OverDrive - OverDrive - December 8, 2025 - Hour 2 - Luke Willson/Chris Pronger

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson joins to discuss the Chiefs' dynasty reaching a conclusion, the Bills ceiling and the Monday Night Football matchup. Hockey Hall of Famer and Stanley Cup Champion Chris Pronger joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' season, the power play issues and the Olympics rewind in his career and Bryan gives the FanDuel Best Bets.

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. If you smell What the Owen Wilson Is cooking

You know It's true Oh, ooh, I love you Our 2 Overdrive continues Brought you by Fanduel Bringing you more ways to play your game your way You know the music, you know what that means There he is, Luke Wilson

In the House That's your new salute I can't I got no TV to look at Yeah, man. These guys haven't given me a TV when I come in here. I know. Doogie just completely jammed you. He treats you like you should be on the practice squad. That is JP's responsibility.

Okay, JP, my apologies, Doogie. J.P. treating you like you should be on the practice squad. Dugge is the commissioner, although he leans towards the easier. Hayes bullies him, so that's what happens is he gets the easier matchups because Hayes leans on that. That's not, that can't be true. That can't be proven. Very factual.

But I will say this. I should start by saying, I feel like I jammed you up, Luke, because I believe too much in KC. No, I do, too. That's my fault. That's a leader right there, falling on the sword for you. Something owes you never done in his life. I agree with that statement.

The funny thing is I'm driving in today, and I'm like, wow, this is going to be another tough segment. And, you know, I probably have lost five games on Kansas City this year. I kept telling you. I just keep going back to the well. Dude, when are you going to, are you done now? Are you done that good? Nope. They're just not that good.

You're the guy at the bar where the server just says, are you done now? And you just say, no, no, you won't stop. It's tough because, like, it's taken over where on the, you know, I'm watching all the games, getting ready for the CTV show and then Jay stuff. And I'm just, like, so locked in on these spreads. I don't care who wins. And even, like, we get the Steelers, which was a good pick.

The Steelers, I think, surprise a lot of people. Great pick. And I'm like, okay, we need to sweep today. Like, we got a sweep. and the bears are battling. I'm like, there's no way this is a seven-point final. And Caleb Williams decides to throw one of the worst throws of the year on fourth and one. And we lose that spread.

And I'm like, you know what? The end of the day, I got Patrick Mahomes at home, playoff hopes in the line. I need a four-point win. Let me just ask on the Caleb Williams thing. Should he have just got the first down and got out of bounds? Or what the hell should he have done there? So it's funny, O'Dog, when you watch that back, it's a pretty generic play. And we talked about it on Jay yesterday where I didn't hate the play.

play call. I get rolling out and everyone's like, oh, he's rolling out to his weak side, sure, whatever. He can throw that way. He's not limited. This guy doesn't have limited ability throwing while rolling out to his life. He's outside the pocket the whole game. Correct. That's his play. How that works is you've got, I don't know if we can pull

it up, not sure if he has, but you've got DeAndre Swift in the flat, there's your first read. Your second read is Cole Commet, and he's wide open. I know it's a pick but if you look at it from the end zone view, Cole Commet is wide open. You float that ball to the back pylon. Commet 6, six, he runs under it, he catches it,

it's a tie game, and I got a feeling Ben Johnson goes for two. He might have, yeah. I had a feeling he threw it too late for that. He threw it way too late, and the other thing is you're going to throw it late, at least throw it high. So then where I get a bit annoyed when I'm watching it, and I'm hoping for the spread to be covered, is if you're late like he was

O'Dog, we have a route, and again if you're one of those football junkies, go back and watch DJ Moore. So DJ Moore comes on what I like to call a late slide. It's almost the exact same route as a Swift, but they do it way later, we'd say like, you've got to be open all day. So we named it an all day route.

And basically you let everything float as he's rolling out, way in front of you, and then you just find a little gap kind of in the middle of nowhere. You float around, similar to a floating bag. And that's your third read. And you'll look at this thing, and I watched four or five times where it's like, Swift is covered with three guys, everybody goes there, and they're all playing him to potentially run. Here you go.

Watch DJ Moore here late. You see number two if you're watching. Right in the middle there, yeah. It's just like, what are we doing? Like, if you didn't like the throw to commit or you couldn't get it off, you go back to the all day, and he literally could shop put that to DJ Moore, and he's scampering into the end zone.

First down, guaranteed, most likely a touchdown. So I think if you're Ben Johnson, you know, in the Bears, you sit there and you're like, man, we went into Lambo. We gave a great game to arguably one of the best teams in the league. and if our quarterback goes through a simple progression late in this game and either makes the throw or gets to his third option, we're going for two to beat the Packers in Lambo. That's one of those things, my old partsy,

where I don't believe a lot in the, oh, you just get smoked and you say, oh, that was a learning lesson. I was a cultural moment. But with that kid's progression this year, Williams, I think that that could be a coachable moment where if he gets in that position to get in a big, game, he'll just say to himself, I'm not doing that garbage again. So I think that could

possibly turn in if he's the right kind of athlete and thinks about it the right way, that that could be one of those coachable moments where he'd be like, if I get my team in that position again, that is the one thing I cannot do. I agree. I guess where O'Dog, where I get my, like,

you know, my antenna goes up with Caleb is, when you watch that game closely, he made so many wildly cool plays where he's, plus, in the pocket. There was a throw to Cole Commet down the sideline. Underarm, kind of sidearm throw. It was just, he threaded

over a guy, Commet fell in bounds, was a big playing the game. These are the hard things. Like, he does the hard stuff really well. The touchdown to Zakaas and the end zone was crazy. But then on the flip side, it's like, you know, we call a fourth and one play, and two of your three options are wide open

and we throw a pick. That's where I get, my antenna goes up, where I'm like, you've got to do the easy stuff well. You know, if you want to have continued success in this league. But it is definitely teachable a moment. Hopefully he... Well, it was great.

