OverDrive - OverDrive - May 5, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' matchup against the Panthers, the significant aspects to the Maple Leafs' roster and the elements to winning in the series. Maple Leafs Commentator Jim Ralph joins to discuss the how Toronto performs against Florida, the the stars' impactful role in the series and Craig Berube's mentality for the team and Hayes hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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here to help you every step of the way. If you're a proud pet owner, shop at Global Pet Foods. Support local, shop Canadian. Global Pet Foods, helping pets thrive since 1976. Final hour overdrive continues powered by Fandoa, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score Brian Hayes Jamie noodles, McClennan. We got Jim Ralph coming up later in the hour Ralphie and bones He'll have the call tonight

Least Panthers game 1 8 p.m. Puck drop prime time. It's like Monday night football. It is Great. I love it and Selfishly, I really love it because I'm going down to the game and I'm gonna I don't have to sweat it Yeah, not only will I not be late. I'll be able to get in there a little stop and chat. Yeah, relax Yeah, enjoy your pizza kicking around. I saw the ice cream fridge. Did you I took a picture of it actually and I never sent it To you guys but the world famous ice cream fridge, which I'm sure the tap man is probably getting into right now although I got to stop because I referenced a couple of my tweets over the weekend that bothered people. The ice cream truck in front of your house? This ice cream truck is driving me insane because for starters it's got the new jingle and then it's got

this voice that says hello. Like it, so it starts blurting out hello. So everyone can hear it. Yes, exactly. And it stops in front of my house every single night, just as we're about to sit down for dinner. Now there are not, there's a million kids in my little area, we got a great street, all our neighbors are amazing. But I have, I got this instinct, which I think every parent has and every dad

definitely has. I can hear this thing like coming off the 401. Yeah, exactly. I know this guy's on route and I hear the jingle and I look for my kids because I know what's coming. The second they hear it, bedlam. Yeah. They could be eating ice cream and they're like I gotta be outside and I gotta connect with this guy and he he's driving me crazy. Yeah. Because he knows exactly what he did. He's parking right in front of my house and I swear he just stares at me through the window and I'm staring him down. I'm like, what are you doing? Move along. Like I don't know if I'm allowed to do that. What is the like, what is the rule of thumb for telling the

ice cream truck guy, you gotta get away from my house. Give me a week off. Well, I'll support your business. But why can't he turn left? Like, you can't, I know where you live. There's a, he can go. He could go left. He can go the other way.

But the sound rings out, dude. I know. The guy could, honestly, he could be in your neighborhood. My kids would be like, I think the ice cream truck's over there. I know, I know I know but it just it's a there's nothing you can do but it's obviously a hot spot so we keep circling the hottest spot going because he always gets hit like there's kids one of the houses is coming out right like four kids two kids two kids three kids three kids two kids like it's

just there's a cul-de-sac there of just business. It's a hot spot. So it's a cash cow and the parents are in there too it's not just the kids the parents are like ah give me one. I complain and then every when I do go out there and hey how's it going all right I'll grab one of those yeah like I'm all in too I'm not gonna lie about that it's just every single day my kids are young enough with they don't understand it's ridiculous to ask for that every single day yes and then it's a fight because i'm like no you're not getting this yeah jingles play any sound honking the horn and i want to know and the horns

are like i and they'll circle bill but no concern go back of course because he doesn't want you he wants your money once everybody else you know what he's doing you He's an entrepreneur and I appreciate that. Yeah, but I don't know I had to get out of it I ran to get away from my house for a while. I rented an ice cream truck for my son's birthday last year Yeah, you can pay them and it's not cheap But they come and set up on your driveway and like all the kids. Yeah, 23 kids or whatever They they get whatever they want brilliant and it's like it will give you a two-hour window Yeah, the kids just whatever, they get whatever they want. And it's like, we'll give you a two hour window. The kids just eat until they puke basically.

But this guy was gutless and I got into it with him and I'll tell you why. He was supposed to arrive, you're supposed to arrive at a certain time, because you get a window. He calls me and goes, I ran out of gas. I'm like, no, you don't run out of gas. Come on, dude. You know what he did. He stopped somewhere else first Oh for sure you had that jingle going probably at my house and then he's probably at my house people wanted to leave

I'm like we got an ice cream truck. Yeah, you want to stick around gotta stick around the guy showed up like 90 minutes late. Yeah ran out of gas. I'm like no you you didn't. Just admit, like I even said to him, just admit you went somewhere else first. You double booked yourself to make double the money. Absolutely. No, no, ran out of gas. I go, okay, well why don't you FaceTime me from there? Show me that you ran out of gas. Oh, I love it.

