Halford & Brough in the Morning - Braeden Cootes Has Done It

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Canucks radio commentator Brendan Batchelor (1:07) about the latest around the team ahead of the start of the season this Thursday, plus they get a BC Lions update from analyst Giulio Caravatta (25:44), as the club is currently in a bye week. 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.

It's his friend and Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor, Life from Rogers Arena, Collin' Canucks Games. It is Brendan, Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor. 7-0-1 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford and Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brother in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates Learn how a consumer proposal

could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com We are now in Hour 2 of the program as the music suggests. Brendan Batchelor, Play-by-Play Voice of the Vancouver Canucks is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to by Jason hominac

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650. Morning batch, how are you? I'm doing well. How are you guys? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So the news yesterday from the Vancouver Canucks was they officially announced their opening night roster for Thursday night's home opener and season opener against Calgary. And yes indeed, Braden Coots is on it. What's more, a longtime NHL Insider and Canucks podcaster John Shannon confirm that Coots will be in the lineup

on Thursday when the flames come to town. It's got to be a cool moment calling the games. This doesn't happen very often. 18-year-olds don't make the NHL very often. Coots have sort of answered the bell and answered the call every test that's put in front of them. And now Thursday batch, you're going to get to see him making his NHL debut against the flames.

It's very cool. Yeah, it is very cool. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong. I think Peter Nedvid was the last 18-year-old to play for the caddocks. You are correct, yes, sir. And it went great. It didn't. Well, but Trevor Linden was right before that, and that went a lot better.

Correct. But anyway, it doesn't happen very often, yeah, and it's really cool. And the kid is fully deserving of it, right? It's not like it's the team trying to hype up their first round pick. He has come in and easily been one of the best 12 forwards through training camp, if not even higher than that. And, you know, what continues to impress me is his maturity, whether it's talking to him in the media scrums

or off the side after practice or just watching his 200-foot game. Like, you know, I was saying to someone that was asking about him the other day, like there was a shift in that home game against Edmonton on Friday where one moment he's at one end of the ice trying to create offense with the puck on his stick. And the next moment he's back below his own goal line

helping out in a puck battle. And to see an 18-year-old who has that level of maturity on the ice and that level of understanding of what he needs to do to be successful at both ends of the ice is pretty impressive and that's what's allowed him to get to this point. So it's going to be fun. I know the fans going to the game and everybody watching will be watching him closely. And I'm really interested to see how they deploy him if they're going to keep that cane and the kids line with him and Kane and Leckermackie or whether they

tweak things in the next couple days at practice. But, you know, anytime you've got young players who are deservingly making your team, and we know we always talk in Vancouver about the young players and fans want to see them succeed right away and it doesn't always happen, it's pretty cool that we're seeing this kid succeed right away. Okay, I'm glad you brought up the deployment thing because like the preseason, the preseason, but it's a fair indicator of what the regular season might look like, at least in the early stages.

So how did Adamfoot balance between insulating an 18-year-old who's, you know, very much learning the ropes at the NHL level, but also giving him enough rope and as many assignments as possible to make sure that he can keep his head above water at the NHL level and then thrive when the games start to matter like they're going to on Thursday. Yeah, well, I think it's going to be a lot easier on home ice

because if you keep that line together and we saw them together at practice over the weekend in the wake of the preseason game, so that that is an indication that we may see it on Thursday. When you're on home ice, that makes it a lot easier because you can sort of pick your spots of where to get them out, try and get them out for offensive zone draws, or in mismatch situations against the third and fourth line of other teams. I'm going to be interested to see how much the deployment changes once they get out on the road because then things get a little bit different. But at the same time, yeah, he's an 18-year-old kid, but also he's a really good player.

It deserves to be there. And, you know, the reason that he's on the roster is because they believe that he has the ability to help them right away. So yeah, you do want to, you know, shelter him and because Lechermacky's on that line, too, if they're going to play together, you know, you want to find situations where they can gain confidence and succeed. But that said, they are also now NHL players on merit. And so you're not always going to get the favorable matchup. And you're not always going to be out there in the right situation. But through the preseason, anyway, they've showed an ability to, uh, to perform in spite of that. And, you know, so, you know, that's going to be what's fast.

fascinating to watch here in the first few weeks of the season because it's really going to give us an indication of, you know, how long Coots may end up staying, whether it's, you know, just the nine games and whether they spread those nine games out, whether it's beyond the nine games, whether it's beyond the second half of the season, right? Like, these are going to be all really interesting things to track and follow as the year progresses. But, you know, the one thing I'm just taking away from this is coming off a season where there were so many disappointing or frustrating stories around this team. It's a nice way to start this year anyway to have an optimistic story with your first round pick coming in and making the team right away and how he performs and how they deploy him and all of those things are going to sort of tie in to determine how successful he is. Well, I think the optimism and excitement and curiosity around Coots

can be shared with Lecker-Macky too. What did you think of his preseason? I remember early on, in training camp, or maybe even like the scrimmage or something, there were some reports that Lekromacki just looked kind of okay, and I was like, oh, I wonder how this short season, offseason affected him. Like, was he able to get into the gym enough? Was he able to get stronger?

