OverDrive - OverDrive - February 6, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Frank Corrado for Hour 2 on OverDrive! NHL on TNT Analyst Darren Pang joins to discuss Connor Bedard facing the noise in Chicago, his overall season and Anthony Stolarz's return with the Maple Leafs. They also discuss the Raptors' trade deadline additions, the team acquiring Brandon Ingram and the direction of the team on the roster.

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For details visit McAlpineLincoln.com. Hour two overdrive continues powered by FanDuel. Bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hays, Yodog, Jeff O'Neil, Frankie Corrado. Leafs in Seattle tonight. Mitch Marner returning. Anthony Stollers making his return. He hasn't played in almost two months, eight weeks. And that's a dicey start. It's kind of an anxious start. Like don't you think Frankie Hayes you watch in the first period and it's like, what's

going to do? What's it going to look like? Yeah. I mean, we should be used to it. We're doing it for 10 years in the city watching goalies I do find it weird though that you come back just to go on a leave again right like you're I know he's taking a lot of time and you're gonna play and then everyone's gonna go on a break it's like you know I don't know do you want to ramp it up just to bring it back down again or do you just want to just keep it going all the way through and then you come back after the break and you're like, I have never been more ready to play in my life and I just not worried about anything. Yeah.

There is a what's the point element to the start tonight. As far as what? Well, like Frankie said, the Four Nations starts as of Saturday night. The Leafs have two games left and they're off for two weeks. Yeah, maybe you're right. It's like... Yeah. I i think you're right it's like yeah like i i guess you know if your competitor he's been off for a long time he's a he's definitely ready to play they're not forcing him back on all

the reasons but yeah so it at the same time it's like a kid get that maybe you want it get one out of the way and one of the chamber for the mental exactly and in that possum i think that could have a real benefit. And we'll ask Pang or that, you know, Darren Pang will join us here in a moment. How much of it is just simply a psychological hurdle

you have to overcome after missing so much time in net? Right? So and still, you know, prior to the injury, it is amazing how quickly two months can go by and all these different things can transpire. He was so good before he got hurt. And I think he was their team MVP prior to getting injured. You can make the argument it was Marner, maybe Willie, maybe Tanev. But the numbers he was putting up, the fact that Wall missed the first couple weeks of the year, he was phenomenal for them.

And they had scoring issues at times when he was in net they one one nothing or two one or three two and i'm pulling for the guy because they need him you know especially with jockeying for positions like wall's not going to play every night i think wall did a really good job of staying healthy which is a crazy thing to say but that's 20 25 also the reality for him. Yes, for him. His reality. For him for sure. And a lot of athletes and a lot of goalies

and can you stay healthy for two months when you really need to? He did it, he did his job. They stayed well above water and now you got Stollers in that tonight. And I am curious to see what he brings. Seattle's not a great team. They're not having a good year.

Excited about the super line what i can this is what i see happening here so the super line is mariner to barson the lander tonight which means nice matthews and only i do think and we've been saying it all year don't he's not gonna play center in the playoffs unless they have multiple injuries i'd just i don't think they see him that way he was at his best last year when he moved to the wing and particularly on the wing with Auston Matthews. Statistically Matthews and Marner have actually been kind of better when they've been split up.

What's gonna happen here if this works is Nylander is gonna move to a third line. That's what's gonna happen. Like Groundhog Day, don't we do this every year? It's always Willie that moves. It's always Nylander and Nylander will be playing with Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMahon on Saturday night in Vancouver. That's what's gonna happen. Mark my words. Because Mitch always plays with one of Austin or John and if Domi's gonna stay with Matthews then eventually they'll spread the wealth and Willie will move down It's gonna happen another example of how Willie's perfect for Toronto. Yes, throw me around the lineup wherever you want I go down there lane and then you'll put me back up and I'll go score

He'll rip home to on Saturday night playing with Pontus and patches and it'll be all good All right joining us here on the maple Toyota hotline. Here he is from the NHL on TNT Darren Peng, how you doing, Panger? Uh-oh, nothing from Panger. Are we trying to do the FaceTime thing? There he is! There he is! How we doing? I'm doing really good. I was just reminiscing about how big I was when I played. There it is.

Any load management during your playing days, Panger, or what? Are the nets the same size today as they were back then? Panger, how do you think you on that, like, serious question, with that gear and the helmet and the whole routine, how do you think you would absorb, like, OV one-timers, like, right to the groin slash inner thigh area? Like that would rip your leg right off your body I gotta get an old mass then hang on. Yes Look at the inside of this thing.

No, man. Terrifying. Weathered. Yeah, an OV-1 timer off that. That thing's, it demolished. Demolished. Yeah. I thought I'd bring entertainment to the show this morning, based on overly analyzing

so many things as we all do this time of year. But how would I do, oh, dog? That's a really good question. He would find holes after holes after holes and blow them through me. I think there's no question about that. I'm not naive enough to think that that would be a big issue.

