OverDrive - OverDrive - January 14, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jonas Siegel for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the biggest headlines around the NHL. The guys dive into the Rams' victory against the Vikings and Sam Darnold's next steps in the NFL and PGA Tour Golfer Nick Taylor joins to discuss his victory at the Sony Open, his clutch mentality and the perspective of the massive shots in the tournament.

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Details at iHeartRadio.ca. Power 2 Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Hayes, the ODOG, Jeff O'Neil, Jonas Segal of The Athletic. Mike Johnson coming up from the rink, Leafs Dallas tonight on TSN. We'll tee that up with Johnny. We'll get his take on the John Klingberg news. John Klingberg is looking to make a return. John Klingberg. He's looking to make a return and according to Dregs, it's Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa that are looking at him.

I don't know. Personally, I would think maybe let that ship sail and just say thanks for everything. We gave it a shot. But their power play is abysmal right now. That would be the only reason. And remember I said this is exhibit A of the league being watered down and being desperate for talent. If you were even sniffing around John Klingberg, like what are we talking about? There's a guy that pulled a stunt too. Apparently Dallas was willing to pay him big money. Remember his last couple

of years? Yeah. And he said, no, I want more. I'm going to free agency. And then Anaheim gave him a one year deal. Then he came to Toronto. Like reports were out there indicating he had a long-term deal, a big money on the table. He had a home run sitting right in front of him and he was like Turn the thing it's just like when you get like that big chunk and If it's like a million off per like you're an idiot not to sign it if you say no I'm gonna hold out in either risk injury or your play declines and you're sitting there with nothing,

it's bad advice, man. Like it's bad advice. That million, and everybody wants to maximize on their value, but that money, the difference is not gonna make your life any different or any better for that fact. Well especially if you're comfortable there. Like if you know who you are and what you're doing,

that's your room, you know, like there's just so much that goes into just signing it and What about guys that play with great players and they're in a great situation? Like I don't know what the ranting deal is, but imagine trying to squeeze some more money out of somebody else and going to play with some stiff on a different team. Well, that's not up enough. Not playing nathan mckinnon are you serious that's what doesn't come up enough lecture you can leave now you can leave by guess where you're gonna be playing but you're you're going to where you going you know like maybe you want to go to california some like that i understand it's compelling

but go down there go down and i'm see what happens we're playing with you know what he did but i do wonder if theard and or Macklin Celebrini get to a point where they can sell someone. All you gotta do is ask a guy like Alex Galorn. He's one of my favorites in the league. He was a clutch guy for Tampa with all those Cubs. He signed in Anaheim.

Call him up and say, how's it going in Anaheim, man? He's like, I live in Anaheim. It's cool. Wow. Well, maybe that's the thing. There are some guys. He got a couple of Cubs and he's like, you know, I'll go to Anaheim, it's cool. Wow. Well, maybe that's the thing. There are some guys. He got a couple cops and he's like, you know, I'll go to Anaheim for five.

I want to maximize. Yeah. That's a completely different story than where Ratanin is. Funny how that's flipped. That used to be Florida, right? And it used to be Anaheim and San Jose and LA. It was like, you're going there to win. Now you go to, like Florida doesn't want you anymore.

They're too good, right? They only want you if you're prepared to win. You you go to, like Florida doesn't want you anymore. They're too good, right? They only want you if you're prepared to win. You gotta take a discount to go there. Like historically, that's what the Panthers were forever. Guys are like, I just kinda wanna live in Florida and I'll take the money and I know I'm not gonna win. And when you take more, the expectations go up. Like look at Pedersen.

Like literally since he signed the contract, hasn't this kind of coincided Yeah, I mean his his play has really fallen off ever since he was like there was a point where he was a top player Right like you thought of him as a top ten player. I don't know what his highest finish is in the top 50 list But it would have been I would I would guess But it would have been I would I would guess all over like below 20 for sure Well, and can I just bring like a local example? We don't have to talk about the Leafs But like if you're thinking like Marner's next contract if he like came out and said you know what I'm gonna take a little less

think of like how Great that would go over in the market like oh It would have been a grand slam for him if he signed on July 1st that summer for just 10 and a half, even that, how crazy that, and maybe that wasn't available at that point. I know, but guys, I will say this. When you're in a locker room and your contributions are as equal or sometimes greater and you're like, your first thing is, it's like, why wouldn't I get the same as that guy? Yeah, I understand that.

It's easy to say, oh, you'd be loved by the, but you're in the locker room and you're thing is it's like why wouldn't I get the same as that guy like it yeah it's easy to say oh you'd be loved by the but you're in the locker room and you're like for what I do why aren't I getting the same but it would be someone saying what you just said to us where it's like yeah like in the scheme of things it's like this many million which is not nothing but think of like your life is not going to change right now big picture it ain't gonna get any better right if anything it actually would have changed it would have been a lot better for you if you just signed quicker for a little

bit less last time last time yeah I would suggest the same thing applies here you know yeah we're not we haven't really been doing the Marner contract thing because there's just nothing, there's nothing new. There's nothing really to say that hasn't already been said. But I would suggest you're playing with fire a little bit, like the longer it goes without signing, presuming the Leafs want to work out a deal right now. And we all know what the parameters are gonna be.

