OverDrive - OverDrive - January 7, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Frank Corrado for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the Canucks' evident decline, Auston Matthews' return to the lineup and if he plays in the 4 Nations Face-Off and Leon Draisaitl's strong season. They also go around the sports world in the latest of Confirm or Deny and the Maple Leafs and Flyers' matchup.

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Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. New year, 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, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you,

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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, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new you, new Did that sound good? It's got a ring to it, man. It is slick. It is slick. And Mike Johnson will join us here in a few moments, confirmed with an I later in the hour. Leaves in action tonight. Ottawa in action tonight. Ottawa, there is where I want to get to the second nickname that came up during the World Juniors.

OK. What was that? I had lunch with one of Duffy's friends and his family and Duffy was late Duffy and Bob were late, and I was talking to Duffy's friend, and he said Where's Forbes? And I said Pardon me He goes

Where's Forbes I go? You mean the magazine what is Forbes he goes Forbes Duffy I said I am NOT aware of any type of Forbes activity and I guess Forbes is Duffy's name and what's the background on that? Because he has so much money? Dude, it's his name. No. What do you mean it's his name? His name is Forbes James Duthie. No, it's not.

It's not. Dude, I swear to God, man. You think I would make this up on national television? His name, his real name is Forbes. So you're saying, just to clarify, on his birth certificate... Dude, I just told you what I said. Yes, his birth certificate says Dude, I just told you what I said, yes. His birth certificate says Forbes James Duffy.

Did he though go... if you're talking about like a lifelong friend, was he Forbes his whole life until he got to TSN and said, now I'm James? I guess, I guess. When he was growing up, they called him Forbes. Wow, I've never known that. It's appropriate. He's Cosmo Kramer like this is a completely new complexion of Forbes Duffy. It's appropriate now though because of the money. Now he's got so much money and that's true. But when he said where's Forbes I'll tell you why you want to get my attention yeah that is all you have to say that's why that guy's name is Forbes James Duffy will you call him Forbes now are you gonna call him JD I think he's always been

Jimmy to me like that's old school for James Jim Jimmy I don't know if I can pull off of Forbes on TV. Like when you ask a question, you say, well, Forbes, it's, listen. I don't know if I can go down that road. It's a classical name. Like it's got a lot of character to it. It's got like an old school, like,

Yeah. Like rich city dude. Right, yeah. Wears suits and has horses and stuff. Yeah, dude, he's got Mahogany. Living in Italy in the summer and all of it. Exactly like staff members go before him to make sure all of his accommodations are ready. Like blue jacket and khaki pants with penny loafers and like just a button-down shirt like right to his belly button.

That's the guy comes from home from work he goes let's go to the club for dinner tonight. Right. Yes. Yes. That's exactly what it is. Wow that's a wild that's a double life man that's that's James professionally and in Toronto and all that and then he goes home to Ottawa and it's Forbes. That's wild stuff. I did I never knew that. I wonder like he's got he's got all those awards right like he's in the Hall of Fame he's got the key to the city yeah he's got everything. What's written on all those Forbes or James? I would guess James. Good question. Probably James but I saw it actually Johnny did that where he took over the quiz. I think that was during the gold medal game or prior to the gold medal game and he asked Duffy like, what do you cherish the most? The key to the city? Cause they announced like James Duffy day or something in Ottawa.

You had left by then, oh, but I think on Saturday or whatever, it was James Duffy day in Ottawa. Come on. Yes, and he's in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame. Like basically that city, that's his town. Forbes runs that town. Okay, well, I town. Forbes runs that town. Okay, well, I'm glad you brought that up. I'm glad you picked up on that little tidbit.

That changes everything for me. Oh, it changes everything. I love that handle. With Forbes, he comes in the studio. Forbes, deathly. I love, like now you're gonna be golfing with him. He's gonna hit one, slice one into the rough. You're gonna drive, oh, Forbes, you're gonna be golfing with him. He's gonna hit one slice one into the rough You're gonna drive a Forbes you're over here. Yeah Forbes

That's all To that one If he snap hooks one I might have to that might have to happen Alright, Mike Johnson coming up here in just a moment. So we'll get to the Leafs Philly tonight Brian reason started into the lineup. Do we expect Reeves and Hathaway to go? What do we expect out of Matthews? Game three of his return, Joseph Walgoon.

There's a lot to get into. But we were talking to Mark Denney in the previous hour. The Habs are in a playoff spot. And Ottawa is just on the outside looking in. If they win tonight, they leapfrog the Habs and they get into the playoffs. And then you look at the West, Vancouver and Calgary are in the same position,

jockeying for position. One is just in the playoffs, the other is just out. If I were to give you guys this option, you can pick East or West, more likely to see the duo make the playoffs, the Habs and the Sens in the East, or the Flames and the Canucks in the West, which duo would you take? Flames and

Canucks? I say that reluctantly because I feel like it is one or the other but I like I don't fear St. Louis or Utah but I guess I don't fear anyone in the East though I don't fear Pittsburgh or the Islanders or the Columbus. I'm sure they're all closer together. I hear you but they're not scary. Those automatic locks and then you go to the teams. I'm not sure automatic locks. They're all closer together. I hear you, but they're not scary. Those automatic locks and then you go to the teams underneath, I'm not scared. No one's scared of any of that. No. Including Montreal and Ottawa, to be clear. And Calgary and Vancouver until Vancouver proves otherwise with Demko out and Patterson

and Ericson. And the only reason they fear Tampa is because of their past history, because they've been up and down like crazy this year. Yeah. They haven't played nearly as many games as other teams in the East. I guess the thing with the East is if you go down, go all the way down to the Islanders to Montreal, like what separates all those, what is that, eight teams?

