Halford & Brough in the Morning - As We All Predicted, The Seahawks Are Undefeated.

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk Week 3 highlights with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier (2:46), plus they discuss the state of minor hockey in BC with former NHLer Kyle Turris (24:56). 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.

Yeah, I just think process over results. So trust in my process. You know, I know I've got three interceptions on the season. They've all been in the most fluky of ways possible. And I know I'm not, you know, being reckless with the football. That's never my goal. But I trust myself. I trust my preparation.

I trust the type of player that I am. So my confidence never wavers at any time, no matter what happens in the game, good or bad. But the process is what matters the most. And as long as I'm going through the proper process, I believe that, you know, I'm doing the right thing. 7.04 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Brow, Sportsnet 650. That voice you just heard, that of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. He of the, you know, 3-0 Seattle Seahawks. Mike Tannier, our NFL insider from the 2 Deep Zones

is going to join us in just a moment here to talk about that and a whole lot more. Before we get to Mike, we need to take care of some business. We are now officially in Hour 2 of the program. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominick. Visit Jason.Mortgage for more. If you love giving the banks

more of your money, don't let Jason shop around. What? That doesn't make sense. Oh my. That doesn't make any sense. Who wrote this? I love a new ad read day.

Listen to this. No, no, no. I'm reading it. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Yeah, that makes sense. It's being sarcastic. I know.

There should be a sarcastic emoji in there. Right. That really threw you. Yeah. I was like, this doesn't seem to be any of the money. He's like, if you love giving your money to the banks. Wait a minute. Okay.

For a better explanation and perhaps the right advice for mortgages, visit jason.mortgage. So then on the second part, you've got to really hit the don't. The don't. So I have to accentuate love. If you love giving the banks more money. I'm really looking forward to the new read and break now. Yeah. Now I think I've got it. I think I figured out. I'm really looking forward to the new read and break now. Yeah. Now I think I've got it.

I think I figured out. I cracked the code on that one. You should read these before you read them on there. I don't know. No one told me this was going to be. I disagree. I think you should do a cold. You know what?

More people are going to remember Jason.Mortgage now than if I had just gone through the standard read. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfy, what are you waiting for? Kintec, we are in hour two of the program. This entire show, hour two in all the hours, brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. To the phone lines we go. Mike Tanier joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Michael. How are you? I'm doing great.

I'm just waking up to a world where, as expected, the two best teams in the NFC are the Vikings and the Seahawks. Okay. We mentioned this already. Nothing makes any sense. The 49ers and the Cowboys have a combined two wins, whereas the Seahawks and the Vikings have a combined six wins. Niners should have won that, too, at their home crowd advantage in L.A.

There was a lot of 90%. There was a lot of red in SoFi there. Okay, I do want to get to the NFC picture in a moment. We're going to start, though. I'm going to throw you on the spot. We are going to talk about the Seattle Seahawks, but we're going to talk about their quarterback, Geno Smith. So we went through an exercise where we were trying to figure out, wait for it, if Gino Smith is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL.

The way we did it was we were like, if you were to just go out and playground style, pick 10 guys, doesn't matter how old they are and how much of the career they have left. It doesn't matter about their contract. Just pick 10 guys that were going to go out and win you a football game or win you a Superbowl. And after about seven or eight, we started getting into the, I don't know if I'd take him over Gino. So that was our scientific way of saying he might be, he might be. So I ask you the question is Gino Smith, the top 10 quarterback in the NFL.

Hold on one second. I moved the phone back a little bit. I hope I didn't redline you too badly there. But good Lord in heaven. I mean, Gino is playing well, except when he's near his own five-yard line, that he's a disaster waiting to happen every single week. And, you know, he is doing some things. He's playing within himself. But dear Lord, you faced a team whose third-string quarterback was out there, and it took you the fourth quarter to seal the game. I don't want to go through the list. I don't want to start, okay, Mahomes and then Allen and then Barrow.

You're going to get to a – you have to have those Homer goggles on to have Geno in there when you start talking about, oh, you know, Geno or Matthew Stafford. Come on, that's not even close. Geno or I don't know who you put out there. Jordan Love. No, that's not really close. Heino, or I don't know who you put out there. Jordan Love, no, that's not really close. He's in the top 20. Let's put him there.

Okay, let's talk about it. I think that's a very definitive statement, and yelling, too, which we like here on the Halford & Brough Show. As for the Seahawks, it's a 3-0 record, but I feel like it should have maybe not even one, but two asterisks, maybe three, I don't know. Have you gotten a read on this team?

