OverDrive - OverDrive, December 31st, 2024 - Hour 1

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Al's Brother and Dave Feschuk kick off OverDrive by looking on the year that was in the world sports with a 2024 Year In Review. The guys are then joined by TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson to look ahead to Canada's showdown with the U.S. tonight at the World Junior Championship.

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The smarter way to book travel. Hour 2 of Overdrive off and running. Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes. Dave Fastchuk of the Toronto Star in with me here on TSN 1050. Soon to be up on TSN 4 after the conclusion of the World Junior game, and we got a big World Juniors matchup later tonight. Canada, USA, New Year's Eve Classic.

It's always such a showdown. I remember the John Tavares game, obviously, what was that, like 15 years ago now? It was quite a long time ago since we saw that happen, but that has always been something that's been ingrained in my mind when I think of Canada, U.S., New Year's Eve classic.

No, the shootout wasn't a New Year's Eve game because that was in a playoff round. But that's always been a classic, too, the Carey Price and Jonathan Tate shootout game. I was at that one. I was there, baby. Was that in Halifax? No, where was that at? It was in Sweden. It was in Sweden or Czech Republic. I was at that one. I was there, baby. Was that in Halifax? No, where was that at? It was in Sweden. It was in Sweden or Czech Republic.

I don't know. It was one of those European countries. It was a lot of fun. That was great. That was one of the most memorable things I've ever covered, man. That was just so wild to see. And you didn't know at the time, but you kind of were getting the idea at the time that you were watching two living legends in Jonathan Tate and Caryrie price do their magic and it was it was magical to behold for sure well maybe maybe carter george

could be the the second coming at carrie price i mean we've been looking for a goaltender here in the great canada uh great country canada forever it seems since carrie price really like the every year it's who's going to be the next price who's going to be the next goaltender of the future for canada and they've yet to find one there's been a couple that they thought oh maybe and it just hasn't quite worked out but uh carter george so far he's yet to surrender a goal and he's got a big task tonight against the americans uh so i i i mean i'm not going to bet against it i suppose i doubt that that shutout streak will continue into the americans tonight but uh i'm excited for this one it's gonna be a really really good game be joined by Not going to bet against it, I suppose. I doubt that that shutout streak will continue into the Americans tonight. But I'm excited for this one.

It's going to be a really, really good game. Be joined by Mike Johnson in about 30 minutes to help tee it up. He's going to be on the call. But, Dave, it is the final year, final day of the year, 2024. And typically, you know, on these shows, on the final day, we like to look back and then look forward a little bit into 2025. But our great producer, Producer Cheese, has done a nice little poll that he's put out for the great people of Overdrive, asking, you know, what are some of the best, you know, performances that we've seen throughout the year.

So the 1050s, if you will, a little award ceremony to wrap up 2024, a 2024 year in review. So, Cheese, why don't you hop on the mic here and kind of help us go through what we're going to be talking about and some of the performances and some of the awards and the people who might be deserving of them. Yeah, sounds good. We got five categories here we'll see if we have time for more but let's start with the best performance from a first year player a lot of good rookies this year but uh victor wimbenyama paul skeens

conor bedard caitlin clark which one of these rookies do you think had the best uh first year campaign oh fast chuck you go first pal okay well this is a tough one because you got some serious Which one of these rookies do you think had the best first-year campaign? Ooh, fast, Chuck. You go first, pal. Okay. Well, this is a tough one because you got some serious studs here. I mean, and when Conor Bedard is fourth place, you know it's a seriously tough field because in my field he is fourth place. To me, this is – I got to give it to Kaitlin Clark.

I got to give it to Kaitlin Clark because as much as Skeens was dominant, winning the Rookie of the Year and being a Cy Young candidate and 1.9896 ERA and all the rest of it, we know how good this guy is. And as much as Wemby is going to be the best player in the NBA, probably pretty shortly, and he's only 20 years old, Kaitlyn Clark did something neither of them did because she could, which was she elevated her sport. She elevated women's sports in a way we just haven't seen in an awfully long time.

And certainly we haven't seen in women's sports ever. Like it's unprecedented what she did to raise the profile of the WNBA and herself and women's sports in general. So, yeah, Time Magazine called her their athlete of the year, first year, second year, 10th year, 20th year. She is that for me, too. And I've got to give it to Kaitlyn Clark. I agree.

I do agree. And it is a really tough look. I mean, what a year of, like, rookies across pro sports. It seemed like everyone had someone to celebrate. But Kaitlyn Clark did rise above all else, in my opinion, which is insane. Because you look at a guy like Paul Skeens and how all summer that was kind of the only one who people wanted to talk about. It was like Aaron Judge, Shohei Otani, and then Paul Skeens. And whenever he was taking on Judge or whenever he was pitching against Otani, it was must-watch. So the fact that Kaitlyn Clark even still

comes out, and in my opinion, beats her. Now, we pulled the people of Overdrive, and they did vote Paul Skeens. He won 48% of the vote. Kaitlyn Clark got 38% of the vote. But I'm with you. I think Kaitlyn Clark should have been the winner there. But this is the people's awards here in the 10 50s and they went with paul skeens but i my vote was casted for caitlin clark i'm with you on that well worthy winners it's one of those ones you hate to you hate to run down the other candidates when you pick one to that you think is the best because you're not you know you're not you're not running down these guys they're all worthy candidates for sure

i've got a question for you though when, when it comes to Conor Bedard. And we'll move on. We'll get to some of these other ones in a moment. And it's something I kind of want to ask Johnny, too, because it's obviously a fun day for Bedard and for the Chicago Blackhawks. They're at Wrigley Field, and they're taking on the St. Louis Blues in a New Year's Eve winter classic. So it's obviously big news what's going on with Bedard today.

winter classic so it's it's obviously big news what's going on with bedard today would you how would you classify his first year in the nhl would you classify it as a success or a little bit of a letdown well look i guess you know how how do you call it a letdown when you win the calder trophy um and he had a pretty good year 22 goals on a really bad team, weathering the rigors of being the guy that came to every city and was the story. He's the story of the Chicago Blackhawks because guess what? They don't have any other stories, and that's the problem that he's got to face. And so we've seen the fall off in his second year here, which is also part of 2024, and all the talk that, hey,

maybe Macklin Celebrini's a better player than Conor Bedard, and maybe Conor Bedard isn't as good as we thought. But he's had a bit of a run here in December where he's heated up a little bit. He's got three goals in his last four games heading into tonight. So I'm happy to see that for him. But I do think it's very difficult, I i was brother to play on a bad team and i think connor bedard is showing the sort of strain of that very burden all right the next award that will be handing out here on overdrive the official 10 50s 2024 year in review best performance in a final championship or title title match, who are the nominations?

We've got Freddie Freeman in the World Series. We've got Jalen Brown winning NBA Finals MVP. Conor McDavid putting up a valiant effort in the Stanley Cup Finals, finishing with 11 points. And Max Holloway, kind of a surprising one, but he had the last-minute knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Ooh, again, three pretty good ones, but for me, I think it's kind of a walk when it comes to Freddie Freeman and what he did at the World Series. And the fact that he's Canadian obviously helps, too, right? When we're talking about the 1050s here in Overdrive, you get a Canadian in the mix. I think that he's always going to get a little bit of love there.

