Halford & Brough in the Morning - DeBrusk On Petey's "Unreal Sick" Passes

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they parse through Canucks audio from yesterday's Jake Milford Classic (10:00), plus they look ahead to today's Canada v. Mexico friendly with OneSoccer lead commentator Gareth Wheeler (27:17). 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.

you're listening to halford and brough i don't want to go really hard i want to go medium hard you know i i'm a big believer just taking a day at a time we live day to day like we live you know, I'm a big believer just taking it a day at a time. We live day to day. Like, we live, you know, with you know, today. We're in today's world. Um, J.G. Miller is a b****. And eventually,

they were rescued by oh, let's say Moe. Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It's Halford and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford and bruv of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier Honda dealership. Visit them online at Vancouvercouverhonda.ca. Hour one of this program is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, they recycle,

you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. And we are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, got a big show today. There's a lot to get into.

The sports keep rolling along. There's something to look forward to almost every night now, which is exciting. Guest list gets underway. 6.30, Gareth Wheeler, the voice of Canadian soccer on OneSoccer, is going to join us to preview tonight's friendly, although I don't know how friendly it'll be, between the Canadians and Mexico from Jarrow World AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

So I did the research on this. Do you think there will be more Mexican fans there or Canadian fans? No, I don't like to make predictions. But last year when Mexico did its 15-match tour of the U.S., they averaged 52,000 supporters

per match. And I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but there is a... How many Canadian fans do you think are making the trip down there? 50. Yeah, so just shy of the 50,000 that they can expect in attendance. Anyway, big match for the Canadians coming off the big win over the Americans on the weekend.

We'll talk to Gareth Wheeler about that at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Nick Shook, NFL.com. He'll be joining us after Monday Night Football, a very impressive performance from the San Francisco 49ers, easily dispatching of Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets without the services of Christian McCaffrey. Late scratch from the game yesterday with a calf injury. No problems there.

The 49ers roll. So they are now tied atop the NFC West with our beloved Seattle Seahawks. Yeah, how was Aaron Rodgers? I wasn't able to actually watch the game. So he didn't get the ball that much. I think I sent you the time of possession stats midway through the third quarter. I was asking for updates from the golf course.

Aaron Rodgers, it's almost like an incomplete on your report card. I was like, we can't really get a great idea because he just didn't have the ball enough. He looked okay throwing it. He didn't look okay running it. Right. And kind of what you would expect

from a 40-year-old guy that's coming off Achilles surgery surgery do you remember in the irishman when we saw deniro fight and you know for most of the movie makeup was able to make him look young ish and then he had that one fight scene where he looked approximately 100 years old we see this sometimes with nfl qbs i remember when tom brady at the end of his career, would take off for a run and he's at the five and now he's at the six. He's still at the six, getting eventually to the seven, to the eight.

It was that slow. Did it look like that for Aaron Rodgers? It didn't look like the Irishman. Do you know the scene I'm talking about? Yes, I know the scene. I was like, wait a minute, that guy's like 100 years old. It's Angry Grandpa. But it wasn't... I'm going to go with incomplete.

We'll ask Nick Shook what he thought, because I had a hard time figuring out exactly what we were seeing, because they barely had the football. And they did have one really good scoring drive. And is that mostly because the 49ers just ran the ball? Yeah, which is, again, pretty incredible, considering Christian Kapp. Running the ball?

Yeah. It's back. It's so back. It's so back. Pete Carroll is like, come on, yeah. Which is, again, pretty incredible considering Christian Kapp. Running the ball? Yeah. It's back. It's so back. It's so back. Pete Carroll is like, come on, man. Get me back in the game. 730, Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks, is going to join us.

He'll be reporting from the MILF. Jake Milford yesterday. A lot of audio coming through there. Some pretty big stories coming from the tournament as well. I'm Brendan Batchelor reporting from the MILF. I can understand. We're coming to you live from the MILF here. And now, lots of players on the field.

The course, Andy. It's the course. On the pitch. Not the pitch. The course. On the ice today at the MILF. Batch was also kind enough to procure some audio, so we'll play that in the opening segment of the show as well.

Brendan Batchelor at 7.30, 8 o'clock. Our weekly BC Lions guest is the general manager, Neil McEvoy. He'll join us. We can ask him, maybe he'll shed some light into how the salary cap works and how much the BC Lions are over it after signing Matthew Betts and Nathan Rourke. You should ask him that directly. How does the salary cap in the CFL work? You know, the league was pretty transparent about it.

They had a press release and everything talking about the exact amount everyone over. And I laughed. I mean, it's not funny, but it's kind of funny that Hamilton went over by like $2,000. This was last year, right? Yeah, this was last year. Because they have to update a league number. You owe us $2,000. Should have done that Timmy's run.

Put us over the top. Hamilton has folded. It's like, we can't make this. They're going to get a payday loan to cover it. I'm expecting us to pay this back. Hey, they won the Labor Day though. They did. They were waiting for me to come home.

And they were so happy that Laddie was there. Like, we're going to do it for you, Laddie. And they also asked you for $2,000 after the game. And then some guys came up to them. Where's my money? They didn't really ask. It's a donation box going around in the stands. The GoFundMe.

