OverDrive - OverDrive - September 11, 2025 - Hour 1 - Stan Bowman

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys dive into the Maple Leafs set to kick off training camp and fitness training in the NHL, Jeff Hoffman's implosion against the Astros, the Kawhi Leonard conundrum escalating with the Clippers and Adam Silver's view on the league made for highlights. Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman joins to discuss Connor McDavid's contract outlook, why a deal hasn't been signed and the next steps for McDavid. 

At the Nissan All In Clear Out, there's nothing more chill than financing an award-winning Nissan for just 0%. Enjoy the soothing relaxation of zero stress, zero worries, zero indecision. Hurry in, because once they're gone, there will be zero left. During the Nissan All-In Clear Out, get 0% financing plus up to $500 bonus on some of our best-selling models. You have zero reasons to wait. Conditions apply. See your local Nissan dealer today. Looking for a job, but not sure where to start, the Career Foundation is here to help. We support people from all backgrounds with job search, skills training, career counseling, and more.

We also connect you with top employers ready to hire, all at no cost to you. Whether you're starting out, changing careers, or returning to work, we're with you every step of the way. Connect with us today. Visit CareerFoundation.com. That's CareerFoundation.com. Changing lives, one job at a time. This hour of Overdrive is powered by Fanduil. Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. This is Overdrive with Hayes, Noodles, and the O'Dog on TSN 1050. All right, here we go, Overdrive, off and running.

TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, up on TSN4, streaming live on YouTube live, on TSN's YouTube channel. Brian Hayes, the O'Dug, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McCle. What's going on? What's going on? It is best shape of my life season. It's put on 10 pounds of muscle season. It's dropped 10 pounds. All the young rookies are saying all the right things.

It's going to happen for another month. The best. It's that time of year. I've just trained harder and took it more serious than ever. It's that season, man. We heard it yesterday. Didn't Austin Matthews say? put on some weight a little stronger feeling good like that that is the tagline for everybody unless

you're phil kessel remember phil kessel's like yeah i skated five times which i love i love five times because at least he was being honest right because oh you're right everyone's in the greatest shape they've ever been in in their whole lives they've never felt better new levels ever you know what i like today this i appreciate easton cowan saying that he's creeping towards six feet tall all these five 11 and a half right like only if you're under six every half inch counts right no one's six one and a half nobody but five 11 and a half yes mark that down that's what i am now i used to be six feet and i'm shrinking you're shrinking yes i'm shrinking and the older you get and i'm hunchback anyways like i'm shrinking but i used to be six feet and now i'm under six feet

easton count how old is he 19 or 20 yeah 19 or 20 I don't, do you grow an inch? No, there's no way. I don't think so. I mean, that seems late. I'll take it. That's fine. I'm not disputing a 5-11-and-a-half.

I'm just saying, just give him six. This round up to 6, but what happens is... Just write down 6 if it means that much to him. Right down 6. But what happens is, is maybe he's... Maybe 5-11 and a half is a little bit rich. Maybe he's 5-11 and a quarter. The guy's taken the measurements, when he says, oh, you're 5-11 and a half.

You literally want to kick him. I'm right in the junk and say, really, bud? Because everyone's just dying for the six. Like, you don't want any part of a five, and you're just, when you get that close, I actually think the guy said for me, 511.75. Yeah. I don't have to turn around, and it's like you can't afford to just give me the six. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but did you have to pick which,

because when he went to the weight, where you're like, dude. wait a minute go the other like did you have to pick a fight and say fine i'll take the 511 and three quarters but don't go over 200 don't you put a two don't put a two on the board going the other way if you're not supposed to be over to it for the weight for years i i didn't even do it i was like it's one ninety one it's one ninety one take my word for it then then you get to that one year where it's like you actually get on it it says 206 then everything gets different different that's a 15 spot that's an email all through the organization that's a little different like if i get it like i played at 196 you know 200 in that range right but if if you're if i came in at

215 like that's just a lot different you feel a lot different you look a lot different that's years over the years but like a three or four spot that's just that's a big moose in the morning that's something you know that's 15 you can't hide 15 you can't hide 15 you can't hide 15 15 is different clothing. You know, 15 is like, ooh, you show up to the golf tournament, you're hanging over a put, and it's bad. You know, there's a boiler, basically. But I think 190 seems to be the new number in hockey. Like, I remember when I was a kid and you guys were in the NHL by this point, like everyone wanted to be 220, 2.30, especially defensemen.

If you were big, 6364, give me 240. It was great. Beefier, the better. Befier the better. Absolutely. In different game, it was played differently. It was slower, clutch and grab, much more physical. But 190 appears to be the number because Easton Cowan, again, came in, said 190, 511 and a half.

