Halford & Brough in the Morning - Do The Canucks Understand Their Own System?

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they preview tonight's 'Nucks home matchup vs the Dallas Stars (3:00), plus they look ahead to Saturday's big home playoff matchup between the Whitecaps and LAFC, as MLS Apple TV host Kevin Egan (28:51) joins the show. 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. Back to cross for check-rink. Stop! Checkrins of long range with traffic in front. It's tough to win games when you're not giving up five. I think it was just a lack of respect for the game of hockey. I'm thinking you're just going to go out there casual and the puck's just going to find you.

Nothing matters. Nobody cares. You're all going to die. And I just like say that over and over and over again. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford and his breath.

It is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Nothing matters, but, you know, good morning. Adolf, good morning to you. Good morning, I guess. And Lattie, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Albert and breath of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest, two much lower payments in three. Financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio, Intech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Time now for the guest list, better known as the Duick Morning Drive, brought to you by the Duick Auto Group.

The morning begins at 6.30 this morning. Kevin Egan is going to join the program. Studio analyst, MLS season pass, MLS 360 host. We are now just two days away, two days away from the massive Whitecaps L-AFC Western Conference semifinal, had a sold-out BC place on Saturday. We'll break all that down with Kevin at 630. Kevin is also a diehard Ireland fan. He's an Irishman.

We'll talk to him about the World Cup playoff draw that just happened about an hour ago. Ireland's got a tough road if they're going to get to the World Cup. But we'll talk to Kevin about all that at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Owen Newkirk is going to join the program. DLS Sports Dallas Stars podcast host. Stars, of course, are in Vancouver tonight to take on the Canucks 7 o'clock, Rogers Arena.

We will preview the game from the Dallas side of things with Owen at 7 o'clock. we can also ask him about that feud between the Dallas stars and the Dallas Mavericks. Yeah. They don't like each other. That's getting very litigious. Yes, litigious is the right word for that. There's been a countersuit.

We'll talk to Owen about all that at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Brady Henderson, ESPN, Seahawks insider. Seahawks are back on the road this Sunday to take on the lowly Titans in Tennessee. The Seahawks are, get this, a 13 and a half point road favorite against the Titans. or that game is a 10 a.m. kickoff. You can hear it right here on SportsNet 650. Brady Henderson for Seahawks' talk at 7.30 this morning. You know what my key to that game is?

Don't throw four interceptions. It's a huge way to not lose football games. Throw fewer interceptions. Maybe Cam Ward will be throwing the four interceptions. They do have a turnover problem, though. Like overall, they have a turnover problem. Way too many turnovers this year. And specifically interceptions.

Sam Darnold, your own watch. 8 o'clock. Thomas Dr. From the Athletic Vancouver and Conucks talk here on SportsNet 650. As mentioned, Kinnock stars tonight, 7 o'clock puck drop, pregame at 6. Canucks returned to practice yesterday. There's a lot to unpack from what happened both on and off the ice. We'll get into all that with Drance at 8.

We'll do it just on the other side here. So working in reverse on the guest list, 8 o'clock, it's Drance. 7.30, Brady Henderson, 7 o'clock, Owen Newkirk, 6.30, Kevin Egan. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No, what happened?

action because I will. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? 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. Datsia. After a travel day, two days ago, the Vancouver Connects returned to practice yesterday at Rogers Arena. Had some new looks to the Lions. We had some injury updates. We had Adam Foot. yelling at his players, an awful lot to unpack yesterday.

We've got a new look in the top six, Jason, if we want to start there. Yeah, Garland is back, but he's not with Elias Pedersen, and I think that might have surprised a few people because Garland and EP40 had some good chemistry together, but Pedersen does remain with Evander Kane, who of course set him up for one of his nice goals against the Florida Panthers, and Sherwood is on the right side, And then Garland gets hooked up with the newest Caduc player, David Kempf, who goes from terminating his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs because he couldn't get any

playing time to second line center with the Vancouver Canucks. Brock Besser is on the left side there. These are just the practice line. So we don't know for sure that these will be the lines against the Dallas Stars, but usually. the third line is Atiratu Ratu between Drew O'Connor who's playing very well and Jake DeBrusk who is playing very well on the power play Max Sasson is the fourth line center between Carlson and Reichel

and Reichel stays in the lineup despite Connor Garland coming back in and that comes at the expense of McKearn who I think has been pretty good but I guess Reichel lives to see another day the other day Halford and I were like Do you know he's played 13 games with the Canucks? Shocking. And it's going to get to 14, apparently, unless something changes this morning. There were no changes to the defensive pairs, which, again, was, I don't know, that might have been the biggest surprise. Although I'm not exactly sure what you would do, but Marcus Pedersen and Tyler Myers are still together.

Hughes and Hironick still together. And D.P.D. and Tom Vielander are still together. and that second pair has drawn the ire of the fan base because for a couple of veteran defensemen, they've been making too many mistakes. You got D.P.D. and Tom Veelander, and Veelander made a bit of a mistake on the winning goal

by the Florida Panthers. One of the many goals, the Florida Panthers scored. But that happened to be the winning goal where Tom Villander was just kind of standing beside his defenseman, didn't tie up the stick, didn't get underneath the stick, as Adam Foote said, but the defense remains the same.

