Halford & Brough in the Morning - Gary Mason On "The Rift" + What We Learned

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason talk with Globe & Mail's Gary Mason (1:55) about his bombshell interview with Jim Rutherford yesterday where he confirms the rift between Pettersson & Miller, 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 is this music? Setting the tone. Just setting the tone. This sounds like a cross between ABBA and a Clockwork Orange. This is actually what they play in the Grounds locker room as a form of psychological torture to try and get the players to play better. The music will not stop until you play better. If Boney M was a video game.

Yeah, it's kind of Boney M, you're right. You aren't listening to the Halferd and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. I'm getting Clockwork Orange. It's a sin. Of course I've seen that. Well, come on. Come on. You always rip on me for not having up-to-date references.

Well, yeah, you stopped watching movies in 1986. It's not Beethoven, so it can't be Clockwork Orange. It wasn't all Beethoven in there. This is, yeah, Clockwork. Sorry, Ludwig von. Ludwig von? We have a guest on hold, by the way. Yeah, you guys all done?

We done? Not quite. You are listening to the Halford and Brough show. Which you probably gathered by the insane banter coming back from break. Halford and 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 three of the program.

Gary Mason from the global mail is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off our three hour three is brought to you by Campbell and pound real estate appraisers trust the expertise of Campbell and pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell dash pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintex studio, Kintex footwear and orthotics working together with you and step. That's the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Pound.com today. We're your company live from the Kintex studio. Kintex footwear and orthotics working together with you and Step.

To the phone lines we go, Gary Mason from the Globe and Mail joins us now on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Gary, how are you? Good morning, fellas. Anything interesting happen lately? Yeah, no kidding. What a day.

Tell us what the response is. It's been a while since you've been in the thick of the Canucks beat. Tell us about the response to the interview that you had with Jim Rutherford. Yeah, well, I mean, it was crazy. You forget how insane the fan base is here when you're out of the maelstrom a bit, writing about politics and things like that. But I always have to scratch my sports writing itch every now and then. And so I have been following this drama around the Canucks for quite some time and I wanted to sort of see if I could get a little bit closer to finding out what the hell was going on because really the lack of information coming out of sort of the management ranks and the

coaching staff of the Canucks concerning Pedersen and Miller was, you know, was noticeable. So I put in this request to talk to Jim and he was good enough to accept my overture. And we chatted, you know, we probably spent the first half hour just talking about our roots in Ontario and things like that. And then we got into the interview and he was very, very honest and forthright. I know that some people, I don't mean to ramble here, but I know some people have, there's been conjecture that they reached out to me because they wanted to, you know, deliver this that this was some sort of contrived and planned exercise.

And I don't think it was at all. I think it just, it just happened. It was sort of a natural organic phenomenon and it's resulted in what we saw yesterday and continues on today and probably will for the rest of the week, maybe even the rest of the season. So I actually wanted to get something out on the

on the record here because there, there are people out there that think you have this like constant chatter with Francesco Aquilini, the owner. Yeah. What is your relationship with the owner? Well, I mean, Francesco and I have known each other for a number of years.

Um, I talked to him recently, but to be honest with you, prior to that, I hadn't talked to Francesco probably in over a year. You know, it's very, uh, it's like buddy-buddy or anything like that. We have just formed a relationship that is more professional than anything else. And I've just picked his brains on what's happening with the team and around the league occasionally, not even for the purposes of writing about it, but just to sort of stay abreast of what's going on, try and stay as current as I can. So in the event that I was, you know, asked to write about a situation that I'd have

at least sort of a blue line to sort of a baseline to go from. So that's, you know, that's really been what it's been, you know, all about for a number of years now. So I don't want to put you on the spot, but have you spoken to him since? No. Or recently, since the article came out? No, I have not, which is interesting because I have been kind of waiting for a couple of

