OverDrive - OverDrive - March 26, 2024 - Hour 3

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! The guys discuss LeBron James' comments regarding the difference in the NBA. They also revisit their conversation with Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins and San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky joins to discuss the team's impressive ceiling, Macklin Celebrini's skill set and the progression of the group. Hayes and O-Dog make their selections for the Houston Open and the FanDuel Best Bets.

All new, all Canadian, the best of our great nation, one song at a time. This is Justin Bieber. Hi, this is Terry Clark. We are Nickelback. Made in Canada, on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip-hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all new digital radio station from coast to coast.

Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud. Final hour of Overdrive continues, powered by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Best Bet's later in the hour, the Leafs are in California, they take on the Sharks tomorrow night.

We'll get to that a little bit later in the hour. We caughts are in California. They take on the Sharks tomorrow night. We'll get to that a little bit later in the hour We caught up with Ross Atkins earlier this afternoon. We'll recap that chat in a few moments home opener tomorrow for the Jays You can see LeBron with Pat McAfee for like over an hour today I guess they recorded it yesterday and it's compelling man. Like LeBron the thing is about LeBron is he'll talk It's compelling man like LeBron the thing is about LeBron is he'll talk I mean, I love what he says or he doesn't give like three-word answers like he's he's talking He's got things to say and whenever he says anything and when he sat down for this interview You just knew the internet was gonna explode Because I don't think anyone causes more of a reaction in sports

Than LeBron like I can't think of anyone else causes more of a reaction in sports then lebron i can't think of anyone else doing an hour sit down that's currently playing that would lead to more sound bites or more people dissecting it or people being angry about things he said or and i think about what he said the right things to yeah exactly in mackinfeet he's poking in prod prodding and kind of getting him feeling good and he was in a good mood and he was taking shots amazingly at like Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst.

Oh yeah? Like those ESPN guys. And he's on ESPN with McAfee, which is always potentially uncomfortable in the future. But yeah, he had a number of things to say. I thought Windhorst is a guy that that grew up covering him in Cleveland followed him to Miami and I guess has followed him to LA but LeBron my way he was followed like did he move to Miami? Yeah Yeah

So he went when LeBron was a Cavalier windhorst was covering from covering him closely for a newspaper in Cleveland and Then when he made the decision and went to Miami ESPN hired Windhorst and sent him to Miami Basically, that's my understanding to cover LeBron and the heat as a member of ESPN and that kind of the rest is history But it was a big get for McAfee was interesting was on TSN today I was watching it and he made one comment about but the honest in particular players of this era going back to the seventies and put up big numbers that has a lot of the old school you know basketball people unhappy with it feeling like it's disrespectful i'm curious how you guys

would feel about this is former athletes played the nineties uh... this will abroad had to say about your honest and if you were in the seventies will kind of numbers you could put up which i tell me you know this would be able to play in the a game in the seventies i think that there's a he would be able to do the uh... there is no honest answer the coupons would have two hundred and

fifty points in a game in the seven what we were doing fifty two hundred and fifty points in a game in the seven one hundred and fifty so he's landed on thick he's joking around two fifty but there you know like barkley's gonna hear this and snap and guys now are gonna say you're telling me doctor jay and wilton kareem and all those greats of the seventies like they're gonna take that personally. 250 points.

You know why they will? Because the game was different back, you play against the Pistons, and that Lambier punches you in the face in the Keef just for fun. Like these guys, they play a different style of game. And that would be my argument from new school to old school is there were guys that wanted to kill you.

Chris Pronger would chop your arm off for fun in the late 90s. That's 90s in 2000s. I'm talking. Exactly. So the 70s, Pat Quinn. Chopping guys over the head. Again, I'm being facetious. I look at it, it's a different game.

So you talk about how today's athlete is built, but go back to then when the game was different. It was treated different and you paid a price to get, for example, in basketball under the bucket. You paid a price to get there. So the old school guys are going to go, you'd be fine to get to the bucket, but somebody's going to punch you in the face for elbow. You're coming to get some. I think the biggest problem in the league was, or is, and it just came to me right now, I think that there's so many non-compelling storylines and teams that are grabbing your attention.

