OverDrive - OverDrive - June 4, 2026 - Hour 2 - Peter Laviolette/Steve Phillips

Episode Date: June 4, 2026

Join Mark Roe, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Former head coach Peter Laviolette joins to discuss his head coaching interview process, the Maple Leafs’ roster and the Hurricanes seeking a bounce back in Game 2. TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joins to discuss Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s struggles, the Blue Jays’ injury bug, and the status of Aaron Judge. Mark and Noodles give their top 5 landing destinations for Dylan Larkin and Mark gives his FanDuel Best Bets!

Catch everything soccer with Bell's game time bundle. Get 5 TV with TSN plus 5150 internet, all for $99 a month. Price guaranteed for two years with a two-year internet and TV term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. Hired 2 of Overdrive. Continuing Mark Row in for Brian Hayes alongside the old dog Jeff O'Neill and Jamie Noodles, Newdles McClennan.

It is such a busy time of the year. It's a great time of the year when you have the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup final, the CFL is kicking off tonight. Your guy, Christian Watson, just signed a big deal. I think he's attributing most of that success to his appearance on overdrive. There's a lot going on, guys. I'd like to ask Dougie a small favor about the Christian Watson signing. If Doogie ever posts that picture of me in that triple X gray cardigan again,

I just like. Fireable offense? It's a fireball offense. I don't know what it is about that pick, but... Tough angle, that's what it was. Is it, is it Hayes looking at his drive bad? No, dude. I look like I'm 700 pounds.

Like, I know I'm not a rake, but there's just something about that. I don't know. I cannot ever look... Do some AI, like, editing to that, dogy. Aren't you the executive producer of this show? Doesn't everything have to run by you before it's... Apparently not that pick, but I don't... I thought that pick was dead and gone, and all of a sudden I saw Dugie tweet out today.

Friend of the show signs a contract, and that gray triple X cardigan came out. And it's just people were carving me about the wrinkles and my pants and how long did it taste. Somebody said he gets up early and he doesn't work until four. So we had all day to put his pants on. It just. It just created problems. Yes, it's tough. I mean, listen, we all have tough.

Look at the cardigan. Look at the insane world. Like, I don't know what it is. Is that also the samurai shirt? No. For needles? Yes, it was. Yes, that is a samurai shirt.

Kung Fu shirt. Right. Yeah, see? And people are more focused on your cardigan than the Kung Fu shirt. How about that? Well, how can you not? It looks like it's seven miles wide. It's just outrageous.

It's a tough angle. It is, man. I got my hands in my pockets. I don't know. I don't know, doogie, after today, I think we got to edit me. I just say, here's Christian Watson with noodles and haze and just cut me out of it, a friend of the show. It can't go live anymore. That's tough.

It's a tough look. I will, I'll be honest, I didn't notice it until you pointed it out. I forgot that was my special show. Some things kind of get your attention in that one does. I've seen you in person, I can say, you look much better than that picture. Look great. That's what a great host does. But I want to ask you guys both, we've talked about the percentages of the road team winning game one in a series.

So we know the percentage is up around 70 or higher for the team that wins game one on the road to win the series. do the San Antonio Spurs or Carolina Hurricanes. One of the two win the series. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you better hope because you're betting on Wemby, right? Dude, I woke up at 4 in the morning my first text, Frankie Roobes. He had to text me.

He's like, Wembe is going down. The Knicks are going on a run, and it just made me sick. He had to chime in. he had to chime in. And I know that Hayes just had to stop himself from doing it, too. I thought the Spurs were going to run all over the Knicks, man. They're up by 14 in the third quarter. I think they just ran out of gas, and they're coming out of a seven-game series.

I think they'll be fine. I was waiting for a Beansy. Like usually, Hayes will tweet out that Beansy picture in the hospital bed. That was not there. But that game kind of was all over the map. Brunson got hurt for a bit. I don't know. And you can tell Wemby, he lost it a bit with his legs.

And even, like, it's so funny, he goes out. The Knicks go on like a 10-0 run. Like, he's the ultimate X factor when he's out there. Yeah. I'll tell you what that Brunson is a stud, man. Like, what a competitor. What a player. Some of those shots that he hit.

Gamebreaker. Yeah. I agree. Impressive, impressive. But I don't think that series is over. You were a game breaker when you were playing for our next guest. Joining us now on the Maple Totoa hotline is Peter Labio-Let. Can you confirm that Jeff O'Neill was a game breaker when he played for you?

Labby, don't answer him. I kept him right in the same spot. I held him in the same regard as Brunson talking about him. There you go. That's the answer I expected. He was awesome in that game last night. I was in New York for a few years and to get to watch him because, I don't know. Like right now I'm following.

