OverDrive - OverDrive - February 3, 2026 - Hour 1

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Join Mark Roe and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss Sam Bennett joining Team Canada as a replacement for the injured Anthony Cirelli, the Maple Leafs' back-to-back wins as they gear up for the Oilers tonight, and what to expect from Team Canada and the level of hockey as a whole at the Milano Cortina Olympics next week. The duo then transition to the NBA, and speculate over where Giannis Antetokounmpo may land if he indeed does get traded, if the Raptors will stay the course with their long-term plan, or go all in, and finally, wrap up with Confirm or Deny.

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But in many ways, we are the Golden Gate Bridge of this show, Dave, because we are holding down the fort as overdrive travels to San Francisco for the Super Bowl. It is Mark Row in for Brian Hayes alongside Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star. 24 hours from now, Brian Hayes, Jeff O'Neill, and Jamie Noonels McClennan will be live from the Super Bowl. So we're holding down the fort. We're bridging them to tomorrow's show, which is highly anticipated. Highly anticipated.

and we've been privy to some great behind the seams footage of the Meteor Row FanDoole overdrive set that is now being prepared as we speak. A lot of tinkering happening. A lot of like it's almost like you're looking into a Leon's or a brick or a furniture store of that type because there's a lot of different, you know, couches and chairs and stools that are being used. and I can't wait to see it tomorrow. Well, and you witnessed, speaking of couches, we know the fear of couches on this show.

Yes. The O-Dog, very, very afraid of couches. The couch was the first thing, and it went. You saw the couch being removed from the set. There will be no couch tomorrow on overdrive. Yes, and we can only speculate the fun that those guys are going to have. They're going to have three great shows, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Tuesday night at the Super Bowl,

Super Bowl. What could they get up to? Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that is one of the great pleasures of covering the Super Bowl, and I have had that privilege in the past, Mark. The NFL Super Bowl party, they call it the media party, but it is a party so lavish and outrageously crazy in terms of the largesse of the NFL being on display, that it's not really a media party. Like, there are some sports writers there, and there are some media personalities in attendance, but they invite basically all their sponsors to it. And as a journalist, you're probably wondering what's the budget for this? And the answer is, there is no budget.

It appears unlimited from my experience. I'm not an expert party planner. But like last year in New Orleans, I was lucky enough to be there. And it was one of those parties where you walk in and it was at this huge venue right next to the convention center in New Orleans. And you walk in and you go, wow, this place is massive. It's like an airplane hanger filled. with food stations and bars and live entertainment and tons and tons of people.

And then you realize that you've only gotten into tier one of the party. There's like tier two, three, and four. You keep walking through this place and there's a whole other airplane hanger with another musical act and another bunch of bars and another bunch of food stations. Then you go outside and there's a big marching band playing out on a football field that they've constructed for the occasion. I mean, it's just crazy. Like you realize that the NFL,

they've got so much money, so much power. They can put it on display in one little four-hour shindig for the media and all their sponsors. And it means nothing to them. Like drink all you want, eat all you want. We were going to hire every entertainer in New Orleans that's not working tonight to work for us. And it's really just like drop in our very large bucket.

And being in San Francisco probably helps too, because there's a lot, a lot. a lot of talent that they could grab from being in California and it's in a way a little bit of the calm before the storm when it comes to the game it feels like because I don't know if it's the

the Belchuk and now the Robert Kraft news of not getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame or what's going on in the NBA or the Olympics around the corner but it seems like there's a lot of chatter about things outside of the Sam Darnel versus Drake May storyline. Yeah.

You're right. It's, I mean, it was just brought to my attention. The Olympics start tomorrow. Yes. Canada. Mixed doubles curling. Bigs, Curling.

Peterman and Galant. Yes. The married couple. Yes. Yeah. So that snuck up on me because the opening ceremony, of course, is not until Friday. Yes. And women's hockey Thursday.

Right. Yeah. Canada versus Finland. There you go. It's summer Olympic, same thing with soccer. Like I know, the women would always, certainly I remember in Tokyo, play a couple days before. the opening ceremony.

And Paris, I believe it was the same thing. But yeah, it's a good day to be filled in for the guys. Mike Johnson's going to join us at 5 o'clock and he can talk to us about the Leafs with another victory over a team that might be worse than them. And he's also going to the Olympics, so we'll get his thoughts on that. The Tree Living Bowl?

The Tree Living Bowl, where if they could only play the flames, and if only Willie Nealander could play the flames, the Leaves might win a Stanley Cup, and Willie Nealder might win the Art Rock. That may be the case. You're right. The Calgary-born Willie Nealander gets up for the teams. The Calgary-born Willie Nealander.

His birthplace, yeah. Three points last night. Good for Willie. And, of course, we'll talk to MJ about justice being served on the team Canada roster. Sam Bennett. In his rightful place. Was he the one guy when the roster came out? Like, were you like the majority of us?

