OverDrive - OverDrive - June 25, 2026 - Hour 1 - Jim Hiller

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss John Chayka's press conference comments on Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies' future in Toronto and Gavin McKenna's role with the Maple Leafs. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller joins to discuss his role as head coach, the connection with the organization and the number one overall selection.

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TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, up on TSN3. up on YouTube live, streaming later this evening up on Crave. Brian Hasey, O'Dog, Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McLennan. What's going on today? What's going on? Lots going on. I need one thing answered, Hazy, before we get into the program. Watched a bit of the travelers, and I can't.

I've had enough. There's guys like Harry Higgs that gets close. it says dude wipes on them. Harry Higgs, our guy. Why is Tommy Fleetwood buying clothes from pro shops? I can't, for the life of me, this guy, he's wearing a shinnock. Yeah, he does it. Every single place he goes to.

Like, is that his endorsement that he... No. He was a Nike guy forever. His deal came up. Wouldn't somebody jump on... He's got a hat that says Blackstone, and I don't even know what. I don't know what that company is. I don't either.

And then he's buying stuff in a pro shop. I can't, we got to broker a deal with Donnie and get him in some Peter Millar and say you're done. Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah, enough is enough enough enough. It's bizarre, like his whole thing, because, you know, he's a top 10 player in the world. He's a really liked guy, you know, like I think he's an influential guy. You know, I've looked at stuff and said, all right, Tommy rocks that. He's a tailor-made guy.

We love Tommy. I've played with Tommy. I kind of launched him back in. into the winter's circle, I'd say, a few years ago at Oakdale. But I agree. Something's got to give because that's a move that guys like you and I make. You know, when we play at a course we've never been to. We're like, well, we've got to grab a hat or a shirt, maybe a quarter zip.

This guy's literally living that out as a professional on tour. It's bizarre. So I don't have an answer as to why it's continuing to happen. But I'll try to get to the bottom of that for you. I'll do my best. I'll do my best. Well, we got a big one today. Jim Hiller's coming.

up in half an hour. We've got the new head coach of the Maple Leafs. So Jim's going to join us in 30 minutes, and we look forward to having him on the show for the first time because as an assistant, you know, the Leafs, they don't allow assistant coaches to talk publicly. You know, it's only the head coach. So even though he was in our backyard for a long time and obviously very familiar with, I'm sure our show, but the city and the market and the history, he's coming on for the first

time as the head coach, the Leaf. So he'll join us in about a half an hour. And at the presser today, I think John Chaker did the best job he could to sell everyone on the fact that he's not doing anything. You know, it was Morgan Riley's going to be back and we can't wait. Hey, Stollars can play tonight. It's the Doug Armstrong routine. It's like everyone's available and then all of a sudden nobody's available. So I don't know which one it is.

And listen, it's the smart play. And from a standpoint of leverage, of course, that goes without saying. but also, you know, deals don't always happen. And you can't sit here on June 25th and say, oh, Morgan Riley's done, not coming back. We're doing everything we can to unload this guy. And then you don't find a trade for him. And he's back with the team in September. So you're never going to publicly announce anything.

You know, he said a couple different things. The Morgan Riley one, I think, is causing, I'd say the biggest stir among Lee fans, based on confusion because it has felt like a foregone conclusion that he, he is going to possibly want to move on, and the Leafs would be more than happy to move on from him. Well, there's two different things happening. There's a bunch of reporting going on, like serious reporting on certain things,

and then you hear from the GM, and he basically has downplayed every single thing. But, you know, throw one thing in here, guys, and we talked about it yesterday. You bring in radish, you bring in Andre. You know, if Morgan Riley at $7.5 million is slothed, a little different on this team. And also, let's say you make one more move on the back end.

It's not like he is an ankle skater. Like he can skate and move the puck. If they transform their D and if Jim Healer is like, sure, I like Morgan Riley. I like a guy who can skate and move the puck. Why are you guys moving them again? You know, if Morgan Riley doesn't have to be your one, maybe it can be a two or a three in a revamped defensive core. I don't think they're in a rush to move them.

I think they'll find a trade, Brian, but I think at the end of the day, you look at a player, this isn't a guy who's done, who can't play in the National Hockey League. He's a good player. I think people just would like change the scenery, been here nine years, all of that other stuff. Yeah, he's been here. He's the longest standing Maple Leaf. He really struggled last year. Yes.

