OverDrive - OverDrive - March 20th, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jonas Siegel for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' victory against the Avalanche, Kelly Sutherland's deflection leading to Steven Lorentz's goal, Matthew Knies' significance to the roster and his contract stance with the Maple Leafs. NHL Network Analyst Scott Hartnell joins to discuss the Stanley Cup Playoffs race, the importance of depth on a roster and the Maple Leafs looking for the next level in Toronto.

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They all so buzz much, yeah. Kane Brown's new album, The High Road, is available now. This Hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Alright, here we go, Overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app your home smart speaker Brian haze your dog Jeff O'Neill Jonas Siegel of the athletic Jonas my man, what's how were you gonna rev people up today?

What are you got? I'm revving. What do you want? What do you think? Everything's all good right now Everyone's happy and you plan of any time we get to see you when you bless us with your presence today of all days you would say i like what's going on uh... i don't know what i think it is you know i don't know i have a prediction on your take tonight tonight is a lot out

let me ask them what is that talking about now i? No, we have not said a word about the game last night. I think this should be a new segment anytime I'm on. What is Jonas thinking before Jonas states what he's thinking? Yeah, and then I'll confirm or deny. Wow. Jonas either confirming or denying, I think this has a lot of legs to it. I'm gonna guess you look at that game and say Expected goals really favored Colorado last night. They got out shot drastically Well, it is true. I mean technically that it wasn't like significant I guess but they lost the expected goal battle. They got out shot last night and They were lucky to pick up two points is that where you stand you tell me where you I I think

there's some truth in that I think what was interesting to me is no that's not the full I know go ahead I don't want to play well in your mouth they played well ish okay I think they had one line that could play in that game is that fair do you know the top line the top line was the only line that was Generating any kind of offense momentum carrying the play and that's good Because I don't think saying the other lines have no business being in that game or they were just getting Dummied as you guys would say Yeah, not one line

The only line other line that worked and they only got it together in the third period was McMahon Tavares Neal under every other accommodation was like a disaster According to the numbers according to the eye test and I was at the game I'll grant you that like I thought the first period they were over they were on their heels You know a lot in the first period I I thought it I thought in the second it was a lot closer And I thought the third they were the better team. I thought by the third period they looked very comfortable. They had a lead, they defended that lead

and I think that is ultimately the important point of what came out of that last night. Joseph Wall played really well and I thought defensively they played well. I thought they were tough on Colorado. The Colorado team's flying out there. They're so fast, they're so good. And I think you gotta give credit where it's due.

I said before the game, they needed that win. I think they needed some sort of like a signature win to say we showed up our home building against Colorado. Colorado's picking up points and wins basically every time they're on the ice. And the Leafs did that last night. And I think that was very, very important. I agree. I thought their top line was really good.

And it was up against McKinnon a lot. The whole game. It was pushing McKinnon out of the play a lot last night. I look at that second line and oh, you and I were texting about, I didn't think, I didn't like Tavares's game. I thought Willie just was out for a skate last night, but those guys are capable of more.

Like that shouldn't be the case. I'll grant you, okay what are you going to do with Cali Yarncrook right now? I don't know. Legitimate question. Scott Lotton's an issue right now the way he's playing. I think there's a question of what you do with every other forward but the five big forwards. Yeah but come on. Not that they're not going to play but where they're going to play. You disagree but nice matthews marner neanderthal various and they could play anywhere and i would like i almost was i almost took the complete opposite and mind you i didn't dive into your

whatever you dive into to look at the game recalls uh... the underlying now i can you like little reports. How about that? I like it. You know what I'll do with those. I will go on a website, Etsy possibly, and make toilet paper out of them. I would love it if you had an Etsy store. That would be Gretchen Jonas's game notes as toilet paper. Game notes just flowing. Expected goals. Expected saves flowing down to the ground.

My cat will be like just... But I do understand your side of it where there was time. I was concerned about Tavares with that pace of that game last night. I literally was watching and I'm like I don't even know if he can play in this game and I kept watching

the game thinking of the game as a seven game series and the Leafs came out on top last night could they do that four times against that team like could Tavares get involved in that series and could contribute I don't know could the other guys contribute could they stop McKinnon could they continue to get that saves because if they want to get where they want to get to that's what's going to have a they're going to meet two or three teams that play exactly like that maybe better maybe just a little bit less yeah exactly and again the stats which you can find different stats and look at

different ways to interpret them i'm actually somewhat shocked that we're like i know that i know all positive i think it is but no see here's what i had you spent it let me give you a little positive spin okay you can answer the news question i can't count five games this year where their top line is looked at good and like last year that it

matthews so good they'd so many night sources it Matthews was so good that they had so many nights where it's like he's just so good. It doesn't even matter. 65 times. Right. But there haven't been like five games where I was like, man, their top line was just all over it. And granted, like it was a hard matchup. I'd say it was pretty close to even with McKinnon's line, but they were flying. Like Matthews looks, I would lean starting to look like he's cooking again, which I did not expect will last. I don't know. Yeah. And he's had some peaks and valleys over the course of the year where he's he's looked like himself. And then he's kind of got back into a point where he just looks like a step behind or a little bit tired. But I think that was a bit that was a microcosm of the game last night. We talked about it a lot.

