OverDrive - OverDrive - June 12, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys dive into the Pacers taking down the Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton's strong playoff run and the storylines for Game 4 in the Stanley Cup Final in Florida. Panthers Analyst Bill Lindsay joins to discuss the Panthers looking to extend the series, the championship pedigree of the team and Sam Bennett's prominent performance role in the playoffs and the first round of the U.S. Open from Oakmont Country Club.

Squinting through bright days? That's a no. Struggling with glare? Also no. What about sunglasses over regular glasses? Big no. But prescription sunglasses from Pearl Vision? That's a huge yes. They're a must-have for enjoying the sun in style. Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Michael Kors, and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses. Some restrictions and exclusions may apply. See participating stores for details. Are you age 16 to 30 and ready to make a real impact? The Youth Thrive program, funded by Canada Service Corps and delivered by the Career Foundation, is your chance to develop

leadership skills, connect with mentors, and gain real-world experience, all while giving back to your community. Best of all, it's a no-cost program available across Ontario, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and BC. Thoughts are limited, so register now at careerfoundation.com. That's careerfoundation.com. Join today and be part of something amazing. This Hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Alright, here we go, Overdrive, off and running, TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, and up on TSN too, Brian Hasey, O'Dog, Jeff O'Neil, Jamie Noodles, McLennan. What's going on, boys?

What's going on boys? What's going on? I saw a chap today work so hard to get to the open grinding on the range qualifying started doobly tripply doobly good night. Yeah pack your bags. Dude if I like if you if there was like a member qualifying thing and I started do-bleh tri-ple-du-bleh I caught the bag comes off the cart and I walked to my car and I shake the guy's hand and say this one's all yours pal. It's infuriating. Imagine starting the whole tournament. It's one thing doing it at any time to start like that. Seven under on the fourth tee. Like you're putting your peg in the crown on four tee. Sorry, you said it wrong.

Seven over. Seven over. Sorry, seven over. Absolutely, of course. You know what I meant. But yeah, staggering start. Not alone though. A lot of carnage out there.

Oh, carnage. Outside of JJ's spawn. JJ was bogey free. You know how starting is a little bit, you want to like, you want to play the first couple holes, hit some good shots and settle into the round. I saw this one dude, Lefty, and same thing, he was like a qualifier, left into a bunker and then he buried it into the long rough. I could just tell by the look on his face of all the starts i need to do that I know

I know it's rough is there a record for somebody picking their ball up? like somebody who just did exactly what you said like is there somebody that did five holes and said walk there was course there was a guy at Pinehurst JP try to find a video John Daly just started whacking his ball up the hole and playing like mini sticks with it on the green I don't even know what he gave himself on the hole but he just said piss on that I'm not doing this not do

that deal that was on 12 sample that's the thing I I don't remember what hole I don't really remember that but daily is a bit different than he's had a lot of issues he could do some weird stuff yeah like you're suggesting someone literally quits which I don't think ever happens what what happens out of respect to the tournament the US Open the USGA wherever it is You get through the round and then you pretend like you blew your back out and your hurts, right? Like that's the play you get through and then you go to my shoulder tiger exactly tiger was famous for you get through it And say nah, just I don't know something's not shooting properly and then you just decide I'm out of here because you're wasting everyone's time but And then you just decide I'm out of here because you're wasting everyone's time But yeah, it's fun to have the open rolling and and we'll be tracking it all day Rex Hoggart coming up from Oakmont later this afternoon

We've got game four tonight game three. How about those Indiana Pacers man like wow I'll tell you what if I'm Oklahoma City I am I am getting very nervous because they've had leads and they they're blowing these leads game one and game three the same thing They're blowing leads in the fourth quarter that team never does that like the best teams in the NBA best team in pro sports period It's the same thing with the Panthers coming into this final When you have a lead after two or in the Thunder's case a lead after three quarters It's basically over and the Pacers now in game one and game three said actually it's not you know good luck keeping up with us

uh... so the NBA finals is twisting and turning man like that it is wide open now anything could happen there uh... and i love it that's great i mean that's the way that's what you want it right you don't want just oklahoma city to win in four or win in five you want a long series and i think the Thunder will remain in that. I think they likely win game four and it goes six or seven.

But that's the beauty of the finals. Isn't that crazy though, Hayes, how that was not in their DNA? They were the ultimate road team, the ultimate closers, and they never did this nonsense in the regular season. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. They were just as routine as you could get.

The Pacers, they play with pace and they kind of ran them out of the gym and it was great to see the Canadians perform the way they performed last night. I guess Shay Knot was standing, although he was fine, but he didn't shoot great. But there's a lot of Canadian content going on right now. Kind of scattered throughout pro sports. It's a great thing. Was Halliburton and his dad in the... I'm fascinated with the dad.

