OverDrive - OverDrive - February 24, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' victory against the Blackhawks, the goaltending tandem impressions in Toronto, Connor Bedard's performance with Chicago and the Penguins heading into rebuild mode. St. Louis Blues Goaltender Jordan Binnington joins to discuss his experience in the crease winning with Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

We're back on Kidsplained. Today's breaking story, what's missing in schools? Let's go live to a classroom to find out about the lack of school supplies. Thanks Kate. We always seem to be out of paper and pencils and we don't have enough textbooks. Ugh, it's like trying to do math without numbers. What we need is more investment in schools, right Jamal? That's right Kate. It's hard to learn without the basics. Want to help support students? Go to knowmore.ca. That's K-N-O-W-M-O-R-E.ca. A message from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association. This hour of Overdrive

is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Alright, here we go Overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app your home smart speaker and up on TSN for Brian Haseo, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McLennan. What's going on? How are we feeling? Been better. Been better because of you two and the other guy that show you go on to Jay. guess what's happening in public? The handshake. It's one thing, like I like doing it with Hazy B or whatever. I don't want to do it with people that don't know in public.

They're like, I guess this is the new thing. And I'm like, no, it's not. It's not. It's not a new thing. You're the handshake guy. No, it's the... It's been established. It's you that brought it up. You're the handshake guy. No, it's it's been established that brought it up

You said he just loves it. He compliments himself and then wants a handshake Now people want to handshake me in public that I don't know and ever since COVID I don't want any part of stranger handshakes. So let's oh, I think the handshakes coming back. It is coming back the handshakes coming back. It is coming back. It's a great sign of world society. It is a great sign because you're right. Remember during COVID it was like elbow. Remember there was an elbow green. So awkward. I played a round of golf with my father and we putter touched after golf. Yeah, the putter. My dad put his putter up like it was the sign of Christ and I put my putter up to it. I'm like, I can't believe me and my dad just did that. So awkward.

It's funny, the handshake, you know, it's obviously it's something that's been happening in society for a long time. Don't say it's making a comeback. Oh, it's making a comeback. It's back. And there are certain rules that I have to admit. I broke a rule and I could pick up on a vibe Over the weekend. So I was up at Blue Mountain, right? I was up there for 24-hour Blue Mountain raising money for Special Olympics, Ontario

It was great. It was a great. It was an awesome event. It's the great. It's a such a cool event I urge people to check it out. They raise money all the Special Olympians are up there It's just it's an amazing vibe and Blue Mountain does a great job with their hospitality So I'm doing the MC right and I'm outside. It's obviously it's a ski event So you're outside and I got the gloves on I had the thinner gloves Holding the mic holding a clipboard, you know, I'm doing my thing for half an hour 45 minutes then bottom the hill I'm there talking to a bunch of different people. And one guy came over, multiple people came over and he took his glove off for the shake.

And you know, I didn't, I left mine on for the shake and I could tell he was like, he just hit me with the glove on shake. That's not kosher. Like you don't do that. I took my glove off You're supposed to take your glove off Yeah, and I hit him with the glove on shake and I could realize he looked down on me immediately Like you're not a real man. You're just you're scummy and you should have taken the I'm surprised He didn't do a take back and say no. Thanks, right?

No, he's he's caught committed at that point no thanks right now is he's caught committed at that point now i had not as you're right as you reach out with that with an often that on you just go sorry that's there was bad bad move bad mojo by me i get to admit i knew it the second it happened it also like i just did him with the glove on i didn't take the glove off he made a point to take it is off handshake rules they like they're not coming back fellows it's not a hundred percent are back.

They're back. We're in the ranks all the time. Oh, you were there, the four nations. Everyone's a handshake. The people that are committed, that are still germaphobes and got into a rule, and whatever they want to do, whatever you want to do, that's up to you. I'm not judging.

My point being, there are people that still have the COVID thinking, and you just have to adjust because there's a one guy I won't say his name but I see him quite a bit at the rink and it's it's a fist bump. You put the hand out he puts the fist out. It's like okay that's what we're doing. So you just have to whoever wants to do it go ahead. Yeah but I'm all in on the handshake. I'm back with the handshake. Oze the driving force. It's an Maverick. Hazy, you of all people know bedside manner. Do you not think that when you're approaching someone or about to be in a situation you could send off a, oh come on.

The best part is, see, like it's the technique. Oh you get your arm is straight like it's right. It's shot out of a cannon. You bring it out of a holster It's a straight shot handshake. So like it went right like you just offered him a duel or something Yeah, you know like you're gonna walk 20 paces and shoot and you've agreed to terms Just shot out of a cannon and you've agreed to terms on this. Just shot out of a cannon, straight handshake. I loved it though. But now as you think, in a setting, you could send out a vibe that a shake's not going to happen.