The Golden States are gone, the LeBron in Cleveland, the LeBron with the super team in Miami, that all there is to do is talk about goats and eras and who would have been better because there's nothing else that's worthy of talking about and that's what they do all day. I'm so glad hockey has somewhat normal conversations about who's the best player in the game. Now we don't go back and it's like, ah, it's Bobby Orr versus, like the conversations and the comparisons, like there's a jordan lebron debate daily

well that's a main that's the amazing thing about this comment from lebron is that that i think what he's doing is he's trying to represent his era and he speaks on it like everyone take shots at us and people become too comfortable taking shots at us and he said that earlier in the interview uh... you know and everyone's get to carried away into comfortable with their criticism and he also spoke about how tough it was when he originally showed up and it was

immediate can he match jordan can he be a one-name player like magic in bird kareem right and yet now he's feeding the beast like he's pushing that away senate stupid and ridiculous and unfair and now he's circling back by saying, oh, well, we could go back there and score 250. And it's like you're feeding the beast now because now what's happening on ESPN and everywhere else will be could LeBron score 250 in 1974? Who the hell cares?

Like what does that even mean? You know, like who, what is it? Exactly. Who cares? It doesn't matter like what he could do 40 years ago conversely what a guy from the 70s you know Bobby Orr would he be great on the Leafs power play today I guess I don't know exactly it doesn't really matter yet he's feeding the beast and it's just going to continue and continue and continue and he's almost

fallen victim to it and he did it today with maccabee but he's getting criticism too any rightfully so people are looking at this week in going these guys can't play back-to-back games yeah calling them softer first size also getting criticism because he got the organization that he plays for to draft his kid to play his kid higher jj reddick which he five back i think it's about it is passing grass all he claims he had nothing to do withire JJ Reddick, which he fights back on and jokes about and is passive aggressive about. Oh, he claims he had nothing to do with JJ Reddick, the guy that he has a podcast with.

I know. I'm telling you, as great as he is, and we all acknowledge he is. All time great. He deserves a lot of the criticism for exactly what you just said, Brian. He brings it on himself. He doesn't go, like, nobody forced him to go on Pat McAfee

and start jawing off, it's him. Him doing the interviews, him doing all the talking. Again, different times, media in the 90s when Jordan around, like he did his media and moved on, and then you hear stories, the guy was golfing, it was a different world. But LeBron brings, he shines a light on himself all the time. So then he's upset when people criticize him and criticize, oh

yeah, you got your son on the team. No, I didn't. Yeah, you did. We all know you did. Yeah, exactly. It's the chicken or the egg and it just comes around and goes around. And that would be interesting. We were joking about the hot tub time machine like the idea of sending athletes back yeah and the argument is well today there's so much more in shape and they have more knowledge of the game and all that is true but if you actually had to play based on the standards of that era where I'll give you an example games not televised which means whatever happens in this rink That's no one else sees it

So if you want to go and try to go end to end there's a chance Pat Quinn will cross-check you in the head And he's not getting a penalty let alone a suspension dude being noodles might have played in games in the 90s that were not Like not televised. Yeah, they might not have had the NHL package back then right there used to be I remember as a kid there'd be a bunch of games Leaf game just not on TV that night yeah I remember that why the hell can't I watch the game yeah either at St. Louis it's on Tuesday it's just not on TV it's like okay so you're telling me I literally have to read the newspaper the next day to find out what happened here and you know it's one rapid he's hung over and he's like i can see it can see it that's like now i'm getting killed here that's that's what i want to

see go said mcdavid back to nineteen seventy four right now i know that there are no one's watching and there's no holes i don't do it every year to wind up wind up and but let's see what happens here. All right, so we'll get into the Leafs and Sharks a little bit later in the hour. But the Jays are home. Home stand for the first time in years because of the pandemic, because of

the renovations down at the Rogers Center. First time in like six years. They're actually gonna start opening day at the Dome. We caught up with the GM of the Jays, Ross Atkins, something we haven't done in a while. I haven't caught up with Ross in a long time after what was a long off season, a lot of ups and downs, but opening day is finally here. We began by asking Ross, just that, how beneficial, how happy are you that you actually get to play at the Rodgers Center game one this year? Yeah, it feels good with the pandemic hitting us two years and then the renovations, it has been a while.

So it's a much better transition and a lot more excitement around opening day when it is at home, fired up, especially for the first year guys. And well, yeah, fired up for Bow and Blatty too, because it's special for them, guys that have been here like Alejandro and Varsh and George and Jose so it'll be a big day tomorrow looking forward to it.