texts to come in, but that hasn't happened, which I'm quite happy about. But that hasn't happened, which I'm quite happy about. I know that Jim has talked to Ian McIntyre since my interview exploded onto the scene, and he doesn't seem to have any regrets about it. So I'm glad to hear that. In a way, it must be some sort of a relief, in a way. It's like you're In a way, it must be some sort of a relief. It wasn't a secret, but it was something that wasn't really being officially acknowledged by the team. It just seemed silly because everybody in the world knew that there were problems. These denials, even Tauke and Quinn Hughes acknowledged it. These denials by the players themselves were just silly. So it's kind of good that it's kind of out in

the open now and we'll go from here and see what happens, see what the players say. That's what I'm really interested in. So when you were talking to Jim Rutherford, did you feel like he had an agenda in his remarks or was it just a conversation that you were having and you were asking questions and he was answering them

candidly? I think that that is probably the best description. I think I came in with, you know, my notebook and I had about 15 questions. I didn't even open it up and I had about 15 questions. I didn't even open it up. And I had probably, I had about three questions and then everything else was just based on his answers. I didn't refer to my notes or anything like that. It was just, okay, he says this,

well, the natural question is this. And so it was just sort of a back and forth based on his responses. And then there were just sort of a back and forth based on his responses. And then there were a couple of occasions where I jumped to specific topics that I wanted to address before the interview concluded. So I thought it was just an organic, as I say, I've used that word before,

but it just was sort of a natural free flowing interview that wasn't scripted in any way. word before, but it was, it just was sort of a natural, free-flowing interview that wasn't, you know, wasn't scripted in any way. When did it take place? A lot of people want to know that. It took place, it took place Monday. Okay. Monday morning.

So one of the things that I was left wanting to know is what specifically did the Canucks do to try and mend this riff? You know, in the article you quoted Jim as saying like, you know, there was efforts on both sides to try and make this thing work, but then it would just fester up again. Yeah.

Did you, did you have an opportunity to discuss like what the efforts were? We were joking yesterday, it was like, did they bring in marriage counselors or someone who's trying to deal with this? Like, you know, like we had some fun with it, but I am genuinely interested because I'm always, I think this is a fascinating story. Yeah. No, he didn't really specify what those efforts

were other than meetings. He referred to meetings with the players. And I imagine there were dozens and dozens of these meetings over the course of the last few years in which they would have just talked to the players, the two players and, you know, ask them, you know, can't you resolve your differences? I mean, I don't know exactly what happened, but I don't, I don't get the sense. Although I don't know, I don't know exactly what happened, but I don't get the sense, although I don't know, I don't get the sense that there were any third parties brought in to try and mediate this dispute, whatever it is.

The other thing that we don't know, guys, is what was the nature of this conflict? How did it manifest itself? You know, was it where the, you know, screaming matches in the dressing room? Were there like, you know, horrible insults that were traded? You know, scurrilous barbs? I don't know. I don't know how it manifested itself. And I don't think that you're going to get that information easily from anybody because those are sort of closely guarded moments that And I don't think that you're going to get that information easily from anybody because those are sort of closely guarded moments that happen in the dressing room.

And people don't normally talk about it. It certainly means the players don't because it's seen as a real portrayal of the code that, you know, whatever happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room. And so I don't think the gym or Patrick were ever going to violate that code either because then they would lose total respect from the players. So I don't know how long it will take if ever before we know the precise nature of, you know, the dispute itself and

and why it's reached this point where it doesn't seem to be something that can be overcome We're speaking to Gary Mason from the Globe and Mail here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650 Okay, so Gary yesterday on social media You posted what I'd classify as an addendum or a contextualization of some additional quotes that didn't make it into the piece Did you want to address those right now? Maybe let some of the listeners know that might not have either seen or heard what exactly you were talking about on Twitter yesterday? Yeah, it was a 1400 word piece or something like that when I filed it. It was overlinked.

