OverDrive - OverDrive - January 30, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jason Strudwick for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' defeat to the Wild, the team's scoring issues and Morgan Rielly's rough performances on the blue line The guys go around the sports world in the latest edition of Strud or Dud and Hayes lists the top players on Canadian teams in the NHL.

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new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, Off and running TSN 1050 on the TSN app your home smart speaker and up on TSN 4 Brian Hayes, Theodog, Jeff O'Neill, Jason Strudwick we're playing this because the Raptors have won five in a row we have to be consistent right? You have to be consistent you got to play the theme song. The Raptors get the Major League theme song for five in a row? I never thought I would see that happen. Never at any point this year. That would have been a 0% mini Jerry in September. But here we are.

But I look at it and I'm like, why are they winning? And that's always a difficult thing because you want them to grow. You want Scotty Barnes to become the man, which he basically already is on the team. But it's like, you've gone that far into it. We described the Leafs two or three years ago, and Struddy, you've been out in Edmonton

for a bunch of tanks to get the first overall player. It's like, once you go so far, there's no turning back. There's no turning back from it. Well, the hard part is that they're just starting to get everybody back, aren't they? They're just starting to get healthy again, so now they're getting a bit of rhythm because it's hard and you don't have everybody playing. It's cliche but you can't tell the players not

to try but I'm with you. I look back at my New York Giants, they should have lost the rest of their games. If someone's having a good half, you pull that guy, sit him down, surge your luck, you're not allowed to play, you're playing too well. We want a loser in there. We want someone who's going to lose this game for us. How dare you try to win? Because you're trying to get to the bottom of the barrel. How dare you try to win? By the way, Strife, how do you like watching your guy Saquon right now?

Doesn't it make you sick to your stomach? It doesn't. This is different. This wasn't a situation where it was a bad breakup where a girl dumped somebody. I'm not going to say dumped me, but dumped somebody else and then they're like they're moving on. So this is a situation where he deserved better and if you love something, you'll set it free and we set Saquat free and now I hope he wins, I hope he wins every trophy he can that goes to Disneyland after.

Because I love this man, he is such a good person, such a good player and he's showing it now finally with a team is competent match of the Giants were just average what we could have accomplished with him and in the backfield Wow what a profound view of her date from anyone can you believe that to do you believe that well the sports fans comment is usually like light that building on fire, throw that guy in the trash can, throw the GM in the Hudson. I've never heard that positivity study, especially on this program. But he deserves better.

He deserves better than that. No kidding. So he came in, so this player comes into, it doesn't matter, any sport, any player, comes in organization, works his ass off, comes back from injury, does everything you ask him to, then he asks for a little bit extra money, you say you're not? Okay. So he says, no, I'll take my talents elsewhere. He drives three hours down the road to Philadelphia for a little bit more cash and he would have

stayed in New York and he just delivers like he said he would. So I mean, what more can the player do? I don't know how fans can be mad at him. That's not, yeah. It's not on the player at all. It how fans can be mad at him. That's not yeah. It's not on the player at all. It's not about being mad at Saquon Barkley. It's about hating your giants, despising them and also at the same time wishing failure on anyone that leaves and has that much success.

I know that's a warped horrible mentality, but that's the mentality I think the majority of sports fans would have. I don't want to see you go win somewhere else You have to be miserable here with us. We're miserable. We're awful. We're a joke We stink we dragged you into it when we drafted you you're not allowed to leave sure You're not allowed to go and have success somewhere else, especially within the division your first year You know, this isn't a tandem back situation where he's getting a few touches here there. This guy could be the MVP this year He's been Barkley's been incredible and and I think we're all waiting to see what he's gonna bring come

Super Bowl Sunday and it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun and we're inching closer to it You know by this time next week Al's brother and I we're gonna have everything figured out in terms of what we're playing what we're not playing right doogie doogie is gonna have everything sorted out in terms of the props and Whether or not the coin toss is gonna be a part of it or not or Gatorade coloring all that good stuff We'll figure that out But yeah, the rappers are going one way and the Leafs are going the other way We were playing that song for the Leafs what three weeks ago, right?

At least we're on a heater three weeks ago. We come in here with the major league theme song. Leaves are running away with the division. They're just going to breeze through this season. Everything's looking great. And now Florida has leapfrogged them so they're no longer in first place. They can't score. They look incredibly flat. And they're going to Edmonton on Saturday night and it's certainly not going to get any easier. What a turn of events. I guess is the best way to put it here. Well, wouldn't you say, like the old William Nylander comment, what the hell is everybody talking about and what's everybody worrying about?

I think we're beyond that and this is their time of the season. Regardless of how good you are in the NHL, you're going to have that stretch of the season. And they're having theirs right now. And it started and it got a little bit better, but they're still kind of, they're in it. And if Edmonton can't snap you out of it, and Strudy, you talked about the raps getting out, like they're going to get some bodies back hopefully on Saturday night in Edmonton. And if that can't wake you up and kind of have a performance to dig yourself out of it, then the trouble keeps coming. Because it's like everything shrinks,

and the stress just amps up. Like, the Ottawa Senators are six points behind the Leafs. Yeah, exactly. And they're an action tonight. The Ottawa Senators, dude. That's right. Ottawa's behind you. Florida's ahead of you.

