OverDrive - Strudwick on the Oilers in need of a bounce back, Skinner's short leash and the Maple Leafs' solid series

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

Got Yer Back Podcast Host Jason Strudwick joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Oilers' search for a bounce back, Stuart Skinner's leash in the crease, Edmonton's priorities after the Game 1 defeat, the Maple Leafs' win against the Senators and more.

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Join today and be part of something amazing. Joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline, here's our main man Jason Strudwick. What's happening, Struddy? What time was the ring sizing today? Two nothing's two nothing, Strud. I don't see the oilers in a two-nothing spot right now. No, listen man, being 2-0 up on a team like that, they barely made the playoff and hadn't

been in the playoff in 10 years, that's an accomplishment. Let's get some ringside. It's a good start. Okay, here's a playoff question for you Strud. What do you have more confidence in? The Sens making it back into the series or Stuart Skinner? Oh man. Peter.

Yeah, who wrote you that one? I swear I don't write anything. Go ahead answer the question. What is that? Was that the security guard, Jim? The security guard wrote that one? Jack's helping him out. Jack helped him out. The security guard, I love it, I love it.

So that's a good question. So I'm gonna say this, I think it'll be easier. It's more likely if Skinner is because it's only one man. And when I look at the Sens, the challenge they have is their penalty kill. I mean, their penalty telling kill everyone's in between right above what they're supposed to be doing all the half step away from be the right place for a half step away from being in the other right place so

i think it's one person is easier to one person around rather than out a unit of but i guess let's call it eight eight to ten people depending on what you'll kill families ceo that's reasonable. Struddy Kane comes back tonight. Like he's been declaring himself healthy for a month. Like you feel like the, you know, there's been some insiders throwing it out there that maybe the league was leaning on, leaning on them saying, Hey, you can't

have them come back. But Matthew Kachuk played last night in the first game for, for Florida. What do you make of it and what do you think Kane can, after missing a year of hockey, can bring to this lineup? Well, I mean, first off, the idea of the salary cap issues in LTIR. I mean, wasn't it Kuturov that made shirts and said they're above the cap? Yes. Laughed in their face. I didn't see anyone in the league see anyone you know in the league getting

uptight about that if they did they just did it quietly in their in their penthouse suite so I listen it's a part of it I don't know that it's breaking the rules it's definitely a gray area but this has been going on for a while so you know whether you're you know deli Hamilton or or Sagan down in Dallas or Kachak like I just think it's a little late it's the precedent has been set in my opinion as far as came the player the wild card noodles I have no idea what to expect. I can only imagine what He feels he's one of the most confident athletes on the planet But what could he bring? Well, I think for him if he just keeps his game or his expectations for himself rather simple like skate and hit do those two things and bring swagger to this team

the first two periods of the last game were so vanilla it's so it it reminded me of how you eat noodles no flavor there was nothing to it and then Leon snaps on the bench and now people wake up like oh oh this isn't you know February in Columbus we've got a plan they got going so I think Kane will inspire some emotion for both the owners and the Kings and that's a good thing for the owners because I think this year they've been very kind of Monotone and they've been missing this element from a Vanity King. Yeah, it's a significant development he's going in and it sounds like dry subtle will stay with McDavid at least to start the game and Yet for me it does come back to Stuart Skinner because of the way he's played all year strut

And what happened the other night does the back breaking to no goal to close it after they stormed all the way back Like what's what give us a vibe check in Edmonton.'s ten minutes into the game he's given up two goals on five shots people think it's too it's gonna well my text machine blowing up you know i got i got all those five friends of me have my sex to meet and one of them is doodles uh... but got a big friend group

but uh... you know i think the challenge for for skinner's he's been inconsistent all year so people now I got a big friend group, but you know I think the challenge for Skinner is he's been inconsistent all year. So people now, they're not expecting him to bounce back. That's just a fact. When you have a history of one way or the other, well we'll go back to that. But we haven't seen consistency from him. There was some good play before Christmas, but that got away from him here towards the

end of the year. So now they have to figure out, okay, what does this look like? What know, what can I, what can he do? And I think that he made some good saves the other night. The problem is the other guy made one more save because it wasn't like Kemper was an all-star either in that game. So if he would have won that game, come back, it's a different story. He did enough to win the game. Well, he didn't get it done. And I think that's the challenge for him. I really think this is a huge opportunity for him to put, don't even worry about the fans, don't worry about the coaches or his teammates, confidence in himself by the way he plays tonight. If he comes up tonight and has a good strong game, let's say he gives up two goals on 25, 26 shots, he feels good about himself. Now I think he's

heading towards going back. If it slides the other way, now the conversation is going to come back. Do they start him or do they go to Calvin Pickard? With Jason Strudwick, I'm curious how you would have handled the Stolarz Ridley Gregg situation last night where Stolarz, he gave it to him, man. He gave it to Gregg. The Leafs on the Ice were thinking, do we get involved or do we allow him to just do it? You know, like Carlo was out there, I think Riley was out there. How would you handle that as a defenseman? I guess it was Benoit, Benoit and Carlo.

