OverDrive - OverDrive - March 27, 2026 - Hour 1 - Alistair Johnston

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Frank Corrado for Hour 1 on OverDrive! They delve into the Blue Jays' season kicking off against the Athletics, the Canadiens' winning down the stretch and Tiger Woods being involved in a car crash in Jupiter, Florida. Plus, Canada Soccer and Celtic F.C. right-back Alistair Johnston joins around the table discussing representing Canada at the FIFA World Cup, his role on the squad and the Scotland atmosphere.

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All right, I was not expecting this, but I'll take it. The Js are back home, back in action tonight. We're playing the Major League theme song. I know the Leafs have not won five in a row, and I know the Raptors have not won five in a row, but maybe the Blue Jays are on the verge of doing that. I love the song, I love the movie, and I just hope the Jays have a great season.

I love opening day. Yeah, it really feels like opening day, minus 12 outside right now. Dude, it's not even, it's not getting better either. No, I know. We've got a couple more days of pain before it gets better. Yeah, like the sun is out, and this is the benefit of the dome, right? Frankie Corrado's in here with us, Can you imagine if they had an outdoor park playing tonight?

Do you remember the videos of the old games at the exhibition stadium was snow on the ground and stuff? First ever game at the X, it was snowing. Buddy, how's it any different than TFC having a play outside? Yeah. I guess with soccer, you kind of, you see those type of scenes more. Like you see it in baseball once they get to October and, you know, if you're in the World Series, you're like, I'll play through anything. Game one of 162 and minus weather.

It's not great. A bit of a ground. But the dome will be closed tonight, so it's all good. And especially after you've been in Dunedden so long. But it's not just the Jays, right? Like the Tigers, they got to do it at some point. Everybody. I mean, it's a hot pocket down there.

So you get maybe minus eight instead of minus 12. I did see that actually. Last week, someone sent me a snapshot of Windsor. 21 degrees in Wednesday. 21 degrees. Minus 8 in Sudbury, 21 in Windsor. The big swing in the OHL right there. Hot pocket in the Midwest.

Windsor is the Tampa Bay Lightning of the Oh. Yeah, it is. Why isn't it, like, it should be like Florida. They should be in flip-flops and, you know, golf carts. Like, what's going on with the Spitfires? I don't know. Are they a good team right now?

I have no idea. Yeah, they're a good team. Are they a good team? Yeah, they're good. They get cyclical in the OHL. Yeah. Every couple of years you can bank on the team being pretty good. Yeah, but there's usual suspects in the O, you know this,

that pop up all London Knights, Kitchener Rangers. Right. Consistently good. Yeah. There's teams where it's like, when was the last time that team was good? Yeah, generally any team in the GTA stinks, right? At least that was my era. Like when I was coming in St.

Mike's was still in the league, they never won anything. At the gritty old barn there? At St. Mike's Arena. And obviously, Mississauga and Brampton were around. Like the Mississauga-Sorrax Arena's fit like 300 people? Yeah, it didn't fit. It fit very few people. Like, I played multiple OHL games in that rink.

How do you compete if you're putting 400 people in the barn? It didn't. really. It didn't last long. It's why they're not there. Like our boy, Jeff Doyle was there. He was one of their first picks ever. He went third overall Jeff. And they used to have that was the St. Mike's guys. So he was his transition was

like hysterical. Didn't they have some meathead teams back in the day? Yeah. Small little barn and they just tried to beat the wheels off. Well, that was where Keith and Jefferson, they all started at St. Mike's. Right. And then I think it was made clear more so from the school. These

guys have got to get out of here. like it's not it's not going to work anymore like the whole hockey thing is working but the whole school thing student athletes yeah first and foremost yeah because at same mics they had to show up and wear the suits and everything and you'd see guys walking around in track pants and teachers would be going nuts they'd be like this isn't going to work uh is that just like f you like i'm not wearing this Basically, you drafted me, I'm here to play. I guess I'll show up. Let's call a spade a spade.

When you're that age and you're playing in the OHL, you make a mockery out of all kinds of things like that. Like we showed up to the high school wearing our track suits. Why? All the locals knew who we were already. I totally disagree. And they hated us already. Guelph Storm.

Jim Rooney, Mr. Rooney. He was the principal of the high school. And we all had to wear uniforms. You all had to go to school. It didn't matter who you were. Like you were going. Well, that's good to hear. And it's like you weren't just showing up and putting your feet up and not, like, you had to go to school, man.

I'm not going to say I gave 100%. That's the whole thing. You're supposed to go to school. Yeah. I do think every team had a different relationship with the education system in the respective town. Right? Because I had the same experience. When I first got to bear it was like, you're going and you got to be there.

And I was like, no problem. And then elsewhere, you'd hear like, oh, that guy hasn't been in school. in like three weeks, playing in other parts of the league. I've heard stories of, like, highly rated picks that never stepped foot. No, never step foot. And it was always amazing when you got there young. The over-agers, you're like, what are you doing all day? What is the 20-year-old guy in Guelph doing that's graduated high school?

My best friend in Guelph was Christian Scarina. He was an overage. He'd just watch movies and hung out. I'd go over and have pre-game meal with them. What a life. Because you'd see the overage or at practice. You'd be at school all day and that guy's just sitting around. Every once in a while you'd see him at lunch.

You'd rip over somewhere for lunch like Quiznows or something. What are you doing here? Guy had like a rusted out K car. Always a car. They always had wheels, man. A K car or something. Yeah. Something gross.

