OverDrive - OverDrive - March 20, 2026 - Hour 1 - Jack Armstrong

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

Join Aaron Korolnek and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! They kick things off by discussing Matthew Knies’ injury comments this morning, discuss whether he, along with other key Leafs’ players should be playing the rest of the regular season, and what to direction Toronto is heading towards for the 2026-27 season. TSN Basketball Analyst Jack Armstrong joins the show to discuss the first few days of March Madness, including a fantastic finish from Kentucky’s overtime victory over Santa Clara, Duke’s close call against sixteen seed Siena, how NIL affects the results of the tournament, the Raptors’ matchup against the Nuggets in Denver, and the build of the Los Angeles Lakers with Luka Doncic at the helm.

With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fanduil. Fandu, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score.

Mail it in Friday here on Overdrive, Aaron Kourulnick and Dave Festchuk with you here on TSN 1050. we're up on TSN's YouTube channel in for the usual trio. And Dave, the Maple Leafs, big one tonight. Okay, not so much. They play the Carolina Hurricanes down at the bank. There are 13 games to go. And you think maybe, just maybe, this team would understand that the prudent move would be to appropriately mail it in for the final 13 games.

But apparently that is not the case. And nowhere is that more apparent than with Matthew Nyes this morning at Morningscape. This is a guy who's been dealing with a lower body injury for a very long time, and it does not seem to be improving very much. Why don't we take a listen to Nyes this morning and respond accordingly? For me playing, you know, it's obviously not comfortable playing through it, but it's, you know, everyone's playing through something. I feel like at this time of year, so it's not really an excuse.

But, yeah, if it's not going to get worse, then there's no problem with me playing, then I'm going to play. So Matthew Nyes is one of the key pillars to your organization. The season is over. You're playing out the string. And sure, it can't get any worse. Matthew, it can't get any better either. You're in a position where if you play your cards right,

you absolutely will have a very realistic chance to keep your own first round draft pick. And they continue to play him why. AK, that is an incredibly great question. Thank you. Thank you. First of many, hopefully. And there's no logical answer.

There is no logical answer at all. This is complete insanity as far as I'm concerned. And I just don't understand the rationale behind so many things within this organization. It's not only Matthew. There's a lot of things I am questioning with what's going on behind the scenes. As far as the continuity, the connectivity from top to bottom here, the nice thing seems to be a tipping point of sorts to understand what's going on when it comes to a plan that may or may not be in place.

He should not be playing NHL games. He should be shut down. They should deal with whatever's plaguing him now. So it doesn't linger into the summer and he doesn't need to play out meaningless hockey games for the rest of the season. This just seems like the most obvious thing of all time. I'm with you, AK.

You know, like yesterday they had the fan day, the fan fest down at the bank there. And we learned all kinds of stuff about things we don't need to learn, like the Maple Leafs have dogs. A lot of them. Troy Stetcher's got a fast one. Troy Stetcher's dog is a fast one. the fastest of them all.

Phoebe, the Bernie's Mountain Dog that won the big timed race across the ice. But we know more about the Maple Leaf's dogs than we do about their best prospects in the miners right now. And that is what alarms me. Because where are the Marleys? Where are the freaking Marleys that should be playing tonight? And they're not. Yes. No, no.

Absolutely. And when I speak to the level of disconnect within the organization, I think this is an interesting one. Because, I guess, you could debate. Maybe you want the Leafs. just to give up this first round pick and roll it into 2027 and then, or excuse me, use this first round pick and then you don't have to roll into 2027 and 2028 when they're unprotected to Boston and Philadelphia. But I think everybody around the Toronto media scene based on what we're hearing,

there's no expectation that this is a team that's going down to the studs. Like they are going to try to contend for a playoff spot next year. And if that is the case, then why wouldn't you be doing everything within your power to try to be as bad as possible for the final 13 games. And I should add, I don't think they're any good. I think they're going to get smoked by Carolina tonight. I think they're going to lose to Ottawa tomorrow as well. So it could happen naturally.

But if we've learned anything from the NBA, it's that you need to take advantage of these situations when they arise. And the Leafs are in a position to plummet into the bottom five, give themselves the best chance. There's no guarantee. And Matthew Nyes alone would not necessarily signify, okay, now they're definitely going to lose. but it is absolutely within the best case scenarios for the Toronto Maple Leafs

to lose every single game for the final 13 games. It's just a straight up fact. Yeah. And just imagine how things would change as far as the perception of this hockey club, Dave, if all of a sudden they had Gavin McKenna or Verhof or Stenberg in their organization. Not only would it add an air of intrigue heading into next season, maybe they're not playing for the Leafs, but the point is, oh, you got this cornerstone prospect to go along with Matthews and Neelander

and Nyes and Cowan and your goaltenders. But for whatever reason, they're insistent on continually to play their guys. I would also, in Woll and Stollars, for me, they should be sitting. Yes. There's no reason to play these guys. Actiomov. Welcome to the Toronto Maple Leafs. You just sign a new contract.

