Halford & Brough in the Morning - All The Canucks Need Are Three Top 6 Forwards

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

In hour two, Jason Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd discuss how the Canucks can get bigger, faster, and more skilled in their top six forward group this off-season (3:00), plus they talk some 'Nucks and BC Lions with commentator Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (26:16).  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Welcome back to Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd filling in for Halford here on a Fiesta Friday. Halford & Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first entrusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit sans-trustee.com this hour, brought to you by jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around

to find the perfect mortgage for you. That's jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio Kintec. Yeepa. Footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Now joining us on the show from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. And as a reminder, we're giving away a hundred dollar gift card to AJ's Pizza for the best what we learned or ask us anything. Submission today and now joining us on the line. He He is AJ AJ. What's going on, man? What's going on?

So it's Friday. How for it's playing hooky. Mm-hmm. Yeah Yeah, I actually don't think he's playing hooky. I do not think he is well Hey, I got an a you a few guys, okay, all right, so He's not. Hey, I got an AOA for you guys. Okay. All right. So who's has a better chance of coming back? And I'm going to ask you to. So in the NHL down O2 and then in the NBA download. Okay. So I would say Florida in the NHL because they're going home, right? Vegas has lost two home games already. So Florida at least has the chance to even up the series at home.

And then in the NBA, I mean, I guess it's gotta be the Celtics. I know they lost two games at home, but you still gotta think they have the, the talent edge over the Knicks. What about Cleveland? Cleveland over the Pacers. Yeah, I don't believe that. I guess they lost their first two at home though. I don't believe in Cleveland as much as I believe in the Celtics.

Really? Just cause the Celtics have proven it. Yeah. Yeah. Cleveland all year has been like, how are these guys doing it? Exactly. Yeah. I don't believe in Cleveland as much as I believe in the Celtics. Really? Just because the Celtics have proven it? Yeah. Yeah. Cleveland all year has been like, how are these guys doing it? Exactly. Yeah.

What about you, AJ? What do you think? I mean, I think the Panthers for sure. I think the Knights are cooked. I mean, Edmonton does look good. I mean, I hate to say it, but they do. And then obviously I'll be cheering for my Knicks, but with you, the Celtics can definitely come back for my Knicks, but I'm with you.

The Celtics can definitely come back. I didn't understand Cleveland all year as well. Hey AJ, what's it like being a Knicks fan? We don't talk about the Knicks much, but we were mentioning them the other day and we were like, man, the last time they went past the second round was like, it was like 2000, wasn't it? It was like Jeff Van Gundy was still the head coach. Right.

Right. It's just been so irrelevant. It's, they become like a hard team to cheer for. Now, I, you know, yeah, when your team is not good, you know, I get to, I get to just zone out and go to another sport, but I'm excited for them and I'm excited. I got a bunch of buddies who are huge Enix fans in Brooklyn, so I'll be cheering for them. No doubt. AJ Stanley Cup playoffs, NBA playoffs, I bet it's gonna be a busy weekend at the shop.

And then, yes, and of course, hey, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. And if you win the $100 GC, you can take your mom out for dinner. Fantastic, perfect. AJ, thanks for doing this, have a fantastic weekend. Take care, everybody enjoy. That is AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway in Vancouver,

and again, $100 gift card on the line. And yeah, what better way to say thank you to your mom than treating her to some pizza at AJ's on Mother's Day. Um, let's go through a couple other things, uh, in the NHL. Um, they did their end of season, uh, press conference in New Jersey. And, um, sounds like there's going to be some significant changes with the New Jersey Devils. Now, I don't know if they're going to be trading

Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes to Vancouver, but I really am curious to see what happens there because it doesn't sound like their general manager was very pleased with how things went, even though he knew that Jack Hughes wasn't available for the playoffs. Yeah. And I mean, he was very upfront.

Tom Fitzgerald just saying, yeah, there's going to be changes. We're not coming back with the same team because what we had wasn't good enough. So we are not doing the run it back thing. We're not playing the injury excuse with Jack Hughes. There's going to be changes. It is interesting. You start to look, especially upfront, okay, like where are these significant changes going to come from? All of their UFAs are, you know, okay, like where are these significant changes

going to come from? All of their UFAs are, you know, bottom of the lineup guys, right? Like I think the most significant one is Thomas Tatar, who's 34. And I don't think they're trading Jack Hughes as much as Canucks fans might want to hear otherwise. I don't think they're trading Nico Heesher. Timo Meyer has a full no trade. So a lot of their top of the lineup guys is like, I don't think that makes a lot of sense. Yes, we're brought. I no trade. So a lot of their top of the lineup guys is like, I don't think that makes a lot of sense. Yes, we're brought. I know there's been a lot of frustration

with Andre Pallott there and he's getting older. Do they try to find a way to get off that contract? But there's no obvious like, oh, that's the piece they need to move to me anyways. I got a question for you. Where do you stand on the necessity to have size in your forward group? I think it's important.

I think it's very important now. Cause that's the thing in New Jersey. Yes. I think the question of, can you win with Jack Hughes as your number one center? Yeah, I think you can. Yeah. But you have to put the right type of group around it. You have to have that balance at some point, you know?

