OverDrive - Pezzetta on signing with the Maple Leafs, joining his hometown team and his style on the ice

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Michael Pezzetta joined OverDrive to dive into the signing with his hometown team, his style adapting to the lineup, playing with the Canadiens, the fit under Craig Berube's philosophy and more.

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The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app Michael Pizetta has been with the Habs for years and he signed with the Leafs today and he joins us now. How you doing Michael? We're good guys. How you doing? We're doing well, man. Take us through this process. Why did the Leafs make sense for you? Yeah, I mean obviously a Toronto boy

coming home just getting the opportunity to put the Leaf sweater on, it's something I dreamed about my whole life and yeah to just get that chance I'm just so fired up right now my family's going crazy and all my buddies so it's been a fun it's been a fun afternoon. Oh yeah you're gonna have a lot of floaters come out of the woodwork for you here soon I would imagine although I mean it's more just a road trip for all your buddies that you've been in Montreal for the last couple years but how do you think your style suits this team and especially the coach Craig Borubey? Yeah I think especially with how

the playoffs went this year I think teams are trying to get stronger and harder to play against and I think I I fit that that bill exactly and I know from what I hear With Berube, he loves guys that play hard and I just want to kind of bring bring my game to the table and do Everything I can you know, so Michael I saw in your social medias You were posting some childhood photos of of you in in leaf sweaters Take us through your level of Leaf fandom as a young man. Yeah, I mean, for me growing up,

I'm sure like a lot of kids, Matt Sandin was always my favorite player. I wore number 13 growing up my whole life. And that was just special. I sat in my room a bit today and there's like a still got a picture. I'm staying at my parents' house back in Toronto. I got a picture of my wall and that's the Dean I'm sitting there and I'm just thinking how cool is it that I get the

opportunity to work hard and be able to put this jersey on it's just such a special feeling and I'm so happy and blessed to be able to give him this opportunity. We're chatting with Michael Pizzetta who signed with the Leafs today Toronto guy's been in Montreal you've been with the Habs organization throughout your career so you know it's gonna be an adjustment. You got drafted back in 16, you've been playing for Laval, you've been with the Habs the last few years on a permanent basis, you know that's pretty significant too. Toronto kid growing up a Leaf fan

going to Montreal and now you're coming back, you know, how do you look back on your time as a Canadian? Yeah, I love my time there the organization's first class and and and the boys were always great and definitely shared a lot of good memories there pretty much grew up there in pro hockey and nothing but good things to say say about them and definitely be a weird weird time and started the season playing against all those guys and having to try to run them all through the glass. But it'll be fun and there's no hard feelings.

So you come from an organization made the playoffs, but you've seen the last couple years the progression of a young team getting to that next level. Now you're coming to an organization that where there's high expectations and you know, that team has been at that level for a long time and you look at the star power that with the Toronto Maple Leafs do you you feel the expectation that you know that comes with signing with this organization? Yeah definitely and I think anytime you play for a big market Toronto Montreal there's expectations that come with that and the sort of responsibility that when you put that sweater on and you go on the ice you have a responsibility to play as hard as you can and give everything you

got and it's about winning at the end of the day and bringing a cup back to your city and I think that's something I'm ready for and just excited for. You've had a few tilts with Ryan Reeves over your tenure in the league. What's it like when you walk into a dressing room and you become a teammate of a guy who you've traded fists with many a time? Yeah, I think it's always funny. It's so weird, like on the ice, you're definitely not a player

that's making a lot of friends out there and then you get off the ice and you get in the room and there's never any hard feelings. They're both a couple guys going to war and just trying to do their jobs so I'm sure we'll have a laugh and can both appreciate the jobs that we have to do. Absolutely. Well it's going to be fun to have you in camp and in town. Congrats on the deal.

Good luck the rest of the summer. We'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. Yeah, appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me on. There he is, Michael Pizzetta the biggest songs in the world You've heard them countless times now learn the details of how they came to be

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