You'd always, I always was wondering. I'd ask someone, but what did you do today? They're like slept in, went to the gym. Video games. And then came here and practiced. Yeah. That's about it. Like the overage lifestyle was a great life.

A great life. It was a great, great life. Anyway, it's good to see you, Frankie. It's opening night for the Blue Jays. We got Keegan coming up, Kagan Matheson, in just over an hour and a half from now. And Alistair Johnston's coming up, too, of the national team. And, of course, he's a Celtic player over in Glasgow.

So we're going to get into what life is like in Scotland. And he's been nursing an injury, actually serious one. He had surgery on the hamstring, but hopefully back on the pitch in about a month. And we're looking forward to catching up with him because they got a couple of friendlies coming up. And then it's go time, right? Italy won yesterday. So it feels like it's going to be Canada, Italy opening night of the World Cup. Who was the match you talking about yesterday?

It wasn't Scotland. It was somebody had like, they were the favorites. They were in their home barn. Well, Wales. Wales. They lost. They lost. Yes, they lost.

That's who Italy was going to play. And they lost. Wales is out. And now Italy is in a very good position to either choke, like seriously choke or get through and probably step into the group stage as a favorite to come out. I need to see the reaction. I need Italy to play. And like, I need it.

It's going to be so good if they do. And I was wondering, like, do you think this city is ready for a soccer match of that kind of magnitude? And I'm not talking about like the traffic and the logistics. I'm talking about like the crazy fanatical real Italians that will come over here. Like soccer is different over there, man. Like we can get into it with Alistair, but like there's going to be some hardcore people here. It's like, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, oh yeah. It gets real gritty. It's a lifestyle. Yeah, it's very different than going down to a Leafs Bruins game. Right. It's a lifestyle. It is territorial. It means a lot.

You know, and is the city ready? We'll find out. I mean, it seems like daily there's a new, you know, press conference about gridlock in the city and how they're going to figure all that out and what's going to happen with a gardener. And I don't know. It's going to be here. Let's be honest. If you're anywhere in North America, every city's got its own problems. I'm talking about, like, fights and stuff.

Oh, I understand. Yeah. And it's not even like Canada, Italy necessarily. There's like the other countries that are rolling through. And you're going to see some characters that we have not seen before. What is this? When is the official start? Date?

June 12th. I gotta get it. You're gonna get out of town? I have to be one of those guys. I might actually look at the rent my house. Who, though? That's what Frankie's saying, though. You're gonna rent your house to some hooligan from Switzerland.

Dude, if he gives me 50 grand, I don't care what he does. You're not getting 50 grand. What are you talking about? You can get 50 grand from a dignitary. 50 grand? You know how much houses people that go around Augusta National rent their house? Yeah, that's for Augusta, though. This is the way.

World Cup, bro. I understand that. But again, Augusta doesn't have the infrastructure Toronto has. Toronto has thousands of hotels and motel rooms and all that kind of stuff. Oh, really? Augusta, you've been to Augusta. It's got nothing. Do they have four bathrooms and a basement and a big screen TV? What do you think

you could realistically get for your house? Like, 50 grand is obviously stupid. You're not getting 50 grand. For the whole tournament? Well, who's renting a house for the whole tournament? I guess it's just the group stage. That's not going to happen. You have the group stage. Which is what group state, it's a week and a half. And a couple of playoff games. I'll put a little thing out on Kijiji Worldwide.

I think you're too late, man. I think A, you're too late, but B, anyone that's still looking for a place has been red flagged by every other apparatus. JP, is there such thing as Kijiji Worldwide where like you can just blast this something out and... Yeah, JP would know. You know, like those really high-end real estate firms? Is it a month? It's got to be a month long.

Yeah, it is. Now, they're not in Toronto. I might get more. They're not in Toronto. the whole time, right? And again, countries are coming and going. So I don't see who's going to want a house for two or three weeks in Toronto. You know what's crazy? I think

if you just did that generally, if you said Jeff, Jeff O'Neill willing to rent my house out for two weeks, 50 grand. Come live in the O'Dog's house for two weeks. Oh, you want the general public doing that? In Toronto, like you could just get some fan of the show. That's a great idea. Put your house up for a fan of the show.

I like that plan. it. Go run that by your wife and see how she responds. Dude, she'll throw me out of the house. If I even entertain that, I... Exactly. I put the house up for show purposes. What would the price have to be to displace you for two weeks just for a fan to live in your house? I mean, 50 grand would move the needle pretty quickly.

50 grand cash. 50 grand cash. You could punch holes in the drywall. I'll fix it. Yeah, that 50 grand's a lot of money. It's not going to happen. But I'd listen. I'd start listening. For sure. What do I list it on, dogy? Airbnb is paying visitors. $2,700 a day.

What do you mean paying visitors? What does that mean? To rent their house, essentially. Paying visitors to rent the house? I don't understand what you mean by that. They probably need properties so badly, so they're willing to pay you $2,700 to list your house. And then you're getting the money on top?

That doesn't make any sense. I think you got that wrong, doogie. Yeah. Anyway, dig a little bit deeper. We'll see if we can get O out of his house. Anyway, so Alistair's coming up in about 20 minutes. There's some breaking news out of Florida, South Florida. Tiger Woods was involved in a roll over car crash.

Now, according to local affiliates, you know, the news is still coming in in terms of exactly what's happening, but he was involved in it down at Jupiter Island, Florida. And his condition is not immediately known at this time. Now, there's going to be a press conference, I think, in the next hour. There's conflicting reports out there that we're going to be careful with because we're not sure exactly what's right or what isn't. But, man, Tiger and car issues is wild.

