Halford & Brough in the Morning - Brett Festerling Talks Canucks + What We Learned

Episode Date: October 2, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason talk the latest Canucks news with radio analyst and former NHLer Brett Festerling (1:07), 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.

802 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff

that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service. Four parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. Ex-NHLer Brett Festerling, now the color analyst for broadcast, Canucks broadcast right here on Sportsnet 650, is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 3.

Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, to the phone lines we go.

Brett Festerling joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Brett. How are you? Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We appreciate you taking the time. So the big news for the Vancouver Canucks yesterday, Phil DiGiuseppe, gone.

Placed on waivers with the hope of getting him through to Abbotsford. No sign that he will do that, at least not yet. We won't find out until 11 a.m. our time. So it was an interesting conversation that Rick Tockett had about this. It's tough for him because he said Phil is a quote-unquote unreal guy and he'd love to have him stick around in the organization. Tockett also astutely pointed out that a couple years ago, maybe when he first got on the job,

they wouldn't have had these kind of tough decisions to make because there wasn't the depth in the organization. Based on what you've seen from the preseason so far, how impressed are you with the depth that the Canucks have that they might not have had in previous seasons? Yeah, it's trending in the right direction, that's for sure. I think it's a harsh reality for those guys that it is a business in the end of the day right it's you put in a storybook year like phil had

last year and he was a heart and soul guy and and a fan favorite i think by just his work ethic on an daily basis so it was fun to watch and then to see him maybe just get pushed out of the lineup, not necessarily because he played bad, but just because of new additions and young guys coming up, it's a tough pill to swallow. But hopefully somebody saw that on another team. That is part of the business is there's opportunities elsewhere when you do put in that effort to get those eyeballs.

So we'll see at 11, I guess. Brett, do you think Autu Rodatu is going to make the team? I like him. I mean, I think it comes down to, I guess you've got five serviceable lines right now if you put Suter and Joshua back in. So Ratu is essentially, for me, competing for that fourth line center spot against Oman.

So where do you think he slots in? Ratu doesn't have waivers, so that helps Oman. But I think face-offs have been kind of his intangible so far. He's been so good on draws in the preseason. That does add a lot to especially a puck possession game now. So he's showed maturity. There was a lot of talk in past years game now. He showed maturity. There was a lot of talk in past years about his speed and his feet.

That seems to improve, and he's worked on that. He looks good. I wouldn't be surprised if they do keep him around to at least give him a shot, but again, that goes to who do you send down and who do you subject to possibly waivers, and is it worth Ratu getting a shot over possibly losing an Oman

or somebody like that? So I don't know. I've been impressed so far. I think he's looked very mature for his age, and I really love the Finns and Swedes in that age group because of what they've done in the minor hockey in the last, call it, eight to ten years. So we'll see. It's exciting times's exciting times again yeah you're right there's hard decisions there

that the coaches have to make it's exciting but it's a tough part of the job um do you like the idea of daniel sprung with pd and debrusk i do to start definitely i mean we always knew or it seems like everybody's already known he has this this offensive upside I think it's nice for PD to get guys with creativity I don't he's just got to play with in terms of how he sees the ice and how skilled he is and to have a guy that does have that creativity level to keep up is not easy to find, especially at that price point. So if Sprong can hold his own there, I think it's great to try. Give him the shot.

See if he can run with it. But again, it comes down to those non-negotiables that we've heard week in and week out for over a year now, a year and a half from Taka. So Sprong's definitely going to have to dig into that part of the game. From what I've seen, small sample size in preseason, he's been pretty good at that side and is committed to that side. But when the puck drops regular season here, it's a different ballgame. And the consequences go up.

So give him a shot and see how he does. What are the alternatives to Sprong with Petey and DeBresk? I mean, Hoaglander looked good. I mean, he was serviceable last year. I think maybe the playoffs left a bad taste in people's mouth. But then if you go Ratu, Hoaglander, and Garland,

that's probably been my favorite line to watch in the preseason they've had a lot of chances a lot of energy hoaglander's been you know that wrecking ball where he's still playing physical and seems to have that edge and always seems to be in that pile in front of the net or in the wall where myers is coming in and putting guys on the glass. So, I don't know. Dude, Hoaglander or somebody like that sure would look fast. You could maybe try to put him on the wall, but that's probably the kind of a Lafferty replacement

in terms of trying to get speed and open space along the walls and go to the net. So, I think Sprong's probably your best option right now. Then you got Hoaglander in the wings and then see where you go from there. But, yeah, it all comes back to more depth and more options. I think Sprong's probably your best option right now. Then you've got Hoaglander in the wings, and then see where you go from there.