You want to talk about an antenna. If you get in that moment again and he does it again, then you got... Then your antenna just blows right off the machine. Totally. Yeah, it was a great game, though. I was impressed with the Bears in the second half. You look at the Bears right now. Hayes, I thought they were fraudulent.

They beat the heck out of Philadelphia. And then they come in against your pack and take them to the brink. And I would put the Packers... I think there's an argument that the Packers are the second or third. best team in the NFL right now. Yeah, they're getting better. I mean, the last two weeks are big wins, like at Detroit and then at home against Chicago, and they still have to

go to Soldier Field later in a couple of weeks. Yeah. Which will likely determine the division, but they're clearly getting better. Like Jordan Love's getting better. They're getting healthy. Jayden Reed being back as big. Christian Watson being healthy is big. And the defense continues to grow. You know, like

they continue to make plays, and their run defense has been much better than it has been in past years. You look at the There's a lot of really good teams where conversely on the AFC side of things. The more opposite. Yeah, I mean I was looking at it today and why don't we bring you into the fold here. Something to chew on

brought to you by Boston Pizza's NFL game day menu. Stop by your local BP for $7 touchdown pines, dialed in shareables and weekly prizing up for grabs. Football game days are better at BP. We're asking people if you had to choose the AFC representative to go to the Super Bowl Bills versus the field.

Who are you taking as of today? As of my favorite? As who you you think will be there in San Fran representing the AFC. The bills versus the field. I take the field but it's not that easy. I don't want to make it sound like I'm on the bills right now. I feel better about the bills. Over the pads? Yes.

I feel, listen to where I feel better about the bills going to the Super Bowl today than I did when I picked them in September. How? Because of the Kansas City's done. Sure. You woke up in Western New York today. You're breathing easy, man. They're done. It's over. You're not, you're not born about them.

They're not done officially yet. But I'm with you. I'm with you know what I'm saying. I get what you're saying. And even if they get in, I'm not that worried about them. They look terrible. Yes. Baltimore is terrible. They're cooked. They're out of the way. So the avenue, they may not catch New England.

And my argument isn't even about them winning the division. They still can, but I think it's tough. Even if they win in New England, I'm not even convinced they can do it. How does New England not scare you at all? Because of history, first and foremost, that quarterback's young. He's got no playoff experience. That's a big, big point to bring up. and their avenue is likely going to be through Pittsburgh

then likely through Denver and then maybe New England or Jacksonville in the championship game that sets up beautifully for time out I'm going to throw a couple caveats in here I think Houston wins the division they're only a game back I don't think the Colts win another football game they are they're cooks where's their owner with the headset yeah yeah she's up in the old Jones yeah she's up the whole schedule is a blood

bat. I think that's Seattle Fran. They're cooked. But the Jags keep winning ball games. Agreed, but the Texans do as well, and they play each other and they're only a game back. Yes. Okay. So do you think they can beat the bills in home? I do. I think the Texans could beat anyone with that defense. That defense is the real deal. And this is what I'll say

with the bills, and it's just the reality of situation. Yesterday's game. Granted, it's a snow game. How much fun was that? It was awesome. I was my favorite game of the day. Unbelievable. Josh Allen is the best player on planet earth. He just is right now. But after that, Cook and the offensive line have had unbelievable

games, good moments. But other than that, there's not much going on. And this is why I would say the field, I definitely think Buffalo can make the Super Bowl. I'm not saying that. But it's just like, if you look at the first Joe Burrow pick, which flipped the game, that's a

run play where Joe kind of goes a little rogue. What happens is he sees there's a blitz coming. And then he's like Aaron Rogers is a lot. You probably remember this back of the day. It's like, oh, this is a run, but Aaron decided to throw a quick slant. Joe picked up on it and then didn't get a grip of the ball. If you look at it, he kind of shot put it in it. And if you look at it from a far angle, Jamar Chase didn't exactly run what Joe thought he was going to do. So it's a bit of a miscommunication more so on Cincinnati. Great job by the bills taking advantage of it. And then you have the

next play pick. To me, as much as you're saying, the bills are going to the Super Bowl, in the same breath. I feel very good about it. If the borough doesn't make that decision, hands the ball off, we're probably talking about, or the bill's making the playoffs. I hear you. I hear you, but like all last year, we talked about Kansas City. All they did was win one score games. Well,

if this didn't happen, if that, we just talked about it, if Caleb Williams threw this, it didn't happen, though. I'm with you, but Kansas City has Mahomes, Buffalo has Josh Allen. Kansas City also has Chris Jones, Steve Spagnol call on the defense, and even them last night, I thought their defense looked amazing.

yes okay buffalo doesn't have that their defense is scary but I think McDermott city has Travis Kelsey the best past catching tight end of all time do you put anything into the fact that the bills did not punt yesterday I believe that's the first time they've done that in a game of three years this is where it gets

like I know but that's McDermott you talk about like his reputation has been conservative conservative conservative conservative totally more of a defensively minded coach which he is like is McDermott realizing it maybe I can't get this defense going I got to let the offense cook a little bit more than it hasn't.

