Halford & Brough in the Morning - Drancer Talks Olympic Hockey + What We Learned

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat the latest Olympic hockey news with Canuck Talk host and The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance (1:42), plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

What we just have to call Thomas Drance erotica. Thomas Dranserotica. Coorsy. Thomas Transerotica. Expecting goals. Thomas Transerotica. Todd model. Thomas Grant erotica.

Rush. Thomas. Transerotica. PEDY. Transdoronica. 8.03 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough, Brough, SportsNet 6.50.

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Email sales at abel-e auctions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. Let's go now to that aforementioned ABLE Auctions hotline. Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Kinnock Stock joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 965. What up, Dranser? I'm really excited. Like, this is the best, and it's just going to be difficult for me

to not do play-by-play, but I'll do my best. I've already done that. Some warning from the IOC on my phone. Immediately, like, no I like. After the show, apparently I have a meeting. That's not good. This is great, though, eh? Like, it actually, the energy of just the start,

and you can sense the anticipation with the players and the way that they're getting after it and everything. Like, this has been 12 years in the making. Yeah. Kail McCar blocking shots, Connor McDavid throwing big hits. And then you get to see just insane stuff like McKinnon and McDavid combining on a set entry drop pass, right? So it's like, I mean, how much respect do you have to give Nathan McKinnon with a full head of steam through the neutral zone?

And then once he's backed you up, the drop goes to Connor McDavid. What a nuke. What an absolute nuke, right? And you start just thinking about how a team could pop. possibly prepare to defend that. What's your answer there? And there can't be one because those are the two fastest skating hockey playing

humans on the planet and their teammates, and they're both on PowerPlay 1, and they both work Canadian colors. And you can just immediately see not just the insane skill level of this team, even against a check team that's probably the fourth or fifth best true talent side at this tournament.

But the amount that these dudes care about this, right? How much it means to them, you know, the highlight real McDavid back checks that we're getting, the hitting, the just like intensity that these guys bring immediately with the Maple Leaf on their sweater. I mean, how can you not be romantic about that? Drancer, do you think this hockey is going to be different in terms of the style that Canada plays compared to 2014 under Mike Babcock and just where, I guess where hockey was in 2014?

You know, the same percentage. And a lot of people are like, so did the goalies get worse? No. The shooters got better, the passing got better, maybe some of the, even the stick technologies, maybe advanced since then. It's just a different game. For sure. And let me bring up, like, one of my favorite Canadian Olympic highlights of all time was in Vancouver, actually, not in 2014, but it was when Shea Weber put the puck through the net. Right. You remember that? Literally through the net. Yeah. Yeah, just absolute Paul Bunyan stuff from the Big D from Sam and Arm. And it was just like this moment where it was like in hockey anyway. I mean, you go watch 2010 and watch the way they played and how much of the power play was built around setting up point shots.

And then remember that like only radish takes point shots anymore. There's no slap shots in hockey. Everyone's taking wristers. No one wants to be disconnected from the puck the way you have to be to be to. to launch a full slap shot, in part because of how significant rush, like, counterattacking threats are, how fast these guys are. So, yeah, I mean, you're seeing just a complete evolution in terms of how teams and players assess the value of individual shots,

and that's enhanced the value of individual shots and diminished save percentage. So, you know, it's not that the goalies have gotten worse at all. It's that teams have gotten smarter about how they create offense, and then I'd add that players have also gotten better in terms of their skills. I mean, 2014, right? This puck possession-based game, we didn't have the evolutionary Austin Matthews dragshot, right? And now not only do we have the Austin Matthews dragshot and a bunch of players who do it, but we have kids who grew up watching it obsessively on tablets and then trying it in games,

you know, with various composite sticks. And so you get like evolutionary shooters. Like Connor Bedard's dragshot is effectively a perfected version of Matthews's sort of Rister. And on and on it goes, the game's just evolving at such a rapid pace because the skill level of some of these guys is just insane. And, you know, 20 of them play for Team Canada, which is so cool and so fun. And then I'd add this for you, gentlemen, like, team Canada's,

men's ice hockey team is along with the Toronto Blue Jays like the only team I really root for is like a true partisan you know like I'm watching these games I'm watching that that hold or that trip on Nick Suzuki take the McKinnon puck off

or the goal off the board and I'm just like I never watch games like that I know a lot of hockey fans watch games like that I'm not like I'm not studied and not doing that I'm like oh yeah no that was a good call and it was good call, by the way, on Suzuki. But with this, I'm just like, I'm careful it was a good call.

