Halford & Brough in the Morning - Dhaliwal Talks Canucks + Former NHLer Marty McSorley

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason discuss the latest Canucks news with Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal (1:14), plus the boys chat with former NHLer Marty McSorley (22:08), who's in town this weekend for an event with the Vancouver Giants. 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.

Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Dolly. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. 803 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650.

Halford Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. Rick Dollywall is going to join us in just a moment here. Marty McSorley at 8.30. What an action-packed Hour 3.

Who knows what direction this show will go in. It could go anywhere at this point. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews.

Sorphe, what are you waiting for? Kintec, to the phone lines we go. Rick Dollywall joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Ricky D? Halford, it's 8.03. What's going on? You're the bus driver. You're the guy, the lead guy, the veteran guy, wily veteran,

coming in at 8.04. I had to let Jason Brough cook in the previous segment because he had a passionate, passionate rant. I had Moj on the ropes. Yeah. Slugging him left and right. Moj took a standing eight, and then he wasn't done. He kept throwing shots after the bell, and it went all the way to about 8.50 or 7.57. I had to let him left and right. Moj took a standing eight. And then he wasn't done. He kept throwing shots after the bell.

And it went all the way to about 850 or 757. I had to let him go, Rick. I had to let him cook. He was doing good stuff there. Rick Dollywall got some of my Randy Ambrosi heat last night on text. Yeah. If you want to start there, Brough, I will. Because if you guys are going to say the CFL is dying,

you're going to get into a big argument with me, because it's Grey Cup week. They've sold 50,000 tickets. Don't tell me it's dying. Go to Ticketmaster right now and look at all the empty seats. Are you okay? Because the lines aren't in it, and people are off selling their tickets. I get it.

No, no, these are unsold tickets, not resale market. Listen to me. CFL has been around a hundred years. It's not going anywhere. It has its ups and downs. It has good years followed by bad years. They're getting a hell of a lot of money from their TSN contract that helps pay a lot of their problems. Yes, some cities are doing well. Some cities are not doing well. I'll give you that, Brough. But go tell me there's not NHL problem cities in the NHL. Yeah, there's some cities that are struggling. Every league's got good teams, bad teams, good management, bad management, good ownership. The CFL, look, what's the first word in the Canadian football league? It's Canadian.

Okay, show some national pride. The great cup national parties here, I've covered many great cups all over Canada. It's a great party. It's going to deliver the biggest numbers the TSN ever sees in a year this coming Sunday. There's going to be close to three, three and a half million. Sometimes it gets over four. And you know what, Jason, you guys are an all-sports station. And you guys do a good job, actually, of covering the lines on that station.

You guys have had Campbell on, McAvoy, Adams. Think about if the BC Lions left the lower mainland. They've had such a proud history. Think about what would happen. You're going to be one less. You won't be talking to the coach and GM and the players. I mean, all sports radio needs teams like the BC Lions in Canada because guess what?

Otherwise, it's hockey 24-7, and you'll drive your listeners nuts. Dolly, why do you think I'm talking about this? Why do you think I'm talking about this? It's not because I'm picking on the CFL. It's because I'm worried about the CFL. Yeah. And, Dave, do you remember, and I'm going to go back, when the Sports Illustrated had a picture of the Argos,

this is probably at CNE Stadium, and it was on the front page of Sports Illustrated. The CFL is dying, and they had a bunch of birds. There was no fans in the stands. it was on the front page of Sports Illustrated. The CFL is dying and they had a bunch of birds. There was no fans in the stands. It was on the front page. The CFL has always had good times, bad times. It's always going to have good times, bad times. But right now in British Columbia, they have a good owner who's kind of created a buzz, Jason.

He's done a good job. And, you know, I don't know about your text line, but when Donnie and I started the show, we didn't have many texts about the BC Lions in years one or two. But as soon as Rourke came, the new owner came, you know what? We started getting, when people care and they text, I know you guys get a lot of texts as well about the Lions. That shows me people care. The TV ratings for the Lions in the lower mainland, I'm going to tell you, are pretty strong, and they're a whole lot better than the Whitecaps ratings on television.

You can take that to the bank. They're way better. Lions do really well on television. It's just getting people off their seats at home and getting them to the stadium. That's always been Jason the toughest thing.

