OverDrive - OverDrive - December 3, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' statement victory against the Panthers, how Toronto can carry from the win, Jesper Wallstedt's incredible stretch in the crease and the construction of the arena in Milan for the Olympics. They also discuss the Blue Jays signing Cody Ponce and his placement in the lineup, the future of Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer in Toronto, the Clippers parting ways with Chris Paul, Giannis Antetokounmpo's future with the Bucks and Role Play Level of Concern going around the sports world.

Hello? Hi, Mom. Casserol is a disaster. Did you follow my recipe? I sure did, except I used tofu instead of turkey, and I didn't have sage, so I used cilantro. So you didn't follow my recipe. Some calls are too good to miss.

Stay close this holiday season on Canada's best 5G Plus network. Visit a bell store or bell.ca slash holiday to check out amazing offers on phones and plans. Bell, connection is everything. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fanduil. Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, overdrive, off and running TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, and up on TSN4, Brian Hayes,

you know, Doug, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennett. Uh-oh. Look at him in his library. He's in his library. You will not believe what happened today. I'm not kidding. Yeah. Duffy calls me.

and says, are you home? I go, yes, I'm preparing, I'm meal prepping, but what's going on? He's like, I'm with my promo team. Can we come and check out your setup in your basement? And I'm like, for what? Just want to see what it's all about. And he comes downstairs with his team of people, and I come down to start work, and that is behind me.

he's taken over the whole operation. Dude, that's books. He is like, and then he just sends me a text saying it's a last push before Christmas to get beauties to, and we're just doing like a promo kind of blitz. Okay. And I was like all right. Did you take a second to read a chapter too? What's going on?

What's going on? He doesn't read. He hasn't read since the fifth grade. Those ones are the last time you read a book front to back. Pretty recently. I read Vivek Rasmami's book, Woke, Inc. Okay, there you go. That's a pretty heavy-duty book.

Yeah, he was really good. So you read that recently? Yes, recently, yes. No, this guy here, he acts like he has a book club, Hayes, and he read one chapter of Duthy's book, and that's it for the last 15 years. You're not a reader, dude. That's a wrong reader. I'll be honest.

I'm not the biggest reader. I read like sports can every morning, you know, notes and all of that stuff. We all of us. We're all on social media. We all watch Twitter. We all do these things. I love an audio book. Like, I will listen to a book because I don't mind that.

It does not. It doesn't count as a red book if you listen to it. It's information. And the problem is if I'm driving, for example, if I've got an hour and a half drive north, of the casino rammer or whatever I'm going. I will put an audio book on instead of just listening to music. I'm not buying that, Noodles. I'm sorry.

I have to throw a flag on the play. I'm not buying that you put a book on to drive up the 400. You can show anything. It doesn't mean when you fire up the rig, you start playing that thing. There's no way. Okay, so double cross was the last one I was looking at. Yeah? Okay.

What's that about a mafia book or something like that? stuff. Doodles. We know what you play in the car. If you drive for more than 15 minutes, it's NHL, serious NHL. No, I don't. That's what you listen to. Maybe Van Halen or something like that.

I do listen to Van Halen. I don't mind. But my point being is I don't do it every day. You asked when is the last one. It's not like it was eight hours ago. It was a month ago, whatever it was. Well, we just got into it yesterday. The bottom line is I don't read.

and the last time that I dove into a book was grade five. Yeah, the fifth grade, which is, that was a shocking revelation. Here's the book I read before that. This one, I got to meet the guy, so I was like, I have to read his book. But you didn't read it. You listened to it. Bill Browder, this guy is an unbelievable story. The people are hunting this guy, like Putin wants this guy dead right now.

How did you mean him? Was he a hockey fan? No, I met him at a venture capital. He was speaking, and I got to meet him, and I was like, I'd better brush up on this guy's book and all of that. It's an unbelievable story. Just Google Bill Browder. This guy's literally, this guy was worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the Russian government. Highly intelligent people toss that one out there, too.

They're like, yeah, the guy signed a book for me, so I gave it a read. And it's like, give it a read, you bastard or not. I didn't realize we had the most well-read audience in the world. Like, we're getting destroyed online. I'm getting carved because I talked about reading a golf book. Dude, are you telling me the goons that listen to our show or watch it? They're all of a sudden these readers. Everyone's got a PhD.

Everyone's well-read. I love it. I appreciate that. Our audience is the smartest on earth. Three of us played junior hockey. You know that there's barely a certificate. involved back in the day nowadays guys but back in the day especially my day before oh like education was a swear word do you know how many guys i saw do homework on the bus when i played

in the o for three years zero guys zero yeah road trips to sue st-marie not one book comes here's the thing though all the college guys i played with half of them are idiots too Absolutely. They're like, yeah, my sister-in-law did my courses online for me. I'm like, oh, okay, fair enough. That's why. Absolutely. Make it to break it, man.