And as you mentioned, Foote yelled at the players during the practice. Maybe he saw what Craig Brube did in Toronto the other day when he yelled at the players. He was like, I'm going to yell at the players too because Toronto's not defending and Vancouver wasn't defending, especially against the Florida Panthers. But it's been an issue all season. And it's going to be real interesting to see how the Canucks look tonight against the Dallas Stars. will there be a real focus on defending and if they continue to have trouble

with their assignments in their own end with the system, figuring out what's going on, you know, it's just going to make things more challenging for Adam Foote, who did have a few things to say after practice yesterday. Why don't we play the audio now? So we've got about a minute and a half,

minute, 15 seconds of Adam Foot, talking about defending, something he did over the course of his NHL career and is now tasked with trying to get the Vancouver Canucks to do because going into last night's action, the Canucks had conceded the most goals in the entire National Hockey League, no longer. Edmonton now holds that mantle, and we'll talk about them in a minute. But we will go now to the head coach following yesterday's practice, Adam Foote, talking about his team's defending. Here's the audio.

Lots of accent on defending this morning in practice. Yeah, we, you know, you guys know the numbers, you know, a goal and a half has to stop, has to stop, right? We have a lot of young guys and a lot, I think sometimes we just keep teaching, you know, extend your coverage, clothes, sort out the system with them. And what happens is, you know, and it's happened to me, you know, when I play, there's times where if you get on a new team or you go to a different situation with some youth or things like that. sometimes you're too early on the play sometimes you're late you know what I mean and just to go over it and go over it again and again

continue to do it and we're slowly getting it but you know you play against those three teams they can expose that quickly right with their experience but you know if you're laid on a boxout or you don't get under the stick you're over it like or you don't engage

in the box out earlier or you think one guy's getting beat so you go help them and then that guy's fine and the puck passes through you, right, to the guy that you were checking. So little things like that, and I believe we're close, and we're going to keep working on it. So I was wondering when Adam Foote would reach this point, because without the corrections happening on the ice, it was going to be hard for him to come in game after game, practice after practice, and reiterate the same things that he's been reiterating so far, which is we're right there,

we're making tiny mistakes. A couple of mistakes there. Right? and you know you kind of nod and smile but at a certain point you know that that's going to stop because people are going to say well at what point do you either ratchet up the standard or do you go from being the patient

glass half full coach to the I'm running short on patience enough's enough coach and I think we're starting to see the evolution from one to the other right now because you can't keep going in and giving up goals with the regularity that the connects are giving up. And I think more importantly,

if you're pointing out the mistakes and they're not being corrected, are you really doing anything? Like, pointing out mistakes is great. And it's an important way to learn is to identify what went wrong. But if the changes aren't happening and if the corrections aren't being made,

you're not really doing anything productive. You're just pointing out the flaws. So I can understand why Flip probably drew his eye or yesterday because a lot of the things that he mentioned in that clip, that's just sort of basic, Like this is your job. You need to do these things. If you want to talk about non-negotiables, those are his, boxing out, taking care sticks.

I think the big one for him and he's mentioned us a bunch is. Yeah, it's not like that's the first time they've ever heard that in hockey. Right. Like, I mean, these are, I mean, take a stick? I don't play hockey and I know these things, right? I think the important thing here is where he's talked a lot now about guys leaving to do other guys' jobs. Yeah. And I think that that might be the hardest thing.

to break through with this group for whatever reason. It's because of the swarm system, though, right? Like, when you're swarming the puck, it's not one-on-one. You're taking multiple guys, and you're going to the puck, and then if you don't get the puck, if you don't turn the puck over and then start the breakout out the other way, then you know what's going to look like? It's going to look like you're running around.

Right, which is happening. Because then guys are going to be open. Yeah. And I, oh, oh, three guys went to the puck. And this guy is wide open. That's crazy how that works. It's almost like it's math. So based on what you just said and what Foote said,

I do wonder if the defensive system he's trying to employ here is just, it's too much. That'd be funny if Adam was like, I'm just going to make a quick call to Philly. Yeah. I just be like, I wasn't paying all that much attention. What was the system we did?

We dumped it down, right? We made it easier for them. What are you saying when you mentioned this stuff? about the things. Yeah. I mean, because here's the thing right now, they're not getting it.

Can we just all agree? The proof is in the goals against? They're not getting the system. They're not getting the system, but there's also a serious personnel issue because I know you didn't play hockey, but you know that the center is quite responsible defense. No, that's fair.

That's fair. You know, he's got to take a man in front of the net as well, right? So when you've got the center depth that the Canucks do have, I mean, I think it's interesting that Garland went with David Kempf. Yeah. Because what's Garland? He's the guy that you put on the line that maybe has a struggling player or, you know, I know PD's playing better, but at five on five,

I think Garland might still be their best forward. So you put him with the new center, the new defensive center, and maybe that's going to be the line that gets some of the harder matchups tonight against the Dallas Stars. And, you know, Adam Foote also mentioned sometimes, you know, you have newer players. Oh, yeah, like who? Yeah, I mean. You know, he struggled in his first game.

