OverDrive - OverDrive - February 5, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Hockey Hall of Famer and Stanley Cup Champion Chris Pronger joins to discuss the Olympic hockey experience, the importance of leadership on the ice and the keys to success for playoff teams. The guys go around the sports world in the latest edition of Role Play Level of Concern and the Maple Leafs' victory against the Flames in Calgary.

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Switch to Bell PureFiber, Canada's fastest internet, awarded by UCCLA. Starting from $60 a month. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Bell, internet just got better. Power to overdrive continues powered by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, the ODUG, Jeff O'Neil, Jamie Noodles, McClennan. We've got Chris Pronger coming up.

Prong's well aware of playing at the Olympic Games, right? Playing for Canada in big, big tournaments. We'll ask him about the curfew and what the code of conduct was if anyone was caught doing the skeleton with no gear on at 4 a.m. Absolutely. And we will ask him, we will grill him if we have to. It's our journalistic duty to do so.

And Noah and Chris will probably have a pretty good answer on that. So he's coming up here in a few moments and roleplay level concern a little bit later in the hour uh... trade deadline in the nba tomorrow we're getting closer to s to the super bowl and uh... it does seem like they're like this always hype with the super bowl it's always going to be there but it did feels more muted

this year i don't know if you guys are feeling the same way uh... i think you know it's in new orleans which just doesn't have the same bite is like vegas or l a uh... it's the repeat of what we saw a couple years ago to same players same coaches same storylines uh... i think it'd be a great game but i think the buildup is lacking a little bit i think the craziness in the

nba and the nl like for people up here, it's just been very easy to be distracted. Right? And the Blue Jays officially announced Max Scherzer got signed yesterday. There's a lot going on away from the Super Bowl. So it has felt a little bit different in terms of the week building up to it. I think it's only different if Philadelphia wins. Like building up, you're right.

Like it just, you're right. We're all kind of going, okay, we've seen this show before. But if somehow Philly shows up and makes a statement and wins this, now you go back and go, okay, how did this all happen type of thing. To me, I think we're all kind of just wake me up when this happens type of thing or wake me up at the game because we've seen this song and dance before. I agree. That's what I feel.

I do think that the officiating conversation has heated up significantly. Travis Kelsey was kind of pushing back on the media a couple nights ago, right? Like why are you talking about it so much kind of in general asking media members why it's been such a talking point, which would suggest to me it's bothering them, you know, that people are taking a shot at their legacy, right? Well, as the media is bringing it up, you would think the opposition players would be bringing it up, no? Absolutely, and I think that's a concern for the league. There's nothing you can do, it's not rigged, but if there's a horrible call that goes the way of the Kansas City Chiefs late in a Super

Bowl, we're going to talk about it for three hours on Monday. I'm hopeful that doesn't happen. I don't have a rooting interest one way or the other. I will bet on this game. I'll make significant bets, but in terms of having a dog in the fight with fandom, I don't really care who wins here. I just want to see a clean game, right? Like we talked about it last week.

Maybe by clean. Well, just the officiating, there's gonna be calls you don't like. Yeah, but you don't want the scenario where it's like I can't believe they missed that or made that call. Right, exactly. And that kinda took the shine off the Bill's Chiefs game

where a lot of the conversation was should it have been a first down did they get the spot right I just it takes away from the action that was a great football game Chiefs-Bills. But Hayes when you have video that shows basically what happened like I thought that was a first down. I thought so too. Yeah so the reaction, think about if you're a diehard. In the age of people having so many different looks and Buddy had his friend there with his camera and he caught a pic of it in a video, it's natural for people that are super fans to go nuts when you're looking at it.

You always talk about the NHL and video review and we talked a bit at the top of the show, but as a player you're like, why would I wanted so much at stake here? Why would I want to chew on a minus if it was actually offside? So that's the player argument and if you're a super fan of the Bills you're watching that you're like, there's the evidence right there It was a damn first down. Why wasn't it called one? Especially when it goes to video review, what were they looking at? Well, that's the amazing thing is they looked at every possible angle. Right. And even the two refs saw it differently live on the field. One was like first down, the

other one was waving it off. So there was immediately, exactly, immediately a bit of a disagreement on that. And it just happened to go in the direction of the Kansas City Chiefs who are winners who are great who are a dynasty already but it just adds to it. If it went the other way you'd be like alright so be it. No one's going to shed tears for Kansas City. It also was adding insult to injury because Buffalo continues to knock on the door and they just can't get it done and that's what continues to hurt and

again at some point they can implement a rule or they're gonna have the technology there's gonna be a chip in the ball and they're gonna know whether or not it was a first down or not and it might happen as early as next year but that's not gonna help anyone this Sunday uh... alright we've got a few games in the NHL tonight we had a bunch in the NHL last night. We were talking about the Four Nations faceoff and what is the protocol at these big tournaments?

