Halford & Brough in the Morning - Can The Jays Get Back Into Their Series Versus The Mariners?

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest hockey news with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:15), they preview game 3 of the ALCS with Sportsnet Blue Jays reporter Shi Davidi (25:31), which currently sees the Jays down two games to none versus the Mariners, plus the boys speak with new Vancouver Giants head coach Parker Burgess (36:20) about how their season has gone thus far. 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.

Frank Sarah Valley Sarah Valley Sarah Valley Frank Sarah Valley Frank 7702 on a Wednesday

Happy everybody free. Halper number of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. No more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind. That's the three. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program.

Frank Sera Valley from Victory Plus is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Our two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dom Mortgage. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech, footwear, and orthotics working together with you in step.

To the phone lines we go. Our next guest is a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor. It's Frank Sarvalley here now on the Halford and Breath Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Frank. How are you? Doing all right. Got a little case of food poisoning overnight, so it's been a less than ideal morning. Oh, no.

Thanks for battling through here and joining us regardless. Have you figured out which food or establishment was the culprit? Yes, I have. I'm going to keep that to myself, but it was, yeah, it's been a blast. Yeah, sorry to hear it, buddy, but thank you for battling through. I'm going to turn our attention right away to the Vancouver Canucks. So the Canucks did make a roster move yesterday. There was a transaction yesterday, but it was sending Braden Coots down to WHL Seattle

after a brief three-game cameo for the 18-year-old. Max Sasson is on his way up, and I think it's led a lot of people to wonder, like, Could there be another move? Could there be something on the horizon to address what is an area of concern or maybe areas of concern? But the center position for the Canucks, it was a problem coming into the season. It's early. It's only three games, but the returns haven't been great so far. Are you hearing anything on the Canucks front, Frank, after the Coots move yesterday?

Nothing new. They're searching. They're looking. They're doing their due diligence. I mean, they're looking under every rock, under every couch cushion to try and find some kind of fit that is an improvement. I mean, not really a shock that Coots ended up going back to the WHL. I think some people were surprised that he had even broken camp to begin with

with the team, but I think when you've got a pick of that stature and you want to show him the level of compete required to play in this league on a nightly basis, that it's always good to get a little taste. There's no harm in doing so. And if anything, it just properly sets that player's compass for the future. So I think it was pretty deliberate and planned in terms of what their thought process was on how to manage Coots and expectations. And the search continues on. So continuing on the Canucks conversation on Monday's show of frankly hockey, which by the way, everyone can check out at victoryplus.com. They can stream it for free.

You did end with, quote, some Canucks Quinn Hughes chatter. I haven't had a chance to watch the episode yet, but for the listeners, can you let us know what the Quinn Hughes chatter was that you were discussing on Frankly hockey this week? Yeah, it was really just to celebrate and fate Quinn Hughes for what's been an exceptional tenure in Vancouver

to slide past Alex Edler and to do it so quickly on the Canucks rankings or points rankings by defensemen. I mean, this is first ballot Hall of Fame stuff that we're seeing. And this is a player who, if you're creating a watch list of eight to nine players across the NHL, he's going to be in that circle of our trophy targets. He means that much to the team. And just about everything this team wants to do or accomplish.

this season is going to be running through his stick. I mean, go back and look at the numbers since he entered the NHL, March 28th, 2019, and it's only Kail McCar that's in front of them in terms of points. And to get there and set a 50-plus-year-old franchise mark in 400 and some games is incredibly impressive. we've talked about it a lot because having worked in the market for so long we're both old now we understand that there was a dearth of high-end defensemen prior to quen Hughes and there's never been one like him and there might never be everyone when he's said and done in Vancouver whenever that is it is I think it is important from time to time to reflect like this is a

franchise altering defenseman because prior to Hughes I don't think a connect defenseman ever finished in like the top five never mind being a finalist but the top five for Norris trophy voting. Like there's been good defense. It's going to be tough for Luke Hughes to play behind them in New Jersey. Which honestly makes me wonder. Which honestly makes me wonder about the Fed.

Do we talk enough about option C? Do we talk enough about option C? Like option A is staying with the Canucks. Option B is going to the Devils. Option C doesn't get discussed much. Which is other teams. Which is what? One of the other, you know, how many other teams?