cousin of the game last night we talked about it a lot can Matthews match McKinnon I thought he did that I thought he outplayed him last night now I thought McKinnon had his moments and McKinnon's gonna have those moments he's exceptional I mean the guy he's he's so dominant he's so fast he's unstoppable like his breaking in on the power play last night and they're just curling up yeah and then he terrifies the defense and a backhand sauce on the tape on the Chushkin is just impossible to stop. There's nothing you can do. That's what he does on a nightly basis Hayes. That's his game. He didn't even play that well last night. Yeah based on his standards, exactly. But I think that's where you gotta give credit to the Leafs.

I think, again, I thought the McCabe-Tanev pairing that played a ton last night, that's a big part of it. And I think we got to. It's about shifting your mindset. Like we, we talked about it yesterday, like identity of the Leafs. And everyone's having that conversation. What are they trying to do? What are they trying to be forever? It's been the core four and that's what's going to drive them. And they're going to be offensively potent.

And at some point, everything's going to break their way and they're going to win games five, four, if they have to in the playoffs including in a game 7. It never happens but we kept waiting for it. I think this team is built now where you're gonna have to lean on your goalie who was he was tested a lot but in terms of like high danger chances it was very even last night. It wasn't like they gave up 20 last night like it was pretty close in terms of actually like, okay, this goal it's on you now you got to make a big stop. And I thought again, the Leafs challenge, you know, Colorado in a very similar way, but it's stability and net, a top four

defense that has got to perform I think the way they performed last night, you got to be tough to play against. Like the McCabe-Tana pairing has got to come over the boards and make the opponent think this is gonna be difficult for us. I thought they did that in large part last night. I think, again, Carlo and Riley, I think it's getting there. Like I think it's moving in that direction. So if you have stability in net and you got a top four

in defense that you can really rely on to push the play outside, that's imperative come playoff time. And at times, really in the past, if not basically all the time in the past, they have not been able to commit to that or felt as if they could rely on that. And I think that's going to be the biggest difference. If you have a top line plus a couple other guys,

you're gonna need some depth clearly, but if you have a top line that's playing at their best and if they save it come playoff time, you have a top four defense and you got a goaltender, that's a great start. That's a framework for what can win in the playoffs. Not guaranteeing anything. It's not going to be easy. And you've got to do it four times every single series. But I think there can be some sort of a formula in there that can that can be conducive to playoff success I guess is what I'm

saying is that fair Jonas I think it's mostly fair I think I would agree with that it's like defensively they said mostly well because like why is it only mostly I can never disagree like toilet paper yeah we need more. We've got a lot of rolls on order. We're not feeling well this afternoon. Down the chute. Go ahead. Defensively, they haven't really had, they haven't been amazing, but I think defensively they've been okay in the playoffs year after year. Would you guys concede that their goaltending i think has been inconsistent is probably not a time on the playoffs we always talk about needed that one goal they never got it that's what that's not i guess that's what i'm

getting as it's offensively that's been their issue the thing i would add to lot class a scheme is their power play delivered when they need a goal yeah and a short-handed and they have entered it yet they said that this is a show teams were outstanding They did give up Kelly Southerland. I've never seen a play like that, dude He toe picks at the far blue and I don't know it just hits them like it's bizarre and dude It's bizarro world all the hockey I've played and watch I've never seen anything like that in my life

I've seen a guy tried to clear it and it hits the defense or the ref in the corner, and it goes in the slot. I have never seen a guy have a yard sale. It hit him in the ribs and goes right on the other guy's. I will say this, it's still a hell of a shot after that. Yeah, absolutely. But I think the goalie might have been shocked. He might have just took a breath,

and then he said, oh god, this guy's coming in. But it's still a hell of a shot by Lorenz. And you have to score the goal for that to live forever. Kelly Sutherland is absolutely praying Lorenz shoots that five feet wide, or that he gets a stop there. Because when it goes in, now it's on bloopers forever. Now it's around forever. If it's not, you're like, ah, whatever.