But, I mean, to have a walk-off grand slam to win a World Series, I mean, it really doesn't get any better than that in baseball. It just simply does not. So for me, six consecutive games with a home run, he was just unbelievable in that entire thing. I really believe that Freddie Freeman, that's the championship right there to me. Well, yeah, and that says something, right? It was so next level, what Freddie Freeman did, that he one-ups Connor McDavid,

who wins the Conn Smythe in a losing effort, which is obviously very difficult to do in the NHL. So, yeah, good on Freddie Freeman, man. You talk about a one-man wrecking crew. That was as close as we've seen in recent memory of anybody just dominating a team sport in a way that was just undeniable. I don't think there was – it just wasn't fair. This was not a fair fight. As good as Jalen Brown was, as good as Conor McDavid was,

you just could not be better than Freddie Freeman was. No, and he ends up with 72% of the vote. 72% of the vote there. McDavid came close. If he would have won the championship, if he would have won the Stanley Cup and put the team on his back and coming back from 0-3 to win a title, perhaps that could have been a little bit more of a conversation, but he didn't win the whole thing. Freddie Freeman did.

And with one swing of the bat, literally won the whole thing. So, yeah, I think Freddie Freeman is definitely deserving of the best performance in the final. All right, biggest scandal of of 2024 most embarrassing story of 2024 okay cheese who are the nominees for this one well no shortage of options here uh brawny james to the lakers the new york jets in their totality jake paul versus mike tyson or the white socks lose 121 games the most in the modern era of MLB? Ooh. I mean, there's a lot of joke stories that happen there.

A lot of shame here. A lot of shame. There's a lot of shame. I want to say the Jets because there was actually some hype there. But maybe it's LeBron and the whole Bronny saga and the fact that Bronny ends up getting a guaranteed contract and they all came out and said, oh, no, he deserved it. He's going to be a great player.

The guy's been in the G League. I don't even know what he's doing in the G League. When's the last time you've heard about Bronny James? He had that one game. I think he maybe put up 30 points or something in one game about a month ago, and since then, I could not tell you what he's been doing. He's been totally out of the picture, and this is a guy who

was given a guaranteed contract, and it was... I just think that whole thing was a little bit of an embarrassing situation. He had many scouts saying, this guy should not be in the draft, he shouldn't have declared, he shouldn't have went back to school, and didn't really deserve to be in the position he was. And it was pure nepotism.

And I think for that, probably one of the more embarrassing situations of the year. Well, yeah, it's hard to argue with that one. But it's kind of funny that the two that I find the most embarrassing, I think Bronny to the Lakers and everything you just said about how it was wrong. This guy got a roster spot, a guaranteed deal, and didn't want to go to the road games in the G League, although now he's played a few road games in the G League. But the other story that I find even more embarrassing is the Jets,

and that's about nepotism too because the owner of the Jets, Woody Johnson, he's the heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical empire. And he, of course, in the famous Madden story, has been taking advice, allegedly, from his two sons, his teenage sons, who are essentially video game playing Madden fans that have been advising him on the value of various players based on their Madden ratings. That, to me, is pretty damn embarrassing and damning of the mess that is the New York Jets, who won four games this season, or have won four games this season, after everybody picked them to win the AFC East, which was, in retrospect, some bad picking. Yeah, it's the fact that they were favored by, like, FanDuel had them favored to win the division. And I could not wrap my head around it.

I hammered the Bills, and we're looking pretty good when it comes to the Bills. They won that division, and they're looking solid in that No. 2 seed, and they just put a little beat on the New York Jets this past weekend. But that's pretty sad, though. Like, the White Sox lost 121 games, and it really wasn't that much of a consideration because the Jets have been just so much of a circus, an absolute circus. Did you hear what Jeff Albrecht said the other day when he was asked how he thought Aaron Rodgers played? He essentially came out and said, I couldn't tell you.

I'd have to watch the tape. I was focused on making defensive changes and trying to respond. He gave up 40 points. You couldn't watch your offense because you were busy giving up 40 points? What the heck were you changing on defense? It was so embarrassing. Add it to the pile of embarrassing stuff.

It's just such a big pile. It really is. It's sad. I feel for the Jets fans. I've got a few in my life. They were so excited about the prospects of this season and to see it come crashing down like it has. Blame Woody, man. Blame nepotism.

Blame rich guys who aren't too smart that get to own teams because they're rich because their families built big empires that they inherited. Well, we'll continue with the 1050s a little later on in the show but we got to get to mike johnson johnny needs to bump up a little bit so we'll take a break we'll come back mike johnson will help us tee up tonight's big game canada usa the new year's eve classic at the world junior championships that's coming up next the weekend brings hurry Up Tomorrow to Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only. Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flights and hotel from TripCentral.ca, plus $500 cash.

For your chance to win, enter every day at iHeartRadio.ca. You guys are beautiful. An iHeartRadio experience. The Weeknd in L.A. Powered by TripCRadio.ca. You guys are beautiful. An iHeartRadio experience. The weekend in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca. The smarter way to book travel. Overdrive continues up on TSN 4 and on TSN 1050. Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes.

Got Dave Feshuk of the Toronto Star in with me. And joining us on the line now is our TSN hockey analyst, Mike Johnson. Joining us on the Maple Toyota hotline. What's going on, MJ? Still current analyst. Attaboy, AB. All good here. We're done the early game.

We are waiting in anticipation of the late game. I've not called a New Year's Eve Canada-US game, and there's a certain buzz about it in the city for the players, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a neat experience, and it's an important game. Two teams that have played well, but maybe not played quite to the standard they expect to, so it should be a great fun night. Well, it is kind of interesting that Canada can, you know,

if they win this game, still have a shot to win Group A. If they win the game in any way, overtime or regulation, they're first. If they lose in regulation, they're third, which is no good because the other side, Slovakia and Switzerland, are coming over at three and four. They're not particularly strong, but if you come third, you get Czechia or Sweden. Both teams are really good.

So it's a very important game for both the U.S. and Canada. They pick up at least one point. If it goes to overtime, they probably would both be a little bit happy. But for Canada, yeah, they cannot lose in regulation or else they come third and have a really tough pass through the quarterfinals into the semis and however far they go from there. So it's kind of a good news, bad news kind of tournament so far for Canada,

in my view, MJ. The good news is they haven't allowed a goal against at 5-on-5. They've got a great goaltender in Carter George who's had a couple of shutouts. The bad news, of course, is they haven't scored much, especially at 5-on-5. And they've lost to Latvia and had a tight one with Germany. How do you sort of balance those two things and come to a conclusion about what this team really is? It's hard, Fast.

And I think, you know, maybe it's sports fans or maybe because the high expectation of tournaments past that this is usually such an offensive celebration of great players for Canada that it feels like they're struggling but it's not usually a good defensive effort you mean like young kids are not great defensive so I think the coaching staff would tell you you know because of the goaltending because of the defense because the chances that they give up which are few and far between they are generally pleased with that very

important part of the game now tonight, tonight will be the test. If they can control the U.S. and the chances that they get and the offense that they can generate, then maybe you can start having a conversation that this might be one of the teams, a very rare team, that wins a lot like our Olympic teams win with great defense and great goaltending and suffocating five-on-five play. Tonight will be the test. I don't know if they'll be able to do it,

largely because I think the Americans are not talented. It'll just be hard, no matter how organized you might be or how committed you might be, to keep them at bay. But tonight will be the greater test. If defense wins championships, they're in a good spot, but they still need to score goals at some point, and they'll probably need to score some tonight. Well, who in particular do you want to see more from in this game, Johnny?