He was minus three or whatever. And that, and no one was blaming him because they were explaining the system to him right before the game. And even he, and they were probably like, don't worry, no one really understands it. Yeah, just run around. You look like everybody else. Okay, injury updates. You mentioned Connor Garland there.

So Connor Garland did return to the ice after missing Monday's 8-5 loss to the Florida Panthers with a minor injury that the club said he suffered during a fight on Sunday against Taylor Radish and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Murph went on to share that Garland tweak something that had already been bothering him during that fight with Radish, which is why he was sidelined. They ruled out a concussion.

So Garland will be back in the lineup tonight. There's one of your injury updates. The next is Nils Hoaglander. When he was originally hurt, underwent surgery, walking boot, all that stuff. The club said that it would be an 8 to 10 week window for return. And yesterday, Adam Foote said, quote, he's doing great. It looks like it'll be closer to 10 weeks. I think it could be off by a couple days there, but that's what I've been told, end quote.

A Kinnock spokesperson confirmed that Hoaglender has resumed skating on his own without the team. If you were to do the 10 weeks from when he originally got hurt on September, September 29th, Hoaglander would return for that December 8th game against Detroit. It's difficult to pinpoint anything because his foot said they might be off a couple days, but Hoaglander's return getting closer and closer. In less encouraging news, Teddy Blugher, this is another injury update, suffered a setback in his return from injury. He was hurt in the third period against the Washington Capitals a while ago.

It seemed as though that Bluger was on the way back within the last 10 to 14 days. As a matter of fact, he was actually at a practice in a non-contact jersey at the beginning of November. Suffered a setback and has now been out for a month and they don't really have a definitive timeline on when he's going to return and that's not great. Speaking of not great injury updates, Derek Foreboard, I have no idea what's going on here,

but it sounds like he's going to continue to be out for a while. Yeah, Fitt mentioned something about his midsection, which comprises a lot of things, so who knows. He's like a defensive Brandon Sutter. Remember just perma injured? Like he probably played like nine games for the kind of, because it feels like. I know he's played more than that.

But I mean, it feels like he gets injured every other game. Well, this one's especially strange because, if you'll recall, he did play in the first two games of the season, then was given the game off against St. Louis, which was the Jimmy Snuggaroo game. That was due to maintenance at the time. They classified it as a maintenance day off. And he hasn't played since.

And he didn't practice the next day. And then after that, he was placed on IR. They don't have a return date for him. No timeline for when Derek Foremore, maybe back in the lineup. I wonder if it's some sort of groin thing. Possibly. You know?

Hernia. Who knows? Sports hernia? Something like that. But it's not great. Who knows, though we are speculating. Yeah, but the penalty kill double checking still stinks, so it would be really nice to get Teddy Bluger and Derek Forbore back in the lineup.

The Canucks go into tonight's action with the 32nd rank penalty kill in the NHL. And that's important to note because there are 32 teams in the National Hockey League. at 67.1% they have a worse penalty kill than the Ottawa Senators. Them in Ottawa are the only two teams in the NHL with a sub-70% penalty kill. You know what else is a problem?

What's that? Dallas's power play is second in the NHL, clicking at 32%. 32%? Wild. How good their power play is. Now, a quick look at the Dallas stars. We'll leave some of this for Owen Newkirk later, but they are in tonight.

They're one of the best teams in the national hockey league and one of the best teams in the Western Conference they would have been in first place in the Central Division if not for the Colorado Avalanche who are off

to an unbelievable start but the Dallas stars are 12, 5, and 3 they're second in the Central that loss we talked about yesterday where they lost at home to the Islanders and an absolutely bonkers

end to that game snapped the five game win streak so they go out on the road now looking to get back to their winning ways they got a lot of injuries on defense though

Thomas Harley Ilya Lubushkin and Nils Lundqvist are all out for them for a conceivable amount of time too, I think. I think Harley's going to be out for the duration of this road trip that they're on, and that's a big loss for them. Matt DeShay and Adam Ernie

are out up front as well. Okay, we'll catch up with Owen Newkirk on the Dallas Stars later in the show, but I do want to turn our attention to what happened. Last night in the NHL where the Edmonton Oilers lost again, and a lot of the same issues

showed up in a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals. The goaltending early on was not good. Stuart Skinner gave up a bunch of goals in the first period. Evan Bouchard defensively was not good. Ryan Leonard bullied him on one play. And then, I mean, it was not really key to the game.