Like, that's ridiculous. We just got deprived of an iconic moment, right? Like, I'm just so partisan about this team specifically, which adds to it. I mean, it's not- Hey, your answer. I got a question for you. But it matters so much to me.

Yeah. Because I do this. When Canada is playing, are we allowed to say we? It's our country. Oh. It's our country. It's our country out there.

We're not, I know we're not on the team. But I would never say, like, you know, about the Canucks, like, oh, we, we got to do this or whatever, you know? Like, but Canada, I feel like if they're representing our country, that's, that allows me to say we. Yeah. I, you know what? I'll have to think about it and I'll have to just, like, keep talking about Team Canada and see if I actually do it. I don't want to take a stand because I don't know if I actually slip into it or not. My guess is I don't.

I bet you don't, but I bet you're trained to do it, not do it, but like, would you allow it. Because if I hear anyone say we about pro sports or whatever, if the Canucks are playing, I'm like, okay, come on, we? Even sometimes on the Seahawks broadcast, I'm like, all right. It might be an ex-player

say it, in which I guess I'll allow it if that player was on the team. But I don't know. For this sort of hockey, I kind of feel like I'm okay saying we. Yeah. You know what? I think the truth is that I'm not going to judge. I'm not going to judge anyone who does it. But

am I going to allow it? Probably not for myself and it probably will create an eye role for me. But I will not actually judge you. I'll just have that gut reaction because I'm so studied in that like, you know, practical discipline of separating yourself emotionally from what you're watching. An eye roll is judgment by the way, just so you know. I know, but for me that's like soft judgment, you know? That's like, I'm acknowledging that I mildly disagree. I'm not being a jerk about it. answer, why is Colorado's powerplay struggling? Yeah, I don't, I mean, they also suck three on three.

Right? Like they're terrible three on three. And this is in the elimination round after regulation, this tournament gets decided three on three. So, you know, it's not just the power play, because I'm guessing you're asking me, because why is the worst in the NHL in the power play, sending two of the five people occupying team Canada's PP1, right? But also McCar and McKinnon, like, you're not going to go into three on three overtime and not have McCarren McKinnon play hugely prominent roles,

but they're not good at it. And for most of the season, watching Colorado play, I've just sort of thought that maybe after regulation, this team has been rolling so heavily that they're just like, okay, whatever, pack it up. We don't care. It's just a coin flip.

But in this tournament, three-on-three is going to be everything. I mean, in the elimination round, if you get in overtime, people forget that the Crosby Golden Goal was four-on-four, eh? Yep, yep. Right? So, you know, that I think it's an interesting question because Canada only scored the one power play goal at the four nations. This is a pretty similar look.

I'd say I don't love a righty in the bumper, to be honest with you, because I don't want it to be McKinnon as the primary playmaker. I want McDavid to be the guy who is like, you know, I know the quarterback's the guy on the point. but I want McKinnon to be sort of the primary passer, the initiator of your sets, and I want you the initiator of your sets to have the one-time option in the bumper. So I prefer a lefty. That's one thing that I thought when Braden Point bowed out, and I think Braden Point honestly shouldn't have been on this team on merit, to be totally honest with you this season.

So, you know, I didn't view it as like a tremendous loss five on five, although obviously we know what Braden Point is and can do and he rocks. But so this is not to disparate. him. This is, you know, I bet you something that he would say himself, just based off of his performance this year. But I did think that it was a huge loss on the power play because he's super elite and left-handed in the bumper. And I don't really like the way they're lining up. In my mind's eye, I don't like the look where you're, you're having McDavid be sort of the primary initiator. I think it marginalizes McDavid a little too much, five on four. And I'm worried that

this power play is not going to be as good as it should be based off of the talent level. at hand. I think two options would be to put Stone in the bumper and and or Stone at the net front. He really is the best power play net front guy. I also kind of think that then he can be your 13th Ford kind of like a DH. Right. And, and then and then throw Sidney Crosby in the bumper. I mean, to me that's kind of what I'd prefer. Right. You're setting up McKinnon and McCar movements with Stone as a screener and then you're setting up Crosby shots. from McDavid as a passer while also having you know sort of those other options

so anyway that's just sort of one thing that I'm curious to see how this all works out I obviously had to stop talking there because there was a gold mouse scramble I'm like a little dud open it home I'll just say like Chechia looks very good

very good I think they were seven or they were nine to one coming in to today's game to win the bronze medal. And I thought that was a really interesting value bet. I also wouldn't hate taking them for the silver, to be totally honest with you. Dostal is also an absolute beast. He's an upset machine, potential upset machine.