It might be hands in pockets, it might just be kind of a turn to the side. You can send it out, it's not happening. God forbid a random stranger, you just don't... What I just did to Jay, a guy I've known for 20 years years You don't straight arm it out in a grocery store to say Oh dog What's that no way that can be awkward that can be awkward because sometimes people don't see it They don't pick up on it. You know or it's like I like a social thing your hands are full then how do you really approach it? It's a it's a dicey situation so people that you haven't seen in a while I

Now it's the they do this. So if you're looking at me, that's the hand in front and then you roll up It's the good though. Oh, yeah, you grab and then you pull a hooking pull in the hook and pull and a hug I I did that I was we were away on Saturday night, I must have done 20 of those, ran into people, it's the bro hug, pull in, or just a straight hug, haven't seen somebody in a while. But you have to, it gets awkward if they're not committed to it. If they're just like, hey, it's nice to meet you,

keep your distance, here's a handshake, or here's a fist bump. It's like if a couple guys you don't know see some bro hugs, they think they have to bro hug and they're not it's not welcome Yeah, you know can really throw and this will get into real stuff here momentarily What can really throw everything off is if you get you get women involved and someone starts with the double cheek kiss Hello, and you're like are we all doing a double cheek kiss Like why did you go there to start this process? Why are you doing that?

I think a simple hug would be fine, but you threw out the cheek kiss and what are we supposed to do? No, no. What about a, hey, nice to see you. That's all you need. Nice to see you. Exactly. That's it.

That's the point. It's like a point attempt. Very aggressive. Nice to see you. How are you? The double cheek kiss is more, I feel like it's a European thing. Very European. Old school. Old school. Sign of respect. I feel like it's a European very European Yes, I know respect so if a French guy walks up to you or Italian or something like that You know apparently that's that's there the way they do it in their country apparently I I can understand it

But if somebody who lives in Woodbridge or somebody who lives yeah, you know And it's like a double cheap cheap kiss. They like, all right, I guess you'd do that. I have no problem with it as long as there's a line. I think you'd have a problem with it. Let's be clear here, Noodle. You of all people, I think, would have a serious problem. Okay, so if I go into Grazzi, our buddy from Grazzi, and he starts trying to kiss me on the cheek, I think there's a line that he would cross.

But the point being, I don't think he would do it. Like unless he felt like that was part of how we've established we greet each other. Not just strangers, like just straight nice to meet you and here's a kiss on the cheek. No, exactly. I mean, you'd like to believe that strangers would maybe know better. But you never know. You never know. It's a crazy and wild and wacky society out there.

We've got Jordan Bennington later in the hour. Jordan Bennington will join us later in the hour and I have a severe hangover I will admit that because watching the Four Nations and then going into the NHL resuming it just was such a drop-off. The Leafs had a great weekend credit to them, right? They come out flying, they're up 4-0. What was it? 5 minutes, 3-0, 5 minutes into the game on Saturday night.

And if you were watching, you're like, wait a minute, Pontus Holmberg, Alex Steeves, and I think David Kamp had the first three goals. Certainly would not have been predictable. And then they go into Chicago last night. No, they didn't go to Chicago. They flew to Orlando and they played the Solar Bears yeah so they played that Chicago team is terrible. They're bad man. I was concerned I was gonna throw in the group tags like 98 man I'm concerned they're like. Badard? Yeah. He's got nothing down there man.

No help. Hey what did I tell you a year ago what they need to spend their money on because it doesn't seem like they've drafted a Robin to Batman where it's No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,in, Crosby, Le Tang. What is it? It's Bidart. What the hell else have they been drafting? Who are they drafting?

That operation down there, I'm sorry. That is a complete mess and you can tell it's a mess. They need a coach and they need something better there. It's just a complete mess. Yeah. I mean, there's some work. Obviously, it's understated. There's work to be done there.

They do need, they need to come in last and get a top pick again and add another Robin. There is a couple, you know, nice players there. Yeah, guys in the minors. That Nizar kid is going to be fine. Like they've got, they've got a few coming, but it is right now. The pain is here for them and I just I look at it and the progression I'm just in a vacuum judging Badard like you guys had on the panel yesterday going is Badard like he's light years away from playing in

that hockey I'm sorry like he's like I'm just right now and that doesn't mean that he won't get there that doesn't mean that he won't be an elite player in this league and be a Superstar just right now judging him of what you see right now and what you saw Week and a half ago that Canada USA game. Yes. He can pick his pace up. Yes He can play in certain situations, but there there's a giant step for him to still get to and he's not there yet in my know That's very clear and listen the team is not helping them get there is either clearly as we know they've got Probably the worst roster in the league. Maybe San Jose. It's one of those two teams. They're just there's no help there Now he's on his second coach in a year and a half

So but Dard is not getting any help, but he is, he looks, he looks very young, which he is, he's 19. His numbers are still very good when you put it into a vacuum of a 19 year old kid. Right. At 19, for him to maybe score 25, 23, 25 goals and 65 points in your second year. Yeah, that's a good player. That's a good player. When you're pumping the kid up to be the next golden boy. 100%. It's not exactly on par with what we are all predicting. That's not exactly it. And we had this conversation a few weeks ago and we talked about it and I referenced the generational talents of the last 40 years.

