OverDrive - OverDrive - September 4, 2026 - Hour 2 - Keegan Matheson/Connor Brown

Episode Date: September 4, 2026

Join Michael DiStefano and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Al’s Brother shares his Friday Five Pack of the biggest sports stories that defined the summer in Canada. MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joins the show to highlight an impressive series in Cleveland for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Brett Bateman’s impressive stretch to start his tenure in Toronto. Later, New Jersey Devils forward Connor Brown joins the program to highlight the changes to fitness testing in the NHL this season, his time playing under Jim Hiller, and his expectations this season. The show wraps up with FanDuel Best Bets.

Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.com for details and to check availability.

Bell, connection is everything. Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizas Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree aside and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. It's Mike DeStefano filling in for Brian Hayes. Got Dave Festruck of the Toronto Star with me. And it's the final show this summer.

And I thought it'd be a good way to kind of put a little bow on the summer. And I'm looking at the five stories that defined the Canadian sports summer. So we kind of already talked about what I had at number five, and that was Canada's impact, both on the pitch and off the pitch at the FIFA World Cup. Coming in at number four, Dave, Dylan Cease's Cy Young campaign. For me, this has been a massive story this summer. I mean, when he was first signed, you thought, okay, all right, give him a big contract, it was seven years north of $200 million.

Like, okay, you can come in and, you know, pitch alongside Kevin Gosman and Trey Savage. You know, he's probably going to be the ace moving forward. I don't think I saw, I can tell you, I personally did not see him compete with Cam Schlittler for the Sye Young and it being a two-horse race and you're one of that deal. That has been a big story for me. It's an incredible story and it's one of the reasons the Blue Jays are still where they are. Yeah. Which is fighting for a playoff spot despite the fact they've been under 500 for much of the year.

And, yes, CIS has been an act. absolute lock. I mean, leading the American League in strikeouts is a good place to start in a swing and miss league, and he takes it from there, man. You had the number of his, what, his most recent eight starts? His last seven road

starts, he's allowed just one run. His last seven road starts, a .18 ERA. Just incredible. 0.18 ERA an opponent batting average under 100. It's unbelievable what he's been able to do this year. He had 221 strikeouts, 6.1 wins,

above replacement, like a couple of complete games. Like, you know, was it twice? Nearly no hitting teams this year? Like twice he was on no hit watch deep into ball games. And yeah, he's been unbelievable. So for me, the Dillon C. Ceyon campaign, one of the big stories of the summer. Coming out number three is obviously massive,

but like the Maple Leafs massive overhaul. I mean, from on ice to off ice, the leaves from when things ended, back on, was it April 14th, that final game, 1415 against the Ottawa Senators, how drastically different this organization is from that day to today. 35, and your colleague, Kevin McGrath actually went and found this number. 35 names wiped off the Maple Leaf Stafford database from last season. And we're talking obviously up to top, whether it's Brad Tree Living,

up at the top as the general manager. Craig Barube, as the coach, he's gone, Brandon Pridham, Daryl McCaff, Haley Wickenhizer. They got a lot of big names, but there's also many longtime scouts who were let go. They completely revamped the front office there in Toronto, just gutted it and put in people who they believe, got to share more so their vision of the team, the new era of Maple East hockey.

It's no longer, you know, the Shana Plan slash the Tree Living. It's now the Chundeehene era, as we've been calling it here, on the TSN 1050 Airways. think it's, myself and Aaron Kronick might be the only ones to use that, but the Cundine era. I don't think that's going to catch on, fellas. I'm going to keep saying it. I'm going to keep it for yourself. I'm not sure many people are going to try and steal it from you.

Maybe not. Maybe not. But then just on the ice, a complete revamp of the bottom six, right? They decided to swap out Joseph Wall, bring in and bet on Sergey Bobrovsky. They get Gavin McKenna with the number one pick in the draft. You know, just the massive overhaul from, you know, over the course of the summer, from the outlook of the Maple Leafs when things ended last year at the beginning of the summer to how it looks coming out of the summer, this massive story all year long.

Yeah, I mean, you can just keep going, right? Like, I'm looking at their Puckpedia page here, and there's like 10 new guys on their, on their roster that are significant. You know, there's others, too. But, you know, and you go to the blue line, Darren Radish. I mean, a big bet on Darren Radish and Emil Andre, who figures to get a really good opportunity on the back end. And then on top of that,

you've got a lot of guys that they're hoping will have a sort of new lease on life, right? Morgan Riley being one of those. Austin Matthews. Matthews being another. Chris Tanov, who we just talked about having played 11 games last year

and obviously coming off a, you know, very serious groin and core surgery, still not cleared to play, but is hoping to be ready for day one of training camps. So all those things put together, I was, brother, you're right, it's a completely different team.