You know, are there curfews? Do the veteran players have to keep people in line? If a veteran player has word or hears word that maybe some of the younger guys are having a very good time, what is the protocol in a situation like that? Let's bring in a guy who's been on both ends of the spectrum. The guy was on Team Canada when he was what, 20, 21? Obviously later in his career as well. Here's Hockey Hall of Famer, good friend of the show. Here's Chris Pronger joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

Prongs, take us through this process. Partying at the Olympic Games or at big big tournaments. What is the general rule on that? That's a great question. I think it's team to team. It varies. I've heard varying reports from different World Cups and things like that in the past. I know US teams have gone, you know, you can look at it two ways. It's team building or it's, it's, you know, it's going to affect your play.

And I would in situations like this where you're throwing a bunch of players together, the quicker you can find chemistry, whatever that looks like in whatever way you want to manifest that, whether it's going out, whether it's staying in, whether it's dinners and whatnot. whether it's going out, whether it's staying in, whether it's dinners and whatnot, I think it needs to be the total team. Everybody needs to buy into whatever you're doing so that everybody feels like they're a part of it and you can grow that camaraderie and build from within. So, Prongs, is it true though that if you wanted something in an Olympic village,

you could scan your passport and you'd get a beer out of a machine or something like that. Is that just a made up story or have you witnessed that? I don't know. I think you needed to do something, not necessarily when we were in Vancouver, but I think over in Torino and Nagano and things like that, when you're in different countries, I think you may have had to do something with your passport just to get out so that they knew you had your passport on you,

not necessarily to get the beverage, more to, from a safety perspective, that you're able to get back into the complex, God forbid you lose your credentials or something, you can show your passport and be able to get back into the complex. God forbid you lose your credentials or something you can show your passport and be able to get back in. You mentioned chemistry and different players coming together prongs and you were a leader throughout your career but when you were a young guy on those teams those Canada teams what did you see from an older guy whether it be a Mario or a different player like that where you were like I'm glad I saw that like that was leadership even in a small tournament it might have been

just something small but do you ever see anything like that? Yeah I think you know too you know obviously we've won so it leaves more of a mark on you but you know how Mario was around the guys Stevie Y Y, what he was doing every single day to be able to play. You know, showing how badly he wanted to win a gold medal and what he felt like that would do for his legacy and his career and to be able to do that. You see what it means to guys and when you see that from those veteran players and guys doing whatever it takes to A, be in the lineup and then B, play

at the highest level. As a young guy, you're sitting there going, well, I need to leave everything I got out here. Exactly. It just elevates your play and the buy-in, when you see that, it just goes to that next hole. Well, and when you were on the other side of it by 2010, I'm sure Drew Doughty was like, all right, there's Chris Pronger, there's Scott Niedemeyer watching you.

Did you feel like, man, I'm getting old here and I got to be a real leader and I got to show them how it's done or what? Well, yes and no. He did miss the bus in the last game. Really? I love that. I don't know if that's the the leaders fault or if he's just dumb i was at the first bus

so i needed to get down and warm up these old bones and he said he was going to be on the second bus and he may have slept in a little further and uh... needed to come into the building with some of the fans as they filed into uh... gm place at the time. That must be a hellish feeling, man. To just the last game and you sleep in?

Like most people can't sleep, period. And by the way, this just goes to his mentality and his outlook on life. He didn't even seem rattled. He was just, ah, we'll figure it out. I'll get in there and uh... but clearly it didn't affect his play because he played great that game in he got in just in a nick of time as we started our

i guess that the game of the park and thirty meeting you know i was uh... the kind of those interesting oh yeah that is that there's a answer he got out of the taxi cab and the fans are looking at him like I'm coming in to watch you play like what are you doing here? Just get ready to go win gold. I probably play four minutes that night, too Oh, he did. Yeah. Yeah, I'm night for him. All good. So prongs

You know going into I don't know if you remember. I'm sure you remember vividly how you guys won and everything, but was anything said in between periods heading into overtime? Were there leaders that stood up and made comments? Was there a lot of anxiety? Maybe take us in the room heading into overtime and potentially some of the leaders that showed the way. Yeah, you know, Scotty was the first one to stand up and speak and just, you know, and

as only Scotty can, very casual matter of fact, low stress. And then I stood up and I'm just like, guys, we have this game in hand, we've been dominating the game and just more to kind of call the emotions and calm everybody down. You know, they score with a minute left to tie the game and send it to overtime and that can rattle some players. But you know, you've got a group of Stanley Cup winners and soon to be Stanley Cup winners on that team.

