Halford & Brough in the Morning - Could LA Be A Landing Spot For EP40?

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest hockey news with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:44), plus the boys discuss the bizarre state of college football as well as some NFL news (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Thank you, Sarah Valley, Sarah Valley, Sarah Valley, Frank. Sarah Valley, Frank, Sarah Valley, Frank. 703 on a Wednesday, happy Wednesday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 6.50. Free. Halford and Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Scory debt freedom hat trick.

One, no more interest, too much lower payments, and three financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Frank Sarvelli, our NHL insider from Victory Plus is going to join the program in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason hominock

at Jason.orgage. If you love, give me 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.com. We are coming to you live from the kintech studio. Make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with kintech custom orthotics. By the way, Halford, I looked up the odds and Jared Bednar is the favorite. Fairly heavy favorite too. He's at one book. He's at plus 150. And then a couple of guys at plus 600, coop. Yep. And Lindy Ruff. That's a good one. Whose odds have probably improved over the last

a little while. Rick talking is fairly back there at plus 2,500. Interesting. Okay, to the phone lines we go. Frank Zara Valley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus, a presentation of Angry Outer Liquor joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How are you guys? We're good, thanks. I want to start with what happened in Philadelphia last night. Philadelphia Flyers. Can we actually wait? You just mentioned the Jack Adams. and I think it's incredible that John Cooper hasn't won one. Someone just texted, okay, someone just texted that in, oddly enough, saying that Cooper nor Jared Bednar have ever won one.

I can understand Bednar maybe because he hasn't been around as long, but it is amazing that John Cooper's never won. Well, we all know how that award is given out, right? Sure. If your team has high expectations, it is wrong. It is wrong. Yeah, I agree. In some ways, coaching a thousand games with the same team,

which John Cooper hit last night is way more of a challenge than being the new guy that comes in and cracks the whip for 82, gets a team to have a 20-point turnaround makes the playoffs and all of a sudden wins an award based on whatever preconceived expectations existed. It should change. It really should. I agree with that. I was actually saying, like, if you look at the standings right now and you look, obviously, Tampa Bay, it was a big John Cooper night last night. He got celebrated prior to the game with the ceremony, they go out and they beat the Colorado Avalanche and Jared Bednar, which a lot of people haven't done this year.

And it's been a really impressive year for them as it's a bit of a bounce back from a team that I thought might have been on the downward slope in terms of age and where they were going with a trajectory. To what do you owe this success? Obviously, the guy behind the bench plays a big role. But what has it been about Tampa Bay this year that has allowed them to return to contender status, it seems like? It's a wide open Eastern Conference is one.

I mean, you don't have some of the juggernauts of the last few years. The Leafs aren't very good. The Florida Panthers have been just okay this regular season that the competition has been a little bit less daunting. But you see a night like last night against that Aves team that has now suddenly lost two in a row in regulation, which is, it's amazing that that feels like news. But it's part of it is goaltending. Andre Vasilevsky's playing at a much better level than he was

in previous years. They've really weathered some incredible injuries. The amount of time that Victor Headman has missed more than half the season to this point in time that some of their other players on their back end, they had a mash unit at one point. So that's been really impressive.

And Kuturov is, like, he's been as good as he's ever been, 61 points in 38 games. And so, look, the lightning have presented themselves again as a formidable contender and it's tough to bet against a team that you might even see a healthier Victor Hedman in the second half of the season

depending on how he comes out of the Olympics that I certainly wouldn't bet against the lightning being one of those teams that comes out of the east. They always seem like they're a cut above when it comes to their pro scouting. I look at the Darren Radish thing when I looked at his number,

after last night, 12 goals and 36 points in 36 games from a defenseman that I think anyone in the NHL at one point probably could have gotten their hands on because no one assumed that he was going to ascend to these heights. And if you look at who's done the business for them with all these injuries on defense, it's Radish, it's J.J. Moser, it's Charles, Edward Dastus. Like, it's guys that they are able to find and get into their system and not just do replacement level, but go way above replacement level. when they get a chance. We can't pretend that they weren't a good team last season.

No. They finished with 102 points. They just have issues with the Florida Panthers, which a lot of teams do. Right. And so you mentioned Rattish. How do you think the New York Rangers feel? They had him in the H.L for three years. Not like a blink of an eye and, oh, man, this guy developed somewhere else.