But Evan Bouchard also gave up a goal, an empty netter goal, when he just turned the puck over at the blue line. But the Oilers were already down two goals. That was the seventh goal to make it seven to. before. And, you know, I watched this game, and other than McDavid and Drysadle, you were struggling to find an Oilers forward that was really making an impact. I think the fourth line scored. Yep. But I don't know what the final numbers were for McDavid and Drysidal, but they probably played 24 minutes each around there. Like, they played a lot. And that is

the coach Knoblock looking at his forward group and going, like, I don't have enough forwards here and I know Ryan Nugent Hopkins is hurt right now but you know I again it's like Pod Colzen we all liked Pod Colson here

in Vancouver he worked hard he cannot finish and right now he's in a top six for all. So last night Connor McDavid played 24-02 which is a lot Leon Drysidal played 2326 and get this they're so desperate

that their third best forward right now is one, Jack Roslovick and two, Jack Roslovick nearly played 23 minutes last night. That's crazy to have Jack Roslovick. Yep. He also went minus three. That's almost as crazy

as terminating your contract with a team because you can't get into a game going to a new team and you're the second line center. And you took that second line center position from a guy that couldn't get a job in Chicago. Is that weird? Is that weird?

Who's now the fourth line left winner? For now. And we're kind of like, I don't know. I think McKenzie McKecker deserves that spot. You know, there are some similarities between the Canucks and the Oilers right now. The records are very similar.

There was a lot of consternation. So right now, the Edmonton Oilers are dead last in the NHL and goals against, dead last in five-on-five goals against, and dead last in team overall safe percentage. Those are not good numbers. They are in a meat grinder of a road trip right now. It's their longest

one of the season. I believe it's a seven gamer, and they've still got two more to go, and they've got to do the gauntlet that the Canucks just finished. Speaking of similarities, between the two. They go to Tampa Bay on Thursday, and then they finish with a Stanley Cup rematch against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Now, that should have been a much Ballyhooed matchup between the two teams that met in the last two Stanley Cup finals. But with all the injuries and how badly Edmonton's playing and the fact that it's at the end of a seven-game

road trip, it's taken some of the juice out of that one. We'll see how it goes. But Edmonton's in a really bad way right now. I don't know. I don't know if it's ever going to get to the point where they got a fire knoblock they would have to go on a car crash. It's not his fault man I know but you've seen them do it before they did it with Woodcroft right where they just got too many too many losses and they had to fire a guy

I know people are making the comparisons to other seasons I was watching the game with the boy yesterday who was nine and he said he said two things that were pretty funny he said oh the oilers always start slow they're always terrible and then on the

on the empty netter where Bouchard makes a mistake he goes there goes Bouchard giving up again Wow very accurate right basically done because he did he just like gave up one he was like pulled a J.T. Miller

he was like I'm not going to catch him he said Cyanar the way that he went That was pretty funny though but look you should record that and texted it to JT. Born yeah I don't know where Borg

Justin Born I don't know what at J.T. Bourne. I'm thinking of it. I'm looking at his Twitter Haddon. There was a lot of people that were roasting born last night on social media. He's like, oh, God, I wish I'd never tweeted that. Is the guy he wanted Team Canada? That's the guy. Yeah, Boren said he wanted Bouchard on Team Canada. The timing of

the take was what blew me away. We should have him on the show just to talk about that one. I think he regrets it. No, he's going to let it go. My point about the Oilers, though, and it's one that, and I've been making over and over again, and I think when Connor McDavid had signed just a two-year contract extension, it kind of showed something. Like, again, two years ago, their forward group was way better than it is right now.

One year ago, it was slightly worse than two years ago, but still good. And now you're looking at it and you're just like, oh, there's not much there. There's a reason why McDavid and Dryside are playing 24 minutes a night. Yeah, like this is definitely a personnel issue. You're right, you can't put this at the feet of the coach This isn't Knoblox's fault At the same time They are going to reach a desperation point

If it keeps going like this Because how much more can he conceivably play Dry Seidel and McDavid in these individual games? I don't know 27 minutes a night And what happens if they keep losing these games? One more thing I wanted to get to before Or did you have something else?

Someone texted, I wonder how McDavid feels about that new contract Yeah, he's thinking, man, that was maybe signed on a bit too long there Should have knocked a year off that thing Made it even shorter. Okay, finally before we were to break. I did want to mention the Buffalo Sabres because the Buffalo Sabres had another very, and in a long line of disappointing losses, another disappointing loss last night, they lost 6-2 to the Calgary Flames in a game in which a Calgary Flame scored four times

in the third period to blow this open. I know we played a bit of this in the intro, Greg, but I want to play it again. Short clip from Tage Thompson, who was visibly, visibly disappointed yesterday talking about his team's approach to games. Hear what Tage Thompson had to say about his team following a 6-2 loss to Calgary last night. It doesn't matter who you're playing. You can win on any given night. You can lose on any given night. It doesn't matter who you're lying up

across. So I think it was just a lack of respect for the game of hockey. I'm thinking you're just going to go out there casual and the puck's just going to find you and it's not the case. You got no respect. Just when you think everyone said everything that could be said about how bad the Buffalo Sabres are, Tage Thompson says

that there was a lack of respect for the game of hockey. So, you know, I know that the only reason I bring this up is because we've talked a lot about apathy in market when it comes to a team. And it's funny because I just kind of ducked back into the Buffalo situation because Buffalo's dead. That matchup last night was between the two worst teams in the East and West. But they just had a good win over the Oilers.