Getting gold tonight. I just don't understand what they're thinking here. You're right. Well, we know part of what's gone on here. Part of what's gone on, AK, is this performative tough guy routine they've been doing to try and reclaim their reputations after they became a league-wide laughingstock for not responding in the moment to Radco Goode has taken out their captain for the season, right? So a lot of what's gone on since then has been, watch this, we're tough, watch this, we can be a team just like every other team. We have

togetherness, we have leadership. Do any of us believe it? No, because we saw who they really were when Radco Goody's kneecapped their captain. And we saw who they really were game six when Anthony Stollars called them out for not responding when Mason Marchman ran him, and he just lay there in the crease with Brandon Carlo and Jake McCabe and everybody else on the ice standing there doing nothing until Stollars tipped over the net in a rage, and a rightful rage, we should add. So a big part of what's gone on since that incident has been,

we've got to reclaim our reputation. Forget about that. This is about, to your point, getting the asses. set in hand. You need that first round pick. It's better now than later because guess what? You want to be better. And I think they will be better. There's no way the Leafs are finishing 26th in the NHL next season is. It would require a lot of bad things to happen and it would require a philosophical shift which we don't expect them to have where it's like, okay, let's trade out some guys, let's bring up some young players and give them opportunities or maybe a trade out

a goaltender. We think they're going to try to be competitive next year. And if that's the case, this is the only path forward for the rest of the season for the final 13 games. But when I say connectivity, and I've used that term a number of times today, and I think it's appropriate, I don't think Tree Living has any idea what his future is. I don't think Brube has any idea with his future is. This is on Pelly to send the edict down. I know I'm going to be here. We're evaluating everything at the end of the season.

Here's what we're doing. Here's the plan going forward. I don't know what your deal is, Brad or Craig. We'll figure that out in a couple of weeks, but we're losing these hockey games. that is what is most important for the future of our organization. And I truly believe it's an indisputable fact. It's a great point, AK, it's a really great point. I do think it has to go above the head of the guys whose job security is in question.

It has to go above the head of the guys who got you into this mess this season. And it's a big mess. Yeah. And you know what? It would make things better, not only for the tank. Obviously, right now they're seventh worst in the league. They've got a 6.5% chance of winning the lottery. Hey, the Islanders won it last year with a 3.5%.

Got to give yourself the most lottery balls, you do. You got to. You got to sink deeper ideally. But on top of that, it's a dual benefit. To your point, you just signed Actiumov to a three-year entry-level deal. Get him in an NHL net. He's played one NHL game today. Let's see what he's got.

Why not give him more? To your point, you know what? Okay, you brought up Quill and you brought up Bo Greu. That's been great. But what about these other guys that you claim to have got hidden gems? in Borea Valis and Luke Hames, right? You sign these guys. What about the college kids they just signed?

The college guys they just signed. I mean, you've got these guys with the Marleys. Let's see who they are. And why not? It's not as though you're doing something that's unethical to use an NBA term. Everybody in the NBA is talking about unethical tanks, ethical tanks. Matthew Nyes is hurt. Yes.

You know, I remember, I speak to the occasional orthopedic surgeon in my, in my life. line of work talking as a reporter. And you always hear that it can't get any worse. All the orthopedic guys I've ever talked to always say it can always get worse, okay? Yeah, maybe not this injury, but guess what? The fact that you have

that injury can lead to another injury because you're overcompensating. There's no reason why you wouldn't shut this guy down right now other than the vanity of let's win some games so we don't look so stupid anymore, which I think is what is top of mind for Craig Barube. For sure, if I'm Craig Barubei, I'm trying to try out

the best line up there every single night in an effort to regain what little credit or, you know, whatever you want to use where you want to use to describe Rubei going forward here. I think it's very unlikely he's back next year regardless of how the final 13 games play out. But you've got to take that out of his hands. You've got to take it out of tree living's hands. And someone from up top needs to step in and say, Matthew Nyes ain't playing anymore. What are we doing here? I just watch that press conference.

And listen, I have a lot of respect for Matthew Nyes because then there's a lot of people who just shut it down and said, I'm not playing anymore. I'm injured. Like, what are we doing here? And maybe if he was a little bit older and a little bit wiser, perhaps, that would be his move. But he said it himself, a lot of guys are banged up this time of year. That's what you say in the playoffs. At the beginning of the Stanley Cup playoffs, oh, everyone's, no one's at 100%.

Yeah, yeah. But there's no reason why you're playing if you're not at 100% because it's a two-prong thing. One, he makes your team better, although he hasn't had the best of seasons. And two, start his off season earlier. get him back on track as soon as possible, especially considering we saw Austin Matthews, the 12-week recovery, which a lot of people are pointing to,

oh, that's right around the Stanley Cup final. Maybe Matthews could return for that. That ain't happening, people. It's a joke. Who pointed out of that? Someone who maybe doesn't understand the precarious spot the Leaves find themselves in. But I just find that to be very frustrating

and just very confusing overall. And the Nyes situation in particular, and say what you will, about wool and stolars. Those are the only pieces that are given the Leafs, any chance of picking up points here. And listen, I guess the argument against it, you got a home game tonight. You want to feel your best lineup in front of your fans, sure.

You don't want to mess with the hockey gods, sure. But at least tomorrow night against Ottawa, second half of a back-to-back, it's time to start really embracing the tank, which is ultimately the most beneficial outcome for this hockey club. And, you know, to me it's also, it's about future planning. Like, you got to see these Marley's guys in NHL games, because as we all know, there's watching

a HL games and looking at AHL stats is not the same thing as NHL action, right? And so you've got to decide are these guys from the Marley's viable candidates to take the roster spots we're going to need to fill in the

off season? Because guess what? Three agencies pretty thin this year. Pretty thin. And we all know... It's rail thin. There's nobody out there. And we also know they don't have a lot of assets to trade anyways. So how are going to acquire the players they're going to need to fill up this lineup. Guess what? They might have to do it internally.