I actually just want an ISO camera. I don't know about the dad. I couldn't tell you about the dad but he had some interesting comments after the game which have caused a lot of stir throughout media and American media. You can tell these guys like this is the modern athlete they all track everything They're all on social media Everyone's got a phone. I guess there's his dad right there. So yeah, I guess I guess he is It looks like he's in the house, but they all pretend

Like they don't listen or if they are admitting that they listen, they pretend that they don't care. I never pay attention to social media, but then they'll do like Mitch did one day. He's like, I haven't seen what you guys have been writing about my ankle, so screw you. Right. Exactly. One or the other. Are you reading it or not?

Well, they're all reading it. That's why anyone claiming that they're not is lying, but that it doesn't matter or doesn't bother them i think is equally as disingenuous and what i'm always intrigued by is the timing of things halbert had a great game paces up to one of the nb finals and this is what he had to say after the game when he was asked about his own performance the build-up him the paces out people felt this series was going to play out.

This is Tyrese Haliburton postgame last night. The commentary is always gonna be what it is. Most of the time, the talking heads on the major platforms, I couldn't care less, honestly. What do they really know about basketball? I mean, at a time like this, I'm not really on social media as much. I try to stay off it as much as I can but you know you see it and you know ESPN might be on in my house and you know it is what it is but

I think you're seeing where I can be better is the most important thing. Commentary is what it is at this point you know it doesn't matter you know we're here in the NBA finals two wins away from an NBA championship. Well, he was probably referring to Kendrick Perkins who was like, dude, you're a star. So I think he was talking about not checking the box score or some nonsense like that. And Perk called him out and said, dude, you're supposed to be on the box score because you're a superstar. You're not just some guy out there. And I don't know if he's referring to that.

But two things, those two things can't be true. He's like, yeah and I don't know if he's referring to that but two things those two things can't be true He's like I don't even pay attention to it, but he's like you will ESPN might be on in my house and Right exactly and even tried to catch himself with social media where he's like you know I try not to yes No, you're a little bit media. Yeah, and a little bit, and I get it if there's something inflammatory And I don't know exactly who he was addressing was parkins maybe was steven a smith maybe was any of these guys now parkins played the game and won championships so like him suggesting that park doesn't know the

game is obviously ridiculous maybe speaking of barkley or shack or kenny light it goes like those guys don't know the game that exactly exactly shit like it's ridiculous like i i don't know why the guy just one that he should be happy instead of the keys now he's feeling good about it and and taking shots instead of and i know it's just weird but why do you even bring shine a light on yourself just

in the end like be happy and move on type of that that's what i'm saying about the timing is you know again he's asked the question so I credit him for sitting up there and answering it but it's a sign of the times that there's just no escaping it. You know the talking heads are out there listen the three of us are talking heads. The Leafs know everything that's going on when the Leafs were in their run all the players they all know and we're not the only ones but all these players are well aware. You don't think McDavid and Dry Settle are aware that people were calling them out for the players they all know and we're not the only ones but all these players are well aware You don't think McDavid and dry settle are aware that people were calling them out for the way they played game three You know that they they their legacy talk is out there

Like you got to get this tonight or you got to win the series you got to like you get you got to do it Man, you got to find a way to win. You got to beat Florida. You can't lose to them twice You do that's that's a big knock It is and I thought I saw is this correct like Stuart Skinner like his getting death threats His wife was revealed that and like I mean that stuff is like that's ridiculous, you know, I get it But there's always again. It's an egg avatar. So how can you you know, it's some hero behind a Computer but there's there's certain stuff like that's you know, that's an egg avatar, so how can you, you know, it's some hero behind a computer. But there's certain stuff, like that's, you know, that's ridiculous.

This is sports. Yeah, I haven't seen that, but I guess I'm not surprised. You know, that's not what we're talking about here with Halliburton and talking heads in the public and all that. But you know, Skinner's in a position where when they lose, it's his fault. You know, like there are a lot of other fans that just can't stand him as a player. You know, it's not personally, but they just think he's going to fail the team, which is kind of crazy considering he's in his second straight cup final.

They love when he gets hot, but when he has a couple games where it doesn't go his way, they're like, I didn't trust that and I knew it might pop up again. That's where their kind of fandom frustration comes from. They're like, we love you at times, but there's other times where you scare the hell out of us and when it comes back to bite them again and he doesn't look like the dialed in Stuart Skinner, because the non dialed in Stuart Skinner, let's be honest, it's a scary one. It's a scary product out there.

It is. And you know what, like, I think the biggest thing is he had won 8 of 10, but the problem is the minute he loses and doesn't look good, it's like, here we go, that's what we've seen all along. And to be fair, he didn't have a great season. He didn't have a great start to the playoffs. Calvin Pickard won six games in a row. Like there is some leverage behind some of the stuff that

either fans or what we talk about, that type of stuff. But, you know, he deserves his flowers when he's playing well and there was a stretch where he played very well. Dallas series, I thought he was fantastic. But in the end, you're right, oh, he's a polarizing guy. And I think he always will be. And if they don't get it done, he will be front and center. It'll be at the forefront of it. Whether it's fair or not, and listen, we'll see what he brings.