I'm just going by the pictures. It seems weird to roll a car in a neighborhood. And I get it stupid things happen. A guy can pull out of his driveway. But if you're going 30 kilometers or 15, 20 miles an hour, how do you roll a car in a neighborhood? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we'll see if we can get some answers on that.

Again, there have been some reports, ABC and others, that no injuries have been reported at this point. So, again, we'll see what else comes in. But this is obviously a higher priority than whether or not he's going to play in a couple of weeks. but I guess Trump was on Fox yesterday and outed Tiger as not playing at Augusta anyway and I can't imagine this would help his cause so

And you know what Tiger said to him you want to just keep this low proff but I'm probably not going to play an hour later Right on Fox and Friends It's like that meme like when you say like anytime I tell my mom something And then she's got like the camera Just immediately Trump immediately out of some Yeah not planned

But it's almost one of those pieces of news that, like, I was in the Sports Center newsroom just an hour ago. And the guys were like, yeah, Tiger rolled over his car. You're like, you almost can't believe that you're hearing it again. They're like, how many times is a high-profile celebrity guy like that athlete going to roll a car? Like, once in a lifetime feels like a lot. Yeah. And now it's twice.

Yeah, he's, his life, man, is, like, obviously there's going to be a movie on him, a documentary. There's already been a lot of documentaries. There's been multiple documentaries But one of the more fascinating Public figures in sports history Yeah And you know hopefully Tiger's okay and everyone's okay And we'll keep you up to date on anything that's coming out of this

But if I was running his affairs Like after the first incident in Florida Where he got pulled over And he was all Buzzed up on stuff Like if I was right It'd be like never a car again Like driver security

Like that's how you're going to move around You're a billionaire. Yeah. Now, we don't know if he was driving the car. Yeah, that's true, too. But you're right, though. He was driving when he was in L.A., you know, and that was near fatal. Like, that was, he's lucky to be alive.

And you're right. He's had DUIs before, and he's had, he's had a lot of issues in his life. And it is interesting, like a guy of that stature, like, just get in the backseat and be driven around. Yeah. You know, easy for us to say, because he's a private citizen and he wants to live his life the way wants to live it, but he's worth billions of dollars. There's guys that make a lot less than that, that have drivers. Drivers all the time.

Yeah. Everywhere. And guys that maybe have less to lose as well than Tiger. Yeah. So we'll see what comes of it with Tiger. So were you in Montreal last night, Frankie? So that was a big win for them. That one stung by Columbus.

But what are the vibes like with the Habs right now? It's good, man. Like, did you guys see Mason Marchman? Poor guy. He whiffed on that puck just sitting in the crease 35 seconds to go. I was telling Muddy after the game, like he could simulate that play a hundred times over,

and he would score 100 times. But that one, he just whiffed on it. But that was a good win for them. It was two in a row where they, you know, good 40 minutes against Carolina on Tuesday, and then Columbus has been hottest team in the league outside of Buffalo, basically. So, yeah, they're playing well.

And the goalie, like, goalie's pretty captivating right now. like Dobish, the young kid, he's found a little swagger, a little confidence, Caulfield's been on fire. Yeah, they're in a good spot. Yeah, I think they're, like Marty, it sounds like this is what he envisioned for this group. Like, he was asked about that.

I think Kenzie asked him, you know, how close is the team to playing, like your vision for them? He's like, pretty bang on. Well, this is when you'd want it to peak. Yeah. Right? This is, you got less than 10 games to go.

You're in a playoffs. But you can never say comfortably, but they must feel pretty good about themselves, especially after the last two wins against Columbus and Carolina. If they can do some good things in the playoffs and show some more signs and make progress on last year, like you have a big summer and then big trade deadline next? Like who knows how good they can be? Well, like from my standpoint, and you're around them a lot, Frank, but they have established the core of the team is already in place.

Like it's going to be one of Dobish or Fowler. Both of them will be there, but one of them might. separate and be the number one goal tender. Montembaugh is out of the loop? He's going to be. Yeah, they're just going to cut bait with him. But you've got, you've got Dobson locked in, you've got Hudson locked in, you just resign Matheson. You've got Gouldy on term. Like, those are your top four defensemen in some capacity. And I think they feel pretty comfortable with Oliver Kaepinan as their second line center. I mean, maybe that adjusts into the future. But you know, you got Suzuki, you got

Koffield, you got Slavkovsky, you've got Demadov. Like, you've got everything in place. the top four defense, three or four electric forwards, two good young goleys. Some veteran leadership. So like now it's like, okay, now keep going. Yeah, there's other pieces to add. They're not a finish project yet. And I think some of that is going to come from like Hage or a couple of their young guys on the back end. Like it's a Rinebacker or Engstrom who are two young guys.

But like if you look at how the team was built, it's really built through trades and the draft and no free agents. Like they're free agents that are on the roster right now are like Texier and Joe Villano. Like they haven't really landed a big free agent. So maybe they've kind of done it so that that's the little, you know, that's that little finishing spice. Yeah. You want to call it that. And maybe this is the summer where they get someone even though it's not a, you know, it's not a super sexy class.

Well, that's what I'm saying, though. It's like they don't need to acquire someone that pushes the depth chart down, is my point. Yeah. Like they're not looking for a number one center. have it. They're not looking for a scoring winger. They have it. Like, you can add to it. Yeah. You can always get richer, but they have their number one defenseman. That's what I'm saying. Like, now you're just kind of building, you're adding to it, right? Like, you're just, you can be patient when you build it that way. Yes, exactly. They've done a great job.