Okay. 8 o'clock, Neil McAvoy the stands. The GoFundMe. Okay. 8 o'clock, Neil McEvoy. 7.30, Brendan Batchelor. 7 o'clock, Nick Shook. 6.30, Gareth Wheeler. We got a lot to get into. So without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night?

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Do you want to start with the MILF or do you want to start with the football? Where do you want to go here? I'm going to start with the MILF. Okay. So on Monday.

I always start with the MILF. Yeah. I'm glad you guys have just embraced this now. Yeah. On Monday. So opposed to start with the football? Where do you want to go here? I'm going to start with the MILF. Okay, so on Monday... I always start with the MILF. I'm glad you guys have just embraced this now. Yeah, on Monday... So opposed to it at the beginning. The Canucks gathered at Northview for the annual Jake Milford Charity Golf Tournament, affectionately known as the MILF in these parts. This has, for the last several years,

kicked off the start of the hockey season. All the Canucks players show up, coaches, management, and guests. They all play some golf. They have a good time. They do some media availabilities. They do a little bit of a roast. The new players have to get up there and introduce themselves.

And for us cranks in the media, it's always a chance to prize some much-needed Canucks content as we await the start of youngsters. So we'll start with the Elias Pettersson audio. Right. And then we'll follow it with the Thatcher Demko audio. Oh, why? They were there, right?

They were there. Why are you focusing on those two players in particular? Why those two? They just didn't want to talk? You think you're better than us? Yes. Fair enough. Now, when I say we have audio, we have select audio.

Certain players talked to the media yesterday. There was some news though, and that of course, Brock Besser. Probably the biggest news that everybody proceeded to write on yesterday is that Brock Besser has been cleared to play and is able to begin skating at the start

of training camp after missing that last game of the Stanley Cup playoff second round against Edmonton with a blood clot in his leg. Besser said that off-season training was delayed slightly because he was on blood thinners, but that he's been able to resume skating for a few months and has now, most importantly, been cleared for contact. Let's hear now from Besser on where things are at

with regards to his rehabilitation and what is in the aftermath of taking blood thinners to figure out the clotting issue. Here now, Brock Besser from the MILF. It was okay, and I was on blood thinners for a few months during the summer, which I could still skate and stuff, but I had to be careful just contact-wise. But I've been off of them for a little bit now, and I've gotten to start doing contact towards the end

of summer and yeah it's obviously something that we look back on and it was a tough scenario but I'm just happy that I can move forward and really focus on this season. Further adding to the complexities of all of this is that Brock Besser is also going into the final year of a three-year $19.95 million contract with a $6.6 million AAV. It is crazy how much things can change in a year. I was thinking about this yesterday, and at the beginning of last season, when you talked about Brock Besser and Conor Garland,

the leading question at the top of your mind was, how can the Canucks get these guys off the roster? And now they're seen as indispensable. Conor Garland, one of the most important players on the Canucks in the playoffs last season, and did such a good job on a line with Dakota Joshua and sometimes Teddy Bluger, sometimes Elias Lindholm, but a really good player. And then Brock Besser finally hits the 30-goal mark,

and he says, actually, I'm going to go for 40. It's the unpredictable nature of sports, and it's why we watch, and it's why sometimes I feel like even previewing a season is kind of like, yeah, none of this will happen. Right. Like what we're talking about right now, there are so many factors and variables that go into a season, whether it's the form you're in, the chemistry you have with certain players, how healthy you stay, how lucky you are.

Brock Besser, he was a guy that really had a lot of bad luck, especially off the ice as well, struggling with the passing of his father, and just seeming unclear about where he wanted his hockey career to go.

At one point, he wanted to leave the Canucks, then he's like, no, wait, I don't. I want to stay. And then he stays, and he scores 40 goals. And then all of a sudden, this contract that everyone looks like with a cap hit of whatever it is, $6 million or I can't remember. $6.65. $6.65.

People are like, that's impossible. It's impossible to get rid of this guy. Now it's, how are the Canucks going to sign this guy? Or should they sign this guy. Now it's, how are the Canucks going to sign this guy? Or should they sign this guy? Because, you know, people do know that things are so inconsistent, you know, year to year in hockey. Another guy I'll talk about, Jake DeBrusque. You know, how many times did we hear Jake DeBrusque once out of Boston, you know? And I couldn't, yeah. And then I, and they were right. Well, I couldn't keep track of whether he's playing well

or he's not, is he in the coach's doghouse or what's going on, and now he's another guy that's coming to Vancouver and we really don't know what to expect from him. And I, and Boone, people say, well, wait a minute, you don't know what to expect from Brock Besser? No, I don't. I don't, I don't know.