And listen, if you look at their record, I believe the exact same as the record they had this time last year. Same amount of you. And listen, if you look at their record, it's I believe the exact same as the record they had this time last year, same amount of games. And really, for the most part outside of that weird COVID, all Canadian bubble, and the one year with Babcock, I believe it was, where they finished with 112 points or whatever, for the most part, they've had the same record year in year out,

this is no different in terms of the way that they operate. There's ups and downs. They win some games They shouldn't they lose some games. They should yeah, let me just state this Hayes I'm not fearful that that's not gonna come like not be this year Like I firmly believe they're gonna get a hundred plus points and they're going to make the playoffs comfortably, right? That's not what I'm bringing up. bringing up about saying they're gonna miss the playoffs right i'm saying is what is different in more frustrating this year is there isn't pace car that is too far gone within the division which should be a glass half

full that even with the them losing six of nine they can't score the lose all these games regulation their point behind florida and i think for display one more game than them made you kinda get away from even looking at the standings in the past was last year florida took off the year before boston took off the year before that tampa so you weren't even really concerning yourself with any benefit from wins and losses you were just thinking be healthy play at your best and get to the playoffs

what is frustrating about this in particular last three weeks, is they're very flat and they're not taking advantage of what could have been a pretty easy situation for them to just be the pace car in the division. Like just win some, like they've lost to Columbus, that Minnesota team to their credit, you know they showed up and played

and Gustafson was pretty good. I thought the Leafs were incredibly flat in the first period. I thought they Leafs were incredibly flat in the first period I thought they got better as the game goes on Columbus you get smoked by Columbus at home. That's embarrassing like again It's about perspective. It's about chasing the one seed which is supposed to be important because it's something they haven't done Avoid Florida avoid Tampa and now they put themselves in a position now where they got to dig themselves out of it and grind again to try to take advantage of that. Okay, hold on. I can't believe...

I have something to say. Go ahead. Okay, I got to jump in because this is getting crazy. Okay, listen, get your ghetto blasters close to the speakers. Old Uncle Struddy, I can't believe this is the first time this is going to ever happen. I'm going to defend the Maple Leafs. They're missing two pretty important forwards. They're unable to score guys that I can't believe I'm listening to this level of depression about a three game losing streak where they can't score. They're missing Nies and Tavares. Those two guys are big plus their offense.

You didn't listen. It's six of nine. They've lost five. I know, but there's ups and downs. Six of nine in regulation. But go ahead. I know, but guys, there's ups and downs in every season. Yes, of course. They're missing two important players. you you're talking like it's over

No cat they're right at the top of the pie heap. I how am I the one defending this team from this far away? This isn't my job. It feels weird today You know what I think strutty you were there and Hayes was over here and I was leaning towards you Hayes the one that kind of went on a tirade there. A little bit of one. I'm just calling it what it is. I'm calling it as I see it. This isn't about you know an 18-wheeler going off a clev. It's about them taking advantage of an opportunity here. That's my point. Again if Florida... Minnesota is a good team. If Florida... yeah Minnesota they're okay. They've been 500 for the last what two months strut and easily their best player didn't have his gear on last night. Yeah for

sure but they're a good team they're well course organized you know the upcoming have the Edmonton Vancouver has won three in a row so this isn't the easy stretch right like these are some pretty good teams that they have to play against. Yeah I mean Columbus and Ottawa they lost yeah I hear you strut I understand that they're short-handed and that certainly factors into the lack of offense and it needs to be considered But Matthews played last night Marner played last night Nylander Morgan Riley's been a vet and been around for a long time. He struggled again. It's it's not You know, the sky is falling. That's not what I'm suggesting that it's an 18 Wheeler

What I'm saying is they that every other team within the division, we've talked about the big four in this division for years. Boston, Florida, Tampa, the Leafs. The other three have had seasons where they realized, okay, the other teams are kind of sputtering a little bit. We're not going to allow that to happen. We're going to run away with this division, allow ourselves to breathe down the stretch. and the Leafs were in the driver's seat to do that three weeks ago. Florida's ahead of them just because Florida's just plugging along. They're not having some great season. Boston's struggling, Tampa's struggling.

That's the frustration, I think, for a lot of Leaf fans right now. And yes, you can have ups and downs, and they're in one right now. That doesn't mean they're never going to score. It doesn't mean that it has any bearing on what's going to happen come playoff time in terms of how I think they're actually going to perform. What I'm saying is they've been atop the division. Basically, it's a great opportunity to run away with it. And if you lose six of nine in regulation, you've probably punted on that opportunity. Doesn't mean they won't win the division. I'm not sitting here saying, I'm curious what Vanduul would have

The odds as you know who wins the division and who doesn't it's just the other three Boston Tampa, Florida have all had their kicks at that camera. They said we're out of here. We're good We're not losing to Minnesota. We're not losing to Columbus and the Leafs do that and now they put themselves in in a race Well, don't forget Hayes. That's great and everything But the Boston Bruins had the greatest season of all time and guess what they got in the first round? Yep, they lost. Florida had a great season last year.