It's a ton of money, ton of years, full no move, full no trade, like that's just what the deal is gonna be. If I'm Mitch or if I'm in his camp, I'm like, just sign it now while you're red hot, you're leading the team in points, the team's first in the division, everything's great. Sign it now, sign eight years, 12 million and get it over with and you're a hero.

And sure, some people are gonna push back and blah, blah, blah. But if you risk going into the playoffs eight years 12 million and get it over with and you're a hero and everyone you know sure some people are gonna push back and blah blah blah but if you risk going into the playoffs and you play poorly and you lose in the first round and then it comes out you want more than Austin he's still gonna get paid like it's not gonna matter maybe it's not they might well you saw it again of course if he becomes a free agent someone's gonna give him a monster deal yeah of course I mean that's this isn't a cling-burnt you were there in the would you sign a contract

eight years for million dollars they just call you up in the civil do it right now i would be very hesitant to do it in like before seeing what's gonna happen about us yet yeah like with what elected to do it again the idea of just committing and then maybe they still don't have it and they don't win well what about this don't as if he's not good in the playoffs would you be would you be quite what would you be willing to say we're moving away from

that's a great question you'd have to put that yeah I have to think about it don't you like isn't the whole well what you have to ask yourself is look at what we just talked about with Sam Darnold not the same thing but we were like in the big games, he wasn't good. What are we gonna do? Like, they're not gonna bring him back. I know.

And after this many years, like, do you say there's still the OV opportunity where it's like, he could be the guy? That's what's conflicting. The magical question. For sure. Well, but the thing is about the OV opportunity is that was one guy who stuck around for it all.

Yeah, well, two, Backstrom. Not three of them. Backstrom wasn't there originally though. He was a bit, you're right. Like Backstrom eventually became his guy, but not three of them, not four of them. I don't know. All right, Mike Johnson will join us here in a moment.

Johnny's coming up. Johnny's having some technical issues, evidently. You know what's interesting? I just got this email. So the odds for winning the Heart Trophy have been adjusted on Fandl. You want to guess who is who is number? There are actually three guys who are tied at plus 360. I would guess this is the first time that's ever happened where you have three guys. Let me guess the three guys. Guess the three guys. McDavid, Dry Cytl, and McKinnon. Okay, that's your three.

Jonas? Dry Cytl, McCarr, McKinnon. What about Kaprizov? The answer is Dry C dry saddle mckinnon in hellebuck well hellebuck is now tied atop the odds list on fando for winning the heart there are a lot of things i'm glad that a goalie is up there

listen the guys don't know that are and it's a problem into my eyes i could see the email through the glass and i still can even read the the names I tried you couldn't tell who I thought that said McKinnon Dry side you're trying to cheat you got it wrong I I tried to cheat I still got it wrong didn't that burn you and he used to I don't know if you guys used to Try to cheat every once in a while in like class and you'd be like man that guy got it wrong You'd be like what an idiot you're like what do you do it yourself dude i would beg the guy next to me to do the old lip up

uh... it's a little dot uh... was uh... it's so pathetic looking back on it really is well but i think that i don't know where cheating on a stupid great and not all pathetic all you get the ten minutes prep, you would have been fine. Dude, please. And the worst thing is, like, you walk away and be like, actually, I have no idea if that guy has any idea what he's doing. Like, the guy would be like, sure, I'll do it. But he's like, do you think I know what I'm doing? The amazing thing is

when other sometimes would come to you and be like, do you think you can help me out? Sure, I'll give it a shot. You're cheating off me. Do you know stupid you must be? If you're coming to me for help, you must really be desperate. One time I wrote down all the answers to a French test on my hand and there was a question like just a like question and answer segment after the test and I put my hand up with and I had to explain how I didn't use it. I was like it was just a reference like I was studying and I did not use it during the test. I don't know. I don't know if she bought that one or not. Probably not. We don't condone any of that behavior. We just want that on the record. We don't condone any of that behavior. But yeah, Hallebuck, McKinnon, Dry Settle, all plus 360, McDavid plus 420, Caprizov plus 500,

Kucherov plus 1100, which is wild because- Dude, where's McDavid? McDavid's fourth. He's at plus 420. But Dry Settle has been more effective in terms of- Dude, he's been- Everything across the board. He leads in every statistical category that matters. Goals, go ahead goals, goals to start a game, like overtime winners, everything across the board is dry-saddle. So I would personally put dry-saddle one, I think I'd go Halibuck two, McKinnon three.

Kaprizov had the injury which really burned him. Why can the defenseman never win? Well, it's happened before. Who is more valuable than McCarr? I would argue Quinn Hughes is probably equally as valuable because maybe more so because McKinnon's on McCarr's team and Rantanen's like second in points in the league. Who is Quinn Hughes relying on right now?

Yeah, but how many points even does McCarr have? He's right up there too is I'm not downplaying the greatness of McCarr what I'm saying is he has more help well he's another guy who's been dynamite nominal for them leading them in points and they're in the playoff spot but when you think of Hughes like Patterson's been kind of crushing him at times JT Miller they know what know what's been going on there. Not good. All right, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline, here's our TSN hockey analyst, Mike Johnson.

