OverDrive - OverDrive - January 28, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Senators' fallout of playing games in Quebec City, Spartacat's half-Sentors and half-Quebec Nordiques jersey and the views from the fans and Calle Jarnkrok returning to practice with the Maple Leafs. Postmedia Senators Columnist Bruce Garrioch joins to discuss the Senators playing games in Quebec City, the conundrum with the half jersey and the team's race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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Alright, here we go, Overdrive, off and running, TSN 1050 on the TSN app your home smart speaker and up on TSN for Brian Asio, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennan. What's going on? What's going on? I saw something that I hope was AI triggered because it was possibly the worst thing I'd seen in quite some time. And first impressions, I think, are somewhat big. But if the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach was serious with that intro yesterday, dude, and I know we don't do hot Jaguars talk like Matt Cause used to do,

dude, did you see what that guy did in his opening? You're talking about the Duvall, the Duvall chant that they do. Come on! Can you possibly fire a guy after the opening presser? I'm concerned about him. Very concerned about the whole operation. I'm concerned about the Jags, the way that they're run, everything about it. Coaches come in all shapes and sizes, but this guy had a corny look to him

And he just made this awkward to fall Can we just do we have that man? Yeah, what we do? I know we had it's not by the end It's not really to get into this we will play it. It's my pleasure this thing. Yes, JP Let me know when you have it Don't just play it because we got to set it up and make sure that we have it properly because it is a day of introductions over the last 48 hours. Right? I just heard Matt Cause was playing Aaron Glenn, the new head coach down in New York.

I was goofy too. It's like- Well, it's just, it's so disingenuous, man. You can't show up and say, we're the Jets and we're built for this. No, you're not. The Jets are a joke. They always have been. Think about the longstanding fan who has just been in misery for years. He'd be looking at the saying, do you know what we're built for? Misery, losing and nonsense

drama. That's what we're built for. That's right. Like do not try to be a hero day one. No way. You can't win anything day one. You can lose something day one. I am a believer in that. Like you said, if your first impression is one of weakness or one of it's just phony or it's simply off the page and not accurate, then I'm sorry. I think you're going to lose some people. I remember actually when Brendan Shanahan was hired. I remember we were all down there.

We were down at Scotiabank and remember Tim Laiwicki had every employee at MLSC out. It was the big clap down the stairs and all that. And I remember Shanahan basically said nothing. Like he looked like a million bucks in a great suit and sat up there and said, it's an honor to be home. I'm from Mimico. He said everything you're supposed to say but basically nothing else and I remember getting on the air saying I'm I was curious by that like that's an interesting approach like no big promises no like we're gonna bite

kneecaps off no go-leafs go-chan just like kind of dignified and in retrospect I think it was completely planned he is like i'm not gonna say anything crazy you're not gonna be an idiot i'm not gonna yell and scream i'm not gonna jump on tables i'm not i'm not gonna do that because i don't think we fancy to buy it and i i think he was on to something i think jets fans would have preferred that i think jags fans would have preferred that

not all of the other way i had approached though you like that approach like i i'm fine with that approach guys the thing is finally but really at least nation not by it they would hold it over your head every single year you have you know the plan the parade comment who made that tim my way to get my work you know they'll never it'll be attached to him as long as he's alive like it's any deliver though technically delivered He delivered a Raptors parade that he did yes That's the thing that he took over the whole the whole thing

It was like there's gonna be a parade route this way now everyone thought it was talking about the leaves He was talking about the Raptors Yeah, he was right about that now the great planning was a disaster and I'll blame Tim for that a six and a half hour parade. Obviously they didn't really put a ton of planning into it. Hey, don't complain. We did seven hours of radio and we got a ham sandwich with a piece of lettuce on it. With no water? No water and then there was gunshots over to our right. It was crazy. Remember, it was Bedlam down there, man. Crazy. Crazy. the whole operation was wild.

That was insane actually. It was fun. I'm obviously, I look back on it fondly at Toronto FC one, right? They won an MLS cup and that was great. Listen, if that's who you are and it's genuine and you're like, Dan Campbell, I look back on his introductory presser now, I'm like, that's actually who the guy was. That's who he is and that's what he is and that's what he's all about

but if you try to sell something that's not there uh... that's one thing uh... i will say this before we get to this guy is that we have called i believe is a name third is that i was the judge it's a jam job to ask him to do this it's a jam job like do vol is the thing you know in jacksonville that's what they last and to do it

based on what i saw i thought it was someone within the media or the p r or someone say hey can you give us a do vol and he's like any any did it he should have said i'll leave that for you guys in the fans i would see it let's see it and let's hear it. Let's see it. And let's hear it. This is the new head coach of your Jacksonville Jaguars. Do ball. Do ball. That guy is going to win how many games next year?