I think that's the nature of goal scorers as well. Sometimes they're going in for you. Sometimes they're not. I suppose there is that comfort level in that he plays with JT Miller, and that was a consistent duo for the Canucks all season. But with goal scorers, and especially one with Brock Besser's health condition, until we know that he's over it, until we know that he can get back to the level he was last year, it's hard to predict anything. And I think Jim Rutherford, oddly enough, Canucks management,

including Patrick Alveen, but it was Jim Rutherford who said this, they're acting the same way. They're taking a wait-and-see attitude. I don't think you can expect a Brock Besser extension before the season, but if Brock Besser starts out playing pretty well and they can come together on a deal, I wouldn't be surprised if we see one in the first part of the season. Yeah, and Besser said as much in his remarks when asked

about how he's going to handle upcoming contract negotiations and his future in Vancouver. It sounds like he's going to let it play out. Let's hear now from Brock Besser from yesterday. Yeah, just let it play out. And, you know, obviously coming off a blood clot, you know, I think I got a lot to prove just, you know, kind of dealing with that little setback. So, you know, I'm just focused on having a great camp again like I did last year

and then trying to have a fast start to the season again. You mentioned Jake DeBrusque in speaking about Brock Besser. DeBrusque also met with the media yesterday. I think every conversation and question leading into training camp around Jake DeBrusque, we've kind of moved past the why did you choose Vancouver? And more, who are you going to play with now that you're in Vancouver?

And one of the things that he did allude to is that he's got really good options. If it's not JT Miller, it's maybe Elias Pettersson. If it's not Elias Pettersson, maybe it's JT Miller. It better be Elias Pettersson. Yeah, or it could be JT Miller. It better be Elias Pettersson. There was note of the fact that after years of dining out, getting

to play with guys like Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, last year DeBrusque played mostly with Charlie Coyle. Headline! DeBrusque leaves Boston because of Charlie Coyle. Right. I didn't want to write it, but Jason did, and that's fine. I like it. I like how it's out there now. Now, there's no disrespect to Charlie Coyle,

but without saying his name... That's like a little disrespect to Charlie Coyle. DeBrusque did say when he was looking in for agency, one of the first things he looked at was who's got really strong centers. Yeah. Right? Because I didn't... Who's the least like Charlie Coyle? The opposite of Charlie Coyle. Anyway. There was a reason that the Bruins

gave a lot of money to Elias Lindholm. There was a reason there was dry sidle to Boston rumors. There's a reason people was dry sidle to Boston rumors. There's a reason people are still looking at the center depth in Boston and going, huh, it's no Bergeron and Cresci, is it? Yeah. So here's what he had to say on the center depth in Vancouver and why it made Vancouver a landing spot.

This is Jake DeBrusque. Looking just at the center position, I think, was kind of the first thing that I really looked at. And then obviously how they played last year in the playoffs playing against them um obviously how you know Rick Talkett's reputation all these things come into it when you try to decide uh your future and um I really like where the team was going obviously um they made some big steps last year and I just thought that I would be able to fit in pretty well and um you know it excited me looking at obviously the roster what the makeup is for next couple years and um to join a group like that, I couldn't say no to.

So, unfortunately, we didn't have the audio of DeBress speaking specifically about Elias Pettersson. But to give you the Coles Notes version, he has been skating with Pettersson over the last week. They've been doing some four-on-four stuff and things like that. He joked, he said, I hope I'm not annoying him yet. But he's been hanging around Pedersen trying to figure out what he's all about, figure out how they're going to mesh together. So it certainly... Let us know, Jake. Let us know. He's like shadowing

him like an actor would. He's doing a character study on him. How do you eat your cereal in the morning? Are you a method actor, Jake DeBrusque? Yeah, that's right. So... Did you put your socks on first or your pants on first? He did say that Pedersen was making some unreal sick passes, not just unreal passes, not just sick passes, unreal sick passes.

So that's very important. And it does seem as though, like the fairly obvious, what we're all thinking about is that when they open night one of the regular season, it'll be Jake DeBrusque playing on Elias Pedersen's wing. The connection made no secret of the fact that they haven't acted like like we signed Jake DeBrusque and we'll see where he fits in the lineup you haven't had that usual song and dance we'll see what Rick Taka wants to do it's very clear that I mean and Taka has spoken about it like when you parse through everything

that Rick Taka has had to say about Elias Pettersson this offseason there's been plenty because there's plenty to parse through he has mentioned almost every time that he was giving Elias Pettersson a rotating cast of wingers. Now that was included in a laundry list of issues, why the production might've fallen off in the second half of the season. And Pettersson's game didn't match the eye test of the smell test or whatever, but it was there like the rotating cast of wingers and the guys that he was

given was absolutely in that conversation uh moving along we got a lot to get into today there was also some news on the Thatcher Demko front yesterday this courtesy of Czech TV's and you know friend of the show Rick Dollywall um it sounds as though that progress is being made and this is the second kind of update that Rick's given on this, that there is progress, but it's slow. The 28-year-old has reportedly not faced live shots yet, still continues to pluck away at the knee injury that sidelined him in last year's playoffs, and then has been shrouded in mystery, I think is a decent way of putting it that we're not really quite sure, one, what the knee injury is, two, what the severity of it is, and then three, how it's going to delay the start of the season. Elliott Freeman went on with Donnie and Dolly yesterday and essentially said the club isn't concerned about this being something where Demko is going to miss, say, half of the regular season.

