Halford & Brough in the Morning - Does Quinn Hughes Look Out Of Sorts?

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk some more Canucks and answer some listener questions regarding the club, they look elsewhere around the NHL at the top stories of the day (3:00), plus they speak with BC Lions linebacker Micah Awe (24:34), as the Leos get set to host the Edmonton Elks this Friday. 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.

7.02 on a Tuesday, everybody, everybody, Halford Brough, SportsNet 6.50. Halper and Brother of the morning is bratsed to by Sands and Associates Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com

We are now in hour two of the program Hour 2 is bratched by Jason hominock at Jason dot mortgage If you love giving the banks more your money Then don't let Jason shop around To find the perfect mortgage for you Visit them online at jason.morgage We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio

Kintech Footwear and Ortho Working together with you in step. I'm just looking at a replay from the Mariners. Blue Jays game last night is Swarro's okay after getting hit by that ball? Eugenio? Yeah, he's fine. That was hilarious. He didn't even try to move.

And then he went down like a sack of potatoes. You have no idea what we're talking about. I think it was in the third or fourth inning. Jimenez, it's short. And it was a difficult play. He was going to his left to try and field a grounder. Then he did a spin around and tried to throw. to first, miss first base by like 60 feet, threw it into the stairwell leading down to the

Mariners tunnel in their dugout, but sitting on those stairs was old Eugenio Suarez, made no attempt to get out of the way of the ball. Just let it hit him in the back. He had enough time to sort gauge how fast it was going and he's like, you know what? I'm just going to take this one off the back. Took it right in the back. It's not worth getting out of the way for it. I think he was Like in jest, he went down and was rolling around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was hurt. The Mariners are just having a good time right now.

They're having a good time. And then John Snatter is like, a challenge. I challenge the whole thing. Yeah. The challenge failed. Suarez and Josh Nailer are quite a pair, aren't they? Love Josh Nailer, man. I just saw the clip of Nailer.

I forgot. A couple years ago. Get that home run off Garrett Cole and he did the, you're my baby boy. I forgot about that. Now he has a baby. Yeah. It was an aggressive. celebration. Yeah. Well, you're listening

to the Alford & Abrupt show and we're more of a mariner show now. Yeah. Blue Jays. Canucks? Knox? Yeah. Oh, you know, by the way, just a final bow on the baseball. Did anyone bother watching the Dodgers and Brewers last night? What a game. I watched the ninth.

Yeah, that was amazing. That was weird. The old, how about that 8-6-2 triple play? That's... Double play. Sorry, double play. Yeah. That's like a... 6-4-3. 404-foot grounded in. to double play is what it was officially scored. Yeah. So if you missed it early in the game. Oh, is that what it is?

404 foot. It's a ground ball. It's a ground ball off the center field wall. Yes. Okay. The people scoring that, their minds exploded trying to figure out how you score. If you missed it yesterday, bases loaded, Muncie comes to the plate early in that game, blast one to center field. Sal Freelick, one of the best names in baseball, looks like he makes an amazing grab at the wall. But it doesn't actually make the grab. What it does is

goes off his glove and then falls just below the home run tape essentially back into his glove so it's a live ball. Dodgers runners on base have no idea what to do. Some of them are tagging up, some of them are staying. It ended up being a throw from center field to home a force out at home. Yes. Then the catcher walked the ball up the third baseline and tagged third for the eight six two because the relay came from second field through short. 862 double play Do you want to play the clip of it The confusion surrounding it

You know we should play it just for like the audio Because it's so confusing The poor guys calling the game I have no idea what's going on it The Dodgers on the bases were amazing It's like one of them was just gonna like Just like burst into flames or something They didn't know what to do

Do I go? Do I just sat down on the base Feetal position in between the bases Like a confused little kid in Little League You just sat down on the base He's like I don't know what to do Please help me Here's what it sounded like from the Dodgers and Brewers last night. And Muncie, Skies won to center field.

Hit well, this one's got a chance. Phelan going back to the wall. He leaped. It's in and out of his glove, but he caught it. And now chaos on the basis. Might have a play at the plate. The throw. Not in time.

No, he's out. He's out. It's a force play at the plate. Also, did he leave early? Once it hits the glove, you can leave. And it went on like that. It's just a lot of confusion for about a minute and a half. Anyway, so the end of the game was actually, so Blake Snell goes out, unbelievable performance.

If you missed it, he faced the minimum amount of batters through eight innings because he did give up a hit. But the hitter promptly then went to first base and got picked off. So through eight, it was the first time that anyone had faced the minimum batters through eight innings since Don Larson through a perfect game. Wow. Yeah. It was, it lights out, 10 strikeouts, he was phenomenal. Did Don Larsen pitch well in that World Series game? He did, yes, he finished with a perfect game.

