OverDrive - OverDrive - January 5, 2026 - Hour 2 - Mark Schlereth

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Stinkin' Truth Podcast Host and Former NFLer Mark Schlereth on the NFL playoff picture, the coaching spots and the headlines for the playoffs. Hayes and Noodles discuss Canada's roster for the Winter Olympics, Canada playing in the bronze medal game against Finland and Bryan gives out his FanDuel Best Bets.

Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Mark Schleroth coming up in a few moments on the craziness of Week 18 in the NFL, and now the Wild Card weekend is set. A bunch of coaches fired today in the NFL. We'll catch up with Mark in a few moments. Back into the world juniors, the NHL is a lot going on in the NHL, not just leaf related. We'll touch on that later this hour. And the Blue Jays, you know, they finally got their Japanese superstar noodles. Yes.

That's what they've been seeking, man. And they got him. Last couple years, they've been chasing one, and they've got one. Got one. Now, I don't know if he's going to be. I'm sure he'd be good. For your deal, like Okamoto's getting paid here, right? They've committed to him.

Yeah, but I just, I said this to you earlier. I wonder what that means for Bo. I wonder what that means for the rest of the roster construction. It might not mean anything. It might just say, we're spending a bunch of money, and this guy's part of it and Bo's part of it, like to me, but I am concerned about the bigger picture

and the negotiations broken down or where they are there? It's possible. I mean, I think the craziness of Major League Baseball's offseason is evident now, like it has been for years. Right. But this Tucker's scenario is very different. Like Juan Soto made a choice. Right.

You know, Shohei Otani made a choice. And Tucker's not at their level in terms of the money. and in terms of, I'm sure, the suitors, well, there'd be a lot of teams that would love his services. But I am surprised we're into January, and he's still not made a decision. And I would have to believe the rest of the free agents, like Bichette, Bregman, Bellinger, etc.,

are waiting for him to go, set the market for this offseason. And, you know, they're facing a CBA issue, too, in Major League Baseball, which may be factoring into what's going on here, the uncertainty of the future of Major League Baseball. Will there be a lockout? Will there be a salary cap? I don't know. It doesn't seem to affect the Blue Jays, though.

No. Like this, they've signed now, obviously, Cs and Ponce and Rogers and now Okamoto. And, you know, he's not a young kid. Like, he's not a young guy at all. He's 29 years old. And he's coming over here. And I don't know a lot about him. I've spent the last 48 hours reading about him and watching YouTube videos.

And he took Sasaki deep a couple of years ago in Japan. That was great. You know, a lot of Blue Jay fans are happy about that. but it sounds like he's going to be maybe a super utility type player, which, again, I don't think will necessarily factor into Bichette. But my read on the scenario, just based on the history of the off-seasons and baseball and the way things have played out in free agency, and you look at Bregman last year, you look at Alonzo last year,

I wonder if that's what the Blue Jays are waiting for is that it gets down to the last minute. Bichette doesn't have the market he was hoping for. and calls him up and goes, listen, I have this option. Will you match it if you do? I'll come back to Toronto. Right. And it's a contract where he's going to opt out after a year.

They're going to pay him a certain amount of money, and there's going to be a big signing bonus that comes with it. And I'm sure the hope would be that happens. He has a great year, and he opts out, and maybe he leaves after that. You know, but you get one more great year out of Bichette. Like the Mets got out of Alonzo this year. Then he did opt out, and he left, and he went to Baltimore. So I don't think it's, I don't think the door shut.

but it's going to come down to what the market's going to be. Are you surprised that the market is different for Bichette? Did you think it was going to be bigger? No, I'm not surprised. It was always going to be Tucker first, I think. You know, like maybe that changes. But it seems more likely the arms are going to go, and those are different, right? This is different.

It's a Japanese player coming over. He was posted. It was well reported. He was going to make a choice in the next 24, 48 hours. It turns out to be the Blue Jays. But, you know, let's say they don't sign Bichette, don't sign Tucker, and this is it. It's still a very active off-season. They spent a ton of money.

Like, if you're a Blue J fan, at a minimum, you're looking at it, they spend more than anybody. Like, they have put their chips back in. And I think a big part of the evaluation, I'm sure, that it's been happening, is trying to predict, you know, who was for real last year, who might take a step back. Very difficult to do. But is Barger for real? Clement officially established. Nathan Lucas, is he a guy you can continue to play in that situation against Wright?

He's on the mound. Is Springer going to replicate what he did last year? All this is uncertain, but they're trying to compensate for some of those guys, you know, come back to reality, and maybe Okamoto can help in that in that regard. So, it's a splash, and it's a splash

in the Japanese market, which is going to make ownership money. That's somewhere they want to be. It doesn't affect the average everyday fan, but it's another feather in the cap of Mark Shapiro, that's for sure. Think of that. They must have from a business standpoint, seeing the media surrounding show haste, seeing the coverage, seeing the reach that he has.