I think he has, and I know I've brought this up on here a lot, Hayes, and I think it drives me nuts. I do agree with everything you're saying, and even more so now, the fact that they did not make a big move at the trade deadline drives me insane. If you're a Bill's

fan, it's like this is the clearest path as far as like probably no Lamar. Now they can still sneak back in. Yes. And probably no Mahomes. Like, You're feeling great about this. This is your avenue to do it.

I would feel a lot better if they had a true number one receiver. Do you think they go all in on Justin Jefferson this summer if he's available? Like if he demands out? You just give them everything and just say, we would do anything to get you. I think they should, but will they know? Why? Why didn't they do anything? Like, why didn't they go get Jaden or Waddle?

Right. You know, why didn't they go get any way? I'm starting to win ball games. This is what's kind of trippy. I don't know if we have the board. anymore. Miami has the same record as KC and they're both technically still

alive. Six and seven. Absolutely alive. Good thing Al's bro was it on here when you heard that. Right. Is he doing that stupid six, seven thing? Oh, that's right. He still is. So I look at this board right now. And again, let's take Baltimore out of it because Pittsburgh Baltimore is still in. But let's say the Chargers

lose tonight. You've got I don't think the Colts, I'm taking them off my own personal board. Miami and KC. Baltimore are two games back. of the Chargers. Casey plays the Chargers next week, at home. So

again, I don't know who's going to win that game, but, like, we're still very much alive, I think, for that seven seat. I don't think, I think Houston probably gets in there. If you're one of those other teams right now, including Miami, you've got to be pulling for the Eagles to now. Yeah. Yeah.

You've got to be. Well, and we'll get to that in just a moment, but you know, let's say this is the end for the Chiefs. How confident are you that they can turn it around quickly and that Mahomes will compete for more Super Bowls in his career. 10 out of 10. I'll tell you this, this is what I'd say. Did you expect any other answer?

He still thinks they're winning the Super Bowl this year. Look it out. Listen, we're all tricked. That's the thing. I feel like you're just keep going back to the well. I'm like they're just going to snap out of it. I don't know. Not this year.

This is my thing. This is my thing with the Chiefs this year, okay? And why you say like how confident. First off, Mahomes has looked awesome. I thought it looked awesome again last night. How is that possible when he throws three picks, though? I mean, the one hit Kelsey in the hand bounces off. You know, it's like one of them was a glorified pun.

It was a 42-yard. I just feel like, you know, he has gotten enough compliments throughout his career where when you lose a must-win game at home and you throw three picks, he doesn't need compliments. And you're not alone because I saw other people. I think Ryan Clark tweeted something out. Like, he's underrated. I'm like, are you crazy?

This guy is a nurse. Since like two or three years in the league, people are saying it's better than Brady. I don't love the idea. I never said. I'm not comparing you to him. I'm just saying. Yeah. And I'm not a big Ryan Clark guy.

I hear you. I hear. I'm just saying, I think the instinct is like we got, you got to protect Mahomes all the time. But this is my thing. You look at yesterday, fourth and one, perfect magical moment. Excuse me. I don't know if it was the fourth one or fourth and four. I think it was the fourth and four.

Rishie Rice, it's a bad draw. Yes. Okay. Anyways, you're down seven four minutes left. The throat of Kelsey was behind. Agreed, but Kelsey's the best pass catching tight end in the NFL. He makes that play.

And that's where it's like I look at the chiefs this year and why I think that they'll be still very competitive is another under the radar play from last night. Is Bucker missing a kick? He makes that kick. The fourth and one

that they got stopped and totally change momentum doesn't happen because they're up three and they're kicking there for sure. And you're either. going, I have no problem winning this game 13 to 10. The only guy that jams is Team Nudelson, which he's not Pete Carroll thinking about us, you know?

What the hell was that? What was Pete doing? Kicking a field goal, there with no time left on the clock. There was some badding people that were just... Well, the flag, too, the delay of game flag was outrageous. The clock should have just run out and games over. I'm with you, but I actually, and I know I'm in the minority here,

technically I think everything was done correctly. Including kicking the field goal there. So this is, and I know Pete, this is how Pete's brain works, I'm telling you, and granted, I'm not, I'm not giving them the bad beat of all bad beats. So what happens. Of all time. What happens in these two-minute drives, and if you look at Lockett, and again, I would

know this because Lockett was right beside me for a lot of years. What they teach guys, and it's kind of funny, is when you get packled on a two-minute drive to run the ball to official, and Pete would be like, listen, hand it to him. Do not, and he'd have all these random clips from random. games where guys would even be like from you to me away and they throw the ball and it falls on the ground and you'd be like these refs can't catch there's some of the worst athletes out there you just burn two seconds so he'd be like sprint in hand the ball right in his hand and get back to your side on the flip side on defense what they would teach guys is if you make the tackle

to just kind of lay and like get up really slowly and it's like all we're looking for is one second you'd always say that every second matter one second in that moment so that would jams everybody here is Lockett is a habitual slide guy. He catches the ball sliding. He doesn't like taking hits. He's been this way for the last decade. The Lockett catches that ball. He's on the ground, and I believe it's Jones.

