot which is exactly what they were doing last night divisional game primetime Thursday night and this guy couldn't get out there didn't want to play that was the reasoning he gave the coach didn't want to play i mean unspeakable i i completely agree with everything you just said there pick a steve kerr word unconscionable unconscionable yeah and that was that was an unconscionable great line also say that steve kerr was right about that game the refs botched that game the other night in the NBA Cup. The Warriors lost their chance at the NBA Cup thanks to some shoddy refereeing,

including a missed foul call on Steph Curry. But you know what? And I agree with all that stuff about those guys were playing for the team. But also, the thing about the NFL is it's also the classic every-man-for-himself where you you don't really have an option but to play for your team because you're playing for yourself like you can be cut at any moment and very few guys have the luxury of substantial guarantees in their contract and you know what Devondre Campbell is proving that this morning because he's been cut for this kind of insubordination.

And again, I would love to hear the reason. There was an NHL goaltender, Al Smith, back in the 70s, AB, a guy born in Toronto, played for the Sabres. He retired after he was pulled from a game. He was supposed to be the starter, and the story went that the GM called down to the coach and said no put in the rookie don edwards al smith's not playing tonight even though they told al smith he'd be playing he did a twirl wave goodbye apparently waved to the owner the old the late

seymour knox and said i'm out of here i'm done with hockey this was al smith okay and uh you know that was it but you could, and people sort of took Al Smith's side to some degree on that team. I remember people saying, people were sympathetic to Al Smith because he was a hard worker, he was a good teammate, everybody loved him, and he just decided, you know what, I've had enough of this. I've had enough of being jerked around,

for lack of a better term. So you can sort of, there are stories where guys have done something that looks kind of selfish, but you can sort of understand. Well, Patrick Waugh is a good example, too. He skated off and said, trade me, and that was it. That was the end of Patrick Waugh and the Montreal Canadiens. That's right. Right?

That was the end of that. It was happening, but I just want to hear what Devondre Campbell has to say about this because it's as simple as I'm just a selfish jerk and I don't care what anybody says. My ego is bruised and I didn't want to go in the game. I mean, he better come up with a better story than that. 100%. 100%.

And even if he does, I'm still not sure that he's going to get another opportunity in the NFL. But the Rams with the win last night, and they now hold their own fate when it comes to the playoffs. And it's a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way. They got the Jets next week, Cardinals, and then Week 18 against the Seahawks. They went out those three games. They're in the playoffs.

They win the NFC West. So, you know, the Rams, they wanted that win last night a heck of a lot more than Devondre Campbell, and they got it. I mean, if you're the agent, don't you have to go up to them and say, Devondre, you got to tell them, you didn't say, I didn't want to play. You got to say, I couldn't play. Yes. Like, I pulled my groin.

Well, it's kind of similar to the Anthony Richardson situation a couple of weeks ago where, I mean, a different, he, in his mind, he was injured. He didn't want to play. He felt like he was injured and couldn't play in that next snap, but he tapped himself out, which was bad enough as is, and it cost him a game. He ended up getting benched the next game for Joe Flacco. Things are all good now, apparently, in Indianapolis, but we've seen it before.

But again, I remember saying at the time, you can't just come out and say, oh, I was tired. You cannot use that as an excuse. That was pretty disgraceful. You can't do that. And just like Devon, come up with a, oh, I tweaked something. Just lie. Like, honestly, lie. That's all you got to say? Like, honestly, lie.

That's all you have to say. Exactly. If Anthony Richardson would have said, you know what, yeah, I tweaked my calf. I just had to get trainers to look at it, and I couldn't come back in until they looked at it. Or they massaged a knot out of my hammy, or I had a Charlie horse, and I needed to give it a rub, or some A535, you know. I could have said anything other than, you know, I'm a little out of shape, essentially,

and I really couldn't keep up with the pace of the NFL. Well, yeah, and I guess this is a decent little transition into what we saw happen in the Maple Leafs game last night because Anthony Stolarz exited the game after the first period. I don't believe he said, I'm not feeling it. Go ahead, take the rest of the game Joe Wall. A legitimate injury to Anthony Stolarz. Last night Maple East with a 3-2 win.