Here go. It's not just about the tank. It's about freeing up roster spots for the guys that essentially would be auditioning and should be auditioning beginning tonight. Yeah. So Mike Johns is going to join us at 5 o'clock. We'll continue the conversation there. And MJ was part of the broadcast last night for Detroit and Montreal on TSN2. Great win for the wings. Tough loss for the Habs. one because of the place they find themselves in in the Eastern Conference and two everybody else won literally in the Atlantic Division Buffalo, Tampa, Detroit, Ottawa, Boston all win last night which is crazy and it looks Dave like as we bring up the Eastern Conference

standings on TSN's YouTube channel that it might take a hundred points to get in in the Eastern Conference that is the pace at this moment that it could require and in the Western Conference it could be 87 to get in. What a crazy disparity. And I would still say the three best teams in the NHL are in the Western Conference, Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota. But then you might have like nine teams in the Eastern Conference that follow that's real.

Yeah, although you do call into question, like, given the unbalanced schedule, like how good are those Western teams? I think there are six teams in the Atlantic Division that would be in first place in the Pacific Division. Yeah, it's incredible. It's incredible. It really is. And look, it's, it does go to show, you know, not to be an apologist and we're the furthest

things from that. But, you know, that's how tough the Leafs have had it, right? Like the Atlantic divisions, this is true. The Atlantic divisions as tough as it is this year. And the best team for the past three years, Florida has got a one-point advantage on the Leafs. Florida's been terrible. And they're tanking too.

And I know last night they did win in Edmonton and shut out Edmonton, I may add. I have a feeling they're going to get pummeled tonight by Calgary when Bill Zito calls down, hey guys, that's enough. We need to keep that top 10 protected pick that we traded, and we're going to do that, so enough winning. Florida's been embracing it. Brad Marchon, mysterious injury.

Sam Reinhard hasn't been playing. Bobrowski's winning starts. It seems like Florida knows what they're doing with a tank, save last night. We'll see if the leaves can follow suit. It would make so much. I mean, William Nealander, he's had, you know, Oh, take a seat.

He had the pre-Olympic. He had the pre-Olympic grain injury. He went to the Olympics. This has been a crazy year. The condensed schedule. All we've heard is how tough it's been to stay healthy in the NHL this year. There's every reason to say, shut them down. Shut them down, start the offseason early and try and re-resert, recalibrate as quickly as possible.

Because as you say, they're not tearing this thing down to this stuff. They're not. It's not happening. They're not going to be worse next year. I refuse to believe that they are going to at least attempt to be worse. Now, invariably, they could become worse. Weird stuff can happen over the course of an NHL season. We've seen it this year with the Leafs.

And I think they're probably going to finish with the 25th, 26th, 27th, worst record in the league. If this is a team that attempts to be good next year, it's going to be very challenging to be that bad again. It could happen, but at least based on what we're hearing, that is not the plan. And if that's not the plan, there's no

reason not to tank this year. Well, look, I mean, if they don't improve the defense, I'm not sure it's going to be that hard to repeat the performance. Because let's be honest here, this is not a good good defensive core right now. Not in the slightest. I mean, we all know. You get Chris Tannav back. Again, that's what they're going to be telling you in the offseason.

Chris Tannib is going to be healthy. It's going to make a big difference on the back end. But he's 36 years old. I'm well aware, but I'm telling you that's what, that's one of the messages is going to be, we have a new coach, a new vision, a new style of play. It's going to be different next year. Chris Tanev's back. The goalies will be healthy. Austin Matthews, a whole offseason of recovery. He's going to be feeling great. This is what you're going to be pitched. And the thing that I would actually buy, which I don't necessarily, by anything there is a plan that included a top five pick. Oh, we have this Stenberg kid in the organization now. You're like, oh, damn, all right.

Now we're talking. And not only is that good for the team itself, but I also think it would be good for maybe recruiting a coach. Yeah. Oh, all of a sudden, you got a top three pick. Beat the bore. Sure. Maybe he looks at it a little bit differently.

Maybe you're recruiting a new general manager. Oh. Okay, we had no prospects at all, and now we've got one of the best prospects. Interesting. I do think that it's, and again, I still think they're going to lose tonight. I don't see them beating Carolina. I don't. But Joe Wall's starting.

It's been great. Stollars is going to play tomorrow, I think, against Ottawa. Hockey Night in Canada. Who knows, man. Who knows? That's the scary part. I wonder, AK, like, you know, you hate to think people aren't very smart, right? Like, you have to believe that the lease management is aware of the options we are laying out here.

And I'm wondering what the goal to. center in particular. Like, is part of what they're doing here down the stretch when it would make all the sense of the world to get Actaimov in there to get Dennis Hildobie's where NHL starts? Is what they're doing sort of almost trying to do a bit of a late season showcase for their two veteran goalies in the idea, with the idea that you're going to have to trade one of them. Which you probably do have to trade one of them. And maybe you keep Hildaby or maybe you trade Hilder B. I don't know. It depends. Right. But they're showcasing these two guys. That's a case. That's a case they made.

