OverDrive - OverDrive - September 24, 2025 - Hour 2 - Bruce Boudreau

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! The guys welcome Bruce Boudreau to the show to chat about the Maple Leafs power play, Morgan Rielly's role with the Leafs, Ovechkin and Suzuki's placement on the TSN Top 50 list and other hockey, we also play Role Play Level of Concern and give you our FanDuel best bets.

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For the first time ever at Budweiser stage, October 4th and 5th, featuring Renee Rapp, Casey Musgraves, and more. Stream now, online, on your smart speaker, and on the free IHart Radio. App. Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score.

Brian Hayes, Jamie Noodles, McLennan, Dave Fastruck in here for the O-Dog. We had a Leafsense game last night. Got a lot of preseason games going on already, and Bruce Bujo will join us. Yeah, would you make of that scene with the Bruins and the Rangers, the O.T. winner, and then him just banging on the glass. in a way you go. I don't know. Like, Matthew Kachuk did that in the playoffs, didn't he?

In Carolina? Yes, he did. But it's Matthew Kachukh. It's not, you know, a defenseman who gets eight goals a year. You know, and he, that defenseman, he's got some chip to him. Like, he's, you know, he's a pretty good player, but I don't know. I didn't, I don't love that. It's just kind of coffee.

It was a weird play. It was the Dora that scored it. It's the Dora of, scored it for Boston at the garden. Big Z. like he yeah the thing is is he acted like okay i've done 50 of those right you've never done any of those right you know what i mean like he he's not a bona fide goal score but he does play with tremendous confidence but it was just a weird i don't know it's preseason but when i saw that i'm like did he just skate off yeah like that was it you're right that's something

you would expect like if ovechkin did that i'd say right he's probably scored a hundred of those in his And, you know, listen, he's doing it so unnecessary to skate right off. So that's the, I think that's DiPietro, the goaltender standing there laughing, going, he just skated right off. Yeah. But if you look at the play, he went end to end. Like it wasn't, he just didn't get the puck back. Like, he actually went end to end and then got the puck back on a rebound kind of,

and then scored and was like, okay, I'm done here. But it was kind of obnoxious. You know what I think that was? What? He had dinner plans with the center field. for the white so. That's right. That's right. The Dorov and the center fielder for the socks we're meeting somewhere downtown in New York.

Between the Bronx and Madison Square Garden. Yeah, exactly. Maybe uptown somewhere. There you go. You know what? I kind of, look, I understand it kind of could be taken as obnoxious, but it's a preseason game. I look at it, like his teammates probably got a huge kick out of it, which you can see them laughing.

Yeah. It's like guys that over-celebrate practice. You know, you're down at the, you're down at the Masquerade Center watching the Leafs practice and, you know, somebody of fire one top shelf over Joseph Wall or stole ours and they'll whoop it up, you know, noodles. You over-celebrate because you're just trying to have

some fun with your buddies, right? That's what preseason games are for. You're right and I don't think I don't think anybody on the Rangers took it to heart. Like I don't think they're sitting there going that's bulletin board material type of thing. Like it was like he scored a goal. He actually put it underneath the bar.

It was a beautiful shot. Like it actually was a beautiful shot. It just it shows a little personality. I guess maybe that's the old man. in me where it's like, okay, sometimes I like seeing it, but then I get nervous going, is that too new school? Like, are people going to hate that? Is it arrogant?

Like, I, you know, I'm on the fence on this. I get what you're saying. I just, I don't know. I think it's funny. I think, I think, honestly, he probably had been thinking of it. Yeah. Because to instinctually be like, all right, I'm scoring, that's the door I'm out of here. I don't think, that's not natural.

Never seen it before. No, if you score on the National Hockey League, you react. Right. You look for a teammate. Then maybe you see your team. Even Kachuk saw his teammates and was like, all right, let's go. Let's go. We're out of here.

Kind of trying to insinuate all business. We got to win in overtime. We're not celebrating. Jobs not done. This is preseason at the Garden in New York. And Zedurov's doing the walk-off. But anyway, it was, it's fun to have hockey back. And again, the top 50 list for TSN is slowly being revealed.

Numbers 21 through 30 were revealed today. And to chat about that, among other things. We're joined now on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Here's our TSN Hockey analyst, Bruce Boudre. How are you doing, Bruce? Hi, guys. Welcome back. Yeah, it's great to be back.

It's great to chat with you again. You feel like you're right back in the swing of things. We've got games on every night. Well, we do, and you know what? It's interesting because as a coach, you're just looking at who's in the lineup, in and out. And you can see that there's a lot of, right now, there's not a lot of names that you recognize if you've been,

hanging out with the NHL for the most nights. But as the preseason goes along, every game, you'll see more and more NHL guys every night. Yeah, and I'm curious what the messaging is. Like, we always, noodles talks about it as a player. Like, you're a veteran and you get

older, you're kind of like, I just want to survive. Is the coach okay with that? You know, like, publicly maybe can't admit to that because people are buying tickets and they're coming out. But is every coach aware that a veteran that's been in the league for eight, 10 years, really doesn't care about the preseason.