And what did they get? I believe this team needs to be fighting for that top spot until game 82. Because adversity makes you stronger, it makes you hungry. Remember last year where we were talking about is Matthews going to get 60 goals or whatever? Seven. That seemed to be the watch. They don't need to be on any kind of a watch. There needs to be a fight to the end to try to get that so that you're battle ready. I bet you that Ruby probably wants that as he looks ahead to the rest of the, what do they got? 30 games

left, something like that? Yeah. Listen, I think there's validity in that. I mean, you'd like to believe this team has been tested and nothing could possibly stop the Leafs from being on their toes come playoff time with their history being what it is, but I don't think that hurts. And again, I'm not saying that it's over, they can't win the division. Of course they still can, but their goal scoring issues have been highlighted in large part because Tavares has been out and Nyes has been out but you know Marner's hit a bit of a skid here in terms of his offense Matthews has chipped in a little bit Willie's chipped in but it's been

highlighted in terms of the lack of offense from everyone else right like Patioretty got back in the lineup last night he hasn't been scoring Domi's not scoring so these are just things they have to straighten out. You can talk about the big dogs and they're so important and they usually carry the male brine. But they've got a bunch of guys, like it's almost like you talk about blending into a game, they're almost like the same player out there that like gets in, gets the puck and they just

their depth scoring is like... Not existent. Yeah, it's not existent. It's almost like they're all the same guy out there. They get in, they get on the puck, and it's like, okay, you hit or whatever, you get the puck behind the net, but nothing is going on offensively. Somebody has to find a way to contribute. Yeah, exactly.

That's been evident all year. They don't get really offense from their point. I think they have 11 goals from defensemen this year. And Morgan Riley's in one again. He's getting the strutty treatment here in Toronto, where it's, what are you doing here? What are you doing there? You get pushed off a puck to start the game last night. Can't have that, man.

You know that. As a veteran in the league, you can't get pushed off a puck behind your own goal line. That's a tough one. I mean those are battle areas where he has complete control of the puck and he just gets pushed off into a second layer to the back of your net. He knows better than that. He knows and those are little things that you can clean up. If you're not maybe feeling the offense or there's different part of the games are going,

you can control your battle effort or your effort in the battle zones and to me the battle zones are anywhere along the wall in your own zone and in front of the net and control those areas and that's been an issue for him you know he's in one now and Barube is getting asked about his play and i appreciate Barube being honest he can play better we need him to play better, but you know you're gonna stick right here

That's that's just not good enough in that league I mean that puck is sitting there you got to go in there with some intensity And I don't care if it's a half slapper off the glass that can't be the result. Yeah, and I don't know what you do Because everybody loves Morgan Riley. He's a pro. He's's old school, but it's got to be better than that. So Craig Barube, whoever runs the defense has got to figure out how to make him play better. And I personally don't know what that is. I'm not a coach. But they keep switching up the D pairings, like we talked about Tanev and McCabe being this great shut- then all of a sudden it's like this guy's got to go up there with Riley, that guy's playing with Riley.

Figure out something. Put Tanev and McCabe back together and let them go out there and be a shutdown pairing right and that's common come playoff time Like those two are gonna play together It is I'd be shocked if that does but there comes to a certain point where you got to look at the player and say we're Tired of trying to match up and get somebody to play with you to get you going So I don't know what the answer is. There's only a couple different options We're gonna play you a ton more or we're gonna play you a lot less. So what you pick there's only two options Well, that's it. I mean, it's it's kind of staggering you plus minus is what it is obviously But like he's a minus 18, I believe on the year like that

It's kind of staggering when like the caves of plus tan of the plus Significant pluses those other guys. Yeah exactly and and I get it plus minus is deceptive But it's kind of staggering when the cave's a plus, Tanev's a plus. Significant pluses those other guys. Yeah, exactly. And I get it. Plus minus is deceptive and sometimes you got to chew on one and you weren't even on the ice or whatever. That type of a gap, Struddy, that's a tough one on the whiteboard when you walk in the

room. Yeah, it's hard. And he wears it. I'm sure that he feels it because you do take pride. And at the end of the night, not so much power play and penalty kill, but five on five, you want to be on for more goals than you aren't as a D man. And I know that seems really obvious, but I think at the core of every guy who plays D, we want that.

We want to be on there. We want to hold our own and be known that we can shut down anybody and then you're going to help your team contribute to offense. So that's hard, but I honestly think just breaking this game down to smaller, more manageable pieces rather than trying to do everything at once, just try to do a couple things really well and then this is what I build off of. This is my foundation and I build that from there. Yeah, and that's the silver lining is you're dealing with a guy who is a really good hockey

player. This isn't a kid they've called up that has to play and it's a struggle. This is a guy who's been in the league for a long, long time. He's very capable. He does show up, come playoff time. He's just, he's in one like Morgan Riley's been in one all year and he's got to get out of it because you know, the way this team is built and the way