However, there is some concern that it's going to hamper the beginning of the season, which would put a lot on the shoulders of Archer Seelovs going into the start of the season. Or maybe a new goalie that they end up signing. Has it been determined whether or not he's had an operation? We don't know, do we? Your guess is as good as mine on this one. When I say shrouded in mystery, I really mean it. The sort of cryptic reporting we got from Frank Cervalli a couple weeks ago

where we said that one doctor told him that you could be practicing medicine for 50 years and never see this particular injury. I mean, that's not something you often hear when talking about... No, it should be noted that that doctor was a dentist. That's right. He was a vet. Yeah, I'll be very curious to see what Demko's like when he's back and what the injury was and if we get any information about what exactly

or if any procedures happened. And we'll see if this is just something. The other thing we've heard through various reports is this is maybe something that Demko will just have to play through. One thing that is coming into picture, and the picture's becoming a little bit clearer, is there was obviously a divide between the Canucks and Ian Clark on how hard the goalie, specifically Thatcher Demko, should be worked out.

In that same hit with Donnie and Dolly, Elliott Friedman did say the Canucks felt that Demko was working too hard off the ice. I mean, this doesn't come as any huge surprise. I remember we've talked about that very tiny snippet of a Jim Rutherford interview from earlier in the summer where he said Thatcher Demko would come off the ice and it'd be looking like he'd be working for hours.

He'd be dripping in sweat. Yeah sweat it's time for canucks practice and he's already exhausted from working with right and clark and i want to make this abundantly clear that this isn't to assign blame to anyone everyone has philosophies on how to prepare themselves for work right some people will say um I want to rest prior to the start of work because I want to make sure I've got the energy to perform at my highest level when I'm out there. Other people will say, I got to get ready for work. Yeah, other people will say,

I'm going to drink 24 beers on Sunday night because it's the only way I can mentally face work. Yeah, and sleep. And neither is right or wrong. Who's to say what the healthy option is there, right? Who's's funny i was listening to jim harbaugh talk about um joey boza because he's got him in uh with the with the chargers now and he was talking about how he had a very effective game in the opener against the raiders and he said but he he does the same thing on game day that he does before every single practice and he works out like vigorously for an hour on

game day yes really yes and he's like you know but he can do it because he's in you know he's crazy yeah and i'm like when hughes was talking about how he he had a more i think it was more of like a targeted off season in terms of working out he got more rest than he usually did and all his workouts had a specific point. Yeah. But there was maybe some more rest and recovery in there than usual. Right. I mean, I could understand a goalie coach, not naming

names, any particular goalie coach being like, to get you playing at your highest level, we have to replicate the intensity in everything that we do. So when you go into a game, it feels just the exact same. And I could see someone else, say the president of hockey ops of a hockey team, saying, okay, that's great, but this intensity and the level that you're working at is destroying the guy's body.

It's too hard on him, right? And at the end of the day, you're like, well, who's right? Yes, you get the goalie playing at the highest level when he's in the games, but he's also getting hurt all the time, so he can't actually play in those games. And you can't depend on him for the playoffs. And it's not that direct, though. There's an element of bad luck with Thatcher Demko's injuries. But I think it just goes to show that there's different philosophies at times,

both of which have merit and you can make an argument are the quote unquote right way. But when there's conflicting ideologies, one's always got to go. Very rarely in those instances do you find a happy medium or like a compromise because oftentimes it's like, I think this is the right way to do it and I don't want to come off that. And the other person says, well, I think this is the right way to do it. And I don't want to come off that. And the other person says, well, I think this is the right way to do it. And I don't want to come off that. Okay.

We're going to get off the hockey talk for a little while, but we'll be back. Don't worry. And I want to hear from the listeners on a few questions that we've got for you. And you can text into the Dunbar lumber text line at six 50, six 50, the bridge street Dunbar lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way.

That's Progress in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. Who are you most excited about of the Canucks' new players? This isn't who's going to score the most goals, just who are you most excited to see? Maybe it's their style of play. Maybe it is the amount of goals that they're going to score.

LeKarimaki. Maybe it's LeKarimaki if you're ADOC. Maybe it's a guy like De'Arne, who was apparently pretty funny yesterday at the MILF and chirping JT Miller. And, you know, there's actually an intriguing hockey-related narrative with Darren A and that the Canucks see him as someone who might be able

to do a little bit more than he's done at the NHL level. Who knows? Maybe we see Darren A on a pairing with Quinn Hughes if they want to spread uh Philip Peronic down to the second pair so Texan like who are you thinking about a lot as we head into this season and you're excited about you're curious about you think this person is going to be important please don't just text in their name. Give a reason. For example, Rocket in Langley texts in. I don't really know a lot about him other than he pounded on Quinn Hughes last year,

but I'm really looking forward to watching Kiefer Sherwood. Wasn't that one of the ones that you had flagged as a guy that you're most excited about? I'm most excited about him for sure. I'm, you know, I'm old school. I'm old school. I like, I like those guys in your bottom six that are going to go in, get in on the forecheck, hit some guys, turn some pucks over. I think they provide energy for the team,

and I was really glad, like Quinn Hughes was, that the Canucks went and targeted a player like Kiefer Sherwood and even got actually Kiefer Sherwood. Also, he has, I think, the coolest hockey name. He does have a – and his brother – Kiefer Sherwood. Also, he has, I think, the coolest hockey name. He does have a... And his brother... Kiefer Sherwood. And his brother, Cole Sherwood.