And that's the Gretzky's and the Lemieux's and the McDavid's, the Crosby's. He's not on the same trajectory Quite frankly, it's not even close and that's fine. That's fine but that means he's got a he's got to earn it to get to a level of But we referenced a couple weeks ago Stephen Stamkos. Can you have his career? You got to start there before you move another step up like he's got to continue to prove it and if you're hockey Canada I don't think he I think you could come up with honestly 22 to 25 forwards that would be on the list before you even got to his name Connor Bedard like literally you could go to the World Championships

last year he was there but remember they didn't play him a lot and it was kind of a you're 18 you're the future will put you on he started I think it's the 13th or 14th forward and I would guess they'll invite him again this year and he should go listen he's got time he'll play at the rest of this year probably go to the world's have a summer show up next year year three I'm certain he will be better next year yeah but I I don't think Connor Bedard is a guy that will be like having serious conversations about or should be between now Well, the only way I could describe it guys is he doesn't score at a rate where it would make John Cooper Close his eyes in his own end, right? Exactly. You know what I mean?

Like he's not like Ovi out there pumping one-timers and doing Michigan's and just ripping home goals where it's like we got gotta have that guy, we'll close our eyes when he's in his own zone and we'll protect him. That's just another way I could describe it. Yeah, you overlook the warts in his game because at the other end he's so dominant. That's what you're talking about. See, the thing is, when I look at that San Jose team,

there is players around Celebrini that are young. That Smith, that Eklund, they've got good young players. I think, I talk to a scout's every time I talked to scouts or GMs and that they're like San Jose is in good to be in really good shape a couple years from now that's Celebrini is a player I think Celebrini is is as good as Badaard right now Just based on how productive he has been in his first year now the question their trajectories are going to be different different I I think but dard is going to get better players around him But that is the biggest challenge is you see Greer what he's trying to do now

They've drafted and got some some nice young players there, but they're still in that rebuild phase They're still in the retool, but they've added crazy is what yeah people get so offended if you say tool but they've been added crazy is what people get so offended if you say like you're talking about two young players one guy has an extra half a year experience if you tell anybody that Celebrini right now is better than Bedard their head pops off their body they're like ah that's insane it's like right now he is Celebrini's better player well he's just a little bit more rounded yeah he's just playing maybe he's just a little bit more rounded. Yeah, maybe he's just playing better. That could be it, but I look at him, I watch that kid live twice now and I've seen him

obviously in a bunch of games. He just is a little bit more rounded now. A weird stat for you, if you look at his loose puck battles, which are generally reserved for the Mark Stones and John Tavares and guys like that who kind of you know are strong on their stick and older grizzled veteran he's there he's at the top of the league which is crazy like that's the kids that young any any battles that's the type of stuff that that kind of separates him from where you know he has versus but darred Darford sure but it doesn't mean that that but darts not gonna change the projection of who they are

And that's exactly like a dark, you know, we're not gonna have that answer for five six seven years, right? You can't fast-forward it But you know if you're the Leafs what became clear this weekend and oh you're talking about on the panel last night is when you Have do you have a tandem? It's healthy and in confident and you're confident in the way that they play and we're talking Stolaris and Wall. It's the ultimate regular season cheat code. It sets you up to basically just cruise kind of through the season. Now they've had injuries obviously.

Stolaris missed eight weeks give or take. Wall missed the start of the year, first couple of weeks. But when they're playing together, we saw it on the road trip coming into the four nations now We saw it over the weekend throw stole ours in at home. He wins throw wall in on the road He wins who knows who plays tomorrow probably stole ours wall probably plays Friday at the garden like it just it's very routine and They're very comfortable. They're playing really well at some point You can have an answer like it you have to have one

Someone's got a play in the playoffs and we'll cross that bridge and we get to it. And I'm sure that'll be likely the number one discussion. I would think if they're both healthy and playing well, likely the number one discussion leading into the playoffs is who is your number one? Who's going to play game one? Craig Baruba is going to get asked about it every day. But a weekend like this, it's just a great start for the Leafs because now, you know, they were a bit inconsistent up and down leading into the four nations but they did go 3-0 and

1 on that Western road trip now they've won two you add that up you're 5-0 and 1 your last six they've leapfrogged over Florida and if you have both guys healthy and you start getting some contributions I wouldn't hold my breath you know Pontus Holmberg's not gonna score at a 35 goal rate the rest of the way but you get some secondary scoring some offense from the point goalies are healthy There's no reason you can't win this division. I guess just clear-cut You got to find a way to now be the perfect time haze to take off and do you have to who knows? What's up with Florida and it could charge banged up. Yeah, exactly