And now you've got Netflix, you've got these cell phones. It is tough to get people to leave. And in the summer, it's barbecues, it's the lake, it's this. I'm giving you reasons why people aren't going to BC Place for the Lions games. I'm telling you why they're not. It's a tough time to get people to leave your house and go pay for $50 for parking, which is ridiculous. The fan experience is getting very expensive, and people are getting fed up.

But I think the CFL is going to be fine. I don't see them going anywhere. But I understand your point. Let's talk about the Canucks game last night because I don't know if you'll agree or disagree or just yell at me, but I think that was the worst game of the Rick Tockett era here. Yeah, it was not good. Six shots after two periods, you're on home ice,

you're against a 500-team riddle with injuries, and the schedule's been easy. They've had tons of days off. They've had a ton of practice time, which Tockett loves. They didn't even face the Islanders' number one goaltender, and nobody saw that effort coming. No excuses. Anyone that makes an excuse for these guys is out to lunch.

Here's something I like about Talkett last night. He apologized to the fans, and he said he was outcoached by Patrick Waugh. When coaches say they've been outcoached, they don't say that lightly. I remember Canucks were in toronto mike babcock said that travis green outcoached him i remember once don matthews said joe pow pow outcoached him they that's that they mean that that's just not for show that's showing respect to the opposition coach you don't say that every day and i i admired talk had gone out of his way to say you know what i i'm part of the blame last night.

You know, but you love his honesty, but there's some alarming trends with this hockey team. You know, after 15 games last year, the Canucks had 65 goals and 34 goals against. 15 games this year, they've scored 18 fewer goals, and they've allowed 15 more goals. I don't know what to say about the home record. It's 2-3-3. I know there's 6-1 on the road. Last year, for the first time in a long time, the Canucks were a tough building to play in. They were 27-9-5 at home last year. For the first time in a long time, teams were

saying, geez, I don't want to go to Vancouver. Not this year. Where's the compete, the care level in front of fans who pay a ton of money to watch you? The Canucks' blue line had a total of five hits last night. There was a game against the Oilers in the playoffs last year. That blue line had 19 hits. Three of the Islanders' goals last night right in front of Lankanen. Susie Myers leaving Islanders unchecked on two. Hughes and Hronik on the third. Cockett won't like that.

He's all about boxing out and protecting the middle of the ice. Three last night, four against Edmonton, right in front of the net. I mean, he says he's going to have a hard practice today. Boy, is he ever. And here's another one for you. I know everyone in town is bitching about the blue line, but I'll tell you something. It won't be easy to fix it. Prices are high right now in the market. Nobody wants to help you. You have to trade for players who don't play for the

Penguins. You know, all the time it's Penguins. We're after Penguins. You got to go trade for other players as well. You know, and i'm going to bring up another penguin and the canucks are very well aware that marcus petterson is available in pittsburgh but guess what the price is high and if you get him you're going to have to push a defenseman to the third pair that's making three or three and5 million. So then you're going to have $5 million tied up in the third pair. That's not ideal as well. So it's not a quick fix. It's not a fix that's going to be made tonight at midnight

or in the morning at 9 o'clock. And I want to get this in. The Canucks schedule, very easy to this date. They have played a ton of non-playoff teams. Two more weak teams this weekend. They have played a ton of non-playoff teams. Two more weak teams this weekend. They need to start collecting those points because they're going to get a heavy dose of Vegas, Edmonton, Dallas, and Winnipeg in the second half of the year. The Canucks to this date have not played four of the top five teams in the Western Conference yet.

They haven't even played Colorado, who are eighth, and are getting healthy. And they're getting the Russian back this weekend. So get those points now, because the schedule is going to get really, really tough in the second half. Any updates on Brock Besser? It's tough. Just like Demko, it's tough. I will say this. It was really good to see Besser at the rink at the game day skate yesterday.