But I do think, what is what is that really going to tell you about what? or Stolar's. I think you pretty much know what they are. Except they're, they're flawed. They have been healthy. They're flawed. And the flaw is that they can't stay healthy

over a prolonged period of time. But when they are playing, save Stolars' first 13 starts of this season, they're really damn good. Yeah. If you look at Stolars' numbers last year, and you compare them to the best goalies this year, he'd be right there statistically.

And he was last year, too. And Joe Wall, the same thing applies. Sorokin's got a 9-14 save percentage this year. And they're talking about him as a Vezina trophy winner, which he might be, that's right around what woolen stolars were last season. So again, that would be the case that they're going to pitch you. But at the same time, is that really in your best interests over the final 13 games?

And it might not matter. That's the reality. This team stinks. They were playing horrible hockey. They had that brief respite over the five points in six games where they didn't play particularly well. But they got a point off Buffalo. They got two points off Anaheim. They beat Minnesota regulation.

That was a big win. Got a shot handling. Yeah. They did. and then you saw the performance against the outers, which was completely lifeless. So we'll see what they've got tonight and tomorrow. But, you know, as long as Woll and Stores are in there,

it's going to be a blowout loss, I don't think, because those goals are really close to the top of their game. Yeah, you're right. They've probably got a really good chance to keep it close. And my point would be late season showcase for guys who've had rougher seasons at times and also injury plague seasons. So maybe that's part of it. I'm just trying to give an answer.

answer to why. I know. Because otherwise it doesn't make sense why you wouldn't have your Marley goalies as your Leaf goalies beginning today. What's David Ayers up to tonight? Yeah, there you go. You can slide him in?

Well, again, we'll talk to MJ just after 5 o'clock when he joins the show. Also happening last night, Buffalo winning again and Columbus winning again. These are the two hottest teams in the NHL, Buffalo and Columbus. And again, Buffalo had a general manager change that seemed to be the catalyst for their turner.

around. Columbus had a coaching change with Rick bonus sliding in there. 17, 2, and 4 are the blue jackets since they fired Eveson and brought in bonus. That's crazy. Incredible. And Buffalo, in their last 40 games, 32, 6, and 2. Like, these two teams, I would not want to play either of them in the postseason. Now, Buffalo's getting in, Columbus, maybe, maybe not. Man, those teams are just wagons at the moment. Yeah. I mean, there's something to be said for a franchise shaking move, right? And there's a reason why coaches get fired so

often in this league and why there was, I think, a really good case to fire Craig Baroube instead of firing Mark Savard in those three days before Christmas when they decided to fire an assistant coach instead of the head coach, just because of the phenomenon of the new coach bump, right? Like, just

changing the air in the room, so to speak, can be enough to turn what looks like a brutal team, and that was the Columbus Blue Jackets into a team that's to your point, one of the hottest in the league, if not the hottest and suddenly looking like it's a playoff contender. I'm not saying what happened with this Leafs team because, you know, it's hard to explain exactly why they've been as bad as they've been.

And I don't like to put it all on Burube, but, you know, the levers you had to pull were very limited. That's it. Especially in a year where Brad Tree Living showed a real limitation in his imagination in terms of doing anything other than, oh, picking up Troy Stetcher's on waivers and a few other minor moves. You know, you can look back and say, would the season have been better if they would have gone to, if they could have got Pete DeBore in December?

Or just, or literally anybody else, a different voice. And that's not to denigrate Craig Brubane, his coaching abilities. I want a Stanley Cup. You can never take that away from him. But you do wonder if they just tried somebody else, if that would have made a difference. And maybe we're talking, again, I don't see the Leafs as a team that even in the most perfect situation with a coach is getting to. 100 points this year with the roster.

Hard to imagine. At the Eastern Conference, it's just a juggernaut this season. And maybe you look at it, kind of shrug your shoulders to say even if everything went perfectly, we probably weren't getting an hundred points anyways, but we'll never know. But again, that's to be the case. The point is, at least you would have known if that was part of the problem.

Yeah. For sure. And again, now you just, now you go into the offseason, just like you're going to be guessing on all these Marley's, you're not playing. You're going to be guessing about what the real effect of a new coach will be. And you could have known. You know, you could have known. You could have made that move in December or January

and at least had some evidence of what that move will be in a season that was otherwise lost. So Ryan Dempster will join the show at 530. We are one week away from the Toronto Blue Jays home opener. I was unable to secure tickets for the standing room only drop that came this afternoon. And, you know, I do. I work at Bell. I don't work at Rogers.

Maybe if I'd hook up over there, you know, pleading to my friends over there. But I don't know. It's going to be a lot of fun. We'll see Kevin Gosman on the hill, but there's definitely a lot of injury concerns with the Blue Jays on the mound, which will detail with Ryan Dempster when he joins the show. Jack Armstrong is going to join us in studio on the other side. Toronto, Denver tonight in Denver, big game for the wraps who won three games in a row in March Madness. How about that Kentucky, half-court heave?

That was unbelievable. And then they win it in overtime. Huge win for the Wildcats. Again, Steve Nash is Santa Clara. I know you and Steve Nash go way back, Dave. So I'm sure he wasn't overly enthused as to how that game played out. No, no. But hey, man, Duke got a scare yesterday from the Siena Saints of...