They were saying, I get that, I get that, I get that. But where's him? Where's this guy? To me, it was one of the all-time jam jobs in the history of pick up. in a national team. Like, what more do you have to do? Then be the reigning Gonsmite winner, be a linchpin of a two-time Stanley Cup winner,

be a guy that scored a huge goal of the Four Nations, got into a big fight at the Four Nations, stood up for his teammates. I mean, what box did Sam Bennett not check than maybe not having a great October in November, which to me was like not that relevant. Yes, and so if you miss the news, Anthony Sorrelli, and you feel awful for him,

because you never know if Anthony Sorrelli will ever get a chance to play at the Olympics again. Because of his injury and Sam Bennett, which for a moment there last night, we thought, is Sam Bennett out because he left the game with an upper body injury. Sounds like he's just day to day and obviously healthy enough to play at the Olympics.

So he's going to replace Sorrelli. And we're still, it really seems like Brayden Point's going to play at this point, pardon the pun, but we still don't know that officially. So there could be a few other players who have their cell phone close. of them and either going to Cancun or going to Italy, but we'll find that out in the next couple

days. But yeah, it's coming. Like the Leafs play, the Oilers tonight, and then they're done. And they get, I don't know if they're going on a vacation for a week or two weeks, and then they come back. I don't know what the game plan is for them, but, yeah, it's coming quickly. Yeah. And, you know, talking to guys around the Leaf's locker room before they went on this road trip,

there was, you know, there was a real pent up. We need this. We need this kind of. man for this vacation because it's been such a crazy schedule, right? And I guess if you're one of those people that is hoping the Maple Leafs make a post-Olympic run, and I know there are a lot of people that are hoping they do the opposite. And, you know, somehow find themselves tumbling down the standing so they can recover that top five protective pick that they sent away last year in the deadline moves.

But if you're hoping they're actually, you know, hey, they got a chance there. If they could beat Edmonton tonight and, you know, they could find themselves you know, within a plausible, you know, sort of sniping distance of getting into the playoffs. I mean, they're one of the teams with very few guys going to the Olympics. Like you look at the other Atlantic Division teams, like Tampa's got 10 guys going. Well, I guess now nine with Sorrelli.

Right. Not going. Florida has now got eight, nine guys going. I mean, Toronto's got three guys. Boston's got seven. Like, Toronto's going to get team-wide rest outside of the three guys on the roster. Right. And that has to benefit that.

Well, it has a benefit of guy like John Tavares and Matthew Nyes, who one's clearly hurt in Nyes. Tavaris is getting older and his point production has gone down over the last six weeks, roughly. It's so funny that you bring up Tampa and we brought up Florida with the amount of players who are going over. Imagine Russia was playing at the Olympics, how many more players that they would be, you know, like, like at least for Tampa, Kuturov and Vasselowski aren't going. A good point. That's one of the positives. but, and in Florida's case, Bobrovsky's not going,

and he can get arrested. Time is ticking on the Panthers. Yeah, they're in bad shape. I mean, they're going to have time. Like, nine points out right now. And if you're Bill Zita, you're like, yeah, on top of the fact we're nine points out, you know, we've got all these guys going to the Olympics.

I mean, it's, we know why NHL owners hate the Olympics, right? You know, on masks is because, it's because of, A, they don't make enough money, or they don't feel. like they get any of the deal. The IOC makes all the money. The IOC holds all the rights. The IOC forwards all the broadcasting stuff.

And then on top of that, you've got a situation where you send your assets over with no guarantee they're going to come back healthy or to the point we're making rested, right? And so what are your odds of making a great post-Olympic run if nine of your guys are at the Olympics like Florida has. And they're all veteran guys, you know, in large part veteran guys who've had a crazy compressed schedule. It's not exactly a recipe

for having gas left in the tank to make a run at the playoffs. Well, and you brought up the schedule. Certain teams have been able to withstand this schedule better than others. And whether it's the younger teams or the faster teams, you can make your conclusion. But, you know, you watch that game

last night between the Leafs and the Flames. That's not an all-timer. there. Like regardless of the records, you're watching that and you're thinking, well, there's a mistake and there's a mistake and that's sloppy and thank goodness that the

Leafs are bearing their chances because they're kind of getting outplayed here by the flames. Kind of. You know, and it's like, it's one of those like, can we just get to the end of this? And can we just get the end of this week? And I don't,

it's going to be really fascinating to see what happens post Olympics and who's in better shape and our sort of, Certain teams going to be rejuvenated with the rest and are the Tampa's of the league and the Colorado is going to be able to keep rolling even though a lot of their players go. It's a weird, you know, it's for a good reason. Everyone's signing up for best on best at the Olympics. We all wanted this.