And I read this week that Elias Pedersen is up to 190, which is big, considering he's been in the league for almost a decade. You'd think if that was an important number for him to reach, he would have got there like five years ago. I wouldn't be shocked if he was clipping around at 175 or something. he does not look like a big human no probably like 190 will look different on him he is not a big guy betterson yeah you you put 10 pounds of muscle on on a on a thin frame it looks good it looks different it's just how are you going to be able to play like oh you can speak to it skating strength maybe confidence of handling physicality in the corner that type of stuff like if a guy comes in and he's put in put on 10 pounds of of beef like of weight

A lot of times, as long as it doesn't come with a cost of like your speed or your release points or anything like that. Well, it does have a direct correlation because when Lavi, you guys know when Lavey got to Carolina, he was like, O'Dog, every day after practice, you're putting in 40, you can do it whenever you want, but you're putting in 45 minutes of cardio on that treadmill or elliptical. And you drop 10 and your pace goes way up. like pounds pace like there's a direct connection there absolutely like it's got to be muscle right like there's a difference between you're just it's very simple you're moving around a lighter machine absolutely so yeah we'll see everyone's feeling great every team has never looked better right everyone's in first place right technically everyone in the nchel and the nba everyone's in first place so it's all good what what if you had somebody in management like

there is always maybe, I don't know, it might not be in today's day, but it used to be three or four guys, maybe that's a stretch, but at least two or three showed up a little beefy. And you're like, oh, that guy didn't do that much in the summer. Like, I don't think that's the case nowadays. But what if I'm, you know, Jimmy Rutherford, if he had a guy that showed up, you know he'd say something, right? Like, he's a pretty straight shooter.

Aren't we forgetting something? Didn't they gas the fitness test altogether? Yeah, I think that's the next CBA. So I think it kicks in next year. It could be wrong. It may be implemented this year. But the new CBA kicks in next year, and that is definitely true. There is no more fitness testing.

I know some peeps that are very upset about that, not players. Right. But listen, the coaches are going to find a way around that with bag skates. And, you know, they're going to skate into the ground and see who's in shape. I'll tell you one thing, guys, the bag skates, like there's evidence right now of why they should just start the season early. everyone is doing training camp right now right everyone's in town everyone has they've made a point the gms and the players are like on the same page and they basically say come in early get the work done get the sweat out and then come training camp or just do system stuff and we'll have a couple

exhibition games we're ready to go you're right yeah so just have it start yes they can play a game tonight yes they could they get 100 percent do that i agree it just you know you do want to speed it up speed up that process. I think that is going to be in the next CBA to get it, you know, move to Pierre LeBron was talking about when they moved to 84 games. But I don't know. I think, I've always felt my training like the minute it turned the clock on September, you're ready to go. Like, you're, you know, you're ready to roll and let's get at it instead of wasting two weeks in September and then kind of bleeding yourself into the regular season and preseason. I think guys are ready now. It's just, the other thing that you talk about fitness,

Hayes is they track guys wear heart monitors in practice now like they track they track like the speed of players what they're doing in practice like there's no hiding if you're out of shape and dogging it coaches strength people know that I'm telling you

oh I've seen practices where guys like they're monitored I wish we could go back in a time machine you know to 1987 you know Doug Gilmore after a big night

Dougie Gilmore in 1989 or something and just strap on, you know, something on Dougie and just say, what's going on with you? Ed Belfour, you know, back in the 90s. What's up with him? He hasn't moved much. Can you check his numbers? Dude, those old school 80s practices,

like if you put a breathalyzer before guys went on the ice, I bet you'd 80% of the guys would blow over. That would be great. That was a part of the CBA, breathalizers before practice. The trainer, before you step on the ice, will have a breathalyzer. Please pull into it.

There's four guys on the ice. Three of them are rookies. They didn't pass the test. Like, you don't get on the ice. Sorry, guys. Back in the room, there's like 18 out of 22 guys sitting in the room going, he's a little late night. Dr. Dr.

I swear, I don't want to, you might have to reach out to him. I remember Stumpy Tomp. is telling me a story where guys had like darts and like a coffee and would like skate around with their gear on and then it's like the whistle went as like put the coffee down like the dart whatever you name it and then start skating yeah like ice at the gardens like the leaves back in the day as i were saying when stumpy broke in i've heard those stories now what was it was it st mike's what was the team below was st catherine well it was the marleys yeah the marlies forever um and they would they would usually share the gardens like a lot of

times they would have a matinee game the least would play at night um and you know that's that would probably be what you're talking about a veteran would be sent down there and he's i just i'm not working out anymore i remember him saying like i can't remember is dave ferrish or something would like be skating around with a coffee no gloves on or anything just for the coffee warming up and then imagine jonas covering that like on twitter Dave fair like if live Live tweeting practice. Ferris is out there with a coffee. Practice is underway.