Ross before we get ranting and raving on this show on a daily basis why don't you give us some expectations this year so we know what we're getting into like what do you think is reasonable for the Jays heading into this season? Yeah I mean more raving than ranting, I would say. Okay, I like it, all right. No, it feels good. We've, you know, the team's had some success. This group that's been together for a while

has had some success and we had a brutal year last year and they seem to have grown from it and you know, getting spit out of the playoffs a couple of times I've just having some crash landings has I just made us a little bit better and a little bit stronger and then to come in after a trade deadline of acquiring some good players that has Risen the floor and added depth really good stories out of Vlad and Bowden and Ernie Clement last year Bringing in guys like Alan Roden to

start the season, Will Wagner on the roster is exciting, and then of course the off-season acquisitions that, you know, are bullpen ads and Anthony Santander, Andres Jimenez, Max Scherzer, those are really exciting pieces to add to that group and they've transitioned well. I think there is a difference when guys have some way to their contracts that come in and uh... immediately fit in and they're thinking about team they're thinking about winning and all players always do have that uh... on some part of their windshield and

you know hopefully it's just taking up more of their windshields of the van and argue it it takes a little pressure off when you focus on winning and focus on the team. Ross, you talked about length of the contract. You signed Alejandro Kirk to a five-year extension. Was that the right wheelhouse as far as term and money to fit for both sides or what was the thought process of locking them up that long? Yeah, that's what it takes, right?

It takes both sides aligning on the value. And when you can find the shared risk is when extensions happen. It's hard to do free agent deals with extension dialogue, and with Alejandro, it lined up. Well, there's a couple other guys looking for extensions right now, Ross, and I know you're aware of who they would be, and that would be Vladian Bichette. I saw your presser down at the Rogers Center earlier this afternoon, and I heard you speaking Spanish.

Are you fluent in Spanish? What's the story there? No, I grew up in Miami. I played baseball in Venezuela and Spain. I do speak spanish but i don't call myself fluent i can speak baseball and i can get by uh... probably not gonna uh... host a talk show or uh... you know if it's a cell you got a order drinks and style you know it's a swear word that i have a

sense where order a drink is that is that you got some action play in there i'd like to have a look at that where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where his role in this in the process that he has decided to take in terms of speaking, you know, he's done some interviews, he's got out of his way in my opinion to say, don't forget the Yankees, I'll speak with the Yankees next summer. And you know, the Red Sox, and he's on Instagram liking pictures of him in a Red Sox uniform and him in a Yankee uniform. How have you, how have you reacted to those actions and to to Veladi, his approach to all of this?

Yeah, it's interesting because obviously you would always prefer that things stay, the more private the better. But I think the world of Veladi, my interactions with him are very productive, they're very warm. We obviously have feedback from him at times that isn't so warm, whether that be talking about baseball or just how we can be better. But it comes from such a good place. There is no doubt in my mind that Vladdy wants to be a Blue J, and that's the most important thing to us. Hopefully we'll be able to line up and share some of that risk with them as I

mentioned about Alejandro. So the word risk, can you give us any more detail to what that means from your standpoint? Is that about team building? Is that about budget? Is that the owner? Yeah. What does that mean? Well, there's another year to play.

It's different to use free agent values than it is just to talk about extension is one aspect of it. And free agency is very different than an extension deal because there's other suitors and there's momentum and there's things you can't account or control for. So trying to line up on objective values is how extensions happen and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.

So it really just comes down to what the value we think is fair and reasonable and whether or not that lines up. Will you possibly? If you're taking on more than you're taking on too much risk. Absolutely. is fair and reasonable and whether or not that lines up will you possibly on more than you're taking on too much risk absolutely it could the the way you define risk be affected by the way he plays this year well everything matters like everything information performance matters uh... you know

there's always there's nothing that we're not going to factor into the decision. Okay, with Ross Atkins, and in free agency, you landed Max Scherzer. He's broken camp with you, he's up here, I think he's slated to start the third game of the series against the Orioles. Where do we stand here with his thumb, with his body holding up, because I know a lot of people in Toronto, a lot of Blue Jays fans could not wait to see him pitch. Dying to see him live, I think you're going to get a lot of fans lining up for road trips

if they know he's slotted to pitch in Detroit or Cleveland, Seattle, whatever. Where do things stand with Max and how confident are you that you can get close to a full season of production out of them and yet i i feel very good i'm very glad that he's here his his performance has been ridiculous is absolutely dominated every hitter he's faced in spring and his recovery has been as we expected as he has he's communicated we knew wasn't going to be perfect but he's communicated, we knew it wasn't going to be perfect, but he's found ways to recover and we expect that to continue. And in the event that we need to be careful or cautious, we'll try to be proactive with

that, but we feel like he's in a good place. He's very honest with us, obviously, about how he's feeling, and we'll try to be proactive in managing it. And you guys, as a group, yourself and Mark, your staff, you've always invested heavily in the rotation. You look at the way your rotation stacks up. I was having a chat earlier this afternoon. Steve Phillips was saying he thinks you've got the best rotation in the American League