Johnny, what do you make of that? Hellebuck McKinnon dry saddle on Fandual tied at plus 360 to win the heart. I like it. I like the fact that they're throwing Hellebuck and recognizing how special his year is. I like the fact that they're not ignoring how good dry saddleles been in many ways

with the goal differential more deserving to win it right now than McDavid, even though they're the same team. And you think about who the Oilers, like McDavid plays with Hyman and Nugelot, Dry Settles play like Todd Coles in and Arvidsen and still racking up the goals. So yeah, I like that you can bring in five on five goals

versus McKinnon's got a boatload of empty net points and just food for thought, whoever said Quinn Hughes. So they can do these like, you know, the fancy equation, O's favorites, but like, you know, the wind above replacement for hockey, they're not that precise, but it's just one way to look at it. And you're right, like Ranton is a top seven guy

and McDavid's a top seven guy, Hellbuck's a guy on his island, but he also has Shifeley, Morrissey, and Conner all the top 25. The next best Canuck is Conner Garland in the one I just looked at. He's like down in like 80, 90. So to suggest Quinn Hughes is as important as any of them,

that's not that tough an argument to make. Do you think Hallibawt sticks it out amongst those guys, which I think he should, and I know another guy that's on this show quite often who thinks he should, or is it just we recognize this guy and he'll fade off after a couple months? I mean if Hellebuck ends up being leader in wins, shutout, goals against a percentage, and the Jets are in first or something close to it, I don't know how you don't. I don't know how you can't give him the MVP.

I know, and I'm well on record as being, goal centers need a particularly great year beyond just sort of measuring up against the positional players because of the nature of their position. They need Kerry Price, they need Dominic Hasek, or maybe even Jose. I'm not sure he deserved to win it when he did, but you know, you need to do something out of the norm. Feels like Hellebuck might be doing that this year. If he's able to

end the year sort of at the top of every major statistical category, including team success, I don't know how you don't give it to him. Johnny, I'm curious your answer to this, and I know you like to dive into the analytics and as a professional analyst and broadcaster, I'd love to know the answer. What is your analytical take on the Leafs power play? Like analytically what are you seeing and how would you fix it? So it's interesting, I've spent like literally three days sort of using all kinds of different numbers about this and trying to understand what is going on there

So the first thought I had oh was well, maybe they're not spending as much time in the offensive zone, right? Like you're just not getting in there and not getting secondary pucks compared to last year. That was a negative They are like to the percentage point the exact same point six three percent of every power play They spent in the offensive zone. Same as last year. So exactly the same. Then I looked, oh, literally I did this the last three days. I'm like, well maybe guys are shooting puck

disproportionately, right? Maybe Matthews is not shooting as much, and maybe Marner's shooting it more. Maybe there's something there. And other than to a Nylander being down a little bit, everyone else is a lot, a little, I mean it depends what you want to say. That was Jonas by the way.

That was Jonas. Yeah, no I know. He's gone from like 27% of all the shots they took together. Yeah, I see what you're saying. Versus like he's down to like 21. So it's significant. That's like a 25% drop, 30% drop, but it wasn't enough to send off any alarm bells to me

so so you know I'm kind of like was that is that it they're not that far off I mean they're not 30% anymore but they're not that far off I think what it is though is that they are a little bit stagnant up top and you know I don't think shooting blindly is the answer because I don't necessarily buy into like get a guy who can hammer the puck from the top and let whether it's Morgan Rowley, Miss Marner. What is shooting blindly though? Explain that to me. So like getting the umbrella, right? So like the one three one. So you have Marner up the

top. You have Matthews on one side, Nylander on the other. You have Tavara's and Nylander in front of the net, right? So the umbrella is Matthew's Marner Kneel under and if you just pass the puck from the top of the circle Side of the umbrella to Marner or me letter whoever and just taking a one-timer or a wrist or from up there I don't think those are sort of high percentage chances Those are not really going to work with the regularity that I think they would want or that you would want Oh, so that's probably not it. I still think what has

Gone down the most of them is their ability to access the slots so pucks into the slot passes into the slot skating it into the slot and Why that is that's a little bit more nuanced But I think that's that's got to be the focus That's sort of like how do we get pucks and bodies into that area and work as a five-man unit altogether. That is sort of what their focus is right now. But even looking at it and as a quasi air quote professional analyst, there was no sort of really obvious, oh this is what they have to do differently because they're just sort of fractionally off

almost across the board relative to last year. Mike, what I found was their attempts are way down from last year. So I would ask you, like, if you were Mark Savard, would you split up the personnel? Like, do you like the five forward thing? Do you think it's like actually viable? Not long term. So again, I looked at the five forward thing and one of it's like actually viable not long so again I

looked at the five forward thing and one of the real concerns as of late is well they're not good defensively the expected goals against Oh's favorite term with Morgan Riley in four forwards is almost the exact same as five forwards so the argument that it's not good defensively I don't buy that now you could say would be better serve with a different mix of forwards out there? We can have that conversation. But the idea that it's a defensive decision to make them more reliable, I don't buy that. The numbers sort of don't back that up.

