Halford & Brough in the Morning - But How Does This Affect The Leafs?

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest stories in baseball with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:41), plus they preview the Round One playoff matchups and discuss some big hockey news coming out of Toronto with ESPN NHL's Arda Öcal (26:31). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

It's time to chat with Adenan. It's Adnan Furkees on the show. We're going to talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right. It's time for Adenan. Yes, Adnan Furke. He joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films. seen.

703 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're open seven days a week and open late to help you get debt-free. No judgment, no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands. That's trustee.com.

We are now in hour two of the program. As the music suggests, Adnan Burke is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. Dom Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason down mortgage. We're coming to you live from Kintech Studio. Step Strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech guests on Sportsnet 650. Call in on the ABLE Auctions hotline. Email sales at abelle auctions.ca to get your business assets sold and

your building cleared. Let's go now to the Able Auctions hotline. Our next guest from ML. B. Network. Adnan, Verk, a presentation of Angry Otter. Liquor. joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. We're at Ann. How are you? It's always Angry Otter. I love it. Love the sponsor today. Excited to talk some baseball. I have to mention as well, I don't forget

to get into hockey, but how about my flyers? Monday night, it's me and biz nasty. We're doing the stars and leaves, and I'm pretending to pay attention to the game since my job. And of course, I'm watching Flyers, Hurricanes in the shootout. What a win. What a shot by Tyson Forrester. Dambled are's been unbelievable. Prod's my buddy, Rick Tock.

not wait for Flyers penguins. Can you believe that somehow in this season where neither were expected to get to the playoffs, both Pittsburgh and Philly are doing it. And what's more, as you mentioned, they get to play each other in the first round of the playoffs. Mike, when you go to a website,

right, on your phone, eventually says you frequently visit this website. I've been on puckdadi.com obsessively because as a February 2nd, the Flyers had a 3.8% chance of making the playoffs. And I went to a game of my buddy, Zach Costello, and I said,

I don't even know why I'm paying attention. We're nine points out. There's six teams ahead of us, but it's amazing what has happened this year. The event teams that completely fell apart. The Islanders and the Blue Jackets, notably Rick Bonas, losing his mind. And Philadelphia just tightening things up. I mean, six losses in the last 24 games. And what a job.

Porter Martona is showing up 19 years of age. You had nine shots on his second game. Forster being out 50-plus games. We know Ziegers had a career high in terms of goals this season. Connect. He's a terrific player. Sandheim steps up on defense. It really is a great story, man.

98 points. except for Pittsburgh. Nobody expected them to playoff team. Are you kidding? I heard some people saying top five worst team in hockey instead of bringing a battle of Pennsylvania. So it's going to be a blast. Okay. Let's turn our attention now to the baseball and it's been a rocky start to the season for the Jays. They're going to wrap up their series in Milwaukee this morning actually. But it's been a tough go. The injuries have played a big part. But I guess they have some hope on the horizon. Tray Savage making all those starts down in the minors. And it looks as though he's ready, they're getting close to return to the lineup.

How big is it going to be for this slumping Jay's team to get you Savage back in the mix? Oh, it's massive. You know, I was, as I said, I was in Toronto on Monday. I was talking to Steve Simmons, of course, the Toronto Sun. And he's telling me the season's over. And I said, what are you talking about, man? It's middle of April. Like, there's 150 games still to go.

And he's like, now they're losing five stars and lost three players. It's a near ridiculous, Steve. I said, all you have to do is just treadwater, okay? Just tread water until Victoria Day. If you're around 500, you're going to be fine. I said, you know, 90 wins with your playoffs. That's what they did last year. I said last year they're around 500.

Addison Barton got called up around Victoria Day, and obviously the Jays took off. I said, you're missing all these stories. Not all they were going to be gone. Okay, Cody Ponce is gone. Fine, I get it. Sure, she's not sure you're going to get. But as you mentioned, Mike, the savages right around the corner. Perio should be right behind him.

And after that, you will see. Kirk will be back around mid-May. Springer, I'm not sure. That's probably more like late May. And eventually, hopefully, the other guys can step up. Rather than focus on what you don't have, focus on what you do have. And a couple of good stories. Andres Jimenez, a few years ago,

looked like he was going to be not only a silver slugger, but a gold glove player for years to come. That's why Cleveland gave him a big contract. But all of a sudden, his offense disappeared. The Jay's trade force, smartly thinking this is insurance in case Popesette leaves, which is exactly what happened. And now Jimenez is hitting. I'm like, this guy is slugging the ball this year.

So I'm like, if Amenez gets back to being a hitter again, then this contract looks fabulous. And Dolm Barsh is going to hit your home runs. And Vladio, cool. you know, we'll, I think, heat up after a slow stir for him. So, yeah, I think for the Blue Jays, you lose 2-1 yesterday, again, a lack of offense, which is unfortunate. How about Dylan C's though?

Guys been unbelievable, right? Add to advertise. A ton of strikeouts. Six innings yesterday he pissed and not give up a run. So, yeah, I think if the Jays can just kind of hang around right now, which they should be able to do. I mean, the Yankees' offense has been up and down. Their pitching was great the first nine games.