I wonder if that might have been a bit of a curse there that Abbotsford went so far in the Calder Cup playoffs. But he's really come on lately, and the shots he had against Edmonton, man, that's exciting. I want him on the first unit power play now. Yeah, I can certainly see the argument for that too. Yeah, the shot has always been impressive and for him to score a couple of goals like that in that game

against an NHL goaltender and Calvin Pickard is very encouraging. But to be honest, the things that have encouraged me most about Lecker-Mackie are the things in his 200-foot game as well, where he has a greater understanding of what he has to do. We're seeing him around the puck in puck battles in his own zone. We're seeing him make good plays to help transition the puck. These are the things that young players need to buy into to have success. And I had a conversation with assistant coach Kevin Dean about this relatively recently

where, you know, he was talking about how as a young player coming into the league, that's what you have to do is to appreciate that, you know, it's not just about the offense and the goals and it's not going to be as, easy as it's been at other levels. And so in looking at Leckermackie, I completely understand it. I agreed with, you know, yourself and people that were saying, oh, that long playoff run might have heard his ability to, you know, get in the gym and put on some weight and add some strength over the offseason.

But seeing how his, you know, understanding of the game and his understanding of his role has improved, I wonder if it's much like many of the other guys on that team where that playoff run did him a lot of good and playing in some of those big games and needing to be relied upon was something that, you know, grew his understanding of his role as it, you know, applies to being an NHL player too. So, you know, obviously the highlight rails are always going to have the goals and the shot because that's what's impressive.

And ultimately, that's what's going to, you know, make him earn his paycheck in the NHL. But in terms of rounding out his game to be a more reliable player that could be trusted on a night-to-night basis, I think he's taken, to be honest, a quantum leap this, offseason from where I saw him last year. Yeah, and Connor Garland apparently agrees with that assessment. The top line,

Pedersen, Besser, and DeBrusk, a lot of money locked up in those three. A lot of term locked up in those three. They played three games together in the preseason. What did you think? Yeah, I thought there were good moments, I think, is how I would characterize it, but it's not apparent that, that that is going to be to the level that they need now because it's the preseason

I'm not going to sit here and say oh they absolutely need to split up that line but if they can't be more productive at five on five going into the year and beginning the year and in the first handful of games then I would consider whether that line makes sense long term and you know it's also entirely possible that they filled the net on Thursday and get off to a good start and carry that momentum forward. But, you know, for me, and this, this is mostly a conversation around Pedersen, but it applies to his line. So we can talk about it within the context of DeBruscan Bessor, too.

You know, we've been talking about OPD needs to come back and he needs to be this point for game player. That's never been my take. He needs to drive play when he's on the ice. His line needs to control and win its matchup. And if they can do that, then, you know, maybe you're canceling out the other top line on the other team, right? Especially if we expect them to play matchup minutes, which is kind of the way it looks based on how they've been deployed in the preseason. Then you don't need him to be a 100-point guy if he can be a really good matchup centerman.

Obviously, he still has to produce, and they're still going to have to produce five on five. They can't do it all on the power play. but that to me is going to be a greater marker of whether they can be successful as a line is the job they're doing out there giving their team a chance to win even if they themselves don't produce a ton of offense although they obviously still need to hit a bottom line and that bottom line is very high because they're clearly talented offensive players that are capable of doing it but for me with Pedersen and by extension his line it's always been about winning your matchup and driving play.

And, you know, to be honest, if you effectively drive play, you've got enough talent on that line, but the offense is going to come anyway. So, you know, a little early to, you know, rule out that line, but I can understand your concerns about how the preseason didn't exactly look dominant from them at even strength, but ultimately the test is going to start on Thursday, and that's what we'll judge them on, and that's what we'll discuss going forward. so we've talked about the top line we've talked about the line with cane coots and lecker-macky i think you kind of alluded to the fact that there might be another more of a defensive line with

bluger between sherwood and o'connor say so that's three veteran players out there that know what they're doing defensively the second line heidel between garland and baines first of all what do you think of that line and second of all What is the role of that line? Yeah, I mean, the secondary scoring immediately is what I think of, right? So, you know, Garland and Heedle are very capable offensive players. Archie Baines has shown to be a capable offensive player at every level prior to the NHL. And, you know, assuming the line stay that way, assuming he stays on that line,

this is a massive opportunity for him. So, you know, they've raved about. some of the ways he's grown his game and I think I've seen a lot in the preseason too I've liked the way he's played in the preseason but he's got a massive opportunity essentially to play in the top six to start the year and you know with Hoaglander out

that opportunity has come available and so this is a big moment for a guy like Garstee Baines to show that he is capable of filling that role and you know I see there's a lot of consternation online about him getting that chance right now a couple of things, first of all, when did we start getting frustrated at local kids who have won championships who are tremendous stories, went on drafted, have battled their way every step, getting to the NHL? When did we start not liking those kinds of guys getting opportunities?