Ferris just butted out his heater in his coffee and we're good to go. It made a D-to-D pass in the outlet. A lot of energy down here. A Twitter vid of the dart going into the coffee. Now I go time. Hashtag go time. Now they're ready to practice. Yes.

I don't want to speak out of turn. Send a note to stoppy. Oh, send him a text. See if you can corroborate that story. For sure. It was like coffee. Last year, he heard us, and he said it was in St. Catharines, I think, though. It wasn't in Toronto.

Okay. So that makes it better. That was in St. Catharins. Yeah, they may have had a minor. Maybe they had a, like, a, ECHL team there or something. I don't know. I remember New Market, they had a team. New Market, for sure, they used to.

That's where Ralphie played at one point. Oh, yeah, the New Market Saints. Yeah. They were their affiliate for a long time. I guarantee you Ralphie could tell a story about that. I'll bet you Ralphie's done that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ralphie, 182, 83, pads on, no helmet.

Yeah, dart and a coffee. Just getting ready. Walking, I guarantee you, walking out to the ice, there probably was a dart involved. Yeah. And then not on the ice, because that would be disrespectful. Well, that would be uncalled for. Yeah. That would be unprofessional to do that.

Yeah. Anyway, we got, we got Stan Bowman coming up in 20 minutes. So we'll address the elephant in the country. with Stan. Well, he knows he's going to get out. Of course, you know, that's why he's coming on. I think we've been talking about it nonstop. Like, you know, we'll ask him what's going on with McDavid

and, you know, the other moves they've made throughout the offseason. So we'll catch it with Stan in 20. We've got Luke in studio at 5. We've got Packers commanders tonight. Man, it comes quick in the NFL. I'm already in a week two. And what a game. It's going to be under the lights at Lambo, Jaden Daniels.

Al's brother sent me a note today. He said Washington has not won at Lambo since 19. So makes your selection easy. Yeah, we're leaning one way. We'll tell you which way we're leaning in about an hour. Dude, I know you're leaning Green Bay. Yeah, you're on. Yeah, it spreads three and a half.

You know, Fandoz's got it at three and a half. I'm a bit surprised it hasn't moved. I think it opened at three and a half and it remains at three and a half. So the Js are in action. You know, last night, I'm not going to get into the Hoffman stuff. I'm so, I can't watch this guy get just demolished every single night the rest of the month. to October, because he doesn't just get hit. He gets hammered when he gets hit.

Like, that was a no-doubt or off the bat. Lift-off. Yeah, 15 home runs, he's given up. 13 in the ninth inning or later, which he's had 65 appearances or something like that. Like every, you know, every third or fourth time he's on the mound, there's balls being hit to Newmarket. To the moon. Yeah, it's just crazy how bad he is in the situations.

I thought they were going to win. I was like, here they go again. It's carbon copy the night before news. Yeah, exactly. Battle back. Show a lot of life. Hoffman goes out there, high leverage. Boom.

Yeah. So deflating. So deflating. But that's the story of the year. And, you know, it's not going to change. You know, your savage isn't going to come up and change anything. Maybe he performs. Maybe he doesn't.

I don't even know if he can play in the playoffs. I think they have to try to cross some T's and dots some eyes for that to even be an option. But that's desperation. If you're waiting for a guy who's never been in the major leagues to be your savior in the bullpen, desperate, desperate times. Really desperate. Yeah. So, you know, it's disappointing. But if they can get a win today, then you take two out of three out of Houston.

The Yankees got rocked again last night. Still in the driver's seat, then. Only positive from last night, everybody lost. Exactly. Everyone lost. Everyone lost. The Yankees lost, so it's all good. But the Yankees lost, like, not three, two.

They got smoked. They got smoked. own bit, like, smoked again. Yeah. Tigers have gone in there and absolutely demolished them. Yeah. Back-to-back games. They're both in stinks.

Yeah. Yeah. So listen, everyone's going through it. Everyone's going through it. The Js, again, they're still in the driver's seat. We're joking, but it's a reality. They're still in the driver's seat. And with every night that you cross off, you know, you get that much closer to secure in

the AL East and a top two spot in the American League. So we'll be tracking that. We'll get into it later this afternoon. Luke in studio. At five, Adam Silver with some comments that have, I would say, led to a pretty significant reaction. We'll play it. We'll get into it. And there's another Pablo Torre, Kauai Leonard's smoking gun report that came out this morning.