Over the Anaheim Ducks. Sounds as though. It's not as bad as it looked. Last night. I believe we have Craig Berube. Talking about the injury. Why don't we listen to Craig now. I thought we got good news on him.

Day-to-day right now. Obviously, he didn't go on the ice today, but we'll see tomorrow if he can get out there. Do you expect him back next week? What's that? Do you expect him back next week? Solar? Yeah.

Yeah, I do, but in saying that, again, he's got to get on the ice, and, you know, but it was good news overall. So let's just leave it at that. Right now it's day-to-day. See, the problem with day-to-day in Leafland is that day-to-day has turned into an IR stint almost every single time. Day-to-day is fire up the private jet from Munich, right? Pretty much. single time day-to-day is fire up the private jet for munich right pretty much that we got to go see that cuckoo doctor that hands out the goat's blood uh because that's what of course austin matthews did max patch already saw that guy for uh his achilles injury christian mccaffrey saw that guy

yeah a lot of you know maybe yeah speaking of christian mcca, the Leafs can only hope that teams with guys that went to Munich in the recent past do not have all experienced the same fate as the 49ers last night with Chris McCaffrey watching from the press box as his team's season chances went kaput. But yeah, you're right. We don't know what day-to-day means anymore in Leaf land. We don't know what it means for Anthony Stolarz. But the idea that it was good news,

I would take that to mean nothing major, nothing torn, nothing that's going to require surgery. A pull of anything. Yeah. Sound like that, at least. Yeah. We hope. He's not like, I mean, you're right. We don't have any transparency in the NHL when it comes to injuries,

so we're only speculating. But, yeah, until he's on the ice and until he's going post to post and doing all the stuff goalies do that puts stress on all those muscles that tend to pull and tend to tear, we won't really know much. What do you make of the discourse today about Stolarz and maybe he shouldn't have been playing that game because the Leafs have done a pretty good job with this tandem just going back and forth back and forth back and forth and this was the first time in a couple of weeks that we've seen a goalie get a

consecutive start played really well in New Jersey earned another start and they gave it to him and then he ends up injuring himself now you, whether or not it was because of an accumulated workload or it was just a freak injury, we don't know. But it does seem like that conversation is popping up today. Like, why play Stoller in that game and go away from what's been working with your tandem? Yeah, look, I mean, given what we know about goaltending injuries in this league, I mean, it makes a lot of sense to play them back and forth, and forth just to keep the tandem going all year but i'll tell you one thing

the one thing i've found out about you know nhl management nhl coaches maybe it's because most of them are from a different generation where number one was number one and if you didn't have a number one you you didn't have a goaltender right uh but they're no matter how many goalies they've got on their roster no matter how many times people tell them that this is a league where you need not not one not two you probably need three goalies in this league nowadays right now i think it is a b last year 98 guys played in the league which is more than three per team right on average uh this year i think it's 84 have played so far which is like 2.6 per team getting up to three yeah leafs have needed three so far hildeby's already been in there for some spot starts so you need you need two probably three goalies now but they still want

that number one and they still want to give a guy room to run if he's playing really well and so i think that's that's why they gave stollerer another start because he was so good against New Jersey. They wanted to reward him. And I think there's something to that psychologically. I agree. Look, I didn't have an issue with them starting Stoller last night. I'm of, I guess, I don't know if it's the majority or the minority right now. I just know that that conversation was out there.

But if you are going to be a starting goaltend in the NHL, you have to play in consecutive games. And if you're going to be the playoff guy come game one, and you play well, you're going to be expected to play in game two. Oh, yeah. I don't understand why people believe, oh, he shouldn't have played in that game. Yeah, he should have.

Because if the team believes that he might turn into the number one or at least the clear-cut 1A and get a bulk of the start, start four of every six games perhaps, there's going to be a couple of back-to-backs. I don't mean back-to-back as in play Friday, then play Saturday, but consecutive games. Why can't you play

Tuesday and then again on Thursday? Most good goaltenders are able to do that. Yeah, I agree with you except that Anthony Stolarz has no track record of doing it, right? This is a guy whose career high is 24, 25 games. But I don't necessarily think that was because he wasn't healthy enough to do that.