I know Keith Pelly, CEO of MLSC, who presided over the entire reconfiguration of the organization, including finding Chica and, you know, the Hiller coaching hire that came after that. I mean, they're essentially billing John Chica as the Theo Epstein of hockey, you know? And we just had, we just had Mike Wright talking about how you can't do money ball and football. I'm not sure you can do money ball in hockey either. Carolina. Carolina is, you know, might be as close as it gets to moneyballing it up and get a parade at the end of the year. I met Eric Tulsky at the Sloan, MIT sports analytics conference

like 12 years ago before he was anybody in hockey. He just was sitting there presenting a little chart that he had on zone entry data that he compiled. And now he's a Stanley Cup champion GM. So that's certainly the theory. We'll see if it works in practice. Yeah, we shall see. But definitely one of the big stories of the summer,

the Maple Leaf's big overhaul of the entire organization. Coming in on number two, Vladie and the Jay's summer of struggles. You know, you can't talk about one without talking about the other, obviously. But you look at the season that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had, and granted, the last couple of games he's shown signs of life. You know, a couple of hard hit balls, couple of extra base hits.

That has been completely absent from his game pretty well all season. long. The guy's got a 689 OPS, just eight home runs this season. That's the same amount of home runs he hit in 18 playoff games last October. That's incredible how he has really struggled to this point this season. And I looked at since May 1st, WRC Plus, right? So 100 WRC Plus is considered league average hitter. Since May 1st, he's been a 25% below league average hitter since May 1st. That is a big sample size and a big problem for Toronto. And we've been talking about it all summer long.

And it just led to the Blue Jays faltered as a team. I mean, this is a team that last year was two outs or two feet away away from a World Series championship for Pete's sake. And all of a sudden, here we are. Granted, all right, vibes are a little higher now. But a month ago we're sitting here, the team was selling off at the deadline. and you're thinking, ah, what a wasted year. This is an awful, awful season.

And here they are, yeah, sure, they're still in it within half a game of the playoffs. But the offense has been putrid. Absolutely terrible. Wow. I've got the statistical analysis of how different it's been from last year to this year. Love it. So last season, as an average, they hit 246, which was, or this season, 246, middle of the pack. They were the number one hitting team in baseball last year.

Home runs. Middle of the pack. 13th in home runs last year. This year, 28th in baseball. 29th in runs scored this year. They were fourth last year in baseball. OPS. That's something that the team's OPS this year has been abysmal.

It's been a big talking point. It's 27th in all of Major League Baseball. They were a top three team in OPS last year. And they look at WRC Plus as a team. They ranked fourth in all of baseball last year, 13% above. league average. This year, 26. 6% below league average in terms of being an offensive team. The offensive struggles have been just outrageous

this season. They really have, and I think it all stems from one guy. And people say, well, you can't blame one guy, but he's a $500 million player. He's the heart of the order, man. He's the heart of the team. Simplest way you put it out, his brother, and those are great stats you had there, the one that sticks out to me is, I mean, at Vladdy's best, his two best seasons, he's been a six-win player or better, like six wins above replacement. This year, as it stands, he's a 0.8 win player, meaning that's a five-win swing minimum. If they had five more wins, they're comfortably in a playoffs.

They're hanging with the Red Sox for the second wildcard. They're like a game back of the Red Sox for the second wild card. There you go. That's the difference. Yeah. That's everything. When you say, that's not all Vladdy, well, a lot of it is, is Vladie and his struggles. And, oh, wouldn't you know, they win two straight games coming out of Cleveland.

came alive in those games. There you go. He sparked the 11-0-0 shut out. Who sparked that fifth inning yesterday? It was a walk from Vladimir Garrow Jr. later came around to score. So, yeah, him heating up is a big deal. But all summer long, we talked about how poorly things have gone for them.

And at number one, it's the Kauai Leonard's suck. I mean, Kauai and the clippers and the investigation. It was always loosely, you know, followed by Canadians, obviously with the connection to Kauai. But it really kicked into overdrive as a Canadian store. when the rappers traded for him. And then put it on pause, and then we assume at some point at any time now is going to go through.

But this is the biggest sports story this summer, and it was very, very much dialed in here in Toronto and Canada after the trade. And we finally found out what the punishment was going to be. Five first round picks, $30 million fine to the clippers. Steve Ballmer suspended an entire season. Hawaii? Not much. has to pay back $700,000 in restitution,

and he gets to come to Toronto and compete if he can win another championship for the city. It's good to be Kauai. Good to be Kauai. I mean, Pablo Torre was estimating that he made something in the range of $60,000-plus million dollars. Wow. Off the books.

And all he has to pay back is $700,000. Yeah, it's an incredible, incredible story. And you know what? The bottom line is, nobody in Toronto will care about this story if this guy shows up and plays like he played in 2019. Or something close. At the end of the day,

it shouldn't impact the on-court of Kauai Leonard at this point, right? It would be different if you got suspended. I think that there would be far more people who care. But at this point, like it gave a lot of content throughout the summer, which is why I was one of the biggest stories. But moving forward, like, there's not much debate here with the Raptors. He's on the team. He's not suspended.