East and other teams in the East have taken hits, whether it's via free agency or injuries. I'm curious how you look at presuming howing health, Gossman, Bassett, Scherzer, you know Francis, if he pitches like he did in August and September you got an ace on your hands there. But how do you think your rotation stacks up and how important is it for them to set the tone for this, we focus so much on offense and run production and your bullpen turning things around after last year. But how much of just getting the ball rolling

is reliant on your rotation doing what you believe they can do? I do think it is very important. And we have put a lot of resources into it, and we also have some exciting arms coming healthy that hopefully will be in the fold here in the second half of the season and certainly beyond that. But my view on that is guys who have been successful and reliable and dependable and

still have very good weapons have an openness to evolving that you're going to put yourself in a very good position. And we've seen that with Jose making adjustments this off season, Kevin Gossman had an electric spring. His stuff was more than effective. Bowden's last two outings were the Bowden we saw in August and September, as we've already talked about, Scherzer and Bassett was extremely effective

over the course of spring. The thing that I fall back on with them, and it's something that Pat Gillick talked about for years, is dependable and reliable. And they are that with openness to improve and their weapons are not showing decline. So those are all good signs for us. How often are your starting pitchers, even bullpen arms,

curious about how the rest of the roster is going to play out. In other words, you've got Varsha on the IL to start the season. You've probably got youth playing third base. It sounds like we're not quite certain who's going to play left field every day. How important is it for the staff to have some familiarity and understanding that they're going to get defensive help on a daily basis. Yeah, they, you know, part of, I think that's been a big selling point for us. And over the years, we've, we've been a very good defensive team and just gotten better

and better the last two years with team gold glove. We add VARSH back into that fold will be an electric defense having added Andres Jimenez to it. And I think that was attractive to mac surzer and it is something that you know we we lean into it something that is important that they uh... you understand what is behind them and that they can trust what's behind them

with ross ackes i mentioned i think just prior to having you on your you know obviously does start at home and that's a big benefit you got a couple of serious to kick kickstart things but your first six weeks is crazy. When the schedule came out, you got Baltimore twice, Boston twice, you go into New York to play the Mets, into New York to play the Yankees, at Houston, you got the Braves in town. When you look at the scat, obviously you're happy to start at home, but did you have to send an email to Rob Manfred and say what's happening here? Like this is a really crazy start you got. And I get it feels like a sink or swim almost by May 1st.

I mean, I don't want to be too hyperbolic, but this is a big, big start for your club. Yeah, it is. It seems like it always is in the AL East. The balance schedule we're not benefiting too much from in our start because of the other opponents that you mentioned that were playing uh... but you know i we we really don't focus on that we we focus on things we can control it's not something that's a daunting to our players at all

you know we it is something that we have i ever said that can control and embrace the challenge of it. Ross, I was listening this morning as well and one of the questions was asked, it was just about the criticism, how do you enjoy this on a day-to-day basis? How do you go about doing it? Is it like for a general manager in this position in big league sports, the only way to truly enjoy it to the top level is winning the ultimate prize? Well, I mean certainly that is our goal.

But I enjoy every single day. I don't enjoy losing. That is extremely painful for me and it hits me extremely hard. But you know as we ask of our players we have to learn to deal with you know ups, we got to learn to deal with downs and I am very fortunate and I'm honored to come to work with a great deal of responsibility every day to do everything in my power to compete at a sport at the highest level and i i i i embrace that every day feel very fortunate with a great deal of joy

how much comfort do you take in you know the familiarity around you that you know john schnider is now into i think you're three here marks been here the whole time the ownership is not changed but there's been a lot of consistency in march of power has spoken about that that he's a believer in consistency uh... does that allow you to to breathe easier does it affect your mentality on a daily basis uh... how do you respond to that

yeah i mean my my heart palpitations are probably at you know varying between as high as they could possibly be your pick you know, like breathing easy is not something that, you know, we're extremely driven and extremely competitive. And that comes with pressure and that comes with stress and emotion. But the people around me is exactly what gives me confidence, not necessarily peace and just knowing that things will work out, but it gives me confidence.

And working with Pete Walker for every day that I've been here, John Schneider has been here every day that I've been here just in different roles. And there's a long list that we have a great group we've added to the group and our hitting coaches and our pitching staff that supports Pete this year they transition incredibly well having DeMarlo and Donny Hale our baseball ops adding David Bell and James Click to it there's there's so much you know just bandwidth and power brain

power here that I'm I get I get better every day I've learned from the group that I'm working with and I do feel very fortunate. Opening days, it's always a blast. It'll be fun tomorrow to be electric downtown, walking into the park. It'll be a packed house and it's a marathon from there. So enjoy it, Ross, and we appreciate you doing this today. Thank you. Yeah, thanks guys. Thanks, Hayes. Thanks for having me on. There he is, Ross Atkins, GMm of the blue jays home opener tomorrow

jose burrios on the mountain as ball tomorrow's the big one at a big series to start special shout out to haze as well at the end i noticed that it was a very direct maybe he saw the award nominees come out and he said i gotta give this guy a little shout out Possibly. Yep. Shout out to the Canadian Screen Awards Absolute honor to be nominated. He did go a little Larry King too. So that was fine. You were yeah