I had a lot to address. And so, there was a part where I said to Jim, you know, well, what if the team sort of gets on a heater? And he said, well, you know, we're, we're monitoring this situation in kind of real time. And we're always, you know, adjusting our, our, you know, our plans accordingly. And then he said, you know, but I don't want to, I really, we really don't want to have to trade either player. And so I mean, that was kind of the crux of it. And I included that, you know, I paraphrased that and include that in the, in the, in the story. And then I thought, well, you know, I have the opportunity here, you know,

thanks to Twitter, and this thing was blowing up on Twitter, I thought, okay, well now I can include some of the quotes around that further sort of expands on what he said. You know, I know that a lot of people kind of made a big deal out of that. Well, first of all, I mean, if I was trying to hide it or keep it out, I know then I wouldn't have come out later and said, you know, by the way, this is, this is everything he said about it. I mean, if I was trying to hide it or keep it out, I know then I wouldn't have come out later and said, you know, by the way, this is, this is everything he said about it. I mean, obviously I wasn't trying to hide anything or so.

I mean, there's that, but also I think at the end of the day, yeah, sure. I mean, that kind of makes sense. I mean, if the team goes on a run, they're not going to trade two of their best players for, you know, less for inferior, for an inferior return. I mean, that kind of goes without saying.

But anyway, I did want to say in the piece that they really, I mean, it completely makes sense. You don't really want to have to trade either of these guys. This is something I think that really needs to be examined more fully in the post-interview discussion. Rutherford is taking a lot of heat. Why did you allow it to get to this point? Why didn't you trade one of the players before now, before now you're, now you're seem to be over a barrel. But here's the thing, you know, there, he did say that over the course of time, you know, there were periods where everything seemed to be okay. And, and then it would fester again, and then it would be okay. So I think that they were they tried to remain hopeful that this was going to eventually resolve itself and things would be okay. And I understand why

they would want to think that way because you don't want to have to trade a JT Miller. You don't. I mean when he's on top of his game, he's one of the top defense centers in the league. And Elias Pettersson, again, you know, a young, bright, you know, supremely talented player, you don't really want to trade somebody like that. First of all, if you go out and start spreading the word that one or both of these guys are available without any context, without any word being out there that there's a feud between these guys, GMs are going to be going like, wait a minute here. Why would you be putting these, you know, putting these guys on the market and they would do their due diligence and they would

eventually find out what there was a problem. So I don't know, it just seems to me that it was a bad situation that they were never going to win in terms of trades. And so that's why they tried to make this work for as long as they did. That's my take. That's why I think that they really just tried to make this work for as long as they did. That's my take. That's why I think that they really just tried to, they prayed that this thing was gonna eventually work itself out because you're dealing with, you know, two mature adults, but you like to think so anyway.

Yeah, it's an important and I think pertinent like addendum and contextualization because when you read the article, I think the conclusion most people come to is that the Miller-Peterson relationship is finally untenable and it's reached that point. But then there's also this aspect of it where it's like, well, yeah, it's finally untenable unless we can't move either of them for what we want,

then it's gonna be tenable again. And I appreciate that. Like I understand what Rutherford's saying. He's like, we've reached the breaking point. However, this isn't like a regular workplace where you just fire two people and let them go their own way. They're assets.

It doesn't work that way. So I get exactly what you're talking about there if you wanted to expand on it any further. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that, yeah, I don't know what else, what more there is to say. I guess, I guess the question now is what defines, what's the definition of too low of a return on those assets, right? I think that's exactly it.

You know, there's some conjecture about, and there's been some reporting about what the Rangers offered. I mean, we don't know. But we do know, and the biggest piece of this whole puzzle is, is Quinn Hughes. And what, what is his, what is his response going to be to any trade and what they get back in return? Because he's going to be evaluating, obviously, where does this, what does this team look like over the next five years based on the fact that we don't have Miller and or Peterson anymore and we have these assets in return? That is a big question mark because obviously the Canucks don't want to lose a generational defenseman.