But, yeah, it all comes back to more depth and more options. We're speaking to Canucks radio analyst Brett Festerling here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Brett, let's turn our attention to the blue line here. Thoughts on the play? I know it's been a limited sample size, but Vincent Desharnais, kind of an interesting character, a bit of a late bloomer. We talked to a couple of people out of Edmonton who are quite high on his potential moving forward.

What have you seen out of Desjardins that you either liked or don't like, and how do you think he will pan out this season and beyond for the Canucks? Well, he's big. I don't know if you guys saw that part. He's big. He's a big boy. And four of it, too. I mean, they've been okay like you watch calgary

games i can't even tell if he's in the calgary game now to be honest with you but i think as a whole that bodes well for day or nay is the simplicity they played with last year i think there's so much talk about guys like myers and some of the sides and not being able to be mobile or fast or whatever you want to call it. And then last year, you saw the simplicity of the D and just boxing out, getting plays going north fast, not overcomplicating paths, making play when it's there.

And they seem to speed up. The game seemed to go faster. They did a really good job of boxing out. They took care of simple jobs that allowed forwards to support or break pucks out. I think as a group and leaning on their system, it may be really

simplify their games, but it elevated the overall play of that group of six or group of seven. I think DRNA and Forber too, you can throw in that once they get more acclimated to this system as a team and simplifying it and really boxing out, I think that's where they have problems against the Calgary game.

But once they dig into that, I think those guys will be very solid back there and just fall into that culture that Canucks keep trying to build here. So I've liked the size. I think the mobility was better than i expected and i i expected to improve especially as a group just because of that system that they have implemented and then foot back there and then the whole group you had depth on the forward group which should be your support down low and just skill moving that puck out of the zone i think that whole group should get better with that it does sound like though that talking in the coaching staff wants to

get the defenseman more involved offensively and yeah i suppose the challenge for them is to not harm all the success that they had last season by simplifying the game by then asking them to do too much is there a way that you can balance that keeping the simplicity that worked last season but also asking them to do a bit more yeah i think it's just it's details, following up plays, to maybe add that second or third wave, and then having the proper support. I think that doesn't take a huge change. It's just a mentality of, okay, I need to be another wave here, so let that go up, but not kind of be slow up the ice,

make sure I'm supporting up there and finding those lanes um i don't think i want you know they're in a leading rushes i don't think that's good for anybody to be honest with you but but yeah i think they can just jump up and be a part of the play and really just add a depth to that that's not going to change too much but should at least pull back checkers off or give you that extra, call it, you know, one or two goals or opportunities per week, per four games. You're just looking for a slight edge just to get a little more offense. Make sure that forwards are worried about that.

That do over back check and make it hard on your forwards for the rush game or getting penalized by by another wave of d-men coming in so it just helps balance out the attack again it all goes to depth and just trying to build on what they did last year because you're right they did they they were so so good in their simplicity last year i don't think they want to mess that up but they can they can add just a slight level that shouldn't overcomplicate it. Brandon, in your experience, you played for a few coaches during your pro career. What is the variance in terms of coaches allowing their players to play freely versus really being micromanagers? I mean, we often talk about the difference between, say, Bruce Boudreaux and Rick Tockett. But, you know, and Bruce was known as the guy that lets his players play.

And Rick Tockett came in and, you know, kind of gave them a little more direction. And there were some more non-negotiables. How far does the range go among the typical coach? Well, I think it's like anything in life, really. You have the outliers that are on each side where there's a very structured system, 2-1-2 LA, and then there's Bruce Boudreaux's that are kind of, let's play free and chains are off,

go to you guys are the hockey players and i've played for um yeah i've played for both i've played for don hay that's super structured and i played for um i can't even pronounce the last thing gus swedish uh coach that that did was the coach for the gold medal team in 2006 oh my history's terrible for this but uh but he was completely go play he wouldn't even bring a board out and draw a plan up he's like you guys are the hockey players go go score a goal so it goes each way i think you need a fine balance like anything in life and most coaches are gonna fall somewhere in between and that's where your assistant coaches come into you can play the good cop bad cop one guy's more structured one can let you be a little more free but talk it seems great in terms of

if you have the play make it you have the skills to do it do it but there's going to be certain circumstances that we need a certain place to happen throughout the lineup so it's just predictable it doesn't matter who it is if you're in these scenarios and you don't have a play this is where it's going and that just allows guys to read faster make faster play smarter it's harder on the defense because it's not a reactionary play it's's just I know what's going here. So I think Canucks have struck a pretty nice balance there so far. It seems obvious that they want a little more puck control, a little more chance of rush. So that's going to be interesting this year

because it does take some of that simplicity and slow it down. There will be a little more more especially on blue lines, offensive blue lines, defensive blue lines. So, yeah, to answer your question, it goes from extreme sides of the spectrum, but I think somewhere in the middle is good. But giving the guys the freedom to use

