OverDrive - OverDrive - December 9, 2024 - Hour 2

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN NFL Analyst Luke Willson joins to discuss the biggest headlines around the NFL and the selection for the Monday Night Football matchup. New Jersey Devils Head Coach Sheldon Keefe joins to discuss the season overview for the team and playing against the Maple Leafs.

It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025. Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions. And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal. Plan. Portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN

or visit askkelvin.ca our two overdrive continues i love that millie finnelli man It's just a great, great song. It is a great song. It's fraudulent. Luke is in here with us. But it's a pretty good track. It's great to see someone else who was in the big leagues. Yeah, there he is. Luke Wilson, a professional athlete.

You know what I thought was real scummy yesterday? What's that? Real scumbag move. You're a partner, you know. Generally, you guys have a good weekend. He'll put a tweet out there like, let's say you guys hit two and we miss our pick. You know, he'll be, oh, Hazenbro, 3-0.

Yesterday, because we all went 100%, but you guys had more games than us, your overall record was 2-1. But this guy, because he's a frontrunner and a scumbag, tweets, Hazenbro, cause he's a front runner in a scumbag tweets. Hazenbro two and oh, on the weekend. No, you weren't. I know you might've been like, it's fake news. Well, I mean, I know he loves the Trump dance. I know it's his jam. That is his thing right now, but that's trash. Well, you know, competitor, you guys did pick a winner in the afternoon. It was very good pick tough game, Tough game. Very tough game, and you picked a winner.

Dude, he tried to jam me. He's not wrong that on our picks, we did go 2-0. I just want consistency. I gotta stick up for my guy. Don't claim your 3-0 then when we miss one. You know what Al's brother's got? He's got a... Nothing. Well, he's got a security

guard vibe to him. Doesn't he scream? Give him a little bit of authority? What do you mean where it's like, don't touch my guy? Well, or Mr. and Mrs. Soto, you're not allowed in this part of the park. Because we referenced this clip. This is John Amon. Wait till you hear this. This is the most afraid human being on earth.

Yeah, this security guard up at Yankee Stadium. And I think this fits all three of you because you would have dealt with a million security guards. And again, some of them I'm sure were more like mall copy than others or a little bit more, hey, watch it. You're not allowed, or especially if you're a rookie, they probably thought they had some authority over you or what have you. But

John Heyman of MLB Network had this report on what Juan Soto maybe was a little bit disappointed with in terms of his time with the Yankees. One little issue, and I asked Juan Soto about this after they lost the World Series. I took him aside and asked him. There was one little issue with the Yankees where a security guide booted either his mother or his father out of some area, and there were some negative feelings at that moment.

Now, this, I think, is back in April or May, and the same guy did it to his driver and chef, and the chef and driver had a way out in the rain, and Soto is a family guy. He was not too happy. So if you're that security guard right now. Who is that? Who's the security?

Who is the reporter? That's John Heyman. Is he like accredited human being well he did report that aaron judge was signing with the giants and then had to rescind that pretty quickly he's pretty what happened party is juan soto was going to sign with the yankees and it was between the yankees and the mets and this guy brought up the idea that maybe the security guard pissed his family off and he left the organization. You think that's greasy?

Because there's a part of me that thinks the security guard now is probably like, dude, I'm a dead man now in the Bronx. There's literally a 0% chance that this man reporting has any... I mean, that is the most embarrassing report. First and foremost, if Juan Soto wanted to be a Yankee, and what was jamming him up was the security situation. He's going right to the red hat. The idea of it being reported, they're going to track down who that guy is and say,

what is the deal? 100%. Because if Soto wanted to sign with the Yankees, he'll go, I will sign for 760, but I want one thing done. I want you to call that guy who's kicked my parents and my driver and my cookout. You bring him into the office, and you fire him right in front of me. No, you let me fire him. You let me fire him, like something like that.

But if that is somewhat, like if he sat there with his parents, if he sat there with his parents at a table and was like, I've got a choice between these two, and the dad is like, well, that guy kicked me out. I'm not going back to that stadium. It would be insane. That security guard, man. Here's my next thing, and I don't know how it is in hockey.

The security guys that we deal with, there's your people in the stands that are the hired help, but the security guys that are on the Seahawks staff, and this is not just Seattle. When I was in Detroit, everywhere we went, the small time I was in Oakland, these guys bend over backwards to make you and your family feel comfortable.

So at what point, if this actually has merit to it, what was Juan Soto's dad doing to be kicked out of an area? That's the next thing. Or the chef. What's the chef? Is he trying to fire up a stir fry in the outfield? Or what is... This is the security guard

that Juan Soto's dad... I don't know if they get... That's one of the places. Yeah, man. I gotta know this guy. I wanna know the backstory. I'll tell you what tripped me out, and I don't know if that's one of the places. Yeah, man. I got to know this guy. I want to know the back story here. I'll tell you what tripped me out, and I don't know if Doogie can pull this up. It might take him a second.

But did you see the video of him getting champagne poured on himself? Oh, in the hot tub. That was maybe the weird. Now that I've heard this. Very awkward. That'll trump that. And furthermore, Heyman, I'm pretty sure the report, didn't he say he pulled Soto aside right after the World Series?

