OverDrive - OverDrive - January 20, 2026 - Hour 1 - Mike Johnson

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the extreme cold temperatures across Canada and OverDrive broadcasting from Radio Row, the Maple Leafs' defeat to the Wild and the Canucks' tough season worsening with trades on the roster. TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' trade deadline outlook, the goaltending choices and Connor Ingram's larger role with the Oilers.

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All right, here we go, overdrive off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker up on TSN4. of course up on YouTube live as well. Brian Hayes, The O'Dag, Jeff O'Neill, and Dave Festchuk of the Toronto Star in here. How are we doing this afternoon? Best Chuck, how's it going? Nice to see you. Great to see you, O'Dag. We're surviving the cold here, man.

Hayes and I. There's a breeze blowing through this studio. It's like, are we at zero? We might be a zero. Yeah, it might be. It is survival mode. It is the ultimate icebreaker for every conversation in Toronto right now. Nobody is, like, running into somebody and not bringing up the weather. It's an immediate icebreaker. And, hey, we're grinding through. It's all good.

I was not aware of it, but it's a Canadian thing. It's like somebody on Twitter or something, like, just, it was just something random I came across, and they're like, Canadians, it's generally the second go-to move where it just goes to the weather. Like, oh, it's going to be nice for the next couple days. Or, like, man, you ever seen it this cold before? It's just the best. You're right. It's a quality of ours.

It is. It's how's it going? And then, man, it sure is sunny out. Or I don't remember it ever be in this cold at this time of year. It's just an automatic thing. It's an automatic combo. I went, did a little shopping today. Last time I did that was, of course, when I was Christmas shopping and I sprinkled it in a

couple of things for myself because we announced yesterday we were going to the Super Bowl really excited. I don't know if you're aware of it, but the set we're at, it's like a low couch. No, dude. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yes, I'm telling you this is what you have to be prepared for. I'll stand behind it. Dude, if I sit on a bad angle and it, I cannot do it. I'm bringing in my own chair, dude. My boiler sticks out and I get like a neck thing and I look like, I cannot do that. I thought the picture we were sent was a joke. I need an old school like panel.

I need a chair tucked in behind the panel. I do not need anything. I couldn't go on Jay Show and sit there and sit back and enjoy a conversation. I'll sit behind the desk with them. I'm not. I'll stand behind that couch. I'm not going on that couch. Right. Because I have seen you do the J thing.

You're always at the panel, which I have found somewhat curious. I'm like, why don't they do the walkover and do this? Obviously, you've put in a request that that's not something you're willing to do. Well, usually I don't wear a full suit. There's another reason. Right. I just, I need a panel. That's my, that's my jam.

I'm telling you, you've got to be prepared. There's a potential we're doing a kind of a loungey living room type. That's not us. That's not us. It possibly could be for three days. Wow. That's what we've got to be prepared for. So I don't ever care about shoes.

Like I got brutal shoes on right now. Brutal shoes. Shoes are not a priority for me. I have crocs on right now. Right. I will take that setup we got at the President's Cup, where we were tucked back looking in a corner, basically saying this is the only place we want to put you guys, and the only way we're going to allow you here is right there.

I'll take that spot. That was Critter Corner, I believe they called it. Critter Corner, they could not have tucked us further away from anybody. Really? Dignitaries, general public, and admission, we were pretty tucked. But we had a great time. Anyway, I mean, I could be wrong. Maybe things are going to change.

But I thought of that today, I'm like, I better go out and got maybe a new pair of shoes, you know, because the shoes, we could be on TV. We're down there representing TSN and Fandul. Boiler. Oh, I wasn't thinking of you specifically, but myself included. I'm like, this could be, you know, if it's a low couch, dude, it could be a beanbag situation. I might have you in a bean bag. You throw me on a bean bag.

People will turn the channel. I'm not, I'm telling you know how I get with this stuff. I am not sitting on that couch. I will hang over the back of it so my mouth is. So my mouth is near your mic and we'll use the same mic. Okay. I'll lean over like this and I'll be beside your head just over the back of the cow. I'm not sitting on that couch.

Just your head at the Super Bowl. That's it. Wilson from Home Improvement. You're going to be that guy at the Super Bowl. So anyway, the reason I bring that up is, you know, I was meeting with people or running into people. And one woman brought up, she's like, this is the worst winner since 2014. I'm like, how do you remember that? You know, but that's like a Canadian.

That's like an older generation of Canada. That I was impressed with her Canadian knowledge of weather because I brought it up, man. It's pretty cold. She's like, oh, yeah, it's cold. I don't remember a winter like this since the days of 2014. I'm like, man, that's impressive. That's an impressive poll. What does she do?

Keep a diary about the temperatures? I guess. But I was thoroughly impressed. Like, I wasn't prepared to go that deep into prepare. Like, we're comparing winters now. This is some wild stuff. Yeah, because for most of us, they all kind of blend together. They all blend together.

It's all garbage and awful. You know it's been cold like this at some point, but what point? No, since 2014, Dave. Yeah. This is the worst since 2014. I think it's with age guys. I don't know if you guys catch yourself saying stupid stuff, but I have caught myself over the last couple years. When it gets cold like this, I kind of said to myself, I don't remember it ever being this cold.

