Halford & Brough in the Morning - BC Lions Kicker Sean Whyte + What We Learned

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with BC Lions kicker Sean Whyte ahead of Sunday's match at Hamilton (3:00), the boys tell us what they learned (20:00), plus we hear from the humanoids (27:00). 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.

8 o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. This is easily my favorite musical day. I haven't really glommed on to Euro Trash Wednesdays or whatever we're calling them. Euro Dance Wednesdays, right, Cole? Oh, Euro Dance.

That's right. Euro Trash Wednesdays is something different. This is good music. This is good music. This is great. We are in hour three of the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Do you remember

when we were worried that we were no longer able to play licensed music? Yeah. Like, oh, it's going to be terrible. That's what winners do. It's true. They adjust on the fly.

We met pressure with pressure. And now we've got Big Ben Tuesday. I'm a big unlicensed music guy. I am now. Halvard and Brub of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with

anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. BC Lions kicker Sean White's going to join us in just a moment here. The kickoff. Ooh, clever. Hour 3. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound.

Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. What are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. Our next guest kicked a 42-yard game-winning field goal on Thursday night to beat the Elks 24-21. He joins us now.

Sean White, BC Lions kicker here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Sean. How are you? I'm good. How are you? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We really appreciate it. So, I want to start with, yeah, I know you're not supposed to talk about streaks. I know it could be bad luck, but we don't believe in bad luck here. We're positive vibes only at the Halford & Brough Show. You make your own luck.

It's true. Superstitions are for the weak-minded. And you've been making your own. You've hit 28 straight field goals. Is that something that you consciously think about, or are you now consciously thinking about it? Or is this just just this is my job this is what i do i go out there and kick field goals uh well i think you covered it all i guess

i'm weak-minded because uh you know you don't say shut out when a goalie's having a shutout but thanks guys no problem good luck in hamilton you guys are the first you guys are the first of all media to bring this up so we did it right away, too. You jinxed me. No, I didn't start thinking about it until I hear Dustin Nielsen announce it on TSN when I'm making my kicks and stuff afterwards when I watch the game. Now we're on the streak again.

Yeah, it's definitely on your mind. You want to keep it going, but at the same time, you've got to attack every game like it's any other game. So, you know, I try to do that, but when I'm kicking, everything just kind of goes away, and I'm just thinking about what I've got to do to make the kick. What are you feeling when you're on a hot streak like you are now? God, you're killing me.

Let's just really examine this you better not be on the ice for any canuck games when our goalies are on the shutout seriously uh i again i'm not thinking about streak man i'm thinking about what i gotta do to make the kick and i try to just go through the pre uh my pre-kick routine that I do and I just rely on that because the pressure is there when I'm kicking and I that's why I like doing what I do I like that pressure I like the scariness of it all and you know it goes through you get that adrenaline rush and you know you feel like you actually did something as a kicker so uh you know that's all I do man I try not to overthink it well good luck on this show because we're going to get in your head real good. Actually, that was interesting what you said, like you want that opportunity.

There are so many times when I'm watching sports, whether it's golf and the guy's got a short putt to win a tournament, and I'm like, oh, I would not want that putt. Or, you know, penalty kicks in Euro yesterday. I was like, oh, I wouldn't want to take that. And, you know, the same euro yesterday i was like oh i wouldn't want to be the kid i wouldn't want to take that and you know the same goes with these last minute field goals but i guess that's completely different with the professional athletes like yourselves like you're dying for that opportunity to play the hero yeah and i i don't know i know every kid out there in the world wants to be a pro athlete. You know, I remember hitting basketball shots and counting down the clock

and three, two, one, you make the game winner or whatever, anything like that or a game-winning goal in hockey. That's my dream, man. That's what I've always wanted to do is to be that guy to make the game winner. And I started kicking in rugby because i wanted to be the guy that kicks the ball and rugby you know you play offense defense and whoever can kick and kick so i just practiced because i wanted to be that guy uh to get that opportunity so uh you know as a kicker on a football team those guys you know i watch those guys and this team i'm on is a special

team like it's a family atmosphere with these guys and I'm watching them donate their body and do what they do and we have had four short weeks in a row and these guys are dying out there. I feel great. I just want to do my job and my part and

like I said, I don't get these opportunities much so when I get them, I really want to take advantage of them for obviously myself, but mostly for my teammates. Tell us about your rugby career. Short-lived. I was a rugby guy in high school, went to Samyama Secondary in South Surrey. And we were known for rugby. My brother's 15 years older than me, and the same coaching staff was there when I got there.

So they were known for their rugby, and I always wanted to be on that team. So when I got to Samyama, all through grade 8 to 12, I played on the rugby team, and the senior team, we had some great coaches with Dave Kay and Paul Horn, who were both Team Canada coaches, and I think we were ranked second or third when I was was in my 11th grade and then fifth I think in uh my grade 12 year so that played bayside rugby also and uh that's kind of where uh Wally Bono saw me kick

um I'm reading in one of your bios that you aspire to be like English rugby legend Johnny Wilkinson well Well, you're talking to a couple of England supporters here. Most of it's with soccer, but I watch England play rugby as well. And Johnny Wilkinson was the hero that delivered the drop goal that won England, the world cup in 2003. So my question for you is, will you try a drop kick in the CFL ever? Cause you're allowed to do it, right? It's technically you can take a field goal like a drop kick. I actually did it in training camp.