Contracts all good. He's going to sign an extension. He's probably going to play out the rest of his years as a Raptor and retire as a Raptor. Sounds like that might be what he wants to do. You know, if you're the Raps and you're the city of Toronto, like this story is kind of behind you now. Yeah. Right? Like, it's gone with the summer fling.

You've got to hope. I mean, as long as, as long as somebody is not suspended in a management position in L.A. They can actually consummate this trade with Bobby Webster and the Raptors. Everything should be fine. But it's probably chaos at Clippers Central right now, those brothers. So I'm not sure how long it's going to take for this trade to get over the finish line. It is. All right.

We got to get to our guy, Keegan Matheson, who is here on the Maple Toyota Hotline Jays Reporter for MLB.com. You know what we left out as a major story of the summer? My boy Keegan getting engaged. Congrats, pal. That was a major story. Was that last week, two weeks ago in New York? A couple weeks back, fellas. It's right up there with Kauai.

I think so. less scandalous, depending on who you ask. You know all my favorite part, guys, of this whole Kauai mess? All a couple things. Number one is that statement where he says, I apologize for the lapses of judgment from people in my inner circle. I'm going to use that for the rest of my life. The next time I make a mistake at home or I'm hungover,

you know what, I apologize for what the people in my inner circle have done. And I've loved fellows listening to, especially U.S. media, talk about this, asking how will fans in Toronto react? This guy could walk along court side punching people in the face and they'd still be cheering. Come on. Yeah, I don't care. They expect there to be booze for Kauai? No, come on.

There's this expectation in the U.S. among media, I think, that people in Toronto will be booing this guy onto the court day one. No chance. For what reason? Like, I don't understand what the reason could possibly be. Like, he wanted to come to Toronto. He's here. He's going to extend. I mean, I just don't see how they see it.

The Clippers, that's a mess. I mean, of an organization. When he walks into the Intuit Dome this year, boy, that'll be a roaring amount of boots on that. Yeah. I fully trust he had no idea where those millions came from. He's so focused on rebounds. Fellas, if a couple million went in my bank account,

I wouldn't notice either. You know, I respect it. Hey, it's the show Aotani School of Accounting, Keegan. He doesn't, well, I don't know. I'm not the money man. I don't deal with my own money. Yeah, yeah. Too focused on the sport.

Too focused on greatness. Speaking of money, is Vlad starting to earn a little bit here? Signs of life over the last couple of days in Cleveland? He's earning a few bucks of it. It's overdue. And guys, as much as the home run and the big swings are exciting, I just like the energy around him, frankly. I like the fist pump on a sack fly.

I like that he's flipping his bat on a walk. Some people might think that's stupid, whatever. There's some energy to that, and everyone else is going to follow that. Because he's locked in right now, and that has not always been the case. Now, everybody cares. I'm never going to say that Vladdy or another player is slacking off or not caring, but it's a very long season. The days are hot.

You're with the same people every damn day, okay? It gets tiring. There's a level above it when you're locked in. It's what Max Scherzer is right now. He is locked in. I think we're seeing that from Vladie. Finally, it's taken a long old time. And he has had five months of bad baseball.

That does not go away. But the rest of the AL wildcard race sucks right now. And if Vladdy does anything, he's their shortcut guys. He can decide all by himself that they are going to make the postseason. I can't believe they still have a shot. I cannot, with a straight face, say they've earned being a half game back right now, but it's where they are. They've been given this gift.

And Vladdy needs to reach out and grab it, man. It's right there. Well, speaking of things we didn't see coming, Kegan, when you look at the guy that's been in the lead-off spot and really injecting some energy in his own way, it's Brett Bateman. And I don't know how you feel about it, but I just think this guy's been a godsend in terms of, you know, Al's brother put it, he's almost three-pronged, right? He's obviously, he's hitting, he's running the bases with, you know, some real disruptive energy,

and he's also playing some incredible defense. I mean, did you see it coming? No, not at all. frankly guys I didn't like the Gosman trade I think some other teams got better value at the deadline for Gosman level of starters but that's before I saw Brett Bateman play baseball you know he's been

great for this team and will the batted ball luck last forever is he going to hit 3.30 on balls sneaking through forever no but we can let's save that for next year I can be cranky next year okay it's working right now and that's all that matters yeah the speed is undeniable

this is a slow team a team that does not do much on the bases and didn't have enough chaos. Like I even put like Kaz Okamoto in that category. Yeah, he strikes out a lot, but there's home runs. That's a little bit of chaos. The rest of this team, all year guys, has frankly been quite boring and quite predictable. Anyone who's watched every single game and had the same experience for like 140 nights this summer, I think would agree. It's been a very predictable team. Brett Bateman is chaos. And that's so welcome on this team. What he can do on the bases, the energy he brings to the top spot in the lineup. He just feels like

that classic leadoff guy. Now, whether it lasts forever or not, we'll see next year. We'll care about that next year. Right now, it's working. Right now, he is a step ahead of pitchers. He's making contact, and his speed is so refreshing guys, just even watching this team every night, it's refreshing. It feels different. And I think that's really changed everything around him. He's got a guy on base now when Vladdy comes up. It just feels a little bit different for a team spend a long time looking for a leadoff guy. Yeah, I like to tell you pimped a bun single last night, too. He had a little stare down after that.

