OverDrive - OverDrive - March 18th, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the Canadiens' season turnaround, the Senators' red-hot run and Max Domi making a mark with the Maple Leafs. The guys go around the sports world in the latest edition of Confirm or Deny and Toronto's victory against Calgary.

And you're all set! Enjoy your new phone on Bell! Thanks! Whoa! What is happening? What is this feeling? Are you feeling giddy and bouncing with energy? Yes! Yeah, I like to call that new phone vibes. It's that time of year at Bell. It's so good! Get in on those new phone vibes. Switch to Bell, Canada's fastest 5G plus network, and save over a thousand dollars on amazing phones with eligible trade-in. Visit a Bell store or Bell.ca slash spring for details.

Bell, getting a new phone just got better. Hour two overdrive continues powered by FanDuel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Hays, the old Jeff O'Neil, Dave Fest, Chuck of the Toronto Star. Confirmed with Deny later in the hour. Mike Johnson coming up from Montreal. That's where Noodles is as well tonight yet games on the ottawa side of things on tsn and on the montreal side of things on tsn tonight so i was in the in between the benches tonight

is johnny get that role does i don't think they actually do that in montreal but surely do go but the party is always kind of he's in there basically on the habs bench okay so mark Denny maybe gets he gets like he gets what he wants That's his his roaming area and no one else comes close but big game in Montreal tonight as Ottawa's been red-hot like they have been red red hot right now and the season series though as we can see up here on TSN for Ottawa is 0- 2 against the Habs this year and Montreal's

picked up some big wins recently and if they get a win tonight they will leap frog into that second wild card spot. Rangers in action tonight I guess as well against Calgary so kind of feel good about New York picking up two points tonight but definitely a bigger game for the Habs Because you know they're trying to get into it where Ottawa has banked so many points recently and it's looked pretty good And I think feels pretty confident about their game. This is one where Montreal's got to keep proving that they can keep pace But I'm looking forward to this. It should be a great game tonight It's got to be fun for the Sens like for management and Steve Steyos and Dave Poole

and everybody to see their players kind of mature and be like, it's not about individual points or being a young, talented guy. They just, they've had a bunch of things, like even that third pairing, like that third defense pairing they got with Cleven, and I can't pronounce the other guy's name, But it's like they're big and they're physical and they just got a bunch of things going right for them You couldn't be happier for the sense. Yeah fan base deserves it more Well, and the Dylan Cousins deal has worked out brilliantly so far it is early and this is a long-term play They got him on term for a long time and they they flipped Norris who's a good young player But you look at the stats Cousins is really driving play since he's arrived

and that's you know it's kind of been a theme of the show today these one two punches up the middle of the ice Stutzla is gonna do what he's doing and that top line is really working well he and Kichuk have a great connection and Giroud but you're right like all of a sudden you bring in Cousins I think David Perron's a big part of this too. He had first half of the season, he had a lot of stuff going on in his personal life and injuries and he just, he couldn't find the role.

Remember we interviewed him after he signed in auto. It was a great interview and really inspiring guy. Like he's been around the block. He's won a cup. Dude, he's been around forever. For a long, long time. And like just a really really good player and He's a depth piece there and that allows Bathurst and to be a depth depth piece and it really comes down to depth

You know, like what do you what are you gonna get out of your whole lineup? And Ottawa has proven really top the bottom that everything's working for them and all marks been really good in that I think it's trending. I think the league is I I think you watch the Four Nations and you watch what's winning, like seems like big and physical kind of cycles back in where it's like if you don't want to kind of do that or look like that or play like that, don't have a chance. Like you saw some really good players at that Four Nations Cup that just, they were not out there they were physically out there but they just they weren't a factor at all

yeah just pushed around and and not that couldn't get the park like just it's a big physical game and if you think there's any other way to do it obviously the skill level you gotta have good players that can make plays but they have to be able to do it in that environment And if you can't do it in that environment, man, you're useless. Yeah, you you'll get your cookies during the year But I don't know it's a different animal it is and that's just been the history of the sport that come last time it when the Emotion ramps up and the whistles go away and the ice shrinks and everyone's moving and everyone's checking and everyone's paying attention to detail it is a very grueling sport like it's a very difficult sport to have success. I've said it since I

started working at TSN of all of the major sports you have to agree that the NHL is the one that come playoff time is a completely different game than what it is during the regular season. Baseball same game a completely different game than what it is during the regular season. Baseball, same game. You can't really change it. It's more intense, you know. But basketball, maybe it's more intense, but like hockey turns into an absolute war zone

out there. Yeah, it does. I mean, there's different strategies that ramp up in different, you know, in baseball, they're going to go to the bullpen quicker and the NBA they're going to defend harder. Whistles maybe go away. It's more difficult to get inside the paint. You know, there's a number of different things, but you're right. I mean hockey is, it's a flip that just gets switched. Yeah. How many games in the last five years in the regular season have you watched where

you're like, is anyone even like trying out there? Yeah. Playoff start warzone go time yeah go time and it's not gonna be any different in a month you know a month from now this is what's coming so this would be a big one at the Bell Center tonight big one on TSN in Ottawa TSN in Montreal noodles is out there so is Johnny here's Mike Johnson or TSN hockey analyst joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline What's the buzz like in? Montreal for this game tonight