I know I had a lot more there man Like I could I won't you know We didn't get a lot into bow and you know You mentioned a few of the new players that are here and you got to flush out the season You got to get going and you know There's no point in asking about spring because every GM is gonna say the same thing we were it was awesome Everyone's happy everyone feels amazing. We can't wait But you know it starts for real tomorrow. Yeah, it's a long long season man

Yeah, and it's and for the guy that was asking us to Lay off the Coors light slow pitches questions it's like the season starts tomorrow it's like you what do you want us to grow the guy on day zero well again going back to last season you know again you've kind of turn the page i think even the most pessimistic budget fan has done that you know it's time the time to move on and or tony's not here and so does not here and body's not so i just a reality

yeah that's that's what it is so uh... you know ross is aware of you know where the market is and how people are feeling about things but to big season for him ch Shapiro, Schneider, everyone involved and it starts tomorrow, absolutely. The Leafs are in San Jose tomorrow night, Ryan Worosowski will join us, their head coach. It's been a challenging year for the Sharks because they're last in the league, yet this

was something I'm sure they were prepared for. They knew it was going to be a struggle, they've kind of torn it down to the studs and now they're building it back up So we'll catch up with Ryan and get his take on the whole Season and what to expect moving forward including tomorrow night when the Leafs are in town Get to our best bets a little bit later in the hour might have to mix in some picks for the Houston Open Right McElroy's in there. I think Scheffler's playing in this Actually a pretty good field as we're two weeks away from the Masters. Two weeks tomorrow is Thursday of the Masters, the opening round. You see Jim Nance announced his retirement from the Masters

call. Dude, I thought it was going to be like two years from now and he's going to retire in 2036. That's's ridiculous who makes that call dude it was I thought for sure it was gonna be like this might be his last Masters but now he said I think in 2036 is the perfect right every 50 years in the booth which is an incredible run but how old? 60, he's in his 60s, maybe 65. I thought he was older than that, I'm sorry. Yeah, he'd be in his mid-60s.

He's been doing it for 30 years, 40 years, almost 40 years. He's been doing it for a long time. But I got pulled in, man, hook, line, and sinker, the same thing with a click bait. Jim Nance announces retirement, I'm like he's done like this will be it and I click on it and he goes 2036 I will be hanging it up time to walk away yeah you also have to be pretty comfortable with who you are with it exactly I was thinking that too it's like they could tap you on the shoulder earlier than

that and say Jimmy take a lap, right? Hey Jim Yeah, I think it's enough. I think it's enough on our yeah, Jim dance calling his retirement. What a great call What a what a baller move Alright, we'll head out to San Jose leaf sharks tomorrow night We'll get to that our best bets later in the hour overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN to all right best bets later the hour. A couple of picks for the Houston Open as well. And the Leafs are in California. It's late in the season for them to get out there, man. Usually it's a November, maybe end of January trip. And this is a business trip. Thursday, Saturday, Sunday,

and you're out. And then they've got the Panthers on Wednesday at home next week. And that's the biggest game of the year like once you get to Florida It's it's as big as it gets considering what they're fighting for right now in the Atlantic Division But San Jose we saw them in town a couple of weeks ago Resilient group man at least had them they were up to nothing at least we're up to nothing on San Jose San Jose battles back They get into overtime they end up winning that game and I guess the Leafs will be looking for some redemption tomorrow night in San Jose. San Jose battles back. They get into overtime. They end up winning that game. And I guess the Leafs will be looking for some redemption tomorrow night in San Jose. Let's have their now catch up with their head coach here is Ryan Worosowski. How are you doing, Ryan? Good guys. How are you guys doing?

We're doing very well. We appreciate you doing this. And you know, this I'm curious in terms of what you expect tomorrow night with the Leafs rolling through town and you know like I said a couple weeks ago you were in town I think it was a Monday night your group battled you end up winning that game do you believe that redemption could be on the minds of the Maple Leafs tomorrow night yeah I think so you know I think they're a pretty smart group there's a talented group over there they're coming off a big win the other night. Their game has really matured, so it's not like we're catching a young team. I think they're going to be ready and I think we're going to have to match it.

