Halford & Brough in the Morning - Friedge Sheds Some Light On The Miller v Petey Saga

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen (4:12) as the Caps are currently first place in the MLS Western Conference, plus the boys discuss the latest Canucks and Seahawks news with analyst Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (22:03).  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.

7.05 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let

Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. You know what? This Fiesta music kind of works. It does. You know? It's a good vibe.

It's been going. It's got a vibe. Let's keep the good vibes going. We go now to the phone line. Our dear friend AJ from AJ Pizza joins us now on the Haliford and Bref now to the phone line. Our dear friend AJ's from AJ Pizza joins us now on the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, AJ? What is going on, everybody? So for those that don't know,

the magic that we have every week on the radio, it's not just spontaneity. Like we do plan these things out. We do. So, AJ is gonna answer. There is a napkin somewhere. AJ is gonna answer and ask us anything right off the bat and it pertains to the new name of the new AJ's next door.

I thought it was gonna be AJ's, but what do you have in store for us here? Well, so it's a two part here. So bear with me for a couple seconds. So I heard Laddy this week giving Giddy about Garrett Cole. So I know you guys have Fiesta Fridays, I got a Festivus Friday. So I got a grief with that.

And from that in my head, I was like, right. So now I'm going back to Seinfeld and we're gonna call it's AJ's famous next to original AJ's. And if you all understand Seinfeld, when Kramer's lost, right? He's got, Jerry's like, where are you? He's like, are you an original raise or famous AJ?

How could I be at the nexus of the universe? So, you have inspired me for the next name of the other AJ. So good for you, but I'm still mad at you. And that's my, that's my- Hey, all I said was that they're gonna get a heck of a boost in the mid 2026. Whenever he comes back. Yeah, I heard the other thing you said too.

That's okay. You know, you did walk it back with Garrett Cole though, instead of trying to celebrate someone's Tommy John surgery, the rightful age of whatever he is, 34. Okay, so- So yeah, I wanted to thank you for that, Natty. That's the inspiration, you know, it comes from that laddie. That's the inspiration. You know, it comes from all different places.

When is the new side going to open up, AJ? Well, Jimmy had it, what, last week at seven weeks. I'm pushing it Pacific Solutions, just if you're listening, to four weeks now. Okay, perfect. And if anyone wants to come by this weekend, what a weekend to come by. Canucks games on Saturday and Sunday.

Right, you got $6 pints pretty much all weekend. And I think personally I think I'm going to the game on Sunday so we'll see. Oh very nice Utah and the Vancouver Canucks. Okay AJ best luck with everything. Thanks for doing this as always and everyone stop by 325 East Broadway this weekend for some beer, some pints and some hockey. Thanks dude. Thank you everybody take care guys. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway here on the Helford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Alright we're gonna be talking to Jesper Sorensen in just a moment here as we pivot off into another local sporting squadron in action this weekend. The Van, who are Whitecaps who have been incredibly

busy as of late. This will be their fifth match in 13 days when they take on Dallas at 530 on Saturday. They're going to keep the good times hopefully rolling. They've gotten off to a tremendous start under Jesper Sorensen and they're doing it under man. They got a lot of injuries on the squad right now. Ryan Gald's hurt, Sam Adekube's hurt, Jaden Nelson's hurt, but it's a big opportunity for the Caps to continue their winning ways on Saturday. Joining us now on the program, very excited to have him on the show.

First time guest, Jesper Sorensen, White Caps manager here on the Halford & Breff show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Jesper. How are you? Good morning. I'm good. I'm a little tired. We're up early here in Dallas, but yeah, we've been traveling a lot the last couple of days, but we're good. So actually, that's probably a good place to start. How is the travel in MLS treating you? It's a little bit different in North America than it is to just travel around Denmark. Yeah, one thing is traveling in the MLS. Now in the CONCACmin's Cup, we go a little bit further than that. So it is new to me. Of course, I'm not used to traveling this far when we go, but okay.