And I think it's how many times have we talked about, right? It's not just about, oh, we're going to get this big, this big fighter for our fourth line and he's going to play eight minutes. That's not, that has nothing to do with it. You need the guys. It has to be part of your core. Who are going to be on the ice in the big moments.

Yeah. Yeah, Timo Meyer is a big, big guy. Like he's not small. So I get the need to add size. I don't think having Jack Hughes and Jesper Brott in your top six is like a fatal flaw. I think you can work around that. So a guy like Connor Garland, I don't think anyone would suggest that Connor Garland is soft.

Nope. He, I don't know if you know, you wouldn't say like he plays a big game because he plays a small game. He takes advantage of being small and having a lower center of gravity. And that's why he wins a lot of puck battles. Could you win if all your guys were wired like Connor Garland, but they weren't big? I think there's something to that. Yeah. Right.

Because ultimately like being big, it's a means to an end. It's not an end itself. Right. And what does it let you do? Yeah. One of the things that lets you do is win puck battles. OK, well, Connor Garland does that. Another thing to let you do get close to the net, get to the dirty areas

in front of the net to score goals. Connor Garland does that. Right. So I think we always have to remember that it's not just about, oh, he threw the big hit and he intimidated the other team. Having size, having strength lets you do specific things to help your team score goals on the ice. There are other ways to accomplish those, which Connor Garland has, I think a Jonathan Marchesot, right? Yeah.

Con Smythe winner. Right. By the way, I think Vegas misses that guy. Yeah. He's not a big guy at all. And, but he has, as people like to say that dog in him, he goes to those areas, he finds a way to be successful. This moth is driving me insane by the way, that's flying around.

There we go. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so I think like, is it hard to find, you know, a top six of all Connor Garland-sized guys? Yeah, I mean, it's more just, but I know there was a conversation about- This is one of those internet things

where it's like, with 100 Connor Garland-sized. Right? Yeah. That is a good question we should explore further. Yeah, but I know there's been some conversation in Vancouver around a guy like Marco Rossi. Yeah. Who is not the biggest guy, but I don't

think he's a skinny dude. He, you know, there's questions about his skating and that might actually be the biggest impediment for the Canucks who are probably going to move on from Brock Besser, although they might circle back on that and probably going to move on from Pugh Suter. And you've made the point a few times, like, and I too wonder if, you know how they just always

felt like the Canucks didn't love Besser? Yup. They just didn't, maybe they just want more speed in their lineup. Why would they move on from suitor though? Cuz he's even slower than better. Oh just it's all about because I don't think that's the only reason center though But he's going to also get a big a huge increase right a huge race. Mm-hmm Where does he slot in?

Where does he slot in? He's your one seed. Wow That's a problem if he's your one seed. As much as I loved what Pew suitor did this year, the Canucks are going to be chasing a top six centre. So I don't know if they're going to be successful, but in their minds, they've slotted in a new top six centre. If you keep Pedersen as well, there's your top six centres. Then where does Heidel fit in?

Yeah. And then, so where is, if you re-sign Suter, are you re-signing him as a center or a winger or kind of both, right? And I don't know if there's enough value in Pugh Suter, if you don't even know where he slots in your lineup. You love Pugh Souter as the super utility guy

who starts in the bottom six but can move up wherever. Once you're paying him a number where you feel compelled, right, where it's like, it flips, where it's like, oh, that seller is okay in our third line, too, ooh boy, you don't like that on your third line, right? Yeah. And that's the area where Pugh Souter is getting to. And then you're like, okay, second line center

or second line left winger. And all of a sudden the value of having this guy who can move around wherever and fill all these spots in your lineup, it's totally diminished because he's locked into the high profile role in your top six. So I just want to recap for the Canucks top six for next season, thinking about additions, you want to add some more talent because obviously to be in the top six, you need to be talented. You'd like a little more speed because the top

six hasn't been fast enough. And I think it's a little, I don't want to use the word soft, but it's, well, it's soft right now. And I think they could use some more size and some nastiness in the top six because I think Dakota Joshua, you know, he's big and somewhat tough but he's probably a better third line guy, right? And I think Garland's a better third line guy

for that matter too. So all they need to add is two or three guys that bring a significant element of talent, speed, and size. All right, no problem. Right, and they don't, by the way, they don't like the players in free agency in the unrestricted list. And they're probably not on the top of their lists

of those players. Yeah, exactly, right? Because they've admitted, it's like, we're not often the top teams. We're not a destination. We're not a destination. Thank you for putting that out there, Jim Rutherford. We're not a destination. Thank you for putting that out there, Jim Rutherford.

And they don't have a lot in terms of assets to trade with. You don't want to take your good players off the roster, but you also don't have a ton of prospects and you're kind of hesitant to trade those prospects because you don't have many prospects. And I don't know, I guess you'd be able to trade your first round draft pick, but it's 15th overall. So I don't even know how much value and, and frankly, the connects can't be afforded to, can't afford to be trading away all these first round picks that they have in the last

few years. So, um, uh, good luck. Yeah. It's an easy job. No problem. Right? It's all going to work and then it's going to convince Queen Hughes to stay cause it's going to work so well. That's the other part of it. So, okay you laid out they need the skill

They need the speed they need the size. Yes in the top six and I'm not talking about like bottom six I mean you need it you look at look at look Kachak and you know Barcov's a big dude like, you know the you just need these types of players ranting it. What of those three elements? What's the priority for you? Right. Cause you're not getting three, four words. Who has to check all boxes. Start with talent.