Well, you have to because you're either getting Florida or Tampa in the first round. Yeah and Tampa's red hot right now too. That being said you know you I think you're still going to get a good team regardless in the playoffs. You know as we know and we should learn from past years you can't take anybody lightly no but you have to give yourself home ice and the best opportunity You know and I think the division is up for grabs and it's gonna be I think it's a three-horse race I still think Tampa is gonna be there. I think Florida is is not gonna go anywhere

And I don't think the Leafs are going anywhere I think those three teams are gonna jockey for position The rest of this this season and it's gonna be who who has and they play each other too right? I think the Leafs have to go down head to head and believe into Florida through Florida. I'm not sure if Tampa or Florida comes back up here anymore but you know you are going to play each other those are big four-point games there is going to be some you know jockeying for position but you got to find a way and stay healthy you know that's the other thing too. Well that's a big of it. It does sound like healthy players are going to return at some point. We'll see and there's other guys clearly battling for positions.

You look at Nick Robertson, this guy, we've talked a lot about him from the summer and the trade request or demand, whatever you want to call it. Then eventually they come to terms on a deal and he shows up. He had a great camp. He had a great, great camp. Scored basically every game and then he's been up and down he's got the ability to score

intuition would lead towards him not being a guy that will play in the playoffs like every single night if there's any address that he could perform in the playoffs what's your gut instinct like gut instinct is probably not but that my gut instinct is to to be pessimistic towards nick robertson come playoff time but i don't i mean if he scores

that is constantly been a conversation with this team like can they get enough offense from depth players to get the job done come playoff time and he has a knack for the net but he does does jack use though my concern is that if you watch jack use play in the four nations couldn't get anywhere so they are very soon yeah i don't know if it's in its tougher and it's bigger and it's like what are

you gonna do and jack use one of the best players in the world yeah he couldn't get around to do anything well he has to learn like a lot of these players, that the game is different. That the ice is smaller. Every piece of ice is contested. The stuff you want to do in the regular season, East-West and dust the snow off and you know little fancy pass here. There's no room to do

that in those big games. Hughes looked overwhelmed in that Four Nations. I didn't notice him ever. And the injury to Kachuk, you could see they gave him an opportunity to play with Matthews and there wasn't any magic there. Put it that way. It didn't look like he was able to elevate at a critical moment. Maybe I'm wrong here but every time I laid eyes on him I just I didn't... I expect him a lot more out of him and the the game as the game got we'll call it bigger in size he shrunk and you know he's

got to learn that because it's he's not going to grow and not going to be a 220 pound player what he's got to do is learn his spacing and learn his timing and and learn when he can make those moves and that comes through experience but he did not he looked overwhelmed in that tournament to me big time and yet he kept playing you know how Connor came out and I don't know yeah well in retrospect it certainly was and yet I look at it you know like the Kachuk brothers they obviously deserved to play yet you look back and you wonder was Matthew 100% was he ever gonna get through the game yet that's a legacy name the Hughes brothers too like I'm

sure USA hockey is looking at Jack and Quinn and probably Luke at some point thinking these guys are going to be a big part of our program and we want them to be a part of you know any success we may have and they kept playing Jack use and connor came out but uh... winter pegs in action tonight they want nine in a row before it can over the weekend at st louis got the ticket coming up in a didn't plan that game but nine wins in a row they're going for forty one

tonight which would lead the league and wins uh... because you look at washington they want again they did i i just gotta tell you his i was washington pit is one of the most bizarre it's uh... like it is one of the most it's almost like we're god awful they're just above buffalo but it's like don't look at us over here we're not firing our coach for just worth where the penguins i don't know what this are the watchmen

i don't know man they're which it would legitimately one of the worst teams in the league. I know and it's like what is it? It happened for a couple years. They happened. I get it though. This isn't surprising necessarily. I mean they're terrible. Yeah and coming out of this break there's people that are still on the beach like they're not paying like the scores were crazy on the week. Really weird. Like Edmonton got pumped twice. Twice. Yeah, but they're out to lunch like out till if you watch both of the games flat out to lunch Like they're both of them like both games. They were on the beach What's the only time games on the East Coast is a weird? Thanks a lot we're off for ten days and then we got to one o'clock back to weird schedule

But thing is is you know at some point you got to get your head out of your ass and get going. But I look at this Pittsburgh team, you still go, was Kevin Hayes the missing piece there? You're looking at the roster going, okay, you've tried to bring in Danton Heinen, Beau Villier, there's players, NHL players that are on other teams have been good players and stuff. Something just doesn't mix there and I feel bad and it's a bigger conversation. It'll come back to you Hayes is just 87 goes from here. Okay. And then it's back to reality.