I go to see some parts of the world I've never been in, so it's also very exciting. I imagine you also have to be getting a boost of energy with how well the club has played despite all of this travel and all of the injuries. Let's talk about that match in Monterey midweek. It's been called one of the greatest results in Whitecaps history. I saw a lot of people that were following it from afar, really impressed not just with getting a result but the way that you guys got that result as well. How proud are you of what your team was able to accomplish against Monterey, especially

in that second leg in Mexico. Yeah, I was, of course, happy for the team and for the players because I think they really deserve to win like this and I think it's not a win that comes every day and over two games, I think we were the better team. So I think it was also happy for the players because we were also feeling it after the game. You know, the excitement and the opportunism and how everybody was happy.

And it was a big win for us. So that was great. So winning down there, I also think meant something special. You're in a hostile environment where the opposing fans and everybody is against you and then coming out of a game like that as winners I think it creates great belief and also great confidence so I'm very happy for everybody that we've won down there. You had some fantastic results to start your tenure as a Whitecaps manager. You've had a lot of matches in a short period of time. You've had a lot of wins, and it's drawn attention

from a lot of different people. So I kind of want to go back to the changes that you've made. When you took this job, you said, I'm not here to make a revolution, but to make an evolution. Can you explain to those listening right now exactly what you meant by that? I meant that what I have seen before I came,

what I'd seen from the team, I saw some good things. I think that we should start to, and then build upon that. Instead of going in and saying, okay, I want to change everything from the start because it's also, it can be useful to if you want to make a lot of changes to it quickly, but I just suggest try to put some layers on top of what was already existing.

And I think that's what we've done. Stuck to and kept some of the good things that were already in the team in my perspective and then build it upon some other things that I think needed to be done in the way I would like to play way I would like to play and then start out from there. And I think that so far it has been an okay plan. Jesper, let's go back even further. When did you first hear from Vancouver? Because I'm curious how a Dane ends up in Vancouver. How did you get on the Whitecaps radar?

Did you put it out that you were open to managing in MLS or did you all of a sudden get a call from the Vancouver Whitecaps? All right, I'll pick up this call and talk about it. Yeah, we can go a little bit back. I was in one of the biggest clubs in Denmark last year and then I got the sack from that job in December and then I was available on the market and of course was open for new challenges and I also talked to my agent about that. And then

there was connection and we started talking and then it went on from there. Of course Vancouver was interested in listening to what kind of coach I was and we had some talks if it was something that could be done. And yeah, then it was actually up to Vancouver in the end of if they wanted me as a coach and then also if we could find a good mix. And I think we tried to prepare ourselves as best possible to what was going to happen. And that's always what you do. And you never know when you end up in a job, how it really is when you start, when you start out.

So that's, that's always how it is, but it started out just before New Year's and then we had some talks and going into the new season here and then I got the job. What was it about you that you think the white caps were interested in? Feel free to brag about yourself a little bit in What was it about you that you think the white caps were interested in? Feel free to brag about yourself a little bit in this part of the question.

Like why were you the right guy for the job? You know, I think that as a club, they wanted a match from what they stand for, I think. Just to speak freely, I think I'm from a country where we used to try to get a lot out of not that much because we are not that many people. And I think we are known for being able to be pragmatic and also, approach the game very analytical. And I think that was what they also were looking for. And then I know I had some good recommendations from some other coaches and also from Denmark that they might look started to look into.

And then, yeah, then I don't know in the end what made the decision. But I think that might be some of the things, you know, with where I've been. And Axel also said that he thought that where I've been before, there was an immediate impact and he liked that. And, and yeah, it's, it might be what they were looking for back then. You know, it's funny, actually, I was in Denmark last summer and it was the first time I had ever been there, a beautiful country, I spent some time in Copenhagen and then went west into the countryside.

It's beautiful. A lot of bikes there, a lot of bikes. Yeah. And, but I got to talking with some people there about soccer because the Euros were on at the time and they were saying similar things to you. Like in Denmark, we're a pretty small country, so we can't just say, okay, well, we'll take our best against Germany's best and see what happens.