Yeah. It's skill. Yeah. And I get people push back. Well, what's the point of getting, you know, small scale, you're not going to get anywhere in the playoffs. The, can these guys win in the playoffs conversation? Like that only becomes relevant once you're consistently getting to the playoffs. Yeah. You can have that debate. You can have that

concern once you're a consistent playoff team teams that are on the outside of the looking outside of the playoffs looking in. I don't think it makes any sense to be like we're not interested in these talented players because we're not sure they were able to get it done in the conference finals. It's like, well, why don't you try getting there first? Why don't you try having an 105 point season first with these players? Then we can go from there. If they're not consistent playoff performers, I think it just absolutely has to start with skill. That has to be the priority. That's why Marco Rossi interests me. And I don't know enough about Rossi's game.

Like maybe either do I don't know enough. I like the skill profile, but I don't know if he, if he has that kind kind of Connor Connor Garland element as a smaller player, right? Or Jonathan March. So where you say yeah, he's small but he'll have no problems in the playoffs maybe he will maybe will have problems in the playoffs, but At least give yourself a shot to get there, right? Then you have options then you can go in different directions But it has to start with that skill element Should we do some ask us anything? Let's do it.

Six fifty six fifty is the Dunbar Lumber Tax Line, so you can send your ask us anything's in. And as a reminder, we're giving away a hundred dollar gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway for the best. Either ask us anything or what we learned. This one came in from Melissa in a helicopter. Ask us anything. You are guaranteed to win the 80 million dollar tonight I guess I haven't heard about this but apparently there's an 80 million dollar lottery draw happening tonight but you have to bet it all on one sporting event this weekend to keep it who do you place your

money on I love this question my very first thought I went to the world of European soccer because I was trying to think where do you get the biggest mismatches I want the absolute shortest odds possible I want no spice to this whatsoever I want the least stressful viewing betting experience possible for my 80 million dollars so I was looking around I looked at La Liga and I was like maybe Barcelona is playing like the worst team in the Liga and they're hosting them Unfortunately, they're playing Real Madrid. Ah, dang it turn but Bayern Munich

Hosting Borussia Muchen Gladbach. Okay in the Bundesliga. They are minus 700 favorites Now I know you go on the betting sites and they have like hey, here's what's going on in whatever, like, you know, the second division, uh, Thailand soccer league. And maybe there's a crazy spread there or something, but of teams that I've heard of, I don't think I'm finding better odds than Bayern Munich minus 700 at home this week. So that's who I'm putting my money on. I'm riding. Melissa should have clarified that it can't be like minus 10,000 or something like that. But where are you going to find that?

Like good luck finding minus 10,000. You know what I mean? I'd like to live if I'm going to bet $80 million. You're taking a dog. No, I might, you know, it would be an interesting bet though. Celtics at the Knicks. Can anyone think, can anyone imagine that the Celtics are going to go down three nothing in their series to the Knicks. Can anyone imagine that the Celtics are going to go down three nothing in their series to the Knicks?

The problem is... They're five and a half point favorites at New York. You man, that's nowhere near enough to get me to lay $80 million on the Celtics. And you know you're just gonna... But you have another $80 million. Don't you? You're already quite rich. Oh yeah, I'm wealthy. I just do this for fun. I love getting up at five in the morning. You're going to be sitting there watching the Celtics like brick their first 15 threes. You know what I mean?

You're gonna be like, well, see you guys. It's over for me. I made, I've made a horrible mistake. This is the last time you screw me Boston. The last time. Ask us anything. We always get things like this. Would you allow Leafs or Oilulers winning the cup this year if it also means the Canucks win in the next 10 years? I, again, the way I answer these is no, first of all, because I don't want a guarantee

of what the Canucks are gonna do. Like I don't want it. Right. Like don't, you can't just be like, okay, well those are gonna win, but don't worry, the Canucks are gonna win do. Like I don't want it. Like don't, you can't just be like, okay, well, those are going to win, but don't worry. The Canucks are going to win in the next 10 years. Cause you want the drama. What's the fun in that?

Yeah. What's the fun? I mean, I mean, you think about big bets as Canucks fans. We're like, our bet is that the Canucks will win the cup while we're still alive. Yeah. That's the bet we've made. We've literally bet our lives.

Not looking great. On this team. Why else are we following it? Yeah, of course. Ultimately, I know it's all about the journey along the way, right? But ultimately we hope the result is at some point the Canucks winning the Cup.

I wonder if it's gonna go down to the wire with me. You're like, wow, I didn't think it was gonna be this tight, but I started to look at it. We get texts in like that all the time, by the way, of people being like, I never thought, I never allowed myself to have that thought, but now I'm getting older and it's happening, and now I'm like, I don't know.

My daughter has asked me, she's like, have the connects ever won? I'm like, no, and she's like, do you think they will? I'm like, I hope they do in your lifetime. Yeah. You're seven. Right. You've got a fresh start.