They knew the magnitude of the situation and what was at hand obviously going into overtime in the gold medal match but uh... you know i i i i think about looking around the room and looking at guys in the eye and and seeing their faces by i didn't anybody anxious or nervous or you know i think i've understood what we needed to do we needed to go out and

execute and and we're going to be that's exactly what happened with ch were chatting with Chris Pronger. In terms of the NHL schedule leading up to the Four Nations faceoff, we have found ourselves on the show doing a lot of scoreboard watching recently. I'm curious if you had an internal clock through your playing days where maybe you hit February 1st or you get closer to the All-Star break or trade deadline or whatever where you realize, okay, it's time to ramp up and the cream of the crop will show who they are and the teams that aren't, they're going to fade.

Was it around this time in the sked? How did you generally react to the standings and watching it and planning for the playoffs? Yeah, take the four nations aside. Usually mid-February, two months left, give or take. And normally by this part of the season you're playing every other night. There's typically around 30ish games left. So you're well past the halfway mark, getting close to the two-thirds mark and you're now in that fast break home stretch where every other night,

people are moving up and down in the playoff race, you're solidifying your spot, you're creating some gap and some distance between those that are chasing you. It can be very interesting, but it's also, and then you're prepping for the playoffs and you're trying to wrap up, and what little time they do practice now,

I'm sure they're working on certain things that they know they need to be prepared for in the playoffs and whether you're Edmonton or Florida or some of the teams that have been to the very end at the end of the year, they're looking at what they did or didn't do well and working on, the coaches are kind of trying to get ahead of themselves on the pre-scouts and things like that and working on systems that they may want to implement. It can be a taxing time of year, but it's the most exciting time of year and one that everybody looks forward to. How would you guess that Craig Barube is trying to prep his team for playoffs, something that

they ultimately, prongs haven't had success at in the past? Like what would it be the small details or is it just basically telling the best players that you need to elevate and play better? Like how do you think he would be going about the preparation for playoffs? Yeah, I think he would be, you know, with it being his first year, he's looking at what he has and probably the first 20 games or so he's feeling out roles and who's excelling, who's not, what he can do from a coaching standpoint to try to elevate their play and put them in situations to be successful. And then from there, looking at their systems and trying to figure out from a system standpoint how the players fit into that system. It's much easier for the coach to

tweak the system to the players than it is for the players to change everything and have 20 guys change it up and go to a system. So you know it I don't think they're trying to reinvent themselves so to speak but it but it's the way in which you're going to utilize players is the way he's going to push their buttons he's going to know whether they like to be poked and prodded whether they like to be coddled whether they like to be left alone everybody's different everybody handles it in their own certain way and and I think he's going to have to do some things something differently because he said it hasn't worked today and and they're getting they they've got some

questions in the off season this might be the last time with this you know big five or big six or we want to call it and and they need to do uh... you'll put a stamp on this so that it's uh... uh... you know i think that start to his coaching tenure. So Prongs, you played with a lot of high skilled guys that maybe not have been as physical, may not have been as engaged in the regular season or shied away from certain situations. But then you would see them elevate in the playoffs.

What would you need to see from some of these players? And I'm talking throughout the league, not just specifically about the Toronto Maybeliefs, but you've been to the finals, you've won a cup. When you see players that are more tuned with just playing a skill game, what do you need to see from them to get them over the hump? Or do you know that they're engaged deep in the playoffs? Yeah, I think sometimes people get a little mystified with the term tough. And for me tough is more how hard are they on pucks?

How are they able to really come up with loose pucks? It's not about how hard you can hit somebody, it's just getting in the way. It's sacrificing your body for your teammate, taking a hit to make a play to get the puck out. The blue lines become so important in the playoffs. All these little things that we talk about. Showing your teammates how bad you want it. And that, you know, if you're not one of those guys that's typically done that and now you're willing to do it, that just elevates everybody else. Like, oh my God, look what he's doing. I need need to do that and it just picks everybody up and and they're they're able to get to another level that they need they

haven't been able to get there yet and and i think that's something that they can really focus on that's gonna get total buy-in from everybody quality goaltending sound defensive play and and frankly to be honest they need to get timely goal scoring which they have not had in the playoffs. Yeah that is a hundred percent true that that is what is always perplexing is like specifically the Leafs Matthews, Nylander, Marner these guys are uber I mean Matthews the best goal scorer in the world the regular season he's been the best five on five everything and come playoff time. It just it's not it hasn't been there and they're in their ninth season