You have to have, in Germany, that's real rivalry there. And I wonder if that attitude and you've kind of suggested it was like, do the Whitecaps see themselves as sort of underdogs in MLS compared to some of the big spending teams and that they need for you like a Danish approach versus Germany to have success? Yeah, I don't know if they think that they need that kind of approach, but I think it is a good approach when you are a club as the Whitecaps where you can see some of your competitors like Miami, the LA teams, maybe New York in some other markets have some other advantages and also spending-wise. So I think what is very important and what they also liked about my profile is the approach to the team, the approach to teamwork, how we have that approach and how we work with

the players and always try to develop the individual together with the team. I think that was very important also to them in the hiring process and for me I think it's natural but I know that other places not that natural where you where you you know put more emphasis on on the individual player and you put more emphasis on the individual player and you put more emphasis on having big stars and stuff like that. So maybe that's also the identity of the club

that you would like to be. We're speaking to Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen here on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. The Whitecaps will play this Saturday in Dallas as this lengthy and very compact start to the regular season continues. Jesper, prior to taking this job, we talked about soccer culture in the different countries and coming from Denmark.

How familiar were you with North American football? Not that familiar. I have to be honest. I was not that familiar. I have to be honest, I was not that familiar. Of course, I've worked with players that came to the MLS and I lived one year in Canada, in Toronto as well. And there I got to understand it a little bit also with the different rules that are from European soccer and I think it helped me a little bit but I was not fully prepared for what it really is and that's also something you cannot always be fully prepared on everything so you just have to get into it and jump out in it and see how you

and land. Hope you land on both feet and I think that's what I did. The good thing was that it was not mid-season. We had a good pre-season so I also had a lot of opportunities to get to know the football culture, the rules about how to put in together a squad and stuff like that because it's different and put in together the roster. So that was good with the five weeks we had before the season. Now I feel a little bit more prepared but I'm not fully aware of the football still over here but we're learning day by day.

And I know you probably haven't spent a ton of time in the city because Nathan Vansome from the Whitecaps just texted me that it's been eight matches in 24 days and you've played in four different countries. So there has been a lot of travel, but when you've been in the city and when you've been at home, what have you thought of Vancouver so far? I love it. It's a beautiful city and everywhere you go you can see some beautiful and there's a nice vibe there. It's not as hectic as some of the biggest cities but it's still a big

city and with a nice, what would you say, work balance vibe where people are also relaxed even though they're busy at work. So I think it's, I really like it so far. And I know that everybody says that the best are yet to come because they say everybody tells me that the summer in Vancouver is the most beautiful thing. So I'm looking forward to that even though we have to travel a lot on the away games. The summer's definitely better than the winter. I can confirm that, having lived here for a long time. Before we let you go, real quick, Dallas on the weekend,

can we just get some health updates on three guys in particular? Your captain, Ryan Gauld, Sam Adekube, and then Jaden Nelson as well. Sorry, yeah. Only Jaden will be in the squad. Ryan, he will be out for a couple of weeks still. Sam the same.

We have the feeling also here, we talked about yesterday, that it's been a while since Sam got injured. It's only 10 days actually we played the LA Galaxy but because we played so many games it feels like it's three, four weeks but he still has a couple of weeks to be fit and ready to go again. Ryan we don't know about fully but we expect four weeks all in all so that will be three weeks from now. Those guys will be out and then it's good we have other guys ready to step up. Well I wish you the best of luck on the weekend. It's a big match yet again and another one in a very compact window.

The Whitecaps are in action on Saturday, 5.30 in Dallas. Jesper, thanks very much for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Great start to the season. Keep the good times rolling and let's do this again as the season continues to progress. Thank you very much. Thank you. That's Jesper Stornes and Whitecaps manager here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet

650. The whole time I could tell you were like, wanted to ask, do you know Yannick Hansen? Yeah. Did you guys hang out ever? He's just like, you mentioned his name. Do you think they've met? Do you think Yannick Hansen?

Yeah, I was like a one in 85 chance. Actually, I was gonna say, Yannick Hansen would have to be part of the welcoming committee, right? Yeah. In Vancouver? Mm-hmm. I'm gonna sound like a total new, like, Rube, because I don't know, like, even close.