30 teams. yeah i would say this is exactly the point that i had made on monday evening with dan and sat which was just enjoy this one because a player of this ilk and magnitude rarely comes along and two don't let the fear of you know the specter of new jersey looming be an issue don't let that get in the way or cloud what you're seeing in front of you because I'm with you and wholeheartedly there's not enough oxygen for both of them

on the same blue line not with the style that Luke plays and I've seen and we talked previously about the comments that Jack had made before the season started saying that Luke needed consistent number one power play time I just don't know how it works or how it fits is one brother really going to come in

and cancel out the other, that would seem to be kind of against the point if you're another team? We're speaking to Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL Insider here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Let's turn our attention to the Montreal Canadiens. A busy last few days for the haves with the

Lane Hudson contract extension and then contract extensions for Kent Hughes and Jeff Gordon. Just really quick, I know it's been a few days and the dust is settled on the Hudson extension, but what was the general reaction when that deal got signed? I think a lot of people were surprised to see it come in under $9 million,

given what Luke Hughes had signed for. But there was a very clear Hughes family tax that was associated with that. So I kind of viewed that deal as a bit of an outlier. I should say outlier. There you go. If I could get the word out. I mean, if his last name was Halford or Brough, he's not making that on this next contract.

I mean, that's to be fair. So with that, the other part that I, you know, people then wanted to make the comparison look at what Jackson Lecombe got in Anaheim, it's not an apples to apples comparison. Jackson Lecombe is on his third NHL contract. And meanwhile, Lane Hudson has 10-2C rights, no arbitration, no offer sheet ability. that's you're signing away some really inexpensive years if you're lane hudson which drives that

aavs down because of the lack excuse me of um of ufa years their purchase so to me the canadian pushed real hard to get a deal done it was actually believe it or not slightly more i think the deal that they had on the table in training camp was an 8.7 aav but with deferred money really paid out like 9.1 so lane hudson actually lost a million plus dollars in the last couple weeks and then i think he got into the season and then said man i don't really like the idea of this hanging over my head i want to just play and decided to come back to the table to get it done is there a canadian team a fan base of a canadian team that is happier with its management than montreal um it feels like they're doing everything right it feels like it feels like the Vegas golden night fans

I'm a Canadian management group yeah I'm sure pick another team um there's got to be someone else out there that's really thrilled with I mean Tampa Bay lightning fans with their management team or or Florida Panthers fans that theirs but the point is well made and I think it has been fascinating to watch how the Montreal market has managed a rebuild. I mean, I can't tell you how many springs I've spent in Montreal watching their playoff series, and the conversation every fall for Canadians fans is not, are we going to make the playoffs? It's do we have an authentic chance to win the Stanley Cup?

Like, that's how high the bar has traditionally been set. And so to then take a step back and say, hey, we're not planning. to make the playoffs for a while. We're going to try and do this right and rebuild it. The buy-in from the fan base has been significant. And when they love hockey and eat, sleep, and breathe it so much that when they see or start to see these pieces come together, the excitement is real. And so that team making the playoffs last year maybe a little bit ahead of schedule was a big

feather in the cap for the management team who, the way I view it, has brick by brick. put in place with one smart move after the other a really strong foundation that's now locked up for incredibly inexpensive cap hits through the 2030s. Yeah. Meanwhile, in Buffalo, did you hear the fire Kevin Adams chance? I know we've talked about Kevin Adams before,

and we've both been like, how is this guy still the GM? Yeah, I heard him, and I view the Buffalo Sabres as a team without a rudder. They are lacking direction, and you heard, he was really trying to say it in a positive way about not looking backwards, but you heard Paige Thompson used the term negativity breeds negativity. And I do believe that, but I think it's been nothing but negativity surrounding that franchise for a while.

You see J.J. Patyrka ask out, because he doesn't believe that there's light at the end of the tunnel to win in Buffalo. So when you're coming through multiple rebuild and you get to a place where you have to trade away a 23-year-old top line winger who scored 75 points, I mean, you might as all pack it in. Like how else do you replace that guy? Where do you start over again? And that's the part that the Sabres have failed to get right is their leadership.