You've got lots of road to run here. With our diets too. I mean. Our lifestyles in general. By the way. It's not looking good. By the way, I had fish and chips the other day and I thought of you immediately.

I was at. Oh yeah, so nice light meal. I was at Cardero's and I was like, what the hell? I had two piece fish and chips and a Coke. Let's go. And- Chasing down with a shepherd's pie perhaps? I was halfway through and I'm like, I'm starting to feel sluggish.

I'm starting to like, this is tough. And I just went back to you saying, I think of fish and chips as more of a light meal. It is still- Still bothers you, still haunts you? The wildest thing. See, for years I thought, well, Dodd is the normal one between Drance and Dodd, right? Drance, like, hmm.

But when you said that, it just made me think, it didn't make me think, well, maybe Drance is the normal one. No, of course not. It didn't go that far. There is no normal. So, Don, what's a heavy meal? You are a machine, my friend. If you can call fish and chips a light meal.

I was, I had this meal for lunch, and then the rest of the day it was with me. You know what's funny? Like it affected Everything in my life. I like I was gonna go for a walk your soul. I'm not now I think this is shit for here this I can barely have conversations with people had so much brain fog Don what is that? For you the same day of that show later on for lunch I went to Popeyes and had like a big fried chicken sandwich

and fries and a Coke and I was sitting there eating it and I was like I'm bang on this isn't I didn't feel great after I didn't feel bad at all I want that I want that please expand I want to know Dodd what is a heavy meal for you? Heavy meal so you feel full after Thanksgiving dinner? Yeah I feel full after Thanksgiving dinner for Yeah, I feel like thanksgiving dinner for sure Christmas dinner because I eat a lot right at those Right. So the the turkey stuffing I would find it's more for me about like Rich, you know, like there's a difference between like fish and chips to me is not rich Mm-hmm, and maybe that sounds even crazier to people but when I feel the most is like a big

Not necessarily a steak But like you know you go to a if you're at a fancy restaurant and you get like a pork dish or something It's got a heavy sauce mm-hmm. That's when I feel it most okay I would say like a large be like a Large cut of meat with a heavy sauce so your kryptonite night is the sauce then yeah, I think so Sauce more than the fish not meat and tartar sauce not a thing? I'm not a big tartar sauce guy. Oh, so you don't use tartar sauce. Oh, that's part of it. Yeah. I'm not a user. I don't use the tartar sauce. So okay, so if we douse the fish and chips in a heavy-

Well, maybe that would be different.... some heavy sauce, then it might change. I'm more of like a vinegar guy on the fish and chips. Oh, okay. Okay, so since we're all basically admitting we have awful diets, he mentioned Popeyes. I was like, oh, I went to Popeyes the other day. Here's a question I have for you guys. Is fried chicken better after it goes a little cold? Oh, good call. Yeah, I like cold fried chicken.

Because I was like, I'm going to dine in at Popeyes. I love the ambiance. I take my phone out and I kind of took. Can you speak about the fireplace? I get it. I took one bite of the chicken and I'm like, and I now need to go to the hospital because my mouth is burning.

So I packed it all up and I took it home and I put it in the fridge for like half an hour. And then I was able to eat it in peace. Like that is, I think it's a weakness in fried chicken. If you're eating it there, it's too hot. If it's coming right out of the deep fryer. I think they both have their own. Yeah.

They're in their own way. I don't know about too hot. Like we have some- It's too hot, man. If it's coming right out of the deep fryer. I know I've said this before, but we have some amazing fried chicken, like Korean fried chicken places in the West End. There's like two or three that are awesome.

So we'll get it, we'll eat it not a lot but pretty regularly and If you let it yeah, four or five times a week Yeah, you know several times a day if you let it cool for about 20 minutes still still quite warm, but not like yeah I don't know what taking it home. It may be like a five minute grace period, but it's 20 just let it sit there am I I the only person here? No, I feel you. Because it's also, you're not just like, it's not just like the meat is hot. There's like grease and everything in there.

Yeah, you can enjoy it more. Yeah, I gotta be really careful, because I always get clipped here. There's gotta be a happy medium between scalding your mouth off and hot. Yes. Come on, just blow on it for 10 seconds. The Popeyes on main is quite nice by the way if you're really looking if you're really looking for ambiance so you know what are the church's chicken on it's

not a bad bargain no it's not it's not a bad bargain Popeyes sponsor our show yeah honestly it's good and doesn't leave you feeling too heavy yeah well nice light snack okay for you have you guys been to the Taco Bell on gravel yet? Okay, we're not doing this Taco Bell is junk no way it is Delicious you know what like that is the finest in Mexico. I don't consider myself to have a good diet But I draw the line at Taco Bell. You you know you're not getting an amazing meal my Bell just need to embrace it my favorite Place that we don't have in Canada is Jack in the box

On downhill no no no I totally disagree it has gone My yes my friend and look at the stock price. There's a reason it's it has gone totally downhill I went to play golf last summer and there's a there's a I'm very passionate about this. Okay, there's a jack-in-the-box Pretty soon after you pass the border. Yes, I went in there horrible just horrible. They screwed up the sourdough Jack I was heartbreaking. I was first of all, I was the only person in there and I was And I was like I was like who is I was the only person in there and I was I was eating this and I was like I was like I who is the CEO of this place. I have time to send an email right now. What have you? Yeah, he's got he's the dear. Yeah