And they're both with K's. Hey. How cool. Kiefer Sherwood. Do you play hockey? Yeah. You know I do. You know the other reason

that I think he's intriguing is when Quinn Hughes, the captain of the team, Norris Trophy winner, is out there stumping for you and advocating to management that they go out and get not just like a player of your ilk, Norris Trophy winner, is out there stumping for you and advocating to management that they go out and get not just like a player of your ilk, but that player in particular.

You better not suck. Right. So now there's a lot of pressure on Kiefer Sherwood, but that's fine. Okay. Coming up on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650, we're going to turn our attention to another big match for the Canadian men's national soccer team. Tonight's Gareth Wheeler is going to join us,

the play-by-play voice of Canada soccer. For One Soccer, we will preview tonight's match at Jerry World, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas against the Mexicans. A big test, although just about as big as the one that the Canadians had and overcame

on the weekend against the U.S. And before we go to break, I need to tell you about Tile Town. Mom, Dad, can we go to break, I need to tell you about Tile Town. Mom, Dad, can we go to Tile Town? Yes. As BC's favorite hockey team kicks off a new season, receive 20% off any regular price in stock tile. Visit them now at mytiletown.ca for details.

I was never allowed to go to Tile Town. No. You asked and asked and asked. I'm too excited. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We now return to Nightboat, the crime-solving boat. Faster, Nightboat. We've got to catch those starfish poachers.

You don't have to yell, Michael. I'm all around you. 632. Go night boat. On a Tuesday. There's always a canal or a fjord. That's a very deep cut from yesterday's show. Good pull.

I totally forgot about night boat. It's all Addy. You are listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler, pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. This show is also brought to you by Vancouver Honda.

Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. Tonight, from Jarrow World, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 5.30 kickoff our time. It is Canada, it is Mexico

in the second of two friendlies for the Canadians in the U.S. They dispatch of the Americans 2-1 on Saturday in Kansas City. We'll see what happens against a Mexican team that's kind of going through some tumultuous times itself tonight in Arlington. Hey, they took their business against New Zealand.

They did. As a matter of fact, they did. Let's go now to the phone lines. Gareth Wheeler from One Soccer joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Gareth. How are you? Morning, guys. What's happening? Things are good? Things are good. We're pretty excited about tonight's match.

We're still basking in the glow of Saturday's match. Let's start there because we talked about it a fair bit yesterday, but I wanted to get your thoughts on the match. There were a lot of takeaways from it, obviously. Jesse Marsh up against his former U.S. compatriots and a lot of guys that he knows in the Federation. The win, obviously, the first time in a long time that Canada got a win on U.S. soil.

I think very importantly, though, the style of play and the way that Canada created those two goals. Very Marsh ball-esque. What did you think of the way that Jesse Marsh's system was employed, or deployed, sorry, and how the Canadians were able to create those chances in the 2-1 win over the U.S.? Yeah, I'm kind of surprised it worked so well

because they built off the platform that they established at Copa America. And it's not just that they won. This team and the way they play is really watchable, right? Like, oftentimes international football, just because the players and teams aren't together for that long, oftentimes it's slower, it's a little bit pragmatic, but there's a real blueprint here. There's a game plan, which requires a ton of work

that the players need to put in. The work rate that they put forward in that game and the connectedness between the players, it absolutely caught the eye. And no matter what we think about the United States, some people think that they're better than what they're showing. Some people think that they're really poor. Canada just played them off the pitch.

And that was striking to me because even through Canada's success, the World Cup qualifying, good results in recent years, I don't know if they've been that dominant in a game against a team that's supposed to be better than them. Because they've proven that they can hang now with some of the big boys, which is fine, but they really take it to the United States on U.S. soil. So it wasn't just that they won. It was the way the game played out that really stood out for people watching.

How great is Jacob Schaffelberg? Honestly, he's a great dude. First and foremost, down to earth, willing to put his head down, put in the hard work. And he's just a great guy. And the fact that he is being able to piece this together he is a manager that believes in them honestly during his time with Toronto FC Greg Nanny loved the player because he played direct he was fast he got in behind the back his ability to get behind defensive lines he's just a player that is worth their weight in gold just in terms of the way they play.

And I don't think he could have landed on a better national team manager for him than Jesse Marsh. Like, this is exactly the way that he wants to play. And just look at his production with Nashville right now in Major League Soccer. Like, it's hit or miss. It's not that he's playing poorly. It's their style of play kind of isn't conducive to the way to get the best out of him.

I think you really need to find that manager that can bring out the best in them. That's a marriage made in pace. Made in Canadian soccer heaven right now between Marsh and Schaffelberg. We get to see a lot of Ali Ahmed here obviously in Vancouver. What did you think of the of Ali Ahmed here, obviously, in Vancouver.