Yeah. Spoiler alert. If you were going to go back and watch it, he finishes it. Anyway, Roberts lifts, Blake's now. Okay, fine. He's almost at 100 pitches, but he was cooking. Puts in Sasaki, can't get the job done, brings in Trennan with the base. So Sasaki loads the bases.

Trenton comes in, manages to get, by the skin of his teeth gets out of that game. Dodgers win 2-1. So it was a very entertaining day of sports. Terang was up with the bases loaded at a pitch that probably would have hit him. Yeah. And he backed out of the way. Someone just texted that in Torgi. He backed out of the way.

Torgi texted that into, I'm responding right now. I said, Torgi, yeah, you know, it was tough. Terang probably should have stayed in there. But your natural instinct when a flying object comes towards you. Yeah. Not me. Not me. Maybe your goalie instincts would have told you to let the ball hit you.

There's some guys that are really good at it in baseball. I'm like, tie France. He leads the league most of the time and hit by pitches. I think it's just an instinctual thing. When someone throws an orb at you, 99 miles an hour, you're like, ah, you get out of the way. I got that happy Gilmore in me. Let it hit me.

Anyway, it was a good day, good day of sports and good day baseball. You wanted to get to the Buffalo Sabres, though. Well, this is a very sad club time in sports right now. You've got the Mariners. They're in the sad club. They've never even been to a World Series. The Brewers on the other side, they're in the sad club. The Mariners are the only team in Major League Baseball.

I saw this yesterday. They've never hosted a World Series game at home. Didn't know that. In all of Major League Baseball. That's what the Elias Sports Bureau told me. It's the Elias Sports League. And they never lie. Okay.

So we've talked about the Canucks, and I want to read this passage. Quick I get a passage. We're not a church. From the athletic story about the Buffalo Sabres start. and the Sabres have started 0 and 3. The Canucks only 1 and 2. And low, he says, as many have come before.

Okay, here's the actual part. Here are the two paragraphs. Yes, thank you. Okay. The Sabers had some positive energy in the dressing room during preseason in training camp. Players were upbeat about the new

Strengthening conditioning staff and spoke about the lessons they learned from previous seasons. that good feeling has since evaporated after the early injury trouble and three straight losses to open the season asked about that after the game Thompson bristled you're using the past tense he said we're three games into the season it's not over by any means yeah we had a great preseason that doesn't mean anything kind of like we've had a bad first three games that doesn't mean anything we have a long season to go you guys are acting like

the world is ending right now, we just have to find a way to claw ourselves out of this. We're obviously in a hole. We don't want to be in, and we have to find our way out of it. A Canuck could have said that yesterday. You guys are acting like the world is ending right now. We just have to find a way to claw ourselves out of this. Maybe, maybe this is some hopium, okay? Inject this hopium into your veins. Maybe the Canucks can come together as a group on this five-game road trip. And, you know, sometimes when they go out on the road, you know what happens?

Bonding, camaraderie. Are you suggesting the good vibes that were very much on display and promoted during the preseason are going to somehow get even stronger? It's like that meme I said you guys this morning. You're saying that, and as you're saying that, you're applying clown makeup to itself. No, you know what I'm doing? Lying. No.

Lying to make myself feel better. Here's the thing. The vibes could get even better. They could be like, guys, we thought the. vibes were good during the preseason, they're even higher now. We've also lost four in a row. Like I, okay, just back to the Buffalo thing for a sec. Tage Thompson was way out of line for calling out of the media for bringing this up because totally way out of line. It's not about the three games so much as about the past decade and a half. But here's the thing. So Buffalo had a rotten

year last year, right? Yeah, obviously. It's Buffalo. Last season, Buffalo started the season with three straight losses. In those losses, they went 0 for 11 on the power play. This season, Buffalo has started the season with three straight losses. Guess what Buffalo is on the power play through those three losses? The exact same mark, 0 for 11. It is the exact same start to the season, right down to the offensive futility. The Sabres have two goals in three games.

So any media member is right, very right, to at least mention, like, hey, old Tage, it sure seems like last year's start to the season, mirrors this year's start to the season. Now, is it fair to suggest that a bad start that really torpedoed last year could also torpedo this year? Those are fairer questions. Or is it fair to question, are you guys just bad? Yeah, you haven't made the playoffs in 14 years. How many of you guys want out of here? Like, Dahlene's not going to last there. Which Thompson might last there.