Yeah. It's a good line. It's a very good line. I don't throw it out in public. I just keep it to myself, but I'll toss it out there. Man, this is the coldest I think I've ever been in Ontario. It's a great line. It's a great line.

So anyway, we've established that. I ran into a few different people, and they were very nice. I've ran into a guy, Matthew, shout up, big fan on the show. He was very nice trying to help me with kind of looking. He was very nice to us. He said both of us have broad shoulders, which I think was a nice way of saying. We're both slabs. But anyway, that was nice.

And I said, well, we're going to be sitting on these. couches and he's like, well, is the O'D going to be okay with that? And I said, I don't know. We'll see. Oh, really? He inquired about my philosophy on the couch. I may have thrown that in. But anyway, it was great to see everyone out there as if I met the whole city today

and we were talking about weather and the Super Bowl set up. But anything not to talk about that leaf game last night, I guess. I warned you again. You told you. That one is a West Coast first game back Monday night special. Well, you know what's been established here the last week, week and a half? They either play like the most entertaining game you've ever seen. That's a little bit hyperbole, but you know what I mean?

The Colorado game, the Vegas game, the Winnipeg game all went to overtime, all lead changes, a couple of comebacks, like unbelievable games, or they get blown out. Utah and Minnesota. Like that was a Utah game at home last night. Like you could just feel it. You know, they had a chance early. They didn't score. Minnesota was dancing.

I thought Quinn Hughes was unreal last night. He was so much fun to watch Quinn Hughes. Like if you had tickets, obviously, as a Lee fan, you're not ecstatic with the way things played out. At least you can check off. I've seen Quinn Hughes play live because he was dancing with the puck last night. Dude, he's so good. He's so good.

He is one guy. I kind of appreciate his interviews. I know he had the interview where he said Billy Garon was the only guy that was willing to sack up or whatever the comment was. But he said yesterday, I think it was after the morning skate, he's like, but I just enjoy being here. It's a great team, and this doesn't have to be the Quinn Hughes show. I was like, what a great comment.

Basically saying when he was in Vancouver, it was the Quinn Hughes show. And, like, he was spectacular. They had a chance to win. He wasn't. They did. I don't know. I just like hearing that guy talk because he just comes with the heat. He's great interview.

Yeah. And he loves, like a lot of guys that grew up in the GTH, which he does. did, even though he's an American kid, of course, his dad was working here with the Leafs for a big part of his child. He played a lot in the GTHL, a lot of us saw on play. I mean, he loves this stage. Like, he loves coming to this

Toronto rank and tearing it up, which is what he did last night. And, you know, you can talk about the Leafs having a scheduling disadvantage guys, but, like, the Wilder plan without a couple of their best players and Boldie and Erick and you know, they got a tough scrap. They have one of the toughest travel schedules

in hockey, you know, annual, given being a Western team in the central kind of region. So it's like, you know, you can lean on the scheduling stuff and you can say, wow, this was a scheduled loss, which I've heard a lot of people say. But to your point, Hayes, like, you know, they've mailed in a couple here. Like that Utah game was a mailing job. Last night was a mailing job. And if you're Buruba, you're sitting here going like, guys, we just can't give games away.

We're not in the position to just give a game away. Right. Well, sooner or later, they've got to learn to fight when you don't have your best stuff. and the coach talked about the mental aspect of it. Like your brain can kind of keep you in some of these games with just simple management stuff, and maybe you can squeak out a point in overtime, instead of just being blown out in nothing to say for it,

or nothing to show for the game. Right, and that's what needs to happen. Like you can't have two scheduled losses in a week. Right. You know, which they did Tuesday in Utah and last night. And I know the point I was making, you go out to the West, you have a good trip, you come home and all of a sudden, boom, it's in your face, you're playing and you're playing a good team,

which is what happened last night. But they just don't have the luxury because of the position they're in. You know, they're still on the outside of the playoffs looking in. It's going to be a tough race. I don't know what the point. No one knows exactly what the number is going to look like. It's likely to be high 90s to be a wildcard team, likely. And at this point, they're not on pace to do that necessarily.

They've made up a lot of ground in the last month. They've done a great job. They've played really well. But they even haven't given themselves any freebies. You know, it'd be one thing if it swung the other way where you get smoked by Minnesota, smoke by Utah. They had to grind out Colorado, grind out Winnipeg. They kind of threw away Vegas, but it turned into a grind.

Like you'd like a cup, a game here or there. And I don't see it in their future because it's Detroit tomorrow, Vegas, Friday, Colorado, Sunday, Buffalo, Tuesday. there's no layups that they're going to play here. All these are going to be battles. And we said yesterday, oh, we kind of established this five-game homestand, you need seven points. Well, now you need seven of your next eight because you only, you pissed away one last night.

So if it's still seven. And look who you got on the card. Exactly. Can you get those? Monster schedule coming home. Big time. Or in this five-game stretch. Big time.

Four game stretch now. Yeah. You got it. And you got to try to find, you know, you don't want to move the goalposts. Like maybe you can't a little bit. Maybe it's six of ten, which means you can afford to lose one of your next four games, but you can't tomorrow.