Yeah, you don't feel like you're forced into doing something you don't want to. And when the team's kind of exceeded expectations, you're like, this is kind of found money for us. We're, we're happy with this and we'll make the right move at the right time. So, yeah, they're playing good. And they have to. They have to because everyone else flux points. Like Ottawa grabbed the point last night. Pittsburgh wins a game.

You know, the Islanders had a big win against Dallas, so everyone's still doing their thing. Well, that's it. Ottawa loses in a shootout and they drop out of the playoffs. Like that, that's how convoluted it is right now. Detroit just keeps following further and further back. See what they got tonight, too?

Who are they playing? Buffalo in Buffalo. I think Buffalo's lost two in a row. This could be it for Detroit. They lose tonight, and rag your toes. Season hinges on tonight for them. Got to find a way to get a win tonight. I got to say, I was happy for that all mark last night.

I've been tough on that guy. He hasn't had a good year. He's dealt with things. But he looked like he had some competitive duty. He looked like a competitive guy last night. He made some great stops. And it just looked like, I don't know. And I'm not going to get into what his body language,

because I don't know what was going on behind it. He's had a really difficult year, but he looked like he was engaged and competitive and in the real deal last night. They need them. Like James Rimer is not playing in the playoffs. Dude, if that Ottawa had goaltending this year, they'd be at top of the east somewhere. There's not a question in my mind. I agree. They'd be well over 100.

Well over. We're a safe percentage in the league. Now, like, the team has played well all season long. Like, they've picked up the goaltending. They've got, what, 10 games left, 11 games left? this is like a reasonable stretch where the goalie can pick up the team that's pretty banged up without Sanderson, without Shabbat, without Jensen, like, it's reasonable to say, hey, can you emulate something like what you did last night?

Especially when you're paying your goalie, $8 million. Yeah, he's got to be the guy. It's got to go both ways. All right, so we will get into some of the comments coming at a leave camp today. They're in St. Louis tomorrow. Then they hit the road out west. William Neelander has some thoughts. what went wrong this year, but he's not going to

reveal them. The guy got some ideas. Yeah, we'll play the clip. We'll get into it, and we'll try to mind-read, Willey, and where he thinks it may have gone wrong this year, at least in St. Louis tomorrow. So Alistair Johnston coming up of the men's national team, the World Cup, obviously

right around the corner. He's still nursing that injuries coming off of surgery, but it feels like he's going to be back relatively soon, and a big part of the Canadian team. So we'll catch up with Alistair. We'll get him in studio. We've got Kagan coming up today. We've got MJ coming up just after 5 o'clock. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live.

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All right, Overdrive continues powered by Fandul. Jay's opening night tonight down at the Dome. Kagan coming up in about an hour. Johnny will join us just after 5 o'clock, but we're all in here and we're all in here for a reason. Brian Hayes, Zodogh, Jeff O'Neill, Branky Carrotto, Alistair Johnston in here. What's happening, Alistair? Nothing much. Excited to be here. Thank you guys for having me on. Great to see it. Sounds like you're like hosting or co-hosting Sports Center. Is that the plan tonight? This is the plan. We'll see how that goes. But yeah, it's just the baby sports center.

Just a 60-minute one there. Okay. Save the 90-minute one. You know what's a big deal when you start seeing Sports Center promo commercials on our network because they don't do them anymore, right? Remember back in the day they used to do, what was it, Rodskiy and Dutch? Oh, yeah.

All the sports center promos. I haven't seen one in years. But for this guy. Whose idea was this? Was this like you went to us or? No. Oh, no. No.

No, I got floated a couple weeks ago. To be fair, even back in 2022 in Qatar, the plan was actually for me to stay on longer with TSN and do some kind of match commentary, be in the booth, do some post-match analysis, which I was really keen to. But luckily enough, I actually had a move off of the back of it, and I had to get myself over to Scotland to sign for Celtic, which was kind of something that took priority over TSN, which I apologize for. but it's worked out well for me. So it's always kind of in the back of my mind that TSN have wanted to get me on for a couple things, and then this one ended up working out, and just coming back from an injury now.

So it was coming over for a little training stint, and yeah, they knew that I was free for as many media obligations as possible. I love it. Wonderful, Stevie Caldwell. I was in a back room somewhere, like hijacking his equipment, trying to sewer them.

Possibly. You picked up on that, Kevin and Stevie, are they all on board with this, or what? Ah, man, those two are legends. They're absolute legends. Have you ever enjoyed a cold beer with one of those two gentlemen? I have, but I've been lucky enough.

Obviously, Steveau was actually on our staff at one point a couple years back, and it was great after a big win or something, and the camps at the end, it's a Tuesday night, and you're trying to figure out where to go, and you head down to the hotel bar and who's there, but the big man has always got a pint ready to go, and he's one of the best chats of all time.

He is, man. He's a great pint to have one with, And again, the stories I get off of him, and then I'm able to give back. He's well connected to Celtic, obviously, growing up in Scotland, and his brother actually played for Celtic as well. So he's come over quite a few times. We've shot a couple things over there, and one of my all-time favorite, just dudes, but also, by the way, a really good coach.

That's a guy that knows his stuff. It's unbelievable for a lot of the young players, especially the centerbacks and defenders, kind of taking them under the wing. And when I first came into the national team, I was a fullback my entire professional career. But as I came into the national team under John Herbman, and we were playing a back three. And I lied to him and said that I'd played centerback before. So they put me there.