I love how sneaky it is. And then he's like, oh, I'll discount you a bit. I'm like, it's too late. You're here, you got me, you hooked me. Yeah, you're in, man, hook, line, and sinker. And then, you know, I look like a bad parent. I'm arguing with the ice cream guy, but he was being shady. I called him out. That's what I'm saying. I feel like, am I out of line by saying, just giving him a wave, say, get out of here. Move along. You know what you gotta do is you gotta start parking

your car on the street where he can't be like. I know, but this guy maneuvers, dude. He'll pull a, he'll, he'll, he'll park on my lawn. He has to. has to true. He will be on my grass good. There's me in the ice cream truck guy Bees the nose to nose Hulk Hogan last night. I'm just like dude. You got to get out of here nose to nose Good on them. Anyway, he's an entrepreneur. I try I try to support as much as I can It's just you know at some point you got to move on a little bit. Yeah Yeah, just admit you shrunk the shirt. It feels like a sign felt it was admit you shrunk the shirt I just want to say like listen I I did I want to make a few extra bucks I stopped I had another I had another I had a park that was going crazy and I

didn't leave but like what happened is he double booked yeah and then he lied to me and I called him out on it that That's right. That was it. Okay. All right, Chris Johnston, we have no idea when CJ, just get rid of CJ. He's busy. All right, so CJ's not coming on today. We'll get to Ralphie. Ralphie will come up a little bit later.

Well, Ralphie will come up, but listen, I understand this is game one of the second round. Everyone's checked out. It's all, and it's all hands on deck. So I guarantee you there's a queue for sports and you i know what's coming after the game to because i'm going down and the way it works is after the game you know there's the camera guys are down there and they got to be out of the room you gotta you gotta get the coaches podium yeah

right and then you gotta get out and set up and i know what the what we just posted the rock and and hulk ogan i'll be me and CJ postgame because CJ's got to write something right so he's like I got a I got a tape going here yeah he's got a deadline understandably and I I don't have a deadline I'll wait for him and I took I I took one for the team in game two I think I was like you go ahead all good tonight we'll see I'm gonna have to put

my steak on the ground thing is eight o'clock, that's an hour later into your postgame regardless. Oh, I'm not gonna be up until like 11. I don't know, who knows? We'll see. Maybe it goes to overtime tonight. I have a feeling, I don't know. You got an overtime vibe tonight? I just had a tight game vibe. I don't know. People have asked me, what do you think? I don't want to say. Because I feel like I've been, I'm not lying, I feel like I've been I'm not lying I feel like I've been wrong the whole time there's some crazy brackets out there

which I you know that are way off and that's the beauty of the sport it is it's not like like Florida Tampa I felt it was a coin flip anyways but I just watching Tampa watching Florida I saw them live twice in like a week and a half I'm like how they're both serious teams I like Tampa the Vasilevskis having a good year. I'm like, you know what? I picked Tampa and I picked Tampa in my bracket. I picked Winnipeg and Tampa to go to the final. Those are the two teams that I felt just really good about having seen them and gone through it. Tampa's gone. Winnipeg was two minutes and eight seconds. Like, I don't know what they're gonna do like I would have them lower down against Dallas Edmonton Vegas like I might have them you know in the four hole yeah on that on that yeah oh I

think so I think they're I think they're probably worthy of that because we don't know about Shifely and Morrissey and how is Halibut gonna play exactly so you're going into it now all of a sudden you know they might be world beaters and that was the adversity they had to deal with and away they go well and with the Leafs like I remember two years ago when they beat Tampa I Thought that was going to be a monkey off the back situation I thought that would launch them into a deep run, right? And I was wrong, you know and credit Florida because Florida Florida did not blow them out in that in that series

No, they just smothered them and I want to say Florida won the first game to one or something The second game was three two at least had a lead And then game five was in overtime. Yeah, like Nick Cousins wins it in overtime. So In the same thing with Tampa like Tampa didn't get blown out I think it was for one one of the games and the empty netters. But Florida plays a system that screams like under the number, 2-1, 3-2, probably a race to three. And we spoke with Bill Lindsay last week and Bill did say, and this is easier said than

done, probably applies to every team, but you know, you're looking for cracks in the system here yeah that if you can get a lead on Florida it takes them out of the comfort zone right because then they got to cheat yeah then they because they don't cheat like they're they're happy to they're they're very comfortable one one third period they're happy with they're fine with that yeah and they're going to clog up the neutral zone and they're going to left wing lock it or whatever they're going to do yeah there's not a. Yeah, there's not a lot of space. There's not a lot of space. So if you can, if you're the Leafs,

now this is your game plan every single game, but if you gotta find a way to make them uncomfortable, because they don't, Florida would be capable of getting back into games, clearly, they have the talent to do that, but it's a scenario where they haven't really had to deal with that. They haven't been uncomfortable, you know? and to the credit of the Maple Leafs, you

know, they didn't really, they weren't, I didn't think they were uncomfortable in the first round. You know, it got dicey, they didn't play well in game five. Game six, it was too, too late. But I felt like they played composed and they looked mature and they looked prepared throughout the series. Right. And you've got to apply that against Florida here. You do. You got to prove

that you're in it to win it and that you're comfortable with whichever game is thrown your way. Well and adapt to it. Like really that's the beauty of it is is I don't know how many times I said it in that first round it's like you know it's a game of inches it's a it's a it's a detail here to detail there and you can circle it afterwards and go okay there was there was a difference in that game that you know this this mistake this great play this you know lucky bounce or this screenplay or that that type of stuff that's really what it comes down to is a game of inches and a game of mistakes

and taking advantage of it discipline iscipline's gonna be huge. You know, I know everyone talks about the big bad Florida Panthers. You can't play that way if you wanna march, you're gonna march to the penalty box. You have to find a way to play hard, whistle to whistle, mean, but, and same thing with the Leafs.