I don't know if you saw it, but he had a nice little stare down. I appreciate that out of a kid like Brett Bateman. With Keegan Matheson, I want to go back to Blattie and more the big pitcher. Like, if the Js actually do this thing and they get into October, and they get Vladdy back, like October, Vladdy reemerges. Like, how, would the Jays be a team that other teams fear? I think that maybe not fear, but I think that you would look at the star power that Vladdy brings and he's a player you could fear at the very least.

You need one of those. You know, we're sitting here in Kansas City. I fear Bobby Wood Jr. Because he's one of the best players in baseball. The Yankees, even when they're going bad, if they have Aaron Judge, they've got a shock because they're one swing away. You don't have to play a perfect baseball game. Right now the Blue Jays still have to play pretty perfect baseball without Vladia as best.

They've got to do everything right. They need to pitch well, run well, play defense well. But when Vladdy is himself, all he's going to do is have one good swing at the right time. We saw that in the postseason with eight home runs and 19 games, I think it was. That's the best I've ever seen a hitter in Toronto. And it's one of the best we're ever going to see in Toronto. If he can get back close to that, he at least gives the Blue Jays a shot to steal some games, to steal something. Right now they are built as a 500 team.

That's about what they are. It's not all that exciting, but with Vladdy, it changes everything. And if you have Brett Bateman creating that chaos, it changes everything. I don't think the Rays or Yankees or Red Sox are looking at the Blue Jays and saying, oh, no, because they've seen them too much. But if you sneak in in the American League, is anyone else scary? Maybe that's the way I'd look at it. Who else actually scares you? The NL does, but you don't have to worry about them until the World Series, whatever.

Frankly, there's probably two or three extra NL teams that you could slide to the AL, and it would be a little more competitive. But they have, again, been given this gift, man. It is wide open. And I think for years, guys, well, next time there's a bad Blue Jays team, we'll be looking back and saying, oh, don't you wish it was 2026 when everyone else sucked to? It's wide open, man, right now. Hey, Kiggs, when you look, you know, you look at this Royals team where the Jays start the first of a three-game set tonight in Kansas City. And you can also say, hey, they stink too.

They're 63 and 78. but you look at their recent results. I mean, you know, they, obviously, the most recent time they played the Jays, they took two of three from the Jays. they took two of three from the Indians when they played the Indians. They've swept the Tigers fairly recently. What is kind of clicked for them? Obviously, Bobby Wood Jr. being probably Exhibit A,

and why is maybe the strength of schedule thing something you really can't over-emphasize when you're playing these games in September against teams that don't, you know, They're not in the pennant race, or they're not in the wildcard race, but they're still winning games. Yeah, they took two or three from the Jays in Toronto. They were on that winning streak. This is another example of a team that's playing with nothing to lose at this point. And you get young players into games. That adds an element of chaos as well that you can't really prepare for.

You're facing some pitchers you haven't faced throughout the year. It's not like you're playing the Yankees again facing the same reliever for the ninth time. There's a lot of newness to this when you are facing the Royals, even though the Jays just did recently. They're coming off a great stretch, and I think they're a better team than their record shows this year, absolutely. And this is why when we looked back,

remember when there were 30 games left, it was billed as to 30 games against teams with records under 500. Number one, so were the Jays. They weren't very good either. But number two, I think that September is so different. And some of these teams are either past injuries, they've brought up young guys,

something's changed along the way. And the Blue Jays, right now do have an advantage of opponent at the very least. I mean, the Guardians are playing the Tigers. You look around, the Rangers up against the rays, the Red Sox are getting involved. This is an opening for the Blue Jays, but the moment you look at it as an opening, you get swept and you get caught with your pants down real quick. Yeah, and it's happened a couple times this year where it feels like they're getting going

and, you know, shoot themselves in the foot. Really quickly, we got a mini jerrys for you. The boys are back next week, so we'll get some. the full jerry's when the boys are back. But there's been some chatter about Tray Savage, Shane Bieber, maybe even a Tony Tater's citing at some point later in the season.

What are the Jerry's percentages that we see one of those guys back in a Jay's uniform before the years end, done? Oh, baby. Let me go with, assuming the J's stay involved, let me go with your Savage, 75, Bieber 35, Taters, 14.

Guaranteed. I can't believe I'm talking about Anthony Santander this point of the year, but it's just like last year, you know, maybe he's going to come back late in the season. How would that work? Who would he play over? Would he be any good? Good Lord, I don't know. But he's giving it a go.