And it was pretty much Steveo's job to teach me how to actually play the role that I said that I knew how to do in the first place. So he's actually made my national team career and from off the back of my national team career, my professional career. That's beautiful, man. And he gets you prep for Scottish lifestyles, right? Like now you've been over there playing for Celtic. You said you're recovering from the injury. Actually, you had surgery, right on the hamstring? Yeah.

How's the hammy feeling these days? No, it's come a long way, but again, I've learned through the hard way that a hamstring is a really finicky injury. I would take a broken bone over it every day of the year. You know, with bones, breaks like that, it really is just a pain barrier thing, and I haven't ever really struggled with that. But with this, you get to feeling about 90% so quickly, but then you're talking to your physios and the surgeon, he's saying, yeah, you still got three months more to go. And it's like, how is that possible? But that's just what it is. All it takes is one wrong step, you know, and it can just go again.

and that's the frustrating part with muscles. But thankfully, I'm getting close. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm just hoping that it's not another oncoming train. But I'm definitely into that final stage of the rehab now. And it's perfect timing. I mean, we're at the tail end now of our European season. Still got a lot to play for with Celtic.

And obviously a home world cup coming down to the pipeline here real quick, which is going to be, yeah. Well, that's got to be inspiring, right? Like you mentioned with muscles, there's only so much you can do, but it's got to be incredibly inspiring. making sure you're back and ready to play. And it sounds like Jesse Marshall, like he wants you around the team right, for this window.

And obviously that's got to be incredibly gratifying. Like, if you're healthy, you're going to be playing, right? Is that the plan? That is the plan, at least in my mind. We'll see if it's still in his mind come June 12th. But yeah, no, it definitely goes to show that I have a level of importance in the group. And that's a nice feeling. Something you always want to feel as a player.

You want to feel that you're appreciated and loved. So it's been great to be back here, be around the group. I actually missed the September, October, and November windows. Football is funny. International calendars a really strange thing where if you miss, if you're injured in the fall, you might not see your team again from going from the summer all the way until this March window, for example. So for me, I thought if I'm missing this March window too, I'd potentially be going into a World Cup, having not been with my national team in camp,

having seen any of them in person for 12 months. And for me, that's not really conducive to having a good lead-in into a World Cup. but I know also what I need to bring off the pitch in terms of helping the guys out as a leadership kind of role that I thought it was really important for me to be out here. So I've been really happy and thankful that Celtic let me come out and that Jesse wanted me out here. Well, and you're not alone, right? Alfonso has been injured. Other guys have been banged up. No one ever expects to get to a major tournament and feel like they have 100% health. But you guys are kind of going through it. We had Jesse on a couple of weeks ago.

He was exuding confidence and he feels pretty good about where the squad is at right now. But what can you tell us in terms of the injured guys, not only yourself, but how close you think you're going to be to a full squad come June 12? Look, it's part of the game, unfortunately, injuries. And yeah, this year, when you look at it, has it been perfect for us? No, and not even close by any stretch of the imagination. The number of injuries we've had been way more than we would have liked. But at the same time, in terms of the actual timing,

there is an argument that if everything goes perfectly, which it doesn't always happen with rehabs. There's going to be bumps along the road, but that we ideally would have pretty much our full squad fit coming into the summer. And the difference is that it could end up playing to our benefit as the fact that a lot of our senior players who play massive minutes, potentially this year, instead of going into a World Cup coming off of a European season where they've played 50 matches, travel across the Atlantic Ocean,

on three or four separate occasions to play international matches, might have only played a handful and are actually coming in fresh, rejuvenated, and ready to go for the summer. So there is a silver lining to the injuries to a degree, but at the same time as if you're to ask anyone, would you rather your whole team be fit or playing kind of a numbers game as you get closer and closer to the World Cup, he would definitely have chose the fit option.

But we are, we are, and hopefully we can just all get back in time for it. So you're an experienced guy now, and we've watched Team Canada play soccer, and the thing that sticks out to me is how fast you guys are, how quick you are in transition. You can beat a lot of teams that way. do you guys take a lot of pride in playing that kind of soccer and how difficult is it for the opposition

when you guys are at the top of your game? Do we ever take pride in that? I think that's been probably the best thing about bringing Jesse in is that he came through the Red Bull family and for everyone that doesn't know that, Red Bull is known for, it's a German kind of brand of football that they have within their kind of family of teams

and they're known for lots of pressing, lots of high-speed football, playing direct, playing intense. And I thought it was actually a perfect fit when I knew the options that were coming in as potential coaches when we were looking for one that he was going to be the one that kind of all of our senior players circle and said, look, if you can somehow convince him to come, he's going to be perfect. Because our team, we're built on athleticism.

We are one of the most athletic teams in the world. And that kind of is our comparative advantage. If you go and try and play the Spains and you say, we're going to go and out-possess Spain, you're just being naive. You're just being stupid if we're being completely honest. So we've got to play into our hands. And when I look at it at Celtic, for example, my top speed is the first of the second fastest on the team. I come here. I mean, I might not be on the top half of top speeds.

It is ridiculous the guys, how quick the guys are, how athletic everyone is with everything. And so we know that is our comparative advantage. And we try to make it, you know, a living hell to play against. That's got to be our strategy to beat teams. And I think, again, when the fans look and watch our games, you can get excited by that because you can see a clear path. And they can see how it actually fits our profiles. And of course, then the results come with that. And you could see it in 2024, Copa America, the run that we made all the way to the semifinal. Like all of a sudden we're beating massive teams, which is something that we've always struggled with in our history as a national team.