Jones, instead of touching him, decides to kind of belly flop on him. To create that moment like, hey, I made the tackle. And I'm killing time here. And then he gets up slow, and then he swipes at the ball. And if you look, Lockett loses it. So, like, although it's very ticky tack, that is a delay again. game. It's a legit penalty. This is talked about in meetings

where it's like, hey, you've got to make it look believable. And Jones, that's the least believable thing. There's going to be guys tracking those plays tonight. Totally. Like in the second quarter, it's not delay a game. It is with a three seconds left. Pete is like a notorious, overly

positive guy, almost delusional. And I love that about him. But I guarantee you Pete went up to Carlson and was probably like, hey, we're going to kick this field goal, drill it and go low. and maybe we get one second left, and it was close. And then what you would need, which again, I'm not saying this right, but you need to on-side kick it, but also hope that they get a penalty.

Right. So I don't know if you tell a guy to go, you know. But the other way is, okay, then you go around and you throw the Hail Mary, let's say you do catch it, times out. So like, by the book, Pete did it right. Okay. Oh. Speaking of doing it right, there's a guy, process matters.

I just have to say, it's been a long time. I feel like I'm part of a team again. I love you. Yes. Great to have you. I do, too. And look, you guys picked me up because I was on the fence and I was kind of leaning bears, but you guys picked me up and you kind of knew.

You had a feeling. No, this is a Packer game and you were right. Correction. The O-Dog picked us up. O-Dog. Because I generally recuse myself. off with the Packer games. You know I've got too much bias in that. I don't see the board

clearly. The O-Dogs stepped in and said they win by a touchdown. Definitively. Definitelyly said that. We lost in the hook there in the Chief's Pucal or himself. We're back down 13. Well, you did get the Steelers game. How's this going to work with Tomlin quickly

before we get to the pick? Like, if the Steelers win the division, he's not going anywhere. Right? They're not going to fire him or anything unless he has his own option. I'll tell you. I know. But it's like, now there's good vibes out there. I saw D.K. Metcalfe on special teams, and Rogers is, like, they looked like a pretty connected team to me. That, so, you know, the most shocking thing of the weekend for me was the fourth down, go for it. The first one that Andy Reid did when they were tied.

But a close second was how great the offense looked. They had no run game. So it wasn't like, hey, run the football and now we'll send everyone's in the box and we can throw it. Aaron Rogers threw for 284. At one point, I thought he was going to throw for 330. D.K. had 137. You just said it. I'm sitting there with producer Dennis Barham, TSN Guru,

who's a huge Steelers fan. I'm looking at him. I'm like, this team looks like one of the best teams in the league right now. They got good mojo in Pittsburgh right now. Like, offensively, they looked awesome. Where has that been all year? And it's usually you have to like grind to get there. If they can capture that magic with D.K. and Aaron, like they can be kind of good.

Okay. Well, the other team in Pennsylvania, not trending in that direction. That would be the Eagles. Not the best, and the Eagles are in L.A. playing the Chargers tonight. Eagles laying two and a half house, brother. Now, this is a weird game, weird spread. There's some confliction.

We're not going to lie. You know, the group chat, there was some pushback, but like they say, right, good teammates, pat you on the back and say, keep going. Great teammates, look you in the eye and say, be better. And that's what the ODA's been doing since you're right. I've said it all year, and I've said it the last couple years, the Chargers find a way to charge at critical moments in the season. That's all I'm saying, go over the top against him.

Take Herbert. Alice Brother, tremendous information, please. Yeah, here's the problem is that the Eagles just, they don't look like a good football team right now. I mean, the Chargers, they could win this game outright. So you're giving me them two and a half points and at home? Like, I think we've got to go with the Chargers. You look at the Eagles last four weeks, they're averaging 15 and a half points offensively. They can't score in the second half of ball games.

They're dealing with some big injuries in the trenches. You've got both Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter out, and these guys can't stop the run. Amarian Hampton coming back tonight. I think that puts a little pep in the step of this run game that had their best game last week. And look at the Eagles. He gave up like almost 300 yards on the ground last week against the Bears.

This is tremendous information. It is. It is. I think they run all over this team. I think they could possibly win this game outright. So, I mean, I'll take the two and a half points. Noodles. I'll tell you this.

You had me at hello. You had me at hello. Noodles, I was convinced they were going to take the Eagles, because Eagles cover this bite with ease tonight. And if we get down 14 noodles, we're jammed. Oh, that's the number. That's the number. If we can somehow, they can puke all over themselves,

which is what Al's brothers doing right now. And we get back to 12. It's still very, very slim. Pete Carroll. We have wet. What do I write to you, Luke? What do I write to you, Luke? I said, it's a marathon.

This guy's a fortune cookie. Noodles is a walking, talking. No, I know what I am, is I'm, I've got common sense and I bring in, I bring in like a level head to all of this. I agree. There's emotion everywhere. I see emotion and yelling and screaming and name calling. This is your guy, noodles. This is my guy, and this is where my head goes.