And I think we got into it yesterday. The reason why you would move off Riley, putting aside the realities of pro sports, and being in a market for a long time. And again, this isn't Riley demanding out or him saying he doesn't want to be here. That's not what's happening. But a fresh start, feeling like the market is turning on him a little bit, too, right? Again, which is different from other scenarios like this

where it got pretty loud around Morgan last season, that maybe he'd want to get out and get away from that and start somewhere else. I think the reason why the Leafs may be in a hurry, which really the hurry is between now and opening night. It doesn't have to happen before the draft or before July 1st because he's got term on his deal is that if the calculation from Chica and Company is that it's going to get worse, then you've got to get out of it now.

But if the calculation is we can make it significantly better, then the value can go up on the trade in the future. Or maybe he just settles back him and this is a big storm that passes over and he remains with the lease for the remainder of his contract. These scenarios you just presented could happen. Absolutely. It's just huge. And there's no calculating which one it's going to be.

I don't care how smart a GM thinks. He can't come in and say, if you just do that with that guy, he's going to go on that trajectory. That is impossible. There's only a hope attached to each scenario. Both ways. Again, Jim Hiller comes in, new D-partner, better vibes around the team. He may still not defend very well, right? like Morgan Riley is kind of who he is.

And the way he has had value in the past, and he's been a very valuable player in the past, has been his skating ability, his ability to make plays with the puck, get up in the offense, you know, put up some numbers, run a first power play that again didn't go so well last year.

And clearly that's going to be radish now. So Mo's going to be in a very different position on that, on that front. But, you know, Chike is speaking today, of course that's what he's going to say. Of course he's going to say, No, we're good and goal.

Stollars could play tonight. Okay, of course he's going to. What else are you going to say? We're screwed, like we're in big trouble, and Stollars is going to start 15 games next year. He's not going to say that. Of course, he's not going to say Matthew Nyes is the trade chip. We're really actively trying to move.

Of course, he's not going to do that because he doesn't have to. And if you want Matthew Nyes, you're going to have to really pay up. That goes without saying. I think we all understand that. It's a smart hockey market. No one's pushing Matthew Nyes out of town. That's not what's happening. No one's turning on Nyes,

but his name has been out there and you can understand the value. That if you move him and you're going to get significant pieces in return, of course, you're going to contemplate making a return. I just got to say this about Matthew Nyes, guys. If you extract him from the forward group, so there's William Nielander

and who else is going to be making plays, like scoring goals, making like winger-type plays, finishing hits, getting Pucks, taking it to, you know what I mean? You take Matthew Nyes out of the equation, and we all know what William Nielander can do on a daily basis when he decides he wants to do it. So who after him is, so it's like this idea of Nyes leaving. I want to know who's making plays and doing things after that. Yeah, no, it's a fair point.

And like I say, I think the Nye's thing is you can take all the calls you want. But then you'd be looking to replace a 23-year-old, big, strong, fast guy who can get 30 goals. I just wanted one last thing on Morgan Riley here. If his name, and this is what you were talking about, Brian, if his name was Rick Smith, and he made $7 million on the open market and let's call him a 40-point guy, isn't that what teams are kind of looking for? Like we'll probably see a free agent here in the off-season or a team acquire it. the Leafs move off of Morgan Riley, they still have to replace Morgan Riley. They don't have

it in-house. So if you are looking at it, it better be at least a lateral move or an upgrade in that position. And that's where I think John Chike is saying, we're not in a rush to move at Morgan Riley unless we believe we can upgrade wherever he's going to be slotted. Right. Wherever the domino, if they can get the dominoes to fall the way they want to, then they will be happy to move Bob Morgan Riley. And the reality is you get 32 players in the game. Every team's trying to improve. Every team has assets that they can move. So John Chica, I'm sure, has an ideal makeup of his offseason. He thinks this guy's available. He's going to get him. He's going to try to sign that guy. I'm sure he's got plan A that he's smart enough to know is not going to happen.

Like plan A never happens completely. No one has a perfect. offseason the way they wanted. It never happens that way. So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot, again, it's being reported, it's very well-sourced about the Leafs serve, you know, they're active, a lot of teams are active,

about whether or not these players, you know, have value, don't have value, how many teams might be kicking tires, it's all smokescreen right now. And I guess that's what I'm pointing at, the press conference today. John's up there obviously, you know, announcing Hiller and Hiller coming in and obviously he's going to be asked about

all the other stuff that's out there. But you have to take everything spoken publicly with a grain of salt right now from every GM in the league. Like no one is going to be that open and honest. And maybe in the end, Nize is here, Riley's here and Stollars is starting opening night. Like obviously that is possible, but I'll believe that when I see it. That's not a parlay I would put money on. No.