He's an upset machine, and this is like the most defensive structure he's seen in years. True. You know what I mean? He's like, whoa, guys are in position? What? You know, he's so confused by this. he's like, guys, shouldn't we be surrendering 40 shots while taking 45 of our own?

Like, isn't that what hockey looks like? Hey, Dranser, what do you think of Canada's blue line? Like, we talk about the forward group and we're, you know, drooling over the forward group and we talk about the goalies and we're a little worried about the goalies. There hasn't been as much attention. Yeah, there hasn't been as much attention on the defense because, I mean, more attention probably has been put on the American defense,

which is incredible. Incredible. Yeah, and I guess that's the other thing. You look at that Sochi blue line and it was so nuts, right? I mean, Keith and Dowdy's still at the peak of their powers. Beaumester was your sixth guy, Alex Pietrangelo. You know, it does feel like we're in this slight lull period between sort of Schaefer's emergence as a capital D dude.

I mean, I think he already is. But from a national team perspective where you'd feel comfortable playing him in really key minutes. I don't think they were going to get there with an 18 year old at this tournament, so I understand not bringing him. But the other part of this, I do think, is that we didn't really see a fully operational Canadian blue line at the Four Nations. And so I don't think it's as big, like, I don't think it's an issue at all. I think it's going to be a very good unit. But I also think some classic filipronic interference slowing down McDavid. Yes. All right. Okay.

The answer, we got a spoiler rule on this on this show, so just be careful. Do we? Yeah, we got a spoiler rule on the show. Okay. I'm sorry. What's the rule? Well, here we go. Play the music.

It's a Lampic spoiler time. Turn those radios off. That's what we play every time there's a spoiler. And you kind of spoiled the spoiler. However, we will tell everybody, Canada's up 1-0. And who other to open the scoring than the local boy, Macklin-Celebriene, on a tip for me. Kale McCar point shot. I believe it was McDavid

got the secondary assist on that one. So Celebrini from Macar and McDavid Dostall put his hand up in the air thinking it might have been a high stick on the deflection. Not even close. They say no. Maclean Celebrity opens the score in Canada up

1-0 right before the end of the first period from Milan. Five seconds left. Let's go. Maclin Celebrini. Oh my God. That's amazing. that's unbelievable anyway the

what were you talking about I was so excited about that goal I think the blue line or something stuff right oh sorry so we never saw

Shay Theodore he got hurt right out of the gate we didn't see a lot of Josh Morrissey and by the time we get to the gold medal game

we as viewers not we as I'm part of team Canada nicely done nicely done by the time we got to the gold medal game

we saw this sort of dynamic where Canada's defenders had this sort of Sanheim-Pareco pair that the Canadian coaches actually thought did a really good job and that I was absolutely terrified to watch every shift. I thought they really struggled to hold up against the Americans for checking excellence. And this American forward group is exceptionally fast. So, you know, I don't want to see that again. I think that to me is a terrifying prospect.

Now, at this games, the Canadian Brain Trust has brought the exact same defense. And I think that's mostly justifiable. The only thing I think you can really backseat drive would be Sandheim ahead of Schaefer. But I think at the end of the day, you know, Schaefer at 18, I mean, you talk to like elite NHL defenders like Pronger and on and on. And they'll be like, I wouldn't have been ready at 18. When I first went to the Olympics at 22, I was like, what am I doing here? Right? Like, I, so I think that I would have brought him, but I think it makes sense if you don't feel comfortable being like, if I'm an injury down, I'm comfortable playing this guy 25 minutes, right?

You can't just bring him to be a developmental guy. We saw the Four Nations how quickly Thomas Harley ends up in your top four, right? Like, you can't bring a guy who you're going to be like worried about. ramping up their role. Would you be super worried about him, though? I mean, defensively, I think you can see some gaps, right? I think you can see some gaps also in terms of how he responds to physical play.

Sure. You know, now, we saw him, Canucks fans saw him play probably his single worst game of the year when the Canucks bludgeoned the Islanders at UBS in December after the Quinn Hughes trade. And specifically, there's a play there. Now, this happened right before the selection process, too, and I'll always wonder how much it played a role. But there's a play where, and Kinex fans will remember this well,

Kiefer Sherwood basically pickpockets him on a retrieval, right? Yep, yep. And goes in and scores. And the reason that Sherwood was able to pickpocket him off the retrieval, because this is the more important thing, is that off the draw, he tagged him. Off the draw, he threw a keeper Sherwood hit, right? and then when they were going back for the puck