That one timer from that side, the best one timer that I ever faced and he was awfully good was Brett Hall. But man, Brett Hall didn't blow it through you, he just scored on you. I think OV finds a way, right, with that velocity and he always hits the net, that it just would squeak through me. I mean, our pants were just regular kind of pants. I think my sweater was size 54. I was right in the middle of the transition, Panger when I and It's no disrespect to the goaltenders. It was just a visual for me but when I was going down on Chris terraria or

Billington I Would look and I'm like there's a lot. There's a lot of stuff to shoot out there But at the end of it where I was looking at Roberto Luongo. It's like there is there is nothing I mean you're but you're between the benches a lot. Both you guys are. These goaltenders are all six foot six and you come down the wing and you're looking for something, there's nothing. That's what makes the special goal scorers, the guys that if they get a one-timer pass,

it's under the bar regardless of the goaltender, regardless of how quick they get across. There's about 10 guys in the league that are automatic and that's it. Everyone's got to bang it in and Slashing hack and whack in front of the net and panger you know it's crazy like you watch the game and then the puck will be in the offensive zone and you're there and you're like I Swear that goalie's been like on one knee or down for the last 25 seconds because their their shoulders are still at the crossbar So they they don't have to waste that movement there they're down a lot already yet they are they think i think they waste a lot of time on their knees but

i i can see that if you're along i talked to ben bishop a lot about this and he was almost sixty eight and and he just is back for it you know i mean that's a quite simply backwards so it's easier to stand his knees and just push push side to side hey but all dot listen here's what to reary and Craig Billington, let me see some of the guys, I guess Van Beesbrook, Mike Vernon, those are probably guys you're thinking about,

Al Baster, that era. See what we did was we tricked you, oh dog. See we made you think that this net, that you had all this time and space, and then we sucked you right into that area. that this was this net that you had all this time and space and then we went we sucked you right into that area I don't know that was it now the I really don't think that was it that's a great idea but that wasn't it see I don't need to follow you on national TV but that wasn't it the big guys they they're six foot six and then they go into a reverse VH on a bad angle and

give up a goal and they look small. So you know, you pick your poison. You know? Well I'll tell you what, Panger, the one thing I do appreciate about the shooters is the reverse V8 or standing there sitting on one knee or whatever, they're smart enough over the years they're like, I don't care what you do, I'm ripping it right over your ears and right under the bar and somebody's got a look at that because they look stupid when they're just they don't stand up and they're just crouched down and a guy just rips a wrister right from

the goal line it's the shooters you can only take so much where they're like we got to find a way and they found a way and no dog our goal when we played was not to get hit in the face like why would was not to get hit in the face. Like why would I want to get hit in the shoulder, the collarbone, the side of your face and expose yourself to that? That's crazy to me. Goal is that headbutt, pucks. I'm like, man, that's the last thing I want to do is get hit in the head with a puck. So yeah, there's a different philosophy. I thought we were weird, man. They're weirder now. Yeah, they are strange now. They're really strange with Darren Pang. And we were talking about Anthony Stollart's making his return tonight his return tonight and you know coming off he's been out for eight weeks. He had the surgery done and he's had the lower body injury. take two weeks off. So is this about the psychological hurdle? Can you take us through that mentality, Panger?

Like a goalie coming off an injury, especially a knee injury, going into a game like this, like how much of the psychological hurdle exists where it's like you gotta trust yourself, do it, get through it, and then you can breathe afterwards. You know, I think, I tell you what, Hazy, I think if you don't have any experience in injuries it's a lot more difficult. I think if you have experience, and from what I understand, that Anthony's had experience

with knee issues, you know, whether that's a cartilage, whether that's, you know, there's something in there that he has had in the past. So in saying that, I think it'll be okay for him to come back because there's a certain amount of confidence that you have when you've done It before whereas there's a certain amount of anxiety that you have naturally if you haven't had it before So I came back from a torn hamstring like right off my butt and I I came back and and I gotta tell you I was really Hesitant I I'd never had an injury like that before and I was afraid to do a stretch I was afraid to butterfly and then funny thing is I tore an ACL. I was I was gone all year

I came back into the net one full year later than when I injured that ACL and It was in the minors and I get there's a difference in play and I I got a shutout We figure that out. Everything seems so slow and everything was coming at me like so slow and I felt confident. My knee was fixed. I had a brace on it. But, you know, so again, going back to it, it depends on the injury. But I would have to think again, reiterating, I think Anthony's been around long enough and he's experienced enough in that kind of injury to know that he can bounce back from that. Panger, I think now that- And be calm and get some rest.