their skill, like Talk It has, has been great. And then, honestly, if you're a Miller or a Peterson or a Pet pd do get more of a green light to do that like if you have that skill use it that's what you're here for speaking to connect's radio analyst brett festerling here on the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 i gotta harken back to your playing days again here so uh like the way the connects have built out this blue line pretty obvious what they're trying to do here is they're

putting an emphasis on size and reach and height and the big guys, right? You know, Zdorov walks out the door, Deharnais walks in. It's like, we got another skyscraper, right? You played alongside Chris Pronger for a few years in Anaheim on that same blue line. Pronger's obviously, like, the elite

of the elite of the big, rangy defensemen, but what was it like watching a guy like that dominate physically because especially in the playoffs like i don't think i've ever seen a guy alter a series more than i mean i remember the 06 run in edmonton with pronger i remember the one that he had in philly too where every time he was on the ice he dominated it physically because of his stature. What's it like to watch someone go out there and dominate a game like that in a physical nature? Yeah, it's hard to properly kind of break down when you're a young guy watching it

because it wasn't effortless to him. He put in so much work, but he was just a man possessed. And actually, I'll go back to this week there, if anybody heard the tom brady talking about uh baker mayfield when yeah we played it on the show yeah yeah exactly and then you saw that switch you're like whoa this is a different this is a different level that's what pronger's like pronger's in the same mentality as kind of tom brady in there where i'm not here

to make friends i'm here to push everybody to a level where we can win championships so to see that every day and that work ethic and that mentality come in every single day and then him he talked it but he walked it so he had both sides he would he would keep you accountable and really call you out to make sure you're there but he would push everybody in practice to be that and push. And then he would get to the games, which was next level. And then on top of that, he would take most of scrutiny away from everybody because you would go into arenas and the entire arena would be booing him and on him every time he touched the puck.

So it was a surreal experience. The hairs on my neck are standing up right now thinking about it because he was a man possessed. He'd go out. He didn't care who you were, whether you were a rookie or whether you were one of his teammates on an Olympic gold medal team. He was coming after you, and he was going to play you to the hardest of his ability.

So it was impressive watching him every night, and I learned a lot of just being a pro and trying to prepare to that top level every single night. Do you ever remember being called to the carpet by a guy like Pronger or maybe one of the other veterans on that team? Oh yeah. Pronger would call you out for anything, no matter who you were.

I remember him yelling at Brett Hedekin for taking up too much stall room. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you're always kind of on edge. Like, I'll take the baker's side of this. There is some fun in this, but it's like, it keeps you very regimented and makes the process very repeatable because it's just there's a certain standard

and a certain way you're going to do things. So, yeah, I do remember getting called out. But when you do it and you're going to do things so yeah i do remember getting called out but when you do it and you're in his good books then and that's the next level right that you know you kind of earned that respect and that you you've earned that right to play there alongside him are there some vets that are there some veterans that try to do that, but they just end up being bullies? Yeah, 100%. There is. There's guys that are those personalities that are big in the room that maybe don't bring it every night, or they've just been around too long and guys are tired of their act a bit, and that happens.

You need certain guys to make sure that there's a certain level reached every day and it doesn't always need to be the same guy but it's important to have those voices in the room i think so it's not just a country club because you do get a lot of teams that it just gets too loose there's not a standard in that and that slips right and then the guys that aren't having success you start getting these clicks in the room and that brings it down. So those guys kind of right the ship and make sure it stays on course. But there is guys, obviously, that talk too much that shouldn't talk

and those fall in deaf ears pretty quick. Okay, name those guys. No. Brett, thanks as always for joining us. Always enjoy chatting hockey with you and talking Canucks. Lots of big decisions to make over the next week. Yeah, exciting times.

Appreciate you guys having me on. Thanks, Brett. Brett Festl and Canucks radio analyst, former NHLer here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

I'm like a gossip. I like the gossip. Tell me about that. Name names. I just like to know the stories. I want to know what it looks like

when you get called out. It is very funny. It's one of my favorite parts of the game. You do it to us every show. It's one of my favorite parts of this job is hearing the pros. You guys familiar with the big stupid ogre coming down on you? Oh, okay. Hearing the pros talk about it behind the scenes like this is what goes on.