It's legit guys. It's legit It's been a you know It's been a long time since Montreal has sort of felt like they are playing for something and all the players even Marty San Luis said on Saturday night, they beat Florida really good game played really well And there was like a standing ovation during the commercial break with six minutes left in the game. Even Marty said I had to almost look up and soak it in. It was just that sort of, the city's neat. Like when they get behind an event,

when they get behind their team, they kind of bring up an energy like almost like nowhere else in the league. And that's sort of the vibe. Like walking around town, you can feel it, you can sense it. Montreal could be in the league and that's sort of the vibe like walking around town you can feel it you could sense it Montreal could be in the playoffs if they win tonight They're going against the other best team in the league since the four nations gonna give me a fun one Yeah, it's gonna be a great game tonight And I think it's it's definitely a bigger game for Montreal because of a point difference the fact that they're at home

Ottawa's been on fire Ottawa. They might hit a wall at some point. You know, I think they've won six in a row and they've had some really signature wins. But this feels like one tonight, and I think it says something about Ottawa at the same time, Johnny, that this would be somewhat of a signature win for Montreal because of how well Ottawa has been playing. And I think that's the ultimate compliment that the Habs realized they're in for a test tonight. But where are you in terms of these two teams making the playoffs you know I I feel like Ottawa's in a very good spot oh you were saying that yesterday I think most people feel that way making it making the playoffs what about Montreal

like we're still we got 15 16 games to go how would you handicap their chances of getting in yeah so just for the record, I checked the playoff percentages on our favorite Money Puck. They had the Sens at 97. Wow. I had no, I would have said 78. Yes.

You know, my mind, like, without things going normal, 97. So they're likely, more than likely to get in there. For the Habs, you know, the teams around them are sort of stumbling and I think that's part of the equation when, you know, do you trust Columbus to go on a big run, the Rangers, the Bruins, the Islanders?

No, I mean, I think if any team in the last 16 games go 10 and six, you're in. Nine and seven, you're probably in. Montreal's got games in hand on those teams. My concerns for the Canadians would be They're getting carried by their number one line, which is awesome. They're playing spectacularly well and Caulfield Suzuki and Slavkovsky Their goaltender obviously took the break and playing at the more being around the four nations come back. He's been really really good They're still not getting a lot of scoring outside of their top guys, which can be a bit of a problem.

But I'd say right now it's probably 33% chance, mini Jerry's, that they get in with all the other teams around them. You know, it's a bit of a toss up because they are competing with four or five teams, but they're in a very good spot by points percentage. They're in the playoffs right now. And there's a, you get around the team, you get around Marty Sanlui, there's a belief that they can do it, which is something that's probably you need to have, at least as a starting point, to get there. Johnny, you do a bunch of Sens game along with Noodles. What is it that's allowed them to turn the corner? I think you've got to give a lot of credit to Greenie.

I think they've realized that they have to check and that's an imperative part of the game to move forward is it just development or they just realize like what is it they just say what we're doing in the past was nonsense let's fix this or can you pinpoint a couple things that have helped them turn the corner yeah i think they're sort of lumped into one oh you start with trav the coach and recognizing like he has to teach them how to play defense. Yes, this is the NHL and you're not supposed to be getting taught things, but he had to teach them angles, lanes, positioning, siding, all that stuff that they still work on every

day to remind the players who had a few years of not great habits drilled down that they have to change them. So that's on Travis and the coaching staff and they've done a really good job. But also the players I think had gotten to the point now where they knew they needed to change. And that's not every team would get to that point. They've all made a ton of money.

They're all very successful financially on the ice, points, all the rest. But I think as a group, oh, they sort of said said yeah, we're not good enough like we're good players But we're not nearly good enough to do anything we need to change We need to listen to our coaching staff and do what they tell us and if you could be I think they are eighth or ninth In the whole league it's sort of like a lot of defensive metric expected goals against chances against all the rest You give yourself a chance and even though they haven't scored a bunch this year, which is probably why they keep winning right now,

because they are scoring throughout their lineup after the Cousins trade, but they give themselves a foundation if they get good goal-tending, and when Olmark has been healthy, he's been good. Start of the year, he was coming off injury, not so good, then got really hot, then got injured, not so good, then is healthy again. He's playing

really well after the break. So I think it really starts with the kind of the structure of the defense, which started with the coaches, but then the players embraced the idea that they needed to change to improve, to have a chance. And now they do and they play hard. I guess that's the other sort of compliment to them. They play kind of a harder game. They make it sort of unpleasant, led by their captain, of course. But it's a harder game They did make it sort of unpleasant led by their captain of course But you know it's a physical game when you play against them not a lot comes easy, which is hard to do For 82 games, but they've done a good job of it you talk about coaches and structure MJ and there have been moments this season where I remember on this show. There's been open kind of questioning of