And that's a that's a that's cold water in your face when you give it up an eight spot. The first thing they got to do is find somebody, find EK65, a home for him, because he's flat out embarrassing himself out there in the ice. It looks like he doesn't care, doesn't try. He thinks it's shinny and he thinks it's funny. I'm embarrassed for him because he used to be such a good player and we were talking about him being right under Connor McDavid and now he's going out there making an ass of himself. He should be embarrassed because it's terrible to watch. Well, I mean the thing is, you're right it's strange because you watch and you track them.

They've got some guys who are having pretty good years. You know like Raquel is having a really good year. Yeah. And he's a nice player. And Ryan Rust is a good player. Yeah. And yet it's a scenario where you know Sid, Gino, and LeTang are gonna be there. So those three are gonna be there.

Sid's still got his A game. Gino is, you know, he's not having a great year. And LeTang is gonna be what he's gonna be. But if you're gonna strip it down and you kinda gotta get rid of everything else. But then it's like, you're going to strip it down and you've got kind of got to get rid of everything else But then it's like you're you're chicago with three guys in the late 30s You know, and I don't know how you handle that Um because they're trying to retool and respect sid and sid signed this deal and give him a chance So how do you you moved off gansel?

Now, you know probably makes sense to move off Raquel, like sell him at the highest possible point. Yes, if you did it with Gensel, why would you stop and play at all? Exactly, but that's what I'm saying. Same thing, Brian Rust, there's a guy I'd take on a playoff team, like he's a good player, veteran guy, I've been around, but then you're literally going to be stuck with the three guys and nothing. I know, dude.

I guess you can throw Carlson in there the three guys and nothing. I guess we throw Carlson in there. Four guys and nothing. If you're answering Sid's question or anybody else's where he's like, you got to try to keep us competitive to try to win. It's like, sorry, you guys have proven that it's not there. Right. Maybe that's the elephant in the room is Dubas has got to go to Sid. Maybe he's done this and Sid's not a stupid guy. Sid knows. But you might just have to say, Sid, we're horrible, like we're awful and we're going to be for years. Like you got to understand that. You have zero percent chance of winning.

We're not going to the playoffs again if you're a Pittsburgh Penguin ever again. Exactly. So, like it sucks, but it's blind. What do you think about that? Like think about, you got to say that back to yourself and tell me what you think about it. Right. Because you're not going to compete and this didn't start yesterday they started getting pumped in the playoffs as soon as they won the two back-to-back cups yep the next year they got pumped in the first round they haven't won a

playoff series since 2018 dude yeah yeah it's game over seven years ago it was a great run man you can't win all the time. Yes. One of the best runs ever, man. Absolutely. The thing is though, and Sydney 100% deserves this respect. It's up to him. And that's the thing. There is some real conversations that have to be had. But at what point? I don't know if it's this year, maybe it's this summer, maybe it's next trade deadline. But what is going on there isn't know if it's this year, maybe it's this summer, maybe it's next trade deadline. But what is going on there isn't working. It's not like they've got a team in Wilkes-Barre

that is just gonna dominate. You know, what Kyle has usually done is loaded up his minor league team with a lot of good players, like he did with the Marlies. And they'll compete down there, but those aren't guys that are young prospects. Those are, you know, borderline NHL players that kind of go up and down and and to me I don't think they've got a big system where you guys are just pushing each other out to play

in the National Hockey League the cupboards are bare because of they've gone for it every year Jimmy Rutherford was going in first round of here as they should have and they won a lot of times rightfully so yeah but at some point Sydney might have to go either check please or I'm gonna I'm gonna bite the to here as they should have and they won a lot of times rightfully so yeah but at some point sydney might have to go either check please or i'm gonna i'm gonna bite the bullet and help and help this with this rebuild and stay with this organization for lifetime yep and he's he's entitled to make that call like he has been his whole career and he will make that call but i think if you're dubus and company you you kind of have to basically put him to the side and operate within the

reality of what else is going on. And that means probably trading almost any one you have. Yeah. If you can get a high price for it. All right, Jordan Bittington is coming up. His take on the Four Nations face off, what the whole experience was like, how it sets up for the Olympics next year and what he saw in overtime. We'll ask him like all those chances the three from Matthews the one on by Kachuk side door

like what was the biggest toughest most difficult stop in overtime on Thursday night we'll get him to answer that and Ray Ferraro coming up today as well Ray will join us just after five o'clock overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. All right Jordan Bittington will join us here in a few moments. Ray Farrar coming up into the 5pm hour. Leaves back in action in Boston tomorrow. Isn't that amazing? Matthews Marner, they're going back in that building tomorrow night.