If you want to go down the road of, like, can you start looking around the NHL for trade partners? And you could very much throw the Kucks in that conversation, given Rutherford and Alvine's penchant for early season moves. I'd be zeroing in, zeroing in on that team. Because they've got so many different dynamics. They stink on the ice. They've got a bunch of guys who have essentially publicly said, like Dahlene said it in the offseasoning, you know, we need to get better. We need to change. and then the dot, dot, dot was

or else I might want to go elsewhere. Bolin Byram didn't escape, right? He was kind of like forced into signing what was a two-year contract, right? Tried to escape, couldn't get out. They got great security there. Yeah, two years. They obviously cut Kevin Adams out at the knees

when they hired Kekkeleinen as an advisor, which is basically like your replacement. So there's all these things swirling there. If you can pounce on this opportunity to try and get a guy to Buffalo, it can go one or two ways. You're either going to get a guy at a Buffalo that's going to be so dysfunctional and so torn up mentally

because of how bad it's been over the course of his career. Or you get Ryan O'Reilly, Jack Eichael, or Sam Reinhart who escape the prison that is Buffalo and go on to have flourishing, you know, NHL careers. But that's a team that's in complete disarray and it's three games into the season. It's nice to have the sabers. I probably feel the same way about the Canucks, though, right?

So, yeah, it's nice to have the Canucks. Okay, do you want to know the text I got from a Toronto hockey writer? I do. I thought this is the text I thought Dakota Joshua hit people is this wrong

oh his first impression here is not great I didn't know that's where this is and I replied like he plays a heavyish game when he's motivated but he doesn't play a violent game by any means

do you think that's fair like Dakota Joshua if you go to the staff He had like 200 hits last year, right? I mean, Kiefer Shard would have had like 900. Yeah. But I would never say that Joshua plays like a violent game where you're like, like a Vander Cain plays a violent game.

When he hits, he hits hard. Yep. Right? Yeah, that hit against the Oilers on Saturday. That was the killing fields. That was old school. Yeah, behind the net. Yeah.

But yeah, I don't think the first impressions of Dakota Joshua. I'm not going to talk too much about Dakota Joshua, but I think the Leafs who are one and two to start the season, they've lost a couple times to Detroit, are finding life without Mitch Marner pretty tough because it's the regular season right now, and Mitch Marner and the regular season is a pretty good player. Vegas is seeing it. I watched that first Vegas game, which ended up losing, by the way, but Marner and Eichel together. And by the way, Marner, and you can respond and react to this.

everyone. I'm just laying it out there. He's obviously way happier in Vegas than he was, especially over the last couple of years in Toronto. Yeah. He goes like, I got out of Buffalo, you got out of Toronto. Let's go to the casino. Right. No one's bothering them. Right. The media shows up, asks a couple questions, and then goes about their business. And Martin's like, this is great. I don't know how long it'll last before maybe it gets a old and tired. Maybe I'll never will. But he's like happy as a clam in Vegas and Toronto. This was inevitably going to happen to Toronto, especially with how they tried to replace Marner when it was like Matias Machelli, the code of Joshua, we're going to get more

out of Matthew Nyes. Well, even problematic good players are still good players. They're just like, there was, you know, Marner in the postseason. And also like, I just think he he was just a guy that rubbed people the wrong way in some ways and maybe the pressure of the market got to him. But it's still hard to replace him. It's just like, J.T. Miller was a problem in Vancouver. Like there was a problem there. But replacing him is still hard because he's like, very good player.

He's like a pretty good player, right? You know, he's got his warts. Sure, he's got his warts. Yeah, so does Mitch Marner. But it's like, yeah, but you still have to replace him. Can we check in on our good buddy Rick Talkett? I did want to play this audio yesterday. So Talkett, his first challenge right now in Philadelphia is Matt Vei Michikoff.

Right. So there's a few different things going on here. One of the things that Tocke was hired in Philadelphia was to teach a lot of these young guys that they've got how to play in the NHL and what you need to do to be successful. I would say Mitch Koff's probably the most important of all of them, given his draft pedigree and his talent level, right? Yep. So there was always going to be some bumps along the road. Like anytime, especially with a player that's as offensively inclined and maybe not as defensively inclined. But this was interesting.

This is from spit and chickle. This is Biz and Witt talking about what they heard about Mitchcoff coming into the season. Importantly, not from Talkett, from their sources in Philadelphia. Yeah, do they ever talk to Talket? He was on the show. They made a point of saying, this was not a rickday. They said, we talked to him. Oh, it wasn't, they made a point of that.