show there's been open kind of questioning of martin san louis and how he was coaching this habs team were they playing with me requisite structure did you know what he was doing a guy whose previous coaching resume mostly included minor hockey with his son that was a lot from haze fast talk ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha uh... needs a i can recall i can recall lots of commentary on all of our plea guilty to awful. I think a couple things have changed, Fest. One is he was using this sort of like swarm defensive zone system and guys just had no idea of what exactly he was looking for them to do or they weren't quite able to execute it even if they did understand and he's pulled back on that. So they were, they were like activating three guys into the corner in their own end all the time. And you know, you have the players who weren't winning

battles and the guy be standing up front by himself. Like this doesn't seem like a good idea and it wasn't. So I think he's, he's pulled back on that. Um, and then it's, I'm a little bit more passive. Plus the players have gotten better with it. Um, you know, I think that they've, uh they've figured out sort of their lineup a little bit more and identity, when guys can sort of embrace defensive roles when they can. Kirby Dock, and I'm not happy that he's injured, was having a tough year at the beginning of the year,

sort of defensively coming off an injury, and he was down like 30% expected goals for like two months. When either second line center are running those numbers, it's impossible to look like you know what you're doing. He was down like 30% expected goals for like two months. When he's your second line center running those numbers, it's impossible to look like you know what you're doing. So I think that's changed and their goal center's been good. So he's grown, the team's grown. When you're around Marty, he's really smart. It's not like he can't think of good ideas.

He can't see that his idea might not be working and then pivot on the fly. He can figure out solutions for his talent level, whatever they might be. And he's done a pretty good job of that. They've had some growth. There's still some holes in their lineup, but I do think they just sort of settled things down

because Hayes, you're not a fraud. You're right. They were horrific the first two months. Awful. Awful. And the players were talking about like, we don't really understand what we're doing and it looked that way and but they cleaned that up because they've gone a little bit more passive from it and then just the players have sort of executed it better. Yeah. I think appropriate assessment and appropriate analysis is what happened earlier in the year and I want that on the record that that was appropriate at the time and listen I can shift with the times I'm proud of the Habs like the Habs are playing I'm sure

they're very happy to hear that from me I'm sure that that's very important you know I'll get one guy I'll give credit is is noodles because he comes up with a tip a couple teams a year we're at the beginning of the year we're like sorry noodles that's just not happening and he he said from day one, I think they're going to be playing meaningful games. And they're a mid 80s team and they're our high 80s and they're going to be playing meaningful games. And he said, I'm not going to make any guarantees, but he never left the stance. No, he always, he always felt strong on that. He never left the stance. And he was, we even want to say them out your habs to one pal like they were a car that you were awful

early in the year and he's so yes i've heard that he could stick with that and i thought before the year and even felt more can convince of it at they were going to be a lot worse to t these yes and in november that was that that's exactly where they were trending here's another thing that noodles hammer and the only reason we're pumping a style is because he's not here Yes, Tampa Bay, but here here's what he's been saying now He's been throwing this mud at the wall for years and it never stuck in the past, but he has been saying This is not a division that's gonna have a team finished with 115 points or 120 points

And then the second place team has 112. He said everything's gonna shrink and he's absolutely right because the winner of the Atlantic is probably gonna have about a hundred and five points give or take. Like that's what they're on pace for. This isn't you know like Florida last year had 112 or 114 I think Boston had 110 or whatever it was. Two years ago we know what Boston did. 60 wins out of Tampa back in 2019. Like there were always the three or four teams that just dominated and everyone else was horrendous. And Noodles absolutely nailed

that one because you're going to get now outside of Buffalo basically. Seven teams with 20 points probably right, right? 105 to 85? That's right. Yeah. Three points gap per team. That's tight. That's a weekend swing one way or the other. And I guess, now, Noodle might have been right about that, but if you say it every year,

eventually it's going to happen. Yes. We've been waiting five years for this to happen. And it finally has where Boston has dropped and Tampa has dropped and Toronto has dropped and Detroit has gotten better Ottawa's gotten better Montreal has gotten better. So yeah, it absolutely is that and you know like Ottawa to their credit now, you don't want to be too big for your britches, but like If you're asked Ottawa, hey great news about Columbus. They're like we're more interested in what Tampa's doing

Yeah, like they're looking ahead They're looking at Toronto winning last night saying, shoot, like we want Toronto to lose cause we were four points behind them. Like that's where they're thinking about, like let's get to third place. Let's get to second place. They're seven up.

They're closer to, I don't know what the stands right now. I think they are as close basically to first in the division as they are to missing the playoffs. So like they're comfortably in and they're thinking about what's ahead of them which is which is a good spot to be. Absolutely. Yeah and even within their division like Buffalo's an outsider clearly but their Tampa or Ottawa's eight points up on Boston and they're eight points behind Florida. So in terms of the you know

seventh place team in the first place team they're they're right in the middle of both and if they went tonight they're that much closer Florida. So in terms of the seventh place team and the first place team, they're right in the middle of both. And if they went tonight, they're that much closer to the guys at the top. The Leeds did manage to win last night and they played very well. Like that's the most complete game they played in a long time.