A hot streak is what separates them. You win four in a row, you lose four in a row. Yeah, exactly. It's so fickle. That's right, and that's why I would lean, because I look at Tampa and I have respect for it. I have respect for Dallas too. Dallas has not been great. They haven't been scoring at a well, at a good enough clip. But Dallas is going to get in, in my opinion. I think they're too good of a team. So I think they're going to get in. I think you're talking about one spot really available in both conferences.

So the likelihood of all four teams getting in is very very slam but it it is pretty remarkable that all seven canadian teams are in the mix right now they're trying for everybody's also like those marks in ottawa and montreal it really takes the sting away that they're playing meaningful games right now and they have to continue to do it because if they piss it away and then ultimately they just go on a a poor stretch and they miss by a bunch it was like you gave us thanks a lot

you gave us two months of solid hockey where you acted like an NHL team so i think it's really important like let me ask you this Hayes who is it most important to capitalize on the recent success like is it most important to capitalize on their recent success? Like is it Calgary? Ottawa. Is it Mont- Ottawa.

The answer for me is very clear cut. I think it's a very different attitude in Ottawa and Montreal for sure. Montreal tells money. Montreal they're ahead of the plan. They had a poor start. They weren't winning. They weren't expected to win this year. Now this is pure excitement.

And if it falls, if it falls through, so be it. Ottawa, in that market, it's been years since they made the playoffs. You think the fan base in Ottawa is like, you better do this. Yes, you better punch that ticket. If you don't, I'm not gonna say heads are gonna roll because I don't think that'll happen.

But I do think the temptation to discuss in Ottawa, the idea of breaking up the young core is on the line based on whether or not they get in. That's not gonna happen in Montreal. Like if Montreal misses, no one's gonna say, you gotta get rid of Suzuki or whatever. It's house money. I think it's house money in Calgary

because I don't think the expectation was for them to be that competitive this year, especially with them moving off Markstrom and what they've gone through the last couple of years. It's very different. Ottawa and Vancouver, they've got to get in. Like Vancouver, I was reading something online the other night about how prior to last year,

like it gets forgotten, they were in a wasteland for years in that market. Like the Jimmy Benning mess where it was like bad cap management, no playoffs, disaster after disaster. They had one year last year that was magical from start to finish and that's it. Now they're in a position, 40 games into the next season where there's no guarantee they're even going to make the playoffs and there's no guarantee their best players are going to stick around. Yeah. You know, Hughes is going to stick around, but Pederson and JT Miller, it's very public.

They're on the trade bait board right now and and like we talked about earlier like they are in a bit of a window here Where you have some guys signed at some reasonable contracts and when that like when Hughes comes up and like who knows what you do with Brock Besser, but like there's gonna be a moment in time where Everyone's contract has come up. Everyone's made more money It's like okay you missed a good window where you have a lot of depth and you could do some things but they're not they're not guaranteed to make the playoffs

not as a great guy what we do what i talked about earlier frank it's like are you gonna sell we're gonna let go of rock best sir will guess what you can look for the trade deadline or in the summer you look for a guy can score twenty five thirty goals and then you don't find them. So the easy thing to do is just to say we're gonna stay with Brock Besser. Okay so I think that's probably appropriate in Toronto to a certain degree with John Tavares because like last year the centermen that were available via UFA it was like Elias

Lindholm, Chandler Stevenson, Matt Duchesne. So if you looked at it and said okay we can't get either of those guys or we're just gonna keep who we have, maybe Toronto looks at it and says we do need to keep John Tavares because like what else is out there for us? Yeah I gotta tell you something about another thing about John Tavares, all you got to do with the World Juniors is go work out for a couple hours and you'll see everybody down there, pro scouts. Me and Bobby Mack did a workout every morning. ours, all you got to do with the world juniors is go work out for a couple hours and you'll see everybody down there, pro scouts.

Me and Bobby Mack did a workout every morning. Humble brag. Dialed in. Get serious. I'm serious. We went down there for two hours. We sweat our asses off and we got our workouts in, but you could talk to everybody.

