Halford & Brough in the Morning - Brandon Astle With An Abbotsford Canucks Playoffs Update

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with Abbostford Canucks commentator Brandon Astle (2:04) ahead of today's pivotal and decisive game 5 versus the Colorado Eagles, plus the boys tell us what they learned (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.

Now, Blay with a steal behind the net trying to bring it in front. He's tied up. Puck is loose. Mueller trying to jam it towards the blue paint. And the Canucks score! It's over! They've done it! Let's get out of here!

Linus Carlsen just called game three! But what happened in game four? Couldn't play that audio. Wasn't as exciting. But what happened in game four? Couldn't play that audio. Wasn't as exciting. Decidedly less exciting for Abbotsford anyway. Losing in game four means we get an all decisive game five tonight though.

And by tonight I mean this afternoon, smack in the middle of the afternoon. Two o'clock today, it's Abbotsford, it's Colorado. It's the Calder Cup Playoffs from Blue Arena in Colorado. You are listening to the Halferd and Brev show on Sportsnet 650. Halferd and Brev of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews.

Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. The man on the call this afternoon for the game, Brandon Astle, he's going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three of this program is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Hey Jason.

Just a reminder, hold on. I was going to try and, I was going to throw to you and I was going to say, hey Jason, who is the presenting sponsor of our hotline? Oh, okay. Yeah. That didn't work out very well. Not so great. Guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the hotline powered by Power West Industries.

Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today. They keep the lights on. They sure do, Jason. You guys are the pros. We do it better than anyone. By anyone, I mean most people. And by most people, I mean some people. Let's go now to that Power West Industries hotline.

As mentioned, Brandon Astle, play-by-play voice to the Abbotsford Canucks joins us now on the Haliford and Breff show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Brandon. How are you? Morning boys I kind of feeling bad for for Tom Cruise so they think Michigan impossible is gonna take a hit of the box office because the Monday Matinee today. Yeah features the Canucks and Eagles for all the marbles I was gonna say it's not very often you get a Monday Matinee in the playoffs for a decisive and pivotal game five

But I suppose that's life in the playoffs for a decisive and pivotal game five. But I suppose that's life in the Calder Cup playoff and also because it's Memorial Day down in the States. But yeah, we're acting as sort of the de facto pregame show here at eight o'clock in the morning. Set up game five for us to to going into it. It's been an interesting series thus far. The last three games, of course, all in Colorado. So set it up for the listeners here, Brandon. Yeah, so both teams have alternated wins since, since game one.

And if you would've told me that it would go the distance, I would probably believe you because there hasn't been much that separated the two clubs throughout the entire year. The Eagles finished ahead of the Canucks by just two points in the regular season. So that's why they get this home game here in game number five and each team just has great depth and goal tending and that's held through held through through four games of the series and

the goaltender she loves in minor have been outstanding going head to head against each other and playing every single second of the series so far and it's been an absolute war zone. There's there's obviously a lot of bad blood. This will be the 13th time they play each other here this season. And the last three games, the refs have handed out 132 penalty minutes to the two squads. And obviously when you play each other 12 times, that's going to happen.

And all comes through ahead tonight in matchup number 13. It's just not, it's been, there hasn't been a lot of kind of room, kind of space out there for, for both sides. It's, it's been pretty nasty and expecting probably another tight one here today. Who's been the Canucks MVP so far in this series alone? Um, I would probably say Victor Mancini. Um, close second between Leckermack and Shilaz,

but Mancini has just been so impressive. He's probably been, uh, I would say Shilaz has probably been their playoff MVP, but Mancini has really stepped up in this series and someone who Manny relies on in all situation, he quarterbacks one of the power play units, he's on a penalty kill. Obviously he's a big guy, he's physical, block shots, has a great stick and really starting to see that offensive game of his. When he was acquired from the Rangers, a word on him was that he had good offensive instincts. And now we're not only seeing that, he's making plays, whether it's at

the opposing blue line in tight spaces, jumping up in that rush using that skating ability of his. And I think he takes the other team by surprise because he moves so well for a big man, 230 pounds. And I really wanted to IsoCam like his seat of practice yesterday. Just to like taking a stride like his edge work and technique just to see how he goes about his business in that area. Obviously I can't really focus on that when I'm calling a game but I was watching this guy do drills and he's going back for pox and tibeting up the ice and just seeing he's so light on his feet and I just

it's remarkable just because of his size and I know his teammates and coaches have been really impressed with what they've seen for him since being acquired. Manny told me the other day like he describes him as a gamer, a guy that wants to be on the ice in all situations and really relishes the big-time matchups in the game going against the other team's top guys. I know I've come on these airwaves during the regular season, I've raved about the play of other prospects like DP, Leckermackie, Mueller, Kudratsev, the list goes on and on.

Um, and obviously there's just been great development in Avisford all year, but man, this guy could be at the top of the list of the most impressive rookies I've seen in the AHL all season. Yeah, that's, that's really good to hear. Uh, cause I don't think a lot of people knew much about him when he was acquired by, in the trade with the New York Rangers.

But I had a couple of people from New York reach out to me and say like, this guy's going to be a player. Yeah. I'm really happy they got him in a deal, bruv. Like he's just the total package. Obviously it's one thing to do at the AHL level and do it at the NHL, but I think that his game can translate. And he's someone that's got a lot of experience in these Calder Cup playoffs.