Okay, so it's a lot of pressure, but I guess that's sort of the responsibility of being one of these guys. And to me, there's four guys A and B that stand out. And the way this team is built, there are four, you know, two offensive lines and kind of two energy checking lines, even though they're all good players. So that's the role they're playing. And of those two offensive lines and kind of two energy checking lines even though they're all good players so that's the role they're playing and of those two offensive lines there are certainly four players that are more offensively inclined than others so first line right to

easton cowan you got you know ohl mvp playoff mvp 56 game point streak he's got to be a difference maker returning player from last year he's's been good, hasn't been great. Cal Ritchie, the centerman, dominant player last year, played in the NHL this year. He's been good, hasn't been that great, hasn't been productive. Then you look at the second line, you got Berkeley Catton, who had a monster year last year, the highest drafted player on Team Canada. He's been okay, but he hasn't been that productive. And the last guy is Gavin McKenna,

who, of course, we know is likely number one pick in 2026. He's been flashy. He does have a goal. But those are the four guys, and it's a lot of pressure. They're going to play against really good players on their team, really good goaltending, but it's not even just about they have to play well. They've got to produce.

They have to find a way to create goals, not just expected goals and that's the burden that they carry because they're the guys on this roster up front that likely have to do it so mj you know obviously there's a lot of pressure on canada we we spend most of our time dissecting canada but let's take a look at that u.s roster and especially the number one line on it the bc line not british columbia but boston college centered by james haggins who's obviously a very highly touted draft prospect may go number one may not uh what have you seen from that college line that is so talked about and obviously is producing at a very high level they're a handful fast you see it

tonight like the chemistry is there of course but i see it tonight. The chemistry is there, of course, but I think it's more the talent is there between the three of them. So we'll start. We'll go left to right. Gabe Perrault might be the slickest player with the puck on Team USA. He is so talented. It's Yannick Perrault's son, my old line mate and center in Yannick Perrault, the great center and face-off guy.

Gabe plays on the wing, just a great passer and manipulator of the puck, time and space, plays a little slower. High, high-end talent. First round of the Rangers, really good. Higgins in the middle, you mentioned him, sort of battling with Matthew Schaefer to go first overall in 2025. Dynamic and just when you watch him, you're not sure what physical skill is his greatest,

but you recognize his mental process of offensive plays and spacing and shooting and all that is elite already. And he's piling up the points, like he always does when he plays for Team USA. And the third member is the guy who should really be in the NHL. Leonard, who is a capital seventh or eighth overall pick, they wanted him to turn pro last year. He elected to go back to Boston College, wanted to come play the

World Juniors one more time, had more to prove there. He will be playing for Washington in March, as soon as his college season is over. He is powerful, straight line, monster shot, and you put all three together, very talented, but sort of perfectly complementary skill sets and chemistry that comes with playing in college together

as well as on the national team, it's tough. There are a lot to handle. Even if you're in good positioning and you're doing everything right, they still can break you down. And I think that's going to be the greatest challenge and test for Canada. I expect Canada to be in the right spots, but even if they are, is that going to be enough against a team in the States that has that first line,

but also the lines behind it, second and third, are also very good. Well, and especially with the loss of Matthew Schaefer, you bring his name up. Draft junkies were getting very excited to possibly see this matchup, Schaefer versus Haggins, here on New Year's Eve. But no Matthew Schaefer. He's out, injured with that collarbone over the weekend. I mean, how big of a loss is that going into a game like tonight? It is so significant. He was Canada's best positional player in this tournament, which is crazy to say as an underage defenseman.

The last underage defenseman to play for Canada was Jamie Drysdale. And, you know, he didn't play a massive role for Canada in the year he played. Schaefer was playing big minutes, man he didn't play a massive role for Canada in the year he played. Schaefer was playing big minutes, manning the power play, and he could skate well enough that he can skate and was strong enough that he's physical to handle anybody in this tournament,

and that's what makes him special. In a game where Canada plays with so much structure and caution at times, he was able to be creative with his legs, jumping up to play and making things happen. So, yeah, it's a big loss, but what are you going to do? You have a batch of all-star players playing on defense

that play 24, 25, 26 minutes a night on their junior teams anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue, but just his unique ability to skate and being as strong as he is, that's going to be missed tonight. You know, we heard from, I saw in a tweet from Mark Masters, MJ, that the Hockey Canada folks are putting their players in touch with the mental performance coach that they've hired for Luke Medill. And I guess because they're snakebitten, they're hitting posts,

they can't score goals. I'm wondering, in your experience, MJ, you've scored plenty of goals in your life. Did you find use in that kind of mental performance side of the spectrum of sports? So, unfortunately,

they didn't really have that available to us when I was in the NHL. It was around a little bit, but not quite as, you know, right there every day or, you know, on speed dial if you want to talk to them about anything, life goals or whatever. And I think it would have been very helpful because I don't think I was any different than a lot of players who want to create offense

or sort of expect themselves to create offense. When you don't, you're really hard on yourself. You talk about the pressure and the scrutiny. The mental scrutiny that you put on yourself is probably worse than anything you're going to get from the media or from the fans or from your family. You beat yourself up when you're not having success, and you're really hard on yourself.

And I think having a chance to talk to someone who could offer some perspective, whether it's your brother or your sister or your friend or your dad or a high performance coach, I think there's great value in that. You know, it's and it's not unusual. Like it's like, oh, man, they're really struggling. They have to talk to this guy. Like people talk to these guys all the time. It's a very healthy thing to do. And if it can help them sort of alleviate the negative energy

and focus on the opportunity, even if you haven't made the most of it, that's probably a pretty good place to be heading into a game where there's going to be a lot of pressure, emotion, and adrenaline. And keeping that all in check is going to be an important part of the game. With Mike Johnson, I know you were on the air, so I'm not sure if you watched or saw what happened in the Leafs game, but Patrick Waugh. Hang on, baby, real quick.

Did Joseph Wall, like I was watching it, did he not hurt himself? It looked like he hurt himself. Yeah. He was down, he was limping. There was some stretching. There was some stretching. I'm like, this guy guy and i say this like respectfully you can't get hurt right now you can't do it man you gotta stay help me please

tie your groins together hips whatever's bothering them i was i was frustrated for him that it looked like something he did there when he went down i think it was in the second period it looked like he bothered something there but he managed to finish the rest of the game, which is good news, but that was sort of, I'm like, that's no good. No, and I think also, it's like, you're hoping, okay, at this point, Stolarz, he's still about

three weeks, a month away, based on the timeline, at least, and it was just the first time that he'd gone back-to-back, not back-to-back nights, but started in back-to-back games, and you're thinking, okay, this is a test, and I guess he battled through it, so I don't know, would you consider that a past test, but it definitely kind of puts your stomach in knots when you're watching that game, and you're watching to kind of stretch it out there at that point.