Because I still have a hard time trying to figure out if they're good or not, despite the fact that they've got a two-game lead in their division already. Well, I mean, they're clearly okay, but you're right in which I'm having a hard time getting a read. We saw, we're seeing increasingly what the Patriots offense really has to offer. And, you know, and they took the Seahawks to the wall. The Broncos are starting to come around, but you had rookie Bo Nix in his very first start, and now you're getting a sense of,

oh, he's kind of pulling it together. In week one, he didn't have it. And now you have the Skyler Thompson and Tim Poole experience yesterday. And, you know, on the one hand, the Seahawks took that early lead, and they looked good doing it. And then there were quarters and hours of penalties and stalled drives

and little miscues and more penalties passed. And they're like, well, if the Seahawks really are on that team, they should put this team away. It should be 31-3 early in the fourth quarter, not late touchdown makes it 24-3. And that's worrisome. And I look at the schedule coming up. You're going to Detroit.

That's going to be a rough game. I think we may get a better sense there. If the Seahawks play with the Lions next week, I'll be able to say, okay, this is a team that has staying power, is going to go out there and be a playoff team. If they get destroyed, then I'd be like, okay, this was a mirage. Maybe this is a 9 and 8 team but like like there's still a lot of building left to be done well there's a bit of a similar story last

season when they went to baltimore um i think they had a pretty good record when they went to baltimore and they got destroyed but at the same time they had also beaten the lions yes earlier in the season um yeah so are you is this is this a standard first three weeks of the NFL season, or is this one especially topsy-turvy and weird? It's topsy-turvy and weird, but I've seen it before where there are a handful of teams that have played either terrible opponents or opponents that just had their backup quarterback or their rookie quarterback. So the Seahawks have that situation.

I look at the Steelers who are 3-0 and I'm like, okay, they face the same Broncos team. They had the Falcons early and it looked like Kirk Cousins couldn't move. And then they go out there this week and Justin Herbert gets hurt against them so they get this win. So it's not that unusual early in the year to see 3-0 teams and occasionally 0-3 teams and say, well, they're going to turn this around. I think what's different this year is you have a lot of these teams

like the Saints where you're trying to figure them out, and you're stuck with, like, well, they won 40-3 or whatever that week, and then the next week they lost. And it's very hard to, under those circumstances, range-find them and say, okay, if they're just above average and they're not the 2007 Patriots which is what they look like in the first two weeks what does that mean for the playoff implications how do they stack up to the Seahawks or the Vikings who we haven't gotten to yet

and that is incredibly tricky well let's talk about the Vikings because I caught a bit of their demolition of the Houston Texans and I know Sam Darnold is a great story but for me watching that it was like the defense looked incredible against a pretty good quarterback in C.J. Stroud. Oh, yes, absolutely. Defense looks incredible right now. What Brian Flores is doing with, you know, kind of no names. You know, Andrew Van Ginkle isn't really a household name. Chasin Greenard isn't a household name. Some of the other guys, Harrison Phillips, who are making major contributions for them.

And Justin Jefferson is absolutely phenomenal. And that creates an environment where Sam Darnold can go out there and do something he's never been able to do in his career. And be like, okay, I've got a go-to weapon. The defense is clamped down on the opponent. I can play within myself. I'm not facing 25 blitzes. I can hand off.

We can punt if we have to. I can check down and maybe get the first down. Darnold is responding to that right now. And while I don't know, I rank the Vikings well ahead of the Seahawks because it's like I look at the Seahawks and I look at those opponents and I'm like, good heavens. Vikings played the Niners in one. Vikings just played the Texans in one.

They're demonstrating that they have the staying power, especially if they get some guys like Jordan Addison back later on in the season. We're speaking to Mike Tanier from the Too Deep Zone here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Mike is a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Pre-game to post-game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Visit them at claytonpub.com.