What did you think of the performance that he had against the U.S. on Saturday? Outstanding. I feel like I'm being kind of waxing poetic about the kid since really he merged at the beginning of last season for the Whitecaps. He is just such an awkward player to deal with because he's all arms and legs, right? And he's not afraid to try to take on players on the dribble. He's just an awkward player to deal with. And I'm not sure anyone's really been able to figure him out.

And meanwhile, he might be a little bit awkward, but he's technically proficient as well. So, look, I like how Marsh has played him on the outside. I think there's some debate. Like, Canada's rather thin in terms of their central midfield players ahmed's versatile you can maybe play him inside but this might be his best role like give him some space allow him to press come inside when need be like marsh loves his wide players to come inside and work from the inside out so this might be the best role for him and talk about the player taking

advantage of opportunity like he played against the u.s the last time these two teams met in the gold cup but with tijon buchanan out i mean marsh and canada are looking for answers and the way that ali ahmed played like he's worked himself into being a very important player for this team not only now but in the build-up to 2026. I'm thrilled for the kid because, like so many other Canadian players, he's had to do it the hard way in terms of reaching the level he has today. And, yeah, I can't say enough about him. And let's just hope that the Whitecaps can take full advantage of him

on the team this year with a really good team around them because I'm not sure he's going to be long for Major League Soccer. So Gareth, we're watching all these games knowing that the World Cup is less than two years away. Just a huge moment for Canadian soccer. We're going to have games that Canada is going to play in Toronto and in Vancouver. If you can zoom out on the team

and you're looking at all the different areas of the team, which areas, first of all, can they be really comfortable in? And which areas does Jesse Marsh need to figure out some answers in? Yeah, I think they're really good in wide areas with speed and athleticism. I'm excited that Sam Adekube is going to come back in to the team and hopefully play some minutes tonight for Canada as well. And you guys see him out in Vancouver, how good he can be. Like Danny Certini maintains,

he's a top three wide player in Major League Soccer when he's fit. And I get where he's coming from. Canada don't lose very often with Sam Adekubi in this team. And he built up a really good partnership with Alphonso Davies down that left-hand side. So he's just another weapon that comes in. So I think in wide areas, I think they're decent. You obviously can't legislate for injuries, but I think that's an area where they have cover. Where I'd like to see a little bit more, I still think they're thin in central midfield. Ismael Kone is missing from this window,

but Mathieu Chouinard stepped up, played really well. If you could have that other really athletic player in the central midfield position, I think that's an area he'd like. Bombito and Cornelius have been great at center back. He could probably do for another center back in that area. Let's see if Max Kropot can keep on playing the way that he does at goalkeeper. I would like to see a little bit more of Dane Sinclair.

That has nothing to do with anything negative about Kropot's play, but he's a little bit of an undersized goalkeeper, and I think having different options and different players to be available in that position could be good and i still think that they're looking for that you know that goal scorer that can come off the bench and provide that spark it's been tiny a little shy over the course of recent games but i know they've been linked to daniel jefferson of uh well he plays for bournemouth he's on loan at watford right now a former eng England under-21 player, a player with

a high, high ceiling who could fit right in. I'm actually a little bit surprised that he hasn't committed to Canada by now. The last year he didn't play through injuries and off-field issues, so perhaps he's just trying to get his club career back on track, but I think that that will

be a player that you'll be able to see play for Canada ahead of 2026. So, just got to keep on building this out but honestly guys like i wouldn't have expected a shafferberg to step right in the way that he has and ali ahmed to step in the way that he has moise bambito making this enormous leap derrick cornelius like basically resurrecting his career as well so there's all kinds of surprises and they tend to happen quickly with this Canadian team. They just need games. They need home games

across this country. That's going to be the most important thing here over the next couple of years. I'll have a question on that in just a sec. But purely from a roster perspective,

will this team be better on paper than the one that went to Qatar? Absolutely. I still think the team that John Herdman was dealing with, you had some players that were beyond their best day that were forced to play significant roles. Steven Vittoria, Atiba Hutchinson,

and some of the other players, Davies, David, et cetera, just were very light on experience, and were still at a very young age. There's going to be a core group of players between the age of 24 and 28 heading into this tournament. Those are like ideal ages for this group. Again, like I said, if they can come up with another couple of players in central midfield,

you know, bolster the center back position, they're going to be a pain to play against. They're playing at home. Again, the age is the buy-in to Jesse Marsh's system. As long as he doesn't go anywhere and doesn't have his head turned, doesn't seem like he will because he's proclaimed to the world

there's no place he'd rather be right now than in Canada for soccer, which is a headline in its own right. But yeah, I think they can be night and day better. I think they're turning night and day better. I think they're turning into a team that, even top teams, I just wouldn't want to play against this team. They're going to be a tricky out no matter what.