It is. Find a way to get through. The thing is, I don't, I'm not this well-read person. I just happened to, got into a phase where I was listening to books a lot because I was driving a lot. So I was like, okay, I'll instead of just listen. But it's books that I care. Like, I like true crime. I like, this red notice book was unbelievable, but it's a crazy, true.

story so i was like i went back and researched it and i met i literally met the guy like which was crazy like he does CNN stuff i don't know what's going on here why is there a tree browders storming the studio i met the guy whoever's looking for and apparently he does like hits for CNN and he has to do them from an undisclosed location okay well i've often wondered if authors you know are they insulted by you listening to the book you know they they put So much time into it, they wrote the book. Do they look down on their audience who's listening, the audio form? I got to think they do.

Why, though? Why wouldn't you? It's just not the same amount of commitment. Like, you know, reading is an effort. You're listening. You're not really paying attention. Some guy cuts you off. You're taking phone calls.

You know, you're not really invested. Okay, but when you're taking a phone call, the book stops because it's on your phone. I hear you. But you know what I mean? Bad weather. I hear a honk and you're telling a guy. off at another pickup truck and you do make a great point i i will say this because when you're driving you do have a different level of like if you're paying attention right i do understand that

but you know if you get to a point where you got a self-driving vehicle then you just sit there i guess that would be something that might be conducive to listening while you're driving exactly i guess that's possible put it this way i'm not i'm not on a on a acting all high and mighty i'm not a huge book reader but i do enjoy some like weird things those were the last two books i was involved in and there there we go noodles is he's part of the book club we've got the library set up duffy's books are all presented back there you can buy all them but you don't just have to get the new one you can get all them they're great stocking stuffers noodles has got a book out noodles you're an author right Get Noodles Book.

That would be a big, big gift, I think, for the holiday season. I've read Duthies because I'm in, I think, four of them. That's right. So-zo, that's what's amazing. You wouldn't go back and read the chapter on yourself to make sure he got the info correct? Like, what if he jammed you up? It was my life. I know he wouldn't screw it up.

He had a recorder. He used his phone. He can't mess that up. Okay. All right. Okay, we got Craig coming up after five. We got Rod Brindamore on the show. Nice.

The Leafs are in Carolina. They're probably flying in right now. I think they stayed in Florida in practice today. And the Leafs with a very impressive win last night. Really impressive win. You know, got on the board quick. Troy Statcher, who's been great for them. Depth scoring.

I thought they control play. I thought they went in there with the right approach. They defended pretty well. That's a big win. What did I say they needed to commit to as far as score-wise? A 3-2-3-1 hockey game. And that's exactly what it was. that got the empty netter

and I set it on Sports Center after the game I think like it had to have been a victory for Craig Barubi for him to have the ability to walk in the locker room and say there's what a little intensity does there's what a little attention to detail does obviously it's not a game of perfect you're going to have some breakdowns

and your goaltender's got to make some saves but if you have some general smarts intensity and like some kind of purpose out there you can have some success and I thought that's what they did. Like they all worked and it looked like there was a purpose and it wasn't just throw our sticks out there and see what can happen and don't care about what goes on in your own end.

I love what they did last night. I love the game. There's absolutely nothing to complain about as far as last night. Do you know the one thing I got from it? There's lots of great storylines in that, but it's like there weren't just a bunch of shifts and said, okay, Matthews, Neelander, Tavaris, go get us a goal. Yes, they factored in, but it was guys that were, you call them, J-A-Gs, right?

There were jersey fillers in the past here that guys that actually contributed. And that's something that you need on a night where Matthews doesn't score. You know what I mean? Or where Willie doesn't fight. Like that's where, that was the difference for me is you were saying other people's names other than just the usual suspects. That's what I got. Yeah, they all kind of. blended together which is positive like the best that's what florida does every year during the

playoffs it's you know obviously barcove is a great great player but it rolls into bennett it rolls into you know lundel it rolls they just the the same mentality and same approach kind of comes over the boards and other guys have different talent levels and they do different things just because of that yeah exactly and obviously the top guys are going to play more and they need to break through of course they do over the course of time but i thought it was a big win it was a win that i think we again stated appropriately was a big moment for them considering what happened the last time they played florida and i get florida's not in a great spot you know they're missing a lot of guys and um i do think it's a legitimate question if they can

get up off the mat like i really i'm not convinced they're going to um with everything that's going on down there but that's not the least problem the leaps they're they were missing guys and they haven't played great this year, and they had to go in there and salvage two points. So now if you include the Montreal game, which was a part of the road trip, even though they came home in between, they're three and two in the road. You know, the three and two in the road, they had a very good chance in Washington, which is, it's past them now. There's nothing you can do about it, but you're up to two nothing in the second period.