And you know they had a, they played. I don't know if they had the greatest weekend of the two of them but they played. They were out there. They were out there. They were out there playing. I think a lot of those guys that came back from the tournament were just kind of, I think it was just an emotional letdown. Like you just, you know, emotionally, physically, everything, you just had to get through it. The unfortunate part is, and we talked about it last week, the game should have been Wednesday

and then everything fires up Saturday. You get one extra day of to decompress like it Just I felt bad for those guys few guys hit the ground running Brandon Hagel scored in his first game back a few guys but outside of that everybody else was just I think trying to get through the game and and You know not getting survived. Yeah There's gonna be one more game grace period and then it's gonna be like what the hell's the matter with you One more game each they're getting one more game the third game and then it's gonna be like Is there something up with you because you stink and you've stunk ever since the break started up again

Well, that's how this that's how the story goes I think it was so beneficial that the Leafs got those wins so Berubit like that those are just tape burners we got through it we got four points imagine the outrage if they dumped a couple off the hop immediately there'd be pictures of the Leafs on the beach and like it would be chaotic man yeah and it was it was the opposite again with the way they started on on Saturday night it was so quick they got on the board so quick they're up for nothing and they almost let that get away from them on Saturday but they found a way to hold on and you're right though I'm sure it was an emotional letdown you know you're in that bubble you're with different teams it means something it's so significant

and I'd raise the question of whether or not it's a good idea for the NHL to have this tournament midseason is it better to have it in September? You know, that you go back to training camp for a week? September, dude, all day long. I think September all day long, too. But keep in mind, they replaced the All-Star game with this. Right, of course. But the World Cups in the future, I believe, are in February.

That's their plan. Yeah, which I think September's always better because September is kind of a dead month Is it not for a lot of things? Oh, I guess baseball is you know, we got baseball down the stretch the NFL is back But you know that was that wasn't something to consider that this started right after the Super Bowl Right was big because you know the NFL in the US it obviously it's very was big because you know the NFL in the US it obviously it's very takes up a lot of oxygen from basically the middle of August all the way up until the Super Bowl and I don't believe it was a coincidence that they started this

tournament three nights after the Super Bowl and everything had faded the NFL stepped aside college football is out and then it's just a brilliant opportunity and you you you coincide it with the NBA's All-Star weekend when nothing's going on in the NBA they actually found exclusivity so I guess I'm answering this suggesting that they've they've probably found the right place for it for it to pop because you know pitchers and catchers are barely arriving but there's not a lot going on in baseball football's out the NBA is kind of that dog day and they're all-star game they got issues there

middle of february probably is the prime time spot where if you want to own the spotlight and i think the nl probably recognizes that well the issue with the september thing is it seems like a brilliant idea try playing in the finals that and said june twenty eight You're getting the cup and then Yeah, quick turnaround. Oh The players I don't think love the idea of September because you got to be in shape and you got to be ready to play

Yeah, yeah in September if you've got a World Cup on the line. That's a high level You're right to get to that high level mid September. That's you know, everyone's in peak Conditioning right now. They're in midseason form. So that's why that hockey was so good September might look a little these guys always are jami We saw when the season fired up that one covid season that started like january 1 They got back into their cities of five days and they started playing like they don't need much man Yeah, you're right. These guys aren't like old grizzled guys from the 70s and 80s where they just get piledrived every day until they've

got a month until training camp and then they got to start getting in shape. Their workout is like, hey, I'm going to not smoke for a week and only have six beers and that type of stuff. I'm teasing, but that's kind of how it used to be the mentality. I had a teammate that used to remember that SlimFast, you know those shakes or whatever. Yeah, of course. The SlimFast 14 day or whatever. That was his thing. I got 14 days. SlimFast shakes. Professional athlete. SlimFast shakes for two weeks and I'm in shape, I'm ready to go. He was.

That's outstanding, man. That is outstanding because, yeah, I mean, listen, the greatest athletes of all time, that's been the kind of rumors around them too, right? We know them, Jordan. Jordan would be boozing on a game day and go out and put up 45 points. Yeah. Bod lights and cigars in the car and he would go out and drop 50. Yeah.

And you'd hear stories about other great hockey players, Canadian hockey players, where in the summer they're just, they're out doing their thing and having a great time, put the skates away and then show up and basically rewrite the record books. Do you remember where Phil, I think he admitted to Fesh Chuck or something, he's like, yeah, I skated five, six, maybe eight times or whatever. What a start, man. Oh my God. He's like, yeah, I skated five six Yeah, eight times or whatever. I'll never forget that presser day one Phil because someone was poking a prod and how many times were on the ice as if they're like the you know strength and conditioning coach Yeah, down in the media scrum and someone asked him and I think he said

You know five maybe ten times. I don't even know if he said that he may not have I thought I swear I thought there was like five or eight Yeah, like it was like it was a low number where it's like yeah I've been on for a bit five eight times. You know everyone people went crazy. Here's Phil He hasn't been skating and that they get it the next day come out and be like just to clarify I've been doing this or I'm doing that Yeah, those those old Phil pressers man. They were something else and I knew his worst nightmare Matthews was that he'd have to come back and deal with the Toronto media