The reason why the Buffalo bills under Terry Pagula, work is because they've got a great general manager in Bean, and they've got a great head coach in Sean McDermott, who's very much like a CEO. And with that, you contrast that to the Sabre side. Kevin Adams was handed the job from the business side of the operations. Yes, an NHL player, and yes, a sharp guy, but with zero NHL experience running a hockey team and making transactions and scouting and drafting and all those things. And then you bring back in Lindy Ruff, who did such a poor job and the Devils look so lost,

I'm shocked that then the decision was made to retain him to bring him back for this season. Nothing like sending a message of mediocre is acceptable. And that's the part that is driving Sabres fans are really passionate and proud fan base to bang their heads through a wall. Frank, Dallas Stars games are on Victory Plus. and so are you on Victory Plus.

The Dallas Stars are the Canucks next opponent. How has the season started for them? What have been the storylines around Dallas? A team that scores with ease. I mean, they're getting up there in terms of a number of games which a team has scored to at least five goals to open up a season. Three straight games already. I think the NHO record is five.

So they're closing in on that or could get to that. This week, of course, they have the Canucks on Thursday night, and they're a team that, I mean, I don't think anyone is sleeping on the Dallas stars, but I feel like the revenge factor for Jake Ottinger and Net after that poll last year, plus a full season of Miko Ranton, and it's almost like for this team that's had so much success in the West that maybe people are thinking that they might fall off, and I just don't think that's the case. I think there's a team to beat.

And a new head coach, too, with Peter DeBorrow out and Glenn Gulletson and 3-0 under Gullet. And I watched that vignette that Emily Kaplan from ESPN did with Jake Ottinger. And it aired yesterday and it dove pretty deep into that now infamous goalie pull. And then the ramifications where, you know, Ottinger went through some pretty dark times in the aftermath. And, of course, Dallas got rid of DeBer. I do wonder if those subtle changes that you talked about, of course, the big one behind the bench. But I wonder if those things might add up to Dallas. being a real powerhouse through three games, it certainly looks that way, because they handled

Minnesota with ease last night. Yeah, and it's such a different style between Glenn Gullison and Pete DeBore. Pete DeBore can be, he's a really good coach, but he can be grading, sarcastic, in your face, over the top. And Glenn Gulletin is very much not that. It's not that he's not intense or doesn't have a hard edge, but he's relatively soft-spoken compared to Pete. And it's just a totally different vibe.

And I think that probably emanates through a group. We see this all the time, right? You go from, you know, hard edge coach to nice guy. And maybe that's their path to success. We're down to just three winless teams in the National Hockey League. Now we already mentioned Buffalo. That's one of them. The other two, the San Jose sharks who can't keep pucks out of the back of the net.

Now, they're sort of designed to be young and exciting, but also still learning the ropes, although the way that they're bleeding goals. I don't know how much longer that can go on. But the New York Islanders are also. 0 and 3 to start the season and they have also just 7 goals in the 3 games, 13 against 0 minus 6 goal differential. Of these teams

that have started winless, and I know it's early days, but who's the most likely to hit the panic button if they haven't already? Well, I don't think it's going to be the Islanders because I think Matthew Darsh is probably still very much in evaluation mode.

He's a few weeks into his tenure and I've got gotten the question from Islander fans. Is Patrick Waugh going to be shown the door? Are they going to make massive trades? I don't expect that. And I think the sharks, fairly or unfairly, are very comfortable in this season with Gavin McKenna up for grab. They want to be competitive, but I don't think they have any designs on being a really good team this year.

So, I mean, I would say, did you have Buffalo in the mix? Yes, Buffalo, New York Islanders and San Jose Sharks, the three winless teams. Yeah, I wasn't sure because we had just talked about them. But I would say the Sabres, that's the seat that's going to be, it's already hot. It's going to be grown real, real warm for their front office team and their coaching staff. Could the Islanders be a team that makes a big swing over the next year or so? They got Anders Lee coming off the books, $7 million, and Pajot, I think, coming off the books, at $5 million. And so they're going to have the cap space.