Ideally, you found a way to win that game or at least get a point, but they didn't. But now you're going into Carolina tomorrow night, very tough test, very good team, as we know. but at a minimum you're coming home three and three on the road you know and you're getting some mojo back and I think if you look at the forward lines in particular a couple things stick out Joseph Wall is really playing well like he's really dialed in he was really good again last night the forward lines as we said yesterday

they're healthy this is what they're going to be you know would you like to flip one guy in or that guy out or something possibly but they're healthy up front and that that lineup one through 12 is a playoff lineup. It's not perfect, but it's a very good one. It's a very good lineup.

There's no reason, starting at Matthews, all the way down to Stephen Lorenz, that that forward group should not give you confidence when you step on the ice. And if Joseph Wall is going to play the way he's playing, that gives you confidence. It's about cleaning up the defensive play. If they can clean up the defensive play,

and you're going to have to do it for an extended period of time, it's not a one-off, it's not one trip. You've dug yourself a hole here. but you could wake up in a month and be maybe in the playoffs you know or real close because every next question can that decor give you more than

you're asking a lot out of them that's right you're asking a lot out of them philip meyers and benoit and stetcher's been great it's not going to happen the rest of the year you're not going to play like a number three I tell you what though how do you not love the guy's

kind of position on life his situation where he's just like I've been on seven teams man I got to let it fly every night. And if it doesn't, then I got to deal with it. He battles. He's got energy and you notice him out there. To his credit, he's been a really good waiver

pickup. Really, really good. I just appreciate the guy for the fact that he goes out there and he understands that his whole NHL life is on the line almost with every shift. And he kind of has that approach. Just the times I've heard him speak, I've just had an

appreciation for what that guy has to say. I really do. I agree. I've watched him a lot Like he's a journeyman guy He can skate and he can move the puck And that's something that that back end Definitely needs My whole worry

Brian is more just the health of Two right shot defensemen That don't see him on the horizon at all And we talked Hanover and Carlo And I don't know if you replace him with Stetcher and Myers If that is the You know Not long term

That's what I'm saying I think you're starting to, maybe it's a question for the insiders this week or next week, there's got, if there's a move to be made to add to that group, that's probably key to the difference between playoffs, not playoffs, helping the process. Again, like if you get a healthy Anthony Stolars back at some point, Joseph Wall can continue. Now of a sudden you got a really nice tandem, which that's what was the plan.

And then if you, you know, we don't know if, what is the latest news on, Carlo, he got sent home to get another look at. Yeah, you know the leaves. They're not going to reveal anything. But if he's had a setback, and I think Baruba said, you know, it's likely that there's going to be surgery involved. Now, surgery can mean a month. It can meet four months, you know, like we don't know what the surgery is on.

Right. But that's a big stumbling block. And Tanev will not be rushed back, nor should he be clearly. Correct. So that is not happening anytime soon. So it's patchwork. But there's patchwork happening all over the league. You know, like everyone's suffering.

Everyone, like Tampa's in trouble, Florida's in big trouble. You know, every team is dealing with it, and the Leafs have got to find a way to get out of it. And what that means is Ekman-Larsen and McCabe and Riley have got to elevate their game. They've got to be better than what was expected. And Ekman-Larsen's been, I think, really good this year. I think Riley and McCabe can give more, but I think they've been giving more recently, McCabe in particular defensively. And I think that's what they're going to have to lean on.

Like those vets, those three guys are all going to have to play a ton of minutes. Yeah, and they're going to have to set a tone, and they're going to have to play great. But it's, you know, it's a big win last night. Carolina tomorrow, haves at home on Saturday, and the haves are in a deep, they're in a dark place now, too. They're giving up a lot of goals. Their goaltending isn't great. You know, it's, it's just embarrassed you a week and a half ago.

Every team's got that one giant ward haze. It's, do you know what I mean? It might be injuries. It might be a schedule. It might be your penalty. kill it might be your goaltending everyone's got that one giant zit on their ass that they just don't know what to deal with the only team that doesn't is colorado right now and they have to have they don't have a boil they don't have it they got but the thing is this adversity is coming

Dallas woke up without a right winger today I mean this sake isn't like they've done for the year and that is listen he's he is what he is at 33 years old but I walk watched him live the other day and he looked really good and that team is a i wasn't he just coming back from an injury yeah well the last year last year yeah but he's he's a really good player but if he's gone for we'll call it the season or in any extent length of time Dallas is a team that now is going to have eight million dollars and cap space and assets to go and get even another player because jim nil like that team's really good like i the teams that i've seen live and all of that.

Colorado, obviously, another level, but, like, Dallas is right there. I think Dallas is probably the second best team in the league. They're playing like it. Yeah, they're certainly playing like it. That central division, I mean, you look at Minnesota, they're on fire because that Walsdug, kid, and Ned. My God, that guy's got four shutouts and six games. Four shutouts and six games.

He's good. Like, he looks like Carrie Price to me, the way he motors around. Like, that's bigger than Carrie Price. Is he making the other guy expendable or what? I don't think you make him expandable because he just, you keep both. Like they're, not to mention, oh, like, these guys, this guy's a rookie. You know what it's like, take the league by storm, and then all of a sudden people go, oh, well, we'll figure you out or whatever.