Yeah, like who's doing that? That guy is lying. He said that Aaron Judge is going to the Giants. He's probably the same guy who claimed that show rate was coming to the Blue Jays. He fired a radio station this week because the guy brought it up again. Yeah, he was on the fan in New York, and the guy was goofing on this guy about being in the pocket of Boras. The thing about it is he broke Aaron Judge, but he spelt his name wrong.

He called him Arson Judge. Arson Judge to the Giants. And then like an hour later, oops. Yeah, that is kind of weird. To be honest, I'm going to be completely honest. If I were to ever sign a $700 million deal, first off, there would be no videos of that party. That's another thing. Secondly, if there was a video, I would not be solo dolo in a hot tub with my boy pouring champagne on my dome.

And that bottle looked like it was a 375 milliliter one, too. That was a tough look for me. Yeah, that's not 50 grand at a Vegas club bottle. That thing was the size of this. It was baby duck. It was a baby duck. Yeah, that was $12 at the local store. Like, we're humming.

I think of, you know, and again, it's nowhere near 700. That looks like a Bud Light, man. I don't even think that is champagne. Like, it's really, really strange. Yeah, that's a weird vibe. That is weird. But that's the world today, though. $750 million, man.

That's a video you put out there. We all are pretty private. I don't know if I'd put that video. I think you say thank you, and that's it. I don't know if you let your buddies film you getting beer or champagne. You posted it, too, right? Yeah, that's what I did. I guess you're having a party. Cool, go for it.

But man, $765 million. I'll be honest. He's doing his thing. He's living his life. I was in LaSalle, Ontario when I was drafted to the NFL. After the phone call came, you know, you do your business, you sign the dotted line of when I'm leaving, and me and my boys went straight to

Ouellette Avenue and burned the city down. Yes. I mean, that's, and if I had 700 million, we would have been on a plane to, I don't know, maybe somewhere in Europe. That's where you can go anywhere. Where are we going for a week? It's on me, man. I'm going to pay a million dollars cash.

Yeah. I have a, I have a, I mean, again, uh, Windsor, Ontario is a special place for partying. Great ballet. If you know what I'm saying. That's great. But other than that, um, you know, I have a hard time with that video. Okay. Well, let me play another video here.

This is a New York one. Another New York one featuring another player in New York, Malik Neighbors, where someone paid a lot of money for a plane to fly over MetLife. This is the best. I saw that. Just saying, Mr. Mara, enough. Please fix this dumpster fire. And the Mara family are the owners of the Giants.

So Malik Nabors, who's a rookie on the team and has already been bent out of shape on multiple occasions this year, I think gets posted a layup from the media here. Gets asked about it and could have easily said a litany of things. We're trying in here. Yes, we're going to get it done for you. Even just go speak to the owner. That one's not for me. This is how

Malik Nabors responded to being posed the question, what do you make of that plane flying over MetLife? How do you as a player, what do you make of that? I ain't paid for the plane. I ain't paid for the plane. I ain't paid for the plane and then turns around, end of discussion, and leaves. Yeah.

Like, what an answer. I like it. You like that? I like it. What is he saying then? Well, it's almost like saying if I thought about it, maybe I would have paid for that guy. Yeah, I agree partially. But did anyone think that he was paying for it, like Malik Nabors? No, but I think it's a

shot. Does he have the right to give a shot? He's a rookie in the league. That's fair. I'll take that take, but here's my thing. I do look at Malik Nabors, especially early on when Daniel Jones was still in New York Giant. It was like, man, they got a little connection going on. Yes. It's tough

because you look at these guys and guys like Malik, and this is where i feel for him where i actually think he's talented enough you know to be the offensive rookie of the year you know be that guy where hey he becomes the next jefferson or the next jamar chase and i'm not saying he can't become that guy but right now he needs help around him in order to become that guy and you look at it now like drew lock Locke yesterday was Mary's lost little lamb out there for three and a half quarters. The man's just got 11 points.

I mean, I feel for the guy when he's probably sitting there going, yeah, I'm a rookie, but he's the best offensive player on that team. He's really been the only bright spot on offense on the team. He probably thinks his name should be out there. He was great the first five or six weeks. Yeah, and they're jamming him. And one of the things you expect as a player is that the organization would want to win and be professional.

And clearly, the New York Giants are not those things. They all want to win, the Jets, the Giants. They just suck, and they have no direction and no leadership up top. Sorry, it's a joke. I agree. I look at Deion Sanders right now and people were dogging him being like, there's certain places my kids aren't going.

I heard that and was like, if I had the power Deion Sanders had, I would be saying the same thing. Would the Giants and Jets be on that list for you? Absolutely. Which is amazing considering Eli was like, I'm not going to San Diego. I want to go to New York. Yes. And now it may actually be reversed. Now Coughlin was a

different, I would not put the Giants when Tom Coughlin was there in the same category as how they are right now. Yeah, listen, Eli won two Super Bowls there. Yes. So it worked out pretty well for him. But I get it because this is the thing. It's like, man, you could have as much talent in the world. You get put into a bad organization, things aren't going to go well.