It's going to be a tough test for us. Ryan, you talked about a veteran team with the Toronto Maple Leafs. You've got some veterans in your lineup, but mostly you've got some kids that are still learning the game at the National Hockey League level. How patient do you have to be with the day-to-day teaching of them going through the process and their progression as they learn on the job? Yeah, that's the word. That word patience is something that I've started to really learn in the National Hockey

League, especially with the young group like you said that we have. They're just going to go through stretches, they're going to go through moments and games where they're learning in their teaching moments and they have to learn from them. From Macklin to Will to the Cam Lun that we just brought in, there's going to be some moments from here on out. There's been like that all year of teaching moments that hopefully they get into the situations that we've been in, whether that's, you know, a lead in the third period or down a goal in the third period or feeling the momentum shift in hockey games, you know, when to make a play, when not to make a play.

Those are all big moments that ultimately, you know, end up, you know, helping to win hockey games or lose hockey games. And, you know, I you know what helping to win hockey games a little talking to you uh... you know i think what the habits in the in the foundation into when hockey into the future uh... have been you know the prepping the at the moment right you mentioned celebrate how has it been dealing with him this year young guy coming in with high expectations the number one overall peckton he's been incredible how have you handled him like managing the

difference between teaching as you just mentioned and motivating and asking him to be your best player on most nights? Yeah well the good thing is there's not much motivation that I need to give him. He's a very self-driven you know kid that wants to get better every time he's on the ice. You know he drags guys into the fight just the way he how competitive he is. He wants to get better each and every day. He's extremely coachable. You know, the one thing that has really impressed me is his 200 foot game.

You know, very reliable defensively. Yeah, he's he's made some mistakes, but he's learned some mistakes. He picks up things really quickly when you coach him and teach him. He's a special, special player, but what I think is even more important is that he's a special person and he wants to be the solution to get this team back to their winning ways. He's driving it you know he's uh... get more more comfortable obviously second half of the season since that four nations break of uh... of kind of being our number one center after we traded grandland and

uh... you know there's been some frustrating nights but he continues to push forward come to the rink with with great energy great passion wants to get better uh... so he's been often often the coach often for a group with ryan warsaw ski the uh... head coach of the Sharks leaves in San Jose tomorrow night. And you know, the last two years, the first overall picks, highly touted, you know, Canadian kids go on to teams that are kind of rebuilding and retooling. And we've talked a lot about Bedard in Chicago and how, you know, we keep saying, you know, the Blackhawks, they got

to help them, you know, they got to put them in a position to succeed because you there's so much pressure on him And it feels like the same thing applies with with celebrini because he's so good You know you guys obviously you're you know struggling this year, and you're not in contention for the playoffs Not that that was a surprise, but I'm curious how you how you plan on balancing this moving forward because right now he's running on adrenaline everything's fresh everything's been great how do you balance you know allowing Celebrini to grow but also insulating him making sure you put him with the right linemates so he can personally have success but then marry it with team success and team goals into the future yeah well I think the biggest thing, and you look around the league,

if you want to have you know, individual success, you know, you need your teammates, and team success comes with individual success. We've been preaching that all year, and yeah, I know the wins aren't you know, where we want them, but we're developing habits, we're developing winning habits, We're way more competitive than we've been in the years past. We're in hockey games.

We're putting ourselves in situations, you know, in third period down a goal or upper goal to be in some tight situations where we can continue to learn and eventually win those hockey games. And as far as Mac, you know, I think individual goals are super important. I want him to win the Rookie of the Year. We're going to help him get there the best way we can.

Like you said, giving him some linemates. We brought into Foley this summer who's been a really good player for us and helped us a lot as far as helping these young players go through the process of the schedule grind and On and off the ice and you've brought in Barclay Goodrow who's really helped These young guys so we have some good veterans around them that have won it and won Stanley Cups and I think Our young guys kind of gravitate towards them and it's been good and again I know the winds have been frustrated to come by but we really believe that we're starting to really build and we have a big offseason and we're excited for the future here. I saw a tweet that you have a

connection with Spencer Carberry and Bednar out in Colorado. What's gone on? Is it South Carolina and the East Coast League that you guys were together in the same organization or at different times? What's with that place that's developed you guys as coaches in the National Hockey League? Yeah, it's a special place, a special organization. I worked for CARBS for three years and then Bezzi was before Spencer and Cal McLean was out in Calgary was there and Rob Kingan, the president there, kind of pieces it all together. And you know, we've got a great bond. We, you know, we have a group chat going where we're talking quite a bit through the season

and especially a lot in the off season when usually we all try to get together and get back down there and play around a golf and try to get better and learn from each other. And you know, I can't thank Betsy and Carbs enough for what they've meant for me in my career and supportive. Obviously, I think Bedzie, I relate towards him a little bit. His first year in Colorado was pretty similar as far as the struggle. Obviously, Carbs has got a team in the top of the top right now.

