OverDrive - OverDrive - October 20, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Blue Jays' Game 6 win against the Mariners in the ALCS, the Game 7 matchup of the ALCS, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s incredible performance and his Auston Matthews attire for the game, and the season mentality for the Blue Jays. They also discuss Anthony Stolarz calling out the team in the Maple Leafs' defeat to the Kraken, the response on getting run into the net, the overtime goal in the game, if the comments are rightful for the franchise and the meaning for the team.

Alpine News Network is here live with one of our superheroes. The Prestons are a hockey family. Growing kids need food, and food needs a proper kitchen. I was sent by Alpine Credits to help with a home renovation loan. I introduced these young athletes to my superhero strength protein diet. Just consult your doctor before eating 300 eggs a day. Plenty a room in that new kitchen, though. Own your home, need a loan, Alpine Credits can help.

Alpine credits, where homeowners get approved. Just for license 12-616. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fanduil. Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, up on TSN4. Brian Hase, the O'Dug, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles-McKennan. It's going on.

What's going on? How are we feeling tonight? Hayes, I got to ask you first, man. I don't know what your vantage point was. I know you did your work. You said a word that wasn't a word. We'll get to that a little bit later. But did you see the size of the biceps on the dude behind home place?

Yes. He's a bodybuilding. Massive human being. They were the biggest arms I've ever seen on a human being. And he was, imagine sitting behind that guy and that guy was standing up, flexing the whole game. Like, do you have the stones to say, excuse me, please sit. down no the quick answer is no obviously that dude i don't know they were the the arms were insane i could not stop working out his head doesn't match his body like his body's too big for

his head like i've seen that guy he's like it on instagram and he's like a bodybuilder and stuff like that it barely well very well known and he's become more famous because it had to be some kind of promo or something like it's just no he's like a fan He's a fan who sits back there in stuffed into a Blue Jays jersey, and he's a monster. Yeah, he's a big, big dude. It's like that Marlins man. You know, Marlins man, the guy who goes to all these big sporting events and where's the Florida Marlins gear so everyone can see him?

Yeah. I think that's maybe what this guy's doing. It's a pretty good way of advertising, I guess, right? Like find a way to get right behind home plate, court side, right behind a bench at a hockey game, and people are going to notice you. but I don't have any information on that guy. I don't know, and I'm not going to seek it out, and I'm certainly not going to say what noodles just said.

I'm not going to tell this guy his head doesn't fit his body face-to-face. Well, obviously, he'd rip mine off and bowl it down the street for fun. But you tell me, I see him on the camera all the time. I'm like, that guy's body doesn't matter. Something he's just oversized. He's a monster, an absolute monster. Well, I'll look into it. I wonder if he was chirping Seattle players last night,

like the Happy Gilmore scene or, hey, Shooter, happy Gilmore. I'll see you in the parking lot. Vladigaro Jr. hit a home run no more than an hour ago. Let's see what you got. Maybe he was doing that last night. Well, Vladdy made a fashion choice this morning or this afternoon walking to the park. He was just spotted walking into the Rogers Center,

wearing an Austin Matthews, Maple Leaf, Jersey. Now, it's vintage because it had an A on it. Can we get Vladia captain, Jersey? Can we get Vladia, an updated jersey for Vlad. Let's get an updated, leave jersey. I think I know where he's going with this. His post game was phenomenal last night, saying he's born for this,

and he wants to do it for the city. And I think that's what he's doing. He's playing off Seattle, right? Seattle, the Cracken was wearing the Mariners' uniforms. And I think the Mariners were trying to pump up the cracking in the past and we've seen that and I think that's what he's doing saying I'm here representing Toronto and I'm going to bring Austin Matthews into the fight here maybe should have been wearing a Stollars jersey though that would have been interesting if he went

stolars instead of Austin Matthews but immediately people online are like I don't know if I need a Matthews game seven mojo in the park tonight some guy just wrote I'm going to pretend I didn't see that just like you know what would have been worse though I with you sent that Hayes, you know what would have been worse if that the Ben Wagner, which is named Drake, was standing there with him? Because that guy's been invisible. Has he not? Have you seen him at any of the games?

I have not seen him. I mean, again, I've been at the game, so I don't know if he's been picked up by cameras or something like that. I wouldn't put it past him if he's in town being there tonight. I would definitely expect him to be there tonight. Doesn't that guy hand out the kiss of death for everybody? He has historically. Now, he was there in 2019 when the Raptors said that the kiss of death doesn't apply to us, right?

And I think that's what Vladie has the potential to do here. You know, we're having fun with the Matthews stuff. Obviously. But let's be clear here, the Leafs do not have a great mojo, right? The last time there was a game seven in the city, we know what happened. They don't win it. They don't win it. Not only did they not win it, they got crushed.