He's got to be great tonight. You know, like needless to say, you can't give up bad goals. You can't. Your team's back is up against the wall you're down to once a cup final that doesn't mean you have to be responsible for the win but you cannot be the reason they lose tonight if if it happens then skinner's gonna really take some heat uh... you know the other stuff is obviously lunacy and just crazy and

stupid and again a sign of the times were because of social media and stuff people can can get to you quote-unquote or send messages to people that are close to you and sure it's very unsettling but yeah I mean we've been teeing up this game it feels like for a month and a half you know they're finally playing tonight and there's been more focus on Edmonton clearly but we'll get to the Florida side of things Bill Lindsay in about 20 minutes on how he expects the Panthers to approach the game tonight. But Skinner is at the forefront. Like Skinner, he's got to outperform Bob. It's that simple. Like

you've got to play better than the guy at the other end. And if you're banking on Bob having an off game, it's possible. He's probably maybe due for one of those, but you can't bank on that. And again, I look, I play the hits when it comes to nights like tonight. Like they're changing up the lineup and Klingberg's out and you've got Conor Brown moving up and Arvidsson's coming out and all that I think is reasonable, justified. They're trying to mix a couple things up. That's what happens. But this has got to be a McDavid Dry Settle special.

Like I just, I don't think it's got to be any deeper than that. Obviously everyone's got to perform, got our depth, special teams, discipline, all those things we've talked about for two days. But as we get closer to showtime, it's got to be a clinic tonight. I was just going to say, it could be Bouchard, my guy. It could be at home. It could be Vander Kane. It could be Corey Perry. But it seems like if any of those guys do something, guess who's on the passing end of it or the setup end of it or the getting into the zone end of it.

It's just those other two guys. So it's like they're either directly scoring or they're creating. Yeah. And it's rare. It's rare that they won't have touch points into the game where which are very valuable they just weren't they were valuable last game as far as you know what they could bring it was probably i don't know if you go back and and watch game one or two of the playoffs i

mean mcdavid put a clinic on near the end of game one so i would say that was mcdavid's worst playoff game so far i agree what if they gave me played? 19. Game three was, for sure. So you're looking for a response. I've said this all along. Florida's not going away. They're a hell of a team. This is a team.

And they're going to take this as a challenge. They've played this masterfully as far as somehow they're the underdogs. They're the start of the like start the series They're like that's a great team over there. Like it's just been praise after praise both sides It's it's not you know been contentious other than the last five to ten minutes the last game But it's been that teams really good a lot of respect, but Florida. I think has played this to a tee Yeah, and especially the last we'll call it game in a bit for sure, where they've kind

of tilted the series. Yeah, they're very comfortable in the Stanley Cup final, which is the greatest compliment you could ever give a hockey team. Well, they're becoming pretty damn good at it. Yeah, like it's three years in a row. That's a lot of sample size, man. Like three cup finals in a row, you're you're very very comfortable as you should be And you're right. I mean they're they're gonna mix a couple things up today

They're they're gonna be prepared for whatever Edmonton throws at them, but You know, it's it's gotta be go time for the big boys tonight. I mean, I don't think there's any doubt on Hayes. They've they've thrown out next year for a Kraken, Montreal Canadiens, a team that didn't make that, the Nashville Predators. None of those coaches are allowed to say, now the guys are tired, we've been playing a lot of hockey. Because the Florida Panthers, they're never tired, man. They just, they might stink to join out the odd time But it's like for those teams that are a lot of hockey these guys have been in the finals three years in a row

You know much hockey that is mm-hmm. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing Yeah, that's kind of what it looked like in game three now I think a part of it was the style that Florida was playing the way that they control the game The amount of penalties there was a lot of things that made it somewhat of an unconventional night, but it did look like Edmonton had kind of run out of gas. It's like, okay, they're in two straight cup finals. They played a lot of hockey too, but Florida is a completely different beast. Obviously I would expect energy not to be an issue tonight.

We're two days off and no travel, cup final. I don't think you need a pep talk before the game if you're Chris Knoblok. Do you expect a cautious game or are we predicting kind of what Mo said, like 4-3 type of thing? I hope so. Both teams can score both teams. I think the latter, right? Because I think Florida is going to play that way. I think Edmonton, okay, you can try to counter, but that's not really how they're wired either. If you want Bouchard to play it his best,

he's gambling a bit, he's pinching, he's holding the line, there's different things that are gonna happen. So I think you're gonna see odd man rushes, I think you're gonna see a great pace. I think all the cliches still apply. Scoring first would be big, staying out of the box with your Edmonton. Oh my God edmonton first the other night when they got the second one florida my daughter my daughter Who's 15 years old looked at me and said well, that's it

They're winning. It's it's over. Yeah, you got it feels like you just got a pounce on you get Florida to cob It's pretty much night night, so I don't know first period is massive for the oilers tonight So I don't know. First period is massive for the Oilers tonight. Yeah, it sure is. Yeah, game one was in Edmonton. It was 3-1, and they went to an Edmonton battle back. But you can't play with that fire. I agree.