You've got to beat Detroit. You've got to beat Buffalo at home. Detroit has owned them all year. Detroit has beaten them all year. You've got to find a way to beat this team tomorrow night. And I remember breaking into the league haze, and I was kind of pissed off after a game in Calgary. And my buddy Robert Cron pulled me aside,

and he's like, look, man, like we're in game 10 or whatever we were. The biggest thing in pro sports, the point of my comments are like staying even keel. And it's almost like coming down the stretch in the second half, whatever team can kind of just stay level and not have those blowouts at those waster games where they're just a non-factor are the ones that are going to be alive at the end of this. The teams that more often than not show up and they have those no shows, no points, it's like they're going to be in tough coming down the stretch. because you're getting nothing out of games in a division where it seems like everyone else is winning every night.

Yeah. So if you can kind of keep it even and give yourself a chance to pick up some kind of points on a nightly basis and not be up and down and inconsistent, inconsistency will crush you in trying to make this playoff race out of the Atlantic. That is for sure. Absolutely.

There's just too many good teams. And, you know, Buffalo lost yesterday and Florida lost again yesterday. We saw a goalie fight in a game. I love that. Got a love a goalie. fight. Like it's just so rare. Even back in the day

it was rare. He didn't see goalie fights that often 30 years ago. There were more likely to happen because there were more line brawls 30 years ago. But this is Florida. I don't know what to make of Florida because Kachuk came back last night. I thought I didn't catch a lot of that game

but the sharks were taking liberties on Kachuk, like looking for him as they should. You know, like why wouldn't you? The guy's coming back from injury, he's going to get in your grill. go out there and find a way to get involved. But Bobrowski came down flying last night. Like that's a good tilt.

You got to get the, yeah, there it is. Nadalcovic and Bob. Bob's not a young guy. Played a lot of hockey over the last few years. And this was like a good tilt. They were trying. They were trying. They weren't landing.

But they were trying. They were grabbing and throwing, which I appreciate. Because sometimes goalie fights can be really, really tough to watch. Look at the benches. Like, I don't know what it is. Like, that seems just so stupid. other people that are watching. And I don't know if you can love Sergei Bavroski any more than those guys already do after

giving them two Stanley Cups. But they were just like gushing over that after the game. Like that's just our guy. He's the best goal in the world and he does that. I don't know why. It just endears them. Like I'm sure Nadelcovic on San Jose, they were saying, you're a warrior now. And it just gives you something.

People talk about culture and bonding. like the San Jose guys will be having fun with that for two weeks. Like they'll be buying them boxing gloves. They'll be making fun of them. They'll make T-shirts. And you just kind of build, you build chemistry off of stuff like that. Big time.

And it's like throwing a trade on top of it that your GM made for you that day? I mean, the San Jose sharks are buyers. Did you expect to say that census this season? No. I didn't. They're buyers. They're beating the Panthers. They're in a playoff spot.

They're getting in goalie fights. Celebrini's in a pursuit for the heart. Everything's coming together. I didn't see it coming this quickly. Now, it's a good thing. We might have to get into this a little bit later. What is the biggest shock in the NHL right now? Because there's a lot of them.

Like the fact that we've only had one coach be fired, one GM, like Buffalo's response to a GM being fired would have to behind that list. Yeah. I think the Canucks, like they lost again last night at home. Adam Foote just looks completely perplexed. like what a time to get your first job as a head coach when your team is on the verge of collapsing and tanking and looking from the outside in like they're basically quitting.

You know, like it's effectively close to a point where they're just so frustrated they can't do it and they won't do it. And there's seven points back of Winnipeg. And Winnipeg has been a big struggle. And Winnipeg would be another example of one of those shocks. but Vancouver's not just in last. They are miles behind everyone else. Right.

It is crazy how far. Within their division, they're 10 points behind Calgary. 10 points. Oh, whoa, whoa. 10 behind Calgary? 10 points behind Calgary. They've played the same amount of games. Like, they are so far dead last in the league.

It's like what San Jose has been the last couple of years. You know, what Buffalo was back in the day, what Colorado was, like they are legitimately risking not hitting like 60 points on the season. That seems, I think that's a pretty good line. Maybe look that up, dude. You find out where Fandoah would have their point projection at. I'm not sure it can be much higher than that. Like for them to get to 60 points, they got to rack up 23 more points.

I don't know if they can do that. No, they're not going to do it because it's not in 32 games. They have no motivation to do it. Yeah. And to your point, they'd look like they just don't care. Like they've basically punted on the season, and it's tough for Adam Foot because you're right. Like this could be your first coaching job and your last all in one, right? You guys remember the punted leaf season where, and I like all three of these guys,

but the way they played coming down the stretch, that Kessel line with Bozac and JVR, they legitimately did not even try. They just would go out there, and it was an embarrassing look. So I've said it many times before, but everybody's watching no matter what they're. the circumstances. If those guys think it's funny to just go out there and mail it in and not care and float around, which some of them seem to just basically do anyway. But I don't know.