It was eight days ago today he took that cheap head shot from Tanner Janot. This is all brutal timing for Besser. He was leading the team in goals. It's contract year. The U.S. team at the Four Nations was watching him closely. They were keeping an eye on him. Besser was always a bubble player for the u.s team of the four nations was watching him closely they were keeping an eye on him besser was always a bubble player for the americans he would have really had to have big numbers to get on that team the team is going to be named in a couple of weeks and besser's obviously out for a while no one has a timeline for besser it's going to be very tough for him

to make that american team it's not going to happen the can's going to be very tough for him to make that American team. It's not going to happen. The Canucks have to be prepared for everything. If Besser is out long-term, they're going to have to get in the market for a top six forward if they get an inkling that Besser is going to be out. Now, I will say this to you, Jason. Predicting head injuries is very, very hard. Nobody in the Canucks organization thought Tucker Pullman was going to be a career-threatening injury. And I'm going to tell you this, too. With Pullman, he was dealing with a lot of whiplash issues.

It wasn't the head, the concussion. It was a lot of whiplash issues that were causing Pullman the issues that he still still to this day, sadly, is putting up with. So hard to put a time frame on concussion injuries. So I will say this to you, you're just hoping and praying for Besser to get a little bit better every day. What about the BC? I know we got into the CFL, but I know you were reporting some of the changes that might occur for the BC Lions. They're obviously not going to announce them before the Grey Cup, but next week, I guess we could have some announcements. My very good friend, Julio Caravetta, dropped some bombs yesterday. Boy, did he ever. Caravetta

says there will be major changes announced with the BC Lions next week, which makes sense. Guys, you can't... Remember, you know the Stanley Cup Finals week and Batman tells all teams, don't fire coaches, don't sign anyone, blah, blah, blah.

Same thing. Teams are being told at the Great Cup week, don't make news with signings or firings. So it would be crazy if owner Amar Dolman staged that as quote, consumer confidence is low with the Lions. They lost nine of their past 14 games. When the changes are announced next week,

and they will be, this team is going to have to get to work. I do not think GM Neil McEvoy is going anywhere. He may have different help with the GM title, but he's not, what I've been told, not going anywhere. After the changes, the number one job is going to be to hit a home run with the Vernon Adams trade. They've got to get some nastiness on the lines of scrimmage,

both the O-line and the D-line. They don't have enough of that right now. Coaching changes are coming 100%. Will Rick Campbell be gone? No one can get confirmation on his future. I talked to a lot of people last night. No one knows if Campbell is gone. Dolman is keeping that very, very, very close to his vest. Can you sell him in the market? Already rumors that Campbell might end up in Edmonton. That's where his father, Hugh, led the Eskimos to five great cup titles, Warren Moon in the 80s. Man, I hated those Eskimo teams.

They would come out to Empire Stadium, sold out every time they came to town. Man, just like you hated the Oilers and all their Stanley Cups, you hated the Eskimos and all the great cups in the 80s. We had a lot of text from listeners. Since the Lions have been gone, we will not renew season tickets if Campbell is back. You want the attention of the owner? Cancel season tickets in a league where they are crucial and vital.

David Braley in his best years in British Columbia with the Lions had the season ticket base to 22,000 to 24,000. Lions are nowhere near that. I don't base to 22,000 to 24,000. Lions are nowhere near that. I don't even know if they're at 10,000. Doman's got a lot of time to think. Since the season ended, he did everything right. He spent over the cap. He brought back. Nathan Rourke paid him a ton of money. He did everything. Now he's got to make the right moves again starting next week. Dolly, always a pleasure chatting with you. Enjoy the Grey Cup this weekend.

Enjoy two Canucks games, one against the Blackhawks on Saturday, Conor Bedard, and then Sunday against the Nashville Predators. I think it's going to be a very interesting practice today as well out at UBC for the Vancouver Canucks. Enjoy it all, Dolly. Thanks for joining us. All right, guys. Later.

See you, buddy. There it is. Rick Dollywall, Canucks reporter here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We've carved out a little bit of time here. We can do some what we learned ahead of our 8.30 interview with Marty McSorley, who's going to be here tonight in Vancouver at the Langley Events Center ahead of the Blazers game, right? It's the Giants and the Blazers tonight, 7 o'clock from the Langley Events Center. Legends of the

Sinbin. Marty McSorley will be one of three guys on a panel speaking at the LEC prior to the game. So, you know, I've told you before that I was at that game. You have told me that. And I remember I was sitting with my buddy and we were in the lower bowl in the end zone.