It was a snap, kind of went through my holder's hands, and it went right to me. So we were just messing around. So I just went right to me. I caught it. I'm like, okay, drop kick. And it went in. I'm like, yeah, I can do it.

But I don't think I'll try it on purpose. That's for sure. Well, especially with this big streak on the line. Oh, God, you're the worst. You guys are killing me. Never doing the show again. Yeah, definitely with the streak on the line. They'll want to do that.

We're speaking to Sean White, BC Lions kicker, here on the Hoffman & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. So you kind of alluded to this already, Sean, but you're a perfect fit for this show because you like a lot of different sports. A true sportsman. And you've got a very athletic family as well. You mentioned your brother, but you've got aunts and uncles that also played sports at a high level as well. Yeah, my dad was filling me in all all uh during the off season actually about my uncle bill and uh his kids and his wife eleanor they're both

like hall of fame athletes in ubc i know i had a jackie white my family who is an athletic award at john oliver high school i think that's gone, but that was just up until a few years ago that used to be the Jackie White Memorial Award. So yeah, it's a very competitive family. Usually gatherings are, you know, it's going to be dart competitions, pool, crib, all that stuff, and it gets heated. So you know, you got to bring your A game. And so My family's very, we play a lot of darts now. My mom and dad will come over on weekends, and we'll just throw darts. My uncle will join once in a while as well.

Have you ever been to a darts competition in England? Have you ever been over there? No. Because we've talked about that as a bucket list for us. I looked into it because I wanted to take my dad there, and it was only like, I think it was 300 pounds. You get one of those spots up front, and it's all you can drink for the whole night. So that's why you can see why they're so excited all the time.

But it sounds like a great time. All you can drink with a bunch of Englishmen? That is the worst idea I've ever heard, actually. And all dressed up. Yeah, it looks like fun. I know you're a big Canucks fan. What did you think about what the Canucks did yesterday in free agency? I was golfing all day, so my CSN app was going crazy.

You mean your Sportsnet app? That's fine. I mean my Sportsnet app, yes. So I had to mute it. But, yes, my Sportsnet app was going nuts. So I had to mute it because it kept going off while I was shooting. But there was a lot going on, and I have to look into that and see what's going on.

But I should just bring Pavel Bure back. Let's just do that. So for those that are unaware, that's why you were number 10, right? Yeah, well, I was 10 in rugby, 10 in soccer, and then, yeah, since, what, 93, 94, Canucks. That's my favorite team of all time, Pavel Bure. So, yeah, he's theucks. That's my favorite team of all time. Pavlo Bure. So, yeah, he's the best.

He's my favorite athlete of all time. I got his jersey in a little, you know, case. I got his autograph on there. The wife got me that jersey last Christmas. I almost cried looking at it. It's my pride and joy that I think my little shrine to Bure. Okay, so before we let you go, let's set up the weekend. It's another, we were mentioning this earlier when we did the CFL report,

it's another winless team on tap. It's the 0-4 Hamilton Tiger Cats in Hamilton. You've got to keep this three-game winning streak alive. Yeah, so many streaks on the line here. But, yeah, we are the worst. It's, you know, the Edmonton game, we said that could be a potential trap game because any time these winless teams come in, the desperation grows every week as it goes to like 0-2, 0-3, now it's 0-4.

So it could be a tricky game once again this weekend, and you're on the road in Hamilton. Yeah. I don't really believe it. I know they're desperate and all that stuff. There's still a lot of football to be played, but in this league, everyone's got playmakers and all-stars. And it's who comes prepared and whoever's fresh and plays disciplined football. And that's what it comes down to in the CFL, man.

You can beat anybody any day. So we just got to play our game. I've said it for the last three years now. The only team that beats us is us. We are so good. But when we lose those games, it's because we've caused our own penalties, little things after the whistle, things like that. If we can just settle down and play our game,

no one can touch us. The Lions go Sunday in Hamilton, Tim Hortons Field. Sean, thanks a lot for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Best of luck with the rest of the season. Let's try and do this again before it's up. Yeah, thanks, man for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Best of luck with the rest of the season. Let's try and do this again before it's up. Yeah, thanks, man, and go England. Yep, for sure. Thanks, Sean. We appreciate

it. That's Sean White, BC Lions kicker here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet. He's missing the first kick in Hamilton, isn't he? It's all your fault. I'm just going to give him your number if that happens. He'll be texting me. I'm like, I'm not dealing with this. I'm going to give this to Brough. Yeah.

It is. It's a very impressive streak. He's 11 for 11 on the year. So the 28 in a row obviously dates back to last season. But I didn't think about it. I was like, oh, God. Yeah. That was like when I interviewed Bobrowski before the Olympics in Sochi.

I'm like, man, like the whole country. Like, there's so much pressure. And like, you know what happens to people that don't do well in Russia? Like, I'm like, man, like the whole country, like there's so much pressure. And like, you know what happens to people that don't do well in Russia? Like, and he's like, nope. I had not thought of that. Several people pointing out that we didn't mention Sean White's illustrious snowboarding career.