You can have fun with it. It went went in and the beauty of Kelly Sutherland because he is a veteran ref and a professional he gets a graph he gets his arm up so quickly like that almost adds insult the injury goes off his back and then he gives it the that's in I know with dude if he had a given it the Frank Drebben behind the plate like the strikeout call yeah some Nathan mckinnon would have dumbed him in the corner someone might have gone over and hacked the back of his legs but yeah i think you're right that he toe picks i i don't think he was trying to get out of the way in miscalculated the height of the shot like the clear call has been

rafting a long time and i think he just blew a tire and his knee went out. I don't know what the hell happened to him Yeah That's one of those things where I'd like to be able to have a ref on the show the next day and say Kelly like Did you fall there or but what how could anyone? Relate to it, you know like unless it's Kelly Sutherland like this is where interviews after the game with referees You're supposed to be able to do it that should be like this was the someone that goes in like a political order right and i never why didn't anybody go in and talk to a question it did not cross my

mind that had happened last night was what happened with our media all i you want to know what also want to know about the media yeah why are we consistently going up to other players and it happened again with Cale McCarr and we're begging him to throw out there how poorly mistreated Mitch Marner is in Toronto. Oh, I'm with you all the way.

Oh my God. It's so annoying. Hey, like hey, Cale, one of the best defensemen in the world. How good is Mitch Marner? Oh, did you like playing with him at the Four Nations? Yeah, I really like playing with him. He's great. He's always in great position. And then they just lead him down a path of he just gets treated so horribly in Toronto,

I don't get it. That is about enough of that garbage. Honestly it makes me sick. It's so premeditated too. Dude it's so pathetic. It's so unnecessary. Yeah. Like, Kale McCarr, he's at the Four Nations, the Four Nations was like three weeks ago. Yeah. This guy's done everything. He's won everything. It's such an obvious leading of the witness to please tell us something about Mitch. Hey Mitch, you know, what do you think of Mitch Marner? And I know he was a true professional. Yeah, we already know that.

He pumped his tires seven million times about how great a player as he was. But yet he still just gets jobbed here in Toronto. I'm so sick of that question I know or not it's not even a question it's like it's leading us it's like purposely done or something that's leading the witness yeah it's leading the please pump his tires and then say how much he's getting screwed in Toronto it's like what are we doing here I know and you know the players can sniff it out too like they kind of know and they're like I'll throw them a bone because they probably they're probably like well I like Mitch good guy like that's the thing they're like so far

out the outside this little bubble that they don't actually really know what's going on they're like this guy's amazing what do you guys on him so much about it's like yeah it's a little more complicated it's it's a lot more complex in terms of the whole story and the whole history and everyone and yeah it's funny like when no one asked like American players about playing with Austin that I can recall does anyone ask about the Swedish players hey what about Willie do you know what I think what do you think about playing with Willie? I know I notice how none of that's out there. I never hear any of that. I'll defend the media I'm not in these scrums but I think what happens sometimes is like it was early in the season I think someone asked like was it McKinnon or yeah well McKinnon and

someone McKinnon and Marner they skated in the offseason they march and all those guys yeah they all trained together. What was it like skating with Mitch and it's like then you're kind of like I guess you are teeing it up for them to be like this guy takes too much you know what oh yeah I don't know and listen I guess it is on the players to answer it whichever way they choose. But it does feel as if my interpretation is the player kind of knows, I know why you're asking me this. Yeah. You know, like I know why.

And I'll give you your little nugget that you're looking for. Yeah, if you want a nugget, then yeah. I mean, Toronto is awful, and it's horrible, and I don't know why he'd want to be here. Yeah. You know, it's so bad that why why doesn't he just leave and maybe come to Colorado can I ask you guys a nerdy question please do we can't wait what do

you think what else kind of question would you ask us you want to start an Etsy store so expected expected Yeah, that would do. I think that's a great idea, actually. Stats, expected smell. That's what the toilet paper's called. 98%. 98% expected smell. Go ahead with your nerdy question. What do you think is more important

for a team in the playoffs, good power play or good penalty kill? Kill. I agree. All day long. Because of momentum like because momentum right like if you if your power play sucks but your penalty kills good at least like it's not well dude you have no way to stop the momentum if every time you take one they go out and put one in the net it's like you can't okay you're just there's there's no way it's one thing to have positive mojo and you score a goal but if it just goes back the other way and you can't keep it out of your net in the penalty kill, I

think the Edmonton Oilers are a great example of it. Their penalty kill was dynamite last year in the playoffs, if I recall correctly. Their penalty kill, I think Stuart out there, one of the coaches, was a big influence in it and a big contributor to what they were doing in the penalty kill. It's a massive factor you know what it's like you get a goal on the power play in the roughest there just seems to be some type of even up situation and other team in if you don't get it done

then you're even up or they go ahead it's just it's it's yeah you can see it in that florida game last week the leaves that it's tied one one we've got back-to-back power plays don't score and then what happens Florida gets a power play they score and then the game's over there you go right yeah I think it is the penalty kill and it speaks to you need to be able to defend to win I mean defense wins championships all that kind of stuff really when you get whoever wins the Stanley Cup is probably doing both very well