So I had kind of a behind view. And there was just a few seconds left in the game. And McSorley and Brashear had already fought. Correct. And the Canucks were winning the game handily. And then Brashear goes out on the ice. And then McSorley goes out on the ice. And I kind of nudged my buddy.

This was a long time ago. You know, this was 2000. God, I was young and had potential then. And anyway, and I said, watch McSorley because he's going to do something. I did not expect him to do what he did. Nobody did. It was a wild scene. An absolutely insane scene.

He, like, clubs him with a stick. Brashear, I think, looked like he was knocked out on his feet, but then he went down and hit his head on the ice. And he was lying motionless on the ice. And I think a lot of the Canucks players were like, what the hell just happened? And then it was eventually that Garth Snow, the goalie for the Canucks at the time,

was the one that went out and attacked Brashear. And the scene in the crowd was the one that I remember the most because people were throwing stuff on the ice they were hocking anything they could at Bruins players because I think the crowd had seen it more than the players had seen it and I also remember and this was actually kind of like scary guys were attacking fans in Bruins jerseys. Like they were just like going after them. It was a wild, wild scene.

And it all just happened like so quickly. And when we saw that Marty McSorley was coming for this promotion with the giants, we were like, should we get them on the show? Like, it'd be interesting to talk to him. We just had Mike Keenan on.

We might as well just go with Marty McSorley too. But I have to admit, I'm a little bit, not worried, but I don't know how this interview is going to go because he's coming on the radio and he's going to talk about this incident. And I've seen some clips of McSorley on, you know, I was doing my research yesterday on YouTube. And there was an element of what he was talking about, which still seemed to lay some of the blame at Brashear's feet. And some of the blame at the Canucks for having Brashear out there and you know Brashear I guess during the game had gone over to the the Bruins bench and kind of like I don't know he

flexed or something like that he was chirping the bench or something like that he also collided with uh Byron Defoe the goalie and sent him out of the game as well so there was a lot that was going on in that right so there was a lot of like well like, well, he was kind of asking for it. But not that. I mean, you have to remember that the police got involved in this. And he was charged with assault with a weapon. And he was convicted. There was a trial.

There was a trial that happened. 18 months of probation. It was the last game that he ever played in the NHL because he was given a massive suspension, and then when he was convicted, given another year-long suspension by the NHL. And at that point, he'd already played a long time in the NHL, and that was it.

That was his last act as an NHL player was clubbing Donald Beshear. And we're going to talk to him about it. Yeah, and I'm with you. I don't know how it's going to go. First question? I don't, well, I mean, I don't know. I mean, I don't know how the conversation is going to go. Well, I think the first question is like,

how does it feel to be doing radio in Vancouver, a place where your most infamous moment occurred? Right. I mean, it is, it's in the history of the vancouver canucks you have these two very similar yet totally different moments of the ultimate acts of nhl violence like they're in the in the annals of nhl history of the worst acts that have ever gone down on the ice uh mcsorley brashier and bertuzzi moore are always on those lists right you can go look it's always there so when you're talking about moments of infamy it can always be a dare i say delicate

conversation what's more it's 24 years ago i mean a lot has happened since then and i don't know how memories change perceptions change narratives change we're gonna find out because we're gonna talk to marty mcsorley coming up next we will also at a certain point get to the giveaway of the 100 gift card to aj's pizza on east broadway for the best ask us anything or what we learned. We might not have a chance to read a bunch of them on the air, but we will get to the winner at some point over the next 35 minutes or so. So we've got a lot more to get to. It's been a very unique Friday show.

It will continue to be a very unique Friday show. Marty McSorley is going to join us next on the Halford & Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 8.30 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody.

Halford Breath, Sportsnet 650. Halford Breath of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. Marty McSorley is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate

Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. So tonight, the Vancouver Giants, in conjunction with the Langley Events Centre and White Spot, are going to hold Legends of the Sin Bin.

As part of this event, Marty McSorley, Archie Henderson, and Bill Goldie Goldthorpe, who is the inspiration for Ogie Oglethorpe in Slapshot, are going to take part in a pregame hot stove at the Langley Events Center. That begins at 6 o'clock. Giants game is tonight against the Blazers at 7 o'clock.

So we thought, let's get Marty McSorley on the show. And that's going to happen right now. Joining us on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. As mentioned, Marty McSorley here on the Halford & Brough Show. Morning, Marty. How are you? I'm doing great. Actually, it's nice to be back in Vancouver under different circumstances. I was going to ask.