Tampa Bay a lot. They were just north of me and I know Kup or whatever, but you always follow the local teams wherever you move. And so I ended up just watching a lot of the Knicks games and he's constantly doing what he did last night. Just making shots and making plays that he

shouldn't make. Well, not shouldn't make, but they're like high end. They're like ridiculous plays. They completely turned the game around. Lavie, Brunson's a game breaker. We just talked about them. And in hockey, you need your game breaker. like what, and I know we had conversations,

but what's your general message, like, in the playoffs to your go-to guy? Does anything even have to be said? Like, they know they have to contribute, and there's guys in Carolina that need to step up right now. Do you even talk to those guys? Because you can't really risk breaking them up because the other lines are playing so well. It's a unique situation there.

You need your game breakers in these situations. You do. Oh, I think you've got to keep talking to them. You got to get at this point, right, you need them. This isn't about ice time. This isn't about message sending. There's none of that going on. So I think you need to talk to these guys, show them the video,

keep putting them in opportunities where maybe they can be successful to try and find it. But, and I don't think much changes, you know, not just talking about that line, but just in general in the playoffs, I think that your game break, your type players, they know who they are. They know what their job is. They know what their responsibility is. you know, anything you can do to encourage their great play, I think that's always a positive thing,

but it's not like special messages, like, okay, it's this time of the year, it's playoffs, and we've got to get going now. They know that, and so they have the ability to completely change the direction of a game, and, you know, you start in game one. I thought Carolina fans are unbelievable, and to watch that building just completely getting gulped with the red and the energy and the juice it was in the building you would have thought that the building moved two feet to the right and that it was going to be 10-0 and then all of a sudden it just kind of turned and guys started making plays and like you said game breakers and all of a sudden the game's completely in a different direction and quickly but i think you just let them go oh they if they've been doing it their whole life they're probably going to do it in the biggest stage as well so lavie what was your biggest takeaway from game one on both sides

really is it you know they were kind of wading their way into the series and there were some mistakes and if you do have that i mean what type of adjustments do you look at heading into game two so you think and you think about the montreal series where um against carolina where montreal came out and they snuck game one out of there you know what i mean and so there's time now for roddy and his staff to get back in there and to show what they've been doing the entire year. I thought it just got a little bit loose defensively, which is not necessarily the characteristic of Carolina. They're usually pretty good at a consistent game. And so for me, it's a little bit of a wake-up call. You get that momentum. Maybe you think it's going to be

easy, maybe a quick breath. There was the timeout just for a second where Torts rallied his troops and you just think it's going to be easy. You take a quick breath and sometimes that's all it takes. I thought the goal at the end of the first period was huge. And then for me, a building block to go in and say, win the second period now. Like, take the second period down, and now you come in with a lead. You come in with Tide or a lead,

setting it up for the third. But they came out and just kind of blew the doors off it at the start of the second period. And, you know, everything went in. It was kind of uncharacteristic of them. From a defensive standpoint, and then from, you know, the goals going in, Anderson had been so good.

And so, I don't know, to me, it was a little bit more fluky. But if you remember how they played in game two against Montreal, it was tight. I mean, it was like they just completely erased that game. They went back to what's made them successful the entire season, which is hard defense, time and space, physical, no room, harder to do against the team like Vegas, but that's what I would expect in game two. You mentioned Torrance rallying the troops, and we all heard the pep talk that he gave the team when they were down to nothing. And I'm sure it's a pep talk that most coaches gave. And this one

just happened to be miced. And it was during the Stanley Cup final. But John Torral, is not for everyone. What is it about this situation where he's just pushing all the right buttons with the Golden Knights? He's an experienced coach that's been there. Like if you think about it, he's probably coached every situation that is possible. And I think it was just a smart move to be able to use that time out, to keep your time out in your pocket, to get the guys in here, to have them come in, catch a minute, feed them some positive information.

Again, it's not a time for panic, especially with that group. But send them in a different direction. sell them the one goal. You know, get one goal, get on the board, cut it to two to one. You know what we do. You know our identity. And just bring him in and just try to change the makeup of the game. And sometimes for me, a timeout does that.

If you can use the timeout, that you actually call a timeout, it was smart. He was able to do it just with a stoppage, keep it in his pocket. And like I said, that goal, I thought just making it two to one going in, going in at the end of one. That was a big deal. Lavi, the pressure points come quickly in a playoff series. And it seems like, you know, as soon as Vegas wins game one, the percentages go way up for, you know, the boat team that wins game one.