Like, he might have a market correction here and go on a seven-game heater the other way, but he's big. He moves well. He's got, like, I was watching him last night, but I've seen him a few times. He's good. And the crazy part, I don't know if you guys have heard the noise. in Edmonton, but, like, they passed on that kid. Well, they traded the pick.

Yeah, they traded the pick. Minnesota traded up to get them. And out of the Edmonton spot, Edmonton was like, yeah, we'll move back a couple and take a third round pick or whatever. At least you didn't say the Leafs. How long ago was this kid drafted? 22, I think it was. Yeah, 2021 or, yeah, 21 or 22.

Borgow, I think they took a guy in the first round is rare. That means he had immense talent, clearly. Well, it's funny. Oh, you're the one, you saw that Russian, Ascaroff. The Russian carry price that can't hold his stick. Well, yeah, at the World Juniors, the guy was stickless, literally dropped it 50 times. I just remember Ray saying it might have been the tournament out in Edmonton. He might have even said it the year before, but he's like, that might have been, I don't know where it was.

Yeah. But Ray was like, this guy doesn't hold on with stick. His stick was going flying all over the place. And I just remember everybody calling that guy the Russian carry price. That's a long time ago now, dude. It is. That's a long time ago. Nashville took him 11th overall when they had Pecker-Rene and U.C. Saros.

And then they traded him to San Jose. And I think San Jose's found their goalie. I think he's a good goaltender that needs growth. Chicago's found their goalie and Spencer Nutt. We were talking about that. Minnesota may have found two because that gossip has been a really good goaltender. Really good for them.

And you know what? Bring him back to Toronto. Like Joseph Wall, I've liked how he's looked in the next. Like I've liked, I think they're, you know, he's playing too much, and that's not his fault. They need him to go. It's the cost of doing business right now. But if he can hang on until you get some reinforcements, and the Hildebee's played well on the weekend against Pittsburgh.

But if you can have a night or two where you can spell him and get him into a groove, then you're feeling pretty good. And that's, I don't know if you guys remember. I said this at the start of the year. One of my biggest things for him was I'd like to see what his capabilities are, like his ceiling because we we see him get there and then there's an injury or something else or Stolar's place like what is he is he a one is he a 1A like I'd like to see what he can get to this is this is his runway all right so we'll we'll catch up with Craig button today we'll get

into a number of things with him including Winnipeg at the bell center tonight and the story about you know what's going on with the Olympic games and the ice not being big enough and it's not even like two inches it's like I think they're for you three feet yeah but isn't that the Italian way I said last night I got there's guys in Vaughn that could have built that rank in three weeks and to perfection that's honestly sounds like me at grabbing IKEA stuff

I'm like just throw it there and put that piece in there and like who cares three feet it doesn't matter the woodworkers in Vaughn they get it like they are hardworking they're gritty like they're old school in Italy you go to Italy nobody's in a rush over there like that's the funny

I'm laughing they're like oh we're the behind on the rink they're behind I'm like yeah if you go there everything's just chill two and a half months and I love how some people I don't know how many people are actually doing this

but there's a push for like the NHL to get involved and it's not their job it's not their operation why would the NHL be this is the IOC we're talking about hey it's the same as the bridge at the President's Cup like you knew the President's Cup was coming

you knew the bridge had to be dealt with what on earth were you doing to that bridge leading up years years to have it still a mess when we went across the bridge to the President's Cup with only one lane working yeah complete gong show so we'll you know we'll see where that takes us

and whether or not the rink is even going to be built and if it is what it's going to look like in the whole operation can you imagine Jerry going out there to that rink and ask in some old Geppetto why it's three feet short. I need to see the dimensions because I don't even believe it's just that. What if he was square? What if he was squared corners?

That's what I'm saying. Squared corners is a bubble hockey rink. Yeah. Jerry absolutely loses his mind. I totally expect something else. Not just the three feet discrepancy. Like there's going to be something else wrong. They forgot a penalty box.

You know there's going to be something crazy. Yeah. We should have like a... But when they started the rink, didn't a guy go across with a tape? But it's not their job, though. It's the IOC's job. Double IHF. Whoever was building the rink, they have specs, okay?

Yes. When you're installing the rink, what did you just guy went over with a tape and he was hung over and he went three feet short? He said, okay, put the boards here. Evidently that's insane. It's possible that that happened. Anyway, all right, we got roleplay coming up. The Js are splashing cash around again, so they made a sign. We'll get into that and what it could mean for them moving forward.

craziness in the NBA. Yannis and the Bucks working on a trade and what his future could be. Chris Paul, a 40-year-old sent home. I know. A sent home by the clippers. I love that. 40 years old. Get out. Go home. So we'll get into that as well. Overdrive continues.

TSN 1050 and on TSN4. Hello. Hi, Mom. Casserole is a disaster. Did you follow my recipe? I sure did. Except I used tofu instead of turkey. And I didn't have sage, so I used cilantro. So you didn't follow my recipe.