It'll cost you sooner or later. It'll get you somehow. I don't know how with guaranteed contracts and the money that they got coming in, but it'll get you somehow because that's just a joke for the fan base out there. I love the Vancouver fans. And for them to go and have to watch guys just mailing it in and not even like busting their ass, that's the least you could do. Yeah, it's tough.

Like Adam Foote was pretty, I would say emotional after the game, but pretty honest in his assessment of what's going on. JP, you're saying 68 and a half? That cannot be right. How? They have 37 right now and they play 33 more games. There's no chance they hit that. Yeah, take the under.

Like hammer the Canucks under a point total. I would hammer it, I think, if it was 59.5. Like, they just, they've lost 11 in a run. Oh, they're getting pumped. Okay. Well, there you go. A little sneak. Okay, I might have to make a little...

JP's saying their projected point total, 68. 68 and a half, and they're currently at 37 points, and they played 49 games. So I'm not sure how that is working, but maybe JP is... I'm going to trust JP on this one. All right, we've got Mike Johnson coming up.

Jeff Saturday will join us. His take on a number of coaches now being hired. John Harbaugh, apparently, is going above the GM right to the owner. right he doesn't have to deal with the owner now the GM came out today and he's like wow that doesn't really matter yeah it kind of does sort of it means you're basically his intern like effectively you'll do what harbaugh wants him wants you to do like wasn't he being just destroyed online because he looked like he was having panic attacks or something while the depressor was going it wasn't going so well and harball was at a podium

and this guy looked like he was in a park somewhere so i'm guessing he was at the championship game last night, but nevertheless, it's always a little bit less dignified when Harbaugh's in a suit, podium, New York, and this guy's down in Miami. But we'll play that clip. We'll get to it. Do we have time? Can I show you guys something and do a tiny bit of a breakdown? Is this Mark Davis that you want to get to?

After the break? Why don't we come back? All right. Everyone brace for this. Just have a quick peek and then take it away. We're going to go to break, and I'm going to do a full breakdown of what this man was doing on the sidelines last night. Okay, so Mark Davis, Mike Johnson, confirm it to a night later this afternoon.

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Somebody just sent a tweet to us, it says, oh talk at the Super Bowl, and it's Mr. Dressup on a couch with a little puppet behind it. I'm so embarrassing. I cannot wait to see you at the Super Bowl. Dude, I just don't. It's not us. It's going to be great. We're very excited.

We're going there, Fanduel. It's going to be a great set. We're excited. Let's sit behind the couch. You know what I mean? Elbows up. Yeah, I don't know. Elbows up on the couch.

Not sure that's possible. These radio roast sets, guys, I'm telling you, you're kind of envisioning something that's rinky dink. Like, they put a lot of money to these things. Oh, Dave. Don't kid yourself. Don't kid yourself. I know how expensive this is.

Yeah. Me, frontal view on a couch that's kind of shallow and leaning me back is a mistake for everyone involved. I've got these short legs. My legs might be off the ground, dude. I'm six foot one. Well, I think, again, it's about the outfit, right? It's about making sure you dial yourself in.

What do you want me to wear a long dress? No, but baggies back in, right? Wait, wear your good crocs. You're really nice crocs. Really nice crocs. If my feet are off the floor and my barrels out and my neck is scrunched up, you've just got fat bastard on the couch. It's radio road.

It's going to have great lighting. It's going to be jazzy. It's going to look great. There's going to be props. You'll probably be able to throw the football around, pass it around. It brings up a great point. Great lighting. Lighting can save you.

Yes. Lighting can save anybody. And the reality is, you know, style is kind of come and go. And ultimately, I don't have any style, but I understand sometimes it's skinny, sometimes it's baggy. We're moving into baggy. And as a guy who has been a moose before, when it's baggy, you're like, this is great. Oh, it's style. When it turns into a skinny, when it's a skinny and you're not skinny and that's the style, it is trouble.

Dude, a monster and skinny jeans is a horrific sight. Anyway, let's get to MJ. Okay. Mark Davis, his gear looked okay last night, right? Look pretty good. You're going to have a full breakdown later this hour. After MJ, I'm going right into Mark Davis, and I'm going to tell you about his gear. Okay.

And he was at the championship game. Shout out to the Hoosiers. Yeah. Right. Mendoza, likely to go first to overall. Have to think Mark Davis and company liked what they saw last night. The Raiders with the first pick. in the NFL draft.

All right, here's Mike Johnson, joining us here in the Maple Toyota Hotline. What's happening, Johnny? What's up, boys? I am excited now to tune in to you guys on Radio Row and see what we got cooking. Now, just a quick thought

on that football game. Like, everyone is celebrating that Mendoza run and the dive in, he gets hit from behind. And, like, I get it. He's had a great year, Heism and all that stuff. But isn't that run,

like the willingness to dive in the end and get hit in the back? That's not special, is it? it doesn't every player in a championship game go for that touchdown and get hit like that? Like this idea that he was somehow John Elway, you know, when he was old and doff

that first down against Green Bay. I'm like that's kind of what you do. Like that's not impressive about it. Like the willingness to do that is not impressive. Like everybody on that field should be willing to do that. No, my mistake is something here? I think I know what you're saying. Because same way with Alway. Like yes, it was desperate, but of course it was the

Super Bowl. Like of course you're going to instinctively think, I got to make this play. I hope you're instinctively thinking that. If he made a business decision there, you have to drop him down the board. You know, the fact that Mendoza said, I'm going for it. Now, what was crazy is that was a fourth down play,

and they were leading in a game. Guys, it's supposed to show you how pathetic sports are these days and how guys just do what they want and they play when they want in intensity a lot of time. We're celebrating that as if this guy's a god for, like, trying to get a touchdown to help his team win. Like, that's just how pathetic it's gotten. That's my view on it.