This story just will not come to an end. We'll play that and we'll get into it as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, overdrive continues. Powered by Fanduo, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Luke Wilson in studio at 5. Stan Bowman, GM of the Oilers in 10 minutes.

Pablo Torre has played this brilliantly because he's in the modern media world where he's trying to get clicks. He's trying to get people to download. He's trying to drag this story out. And he had the bombshell, Kauai Leonard,

aspiration, you know, payments for doing nothing news story about a week ago. Now he's got another smoking gun that apparently Aspiration was laid on paying Kauai around $2 million, $1.75 million, and then all of a sudden a minority owner from the Clippers dumped $2 million into Aspiration, and sure enough, Kauai got paid. And this one is way more obvious, in my opinion, than the original one,

that Kauai was waiting for a payment, he was getting bothered, and Uncle Dennis was saying what the hell is going on here. Imagine getting bothered, though. That's just the incredible element here. this is all for doing nothing, and you're furious that the payment's a little bit late. Well, here's to add to it. Here's to add to it. Let me add to this quickly before you finish your thought.

Okay. Ah hoops on Twitter, okay, a basketball Twitter account, tweeted out earlier today. In 2022, Kauai Lennar played in just 26% of games due to, quote, right knee stiffness before the reported 1.75 million delayed payment was made. the day after it was reportedly deposited, Leonard went on to play in 82% of the games the rest of the way. So now people are thinking this guy was basically saying, allegedly, I'm not playing. You owe me $2 million.

My knee's acting up. Oh, there's a $2 million. All right. I'm ready. Let's play. If that's true. With $300 probably already in the bank. With so much money already in that.

There's no integrity in that. If that's true. it's true and again it could be a coincidence Kauai's not going to say anything I don't Kauai's not going to go on the defensive here he's not going to do the rounds and sit down with NBC or ESPN or Jim Gray or something but that's a pretty significant coincidence

and I think ultimately what this leads me to believe is that the Rapplers it's a miracle they got what they got out of them and they're so lucky that he just left town they dodged a massive bullet it with Kauai. They got a championship because of him. He was phenomenal. He

needed them. Right. Put him in a platform where he could play and play well and make sure the Clippers were going to do anything to get him. Rapplers supplied him that opportunity. He pulled his weight. He was unbelievable that year. There's no taking anything away from Kauai Leonard in 2018,

2019. But everything since then has been an absolute disaster for his career, his legacy, outside of his bank account. Yeah. Was there any time where he played well for the clippers and really brought like you know there's been spurs spotty pockets right but not spotty yeah like balmer must be so disappointed in that you know he dumped a bunch of money and you know got the player got no kidding jamie if you're

winning championships and it's like step curry like you're like you know what get this guy his money like drive to his house and get him the money exactly when he's performing like that and the team is just in the gutter you're like really man you got to complain and not and act like this for the money, get serious. Well, and they've re-upped him since all this kind of stuff. That's how desperate they've been. You know, that's how desperate they've been to get a healthy Kauai.

And when he plays, he can still be a great player. But, yeah, it's, that would infuriate you if you felt like he wasn't playing or wasn't giving you everything until he got every last dollar. That's, and then he's going. That's sad. That is. If that, like, again, maybe it's a coincidence. It very well could be.

But if it's not, that's a bad look, man. How do you, like, what about your teammates? Right. When they look at that and know that and be like, are you playing? Are you not playing? Like, you make way more than me. You make way more than anybody else and just never seems to bring it in L.A. But with every, you know, with every news story that comes out,

I just look back and say it's a miracle they got what they got out of them in Toronto. And it was great and it could only be a year. And that's all it was. Never going to be more. You take the year and you move on, you got your championship, and it is what it is. Like I say, if you were ended up stuck with this guy and he was pulling that nonsense up here, people would run him out of town. I think the biggest thing is integrity.

Maybe it's the only way you get the best out of that guy. If you just stick him up in Toronto for a year and there's no room for saying, give me the money or negotiations, and it's like you just got to play basketball and give them the ball when you got to score points, and you might get a championship out of it. And it worked out perfectly. It worked out perfectly. As soon as they saw what was going on in the negotiations,

they should have just said that's enough thanks anyway. Right. Which effectively is a guy wants a chunk of the Leafs? Yeah. As soon as he said those words, a chunk of the Leafs, it's just like, just go back on the bird. Well, why stop there? Like, how about the Sea and Tower?