They made a point of saying, like, we had Talkin on the pod. This wasn't that. So let's hear it now. I want you to just listen to it and see what you think. Matt May Mitchcoff, coming into Camp Out of Shape, here's the audio. I got little bird. He's everywhere. And I'm hearing that he didn't come in in a great shape.

He's out of shape. Really? Yeah. I heard that. You heard that too? No, not from talk, but I heard he's out of shape. Yeah, so obviously that people are aware of that. We interviewed talk like, what was it?

Like three weeks ago? That was before training camp. No, that was like, I think that was like. Who is you heard of August? You got a little birdie? Who told you? Oh, I got birdie. I got birdies in Philly.

So what happened is that Talkett played him Under 15 minutes in the first game And then under 14 minutes in the second game Pretty low T-O-I Like very minimal deployment He's out of shape He's kind of easing back in

Okay so then I need unchange So first talking out here Yeah talk at first he said like This is the quote Mitchcoff you have to let him be who he is But there's parts of his game he has to improve on I think sometimes he likes to slow the game down a bit

I would like to see him play the more north-south style. That made me laugh. That's funny. That's funny. We got to reprogram him. Then, then, talk it went a little bit further. They were talking about what's going on with Mitchcoff. And he said, he told us over the summer there was something with his ankle.

And it kind of limited his training. It put him behind the eight ball. So now I'm like, this is amazing. I can't believe this is happening. Really? Really? Yes. All this is true? This is all true.

Oh, my goodness. Is it not hilarious? It is very funny. Yeah, it's amazing. Time is a flat circle. Can we mention that the Flyers won last night? They did. Florida.

They're one-one-on-one. That was Tocke's first win is a Philadelphia Flyers head coach. Yeah. So good for him. Does Philly have a 1C? Kuturie was good last night. It was good for them. I don't know if he's a 1-0.

He was at a time, a 1-C. Okay, I want to read some text because I promised to read some text. Unsigned. I don't want to stir anything up. Yes, he do. but does Hughes look a bit out of sorts to start the season fourth goal he's coasting back leading to the late guys scoring he almost looks distracted out there

okay I did have a funny Should we start this narrative? I did have a funny Distracted wants to leave team I did have a funny back and forth with a texter previously he said Does it look like Hughes has one foot out the door And I was like he's gonna hurt his groin if he plays like that Yeah, it's true you need both feet in the door I mean he's frustrated man

He's he's he's frustrated trade of player right now, but he hasn't been good. Yes, he does look a little out of sorts to start the season. Okay, so... Here's another text. Is Willander in play for a trade at this point? Yeah, are the Connect can do something desperate soon? I don't know.

But right now, they've got a real problem down the middle of the ice. Yep. Big problem. You know, like, we're sitting here, like, when is Bluger back, right? The amount of text... Blugger would help for sure, but Coots needs to go back to the dub. Okay, this is not a creative. criticism him. It is what most

18 year old 15 overall picks. They go back. They go back, right? It's too much. And to put them, again, it's insane that they put them on a line with Lecker-Mackie and Drew O'Connor. What could go wrong? That deployment is bad. That deployment is bad. Everything's going to go wrong.

That's where you, sorry, just to jump in, but that's where you can put foot solely in the crosshairs is when you're looking at it, I don't think it's because of a lack of options. I don't think it's because of anything other than they're grossly mismanaging what they've got there. If you're going to put him in the lineup, I know you can't make it your number one priority, but you have to do something more to insulate the kid than throw him out there with a fellow rookie, because that's what Lecromackie is. Yeah. He's got, don't worry, kids, we got Drew O'Connor with you. Like Lechermackie just kind of figured out how to fly on the

charter too, you know? Like, And then... Is this all the food free? Yeah. Is it free? Yeah. Do I have to pay for this? Like, nope.

No, you don't. You take it all. Just putting a bunch of rolls in his pocket. Go up to the motel room. We're having fun with this, right? We're having fun. But then... We're trying.

And we can jam food in your pocket. But you brought us give it to you. You brought up a good point. Like, you're also throwing Drew O'Connor out there. And O'Connor's like, I got my own problems, man. Like, I need... I got my... I'm a me guy.

Oh, well, you mishandled the puck on one of the bootgirls. I need to focus on me, Drew. I don't need to worry about trying to babysit two kids on my line. That's a very, very questionable setup and deployment. And you could make the argument that he's like, well, you know, Adam Foote is just cooking with the ingredients that he's been given. But there's got to be more to it than that. One more text. I think it's time to bring Max Sasson up.