Like, is it close to a – like, it's got to be almost must-win tonight, isn't it? You do not want to go to Vegas down 02. I mean, obviously there's time left, but you – the Keynes immediately have kind of put themselves in a pressure situation here, more than it already is. Obviously, it makes it more difficult. You get down 02, you get down 1 – you know, 1 – you know, 1 – three. You know, if they do win one, they drop two in a row. It obviously makes it more difficult. But there's a lot to like about the way Carolina's handled things all year. A lot to like about

the way that they played. And like I said, I just go back to game two against Montreal. I mean, it was, there was nothing there. It was just so stingy. It was so almost agitated and irritated the way that they played, it gave Montreal nothing. And so I'm kind of expecting a game like that from them. Is that enough? I think it could be. You're right, oh, they don't, you definitely want to go back to Vegas O2. So a must win, yeah, I'd say so, but I kind of think that they'll get it back on track.

Lavi, I understand you've been buzzing through some airports. I know that because when you hand a guy of customs for him, it was my brother. He's a cop at the airport. So you can't tell me you weren't at an airport. I just want to know about meeting with teams as a veteran coach. Like, has it changed over the years since you came into the league or just the whole process, how it's different for a guy's experienced as you? Yeah, I didn't know what your brother.

He didn't say that, oh, unless you just busted me right now. No, I swear to God, my brother's a cop at the airport. He should have said something. He could have said hi or something. He doesn't. He likes minding his own business. He took my money. No, it was, listen, you know, going into interviews, like I've been on a lot of them.

I'm not talking right now. I'm just talking in general. Like, it's been on a lot of interviews. And just, you know, I think when teams, when you go into interview, teams are looking for a path or a direction of what is that you think you can bring to a team. And so they're all a little bit different in how they're handled. But I think the main point is just to be true to yourself and who you are and what you believe in. because the last thing you want to do is sell a myth or sell something that you're not,

and then get in there and say, wait a minute, I thought we were going to be this or I thought we were going to be that. I always just find, you know, with players or with an interview, whatever, I always find honesty and just directness is the best policy. So that's how I've always handled things. It's a pretty intriguing situation when it comes to the Maple Leafs in that they have the number one pick and yet they don't want to rebuild and they have Austin Matthews who's is a former heart trophy winner. And they're also going up to Whitehorse to meet with a number one pick.

And I was thinking in your long career in the NHL, what is the farthest that you've ever traveled to go talk to a player? Probably up to Ken. I remember going to see Scott Lawton, you know, just popping into the game and watching him play. And, you know, that was probably the furthest I had been. I hadn't gone to like over to Europe, to watch somebody play, I don't think.

Yeah, I think probably up to Canada. Scott's probably the last one that I remember watching. It's not always that you get the opportunity to go up and see players or talk to players that are part of your system. And so there was an opportunity and we went. So, Lavi, just back on the coaching interview, just general questions. You know, when you go to prep,

for a team. Say you're flying in for XYZ team. Is it a scenario where you go through their depth chart, you go through everything that the team has and potentially could have? And then when you're in these processes, when you're in the room with them,

do they ask specific questions and how you would handle this star player? How would you deploy this? Or what do you think of our goaltending? Like, does it get very specific in these interviews? Yeah, I mean, it can be specific. Again, I don't think anybody, or certainly coach, like when you go into a game,

you do your best to prepare for the opposition, you do your best to prepare for individual players, you do your best to prepare your own team, whether it might be power play or penalty kill or five on five, like you want to be ready. I think that's in life, though, not necessarily only in a hockey interview. And when you go and interview anywhere in life, or if you're preparing for anything that might come your way, I think that you want to be prepared, you want to be ready. So knowledge of the situation, I think, is always important, you know, with regard to that. You don't want to walk into any situation. You don't want to walk into your team and say, hey, what are we doing in the neutral zone and have the teams

and you're looking at saying, wow, I'm not sure. Let me go check. Like, you need answers. You need to know what's going on. So I think the same thing just goes in life in general, interviewing for hockey, interviewing for life. Just be ready more than anything. But yeah, yeah, I think you should be ready, notice. Peter Lavillette joining us on overdrive. As we approach the off-season here, and we were talking about Dylan Larkin requesting a trade, as a coach, I know that's more of the GM's role,

but when you hear about one of your players requesting a trade or maybe you're hearing rumblings that they're not happy, do you have the inclination to intervene, or do you try to make a pointed effort to kind of let the GM do their work? I think for the most part there's always conversations, you know, with the GM. That's the general manner job is to, you know, listen to agents or players if they're talking about a trade. I don't necessarily know that that's the coach's job to intervene with it. But I think there's conversations, too, that come from it.

Again, once you get the information, it's out there and there's knowledge of something or you've had conversations with your GM. I think there's always room to go backwards and talk to the player and figure out how you're going to work through that. You know, those are not talking about Dylan, but oftentimes in those situations, sometimes things happen and they happen right away and sometimes they don't, and it's still the responsibility of the team and the club to be successful on a nightly basis.