Okay, it's time to talk about the Dallas Cowboys here. I think it's befitting that we do this after we just finished talking about the Minnesota Vikings because the former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer, is now the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys. And I know everyone wants to pin the Dallas Cowboys struggles on Dak Prescott, but let's be real here. The reason this team is 1-2 right now is because they have no concept

of how to stop the other team from running the football and that falls right into the lap of Mike Zimmer now I was listening to a podcast over the weekend and they were saying that for something happened in those two years that Mike Zimmer was away from football when he got fired by the Vikings and got hired by the Cowboys that he either didn't keep up with how offensive schemes were going or something's passed them by but they got torched for 274 yards on the ground yesterday against the Ravens how big a trouble are the Cowboys in defensively if they don't figure this out remember two weeks ago when Zimmer was running his mouth about everything and everything yes like like he had an opinion

on everything and I guess I probably should have like yellow flagged that. Like this doesn't sound like a coach who's like like zeroed in right now on what he has to do. This is a guy who's got a grudge about him and the general manager arguing in 2019 or whatever. And that's not a good sign.

And that's kind of what you're seeing now. Cowboys are in trouble. That defense looks like bewildered by like routine, like sort of, you know, play fake handoffs and zone reads

and things like that. Prescott looks inaccurate. He looks like he's kind of flailing a little bit. They don't have a lot of weapons. And I guess this was the fear. When we talked in the offseason, we talked a lot about, oh, the contracts, the contracts, the contracts. Well, the contracts got done.

It didn't change the fact that so many of their rank and file guys left. Guys along the defensive line like doris armstrong and not they fowler they leave guys along the offensive line like their center for many years tyler beard and then tyson tyron smith and other guys leave you're left with a team where it's like dac cd micah go in the game for us and maybe it's not that surprising that if the coaching staff is not on point those three guys can't just go out there and manufacture wins on their own, especially when they're facing an opponent as good as the Ravens are. Let's not forget, this is a team that should be in the Super Bowl shortlist. They've been making mistakes early in the season.

They played well until the midway through the fourth quarter. They played like the team that we thought they were going to be this year. Was Andy Dalton's performance the worst-case scenario for Bryce Young? Oh, gosh, yes. Oh, gosh, yes. And it's funny, you know, on Sunday morning, all of the Schefters and the Rappaports are coming forth and saying, you know, this is just a bump in the road for Bryce Young.

Teams are calling with trade offers. Panthers are going to look for an opportunity to get him back out there after he sort of catches his breath. And then Dalton goes out there, and the offense is perfectly functional. and they face a pretty good Raiders defense the Raiders are bad but their defense is good Max Crosby Christian Wilkins those guys and Dalton could just play within himself and distribute the ball and and see the field he could see over over the shoulder pads of his guys and you know this is illustrating though the problem with Bryce Young wasn't necessarily inexperience or whatever this guy is too small this guy doesn't have the traits necessary to be a competent NFL starter.

And I think that that's going to be the unfolding storyline for the Panthers. What do you think about the current state of NFL quarterback talent evaluation? I realize it's a tough job. There's a lot of factors that go into it. You're scouting guys that are on, some guys that play for big programs with tons of talent around them, some guys that play for smaller programs

without that talent. Each player that comes into a new team has a different situation. Some teams are bad, some teams are better. But it seems to me like we're seeing some guys come in and you're like, this guy was a top five. This guy was first overall. This guy's not very good at all.

Right. And, like, you stated a lot of the main points there. Absolutely correctly. And it's a big chew. It's a big wad to chew, you know. But, like, you look at Bryce Young, and a lot of us should have really been answering, asking the question, is this guy too small and not getting hand waved away as a Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray were small and they're fine. I'm like, yeah, that's two guys. That's two guys. Can you give me another dozen examples of a guy this small? Because I'm a little worried. We should have been asking that question, you know, a couple of years ago with Trey Lance, a big whiff, we should have been asking the question, you know, has anybody ever seen him play because his, his,

his final season got canceled and he plays at North Dakota state. Has anyone really seen him? That's a good question. You know, Zach Wilson was one a couple of years ago where it's like, guys, because of the COVID, you know, he was out there Brigham young playing like Central Connecticut State and stuff like that. Are we sure that we weren't just seeing him playing against scout teams? I don't think the NFL does the best job answering these questions. I think these guys in scouting and sort of a hive mind get on a roll with them,

and they make mistakes on that end. You know, there are other mistakes. I understand Anthony Richardson. The guy looks like Cam Newton and Josh Allen had a baby. I understand those mistakes, but some of these other mistakes, I see them and say, guys, you should have been asking tougher questions. You should have known better.

And these teams didn't do that. Is there a way in the pro camps that they have or the prospect camps that they have that they can put them under pressure or test their composure, test them in tough situations. Because for me, that seems to be one of the intangibles that is hard to predict.