Like, is there an understanding on that level? Absolutely. They don't care one iota. Like, to me, last night, for example, if Austin Matthews, he wanted probably to get out of there as quick as possible. I know when I used to have Ryan Souter, he'd say, I'd say, okay, suits, you know, you're in your 30s, how many games you want to play? in the preseason he says none please don't dress me at all and like you mean i think that's

pretty well it right there so i mean um you know they don't want to get hurt they want to get ready they want to get in shape but it's uh i always look at the team with the most american league players in the lineup usually wins because those are the kids that are trying an awful lot harder than the nachel guys so so bruce uh you know again we're we're allowed two weeks to talk Mitch Marner, so I'm just going to bring it up quickly with you, but what do you make of the power play? So if you were running the power player or coaching that

team, and is it very natural to just put Morgan Riley back there, and you know, we saw, I guess, glimpses of it last night. You know, knee-lander was going to play on his off-wing. It looked like Matthews was going to slide to his off-wing type of thing

or one-time position and then bumper position for Tavares. And then net front for nyes. I mean, is that how you would set up? What would you think that first power play should be looking like? Well, I mean, I think you have to give Morgan Riley an opportunity to get back there and be that guy again. I think you would almost lose them if you threw somebody, if you threw OEL on the first power play unit at the point or something, I think you would lose a little bit of Morgan Riley right there because I think he's really

looking forward after an off year to get back into that spot. And I think he'll make the best of it. But the top five are going to be the top five in the Leifes. You're going to have the Tavares, Nielander, Nyes, Matthews, and Morgan

Riley, I think, at the start. And then I don't know what the second unit's going to be, and then it'll change according to how good they are during the course of the seasons. But I really believe Morgan Riley is going to get that definite opportunity to be there. Bruce, we're talking about the TSN top 50 NHL players,

the ranking slowly trickling out. The other day, Alex Ovechkin, a guy who you coached in his prime, obviously, in Washington, was ranked 49th. And our guy here, the captain of the show, Brian Hayes, was making the case that he shouldn't even be in the top 50 anymore because he just turned 40. He's past Gretzky. There's nothing left to play for for old number 8.

OV. How do you see that one, Bruce? Well, love Brian, but don't we go on what they did basically the year before, and his 44 goals and missing 17 games with a broken leg definitely means he would have been, I think, the leading goal score in the NHL last year if he hadn't got hurt. So you have to put him in there. Even if you don't want him, even if you think he's fat and old. He's in the top 50 because I can't think of 40 other forwards or 35 other forwards that scored more than 40 goals last year.

No, and listen, I hear you. And last year I'd like a do-over because I did not have him in my top 50 last year. And he was, he went out there and he earned it. My case for this. Go ahead. Go ahead. What do you have for me, Bruce? No, I was going to say he didn't earn it last year.

I think you'd gotten 32 goals the year before. So he didn't deserve to be in the top 50. But this year he does. Well, so here's where I'm at. And people are very sensitive to this. Very sensitive. I'd like to point out that he was 48, I believe, on the list. Not 8th.

And I'm saying he shouldn't. 48. 49, actually. 49. 49. Okay, even better. So I went on TV and I'm all over the place saying he shouldn't be in the top 50. The guy's 49th.

Yeah. Maybe I could say he's 50 first. It's worthy of like I'm two spots out. Two spots back. of where the consensus is, but people are going nuts. I'm getting doxed almost. People are going crazy down at D.C. And everywhere else where they love Ovechkin.

My thought is this. I think it's his swan song. I'm preparing for that. I think this will be the last year. So I'm wondering where his head's going to be at with every, all the road games, where he's at. Jason Gretzky was a massive carrot in front of him. That's done.

Like now, he'll get to 900, but he's probably going to do that in the first week of the season, week or two of the season. He's sitting at 897, I believe. he's going to get there. Everything broke their way last year. Dylan Strome was phenomenal last year. Dylan Strome might have been one of the 50 best players in the league last year.

Does he come back to Earth? Do the capitals come back to Earth a little bit? I'm kind of bracing for that, Bruce, and I know you're down there and you cover them closely. I wonder where his head is going to be at this year compared to last year, where he was so motivated. I'm not convinced he's going to be as motivated. And yes, he scores goals, but what else does he do at a top 50 rate? I'd ask you that, Bruce. Like, he's not as physical as he once was.

He's never been a sulky guy. You know, like, yes, scoring goals is hugely important, but what else is he bringing to the table? It's certainly not back checking. No, it's not. But, you know what? There's a reason that people don't score the amount of goals in the season, say 40 and above, like Alex does almost every year,

is because it is the toughest thing to do in hockey. I mean, it's to score goals. So, I mean, if that's all you can do, then I think you're, but you're one of the best at it, you still get up there. I mean, you're putting some of the best defensive players that can't score on this kind of a list. But I would take the goal scoring because it is the toughest thing to do in hockey is score goals. And Alex is going to score goals as long as he can shoot. And the one thing that he's not going to lose is his strength. Now, he's injured right now.

so I don't know if it's going to be a long-term injury. They play here in Hershey tomorrow night, so I'll get to know all the scoops here tomorrow. But I'm hoping he gets back on, gets ready soon, because let's face it, the older you get, the harder it is to get into great game shape, and he's going to need a couple games, and every game is going to count for him.

