The Drive

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross talking with Cecil. The guys recap the Avalanche crushing loss in game 7 over the weekend. What happened to Cale Makar this series? Was Saturday night the worst loss in Denver sports history? Did Mikko Rantanen have the best revenge game in sports history? Did the Stars prove to be the tougher team in the series? Are the Avs players not getting enough of the blame instead of the coach and general manager? Zach shares his experience from game 7 in Ball Arena for the Nuggets game and how the Clippers were able to stuff the arena with their fans. Were the Nuggets the mentally tougher team over the Clippers, especially James Harden? The guys give Russell Westbrook his flowers for a phenomenal first round series. Would the Nuggets still have beat the Clippers if it wasn’t for Westbrook and can he continue this success vs the Thunder?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil take a deep dive into the Avalanche and their first-round playoff loss. How should we feel about the Avalanche going forward? DenverSports.com’s Will Petersen joins the show to defend himself and his point of view on wanting Chris MacFarland fired. How much did Joe Sakic have a hand in the Mikko Rantanen trade? How has the Mikko Rantanen trade aged now that he was the player to eliminate the Avalanche? We react to the heated debate between Will and Zach from the previous segment. What are the guys looking for in tomorrow’s Avalanche press conference? Is there still a chance coach, Jared Bednar gets fired? Did Chris MacFarland still construct a championship level roster for the Avs this season?

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach and Phil preview the Nuggets and Thunder second round series. Have the Thunder accumulated enough lessons from playoff losses to finally take the step to the conference finals? Are basketball panelists and Vegas odds underestimating the Nuggets in this series? Will the Nuggets role players continue to shine like they did in game 7 vs the Clippers? Just how good is the Thunder’s number one ranked defense? Was Saturday night the worst loss in Denver sports history? Zach shares all the historic things that went wrong for the Avs to lose to the Stars. Did the way the Nuggets defeated the Clippers give the guys hope with a tougher test in the Thunder awaiting? The guys give Russell Westbrook his flowers for a phenomenal first round series. Will the Thunder’s rest come into account after the Nuggets just got done with a heavy weight 7-game series?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach shares his experience from game 7 in Ball Arena for the Nuggets game and how the Clippers were able to stuff the arena with their fans. Did Mikko Rantanen have the best revenge game in sports history? Was part of Rantanen’s big game, puck luck? What happened for Cale Makar to disappear in this series? Was this the perfect situation for the Avalanche to beat the Stars and they still couldn’t do it? Where do the Avs go from here? Could Jared Bednar still be fired? DenverSports.com’s Jake Shapiro joins the show to discuss where the Nuggets have an advantage over the Thunder, who will be the Nuggets second best player in this series, and how will Russell Westbrook follow up his impressive first round. We wrap up the show with Zach and Phil’s predictions for the Nuggets in tonight’s game and the series.

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Will Petersen previewing this massive weekend in Denver sports. Which series has been more entertaining between the Nuggets and Avalanche? How much will last night’s loss cost the Nuggets? After a great game from Michael Porter Jr. in game 5, what happened to him in game 6? If MPJ and Russell Westbrook are both struggling, what lineup will the Nuggets close with? While the Avalanche needed to win last night, Zach points out why how they did it was so important. Did the puck luck finally turn in the Avs favor? Did the Avs prove they can be a team that comes from behind and win a game the hard way? How important will tomorrow’s games be for both Jared Bednar and David Adelman? Could Adelman go from interim coach to the next head coach of the Nuggets with a win in game 7? If the Avalanche go home in the first round again, will owner Josh Kroenke move on from Bednar?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Will debate which Denver team has more demons to overcome in game 7 tomorrow? Will the Avalanche be able to finally win a game 7 with this main group of players? Will Dallas and Pete Debor continue their success in game 7’s? Zach shares the results of his twitter poll with which team Denver fans feel more confident in. We hear from Avs coach Jared Bednar and his thoughts ahead of game 7. Which player will be the biggest x-factor between both series? Today’s “Three Count” features overlapping game 7’s for Denver sports fans, the Rockies winning 2 games in a row, and Bo Nix attending yet another Denver sports game in the Avs game last night. 9News Broncos insider, Mike Klis joins the show to discuss if Audric Estime’s role on the team had an impact on which running back the Broncos chose in the draft, an update on the health of Dre Greenlaw, and a potential international game for the Broncos.

In hour 3 of The Drive, Zach, Will and the guys compete in our weekly trivia competition vs the morning show. After a hiatus last week, will we be able to beat the morning show’s 3-1 performance? We hear from Avalanche coach Jared Bednar and his thoughts on how back and forth their series has been, a heavyweight battle in the first round of the playoffs, and being able to stay loose even in an elimination game. Was it fair for the Dallas Stars to claim that no one believed in them this series? We hear from Nuggets interim coach David Adelman already working the refs for game 7 and how happy he is to have game 7 at home. How important will tomorrow’s games be for both Jared Bednar and David Adelman? Could Adelman go from interim coach to the next head coach of the Nuggets with a win in game 7? If the Avalanche go home in the first round again, will owner Josh Kroenke move on from Bednar and possibly gm Chris McFarland?

In hour 4 of The Drive, Zach and Will preview the upcoming massive weekend in Denver sports. Between both the Avalanche and Nuggets game 7, who do the guys trust the least going into Saturday? Which player will be the biggest x-factor between both series? Zach shares the results of his twitter poll with which team Denver fans feel more confident in. We pivot to the Broncos and discuss the Broncos running back room with Mike Klis claiming Audric Estime will be a part of the Broncos plan. Should the Broncos still search out a veteran running back to bring into the mix? We hear from one of the newest Broncos in Talanoa Hufanga and his praise of Bo Nix and being part of the reason he wanted to join Denver. We wrap up the show with Zach and Will’s predictions for the weekend. Who will be the leading scorer for the Nuggets?

Hour 1 of The Drive kicks off with Zach and Phil cross talking with Dover and Cecil. The guys preview the Nuggets and Clippers game 6 tonight in Los Angeles. Will we get back-to-back impressive performances from Jamal Murray? Will the Clippers throw a curveball on defense at Jokic? The Avalanche have a do or die game tonight in Ball Arena, will they force a game 7? Will Cale Makar take the step up that the Avalanche have desperately needed? Will rookie RJ Harvey be the Broncos starting running back from the jump this season? Could the Broncos have the best secondary in the NFL? Could they also have the best offensive line in football? Are Dieon Sanders and the Buffaloes losing their shine in recruiting? Currently the Buffs rank 16th out of 16 in the Big 12 in recruiting, should we be concerned? Although the Buffs haven’t excelled in high school recruiting, they do have the 20th best transfer portal class in the country. Will CU have the talent to compete at the highest level in 2025?

In hour 2 of The Drive, Zach and Phil take a deep dive into tonight’s elimination game for the Avalanche. Zach shares the history of the Avalanche in series when trailing 3-2 and it’s not pretty. Will the Avs having their captain back in Gabe Landeskog be enough to push this series to a game 7 in Dallas? Will Jared Bednar be on the hot seat if the Avalanche cannot make it out of the first round of the playoffs? Will Avs owner Josh Kroenke pull the plug on the coach like he did with Michael Malone earlier this year? Today’s “Three Count” includes Christian Braun finishing 4th in the NBA’s most improved award, Anthony Edwards taking a victory lap in Los Angeles after eliminating Lebron James and the Lakers, and reaction to the scary scene in Pittsburgh of a fan falling off the outfield wall. We react to clips from the Pat McAfee show and Buster Olney praising Rockies fans for their attendance despite their record.