Again, different player. Yep. But you're tapping into a market and a fan base. They love baseball, man, and they love their own guys. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. It's very lucrative or potentially lucrative if he plays well. Yeah, exactly.

But he's here for four years. and Scott Boris is his agent. Boris loves the Jays. He loves the Jays all of a sudden. All right, what a crazy day in the NFL, crazy weekend. The fact that the Panthers get in because the Falcons win yesterday

is one of the craziest stories. And then last night, the kickers. The kickers end up basically determining the FC North. To chat about it, we're joined now by Super Bowl champ, longtime NFL, host of the Stinking Truth podcast, and you see them all over the NFL. Well, here's Mark Schlerath back on Overdrive. How are you doing, Mark?

I'm good. How are you guys? We're doing very, very well. Let's begin, I guess, with that game last night. Is it too simple to say that? Like, the kickers determined the game last night? How do you kind of respond to the Steelers winning the NFC North and the way everything played out last night?

Yeah, I mean, there's always a ton of plays to be made in any given game. And, hey, you know, the kickers are like children in the 50s to be seen and not heard. You got one thing to do. Go out and kick a field goal. I mean, it's not that hard, isn't it? But, you know, I mean, can you imagine me in Boswell? Boswell misses the kick, and you are the goat. Like, you're going to cost your team a chance to be in the playoffs.

And then that rookie kicker misses. And I'm sure you just, like, walk over there. Like, hey, you're going to be okay, kids. You're going to be fine. Not a big deal. You know, shake it off. Like, he was the most relieved guy in the stadium, no question. about it um hey man i i get it it's i'm sure it's probably tough uh but gosh it sucks lose the

game on a kick that's for sure yeah mark what was here overarching like this season was a very unique season for the NFL what was some of the crazy storylines or you know thought processes when you wrap up yesterday when you're looking at it and going man i didn't see that coming or i didn't see that coming yeah well you know, you think that the standards, like, you think Baltimore is going to be good again. And, you know, they ended up, you know, having injuries and all those things that have happened. Kansas City, that's always a team that you think, I, man, they've just had such a stronghold on the AFC West and now they're out of it. And the other thing that has been really interesting is there's not one team in the NFL that's really established itself as a don't.

dominant team. Every team is fatally flawed. And so right now you're rolling into the playoffs going, I could see, you know, I could see seven, six, seven, eight different teams represent, you know, be represented in the

Super Bowl. You know, I could see probably four or five from each conference or four from each conference that I think has a chance to be a Super Bowl, you know, in the Super Bowl this year. So really you're really strange. Nobody's really established themselves as that dominant football team that normally there's

at least one team that really kind of establish itself as that team. Well, Pittsburgh went in the NFC North when you consider, like you said, the Ravens have been so great, you know, Burrow, you're hoping for a season of health that didn't play out that way. But the uncertainty

of Aaron Rogers and what he was going to look like, and he threw the ball what was it, 47 times last night, he's slinging the ball around. Now, Houston, they got Houston this week, and that pass rush is going to get after them. But what do you think is left in the tank for Rogers, for Tomlin and the Steelers when you turn the page and start looking at the playoffs?

Yeah, I mean, I don't think they're a great team, and I think the Houston Texans are a team that a lot of people don't want to play. That defense is legit. At all three levels, they've got superstars. They're two pass rushers that are just flat-out beasts in Anderson off at one edge. you've got DeNeil Hunter off the other linebackers can flat run from Toa Toa and Al Shire, and their defensive backfield is freaking phenomenal. So they are legit.

They're not real complicated, but man, they fly around and they hit people. They just out hit people. They play violently. And so I really like them as a football team. And I think they used in Texas are one of those teams. Now offensively, they're a little bit iffy, but you look at them defensively. offensively, and they're a team that I think most teams in the NFL would like to avoid. So it looks like, you know, although the Pittsburgh Steelers kind of eke their way in on a missed field goal,

I would be surprised if they advanced from this game. I think Houston is going to go in there and handle their business. With Mark Schlereth, longtime NFL or Super Bowl champ, on the other side of the ball last night, Lamar Jackson, you know, he's had an injury-riddled season. He's obviously an Uber talent. one multiple MVP's could have had a third last year. It's about the big games with him. Did he help?

Did he hurt his cause? What did that do for his overall reputation last night? Well, I mean, he had a couple touchdown passes late in that game, right, to get them back in it over the top. Well, you know, some of those are busted coverages and, you know, and guys run a wide open. So, but you still got to make throws. You still got to be able to see. You still got to be able to do those things.