They're both great coaches, but they're great people and they want to help, they want to support you and if you have questions they're there in a blink of an eye. So we've got a special little fraternity going down there and it's obviously a special place and a great organization. Ryan, what have you seen from the Russian, or Kerry Price we like to call him, Askarov? He's been up and down for you, played 13 games for you, he's playing with the Barracuda as well, but when he gets to the NHL on a full-time basis, what do you think his ceiling is? He's certainly got some talent. Oh yeah, big time. He is an electric goaltender, I would say. He's extremely athletic.

He reads the game extremely well you could just tell he's got you know some really good natural instinct to reading the game and when you know where the next shots coming from he's got some personality towards him he's ultra competitive we obviously saw it there early in the season when he came up played some really good games for us you know and he's again came into a new organization, meeting new people, new goalie coaches, and got a little dinged up there through the American League. But we know he's got a high ceiling to be one of the better goaltenders in our league.

And we're excited about his future, for sure. Leaf Sharks tomorrow night should be a fun one. Enjoy it, Ryan. Really appreciate you doing this. Thank you. Yep. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me on. You got it. the sharks tomorrow night uh... should be a fun one enjoy it ryan really appreciate you doing this thank you yet they've got a thing for me on you got a ryan worse oski head coach of the san jose sharks and uh... back in can be heard on tsn radio tomorrow night

so late start your first game on a western trip i think it's a ten thirty p m eastern time yet the least you gotta get out there and get it man like you gotta get it you go out and get two points. You got to have a long nap tomorrow afternoon. Big time. What it is. Because that day is so long when you first get out there because your body is used to

Eastern time. And you're like, okay, you're looking at your clock. If you're used to getting up at seven o'clock in the morning at Eastern time, it's four o'clock in the morning out there. And you're like, what is going on? And you're used to getting up at 7 o'clock in the morning at Eastern time, it's 4 o'clock in the morning out there and you're like, what is going on? And you're yawning. It's a mess. Like even when I call games. I just remember Jamie going to the, like I would just go to the, I'd be like, screw this.

Everything was screwed up and I would be sitting around my hotel room. I'm just going to go to the rink. But then you go to the rink, you end up taping five sticks and then you wander around and it's just, it's a bit of a conch show. But you got to the rink you end up taping five sticks and then untie like you wander around and it's just it's a bit Of a conch show but you got to do it. You got to just figure out a way to That's why it's the big leagues man It doesn't matter when the puck drops how you're feeling time change you'd like that ref drops that puck man You got to figure out a way to be ready to go Which would be tougher in your opinion that East Coast playing a late-game

West Coast or West Coast playing an early game on the East Coast? Because you'll see that we're like LA will fly in and play it like one o'clock at the garden in New York And it's 10 a.m. Their body clock You know it's I have all the props to the guys in the West the way they travel like if you look at the Edmonton Euler schedule or some of the teams after the Four Nations, like Edmonton started out in the East and then they went back for like two games, then they're back to like that is a crazy schedule, man. It is.

And that's why I wholeheartedly believe when you look at the actual like miles, like playing in the East, for example example for the most part say you play in the New York area there's a lot of times where you could be in your own bed or laying on your couch by 12 31 a.m. from playing on a road game. You know I played in North Carolina and you could make arrangements to be meeting up with people in carolina after a game in philly at twelve fifteen you could be out of bar in carolina after playing a game in philly at twelve fifteen at night like you've done that's how quick the turnaround is

that game's over man you'd be sure people would be shocked how fast professional locker room could clear out beyond a bus and on a bird like it's it's within two hours Everything's wrapped up in any air and San Jose is a weird one. I don't know if people know this There's a noise you've got to get out you gotta get out heels up before 11 p.m. So there's times where you've started 730 out there, and it is like 1022 and you finish the game and they are yelling at you like do your media but ice on the plane like guys are sprinting to the the bus so that you can

get onto the plane so that you can be wheels up because apparently it's like a massive fine if you don't like they won't let you take off if it's after 11 p.m. so you've got a if you're moving on like it is let's move it right now Like it's some weird stuff like you don't get a chance to visit with people and stretch and do all that like it is like Go time get let's get the hell out of here It's a weird weird sound you want to get to LA too, right? Like if you got a day off the next day, you want to be in LA Oh, yeah, get out of here. Get me down to LA two games down there catch and release and you're out Like this is a business trip for the Leafs. They're not there for a week, you know, it's it's a quick Get out of here, get me down to LA, two games down there, catch and release and you're out.