Dude, even the comments leading up to do ball,? It was a corny introduction and I'm like, yeah he doesn't really look like a football dude and I was a crazy ending like The players like you know what players are like. They must have been having beer somewhere in an exotic resort saying That nerds our next coach. How's your coach. He looks like Mike McDaniel. Mike McDaniel. That's who it is. In Miami, it's a Florida thing, Noodles.

Yeah, that's what it is. That's what it reminded me of, is kind of a nerdy coach trying to be funny in his press conference. We heard Gronk yesterday, like Belichick just all business. He doesn't care about making a chance and doing all this stuff. Like these guys, it's nonsense. He doesn't care about making chance and doing all this stuff like these guys. It's nonsense It sends a bad message McDaniel, he's not just stand-up comedian anymore that the Dolphins have crashed and burned. Yeah

He's not as funny and quirky and wacky, right? He's not a wacky and wild guy anymore. Well, that's the thing why it's not sincere It's because when quirky and funny and wacky and all that stuff doesn't work you slowly start to see a shift and then the players all say hang on a sec man you're a fraud because that's not who you were and now you're going to try to be some kind of Mr. Tough guy because the quirky funny stuff didn't work and then the players don't buy it. Yeah you got to stick to what you are and. The idea of someone asking Belichick to say that, I would actually love to see his response. I will say, now if he's trying to get a recruit, Bill Belichick will have to probably do some

things that he's uncomfortable with. I saw someone post a picture, I guess he's out in Colorado. There's some quarterback in Colorado. Yeah, he's in some living room with the fireplace. You see him in his awkward old guy's suit and he's got like the gray pant, blue jacket, like black tie, tight. He's in there doing his thing. But I don't know how he's going to relate to a kid who's 18 years old.

I don't see how it's possible. I can only see his message being one thing. I can help you become elite and get to the next level. Yes. Because I don't think his message is going to be, you know, I can, I'm going to give you this great experience at college. I just don't see that happening. No. And quite frankly, if you're a good enough player and if you're a parent of a good enough

player, that's probably all you're asking for. Make sure he's okay. Make sure he's safe, right? Like that's always what gets asked. It's like going to the CHL. You guys know this. When you go there, it's like make sure you make sure he's okay make sure he's safe right like that's always what gets asked it's like going to the CHL you guys know this when you go there it's like make sure you take care of them we're not around anymore make sure he goes to school or whatever he's supposed to do and make him better you know that's ultimately what it is and that's what Belichick's gonna do make sure they go to class when they're supposed to wink wink nudge nudge and go

out and play ball and yeah that's yeah, that's his whole operation moving forward. He's recruiting Bill Belichick. Duval. It's probably so awkward for him though. Like he's literally going, I had Tom Brady, like Tom Brady was listening to what I have to say, and he's in the living room of some, yeah, like, of some kid. Begging, making promises.

And he's gonna run into like a Levar Ball type dad who's like, you know, hey Bill, who do you think you are? Like I won state championship back in 89 and it's like, oh my God, I've got to listen to this guy now? No, but there's going to be another dad saying like, where's the money? Like what kind of money are we talking about? More importantly, where's the money? That's coming too.

Belichick can deal with that though, man. He's dealt with contracts and money. I don't think you'll be uncomfortable when it comes to the money. There's an Uncle Rico though. There's a guaranteed one of these kids has an Uncle Rico that's like, I can throw a football over that mountain over there. Like that's, that's that. I used to play and has to tell Belichick the story of how he was a state

champ until he hurt his knee and now he works in the mail or whatever like guaranteed he's gonna have to nod his head and entertain that story from some you know uncle that's not supposed to be there but snipped out that Belichick was coming and showed up and came in through the back door exactly Bill's got to listen to him and pretend like he cares where when he's in the pros it's a get this guy the hell away from here you're cut you know or just not drafting you'll take somebody else I used to be able to throw pigskin quarter mile yeah you have to do it you got to listen to that guy all right so we've got we got Bruce Garriott coming up later in the hour because Spartacus Spartacus the on his own wanted man in ottawa i had to do some catching up

on this because i i didn't realize the fire it started i like it go back i'm gonna get labeled as an arrogance big city city slicker yes but wire here that at the mascot okay so if you're not familiar with the story because this is big Big story out there show the pic if there's one. Yes. Okay, so yesterday it was announced, you know Like Michael and Laura the new owner of the Ottawa Senators

He's on the record saying he wants to play regular season games in Quebec City, right? They want to try to attack Quebecbec city is their market right they're definitely gonna try to get got no going and obviously montreal that the haves the canadians of own you know hockey in that province really forever uh... and the nordic of the gone for thirty years but and our it's a business right now he's he's trying to get in on on a different

portion of of the hockey community and obviously he's doing whatever he can to get in on that. So yesterday announced this is what we're hoping to do and this is the plan. Sparty the mascot wore a half Sens half Nordique jersey and people are freaking out because how dare you, Spartacat the mascot, wear that jersey. Okay, before you start absolutely going nuclear on this for people having the take or the hatred, who decided that the jersey was a good idea? Like there's someone in marketing that said, hey let's fire up this jersey. Like why would you think that the loyal SensFan would want to see that?