I mean, that's pretty clear. The fan base would, I would say that that would be a point at which the fan base, many of them would just desert the team. So I think that that is, I mean, I can imagine, although Rutherford wouldn't really get into it, like the input that Quinn used has had into this whole thing has had to have been pretty huge. I mean, they rely on him to take the temperature of that dressing room. They would have relied on him to you know give his feedback on what he's what he has seen, what he's you know heard seen whatever and whether he felt it was fixable or not you know.

I just can't imagine that his input wouldn't have been greatly valued in this whole discussion. But going forward, I think that his interests, his wishes are going to have to be respected and acknowledged by management in terms of any deals that they do because once he gives up hope on this team, then he's probably out of here. So Gary, you're not normally a sports writer anymore, so I have one final question for you. What's that? What gets a crazier response? Writing about the Canucks, writing about Justin Trudeau or writing about Donald Trump? Oh, the Canucks by far.

Canucks by a magnitude of about a thousand. Oh my God. There's nothing like it. You know, I have, I forgot, you know, every, every once in a while I get to do this and I, you really forget about how rabid the fan base is and it's great. You know, you get obviously hate mail,

you get positive stuff, but you love to see a fan base is worked up and crazy as this one, you know, because it's their passion coming through. I mean, a lot of it comes through in kind of a negative way, but you know, at least it's passion and you love to see that. So I wasn't quite expecting the response that I got from this, but it's been

wonderful in a weird, strange kind of way. That passion is worth, I always say this, that passion is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in franchise value. Wow. 100%. 100%. You know, it's the closest thing we have to, you know, what the NFL has down in the States. I mean, I'm a huge Seahawks fan and season ticket holder and you go down there and you see

the fans are just absolutely, it's religion. While the Canucks are the closest thing to a religion that we have in our little city, this little part of the world. So it's great, you know, it's people, you know, live and die by everything that happens to this team. And this is a pretty big deal, this story that has emerged. So it's completely understandable that people would be very upset about it, very impassioned about, you know, what's happening to the team

and what the president of the hockey team has just come out and said. So it's not a surprise, but at the same time, you're always kind of overwhelmed by the response to big stories that concern the hockey team. Gary, great article. It was fantastic giving us a ton of content, both yesterday and today. We really appreciate you taking the time to do this today and it was great talking to you. Okay fellas, thank you very much for having me on. I really, really appreciated it. Thank you very much. Thank you Gary. That's Gary Mason from the Globe and Mail here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, let's do some what we

learns. We need some more what we learns in the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650, 650 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. I've got a really quick one. Okay. I learned that Philip Grubauer finally got another game last night for the Seattle Kraken. Good for him. It did not go particularly well for the Kraken or him.

Not good for him. They lost 6-4 to the Anaheim Ducks. Made a highlight reel save. Grubauer allowed five goals, the sixth goal by Anaheim, Frank Vetrano into an empty net. But it's funny, a lot of people weren't, the people that watched the game were actually not blaming Gruber after the game, even though he did allow five goals.

I think there was one goal where people were saying, ah, I probably wanted that one back. But the Kraken apparently just totally left him out to dry, which is crazy considering that Joey DeCourt had played this long stretch of games because Gruber the last time he was in there was just awful and has been awful all season. You would think that that team would come

together and just be like, all right, we've got to be extra careful in front of them. I am so proud that your new year's resolution of giving a crap about the Kraken has carried all the way through to January 29th. Most people would have given up on this new year's resolution weeks ago. Nobody in Seattle talks about this team.

No one. No one cares. They're like. We talk about the more than they do. They're three years into existence in Seattle, so three years, nobody cares about this team. I honestly, if I was Seattle ownership, I'd be like, okay. So typically what happens when there's a new

team and our expansion team. I know what happened in Winnipeg. Don't they ask like five year commitments, commitments from the new season ticket holders or something like that? And then, now I don't, for the record, I don't know if that's exactly what happened in Seattle, but the team has not made much of an impact in Seattle.