This is a business trip for the Leafs. They're not there for a week. It's a quick turnaround. There's no sightseeing. It's three games and four nights and get lost. We played a game in San Jose and I was meeting somebody at a bar called Jane's House in LA and we played in San Jose and I was at the bar by 1 a 1 a.m. in LA after the game like meeting up with a crew yeah it was crazy that's the move man

coolest things about the old LA Frank was we played a game there and there was like win lose or draw the guys from both teams there was this place called the Forum Club yeah you're going upstairs at the arena and like coaches would be there and it was like you were in LA It didn't matter win lose or draw you were gonna go out there and have a little peek and just everybody was having a beer And it was like we're in LA where everyone's gonna put a smile on that's great. Yeah, because it is there's nothing like it Like LA is just a different beast man. It really is. Yeah, it's a different beast like it like LA is just a different beast man. It really is. Yeah it's a different beast. Alright we'll get to our best bets powered by FanDuel mixing a few golf picks as well for the Houston Open. This is a big one, good field. This is the prep right for a lot of guys. This is it

playing this week and then I'll see you in Augusta Georgia in two weeks. Overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. Alright best bets powered i think it will make your picks in a similar same game parlay and seconds on the fandol sportsbook at tonight uh... i'm looking at the stars in edmonton and i i think tonight you realize without leon without connor i'm right with the stars tonight i think this is a tough one

for edmonton they have played a while they're at home to big big game late game wednesday night but I'm on the stars tonight today's best bets powered by Fandirl live same game parlays are now available for every NHL game on the Fandirl sportsbook app please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario all right you want to mix in like a four or five pack for the Houston Open. Who do you want Scot Scotty or Rory? Take your pick, I'll give you any which one you want. I'll take Scheffler. I think Scotty back in Texas.

Dumb play, dude. Back in Texas. Rory all day. McRoy's not going back to back, I don't think. I mean, he just wanted the players. He looks great. I don't know if he, would you want to go back to back before Augusta? Like would you want to have that kind of winning vibe and that kind of atmosphere and that kind of spotlight

Maybe you can't avoid the spotlight anyway, dude those guys are so much better than everybody else. They just can't help themselves anyway Well, that's why like Scheffler is gonna break out at some point man like him quote-unquote struggling the guy's still like you know He's well under par. He's making cuts He's just got to get his putter going a little bit and once that happens, lights out. So I will take Scheffler. I'm going to take a couple guys here that you might not take anyway, so I'm just going to go ahead. I'm going to take Max Grieserman.

He is my sneaky guy in the weeds these days. And I'm going to take Alex Smalley for one reason. We have the same coach, Ralph Bauer. Let's go Ralphie. Let's get one of the boys on the board and I'm gonna go with Steven Yager. Yeromir Yager. Yeromir Yager is a good player, man. And he's been in the hunt a fair amount recently.

He won this tournament last year, I think. That's right, he's a really good player. Okay, I'm, I mean this is a Bombers paradise. I'm gonna take Pendreth as my Canadian. Taylor Pendreth, I think guys are gonna be uh... okay i'm i mean this this is a bombers pairs i can take pendra as my canadian taylor pendra that guys could be bombing the golf ball down there wide open fairways all takes a heat the gala he's not going to be thrown any

clubs all takes a hit i love him this week and what i have a third one that i can throw out you know i'm gonna go with i need to go to the guy who's been read hot recently one couple weeks ago he loves it till he had i'm going go with i'm gonna go with a guy who's been red hot recently won a couple weeks ago he loves a tilly hat i'm going to joe highsmith haha i think you're not taking his joe highsmith with the tilly hat in the reverse claw i don't even know what that putting to it is i've never seen that before i'm

glad you brought that up as i made a note to mention it this guy goes cross-handed claw yeah on his party i've never seen that before that up because I made a note to mention it this guy goes cross-handed claw yeah on his putting I've never seen that before yeah but yeah it like a lobster all right let me throw one more guy at you yeah Rick McNeely okay you got McNeely I'll take Jake Knapp and I'll take Wyndham Clark go ahead you can pick one more I'm gonna take a guy that has a nice hat himself Harry Hall. Harry Hall he loves that hat he loves the Canadian open too he's at the RBC. The slowest golfer on the

planet but go let's go Harry Hall. He loves the peaky blinders vibe on the course he loves it khakis and that hat looks he's a throwback he's a beauty all right the picks are in I love it Leafs in action tomorrow the Blue Jays in action tomorrow the Raptors in action tonight down in Brooklyn so we got a lot of action for the show tomorrow thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out we appreciate it everyone for tuning in today TV radio podcast web we appreciate that we're out of here enjoy your evenings enjoy the games tonight we're back tomorrow acts that the who

hazy is going to take home that the lump of the award come on or do you have where that's why i wear the hardware four p m will chat then all new the best of our great nation one song at a time justin bieber this is terry clark we are nickelback in Canada, on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip-hop, and when it comes to country,

it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.