OverDrive - OverDrive - December 16, 2025 - Hour 2 - Mike Johnson

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson on Auston Matthews' performance decline, the problem with his play and Joseph Woll's return to the crease. The guys go around the sports world in the latest edition of Confirm or Deny and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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brian hazio dog jeff o'neill jamey noodles mcclennon got leaps blackhawks tonight mike johnson coming up from the rink we were talking yesterday about the quin hugh's trade to minnesota and his comments about sacking up yes and if those were directed towards the new jersey devils i certainly hope they weren't because if you just think that you have this fantasy world like you're in peewee hockey and you get to go play with your brothers and everything's great and you better make it happen if I want it. I hope that that was not the word directed toward the New Jersey Devils.

Yeah, it's an interesting viewpoint. That would be a little bit much. It's like, oh, I want to go do this so you better stack up and make it happen. I hope those comments weren't directed like that. Well, that's nonsense. I hadn't thought of it that way. It is, if that is the interpretation, remarkably arrogant. but also somewhat of a backhanded shot at Mini

like hey I didn't really want to come here I was hoping the other guy would sack up but he wouldn't so thank you for doing it so now I'm in Minnie I yeah I don't know I mean there's a like he was very thankful to Bill Guerin and saying that takes a lot of balls to do that but give up three prospects and a first rounder right away like I thought it was more of a backhanded shot at New Jersey

and other teams like that he was willing to do it, and I'm thankful, and I won't forget that. That's kind of what I got out of. But I guess what I think what you're driving at is why worry about what anyone else is possibly going to do or not do if you're happy in Minnesota? How many times have you seen a guy

traded to a team and talking about the transaction? I thought it was great. It was fascinating. You never hear, like, somebody talking about the package or what the other team was, well, it's like, yeah, it's great to be here. I'm going to bring my best. Well, and what it did was shine a light on how much info all these

guys actually have. But that's how much power they have? Exactly. Quinn Hughes was getting it right from his agent. This is what's being offered. This is what's available. This is who's out there. Keep in mind, that's where I was going to go is exactly what, like, he would know the offers because they probably are saying there's these three teams that are in on you. Any chance you would sign an extension with any of it.

Because an extension conversation has to be brought up. If we're trading like Billy Garron, that was one of the first questions. If it meant a lot to you, we'll see when it comes time to talk extension. Exactly. You know what it reminds me of is Tom Brady. Remember when Brady went to Tampa? Yeah. And then was quoted as saying, well, that other team wouldn't get rid of that guy who's, like, and he used some pretty strong language. Right.

And everyone has been trying to figure out, was it Vegas, was it Chicago? Was it like there were a number of teams that people pointed to? I think it was Carr in Vegas. I think it was there at Carr in Vegas. I think. But Brady basically said the same thing. Like, hey, Tampa was the one that stepped up and this other team wouldn't do it.

And Quinn Hughes may have had a similar approach. Like, all right, I'm in mini now and let's make this work. But I know what that other team wasn't willing to give up and I'm taking it personally that you wouldn't do that. And I actually have a great appreciation for that. Like, how dare you not put that guy in the trade to push it over the top? Do you know who you're dealing with here? I'm Quinn Hughes.

Well, and Quinn Hughes is, now he's got to pull his weight. But I expect that he was going to be. Well, that's a good team. That mini team is sneaky good. I wouldn't say sneaky because where they are in the standings, but we always think of Minnesota, for me, as the team that I played for. Trap and not sexy. Rely on your goaltending. They've got, well, they've got great goaltending. And they're D or mobile. And now that favor is a really good player. Now you add Hughes into the mix there. Their top four is really good. Really good. And their forwards are really good. It's up the middle of the ice people

think he's going to still be active. Is that favorite? He's already signed long term. I believe he is. That would be great if he had like it was his platform year and he got to team up with Quinn Hughes and just put up monster numbers. Oh yeah. The amount of money that that guy would stuff in his jeans and not that he needs anymore. That's what

Heronic did in Vancouver. Damn right. They paired him with Hughes and he Jackpot City, man. That guy's stuck in his thumb right now. Yes, he is. Now you're like, man, who am I playing with moving forward? I hope nobody looks at my stats. Yeah, but the money's still coming in every two weeks.

That's the beauty of it. Once you lock in that guaranteed contract. Labor at eight and a half. Man, four more years. And Quinn Hughes is a 7.8 for this year and next, something like that? 7.8. And Spurgeon's at 7.5. They got that Brodine's a good player there.

Like, their dear good. Man, that's a great pairing for under 16 million combined. It's still a lot of money, but still, like, that's as good as it gets, Those two. All right, here's Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst. I just want to start off this segment by welcoming Mike Johnson, and I want to read a transaction that is very difficult to read. The Canadians have assigned goaltender Samuel Montembault to the LaValle Rockettes.

You're kidding me. On waivers? He's got to go on waivers. No, it's conditioning. Dugie, if you jammy up. Conditioning? If you jammy up. Oh, I know it's real, but he can't just go to the miners, can't?

Montenbo is not 22 years old. I am just reading, the Canadians have a sign. Gould, Samuel Montemblah to the Laval Rocket. I let Johnny come in, but that looks like, it sounds like I don't read French that well, but it's a conditioning stand. Yeah, conditioning is a sign. Based on what, though? He was just playing, wasn't it?

He said, go to the minors and play there for two weeks, get a couple games underneath your belt, and come back. That's tough, man. That's what it talks about, right, Johnny? Go ahead, Johnny. Wow. Hey guys. Yeah, I think that has to be conditioning. I don't think he has played what it was. Doebich played two. Fowler played two. Now, Doebich played again the other night. So it's been four or five games since he plays. So I suppose they could spin it as though he needs conditioning. Not because he's been hurt, because he hasn't played in a little while. And I think also, guys, the player has to agree to a conditioning sin unless if they're not hurt. I don't think you're going to send a guy without. his consent. So he must know. But to think like

we're two weeks away from a guy that we thought might make the Olympic team and now he's getting sent to the minors for a conditioning that is a Swiss fall from grace for San Monta. That's tough few. It's such a good year the last couple of years to be

at a point where you're now number three. They're getting you off the depth chart. Yes, you can go for conditioning stick, but that at some point it probably does mean waivers and maybe a full-time trip to the American League, that's a tough fill of swall. He would get plucked if he might not wavers, yes. You think Edmonton tries to trade for him?

He doesn't make any money, right? Three and a quarter, three seven, five, he's very low. Yeah, he's low, but keep in mind like 27, I think you're 28. But he's a good goaltender not playing well. Like you don't have that many options. Like it's a different player you can healthy scratch, you can do all that. Like there's two spots. Right.

And Fowler, he made a great first impression. Yeah, in his second. I didn't love his game against the Rangers. There was a little bit of, I thought there was some nerves, and he looked a little excitable in the net. But I think Montembo is a good goaltender, not playing well. You're allowed, like, guys are allowed to not play well. It happens all through.

Well, let me throw this hypothetical out. Right. Because now we'll get crazy. Stollars goes on long-term I-R. Would the least claim Montembo? Would you claim them if you were true living? Johnny, first of all, let me ask. ask, I don't think Montaubal would ever go on waivers.

That's a really crazy-ass stuff there. Well, I mean, okay, if he's not going on waivers, what are you going to do with the guy? You can't just stay in the minus forever. They can, they're going to give Fowler a run here. I don't know why I'm talking for Johnny, but I think they'll give Fowler a run here and he can go back without waver. But what if he plays great? Like, there's seasons on the line of Montreal.

Go ahead, John. Yeah, go ahead, Johnny. Yeah, and I think those are all part of it, right? If Fowler plays great, it's one way. So let's say Fowler plays okay, stumbles. I'm with doodle. Fowler probably goes back down, Lonswold's back there,

and they kind of rotate those student bullies as they originally intended. But if it goes well and Fowler plays exceptional and forces Montreal's hand in a good way that you've got to put them in the NHL. They don't want three goaltenders, then I think they will try to trade

Sam Montefo, and if they can't trade them, then they'll put them on wayward. I'm with AID. I think so long as Fowler plays well enough to warrant a full-time spot in the NHL, maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. But if he does, then, yeah,

I don't think you're going three goalies until April. Like that's not how this is going to work. So, and if I'm the least, I don't know. I let Hill to be play as a backup of the wall. I don't go Montevil at this point. You need another goal tender there. I think you've got the three. Hopefully, at least two of them will be healthy all the time, and that'll be enough.

How many games does Joseph Wall play moving forward, Johnny? We were just talking about that and his durability. How would you handle that situation? 6040 3 for wall 2 for hill to be maybe 66 to 33 2 to 1 but like really be mindful of running 3 4 5 6 7 in a row like make sure that when there's a game day off another game wall doesn't play the second one even though he's had a day off before don't make him do that give him days off mentally emotionally physically so that he gets his rest like i think 60-40 probably to start just to err on the side of caution and the fact that probably both goalies play better with rest neither one of them is used to doing what they've been asked to do at times this year for the leaf so maybe just let them mix in there comfortably and you probably get the best out of both of them johnny going around the table

are both of you or is everybody comfortable with hill to be playing games like based on the way he's played so far i mean yes the edmonton game was a bit of a rude awakening. But that's what Noodles talked about. Nudal said he could go into the net and give you seven or eight and then after that he turned into a pumpkin. And it's like on Saturday night, He'll be turned into a pumpkin. The whole team did.

He also didn't get the bounces. So I noticed in previous starts Hildeby would get favorable bounces. When you're playing well, that happens. It hits a post goes underneath you instead of hits a post and goes in. The other night, the clock struck midnight. The pod coals and go,

both knees, rolls in like that type of stuff. He didn't get some of the favorable bounces that night. But I do believe, and I think the Leafs want to figure out what they have in Hildeby, is this guy at everyday NHL goaltender that can be a tandem guy. And I think Johnny, he's

on that pathway, but there's, you know, the jury is still out because he's only played a handful of games, we'll call it. Sure, but I guess I just say, what's the alternative? Right. But if it's not Hildoby, like is Sam Montable going to be a guaranteed upgrade on Dennis Hildoby?

No, not right now, he's not. Like, you look around the league, there is a dearth of the goaltenders that are available. It's not enough. So I think Hildaby has shown enough that he warrants a further look. And, okay, let's say he can play 30 games a year on average and 50 for wool. 30 games is like, you know, five a month, one a week just over. Like, you can play like that and you don't have to run him in the ground. And yes, there'll be games where he looks better than others.

but I think big picture and I think if I'm not mistaken you guys can check it he's on a one way deal next year so like he's part of the future so they're going to pay him he's going to be here I mean I think if you believe in him you might as well use them because there's not a lot of other really good options

easy options available agreed Johnny what do you think of the idea of loading up Neelander Matthews and Nyes tonight better be good they better be good like it's so strange guys we never sort of talk about these guys this way.

Like, even, you know, I understand like the losses and you guys, hello dark as my old friend, the whole bit. And it gets hard there in the playoffs and it's not nice. But generally speaking, their existence for 10 years has been deservedly positive. I haven't had a lot of moments in the regular season in the last decade where you felt the heat has really ratcheted up and they got to respond. And there's questions sort of being asked about, you know, how good they might be are they up to the challenge they've generally been up to the challenge

who feels like tonight i mean i mean i they well the way i would usually say austin maybe leads willie right now the way he moves the puck around but the way willie's been playing whether it's injury or illness or something else they both need each other because both are have been a far cry from what they can be and what they have have to be for the last what two weeks so it feels like it's a it's a pretty important game as super cool and aloof as willy can be and as detached and and and calm as awesome can be they must know the energy right now is like these guys got to this guys got to show more these guys got to do more and so you know they're playing chicago no badard

Chicago was having a decent year in the standings but they're not a very good team yet um they have to go play and and like be really good be really good and I just it's unusual because I'm not used to having sort of that that feeling before a game like well they don't play well it's going to get more uncomfortable

than maybe they've ever sort of experienced the regular season it's just a strange spot for them to be in yeah it's very unique it's something that really no other superstar has experienced what they've experienced like in terms of just you're never in about

place in December at any point in your career. We talked about it. The last nine years, it's been pretty they go to the playoffs every single year. They've never missed. Regular season, right? So there hasn't been. Like Bedard, obviously not playing tonight. The last two years, it's been miserable for him. You know, there were years it was miserable for McDavid, miserable for Sid when he first

got into the league. Ovechkin and the Caps were horrendous for a couple of years. These guys have been nothing but successful every single year. And, you know, there was a time when I would look at this line in particular and say, man, that is going to be dangerous. Like we asked the question

earlier, Johnny, is Jeff Blaschell, the head coach of the Blackhawks? Like, is he terrified of this line? Is he scared? Because two or three years ago, you would be terrified. He'd be like, Matthews is going to destroy us tonight. When he's coming off a bad game, he's getting called out, but Dard's not playing. We're not

much of a team. I don't, I'm not sure he is. Like, I'm not sure Jeff Blaschel is like, this guy's going to destroy us tonight. And that's a sign of something that's also changed. It's completely, you know, it's an intangible, but it's just got a different feeling than anything we've experienced for 10 years. Yeah, but I mean, you know, they go on the history.

They look at the tape. I mean, you're reading, like, listen, I'm not here to pile on Austin Matthews. I believe he's working as hard as he can. Like, he cares. He wants to be good. It's not happening for him. But whatever, I think he's outside the top 100 in scoring, right? He's on pace for like 60 points, which is good for a second-line player in the NHL. He's not supposed to be that.

So, yeah, I mean, obviously would get their attention. They would focus primarily on that line, regardless of what's going on. But you just look at the way these guys have played the last two weeks. You look at the results. You look at all of it. And you're like, okay, this is not, we're not holding on for dear life, I guess these guys. We're thinking, okay, Frankie Nazar, go play hard against them. Jason Dickinson, go shut them down.

You should be able to, it's going to be hard. And they might get some chances and some shots, but we're not going to be overwhelmed. And it won't be specifically. The only reason we don't win this game is because we had no. No answers for the supernova, unstoppable force of a line that is Nize Matthews-Neilander. I don't think guys are thinking that way. But I would love to be wrong. I'd love the Blackhawks after the game.

Like, well, guess what? We had nothing for those guys. We had no answer. But does anyone believe that's going to be the case? I would be surprised if it was. Johnny, what do you think the issue is with Matthews? Do you think he's battling an injury? Because we were talking about just his overall kind of look or feel.

and it's not where it needs to be. So if you could pinpoint one thing, what is it? Okay, oh, I dug into some numbers, not fancy ones, just regular numbers. Okay, so not system-related, because we can talk about, you know, controlling play and shots and expected goals, and that can be related to system. Let's just go to the hard, raw numbers. And I looked at two years ago when he scored 69 and this year, okay? He right now is about 5% slower than he was two years ago.

He's flat out, his top speed is 5% slower. How much steak do you put into 5%? That's the NHL edge, right? Well, on a 100 foot race, if I'm 5 foot further behind, I put a lot of steak into it. Think about it, right? Five feet to go from blue line to the net, it's almost 100 feet. Now you're 2 feet further behind, 3 feet further behind. That's a lot.

But maybe more importantly, okay, the 20 to 22 mile at, hour bursts. It's sort of like how often, if you're not just a blazingly flash skater like McDavid, you can play fast and get to that number in the context of a game. Okay, so two years ago, he was in the 80th percentile. So top 20 percent of league and how often he got to that pace, how often he played fast in a game. This year, they don't even give him a number. He's just below 50 because they don't want to embarrass the players when they're below 50. That to me is the single most telling number he doesn't play fast anymore part of it maybe he can't skate quite as fast but mostly he doesn't apply that speed in a context of the game i looked he's done it 19 times this year

gotten over 20 miles an hour on macdavid has comparison the fastest guy he's done a 210 times this year older that's the kind of so i whether it's whether and whether that's just age for austin or whether that's health or that's just like the new reality of back hip growing wrist whatever is bothering him. He just can't play as fast. He's not as explosive. And on one other number, his hardest shot went from 94 to 86. So like just the physical skills required to play at an explosive level have been diminished a little bit. I don't know why. I have no idea if it's just a guy who's 29 years old or if it's a history of whatever bothering him in his in his body. But that's it to me guys. I looked at those arms like

that's telling me something. He has slowed way down and how often he plays fast, how fast he can play top speed, how hard he shoots the puck. That is just, that tells me physically something has changed. He doesn't want to go fast. Like he doesn't want to shoot it hard. He just can't.

Johnny, I hate to tell you, but that's the only valuable stat pack you brought to the table on this program. And it's a great one. That is it's a great one because there's this conversation going on within the fan base of

you know what what would be worse that he's injured and he just can't do it or if he's disinterested and won't do it like which one is more damning it's not disinterest though like you're not going to skate

so let's just say let's say you're having a disinterested moment okay whether that even exists okay there's a puck that's open for a breakaway 30 feet away two years ago he's going 22 and a half miles an hour this year he's going 21 miles an hour is that because he doesn't care to go as fast as he can of course he's going to go as fast as he can in that moment like it's human nature of every player who plays on this ice to go as fast as they can in that moment he can't do it haste it's not disinterest it's something stopping him from going which is not mental it's got to be physical and in my opinion to answer that question the existential question that the fans are asking, that is much more concerning. Because if it was just moping around, it's like, all right, snap out

of it. You know, like there have been times earlier in the year where we've talked about it looked like McDavid was just like not in a mood tonight. But you knew it's like when he gets interested, get out of the way. Right. If it is a physically can't do it anymore, then I don't know how you possibly turn this ship around.

As a team, as a player, with your cap structure, he's your captain, I mean, everything. The whole identity of the team revolves around this guy being a rock star. The whole expectation of everything. Exactly. And, you know, we said it earlier, Johnny, that, you know, we can talk about all the details

of the game and they all matter. They all collectively are important. He's got to be a goal score. End of discussion. That guy, the reason he is who he is, is because he rips home goals out of pace that no one else can. Game breaker, game changer. Exactly. And if he can't get to the puck

or can't get it off the way he wants to, And that's just not possible anymore. What are we talking about here? What is he? Is he Nico Hesher? Is he Sebastian Ajo? Is he good players, but not great players and not superstar game changers? Let me ask you this, Johnny.

We always use the word sample size. Have you seen enough to definitively go, and I looked at that NHL edge numbers in that as well. Is this a trend or is this something that you think is, you know, hey, the last couple months type of thing? Like, is this something you think he can dig out of? Or you think this is just the new norm for Austin Matthews? I mean, I would say noodles, if he gets health, if his body changes, then of course he could get out of it. Right. I would only say this, though.

How long did he have off last summer? They were done on April, May, whatever was it, May, May, May something. They had four months off, whatever. They had four and a half months off. Like, if you can't fix your body, and not blaming him, of course he wants to. I'm not like he was screwing around playing golf all summer. He was trying to get as healthy as he can get. Right.

But if you can't get your body right in four months and healthy in four months, like I don't think it's going to get healthy in the middle of the hockey season while you're playing every other night in a compressed schedule and 22 minutes a night. So I think sample sizes it is. We're 32 games in. We're coming up on halfway through the year. It's almost Christmas. For this year, the numbers are the numbers.

If you could skate faster, you would. Yeah. I don't see that changing unless health changes, and I can't imagine four months of no games couldn't get you healthy or back to where you once were. I don't know how a game every other day is going to allow him to get healthy either. Do you have to pay for that information? No, it's right here.

So it's free. That's why you had to jump in there. Yes. He and I were battling over who's up next. He's like, no, no, no, I got to get in. I got to get in. You could have texted him that in a break. I don't care.

All right. Anyway, moving on. important in flaxie it is something i wanted to hear because i'll dive into that if it's free if it's free i'm not paying for it but it's literally right there perfect but you know guys you just go in type in austin matthews click on shot speed skating speed you can click on this year yes you click on last year you can click on the year before like you can look what's what's going on and and the trend if you're going to

chart it like a grade 10 math class like oh did when he read all his books the trend would be going the wrong way. It's not good. I'll tell you where the rubber is going to meet the road is at the Olympics. Because in Toronto, he's playing and he's got to play. When you're representing your country at the Olympic Games, if you can't do it, you're not playing.

And that is going to be fascinating because Craig Barouba has got to play in 20 minutes. You have to. What else are you going to do? Play Nick Waugh? You're not. He's playing. Well, what's also going to be fascinating is if at the Olympics,

you see these bursts pop out of somebody's arse, It's like, where did that come from? And that would bring into the question, okay, is it mindset? Is it where his head's at? I mean, you're right. That's another point. If he's flying, you're like, where the hell was that during the NHL? I'll be getting on my computer going into the burst section.

You absolutely will be and should be. But Jack Eichol will be playing more than him. And quite frankly, right now he deserves to be. Igo deserves to play more than him. You know, I mean, that's going to be crazy as watching him if he's getting 15 minutes a night at the Olympics. because he just, he's not bringing enough. Well, let's hope that's not the case.

Bow noodles, right? He was good. Like, I know he didn't score the goal. Yeah. That final game, he was good in the Four Nations. Like, he should have won it three times. He was great in overtime. Like, he was good.

So, and the other part about it is, like, you know, he will be, he will be one of the slower players. If Canada plays the U.S. in the gold medal game, Austin will be one of the slower players on the ice. But I don't know if that means he can't be good. It might be hard to be dominant, but doesn't mean he can't be good, especially if he has Jack Hughes and Matt Boldy on his wings or whatever, right? Guys who can fly around.

So, but yeah, the whole thing is going to be fascinating. And it's hard. Like everyone in their career, Noodles knows it, O knows it. Hazie, maybe it happened to you when you're 19. I don't know. But like, everybody knows at some point your body does start to change. Like it gets a bit harder. You're not quite as strong.

You're not quite as explosive. Whether you're 36, 33, 30, we've seen guys happen when 28, 20, like, I don't know. I don't know, but it would be frustrating because you know guys would want to be as good as they can be. It's why we do it. And if you just can't summon the ability to move the way you want and to move the way you once did so effortlessly,

so gracefully, so frequently, and now it just doesn't happen, it would be infuriating. It would be so frustrating for the team, for us, for the fans, for whatever. But mostly for him, he wants to be way better. He knows it. And he's tasted what it feels like to be way better. And it's just hasn't been there. And so that would be tough.

It would be tough. Well, and you're going to have to adapt, right? Like, if that's the reality, you're going to have to adapt. Like, it's about playing like John Tavarous. Yeah, but Hayes. Crazy. Right. But so, like, but is he already not doing that?

Like, he does battle defensively. He plays, like, one of the top shot blocking forwards in the league. Yeah. We won't like it because you're like, well, hang on. You're getting 13 and a half. You've got to score and drive play. Well, if he's pivoting, say, like, he's going to score 40-ish and get 75 points and be really good, defensively, and great on face-offs, that's maybe the best he can do, given his body, and maybe that's him pivoting already. But that pivot doesn't take the leaves where they need to go.

No, that's the problem. Exactly. When it coincides with a John Tavares, I'm 35 pivot, too. You're like, okay, this got, like, he's got a transition to your second line center now, if that's who you are. We talked about Pavel Datsouk earlier, Johnny, and it was like he was great defensively, and he was responsible and trusted and did all this and that. But he was Pavel Datsu for what he did in the ozone, man. Like, he wasn't the magic man because he back checked.

Yeah. Well, what about Patrice Bergeron? He was a combo. We'll talk about that. He was also that his whole career. Yeah. But Bergeron, like, you know, if he turned into what Bergeron is, what Bergeron was his whole career.

80-point guy, 35-goal guy. I'm just not prepared to talk about what. what this guy's going to turn into. It's a tough conversation. It really is. I don't want it to go there. Well, let's just worry about tonight's game. It's heartening.

It is. Yeah. I looked at those numbers, though, and I just was like, the numbers felt eye opening to me, guys. We're like, man, those don't lie.

They just, he just can't, he just doesn't move quite as fast he wants to it. It's amazing when you see GMs and people talk in the media going, if you look at the numbers, see, these are some of the numbers behind the scenes.

The analytics guys dig deep into it, but they don't lie. Yep. All right, Johnny. Good stuff, buddy. Appreciate it as always. They don't lie. Enjoy the game tonight. We'll do it later in the week. Oh, have fun tonight. NHL Edge all night long. There you go. Dude, it's going to replace

a way different website, pal. New homepage. Thanks, Johnny. There's Mike Johnson joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Get in and go where adventures take you in a new 2025 Tacoma from MapleTor. Toyota near Canada's wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall visit Maple Toyota.com

confirm and deny next. The lights are twinkling. The playlist. Sparkling. I heart the holidays is here. Canada's home for Christmas music with non-stop festive favorites 24-7

gifted to you by sleep country. Turn it up and unwrap the holidays everywhere you go. Just ask you smart speaker to play iHeart the holidays or stream it anytime anywhere on the free ihar radio app i can either confirm or deny that uh that this is in fact a segment austin trades andrew raycroft to trano in exchange for the rights to tuka rass it's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the general manager of the trauma maple league hockey club it's time for confirm or deny

Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no trades or no movement clauses? I can either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny. All right, confirm and deny. Statements are made. We go around the table. We confirm them.

We deny them. Very simple stuff. Cut to the chase here. Confirm or deny. Quinn Hughes will sign long term in Minnesota. Deny. It's just, we live in a day and age where he was, we do not know if that was the place that he wants to play.

And I don't care if they can add a year or what it is. If these guys have it set in stone that they want to do something, they're going to do it, man. Everybody's got that right to get the free agency. And just because Billy G. sacked up, it doesn't mean that it's a marriage made in heaven, and it's going to be a long-term thing. I'm going to confirm it.

Not knowing anything. You make a great case. Minnesota is a good team. What if he puts them over the top? What if they go to the finals this year? What if they go on a magical run? And the thing is, if you look at that team,

the framework is there to be really good for many years. Not just this year. Like, their talent is young. Their goalies are young and really good. Their D are young and really good. Their forwards, young and really good. Outside of Zuccarella and a few guys like that, Zuccarello.

that's a team that's going to be a force for many years he might go i like it here i know minnesota's not for everybody the midwestern guy though he's a midwestern guy up and go i like it here why is he a midwest he's from the midwest yeah where michigan yeah he's a michigan is not the mid we've had this argument before it is in the midwest really yeah you know what's across the border ontario yeah do you know if ontario was a state guess what it would be a part of. The Midwest. Absolutely, we'd be in the Midwest.

We're not on the East Coast. We're going to have to put up a map of the West. We're not on the East Coast. We're not even close to the East Coast. We are not as a province in the Midwest, you moron. For starters, Ontario was massive. Is Ottawa in the Midwest? No, but is Windsor?

Yes. Windsor, Ontario's in the Midwest of the world. Detroit is. Dude, Detroit's in the Midwest. Michigan's Midwest. We got to get a map out. Because you could actually see it. You're right.

Chicago is Midwest. That's where it starts. Chicago is Midwest. Yeah. So is Detroit. So is Michigan. Anyway. Wrong.

I'm going to, I don't want to deny it. I want to confirm it. I want to see them, I want to see him stay in Minnesota. I'll be a chance to deny it. Yeah, I don't know. I'll just, I'll believe it when I see it. Yeah.

You know, it may not even be Jersey. Maybe it's New York and he just lives in the same vicinity as his brothers. Great point. You know, it could be anything. like that. Confirm and deny the Buffalo Sabres will make the playoffs before the Vancouver Canucks. I don't know why I paired those two together but why not? Vancouver hasn't made it in

two years in Buffalo and 14 but there's been a lot of change on both teams. I'm going to deny that. How can you trust Buffalo over anyone right now? If it's like Buffalo versus everybody like the T-shirt says how do you trust them over anything? Vancouver's in a pretty bad place right now. I think Vancouver is going to rebuild, and I think Buffalo is going to just retool?

Retool? Well, not even retool. But they've got players there. I think maybe the new GM, he might get a new coach. He might surprise some people. I'm not saying this year, that team on paper, I've always said this. I like that team on paper, but they don't do it. You're going to confirm Buffalo gets there before Van?

Because I think Van. I think Van is in trouble, man. Well, I think Van is going to retool, although Demko good on his head I know that's the that's the denominator like can he stay healthy in play I'll just believe that one I see it's really good I'm gonna confirm it too which is crazy

Buffalo hasn't made the place in 14 years I just think they're in a slightly better position than Vancouver yeah confirm it than I Josh Allen will win the MVP after that performance on Sunday I'm gonna confirm it I think Drake may had kind of half a finger on it

Stafford is right there Stafford's probably the lead horse right now I know but that person Sometimes it's an individual performance where all the pundants say he just won the MVP. And that might have been the game where Josh Allen won the MVP. Yeah, give me the MVP for him. And also give me the Super Bowl. I love to see it.

You talked about it at the start of the year. Love to see it, man. You talked about it if he said, is this is Buffalo's year? Yeah. Well, listen, they're not a great team, but he is the best, most dominant, unstoppable force in the sport. And that's where I think cooler heads will prevail here, so to speak. I'm going to confirm it too. Stafford's been phenomenal.

And if they win the one seat out in the NFC, which I think they probably will, and his stats are going to be crazy, it would be a worthy choice, and he's a great player. But Alan is so much more valuable to his team. I think Buffalo wins like six games this year without him. You put an average quarterback there.

They're like 7 and 11. In Minchu? Yeah, exactly. You put Gardner Minshu there. Now, that's probably going to apply to Kansas City and other teams, too. but he is so dominant and so valuable. I'm confirming it. Confirming the night.

We just saw Scotty Sheffler win his fourth straight PGA Tour Player of the Year. I believe only Watson and Tiger have ever done that, which is crazy. Confirming to deny Scotty Sheffler will win the PGA Tour Player of the Year next season, making it five in a row. This is the biggest lock confirm that I've ever had.

No one can stop this guy. No one can stop this guy. And he's going to start the year without making raviolis and cutting his hand. That's kind of crazy that he missed the first month and a half of the season. Yeah, and then he started out a little slow, and then he just started dummying everyone on tour. And the game is like, Tiger Woods talked about the way he approaches the game, but it's just, it's so simple how he plays.

It's this, Tiger did the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the remarkable. This guy is like fairway, 9 iron, 10 feet in, a lot. And at the end of every tournament, it's better than everyone else. I'm going to confirm it as well because I just feel he's a cut above everybody. Oh, it's undoubtedly a cut above.

It's just more the numbers and like, can the guy do it? Yeah, or can Zander get back in the fight this year? Can McElroy have a complete season? Macroi would have been close. Macquarie won a lot on tour this year. You guys get in the itch at all? I'm starting to get the it. I pulled the wedge out and was chipping around in the basement the other day,

and you start sculling it off the wall, and you're like, I've got to get back out there and start hitting balls, man. Is your shoulder healed enough where you can even try? I was supposed to go on a golf trip with my buddy, and I went in my stem and gave it one crack to see if I could go, and I just skanked ball that hit the wall, and my shoulder was killing you, and I said, I'd call them, I said, I can't do it.

Yeah, got to give it some more time. You have a couple months more, right? Once you get into January, you really start to feel it. Like indoor golf's picking up a lot in this country. Golf Canada does a great job of promoting it, and you can find ways to go to different places and hit balls. And it's cool.

It's cool to go to simulations and stuff like that. But I get the it's usually in January. Get through November, get through December, get through the holidays. You wake up in January. You're like, all right, I wouldn't mind playing golf. I was texting with Lawrence Applebaum the other day. Look at you and Lawrence. Your boy.

Is he trying to get you out to play golf? I'm sure he is. No, he's the, he's the last. last person, I would think they'll come up on my phone. But he had some questions about Alberta. Okay. Edmonton. There you go. So I was filling in a mail.

Well, the ladies are going out there. I believe the LPGA tour is going to be out there. Yeah, I believe it was something in August. Yeah, the LPGA tour. They're going there. The Canadian Open. I said, well, why don't you call Struddy? Why don't you call some of these people that we know out there? Yeah, Struddy out for the pro-am. Imagine Struddy takes out Brooke Henderson. It just does something crazy and takes out Brooke Henderson.

It just gets creamed on the course. That would be troubling. That would be very concerning for our boy Strud and Brooke Henderson, who is the reigning champ, of course, right? At Mississippi, it was incredible. Okay, there you go. What else do we have here? One more.

All right, confirm or deny. Stuart Skinner will start more games than Tristan Jari the rest of the season. Is Pitt lean into Skinner and he plays and stays healthy? I mean, it's a big calculation. I don't know how you feel. I'm going to deny it because what urgency does Pitt have, if any, about anything? I don't know. Like, that's what I want to know about Pitt before.

What if they're in, like, I said this before, they're a playoff, they're one point out of a playoff spot with two games in hand. What if they lean into them and they decide, we're going to sell players off, but we're still going to try and make the playoffs? Well, you can't do both, man. I'm sorry, you can't do both. You're going to flip Skinner and then flip Kulak and then try to flip other guys and still make the playoffs at the same time.

Sorry, you're not doing both. Fair, fair. Yeah, I think you've got to choose a lane, but it'd be an incredible story if he got red hot down there and help them get into the playoffs. You look at just his history, 60 games, 60 games. Yes, he had an injury near the end of the season last year where he got bonked on the head. But the guy plays. may not love everything that goes on sometimes, but he plays.

So if you look at his durability compared to Tristan Jari's, Stuart Skinner's more durable. I hope he steals the show tonight, Stuart Skinner. Yeah, me too. I'm going to confirm it too because, like, I just don't know if Jari's going to stay healthy. Yeah. You know, like I, I just look at it. Skinner is just very predictable.

Like, he plays. To play, it just did the difference is, Some nights his game is not as consistent, but he's there. Availability, like you say, he plays. He does. Sid versus McDavid tonight. It's always cool. It's amazing that Sid still has, like, of course he still has that kind of aura to him.

But it's the duos, right? Like Sid and Gino. Yeah. Those were the OGs of the, like, 97 and 29. 29's going for a thousand point, too. Well, and Sid is three points back of America. Yeah, I believe. And I had Sean Sinclair some in email today.

He's pointed out, he's like, confirm it than I. This, that'll be the last big moment in Sid's Penguin's career, passing Mario and points. I don't know, making the playoffs, does that count winning rounds? Like, I don't think he's going to win a cop. He's not going to win any major award. They're not winning rounds either. No, so I think it's confirmed. I mean, I think, you know, I believe Mario is going to be there every game now, waiting for it to happen.

Yeah. But, yeah, you're right. like Dressel hit a thousand points Sid I wouldn't be shocked It would be a 6-5 game tonight Sid gets three Leon Benches clear on both sides

I don't know Might be Must watch game at least Absolutely Be all right after the leaf All right At the same time Yeah they're in Pitt

They're on the East Coast Yeah All right Good luck on the panel tonight Bring those Johnny notes And apply it to the pregame Dude I will never in a million years Use those

I want to hear him Use the word burst Great stats. Yeah, there's a speed burst of 21. Speed burst, shot burst. You know, the zip on the shot is concerning if it's falling off a little bit. Yeah.

All right. Gotta get a night for Matthews. Yeah. Got to have a night. Got to have a night. All right. We'll come back with our best bets powered by Fandul Overdrive continues. TSN 1050.

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in the NHL tonight. And I think only one in the NBA. But we've got the NBA Cup still going and you got football back at it on Thursday. day and man we're getting in crunch time in the NFL and playoffs right around the corner like what? How many days? Yeah, it's under

two weeks. Yeah. Crazy. World juniors. Like that team is stacked and we'll see who else is available to them from the NHL. But that's going to be fun in Minnesota, right? Are you done all your shopping? Still working

through some things. Still have a couple spots I got to get to. Yeah. I I don't figure it out I don't know you know me I don't accept gifts I don't really care well I always say that and I think it's aggravating and I'm sure it is aggravating for your

wife too because my wife made a little comment on that as like well no one's going to say what they want and I'm like I really don't have anything I want nothing which I understand is a huge luxury and privilege it's great but I don't you don't have to get anything for me no like you got to understand I will not be offended

at all I think it would actually be better to test that theory, for somebody to, like, give you nothing. Literally nothing. No stocking stuffers, no nothing. Like, everyone's sitting around, the kids are opening presents, and you just sit there like a pile-on. Give me a coffee, and let me just sit there and watch. I'm fine with it, because I don't mind.

I like to clean as it goes, so I'm grabbing that. I'm grabbing the wrappers and that throwing it into a garbage bag. But I have no problem. I feel like they're like, hey, Jamie, we need to give you something. Here's a gift certificate. I get that. There's secret Santa in our family, which is fine. That means you get one gift.

But like, I just, I feel it's about the kids. It's not about me. I don't care. Totally. I really don't. I'd be 100% ecstatic about that. I'd like to see somebody call, like, call my bluff and be like, okay, we give you nothing. You get nothing.

I think you'd be fine with it. I would be, but I actually would, it might be something neat, like, to actually live it. Yeah, exactly. Like, actually, wow, they're calling it. called me on that. Called me on that. Didn't see that one coming. And you just sit there.

Literally your stockings got nothing in it. You come down and it's just feathers sitting in there. Everyone else has got stuffed, stuffed in their candy, socks and that. But actually, I think the stocking would be the more shocking thing. Yeah.

Because you just, everyone's going through your stocking. I actually literally have, like it's been hanging, but there's nothing in there. I think it would be great. Like, I don't know.

That would be a, that would be, I think I'd start laughing. I think you'd have to be like, wow, you guys got me. I think it would be. be so fun. You really got me on that one.

Yeah. But yeah, we got time. We'll figure it out, No, I'm not too worried about us. No, I'm not worried. All right, so the great Joe Bowen coming up, and Joe Bowen, obviously, it's Holy Macon night, right? It's going to be just amazing down there and 44 years on the mic, and what a run for Bonesy. He put a shift in. Yeah, him, his whole family down there tonight. It's going to be a great night for Joe Bowen and the Bowen family, so I cannot wait to see what the Leafs

have in store, both on the ice, off the ice tonight. You can catch the game on TSN. Catch it on TSM. It's going to be a great night. All right. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today, TV, radio, podcast, web, and of course, up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games

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