Well, and now, you know now you have Wall playing well. Stolars was playing really well before he got hurt. So both these guys, how do you handle the rotation when they're back healthy? Is it one of those things you look at Washington and say it worked for them just going 50-50 alternating starts or do you feel like you have to kind of give one guy a week, the other guy a week? What's the best way of doing that when two guys have played so well this year? You know, I feel like there's an opportunity for the coaches to ease the player that's

been injured. If things are going well without that player, why throw them into circumstances that other players have excelled in while that player is gone? You know, for right now, personally, it's great to get Anthony into the net. That's good just before the break. But for me, it's really not a rotation-based business when a player's been out that long. It's Wall's net for me. And then there's going to be a time where Joseph Wall struggles. It happens.

It's inevitable. And then when that happened, when that does happen, it'll be midway through the second period. Craig Barube is going to say, this is my time to make a change in the net. And then it's going to be the opportunity for Anthony to get into the net. And then they can either get in a rotation or Anthony takes the net over. So but right now I, I don't like just told the guy right back in there in the circumstance that he was prior to uh... for me unless it's a big struggle

unless desperately man i need this going to come in here and and change change our game up we need that energy or we need that excitement from that player but otherwise don't be in a hurry i a hearing chicago it's a little couple players just prior to the winter classic uh... seth jones had a broken foot They all, he tried to get back, Morazzic tried to get back for the Winter Classic. And I think looking back on it, I don't think it was right to throw him into the same situations that he was before. The power play was working without him. The minutes were being handled by other guys like Alex Vlasic. And I think the team took a bit of a step back,

just because everybody was anxious to throw player a and player b right into the exact same spot when they weren't up to speed with what was going on with the players that were having success while they were gone. Penger the question we have with the tandem moving forward i think for the rest of the regular season they're most likely going to figure it out but one of these guys guys has got to play every other night if they want to go where they want to go for two months. So how do you pick that guy by the end of the year? When none of them have done it in the past, none of them have a sample size where they've

been a true number one, and it's really critical and there's a lot of intense pressure, and it's non-negotiable where it's like you've got to go in there and do it. This is where you can do a trial but if you if you stink then you're out of the net so how would you handle that come playoff time yeah I would handle it as if you know down the stretch you know exactly which guys going on oh dog like you for me it's like Joseph Wall went into the net when Sam Sonoff struggles I'm not mistaken a few years ago with the pressure on and and he performed very very well in his personal anger by the end of the last year he was injured game seven last

year he didn't skate out because he was hurt it's like and i'm predictability of a dog and that's the frustration you're talking about that you think you're basically talking about that's a damn co in vancouver you know it is that we're going to be healthy enough to run it? Well, I think every team, old dog, has plan A and plan B. You know, plan A is, hey, this is our guy, we believe in him.

And because it happened last year, you know, we're getting another crack at it. But at the same time down the stretch, you're going to have to have to have two guys going anyway. But I don't think that means that you alternate, you know, during a playoff series. But I mean, how many times we've seen it that a guy plays great in game one, great in game two, struggles in game three, needs a break, the coach takes him out halfway through, sits him on the bench and says, Hey, bud, you're going right back in there for game four. But we're going to get, you know, goalie be in the net for this one here and that's get you re-energized. It happens an awful lot. And then you just

go on again and keep going. But then if the goalie struggles in game four, well now you've got yourself a question mark because now you're likely going to the other guy for game five. That's the facts. With Darren Pang of the NHL and TNT. So you were between the benches in Chicago last night calling that game and it was a really fun entertaining game. Edmonton ends up winning in overtime. Connor Bedidard has been a topic of discussion since he was 14 years old. We all knew this kid was coming. We knew what he was doing in the dub, what he did at the World Juniors first overall. He's in the year two,

but he's starting to hear it a little bit, at least from outside of the Chicago market. Where do you stand on his game, up close and personal, where he's at, and you know, what would you say to people that are wondering, okay, where are we going with this guy and what's going to happen here in Chicago? Well, I think he's, first of all, I think he's handled Hazy extremely well. After Mark Messier said something on Saturday, listen, the Florida Panthers, it was like, it was a one dimensional game. I mean, they dominated, especially that first period.

And so they picked apart a play that he certainly should have had a stronger stick in front of the net. So I asked him the next day, I had a chance, I'm saying, hey, listen, I want to know, do you listen to the analyst or do you listen to the noise that's out there? Do you, you know, do people send you something on social media? Are you on social media to watch it? And he goes, you're talking about like Marc Messier's comments. I said, yeah. And he goes, he goes, well, he sure wasn't wrong on that one. You know, like he doesn't go, Oh man, man, Mark Messier,

what's he done? Of course he wouldn't say that he respects the game and he, he respects people's jobs. And he's like, yeah, you don't think I, you don't think I don't know what I make the mistake. Same thing happened with Paul Bisson at last night. You know, Biz went through a shift, The shift was bad. It was a bad line change. It was a long shift. It was a turnover in the same area that I said had happened before.