But to get to your question, I think the motivation is to be super great, like he's been his whole career. self-motivated. So it's not a question of I don't want to do it anymore. I think he'll want to do it. The question is, is he capable to do it over 82 games? And that's going to be the biggest problem. With Bruce Boudreau, so sticking with the top 50 list, again, numbers 21 through 30 were revealed today. Nick Suzuki's at 25. That's a big jump. He wasn't even ranked last year. That's a big jump for him. But I think it's pretty clear now that we're all this high

into the list. Lane Hudson didn't make it. And people in much I was taking Schrappel everywhere. DC, I was on radio Montreal today. They're going at me and I'm like, I don't make the list. I vote, but I'm one of the 20 voters. Where do you stand on Lane Hudson?

And I don't know if you had them, top 50 on your list, Bruce, do you think he will end up as a top 50 player in the league this year? He was pretty good last year for the abs. Well, he was great last year. And I look at him as Quinn Hughes type thing when Quinn came into

the league. I think Lane had six goals and X amount of assists, which was great. And Quinn had always six or seven or eight goals early, and then he exploded the last two years to get double-digit goals. So I think

if you're looking at future of a guy that didn't start out great with the Canadians, like he didn't start getting points until the last half of the season, then he got him in buckets, I think he's going to start out tremendous. I think he's going to be, if he shoots the puck a little bit more, and with Dobson on the power play, you don't have that, anybody else that really can't play

the power play in Montreal, he's going to shoot pucks and he's going to get more points. I think he's going to be better. And, you know, it's a gamble maybe to put him on the top 50 this year, but I guarantee he'll be in the top 30 next year. So, Bruce, we're talking about anxiety throughout, you know, we'll call it Canada and the NHL teams. The Leafs, obviously, without Marner, Edmonton, McDavid, all of that. You look at Vancouver, and I

think it's a fascinating case study. Obviously, you're very familiar with that team. But, you know, we know what Quinn Hughes is capable of. I think the biggest question mark coming into is can they get back to the level they were at a couple years ago if you've got a motivated

and, you know, really strong Pedersen, and you get a healthy Demco. I mean, there's a lot of question marks that surround that team. But what do you make of that team and what they're capable of if kind of all the chips fall into place? Well, I think that the biggest thing is getting Demko healthy and we get him to play 50-plus games.

I mean, he hasn't done it in a couple years now. But when he's healthy, he's as good as anybody is. And the one thing Vancouver has, I think, is a pretty solid defensive structure. and I think that'll keep if Dempco's on top of his game, they're going to win a lot of two to one, three to two

kind of games. They're never going to they're never going to overpower you with offense, but I think they're capable of getting there. I don't think they're a playoff team yet, but this year again, but I think they're going to be much better than they were last year.

The Bruce, a lot of conversation around Toronto about who will replace Marner on the top line alongside Matthews. We've seen a little preseason glimpse, as much as you point out, no one's really enthused about playing in the preseason. Maybe Matthias Machelli was a little bit enthused about the idea

that he could show what he could do as a playmaker on the wing with Matthews. I mean, when you think about the options, if you're Craig Barube, you got Machelli, you could have Max Domi, there's any number of other forwards that have played along Matthews in spot duty over the years. Who do you like in that spot

or do you think it's just going to be a revolving door of Baroube trying to out any number of guys for the 82 games? I mean, sometimes it's a tough question, but I mean, as a coach, I would probably put Neelander there. You get the best players, and Tavares can hold his own on the second line. But if you have a line, a big line of Nealander, Matthews, and Nyes, I think that's going to be as good as there is in the NHL,

and you just play them a lot. but I don't think Machelli's going to be able to do it. We keep forgetting, like, I mean, it's great that he, they signed him, but on the same token, he was sitting out in Utah last year, and if you look at his career, and I can see what they're saying, why they'd sign him, say he's a good passer, and he's offensive-minded like that, but, I mean, he's not the guy. I mean, I'm just not been a fan of watching him,

and I watched them a lot when I was in the West, A, because, I mean, he was in Arizona, and he came from the American League after having a really good American League season, so that always piques my interest. But I think they're going to be doing what you just said. I think they will probably – I mean, I like Neelander there, but I think they'll be using about every winger on the team to see who fits, and it might be for two games at a time. And Matthews and Nyes are going to be having rotating wingers there in the end of the year.

Great catching up with it. Bruce. We'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. All right. I'm watching the Leafs now. I didn't get to see him last night, so I'm watching them on TV now to see whatever I said made any sense. Okay. I'll see you guys later. You nailed it. Thanks, Bruce. There he is. Bruce Boodro, joining soon the Maple Toyota hotline.