Calgary had no shot. They came out flying. Their special teams were hot. Matthew scores two. Power play goes three for three. And Max Domi's been a big part of it too and I'm curious you know we've had this Max Domi chat a lot in terms of where he fits and he felt like somewhat of a nomad within the lineup like should

he play center does he play wing who can he play with where's he gonna be comfortable if he plays with the energy that he's played over the last you know week or two that should allow Borube to be comfortable sliding him in somewhere where you know he's gonna make an impact on this team. And that's gotta be a positive, right? Like they may still have to play the wing, maybe play center, who knows. But if he plays closer to what we've seen out of him last night, the game against Florida last week, it's been a dreadful season for him, offensively in particular. But if he can rise down the stretch and into the playoffs, he has the ability to

impact the way this team is going to perform. Yeah and he has a history of being good in the playoffs, in his crunch moments, right? Remember last year he was like a pointy game player the last 20 years in the playoffs. I think he had four points in the playoffs, which you know know pretty good for Toronto standards. You're not looking for a ton you're just looking for something and it's not the funny part about his conversation is that it's never about is he talented. Like he sort of knows that he's good like he's a good passer he's got good vision. He's fast he could be strong we know he's tough. He can shoot like he's got the bucket of skills it's just sort of like where can he best apply them and I mean I think center is good for him because it makes him a skate and he's a good skater maybe

sometimes not so good for him because he's not the best defensively but yeah I think he's gotten a lot better that to his credit and if you were to design the team I think you know, you take away whatever they pay for Scott Lawton if you think, well, they pay the first round, he's got to play higher up. But if you looked at the lineup last night, that's pretty close to what, you know, other than Holmberg maybe being a little bit higher than they would, you know, maybe they'd like a little more polish in that spot. I think Craig Brubbe likes the idea of that line. He like, he's gone back to that

McMahon, Dolby, Robertson line. You know, you're gonna, you're gonna shelter them. You're gonna get them third pair defensive minutes and trust that their speed can make things happen. And when it does, they're a different team. When that line goes, it hasn't happened much guys. It's been like, what, 10 games this year where they've sort of been impactful.

But when they do it's a different team because they offer something in speed that the Leafs need. The Leafs are not a fast skating team. That's a fast skating trio. I bet that's the fastest line they have of the four they rolled out last night. And when they could play like that and make plays off the rush and you know pressure the puck and finish the team looks different. So I give Max credit, he's sort of never touted publicly,

although you know it's bothered him, it's his stats and his lack of goals. Just keeps grinding away at it. But he would say maybe this is his time of year. Like, and once you do it a few year days, you kind of get a pass for 50 games. Like, that's okay, Max will be there when it matters most.

So he goes on a strong finish, plays well in the playoffs or however long it lasts. Maybe he's one of those guys you sort of tolerate less great, less than great production in the regular season because you trust that it's got to come when it matters most. Johnny, along with many Jerry's, we also do a little thing called underpants cam. Where do you think Nick Robertson was as far as that element when Morgan Frost put that puck into the net and he was sitting in the penalty box for the second time? The first one was idiotic. What was that about, O?

Can you give me any explanation with the slapper? What was that? If I know myself as a coach, as soon as he took the slap shothot i would have said go just go take your your often going to dress here the whistle again i know it was just so stupid like that was like a p we play but could you give me do you would you try to pay i didn't hear it where you try to stir it up and walk possibly what you think you when you did that i have no idea uh... i've i don't know you i mean it was a good like two seconds after the was

written by everyone else on the top and he can't say he didn't hear the whistle like everybody heard the whistle so don't worry about stopping your spray beat and then the day the other one you know care less thick he was triple the pen is what i want to be aware that whatever he has a huge impetuous aside it was all of the double blowout. It was terrible Whatever the worst is that's what it was to the point where I'm watching I'm thinking Not only might he not play again tonight

Play next game. I'm not gonna say never but he's not playing next game either. You just played yourself out of the lineup Oh, yeah, yeah because okay, and I and when I'm down within the benches, oh, you can feel how badly he wants to do well. Oh yeah. And I think he hurts himself because he wants it so bad. Like he wants to score and he wants to make plays and he's always trying to do everything

just a trillion miles an hour, as hard as he possibly can. And sometimes I'm like, you just gotta take a breath. And I know it's hard because you put a lot of pressure on yourself, you're trying to find your role in a good team and you think you can score and you're not scoring and all the rest. But sometimes I just think, if you just breathe,

just relax, doesn't mean don't try, but just stop ripping it so tight. And I think that's where these penalties come from because he's trying to be so Do everything and it's almost better off. He we just relaxed a little bit, but he would have been feeling Incredibly rough because he would know it'd be that's it like he's gone here comes You know they're gonna put somebody else on there Laurence they're but Lawton on there We're gonna play three lines, and that's it for me. But fortunately, you know, the team played well,

his line played well, he may have bought himself another game because they didn't score when he was in there. Well, I think ultimately, MJ, you can talk a lot about Nick Robertson's kind of dicey situation, and he's been like that for a long time here in Toronto, but the bottom line is, as Brad Treeliving has said multiple times, the Leafs need him to be a good player. Like he's essential to them being their best.