Like, you had him and you, you know, you fumbled the bank. Yeah. Speaking of guys, finding a breath of fresh air in a new locale. Now we will turn our attention to what Trevor Ziegress and the Philadelphia Flyers did last night. So you coined it as an electric atmosphere after Zegra scored twice in a 5-2 win over his former team. We played clips of his sort of now viral walk-off interview with Scott Hartnell afterwards, where he was swearing and taking shots at the Anaheim Ducks. How big a surprise is Zegress's performance thus far in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia, is this what they sort of expected in terms of a bounce back after leaving Anaheim? No, it was their hope, definitely not their expectation. They thought that they might be able to unlock a top six player, but to think that Trevor Zegris, you know, would have had the start to this season and his tenure in Philly that he has. I mean, the Flyers, you know, they did not expect that. I mean, look, he's tracking for a career year and goals to basically double his previous goal total to put up 80 some points.

And I think the amazing part about how this has unfolded for the Flyers is they've given him some runway and leeway here to be himself. I think there's probably some facets of the way Trevor Ziegress prepares is a pro. probably even some facets of his game that have driven them crazy at times but they're willing to go with it because they know that he's a highly talented and skilled individual and so they've tried to sort of set some non-negotiables

that he's hit and for the rest of it they're like okay Zegress is going to do what he does let's just let that happen and that part is sometimes uncomfortable for a front office and coaching staff, but absolutely necessary when, you know, you've got to try and find difference makers. And he has been that for this team.

Frank, you follow the Flyers situation closer than us. It seems to me that there's a segment of the Flyers fan base that is pretty happy with what's going on this season. They're in a playoff position. Trevor Zegris has been successful. They're winning hockey games, but there also seems to be, and I don't know what percentage of fan base this is, that still doesn't love the direction of the team. They didn't like the Rick Tocket hire. They don't like his style of hockey.

They don't like, for example, how Mitchkoff has been handled at times. What's your take on the Flyers market right now and some of the opinions going out there? And what is your opinion? it's pretty divided as you mentioned there's some part of the fan base that's just clinging to and dying for some relevancy meaning like they're thrilled that their team is in the mix and then there's the other part that I think sees a little bit of the bigger

picture part of which I have spoken to at times this season like they work hard they compete Zegris has been eye-opening Dan Vladar has been unquestionably one of the great free agent signings. Christian Dvorak has been fine, but then they sort of dip their toe into the other end of the pool with, okay, like, we like

what Dvorak has done this season, but five years, really? Like, that's too long. And so it's been this weird dichotomy and the Michikov is like the ultimate third rail discussion point because they're

bothered by the fact that this is a guy who's really struggled of late, his ice time and deployment has been diminished. He came to camp out of shape. There's been some immaturity clearly on display for a guy who just turned 21. And so this is come and fits and starts. And that part, I think, has been frustrating. I think where I come out on it is it's, it really, and this actually kind of comes back to Vancouver too, because there's a more holistic discussion to be had here is the goal to

like to have a fun competitive year where the games are entertaining and exciting and if that's the goal then like the flyers have accomplished that and the Canucks at varying points like could accomplish that and have done that or is the

goal to compete and build to win a Stanley Cup and is everything else just details I don't know what the right answer to that is because I don't buy tickets and I'm not a fan and I don't consume the game in that way. But I tend to lean toward really what you're shooting for here is to win a Stanley Cup. And each year that you sort of dither in this middle where you're

just happy to be in the playoff mix, it takes you one year further away from ultimately trying to compete. And that's the part that I struggle with with the flyers. Like, is this year exciting? Yes. But Trevor Ziegress and Matt Vaymichkov are wingers. Jet Luchenko is trending toward being a third-line center if he's even a center at all in the NHL. Dan Vladar has been a great story, but probably by all likelihood isn't a franchise goalie. And Travis Sandheim is a Canadian Olympian, but I don't, is he a number one defenseman in the NHL?

No, no, no. So, you don't have the franchise goalie, you don't have the number one defenseman, and you don't have anything close to resembling a number one center, which is why you just signed Christian Dvorak to a five-year deal. Are the flyers really any closer to competing, or

and is this season just window dressing? Or do you just sit back and enjoy the ride? I don't know how to answer that. Yeah, I think it probably it just depends on the type of fan that you are. Some fans just want to watch their team, and hopefully they win a game, and others do take more of a big picture.