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Brindlemore in just over an hour. Yeah, the Jay is this Cody Ponce character who now everyone's got a take on, even though he played in Korea last year, which is always rich. You know, I always wanted that guy. He looked great in Korea when I watched him play last year. The numbers in Korea, though, are supposed to be outrageous. Phenomenal. Phenomenal numbers.

And listen, you didn't give up assets. You're paying them money. But that kind of money means they have high expectations for them. Like, this is not your sixth starter. This isn't a long relief guy. I just want to remember this day, Brian. I just want to remember this day when you love the signing. Well, from Korea, signing, and when this goes south, remember this day.

But he just said it. It's just money. Like, that's the thing. You didn't give up assets for him. Like, it's just cash, right? Yeah. And let me, I haven't even given you my opinion on it. You just immediately assumed I was about to love to take.

I mean pretty happy. No, here's what I'll say on this, because I think I did what a lot of Blue Jay fans, and I'm sure media did today. I went and I was reading. I was reading. It doesn't count as a book, but I still a well-read guy, you know, and trying to watch some tape on him. He's found way more velocity since he's been over there.

He's found a change-up that he didn't have, and all that's great. But clearly what has happened here with the Jays, and they're not alone. Like, if they gave him $30 million, that means other teams were willing to pay him a lot of money, too, right? They didn't just say, we'll give you $30. and another team said we'll give you a $2 million $2 million reclamation project contract. There was clearly a market for him. But it's very, very difficult

to get a read on, you know, Korean baseball, like it's the minor, minor, minor leagues. Yes. But what you can do in baseball is you can look at the guy's arm, you can look at the velocity, you can look at all his pitches, you can just watch it all.

You can say, here, come into this cage, go on to the street and throw, and I want to take a look at you, where the gamble comes with this guy, and I do think it's a gamble, is the psychology of coming back to Major League Baseball, where you're not in Korea anymore, where he got run out of baseball. He hasn't pitched here in four years because he got run out because his numbers were so bad and he got hit so hard.

So it's an amazing story, Reclamation Project, coming back to the Biggs. That's a really cool story. And they've invested heavily in him, $30 million is a ton of money. But what happens when you get on the mound and you've got to throw that new change up? and Aaron Judge is staring at you. You know, what happens when you're like, all right, can you get up to 97, 98, like you were in Korea? Probably can.

How's it going to locate when Otani is in the box? That's the difference that I think is just very difficult to get a read on when you're bringing a guy back to the majors at his age and he hasn't pitched in a long time is the psychological hurdle. So, you know, I'll believe it when I see it. I'm rooting for him. But just because you got paid and now you're back in the majors, you're not really back until you perform.

Yeah, he's got to do that. He's got to settle back in. But do you think what you're saying, it's a calculated risk? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. It's $30 million. They have so much money. They're splashing money like crazy.

And I think what it means is Scherzer is probably gone. Bassett probably gone, and they were probably going to leave anyway. And I think that's the right play. You know, like you can't have sentimental value if you're in management. Fans want them back because they're raw, raw. big names and everyone loved the run you got it you're restarting man the jays are zero and zero just like everyone else yeah bassett like somebody might pay bassett for a couple year deal it's not going to be the like i would i would say someone else can pay him but it's not going to be us unless

he wanted to take some bargain basement deal to be some kind of middle relief dude or whatever he was doing in the playoffs maybe i'd think about it but other than that thanks for everything and good luck that's that's the you've got to I've said this before you've got to be a sociopath as a manager like don't get the heartstrings can't be involved you've got to move on from players and if you can make your team better by bringing in somebody else even if you love the player that's exiting you're like you're worried about next year not about worrying about what the guy did for you this season next season is a whole new season absolutely you restart everyone's got to build back up.

Yep. And, you know, it's another arm if he's going to start, and I think they'll give him ample opportunity. Again, you don't pay a guy $30 million to hope he gives you 50 innings out of the bullpen as a long relief guy. Like that, he's either going to be high leverage bullpen or in the rotation. But something's got to give here because you just got too many arms around now, you know, and you still have a long offseason to figure that out. But Savage would be pitching, Gosman's pitching, Bieber's pitching, ceases pitching,

If Ponce goes, then what does that mean for Boreos and Lauer? It's all right-handed arms. I don't know. I think there's still more to come here. I think that's pretty clear. But it's worth a shot, but he's got to come back over and get over that psychological hurdle. All right. So we'll get to role play here in a few moments.