They got embarrassed and it was really ugly. And now you got the Jays with an opportunity to do something amazing tonight. And maybe Vladie, and I think this is what's been so great about what Vladie Jr.'s done over the last few weeks is this market has been craven that superstar who exceeds expectation, who is the best player, who is clutch, who is doing it all, is willing to put himself in the line and say, I'm built for this. was born for this, come along for the ride. We're winning, like almost a messier type guarantee. It wasn't quite that, but it wasn't far off from Vladdy last night. And

on top of it, loves it here and wants to be here. That's what makes this is what separates it even from Kauai. Now, they're not there yet. There's still game seven of the championship series. You got to win tonight, then get to the World Series, try to win that. And then we can wait to the dust settles and discuss what this means

historically. But the thing about Kauai was it was so foreign to people, that this guy is actually going to do it. Like, he's actually going to say we're not losing. Like, we're actually, I'm going to hit the shot in Game 7 against Philly. We're going to go to Milwaukee, and I'm going to tell my teammates, we're winning both these games. We're not just going for a split. We're winning and we're not going to lose.

And I don't think Kauai ever spoke Hayes. That's the thing. He never spoke. And furthermore, the second he could leave, he left. The second he could leave he left. This guy's not going anywhere. Blattie loves being a Toronto Blue Jay. Talk about performance.

The performance and the PR put together is so brilliant. Like, he can't wait to say, we do this for the fans, I did this for the, like, he has just, I don't know, I don't know if a city can love a guy any more than what Toronto does with Vladdy right now. And he's just incredible. Yeah, he's delivered. That's what it is, guys. And he keeps saying the right things, and he just has people in the palm of his hands. It's a perfect, it's a perfect play for a guy that's gone legend right now.

But isn't that what you expect at a star players? Because we had to talk about them on our show going, yeah, it's got 23. Barger's that 21 type of thing. And, you know, $500 million. And there were games this year. You're like, okay. But because the Jays were so good this year, it kind of fell into the background. And Hayes, you said it at the starting of the playoffs.

You're like, it doesn't matter what he does in the regular season if he can go legend in the playoffs. because nobody's talking about 23 home runs this year or, you know, an average season, we'll call it, or below average compared to the standard. What we're talking about is him being brilliant in the playoff, brilliant, not just good, being brilliant and not afraid of the moment, not, you know, shrinking on the big stage. It's the exact opposite. He's enjoying it. He's embraced it. And listen, they're in a game seven because of him, because of other players stepping up. you savage that's a six

six times this guy's been on the mound in the majors and he's you know I don't think he had a perfect game but I thought he he grinds man he was resilient yeah he's a personification of the team really like they're such a likable team because they battle and they grind and they don't quit and he found himself in

three straight jams and he got out of all of them now with help from his teammates and Vlad he was forefront of that and you know to turn double plays there's a magical there's something magical about a play like that I was trying to compile a list that I might try to flush out for later in the week. You know, the obvious things that get crowds going, if you hit a home run, you score a goal,

right, a big three-pointer or something like that, a touchdown. But then there's that next layer that creates this kind of hum in a stadium. And if it is executed properly, the pop is almost as large, if not larger in some ways. And I would say, you know, a big hit, a big fight. I'd say a big block. you know and then I would say honestly turning a double play there's something about it where every fan gets up and you're like turn it turn it turn it and when they execute it it's incredible and when they did that in the third with raleigh at the plate I'm like

that's probably the play of the game then they did it again the next inning and then the next inning and he just kept getting out of jam after jam after jam and that takes a lot of fortitude man it takes a lot of confidence to be able to execute the pitch and basically induce double play after double play after double play. It was an incredible atmosphere down there, man. It was just, it was such a cool night. Like, Sunday night, it was rainy.

It felt like what you would think Seattle would feel like if the game was in Seattle. Foggy and rainy and kind of a miserable vibe in terms of the actual environment and the weather patterns. And then you get into the building and the roof is closed yet everyone's ready to pop.

Bautista's out there throwing the first pitch. The place is going nuts. It was great. It was just an incredible night, and what they've done is afforded themselves an opportunity to elevate it to a completely different level tonight. What was the vibe when old Schneid's went out there? What do you think would have happened if old Little had a wheeled up? He was getting booed. He was getting booed.

Go ahead, finish your thought. I just wonder, like, if he just pointed to the dugout and old Little came wheeling out, like there would have been, somebody would have ran on the field, man, and tackled that guy. So it's actually a great conversation, but a question for both of you. Because I'm sitting there watching the game last night. I went through real sports with a couple buddies, and atmosphere was great and all of that. And I kept looking at, you know, John Schneider's got different shades of the face, right, as it goes along, the pressure, all of that. But I'm thinking, like, people hate this guy's guts right now. And I'm like, you know, they win last night.

Are they loving him again? Like, is he back out of, like, is it all gone? Is that all forgotten? Or is it not? I think tonight will be the determining factor on that. Oh, yeah. There are some people that continue to write on Twitter. They lose this series.

They have to get rid of him for that little stunt. And the excuse coming into it saying we wanted to show him some different guys or whatever the excuse was. To their credit, they rectified. But what they also did was prove how wrong the decision was. Well, no kidding. It was obviously a horrible decision to go to Brendan Little in that spot. It blew up in their face. but they could have been very stubborn.