Counter that. Now, the Leafs in the first game against Ottawa, Ottawa was trying to make a statement. to be physical going out of their way for extra hits and what happened is they took four penalties in the offensive zone and the Leafs power play killed them and Ottawa's power play went 0 for 3 that night special teams were the story of that particular game within after that it kind of evened out I think you know from games two to six the penalties weren't out of whack. It was you know maybe you didn't like a call here or there but it was pretty evenly called. Yeah. Couldn't you

know I thought the refs did a really good job. That's the one thing you know watching that game last night and even the Dallas game like the refs weren't the storyline. Like they did a good job. Yeah they did. Yeah. Because there were penalties. Oh especially in the Winnipeg storyline like they did a good job. Yeah, they did. Yeah, because there were penalties Oh, especially in the Winnipeg game. Like they put the whistles away, right? There was an like trips clear-cut trips. Yeah, and in a little hook here and yep And they said no, we're not gonna do it said you guys decide it We're not gonna be the storyline here unless you fired on cover the glass Braden shen

You know was the only one which you're right like and you can see The look on his face like he's a warrior. I love race more. He was so nervous Walk over the glass, Braden Shenn, that was the only one. Which you're right, and you can see, the look on his face, like he's a warrior, I love him. He was so nervous. And he knew it went right over. He skated to the penalty box with his head down. And he didn't dispute anything. No, he didn't lift his head once, he's like,

I just fired this straight into the crowd. And it was a really tough angle. Weird angle, man, I couldn't believe he missed the board. I thought it hit the glass, again, I only had the... Like he was as deep in the corners you can get. Yeah. Like from a physics standpoint, it was like how did this, how did that not hit the glass? I know. But it didn't. But that's, you know, coming back to any series, especially this one tonight, it is going to be the game of inches. It's going to be a hard fought battle here or there. And that's when the tactical stuff comes in.

If Chief doesn't like what he's seeing, is he going to mix some lines up, move some players around? At this point, you're not saving stuff. You're going, OK, I need to do tonight to try and get the win. Do you think he'll play guys more than he did in the first round i think there will be like he was pretty committed to roll in lines and roll in deep airings and everything was pretty consistent i think there will be times

where he feels like he can find extra an extra shift here you know we got an offensive zone drunken and i want my fourth line out there are one my third line out there but i'm going to pull this guy out of i'm pulling Homburg off and putting Nyland or there whatever like you're I think that's the part the tactical part when you do have last change you've got to manipulate because that's you know Paul Maurice is gonna do that in Florida so that's the the biggest challenge for you know Craig Barube and he you know he does that well Right now it's, hey it looks one, two, three, four,

or you find extra shifts for that top line or whatever, but in the end, yes you use your depth, but now if it's a scenario where you need a little spark, needle or something, why not? That's the way I'd look at it. I totally agree. I think he believes in balance, especially a long series. Like you look at LA ran out of gas a little bit.

I think Minnesota had a shorter bench. They ran out of gas. Yeah. Winnipeg to an extent to their credit, they got through it, but they had injuries and all that, which if you had to play another game, you wonder how could this possibly work. It is a long series. And I thought Barube, I thought did a really good job.

It was really cool insight that the Leafs had them mic'd up after the game, after they beat Ottawa on six, and the Leafs posted in on their socials where he said, you know, you basically prepare for every series to be a long series. Like you go into it thinking that way. So think it's gonna be six or seven and if that's, if he's showing you kind of into his world in his thought process He is thinking he's not shortening the bench tonight Maybe you don't shorten the bench in game one because you're gonna need those guys in game six or seven Well, you know it's if you get some overtime games that well, that's another thing

It's right exactly like you keep you rack up minutes and minutes and minutes and that's another thing about the perseverance of Winnipeg To their credit because they got hit so many times. There's so many massive hits and injuries and it was crazy it never stopped and it you just chip away and chip away and chip away and that's what Paul Maurice has been telling his team in Florida for a couple years. Yeah. Remember that famous thing forget the plays stop making plays. There'll be nothing left of them by game seven. Hit everything in sight and by game seven these guys will have nothing left. That's what Florida's gonna be thinking.

I'm sure Craig Barube is aware that that's what they're gonna be thinking, but the Leafs have to have the same logic. Go hit these guys, hit Forsling every chance you get. Hit Seth Jones every single chance you get. Hit them every time you get a chance, because every time you can chip away, it counts for something by the end of the series. It does, man. You know, and that's where, you know, right now you've got like Forsling is, he's a hell of a defender.