So I don't know. I don't think you have to go away from it. I think some of it might be Austin Matthews and his health. Like he's not as dynamic. He doesn't shoot it as hard. He hasn't shoot it as accurately. And they're not miles away. They're 20, what are they right now,

Joe, 20.3% or something on the year. And you'd offer them to get to about 25. So they're not that, that far off. They're four or five goals, which quite frankly, if you look at the goals that Austin Matthews was scoring just on similar caliber plays, he was just doing it last year because I think he could shoot the puck a little better last year than this year so that's also part of the conversation in my mind so yeah maybe shot attempts

but I don't want empty calorie shots if I'm Mark Chavard or the Leafs or the players like I want quality shots not just shooting mentality sure but make sure that their quality not just go mentality sure, but make sure that they're quality, not just goal for quantity. With Mike Johnson Leaf stars tonight, Dallas has had a real issue scoring goals this year, yet they're winning a lot of games recently. I believe the game down in Dallas was 3-1 Leafs. I want to say that a few weeks ago. That was a great goaltending performance. Was it Stowart's that night?

I think Wall played really well. Yeah, Autinger and Wall. Are you anticipating the same style tonight? You think two-one game, three-two game tonight? Yeah, probably. I mean, Wall's numbers, coming off three or more days' rest, he's like Ken and O with like a 940 this year.

So really, really, really good. Autinger also very good. The underlying numbers for Dallas are really strong They're certainly missing Tyler Sagan. They're missing Mason Marchman. They both haven't played in a while Tyler though for a long time. So Some of their depth is not going is not available Wyatt Johnson and Jason Robertson probably their two best players, right? it's like those are two best forwards and They both got off the slow starts I think the prospect of trying to make the four nations was hanging over their head

and they got off to sort of a pressure-filled slow start they're playing better as of late but yeah I mean Dallas checks hard underlying numbers really good goaltending really good defensive numbers really good with Toronto having a break and not loving how they played last game I'm expecting three to empty that or four to like yet that kind of game uh... should be really tight and donnie when you figure out wall played in carolina and then didn't play on saturday night at home

which i found kind of weird i guess a young guy when are you really gonna find out if one of these guys can play for two months straight which is a playoff run. When they try to do it all in two months. Like I don't think we'll know. So it's a wait and see approach. Yeah I think so. I mean and I think Stolarz is sort of creeping back on the ice now although he probably won't be back till maybe after the the four nations thing

but they'll share time down the stretch and I think you know whether it's the stat I just gave about three plus days rest or the fact that neither one of them played a whole bunch in a year, I don't think they're going to push it to find out. Can we ride wall down the stretch? Can we ride solaris down the stretch? I think they'll just share and maybe whoever's playing better sort of gets the starts in the playoffs until he doesn't play better than the other guy.

It would not surprise me at all, especially if the Leafs make win one round or more that both goalies play in the playoffs, which sometimes that can be dicey, but I don't think we're going to find out. I don't think they will push either guy if they're both healthy to play more than 55% of the games. I just think it will be mostly just an even split the rest of the year do you think you can actually do the want like the Boston thing where Wayman starts all mark starts because I'm just looking looking back at the schedule from last year It's like every other day April 20 April 22 April 24 like if wall is your guy Like he's playing every other game or you're just gonna rotate, but we've never actually seen that work that I can think of.

No, now because it hasn't worked doesn't mean it can't work, right? Jonas, you know this. Like the goalies don't do it because they have one really good goalie and they don't have a second one that they even want to bother with. There hasn't been many situations other than Boston

who tried it and it didn't really work for them the way that they anticipated. So it's not ideal because I think sort of everyone likes the, the continuity and the normalcy of that guy's our guy and he goes every night no matter what. But I think in this situation, when they both play relatively the same and the numbers are the same, I think this might be a year where the Leafs will try to do something that maybe hasn't been done very many times and, sort of utilize both goalies regularly not not like when Gru Bauer

started and then Braden Hoppe took over like like just sort of every now and then the other guy will play over the course of sort of regular playoff series. I know that's exactly the purist historian, the hockey dude in us like, Oh, I mean, you know, I love when Cujo was in that cause I didn't care about anybody else. Like he was going to play no matter how bad or good he was. It did not matter. We knew who just going in there and he's got it. He always does. It was never like, Oh, well maybe, um, you know, he'll see it in there for us. Like it is. It's it's there is a comfort there and that's also a comfort from familiarity

Which you know if the Bruins had gone and won the cup doing it three years ago We probably wouldn't have this conversation, but they did it so we have to Yeah, and I anticipate we likely will for the rest of the year Wall versus Ottinger stars least tonight on TSN for. Have a good call Johnny we'll do it later in the week. Mike Johnson joining us from the Maple Toyota hotline. Count on Maple Toyota for the right winter tire package for your Toyota. Trade in your old tires buy a new set and get $40 back visit mapletoyota.com. All right Nick Taylor later in the hour and confirm with an eye after dark Jesse Palmer coming

up oh you've got a panel tonight quiz night I'm assuming has to be right wait and ask to be you guys have fun and Thursday coming in hot coming in hot so you know the routine yeah get here at 230 and at 325 you go get the faxes yes and you come back I will have those ready for you. Lastly before you leave us Tigers playing in that TGL thing tonight each player has to have a walkout song What do you think Tiger Woods is gonna choose simply the best Tina Turner That actually would be a perfect that'd be a great song to choose. Yes. What would you guys choose? I don't know. They should do that for the panel for you.