They were never going to Brendan Little last night because, to your point, oh, if he came out, that people would have been honestly storming the field, I think. I think it would have been... That's awful to say. It's awful to say, but it may have been the first time in baseball history, a relief pitcher would have come in with security detail. Like literally bouncers walking him to the mound

because people are losing their mind. And Schneider, the same thing. So they were never going to go to Little but they could have gone to Flew Hardy they could have gone to Lauer they could have gone a different direction they chose not to. They went to their stud who's had a very up and down season

but they went to Hoffman and said here's the ball, wild thing, go out and punch out guys and that's what he did. He punched out four guys and he got six straight outs and they lived to see another day and ultimately this goes without saying it's very obvious but if you win

the three losses become irrelevant completely irrelevant. All you're going to remember is the four wins. If you lose, the three wins become irrelevant. All you're going to remember is the four losses. And that's what's going to happen tonight. That's the crossroads the Blue Jays have. They win tonight. No one cares about

Brendan Little. It becomes a footnote or something you laugh about. Schneider might laugh about it in the future. You don't care about them going down 02 to start the series. It doesn't matter. It's completely irrelevant. If they lose tonight, it will be about how did you do that in game five? Why weren't you ready to play in game one?

That'll be the nature of things. That's the nature of things. I told you about when I played junior and we lost in the O'HL finals. And I know for a fact my teammates were like, oh, Bertuzi and O'Neill didn't play well in the finals and we lost. That's what they take away from it. That's what everybody will be saying about that. Yeah, we had a chance to go to the World Series,

but game five, our manager just tanked it. I'll admit, getting up and walking out of real sports last night, I heard somebody go, I should have closed out the series with that win if they wouldn't know. Like, I literally, I turned and looked. It was like, well, if they wouldn't have done that nonsense last game, we would have been taken care of in six. I was like, oh, my God.

It was deeply rooted, just bitterness and frustration. And they had the game. You know, they had, like, the term high leverage, I said it on Sports Center last night. It's a word that gets thrown around in baseball more than any other term. And if you were looking for the definition of high leverage, Some guy just landed from Mars and said, I keep hearing high leverage. What does it mean?

Eighth inning, Game 5, ALCS. Kyle Raleigh coming up, you're up to 1. That is it. Cut that, post it online. That's high leverage. Whenever you hear the term, just close your eyes and go, okay, that's what they mean by that. And they go with Brendan Little. Last night was not the equivalent, but it was to do or die last night.

They weren't technically up against the wall in game five. They were last night. They had to win. They found a way to do it. um barger was great ernie clement was unbelievable a few more hits last night dude that guy is a legend yes stud i think i heard they were talking about him coming to toronto or signing in toronto trading toronto and he was looking for playing time not even with the jays he was looking for playing time in buffalo yes yeah in buffalo

right and i don't understand how and i think from oakland dude that guy came from oakland Well, it's an amazing He was originally a draft pick of Cleveland I believe Ross Atkins I think is the one that originally spotted him and picked him But this is where we're going to get into the comparing and contrasting of this team And the 15 and 16 team And I said before the series started

I thought they had to get to the World Series To surpass the way those teams in 15 in particular Are revered because of It was such a long gap between playoff appearances But those teams didn't make it to a game seven this team did and as likable as that 15 team was this team is such a likable team because of a guy like Ernie Clement and Nathan Lucas and Addison Barger they're all likable Hayes but I think you're just saying that because it's recency biased

like you everyone loved those guys back in 15 and 16 with Donaldson they did they did I'm not saying they weren't likable too I'm just saying this feels like more of an underdog story yeah than what 15 represented and they've technically gotten further than those teams in 15 and 16. Especially with Bichette out, especially with Bichette out, exactly. In 15, 16, was the expectations high at the start of the season?

That's where I'm at with this team, the expectation. I remember having this conversation, when was it in May or June? I was like, do you think they can get to 85 wins? And you guys, you know, I didn't think they would. No, we all were. I'm not going to pretend like I thought they were getting over 85 wins.

Including myself going, geez, it doesn't look good, all of that type of stuff. We come back in September, and they've been leading the league for months, like flat out months type of thing. So that's where are they, is it different from 15, 16, were they, the expectations going into the season were they were a better team on paper, correct? Yes, there were higher expectations for sure. They acquired Donaldson, you know, the thought was, okay, and thoughtless has got to get

it done because Beeston's out, and, you know, there were a number of different things that factored into that. At the trade deadline, they were 50 and 51, though, and they went on a heater down the stretch to get in. And then once they got to the playoffs, it felt like, okay, they're actually going to do this. Where this Blue Jay team, I'm not sure it was the same level of expectation, but the fact is they've just reached a higher marker. You know, and again, we'll wait to see how it plays out tonight. And the amazing thing is, if you win tonight, you've got the L.A. Dodgers flying in. The Dodgers are waiting for you.

And I think the comparison between this team and the 19 Raptor team just continues to grow. with Vladie playing the role of Kauai, and remember who was waiting for them in the NBA finals? The Golden State Warriors, the big bad Golden State Dynasty Warriors who were waiting for them. And it was one more thing where the world was like, well, they can't beat these guys.

You know, good for them. They beat Milwaukee. Oh, that was cool. They beat Philly. There's no way they're beating Steph. No way they're beating K.D. and Draymond and all them. We'll see. You know, they've got to get through tonight,

but we'll see. That's why you play the games. Would you have to wait for, what, injuries, Freddie Freeman and Shohey to get hurt then, because that was Durant and Clay Thompson, yeah, I guess you're right. Exactly. Like, that's

possibly noodles. Possibly. Those guys did get banged up, but the point is it was still a dynasty that was waiting for you, and they found a way to win the games. And, yeah, Shoah, if he... Dude, three bombs and 10ks in a game. Is that one of the greatest sports performances

of all... Any sport, you name it. Any... I don't know what could be better. I really don't. I'm not sure how you could find anything that could possibly compare to it in a close-out game in the championship series. Well, he hadn't had a great series, too, right? No, he has not. Like, he had two home runs the first wildcard game against, who are they playing? San Diego, I think.