We made those jokes off the air. Yeah, wrong Sean White. Yeah, we were saving the streak jokes for on the air. And we went through rather, you know, I think we did a good job of completely alienating the guests. Continually asking them and analyzing the streak. Hey, you know what, though? If the 28th in a row was also of the game winning variety, like I wanted to ask him what we ran short on time was, you know not all kicks are created equal right i mean i'm sure that there was some in this streak that were probably real run-of-the-mill and automatic and close right and

then you've got one and he brings that's always the fascinating dynamic about football is that the kicker is never putting in the same sort of um physical i mean torture sometimes that these guys put themselves through to achieve the end goal. But mentally. But then when the end goal is still to be decided, it's the kicker that often has to decide it for you. So it's a, you know, I like the way that he put it. He's like, you know, it's what I can do

to reward these guys for going in the battle and doing all the trench work and all that stuff, right? Is that he can go and finish the deal. He's done it 20 times in a row. And if he misses, he's like, sorry about that. I'll get the next one. Kicker's life, baby. You see he can go and finish the deal. He's done it 28 times in a row. And if he misses, he's like, sorry about that. I'll get the next one. Kicker's life, baby. You see him mouthing, bruh.

It's the kicker's life, baby. Let's do a few what we learned. I've got some leftover stuff from stuff we didn't get to in the hockey talk. I learned yesterday that the Montreal Canadiens made a big bet on Uri Slavkovski. This one caught me by surprise. I did not see this coming. Signed him to an eight-year extension worth $60.8 million. That's a cap hit of $7.6 million.

He's only 20 years old, but he's shown a lot of improvement, especially in the last season where he had 20 goals and 30 assists in the 82 games. He becomes the first player in Canadian's history to record 40 points in a single season before the age of 20, and that's all well and good, but the bet is that he doesn't plateau, and the bet is that this guy in a few years is going to be one of the great bargain contracts in the NHL. Yep. I mean, it's very similar. And if he's not, you can buy him out for one third. Do you remember when the Edmonton Oilers signed Leon Dreisaitl to the deal he's currently playing on there were people that were the eyebrows were more than raised and they thought it was a crazy gamble to take because the dry sidle when he signed the deal was in no way the

dry sidle that he is now but this is what the hard cap system kind of forces you to do sometimes is take these really if you want to get the real value for your elite players. Think of the contract that Quinn Hughes is on right now. Yep. You got to identify. Even the Demko deal. Yeah. You have to make a bet on future returns. Right?

It's no paying for the moment. What is this going to look like two or three years down the road? And look what Montreal is doing with their core that they have. Caulfield, Suzuki, and now Slavkovski, all signed through 2030 for less than $8 million each. That's pretty solid work there by Ken Hughes. Right. But the other part of it is, one, you're committing to guys that are not finished products.

There's still question marks about all these guys. Puts a tremendous amount of pressure, not only on the player, but the coaching staff to get the most out of those players. I'm not saying it's a wrong bet. But here's the kicker to all of this. It puts a tremendous amount of pressure, not just on a player, but a young player. Yeah. There's a big difference when you're an established NHLer

and you want to go get paid and you've earned that, as opposed to we're going to throw this on your shoulders because we think you're going to grow we hope that the pressure of this contract won't stunt your growth at all you know and we've seen it happen before guys have had a hard time living up to their contracts because you end up being your number and that number isn't the one on the back of your jersey it's your salary your aav i mean look at darnell nurse Darnell Nurse is defined by his contract. Yeah.

Right? Totally. And... Well, Ekman Larson in Vancouver was defined by his contract. And a lot of guys are. And those are guys that are older, more veteran presences. Now... He's still got one year left on his entry-level deal, Slefkowski. Yep.

They made a big bet. They made a big bet early. Now. They made the bet as soon as they could make it. The first moment that they did lock, they were like, we're doing it. They must have seen something from him last season that was just really impressive to them.

Because I remember when Slefkovski was first drafted, people were like, oh, I don't know about this guy. He's going to be a project. And then he came into the NHL and people were like, oh, I don't know about this guy. He's going to be a project. Got hurt. I guess the thing that's hard for us

is that we largely ignored the Montreal Canadiens last year. They were pretty, usually the Habs are relevant. They were pretty irrelevant last year. It's kind of like, they were just like, yeah, you keep going with that rebuild you're doing. Tell us when it's done.

We paid so little attention to them that we didn't even mention yesterday. One of the stories that came out of Montreal was that Alex Burrows stepped down from his coaching duties with the Montreal Canadiens. Wanted to spend more time with his family and decided to step away from the Habs assistant coaching job. I can't remember. That's three coaches in two years that have stepped away from the Habs. Yeah, a lot of change.

A lot of change behind the bench there. Okay, so Mukau all that. Now, in a nice foil, I suppose, to betting big on Slavkovsky in the hope that they won't have to pay him later on down the road, the richest deal in NBA history was signed yesterday. Jason Tatum, fresh off a NBA title, his first with the Boston Celtics, now at the ripe old age of 26. Well, the Boston Celtics said, we better pay this guy.