Are they going to have the aggressive attitude that goes with the cap space? I think they will, but I think they also recognize that there was a lot done at the end or the middle to the end of Lou Amarillo's tenure to try and glue this team together to give them a chance. And so there's going to be a period of time where you've got to spend resources to undo things. Now, you mentioned they do have a couple tradable assets that, you know, think about how difficult, and we've talked about this a million times it is to find a center. Like, J.G. Pajot will have real value. So that's going to be easy. And I think someone's always

going to be interested in a player like Anders Lee with his compete. But the rest of, you know, what they're trying to build, they've got the goalie. It appears that they have a franchise defense advancement in Matthew Schaefer, what's the rest of their team build and the status? How does Matt Barzell fit into that? Can he carry this team with a lot of the weight on his shoulders? Those are all questions that they're going to need to answer in the short term. Frank one, more real quick one before we let you go. Is Carter Hart soon to be signing with the Vegas Golden Knights? I think we've been waiting for that for a while. I mentioned, them a few weeks ago as the front runner for his services, I would think that the injury to

Aden Hill, depending on how long he's out, might hasten that, but I think it was probably something that was in the works anyway, because I don't think the Golden Knights felt entirely comfortable with Akira Shmead as their long-term number two. So I don't know if today's going to be the day. Today would be the first day that he'd be eligible to skate with the team, which is different. This is a change in the timeline in the calendar. Not a change, but This is the next day in the timeline. October 1st was the first day you could sign. October 15th was the first day you could join the team for practice.

So, yeah, one of those situations where I think that it appeared to be trending in that direction for a while. Frank, thanks for doing this today, buddy. Powering through, feel better, okay? Thanks, guys. Have a good one. Yeah, you two, thanks. That's Frank Sarvalley. Our NHL Insider from Victory Plus, your presentation of Angry Otter Liquor Plus program,

Members save for game days at Angry Outer Licker this month, save $6 bucks on old-style Pilsner 15 packs. Hey, a 15-pack, Jason, we could split one. Find more at Angry Otterlicker.cr.S. Okay, before we turn things over to Shai Daviti and the baseball conversation on the other side of the break, a reminder, tonight's very pivotal game three of the ALCS between the Mariners and the Blue Jays,

you can hear it right here on SportsNet 650. I need to do one to watch. Presented by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts. There's no shortage of ones to watch for the Toronto Blue Jays tonight. There's a variety of important players that are hitless in the ALCS so far. Addison Barger, Dalton Varsho, Andres Jimenez. But I'm going to look at the guy who has gone hitless. He's 0 for 7 in this series so far.

and that's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He will be the one to watch tonight. It would be unfair and, you know, borderline malpractice in the field of journalism to blame the Blue Jays going behind O2 in this series on Vladdy Guerrero Jr. A lot of other things have happened over the first two games of this series

that have the Blue Jays down O2. But with the amount of money that Vladie is making and the way that he performed against the Yankees in the ALDS, he is going to need to show up tonight and he's going to need to make an impact on this game and he's going to need he along with the rest of the Blue Jays bats are going to need to find a way

to not just get to George Kirby and however long he lasts, but find a way to get some meaningful hits, guys on bases, and put some pressure on the Seattle Mariners' bullpen. It is fair to suggest that even though Kirby's an outstanding pitcher, he might not have a ton of the tank given how he and the rest of that staff

were expended over that five-game series against Detroit. But it hasn't been a problem so far for the Mariners. The starters, whether they go deep into the game or get knocked out early, they feel confident in being able to go to their pen because the Blue Jays have not been able

to get anything off this Mariners bullpen so far. The Mariners have gone nine scoreless innings in this ALCS, their bullpen has against the Jays and they've allowed one hit. Eduardo Bizarro. He pitches every game. He's the kind of guy that we like from the 90s, when Jack Morris would go up there and throw 12 innings and 197 pitches.

Bizarro's a different version. He just pitches every day. He doesn't need a day off. He just throws and throws and throws. But our one to watch tonight, Vladig Guerrero Jr. for the Toronto Blue Jays. This is a must win for the Jays. They can't fall behind 3-0 in this series if they have any idea of coming back.

So it's going to be a lot of pressure on him to finally get a hit in this series tonight. That is one to watch brought to you by Limitless A.V. As mentioned, they are Vancouver's most trusted audio-visional. integration experts specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces book your personalized tour of their experience center today at limitless av dot here's what's coming up on the program on the other side shy davidie is going to join us sports net blue jays melb writer live from seattle ahead of tonight's game three of the a lcs that's going to be at 730 at 745 parker burges is going to join the show he's the new head coach of

the Vancouver Giants. The Giants are in action this Friday 7 p.m. against Winachi at the Langley Event Center. We're giving away a pair of tickets to that Friday game. If you can be caller number 5 at 745, you will win the tickets to see the Giants in Winatchi on Friday. Phone number here, 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-650. Call at 745 when we have Parker Burgess, head coach of the Vancouver Giants on the show. That's all coming up in the next half hour. to the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650.

Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Gladys got to get going. That's obvious. But Addison Barger is over. Dalton Bar Show's over. Andres Jimenez is over. If you look at the facts and the evidence, there's not a ton there. I think they've got to rely kind of on their beliefs.

in themselves that they can do this. Set it all along, man. I like our chances really any day, anywhere against anyone. I think off day was good for us today to kind of reset, and I think the guys are going to come out knowing exactly what they have to do.

733 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough's Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brub in the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a license insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees

to learn how visit sands dash trustee.com We got a dance for a word We got a dance for a word What's a What's the young lady saying?

We got a what? Get a dance for love Wow Okay We are an hour two of the program Your dance Wednesday I was waiting for the drop I wasn't going to interrupt it

Like somebody over here Well, he was stating it's important that we dance for love. Now we could. We could let the music do its thing. Keep going. We got two guests this half hour. Let's go. We are in hour two of the program.

We're at the midway point of the show. Hour two is brats by Jason hominuck at Jason dot 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 phone lines we go. Shai Davidi, SportsNet MLB writer joins us here now on the Halford and Brough

show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Shy. How are you? I'm all right. How are you guys? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. So we've played two different clips now of John Schneider talking about what things maybe need to change or what needs to go right for this team going into game three of the ALCS.

And it all seems very vibes-based, that the chemistry and the camaraderie and the room of the team is going to see them through. Does that have something to do with the fact, shy, that through the first two games of this series, there's not a lot that the Jays have done necessarily wrong and it's a lot of the things that the Mariners have done incredibly right? It's really interesting, right?

Because you can definitely look at it that way. I think the other piece that you can look at it is that Jays have to do a better job of countering what the Mariners are doing. And I think that's obvious on the pitching side, right? They've left too many pitches in over the heart of the plate that Mariners hitters have been able to do some damage on particularly in game two and then

at the plate themselves you know the Mariners have been really good at staying away from the high danger parts of the plate and the Js have made a lot of contact but it's not the good kind of contact now avoiding

that is really tough because the Mariners pitchers are in the strike zone all the time and if you're taking because you're waiting to get, you know, this great pitch over the hard on the plate, you know, you might find yourself O2 really fast, and then you're battling and just trying to do the best you can in a tight spot. So the Js have to really balance being aggressive when there is something in the zone versus waiting the Mariners out a little bit to get something that you can actually do

something with. And how you get there is, to me, the focus. point right now. How do you force Mariners pitchers into the heart of the plate a little bit more so you can do something better and then you'll start to see the offense wake up because if that doesn't happen it really

doesn't matter what the pitchers do they're going to have to score they're going to have to score enough to hold down the Mariners offense and that's that's really where the crux of the series right now to me sits. Is it fair to suggest that maybe it's just

that the Mariners between their starting rotation and their bullpen are a lot better equipped to pitch at these Jays hitters than the Yankees were in the ALDS? I think that's fair. You know, the Mariners are also performing at a higher level right now. Yeah. Right?

They're, that pitching staff is tremendous and their full goal and have been for a while now. You know, they had a little bit of lull towards the end of the season. against the Dodgers, but they'd already clinched by that point. Otherwise, they were on this exceptional role. So this isn't a shock that the Mariners are playing really well. But the Blue Jays played really well, too, and they can get back to that.

And we've seen them go through these spells where they go dry for a little bit. You know, you think about half a series in Tampa and a period in Kansas City, and then they got against Boston where they lost six or seven and last week and a half of the week and a half of the season. And then they got it going against the Tampa Bay Rays who were sort of their kryptonite. And then they really had it going against the Yankees who they've to some degree owned this season.