What's the population of Denmark? I'm also throwing you on the spot. I would guess maybe five million. Wow, nice job. 5.9 million. Yeah, right. It's small. It's small. It's small Yeah, but so what he was talking about and not to like, you know paraphrase what he was saying

But I'm gonna do it anyway is they've achieved a very high level of success in International competitions Denmark has both in the Euros into the World Cup and they've put a ton of players into top leagues in Europe despite having a very small population. Yeah. It's like the less is more, we do less or we do more with less, right? That's kind of what you were getting at when

you were asking about your vacation to Denmark as well. Right. Yeah. Okay. Still left on the show, we've got The Moj coming up next and then Rick Dollywall at eight o'clock. I also want to play some audio from

Elliot Friedman in the 32 Thoughts podcast because I think he might have some interesting things to say about, we all heard Quinn Hughes' comments backing up Elias Pedersen after Pedersen had a really good game the other day and we were were all lauding both Pederson for the game that he had, but also Quinn Hughes for lifting up a teammate that needed it. Elliott might have a little more to add on that, so we'll play that audio coming up at some point in this show. Moj is coming up next, Rick Dollywall at eight. It's always fun on a Friday listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to two on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. It's the Moch. I did not eat four burgers. Yes, it's the Moch. I don't want to go to Winnipeg.

Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food. It's the Moch. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalani. Yes, it's the Moch. Halperg's fine, but you know, breakfast is grumpy all the time. Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, It's the Moj. 732 on a Friday.

Happy Friday, everybody. You are listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruff in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in our two of the program. Bob the Mojmar, John of it's, is going to join us in just a moment here. A presentation of the Clayton public house as we roll through our two,

our two of this show is brought to you by Jason Hominick at Jason dot mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. I am joking, of course, let him do exactly that. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. He heard us yesterday when we were doing thrash metal Thursdays when I referred to him as the most metal of mortgage brokers. It might stick. Nice. Could be a Thursday special. I don't know. We'll have to see. To the phone lines we go. Bob the Moj Marjanovic joins us now on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up Moj? Smooth entry, Bref. Smooth entry. Leave your mic on. That's pretty good, professional. Oh no, what did you do?

What did I say? What did he say? What did he do? Oh, I was listening to your whole conversation over the intro. Oh, okay. We are broadcasters, excellent. What's up fellas? How's your Friday going? Friday's good. Everything is well here. It's a weird time because the Canucks aren't playing for a couple nights and then they got the Saturday, Sunday back-to-back. Their second consecutive back-to-back and I know that you wanted to start with what happened in Calgary on Wednesday night. Will the good vibes continue Moj into the weekend for another pair of very important games for the Vancouver Canucks? Well, you'd hope so. You know, I talked to one Canuck recently just during the morning skate and we talked about this team compared to last year's team and you know, anyone who's been around sports

for a while knows the difference between a team that always believes that they're gonna win the team that has doubts and last year's team had that belief right they had that belief that no matter what the circumstances they were gonna find a way to pull things out this year well it's been a different story and they talking to this player he said you know we're still trying we're still searching for that confidence so to speak he saw a little bit of it against Montreal coming back in the third period, of course they fell short. But the fact that they clutched up in the third period for their first come from behind win all season long

in Calgary, maybe Bodeswell, maybe there's signs of this team finally trying to get, finally getting that belief and that confidence back because, man, it's been lacking this season. How important do you think it was that Pederson was the guy that tied it and Pederson was the guy that had a moment? We've heard Rick Tuckett saying, you know, hockey is a game of moments and, you know, and it wasn't meant to dismiss analytics or the imposition or the importance of, you know,

owning the overall possession of the game. But he was saying earlier that the Canucks just need some guys to step up in in big moments and that was a big moment and Elias Pedersen stepped up. It was huge and you know what do you hear all the time your best players have to be your best players and right now the Canucks need Pedersen to be at the top of his game. You know since you have that little media culpa session with the media, he's had three goals in an assistant five games since then he looks more confident, but you know, here's the thing that I see in terms of the

confidence with Pederson since that time in those five games, he's had 12 shots on goal, the previous 10 games, Pederson only had five shots on goal. He's shooting the puck more. He's feeling more confident. And for the Canucks, that's great news because they need him to be Elias Pedersen if they want to have a chance of making the playoffs. What would you, would you say the Canucks are more likely to make the playoffs or more likely to miss?