It's been terrible since then. They walked it off yesterday. Boston has rough nose because his buddy's a big Red Sox fan. They got up to a terrible threat. they've been better recently. So no one's pulling away right now in the American League East. The Blue Jee's will be okay. So Garrett Cole is going to make his first rehab start on Friday in AA.

Sidelines since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2025. What should expectations be for Garrett Cole, who is 35 years old? It's a great question, brough. You know, when a guy is coming off at Tommy John, the adage is always, it takes him at least a year to get back. So think about that. At 35 years of age, he's going to be pitching in late May, early June.

theoretically, I wouldn't call it a wash year, but you're not going to get vintage Garrett Cole, at least on paper. If you look at other guys coming back in Tommy John, they don't come back to being the guy that they were until a year later. So that means that 36, you'll get more Garrett Cole next year. The Yankees can afford that. They're always in win now mode.

Everyone is aware of that. So I think what they have to hope is that Gary Cole can still be reasonable fact similarly what he's been in the past. and maybe instead of a three and a quarter ERA, it's a 3.70 ERA. Maybe rather than seven strong Indians, it's five very good Indians. So I think they'll be careful as far as they're using him, but remember watching the spring training, he looked fine, face the Red Sox in that one start,

and they're going to need him. There's no doubt about it. As they mentioned, the first nine games, the Yankees looked like they were pitching in the dead ball era. That's how good and dominant they were. ERA now north of five over the last 10 games for both the starters and the bullpen. So at his best, he's an elite pitcher, one of the game's best.

I don't think he will be that this year, but I still think he can be very good and one of the best pitchers in the game eventually. Do you believe in the Pittsburgh Pirates? It's a great story, Jay. Every year you say, hey, this has to be one upset, right? That has to be one good story that we're not expecting. Not everything can go on paper.

It can't just be Dodgers and Phillies and Cubs. And so maybe Pittsburgh is that team. I don't want to overthink it, but I think it's a really good story because with regards to their starting pitching, we knew that they had greatness, not only in Paul Skeens, but really good pitchers,

in Ashcraft and Chandler and Keller and eventually Jared Jones will come back. But offensively, I did pay notice to what they did. They're heavily criticized and I understand for what reason because they haven't really signed a lot of guys. But Brain and Loud being acquired, he's been hitting the ball really good. Struggles against lefties, but he has been hitting the ball well. OZuna finally got a big hit yesterday. He has been slumping.

They also got Ryan O'Hern. So they were lasting home runs a season ago. And they were well aware of the fact they had to improve their slugging percentage when I got three guys who combined can't hit you 80 home runs. and oh, by the way, there's Connor Griffin, number one prospect of all of baseball. And that might be the best news of this baseball season. If you said, what's the best news you've heard of?

You know what? The Pirates are the number one guy in baseball, and he's going to be there. Nine years, $140 million. He's not going anywhere. Like, they've got their face of the franchise. They've got their Andrew McCutcheon for the next full stretch, regardless of the schemes leaves four years from now.

So I'm leaving right now. As I said to you guys before, Pittsburgh, because of their pitching in defense, if they can just score four runs a game, they should be around 500. And if you're 500, well, the Reds made the playoffs last year, 83 wins. So a couple of wins here and there, bam, Pittsburgh's back in the playoffs.

So I know we've talked about the Red Sox and how frustrated their fan bases with the team and ownership. But does anyone hate their team more than New York Mets fans? Like, Mets fans must be just like, what is going on? How much money do we have to spend to even be fine? Jay, they've scored two runs in their last 37 innings. That is anemic. And I know Juan Soto's not there.

I get it. He's a transcendent generational player, but you often should not completely go to you know what without one guy. I mean, you still have Francisco Lindor. You still have Marcus Simeon. You still have Bob Bichette, who's making $42 million a year. Like none of these guys are living up to expectations so far. And it's funny, when people would ask me, are the bets of better team this year?

I said, I don't know. they're an interesting team. But I don't think they're a better team. I'm like, they kind of took the guts out of this team in terms of Alonzo and Nimmo and McNeil and Diaz. Four longest-tenured guys. All right, see ya. Lendor is the unquestionable captain of the team.

Soto is their best player. But then you're kind of mixing a match. And Freddie Peralto is a legit ace. He's great. But the bullpen wise, you're going to feel that void of Diaz. And offensively, you've got guys playing all out of position. Bobichette in third.

Simian can play defense. He's not pretty good offensively anymore. Polanco is now playing a new position in first base. So my whole whole. thought and people said, the match's good or not. I don't know if they're good, but they're interesting. Like, it's definitely unique.

And so far, the early returns are, no, they're terrible. I mean, eight game losing streak, their longest in 20 years, obviously a bad match if they're against the Dodgers. But it's getting ugly right now.

You're right. I spent $340 million, and we didn't make the playoffs. That was more to have to spend. You're right. And then, did you read about our mayor here in Vancouver, wanting a major league baseball team?

Yeah, I saw a headline. It isn't actually reading the story. Is there actually some juice to this or is this like if I just said, hey, I'd like to, you know. I think there's a group. We had them on the show yesterday.

We had them on the show yesterday. We asked. I think there is a group that's trying to put together a bid. I don't know. I don't know if they're going to be able to do it, if they're up to it. What do you know about, or what do you think about expansion in Major League Baseball?