But from, you know, yeah, I see some of the gear being worn, but I don't see it being discussed with passion. Like Gary says, you know, like the Seahawks or whatever. If the NBA comes back to Seattle and I'm pretty sure it will, I'm not sure of the timing, but if it does, like where are the cracking going to be if nobody

cares. Like people show up. They've got a hundred, they're top 10 attendance. They've, they're selling out on a nightly basis. It's not that. Let's just make that abundantly clear. I don't think the health of the franchise is at

stake. The 23rd in attendance this year. I think the health of the franchise. I think, I think. We've seen teams expand. I think the health of the franchise is at stake. I think- We've seen teams expand. I don't think they're gonna have a problem monetarily. I think they're in a good market,

they've got corporate dollars behind it, the ownership group is strong. I think the biggest issue, and the one that I don't see being rectified any soon, is that they don't matter in terms of, there's not the passion like we just talked about. There's not that robust, uh, following that is concerned about winning or losing on a

nightly basis. It doesn't seem like either feet are being held to the fire or there's a high level of stakes involved. It's just sort of this thing where they're there and they exist and they're in the professional sports landscape. But there's not a real sense of this matters a lot. It's almost like an entertainment property as

opposed to a sports entity. When the Kraken first came into existence, um, one of the things that I, I mean, I was called a bit of a negative guy for it, but like, I'm like, this is not a hockey town. This is the, they don't, yeah, the Thunderbirds get some support and there's some other teams in the dub in the state, but it's not a hockey town.

No, it's not. Hockey, hockey is, it's actually quite funny because it's a three hour drive from us and, you know, up here it's all hockey. Yep. For some people it's too much hockey. It's a lot. But then you go down there and hockey,

and the media, like I don't really blame the media for not talking too much about them because number one, it doesn't seem like a lot of people are particularly interested. You know, the Seahawks are going to lead the way, and the Huskies and the Mariners even. But I also don't think there's a lot of media that grew up knowing about hockey. Yeah, like I don't.

So it's like, it's like, oh well, I guess they tried their hardest there. It was kind of like when the Grizzlies came to Vancouver, there was like, guys were learning on the job. And there were definitely some people that knew basketball, but it wasn't ingrained in the city. It's a good comparison. It's a solid comparison. And what happened to the Grizzlies? They won multiple titles for this city. Forever. Three more years, Seattle.

Glad we still got them. Okay. Mukow that. We're going to go to break. We're going to come back. I've got a What We Learned. We're going to get to the Humanoid a What We Learned, we're gonna get to the Humanoid What We Learned and we're gonna give away and announce the winner of a pair of tickets and a $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the big football game on Sunday, February the 9th. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey it's Vic Nazar, have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now for my favorite part of the show. What does 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. 8.32 on a Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour three of the program. It is what we learn time. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Pound.com today. All right, we're going to do a couple of what we learned from our side of the table before

we turn it over to the humanoids. So the Sportsnet 650 intern program, thriving as always. We've had countless interns through the door. Intern Ryan, showing initiative, Jason. Normally the interns don't do what we learned until Thursday. Okay. They get to learn all the difficult things that Laddy and Adog do like press buttons and stare into space.

Yawn. Today. Adog just had the most buster, blooth yawn. We don't have the bandwidth to get into how much the yawns bother Jason. We can do it at another show. However, it bothers him. Anyway, intern Ryan's showing great initiative. You have what we learned and it's only Wednesday. I do.

Go ahead. You might be a little disappointed. I've learned a lot, but this has nothing to do with the Canucks or hockey. But I did get access to the Dumber Lumber text line today. but I did get access to the Dumber Lumber text line today. And my biggest, what I learned was how absolutely nuts some of these text messages are. I am wildly surprised. It might be one of the most entertaining parts.