And Padres, and since then, he has really done nothing. And that all of a sudden, three home runs, and they were nuclear home runs, too, man. And, like, he mashed those home runs. And then he was a Sall Young winner on the mound. It was incredible. It was. That is probably one of the greatest sports performances of all time. Yes.

You know, I don't, I can't. What do you compare it to it? There's no hyperbole to that. No, it's like a hockey player, like, scoring three goals in the first half of a game and then putting the pads on after the first period. I don't know. There's no comparison. No, there's not.

There's no comparison. There's 10, you know, something crazy like that, but throw that in a playoff game. That's it. Game 4 of a championship series, and again, the pitching, there's no comparison. There's nothing, we could, we could sit here for an hour. I don't think you could come up with anything that would match it. It was, it was just remarkable. And that guy's waiting for you.

The Dodgers are waiting for you. But so are the Mariners tonight. The Mariners will be ready. George Kirby on the Mount for the Mariners. Oh, game three. The Jay's got to him. They hit three home runs off him. Same lineup for the Jay's tonight.

You got Shane Bieber on a mountain. game seven. Everyone else likely will be available. It's going to be a great night. So we'll tee that up throughout the afternoon. Luke is coming up. Luke Wilson just after five. We'll tee up two Monday nighters tonight. Look back on what was a crazy Sunday in the NFL.

And crazy Saturday night in Toronto, man. We will come back and discuss the whole Anthony Stollars commentary. What happened on Saturday? How the team and the coaches and the players have responded to it today. They had an off day yesterday, spoke with the media today. What does it mean?

moving forward for the Leafs. They're in action with Sheldon Keefe and the devil's in town tomorrow night. So what happened on Saturday? What do we make of it? We'll get into it next. Overdrive continues. Brought you by Fanduel bringing you more ways to play your game your way. Luke Wilson in studio on just

over half an hour. Crazy scenes in Toronto. You got Jay's Mariners game seven tonight. Vladdy walking in with a Austin Matthews Maple Leaf Jersey tonight. Trying to bring the city together. Right? Trying to bring the city together. maybe this breaks a maple leaf curse

gladdy goes out there and dominates tonight and jays win and go off to the world series maybe that's a sign of what's to come maybe he presents the jersey to austin matthews and says this is how we do business now good luck my son and he just gives him the jersey but what if it doesn't go so well and then austin gets dragged into this for no reason for literally sitting there at the game supporting a local toronto team because i would i would be shocked if a lot of the Leafs weren't at the game tonight. You know, those guys are fans. I believe John Tavares is a huge Blue Jace fan.

Is he not? I'm pretty sure he is that I would think if they have access, they'll be there. I think you're right. And I would not put it past someone in a scrum tomorrow if things go wrong to ask Austin. Austin, your thoughts on Vladdy not playing well after wearing your jersey last night as if he has anything to do with anything.

That might make him not talk to the media the rest of the year. You're right. You're right. All right. Right. So Anthony Stollars, first of all, the Leafs lose in overtime on Saturday. Credit to Seattle, they haven't lost yet this year, right? 3.0-1-2. They play hard. They do. Yeah, Lane Lambert, who was a Leaf assistant. You know, he's got that team cooking pretty well.

And, you know, the Leaves are 3-2-1. Three-two-and-one. The record isn't bad. Their start hasn't been great. I think most people would concede that the way that they've been playing. And let's play a couple of Stolars Cliffs before. I'll give you guys the floor. You can speak to it and kind of take it wherever you want to take it. But let's begin with Stolars on, you know, kind of getting run and his reaction to, obviously, what's happened to him the last couple of times he's played,

including back against Florida. Obviously, we know that in the second round, and he got hit by Marchman pretty hard on Saturday. Here's Stolars on Saturday night. I mean, it's just playing hard. I mean, maybe we can take a page out of their book and start getting to the net. I mean, for us, it's, you know, we like to go a load of high and shoot, but, you know, for their goal, it's like playing catch in the yard.

I'm not happy, you know, guys are going to run me and, you know, I'm going to try to stand up for myself and, you know, I heard the ref say we got a power play and it's really not much I can do to them on the ground, but, you know, kudos to the guys who were there and got down with them, but, you know, like I said, I think we got to start going into the cage a little harder, make it harder for their goalies. You know, it's not fun. I don't like having 225-pound guys landing on me, so, you know, hopefully we learn a lesson here. What do you make of that? well like this stems back from him getting hurt in the playoffs last year and he's clearly pissed off

and hayes you talked about it in the preseason first game of the season teams were bumping into him he was going down and they were bumping into him and he's pissed off but what i don't understand is doing this with the media and calling out your teammates in front of the media like he knows what team he's on he's on the toronto maple east they're not known for the rough stuff they're not known for punching people in the head the stuff that happened in preseason with the Tampa bay lightning and the florida panthers that's not how the Toronto Maple Leafs conduct themselves. So if you want to lose your mind,

at your teammates with the doors closed before everybody comes in, have at it. But I don't know what he's trying to do here. And I love how fired up he is. I love that he's pissed off. But going about it like this, it makes yourself look like you're the only one that cares and everybody else is going about their business the wrong way.