So if something like that does happen with a player in general, I think that it happens and your team moves forward in training camp, but if it doesn't happen, again, I think you table it. I always think it's good just to table things, just to put it on the table and talk about it, and how you're going to move forward inside the team, and what's best for the player, what's best for the team, and how do you manage that situation together?

Labby, I want to take you back to the finals a little bit, where after the first game, you know, Rod Brindamor said, I need more from my top players. I'm paraphrasing, but that's basically what he said. You know, when you come out publicly and say that, and Rod's a straight shooter, you're a straight shooter. Yeah. Do you find a little bit something different in your approach for the next game to find them maybe a little extra shift here?

You know, they know they've kind of been on blast. They're prideful athletes, but do you give them a little extra opportunity to kind of go out and show it? I think you absolutely do. If you're – I'll always say that. If I bring somebody into my office, O Dog was never there. But if I bring – no, no, no, no. If I bring somebody into my office and I challenge them, the worst thing that you could do is give them seven minutes and put them on the fourth line.

And so if that was Roddy's intent to just to nudge them, just to say, hey, listen, it's an honest fact. And he didn't embarrass anybody. He didn't berate anybody. He said, listen, we need more. If your power plays down, you say, we need more on the power play. And your power play players can take that to heart and say, yeah, let's get going. We need to turn this around.

but then you can't switch up to power play units or if a line's not going well you challenge a line and then before the game starts they come in and they're not on the same line anymore like what good does it do and so i would see that think that you could find a couple more minutes that you could find a matchup that you could find an offensive zone start and maybe it's one and again maybe it's just the confidence that they get from that that challenge and then the opportunity and then the success of it maybe that can unleash it a little bit for them i totally agree lab it's also like running out of time so if you're giving them a bit of time and some extra zone face-offs and it doesn't work out then you got to get to like drastic measures it's like somebody's

got to sit their ass on the bench or change the lines or something right because there's no time left yeah so there's all for me oh there's always a plan B so it's game one and like I said they came out so strong and all of a sudden you know they find themselves down I think it was four too right and so it was quick. It was really quick. And so I think that you go in tonight, and especially with what we just talked about, and you said, listen, we need more.

You give them that opportunity. But for me, there's always a card in my back pocket just to say, okay, it's not going well. It's time to mix it up. It's trying to shake up the third line winger and the first line winger and see if that can bring something to the table. Maybe it's not a long-term thing.

Maybe it is. but I do think when you get in these situations and the yardage on the field become shorter and shorter, you have to have to have a plan B, a plan C in your back pocket. Well, Peter, we appreciate you coming on. If you are traveling, whether it's for pleasure or for business, make sure to say hi to O's brother, and we hope that you travel safely.

I'll get him to get you to the front of the line next time. I'm coming up there to see O. Don't kid yourselves. I just came to see O'Doggin. I'll have a beer with him. That was it. Well, maybe you can golf with O. He'll eat. And unlike the guy who usually hosts the show, you can ride in his cart.

Yeah, sounds good. Good luck, Lavi. We'll talk to you soon. All right, guys. Thank you. Take care. Thanks. Peter Labuilette, joining us on the Maple Toyota hotline.

It's time to Toyota. Check out the Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Tundra pickup trucks, both available as hybrids. Maple Toyota, New York, Canada's Wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall. All right. Busy man. He saw your brother, Oh. I mean, was that a true story or you would just get back?

I swear to God, my brother works at, my brother's a policeman. He was a cop. He works at the airport. Yeah. So he spotted him coming through. I would have, you know what I was going to tell Labby? Just ask Ryan about the Blue Jays. Ryan might attack or charge the mound.

He'd probably be pissed the way they're playing. He searched Labby's bags. Exactly. The Jays are not playing. Well, I mean Atlanta's a good team, though, right? You know, look at it, but, man. They've lost four straight since the Hoffman blow-up. I know.

It's almost like that this, I don't know. We said it yesterday, man. They seem to, like, take a step forward. You're like, okay, it's going to get on track now. And then it's three steps back, and it's a tough scene. It's a tough scene. The offense is back to just being abysmal, where it's, like, ground out, double play, ground out.

It's like they get one here or there. The first inning was, It was everything yesterday. And a microcosm of the season. Basis loaded no outs. You get one run on a double play. Exactly. Like, come on.