You look at the Cleveland Browns. I mean, Baker Mayfield's a prime example. They picked this guy first overall. They ship him out of town. Baker won a playoff game for these guys. The Browns have been an abomination ever since. Baker Mayfield is, what, a top-ten quarterback in the NFL right now? He's been great.

He's been great. Yeah, he's been really good. So I sit here and say to myself, like, I get it, and it's tough. I don't mind Malik Naver saying I didn't pay for it. He doesn't disagree. Okay. All right. Is that weird?

Listen, he said what he said. I ain't paid for that play, and then he took off. That's an all-time line. How do you look at, like, the Bills and the Chiefs yesterday? Where the Bills, they gave up a ton of points to the Rams. Rams offense has not really been clicking all season, and it clicked yesterday. And McDermott's now on the firing line for the timeout late,

them going for the sneak and it not working, and the reaction to all that. All of it justified, in my opinion, the heat that he's taking and where he's at. Because McDermott is a guy that when it gets tighter later in the season, he's put himself in bad places. Dude, what do you mean the firing line, Hayes? They're 9-3, dude.

Well, listen, they've been a playoff team for four years. And a lot of the issues Bill's fans have by the end of the year is, does McDermott have what it takes to really close out games? And then you look at the Chiefs, who are 12-1, and they've won back-to-back Super Bowls, yet it's the weirdest 12-1 season ever. Like, they doinked one in last night. He called them frauds. He did call them.

He called them covering frauds. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. He may have called them outright frauds. But they did win, but didn't cover last night. So he's right on both. It was 13-0. I know.

I thought they were going to run away with that. We're good, and I'm going to be putting a Rick Barry tweet out there very soon. Rick in his short shorts. Rick had to stay away last night. Where are we at in the top of the AFC? To be honest with you, and again, I hope Bill's fans, because I know I go at him pretty tough. I think that was probably what I needed to see

because they should not have been close there. So Josh Allen, to me, can overcome Sean McDermott. That's just the reality. The idea that the Bills are going to have another game where Puka Nakua makes three of the best six catches in the NFL this year. Matthew Stafford looked like he turned back the clock 15 years. And in the same breath, be it only down two points, they also gave up a punt block touchdown.

So you take that out, technically we're winning the game. So I sit here and say to myself, for Buffalo, I thought it was the best case Josh Allen could make for MVP. But you talk about Buffalo's defense. Where I worry, though, is in now game film prep. Of the 37 points they gave up on defense, again, because of the pump locks, minus seven there, I now sit here and go, okay, as a player,

what would happen when we got gashed or we got shut down on offense? The next week, that team sees all that film and go, okay, as a player, what would happen when we got gashed or we got shut down on offense? The next week, that team sees all that film and says, okay, even if this is not something we normally do, clearly it worked very well. They had a hard time stopping it. We need to put our own wrinkle on what the Rams just did. And now I look at who they're playing next week. The Ben Johnson-

Going to Detroit. Detroit Lions offense. And Detroit's getting, I believe, Taylor Decker back as well, and they're hanging 30 on everybody. So now I sit here and say if they don't find a way to win that game, which I think they got a shot. I really do believe they have a shot there. But if they don't find a way to win that game

and they get another 30 hung on them, now all of a sudden you've got two great films to study from of being like, okay, how did the Rams hang 37 and how did the Lions hang whatever it's going to be? And you're going to the playoffs and they lose that. Again, we don't know exactly, but at some point they're probably going to have to see at least two of the following three teams. Baltimore, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. So I sit here and say, especially with a Kansas City team great coaches. Andy Reid

sees that film yesterday compares it to his own and says okay this really worked. Let's run this. That's where I think more the X and O's jam them up. But all in all I didn't think the loss was that much of an indictment on the Bills. Yeah. Because Josh Allen is one of the best

games I've ever seen. He's a he's a phenom. The picks aren't there anymore. That's the biggest thing year over year. He used to fumble balls away. He used to pick balls. He threw a million picks, or it seemed that way. And he's just not putting his team in a bad place.

No. He's controlling the football, and he's moving the chains, and he looks incredibly dialed in with probably maybe the least amount of talent offensively around him. Totally. At least over the last few years. The next thing I'll say is that, and we talk about the turnovers and how he hasn't had hardly any, but what I also think is like, you look at yesterday, James Cook had 20 rush yards.

I think he averaged 3.3. So he literally had no run game. They're down a million in the second half, and everybody knows, like, okay, they're throwing every play here. And Josh Allen's still, like, when you become that one-dimensional, that's generally when the mistake happens. Hey, we're pressing a bit. We're down 10 with no time. The Kirk Cousins type vibe.

Correct. And now all of a sudden it's like, hey, he's still doing it. Again, I tip my cap because that was another one that could have really gotten away quickly. Yeah. Well, and after the Detroit game, they got a soft skid coming home, and Kansas City's got a tough schedule. Pittsburgh's got a tough schedule.

What's crazy, though, is that that game wasn't on the docket. Yeah, Doogie. Doogie not having that game on the docket was bizarre. That was bizarre. I thought that was one of the bigger games of the weekend. Yet, now we have one for tonight. And on FanDuel, it is now Bengals down to minus four and a half.