That those three things happen in October. And there's a chance that all could change tomorrow. Yes. There's going to be wheeling and dealing at the draft, and you just, you know, a player gets thrown in because you want to trade up or trade down or the trades all happen. Does wheeling and dealing, Jamie, still happen at the draft? Yeah. I talk to people all the time that are saying, like, you see those, I mean, we would be in the buildings, you'd see, and we'd be like going, oh, look at Berkey, walk over and talking. Oh, I know, but the famous one was dubus with Kyle when he had the double phones cooking.

But when's the last time? Like, I honestly think, I think Wendell might have got traded at my draft in Hartford in 90. Yeah, 94. It was 94. It was 94. In Hartford that Wendell Clark got traded to Quebec. I think that happened. That's right.

Like, when's the last time we saw TV cameras be bopping around saying, oh, that guy is talking to that guy? Bobby Mac was legend. It was Bobby Mac. Yeah, Bobby Mac and Dregs would be like, oh, so-and-so is calling so-and-so, and there's a delay here, and everyone would be like, oh, boy. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was McKenzie that broke that Wendell deal on TSN. What was the, you're going to want to hear this? What was that trick?

That was Jerry in New Jersey. Yeah, that was in 2013 or something like that. Well, it was Schneider for the pick, and then they picked Bo Horvath. So it wasn't straight up for Horvatt. It was for the pick, and then they took him. So, yeah, obviously, you know, stuff is going to happen, can happen. But I'd ask you guys, like you bring up a very good point. Like if Nyes is out of the, if he's out, again, they're bringing something back in return.

Now, whether it helps them immediately is a legitimate question. You know, we had that chat earlier in the week. Do you do it if you want McKenna and Reid and you think that's a grand slam? Those are your two top players in the draft and you feel like you can walk away with both of them. Right. You do that, considering you're three or four years away from really having the, and pop, how does that jive with everything else you're doing right now and you're trying to appease people, including ownership, to try to be competitive again next year?

All of those are legitimate questions. But without knowing what's coming back, Nye's coming out, where does McKenna come into play on carrying the load? Like, how much can they expect out of him? And I know a lot of people, like, his generally speaking, and historically speaking, you'd say, be careful, he's a young guy. it took them about 15 games in Long Island to realize this kid, Schaefer's got to play a ton.

It took about seven games in San Jose for them to say, well, there's our number one center of Celebrity. Just play him. I don't care that he's 18. He's our best player. I know. But what if McKenna shows up and he's a stud right off the bat? I know.

That is totally possible the way these guys are coming in the league. But I spoke about this last season when talking about Celebrini the year before or Schaefer in Long Island. Like if Schaefer had at Christmas time two goals and eight assists and was a plus two, everyone would be saying, yeah, you know what, he's settling in. He's kind of on the right track to being a great player. It would be great if the kid stepped in and did that.

Like a superstar. Like Schaefer was a superstar immediately. Yeah. It was one of the best, like. Legit top 10D in the league last year. And I'm telling you right now, Hayes, if you don't have them in your top 10 in the top 50 list in the fall, you've got a problem.

Why am I a damn? I'm the one that's on it. What are you? You're not going to have. You get your finger out of my face. You always come up with a stupid excuse. You're like, he's not ready for the top ten, like spot. Like, he's just not, when are you going to bump out?

He's a top ten guy in the NHL right now, Matthew Schaefer. He might be. Where was the argument for Dougie, top ten? What is it, top 50? Top 50, Dougie Hamilton, yeah. Dougie crept into the top. This is the one who put top 50, Dougie in and took out Ovi. That's true.

I made a great call. Ovi stonked that year. No, he didn't, dude. That's the year he scored the record breaking goal. Ovi's been floating around looking for goals for years. Put me on the record on that. He never, he never. Dude, here's the, that's maybe a little bit aggressive.

But there was a shot last year. He's been floating around for years, this guy just said. Listen, last year, there was an alert. that went out. I think it was so shocking it showed up on my phone almost, like an Amber alert. He actually took a draw in his own zone for the first time

in like 200 games or something. Probably his career. It was like, this guy, if the puck is on the other side of the red line, OV cannot be on the ice for Washington. So that's the point I'm making. I mean, defensively, it wasn't like he was

chasing down Selkees. Yeah, but we'll have to get one of our superiors to get like the top five worst transactional moments in the top 50 list top 50 dugie in ovi out for you might take the case i don't remember if i had top 50 duggy in there but he he was in the top 50 though like if i put him there i wasn't alone like eight or nine other people did because he was like he was like 38 all i remember about it i don't have the power to personally i know i know but your own list you had top 50 dugie in and you took OV out.

You're like, no, OV, no OV for me. I made some great cases on that, too. Oh, yeah. I did. Here's the reality. Some guys, you're going to have OV still on your list after he's retired. Guys are going to be playing in the K and someone's going to put OVie in the top 50 out of pure respect. I just know that we found another, like, nobody cares what people say in New Jersey.