Jerry McNamara. Yeah. The coach there. Gary Mack from the Mac. The Mac, of course, the not-so-power conference that Jack used to coach in with Niagara. So, and I'm very familiar with it because I used to go to Niagara Games as a kid and watch Jack coach. He was an absolute maniac on the sidelines, but never made the NCAA tournament. and there was his league counterpart, Jerry McNamara,

given John Shire and the Duke Blue Devils the number one overall seat, a hell of a scariest thing. That was something. I was struggling, do I want to support my bracket, or do I want to support Sienna in this crazy upset? Ultimately, I supported my bracket. I got Duke in the Final Four, so team Aaron Coronick. No does everybody, by the way to go, Aaron.

It took the most popular team all the way to the final four. That's Dave Festchuk from the Toronto Star. I'm Aaron Cronin. Jack Armstrong joins us around the table next. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows.

With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. It's playoff time in the NPHL Metropolitan Branch. Allison and Stratroy are still going head to head while Orangeville and Six Nations battle for a spot in the finals. This is playoff hockey. This is the NPHL. Mail it in Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza. Canada's favorite sports bar.

Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side, and a drink, and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast luncher. Your local Boston pizza. Aaron Kournick, Dave Fesschuk, the man that myth of the legend. Jack Armstrong, joined us around the table. I was in Chicago on Wednesday morning, and I'm talking,

and now here you are. And speaking of mail it in, where are Hayes and noodles? and they're probably sweating their brackets. That's my guess. They're in a pub somewhere. Well, they're worried about Santa Clara. I think O'Neill has them to the lead aid, and that probably didn't work out. I had them beat in Kentucky today.

Well, I'm looking at your bracket right here. I have a few exes. A few Xs. How deep do those Xs go? Because there's nothing worse, Jack. You know better than anyone. You can go over one side, another one. You're going all the way to the elite A?

I'm not. You're still in good shape? No, I'm not. Oh, okay. I'm in good shape for the shape I'm in. That's about the extent of it. I love it. I love it.

Well, why do we start with that game today, Kentucky's Santa Clara? I mean, a half-court heave at the buzzer in regulation to tie it up, an overtime win for Kentucky. I mean, that was incredible. Well, it was interesting. Kentucky got a great shot, and then Santa Clara came down. They got a wide open three. And then Herb Sendek, the coach, who was trying to call time out.

I was a little surprise, and it's hard. Again, you're dealing with college players. You know, you're up three. The strategy is, do I give the foul? to prevent the game tying free. And it was just so frantic. They didn't do it. And he was trying to get a time I couldn't do that.

And a guy makes the shot. So, hey, look, if you're Kentucky, you know, I don't think their team, they've had some injuries. I don't think the quality of their team is a Final Four type team, but you've got to beat a Santa Clara. And they did what they had to do. Well, last year, Jack, it was so chalky,

meaning the favorites were winning everything in this tournament. there's been at least a few upsets here. But what do you make of it? Why do you think, like, is this the NIL era where the money is going to win more often than not? And kind of the Cinderella's are going to be fewer and farther between, or how do you see it? Well, it's interesting. You know, you got the, this is the last year of the collective ball and agreement in baseball. And, you know, they're talking about the need for a cap.

And, you know, why do you see some of the better teams in baseball with the higher salary? usually in the playoffs. So there's no cap in college basketball. So I think the mentality of chalk really exists because of the fact that the teams and the schools and the conferences that are most committed are usually going to be there. And the transfer portal, though, is a great equalizer.

And when you're a big level school, you can poach a guy from, you know, the mid-conferences. you're seeing some guys perform on a high level that came from low to mid-major schools, and they're able to pick and select. So it gets really, really hard to have as competitive a tournament as maybe we've had in the past. Jack Armstrong with us here in studio, you're listening and watching overdrive. So Duke almost loses to Sienna. One versus 16.

How much do you think that affects your perception of the Blue Devils going forward? that they were tested to that point by a 16. Well, they got two injuries, you know, two of their starters are out right now, so they're not as good. They're a one seed, but their one seed is based upon the totality of their work from the beginning of the season in November.

But if the eye tests to me, I give, you know, John Shire, their coach, a lot of credit. At halftime, he made an adjustment. They went to a zone against a small team from the Macs, conference in Sienna. And usually when you have the better talent, you want to press, you want to trap, you say, we're just going to physically overwhelm these guys. Instead, they sat back in a zone and just used their length and kind of changed the rhythm

for Sienna. Now, Jerry McNamara, to coach Sienna, didn't use a sub until like eight seconds left in the game. So I thought his guys ran out of gas a little bit. And I thought Duke did a really good job attacking them on the offensive glass. I said, usually when you have talent, you're going to win that battle. Obviously, the Boozer brothers, they're different type players. But nonetheless, when push came to shove, they were the ones that really made the difference for Duke.

Well, we were saying, Jack, you coached in the Mac, the Metro Atlantic Atlantic. The Anna was in our league. Yeah. The piano was in your league. Like, let's put that matchup into some kind of perspective. We know Duke has got a reported salary cap, NIL, outlayer, in the 20-something million. And what do you suppose Sienas would have been? Probably, you know, you might get a little Taco Bell after the game of McDonald's, a Burger King, or something like that.