Sherwood looked back to have a sense of how much or sorry, Schaefer looked back to have a sense of how much space he had to avoid the hit and then instead of going for the body Schaefer took the puck or sorry Sherwood took the puck and I think that's one of those moments where that's an education but also that's one of those moments where if you're team Canada you're like okay can this guy

play 25 minutes when you've got both Kichs chasing him around right? And my guess is they ultimately settled on if push came to shove, we'd be more comfortable with Travis Sanheim ramping up, and we'd play some possum and just be like, okay, we have a reliable defensive guy. Plus, he's got a ton of NHL reps playing both the left and the right side. And so as you're picking through your depth options, I think that's where you land. Now, four years from now, you're going to have Schaefer in the lineup,

and things will probably look different. You've also got landed in DuPont coming and a ridiculous run of Canadian defenders. And the DuPont thing, I mean, I know we're going to discuss it ad nauseum, but like I thought he should have been on the U-20 team this year. And not, and to be so clear, not because of like the Quinn Hughesy stuff that he can do on Puck, but because he's the most advanced 16-year-old defensively you've ever seen, right? I mean, this is really special off-puck stuff in addition to all the other stuff that we're going to get over the, over the court, or the NHL is going to get over the course of the next 18 months.

Ridiculous, right? So the, I think the state of the Canadian Blue Line is going to, is in a sort of a cyclical lull at the moment. But I don't think it's that significant of one. And I think it's going to be solved by the time this game comes around again. And in the meantime, I also think we're probably underrating the defense just a little bit because we didn't see it with a fully healthy Morrissey and we didn't see it with a fully healthy Shea Theodore. And the Theodore side of this in particular, he's like, he's having the best defensive season of his career. He was always a dynamic offensive guy, but he's really become a stud with a more well-rounded profile across the last couple of years in Vegas. I think you're going to notice how underrated he is as this tournament goes along.

I don't think there's any concern that Team Canada's blue line. Like, it's not as good as the United States is. That's fair. But I don't think there's any concern that it can't hold up, especially once you factor in the advantage that Canadian. that Team Canada's forward depth. I think I do tend to underrate guys like Theodore and Josh Morrissey in a way to peg. You know, it's just the bar was set so high for Canada.

We were so spoiled. You know, Niedermeier, Pronger, Dowdy, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, you know, like P.K. Subant couldn't get into the game, really. Yeah, and he was a Norfolk Gallagher guy. I think he just won the Norse. Yeah. I mean, and Babcock was like,

mm-mm, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, but that 2014 Canadian defense too

was the best one we've ever seen. Like it was materially better than the Niedermeyer, Weber, Pronger, Boyle,

Keith Dowdy version that we saw in 2010. It was materially better than that. Which is crazy. Crazy. So my, My point being that they're, but like you look at 06, right, obviously with Rageir and, you know, pronger and foot and a very different game, obviously, the

NHL brought, like it was a stodgier defensive group. A little stodgier. I like that. Yeah, it was. But the, but that and even in 98, where you have pronger and like Adam foot as the young guys, right? They're the young guys on that team because you still had Bork and, and Stephen. So it sort of was a, or even an O2, right?

In O2 it was excellent because they had Niedermeyer still. But it wasn't at the level that it got to in 10 and 14. Like I do think there's a level of sort of a cyclical thing to this. But I think the state of Canada's defensive prospects, some of the young Canadian defenders we're seeing, I still think that's enormously strong. And I think they're, I still think this is an A caliber international blue. line. You know, I don't think it's like, I don't think it's probably, it's probably not 2010 level,

but it's right there. It's right there, especially once you factor in that, you know, Boyle and Pronger were at the tail end of it. And Niedermeyer, too, right? I mean, was that Niedermeyer's last season? Like, those guys weren't prime versions of who they were that year. So I think when you really look at it sort of holistically, I don't think there's a huge gap in quality between what Canada brought to Vancouver and what Canada is bringing to this tournament. I just think what they had in 2014 was a special era of Canadian defensemen. Drancer, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

Enjoy the rest of the game, although I don't need to tell you to do that. No, this feels like a gift. Honestly, the fact that, I mean, I even woke up and caught the third period of the Swiss game. Like, I can't believe we get to do this for the next 10 days. I feel blessed. and I hope your audience does too. Let's go. It's a lot of fun.

Thanks, buddy. See, Paul. Cheers. Thomas Trans from the Athletic Vancouver and Kentucky here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 9650. That segment was brought to by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal

and why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duke GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond and visit them online of the Duick Auto Group.com. Okay, get you what we learns into the Dunbar-Lumber text line, but we're not going to read any potential spoiler

what we learns because we don't want to have the respect for people that are recording the game and want to watch it later on. We're doing our best, not to spoil the game. Tomorrow, no spoiler potential, because the game starts a little later. I think it's just after noon, Canada will take on Switzerland. It's honestly difficult to host this radio show while this stuff is on.