So you mentioned getting games at home to play in the run-up to the World Cup. If you look at their schedule right now, they play Mexico tonight down in Texas. Then they do host Panama October 15th in Toronto. Is there anything booked after that or is that it? Are they going to be able to get some games at home or is it going to be easy to schedule friendlies when everyone else in the world would be trying to qualify for the World Cup? Friendlies friendlies no but the nation's league starts back up in november we're just waiting to see what the draw looks like will certainly be home games there uh like based upon their schedule at the world cup they have to play games in vancouver you know they just need to get familiar with with playing at bc place so the nation's league will bring those games. The windows are few and far between because of the nation's league.

Right. And then next summer, you're back in another tournament in the, in the gold cup, but these games are crucial. Um, on the call yesterday, Jesse Marshall alluded to the fact that there's some other type of

arrangements coming up with for the October window. I kind of dug around. I kind of didn't get a firm answer on what that may look like. The Mexico side is playing Valencia in the next window, so they're getting creative. I'm just not sure what that's going to look like as of right now, but they're looking for solutions in order to get this team in intense, high-intensity environments

and try to make the most out of this. It's difficult. It's just the international schedule. It's a little bit of a nightmare right now with so many extra games and so many extra competitions. They're just going to have to navigate their way through it. Regardless of our preparation,

Canadians, in order for them to fall back in love with this team all over again, need to see them in the flesh. You need to see them in person. The players want to play in front of family and friends as well. It's just the most important thing for this federation to go out there and get these much-needed home dates. It's been a problem for so long,

and it's something that certainly needs to be remedied. We feel very ignored in Vancouver, for the record. Yeah, yeah. And I understand the travel when you're trying to get these guys over from Europe. It's a lot easier to get them to Toronto than it is in Vancouver. But it just feels, I mean, we have a terrific soccer province here. And it always feels like we're getting the short end of the stick. Yeah, there needs to be a solution.

You know, John Herdman maintained over the short end of the stick. Yeah, there needs to be a solution. You know, John Herdman maintained over the, and he told me countless times when he was in control, it's just what the players want. Easier travel to Toronto, playing on grass. There's a lot more, at that time, Toronto-based players. And there was an incredible amount of power through the players in the team and the program as well. If that's where the players want to play,

then I'm not sure that that was a fight that the manager people within the CSA were willing to have. And right now, I believe there's only one BC-based or, you know, born player in the Canada team and that's Nico Sigour, who's brand new. So I'm with you, but based upon the path at the World Cup, it's a necessity that Canada plays games there.

So I'm assuming they'll be much more open-minded moving forward. I'd feel ignored as well. It's just one of the liabilities of our country just being so big and just the proximity of Vancouver, unfortunately. We're too big and powerful. It's always been our problem as a country. Well, what about Montreal as well? The problem in Montreal is facilities, right?

There should be way more games across this country, and I'm sure that's something that they're trying to work towards. Real quick, before we let you go, let's set up tonight's match, look at the opponent. It's a Mexican team that kind of like the U.S. is in a bit of a transitional phase and hasn't had a ton of great results except for the aforementioned win over New Zealand.

What is Canada stepping up against tonight in a Mexican side that will have a pretty large crowd, at least reportedly, in attendance tonight in Arlington? Well, it can't be any worse than the U.S. on the weekend. Honestly, they were just horrible. What happened there? Were ticket prices too expensive or was it too hot? What's going on?

Everyone just concerned about the Chiefs? I just assumed like Saturday's college football season, this time of year, and people kind of pivot. And there's a little bit of a malaise around the U.S. team now, right? Like reportedly Pochettino will be named manager today the former spurs and psg manager chelsea manager uh will that re-energize i just i find the team just really unlikable like to be honest with you they're given everything and they produce very little uh with mexico i think they'll be okay um they're technically strong javier aguirre this is his third tour of duty

managing Mexico it's going to be his third if he stays around through the World Cup as well Rafa Marquez interestingly is his assistant manager

who former Barcelona player played in five World Cups he's actually going to take over the program after the World Cup they just have a lot of players

like they always had players that played for high profile clubs across Europe they don't have that now a lot of players like they always had players that played for high profile clubs across europe they don't have that now it's a lot of these players are young or like kind of players that have just played their entire career across league mx domestically in mexico there's nothing wrong with that i just think that they lack those high ceiling players for their national team they're hoping that the sum of the parts is greater than the individual

pieces and that they come together and play collectively to their identity. One thing they should be able to do tonight is play out of the back because they're better on the ball. They're technically better than the U.S. were. So it'll be a different kind of challenge. And look, it's a quick turnaround for Canada. Like I was skeptical when Marshall's hired, whether you can play this high intensity football for your national team it looked good so far what does it look like with a quick turnaround saturday to tuesday uh so it'll be a good test for the boys

here tonight and it shouldn't be a big crowd unless people are going to be at home watching the presidential debates which i highly wouldn't recommend. So hopefully there's a big crowd and a good atmosphere for tonight's game. And look, if Canada come out with another win here tonight, then let's put them as favorites to win the Nations League. It's going to be played over the next few months. I think it's another statement game for Canada. So let's see what they bring to the table. Gareth, this was great.

Thanks for doing it. Enjoy the game tonight. Thanks, boys. Keep Enjoy the game tonight. Thanks, boys. Keep up the good work. And I promise you, Vancouver is not forgotten. We just need to shift things around. We'll do our best because, yeah, it's such an important market for Canada or for soccer in this country.