So is this like the first time you've been back to Vancouver doing media appearing on Sportsnet 650, your home of the Canucks? Have you been back since the incident 24 years ago with Donald Brashear? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, the people in Vancouver, what was really, even during the trial, so many of the people on the streets and whatever, they're like, leave them alone, right? They're like, come on, let's be real. And so the whole thing leading up to it and everything, it served a lot of masters, but the vast majority of people were really, really great to me. The vast majority of people, I know I'm a huge hockey fan.

They're a hockey fan. I enjoy going to games, partaking in conversations, and listening to the people that pay the tickets and go to the games and support the game and hear what they have to think. So what did they tell you about the incident? Well, it's so funny. I mean, once they know a little bit about it, like from a standpoint that I wasn't angry.

I mean, when the linesman and I came together, I was like, listen, Mike, I said, I don't want anybody to be hurt here. But nobody ever carried that. Or the league office saying he never hit his head on the ice. Absolutely not. And nobody sent him out to fight. He did this all on his own. All of those things just pointed to the fact that,

okay, all right, that's, you know, people, you know, skirting away from it or running like rats to their holes. Let's be real about it. And I felt bad, like, when Todd Bertuzzi went through his situation. The media called me and I said, listen, Todd Bertuzzi didn't mean to happen what eventually happened. Like, he went on the ice to do his job and don't think he wasn't put on the ice to do his job. And, uh, people, I think people appreciate it. I know Todd did. It sounds like you still blame Donald Brashear and others besides yourself for the incident. No, no, no, not at all. Here's the thing. I'm put on the ice with 22 seconds left to make Donald Brashear fight me. That's my job. Everything that led up to the fact that our goalie got hurt and put out for the rest of the season.

I remember sitting on the bench. They scored an empty, they emptied that goal to make it 5-2. And I'm like like oh my god why are they putting donald brashear back on the ice why would mark cropper do it he turned to our bench and smiled that and so it it forced pat burns he ran down the bench and said get him on the ice get him on the ice me at the same time i don't know if people know this, like what happened when I gave Donald Brashear a whack, for him to turn around and fight me and stand up for. He, if I would have waited until after the buzzer, I'd have got a 10-game suspension.

Well, you got a bigger suspension because you whacked him in the head. No, did you? I mean, if you watch it, if you go in the video, which the court threw out, wouldn't accept, the stick hit him on the shoulder. He turned hard to his right. His shoulders were at a, you know, his right shoulder dipped really far down to the right.

The stick hit him on the shoulder. You could see his jersey gather up. The part that hit him in the side of the cheek was a foot and a half up from my blade. I didn't come up over the top. I came up from my waist to whack him in the body. And there's guys sitting on their bench. It happened in front of their bench that are sitting there yelling and screaming.

It all happened so fast. I never had any intention to hit him in the head. And we had a gentleman, a expert in biomechanics that they wouldn't let him testify and they said he was no way an expert yeah because well the judge disagreed with your assertion that you you're aiming at his shoulder and and the judge was struck as intended so what were you aiming at what I was just, I was whacking him in the body to get him to turn around and fight. I was hoping he would turn around and fight. He wouldn't.

He didn't. I'm running out of time. Like, I had the puck behind the net. I don't know if you remember this. I had the puck behind the net, and I'm holding the puck. Donovan Shearer comes in front of our net our net smiles and turns and starts getting the other way didn't even come into the puck like i held the puck waiting for him to come to me now i gotta go after him because i'm put on the ice to do that job like i said our goalie got hurt

by donald brashier for the rest of the year he was challenging our bench. Our coach was losing his mind. And I remember saying to our guys in the bench, just relax, calm down. Like we were down 4-1. I assisted on a goal of eight minutes left in the game to try to get us back in the game. And then all of a sudden, they score an infinite goal. They put Donald Brashear on the ice. They jerked me off the bench, put me out in a position I don't play. And now I've got to get Donald Brashear to stop, turn around, and fight me before the buzzer rings. It sounds like you've gone through the explanation process a number of times