And maybe that's the case. I don't know. But I played with Sean Burke, and he would send somebody a trainer to go back and get the VHS tape and put it in and make everybody sit down in their gear before the media coaches anybody, and he would say this is bleep and unacceptable, whatever, and everybody would have to watch it, and then we would leave and it would all be done with. But when you're calling everybody out like this, I don't know,

you really put the spotlight on yourself, especially in this market. And now every time he's going to let out a bad one, somebody's going to want to go up to the – is William Neelander allowed to go up with the media and say, well, it's tough to win games when you're going to let's in a fluff ball like that. So that's, he just kind of subjected himself to making yourself look like, when you make yourself look like you're the only one that cares, it's a difficult thing for everybody else to take. Because everyone's like, what are you, a hero? Like we, maybe we could be tougher, play tougher, but that's just not who we are. Yeah, I agree.

Now, first and foremost, I respect the hell out of him being a competitor and not wanting to get run. Me too. Nobody would like that. That should be without saying, but we have to talk about it. Brandon Carlo pushes, I think it was Schwartz, on top of them. Your D, shouldn't be pushing guys on top of you. The other one, the guy went hard to the net and ran him through the net. That sucks as a goaltender.

I always try and think of the guys that, like I played with some pretty great legends. Roberto Luongo, Mika Kipersoff, Grant Fear. Those guys were fiery guys in their own way, but they weren't outspoken to the media. So, you know, this is a different and unique situation. Stolars is the guy right now. Joseph Wall is, you know, going through what he's going through, so he's the guy. So it's his job. But I also, I feel like my question would be, was this addressed behind closed doors first?

Because I always hated the messaging through the media and all of that. I respect the passion, but I agree, O, because all he does is shine a light on himself where if he's no good let's say he's no good tomorrow night like that now of a sudden it's like okay well you called out your teammates you better back that up type of thing so i respect it but i also find found you know we have to yes understand what market he lives in what our market he plays in because we're going to be talking about this for a while because that's something that that says to me he's calling out not only his players but maybe some leadership maybe what's going on and you know or not going on in that room that's i took more from it just

than the actual comments. Yeah, so for starters, I like that someone finally said something. I don't mind it. I'm so sick and tired of the, oh, the market, the market, these guys haven't said anything in 10 years. Finally, someone says something, like show some emotion, regardless of the content, regardless of what he said, be human once. I love that.

I actually love that he was human. He's pissed off. They lost. He got barreled. He didn't like it. He was pissed. You're allowed to be. For 10 years, these guys.

guys have composed themselves, come out, put a straight face on and said, well, we've got to learn from this and we'll actually, like, finally, someone showed some emotion. Whether you like, again, what he said or not, I like that he was free enough to say, I'm talking here. And I'm going to, I'm going to tell you what I think. So I do appreciate that. It's also a very unique situation for Strollers. He has been a back of his whole career. This is the first time in his career. He's got security. And he is a true number one. There is no competition. Well, that's the thing. He's like William Nealander has been a 40 goal score for three years, and him and Austin Matthews, time and time again, put up points to allow their team to have victories, and William Neelander, obviously lost his guy that went to the net,

a guy that hasn't scored in a hundred-and-something games, and he scores. 134, 134 games. I know the kid. It's unbelievable. Josh Meherr is the same officer. Well, if I was William Neelander, it brings back thoughts where I would be like, you know what, I did kind of lose my guy there. I just went to the net. but that guy that scored the goal hasn't scored in 134 games so maybe come out a little bit more

or do something and you stop the puck like it would just piss me off well let's play the clip here because here's what here's what stoleers said about the overtime winner yeah i mean a lot of guys have been here for a while you know overtime you can't let someone be up the ice there and um you know gets a clear-cut breakaway i mean minute left you know you want to be on the ice in that situation you got to work hard got to work back and uh There's a point there. That's the stinging one. I don't like that one.

I really think that's a cheap shot. It is because, you know what? I think what we were doing is basing our, I was basing my comments on kind of both of them. The first one you can 100% respect because it's like, I don't like getting run into, I don't like a 225 pound. This one is like a pointed comment. Like he's singling out plays and player.

And, okay, there's a couple things. one thing I will say quickly on the previous clip. I think what's more important, yes, he doesn't like getting run. No goalie, since you're eight years old, you learn that goalies hate that and you're supposed to protect them. He takes, I think the coach and the manager might have

been stung more than anyone with those comments. Because he takes a shot on how they play, low to high, no one's in front of the net. You know, he literally said the other goalies like playing catch in the yard. That's a shot at Craig Barubei and how he coaches and how they set up. That's, that's,

I don't think Craig Baroube wants to coach like that. It's how those guys play. They're not going to get into the inside and they're not going to run people over. They're highly talented and skilled players that do what they do and they've done it for a long time. Why anybody thinks it's going to change?