But it is a strange season in the sense of the schedule and the toll that it's going to take and the toll it's going to take on guys who are going to obviously prioritize. anyone that read that article from Connor McDavid, you know, this is you know, it's there with the Stanley Cup final, you know, playing in this tournament and how much it means for him to represent Canada and it's nice to hear him say more than he usually says in front of cameras, but

you know, how much does it take out of you think of Connor McDavid being a Superman on the ice, how much does it take out of him? You know, regardless of what Canada does, when he goes back to Edmonton, you know, they need McDavid to be McDavid or else the engine of that team doesn't work. You're right. You're right. But it's great to see McDavid realizes that Canada needs McDavid to be McDavid.

This is much. Yeah. And, yeah, actually, we're going to have P.K. Subban on today, right? He's joining us later in the show. And P.K. is a big part of the documentary on the Four Nations face-off that is going to be airing, I think, Thursday. And it's a great Olympic primer. I was watching the screener of it the other day and preparing to talk to P.K. because he's not only a big featured interview in the piece, but I think his production companies responsible for making the thing. And it's great like the Four Nations, reliving the Four Nations stuff with a little bit of behind the scenes, behind the scenes content from the dress rooms, a few interviews with some of the prominent players,

including McDavid, talking about what it meant to them to be a part of that thing. It's a great primer for the Olympics because that wasn't the Olympics, but it felt like it was as important to those guys. And now you're actually at the five-ring thing that none of these guys have ever been to before except for the old guys among them. And man, it's a recipe for something really special.

Well, it's almost like that tournament was the was sort of the opportunity for players to get their frustration out. After years and years of being told, no, you can't go to the NHL because of this or because of that or because of the money or whatever. And we can't get a world-com. cup consistently played.

And with those rules, you could do it because you could fight. And we saw that with Canada and the U.S., especially in the first game, and almost get that out of their system and then reset and play in the Olympics. And you come away watching that feature that P.K. was the executive producer of and think to yourself, Canada and the U.S. better play each other at the Olympics. You're right. Like, no one screw up here.

It's not guaranteed. It's not guaranteed. Like, you know, there's other, like Sweden and Finland and I know, Czechia is another. step below, but they still have really good players that could, on any given day, you could get goalied or you get posture nut scoring a couple of goals and suddenly you're in trouble. Or if you're Canada, maybe

your goalies don't show up. Right. You know, you never know. Yes, the forgotten story in that dominant 2014 Olympic tournament for Canada was almost losing to Latvia because of Krista's Goodlefskis stopping whatever. I don't know how many, it was like 52 saves

or whatever it was. Great performance. And of course, Mike Babcock, by design, wanting to win two one. Because why do we need to win six one and we can win two one? Exactly. You know, so, you know, it's, it is interesting, like, we'll talk to P.K. about that today because I'm not sure what to expect. We're not going to see three fights in nine seconds like we saw at the Four Nations faceoff.

We know that. And I wonder, like, how much, how much did that, you know, three fights in nine second sequence between those two teams raise the temperature to the point that it improved the quality the hockey? I mean, it's hard to know. And will the fact that double IHF rules basically preclude you from fighting and they also preclude you from doing a lot of the stuff that is

done in, you know, Stanley Cup playoff games in terms of pounding defensemen because they call that late hit rule very tightly. If the puck's gone and you hit a guy, you're going to the box in the AAHF, right? And these guys know that they've all played in World Juniors.

They've all played, generally played under the double IHF rule book. and they know it's a different rule book that's called differently. But that to me is one of the great unknown questions is how will that affect these matchups between these great teams, assuming we get the Canada, USA matchup that is not guaranteed in the format. And it is, it's a double-ish-f event. And so there are some obviously black and white things, like the fighting. We all know we're not going to get that.

But as you point out, how are they going to officiate body checks and a hit? that could be a hit from behind or there's a gray area there. And you have NHL officials there. And I forget who had the line, but an NHL official, at that speed, a body check is a body check. And that's the way they're always going to call it,

regardless of what tournament they're in or what country that they're in. It's just the way that they are wired. And you're going to, you know, you might get almost a hybrid of what you typically get at, say, a world championship and what you get for a typical NHL game. Yeah.

And certainly if you have two, you know, two countries have a bunch of NHL players who are used to play in that way, smart thing for the officials might be like, just let them play that way. And as long as no one's going over the line here, that's probably what's best for the tournament. And what the players would want. I don't think that they care what the players want, but. You know what? Let's hope we get that, right? Like, it's always, anytime you bring in the double IHF, you know, you're never, it's not the NHL running the show anymore.

there will be NHL referees, but there's a different rulebook, and you just don't know how it's going to affect everything. Obviously, we spend a lot of time talking about the slightly smaller ice surface. How much of that changed things? I don't know. The quality of the ice is going to be up for debate because of the fact this arena is so late in the game and toward being brought up to speed. So a lot of fun, unanswered questions that I think is going to make the tournament even more fun to watch.