He's apparently getting close to some game action. But you savage, I'm very interested in. I think he's going to take a shot at that, man. And I think you savages the right mix of close enough, talented, and stubborn, which can be a very beautiful thing when you're trying to come back late. Yeah, yeah. It'd be nice, you know, for a team, if they're within a game or half a game or whatever, in the final week, he comes in, provides, you know, a nice starter too.

That'd be big for this Blue Jays fan. All right, Kigs, by the way, just so you know, there's also an air show happening in Toronto as well. So it's not just in Cleveland. So you're skipping out on it by being down in Kansas. city if that makes it feel any better i love it i'll stay in the midwest another week here good barbecue got a nice little barbecue joint uh that you're gonna head to at some point oh absolutely yeah tomorrow i plan on just wrecking my day with a barbecue business you know

like right before we're and when better to have some barbecue than when it's 100 degrees in humid i think it's gonna be you're gonna see me on sports center tomorrow looking as bad as anyone's ever looked on sports center i guarantee it oh man he Your beauty as always, pal. Enjoy the game tonight. Can't wait to see you on that post-game hit. You got her, fellas. Good talking to you.

Take care. You as well. Higgin Matheson, joining us on the Maple Toyota hotline. Down to Toyota, check out the Maple Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Tundra. Pickup trucks, both available as hybrids,

Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland in the Maple Auto Mall. Yeah. I mean, it's a big series down in Kansas City this weekend. series for them, try and pick up a couple more wins. Keep stacking series wins. That's what's all about for the Js. They keep stacking series wins. They throw out one, only one game under 500 now.

Yeah. Yeah, so you win tonight. Your bet's 500. With 20 games to go. 20 games to go. Back to 500 with 20 games to go. And I think, I don't know, like, 84 wins. Does that catch you into the postseason? 83 wins. 82 wins might get you into the postseason for Pete's sake this year in the American League.

Yeah. Yeah. It feels like no one's really going on a tear. No. You can play above 500 ball in these final 20 games. We can take care of business this weekend. Pretty good shot and making the playoffs, I think. It feels like it's there for them.

It feels like it's there for them. It would be nice to get you Savage back. And I was glad to hear Keyes. If you're a Jay's fan and you hear Keegan, Brad, or Keegan Matheson say, 75% Jerry's percentage that we see you Savage again. I like that. I like those odds. That's good odds. Good number. Good number for sure.

14% I thought was maybe a little high on Taters. That caught me off guard. That Anthony Santander was taking swings down in Dunedin and a potential AAA rehab start could be coming. Maybe gets his way into the mix down the stretch. I don't know. We saw that same song and dance last year in it. I mean, he ended up getting in there

and then he got hurt again and he was nowhere to be seen until, I guess, earlier this week and a couple swings down and down eating. I mean, not holding my breath. Even if he was healthy, what can he really provide? Yeah. Yeah, I don't see it. I'm lower. I'll give it a 4%.

Yeah. 4% on a Tony Tater's sighting in 2020. And yet, Al's brother, I'll tell you what, man, they're so desperate for a power bat. You know, you went through the stats. Right hand a power bat at that. I mean, you went through the stats. There's a reason they acquired this guy because they don't have a guy. I like it.

I know. And that's part of the issue. So many times we look back on the season, it's like, oh, how did they not address that situation? It's like, well, they thought Addison Barger was going to be that. They thought that Tony Taters was going to come back healthy and try and get back to be in a 30 home run. They had 40 home runs the year he signed with Toronto. Like, he was coming off of 40 homer season.

He expected some of that to translate here to Toronto and give you some power. Injuries definitely had other. for him and the Blue Jays. 90 million bucks kind of circling the drain. Yeah, up in flames. We'll call it up in flames. All right, on the other side, Connor Brown going to join us,

former Toronto Maple Leaf currently with the New Jersey Devils. I'm Mike DiStefano, Dave Festwick, the Toronto Star. You're listening to Overdrive on TSN 1050, on TSN4, and up on YouTube Live. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies?

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Mike Dostephanon, Dave Festch. with you from the Toronto Star and it's the final show ahead of Labor Day weekend at the big Labor Day Classic on the coming up this weekend down in Hamilton, that'll be a lot of fun. I know that I'm a big fan of the Labor Day classic, Dave,

and I imagine you would be as well. Oh, yeah. Big supporter of the Canadian game there. If you happen to see the news about the NFL Hall of Fame selection committee making changes to how they do things, kind of slashing the committee in half, and I think they're getting rid of the senior portion of the ballot.

Seems like a lot of people weren't happy with what happened with Bill Belichick last year, getting left off the ballot. And I think they're taking charge of who is and isn't involved in that process. That's interesting. I mean, that was to me... That's outrageous. That's spoken of a certain pettiness that you don't want to see in a Hall of Fame selection, right? even though we know it exists, you know, I've known people that vote for Hall of Fame.