Regardless of how dumb you think the hatred is, how dumb is the idea? Like it's dumb, isn't it? What you're doing is pandering to the Quebec fan, right? So you throw half the Jersey on there. I mean, the mascot took a bullet here. And also, I mean, I don't know if you saw on Twitter, their president, Cyril Eader, who's an unbelievable person. We all know Poole, like they've got a real layer of quality people there.

But Cyril came out last night on Twitter and said, our mistake, I'll accept the blame for this. He's obviously taken a bullet for somebody down the chain in marketing or wherever that thought that was a good idea. The fan base was rabid about it. I didn't, to be honest, you and I, we were talking about a little bit off air or whatever last night. I didn't pay attention to it until this morning. Like the front cover of the Ottawa Sun, like there is, like people are pissed. And that guy that puts that gear on has probably had a hundred million beers the night before and he's like I gotta go Put on the Sparty cat costume like the point that he sure that's what I'm saying, dude

Like the Sparty the cat is gonna walk up to a kid the next home game and be like, hey buddy How are you? The dad's gonna come over and say don't touch my kid you scum Got a tough goal ahead of him Take absolute shrapnel walking around that arena and that's my that's what I'm saying You have an issue go to Ann Lauer and forget you serial leader short go to Ann Lauer The owner is the one the reason they did this is there is because they want Quebec City like that's what they want They want Quebec City. They want the what do they want out of they want money and they want they want it's just it's no different than You know that the blue let's let's use a Toronto team for example or any team, right? You want to get into to Japan

Okay, we want to sign a player from there. We want to get our brand going in Japan We want to get down to South America. We want to get big. It's the same thing I that's my impression of the story and Bruce could tell us what he thinks later in the hour But they're looking at it thinking okay, Montreal's had a monopoly over this province forever We're not going the other way because the Leafs have that Let's see if we can get into Quebec City and maybe get some fans and make some money. So talk to the owner. You got an issue, go talk to Ann Lauer. And you know what, like I always stay downtown Ottawa. You go 10 minutes

you're in Quebec. Like you go right across the bridge, you're in Gatineau. So what I think they're trying to do is is expand the fan base across the border I don't know if Eugene Melnick had a relationship across the the the bridge into the into Quebec Yeah, but that's got no like Quebec City is not exactly close to that. No, it's not a suburb of Ottawa Yeah, I got it I think what you do is you start there and you start to build out and you're right Quebec City I feel like and again I'm on the outside of this like this is this has caught me off guard and I don't know the semantics of the

city as far as who's loved who's hated all of that type of stuff but I do know I've always felt like Quebec City has gotten a bum rap out of it they used to have a team they got nothing now and now you've got the Habs down the road and you've got Ottawa down the road. It's almost like maybe that market's up for the grabs and they put their hand up and go, well, you know, well, you think like as soon as the Quebec Nordiques left there, and I don't study this type of stuff. I have no idea about the analytics of viewership, fandom, how to attract more people. Don't you just try to put the best team on the ice and get the rabid Ottawa Senators fans fired up? When the Quebec Nordiques left, don't you think the majority

of the people that were Nordiques fans are just like, yeah, we're Montreal Canadiens fans now, or we're gonna watch the Colorado Avalanche? Do you really think that they're dying to jump on board with the Ottawa Senators? I don't know This is I gotta be honest. I can't believe or even had it's gotta be discussed, but it's really corny the whole idea of just Dressing the cat up in the jersey and trying to pluck fans from Quebec City I'm like, I don't know what it is though, but it's not like you know, we're goofing around with the mascot

But it's not like he was wearing half sense half leaves like the Nordic have been gone for 30 years Yeah, they're not in the league. They're not a league in the market. Yeah, and and I my my thought was initially I wonder how the Habs feel about this because that that's what I would be thinking if I'm Montreal I'm thinking okay They're trying to attack what we have because Montreal's got a monopoly on the province And I don't know how many old-school Nordic fans would ever allow themselves to like the haves because there was such a rivalry back But do you think that there's they're sitting there saying okay, the Nordics have gone. They're gone. They're they've been gone for a long time I'm dying to attach myself to something. Well, I think though I would I would think it's a smart