Did you see the tour that Ryan Rashog and Mark Master? took us on the arena on Sports Center yesterday. I did not see that. So essentially to whittle it down, the closer down to the ice, the better it is. Right? Like the ice is good and the benches are good. And it's like once you go further up, it's like, okay, well, there's some garbage over there

or they're trying to, you know, paint over here. But for the most part, like everything is fine. What is interesting is that the dressing rooms are outside of the arena and that they go through almost like a makeshift tunnel, It's not really even tunnel because it's not underground, but like, you know, they're walking through the parking line and it's a little covered, which I'm wondering, you get a windy day. I don't know if that cover is going to blow away. Exactly. And they walk all the way to the arena, but then in the intermissions, they go into another room that's closer to the ice.

I've seen that before. I saw that the World Juniors at the University of Minnesota arena where it's a longer walk, but that one is like you're literally outside the arena. And again, it's Ryan Rashog, who's covered a bunch of Olympics, you know, kind of summed it up with. you know you're signing up for this at the Olympics. You know that the hotel is a little different, or you know that the facilities are going to be different, and it's not going to take away from the tournament. It was just an interesting visual that we finally got,

where they're walking through this almost little maze, and then suddenly you're in the arena. And it's like there's, if you want something during the game, you better bring it. Bring a backpack on your way to it. You know, I covered the one in Sochi, and it was kind of similar at that way, where there was satellite locker rooms.

I think they wanted each team to have their own room. And so that meant that some of them couldn't be, you know, in the main arena. They were in satellite arenas. And you'd see guys walking across the parking lot and flip-flops in full equipment, right? And having the kind of skates brought over. And I remember they had those skate guards with the rollerblades on them. Yes. So you could wear your skates and kind of roll on the concrete over to the arena.

So some people were doing that. It's never going to be the NHL, which is the reason the NHL hasn't been. been there every year, I think, because of the fact that, you know, there is resentment. There is complaining. There is a feeling that the IOC doesn't do it the way it should be done sometimes. But guess what? The players wanted it, man. And we all wanted it.

Players understood that. And so we're going to get it. Yeah. You're not going to get Vancouver as an Olympic site every time. No. Right? Where you have an NHL team and, you know, Salt Lake City, in a couple of years, we'll have the Winter Olympics. And now that's an NHL city.

and I don't know what the venues will be for that, but I don't know if they're using the Delta Center or whatever it will be called for the Olympics. But anyways, we have lots of talk to, like to talk about with Mike Johnson at 5 o'clock at P.K. Subbin at 5.30. We can talk about Team Canada and Sam Bennett. And we'll get Mike's thoughts on the Leveson getting a victory over the flames and how much tonight's performance against the Oilers changes anything if it does at all. I want to quickly get your thoughts on, you know, the NHL,

there's the roster freeze going into the Olympics. For the NBA, you have the trade deadline this week, and you have either already a lot of movement or speculation of movement, like a James Harden getting moved by the Clippers at some point, and all signs point maybe to Cleveland and Daris Garland going the other way. It seems to me, Dave, that everyone is working their accountants

over time during this trade deadline, and it's because of one man and one man only, and that's Yonis and to Coupo and trying to free up some space to possibly acquire him before the deadline. Yeah, it's fascinating stuff, isn't it? I mean, we were saying before the show, like, if you kind of went through the books of NBA teams for the past probably half a decade,

where there's been constant speculation or kind of intermittent speculation that Janus may not be long for Milwaukee, there's been a lot of NBA GMs that have cleared the decks or at least cleared the possibility. of a road to having Janus on their books, right? And the Raptors included. Like Masayu Jiri made flexibility on the roster a priority for so many years their post-championship, post-2019,

because as he said, in the NBA, players moving is the new free agency. Forget free agency. Guys ask out and you've got to be there to pounce when they do. And there was always that feeling that the Raptors and Janus might be a match because of Masayi Ujiri's long-stander relationship with Janice and his family going back to when Janus was a relative unknown in his pre-draft days. But never happened, obviously.

And who knows if it's going to happen here? Because my sense is that it benefits Milwaukee on a number of fronts to probably wait until the offseason to deal, Janus. The only factor that might push a deal quicker, to this point about before 3 p.m. on Thursday is if Janus is really agitating to get out. If Yannis is saying, don't let me sit here another minute, maybe the Bucks respond to that. I mean, he built them an arena. He built them the Deer District in Milwaukee. I think I would be hard pressed to find a scenario where they're not going to, you know, sort of abide by, you know, his greater wishes. But they've got to do what's best for the franchise as well.

And he's hurt right now. So the idea that he wants to get out now when he's got this calf injury that's also very worrisome, I'm not sure if it's going to happen. But you're right, man. there's a lot, a lot of salary cap gymnastics going on right now by a lot of GMs that are hopeful that if it does shake, you know, if Yonis does shake loose, they want to be the one to benefit from it.

Well, if Jared Jackson Jr., who was traded today by the Memphis Grizzlies to Utah, and there's plenty of players involved, but the big thing is coming back is three future first round picks. Yeah. You start speculating, what does Yonis get? And, you know, and again, how do you, work the money and you mentioned the Raptors and of course everyone is goes right to RJ Barrett and goes to you know, uh, Baji and yeah.