Blake plays that style. I mean he can move and he can skate and yeah we'll see if he ends up playing though. There's potential to be a difference maker. There was a game, I believe it was game six or seven where nick paul for the tampa bay lightning had a couple goals it wasn't stamp coast it wasn't cooter off instead there could be a game yeah it was game seven there could be some kind of game where you need a couple nick robertson goals

as crazy as that's a little of doing it it's not just as you know that is a lorenz to do it is not a goal scorer it you know robertson is a guy if you get him alone in the slot, he knows what he's doing. He literally did it last night, we saw it. Like he's a guy that can read a play and he can get a stick on a puck with some mustard on it and put it in the right place. So he's just got to smarten up. He's got to make sure he doesn't put himself in the dog house.

Basically between now and the end of the year. When Morgan Frost put that puck in the net, I'm like, now you know you're working frost but that pocket that i'm like you might never see that guy again yeah it was trouble him i don't live with her ticket that was a problem uh... there was a problem but he survived and only survived uh... right have sense tonight enjoyed say hi to noodles for us and uh... will do it again later in the week

and i'm sorry that there is mike johnson rts and hockey analysts joining us in the maple toy It's time, tell ya goodnight. There he is, Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst. Joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline, drive the built-in Canada fuel-efficient, fun to drive Toyota RAV4, gas or hybrid models available. Visit mapletoyota.com. Confirm with Deny coming up. And Steve Phillips in about an hour. We got Steve Phillips coming up with Major League Baseball

starting today over at the Tokyo Dome. The Dodgers beat the Cubs today. And Karlo Kuljakova, first up, will be in studio at 6 o'clock as well. Coco is doing a panel tonight for the Habs-Sens game. So Karlo will join us on the Leafs, the Habs, Malkin versus Dry-Settle, where Messier factors into all that. A lot of things are coming together here as we charge forward. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN for I can neither confirm or deny that That this is in fact a signal Austin trades

Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Tuka Rast 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 either confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny. All right, confirm or deny, very simple stuff. Statements are made.

We either confirm them or we deny them. It's very easy. Isn't it just crazy listening to Fergie like how the Leafs back in the day like when Sundeen left they did not just try to rebuild like right off the hop. No can't confirm or deny if we're gonna rebuild. You can neither confirm or deny that. I know you don't want to hear anybody defend JFJ. Uh oh. Uh oh. But. They wouldn't let him. Now, I know you don't want to hear anybody defend JFJ, oh dog.

Uh-oh. But they wouldn't let him. He did say that he proposed to Richard Petty, the CEO at the time, a big rebuild, and Petty said, no way, Jose. We got to keep winning. We got to keep making the playoffs. We're budgeting for the playoffs, JFJ, so get out there and get us into the playoffs. I would quit.

I literally would have quit my job, man. I said, can't do it. Can't do it, man. Richard Petty is an interesting name in the history of this city. Like he was around, when did he get that job? Mid-90s, I guess? Yeah, right when they formed MLSC.

Right, when everyone came together and before they moved into the Eric Canada Center and the Raptors and the Leafs, and then remember the condos were going up like he was at the forefront all that oh yeah and uh he's still pretty prominent in the city like we've had him on the show before he'll do interviews or come on and talk oh yeah great yeah he's an interesting guy he owns like half of a little town out by Windsor called Amherstburg he owns a bookstore he owns a pub he's

building trying to build a hotel out there really we do in his retirement and interesting okay interesting study on half of the town will he just bought off he just bought all the properties wife they bought this quarter basically it's not a very big town yeah i guess not a lot of the before the bookstore in the pub i think are pretty if they could open anchors of the place and uh... that is not a lot of time i'd i'd read the box the the the MLSC the Fergie era

right into where we are now I'd read oh yeah I'd read the behind the scenes of well cuz he had Vince Carter going on on the other side down the hall oh yeah all kinds he's got a lot of crazy stuff going on TFC would have shown up hey went in oh oh wait around that He bought that for like a song. I remember him telling me that story about how he went to New York to talk to the commissioner of MLS, Major League Soccer, about buying a franchise. He stopped by Gary Bettman's office and Gary Bettman laughed at him, said they should give you one of those things for free.

He bought it for like, I think 10 million bucks, maybe a bit more than that. Now they're worth like 500 million. Oh, it's worth a lot of money. I mean, that's only 20 years ago. Yeah. You know, less. Yeah, exactly. And I mean, they hit the ground,

I wouldn't say they hit the ground running. Remember, it was a disaster. We're trying to see the first like handful of years, if not more. Really until, Yeah, took a while. Who wasn't there showed up, Blanket on his name now.

Who was the guy who took over? Laiwiki. Laiwiki, that was Tim Laiwiki. Yeah. And Laiwiki finally said, we gotta go spend some money, we gotta bring in the right pieces. Bez Buchenko showed up and the rest was history. And as Petty likes to say, Laiwiki spent some money and how long did he stick around? Not that long.