every team is built in terms of playoff success you're relying on You know six or seven forwards three or four defensemen and a starting goalie You know like that that's gonna be the core of whatever success you're gonna have you know and obviously depth players are gonna have to chip In and they're gonna have to show up and do what they've got to do But for the most part in a 32 team lead with a salary cap. That's it like that's your team That's just that's the skeleton of success and he's he's a part of that so uh... i'm excited for them to get out west though like that again at home

recently there's haven't planned well lease of lost a lot of games at home and now they hit the road and admittance in action tonight john clingberg is making his return for his debut for the oiler tonight uh... strut what's the vibe like your people parading in the street like how many jerseys are being sold the oak lingberg is he were number four what's he weren't tonight i think you want to wear forty three but that when they're talking about put up

in the rafters so uh... you know it actually would you be offended if he will doubt there are no forty three what the god p would you be a disaster grates you asked the greats old out of a like a he had a great okay let me know your issues please john clain bird sent you a text and said strutty it's clinger

clear mind if i were a forty three out there a forty three piece of nuggets and uh... that's my jersey number nebb and then what do you text back well i i would say go ahead be honored if you'd work but just try to keep up with the pace that that number would play with for many years. But guys, I'm not going to lie. I'm having a bit of a hard day. I was snubbed from the Oilers Quarter Century team today and that caught me off guard.

I was expecting this to be more of a parade type announcement here on Overdrive. But you know, Klinkberg, listen, I went to watch some skate one day when McDavid was suspended. I saw he and McDavid skate and he was going against some one-on-ones and he's moving well, right? He's moving well, but practice is in games. And he's spoken that he's never, he's felt better than he's felt in many, many years the way he's moving and he does look like he's moving well. But this is a huge opportunity for him to come in here and there's a spot there. Besides Arnold Nurse, there's a spot that need a puck moving defenseman that can hold

his own defensively. And I think that's when Klingberg's at his best or was at his best. That's what he is. Now, is he that today? I don't know, but he's got a small additional window to figure that out because if he's not, I believe the owners will go out and find that guy through a trade before the trade deadline. So what I'm not sure we have for the trade deadline, guys, is it 10 games or whatever it is? Yeah, give or take with the tournament, right? Shut everything down.

Yeah. So that's it. You got 10 games. And if it doesn't work, you're still on the team, but you're now number seven to Venson because he's not pushing up Bouchard or Emberson. Yeah. Well, you mentioned the quarter century teams that are being revealed like daily, they're kind of going through the league and I was finding it interesting, like I'm

curious how the city would react. Like the Oilers first team, I don't think anyone's surprised, obviously Dry Settle and McDavid are on there. Nugent Hopkins was the third forward. The defense are Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse. Would you agree with that, Strud? Bouchard's only been there a few years, but Atcom's on the second team. He's been there three years.

He's been there only two and a half, three. Then you've got Jason Smith who was there for a long time. Yeah. I mean, Pronger was there for a year. I was going to say it was one year, but it was a great one, man. He was amazing. What he did for the orders is similar to what is it the mitts? Kawhi did there in Toronto right? I always get it mixed up. Get that one right, please. The claw. The claw we're going to go with, Shred.

We're going to go with the claw. So is that sticking? The claw. Is the claw sticking then? He doesn't want to change to the mitt? No, I don't think he wants to go with the mitt. Who was the glove? That was Sean Pape.

Gary Pape? Gary Pape. That's the guy. The glove. So everyone's got something. I mean, I'm close. The next big name would that be his nickname. Gary Payne. Gary Payne. That's the guy. The glove. So everyone's got something. I mean, I'm close.

The next big name would that be his nickname. But, you know, I think maybe Sheldon Surrey, but it didn't end very well here. You know, his relationship with the Witters wasn't great. Stevie Sales is a great older for a long time. But, you know, I could see that these are kind of the top guys. You know, they're had Lubinir, Vrzhovski, another really good player, didn't have his best years here with the Witters. Who's making the list?

Like who is developing these lists? Is it like media within the market that they're made in I believe so Yeah, because I'm pretty sure that the Toronto media was the one that contributed for the the Toronto team and Yeah, you know I guess again. You're not overly surprised of course you're not surprised with McDavid and with Dry saddle, but even the second team was Hemsky, Horcov and Smith. Ryan Smith I'm not at all surprised. I thought Smith might be ahead of Nugent Hopkins, but Hemsky or Hyman, is Hemsky better than Hyman?

I don't know. Hyman's been a pretty good oiler the last three or four years. Damn right. But you know what? Hemsky was here for a long time and he was a little bit by himself, right? He didn't have, and no disrespect to Sean Horcooff who was Hemsky's line mate for a while there, he's not Connor McDavid or Leon like Hyman had. So if you swap Hemsky and Hyman to similar times, what does that look like for each?