You guys should have a little walkout for the panel. That'd be a great idea. Great idea. Yeah a lot of people are wondering like Tiger, this could humanize Tiger. He's got to pick a song man. What's your favorite song? What song represents you, Tiger Woods tonight? People will be tuning in watching that. See, and see what comes of it. All right, catch you tomorrow at four o'clock. Here's the O-Dog, Jeff O'Neil, Nick Taylor coming up after a very, very successful weekend at the Sony Open.

He's in action this week at the Amex. So we'll catch up with Nick Taylor, Jesse Palmer, Stoda Comp, Pierre Lebrun as well, Leaf Stars tonight. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. lo-fi and motivational podcasts to crush your resolutions from wellness finances travel and more new year new you new you explore it all feel brand new at iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app all right Jesse Palmer in about a half an hour start looking ahead to the division around Bill's Raven see what he thinks about that Sam Darnold. What's his future? Does he return to Minnesota? Is it even possible that they bring

him back? I think the door's got to be open to an extent. For sure. Like you have to at least contemplate that if you're Minnesota. McCarthy's coming off a pretty serious injury isn't he? Yeah huge. Was it a torn ACL? Or was it a... It was either Achilles or ACL. It was something to do with his legs. Serious, never played in the league. What are you doing if, like, is he your day one starter? I don't know. Yeah, that seems like a pretty big gamble. He did win 14 games and, like, he was very good for most of the years. Listen, man, if you're a Vikings fan, 16 days ago you were staring at the one seed in home field through the playoffs you go into Detroit you get spanked and right when I realized I'm like they got to go to LA that's a terrible matchup like I

thought I thought it would be a better game than it was last night I thought Minnesota would play better I thought they'd be a better game than it was last night. I thought Minnesota would play better. I thought they'd be more prepared. But it was a scenario where you're talking Matt Stafford, Sean McVeigh, that Rams defenses got increasingly better as the year has gone on. Just a bad matchup and you lose. They lost four games all year. Week seven and week eight were losses to Detroit

and then losses to the Rams. And then week 18 lost to Detroit, wild card, loss to the Rams. Can I ask you though, what did you think of that Stafford fumble, which wasn't a fumble? I thought it was a blatant fumble. I did too. And that's where the game like really seemed to turn. Yeah. I didn't understand the explanation that he's throwing it, but it's like-

Well, was it Kyron Williams I think that was technically there? No, it was Akua. Oh, was it Akua that was technically there. No, he had Kuah. Oh, was it a Kuah that was there? Okay, so someone was, they were in, he could see their legs, but there's no way he knew who it was. And it was blatantly a defense tactic, but at the same point,

I thought he had already committed to kind of the sack, which to me should have been a fumble. Me too. And you're right, that's 10-10 at that point. And then who knows what happens the rest of the way. Like the way the Rams defended them, the way their offensive line in Minnesota was just getting shredded and the way Darnold was playing would suggest to me even if it was 10-10 the Rams were going to win that game. But you never really know and I do think the protection was bad, the scheming was bad, But I found the way that Donald started the second half

very concerning. He threw a screen on the first pass of the second half. Do you remember that? Jefferson, he missed him? He was tiptoeing around and he under threw him before he could even turn around. It was awful. Like that was a sign to me that this guy's not ready.

Like he did not make an adjustment in the half and he is in big, big trouble. Well, and even like their pace, it's like you guys are down like 20. They kept running the ball late in the game. Really? Yeah, it was like they mailed it in, man. It was basically a business decision. They said we had a great year and we're done. And now the Rams go to Philly and we'll see what Jesse Palmer has to say about that.

But for me me I think Detroit wins and possibly big. I think Kansas City wins possibly big. I think if you're an NFL fan you're just hoping the Rams and the Eagles are a great game and the Bills and the Ravens meet the hype. That's what I'm waiting for Sunday basically is what I what I'm saying. Are you gonna jump on the Rams bandwagon a bit? Because I wasn't so like I've never been super impressed with Philly. Even that game the other day.

I think the Rams can beat them. I do, too. Yeah, I do. I think it's it's going to be a tough challenge. That that Eagles defense is playing really, really well right now. But I trust Matt Stafford more than I trust Jalen Hurts and I trust Sean McVay more than I trust Nick Sirianni. So I think it'll be a good game. But it's all about the nightcap on Sunday. Like the whole weekend is just building towards Buffalo Baltimore.