Well, the one with the Raptors is they got a lot of money on the books that they can move, right? Like on one hand, it's good to have those big numbers on your cap because if you want big players, they've got big numbers too and you got to match it. On the other hand for the Raptors, some of their big numbers come with liabilities, right? Right. Yacopold will be one with this four year extension. that kicks in next year on a guy past 30 with a bad back

that doesn't seem to be getting any better anytime soon. That's like a massive red flag, right? So the idea that they're going to be able to move Pertil, the idea that they're going to be able to acquire the size that they clearly need now that Pertil's not a reliable fixture in their lineup in any given night. You know, Bobby Webster's got to do something. I mean, he came into, remember Media Day Bobby Webster said, like the idea that this team's going to be the same now as it is at the end of the season

is basically zero. Those were his words on the first day at training camp. So they got to get under the luxury tax, which is like they're like almost a million dollars over the luxury tax. And if you are over it, it doesn't cost you just a million. It costs you something like a $15 million swing because you don't get the payments that come back to non-tax teams.

It's complicated stuff. To your point, you need an accountant and probably three or four that are good to figure it all out. But bottom line is, you know, We're kind of waiting, tapping our watches because we've got, what, now 48 hours or so, less than 48 hours until the deadline. And the thing you love about the NBA trade deadline is that an 11-time All-Star can get traded like James Hardin and others, and we don't get that in hockey.

The thing you hate is you have to go down that rabbit hole of apron and the second apron and the money, and it just gives anyone that didn't love taking math in school, you're just like, okay, just let me know what happens at the end of the day, please. Yeah. You talk about, like, the one thing about the NHL salary cap, because it's a hard cap with no exceptions. Right. I mean, they do have the long-term injury.

That's about the only exception there is, right? Robida Island is the only real exception, you know, outside of a few other little loopholes. But, I mean, the NPA has got so many, so many different rules. And to your point, now they brought it, the new CBA brought in the two aprons. And it is mind-bogglingly difficult. to figure it all out, right? And you do need to kind of have a spreadsheet, the pocket protector, and probably an AI agent working for you to figure out exactly what you got left. Well, a year ago,

Luca Donchich getting traded, stole the thunder from the Super Bowl. I wonder if Janus ended a coupo and the bucks do the same at this year's Super Bowl. So we'll see you, right? Yeah. I mean, it would be a merciful ending to a long saga for Janus, right? How many years are you been talking about? Could Janus leave the bucks? Let's hope he finally leaves the bucks. Yes. And if he goes to Minnesota, sorry, buddy. Sorry for another. You can say a thing, I guess, about Toronto, but go from one cold city to another. Yeah, Minnesota's an intriguing team.

I know he and Anthony Edwards have a relationship. Not all the realm of possibility. No, no, no, they're clearing space. So we'll get into that. Coming up next, we have a confirm or deny. Again, Mike Johnson is going to join us to kick off the 5 o'clock hour. P.K. Subin at 530, overdrive on TSN 1050. the TSN app and up on TSN 4 and 5.

Overdrive continuing on TSN 4 and 5. We're up on the TSN app and on TSN 1050. Mark Row in for Brian Hayes today, alongside Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star. The boys will be live from Super Bowl 60 tomorrow from Radio Row, which you've seen many of radio rows in the past, and they're going to look good. They're going to bring the goods, as they always do,

and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch them at a Super Bowl. And they're going to be an individual chair, It's not a couch. We've signed off on that, right? JP said things are looking good. And if JP says things are looking good, then I think we're pretty confident. I think the set's going to look fabulous, and I can't wait. There's a certain electricity to being at the Super Bowl.

Like, I love going, and I think it's their first time, right? So being Super Bowl rookies is even better because you've never seen it to finally see it. It's really cool. There's a lot of things that people are eagerly awaiting for. It's to see the setup and to make sure that, oh, doesn't have a couch. It's also, I don't know if you heard, he swallowed his bridge. So he has, I hear that. Yeah, he has a tooth somewhere in his system.

System? I think. Or does he have like a metal dental appliance? Right. And was he able to get through security? We haven't heard anything. So I think no news is good news. And yeah, they're going to be off and running, as Brian Hayes would say, to begin the show.

One of the trademark segments of this show is confirm or deny. Of course, I say a statement. You confirm it or deny it. Kick it off, boys. I can neither confirm or deny that this is in fact a segment. Austin trades Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Tuka Rass. It's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club. It's time for confirm or deny.

Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no trades or no movement clauses? I can either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny that. I don't know if it gives people PTSD that were playing that and playing confirm or deny right around the NHL trade deadline because, well, last year, obviously the Maple Leafs were buyers and some of the buying didn't go so well. I can either confirm or deny that.

The Leith will not confirm or deny that, but let's begin with a player that they did acquire the deadline last year. Confirm or deny. Scott Lawton will be on the Maple Leafs roster after the March 6th trade deadline. Ooh, I'm going to have to deny that, Mark. I really think that, look, I mean, it'll be interesting to see how they approach this, right?