They're still good players. Absolutely. I bet you Hemsky would find a few more easy tap-ins. He probably would. No Taylor Hall Hall no Jordan Eberle right but you know again those were kind of tougher times no strudwick no Neil Yakupov there's a few guys that could come up with but alright we have the oven is actually warming up I don't know if you guys are aware of this strutter dud is coming up this hour the strud muffins are currently being baked and they're going to be sad is it four fifty blasted it's four fifty yeah

it's four fifty and everything's prepared and ready so we've got struttered dot coming up yet Eddie oh coming up Eddie old Chuck will join us today I have a list bank that will get to we've got again oil is in action tonight the lease coming off a loss last night the lease now hit the road in Edmonton on Saturday night and the Captains have been announced for the Four Nations face-off all four teams along with the assistant captain so we'll tell you about that and whether or not they got it right they got it wrong and where they go from here so that more still to come Jason

Strudelkine here with the O-Dog Jeff O'Neill and Brian Hayes. Overdrive continues TSN 1050N on TSN 4 and four powered by fan duals bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score brian haze jason strudwick the other jiff on the old eddie o coming up joe from the bridge please stop with the technical stuff of hockey yeah i don't know the bridges uh... he's lies texting the show yeah we have a group chat and drove from the bridges on it and he said

morgan riley is only minus two at five on five actually joe from the bridge that's all that's factored in with it plus i think it's it's an even strike statistic and yeah although if you've got a power play in you chew on one you chew on a minus yes you do i don't know man i love joe from the bridge he loves the least what i love

about your from the bridge is that he is an eternal optimist when it comes to the leaves but i'm i'm displaying where i stand after the loss last night i thought it was a disappointing effort i thought they were really flat i get it there's absent flows of course but joe from the Bridge comes over the top in the live texting, meanwhile he's producing the whole show, with, well, if you look at how, you know, the record in January, and if you look at it, it's like, why are

you always compensating for this team? It's astonishing to me how many Leaf fans can just sit there and chew on it every year and then be like, well, there's still this and that, and you got to do this and you got to, it's astonishing to me, but it's the beauty of a massive fan base. He's one guy that certainly bounces back. I'll give him that. Always will bounce back. Dude, if they get dumped in the first round, which has happened often, he is so mad, but

only for a day. For a day. Two days later, you got to resize this guy. He's looking forward to the draft. And then he's like, oh, if to the draft and then I get this guy He's the best you never know the best and I love Joe from the bridge for that because I appreciate that because I'm sure it's Like that in Edmonton strutty, right you get the eternal optimist the eternal pessimist and a lot of people probably Right in the middle of that and it's a video of Canadian hockey. I'm not going to lie though, from out here, I'd love to see a Toronto-Ottawa

first round series. I really would. I would love that too. I think that would be great for... I'm not sure about those markets, but for hockey in general, I think that would be a huge thing. You know, get a couple of Canadian teams going at it. We saw Empton and Calgary, Empton and Vancouver, like those are good regional robberies, they're positive. Amen to that. And I would pray for that just because I would like a freshen up from Florida, Boston or Tampa.

100%. Give me the battle of Ontario and kickstart that thing. Have Darcy Tucker and Shane Corse and Gary Roberts and Joe Neuendijk drop the puck at center ice and give the Sens the finger and let's party. And Chris Neil can do the same thing with all those other guys in Ottawa. Then you've got a series. Do you think that would be something Leaves would be fearful of?

A series against the Sens? I think the fans would be fearful of anything Struddy. Honestly, that's the truth in the playoffs you know they're playing chicago a best of seven and uh... man i don't know that uh... morazzic might get on like that that's the truth of the it's a very scarred mentality should the team be scared

no no but all the while his own them in the regular season they go out was one of the art issues strutting there was a situation where No. No, but Ottawa has owned them in the regular season. Like Ottawa's won. There's scar tissue strutty. There was a situation where if you asked, if we were doing this show before the bubble series and we said, do you think the Leafs should fear Columbus? We would have said, no. But guess what happened? Do you think they should fear Montreal being up three one? No no i guess what happened their scar tissue man yet there is and i i i i i want to believe the craig brewitt's preparing

these guys to play their game to just just go into it that they'll minimize the impact of their teams game against them i i want to believe that i i truly do because i think that's missing from them uh... in recent playoff series. Yeah. Well, that's what he's advocating, right? Is a certain style of play that is more conducive to playoff winning. And I think we've seen it at different times this year. Ultimately, you still need to score goals, you know, and that's been something that has plagued them

in big games in the past. They have not really been explosive offensively. But there's a reason you play 82 games. They still got to chug away at that. But you bring up a good point, Strud. If the playoffs were to start tonight, it would be Toronto at home against Ottawa, the Battle of Ontario starting tonight. And we're not far off. It would also be Winnipeg-Vancouver, right? And Edmonton, I guess, would play Colorado tonight. But there's a chance also be Winnipeg Vancouver right in Edmonton I guess would play Colorado tonight but like there's a chance you get Winnipeg or Edmonton playing one of Vancouver or Calgary in the first round and that would be great like if you had two all Canadian matchups also if you're just being objective in this you're guaranteed two teams into the

second round right like without knowing who's actually gonna win you're guaranteed two teams into the second round, right? Like without knowing who's actually going to win, you're guaranteed two teams into the second round, which is always a benefit as well. But yeah, I'd love to see that happen. I've said it for a while. I think there's as much or more talent as there's ever been in the Canadian teams as there is right now. Like they're very talented. Like go through them.