And then it seems like they're struggling and sticking in the game, and then the other team goes yard with two men on, and then I change a channel because I know it's over. Right. Yeah. It's like it seems like every game when they're in this kind of funk, it's almost the same movie every time, where it's like they're fighting, they're battling,

they stick in it. It's a close game. and then a long ball, and I honestly shut it off, and I know when I wake up and watch SportsCenter, it's going to be the same score or worse for the other team. I guess it's not a problem, but the issue is that the record isn't great, but the league is bad,

and all the injuries kind of give you an excuse that once you get those guys back, then will be the same team as last year. So how do you approach the next 100 games in the regular season, and are you serious buyers at the deadline, and how much belief do you have? I think they have to be buyers just from how they painted themselves

and last year and they don't want to take a step back and they don't want to send that message. They almost have to be, but they also need players on the roster to play way better than they are. Agreed. I agree. Steve Phillips is going to join us at

530, so we'll get his thoughts on that. The Stanley Cup final continues tonight with Carolina looking to even up this series against the Vegas Golden Knights. I hope from an entertainment standpoint that it's like game one, not necessarily cheering for Vegas, but, you know, 5, 4, 6, 5. I don't think Torts or Roddy Brindamore want that. I think this is 2-1, 3-2 type of territory.

Yeah, I would put a lot of money on the game being 3-2. Yeah. You just look at the errors from the Carolina Hurricanes, like mismanage assignments, puck giveaways, stuff they just don't do. And I don't know if that was kind of the flip-over for. from just getting out of a series or what the deal was. But I don't know. They'll be better, though.

You know Roddy and they'll have them going and they'll be a lot better. Yeah. Overdrive is brought to you by Fanduel, bringing you more ways to play your game, Your Way. Our baseball insider, Steve Phillips, joins us after the break. Catch everything soccer with Bell's game time bundle. Get 5 TV with TSN plus 5150 internet, all for $99 a month. Price guaranteed for two years with a two-year internet and TV term and auto pay credit.

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Mark are in for Brian Hayes today on Overdrive alongside Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McClennon. C. Phillips is going to join us in a couple of minutes who was listening to the show yesterday. Guys, noodles, congratulations on the offer to golf at this year's RBC Canadian Open. Well, I mean, I had to turn it down because I knew the other two would be so upset, right? Of course. That's the kind of gentleman that you are. Nuddles, what I want to know is, like, what are we talking about here? because it's like your golf is like Norm on Cheers is Vera.

Like no one's ever seen it. No one knows anything about it. What a reference. Yeah. It's just Vera is your golf because nobody knows anything about it. Like would people need to be ducking? I think so. I mean, I don't golf very much.

I know. But like how many times have you ever golf? Like when's the last time you actually played golf? Or do you always just say, I'm not playing? I'm not interested. No, I think I golfed a couple years ago where I was forced to somehow. I can't remember what it was a tournament or something like that. I don't mind it.

I like the social aspect of it. But you know what bothers me about it is I understand the mechanics of it. I'm not very good. I think I could be good if I worked at it, but I don't. I choose not to. I don't need advice from everybody. Like that's the problem. I get up there and this is what you need to do.

I'm like, dude, you shoot 120. I don't need to hear from a guy who shoots 100 or 120 how to hit. You know, I would be fine if somebody is a scratch golfer and go, hey, this is what I'm seeing, no problem. But when I play in these proams, everybody's an expert. And I'm like, well, are you a pro? No, I sell stocks. I'm like, okay, well, then you're not a pro. Like, you know, I don't sit there and tell you how to trade stocks, so don't tell me how to golf.

Like, I just get frustrated with that. Plus, it takes a long time. These tourneys I always play in. They're six or seven hour rounds. Like, I know, oh, you play in two and a half hours or whatever. That's more efficient or three hours. I like golf. I just don't have enough time to do it.

I feel like I feel like I'm too busy. Well, that we're not putting you in the Canadian Open Pro-in then. It's dangerous. Well, I would sit on the bag or I would, you know what? I could, I would hit, like, I would shoot. Like, Hayes is like, go one drive. Like, do something. I'll do it.

I just don't, I do them. I don't know what I would do. You know, if I, I go to the driving range with my son, who's eight. I've been there a few times with him. He likes it. And, you know, I know how to hit. But I'm like, Hayes, I probably should shoot left, but I shoot right. I shoot left in hockey, but I shoot right in golf, which is probably a no-no to start off with, right?

Yeah, I've never understood that. Like, the hockey motion is so similar. I have no idea how guys play hockey left. and they get to the golf course and they're playing golf right. It doesn't make sense to me. It never will. It never will. Well, you'll be there.

I hear that you guys have a great setup. And more importantly, I hear the transportation situation has improved from last year, which is big news around here. Your ability to get to the set will be better. Yeah, because it's not so far away. It's going to be sweet. I think we're right by like the driving range putting green area. And Dugie's talking about first-class treatment.