Jesse's got that, just from the times, I mean, you might say something differently. You might have had run-ins with him. Yeah. But he has that energy vibe of a coach. Like just everything's high tempo. He's always smiling. I don't know if it's for TV, but he's really got a good vibe to him. No, he's, when I first met him, I couldn't believe it in terms of just the energy.

I thought, is this all an act? And then I got to know him a bit more, and I realized this guy was a true company man at that Red Bull. Again, he was in the Red Bull family. He was probably drinking a Red Bull the moment he woke up, that breakfast, that lunch. He's one of those guys that when he says one word, it's almost a trigger into the next thing. And he just cascades and he builds. And you can just tell he's got such a genuine love for the game and how he wants the game to be played. and you can't almost, you can't help but, like, just feel it when you're in camp, the intensity that he brings.

He's like that every single moment of day. I'm telling you, the whole coach just has 6 a.m. to, at the end of the night, you know what I mean? Like, he's pick up, he picks up on every detail, and it's something, again, that you want. You don't want to feel like you're coming to the national team for a little vacation to get home to Toronto and to, you know, maybe see your family. He doesn't see it like that. No, we're here. We're here to win games and represent this country as best as possible. All right, be honest.

How many run-ins have you had? We're like, F you contest. Because I hated my coaching relationships. It was like, close the door. Let's talk man to man here. We've got to air some things out. We've had a couple. And I've got one story that's actually pretty good.

Last summer, I got married. And the plan was that I wasn't going to play in the Gold Cup. I was going to go out of my wedding. I deal with him where I wasn't going to bring a ton of players from the national team to my wedding just so that they could go to the national team camp and make it all work and that was fair. So I'm away. I'm on my honeymoon and he gives me a call and says, hey, look, like, I want you to come to this tournament and I know you're planning on maybe coming and showing up later, but can we move the flight up? Can you get in a little bit earlier? And I'm

like, looking at my now wife on the beach. I'm going, whewf, Jesse, that is a bit of a tough sell. But you just passed the phone over and say, yeah, I know. I literally nearly went, like, well, you can run it by her, then you can get the all clear. But anyways, convince the wife to let me do it. Still in the doghouse a little bit for that. I bet. So anyways, though, I fly from, where were we? St. Lucia, through Charlotte to Vancouver. So no joke, travel, get in.

And I'm thinking, okay, my first day, you know, I've just been away for two weeks off the back of a European schedule. Off the back of my wedding for crying out loud. I'm thinking it's going to be a light one. No, right in the full team training. And that next game, he's like, I want you to play. I want you to come off the bench. And I'm like, all right, I've trained like twice since I've been here again.

I'm still maybe 5% still in honeymoon mode. You know, it's kind of enjoying. It got the tan on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In Vancouver, it was just great. You know, everything was going good. And he brings me off the bench. I remember, it was in Houston last group stage game,

and it was just a tough game, this tough Curacao team, physical, going long, and they scored an equalizer late. We still get through the group, but he comes up to me and he goes, he absolutely rips me after. He catches me one-on-one in the, and absolutely, like, you're not ready, you're still on your honeymoon, all of this. I love it. And I was like, all right.

Isn't that a couch move? Fair enough. You make me fly across the world and then you tell me that I... Gotta be better. But at the same time, it was like, I almost appreciated it. I was like, all right, like, this guy's fully bought in. He's expecting as soon as you land in here and you come into national team camp, you're fully bought it.

I don't care where you were before. I don't care where you're going after. When you're here, you're on it. And he, even the next morning, obviously, gave me a little, as an older player, he came up to me and went like, look, I'm going to have the meeting and I'm going to actually chew you out in there again. So I went, great, here we go. And so we sit down the meeting, clips, and he's just absolutely hammering me going, you can see this, you're not ready, you're still on your honeymoon here, I can see it all.

And I'm just sitting there in the front row going, yeah, yeah, I mean, you're not wrong, but. No excuses, dude, I could still be on a beach right now. Yeah. Don't you love that, though, for Canada? Like, you're going to go against some, like, really formidable soccer countries and you're Canada, but you guys are a really strong program, but it's like, no excuses. Just because the history is the history, we can beat anyone. That's what he's trying to drill into you. That's how I see it.

He's been great in terms of he came in and he's used this line great. He said, you Canadians, you guys are all too nice. I'm an American. I'm very... Bracive. Yeah, abrasive would be the word. Let's meet someone in the middle. I'm going to make you a bit more abrasive and you're going to make me a bit more nice.

And that's what he wants from us. He wants us to just know, yeah, you're planning against Argentina. Who cares? Go hit messy. Like, do what you need to do to go and get a result. And that's been a big thing about him. And he's instilled that confidence in us. that not only can we fight, actually go out there and win the fight,

but we can also win the game. And that's something that he's brought to us. And again, it ties into the group that we have, the athleticism, but also now the natural talent that's just coming through this group. I mean, it's just since the day I walked into where we're at now, oh, the player pool, it's amazing. I like that mentality, though, because if you just go into those games and you're like, this is the superior opponent, we have no chance,

let's try to get through this. He gets smoked. Yeah, exactly. basically laid the framework for losing and almost accepting it in a way. Alastard Johnston with us of the Canadian national team in Celtic FC. So let's talk a little bit about your life in Scotland. The fishbow. Yes, a Canadian kid going over there.