I've had off the record conversations with them about the way these meetings go. And you do hear about, there's people in the room that just say, over my dead body is that guy getting in? Why? Because I say so. And that's not really a reason. No, right? Get those people off the committee.

They don't deserve to be on the committee if you ask me, if that's kind of how you're operating. Like, you know, shout out to Jim Porter. It was the Hall of Fame president's CEO. He did come out and say, The Hall continually reviews its bylaws to ensure the selection process reflects the highest standards of integrity and the magnitude of the election into the Football Hall of Fame. There's no more important task at the Hall of Fame than the election of each new class. And clearly last year there was some nefarious business going on within the selection committee to keep Bill Belichick out. And the Hall of Fame took notice and they're slashing it a significant reduction in the number of

selectors is part of the changes. So sweeping changes to its selection process. I don't know if that's going to make it any different. Like, is reducing the circle better? Well, if they got rid of, like, the guys who, you know,

decide to dig their heels in and not put the bias aside, then yeah, I think that makes a big difference. Yeah. I mean, that's a tough thing to do. It's especially tough for us to know when we're not in the meetings, right? And most of these meetings are everybody that's in them are sworn to secrecy on them and you don't often hear too much about them. I don't know if these are because I was reading the story on tsn.com so they're reducing it from 50 to 28 and they got to be in person which leads me to believe that was it secret balloting before now that it's also in person probably a little less likely for people to kind of dig their heels in. Yeah, that's a good question. I know that in the hockey Hall of Fame they have a committee that meets

and it's sworn a secrecy not to discuss, you know, who they voted for, who they didn't vote for, why they voted for them, why they didn't vote for them. And, you know, in my experience, they generally stick to that. I mean, especially in the years close to the vote. You know, maybe years on, you sometimes hear dribs and jobs about what happened, you know, in one particular Hall of Fame selection or another. All right. Let's get to Connor Brown, who's on the line with us right now.

Ford for the New Jersey Devils, formerly the Toronto Maple Leafs. Connor, how's it going? Welcome back on to Overdrive. Yeah, I know. It's going good, guys. How are you guys doing? Yeah, we're doing well. Kind of summer's wrapping up, coming to an end. How'd your summer go? It was good. It always goes by quick. You know, our little man was keeping us very busy. A little time on the lake, family time. It was great, but I'm excited to get going here. So, Connor, you know, you talk about a quick summer. We were just talking about the,

the new format of the NHL season with the newly expanded regular season schedule from 82 to 84 games and the shrunken preseason schedule where a lot of teams are only playing on two nights, split squad, home and homes on two separate nights, a maximum of four preseason games. And most guys, I think veteran players don't have to play more than two. Very, very quick training camp. But what do you think that's going to mean for the NHL this season? I personally like it. I think, you know, I like the quick training camp.

Guys, guys come to camp in shape at this point, you know, and if it's not, it's kind of on you. And, you know, it's up to you to be a professional. And, you know, you get a lot of the good work in practice, you know, whether it's DZone work or battles. And, you know, so I think two preseason games is plenty. You know, the season is long enough. I don't think we need, you know, I think I've played five or six before.

So, you know, two's plenty and, you know, just hit the ground running. And, you know, we had Dylan Strom on the other day, and he was reminding us that another part of the new look, NHL that was negotiated by the players was the end of fitness testing. Oh, yeah. Where are you on? Strover would love that one. Where were you on fitness testing, Brown? Did you like it, hated? Where did you stand on the fitness testing question?

It depends what test. I mean, it put me on a treadmill. I'm pretty good on there. But if you had me bench press, I think I'd come dead last. So it really depended to which test that I was doing. But I think, like I said, it's the same type of thing. You know, you never really seen a guy make a team strictly on a fitness test. You know, the game's played on the ice.

You know, the fitness is really comes from making yourself a better hockey player and also staying healthy. So I think it's great. I mean, like I said, guys are just as prepared. It's not like anyone's coming in full milk bag because there's no fitness testing. I mean, you know, it's going to shine through in your game. So I really like the adjustments that the PAs made. With Connor Brown, we're talking about a little bit earlier in the show,

how there was a big, massive overhaul here in the city of Toronto, new GM coaches, and lots of new players. You know, you guys got some new faces in New Jersey. And I'm curious from a player's perspective. with a GM shift going, you know, from Fitzgerald into Sunny META, like, what's going on in your head when that stuff's going on throughout the summer? Do you ever think about that? Do the players think about, okay, is there going to be, you know,

a coaching change, a philosophy change? Like, well, what's the future here with me? Well, of course, I think like any business, a lot of it comes down from the top down. And so, you know, when you get a new general manager, It's usually a different feel. It's a different feel around the rank. It's a different feel about, you know, what type of game we're going to play,

what type of players we're bringing in, what's expected. So for me, you know, I'm excited. I think we have already, you know, a lot of really great pieces. I think that we've brought in a lot of really highly skilled players, you know, a really deep team. And, you know, me personally, I'm hungry to try to win, obviously, had a taste and was pretty close a few times in Edmonton. So I've been really excited.