Well, for my column this week for Black Press, that's what we delved into. And if you look at, what do you guys figure? 93 points should get you in the playoffs. Yep. Pretty good guess, right? 93 is a good mark. They have to go 11 and six in their last 17 games to reach 93 points. Um, they've had one stretch this year, the

entire season, they've had one stretch this year, the entire season, they've had one stretch where they went 11 and 6 and it was October through November. So is that a big ask now to go 11 and 6? Possibly. So to me there's an issue there. And then the other thing that really comes into play, fellas, I don't know if you've seen the strength of schedule that the Cans have. So between those teams that are in the hunt in the Western Conference, St. Louis, Utah, Calgary, and Vancouver, the Connaughts have the 12th strongest schedule heading down the stretch at 557.

That's the winning percentage of their opponents. Meanwhile, Utah is 23rd at 543. Calgary is 18th at 547. St. Louis has the weakest schedule of any team in the National Hockey League at 521, the winning percentage of their opponents on the remaining schedule. So St. Louis has the weakest schedule of any team

in the National Hockey League, which obviously isn't good news for the Canucks. Now, of course they play the games on the ice, not on paper, but when you're looking at the strength of the schedule, Canucks have the toughest schedule of those four teams moving forward. Yeah, I've done the math as well,

and shout out, J-Pat was the one that put that, he put it out after the Montreal loss about what the projected totals were. I think everyone's kind of agreed, like, 93 points is where they need to get to, and then they went out and got a big win in Calgary, granted Calgary got a point out of that, so it kind of agreed like 93 points is where they need to get to. And then they went out and got a big winning Calgary. Granted Calgary got a point out of that, so it kind of skews it.

But if you look ahead, like it's hard not to look at that road swing. I think it's a six game road swing that goes on. It's pretty tough. It goes from the 20th to the 30th of March. They go St. Louis, New York, New Jersey, New York, so Rangers, Islanders, Columbus, Winnipeg. Like that's probably going to decide the season, I would say.

And are they going to have to do it all with one goalie? Yeah. Yeah. And it's interesting because as we've talked about before, I mean, Lankton has stood up to the test thus far, but he is in unchartered, is is it uncharted or uncharted? I believe it's uncharted. Uncharted waters. Uncharted. There's no map.

Uncharted waters, because I know we've had that debate before. Uncharted waters in the sense that here's a goaltender who's never had this type of workload and he's never faced this type of pressure, right? Now, like I said, he's passed the test thus far, but will he be able to continue? And it was great to see him go back to back, but is he going to play against Utah on Sunday night after they play Chicago Saturday? Right. I mean, eventually you're thinking this might catch up to Laken. And so do they need she laughs at some point?

Maybe. Right. Um, in an ideal world, you'd love your backup go-pender to give your starter arrests on a back to backback but do you have enough confidence and she laughs to put them in there and you know you could be it could be your season on the line two points right so it's a it's a tough situation for the connection that comes to gopening. Moj, Quinn Hughes, I know you're a big like team first guy and the importance of culture and the importance of leadership because you're very smart and that stuff is very important in a team environment.

Do you have anything to add about how impressive he's been this season from on the ice, just his play, but also his willingness to play through injuries. And also the fact that he always takes an opportunity to lift someone else up on the team. And he did that the other day after Pedersen had that big goal. And he took the time to just say, like, look, like, Petey's been through a lot this season. He's going to be just fine, we believe in him here. I just thought that was just such a, such a good moment from, from a captain. And, and I just can't think of anything else that in a team captain, I'd want more than what Quinn Hughes has given the Canucks.

Well, I think you made a great point in that, you know, you want to bring everybody along for the ride. You want to make everybody feel like they're part of the team. I think, you know, that's one of the things you want from your captain to lift up your players to make them believe, to give them confidence. I think, you know, great captains are also the guys that make everyone feel like they're part of it because sooner or later you're going to need everybody, right? You want everyone to feel no matter what their role is that it's an important role to winning with this team. You know, we're just talking about the

goal-turning situation in Archer Shilof's, right? You got to make Shilof's believe like he's part of this, like he is, you know, part of this team that he's going to be someone that they're going to need to count upon at a certain point, right? And you're going to need that, whether it's a seventh defenseman, whether it's a 13th or 14th forward, that's what the great leaders do is they get everybody to buy in and no matter what the role feel like that role is important to the team and important to winning. We're speaking of Bob the Mojmar, Johnovic here on the Haliford and Bref show on sportsnet 650. Moj is a presentation of the Clayton Public House. The Clayton Public House is one of the best places in the province to watch the NFL.