Listen, the guy is incredibly talented. I've always said this about him in general, is that I think when he's got the complete complement of his game, he can scramble around and make plays with his feet, keep plays extended. You know, he's really, really good. I don't think he's your prototypical dropback guy, and I think that has heard him in the past,

but, you know, he's been pretty good in the playoffs the last couple of years. So, again, part of my philosophy or part of my belief in what Baltimore does far too often is from a coaching staff standpoint, like there is a certain way that they're built. They're built to run the ball. They're built to play a physical style of football. They're built that way. And to have that quarterback be a threat makes them really difficult. And oftentimes when they get into these critical moments in these, you know, playoff-type

atmospheres or playoff type games, they kind of revert to, hey, you know, Lamar, go win this for us, go be Superman. It's a lot what the bills do with Josh Allen. The same thing is, hey, man, you know, instead of us being in charge of, you know, maintaining our game plan and adjusting our game plan and everything else, when it gets kind of, you know, nutcut in time, if you will, they just throw it to their quarterbacks and go, go win games for us. and I hate that aspect for those guys

because I think the coaching staff doesn't hold themselves almost accountable. Who's your MVP? Oh, man. You know, it's become such a quarterback thing. I hate that. You know, I hate it'll probably be Stafford. But, you know, there's so many really good, good players

that will, you know, never get recognized because they've had bad, seasons or whatever, like a guy like Miles Garrett getting 23 sacks on the season on a team that can't play on the offensive side of the ball is, it's phenomenal, it's incredible. You know, so there are a lot of, there are a lot of guys like the value of Christian McCaffrey and what he did for the 49ers is they're

going through, you know, their backup quarterback for seven or eight games. There are just a lot of guys who are deserving, but I think it'll probably be Matthew Staff. Well, you mentioned Miles Garrett, and it is funny how he's not even in the conversation. The guy had 23 sacks the most of all time, and I get it. The record books are always adjusting because you're playing more games. But the guy is, you know, he's a one-of-one, and he's doing it on a team that stinks, and they always stink, and they're going to continue to likely stink.

But I remember when Strahan set the record, and Far of it looked like Brett kind of said, All right, I'm done. Did you see the same thing with Burrow yesterday? Like, did he throw that sack? How did you see that in the pocket? It looked like it to me, man. Yeah, a guy that hates getting, that doesn't want to get hit anymore, a Cincinnati team that doesn't know how to protect.

So, like, that was one like, I'm going to just fall down because I don't want to get hit. Right. You know, and that guy's been hurt so much, and I wouldn't want to get hit by Miles Garrett either. It's incredible. Well, by the way, I was doing my radio show this morning, and somebody did point out, though, although it's 17 games, he did it in 100 less plays than Michael Strayhan. Wow. So, like, and I think the other thing that's interesting, and this is why, you know, the eyeball test is important to me, far more important than statistics, is that you're doing it in a day and age of the NFL, where, one, for the Cleveland Browns, they had no discernible form of offense. So you know, hey, listen, if we can, you know, if we can score 17 points for the most part, most season, we're going to win.

So you're not going to put, like, you know, you're just not putting your offense or you're not putting your offense or you're not putting your offense in harm's way, meaning you're not going to give him a lot of opportunities to rush the passer. And he's always got a double team on every single play. He's got double, triple team sometimes. and then in today's NFL, like, I look back to my career. At the very end of my career in the late 90s, early 2000, is when the bubble screen became an effective play in the National Football League. That's kind of when it was created. And you think about the bubble screens, all the three-step quick game,

all the screens that are part of today's game, all the just outside the numbers, quick throws, They've rarely even run a seven-step drop unless it's like an eight-man protection in today's game. And so there are so many less opportunities to actually rush the quarterback. And you're getting 23 sacks in limited opportunities. You might get, you know, 10, 12 legitimate opportunities

in today's game to rush the passer. And somehow you've created, you know, an opportunity for yourself to get 23 sacks. It's a phenomenal record, man. It's a, what an unbelievable season he has had. Well, you just don't, you want to make sure that Mark Gastonoh is fine with that, too. I don't know if you remember the, uh, the Brett Farve. He wasn't happy.

It was not happy. Which is still one of the most awkward transactions I've ever seen, and that was an internet meme. Right. That was tough. Yeah, yeah, that one, we want to make sure the Gasano gets his due. So, yeah, crazy, but really good, you know, really unbelievable season for sure. with Mark Schler, so the head coaching openings as of right now, Giants, Titans, Falcons, Cardinals, Browns, Raiders.

If you were pursuing a job and you could pick any of them, which job would you take, Mark? Yeah, I think right now, I think the Giants interest me. I like their young quarterback. I think they've, you know, they've increased their rights. I think Atlanta has the best, probably the best roster in the NFC South. And I like to joke around that I'm the official broadcaster of the NSC South because I've done so many of their freaking games this year.

I think I had six Carolina Panther games. They're five in Atlanta and I've had a couple Tampa games. And, you know, but I've got three, I think three New Orleans games and at least one or two Tampa games. So, you know, I like I think they're about. the most talented roster in that division. A little concerned about Pinnock's their quarterback. You know, because I just don't, I mean, that guy's like a china doll.