The things you'll never see. Like I love those little like snippets into that life that I'll just never know because i'm not in the locker room with the players right and it's funny because so much fun to hear and the reason i asked him about the you know where's the difference between bullying and leadership is that a fine line in an nhl room is it in a pro sports room is there a fine line between sure it's a fine line anywhere you know um kind of when you're when you're honestly calling someone out but you're doing it in an aggressive way is that could that be seen by some as bullying uh yeah but is it so how for the bruff pre-show prep yeah yeah i think Yeah. I think here's the thing. If you've got a certain clout and reputation, it affords you the ability to say certain things

and do certain things that other guys can't. And then you go mad with power. Right. Also, but you can also go mad with power and your game can slip. Because that's what he was talking about with pronger he's like chris pronger would call you out and it was never going to be an issue because he was always chris pronger he was elite he was the best player and the other part of it

was and that's why i was bringing up like the physical stature is like chris pronger could just bully you around physically like that's what he did. He was the biggest, strongest, meanest guy. Yeah, when he played, it wasn't like, look at his blazing speed. He played at almost like a plodding pace, but he was in control of the game when he had the puck.

His run, when he took Philly to that Stanley Cup final, who was their goalie? Was it Ante Niemey? No, who was their goalie? Michael Layton, right? Philly in 2010? They had a ton of them.

Right. I think they played three of them in the finals. Brian Boucher, the water boy. They had all of them, right? And Pronger, I remember in the Stanley Cup final, I remember everyone was like, I don't know how you solve a problem like Dustin Bufflin because he would stand in front of the net.

And remember, he eviscerated the Canucks that year, and he was a problem. He was a nightmare. And Pronger, when I was like, this is not a problem for me. I can move this guy. I can do this. Chop, chop. nightmare. And Pronger went out and was like, this is not a problem for me. I can move this guy. I can do this. Chop, chop. Yeah.

And I remember watching it. I'm like, oh, okay. And there is something very primal, but also it's like it's understood the law of the jungle. The strongest person has a certain clout and a certain reputation. And going into that final was, well, how are you going to deal with Bufflin? And there was a stronger, stronger guy, and he would just be able to deal with it. And I remember Bufflin got shut down a little bit in that Stanley Cup final.

And that is what you're talking about with, you know, you have that sort of alpha dog status. You are afforded certain things. Like, you're the leader. You can say things. You can call guys to the carpet. And they call it leadership. They call it being a captain.

When you don't have the play on the ice to back it up and the game has maybe passed you by a bit, that's what you're talking about, the bullying. It's like you're living on past laurels. You're acting like the leader and acting like the alpha dog, but you're not really that guy on the ice anymore. Andrew in Victoria texts in, Hey, Bruff, these are grown men. You can't bully a grown man.

You'll just catch a punch in the head. Oh, yeah? Was someone going to punch Chris Pronger? Was Brett Festerling going to punch Chris Pronger? Punch Andrew in Victoria. Not wise. Not wise to punch Chris Pronger. I mean, there's bullying in pro sports.

I don't know how to put it to you. And a lot of the times times it's just the way it is in the room and we talked to Ray Ferraro yesterday and he was talking about the first time and he was in a room and he was like terrified you can bully a grown up trust me you can bully a grown up

also Andrew's on a heater this morning he's pissed off about all kinds of stuff he's trying to bully us. Yeah. So he said he's talking about the quote-unquote strange Phil DiGiuseppe tire pumping in this market. And then I guess you tried to say that don't be surprised if he – Andy wrote back to me. He's like, don't be surprised if he gets claimed on waivers.

Yeah, it's possible. And then Andrew and Victoria wrote, nothing has changed from the last five times PDG was waiver available. You mean like the time he got claimed by Nashville? Because he's been claimed on waivers before. Andrew? Yeah. In wherever you're from? There are teams that will be looking for a veteran player like Phil Giuseppe

where you're never going to question the guy's effort. But if you're going to stand up there on your little soapbox, I assume you're short. Would it be a little soapbox, I assume you're short, and... Would it be a big soapbox? And you're going to throw a guy's history in our face as some sort of gotcha dunking fact.

He's been claimed off waivers before. So a team has shown interest in PDG on waivers. Don't make the case for us. And we're not saying he's going to get claimed, but there is the possibility out there for sure that he could get claimed.

Anyway, whatever. Thank you for listening, Andrew and Victoria. Soccer Talk coming up next. You're listening to the Halpern Improv 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 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Now for my favorite part of the show. What'd I say? Talk to the audience. Oh god, this is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show.

8.32 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program.

It is what we learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. Can I start? Yeah, you can go ahead. Okay. I learned that I want to know what Laddie, the Blue Jays superfan,

thinks about what's going on today in Toronto. End of season press conferences for the Jays. President and CEO Mark Shapiro, via Shai Davidi, says, there will not be a change with GM Ross Atkins. Shapiro says that if I felt there was a better alternative, he'd make the change. Well, that's good to know. There's a vote of confidence.

And there's nobody better available. He was asked about payroll for next year, and Shapiro says that's being worked on, but he doesn't see it growing or decreasing in a significant way. So Shapiro's not going to fire Atkins. Atkins isn't going to fire Schneider, right? Is that for sure? I think so.