Yeah, he's got the suspenders on and stuff Looking at you it's anyway, okay. I had last summer. I had one of the best fast food burgers I've ever had from Jack in the Box. This is devastating That's like a ritual for me every time I was in Washington State. I didn't up the jacket What I didn't feel the love in there either. I was like where's the passion? For the European Canadian my sourdough Jack very sad. Okay, we're gonna take a break here enough We need to talk although I say I say enough food talk, but then the Moj is coming on next So there's going to be a lot of more food talk Absolutely, by the way, we always get the most texts when we talk

about food well that and Pettersson. Yeah we somehow have to combine the two. What is Pettersson's favorite meal do you think? Petty would like fish and chips? Light meal for him? All right the Moj. Is Petty a big talkable guy? Bob the Moj Marjanovic next year on Alfred and Brough Sportsnet 650. Hey it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Yes, it's the Moj. I don't want to go to Winnipeg. Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food. It's the Moj.

I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalani. Yes, it's the Moj. Halperd's fine, but you know, Bruff is just grumpy all the time. Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj All right, welcome back to Halford and a Bruff Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd here in for Halford. Halford and a Bruff brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sans-trustee.com.

This hour brought to you by Jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. That's Jason.mortgage. Mo's is on the line but quickly it's time for one to watch brought to you by Delaney's okay tire and of course I'm going to Miko Ranjan in two straight hat tricks in his last two playoff games one to eliminate the Avs one to help the Stars take a one-nothing series lead on Winnipeg

can he keep it up? I'm not expecting a hat-trick every game, but he's been a force of nature. Can he continue to dominate and help the Stars take the 2-0 lead over the Jets? That's what I'm watching tonight in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's one to watch. Brought to you by Delaney's OK Tire. It's time to put on your Toyo tires. Whether you drive a car, light truck, or van, Toyo tires are designed to perform in all kinds of conditions visit Delaney's okay tire in Langley and Alder Grove and we now go to the hotline powered by Power West Industries where

we are joined by Bob the Moj Marjanovic what's going on Moj? Good morning counselor good morning bruh all right let's get rolling here number one Taco Bell is disgusting I wouldn't share share you. Number two, Jack in the Box. Ten years ago, awesome. It's gone downhill. You want to bring an American brand in, bring in, in and out. Shake Shack. So many other options. Number three, fried chicken is good anytime. Yeah, you're right. You got to be dangerous. It's a little danger if it's too hot. You might burn the top of your mouth, as Bruff said. So like, I mean, you're right. You gotta be dangerous. It's a little danger if it's too hot, you might burn the top of your mouth, as Bruv said. So like, I mean, you start talking about food,

you start talking about Taco Bell, and by the way, fish and chips. Yeah, you gotta be careful with fish and chips. The one thing though I agree with the counselor, sauces will kill you. Like, you can like, you can have whatever meal you want, but if you start putting that sauce on it, forget it. And for me, one of the things that really weighs me down

Like I have like four or five pizza slices of pizza lunch. I'm done for the day totally disagree I can I there are times where I feel like they're light snack for I feel like I got here I could eat an infinite amount of pizza Sometimes well, it's so good 23. What do you? Sometimes. Well, Dodd, you're like 23. What do you- I wish, Moj. I wish.

Dodd's got a hollow leg. Like, I don't know what's going on here. It's crazy what's going on. Hey, Moj, I know this wasn't in your prep notes, but I do want to get your thoughts on this. There's a report out there that Bill Belichick's 24 year old girlfriend has been banned from the University of North Carolina. It doesn't sound like Bill's family is very happy with his choice in girlfriend.

What do you think is going on right now and do you think if his girlfriend gets banned from the University of North Carolina, is he going to be coaching there this year? Man, it's how bizarre is it? I mean, she's younger than I believe a couple of his kids if I'm not mistaken. Right. So, I mean, it's just, it's just a weird situation for her to get banned from the, I don't know the details, but clearly I'm thinking it was probably some way she'd, you know, interacted with someone, um, to get to that point, but what are you, what are you thinking, Bill?

You know, they say it's a fine line between a genius and insanity. I mean, I know what he's thinking. I know what he's thinking. No, come on. No, no, no, no. I I'm passing on that. Like that's young enough to be your grandchild. Right? No, no. It's, it's, it's creepy. I'm sorry. Like, no.

Well, and like Bill, since when does Bill Belichick need someone to like step in and interviews for him? You know, he's how long has he spent handling the media and Hey, he can deflect questions when he wants to. He can shut down questions when he wants to, he's really good at that. Why does he need someone who as you say is almost 50 years younger than him to step in and shield him from questions? It just looks totally bizarre. Guys, I have no answers. Like I said, I'm perplexed. I mean, think about it. 50 years younger than you, right?

It's no, it's just. And running his show. It creeps me out. And running his show. Yeah. It's just, it's creepy. It's something's not right. I'm sorry.