He's through college, and now his first two years in the NFL, he's missed five seasons due to injury. Five seasons were cut short due to injury. He's had two ACLs in college, two shoulder injuries. They cost him near in college. And now he just had his third ACL opposite knee of the two pre-year. previous ones, but how do you go into next season with that, you know, good of a roster going, hey, yeah, we believe in Michael Pinnock, he's going to be our guy.

I just, I don't know how you, he may be, but boy, I tell you what, it would be hard to trust him. Yeah, no, I can't blame you on that. I think that's probably why both the coach and the GM are out. You know, they just spend money on cousins and then they go and reach on Pennix and we see what's happened here. lastly before we get chat here on the coaching do you think Belichick is in the running on any of these and do you think there's a chance he gets back into the NFL

I don't I think that I think that ship has sailed for Belichick and I mean he was great but you know I mean the further he gets removed from Tom Brady you see kind of some of the debacles that you know that happened toward the end of his career and then you see what's going on at North Carolina line. I just don't think anybody's going to give him a legitimate opportunity to come back and coach. So I think that ship has sailed for Belichick in the NFL. He is a Super Bowl winner, NFL on Fox, the Stinking Truth podcast host, Mark Schlerth.

Great catching up with you, Mark. We'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. Likewise, guys. Take care. There he is, Mark Schlerth. Yeah, you mentioned the Giants there, and Giants fans are apoplectic right now, which they always are at the end of the year because they won their final two games of the season, which means they pick fifth, I believe, as opposed to first overall in the draft, which... That's the worst. They do it every year noodles.

They win week 17, week 18, and they move down in the draft because there's no lottery in the NFL. And then there's hope. And then there's hope. Absolutely. Absolutely. You get that first overall pick, and now the Raiders have it. And they fire Pete Carroll today. And listen, it's the same cast of characters every few years firing their coach.

Raiders, the Browns, the Titans, you know, it's just the way it goes. Same teams all the time. Arizona needs a new coach. Of course they do. You know, and you're perpetually losing and you don't have stability. I'm surprised the coach in Miami hasn't been fired. I'm a little bit surprised. Aaron Glenn with the Jets has not been fired, even though it's only one year.

It was only one year for Pete Carroll, and he's a legend. You know, Aaron Glenn and the Jets have been a disaster this year. So there still may be more yet to come. come, but Black Monday in the NFL, that's what they call it, a lot of turnover. Was it a stat I read that the Jets didn't have an interception? Not one interception this year. Do you know how crazy that that is? Like, Aaron Glenn's a defensive head coach.

Like, that's what he is. He's a defensively minded head coach. That's outrageous. And they traded Soss Gardner, and they actually, they benefited from this because the Colts went out and got them and gave up their first round pick. And then the Colts ended up losing down the stretch, and they finished eight and nine. So the Jets are actually in a decent position in terms of draft picks moving forward. But not even like a tip, like, you know, one accident, like it tips off the guy's helmet and goes to alignment or something. Like, nothing.

It's so New York Jetsy. Like, it's just, it's the definition of the New York Jets, man. That they, Rogers goes to Pitt, has his magical year, redeeming himself, his reputation, easy got a route for now. The Steelers are in the play. playoffs, and there's the Jets winning three games, and they're a disaster, no interceptions. It's a joke, man. The Jets are a mess. They are legitimately one of the worst run organizations in pro sports.

They're in the bottom five. Like, there's no doubting it. They're in the bottom five. But anyway, the playoffs are set. We'll have all week to set it up, obviously beginning on Saturday with a couple of games and the Bills and the Jaguars. We've got Packers Bears on Saturday night. That's going to be a great game.

So we'll get to our picks later in the week, more analysis throughout the week. Get back into Team Canada, what went wrong for them last night. And the Leafs have Florida in town tomorrow, and the Panthers just beat Colorado. Just handed Colorado to the third loss in regulation all season. We also got it. We didn't talk about any of these Olympic picks. Like we didn't get a chance to. Well, we'll get into that with a couple of the omissions in town tomorrow.

You know, obviously first and foremost being Sam Bennett. So we'll get into that as well, considering the team. were announced over the last week or so best bet still to come later in the hour overdrive continues tsn 1050 and on tsn 4 best bets coming up later in the hour Canada taking on Finland bronze medal coming up in about an hour as well and obviously we got Sweden check you it tonight for the gold can't imagine there's going to be a ton of people in the stands on a Monday night in Minnesota I don't think it's been the greatest attendance numbers of all time but USA out too and I thought about it like I have some friends that live in

Minnesota like junior hockey is a little bit farther down but you know USA if they were in the gold medal or in the metal like I would think those buildings would be full but pretty lean when you're watching Canada Latvia play you know it's it's I get it sweet and Jackie is a tough one to sell on a Monday night you know to fill out an NHL building well keep in mind like the wild is a top tier team They've got high school of hockey there. They've got college hockey. They've got the Timberwolves.