and that you've got a lot of this committed to memory. How much pushback do you get from people when you take this particular tact in explaining and defending the actions of that night? See, no, I really don't. I mean, this is the first time in a long time that anybody's ever brought up. Do you know that so many of the tough guys went up to Donald Brashear after the incident

and said, don't be such a coward? Because from their standpoint, if Donald Brashear would have said, don't be such a coward. Because from their standpoint, if Donald Brashear would have said, it's part of the game, it happens on the ice, we'll look after it on the ice, never would have gone to court. They'd have had to thrown it out. So what kind of a reaction do you think you're going to get

from the Vancouver Giants crowd tonight? Oh, listen, I mean, the fans, the hockey fans are great. They really are. I can tell you where the pushback is. A, not unlike anybody who's maybe sued the NHL or different things, any time that anything happens where the NHL wants to distance themselves, it's hard for those people to be accepted back into the game, which I get.

And I can give you a plethora of instances that nobody really wants to talk about where players don't get job offers, interviews, all the rest. We know that, and that's okay. But the public are awesome. They really are. The media sometimes are really funny because they push a point, right?

You've got to remember at the time time there was nothing else in sports going on, so it became such a media blitz. I remember being really surprised by the amount of media on it. The NFL was done. Spring training hadn't started. There was no conference basketball championships at that time. They hadn't started doing them yet. There was nothing else going on in sports and i remember wow i said i see what they're trying to do i'm not sure they picked the right instance so i'm not in a sense defending

what i just tell them the truth and if people accept that they accept it if they don't they don't that's okay i'm a big boy did Did I like what happened? No. Did I intend what happened? No. Have you spoken to Donald? Sorry. Steve Hines. Steve Hines, my teammate. He was like, big boy.

He goes, I really feel bad for you. He goes, I knew why you went on the ice. I knew what you were trying to do. He was sitting on our bench. He knew everything. He goes, this is a joke. And that was one of my teammates, right? And now, I mean, one of your teammates is going to support you, but Steve Hines is a pretty honest guy.

So I'm comfortable with it. I rarely ever have to defend it, the hockey public. I do a ton of events all across Canada. I do a ton of events where we put helicopter pads into towns. We put MRI machines, CAT scan machines. I go into these towns all through Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Maritimes, and I really enjoy it. And the people are honest. They're very matter-of-fact, and they're wonderful. Have you spoken to Donald Brashear at any point over the last 24 years? No, no. If you were to speak to Donald Brashear, what would you say to him?

Um, it would be different than if like Sandy McCarthy and I had a number of fights, Proby and I had a number of fights and I saw those guys spent time with them and I really enjoyed those guys. Um, and those guys, we understood each other. We performed on the ice. We stood up to how the job, the guys like Clark Gillies and Dave Semenko before us, did their job. And guys like Gina Wojcik did his job with class. A tough job. A very tough job with class. A tough job. A very tough job with class.

Not sure. Not so sure about the other one. If you could go back to February 21st, 2000, what would you do differently? I would have cross-checked him and made him turn around and fight me. But I couldn't get to him because that was my job. It was interesting.

It was interesting. My hands were a foot and a half apart. I mean, you can go back and look at how many other guys come up over the top with their hands together. Mine weren't. It didn't break the skin, didn't break his cheek. In the league to say his head didn't hit off the ice. I mean, all of those things, you're just like, really?

Let's put all the facts into a jar and everybody look at it rather than not. We couldn't even get the video of it. My defense team. I think I might know the answer to this, but I want to hear you explain it anyway. How much has this affected your life over the last two plus decades? No, no, no. I mean, like, trust me. I'm going to be honest with you.

People in the media make it a big deal because for them, that's what they want to talk about. And I kind of laugh and shrug my shoulders and say, fine, have your fun. Look at it honestly, though. My only thing is, if you look at it honestly, and then you come back and say, well, we don't believe you, but at least believe the facts. Right? And if you look at the facts, and then come back and go, okay. Right?

And, I mean, it's a tough job done by, at that time, by a lot of players put into really difficult positions, night in and night out. And, you know, here's the question. a lot of players put into really difficult positions night in and night out. And, you know, here's the question. How many tough guys, like real tough guys, when they retired, were they celebrated? Very, very few.