And boy, they did a five-year wait for it 314 million dollar deal that is not i'm speaking properly i did not read that incorrectly i did not get the dollar figure wrong you sure 314 million dollars over the next five years you know what was the more interesting Boston Celtics news from yesterday? That they're for sale. Yeah. What do you think they're going to go for? So the most recent team, the Phoenix Suns,

were sold for $4 billion. Do you remember when we were all like, what's his name? The Microsoft guy that bought, Balmer bought the Clippers for $2 billion. We thought that when we were all like, uh, what's his name? The Microsoft guy that bought Balmer bought the Clippers for 2 billion. We thought that was a lot of money. I didn't even mind. That's like a bargain now.

Yeah. Uh, this current, uh, ownership group purchased the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million. So that was 22 years ago. Yeah.

I'm setting the over under on this sale price. Six? Six. Yeah. Because if the Suns can go for $4 billion, the Boston Celtics, considering what they are as a franchise, how ingrained they are,

not only in the NBA, but in Boston. One of the most iconic brands in sport, let's be honest. Yeah. The Leprechaun, the history. And they continue to win. Well, they continue to win.

The buyer now, whoever comes in, like aside from all of the preexisting brand value, God, I sound like Darren Revell. Just so much fan engagement. Yeah. You're also inheriting a team that just won an NBA championship and has locked up its entire starting five because they also signed Derek White yesterday.

So you're handing someone a team where you're like, not only are you going to get this historic brand and its value, but we are positioned to be a very good team in the immediate future and down the road because Tatum's only 26 years old. I wonder if they think about building a new arena. That arena in Boston stinks. I know, but there's so much history there.

It's not the Boston Garden. There is quite a bit of history there now, right? I mean, they've won a title now, right? A lot of Game 7s lost there for the Boston Browns. Yeah, right. It's got history, good, bad, or otherwise. I know they've improved it since I was there in 2011. It's not a great building.

I walked in there. I was like, have you guys been taking care of this thing? For as historic a sports city as Boston is with the iconic places they have, like Fenway, obviously, right? You would think that that arena would be more. It's just sort of bland. It's a cement block. Yeah, there's no character to it. I've heard Fenway is a little downtrodden,

even with the renovation. But Fenway's Fenway. I didn't know when I, I mean, maybe lately, but when I went to Fenway, I was impressed with how well it was

kept up, actually. Like, it looked like they painted green every week. Yeah. Like, everything is green. I thought Fenway was

really, really cool. I've heard of granted at the time, I was in a really good mood because the Canucks were up to nothing over the Boston Brewers. And it was also 13 years ago.

Yeah. You went back now you'd be like this place is a dump. Yeah, this place sucks. There's beams everywhere in the way. Okay, mook out of that.

Okay, so we'll set this up now. Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. Weigh in with your What We Learns. We got a half hour left on the program. If you missed it earlier, I'll remind you,

tomorrow, Jason is going to be going on vacation. Jamie Dodd will be filling in. And Vincent Desjardins, one of the free agent signings for the Vancouver Canucks, the Big Thumper defenseman, is going to be joining us at what time tomorrow? Just after 7.30, right? Big Thumper's at 7.30.

Mariner's got the Big Dumper, and we got the Big Thumper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not going to call him that on the air, just so we're clear. Well, not when he's on, but behind his back. I don't think it's even his nickname. No, it is now. Who do you think comes up with nicknames? It's usually media people that come up with nicknames. You should mention it to him on the air.

Big Thumper. We've come up with a nickname for you. We wanted you to give us your honest thoughts. I was talking about the collective Thumpees. Hello. It it'll be like sean white told me not to talk to you guys uh so deharnais is going to join us tomorrow uh and then we are trying to get whoever else we can from the vancouver connects because they did sign seven guys yesterday and who knows what will happen over the next 24 48 hours it is day two of free agency by the way if you've tuned into sportsnet 650 this morning, be like, where are my updates?

It's gotten real cold. Your boy, Vladimir Tarasenko, who did turn into a pretty good player and useful player for the Florida Panthers in a third-line role, it should be noted. Could use one of those. He is still a free agent. Sportsnet.ca has got the list of

top 10 UFAs still available. I guess it falls off pretty quickly because number two is Daniel Sprong. Yeah, it's a lot of guys got signed yesterday. This morning the only one I've known was what, James Reimer going to Buffalo? Laddie, is that what you said? James Reimer to Buffalo, you can't confirm? Yes, for one million

for one way deal. The rumor for Tarasenko this morning from Josh Yohi has been the Penguins in on Tarasenko. Tyler Mott still, he's number 10 on this list. Still hanging out. Still unsigned. I was really excited, actually, when the Canucks signed Kiefer Sherwood.

Because I remember watching him play. I'm like, oh, I wish the Canucks had a guy like him. And now they do. It makes me less angry at Sam Lafferty now that Kiefer Sherwood. I'm like, oh, I wish the Canucks had a guy like him. And now they do. It makes me less angry at Sam Lafferty now that Kiefer Schurter, I'm able to move on. You know what else I loved about yesterday was that the Anaheim Ducks forgot it was the opening day of free agency. See in our new jerseys?