I mean, in Vancouver, it's kind of existential. We just want to see the team win the Stanley Cup once. Any answer is okay, by the way. No, no, no, for sure. Those same questions all apply, just switch the jersey and talk about the Canucks. Well, let's talk about the Canucks a little bit here, because I think it was actually your appearance with SAT,

where they asked about Elias Pedersen and whether any teams could be in on him. And when we were talking about that, we threw out a team, and that is the Los Angeles Kings, who are going to lose Anzee Kopitar at the end of this season. He's not going to play in the NHL anymore. And we wondered,

could L.A. be a potential landing spot for Elias Pedersen? So that's my question to you, and I guess the follow would be, if it's not, Elias Pedersen, what are they planning to do to replace Anzacopatar? Yeah, that's a great question. As the Kings are kind of more than some other teams in terms of posture, are really more slanted toward trying to win now, which is interesting because they're on the back end of what I think you could fairly call a failed rebuild.

I mean, they tried to tear it down a little bit, got high draft picks, and tried to take this methodical approach, but they really missed out on, it's not the development part, which I think has been fine, it's been the scouting part that they didn't nail. And perhaps maybe timing plays a big role in this. It's great to have high-end picks, but if the draft crop isn't that good, that's one of the pitfalls or risks of the rebuild, and you can go back and chart and find the places that the king's missed on. But as they're passing this torch, Philip DeNoe is gone. Quentin Byfield is a really intriguing player with his size, but seems to kind of be topping out at that 50 to 55 point range. and so you're looking for who's that next piece down the middle

and so I think what we've had here in the last couple weeks as we've gotten on the back of the holidays specifically with regards to Pedersen is just look at the deal signed I mentioned Dvorak but also Alex Wendberg and Wendberg is a guy who had a one point in time 59 point season Christian Dvorak, these are like 40-point players

and they're signing for 5.15 and 6 million a year. All of a sudden you turn around to Pedersen who has a 40-gole 100-point season on his resume and although he hasn't looked anything close to that of late and there's certainly risk in that contract though like comparing 6 to 11.6 doesn't really feel like that big of a goal given how big the talent disparity is.

And so I do think that in my conversations with teams that they have, I believe, opened their eyes to, hey, maybe this isn't as tough of a contract as the market would present. And what opportunities do we have to try and find someone who could potentially be a difference maker even if they're not right now? I mean, is there anything coming down the pipe either? in the trade market or upcoming free agency in terms of centers? Nick Schmaltz is going to make a lot of money.

That's the only, I've heard his name so much. I'm like, he must be it, right? I can't think that there's anybody else out there. I mean, that's why I think these guys are seeing paydays incoming. Here's the rundown of pending UFA centers. Malkin, Charlie Coyle, and that's Malkin if he wants to continue playing, and who knows if it's outside of Pittsburgh. Right, 39-year-old.

J.G. Peugeot, Scott Lawton, Jason Dickinson, Adam Henry, Kevin Hayes, and Eric Holla. Right. That says it all right there. I think we're speaking to Frank Serra Valley from Victory Plus here on the Halford and Breft Show on Sports Net 650.

Before we let you go, I just wanted to end on the New Jersey Devil's situation. I think it's pretty pretty, like it's really rich a critical point here now after the 9-0-0-0-lost to the Islanders last night. So without looking too far back, wanted to look forward how dire is the situation there what do you think is going to happen next in new jersey that's anyone's guess i mean there's a lot of traction on social media with

devil's fans that are on fire looking for a management change for a front office that has backed itself into a few corners here um on one hand you know trading and acquiring players on difficult contracts that are not difference makers. Like Timo Meyer has again, they gave up a ton to get him, and he's turned out to basically be a 23 to 25 goal score. And Dougie Hamilton spending $9.5 million a year on the back end, like those two guys contractually really prevented this team from going after Quinn Hughes. And so that part looms large and then spin it forward.

I don't really think Sheldon Keefe is at fault here. But when you leave your goaltender in for nine consecutive goals, even at the point where he appeared to be skating toward the bench and had to turn back to his crease because even he thought he was being yanked, it's created a really unpleasant situation for a team that is floundering and looking for answers that don't appear to be readily available. Frank, this was great, man. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it.