I think though, I would think it's a smart business plan, or at least an attempt to get in there and get younger fans if you play games there. It's just like what the Bills did trying to come up to Toronto. It's the same thing. The Bills looked at Toronto and said, let's play a home game there. We're gonna absolutely enrage our fan base in doing it,

but it might be lucrative. We'd probably sell it out. There's a building waiting for us. We're gonna make some money and maybe we get some fans there that said hey I got to go see the Bills play and now I'm a lifelong Bills fan and I'm sure that's what the Sens are thinking right now but I understand the sensitivity because what Ann Lauer is saying is I'm taking two or three home games away from the Ottawa Senators I mean that's what it's gonna be it's if

they go play in Quebec City it's going to be it's the if they go playing quebec city is not going to home game for someone else you know it'll be thirty eight games in auto on three in quebec city well that i would be of the other elements of this is brian and i don't know players go home they think about hockey they drive to the rink they play the games and what the mascot as honor what people are saying i don't really believe it affects them, but why the distraction right now when the team is in a playoff spot, they've been through an incredible difficult schedule, they've held their head above water, and now this pops up. Like that's got to come into play too. The timing of this, bringing all of this into the equation right

now at this point of the season, who needs that? Well, yeah. Like of all people, people at the top will always say, who needs distractions? Keep everything kind of, I don't know, why would you want to do that? Thing is, the players play, the marketing people never stop. So regardless, and I don't think that, I think there's a disconnect between the two. The problem that you just brought up, O, is now when the marketing side spills over into the hockey side and Thomas Chabot's got to talk about it and longstanding senators.

Thomas Chabot had to say that Sparty was just doing his job. I know, he's out supporting Sparty the cat. Well, I support Sparty too. I mean, you know, the thing is, he's just doing his job. Leave Sparty the cat alone, please. I know, like these poor mascots, they just do their job. Leave him leave a lot of a good guy but he's just doing what he's doing I mean I I will get a little bit I'm doing the game Thursday they don't play till Thursday I don't I'll get a sense of like the marketplace we're gonna talk to Bruce

Bruce is there every day yeah he's got a pulse of the fan base you know I get a good pulse of the fan base but more from the hockey side this is the business side so I don't really get a pulse of how this would affect or whatever I can understand the semantics of it Like you just said if you got 41 home games and three are not gonna be in your building because you decided to try and expand Obviously the fan base would be pissed at everyone's gonna be bothered by that people work at the rinks guys We gotta hear a shabat. Let Let's hear Shabbat defending the cat. All right, let's hear Thomas Shabbat

doing what he should be doing. This is a leader. This is leadership right here. The Sens are locked to make the playoffs because of what I heard out of Thomas Shabbat today. I completely understand, like I said, where the fans are coming from, I totally get it. There's nothing behind that on my side I completely understand where

they're coming from but you know what at the end of the day it's a showing for us to go to Quebec City and show and play in front of fans for preseason games and you know what at the end of the day that the stands are not going anywhere we're in Ottawa we love being in Ottawa there's nowhere else we'd rather play than the Canadian Tire Center here every single night and That's all there is to it. And obviously like you said to mention Spartacad. I mean the jersey it's it's you're going to Quebec City It's been such a famous jersey Like my dad would be pumped to see that jersey. I think that's all there was behind that. There's no Meaningful thoughts behind our own jersey. We all love our jersey. The logo is up front, big and proud like it

always is. And that's all it was. I mean, Sparty was just there doing his job and doing his day and there's nothing behind it for him that thinking about the Nordics. It's just, you're going to go to Quebec City. The jersey's famous, everybody loves the Jersey there. Yeah, that's it. That's leadership right there. That's the longest interview I've seen Thomas Chabot do and it's about the mascot. Imagine like somebody in Montreal like Loopy or whoever that guy is, the orange. Yeah, you. Imagine like talking about Youppi's actions defending him. Or like gritty and Philly like imagine Scotty lot and talking about a gritty the the mascot like saying he's just doing his

thing he's working hard like it's crazy. It's one I'm telling you like noodles you have to be on high alert I know you're gonna be busy. Yeah someone smack talk Spartacat on Thursday I need to be I got a stand up for it. I got a stand up. I mean I got to stand up for him. You got to stand up for him. I mean, the last time I saw a mascot get tuned up was, remember Mac T grabbed the Harvey the Hound's tongue.

He grabbed his tongue and ripped it off. Now Harvey, I maintain, deserved that because he was acting up and he was going over the glass. There's a line, but Mac T crossed that line by grabbing the talk and ripping it out. But I don't know what type of nonsense Sparty's going to be up for. Now, I thought Chabot laid it out. These are preseason games we're talking about. Are they talking regular season games too?

Ann Lauer said, listen, if we can play games in Sweden, why can't we play in Quebec City? It's pretty substantial pretty it's it's pretty substantial that there's Harvey there it is what's he doing messing around there Mac TL bent out of shape and then he holds it up like a trophy throws it over the glass good did he get fine for that I was just wondering that I don't know I would think the league probably had a that's a conversation right that's probably cool yeah but they that's a conversation right that's probably call you have a they should have a conversation with the dog to write that i was a whatever he's like don't be acting up like and that's a battle of alberta i think mac t was coach in edmonton at the time that's right you know it would have been hilarious is if mac t were a helmet when he was