I had a guy one time when I was a coach at Niagara. We were playing Clemson, and obviously this before NIL, but, you know, Clemsons, and, you know, they were doing some things recruiting wise in football and basketball. So one of my players says, hey, coach, why do I get hooked up like those guys? I said, look, Reggie, if I was going to cheat, I'd sure as hell, get a better player than you. So shut the hell up and be happy on a scholarship. Yeah, enjoy that

taco. He goes, coach, I got you there. So that's about the extent of it, I think. You know, so it's really hard. So it's interesting, you're at a school like a Sienna, and you do a good job recruiting, a good player as a freshman, maybe he stays

one more year and develops into a really good player. That guy's out the door. You know, you got everyone above you that's going to hand the kid a lot of money, and the kid's going to go. So it just changes things so much. So March Maddust coverage continues across TSN all weekend long. We'll be tuning in as soon as this show is over.

We're radio YouTube only today, Jack, because of all the March Madness coverage. Yeah, where YouTube starts. We're like the Brian Bros. Grand Horvad. That's what we are, Dave. So let's focus on the raps tonight. It's on TSN 1050, taking on Denver. Tough test clearly. But you heard R.J. Barrett after the Raptors win against Chicago talking about how he thinks

maybe the team has turned it around and found something that you beat a team like Detroit, which is a huge win. They had Cade Cunningham then and potentially get him back before the end of the season. But just how big of a test you think tonight's game is against Joker and company. That's a big test. You're at altitude, so it's never easy. And they're coming off an embarrassing loss against Memphis the other night, and Yokic didn't play well.

So they have their own issues. And it's interesting. You know, you look at Denver right now. I think they're the fifth of the six. sixth seed, if I'm not mistaken, in the West. And Toronto is the five seed, but you got Atlanta, who's rolling right now right on your back, Orlando, Miami, Philly, Charlotte, 5 through 10 in the east is crazy. I think, you know, Detroit, to your point about Kate Cunningham, as long as he's able to come

back in a few weeks, they'll be fine. They'll hold the fort. I think they'll be able to hold on to the one seed. I don't think if he's out for an extended period of time, they could withstand that because he really makes them go. But I think for the Raptors, I think it's imperative to try to hold on to at least the sixth seed because you get into a playing situation.

You know, you can move fast from 7 to 8 to 9 to 10. And, you know, do you really want to play one of these teams head to head? You know, if you're going to be in the play and you better be a 7 and 8, we have two chances to go. Because if you fall to 9-10, and the Raptors really struggled matching up against Charlotte this year, they swept Atlanta, but Atlanta's a different team.

And the three games that are going to be huge, thank goodness they're all in Toronto. I'm not sure if I should say that because they haven't been a great home court team. They got Orlando next Sunday night at home. Then the following week, right before the season ends, they got Miami on a home back to back on April 7th and 9th. So those three games are going to be, I would say,

tipping point games for the Raptors, not only them, but for the magic and the heat. So they're far from being an assured of a playoff series. They've had a really good year. They're 10 games over 500. They've won 20 road games. They're kind of a strange team at home a little bit. I'm still trying to put my finger on why,

but nonetheless they got their chances to be there, but they got to get a few more of these games on the West Coast. They got Phoenix Sunday as well, which won't be easy. And you'll be with them next week when they hit L.A. to play the Clippers, Jack. The other L.A. team is probably the most talked-about team in the NBA right now, the Lakers. They've won eight in a row coming off a big win last night where Luca gets 60. LeBron gets a triple double. There was a lot of talk when they weren't playing.

as well as they're playing right now that maybe this wouldn't work with LeBron and Luca, not being particularly great defenders. Maybe this team didn't have the kind of wherewithal to be one of the NBA's top teams. As it sits their third seed in the West, how seriously do you take the Lakers? Dave, you know, here's a few things. I think Reeves healthy in the lineup again. You've got to guard him because he can really score. LeBron is LeBron.

and anytime you send two to the war on him, he's just a sensational passer. And DeAndre Aiton, to his credit, to me, has been as professional as he's been in his career in terms of buying in and understanding and humbling himself a little bit in terms of who he is. And we haven't even mentioned Luca yet. Now, you get to him, the guy is just a dynamic, he's got that it factor. He can make any kind of shot. he's cocky, bordering, arrogant, and a great talent. And, you know, a guy that has shown in his career that he can make huge shots back end

of the shot clock. So who do you guard? And do you send two to the ball on him? Because they got other guys, you know, you got Aiton who could score at the rim. And you got Reeves. There's a terrific score. And you got LeBron in big moments who still knows how to make plays. They're a really good team.

And I tell you what, I give J.J. Redick a lot of credit. That's not an easy team to coach. He hired a very experienced coaching staff with him, and he's very secure in his own skin. I mean, he's got Scott Brooks. He's got Nate McMillan, former head coaches on his bench. He's got a guy like Bob Beyer, who's a good friend of mine, who was the head coach at Sienna, has been a longtime NBA assistant. So he's got a lot of guys with him, and that's not an easy group to coach,

because it's ego-driven, and it's a huge market and a lot of pressure. But I think they've handled it really well. I mean, I think Denver and Minnesota is still asleep at teams in the West. Minnesota's been the back-to-back West finals. And, you know, if Denver's healthy, their offensive efficiencies off the charts. I don't like how they're defending right now. And off-the-bench, Jonas Valentunas hasn't been at the level we're accustomed to seeing him play. I thought he'd be better for that.