Yeah, like you need to kill you need a power play. That's pretty potent That's gonna give you some big opportunities your five on five play I'm just thinking about the Leafs like their power plays obviously been pretty good this year Not amazing, but pretty good, but their penalty kill is like Not good. Yeah. Well, it's also unlikely to have a power play over Yeah, well, it's also unlikely to have a power play over like 30% is electric, you know, where you could have some kills when they're really rocking 85, 90% like in the playoffs. So yeah, I would say I would say it's more likely the penalty kill that you need to be able to rely on, but you need both and their power play is starting to get going a little bit. Like it's starting to

get they got lucky last night, but still you're allowed those bounces and that's three straight games Matthews has scored. He loves playing in the building tonight. They're in Madison Square Garden playing the Rangers. He's played, I thought he played damn good last night. I thought he played really well. And I thought he played great against Calgary too. Yeah, you look at those two games, the body of work,

like just, and I don't even think it's full, I don't even think it's full Austin Matthews, pretty close. Like those two games he just played, it's full. I don't even think it's full Austin Matthews pretty close like those two games He just played it's tough to play the center ice position much better than what he did like Scoring a goal up and down the ice stick checks on the like the the play along the yellows stripping pox Center like Bay sauce all of it you put it all in a blender That's that's kind of as good as you can play the position, but I still think he's got better. Yeah, because of what we've seen at times in his career, he is capable of more.

But also I give credit to Matthew Nyes who last week kind of jumped on the grenade for Matthews and when being asked about his play and whether or not Matthews can bring more or needs to bring more, he stepped up and said, I got to do more to help him. And like he is a horse that guy like he is a massive massive kind of throwback in front of the net human being and his ability to just basically set up shop and not move and Gary Roberts man yeah it's like but he's like six foot three Gary Roberts well Gary Roberts is six foot three Gary Roberts. Well, Gary Roberts is six foot three Is he I don't think he is. Okay. He's six two. I

Don't know exactly what his height is, but he's a big boy. He's a big boy Gary Roberts I mean, I think nice does look bigger like he's oh, that's right. I apologize Roberts is six three six two. Okay. What did he play like 2 15 this says 2 15? Yeah, but nice is like 6 3 2 30 Yeah, he's heavier than Gary Roberts like Roberts is a big boy But that's right guys nice looks like Dave Andrichuk in front of the net like you're not moving this guy. He's massive Dude, what did I tell you at the beginning of last season he's got hockey head that that head on him it's a giant old school 80s mullet that just goes to the net and you're not stopping it yeah yeah and i think that that's what berube you know he's worthy of the position because he's shown he's got hands he's got iq he's scoring, he's contributing, he's having a great season. But really his role is just go cause chaos

and suck in the opponents and then allow the other two guys like just an inch of free ice and that team's in trouble. And like that's, I think what we've seen in the last couple of games. And we've seen it at different times this year. And I think in the playoffs, that becomes even more important. Well, and he's been excellent in the playoffs. Very good in the playoffs. Like get

downhill, go to the net, cause havoc, forecheck, be a guy when the when the puck's like below the dots, be someone that the other team just simply can't handle and that's what he's doing and he's doing it at a very high level. I think with his play the skill stuff, the handsy stuff is almost the secondary element to his game where the speed and the physicality is first Yeah if you do that first and then get to the net and then you'd it'll allow you to use your skill and Do the handsy stuff in front of the net?

But you just punish guys in the corner and punish guys on the forecheck and be just a nasty piece of business man Man, that's a real quality man. It's a great thing to ask your team. Everybody in the league will love. We've talked a lot about contracts for this team we have not I don't know how much you guys have talked about it that's a contract that is fascinating. Yeah what do you do with that? He's a restricted free agent. He's a restricted free agent. I would have and I I thought this at the time wrote this at the time I would have tried to sign him immediately last summer because like it wasn't like, this isn't a surprise, right? We kind of expected him to be this. And now it's like, well, what is he worth? What is he going to get? What should he get? He's restricted, but...

Yeah, and they have control over it. I mean, every year you talk about offer sheets and we actually saw it in St. Louis. Well, now the cap going up, I wonder if that... Well, the risk is if you're waiting on Marner or you're gonna do something with Tavares and then all of a sudden you know you're like all right we'll figure out nays and you got four million left of cap space and you're like well how are you gonna figure that out? as if like he doesn't want to go anywhere. He wants to be a Maple Leaf, but it's a business. That's cool, right? Yeah. It's cool to say that you also want money. Yeah, it's a business for sure. I mean, he's not going to play for cheap.