What was the biggest adjustment for you? Like the style of play in the Scottish Premiership, the crowds, the lifestyle, you know, growing up in the Toronto area. Can you hammer beers at 4 p.m? I don't know. What's Glasgow like for a player on Celtic? To be fair to it, it is not dissimilar to Canada in terms of the people are so genuine. They're just genuinely great people. They love you. They are unbelievably abrasive of well in terms of they wear their heart and their sleeve. They'll see you in the street.

They'll run across and give you a piece of their mind, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent. It's a crazy group of people and you got to respect them for that. For me, it actually wasn't the football, wasn't the biggest change. playing in front of 60,000 people at Celtic Park obviously opens your eyes to how much football means, but it was the off-the-pitch stuff, you know, all of a sudden you can't just go for a walk.

I was playing in Montreal the year before I went there and I was playing for the national team going on a World Cup, but I could walk through the streets of Montreal with no issue. There would be a little billboard of myself and the team there, and I could walk right by, and no one would bat an eye. Glasgow, you can have a hat on sunglasses, air pods in, and dudes are running up and grabbing you pretty much.

So there's things that you have to learn. So I first lived, they told us all, all the international boys, they all live in the West End, get a nice flat there. And I was like, okay, perfect. So I did that. And I said after six months, there's no chance. Like, I need somewhere where I can just have some of my own space, you know what I mean? It honestly, it's equivalent to being a Maple Leaf in Toronto to a degree. It really is, it's a fishbowl, it's a city where there isn't any other A-list celebrities.

There's not, the musicians are Celtic fans for crying out loud. I mean, Sir Rod Stewart is a Celtic. He sits in front of me when I'm injured in the director's box. Lewis Capaldi, another huge one, huge Celtic fan. So you are the A-List celebrity, and having to understand that kind of mindset made me realize, okay, you need to find a way to understand that you are a Celtic player 24-7, but then how do you get your escape? So then we moved down. We got a house with, you know, a private garden, so we could just have the dog out there and not need to go, you know, go out for walks and stuff. And just find a way to have peace and, like, for crying out, I get my groceries delivered.

You know, it's sad. That sounds. But that's the way to do it. It's the way to do it. Costco's the craziest day of my month, every single time when I got to go in there. It's an absolute, it's a melee in there. Do you ever slip up and call it soccer while you're doing any interviews over there? No, no, I don't.

Is that like sacrilegious if you're like the soccer game tonight? You mean what Frankie did 20 minutes ago? Well, but we're Canadian, though. Like you grew up in soccer, it's like uniforms, but it's got to be kids. It says on our jersey, Canada soccer. Yeah, exactly. Where the standings are like, it's table, you idiot. Relax.

I don't know. There's a lot of things that if you walk in and say, and there's still some things I switch. Like, if you don't say squad, but you said, what's the lineup or, like, the team, like, you're going to, it's instantly, you know, it's that kind of one of the way. How do you count the three? You know what I mean? One of those ones. Yeah, it doesn't really fit in that guy. So there's a couple things you need to be smart with.

Yeah, soccer's a bit sacrilegious over there. You don't really want to be saying that. It'll just only hurt your credibility. And that's something you got to take with a lot of pride over there because as soon as they get an inch, they can, they can take in a mile, especially when you share a city with your biggest rival. Well, I wanted to get into that because we were talking prior to you coming on. So my grandfather grew up just outside of Glasgow. Huge Ranger fan. Massive Ranger fan, which meant he hated Celtic more than he loved Rangers.

Yeah, that sounds about right. In other words, if they lost, Rangers lost five in a row, but Celtics, Celtic had lost six in a row. He was happy because the Celtic, and he'd talk about fights. And that was the majority of what you'd hear, like just hooligan behavior between the two parties. have you witnessed anything that made you realize, wow, this is very different. It's like Rangers Celtic in particular. My Celtic debut, so when I signed right after the World Cup,

I went straight from Qatar there, and the January window opens January 1st. I'd signed just before, but you can't get registered to play in a match until January 1st. And there's a longstanding tradition that Celtic and Rangers always play the first weekend of January. And that happened to be January. It must have been January 2nd. And I wasn't supposed to start that game, but the other right back,

struggled a little bit at week, and all of a sudden I got dropped in. So my very first match with Celtic was away at Ibrox in front of 50,000 Rangers fans and the most hostile environment I've ever seen. Again, they took the lead to go 2-1,

and the whole stadium does this thing where they start jumping, and I was looking around going, okay, this is going to take some getting used to, but we scored an equalizer with one of the last kicks of the game, and the euphoria that I felt, and I'd only been in the building

for a couple weeks at that point, but just to feel the passion. And again, this is now with the smaller allotments. We only had 750 brave souls, those Celtic fans, going away to Ibrox, 50,000 Rangers fans, 750 Celtic fans tucked away in the corner. Dying to get their hands on them too if they can. Oh, yeah. And every, you should imagine the things that were being thrown into that little section

when we scored the Equalach, but going over to celebrate with them and seeing just how much it meant, I was like, wow, this is what you want to play for. When you're an athlete, you want to feel like the matches that you're playing are meaningful, And every single match with Celtic is, and especially when you're playing your rival, because again, when I talk to people back home about this, they try and say, like, what's the rivalry like? I'm like, well, it's tough. Like, I think like, okay, haves, leaves, but there's a four-hour, five-hour drive between them. Right. In the same town. The stadiums are a stone throw from each other, you know what I mean?