Who are the top candidates to land a team? it's going to happen I don't know when I'd see within the next five years or so we obviously have the A's going to Vegas in a couple of years everyone in their mother itself and that Nashville is going to get a team at some point I've been to Nashville a couple of times I like it

it's got a good vibe obviously great there for Pred's games downtown but it's not like a huge TV market like that's always my answer against Nashville I'm like I like have you looked at the size of Nashville or Tennessee or TV Reese like it's not like to be such a no-brainer but I get it Nashville is definitely a thriving area and people who seem to be going there and flocking there

and enjoying it. You see, you know, like I said, the predator's success. So Nashville's when I always hear, but after that, I think it's open for business. And the reason why I think Vancouver is fascinating is that I have heard Portland in the mix before. So you said, right, literally that area where you guys are, it feels a little bit underserved. And we've seen with the Mariners, especially this past season, just how passionate they were. So for years, you had two basketball teams, and clearly that was able to work. I think Seattle will get an NBA team at some point in the next, maybe five or six years.

That seems like it will happen at some point. Adam Silver knows the passion. of frustration ever since the Sonics left. So I think if Vancouver can kind of elbow up Portland, maybe they can be that second team. I would not be shocked. It was in Nashville, Vancouver. And by the way, Rob Vanford was on the record

with MOUE Network last year saying, yes, I love baseball in Canada. I would love to have more baseball in Canada. And I think he was answering a question about Montreal specifically, but why not Vancouver? I don't think it's another rebel possibility. What about Utah? Because they've got big aspirations there.

What's that phrase they've coined, Big League Utah, the coalition that where they're trying to, to get a bunch of things into Salt Lake City. Mike, Utah reminds you Saudi Arabia. That's the first and last him we'll make that come. Here's why. What? Love this. Go. No, no.

Just as just as how the Saudis, apparently are flush with the oil money and just want to spend it everywhere, right? For years, you couldn't go to the movies in Saudi Arabia, but now we've got cinemas, we've got sports, like, they're just throwing money around. I like that feeling with Utah. Ryan Smith, the owner, like, I'll spend whatever it takes.

Do you realize, I was watching the mammoth game? They have a Zamboni, but it's not even a They call it the Zammoth, $500,000 vehicle, which looks like a Zamboy, but doesn't actually clean the ice. You can ride eight people. It's just a ride around the ice. This guy, Schmitty will throw money anything just to make sure fans are there, especially the Utah Jazz, third straight season of missing the playoffs. So I feel like Utah is willing to spend money and bring people here. Because, again, no one's thinking is travel epic destinations.

Oh, Saudi Arabia and Utah. We're going to make people think that way because we'll spend the money. Again, if you look at Utah's demographics, it's got a sizable population. There's enough people there that could support a team, not all the realm of possibility. Okay, before I let you go, I just wanted to nerd out on Yoshinu Yamamoto, who has been unbelievable this year. So I was watching the Mets Dodgers series. The game on Tuesday night, Lindor, you were mentioning one of the few bats that's going for the Mets.

He starts the game strong lead off home run. I'm like, oh, interesting. They might get to Yamamoto. 20 consecutive outs by Yamamoto after that. He goes all the way into the 8th. The Dodgers are 14 and 4. They look like an absolute powerhouse, as many expected, although the regular seasons haven't been great the last couple of years.

But Yamamoto right now, I don't think there's another pitcher in baseball like him. Agree or disagree? I agree. Nobody else has that combination of both repertoire, makeup, durability, and then the bounce back ability. Like, all schemes is unbelievable.

Like, he's going to need four days off. I can't just throw 97 expect to come back. Yamamoto, by virtue of what he did last postseason, you're like, no, no, this guy could pitch three days in a row. Like, if we really needed him to, he's like, he's like a high school pitcher, a college pitcher. I'll give you six innings, take a day off, give you those six innings, take a day off. It's a rubber arm, which is normally a term used for relievers.

Normally you say, oh, Jesse Rosso, yeah, rubber arm, this guy pitched in a thousand games. But that's Yamamoto is a starter. So, like, to have that kind of durability and flexibility, and yet still spin the baseball when he does and still throw as hard as he does. Like, he sound like he's Tom Glad but working the outside court. He'll 3-96. Like, no problem. This guy's a joy to watch.

And it went from being maybe a little under the radar, which might be an odd term to use for a guy who has a $325 million contract. But he's not the first guy you think of when I tell you best pitchers in baseball. But he should be in that conversation. At the very least, it's got to be Scoobol, Schemez Jimamoto. He's been electric. And by the way, the Dodgers right now are 14 of 4. This is the fourth best threat they've had with the Dodgers.

It's moving to L.A. The three previous times, one time they've been. They won the World Series, one time they won the pennant, and one time they lost in the LCS. So it feels like an LAC foreign nation nice and early. Adnan, thanks for this today, bud. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week, the weekend,

the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. We'll do this again next week. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Jay. Flyers and 7. Hurry here first. Adnan, Berg from MLB Network. A lot of predictions there from Adnan.