I know. But if you look at the standings, Buffalo's dead last in the East and Calgary's dead last in the West. Those were technically speaking the two worst teams in the NHL right there. there. And one dramatically outplayed the other at home in the third period. And I was Paul Hamilton, who we've had on the show numerous times, had a pretty lengthy article. And in it, he wrote, like, this team is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference on Merritt. It's not a fluke because they're truly the worst team in the East. And then

he said, this is a flawed team in a flawed hockey department. It's flawed from the very top down. And he's been saying this for what I feel is like close to a decade. And at this point it's like how many times can you say the same things and complain about the same players and be disappointed by the same group of individuals before you just throw your hands up in there like whatever well j j petrka's playing pretty well for utah and all these guys escape good point and all these guys escape and they play really well i mean and we've gone down the list a thousand times it's just and i know it's taken a long time in buffalo it's been 14 years with other playoffs but when these guys are saying things very loud

And without any filter, and nothing changes. It's still the same old sad sack sabres. The game of hockey actually responded, by the way. You've been disrespecting us for a long time, page. All right. It's not just yesterday. We got to go to break. Andy is adamant that I mentioned that at 8 o'clock this morning,

we are giving away a pair of tickets to see the Vancouver Giants this Saturday at the Langley Events Center. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. this morning will win a pair of tickets to see the Giants in the Tri-City Americans 7 p.m. Langley Events Center. The phone number here is 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-0-650. Be caller number 5 at 8 a.m. to win a pair of tickets to see the Giants.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 6.34 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody.

Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can get your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees to learn how. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Kevin Egan, MLS Apple TV studio host, host of MLS 360, is going to join us in just a moment here. Kickoff Hour 1. Hour 1 is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Before we get to Kevin, a quick scheduling note. It is a Canucks game day, of course. 7 o'clock Rogers Arena. You can hear the game right here on Sportsnet 6.50.

Pregame is at 6. Post game, obviously, following the show. It is a Canucks Game Day, and that means Connect's Game Day. Coverage is brought to you, as always, by Panago. Go for the win. buy two medium Panago pizzas and score free cheesy bread. Use code Canucks Deal at panago.com. Panagof for it, restrictions apply game day only.

That's not the only scheduling note that we have to pass along. All of the World Cup playoff qualifiers, the draws have been released. So we'll parse through them throughout the show. But I'm bringing this up. Ireland's road goes through the Czech Republic. And then hopefully through Denmark or North Macedonia. That's the group that they're going to be playing. and both the first match will be away in the Czech Republic.

If they win that, they would host the winner of Denmark and North Macedonia. Italy's like, thank God, North Macedonia's in that group. Always a banana peel club for them. I mentioned this for no particular reason other than the fact that we are joined now, as mentioned by the host of MLS 360 on Apple TV. Kevin Egan joins us now on the Halford & Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Kevin. How are you? Oh, I'm good. Thanks, Jen.

to join you guys at such an exciting time for the caps and for Ireland too you mentioned it there I'm just buzzing and breaking down all the potential scenarios and whether or not I want to make the trip over to Prague to see the boys in green against the Czech Republic which will be a tough game So what did you mention about the Dublin Zoo? The Dublin Zoo now has a parrot named Troy Parrot. You know they were just like someone at the zoo is like you find a parrot that needs to be named. I know seriously I'd say they had the one hanging around just in case. you know, call it Troy. It's been, it's hard to imagine, you know, what this does for a country like Ireland.

You know, nothing galvanises and unites our country like our football team. And to see, like, Gaelic football and Hurling are our Irish pastimes, our biggest sports, but the national team brings everybody together. And it's just been such an exciting time. Nobody gave us a chance. We'd one point after three games in the group. And then we won the next three games to, you know, beat in Portugal. Ronaldo getting sent off, keeping a clean sheet, and going to Hungary, and winning the way we did.

It was just so drama-filled to the death. And now we've got a real chance, a really, really good chance, I think, to go to checks. And they're not the side they used to be. Beat them, and then you take it home, and a one-off game at home against Denmark can be tough. But I think we can do it. I just one more on this before we move on to the MLS stuff, because when we came in on Monday, we played the Troy Parrot winner and then the call, the now, like, a sort of famous call, about just the joy that burst when that goal went in

and to give everyone an idea of like how slim the chances were three matches prior to now being in a World Cup qualifier. What was it like going through those last three matches and realizing like you're on a razor's edge the entire time like the whole thing could collapse, but somehow, somehow in a large part due to Troy Parrott, they were able to work their way.