Like going back to last year when he was in Hartford, he got a bunch of time in the playoffs and now today will be a 21st career playoff game. He's just 22 years old and playing the type of role that he is in high leverage, high pressure situations. Um, I think that he's just getting his potentials through the roof. Um, and when, when I talked to like, like I said, guys on the team and the coach, that they just kind of like shake their head like this guy's an absolute monster. He played the most minutes, I think I would say around 25 minutes per game.

Uh, he played almost 30 in that overtime win in game number three. So yeah, can I say I'm just starting to see what this kid brings to the table? The size of speed, the offense, the defense, the physicality. I just marvel at the way he can skate and how big he is. I know I say that a lot, but it's true. Yeah. Well, you mentioned Lekar Maki there. What has the playoffs been like for him? It seems like it's been kind of a mixed bag. Yeah, it's been up and down, but I can definitely report

that he's got his confidence back. That's for sure. Four points at four games lead the series in scoring. And he's been keyed on like the Eagles have been going after him. And rightfully so, because he has 12 points in nine games against in the season. Took a huge hit and gave one, got right back up and then a few other than a period later took a nasty slash on the arm, drew a penalty and just wondered how we might react after that but he just kind of rolled with the punches and I think experiencing this type of attention he's getting is gonna be good for his

development in the long run when he's hopefully a Vancouver Canucks because like, yeah, he's battled some adversity these last few weeks and it took him a bit to find his games. It's coming back from that oral procedure. But I've just been impressed with how like he's operating around the rank. There's been a time, a lot of time, time and space, like I mentioned in these playoffs and his touches with the puck have been clean, making really smart, confident play to help the team get out of their own end. And like I said, boys, the playoffs are played differently. He's not the biggest guy in the world.

And I think he's been able to adapt accordingly as the playoffs and the series has gone along. And just seeing him around the rink in the hotel, he just seems to be in a much better place, a lot chipper. And I'll tell you what guys, he's someone who doesn't really celebrate when he scores in a game. Like you can look over the tape, whether it's AHL, NHL this season, when he puts a puck in the back of the net, his celebrations are very subdued. You never see him raise his arms in the air or anything like that. But I can't say I finally saw him do it yesterday in practice after he scored a goal, which took me by surprise. So that might just go to show how loose he's feeling right now, which is great for him

coming into this big game today. Who's a guy that Abbotsford could really use to up their game a little bit in this decisive game five? Maybe someone you haven't seen much from in the series or the playoffs, but you know what's there for them. Yeah, I don't know if there's exactly one guy. I know R.S.D. Baines, he had a great first round and hasn't put up a kind of point since, but he does other things well defensively, penalty kill, plays a lot in all situations. Maybe he saved his best for last here today.

Maybe he saved his best for last here today. Lydas Carlson having a great playoff by the numbers. He's got five goals. That's the third most in the American Hockey League playoffs right now. I still think he still maybe has a signature game coming. Obviously, his head-to-style translates really well in these playoffs and scored that big overtime winner in front of the net where he he does a lot of his damage so They're gonna need a whole team effort to step up today, brof. I know that's that's kind of generic But at the end of the day, this is a team that

Is it has gotten to where they have just due to the depth up and down the lineup like it could be a fourth Liner it could be a third pair defenseman that steps up in a big moment today. It would not surprise me Like last year they played the Eagles in a big moment today would not surprise me. Like last year they played the Eagles in a winner take all game in the same rank, went to overtime and their captain, Chase Waters got the game winning goal and maybe he's got another in him today. So yeah, I'm interested to see this is where, where heroes are made. A lot of guys are going to be playing the biggest game in their professional careers. And let's see who rises to the occasion and gets the job done.

We're speaking to Abbotsford Canucks play by play man, Brandon Astle here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder, it's game five, the decisive game five between Abbotsford and Colorado. This afternoon at two o'clock, you can hear Brandon and the entire call all right here on Sportsnet 650. Um, you know, I'm not going to talk, spend a lot of time talking too much about the opponent here, but I am curious about the makeup of the opponent

because we have talked about a lot of the younger prospects that are doing the business for Vancouver in this series. Is it fair to suggest that Colorado might be more of a veteran-laden squad, like relying on guys that aren't necessarily looking forward to what's next for them in the NHL, but more guys that are comfortably in the NHL for the long haul.

I'm thinking about guys like Jason Magna and TJ Tynan and guys like that, guys that are in their 30s that have spent a long time playing pro hockey and are now sort of NHL veterans. That's 100% bang on, Halford. So one thing to keep in mind, big picture in all of this, is that the Colorado Eagles have a private owner. So their affiliation is with the Avalanche, but Stan Kronke does not own the

AHL club. So that makes the Eagles number one goal to win. So they go out in the off season, they open up their checkbooks, they spend a lot of money on big name AHL free agents, um, who have been awesome this year and great in these playoffs. Um, and that's why they're always good year over year, because they're an older team. And because the Avalanche prospect pool is pretty bare right now, because they go for it year after year,

they trade a lot of draft picks. Like the year they won the Cal Telford in 2022, they had just two draft picks that summer, and we're in the sixth and seventh round. So that is starting to catch up to them now. And you saw them at deadline this year, they traded their first round pick Richie to the Islanders in that Brock Nelson deal.