I think just he's always been a backup. Yeah, but the thing is, I agree, that is true. You're playing behind Sergei Bobrovsky and winning a Stanley Cup. Yeah, you're not getting sustained starts. It just doesn't happen. It didn't happen for him. But the bottom line is his body's not used to it. His body's never been through the gauntlet of playing 40, 50 games

like a lot of NHL starters do, a lot of NHL number ones do. This is a guy who's played half that. And now he's on pace to play far more than his career high. And we're going to see how his body reacts to that. But so far, I guess, you know, talking about it at this particular moment, and we don't know, it might be a tweak that's absolutely meaningless. He's back on the ice in a couple days, and we don't even remember this in a week. But if it's something more than that, it's concerning and even if it's not something

more than that this is kind of a reminder of the toll this position takes on guys like yeah up and down on the butterfly man it's not a natural movement and it kills your hips it stresses your knees and on down that chain and that's why teams need multiple guys. The only thing I'll say about that, and since in the last calendar month, what's today, the 13th? So in the last calendar month, I believe he's only played six games. Yeah. He's only played six games. He's been in a very light schedule.

So it's not as though he's been – six games in a calendar month should not give you that much stress on your body. If you can't play six games in a 30-day span, basically, that is a concern. That is a concern. I agree with you. I think that's why I look at that and I think to myself, I don't like the argument about the workload because it really has not been there. No, look, I totally understand.

I'm just saying, to me, there's a certain rhythm to just going back and forth with these two guys to me neither one neither one is really distinguished himself as the superior guy yet and as much as you know stolarz definitely had the best game of the season you know the other night and you know his his expected goal saved above average was crazy. I think he saved like three points something. Three, six, nine. More than average. Yeah. Which means if you had an average goalie in the net,

you would have lost four or five one. And if a below average goalie was in there, you would have lost six or seven one. So that was an amazing game. And you had to give him a lot of credit. But look, it's, man, this is, I think, this is the worst fears of Leaf fans sort of just flashing before them because we saw what happened

on the EVA Game 7 last year with Joseph Wall. Yeah. Where just when it looked like he was heating up and he was going to be the guy that delivered another series victory, he couldn't go. Just when you thought Anthony Stolas was emerging as a Vesna candidate, he can't go. Let's hope it's just a blip and he's back out there quickly

because you'd hate to see a guy having this good a season, having to interrupt him by something like this. And Berube, it sounds like he's positive. He did come out and say, for the most part, sounded like a positive situation, should be back next week. He was kind of dancing around it that it didn't seem like a serious issue. But again, we just don't know. They said the same thing about Jake McCabe,

said the same thing about David Cain. There's been a lot of injuries that just have randomly turned into IR and LTIR since this season. And I appreciate Berube because there was one kind of very sort of frank comment there, which was he's got to get back on the ice. In other words, he's just like us. The coach will believe it when he sees it.

You can talk to the sports science guys. You can talk to the trainers and talk to the doctors and see the x-rays and see the MRIs. But until the guy's out there, what does it matter? Darren Dreger will stop by in about five minutes. We'll see if he has any more insight for us on the injury. And Johnny going to join us today as well at 5 o'clock. So we'll get his thoughts on last night's game and a bunch of other big storylines around the NHL.

Javon Shepard, there was a Raptors game last night. Looked good for a little bit, and then things fell apart. So Javon Shepard will help us with that. Luke Wilson also at 6 o'clock. We got our football picks to make. I'm Mike DiStefano with Dave Fashtruck. You're listening to Overdrive here on TSN 1050 and up 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. Overdrive continues on the TSN 1050 and up on TSN 4. Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes. No O-Dog, no noodles as well. We got my man Dave Festruck from the Toronto Star in with us.

And, well, we're reacting to a Maple Leafs victory last night, but they did lose a starting goaltender in the process. And to join us to chat about it and give us an update is Darren Dreger of TSN Hockey Insider. What's going on, Drex? Hey, guys. How are you? A little crispy out there this morning. Just a nice Canadian sort of day here as we get ready for Christmas. So no complaints on my end.