It's crazy. Your neighbors with these people, and it's exactly like what your grandfather would have experienced. You love your team, but you almost just hate the other team even more. So much. So that was something that I learned in living in Glasgow as well, is that everyone knows who you are, but you don't know if they love you, they hate you until they open up their mouth. Right. And the Scots, especially the Glasgow Asians, they are going to open up their mouth when they see you.

So what is the booze scene, like, after work on a week? Like, is it just... Beautiful. The players, unfortunately, we don't get away with it as much now. I get it, but I mean the guys in, like, the regular... The pre-games and the pubs and, like... The regular folk, are they going to the pub every single day? and hammering pints after work at 4 o'clock?

What is the deal? Do you know what the deal is? There will be a select few that definitely do that, and it's amazing. You can drive by a pub if we're playing on a Tuesday night. You drive by a Celtic pub or anything to do with an Irish pub, and the line is out the door at 2 o'clock lads that probably have worked a night shift or spending their whole week's wages just to get in there. You know what I mean? They're an amazing, amazing, passionate bunch.

And yeah, yeah, it's part of the reason why I was desperate to go over there. There was no way I was going to finish my entire career without playing in the UK. And when I had the opportunity to go to Scala, I was like, Celtica, it's like, this is an absolute no-brainer. Because the passion over there, it's one of those ones. Like, I just tell you, you have to get over there and just experience it because it is something. It almost takes you back, you know, you're in the stadium, you're watching these games, and there's no phones out.

People, every single person is so invested on the product and they know what they're talking about, too. It's like, it's amazing. No bluff at anybody. There's no bluffing. Everyone, if I pass the ball backwards, I'm getting 60. thousand my own fans booing me. But then I know what it's like here. If you do that, you know, sometimes it's the corporate

boxes, it's whatever. They're still in their intermission, having their caviar and stuff. Okay, so let me ask you. There's been a big thing with hockey in Toronto here where people are starting to say like, you know, it's too scrutinized and we don't like the pressure. Like, do you enjoy being in an environment where everybody is super excited,

super invested, and they actually care a lot and they know what they're talking about? Yes. I've seen a lot of it, and I know that it's obviously going to be a big summer for the Leafs with a couple major names. We'll see where that goes. We'll start rumors now on this. Yeah, I'm not just what I'm reading. He's got connections.

Start running people out of town. No, I'm desperate for him to stay. But it takes a very specific individual to succeed in these kind of markets. And that's something that I've always found. The players that survive and are successful at Celtic aren't necessarily the best players, but they're the ones with the personality to live up to it. And there's a famous saying from Jockstein that the Celtic top doesn't shrink to any player.

So pretty much meaning that if you can't wear it with pride, if you can't match the moment, meet the moment, you're not going to last here. It doesn't matter how good of a footballer you are. You need to be able to deal with the good and the bad and not. And that's a little bit what Toronto is in hockey. And that's a great example of a guy like Darcy Tucker. He was never the best player on the team,

but he was always at the top. He wrote the jersey on, let's go. He put the jersey on, let's go. Couldn't wait. He fought. He was intense. He scored goals. In the moment was never too big for that guy.

And that's why he's love. That's exactly it. Well, that's what we're banking on start in June 12th, right? We still don't know who you guys are going to play. Feels like it's likely Italy, which will be pretty wild. Is that where the money's on? That's definitely where the cash is going right now. The Fanduil is on here.

That's what Fanduel is. It's a pretty heavy favorite. Good little plug there. Out of boy. That's now you're in the business, man. This guy's media savvy. You're coming up. up on Sports Center with Sarah, right? You and Sarah Davis are co-hosting at 6 p.m. on

Sports Center. So it's coming up right after our show. We'll give you a little bit of a lead in. Then you guys will really pop at 6 o'clock. And then you got a couple of friendlies. And when you're back in town, it's go time, right? June 12th. Exactly that. It's go time. That's awesome. And we'll see. I mean, yeah, well, all eyes will be on Tuesday afternoon to see what team is going to be that one that we're opening up with on June 12th. I mean, there's going to be quite a big population of Toronto that will be cheering definitely for Italy. We'll see. I think it'd be great if we got Italy. It'd be great if we got Bosnia as well.

Both were going to be difficult matches and pose their own issues and threats. But either way, I just can't wait. And I bet you guys can't either. We can't wait. We're feeling momentum. It's going to grow and grow and grow. Starting to build. We get closer.

Really starting to build. It's going to be an awesome World Cup. We cannot wait for it. He is Alistair Johnston. Good luck getting back on the pitch. Thank you guys. And getting that hammy back at 100%. And we really appreciate you popping by.

Cheers, guys. There he is. The Headshake King, you know. Alster Johnston is joining us. Overdrive. continues up on YouTube live. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless.

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So you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. an awesome guy, Alistair Johnston is, like immediately a friend of the show, or at least that's going to be our perspective. We'll see if he leaves and never comes back on. But incredible insight, awesome guy, really fired up for the World Cup. And I think if you live in the city, you know, you're aware of what's coming, but once you get the players in town, you get Marsh speaking on it, you get guys like Alistair pumping the tires of what's about to, what's about to happen in a couple the months, man. It really gets you fired up. World Cup cannot come soon enough. Cannot wait for it. All right, Jay's opening night down at the dome.

Keegan Matheson-Mathison coming up. Johnny will join us. The lees are hitting the road starting tomorrow night. We'll touch on that with Johnny. Frankie's in here. The O'Dug I'm Brian Hayes. Hour 2 up next. Overdrive continues up on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fandul. Fan duel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. IHart Radio is throwing it back. decade to the days of huge hits and unforgettable items

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