Atkins' budget hasn't increased. Would the hitting coach pay the prices? He was the problem. He was the big problem. So that's it. What was the point of this press conference? What was the point of this season? What was the point of it?

To make me angry? Oh, okay. That's good, then. That's good. Net positive, right? Congratulations. They weren't even bad enough to make anyone really angry. Yes, they were.

No. Yes, they were. With the expectation that they had. Not really. Nope. There was more disengagement and apathy than there was anger. People were picking them to win the division. They finished last in the division.

Yep, but they weren't bad enough. That's pretty bad. They weren't bad enough to blow it up. That's the worst part. If it was truly putrid, Chicago White Sox, maybe not that putrid, but truly putrid, at least they would have had to come in and say it's

unacceptable to run it back. Can't run it back. There's no way. It was too bad. It was too ugly. But it wasn't ugly enough. The White Sox are running it back,'s no way it was too bad it was too ugly but it wasn't ugly enough the white socks are running it back by the way yeah but that's different and he honestly like i think that's a huge mistake there's room for improvement you can like i think that's a mistake we've talked about the rot that sets in in organizations i know baseball is a little bit different but i don't think that you can have that much stink and not have it just hang around like Seinfeld's car.

It's tough to get rid of. So what do you think? Predictions for this offseason, Ladi, and don't waffle any of these. Will they re-sign Vladi to a long-term contract? I have doubts about this regime, but I think they want

to. It's in the plan. You're waffling. It's not waff, but I think they want to. It's in the plan. You're waffling. Yes or no? It's not waffling. I think they will. I don't have confidence that this regime is able to get it done. I don't know what you would call that, but I think they want to do it. I think they're going to try to do it. But will it get across the finish line? I can't say.

Why wouldn't it get across the finish line? They're going to shortchange him. They're going to jerk him around. They're going to trade Bo and they're going to give Vladdy all the money. That's what I think. But also if they trade Bo, that's one of Vladdy's best friends on the team. There's a lot of things that could go wrong with this negotiation. The fact that they haven't signed it yet

tells me that it's not going to be a walk in the park, slam dunk, easy conversation. But would you bet on it? If you had to bet on it okay i will say they will bet on sign vladdy and beau is gone i left the odds at 60 40 that he is gone right okay so i i still see a scenario where he could return but i think it's not like that like i know he's best friend they're they're good buddies and everything like remember when they traded tay oscar and lourdes guriel they just i mean those guys were like very popular in the room

and gave the team like a sense of identity, and they went ahead and did it anyway. Actually, in hindsight, it kind of seems like a mistake now, but I don't think that anything will stop these guys, these madmen, from doing whatever they want. Well, yeah, I think if you add up all the outfielders that they brought in, none of them accumulate the war that Teoscar had with the Dodgers.

So keeping Teoscar would have been a much better... And they traded them both because they wanted to be a more serious ball club, right? They wanted to stop being the fun... That was the media spin. I don't know if that's exactly why. That's what it felt like to me. I love media spin. They wanted players to put the ball in play a little more. Hey, they got Ernie Clement. He never strikes out or walks.

There's a few positives you can take from this season, but it's... A lot of it was bad. Very, very bad. Mukau. So this is my favorite time of the year because all the sports are getting going, and some of them are like baseball in primetime, right? Playoffs and everything.

The downside of this is that with Major League Baseball playoffs, start of the hockey season, NFL season, obviously, everything else is going on sometimes things fall by the wayside uh-huh like the nba training camps have opened up in the nba everyone's getting excited i thought we missed the season opener the entire season started it's over actually they handed out the championship um so and the other thing that when you kind of when you stop paying attention to something and then you're kind of jerked back into reality you're like oh i gotta start paying attention you realize that things

have changed dramatically so the golden state warriors uh like a a signature franchise for the last decade great runs multiple championships you and i watched a lot of their titles you big fan of steph curry yeah right well he's, right? He's the only thing. Okay. Steve Kerr announced yesterday that they only have one starting position locked up. They have five starters in basketball. I don't know if you know this or not. And there's only one position that's locked up. Okay.

So, Clay is where? Dallas Mavericks. Okay. He is gone. All right. Draymond's still there. Very likely not to be in the starting lineup. He's still there, though? Oh, yeah.

He's there. Is that a distraction? No. No? Okay. He's just there. Okay. Obviously, not a hardcore NBA fan.

Is Wiggins still there? Correct. Okay. He's not an automatic starter? Nope. Because he was really bad last year. Ah. Yeah.