Like Pat Verbeek woke up at noon. He's like, oh, man. Zegers is like, now I really want to trade. They have nobody. They're under the floor, if I'm not mistaken, salary- want to trade they have nobody they're under the floor if i'm not mistaken salary wise and they have they have nobody there it's and there was all these other but we'll get around to it but there's all these other bottom feeder teams that went out and signed guys do you see how many guys chicago signed yesterday i lost track after all craig smith

patrick maroon like they just went and grabbed yeah they just went and grabbed everyone alec martinez tj brody they were just signing guys left and right and mckay i was like i guess i'm off the first unit power play yeah like he's like i don't like this at all i thought i was getting a fresh start here i am buried behind patrick maroon anyway uh what we learned are coming up next get yours in dumb bar lumber text message in basket 650 650 you are listening to the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 hey it's big's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show

with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays 3-4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Now for my favorite part of the show. What'd I say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God, this is always dead.

It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show. 831 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough in the morning 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 looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program. It is what we learn time. knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. It is What We Learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound.

Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. Ruff and I have already done our What We Learns. It's time now to turn it over to the dogs. We're going to start with Laddie, better known as Greg Ballack. Better, better known as Laddie. Laddie, what did you learn over the last 24 hours? Thanks for that intro. No problem. This will be a bit of a Vancouver Giants style What We Learned.

Because a lot of signings going on. The Edmonton Oilers AHL team has taken away a former giant from the Canucks, Alex Canik-Liepert. Beloved Edmonton Canuck. With Bakersfield, he fought the 6'8", I think Adam Klapka was his name for the Flames farm team, and he's not 6'8", he's about 5'11". So that's where he made some headlines, but he's gone now. He's with Bakersfield. And I should also mention that the goaltender of the year that the Giants had,

Brett Meerwald, he's going to the Canucks development camp. He invited him to the Vancouver Canucks camp going on. And Brett Meerwald is there. He's still looking for a contract. So hopefully the Canucks like what they see. And we briefly mentioned Yuri Patera, the goalie that the Canucks signed yesterday. One of the reasons he was pushed out of a job in Vegas is because of former Vancouver Giants goalie Jesper Weichmann.

They like him so much in Vegas that they want to get him some more playing time, and Patera was shuffled out the door. Now he's going to be an athlete. By the way, we missed all the goalie shuffle in Vegas because they got rid of Logan Thompson. Yes. And who did they bring in? I forget now.

Put me on the spot. Yeah, I know. Well, you're the goalie guy. They acquired somebody. Yeah, it's not coming to me forget now. Put me on the spot. Yeah, I know. Well, you're the goalie guy. They acquired somebody. Yeah, it's not coming to me right now. Vegas, like I said, they have a ton of goalies. They were overflowing with... Samsonov. Thank you!

The guy that was rumored to come to Vancouver from Dollywell. So yeah, it was a lot going on. A lot still to come, I think. Hey, Jason, on the subject of goalies, nice save. Thank you. No problem. Okay, Mukau that. I've actually got a quick what we learned. Sure, fire it in there.

Adog's still got to go too. We all know that Steve Simmons is a columnist for the Toronto Sun. I'm familiar with his work. And some people like him. More people don't. But he did have an interesting little tid, little tidbit in a, in one of his articles. Okay. Uh, the Leafs signed that big defenseman

Yanni Hockenpah. Yep. To a two year deal worth one and a half million per season. But here's what Steve Simmons wrote about that signing. He wrote a year ago, maybe two years ago, Hockenpah would have factored rather nicely

on the Leafs defense. He's a giant of a maybe two years ago, Hockenpah would have factored rather nicely on the Leafs' defense. He's a giant of a man at 6'7", popular in the room, that great hockey vernacular, and a penalty killer beyond compare, but one with a knee so bad that some think, although the Leafs disagree, that he may never play again. They just signed him. Didn't they do this with the, what's his he may never play again. They just signed him. Didn't they do this with the, what's his face? Klingberg.

Klingberg, yeah. The same thing. Dallas, former Dallas defenseman, health issues, and they gave Klingberg $4.1 million. I hadn't heard this. I actually, I saw the same thing floating around social media, but not from Simmons. People were taking that little tidbit and doing jumping offs.

I can't believe they did this um but if you look and do like a google just a cursory google news search there's nothing about the need not so well that's really interesting scoop as they say in the business so old scoop sims i i am i mean i i could be wrong about this there's still some good players in toronto but i'm just so down on their whole situation there because upfront, yeah, you've re-signed Austin Matthews and he is a good player and he's going to score a bunch of goals. But then William Nylander, what's he going to perform like now that he's been paid?

He's shown a lot actually over the last little while. So I'll say I'm still fairly confident about Nylander as well. But then you've got Tavares who can't move and whose game is declining as he gets older. He's on a big cap hit. The Marner situation is such a wild card. Who knows what's going to happen with that?

Is he going to extend? Is he going to be traded? If he is traded, are the Leafs going to get anything for him? Because he's going to be in control of where he goes because of his full no-move clause? Are they going to go into the season with him just unrestricted, pending unrestricted free agent? And then you've got a blue line that was super problematic,

so they finally bring in Chris Tanev, but they needed to bring Chris Tanev in five or six years ago to play with Morgan Riley. Now you're so desperate that you gave a 34-year-old Chris Tanev who plays some of the hardest minutes in the NHL a six-year deal, and you've brought in Oliver Ekman-Larsen, who was fine for Florida, but in a third pair role, and you're expecting that defense to be super improved like even morgan riley he's getting up there in age right and then the goaltending situation is way up in the air too maybe joseph wall is the guy and if he is that's really good for the least but he's still

pretty young um and who's the backup they've got now? Stolarz is who they signed. Stolarz. And they're bringing Murray back for another year. Right. And you don't know. I guess the plan would be that Wohl is the starter and Stolarz. Or is it an open competition? They're just going to rotate them as they get injured. Is it an open competition for what's going on? Because Stolarz has never been a full-time starter in the NHL.