There were people in that building that didn't like how much money he was spending. Didn't love how much money was running there are all of anybody in the history of professional sports fired more people than tim my wiki did when he came on the scene yeah everyone was out on every single thousands of people yeah hired i know it was it was actually it's like kinda heartbreaking

but it was understandable in terms of the teams because the leaves the rafters toronto cd all needed to be completely reset and they were all three of them and the three of them have had great success you know for the most part ronald c one i'm a less cup rafters wanted championship police made it back to the playoffs and have been there ever since but uh... you're right my wiki came in with just an accident an axe to grind and

people were on the wrong side of it. Anyway, confirm or deny, here we go. First one, Austin Matthews will score at least 10 goals in his final 15 games of the regular season. 15 games left, he will score at least 10, confirm or deny. I'm gonna deny it and I don't really care if he does or not obviously you want him on form you want him to look or resemble something of what you saw last night but i've said it from the word go and you know this haze i don't care if he gets thirty goals this year thirty five

if it means something different in the playoffs he scored forty fifty sixty almost seventy 35 if it means something different in the playoffs. He scored 40, 50, 60, almost 70. All that matters, all that's left is the playoffs. So if it's just the 30-goal season, I don't care. Just bring in the playoffs and just do what you did last night. Last night was like, it kind of was like, everyone's been positive about it where you're like, wow, that's like, you know, people were sending out out the tweets James Myrtle with the GIF he's back and it's like well that's great he had a great game but where has it been? Yeah and it's

been 65 games, 66 games where it hasn't really been there for the most part. No it hasn't looked like that a whole lot if at all. Well both goals he scored last night like the first one, he did that 50 times last year. That's right. Took a step and went bar down. And it was just. Well, think about just the overall play.

He played like he did last night, probably 60 games last year. He had so many shot attempts and unexpected goals. Yes. Like that game he played last night, he did it 60 times last year, where it's just like all over the ice all over the park and that's he's the guy that sets the set the standard where you watch it you're like he's not close to what he used to do yeah so

okay you're gonna deny it deny it all day where you are well you know i'm gonna confirm it and then i'm gonna play the optimistic card here and say look i agree with oh dog it's not about the goal total and no one's gonna remember this goal total it's not it's not notable no matter what he ends up with right he's not gonna be you know talking about awards and league leads or anything not even team lead yeah for the first time in his career here he's not gonna lead the team of goals exactly I mean it's amazing like that was his third multi-goal game of this season

last year he had 18 multi-goal games and six hat-tricks yeah it's zero hat-tricks this year this time last year 30 more goals it's crazy it's absurd but I think look if he gets 10 in the in the next 15 it won't matter except it'll say he's back to Myrtle's point you know and you know I'm not gonna take one game and say he's back to me that's a little rash because we haven't seen it enough. But what we saw from his hands and to your point, his shot attempts, his, his ability to jump on pucks and pounce in the moment.

We haven't seen enough of that. And if that's what we're going to start seeing, uh, that probably will lead to 10 goals in 15 games. Yeah. I mean, listen, if he's playing on his game, if he's playing the way he's capable of playing 10 and 15 is really a child's play for him. Yeah, like it's expected. 10 and 15 is expected from him.

That's the bar he's set. And I feel it's like Michael Corleone in the Godfather 3. Like every time I think I'm out, this guy, he just, he drags you back in. Because countless times this year, I have been caught saying, I think he's coming alive

This is it. He's gonna chase down dry saddle. He's gonna do it again And then the next ten games he folds offensively and then he shows it again and I'm like, alright, I'm back in And I'm gonna get back in one more time here I'm gonna confirm this because the goalie screwed on Saturday night. That was all mark putting it on a tee Yeah, like that. He didn't create that Allmark screwed it up and gave it to him but still there's something about positive mojo and positive vibes he's still a human he's still an athlete confidence is imperative and if he's gained any over the last couple of games that is significant for him so I'm gonna

confirm it again I'm not saying this isn't 20 goals in 15 games, it's 10 in 15. And these are big games. Alright, Confirm and Deny. Rory McIlroy needs a Masters win to make his career feel complete. 100%. If you look at this guy's record, this isn't an average Joe Blow. Only four guys have won multiple majors, multiple players. Jack Tiger Scotty Rory. He's on a different stratosphere. And ever since he puked away that US Open, you look at his last 10 or 15 events, it's like win, fourth, second, third. He's one of the all-time greats.

And Hayes, you've been to the Masters and you've seen how many dogleg lefts are on that course. I just cannot for the life of me figure out how a guy that hits a 360-yard draw ball can't win that golf tournament, man. I can't for the life of me figure it out. I hear you, man. You can look at the course like through your mind you could see we've all been there And you're like on the first hole. He should be way up on the top deck Yes hitting the sand wedge in his hand the second hole he can hammer it over that bunker

