OverDrive - Rishaug on Canada and USA's battle, Binnington's importance in the crease and McDavid's prominent role

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

TSN Edmonton Bureau Reporter Ryan Rishaug joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the 4 Nations Face-Off, Canada and USA's Championship Game, Jordan Binnington's stance in the crease, Connor McDavid's role for the team, Auston Matthews looking for a big play, the physicality in the tournament and more.

Still thinking about Conestoga College? Come to our Spring Open House, Saturday March 1st. Search Conestoga Open House for campuses and start times. Spring Open House, Saturday March 1st. Discover career-focused education. Connect life and learning. Here's Ryan Rashog. You've been down there for a few days, Shogger.

I mean, how would you compare and contrast the energy, the vibe today, tonight, compared to the last couple of days now that we're finally close to puck drop? Yeah I mean I would say it's like we're not in Canada right in Montreal this was a huge deal and everybody was fired up for that Saturday night game so you know staying right downtown in and around the ring it's just a little bit of a different feel I think when you get north of the border for these events. But lots of people are ready to go outside, lots of Canadians, you know, lots of high fives, walking to the rink, it's such. So I think it's good and not the same though. That's, can I say, just not the same. Yeah, well, I mean you can't beat the Bell Center on a Saturday night,

you just can't beat it. That's kind of my point yeah yeah not the same now uh... anyway i'm with you on that go ahead rules so shawker what do you think is the biggest story line i mean is it cindy crosby is it you know mcdavid who's got a grab this uh... you know from a canada side what do you circling or focusing on uh... for them to have success tonight are jordy binnington needs to not get in the way I think you know I think he needs to just have a solid

night and not have goals going in that has the bench and and you know everybody sagging and I'm not trying to be hard on the goaltender here noodles but I think if you look at what's going on on the ice you get mackleboy out my car yet that's a huge swing from the last game uh... you know you look at the lineups and amazing players on both sides but where you get up

brick wall in this head-to-head is in that and although jordan bittington i would say is as you know the softy in each of the games and i think that canada's been able to survive it for the most part but i just think tonight uh... he needs to lock it down in a way that he had to be act and told to me that that's my focus i think that's the difference tonight

you know if they didn't can find will that more of a level in the style so far maybe too hard on a body can hold me down a little because that of a level than he's found so far. Am I being too hard on him, buddy? You can hold me accountable if you want. No, not at all, because that's what we've been discussing. We've been discussing it forever, and I said just before you came on, my hope is that if Canada wins, then we're not talking about a goaltending summit. And hey, we're in big trouble heading into the Olympics. If they lose, and as you just mentioned

Bennington is at the forefront then you know the headlines are crease crisis and what's going on here and where are we at with Canada so you're bang on with it. Yeah and you know what guys like I felt heading into the third game that Hale would have been a good direction to go in because if you play Hale in that game and he plays really, really well, well now you've got a goalie that's put together an excellent game and you've got a decision to make for the final, right? You can kind of make your call right there. If he doesn't play fantastic and you like him squeak through anyways, then you go back

to Bennington and that's fine too. But I think by going all three with him, they gave themselves absolutely no choice. They never gave anybody else a chance to grab it in a more meaningful way than Bennington had. And I think that third game was absolutely the place to do it. I think I think Bennington earned the second start by being clutching overtime in the first game. So of course you give him that matchup. But I think after what happened in the second game, that's your window right there to say all right we're gonna rescue give him a look and now you've maybe got a couple options on the table

because the minute Finiton started that game he was starting the final if they got to it almost regardless of his performance. With Ryan Rashog ahead of the game tonight Canada US down in Boston in terms of the amount of minutes you would expect the top players to play forwards in particular, let's let's start with David Do you see 24 minutes tonight 25 is that possible in a game? That's such a high pace like we're expecting tonight where what would be the minutes prediction for you? Yeah, I mean he can handle it like he I mean he's a horse I see the number of double shifts and gets back in Edmonton and long shifts

And he can absolutely handle those minutes and the pace isn't an issue for him. It's not like you're asking Zach Hyman to play 23 minutes out there. Right. That's a loaded statement but it's not it's different for Connor McDavid right so I think some of it depends on special teams if there are a number of power plays right he'll you know eat up good good buck, buck and a half of those. That's where his minutes creep up at Edmonton. If it's an even strength game and there's not a lot of power plays, it wouldn't surprise me if he was in like

20 to 22 range, because they are gonna wanna roll some lines and keep some other guys engaged. But my guess is he's in that 20 to 22 and a half range. So you mentioned Connor, and Coop mixed up the lines. It was Braden Point that slid up there, it was Mitch Marner that came off that line and went down. Do you think it was the right move? It's a lot tougher to find people to play with Connor than you would think, is it not?