Like it's not having said and having said that when you look around the league typically what happens is the top two lines cancel each other out It's the bottom six. Are they able to provide some offense? You know and and in years past if we're talking about strong They're big guys haven't scored so the top six and the other team has dominated them So there's a couple ways to look at it and how the top six and bottom bottom six perform offensively And if they are struggling then they need to pitch a shutout and they need to really lock in defensively and what are they willing to do? to make that the focal point and and buy in and get everybody on board to do that because some games you're willing to do to make that the focal point and buy in and get everybody

on board to do that? Because some games you're going to win 2-1, other games they might be 5-4 and you might be feeling better or you might find a hole or what have you. You need to be able to bounce around a little bit and figure out which style of play you want to use on any given night depending upon power plays and what not. We know those are tight. You typically don't get a lot of those. So as the game progresses or the series progresses, you never know what you're going to need. With Chris Pronger, so we were talking a couple weeks ago about how Alex Ovechkin had set

a new record for the amount of goalies he had scored on. In noodles, he got you twice? I think that's just once. He only got you once. I only played against him on. And Noodles, he got you twice? I think? Just once. Oh, he only got you once. Oh, you only played against him once. Okay, you only. I wouldn't say that. Oh, you played against him for a couple years.

And Chris, you would have played against him a lot. Do you have any stories of OV? Like, is there a defense, is there equivalent of a goalie getting got, quote unquote, by a forward, in the same vein in terms of defense. Like any moments you can remember playing OV where you're like, man, look at this guy or look what he just did.

Yeah, early in his career, you know, being on being in Anaheim, I didn't get an opportunity to play against him very much. And he was still very young and kind of coming in coming into his own when I got to Philly a little bit more, you know, and by that point, you know, some of these highlight real goals have already been scored. And so it's just a matter of not biting on anything and knowing he's either going to want to shoot through you and you talked your goalie beforehand on the power play. This is what I'm trying to do where I'm trying to make him shoot towards so

that you know where to look and you know where to stand and, and just conversations like that so that you understand he's going to get a shot off, he's going to get his looks and it's just a matter of you making him miss the net or you're making him hit the goalie. Right. And the guys, he's chasing Gretzky in like these empty netters, man. Every night he's sneaking one in and he snuck one in last night but they all count. I love seeing them, man.

It bothers some people but I love it. Well, I mean, are we going to go back and look at how many Gretzky got? they all count i love seeing the other some people but i love it well i look and i mean that we're gonna go back and look at how many gretsky got you got a ton of dinners to yet and a lot of the yellow apple beer at pablo beret i was told pablo beret what hit his grandmother head first of the boards together i have to get her that's what i was told to you and he told me that i was i i really like what i thought the sentence for a breakaway. He would do it for a breakaway.

That'll count, man. That guy, I remember watching him from the bench one time in Florida, and I remember saying to myself, I would love that routine. He literally walked to the blue line and then stood there but the thing was if he got a breakaway he was going to score so it was like that was his way of doing business it was crazy to watch though yeah he uh... yeah and you know what i have no problem getting these empty letters i mean listen

part of the game that's right you know what i what i would say though is as we get, you know, we talked about earlier, as we do get closer to the playoffs and these games become more and more meaningful, is he going to be out there or is he going to be cheating for these empty netters and they go the other way and score and now it's a tie game or now, you know, it creates a little bit of an issue at times with how they're defending with him looking to get these extra cookies

oh yeah he's got his foot over the boards man the goalie gets pulled because going on the ice he's like red dot lobbies yelling for guys to get off the ice you're off and i'm going on uh... i love it all right chris will leave it there we appreciate you doing this is always my pleasure back there is chris pronger joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Joe from the Bridge sending in the top three empty netters in NHL history. Top three players

with the most in history. The first two will not surprise anyone. The third one to me is shocking. Alex Ovechkin's got sixty-three empty netters now in his career. That's the most ever. Wayne Gretzky had 56. So Gretzky had a lot of himself. Marion Hosa is third with 40. Which. I could see that. He was heavily relied upon.

He was a great player and a guy that the coach would always say in the last minute of a game, get out there. And he played on really good teams. Yes. So a lot of leads. A lot of winning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I could see that too. He was a really good 200 foot player and we all watched him get hit by Raffy Torres and our buddy Tyson Nash.