We still don't know who won the MVP. And it's like it's going to be one of those two guys. And it's like who is it? Imagine one wins and then the other wins the MVP and then we be like ah is there wrong to say? I think that's very likely I think Lamar is gonna win the MVP now well based on the all-pro vote last week I'm sure you saw that historically whoever is the first team all-pro quarterback that's the guy that wins the MVP it's all the same voters right 50 guys to vote for both 30 of them voted him for all-pro That would suggest to me that 30 of them also voted for him to be the MVP. So he's gonna win it But as of now on Tuesday, I'm I lean bills man. I think Josh Allen and that Buffalo Bills team I think they're gonna win this game and then I think they're gonna win against Kansas City and I'm leaning Buffalo Detroit

Super Bowl and it would be so chaotic, so incredible. I don't know who'd be favored in a game like that. I think Detroit? I think it'd be close, man. I could see it being a Pick'em. Detroit one and a half? A Pick'em Super Bowl. Wouldn't that be amazing?

A Pick'em Super Bowl? That's what it probably should be. With two franchises that have just been punched in the face. Never won anything. Never won anything. Yeah. Never won anything. Who would be the more deserving franchise, like in terms of fan base? Detroit.

Just because Buffalo at least went to those? Buffaloes, they went to four Super Bowls, they've been a playoff team for four years. You know, they've had playoff games that have gone against, like listen both friend both fan bases can put their hands up and say We've we've been through it here The Vikings can do the same thing like there's a few fan bases the Cleveland Browns for sure But Detroit prior to the Dan Campbell Jared Goff era, they hadn't won a playoff game in over 30 years Yeah, that's crazy. They went on 16 first time in NFL history Been a disaster never won a Super Bowl never been to a Super Bowl nothing

It's Detroit Buffalo's close, but I think it's Detroit. Thank you All right, Jesse Palmer on that more in about a half an hour. We'll come back and catch up with Nick Taylor his win in Hawaii, how does he keep doing it in the playoffs three straight wins in a playoff. What is it about playoff golf that puts him in the zone and how does this set him up for the rest of the season now that he's already in the winner's circle and we're only through a couple of weeks in January. So Nick Taylor he will join us next. Metallica's M72 World Tour is blazing through Toronto.

And I'm a heavy rock Heavy Rock is your exclusive in Two nights, two unique sets. Wanna win? Download the free I Heart Radio app and rock out with I Heart Heavy Rock. Ten minutes of daily streaming enters you to win an epic Metallica I Heart Radio experience. Four nights of hotel, 500 bucks and tickets to see Metallica at the Rogers Center. The more I Heart Heavy Rock you stream, the more chances to win. Details at iHeartRadio.ca.

All right, TSN 1050 wants you to be our unofficial correspondent at the grittiest golf event of the year. And to enter, you got to download the iHeartRadio app, create an account and listen to TSN 1050 for at least 15 minutes straight. Once you hit 15 minutes, follow the prompts to complete your entry, whether it's 15 minutes of first up or 15 minutes of overdrive,

the more you listen, the better your chances. And next Monday, first up, we'll be calling one listener with a trip for two to the Waste Management Open in Arizona. Full details at tsn1050.ca. That is a tournament Nick Taylor will be looking to defend his championship at because he of course won the Waste Management last year and he's

coming off a win this weekend at the Sony Open in Hawaii and he's in Palm Springs playing the MX this weekend caught up with Nick Taylor earlier this afternoon five-time PGA champion five five time PGA champion. We began by asking Nick, how's that sound man? Five time PGA champ. Yeah, I'm running out of fingers on one hand. That's pretty cool to hear that. It's, yeah, it's, you know, I think when I think about it,

take a step back, it's pretty cool to have five. That's certainly maybe not my wildest dream when I first got on the PGA Tour, but to kind of have a few in the last three years, it's pretty cool. Yeah, it's an incredible run, obviously, that you're on. And I'm sure the dust is still settling a little bit, considering what happened on Sunday.

But when that final putt goes in and you win, does it always feel the same? Or as you get older and you get more wins, can you separate it in the moment winning a golf tournament? No, I think the feeling of winning never changes. I think that's why I think all of us are out here working so hard as time goes on because you know what that feeling is and it never changes. It's always amazing. You know I've done it in a few different fashions so that one was a little, I guess

the putt to win was a little less dramatic than the last couple but the nerves are still there and I think it almost felt like relief or almost a bit of surprise I think over what had happened over the last couple hours of that tournament, you know missing a couple short putts thinking I was probably out of it to You know to chipping in for eagle getting the playoff and and pulling off some shots again so there was several roller coaster ride those couple hours, but Yeah, I was I was but the feeling never changes of satisfaction winning. That's for sure Yeah, I was, but the feeling never changes of satisfaction winning, that's for sure. Absolutely. And you mentioned those putts on 14 and 15 and I was watching you play the back.

I watched you, you know, your approach on 14, you missed that putt and you kind of pushed the putt, I guess, and I know it was windy a little bit. And then you hit that approach on 15 and I got to be honest with you, Nick, I flipped over to the football game because I'm like, all's in that's 15 under he's in the hunt here And I flipped back about 15 minutes later, and you're still at 14 under I'm like I can't believe you missed that putt And then you go on you chip in for eagle on 18 you end up winning the tournament Now that you know the way the rest of the tournament played out. How do you look back on those missed putts on 14 and 15? Yeah, actually Dave and I talked a bit about it.