So I'm of two minds, right? First, visceral reactions, like, yeah, that's a past test a pass test like yeah gut it out man play stay in the game stay with your team show you're in it like you're not always going to feel perfect hang in there and play well that's awesome that's gutsy that's that you love that that's like my sort of visceral teammate fan reaction good my sort of pragmatic coach and management reaction like man if you're not feeling good, you've got to get out of the net because we can't afford to have your tweet turn into a poll

which turns into a few weeks of your own. So you've got to be careful with the bravado and the guts and how much you want to take it because you might hurt yourself and ultimately hurt the team more. But I'm glad he stayed in the game and I'm glad he played well enough for them to win it. I'll be curious to see if there are any updates,

or is he able to practice on a regular basis? Because you don't want this to turn into something he's managing while trying to play games because Stolarz is out. No, can't have it. What did you make of the goal he pulled, though, in the final 30 seconds with the face-off in your own end out of Paddy Wah? I did not see that. We were called for a period. with the face-off in your own end out of Paddy Wah. I did not see that.

I, we were, in the, you know, famously he did seven minutes in five minutes. He's in his own end? Face-off, so they took a penalty. They took a penalty. Face-off was in his own end with about 30 seconds left down by a goal. And instead of putting Sorokin in and hoping to win the draw and move upwards and pull him then, he decided, nope, I'm going to put pressure on the centerman to win the draw because we're going five on five, no goalie in our own end. And did the Leafs score on it?

Yes, they did. It did not work out. I saw the empty netter. I didn't know if that was it. Oh, my. I mean, there's somewhere probably there's someone's done a numerical analysis about one face-off and the likelihood of with 30 seconds left, you being able to take advantage of an extra guy out there,

especially when you're down a man. But, I mean, that seems, you know, like you're grasping at straws. Seems like that's so low percentage. And then, I mean, with Tavares taking the face-off for Toronto, and is he not one of the best three in the entire NHL? He's like so low percentage. And then, I mean, with Tavares taking the face off for Toronto, and is he not one of the best three in the entire NHL? He's like 62%. So you're asking Bo Horvat or whoever, Pajot, I know is very good as well, but you're asking that guy to go up against a guy who's very proficient of his own?

I don't know. That seems like a low percentage play, like a bit of a Hail Mary. That obviously didn't come through. But, you know, I think Patrick was interesting in one is that he doesn't care what I think of his decisions. And I also think there might be a little bit of frustration with how his team has performed. Like he hasn't been able to get them to the point where they want to.

And I think there's some frustrations maybe with the roster. And I don't know if that's a bit of a past. Like I remember, guys, back when I was, maybe my rookie year, maybe, you were barely even alive, but I were playing against Vancouver. And Mike Keenan was the coach. We were in Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens. And he was mad at his roster.

He wanted different players. So we were winning like 5-2. He pulled his goal with like 12 minutes left. But not because he wanted to win. But it was more like a middle finger to the management saying hey like this is what you're making me do because i have no other options my team is not good enough i like there's some parts of patty raw that you know maybe there's a little bit of that creeping in as well but that is that's unusual and it seems even a numbers guy like

myself would have a hard time making that make sense yeah that's that is an unconventional one uh mj for sure but i wanted to ask you about carter george you know we we were talking about him like you know before you came on like as alice's brother was saying maybe he's the next carrie price maybe he's the next great canadian goaltender and it's a lot of pressure on a kid and you worry about the pressure maybe eating a kid up. But then again, I often think that the guys that are destined to be great are not going to be bothered by that kind of pressure because they're just going to be great. I mean, how do you see this kid, and what do you make of all the hype around him,

given the fact that Canada is starving for a legitimately great number one goaltender? Now, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, and I hope he becomes the next Carey Price. But you know who else he might become? The next Justin Pogge. You remember how great that guy was at World Juniors? You know what I mean?

Oh, yeah. He fits, dude. I think he had four shutouts at World Junior. Like, it was just otherworldly. And they traded Tuca Raff because they had Justin Pogge. Like, that was the least management decision coming out of his World Junior. So, you know, you're always hesitant. He's not having a great, like he's like 4-13 in 0-1 sound,

even though his save percentage is pretty good. But he's been incredible whenever he's played for Canada. The U18s, the Holinka, he's been lights out good. I've only been around him a little bit, but he appears very calm, very confident, not arrogant, but like that confident that any good athlete needs, where like they know they're good and they carry themselves like they know they're good. He has that, which is important. He's not the biggest guy. He's maybe six feet, so that in today's NHL is not sort of the ideal size for a goaltender. But, you know, we'll see.

At this level, I think he exudes that I'm the guy vibe. And for this moment, I think that's good for the team, and it's good for him. I'm not yet willing to extrapolate as much as O-Dog wants to get him on the Four Nations roster. I don't know if I'm ready to go there just yet. Let's see how

tonight goes, and we can talk again next week. Yeah, no, I agree. And I mean, obviously, being a little tongue-in-cheek, we say the next Carey Price, but someone eventually will have to be that. He's played well so far. But I want to ask you about your opinions on what you've seen at Conor Bedard, actually, this season. Because, I mean, he's had a decent year, I think people would say,

but it seems like it's been a little bit of a sophomore slump, if you will. Like, they're currently down 1-0 right now in the Outdoor Classic over at Wrigley Field. How would you characterize Bedard's sophomore season? I would call it a grind. A grind mentally, a grind

physically, a grind emotionally. I think Conor Bedard had the expectations, like a lot of us did. That he would take a pretty seismic step this year in play and production. And I think a lot of us thought that

he would do that, even recognizing that Chicago's not very good. You know, they brought in some different players and some and to help him along. But we're like, you know but he's supposed to be so good it doesn't matter exactly what they have around him, that he's good enough that he's going to have 85,

90 points, whether the Blackhawks are good or not, and I think he thought that, because he's always been able to do that, and it's been hard for him. He went to that long goal-scoring drought. I'm sure it's the longest of his entire life. He looked totally beaten down at times when being asked about it by the media about raising his hands and

exasperation. I don't even know what to tell you. I'm so bad I can't even score right now which is unusual for a player that is as great as he is to feel that way at any moment. So it's been hard. What I think we've learned is that the NHL is hard and even conor madard needs he's not good enough yet that he can do it without really good players around him chicago has the puck about as little as any team in the nhl when it comes to time of possession the offensive zone so he needs more support around him to produce the points that we think he can and so for that reason i think it's a bit of a reality check for him.

He's gone through a coach getting fired. This is all sort of new to him and not necessarily new in a great way. So it's probably been a grind. Yeah, no doubt about it, MJ. I mean, when you look at Bedard, I mean, he's been playing with, what, Taylor Hall and Bertuzzi. But when you're playing on a bad team I think we've talked about this before like I think that's a big part of this don't you that when you're

when you're just grinding you're getting you're getting drilled too often and everybody's looking at you all the time you're the big story all the time and yet what are you supposed to say when the team's not very good yeah when you're the best player and the leader and you're 19 years old it's a big burden. Chicago's a big market. They sort of hitched their franchise to his superstardom, and it's not gone as well as he wanted. Now, Regina wasn't a very good team in the WHL either when he was playing there, so he's had some experience. But what's different, Fasten, I think that's important, is that there's never been a team in his life that he can't make good, right?