And a really interesting comparison as well. Adnan was a presentation of Angry Otter Licker. win your way to the World Cup this July with Angry Otter Licker. How? Pick up any participating Smyranoff products and enter for your chance to score tickets. Visit Angry Otterlicker.cr.S for more. I'm on a, I'm on a webcam page. Okay.

Of the, uh, pardon? The new stadium construction in Vegas. Yeah. Have you going in the first half? It's an only fan for stadiums. I got a lie. Yeah, it is. OF.

Yeah. What is it? You can see, it's just... It's a big hole. No, no, no. They got some construction going. Because I was like, I was kind of wondering with this whole Vegas story. I was kind of like, is this going to happen?

It's a big dump truck. It's happening. It is going to happen. But it seemed for a while, like, so I just wanted to make sure that they were making progress on the stadium. Yeah, it is. It's just slow. So the A's are going to go to Vegas. Yep.

Then how many more teams are they going to add? two. Does that make sense? Yeah. And then Manfred in that clip that we played, right here on SportsNet, when he was with Blair and Barker, he talked about making sure that they've got proper balance between the AL and NL. And I think they might have to reimagine some of the divisions, depending on where they go. Yeah. So there's that to take into consideration as well. But he essentially said one east, one west, right? So Nashville will be a fun place to have a team. So Nashville's got a AAA team. Yeah. I don't know who they're affiliated with anymore.

When I was down there, they were the, I think they were the A's minor league. Did you go? Yeah. You went to a game? The scoreboard is a guitar. The scoreboard's a guitar. Oh, that's the stadium. They also have, that was the one.

Are there a bunch of fans down there? They're like, we don't want Major League Baseball. No, no, no, no. It's not that vibe. There's like the USL. The vibe. There's not that vibe. Nashville is a city on the grow.

And the patrons, as I call them, the residents really embrace it. They want all this stuff. They love the soccer specific stadium that Nashville. SC put in, you know, the Titans have, it's not like a Nissan stadium is relatively old, but like everyone's got their own space and they just continue to build. So the idea there would be get an entirely new baseball stadium. That triple A, it is a nice stadium. They've all, that's one of the ones, the newer, um, not builds, but renovations where they have a gigantic bar situation. Yeah. Out in centerfield. And it's also guitar shaped. So it's got everything's good

guitar shaped drinks. Love guitars. Um, they're called the National Sound. and I don't think I've ever had more fun at a ball game than the one I had there because there were so many things to do that were non-baseball. Do you know what's just a really fun time? A beer garden. It's great. And there also happens to be a baseball game over there. If you want to take like a five-minute break and go watch baseball.

So this one, they had a live, you had to pay, but they had a live active radar gun, a jugs gun. And it was right next to one of the bars in Center, field. So a lot of the... Was the bar shaped like a guitar? Yes. It was. Can't confirm. Yeah. So what they were doing kind of unofficially, but a lot of people, groups would go up and then you'd

you know, clock your pitch and whoever threw the slowest had to buy a round. Okay. How many rounds did you buy? Many. I thought I was it's a change up. I was like coming up. I'm like, I just had rotator cuff surgery. I was coming up with anything I could to explain why I was throwing like 47.

But... So, but it's all those little things where you're like, but you're not, I mean, who cares about the game, right? But it makes it like an awesome night out. Everyone was there to party. Yeah. Very few people were there to watch the sounds take on. I have no idea who they were playing that night.

And, you know, so imagine Nap Bailey, but on a far grander scale because it was double the size and attendance and way more amenities. Well, hopefully. I mean, Nat Bailey is going to open that. Oh, rooftop. Right field. rooftop patio, which I think is going to be amazing.

It's what you need. Is there going to be a lineup to get into there? They're going to need like a bouncer? You're going to have to pay to get around? Well, I mean, all joking aside, like, you may be very popular. Checking IDs and everything and doing bar scan. But like you do need those sorts of things because, one, you want your... Bar scan.

You can't come in here. You need your... You kind of want to encourage mobility in your facility, if that makes sense. You know, sitting in a seat for the entire time, aside from not being like crazy comfortable, also, like, you want to, as we talk about premium experiences and all that other nonsense,

like part of it is you're now kind of forced to deliver more than just the game. I've told that story about The Bachelor Party I was on down to Scottsdale, right? You were at Chase, right? And we were, well, we'll go to a baseball game. Yeah, it was a Chase Field. And we were all like, kind of, you know,

we'd had a night before. So we said, we'll do something, we'll do something chill. We'll go to a baseball game. and then ramp up. We went to the ball game and we're like, where do we go here? It was Arizona and they were,

I don't even know who they're playing, but, you know, it was 20 guys from Canada. I've been there. And we were like, I don't really care about the baseball. How long ago was this?

Four or five years ago. I wasn't that long ago. I was there. A lot of teams I've done better recently. There was nothing there. And people were like, isn't that the place with the pool? I'm like,

yeah, well, I didn't bring my trunks. And, you know, and that was also limited to a certain amount of people. I think you had to buy a special ticket there. It's a VIP ticket. And we're like, is there a bar here? They're like, no, there's a restaurant. There's a restaurant. I was in it.

It's not a great stadium. Yeah. It's fine, but it's not great. No, it was, no, it's not fine. Okay. It was awful. We left after, I think, three or four innings. We were just like, this is so boring.