He's been floating around for years. No, looking for goals. Looking for goals. Basically cherry pears. picking. Yeah. That's why Kyru's there, and that's why Alex Tuck is there, because they're trying to, you know, I don't know, give them a little jolt or possibly replace Ovi in the future.

That's a pretty good tidy bit of business there, though. Like, I, you know, those two players are good players. They already got Strom there. Like, they've got some, you know, you look at that Washington, PLD, like they're, they're big team. Those protists brothers? Dude, those protists brothers are. That Ryan Leonard's going to be a good player.

That's right. But think of the meat they got. like the size of that the Pradesh brothers are there. Tom Wilson, you know, you add players that have, tuck is a big guy. Like they're going to be a big, PLD is a big guy. Like you're going to be a big, heavy, heavy team that Washington.

Absolutely. Yeah, no, and that has been kind of how they've been built in the past. And we'll see what, you know, what they do this upcoming season. But, yeah, it's going to be an interesting, interesting 24 hours for sure as we get closer to the, the NHTO draft tomorrow night and Gavin McKenna saying all the right things, right? That if it's Toronto, he'd be pumped and that's what he wants and he wants to be a villain wherever he plays in the league.

And I like that. I like that mentality. You know, this is a guy that he's been preparing to go first overall for a long time. You know, we heard about this kid like four or five years ago. Yes. And don't forget, I've said it a bunch of times leading up to the draft. If this kid stayed in medicine hat, there would borderline. be the BADARDD treatment of him last year.

Like with the highlight, he was doing it the year before. Like the crazy goals and he would have got the BADARD treatment in the Canadian Hockey League last year. But it wasn't followed as closely in the NCAA where he went and there's not as many games and it did not get off to a great start and it just didn't have the spotlight down there that it did. But if he was in Medicine Hat, it would have been BADARD watched. Like look at this kid.

Sports Center top 10 every night. night and it would have been a whole different kind of build of momentum leading up to the draft. So the Leafs are getting a special player. It's just going to be, like you said, Brian, where is he going to slot in? Who is he going to play with? Is he good enough right away to say, okay, I was in the same position. I was a point producing high draft pick. But that just doesn't mean that you just show up in the NHL and that happens immediately.

You're either a star right away or you have to go into a third. third line role if you're going to play in the NHL and kind of get your confidence, get secondary power play time, and you kind of grow into it and year by year. Leo Carlson wasn't like dynamite right off the hop, that kid in Anaheim. He had to grow into it a couple years, and now he's a stud. So there's a bunch of different ways that it can go. But the skill level, it's as good as any. Well, I thought of the Matthews comparison, again, different players, different positions.

but I remember when Austin went to Europe for his draft here, it was very difficult to calibrate the stats and the numbers over there compared to what it would have been here. Because, you know, he's playing in a pro league. There's not a lot of offense in Europe. And remember, there were those questions too. You know, you're thinking, okay, yeah, he's very good. He put up good numbers.

You know, he had like, I think he had 36 points or something in his driving. I remember Mark Crawford. I was doing a hit with him. after the lottery, and he was like, because I didn't see a lot of the highlights of Austin Matthews, and he's like, yeah, I think he, like, he coached him. He was like, he kind of shoots the puck like Joe Sackick. He's got to, and I'm like, I don't even remember anything about this guy's shot. And sure enough, this guy's got one of the best shots that's ever played.

Right, exactly. Crow had him over there, a guy named Rob Cookson was his assistant coach. I remember, you forget, you're right, Hayes, you play against men, and the league is different. don't play as many games. That's why college is different. Like, you have to look at junior with a different veil now, the CHL, because some of the players are going to U.S. colleges. So I was talking to a GM the other day in the Western Hockey League that said the Western Hockey League and the CHL might be more of a development, like a 16 and 17-year-old league now,

and then you might see guys that are 18 go to college. Well, look at Landon-Dupon today, committed to Michigan. Yeah, and he's a hell of a player, and I played with his dad, Mickey, and he's going to, he was exceptional status. He's going to go first overall. Like, I believe that again, talking to Craig Button and people that think he's that special. But McKenna, these guys chart their own path. You brought up Carlson, you know, we brought up celebrating.

There's no guarantee, but there also was a chance that if we learned anything from last year, that young players are not afraid of the stage now. Like this isn't, hey, Wade yourself, you know, wade into the league anymore. These players just go play. Well, exactly. I think the training and the preparation guys start. It's just like golfers that are coming on the tour now. And I've said it for a bunch of years.