Get in and go where adventures take you in a new 2025 Tacoma from Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall is at Maple Toyota.com. During the break, I'm watching the Jay's game from last night. Right. Yeah. Hey. I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything.

You never know. Bruce is always honest. Not a fragile than Bonham Bruce's body. He's the best. But Baroupe was, again, very complimentary of Easton Cowan. He set up that Bobby McMahon goal on the power play. I mean, set up might be strong, but he fed him. Yeah.

And I guess at Skate today, he was on a line with Lawton and Lorenz. And we keep emphasizing this. It's Nyes and Matthews, Tavares and Nylander, Joshua and Waugh, Lottin, and Lawrence. Yeah. Like those are the two packs on every line, and everyone else is going to battle for position, and there's Cowan getting an opportunity today, noodles. I think that's pretty significant. I really do as well, and here's why, because I don't think Craig Barubi will start him near the top six.

What he wants him to do is learn to play away from the puck, learn to compete, learn to do all the things that, you know, in junior it came really easy for him because he always had the puck. I mean, you're your top player, you play as much as you want, take a two-minute shift here, do whatever you want because you're in a winning program in London. Here at the National Hockey League level, if you're a young player and you can learn to play away from the puck, the quicker you can do it, the farther you will get up the lineup. And I think it's a scenario is can you fit into a fourth-line role with two guys that

straight line hockey, give them a little bit of skill on that line, obviously. I mean, Lawton and Lorenz can score, we've seen it, but add a little different dynamic, work very hard, be responsible, and guess what? Oh, there's a little second power play time here for you. There's a carrot where you can get some points and you can settle in on the offensive side. So to me, it shows that Craig Barubi wants to give him an opportunity with the big club in this lineup. And, you know, I'd be shocked if he didn't play every game here in the preseason just to just to kind of put him in every scenario. Like, hey, we're going to try it.

You know, he got the assist on the power play because he got the puck down to McMahon. And McMahon made a really nice backhand play under the bar. But he's getting that opportunity. You go and earn it by working hard five on five with whoever you play with. Well, it happens to be Lorenz and Lawton right now. Yeah, and I think you make a good point, noodles. they want this guy to succeed, right? Like he is something they need him to succeed.

And that might include a stint in the minors. It might include half the season. It might include the full seaters in the minors. We'll see. It'll be up to Easton Cowan. But the other guy they've put with Lottin and Lorenz in the training camp so far is Nick Robertson. And I think that could make some sense, too. Like they, you know, they reluctantly or not, they paid, you know, Nick Robertson,

double what they paid them last year, 1.8 plus million on that pre-arbitration settlement. He provides something that, you know, Bruce Brudrow just said is the hardest thing to provide in the sport, which is goal scoring, right? Like Robertson's goal scoring race, 15 goals last year in 60-something games. He scores every time he gets out there. Lottina of the rents have, you know, I agree with him. Like, they're a straight line guys, they're veteran guys, zero goals apiece in the playoffs last year in that fourth line, right? Like, if Nick Roberts could figure out how to play with those guys and do the things that, would make him a mainstay in Craig Barubay's lineup,

which is not a given because he played three playoff games last year for a very good reason because Barabay didn't believe he could trust him to be out there. But if Robinson could evolve his game, he's another guy that could fit with on that fourth line and make it a little more of a scoring threat than it was last year in the playoffs. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see because the waivers and whose waiver exempt hangs over everything. They don't want to admit that because it goes against messaging.

You can't message, compete, compete, compete, competition, competition, the best man wins, and then, well, you probably won, but we're not going to lose you, so you're going to go down to the minors. That's what I'm curious about with Cowan. Because publicly they're going to say, you know, if he earns it, he's on the team. I'll believe that when I see it. Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it because what happens then with Yarncroke, what happens again with Nick Robertson?

You know, these are guys that have value in the league. Like David Camp has been completely lost in the shuffle. Like he's been here a long time. This isn't a guy that they picked up on waivers last year. He's been with the lease for years. Oh, yeah. And he just appears to be on the outside looking in. And I think that's a Barubei evaluation.

I mean, clearly. Craig Baroube is the guy who determined who played in the playoffs and Camp never played. I think he went in once against Florida. And it didn't work so well and they pulled them. Minus two. Yes. So Camp, I don't think they'd have an issue.

issue with losing. They might place them on waivers. I'm not sure anyone picks them up. And he just goes to the minors and his deal goes from 2.5 to 1.5 or whatever in terms of the cap hit. Or they buy them out. I'm not sure what the numbers would look like on that front. But Yarn Croke and Robertson are different. Very, very different. Right? Like they can skate. They can play when they're healthy. Different ages. Different experiences. And can Cowan, that'll be intriguing to see the battle between Baruba, the coach and the GM. Again, we're not going to be privy to it. But if the coach is pushing for Cowan, but

the GM, who's always got the Trump card in the end, says he can play with the Marley's and I'm not going to lose them, how does that battle work out? I mean, we'll find out a week and a half. You know what, though? The fact that he can go to the Marley's, no waivers and the Marleys are literally at the edge of your

parking lot, you know, it could be a scenario where we talked about it the other day, Brian, is you know, is he going to play six games or he's going to play 48? Right. You know, and it might be at a training camp that go, we've got to put you down for the first week because we need to sort the numbers out here. Wait for an injury, wait for something, wait for an inconsistency.