I mean, this sounds crazy, right? and some people who are baseball fanatics will hate this. But I was like, this is so boring. All there is to do is watch baseball. Yeah. It's a hilarious thing to say out loud. Yeah. But it's absolutely true.

And you're talking about Major League Baseball. People are like, I just want to go see so-and-so play. I hope Vegas, not that I'm too into Vegas anymore. I'm kind of like over Vegas. But I would imagine that going to a day game in Vegas and it's going to be a covered roof. so they'll have air conditioning and everything. That would be a, that's, that's a good during the day thing to do in Vegas.

Yeah, for sure. Right. Go to a ball game and I would hope and expect that they're going to make that a pretty fun place to go to. You'd have to think, if you've got the advantage of building and starting from scratch, you know, not Kinnock's rebuild style, but starting from scratch here, you want to give it where you're at with the current sports viewing landscape. You really have to go above them. We were talking about it yesterday. But above and beyond isn't even that above and beyond. I mean, what are we asking for here?

A beer garden. A beer garden. Where you can just hang out. And there's a baseball game going. I don't think that's like above and beyond. I don't need anything else besides that, really. Yeah. I mean, I like multiple pools.

Could we have several pools? Hot tubs for everybody? I don't, I don't need that. I would have done the hot tub and chase, but not would be a lot of money that it costs. Nobody needs to see that. You could be that guy that wears the shirt and the hot tub. Did I ever tell you about the time we were at a Vegas pool and it was a bunch of Canadian guys in this American came by and sauce? And to be fair, it was our first day there.

And he goes, y'all got the sun up in Canada? Not like this. These bags of milk cooking pool side. We should go in. We should go in. First of all, how dare you? Second of all, we do not. Okay.

Coming up on the other side of the break, We're going to get back into the hockey talk. Stanley Cup playoff. The field is set. The East is set. Two of the four matchups in the Western set. There's still some things to get into, though. Arda O'Kal from ESPN is going to join us. We will look ahead to tonight.

The final night of regular season play for this national hockey league season. We'll look ahead to the playoffs. Lots to get into there. 8 o'clock hour. Randy Janda is going to join us. Speaking of final games of the year, the Canucks are going to play their last game of the season in Edmonton tonight. That's a 6 o'clock puck drop.

So we're at the midway point of the show. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 733 on a Thursday. It's a trash Thursday here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

Can you tell? This is one of the more aggressive tracks we've done. Not going to lie. It is called Hell on Earth. Yeah, no kidding. In Ireland, it would be called Trash Thursday. Right? Anyone?

I thought we were done with the accents. I'll turn my mic off now. That was pretty good. Despite our insistence, do not do accents, and he continues to do accents. It wasn't really an accent. It was just a mispronunciation mix.

It's like saying Michael Kane, to pronounce Michael Kane in his accent, you say, my cocaine. Michael Kane. Same, same thing. It's dangerously. close to the thing that we keep telling you not to do. Let's put it that way. Right. Because one

day you're going to go too far and you're going to be like, what? What did I do? You are listening to the Alford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Halverdard of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're ready to give you the financial fresh start you deserve with no judgment or upfront fees. Visit them online at sands

dash trustee.com. We're at the midway point of the show, Arda O'Call from ESPN's going to join us in just a moment here. Our two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. Dot mortgage. To the ABLE

Auctions hotline, we go. Arda O'Call from ESPN joins us now on the Halford and Breft Show on SportsNet 650. More than Arda, how are you? I'm doing great having the heavy metal intro, the canned tracks from jingle punks or wherever Mike

and Jason. It reminds me of our bumps to break on the NHL on ESPN where we also use like heavy metal inspired tracks like sometimes the double bass kicks in when we're going to break and I'm like yeah tap this to my veins Sorry did you get

Is it jingle punk? That was back in the day When I was uh I mean Whatever like free No no no yeah I know exactly what you're talking about The name J what's ours called? Ours is called APM Oh okay yeah and it's just like license free

Yeah, generic music Jingle punks might be like 15 years old. I don't even know if they're still in business, but I remember that from like my producer days way back in the day back in Toronto. Okay, I know we brought you on to talk about hockey, but I also know you're a big wrestling guy.

And I was having this conversation with a few of my buddies the other day. Let's go old school wrestling. What was the best ring entrance in terms of like, spectacle and music like I hated macho man but I respected the pomp and circumstance. First of all, yeah, no, no, that's a good choice. We should never apologize for talking wrestling, especially old school.

So I appreciate you bringing it up. Iconic for all time, The Undertaker is probably number one. But his entrance just you just stopped what you were doing, right? and he was, you know, attraction for that reason. Sean Michaels is pretty good, especially when he had like, like, I think about Sean Michaels at WrestleMania 25 against The Undertaker where it was like good, evil, black, white, serious, goofy. Like, it was very, like, contrast.

So I really appreciated that. I was also a fan of like the, that's one thing I like about WrestleMania is I like the, I like the creativity of the entrances that cater to wrestlers. Like, I'm wondering what kind of entrance Danhausen's going to get at WrestleMania this year, you know? Like, I wonder if there's going to be something, some funny element added, or if what wrestlers might get a live band or, you know, when Roman Raines had an orchestra play him to the ring, like stuff like that.