No, but I think he can be. He can be. He's a guy that I've been pushing for. But you don't know. And you don't know what that Toronto team is even going to look like in the NHL. No, but I think he can be. He can be. He's a guy that I've been pushing for, but you don't know. And you don't know what that Toronto team is even going to look like in front of him. I'm just very bearish on the Leafs and that probably means they're going to win the Stanley Cup next season.

Is that a good one or a bad one? Which is the good? That's the bad one. Bears are bad and bulls are good? Is that how it works? It's like overrated. Not in nature necessarily, but yeah, in the stock market. It's like Tom Mann, I can learn one. This is akin to me trying to figure out overrated, underrated. Like, which one's good? Yeah, Halford still calls it like the Dow to Jones.

Yeah. That's after Nick Dow, right? Right. And Max Jones. Okay, Mukau. A-Dog's got a PSA. Yeah, it's going to be hot this weekend. First, like, hot weekend of the summer.

It's going to hit apparently 31 on Sunday, potentially. It's going to feel like low to mid-30s. That's too hot. So, I mean, I know myself. We have an AC at home. Finally, we got one a couple years ago after the heat dome, and we had to move into a hotel for three days. So, we're like, I can't do that again.

What hotel did you move into? Was it a nice one? No, it was the one. What was it called? It's on Burrard. It's right across. It's right by the hospital, right by St. Paul's. It's like on the corner.

That's convenient, too. I forget. Honestly, I can't remember the name. It was fine. It was fine. It had AC, which was good. Nice. Anyway, so yeah, the PSA is if you can afford it, and if you don't already have one, get

an AC. You'll be happy you have one, because this weekend is going to be hot. If not, go to somewhere that has AC. Yeah, or that. Do that. Yep. Do that as well. Hang out at the mall has AC. Yeah, or that. Do that. Do that as well. Hang out at the mall all day.

Okay, moo cow that. I'm married with children when Al took his family to the grocery store for vacations. Open up those freezer doors, kids. Feel the breeze. Okay, fire up the... The fridge is cool. Fire up the dot matrix. What we learned, humanoid edition, is brought to... The fridge is cool. Fire up the dot matrix. What we learned,

humanoid edition is brought to you by Get Fire Plan. Protect what matters most with comprehensive fire safety plans, monthly audits, and risk mitigation at $200 off. Visit them at getfireplan.com. Oh my God!

We're having a fire! Plan. Go ahead. Basketball Phil, what we learned, the interesting part of the Celtics sale is that the Kraken owner is a part owner in the Boston Celtics. He is rumored to be the main owner of the Sonics return to the NBA.

Yeah. A lot of people are talking about, I think it's David Bonderman. Yeah. He was a minority owner in the Celtics and he would have to get out of that position in order, obviously, to be the owner of any expansion team in the NBA. I just, it'll be interesting to see how anyone funds these deals because most of these guys, like they don't have, you know, I don't, they're rich, but they're not $6 billion rich.

Right. That's why whenever people talk about the potential return of the NBA to Vancouver, there are multiple questions, one being where would they play? You want to have control of your own arena. 100%. And how would it be funded? Because the Aquilini family, as rich as they are,

if they wanted to be part of this, they're not NBA owner rich. And you have to start bringing in partners. And that's why people are talking more and more about, are you going to allow more private equity in? Are you going to allow these sovereign wealth funds? Are you going to allow essentially, would Saudi Arabia be allowed to be a majority? If they're the financial backers, would that be allowed?

Because eventually these assets just get so expensive that you can have rules, but then it puts caps on how big the franchise values, valuations can actually get. This one is from Justin in East Van, hashtag WWL. What we learned. What I learned is I keep playing Van. Hashtag WWL what we learned. What I learned is I keep playing the what if game after day one of free agency.

What if Gensel and Tana have tested free agency? What if Tyler Toffoli signed with the Canucks? What if Coop's fried chicken was a real restaurant in North Burnaby? I guess I'll just have to accept the reality of the situation. There's lots of things going on in that text. The reality of the situation. One of my favorite catchphr on in that text. The reality of the situation, one of my favorite catchphrases. Some say I use it too much.

Most of them are right. Coop's Fried Chicken was a fake restaurant set up in North Burnaby and it was the scene for an Apple TV show that they were filming. Is it gone now?

Gone. Oh, it's closed down already. Just took it down like it never existed. We drove, me and the boy drove by the other day and we both lamented the fact that we never got

to fake eat there. That'd be funny if it actually had reviews. Never open. Zero stars. Scooter Joe with what we learned. Scooter Joe. If Jake DeBrusque is known for being inconsistent, does that make him consistently inconsistent,

and therefore he's actually consistent? I've often thought about this when someone gets classified over a course of a career as being inconsistent. I'm like, well, that's not really true. I mean, yeah, if you're consistently inconsistent, would you then not be consistent? This is what I do every year. If you're known as a streaker.