Something is definitely not right. That's the statement of the year. I saw, I saw you were on the social medias yesterday, tweeting out about Rick Tauket. You might have been the first person I've seen that confirmed that Philly actually is interested in Tauket. What are you hearing here?

Well, I've heard Philadelphia and Seattle have, how would we put it, expressed the highest level of commitment possible, right? So you can do the math on that. All right. And Boston is in the mix now. I think Rick's doing TNT tonight, if I'm not mistaken. And I think after the TNT engagement,

he'll probably have some sort of sit down with the Bruins who I think want to bring them in. So for that conversation, but I know pretty certain that Philadelphia and Seattle have like I said expressed the highest level of commitment possible so it's out there I mean Seattle you know we talked about that I tweeted about this a couple of weeks ago when the job became open because obviously there's a Pittsburgh connection there for talk it with Ron

Francis being a former teammate with the Penguins and of course, Jason Boderil being in the front office when Rick was an assistant coach there. So, but it would be interesting if you took the Seattle job, wouldn't it? Yeah. You know, he talked about the.

Really interesting. And we might actually have a rivalry with those guys. It's in the fact, you know, um, you, you want to go back East and be closer to his family. His kid used to live, he had a son that was living in Seattle, but I believe his son is living in Nashville now. So that doesn't come into play anymore.

But yeah, that to me would be so ironic if he took that Seattle job. And it's funny, I was talking to somebody within the organization the other day on an unrelated matter. And they were just talking about how much fun it is working for the Kraken and working for Todd, like Wiki and working for Victor to bonus, a couple of former Vancouver people. And they were just, you know, raving about, you know,

just the feeling within the organization. Okay. Yeah, they've had their issues on the ice, but in terms of what they have going on off the ice and in the front office, you know, they love the ownership group down there. I mean Todd Lloyd-Wiki is a legend in Seattle, obviously with the Seahawks for many years and we all know him, while some of us know him from his time in Vancouver when it was the work of A Sports and Entertainment back in the day and obviously had some time in the NFL as well. He's probably one of the most likable people that you'll meet and one

of those people that always kind of remembers who you are and you know, if you need a favor, he'll, uh, he'll be there for you. I'm not saying talk would be this thing, but is there a, is there a sense in Seattle that they need to do something to really grab some headlines because I don't know what's really been interesting about the Seattle Kraken since they entered the league.

Yeah. And you know, I heard you guys talking about this the other day. I think one of the things that really wasn't fair for the Kraken was, you know, always being compared to the Las Vegas, or pardon me, the Vegas Golden Knights. Um, Vegas came in and George McVie and

company totally exploited, um exploited the way the rules were were laid down and obviously benefited their team and they got off to such a great start and you know I think NHL general managers kind of learned a little bit more about that this time around and weren't as generous I guess in terms of dealing with the Kraken but you, but you know, they have to do something. It's such a competitive market. I mean, you look at the Mariners, you look at the Seahawks and you know, I think a lot of, hey, even

the Sounders, right? I mean, they, they draw pretty good numbers and, but you know, I think one of the other things that really comes into play that as Canadians, we really don't think about that much as the collegiate sports with University of Washington, right? It's a basketball team and their football team. It's huge.

Well, not so much the basketball team, but their football team for sure. Yeah, when they're doing well, but you know, those are still elements that are in the market, right? And you have to do something to distinguish yourself from those teams. Now, clearly the event, the game experience,

you're doing a great job at, but that only takes you so far. You have to have, you know, your team do well to develop that real passionate fan base, you have to get them emotionally attached. And you don't do that by having the game just as an event. You have that by producing a winning, a winning club. I think Husky football is number two in the market behind the Seahawks. Yeah.

Without a doubt. I wouldn't doubt that at all. I mean, Husky football to me is bigger than Mariner baseball. football is number two in the market behind the Seahawks. Yeah. Without a doubt. I wouldn't doubt that at all. I mean, Husky football to me is bigger than Mariner baseball. I mean, you know, if you talk to people from Seattle, you know, obviously we've dealt with the infrared a lot over the years, but a Husky

football over Mariner baseball, I'd take the Husky football team over the Mariner's. What did you make of the news out of Canucks ownership that Paolo is no longer part of the group? Well, something that, you know, has been kicking around for a while, I actually wrote about this of probably about three weeks ago in my column for black press, where I talked about, um,

fundamental, uh, fundamental changes at the organizational level. And this was one of them. I mean, it's been out there for a while. I know Patrick Johnson from the province kind of expanded on it, but there's obviously a situation where Paolo Aquilini has been estranged from the hockey club, I guess.

And he is looking to get out of not only the team, but I believe all of the Aquilini business properties are, you know, business interests. So if they're gonna to write them a check, man, that's, that's going to be a rather rather large check, right? So you wonder how this is impacting the team behind the scenes. I mean, there've been rumblings that they might be for sale. I mean, Nick Kiprios talked about this a while ago.

I know you guys had them on. Um, so it's, it's going to be interesting to see how this impacts the hockey club because clearly everything starts at the top. You know, you look at any successful team, it starts at the top and having stability with ownership and having good ownership and right now you wonder where that stability is. Yeah, I wonder if they're going to have to bring in some minority investors. Yeah, possibly. It wouldn't surprise me if they do. to have to bring in some minority investors. Yeah, possibly. It wouldn't surprise me if they do. It wouldn't surprise me at all.