Steve Kerr wants him to hit more threes. Okay. The problem is he's not a good year. Ah, yeah. Steve Kerr wants him to hit more threes. Okay. The problem is he's not a good shooter. Right. That's a problem. And Wiggins is like, I'm not trying to miss him, coach. Yeah. So there's a bunch of guys now.

Some you may kind of remember, like Kevon Looney. Some you definitely won't. I forgot that D'Anthony Melton and Buddy Heald were there. It is not your father's name and your grandfather's golden state warriors anymore decidedly different very weird going in i mean it's very weird that the splash brothers aren't together it's very weird that you know the team that i knew that you kind of knew the warriors you knew what you were getting you knew how they were going to play you're going to be about now it's well it's not because steph curry's still there but it is over that era is over i know

and it's sad it makes me sad So that's what I learned going in. Did you think it was going to stay together forever? Forever. I don't want anything to change. Oh, okay. Luke, help me. Dogs, you guys have nothing, right? You're bringing nothing to the table? I was going to do the concession one, but you said a listener brought that up already?

I don't know. It's in the What We Learned, but you know what? You've already walked it through the front door. Let's finish the job here. Tell me about, this is Utah. Did you guys see these concession prices that Utah posted? I did not, Greg. They're called fan-friendly concessions. Bottles of water, $2. Wow.

Boxes of popcorn, $3. $3? One of those lame little boxes. I don't know. They didn't show any pictures, but nachos with the ooey gooey American cheese, $3. Hot dogs, $3. Not quite the loony dogs that the Blue Jays were offering, but still pretty good.

And ice cream, $3. Where else are you going to get prices like that around the NHL? Did someone text in and say that they were going to have something on the menu that represented the visiting team? Oh, that's interesting. Like sushi in the Canucks show? Yeah. Sure.

I thought that's what I... A sandwich with fries when the penguins come through? That's not on the graphic that I have here. Okay. All right. I don't hate that. Can you imagine them trying to do that at BC Place? No.

The sharks come through, just dog poop. No, they're just like... they can barely get hot dogs right. Yeah, no. I have had. The food at BC Place is pretty deplorable. Some of the worst hot dogs of my life at BC Place. And I've eaten a lot of hot dogs in my life. It's like the Quickie Mart hot dog.

There's only one fool that would eat this. But I eat. Sometimes they give you the hot dog and it looks like, it kind of looks like someone that doesn't get any exercise. Can I return this? This hot dog hasn't lived. Why is it gray? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's gray. That's the thing, right? There's a grayness to it, right? They just hand you the hot dog on its own. Not wearing gloves. Like, here's your hot dog. its own. No, it's just... Not wearing gloves. Like, here's your hot dog. And I've looked at it before, and I'm like, why do I keep doing this? I don't know.

Can I get one of the less gray ones? The food at BC Place is really not good. The mac and cheese... Who's ordering mac and cheese at BC Place? I've seen it. I've seen the same look on everyone's face about halfway through. This was a mistake i have regrets it begins with lining up for the mac and cheese and paying 17 for it it's not good not good um so on the subject of the delta center though there is a video making the rounds on reddit i guess ut Hockey Club has its own Reddit now.

Someone was sold. You know how Reddit works? What? Alfred. They have their own Reddit now. They might be doing a special thing on Reddit. They're going to be on Reddit? Apparently.

Wow. Who, Alfred and Bruff? Yeah, we're working on it. An AMA? Do you know what that is? Ask me anything. I know. I'm impressed.

I didn't know that Utah Hockey Club I'm impressed. I didn't know that Utah Hockey Club's so new. I didn't know that they had their own Reddit. People make their own. Yeah, I know, but I didn't know they had one. There's one for every topic you can think of. If it exists, there's a Reddit page. There is a Reddit page for BC Place. Yeah.

Anyway, this newfangled Reddit that they've got. Someone put a video that they were sold a partial ice view ticket at a discount so like granted you're not paying full price but this one you couldn't see one of the nets so you were in the end with one of the goals but the angle just didn't work. Do you guys know how funny this is that the Coyotes ended up in a place that's exactly like the arena they started in in Phoenix?

Yeah, so people might not remember, you know. So you might have to tell the story. Well, it was called America West at the time. Yeah. And it was a state-of-the-art arena at the time for basketball. For the Phoenix Suns basketball. For the Phoenix Suns. For the Phoenix Suns.

For the Phoenix Suns. This was like back in the Kevin Johnson, I think Steve Nack. And it was, so for the Coyotes, it was Kachuk and Roenick. And like they had, there was a year or two where they were a really good team and they made the playoffs and the atmosphere inside there was amazing.