You know, I'm not sure what's going to happen in Vancouver. They might lose some, but you know, who's the softest team? Is it Montreal and Calgary? But they've got some decent talent too, but there are some really good teams in Canada And I think we might have some massive battles I agree with you which I agree with you, which would be a great thing It'd be a great thing to see that happen It definitely would and that I have a list of the five best players on Canadian teams so far this season

Okay, I have put together a list of the five players who I think have had the best season so far. It doesn't mean I think they're the most talented or the overall most impactful. This kind of gets into our conversation we had yesterday. Do you want me to fire up this list before we get the Strudmuffins going? Just because we're onto the topic of talent in the country. Is it just skaters or goalies too? No, goalies are included as well. Alright. I just goalies too? No, goalies are included as well. Alright, I just had to screw that up.

Number five, I have Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets. This is Hazy B's list on a Thursday. Kyle Connor at five. This guy has been so good. He's chasing the Art Ross. He's chasing the Rocket. That line with him and Shifely, they've been probably the best line in the league this year, you know real close to it.

Like they have been phenomenal, Gabe Velarde's phenomenal in terms of the way that he interacts with all these guys and so I have Kyle Connor at 5. I have Connor McDavid at 4, okay. This is based on the way they've played this season. Players on Canadian teams. This is not me saying he's the fourth best player. Clearly I think he's the best. But I think you gotta take the injury into consideration,

the suspension into consideration. I think he's been great, but he could probably bring more based on what he's done in his past. I have McDavid at four. I have Quinn Hughes at four. I have Quinn Hughes at three. Quinn Hughes at three. This guy, the only reason Vancouver is in the playoffs right now or pursuing a playoff spot is because of Quinn Hughes. The numbers he's putting

up the way that he you see that play he made last night at the blue line where he kind of dangled towards the boards and then spun back and walk the line like the guy is guys no pulse yet he's not going to get he's incredible quinn use it three leon dry settle it too dry cells you know i'd be my when they are ross probably was a rocket may win the heart guys been a beast for the more year

and i carl about the number one hella bucket number one so that is my list which means means I have no Leafs, and I know Leaf fans are gonna come at me. I thought long and hard about Marner. You could exchange Kyle Connor for Marner. Marner's been outstanding, and Willie's been outstanding. Probably some recency bias in leaving Marner off

because he's yipped a little bit in the last little bit. Like I remember I had a quiz and I was like, Marner, I had him kinda bleeding the the hard charge like he was that good. Yep, and ever since I made those comments He's just dipped a bit. He hasn't been as dominant now the last couple weeks He has not had his best stuff and he hasn't put up big numbers And again, it's it is there is some recency bias there But also you got to give credit where it's due Kyle Connor has been phenomenal as well But I think Marner could be on there. I think Nylander could be on

there. You know, there's a number of guys you could point to. Cole Caulfield's been great this year. Nick Suzuki's been great the last month and a half, two months. Lane Hudson's had a great year. But those are the five players on Canadian teams. Nothing to argue here. I missed number two there. Who did you add number two? I had Dry Settle. Dry Settle, it's right.

Connor Hallebuke won. Dry Settle too. Quinn Hughes three. Connor McDavid four. Kyle Connor five. Yeah, that's what I thought. I would have written the same ones. They've been clear.

And I honestly, Hallebuke's been amazing. And I think Dry Settle should and could win the Heart Trophy. I might have Quinn Hughes above him for what he's doing with that team, both as a player guys, but as the captain. Could you imagine trying to navigate daily whatever is going on in that dress room? You have to manage that, try to keep the other guys going while apparently two guys are having a feud and then he's playing as well as he is. I think that that is a lot emotionally. Gotta get heart, gotta get heart trophy love man if they get into the playoffs and he continues to be dominant.

Norris is one thing but you know, obviously Hellebuck and Dreisle are going to be up there and McKinnon is going to have a say in it but if Quinn Hughes gets the Vancouver Canucks dealing with that nonsense and if there's a player transaction involved, you've got to throw him in the heart mix. He's been that good. Yeah. He just carries the whole mail. The whole, he's everything to them.

He's been incredible and he's playing 25 minutes a night, right? He's right there with Wawrenski and Yossi and McCarr and... Basically creates all their offense everything place defense goal tending hasn't been great and they are where they are if they continue to get it if they go this way upwards and into the playoffs

that guy would get my vote I mean I have a different I seem to have a different player every day but you look at that body of work and I don't know if people would factor in, study the distraction element to it, but man, it's a big part of it. They should. You've got to, especially when you're the captain.

It's one thing when you're just, not just, but you're a player in the NHL and you know there's stuff going on in the room, but you don't really have to deal with it. Maybe you're a younger player, maybe you're more of a bit player on the team, but when you're the leader or a captain of a team, you have to get involved in those situations and try to help smooth it out. Then you think about it. You take it home. How come Moe, Dog, and Strudy aren't getting along?