I don't think you give, you can't give either one of these teams a two goal lead and expect they're like, oh, you'll just claw it back next period type of thing. I will say, I think Edmonton needs a better second period. But you also have to have a better start You can't be chasing the game one nothing what 70 seconds into the game Yeah, ideally avoid that ridiculous boy You know within the first two minutes giving up a goal and then the buildings rock in and they start to smell blood and

Everything changes from there bill Lindsay in about 15 minutes We're tracking the US Open. Chef was out there right now. Your boy Rory McIlroy started great. He was two under at one point and he finished four over on the day and was chopping it around on the back. Oh, dude. There was a bunch of... Did you see that sneaky, patty little Patty Reed? Yeah, with an albumatron today. Middle of the fairway with a three wood and he dunked it? Yeah. He's in the mix. Look at this little rascal.

He's about two hundred and fifty-two yards with a three metal and he jugged it. I love that there's another ball there that maybe he threw down in case he didn't like his first shot. It came out of the hole in his pocket. Yeah. Oops. Accidentally dropped that one. That's an unbelievable shot though, man.

An albatross. You don't see that very often. Yeah. And, you know, Patrick Reed's in the mix. That's an unbelievable shot man an albatross. You don't see that very often Yeah, and you know Patrick reads in the mix He's in the mix JJ spot spawn in the mix a bunch of Canadians down there And we're tracking that we'll continue to do so throughout the afternoon Jays are off today back in action tomorrow And again, we'll continue to look ahead to game for the cup final tonight Look back on a big win by the Pacers last night this Nick Story their pursuit of every coach in the NBA. I'm sorry like Charles Barkley's right man. You want to fire teams?

Go ahead But if you don't have the guy like sitting in his office ready to replace them your morons That is so embarrassing There was a list of guys that they checked in with and crossed it off that said no That's so embarrassing man. You know what this screams to me? Dolan Absolutely Dolan fired tibetal and then he went to the president the GM said alright you guys are up Go ahead tips is out. I'm leaving. Yeah

I'm going to the hamptons. Go find me somebody. Go find me Jason Kidd or something. And now, you know, Rose and, you know, the other guys were on the show in New York. They're like, well, okay, we'll call Dallas and ask for Jason Kidd. No. Okay, I guess we'll call this team up and we'll call Houston and see if we can get. No, not happening. Like, it's either Dolan just like spontaneously said we got to fire the coach or the players went to the GM after the season and said, there's just no way that guy can take us to where we want to go.

I don't see that being the case. Like Brunson by all accounts loved Thibodeau. Loved them. Okay then they're really, then what Charles Barkley has said, they're the dumbest damn people on earth. Well let's play the Barkley clip. This is on NBA TV last night. Charles Barkley on what the Knicks are doing. let's play the barkley and this is on nba tv last night charles barkley with the next or do it

it's going to be the stupidest down people in the world but you know i don't know goes like that and don't have a plan this is a hell of a job obviously some's going on now but you don't have a whole plan this is the You don't have a plan. Now the three coaches turn you down. You gotta have a plan, man.

And they don't have a plan. Now, I mean, I don't know what the hell they're gonna do. That's the truth, man. It's so funny. They are the stupidest people in the world down there. It just screams of Dolan. It screams of a drag bunt from Dolan where he walked in and said, Tibbs, you're out. And then he looked at the other guys and said, go get me a coach.

I'll see you later. Call me when you have somebody. T it's Dolan walked in and cupped one, tossed it at the GM and then left the room. Well, and look what's going on with the other team. He owns where Chris jury's his guy, right? Like Jeff Gordon had that thing cooking in New York with the Rangers. Oh yeah. It was kind of moving in the right direction. He decided I don't like this guy anymore. You're out JD, you're out. Chris Jury's my guy. Yeah well Chris Jury could have done a cup and

toss to him as well behind his back. You never know. Well of course and Jury now it sounds like the Rangers basically basically if you call the price, you could almost have anybody in New York. He's a good player. Listen, I don't know, I can't profess to know the kid they trade for. I looked him up, obviously a junior player. Point of game guy in junior, center man, not a massive center man, but looks like a decent player.

But that's Chris Kreider, and I know it's not the Chris Kreider at 28 years old, but he's still a hell of a player and a big physical guy that could skate. What about just leadership? They have no stones now. Truba's gone, Kreider's gone. When you think of the New York Rangers and somebody that's going to come at you, who is it? It's it's raffy. It's raffy. That's who it is. Yeah, but when your fourth line fighter is your is your soul

Like i'm sorry No way, man that team reeks of Like good players, but you know, you could almost use the tree Situation there. Is there something something the DNA of that group they don't you know Panarin What is that guy dry hair half the time most of the nights? It's a vintage ads been very an agent you know the DJ checks a gamer But Joe checks a guy that I would be like