Or we have a trade brewing 10 games into the season, 20 games when we're going to start, you know, getting active here. But you have the luxury with Cowan to place him in all situations with the Marleys. You can go down and play 23 minutes and play in every scenario and learn the program. You've got your development people all around him. You're close to the main team. That's the luxury they have with Cowan, where, like you said, Yarn Croke, well, you've got to put him on waiver. Somebody maybe plucks him, and you might not want to lose that depth, right?

Well, but here's another thing, though. Cowan on the leaves, fourth line playing 10 minutes, you better compete, you better prove you can do different things. Cowan on the Marley's, 22 minutes, top line, top power play. So that's what's kind of confusing If you're the player They're not going to put them on the Marley's and say Well, you're on the fourth line to mimic what's going to happen

When you get to the leaves Right So you know And listen, he's not the first one to deal with this This is the history of the game This is the way it goes With young players trying to break through But here's the other thing

Like this is like They want They've been very complimentary of Ben Danford too Right The defense one of their rare pipeline guys Who's coming up They'd love to develop these guys this is not a developmental moment for the Maple Leafs.

Like, they don't have a lot of time to waste, right? Like, they got to make it happen fast here. Right. But that proves the point, though. If he's going to help with that, if he's better than the other guys, who cares about the way? Well, they'd be happy. He should be playing.

I agree with you. You know, because is, you know. Is he substantially better? Is he going to be that much? And does it matter in October compared to where you are in April? Exactly. That's where I was going to go, Brian. I know we got to go, but that's the biggest thing.

How many times have we seen a guy out of the gate? the Cali Rosens and guys like that first day, you know, got to find a spot for them. And then all of a sudden, like, the league overwhelms you a little bit, or there's a market correction, and you're overwhelmed 20 games in, and you've moved somebody that maybe could bring value into you. Sam Lafferty a couple years ago. Remember the year he had in Vancouver? And it was, I think, Fraser Minton maybe that made the team,

and they put them on waivers, and Lafferty scored like 15 in Vancouver. Yeah, really good player for them. Yep. All right, Best Buds coming up. Roll play, level of concern. We'll get to that next. You can never, never ask me to stop drinking. Do you understand?

I do. I really do. All right, roll play level of concern. Noodles, you brought this up at 4 o'clock. Like right out of the gate, we're playing role, play level of concern. I think there's a lot of people walking into the dome tonight playing role play level of concern. Yes. So I think it's probably a necessary starting point here.

Yep. Dave, you're going to play the role of John Schneider. What is your level of concern? Your lead in the American League East is going to slip away this week to the Yankees. Oh, this is Mr. Bushwood. Yeah. Six Bush Light, six Bud Light, and I love him, tall boys. And John Schneider's never afraid to say after a game, I need a beer.

And if they do not win tonight, he will need several. Tall boys. He will need tall boys. Tall boys. A la Mr. Bushwood. Because, like, I mean, it's the classic case of a fairy tale team that could be turning into the proverbial pumpkin here. Like, it's like, it's, you know, all those comeback wins, all that offense from unexpected places.

Now you're getting no offense from anywhere, including the guy who's a $500 million player that hasn't hit a home run in 16 games. And what did you say? One extra base hit over that spank. and what's the manager supposed to do about it? That's the thing. There's no answer for that if you're the manager, really. You can go and say, hey, Vladdy, pick it up,

and you can go to George Springer and say, hey, carry these guys. But other than that, what are you supposed to do? Well, and you know what the wild thing is? Because I think mentally, Jay's fans have been preparing for the ALDS and skipping the wild card because there's a lot of bad mojo when it comes to the wild card. We know what happened against Seattle and Minnesota. It was ugly.

It was really tarnishing for reputations and for psyches. It was awful those two experiences. So the idea of them winning the American League East, we've understood for quite some time. Now, it's also been connected to them being a top two team in the American League and they're going to avoid the wild card altogether. The idea of, that's why it's not just about blowing this lead. It's what comes with blowing that lead.

Yes. And guess who you're going to play in the wild card that you're not prepared for mentally? The guy you're going to face tonight. Garrett Crochet is going to be sitting there waiting for you like a week tonight right or not even like what are they probably next Tuesday they're probably playing the wild card maybe Wednesday

but it's it's not just the chase it's what the chase represents it's that you can breathe because even if to your point the magic pixie dust has run out at least you could breathe for four or five days at least you're guaranteed three games as opposed to only two

right like there's just there's so many different things you can do with that that you can you can like put aside an unbelievable season one the American league east you presume that's 92 93 wins we'll see what happens in the playoffs but that's just gravy you throw this away and then you go into the wild card you got to play the socks if you haven't been mentally preparing for for over a month now yeah that's going to do some serious damage it is not good man no you got to find a way to win here tonight have to magic numbers for Or maybe there's a chance that the Yankees are hung over and loose. It is possible.