Four and a half now, is it? Bengals four and a half at the Cowboys. This is a weird game, a weird line. I would guess if you asked the average NFL fan who's not really paying attention, they would just assume Cincinnati has more wins than the Cowboys. They would

assume incorrectly. Dallas has a better record. You're not going to get me to take the Cowboys. They would assume incorrectly. Dallas has a better record. You're not going to get me to take the Cowboys. You're not going to take the points. No. Okay. No, look at that. He tried.

Hold on. He tried. Look at your buddy wants to. Look at him over there. I got to say, one of the biggest concerns I have is, like, what kind of frame of mind is Joe Burrow going to be in? Because if he's in any kind of frame of mind, this is a blowout, and it's not even close, my personal opinion parts. Totally.

You're saying they're going to blow them out. You think the Bengals will win big tonight? Correct. When do the Bengals ever beat anyone big? Tonight. Crappy teams. They beat crappy teams. It's only 4.5.

It was 6.5. I know. It's been bet down significantly. I sit here, and I think about the Cowboys. They lose to the Eagles 34-6. They lose to the Texans 34-0. I know. It's been bet down significantly. I mean, I sit here and I think about the Cowboys. They lose to the Eagles 34-6. They lose to the Texans 34-10. They beat the Commanders, who are not as good and clearly have not been playing as well,

which is the division opponent. And then they beat the Giants by 7. They beat the Giants by 7? Dallas. There is no way I can sit here and take Dallas to cover this tonight at 4-1. Could it happen? Of course it could happen.

That Bengals defense is historically awful. Not good. That's called boardroom chats. Not good. Boardroom chats. O-Dog, where I think we potentially get jammed, I'm going with the Bengals. There's no way I'm changing that. But where I think we might get jammed is that the Cowboys run defense is very, very bad.

And O-Dog, you said it. Cowboys' run defense is very, very bad, and Odell, you said it. The Bengals' defense is also very susceptible to getting 35 points hung on them. So I do slightly worry that the Bengals' game plan is going to be, hey, even though we can throw all over this team, we can run all over this team, let's hand the ball off to Chase Brown, keep this kind of a slower game that our defense isn't on the field that long, be up six, you know, and ride that coattail into a Kansas City Chiefs-type win,

and now all of a sudden there's a greasy backdoor cover. I do worry about that. But that being said, O-Dog, I think it's the right pick. I think this puts us even on the week. We haven't missed a pick this weekend. We're on fire right now. Since the speech, we've only missed one. We've got to keep it going.

To me, this whole weekend was the Geppetto Bot Farmers kind of like last stand. They sat back there. They said, we can weather the storm. They threw the kitchen sink at us. Doogie tried to jam us with a tough game. We absorbed that. We keep it even

here. Next week, the floodgates are over. All right, we'll see, man. We've heard that a lot. That's very Yankee Stadium security guard vibes. Just loser, loser vibes. Security guard. That's fine, man. There's no way that's a true story.

I don't know, man. The security guard with the baseball bat. The baseball bat. That was so funny. Who was that? Stu Steiner or whatever his name is. Soto's parents trying to get into Yankee Stadium. They just take

a beating from whoever it is. Hey, listen. Whether you believe it or not, Yankee fans are going to jump on that. What I love about this, and it's such a loser's mentality, admittedly, because the Jays were in on this guy and they didn't get him. At least he's not in the AL East. At least he's not a Yankee or a Red Sox.

Okay, but can I ask you one question? You're a baseball guy, and then I'll shut up. Here it is. Welcome to Yankee Stadium. Come on in. How do you say no to the New York Yankees with that amount of money? It is absurd that he turned down what sounds like about $5 million difference. Yes.

They offered per year like $47.5 with the Yankees, $51 with the Mets. It may be as simple as Boris just said. You have to go wherever they literally will pay you the most. It may be that. Yeah, it could be. And Cohen just was going to continue to up and up and up with the Mets. But I'm with you. At some point, it's your life.

You would think, you're telling me I'm going to get $760 million to be a Yankee? I'll take that. Because then I'm a Yankee. Correct. I look at Jeter and say, you think of baseball, whether you hate the Yankees or not, the pinstripes, the Yankees, it's like you can be in baseball. You're a monument park.

You're a Yankee. The idea that you do that for the Mets, it's like, okay, sweet. You'll be next to Mike Piazza. Yeah. Crazy. Not Babe Ruth. That's what's coming, man. Or Luke Gary.

But their security is top notch. Crazy. And everyone's allowed in. All right. You guys are locking it in. Bengals minus four and a half on FanDuel. Timo and Wilson, good luck tonight. Thank you.

Good luck tonight. There he is, Luke Wilson. Sheldon, keep coming up, and we'll announce what we're getting up to tomorrow night on TSN. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. It's a Wilson. Sheldon, keep coming up, and we'll announce what we're getting up to tomorrow night on TSN. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025.

Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions. And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal, plan, portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN or visit askkelvin.ca. All right, Leafs back in action tomorrow night down in Jersey.