Selfishly trying to pluck from there I think he's a hell of a player and a really tough player to play against. But Miller, you know, this JT Miller, he wanted out of Vancouver so bad he's gone to a place now that there's, there's issues going on. Evidently. Yeah. New York. I mean, the fact that Truby went, Crider went, and it does sound as if they're open for business possibly with other players. Hey, just quickly, I told you yesterday and I've told you for many years, you don't know who I talked to I just got a note that said Dolan sat in the players exit interviews he sat in for them with Tibbado do you know how dysfunctional that is like your owners I'll have to get confirmation who exactly

was in the room but I honestly have a source that said okay Dolan in the room with eggs at me nix and rangers that was happening like i would assume it would be both this is strictly nba insider stuff a woge with the o in the middle bomb a woge dog bomb what did you call it though oh the cop and

tosser with the cop and toss watch out for it well sir cut out a lot of one but you guys are you guys can speak to it as players that that exit meetings could you imagine walking in the door on the owners in their tricky a coffee in a pair of jeans and you're not going to have a senior not to speak your mind though exactly thing you're just gonna go out the organization's great i can do better

than work hard the offseason. You can't just be honest. Now you have to wonder, the DeBoer firing, that was after exit meetings and that was delayed. Like something gave there. They did a full evaluation. Like I don't know, Dolan seems to shoot from the hip. This guy's getting Charles Oakley kicked out of the building because he's pissed off.

By the way, there's Teab Oakley kicked out of the building because he's pissed off. By the way, the strong show with Dolan. He's not in the room. Really? So okay so you're just explaining your report here. Yes. You're reporting that James Dolan was in the player exit interviews without Tom Thibodeau. That is correct. That is correct and Tom Thibodeau was not in the room. And I will snapshot Hazy B who sent me that and you can come back and say, you are an insider. Okay. All right.

I will legitimize or bury the O-Dogs report. One or the other coming up. Bill Lindsay from the rink down in Florida had a game for tonight. Frankie Corrado, Dreggss coming up Rex Hoggard from Oakmont day one of the US open overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN to Squinting through bright days. That's a no struggling with glare also. No, what about sunglasses over regular glasses? Big no, but prescription sunglasses from Pearl Vision? That's a huge yes.

They're a must have for enjoying the sun in style. Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Michael Kors, and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses. Some restrictions and exclusions may apply. See participating stores for details. All right, Overdrive continues powered by powered by fando bringing you everything from the

opening line to the final score bill lindsey coming up from florida here in just a moment uh... the old dog is breaking news around the nba and uh... after legitimize that the world report i got a legitimize it It's as legit as it gets and that's some scary stuff man. Just has nothing better to do but medal in his teams. You know like that's that's really what it is and I think listen the Knicks had an

opportunity clearly the Pacers are a really good team you know like every round they have to keep proving it but look what they've done to Oklahoma City here like like they're up to one. They're in the driver's seat. They've taken home court They might be the favorites now to win the NBA championship. So the Knicks Just weren't as good, you know and credit where credits do but Dolan's He's just infamous for always meddling always being in the middle of everything and it's just gonna continue in New York and yeah That's a scary thing. It's like you can't remove him from anything because he owns everything. You see that's his team It's his Jack you want that would drive me nuts like to have like everybody says to have an individual owner

Who's loaded they always want to do what's right that guy is a lunatic and needs to be stopped But he has Jerry Jones, man. Two of us. It's only them. They're the guys. They're right at the forefront of everything. Dude, you want to talk about a Netflix series? I would watch following them around on a day-to-day basis during a regular season.

I would die into that. Absolutely. What's the latest on those two coming off a win, a loss? Player stuff. All that stuff. I'll throw another name in there bobby craft bob craft could have a very intriguing daily routine

at the field and away from the field and i'm not sure so and so orchids of asia that too well just speaking of south florida we had there now i had a game for tonight bob crap might be there baby pops down there right now uh... here's panthers analyst former panther himself bill lindsey how you doing bill yeah i'm doing good i'm i'm amused by the conversation coming in it's uh we're going from a basketball all of a sudden we're getting into the ownership and we've already sold our way to Bob Craft. So yeah, that's fun to listen to.

Oh yeah, you never know what you're going to get. We go down some weird rabbit holes, Billy, that's for sure. Well it's great to have you on. It's great to have you on. You know, obviously from Edmonton's side of things, we've been talking a lot about McDavid, Dry, Subtle, those two. They've got to have a night. You know, we expect them to have a night.

What is the counter on Florida's side? Like when you look at the Panthers and you think, okay, this is the guy or these are the guys that I think will have a big night tonight, where does your head go first? Yeah, that's a great question because it feels like we've got three number one lines that that I think will have a big night tonight. Where does your head go first? Yeah, that's a great question because it feels like we've got three number one lines that can do something different every game and it's been that way throughout the playoffs. One night it's Barkov, the other night it's Kachak's line and then they get Marc Schaend and Lundell and Lluis Serrano and Roland. It's really hard to pick but Barkov doesn't have a point in this series. No games and eventually

the deeper this series goes, the Panthers do want to end up winning the series. Barkov is going to have an impact if he's playing 20 minutes a night on the offensive side. That's one player in specific, if you're looking at Dry Saddle McDavid on the Oilers for the Panthers. Barkov is an important piece of this club. He got Reinhardt with the goal last game. You would like to see Barkov get a goal, of this club. You got Reinhardt with the goal last game. You would like to see Barkov get a goal, get a point, and get a little bit of weight lifted off his shoulders. He's going to continue to do his thing defensively,