You starting to flood the ranks yet or what? No, but I am getting the odd Instagram picture and X picture sent my way. And I'm bracing myself, as we know, annually I do the Christmas Eve marathon of backyard drinks and whatnot. And I don't know if there are less and less people doing it, maybe less and less people who follow me. So I'm a little worried. This here might be a bit lean. I'm sure everyone's going to, now that they know, it's a reminder.

We just gave them a reminder to tag Dregs, and he'll go on his Twitter tirade on Christmas Eve. So last night, the Maple Leafs, they get the win. They bounced back, played well last night, beat the Ducks 3-2. But the story coming out of the game obviously was the injury to anthony stolars uh berube came out and said day to day do you have any more insight into the situation for us dregs well no i i think he was pretty clear without being specific um i mean in that is good news right day to day as long as it doesn't't linger in the way that perhaps other injuries have,

you know, they feel like they dodged a bullet. But I guess when I watched that game closely and then, of course, as we all recognize, didn't see him come in for the second period. And, you know, then I thought the broadcast did a nice job of isolating where they thought that he may have tweaked something. And that's exactly what it turned out to be a lower body tweak i mean somewhere in the leg how's that uh but given the history of anthony stoller's it could have been much worse but he was able to battle through

the first period and stayed in the net until the conclusion of the period so i think initially that that gave the group some hope that it wasn't going to be overly serious. But, you know, until you go through the process of the imaging and whatnot, you can't be certain. So I know the Leafs feel fortunate that he probably isn't going to miss more than a couple of games. But, you know, I think their primary focus is getting through the weekend. We know that Dennis Hildeby has been called up.

Get through the weekend and then reset early in the week and see where Stolarz is at that point. Was this a cautionary tale of the dangers of maybe veering from the back and forth? Stolarz wall, Stolarz wall

as a tandem. I know it wasn't back-to-back games, but when he tweaks something after one day of rest and a very high workload game before it, do you think that raises any red flags in Leafland? Well, it does in Leafland, sure, Dave, right? I mean, we all maybe weren't surprised, but wondered why he altered the rotation.

But Stoller was so good in his homeland there of playing well against the New Jersey Devils, a team that Toronto didn't play well against. And I didn't love the game that the Maple Leafs played. I know that there are areas that they felt like they were better in against the Anaheim Ducks. But he was so good against New Jersey that I think coaching staff felt like he earned it.

And given the fact it truly wasn't a back-to-back, that he had enough time to reset, that why not ride the hot hand and give him another start? Now, I don't know how that also factors in to what they're looking at here in the games ahead and the workload that Joseph Wohl was going to take over, but now we know that Joe Wohl is going to have to carry the load. But I'm not one who looks back and goes, ah, you know what?

As good as he played, as much as he faced in that New Jersey game, he probably shouldn't have been given the game against the Ducks. I think he earned it, to be fair. So this is just a bit of bad luck. We'll get a couple updates on the other injuries saw that bobby mcmahon and david camp were both on the ice yesterday we got any timelines for when those two might return yeah i mean it's it's it's interesting you know again sort of typical of how the toronto maple leafs have managed things you know they're they're applying

caution all of it mcmahon i can tell you guys it's hopeful for tomorrow and if he's not able to go on saturday and then the expectation of course is that he would play on sunday uh david camp is looking a little bit longer uh but not extended like he's probably coming back at some point next week so at some point next week they're going to be as healthy as they've been in a long long time well and it's kind of interesting because you look and let's hope everyone stays healthy you know sometimes injuries pop up and these questions i guess go to the wayside but when that happens there's going to be some tough decisions that the maple leaves might have to

make when it comes to the roster won't there be yeah there will be and and automatically again i'm looking at nick robertson who's been on the outside looking in and um you know coming out of training camp in the preseason i think we all believe that nick robertson had earned a spot well he's still on the roster and he can play his way back into the next year and i think that that's why brad trillilloving hasn't been hasty in trying to move him out. There's interest in Nick Robertson, maybe more so given what people saw in training camp and what they saw in the preseason, more so in the summer when it was acknowledged that there just wasn't enough to move Nick Robertson.