We could use his speed and getting the puck in the offensive zone without giveaways. And agreed Coots needs to be sent down and play more. Yeah, sure. Bring up Sasson. I think you can say that's rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic but I think it would be the smart move I'm very curious to see if they're going to make

any roster changes as they head out on the road because typically you want to I don't know I mean Shorty mentioned this on the broadcast in the preseason typically you like to go out there with a defenseman on a long road trip yeah well you might have to make a sacrifice just to have the depth at center Sasson would probably improve

prove things. I mean, I remember last year, seven points, 29 games, super adequate NHL player, I think. Given his speed, he's a little bit older, and all those things. But as soon as you start having the conversation about

needing to pull Sassan back into the lineup, or into the lineup, not back into the lineup, I think that conversation automatically pivots to what you're talking about. It's like, yeah, but. And the yeah, but, is, yeah, but is that really going to make a huge difference? Because if your top two

centers aren't going, it doesn't matter if Coots or Sassan are your three, so you're going to get caved in anyway. Yeah. Right? And that's where the conversation, and, you know, IMac wrote about this for Sportsnet.com, and the questions were posed to foot yesterday, and we'll talk about it at 8, 10 this morning with Landon Ferraro, is not do they need more out of their top guys, because the answer is

unquestionably, yes, it's how much more? Because on a team that's that bereft of depth down the middle, you need guys, to play above their heads. You need guys to do more, to do more heavy lifting to compensate for the lack of depth. Not less.

We are up against it for time. We've got a lot more to get to on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Coming up on the other side of the break, Micah always going to join the program. D.C. Lions, linebacker, lions are back in action this Friday against the Edmonton Elks.

The Elks are hanging on to their playoff lives. We'll talk to Micah. That's all coming up next on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Big Nazar. Have your sense. 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 podcast. 732 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Grubb, Sportsnet, 650. Halpern Brub of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. This is them online at sands-trustee.com.

We are in hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. BC Lions linebacker, Micahawah, is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to by Jason Homunock at Jason. dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. orgage. Just before

we get to Mike Hawley, I will remind you that this segment of the show is brought to you by, fittingly the BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and non-stop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. To the phone lines

we go, BC Lions linebacker Mike Allaway now on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Whatta, Micah. How are you? I'm good. How are you doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. What did you get up to during the buy week? Oh, I just actually just chilled with my daughter the whole time, a little one-on-one

daughter time. A wife was out for work, so just doing the same three things every day. What were the same three? We need to know. Yeah, well, so it was, she actually slept in. until around 10, which I know a lot of parents out there are probably like, that's impossible. About 16 months. How old is your daughter? She's about 16, 17 months. Okay.

Wow. Yep. Okay. So she slept in, which, you know, we're already building our relationship there. Nice. And she would wake up. I beat her, which generally was going well. But last week she learned how to say the word no.

Oh. So now she's trying to get picky. Yeah, it's like, oh, man. But, you know, struggle, but nevertheless ate similar things to me. And then we play, put her back there sleep or nap, wake up, eat, and then play a little bit more, and then sleep again. And then all over again at 10 o'clock. Well, enjoy these times.

Soon she'll be into her iPad years, and she won't want to. Oh, she's trying. She's already trying. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I watch film and she's like already swiping the screen. Oh, my, man. Micah, everyone on the team must be feeling pretty good about things,

but still a job to do. Two games left in the regular season. And I believe I'm not always the greatest at math, but I believe if you guys win out, you're going to host a playoff game. Yeah, that's what I heard as well. I mean, you know, I kind of just, I really do go week to week.

I think we play on Friday, but I just kind of go day by day. But yeah, I heard if we went out, we get a playoff game, which is good. But I guess more importantly, winning out at this time of the year is more important than technically getting that playoff spot because that just means you're going to playoffs, feeling good, knowing how to win because it's its elimination. on the defensive side of the football things have improved throughout the course of the year and it really seems to be heating up right now

you guys had an excellent job limiting what Calgary is able to do in that last game where's the confidence level of the collective unit right now in terms of being able to stop the opposition get after the opposing quarterback and keep points off the board yeah it's honestly it's a humbling position

because like you know we we've been through it all this year I remember the last time we talked. You know, we were still going through struggling pains, but the thing about that is that you never know where you're going to go through struggling and playing games again. I mean, it might happen in playoffs, but the reason why I say tumbling is because, yeah,

we did good against Calgary even having a good past couple games, but we also know that required focus, that required having good practices, that required making plays. So, you know, we don't think we're world beaters just, you know, putting on our pants. we know we have to actually go out there, focus, and try to achieve what we're doing. So it's humbling, but now we know what it kind of requires us,

the minimum that it requires us to go against a good offense, which we definitely are going to go against real playoffs. You know, I remember the last time we spoke, and we actually played some audio after one of the games you guys had earlier in the year where you said, like, the unit was making the same mistakes over and over again. You weren't learning from your mistakes. Do you guys feel like you have learned from your past mistakes, and that's no longer an issue that's crept into the unit?