I hear that. It's inspirational haze, and I think to myself. Inspirational quotes. This guy's walking around the halls of like home sense, reading whatever's on the wall. And he's getting the good vibes. What I need is to be better myself. I will look at myself and say. You're going to Kevin Stefanski this?

No, but the other day, no, the other day I felt like, didn't I pick two of three? Didn't I call the Packard? Like I said, I said, just go with what you believe that the team is going to win, and then you look at the spread and all of that type of stuff. I missed on Kansas City because I've been tricked. No, because Risholai's dropped a ball in Travis Kelsey. And Taylor, Rich. And Bucker missed a kid.

Rice got hit, too, man. There was some big hits last night. Listen, if we get to 12 noodles, I'm just going to paint this scenario out here. Do you get ready to put this on in about three weeks. We got to get to 12 to 9, and it's out of our control. We then have to win Thursdays, must win, do or die. Then we go into that weekend at 11, and we somehow scrape out two. Saturday games coming.

And then if we can go, if we're at 10 back for Christmas, we need a Christmas miracle, but it wouldn't be the first time of Christmas miracle happened. These guys are. Sorry? They're the Chiefs. They're the Chiefs. They've had a solid run the last couple of years and now it's just all falling

apart and week after week saying we've got to get this win. We've got to get this win and continue to fumble the back. You're the Chiefs. We are greatness and we're not done yet. Well, it's the year 2025. Right, Al's brother? So you guys walking it in? Listen, I'm my lien was Chargers because

partially I don't trust the Eagles at all. like Jalen Hertz has been a disaster, a disaster. There's weird vibes with Sireani. They either go to a Super Bowl or they completely crater down the stretch, and it feels like deja vu right now. O'Dog. And the Chargers are rolling. They have no respect for you, O'Dog.

You called, you saved their weekend, O'Dog. You saved their weekend, and this is how they repay you. Chargers. This is how they repay you. I've got two more things to kind of put this thing over the top. These two else, brother. You're celebrating already. What were those balloons?

What were those balloons? I have no idea. We're celebrating a win already. We're celebrating wins already. My guy had balloons on his thing. It's all good. Chargers love being under the lights, guys. Seven and two in primetime games under Jimmy Harbaugh.

And what I really like about this Chargers defense is they limit explosive plays, which Philly relies on. So you limit that explosion. The run game isn't really doing a whole lot. Landon Dickerson's injured. I already talked about the injury Elaine Johnson. I don't think this is the game Sequan pops off. They're going to really limit that offense.

I think that it's going to be tough. I love them to put up points there. I'd like you to come in here, O'Dog, next meeting when Philly covers the summer tonight and say, boys, you should be making the picks. Because these two bums should they should'll miss if it wasn't for you and they're going to miss tonight. Well, maybe he'll pull a Notre Dame and just say I choose not to pick and choose not to play. That's outrageous, by the way. How about them, like, crying all the way back to South Bend and saying, we're not playing in the bowl games?

Okay, I get that. They should have been in the playoff. I think they probably should have been in the playoff. How does Miami and Notre Dame both not play and somehow Miami jumps Notre Dame? Yeah. Both deserve to get in. I'm not.

It's a great question. Alabama got pumped in the championship game. And you knew they were in because they're Alabama. And the SEC's got power. It's politics, man. But Notre Dame, you would think, has a lot of backers. I don't know. I don't know if it's that they're still not in a conference.

The fact that someone created a system that has two Lane at two losses and JMU in Miami, excuse me, Notre Dame, and even BYU. I mean, BYU's lost to Texas, heck. Right. Andy's the two-lossed SEC team. Feels like blowouts are coming.

Like, what's tough to now is I'll say this real quick, is it's ruined out of conference schedule, because you look at Texas. They're not going to play anyone tough anymore. How awesome was Texas versus Ohio State week one? Amazing. The hype was anyway. And now you're Texas, and unfortunately, my alma

Mauder's the one catching ricochet bolts here, but everyone's using rice. Yeah, let's play rice. We play rice and get a win. We're in the playoffs. All day. Exactly what's going to happen. They were out of conference stuff early in the year. It's going to be dead. It stinks. All right, Luke. Good luck tonight. Need it. Need it. Good luck.

Fly. Eagles, fly. Noodle's squad. Chargers are the pick. Al's brother. Great stuff is always. Great senior. There he is. Al's brother. Best bet still to come. Chris Prong or least lightning tonight. We'll get to that next. 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. 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. The NPHL, North and South divisions are on fire. The Blitz are leading the north. The killer bees dominate the south. Now the league's best collide at the All-Star game January 10th in Alveston, Ontario. Tickets available at nph-hillhockey.ca. Best left later in the hour, Ross Atkins speaking down at the winter meetings. A couple of things to point out that I'm sure we'll get into extensively this week.