coaching uh... no helmet while he's playing and i was a little bit and about that no helmet while he's playing uh... helmet no health care behind the bench you know about all sparty cat who knows what's in store for him i just at the timing of it uh... it just seems i hear you say there you're right in the thick of this in you you battled and fought and fans are excited

i was at the world juniors on what they got a great they got great fans are mandate love hockey they're passionate and all the sudden this is we want to play exhibition games in Quebec City I just don't know about well, let me ask you regular season games is their plan regular season game You know that for a fact if I think he's caught in Laura said yesterday. You're just dissecting his comments, but I Maybe Bruce can speak to this. I'm just thinking out loud his comments but I maybe Bruce can speak to this I'm just thinking out loud this isn't a negotiation about LeBreton flats and all of that too right like is this well they're trying to get the the the land secured all of that type of stuff so is it a play to tell them to get their ass in gear we might be going to Quebec City or remember when Gretzky

showed up and said maybe the oilers would go play in Seattle or whatever it was things moved after that they got a new new building pretty quickly after that. Okay. Maybe Sparty's just a brilliant real estate find and a negotiator. Maybe that's what Spartacus does. What if he was wearing a hard hat? Like Sparty with a hard hat on, like a construction vest. Making deals happen. I love it. I don't know. I would like to see personally, selfishly, I would like to see that new building break ground sooner than later just because closer to downtown engage everybody. But it just, you know, with it out in Canada, it's a bit of a grind for people to get out there. But listen, there, you're right. Oh, the last thing this team

needs is distractions. They've had nothing but distractions as far as injuries and all of that type of stuff. Noodles in the middle of that grind if I was Thomas Shabat if I know how I Kind of acted I would have said Send somebody else out that that that put the jersey on the cat. I got enough garbage on my mind I got to think about you think I'm gonna go out there and answer questions about Sparta cat. No, thanks Whoever made the jersey you're the one going in front of him. I'm a hockey player He did a great job. He did a great job Canadian and he's French Canadian like that's the guy you wanted out there. That's the guy you needed out there cuz Brady's from st

Louis, what's he gonna say? Yeah. Okay. Well, you know what noodle sometimes players or ownership and coaches will say you know What you want to get the players out here to ask the players? They're the ones that went out there and played well get somebody else out there that dressed the stupid lion in an outfit that had half of a Nordic's jersey on. Because I didn't do it. Is it a lion? Whatever the hell it is. It's a lion.

It kind of looks like a lion. Spartacad. Yeah, it's a cat. We'll ask Bruce that. Hard-hitting journalism with Bruce Garriott later in the hour. I love it. We've got Mike Johnson on, Bill Guerin on today. They announced Kaprizov.

He went through with some surgery, minor. I don't know how minor it can possibly be, but he's been dealing with something throughout the year. He's going to be out for upwards of a month, but it's not season ending. Bill Garan was stressing that today, but Kirill Kaprizov will not be playing tomorrow night. That's a bummer if you got leave tickets. If you're going down to see them play, Kaprizov's a guy you desperately want to see playing He's only here once a year. That's a boost for the Leafs too though. I mean that's a big win for the Leafs. You take a top-tier player out against an opponent that they're tied in the standings

They get the exact same record like it's you know and minis pushing hard So it's a it's a you know again you hate to see people injured But it's a boost for the Leafs because that's a top-tier player not playing against you to yeah as for the Leafs will come back and get into some of the things we saw at practice today it sounds like Tavares and Nyes should return by the weekend they had to Edmonton for Saturday night Stolar is practicing with the team the hope is he'll play before the Four Nations face off which is only a couple of weeks away and Cali Yarncrook out there as well and we'll get into a number of things that we saw at camp or at practice today and

Bruce Garriott later in the hour Mike Johnson, Kurt Furmer tonight today, Bill Guerin coming up, overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. Alright overdrive continues powered by Fanduo bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score Mike Johnson still to come, Rory McIlroy with some great comments about playing the RBC Canadian Open. We'll get to that a little bit later on. And Bruce Garriott later in the hour. The Leafs were back in practice mode today. They've got Minnesota in town tomorrow and Cali Yarncrook out there. And he was in a blue sweater for whatever that's worth I don't think he ended up actually partaking in practice but I think he's going to be back soon it won't be before the four nations but at some point he's going to return here and I was trying

to think of which player on the team if any at all should be concerned by that because there is there a player you see in the lineup? I guess I'll answer first. For me, it's Nick Robertson. If I'm Robertson, I'm like, okay, Yarncroak's coming back. He's a vet. He's more trusted defensively. Robertson's been on that third line for the majority of the year in and out at times. Yarncroak seems to fit in pretty well. There can kill penalties. That would probably be my thought. It's all timing. Like if it's the world of accountability and a veteran guy is going to come back and the coach is kind of licking his chops to get him a look and place him somewhere. If you're not Austin Matthews or Nylander or Marner or Tavares and you're not on top of your game,

it would get your attention. Because you're looking at the coach and it's, your game, it would get your attention. Because you're looking at the coach and it's, trust me, it's like a new Christmas toy. It's like, okay, this guy's new, I wanna check out what he's got. And coaches always fall in love right at the beginning and they start somewhere around the top and then they filter their way down

to where they originally should be slotted. But if you're a guy that's not on his game and you can go through the lineup and figure out who it and it might be a week from now it might be ten days from now who knows but you got to be thinking I don't want to see that guy around or I don't want to put myself in a position where I might get nudged to the side and he's gonna take a sniff where I am right yeah the way it goes I mean you could go deeper and go Ryan Reeves But Reeves is there for a purpose right but but if you Deem that he is not going to be serviceable in a particular