You guys are analysts. We all sit in the studio. What do you break down? Do you break down that? And again today, sure enough, what did he say? He's like, I'm not getting, I think he used the word butt hurt. If I'm not mistaken, you know, he's like, Biss has got a job to do and that's his job. And I'm okay getting, I think he used the word butt hurt. If I'm not mistaken, he's like business got a job to do and that's his job.

And I'm OK with that job. Like I'm not laying awake, you know, wondering what guys are saying about me. Basically, he's like, I already know before I watch TNT or ESPN or ABC, I already know what I did wrong. I know that that was my fault. So I'll say that so people can understand that part of Connor. The reality of it is when those same mistakes happen time and time again then there's teaching moments that have to

take place and it's great that Connor recognizes that hey I can't be button-hooking up right inside the blue line of the opposition spin around and try to make a blind backhand pass to somebody against a good team like Carolina, Florida, and now last night the Edmonton Oilers. And so if you do it time and time again, then I think you got an issue. If he learns from it and doesn't do it again or it's limited, then you're on the right path in my opinion. And oh, Doug and Frankie, you guys have played with young players that have come into the league. I mean, a lot of them have junior habits. They're 18 and 19, they come in, they have junior habits.

They're used to playing two and a half minutes. If his coach in Regina, John Paddock, says, hey, Connor, we're down by two, don't come off the ice. Well, he thinks that's right in that circumstance. But now in the NHL, when you've got Pat Maroons won three Stanley Cups and alex martinez one three Stanley cups and they're all trying to create a winning hockey environment and that might be dumped the puck in get it in deep no turnovers in that area the ice well then that gets frustrating certainly for the veteran players but he's a sharp kid he analyzes his performance very accurately

I'll say that so he's as hard on himself as everybody else is on him when he makes mistakes. Darren, were you surprised there wasn't a follow up on what does butt hurt mean? It was a little bit, fuck, I threw it out there and I'm like, okay, O'Dodd, fire me something up here. Like, seriously. I'm not getting into it, man. I have no idea what butt hurt is.

I know, go on social media, I'm pretty sure that was the quote that he said. I'm afraid to on social media, I'm pretty sure that was the quote that he said. I'm afraid to even Google it. I'm afraid to Google what butt hurt means. Don't do that, not on a work phone. Stay away from that one. Line one, HR. Exactly, exactly.

Kanger, you've got to know this guy pretty well now. You see him every day, games, practices. You think there's an element of like, he's almost too hard on himself? I know he wants to be professional, wants to take the next step. There's so much noise and pressure, but can he be too hard on himself? I don't know. I grew up with Stevie Y. Like from 14, 15, 16, 17, I mean, you didn't have to tell Steve if something wasn't done

right. He was the first one to live it and correct it and do it. Conor's not the first one. People talk about Sidney, Conor McDavid, the same thing. These young kids, they don't have a dog. You can't go home and pet your dog. I mean, you know? So, I mean, he loves the game of hockey, he loves sports. In fact, one of the things he said, Frank, was like he likes the criticism or the analysis of plays and breaking down plays. He says, Monday morning, because he's a big football fan, he goes, that's what I watch.

I want to see what they're talking about with what that quarterback did the next morning. So he's gotten life away from the game. There's no denying that. But his number one passion is the game of hockey. Listen, last night he did something special with the Blackhawks. There was a Make-A-Wish young man named Lennox, came in from Nova Scotia. His favorite players were Connor Bedard and Connor McDavid. Make-A-Wish and the Blackhawks made this happen.

So there's Connor after the optional skate. He is on the ice with this kid. He's got him in the locker room. He walks into the building with him. You know, he's a great kid. He's got a lot going on, but yet he finds the time for other things as well. And then, you know, and then I think there's a lot of pressure on him probably to play well for young Lennox and for himself and up against, you know, Connor McDavid.

So, you know, in the end, and what he ended up with it, maybe a point or so, but the guy that was the man child in this game, I'll just tell you, if, if, if, if you don't have Leon dry side of it for the heart trophy conversation, you're, I think you're not watching the game of hockey. Yeah. And maybe the selfie award winner too. I mean, the guy, the guy's a machine of both ends of the ice. And man was he snarly last night with, I didn't know that he and Ilya Mikhailov had a, had a Mikhailov had a little bit of a battle going on. I mean, they were drawing back and forth and I was surprised that Mikhailov he didn't

back off one whatsoever. Oh dog, you would have loved this banter between the two. I believe one of them said, you do again you're gonna eat you're gonna eat the blade of my step it was great stuff uh... you know that's also just going right back and forth and uh... i expected the camp under the back off a little bit is such a quiet but man he is a competitor and he was certainly in the kitchen of uh... of leon until leon daughter going

there in the game yeah i thought that's always a comment regardless i think it always get you thinking because when i second year in the league mark recce said that to me he said i'm not playing that much longer i will break my stick right over your head and i was thinking he's not going to do it but what he did and then you're just thinking like how crazy is that guy knew what you're just

wondering the whole game how crazy that guy really is or the the worst is if you're like not really tough and you say that the guy says go ahead and do it yeah but you're like now i gotta do it and i probably won't even break it called my bluff did you know what things that you don't you never want to see that uh... all right we'll leave it there. We appreciate you doing this as always. Okay. Well, I appreciate you looking at my pictures and analyzing the net, watching my mask, and

just being the great show that you are. You're my dad's favorite show, and he watches you all the time from Fernie, British Columbia. My dad's 88 years old. I'll get an email from him right as soon as I'm off this and he calls me, Joe, my whole family is gonna say, Joe, just watched again on Overdrive, my favorite show. I'll tell you that. Ah, we love hearing that, that's amazing. Say hi for us, please.