Okay. Let's get to the Stanley Cup playoffs. I know you wanted to talk about galvanizing moments. And when I think about galvanizing moments, unfortunately, I think of Alex Burroughs scoring in game seven of 2011, and ultimately that didn't mean a Stanley Cup I think about galvanizing moments, unfortunately, I think of Alex Burroughs scoring in game seven of 2011 and ultimately that didn't mean a Stanley Cup for the Vancouver Canucks, but the Boston Bruins had their own share of galvanizing moments throughout that run, including surviving

the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. I think there was a galvanizing moment in the Stanley Cup final when Nathan Horton was run over by Aaron Rome. Um, can you think of any galvanizing moments that could, uh, that could maybe, um, lead Edmonton, Winnipeg, Dallas, or Toronto to a Stanley Cup final? That's the thing.

I mean, usually during a playoff run, you'll see a team go through some adversity and come out of it. Last year, you look at Florida, they were down two, one. They'd lost two games in overtime to the Rangers in their series and they went into overtime again for the third consecutive game. If they lose that game, they're down 3-1 in the series. You can kiss, you know, kiss that series goodbye probably, but they win it, they tie up the series in overtime, and then they go on to win the Stanley Cup every year You look back at a team and there's something that occurs that you kind of go. Wow, this is when you know, they came together I mean for you know

If you're old enough, you can remember the 94 connects winning three straight games against Calgary over time Facing elimination each single time and they go on to play the the Rangers and the cup finals that year But look at this year. I mean, there's been so many times I'm kind of going, wow, that could be the type of thing that catapults a team on a long and successful run. You look at Dallas being down against Colorado, two nothing in the third period of their deciding game. You look at St. Louis, or probably Winnipeg,

scoring two goals against St. Louis in the final minute of their game. I mean, you look at Edmonton being down two nothing against Los Angeles on the mat and coming back to win the series against the Kings. There's so many of those moments that are out there right now. You're kind of going, well, take your pick because you know, maybe it's one of these teams that goes on and wins the Stanley Cup and that'll be a huge moment for him. Moja BC Lions training camp underway right now. What are you watching out for at the Lions training camp?

Yeah. Heading up to Kamloops today, going to be up there for the next couple of weeks covering the team. So, um, it's going to be a lot of fun. I, uh, you know, just being around the facility the last couple of weeks or so and talking to players and talking to coaches, there's so much enthusiasm. Everybody's ready to go. And it all starts with Nathan Rourke. And it was interesting because, um, Nathan met with the media at an availability session earlier this week, I should say. And when I saw him, he just looked refreshed. He looked rejuvenated. He

just looked like the weight of the world had gotten off his shoulders. It was such a difficult situation last year when he came in. Clearly, I mean, you know, Vernon Adams Jr. was there. Nathan was there. It was Vernon Adams Jr. team. And I think Nathan kind of felt uncomfortable trying to be himself. Plus he'd come off that NFL experience as well. And just looking at him, he looks like being that Nathan that just went out and had fun before. And hopefully I think that's a great sign for the BC Lions and hopefully it translates to what we see on the field.

But yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. There are gonna be a lot of changes. I think when I look at a secondary, to me that's probably one of the biggest areas where you're gonna see some new faces on defense. You know, you talk about that nickel linebacker, Tyler Coyle is gonna be one of the guys that's gonna be auditioned there.

And then at defensive halfback, he got two openings. Um, it's going to be interesting to see what they do in the offensive line, cause there's going to be some new faces there. There are going to be a couple of positional battles. So I'm looking forward to getting up to Kamloops and seeing what this team, you know, it's about in the next couple of weeks. Hey Moj, when, when there were some bad feelings from

some of the players about how it all went down with Vernon Adams and Nathan Rourke last season. Um, who was the bad guy? Who did the players blame for the situation? They couldn't blame Nathan, could they? No, no, I don't think there was necessarily a bad guy. I just think it was the situation they weren't happy with. Right.

Mm-hmm. Um, you look at it from the business aspect, I mean, clearly, you know, Nathan, even from an X's and O's aspect, Nathan is your guy, right? I mean, he's the guy, he's the face of your franchise. You can build around Nathan for the next few years. You know, if you ask evaluators,

Nathan's the better quarterback. But it was just, Vernon Adams was so well liked, so many of his teammates loved him, and to see Nathan come in in that situation, it was just uncomfortable. It wasn't a dislike for Nathan, I think it was just more of a dislike for the situation, right? And you really couldn't blame management because they're trying to make the football team better, especially when you're talking long-term. So I don't know if there was necessarily a bad guy.

And I don't think people, you know, players looked at Nathan and thought he was the bad guy. I think it was just the situation. So, but is it, do you think it's something they're going to have to address either directly or indirectly at camp. And there's a new head coach in Buck Pierce and Nathan Rourke is the, he's the man, he's the guy.