but if I'm looking on the Panthers side, I'm looking at Barkov's. Billy, Paul Maurice, I think his nose started growing on the podium the other day where he said he thought this game was going to be more similar to games one and two don't you think while saying that he thought to himself I want my team to make the next game exactly the same as the last one where they limited time and space and just absolutely drove Edmonton nuts yeah they want that then the first couple of games is that we got to it in

the second period a couple of times But throughout the course of the playoffs even last year We were able to step for 40 45 minutes of a game against an opposition that the other team would have spurts But by the end of the game three periods when we're playing that way teams just did not have the ability to stay with us I'd been to have some pushback in game one and two game three there wasn't much much pushback and you're able to just go after them, wear them down and then the kitchen got opened up and started cooking for the Panthers. You saw the retaliation, you saw the big hit on McDavid. The Panthers did their stuff between the whistles when they needed it most.

If I'm the Panthers you have to be wary. The one mantra that's kind of going around that dressing room is it was three nothing games last year and they came back and tied us at three. No matter how great or whatever it looks on film that's one game, two one, it doesn't matter how many goals you win by. So there is some trepidation on the Panthers side just knowing if they get going on the Oilers side they can come out and hurt you very very quickly. But yes last game was very dominant and if you want to continue and you want to win a Stanley Cup it has to be like that. It can't be a sometime thing for the Panthers it has to be an all-time thing. So Billy, a lot of talk throughout the league, especially in a market like us in Toronto

about a guy like Sam Bennett. What do you see from him regular season compared to playoffs? Sounds like if he doesn't sign in Florida, he's going to write himself a big check to go somewhere else. But what do you make of the play of Bennett and what he brings to the table nightly, especially here in the playoffs? He's able to narrow his focus. So the regular season, it's fun, but there's some nights and playing in the league you

understand that all of a sudden back to back nights, the legs aren't there. The game's not that fun. And that just doesn't really help us Sam Bennett He went 22 23 games stretch without a goal this season. That's really hard to imagine when you watch him play in the playoffs So there's some ups and downs and dips during the course of regular season But when he gets four nations healthy scratch and then he comes on and plays the way that he did for Team Canada in the gold medal game once the Once it becomes really focused and hyper intense and engaged, Sam Bennett is, this is where I'm at, this is where I

belong. This is when it matters most. He's a guy that just runs on just a real high, high gasoline, high octane level. It has to be full throttle, it has to be going down, it has to be getting in front of the to be going down. It has to be getting in front of the net, making a nuisance. And that's hard to do for 82 games, but once you hit this postseason and you're kind of just dialed in and locked into that zone, all of a sudden you see the skill that this guy has and the impact that he can have on teams. And yes, he's paid. If he does get that huge contract here or somewhere else he deserves it but he's paid more on what he does at this time of the year compared to the regular season and the

intangibles that he brings to his team the the energy if Sam Bennett's not going a lot of nights our team's not going you can just point at number nine and say yeah our team's flat so that's how much he means that's how important he, and he's an incredibly gifted hockey player that kind of gets lost in all this, but it is really when this playoff hockey gets heated up, it brings out the best in him. Sure does, it sure does. With Bill Lindsay, the same thing applies

with Brad Marchand, you know, like look what he's been doing since he arrived, and Aaron Echblad, I mean, those are the three guys that are unrestricted as of July 1st Where do you see those? Where do you see it going bill? I mean you still got a couple games left to win before they get another cup in them, but Echblad Marchand Bennett, do you think they all return two of them one of them none of them? Where do you see this playing out in the next three weeks?

We got we'll get one or two for sure. I don't know if we get all three. But Bill Zito's got a real interesting way to make some magic happen. And this is a good place to play. Not because of the sunshine anymore, that's a draw. But because of the team and the environment and Mr. Viola and our ownership and I even know talking to Brad Marchand when he came over here from Boston he was really thoroughly impressed with our organization he was like wow how good is this run. So that all plays part of it and if you're happy and Sam Bennett the system that Paul

Maurice runs it's perfect for him it's a T. So if you're Sam Bennett you've got to be looking at if you're going somewhere else that a system that you're going to be able to thrive in and a role and not expected to put up 80, 90 points. He is a 25 goal scorer, a 60 point guy during the regular season. That's kind of what he is. So if you're looking at all those things and you're looking at your Brad Marsh and your Aaron Echblad,

how much money do I want to make? It's a big opportunity and how much do I know that this fit down here in Florida is good and I can thrive in this system and how much is Florida willing to give me? So there will be back and forth and Bill Zito and I'm sure the players and the agents they will have thorough talks and dissect it down to everything. But I believe there's a good chance that Bennett stays. Ekblad would have to really, really depend on the dollar value for Ekblad and term. And then Brad Marchand is a wild card.