Yeah. I mean, that's honestly the biggest thing that, you know, we have improved on. Because, you know, you're going to make mistakes. I mean, it's professional football. And sometimes the offense is going to make plays. But the thing is make sure you don't make the same mistakes and make sure they don't continue to make the same plays on us. And for example, that's, you know, when we were going at Toronto,

We kept on giving out, you know, a lot of big touchdowns. And it's, you know, that's the, that's the easiest way to win the CFL's big plays. You reduce the big plays, and it goes down dramatically. And, you know, but you might give up some other things for that, but it's just the best way to play. So now we know situational football better now. You know, we know when to play aggressive. We know when to, you know, kind of like, okay,

just don't give up the big touchdown here because it's a time thing. So we've learned as a team, and I think, you know, us as players, we're starting to learn, like, okay, let's talk this over before we, you know, Coach Benadilla gives a call, but like, let's talk this over before to play. Like, what's the situation? Like, what do we really not need to give up? And what do we need to just rally to? So that's the evolution of the B.C. lines defense at this point. So I'm excited for it. How much of a help has bringing back a veteran presence like T.J. Lee been to the group? yeah it's it's it's one of those things where you know even it's funny because i i think only me and g p are the ones who play with him and when he came back i told him immediately hey man i feel like a rookie again because when i was a rookie he was a vet you know um but one of the things that it does do for like the rest of the guys you know everyone knows okay i've been playing for eight years you know gp's been playing for so many years but you know t j's been playing

I think 11 years. So those younger guys and other people who might not have been around him understand, like, when he says something, he's seen it before. And that gives you a certain level of confidence that, you know, a coach might not be able to, you might not be able to get it from a coach. And what I mean by that is kind of like having kids, right, you know. And I'm not the stage yet, but, you know, you tell them something over and over, over again. And they're like, yeah, yeah, dad.

And then someone tells them that. at school or someone outside the world tells them, hey, this is what this person said. You're like, dude, I've been telling you that for like the last 10 years. So it just hits this. So everyone has a role in. I think T.J. coming in, it just gives you that kind of confidence that he knows what's going on. And, you know, honestly, TJ's, he's a Hall of Fame player back there.

So, I mean, that also helps a lot because he's really, really talented. And I've always known that. and I've always kind of looked up to him as not just a football player, but he's a great dude, like incredible dude, guy you really want to be around in the locker room. That's a hilarious story, by the way. Do I have no credibility at home? Do I have nothing?

That's not what I'm saying. It's just, you know, I might have told my parents that at one point. They're like, we didn't tell you that. Oh, it's like, oh, no, it sounded different. It's not a difference. Micah, glad to watch the lion. turn things around. We were a little worried part way through the season. Now we're getting excited. Just two games to go in the regular season. Go get the job done. Go host a playoff game.

Go win that game. Then go to Saskatchewan and win that game. And then go to the Grey Cup. But remember, stay in the present. Don't look ahead. Yes. All right? Of course. Very conflicting advice. All right. Micah, thanks for joining us today. and good luck with everything, including being at home with your daughter. Thank you all so much. You have a great day. You too. Thank you.

That's Mike Alway, BC Lions linebacker here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder of the Lions are back in action this Friday, 7 o'clock at BC Place. It's going to be against the visiting Edmonton Elks who are still mathematically alive for the playoffs. Two-game win streak on the line for the Elks. A reminder, another reminder, if you want to get tickets, this segment of the show is brought to you by your BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and nonstop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. Okay, the Canucks are going to practice this morning, around 1130 at Rogers Arena,

and then obviously going to be some media avails. Do you think we're going to see some changes to either the lineup like bringing guys in? Someone suggests to call up Sasson and put together that line of Baines, Sasson and Carlson. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if Carlson gets in the lineup. But more importantly, like, what does the top line look like at practice today?

Because if it's DeBrusk, Pedersen, and Besser, I'm going to be disappointed. We've seen that line now six times, three in the preseason, three in the regular season. They haven't done anything, and it was changed part. way through the game yesterday and I realized in some ways like you got to have confidence in your best players and that sort of thing but man it's just not like I think everyone looks at that line and they're like I don't know if that's going to work they don't have enough they don't have enough speed they don't have enough they don't have enough jam they're almost like I don't know the word vanilla comes up for the way they're looking right now sat and bick

and Randy were kicking this around last night and it kind of centered around pardon the pun Patterson's deployment was, you know, you're looking at your 1C and he plays 14 and a half at evens and he gets bounced off that first line. Load management, do you think it could be? No, they were, I hope not. Oh, it's not load management.