Thanks, bud. Appreciate it. That's Gareth Wheeler from One Soccer, play-by-play voice of Canada soccer here on the Halford & Breff show on Sportsnet 650. Yeah, so what he was talking about, you were talking about are they going to be able to get some more matches in here? Someone

kind of asked around, like, well, Mexico's doing this thing where they're playing a club team. They're not going to play another international team. They're going to play Valencia from La Liga in Spain. And Marsh kind of said, we have something similar. Plan Man City tomorrow.

Right. I don't know what they'll do. I mean, could you get Wrexham back for another? Wrexham seems to love exhibitions. Maybe you could get one there. I don't know. But hopefully they can continue to build off of this. And hopefully tonight goes well.

I mean, I know that they got a result against the U.S. It was great. It was historic. It's been a long time, nearly 70 years since they beat the U.S. on U.S. soil. But this is a very, very, in a lot of ways, more difficult test because I think the crowd will probably be larger and more frenzied tonight than it was on Saturday, which is strange because.

Oh, for sure it will be. Yeah. And that's going to be a big test for, as Gareth mentioned, a Canadian team that's played a few days ago. You know, I would say it's a tougher opponent at this stage. I think I'm like a lot of people that may not be invested in these games individually, and I'm certainly not invested in the CONCACAF Nations League or even the Gold Cup

all I want to know is how the team is trending towards the World Cup yeah and you asked yeah and the point yeah just to remove ourselves from because things can change so much in a matter of two years but I want to know where we should focus on. In hockey terms, it would be like, all right, who's going to be in goal for Canada? You know, that's the pressing question, I would say, ahead of the next Olympic Games. Yep. Well, I mean, one of the questions,

and a very pressing question for 2026, is what Wheeler alluded to at the end of that call. It's, can you play this style of football, this high press, high intensity at the international level? Because at the club level, it's a little easier to implement because you're working with the players every day. Yeah. And you've got a big squad.

You can go out and buy players. You know what I mean? If you have a weakness. Is it also, two questions on that. Yeah. Is summer a factor? The weather? Sure.

You're playing a high-pressing, high-energy style, and it's 100 degrees Fahrenheit out. And number two, are there certain teams that you could do it against and then others that you'd be foolish and reckless to play like that against? Second question. Good question because we're going to see that tonight because Mexico probably won't make the same kind of mistakes that the U.S. made playing out of the back.

Like Tim Rehm, God bless him. He's played for Fulham for a long time. He's been between the Premier League and the Championship. He's a little bit older now. He plays with an anvil for a foot. It looked like it. He was the one that had that really bad turnover for the second goal,

the Jonathan David goal. It was, the press forced issues, don't get me wrong, but there was also some really, really lazy, sloppy,

careless turnovers. And for a team that can... They did not look like a motivated or together team. And there's going to be some teams that are going to see the pressure

come from Canada and they're going to be like, eh, that's okay, we can deal with this. We can still play out of the back. Mexico's technically proficient enough to do it. So you see it tonight, actually. You're like, can this work against everybody? Or do you have to kind of pick and choose what opponents you can high-press? And then some, you'll be like, okay, we're going to scale it back a little bit.

I just think back to the Croatia match. After Canada had played so well against Belgium, be like okay we're gonna scale it back a little bit i just think back to the croatia match after canada had played so well against belgium and then they go against croatia actually get off to a good start in that game and everyone's excited and everyone's playing with a lot of energy then you've got a guy like modric who's kind of like yeah i've seen this before this doesn't make me nervous keep coming at me i love this i love this i'm just gonna take advantage of you he's still going by the way no i know but you know what i mean like i'm just saying he scored a crazy free kick on the weekend yeah it's 39 years because

you get that quality of player in the world cup yeah and you get that you get that player who's seen it all who's seen the pressure who's not gonna fold and is gonna in fact see an advantage whichever way you play well look there's certain guys that because they played at such a high level and have been coached by such brilliant tacticians that they can pick apart what you throw at them and modric had took him like 25 minutes in the world cup he looked and saw what was going on with canada he's like i know how to pick this apart and he did yeah quite effectively uh and you know kovacic and brasevich had their say in it as well but that's what all the itches all of them that's that's what the high-end guys can do you'll see it tonight maybe and if it does

get unlocked easily that's going to be a red flag. That's concerning. I will say the time that I officially got on board with this Canadian men's team was during World Cup qualifying when they went down to Azteca. Yeah. And I think they ended up drawing. They did. But they played Mexico evenly, and I'd never seen anything like it. And then the last time they played Mexico, they beat them at Azteca. Right.

Yeah. Right. Okay, from the football time they played Mexico, they beat them at Ice Teca. Right. Yeah. Right. Okay. From the football to the Canadian football, the BC Lions. The roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. Coming up on the other side of the break, more football of the American variety. We're going to talk to Nick Shook from NFL.com.

We haven't done the deep dive into last night's game between the Jets and the 49ers. Bruff has lots of questions about Aaron Rodgers' form. Nick will answer them coming up next on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.