They got the White Sox again tonight, then the Orioles on the weekend. All right, noodles. You're playing the role of the Maple Leafs, the Panthers, and the Lightning. What is your level of concern? The Ottawa Senators are knocking one of you out of the top three spots in the Atlantic. Rick Bushwood. Six Bush Light, six Bud Light, and I love them, Tall Boys. That's a lot of concern.

Well, it is. It should be a concern. It's not just for Toronto or the Lightning and the Panthers. It's just, I think Ottawa's placed themselves in an area now, as I played out before. This isn't more about the players, the teams that I was talking about. It's more about the Atlantic being very bunched up. And, you know, the teams at the bottom, dragging points off of them. Montreal made the playoffs.

Ottawa did. I think Ottawa's bridged the gap on the teams. Does it mean that they're better or anything like that? My point being is they, I think they're in the same neighborhood now when it comes to points. And that's, you know, can they get to 100 points? Can they get to 98? But I think, you know, you look at the leaves, will they get 108 again? Or are they going to get 100 or 102?

That puts them in the neighborhood of somebody pushing up. So that's what I keep saying. Like, I think that there will be, those three teams will be looking over their shoulder going, we've got some other guys here at the table. Doesn't mean they're going to beat us. It just they're at the table or knocking at that door. And that's Montreal and that's Ottawa for me. And I think Otto was further ahead than Montreal.

Yeah, I agree too. I agree. And Montreal, there's reasons for optimism there. Like, they had a great final 15, 20 games. They made the playoffs. They added Noah Dobson. Yeah. Demadoff, you know.

And Demadoff, too. You're right, Nudels. That's important. Well, he took some hits last night. You know, in watching and like seeing him play, there's a target on him, right? He's a flash and dash and all of that. But he's a young kid. We'll see if he settles in right away.

but they do have some players around him that need to, you know, to continue to grow. The Slavkoskis, guys like that, you know, we saw Suzuki take another step. Does he have another level this year, or is it just stabilized as to he's a damn good player, he's a star player type of thing. Caulfield, same type of thing. So I look at it as Montreal is pushed up. If Ottawa was looking over their shoulder, they're looking at Montreal going this, they're right up on us too.

So I think there's a five pack of teams in the Atlanta. Atlantic that, you know, are more bunched together than they were a year ago. Well, you make a great point. It's like it's so easy to forget. We think of Florida on a different plane than everybody else. So it's easy to overlook the fact that they beat out Ottawa by one point in the regular season last year. Like, you forget that, right? Because Florida's just on a different level.

And I do think a lot of it comes into, they look, the top three teams have been down the playoff road so many times with obviously very varying results. the two Florida teams have had their moments in the sun and the Leafs are still looking for theirs. But the other teams, like, the regular season means so much more to them than it means to those top three teams that they're going to be, they're bound to get knocked off eventually. Because you can't load

manage it. As your roster gets older, you're going to have to take it more seriously or these young teams are going to catch up to you. Yeah, I think Ottawa is much hungrier in the regular season than these other three teams who have been the powerhouses of the Atlantic. They've been the pace car for years, right? So now what it

is as Ottawa's got a sniff, they learned a little bit in the playoffs, and their team has gotten better just through experience. And, you know, a little tweak here, a little ad there, that type of stuff. And, you know, now they've put themselves into that conversation with those other three in the regular season. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, no, exactly. But you're right. I mean, Florida, Florida right now, if you went into arbitration and said, we'll give you 97 points in you're the second wild card. But everyone's healthy, they'd say, done, take it. Take it. Yeah, we don't even care to play. Exactly.

And honestly, I think Tampa might take that. And the Leaves might take that. The Leaves might be like, fine. Just get us back there healthy and give us a chance to prove ourselves again. Give us a chance of redemption. Ottawa, they might take that too. But I think Ottawa would be like, no, we want to try to get to 102 points, 105. We want our guys to keep exploding here and keep getting more, you know, spotlight and more attention.

So I do think they're going to look at the regular season differently than these other three teams. All right, let's go back to Festruck here, Joe, from the bridge. I don't need to, Alec Manoa. Alex Manoa is, yeah, I don't even, I feel uncomfortable playing the role of Alcmano. You're getting past that a lot quicker than I am. Yes, I don't need to do that. All right, Fess, you're playing the role of Keegan Bradley, captain for the American team at the Ryder Cup.

What is your level of concern that if the United States loses, you're going to get the Zach Johnson treatment? Because he got crushed after Rome. Crush. Well, I would go Rick Bushwood, except I just saw the beer prices at Beth Plage Black this week, and that would be very expensive for the tallboys, the double six-pack tallboys, okay? Because it's like, nothing's cheap in New York. It's like 1950 a pint. American. American. Plus tax. That's pre-tax. And you know, they'll break records for people that'll be buying them. Oh, yeah. Is they're expecting 350,000 people? It's crazy. It's crazy.