Whereas on the other side of the coin for the Canucks, they got one owner, Francesco Eccoli. He controls both the NHL and AHL club and the mandate in Abbotsford, which is no surprise is to develop players for Vancouver. So that is the number one goal every single year, which makes what they're doing right now so impressive with all these young players in their lineup and

doing what they're doing. Like the fact that they're just one game away from the Western Conference finals just shows you what great of a year it's been in Abbotsford. So yeah two completely different teams obviously Abbotsford does have some veterans which you need in your lineup just to kind of help the young guys show the way, whether it's Sammy Blay, um, Phil B. DeCepi, Jujar, Kara, those are valuable guys, but the Canucks go to players have been the young prospects all year, which is awesome for the Vancouver Canucks future.

It all goes down this afternoon, game five of the Calder Cal Calder Cup round between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Colorado Eagles. You can hear it all right here. Sportsnet 650. Again, programming note, the game begins at two o'clock. So we'll pick up the broadcast right then and Brandon will be on the call. Brandon, thanks a lot for doing this today, bud. We really appreciate it. Have a good call today. Enjoy the game. It should be a good one. And hopefully next time we speak, it'll be previewing the next round of the Calder Cup playoffs. You took the words right out of my mouth, Halford.

Hopefully they get it done tonight and we do it again maybe later this week. Who knows if they make the Western Conference Finals, but thanks, boys. Thank you, buddy. All you said the same week? Let's go. Brandon Astle bookending the week.

Let's go, Abbotsford Canucks today. Thanks, Brandon, appreciate it. You haven't given up on the let's go, huh? Still doing it. In fact, I'm doing it more now. It's like thrash Thursdays. I had a lot of people come up to me in the streets and they said, we love it when you say let's go, huh? Still doing it. In fact, I'm doing it more now. It's like thrash Thursdays. I had a lot of people come up to me in the streets and they said, we love it when you say let's go, Alford.

No one said that to you, did they? Not a single person, not a one. I do feel like I'm co-hosting a show with Bryson DeChambeau. Let's go. What a lying on the show today. Lying to the listeners, lying about stories. Lying about lying.

Yeah, lying about lying. Lying about lying. You just can't get Yeah, lying about lying. Lying about lying. We just can't get enough lying. Fake news, buddy. Fake news. I do love lying. Okay, I'm going to start with a what we learned here. Sure, hold on.

Before you do that, we'll do a quick reset. Friendly reminder, if you want to be on the radio and get your what we learned, then do it right now. Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650-650, hashtag it WWL, and let us know what you learned over the last 72 hours in sports. It's your chance to be on the radio on the other side of the break. Yeah, we do need some more of what we learned.

So text those into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Um, I learned that, uh, Connor Garland and Drew O'Connor are world champions. I was almost going to say, let's go. Champions of the world. Let's go! The United States.

Let us go there. Champions of the world. Let's go. The United States. Let us go there. United States for the first time since 1933. I saw that. Won the worlds. They, uh, they beat Switzerland.

Take that Switzerland. What's going on in this tournament? One nil. One nil in overtime, Tage Thompson with the winner. Um, I remember that 1933 tournament and the world was a crazy place at that time. You were 27 years old. And you know, the treaty of Versailles was creating

some problems in the world. And, uh, but the Americans went over there and then they got it done. Hey, here's some trivia for you. Okay. Who was Canada's coach at the 1933 World Championships? Tim Horton. John Cooper. You know who it was? No. Harold Ballard. Oh, wow. Yeah. Coach.

So coach. So it was like club teams that went over there. The keys. Great. They were God, what they were called. They were sponsored by, believe it or not, they were sponsored by the, um, yacht club. They were called the Toronto National Sea Fleas. They won the 1932 Allen Cup. And I guess Harold Ballard was a member of the yacht club.

He's like, can you sponsor us? We want to go to Europe. Yeah, like sure. Yeah. Alan Cup is like the senior men's. Yeah. It was a different time back then. Yeah.

Yeah. A little different. Yeah. A little different. Um, there was a. Americans had our number there. I thought Romania was going to be a bigger, uh, bigger factor of that tournament, but, uh,

they weren't. Romania. Um, there's a, the heritage moment commercial, uh, I think reflects those earlier days when it was club teams that used to go represent Canada That was the one from that was interesting. What's the shorty guy? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He has a name instead of the shorty Oh, it's shorty. I'm sure sure. Yeah. Yeah. Well trail would trail right? Yeah. Yeah so Congratulations, I suppose to the Americans and Connor Garland and Drew O'Connor, members of

the Canucks that went over and beat the Swiss for the gold medal. Give us a moocall on that. I, this is a late one for me, but I did want to get in on this. So the French Open is on right now, her Roland Garros. There's a couple Canadians in action.

They were watching Dennis Shapovalov play right now. Against Pedro Martinez. Against Pedro Martinez, right. Not the former MLB pitcher. I thought it was. We're trying to confirm that or not. He's up 6-2 after the first set. Gabriel Diallo's got a match today as well.