Like, if they come back from the Olympic break and they say, hey, we got a chance here. We're going to go for it. We believe that we can make a run to the playoffs with this team. We've had bad injury luck. We've had, you know, goalie drama that now is hopefully sorted out. We believe that this team could make the run that needs to make and get into the playoffs.

We're not selling. I think that would be a big mistake, right? I think there'll be a massive mistake because their chances of making it, yeah, there is a chance, probably in the single digit, percentages right now. And they got to recoup some assets here. They've got to do that sort of soft reboot, if not a rebuild. And you may not get back the first round pick that you sent out the door to get Scott

Lottin, but you got to get something close. Yeah. You know, maybe a second round pick because he's not getting any younger. I'm not sure how you believe that, you know, resigning him is going to take you anywhere you want to go when, you know, he's, you know, not exactly what they need. right now, they need to get younger. You know, they got to, what's happened this year? They've shown that they're not that fast.

They are getting older, and they need to think about, you know, a younger generation of player here to go along with Easton Cowan, some contemporaries of Eastern Cowan to show that they've got a next wave. So I'm going to, I'm going to deny it and say they've got to make that move. I agree with all the things that you mentioned. And out of the Scott Lawton, Brandon Carlo, let's recoup what we lost for those two players. You're probably getting more for Lawton at the time. the moment, Carlo, because Scott Lotton, after a really slow start, has been much better

and plays in a bunch of different situations. And by all accounts, it's been a difficult year for Carlo. It's been a difficult year for pretty much everyone on the blue line, and it's not necessarily just his fault. I will confirm it only for this. I can see this Leafs team, because it is a very leafy thing to do to say win tonight, come back from the Olympic break, recharge with some of those guys, go on a bit of a run, and be like a point out at the deadline and for this organization go,

well, there's a lot of value in getting in there. And I really believe that they think that they have a team that while it's not constructed to say win the division is constructed to have more success of the playoffs than previous teams. We can argue that for sure. Well, that was the narrative at the top of the season. Right. And it's almost a, we got to give it a chance.

We got to give, you know, we remade. things. We're not the soft team that needs time and space to make all these skillful plays. We can be a little bit more like the grinding team that wins a three two playoff game and you wonder how are they better in the playoffs

and they, you know, but they squeaked in and all that kind of stuff. So I'm not saying I disagree that they should do that, but I have this feeling that somehow he's going to be on this roster post deadline. Let's switch to basketball. There's a lot of rumors with the

Raptors attached to, we mentioned Janice Under de Coupil, but also maybe maybe more seriously, DeMontas a bonus of the Sacramento Kings. The Raptors should acquire an all-star caliber player before the deadline.

Well, if you're in the category of wishful thinking, sure, I confirm that. They should if they can. To me, this is a moment of opportunity. I look at the Eastern Conference and I say, hey, this is a league where there have been seven different champions the last seven years.

This is the league where the Indiana Pacers were the NBA finals representative of the Eastern Conference a year ago. And I'm looking at my team with the Raptors. And I'm saying, we're fourth in the east. Why can't we be the new Pacers? Why can't we be the team that wins this conference in a year where everything is so wide open? And we're one move away.

We're like, we've got an all-star in Scotty Barnes. We've got a guy who's a near-a-all-star on Brandon Ingram. If we could make a move to acquire a guy, obviously a Yonis is, is, groundbreaking and league changing. Of course you'd want to do that if you could for a reasonable price. But if you could, you know, look, Subonis is one that could make sense. I mean, you know, getting rid of Pertil obviously would be part of that because, you know, Sabonis has some weaknesses and you don't need two guys with weaknesses as seven-footers

who don't really protect the rim. But, you know, I would confirm it if there's a scenario that makes sense. Do I think it's going to happen? No. I think they should. I think when you, it's funny, you take a look at the landscape

of the NHL and how much more difficult it is in the east than the west, where look at tonight's matchup, where I think the Leafs are, what, two points behind the Oilers and the Oilers are tied for first in their division and the Leafs are like 12th in the conference.

Yeah. It's the opposite in the NBA, where if you're in the Western Conference, you're saying to yourself, what are we doing this for? A play-in, you know, or maybe to be, you know, maybe to get into the first round,

and then we'll get smoked by Oklahoma or Denver, whoever you're going to play. In the East, you know, you've pointed out to a lot of teams who have had success against the Raptors and for various reasons, thighs, rim protection, all those things, will go and dress that.

And the Raptors, as much as any organization, needs to prioritize trades because that's how they get talent. You look at the history of this organization, how have they gotten some of their best players, it's either drafting them or trading for them. They're not a free agent destination. They did it with Brandon Ingram a year ago. If the opportunity is there, which is the keyword that you brought up,

whether it's Janus or Sabonis or someone else that has shown over their career that they're consistently in that kind of all-star mix, you got to go do it. Because who scares you in this conference? That's the thing. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to win the conference, but you can win a playoff series. You can win two playoff series.