We've talked about it for 10 years or selves, guys. They can bring in different parts on the outside, but those top guys that get it done for them, they go about their business in a certain way and it hasn't changed. And for anybody to think it's going to, they're not. Well, that's fine, and I hear you.

Then that's where the manager comes into play, right? He made his big, Tree Living said DNA changed, DNA change, nothing's changed. There's no DNA change, right? If there's nothing, nothing's changed. And what you're saying, oh, is it can't if the main guys are still here and they operate the way they operate, 10, 12, 13 years into the league, which I think is factual. I'm not disagreeing with you. But Tree Living brought in Barube, right? He brought in Barube, and Barubei, if he wants him to play a different way, you've got to find a way to make it happen.

And if you can't, or if you think they should play a different way, then what are you ever expecting to change around here? And that's what I find most interesting about these comments, is Stolaris is basically saying it's easy for the other team, easy for the other goalie. That's an indictment on the DNA of the whole organization and what they're trying to build and what they're trying to move towards. And, you know, as for the overtime shot, I don't like because what happened was, first, it's a scrimmage out there. It's three on three. It's broken play. But they sold out to try to win it. Matthews and Willie sold out on a two-on-one,

and I can't remember who it was. It made a brilliant play on Willie to stop him at the bar post. It didn't go in. It's the end of the shift, end of the game, and he got burned. He got burned up ice. There's no denying that, but Stollars could have stopped the puck, too.

But it's also about who is on the ice. Because everyone keeps pointing to Willie. Austin's on that ice, too. And Austin's kind of floating around in the neutral zone. that's a direct comment at willie though he's the guy that let his man go yeah of course he's the guy that let his man go and that's what i don't understand when you're a team that's like we've said it about these guys for a long time they they they're the guys that get it done to get you into the playoffs obviously what they do in the playoffs it hasn't worked and they haven't had success but these

are the guys that drive the bus 100 points 40 goals 45 goals 60 goals 69 goals and then you lose your guy we're two days early earlier, they made one of the best plays of the year to win the hockey game for your team, and everybody's hugging him, saying, oh, man, you're the best, you're the best. That was awesome. And then two days later, it's like, oh, if you're going to be out on the ice at that particular time, you've got to watch what you're doing and watch your man. Like, what are we doing here?

Yeah, that's why it's a silly comment. And guys, it's not just the goaltender in him getting run over. Any other organization where they have their prized young guy out there, where first somebody bulls them into the post against Nashville and runs them over in steam rolls and would have caused an absolute brawl and then against i think it was seattle somebody cross-checked him right in the face in front of the net and it was just the same hey don't do that to our Vince done that's a done yeah it was done that did that but that's the point like it's yeah it's just like any other organization like if that was Florida imagine a young

prized rookie a first round draft pick just got cross-checked in front of like right in the face in front of the net what the florida They would make your life miserable. Well, and that's why I think the source of this commentary is fitting because of where he came from. Like Stollars came from Florida. And Florida has set the bar in the league. And this is, again, where I think the coaching staff comes into play. We had Aaron Eckblatt on a few weeks ago, a month, month and a half ago.

We talked about those rules, right? He wouldn't tell us what they were. Non-negotiable. Paul Maurice has rules. I guarantee you, guarantee you. One of them is, if our goalie gets barreled, you're all in. and we'll kill the penalty. I guarantee you, it's one of them. It's never listened for the ref to say we've got a power play, so hands up,

let's try to score on the power play. I'd be shocked if that's not on that board. If our guy gets barreled, all in, and make sure, because it's not just about Seattle on Saturday thinking we can't do that. It's Jersey on Tuesday, and then Buffalo on front. Every team in the league needs to realize we can't take liberties. You know, it's always about message sending not for the moment, but for the future. and that I'm with you like the cow and stuff and again what is frustrating I think for stores and for leaf fans on Saturday is maybe Austin and Willie are different right they're superstars they're different they're wired differently they're not going to drop the

gloves they're not going to run in but Brandon Carlo can't be wired that way Jake McCabe can't be wired that way like okay Matthews isn't going to come flying in and throwing elbows and sticks and whatever I'm not sure Barkov does that I don't think Reinhart does it give you a couple of examples, but I guarantee you, Mikaela does. You know, I guarantee you that Echblad does.

So it's, yes, you can have a couple of exceptions that are still frustrating, but you can reason with them when it's Matthews, when it's Neelander, you can't with the rest of the group. And what happens is every year something like this takes place, and then they have to come out and tell the world, no, we're a team,

we're close-knit, we're tough. And what I guarantee you'll happen tomorrow night, someone's going to fight. There'll be a fight tomorrow night. Someone in Jersey is probably like, okay, something's coming. Or an unnecessary five-minute major that's going to cost them the hockey game because somebody wants to act. Right. Someone's going to do something tomorrow to prove we learned our lesson. And Jamie, you talked about the market.

The reason this is unnecessary, like you can come out and say, I'm tired of getting run over, the league's got to start protecting the goaltender's better, and there's a different way to go about. I know Hayes that you appreciated him coming out because there was some emotion. Yes. And these guys have been robots for a long time. The problem with this is, like, they're in third place with seven points in the Atlantic Division. Like, you hear nothing coming out of Tampa Bay right now.