So it's a big day for the Canadians. But the hilarious thing is that, so this is the tournament where they're going to honor Rafael Nadal. They actually already have this is they're going to going to be like his swan song. He's going to go out and wave to the crowd and everything. And then what happened was for the match yesterday,

they handed out a bunch of clay colored Mercy Rafa shirts, okay to those in attendance Remember how you were saying there today how you don't care for when they do the fan assisted shirts handout different, right? Well, but it's the same idea. Yeah, okay, but the fans here got smart because there was only a select number available They actually became a hot commodity on the secondary market. Oh, okay. And the shirts are now going for $540 a pop. Seems crazy to me.

So you laugh at Oklahoma City for getting those blue shirts during the playoffs. They could turn those around and $540 would buy you tickets to several Oklahoma City Thunder Games. Do you still have a collection of Canucks white towels from the playoffs? So I do. I, there are now all very crappy dish towels. Oh, you can use them as dish. They didn't stand the test.

Some of them did for me. Some of them were a little more special. Like I got one from 94. Yeah. You don't, you don't think I use my Stanley cup finals for dish towels, but I use the playoffs ones. Yep. I, I don't think I use my Stanley Cup finals for dish towels, but I use the playoffs ones. Yep The worst material Imaginable pretty bad. I don't think you could find a worst material, you know I guess you're not really using it for anything else other than swinging around you Do you keep your you're not you're not like bathing? Yeah, but like honestly though like it's

You're not you're not like baby. Yeah, but like honestly though like it's what you are Yeah, some of the worst feeling like fabrics. I've ever felt them Do you keep your dish towels in a drawer or in a like a cupboard closet? Okay, minor in a drawer and pinned in the very back of the dress like you know in the desperate times the desperate time rags Yeah, a lot of ways that could go. But the desperate time, right? Oh, wow. The desperate time rags. Way in the back. This is all there. There's like there's two socks. There's like four or five Canucks towels. There be rights. There's certain towels where you need to honor them.

The 94 one. Any anything for the 2011 run, I think, cannot be downgraded to just tells. But you're saying 2015 against Calgary, like that went immediately. That same night, like I watched the game and then it went home and became a dish towel that night. You know what I want? I want the Canucks to get back to a point where we can just be like,

oh, this is only a first round white towel. Yeah. You know? Now it's like, this is a playoff towel. Like this is, I'm framing this. Bars of significance for organizational success will be based on towels, right? So.

Meaningless and meaningful. I was texting with a Toronto reporter, uh, over the weekend. Anonymous source? It was James Myrtle. Okay. And he was, he was saying, um, like I think Leaf fans are in for a rude awakening for what's

going to happen in Toronto. Because, you know, everyone's like, yeah, get rid of Marner. And like, I get it. I wouldn't, I wouldn't keep the core four together either. But. They're going to be worse.

Yeah, they're going to be worse. Like the guys, the guy's a really good player. Score a hundred plus points. And to try and replace him. And then plus you've got, um, you've got a blue line that was good for this year, for sure it was an upgrade, but there's age risk in that blue line. He thinks that one of the guys that could be on the move this off season, and this is an exactly insider knowledge, a lot of people speculate is Morgan Reilly.

Okay, well, great. If you manage to move him, how are you going to replace him? And then the one thing that he did say, and this is not him reporting anything, he's like, I said, would they be bold enough to trade Matthews? And he said, he didn't really answer the question, but he answered it with the question. He said, would he want to stay if they take a step back? So this is really interesting because one of the things that stuck out in Keith Pelly's presser last week after they let go of Brendan Shanahan, did you pick up on this?

He seemed very keen on reconnecting and reengaging with the fan base. Like he was acutely aware that this team has become unlikable and that the fan base kinda hates them. It was his first clue when they got booed off the ice. Marner's game seven and then Marner picked up the puck and the booze got cut. Yeah, but he was just like, I feel like there's some hard feelings here.

Right, but the- I'm sensing a bit of animosity between the Brad and the players right now. But the acknowledgement is, I think it's a pretty important thing. Because you could go up there in your end of your media availability and talk a lot of other things

aside from how much the fan base dislikes actively your roster. I do wonder if they will kind of, maybe not even necessarily spin, but I'll just use the, spin it as we got worse and we downgraded because one, we had to change, but two, we had to change because of that likability factor.

Like I'm not sure you can bring back Marner now. No, you can't. Even though he's gonna make you a better, put it this way, Marner's gone. But Marner on the leaf. Marner's decision will you can't even though he's gonna make you a better. He's put it this way Marner's gone But Marner on the Larner's decision will be to go but the leaves with Marner net going into next year would be better than the Leafs without I think that's a fair statement Well, it depends what they do if I will one texture suggest if they trade PD her own income the 15th for Matthews That might shake up the Leafs core a lot and maybe they improved

You know what? I wouldn't if I was Toronto, I would not take that. Yeah, I know. I would not take that. And it's a, it's a big haul. It's a big haul. Matthews is one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history. But very, the low key, he might be physically broken. And not a player performer.

Physically, I think you really do have to wonder about what's going on there, especially this season where his goal scoring went from like 69. Nice. Nice. To not 69. I don't know what the final number is. It's just the yips, you guys.