Playing the Devils. That game will be on TSN4 tonight. And so will the Overdrive crew. Oh, you're there every single game, but Noodles, you and I, we're joining. Oh, we're going to be on the panel for the game tomorrow night with Duffy, and we cannot wait for it. Bring in the heat tomorrow night. It's what you call

an Overdrive night on the panel. I'm really looking forward to it. Hayes, it must bug you a little bit because you're used to driving the bus and you've got to be like an analyst now. But you got it, man. I got it. We'll figure it out.

Yeah, and JV will be running the show. We've done it before. We did it last year. This is just, you know, it's the same old rodeo for us, man. Well, by the time, by the end of the night, he'll be trying to push Duffy out. And I got this, James. I might. I might give him a poke.

Throw to a break or something like that. Remember, I did that a couple years ago, and I jammed that up. I was like 15 seconds late. Dude, Harvey's commercial was almost over, and Hazy was still blabbing. I know. That was an amateur move. That was tough. But it's going to be like deja vu for us, because last year when we did it,

the year before we did it, Sheldon Keefe would have been a part of that broadcast. Yep. And Sheldon will be a part of it tomorrow night. Obviously on the other side, though. Here he is, the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, Sheldon Keefe. How are you doing, Sheldon? Doing very well, guys. Very well, thanks.

Yes. Do you get PTSD thinking of Mark Masters interviewing you before the game tomorrow night? No, man. You know what? Those are the little things i've been asked this is not my first uh toronto uh uh interview here today and uh been asked a lot about some of the similarities or differences but uh not having to deal with the likes of masters on a daily basis would be probably the biggest difference that's that as we all we all know, he's one of the best.

So, Jersey broadcast, you're not doing a pregame interview? I've yet to do one this year. Except for when Masters was in town back in October. I love it. He'll be there tomorrow, man. Be ready.

We're looking forward to it. It's going to be fun tomorrow night. We're going to be on the panel for the game. There's a lot going on down in that New York tomorrow, man. Be ready. We're looking forward to it. It's going to be fun tomorrow night. We're going to be on the panel for the game. There's a lot going on down in that New York area, man. Have you spotted Juan Soto today? Any buzz down there in Jersey about that kind of money or what? Lots of chatter. Lots of chatter around and about it. They certainly love their sports teams here in Jersey, New York.

Lots of chatter about it for sure. There's no shortage of hype for sports fans around here. So, yeah, it's making big news. That's a lot of cash. A lot of cash. And I'm curious as a coach what that's like. Like last year when Willie got his deal and Austin got his deal. How do you handle that kind of stuff as a coach

when a player gets paid that kind of money and all the team knows it, all the boys know it, the media's going to be buzzing about it? What kind of role do you play in kind of introducing that contract into the room if you do at all? Yeah, I mean, I think you do that. I think the first thing is it's not, I mean, the money, of course, is significant and you can kind of make light of it that

way, but you know, it's also, it's a player making a commitment to the team. It's a team making a commitment to the player. So I think that's, that's the big part of it. I was there, you know, and kind of broke the news to the team when Willie had signed his extension and you're kind of, you're making that connection, you know, I think that's, that's an important thing is that, an important thing is the commitment made on both sides. There's lots of cash involved, too.

You want these players. You want everybody to be well-paid. I think we all want to be able to maximize our worth and all that kind of stuff and do so within the restraints of the salary cap and still allow the team to be competitive, all those kind of good things. I wish you guys well compensated. Absolutely. With Sheldon Keefe, head coach of the Devils, Leafs Devils tomorrow night on TSN4.

In terms of your approach, you guys are off to a great start. Obviously, you've had a lot of success down there. How much of the philosophy you had here in Toronto systematically, your approach to players on a team basis, individual basis, how much of that is carried over to your job in New Jersey

and the way that you're coaching the Devils? A fair bit, I'd say. You know, I mean, I believe what I believe in terms of the game and how to put together a system and a structure and the things you want to emphasize. That said, you know, it is a unique team and a unique group. I think i think we're you know it's a team that didn't make the playoffs the year before has only made the playoffs you know i think it's twice in the last 12 years you know someone like jack hughes has only played in the playoffs one time um we've got a lot of work to do here in

terms of setting the foundation on the team i you know i inherited a different situation in toronto um you know here we got we've got a good team and we like we're at here to start the year though i the foundation of the team. I inherited a different situation in Toronto. Here we've got a good team, and we're at here to start the year, though I'd certainly still go to the rink with a long list of things to improve on. We've got a lot of work to do to set a foundation here to be competitive year over year, and then ultimately be a team that's knocking on the door

and trying to find its way through playoff success. But I think with our work habits and our detail and structure defensively and our competitiveness and just our overall habits and routines and everything that we do at the rink, away from the rink, all that sort of stuff, we're really trying to button up and get to a high standard here, and so far the players have certainly bought into it. Sheldon, every coach in the league knows pretty much every player, but you get to lay eyes on a guy like Jesper Bratt every day.