Right. He knows it's the NHL, but he still thinks I'm good enough or I'm great enough that I can make the team competitive because it's me. And then the realization, oh, it's not me. It's hard there. So they've got to get better players around them. And I wonder on some level, and I have no idea what their relationship's like, but Macklin Celebrini is getting a lot of

positive attention. Deserved. He has been amazing. Now, his point totals are around a point a game, which is sort of what Bedard was last year. But the conversation being more complete, and the puck battles won, and better on face-offs, and all those other stuff that maybe Bedard struggled with

at times and I wonder if I'm putting myself in his shoes if I thought I'm the best player of these few years and all of a sudden a new guy comes in and people are talking that he might be as good as me or maybe even better than me and if the Four Nations team was getting

picked again, he would make it, not me. Again, that would chip away. Like, it would probably anger me, motivate me, frustrate me, but also might, you know, chip away at my confidence and how I feel about my game because, you know, it's just not gone great for me this year. That's a good point. I mean, Celebrini has been terrific.

That's the thing, too. He's been amazing. But the thing is, we talk about Bedard not playing on a great team. What the heck does San Jose got going on over there? That's not a great team either, and Celebrini still seemed to be putting together a pretty good season. Well, they didn't win their first nine games. Guess who didn't play their first game, scored, but then he got hurt?

He didn't play. And then he got back in the lineup, but all of a sudden they're sort of around 500 when he came in the lineup. Again, he's a different kind of player. I think at this point he's probably a more complete player, better without the puck, better in his own end, better defensively

than Bedard, straight up. But, you know, to turn it back to Bedard, he probably hears that and that bugs him. And that makes sort of his existence harder. Now, he's got a lot to worry about, just to worry about himself and not worry about what Celebrini's doing, but it's all these great players. Like, it's all part of it, right?

And maybe for the first time, he doesn't, you know, feel quite as confident and great as he usually does. Johnny, we'll get you out on this one. We're asking the people at Twitter, what are some New Year's resolutions for some of the Toronto sports teams? So I'll ask you this. What should the New Year's resolution be for the Maple Leafs heading into 2025? The New Year's resolution is every day back rub for Boston Matthews

or whatever he needs. I don't know if it's his back. I'm not saying it's his back. I did not slip. I have no idea what's wrong with it. Groin rub, knee rub, elbow rub, wrist rub, whatever. That's the resolution. Whatever it takes to get that guy 100% healthy, that's the resolution.

More frequent flyer flights to Germany, I don't care. That's top of the resolution. And the other one for Toronto sports fans, just to go off the board, non-hockey related, can we please, please have the ping pong balls fall and get Cooper flagged to Toronto, please? Oh, yes.

Talk about franchise changing situation. Like, we won the lottery and it was Bargnani's year. Not Bargnani's fault, and it was Bargnani's year. Not Bargnani's fault, but it was Bargnani's year. It wasn't like a world-class player. The scooper flag is so good, plus sort of the star factor and get Toronto kind of buzzing again about the wraps.

That would be my New Year's resolution. Lots of hand-wringing over the weighted ping-pong balls or envelopes for Patrick Ewing. Whatever it takes, that's what we're doing. Well, they did their part today. They lost 125-71 to the Boston Celtics. Can someone play some defense? Oh, my God, 155 this past week?

They might put Fess out there for perimeter defense, stop a three-pointer. Johnny, the Celtics scored 80 points in the second half alone. The Raptors scored 71 in the whole game. The Celtics didn't have to play the first half and they would have won. Well, if they want Cooper flagged, they're doing everything in their power to make sure they have a good chance to get him. Which I'm kind of okay with.

I think a lot of people are okay with that. Exactly. We're going to be bad. All right, Johnny. Don't be sort of bad. Yeah, go all in. Go all in. Just go ahead, lose every game.

There are only, what, two games back of final spot in the league, so just continue to be brutal, and that will make everyone happy, funny enough. All right, Johnny. What's not going to be brutal is your call. It's going to be amazing on the Canada-U.S. game. It should be a fun time. Canada-U.S., New Year's Eve classic. It's always a good one on the Canada- U.S. game. Should be a fun time. Canada-U.S. New Year's Eve classic. It's always a good one.

Appreciate the time as always. Happy New Year, buddy. All right, boys. Good talking to you. Happy New Year. Everyone out there, have a safe and happy New Year. We'll talk soon. Thank you. You as well. Mike Johnson, join us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Check out Maple Toyota's huge truck and SUV lineup, including Tundra,

4Runner, Highlander, and Grand Highlander. In stock and ready to deliver, visit mapletoyota.com. Yeah, the Raptors today losing 125-71 to the Boston Celtics and just, like, can't make a shot, can't defend. Like, this team, like, it's so funny because we talked about it going into the year. It's like, oh, they're not really bad enough to tank, but they're not good enough to make the playoffs. No, I think they're bad enough to tank,

and they are showing that they're quite horrendous. And granted, no R.J. Barrett, no Grady Dick, too. They're better scorers on the team, to be fair. But it's been such a terrible season, and it's now, what, four straight games? They've given up 125-plus points on defense? I mean, they actually played a pretty good defensive first half. They held Boston to, what, 45 points in the first half, and then they allowed 80.

80 in the second half, I was brother. I mean, and they get drilled by 54, the largest margin of defeat in the NBA this season, after, as you point out, they gave up 136 to Atlanta, 155 to Memphis, 139 to the Knicks. I mean, like, it's one thing to tank. It's another thing to be completely embarrassed and just look like a bunch of losers. And right now, this team appears to have checked out on the defensive side of the ball to the point where they've got to start thinking about is Darko actually, you know,

is Darko in command of his room? Does he have the room? Does something else need to change? Because you can lose with some dignity. You can tank with some dignity. At times, it's looked like they've been doing that, but whatever's happened in the last couple of weeks here, they have fallen off a cliff defensively, and

that's about effort. That's about attention to detail, and they don't have any of it right now. Yeah, it stinks. It smells, and not very good, I will tell you that. But, hey, if they can capture the flag, that would definitely turn this franchise around and make the city very happy and make all of what we've been going through the last couple of weeks well worth it,

because that kid's going to be a star in the NBA. If he can do it north of the border in the six, that would pretty good i would i would accept that for cooper in the pooper for cooper in the pooper for cooper capture the flag whichever one you want to use uh we'll see that that should be it certainly should be in the resolutions bucket for the raptors just tank it's done you have no hope. 7-26 now. 7-26. They're not making no play-in at this point.

They're not making the playoffs. It's done. So tank. Lose as many games as possible. See if you can just continue to improve the odds, the probability of winning the lottery, and see if you can get a top-tier prospect to come in and help this ragtag bunch of players that's not playing very well right now, that's for sure.

All right, we've still got Hazy B to join us a little bit later on. Confirm or deny as well. That's all coming up next on Overdrive on TSN 1050 and up on TSN 4. The weekend brings Hurry Up Tomorrow to Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only. Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flights, and hotel from tripcentral.ca plus $500 cash.

For your chance to win, enter every day at iHeartRadio.ca. And iHeartRadio Experienceca. An iHeartRadio experience. The weekend in LA. Powered by TripCentral.ca. The smarter way to book travel. Hour three of Overdrive. Off and running. Mike DiStefano in for

Brian Hayes. Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star in with me for the usuals. Noodles and the O-Dog. And Hazy B going to join us in about 30 minutes. My partsy, the captain of Team Hazenbro, which locked up the Overdrive Picks championship last night with a victory. We took the Lions to cover the number at minus three and a half. They did so with ease with with an absolutely dominating performance, offensively at least.