And people would sit in these seats where they're like, I can only see one goal, right? And you're like, but it's fun. And then obviously that was not sustainable. So they wanted to get something done in Scottsdale, but they could never get the deal done. And then Glendale, the suburb, 45 minute drive away from the arena downtown said,

we'll build you something. And they went into the pro sports business. You know, that's where the Cardinal stadium is. That's where I think the Diamondback spring training facility, or there's a bunch of spring training stuff out there in Glendale. And so they moved to Glendale and we all know how it went there. Not very well. And then they spent their entire time trying, and we all know how it went there. Not very well.

And then they spent their entire time trying to get back into the Scottsdale area and tried to build the new arena, ended up playing in a college rink, and then they moved to Utah, and they're playing in exactly the same arena set up as they did in Phoenix. It is hilarious. I mean, I do think, I hope that they're going to get something done in Utah, but this is not sustainable. This is not, you can't run an NHL team with like 11,000 seats

where you can actually watch all of the play. Ryan Smith, the owner, did say that they're going to address that. I don't know what they're going to do. Maybe they'll have to sell it. Tear that wall down. Yeah, they're going to have to sell the play. Ryan Smith, the owner, did say that they're going to address that. I don't know what they're going to do. Maybe they'll have to tear that wall down. They're going to have to sell the ticket. Yeah. Well, you know, Chef Swagger from Hell's Kitchen texting, isn't the Utah arena a temporary home?

Yeah, that's the hope, at least. That's the hope that they're going to build a new arena, maybe for the Olympics. The NHL has more faith in Ryan Smith and the Utah ownership group than any of the ownership groups that they had in Arizona. Mook out of that. Alright, let's fire up the Stout Matrix.

I do feel old. Oh my god! We're having a fire! Oh my god, I feel old. Having to tell that story of the Phoenix Coyotes. There are a lot of people listening that don't remember those?

What year was it? 97? I was too young. I was six years old. I don't remember any of that stuff. Okay, I'm going to read one here from Jay. Moving on? Yeah.

So you don't remember the original Winnipeg Jets? No. I have hockey cards from them growing up, but I don't remember watching a Jets game back in the 90s. You're killing Brad. I do. That was one of my first memories of Canucks hockey was watching them play the Jets.

Yeah, A-Dog would bow to the queen every time. That's right. The picture of the queen. He would actually curtsy, which is not right. Yeah, I was told that's what you're supposed to do. Jeff from Mission with What We Learned. Hashtag WWO What We Learned. I'm jumping on the Detroit Lions bandwagon because like a little kid,

I pick my teams based on what their uniforms look like, and I really like Detroit's new helmets. That's from Jeff in Mission. Also, Jeff, his alter ego is Jeff who's handy with the steel, which I think is a Regulators Warren G reference. I did hear during the game at home. Ooh, I like their outfits.

They're nice. They're nice. They're nice outfits. Like they're not, they're not outfits. It's fine. They're not costumes. It's fine.

They're uniforms. So the, and yes, they do look cool. The lions went black pants, black jerseys, and the new blue helmet. Yeah.

It looked good. It looked pretty sick. It looked good. I'm not going to lie. And the Seahawks. I started cheering for them. Yeah, I think these guys are good. Jared's catching touchdowns.

Jared, you look so good in that outfit. The Seahawks, I was actually upset because I felt. He's going to throw it to Jared. The Seahawks throwbacks are elite, elite tier. The blue, green, silver, old Seahawk logo. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? Yeah, yeah. They wore them for the opener.

Yep. They should wear those all the time. They're awesome. And that would have been a great Monday Night Football clash. Right. But anyway, so you're not alone. Jeff, for mission, a lot of people like those lions that look, Dan Campbell really liked it

too. Curtis and White Rock, what we learned. So I just finished binge watching the Mr. McMahon documentary on Netflix. And as somebody who grew up watching the WWE at its peak popularity in the late nineties, early 2000, I cannot believe the corporation is still worth at least 10 billion dollars today.

I don't know a single person who still watches wrestling as its appeal and lack of star power today left me wondering how it's still worth that amount of money. Question for anyone in this room that may know who is the star of

wrestling right now? Do you don't you don't get it alfred's immediate responses to google is it john cena i don't know the undertaker still wrestling nate danielson mankind gold dust those are old ones i remember when they brought out gold Dust and they really hyped up Gold Dust. And I'm like, that guy? That's the guy going? There's not a lot of muscle definition in there. Ray Mysterio Jr.

Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns. Cody Rhodes. I've heard of Cody Rhodes. Is that the guy Boudreaux likes? Is he the local guy? Seth Rollins. Right.

Didn't we have a chance to have Cody Rhodes on the show? Not to be confused with Henry Rollins? So Adog texts the group chat and says, do we want Cody Rhodes on the show? Halford immediately, no. I instantly knew. I knew what you were going to say before. And I kind of thought,

I was like, maybe we should do this. Is that because they're having that thing at Rogers Arena? Yeah, November. What's it called? Survivor Series. Survivor Series, right. Survivor Series.