Like, there's no, and they're terrible right now. They're not good. Florida just lost three in a row. Like, there's teams that are really, like, in that there's some pissed off people. We talked about it in our group chat. Like, there's some pissed off people. The coach in San Jose wants to give up his children for a win. And now we're talking about this mess in Toronto, and it's actually not.

that bad. That's why in this market, you kind of got to know what you're doing, media-wise, and it's not really necessary. Well, I just, I felt, and Brian, you're right. Like, I, I, we're in the business of talking about this. So it's great for us. But my point being is, is this a story that goes away today or tomorrow, or does this linger because now of a sudden it festers into something else? And that's where, you know, I thought of that right away, with these comments Saturday net. Respect the emotion. Respect how hard he plays.

Respect how he wants to, you know, be treated in the net and hold his teammates accountable. But also, is this a plan to seed as to like, are we going to be talking about this now for weeks on end? Because if something happens, you know, and there's no response here or a bad play here, like, that's what worries me for the group. because a lot of times these comments are behind the closed doors all the time where a guy on the bench will yell down hey wake up there we need a better play like that's that stuff in game happens all the time what we just saw is some of the things that happened behind closed doors but it wasn't so now what it is it's we're going to be talking about it for a while until something else i hear you but listen they they have sheltered everything up for a decade what has it gotten them nothing and it would have been better to hear it from the captain, quite frankly. These comments would have been better from Matthews, and I think what it does is

put a spotlight on those guys. Like, are you going to speak like this? I've said for years, Brian, doing the sports center hits in the playoffs where it's like it'll be a devastating loss where they just get crushed or something, and all of them will wheel out there and they'll be like, you know, our structure and our execution,

and I always say to Duthi, I'm like, this was nothing about structure or execution. Like, nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with it, but that's what they would always go to. Yeah, I think Stollars, I think this is going to boost his reputation in the market. I think this, I think people are going to love, I think they love this kind of stuff. I know where you guys are going with it, and I think the hockey instinct is keeping in the room,

and I understand why, and I get it. But this organization, I think, has been overwhelmed with this idea that the market is going to swallow you up, or you say the wrong thing, or it goes a certain direction, it's going to kill you. And I don't believe that's true. I think it's something needs to change. There needs to be a different sound and different feel. I think this is actually better a comment like this is coming when you're three, two, and one. Because you're not at rock bottom.

Like snap out of it now, three, two, and one, get rocking. Okay. But let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. You say, what does snap out of it mean to you? Let me hear that. What a snap out of it mean? You think someone's going to get their ass kick now for running the goaltender over?

Do you think they're going to stop running? Shouldn't they, though? Like, shouldn't someone react? You haven't seen it in 10 years because the guy's been here for two years, a tandem goaltender, and he's playing a hero in the media. But that doesn't mean he's wrong. That doesn't mean he's wrong. I totally agree, but we've been saying the same thing for 10 years, and it hasn't changed.

Why is the goaltender saying it going to change it? And all of a sudden, it's going to be slap shot. I don't know. I'm not calling for, I'm not saying slap shot here. But I think that's not either. This is why these comments ring out is. because it strikes a nerve with a lot of fans, that there's a lot of fans that don't like,

that they're not tough enough, that there's not, you know, there's old school fans, new school fans, there's people that look at it differently. And in reality, when you talk about Team Toughness, there's two ways to define it,

between the whistles, which I think they're tough enough. I don't think they get pushed around or pushed off puck so they can't win battles or they can't get to the front of the net. Strollars may see it differently, but they're pretty big,

pretty savvy veteran. Between the whistles, I think they're tough. up. Then there's the after the whistles where it's a different story clearly. Now it's not the 80s anymore. It's not the same barometer. It's not the same definition of what you have

to be to be considered Team Tough once the whistle is blown. But I don't know what I can expect. I don't know what to expect. But I don't, I think what makes this refreshing is that this was unexpected because for 10 years it would have just been

yeah, we played hard tonight and you know, we'll take it too bad we missed a point. We'll turn it over where at least maybe someone has to respond to this. Why not? Because they've tried everything else for a decade. Why not try to poke a bear through the media for the first time that I can recall in the Matthews era? I don't remember

another player calling out the leadership of the team. You would never dare. You would never dare. Okay. But with Florida, just what's happened is no one would ever dare do what this guy just did. But do you think Florida, like I know it's not a story down there because no one cares and no one covers them? That's why.

The comment could be made like this by someone in Floyd. you'd never notice. No one pays attention. But I could see a Florida panther player coming out and blasting their team. I can see that. You know what a Florida panther player would say? What he just said is not even an option for us. Like that is so far gone for us to even think about one of us having to say that.

And you just talked about Maurice's rules and stuff like that. This stuff here is not even in the equation for the Tampa Bay Lightning, for maybe Vegas for Florida. Winners. Yes, and it's not about being tough and the slap shot and stupid stuff and fighting. It's just when people get pissed off that it doesn't happen is because there's a level of caring there. A level of caring that your goaltenders getting run over. A level of caring that your young stud that's been drafted just got cross-checked in a face and ran into the post and you care about it.