You knew it like you see his added his kind of move on Saturday before the game. It's a tough question Was that like well, yeah asking if he'll be haunted by the David goal. That's a tough one Tough question. Whatever you say to someone are you gonna be haunted by this? Yeah He's not gonna give you a great response And I think that's and there were there were kind of lot there were they understood the levity They understood to how difficult it was. He wasn't in the mood, but that's the thing you you lose You're on the ice McDavid Marner and

then you got to come back and be the captain of the Maple Leafs and step up immediately that that was that would have been tough I'm sure it would have been tough all right Ray in 25 we're trying to catch up with Jordan Bittington will come back and hopefully connect with him we've got CJ on the show today as well CJ coming up just after six Vlad E doing interviews with papers down in New York we'll tell you about that as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on TSN 4.

All right, Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel. We got Ray coming up in about 25 minutes. Haven't caught up with Ray Ferraro since he was at the Four Nations faceoff. And Ray was ice level, I believe. Yeah. Didn't take a puck to the face like Rob Ray did did it get over the weekend Rob Rae is the best honestly That's it you guys know I've had two Registered concussions as a pro hockey player in 17 years and two as a broadcaster in between the benches insanity

There's weapons. Why do you guys keep standing there? Like there's a question for you get the hell out of there and go upstairs It's ask our bosses. Oh, don't ask me exactly I don't producers everyone everybody else I just work here that's all I do that's right call games but Ray was there in Boston you know calling all the games and we've been talking about how for us like we feel like we're kind of hung over a little bit after the four nations face off and then you resume play and you're like, oh, okay, that's okay. NHL hockey, we'll see what these guys have. And Jordan Bennington, we know how he played, played all four games for Canada. Then he played last night against Colorado, was outstanding. So there was no drop off

for him. And let's bring him in now. Here he is, the starting goalie for Canada and for the St. Louis Blues. There's Jordan Bennington. What's happened to Jordan? Hey guys, thanks for having me on. Absolutely, thank you for doing this. Were you, obviously, you played really well last night. Were you concerned at all of the drop off or, you know, what were you expecting, I guess, going from Four Nations back into resuming NHL play? You know what, it was a little bit of an adjustment. Things have happened so fast, right? Like we just kind of finished up and then got right back into work mode in season.

And it was kind of obviously just such a different pace, like coming from the finals and that just level of intensity and then going to overtime. And then you're back at, you know Just it was just a different pace, right? It's not as intense as everyone laying it all on the line for a championship game from start to finish you kind of it was a game that that built and got more intense as it went along and

Fortunately came off the wind but it felt felt nice being back out there, too so anything gets said in between You know the third period and going into overtime in that final game Did anybody have a you know resounding speech or anybody a leader stand up in the room or was it just business as usual? I Think it was just a mindset of like shoot shooters got a shoot be selfish You know obviously it's a one shot wins it in overtime and everyone, it was just really positive and there was no panic.

It was calm and just guys have been in these situations before. And you know, I remember five or six different guys speaking up and saying a different comment. You know how it is in the dressing room in between periods. Can you take us inside Coop when he grabbed you after the game? I mean, I know it was a private conversation, but I'm sure you just didn't say great win, great game.

Was there something a little bit extra from the coach there at the end? Yeah, I wish I could remember all of it. But it was just such an in the moment moment. And you know, he was just saying, you know, he's proud of me and just, we were just running through, you know, what just happened and just such an incredible

thing to take in and just, yeah, it was a special connection between us at that time. With Jordan Bennington, did he make it clear to you, John Cooper, that prior to the tournament, you were the guy, there was no one else who was getting any play, like you were gonna play, and that was gonna be it? Or what was your understanding of the goaltending battle

before the tournament even started? He's such a prepared, but also off the cuff guy and you know we had just some private conversations throughout the tournament and we went game by game and then you know I just I was just grateful and honored to be selected as the guy in those games. It was just anything could happen, right? In any certain game to change whatever's going on. So it was more of a go with the flow situation. And he did instill belief for sure.

So Jordan, on the biggest stage in a game seven on the road in that building you won and won a Stanley Cup. Were you able to draw a little bit from that experience, the magnitude to go into that final game in the same building? Absolutely. You know how it is as a goalie, right? You just, you got to find a way to be present and do your job and remind yourself that no matter what significance or level or timing of the game, it's the same game and it's the same approach. And then saying that the experience over these last seven, eight years in my life uh... i'd believe uh... came into play and uh...

yeah you know it's it's just it's a do or die situation and uh... and they're they're so fun to be a part of it it's work when you're in it but then just you know that feeling at the end was uh... is what you work for which would be a tentative team canada saint louis blueson you're playing overtime at the end is what you work for. With Jordan Bittington of Team Canada St. Louis Blues.