Defensively, well, there's definitely some cracks there for sure going into it. But, hey, they held them off enough, and they ended up covering because that's what the great teams do, right? Right, Dave? Good teams win, great teams cover. I got to hand it to you. Congratulations. It's a huge win.

You guys came back from minus nine down. Like, I was worried about you. You guys were at the bottom of Everest without a Sherpa, you know, shivering in the cold, looking like you were lost in the wilderness. And somehow you climbed the mountain. He sent me on an ayahuasca retreat to find my way. Amazing. It happened.

It's inspiring. He'll be by in about 30 minutes, and we'll get to the bottom of it. We'll ride the wave, which was the 2024 season, together once again and gloat and celebrate. But then, you know, starting in a couple of weeks, it's the playoffs, and then you've got to get back to work. Because as the great, late Kobe Bryant once said, once said job not finish job finish i don't think so i don't think so are you gonna pull the playoffs to win are you gonna pull the leaves have a great

regular season and then just do what they do what the leafs do when the postseason is around i'm hoping not i'm hoping that i can have that mama mentality i'm hoping i can go out and win a championship. Speaking of LeBron James, actually, did you hear what he had to say yesterday? So 40 years old now, and LeBron James coming out here. I think we have the clip if we can play it here. LeBron James, he was asked yesterday his thoughts on how much longer he thinks he could play after turning 40. How much longer of a leap play does he have left in him? It won't be because I can't play this game at a high level.

It won't be because of it. Because, to be honest, if I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level for about another five or seven years if I wanted to. But I'm not going to do that. Is there any chance you'll walk away and sit? Of course. Hell yeah. What? Brady did it. Jordan did it.

Oh, and come back? Oh, no, no, no. No. But I will miss the hell out of it, for sure. But no, I won't walk away with it. No. Five to seven more years of elite play left in LeBron James. What do you think, Dave? Well, I mean, it's hard to argue with LeBron.

I mean, you know, he's averaging, what, 24 points, eight and seven or something crazy like that this year. Playing 35 minutes a night after turning 40 yesterday. It is kind of amazing. Like, it's an incredible, incredible run that he's on. And we haven't seen any fall off, really. Like, he's not obviously what he was at the peak of his powers, but he's still a great player in this league.

And I'm with him. Like, I wouldn't want to put a limit on, you know, when he's going to fall off because we haven't seen a significant fall off yet. Yeah, I mean, he still, like last year, still made an All-NBA team at 39 years old. It was the third team, granted, so he's not perennially on the All-NBA number one team. He's not a perennial MVP favorite anymore like he was back in the day, but he's still one of the best in the NBA, and he's still out there, and he still sells the game. The NBA wants this guy to play as long as possible.

We talked about this a lot this week. And again, as the new year comes to, or the current year comes to an end, and the new year is upon us, we always kind of look back and reflect and then look forward, and it's like, man, what we've seen the last 20 years from LeBron James, I mean, he's been in the league now for 20 years. It was 2003 he came into the league. It's been 20, 21 years since that he's been in the NBA. And he has been just a beacon of consistency.

He's been the best player. He's been a role model for a lot of people out there. And, I mean, the NBA wants him to play for as long as possible. I don't know if he wants to you know it sounds like uh for years it seemed like he was gonna he wanted to stick around to play with his boy and bronnie james finally got to play with him this year they did have that opportunity to play and you know we're only halfway through the season maybe he gets called up from the g league at some point we get to see those two back on a court again.

But, man, what a career it's been. And if he gets five or seven more years of solid play, I mean, that's awesome. I don't see it happening. But I would love to see him continue at least a couple more years. I think he still has a couple more years of solid basketball, that's for sure. All right. I think you hit it on the head, though. The NBA wants him to play, and they need him to play, man, because there's no show

like the LeBron and Steph show, and those guys, the next generation just hasn't been able to build the same kind of profile and following that LeBron and Steph have built in this league. And neither team have really been competitive

this year. They're both kind of middle of the road, middle of the pack. Neither the Lakers or the Warriors seem like they're going to be in contention for a championship at any time soon. Maybe the time has come and gone for both of those guys to star in the NBA Finals. It's unfortunate because it's been a great 10, 15 years between those two battling each other out. The 2010s, that was the decade, the Steph versus LeBron. That, to me, is what that decade was all about.

We're only halfway through this 20s decade, but I can't really put my finger on something that has defined the 20s quite yet. We're halfway to this point, Dave. Is there anything in the NBA that maybe defines the 20s? Possibly we're halfway to this point dave is there anything in the nba that maybe defines the 20s i possibly possibly nikoli jokic but like he's not a needle mover that much but he has been like the three straight mvps yeah he's about he could win four of the four out of five if he wins this year four out of five uh the only other guy to do that of course is lebron and right now jokic is the front runner to do do it. So, yeah, you're right, though. He's not a mainstream guy. Jokic is a

basketball aficionado. He's a basketball aficionado's dream because he makes the game seem so easy. But he doesn't do anything that's particularly spectacular that the average fan can really glom onto in the way Steph shoots three-pointers, the way LeBron has just been so physically and mentally dominant in the sport. You're right. You know, in a lot of ways, like the Olympics last year or this summer told us everything when LeBron and Steph were, you know,

the alpha dogs of that Team USA and all the best players in the world were still deferring to them, even at their advanced age. And I think that answers your question. They're still the defining players of this era. Is it the era of failed superstars? I don't know why, and maybe it's unfair to throw out there, but the name Zion Williamson pops into my mind. He was supposed to have a chance to be that next LeBron James.

Just big guy. He's coming out of Duke. He's the number one overall pick. Massive frame. He was powerful as all hell. He was expected to dominate the NBA for the next decade plus. He's been in the league for five years and hasn't done anything. His pelvic has been hurt.

I think he's played five or six games this year. He's always been hurt. That's been the biggest story with Zion Williamson his entire career. But, like, that team is garbage. They're dead last. They might end up with Cooper Flagg by the end of this thing, those Pelicans, if they can't get their act together. But you think about him, you know, John Morant,

there's been a lot of praise about Morant and how good he could be if he just, you know, stayed out of trouble but has not really been able to do so. I guess this year he's, you know, stayed out a little bit. But, been able to do so. I guess this year he's stayed out a little bit, but he had those gun issues last year. Maybe it's this decade so far. Maybe it's been more defined by the failures than the successes of basketball stars. Yeah, and you throw that list.

On the top of that list is Joel Embiid, right? An MVP caliber player who's won an MVP but who just can't stay healthy and can't keep his mouth shut to stop alienating the fan base that's made him rich. And talking about not wanting to play back-to-backs, and, you know, I've done so much for this bleeping city, that blah, blah, blah. I mean, it's just embarrassing stuff. And, of course, he hasn't been able to back it up

with a performance on the court, and the Sixers have been a mess most of the year. You feel bad for our old pal Nick Nurse, who's had to be on the bench for all of it and watch it kind of disintegrate in front of his eyes. But, yeah, to your point, I think you're really hitting the nail on the head there, Ellis Brother, in terms of so much promise

that's been flushed down the toilet in this league, and nobody really has emerged as the next great thing behind LeBron and Steph. And throw Luka Doncic in there too, another guy who, with all the talent in the world, has had durability issues, and there's always talk about, you know, what's this guy doing? We always talked about LeBron putting a million bucks into his body a year to stay healthy, to remain at the top of his game. It doesn't seem like Luka's putting a million in.