Why do we have to do the figure this out? It's a lot, and this is dragging out. I don't know if you saw Miller's comments yesterday about he doesn't want to talk about it. A month previous, he said, well, there's nothing going on. There's nothing going on. Now you don't want to talk about it? You know a month previous. He said well, there's nothing going on So there's nothing going now. I don't want to talk about it like I I get it He's probably frustrated everyone's frustrated, but that's got to be a tough work environment guys. Just big time Well now they've won three in a row ever since which is incredible

I said what he said to the Globe and Mail out there now they've won three in a row and Watch them go on some sort of heater all of a sudden and now you're trying to figure out exactly what to do in the future. But what's interesting again about this list and it's subjective, it's mine, but Halibuck, Dry Settle, Hughes, McDavid, Connor, all in the West, all in the Western Conference. And there's been other guys that you can include. Clearly Marner like we said, Nylander outstanding students let a hot start slow down a bit kohl kaufield's gonna score probably forty five

this year in any look at calgary and they may make the class and no one's talking about them and we could spend good anderson's been good cat dustin wolfs been great uh... yes a lot of a lot of really really good players man plan in this country right now like it is a real boom and

It's a question to see how many teams are gonna make the playoffs, you know That's what the debate is right now But I think we're all pretty certain there's gonna be at least three probably four, maybe five maybe more All right. The the oven is cooking. It's go time we'll come back with some Strud or Dud leading into Eddie Olchuck just after 5 o'clock and we're doing Dear Hazy B on a Thursday, a very rare Thursday Dear Hazy B today. This is unheard of because Struddy's in here and we want Strud to be a part of this.

So Dear Hazy B coming up at 6.30, Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. All right, the strut muffins are ready To rock they are ready to go and they've been baking for quite some time now They're just sitting out on your hand to pull them out of the oven a little oven mitt So you're asking me an oven claw an oven claw Yeah, an oven mitt kawaii yeah an oven mitt kawaii leonard the mitt kawaii the mitt leonard i love that uh all right here we go we know the way this works strut or dud very simple stuff right strud muffins are being fired out we we saw the announcement today sydney crosby announced as

the captain for the four nations face-off strud or dud sydney crosby should announced as the captain for the four nations faceoff Strut or dud Sydney Crosby should also be the captain for the 2026 Olympic Games. I Am a strut on that one. I Although I think you got to sit down with them and ask them. What do you think the right play here is? It's yours to keep It's also yours to mentor Connor McDavid and just ride along shotgun and kind of help him along the way So I think it's a strut that you give him the captaincy But I also do think there's a meeting involved because that's his last kick at the can Strut I think out of respect this guy's done so much for hockey and for hockey Canada

You he can lead in so many different ways You know that he's not going unless he feels he can impact the tournament. And he knows how to win. He knows how that feels. And I'd be blown away if Conor and Nathan McKinnon are sitting there thinking, man, I should be the captain of this team for the Olympics. I truly feel that they would feel Conor's the guy because their time will come. Yeah.

And listen, Sid's still playing great, man. He scored an OT winner last night. right the guy he's still got fire he's he The elephant in the room that could come with him not having the captaincy and then it's awkward It's like well, is he an assistant and does he speak on behalf of the team? It's just unnecessary and the guys done it all and he's won everything and they all look up to him like learned from 98 when it was awkward and Gretzky was there and he wasn't the captain they all look up to him. Like, learned from 98 when it was awkward and Gretzky was there and he wasn't the captain

and apply it here and I think the Four Nations is basically a precursor for the Olympic Games. It's a tune up, you wanna see how everything plays out. It was announced that McDavid and Kale McCarr are the associate captains today, which I found somewhat interesting. I'm not surprised McDavid isavid is but not mckinnon it's mccarr instead of mckinnon

uh... wearing an a but uh... they listen mckinnon's done it all maybe they want someone to on the point again he's gonna be a big part of this program for a long long time uh... rights struttered out the maple leaf scoring issues should be a major concern for Craig Berube. I'm going to go dud on this one. I think you get some healthy bodies back.

I think a road trip is perfectly timed right now. Go out there a couple days early, get to the Malibu Club out there in Edmonton and do some damage and you'll be right back on track. Perfect timing for a road trip. Get healthy bodies back and I don't know when Stolarz is coming back but he'll be a nice shot in the arm. It's always get some juices going when you get a quality player back and I don't know for whatever reason, the goal is you can't really fault Joseph Wall. There's been some bang bang plays. I know I've talked a lot about he gets that greasy,

he allows that greasy one a game. But there's just been some bang bang plays where you look at it and you're like, what really could the goaltender have done? Like that tip shot last night, the play in front. Where like Rod Lee lost. What was Matthews doing there? Like why would he tip that?

Yeah, well, he's not trying to tip it. He's trying to smack it out of the air. Well, I know. What are you doing, man? like that was awkward. That was And it jammed it jammed Joseph wall up pretty so of course it did he get a tip a puck coming out your own net It's generally not gonna work out that well, but as far as being a major concern, I'm a dud on this You know what guys I think that when you do get healthy it pushes guys down the lineup So you insert knives up it pushes everybody down bring in. So you insert Niaz up, it pushes everybody down.