Jack, great to see you. much for coming by. That's it. Well, we've got to talk with the Sabres briefly here. I mean, how fired up are you for some Sabres playoff? If I'm a GM in the NHL, I'm hiding under my desk right now. Think about you. You whack you whack Kevin Adams.

And I mean, I think they were on a three-game winning street when it happened. And like, so if I'm a GM, I'm like, forget about trading a guy in the room that's a pain in the ass or, you know, firing the coach. Let's just go get the GM. Maybe that'll shake my team up. I can't

figure it out. They don't lose. They never lose. They're playing great. I mean, last night was just a juggernaut. And so I'm thrilled for them. I mean, and I'm thrilled for Lindy Rough. I mean, this is his last kick of the can. Coach of the year right there. He came back, you know, to turn this

thing around and get him in the playoffs. I mean, he's had a great career. I think Lindy's fourth all time and wins is an NHL coach. So I'm happy for him. They got a fun young team and let's see what happens. And we've got to get a few more Canadian teams in the

NHL playoff on what we got, Edmonton, Montreal. They're precarious. Montreal's teetering too. They're far from a long. And who's the third one? There's one more. There isn't really one. There's only two right now. It's only two right now. It doesn't look like it'll be any more than that barring some kind of crazy thing.

Buffalo might be the adopted team. Yeah, we'll take them. Pretty much Canadian. Pretty much again. Close enough. Jack, thanks so much. Oh, that's right. I'm looking at the standings right now. There it is. Ottawa. Ottawa is Ottawa. Ottawa maybe. The Leaves, I don't think I'm making it. No, I think you're, I think you're on a something.

That's a safe bet. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much for coming by. Thank you. Did you work this morning by? No, no, just after. As you can imagine, I woke up this morning, around when I usually wake up. That happens all the time.

And I just sat there for eight hours waiting to get on the air and talk to you. So I'm glad to make this happen. Dave, he just, you know, he works nicer hours than us. Yeah, well, whatever. It's all good. Everyone's happy here. We're all employed. We're all smiling.

Amen to that. Could be a lot worse. Working for a living would be a lot more problematic. That's Jack Arm. Strong here on overdrive. Mike Johnson in about 20 minutes. Ryan Dempster at 530. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless.

Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. It's playoff time in the NPHL Metropolitan Branch. Allison and Strapped Roy are still going head to head while Orangeville and Six Nations battle for a spot in the finals. This is playoff hockey. This

is the NPHL. Mail it in Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree a site and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston

Pizza. Overdrive continues. We are brought to you by Fandall, bringing you more ways to play your game your way. Aaron Rollinick Dave, Feshuck with you here on mail it in Friday. Mike Johnson, about 15 minutes. He'll call in. He called the Red Wings Habs game last night. And Ryan Dempster is well at 5.30 to talk about the Toronto Blue Jays. But I was looking at the odds, Dave, on the Hart Trophy on Fandul during the break.

And look who's creeping up ever so steadily, none other than Nikita Kucherov. And this should surprise no one. The guy is on a precipitous tear right now. seemingly every night he's racking up three plus points, including last night, Tampa beating up on Vancouver. And it's weird because McDavid and the Oilers, I mean, McDavid's having a tremendous season and not taking anything away from him, but the Oilers are not great by any stretch.

Colorado has been an average team since the New Year hit. Celebrini, maybe you can make a case for him if the San Jose sharks get in, but it's looking more and more like a distinct possibility that if Tampa wins the Eastern Conference, difference. Nikita Kuturoff could win the Hart Trophy and I would have no issue with it at all. Guy has been unbelievable for the Lightning. Well, not only could have win the Hart Trophy, he's got a really good chance to win the Art

Rothschild because he's neck and neck with McDavid for the points lead. And yeah, I don't think a lot of people had Tampa being one of the best teams in the East again this year. I don't, I don't know. Like if you go back and look at the preseason prognostications, I think people were sort of sleeping on Tampa a little bit, right? as though their best times of coming gone and, you know, that their Stanley Cup window may be slowly closing here. And Nikita Kutrov is reminding everybody that he is an incredible,

incredible hockey player with an amazing skill set. And, you know, I think also buoyed by the fact that, thanks to the fact that Russia was not involved in the Olympics, he had a nice little point there. We talked about that. Tampa had, you know, both Vasilevsky and Kutrov being central pieces to that team, not having to go to the Olympics. I think that's a considerable advantage.

And Braden Point and Andy Sorrelli. Yeah, not. We're recovering from injuries. They just wanted to go to the Olympics. They came back fresh and we're ready to rock. Those guys have been very good as well. Last night was Kucharov's fourth straight road game with three or more points than that no one has done since Sidney Karasi back in 2006.

So what this guy is doing has been really, really special to watch. We talk about McDavid. And I heard Hayes earlier this week talk about how maybe the dry sidal injury could Boy McDavid right back into the same conversation to win the heart, to win the R. Ross, when it kind of looks like it's had the opposite effect. In that last night, Edmonton shot out by the Florida Panthers. Yeah. Who were one point ahead of the leaps.