The Irish national team was able to work their way into this World Cup playoff. Yeah, I'm on a group text with all, my old school friends and every one of them was slagging me making fun of me because they're saying oh you've been in America too long, quit it with that glass half full type stuff and I'm saying to them no I honestly

think we could cause a bit of an upset here against Portugal and then give us a chance on the final day and then Hungary got the win at Armenia which I didn't think they'd do and it left us with an awful lot to do what meant we had to win that game against Portugal and hope for the best you know in Hungary

and just such an emotional roller coaster I was with my kids watching who just thought I was an absolute lunatic. My wife was laughing because when that goal was scored, I had this burst of energy for maybe a second. That's it. And then I just broke down in tears. And I know it's ridiculous to say that given we just made it to a playoff,

but our team has been so bad for so long that this just brings everybody together and gives like my parents, for example, back in Ireland, they're just absolutely buzzing right now. And the whole country is just electric at this moment in time. And it's because of that goal. It's because we have hope. and obviously there's a lot of Irish in Canada and in America and it would mean so much to have the Irish here at the World Cup.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, it's not going to compare in terms of the raw emotion, but the buzz and the energy in this city right now going into Saturdays, MLS Western Conference semifinal between the Whitecaps and LIFC. It's the highest that I think it's ever been for the White Caps in their MLS era. It's a sold-out crowd at BC Place on the weekend, 53,000. tickets have been sold. And Kevin, I got to say, like, I know that there's a lot of good matchups in Major

League Soccer in this round, and there's a lot of, you know, stars and marquee teams, but is it fair to suggest that this White Caps L-AFC match is clearly the match of the round? Yeah, I think it is. I think it is. And I've said, as soon as it played out and we knew this was going to be the game, I said, this is the one. Even from just a footballing perspective, the contrasting style, the way Vancouver are so comfortable within their skin and the way they play, it's such an attractive way.

You know, with Mueller pulling the strings now and the width of the wingers, depending on who it is, obviously Sabby's been superb, Jaden Nelson is great, Ali Ahmed too, and then Brian White's back fitting available for this game and hopefully we'll see him start. We may very well see White, Gould and Mueller start the game for a very first time they would play together. Even White and Gould haven't played together since March. So to see this team go up against this counter-attacking side of LASC, I think it's going to be high scoring game, a really fun game, the superstars on show in Muller against Sun, which

will appease the international audience. But it goes far beyond that. The roots of this game, I think, go back to the last few years of LAFC being like the big brother to Vancouver. You know, Boston, Vancouver come the postseason, even though Vancouver I thought were excellent in the playoffs against LASC last year, LASC still got over the line against them. And I think this is the year in a one-off game at BC place, 53,000. plus this is the day where Vancouver stand up to LASC and get it done, I think. You know, it's funny you mentioned the last handful of years and all the matchups that the two have had.

And I remember distinctly last year in the playoffs, it seemed like, again, we talk about that Razor's Edge, the margin of difference. For Vancouver, it was they just lacked that little bit of composure and the ability for one person to step up and make a big moment when there weren't many big moments to be had. I remember Brian White missed a chance early in the decisive third game. And that ended up being the difference.

and now Thomas Mueller is on the scene and it almost feels like this is a sort of custom-made moment for him with all the winning that he's done. We've referred to him as a serial winner here to show this team maybe in those clutch moments what it takes to get it over the edge against an LAFC team that is very dynamic and has its own star power

but I do wonder if the Mueller factor will really be on display this weekend. It's crazy to think like you couldn't have hit a better signing in my opinion and I think you could say the exact same about Sun and LFC. I asked my colleagues at work, which one's a better signing, Sauter and Mueller. And they literally said, like, we can't pick one. Because in every single category you want to look at, both of them have been unbelievable.

Mueller, like, what he's delivered inside that dressing room, the culture of the team, and how he nearly conducts the orchestra on the field. You know, he's constantly barking orders to his teammates, having fun with his teammates. He's delivered with stats, goals and assists, the performance. performances have been out of this world. And culturally, he's after diving into Vancouver and he's, you know, injected himself into the city. And I think it's just one of those signings that you're like, Hans, you know, they have

to applaud what Axel Schuster and Esper Sarranson and everybody have done to bring Mueller to the team and really create this environment that he's thriving in. And I think the same can be said for Sun at LAFC, an outstanding signing on the field and off the field. And it's a shame that one of these teams is going to be eliminated. on Saturday night because I'd love to see both nearly go all the way, which I know is impossible to an MLS cook. But it's just so fun to witness what's happening on both of these teams.

Kevin, I've always maintained that Vancouver is a bit of a sleeping giant when it comes to being a soccer city. Like we are a great soccer city, but the white caps haven't given us all that much to cheer about during the MLS era. Are people around the league starting to realize like Vancouver really is a good soccer city because this is going to be now the second time that we've sold out B.C. place, which is a pretty big stadium. Like, it's not a soccer-specific stadium.

It's bigger than most stadiums. The first one came against Messi, Inter-Miamy, Vancouver won that, and now we're going to have this one against L.A.F.C. Yeah, I think people started to take notice very early, and obviously that magical run to the Concaf Champions Cup final was just sensational to witness. I think, yes, for Sorenson, you know, what he's done this year needs to be recognized. And obviously it was an incredibly difficult race for coach of the year this year because Bradley Cornell was in its first season in Philadelphia, and he brought team to a supporter shield and did win it.