Because those are normally the kinds of guys that this fan base completely gets behind. So that's frustrating to see, I think, from a personal perspective. And then, you know, the other thing we know, because this happens, all the time, you know, is he's being given that opportunity today. It doesn't mean that opportunity's there tomorrow. If he can't perform in that spot, he won't stay on that line. So people working themselves into a frenzy over Archie Baines on the heel line need to probably just relax a little bit because either he'll be great and it'll be fine

or he won't and he won't be on that line for very long. And that's usually the way these things play out. But yeah, I think there's a, you're right in saying that the blue line is probably going to take some of those matchup minutes. And so then you look to the Gietel line and say, okay, you guys are probably getting friendlier matchups. You guys need to produce. You guys need to drive

offense. And, you know, all three of those players have shown capable of doing that. So they need to do it. And that's kind of what they're going to be judged on, especially if we see the other two lines that we talked about deployed in the ways I expect where

Pedersen is kind of the 1A matchup line and the Bluger line is the one B matchup line, but then also when you go out on the road and your Edel and Garland, you're going to have to play against good lines when your coach doesn't control the matchup either. But I look to that line for offense more than anything else.

And then you've got another line that can produce offense in the cane and the kids line. So, you know, it is interesting to see how they've built out this roster in terms of offensive depth. And a guy like Evander Kane, who I think we expect it automatically would be on that second line, isn't, but is also, on a line that has an opportunity to produce.

But again, all of that said, we could see if Andrew Kane back on that line by the end of the week if things don't go well for them. Okay, a couple of notes to pass along here, Batch. I'm sure you know this already, but for the listeners, the Kinex practice this morning at Rogers Arena, practice is going to start around 10.30. And then Patrick Alvin, the general manager,

is going to speak to the media. and I imagine he's going to be asked why Rick Dollywell is reporting that Victor Mancini is getting called up by the Canucks. Could this have something to do with Derek Forbord's status? I don't know if you saw this, so we might be putting you on the spot, but about 10 minutes, Dollywell did report. It sounds like Mancini is getting called up by the Canucks. I would assume it has something to do with someone's status. either Derek Forbert or P.O. Joseph or potentially Teddy Bluger, because Bluger didn't practice on Sunday either. All three of those guys mispractice.

And because they have 14 forwards right now, Atu-Ratu slotted in in Blugur's spot. So that could create the room for them to theoretically call up an 8th defenseman instead of a 14th forward if it were a Bluger injury. but it's more likely that it's either Forbert or Joseph, and so that'll be interesting to see how that plays out because, you know, with the way the roster is set up, I believe that somebody has to go on IR for that to happen unless they're going to send someone else down. Right. So, you know, the scenarios here are either injury

that's serious enough to put someone on IR for someone to be recalled, a change of heart and someone going on waivers to make this make sense unless they're going to send down another waiver ineligible player like DPD or a leckerbaki and I don't think we're expecting that to happen and the third option is that maybe somebody's getting traded away but if that were the case

I think Dolly Wall probably would have had that part of it reporting it as well so it's most likely an injury but there are a number of scenarios that could lead to Mancini being recalled this quick but you know this is what we talked about going into the roster deadline that just because a guy is not on the roster on roster declaration day doesn't mean that he might not be literally called up the very next day and that could be the case here with victor mancini batch we put you on the spot and you did a great job thanks for waking up and joining us this morning enjoy the season we're going to have a lot of conversations this year about this team and looking forward to it buddy yeah I mean you too. It's going to be fun. Thanks, boys. Have a good one.

Thanks, Batch. Brendan Batchel, play-by-play voice. I'm the Vancouver Connects here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. A couple notes to pass along from across the National Hockey League as we continue rolling through here. According to Elliot Freeman, the Vegas Golden Knights, and this is interesting because it's not only a divisional foe, but a pretty

prominent player. Vegas Golden Knights have declared Alex Petrangelo out for the entire season and playoffs. Now, what that means, obviously, is that, one, Petrangelo won't be able to do a 180 and come back just in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. But two, they're also going to get the LTIR relief for his salary.