They try. But, of course, you can't just have a pass rush. You can't just try to sack him out there. So they try to cross you up in the interview room and things like that. Here's something you weren't expecting to hear. We know what you did after the prom in high school, and we unearthed that. And they try to catch these guys off guard with that. And, you know, that's great.

But you know what? If you try to catch me off guard with that sort of thing, I'll probably have an answer ready for you. It doesn't mean I can handle a blitz. It's not the same skill set of Grace Linderlyer when you're in an interview room or whatever. And I think the opposite is true. Guys like Bryce Young were phenomenal in places like the Manning Academy and some of these other things that they do, like off the side, behind the scenes in the NFL, where it's kind of about your preparation, your readiness, your effort, your ability to draw plays up

and things like that. Bryce Young gets A-pluses and all that. And I think it's the situation where we get false reads about these guys, where they go into these academies, they look great with a red penny on, they give a good firm handshake to Eli and Peyton and Bill O'Brien and all these other guys. And next thing you know, we're hearing about somebody who maybe doesn't have the skills they need to to play at the NFL

because they kind of networked at that level. We're speaking to Mike Tanier, our NFL insider from the too deep zone here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Sunday night football, Kansas City Chiefs win. They moved to 3-0 in the air, bit of a nail biter over the Falcons,

22 to 17. I have a question having watched that game in its entirety for Kansas City. What happened to the big play? You know, let's see. Rice got hurt for part of the game. The running backs are out. You don't have Hollywood Brown at all right now. Travis Kelsey looks a little old.

Yeah. He's ready to join his brother. Kelsey looks cooked. Kelsey looks good? Cooked. Cooked. Cooked. Yeah. He's looking a little cooked these days.

He's had a Hall of Fame career. Lots of Super Bowl rings, so whatever. He's going on to a happier place when the time comes. They don't have a lot of opportunities to throw that. So it's like manufacturing, manufacturing. Trying to manufacture big plays for Rice when he's out there, for Xavier Worthy. You've got a plotting running back in Steele and Perrine.

So that's what you're getting there. And I think that that's one of those questions that Andy Reid is going to have to answer along the way. And one of his answers to it so far is that, hey, we run the ball okay, and our defense is better than it was two years ago, and it never gets any attention for the things it does right. So it may be a situation where they're going to ask Patrick Mahomes. They'll be like, you've got to game manage a little bit. You got to make those plays with the legs.

And we're going to figure out the explosive plays when we, when we figure out who our better receivers are. Speaking of explosive plays, both Jason and I marveled at what the Detroit lions did yesterday with the old hook and ladder on the Arizona Cardinals. What a great. So I ask you as a guy that, you know, studies football as in-depth as anyone, why is this not used more? Why is lateraling and the change of pace and the change of direction not used more?

Because it completely fooled the Arizona Cardinals, and it was one of the best plays of the weekend. It's fooled them, and I've seen a little more of it the last three years. Like before that, I think we saw one in history. It was a Dolphins play. It was on NFL Films. And now you'll see like like, once a month, some team do a hook and lateral in that situation

or close to the goal line. And I think it's an effective play, and we might see a little more. But it's also one of those plays, all that has to happen is one mistake, like one fumble, one pitch, and the guy fumbles it and it's recovered. And the offensive coordinator will throw it away forever.

The head coach will scout him, and the guy fumbles it and it's recovered. And the offensive coordinator will throw it away forever. The head coach will scout him. The defensive coordinator will curse him out in the coach's meeting room and everything. And he won't see it forever. But I don't think that's appropriate because it's something you can use. It really works against how defenses are supposed to swarm to the ball. And it was an absolute thing of beauty yesterday. And the Lions needed it because they were kind of inconsistent on offense

and needed a big play like that. Monday night football double headers that overlap. Do you love them or do you hate them? I like the overlap. I wish it was a little more like there was a little more space between them. I wish it was like a 7 o'clock and an 8-15 or something like that.

But in general, I don't like the Monday night double header because it kind of throws things off. I'm trying to write a Monday column and I don't like the Monday night double header because it kind of throws things off. I'm trying to write a Monday column, and I don't have the Bengals and Bills to talk about. So it's hard to really gauge that if you read two teams. And I'm talking about the NFC in part because I don't know how to approach the AFC when two big teams are playing on Monday night.