I don't even, it was still in the tournament, but it was, it might've been after regulation, but it was, I think on my part, there was just a bit of indecision. I think there's so many factors with the wind blowing in the Hawaii at times with the grain on the greens, trying to figure out where you think it's actually the slope is, and then throwing the wind in there.

The first putt I think I had an initial read and then we added a bit more of what we saw from the other guys and just probably didn't quite trust it and pushed that one a little bit. And then I think I hit my line on the second putt, the second short miss, just hit it way too hard and I think that was probably a bit of indecision as well. So in those moments typically I've been better with clarity and just trusting the line and just wasn't able to do that in that situation but was able to regroup you know after that chip in and having the

opportunity again for the playoffs and was able to get back into that mode and hit a great putt on the first playoff hole and you know, certainly no gimmies for the putt through the wind, but it was nice that it was inside three feet. Absolutely. We're chatting with Nick Taylor and again, the putts on 14 and 15 doesn't matter because you do what you do on 18 and you know, you get the relief and you end up chipping that ball in and this is the amazing thing about your career and some of the things you've

done over the last few years. Obviously obviously that putt at Oakdale you know that I believe will be the defining moment of your career I mean let's see if you win a major obviously it's open to discussion in the future but that putt is probably the most famous shot on Canadian soil and I can't imagine anything will ever match it yet that chip in in for Eagle on 18. I mean, you keep adding to the, you know, best of and the greatest hits here, Nick. And I'm sure the plan was to make it, but how realistic is it in the moment when you're setting that shot up?

Like, how are you reading a putt of that substance? I mean, it was a significant one and you probably knew at the time you got to hit it in order to have a chance to win it. Yeah, we knew that 16 was gonna be the minimum and we knew that because Nico I was playing with just hit his bunker shot to essentially give me range to get to 16 under and Dave did such a great job of you know we're reading the putt but you know just just emphasizing to me the okay where are you trying to

land this where's your spot where do you see this going? It just gets you in that mode of all I'm trying to do is make this chip. And I think at times you can get complacent throughout a golf tournament of maybe not trying to hold a chip, trying to get it close. And when you're in kind of that mindset, it's just going to help with that a little much more. There's obviously no guarantee that it's going to go in, but it got me in that mind of this is where I'm trying to land it. This is where I see the break going and luckily I executed correctly and we guessed correctly on the break as well. So yeah everything kind of came together there but Dave definitely helped me set it up and get in that mindset of this is all we're trying to do. Yeah it was just an incredible chip and then you get up and down in the playoff twice

effectively from the same spot. The first one, the wind kind of just got it and it flew by. You hit an amazing putt to push the playoff to a second hole. And then, you know, in the second playoff hole, you basically chip one into two feet, two and a half feet, which ends up setting you up to win the tournament. But that was your third straight win in a playoff. And all of them have been incredible. Again, Tommy Fleetwood at the

RBC, Charlie Hoffman at Waste Management and then Etcheverria on Sunday. Like what is it about your mindset in a playoff that allows you to play so comfortably and play so well because you're way under par, you know, over the last three years when it comes to these playoffs. It's incredible. Yeah, I think, you know, I'm trying to emulate a lot of that into the, you know, the first round of golf tournament, the second round of golf tournament, because it's, uh, I think those moments, there's certainly nerves, you know, you, I know the situation and the pressure is there, but there's a sense of clarity on the shot them trying to hit the, you know, the. The doubt of what could go wrong kind

of dissolves for every reason where I think you'd think the opposite could happen more easily. Where for me, just kind of see the shot, I have trusted my ability and again not that I haven't hit poor shots in those playoffs but I kind of see the lines pretty well in the playoffs. I trusted better than like I did like I said when I missed those two short ones there's some indecision in that that seems to wash away and and I just try to set myself to hit the best shot possible and luckily it's all my way in those moments. Yeah it sure has and I'm curious if your you know your

your amateur golf career Put you in a position like this because you won the Canadian boys junior champ you won the Canadian amateur when it was still a match Play at one point. You're the number one amateur player in the world. You said right afterwards To the to the telecast, you know after you won the Sony Sony open that you've always you know kind of appreciated match play love match play and You know with with with Tommy Fleetwood with Charlie Hoffman with Nico on Sunday Like you think it would be a little bit different if there were three or four other guys in the playoff like does it help you? In terms of a mentality where you can think okay, this is match play if it's just you versus one other player