We've done a couple of interviews already where I'm like, I'm not even listening. Who are you? I mean, you normally. don't listen anyway. So that's, you're, you're dialed in. So the best show ever. It's fine. But one final segment to go on the Halford & Brough show, get you what we

learns into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650, 650. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. 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. Part of the show. What's that say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God. This is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time.

On the show. 833 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Bruff, Sportsnet, 650. Halford Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have credit card debt? If you do, Sand. Hands and Associates could cut that debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees.

Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. It is what we learned time. Hour three is bratsy by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell dash pound.com today. It's been a bit of a disjointed show here on Alfred and Brough. Do you blame us?

Canada's playing. I'm enamored with Snowcross, yet again. Snowboard Cross is the. sport that I am shocked has not made bigger waves in the mainstream. Everyone has that sport that they only follow at the Olympics, right? Quite frankly, most of them. For me, every time I watch snowboard cross, why is this not more popular? It's got the racing element.

It's got crashes. It's fast. You don't need much of an attention span to watch it. It's a pure race, right? Yeah. It's a pure race. But there's crashes involved. There's jumps and stuff.

There's jumps. They're not scored or anything. Yeah. My hot take that always comes out at the Olympics is, I don't like judged events Right. Ever. No judging in this one. Ever. May the best Snowcross dude win. I think judging sports

are tough because you really have to know the sport and what the judges are looking for. And if you don't have any frame of reference, it's hard to buy in, I find. It's hard to really get involved. But when you watch the figure skaters and you are, they're waiting for their

scores, like half the time they have no, I mean they must know whether they've done somewhat okay or not as good as they wanted to. The technology now, you know the score before they get the scores. I was watching a lot of figure skating. No, no, no. I'm just talking about like, surely some of them are like,

oh, I thought we'd do better than that. I mean, that's an element that I really have trouble. And people always say, look, there's judgments in hockey, right? There's a referee that goes out there and makes judgments. Yeah, but at the end of the day, it's like, who puts the puck in the net more? Okay. We've got to do a giveaway, by the way.

This, speaking of the disjointed show, we were supposed to do this at 8 o'clock. Totally forgot, my bad. We're giving away a $250 gift card to Golf Town right now. Caller number 5, 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-650. Caller number five right now could win a $250 gift card to Golf Town. That's right.

Take the kids. We're going to golf town. Pack up the car. We've got $250 to spend. Call right now, 604-280-0-650. We're going to do some what we learns from our side of the table. Why don't I start? I think I should.

I learned that former, and dare I say legendary, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Joey Porter, Sr., had some very, very harsh remarks about his former teammate, Ben Rothelsberg. This is good. Appearing on a podcast. Podcast play a big role in this whole dynamic, by the way. appearing on his former teammate Cameron Hayward's podcast,

not just football. Joey Porter addressed some of the comments that Ben Rothlisberger made on another podcast about recently departed Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Joey Porter did not take lightly to Ben Rothlisberger calling out their former head coach and had a lot of point to comments about what Ben Rothlisberger was like as a teammate. What did Rothersberger say about Tomlin?

said it was time to go, said it overstayed his welcome and kind of talked down his his accomplishments as a head coach. Here's what Joey Porter had to say, not just about those remarks, but about Ben Rothlisberger, the person. Seven definitely broke the brotherhood

because, like, that's the one I don't understand. The seven do that did that we don't talk about? I know. It's crazy. Like, out of anybody should talk, he should never grab a microphone

and really talk still a business. Yeah. Because if we talk in Stiller Business, his ass is foul of all foul. Like that he's did is foul of all foul. He's not a good teammate. Won a Super Bowl, Woody. But the person, he's just not a good teammate.

Like he knows that. Anybody in the Steeler Building knows that. But we protected him because I've only won one Super Bowl and that was my quarterback. So do I love my quarterback? Yeah, but is he a good person? No. So that last line, is he a good person?