Before we let you go, what are you looking forward to tonight's both games? I think Buffalo should be able to handle the Jaguars. The Jaguars need to be less sloppy. They need to play a more precise game, fewer penalties, fewer fourth down stops, fewer drop passes, things like that. And until they prove they can do it, they're going to be vulnerable to a team like Buffalo. And we're all waiting to see, you know, is the alarm clock, did the alarm clock go on for the Bengals?

You know, it's about time it starts ringing. Let's see if it started ringing and that they should be able to handle the commanders tonight. Mike, this was great. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy both games tonight. We'll do this again next Monday. Absolutely. Take care and enjoy your week. You too. Thanks. That's Mike Tanney, our NFL insider from the 2 Deep

Zone here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So Mike did not think that Geno Smith is a top-ten quarterback. Confirmed. I guess even Mike Tanney is wrong once in a while. You know, he can be. He's usually great, except when he tries to answer the easy questions that we give him. I honestly cannot wait until that Monday night here against Detroit, because everyone who's saying that they haven't played a good team yet

or they haven't played a quality quarterback, yeah, fair enough, they haven't. I want to see what they look like. I'm a little worried to see what they look like.'m a little worried too yeah for sure there's this stat i wish i had like the offensive line is still potentially a problem um and now they've got a couple potential injuries on the defensive line uh with williams and murphy not finishing the game against the dolphinsphins. So, like, I don't know. They might go into Detroit. And Detroit, remember, is going to remember what happened last season. Sure.

And they're going to be looking for revenge. And they might get it. So, like, here's the thing. There's a stat going around right now. I'm just going to read it verbatim, okay? Seattle is the first team since the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers to start 3-0 and hold each of their opponents to under 150 yards passing.

So like that, you're like, oh my God, it's a steel curtain. That's amazing. You're on par with them. But then you realize they've played in reverse, Skylar Thompson for having a Tim Boyle, Jacoby Brissett, and Bo Nix. Like it is.

Did you like that one nice throw that Tim Boyle threw and the guys, the broadcast team was like, that was actually a really good throw. It was participation ribbons and they're like,

good job, Tim Boyle. That had some spin on it. It was a spiral and everything. Was that the one that the tight end dropped in the end zone? No, no, no. It was an actual completion. Oh, okay. Yeah. He dropped one in the bucket in the end zone, which wasn't a bad throw everything. Was that the one that the tight end dropped in the end zone? No, no, no. It was an actual completion.

Oh, okay. Yeah. He dropped one in the bucket in the end zone, which wasn't a bad throw. But at that point, I mean, yeah. Anyway. Okay. Before we go to break, need to turn our attention from the NFL to the CFL. It's time now for the Canadian Football Report.

Brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. If you think that the BC Lions are the most confusing and maddening team in the Canadian Football League, the Toronto Argonauts are saying, here, hold my beer. After a very impressive performance where they beat the tails off of the Lions last week, the Argos went back and lost to the lowly Hamilton Tigercats.

You're below the Tigercats. They are on a roll. They're now up to 5 and nine on the year. They got a 33-31 victory over the Argos to kick off week 16 action in the Canadian Football League. Things didn't go great

for the Lions this weekend. Winnipeg beat the Elks 27-14, so that moves Winnipeg to eight and six on the year. Nothing's a stranglehold in the CFL,

but they do have a lead in the West now over the Lions who, of course, were on a bye week. And in the most ballyhooed game of the weekend, the Montreal Alouettes took care of business in a game between two of the top teams in the East. Montreal moves to, wait for it, 11-2-1.

Yes, don't forget about that tie with a 24-12 victory over the Ottawa Red Blacks, who dropped to 8-5-1 on the year with the loss. So there's your Canadian football report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. Coming up on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650, we are going to talk to Kyle Turris. That's what it was. We're going to talk to Kyle Turris,

who is now working at the North Shore Winter Club. He's a hockey director there. We're going to have a youth minor hockey talk here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What Kyle has in store for the North Shore Winter Club. And then I guess a bigger picture about what that looks like across the province for youth hockey in British Columbia. You're listening to the Halford and Brord Brough Sportsnet 650 Halford and Brough of the morning 7.33 on a Monday. Halford and Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Jason Hominak

at 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. Don't do that. Sarcasm. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. It's not.ca. It's not.com.

It's.mortgage. Got it? Okay. We are in hour two of this program. Kyle Turris is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff

that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. Our next guest was a long-time NHLer. He is now the director of hockey at the North Shore Winter Club. Kyle Turris joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Kyle. How are you?