Yeah, certainly. I think when we finished You know, I bet you could ask me to go the same thing I think we felt fortunate that we were actually even in a playoff because when we had finished Steven and JJ I think we're at 16 so with the birdie of 18th you know we're just hoping to get in a playoff and then revving to play out and for it just to be us two you know a lot of thoughts going through your mind but you you know, even if you lose solo seconds, a heck of a lot better than a three-way tie for second or, um, you know, obviously a lot of thoughts go through your mind, but just playing a one-on-one, um, like I said, gets me kind

of in that max play mode and, um, I've always enjoyed those moments. So I think that was, that was something that, that, you know, it was a bit of a break for us to be us too, but it got me in a good mental state for that as well. How does this set up your season, Nick? Like it's effectively the second tournament of the year. You know, you've been in Hawaii for a couple of weeks. You're in the Amex this week. You're going to go back to Pebble soon where you're a former champion yourself. You're going back to Waste Management where you're you're a former champion yourself you're going back to waste management where you're a winner Like it's it's well in advance of the players and the four majors How does winning early in the year maybe set you up for what you hope to do the rest of the year? Yeah, it opened up the schedule You know, I was I was in the two first two signature events through the West Coast swing and after that there was

You know those tournaments that I wasn't guaranteed to be in, majors included. So this certainly opens that up, I'll be in all the signature events for the rest of the season, you know, Masters, PGA for sure and hopefully the other two majors as well. So, you know, last year I've tried to kind of take and learn from that, didn't have any success in the majors and you know I don't over emphasize and really step on the ground those weeks and try to play great but just try a little bit get a little bit better learn from last year you know just try to be in a slightly better mental space and not try to do too much

and and see what I can do in the majors and and kind of go from there but it definitely opens up the schedule and gives me a lot of great momentum to start the year. Absolutely, and like you said, you don't want to put the cart before the horse and start thinking about tournaments in April and May, et cetera. You got a bunch of big tournaments coming up. But in terms of what you've proven to yourself,

and the golf world for that matter, that if you're in contention on Sunday, you're likely either gonna close or you're certainly gonna be in it. And like I look at the waste management last year, you look at the way you close the year before you're in a final grouping with Scheffler and Rahm and kind of John Rahm kind of faded and you and Scheffler going back and forth all the way up through 16, 17, 18 Scheffler ends up getting in the end, but you stayed on them. Do you feel like you have that mentality where if you're in contention on a Sunday at a major you can close it and you're just waiting to get that opportunity?

Yeah you know the last few years certainly give me confidence when I get in those situations there's there's never a guarantee that it's gonna pull off that way but the more times I do this stack on you know successes on top of each other when I get in those moments I have those to kind of lean back on but yeah there's a long road and majors particularly that I haven't really experienced though the major pressure is definitely a level up from from a regular tour event but again I can lean back on those things and you know the goal is to kind of get get

comfortable play my game not try doing too things and you know the goal is to kind of get comfortable, play my game, not try to do anything too special. I think the more times that I get in these situations you realize that you know certainly I didn't play perfect golf last week. I'm sure I had a few breaks go my way that might not happen this week or future but you don't have to play perfect golf to compete or certainly win. So the more times you do that and realize that you're just in a better mental state to kind of start the week and just let things play out instead of forcing things. Well it was an amazing scene all week it really was and it was just an awesome Sunday to see you you

know stay in the hunt and then do what you did you know down the stretch and into 18 and then those playoff holes were just remarkable and can't thank you enough for doing this. I know you're busy and I know a lot of people are pulling on you right now and you're getting ready for another tournament at the MX. So we appreciate you doing this today. Congrats, Nick, and good luck this week

and we'll do it again down the road. Absolutely, thanks, Brian. There he is, Nick Taylor, my partner, my buddy. I noticed he called you Brian. That's right, man, we played the Pro-M at St. George's. I set him into a completely different stratosphere. The way he plays, the way he operates, awesome guy. And I'll never forget seeing him, like when we were at Oakdale, which obviously went on

to win that tournament, I saw him on the Thursday. He really, he didn't play well the first round. I think he on the Thursday. He really, he didn't play well the first round. I think he shot over par. I want to say he shot like a 74 or something. And I saw him in the hospitality tent after the round and he was just, you know, pretty nonchalant. Like pretty still like was collecting his thoughts, I think on everything and just thought,

eh, didn't have it today. But at no point did I leave that conversation thinking this guy's going to win the RBC Canadian Open three days later. I was kind of like, hey man, you know. Tough luck. Try to make the cut. You know, it was kind of like my viewpoint.

Like taking pity on him. Yeah, like good luck tomorrow, try to make the cut. But I don't know, man, I don't see it. And then he went like lights out the rest of the tournament, ends up winning it. Obviously the most famous putt in Canadian history. And now he's the man and now he's the permanent logo of logo of the RBC Canadian open him launching the putter in the air. Wow. That's the logo, man.

You can't beat that. I love that. Love that decision by RBC, the Canadian open golf, Canada, everyone. So yeah, we'll see what he's got in store. A lot of Canadians in action this weekend out in Palm Springs. by RBC, the Canadian Open, Golf Canada, everyone. So yeah, we'll see what he's got in store. A lot of Canadians in action this weekend out in Palm Springs. So thanks again to Nick Taylor. Appreciate that. Jesse Palmer coming up, Pierre Lebrun, two good Canadian boys as well. Get into some NFL and some Leaf Talk and other NHL talk as we go into a busy night in the NHL.

Final hour coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. TSN Plus is taking game day to a whole new level with NFL Red Zone. Absolutely incredible! Subscribe now for every touchdown, from every game, every Sunday afternoon. NFL Red Zone, available on TSN Plus.