One, Ross concluding, or I guess, confirming that Jose Berrios just pulled the shoot in the World Series. not happy. Like just left. For me, that's the end of him. You got to get rid of this guy. Like, you cannot have a player who's so bent out of shape making that kind of money, team first guy allegedly, because you're not playing, he didn't make the roster, you just go home? That's the bigger issue is that he wasn't good enough to be on the playoff roster. Yes, his stats down the stretch were terrible. Then he was banged up. They moved him to the bullpen because he couldn't pitch. And I get it. He couldn't throw a strike. His last several starts coming down the stretch. He could not throw

strike he's just a bad look too it's a bad look horrible because this gets out because now wherever he lands you know teams are looking at him this this guy quit on his team yeah like that's it's a bad look for your his reputation as a player it's a good point jamie everybody always used to say there's always somebody watching regardless of the game exhibition game middle of the season play out there's always somebody watching and something that you do could affect your interest in the future yeah something like that is a great example example of that. Yeah. For me, if I'm Ross Atkins, that's it. You can't pitch again for my team. Like, you can't, you cannot go in that clubhouse and look at those guys and say, hey, how'd the

World Series go? I was watching back home because I just, I was so pissy. I had to get out of here. I know, but dude, from all accounts, the guy's like a hard worker. He's like, I understand that. I know. But how do you recover from that? You don't. You don't. You bailed on your team in the World Series. Yeah. I think the hardest thing for him is because Like I just said, if he would have been a good teammate and cheered everybody on and then to decide to move away from him, Ross can sell him around the league and talk to other managers and everybody and go, this guy's an unbelievable team guy, hardworking, just not a fit for us. You can find, now he's come out and said, this guy didn't want to be a part of it, went home.

There will be a team that takes him. But when they're doing their due diligence on the player, It is going to be in their file. On one side, though, Jamie, I like the fact that the guy was pissed off because there's some guys where you say, you're going to sit out for a while, and they're just like, no, okay, no problem. I get that.

I do like the fact that he was pissed off. Listen, if he did a storm in the office, Ricky Vaughn throwing baseballs around or told Ross where to go, I totally get that. And then he went into his teammates and said, but I'm here for you guys. Not about, you know, it's like it's your teammates. They're in the World Series. and I get you're not playing and I don't know if the raw raw matters that much or whatever and maybe that's being overstated from afar from the outside but to me the guy's been a vet

on this team for a long time and your teams in the World Series and you just go home like that that to me is a crazy look and Shane Bieber apparently something's going on with him and Ross is being somewhat cryptic in terms of how available he'll become the spring and ramping him up and remember when we were just, doing the, why did he opt in? Why did he opt in? And everyone's like, oh, good vibes because he loves Toronto. Or maybe he couldn't pass a physical

and he had to opt in because he wants security for this year. Like there's a possibility that it was something like that. Yeah, maybe. We'll see. We'll hopefully get some more clarity on that as we move forward because Bieber's a great pitcher and pitched very well for them

down the stretch. But, man, winter meetings starting off with a bang. Ross coming out speaking and we'll get more into it as the week goes on. Least Tampa tonight, let's bring in a good friend. We haven't had them on in a while, joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Here's Hall of Famer, Cup winner, Chris

Pronger. What's happening in prongs? Not much. How are you guys doing? We're doing pretty well. We're ready for a big one tonight and Lease Tampa and we've been talking about this. Big tilt in the Atlantic Division trying to get a read on things. I mean, it just it's been a very good division for a long time

and, you know, through 20, 25 games it just kind of feels like it's anyone's race right now. Like, is there a favorite for you in the Atlantic Division or what? Not as of yet. Not as I look at the eight points from the bottom to the top. As bad as Buffalo has been, there are only a few points out of a playoff spot.

Yeah, it's interesting. And Tampa's been, obviously, the PACE car here for the last couple of weeks, but the Leafs, if they win in regulation tonight, the two points behind them. And, you know, the Leafs are, they're in a position very similar to other teams, lot of injuries. They've had a fight through it. They dug themselves a hole earlier in the year, but when you watch them, like, are you seeing

them kind of turn a corner here? Do you have any optimistic views on the lease? Where do you stand on them? O'Dong may want to hear this. Okay. Oh, boy. Here we go. Go ahead. Oh, boy. No, I think they've played a little better as of late.

I don't not sold on them just yet. I haven't seen them get to that next level, but they have had a ton of injuries, as has everybody. So their depth has been called into play more than maybe they would have liked. But, you know, I think maybe they're trying to, maybe they're now starting to figure out what their identity has to be for them to be successful and play to the highest level and win hockey games. It's, you know, with the condensed schedule and the way this season is going to play out,

there's going to be a lot of sloppy hockey games. the games that they're going to have to win. Prongs, what have you seen from Austin Matthews game this year? He has left me wanting more. I want him to take charge. I want him to be the guy. I watch 97 in Edmonton. He wants the puck everywhere all the time.

He's going to rush it up the ice. He's going to use his skill set to his best advantage. Now, Austin Matthew, excuse me, is a different player. He's more of a score than a facilitator and a driver of the play. But when you lose your linemate like Marner, who was that player, you have to, your game has to evolve. And if you want to be looked upon as one of the top players in the game, you have to add more layers to your game as well.

Prawns, let me ask you quickly to follow up on that, noodles, before you jump in because the power play is a disaster with the least right now it's an absolute mess how much of that is on the best player like you were on the power play all the time how much of it is we're not going anywhere unless our best player in this case austin matthews starts doing more on the power play honestly it's a byproduct of marner not being there because a lot of this went through him and now it's them trying to figure out who is that facilitator who's the that's always going to find the right play. And again, you're going to hear me go back to this all time.