Yeah, I'm inconsistent every year. I do a T. Without fail, you can count on me to not count on me. It's like when they call someone a streaky player. It's like, well, at least you know what to expect. Yeah. He's going to be streaky. What we learned on signed,

I learned that Edmonton still needs to re-sign Broberg and Holloway while being two and a half million over the cap currently. Evander Kane is most certainly starting the season on LTIR. Yeah, I don't know. It's a sports hernia, isn't it? Shouldn't he be, shouldn't that be able to be solved over the off season? I don't know how It's a sports hernia, isn't it? Shouldn't that be able to be solved over the offseason? I don't know how long a sports hernia usually takes.

He might be on the old Lawrence Gilman LTIR. You can't do that to a player like Evander Kane. He's still a good player when he's healthy. Yeah. I want to push back on that a little bit because someone else texted in when I was saying earlier. You don't think he's a good player when he's healthy? He's a really good player

when he's healthy. Might have lost a step, but I don't, I mean, this year collectively was not a good year for him. And I know he was playing banged up. I guess the question would be like,

how healthy is he? Because remember, yeah, there was the time where he was like the healthy scratch, but they kind of felt, I wonder if they might try and move. That's what I'm wondering.

Yeah. One texture here. Send him to Anaheim. Learn how to speak Anaheim duck. Is he going to be able to even have a shot in the top six with the guys that they brought in? Someone put the lines out right now. It would be right now.

They projected a second line. It would be like dry sidle between Skinner and Arvidsson. And then the top line would be Nuge McDavid and Hyman Hyman yeah or insert Winger

and then put Nuge as your 3C whatever like they've got an embarrassment of riches because they got Arvidsson and Skinner on really good deals

I had so much more of an appreciation for Nugent Hopkins during this playoff run he is a really good player and he gets overshadowed big time in Edmonton. One texter said, I'm the head of security for that Apple TV show you're talking about. The restaurant did have reviews, fake reviews.

People were talking about eating there 30 years ago. There was even an angry guy who was upset because it was not a real restaurant. It was quite funny. So it was a Pizza Hut back in the day. Oh, yeah. You could see the skeleton of the Pizza Hut. Yeah. That'll never go away.

So I was doom scrolling on Twitter. That's nice. Someone, an independent Pizza Hut franchisee, like remember the pizza buffet? Oh, do I ever. Did you ever go to it as a kid? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like birthday parties were there.

Right. It looks so much sadder now. I remember it being this. Glamorous thing. Well, yeah, there was just like this endless salad buffet and all the pizza you could possibly eat. It looks so much sadder now. I remember it being this glamorous thing. Well, yeah. There was just like this endless salad buffet and all the pizza you could possibly eat. But I guess due to the economy, this one was like two pepperoni pizzas that look like they got cooked the day before. Yeah.

Like eat as much as you want. Kids love Pizza Hut. I wonder when is the moment when you're like, actually, I'll let you know if it happens. One texter explained the bulls and the bears, by the way. It's the way they attack. Bears swipe down, down bear market, and bulls attack up with their horns. Bull market equals good. I never knew that.

I didn't either. That can't be right. That's great what we learned. I mean, I don't know enough about it to dispute it, so let's just say it's correct. I just feel like a bear was just kind of like down, like, I'm going to go sleep for a while. And Ebola's like, let's go!

Let's go! Let's get after it. Let's go find some cows. Yeah, let's go. The way they attack, it sounds like it could be correct. Could be. Okay, what we learned unsigned so must be from Gary. The Canucks now have three of the top nine American-born hitters in the NHL. Hitmen? Nope, hitters. Well well that's what they call hitmen i know but this is not hitmen well i guess you could call them hitmen okay dakota joshua coaches look like behind the

noted yeah right they honestly do noted hitman dakota joshua was third among americans noted hitman keifer sherwood was fourth and jt miller was ninth. I think Sherwood and Dakota are going to, Joshua are going to play well off one another if they're playing on separate lines, which I assume that they will. I love that the Canucks are building a tough team. I was shocked that you weren't more bullish, or is it bearish, on what they did on the blue line.

You're worried about the puck moving part of it. I thought you'd love the fact that they went out and got these skyscrapers. We still need to be able to move the puck, though. It's almost like you're never happy. But that's a hard thing

about building a blue line. I know. I'm just joking. It's difficult. Almost like one comes at the expense of another. But it was hilarious. When you lose...

Because there are only so many guys that can do both. When you lose Zdorov and Cole and yet you manage to get taller in free ages, that's a tough thing to do. Both those guys were pretty tall. Now they have two 6'7 defensemen.

I was okay with what they did in free agency on the blue line. I was okay with what they did in free agency overall. They're NBA caliber tall. You okay with the blue line? I don't. He's worried about the puck moving. I'm worried about the puck moving. I think they really do need to experiment

With splitting up Hughes and Hronick Yeah but what if that doesn't work Can you imagine if it doesn't work He's like oh Hronick He needs Hughes It's a good thing they paid him all that money Susie and Myers Your second pair all year

I mean I don't know man Yeah I'm worried about it I'm not feeling it But I have always been worried about the blue line The last time I was satisfied with the blue line Was 2011 Right When they had You know worried about the blue line. The last time I was satisfied with the blue line was 2011. When they had definitely two

pairs that you could trust and then when he was healthy, Sammy Salo sometimes on the third pair. You have a signing to announce. We have a signing to announce. Power play merchant, former Sabre now, Victor Olofsson reuniting with Jack Eichel in Vegas.