I, I, I'm a fan of that wrinkle of creativity in wrestling. So I'm a big entrance guy. I'm a fan. It must be so fun to work in wrestling when your whole job essentially is to create a spectacle. Like that's one of the great things about sports is the spectacle of the sports. Like, yeah, the game is good. But like there's a reason why hockey wasn't as fun to watch during the bubble, right? Like it was great that the NHL put that together and thought it took a lot of creativity and a lot of, you know, in some ways,

risk-taking, but, you know, it wasn't the same without the spectacle of the playoffs. You know, I'm really looking forward to the spectacle of Montreal in the playoffs, Buffalo in the playoffs, you know, can Philly reignite the energy that I remember back in the day when Philly was in the playoffs and Welcome to the Jungle would start playing. Like, that's what I love sports, but that's the spectacle is really, I think, what draws in a lot of people. Especially live entertainment. That's why I give a lot of credit to the in-game presentation crews

because they have 41 games to have to entertain crowds. And some elements are repeated if they do well. But I mean, I will say in talking with a lot of them and working with a lot of them, I used to be an arena host for the Devils for a while. And like they take, they love the theme nights because it breaks up the monotony of, you know, putting games together.

like Star Wars night, something that in-game presentation teams always look forward to because they get to change their graphics and they get to be creative with, you know, Star Wars references and the mascot dresses up as a Jedi or Darth Vader or whatever, right? So like

that creativity is always something that they look forward to, but like to your point about like Buffalo, just as an example going into the playoffs, like they're not going to need anything other than press play play on a song. If that, if that not the most rock and barn in the whole entire playoffs,

and we're doing something wrong. By the way, the correct answer for ring entrance music is the bagpipes for Roddy-Rotty Piper. That was the best. Oh, okay. The pop that you got when it was like that whale of the first bagpipe and then everyone would go nuts.

That was my favorite. I liked Ricky the Dragon too, and then the Chicago Bulls stole his song. That's true, actually. That was Ricky's music. Yeah, yeah. The Bulls just stole it. They did pretty well with it, though.

Okay. Let's turn our attention to pre-playoff stuff, because there's some stuff still to be decided tonight. So here's what everybody needs to know. Edmonton is hosting our Vancouver Canucks. They clinch second place in the Pacific with a singular point. Anaheim is at Nashville.

They have the tiebreaker over the Kings. The kings are at Calgary. They don't have any tiebreaker. The best chaos theory, I think, for tonight is if somehow, somehow the Canucks beat the Oilers in regulation, the Oilers don't get a point, and they fall all the way to the second wildguard and take on the aves in the first round.

It would be amazing. It would be a theater. It's very unlikely to happen, Arda. But would that not be an amazing sequence of events for tonight? Yeah, Carter McDavid against Nathan McKinnon, the Oilers not facing the Kings in the first round. I think that would be maximum chaos theory for sure. I will say this, though, for the fans of math and symmetry listening right now,

which, you know, you guys are a big math and symmetry show, I'm sure, and there's a lot of fans that listen, like the stats guys, So it would be poetic in a way from a math perspective if the kings and Oilers did play in the first round again, only because the series results of the last four years have been 4-3, 4-2, 4-1, 4-2. So to complete the semicircle here, we need a 4-3 Oilers win to complete the whole. thing. So I just want to put that out there. Thank you. Okay. Who do you think has the best chance of advancing out of the Pacific Division bracket,

whatever it is? And I guess you would include the possibility of Utah being in that bracket. I think Vegas has the advantage over Utah. I think that there's just more playoff battle tested players on that team. I think it'll come down to, like, the goal tending matchup is maybe slightly favorite to Vegas, but it's not, like,

Utah could surprise a lot of people. They had a higher goal differential. I do think that Vegas has the edge there, though, and then you look at the second round now, if you're telling me it's Vegas against McDavid's team, it's tough to bet against McDavid's team, do we see any sort of weariness

or tiredness in the first round from the Oilers? even if they squeak by in a seven-game series or do they sweep their first-round opponent? Could it be Anaheim? So those are the things I'd be looking at, but I would say Vegas is in pole position, especially if the doom and gloom scenario occurs and the Oilers play the avalanche in the first round.

That's going to be very tough sledding for them, especially the way that the abs improved, especially at the trade deadline, if they do get their injured pieces back and they're at full strength. I mean, no team is at full strength, but that would be very tough. You know, if the Oilers get Anaheim, though,

don't you think that's the easiest matchup of all the possible matchups for the Oilers? For any team? Oh, sure. Yeah, absolutely. And that goes back to what I, about, like, could they sweep the ducks? Could they, how healthy, how fresh would they be coming out of an Anaheim series?

going into a matchup against, let's say, Vegas, if the predictions are true here, then in that series, Edmonton, to me, would have a better chance. I still give it the advantage on paper to Vegas in that series, unless Vegas is banged up and they went through a tough seven-game series against Utah. And, you know, they struggled and, you know, they got injuries, et cetera. But on paper, I still say Vegas to answer your question directly. Who do you think has had the most? And this is this harsh word, but we were using it earlier in the show.