Trying to keep them fresh for the stretch drive. Three games into the year. They were saying like, if you're Adam Foote, you either let your 1C play through it and you deploy him as your 1C with those guys as much as possible

as would be befitting of a 1C or you do what he did and knock him down the lineup and limit his ice time when you do that like two things happen one you face scrutiny in the aftermath

because you have to answer the questions and the question is either going to be and he was asked are you getting enough of your top guys or why did you decide to bump Pedersen specifically down the lineup and you're going to have to answer those questions in whatever way you could brush it off but that hangs in the ether

but the other part of it is some people are going to make the argument I'm not one of them I just want to make that abundantly clear I am not one of them but someone's going to make the argument that you're not making it any better by playing Pedersen 14 and a half you may as well let him work his way through it and figure out what's going on with Besser

and DeBrest because come hell or high water they're going to need to get it done like if they're not getting it done that's fine but you're going to need to, like, I guess you ride or die at this point is a top line. There's not a lot of other great permutations in the lineup, is there?

Do you have one? I mean, you bring up cane, sure, you bring up lecarmacki, okay. You know what I mean? You can bring up garland to that line, but then you're like, okay, well, who plays on, you know, on the second line. I hope everyone in listener land understands what I'm saying. It's not a good situation.

No, but this is what the coach is, tasked with. And I'm not 100% sure what the right answer is because in the game, when a game's hanging in the balance like it was for parts last night, you do want to just let's get things going. Let's ride the guys that are going for us. And more specifically, let's sit the guys that aren't. But at the same time, I look at this team. I'm like, if that trio of Besser, DeBresque, and PD doesn't click at all, they're definitely cooked. There's no second wave or a cavalry coming to save the day. I think a forward group's not good enough.

We talked about this in the preseason a ton. When you were looking at all the preseason performances, you're like, I don't like what I see. I don't like from that top line. I don't love what I've seen from Pedersen. That top line doesn't look dangerous and it doesn't look dynamic. But we kind of brushed it under the rug at the time because like

we didn't really need. I am brushed under the rug. I just said at the time, it's like, well, that's your top line. Yeah, yeah. It is what it is. Choosing you of brushing things under you. I'm just saying like we were kind of like, Yeah, hopefully they're figured out. Let's be excited about Coots because, you know, we want, we want to be excited. And I think we, like, we weren't lying or unnecessarily spinning.

I think, you know, especially from this show, that we just call it like we see it. But, you know, we did want to focus on other stuff. And the Pedersen discourse does get exhausting. But here we are. Here we are. I mean, this whole season we went in and everyone knew, like, he had to be better. He had to be much better. He doesn't look any better.

Yeah. And we know that not only is the, you know, the current form of this team so dependent on your one C, just as it is for any team, there is a Quinn Hughes question hanging. If you're Quinn Hughes right now, what are you thinking about? What do you, like, you want to win. You want to win, right?

Like, Quinn Hughes hasn't been good either. Let's throw that out there. But, I mean, would you sign on for this? So someone just texted into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, 650, 650, Nils Hoaglander is really being missed. Textor, I don't disagree. It's also a huge problem if Nils Hoaglander is quote unquote really being missed. Good NHL teams are able to withstand the loss,

a middle six forward that scored. How many goals he scored last year? Seven? Yeah. You know what I mean? It's kind of like once they get Bluger back. You know?

Like, yeah. What are we doing here, guys? What are we doing? This is like the assassin conversation, but with Hoaglander. Like, you need to be able to withstand the loss of a middle six forward that had seven goals last year. I know he's a valuable contributor.

And I know that he might be a solution to play with Pedersen, but big boy teams are able to withstand greater losses than that. This is going to come down to the top guns on this team giving them something. That's going to be the referendum up front this year. We talked about a referendum season for Hughes. Well, up front, they're going to need to give a hell of a lot more because they're not insulated from behind.