Yeah, it's still a great play. It's not about the play. Celebrating the willingness to get hit. I'm like, duh. Like, obviously, you're playing football. It's fourth and seven. They're trying to run off the clock and get a touchdown. Obviously, he's going to die for that.

I don't know. I guess celebrating the mindset was a bit much. The run, pretty good. Very nice. The mindset, pretty average. Yep. Should be basically expected, right? But to O's point, not always expected,

especially in college, you do see a lot of business decisions in college where it's like, I don't know if I'm going down. It's in the business now. It is, man, Carson Beck, guys making millions. Graduated two years ago. William Nylander in Tampa Bay one year, Stanley Cup playoffs. There was a puck in the corner and it was about to be a collision and a battling and he just said, no thanks.

He made a business decision in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Probably. Didn't Cam New just do a podcast where he acknowledged that famous one where he didn't jump on a fumble. He didn't jump on it because he was scared. Yes. I believe that was the context. I don't remember specifically what he said, but he did recently talk about it where you're right, that was their 15 and one season Super Bowl, and it was right there. I think he fumbled it, right? It was a botched nap.

Yeah. And he's like, I'm not going after that now. He got backed out. Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, maybe, maybe I'm just kind of my own argument, but I'm like, that's the, what is exceptional is the guy saying, yeah, I'm scared. I'm not going to do that. And what is, what should is more like. normal. The guy's like, yeah, it's scary, but I can do it anyways. Love it. Love it. All right. So, MJ, in terms of the game last night, what has been determined here the last couple of weeks from our standpoint is the least either play, like the most electric

out of this world, lead changing overtime, back and forth, like you can't miss it type game, or they get blown out. Is that a concern? Is that just the randomness of the the season that we happen to be in this cycle, because last night was a lot like the Utah game. Just blown out, no life by the third period. It was like pack your bags, see you later. And then the Colorado Vegas Winnipeg games were unbelievable games. Yeah, I mean, I think not the boring, exciting game,

but I think what the concern would be if there's going to be one is that the least, you know, good teams are going to get there in the end. They sort of have different ways to win. and sometimes they don't have, you know, the Tigerwood Day game and it's checking and it's defensive and it's goal-tending. Sometimes they got a run-and-gun and the system plays in there, but they have the talent to do that. Now, the Leafs clearly have the run-and-gun talent. They have the offensive goal talent. They've scored more than enough to be one of the best teams in the league.

What is concerning is that it doesn't appear like they can win in different ways. It doesn't appear like they are very comfortable trying to check their way to a way. win in a game like Utah where the legs weren't there maybe in last night that first game back from the road trip although that numbers are not exactly true but you know if your legs aren't there can you structure your way into a game can you check your way into a tight contest in the third period where something good can happen that doesn't seem easy for the leaf and that to me is maybe the concerning part about what we see in the last couple weeks johnny the surprising part of that idea that you just mentioned is they check so well in that series

for a bunch of the series against the Florida Panthers. And you would think a light would go off to say, this is just us now. But it just, I don't know, ever since the start of the season, it's kind of shown up at different times. It hasn't been a consistent thing. And I just wonder why.

Well, I mean, I think the gold training hasn't been as consistent to clean up some of their misses. So we associate good checking with low gold. against. Maybe it's not always good checking, but sometimes good goal setting, which is part of the team, and that's okay. Last night, Wohl wasn't great. I think Chris Tenev, not being on the team this year, hurts them a lot.

Like, he is a, remember how good he was last year? Didn't McCabe were one of the best defensive duels in the entire NHL, and while Jake McCabe has had a very good year in his absence. You know, when he has a speed wobble, that McMahon turned over last night, whatever it might be, you know, it's a bit more noticeable. he doesn't have the duo to be quite as rock steady as they were last year. And I think that really hurts for sure. And, you know, again, Max Dolmey making a lot of nice plays, a lot of nice goals.

We've seen him before do these things. But defensively, he's not maybe the strongest. And the kneelander, the same. Tobars may have been the same. So I don't know if it's so much a question of willingness. It's maybe just more question of ableness. Well, MJ, when you look at that, like you looked at last night, they were having a hard time getting out of their own end.

Jake McCabe had a tough game. You know, the breakouts weren't great. The net front coverage wasn't great. It speaks to maybe that this defensive core, to your point, without Tanev, with a lot of other injuries that have put a lot of pressure on the guys who were in the lineup to play more than they're used to and maybe higher in the lineup than they're used to, you feel like it's wearing these guys down and that Tree Living is going to have no choice but to make some kind of an addition between now and the trade deadline? Yes.