And you know that the Vegas Golden Knights are a very aggressive team when it comes to acquiring players. So we'll see what happens there. I should also note that I was running through the list of 2025 first round picks that are going to make presumably their NHL debuts because Braden Coots is going to be the lowest of the draft pick. 15th overall. Of course, I mentioned that John Shannon.

Unless he gets sent down to make way for Mancini. Yeah, I guess I could happen still. I really hope that doesn't happen. Sounds like John, John Shannon did say, of course, John Shannon, longtime NHL insider of the 100% Canucks podcast said that he has been told that Coots is going to be an opening up on Thursday. Anyway, so Brayden Coots, the 15th overall pick. So we'll go from working in reverse here.

First overall pick in the draft, Matthew Schaefer. Very cool from him. New York Islander's first round pick. first overall pick he's going to be in the lineup Michael Misa of the San Jose Sharks the second overall pick he is going he has made the Sharks opening night lineup and he's

going to be in the mix Brady Martin the fifth overall pick of the Nashville Predators and it seems like he's going to be their like top two, one of the top two centers in Nashville skating in a line with Ryan O'Reilly and Philip Forsberg like it's wild so if you're if you're in a fantasy

pool or you got your draft coming up you might want to keep an eye on him and here's an interesting one and a local kid, and he's going to be our one to watch tonight, brought to you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts. Ben Kindle, the 11th overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins. We're going to be Winter Club guy. Yeah, Coquitlam kid, his dad, Steve Kindle, longtime professional soccer player, played with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

His mom was also a professional as well. Everyone always is like, my parents were great athletes. It's so unfair. Hey, the parents were not. The kids that grew up with soccer playing parents. Well, because you've got Kindle and obviously you've got Celebrini, right? His story is pretty well documented. There's another kid, Sabrango, from Ottawa.

Great name. Oh, I remember that name. Eddie Sabrango was his dad. He also played for the White Caps back in the USL days. So it's, yeah, there's, so anyway, Ben Kindle, the 11th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins. They announced this over the weekend. I'm not going to lie, we dropped the ball on a lot of stories over the weekend because there's so much that happened. I didn't pay attention to any NHL stuff over the weekend.

So this actually got announced on. I think it was Saturday or Sunday, but of course the Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the team that's in action tonight because they're going to take on the New York Rangers and one of the three games in the National Hockey League. So our one to watch tonight, Ben Kindle is.

He makes his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins, one of three games on the slate tonight. And you can watch Archer Sealoffs on the bench because he made the Penguins opening night roster as the backup. So not quite one to watch, but one to look at while he sits on the bench. Anyway, that's all.

You could watch him when you're still watching him. He's going to be watching. Yeah, you watch him in a hat. That is brought to you by Limitless AV, not Elaine Vigno. They have, of course, are Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts, specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at Limitlessavit. Limitless Avigna.

Yes. One day you're just going to see that. He should be there. Limitless Elaine Vinio. He's retired now. Julio Caravada is going to join us next, talk a little BC lines. They had another big win over the weekend. That team is rolling.

8 o'clock, hour three, deputy commissioner Bill Daly will join us, and it's actually become a bit of a tradition that we talk to Bill Daly before the start of every season. So we'll talk about the fact that there aren't many challenges for the NHL right now. It's the easiest interview Bill Daly's ever going to do. Halpert and Brough's show just lob and on. of softballs. I'm going to ask, I'm like, what keeps you busy right now? You're through the

pandemic. The media rights deals are pretty much tied up. Maybe expansion. We'll talk to them about expansion. We want to get you on just to tell you that you're great. Yeah, you're doing a great job. Yeah. Until the next time. So we'll talk to Bill then.

We got one minute here. What happened in baseball yesterday? In a minute you want to do it? Yeah, in a minute. Cubs down. In trouble. against Milwaukee. Yeah, the Cubs are in trouble, the Phillies are in trouble. I've got some stuff that I want to play.

We'll do it on the other side. Actually, I do have a programming note today that we need to pass along. Oh, okay. So yesterday we had Satyar Shah on the program from Canucks Central. I should mention, Canucks Central today is going to be live on location at Barnside Brewing in Ladner from 3 to 5 p.m. Laddie, that's your neck of the woods. That's a hop in place, that Ladner.

So Barnside makes the 650 themed beer. And they've been in collaboration with the station for a couple, seasons. It's actually up if you're watching on the stream behind me here, up on the counter. So you can visit them today from 3 to 5 p.m. It's 665-60th Avenue in Delta as we celebrate Season 2 of 5 for fighting, which is, of course, the Sportsnet 650 Barnside Beer. It's over by the new casino by the tunnel. That's what you need to know. What's the address? 6-655 60th Avenue in Delta. Okay. A lot of six is there. A lot of sixes in there. And it's like 650 at 6655-60th Avenue in Delta. It's going to be confusing.

If you've got a phone, just punch in Barnside Brewery. 6-7. Yep. Or you could do that. Hey. He's with it. Okay, we have to go to break after that.

We need to take a pause. Coming up on the other side, Julia Caravetta is going to join us for some Lions talk. And then as he mentioned, Bill Daly, NHL Deputy Commissioner at 8 o'clock. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show

on Sportsnet, 650. Hey, it's Big Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays, 3 to 4 on the. SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. 7.32 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

Halford Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt and get back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We're in hour two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show. BC Lions, Colorado's Giulio Caravet is going to enjoy this in just a moment here. Hour two of this. program is brought to by Jason Hominock at Jason.

Dom Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dom Mortgage. To the phone lines, we go. A little BC Lions talk with Julio Caravetta here now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Morning, Julio. How are you? I'm good, guys. How are you? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So good times for the BC Lions. 3824 win over the stamps on Saturday. They clinch their spot in the Grey Cup playoffs. Nathan Rourke continues to cook

and the defense, Julio, another impressive outing for a unit that got a lot of criticism earlier in the year, but seems to be rounding into form as the Lions moved to 9 and 7 on the year. Yeah, exactly right. What, six sacks, three interceptions.

I think all of us that follow it, no question that it's been the defense that's really kind of turned the fade around. The offense has been very, very consistent, in pretty much the whole year. And, you know, I mean, the defense is the way they've been playing, the way they've been, you know, coming into form,

and especially up front on the defensive line, the additions of Levi Bell and Bradley and I have, you know, really, really turned the fate there. So, you mean, they're getting hot at the right time of the year. It's all coming together, and it's a lot of fun to watch. How much of the additions on defense helped a guy like bat? Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question. I think, too, that that's a, it all goes hand in hand, right? You know, I think in fairness to Matthew Betts early on, a lot of teams, I think, you know, he, you know, when you, you know, you're, you know, you're, you know, you're going to, who are the threats, you know, you're going to, you're going to point to bets.

And if there's nothing else, really, that's, you know, a threat, especially off the edge, you know, you're going to, you're going to get your share of attention, right? whether it's a, you know, a tackle and a back or a guard and a tackle who are, you know, doubling you, however that works, you're going to get more attention. So I think with the addition of those two guys and I and Bell, they've created more problems for that offensive line. And you're freeing up Matthew Betts one-on-one off the edge. And, you know, he's exceptional, right? I mean, when he gets that kind of attention where it's just one-on-one, you know, he's going to win a share of battles. The other part about Matthew is that it's not just, you know, what he does getting to the passer. It's that relentless pursuit too, right?

He causes a lot of problems with the motor, right? He's a kind of guy that, you know, doesn't just get upfield and, you know, take a, you know, then if he's not getting to the quarterback, he's going to take a playoff. He's going to chase from behind. He's going to, he's going to pursue. He's going to make tackles downfield. So, you know, he's, you know, he's come into form. He's really, and I said, as I said, when you get the help,

that he's getting across the line now. I think that that is something that's really helped him out. Is Bo Levi-Mitchell still the favorite for MLP? Or is Nathan Rourke overtaking him yet? That's a good question. I mean, you have to think that Nathan is, you know, closing that gap right now. I mean, the way that he's playing is he's playing just exceptional, right?

That's all I can say. I mean, like, you know, having played a long time ago and I see the game through the quarterback's eyes and what he does behind there is just at another level, like his ability to process and the ability to kind of move in the pocket without panic. And, you know, it's just, it is really, really a lot of fun to watch. He makes it look awfully easy, but it's not that easy. But for me, the way he has played, the consistency. you know he is he is definitely in the conversation i know there'll be you know obviously there's lots of people that have different opinions but for me um he is he is clearly um right there with bull levi as far as the mope uh julio one month ago what did you think of the lion's chances

of hosting a playoff game and what do you think of them now i don't think they're going to get first i don't think they're going to get by i think Saskatchewan only needs to win one more game to get that so they'll probably get it but um you know it's down between the stamps and the lions and the bombers i imagine the lines now have the tiebreaker against the stamps um i mean they yeah they must do they control their own destiny of the lines or like what's going on there that that's that's that's the that's the million dollar question i've got to try i think i'm going to have to phone steve daniels the uh the head statistician with the with the league and and ask him about what the possibilities are

because there is a lot at play there if all the teams end up, like if everybody ends up winning out and you have ties up there, like how does that work? Because I know Calgary has won the season series with Winnipeg. Winnipeg is won the season series with the Lions, the Lions and won the season series with Calgary.

So how does that all play itself out? I don't know. But really what's in front of you is you've got to win out. That's the way you have to look at it. But, you know, to your question about a month ago, right? I would have, like the way that the team was in its inconsistency, it was, you know, every week was something you just didn't know what you were going to get.

I think now what you're seeing is that level of consistency week in and week out. You know, offensively, you know, when Buck got here, you know, everyone was hoping that the balance was going to be there, what you saw in Winnipeg all those years with the strong running game and the, you know, the diverse passing game, and that's exactly what we're getting from him. So offensively, I've got no questions. Defensively, that was the big question.

And so the way that they're playing, there's, they're as good as any team right now in the Canadian football league, right? I just think overall, there's, I wouldn't, if they're playing, you know, Hamilton or Saskatchewan or Montreal, I mean, their chances are just as good against any of those teams. So as I said earlier, they're rounding in the shape at the exactly of the right time. It's all kind of coming together, which is great. I think Ryan Rick Maiden's done a tremendous job, bringing in talent at this time of the year to make a change.

That's the big part too, right? Like when usually at this time of the year, you're not seeing, you know, the Levi Bells and the Bradley and Ice making an impact, right? These guys that are being brought on the practice roster are usually guys that you're pre-scouting for next year's training camp. And the way that they've been able to kind of make these adjustments and find players that can make an impact right away has really been the difference. in this team going forward. You know, you talk about balance and the ability for this offense in the passing game to spread the ball around

has been a real strength. And you saw it on the weekend with so many different guys finding the end zone. I was going to ask you who Rourke's preferred target is, but if you look at it, like, yeah, Hatcher and McKinness are the yardage leaders, but if you look at touchdowns, like they've got seven apiece,

but then you've got Barry Hill and Katoi with six apiece. So it's almost like Nathan's done a really nice job of finding a bunch of things. different targets, especially to find the end zone, which makes them really difficult to defend. Yeah, it's so true. And I think that also is a testament to the level of quarterbacking that you're getting, right? Because this is like when Dave Dickinson was here, all those years ago, when you looked at

his stat line at the end of the game, you know, you saw like eight and nine different guys catching balls. And what it's an indicator of is that you have a guy who, when he drops back, understand, defense and he understands where he's supposed to go with the football and if you're going to take away one I can go to the other and so you know when you when you play a guy like Nathan from a defensive standpoint mean how do you defend it right because you know that when you pre-scout him and you watch him on film that he knows where he's going with the football like he that's that's what separates him is that ability to use the entire field and to use everybody at

his disposal. And then you throw in the fact that they're running the ball as effectively as they are. And you now throw in Xander Horvath in that whole mix as they head into the playoffs. And you're going to play, you know, if they play on the road, you're going to play in some, maybe some bad weather. And now you've got that two-headed monster. And then you also throw in the fact that Nathan's such a great runner himself, that he poses that threat, right?

When you run that RPO and you're, you know, you keep. the ball and you now attack the edges, that's what keeps defense as honest with the running game because they also have to defend the quarterback. So all aspects of his game, and to your question about the receivers,

you know, that's just great quarterbacking and understanding where you're supposed to go with the football and it doesn't matter whether you're a hatcher or your McKinnis. He's going to throw to where the defense dictates him to throw the ball and that's where success lies. The lions are on a buy this week, but they're

back in action on Friday, October 17th, with another home date against the lowly Edmonton Elks. Julio, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy some time off. Enjoy Thanksgiving. We'll do this again before the playoffs, anyway. I appreciate it, guys. Thanks very much. Have a great day. Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Julia Caravetta, BC Lions color analyst here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Okay, just to set up your day, the Canucks are going to practice at 10.30. You don't have to be there, Patrick Alvin is going to speak after and I imagine it's going to be one of those

hey it's the start of the regular season today what do you think about the team that you put together and those sorts of questions but also it is being reported by Rick Dollywall that the Canucks have called up Victor Mancini so why have they done that is there a guy that has to go on IR? Is there someone that's going to be placed on waivers? Is there, man, I don't know that's a wild card, but is there a trade

of some sort? So Patrick Alvin is going to address the media after Canucks practice today and we'll see how the Canucks line up at practice as well. After that on your calendar, the NHL season starts tonight. As we've mentioned, there are

three games. Chicago and Florida and that starts a two o'clock hour time, followed by Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers in Colorado and L.A. I imagine. Sorry not to jump in, but things are actually spread out okay today in terms of start times. So Mariners Tigers, 1 o'clock our time. Panthers, Blackhawks, 2 o'clock our time. Now, I don't love that we've got the Jays going right up against the second of the NHL. The NHL ratings in Canada are going to be very low tonight. Everyone is going to be focused on the Jays and the Yankees.

Beaver starting for the Jays. Justin. In a surprise, Justin getting at the start. Chuck Rodon is starting for the Yankees. He last pitched against the Red Sox, which was a win for the Yankees. So Laddie, you're the biggest blue jay. fan here. How are you feeling going into this game? Is it great confidence because the Blue Jay's absolutely dominated the Yankees in games one and two? Or is it some trepidation that, you know,

if the Yankees find a way to win game three, all of a sudden you're looking at, is it going to be a bullpen game for the Blue Jays for game four against Schlittler who had that great performance against the Red Sox in their deciding game. It wasn't quite Tray Savage, but it was a pretty darn good performance. Where are you right now with your Jay's fandom? I think it's pretty good right now, but if they lose today,

then things start getting interesting because, as you mentioned, the bullpen game against Schlittler, it's not a high percentage chance that you win that one. You give it a go, and if you see. How would they do that? How would they do what? Like, how would they roll?

Who would be the, they call it the opener? I assume Lauer and Varland would be the two that they would throw out there and at least get four or five innings out of those guys if you're lucky, but you're not expecting to win that game and then you go back home and you win it at home is what you're thinking. But that's when things get nervous. Can you imagine though?

Let's focus on that. Because can you imagine... They have to beat Bieber tonight to do any of this. Can you imagine a game five though? Because that would be unbelievably exciting but it would also be like, you know the Toronto sports fans would be like This is very Toronto right now.

I could see a game five. And there would be hysteria without question because, you know, 2-0-0-0-0-0-0. It happens frequently, I want to say. Coming back from 0-2 and a best-to-5 is a lot more common than coming back from 0-3 and a best-a-7. It is just different. I know the Yankees are facing elimination tonight, and they know it as well. And it's not an easy task. Everything has worked out for the Jays so far, going with the Savaging Game 2 to save Beaver on the road.

in game three instead of doing the inverse, which I don't think they would have thrown you savage into the deep end anyway, but that worked out amazingly well. The approach at the plate has worked out incredibly well. And at this time, I would like to pivot briefly to talk about what happened or what didn't happen with the Phillies last night. So going into this, Phillies and L.E. champs sitting in wait while the Dodgers took care of the Reds, right? Philly is, I don't want to see the antithesis of the Blue Jay's approach, but it's a very

different approach, right? Tray Turner, Kyle Schwerber, Bryce Harper, they're up there to mash, right? Turner's kind of been, he hasn't been mashing, he's been hitting more for average this year, so he's kind of like a Blue Jays. Yeah, I've been hitting anything in this series. That's true.

None of them have. Turner, Schwerber, and Harper, one for 10 yesterday. Now, here's the thing. One for 10 with five strikeouts. Yeah. The go-big or go-home approach, right? Where it's like, we're just,

we're trying to rake, we're trying to mash, we want to hit it out of the yard. Do the Js even have five strikeouts? in the whole series. They have seven strike, seven, seven strikeouts, eight home runs for the Jays. And I think most of those strikeouts were at the end of game two where they just wanted the game to be over. Yeah, they were just like swinging at pitches or out of the zone.

Like, just wrap this up. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. I want to watch the end of the Seahawks game. But again, what we've seen in part from the Yankees and what we saw last night from the Phillies is just the approaches. There's no one particular way that's going to win you games all the time.

You are what you are as an identity. I think what's happened is through those first two games a lot of people look at what the Js do and say, hmm, is this the way? It'll never be the way. There's always going to be different approaches. What the Phillies did throughout the course of the regular season, you can't argue with it, right?

They mash. Jay Dogg, the Carthag texted in, I'd rather start Scherzer or Bassett or Burrios instead of the tiring out of our bullpen. But you can't do that. That was the choice they made before the series when they left those players off the roster. That's his point. Yeah.

That's his point. If it gets to game four and then you lose that game. But they knew that when they made that decision that they would rather carry that extra lefty in the bullpen. So, hey, you live with it. But that's the stakes, right?

But I disagree with this. They threw a bullpen game out there. Remember when they were in that rut right near the end of the season? Varland saved the air. And it was, it's an effective strategy. Also, I think it's a bit of a fool's errand to expect Schlittler to do again what he did last time. You've got more tape on him.

You've got more scouting on them. This isn't the Boston Red side. Now it's going to be his first time facing the Jay's lineup if it gets to that game, which it might not. But, I mean, there was a reason why Y Savage got pulled after five and a third was Schneider very wisely. It was like, I don't want him to go through that lineup for a third time, especially at the top of the Bellinger and Judge and everybody else.