We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Wednesday. Sounds good. See you guys. See you later. That's Frank Cerr Valley on SportsNet 650. A presentation of Angry Otter Liquor Plus program members save for game days in Angry Outer Liquor.

Score big on your favorite beer, wine, and whiskey. Sounds like a country music lyric. Stock up before puck drop. This is them online at Angry Otter Liquor. CRS. Save bag on your beer wine and whiskey. See, there you go. I still can't believe

Keith left him out there for nine goals. With Patrick Waugh on the other bench, by the way, which a few smart listeners have texted in. The ironing is delicious there.

Yeah. Wow, like the PTSD dog meme zooming him on his face. Do you think Patrick Waugh was like, you know what I'd do? You know what you should consider. March him looking at Wawa's

just nodding his head. I know. Something's got a, something's got to got a break there, right? Sheldon Keith has been around hockey long enough to know that when you leave a goalie in for nine goals and a

nine nothing loss, you are sending a message. That would have been funny if he said after the game, well, it was only seven, but they got two really late ones. Right, it got away from a sentence. I listen, he had, dare

I say, the audacity, the audacity to praise his team for doing certain things right last night. and generating a lot of scoring chances. Adam Foote tipped his cap to that. You stayed positive. I don't even think I could do that. I was trying to read deeper into the,

I'm like, is he saying that they thought that they did all right and that the goaltending was that horrific? Without saying it? We were right there. Right. There was just one problem last night, and then he doesn't say what the problem is. It was the nine goals we let in.

And then none we scored. I felt awful for Markstrom. Yeah. I felt awful for that's not that's that's that's you don't treat a goalie like that that you you you just don't yeah you know there are certain certain moments where you watch and you're like you know we make a big deal out of everything but that is a big deal yes that's a big deal I know like I like I like I felt that way with um you know one of JT Miller shifts in one of his final games I was like that's a deal right there. And then I also felt it the same way about a couple of Quinnie uses shifts

in the battle. Like that can't continue and people can excuse it all they want. He was at the end of a long shift. Like that definitely, I mean, there was, there was a correlation there between him getting traded very quickly and those shifts. This is the same sort of thing where you're like, you know, I know some crazy stuff happens in sports, but when you have control of a situation like Sheldon Keefe does, and he allows his goalie to stay in there for nine goals against, that just doesn't happen. That's so unusual that something else has to be going on there.

So what he kept talking about in the aftermath was, he's like, I'm really only concerned about the response right now. He just kept saying, he's like, I'm really only concerned to see how we put bouncing back. The response is possibly you're fired. Translation, I don't want to talk about this game anymore. No, you know what I think, you know what I honestly? the thing it was. What was he thinking? I think he wanted to make a statement and see what the guys would do if they would rally behind Markstrom. Like, are you going to come out the next game and are you going to play better? Are you going to play better in front of him? Are you going to make his life easier? I think that was the objective. I don't think it's the right way to go about it. Really stupid. Yeah, well, I don't think it's a smart move. But I didn't understand. Markstrom was mortified. He was embarrassed. I've led in nine in a game before. Like in a game that mattered too, not like beer league. I think when I was younger, we were playing.

in, I can't remember what, we went over to Victoria and we lost 9-1. And this is soccer. Yeah. And I remember, just here's the thing. At a certain point, your confidence is so shattered that you think that everything that's going towards you

was going to go in. And they did apparently. And then it does. You're like, wow, how did that happen? Right. And here's the thing. Other guys on the ice or on the pitch, they can make mistakes or they can have a rotten game,

but it doesn't end up that you're picking. the ball out of the back of the net or picking the puck out of the back of the net every time game stops cameras focused on you and you want out right if you have a bad shift and you're and you're andre platt like at least you get to go to the bench and sit off for a while and you can't do it exactly yeah you can't do it you're just back in there right and that was the tough part about last night it's because the islanders it scored too late like you were saying Like the onslaught did not stop. It just kept going right until the bitter end.

It was a tough thing to watch. Okay, we're up against it for time. We've got to go to break. We've had an open segment coming up next. If you want to weigh in on anything, the Cucks game last night, anything from across the NHL, anything in the world of sports, John Harbaugh out in Baltimore.