Look, I think. Like, yeah, in Indiana, great example. Yeah, they could win a playoff series probably. as constructed, at least they think they can. But yeah, I'm with you. This is a moment where you seriously have to think about throwing a few more chips in and taking a gamble. Let's stay with the NBA.

LeBron James found it interesting that he described this season similar to his last season in Cleveland in 2018. I don't know if that says. LeBron James will finish his career as a Cleveland Cavalier. Are you confirming or denying that? you know what this is this is an interesting one figuring out how lebron james is going to navigate his career is always been a difficult process and if i had to bet i would probably deny it i think he's been there he's delivered the championship it's home um and there's you know like if he's

going to spend more time playing in the mb a it doesn't feel like he's going to be back with the l a lakers next year uh maybe he'll look for a different scenario like he's you know He tried Miami. He's been in L.A. He's been in Cleveland twice. Maybe he would look for a different chapter. I think, you know, he seems to be the guy that's very obsessed with his legacy. He seems to be a guy that really likes the narrative to sort of have the dramatic effect he wants it to have.

I'm not sure finishing in Cleveland is really going to be that great for him. I think maybe he would go somewhere else. I don't have a great feel for it, but I'm going to deny it. Well, and the question is what's important to LeBron at this stage. We knew what was important to him when he went to the Lakers. It was to be out in L.A. It was, you know, the family aspect. He obviously got Brony onto the Lakers.

Bronny was playing university ball, you know, just down the street at USC. Is it to close the gap on Jordan in terms of titles? Is it, you know, I can't imagine it's any kind of individual milestone. But I think Cleveland doesn't scream we're LeBron James away from winning the title, as much as they were the one seed yes last year.

They're a really good team. They've struggled this year. And it's tough to know kind of which direction they're going in because they're on the verge of maybe acquiring James Hardin for Darius Garland. And it's unfortunate because Garland's been hurt and on face, you know,

if all things are equal and they're healthy, I would take Garland over Hardin at these stages. their stages of their career. Yes. I'll deny it only because it's, there's just a greater possibility that it's somewhere else. Or retiring. I don't know.

Yeah. There's always that possibility. I mean, he hasn't looked great this year. He hasn't been as kind of awe-inspiring as he's been in the past. Yeah. And the age is starting to show a little more than it has. And you wonder,

you know, what's the motivation now? You're really, like, you're not going to catch Jordan in terms of titles. and what are you playing for? Lots of news yesterday about the statue that's going to go outside the dome,

which is Joe Carter, celebrating that back-to-back world series era of the Blue Jays. Confirm or deny, Kyle Lowry should be the next Toronto athlete to get a statue in the city. That's a good one. You know, we've had this discussion about

how the Raptors should commemorate their championship. 2019 and obviously the big moment was in the second round of that playoff series like the most dramatic moment in the history of the raptors is a statue in a lot of ways it's it's a beautiful piece of photographic art i don't have you been to terminal two of the of the airport terminal three i guess it is at the airport where they got they've got this huge you've got a huge wall of that photo oh really of kawai crouched in the corner by the raptors bench and they've got you can see all the people in the crowd and all the people on the bench and you can see all the people on the all watching that ball do its four bounces into the rim.

That to me is the statute from that team. That to me would be the statue from that team. Of course, nobody likes Kauai, and Kauai doesn't like anybody. And, you know, he was a one and done, you know, like incredible, incredible contributor, star player, hadn't seen anything like him. It's the greatest performance in the history of Toronto sports

in a lot of ways, but there's no connection to Kauai outside of that, right? So do you give Kauai the statue, even though Kauai was just a one and done, you know, absolute, you know, flash? I don't know. Like, to me, Kyle Lowry, I would deny it. I wouldn't give Kyle Lauer a statue. Like, you're going to retire his number, but I'm not sure you want to start just throwing up statues for guys whose number you retired. Like, you retired Vince Carter's number.

You damn sure it shouldn't be giving him a statue. No. You know, I don't know how they're going to do it. Their Leaves have 14 statues, right? Right. So, you know, what are the franchise's standards? They retired a guy who quit on the franchise. They retired the number of the guy who quit on the franchise last year.

I don't know where they're coming from. I guess we'll find out because I do think something will be coming down the pipeline for Kyle Lauer very shortly. Whether it's in bronze is a good question. I wouldn't do it until I figure out what my franchise standards are and why I'm putting up statues. I have a hard time believing that it's anything outside of that 2019 team. Yeah, it can't be. It's the biggest championship in this city. And yet the first guy they retired is not on that championship team.

Right. So I guess the better question is not Kyle Lowry, but how do they memorialize that team in a way? Like is it Kyle Lowry with Kauai in some way, you know, celebrating. The best of pals? Right. Right. Or it's like or it's Kauai crouching and next to him it's Kyle hitting a shot.