But the Ryder Cup. So 12 pints is going to cost you. I'm not even good at math, but that's a lot of money. Yeah, it's probably you're looking at 300 bucks. Good thing the Americans are getting paid. Yes. To the math. Do the math.

Thank you, Ray. But look, I mean, like, there's an expectation that when you're on home soil, you're supposed to win this thing, right? And yet, I think the European, wiped the floor with them the last time they were in Europe and Rory has made that vow we're going to win it in Beth Page

and to me like before the ball is flying the Europeans have done everything right they've played everything perfectly they seem like much more of a team they actually seem to like each other because you know it's not the case with all the Americans at all times I know it's probably not the case in Europe either

but there's just more spirit there they're not getting paid the Americans are getting paid they've played all the sort of pre-Rider Cup stuff way better outside of maybe those crazy color combinations on some of the merch but if I'm if I'm King Bradley who has already been through the ringer of trying to figure out if he was playing or not

there's a million reasons already to second guess me and if we lose there'll be a million more yeah I agree I mean I think he might get off the hook because people say he should have played but that was his decision no I know that but they jammed them Like the PJ of America or whoever makes these choices jammed them by putting him in this spot. Or, you know, he's a likable guy. He'll be fiery.

You know, I think it'll be more on the players. It'll be on Sheffler. It'll be on Bryson. But the captain always takes heat. Like, if you lose, especially on home soil, you're going to get, you're going to get hit. Coverage of the Ryder Cup on overdrive, brought to you by Subaru. This fall, uncommon becomes standard. Hurry into your local Subaru dealers to get great value that you guessed it comes.

Standard. All right, final one here, Noodles. Yeah. You were playing the role. Well, we talked about this a few moments ago. Marty St. Louis, head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. What is your level of concern? You may be facing a sophomore slump for Lane Hudson and may be asking too much of Ivan Demadov.

I am, I want to say pint on the patio. Okay, okay. But give me Stevie Caldwell. All right. A couple of whiskeys and five or six beers. Very relaxed. Here's why, because in watching, what is it called, the rebuild, I don't know if you guys have seen that, but like Marty St. Louis and how he works with his players and that, I think he's very engaged with Lane Hudson and to a point where even if Hudson, his points drop off, his game might grow in a scenario where, you know, you look at it in different areas, and maybe Dobson gets a little bit more power play time. here or there because he's a right shot and a different look.

So the points might drop, but you might see a more rounded player. I don't think that's a sophomore slump. It's him getting a lot more attention because he's a star player. I'm not just going to judge him on points. And with Damadoff, we just don't know. I think St. Louis early on will give him a long leash and go, go play, go be creative, but let's try and play with the instructor. So St. Louis might be the right guy for both of these guys.

He's progressive. He's a super skilled out-of-the-box thinker. So I'm not too worried about it. I just worry sometimes the attention from the league on those players obviously has that market correction for you because they get a lot of publicity. For sure. And Hudson, you can't hide a defenseman. No.

You can hide a winger a little bit. You cannot hide a defenseman. Yeah. You know, and he's going to have to defend. And the comparisons of Quinn Hughes are there. And I think they're very, very reasonable. and very, very accurate. But, you know, as Quinn Hughes got older,

like we got a little bit stronger, but his IQ was so good where he wouldn't get himself in a bad place, that's the question with Hudson as he keeps growing. Like, how are you going to defend properly? And the other question, too, guys, is, like, it's one thing to be this shot out of a cannon, phenom that arrives on the scene and absolutely, you know, makes people drop their jaws

and give you the calder and say, you're the greatest talent since Gila Fleur, as Serge Savard, the great Canadian's defenseman said. But then the hype kind of keeps building and building and the expectation builds and builds. You've got your dad saying, hey, if he gets snubbed by the USA team,

you can play for Canada. I mean, you know, when all that noise starts to sort of percolate around you, you've got to perform to that level, right? Like the fuss is real. Now you've got to make people realize that you're real too and it wasn't a one-off. And there's a reason sophomore slumps

exist, right? There's a reason why the phrase is, you know, very popular is because once you are expected to do it, it becomes a different thing. Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. And that's coming for Hudson, for the haves in general.

Like they made the playoffs last year. It was an incredible run. I didn't see it coming. But now you're in Montreal and everyone expects it to continue to happen. Okay? That's a different psychology day and day out. Different press coverage, everything across the board.

All right, there you go. Roll play level of concern. Good stuff. Best bets coming up. Very good stuff. Jay Sox tonight. Shurzer Crochet. Huge.

And Santander is back in the lineup. Big, big, big game. We'll tee that up next. All right, today's best bets powered by Fandole. Make your picks and assemble the same game parlay and seconds on the Fandual Sportsbook. Yeah. I have one play tonight.

Yeah. And it's paying plus 500. Oh. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to hit a home run. All right. Plus 500. It has to happen tonight.