Cleanest hit ever made. Nash is saying that's the cleanest hit he's ever seen. We got to play that again. Is it actually on the game tape where he's like that looks good to me cleanest hit I've ever seen I swear that cuz Nash I'm gonna see him this weekend Nash always says that he had death threats like he had NHL security got involved and stuff Cuz that was like there were people that were really outraged and pissed at him like oh, yeah I'm calling more so than that rF like RAF is walking down Michigan Avenue hey RAF how are you? Nasher needed like secret service yes like you see him all the time at your golf course does that hit ever come up Hayes? Is that where

people always go up and say man I remember that hit like does he have to talk about that on a daily? I don't think so. I wouldn't be surprised if people brought... because that wasn't the only one. He had some monster hits in his career. Rafi hit... he had some huge hits. He still jacked Raf. He looks like he could still crush anybody if he wanted to. He looks like he probably wouldn't be in the mood to talk about much when you see him.

Yeah. If he's working on a wouldn't be in the mood to talk about much when you see him. Yeah. If he's working on a short game, I'd leave him alone. It's one of those, he's an awesome guy. He's a really great guy. He's one of the kings up there at Copa, because he's been there forever. Everyone loves him. He's a great, great guy, plays with everyone.

But you know what it's like. If you're on the range, hey, how are you? I don't think anyone's coming up saying, hey hey what happened with Hoso when he came across the middle It's a little bit of a It's a head turning and that's this combo over. It's actually keep walking. I think your tea time has arrived man Oh, man, that hit was that was a huge huge hit and Huge hit and the thing is in a different era. It would not have been a suspension Like that's the truth

We got a Joe to try to find the audio that if we can get nashers saying that's a cleanest first round I believe right Phoenix, Chicago That's why nashers calling it because in the first round local TV and didn't raff get 25 games Yeah, you got a lot of games. You got a lot of games TV and didn't raff get 25 games. Yeah, you got a lot of games. You got a lot of games Yeah, that hit he had the hit on Seabrook to against Chicago behind the net That's a thing like Chicago. I don't think raff. I don't know if they love him in Chicago They love him everywhere. He played though. Yeah

They love them as an oiler. Yeah, he was great The oilers last year brought back alumni, you alumni every night in the playoffs and stuff like that. He was on the Jumbotron. Big time. Cup final they were bringing him out. Yes, people love him. He was a really good player. He was tough. He knew his game.

He was fast. Wasn't he a scary junior player? Great junior player. Played in Brampton. Played in Brampton. Was a great, scary junior player rej gold medal in vancouver this guy's in a taxi sick all that there's there is the greatest example because we talked about braden point you know that's crashed in boston he missed the team meeting gold medal game

if drew dowdy walks into the meeting one minute late does someone look at him and say you're not playing today that's a great question to the back up with do it don't talk i would would have done it for sure. But does he just turn the other way and say, you know what, I can't pull the trigger on this right now? I think he put like, that was Dowdy's coming out party.

He was so good in that tournament. Oh, everyone was like, this kid's got to be eased in. And he was one of their best defensemen. Big time. Him and Taves, man. Taves, man. Taves was the forward equivalent where it was like he's young, he's just kind of breaking into the league and Taves was playing a ton and Doughty and I think Bergeron, same kind

of thing. Yeah. Anyway. Differing. I mean you got captain serious, Jonathan Tays, and you got Drew Doughty who's not a care in the world. Like I would say. I agree, I wouldn't have slept a wink the night before the game. And Dowdy's like blows right through his alarm

clock. Wow, like I love those stories. And then goes out there and just freewheels. Like he's walking the line, last man back. He just plays with no pulse. It's amazing. He's so, so good. I guess I've got to make a call on that. Who's going to replace Alex Petrangelo in the next little while here? I would think it's going to be Doughty.

A guy's playing 25 minutes a night since he came back. 25 minutes a night. I wouldn't be shocked if it is dowdy me either and i think it would be great for the tournament because of his personality but you put him in there you know he's gonna be is gonna rise to the moment the question is will he play i had a san haim ahead of parade go

you know do you do you bring in the addition and then that guy plays ahead of the other guys who originally made the team or does he sit? I'm not sure how do you sit Drew Doughty? Well I think what you're trying to do is replace like again it's Alex Petrarangelo who would have probably played you know some key minutes key roles. Doughty can do that like he has the offensive flair he has the physicality like he might be the perfect you know replacement for Alex Petrar rangelo the way they play you know that that it might be true dowdy you break a place a different game

and sands a left-handed shot like to me it might be true daddy that would be a perfect replaced yeah it makes a lot of sense man for sure and if you didn't get injured he probably would have been on the team anyway you know he suffered that gruesome leg injury and he probably would have been on the team anyway. You know, he suffered that gruesome leg injury and he probably would have been on anyway. All right, Darren Drager will join us on that and more still to come. We'll get into the Super Bowl as we're halfway home.