Mike Yvarez and San Diego has his team still competing. It's an expansion team and it's his first time as a first team head coach. So Sorensen, maybe it goes under the radar what he's done. But I think the way the team is playing and being able to bring that crowd. out. And, you know, there were doubts about the future of the team, remember. And the fans have shown up in a major, major way to support this Vancouver Whitecaps team. And Sorensen, Axel Schuster behind the scenes have been remarkable. And then on the field, I think one of the most impressive things for me is the amount of players that Vancouver have missed throughout the year,

through injury or suspension, or international absentees. And they haven't skipped a beast. There's only been one or two games you look at and think, okay, they were, they were beaten in that game. The Concalf Champions Cup Final being one of them. I believe there was a game shortly after that. I think it was against Seattle, where you thought, okay, they've been beaten in this game. But every other game, Vancouver right there in, if not blowing teams away. And it's a style of play that I don't think we've seen in Vancouver before. I will say this.

One of the constants almost throughout the entirety of the year, because he's been healthy and he's just been a rock in the midfield is Sebastian Berhalter. I know he made his way onto your timeline because of what he did for the U.S. men's national team in the recent win over Uruguay. How impressed are you with the development of this player this year? Because to me, it almost feels like he might have outgrown the club and the league, and he might be destined for bigger things. And I think he's going to have a spot on that U.S. team at the upcoming World Cup in the summer. Which, think about what you just said there.

And then think about the fact that he said he almost quit the game. Yeah. Because, and he's so grateful to Vancouver for giving him a chance, because he hadn't had those chances. He didn't look like a star when he was at Austin or at Columbus. and I think now he looks like an absolute stud in midfield and it's the relationships that he's formed in there obviously alongside a player like Kubas

Kubas is a class player Vite earlier in the year really really good but Burrhalter's personality starting to shine too we had him as a guest on our club and country show when we were in Tampa at US national team camp a few days ago and his personality was there for all to see he came over he jumped on the mic he's having fun he's clearly a good pal now with Thomas Muller and he's great for the dressing room

And I think any player or coach will tell you that, like, these culture guys, these guys you can have who are just great for the environment, and then they perform on the field are the perfect players to have in a moment like this where they'll be able to keep it light, but understand what winning takes. And I hope Burhalter hasn't outgrown the team. I don't think that's the case. I'd love to see him be a leader there for years to come and help bring through younger players to a Sorensen system because he's the sort of player, I think you can really build around. Kevin, can you tell us a bit about Sun and what he's brought to LAFC and maybe just a little bit more about him because there might be some people listening that don't realize how big a star he is. Obviously, there's going to be some Korean fans showing up to BC Place, but also globally. I think he's the biggest Asian star on the planet and I think a lot of that's well documented now that he's just, he's able to move the needle more than anybody. and that's including a guy like Otani

who's the greatest baseball contract in history he his eyeballs on Apple I'm hearing are phenomenal the movement to watch Sun Jung Min play but that's all off the field on the field it surprised me what a hit he's been

because I really thought he'd want to drift to the left-hand side I really thought he'd collide with Denny Buonga instead of actually forming arguably the best tandem we've ever seen in a short sample size they've been phenomenal together They've pretty much taken out a central striker.

They've allowed Sun and Buonga be that two up front, that drift, that Rome, that just use chemistry to combine and really punish teams. And of late, we've seen Nathan Ordaz come in as well, and Sun play as that false nine and allow Ordas and Bwanga make those runs in behind. And he's basically doing what Mueller is doing with Vancouver. And he's taken the game by the scruff of the neck, and he's making it his. And this is where I think it's going to be such. a brilliant individual battle

to see who can insert their dominance on the game more. Is it going to be Sun on the road with Buonga and Nathan Ordaz in behind in counter-attack-in-play which they're the best in the league at? Or will it be Vancouver with their possession style and Mueller pulling the strings and just not allowing LASC get on the ball?

It's by far in a way the most fascinating tactical match-up with two superstars colliding and I think the hunger and the thirst that Vancouver will have to get over the line against LASC given recent years I think that'll be there for all to see as well it's just such a tasty matchup

that I can't wait for Saturday night already and to see a rock in BC place I wish I was there with you guys Well we will be there and we are as equally excited as you are It's going to be a lot of fun on Saturday Kevin thanks a lot for doing this today We really appreciate it

Enjoy the game on Saturday Best of luck to Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers Hopefully we can do this again After the White Caps dispatch of LAS Yeah exactly join us for countdown. We'll be on air an hour before the game from studio. Getting ready for this big clash. So yeah, good look to the White Caps and we'll chat with you guys soon. Sounds great. Thanks, Kevin. Appreciate this. That's Kevin Egan, studio analyst

MLS seasons pass on Apple, also the host of MLS 360, which you can watch ahead of this Saturday's White Caps game on Apple TV. Do you think most listeners appreciate how big a star song is? No. I appreciate maybe, I don't want to like cast aspersions on our listenership. It's like, appreciate maybe Maybe they just are unaware of the reach in which he has. Now, in, like I've mentioned this before. And he's been deadly for L-AFC. Short sample size, but he's a good player.