You know what? Yeah, 100%. Like, I think if Tanna can't come back this year or come back in the regular season, I think maybe not Rastiff Anderson, maybe it's Dougie Hamilton, maybe it's somebody else. But to find a defensive who can play, not just the defenseman who could be in the lineup, but the guy who can play would go a long way to helping ease the burden. We love Troy Stecher. There's nothing not to love about Troy Stetcher.

He was never going to be able to do for 60 games what he did for 15, 18 games, where it was just everything was falling his way even if the shot shares were not in his favor, the goal account always seemed to be, you know, he has taken a step back. Of course he has. He's not Ray Bork. He's Troy Stetcher and a cheller, but you know, not

elite level player like he was his numbers were suggesting early. Yeah, and then Morgan Riley again continues to have tough defensive moments. So, you know, you run down the guys who play in their top four and they could use some support. And then if they get

someone like that, then everyone looks better. The guys in the top four, the guys who get bumped down to the third pair, everyone gets slotted a little bit more appropriately, ice time gets handed out a bit better, and everyone looks a little cleaner than I'm going. But if Trail Living has designs on this team sort of making the playoffs, because as great as this run has been, they're still on the playoffs. And the teams around them, they like never lose. The Atlantic Division is ridiculous right now.

So, yeah, even to get in the playoffs, he might be forced in action. with Mike Johnson or TSN hockey analyst. On the other side of the ice last night, Quinn Hughes was dancing, man. He was dancing last night. Like, that guy walks the line. Controls the whole game, man. You know, you think you've got them with different angles.

You think you can check them, and it just doesn't work that way. You know, they're a really good team, clearly. They're in a very difficult division. They're going to play Dallas in the first round, and then they're likely going to play Colorado. How much of a difference do you think Quinn Hughes can play in determining who comes out of that division? You know, where does he rank for you?

You're going to include McKinnon, McCar, Ranton, Johnston. The power brokers of the Central Division. Where does Quinn Hughes rank for you? Oh, that's a good question. I mean, he would be third, I guess. I mean, individually, he's probably third. It's McKinnon and McCar and then Hughes. As great as Ranton and Johnson are and all the rest.

You know, he can play more than the forwards can. He's probably not quite as good as Kail McCar. Although I would put Quinn Hughes clearly in the top three defensive in the world. It's Worewski and it's McCar and it's Hughes. And you got defensive last night just how much pressure he puts on the other team all the time. Every shift, he's up the ice, he's activated the offensive. zone. He goes back there like, okay, listen, sure he can hurt us with the puck, but let's dump it in his corner, let's go get him, let's take advantage of the fact that he's not big. He goes back

there, spins out, makes a play, George the rush goes the other way. It's amazing what he's done, and that's why Bill Guerin swung for the fences to get him without an extension to see what can happen. He had to tilt the favor. Now, as much like Minnesota, and I'm in Montreal tonight to cover them play the habs and it's going to be fun to watch lane hudson who's like a younger shiftier less smooth version to use but having maybe even a better statistical year this year um go against each other but down the middle ericson eccurt right it's hartman and it's yurov and it's like you know depth players that you put that down Dallas or down against Colorado you're like wait a second if the spine of the team is the goalies the defense and then the

centerman. Well, in Minnesota, goalies are elite. They have the third best day percentage in the league. The defensemen are elite when you get favor and Hughes and Brodine and Spurgeon, but the sediment depth is not there. And I wonder if they're just shopping around whether it's a centerman or maybe big game, Artemey Panarin like hunting for another difference maker up front to do the same thing for the forwards that Hughes has done for the defense. Yeah, that whole setup out there in terms of the talent, in terms of like the how far ahead they are from everyone else in the west.

And then you look at the Pacific and it's like Vegas, Edmonton, Vegas is really good and they just got better with Ross Miss Anderson. I question their goaltending. Like Aidan Hill's back now. We'll see what happens with Carter Hart if he returns where he fits in, how he plays. I think the goaltending is still a question mark in Edmonton, right?

Tristan Jory's been heard. So I don't know what that's going to look like. If you were one of those teams, like if you were a team that thought you had a legit chance. Would you sniff around on Thatcher Demko? Like, would you trust him to be your guy on a run? I wouldn't, I can't trust him, though. On his body, just not sure you could,

you've got a true, like, he's got a term left, so you've got to make a commitment, you're probably not going to get him for free, and you've got to get a guy who, unfortunately for him, has not been able to stay healthy. I don't know. You like the name, you like the game when he's healthy on it, but you don't like the track record of health. And I wonder, as

you say, Edmonton, does Connor Ingram start game one for the Oilers in the playoffs. I would not wager against it. Wouldn't be surprising. You wouldn't be surprising in all going, Dave. MJ, the other question in the Pacific, I mean, they were the big story last night with the goalie fight, beaten the Panthers, the San Jose Sharks, where they won eight of their last 11, they make a trade, their buyers before the deadline getting Kiefer Sherwood,

nice middle six guy who's on pace for, you know, 20-30 goals. How real are they after finishing dead last in this league the past two seasons? He is real. They are not yet real. Celebrini is legitimately as good as, you know, anybody in the league not named McKinney and McDavid. This year, he's been incredible. But that team is doing exceptionally well, overachieving by a time.