I don't think it's the yips. I don't think it's the yips. It doesn't show up in the big moments when it counts. I think it's a broken back. He actually does shoot the puck. He just misses the net all the time. Yips, also known as a broken back. He shot in the 69 nice goal season. He shot the puck way more

effectively than he did this year. Well, he hit the net. That helped. Yeah. But that's that's all part of, I think, what's going on. I don't think it's a yips thing. Every time he shot the puck this year, he went, what was the sort of OK, what was the sort of theory that

because he put so much torque on his body and his shooting style that it's just it's unsustainable. Shoots from weird positions, right positions and trains that way as well, which is why he's become one of the greatest goal scorers. But it's like when Tiger Woods would put that torque on his body, it's kind of like, well, it helps you in the moment, but bodies aren't designed to work like that. I don't think hockey is meant for humans, you guys.

Well, goaltending is a good one. Well, yeah, especially in goaltending. Your hips. You're honestly in a pretzel for 90% of the game. So it's, yeah. I don't think your body's supposed to do that and putting all those pressures on all these different joints in your body.

That's why when I play, I don't bend my knees. It's true. Also you just don't have any effort. Big move, your feet right over there does not move his feet. No, I don't. That's why I can recognize it. I'm like, I know.

Don't be like me. I know that yeah I like to long though. You take two strides and you're down the ice So it's not expected of you exactly okay, we're gonna turn it over to the humanoids next a reminder get you what we learns in WWL what did you learn over the last 72 hours in sports? Let us know dumb our number text line is 650 650 You are listening to the halferd and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Now for my favorite part of the show.

What does it say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God. This is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the program. It is

what we learn time. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. In a rare, rare moment for the Haliford and Brough show, Adog is at the forefront of what we learned. Adog has been wanting to do this, what we learned for so long. He is excited to tell us what he learned. So without further ado, we begin with Andy Cole. He's going to start our What We Learn segment.

I did get very excited. I've joked about this on the show many times now, and it actually has become a thing. And I saw it the other day and it was reminded to me by an unsigned textress. So thank you for reminding me about this. I wanted to do this as of what we learned a few days ago. A new company hoping to infuse PEDs into Olympic style sports says it will hold its first formal competition in 2026. The Enhanced Games athletes will be allowed,

if not outright encouraged, to use PEDs that are typically legal to possess but banned in sports. Right. So it is the steroid Olympics. Well hold on, so they're legal to possess? Here, I'll read the banisters. I'll read it. That's kind of boring.

I want, I want. Enhanced Games athletes will be allowed to take legal to possess. Here, I'll read the... I'll read it. That's kind of boring. I want, I want. Enhanced games athletes will be allowed to take substances that are legal in the United States and prescribed by a licensed doctor. Examples include testosterone, growth hormone, and some types of anabolic steroids. Drugs that won't be allowed include cocaine. Oh. Yeah. So you could be on steroids and also have gigantism

Yes, amazing. You can take that nerd. I call you like so it's the steroid Olympics So they should just call it that I believe there are some anabolic steroids that are illegal in the US are Legal or illegal illegal some and some anabolic steroids are like I think it's a FDA I think they're all illegal without a prescription. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You need to be prescribed. So who are these mad doctors that are gonna be prescribing all this stuff?

Yes, I wanna know. Dr. Nick Riviera. Yeah, like testosterone, there's generally a guideline for how much you should have in your body. The guy with all these muscles, yes, you need testosterone, yeah, 100%. Here's your prescription. Was the liver king gonna be consulting on this thing?

Is that his name? Yeah. Liver king? There's a new documentary on Netflix about the liver king going to be consulting in this thing? Is that his name? Yeah. Liver King? There's a new documentary on Netflix about the liver king. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaking of documentaries, I watched the Brett Favre one. He doesn't come off very well. No kidding. I had been told that it was skippable.

It was kind of boring though. Yeah, totally was. It was boring. Okay, so we're on this topic now. Yeah. There is- They didn't do a good enough job of building him up and then tearing him down. You have to him up first. It was kind of like yeah. Yeah, we all know Brett Favre was right They didn't talk about any of his like big moments and games or anything. There was just like yeah, he won a Super Bowl

I feel you know, I feel as though The rush to create content especially on a streaming platform as aggressive as Netflix Has led to some very rushed projects Yeah, what I feel like all of them pretty much like for example. I watched the shooting guards Which was the one with the Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenden? Oh, yeah, I skipped that one. Okay, so It's not a good title though. It's great title. Well, you're shooting card. It's not bad Right as the guards both they never actually shot at each other, but they were close anyway.

There's two major revelations in the documentary. I'm going to spoil it for everyone. So if you wanted to watch shooting guards tonight, avert your ears or whatever. The first is that Gilbert Arenas announces kind of without like being incited. That he thinks his suspension was

so lengthy and it wasn't because that he brought the gun into the change room. It was because he just kind of flippantly told NBA investigators that he was getting guns from his native Arizona because he was getting guns from his native Arizona because he was originally from Arizona he's playing in Washington in DC.