Morning, guys. Good. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We appreciate you taking the time. So first question, what decided to get you back into minor hockey and the North Shore Winter Club specifically? You know, I really enjoy working with kids and their development and educating families as well. I went through this a long time ago and feel like I have experience and knowledge to share to help each family make a more well-informed decision. What are some of the other things that you consider? Because I know that this type of job is kind of a,

well, it's not thankless, but it's a lot of work. It's a lot of responding to emails. It's a hard job, and I know you've been putting in the hours at the north shore winter club yeah no it's you know i uh um coming back when i i went through the interview process with uh tc carling um i was i was blown away by him you You know, he's so professional. He's so thoughtful. And I could tell he was going to have a real positive effect on the Winter Club. So, you know, joining him and seeing the team that he's assembled at the club

to create that positive atmosphere and positive culture. I was really excited to be a part of. Is there a loyalty to the program that brought you back? That's a good question. Yeah, I spent four years there when I was growing up, so it's a bit nostalgic coming back and being back kind of where I started. How different is minor hockey in British Columbia today compared to when you were playing at, I hate to age you here,

but 20 years ago you were playing hockey at the North Shore Winter Club? No, it's very different. There's so many options now and it's so complicated. Yeah, it's really challenging. I feel for families trying to determine what the best option is for their child. And there's just so many, so many options for playing and so many different price points. And it's, yeah, it's very complex. So it's weird, too, because it's good and bad right

i mean on on the kind of negative side it's confusing it's really expensive especially for high performance programs and a lot of parents are feeling really stretched financially and feeling the pressure of um you know giving the kids you know what they want and what they want to give them but also at the same time could it be argued that the coaching and the development has never been better in B.C. considering some of the players were churning out here? Yes and no. You know, there's yeah, there are definitely very strong coaches. And then, you know, with so many programs, there's not necessarily great coaches in all of them because there are so many, right?

So, I mean, it's a coaching standpoint, you know, maybe isn't all that much different than from when I grew up playing. There's always going to be good and bad coaches. But yeah, I mean, from a competitive standpoint, there's so many different leagues and so many different options now that there isn't one. When I was growing up, it was just PCHA. The association way was the way that everybody went, so every player was in it, and it was just PCHA the association way it was was the way that everybody went so every player

was in it and it was it was the most competitive and now the options are now they're essentially three options right you've got the traditional programs North Shore Winter Club you know Burnaby Winter Club and also the community associations but also there's hockey academies now, and then also the breakaway league, if you want to call it that, the high-performance league. So what do you tell parents when they're wondering, like, what do I do here? Where do I start? Yeah, that's a good question. It's determining, you know, working with the parents to figure out what's best for their child.

Does your child want to leave their school and go to a different school? Financially, are you ready to spend X amount of dollars to pursue a certain option? Are you ready to travel that much? I mean, there's so many different things that go into these decisions. And working with families to figure out what's best for their child based on each individual is really important. And that's part of the reason why we're really excited to bring out the program that we're introducing here at the North Shore Winter Club.

Well, when I was at the presentation for the program, I know you mentioned your experience growing up and how, you know, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it didn't seem like you were ready to leave home and you didn't want to leave your buddies in high school. How old were you when you first moved away to play hockey? And could you have, in theory, moved away earlier? Yeah, no, I, when I was growing up, I didn't move away from home and I didn't leave my school until I graduated. So I left at, I just turned 18 years old, going to the University of Wisconsin.

And I did, I had several options to move away at 15 and 16 and 17, go to a different school and go with the Billet family. And I, you know, I just, I wasn't ready for that. I wanted to stay at home. I wanted to stay in the same high school I was at with all my buddies. And, you know, fortunately there's an option and a route that gave me the opportunity to do that. And I just feel like it made me the most comfortable off the ice,

and that allowed me to play my best on the ice. And that's a big part of the thought process in the program that we're introducing at the North Shore Winter Clipper. We are speaking to Kyle Turris, longtime NHLer, now the director of hockey at the North Shore Winter Club here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A lot of this, and this goes across all sports, it's not just exclusive to hockey, is a lot of this is geared towards high performance and elite level.

But there's also a lot of players, probably the majority of them, that are going to be doing this recreationally and for fun and to have a sport that they can have in their lives until they're adults. And that's the end game, is having something that they enjoy playing and want to do for an awfully long time. How much of these programs need to be geared maybe more towards that as opposed to less towards the high performance part? You know, it's really important to have a balance of both.