I think like an amateur is going to go ahead and win a major sooner or later here. Because it's like the Tiger Woods effect and the Connor McDavid effect. like Gary Roberts into Stephen Stamco's into Connor McDavid and now kids are doing that program they're starting that at 13 years old like the training, nutrition, on the ice, skills coaches and then you get the kid at 18 years old or 19 years old

and it's like they're ready to play in the NHL because they're just, they're prepared for it. Well, and the league is very different now too, right? There was like back in the day there were animals in the league. Yes, that would have killed you. Yes, and clutching and grabbing was allowed And if you're an 18-year-old who weighed 170 pounds, you had no, it was very tough.

Like, obviously, Wayne Gretzky was an exception, but it was probably very difficult. Now, the game is much more wide open. You're on the power play way more. You can live in front of the net if you're 18 years old. He couldn't do that 20, 30 years ago. So, you know, it's much more comfortable. But listen, everyone's going to chart their own path. What's important is you got the first pick.

You get it right. pick the guy who's going to have the best career, not the best 25, or 26, 27 season, right? Who's going to have the best career? You know, I ran into Joe Thornton yesterday. Here's a perfect example. I had 18 years old, wasn't great in Boston.

I'd say they made the right pick in the end. I know they traded him eventually, but you look back on his career, the guy played 1,700 games. He's in the Hall of Fame. Great pick. Yeah. You know, like pretty good pig.

You won a hard trophy eventually. So if it's a mechanic, and it sure feels like that's going to be the case. Like Fando, it's minus 20,000 like that he's going to win. So basically they're suggesting that it's a foregone conclusion. If it's McKenna, obviously high hopes for next year. He very well could hit the ground and running.

And if that happens, that's a big development for a team that wants to be competitive next year. But as long as he gets there in year three, four, five, six, and beyond, then it's going to be something you look, back on. All right, so we got Jim Hiller coming up. There's a Kauai Leonard report we want to get to. No, no, no, no. We're doing it.

We're doing the report. Okay, you can get sucked into that. We're doing the report. We're doing the report. So we're going to get into that. And the United States is playing Turkey tonight. And the reason I bring that up is because there is an individual that will be covering the match for Fox

and it's linked to both countries. And I'll tell you why, based on two pictures. Okay, coming up a little bit later this hour. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and up on YouTube live. Overdrive continues, powered by Fandul.

Make your picks and assemble the same game parley in seconds on the Fandul's Sportsbook app. I will do that later for my World Cup picks tonight. Did not hit a winner with the Canada match. But big development last night, Canada now playing South Africa and avoiding South Korea and avoiding Czechia all together. Now you've got South Africa on Sunday, and they're a pretty heavy favorite.

So I like that idea. And if they get through them, they'll likely play the Netherlands in the round of 16, but you don't want to put the car too far ahead of the horse. You want me to go to the O-desk quickly or no? You have something for us? Do you have a breaking story? I have a bit of a breaking story.

Valerie Nachushkin has been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets from the O-desk. Wow. Wow. Breaking news. So Colorado moving off. Colorado's moved some players out. Big time.

It seems like they're, you know, and obviously, like, you're going to have a change here or there. And that Nchuschen's a hell of a player, but he's had off-ice struggles. Yes, he has. It's well documented. But I look at a Russian player going to Columbus. Now you've got, what, three or four of them? They've got a number of them, like really good Russian players there. Yeah, they do.

So Columbus is getting active, and people wondering what else they're. They could do this offseason. Well, we saw the Leafs, obviously, they've been active as well. And last week they announced their new head coach, and we saw them over Zoom last week. We saw him today down at Scotia Bank, and now he joins the show as the new head coach of the Maple Leafs. Here's Jim Hiller.

How you doing, Jim? Okay. All right. We'll see if we can get them back. It's on mute. That's a good start. Maybe the Leafs are making a deal, and he said, I've got to throw these guys on mute because Chica had just walked in with some

sort of an announcement. back if he's not there. Hayes is going to do the new meme, the basketball pointing. Sophie Cunningham. Sophie Cunningham. That meme is getting more. That was awesome.

It's everywhere. It's a great meme. It really is. It is everywhere. It's a great meme. Yeah, I might have to give Doogie the Sophie Cunningham. If we don't get Jim Hiller, we'll see if we get him back in the line here. But yeah, that's an interesting move.

That is an interesting move where it does make you wonder, you know, the Zach Werensky stuff. Yes. It's out there. He's got two years left on his deal. He's obviously locked in in Columbus, and he's their man, and he won the Norris last year. Dude, that would be so crushing if that guy says,

check, please. Like, if you look at the players in the past, I think it was Ryan Johansson, I mean, Rick Nash, Matt, DeShay, Matt, all of them. It's like, yeah, it's like, it would be so crushing. I could go on and on and on.