And now it's back cold again. So, you know, the Blue Jays, it's not that they don't do this. They run hot and cold. But yeah, the mariners are executing at an extremely high level. And right now the Blue Jays in the first two games at least are not. Hey, Shai, what do you think the plan is for Shane Bieber tonight? If I recall correctly, the last time he made a start,

there was a bit of debate afterwards about whether or not he was pulled too early, yada, yada, yada, Aaron Judge, home run off of Ireland. Right. So I think, you know, if I remember thinking about that in real times or watching it. And, you know, Shane Bieber had a tough go, that out. there was very little swing and miss and he was about to get into sort of the danger part of the Yankees lineup

and to me that was understandable why the Blue Jays went to the bullpen there it was a bit risky because they were playing a bullpen game the next day but you have a chance to sort of stop the bleeding there with a lead and you've got a starter who is not

showing you exceptional stuff. So I thought that was the right move to make at the time. I know that it's debated and all of John Schneider's polls so far this postseason have been debatable. But, you know, to me

that one made sense. I think the Blue Jays will just hope to see that Eber stuff is a little sharper. And he had a long gap between starts leading into that DS outing. It'll be a gap that is a little shorter this time, but

again, it has been a while between starts, but can he be sharp? This Mariners lineup hasn't missed a lot in this series. And, you know, he hasn't had that in a bit. He hasn't had that game where you're like, okay, that's Shane Bieber. He's had to grind a little bit. So the Blue Jays would love for him to get back. They need for him to get back. And, you know, they're on the road so they can bat first.

And maybe the offense can help set a tone a little bit, but they need one of their starters. to do that as well. And so they'll be looking for Beaver to do that right out of the gate. I guess it wasn't so much that the Blue Jays, I mean, it was, that they lost the games one and two to Seattle at home. It's that they had Gossmann and Savage starting, and now you're looking at Bieber, who can be good.

And then Scher, is he confirmed as the starter for game four? And if he is, like, what can we expect from him? yes sure is confirmed for game four john schneider uh answered that yesterday and i think it's a bit interesting right there to some degree uh betting on his pedigree and his ability to handle big moments uh but the the one thing is that during the downtime when he wasn't on the roster of the DS, he spent a lot of time trying to identify some of the issues that had led him to surrender 25 runs in 25 innings across his final six starts of the regular season. And it's kind of funny because you go back, you know, a month, month and a half, you're like,

does Max shows her to start game one or not? And then he goes through that stretch, you're like, well, should he even start at all? And then obviously he didn't in the divisional round. This time around he is. And so the Blue Jays feel like he still got the stuff to compete at that level and to get results at that level. But it hasn't been there for a stretch in that a lot of it has been about location, has been about the sharpness of some of his breaking pitches.

and if he was able to find a patch during that downtime, then you're going to get the better version of Max Schorzer that you've seen this season. And if he hadn't, then it could be a quick hook in another bullpen game. On the other side, on the bump for the Mariners tonight, it's George Kirby. What are the Blue Jays been saying? What has John Schneider been saying about the big challenge that they face with Kirby tonight? I mean, the same as all the other.

Mariner starters, right? You know, good fastball, ability to move, a ball around the zone, attacks you, doesn't give you anything, you have to really earn it. And, you know, the Blue Jays, they were in a situation where, you know, coming into game one of the series, the Mariners were fatigued.

They put a lot on their bullpen with that 15-in-aming marathon game against the Tigers, cross-country travel, The couple of their starters had pitched out of the bullpen in relief, so they needed time. You know, Bryce Miller was going to have to go on short rest. If there was a time to really grind up this pitching staff, that was it. But now they're reset, right? The Bryce Miller's six innings did a lot for this team. You know, Logan Gilbert on short rest, and he followed up.

And he was not a short rest, but having pitched 30-something pitches in the marathon game he was effective and then now you're back into normal normalcy and they've managed to sort of

pay the tax on that fatigue and then move on so they're going to get the George Kirby that you probably expect and that's going to be a tough challenge for them but again they beat they've beaten good pitchers

a lot this year and now they've got to really grind him up and find a way to create and get back to the type of game that they've played all season long. It gets underway tonight. 5 p.m. our time is first pitch from Seattle. It's game three of the ALCS.

Essentially a must win for the Jays as they go to Seattle. Shai, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. We'll see what happens and how much longer this series goes on for. Appreciate it, guys. Have a good day. Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Shai Davidi Sportsnet.