Like I don't, I feel like they might kind of curtail around that to make sure that, and it's the easy way to go, I guess, in a way. Or maybe it's, I don't know, it's the whole team. How about a big statue of Messiah, Ujiri, who, as Adam Silver, the commissioner, has called him the Messiah, who brought the championship. Well, you can put it right where he gave that infamous speech about the Brooklyn Nets. That's right. F. Brooklyn. Maybe it's the F. Brooklyn speech.

Right. He's got a Mike. Tim LaIwiki and Messiah Ujiri. Okay. Very quickly, I want to do one more. Sydney Crosby will have a bigger impact at the Olympics than Connor McDavid. Are you confirming or denying that? Well, I don't want to disrespect Mr. Number 87, Captain Canada, but how can you not deny this? I mean, McDavid's at the top of his game. I mean, he's doing stuff that continues to amaze you on a regular basis.

Like, Crosby's just as amazing in a lot of ways because, you know, this is a guy who scored the golden goal in 2010. Yeah. 16 years ago, and he's still relevant. He hasn't fallen off that much. Like, every time I watch him play, he's most of the time the best player on the ice, and he still does stuff that makes you go, wow. So, you know, this is a tough comparison, right?

Like, I don't think he's going to outshine. I don't think, you know, anybody's going to outshine McDavid in this tournament. I think this is McDavid's moment. I think McDavid's been dying to be there. McDavid's been dying to shine, and I think he will. but that doesn't mean Crosby won't be a huge factor. I just don't think anybody's going to eclipse McDavid. I agree.

I'm denying it as well. It doesn't mean that Cidney Crosby won't have a fantastic tournament. It could be a tournament all-star, but I think this is McDavid's time to really lead Canada. And maybe the Four Nations was a good appetizer for him. Because it didn't come easily for him. Kind of like it didn't come easily for Crosby in 2010. He'd know he scores the golden goal.

He wasn't, Jonathan Taves was their best forward in that. You're right. And kind of getting the synergy with all. those players and whether it's recent bias of reading that article or the way that McDavid's been playing over the last few months where he's really taken it to another level. I think that this is McDavid leading the charge with a bunch of other

all-stars and future Hall of Famers as well. He doesn't have to do it all on his own. So I'm going to deny that as well. That's confirm or deny. Always looking forward to playing that game. I was looking forward to talking to Mike Johnson who's going to kick off the 5 o'clock hour. He is, I don't know when he's leaving for Italy, but it's got to be soon because the tournament begins sometime next week. So our hockey analyst is going to join us at 505 plus PK Suban at 530s. Overdrive continues on TSN 4 and 5, the TSN app and also on TSN 1050.

Wrap it up the first hour of overjive, which is brought you by Fandul, bringing you more ways to play your game your way. Tonight it's the Leafs against the Oilers, their final game before the Olympic break. Put drop 8.30 p.m. Eastern. The coverage, the pregame coverage begins at 8 o'clock Eastern here on TSN 1050. As the Leaves look to go into the break, a three-game winning streak. Maybe not the most impressive three-game winning streak with the way that they played the last two. But it's a three-game winning streak, Dave, if they can beat Connor McDavid in the Oilers. And by Thursday, we'll be done NHL games for, what, two weeks, 22 days, something like that?

Yeah, well, the Leaves get a little bit of a bit of a bowlers. bonus here. I hadn't actually realized that because of course all we think about in Toronto is the Maple Leafs. But the league goes on tomorrow and Thursday. They get like a two-day jump on the break. They're going to be going to have sand in their shoes tomorrow while there's like 17 games left on the NHL schedule. It's interesting how many of those flights are leaving from Edmonton or are they going home picking up some bathing suits and flip-flops and then going from Toronto? Yeah, I bet they're probably taking the team charter home because

you can't get anywhere from Edmonton without connecting, it seems. Yeah. Maybe you can, but probably not as many exotic places as you can from Toronto. Good point. But you're right. Like if they win tonight and then if Boston has, Boston's got one more game against the Panthers. So if they win tonight and Boston loses their final game before the break, they're only five points out heading into the break.

And then there's 24 games after the break. So as much as like this whole city's been writing them off and saying the season's over, start blowing it up or figure out another plan. I mean, there's a plausible path where they could make it look like it's interesting coming out of the Olympic break. And I guess there's probably a lot of people listening, screaming, but is it worth it? Is it worth it to, you know, scratch and clawing and, you know, there's no trophy for making the playoffs in the city anymore. It's not 2017. Well, yeah, you're right.

The priorities are shifted now, right? Like, for nine years under the Shana plan, when it was nine years and two playoffs series wins, it was like, yeah, winning the playoffs. Now it's like, just get to the playoffs. Yeah. All right, coming up next, Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst on the Leaps on the upcoming Olympics, plus PK.K. Subin at 530s. Overdrive continues on TSN 4 and 5, the TSN app and also on TSN 1050. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fandul.

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