They've got, you know, you're looking, they've got, that's a big, big sports city. Yeah. Vikings, twins, they got them all, man. They got all the big four in Minnesota. Yeah. To me, like, you know, a lot of times it's better served that tournament in smaller cities, you know, in the, you know, rural cities. 100%. Like, that is a big part of it is the best tournaments are in junior towns in Canada. I mean, there's no denying that.

The crowds are always the best up here. They always have and they always will be. But next year it's in Edmonton and Red Deer, and I'm sure if Canada's in the gold medal, that building will be packed, and Edmonton's a great hockey town. But they're competing with the Oilers, you know, and there's other stuff going on.

Where if you're in Red Deer exclusively, if you're in Halifax, and you've got a building that's 8 to 10,000 people and it's packed, there's nothing better than that. And it's such an advantage for it. for Canada, like you think about you're 17, 18 years old, you grew up in Europe just

hearing about the craziness of hockey in this country and you're playing in a building that feels like it's closing on you with lunatics on a Saturday night who have been drinking and going nuts and waiting for you and the, you know, Jordan Tutu's coming out and burying you. Like that's what it used to be like.

It's a different vibe. But, you know, that being said, it's a big platform for all these kids. heavily scouted heavily you know as you know world juniors is a is a great gateway for a lot of young players to either create a storyline for themselves or to you know have a great tournament like zane perak is got a bunch of points you know he's got an opportunity here to i believe set the record book did he get his 11 yeah petrangelo has held it as a defenseman yeah caber's name is in there too i thought yeah caber was a great roger he was on o's team and he was the man

I think on defense. I thought I saw Carlos' name at 10 points in a tournament. He did. Carl was a two-time world junior player. The second year, he was playing a ton of minutes. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It's great for some individual stuff.

It does suck, like you said. They're playing for a bronze, and it feels like a disappointment. I get that. You know, especially coming into this tournament when you look at the amount of talent, the amount of first rounders, the way, like, there really should be no excuse. Other than the fact that Czechia, you know, Sweden, like, these teams have earned it as well. They deserve to be there. So good on them.

And compete level is a big part of it. Like the Canadians are saying it. I just read a quote from Mesa who said, they out-competed us last night. Like, that's not about skill, man. That's about, you know, dog and tenacity and going for pucks and winning battles. And that's what Chequia did. And, you know, as you turn the page on this, and I know the tournament's not over, but the Olympics will be here before you know it, it's always a debate about the roster.

The reality is the main pieces are the main pieces, right, with this junior team and with the Olympic team. Like McDavid's going, McKinnon's going, Sid's going, McCar's going, you know, like the big guys are there. The debate is on the fringes, and it's, you know, Wilson and Bennett and Horvatt and Harley and Sanhines. and the third goalie, you know, the rest of it was mostly predictable. Yeah. You know, I would have had Sam Bennett on there for sure. I think they might regret not having him on, but he still might get there with injuries.

There's still a chance. There's still a chance that's going to happen. Horvatt gets injured Tom Wilson as barely as a lower body injury. Like there's going to be additions to it. It'd just be interesting to see. Horvatt was interesting for me. I'm sorry. That name kind of, I know he was on a list and that.

And he's a fantastic player. It just, it was an outlier for me. I would have, I would have taken Sam Bennett over Horvatt. But again, that's, but that is, you know, you're, what we're doing is where this isn't more about negativity towards Bo Horvatt. It's more about, hey, I would have tried to find a spot for Sam Bennett. Like, just personally. And I do think the Schaefer story will continue as well. Like, if that defense struggles, you know, to move the puck to transition.

Like, that's what this team is going to be about, is pace and get it to McKinnon, get it to McDavid. And Schaefer can do that. Yeah, Pereko and Dowdy, like, Dowdy obviously is Drew Dowdy, but, again, does he have pace? Does Pereko have pace? Like, that's the one thing. Now, you do have pace at the top of the, you know, what we're doing is splitting hairs at the bottom instead of at the top. And, you know, I would have found a place for Schaefer. age, I get it, and I understand it, and I respect it,

but what we're seeing now in today's game is age is not overwhelming for these kids. They're coming in and going, I don't care, I'm going to play well. I'm ready to play. And again, maybe on the biggest stage, they don't want to put him in a situation where he would potentially fail, but I just look at that kid, he's pretty special. In net, I get it. Like, I, Bennington, we saw what he could do. You know, they announced it the roster, and he gets a shutout that night.

You know, like, it... You know, I knew he was on that team. And that's not about personal, you know, obviously there's bias and all that. Doug Armstrong's his GM in St. Louis. It's because of what he did at the Four Nations. Of course. And because he's got a cup, and because the guys who he's competing with are not Hall of Fame goaltenders.

Right. You know, like if this... To give an example, if this was the Americans in Demco, you're like, man, he's clutch and he's done this but he's hurt and he's not playing great you'd say well i'm not taking hellabuck off right i'm not taking on your off i'm not talking taking swainment off here he's taking mackenzie blackwood off you know with all the respect he's not taking some superstar goalie spot and thompson's been really good and he might get an opportunity um and you know bennington he he just showed it and that's ultimately what it comes down to

and someone i saw a tweet over the weekend that brought up a very good point though that like If the Four Nations never happened, how much different this team could look like. Again, 80% of it was set in stone. But, you know, this debate over Sam Bennett may be a little bit different. You know, I don't know. I know he just won the Kahn-Smith, but we saw it at the Four Nations. You know, Tom Wilson not being there and what he looks like, Bennington being an example. If he didn't have that Four Nations moment, is he on this team?

I don't know, because the Cup was in 19. That's six years ago. You know, that's a long time ago. The Four Nations, I think, is more relevant because even though he's playing poorly, he just did it a calendar year ago. Well, and you've seen, so he's, for me, he's got two separator things. One is he won a Stanley Cup, you're right, 2019, game seven on the road. Right.

Probably the most pressurous situation got it done. Yes. Then, again, a year ago, in overtime. Same building on the road. Same building. great saves, Rob's Matthews a couple times. You've got a sample size to go,

we've seen this guy do it. Darcy Kemper's won a Stanley Cup. So he's played on the biggest stage and had success, regardless of whether his team was the best or whatever, I look at it and I at least have a sample size to refer up. Logan Thompson, if you look at statistically,

he's been one of the best goaltenders in the league the last two years. Why would you not? I get it. Mackenzie Blackwood. If you look at this guy, he's built like a Greek god, 6'4, 225, chiseled, can move in the net. Great feet on a really successful team, so he might be able to have the mental fortitude, knowing he's playing behind a really good team.

You need big saves at the right time. You may not be facing 40 shots a night, but man, you need a save when there's a breakdown. He's been able to do that in Colorado. Now, I do believe, is he injured? I did not see him yesterday against Florida. He was not on the bench. He's been banged up. And that's a big part of it is just, you know, Devon Taves, his wife is pregnant early.

Yeah, February. How's that going to factor in? Like, there's a lot of balls up in the air right now. But the teams have been revealed. And listen, the Americans, Bill Garen's taking heat, you know, because he's got Trocheck on there again. He's got Miller on there again. Jason Robertson is not. Well, and Cole Caulfield.

Cole Caulfield. You're leaving goals off. Goals off the team. Which is, you know, vibes guys and room guys and, you know, veterans with size that can play chippy. And, like, that's what Trocheque is. That's what Miller is. Brock Nelson. I get it.

I think they've built that team to play against the Canadians. Yes. Like, that's, which is fair if that's what you. But, again, don't underestimate some of these other. teams that are coming in there, you know, Sweet and Finley, you name it, like there's some really good teams there. I just worry, again, that you overthink it, but listening to them talk. I listen to Bill Garan's press conference, I listened to Doug Armstrongs.

They talked about building a team the right way. You know, Anthony Sorrelli, that's a John Cooper guy who knows how to play, penalty kill, can play in all situations. I didn't challenge it, to be honest. Like, I'm not going to challenge it going, you need guys who can penalty kill. You need, and it's not just, hey, put McDavid and McKinnon out and kill penalties. It's guys who are really good at reading plays. Like, I think they felt like they needed more a defined third line or a guy who can play farther down in the lineup.

So I get what they're trying to do with some of these teams, but we can always sit there. There's so much depth in the U.S. and in Canada, you go, how the hell is that guy not on there? That's it. The Canada's B-team is, it would fight for metal. You know, like, would be really good. Like, Badard, like, you know, he's hurt and that was a big story a month and a half ago. He's playing himself on and then all of a sudden he misses

and it's more about Bennett and it's more about Schaefer and it's more about other guys. But, you know, Connor Bedard has been phenomenal when he's been healthy this year. So it's going to be a great tournament. And, you know, the NHL as a result, because this tournament is when it is, you know this condensed schedule and if you're not aware of the leaf news today you know

Craig Barube seems like every other day Craig's got to come out and list off injury updates you know like the Dakota Joshua was really scary lacerated kidney was he's back in Toronto but who knows when he's coming back we have no idea when tanav's going to return but caves out he said for probably a week that could be more will he's still out stole ours is skating on his own but there's no timeline um you know Dakota mermus is out indefinite indefinite for stolars like that that again that makes you wince man because it's been months now and it's just nothing not with the team nothing indefinite

we'll let you know you can ask every couple of weeks we'll probably say the same thing like that's that one it just again puts pressure on joseph wall on dennis hilderby on the defense to be great and they're depleted. And, you know, I give them credit because they have fought back recently. Like, the Leafs have played better, and they're 4-0 and 2 in the last six, and they're still in the hunt, and there is still a pathway to make the playoffs. It's very difficult. But with all these injuries and, you know, kind of a goofy feeling season,

they had a chance to just completely derail. You know, two weeks ago, they could have completely folded up shop, lost their last six in a row. We'd be saying, all right, trade this guy, trade that guy, tank, it's over. They haven't done that. They still have a lot of games left to determine exactly what it's going to look like, but it's going to challenge their room. Craig Barouba has got a tough job here, man.

He doesn't know who's available to him every night. He's got to find a way to piece lines together and deep parings together. There's going to be guys who are playing way too many minutes, but they have to. yeah and they're going to have to grind here because when they hit the road they got to win they got to exactly you've played your cards of losing a bunch of games like you can't do it you've got to play 600 hockey the rest of the way at least and and the key is brian road hockey yeah road right so i've always felt like you at home you need about a 600 600 plus win record as far as win percentage on the road

I've always felt you needed 500 or better. They're well below 500, and it's not good. The road record is poor, and their home record, luckily, is at least help. 14, 5, and 5 at home. Yes. That's a really good record. 5, 10, and 2 on the road. Not good, and that's the thing.

So you need five extra wins there on the road. That's the difference, because to me, on the road, you've got to be around 500 to be a playoff team it it you know again there's lots of different factors we're seeing now I you know I was looking at it this morning like the Leafs have played 41 games they've got 15 regulation wins and but they've got 19 wins and so you've got overtime wins all of that type of stuff I look at it and this is this isn't just reserved for the Leafs this is right through the league there's a bunch of teams I got 15 16 regulation wins because it's all extra overtime I believe there's a team, I'm drawing a blank, has 11

overtime points. Well, Vegas has been doing that all year. Vegas has got 13 regulation wins, I believe, and it's like 11 losses in overtime. You're right. 13 regulation wins in Vegas, and they're atop their division because they keep getting points. They lose and shootouts and overtime, but they get points. So I keep coming back to it is you've got to find a way to just hang in

there with points and it just can't be Matthews but their road record has to be a lot better and you're going to need the goaltenders to steal some. You're going to need other players. I don't know is Willie, what's the news on Willie? Willie, he's skating but I mean I doubt he plays

tomorrow and it was the same thing like out of nowhere something popped up day to day. Maybe he'll play game time and then he's just out you know and again I don't believe he's joined the team he's been skating on his own, he's been around but they play Florida tomorrow at Philly Thursday at home to Vancouver on Saturday. Like this is a week where you've got to get between four and six points. You know, they've played Florida pretty well.

Florida is still ripe for the picking. You know, Florida, they're playing okay, but they're not phenomenal. They're not blowing the doors off anyone. And, you know, at Philly, they have success in that building. And Vancouver's one of the worst teams in the league this year. So you got to get that because after this, it's actually. Colorado at Utah, at Vegas, at Winnipeg. You got Minnesota coming up.

You got Colorado, Vegas, Colorado twice, Vegas twice, Minnesota before you hit the break and at Edmonton. So, like, this is, you got Detroit in there. You got Buffalo's been red hot. Like, before they get to their final game of the, you know, before the Olympic break, February 3rd, they play some really tough teams. Yes. in their building in their own building at Colorado at Vegas at Edmonton yeah so yeah it's

it's going to be a grind here it's going to be a massive challenge like health is a big thing but also playing well like it's funny we had that argument not argument good debates about who's owned the record right is the manager is it the coach is remember I was beating the drum saying well the best player's got to play well all of a sudden the best player is playing pretty He sure is, yeah. And the record looks a little bit different, right? It's funny when, you know, Oh, always says. Well, the power play's been better, too.

A lot better. Like a lot better. I don't know what marks. I don't know what was going on with Marks of Hard. But, man, that power play, it's fluid and it's productive. I think it changes a lot. I think anything, you know, Austin Matthews, skating and shooting like he does right now, just helps relieve some pressure on a lot of things.

The other thing, too, is it looks to me like Steve Sullivan has come in there, and said, like, relax and play, and let's simplify this. There's not, you know, they're not trying to overpass it into the net. It's find what's open. I remember Glenn Gulletson, who is an unbelievable coach, coaches Dallas, was the power play coach for the Edmonton Oilers. And he always talked about finding, you know, you've got to find the weakness on the powerplay. You see how Edmonton's power play is so fluent, and they look for the opening.

They're always looking. Now, McDavid's flying around. you got Hyman in front of the net, you got dry saddle where he is, but R&H. To me, I've noticed what the Toronto Maple Leafs is on their entry, they're getting into the zone a lot better, so that was one thing. I think they weren't getting in and getting set up, which was half of the battle. And now they're taking what is given. They're making, you know, a little play here, pop into the middle, shot on goal,

instead of, hey, one extra pass wide or one, you know, God, it's taking what you're given. And they're having success with it. Confidence is a big part. But Steve Sullivan, smart guy. And he was a power play specialist as a player. And, you know, same like Mark Savard. I played with Savvy. But something needed to give there.

They needed a body on the tarmac for lack of better words. Well, and that's what it ultimately was. It was the mob was rabid. Yep. And they were like, well, we stink and we've been brutal. Someone's going to go. It's not going to be the coach. It's not going to be the GM.

Right. And, you know, Savard fell. and the swords, you know, so be it. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes and all that in terms of how they evaluate all that. But, you know, since that's happened, this has been a soft part of their sked. You know, these are games you've got to win and you've got to get points and they've done that.

You know, I just did the calculation. They have 16 games between now and the Olympic break. That's 32 possible points you can get. You probably have to get 20. You know, with the position you're in, you probably've got to get 20. You've got to get the equivalent of 10. wins 10 and 6 to be to hit the break and be like we said earlier maybe in a playoff spot or within a couple of points yeah you know because the other like tampa's

won seven in a row the half seem to win every night like they don't got 10 of 14 they had a road trip they just had 10 of 14 points on the road and our boy brian mudrick called the game yesterday solo i don't know if you saw that what a phenomenal call too the hudson o t winner he was going nuts unbelievable but a great call there was an injury to Nate Thompson who was doing a great job there but he wasn't able to make the call yesterday so it was Brian Moodrick Old school Vince Scully move he was Vince Scully who was the other guy was that Harry Carrey did Harry do games I don't know if Harry ever did it on his own okay Harry was half cut

most of the time Ben Scully the guy with no tarp on in this no that's Harry Carey that's Harry Carey would be literally in the seats buckled yelling about you know the Cubs or whatever and he had some great commercials like Budweiser commercials there's a great one the first night game they ever played at Wrigley yeah because Wrigley was the last stadium to ever put lights in yeah they played exclusively day games for like a hundred years um and bill murray who's a big cubs fan big Chicago guy he's there with Harry Carey under the lights talking about drinking Budwisers the game's going on it's a you got to find a video it's a Great, great YouTube video. I love it. Harry, Harry, half cut. Because remember the story that came out after he passed away? Someone found his diary where he went to the bar like every day for eight straight years or something.

Like eight years in a row at the bar. Next day, down to the bar. Next day, popping into the bar. Like, that's all he wrote his diary for like eight years in a row. Awesome. And he called games, never miss a game. Harry Carey. What a legend.

All right. Best Bed's coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, Best Feds powered by Fanduel. Make your picks and assemble the same game parlay on seconds on the Fandul's Sportsbook app. I've got a three-leg parlay tonight.

Over the number in the Red Wing Sends game tonight. I just, yeah, I feel like Detroit's a high-flying team. They're a fun team to watch. I'll give them credit. They're defense, young, you know, not necessarily household names. Ottawa, you know, they got to get going here. They got to get going. It was a weird one the other night.

They beat Winnipeg. We'll get to that in a moment. That Logan Stanley soccer punch on Kachuk was wild. There was two sucker punches that night alone that got, I believe, got suspensions, right? Right. Second one was a greasy one, too. Like, I'm trying to remember which. Oh, he's beacher.

That's right from Calgary. I don't know if he got a game or not. I haven't seen what's happened. I didn't see anything on that. But, like, Stanley's a massive, massive. massive human being and he dropped Brady and Brady's got the brace on his hand

he's not he can't fight it's my understanding like I don't believe he's in a position to fight but I think he may be tapping on his shoulder down the road I have a feeling those two will meet again at some point you know it's funny I love Travis Green's comments he goes I'm going to be careful with my comments

but he goes like Brady Kachuk was chosen to be an Olympian like on the first first ballot Olympian he goes Kyle Connor, if they do that to Kyle Connor, we're having a different conversation. Yep, definitely. Yeah, and Brady's looked upon differently, for sure, because the way he plays, but there's no questioning now. So I'm on the over-in-knack game.

I'm on Calgary, who's on a heater. Calgary's sniffing out the playoffs right now in the West. They are. And the capitals against Anaheim. Anaheim's coming back to Earth a little bit. I'm on Washington at home. That parlay of Pan plus 500 best bets powered by Fandall. Same game parlias around the NHL are available on the Fandil Sportsbook app.

Please play responsibly. 19 plus physically located in Ontario. Back at 4 p.m. tomorrow, okay? This was a one-off because Canada's in the bronze. That's coming up next on TSN. Gold medal game tonight on TSN. And a full recap tomorrow. And, of course, Least Panthers tomorrow night.

Lots to get into. Maybe the Js make another splash. So thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out today. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in TV, radio, podcast, Web, up on YouTube live. We appreciate that. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings.

Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. We'll chat then. I'm Dylan Playfair. And I'm Tyler Smith. We're putting loneliness in the penalty box by talking to some of our favorite athletes about the importance of friendship.

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