I have a six iron in his hand. It's like eighth hole. He should have a five iron in his hand Yeah, he should be Tiger Woods in that course before they made the change absolutely nine toll right down into the gully where you just hit the wedge out like we could go through the whole course all yeah this guy should be carving it up but he just can't he can't do it or at least he can't do it on Thursday which you know doesn't allow him to do it on Sunday that's been his history at the Masters for the most part there's there's been a problem but i mean look i'd i'm gonna confirm i'm with you dog like this is

he's got a chance to get into that incredibly short list of golfers with the career grand slam tiger jack you know gary player ben hogan gene sarazen but you know worries me is the fact that he goes after that kid takes his phone because the kid the kid in just give me regular now was no no cheap shot was it take the kids phone is what i can't nobody has an answer

because he won't talk about it was stupid he knows he screwed up macro right there you're right but i'm telling you what worries me one more supporters why did you react i agree it was the mention of augusta and twenty eleven and the fact that he had that tournament in his grasp on the 10th tee that's what the kid said he's like a choked like you did at 2011 yeah exactly what he's almost verbatim because Rory hit one into the water hit one wide left I think it was guys the craziest part of the story is the guy

that chirped him is a college guy I understand that but that that that's what makes it sting that much to your point is that that has been hanging over him for 14 years. That's the thing. He had a massive lead on 10T. And he absolutely puked that everywhere. He went like Greg Norman, man. He was hitting it in those little sheds left. He was hitting in places I I've never yeah golf ball

That's the thing like his tee ball on 11 went to a place that no one like that was out We're like there's carts driving around and there's no carts in Augusta Like that thing was so wide left dude on 10. He hit a golf ball. He was his next shot He was in front of a White House. I've never seen a house on that hole yeah ever mean either you're right it's a straight it's straight down it goes down up on 10 and he was in a number talking to I've talked to some of the Augusta caddies about that apparently that the theory is it hit a branch and went it went way left it wasn't like it was a really bad wreckage shades so it was a terrible bad I see okay could have been a decent shot but

anyway well it was a dead pole decent Decent fill is probably rich. If he would have got lucky instead of unlucky. I see. But anyway, the point is, like. Yeah, that one stung him though. To your point, Odog, like I think the only explanation for why he hasn't won at Augusta is that. Yeah. Well, that, you're right, Dave, because that's a reaction where if a guy's saying something about your kids or something. And you know, and then, well, it would almost be like, I get why Rory was like, excuse me, like, you're gonna pay a price for this. Just like you did in 2011 at the Masters,

like for a reaction like that, that cuts deep. That cuts deep. And I think it leads to this because it shouldn't have to be a confirm. The guys won a ton of majors. He's won multiple players. He's won all these tournaments. He's won all around the world. He's one of the DP Tour. He's won up here in Canada multiple times. He's been the face of the Tour here for a while now. He's only 35. He's going to rack up a million wins and all this money. Like you can make a case he's already one of the

10 or 12 greatest players ever like you can make that case. Oh yeah. You can make that case. But it does feel like it's different like with Spieth he needs a PGA I think it is Spieth that it doesn't ring out the same way like the PGA you're like okay go get it at Quail Hollow good for you like that's that would be big then you get the career slam. It still matters. But the Masters is different. Like the PGA, you're like, okay, go get it at Quail Hollow, good for you. Like that's, that would be big. Then you get the career slam. Still matters.

But the Masters is different. It feels different, it looks different, there's more emphasis on it, there's more history to it, you're around forever. Like if you don't win it, Rory may not qualify for it in 10 years. That's the thing. Like that, that's the thing about that tournament, that you need McElroy showing up at Augusta when he's 60 and laughing and joking around and you want to the honorary started honorary star you can't hear that you can't do

it if you don't win it right so you you have to win that you gotta win at the masters and he's had chances i don't know man i i want to see him when i think it'd be the best story going if you could win that this year he is exactly to happen what happened at Sawgrass. Scottie disappears and is not a factor and it just falls into the place where he's in a final group not

with Scottie he's in a final group with Daniel Berger that's what he needs on Sunday at the Masters and he'll smoke his ass. Daniel Berger shrugged. He's a great player but he needs something like that where he's got like He'll smoke his ass. Daniel Berger shrugged. Daniel Berger, it's not disrespecting him. He can play Berger, man. He knew that. Yeah, he's a great player, but he needs something like that where he's got like an, I was just going to say he needs like an eight shot lead because he's already had that once at Augusta. Yeah. But he needs a big lead and I think he's just in a place now where, I don't know, maybe

that loss at Augusta and maybe the choke job at Pinehurst last year. Maybe he's just like, I'm too old to let this affect me now and I can get over it. I'll believe that when I see it, man. Dude, you get him with a five shot lead on the 10th tee at Augusta, I would fly there on a chopper to watch him firsthand. But dude, there is a 30% chance he chokes it away. That's what I'm worried about. Like, many-