Yeah. I want some of the Sea and Tower. I'd like that. And Castle Loma, I like that place. Steam Whistle Brewery. I'll take Steamwist. Take a piece of steam rustle. Yeah, just a piece.

But I think, though, when you win a championship, this is the part that is kind of sad. It's like, don't you want to chase that with the group? Did you just won with? Like, don't you think it's like infectious and go, we got the same team. We can go back at this. Like, let's make this work.

He was the other way. It's like, yeah, championship, see you later. Got it. They maybe could have picked one more off, too. Right. For sure, they could have. That they could have. If he was healthy and committed, now, COVID messed up everything.

Like, it was in a bubble. It was a totally different experience. But they were still really good. The next year without them, they were still second in the east. They had the second or third best record in the NBA when COVID hit in March of 2020. That's how good they were. So they absolutely could have. But this would just suggest to me it was a perfect storm.

It worked out beautifully for the Rappers. Be thankful it happened. And just see you later. Clippers can deal with it. All right, let's play this Adam Silver clip from today. He's taking a lot of heat for this. And as a commissioner, like when he first got the job for David Stern, he was beloved. And everyone thought, wow, he's so progressive.

And this guy's amazing. And he's got a totally different viewpoint on how to be a commissioner. And now he just gets hammered all the time. And he was asked about, you know, how difficult it is for the average NBA fan to follow everything. Because you need cable, you need subscriptions, you need YouTube, you need prime. you need, you know, everything in order to watch all these games because they're so spread out in the NBA. Here's his reaction to that.

A huge amount of our content that people can essentially consume for free. I mean, this is very much a highlights-based sport. You know, so, you know, Instagram, TikTok, you know, Twitter, you name it, any service, you know, the New York Times, for that matter, to the extent that your content is not behind a paid firewall. there's an enormous amount of content out there YouTube by another example that people that is advertising based that consumers can consume so what do you guys make of that where it's a highlight league it's a highlight driven sport and league and

I think that's stating the obvious like nobody wants to see neutral zone play when they click on McDade they want to see McDavid splitting the ice and going up the middle and scoring I think it was kind of I don't know it's stating the obvious isn't it Every sports league, as far as the people wanting the content, they don't want neutral zone play or passing it around. They want the highlight stuff. They do. Like, nowadays, it's how people consume their information, right? Listen, we're on YouTube.

Like, now we've transitioned. Like, there's lots of different way that people consume or watch their content. And a lot of times it's like, yeah, show me the highlights, show me the condensed game, show me this and that. He's probably saying, you know, if you don't want. to do a streaming service or firewall, paywall, sorry, then you can get a lot of this stuff, free content on

some of the platforms that we are affiliated with. I get it, but it's also I think your traditional fan that goes, hey, I'm paying for the NBA package here. Like, what do you tell? I'm paying 150 bucks for the NBA package so I can watch all the games on my cable service.

They feel like they're slighted because you're circumventing that by going with other platforms. Yeah, exactly. It comes down to the point of view, you know, where you're coming from. I heard NBA fans who love their team that want to watch 82 games, this is a shot at them. You know, this is, well, that's your problem. You know, hey, that's your problem. You can't find it or you don't have the money. That's your issue. And that's a shot. And I can understand why you'd be disappointed in that. I don't think this helps a comment like this or a viewpoint like this from the commissioner when they have a crisis on their hands that the regular

season doesn't matter in the NBA, that, you know, players don't play all the time. Like, that's kind of the reputation, that it's, whatever happens, happens. And this is kind of, I think, pushing that even further down the road. Well, just watch the highlights. Okay. Like, why would I be invested then? I'll just check out the box score and see a couple of dunks and a couple of three-point plays, a block at the rim.

And you're telling me that's enough for me to be invested as an NBA fan. I don't think that's helpful. But I agree with you guys, you know, assessment of the way a lot of people are, the world now, you know, and especially younger people. And I think there's this like hyper focus on, on young people naturally because that's the next wave of business. I don't want to put it in the three hours in a game. They're generally not watching anyway. And I think Silver basically just said the quiet part out loud that they're aware of that.

But if you're a TV network, you're probably like seriously, dude, we just paid you $7 billion or whatever. And you're saying just pick up some highlights on TikTok? That's a great point. Somebody that just forked over that cash? Come on. I could see there being some pushback from some TV executives on a comment like that. For sure, because that's their partnership. And you're right.

They just signed a huge contract to be in bed with them and, you know, paying for those rights. And you're pushing them to free services or to, you know, the things that you can download and watch and watch the highlights for free. like that's not the right way for a commissioner i guarantee you he got a phone call from somebody going what are you doing here yes you shouldn't be directing the fans to the free stuff to the free stuff you should be directing them to what we have as a partnership why we pay this much money and that's why you're able to pay these athletes 44 50 million a years because of that deal that they've signed and a lot of it so i can see why there'd be some blowback from a business standpoint from And fan standpoint, they're like, yeah, I'll watch that.