No. here's the wild part. Many people assume that Joey Porter was talking about the multiple sexual assault allegations that Ben Rothlisberger was accused of during his playing career. But when asked about specifics that made Rothlisberger not a good person, not a good teammate, Porter started talking about how as a rookie,

Ben Rothlisberger refused to sign memorabilia for some of the guys in the room, their families and friends. Yeah, so the teammates would go to him and be like, hey, can you sign this? You'd be like, no. If I was on camera, Cameron Hayward's podcast. I'd be like, I have a follow-up question for Mr. Porter. What about the sexual assault allegations that plague Ben Rathesmer

throughout his playing career? Are those what you're talking about? Also, I'm going to say it at the risk of, you know, possibly ruining our podcasts. There are too many podcasts now. No, this is great. There are too many podcasts. We have officially saturated the podcast market.

But people will go on and say wild things on them. You don't have to listen to them, but someone will pick it up and then we can use it on our show. This is a great new era for dirt. So this is the, it's good dirt. Yeah. Well, we, we know, we need more, we need more podcasts where people will spill the tea. I think we're entering an era.

I think it's awesome. A lot of the players we grew up watching and we saw all the stuff unfold as, you know, pre-podcast era. We're going to see them join these podcasts and air all the dirt. Can you imagine how tempting it would be? If you're on a team with a guy for like five, six, ten years and you can't stand him, right? And there's good reason. and why you can't stand him. Yep.

But at the same time, the media is writing all these glowing stories about him, and you're like, this guy is a phony. Is he a good person? No? He's like, and you're just like, okay, well, I can't go out there and say that now.

What would be the statute of limitations on when you can actually go and spill the tea? Everyone would have to be retired. After you retired. Like Tomlin leaving, maybe that opens up something in Pittsburgh where people are like, okay, well, I'm not going to put Mike Tomlin in a bad position by having to talk about this and then he probably have to answer questions about this sort of stuff.

I'm not going to do that to him. But as soon as he's gone, I'm unleashing. I mean, because again, like I want to point this out, Joey Porter was on a podcast responding to remarks made on two other individual podcasts, Ben Rothlisberger's podcast. I can't believe you're saying there's too many podcasts. This is awesome. This is like gossip. now.

It is. It is. Well, it's funny because I know how the game works. I know that there was a company locally that was trying to pitch a bunch of ex-NHLers on making their own podcast. And they're like, uh, just tell old stories,

right? And then eventually, like you run out of them. Like, how many stories can you really have about going to the Roxy? At a certain point, you run dry, right?

Like, it's, and then what happens. People want the dirt, though. But what happens is, is guys start reaching. And once you've told all the stories,

suddenly it's like, you make them up? Or you start taking creative liberties. Or you rehash the same story. Or you decide to settle old beefs. And I'm not going to lie, the entertainment value is off the charts, but we may have saturated the podcast market. Okay, give us a mook out on that.

I don't really learn this yesterday, but I just realized it. And it was a sad realization. As I was watching the Seahawks Super Bowl parade and some of the stories, he's coming out from it. It looks like they had a lot of fun down there. It was a beautiful day in Seattle. I've never been to a championship parade. No.

Almost 50. No. I've never been to one. Nope. I didn't go down to Seattle. This time around. Toronto Blue Jays, you know, was the, if you're thinking about pro sports teams that I've really supported, that have won titles.

by office it wasn't at the Blue Jays parade in 92 or 93 it was tough because it was not in Vancouver they didn't hold the parade in Vancouver the hell should have gone all through the country that was great can confirm did not did not hold it here isn't that sad you like I wasn't at I wasn't old enough to be at the white cap 79 celebration I know the Canucks had a celebration in 94

even though they didn't win the Stanley Cup they had one at BC Place I think I didn't go to that and even if I did it wasn't a It was a loser celebration We finished a We finished second There's two problems with it

One I didn't go Two we didn't win Yeah I've never been to one either I don't anticipate I'm gonna be going to one anytime soon I'm sad for that I'm sad for myself

Would you go to one Not or involving a team That you're not a fan of But just to see what it was like At this stage of your life Probably Because you're like what 70 now Yeah

So you've only got a few few years left, would you go to, I don't know, some far-flung location? I mean, you went to St. Louis to watch a Stanley Cup final game. You were so starved for playoff, some hot playoff action. You went to St. Louis, noted summer hotbed. That was a fun time, though. Yeah, no, I know. You had a good time. Yeah. I did feel like, what are they called them, an interloper? Yeah. Well, that's what you would be if you were to go to some foreign teams, Stanley Cup celebration or NBA championship celebration. You'd almost be like at the zoo or the aquarium, just watching people in their habitat. What if Edmonton had won over the last two years, or if what if Edmonton wins this

year and they had the parade? And let's say someone said, okay, I'll fly you at Edmonton and I'll put you up, but you have to attend their parade. Would you enjoy it? Or would you be like, I hate this? No, no, no, no, I'd hate it. That one wouldn't be fun. I couldn't even take that from a curiosity. I'm slashing everyone's tires. Right. Oh, I'm here for. for the riot. Sorry. I'm from Vancouver. Start one. Yeah. What do we, are we, are we going to do this? I'm an anarchist. Are we going to do this here? We're going to play a little music. Let's do it.