Did you guys pick up on that one yet? I want to talk about this Huskies news in the state of college sports. Well, we can do it next because we have an open segment. 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 Wednesday, happy Wednesday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 6.50. Halford in the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up 80% with the upfront fees to learn how. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com.

Still in hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason dot mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around and find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.

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At the Duick Auto Group.com You wanted to do this Demand Williams story Yeah out of the University of Washington So for those that don't know DeMond Williams This past year was

If I'm not mistaken A sophomore quarterback for the University of Washington had a very good year, was all Big Ten, a prized possession of the Huskies football program, so much so that they signed him to a contract on January 2nd

to return next season as the starting quarterback for the University of Washington. Now I mentioned that he signed the contract on January 2nd. Which again is weird to hear because it's college football. football and I think some people are still

wrapping their heads around players signing contracts to remain with a team. And we will explain that a moment but after signing the contract on January the 2nd, yesterday which was January the 6th DeMond Williams said that he's entering the transfer portal

and is planning to leave the University of Washington. Four days after telling them he was going to stay he said now I'm going to leave. And his rumored destination is LSU. And who is the new head coach of LSU? Well, that would be Lane Kiffin. That's correct.

Who you might remember him from this season coaching Ole Miss. He went to a transfer portal of his own. Who are currently alive for a national title, except he's not coaching them anymore. Right. Because he bailed on the team to go to LSU, although he said he wanted to continue coaching. them. And then they said, no thanks. So Williams entered the transfer portal with what's called

a no contact clause. And that means don't bother calling. I'm going into this portal because I'm transferring, but I already know where I want to go. That's my status on my phone. No contact. And it's there all the time. I never want you to contact me. So here's the thing. It's such a weird scenario because I'm sure a lot of you listening right now are saying, wait a minute. How does a student athlete sign a contract with a school? Well, that's where it gets kind of weird. Because DeMond Williams didn't sign a standard employment contract. He doesn't work for the University of Washington.

He's not a teacher or a cafeteria worker. He's a student athlete. They called it a, quote, legally binding revenue share contract with the school. This is the NIL money, right? So what they allow you to do, now is college athletes can get income through personal brand endorsements, social media

appearances. The school can facilitate it. Name image likeness. Right. The school can facilitate it through their boosters usually, right? And you can sign a contract. And you can sign a contract. I want X amount of money. And the school's like, we'll figure out through our booster programs, what a freaking boost, everything else, how we can get you this money. But apparently there's a very gray area about how binding those are

because apparently because well if you think about it like you're not really signing a contract to stay at the school you're signing a contract for that school to make sure you get your money but there's you're not an employee at least that's what DeMond Williams thinks

the University of Washington is like you signed a contract you got two options next year you're playing football at UW or you're not playing football at all now I will say this and Softie Mahler, who we've had on the program numerous times from KJR Sports Radio. He is beside himself right now.

It's pretty greasy to do this four days after you signed a contract and told the school you were coming back. I know the timeline doesn't really matter, but it kind of does. Four days is crazy work. I mean, this guy is a Heisman candidate for next season. It's why Lane Kiffin is probably thinking, I'm going to LSU, there's going to be a lot of expectations on me. I need someone.

So what has Lane Kiffin, if LSU is indeed the destination for him? There have been a couple schools rumored, but I think everyone's like, it's definitely going to be LSU, isn't it? Uh-huh. What is he promised, DeMond Williams, in addition to what the Huskies already offered him? Probably even more money, would be my guess. Less rain?

I don't know. I mean, Washington is a big school in a big program, but it's not LSU. I, what's the best way to put this? I liked college football more and college sports in general more when the athletes got screwed financially. I never thought I'd say this. When they were treated like possessions. You know, you know what I miss is I miss when you used to have to cheat

and work around. Yeah, yeah. Right? There's a gentleman's game that. Right. Everyone understood that we were cheating, but you still pretended like there were rules. And you still pretended like there was some level of amateurism to this. Everybody's been getting paid for forever, but we did it in the darkness. It was like sports betting a little bit.