Yeah, exactly. And Florida has mailed it in, basically since they returned from the Olympic break. They're sitting guys. Bobrovsky was excellent. And it just looked to me. I watched some of that game last night. And Matthew Kuch kind of uttered the same idea that I had is the Florida Panthers really want to beat the Edmonton Oilers.

They love doing it in the Stanley Cup final, and they brought a little bit more oomph to that game. Again, Florida plays Calgary tonight. I can almost guarantee you they get wallets by the flames. I can just see them being a second half of a back-to-back. Alberta, we're good. Check, please. We'll head back to South Florida.

But kudos to the Panthers for picking up that win. But the Oilers, I just, you can't write them off simply because if Dry Settle gets back, and they have McDavid. I mean, and Ushar is an unbelievable player. And Hyam and New Jersey Hopkins, there's a bunch there. but at the same time, you can't just, you are what you are and you are what your record is.

And Edmonton is an average hockey team and they've got a lot of flaws. And I think they'll ultimately get into the postseason and if they play in the Pacific Division, which they do, I mean, sure, they could beat Vegas or Anaheim and round one. Absolutely. It's just the Pacific Division is laughable.

It is laughable, especially when you compare it to whatever's going on out of east. And lucky for the, lucky for the Hamilton, I mean, is that it is laughable because it's going to give them the opportunity to make the playoffs. And to your point, like, yeah, like, they are what their record says they are.

They are five, what are there? There are 550 points percentage team right now, which is not very good, right? And wouldn't make the playoffs in the east, if they happen to be in the east. But they're an average hockey team with two guys, with a proven track record of absolutely raising their game when the playoffs roll around, right?

You know, when you're talking about McDavid and you're talking about dry Saudi, you're talking about two guys who were in the top five all time in playoff points per game, right? So they're the engine that will drive them wherever they go. And if they can get whatever, like above average or slightly below average goaltending, if the gold thing isn't losing games for them, I think they'd be dangerous. And I think the same applies to the Ottawa senators, right, who are getting terrible goaltending for the vast majority of the season.

But things seem to have straightened out. And what a performance from Brady Cuchuck last night. Fights off the opening draw, the Islanders captain, Anders Lee. and then he scores the game-winning goal, but I believe 19 seconds left. And Brady has been under some fire in Ottawa. Again, he hasn't been fighting, which is uncommon for him.

That's a guy who drops the glove seemingly all the time back in the day. He is coming back off a broken thumb. Very true. Again, he said as much yesterday after the game and said, yeah, I've been dealing with injuries, but I felt it was time. And it was spirited tilt as you'd expect against a tough guy like Anders Lee.

And then he scores that goal, which really keeps Ottawa alive. Get everybody won last night in the Eastern Conference. If Ottawa lost a regulation or even picked up a single point in overtime or a shootout, all of a sudden you're staring at a near impossibility, like a mathematical impossibility for the senators to get in. It is possible they get in. They're going to need some help,

and they're going to need to probably, I believe they have 14 games left, probably going to need to win 10 or 11. Yeah, they've got 14. And look, their odds right now, they're like 45, 46%. So it's nearly a coin flip. That which is surprising to me because I believe right now they're five points out with a game in hand. Yeah, they are with the game in hand. And I'm sure some of that schedule are related to.

For sure. But you're right. Like, you know, it's tough to win. They've been right at the bottom of the league and team save percentage all year. Penalty kill has been garbage too. It's hard to overcome those things. No matter how, no matter how feisty your captain is. and no matter how, you know, hard you play,

no matter how much energy you bring to the rink. Like if the puck's going on the net all the time, you know, it's on every shot that you don't expect it to. It's very difficult to overcome that. So I don't know if I'd pick them right now. Like to Jack's point about how many Canadian teams are we going to have in the playoffs right now, like Montreal looks like that'll hold on.

I mean, although it's not a, you know, it's not a guarantee. You're one, three, four game losing streak away from losing it all in the Eastern Conference. You need to keep pace. So they'll hold on. You have to believe, you know, McDavid will drag his team there somehow. And right now they're, you know, they're fairly well-insconced there with 77 points and what the ninth-place team had Seattle's got 71.

So they got a nice cushion there. But, I mean, if you had to bet the over-under at two and a half, would you go over? I would definitely go under. I would go Montreal in Edmonton and that's it. Simply because of the deficit that Ottawa finds itself in, what they'll need to accomplish record-wise in order to actually get to 98-99 points, which again, it's not a guarantee that you get in. That's how crazy the Eastern conferences this season.

And night after night, they're going to be playing one of those teams. And a lot of these teams have been very, very hot. And I kept on thinking, ah, Pittsburgh will fall off, Detroit will fall off, Boston will fall off. They haven't. And then you have the Buffaloes and the Columbuses who have been just incredible for prolonged periods of time. it's tough, man, and you feel for a team that has 96, 97 points and misses out on the playoffs because, frankly, almost every other year you'd make it.

And almost every team in the Atlantic Division would win the Pacific Division. But sometimes the luck is not with you and appears that's the case. If you're the out of the senators and you would have said, hey, Florida's going to be terrible and Toronto's going to be terrible. What are the odds you don't make the playoffs? That's exactly. Yeah. We've got Mike Johnson standing by.

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