I don't want to say he's the household name, but he's a guy who's got 37 points this season. He's leading your team. Did he surprise you how good he is, or did you know how good he is, or just shed some light on how well he's played for you? Yeah, I mean, I certainly had appreciation for his skill level. The few times he played New Jersey in the pre-scouts, you dig in on it a little bit and you certainly are aware of it,

but seeing it on a daily basis, seeing it in practice, like the speed and agility that he has in tight spaces and the change of direction, it's certainly in the top 1% of the league, so it's fun to watch. But probably more important than that is for Brad, like how he approaches the game on a daily basis, his professionalism, the way he takes care of himself, the time he spends in the gym, the recovery time,

like everything that he does to remain healthy and to play at a high level consistently. That I've been really, really impressed with and something that you would never know just watching him play on TV. He's a real professional and there's not a moment that he's not doing what he thinks is right

to better himself for the next day. That's been equally impressive as a talent. With Sheldon Keefe, we always discuss a former coach coaching against his his ex-team and how he would have all these inside secrets and can you confirm or deny if that's actually accurate like if you're game planning against Matthews, Nylander, Marner like you would know them as well as anybody are you actually do you feel you you know how to stop them better than anyone else could in the league?

Where do you stand on that? Oh, man, I don't know. When you're dealing with players like that, and we just played against McKinnon and McCarr just last night, and you're playing against these exceptional players, I think you put a plan in place that is the same, if not any different than what you do for any other team. Like, you've got to limit your time with the puck, you've got to limit your time in space.

Like, I don't think there's any real schematic or structure-type thing that is going to really frustrate them. That's not – I don't think any of that insight really is helpful. It's just the obvious things, you know. You've got to be on top of them. You've got to make it hard for them to get to the net. You've got to force them to defend and keep the puck away from them as best you can. You also got to live with the reality that they're going to get their looks.

So you got to do your best to deny it and defend it and hope that you make good on your chances. It's no different for us. You know, we've already approached them. This is the second time playing them. And, you know, I'm trying to look at their games and things that I can really talk about, but the principles are what they are.

We've just got to be good no matter who we're playing. Kiefer, I got a kick out of this. Jack Hughes, some of his answers with the media. I think he was asked last week whether he was trying to embarrass the goalie, and he just said, like, I don't even know what that means. Like, what are you talking about? He has like a surfer vibe to him. What's his act like to be around every day?

He's a very interesting guy, and I've really enjoyed him. I mean, he's clearly very much raised in a hockey family and knows the game extremely well, but he's very, confident and very very competitive at the same time and i don't think he's got much time for any crap outside of uh outside of uh you know the business and what he's doing on the ice uh how he can help our team win so i think you know i got a kick out of his answer there it's not surprising at all but we've had great exchanges you know we've pushed each other

and and we're kind of helping to figure each other out and how we can help our team get to where we want to be and he's to me he's playing exceptionally well you know his play with the puck is is phenomenal but he like he is he has really been committed to the defensive side of the game winning puck battles getting the puck back, all things that I think are required for any top player to be good at to help lead your team. He's really, really bought into that, I think, at a higher level than he has previously in his career. As I've told him, these are the things that I need from you.

You deliver on them. I'm doing everything that I can to put him in a position to succeed, to utilize his strengths offensively. And so far, that give and take has worked out well for us. Do you ever find it shocking that you have to bring up the idea? Like, during this conversation alone, I've heard you say details, structure, puck battles, defensive zone awareness. Like, does it not shock you that you have to bring it to players attention so much

like i've never considered the nhl a developmental league and it just seems like you have to harp on this stuff all the time with guys where it just seemed like it was a non-negotiable thing i like dating myself but it was like you better do this or you don't get to play and now it's like coach has got to be on guys asses all the time yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a combination of just the era of where we're at and the way these players come up through minor hockey and stuff. And I don't think these other areas of the game are prioritized the same. And so many of them, their talent level is so high that they can get away with so much,

but then you finally get to a level where if you make a mistake here or there or you cut a corner here or there, there's somebody probably just as good on the other team, and they'll make you pay for it. But I think that's part of our job. It's part of the deal in coaching is to stay on these things. It's hard to do over the course of 82 games. That's one thing I think you guys I'm sure can appreciate.

It's hard to do it city to city 82 times. You're going to have nights where you're not feeling it or it's not going right. But you hope that you've got enough of a foundation there and you can minimize mistakes enough that you give yourself a chance to win and compete every night. But the buy-in from our guys in this area has been really good. We've had dips, no question. And that I don't feel very good about.

But then sometimes I step back and I get lots of reports of where we're at as a team and look at where we are in the league in different categories and things have been going pretty good but you know if anything that's more motivation to keep pushing because there's so much opportunity for this group to continue to grow and we will need to be because you know I like to think we're just kind of getting started here in terms of sustainability. How nice is it to look back and you know see a guy like Markstrom? And Jake Allen's played well for you as well.

It's a veteran tandem. Both of them have been starters in the league. Marky's an elite starter, a guy who's been a superstar in this league for many years. How comfortable is that to lay your head on a pillow at night knowing you've got two guys that you can trust every night? Yeah, it's been really good. It's been really good, and both guys not only have played well for us, they've had little dips at times where they bounce right back,

which is great and a credit to them. Their mindset's really good, two veteran guys, very experienced. This is, at least in my experience, in my time, you don't you don't always get a lot of like say leadership from the goaltenders they're sort of kind of on an island and kind of do their own thing and but these two guys both uh they're they bring a lot of leadership qualities to our to our locker room they're both competitors um smart smart guys that know the game really well um and offer lots to and offer lots to what is still a young core and young group of guys.