Who has had the most pathetic finish to the season? Because the Leafs have had a real pathetic finish. But then you look at Detroit and the way they went out, not only dropping out of a playoff spot, but they get blasted 8-1 last night by Florida. Columbus basically had its head coach in tears, tears of rage. I would say Seattle had a pretty pathetic.

aesthetic finish and they had to make some changes like first of all you know maybe choose one team and then what could be the effect this offseason of some of these finishes and in the way some of these teams just folded up down the stretch it's funny because the opposite is the black hawks they re-sign kyle davidson there they like how they rebuild is going if i have to pick okay so i like your Detroit pick. So in the last five years, they have completely missed the mark in the month of March, like probably one of the most important months of the year, especially if you're fighting for a wild card spot, which they've sort of been in the vicinity. But the last five years, the Detroit Red Wings have been below 500 in the month of March. And they were 500, six years ago. So basically,

for the better half of a decade, they have not shown up. in the month of March, which is a huge problem. That's systemic now. So I can understand coach being very upset and saying what he said and not answering questions directly. And then the blue jackets, Rick Bonas, talking about three hits and how many turnovers. And if he's back, that was like, what? What did he just say?

Like if he's back changing the culture. Yeah, I would point, I would say, I would point to those two. Like, to a lesser degree, it does stink that you have a new coach so late in the season, like the Islanders and you don't make the playoffs, but at least they were like competitive and they knew what they were getting into. So there was still a big possibility they weren't going to make the playoffs with DeBork coming in. But, you know, that still stings, I'm sure. But he has an extension that he can now build for the next several years there. so there's not as, it's not as biting. But, yeah, to me, it's the, it's the, it's the coaches that,

that's had the words in Detroit and Columbus. Those are the answers for sure. We're speaking to ESPN, NHL analyst, Arda O'Call, here on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650, Arda, of the playoff matchups that are already booked and set, which one are you most looking forward to? Oh, Sabres, Bruins, for sure. I, I, but, to me,

Game one at Key Bank is going to be one of the most electric atmospheres that we've seen in quite some time. That's a city that after. I've said that I know that I'm on Vancouver Radio. I just want to say I lived in Vancouver for a year. I was a weather guy out there in Yale Town. I love the city of Vancouver. If I didn't get a job in the States, I'd probably still be living there. With that said, the most amount of NHGEL games by a country mile that I've seen have been in the city of Buffalo.

I know those fans. I've talked to a lot of fans in Buffalo. No, in my opinion, no city, Vancouver's up there competitive as well. No city in North America, in my opinion, deserves sports success more than the Buffalo Sabres. Might be tied, but not more. Like Buffalo deserves this. The fans have suffered enough. I cannot wait for them to taste playoff hockey again.

I will be living vicariously through them. And I do wonder what their play, like this has very St. Louis, 2019 vibes. I'm not saying they're going to go March to the Stanley Cup and win. I'm not ready to say that yet. But I would be ready to say that if their goaltending holds up in the first round.

That's the big question mark to me. They had good goaltending in this winning stretch in the last 40, in the last half of the season. But will it continue? But yeah, that series. And Boston's going to be rocking too because they always are. That's going to be a huge matchup. We know the series

will open in Buffalo. We'll know it will be at some point this weekend. we just don't know when yet, but we will find out soon. Arda, thanks a lot for taking the time to do this today, man. We really appreciate it. Enjoy WrestleMania, enjoy the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. What a time to be alive. Thanks for doing this, dude.

Anytime. Ardo O'Cal from ESPN here on the Halford & Breff Show on SportsNet 650. Okay, you mentioned earlier in the show that the Toronto Maple Leafs are doing their end-of-year media availability and locker cleanouts. We've got some audio from Austin Matthews talking about his future. and I'll classify it as non-committal. He did say that you can't tell the future and he can't predict the future,

which is fair. Nobody can't. No, but given that he's under contract and a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he think he could a little bit. Here's what Austin Matthews, the captain, had to say about his future in Toronto. There's been a lot of people projecting their thoughts

on what you think of the future of this franchise and your place within it. I'm sure you've heard that. How do you view your... future with the leaves moving forward the end of the season. Yeah, I mean, I can't predict the future. Obviously, there's steps that kind of have to, you know, take place. They're going to hire new leadership at management and stuff like that.

So, you know, I don't really know. I think that's kind of, like I said, I can't really predict the future. But for yourself personally, is this a place you want to be or would reject any suggestion that you should not be here for the remainder? Yeah, I think all that stuff I mean there's always noise and there's always chatter I think personally I really don't pay attention to all that

I just focus on myself, focus on this team and trying to be a part of the solution So the closest we got to confirmation that he wants to stay is that I'm going to try and be part of the solution There was no, I'm the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs There's no I'm on a contract here There's no I want to stay I'm not leaving I'm not leaving

None of it now Again maybe he wasn't fully prepared for the most obvious line of questioning on earth. Maybe. Maybe he just didn't want to say anything committal one way or the other. Yeah, he's got two years left on his deal. It's not like, you know. I feel like both parties should come to an agreement right now.