Do you just let your goalie like do it on his own? Would you have jumped in? How would you have handled it with Greg? Yeah, I think I love the way they did it because he was clear who was the aggressor. It wasn't like Ridley Greig would do anything back. I know he'd fallen into him earlier and I don't like when guys fall into the goalie so that's the time to react. Now if Ridley Greig had turned around and engaged with him, now you jump in.

But I think it's good sometimes for goalie and forward, the big guy, you can hack away at him. You don't need to jump in there he's he's got under control and you don't have to do anything more to to to get distracted from what you're trying to do is defend because it's you don't want to get distracted with someone else open well solars was playing coy after the game as if he didn't even know who it was cross talk i love that idea was really great i was at that guy ran into me the other night?

you know he went off on him and You know the protection of the goalie in particular like that is something we've noticed here And I'm sure you know all 16 teams in the playoffs. They're trying to preach it right strut like Protecting the house making sure no one runs into your goalie. No one gets close to your goalie pushing scrums out even, you know, a scrum in the crease can be dangerous at times. Like how, how important is that for every defenseman to consider that? Like if once the whistle blows, get ready, cause you get,

you got to push out. You don't want anyone even breathing close to your goalie. Well, it's about getting positioned and I never understood when, when D man would hit players into the goalie. Well, it's about getting position and I never understood when D-Man would hit players into the goalie. I mean, guys are more than happy to be accidentally fall on the goalie if you push them that way. So if anything, if it's the goalie then they're a player than you, you want to grab them and pull them away.

You don't want to cross check them into your goalie. You'll see that. Watch the game so you'll see guys cross check people into their goalies, which makes no sense to me. But the bigger challenge is you don't want cross check people into their goalies, which makes no sense to me. But the bigger challenge is you don't want to let people get to the net. Think about the other night, was it last night's goal, I think the power play goal, where Knives gets inside position on Sanderson. And now Sanderson reaches for the puck, goes out the other way, the puck comes right back

to Knives and he taps it in. Knives is doing a great job of getting inside position on those D-men and now you're struggling. I get we're trying to front, I get all that, but after you don't get it, you've got to get back on the inside so he has to work for it. Nives is just going to school. Oh no, sorry, last night was the one where he still got inside position and Jensen had to get back and went off him. There's inside position so key around the net when your team is determined to get Pucks to the net. Strati, with your four other nerd friends that you hang out with in Edmonton, if you guys were having a conversation regarding the Maple Leafs, would it be

Okay, they won two at home. Let's see what kind of Maple Leaf team shows up in Ottawa because Ottawa is gonna be desperate tomorrow night. They have to be. They know what happens if they don't win that hockey game. But the Maple Leafs, it's like, okay you won two home games against a wild-card team. Now let's kind of see if you can have some killer instinct going into Ottawa. I think five on five it's been fairly even, especially last night. It's been a pretty even series and this is my worry for Ottawa. They're gonna be so jacked up that they're gonna come out and they're gonna have too many penalties and they've been able to stop it and they're going to score on the power play, as the Leafs are. And now they're looking at two-nothing and I'm not sure they can get back into it if it's two-nothing or three-nothing, you know, like that. That's a real challenge.

I think Travis Green really has to get those guys calm and say, play hard stale stuff after whistle and don't take an extra palette let's try to play this game five on five the at least can you five on five against us yeah well that's what they keep saying i mean i think ultimately you gotta score first i mean it's been the exact same first period two games of road least enough to not be ten minutes in you have to score first of all night if you're Ottawa.

The crowd will be electric. It'll be great. I'm very curious to see what it's going to look like. If I'm Ottawa, I'm hoping it's 90-10. I'd be concerned it's 70-30 if there's 30%. I don't think it's going to be 90-10, Brian. It's going to be 70-30. You don't think so Ottawa, he means. That's what I'm saying, yeah. Well, I know, but if you're Ottawa, like, you can't... That stuff as a player, we can talk about it in the media and the fan bases and stuff. The players can't go, geez, you know what, like, Leaf fans made it in here. They've got to worry about trying to get back in the series.