There was a bunch of guys that told me pro scouts that were like, just to let you know, John Tavares would be the best player in our team. And it's not hard to figure out who those guys worked for because like there's some teams that would like John Tavares would be their best player. Listen he's on pace for 40 goals and like 85 points man. Yeah and one more thing before we bring MJ. Was he at the gym with you? Everyone having a kumbaya at the gym? I want to inform MJ not only is Dothie's first name Forbes a lot of his

friends which my friend Roberto brought this to my attention they were calling him Jamie too what a scene man it's like a time warp out there in Ottawa he's lived so many lives yeah he really had who is this guy Kaiser Soze here's my James Jamie duthie. Here's Mike Johnson joining us here on the Maple Tidal Hotline. Did you know that Duthie's name is Forbes? Are you aware of that? With his salary, it seems appropriate that it would be Forbes, so that would make sense.

Stand to reason. But listen, always not lying. Everywhere he went, I must have had, you know, the tournament was great. They had these curvy cars that take us from the rink into the hotel. I honestly must have had three of them say that they were related. Not that they'd know James or the high school of James, but they were related to James or Forbes or Jimmy. So he is, he is, or Jimmy.

Yeah. So he was the man about town and I will conform or deny, confirm O-Dog's presence in the the gym but every time I went down there he was mid-set shh fucking the way it's around it get to work sounds like he was talking a lot is what he was doing. I didn't talk to one person man no one. You just said you talked to every scout in the league down there. Dude that was when it was all over you get a couple water it's water cooler talking you're like hey man how your team doing? how about this guy? What about this guy about that guy okay Johnny sawed I'm happy I'm

happy I swear I asked every day pal I'm happy I'm happy all right Johnny let me present this question I just presented to these two I give you these two options one in the east one in the west the duo you have to choose the likelihood of which duo you think would make the playoffs or as a better chance of doing it together Ottawa and Montreal both make it in the East or Vancouver and Calgary both make it in the West Oh, oh I think it's Ottawa Montreal I guess what I guess what it comes down to is I have faith in the top

teams in the West, right? Like I think, what is it? Vegas, Edmonton, LA and Van are going to be really good. And it's going to be Dallas and Colorado and Winnipeg and Minnesota. I don't think Calgary beats any of those teams. Now I don't think Montreal or Ottawa maybe beats Tampa, but I guess the likelihood of one or both of them catching Tampa. Or Boston I think. Boston's still in that huh? Yeah Boston possibly is higher than them catching any of the top seven. I guess

that's what it boils, top eight, that's what it boils down to to me. But it's listen, I would have said with confidence, I have said with confidence I have said with confidence Montreal is not making the playoffs this year they're not there yet they have their whole the roster is improving they're getting it together but it's not there yet they don't have the right mix of players they don't have the backup goaltending they don't have the depth scoring and some of that stuff is changing around this Jakub Dolbash guy in Montreal has been a big difference maker I think the Carrier trade was really astute in getting, in trading him for Baron. And then, you know, Kirby Dock was not good.

He's been a bit better. They've been better. And I, like, could the, could the eighth spot in the East go for 87 points? It's possible. It's possible. And if that's the case, they might, if they want a big run, might have a chance. Yeah. So Johnny, the follow up on those four teams is who do you think it's the most important to get in?

Would you agree with Hayes' assessment that it's Ottawa? Probably Vancouver, no, given how good they were last year. Absolutely. And all the nonsense, like nonsense, all the stuff going on around that team that maybe is very serious or maybe it's nonsensical I'm not even sure because it's sort of shrouded in mystery but if you want to talk about a seismic organizational situation if they don't make it feels like Vancouver I understand Ottawa the changes the pressure enough with the losing but if they get really close to

it and get 90 points and miss, if Vancouver misses, I think it's probably a bigger deal and there'll probably be more fallout if Vancouver doesn't play well, doesn't make the playoffs, than if maybe, even if Ottawa didn't. Well, like you mentioned the word fallout in Vancouver. Now you hear rumors that there was a trade proposed, a bandage ad for Miller and like something you would think have to give has to give in Vancouver if they're gonna keep losing and keep dropping points like like I don't know how do you how do you read that situation can

Pettersson and Miller coexist or does something have to happen? So Frankie you've been in a ton of rooms oh hey like I've been on lots of teams where you know guys don't get along and that's fair Like I don't like Frankie like we know we don't hang out at dinner Chesco and I thought we had a really nice night. It's Sports Center watching the playoff games, but that's okay. Yeah Yeah, I'm using you because it's so obvious that it's not you. That's why I can use If I said, oh people might believe it If I said, oh, people might believe it because you don't like each other. But I've never, I don't think I've ever been on a team where it's bled onto the ice. Like somehow I can't play with you on the power play or I don't want to pass the puck

to you or I don't want to celebrate with you. Like I don't want to be involved in the battle together. Even if I don't like you, I've never sort of seen that, but it feels like that's where it is. And I don't know if it's, it feels like it can't be just, you know, Frankie's loud and I'm quiet, or Frankie's brash and I'm reserved,

or whatever it might be. Like, feels like it's gotta be a little bit deeper than that because the strength of the divide is more than just, oh, two guys that are different, one from Sweden, one from America, they don't get along. So if that's the case, then maybe it can't be settled. Because if it was anything else, like a normal disagreement,