It used to just exist in these sort of weird gray and sometimes even darker areas. And people understood that it was there and they left it alone. And every now and again, the NCAA would come and slap somebody on the wrist and say don't do that again and everyone be like fine that's the penalty that we'll have to pay for constantly breaking the rules and everyone was happy except the student athletes it's a it's a wild wild time right now what was that stat that was going around it's like 33% of all college football players are in the transfer they're in the transfer portal now everyone just wants to leave there's more free agents in college football than there are in the

NHL i think there is there's way more second line centers available i would imagine yeah it's it's wild. John Harbaugh got fired by the Baltimore Ravens hit a long run. 18 years. I wonder if that ownership group just went we got Lamar Jackson.

We got to do more with him. Yeah. So the understanding was that Harbaugh was going to be loyal to Todd Monkin, the unfensive coordinator, and then I think that they wanted to change. And I think they just wanted to change in general. I know Harbaugh reportedly

had seven, his agents, sorry, had seven calls within like 24 hours of the announcement that he was going to be moving on. So there are teams... When if I'll go to the Raiders? I mean, the Raiders, the Raiders would be hilarious because him and his brother would be in that classic AFC West rivalry. I think he'll go to the Giants more likely. Any team with a vacancy right now should be calling. Yeah. Any team. And I would not be surprised if a team that bows out early in the playoffs also circles back and says, you might be our guy. I'd always be hesitant to call up a guy that have been with a team for that long.

John Harvall's not young either. No, but you'd just be like, okay, is there any burnout out there? I'd want to know that for sure. And how motivated are you going to be? I mean, it might be great. If he feels like he was hard done by, by the Ravens, then he might...

How could you? No, I don't think he would. But, anyway, that'll be interesting. the NFL By the way I just want to point this out He 18 years on the job And he was not the longest Tenured coach

In the national football league Yeah it's Tomlin Yeah The Baltimore Ravens have had Three coaches In their history Three And I know they

Came around in 95 96 So like there's still a rate Relatively new But they had I think it was Ted March of Broda Brian Billick

And then John Harbaugh Like what I know we've been doing This thing The last little while we've been comparing and contrasting the NFL and the NHL, but in terms of player movement,

but coaching movement in the NFL, it's wild how many guys, when they find some success and they find some stability, they can last an awfully long time. Three coaches to go with the Canucks is Boudreau, isn't it? I think so. Yeah, I mean. Foot, talk at Boudreau.

Yeah, I mean, look at outside of Coup. I think some organizations, though, just run that way. Like, the Steelers don't fire coaches. No. And the chiefs have had Andy Reid in charge. for 13 years. Sean McDermott's been in Buffalo for close to a decade.

There is something about stability, especially when you've got, I mean, a lot of the things that these have had in common, Pittsburgh less so now, but they've had a really great quarterback there. Pittsburgh did have been Rothlisberger for a long time. Andy Reid has had Patrick Mahomes. Sean McDermen's had

Josh Allen. So you can kind of say like the correlation between having a long tenured head coach is having a good quarterback. And Harbaugh had too. He had Flack and then he had Lamar Jackson. But, you know, there is such a big regime change it comes with moving on from a new coach. And it's why, I think, if it doesn't work right away,

you see them get just axed, right? It's like, this isn't working. We're going to go in a different direction. That's why you've got to prove really early in the process. By the way, my hope now is it the Baltimore Ravens hire Bill Belichick. So that... I don't think anyone's hiring. That would be amazing.

That would be amazing. Well, I think Bill Belichick's pretty low. on the list of available candidates. He's, um, uh, he's busy figuring out the transfer portal. Yeah. And he just hates that. And attending adult cheerleading contests, which I didn't, one, I, that was a while ago, wasn't it?

I, I did not know that there was an adult cheerleading circuit. Yeah. There's, probably a reason for that. Did you guys all know this? Do you enlistner land know this? Bill, I'm, I'm a, I'm a flyer. I know what it is. I'm familiar with it.

I've been secretly practicing for years. Okay. So everyone knows. Like, cheerleading's pretty big among like the youths. Yeah. Right. But I guess there's this subsection of adults that never gave up the dream and are doing it.

And I'm not talking like right out of college. Like adults that should know better are well into their 30s. They enjoy it. I know. There's nothing wrong with doing something that you enjoy. No. Except this. Is this like the,

is this like the. Disney adults, is similar scenario? Yes, maybe. Yeah, I think there's an overlap. It's an athletic sport, though. It's a little weird just going to Disneyland. I think it's camaraderie and that sort of thing. Right.