But I did a game of there a couple weeks ago. You look into their numbers, they're not sustainable. They get out chance. Like last night was a great win. on the road to chuck back, all that stuff. They've been really good in the run they're on. Very impressive. But I don't trust that they have in a seven-game series against a good team.

They just don't have the depth. Their defense is not yet mature enough and different enough. Up front, they might be to score. Celebrini could do some crazy things. But in the Pacific, they might be, you know, he might be enough and maybe good karma might be enough to get them into the playoffs. But I don't think they have enough to really scare anyone when they get there, which would be, again, three years ahead of schedule,

San Jose was not supposed to be good this year. They probably were not supposed to be good next year, and yet they found a way because I think Celebrini has expedited the entire process with his greatness. Johnny, you just said something that's caught me a little bit off guard. I mean, so they went to Connor McDavid and said, we're probably going to move away from Skinner, but we're going to pick up off the scrap heap,

Connor Ingraham, and that's going to be our guy to get things done in the Stanley Cup finals. that just doesn't make. I like Connor Ingram. I talk to him on Twitter, but... I don't think that was... I think they traded for Tristan Jari saying, listen, we're going to hear of Stuart Skinner.

We've shown we can get to the final into game seven with him. We think Jari, who has been around big moments, has been better than Skinner for most of his career, even if not last year, with the exception. We think we have a better chance with him. But just watching how it goes, Jari's been injured a little bit.

And that Ingram has had a good year a couple years ago. He had to take some time away for some mental health stuff. But I think Edmondson, in that division, with those players in the playoffs, though, they don't need Sorokin. They need, like, anything league average, and they are golden. Like, they would take that and run with it. And I just wonder, Ingram, when he's on, can be about as good as Tristan Jari.

And if he plays better down the stretch, there is no other than a trade commitment and the fact that Jari has contract. There's no sort of loyalty or obligatory. to play Tristan Jari over Conner. I just, if Ingram's got a 920 and a 2.4 and Jari does not, would you owe start Jari over Ingram in game one? I don't think they have to. My point is, Johnny, to move away from Stuart Skinner and those are your two options,

I just don't understand that. Well, that's where they are, though. They've already done it. Well, I get it. I think that's stupid. That's my point. That's the point. Yeah.

Well, and it may be. And it may be like Seward Skinner is, you know, heavily criticized, but try to work credit to do. He took him to the final. That's right. And now he didn't take him all the way there because he didn't play every game. He got pulled out of series and this and that. But the team with him as their starter made the final two years in a row, I wonder if the team with somebody else as a starter will have the same success. Probably not because that's the nature of the sport and the nature of the central division.

But we'll see. I'm just saying in the mix in Edmonton, I just. it would not surprise me if Carter Ingram gets it on at some point in the playoffs. Yeah, well, I would expect multiple guys to get shots. I mean, that's the nature of the playoffs in Edmondson. It's never just one guy. So it likely is going to be multiple guys that end up playing. And I think your point is well made.

Oh, like it doesn't matter who it is. If it's not an elite goaltender, which may have been unrealistic, I guess it would be. But the reality is you, you know, we just went through this yesterday with the Josh Allen stuff. Now, I didn't think Alan was clutching up personally, but the conversation was, Alan's in his prime. This is what you're building around him. McDavid's in his prime.

This is what you're going to offer him? Connor Ingham's going to win 16 games for that guy in the spring? Okay. I don't know, man. That's a pretty big gamble. That's a pretty big gamble. If you called McDadee in the summer and said, it's not going to be Stuart Skinner,

but it's going to be Connor Ingraham, he would have said, are you shattered right now? Yeah. I think he would have a problem with that. I'm not sure I'm giving a discount for that. for that replacement. That's right. Leaving on the table is not,

so we have, you know, Ingram as our starter. No disrespect to Connor Ingraham. I just said he might be. But yeah, and I think this year, guys, Edmonton is not as good and the teams around them are better.

So I think they will need goaltending more this year than they have needed it in the previous couple because they get Vegas in the second round. Vegas is going to be loaded, like their goaltending question marks, but Vegas is really good,

really good. and then they go into the central, wherever that ends up, that's going to be a problem, and then on in the final if they get there. So, yeah, I think whoever's in Net Preventon is probably going to have to be better than the guy who's been there the last couple years to start with. Ooh, all right. We'll see. We'll see.

We've got some time, but it's moving quick, man. 30 games left. I thought someone would get to 50 games yesterday. That's right. There's a number of teams at 50. I know. I keep thinking. I don't know about you.

Yeah, go ahead. When I play guys, once I got to the 20s, I could see the finish line and it felt really close really close now we're going to have that weird break for the Olympics so maybe that'll stunt the current sort of momentum towards the end

but they're going to have another five, six games, seven games in the Olympics and then 25 remaining when they get back that is a sprint and there is not enough time to make significant moves

up and down the standings when it's so tight and so competitive then so if your six out seems close but your five teams, you got to jump over in 25 games, that's going to be not impossible, but very difficult to do. So being close might be a bit of a misleading proposition when you get back to the Olympics, depending on where you are in the standing. If you're 9th, 6 points back, that's possible.