I mean, it's he, and he's going to be worthy of it. If he follows this through and continues to be a play out performer. And I think his fight against White Cloud a couple of weeks ago was really significant too in his journey. Like that's another thing that it's throwback, but these these guys

who are monsters Gary Roberts, Tom Wilson, Eric Lindros like different skill sets but massive human beings if they send out a vibe like if you want to try to hit me go ahead but if you get me I am going to beat the hell out of you. Or the guy I play with. Yes or try to hit the guy that's he'd maybe even more of an important maybe that was a bigger message to the whole league is like white cloud i gotta go get you cuz you got me but don't even think about messing with mariner

or matthews because if you do you have to deal with me and that the role of the power forward is still incredibly valuable there's not many other than the only, who else would you, Jeff, like who would you compare him to even today, like in the game today? It's not like- Well Jonas, for a couple of years I've been saying Chris Kreider in his prime. But yeah, that's a good one. Because Chris- He's a better skater. Kreider's a better skater. You think Kreider is? Oh yeah, Kreider flies, man. Kreider's like- Guys, one thing we have to mention, Kreider hasn't been the best year for Chris Kreider. Let's not forget, a couple years ago he's man cry just like guys one thing we have to mention crazen been the best year for Chris Crizer let's not forget a couple years ago

He's a 50 goal score You know how many pucks that he tipped in front of the net and how powerful the skating was how physical in the corners like? Yeah, that that that would be a great. I've said it for a year and a half just Copy your game after that. I'm gonna steal that yeah, you'll end up being that. He might be a better version of that, which is a scary product. Yeah, it's a good thing to have, man. You guys were talking about the depth of that Colorado lineup. Maybe that Colorado team just looked at Rantanen and the money that he's going to make or wanted to make and said, we want to just spread this around and have a bunch of good players.

You talked about the depth. You kind of showed up last night, how many good players they have on their roster Yeah, they turn over that roster man And like I think getting a chushkin back to is like he is such a handful as well Yeah, he is like what we're talking about with knives. He's massive. I make like what does that guy man? I don't know what he's making. He makes a good Yeah, probably six or seven probably something like that was worth every penny of the place

yeah no kidding and there's a guy that okay ranton is out will will step in with him makes six yeah yeah six point one pretty good deal but i think you can find really quality players in that six this six to eight i don't know there's good players out there that'll play for that much where you don't have to blow your brains out and have it all locked up like what they've been doing the last six years the problem is just this summer there's good players out there that'll play for that much where you don't have to blow your brains out and have it all locked up like what they've been doing the last six years. The problem is this summer there's just not a lot of... Yeah I

mean listen when you're building a salary cap though it's not just about July 1st 2025. There's always a way to bring in different players. Different... yeah there's other off seasons and trade deadlines. Yeah the next off season. Flexibility is significant. Yeah. All right Scott Hartnell coming up today Jason Strudwick will join us. We got seasons and trade deadlines. Yeah, the next flexibility is significant. All right, Scott Hartnell coming up today, Jason Strudwick will join us. We got Keegan Matheson because Mark Shapiro finally came out and spoke today, somewhat, I was surprised, I wasn't expecting.

I didn't- You were calling for this. I was, like after Vlad came out and kept talking and there were all these leaks that came out, I was saying that last week. I'm like, I think it's, Shapiro should speak. Like if everyone's wondering what the hell is going on, this is your star player, a lot of money on the line, the season's coming up, everyone's buzzing about Vladdy and where

he's going and what he's gonna do. And to the credit of Mark Shapiro, he spoke today and he said a couple of things that really have my mind racing here in terms of what's gonna happen with him and the Jays and Vlad E's future. So we'll tell you about that and Keegan will join us. He was down there in the scrum in Dunedin Keegan's coming up as well. And the Leafs are in New York playing the Rangers. The Raptors are out in Golden State playing the Warriors tonight. Overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN too.

Had a great day today with you. Hazy B spent some time with you up at TaylorMade. Watched you hit some golf balls. You'll see some details on that at a later date. But when I left there, I went down to Weston Country Club and I met my golf coach. Wow. Since when do you have a golf coach? Is he a life coach too?

Like generally that's how you operate right? You have a life coach. My golf coach Ralph Bauer works, you can look him up online. He works with PGA Tour players. Okay, I think I met Ralph. I think I met him at Hamilton last year. Probably so. So he did me a favor because back in the day, I'm sure everybody's got someone on Twitter back in the day where they chirped them and they blocked them i said ralph do you know brandil shambly and he said yes i do i said can you ask brandil shambly to unblock me that's so pathetic no it isn't listen to me dude he got he's text brandil shambly and he unblocked me and

and followed that is a pathetic existence unblocked okay you know you have to do now you get unblocked people oh so you got to unblock people you got unblocked yeah you do you got unblocked i think this is the universe telling you send me a note and apologize for being an idiot.

That's because that's the only reason I block people. Well why did you block, why did Brando block you? What'd you say to him? Because I made an idiot comment about his hair. You chirped his hair on the golf channel? I did, I don't know, it was late at night, I don't know what I was up to back at that time. And he blocked me.

Okay, I kind of want to know, i'm sure i've been blocked by p i know i've been blocked by people but i don't know who i don't know who's of like a certain profile that's blocked did i keep a very tight circle i'd want negative comment if i don't know i block i hear you there's a list i i'm with you on that i'm with you on that but in terms of like public figures that have me blocked to be curious if I could find that out.