Okay, well, it is probably the most entertaining part about the show. And there is some definite keyboard warriors out there. I am so surprised. It's hilarious and credits to you guys for taking some of these comments. Tell the story, Halford, about the conversation that you had with one of the FM hosts who asked.

Yeah, right. Do you guys ever get listeners who are mean to you? I was like, I think most people hate us. No, she asked, it was Chrissy from 96.9, she said, do you ever have anyone reach out to you to either complain about your content or just to troll you guys? And I was like, what are you talking about?

That's like two thirds of our existence. A lot of people just write in and hate us routinely. And she's like, while you're on the air, I was like, yeah. Yeah. And what do you do? What do you do? I'm like, read it and then try and ignore the personal vendettas and move along with your day. It is difficult. I'm glad you've acknowledged this, Ryan, because there's a lot that comes in. It's maybe not the most entertaining part of the show. I thought maybe the Haliford and Brough part of it was the most entertaining, but I digress. It's a lot. Now you are kind of privy to a flashpoint in the Canucks season where not only are we dealing with like crappy play on the ice, but this is a huge like interpersonal drama. So a lot of people weigh in with the anecdotal stuff, like, I went through this at work, or I had a friend

like this who... All that kind of stuff. But I'm glad you appreciate how absolutely insane our listenership is because... It's passionate. You could also describe it as passionate. We get to have this feedback to us. We don't have to have this feedback. We get to have this feedback. Do you like it when we reply to this feedback, we get to have this feedback. Do you like it when we reply to people as well? I love it. Actually, my mom, she's listening. She's texting me and she was saying how entertaining you guys are. So I take it back, you guys are the stars of the show, but the texts are pretty good

sometimes. Well, Ryan, that is a very good what we learned. That is a really good one. And we present you with your first ever moocow. Ah! It's the highest honor. We bestow upon people. All right. You get a 21 moocow salute. The cows are crying in the background. This is so beautiful.

Okay, my what we learned. I learned two things from the Flames Caps game yesterday. First, Flames lose two in a row, so that means the Vancouver Canucks with a single solitary point, they can match the Flames in the playoffs standings or they can leapfrog Calgary with a win tonight should they get the result in Nashville

because Calgary lost. The other thing that I learned, and this is where I got to bring Laddie into the fold, should Logan Thompson not be the goalie for Canada at the upcoming four nations? Oh boy, don't get me started. Logan Thompson, 32 states. I thought Benner played pretty well the other night.

So, okay, you stole my. Rounding in the form. Thank you for stealing where I was going to get to with this. Pulled an adog. I just watched Jordan Bennington the other night, who looked lousy. I've seen the numbers on Hill and Montembeau, which are hardly stellar. I watched Thompson make 32 saves last night. He is 11-0-1 in his last 12 starts.

He just got signed to a six year, 35.1 million dollar contract. Lot of term. It feels, yeah, whatever. It feels like Washington figured out that they got a steal with this guy and that he's worth investing in. Why are we going still and by we, I mean, the collective we with Canada, with Bennington,

Hill and Montembeau, can't they just change this up and say, Logan Thompson, you're in. Hey Montembeau, we know he named you to the team, but there's somebody who's emerged, who's better than you now, and we're gonna go with you. So let's break this down in its component parts. Of the three that are currently there, who's the first one you would replace?

Gosh, with the way Binnington and Hill are both playing, it's hard to say Monta Boa would be the one that I would cut because they're both being terrible. So honestly, I don't, you could take any of the three out and if you put Thompson in, he's going to be your starter. Cause you just look at the numbers from this season

alone, he and Hellebuck are the two almost doubling all the other goaltenders in goals saved above expected. You know what's really frustrating is like, we all knew that there was slim pickings for the Canadian goalie. And we have our own Hellebuck. No, no, no, but what I was getting is like,

there were slim pickings for the Canadian goalies and they might have gotten the picks wrong Yep, do you know what I mean? The guy was sitting right there waiting to be picked Yeah, I would make the case that Thompson doesn't just deserve to be on the team right now should start He should be the starter. Can they change are they allowed to do that? Can they just be like Thompson come in like they're allowed to do that. Hey Bennington your knee's acting I don't think they can. Really? Honestly don't think they can. Oh, come on. Like they're allowed to do that. Bennington, your knee's acting. I don't think they can. Really? Honestly, I don't think they can. Oh, come on. That's lame.