I got a gun there. Right the problem was he was using the Washington Wizards private charter plane to move firearms from one state to another. Is that not allowed? And the NBA was like don't do that. That's probably breaking some sort of federal rule. So he said that without going public with that, they kind of slapped him on the wrist in a major way. So that was a part of it. The other one was that later on down the road,

Javaris Crittenden ran into a series of legal problems, including a murder which he tried. He was found guilty of manslaughter. That is a legal problem. Yeah. Tried he was found guilty of manslaughter. Mm-hmm. That is a legal problem. Yeah He only served ten years in prison if I'm not mistaken and then the producers of the documentary Floated this brief note in the midst of this like well, how can we only serve that amount of time? Mm-hmm. And now what I don't have the specific details. I'm pretty sure I got this right.

Dwight Howard's uncle. Because Dwight Howard and Javaris Crittenden were high school teammates. Yeah, yeah. I believe was the district attorney at the time. And they kind of floated this idea that like, well, if you want to connect the dots, you know, Javaris Crittenden's former high school teammate, his uncle may have

somehow greased the skids for him to be able to get out early. But then there was no follow up whatsoever, except for they're like, we reached out to the district's attorney's office and they had no comment. Yeah. And then we had to press publish on. I can't just throw it out there like that. Like it feels dangerous on the behalf of the filmmakers that they did this. Well, with the Favre one.

Yeah. It's like I was trying to count the number of people that actually spoke to this for this. The big star of the documentary is Jen Sturger. Jen Sturger, yeah. Right now she was obviously right at the heart of the Brett Favre story. And it was good to, um, get her perspective, but

frankly, the documentary should have been her. Like. Correct. In hindsight, that's what it should have been on. Because her career got ruined. And it should have been, it's so funny. It's ironic too, because part of the whole storyline was just like her saying like, yeah, we're just

like, no one cares about the, the, the people that these stars affect, you know, and then the, the, the documentary kind of proves that because I was thinking back, I was like, geez, who else did they talk to for this documentary? There was a couple of like Green Bay media guys that were like, oh yeah, Brett Farr was a big guy here, right?

And then there was, then there was like, there was Michael Vick. I'm like, what the hell does Michael Vick have to do with any of this? Interesting choice. I guess the only thing that he was able to add is like, sometimes the white guys are treated differently than the black guys, right? And you're like, okay, I mean, that's, that's an angle. But he didn't really like, they didn't explore it in depth. But I'm just like, why? Why Michael Vick?

Like, you couldn't get any of his teammates on? Nothing? What's going on here? There's no one, they didn't talk to anyone. I had a buddy reach out to me, he watched it over the weekend, he's like, it's entirely skippable. Like, you don't need to watch it. And the Steve McNair one was also just a recap of what happened.

Yeah, there was no there was no new insight. I suppose if you didn't know the story, it would be moderately interesting. But if you're a sports fan and you're watching sports documentaries and you knew the whole story, like there was nothing added to it whatsoever. But hey, Netflix got it out quick. That's all that matters. I did watch the bit lot and manhunt the three parts. That was great. That was very that was very well done.

And now but that was more clear to the government in the end. You know what? I don't man hunt, the three parts. That was great. That was very well done. But that was more clear. Did they get them in the end? You know what? I don't want to spoil it for anyone. But I will say, but in that instance, the only reason I'm bringing it up is you can tell the difference

between one that took an awfully long time to make and like painstaking measures. And obviously three episodes, there's a lot more that goes into it. And then one of just Zero Dark Thirty. Yeah, if you had seen Zero Dark Thirty, you've kind of got the gist of it. But also if you lived through history, you kind of knew what happened. It got way more. I'll say this.

When you're talking about people that they talk to in interviews, the bin Laden doc has a billion interviews. Yeah. As opposed to the bread. All day enough, Michael Vick. Right. He's also shows up in both. He's back. Okay, Moogow.

From Steroid Olympics to that. To Michael Vick, yeah, you're up laddie. Yes, I have what we learned as last night some history happened and the first time in the 64 year history of the British Columbia Hockey League, a team from Alberta won the championship you guys. The Brooks Bandits took down the Chilliwack Chiefs in Chilliwack yesterday, four to two, to take the Fred Page Cup.

And yeah, there was a bit of a merger. I don't like it. I don't like it that it's gone out of BC. I'm just gonna say it. And yeah, for the first time ever, the Freddie is hanging out in Alberta. What happens if Alberta takes it and then they like leave Canada?

Then what? What do we do with the cup? Then you've lost the Freddie. Yeah, like it's gone. Right? I mean, I don't I don't follow current events very often, but I hear that they're thinking about moving the entire province. I don't even know how you do that. But also, what if it's like a... They're putting it on the back of all the F-150s.

Do you just haul it out of there? I don't know how it works. What if it's like a Canada Stanley Cup situation and BC never wins the... It's just in Alberta forever. That just got me thinking like a Canada Stanley Cup situation and BC never wins the Fred... It's just in Alberta forever. That just got me thinking. Imagine the first time a Canadian team finally wins the cup and it's an Alberta team, but it's the year after they leave Canada.

Like how hilarious. I know that obviously would never happen, but I'm just saying in theory. What, the Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup? No, the Alberta leaving Canada. Just pretend for a second it were to happen and then, like, Edmonton wins it. Like, that would be so funny. Moo Cal. Okay, I think we're good there.