You know, maybe 100 grand, maybe 50 grand, maybe nothing. But, you know, it's not working out for him. He's got to get his self right because Luka's got the – I think he's got that star quality, that ability to be a mainstream star, but he can't stay on the floor at a high level long enough. Yeah. extreme star but he can't stay on the floor at a high level long enough yeah and we wonder why the nba continues to uh dwindle in terms of the the ratings we're talking about the failures being the main storyline of the league over the last five years maybe that's got something to do with the bad tv ratings down in the us of a uh want to get to some confirm or deny dave can't wait

uh want to get to some confirm or deny dave can't wait all right let's get to it i can either confirm or deny that uh that this is in fact a segment austin trades andrew raycroft to toronto in exchange for the rights to tuka rast it's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the general manager of the toronto maple leafs hockey Club. It's time for Confirm or Deny. Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no trades or no movement clauses? I can either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny that. All right, Dave, you've played this game once or twice in your career. I have as well.

It's a pretty simple concept. I'm going to make a statement, and we're both going to either confirm it or deny it. We'll start with some resolutions for the big three Toronto sports teams here. Confirm or deny. The Maple Leafs' New Year's resolution should be to make the conference finals.

I'm going to deny that. I mean, let's aim higher here like what are we talking about like why is this the only city on the planet where a deep playoff run that doesn't end in a championship would be hailed for a parade and endless praise and statues out front the building like i don't understand the mentality of the fan base now look, I think those things are true. I think people would react that way if they made it to a conference final. But that can't be the limits of your ambitions and dreams, house brother. You've got to think bigger. You've got to think 57 years in county.

You've got to think about that, the cup that you and Hazy B have been sipping from after winning the overdrive picks pool. I just don't see how the conference finals can be your dream. Yeah, I guess I'll deny it as well for much of the same reasons. I do think that it would be celebrated if this team could finally win two rounds. I mean, it's been, what, 20 years, 22 years since they've won two rounds in a playoff setting. So it's been a long time since we've seen that happen. So if they did get there, I think it'd be celebrated.

But should that be the goal? No, the goal should be to win the Stanley Cup. And that's what the resolution should be. Let's go into 2025 and have a parade up and down Yonge Street. That's what this fan base has been craving for since 1967, Dave. 1967. We're six hours away from 2025, and we've yet to see that championship back on this soil

that hasn't sat inside of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Let's get that thing inside Scotiabank Arena, and I think that should be the resolution. Not a conference final. That's a good consolation, but you aim for the moon, and hopefully they're aiming a little bit higher than a conference championship. I think they want to win a Stanley Cup. That should be the resolution for the year.

I think the team, what you've seen from them so far this year, which is interesting because as of now, I think at this very moment, after winning today 3-1 against the Islanders in an afternoon affair, they ended up picking up two points, and now they sit atop of the Atlantic Division. So you have to think, this team's good enough to compete for a Stanley Cup. There's other teams out there that just aren't good enough. The Leafs, at least, you know they are. And if they can stay healthy, obviously health is a big factor here,

you finally have some defense and some good defending. It looks like they're playing the right way, and if the goaltending stays healthy, they've been one of the best tandems. You've been getting the best goaltending in the NHL, and you know what your firepower can do up front if given the opportunity. So they do

have an opportunity and a chance to at least win this year, so it should definitely be the resolution, and that should be what they're aiming for. I'm with you, Dave. Hey, buddy, it's like MJ said, you know, like just whatever it takes to get Austin Matthews healthy, that's the other resolution, right? If LeBron's spending a million on his body,

the Leafs should be spending a million plus on Austin Matthews' body, just trying to get it healthy. And I like MJ's other suggestion. Tie Joseph Wall's groins together. Like, whatever it takes to keep that dude from being on the IR, just do it, man. Like, just do not allow the tweaks to happen for Joseph Wall because they've already got one goalie down. They can't afford another one. Yeah, thank goodness he was able to kind of battle through.

We'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to hear exactly if there's an issue there. But, yeah, luckily he did finish the game. All right, next one. Confirm or deny, the Blue Jays' New Year's resolution should be to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to an extension at all costs. Well, I'm going to deny it because I don't like the idea of at all costs okay i don't i don't think it's at all costs like does that mean that we're going to spend so much money that we won't have anything else to spend on any other players then i don't want to do that highest bidder like they

have to be willing to be the highest bidder for vladimir guerrero jr you, my problem with that is, like, if they wanted Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed to a long-term deal, they've had plenty of opportunities to step up to the plate and take a swing. And for whatever reason, and I think we know the reason, because they haven't been sure they've wanted to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long-term deal at big money, they haven't done it.

So I'm not sure why they want to do it now at the 11th hour, other than just to save face when they've got a last place team and a newly renovated ballpark, and their most popular player is a pending unrestricted free agent. That's the reason they're doing it, and I'm not sure that's the best reason to sign a guy. Well, I think you're willing to sign the guy because he's the best player in your organization.

He's the best player your organization has seen in 20 years. I mean, think back to probably what, maybe Roy Halladay, you could say, has been a better player or as comparable as a player as what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been for the Blue Jays. I mean, Josh Donaldson won an MVP, so he had that really good season, but it was like two or three years, then he was gone. He was done. Vladdy, he's been doing it now for six seasons here. And he's had two MVP-worthy seasons.

He hasn't won them, but he's been in the mix and in the conversation. And I think the Blue Jays love this kid. And Toronto loves this kid. And I think if you want to get going and set yourself forward as an organization, it starts with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signing an extension here. Because if you don't sign Vladi, this team's going to be garbage for the next five years. That's the truth. They may not be good anyways, but at least they've got Vladi.

And baseball doesn't have a salary cap, so signing Vladi doesn't necessarily mean it's going to cost you other things. In Toronto, you talk about signing a guy like Austin Matthews, a Nylander, a Marner. It's like, okay, you've signed all these players. Now you don't have a defense. And now all of a sudden, okay, now you can't pay $11 million for a goaltender like Igor Shosturkin, so you've got to have this ragtag bunch. That's not the case in baseball.

There's no salary cap. You can do whatever you want. And the Blue Jays, if they want to be a competitive team going forward, they've got to make sure they get Blatty signed to an extension or that's just not going to happen. Well, look, man, I agree with everything you're saying, except that my point is he just had a great year and they finished last. And the point is they could have had him at a much lower price

for a long deal many years ago, and they chose not to. And sometimes now you're paying the premium for not doing it, not locking him up younger, not locking him up earlier, because the jury was out within the organization. You make the mistake and not pay him twice? You make the mistake and don't pay him twice, though? Well, my thing is, now you're going to have to pay a premium, and then I wonder, can you fill out the roster around him?