He scored 28 goals a couple years ago, and he signs a two-year $4.75 million deal. That is the biggest signing of the day so far, right? The Golden Knights. Tyler with a What We Learned. The biggest story not being talked about right now is Sidney Crosby not being extended

yet. They're already writing about it in Pittsburgh. Jason Mackey's got a post. Hashtag it in Pittsburgh. Jason Mackey's got a post. Hashtag trouble in paradise. Jason Mackey's got an article in the Post-Gazette about it already. They'll easily be able to downplay that. They'll be like, we had too much on our plate.

We wanted to get through free agency. We got the whole summer, but there are certain teams that did find a way to sign guys to extensions. Victor Hedman is extended now. They announced that today in Tampa Bay. They had a lot on their plate there. They still managed to find an extension

for Victor Hedman. This is a story where most of us still expect Sidney Crosby to extend in Pittsburgh and finish his career in Pittsburgh. But especially with, like, I feel, I don't know this for sure. So this is just maybe my feelings. Sure.

You know, we're in that's our, that's, that's what people do now. Like they love to hear feelings matter, right? Just talk about your feelings. I feel like Sidney Crosby felt that he was unhappy when Jake

Gensel was traded. Okay. So here, this is the article, Jason Macackie pittsburgh and you can't argue with my feelings that's what they are yeah they're even better than opinions or facts or facts um the quote from dubas and this is exactly what he said and this is what a lot of people are hanging everything around quote we're not looking to simply squeak into the playoffs. It's to return the team to become a contender as soon as possible.

Can we do that this season or next season? It's hard to put a timeframe on it. So if he's saying that to Sidney Crosby right now, I'm sure that the Crosby camp or Crosby himself is saying, well, wait a minute. Yeah. He's like, well, Kyle, it's a good thing I'm only 23 years old then. You know, and there's been countless other NHLers that have had a second phase of their career later on where they try something new. Do you know how mad he must be missing the playoffs two years in a row?

I mean, it's Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby is like, I'm darn tootin' mad. Yeah. Maybe he wants out. Well, consider where he's at in terms of his cachet and quality as a player. He was one of the first six named to Team Canada. Loves the West Coast. He's elite, elite still.

I mean, he's not the Sidney Crosby that he was when he was like 23, 24, but he's still elite. And he's got that cachet. And he would be, I mean, just to say a difference maker is an understatement. Could you imagine how much he would shift a franchise right now, this season, going into it, if he was to move? So since I'm going on vacation for two weeks,

I think you guys should discuss Sid for Petey. Bang that drum hard. And I'm out. Goodbye. Like, if you're Sidney Crosby and you're looking at July 1, and it's like, well, what are we doing to get better here? And your general manager's like, well, we did acquire Kevin Hayes via trade. It was a slightly used Matt Gryzlik interest to you.

And what was the other one? There was another deal. It was all these sort of very- They traded Riley Smith away? They traded Blake Lazat. Yes of they traded riley they got the great blake lazotte yes they traded riley smith away you're like well none of this screams we're gonna be that competitive stanley cup team right now when is it gonna happen god i'm looking at this team right now the roster these guys are gonna suck just come right out and say it yeah no but like the the thing with the with the penguins last year to be fair to them their power play was ultimately what caused them to not make the

playoffs their power play was dreadful and it was weird yes because you had all these in theory great power play players and it was one of the reasons I thought Sullivan might walk the plank last year. It's like, it's your job to figure this out. I mean, it's almost unfathomable that it's on the players because the players are Letang, Malkin, Crosby, Carlson. Yeah. You got to be able to figure something out. Unsigned one here is from Gary.

What we learned, what I learned. We'll only have to sit through one tribute video for Zdor and lindholm when the bruins come to town next year yeah by the way did you see the the money quote from zadoroff is that he's like you can no longer ever call me big z i love that because he plays in boston now and there's only one big z and talk about like saying exactly what the fan base wants to hear he And he's a super dude already. He knows the league really well. Yeah, he does. Yeah. And he's perfect with the media

because he's got a sense of humor and he'll play along enough to appease the jackals of the media. But he also knows that it's a good way to endear yourself to the fans by saying stuff like, there's only one Big Z in Boston and it ain't me.

So good on him. Anyway, we are now up against it for time. So we're going to sort of be dipping in and out. You and I are taking different vacations this year. We're on a break. And I'm not going together this year. Trouble in paradise. Speaking of,

I wouldn't call it paradise. We're there. So he'll be gone for about a week and a half. I'll be doing the show with Jamie Dodd. And then Josh Elliott Wolf is going to get a spin with both of us here. The youngster. On the Halford and Brough show. He's going to be working some shows with me and then when I'm gone, he's going to be working some

shows with Brough. Josh, you're going to be doing all the prep and most of the talking. For both of us. Thank goodness. Anyway, buddy, have fun on vacation. And let a year fire. Have fun on vacation. Thanks, I will. Okay, and we'll be out of here for today, but we will be back tomorrow.

Signing off, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog, and he's been Laddie. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We'll see you next time.