Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by FanDuel, bringing you more ways to play your game your way. We've got Jay's Pirates tonight. We've got Game 2 of the Western Final tonight. We've got the NBA playoffs continuing. We've got a pretty good golf tournament down in Texas as well, and we've got the Memorial Cup starting tonight. And, man, what a scene out there.
Brian Hays, the O-Dog, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McLennan, and look who we have now. That guy looks like the king of Kelowna. Craig Button joining us around the table. What's happening, Craig?
It's sunny outside. It's hot out here.
Chapter 2: What are the highlights of the Canadiens' win against the Hurricanes?
People are out on their sea-dos, you know, sitting there. So it's bright. I had to kind of...
Magnum PI, man.
It's awesome. It's a phenomenal look. Well, how are we feeling about the Memorial Cup here, Craig? I mean, I don't know how much of our audience has been following the CHL this year, but is there a clear-cut favorite going into this tournament?
Well, the coaches said there wasn't, but I think there is. I think it's the Everett Silver Tips. They're a wagon. I think they're a complete team from the goaltender through the blue line all the way up front.
They've lost two playoff games to date, and yeah, Kitchener's good, and Shakunami's good, and Colon has done a great job of putting a competitive team on the ice, but I see Everett as the frontrunners here. Now, we know that in In a tournament, we can have teams that find a way to just get their level of play up higher. And that's what it's going to take to beat a good Everett team.
But, I mean, the Memorial Cup in Kelowna, I mean, there's a lot of history here with this franchise. There's a lot of history with a lot of the excellent players.
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Chapter 3: What is the impact of Cale Makar's injury on the Avalanche?
I was just talking to Luke Shen. You guys were talking to Luke previously. You know, it's going to be a special Memorial Cup because of how many players have come through Kelowna, how many players have won, and the notoriety of such a great tournament.
Craig, you're talking about draft players or draft eligible players. Landon DuPont plays for Everett, and he's exceptional status. I mean, how good of a player is he? Does he have a chance to be a number one overall pick type of thing?
Yeah, there's no question he has a chance to be a number one overall pick. And you watch Landon play, and defensemen do different things depending on what their skill set is. I was exchanging notes with Ken Hitchcock yesterday, and he was asking me, you know, what's the difference between Quinn Hughes and Lane Hudson, and who's better?
I said, you know, Quinn does so many things with his legs, and... You know, you've got to be a good skater to play well in the National Hockey League. Lane does so many things with his head. And I think Landon probably has a combination of both those things. He has a little bit of Quinn Hughes in him.
Chapter 4: What direction are the Maple Leafs heading in after their recent performance?
He's got a little bit of what Lane Hudson has in him that makes them both so good. But, I mean, Landon. Landon's going to turn 17 here next week. 17, and he's dominated as a 6th-year-old. He was great as a 15-year-old, and there's no question in my mind that he's got a shot to be the first overall pick.
I mean, there's a couple of centers, a couple of bigger centers, but Landon controls the game, and we watch how these defensemen are so impactful and how important they are to the success of teams, and Landon, it won't take you long to notice him in the game. Once the puck's dropped and he's out on the ice, you'll notice him.
Has there been a big change in the scouting scene where back 25 years ago, maybe you guys would go to rinks and look at a young, small-skilled defenseman and say, pretty talented, but I don't know if he can make it through the grueling schedule and the toughness of NHL hockey.
And it seems like now there's Quinn Hughes and Lane Hudson and this DuPont kid where it's like they're going to be the best player on the ice a lot of nights. What kind of change for that to happen? Is it just the way the game's played now?
I think it is the way the game is played now. Glenn Dirk, the late Glenn Dirk, he was a longtime scout for the New Jersey Devils, and he always had funny scouting reports. He used to talk about those small defensemen. He goes, it might be better to be a jockey in the Kentucky Derby than the NHL because that's the way the game was played.
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Chapter 5: How is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. performing this season?
I mean, it was hard. I mean, it was big. It was heavy. People leaned on you. The clutching and the grabbing made it really harder. The game now is very different. So those types of defensemen that can ā and even Lane Hudson went 62nd overall. Like, you know, Quinn Hughes went 7th.
lane once and we're talking about two of the very not best defensemen we know how good they are but two of the best players they control the games so it's had to change it would be fascinating to hear some of the excuses of why they didn't want to take him other teams like we can't take this kid lane hudson because he's this and that and my man if i was a gm or owner i'd be i would love to speak to those people and you thought about that guy and he's one of the best players in the nhl right now that's crazy stuff
Well, you almost had to convince so many people that, oh, no, he can play. You give him a chance. Let him go play. I remember when Bob Clark first became our manager in Minnesota, his office, and we were in his office, and he said, you know, I like those defensemen that come in my office and have to duck under the doorway. Okay, we got the message, Bob.