the ads that Sonny's made. And, you know, it's still a group that needs to take some steps, and it's one step at a time. But, you know, I have a lot of belief in our team here and, you know, the nucleus that we have and the players that we've added. Connor, Joe from the Bridge, our esteemed technical producer here,

very, very keenly citing that you're wearing the Muscoca hockey hat there. We've been hearing a lot about the Muscoca skates this summer that the number one overall pick, who's now Maple Leaf has been up there. And did you catch any looks at Mr. Gavin McKenna when you were up there skating? And what else did you see? No, I was back in Jersey when I think did that camp up there.

You know, Sam Gagne, who runs that and, you know, the mastermind behind it, Muscoe. I texted him. I said, you're welcome for the free ad. But, you know, it's a fun place to play. obviously we have a place up in Misscoka and it's just an incredible spot to spend the summers and you know Sam's done an incredible job bringing so many good players up there and it's just a you know it's a great place to hang out in the summer and also get better so you know

good for him with Connor Brown formerly the Maple Leafs and when you were here with Toronto Jim Hiller was an assistant with the team just curious you know he's back now with the Maple Leafs Now what can you tell us about him as a coach and in your experience with Jim? I absolutely love Jimmy. He was incredible for me. You know, he really was a personable coach played. I think he really understands the game. You know, obviously that was a very much a different role at the time. You know, you're being an assistant to the forwards and more of a helping hand. And, you know, sometimes Babs will be barking down at me.

and so he'd have to communicate it down and he'd soften the blow. But, you know, Jimmy was great. And, you know, I'm happy to see him land there. I think he's going to do a great job in Toronto. And, you know, they have, you know, Toronto has so many great pieces. So, you know, I'm sure everyone's expected a big bounce back season from them.

How about you, Connor? Obviously, it's, you're deep into your career now. What is this year 12 for you coming up? I mean, when you've gone into this off season, is there anything you kind of were focused on working on, to make yourself the best you can be coming into the new year? Or how do you look at the off-season at this point in your great career? Yeah, I think, you know, early in my career, you know, being a late pick,

I used to live on the ice. You know, I'd kind of, you know, hit the pavement every day. And, you know, now after coming out, you know, two finals runs and, you know, I was lucky enough to play in the world championships last year. So, you know, played a little longer. not as many hours on the ice in the summer. You know, a lot of time focused on the health and a little bit more strategic when I go on the ice,

you know, focus on little things that I think could help me, you know, whether it's shooting or turning or little things that you pick up along the way. So I think it's a little bit more, you know, less just hammering the pavement, a little bit more systematic and analytical about the summers. Well, Connor, really appreciate taking the time out of your day. There's only a couple of free days left until you,

you got to get back out onto the ice. You're back in Jersey skating yet? When do you expect to start ramping it up or have you already? Yeah, yeah. Most of the boys have already rolled into Jersey. I think a lot of guys are excited. So, you know, a few golf games still ahead of me before the season gets going. But, you know, guys are on the ice and working out together.

So, you know, it's always a fun time of year when the boys start rolling in. And so we're excited. You guys got a fantasy football draft coming up at all? It's the situation there in Jersey. Yeah. Yeah, Monday night, Jonathan Kovicevich is our GM, and he's already taken assaulting, and there hasn't been one pick made. So it's always funny.

Like I said, those are the type of things that you love. It's exciting to get back in the room, and you just, you know, the banter and whatnot. So it's an exciting time. Well, Connor, really appreciate it taking the time. I'm hoping for, you know, a good season for you guys. Nice bounce back here for the Devils. And, again, enjoy the rest of your summer, and best of luck next year.

Yeah, no problem. See, boys. Absolutely. Connor Brown of the New Jersey Devils. They've had a lot of turnover, too. Like Toronto, we talk a lot about how much they've kind of overhauled things. You know, they've, they've, you know, and they got a new GM in place. They held on a Sheldon Keith, though, which I find interesting.

But they continue to kind of, you know, they think Sheldon Keith is the guy. But they bring in, well, they bring in Jacob Markstrom in Nett, so they hope that they have the answer there. in goal and they made that Luke Evangelist the trade the other day. Yeah, that was a strange one on both sides.

I mean, evangelist, I mean, I guess it was maybe a little more questionable on the Nashville side where you're getting rid of a 24-year-old

for a couple of draft picks. But, yeah, it's going to be interesting. I mean, you never know when you get a new GM in if your coach is going to last long,

right? because Sonny Mehta is a different dude. And he comes from that Florida Panthers, you know, analytical-minded coaching, or GM tree or, I guess, executive tree under Bill Zito. And, you know, it was a big part of building those Florida Panthers teams that have gone to, you know, three cup finals and won a couple and are very much expected to bounce back this year.