We're almost there to Sunday, halfway through the weekend. Role play level of concern coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. fifty and onto your son for past this time all the way this works we've been playing for a long time role adults right we're're gonna retreat it We're gonna approach it with maturity here role play level of concern. Always always and

Each of us will be assigned a certain person and a certain scenario and we give our level of concern Lots of options from pine on the patio all the way to Nick Cage leaving Las Vegas. All right Oh, you're playing the role of Wayne Gretzky. Wayne Gretzky, what is your level of concern? Alex Ovechkin is going to catch your record this season. This season. Can I have the exact stats? Isn't it like 17 goals? I believe he's 16 back now after last night.

With about 29 games to go. I'm going to say he does it man, so I think Gretz might be Nick Cage. What do you think the better story is Hayes, that he does it this year or it's like the build up to lead into the beginning of next season where in the first month and a half this guy's going to break Gretzky's record? I think for market, it's a great question because I think ideally for marketing it's, you save it for next year because then you get the whole build up through the summer into September but you're risking, he gets injured in camp, right? Something goes awry. It gets ugly.

It gets you know, he doesn't have a good start and you're, you know, something just goes wrong. And right now it's the perfect storm where he's red hot. The team's the hottest team in the league there. And, you know, for him to catch it in game 81, game 82, it catapult you into the playoffs. It's pretty incredible as well. Yeah. Like in terms of storytelling. I'm the same way. to and catapult you into the playoffs, it's pretty incredible as well,

like in terms of storytelling. I'm the same way. I think it's this year you want it to happen because like Ovi, you're right, empty netter, but I called a game where Washington won one nothing, he scored the OT winner. Like they had him out there in three on three. So I mean, I think it's the better story,

like the is doing it this season as far as how great Washington has been They're just not focused on getting over the goals. They're a first-place club So it kind of to me it would tie into this surprise season that the Capitals have had So it just a cherry on top this year for me big time big time But I think if Gretz is looking at it, he's like what would stop this guy now like nothing at this point yeah he's he's a like he could easily go and play some garbage teams and have a couple hat tricks in a row and then be like we're not a far away now folks so yeah well exactly if he if he's inside 10 he's got 10 goals with 12 to go 13 to go

This guy has proven that he is incredibly special and he's up for the moment, right? He's not gonna be overwhelmed by it And he's he's probably gonna do what Gretzky did back in the day and just score five and a night to do what he had To do like I wouldn't put anything past him Alright noodles. You're playing the role of Brad Marsh and Brad Marsh and the captain of the Bruins What is your level of concern if the Bruins missed the playoffs? They will not sign you to an extension this summer I'm Rick Bushwood Here's why I wasn't But here's why because I think they respect him enough that they might go

to him and say, you know what, because Cam Neely has been on record saying, we're going to monitor this and go one way or the other. We're either going to, you know, if we believe we're a playoff team, we're going to add at the deadline. But if we don't, we're going to reset and head the different direction. He's earned enough respect that they might go to him and say, if we're going a different direction, where do you want to go? What's the scenario? We'll revisit your future in the offseason, but maybe he's in play if they go the other direction because of his contract status. So I think he's been afforded the respect to kind of You know choose his own destiny if they go in the other direction of not making the playoffs

So, you know, I that's why I'm Rick Bush would I do you're looking at maybe there is some uncertainty Based on where your team sits in the standings. I'm more concerned Yes, they won last night and and I think they you know, they're right there But they you know, they pissed away some of the games in hand, right? They've played three more games than other teams, right? That's big. That is big. And listen, we've talked a lot about these kind of

veteran legend types and contract years, and will they sign, will they not? It hasn't been that loud with Marchand, and Boston generally is very comfortable with the way they operate, and I'm sure all he dreams of is being in Boston. I'm sure he approaches it like Sid, I would think, but is it possible? He's looking at it too, San. You know, I'm not a young guy anymore and this team's just not got it.

You know, like I don't, Boston's not in the same spot Pittsburgh is. I think on paper they're better. I think they've got more depth, etc. But is there a chance, Marchand looks at it and thinks maybe I would test the waters out and see what else is out there, or I do think it's reasonable, it's a business, man. It is a business. It is a business. In Boston, one organization that's going to say, you won us a cup in 2011, we're not giving you some Kobe deal for your greatness with the Boston Bruins.

Here's what we got, if you want to explore other options that's what you can do yeah they will not do that in boston man no exactly i mean they they were in that situation with bergeron with chryche where was kind of one year at a time and not a ton of money and that's because the players accepted that it may be marchand wood maybe you would maybe won't yeah or maybe they say you know we just need to kind of cut bait on this era and move in a different direction. That would be wild if he got to free agency.