That's all I heard. We've only had that from Gulf Canada and the Canadian Open death row. Let me clarify that right now. Well, and Dugie drove us on a, like, it was a wild goose chase last year. Like, that felt like it was a long ways to weigh, was it not? And there was rain and all hell was breaking loose. Didn't we have to stop? No, last year was, we had, we parked in that driveway, and we just went through the trees and we were right there.

Oh, that's right. that was two years ago. That's this year, the park and the driveway and walk over. That was awesome. I love that. Well, we're looking forward to that. You guys are going to be live on scene for most of next week. And then I think on Friday you're going to be at the Canada House for the FIFA World Cup to kick off Canada's game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But the Blue Jays, looking to avoid the sweep today against Chris Sale, who in his last three outings, 12 strikeouts, zero early. runs, 10 strikeouts, one earn run, seven strikeouts, zero earn runs. To give us some sort of optimism ahead of tonight's game, our baseball insider Steve Phillips now joins us. Steve, give us something, my man, please. Well, guys, I've got to tell you, not the greatest matchup tonight either.

I mean, you're going to face Chris Sale and get to go with an opener. But, you know, listen, if they can get the sale early, that's when they get them. get them early, Bunt, run on him, and try to take advantage to get him flustered a little bit. He gets emotional if you get them early. But, you know, I think it's not a great matchup either. He has thrown the ball extremely well so far this year. Their offense is hitting on all cylinders.

And, I mean, they're just a really, really good team right now. So, you know, if they run into the Buzsaw and, you know, they're healthy for the most part, they do have some starters that are going to work their way. back, but the starters they have are thrown well. And so, listen, this is a tough team. There's no shame of losing to a team that's 62 and 40 so far in the season. But that being said, the Jays cannot drop too far behind. They've got to keep pace in that wildcard race.

Steve, it seemed like they were trying to make some ground up. They were making some ground up. I think they slid into a wild card briefly, and then they fell backwards. If you were on the fly could come up with like a mini little power ranking of what the hell needs to happen for these guys to click and get moving. You can include health, Vladdy's performance, possibly making a trade, pitch your health. Like, how would you kind of put that list together? Yeah, so I think Vladdy getting going is number one.

Because, you know, look, you can make additions, but if your best player isn't playing well, you know, you're not going to make a trade for a best player. where are you going to make a deal for a complementary player? And so, you know, I had a year one time. I thought to myself, look, I can make as many rules as I want, but if my group players don't play well, then there's not much I can do. And, you know, I can do all I can to supplement him. So Vladdy's got to get going.

And, you know, enough's enough. I mean, it's time for him to step up and start to deliver. It can't be everybody else trying to get it done. And so Vladdy's number one by far. and it's a significant number one when you look at it. I think that, you know, beyond that, you know, Springer's got to be the second guy who's going. And he looked like he was starting to get things going a little bit as well. But he's got to be, you know, the other catalyst.

He's an emotional leader on this team. Glad he needs to just do it by action. And he is a vocal guy, but he goes to Springer to say things for him. And Springer at 206 or the 282 on base and a 350 slug is not the George Springer that they need. They need that guy that come back from last year. Then they need Kirk and Barger back in. You know, I think that, you know, they need to round out the lineup so that they can feel like, okay, this is who we are. Remember who we were last year? Now we're all back again. Let's start the row in the same direction. It's just you don't always get that luxury, you know, when there

are injuries. And you've got to, you know, I mean, the likelihood is, the possibility can be that those guys come back with somebody else could get dinged up a little bit. And so, but I think if they get the offense going, the pitching for me can be enough. And they're going to get healthier with the pitching, but I don't know what's fair to expect out of Scher coming back in it. I don't know really what Beaver's going to be. And, I mean, I know he's coming back, but, man, it's taken a long time for a guy who looked like he was okay at the end of the year last year.

It's taken a long time for that elbow to bounce back. So, you know, I think that, yeah, look, it would be nice as some other guys could get going. Jimenez down to 213 with a 259 on base right now. That's not great. At least Okamoto's got 13 home runs. But, you know, I mean, when your top guy is Okamoto with 13, and the next guy is Andres Jimenez,

your slight hitting shortstop was six. And then Hesu Sanchez, a semi-regular player was six, you know, you're struggling for power. And they can't fall behind and then hope for a three-run homer. they don't have that kind of offense and so you know they need they need the horses to get out in front and lead right now so steve when you've got a scenario like you're talking about all these types of players is it just as simple as one guy like how do you get a guy like vladdie going like you just you mention all the things that could go but is it you see a guy like who's going to make 500 million dollars he's the face of your franchise how do you get him going is it simple do you have meetings with the guy is it extra time in the batting cage?