I think it's going to be 70-30, that type of thing. It might be more, it might be less, but you can't be sitting on the bench going, oh, you know what, look at this. You've got to play to try and get back into the series. But I think on the outside and the business side and us in the media, we're going to be talking about it because Leaf fans are going to get into that building. Yeah. It's an interesting layer. I don't disagree with that, Noodles. Obviously, it doesn't matter if it's 100% Leaf fans. They have to be prepared to play and focus. Yeah, but it's been a long time coming playing a home playoff game you know like Brady's never done it Bathurst and never done it pinto Sanderson Shabbat and

You know if the Leafs score first and it's loud. I Don't know strut. I'm sure you've been in a situation like that. That can be a little bit demoralizing I would think. Yeah, but as a lot of a player you have to understand like, these fans want to see something they've never seen before. So he's got three nothings in this series. Like that's exciting, you know, that's an exciting moment. But I'll say this, if you're a player and you're worried about anything about the fans in the stands, the color of someone's jacket or anything like that,

you're already lost. You're already distracted. It does, none of that matters. You can't worry about any of that. You know, if you need to go play in a prison where everyone's cheering against you, who cares? You've got to be able to weather that storm and just think about what you have to do.

So that's the message. Travis Queen, this group hasn't been in a playoffs before. They don't really know what's going on. They, you know, the emotion of the game won, It was exciting. It's going to be recreated here again. Just come out and play your game. Get to the net. Get Stolarz uncomfortable. He's loving life right now. He's smiling, he's interviewed, his hair, like it's Toronto perfect, right? You got to make that life uncomfortable for him as fast as you can can and that is what will get your fans cheering and make least fans Not quite so excited. Well, yeah stole ours has been great. I mean he's

Fantastic. Yeah, especially down the stretch and in these first two games. We had a question yesterday and study I want you to weigh in on this who What was it Hayes about OV and and McDavid's nights? So the other night which one which one I guess will memorable memorable in the end you know McDavid doing what he did but then it ends in a loss or Ovi with two goals of assist OT winner in a win which I feel you're a little bit jaded on this possibly Strud but where do you stand on that? Well, always biased, for sure. You know what? I'm going to go with OV because they won. And ultimately, let's say the owners get swept,

which I don't think will happen. Let's say they get swept. Does anyone remember that? They know where the caps move on. That becomes a big part of their trip towards what they hope will be a static cup final. So I think it's about the W. And I guessing that Conor would probably say the same thing. Yeah, well that's valid too. I mean McDavid is not his first rodeo. Like he's had maybe not Knights. Yeah, he's had Knights like that. He's got a McDavid. Of course he has and he's been on the winning side of it. But it is interesting like Edmonton's in

one where you feel like you got to get one. But if you're down to nothing and you're Edmonton's in one where you feel like you've got to get one But if you're down to nothing in your Edmonton and your veteran team and you have belief they they can get back into the series I feel like Montreal's got to win tonight You have to win if you're the Habs. Yeah, you've pushed it to overtime. You played well in the third doesn't Edmonton to I Yes, not far off. I'm not Absolutely, if LA's up to-0, they're in big, big trouble. But there's still something about the Oilers and the aura of the Oilers. Montreal is just so raw and young. What do you see happening in that game tonight?

Do you think Montreal can carry over what they did in the third or do you think Washington will get back to what they did in the first and just say, we're going to run wild on this team and we're way bigger and way more physical and we're going to push them out of the rank? Yeah, well first off for the owners and the Kings, I think for the owners they never do anything the easy way. Right? You think back to the final last year, they got down 3-0 and then they got going and they started playing like they've been through tough spots before so yeah I think tonight's

a huge game for them but I think they've been in tough positions before so I think they they know what it's like whereas the Canadians this is all new to them you know they're trying to figure it out and you know that they had some they've had some good moments but the Caps are I think they're a better and bigger team and that makes a difference in the playoffs. So I think for the Habs, they've got to come out and really start their game well and not try to be the comeback kids. Strati, before we get you out of here, I was wondering, the Masters is behind us now,

the playoffs are starting, the nicer weather is here. Is there a date that you circle where you start showing a little bit more when you go to the grocery store like a bit of a short shorts tank top is there a date that you have circled that you start giving the people what they want when you leave the house you know I was actually I went golfing today and I had just shorts on and it was a little cold I'm not gonna lie all my buddies the four other buddies not cutting noodles he's not here obviously they were like they were

admiring the the boldness of wearing shorts when it's like plus 10 out there so what I'm trying to do I got it so what I'm saying is I got to prepare I got to get a little sun on these pins and then I'll release those things into Costco and and the grocery stores okay that's when the mama's really like it yeah that's a veteran move man get a little tan on those legs and all of a sudden Costco will never be the same. No. You don't want to just wipe the yardage markers. That's the last thing you want to be walking around when you're trying to find some food

for the family. They are pretty thin legs, too, though. Like they're pretty skinny. They're appropriate. They're sized appropriately. Come on. For a guy who's 181 pounds, not 230. He looks like Brew. I love it. Alright, well send us a pic next time you're in Costco and make sure that we see the action. If you're ever at the grocery store with short shorts on we want to pick and we're

going to post it and say this guy's out and about. An inch uncomfortably short. That's what I always go for. Alright, good luck Strudy, good luck to your oilers tonight. We'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. See you guys later. There's Jason Strodwick joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

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