Uh, Vernon Adams no longer with the organization. He's in Calgary now. Um, is that something they, like, are they going to have to do some trust fall exercises or team building? Cause you just want to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Yeah, I think everybody is on the same page. I don't think that has to. They don't have to go through that process at all. Nathan had an off-season camp where, much like VA did,

brought in all the receivers and they had a couple of days where they had working together and throwing and stuff. The players love, don't get me wrong, the players loved Nathan. They loved him when he was here before. It's not a situation where Nathan is disliked. But I think that's water under the bridge. Like I said, you know, being around the facility, talking to players, you know, talking to the receivers, guys like Keon Hatcher and Justin McKinnis, you know, they're rarer to go.

They've had so much fun, you know, preparing for this season. They want to get on the field with Nathan. So I don't think that's a situation at all. You know, just to throw it out there, I see Nathan Rourke, you know, not personally, but on media, social media, like he's out in the community a lot. Yeah.

Like he seems like a, he seems like a good guy. He seems like a guy that wants to do more than just be the quarterback of the team. Well, I mean, it's a part of his contract, right? The marketing incentive. So. Yeah, I know. Obviously there, but here's the other thing too, I think it's kind of turned a new

leaf for Nathan because, um, it's maybe given him a little balance. And what I'm being by that is that he's so focused on football. He's just football 24, 7, 365. And the ability, baby, to kind of step away and then just kind of like, you know, go through this process where he's dealing with people and going and speaking and just having a fun

time and kind of letting himself be a little bit more. I think it's good for his development, right? Because he, you know, he's not necessarily that guy that would do that before. And like, even he talked about this with the media during the session. He said, you know, I've kind of learned a little bit about himself, right? He's had fun doing this. So, you know, I think it's something that, you know, I think he's enjoyed and something that I think has aided in his development as a person.

Well, I hope the Lions have turned the corner on any issues that they're dealing with and that we get a great season this year. Tim from South Surrey has an ask us anything for the Moge. Where is the best burger or hot dog? Tim from South Surrey has an ask us anything for the Moj. Where is the best burger or hot dog? Let's focus on hot dogs at any of our local golf courses. Can you think of one that stands out? I had one the other day, I'm not going to mention the course, but it did not stand out.

Oh, okay. And I ate it and I'm like, I shouldn't be eating this. Put them on blast. Come on. No, I'm not going to do it because sometimes I like to get free golf. Sure. I just played Swanny set last week with Scott

Jones from of course, the West Coast Auto Group, proud sponsor on 650. Um, their hot dog is pretty good, right? And here's the thing about the hot dog. And I always got into this argument with Taylor cause she just, you know, well, Taylor, when it comes to food, these games lacking. The big key to the hot dog is the bun,

even the burger, right? You have to have the right bun. You can't have a bun that's heavy or just, you know, there's just, you know, it's too, too hard. You have to have a nice soft bun, right? You have to have a good bun. And the bun the other day with the dog was really good at 20 sets, so I'll give them props.

I'll shout out Northview. Northview's got a good dog. Yeah. I'm playing. What's that? I played that course many times. I know they're, yeah, make that turn. You get the hot dog.

And you usually need one after that, that opening nine at Northview is like, I need something here. Yeah. Especially playing that ninth hole, the par three. Oh, the ninth hole? That's not the par three. That par three is tough. That's eight, right? Anyway, it doesn't matter.

No, I'm talking about nine at the ridge. Nine at the ridge is probably like, you know, from the blues. Oh, you're talking about Northview. I'm talking about, what did I say? You said Northview. Oh, I said Northview. Are you talking about Northlands? I meant Northlands, sorry. I meant, well Northview has also got a good dog. Front nine is tough about Northview. I'm talking about, what did I say? You said Northview. Oh, I said Northview. Are you talking about Northlands? I meant Northlands, sorry.

I meant Northview's also got a good dog. Front nine is tough at Northlands. Yeah, okay, anyway, I screwed that up. I want free golf everywhere. All right, everyone give breath free golf. Moj, thanks for doing this, man, we appreciate it. Okay, fellas, enjoy the fish and chips. Absolutely, that is Bob the Mojmarjanovic

on Sportsnet 650 brought to you by the Clayton Public House, your home of football Every game day catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors Do you know I made that mistake once someone said we're playing North you yeah, and I went to the north. Oh, I went to the Northlands golf course I think I was playing with Blake price. Those are not close together and let me tell you I set a land speed record Getting out to Northview. Yeah, it was like 16 year old Jason is driving again Those are far apart. You're doing multiple bridges on route between those courses. I made it there Wow good for you

Or maybe not little little frazzled on the first day, you know Okay, we'll take a break now as a reminder coming up at 8 be caller 5 6 0 4 2 8 0 0650 to win a pair of tickets to see the who on September 23rd at Rogers arena That's caller 5 at 8 almost exactly 5 minutes from now. Don't call it 7 59 arena. That's caller five at eight almost exactly five minutes from now. Don't call it seven 59 604 2 80 0 650 caller five wins the tickets to see the who at Rogers arena on September 23rd at eight 15 be caller five to win a pair of tickets to see the Vancouver Canadians again. 604 2 80 0 650 that games on May 17th caller five at eight wins the Who tickets. Caller 5 at 8.15 wins the C's tickets.

We'll take a break. Rick Dollywell joins us next. Then we'll do some What We Learns and Ask Us Anythings and announce the winner of a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on the other side here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650.