Night or a particular series then you're you know that's what I would look at and go okay Yarn croak could slide in on your fourth line and then work his way up depending on how he feels keep in mind Yarn croaks not 27 anymore. I think he's 33 Coming 34 type of things so it's you know it's he's moved He's got to jump on a moving train, and that's tough to do midseason So it'll take him a bit to get up to speed but Yeah, I think Robertson would be a guy up Minton's not gonna be I don't think you know tomorrow So come back and push him out. I think home burgs a guy will push down

I know oh you like him more than than I like him, but I think home burgen camp for interchangeable for me Absolutely, but it wasn't too long ago. Cali yarn croak was the guy that was like the line fixer Like he was he would go on a line and that line started playing well. Yeah, that's that's a long time ago And that's the truth is it's a big injury. He hasn't played no camp You know They've got 32 games left and this guy's gonna try to jump on a moving ship a stop and a start like that Starting up and then there's gonna be a break so that's not gonna do him any favors either that might actually it's interesting because he may be That could be the timeline is when they all return and they're all coming off the break and maybe you're all maybe a little bit rusty

But also he was in Nashville for a while like Barube would know him Well, not quote not up close and personal but have a pretty good read on how he plays And listen his cap. It is a decent one I think it's around three million or something three and a half like it's yeah, or something So if money's not an issue then maybe doesn't play but it's not if you can't get up to speed maybe he's not guaranteed anything i don't think you should be

but he does get up to speed i think he's a guy that they would look towards as someone that can help them within the playoffs and uh... the same thing with patch already and he's gonna return and play i think so some decisions are going to be here Tavares is gonna play nice is gonna play but if patch already and Yarn crook are both available and they acquire someone at the deadline All of a sudden there's not that many

I would look at it guys as simple as this who can produce Like are you just gonna fall in love with the name even yarn crook? like are are you just gonna go out there and be cali yarn crook who just kind of skates up and down and max patch already in nick robertson like who who could score me a goal like sometimes that's guys nick robertson actually puts one into the net and it makes it really weird because it's like you don't really play that much but you score a goal once in a while

like how about how much do you really value that i want to go to produce they need that the playoffs no course dates i go i i'm looking at their injuries right now to war hawk and pod knives patcher ready still ours to borrow us yarn croak i mean out of that whole list you'd laid it out pays to borrow us and knives are coming right back into the lineup that's's a lock. Anybody else a lock to go into that lineup? Well, Stolarz is a lock, obviously. Stolarz and Wall, that's your pair. So Stolarz, Knives, and Tavares are a lock.

D'Warr, Hawk and Pa, Pacchioretty, Yarncroak are guys who could add to your depth. It's crazy, if they had everybody, how many people they have they on the ice 38 people like doesn't see well It's not feasible with the cap to write something's got to give they're gonna have to make some moves to make everyone's money work Which is another element of this but yeah, there's you know, I don't think that's a bad thing to have though like they're all veteran guys, they've all been around the block and If they're healthy and their, it gives Craig Barube, you know, pretty significant whiteboard to fill out, where you you know, we can all determine the 80% of the lineup, we know who's going to play. But that other 20% could be a bit of a moving target, right?

And are they difference makers? That's the thing. Maybe you talk about adding at the deadline what O just said. That's where if you add somebody at the deadline, that's going to push one or two of these guys out. Are you convinced they're going to get a difference maker at the trade deadline? I mean, I don't know how we define a difference maker. That's what I was going to say, Brian. So let's define a difference maker. That's what I was going to say, Brian. So let's define a difference maker is if you acquire,

let's go on the trade board or the rumor board, Yanny Gord. Yanny Gord's playing. Yeah, but he's not a difference maker, in my opinion. He's a plug and play guy. But is he an upgrade on Pontus Holmberg? Sure. Yes. Sure.

So is he definitely going to have a bigger impact than Max Patcheretti in a playoff series? I don't know if he will. He might. I don't know. But I'm just saying you've got a lot of players, but are any of them that you covet to go, could they be replaced by somebody else in an upgrade in a trade? Possibly. That's where my point was.