I'm looking at the video right now, Marty, and it's like, I don't like... Hey, listen, I got a question for you. Is this interview about the Donovan Brashear incident or are we going to talk about the Vancouver Giants and why I'm here? Why do you think you're here? I mean, this is the promotion for the game and I think it's going to be a very interesting reception for you tonight.

I'm here supporting 16, 17, 18, and 19-year-old kids with a really great organization that's developing kids, getting them ready for the NHL. I'm going to go in their locker room and shake their hands and say good luck and tell them don't miss an opportunity to get out there and challenge yourself. You know, go out there and play. Talk about the fact that I wasn't drafted to either junior or the NHL, but I had to fight my way in there. And I went out the same way I went in.

That's why I'm here. I'm here with Archie Henderson and Bill Goldie. And these guys, they did a really, really hard job for years. And if truth be told, some of the things that have happened to so many of the tough guys, if it was ever publicized, I think people go, oh my God, right? But it was just, we looked after it on the ice. And so that's not why I'm here. I'm not here. Now, when I go into lively Saskatchewan or Shawna then or Fort McMurray, do people want to talk about fights? Yeah, they absolutely do.

They want to talk about my time with Wayne Gretzky. Yes, they do. They want to get my take on who's better, you know, Mario Wayne or, you know, playing with Mark Messier or Ray Bork or all those guys are playing against Gila Fleur or playing in the first outdoor game ever in Edmonton. That stuff comes up. It's the media. Well, let's kind of recontextualize that because you are here is something

called Legends of the Sin Bin. And in the release, it's penalty box hero, Marty McSorley. I don't think it's in any way, shape, or form out of line to ask a question about one of the most infamous penalties in NHL history. No, but I don't want to dwell. We don't want to dwell on it, right? No, but we're mostly diving into it because I didn't realize that you hadn't spoken about it that much. So we're just trying to talk about it as well. To be perfectly honest, when we were looking it up last night and doing research for the interview, there wasn't an awful lot

of anecdotal stuff from you or Brashear in the aftermath. So this is a sort of first time element for a lot of the comments that I made and things that happened were never really put in. Right. They just, I I'm, I'm like, okay,

where, where's this? I'll give you a, for instance, a week and a half, 10 days after the, the, the incident,

like, did they ever say Don Brashear has a broken jaw? Like, what happened was they said, oh my God, he two-handed him over the head. Well, it come up off his shoulder and hit him in the side of the cheek. He went down, hit his head on the ice.

He got a concussion. Not anything anybody wants to see. Not something that I wanted to happen. And those are the actual facts. Whether you think I did it on purpose or not, anybody can have their own opinion. But for people to say two-handed him up over the head, that's not true. At the same time, did he break his teeth bone? No. Did he get stitches? No.

Did the stick break? No. Did he hit his head on the ice? Yes. The league said, well, we're going to now make a new chin strap rule that chin strap has to be an inch and a half from the chin so that the helmets don't come off. They made no reference to Donald Brashear's helmet, and that's the reason why they put the rule in.

The next September, Paul Correa got a match penalty for attempt to injure in an exhibition game, and the comment from the league office is, don't worry about Paul Correa. What Marty McSorley did is the worst thing in an exhibition game. And the comment from the league office is, don't worry about Paul Correa. What Marty McSorley did is the worst thing in NHL history. I'm like, really?

To me, that's comical. Well, Marty, we do want to thank you for taking the time to do this today. If it didn't go in the direction that you thought it was going to, I apologize, but I feel like everything that we asked was more than fair game and within the bounds of what's going on. Listen, I'm not shy about you asking about it, but let's focus on the Vancouver Giants. Let's focus on the fact that these kids are people coming out to the game.

The building I was in is a beautiful building. The team is developing NHL players. It's a great place for these kids to come and play, for families to let their 16-year-old boys go and try to follow their dreams. That's where I think the focus should be. Well, with that, I'll close by saying that you will be there tonight at the Langley Events Center. The pregame hot stove begins at six o'clock. If anybody wants to attend, go to the Vancouver Giants website, find out more. It's Legends of the Sin Bin Friday with Marty McSorley,

Archie Henderson, and Bill Goldthorpe. Marty, thanks for doing this today. We do appreciate it. Okay. All right. Marty McSorley here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Do you remember when I said I was worried about this interview because I saw

some stuff where he didn't really accept responsibility for what happened in the incident? Yep. I'm telling you, man, that is going to be an interesting reception for Marty McSorley tonight. Well, we got a lot of texts coming into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, as you might expect. I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm still not exactly sure what just transpired, but it was something. And I will say this.