Now he's got the one-year contract at a very affordable price. I don't think that tree would have any trouble finding a draft pick for Nick Robertson. But they've also gone through this stretch of a variety of different injuries. And you don't want to be too quick in moving out a depth piece like Robertson, who, you know, is hungry to find his game offensively, and he just hasn't been able to establish that. But what if another guy goes down? Now, again, you feel the comfort in having Nick Robertson on standby

or any of the other pieces. I think generally management is looking forward to, again, getting those guys back, getting Kemp back into the mix so you bolster what you've got in your four lines up the middle, getting Bobby McMahon back this weekend. camp back into the mix so you bolster what you've got your four lines up the middle uh getting bobby mcmahon back this weekend and when you have to make that call which inevitably trail living is going to have to make because of roster spots then you make that call and if it is nick robertson who has to go and there's a trade that makes sense by a draft pick then trail living will make the

call at that point but that point isn't that far away. Drex, how far away is it from somebody in Montreal making a call on something changing, given what we saw last night? They lose 9-2 to the Penguins. Not exactly a juggernaut themselves. I mean, they've lost 8-2 to Seattle. They lost 7-2 to the Rangers seattle they lost seven two to the rangers they lost six two to the golden knights they got booed off the ice last night at the bell

center after giving up six in the third period uh what do you make of that debacle well you you nailed it you know in in two words uh debacle being one and third being the other you know it was a 3-2 hockey game going into that final period and the canadians just let it go away and um you know you go to your leaders and post-game interviews and there's brendan gallagher and there's the captain nick suzuki and they were at a loss for words you know sure you can pull out disappointment embarrassing is another word that was used and that fits no doubt about that but yeah i mean how do you fix it and there's really no quick method of fixing what's going on with the

inconsistency uh here in the montreal canadiens i think what would be most disappointing from a coaching and a management perspective is of late they felt like they were turning the corner they got patrick liney back he was scoring goals, mostly on the power play, but a nice kind of injection of offense there. The problem is that the other pieces that they were counting on, like Kirby Dock as an example, and I'm not piling on him, but he came off an extensive injury, came into this season, and they felt like with a healthy Kirby Dock,

that that would be a real nice compliment he could be a driver of a line and maybe it's the extension of the injury he has not been able to do that so that you know that and and other areas of concern up front have really put pressure on the montreal canadians and you know there's talk in that market i do montreal radio twice a week wednesdays and Fridays. And this morning they were talking about, okay, well, there has to be a fix that Ken Hughes, the general manager, can use. Can you move out Matheson?

Can you move out Savart? Well, yeah, you can. And those are valuable pieces. But they're experienced defense. And so if you bring up Logan Mellieu from the American Hockey League and you've got Albert Jackey and you've got all these young, you know, Lane Hudson, another one. He's a dynamic player when you watch him.

Their flashes are brilliant. But you've got to insulate those guys too. So I just feel like this is going to be that year of inconsistency in Montreal. And when Ken Hughes starts trading, it's likely going to be for younger players or draft picks, and that's probably closer to the deadline. With Darren Dreger, another team that sounds like they're making phone calls or at least taking phone calls is Adams and the Buffalo Sabres, who are going to be in town this weekend.

Do you expect for them to do it? They've lost eight in a row here, Dregg. Something has to change. Yeah, and Adams is one who continues to preach that the answer should be within. You know, I know you told the media that a week ago, and, you know, they're trying to administer accountability, and they do that through the experience of Lindy Ruff, of course,

back on the bench of the Buffalo Sabres. And you can do that. You can bench Owen Power for, you know, a half a period or whatever it was. You can try and, you know, extract a pound of flesh from J.J. Paterka. Go down the list here, right? At the end of the day, I think they're having a real problem identifying who the core is in Buffalo. And if you don't know who your core is,

and that makes it real difficult trying to identify the pieces that you feel like you can move, right? So Jack Quinn, again, is going through an experience here at Top Love under the guidance of Lindy. So teams are calling. And Kevin Adams is basically saying, yeah, I'm willing to make a move, and I'm willing to make a move today that helps me now, but not at the expense of Jack Quinn or his younger players.