You know, like you said, the mass, mass of of players aren't going to make the nhl aren't going to make it to pro but i i believe hockey you know acts as a conduit to learning extremely valuable life lessons and you can do that at any age and any competitive level in hockey right so um yeah it's it's very important to have that balance and um at the North Shore Winter Club we have uh you know hockey for everyone with um the Hawks and the house uh divisions but then we'll we'll have uh we have currently a very competitive A1 and A2, A3, A4 programs. And introducing this North Shore Winter Club Elite Hockey Development Program is going to be another extremely competitive nationally and internationally program that they were really excited about. I heard you talking about open hockey and one of the advantages of the winter club,

and I realize not everyone has access to open hockey, but just how much skating with your buddies by yourselves actually ended up helping your pro career in terms of the creativity that you had on the ice how much unstructured hockey did you play growing up was this one of those things where you got dropped off at the winter club and you're like oh we'll see you in a few hours you go play some hockey now yeah no it uh i did that a ton you know my dad and i would would come out to the winter club after school and uh and really take advantage of the open ice. My parents would drop me off in the summers and I'd be there all day with buddies playing on open ice. And it's just that it really fosters that creativity and the fun, the enjoyment of the game and trying new things. So I really believe that the creativity that came from open ice as a kid

played a significant role in the creativity I had and used in the NHL when I got there. I scored a shootout goal where I kicked the puck off my skate in one time. Stuff like that all came from open ice at the Winter Club when I was young. It's just such a unique and important opportunity we offer at the North Shore Winter Club is this open ice because it's so hard to find ice now and it's so expensive if you can't find it that taking advantage of the

open ice we have is um you know it's i just i see it as extremely valuable uh kyle this was great man thanks for taking the time to do this today we really appreciate it best of luck with everything at the winter club yeah no thanks a lot guys and thanks a lot for showing interest in the elite hockey development program that we're we're going to be offering here it's uh it's really exciting and something i hope uh lots of people take interest in oh and by the way kyle congrats on graduating from university you finally did oh thank you for your your your your badger alum now and didn't you do it with ryan mcdonough too yeah so uh mac and i were roommates roommates whatever that was 15 years ago now, 16, 17 years ago.

And it's funny with him, Cody Goldbooth and I actually ended up graduating in the same commencement ceremony this past spring. Oh, that's awesome. Congrats, buddy. Take a gap year, go to Europe and then enjoy yourself.

Have a good one buddy Oh thanks a lot guys Thanks Kyle Turris Former NHLer Now the director of hockey At the North Shore Winter Club Here on the Halford and Brough Show

On Sportsnet 650 You know how some guys Graduate and they just like Oh I'm going to play some golf Because I'm pretty rich Yep Kyle Turris Is the director of hockey

At the North Shore Winter Club He does some work I think with Hockey Canada As well With their U17 program. He was interning at the Canucks for six months on the business side. And he graduated from the University of Wisconsin, took a bunch of online courses and got that done.

I think he's got like three kids too. He should follow my go-to. It'd be tough to make a gap year with three kids. See us. I'm going backpacking. Find yourself. Discover yourself. Be like, kids, I'll see you yeah he is he is anything crazy he is a he is a hard worker and he's a good guy so there's a lot of interesting takeaways there from this so the youth sports which we talk about a lot on this show because we're kind of fully immersed in it

uh mine from soccer yours from hockey but um so just base level speaking where you want your kid to do the best and be the best everyone does right there is this cash grab element and i don't know how it must be similar in hockey too where there's a lot of vultures that see how much money's going around you could sense that from one of kyle's answers hey well it's like yeah there's some good coaches well oh i see some good coaches when it becomes the wild west and um you know so basically how it works is every sport has a governing body probably probably the provincial level. Right. And then everything has to fall under their umbrella. And then when you either have breakaway leagues or academy leagues or just that don't fall under that umbrella, all of a sudden it's like, well, we don't need to follow their rules.

We can start our own thing. We're doing our and we won't be held by the confines and the constructs. And a lot of ways it's a good thing because sometimes provincial organizations um can be stifling and limiting right at the same time they're there to have a baseline in terms of criteria licensing and all that stuff and you can poo poo those things and you can you know shrug them off and say oh what is a what is a canadian soccer coaching license mean? And it's like, well, it's some standard that you have to, at the very least, make sure that there is an education and a level with the coaches and the academies. And then when you have, as I like to refer to it, the Wild West, and I'll speak to it from a soccer perspective,

you have every jag off with an accent and a track suit starting up their own academy. You just do because it's really easy to do. All you need is a bag of balls, an accent, a track suit and an Instagram page. And suddenly you've got a fully fledged academy. And I'm sure it's a lot different in hockey. The money is probably like 10 times the amount. But I bet there's a lot of snake oil salesmen out there. And I bet there's a lot of people.