Dodd and I talked about this while you were on vacay. And I was like, he transcends just a sports star in Korea. He's one of the most recognizable figures, period, regardless of industry or what have you. he is beloved underlined four times beloved by Totten Sporters right he's a club icon and now he's come to

North America he's played in L.A. which has a massive Korean population and is also formed on the pitch and Kevin pointed it out very stutely like right away one of the most dynamic strike forces in MLS so he's ticked almost every box along the way and he had these legions of followers

before it just adds to the sort of the legacy and the myth and all these sorts of things because he's not old enough to be out of his prime, right? I mean, he's not the player that he was... 33 or something like that.

Yeah, he's not the player that he was in his mid-20s, but I remember when he really broke out in the Premier League, the one thing that stood out is that you couldn't have an identifiable strong foot for him because he was as equally adept

with his right as he was with his left. Right. Like you didn't, you couldn't tell. He could hit a ball. And he worked on that as a kid. Well, that was his, it's funny. If you go and read the stories of his father, who is a, um, a very determined footballing father. Passionate.

Passionate. Yeah. The training was like endless hours of, uh, identifying what the weak foot was as a child and then erasing that, like eradicating weak foot from the vocabulary. And he's just so dynamic. That's why Kevin pointed out. He thought he might collide with Boanga when they were playing together. Mm-hmm.

Because he would drift in. the spaces that he like to go to, but because he's so adept with both feet, he can go anywhere and do anything that he wants because he can hit any ball from anywhere with both feet. What kind of game do you think this is going to be? Do you think it could be a high-scoring one? I think what's going to happen is the white caps are going to possess the ball a lot, and L-AFC is going to hit on the counter a lot. So it'll look at times like the white caps are dominant because they've got the ball at their feet for long stretches. But that's almost fine for L-AFC because they're so good in the counter. I think the white caps are going to win

because I think they're the more determined of the two teams. They're at home. You can't discount that. They've been so good at BC place. And I think for where he's at, Mueller understanding the lack of success for Vancouver, this is meant as no disrespect to Sun and L.A.F.C., but they don't have that same sort of hunger for it.

Like, L.A.F.C. is a glamour club. They've won things. They've won titles. They've had big-name players come in. Mueller is one of one, and this Whitecaps opportunity is one. of one. So I just want to throw this out there because I think you speak on behalf of a lot of white caps fans. Can you believe this season the white caps are having? Like, could you imagine

imagine someone tell you that, oh, Halford, the white caps this year are, they're going to be, first of all, really good and have a chance at multiple championships. And also, they're going to play two sold-out games at BC plays. One of them is going to be against Messi. And the other one, and oh, and by the way, Thomas Mueller's on the whitecaps now. And the other one's going to be against Sons and L.A.F.C. And like a bunch of other guys, too. It's not just like one. It's like there are multiple stars.

And like, oh, and Sebastian Barrehalter is going to like turn into a really good player. And, you know, there's going to be multiple white caps players that are playing in big international games, et cetera, et cetera. So that's how the white cap season is going to go. No. To short answer, no. No. I couldn't imagine it. The Mueller thing was the one that put me, like,

I was incredulous when that happened. Do you remember when that first got on our radar? It was actually when Bearhalter was at the MLS All-Star game. Yeah. And the guys that were calling the game in the booth, they mentioned offhand, like as an aside. They're like, oh, yeah, I heard the white caps are interested in Mueller. And someone texted it into the show as of what we learned.

And I scoffed. I openly laughed at it. The idea, the sheer idea of it. At the time, it seemed so ridiculous. So did L-AFC pivot to Sond after they didn't get? Because they were rumored. Yes. They were going to make a big splash because their season was kind of meh,

up until the point that they got there. And the understanding was they were always going to make a big splash in the summer. They had been tied to Mueller. And that also has to do with the fact that there is some history between Byron and L.A.F.C. But he chose Vancouver. and then they quickly pivoted to Sond. And Sond was a pretty easy, so as I mentioned,

because there's a massive Korean population. Yes. And we've seen it. If you just want to talk about the Asian influence in L.A., I mean, he mentioned Otani during the call. It's sort of been a landing spot. And it's a glimmer spot for the internationals to go as well, right?

Does Andrew and Victoria ever listen to the show anymore? Because we're more of a soccer show now. He gave up. He must have given up. Yeah. Get used to it because there's a lot more soccer to come. I don't know if Andrew and Victoria heard, but the World Cup is going to be.

be played. Pretty big deal in North America this year. Owen Newkirk is going to join us next. We'll talk a little Dallas Stars. The Dallas Stars are in town to play the Vancouver Connects. I also want to talk to Owen about this feud between the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks. It's crazy. It's pretty interesting. So stick around and keep listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Friendly reminder, the Halford & Brough Show is brought you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. visit Duick GM on Marine Drive, visit them downtown, visit them in Richmond,

and visit them online at duikautogroop.com. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.