Like a guy like that, he's not young, but man, there'd be a lot of teams kicking tires on him. Oh yeah. He played at what he'll play as a 37 year old next year. I mean, I think he's 36 right now. So I mean, he'd probably get a three year deal from somebody and maybe some crazy team and throw a fourth year in there just based on.

You might get the Claude Giroud deal by somebody next year where it's three times six and how about it? Yeah, that's a good comparison. Well, it is, but Claude Giroud has, if you look at it, he just turned 37 the other day and he's still producing. Like that's the beauty of it for Giroux is he's actually the best. It might be less than what that was. It might be three times five or something.

I don't think whatever he's going to do next year, I don't think he's going to hit a home run. His chance for a home run was the last time he was up in Boston and I believe he signed a long-term deal at like six something. Six point three. Yeah, eight year deal at six or whatever. Yeah, and he could have kind of planned that. The guy's rich, he's got no worries about money, but his next deal is not going to be

knocking anything out of the park. No, it's not. And it is a reasonable question to ask. Will it be in Boston? Does it make sense for him? Does it make sense for the team? to just Lakers. Play it. Play it. You have to. LeBron did it. Kobe did it. Shaq did it. Magic did it. Kareem did it. The Lakers are different. You have to win. If you're going to be the

man, you're the superstar. If you don't, you're just the guy. Exactly. You're going to be the man, if you're the superstar. You're just a guy. Exactly. You're going to be the guy that stopped the chain of success. He has to do it now. He's 25. You presume he's going to stay there. The Lakers, generally speaking, have a very good scenario in terms of pitching to different free agents. Come to LA, play for the Lakers. They got to put a good team around him.

It's not only him but 25 years old in LA, you know You're one of the five best players in the league. You have to win You've got to win there like there's way more pressure now in LA than there was in Dallas. It's not even close I guarantee you LeBron is gonna whip that guy into a machine man He's gonna just it's gonna treat he's gonna treat him like a 19 year old and be like, I'm showing up here at 5am, you better be there. That type of stuff. I'd be in his best interest man. It would be in his best interest. Of course.

Like Lakers are a pretty good team this year. They beat up on the Clippers last night and they may have home court in the first round. They're a pretty good team and it was you know it's fine Luke was sitting beside LeBron last night and laughter was going crazy yeah exactly but you know it's gonna be fun to see it sounds like he may return on Saturday night he's not gonna play I believe they're back in action tomorrow I think they're playing State tomorrow how did he look though like I saw one angle he looked a little beefy I know that's what that's where twitter was going with it the lake who's that guy beside the bron you know i had streams hard in the fat city at a look like it's got to get it

together man like that's his route like this this this should be a scenario where he takes it personally dallas said you're out now we're breaking up with you you're gone i hope he takes advantage of that. All right, oh, you're actually continuing with this theme, playing the role of JJ Reddick, the head coach with the Lakers. What is your level of concern that LeBron won't be able to accept his role as Robin to Lucas Batman? Play it.

You can never, never ask me to stop drinking. Because Bron Bron, you think of him as the ultimate competitor and he'll do anything to win. But I think when you tell old Bron Bron that maybe he has to take a back seat a little bit and he ain't the guy, I don't think he likes that man. You're bang on. Like I was going to say something in the last chat. You're like, oh, he's going to take him under his wing. I don't think he likes that man. You're bang on like I was gonna say something in the last chat You're like guy is gonna take him under his ring. I don't know like I feel like bronze

He's got a big ego We all know that talks about himself in third person and you know Instagram and all that up to all-time great Oh, no, I get that. Listen, there's no debating earns the great But it's just I feel like guys like that father time catching up and all of a sudden this guy blows by you. I just, I think there would be some chippiness to it. And it's the first time anyone said like, this play doesn't run through you, Bron Bron. It runs through.

Yeah, it's a new guy it's kind of a it's an old-school Godfather 2 reference but it's like a Hyman Roth scenario where LeBron's like yeah I'm not gonna be around much longer and it turns out old Hyman was like I'm gonna be around for a long time and I'm not interested in doing business with you and I'm still the man and I think there may be a Hyman Roth scenario here with LeBron and Michael Corleone being Luca because that's what he knows. You would think they'd look at it and be like, I can do great business with you.

Guys have egos, man. They want to be, yeah. They don't want somebody else getting the cred. That's kind of what I was leaning towards. It's just, and you hope that Braun understands, is it a good teammate about it and all of that, but I think there's a layer to him where it's like, this is unchartered territory. He's been the face, and he's one of the most popular people on the planet. Yep.