Yeah, that's not any knock on on him i mean i i recall cover into the cross be a bulk pull the fixin you know uh... best on best where a lot of the discussion was trying to figure out a line that works on the final i made the works uh... i'd got the vision was a game changer from john creeper you know i i i i like when when bradon point went in there it worked immediately and now they've got another full game under their belt of it working.

Braden Point is just a, he can just do it all. He can get the corners and grind if he needs to. He can make plays. He can, you know, he can, he can put the puck in the net when he needs to. It's been a great fit between him and McDavid and just an incredibly high skilled player, but who also plays the game with an energy that will meet the moments and you know, Mitch Marner's energy, Mitch Marner's physical engagement hasn't met the moments and it didn't work.

He was never going to be the guy that went into the corner and grinded it out for the line and to get the pucks out of there. It's, you know, and, and we were, we were a little skeptical heading in having some people that watch me gave it all the time I'm looking at that line going He's going to get pucks for him here and that ended up being exactly what the problem was so point much better suited to do that than Mick Marner was and Divincing see if Marner who's had a couple of moments here can and find a way to contribute from where he is because they

Desperately need him tonight Well, it'll be interesting in terms of that that may believe conversation. Obviously, we're having it a lot here and you know, the the the big dog on the American team is supposed to be Matthews, but he hasn't really played up to that. I would argue that the Chuck brothers some of the defensemen Slaven, Warren Ski, Hellebuck's been outstanding.

But you know, you look at Austin as the captain. What would you expect out of Matthews tonight? Yeah, I mean This is where you know players that want to be considered among the you know the best in the game right now this is where you have to come out and find a way to make a difference and Austin Matthews is the captain and as a player who should be in the discussion of the highest end players in the league Yeah, I would expect Austin Matthews to try and find himself a moment tonight. He has the ability to do it He's got the shot to do it And I think that that leaves for you guys

They can't take these opportunities lightly to play on big stages and really meaningful games This is a moment for Matthews to really test himself and to push himself on a stage like this because he wants to play on much bigger stages than this. And so how he does tonight, you would have to think he'd be a player and a person who sort of looks at this and goes, okay, this is a really good opportunity here mid season

to see where I'm at in these moments. So I'm fascinated to see what he's gonna have in the tank tonight. Now we do know he's been a see where I'm at in these moments. So I'm fascinated to see what he's going to have in the tank tonight. Now, we do know he's been a little banged up and we always allow for that, but he's good to go. All right. So speaking of banged up, Shogar, I mean, you know, we're all focused on the four nations face off and you look at a lot of general managers and owners are showing, you know, some angst behind the scenes because you've got some players, Theodore McAvoy, the Kachuk brothers are banged up, Matthews doesn't seem to be

100%. They've got to play on Saturday. The club teams are playing on Saturday. Connor McDavid could win or lose tonight. He's playing at 1 o'clock in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon. There are ramifications that turn around 24 hours from now, all of a sudden you gotta snap out of it and you're back into, hey, we're in a playoff chase down the stretch here. How do you think that's gonna go over? Yeah, and you know, that was a lot of talk heading in.

That's why maybe some of us weren't sure exactly what the caliber was gonna be. The players set the tone very early in this tournament that they were not here to tip-till through the tulips. It was going to be all in and we've had a fantastic tournament as a result. But to your point, we've seen some significant injuries. We've seen some tough stuff. You know, guys are some guys are getting sick. Some guys are getting worn down while the rest of the league has their feet up on a beach chilling out and reloading. So a great example in McDavid, at Coleman Arvidsson too, like it's, it's, I do think that the players have just decided they're putting that for the most part aside, that

they're just willing in this moment to sort of put it all on the line regardless of what it might mean. I think the only difference we will see, the only difference guys is like for instance Matthew Kachuk, we saw him pull himself from that game and I think, you know if that's a playoff game he doesn't do that. I do think that players if they feel they're at risk of significant injury that's going to hurt them, they're probably not going to be willing to play through the same thing you would in a Stanley Cup final, but beyond that, they're blocking shots.

They're making plays and taking huge hits. It's all on the line here, except maybe that last 5% where you'd play through something you absolutely shouldn't. Enjoy it tonight, Ryan. It's going to be a blast down there and we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. All right. Take care guys.

There's Ryan Rashog. Lights, camera, action. The 2025 Juno Awards are hitting Vancouver on March 30th. And iHeart Radio is your ticket to the stars. The Juno goes to. Hosted and performance by Michael Publé. Good evening Vancouver. Plus a final performance by Canadian music hall of fame

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