What's wrong with it? Maybe if you had a little more positivity and isn't that what you're leading is? Who hurt you? I feel. You know what cheerleading is. It's just being positive about, I don't know, cheer. That actually is, that does bring up a big question. What's that? What are they cheering?

That's what I'm wondering. In adulthood, what are you cheering? Like, we did our taxes? I don't know. But certain things, I think. Like Jake Texan, it's beer league cheerleading. Yeah, that's what it is. It kind of reminds me of the, you have you seen those viral videos that have gone on of the 40 plus football leagues down in a lot of the southern states, Georgia, Florida.

That's a wild to me. They're still playing full contact. Full contact. Football. You know, there's a couple of guys out there and you're thinking, I hope this guy had a better week at work. Right. Because last week, he had a bad week at work and there were some targeting going on.

Yeah. It's amazing the guys will still do it. You know what I'm talking about. You've seen it, right? Full pads, full contact, full tackle, and all the guys are 40 plus. And it's amazing. Anyway. You see it at hockey.

I see guys that take it way too seriously. Right? but most of the beer leagues are non They are non It's against the rules But it's not Is there a full

Full on like Old man adult hockey league Where you're like just like fights and No Not with fights But you You see like a senior men's league There are ones that allow a little bit of hitting

Yeah I wouldn't say like fully allow it I'm actually not sure Maybe in the states I wonder if it's an insurance Well senior men's hockey is a big deal in Ontario I don't know if there's much out here And they do allow full contact

Follow up question What if we create? one. Old man hitting hockey league? Why not? All right, Bruff, your first up? No. I cannot imagine going out and playing a beer league game and all of a sudden there's hitting.

But you know what? I don't even go into the corners with no hitting, let alone if there is hitting. I'm a goalie, so I'd love it. That would be absolutely wild to go out there and be thrown into a game with full contact. Should we start the Halford and Brough all contact? Can we only just to see all the lawsuit? Can we find an insurance provider first? Our waiver is lengthy and we demand that you read this.

Yeah. But if you sign, I bet you could do it. If there's a full adult cheerleading league and circuit. They should join forces. Yeah, right. Share the games. It's like the LNAH in Quebec. Yeah, well, that's basically what it is.

That's semi-pro, though, right? Yeah, I guess. A lot of washed-up guys that just there to throw their. body around. Okay, besides the devils imploding and the Trevor Zegris story with the flyers, what were the

big stories last night in the NHL? I actually think in that game where Trevor Ziegress stuck it to the Anaheim Ducks, do we need to start talking about the Anaheim ducks and how they have completely they're collapsing

right now? Yeah, I put it out on Twitter last night. I said I was so tired of watching the Canucks crumble, but I thought I'd look around the Pacific Division and see who else is. Like the Flyers outshot them, I think they got over 40 shots in that game. They dominated them. Even Rick Togger was like, that's a lot of shots. For my team? Over 40 shots?

Well, the interesting thing here is that you almost have to force yourself to pay attention to this because quite honestly, no one's really digging deep into the beat in Anaheim. If this was any other team in any other market, for example, what we're seeing in Winnipeg where there's major red flags. legs being lifted because they've lost 10 straight and they're 32nd in the NHL. We're seeing what's going on in New Jersey. The fans are apoplectic about this crash that they're in.

Anaheim's in a full-blown spiral. They have lost seven in a row. And we're not talking about nail biters. No, they're getting pumped. 5-2, 7-4, 5-2, 6-1, 8, 3. Like, there's losses where they're spotting the opponent at least five goals. at one point this season they were 1910 and 1

and were vying for top spot in the Pacific Division they're now 2119 and 3 and they look like they can't keep the puck out of the net Did you see Peter Marazik's say percentage? It's bad. He's 857 last I check Marazic still in the league

Yeah because Vile Hussos is hurt I think it's Lucas Dostal and Peter Marazic They call it Vile Huso You know who the hottest team in the Pacific Division is but they're still boring the Seattle Cracking Yeah, they're just doing the business They just keep grinding out pulling

These back 8-1-1 in their last 10 They've won four straight And they're only one point back of Edmonton and Vegas And they got two games in hand on Edmonton You know David came on the show and said You know I watched the Oilers last night

And they're you know That's a team with confidence I'm like are you sure Did you watch them in the last two games Like, there's, there is, there is no one in this Pacific division that I particularly trust right now. The Oilers can, against Nashville. Yeah, but, oh, it's, yeah, exactly. Is that why we're seeing these random runs, though?