Because I'm sure there's people that are like, I don't want anything to do with this guy. Are you going to send them a direct message and say sorry? You should. Let's be friends? You should. And you know you should say, PS, love the hair. At the end you should say your salad looks phenomenal. I know you're going to point out the High Point Panthers, right?

We're rooting for them today, the High Point Panthers. Did they get crushed? crushed yeah they lost to Purdue they lost by 12 our boy Nicky yeah shout out to Nick because he went there he's an alumni and he's he was Jack this morning but it didn't work out so well all right here's a guy on the line I don't even know is he blocking people online would would Scotty Hartnell be a guy that would block Scot i'll block the blocks of a achieve block people for sure here is former n h l and n h o network analyst scott hartnell what's happening scott

about what's your what's your guys to handle so i can block it yeah you can block the ad a st s m block me right now so i can say scott hartnell block me online kiss that owes owes they go is begging people to uh... to unblock them i mean now is this one of those things i had regrets and i knew somebody that knew somebody i said hey can you reach out this let him know i want to follow again i apologize is that a weasel move scotty to do that i mean come on

dot i'd say you know some people have thick skin some people don't can't handle the you know Criticism or whatever it is, but you know back when I was playing there people with you know Sure be out of the worst gate or the world you suck You know go go eat dirt or whatever right and that just like two little quick sticks a second They see you later, so it's perfect all right was that the go-to chirp against you was your skating? Probably, but I played 17 years and had a bunch of cookies and played the game hard, so I think I did alright for a guy who could skate very good in the West League. I love to see the guy chirping you skate. Dude, that would be the best part.

Like I don't appreciate your edge work. It's like, all right, I've been in this league for a long, long time. You're blocked. Anyway, it's great catching up with you. Feels like, I mean, every day we come in here, we kind of upgrade or update the standings and some teams are going up and some teams are going down.

And generally speaking, we focus on the East. You got, New York the Rangers the Islanders the Blue Jackets Detroit Boston You have a read or do you have a feeling on on two of those teams that you think have the upper hand for those? two wild card spots in the East Well, I think Ottawa right now obviously they've been playing some really good hockey Create a little bit of separation from the pack as you will even though that could change in a long weekend. There's teams playing a couple games, so three out of four, so they would be probably I would say the lock but almost as close as you can get to a lock. But I picked the Rangers out of that whole group to snag that

second wild card spot. I think their goal-tending is probably better than anyone in the mix of those teams. They got the high end skill up there and can do all his stuff. They haven't played their best hockey as of yet, so if they get one or two goals a game and they're scoring a few goals, they're going to be on the right side of the game to get some points and sneak it in. I'd be a team for a Washington that would be fairly scared to play. Yeah, well, exactly with their history and within the division. And the Leafs are at the garden playing the Rangers tonight.

And I have not seen the Rangers projected lineup tonight, but I presume that Matt Rempey will play. The last time the Leafs played the Rangers, Borube made sure Ryan Reeves was in the lineup specifically because of Rempey. Well Reeves is wave so he's no longer a part of this team Would you expect like where are you at with Rempey because I saw Was it Calgary they were playing the other day and he just threw his elbow up again on somebody. It wasn't egregious It wasn't worthy of a suspension, but he can't help himself the forearm the elbow he's getting in fights he's willing to hit anybody in sight where do you stand on the Matt Rempey experience well he's the

mark man now right it's like I forget what the stat was but he played like maybe 10 or 12 games and had you know six games suspension now I guess they bumped up even more. So the guy's huge. You can't miss him when he's out there. So everyone's eye, especially the referees, are on this guy. For guys playing against the Rangers and against Renfe,

you gotta know when he's out there, right? A defenseman going back for a puck, you have to shoulder check to be like, okay, I might, you know, either shoot the puck around to get it away from me as fast as possible and brace for a hit or stop and try and dodge the hit. But yeah, the elbows high, the finishing late, all that kind of stuff. It's, you know, no one wants to see that in the game of hockey. And, you know, he's a mark man right now, which is unfortunate for him, but it's a lot of the self-doing itself as well.

Scottie, my esteemed colleague Jonah Siegel was talking about depth on rosters and the importance of them. In your playoff experience, how important is it, or what is the importance of the guys after the first and second line? Is it just to create momentum, be physical? Is it key to chip in offensively, occasionally? Like just talk about the importance of depth come playoff time when you have a quality opponent. It's massive, right? Because the teams as farther you go in the playoffs, the more depth

each team has, right? Especially, you know, on the back end, right? So you want to be able to make it hard for those guys, you know, to come 200 feet all the time. You know on the back end right so you want to be able to make it hard for those guys You know to come 200 feet all the time You know if your third and fourth lines You know turn pucks over and you know that is reliable as they say your top couple lines You know that's where you're going to get you know all those little turnovers that you know somewhat come back to haunt you so You need to obviously have the third four points you've been as well You know a big a big goal You need to have the third four-fines chip in as well. A big goal to start a game with all the energy and stuff like that.