But there's Chris Paul story. I'm curious where you guys stand on this. 40 years old. Been ahead of the Players Association. One of the biggest names in the league, Future Hall of Famer, huge clout everywhere he goes. and has had that cloud for 20 years. And the clippers are an absolute disaster. But I don't recall the last time I heard a scenario like this

where a guy of his status was sent home. Like just you're off the team, get out of here. What is to say the reasoning? Well, apparently he clashed with the coach, and Ty Lou and him have not been on good, you know, standing for a while and maybe he's been calling people out. I don't know. The one major factor in something like this is the performance doesn't match.

the bickering because if the performance was so good you would be amazed and there's already evidence of that with the clippers what they put up with with kawai where it's like he does his own thing and it's his own routine the only way you can do that is if you're kawai and look at this guy i just found out on being sent home peace side it's a 40-year-old with like older kids and stuff like you got to go home and your kids are probably like what are you doing here Well, that's probably game over for him. Wasn't he in San Antonio last year? He's been everywhere, man.

Like the last handful of years, he's jumped around. Yeah, that's probably time. He's done. Yeah, he's not playing a ton. He's 40. It's over. It's finished for Chris Paul. So the only thing that, when I heard that, Hayes, something, like, we don't, we're

not privy to the story. The story is he probably got into somebody's face or said something to somebody and they were like, okay, you're out. Or he might have said, you know. know the hell with you guys and they said we'll go home then go home like like something doesn't the smell test doesn't match here right like if the guy is very well respected and like you say a hall of favor all of these things you don't just go get the hell out of here like something came to a head and maybe like they're going to have to release the story are they not

or somebody's going to get that story that you know it's not performance and it's just that just put behavior he's being a pain in the ass and maybe the coach said to a GM like it's either or me because I'm not doing this. I'm not dealing with him on a daily basis, so take your pick. And the team stinks. Like the clippers are a disaster, and that probably doesn't help. And you're right. And he hasn't been playing a lot, and him and Tai Lu.

Like, they're 5 and 16. They're a disaster. And it's just, it's, you know, you expect younger players. You know, something happened. Missed a team meeting. This guy's 40 years old. And he's being sent home. He probably said to Ty Lou, I could coach this team better than you right now.

Possibly. possibly that's it's it's that you know i'm reading with joe from the bridge and them said but it's like reportedly vocal and you know leadership style clashed with the clippers so basically he's a leader and going this situation sucks what are what are we doing here like i i don't know i've i've played on bad team i remember when milbury was our coach and we were a mess in the island i had a few veteran players kirk muller i will say one name because i'm sure he would be fine with it he was Like, I can't, this is, I'm a veteran guy. Like, I can't be in, you've talked about it.

Oh, Brendan Shanahan putting his hand up saying, I'm going, I'm moving on, right? Like, veteran guys, sometimes, ball of famers or great players are like, and I have an appreciation for it now because it's like sometimes you just got to, you know, shut your mouth and be thankful you're in the NHL. But if you go into an absolute side show of a situation, you're like, I got 10 years, maybe if I'm lucky to do this, why would I want to be involved in a side show? Get me the hell out of here. So, but Chris Paul is probably.

like this is my last year and I'm not going to do it this like I'm not going out this way I'm not changing who I am because this is a mess and chewing on it just I don't need the checks I'm not playing that much anyway well it's probably a good segue into Janus where Janus and his agent are now working out of deal and he's going to go to the nix this is what the only downside of the NBA is there's big movement but they control it you know where he's going if he wanted to go to new york in the summer he's going to go to new york this time but it's probably the same thing like Milwaukee's they're sputtering they're not a good place when he has not been in the lineup they can't win they don't have talent they had their peak he's 30 and he's probably thinking the same thing you just said oh like i i've probably got six seven eight years left i want to be in new york i'm out of here yeah and that's going to be trouble for teams in the east because like the nix are going to have to give up a lot to get them but they're going to keep ronson electric though that place would be crazy man when if he goes to the nicks that first night he goes out in the garden it'll be crazy there because he's still yonis man he's still 30 he's still a top five player in the league

and you pair him up with Jalen Brunson, who they love in New York, that has a chance to do some serious, serious numbers and spark some serious, serious buzz. So, you know, we'll see. But the NBA is starting to cook up, man. Like, it really is Rappers with another win last night. All right, we'll come back and get into role play. Roleplay level of concern.

We've got Craig Button coming up. We've got Rod Brindamour coming up, Leastback in action tomorrow night. LeBron in town, possibly for the last time tomorrow. Right? The Lakers are up here. They're flying up. They're going to be in town.

for the game tomorrow night so we'll start looking ahead to that as well and um we got a big Thursday nighter Dallas Detroit big game tomorrow that is HBO making that pick I'm going to need some big information out of you gut instinct out of you it's going to have to happen you you'll get it okay all right we'll get to that tomorrow overdrive continues tsn 1050 and up on youtube live hello hi mom casserole is a disaster did you follow my recipe I sure did Except I used tofu instead of turkey, and I didn't have sage, so I used cilantro. So you didn't follow my recipe. Some calls are too good to miss.

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I do I really do all right role play level of concern brought to you by the College of Sports Media turning your passion into your profession for 18 years practical training with instruction from industry pros

book a tour at college of sportsmedia.com the home of Doogie and the home of as we know. All right, role play level of concern. The Winnipeg Jets got pumped the other night, had a closed-door player-only meeting. They're at the Bell Center tonight.