I'll watch that highlight. There's so many different situations out there where you can consume some of it. Some of the game are the highlights instantaneous. You can go on X. You can go out and all these things where you see, you know, the best part of the game. You don't get everything, though. Right. Again, it comes down to what you're trying to sell as a league at this point.

All right, Luke Wilson, in half an hour. Here's the GM of the Edmonton Oilers, Stan Bowman. How you doing, Stan? I'm doing great. How are you? We're doing well. Thank you for joining us. We might as well get right at it. The elephant in the country, we've been calling it, not just the elephant in the room or the elephant in the market.

That would, of course, be Connor McDavid and his contractual status. Why are we at this point? Can you give us kind of a timeline as to why we're still in a position here where Camp's almost opening up and Conner's got another year left on his deal, but as of now, he has not signed an extension with you guys. yeah well i think you know connor's been pretty uh open about his thoughts and um i i don't want to speak for him but i think there's really no secrets or there's not any more to the story other than he's just taking his time and we respect that we understand i mean um you know

i think it the he's obviously the best player in the game and we love having him here and he's he's our captain and our leader and, you know, we're excited about that, excited about this season. And, you know, I think he's just working through things on his own. And we kind of understand that. So we'll be patient, but he knows that we love having him here and we want him to remain in Edmonton. And, you know, that's kind of the process that we're going through right now. if it got to a point where he decided he wanted to leave edmonton would you expect him to give you guys a heads up on that decision i you know i don't like talking about hypotheticals like oh i get the question but i don't think there's value there's a million different what

ifs that people could throw our way and i think that's not really a productive discussion so you know I love having him on our team here I know he's dedicated and you know just to quote what he said there's nothing he wants more than to win the cup in Evanton so I think that's kind of what we're all focused on right now heading into to next week and looking forward to seeing camp start up Stan do you have any idea kind of like we're getting close to training camp what he's waiting to see or kind of get to a point to make a decision do you have any idea what that is no you know like once again i don't want to speculate on i mean i think it's best to just let connor answer those questions i don't want to uh i've had conversations with them but

that's really stuff that he and i talk about speculating what is on his mind is not really the position that i want to take at this point yeah last one for me stan before we get into you know your team and everything else um the the one thing that connor has said openly is he doesn't want this to be a distraction, even though you've got a mature team, and it's a scenario where, you know, guys should be able to handle the pressure of it. At what point, if, you know, we're all talking on it, we're all talking about it daily, there's words that we're hanging on. The other day he said, you know, three years, four years, seven years, or no term type of thing,

and all of a sudden everybody gravitates to that. Is it a scenario where there is a fine line between this being a business, and the best player in the world trying to sort out a situation and potentially it becoming a distraction for your group that might have to be dealt with in the future? Yeah, I think you raise a good point, which is we live in 2025 where these things are talked about all the time. I think maybe 30 years ago,

the media interactions with the players and the fans was different, but now that we're in the age of social media and everything gets talked about every day, I think you're right. There's going to be questions, and I mean, I know that. I'm sure Connor's aware of that, too, and I think we do want to focus on the season. I mean, there's a lot of exciting things to look forward to for this year. So it's a fair question, and, you know, I don't want it to be a distraction either,

and I know Connor indicated he doesn't. But we don't control what people talk about, and I understand the interest level of the fans and the media. so that's something that I think it's just going to kind of play out over the next little bit here and we'll just have to take with what comes our way with Stan Bowman the GM of the Edmonton Oilers um like you said he's he's hyper focused on winning a Stanley Cup in Edmonton leon dry subtle you know would say the same thing darnel nurse Ryan Nugent Hopkins there's been a lot of players that have been there for a long time you guys have been to back to back cup finals um how does that permeate the front office you know where the players are

clearly, they're putting an emphasis on it. They're not shying away from it. Like, they want to win. They think they can win. They're putting pressure on themselves. Do you feel, you know, different about chasing a cup today compared to two years ago? Is there more pressure because of the, you know, missed opportunities the past two years? How do you compare in contrast, you know, your viewpoint of building this team even compared

to the last year or two? Well, I would say we're all on the same page there. We're focused on winning. I mean, that's, I think that's the reason that you get into the sport as you're competitive. I think if not, then it's probably not the right industry for you. So, yeah, I mean, I'm incredibly motivated. I'm fortunate to know what that feeling is like to reach to the top of the mountain. And I know that there's no other feeling like that.