This condensed schedule does not give them the time frame to practice, which is where they're going to work on the power play, and they're going to work on the right shot. You're a Hall of Fame player. When you throw some real talented smart guys out there, you should be able to figure it out to some level without being, like, instead of looking at it and saying that's a complete and utter disaster.

Which it is right now. I played on a power play for a lot of years of Ron Francis. Very simple. Ronnie's got to get the most touches because he's going to decide where the kill shot's going to be distributed to. That's the whole idea. So they've got to figure out who that guy is.

If it's not Austin Matthews, and I said it on the panel the other night, let Easton Cowan have the puck along the goal line and let him make some plays because it's like they've got William Nealander with an incredible shot. Austin Matthews has one of the best snapshots slash wrist shots that's ever played the game,

and they're not utilizing. strengths. Like William Nealander should have a stick in the rafters getting ready to tee up one-timers like Ovi, but he doesn't do it. They skate around and skate to each other, and it's nonsense. It's complete nonsense. I'm lost for words when I'm asking about it. I just want to put my hand up to my face when he asked me about it.

Yeah, simplify it. Well, they have to simplify, but I'm going to tell you, Mike Keenan, and noodles, you might have been there. Mike Keenan said, I've got $35 million on the power play. We don't need to practice. That art power play was brutal for a long time until we decided to practice on our own. Nice. Forget Keenan.

Yeah. Here's the one thing. We're going to practice. I wanted to ask this because I don't think Easton counts the solution. I think William Nealander is a good passer. He just prefers to shoot. Like, I think it could run through Willie. I know, but Jamie, he has no out along the goal line as a right-handed shot.

They're all lefties down there. Put him on the half wall. I know, but if he gets it on the half wall, if you put William Mielander on the half wall and he's running the power play, he does not have a right shot on the goal line as a threat. If you give it to a lefty down there, there's no threat to take it to the net. So that's why it's always on the other side. The thing is Mitch Marner played the point on the power play,

but he also played the right side on the power play, which had a left shot on the goal line and could step to the net and hit Tavares in the bumper or nyes on the back door. Like to me, Marner was talented enough to play his all. off wing, or his actual true wing, he doesn't need a one-timer. I just, I feel like Nielander is probably the best passer on that group. Make him the guy. Make him the guy to think through everything and have to actually step out of his comfort

zone and just standing there for a one-timer or standing there to make a little play off the wall. To me, he's the guy that I would shine a light on and say, things are going to run through you. We're paying you $11 million. you're a damn good player live up to it step out of your comfort zone I don't know prongs how would you feel

have you ever been asked or seen players step out of their comfort zone where they've been asked of more absolutely and I'll even take it back a step further they need to shoot the puck from the middle of the ice in the beginning of the power plate sure the point shot from the middle

starts everything everything flows from that you get a point shot it gets the box moving now the seams and the lanes all open up they can hit the bumper they can hit out high they've got guys for one timers it's going to give their top players

more time and space if they shoot the puck more instead of trying to you can't make a play when you don't move the box no I said that in November that was my November comment on the panel it's like shoot the puck from the top of the box and then create confusion and then they didn't want to do any of that

not that they should listen to me or you like they just they get the puck prongs and they skate they'll get it and they'll just skate it over to a guy and then like give him a one foot pass and then they'll skate it back

and I'm just like how could guys this talented be doing this nonsense out there it's crazy stuff simple shot from the point just to create some chaos in front of the net and everybody will say to me oh that's just that's caveman talk

that's nonsense I'm like okay then do it your way let's see what the results are I seem to remember Oliver Ekman Larson and Phoenix playing the top and the power play and scoring a lot of goals

with his one-timer. Yeah. Get Nylander up there feeding him, one-timers. I think there's... Or whoever. Yeah.

I also think, too, is there is... When you looked at, I'll give you an example, like, Eminton's power play wasn't, you know, lighting the world on fire

to start the season. They were missing Hyman. You know, the guy they missed was R&H. R&H is a facilitator. Like, That's the thing. McDavid and Drysiddle, they know their routes.

They know what they're going to do. Bouchard's got the bomb and he establishes exactly what you said, prongs. The shot is always a threat. So if you had, maybe it's Oliver Ekman-Larsen that you need the shot of the threat or Riley that establishes the shot. But to me, there has to be a facilitator that they trust. The guy who is going to make everything fit together. You know what else he does well, Jamie, that Newton Hopkins.

he makes excellent pressure decisions. Like if there's a mad scramble, he'll relieve the pressure and have a float a little sauce packs back to Bouchard and he releases the pressure and he does that extremely well. He's a smart guy, a heady guy, and he makes quick decisions like that on the power play, which is so key. You get some dumb-dums out there, your power play screwed. Well, and he knows exactly his role.

He is the facilitator. He knows, I got to get it back to McDavid, I got to get it to Bouchard, or I got to throw it over here in the corner to dry-sidal who will use his big frame to buy time and then they can reset. Prongs, you, noodles saw Colorado play up close and personal over the weekend. And you look at McKinnon, he's, what does he get, a seven-point lead on anyone else in the league and points?