Is that why a team like the cracking can go eight in one? Because the division is just so random and I was, everyone is kind of terrible. I think they play coin toss hockey. Like, so you can, you can win a coin toss seven or eight in a row. They just keep the score down. It's a bit like, it's a bit talkative. Yeah, they're very low event. Like their goals against is low, their goals for as low.

They're a top five team, the Krakhan are in goals against though this year. And Grubauer has been good. There's probably a much better environment for him. Yeah. Can I just say this? I was thinking about this last night. I'm like, the NHL is kind of getting everything it deserves this year after an offseason and a summer that was so disappointing and so lame.

everybody except Pittsburgh was identified as a buyer because everyone wanted a piece of the pie and everyone thought hey why not us including the Vancouver Canucks and what you've got this year and no one was capped out so no one was forced to sell players off

I also think that there was an element of like fear and a real conservative lean that just blanketed everything when the Canucks brought back brought back Brock Besser. I thought that was very symbolic of a wide scale movement of, well, let's just bring them back.

Do you think that was a bad call to bring them back with the no playmaking center? Yeah. Yeah. You know what? I really do. Yeah. I feel like the body of work where he didn't have a playmaking center should have suggested to them that if you continue in that vein, he will struggle to score goals. Because like even Philippeal,

wouldn't call him a playmaking center. No. You know, he's a guy that kind of likes to do it himself. Now, I guess there was a chance that there could be some chemistry between Heedel and Becer because Heedle's got good wheels. And Besser doesn't.

And there are players like that. There are still good players. They don't have the wheels. But they do need a center to get you the puck. And this has been obvious to everyone. I know Yanke Hans was on the show yesterday. if you didn't believe it when you heard it for me,

there's an actual NHL player who said, you know, Brock needs a center to get him the puck. And if you look at, if you look at the centers that he's played with this year, I mean, it's David Kamp. No, I know. It's Max Sasson,

you know, Rossi for a little bit. But, you know, again, I don't think Rossi was very impressive. Okay. In his short stint, we're getting him some more time. I don't think he was more impressive, that impressive. and Pedersen and Besser every once in a while they're like, well,

let's try these guys back together again. And it's like, nope, doesn't work. Yeah. I think philosophically... Because Pedersen doesn't skate that well. Right. But I guess philosophically, that move to me signaled a, well, we got to do this.

What else? We can't let him walk. We got to do it. Well, no, no. They couldn't let him walk after they struck out on a bunch of guys. They tried to get out. Yeah, he was the only one left. Yeah.

They could have. They were more than prepared to let him walk. But then they could. But they were like, Dushain, no, he got money to stay in Dallas. Dvorak, no, he chose the one-year deal in Philly. And he's since locked up another five, which is, you don't often see that. The one-year deal followed by the five-year deal. No, you don't.

And then they were like, my God, there's no centers on the trade market. We've got this cap space. Brock wants to be here. Here's an offer. That's what I'm saying. That's how it went. That was actually, I've got the transcript from inside the Canucks War Room. They went, uh, bring back Brock.

That's all that was, just a long, uh, uh, uh, uh, to transcribe, but they got it. But anyway, bigger picture, I think what you're seeing right now is a national hockey league where everyone got their just desserts from the summer. Everyone's kind of hanging around and there's three really good teams. Why aren't there more centers? Everyone kept them Who needs to be more centers?

Everyone kept them Just readily available Young people like Gavin McKenna Don't want the responsibility Yeah right Oh it's playing to work as a thing Isn't it? Yeah yeah

Okay we gotta go to break Before we go to break I once again need to remind you That this show is brought to By the Duick Auto Group Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal And nobody has since 1926 Visit Duke GM on Marine Drive

Visit them downtown Visit them in Richmond Visit them in Richmond Visit them online The Doock Auto Group.com Coming up Randy Janda Kock's color analyst on SportsNet 650 is going to join us to recap last night's game 5.3 loss for the Canucks

in Buffalo. We'll look ahead of the Detroit game on Thursday night as well. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.