Like not just in sports, on the planet, he's known. And all of a sudden you start to erode a little bit and somebody else is in there. It's uncharted territory for him. It's very difficult to do and it's something that is unique to very few people in the world. Like you got to step aside now. You were the man and now you're no longer the man. If you don't see it first, that can be very, very difficult. And I'm kind of preparing for that in LA.

I think that's what's gonna be fascinating about this working relationship. Both great players, great talent. LeBron's still got a ton left. And I think he's gonna play again. I think he's gonna play for another year or two. I wouldn't be shocked if he's looking at Tom Brady saying that's the record I'm going for, man.

I wanna play until I'm 45 and prove I'm still great great I wouldn't put it past him to try to do that But yeah, we'll we'll see all right. I got a couple of other ones after dark that we'll get to right all right some roleplays After dark we got Darren Drager coming up Herm Edwards on Super Bowl 59 Former Eagle himself will get her mistake on what he's looking forward to on sunday night overdrive continues to use and ten fifty and on tsn four into the city with a fairly tickets and yet the guest worries hiding for your chance to win them it is wednesday third clue of the week at this point i have no idea where else brothers generally i don't buy now i have

no idea let's hear the third clue of the week. Hey Overdrive fans, happy Wednesday to you. I'm here to get you one step closer to finding out where is Al's brother and getting those Leafs and Sharks tickets to you. Here is your Wednesday clue. This place is a meat and cheese lover's dream. I think I'll be able to grab everything I need to make a superboard for the super bowl this weekend i know where he is

i should have known that now the first clue makes sense alright tune in tomorrow for another clue the first caller through on friday with the correct location was a pair tickets to see the leafs take on the sharks march finals brother brought to you by mccall pine ford in aurora our family the ford family and you. Full details at TSN1050.ca. Hazy, one of these weeks we got to spice it up. We'll meet them there, invite them for some penne pesto maybe.

I love that idea. Ooh. Love that idea. Is that a coat? Yep. And Al's brother, it sounds like he's preparing a charcuterie that will include wings, right? Very rare. Oh yeah. You rarely see that but I forgot

about that that's a great Al's brother fact yes chikudri board has wings on as wings can you imagine the spread that he's gonna have on the Super Bowl spread like there's gonna be outrageous we're gonna have to have people posting their pictures of Super Bowl spread because they go all out we should do that right like Dregg's does the outdoor rink stuff on Christmas Eve. We do feed bags on Super Bowl. We want food bags. Overdrive feed bag.

Absolutely. But dude, the thing with Dreggs, that guy's committed from 5 AM, maybe earlier, till like midnight of that day. After an hour, I'd be like, OK, I've seen enough like, chakutery boards. Yeah, it's a lot Yeah, he does it all day long on Christmas Eve. He loves an outdoor rink. He's really loves that really committed to it And I don't have we established what we're

Betting on yet on Friday like his doogie the commissioner has he snapped out of his stupor there doogie Do you have any thoughts on this pipe up? up like do you know what we're doing come friday i've mentioned in the group chat multiple times okay well i thought we've declared that we didn't like the original one i i supported your first one to you i know you still did not like well you know what well will play the game and that's all you can do in this business is just shake your head and say, fine, let's

go ahead with it. Okay, Doogie. But if you want to make any adjustments, you have 48 hours to do that. Okay. Do yourself a favor and don't run it by us. Call the guy down in New Orleans, please. Yeah, that's true. FaceTime him and see if it's going to jive.

But make sure there's enough points up for grabs. That is important. It can't be a scenario where if you ask Luke, he'll want it to be over by. What a loser comment, man. He'll want it to be over by. He already turned it down, though. He's always turning it down. You know what that comment was? That was, our expected goals are so good. That is a loser comment from you, Hayes. We're down three, man.

I know. We're down three. We need to have a chance that, you know, it's a Super Bowl, dude. There's got to be like 10 points up for grabs that can swing one way or the other. So I think at a minimum we make sure that's the case. But Alice Brother and I were going back and forth today with, you know, which side of the ledger we're on, which team we like, the spread, the total. But we need to know props.

What are we playing? We've got to have an idea of where we're going. And I want that information by tomorrow so we can prepare our product. Let's have a little segment tomorrow where we lay everything out. Okay. Doogie, there it is. All right. You've got about 22 hours.

Sounds good. To make sure that we've got this figured out. All right. Final hour coming up. Darren Drager will join us Herm Edwards our best bet still to come as well We're gonna do some picks to golf picks for waste management man. Got it for the waste management We'll mix in a five pack with a Canadian. We have to do that as well

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