Yeah, it would be so terrible of Zach Rwantz. says I'm... Yeah. But I guess there's only one thing. Like, from what I hear, I talk to the guys, and it's like they love it, but they want a chance to win. And it's like, Zach Rowensky's in that boat where it's like, wants a chance to win. Yeah. Okay.

Let's see if we can go back to the phones here. Here's the head coach of the Maple Leaf's Jim Hiller. You got us, Jim. I got you. Yes. Great to catch up with you. Thank you for doing this. You guys got me.

That's more important. That's right. You got you. You got me. Exactly. Are you keeping up the day? You must be with everything that's going on in the league right now. What's it like from your standpoint?

Head coach of the Leafs, one of 32 teams, but it seems like every team in the league is trying to make moves right now. There is action out there. This is great for you guys. I know we talk about this every year and there's going to be moves leading up to the draft. And, you know, oftentimes it never happens. And now we have a year like this. It's pretty incredible. But I have been a little.

little slow on the draw. I'll be honest because I'm wrapped up to my own thing here. So usually I'm a little more dialed into that. But it's been exciting. It sure has been. And like you said, you get your own thing going here. You're back where, you know, you're very familiar. You obviously were a part of the staff for a number of years and you're back in Toronto. And I heard you last week. I heard you again today speaking on the spirit of the team and the importance of that. And I'm curious if you can elaborate on that for us, Jim. How does how does the head coach establish the spirit of the team? Well, I don't know that you can establish it on your own.

I think you just understand it and try to help along, try to do things in certain ways with the team or individuals or celebrate different moments or emphasize different moments. I mean, it really is. It's kind of a nebulous thing, but anybody who's played sports and a team level of sports you know, has had the realization at some point that how did we get here? Like, we were a good team, but I didn't realize we were this good.

And there's something that takes over during those years that you get on those types of runs. And I would call it the spirit. It just, you become bigger than the sum of your parts, and there's a special thing that kind of carries you through. And so that's really, you know, what I want to try to emphasize and try to work towards building. with this team out of the gate. Jim, as far as what the team needs moving forward for next season, as far as personnel,

how do you, like, what's the most important feedback for you? Is it tape of last year, or was it people in hockey what they say about the team, or feedback from players as far as what needs to be happened? Like, what's the most important factor for you? And I guess the general manager on what needs to happen moving forward. Well, I mean, I would say all of the above. Like, first of all, you know, professional athletes had a lot of pride. And this team has done, you know, very well over the last seven years since I,

I mean, two years, we were three years in the playoffs and two years to game seven, didn't get the result. So there's been a long string of, I guess, at least regular season success. And what happened last year, I think, you know, nobody feels good about. And so there's a starting point for sure. There's a lot of players in the room who are well-established, you know, NHL players, you know, very elite in some of their positions. And you can, you can, you know, spread that through the lineup. You can talk about a Chris Tanna, who, you know, would be classified as one of those elite

shutdown defensemen. So it's not just the players you think about who score all the goals. There's a lot of players in there with a lot of pride. So, you know, I think that's a starting point for them without me at all. But, you know, I watch the league. I've been gone for a long time. You know, I've seen the ups and downs. of the team.

And so I just think that's something that we have to start. We got to start from scratch with the spirit and just build it back up. And I think that's what's so exciting to be able to try and do that in this market. Jim, you're familiar with some of the star players you mentioned, but you had them when they were 20 and 21, and now you've got Austin and Willie and John is, you know, 35 years old. Is it a different approach? Certainly the relationship is there, but is it a different approach now they're kind of, we'll call them grisled vets?

Yeah, I think it will be. But I think I go back to the relationship and that being critical, even though the approach will be different. And, you know, I've watched them from afar. You know, I've stayed in touch with those guys. I've seen some of their great moments. I've, you know, shot them text, screenshots and some of the plays they've made where I've been impressed. So I think they just know who I am.

from personally. So that gives us a running start. But there's no question. Their games have evolved and gotten to where they are now and they have to continue. But I think knowing that we're starting from a place of trust, I think that gives me an advantage in helping them to push and try to achieve something even more. We're chatting with Jim Hiller, the new head coach of the Maple Leafs. And, you know, when you were, you were here a number of years ago, Austin Matthews was not the captain of the team. He is now the captain of the team. And I'm curious, you know, what you need from him in particular to get your message across and to establish, you know, the spirit that we continue to talk about here.