And it's just if you're just going to say, you know, that's not for me. It's a totally different vibe. It's the DNA, man. That's how you're wired, naturally wired. One word comes to mind when I think of all of this. I know both of you are talking about accountability. That's really what it is. And how you view it, I mean, Stoller's called it out and said,

who's being accountable for it? Somebody screwed up, all of that type of stuff. My worry was going back to just me personally as a goalie going, this guy shot, he put a light on himself. Sure. Because you got it, you know, that's the thing. I played with some of the greatest goaltenders of all time. I've never heard them once ever come out in the media and go,

you know, this guy's got to be better, this has got to be. And that's what concerns me because Stolars, you know, he's had a few good games and he's had a few okay games. Like he's going to be the guy. He's playing every night. So what he did is he spoke and he's allowed to and he's respected to do that. But he's got to back it up with his play too. A hundred percent.

And again, the overtime stuff I think was a cheap shot at the players. Again, that's Matthews, Neelander Riley. Those are your three longest-standing star players. Those are the guys who run the room. It's their room, and it has been for a decade. And those three guys run the ice. Like, that's what makes the comment ring out. But again, they sold out on the two-on-one.

They didn't get it, and they got beat. It's a three-on-three shinny. It happens. He still could have made the stop. But the other stuff is what really matters. The overtime stuff, whatever. That doesn't matter. whatever, it's going to come and go. But talking about

how the other goalie is so relaxed, how you're not tough, I'd be great if we got a reaction. Like that chews at a team, because you guys know it, man. Players, you're either wired to, you're instinctively wired to go and attack, or you have to think first, then you go.

And what the Leafs are, is they're a think first, then go team. Where Florida is a, we're going. Tampa, when they won their cups, gloves are off, we're going. It doesn't matter. We don't care about a power play. We don't care about scoreboard. We don't care if it's overtime. That's how we're naturally wired. The Leafs are not. And Stollars has shined a light on that. And I think what makes it sting is

they know it. And the problem is, I don't know if you, you can't go into a lab and change that. What do you do? Like, it doesn't mean there aren't tough guys. It doesn't mean there aren't guys that next time won't jump. And I guarantee they will. He'll get touched tomorrow night and the gloves will fly. I guarantee it. I guarantee it. It'll happen to Buffalo. I think last year where there was something happened and Lindy Ruff was like, it's embarrassing our response to that. The next game there was line balls. Yes, exactly. And that will happen,

but that's fine. You do it tomorrow night. What happens in March when he gets hit again? Do you instinctively say, go or do you have to stop and think first and say, oh yeah, Stolley called us up, we better go. Because there's a big difference in that split second. That split second in the mentality

is a completely different player. It's a completely different person. And that, we'll see, man. We'll see. But that's why those comments wrung out, man, because... They did, man. Like, right away, I couldn't wait. I'm like, we're talking Jays into Stolar. That's what, like, that was

the only thing I could think about today. You know it. And listen, today it was Kumbaya and we're big... And I thought they all handled it pretty well. Like I do, I think, hey, as good as you can. Yeah. Hey, Kumbaya, we're big boys. We talked it out. We hashed it out. It's all good. We move forward. Perfect. That's the way it should be. Willey pretend

he didn't remember the play, which I found hilarious. I don't even remember. I don't really remember. I don't really remember. I haven't gone back to watch it. It was actually exactly what you'd expect out of Willie. I don't really even remember that play. It was only an overtime game winner. Your man broke loose and scored. I don't know. Didn't go back and watch it. Okay. That's awesome. Moving on. All right. Luke Wilson coming up. More on the Leafs. You mentioned pissed off teams. There's a lot of them in the league right now.

There's a bunch of them in this country right now that are wondering what's going on. I'm asking you, Hayes. Tomorrow come up with like a seven or eight pack of the most pissed off people, maybe in sports, but you can definitely do NHL. I will, 100%. 100%. I've got to whittle it down, man. I'm going to be working on that list.

That's the problem. It's a long list. I got to whittle that thing down. You just said Paul Maurice. Paul Maurice might be one of the most pissed off people. They don't look good. Like they're getting beat up and they don't look good. Tampa's been brutal.

John Cooper has got to be one of the most pissed off people in the league. A lot of people are pissed That's right That's right All right That list is still to come Overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on the TSN app

All right Luke's coming up in the next hour Something to Chew on Brought you by Boston Pizza as well We'll get to that We've obviously got a big one down at the dome Tonight And I almost had a panic-inducing moment I'll tell you about what

Almost happened to me last night I was sweating bullets Before I went on with Jay Was it when you said prided on the field i thought that was a word i knew that was going to be the word is that not a word i don't know you said it caught me off guard i was just having a coffee and i heard pride it and i was like pride it a word i'm not sure they prided themselves and that i don't know if it is either do you recall saying that i remember saying it it is a word thank you dogie see there you go

i don't know if it's a word i got to be honest when i said it i thought the same thing you were thinking like i don't i don't know if that works i thought when if you would have said that somebody would have jumped in and said cut cut cut it's from the top Well, I was on with Jay Live. I'll tell you in the next hour. All right. It was almost career ending, potentially, or definitely was going to have an effect on how people viewed me.

All right, hour two coming up, Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fanduel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Seasoned gamer, or just video game curious, this week in gaming, the podcast for you we break down the latest in the world of video games from basics to beyond the hottest gaming news insight and industry leaders and more weekly join me naomi kyle and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates even if you're a total newbie stream this week in gaming on the

free iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts