Halford & Brough in the Morning - Braeden Cootes Looks Poised Out There

Episode Date: September 22, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, they break down the 'Nucks first preseason game of the year (3:00), plus they discuss other major sports news of the last few days (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.

You're listening to Halford and Brough. Back to Mancini. He's off of the circle. He scores. Victor Mancini rips it gloveside on Joey DeCourt. It's a power play goal for the Cadux. Got some running. I'm a cross for 30.

35. He may go 40. What a block. Midfield, 40, 30, 20, 15, 10, 5. Mr. Horton, touchdown. Seahawks. Good morning, Vancouver. 6 o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Alfred and his breath. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick.

No more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio.

Kintech, footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Big show ahead on a Monday. We are so back, sports lovers. What a weekend. So many things to get into on the program. Almost too much back. Almost. Almost.

We're too back. Actually, you know what? There will be beyond almost because someone, we joked about this yesterday when Bruff and I do talk away from the show. We said we're going to come in on Monday. Got so many things to cover. Someone's getting screwed. Not Bruff or I.

We're going to be fine. But there is going to be a team that you follow out there in Listerland that's not going to get the appropriate amount of coverage today because it's too busy. Who will it be? You have to listen to find out. And then complain later. You can do that as a what we learned, in fact.

What we learned, my team got screwed out of attention today. Dunbar Lever-Tex-Line is 650-6-50. Get them in now. We do have a big show ahead, though. Three guests today on the program. It's not going to begin until 7 o'clock. So the first hour is all uninterrupted Halbro, as we take you through what happens.

7 o'clock guest, Mike Tanier, our NFL insider from the two deep zone. Jason, there are now just six. Count them six undefeated teams left in the NFL after the third Sunday of the regular season. It's the Eagles, it's the Bills, the Chargers, the Buccaneers, the 49ers, and the Indianapolis Colts.

That's your final six. We'll talk to Mike about that coming up at 7 o'clock. We can also look ahead to a tantalizing Monday night football affair tonight. The Ravens host the Lions. in a matchup of high-powered offenses. Ravens are four and a half-point favorites on that one. Mike Tan here for some NFL talk.

It's 7 o'clock. 7.30. Andrew Ladd is going to join the program. Yeah, that Andrew Ladd. Long-time NHL or two-time Stanley Cup champion and Maple Ridge Native. He is joining us today to talk about one of the Ladd Foundation initiatives

called 1616, 16. It's numbers. It's a program created for players, parents, and coaches across hockey. It's real life stories from NHL players like Andrew. It helps young athletes build resilience, character, and the tools to face challenges, both on and off the ice. We talk about this a lot on the program with youth sports and our involvement in them. Someone from the Ladd Foundation reached out, heard the program a couple weeks ago, wanted to get Andrew on to talk

about this. So Andrew Ladd's going to join us at 7.30 this morning, very excited to talk to him. 8 o'clock Satyar Shah is going to join the program from Canucks Central and the Canucks pre- and post-game host. The Caducs opened their pre-season campaign last night with a loss to the Cracken in Seattle. No mind about the result, though, because a large majority of Vancouver's veterans didn't even dress last night. That meant plenty of opportunities for youngsters like Braden Coots, Tom Wallander, Victor Mancini, D. Petey, Jonathan Lekar Mackie, to name a few. Who took advantage of the opportunity?

Who failed to impress? We'll get into all that with Sat at 8 o'clock this morning. So at 8 o'clock, at Satyar Shah, 7.30, Andrew Lad. Mike Tannier. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools,

resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.com. It was Newman. Newman. Yanny Newman scoring twice. And Vince Dunn, superstar defenseman Vince Dunn, chipping in with three assists.

The Seattle Crackin. Maybe Eddie O was onto something in there. Beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 in both teams' preseason opener on Sunday night in Seattle. Okay. The story in these games is always who was playing. Yes.

And the answer to that was all the goalies. So the Seattle Cracken, depending on how they're wrong, roster shakes out, probably had 9 to 10 NHL urs, regulars or otherwise, in the lineup last night. I would say for the Canucks, generously you'd say it was five to six. And Joey Dachor got a start in net as well. So it was a more NHL heavy lineup from the home to the Seattle Cracking, what you would expect. But there was a lot of young guys for the Canucks that did play.

When I talk about the goal, he's Tolopilo started, played pretty well. He did. The Canucks were pretty scrambling in front of him. They had a young defense. So maybe we can talk a little bit about that. And then Ty Young comes in halfway through the game, like it's like a house league game. They got two goalies and they're like, everyone's got to play.

And they did. And he played, and it's a tough situation to be thrown into halfway through the game. He didn't look great, but he's not ready for the NHL yet. No. And he was facing some NHL shooters out there. Didn't play particularly well. But there were some standouts, for the Canucks.

A-Dog you love Mancini. My boy. First goal. I actually want to talk a bit about him. I also want to talk a bit about Braden Coots. Yep. He looked great. Who played well.

And actually, instead of us talking about them right now, why don't we let Adam Foot, the head coach, talk about the 5-3 loss to the Seattle Cracken, but there were some positives to take for the Canucks. Yeah, let's start with Mancini. I'll do respect to Brayden Coos, but Mancini scored a goal

on the power play, had a very eventful evening, caught the eye of a lot of onlookers, including his head coach, Adam Foote, who had this to say about the young defensemen following the game. This is Adam Foote on Victor Mancini following, as Jason mentioned, the 5-3 lost the Cracken in Seattle. Yeah, I mean, he's powerful. He came and came in really good shape, and you saw the power and, you know, he got excited once the one goal came, and then sometimes I wouldn't say do too much, but, you know, I like the way that the juices go on, the energy. But a lot of good things, but, like,

we'll have to calm some of it down in the neutral zone. But the beauty is he's just got the power, and he's pushing hard. Okay, so one thing I wanted to talk about with Mancini is what role do they want him? to play. The wild stallion role. I don't think so. So that joke, by the way, in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, someone labeled the clip as foot calling Mancini a wild stallion. I'm like, that's great. It's like Bill and Ted's fictional land from back in the day. Somehow that did not appear in the clip. I don't know who's working here that just dreamed up that he called him a

wild stallion, but I get it based on that clip. But I'm asking the question, what role do they want from him because oftentimes for your third pair defense you don't want a wild stallion out there you want a reliable stallion some sort of Clydesdale not a wild one and you know he was talking about we oh you and we got to calm some of that stuff down in the neutral zone when Mancini is with Abbotsford

they want him to be you know not Quinn Hughes out there but they want him to be active and and I mean listen the answer to it might be like yeah we want that Sure. Because we got to try and score some goals. But typically, you want your third pair to just be like, hold on, guys. You know, like, I think it's interesting. I think it's a very interesting situation that the connects are in right now.

Because if you think about that third pair right side spot, I don't think there's like an obvious answer to that right now. Assume everyone stays healthy on the connectors. defense and you've got Hughes and Heronick, Pedersen, Marcus Pedersen, and Myers. I think Forbort is probably going to be in the lineup because

he's a really good penalty killer. So that's, and he'll probably put the left side. So you'll one spot, right? So who could, that could be Mancini. Could be. It could be Mancini. They certainly gave every opportunity in training camp to Tom Willander. And another one last night.

But, you know, I don't know if he's ready. And I don't know if we should be worried about that. In fact, I know we shouldn't be worried about that yet. He's never played professional hockey. So, you know, he's got some learning to do. The other options, you know, like D.P.D. could, but it's not ideal because he's the left shot. Yeah. It's not ideal.

Like, I think D.P.D. is going to make the team where they're going to deploy him remains to be seen. So, at any rate, it's just one of the decisions that will play out at camp. I really like the look of Mancini. I like that he's got a bit of attitude, and he wants to move the pocket. It's all just about roles and how they all play out. I think that, and this might be a little bit more immediate thinking than anything else, but right now they should be very pleased with the prospect of a guy that, let's be honest, I think is probably on the outside looking in for a playoffs, or playoff spot,

for a roster spot he's pushing he's showing attributes that would be beneficial at the NHL level you could always you know he could be a piece moved in a trade if that's what they have to do let's move on though because we've got a million things to get to the other guy is braiding coots that we wanted to talk about here is Adam foot on brady and coots who was on a line with Sherwood and Baines he's just smart he's reliable For a young kid, his hockey IQ is very high, and he's able to adapt in these games. And, you know, he's, I like the way he hung in there when things probably weren't going our way. He played above pucks, made good decisions with the pucks.

And it's nice to see his, he's calm at such an age. So there was good things from him. So this is another one where on Pate, like, because he's a right shot and because he has talent, obviously he's a first-round pick, the Canucks you know it would be nice if you could take that role um fourth line center third line center whatever you want

um and that is a line that could exist in the NHL this season Coots between Sherwood and Baines you know the other thing you got to look at is waiver eligibility

on some of these guys that are fighting for spots the bubble guys just throwing it out there the bubble guys who require waivers are Ratu Carlson

Linus Carlson Nils Amon Baines and Kravsoff Yep it's a lot actually And you could make an argument that I don't know

of all of them but the majority of them probably would have some value around the National Hockey League Maybe I think Ratu would go I think Ratu would go I think there's a pretty decent

chance at Carlson would get nab by somebody, especially after what he did in the Calder Cup playoffs last year for Abbotsford. Whatever the case, you got to remember that someone else also needs to tie up a roster spot and eventually subject the player to the potential same waivers that they pick them up. So watching last night,

very interesting player, Coots, the line with him and Baines and Sherwood, if you squinted really hard, you could kind of see a line that had already early days in the preseason, but established a little bit identity in terms of how they would play

together conceivably. Sherwood's the banging crash guy. Baines actually does a nice little job of like retrieving pucks and then Coots a playmaker. Well, Baines is a playmaker too. Yeah, and Coots is a playmaker too. And you saw it on the Mancini goal. He had a nice little give and go with Mancini. They set it up. They scored. So there's a lot to like there.

He plays a pretty smart composed all the cliches he would have for a guy that goes out there and doesn't make any loud mistakes despite being as young as he is. I still think it's a long road and probably like a far cry for him to actually be the NHL, but I could see them giving him that nine-game audition and saying, let's get a taste of what you got here.

Okay. One more thing from the Canucks game. Okay. Lekker Mackey. Yeah. He was given an opportunity in this training camp on a line at camp with Heidel Evander Kane in essentially what could be a top sixth line. And Garland dropped to another line because of that.

You know, there was three guys that the Canucks kind of give a big opportunity to do, all first round draft picks, Coutts, who we've mentioned, Tom Willender, who we've mentioned a little bit, and I don't think he's ready. I don't think Lechromackie did anything to help his case last night either. He started with Heedle and Hoaglander on what was the de facto first line. Yeah, so that's two NHLers he's with. And he finished with Oman and Joe the body Labate, Labate. Although Joe LeBade was doing stuff out there, man.

I like his chances. The outside, if you want a sleeper. No chance. 32-year-old Joe the body Labate, two massive hits a fight. No, I'm just kidding. But Lekromacki, if you're going to talk about someone that probably limited his chances of making the roster based on the opportunity presented last night, he got bumped down the line up. I think it was Stillman, who got the Halbrook bump by scoring a penalty shot goal during the game.

I mean, I think Lekromacki has rocketed to the top of who the Canucks would be willing to. give up if they have a trade out there. Yeah, it's just not there yet. This isn't to say that this is a spoiled prospect or anything like that. But right now, again, you mentioned, here's the thing with opportunities. You get presented them, but at a certain point, they're clawed back in a hurry if you're not showing with them. Like, opportunities are meant to be a gift or a prize.

They're not meant to be, well, here's another one. And here's another one, try and figure it out. Like, eventually they're going to give it to a player that's either showing something in that game or it showed some hunger in the. the preseason and training. I always thought that the long run by Abbotsford in the playoffs did not do lecker-macky any favors because he needed longer offseason. He needed to go back home, get stronger, maybe put on some weight, just work on his

strength and maybe that went against him. Okay, let's get to a couple of the other local teams, the BC Lions and the Vancouver white caps. Let's start with the lines because there was not only an impressive win, a very impressive win over Vernon Adams. Remember that guy? And the Calgary Stampeders, VA. Small play VA, they call them. But maybe, well, certainly bigger news in the CFL could be an interesting announcement today by the commissioner.

Okay, let's parse through this. Nathan Roark rushed for not one, not two, but three touchdowns and through for two more. For you math majors out there, that's five touchdowns that he put on the board. as the lions thrashed the stampeters in Calgary, 52 to 23 on Friday night at McMahon Stadium. Rourke went for 331 through the air. In doing so, he surpassed Russ Jackson's 1969, nice record for most passing yards by a Canadian QB in a single season.

For good measure, Rourke also rushed for 43 yards on six carries and three touchdowns. Even the backup got in on the action. Ramaymas only got a one-year touchdown as well. It was a scoring frenzy for the Lions, and we have said this throughout the year while covering this team. The offense, not a problem. As a matter of fact,

the offense putting up enough points on a weekly basis to win seemingly every week, and then this week, they even went past the 30 burger that they were putting up with regularity 52 in a win over the stampeters. Now, the interesting news that Jason brought up, major changes could be on the horizon

for the Canadian Football League. today at 10 a.m. our time, 1 p.m. Eastern, CFL Commissioner Stuart Johnson is going to hold a press conference in which he is going to, quote, have a major announcement regarding significant changes to the game. It remains unclear right now what these changes are when they will take effect or how sweeping they are going to be. But based on what people have sort of leaked through social media, it's going to be. It's going to be. Like gameplay, stylistic, rules, whatever. But it's going to be the on-field product. We're not talking about... It wouldn't be like, we're going to four downs today. I honestly don't know. I mean, like...

I asked you all in the group chat, you never responded to me. Because I don't know. Could they do something of that radical, though? There are some pundits other. Dustin Nielsen who covers the Elks out of Edmonton said, this may be the talking point for sports in Canada today when this announcement gets paid. People are teasing this as being a big, big deal.

So I don't know if any of you guys saw it. I don't know how much we talked about it, but MLSE, which owns, you know, the Leafs and the Raptors and a lot, they also own the Argos and they're like, oh, right. We own the Argos. They made like a partnership with the bills. And I don't know if that was just a partnership with the bills that they're going to have some marketing with or whatever. maybe that was something that we should have been like, oh, is something coming here?

Is it like a prelude to a feeder league kind of thing? Like relationships with the NFL teams? Here's what I know. I'll deal in facts, which is a rarity for the Halford, abrupt. Bob and Nainimo, the CFL has purchased the NFL. They have taken out a lot of debt. Nobody saw it coming. They went to the bank, and the bank was like, this is risky, but you know what?

We like your thoughts. I like your thoughts. We like your thoughts. We think this is a good bet. We're going to fund. So Stuart Johnson's been on the job for 152 days today. He was introduced in April. He hasn't really done much.

He's been very quiet as a matter of fact. This isn't to say that he hasn't done anything, but he has been very quiet. And dare I say, working in the shadows over the first four or five months of his tenure. When he took the job, there were two things that were important. One, he expressed that he needed to respect the tradition. but not, not at the expense of the pursuit of growth of the league. And in that statement, he also said he wasn't going to rule out.

Rule changes just merely to respect tradition. He was brought aboard to give the league a different look, a different vision, and a different future. And I'm very curious to see what today holds because it could be a major, major change for how the game looks and how the game is played. Or maybe it's not. Maybe it's just like, we would just, like, we would just. just like to back the Rouge. Yeah. This is a vote of confidence for the Rouge.

Like, guys, we finally got stats. And they're going to be in non-PDF form. I'm feeling good about the Lions, though. That was a big win in Calgary. And this is classic CFL, by the way. Because it's a small league, it's just all about how you finish. Yep.

And the Lions had multiple clunkers this year. But that win in Calgary, the way that Nathor, Rourke played, which was incredible. Maybe the game of, the CFL game of his career, frankly. And also the way the defense made VA look, right? Yep, that's great. I mean, some of it, I'm sure, is purely on VA, but they got their confidence back, I think,

with that win over Ottawa at home after losing to Ottawa, blowing that lead. And then they went into Calgary and got a win, a big win over Calgary's Stampeters team. And all of a sudden, you're not really, while you are, you still got the possibility of being the crossover team that has to go into the east. But I don't know, maybe they don't. Maybe they meet Calgary in the first round of the playoffs. Back at 500.

Okay. It's possible. But I want to talk about the white caps too. Amazing. Amazing performance. We've only got a couple minutes left in the first segment. But what happened is going to carry over into the second segment. So don't worry, we'll get to all the other stuff that happened,

that you're probably going to complain about like, Oh, guys, do you see the J's clinched a playoff spot? Yeah, it was like, yeah, I thought they were going to blow it. Like, obviously, they're going to clinch a playoff spot. And we're going to talk about the Mariners. Yeah. Okay, we will. We'll get to the women's rugby.

Just calm down. The white caps. Eddie Ocampo scored two minutes into the match. Kenji Cabrera scored his first goal as a white cap. Yohei Takayoka, his 13th clean sheet of the season. White caps win 2-0 at Sporting Casey on Saturday night. When I saw who they were going to Sporting Casey without the guys that didn't get on the plane.

I was like, well, it's okay. They've got a bunch of games coming up in the next week. I guess they're punting on the SKC game because it's away, it's travel, and you're just going to focus on this upcoming week where they've got Seattle, Portland, and the Canadian championship in the span of like seven days.

Nope, the white caps did not do that. They went down with an incredibly shorthanded lineup and put forth the kind of first half that you wouldn't have noticed that any of their starters were missing. If you were to look at that team just as a neutral observer that never saw them play before

he'd be like, that's a pretty good team scoring right off the hop and then adding the insurance marker what Yesper Sorensen is done with this side. I'm going to try and run through the injuries of guys they played without.

Thomas Mueller did not go to this game. It was weird because he posted on Instagram that he was excited about his first MLS trip and then they decided the last second not to send him. So he didn't go. Ryan Gald, still not fit. He said maybe got a bit of an injury?

An adductor strain. I think personally that they're just saving him because they've got the three games coming up in seven days, but who knows. Anyway. Those are important because if you don't have adductors, you're just, your legs just go crazy. Maybe.

They just go way out there. I'm not even sure. They bring them back. They bring them back. The abductors, the abductors. Push them out. Spread them. Okay.

The adductors bring them back. You can't adduct anymore. I guess not. Yeah. Can he abduct? I don't know. We're losing. Yeah, he's just constantly walking around in the splits.

It looks like Homer when he got rickets. Okay. So they're without Mueller. They're without gold. they're without white, they're without blackmen, they're without Bezalinovich. The two guys, the Belgian and the German that they signed to fill in on defense,

they didn't go as well. They were missing almost an entire starting 11, including Sam Matakoubae, who's done for the year. And they went down and got a result. Now, in classic Halbro form, Brough fired me a text on Saturday, while the white caps were in the midst of this guy. Sporting case, he's bad.

They're like 12th or 13th in the conference, but to go down with that kind of lineup and play as well as they did, Brett sent me the text. He's like, do the white caps? kind of have to worry about a bigger club coming after Jesper Sorensen this offseason.

I was like, damn you. Yes, probably they do. And to your defense, someone else asked me the question on Twitter as well. Yeah. And I cannot. Jesper, you're doing too good a job, buddy. I put it out on Twitter.

I put it out on Twitter. Oh, you did? Single season. Oh, that go? No, no, no. I didn't put that part. I put out that single season. Halford has good Twitter responses

and Bruff's just like, really? You went well? No, I mean, this one went well. People responded positively to you? This one went well because it was positive. But I said, this is right now, I think almost regardless of what they do in the postseason, this is one of the greatest single season coaching performances in Vancouver sports history, what he's done because of the injuries.

Well, just dial it back a little bit with your praise. You don't want to have some team. I think it's too late. I think he's going to win MLS manager of the year. Yeah. And I think a lot of, I watch those MLS shows all the time. And when they talk about the way. Oh, you're the guy that watches.

Yeah. I was like, hey, we got a watcher. when they talk about the white caps they always talk about Sorensen because the pundits can't make sense of how they're doing it they're like how are they winning these games with all of their best players hurt their two centerbacks their captain

their leading goal score their prize signing from Byron how are they doing this and the answer's always come back to Sorensen in this system and just the way that he gets the most out of anyone that comes into the lineup he plays depth guys that are way down the roster

he plays young kids from the academy He just has a way of figuring out how to move the pieces on the chessboard and just gets results all the time. Okay, we went through a lot there. We'll go through more on the other side. Sports are going crazy first hour on the Halford Embuff Show.

Harry doing, bro, Jake. Dunbar Lumber, text line, 650, 650 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and renter warriors for over 50 years. Visit them on one of the three locations to serve. You are online at Dunbar. lumber.com. We'll get to a bunch of the other stuff on the other side

of the Halford-Abrough show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I do need to tell you about Jan Pro. From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected for a free quote, visit them online at janpro.com. Acquired in the

trade for Archer Shilovs with Pittsburgh back in July. His dad, Corey Stilman, his brother, Riley Stilman, a former Kinnock, and here is Chase out onto the right wing on the penalty shot. Skating in on decor. Chase Stillman waits and scores. 633 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford and Brubb the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a license insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no off-front fees to learn how visit Sands dash trustee. dot com. We're still

an hour one of the program. We barely got through what happened. We're going halfway through. That much is happening right now. I love it. I'm deeply offended. We haven't talked about the Jay's in depth. We're going to, we saved it so that we could lead off the second section. Deeply offended. It's like a lead off hitter.

I'm sorry, did you want us to overlook the Vancouver Canucks, the BC Lions and the Vancouver White Cups? Yes, because former Vancouver Canadian Trey Yassavich was on the mound for the Blue Jay's in that game to Jason. But I am under the impression that

they play in Toronto. Touched of the both of you. You're both making excellent points right now. You are listening to the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning. It's brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal recycling, they recycle you get paid.

Visit the 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. How would we just split it down the middle and talk about the Winnipeg Jets? That's fair. Just randomly for a full segment. Andrew Ladd is joining the program today. Yeah, see, there's connection. There's a natural tie-in. By the way, good job pulling the Chase Stillman audio back from break. Waring his old man's number 61. Adog reached out by a text yesterday. He's like, is that Corey Stillman's son? I'm like, yes, Adog, we discussed that

when we had him on the show. I totally forgot we had him on the show. You booked them, you called him. I know. Completely forgot. Do you remember? Oh, it was in the clip, but maybe you forgot. Once I realized like the Shilov's trade, oh, that's right. I made the connection. There you are. Okay. You mentioned the Blue Jays. Yes, the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays became the first team in the American League to secure a spot in the postseason on Sunday with an 8-5 win over the Kansas City Royals. Let's hear the call a little subdued from our guy, Danny Schultz, but he was still excited to announce that the Jays are on their way to the playoffs. Blue Jays clinch, first team in the A.L.

Here's what it sounded like on Sunday. The 1-0. Groundball to second. And the Blue Jays are going to the postseason. Hoffman gets the save. if they beat the Royals here today, 8 to 5, and the Blue Jays have locked up a playoff spot this year. Yeah.

Yeah. So the reason I wasn't all that excited about that news is that it was going to happen. You know, I know they made it interesting losing four in a row right before they finally clenched, including dropping a tight one in KC, 20 to 1. They led one nothing. That KC series was, oh, actually, you know, it was three games. Part of the, because they lost, get a load of that four game losing streak. They lost 2-1, 4-0-0, 20-1, 2-1, so they scored three runs over four games.

And then they scored eight. It's a very strange, yeah, it's a very strange sequence. Like, it was always going to happen. Like, they were going to clinch a playoff spot. The question is, are they going to clinch the buy? And I think that also looks very positive. They've got six games remaining, all of them at home, three against Boston, three against Tampa Bay.

Now, the Rays sometimes give them some trouble. And the Red Sox are a good team probably heading to the playoffs, although they're not assured of that yet. So for me, like, it's great that they did finally clinch, but it wasn't like a surprise or anything. They need to get this first round by. And I think with all due respect to the Jays and the owner of the Jays, which also, in a sense, owns me.

I think by far the more interesting story right now is the Seattle Mariner's. What the Seattle Mariner's did over the weekend was a very headline grabbing and eye-popping. A sweep of the Houston Astros capped off with a big win on Sunday night. J.P. Crawford, a Grand Slam in the first inning. Cal Raleigh, also in the first inning, slugged his major league leading 58th home run. Mariners win 7-3 over the Astros on Sunday night. So they complete the sweep of the Astros. That gives them a three-game lead in the AAL West, also over the Astros.

In case this thing comes down to the tiebreaker, the Mariners also clinched the tiebreaker over the weekend against the Astros. So they are in great shape to win the division. They've won four straight. They've won 14 of 15. I'm not going to ask Laddie because – actually, you know what? I will ask Laddie because you're a realistic Blue Jays fan. Right now, if you had to say, who would you give a better shot of advancing further in the playoffs in the American League? would it be the Toronto Blue Jays or the Seattle Mariners.

Ooh. I don't know. I don't put a lot of stock into like how a team is playing as they lead into the playoffs. I'm more worried about the roster in general and who's built better for the playoffs. And I think it's still the Blue Jays. Okay. Honestly. Why?

Is it the pitching? I just think over the course of the season, they've proven that they're a little more consistent. They're a little bit more of a, you've got first AL team, the 90 wins. I don't think you can really argue with that. Mariners have a great team too, but I just, you ask me straight up. I think the Blue Jays have a better chance. I the Mariners are super intriguing because the additions that they made at the deadline although they haven't been perfect they've almost given them some swagger where that lineup is crushing the ball now and you know what I do believe in late season momentum and form I think there's something to it I think that you could do worse than winning a 14 to 15 down the stretch I think that these games that they're playing right now are going to make them a little bit more not necessarily battle tested but the nerves are a little higher right like there's a little bit more at stake right now I'll do respect to the jays playing the role And like Jason said, they knew they were going to clinch, they knew they were going to get through.

The Ms are still kind of fighting toothed nail here, although now they've opened up a bit of a cushion. Well, I'm going to be very curious to see the other races in the American League as well. I think both teams are set up well for the playoffs, be honest, with the rotations that both teams have. The Mariners have a very interesting finish to the season. They like the Blue Jays, finished with six straight home games against two very different teams. Colorado and the L.A. Dodgers. Finish the regular season against the Dodgers? That Dodgers series, at the time that it was scheduled, everyone was really excited, right?

Like, end of the season, both teams could be in playoff contention, Shohay going to Seattle. But if you look at it now, the Dodgers could clinch as early as Tuesday, I want to say. It looks like they're going to have everything wrapped up before that game. And the Mariners might as well. Rendering that series, like, it could be one of the- I don't think the Mariners are going to clinch a buy for. maybe, you know, like, I think that's going to go right down to the wire. It depends on what goes up.

The Astros were in a bad way that series, by the way. No, but the Byes versus the Tigers. Yeah. Did you know the Astros did not lead at all during that three? Like a series that important where you're battling for top spot in the OS, they never led over any of the games. And they went two for 20 with runners and squirons. But again, I'm not, like, it's the same as the Js.

Like, when the Mariners clinch a playoff spot is kind of, it's, they're going to clinch. Yes. You know, it's whether or not they can get that buy and have, a collision course in the ALCS against the Blue Jays. It would be great. Do you know how insane that could be? It would be amazing for those two teams to get there. I would love to see them.

You know, people in Vancouver are like, fine, I'll go to the States. Well, yeah, you got to do it at a certain point. I will say. Can you imagine? Can you imagine ALCS, Blue Jays Mariners, the scene in Seattle, and all the things that the Marines

Mariners, all the stops the Mariners would pull off, pull out just to make sure that Blue Jays fans don't invade Seattle. I'm already thinking about it as a matter of. I mean, I've quietly throughout the last two months because I look, I look forward towards September on October because of all the sports colliding. I did think in the back of my mind, I'm like, if the Blue Jays and the Mariners go on deep extended runs, it is going to make the sports viewing over the course of October unbelievable, right? Because we haven't really had the confluence. of NFL, the start of the Canucks season, and I'm going to be dead. Like really, really intriguing late season baseball locally. Now, not just one of the teams that we focus on locally, but both of them making extended runs. Like, that's a first.

And it would really compensate for a summer that, quite frankly, was awful for sports. It was so slow, and it was really boring. And as we move along in what happened here, I do want to keep it in Seattle. Because yesterday it was a very good day to be a Seattle sports fan. And, you know, we went from the Vancouver teams. We're going to go.

They got that big crack in preseason win. That was huge. That place was hopping last night. Yeah, like you couldn't get a seat. There must have been 3,000 people there. So the Seahawks yesterday had a whitewash of the New Orleans Saints. Torrey Horton, let's play the audio here, went untouched on a 95-yard punt return touchdown. The longest punt-returned touchdown in Seattle Seahawks franchise history.

This was just one of the many high. highlights is the Seattle Seahawks routed the Saints 44 to 13. But let's hear it now. Torrey Horton, 95-yard scamper to the end zone for the longest punt return TD in franchise history. Horton on the return at the 20, right up the middle to the 30.

Now Horton to the outside. Tori Horton, down the sideline. And it's a touchdown. 95 yards. Did you see that block on the punter? Yes. And it may- It reminded me of Nick Tarnan.

throwing that guy in the pond. Yeah, right. Good pull. Yeah. Golf, golf course of violence. I like it. That was a good pull. So that that block actually made it into the AP report afterwards, which normally they don't, right?

Usually talking about the punt return and that's it. Do you think the punter was like, excuse me for trying to get involved? He was like, don't hurt me. That was it. It was a dominant, dominant performance, as evident by the 44 to 13 score. A banner day for Seahawks special teams. So they return a punt for a touchdown. They blocked a punt as well.

And they also had another long kick return on a kickoff. So it was a great day on special team. Sam Darnold right now, through three games, has completed 70% of his passes, which is a gaudy number, very impressive. Four touchdowns, two interceptions, but the interceptions both came in the same game against the Steelers. Pretty impressive from this team right now If you consider how inept the offense looked in week one

To how it looked a lot better in week two Against the Steelers And now, yes, the opponent was terrible But being able to put up 44 points And Jason, I think the important thing Winning at home Making that place a tough place to play Making Lumen feel a difficult place to play

All the boxes were ticked yesterday Spencer Rattler More like Spencer rattled Very rattled He was poor to put a mind. Although the defense

and the special teams for the Saints gave that team no real chance. I know that they only put up 13 points and the offense was pretty putrid

but that was just like Rattler was actually the least of their concern but I wanted to make that joke. I know it was a good joke it was a good dad joke Laddie nodded in approval he liked it.

It was a 21 to nothing lead after the first like that game was over right away. I had a buddy who's a big Saints fan at the game texted him like eight minutes into the game. I was like, you could probably leave now and beat traffic.

Get home now. He's like, I am considering it. The Saints did not find the end zone until the beginning of the fourth quarter. Like that was a cosmetic score in the fourth quarter. I had the game on mute by then, which is nice, right? To watch a Seahawks game. I don't want them all to be like that because I do enjoy the tension of the Seahawks. But it was nice to have that win at just a blowout win at Lumen where the crowd, I think,

was making an impact. Like there were some false start penalties that the Saints got and I think they as a team were rattled. Spencer himself might not have been super rattled but I think that as a team they were rattled and the momentum

I don't know just carried over them. Listen, I don't think Halford and I are taking any victory laps here. They beat Pittsburgh. That was a good win. I still don't think the Steelers are very good though and they beat New York. Orleans and they pumped

them but you know if you're a Saints fan you're kind of like whatever let's just go 0 and 17 and get a quarterback okay but that being said there were a couple things that I was very skeptical about one was this team's ability to put up points period against a good

team against a bad team at home or on the road pretty impressive the last two weeks like offense is offense yeah right yeah defensively defensively I think this team might be way better than we thought. They're building something for sure. They're building something. That defensive line with

Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams, they are so stout against the run. They can pressure quarterbacks. They don't give up anything. If you look at the scores that this team has been able to hold teams to over the first three weeks, again, I know you're talking about going up against Brock Purdy and decrepit Aaron Rogers and Spencer Radler or a quarterback. But this is a really good defense. If the offense can find ways to manufacture

points. It was another big game for Jackson Smith and Jigby. As there was his flu game. Mike McDonald pointed out, he came down with the flu on Saturday, but still managed to go for nearly 100 yards receiving. Okay, so just a note for any Seahawks fans out there that may not know, the Seahawks next game

is Thursday in Arizona. It's an Amazon prime game Thursday night. 515 start, and obviously a big divisional game for the Seahawks. Everyone in this division has a winning record right now. You've got the Niners who had a last minute, last second win over the Cardinals yesterday. Gross football

game. Gross football game. But they won it. And the 49ers are somehow three and O. Yep. Which is honestly impressive that they're finding ways to win considering some of the issues that they're facing. And then the Cardinals, Seahawks and Rams are all two and one. The cards fell to 2-1-1 with the loss of the 49ers, and the Rams beat the Eagles. No, they lost the Eagles. Two to one. Sorry.

No. They lost to the Eagles. No, it was 33 to 26. Because they were 2-0. Yes. Sorry. The Rams are now. I wanted to talk about that game because it was the greatest,

one of the greatest covers in betting history. It was a wild affair. So Buddy after the game asked me, is this a great Rams? choke or is this a great Eagles comeback? So for those that missed it Yes, the answer is yes. The Eagles blocked two field

goals in the fourth quarter including Jordan Davis blocking a potential game winning field goal as time expired. Not only did he block it, he returned it to the house to turn a 2726 win into a 33 to

26 win which is what the cover Jason was talking about. The Rams did everything they needed to do to win that football game. To fail as spectacularly as they did with special teams in the fourth quarter, one field goal with eight minutes and 46 seconds left, and the second one with

no time left is a colossal joke. And that would have been otherwise a great win for the Rams. Who picked up the ball and ran it in? That was Davis did it all. Okay. Yeah. Do you think he was encouraged by the fans that were there? Like, you have to

do it. This is, this, this, like because he could have just fallen on it, right? He could have just fallen on it. The adrenaline clearly took over. No, no, no, but I'm wondering if he heard from like betters in the crowd. They're like, go! They tried to cover the spread. They tried to ask him with the podium afterwards, but he said he was still out of breath.

Right. Yeah, because it was a big man rumbling a long way. But it was a cover for the, specialties were nuts all over the league yesterday. I don't know if you noticed, but there was a lot of block kicks. Yeah. A lot of game, there was game winning field goals across the board, too. It was very interesting. Okay.

Mark and White Rock, Texan, let's not forget about the hustles. Huskies, they look real good again this year. Mark, I'm going to disagree with you a little bit. I watch the Apple Cup. Yeah, the Huskies beat the Coogs by a big score. I don't think the Huskies played that well. I don't think they were that good. They did score 59 points.

Yeah. Did you watch the game? A little bit. Yeah. I actually think the Coogs... Washington State is a poor football program. You know what, man, though? The first half, they hung in there, and they played pretty well.

They got some licks in on the Huskies quarterbacks. and I just wasn't all that impressed by the Huskies to tell you the truth. And they've got Ohio State coming in on Saturday. Ohio State is a nine and a half point favorite. Is that it? That's surprising to me. I know they got to travel across the country. It's Husky Stadium, right?

Yeah, I know they got to travel across the country. That place is going to be jumping. But, you know, prove me wrong, Huskies. I just, I wasn't that impressed with their win. If basketball Phil's listening, I'd like to hear your thoughts because you're the only the other guy that, besides Mark and White Rock, that texting about the Huskies. And one final,

what happened over the weekend. Canada, Canada, is going to be playing in a rugby World Cup final against England at Twickenham, maybe the most famous rugby stadium in the world

on Saturday in front of over 80,000 fans. This women's rugby team is incredible. They have rolled through this tournament and they have won every game by double digits. Now, so has England. Yeah. And England is the favorite in this final,

but it's going to be Saturday 8 a.m. And it's going to be a very confusing day for me because I am going to be cheering very hard against England, but also cheering for all the English golfers in the Ryder Cup. So the Canadian Women's Rugby team and this program deserves a ton of credit for what they've been able to do at this World Cup. They were crowdfunded partially to get to this tournament. They've never won the Rugby Women's World Cup.

They faced a six-time world champion in New Zealand. That New Zealand team had not lost in the knockout round since 1990. won. So you're talking about... And they dominated them. Yeah, you're talking about one of the preeminent powers in women's rugby. And Canada, like you said, didn't just eke out a victory. They won emphatically. And they, like you said, they've rolled through this term and they deserve a ton of credit for what they've been able to do. What a cool experience that's going to be for those women, too.

Like, even when they started the game, you know, everyone's, you know, like, do you think they'd ever thought they would be playing a game at Twickenham? like you know like this is this is like uh i don't know if these i mean some of the older stadiums don't really exist anymore but like it's it's like the wembley of rugby yeah you know it's it's it's massive and it's going to be very difficult because it's going to be a very pro england pro england crowd also england is just steamrolled yeah england's good england is racked up 248 points over the course of all their victories of the term conceded just 25 i know you love run differential so point differential in rugby they're like

almost plus 220, which is a lot over the course of a short tournament. But whatever the case, the Canadian women's rugby team deserves a ton of credit for what they've been able to do at this tournament. Joe and Smithers, Texan, okay, boys, back to hockey. Well, too bad, Joe. Mike Tannier is going to join us next. We'll do a little NFL talk on the other side. You're listening to the Halford-Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.