How much of the onus, you know, begins with Austin and his approach? Well, I mean, I mentioned this before. Like, you know, first of all, everybody has to, in the NHL today, if you want to have success as a team, everybody has to check and work without the puck. It's just a prerequisite. it's too competitive otherwise. So if you don't do that, you don't have a chance. So that doesn't get a lot of people excited,

but it is the baseline of any good team. Now, what I would say to Austin and the other players on the team is when we do have the puck, we have to get really excited and brace and celebrate playing offense. We got to let the skill and these amazing players, the talent that they've shown us, creating some, you know, a lot of goals, not just highlight real goals. We've got to really embrace and celebrate that again.

So we will demand the part one, the baseline, but I think we really will try to emphasize and work on and maybe a better word is celebrate, you know, in different ways as a team, getting back to scoring goals and being dangerous. And I think Austin is the epitome of that. So in terms of celebrating that offense, like what do you what do you mean by that the way the way you utilize them the way you emphasize the power play who they play with like what can you expand on that like celebrating the offense

well it's it's all those things it's all those things but it's also in practice it's also through our video sessions um it's it's in any ways that we can can highlight and emphasize and show just the passion and the skill and the creativity required to score those types of goals or create those types of chances. So I want to make sure that, yes, we're banging on our structure and our defensive game and our play without the puck, but I want to give equal time and equal respect to the great talents that we have and try to make it, you know, fun and exciting and a priority, not just to be good defensively, you have to be, but to score goals.

and to see, you know, guys kind of get that touch again. But I do agree that starts with the power play. I really believe that. I believe the power play can really help those players get their touches, drive the 5-1-5 offense, get them feeling good about that. Jim, I find myself asking this question a lot to coaches like yourself. Like, does it surprise you how often to hear yourself you just said the word structure and other coaches saying we need to get back to our structure in the details?

It just seems like, well, back in the days when I played, it was like you play this way and it's non-negotiable, and now these guys seem to want to go off the tracks quite easily. Do you not find that where it's like this stuff needs to be drilled into them almost on the daily? Yeah, I mean, I think it's certainly it's a drilled in, and I think people understand it, but it's just committing to it day after day, night after night. And it's a drag. And I don't know at time, I don't know that, I don't know that, you know, 10 years ago, 15 or 20 years ago, that it was as critical as it is today.

Because today, because the other teams, you know, have pretty elaborate defensive structures that make it so hard to create offense, you have to make sure you're matching that. So when you do create offers or you have that opportunity, you don't need six. because it's pretty hard to score six in the league these days. It might only get to three. So it's hard to get to three. So you can't try to get to six by giving up four or five. It just doesn't work.

So I think that's why you'll hear a lot of coaches saying that a lot. It's because just where the league is at, if you don't have that, you'll never outscore it. You just won't. And so ultimately you're going to be disappointed. Jim, do you think it's important? for a coach to be working closely with the manager for not only roster construction, but the type of players that you would like to coach within your system and structure that you've been talking about?

I think it's more important than ever. And not just for that reason. I just think it's more important than ever because for me the manager and the management has to understand exactly the style of play, exactly what you're, and I don't think this happened necessarily, before exactly what the systems are. There has to be a review, of course, with the players, but I think also management coaches regular review about how, why, and what certain players are performing and good discussion on that. I don't think that was really that critical in the past.

I don't know when it's changed, but I do believe now today, more than ever, that that group of people, the coaches, the management, particularly that, the head coach and the GM have to understand because I'm sure there'll be times when John's, you know, not questioning, but wondering why we're doing this, I'll be very clear on this is the logic behind it. This is why. And so at least there's an understanding between both parties, what's trying to be accomplished. And again, I don't think that was as necessary before. Today I think it's critical. When you say not necessary before, Do you mean like the Leafs last season or the way the league is operated in the past?

Yeah, I think the way the league's operating. Like, I mean, there's always been a level of that for sure, but I just mean like it's that you're so in lockstep that is just very clear. And then I think that gives the management a better idea of maybe the type of player to the earlier question, the type of player to acquire, why some players maybe are having less success in a certain style or situation. because these are the details that are demanded. So I just think it's really important that everybody is aligned with the style of play, the player evaluation.

There's different ways to evaluate players nowadays. We're really clear on that. There's analytics, which is one way to evaluate players. There's maybe coaches use a different, and I won't say that they don't use analytics, but maybe it's done in a different way, or the emphasis is on different, of numbers. And so I just think that everybody has to understand each other's point of view so that not necessarily that you're agreeing all the time,

but you understand where both sides are coming from. And I just think there's a lot of information and the communication between the coach and the general manager is critical. With Jim Hiller. So you guys have the first overall pick tomorrow night, and John said today, you know, keeping the pick. There's consensus on the pick. I think we all know who you're going to take.