Like the second and third lines aren't going to give you enough production, consistent minutes. And you can't have Sherwood and Garland be your best. best forwards on a regular basis. On a good NHL team, when those guys are giving you something, it's because you're primarily focused on stopping the top guys. And then you're like, oh, this

team's a real nightmare to play against because once we're done dealing with their top guys, then we have to deal with Sherwood and Garland. Right? That's how it should be. Yeah. Those guys should be coming in second and third waves to make them a really, like, oh, everything. It gives them cover. Everyone else is like

the other team is like, oh, I've got to focus on these guys. It's a beautiful thing when the quote unquote, the third line was going with Bluger and not sure would um Joshua and Garland is it was like well we've already dealt with the Pedersen line we dealt with Miller now we got this third line coming and they're giving us headaches and they're giving us fits that's depth that's why it always starts at the top and then you fill out things and you know like you the top line if you have a really good top line it gives everyone else cover yeah and this is where you could say well this isn't just the morning show begging on Pedersen like Debrusk needs to give them way

more. Besser needs to give them way more. Can I say one thing about Debrusk? Are you going to say that he's miscast as a top line guy? He's not a top blind guy. He's not. He's not a top line guy. You may be right. You watch him play. He's got great hands around the net. You may be right. He's good

around the net. Scored some power play goals last year. I love his accountability. I love the fact that he is always saying like I need to be better, I need to be better. And he's putting it on himself. That's great. Not a top line guy. he just isn't.

Yeah, I know. I think you're right. I think he's miscast as a first line. And you're asking him to like be a play driver? No, it's not that. And neither is the best of any any top line players, first line player? Not right now. Connor Garland and Key for show.

No, any actual first time players? Connor Garland, Connor Garland. Connor Garland is their best forward. Connor Garland's their best forward right now. Yes, but do we have, do the Canucks actually have any legit top line players? You're like, he should be on the top line of an NHL team. No. you just almost get choked up there

yeah it's getting emotional I'm choking on my own right exactly no it could be I love Garland that seems like a problem I love Garland but he doesn't he doesn't have a great shot

and he doesn't finish well yeah I mean it's funny because they're in a tough jam so we can talk about this and we can talk about all the problems like I don't know what they're going to do it's like that Simpson's like it's like Homer said something

and March says like you don't know what you're going to do something on a lawn time ago. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago. And then Marge is like, you don't know, do you, Homer? No, I don't. No, ma'am. Right? Like, that's, that's, I don't know. Is it crazy to say that if by the end of the month, the Canucks are well under 500, do you think management will do something drastic? Well, management will be fired. The general manager will be the first one to go. If they're well under 500 at the end of the

month? That early? I mean, maybe by, I don't know about the first month. but you know I don't like doing that doomsday scenario by the way why I don't mind it because it's too it's something interesting is not watching them right now we've talked about stacking up the the hypotheticals before right so you're talking you're talking about potentially firing someone on a potential losing streak right one of the like let's have one of them happen at the end of the month if they're not looking good like could they shake things up I mean the first question would be is are they going to be

think they would have shaken things up roster-wise if they could have already. Not roster-wise. I mean, I'm talking about management. I'm talking about coach even. Yeah. I mean, it was... What about you going to do? Something I should have done a long time ago.

You don't know, do you? No, ma'am. No, ma'am. No, ma'am. Okay, we're up against every time. I got to do one to watch. Presented by Limitless A.V., Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts. Tonight, four o'clock, Madison Square Garden

J. T. Miller goes head to head with Connor McDavid. Remember that matchup back in the day? Miller would always draw the McDavid assignment. Well, he gets it tonight. The Oilers are in New York to take on the rainbows. He's like, I've been watching how Tyler Myers plays Connor McDavid.

I have a couple of ideas. Thinking of using my stick. I know people sometimes accuse us of focusing too much on individuals that have left the market like Rick Talkett and like J.T. Miller. But that's a marquey matchup tonight as the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid go to Madison Square Garden to take on J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers. A busy slate of games tonight. There's a lot of good early ones, but that one's going to be the one that we're going to watch in particular, one to watch, as I mentioned,

brought to you by Limitless A.V., Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today. Visit them online at limitless a.c.c.c. Final hour of the program is on the horizon. First off, we need more of what we learns. Yesterday was an amazing day in sports. You had everything going on, including two Monday night football games, which we have not even talked about yet. If you want to weigh in, Dunbar Lumber text line is 650, 650. Hashtag it WWL and tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. At 8.10 this morning, we're going to talk more Canucks with Canucks analysts

Landon Ferraro. He of course of Sportsnet 650. He'll be joining us on the other side of the break. We'll look back on last night's very disappointing 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Rogers Arena. We can also look ahead to what might happen at practice today. And then what's going to happen as the Canucks head out on a five-game road trip that begins on Thursday in Dallas. Landon's going to join us at 810. That's going to be followed by what we learns at 8.30. It's the final hour of the program. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.