And that's where it gets problematic, right? And I think of the trade that Bill Yearn just made with Columbus Blue Jackets acquiring David Gerachek, and it's a bit of a gamble on Minnesota's side. I mean, you're looking at a top draft pick. You're looking at a 21-year-old defenseman. So why isn't there any room in Columbus, but all of a sudden Guerin and company are willing to part

with all the assets they did to acquire this guy from the Blue Jackets? And Guerin will say, well, we felt like he is a player that can help us, not just now and in the future. And to make it a fair trade for both, we had to give up those assets. So to come back to Buffalo, you know, is Kevin Adams in a position where he's willing to give up the assets needed to help this team both now and in the future? And we don't have the evidence to say he is.

He says he is, but we don't know that he is. And to the point, just to wrap up Buffalo here, where he talked about how they don't have palm trees and they don't have the tax jurisdiction that's favorable in New York. I get all that. I get it.

The problem that they have is one that impacts teams like Ottawa and Winnipeg when they were going through tough times. And that is the lure of the free agent. Or most recently, yeah, Buffalo had interest in Jake Truba from the New York Rangers. But Truba isn't going to Buffalo. So there's a lot of things that Kevin Adams is having to navigate through these days.

Greg, I was wondering, when you had the sand between your toes on the golden beaches of Florida they're talking to all the movers and shakers in the industry um what kind of buzz were you hearing about the cba talks and future salary cap numbers it seems like there was some maybe some discussions to that end down in florida at the board of governors yeah you're right david but you know again as you experience historically a lot of this meeting is about updates and in fact this is one of the rare meetings where there was no vote on anything so that's what it was it was a business update it was projections it was ideas on financial growth you know globally but you know specific to the salary cap all of that is intertwined with collective bargaining agreement and you know bet to the salary cap all of that is intertwined with collective bargaining

agreement and you know Bettman and his deputy commissioner Bill Daly are confident that they're going to be able to engage in CBA negotiations Marty Walsh and the PA relatively soon I know that the pie in the sky expectation is that they can get something done as early as the playoffs or perhaps the Stanley Cup final if you want to push it a little bit further and that's good news I mean the salary cap is projecting to you know jump up to I guess what are we at now 90 or 88 million so 94 and a half something along those lines maybe it's 92 and a half all these numbers are kind of going through my head. Anyway, there's a 5% jump that is going to be meaningful, and it'll jump after that.

But could there be something more substantive in terms of that salary cap growth as part of the CBA negotiations with the NHLPA? And therein lies the uncertainty. But there's optimism that we're not going to have to spend too many eye-glazing conversations going through every detail of the collective bargaining negotiations, because it sounds like both Batman and Marty Walsh are aligned that, you know, the labor piece is a good thing, and revenue growth is a good thing for both sides. So we'll see if both stay true to their word or someone throws an anvil overboard and see what happens after that.

Alright, Dreggs, we'll leave it there. Appreciate the insight as always, pal. We'll chat again soon. Okay, guys. Have a great weekend. You as well. Darren Dreger, TSN Hockey Insider. Yeah, I mean, the cap going up is obviously great for the Maple Leafs. Yeah. I mean, every team realistically loves to mean the cap going up is is obviously great for the maple leaves

yeah i mean every team realistically loves to see the cap going up for but i was looking i think the leafs they've got like 69 million committed next year so they'll have you know 30 ish million dollars i think next season that they can go out and acquire some new talent yeah so that's a lot of money now they got a couple of big contracts, obviously. Mitch Marner, Tavares. You know, how much did those guys get? Nyes is an RFA. He's got to get paid, too. And, you know, he just continues to produce and put up some points.