So, yeah, the stuff and the pucks, they've done a job, but they've also helped really set and push our culture that we're trying to build here too. Yeah, I'm sure Noodles would love to hear that. Get the goalies speaking out a little bit more, right? He's basically saying I wasn't a leader when I played. Just stay in the corner and shut up, please. We've got to take it care of.

But it is rare. You say it now. You don't hear that too often. Generally speaking, goalies just kind of do their own thing too, right, Sheldon? They kind of want to be left alone on game days and let themselves just kind of do whatever they have to do to get ready. Yeah, no question. don't get me wrong these guys are preparing and they're getting themselves ready but uh they they're very observant to what's going on around them they've

they've been you know on different teams jake allen was stanley cuff and st louis and you know as as noodles knows as the goalie often when you are sitting back whether it's in the net or or in the room, you take in a lot, and these guys are very smart and won't be surprised if they'll be coaches if they want to be when this is all said and done. But they're both good assets for me to lean on coming into a new situation. And along with some others that Fitz brought in this summer to our group.

It's really helped support the leadership group. Leafs Devils tomorrow night on TSN4. He is Sheldon Keefe. Sheldon, Mark will be waiting for you and we look forward to hearing the pregame. Give him some hatred tomorrow night, would you? Let's try to come up with something.

We'll react to it. We look forward to it. Good luck tomorrow night. Thank you, Sheldon. All right, guys. Always a pleasure. You got it. Sheldon Keefe. Yeah, that's it.

Isn't that a more relaxed Sheldon Keefe? It just seemed like he was... Yeah. He's not even doing pregame interviews down there. Like, it just... Yeah, when's the game? Let's get rocking here. And they're playing well.

Devils are in a good place. Well, it seems like, okay, it's a Canadian television thing. Maybe it's just a TSN thing. I don't know. But wouldn't everyone be fine if the coach said, I'm going to take a game off, not tonight. Do you really need that as a part of the – it's just the same as the players after intermissions.

It's like I could care less if they ever did that again. They're tired. They want to get back in the room. And it's like, yeah, we got pucks in deep and we were four-checking hard. It was great. Thanks. Well, I would say 95 times out of 100, I would agree with that until I saw Tom Wilson do an interview over the weekend.

I love Tom Wilson. I love that he accepted that interview. He was with Sean McKenzie. The guy, half his face is ballooned. Look at his face. It looks like he has a banana bread stuffed in the side of his face. Right. I loved what he said, though.

He brought his dad into it. All I could think about is you and your dad had these conversations where your dad's like, if you're not hurt, you're playing type of thing. I swear, it was almost like he said the same thing it's like my dad always said like if you can finish the game jamie that's why i find it bizarre like all these guys where it's like i i i know people on the inside that'll be like nobody knows what the hell's up with this guy if my old man ever called me or my brothers and said why aren't you playing and i just gave up some nonsense like i don't think they would talk to me until they would disown me.

Not disown me, but they would be so disgusted and embarrassed, which therefore would make me embarrassed. I could never live with myself. Yeah, I mean, it's 100% valid. And again, like Wilson, Wilson's tough as nails, you know it. But he didn't have to do the interview. That would have been an easy one to say, guys, can me yeah look at my face my face is on sideways right but he's like yeah i'll come out and talk no problem what do you got i loved what he said he goes actually i'm

getting a look at it on the monitor he's like yeah it kind of does look a little rough like i'm sure he was like what is it on tommy boy he's like richard do i have a mark here like not here like not so much there. And then he looks at it on the monitor. He's like, oh, yeah, it kind of does look a little rough. Like that was something else. Serious, man. His face was mashed up, Tom Wilson.

But, yeah, it's weird how some guys will just be out forthright in terms of what's going on. This one you can't hide. It's a face. There's no hiding it. It's not an upper body injury. We know what happened. But then there's other players that it's just kind of living

in this cloak of secrecy. I looked at Matthew's game the other night, and since his return he's had ups and downs, I would say. He's at times looked like he's had that power back, and he's on his edges, and he's moving. There's other times where he just has kind of faded into the game a little bit. And I'm curious if this is just going to be a thing for the whole year. Like, is he still dealing with something?

Is he 100%? He's never going to address it. He's never going to say it. If he talks about it, he's always got kind of an attitude towards it where he's not, like, how dare you ask me? That's his approach. And I don't know. We're just never going to get an answer.

We're never going to know exactly how that guy's feeling. Yeah, I agree. But I also want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He missed a lot of time. You come back adrenaline, but then all of a sudden you settle back in and you're like, okay, I got to. And they've had a busy schedule. They had nothing, and then all of a sudden a bunch of games now they're playing

together so now that maybe the schedule caught up to his legs and all of that i always try to give a little bit of a longer rope to a guy coming back off of an injury regardless of how special they are or not because you know the night before a couple nights earlier when him and mitch took over in the third period there was that nash Nashville? He looked like he was dancing there. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's true. Don't you think, Jamie, that this is a coach's fear regardless of how talented your players are?