Sure. Like Ryan O'Reilly, I think is a guy who could make an impact, clearly. And I think there's a couple of other guys who are certainly closer to impact. It really comes down to how you define the term, I guess. Correct. That's crazy that Ryan O'Reilly talked. We can get into it later, but it's like this is his second year of like a four-year deal in Nashville and people are talking about him.

It's not what it might be. But if you're in Nashville, how do you keep going with this same group? That's the issue That's a story for another day. All right, Mike Johnson on that more still to come confirm with an eye coming up Bruce Gary, I'll join us overdrive Continues TSN 1050 and on the TSN out. All right, Mike Johnson coming up confirmed with the nice to to come as well So we started the hour I came out guns blazing in support of Spartacat the mascot in Ottawa because I think he got jammed up pretty bad.

Took a bullet. Yeah. He took a bullet, man. And he's a great mascot. People in Ottawa love him. And, you know, he had the audacity or someone had the audacity to suggest you wear a half Ottawa Senators jersey, half Quebec North. And I bet you Sparty at the the beginning said you really want me to put

that on what we're gonna rethink this yeah but he did it's party he might have and he wore it and people aren't happy in Ottawa and again Michael Antlauer the owner of the team clearly they have visions of you know that Quebec City market and I guess bringing it into the fold and maybe either wrestling it from the Montreal Canadiens or they just feel like it's wide open and they want a piece of it to chat about the reaction of the story yesterday and the way the team is reacting. Here's Bruce Garriott of Post Media and of course TSN.

Bruce, have you had a chance to sit down with Spartacat yet and what do you make of the reaction from yesterday it's a i think what's far too cat in is a way more egregious someone harvey the hound devils great mcgavish i thought you're right there we are okay there is no way that's far too cat ever should have agreed to put on that

that jersey i'd i'd no way that Spartacus ever should have agreed to put on that, that Jersey. I, I, I don't know who's brainiac idea this was. I'm led to believe that maybe it came from their marketing department, but you know what? I don't think it would have been that bad or gone over that bad. If Michael and Lauer hadn't, and he hasn't made any missteps since he, he became the owner of this team, but I think he misstepped when he suggested that they might play some

regular season games in Quebec City. And you know, we've heard Quebec City has always been seen as the place where the senators could end up by the former owner. And there was talk here guys, two years ago, Eugene Malik was prepared to have five home games in Quebec city. And because he said he, he felt that he could make more money in Quebec city than if he had a game against Buffalo Sabres in Ottawa. And, um, I think when, when Michael Landlauer went there and then they had the audacity to put Spartacat up in a Nordics half Nordics half

Senators Jersey boom It was ugly. It was way worse than I thought to tell you true Brucey what about the timing like the sends like they're keeping their head above water the timing like the sends like they're keeping their head above water there yeah that you know they there when some games and they got some positive traction and then this pops up like I was saying to the guys before you came on like if I was Tom Shabbat I would have said I'm not addressing this today this is I'm trying to win hockey games and I got to talk about a furry cat wearing a half jersey no way like the timing is. Did you imagine you at the Carolina Hurricanes having to defend Stormy?

No, no I can't because I just can't, Brucie. It's goofy. You would though. You love Stormy the Pig, be honest. You would do it for Stormy. Look, I think Thomas Chabot had to set up step up for for Sparty's ice it poor Sparty's I said he just Sparty got caught in the crossfire this he was just doing his job right like and all of a sudden I mean they deleted the post that just tells you and I think there were people in there who said I don't think you should do this and I and just don't think, I think one of two things. I think that Michael Langlois was trying to throw a bone

to the people of Quebec City to say, look, I wanna help you get your national hockey league team back. He made it very clear that Ottawa is not moving there, but when they put Sparta Cat in that outfit, they triggered something. And I said this to Claire earlier and I said to you guys you know we're always told that the logo is sacred right then and the logo it's you know about the crest on the front not

the name on the back and they covered the logo when we go in that dressing room so we don't step on it well they stepped on it themselves and they stepped on it in a very big way by posting that photo. So, Bruce, is there any more to this as far as negotiations with the LeBreton Flats? Is there a bigger message or picture that we're missing here or is it just strictly that they're trying to expand the fan base into Quebec? Well, you know, as you know, Jamie,

like all those, all their games along with Montreal package, the TSN has an RDS on our show in Eastern Canada. And I think the one thing that Sarah leader said yesterday and trying to explain all this is that, you know, Quebec is your second biggest television market. So there's a lot of eyes on you in Quebec living rooms when you're on the broadcast here, Jamie. So I think that what they're trying to do

is maybe try and convince some people in Quebec City. When they go there, as Thomas Chabot said today, when they go there, they're gonna visit some schools. They're going to go sign autographs. They're gonna, they might have a hockey clinic. They're going to spend four or five days there. Maybe just to get people who don't want to hope for the Montreal Canadians to maybe, to maybe hope for Ottawa. As far as O'Brien goes, that I've spoken to both sides in the last 72 hours and both sides feel that even though this is taking a lot longer than Michael Anler wanted to take, it will get done.