So once you experience winning, it's like an addictive thing. You just want to get back to that. you want to get back to that feeling where you put all your effort into something and you know when things come together those are the the best moments of your career so that's always been our focus too so i don't think there's any nothing changes from that perspective we're aligned perfectly on that and i think i would say that the focus though especially as we're on the beginning at the eve of training camp here it's really more the the process Like, I think when you focus on the result, that's probably not the best way to look at it.

You've got to, at the end of the day, you've got to put yourself in a position where you have a chance to win. And, like, so you take the focus off of just, you know, game six or game seven of the Stanley Cup final. Because you can't really do a lot about that in September. But what you can do is you can focus on the process of putting your team in a position, and both, you know, building it with players and a roster and a coaching staff so that it's possible that you could be in that position, you know, months from now where you have a chance. And for the players, you know, they're focused on, you know,

just getting off to good, like, simple things, which you've heard many times before. But that's really the way this works. Like, if you just sit there and try to think of what you need to do to win the last game of the season and be the Stanley Cup champion, you're probably not going to reach that level because you're focused on the wrong thing.

So what we're looking at right now is the process. We want to put ourselves in the position so that there's a lot of good teams out there. I mean, that's just the reality of the sport, really not just our sport, but every sport. Each year, I think there's a group of teams that walk into a season with a realistic chance to be the champions and then what happens over the next you know nine months is going to

ultimately reveal who the champion is so you know we're starting next week with camp and we're focused on the process of doing the right thing so that we'll be in a good position come the springtime stan you talked about the process you have a little bit different i guess look around the spine of the team so you go and get howard you've got a kid savoy that might push through. I think you signed Thomas Sack. You've got some players that aren't household names yet, but is the thought process to get a little bit younger, maybe try and allow some of these younger guys to push through and maybe replace some of the players that you lost last year or just have a different look around some of the older players

that have left? Yes, I would say that's a great observation. And that has been a focus for our team. You know, we were more of an experienced veteran team last year, and we still are. It's not like we changed a lot of players out, but I'm pretty excited to see how some of these new players come in and give our team a little bit of a different look. And I think the biggest thing you're excited about with younger players is the potential for them to grow throughout the course of the season. Like I don't have expectations that they're going to be elite right out of the gate first game of the year because it's a tough league. and they've been really, really good players at lower levels, whether it was junior or college or the American League. In the case of Savoy, he was a really good player in Bakersfield last year,

and he got just a brief introduction to the NHL. So I think it's exciting to see that we're going to have to work with them and be patient, but also help them come along so that they can add something to the mix. And I think, you know, it's probably something we didn't have last year. Like, we didn't see a lot of growth from within. So, like, the players who were good in November were good again in April. But I've always been a believer that for your team to really, I guess, take that next step, you need to have some internal progression and growth.

And you can certainly supplement that by adding new players down the stretch. And that's something we're going to be focused on as well. but you don't want that to be your only way of getting better. You'd like to see some growth from within your team. And I think the players you mentioned, in addition to David Tomasek is a player who's not a young guy because he's played a lot in Europe, but I think he's new to the NHL.

So I think he's going to be able to show some, hopefully some growth as well and take on a role and increase that as we go along. So, you know, we have a lot of stability with our defense. I think that's in a really good place looking at our team last year and we've got everybody coming back and I expect that to be a strength of our team and, you know, trying to work some of these new players in and see how they can take steps, not just to make the team, but also to push forward and take bigger role as the year progresses.

With Stan Bowman, the GM of the Oilers, so as much as we have talked about McDavid and Drysettle on this show. I would say we've talked about your goal tending as much, if not more, over the last couple of years. And as of today, it's still Skinner and Pickard. The two guys would have been your starters for the last couple of years or your tandem goalies the last

couple of years. Take us through the offseason in terms of how we got here, Stan, and you know, why do you still have faith in those two guys as your tandem goalies? Well, I think we did make a change with the goalie coach,