it just sort of, you just coexist and you play and it doesn't really matter. You don't hang out, that's cool. But you just play and it's fine. So if it's that deep, and I don't know what would make it be that deep I have no idea but if it's something like that and I'm hopeful that the Canucks would know sort of the root of the discord

then maybe Something has to give and if something has to give are you gonna go with the 26 year old or the 31 year old? Like even if you like the Miller personality, even if you like the Miller game Whatever it might be even like the Miller contract maybe more than Pettersons right now. The five years make Pettersons sort of much more attractive long-term and while the advantage ad for Miller is too sentiment, you can't make that trade for Vancouver. You become measurably worse and that's not gonna work for them. With Mike Johnson our TSN hockey analyst, to the Leafs have played 41 games looking on FanDuel the updated heart trophy odds

McDavid's actually got the shortest odds now plus 280 which I'm a little bit surprised by because it just it seems more quiet Out there in Edmonton. They're they're back in the winning circles. They're playing well. He's playing great But it's McDavid, McKinnon, Kaprizov, Dreissel, Hellebuck, Kucherov. Those are the big six. I think most people would concede that right now based on points and play. Dreissel's four?

Dreissel's four, which I agree, that to me is crazy. I think you could argue he's been the best player in the league this year. But then it's Eichel at seven, Mitch Marner at eight. Now Marner's like 75 to one. it's massive odds and it's unlikely that he'd win it but he is on pace for a hundred twelve points which would be a career year is that reasonable for you like is he

is he the eighth best player in the league eighth most valuable player in the league this year uh... i mean somewhere i mean the leaps are what in fourth place, an entire league. And he's been their best player. He's been their best positional player. He's done it without Austin Matthews. Um, I think we had that board 10, two weeks ago before I left percentage of

points relative to the total team. And it was only, he was second behind Kaprizov ahead of McDavid. Like you can look at some different numbers, plus the defense that he plays to say that he's really very important. Now, is he the eighth best player in the league? I don't know. You probably would find eight guys that you might want over him, but he's around it. The fact that he's in the conversation, the fact that he may pick up some stray votes

is a real testament to how well he's playing. Yeah, he's not going to win it. He won't be in the top five or top three, but that there's no harm in that. No great shame in that. He's played amazing and, and he's played amazing quietly. And I think that is so important for Toronto. Like there's been no rumblings from anyone either side. Look how well he's doing.

Look how much money he needs to get paid. Even though, like, if I'm not saying he's not thinking that, if I was his agent I would be counting dollar signs with every two point gaming piles up and like as you should, that's what you do. That's not a criticism, that's a reality but we haven't heard that. We know conversation about that. No talk about extensions, no talk about dollars, no talk about Willie or Austin or any of that and that is also very important. The great play on the ice, they have to have it. They've needed this year really offensively, but then I think the quiet road off of it

is almost as important in this market for Mitch and his own sort of, not mental health, but just ease in going through the year. It's been, it's halfway through. It's been about as good as you could possibly hope for it to be for him. What did you think of Austin Matthews coming back into the lineup playing the back-to-back? Like it looked like he was a little more refreshed, it looked like he was strong, he had a little, you know, separation speed, and then to play the two games back-to-back,

like that's got to be an encouraging sign for you, wouldn't it be? Am I the only one who was like, what? He's playing back-to-back? I didn't think he was playing that weekend. I thought the Philly game he might not. Like maybe just start tonight, right? Like just go Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, whatever it is. This injury, whatever it is, this mystery injury is so perplexing because some of the handling of it seems illogical and it obviously is logical but for what you sort of assume like you can't get healthy while playing

so you take a long time off but if you're coming off a sort of soft tissue something hip back groin whatever you don't usually come back and play back to back but the fact that he did that's a good sign the fact that he looks a little bit quicker a little stronger on pucks the things that he's really good at that separate him from being excellent to one of the best he looked good at and comfortable with the fact that he wasn't sore after game one that he could play game two maybe the best news of all I actually looked Frankie because I was looking at you know his overall top speed this year is

down about like 5% from last year and so I looked in game in the last game on I guess on the Sunday night game he hit his top speed for the year now it's not as fast as last year but is the fastest he has skated in one game probably chasing down an empty net or for the dive whatever was but like that was the fastest he has skated this year so there's like legitimately he he was moving better than he has given this year. So there's like legitimately he was moving better than he has all season long. And if that's the case and it can stay the case, that is very significant news for Toronto.

Johnny, how do you think the four nations deal is handled with him? Like, would you say go ahead and go, it's a great experience or no way in hell you're going? So I think what we know for sure is that internally quietly the Leafs management would be hoping that he elects to pass because he's not quite perfect. Or you know what maybe ideally he feels great the next month 100 100 lights it up and says yeah I'm good. They're like okay we got him a good spot but generally speaking if he's anything less than perfect, they would want him to

take it off, but it's a hard conversation to have when you know, the player wants to go that badly and you know, he's one of those, you know, great players that is measured by international success. He hasn't had a chance of playing in those games. I think the conversation has to be something like this. And I actually asked in the breakfast room, not in the gym, Hayes, in the breakfast room for me. Yeah. I asked a GM, I'm like, what would you do with your player? What would you do with Austin?

And he said, you can't come out publicly and say, no, you can't go. You get this, it's a no-win situation. You look like the bad guys. You have to have a conversation saying, what do you want to do? How are you feeling? How do we get you best healthy? And we will support you doing whatever you think you should do. Like that's sort of the approach and that's probably what the conversation would look like even though I would internally be hoping that he opts out. Yeah, I mean I think it's gonna come down to his call in the end and I think you know to be fair to him we're a month away from him having to make that decision if he is injured if he's not feeling well like if he has another break between now and the four

nations that's probably that's got to be it yeah it's gotta be it you know you guys say it's his decision but it's like he also has an employer every player like these guys are paid by their employers like and not to say that one salary is different one guy makes 13 million I'd be like you're not going here's what complicates that though that his employer is the one that's running the tournament like you know what I'm saying like Brad tree oh yeah his employer is Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment that's gonna make money off this and they have Gary Bettman saying, make sure your players show up and actually promote the event. That's the thing.

But don't you think that injury is a different status for all of that? It should go. I think it goes without saying. The fact that we're having this conversation really is a little bit unsettling that it would be up for debate if he's hurt or if there's a belief if you sit down for 10 days it will drastically improve your status that he would play i don't think he would but i think between now and then if he plays the rest of the way between now and then he's going i think i'll be there

like and i i i i i'm not gonna say don't go again to sell what you would want to wants to play for his country. It's a big event. Hopefully it works out for him. I mean, that's all he can say. You want him to want to go. Yeah, exactly. Like you want guys to want to play. Uh, but the other part of it is like you say, if he, unless he were to get drastically better, the one thing you can guarantee is if he takes 10 days off,

it won't get worse. Right. And that is the concern for, like, the Leafs have a, you know, not gonna have it ourselves, the Leafs have a chance to be good this spring. They have a chance. A lot has to happen, I get it. Not happened before, I get it.

But you can't say the fifth best team in the league halfway through with the third best goals again. It doesn't have a chance to advance in the playoffs if they happen to win their division. So, you know, trying to balance those two conflicting motivations is the conversation. And I'm sort of stepping back, it probably wouldn't surprise me as much as Austin wants to go, that if he wasn't right, if he was still banged up and feeling less than 100%, he would pull himself. I think he would pull himself to

to give himself the best chance and the Leafs the best chance to get the healthiest version of him in the playoffs. Yeah and and again we'll talk about it a lot between now and then at some point there's going to be an answer you know we're four or five weeks away from that. Leafs Flyers tonight, bunch of good games in the NHL tonight. Enjoy them Johnny Johnny, we'll do it later in the week. All right, fellas, have a good night. There's Mike Johnson joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Count on Maple Toyota for the right winter tire package for your Toyota.

Trading your old tires, buy a new set and get $40 back. Visit mapletoyota.com. By the way, when he says breakfast room, I did not. I was not aware of this. If you travel a lot there's a whole underworld in a hotel dude there's a private gym that only these gold travelers get to use there's a breakfast room that's no one knows about you can only go there if you're

traveling your tcc he won't let you up there unless you've got like a certain status it's an under it it's a Forbes underworld. It's wild. Did they let you in? Dude, I travel once a year. How the hell am I going to get in? I got in with guests. I got in there with noodles in Montreal.

Noodles. 37th floor. Yeah. The doors opened, dude. I went in there and I was like, what is happening in here? They had smoothies. They had a full buffet full buffet dude you get treated like a prince oh it's insane I couldn't believe it I didn't leave for a long time like I could and then I started getting like anxious I'm like this guy's sniffing me out I'm a

fraud he knows I'm not so you're allowed if you're a gold member you're allowed to but I'm not well I guess and that was the thing noodles did and noodles It's nothing to him. He's like, yeah, go ahead grab some time out of here, dude There's another thing about stick or Z last year at the World Juniors in Halifax a couple years ago Some days he brought me into the gold room some days. He was like you got to sit with the pigeons That's disappointing dude And that one was even more insulting because it was around the corner from the regular kitchen.

It was a slap in the face to the regular customers. There's also the airport one too. Yeah, the airport one. The airport one's a whole other world. You walk in there and you're like, how is there this many people that travel this often? Like, who does that? Yeah, it's a whole different lifestyle, man. A whole different lifestyle.

All right, confirming deny coming up and Carlo's coming up later this afternoon as well. We got loose flyers tonight. We'll continue to tee that up and there's more coach firings in the NFL. Antonio Piers is out down in Vegas. Man, every year there's six, seven, eight guys. They get fired. So more on that as we continue as well. Overdrive, finances, travel, and more. Let's go! New year. New year.

New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. I can neither confirm or deny that this is in fact a segment. Austin trades Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Tuca Arras.

It's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club. It's time for Confirm or Deny. Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no trades or no movement clauses? I can neither confirm or deny that. I can either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny that.

All right, confirm or deny. Here we go, brought to you by DMX One Step 2.0. I love it. The high performance flooring underlayment that makes your vinyl or laminate floors warm, comfortable, and mold-free. DMX One Step 2.0. No mold, no cold.

All right, statements are made we either confirm them or we deny them very simple stuff not overly complicated you guys haven't played in a while and I'm very excited all right starting with this confirm or deny the Pittsburgh Steelers should start Justin Fields over Russell Wilson this weekend I'm gonna confirm this man. I'm sorry. I know that sounds goofy in fields has been kind of a Russ has been so bad, dude. It's almost like Russ brought them to a certain point and then it's like that's just that was that's all he had left in the tank Mm-hmm, and I wouldn't want to go down in flames and look at Russ and say

Why did I put him in there when I knew that's what he was gonna do that's why I would play fields a shot in the dark and it maybe the only reason I would play fields Hayes is that it's not Russ yeah I mean process of elimination I mean I can understand that it is fields like it's not like you're you're putting in Joe Montana in his prime but that's also a scary element. Yeah, I hasn't played in a while. What the hell is he gonna bring? That's what is is concerning it. It's a coin. It's a coin flip man I guess I I would confirm it just based on the fact that he's younger and if you feel like he can be part of your Future plans. I don't know how like how

concrete those plans would be because it is Justin Fields and he's added his consistency. With that coach, Luke always talks about it, with that defense and that coach they're always gonna make the playoffs. Yeah. How many, I think they're pretty good. How many years are they gonna piss away not having a quality quarterback? Well, I mean they lost four in a row coming into the playoffs and I think five of six they were nine and two they finished ten and seven and Like it's staggering the way it happened Here's here's why I'm going to deny it because I do think it's a coin flip and Tomlin said today He's open to using fields. I wouldn't be surprised if fields got in there is

Russ does have playoff experience and you have to just hope he's more comfortable than fields in that situation because Russ to me looks like a guy that he's just got nothing left, nothing. Maybe he finds a way to find some life in the playoffs. Like that's, it's a desperate take, you're playing Baltimore, they're a huge huge huge underdog. It's like a ten point spread on FanDuel. It's an interesting point maybe he draws on experience. That's all you can hope for. That's all that that's why I would play Russ but I would understand that it very well could jam me. I guess the other counterpoint to Fields would be worse like maybe he can do something with his feet that Russ can't do. He can do

that's the thing and you may have to rely on like turnovers on the defensive side of the ball and try to win 17-14 and you run the ball. I don't know. I think Baltimore is going to possibly beat the doors off of them with or without Russ. But all right, moving on here. Confirm or deny. If the Calder Trophy were handed out today, Lane Hudson of the Montreal Canadians would win it.

I would deny that just because Celebrini has had a lot of momentum for a little while now. Like I feel like Hudson, the train is starting to pick up steam right now. And if he does this for another month or so and stays atop of the points race and he's playing more than all these guys, like we're going to gonna be talking about it like who's getting your vote but I think as of today Celebrini's had some momentum for a little while that would put him atop. Does right now mean you're basing it on their body of work or does right now mean you have to pick for what you know I'm saying the award show is tonight and you're going out there and you're like I just voted this afternoon on what I've seen up until

January 7th. This is who I'm picking to win the Calder. I would pick Macklin Celebrini but if you ask me again in two weeks it might be Hudson. Yeah that's what we're talking about right now. That's I mean Celebrini's had injury issues., here's, he's been electric. He's been so good. And Mitch got all these game winners, man. Like you can't sell him short. Like that guy, how many overtime winners has he had already this year? Big, big game moments.

Mitch Mitch Goff as a player and he's so, he's so young and he's going to develop. He needs to find a way to be more impactful on a consistent basis. Like you can't just pop up once a period although you might score that pop-up it can't be that in that league. Yeah for sure. It can't be I'm gonna show up and snipe one or snipe one in overtime like if he's gonna be a cornerstone of the franchise you've got to show up on on a consistent basis you got to bring something to the table. Absolutely and I think he's third in this race. I'm going to confirm it because of the position Hudson plays which I think is much more difficult to succeed on, succeed in early in your career. Like this guy's been top 10 in minutes played

all year. He plays 25 minutes every night. I think Echblad took a call in one year. He did. There was a bunch of good forwards and it was like now Eklad gets it man. Right because he was like 19 and he was playing a ton of minutes and played well. That's you're absolutely right. Eklad's a great example. Faber last year would have won if it wasn't for the Bedard story. The hype of Bedard. And there are some people that are still griping about that saying that Faber should have won. Yeah and Celebrini is this year's Bedard. I mean first overall and he's played great. Celebrini's been outstanding. still griping about that saying that favor should have won and celebrities this year's the darm in first overall

and he's played great celebrities been outstanding but hudson but leading in points and play not many minutes and and look what he's compared to the other rookie defenseman like it's not even close they're right in two weeks we could be talking about its hudson one celebrity to yeah but we're not we're talking about tonight and i'll be a fergie just relax over there you can from the night uh... confirmed that i the ottawa senators have a better chance of making

the class in the muncher all canadians you know what i'm gonna confirm it but i'll tell you what there's one guy that's starting to piss me off and it's the goalie in ottawa week to week your gear dude put your gear on and start playing Like I don't understand if you talk to people that do like are close to Ottawa and watch them all the time They're like when this guy plays their chance like he's so good when he's on Like it's almost like it all lies it like when is he gonna come back?

When are you gonna play? When are you gonna be a guy that plays on a nightly basis to get them into the playoffs that would drive me nuts wondering what where the hell that guy is you know taking pictures at the world juniors wheeling around it's like i don't get he started driving nuts he started to include himself the goalies in the past have driven me nuts and i don't know how i hope that guy figures it out because there's a lot at

stake for the sense and everybody involved and he just kind of Oh hum Well, he's the guy that will determine it That's it. So he's got to get his ass in the net and play every night. They might get in I'm gonna deny it just based on we're living in the reality that this guy you don't know when he's gonna be available and how Long he's gonna be available for and if that's the case like there really isn't that much separating them like a force I've given that guy a contract with that much money and no no kidding wondering what he's gonna play in the net That's insane

so so now do yourself a favor and do the comparisons of the rosters if you have Forsberg or The kid Marilyn in the net versus Montembeau or you know, Dobish is you know, we've only games but like good you're like that's's a, that's a coin flip. Then you do the decor, you're like, Montreal's decor, pretty comparable to Ottawa's. You're like, that's another coin flip. So then, so what are we talking about? Montreal's a four line team now,

and Ottawa, like they've, they're tinkering their lines all the time to try and find something. And a lot of it is because, you know, they might not get the gold tending if all marks not in there. So there's not a lot separating these teams. So I can't confirm that Ottawa's got a better chance.

No, I think that's valid. And like Olmark, he was the hottest goalie in the league a couple of weeks ago. You know, the way he was playing, I think he won like first start of the week in the NHL was phenomenal, his statistics. And naturally they won a bunch of games and they got into the playoffs and they did two weeks ago what the

Habs are doing right now but it's a it is a warning shot to both teams I guess Montreal in particular because they're the ones that are currently in that spot it can turn quickly you take your foot off the gas for five games you could be four points out yeah and then all of a sudden the doubters are gonna arrive again but it is something that both these teams are right there. But I do, it comes down to Olmark. If he plays and he's healthy, I think they'll, I think Ottawa, I think they'll get in.

I think, I'm not gonna say definitively, I think. I know, but you go right back, as soon as you end up, as soon as you say that, you're like, can that guy be healthy? You have to qualify it. You have to qualify it that I don't know if he will. Because he is week to week, like they're, they don't know when he when he's gonna play and when he returns when's he gonna get injured again? Exactly. That's the biggest thing like is he gonna come back for two weeks and then it's like up tweak something

He's weak to weak. Yeah, so concerned. It's so frustrating if you're in Ottawa Confirmed and I Mitch Marner has been the Maple Leaf MVP through 41 games 100% confirmed. This is the biggest layup of the 30 era. Let me say this. Prior to Stoller's going down, I thought it was Stoller's. I did say that 10 games ago. I thought Anthony Stoller's was the MVP of this team.

He was playing phenomenally well. Wall missed the first, what, seven, eight games of the year. Ah, it's still Marner, dude. Still Marner. It is now, because Stoll because stores has been injured in wallace is has done what he's done in martyrs martyrs i think you make a case make a case for tomorrow's because matthews has been injured in the way john is highly

related mitch marter plays in all situations it's it's it's a it's a conferral i agree to see if it's a it's a i gotta tell you what i confirmation. I agree with you. It's a layup. It's a confirmation. And Aze, I gotta tell you what. I gotta tell everybody I told you this yesterday. Another thing you find out at the gym wheeling around is when Dregg says that Marner's held in a high regard, like that guy he is, like Dregg's isn't making that garbage up. He's not sponsoring his agent or doing his agent a favor. When you talk to NHL people about mitch marner

real deal holyfield still would i like to see him play in the playoffs yes i would but that's the guy's he's on the air a lot of his own underwears five there's there's will based on cap implications i would say there's like five to eight teams that would say put your price just name it dot right again there's gonna be other teams that say listen

We got it, you know, we got to cut you back here, but we'll have those conversations But there's got to be at least five that would say well, how much do you want? There it is I mean you look we talked we had the conversation about Certain executives in the league saying john taveras would be the best player on their team Obviously that applies to martyr if taveras is the best then you their team. Obviously that applies to Marner. If Tavares is the best, then you could, outside of, there's probably 12 to 15 teams where there's a player that is defined as more valuable than what Mitch would be. I think in Toronto that applies. I think Austin applies that way.

I think Matthews is better and more valuable and means more to the organization. Obviously McDavid and... it's two different things. It's two different things, Hayes. You need guys... It seems like when the puck drops in October, it's a sprint to get yourself in the playoff position. You got to basically win every night, it seems, to lock down one of those spots. And if you don't have those ultra skilled players to kind of get you to the finish line...