You know what? That's a great bet, but it's a sad comment on Vladdy that he is plus 500 at a home run. Yeah. The very sad comment. It's been that long and crochet's on the mound, which I guess. Yeah.

But not the whole game probably. No, exactly. Cochay's not going nine. No. He's not going nine. And so what? He's in your building. Go get him.

You can't hit a home run off crochet? Come on. 23 home runs this year. And it's been a long time, noodles. Like ever since Bichette's been out, he hasn't been himself. Like Bichette, whether it's a coincidence or not, I don't think it is. Since Bichet has not been in the lineup, Vladimir Gero, Jr. has not played well.

He's not performed well enough. Home run tonight, plus 500 best bets powered by Fandwell. The first inning means as much as the ninth when he bet baseball in the Fandrell Sportsbook gap. Please play responsibly 19 plus. physically located in Ontario. I'm curious to see what Santander brings to the table tonight. Switch hitting, hit in fifth tonight.

Crochet's a lefty. Obviously, they're loading up on that. You know, you get Springer, you got Kirk. You've got Kemp. Kirk's in a bad place, too. Hasn't been great. I mean, and the thing I worry about noodles is Santander, switch hitter, slow starter.

And that's when he's got spring training. Now you come off the long injury absence. and a short minor league rehab, what do you expect? I'm not expecting much from him. I'm expecting, like, I just think Springer's the guy. I'm sorry, like, as much as Vladie, and I just, I think Springer's the guy that I circle when this team needs that emotional punch.

Then, you know, he seems to have a big hit, a big play, seems to be, you know, dragging these guys into a war when it's needed. That's, that's when I watch these games, you see how excited he is not only for his play, but for his teammates. Like somebody will hit a single. They'll pan to him in the dugout, and he's jumping up and down and fired up.

Like, he's involved. Like, that's the guy that has circle. And I know Vladdy makes $500 million, whatever it is, and should have home runs in that. But it's Springer for me that is going to be a big part of a win tonight, if they win. Yeah, he's a big emotional leader. Like, he was really fiery last night.

And understandably so in the second inning. But you don't see that out of them a lot where, like, it continues where he's really freaking out. Again, because he was D.H. last night, in the top of the 30s, sitting there with John Schneider and just, like, commiserating with him. Yeah. You know, it was almost like it was therapeutic for Springer.

He was just snapping. And that won't be the case tonight because he's playing left field. Well, he's such a team guy, too. Like, when you've lost five of six, everything gets magnified, right? Big time. You've lost five of six, and those five games you've scored one or zero runs in all of them. So those five losses. So everybody's just feeling it, man.

And you can see it when you look. When they pan to the dugout, you can see the faces of panic. Yeah, you can pick up on the anxiety. And listen, there's two ends of the spectrum where these type of runs don't get lost in the shovel, right? Famously in baseball, you always say. Some guy goes, you know, three for 30. Well, if he does that at the start of the year, people are panicking. Well, he does it in July, no one pays attention.

If he does it in September, people pay attention. Yes. Right? Yes. In April, you pay attention. And in September, you're paying attention. In the middle of the year, you lose five or six in July. It's like, okay, you can make up for it.

Now these games, they do feel different, and they feel more important. Yes, it's only one win in the column or one loss in the column, which is no different than in May or June or July or August. But this is where you really start crunching the numbers. And you know, you're a scoreboard watching too, right? You get the Yankees in White Sox tonight. No reason to believe the Yankees won't. won't win that game. Maybe they

don't, but no reason to believe they won't win that game. So if you go in there assuming the Yankees are going to continue to pull their weight, what's going to have to happen is the Jays are going to have to win. If the magic number is four, there's a chance the Yankees don't lose four more games. That's right. So you get a win four. Yep. You have five left.

Let's get going here. Exactly. Big one tonight. You know, Phillips was talking about how the Tigers have got to get like a comeback win, something dramatic. I think it would help the Blue Jays. They've been to come back. year. You go down early because it's crochet, but you've got to have some late

drama here. And you know what would happen if they had late drama and it's Vladdy that's the hero and you cash your plus 500 best best? Yes. A lot of people forget about the 23 and they'll focus on the one. That's true. Absolutely. Exactly. This is a legacy moment for Vladie and for the Jays.

This week he'll never forget. He'll forget weeks in June and July and August 20 years from now. He won't remember those. He'll never forget this week. All the Blue Jays will never forget this week. Blue Jay fans will never forget this week. That's how big it is. That's how amplified it is. That's what makes sports so great. Jay Sox tonight. Enjoy that. We've got the Thursday night or tomorrow. It's going to be great.

The Leaves are back in action. I think at the Bell Center tomorrow. That'll be brilliant. Can't wait for that one tomorrow. So we got a lot of things cooking here. We do. Give me a great one. All right, Dave, great seeing you. Thanks for stepping in for the O Dog. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today. TV radio podcast, web, and of course, up on YouTube. on TSN's YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your readings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m.

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