And I think that sometimes, like, change is good, and I think a little bit of a different perspective, maybe can unlock certain guys. And I think in our case, we're very optimistic that Stewart's going to be able to take that next step. I mean, he's still a pretty young goalie. Like, you know, as far as the league goes, you know, he's kind of just coming into the prime years of his career. And he's shown that he certainly has the capability to make. big saves and win big games for us and I think what we're trying to do is maybe bring out the consistency in his game a little bit more I think his best game is excellent when we saw that in the playoffs last year so really how can we work with the strengths

that he has and to get the consistency to his game and I think you know it's it's early here I've just had a chance to talk to this through the last few days as they're doing their captain skates and I was really excited to hear sort of his outlook on this upcoming season and he seems to really have a good relationship with our new goalie coach and there seems to be a lot of good things happening not just you know the way that he approaches the game technically but you know his mental outlook on on things and so I like to see how that goes and we know that Pickard has had a great run as he's a battler. He finds a way. And I think that's what you saw last season was, you know, he came in and in some tough moments and was able to push

through and be successful and give our team a boost. So, you know, we're hopeful that that can be the case. And we want to see how that looks with things over the next little bit here. And, you know, I understand that there's a lot of attention on the goaltending position, not just for the Oilers, but around the league. And that's partly the way our sport is. Like, you get a lot of attention when you're the last line of defense, and they probably get too much credit and too much criticism, just in general that position because the spotlight is on you.

So as a result, you have to have some resiliency, and I think Stewart has shown that. and the same thing with Calvin. So we're hopeful that they can get off to a good start here. Stan, Leon got married in the summer, and there was a picture that surfaced and he had a dart going. Is that a closed-door meeting or does he get a hall pass for the dart at the weather? Because I know if a fourth-line stiff had that pick float around,

you'd have a conversation with him, but does dry sight get a hall pass or what? I think Leon's going to be just fine in that department. Yeah, I was happy to see he had a great summer, and I know I've heard a lot about that. They had a great time together as a team at his wedding, and, you know, he's a tremendous player and a great guy, a great leader, and, you know, we're very fortunate to have Leon here on our side.

Keep in mind, oh, Stan's been around the game a long time. He's seen guys show up with cigarettes to the rink. That's, you know, back in the 80s and the 70s, all of that type of stuff. So it's just a different generation now. There you go. All good. Off season mode. Off season mode.

Thanks, Stan. Good luck with camps opening up. Thank you for doing us. No problem. Thanks, guys. Stan Bowman. GM of the Oilers. Yeah, I guess they had a good time over there in Paris.

I think Leon was getting married in Paris. Yeah. I think they did the bachelor party in Spain. like a Beezer or whatever and that's a trip man that's a trip all right Luke Wilson coming up in 15 minutes

best bet still to come as well overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on the TSM app all right Luke Wilson in about 10 minutes Best Bet's powered by Fanduel coming up a little bit later on tracking the J's Gosman doing it again man like we keep going back and forth

who's going to be that game one starter the way he's been pitching post all-star break I don't know how you move off Gosman, but it feels like Bieber, Gosman for sure, sure's if he's healthy. So more on that into the next hour. Got some breaking news that's just coming in

here. Chris Johnston, our TSN Hockey Insider, and others reporting that the NHL, according to sources, the NHL will permit Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dylan Dubay, Calfoot, and Alex Formanton to resume playing in the NHL in December 1st.

And I guess they can sign with teams as of October 15th following their acquittal on all sexual assault charges. So I guess that's a built-in suspension to an extent if they can't start playing until December 1st. There's not much else to comment on it. That's what the league's decided to do, and they can play December 1st. And if you want to sign them, you can inquire on October 15th. Yeah, I would presume, again, I don't know. We're on the air, so I can't read these articles.

I would presume the PA has allowed it too. I would guess that they've signed off on that fine. That's the penalty, and this is the way it's going to go. So I don't think all five players are going to return to the NHL, but a few of them will. I think there are a few will, but keep in mind, these guys missed a lot of hockey. Like they, you know, they haven't played for a long time

because they were technically suspended or taken out of the league while this was going on. So it's been a long process. It'll take them a long time to get back into the swing of things. and, you know, I do believe in talking to people around the league. There is some interest, but, you know, again, you've got to go through the process. So it looks like the process is sorted out from a league standpoint. Now it's up to the players to see what they're going to do

and if teams are interested in signing them. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right, so we'll see where this goes. Luke Wilson coming up on Packers commanders tonight. Speaking of Washington, I saw something. about what the Capitol's plan on doing this year, which has got my radar going on Ovechkin,

and what his plan is for the future. I'll tell you about that. We'll get into it. Yeah. Absolutely. I'm Pablo Torre. That's who I am. I'm sniffing things out.

Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fanduel. Fan duel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Hey, this is Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Weedist Teenage Dirtbag is one of very. the most relatable songs of all time, but thanks to its impossible falsetto,

maybe not the easiest to sing. He said I've got tickets to iron main ends. Yes, that famous female vocal verse was recorded by vocalist Brendan Brown in 2000, and thanks to a tech mix-up again in 2020. Listen to Encore on the IHeart app or wherever you get your podcast for the stories behind all the songs you love.