Oh, you're playing the role of the Winnipeg Jets. What is your level of concern? You're going to miss the playoffs this season. It's at this point, after a closed-door meeting, it's Stevie Caldwell. A couple of whiskeys and five or six beers. Like it's not Nick Cage yet Everyone is still saying there's a lot of time

And the weird thing about it is you can talk about teams That are in this horrendous position But then you pull up the standings And it's like there's four points from themselves And five spots ahead of them Sometimes even less So as bad as it can be or as dire as it can be You string together a couple good weeks

And you're right back at the top part of it so this might be bouncing up and down all season long and it might be just who comes down the stretch the best because of the parody and like I said everyone's got that big giant wart but I am definitely a Stevie Caldwell right now they're the only division though or that doesn't really apply parity if you want to hit the skids in that division

watch out they're doing it like Colorado you know it's unbeatable they won again last night and Dallas looks so good and now Minnesota with these goalies, they got a huge lead on Winnipeg. Yeah. Like huge. And it's not that they can't catch Winnipeg or Minnesota, maybe, but they're way back of those three teams.

And, dude, it wasn't that long ago. Minnie was in the tank. Yes. Like the gutter. Bad start. Minnie's gotten points in 12 straight. They're 11-0-1. Huge.

So, I mean, that's the run that separates you. But I think it's a good analysis. Oh, the thing is, they might not. finished top three in their division but they could probably get one of those wild card spots too right like that's the thing if you if you believe it's going to be four and four type of thing it always seems to be maybe five and three but i would say four and four on each side but i'm i don't want to say pine on the patio what's above that is that stevie call well yeah it's something in that range let's say pine on the patio with maybe a couple shots like because the one thing is

yes hellebuck is going to return you know and they're in a one and five skid right now And they're not playing well. And you could just go, well, it's Eric Comrie's fault, it's the goalie's fault. If you take a look at it, and I was talking to some people, because Winnipeg was there at the game last night in Montreal, because they were in early, they're saying, you can't blame the goalie. We're not playing well. Like they even said, like our top players, Kyle Connor, Shifley, like, those guys are still playing. They're just not playing well. So I think it's we're always talking about the parody and a bad stretch right now.

but I'm I'm it can't just be pine on the patio when you're in a when you're in a one and five yeah you you are a little bit concerned but I'm not as concerned as it would be if this was like March okay well on the fly here what about what if you're Florida playing the role of Florida a little bit more same Stevie yeah well I'm still I'm still a Stevie Caldwell but but I'm only because are you going Ricky Bushwood Hayes I would go high Let me flush this out for you guys. Obviously, the injuries are significant. Like last night, Barkov's out, Kachuk is out, Lister Rhinen's out, you know, Verhagi's away from the team. Those are big, big pieces. But when you go to three straight cup finals and on top of it, you got your contracts, that's a factor too. Like a lot of them were inspired last year to not only play well and win, but also stay. and get paid.

And I think the human element is seeping in there where you wake up on December 3rd, they're dead last in the east, they're losing a lot. Bob doesn't look great. I thought he played well last night, but he's not, he looks older and, like, he's played a lot of hockey. I would be, I'd be very concerned if I'm in Florida. Very concerned. You think they're going to have one of those years where they're like, you know what?

It's just not happening. Let's get a lottery pick and then reload next year. Exactly. And I think you reset next year and everyone's healthy and you're like, watch out. These guys are going to chase a cup again. But I think the psychology of, man, these guys are injured. Man, we've played a lot of hockey.

Man, I'm here and I got paid and I got my no movement. Like, I know it's in the back of your head. I'm not saying they're doing it intentionally. But that's a lot going at you if you're in Florida, where you're like, I just don't know if I can win eight in a row here to get into the playoffs. I would say, I would say more with the character of those guys down there, that it would just be going to three cups in a row. I don't think it would be the contracts or anything.

I think those guys are motivated to play the same way every game. I just think their body and their minds just aren't letting them do it. Top on, like on top of that, you can pile on the injuries as well. It's a natural excuse. It's natural. I'm not there yet, though, with them. I'm not. Maybe give me a month, and if they're still there, but I'm not there.

They've lost three in a row. But, like, it was two games ago, that's where the Leafs were. And the Leafs have won two in a row, and all of a sudden it's like, oh, and the Leafs are what? two points ahead of them, and Florida's got a game ahead. Yeah, I don't think the Leafs are out of the darkness either. But what I'm saying is that, no, what I'm saying is that what O was talking about, you put a five-game stretch together, you dig yourself out of the cellar, you give yourself a chance.