I have no idea what would happen there. How cleanly has Seth Jones fit in? I mean, it was a big trade. Obviously, it made sense with Ekblad and the suspension all of that, but it looks like he's found a new lease on life. And obviously you go to Florida, you play with a great team and we all knew he was a great player, but he found a home, but he found another level as well, Billy. Yes he has. Well when you would tear your motivator cuff and you got a little heart lidge tear

in Chicago after all those years, it becomes a little bit tough to play. That's nothing against Chicago but he's in a bad environment. You're losing every day. How does that wear on you mentally? You're an experienced defenseman in this league. It's been a long time. It's hard to play hockey in your own end. 27-28 minutes a night and you're just getting beaten down and it takes a toll. You come over here to South Florida with the Panthers. It's an easy fit. You got Forsling, you got Ekblad and when they're healthy and then he plays with Mikola and you can bring his minutes down to around 23, 24, instead of always 28 every single night,

he still has that capacity in him. But the game has become fun again. And professional athletes, everyone says, yes, you're a professional. He does give all, but there has to be joy behind it. And part of that joy is winning. So you come into the culture, into a locker room, and it's fun to be around, and that kind of helps and his his on ice game is just returned to form and this goes

through all kinds of layers this goes through analytics is it going to fit and they've dug dug deep enough on that it goes through all our pro scouts it goes through all kinds of different layers but before it lands those Edo's the one that says look at this and doesn't make sense and it goes through about five or six change of commands before it gets back to bill zito and says yes this makes sense it will work and that's what they found out in Seth Jones and indeed it had hit a home run and it's the homework in the background in all the layers of support that we have in our organization that makes a lot of these moves that bill

zito makes just kind of fall into place seamlessly Game for tonight. It is a swing game. It's gonna be a fun one. Enjoy it bill. We really appreciate you finding time for us Thank you Yeah, no problem. Have a great day guys. I appreciate it. There's a bill Lindsey former panther player and now panther analyst A lot of passion for that team. You know, he was there for a long time and he's been there for a long time and yeah they listen they're in the driver's seat they got a really good team they seemingly make the right move every single time it's pretty incredible yeah it's incredible but it you know the league is cyclical like there were a

couple years ago that was Tampa and a couple years ago was Vegas that it felt like was just gonna do everything right and be at the forefront of everything. Might be a question for Craig Button to see if there's any such thing as kind of feeling the groove as an executive like a GM like you pull off that Kachak trade and does that give you confidence in a belief in yourself where it's like I'm confident that that guy's gonna come you know you know what I mean as opposed to kind of being a little bit give you confidence and a belief in yourself where it's like I'm confident that that guy's going to come here. You know what I mean? As opposed to kind of being a little bit sheepish where you're like I don't know if that guy's

going to work or this guy's on a heater right now or he's like go and get that guy. He's going to be perfect here. He must be as confident as hell when making a transaction. It's a great point because you're right. There are trades where if you fall flat, you might be a little bit squeamish to make that trade again. You might be a little apprehensive to do that. But that's the one thing.

Some of these managers, they swing for the fences. Bill Zito's not going to hit a thousand. He's going to have some misses or some contracts he doesn't like. But in the end, you can never fault him for swinging for the fences. This guy's, you know, they won the president's trophy, he was changing players out and key players like they just felt like they... And coaches too, yeah. And coaches like this is the difference where you've got a manager who's proactive but you're

right it could come back to confidence though where you hit a home run and you go, okay I'm gonna try it again I'm gonna be aggressive where if you've missed on a few You might be a little bit more apprehensive a little gun shy to pull the trigger on something that you have might have cooking You know, it's it's yeah. Listen, he's gotta be feeling it right now Like it seems like everything just now these are really good players set Jones a really good player. The issue was the contract Um, Brad Marsh and is a great player, you know, they just they had to pay a price to go get them No one else wanted to do that. I guess I don't think the issue was the contract

I think the the blackhawks were just so bad around him It's like then the contract came if you're if you're talking about the chicago side of things. They were just so trashed It's like well, what are we going to do with this guy now? That team's been... Yeah, they're horrendous. But he was making a lot of money. He's a second pair of defensemen there right now, making a lot of money. Yeah, I mean, I think Chicago ate some of it, but still, it's a lot of money.

The thing is, too, it's a big swing. You got to be confident that this guy is going to find his game again. That he's not going to play like he did in Chicago or what it was like in Columbus. I think he's a really good player. He needed the right scenario. It's a big gamble because I guarantee you their scouting staff watched them probably night after night to go This can this guy fit into our system? Can he skate still can you you know is he motivated? Is he in shape you got to dig into all these things that you know you're watching them in Chicago lose 6-1

On a night against Winnipeg or something on a Tuesday night You're going this guy was minus 3 and he didn't look like he enjoyed hockey and once you get him There's no flipping them the next time you know exactly like you play the card once So you better have your due diligence done because if you get them This Kate Jones, and he is just kind of not doesn't have it isn't gonna give it doesn't fit in you're stuck It's no flipping them again. You know he waved to go there. He's not gonna move again Make it seven sorry just looking it up, making seven there. So it's not a bad price for a guy.