When we watch the NFL this season, Moj, we're going to sit at the Seattle Seahawks with a new quarterback under center. Sam Darnold was introduced to the media yesterday after signing a three year, $100 million deal to become the Seattle Seahawks new quarterback. What do you think about the Seahawks going after Sam Darnold and making him their guy? Well, I mean, where this team is right now, I understand it, but you know, it's what we talked about even with Gino Smith is is your quarterback gonna lead you to a Super Bowl, right? I don't think Sam Darnold is that quarterback. At the current time, okay, he fits the Seahawks, you know, they might go out there might get another 10 win season, 11 win season, 9 win, maybe they win a playoff game whatever the case may be but this isn't a

move that makes the Seahawks a Super Bowl contender they've got other areas on that team namely the offensive line that they have to address that they have to clean up and hopefully at some point they go into the draft and draft that quarterback that they believe can take them to the promised land so if you're a Seahawk fan yeah great great. You're gonna have an entertaining team, you're gonna have some fun watching them, but when it's all said and done, I mean your Super Bowl chances, probably slim and done. Okay, let's do a food ask us anything before we let you go.

Love it. Are you a cocktail aficionado? Do you like a good cocktail? Are you more like a beer and like whatever kind? Oh no, I'll tell you what. It's funny. I don't mind draft beer, but draft beer is kind of like my kryptonite. I don't know what it is.

It's just like, give me a bottle of tequila, I'm okay, right? All right. Give me like three pints of draft beer and I'm like, nah, I'm feeling a little different if you know what I mean. Are you feeling sluggish or gassy? No, I just, I get, honestly, draft beer gives me like a very quick buzz. Yeah. Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. It gets you where you want to go. Yeah. I don't know what it is. So like, I don't drink draft beer. I also find it kind of,

like you said, sluggish. You kind of get heavy sometimes for drinking it. I'll tell you what, I do love, especially cocktails. Okay. Right? And there's a find a kind of like you said slug that because the one in Gastown has this drink. It's called the seven spice, I think it's called Baharat. It's like a seven spice Lebanese drink. It is to die for. It's got a little tangy kick to it, but it is so good. So if any of your listeners want, then again, the Nuba that you gotta go to is the one on Gastown, it's down at Hastings and Gambi.

Right, you can't go to the other Nubas because for whatever reason, they don't have these Bah Nut drinks, but so good. And they've got great specialty cocktails there as well. So, you know, there's a lot of places you can go to and, you know, I love an old fashioned Hotel Vancouver, not yet makes a tremendous one, but there's tons of places where you can go

and get these specialty drinks, but yeah, I'm totally into specialty cocktails. Okay, then you've set the table perfectly for this. Ask us anything from Tim and Suri. He's got one for Moj with the pizza moji and everything. Moj, would you rather have a top shelf handmade cocktail before a high-end meal or

a handmade top shelf cigar after that same high-end meal? Oh, that's a tough one. High-end cocktail before, high-end cigar after. Which one? Well, first off, you can't smoke a cigar in a restaurant, right? So- You do have to go outside.

Yeah. I mean, do I want to go outside, leave my party and smoke a cigar? Probably not. Right? It would be kind of rude, don't you think? A little bit. Yeah. So I think the answer to the question is pretty easy.

It's, I'd love a cocktail before dinner, right? You know, give me a cocktail before dinner, I'm happy. So yeah, I would go with the cocktail before rather than the cigar after. Good answer. Moj, very well done today. You aced Ask Us Anything, even though it's not a test. You got an A.

Thank you very much as always for joining us. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend and both Canucks Games will do this again next Friday. All right, fellas, have a great weekend. See you, buddy. See you. Bob the Mojmarjanovic here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up?