We love it. Okay. Thanks, Panger. Take care of you guys. All right, there he is. See ya. Darren Pang joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. And yeah, I mean, listen, Badard, he didn't create the hype right? It's a media driven thing, it's a fan driven thing, but it's also an incredible compliment

when you are being talked about in the same breath as McDavid and Crosby and Ovechkin. Everybody was touting him to be the next Wonderboy. Yeah. So those other guys, Austin Matthews, Leon Dreisle, Connor McDavid, they didn't take a step back and have a second year where everybody was asking, what's up with this guy? Why is he having shifts like that? We weren't breaking down, that's why.

There's people that are caught off guard because this was supposed to progress like every other Wonder Kid, where it's like the Black black hawks are making the playoffs in year two and their contenders in year three that was the progression of the other guys for the most part like the evidence stunk for a long time but like that that was kind of the jonathan tase patrick kane it's like really good

second-year team close to making the playoffs make the playoffs contend like that was the progression of other great young kids such a bad roster their horror there is a terrible robert richardson that guy should be ashamed cal davidson should be ashamed firing that guy and coming out and saying i just didn't view this as a last place team yeah they're terrible you give me a break he was playing butar was playing with Landon Slaggert and Ryan Donato last night, and on the ice a lot against McDavid. Think about that.

Yeah, like there's just, you gotta be reasonable in terms of what can be expected. The team is not good enough. He doesn't have a guy with him like Malkin was with Sid, like Kane was with Taves, like Dry Sutter was with McDavid, where you compare with those other wonder boys. Yeah, Matthews had Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Brownhill.

He had JVR and Bozak and all these Adre already here. Guys, but other wonder kids, if you look at it, they would turn Kavo Taravinen and Tyler Batusi and they'd be the best line in hockey. Yes, like I did a hit on this yesterday and I thought about it more as like the night went on because if you look at it, the term generational is it's arbitrary and everyone's got a different definition for it. I would be a stickler on this because there are, you mentioned guys like Matthews and

Dry Settle, they were not in the same same on the same level of hype like if you go back over the last 40 years I would say it's Gretzky Lemieux Lindros Crosby Ovechkin McDavid there's six guys I think that's six that that you knew who they were when they were like 13 or 14 some of them even younger they got to junior or wherever they played and they absolutely dominated you know they they were going first overall, Gretzky notwithstanding because he didn't get drafted and they arrived in the first year you're like look at that guy and by the second year you said that's gonna be the best player in the league if he's not already. Like it's a formality, it's done, it's going to

happen. It happened with Gretzky, Lemieux, even Lindros, like Lindros obviously the injuries hit and he didn't peak the way these other guys have, but Eric, I mean you were in the league, you saw him, by a year or two you're like this guy's, it's insane what this guy is. Literally insane. Literally insane. You thought you've never seen anything like it. Right, and the fact is with Boudard, again not his fault to be labeled that way, but he deserved it because he knew who he was when he was 13 or 14, he dominated the w h l it was a lock he was going first overall and he was going to be the next guy in year two he's going to have probably

twenty three twenty five goals in sixty five points that's not what those guys did so he he isn't generational like that and that's just a fact that's not being overly harsh it's just a fact that's tough to digest from that is i watched him in Halifax. I watched him at two different World Juniors. And the tournament in Halifax...the World Juniors isn't a joke to perform. Like they always say, there's a cliché, it's a 19-year-old tournament for a reason. Because 19-year-olds generally perform well.

But this guy did in Halifax, Iax item the world juniors for nine years i'd never seen a guy play like that at any age he was he like it was so it was the best performance i'd seen at the tournament right and i'm like this guy's gotta be the next guy and now he was making people look stupid out there crazy and that's why again the hype was justified and it's a heavy crown but it's a it's a crown of honor

but it's a crown of of prestige very few guys get it where it's like look at this guy it's happening and watch out and that doesn't mean he's not going to develop into a great great player or a or a superstar player the goalpost have moved here and to be fair to him again and it has to be pointed out he's still very young and that team is

horrendous they're awful and he gets no help but is he gonna be could he be Stephen Stamkos could he have that that career that's the first overall pick right shot I would say that your goals or slam dunk he's gonna have that kind of career you think you'll have the same career and go superstar is not generational no exactly would you scored 60 goals man? Would you take that right now? I think Bedard if he had you know picture Bedard 25-26 years old with an elite playmaker and some good players around him I think he's have he's no I think I don't think I know he's having a 60 goal season. Okay. The thing is we're even talking about it like it's not a slam dunk