That stuff really fills us through the locker room. I remember in 2010, there was Blair Betts and Darryl Powell on our fourth fine. They got a goal as one of the first games. It was just like, we lost those two games mind you, but it was just awesome to see those guys chip in and be a part of almost the run that we had. With Scott Hartnell of the NHL Network, do you accept that breakdown, Jonas? I do, see. You're a believer in the depth scene? Yeah, see.

And even Scott Hartnell during that run to the final, I'm looking at it right now, 17 points, 23 games. Pretty good. Pretty good. Pretty good. Pretty good. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, there you go. A little tire pump there halfway through the interview. We love it. In terms of, you know, the Leafs and obviously we were talking about them last night and their depth, but the top line is going to have to drive the bus. And Austin Matthews has been such a topic of discussion because his stats just don't add up to basically every other year of his career. Yet the last few games, he scored in his last three, he's really starting to chug.

His last two games are probably the best two game stretch of the season for him, where he's really leaning on the opponents in terms of his ability to elevate in the playoffs are you are you a believer that that can still happen for him and even if he's not going to score close to 70 goals this year he can still end up having a very successful season if and when he plays the ways capable of down the stretch and into the playoffs I think he's gonna be fine right I think I think he's going to be fine. Right. I think, I think he's gained, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but the last

couple of years, years, it's always been set stone, like, you know, one, going to play the wild card two, three, it's always been, uh, uh, you know, set of stone, but now it's, uh, it's a wild race to see who's going to pick up that one seed to maybe play in Ottawa or, uh, you know, whoever it's going to be in that search ballpark spot. So it's going to be a wild race to see who's going to pick up that one seed to maybe play in Ottawa or whoever is going to be in that search and volunteer spot. So it's going to be a battle. You want to have whole mice, right? So that's the second place you're going to play in Tampa. You want that whole mice advantage as well.

So out of that, the planning division, it's wild how tight it is, but the positioning is going to be the key for the eight teams. And that's why I believe Craig, we're going to be seeing to have everyone on the points, everyone dialed in, defensive and struggling. They brought up to me beliefs that's going to be first and foremost. And maybe that's the reason why Matthew has not been planned. He's got something more structured. And Steve, he's always been a two-way sentiment.

But I'm a little more focused on that, and, you know, he's looking back through time, but, you know, Stevie Lye, he was getting 100 points and 120 points, whatever it is, in the, you know, mid- and early 90s, and then, you know, he got a little structure, and Scotty Boehme came in, and his points dipped a lot,

but they ended up winning championships, so that's, you know, maybe something that his team has tried to bring into that team as well. Absolutely. With Scott Hartnell, we'll get you out of here on a question relating to referees. I don't know if you saw it last night when Kelly Sutherland blew a wheel and it went off his back. Okay, you saw that, I'm glad.

Have you ever, everyone like O said, he's been around the game, played forever, never seen anything like it. Everyone on TV last night Have you ever witnessed anything like what we saw in Toronto with Kelly Sutherland last night? First of all Kelly Sutherland one of the best referees. He's been there a lot of years that I played a very approachable guy Sparring match with him verbally if you wanted to you know, tell him to wake it up or whatever and he can give it right back so I really appreciate that but to do a belly flop in the neutral zone I had to rewind it because I didn't know what was going over his head or what happened but I watched it a couple times

I was giggling to myself last night but yeah yourself last night but yeah, top shelf. It's incredible, I've seen him hit the shit pattern, he goes right into the slot one timer and you're like, come on, really? And you give it to him but this one was almost too good where you can't even be mad at that. Right, you almost gotta just say, hey man, all good. Because you know he's embarrassed by that.

That was a tough one last night anyway Scott we always appreciate you doing this we'll do it again down the road thank you yeah sounds good guys here Scott Harton on the NHL Network yeah that Kelly Sutherland and that was the only game last night at that time slot like it was on TNT I think it's a national up here it was the only game on in the league and everyone would have been watching that. Does he say anything to the Colorado bench in that instance? What are you going to say? I'm sorry it happened. He didn't mean to do it. You gotta hold your head up high and realize I think Scott just mentioned the integrity this guy has. He's

one of the best refs in the league. You don it you don't go and apologize that's what happened and it is what it is and you're not gonna do anything with it what are you gonna do about that nothing nothing yeah there's nothing you can do no and it like it directly leads to the game-winning goal yeah like if that happens in the three minutes into the game okay maybe everything we got time to kind of get back into this but I'm just thinking like imagine in the Canucks Blues game tonight they play tonight right? Yeah big game. Big game? Big game. Imagine that happens in that game and it costs you. Exactly. If you go over and apologize to the Colorado team and then you give them a

power play shortly after that then you're gonna look like you're kissing their rear end. Right. You just got to accept that it happened. You just keep trucking on as much as it sucks. You just keep trucking on. Yeah.