I like this from JD and CocoaLum. Did Moj really just say to die for? Yeah, I caught that too. It's to die for. Yeah, I was like, mom? He has very strong feelings about that particular cocktail. Yeah, I was like, mom? Hey, he has very strong feelings about that particular cocktail. Oh man.

I hope it was in, I hope it was in a fancy glass too. Mojie. This is to die for. Uh, what? Mojie's wildly cultured. Not everybody knows this. He knows a ton of both food.

He eats out at every, and here's the thing, not just a bunch of different restaurants, but a bunch of different cuisines as well. He's very cultured that Moj. He'll catch you off guard. Okay. So we mentioned what Quinn Hughes had to say after the last game in Calgary when Elias Pedersen scored the big goal for the Canucks and then scored again in the shootout and Quinn Hughes, the captain had some very supportive words for Elias Pettersson. Um, you know, I, I thought that was terrific to not only take advantage of, of, of a big moment and, and kind of reinforce it for Pettersson, but also a really smart thing to do because Quinn Hughes knows that the guys are going

to need Elias Pedersen down the stretch if they want to make the playoffs. He could be the difference between making and missing for this team. Elliot Friedman on the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast had something to say about those words and maybe some background to add to it as well. I think he was really backed Pettersson. I think he felt that, you know, he's the captain,

he saw the writing on the wall, I think he knew where this was going to go. I think he knew that Miller was going to be leaving and Pettersson was going to be staying. He knew that the fan base was split on this. But I think he said, he felt very strongly that Pedersen could still have a big impact for them. And I think what he said the other day was, it's not only about supporting the teammate publicly, but I think it's a manifesting of what he believed privately was that this was a move that Canucks had to make. And he believed that in the long run, everybody would be better off for it, including Miller. And so I think that that's what he's hoping to see.

Like I think this is what Hughes believed that when they made the move, it was the right thing for the franchise. And if I'm wrong, he can say that I'm out of my freaking mind, but I've really gotten that impression. I have also gotten that impression that Hughes was active behind the scenes in trying to sort this out. Yeah. And. I mean, he's the captain, he has to be.

Yes, but it kind of went beyond that. Like he was, well, it didn't go beyond that. He was the captain and this is what he had to do. But ultimately, what I think happened was, you know, you hear about coaches losing the room. I think JT lost the room. Sure. And I think we saw that play out in JT's play and ultimately his wish to be moved.

I think he lost the room. And I think ultimately Quinn Hughes and maybe a few other guys felt like, all right, JT, you're going a bit far with this stuff. And then I think there might have been a blow up with the coaching staff as well that really sealed JT's fate in Vancouver. And then that's, I mean, that's essentially what I think happened. Now if I'm wrong, I'll do the same thing as Elliott Freeman.

Feel free to reach out to me, Canucks, and tell me I'm wrong. But I think that's what happened. Now as it pertains to the Hughes-Peterson dynamic, which I think is a very, very important part of this organization moving forward, it's pretty well established that they're good friends. I think there was like an anecdote making the rounds the other day. Hughes talking about how he sits with Petey on the plane, like he's his seat buddy or something along those lines. I think there was like an anecdote making the rounds the other day, he was talking about how he sits with Petey on the plane, like he's his seat buddy or something along those lines. I think beyond the friendship, there's a kinship in the room and on the ice that one understands how important the other is

to the team's success. We got a microcosm, a snippet, if you will, of that the other night after the Calgary game, when Hughes and we played the audio, uh, Hughes was talking about how important Pedersen is to the team's success. And also talking about his inherent drive and competitiveness that's gotten him to the heights

that he's had in the NHL before. And then Pedersen, interesting, and if we didn't play the audio, cause it was a little bit more muted, but he was talking about how Hughes played damn near 30 minutes returning from injury and clearly not at a hundred percent. And Petey kind of smiled and he said, that's my captain.