And that team's been a rock star. Do you think McKinnon, do you see him running away with this? The Art Ross, the heart, Colorado, or do you think now that Edmonton's coming alive, McDavid, the kids, Celebrini Bedard, can they keep baseball? with him? I think in the lead-up, typically in the lead-up to an Olympic season, we'll see a little bit of pullback. I mean, it's only natural for players to kind of let off the gas pedal a little bit in the

lead-up so they don't want to get hurt. They've already committed to going, all these things. I think they are just humming right now, and they are on a tear, and they are, and they can do nothing wrong. At some point, though, I worry that it's going to look or feel like it's too easy and that won't have faced any adversity through the season. They haven't had, they've had injuries, but they haven't had key guys go out for any period of time. So they haven't been taxed or called upon to have other players step up. And that's what you need in the playoffs. There will be injuries at certain points in the playoffs. And especially, and I'm going

to go back to it again because of the condensed schedule, they're going to have injuries at some point during the season or most likely if they don't in the season, they're going to have some of the playoffs. And then that's where they're going to get tested. Pranks, we had a pretty good debate in the 4 o'clock hour about the Olympics. Have you ever wanted to fight in the Olympics? And have you ever had to pull yourself back from doing something stupid out there because you realize you're not on NHL ice or you realize that the rules are slightly different. There might have been a couple times where you lost it for a second,

but then realize, okay, we're in the Olympics, we can't fight. Right. And, oh, by the way, I'm going to take your number. And, oh, guess what, I play you in nine days. I'll see you in nine days. Don't you worry about it. I'm going to break your arm and then see if I can't break your foot at the same time. I love that playing against some team

you'll never play it I'll tell you a story 2002 there's a picture of Tamu Salani running me from behind my face is between the two partitions of the glass caught me for I think 10 stitches

and he jumped hit me from behind and I lost it I changed I got off the ice and bleed all over they had to put the stitches on to sutures. And I see it, we win the game 2-1, and everybody goes over here to the right to celebrate.

And I beeline to the left to get in his face. And I'm like, you are dead. I've got your number. And I think we played him 11 days later, if I'm not mistaken. And let's just say he needed a lot of ice packs. I wasn't too worried about winning that game. I can tell you that. Right.

And he would have been on the ice a lot, right? You can't go back home and tell your coach, just play me eight minutes tonight. Let's be selected with the ice time. Get me away from Pronger if you can. Well, it's coming quick, man. We'll get you on well before the Olympics because the teams will be named

in just over a month, I think, or under a month. And before you know, we're off to Italy. So it'll be a fun couple of months leading up to that, for sure, a month and a half. Anyway, Prongs, great catching up with you as always, buddy. Thank you for doing this.

Pleasure. there he is chris pronger joining us here on the maple toytoe hotline uh that's a great timus salani story i remember the phone call he called me right after the game and everybody is he talks is your buddy he calls me and he goes your buddy timu is dead and i go i don't even know the guy how would you be buddies with timu salani that guy is dead and i knew exactly what happened because he he explained it his Noose got caught in between the glass. What was Timu thinking, man? That's just being a hero, international hockey, right?

You're like, ah, nothing's going to happen out here. Everyone's just playing. I think guys like Prongs and Shanahan and Scott Stevens, like, I think other guys would wake up and they'd be like, it's probably an accident, screw it. Those guys don't, they don't, they let that, that's not going away. It's not going away. They take a number and they actually follow through on it. You know how many times you'd hear old school?

Like when I played in the league, there was a lot of 35-year-old guys. They'd be like three years ago, that guy slashed me behind the legs. And it's like, okay. Pat Quinn, Stan McKee. Pat Quinn waited 15 years to get Stan McKita. And that's exactly what you would think would be like, no, I'm getting that guy. Like that guy's dead. All right, best bet's coming up.

Leaves Lightning tonight, Monday night, or tonight. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. 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 to 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. PHL North and South divisions are on fire.

The blitz are leading the north. The killer bees dominate the south. Now the league's best collide at the All-Star game January 10th in Alveston, Ontario. Tickets available at nphlhockey.ca. All right, best bets powered by Fandole, make your picks and assemble the same game parlay in seconds on the Fandall's sportsbook at Monday Nighter tonight. HBO on the Chargers taking the points. I'm going to parlay that with Hampton 40 plus yards rushing tonight.

Ladd McConkey, five plus receptions tonight. at Parlay Payne plus 464. Best bets powered by Fanduel. The overdrive, same game parlay available on the Fandual Sportsbook. Yeah, please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. So we've got that game tonight. We've got the Leaf game. A later start tonight, 730 puck drop for the Leafs.

And we've got other games in the NHL, NBA, you know, winter meetings. Ross Ackin speaking today. We'll see what comes out of it by tomorrow. I don't like the tinkering. It's almost like I feel like they're over. tinkering, man. I know you always got to try to find a ways of proof, but you're committed to that 25 roster.

You want to bring everyone back, run it back? No, I know that's not the case. You always got to look to get better, but I just think you just, you switch it up too much. The vibes can, I don't know. All right. Well, we'll see what they have in store. They've made some moves already. There will be more to come, and

we'll track it throughout the week. The winter meeting's officially underway. All right, boys. Good stuff. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in Today, TV radio podcast web and up on YouTube live. We appreciate that. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings.

Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at. Hashtag, now we, bro. 4 p.m. We'll chat then. The lights are twinkling. The playlist. Sparkling.

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