Your play in overtime obviously was phenomenal. You saved the game on multiple occasions. There were four stops in particular that we've been buzzing about since Thursday night. The three on Matthews, the one where you're seeing it right here on your screen, Gensel back door, you get your blocker on it. Matthews got one off as well that went top shelf off the draw that you stopped.

And then there was the third one where he comes in and goes kind of low stick that then led to Kachuk backdoor that you dove for. So four stops that were grade A+++. Was there one of those in particular, if you had to rank them, which one was the toughest one now that you know You stop them all I mean, I'd say my favorite is the one off the draw Just with I remember because when you're in that in that mode you're just you know in in that flow state

per se and I remember after that glove save just hearing the crowds reaction and And that's one that stands out to me that it was it was pretty cool Just to hear that and feel that so did you hear the Canadian crowd or you hearing the Americans like kind of humming and hawing? No, it's kind of like an oh kind of reaction. Just like deflated. I can't believe you stopped that. Yeah, it was incredible.

It was incredible. So Jordan Biddickton, go ahead, Noodles. So you guys win and everybody is back to business. We talked about it last week. I don't know if you would have preferred the extra day off or played Wednesday because everyone had to travel and then it was right back into games. How tough was that to get back into a daytime routine, getting back with the Blues as opposed

to kind of chaos it was with Team Canada and playing against the Americans on that Thursday night? It was a quick turnaround. Yeah, it was definitely a topic of conversation. Quick turnaround back into regular season play for sure, but at the same time, you know, there was a lot on the line and we were building up the game and gave us more time to prepare. So either situation would have worked, I think. But you know, you just got to adapt. Were you, I'm curious your mentality going into the tournament because everyone had a

different viewpoint of what this would look like, what it would feel like. It was a one-off, we've never seen anything like it, Four Nations face off and replacement of the All-Star game. I'm not sure we'll ever see it again. Did it meet expectations, exceed expectations? Where will this rank for you in terms of career highlights? It definitely exceeded expectations and I truly believe the NHL did such a tremendous job putting it on and then Hockey Canada on top of that. They really know how to take care and make it so that we can just focus on playing hockey. But yeah, so I would say it's up there and just being in a best on best situation is just,

it's another level and everyone rises up and you know, you're out there with guys who want to be the best versions of themselves, want to be the best players in the league. And then obviously the country aspect of playing for your country and knowing what's on the line and knowing, you know, it's just there's nothing like that. And I think it was just really good for the game to with how it all played out and to do this tournament. So we've got Craig Berube here in in Toronto Toronto now. I played with Craig and Calgary You want a cup with him? You've had a lot of different coaches now in not only in st

Louis but you mentioned how John Cooper approaches the game and you know take us through the mindset of Craig Barube and you know kind of How he treats his goaltenders, what type of communication you have and how intense he can get maybe in the room or even on the bench. Yeah, he's one of my favorites, one of our favorites here obviously. Both of those guys are just so good at reading the locker room and knowing what needs to be said at certain times. And I think that's really the art of coaching is getting the best out of your players and then having that presence of when to strike.

And yeah, you know, Chief, he's great. We have a great relationship. And, you know, I think with him him it's a long season, right? so I think you go through the goalie coach a little bit more too and and as opposed to that just quick strike tournament and with coop there Well Jordan, it was awesome to see you know You your teammates everyone do what they did over the last week and a half two weeks and congrats on a win last night

transitioning back into play with the Blues and We look forward to tracking you the next 12 months before we get to the Olympic Games because best on best it's not going anywhere It's been a long time, but it's great to have you guys back and doing what you were doing So congrats on a win, and I know it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, so we appreciate you doing this today All right, thanks... hazes of fraud hey that's an awesome comment

just on the way out hazes of fraud and i'm out jordan binnington that made my year that was so unnecessary and i swear to god i did not put him up to that i know that we are staffed there he's from richmond hill it's a buddy of his. 100%. We'll get the backstory. It could have been Joe from the Bridge. Joe from the Bridge was bothering him on FaceTime before he came on. Oh, guaranteed.

And he may have said, you got to drop this. Unbelievable. I'll support that guy forever. So will I, man. So will I. He's our one. Never, ever doubting anything that guy brings to the table. That's the highest profile hazes of fraud we've had yet. I know.

And now I've got to recover from it. That's awesome. George Binnington just smacking me around on the way out. A champion. My God, I love that. That really caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting that either. I thought it was going to be a quick thanks for how, because he's, you know, he's just, he's kind of like a more reserved guy.

Yeah, he's a laid back guy. Yeah, a reserved guy. I thought it was going to be thanks guys, see you later. And he comes out with a haze. Over the top and then goes like this and hits end video It doesn't even think twice with the ET finger. Yeah, see you later guys. All right There you go Jordan Bennington my day my guy Jordan Bennington Love that guy our two coming up Ray Ferraro will join us overddrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. You've been listening to Overdrive powered by FanDuel.

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