MLB writer and Blue Jays writer here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. From the ALCS, we go to the Western Hockey League. The new head coach of the Vancouver Giants is going to join us in just a second here, Parker Burgess. A reminder, call now, 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-650, to win a pair of tickets to see the Giants and Wenatchie this Friday at the Langley Events Center. Caller number five today is going to get a pair of tickets to see the Vancouver. Giants and our next guest, the head coach of those Vancouver Giants, Parker Burgess, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 9-650.

Good morning, Parker. How are you? Good guys. How are you guys today? We're great. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. So before we get into the games on the weekend, including the one against Wenatch and your team so far, a little bit about you, first-time guest on the program, first-time head coach in the Western Hockey League, although you're not that unfamiliar with it. You spent the majority of your coaching career in the U.S. So tell us about the jump to the dub and what it's been like so far early days,

but your first year on the job in the Western Hockey League. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I've been in junior hockey for five years, most recently in the USHL down in the States, but I was born and raised in Alberta, so very familiar with the Western Hockey League and just the professionalism, the quality of players and the organizations within the league.

And it was something that for me and my family, when we were looking at different opportunities at the end of last season, coming out of the U.S.HL, it was, you know, Vancouver was a very attractive option and couldn't be happier living here in the Vancouver area and getting to work with great players and a great organization. So it's been good so far. When did you decide to make coaching your job aspiration? Like when did the dream happen? You played college at University of St. Thomas, which is in Minnesota. And then you were an assistant coach then. Were you just kind of feeling things out, or did you always want to do this?

Yeah, that's a good question. I think from a pretty early age, I knew as a player that, you know, my mind did, my body couldn't do a lot of the things that my mind wanted to. And I, you know, I had a good understanding of the game. I played, you know, Junior A and B, C, and Alberta, and then got to play NCAA down in the States. But I had an uncle who coached in the Western League. He coached in Seattle. He also

coach in the Alberta Junior League. So I was around coaching a little bit growing up and I was, you know, whether it was doing fantasy drafts on PlayStation or organizing road hockey games, I always kind of had a passion for it. I didn't necessarily think that I was going to make a career out of it. And my senior year at school down in the States, I was fortunate enough to be a captain and I played for a long time head coach. And after my senior year, he retired and the assistant coach at the time took over as the head coach. And I think at the time I was looking at maybe playing some minor pro hockey in the Central Hockey League, which doesn't even exist anymore.

My dad wasn't an overbearing hockey dad by any means. But after my senior year, the new head coach said, hey, if you stick around, be my assistant coach, we'll be able to help pay for your master's degree. So for me, like getting my feet wet into it, it was like, hey, this is a good opportunity you to get a free, free, you know, master's degree, go to grad school, and then if I end up moving back to Alberta and doing something there, at least I have that and it's paid for.

And then once I got into coaching, I kind of fell in love with it. And just being around the rink every day, it definitely didn't feel like work. And I've spent 10 years in the college side of things, and now I'm in year six in junior hockey. So the head coach at St. Thomas's Jeff Besser. Is that a relationship to Brock Besser? No, no, actually.

It's not, it's funny, they're both from Minnesota and then Brockstad, I believe his name was Duke Bessor. And then Jeff Besser was at the University of St. Thomas. He also went by the name of Duke. So I think just coincidentally, they're both from Minnesota, both have the same names, but good hockey name for sure in that state. Okay. How has your team started this season? What are you happy with? What still needs work?

Yeah, I think we'd like to have better results on the table. You know, I don't think anybody's satisfied with being through. and six right now, but I think, you know, for not only myself, but we have a new general manager, basically an entire new coaching staff. You know, we were brought in and the Vancouver Giants have been a great organization and, you know, won the Memorial Cup in 2007 and had some tremendously talented players come through the organization. But I do believe that we were hired to come in and help elevate things. And for us, it's, you know, foundationally just instilling some habits and some details and some standards that we feel are

important not only to have, you know, success right away, but also the continuity and be able to, you know, have long-term success. And we're building this not just for a week from now or a month from now, but we want to make sure that in the long run, this season, next season, we're well sustained to have continued success. And so for us as a coaching staff, it's and important that, you know, whatever our values are or our standards are, you know, our messages remain the same, win or lose. And we believe that instilling those kind of foundational principles will be something we'll be able to lean on down the road. And it's still very much a work in progress. And sometimes you've got to take a step back and look at it from