Yeah, that's the guy that was assigned to McDavid pretty much and Dry Saddle and did a number on them. But like, you know, you don't have Echblad tonight. It's a big blow. He's a big part of their D. Jones is a nice player, he's really settled in there. You've got to try and manipulate any little matchup you can get. Now that you speak about it, you're right, I don't think it's a short in the bench immediately, and push for it. But I keep coming back, if there's an opportunity and you feel like that's the difference in the game, you have to do it.

Like, on this particular night. And then you reset and go back. It might be a different mentality. What did we say when Max Patchouretti went in? Because everyone's like, oh, I just stick with the same lineup. And I was like, no, I think he felt like on the road he'd need a little heavier body.

And it's, you know, Robertson out, Patchouretti, heavier body, first game, all right, solidon out patch already heavier body first game. All right solid second game Legs are there bumps up difference maker. Yep, right? So it's it's adjustments We're gonna see a lot of them, but it's all gonna get laid out tonight and then it starts It's like that's the beauty of reset in a series man. Like I joked about it Wasn't even a joke. It was kind of depressing a couple years ago where I said we've been doing this show for so long We've never we've never had the opportunity to reset a series and we got it two years ago and it ended quickly Yeah now, you know, well here we are again now you're facing the same opponent

But you get to reset and you restart and game one is you know, you plant the seeds for how this series is gonna play out Yeah, incredibly important to win game one Like a doogie sent us a stat. The Panthers are nine and one, I guess, is that in the last couple of years, I believe in the last or maybe in the last few years or whatever, nine and one in a series in which they win game one. Right. So now again, one team got them. Yeah. I don't remember, maybe that was Vegas in the cup final. It probably was Vegas in the cup final. But it says something about what we've been talking,

like on a micro and macro level, micro, they're very comfortable with two one, three two, clog it up, make it difficult. If they go up, if they're up in the series, that allows them to feel that much more comfortable. It is. Incredibly important for the Leafs to play well and win tonight. Well, it Incredibly important for the Leafs to play well

and win tonight. Well, it's just important on a lot of different levels is to establish your game and what you're gonna do in this series. And get your confidence going and get everything kind of going. I think you can't look back, you gotta look forward. Hey, we did this against Ottawa, great, different team.

And that's, Florida's a different team. Florida can go, hey, we did this against Tampa. Okay, great, Leafs are a different team. You've gotta know Florida is a different team Florida can go hey we did this against Tampa okay great Leafs are a different team yeah you've got a it'd be fascinating the pre-scouts and and how they want to approach on certain things because they are different teams. Yep well Jimmy Ralph is gonna have a part of the call tonight he and Joe Bone right here on TSN radio we'll head down to Scotia Bank catch up with Ralphie get his take from everything from the goaltending to the deep pairings to the forward lines to special teams how important is game one tonight

Jimmy Ralph will join us from the arena we'll do that next all right best bets later in the hour at least Panthers tonight game 1 8 p.m. puck drop right here on TSN radio I am quite curious to see what what the crowd is like tonight Monday night 8 p.m. but we got second round here. I mean, come on. It was fiery for game one. That was a Sunday. It's a great atmosphere down there for game one against Ottawa. Nicket prices go up for round two. Oh absolutely. Significantly up. Do they? Yes. They never stay the same or go down. I can guarantee you that. Not going down. With every round it's just a little bit more money. Yeah. A little bit more money. Yeah. All right so the game is on TSM radio tonight.

Joe Bowen, Jim Ralph with the call. Let's head down to the rink. Here is our good friend Jimmy Ralph. How are we feeling Ralphie? You really asked if the ticket prices went up. I did. I did. Noodles is an athlete. He never has to buy anything. That's all I'm saying. Like I you know all i can think about is that the prices go up i do you know those platinum seats of everything people will be in that club eaten roast beef they gotta be out there cheering that's my point but noodles that they go up because it's november it's not a bad

by month they go out there and about that you know i mean i would i would anticipate that there would anticipate that there's going to be a little noise. It is a little different, actually not having a Saturday night in this series is going to be a little bit odd, but obviously with both teams being the first, or two of the first in the conference to get out of it, you can see why they're going to start this way. Absolutely. We're repeating what we were doing two years ago, where the Leafs played Florida, the Leafs had home ice, the Leafs felt pretty confident two years

ago. Florida had not completely established who they would eventually become. When you look at this Leaf team, Ralphie, if you can remember how you felt about that team two years ago, how would you compare and contrast the two? Well two years ago, let's not forget that we won Florida chance. Everybody thought, oh we avoid Boston and we'll take Florida and well the rest as they say is history. So that's the old care for what you wish for. I will say this from a Leaf standpoint, even from a year ago, I think you like the three different defensemen they have from a year ago on all three pairings.

I think you like the gold hunting better than you did a year ago. The fourth line you like better. Third line especially I think is still a work in progress trying to find its identity and you have to like what you got out of the core four point wise and leadership wise in the first round. Having said that you know the Florida Panthers as Craig Brubbe said they're they're gonna be the favorites because of the Stanley Cup champs you know until somebody says you're not anymore so I still find it a little bit odd that even though the Leafs have home ice advantage I think you know rightfully so they're the underdogs in this series and uh... you

know not the king of the uh... of the uh... thrown you know before you can uh... advanced but but i mean this could be you know if if they could ever go on that magical run and get to the stand-by cup finals this could be the you know the one series that you said that was that that was you know that the series that uh... you know springboarded them there yeah i mean obviously your toughest challenge

uh... ralph you just laid out some things what would you think you know if you had to pick maybe one is your x-factor you know is it just the easiest is stole ours has to be as good or better than bob or is it something different that uh... you would lay out that could be a difference maker in the series all you know noodles i get a stick with the gold thing and i i do think that's

uh... that's a huge part of it and and not to jump on the list and some office question from two years ago but uh... i don't know how you guys feel about when you go back to the series before two years ago you know it was a five game series for florida florida controlled the series you never really had a feeling the Leafs were in it. They never got any traction. And yet, first game was a 4-2 win for Florida. The next four were one goal games, including two overtime games that Florida won. And to me, goaltending was

the difference in that. And I'm not saying, you know, because the Leafs didn't score. They weren't scoring four or five goals a game and losing But Bobrowski was just better in that series, so I I think it is I know it sounds Like we're simplifying it a little bit, but I think if Stolas can play even with Bobrowski That's probably their best chance to go to the series Yeah, I would agree with that and you know maybe go a step further and steal a game or two I mean that's that's expected if you're gonna to go on a run that has to happen right. At some point it's going to happen but let's presume that happens. Let's say Stollars and Bobber are wash and you mentioned the 3D you know the new defenseman

in Tanev and Carlo and Ekman Larsen and I totally agree with that assessment Ralphie. I feel better about these six defensemen as a collection than I have any other Leaf six pack over the last 20 years. But then it gets to up front and specifically the best players and Matthews and Marner and Nylander and Tavares. How do they handle the heat that's gonna come their way? You know the Panthers are gonna attack,

they're gonna try to get their licks in, they're gonna try to drag them into the fight,'re going to try to make their lives as difficult as possible What will make you believe? Okay, something's different here. What would you have to see out of those players? Let's say starting tonight to say okay, the message has gotten through they've gotten it and it's all good And these guys are not four players you have to worry about if you're a Leaf fan Well, I would say from Craig Rubé to the players if after game one nobody is using the line they did a good job keeping us to the outside. You know I think that's gonna

be the battle I think you know when you look at the goals Matthew and I scored in the first round that has got to be your goal you know to score the the three footers on deflections look at you know Winnipeg's come back late last night. Throw pucks to the net and get people there. They're not going to give you a lot of odd man rushes. There's not going to be a lot of breakdowns in their end. You're going to have to bulldoze your way to the front of the net and earn your breaks. So I think that's going to be the key. If there's talk about they did a good job keeping us to the outside and we couldn't find a way

to get there. I think that was a narrative two years ago and I think that's what they've got to avoid. In a lot of ways, I think with the emergence of NIS, with what you've seen from John Tavares, hopefully there's more there from Bobby McMahon in this series. What do you like about the fourth line they can go out and crash and bangin and maybe you've you've got another big goal in the series scored by max patcher ready for max domain pos homework you know uh... but i think that's that's gonna be the key to the series aside from the

rostoff the physical play in everything else they've got to be the aggressors and getting to the net the offensive zone how big of a factor think brad marsh and wolf will uh... we're that he's in this game like he's out there is a florida panther and you can't get rid of the brunson no you can i can't like it but you know you know play there are the former brewing business trophy winner in the

first round another former captain of the second round so it's like still but but the ghost of the bostonins have got to be floating around somewhere. Maybe that's why they gave up so much to get Brian and Carlo, to try to steal part of the holy grail that has beaten them. So yeah, it's going to be interesting to see. I know he hasn't scored yet in the playoffs. Only had a couple of goals.

Now, I mean, was hurt when they required him from Boston, rated the trade deadline, but I think it's up to the Leafs to sort of not allow him to become the distraction. You know, you might have to take the odd sucker punch in a scrum to the face, but I think, you know, you can be the aggressor with him as well. Somebody grab him by the cuff and ragdoll him a little bit. Another thing with that is how do you handle their toughness? How do you handle these guys that like to mix it up and scrum? There's no reason that you can't do the same thing. At least you have some personnel that should be able to do it.

It's going to be an interesting chess game. I think we probably got two of the best coaches left in the league as far as Content for postgame interviews and everything else Paul Maurice is I still think one of my favorites and Craig Brubay is pretty good at it as well. So I mean it's got all the ingredients to be a very interesting nasty You know fun series I think exciting series for fans from both sides of it. Game one tonight, Lee Spanther is right here on TSM Radio. Joe Bowen, Jim Ralph with a call. We're chatting with Ralphie right now and you mentioned

like Craig Barube kind of scoffed at the idea that Florida is a mean team and almost looked as if he was confused by that description and I like that. I appreciate his approach. How much do you think his attitude and the way he sees the game, you know, what does that count for in terms of the Maples and them going into this challenge? Well, I thought it was huge against Ottawa. You know, I don't think he's just all talk.

And then, you know, it says different things to the players behind. He said, you know, we never had any concerns and why are we always talking about the core four and you know we we all have our own thoughts on what this team's demons are but I also went back and watched you know the year he won the Cup of St. Louis in 2019 they played San Jose and San Jose went up in the second game of the series you remember that this is why the hand pass review was brought in. Where Carlson scored in overtime, it was a hand pass and it was Thomas Hurdle, if I'm not mistaken, or Timo Meyer, somebody, there was a hand pass and Biddington went nuts after

the game, they go down 2-1 in the series. And Craig Brube, after that game, I saw the clip, he just basically said, hey, you move on. Yeah, they missed the call, didn't go our way, you move on. You don't dwell on it, and this is the team that turns around and wins the Stanley Cup. So I think he's got a huge effect on this group going forward. Yeah, well business-like, that's his comment. Yeah, and very matter of fact. And it's not, if you win a game, it doesn't mean anything.

And you like right off the bat with the playoffs, he said every game is going to get harder. Every series is going to get harder. And what I liked in a very small way is, and I realized when they beat Tampa two years ago in game six overtime, you know, overtime is a little bit different celebration. But this year, there wasn't dish huge celebration on the bench that we've accomplished something we've won it was uh... by comparison very subject like i said i've i realize one was an overtime and one was about it

but i kinda like the fact that it was just sort of like okay we get we got through it now let's let's get ready for the next yet completely different you're right and and that might have led to the like the reaction were couple years ago saying this earlier Ralphie when they when the Leafs beat Tampa I thought okay monkey off your back now you're gonna take off and obviously it didn't happen and you can you have the credit Florida for a lot of that the way that they performed in that series but you do look back on the way he free acted and Dubas reacted and all the players reacted and I

understand it was a huge relief because at that point it was you can't win a playoff series like that was the bark and you were in four games or can you avoid choking and and and it was clearly a sense of relief and I think you bring up a really good point. Like Thursday night was an incredibly subdued reaction from the Leafs. Like it was kind of almost like gloves and sticks on, helmets on, you know, go through the handshake line, all business, see you later. I do have an appreciation for that because, you know,

these guys, you still, you gotta be happy that you won. But what is your goal in mind? Is it to win one round or is it to win four? Exactly. still you gotta be happy that you want that but what is your goal in mind if i was wondering around and said when for exactly and if you saw florida noodles after uh... after the beat camp in the first round there wasn't you know that was i was like who's gonna get the water bottles yes let's get let's go there exactly

very very like mature and professional and then they're done that right back that's a thing you gotta you gotta either go through the process or act like you've been there and done that and i think you know you with the leaves beating Ottawa you're right like it was saying we were happy but we're not satisfied type of thing and that's you know even Winnipeg scoring in overtime like I think people were elated obviously yeah that was different but I didn't see any helmets and gloves on like

hellebuck went through the line with his home on that watch in the handshake line like that you've been playing like four and a half periods yeah take your helmet off is like no and i don't i don't know if it's just that superstitionary hadn't thought of it or or what you know i would like that was a unique

at first i thought bennington didn't shake hands but then i realize he was the first guy in the body when He went through and then... He was the first guy in line. I see, okay. Because I was like, why is he... Because he was out there... They were showing him picking up sticks or whatever it was. I was like, okay, but yeah, he was the first St. Louis Blue in line.

And I thought that was telltale. That was an amazing game. What a game, what a battle. You know, a great battle. You've got three Canadian teams left around. Yeah, Ralphie. You got three Canadian tickets. Hey, but Noodles, how about this, and Hazy too, but Noodles especially from a goalie standpoint. Those two comebacks on the weekend. You've got the the Rantman goal, the second one on the wrap-around that goes off a defenseman's skate. I know. You got the second goal for Winnipeg goes off suitor skate and then the winning goal

in overtime goes off two guys in it. That's not the new thing you do. And the thing is, and I remember reading Dick Irvin's book years ago and he talked about his father, the late Dick Irvin Sr. as he always referred to him, and he always talked about the hand of God. The hockey God somewhere along the way to win a championship, you have to get those breaks. And the better you play, the odds go up. But nothing's guaranteed. It is just amazing. You go back to maybe the Simon Benoit goal that stinks through. You

know, all these different little moments that you say, wow, you go back and you circle that as, what a turning point in a series or in a game and I just couldn't help but feel bad for the goalies who've lost in those games because you're saying Mike got but there's nothing you can do yeah on these as good as the goal that he was in both those game sevens to have them decided off skates and some bad bounces as it's heartbreaking but that's why we love the game. Yeah that's kind of what you expected right? You thought if this is gonna go in it's gonna be pionk shooting it goes off a defenseman off Lowry's pants and in and everyone after the game I was live because it's like

Lowry's more skilled than he gets credit for which I agree with right he scored off his pants right yeah like he didn't go end to end or. I just, his reaction I think was more surprised, like oh my God it went in. It's in. Yeah. It hit me and it went in. Inulation. Yeah, it was incredible.

And relief in the end. Well, game one tonight. Leafs Panthers, 8 p.m. puck drop pregame, gonna start around seven o'clock. Intermissions post game, the whole thing on TSN 1050 and of course the call with Joee bone and jim ralph uh... ralphie great catching up with you i'll see you down there enjoy it tonight have a great call and do it again soon

alright thanks boys there is jimmy ralph joining us on the from the radio booth save you a piece of or save you some ice cream before the tat man yeah i haven't done the ice cream thing yet but i have uh... i have found a way to get there's some pizza usually kicking around that is going to be on the menu

Did they hide it did they hide it on a drew in a drawer or something? It should be hidden you should I'm as guilty as anybody else, but I went out one time and there was it was like a Rodeo for it. Oh, yeah, you know, it's awkward is when people are hanging around it Yeah, like I'm dying to get over there But I don't want to have to like, fight through traffic. And then people are like, Hey, what do you get there? Double-slicing it. You can even look at it too, because like, Oh, it's crazy and right in there. Oh, yeah, they've got the tongs there and

people bypass those completely. The tongs. I watched I think I've told you this. The popcorn machine. I watched the cameraman walk by one time and just stick his hand in and have a handful and keep going. No problem. Not even a thought in the world. If you're a germaphobe, you cannot look at that type of media setup there because you'll

be horrified. But that applies to everything in life. If you're a germaphobe, everything bothers you. I understand that. You can't go to what's it's a very unstable way we would go to that while the Mandarin the man for it yeah you go to the Mandarin it's so it's a it's a wild scene it's a wild I haven't been there in a long time but yeah like the Mandarin I think didn't they shut down during COVID like they had to I think it's

mandatory I mean yeah you can't you can't have a buffet running. They had splash guards and like it just, I remember the one time we went, there were like kids just reaching in. Oh yeah. Well, exactly. Kids are guilty. Mike, I've seen my kids do it.

I'm like, oh, just grab those. And then, then you go, hey, no, no, no. And then they put it back. Yeah, exactly. You're like, well, no, don't put it back. You got to keep it now. But okay. Those media upstairs,, there is...

I'm going through the gauntlet tonight, man. It is the equivalent of the Mandarin. Yeah. And it's all the same cast of character. Oh, it's always, man. It's great to see everybody down there. And the only guy who doesn't do it is Jonas, because Jonas has his...

Yeah, Jonas and Masters. Masters apparently is, I thought I heard his wife had made him like some oatmeal or something for the first round this guy was just mashing oatmeal the whole first round and jonas brings is rabbit food like he brings the seeds and is in the not salary and carrots yeah and eats

very healthy the whole time it had never seen him eat anything unhealthy really ever the whole time. I've never seen him eat anything unhealthy. Really? Ever. That's true. Right, I've never seen him. I've never seen him. Like if he came in here and we had like Boston Pizza dropped off, he'd be like, thank you, I'm okay. I don't know if, yeah, I've never seen him. We should ask him if he has like, I'm sure he, like Gary Roberts, I played with Gary Roberts. People don't know this, but like he likes ice cream. Like that's his, like, I don't think he eats it every day

or they get some- You gotta have some restraint. Yeah, there was, I remember, like he would have a scoop of ice cream. But it was probably, nowadays it's probably some sort of- Yeah, it's good for you. Yeah, it's some sort of real ice cream. Yeah, it's got something in there.

Special cow and who knows? That's what what Rob's would have but now like I think guys if you're in moderation eat what you want but just eat moderate. Don't take out. That's how I felt. Moderation. Yeah. That's what you support and you advocate for. Yeah. If you want just exercise and keep your keep everything on the rails. Then you can be like the old dog were earlier this afternoon he said you know when he wasn't moderating his car was a disaster his dressing room is a disaster I'm going down there in 20 minutes I'm gonna go down before I go down to the game and I'm gonna post it

on Instagram I'll post it on on my Instagram stories I'm gonna do the walk in and I'm gonna post it I think it's a mess. I think there's empty water bottles there. I think there's, and who knows what he's got in there, like as far as, because there's stuff that just like, there's like Gatorade bottles that are left out for talent and then all of a sudden they're in his. Oh dude, this guy used to smuggle, he used to smuggle like the Sour Keys and all the gummies and stuff. We'd go there on like trade deadline yeah you know tsn nice enough to supply people with a bunch he would walk out with a case of gatorade and and two buckets of like whatever snacks were down there whatever's not nailed down

he's there's a hundred people here i know and this guy would be smuggling them into his dressing room exactly stop drop and roll that's what's in there, I'm telling you. I think you're right. Although, JP brings up a good point. He left an hour ago. There's a chance he's over there cleaning up, knowing I'm en route. Not him cleaning up, he's asked somebody.

He could have paid somebody to come in. And he hands somebody a 50 and goes, go in there and make sure there's not a raccoon. I'm gonna post, if there's a raccoon in there, you're gonna see it. At Bze on air on insta i will post the story i might have to review it first because i'm worried yeah viewpoint there's something in there i'm like what is good why is that hair underpants

like hanging on a chair that you do not want to that is my concern i might have to actually edit this thing. Yeah, you might have to like have a blurred out like something. Yeah, like there's a chance he's in there. That's true. Doing God knows what. You can't throw the door open and just snap. No, if I do a snap and post, there is a really significant chance that someone's going to be offended by that. There's some trouble. All right, Best Bets powered by FanDuel coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. All right, best bets powered by fan duel coming up overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on the TSN app All right

Today's best bets powered by fan to make your picks and assemble a same-game parlay in seconds on the fan dual sportsbook app You get on the fan dual sportsbook app. You can see our picture right there the overdrive crew were there Right. We're up there right there on the front page and we have an SGP, a same game parlay for the game tonight. I'm going under the number. We're going under five and a half. It just feels like a three two game. I feel like three one tight checking.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was zero zero after the first. It's kind of easy into it. Both goalies show up. Both teams, you know, physical defend. Don't cheat. Be on the right side of the park. I just feel like you just said that. I'm like, yeah, it's going three nothing after three nothing after three to ten period

Yeah, no, I think but it I do feel like a tight game I feel like a tight game and Florida has been playing a lot of lower scoring games and even the Leafs like that You know it was game two game three. That was three two games Yeah, they were Marner two plus shots on goal Nylander three plus shots on goal both Both of those in 60 minutes, not including overtime. So there's your parlay under five and a half Marner two plus shots. Nylander three plus shots, paying four plus four eighty on the Fandol sportsbook app. Today's best bet is powered by Fandol.

Live same game parlors are now available for every Stanley Cup playoff game in the Fandol sportsbook app. Please play responsibly. Ninibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario Panthers are favored to win a game tonight which is again it's like I get it I understand why like Florida they had more of a break yeah at least only played one more game but still um they're the Panthers close to a pick them though it's pretty close to a pick them yeah it's pretty close and I think that's the way it should be for me this is a coin flip game I think you know you're going to need that that's assuming the goaltending shows up on both sides The special teams are relatively close like yeah, you know not a ton of power place one way or the other

Yeah, I think it's gonna come down to who can break through in tight areas probably in the third period We'll know a lot more tomorrow, but I feel like I guess this is the one this is a weird thing to say but maybe do a Jerry's on it you think there'll be a suspension in the series I'm gonna say I mean history would tell you it should be a hundred percent but I'm gonna say I'm gonna say 40% might be low on it yeah I mean I just I feel like they're you know it's just gonna be a different series. And I'm not gonna say it's a bloodbath or anything. It's just gonna

be a different series than what you saw. Yes, last week. That's my point. I don't know what that means. Well, it's got a different feel. It feels like it's going to be more intense, more physical, more hatred should be there. Right? Like you would think there'd be some more like that's because Florida is going to probably drag you in with cheap, not cheap shots, but they're they're gonna if they can get a lick on you and get one. Yeah they're gonna agitate. I agree. And yeah the Leafs, I mean we'll see if it's in their DNA to

match it or for them to be proactive and say actually we're gonna take you out. It doesn't mean that I'm talking both sides. Yeah. There's still shady hits on both sides not on one side absolutely that's a thing like you can't go oh well Florida plays dirty the Leafs don't I mean you know we've seen gray area hits on both sides yeah like it's not just one so in the end I don't know it's a weird we'll discuss it tomorrow it's more of like a bigger okay but I just I like that mini Jerry though I like that mini Jerry going into the series this is when you got to get it out once you start start playing games, all bets are off.

Yeah, exactly. You know? Yeah, there it is. Toronto plus 104 tonight, Florida minus 125, courtesy of FanDuel. Yeah. That's effectively a pick them. I mean, I think that's reasonable. Tight game.

I just, I feel like it'll get one tonight if he leaves. And I got my eyes on Mitch Marner tonight. Like he's, he just had a kid yesterday he and his wife his birthday today I don't know if that means anything but like this his life has been kind of turned upside down yeah yet you know you hear a lot of pro athletes say that once I get to the rink then I can actually escape relax and play hockey and play and um listen he's got a channel I thought he had some good moments in the first round. I think he could be better. He's got a channel that Four Nations type of, you know, it's when it's tight out there,

when you don't have a lot of room, you are crafty enough to make the plays. Yeah, do something. You got to do something tonight. Yeah, starts tonight. All right, Least Panther is right here on TSM Radio. Puck Drop at 8 p.m. Full breakdown tomorrow.

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