Everyone's good. Everyone's good. Three, two, one. We move along. Let's fire up the dot matrix. Humanoid submissions for what we learn. What we learn is always brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You gotta try the bar pie 14 14 crackers. What we learned is always brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You got to try the bar pie 14 14 crackers They need to write inches in the coffee because right now it says 14 of cracker

Right inches dear, okay, I get the cracker pizza, please not 15 not 13. It's 14 crackers AJ's. They're counting every single Are you saying our coffee department has failed us once again Michael? AJ's are yelling at someone because there's too many crackers on the pizza 14 inch cracker thin crust top with tomato sauce Malteser and cheddar AJ in the back you put 15 crackers on this thing. You're fired Only at AJ's pizza order online online at ajs.pizza. Do you think they have premium plus money? I was gonna say.

What kind of? Is there anything worse than getting like, well there are things worse than this. Yes. But do you know sometimes when you get like, this is supposed to be a premium plus, but it's not a premium plus. No name saltines, yeah.

Yeah, a no name saltine. I got the Walmart ones once, great value. Let me tell you, they are great value. But they're not the same. They're not the same. You know, I think in my life, I know times are tough, but I like to splurge on my saltine crackers. That's fair, that's fair.

Sometimes you just spend the money. You know, I know some of you listening don't have premium plus money, and that's too bad for you, but I do, so I'm going to enjoy it. You know in the States they have, I can't remember the name of the company, but they have like food layaway programs now where you like, it's like Uber Eats and you order your food, but you don't

have to pay it all at once, you pay it in like down payments and deposits. Oh that's a good idea, yeah sure, why not add interest to Uber Eats. Is that a sign of a bad economy when you're having to like do down payments on your food delivery service? Yeah, it's also a sign of people taking advantage of others. There's multiple ones. There's Zip. There's Sezzle.

Yeah. You don't sell the safe, you sell the sezzle. Wow. That's one of those times where you're like, maybe we should just go to the grocery store. Yeah. I like, I defaulted on my breed alone. It's on it. I'll tell a story. It's about a man whose father-in-law gave him a sweet job

as manager of a cracker factory. Boring. A man whose complete lack of business sense and managerial impotence... Ooh, here we go. ...sent the number one cracker factory in town into a tie for six with table time and allied biscuit Then she sweeps the allied biscuits back into the bomb a big allied biscuit guy

Personally that we're all over the map here. I will say for those that ask what the best Simpsons episode is That's the no you can't do that. Yeah, it is You know it isn't either that or lemon of Troy no, that's it. If you're talking about IMDB ratings It's actually dental plant that one needs braces, but that has the most quotable lines Yeah, all right. There's like 50 episodes you can say that about dorks dorks. Let's let's focus here. I sleep in a racing car bed Unsigned what we learned, but I like this one despite my petty fandom I find myself hoping not cheering for an Euler's Cup, but only because I think it might benefit the

Canucks. Interesting. How would an Edmonton Euler Stanley Cup benefit the Vancouver Canucks? Explain. First, to extinguish the desperate belly fire in McDavid and Dry Sottle to win the Cup for their legacy. But two, to show the players of the NHL what it means to win a cup in Canada.

It has been so long that few, if any, playing today remember the last time. Maybe it will encourage more players to come up north. Now I replied to this texture and I said, uh, that's actually a really good thought. That was very thoughtful. And then the texture replied, it's mostly coping. I was like, oh, it's very much coping. Sure. Um, but we've all, we've often talked about

what the celebration is going to be like in whatever Canadian city lands the first Stanley Cup since 1993. And remember we heard all the players talk about the atmosphere in Vancouver last year for just two rounds and people were like, this is incredible. And the Canucks were saying that it actually helped them recruit guys like I think Sherwood.

Yeah. And maybe some others. I do wonder if a team gets over the hump, let's say it's the Oilers this year and the celebration that goes on in Edmonton will convince some people like, maybe I shouldn't be scared of this. Maybe I should try and embrace this because do you remember the celebrations that Florida had

last year with the cup and they were like kind of like bringing it to like beach restaurants or beach bars or whatever. Blonde redheads. And like, yeah. And like, they were kind of like, I don't know, there was like 10 people. Like, is that what's in the only cup?

Yeah, half the Morka-Chuck's family. Yeah, no, I remember. Yeah, you know what I mean? It was like, hey, cool. Like, you know what I mean? Like. Cool, yeah, so it's an interesting thought exercise. It's cool that you did that for yourself and for your team

and for the loyal fans, all of whom are in the building in Florida. But there was no closing down the streets parade. There was no mob. There was no celebratory tens of thousands. There was no riot. I mean, what is a Stanley Cup final without a riot? Did you burn a single vehicle?

Did you? Who was the texter? Unsigned. Unsigned, yeah, that's a good thought exercise. It's thoughtful, which is very unique from our listenership. I'll say this. I like the concept of McDavid and dry side getting satiated like fat and happy and content.

There's there's definitely an angle to that. All like put it this way, if they were to if they were to win the cup this year, back to back Stanley Cup finals, the length of this season and the subsequent celebration, I could see them coming back next year and being like, going to take a bit of a breather here. Like, yeah, you take it. We're good. We're happy. We're comfortable. We want.