So they've obviously got a relationship that's important in the context of you need to make these guys happy, Hughes especially, if you want to retain Hughes moving forward, right? Okay, I want to address some stuff that's coming into the Dunbar Lumbertex line. JNPoco, LOL, PD scores a couple of goals and suddenly it was all Miller's fault. Unfair, JNPoco, unfair. No, that is not the case. Funny gaslighting, I do appreciate it, but unfair. Pettersson,

okay, if you want to hear some some spilt tea. Oh no. Peterson wasn't working hard enough and that wasn't just JT saying that, that was the Canucks and I don't think and feel free to reach out to me Canucks again if I'm wrong. His work ethic became an issue. And that's why Rick Tocket recently said, well, wait a minute, I've seen some stuff out of Pedersen, like he's doing the stuff in the last 48 hours or 72 hours that, you know, like, I've been like, this is.

Okay. This is. No, no, don't, don't, I'm not, I'm not worried about this, but like, don't, don't, like, don't make this a one or the other thing. Like they both share responsibilities. Pedersen needed to work harder and that was clear by what the coaching staff had said and the management said, it was clear.

But I think JT took things too far and ultimately I think he lost the room. And tell me where any inconsistency is in this story. Tell me where any inconsistency is where in this story. I just don't think that we should be using Jay and Poco's text as anything more than like maybe trying to incite a narrative that's not there and that we haven't established. Well, what bothers me is that, and maybe this is just what I see in the world today, is just like the tribalism where one side is either 100% in the right and the other side is 0% in the right or vice versa. I think you can separate these issues. Pedersen did not come prepared for this season and the Canucks were disappointed

that he didn't work as hard and he hasn't worked as hard as he should have. Okay? Uh-huh. JT also got, if you want to put, he got a little carried away with some of his actions and it caused a problem in the room to the point where he lost, he lost the room and now he's no longer part of the Canucks and the Canucks still have a decision to make on Elias Pedersen on whether or not he's the guy to move forward. But you know, it doesn't like, you don't have to be like, I'm just going to give you as a fan, the freedom. You don't have to be, like, I'm just gonna give you as a fan the freedom. You don't have to be on Team Petey or Team JT.

Like, you don't have to be. You don't have to choose. You can say, like, I actually like both players, but no, neither of them are perfect. Pedersen himself said it the other day, I'm not perfect. Like that was part of his mea culpa, right? Like I'm not perfect. Yeah that was part of his mea culpa, right? Like I'm not perfect Yeah, none of us are perfect. But you don't have to You don't have to wear the I'm T team JT or I'm team Petey

It's not necessary right, and I think it just frustrates me because we see people like their identity is almost tied up in I'm a PD guy or I'm a JT guy or I'm a left-wing guy or I'm a right-wing guy, right? Like it's just look at the issues and think of, they actually use your brain to think about them. You don't have to be on a team. Sure. Right? Just how about be on the team of like what really happened? What's the truth? Be on that team. Yeah, it is remarkable that when an interpersonal relationship fractures, the most logical thing to think is that both parties have to shoulder some of the blame here

because that's the way that interpersonal relationships work very rarely. Is it 100% one person's fault and 0% the other person's fault? There's always some blame and some responsibility to take. Yet somehow, and let's be clear, part of this has to do with the fact that, perception-wise, it does look like the Canucks chose Peaty

and traded away Miller. Now that's not accurate in any way, shape or form. However, look at what happened. One got sent away and one got to stay. So I think you can understand where maybe some of these less nuanced, more definitive team A, team B takes come from. It's because when you look at it,

and from a million miles away, or as objectively as you can, there is a sense of one guy got to stay and one guy had to leave. And I think that's where some of the opinions come into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. I think the key is maybe stick to what you know and what you believe and people are gonna have

their opinions and people are gonna be tribalized and whatnot, but at the end of the day, no, and be confident in the fact that in a situation like this, there's a lot more gray than there is black and white. That's how I would classify it. Okay, that got a little out of control. So let's talk about Justin Trudeau's final day as Prime Minister.

Hey, correct. We gotta go to break, oddly enough. Before we go to break, I need to tell you, cleaning up another mess, Jan Pro, from the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between. Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected for a free quote.

Visit them online at janpro.ca. Final hour of the show coming up. Dolly Wall is gonna join us on the other side. Three giveaways in the final hour. We're giving away monster truck tickets. We're giving away auto show tickets and the best Ask Us Anything or What We Learn gets a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway.

You're listening to the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650.