What is you found over your experience to help guys find their game? Yeah, so, again, the thing about Vladdy, which is good and bad, is that he's struggling hitting 293. Right? You think, well, geez, that's pretty good. I mean, he's hit 293. He's got 387 on base. It's just driving the baseball.

And when he's not confident, he gets caught in between. and his launch angle is bad. And so it's got to just be, you know, I would have him out there taking home run derby swings. I would. I would have him get out there and really pretend it's a home run derby where he gets that front foot down and he lifts the baseball and gets back to that feeling of, you know, hunting the bottom of the baseball. I know he's not a great launch angle guy and he's not.

It's always been an issue for him. But, you know, this is, this is, he still hits hard ground ball. but that's not the $500 million man. I mean, the reality is that, you know, Louisa Rice can get singles. And there's a reason why he's done on like five or six different teams because that's not enough. But I think that for Vladdy, it's a confidence factor,

but I think, you know, you can work on things all you want. It's awfully hard to do that and take into the game. And then when a guy starts trying so hard, it makes it that much more difficult. But I would tell him, I don't care if you're late on the ball. I want you to go in there. they're thinking about don't drift forward, don't get out, don't cheat on the fastball, just see the ball and hit the ball.

And stop worrying if you strike out, you strike out. But I think right now it's just been such a struggle to get the ball in the air. 10 doubles and 3 home runs is just, it's crazy because we know there's so much more in there. So with a $500 million contract, Steve, who start, and I don't want to blow this out of proportion, but we're getting to a point where it's like what the hell's going on here with this guy. It's not just kind of a bit of a slump. It's three home runs, and he had 23 last year.

Who starts scratching their head first? Is it Mark? Is it Ross? Is it the owner, Edward? Like, who starts scratching their head and says, what the hell's going on? Yeah. So I think that, you know, it's more, you know, Ross. Look, the organization, this is an organizational decision for a guy who,

you know, earned, like, he showed you what he can be. And in some ways he's spoiled us because, you know, we have an expectation for him that's well beyond what he's doing right now. And, you know, it's in there. And he's 27, so it's not like he's aging out at this point where, like Springer or not being consistent. I kind of get it. You know, when you get up to be that age, it's at least in baseball.

That's where, you know, things start to decline a little bit. You're not quite the same player. Your eyes aren't the same. Your reflexes aren't the same. And we thought that he sort of caught back up again last year. But for Vladdy, this is just, you know, this is baseball. And the mental part of the game is such an important thing, right? What did Yogi Berr say baseball is 90% half mental?

And so, you know, it's, it's, that part of the game is just your mind plays tricks on you. And then you do things that you think will help you get better and they compound what you're doing wrong. and so I think it starts with on the field. Ownership understands that Vladdy is a great player. Mark understands that Mark's been around for a long time. I mean, he was a GM back when I was a GM, so he's getting up there too. Ross knows, and they're just going to have to play it out. And, you know, the belief is, well, he'll get to the back of the baseball card,

and what it means for us is he's going to get really hot really soon. Now, I don't know they can catch all the way up to career numbers, but he's got to get better than this. Steve, just want to quickly get your thoughts on the Yankees in the situation with Aaron Judge, and they keep saying it's not long-term, and yet he keeps getting more and more tests, and he's going to see a doctor in Texas and this bone bruise that's given him pain in his shoulder. How concerned behind closed doors are the Yankees right now given that situation? So I don't know exactly what's going on, but right from the beginning,

I was like something's not right here because, you know, they said his shoulders, been bothering him for a couple weeks. And then they said he's got a bruise in his ribcage. And it didn't really make sense. And then the idea that he's going to go see a specialist, I'm thinking, well, isn't an orthopedic surgeon the specialist when it comes to bones and shoulders? And like, what are we talking about here? And so, you know, what we do know is that the doctor he's going to go see as a specialist on thoracic outlet syndrome management in athletes. So, you know, what they said was that one of the tests that they gave him, the swelling was so much, it complicated the reading on it. But I don't think we're dealing with just a strain of something.

I think there's something more significant going on. From my experience, it just, you know, a strain in the upper rib cage causing pain in the shoulder doesn't make sense. But what I do know is when they do surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, there's a blood clot in the shoulder that they go in and remove. the top rib because that's compressed against the vein causing the clotting to take place. And so I don't know that that's what it is, but we can start to connect dots with the doctor that he's going to go see, the pain that he's having, the shoulder and the rib cage issue. And so, you know, who knows? Maybe it won't be anything more than a cracked rib or stress fracture or maybe it's just

a strain of the cartilage. But the indications to me are that this is something more significant and serious. than that. Steve, sticking with the injuries, I want you to answer something for me because I've always wondered about it, the difference between baseball and hockey.