And it's going to be really intriguing to see what he builds in New Jersey. Yeah, we'll see. They traded away Jacob Marchup. He's in Florida, actually. They go with Nico Dawes and Jake Allen in that. Yes. We'll see what that looks like for the devils. All right.

On the other side, we get to our fan duel best bets. Next, here on Overdrive. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pastos survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cute?

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Find out why the Ministry of Labor is wrong and calculate how much you are really owed. Always check with the employment lawyer, Leor Samfiru first at employment lawyer.com. Mail it in Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a site and a drink, and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food.

See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston Pizza. Today's best bets are powered by FanDuel. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fan Dual Sportsbook app. Looking at the J's down in Kansas City tonight. I think Vladdy keeps it rolling. I'm taking Vladdy two plus bases and a run. Two plus bases. Parlay that with one plus run scored.

You can get that at plus 140. Today's best bets powered by Fan Duel. Same game parlay is available for every MLB game on the Fan Duel. Sportsbook app, please pay it responsibly. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Betting on Vladie, eh? Petting on Blatty, yeah. Hasn't been profitable this year.

It's been terrible this year. There's a little bit there on gameplay where we were like, yeah, we should start betting. No, Blattie home runs. You've got to bust out of the funk at some point. Yeah, that was a bad idea. Has it happened. It was a bad idea.

Yeah, it was. It's insane how we're into September. Like, it's now Labor Day weekend. and the guy still doesn't have a home run at home. At home. Like, it's unbelievable. It's inexplicable. Like, I don't know.

What would be more inexplicable to you? The fact that, like, when you look at Austin Matthews in the season that he had, or the season that Blattie's had. I mean, Austin Matthews, I mean, average in 30 goals over a couple of seasons, 33 and 27. Like, that's like half your production at your height, right? Or close to it. Yeah. ballpark. You know, you were a 60 goal, 69 goal at your height. So you're getting 30-ish.

That's half. I mean, Vladdy's at 8, right? I mean, at his height, he had 48. 48, yeah. So, like, he's, like, one-sixth of his height. And he doesn't have the injury excuse. He doesn't have the injury excuse, and, you know, exactly. New manager, right? And by the way, by the way, he just got paid. He's a $500 million player. Yeah. So that's the other thing that has to, you talk about, you. Do you feel bad betting on Vladdy tonight with your

Fandual best bets? How does Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins feel about betting $500 million on this guy given what they're seeing right now? Not as great. Not as great, that's for sure. This is a long-term deal. And let's hope that this is the anomaly season, right? The problem is, like, there was a clear hesitation to pay this man.

A clear hesitation. And the reasons were, like, what happens if this is the anomaly season? season. Like we saw that 48 home run year. Or last year we had a really good OPS and the year before that, like that's kind of the struggles that you have if you're Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Or if you're at the front office thinking like, all right, what is this guy? Because at his height, I think he's worth it. Like, at his height when he's playing at his best, he is one of the top three to five hitters in all of baseball, right? But we haven't seen that at all this year. Yeah. Not at all.

When he's out hitting Aaron, Judge, in the playoffs and he's out hitting show hell tony in the playoffs yeah he's worth whatever you want to pay him but that guy hasn't shown up in the regular season this year since uh since may first was a pretty big sample size 25% below league average hitter Vladimir grow junior hats was 75 w rc plus but but dave the new horizon is coming post labor day is it starting to reheat up a little bit with the guardian series couple hard hit baseball Even Keegan was saying, looked like you had a little swag back in his game,

fist pumping a big long line, a big fly out to get the base runner in on a sack fly, pimper to walk. He's starting to get a swag back. Maybe that's a sign of things to come. He's a fall baseball player. He is. He proved that last year, right?

That's a thing. I mean, if this team, if they can continue to pitch the way that they have, whether it's the bullpen, the starting rotation, and if they can continue to get the contributions from Brett, Bateman, maybe Nathan Lucas comes up big one night, Alejandro Kirk, George Spring. They take turns. You can get that bladdy character to get going.

Buckle up. Changes everything. It changes, absolutely. Changes everything. All right, Dave, it was fun this last couple of days. It was a lot of fun. Thank you to letting us into your homes for the last few days and listening. Thanks to the boys behind the glass.

You guys did great all summer long. But on Tuesday, the boys are back. The boys are back. The original three amigos will be back. That'll be 4 p.m. They'll chat then. Rock Legends, Rush, live in Vancouver for the final 50-something tour stop. And you could be there on an IHart Radio epic rock adventure. Premium tickets, $1,000 spending cash.

Plus, flights and hotel from tripcentral.ca, the smarter way to book travel. For your chance to win, stream Made in Canada on the IHard radio app for at least 10 minutes a day. Rush, live in Vancouver. The day you listen is another chance to win.