You close your eyes when Lorenz shoots, so when it goes in, you just can't believe it. Because obviously, he's hoping that doesn't go in. Do you think Blackwood was surprised? Because he looked to me surprised that it was happening? Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if he was waiting for it to be whistled down or something. He just took a, he fell asleep a little bit because, or I don't know, maybe it was just a great shot that went in. It was, I mean, he went shelf on him. But he's just probably thinking that's going to go down the ice. He's not

going to play it. I think two things can be true at once. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And like McCarr even kind of played it strangely. Like when you're watching it, he could have maybe gone right at Lawrence, but instead he kind of backs in and then he he drops and he tries to take a pass away. That wasn't really there. I don't think it was really a two on one. Anyway, benefited Lawrence and the Leafs very well last night. And Leafs in New York playing the Rangers tonight. Edmonton, Winnipeg tonight. Big game. The Habs are in Long Island tonight, big, big game. I mentioned Vancouver, St. Louis,

like a lot of playoff implication type games tonight. So Jason Shrodwick coming up. Keegan Matheson on Mark Shapiro speaking today. What he had to say about the Vladdy Guerrero Jr. negotiations. We'll get into that and more still to come as well. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. All right, Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel,

bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. It's good to see Al's brother in here earlier. Al's brother. Was he on a cruise? Did we find out? I'm not sure. I just assume he was on a cruise, but he was in here hosting a gameplay and they were reviewing he and Cam is his producer were reviewing the Masters menu champions dinner menu and

comparing it and contrasting it with menus of the past. And it was incredible to hear these two guys with the same amount of passion as if the Leafs just won the cup last night. Like it was just dialed in analysis. The chili for the yappy. Yeah, he liked that. And he was going over like Danny Willett's menu back in the day and how Danny nailed it. Especially his like, his, I don't even know,

his dessert choice or something. Dude, I'm not kidding you. It was ridiculous but amazing. The Monday of the Masters I would throw him on that Sports Center studio platform and rank the Sports Center top 10 menus of the last 50 years. Yeah. That would be my Sports Center top 10 for Masters Monday. Al's brother, top 10 menus and let him go to town. Yeah, and let him own that content and have the big board in the background, Studio 6, all that kind of stuff. Maybe even down there at Augusta National.

That would be great. Wow. Yeah, that would be great because... Can you imagine if he weaseled his way in for some type of special invite and they just said, wear a green jacket and play the role act like you've been here and he got in yeah and he's down there because they got a great setup down there at the Masters and it's rapidly approaching and you can the Masters like their social media team is so good and they're every day they're like there's another tease

about how close we're getting. It's just incredible. Like today it was something about the patio and like how it's opening for spring and the Masters is right around the corner. You know, there's a golf tournament going on right now and a bunch of Canadians in it. We'll track that for sure. Keegan Matheson coming up in the next hour. We'll chat about what Mark Shapiro had to say, where now all of a sudden he's overly optimistic publicly about the Jays and Vladdy sticking together for life.

Do you think his comments helped or hurt? Well, we know Mark Shapiro is a very calculated individual. He is not winging this. So he's not- There's a meaning behind him speaking to you. Absolutely. It's not just to say oh yeah i'll do a little pop-up show here it's not about you know grapefruit

league action like he knew i'm i'm coming out and i'm talking about what that's what i'm talking about let everyone know i believe we're still gonna come to terms and what i i think he was laying the framework for was that it's likely to happen after the season. Oh, you took that away? Yes, that was kind of the read that I had

was that there's still risk on both sides and maybe once we get to free agency, Vladdy will know actually what he's worth. And my interpretation was Ty goes to the Blue Jays and Mark believes that to be true. Wow. Ty will go to the Blue Jays and Mark believes that to be true. Wow. Ty will go to the Blue Jays, you go find your best offer, bring it back to us, and Mark believes A,

Blatty will do that and his camp will do that, and B, Roger's communication will say, fine, match it, here's the money. That's how I interpreted that. I would take a complete opposite approach to it. I would be like, we haven't won one playoff game with this guy is our marquee guy we've seen him fall asleep at second base we've seen him not produce offensively and if he wants to go play somewhere

else we'll find other good baseball players to play here adios that would be my approach man well it was not his approach today Not one playoff game with that guy is their marquee player. I do understand that he is Very young still Yeah, and listen I would blame the front office more than flatty for the lack of success in the playoffs Yeah, and the teams that they've consistently built but Keegan will join us from Dunedin on his Interpretation of why Shapiro said what he said today and we'll get you the exact quotes and we'll dive into it more at 5.30. Strudy coming up in the next hour as well.

Overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on the TSN app. You've been listening to Overdrive powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. I Heart Radio is taking you backstage with Kane Brown in Quebec City. Y'all get ready. Girl, let's go put some power. the final score. For your best chance to win, enter daily at iHeartRadio.ca. Kane Brown's new album, The High Road, is available now.