You know, tonight, they've got an amazing opportunity, the Jays do, is to if they win, I'm not going to look at it like the glass half. If they can put this thing away tonight, you are talking about one of the most emphatic playoff victories that you have ever seen against a foe that you've never faced in the playoffs before that you absolutely dog walked over the first two games of the series

to finish it at Yankee Stadium to shut them down if you can do it in the same way and I can be dead honest I don't see any reason why they can't jump on Rodon like they were able to jump on Freed and Louis Heel Luis Heel I've been working on my pronunciation for that one, Louis Gill

in those first two games. Like, it seems to me... Must be exhausting facing the Jay's lineup. Sorry? Must be exhausting facing the Jay's lineup as a pitcher. They wear you down. They wear you down, that's what I mean. Schiller has faced the Jays, by the way.

Two starts, six and two-thirds innings. One of them was only an inning in two-thirds. He gave up five hits, four runs, so they've hit him around a little bit. I knew that they faced them once. I didn't know that they'd face them twice. I mean, whatever the case, I think the point being is that Schittler's coming off.

They faced him once in July. You just called him that. I know. Schlittler is coming off. There it is. Like a week almost. Is it the first non-dolly? You just tried to go right over that.

You didn't think we noticed, but we did. They did. We did. It wasn't as bad as A-Rodz. What I was mostly talking about with Schlitler was coming off that performance against the Red Sox. It's going to be a different, it's going to be a completely different vibe. Mm-hmm. Right?

It's not going to be in that instance. a one game, winner takes all. You know what I'm going to be really curious to see is the crowd at Yankee Stadium tonight. What kind of mood are they in? Oh, they can turn real quick. Exactly. Exactly. But

if the Yankees shows some life, they can also be a factor. You can't tell me that the crowd was not a factor for you savage and you cannot tell me that in that game three the crowd was not a factor for Schlittler.

It helps in those situations. and it gives you life. So all these people texting in, you're not wrong to say that the Jays have faced Schlittler before, but not in that environment. It's going to be interesting. But again,

they might not even face them. Yeah. No, it might be over tonight. It's going to be a nothing conversation. Like that's why I was going to. But that's the only like, I know it's obviously interesting if the Jays win game three,

but it's, you know, when we're talking about this series, the interesting, part would be if they don't put them away after how emphatically they won games one and two. But we're not putting that out in the universe. That's not. Well, I am. I am because

I know it makes you uncomfortable. I would push back on that. I think getting it done tonight would be fascinating from two perspectives. One, it puts the Js in the category of that's the team to beat in the A.L. Without question, if they weren't already. Yeah.

Secondly, what it does to that Yankees team, because you brought this a couple of times. Yeah, Booney gone. Well, after getting swept last year by the Dodgers, right? The fan base does not like him. Five, sorry. But it didn't go well.

The final game was a disaster. Yeah. The fan base is all over ownership. If they don't do anything here, if they don't come back in this, even if they win one and still lose the series, I think Boone still might be in jeopardy of losing his job. Yeah, like... They don't like them that much.

Yeah, I mean, here's the thing. Red Sox fans hate their owners. Yankees fans turning on their owners. Jay's fans love that beautiful company of Rogers What a great, great company But I mean the thing you got to realize too Is I don't know we brought all the stats up on the Monday show Like the 23 runs allowed by the Yankees

That's the most over the course of two games In the proud and rich and storied history Those games are over now Those games are over now But they're not But they are But they're not Because it's given them a 2-0 lead in the series

Yeah but they're over But have we not seen series turn before we have my point would be right now the onus is on the Yankees and especially they're pitching to try and figure out how you're going to stop a lineup that has eight home runs to seven strike

but also the Jays couldn't hit anything the week leading up to the postseason so it's baseball things can flip very quickly we need Gibby to be like that's a baseball that's right it's because they weren't facing the Yankees pitching that was the antidote right but it's just you can never be too confident in baseball because for light switch you could just turn off

he's very confident around the Jays. I think that the excitement should be about what the Jays are bringing into a game three in New York to be able to silence a crowd that, let's be honest, does not like its team right now. Don't talk that they've already won, though. No. Well, going ahead to game four, going ahead to game four. Things could go horribly wrong.

I'm a living the moment guy. I'm just a living the moment guy. I'm a big game three guy right now. When game four, if game four happens, I'll be a game four guy. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly is going to join the Halford & Brough show next. We'll ask Bill what he thinks of the Yankees. He lives in New York. Yeah.

You going to the game tonight? Yeah. Is Rodong going to melt down again? Don't even ask him hockey stuff. Just change questions. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between JanPro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected.

For a free quote, visit them online at Janpro.com. You're listening to the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet, 650.