How many years did Quinn Hughes have left? It's in every, look. How many does McDavid have? It's it. I would suggest. All the Canadian captains are leaving. suggest it's in everyone's best interest there. Matthews,

the Leafs, the Leafs, they try to move them now. The Leafs are going nowhere. Nowhere with the core. They're not. But you'd have to convince. Well, unless Austin... Did that sound like a guy that needed a lot of convincing? No, no, no. I'm not talking about Austin. Unless if

Austin said I want out, then the decision's easy. You move him. But Keith Pelly said that in his presser he was like, I think we've got foundational pieces here. And he was talking about Matthews and Nylander. Matthew Nyes.

So he was saying that we either, you know, we don't need to rebuild. He said, this is a retool. And I remember when he said that, I was like, you're kind of like putting your, the applicants to the job in a weird situation, right? Because then are, is anyone that, let's say you went up to the Leafs and you're like, listen, like, let's say it's you that wants a job and somehow they give you an interview. Yes. And you say, well, I think you should rebuild. I think you should trade Austin Matthews. And I think you should trade William Neelander and get going on it now.

Right. Because I don't see any Stanley Cup potential with this. Yep. Because you don't have any future assets. It's going to be very difficult. Right. And then they were like, yeah, we're looking for. someone who's going to do a retool, so you're not going to get the job.

Yeah, I would, if I was, if I got this offer, this opportunity to interview, I'd stick by my guns. Well, yeah, I wouldn't, yeah, I wouldn't tell him what he wanted to hear at the risk of not getting the job. But there's a lot of people that would because they want the job and they think either, first of all, I want the job and I want the money and the prestige that comes with the job, even if it's going to be really tough or even if I'm going to put myself in a position to fail, I want the job.

Some people also say, okay, I'm going to get the job. the job, say whatever I have to get the job, and then we're going to pivot. Yeah. Because here's the thing, and I'd be up front with it, and I would say the course moving forward is

so dicey and so risky, because not only am I unconvinced that this core that we have is going to win anything, we have no picks. We've traded away so much draft capital. We sent picks out the door for Brandon Carlin,

and prospects out the door for all these guys. And now we are bereft of draft capital. I think that we should make this up in part by moving Austin Matthews. Think about the bounty you could get from a team that is in its competitive window and is less concerned with those first round picks. You could replenish your draft capital in a significant way. And what are you trading away, honestly? trading away an elite level talent,

a guy that's capable of scoring 60 to 70 goals when healthy in the National Hockey League, but also a guy, whether as the captain or as part of your leadership group, has never gotten you past the second round of the playoffs. And it's been a long, long runway for him to try and do it. Can you imagine what Seattle would give up for Austin Matthews? Because you do have to think about the business.

Take your pick of teams that are desperate right now. Go Seattle. Go Detroit. what is Detroit set for the longest time about Dylan Larkin? He's a good player but not an elite 1C. He's probably a 2C on a competitive Stanley Cup contending team. Yeah, and he's a 1C on, well, Detroit.

Imagine Detroit. Imagine Detroit. Yeah. With Austin Matthews is the 1C and Dylan Larkin is the 2C. And I know that you would need to have him sign up. Hey, here's another one for you. Given where he's a Arizona guy. What about the Los Angeles Kings who are desperate to replace Copee?

Yeah. How do you not make a play if you're the Los Angeles Kings right now for Matthews? Well, the only reason is because they'd be waiting for Connor McDavid. Right. There's also that. And you know what, you know who this is most? And by the way, the Leafs could be like, we're going to trade away

Austin Matthews because in a couple of years we're going to sign McDavid. And here's the thing, though, all joking aside, if Matthew shakes loose, it further damages Olias Pedersen's marketability and market value across the NHL. You want that center market

to be so bereft of talent that PD becomes a viable option. You want the desperation out there. You don't want Matthew shaking loose. You don't want teams saying they have a chance at Robert Thomas is a consolation prize but they miss out on one of the big ones. You want PD to be way more front and center and that's kind of the

it's the risky part about having desperate teams. in the mix. It's like desperate teams will kick the tires on your guy, but they also might overspend to get one of these other guys in the door as well, right?

How many of these teams are going to wait until the draft lottery to make their true decisions? The draft lottery is on May 5th, and then there's a little time towards the draft because the Leafs could win the draft lottery. It's the NHL.

They'll always, and if you give an NHL general manager time, they're taking it, 10 times out of 10. it's a conservative league it's a patience league it's a let's kick the can down the road league so if you say we're going to make a decision you're like well wait

what if we wait till the draft lottery's done and then see and then re-evaluate after that and then maybe it's like well wait let's wait till after the draft and see who gets taken or see what moves at the draft we'll just wait for free agency on July 1 and then it's maybe like well maybe we don't want to make a move on July 1

maybe we'll wait the first day of free agency and see what settles after that well Earth just had a tweet and uh refaun gufar um and he just tweeted out uh plenty of talk about the future of many people in the connect's organization over last little while zero decisions have been made yet whatever choices are made are not only in mind of next four to five years but you have to set up the foundation for the next 10 to 15 and ownership knows that. Irf has ownership connections.

Like he does have that relationship. So zero decisions have been made yet and they are looking very, very long term, which does make you wonder about Jim Rutherford. Sure. not exactly a long-term type employee, I would say. Lots more to get to. Randy Jand is going to join us on the other side. Final hour of the program coming up.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.