So there is that element. It's water weight. Yeah. It's glandular. I will say this. It's glandular. I will say this, the added element of reminding everyone after 30 years, 30 plus years of what it's like to win a cup in Canada.

I hadn't quite considered that yet, but that's intriguing. Because everyone thinks of it as a negative playing in Canada. It can also be a positive. A recruitment tool. Very interesting. What we learned from Connolly from Vancouver, I

learned that an Edmonton Florida final would be the best outcome possible if Florida does exactly what they did last year and beats them again, the Oilers fan tears would be unbelievable. I thought about this. Cause we talked about the narrative that is going to be talked about, I imagine, in that the Oilers, the first time they won the Stanley

Cup, they lost the preceding year to the New York Islanders. They get them again and they beat them because they learned their lessons. Um, what if that narrative doesn't play out and they just lose again? You know, what would be the most amazing fashion is that if Edmonton goes up three nothing in this

year's Stanley Cup final, then Florida comes back, but wins game seven. That would be. You couldn't even write. That would be the ultimate thing. You couldn't even write a better story. I did it though. I'm gonna need one of those towels you got.

Omar. Desperation towels they're called. Omar. Stan's dad meme from South Park. I won't go any further than that. Omar on Arbutus. Hashtag WWL what we learned Alex Palau became the first Spaniard to win the Indianapolis 500

But does anyone pay attention to this event anymore never got any of the racing boosts that f1 did well laddie You what a freaking boost you were shocked Mm-hmm shocked at the volume the sheer volume of people that turned out to this year's Indy 500. I didn't know the scope of it, but there's over a quarter of a million seats in the grandstands. It's massive.

And then 100,000 were admitted as general admission zones. So 350,000 plus. There's 350 million people in the States. So one in every 1,000 people in the United States of America attended the Indy 500. I think the Indy 500 is like an outdoor hockey game in that is it's still a big deal to attend the race.

It's not a big deal to who cares who wins and like, and, and, and it's not, it's not so much a TV thing. I remember when the Indy 500 was like just one of those things that you watched, you know, like it's on who's going to win. Now Canada had some good drivers too. Um, so there was always that element. Um, but yeah, when we were growing up, Indy was bigger than F1 in North America.

Way bigger. Way America. A bigger. Way bigger. Way bigger. And then now, uh, and then NASCAR had its run. I think NASCAR has since kind of fallen off a little bit and F1 is the thing because of in large part, the Netflix documentary. Also there's something about F1. It's just like, it's almost like watching a James Bond movie.

Yep. You know, like, like the wasn't, the wasn't the race just in, in, uh, Monaco. Yeah. And there is a Monaco, Indianapolis, similar vibes, but totally different. Road course oval. Well, it's just Monaco. It's cool. And it's okay.

Well, you know what it is. It's the, the opulence. Yeah. Like a Monaco six is an Indianapolis 10, you know, but I was thinking about it. That's true. And it's OK. Well, you know what it is. It's the the option. Yeah, like a Monaco six is an Indianapolis 10. You know, but I was thinking about it. That's true. It may be a five. I was thinking about it. I like the guy that won the Indianapolis 500 this year.

I had to look him up because I had no idea who he was. But if you were to ask me to rip off, like, give me five F1 drivers and I pay zero attention to F1. You do though. Well yeah, like Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Charles LeClair, Lewis Hamilton. I don't know, who's another one? Michael Schumacher.

Valtteri Bottas, bought us, yeah, right? Like there's a bunch of them, right? You know, and it's just, it's because of the documentary and because it's, I think it's more glamorous is the word you're looking for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Basketball Phil, what we learned, the Indy 500 curse continues for the Pacers. They are now 0 and 4 when they play on the same day as the car race. Oh, that's interesting. Uh, what we learned. Sure is. There's gotta be something to it there.

Yeah. Chaitin and Surrey, after watching Sunderland till I died during the pandemic, I've had a soft spot for their supporters and seeing them celebrate Sunderland's come from behind win to earn promotion after eight years of languishing in league one and the championship was great to see.

Yes, Sunderland is heading back to the premiership, the stadium light, a stadium of light will be bright again. Um, it's also cool that Sunderland's back in the premiership because they have the Derby with Newcastle and Newcastle is- The Tyne Weir Derby. Good again. Tyne Weir Derby, yeah.

And just to clarify, League One is the second league. And the championship- No, that's the third league. League One is the third league. Oh. League One is the third league. The championship League one is the third league, the championship, which sounds awesome. You don't want to be in the championship. I want to.

League one is the third league? Yes. Don't confuse Adog. Do you know what league two is? The fourth league? That's right. Why would they do that? Do you know what the fifth league is?

Uh, league three? No, it's the national league. What? You'll never understand. It's still from baseball. And that's how the English want it. Yeah, they don't want you to understand. That's how they keep their sense of superiority. That is so unnecessarily convoluted.

Yeah, it's fine. England. So that's the slogan. So unnecessarily convoluted. All right, the music means we got to get out of here for today, but we will be back. Where's Main Street? That's on Down Street. We will be back tomorrow. Thank you all for listening and thank you all for contributing.

But we got to go. Signing off for today, I have been Mike Alford, he has been Jason Breff, he's been Adog, and he's been Laddy. This has been the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet at 6.50.