Bring in Tavares, it pushes everybody down. Because right now that fourth line, I don't think there's a lot of offense in that group. But what I would look at if I was the team is looking at some help in that bottom six with some speed and someone that can put the puck in the net. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to strut on this because, again, yeah, you're going to get Tavares back. He's you need to bars back he's been great nice regret those guys escort a lot

they're getting nothing from maxed only they're getting nothing from patch already like that fourth line like you mentioned recently as it scored i don't know how much longer they can go still playing him like in the third i don't know i don't think you got a shift in third period last night uh... but you know he's there for purpose we get it they get eleven goals out of the defense core their power play has not been good this year like they got it they have to score like they've got a yes you defend yes you play as a team all that kind of stuff

you put it that way brian there's some areas really like snap out of it yeah they get a score lack lack of scoring from defense and depth scoring power play like you put that all together Maybe there is a concern there, but fix it Yeah, exactly and I get the cap structure and it's it's tilted one way and there's gonna be pressure on the big guys to score Of course, they have to but if you want to go on a run, you're gonna need you're gonna need more than that Alright strutter dud Tom Brady in the booth for the Super Bowl Tom Brady calling the Super Bowl will be analyzed at a level of Basically some of the players like in other words the analysis of how he does in the booth is going to get player-like

analysis This is a complete strut like Everyone is gonna have something to say about what this guy does in the Super Bowl especially Last year there was like a defining play where Tony Romo got really horned up and just started jumping in and yelling right away Which I don't think you're supposed to Do you remember the play? Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, he was like, yeah, Jimmy.

He just went crazy on that one. But this guy, this is probably going to be the most scrutinized Super Bowl for a color guy and I can't remember how long because it's Tom Brady. Yeah, I'm with you. When you carry that type of legacy and now you're in the booth and you'll just... And Strudy, everybody thinks that this guy just because he was a quarterback, he's a footballer for life, thinks he should be amazing. Which I guess when you're getting 375 sheets, you should.

Yeah. No, you should. And listen, I expect from Tom Brady some pearls of wisdom that someone else would have told me. That's because I like when we expect to see this and it happens. So I'd like to see that from Tom for the Super Bowl. So I'm sure he'll be doing his homework as he rolls in there. Absolutely.

It's a strut and this is why Fox gives you the money because you've played in more Super Bowls than anybody else on earth. And you've been in this situation. And whether it's Mahomes going for his fourth Super Bowl or it's Hurts going for his first, Brady's been literally in their shoes. He's been there, he's done it, he's seen it all. And he needs to, it's a delicate balance because you've got to put yourself into the game,

but it's not about you. It's not Tom Brady's Super Bowl. It's about the two teams that are game, but it's not about you. It's not Tom Brady's Super Bowl It's about the two teams that are playing but it's a delicate balance I'm very curious to see how it plays out But everything this guy does is analyzed everything it just adds a different wrinkle to the game quite frankly I'm excited for it because Romo doesn't bring the same energy or the same background and You know Collins work doesn't or whoever

it's gonna be Greg Olson in the past Brady's a different beast and this is Mahomes chasing him down with him in the booth it's it's gonna be I think an incredible Super Bowl and I think Brady being a part of it adds a very different wrinkle to it and possibly a really positive one all right final strutter dud the strut muffins are out and this is the final one available for the kids. There are three names remaining for the Utah hockey team. Okay, it's either Utah hockey club, they're going to stick with Utah Mammoth, or Utah Wasatch, which I'm not overly familiar with what that is. Dude, how could you have a third possibility of a wasatch?

A wasatch. So it's like a Utah term, right? It's like something about the mountains, strutting. It's a mountain range. Yeah, so it'd be like, but does that roll off the tongue? Come on, wasatches. No. Wasatchi?

You can't have it, man. It's mammoth. Change wasatch to beotch. Yeah. It's a Utah be archers. You're pretty sure it's wassachai. Wassachai. Guys, it's mammoth.

It's got to be mammoth, right? Mammoth all day long. I think it has to be mammoth. I know I called them the mammoth from the word go. You did. You were a big fan of that and you own that and that is is yours And that's insider information that I want you getting credit for if it turns into mammoth Jeff O'Neill was the first one to call that you knew it now There are turkeys out there that would probably say that too like that was my call

Utah mammoth, I think is a pretty solid handle. I really is it's pretty good I've seen some mock-up uniforms that look pretty solid online. I don't know if they're legit or not. But yeah, it's mammoth or bust, man. You can't stick with hockey club. You've gone this far and you're just going to be hockey club? You can't do that. You cannot be hockey club. And the other one, I don't know. I'm sure there's meaning to it in Utah and all that I understand but Mammoth or bust man simple as that figure it out And I guess yeti maybe they didn't win the lawsuit or something like I don't know if yeti They've gunned for yeti didn't they I think so, but like I think yeti's too corny man like is yeah

You got the company yeti too right? They're like gas stations. Yeah exactly can't have it mammoth or bust. It's that simple gas stations. Yeah, exactly. Can't have it. Mammoth or bust. It's that simple. All right, there we go. Eddie Olchuck coming up. Eddie O will join us. We'll have some more strutter duds after dark still to come as well. Chris Johnston on the show today. And dear Hazy B at 630. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. You've been listening to Overdrive powered by Fandual. Fandual, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score.