It's Olympic. Spoiler time. Turn those radios off. We've given you fair warning. Canada is up to nothing on the checks. Take that, check you. Mark Stone finds the back of the net, very nice setup from Mitch Marner. So the, great little backhand saucer pass over the diving check defender. So, Mark Stone finds the back of the net. As you would expect, celebrates in very aggressive Mark Stone fashion. There are a few people that's Selly harder

in the NHL than Mark Stone. He loves to squirgoles and he loves to celebrate them. Check her out shooting us right now, though. Yeah, they are. Quality of chances, eh, dog. Right now you've got the... Look at Stone. He's amazing.

Yeah. Stone's hairline is... He needs to let that tuft go. Oh. So, yikes. Mario looks like Stone's sun. A little bit. Yeah. He definitely does. Yeah, put that out.

It looks like a father-son game right now. So we got contributions. Still got it, Dad. Sports Day is great, eh, Dad? This is so much fun that we got to play together. So Stone, Mariner, Crosby line contributes with the second goal. The Celebrini McDavid-Wilson line gets in on the first goal, though Wilson wasn't in on the scoring.

It was Celebrity from McCarr and McDavid. But great contributions so far. It is a very tight game. For those of you that are following along and not watching as closely as we are also while working, the shot totals is Cheki's still ahead on the shot board ever so slightly. It's been a very good game.

Chequy has shown up in a major way, but you've got some pretty high-end playmaking and finishing, which is what you want to be. One texture pointing out, I don't think Heronix left the ice yet. He's just playing all the minutes. Yeah, I mean, yeah. So I'm used to this.

Yeah, and that's fine. And look, we're losing. Yeah. Hey! All right. Give us a mocha on that. We'll stop talking about the game right now. Laddie, you had

of what we learned. Yeah, it might add a little bit to... There's not many in the inbox, by the way, just people are watching the way. Well, I'm going to talk a little baseball because everyone's apparently watching hockey, and it's going to add a little bit to the Blue Jays Mariners drama, I think, a little bit you guys. Vladdy's been doing the media tour with Spanish interviews the last week or so.

C, Bueno. And this one was translated recently, and get a load of this. This was during the series against the Mariners. When the Mariners went up three to two in Seattle. Quote from Vladdy translated. I still remember the moment during the Seattle series as I was walking by a group of family members. One of the women yelled right next to me, loud and proud, duh, Blue Jays lose.

They were up three to two in the series at the time. Cocky as hell. All I could think to myself was, well, I guess winners get to have all the fun. I had my headphones on. I was pretending to listen to music. I wasn't actually playing anything. I was just trying to stay in my own head. And she said it so boldly beside me, WJ's Luz.

The group erupted in cheers behind her, and I knew exactly who she was and whose wife she was. I was walking with Jimenez at the time. I leaned over and told him quietly, they don't know they're heading into the valley of death. Wow. Damn. That was the exact quote from Vladi Guerrero. So he was pissed after that three-two loss, and I guess we saw what happened when they went back to Toronto. Hey, I have a question for you.

If the Js had lost to the Mariners in game six or game seven, is John Schneider still the manager? I think so. I think this regime has a huge amount of faith in him. I don't see them blowing him out after it. Do you remember what people were saying after game five, though? Oh, yeah. It was like, even, I mean, the Toronto Sports Radio's,

it's a good question. We're just like, they got to get rid of this guy. But even getting to that point in the ALCS was not on the register for the Blue Jays this year. So the fact that he overachieved, hey, Doug, what's going on over there? Sorry. The fact that he overachieved, I think would have saved. He saved his job.

Hey, Doug, you are one of the least professional people. I know, I know, I'm sorry. It's a great save. But also very adorable. What did you think about Chris Bassett saying farewell? And staying in the ALE East. That's the best option he had. He got a lot of money, so kudos to him.

I don't think he really fit in. I liked Bassett. I liked him, too, but I think he's reaching the end of his career. He's got $18 million. Shut up. Stop it. Figure it out. Why is he's just like so much?