Sure. I just, I'm not there yet with Florida. I, you know, the weirdest thing for me last night was watching on my TV screen the list of injuries and there's a barbecue accident on there. Isn't that, like that is wild. the rain and like then i don't i'm not trying to make light of it sure it's very serious in that but like these injuries of these like weird things happening off ice i get you have to live your life off the ice but it's jack hughes falling on a glass and it's somebody else has got

injured off the ice and trying to remember who it is throughout the league there was a big injury like these are some weird injuries you're right hayes there's a laundry list of things that you could make the case for florida to just go check please it just wouldn't be shocking. I hear you're not there yet. I get it. I'm not putting my house on the line that they're going to miss. I'm just saying there's an avenue ahead where if they do, you'd say I totally understand that. Like it's not a slight. It's not a, wow, you guys bailed. It's like I totally get it. Three years cup final. You know, you guys all won. You played a lot. You know, you guys are downplaying the fact that, you know, they got paid and they stayed. I don't know. There's a part

of me that thinks that could factor in a little bit. Like everyone's half, fat. and happy now you know we got it and we're there and we're all good but it and the injuries anyway all right noodles you're playing the role of anthony stolars who remains out we have no idea when he's even going to get back on the ice what is your level of concern joseph wall is going to establish himself as a true number one starter i'm stevie coldwell a couple of whiskeys and five or six beers because even if joseph wall plays 55 games this year, he's got to do it again and do it again to be, like, this would be year one of it, right? He played 44 games last year.

That was a career high. So if you push through and get something with a five in it, it shows that you can be more than just a tandem guy. My whole worry, it should be Nick Cage of just Anthony Stollars, period. This was a guy that was, you know, the number one guy and started the season as number one, Wall wasn't available. And regardless of whether he was playing well or not, he had a sample size of what people liked. Big goaltender, you know, when he was at the top of his game,

really good goal. They were great. They were great. He was great last year. But I'm concerned for him just, period, because I don't know, November 11th, last time this guy's been on the ice. Like, I'm concerned just for the human side of the health, but I'm Stevie Caldwell watching Joseph Wall

because I think Wohl has a chance to be a good goaltender, which we all believed. We'd just like to see it consistently. And we've seen a real nice stretch here with Wull. Yeah, and you're right. In order to establish that, you've got to do it more than just once. A couple years. Yeah. But, you know, if Wall's the only option right now, he's going to play.

Yep. And if he plays great, you know, obviously they would walk in Stolar's back with open arms. That'd be great, but I don't know if you go right to tandem again if the one guy establishes himself. If I was Stollars, I'd be a Nick Cage. Yeah. No doubt. Yeah?

And I'm not going to say, just you leave the net and you're injured or whatever the reason for you leaving the net or leaving your position, you're at risk, man, of somebody coming in there and playing better. That's just, that's what pro sports is. Like, sorry. That's just the way it goes. And if he comes back and he's not the guy, then that's just crappy luck. Yeah, and listen, Stolos is not Vasilevsky. He's not Hellebuck. No.

You know, he doesn't have that built in where it's like the second you return, you're the king again. You know, that wasn't going to happen anyway. But I do think they need him, though, because I do think regardless of the situation, if Wool plays the lion's share, you need... They might need each other, Jamie. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. You need the back and forth, even if it's a 50-30, but you still need the other guy. And that's no slight on Hilda Beast,

but it's just the tandem was one of the strengths of this team. Big time. Big time. And you need that back together. Yep. I totally agree with that. All right. Last one here.

I'm playing the role of Jose Barrios. What is my level of concern? I don't have a future in Toronto. Play it. Play it. I think it's Nick Cage. You can never, never ask me to stop drinking. Yeah.

I mean, Dylan sees, now you've got Poncier, you know, like Beaver opting in, they shifted him out of the rotation at the end of the year because of performance. And then he got banged up and no one knew exactly what was going on and it was mysterious and then he disappeared and wasn't around the team. It's just the mojo's not good. The numbers were not good. He's a reliable guy, but his numbers are up and down.

And I think if they can move off him, I think they will. I don't know what the guy, to be honest with you. There's just something about him where. and I know everybody says this guy works his ass off, he cares more than anybody, he's this and he's that, but there's just something about him that never jive with me. I don't know what it is. I can't explain it.

He's at ups and downs, like statistically, right? Like, he starts every fifth day. He's as reliable as it comes, but his numbers have been very hot and cold in Toronto, and they've just got guys who have moved past them. You know, you savage has moved past him. Beaver's here now, he's past them. Seas is clearly past him. You know, and they've got a lot of right-handers. Like, they might want to make.

mix it up a little bit in terms of what the rotation looks like. Maybe you want to mix in a left-hander. I think that would make sense. I think that's probably what they're thinking. So I think it is Nick Cage. I just don't know if he's got a future here. Maybe the market doesn't develop during the season, but at some point

I don't think he's playing out his contract here. I think it's just bygones will be bygones. And he may be up for that too. He may just say, I'm cool going somewhere else as well. He's got the money. He's got tenure. Go find somewhere else to play. All right. Rob Brindamore coming up at 530.

We got Craig coming up. Best bets as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and up on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fandul. Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. The lights are twinkling. The playlist.

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