So I think he's going to get paid a little bit. But there's a good chance if that gets escalated up into the $92 million range, I mean, the Leafs could continue to add to this group that they've built over the last couple of years with Tree Living. It tends to go faster, right? $5 million or $4 plus million, not as much as it used to be, right? And these guys are not going to be coming cheap. None of those guys you mentioned are going to be coming at minimum salaries and hometown

discount deals. No, probably not. Probably not. Unless something changes. Tavares is the interesting one, though. Yeah. Like, that one's a, like, hometown guy. Now, they stripped the C, and it doesn't appear like that's really impacted.

He's had a really good season. I don't think, you know, we're talking enough about the year that he's had. He's, like, point per game. And you remember back when he first signed that mega monster deal back in the day seven years 11 million there was a lot of chatter about well year six and seven's not going to look great but the first five years man that's going to be terrific right he's playing at the same pace he's been the last few years this season with the leafs he's averaging a point per game and last night i thought that line of him patch readyioretty, and Nylander,

I thought that was the best line for the Maple Leafs at times. Yeah, really good. Yeah. Right. Oh, Pacioretty was outstanding. He was terrific last night. A couple of goals and set up the Nylander goal. Really nice goal by Nylander, too.

Nice little hand-eye. Not many guys can do that. Not many guys can do that. Berube was asked about that. He kind of chuckled, and he's like, not me. No, not him. Not me. Definitely not him. And not 99.9% of the the people that ever picked up a hockey

stick no definitely not johnny might johnny might be able to do something like that yeah what a goal johnny's got hands like that he's got hands like that i'll ask him if he's ever had a nice little uh nice goal where he batted it a little hand eye situation going on he has yeah he'll join us at the top of the hour luke wil still to come. We got our football picks. Big weekend. Bills Lions. It's going to be a hell of a game. That's the one that Hazenbro is on the clock for too.

I'm going to message Hazenbro and see where he's at with that pick. Super Bowl preview? It could be. It very well could be. Javon Shepard going to join also at 6.30. Overdrive continues up on TSN 4 and on TSN 1050. 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. Welcome back into Overdrive.

Mike DiStefano filling in for my partsy, Hazy B. Got Dave Festruck from the Toronto Star alongside me. Overdrive brought to you by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. I would imagine the Blue Jays' odds to win the ALEs continue to tumble as we see other teams in the division start to absolutely load up. And, you know, we've seen a couple of moves now that should be daunting and today the yankees continue to add they added max freed the other day and they continue to add to the pitching

picking up one of the best closers uh and relief pitchers in baseball over the last like three to five years devin williams coming to the yanks and they gave up a good package of prospects for him but that's a big-time addition. Like last year, the one thing that plagued the Yankees was pitching, right? Pitching and bullpen, and that's been a big issue for them. Well, they went out and they got themselves a great starter in Max Freed and now an elite reliever and closer in Devin Williams. Yeah.

Going to be hard to put up offense against this club. Well, our TSN baseball insider Steve Phillips put it really well when the whole Mets-Soto saga came to an end and Juan Soto left the Yankees for the Crosstown team. I won't call them rivals because they've never really been rivals of the Yankees in Queens, New York, the Mets. rivals of the Yankees in Queens, New York, the Mets. Phillips said, this is bad for people who play against the Yankees. This is bad for the Blue Jays and the rest of the AL East.

Because not only do the Yankees have money to spend, because they were willing to spend $700 plus on Soto themselves, but they're motivated to spend it. They're motivated for revenge. And here they go. They get not only the starter with the lowest qualified ERA since 2022 in

major leagues, they get the reliever with the lowest qualified ERA in the major leagues since 2022. That's pretty good one-two punch. Pretty good business. They took that money and they put it elsewhere and they were very prompt to pivot to their other options. The Blue Jays have not been able to do that. It's two straight off seasons where they really have not been able to pivot

and make an addition. Apparently, they're in on Corbin Burns, a pretty good starter. He brings some good pitching to the Blue Jays, but what Jerry's percentage would you put that Corbin Burns is a Blue Jay come springtime? Well, you're losing faith that the Blue Jays can pull off anything of substance, right? Well, apparently he wants

a commitment to Vladdy before he even makes a deal with the team. That would make sense. That would make sense. You want to know where you stand. You want to know where this team is heading before you head there. Absolutely. Second hour of Overdrive coming up next.