Hang on a sec. Many Jerry's, Rory at Augusta this year, final round, five shot lead. Many Jerry's, he closes it out and wins the golf tournament. I mean, you still gotta say like 70%. Five shots is a lot. Yeah, five shots is,

what if it's like two shots? If it's a two shot lead. Two shot, you're looking at 25% Well, you know what he'd have to do is get through the first he'd got he's got to get off 10 t Yeah, cuz if he hawks it on 10 t that guy is gonna spiral out of dude There's all Jordan Spieth had a slam dunk win of the Gus national a few years back He got on the 12 t and absolutely soiled himself Soiled himself he got on the 12th he and absolutely soiled himself the soil himself not the shop what in the water on there before that's that's

what more in our he did when tiger one and i think and i think more in our e had a lead on twelve t proceeded to dunk at least one maybe multiple in the water gave tiger the tournament yeah effectively tiger walked off eleven and so i can win this thank you like thank you frank mullinari and frankly in all in ari had a chunky meat sauce right on the tea

uh... all right rob longley tweeted out a couple hours ago that he caught up with max sure is earlier and sure is that he didn't want to be positive or negative about his bomb he said he said tell me what it means quote its day-to-day it's really stupid but that's what it is and quotes I confirm and deny Max Scherzer will start more games this season then he'll miss then scheduled starts I'm denying it all start I just I got a bad feeling about it and I just think

I don't wanna assume that somebody had malicious thoughts where they kinda knew I just got a bad feeling about it and I just think... I don't want to assume that somebody had malicious thoughts where they kind of knew that their hand was all jacked up. But when he throws out the comment yesterday, well, it's always been like this. It's what's been bothering me. It makes you think, like, did he bluff it on a physical and just not say, ow, when somebody grabbed his hand?

Like, I don't know, I don't get it. And it's scary stuff considering the other pit, didn't they sign another pitcher that failed physical somewhere else? Multiple. Yeah, Hoffman, Hoffman, ah. Now he's a bullpen arm. But.

Dude, how does he fail physicals in other organizations but not with the Jays? So it makes you wonder what the hell's going on. Very valid question. Now those other teams apparently wanted to reset the negotiations but on different terms because they didn't want to give them as much money and I think there were more team options and eventually they were... Regardless Hayes, failing a physical with one organization and not another is bizarre in the world.

Well, it speaks to the Jays were desperate. The Jays, you know, through the first 80% of the offseason were getting destroyed by theirays you know through the first 80% of the off season were getting destroyed by their fans and by the media and by the market and they were in on Soto but not really and then they were in on this guy and in on that guy and everything started falling apart so Hoffman called picked up the phone and called them and said will you give me this deal because those guys are pulling the chute and they said done we're in and Scherzer I'm sure other team I'm sure Boris I believe is his agent called other teams oh yeah what do you can you give him 15 we get in other teams are probably like

we can't give him 15 he's 40 and he hasn't he's barely pitched in two years and the Jays said we'll give you 15 so the Jays were in a position where they felt like they had to make some noise and they had to sign some guy I'm gonna deny to deny this though. I wish it weren't true. I'd love it'd be a great story. I'd love to see a legend like this play for the Jays and give them 25-30 starts. I just very difficult to see that happening. Right? Yeah. It's like, I mean, look, he had nine starts last year, eight starts the year before in Texas. Just like- That's just not even- And now that it's starting this way, where he's already got an injury and he's, as Oogg says it sounds a little shady he doesn't want to

confirm or deny if the injury is positive or negative I mean that Fergie Scherzer went Fergie basically Fergie I don't want to be I don't want to confirm or deny if I'm positive or negative it can either confirm or deny that that's basically what I said to Rob Longley that's not a good sign the shivers yeah it's not a good sign all All right. Carlo Colliacoville coming up. Steve Phillips coming up as well on this and more and confirmed the night after dark overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN for Carlo Colliacoville coming up in studio. Steve Phillips still to come as well. The GM meetings continuing down in Florida. I saw an interesting tweet from Pierre Lebrun that it sounds like

For the Olympic Games They're going to announce the first six players per team in June Kind of like they did with the four nations face off anything different No, not really. No, I don't have the six players. Yes, who was it? It was my car. It was in terms of the six players yes who was it it was mccarr it was mcdavid it was mckinnon mckinnon crossby point and marshall yeah i think the only one that's out is marshall i think the other five are still in like i think you can pretty much guarantee mcdavid mckinnon mccarr crossby point those five are going to be in the question will be is who is that sixth player going to be

could it be bennington could they just put him in and say it's over like we're just put them in he's gonna be one of the three guys doesn't guarantees gonna start but bennington is one of the three that will be fast now would be ball who slides in i think of all the positions you wanna wait as long as possible on gold and there isn't probably yes and Yes and listen he's not you know he's he's he was great for them in the tournament and great in the gold medal game and he's I'd be shocked if

he's not on the team but it's not the equivalent of a Hellebuck or something like that. I don't know Marner, Taves, Morrissey, trying to think of who else another Tampa player like I don't I don't know, Marner, Taves, Morrissey, trying to think of who else. Another Tampa player, like I don't think he can put Sorelli in there as the sixth guy. Like he's, Reinhardt, he didn't have a great tournament. Didn't really do that much, did he? He's a winner.

Sam Bennett, I don't think he would be at that level. He wasn't even in the lineup the first game. I think Taves would be an easy guy to put in there. Like he's automatically going. He's gonna be Macar's partner. Could be that easy could be that simple. See what Karlo has to say on that Steve Phillips coming up as well final hour overdrive continues TSN 1050N on the TSN app. our great nation, one song at a time. This is Justin Bieber. Hi, this is Terry Clark. We are Nickelback. Made in Canada, on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip hop, and when it comes to country,

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