For another what, four or five years I think? There's still a lot of term left. Five years of term, 25, 26 right through to 29, 30, 7 million a year. So there you go, if he's playing like this and insulated, it's definitely a very valuable contract. Frankie Carado coming up, overdrive continues, TSN 1050N on TSN2. But prescription sunglasses from Pearl Vision? That's a huge yes. They're a must have for enjoying the sun in style. Choose from designer frames like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Michael Kors, and more. Arrange an eye exam at pearlvision.ca and get 40% off lenses. Some restrictions and exclusions may apply. See participating stores for details.

All right, coverage of the US Open on overdrive brought to you by Subaru and JJ spawned bogey free at Oakmont is outstanding. This is the 10th time this course has hosted the US Open and that's only the 8th time someone has been bogey freeing around. That's how good he played. And he had a big swing. His first hole of the day I believe he was great like he was close to the pin but in the junk where he could have just skanked it over the green he could have

done all kinds and he chipped it in for a birdie like that's how you start your day everything was going his way to yeah yeah but now look at your boys sung JM he's in the clubhouse at four under sung J is out there and he's playing well and Scottie Scheffler is making the turn and he's two over. So a lot of the best players, DeShamba was three over today, McElroy four over, refused to speak with the media again. Are you serious? Yeah, it's not enough.

Yeah, McElroy said, I'm out of here. No, thank you. And basically if he plays poorly, he just doesn't talk. Something's going on with him though. I'm telling you man. Or he just doesn't talk something's going on with him though telling you or he just doesn't he's just not playing Well, you know like it maybe it is something going on or he stinks right now and he's just being a baby You know like it's that's there's also potential for that. That's it. That is I only talk when I shoot 68, right? Exactly, which again, I just have no time for you know

and I get there's a lot going on in the world of golf and he's been bent out of shape about a few different things And and he generally speaks and speaks well and eloquently and gives honest deep answers It was very compelling guys easy got a root for it just it stinks that it's like at the PGA You weren't any good. So he didn't talk now at the US open You have a brutal back nine you shoot four over and you decide I'm out of here You don't speak again. Like what's the explanation other than you're just not playing well and You're kind of being a baby about it, you know, exactly like There's no mandate though, right? No, that's that's it in golf and and in other sports like there's been other

Players on teams that just say I'm not doing it you know tells the PR guy go out and you tell them I'm not coming out. This is the loser attitude though Hayes like you would think he's got like I'd love to hear him stand up in front of a mic and say you know what today's plus four that's not that good but if I can get it to plus two and make the cut I like my chances over the weekend. Absolutely. Which would be true.

100% true. But it's almost like in his head he's like, oh I'm plus four, I'm out of this so screw it I'm going to just absolutely hack and slash tomorrow and I'm gone. What was our Jerry's on him making the cut, didn't we? Wasn't high. Was it yesterday? Yeah. Well I think Hayes, you had him missing the cut. I had him missing the cut.

Oh you said he was making the cut and I was somewhere in between. I believe. They still going to be, like the cut line I was somewhere in between I believe they still gonna be like the cut Line probably is gonna be like four over or something like that for fun over for fun Yeah So he's a hundred percent in it But his group was a mess Shane Lowry is another guy the two of these feet off two of them feed off each other with Negative energy because he was eight over seven or eight over today And at one point he picked up a mike boom i think on the course of chucked it like

he was bent out of shape was some might go that was too close to them memory didn't get that ruling at the pg eight where's ball was plugged in then they made a lot of you have to know that was a ridiculous i was ridiculous all was buried into the fairway it's yes that's not even that that's beyond ridiculous right totally agree but he he runs hot you know there's certain guys that they've run hot so yeah what will keep track in this in rex hoggard

coming up later this afternoon coverage of the u.s. open overdrive brought to buy super had your local super dealer for lease rates from one point nine nine percent for twenty nine twenty four months on select models cd or dealer for lease rates from 1.99% for 24 months on select models. See dealer for details. The oilers, you know, they were around this morning, spoke this morning. I don't think yesterday's activities were brought up much. I didn't see much.

I didn't see much on it. I thought the heaters were coming today though. I mean, I feel like they just kind of were like, nah, whatever. Yeah. Guys, at the end of the day, maybe it was just one of those things. And it's the guys that just needed something or wanted a nugget that went to the rink

and drove 35 minutes that said, these guys have the idea. But at the end of the day, maybe it just wasn't that big a damn deal. Well, I can understand where the oilers would be coming. They're trying to win. Their only priority is to win. They're thinking, my guys need this my guys need that you know if you do it and then you apologize later and they'll smooth it

over sorry about that misunderstanding ultimately it it's not the biggest deal but it was a story uh... and actually i wouldn't expect oiler fans to care about it we addressed that yesterday of course oiler fans don't care they want their players insulated and their players propped up and feeling great. Well, they want their players to play better. That's the thing.

That's another funny thing about it. Exactly. Like attacking media for the audacity of saying, I wouldn't mind speaking to these guys. How about talk about your own players and how they no showed a game in the Cubs final? Go ask that story to be developed more. All right. Frankie Corrado coming up in the next hour, Rex Hoggard later this afternoon, Drex coming up too, Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 2.

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