Can you actually be a good team with Vladdy, making the money he's going to make? I want to know the answer to that question, and I hope it's yes, but my fear is that it's no. All right, well, moving on. Next one. Confirm or deny, Austin Matthews will finish with fewer than 30 goals this season for the first time in his career matthews currently with 11 goals on the year

i'm going to confirm it and not because i don't believe he could come back and score a bunch of goals because he's right now i think he's on 32-goal pace or some such pace if he scored at the pace he scored at so far for the remainder of the available games. My thing is I don't think he's going to play the bulk or all of the remaining games available to him, Ellis, brother. I think the Maple Leafs are going to be smart, and they're going to hold him out

until he is 100%. They're not going to bring him back to where they already have done once this season after that trip to Munich. I think they're going to really prioritize his long term health here instead of getting him back for the short term good of the team. So I think he'll probably come in under 30, but I think if the Leafs are smart,

and I think they are, I think they're going to hold him out a lot longer than anybody probably likes, but it'll be for the betterment of the long-term picture. Yeah, I'll confirm it as well for much of the same reasons that you made. At this point, you just can't really have a lot of faith that he's going to remain healthy and play in the rest of the games to get there, and it may be for the betterment of the team, as you mentioned, and get him healthy.

Matthews scoring 30 is not important if it ends up in an injury and he can't play in the playoffs, or he's not at 100% come playoff time or close to it. So those numbers do not matter to Austin Matthews. They do not matter to the Maple Leafs. What matters is his health. So I'm with you. I think that they'll kind of nurse it a little bit, give you a little Kawhi Leonard action possibly the rest of the year.

See some load management maybe creep in here with Austin Matthews if he's got to nurse this. What could possibly be a back injury is what is kind of being reported. I'm with you. I think he finishes less than 30, but with context, you understand, and it's not going to be a blemish on his career when you look back on it. I don't believe so, at the very least.

Speaking of GOATs, Dave's talking about goal-scoring GOATs and the best of the best. Confirm or deny, Alex Ovechkin will break Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record this season. I'm going to confirm that, brother. I think there's going to be a great push from that organization, from Ovi's teammates, and, of course, from Ovi himself to get this done this year. And it's doable, right? He needs 25 goals to do it in 46 remaining games.

That's like a half a goal a game, a little more than half a goal a game, which is below his career average per game. So he actually has to score below his career average to get the job done here. And given how great Strom is playing as his centerman, doing a lot of the heavy lifting to get him set up, given how great the protist kid is on the other wing, given how good Spencer Carberry and the Washington Capitals have been this season, I love his chances here to do this, and I think he will.

Yeah, he's been, I mean, that team, I think they're second in the league in goals scored this year, and that's without Ovechkin for 16 games. And he's done nothing but score since he's come back. I mean, we're talking about a guy who's got 17 goals in, what, 20, 21 games so far this season? That's right. I'm going to confirm it as well, and for a couple of reasons. I think, A, unlike Austin Matthews, Ovechkin has proven to be a very durable player,

so I think he'll play in, if not all, a majority of those 46 games that's left in the Washington Capitals season. But I remember we were chatting earlier this week. I talked to Bruce Boudreaux, and he was talking about how I think he's been energized by a good team and the players around him, which are helping elevate his game again. The last couple of seasons, he's had to play with an injured Nick Backstrom, and then he hasn't really had a number one center alongside him to allow him to flourish and score. Now he does, the way that Dylan Strom is out there playing.

So I think he's got the teammates that are helping him get there. And I think also, too, this is a team that is playing for something. This is legitimate. They're number one in the league in terms of points percentage in the NHL right now. They're a legitimate chance to win a President's Trophy and compete for a Stanley Cup. And I think that could energize Ovi also to keep him playing at this elite rate for the rest of the season. And he's just, you know he wants to break that record this year.

He does not want to take that in. And like you saw against the Maple Leafs, anytime there's an empty net opportunity for the Washington Capitals, number eight will be on the ice. So it doesn't matter how he gets those 25. I think he just wants to get them, and I think they'll have a lot of chances to get there. I think he does it too. So I'm going to confirm that one as well, the Dave Festchuck.

All right, next one for you. Confirm or deny, the New York Rangers are going to regret giving igor shisterkin his massive contract a few weeks ago i'm gonna deny that i mean i know he's had some struggles but to me at what you know you're looking at the metrics and talking to people in the goalie community as i often do around the league like people are pointing to one thing and one thing only when they look at Shesterkin's alleged struggles, and that's the team in front of him, right?

This team has been a dumpster fire of dysfunction, you know, trading away the captain, trading away Capo Caco, you know, obviously having Chris Kreider feel like he's on the verge of being sent out of town. The Rangers have been a mess. And if you look at the metrics, like Shesterkin's actual goals saved above expected are really good. You know, he's not keeping it out of the net, but that's not necessarily all on him.

He is still talented. He is still, you know, a top-ranked goalie. Now, I'm always a little worried about goalies making a lot of money just because, look, we've seen it in Toronto. They get injured. They have hip problems. They have groin problems they have knee problems it's it's a it's an epidemic in the goaltending industry but outside of that i don't think this is anything more than a blip and this guy is still a top-ranked goalie that any team would love to have as their i i i think i'm going to i think i'm going to i'm going for i'm almost furry on this one i i think i'll confirm it though i think i'll confirm

it i i think they are going to regret giving him the contract honestly because look this is a team eventually i think they're an aid a team that's aging out ultimately and if they don't get it done this year which it doesn't look like it, the team has gone in a very south direction ever since they put out that little post that they were looking to make a couple of trades. They moved out on Trouba. They traded Capocacco. Chris Cratter, who knows what's going to happen with him.

This year kind of seems like a lost cause at this point for the New York Rangers. And I just look at them, and I'm thinking thinking that's a lot of cap space to be giving up for a goaltender. I just, I've never, we haven't seen it before, right? We haven't seen a goalie make that much money and see them have that much success. So we'll see what happens. But the New York Rangers, I'm sure they were hoping once they gave him that

deal, because that came down like the same day as the Jacob Truba trade. It was legitimately an hour after they traded their captain, Jacob Truba. They handed out that contract to Shusterkin, and I bet they were hoping that that was going to kind of paper mache over kind of the nonsense that had been going on in New York, and people would celebrate the Shusterkin contract, and they could look forward into the year. But the team has continued to lose since then.

And now you're looking back, and you're like, you've got a goalie making 11.5, you've betrayed away your captain. I just think optically this entire season has been a mess for the Rangers. Look, I agree. It's a lot of money. There's no doubt about it. But there were moments where everybody said, you know, Sergei Bobrovsky wasn't worth $10 million.

But guess what? Sergei Bobrovsky's won a couple of Vezes. He's now won a Stanley Cup. He's been the backbone of a Florida Panthers team that's had a great resurgence after people have, you know, written them off. So I think the minute you lose a goaltender like Shusterkin, you go looking for one, right? And you've got to pay the piper when he's got legitimate numbers

that tell you he is the elite of the elite, which he is. And I think that you have to hold your nose and figure out how to make it better in front of him so that he becomes worth it. Because you need that goaltender if you're going to win anything, and he is that guy. All right, Dave, good stuff. That brings it close to confirm or deny the final confirm or deny of 2024.

Coming up next, Hazy B, the captain, the host of Overdrive, going to join us here on Overdrive. I'm Mike DiStefano with Dave Festruck up on TSN4 and listening on TSN 1050.