And a guy brought it up to me on Twitter He's you said Jeff you can move all move away from Marner But maybe it maybe it hurts your chances of making the playoffs. He's that good like he gets you in Yeah, what happens after that that's so dependent on what these guys do and that's always been the conversation Yes, that's a good conversation and that is always why I believe leaves brass and ownership say We'll commit to that and we'll roll the dice that it will just break their way Yes, that's that is their philosophy is you keep these guys and I say it every single April and May every single year When we're playing Hello Darkness, I say it's it's too seductive

year when we're playing Hello Darkness I say it's it's too seductive for MLSC and Keith Pelly and Brendan Shanahan and Brad Trilliving to to have that guarantee in front of you that you're going to make the playoffs because that's what these guys represent that's the culture they bring during the regular season is they show up they play they perform they produce they make the playoffs every single year and that might sum up the comments in the gym at the World Juniors from other people around the NHL where there'd be like I'd rather be in the playoffs with those guys and have a chance that be absolutely digging around the ditches of the NHL and that is why there's a cast system within the NHL where you know if

if you're Buffalo you'll do anything just to make the playoffs by a point and losing four straight. That's an accomplishment. But if you're Toronto or Edmonton, you can't just get in and lose in the first round and say that's good enough. At some point you need to move the goalpost, you would think, and be obsessed with actually winning come playoff time. Because a team like Florida, they did that. Florida said, we're not just like Jonathan Huberto got him to the playoffs

said we're not doing this anymore so which one are you gonna be and hopefully we don't have to have that conversation again in the spring because hopefully they win. Hopefully you don't have to play Hello Darkness. I would prefer not to play that. You gotta think about what song you would play if they won. I guess we are the champions. I don't know if we would play that necessarily are we getting a ring oh my doesn't know you guys is an alumni maybe you could get an alumni ring here's an alumni I would ask for I'd pay for one you pay for an alumni for like then the real deal one I know I don't want the real deal one I would want like a an alumni version a

smaller one that's normal to wear and I would pay cash for it. That'd be pretty cool. Yeah. You'd pay that, wouldn't you, Frank? I would join Jeff in paying for that. Yes, you have to. Confirmed and Denied, brought to you by DMX One Step 2.0, the only flooring underlayment

you need for warm, comfortable, mold-free vinyl and laminate floors. DMX One Step 2.0. No mold, no cold. I love it. All right. We got a few more after dark. Confirm it. We got Carlo coming up in 15 minutes. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. 2025 is your year. 2025. Start it right with New Year, New You on iHeartRadio. New gear, new you. Good vibes playlists like party hits, chill tracks on Lo-Fi, and motivational podcasts to crush your resolutions. From wellness, finances, travel, and more.

Let's go, go. New year, new gear, new you. New you. Exploring all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. All right, Carlo Coliacobo coming up into the next hour. Best bets still to come. I try to get into the RJ Barrett comments after the game last night. The Raptors got spanked at home against Milwaukee.

So ugly right now. They finally got to win the other night. You can see on their faces, man. Yeah, they know. They know. And if you're having effort issues, that's really concerning. Like if you're Darko, you're not gonna keep up talent-wise.

They're not good enough. Doesn't matter if they had a full lineup last night, which they did. They're simply not talented enough. But if you have players like RJ Barrett coming out and being honest, and we just didn't really play hard enough. We didn't show up. We didn't have our work ethic tonight. That's a crazy thing.

There are so many crazy things that go on in pro sports now. I can't believe we discuss on a daily basis, Pedersen and Miller. Whoever has the problem, did they not look at the other guy and say, that guy could help me win a cup, like, let's just shut up and make this work. But instead, one guy's got, I don't know who's acting like the baby, but one of them is, and it's just like, but I don't know, I don't know the backstory. I don't know if Miller was a dick to the guy when he was a kid and he came into the league and he just, you can't forgive him, or I don't know what happened.

But, imagine Rick Tawket of all dudes dealing with that. It's one of the toughest dudes to ever play and he's looking at a squabble like that. Dude, it's three coaches deep now because it would have been Greenie into Bruce into Rick Tauke. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, think about that. Three coaches have had to deal with whatever's going on between those two guys. That's craziness. Yeah. Well, maybe that's what it's got to, where Jimmy's like, that's enough, and I've seen it for a bunch of years now, and I'm not dealing with it anymore.

Well, I mean, their season seems to be at stake, you know, and to say nothing of Demko injured and what's going to happen with him, and, you know, Lankinen played last night, he gives up five. He was very good for him early in the season If it wasn't for Lankenen, they would be looking at a lottery pick Yeah, maybe that's drastic but no like that's four or five points out because like she loves wasn't ready No, you know like he gave them that playoff run. He wasn't ready to play All right final hour coming up. Carlo will join us We'll get to our best bets brought to you by Fandual as well overdrive continues TSN 1050 soon to be up on TSN too. TSN Plus is taking game day to a whole new level with NFL Red Zone.

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