And it might take until the end of 2025 for them to come to the point where the Senator is actually on the land, but it is going to get done. And I don't think that that negotiation is going to go off the rails certainly my discussions with people from the ncc and and with people from the senators with bruce garriott cover post media t s and on on the story that came out ottawa yesterday where the sends are exploring the idea plan maybe some regular season games in quebec city

and possibly taking advantage of that market uh... and what's what's I find fascinating here, Bruce, is I've kind of lived this from the Quebec City side of things with the Buffalo Bills, where the Bills looked at Toronto and said that's the market we want. We're gonna bring the Bills up here. And what they did poorly was they made it so clear

it was just about money and just about cash grabs and business and the the Bills players hated it. Bills players would come up and complain. The media would come up and complain. Yeah. And it went horribly and it was a disaster and I guess what I'm getting to is from if I'm in Quebec City I'm thinking if the senators think they're just gonna waltz into town and here's my money and now I'm a fan, that's not gonna happen. In order for it to work is what you just said. They have to actually embrace the market, show up at the market, go to the schools,

you know, really be a part of the fabric of society. Yet, the flip side of that is I would get the impression that's what would sting the most if I'm a Sens fan living in Ottawa. Exactly. They'll be like, why aren if I'm a Sens fan. Exactly. They'll be like, why aren't you coming to our school? Exactly. So I don't know how they win this, I guess is what I'm saying, Bruce, because you've got to fully commit to Quebec City.

But if you do that, forget Sparty. That's really going to infuriate people in Ottawa. Well, that's just it, Brian. And I think that's what upset people upset people here is that, you know, making roads in your own marketplace. Don't, I don't really think people have loved the fact that they've gone to Sweden, uh, you know, two times since, since I think 20, since 2017. And I think that, that when, when Michael and Laura said that yesterday,

the people here and I thought, you know what, they should want to play 41 games in Ottawa, not, not, they shouldn't want to play any home games anywhere else. And I, and all I think that has happened now is that they'll play their two pre-season games in Quebec city and they might play two pre-season games in Quebec city in, in two years from now. But I think the chances of them ever playing their regular season game have completely gone out the window.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised with this reaction. In terms of them getting back on the ice, Noodle said he's there Thursday calling a game and you look at the standings currently, they're in third place, the division. If the playoffs started tonight, and I know Tampa's got games in hand but now it how would you how would you describe the the confidence of the fan base and people in Ottawa that this is for real finally and the sons are gonna do it and punch a playoff ticket well I think people are excited and I like and Jamie's here enough he knows people are excited about this team they They're they're excited.

They're excited that they're playing better defensively and that they're getting good goal-tending. And I would think at some point here, maybe even Thursday, we might see Linus Omar play after having been out since December 22nd. And, you know, getting him back back will I would think will help I I think the next discussion that has to be had with Linus Allmark is whether he really should be going to the foreign nations face-off but I'm sure that you

know I don't think he should given what happened with Dominino cashew can be about in six with uh... uh... with check in the in the olympics but uh... you know i i don't think they can stop a minor but the first and foremost they gotta get him back in that year and they are thinking they need to do obviously starts forcing goals because that that that was the last issue about the doubt

jamie and and they have an issue scoring goals well uh... again we'll see where they're at as of thursday and and as we move forward but uh... you know it's it's certainly a good position to be a compared to the past and auto was in the platform at a minimum and it's going to be a fun stretch run we appreciate uh... the insight the update is always proves thank you for doing this when i left the rank clarion was trying to get an exclusive with L'esparta Cat, but

she couldn't find them. And I said, it's okay Claire, you can have them on Question Period Thursday night and you'd probably say more than I did any day. There you go, perfect. She is on the case, Claire is the best. She will get to the bottom of this, we know it. Thank you Bruce. Good to talk to you guys

there's a bruce gary of uh... post-media and tsn and uh... yeah sends are looking good man and it's outside of washington we say it every day take the capitals out everything else is bunched together more or less and let's be real here the reason the fans are pissed about any of this it's not because of the jersey that's half Nordics, it's because it's a shot at them. This would never be happening with a rabid fan base like the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens.

So they're like, oh, we're just second fiddle and we're not really... They got a great fan base, man. And I would take that personally too. I would be able to sleep well at night. I wouldn't freak out over the cat, but it would be a shot saying oh what we're second-class fans I don't know. Yeah, not the ones that wanted the arena out here That's exactly what he's got an eye on the cat on Thursday for sure make sure you keep your eye on that guy And I don't want to see or hear any stories of any funny business when it comes to party

He's party alone garden with my life. You know we got've got to get into in the 5 o'clock hours? Jimmy Rutherford came out and said there's a lift in Vancouver. Oh yeah. Not sugarcoating anything. No, I love him. Speaking to the Globe and Mail out in Vancouver. Alright, we'll get into that and Mike Johnson will join us. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 4.