If Alejandro Kirk was a hockey player, the coach would be saying, are you ready to play and he would go right into game action? How come in baseball there is like the assignment and you build your way back? How come he just doesn't say, are you healthy, you're back playing?

I've always wondered that. Yeah, yeah. So I think that the big part of it is, timing. And for a position player, it's going to be, you know, he hasn't seen a 99 mile per hour fastball that moves like it does in, you know, two months. And to just jump into the batters box, you're begging for a guy to come out of the gate and not get any hits. And, you know, you want a guy to be able to sort of knock off the rust at the minor league level when the games don't matter as opposed to down below.

You know, like in football, they come right back in and they play because they grit their teeth and they go hit somebody and it's okay. And in baseball, it's such a skill to be able to do it and the timing and the eye and the pitch recognition is so important that getting some level of experience to be able to go through it again is critical. For pitchers, it's more obvious. You've got to build up arm strength and a feel for your pitches. You've got to build up for velocity.

And then you kind of want a guy. especially if you've got a leg issue to re-experience everything, run over, cover first base. You know, do all of those sorts of things and return into baseball activities. So that if you're, and the other thing is if you're hurt, if you come back and then you're not quite ready, then you start the process all over another 15 days. So you always want to make sure that the guys are 100% ready when you activate them because you don't want to wait another 15 days for him to show that he's ready. Awesome stuff as always, Steve.

Thanks for joining us. Okay, you bet it, guys. It's my pleasure. Anytime. All right. One last break. Coming up, our Fandual Best Bet, as Overdrive continues on TSN4-5, TSN1050, and the TSN app. Catch everything soccer with Bell's game time bundle. Get 5 TV with TSN plus 5150 internet, all for $99 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years with a two-year internet and TV term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for more details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. Hello, Canada. This is Brian Adams Radio. Hosted by Brian Adams himself. a few of mine, a ton of my favorites, and some must-hear behind-the-scenes stories

from the world of rock and roll. I'm coming to get to! One thing about doing rock and roll so long as you end up meeting a lot of the people that you admire. Sometimes you even get to work with him. Adam's Radio. Now available on the free I-Hare Radio app. Overdrive continuing. Mark Rowan for Brian Hayes,

alongside Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan. Today's best bets are powered by Fandul. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fanduil Sportsbook app. We are taking the hurricanes on the money line. We're taking the under, which is set at five and a half goals. Seth Jarvis to take more than three shots. And you parlay that, you get plus four, 55 odds.

Today's best bets. Powered by Fandual. Same game parlayers are available for every Stanley Cup final game on the Fandall Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly. 19 plus physically located in Ontario. I thought this was going to be a collaboration. I think you've got each about 45s.

Maybe you've got 30 seconds, noodles. Give me your five teams for Dylan Larkin. Minnesota. At one? Well, in no particular order. Minnesota, Boston, L.A., Anaheim, and Buffalo. And the reason being I can give quickly, Erickson Eck there, Zaka, he's an upgrade on Zaka, LaFerrier in L.A., Anaheim as Granlin in the number two spot, and Buffalo is Ryan McLeckley.

in the number two spots. So if you, you can slide them in there. And maybe a shout out to Philadelphia, who has DeVorak at 5.5 in the two spots. So there's a six pack of teams. I have Vegas because he's best friends with Eichl and it's Vegas and they always do it. The sharks flyed in right behind Macklin-Cellebrini.

They've got young players that they could trade. What a nice selection. That's a great pick, Death-Row. I also had the ducks. I also had the Wild, and I had the Habs, who are craving a second-line center and also have young players. I don't know if he wants to go to Canada or not,

but if he's going to Canada, that would probably be the spot. There's a fight pack. I think you just cover it. I would bet money, all the money in the world. I mean, it's 10 teams, but he'll be on one of those teams when it actually happens.

Yeah, probably. You know, when you look at it, the teams that we're talking about have, they've got currency to pay for them too, right? That's the biggest challenge. I just like that we honored Brian Hayes with a five-pack today. So I hope he's enjoying his day off. He's going to be back tomorrow.

You guys will have a great show to wrap up the week. And you will be chatting tomorrow at 4 p.m. We'll chat then. Hello, Canada. This is Brian Adams Radio. Hosted by Brian Adams himself. We'll play a few of mine, a ton of my favorites, and some must-hear behind-the-scenes stories from the world of rock and roll.

Come in a good, Jen. One thing about doing rock and roll so long is you end up meeting a lot of the people that you admire. Sometimes you even get to work with him. In Adams Radio. Now available on the free IHeart Radio app.