But if you're 13th, 6 points back, that's going to take a heroic finish to get in the playoffs. Johnny, when you said 20 games left, you got excited. I mean, how excited did you get? you excited for the season to be over or reaching your goals for this season or what about being over did you like well sometimes i got to go to the playoffs that was exciting but a lot of times i didn't know and yeah like you could sort of like forecast the like the end of the grind which is sort of the the objective right you want to play well you want to win lots of games and i got i got excited about the idea that i can see the finish line this marathon race and wherever the finish takes me whether to the

flyoff or to the world championships or to the summer, I was excited that I could see the finish line because I felt at times got as long. It's hard. It's hard on you mentally. And so I found it refreshing to see the finish line. So that extra kick you might get in the last mile of a marathon because you know it's right there, that's how I felt when I sort of got around 20.

Did you ever book a trip before you were officially eliminated? Sorry, you're breaking up. Oh, I can't quite hear you. He's a man of integrity. I can't quite hear you. I would never, ever say that. We'd never admit publicly, ever, but everyone started. I never left my team until all team-related functions were finished.

What's the latest date you landed at Pearson? Or the earliest, maybe it's the earliest date, earliest late date, if you know what I mean? Like April 20th, April. I probably, geez, in Tampa, we missed. So I probably landed, I went to the world championships this year, but I was probably there two days after the season, home for three weeks before I went to the world.

Phoenix, I'm sure we were done early. But generally, hey, as you could appreciate, my friends really wanted to come see me in Phoenix April, more than me wanted to come home. Always. I had visitors literally at the, you know, second wave team and poker games. My friends would come play with me

because they were down right at the end of the season. Those are the guys. really circling the sked. Like doing the math. They're doing big time. You're limited yet. You get that little Y beside your name. Right.

Can't wait for it. You win a game you're not supposed to. You're getting tax being like, what are you guys doing? Like stop. What are you doing? It's so stupid. You're ruining our plans. All right, Johnny.

We'll leave it there, buddy. We'll do it again later in the week. I'm following. I'm fine. Mike Johnson joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. It's time to Toyota and the 2025 Prius go up to 72 kilometers on battery alone and then seamlessly switch to hybrid mode.

Check it out at Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland in the Maple Auto Mall. Okay, Jeff Saturday's still to come. Confirm and deny coming up as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and up on YouTube live. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support.

So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now I've got my own show.

So if you're tired or lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeartRadio app. All right, overdrive continues, powered by Fandul. So we got Jeff Saturday coming up. We got our best bet still to come. Confirm with Denies as well. There'll be something on Sheffler. He's playing the Amex this week, right?

And next week, Kepka's coming about. That's an automatic. The MX and Sheffler is an automatic win. That's how good he is right now. Yeah, it kind of feels like it. Like I saw a tailor-made post a few videos, and he is just his control of the golf ball is absurd. He was on there one time with those tailor-made clubs,

and they were saying they gave him a five-wood or a three-wood, and they're like, how far are you going to hit this? And he was like 276, and he was within like five yards every time. Yeah. Well, there's a video out there of him, the same kind of thing. I want to say he was at, I think he was at Taylor Maid's main facility or whatever,

and he would hit, and then they would ask him what the yardage was, and he would nail it. He'd be like, I took a little off that, I'm going to say, same thing, 276.

They're like, that's exactly what it was. And then he'd pick up a wedge and he'd hit it, and he'd be like, I think that one about 104, maybe like 105 yards. Like he'd, knows it to a yard after he hits the ball.

Yeah. Which, you know, I hit a golf ball and I'm like, I don't, I have no idea. Like I got a range. It could be 280. 100%. If I hit a driver, I'm like, I thought I hit it pretty well. 258, they're like 231. I'm like, oh, okay.

All right. You know, I have no idea, but as long as it's straight, I'm happy. Like, guys like that, they're so good. They know what groove they hit it on. They're like, I hit it one, I was down a groove. Like, it just hit it one groove high on the face. Right. Or it would have been perfect.

And it was pretty much perfect. Perfect. Well, that's, I guess why Rory put some, like, cavity back irons in. Yeah. He's like, I was hitting a five iron, and, you know, I thought I was only, you know, a few yards off. Turns out I was, like, six or seven yards off, like six or seven yards off on a five iron that you're probably hitting two, 40, 250. Yeah. You know, and he's like, yeah, I just, I'm going to put a little cavity back in there.

Like, all right, go ahead, dude. I wonder if that's good. Does that kill the blade, O'Dog? Are you off the blades now that Rory is into cavity? feedbacks? I think blades. I'm all... I literally went from blades to I love a P790.

I love mashing a six iron 200 yards. I don't know. I just love it. Yeah, the best. The best. All right. Hour 2 coming up just Saturday. Confirm and Deny. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive,

powered by Fandul. Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now, I've got my own show. So if you're tired or lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies, available on all TSN platforms and the IHeartRadio app.