Yawning. It's your cheering during the. game and oh you made the jingle to stop the spoilers and now you're spoiling it no self-control with your guffaws in the background there anyway that was my blue jays what we learned i'm gonna miss bass it i like how you reinvented himself as a reliever i thought that was a really interesting yeah i don't know what his role's gonna be with the or i guess we'll wait and see but uh yeah we're gonna see him a lot this year okay for the advertisers uh mukow that print out the submissions into the dunbar lumber text line we'll read a couple of uh

Listener, what we learns. What we learned is always brought to by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You got to try the bar pie. 14 inches of cracker thin crust top with tomato sauce, matza and cheddar only at AJ's pizza order online at AJ's. That pizza. Steve the bus driver, what we learned, sitting in bed, having a coffee,

and watching Olympic hockey with no one in the house, but the cat and I is amazing. Not sure if it's as good as eating alone in a restaurant, but it's got to be close. Yeah, there's something to be said for days. games. Yep. There is.

I know a lot of people are like, they stink because I have a real job. So without getting... Without getting too far ahead of ourselves. Not that a bus driver isn't a real job, but it's cool that you're able to watch the game. I was going to try and gloss over that part.

Did you just call it? Well, it's different. Not everyone has, you know, flexible hours. Just the verbiage you used. It's a real job. It just has different hours. Yeah. Yeah.

Although... There are bus drivers right now. Yeah. I don't know. I've been on a bus in years. I'm not going near one of those. Germ machines. Yeah, who's driving the germ tube today?

Is it you? Last time, Ruff was on a bus was for some sware. Save the bus's swore. I walked in there, I was like, blah. This isn't a party bus? Could you please pull the cord?

I don't want to touch it. Adag, I think you mentioned this. It's like Hillary Clinton going to that ladies' apartment and the brush reaction going on a bus. Sorry, what's up? You mentioned this earlier. I believe the gold medal game is a 5 a.m. Yeah, 5. 10 a.m.

Sunday. I will be up. Yeah, my one sleep Monday gone. Without putting too much thought into it because I'm bringing it up on the spot. Do you try and tuck in for a few hours the night before or do you just give her

because it's Saturday night? It's 5 a.m. It's easier for us because we always go to bed early anyways. I'm going to be staying up late 9.30 on Saturday for me. That's a late night now. Yeah, like it's hard for me now to go to bed later than, even on my days off.

I usually go to bed at around 10. My body's like used to it. I want to let everyone behind the curtain for a moment here. Let's just share. Hey, my one's sleep in there. Let's just share the last time, or was it yesterday when A-Dog kind of like bragged that he would wake up in time to watch the gold medal game? So we do on Sundays, we set out Monday show, and we usually do it pretty early in the morning. By that, I mean like 8, 8.30.

And it's early, I say, because some people do like to sleep in on the weekends. We are now at the point of the proceedings where we don't expect. an A-dog reply until after 11 a.m. I don't know how you can sleep that long. You're 40 years old. It's crazy to me. Hey man, when I was my 20s, I'd sleep into like one PS. I was like biologically necessary at that time. You know, like, you know, that age, you're still, you know, developing biologically.

I'm surprised you're not covered in bed sores with the amount of time you spend over. No, I think it's because I don't nap. I'm not much of a nap. Do you have to get turned halfway through the night? I'm not, yeah. Someone comes in with a rag on a stick. It's like, you know what time it is.

I'm not much of a naper, so I don't nap a lot throughout the week. So I think it's just my body catching up to a week of lack of sleep. And so on Sunday, is it just like I sleep too much? I definitely oversleep. That's the Donald Trump life battery idea. It's like, well, I go on a flight. I know it doesn't actually work like that, but I'm just trying to explain like maybe that's why. He's like, why would you exercise?

That just, you just use all your energy up then by exercising. I'm back down to 20% but no worries. I'll get up to 80% on Sunday morning. Yeah. All right. It's glorious, though. You should try it sometimes. This show is over.

I want to go watch some hockey. Should we do it? We should do one more anyway. This is Chris from Evanston. Hashtake WWL, what we learned. This is amazing hockey. It's reminding me how bad the Canucks are. Yeah, Ken is.

Kind of is. Although David Combs playing a second-line center role, so that's familiar. Everything is a juxtaposition of the Canucks. Seahawks win the Super Bowl. Great culture. Nah. What can the Canucks learn from that? Nothing.

They never will. Look how good this hockey is. Okay. Everything. Enjoy the hockey, everybody. there's still a lot to go at least to get the midway point of this game. But we are out of here for today.

Thank you all for listening. Thank you all for contributing. We will be back tomorrow. But for now, we got to say goodbye. Signing off, I have been Mike Alford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-E-Dog and he's been a laddie. This has been the Halford & Bruff show

on Sportsnet, 650.