So we've gone from McDavid to Matthews Now we're at Stamkos like they're different levels. So we've already We've already chunked it down a couple levels, right? And and Stamkos isn't a slam dunk to have this guy scored 60 goals man Well, if you scored 40 50 and 60 would but if you're badar if you're chicago would you take that right now if you're a guard would you take that right now who says no the black cox or but dar for the the the stamp goes career captain leader scores a million goals

guard would say no i think he would probably like still think of himself as like wanting to be the best or one of the best Right at any given sign me up right now It's not a loser's mentality fellas if you can give me stamp coast right now It keeps me out of the sewer damn coast is a listen. He's a Hall of Famer great Yes player he cop cop multiple car winner now never wonanna Heart was up for it, scored 60, didn't win it that year.

I think it was the Malkin I believe, but that's the thing. Like that's, the Stamkos is not some guy you look down to. It's an incredible career and a great, great player. But that wouldn't meet, I think, the expectations of what we thought Baddard was gonna be. And he's got his whole life and whole career ahead of us. It's all a projection right now. Crazy because in two, three years we could be having a totally different conversation. Totally. Something could have flipped for him,

the team could have turned the corner and we're talking about it just took him four years to get there instead of the two that it took. Lindros, Krosby, Ovechkin, McDavid, well McDavid hit the ground running. He got hurt that year. They kind of all did though. Yeah. Like Sid and Ovi had a hundred points in their first year. Ovi had 52 goals as a rookie. Yeah, it's outrageous. Like, Mario Lemieux, Gretzky, like those guys, now again, that's, it seems absurd to put

them in that category now. It's unfair almost. Yeah. But that is the generational, like, wow, I can't believe this guy. You know what else we could do? Like, wow, this guy is going to be unbelievable we have to change like our barometer for generational foundational franchise guy because guys play junior hockey and they have a hundred points and it's like that's the that's the running yeah

that's not that the price of doing business for star players in junior only one guy in the building that labels people in this has the ability and the green light to label them he's got a whiteboard quiz master's master yeah how many okay quickly before we go here how many players would do you think he would consider generational over the last 40 years six or three two or three three I don't really Gretzky Lemieux I mean he got to include Ross said Sid Novy and then McDavid you think he may not include Lindros because Eric just didn't the injuries I took it away my Eric was so

man like you know that oh like Frankie you're a little bit younger I wouldn't have when Eric when Lindros was coming up like in the late 80s and early 90s it was like look out Like this kid is coming and it's gonna be absurd what he does and he did it to his credit like his first two years In the league he had like 40 goals 90 plus points to think about 20 fights a cup on a line with Gretzky as a junior He was 18 at the Gardens playing in the Canada Cup. Grabbing Swedes with their blue jerseys and throwing them over the glass.

Destroying people. Dude, destroying. I know we gotta go, but Jason Spezza was another guy coming out of junior hockey. You heard about him. Big time. 14 feet. Like, you are the same thing. I was my age.

I grew up playing against Spezza. Yeah, I lived it like he he jumped up a year when we got to minor bantam he went up to bantam and then was in the OHL the next year yeah we're all in bantam and we're like this guy's playing in the OHL people could have labeled him generational at that point yeah are the same thing I remember seeing John Tavares playing for the Toronto Marlies minor midget and like 12 year olds going up to get autographs because you know it was you knew what was coming. Yeah. Exactly. And John's had a great, great career. Spez had a

great career. Stampco's, like there's a lot of guys, great, great, great careers, Hall of Famers. But to get to the next step is kind of a different world, man. That's where Jordan Spieth was at one point, generational. I don't know if he is anymore. Are you taking Spieth? You're putting, before we let you go, because you're doing panel work tonight, are you going to? I don't know if he is anymore are you taking Spieth you're putting before we let you go because you're doing panel work tonight are you gonna I don't appreciate are you putting Spieth back on the list because it's gutless you both made me not take him yesterday I'm I said Doogie he's on my team and I never not took him I'm taking Spieth. That was a Ne-Yo. It was me I said it was a brutal pick and then you buckled like gutless gutless behavior. Do you know you want him because he's read?