But, you know, like you know, Jeff, the game was a little bit different, a lot different. And it's now conducive to those types of players being able to come in and really make a difference.
Well, you look at, in my opinion, the two best defensemen in the league right now would be Quinn Hughes, who went seventh overall back in 2018. Now, Darlene went first. Darlene might be the third or fourth best defenseman in the league, so I don't think Buffalo made a mistake there. And then McCarr, who went fourth overall in his draft.
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Chapter 6: What does Auston Matthews' future look like with the Maple Leafs?
And the reason I bring that up is, you know, hindsight being 20-20, we know what they turned into. But, man, it takes some courage maybe to look at a defenseman and say, I don't know, the consensus doesn't have him going first overall, but I think he can turn into this. And I guess apply it to the Leafs logic where we've talked about it. Gavin McKenna, he's the consensus number one overall pick.
But there's three or four defensemen If the Leafs feel like one of them is going to be a top five defenseman in the league in the future, do you think they'll be able to narrow that down? How difficult is it to do? And furthermore, Craig, how tough is it to convince yourself to build up that courage to take him? Because maybe the easier, obvious pick is a guy like Gavin McKenna.
Well, I mean, Gavin's a heck of a player. I don't think there's any question about it. But if you think there's a better player, then I think that you have to make sure that you evaluate what it is. If you're worried about the consensus, you're worried about the wrong things. Les Jackson, who I worked with for a long time, said, I'd rather be wrong with my opinion than right with somebody else's.
And that's the courage part, Brian. And if you've got scouts that aren't ready to do that, get rid of them. Because you don't want scouts that aren't going to stand up. You know, I'll go right back to Cale McCarr. Leon Ludwig... who played in the NHL, was a longtime scout.
Chapter 7: What are the predictions for the Memorial Cup tournament?
And this story was told to me by the late Ray Shero, a dear friend. He said, Jan came into the meetings, and we were talking, and it was Hischer, McCarr, he said, I think this McCarr could be like Bobby Orr. And everybody around the table was like, what, Bobby Orr? And Jan said, yeah, the way he controls the game and everything. Well, I'll tell you, Nico Hischer's a really good player.
They should have listened to Jan Ludwig.
Yes.
And... They had him number two on their list. It was between his year and McCarr. They had his year ahead. McCarr was playing in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. But you've got to put a stake in the ground. I mean, who cares what anybody thinks? Because you know all the people that think you were wrong in picking?
They're the same ones that are going to come back if you don't pick the guy they think you should have picked. Oh, boy, that's a bad pick. They do that the day after the draft, which I think is the biggest joke going. Or we're going to evaluate the draft the day after the draft. And then if you don't take the player, they say, oh, he's the consensus guy.
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Chapter 8: How do current NHL scouting trends differ from the past?
Oh, really? He's the consensus guy? Let me tell you a funny story. People talk about best player available. I'm going to go back to the 07 draft. Patrick Kane went first. Who was the best player available at two in hindsight? It's a trick question. It was Jamie Benn drafted in the fifth round from Kelowna who was playing in Victoria. So all this BS about best player available.
The team, the player you want to take, know what you want, know what you're getting, put a stake in the ground and damn the torpedoes.
Yeah, listen, I like that. I like that approach. I think JVR went second in that draft, which he's had a good career. But I hear you. I mean, listen, it's tough. It's tough to know. You're talking about 18-year-old kids. How can you know what they're going to look like at 25 years old? It's very difficult to predict. But you're right. That 17 draft, he sure went first.
Nolan Patrick went second to Philly. where, you know, McCarr's sitting there on the board, and it changed the course of history for the Colorado Avalanche to the point where, Craig, he's not playing tonight, and everyone's freaking out, and understandably so. I mean, how do you think Colorado reacts tonight after losing game one, and they know McCarr's not playing tonight?
Well, you can't do anything about players that aren't playing, right? You know, the bottom line is they're not in the lineup. You've got to get in there and play. You know, I'm going to mention something, and Jamie can relate to this very well. But I thought the Colorado Avalanche played a really good game. I thought Carter Hart was really good. I mean, the first goal on Wedgwood, that's a goal.
I mean, oh, he wants that one back. No kidding. The player coming out of the penalty box, you know, leads to the ultimate winning goal. But I thought Colorado had a lot of good chances, and Carter Hart played really well. Darryl Sutter would tell players. Listen, when you're coming into the lineup, we can't worry about who's not in the lineup.
And he would tell the players coming into the lineup, listen, here's what I need you to do. I'm not going to ask you to do more. Don't give me less. And I'm not going to put you in the situations you can't handle. And I think that that's what Jared Bednar will do with the players in Colorado.
And I think if they play like they did in game one, they have every chance to send this series back to Vegas 1-1.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it feels like a must-win, Noodles, doesn't it?
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