It's like everyone was gone, and they had this mojo cooking, and guys were contributing, and then the big boy comes back, and it's like you've got to mitch away from john tavaris who was playing so well to get that chemistry going and then all of a sudden patcher eddie's back on the scene and you got to move nize away to put patch and then all of a sudden they got just kind of a weird vibe for two games i'm not going to go crazy on the two games they play they didn't play very well and they probably deserve to lose some games, but the coach is probably thinking when all those guys are out, I fear when they all try to get integrated back in the lineup

that that mojo is going to be kind of sucked away a little bit. And there is going to be an adjustment factor here too, and that's where I was kind of headed. Because if Matt Stomey comes back in, Pacioretty, all of these guys are coming back, you have to give them a little bit of leash to get up to speed, too. So it might take away from the product of what you're doing right now, but it's for the greater good, the bigger picture.

That's the biggest challenge, because you're right. You're jumping on a moving train, and Tavares is flying, but you take away Marner from him, and you move guys around. They have to continue the train rolling like i always try and just take a collective pause and go you know other teams are allowed to like pittsburgh was battling like hell they were fighting they need those points you know washington's a really good team too so it's like you know the leafs are a good team washington's a good team i would argue on on some of those other nights with the with we'll call the call-ups, maybe the goaltending masked some of it, right?

Like, you know, maybe it was a scenario where, you know, maybe they didn't deserve a win on those particular nights, but the goalie made, you know, timely saves, big saves, and they kept rolling and getting points. So over time, it'll all shake out. But, you know, yeah, 0-2 over the weekend. But it was, again, you've got an opportunity against a very good New Jersey team. And then it's back to back.

What is it? You've got Anaheim on Thursday. And then you've got Detroit, Buffalo over the weekend. Yeah, so you've got a favorable schedule coming up around the corner too, right? Right. Yeah, exactly. And, yeah, it's two games. It's not, again, they've had issues five on five, even strength scoring.

We all know that. And that, I think, will improve with Matthews feeling better. You get Domi back in. He's got to score. Literally, he's got to start scoring. But Pacioretty, if he gets back to where he was before the injury, McMahon's going to return. Things are going to shift and move,

but you're going to also shed a lot of players who should be in the American League. And that, over time, is going to help you. You've got to get to that point. And then we'll get into this in the next hour. This Thatcher Demko story, man, is really confusing to me. Do you have an answer on this? Why he just backed up twice over the weekend, no back-to-back games? I don't, and I've been kind of connecting with some people in Vancouver.

I think it's insane noodles. It's bizarre to me. We've got to get into it because I think it's insane noodles. It's bizarre to me. We got to get into it because I think it's a deeper conversation. But yeah, I thought for sure he was starting against Columbus and then he didn't and then all of a sudden it's Tampa.

Tampa yesterday and Lankanen comes bombing out. And it's like, wow, this guy's going to back up twice. He's been activated and he's backing up Thatcher Demko. All right, more on that into the next hour. Chris Johnston will join us as well. Again, we announced just there with Sheldon.

We'll be on the panel tomorrow night. We cannot wait. Leafs, Devils tomorrow. Duffy running the show, right? Maybe. Running the show? Maybe. We'll see what happens tomorrow night.

Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025. Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions.

And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal, plan, portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN or visit askkelvin.ca. Knicks tonight. We've got a Monday-nighter. That Avalanche team guy got rid of that Georgiev. That's a big trade, man. Mackenzie Blackwood acquired. They picked up Scott Wedgwood a week ago, so they've just completely turned over

their goaltender. They literally said both of you, no way. Gone. They had to do it. They had to do it. They probably had Nate McKinnon going nuts saying are you serious? Well, that game in Buffalo was the end for Georgiev. He gave up four goals on, like, three shots.

And the first eight minutes of the game. And they found a way to come back. Like, that's the thing. They won that game. They won the game. It reg! Exactly. It reg!

And they pulled them. And even there, they're like, you're never playing here again. You're gone. See you later. It's ruthless. But also, I kind of appreciate Sackick and company out there. They're like, we're a cup window here. We need two new goalies.

What I appreciate, and Noodles, it's no disrespect, but it wasn't one of them. It was both of them. Both of you guys are gone. Sorry. The young guy's a kid, and they traded him to Nashville. Still, I like the way they looked at it and said, not good enough, we're doing something different.

And we need a new tandem. Exactly. It just wasn't one, it's both out the back. Yes. Both of you. No disrespect, Arizona, but you're both gone. Crazy. Both of you are out.

Blackwood and Wedgwood running the whole operation now in Colorado. And that's a scary thought. They get average goaltending. They're a terrifying team. If they get better than average, that is scary stuff. Scary stuff for teams within their own division, the conference, the whole nine. So more on that with CJ. CJ will tell us more about how those

deals came about, what he makes of the Brady Kachuk, soft tampering, Sens-Rangers stuff. We'll get into that. What else is going on with the Board of Governors into our final hour? Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. TSN Plus is taking game day

to a whole new level with NFL Red Zone. Absolutely incredible! Subscribe now for every touchdown from every game every Sunday afternoon. NFL Red Zone. Available on TSN Plus.