I better have spieth or I'll be concerned about your ass. I've added a bill. Hey, you have Jordan speed you get speed I get Jake now. Are you doing a little nap now? Oh shut her down Mordy's I got stuff to do I got more II got video. I Weren't I could ace for three hours already good tonight's all game. Will I see you at our little spot before the game? Pass the toilet paper. We'll chat then. The two boys just convening in the washroom. All right we'll catch you on the panel tonight. There he is, Morty Seinfeld joining us. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. All right, Pierre Lebrun coming up Dave Naylor from New Orleans ahead of

the Super Bowl. Raptors losing last night, but very active at the trade deadline. And Brandon Ingram coming to town and listen, he's a really good player really. He's a he's a he's a guy who can score. He's a guy that has a lot of talent. He's a lot of fun to watch play. I think if you're a Raptor fan from that perspective there's a reason to be excited for it and I do think that gets lost a lot and and I'm I'm as guilty as anyone constantly focused on like team building and championships and all that kind of stuff we do that all the time

and you lose sight of a lot of times the average fan just wants, you know, a fun, a player that's fun to watch. You know, like I would compare Ingram kind of to Patrick Laine and what he represents in Montreal where Montreal was an up, you know, an up and coming team, rebuilding team. They were, they wanted talent, they wanted star power. The fans were starved for it, they got it, Linnae showed up, can score, veteran guy. Ingram may be a very similar type of scenario. But sometimes you just take a flyer and say like, I'm willing to take the risk because my team is not as far along as I'd like it to be or maybe some of the fan base would like it to be and maybe this gives me something.

I don't know if this one's low risk, I think the Lin a one is low risk because he didn't give up much to get him there wasn't much term there, you know, you'll wash your hands with it if it doesn't work at the end of the day, but Yeah, and you talked about team building There's probably like a section of the fan base that just says do everything you can to make us good screw it Like we're you know, we're not in this for a five year, strip it down, build it back up, just we want to watch exciting basketball night to night and just be aggressive. Yeah. Well, and that's my stance on where Masai Asiri is going here.

We had Lewenberg on last hour and Josh said one of the things about Masai was he was overly patient and it maybe burned him in the end, looking back on the Vliet Siakam Mananobi era and I would argue that what he was really doing was he was terrified of losing It wasn't that he was patient with the guys he had he was pushing away Losing and pushing away tanking as long as he could and I think this is another example of how he is just Not capable of stomaching that. And I can understand why he's terrified of the Charlottes and the Detroits and what Washington's going through. And yes, there are examples of teams that bottomed out and accumulated everything and

everything worked out for them and they moved in a different direction. Oklahoma City is a great example. Houston to an extent had to bottom out after Harden and Paul and all those guys left. And now look where they are. They're moving back up the West this year they're very competitive team but I don't think he is patient I think he's terrified of losing and terrified of being irrelevant because of what that would do for his reputation yeah because 2019 was a long time ago right like yeah it's a long time ago now. That's great. Everyone holds you in such high regard But if you strip it down and then let's say you don't actually know how to do that

You're just not wired to do it. You've never wanted to and it's like feels foreign to you Well now ten years down the road people remember you as the guy that Tore down the Raptors and left it torn down, right? Exactly, that's what you would be scared of rather, know, like rather than just, hey, I don't know, I'm losing a few games or having a few losing years. Like what's your reputation? What are you going to be known for? Yeah, exactly.

And I think what the goal ultimately is a championship, but you have to be reasonable with that. I think the, I think what they're doing here is what they're telling us is they're trying to as quickly as possible get to a point where they are competitive and they're doing here is what they're telling us is they're trying to, as quickly as possible, get to a point where they are competitive and they're in the mix. I don't mind that, though. And that's the thing. Without doing something reckless, which they haven't done anything reckless, you know,

the portal deal, you still look back and think, okay, what happened there? Why did you wait so long to move on Seacom? Maybe why did you get Ingram? But again, they didn't overpay. They didn't trade something that's really gonna burn them they're not gonna give away a pick that's gonna turn into the first overall pick in two or three years you know that never happened at any point during this run even the Pertle deal was protected it stung because he gave up like the seventh

overall pick because you weren't that good it hurt but it wasn't the first overall pick yeah it wasn't as bad as it possibly could be. And I think that's what Masai's trying to do. Get back to a point where you're competitive with as much talent as you possibly can have and a decently balanced roster and then hope you hit on a couple things that were unforeseen. Like maybe you win the lottery or maybe whoever you pick in this draft takes more steps.

Maybe Grady Dick keeps growing. Maybe Jacoby Walther turns into something. maybe there's a trade available and you can work well that's exactly exactly that's that's his read on the nba that's how messiah operates certain things are going to come up and they're going to become available to you and if you're in the position where you can strike then you'll do that but like if the raptors for the next call it five years if if we work in five year segments, if they are somewhere between fifth and eighth in the Eastern Conference every single one of those years,

who says no to that? I would sign up for that if I was the Raptors. I'm competitive, I'm in a playoff spot, I have income coming in, like we're winning, we're keeping fans happy. We're just, I don't know if we live in a time right now that the Raptors, we're gonna talk about them in October saying that's the team.

Celtics are below them, Cleveland's below that. It gets just not happening. Well, that's the dream with a blow it up tank rebuild. That's the dream. And there have been examples of that happening. It doesn't happen often, but there are examples where you go into a dark place for three years and then you come out of it and you're at the top.