And the problem is there's a lot of good people. And just because they're part of a quote-unquote breakout league doesn't mean that they're bad people. But I'm going to tell you. It's very confusing for parents to know what is right for their kids i've seen this happen far too many times and it kills me every time because i you never you can't interfere and you can't intervene but what it sounds crazy to say this but one of the most dangerous things you can hear as a parent is someone telling you that your

kid is really good and that you they think they've got a lot of something because that's something because you know what that is that's the introduction into your wallet yeah unfortunately it might be true your kid might very well have tons of potential and might be very very good but that same person should give the whole picture which is the chances of doing anything look honestly even at the collegiate level like trying to get like a full ride or something you're talking like microscopic percentage chances and the kid has to want it himself i think that is the or herself which is like that has to be you'll know if your kid is going to be dedicated, if they're constantly asking to go do it,

that's the lesson that I've heard from a number of people. Can we go play hockey? Can we go play soccer? Can we go do this? Let's go. Let's go. I want to practice. I want to practice.

I want to do this. Hey, I mean, don't get me wrong. I understand that everyone wants to see their children flourish and have them chase their passions and their pursuits. And as a parent, there's the element of keeping up with the Joneses

and what is that kid doing at that academy or what is that kid doing at that skating lesson, all that stuff. I get it. You want to provide everything for your kid. But there's people that are out there and they see that want and they see that need and they are more than willing to take advantage of it.

And by take advantage of it, I mean, we'll gladly take your money. Right? Yeah. And it's a problem. It is a major problem because it's expensive. It is expensive. It's already expensive to live in this city. It's hard enough to live in Vancouver without someone saying,

this is going to cost you like 10 grand. And then what's the alternative? Well, if he doesn't do it, maybe you're not fully committed to pursuing your kid's passions. And it is a very, it's a divisive issue. And I feel bad for, as you mentioned, there's tons of good people working in youth sports that are genuinely invested in making sure that are genuinely invested in

making sure that the outcome for the kid is positive but there's a lot of other ones that just see the dollars at the end of it like i sorry not to continue on this rant here but i um there's a guy by the name of gregor young he's got capped for canada internationally in soccer he's been a technical director and he's got a newsletter that he puts out about it's youth soccer, but youth sport. And he's very like pragmatic about there are going to be a handful of kids that go play at the university level, maybe even like one or two.

And I mean, one or two of that group that you're in right now that might make it as like a semi-professional professional. The majority of them aren't your goal should be. And that's why I asked Kyle this question, when you're our age, or hopefully younger and healthier, are you still playing the sport?

You still love it. Yeah. Is the end game that you're doing this at 30 and 35 and you've got like a network of friends and people that you've met through the sport and that really, and it sounds super Pollyanna and everything, I know. But once you get to our age, you realize how important it is.

Right? Do you have a healthy lifestyle? And is that a healthy lifestyle based on an activity that you like doing? That's a good end game. Yeah. That's a good investment as a youth to have something when you're older. Right? That's kind of it.

And learn how to be a team player. Yeah. Um, Kevin Woodley is going to join us next. Uh, we'll talk about, um, Kevin Lankanen signing with the Vancouver Canucks and the goaltending situation going forward. Um,

we're, we should also talk to Kev about just style of play with the vancouver canucks because i think that's going to be uh interesting as well um and maybe we're going to see that in the preseason the new like i don't know how dramatically this canuck style of play is going to change but i do know that at training camp they um they're going to be uh they were trying to emphasize the rush chances and all that sort of stuff, right? And they were trying to be like, all right, let's get up the ice.

Let's get up the ice. And it actually made it quite difficult, oddly enough, on the goalies because they're doing all those sorts of rush chances and three on ones and four on twos. And the goalies are like, dude, do you even need me here? Because like, this is pretty hard.

So I do wonder if we'll see that during the preseason which by the way starts on tuesday at rogers arena and then there's another game on wednesday in abbotsford before we go to break i need to tell you about the bc lions the roar is back