It's the biggest WWE event to come to Vancouver. Yeah, since the 90s. And the ticket prices are through the roof, right? Yeah, they are very expensive. Do we make a bad call saying no to Cody Rhodes? I mean... Or does Cody Rhodes say no? Sometimes you guys say no to my suggestions,

and Lanny and I look at each other dumbfounded. CM Punk. He's popular. He didn't die. I mean, you would have said yes to him, I think. Yeah, maybe. If you would have said no to CM Punk, even I would have been like, what? I don't know.

It doesn't resonate with us. It's like F1. Yeah. I know it's popular. I know a lot of people like it. I just want to constantly ask, do people still believe it's real? No one believes it's real. Yeah, in the South, they do.

No, no, no, no. Southern New Zealand. No, that's wrong. I know. I will say this. Wrestling and its fan base in this very weird way have become sophisticated to the part where people appreciate what they know that it's an act, but they appreciate like the,

the, the storyline, the narrative arc and the way the spectacle, it's a spectacle. And they've gone past like, Oh, like I'm a real American. I want to cheer for Hulk Hogan.

Like they understand. But if we, if we interviewed a wrestler, yeah, they do a good job of blurring the lines of it. But do you think a wrestler would come on as their character? that's what i'm saying yeah those lines have been blurred you should get a wrestler on someone like cody rhodes for example those lines have been blurred really effectively now see when we were back in the day isn't that the whole hook of the documentary you're kind of

like well is vince mcmahon back in the character or is he a real person or is he a bit of both but that's why i liked it back in the days. Back in the day, there were clear divisions between what was in the ring and then what real life was. Like, I remember when Hacksaw Jim Duggan got arrested for doing cocaine with the Iron Sheik. And I was like, they can't do that. They're mortal enemies. Right? But they...

And then I remember when that happened. Yeah. It was a big deal because they... It's called kayfabe okay which is the the act in the ring you're never supposed to reveal that it's an act okay and then that's sort of dissipated and now it's kind of like well what is real and what's not social media's ruined wrestling kind of it's added intrigue to it in a very odd way but yeah you never know when they're in character and when they're not i don't even know they're in character and when they're not. I didn't even know they were in Sheik and Hacksaw hung out like that.

I mean, that blew my mind. It blew their minds too. Rager Texan, you guys are dumb. Yeah, obviously. Cody Rhodes outsells people like Messi, Ronaldo, LeBron, and all the biggest names in sports across the planet. He doesn't. And you passed on his PR.

It doesn't. Even if he did. What? Yeah. I don't did. What? Yeah. I don't know. What kind of... I think you're grossly overestimating. If you're...

I'm pretty sure Messi's pulling a bigger audience than Cody Rhodes. I'm just going to throw that out there. Yes. Yeah. Not discounting the fact

that he's probably very popular and sells a lot of merch. I bet there's lots of areas in the world. And I'm sure he's up there with a lot of the top pro athletes in North America, but comparing him to Messi... What kind of merch... I bet there's lots of areas in the world. I'm sure he's up there with a lot of the top, you know, pro athletes in North America,

but comparing him to like Messi, I don't know about that. What kind of merch do they sell? T-shirts, dolls and shirts. He has 2.1 million followers on Instagram,

Cody Rhodes. Yeah. Ronaldo, 640 million followers. Comparable numbers. Yeah, comparable numbers. Okay.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, we shouldn't take factual advice from a dude named Rager. Maybe. 2.1 million is pretty good for a following, but 640. I've actually never been to wrestling. I've never been to like a WWE event.

I'd like to go. I would like to go. Someone just texted in. You guys seem to know a lot about it for not paying attention. I try because I used to be obsessively into wrestling. Yeah. As a child. No, even,

I don't know, like even as a teen and young adult. Yeah, no, same. There was a two or three year period there where that's all anybody watched.

I remember my friends getting really into like wrestling at an early 20s, I guess. So it was The Rock and Stone Cold. Yeah, that was the era.

That was the era. And it was The Rock and Stone Cold. That was the era. And I was continually frustrated with them. They would talk about it and I'd be like, what's going on here, guys? Anyway, I'm going to their

50th birthday party this weekend. It's The Rock themed. Do they still watch? Hopefully it doesn't come up. Do they still watch? I don't know. You should bring it up.

You should walk in and give them the John Cena hand. Yeah. I get stuff. Say hello with a rock bottom. Yeah. Alright. The music means we gotta get out of here for today. But don't worry. We will be back tomorrow. Signing off for now. I have been Mike Alford.

He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog and he's been Laddie. This has been the Alford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.