Right? And again, Oklahoma City is an example. Now, Oklahoma City was so extreme with some of the deals they made. The Paul George deal fell in their lap. They got Shay Gildas Alexander in like five first round picks. Like it was just a horrendous trade for the Clippers. Like it fell in your lap and shade turned into an MVP You know one of the four or five best players in the game and he got all these picks and it just it worked incredibly

Well for you. That's an extreme example that that that's a once-in-a-lifetime example If you're between five and eight that means you're you're maybe a player two away from top three Sure, and I think that's what miss i had this a glass half full type of mentality but i'm guessing that's what was a jury is hoping that put themselves in a position where they're in the middle of the pack which means they could be a player two away from being at the top and being in

some sort of a pouncing position yeah and is it perfect no but is that is there is it more likely that works than the other route? Yes, I would say it is. Like the other ones pie in the sky, dream tank, you get the best players two or three years, you load up with a young, and it's tough.

That's a dream come true, but it's unlikely that works. And if he did that, I don't think a lot of people would fault him because it's like that's kind of the thing that you draw up and you say, we're going to build this up and we'll kind of have something that's sustainable. But if something falls into your lap or you have an ability to do something that you weren't expecting, I kind of respect the fact

that you're like, I'm just going to do this and I'll ask the questions afterwards. As long as you're not doing something egregious or taking away from your group, which clearly you're not doing. They did not do in this Ingram deal. Like they obviously, Brown was gonna go, Olenek had no future here. They gave up the Pacers pick in 26.

They still have their pick this year. That wasn't going anywhere. So they still have their pick this year. That wasn't going anywhere, you know. So they still have some flexibility. Again, I'm not convinced it's gonna work to get them to five through eight. Like that's still not a guarantee. But you put forth a lineup with guys like Scotty and a healthy Ingram, which is always something

you concern yourself with. Quickly, Pertle, RJ Barrett maybe comes off the bench, a couple of the kids continue to grow, okay, you're in a better position than you were certainly to start the year. Yeah. In terms of talent and in terms of roster building. Well, you also. And that's what they're trying to do here. You also have to keep in mind like the summer is gonna come around and free agency hits and you're gonna make pitches to some guys. You're not gonna get the big guy let's say. let's say. But there's gonna be guys that have options. And what are you pitching them on?

Like, if there's no one there, how you getting anyone? At least if you have something here, you have the bones of it to say like, look, we believe in what we have here. We're on the precipice of being competitive with the upper echelon teams in the Eastern Conference, but we need you in order to do that. Look what we have.

If you don't have anything, it's like you're not even having those conversations. They're hanging up the phone on you. Exactly. Like you're a piece that we believe can fit in here and this is how it works. And now they can possibly do that because they still need shooting.

They still need to defend better. Like they're gonna need a bench. Like these are all question marks that are still a reality for them and that's why they're fifth worst in the league, but you know, it's, that is what their plan is here clearly. And whether it works or not, we'll see, whether, and listen, it could go the opposite way, where they try to get to five through eight or whatever and be in the middle and they're just there forever and then people get sick and tired of that yeah you know and they may look back and say

that was our chance people were prepared for we're gonna bottom out but that's that's what Messiah's year he's doing here he's willing to stomach one bad year and then he wants to turn it around quickly all right Pierre Lebrun coming up Dave Naylor from the Super Bowl in about 40 minutes. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050N on TSN 2. All right, we've sent Al's brother out somewhere in the city with a pair of leaf tickets. You have the guess where he's hiding for your chance to win them. Fourth and final clue of the week.

Ready to hear and see Al's brother? Would love to. Hey, Overdrive fans, happy Thursday to you. I got one final clue to help you find out where I've been hiding at this week to get you those Leafs and Sharks tickets. And here it is. I can guarantee you that you will not leave this place hungry. In fact, I might go get myself one of the world famous female bacon sandwiches right

now. Ooh, all right. You don't know where he is? I didn't hear all the clues this week. You don't know where he is? I didn't hear all the clues this week. I know where he is. I picked up on it, I think two days ago. I should know. Very, very famous place.

Very famous. Hmm. I'm drawing like... Okay, alright, don't worry about it. When you hear the cue to call tomorrow, the first call of three with the correct location wins a pair of tickets to see the Leafs play the Sharks. March 3rd, Fine All's Brothers brought to you by McAlpine Ford in Aurora. Our family, the Ford family and you. You gotta know this spot, man. JP told me. JP loves this place. Oh yeah, he's right there, he walks over. He lives right down there, man. JP's always kicking around.'s basically the mascot for that spot that place him and Al's brother. I like it. Yeah, okay

I was actually thinking of a place near this place. You were thinking up here. No a place near the place Oh, I see. Okay. All right Pierre Lebron Dave nailer and our best bet still to come overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 2 our best bets still to come overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 2.