The only thing that I am a hundred percent certain of is if you're gonna go to an event marketed and headlined as a legends of the sin bin with former NHL enforcers and tough guys, then I believe all questions about the actions that you had on the ice that lend themselves towards violence, fighting and aggression are on limits. It's not, not off limits. I, I was pretty, I mean, when we originally booked the interview, I was pretty, I mean, when we originally booked the interview, I was pretty confident in that. That this was,

hey, not only the place where the incident happened, but it's not like Marty McSorley's coming back in any other capacity than to talk about being a penalty box hero. So I don't,

you know what? There's people, and they won't like our line of questioning. And I see texts coming in right now. And they thought that it was a gotcha moment or yellow journalism. It was hilarious. Hold on,

hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on,

hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on,

hold on. Contentious interviews are going to be like that. Nothing is a hundred percent in one person's corner or the other when it's contentious and it's awkward and it feels like it's getting heated it's going to be polarizing i get it if you want to uh attack us and think that we were irresponsible or you know improper journalism fine dumb bar limber text line 650 650 have at it we're big boys we can handle it we wanted to do the interview we weren't sure how it was going to go we knew it had the potential to go off the rails and in certain instances it did

and that's the reality i'm not going to say situation but that's what happened very interesting i'll say that dude you ask him the questions that everyone wanted to know it's it's it's it's exactly what you know it should have been well i don't want to do too much navel-gazing, but we were getting texts in from people that said that was, you know, honestly, 90% of the texts are Marty McSorley is delusional. Okay? The other 10% are some are criticizing us for not pushing back hard enough on him, and some are saying that we were picking on him.

That's what i'm saying what was it all of it's fair none of it's accurate and all of it's accurate you hear what you hear you interpret how you interpret i think we've learned that throughout the years of doing this it's fine right we are merely here to entertain and to try and ask some questions i didn't think you get right out of the gate and get after it, but you went right after it. Well, we only had a few minutes because we had to get to what we learned. So there was always that. Well, I mean, you remember how it started.

It was like, have you done media in Vancouver? Or like, have you been back to Vancouver? And then it kind of just went naturally into that. But what do you think the reception is going to be for him tonight out in Langley? I'll let you know on Monday. I'll be there tonight. Yeah. Okay.

Complete transparency, I had no idea that that's how he felt about the incident 24 years later. No idea. Well, like you said, he hasn't really spoken much. No idea. You know, if you want to talk about being vigilant and defiant, those are two words that I would absolutely use. But I would also say that a lot of people over the course of two decades, go back and when you really honestly and truly relitigate something, if you actually relitigate it, chances are you don't get dug into one particular point of view or stance or thought on something. Because much like how our interview was received, there are a lot of different interpretations, right? The way that it kind of went about, I was like, you know, that that's why i asked him how much has this changed your life in the aftermath because it sure seems like uh marty mcsoley saw the donald

brashear incident one way at that time and two decades later sees it the exact same way and is very dug in on a few of those things who's the winner of the uh who got the got the winner of the $100 AJ's gift card? Because that seems important right now. Yeah, it was. When is this show over? Sean in Delta, congrats. He was the guy that asked us about the McDavid 1,000 points where Halford said he guaranteed the McDavid would hit 2,000 points.

People remember from the show. It's old news now. People will remember. Yeah, so he gave us some great conversation a couple hours ago. So Sean wins the $100 gift card to AJ's. Congrats. All right. Well, by the way, as absurd as today has been,

Mike Tyson is fighting Jake Paul tonight. Should I get Donald Brashear on the show on Monday? Man, it's going to be a crazy sports weekend. Honestly, all eyes are going to be on the Canucks practice today to see how Rick Tockett skates them. Two Canucks games this weekend. We get the Grey Cup. That's right.

We got Mike Tyson fighting Jake Paul tonight. Seahawks 49ers. I need a drink. It's 8.53 in the morning. We got to get out of here for today. That was awesome. But we will be back on Monday. Signing off, I have been Mike Halford.

He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog. He's been Laddie. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet. 6.50.