We know you're not going to tell us. But how does that affect your plan for next year? Where, you know, first overall pick, the hype, the market. You know, there's a lot that comes with that. How do you intend on coaching a first overall pick next year? And you can tell us if you want. Yeah, you can't tell us if you're picking if you'd like, sure. Sure, sure.

Well, let's put it this way. I mean, I was here when we had the good fortune the last time we took a first overall pick, and that was Austin. Now he came in and he scored four goals that I don't have to tell you the history. So I've had experience with that. Now, every player, every first overall pick that rules into town is not the same. And we know that. It's either position or size and strength, you know, physical maturity at that time.

You know, they all get there, but they get there at different rates sometimes. So we're just going to have to see. Like, we're extremely excited. we know we're going to get a very talented player and let's just see exactly where that player fits in. We want them to succeed, but we want to make sure it's at the right pace and at the right time. We know it's going to be a terrific player,

but let's just do our best to balance it. And again, I would go back to lots of conversation between the coach and the manager and players and linemates and teammates and just making sure that we're doing this together. and I would say that was the case with Austin back in the day. We'll get you out of here with a question on, you know, filling out the staff. What type of requirements do you have for filling out your staff?

Well, you know, I'll take you back to Lula Amarillo, who's obviously a mentor of mine. And Lou said it best, you know, it's just like a band. And, you know, you've got to try to make sure everything's in tune. You can't have two electric guitar players. They can't have one, two guys on the base. You've got to try to make it balance itself out. So I'm going through that process right now. I've talked to quite a few people.

I think much like John and Matt's, they were very thorough in their process. I think that's kind of an organizational model right now. And so they've encouraged me to be that way, and I have. And we're starting to get there. But there's still some different ways to think about it. It's not really just black and white. This guy will do this and this guy does this. It's how do people compliment each other, my skill set,

and how can I get people to balance that out? So a long-winded answer to say, we're working on it. Okay, sounds good. Well, you got a lot of time. First game's not for quite some time. So welcome back to town, Jim, and best of luck throughout the summer, and we'll catch up again in the fall. Thank you for doing this.

You got it any time, guys, and I look forward to speaking more with you. Absolutely. Jim Hiller, the new head coach of the mayor, Maple Leafs. You won't talk to us again for the rest of the year. See you guys. Talk to you at the year ad next year. It's always the best.

You could get literally, you know, name someone. Tiger Woods could come and be like, yeah, guys, let's do it again real soon. You're not coming on again, Tiger. Never. Like, we'll never see you again. We'll have to call the PR person and say, here's a clip. He said, look forward to talking. You can't wait.

Anytime. Any time. We could call him tomorrow. Right? Yeah. He said anytime. We give him a shout tomorrow. You mentioned at the starting the show, and I wanted to say something, too, about it.

Why is it that the assistant coaches don't get to talk? We got to get into that. That's, yeah, it's a leaf policy. It's a great question. You're right, though, noodles. It's just always, well, it wasn't always a case. Assistance used to talk all the time. It's when Chan had showed up.

We talked to Spotter. Spotter was on our show once a week. I used to do shows back in the day. Assistant, I'd have Pooley on all the time when he worked. with the least. Paul Boy, Zell would come on all the time, all the time. All right. Johnny coming up, Jay's back in action.

That was tough one last night, man. One step forward, two steps back for the Jays. Amateur hour mistakes. Absolutely. They're defensively. They're terrible. Fundamentally, they're really struggling right now. So more on that, the Kauai Leonard's report will get into it.

Tracking the World Cup Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. All right, Mike Johnson coming up in the next hour. we'll talk about Kauai Leonard and what could happen with his future. Big trade in the NBA today too. Lamello Ball traded to Minnesota. Jay's back in action tonight. Two games under 500 still in a wildcard spot

because the American League outside of a few teams stink. And I know people are tough on Hoffman. I get it last night, but that sounds like it was Okamoto that jammed them last night because he thought the pickup play was coming from Kirk and it came from. Hoffman. It cost them the game last night. But, nonetheless.

That second base was as bad. You cannot. The base running was absurd last night. Like, they have more errors than any team in the American League. Their fielding percentage, obviously, is the worst in the American League. Their base running mistakes are crazy. And, dude, after the hitting last year, that was what they pride, they would pride themselves on that.

And they're just, they're not doing either thing. They won 94 games. You can't win 94 games without being a complete team. Like you look at the best defending team in baseball today, the L.A. Dodgers. Like they hit, they pitch, but they defend incredibly well. Least amount of errors committed in the major leagues. L.A. Dodgers. So, you know, the Js have got to clean a lot up, man.

They're halfway through the year now. They've got to smarten up. Hour 2 coming up overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN5. You've been listening to O. Overdrive, powered by Fanduil. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Close your eyes, and you can hear the entire world come alive.

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