kind of the macro lens and realize that you are making steps. And there is progress, even though right now we'd like to flip the results a little bit. But I was very encouraged how we ended the trip out in Saskatchewan. We had a good win against Regina and hopefully something we can build on going into this weekend. What are the values of a good hockey team? I think it just starts with like the environment and the behaviors of the

players in which we can kind of create, but it's up to them to live it. And it's a lot of different things. It's, you know, the passion and enthusiasm they have when they show up to the rink every day. It's how they treat one another, how they treat you know, support staff, people around

the rink and then just expectations you know for themselves and and you know these kids all have aspirations to play professional hockey and to be in the NHL and I think it's our job to help you know they're going to have to learn some of these things at some point if they want to make that jump to pro hockey and it's our job to help them realize the value in in learning those things and instilling those those kind of those principles now and you know at times it can be met with resistance and there's still kids. But I really believe, too, it's about, you know, when they come to the

Western Hockey League, it was very similar to the USHL, they're all the best players from whatever program they came from, whether it's AAA or high school, prep school, community hockey, like wherever they've come from, they were the best player. And so for us, it's, part of it

is helping them learn that it's not necessarily about the player that you were or the player that you think you are right now. it's the player that you're going to need to be to have success when you go into pro hockey and some players are more self-aware. You know, some young players are more self-aware than others

and what they need to do to have success and to be pros and other guys, you've got to really dig in and teach them. So that's part of our responsibility and we're just chipping away at it now. Parker, before we let you go, can you set up the weekend for us to get a 3-3-3-your-home Friday, as we mentioned, against Winatchie? Then it's on the road in Penticton on Saturday. They're back home against Medicine Head on Sunday.

So a busy weekend, 3 and 3, set it up for the listeners. Yeah, I think, you know, obviously coming off a 15-day journey in Saskatchewan and you get thrown right back into a 3-3-and-3 can be a little bit challenging. Taking the private jet, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We just had a really long 20-hour runway from Saskatchezer back to Vancouver. So, no, it'll be good. It's good, you know, like I said, we finished the road trip on a very positive note.

and, you know, we have a great Penticton team on Saturday and a really good medicine hat team on Sunday, but I think for our group, our focus just needs to be on Friday night against Winatchie and try our best to kind of build off that momentum. And it'll be nice to be back at the LEC and playing a home game in front of our crowd. And we know when Atchie's a good team, very skilled, they're good in transition.

So we just have to make sure we're managing the puck and a lot of those habits and details that we spoke about we're on the right side of it. Parker, this was great. We're going to be doing this a bunch this season. So best of luck, and we look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks, guys. Have a great week, and we'll talk to you soon. Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Parker Burgess.

The new head coach of the Vancouver Giants here on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. Reminder, Giants are in action this Friday against Winachi. We gave away tickets during that hit to the Friday game. I believe, Adog, if you can confirm, we're also going to be giving away tickets to the Sunday game later this week. Yeah, we'll give them away tomorrow. Beautiful. Winatchie is one of my favorite names of Washington's. state. That and Wala Walla Walla is a good one. I enjoy Puyallup. Do the Puyallup. Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one.

Winachy. Didn't Krusty say Wala Wala once? When he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Didn't Krusty say Walla Wala once? When he was like, Seattle. That was the one. What's the road on the drive, the Chuckinut Drive? I like that one. There's always an exit for Chuckinette. That's not to be confused with Luckacuck. That's in Chilawak. That's in Chilawak. That's right. Right next to Lickman Road. Lickman, yeah. Good old Lickman. Yeah, yeah. Love Chilowack.

We're just saying words out loud now. They're a very suggestive place out there. It is. Very risque. They live on the edge out there in Chilowac every day. Okay, we got to go to break. Final hour of the program is coming up. Randiip Jand is going to join us from some Canucks talk.

A reminder, the Canucks fly today. They're on their way to Dallas, where they will begin their five-game road trip tomorrow. We'll talk to Randipe of what happened to practice yesterday. what we can look forward to on the road trip, what the lines might look like now that Braden Coots has been sent back to WHL Seattle and Max Sasson is on his way up to Abbotsford. All of it is happening in the final hour of the program.

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