So, Pitcherangelo can drop out whenever he wants. They should be able to do whatever they want. It's their team. Be like, ah, we changed our mind. Thompson, you're in. Can you imagine the reaction from Bennington? I'm sure he'd take it okay. They asked, they had him on actually 590 and

they, he sounded. Bennington? No, uh, Logan Thompson. Oh, okay. After he signed his contract, he sounded broken up about not being considered for the job. And I won't, he tried to, you know, mince his words a little bit.

He didn't want to throw hockey Canada under the bus, but he sounded really broken. Like he was really expecting to be at least part of the three goalie group that they named. Did you see that Alex Patrangelo addressed his departure from team Canada? I did not. He said, it sucks.

To which I responded, didn't you make the decision? It sucks, now let me go take my shift. He was like so out of breath because he'd just played 26 minutes in the game. Oh, my ailments. Oh yeah, that team. Oh man, it was a good game we had today. High pace, high pace.

It sucks, but my ailment's acting up. What ailment is that? I don't understand, it's fine. My ailment. It's just acting up, that's all I'll say. What's going on over there, my ailment? Could you be specific about my ailment's acting up. What ailment is that? And then, and then. It's fine. My ailment. It's just acting up, that's all I'll say. What's going on over there, my ailment. Could you be specific about that ailment? No, I can't.

Also, Mackenzie, another Flames addendum from yesterday, because the Flames and Caps game we're talking about, Mackenzie Weager said, and I quote, I have a Mexican vacation booked, but I will gladly cancel it to take the call for Canada. It might not be weaker though. Do you see the name out there today? Tanev. It's Tanev.

Well, that's Toronto talking about it though. Or is that a report or is that them just talking about it? Well, it's Chris Johnston. I'm ready to put Tyler Myers forward after what he did against the Blues the other night. You know who loved Tyler Myers? That Amazon broadcast. Oh yeah, yeah. They loved Tyler Myers. And granted, he played really well. Is Myers a dually? I want to say.

He used to be. He's representing Canada. He's representing Canada. He played for Canada at the World Juniors. To be fair to Ladie though, Fan590 also threw out a suggestion that we should trade, we being the Canucks, should trade Miller to Toronto for Morgan Riley.

I saw it. Yeah. I wasn't going to entertain it on the air. But so that got some responses. Someone else did it for us though. Who's going to play defense for the Leafs? JT Miller. Switching positions.

Mooc out. To the Humanoids we go. Let's fire up the dot matrix. What We Learned Humanoid Edition is brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Hey, guess what? It's a Vancouver hockey night. That means you can celebrate every goal at AJ's Pizza. Six dollar pints of Pilsner during Vancouver hockey game nights, only at AJ's Pizza, 325 East Broadway.

Uh, Wayne from Edmonton, uh, text in, I learned two grown men can crater a professional team and maintain the A's on their jerseys. So I'm not gonna lie, sorry, I'm gonna cut you off, but when I read that one and it said the two grown men created a hockey team, I thought they were talking about us. No, no, no. So there have been multiple times today when I've looked at the inbox and it's been like, these two juvenile idiots or these two clowns, there's been a couple of donkeys, like I love that,

that's old school, right? They're talking about you guys. These two donkeys. No, been a couple donkeys, like I love that, that's old school, right? They're talking about you guys, all right. These two donkeys, no, but I think they are. And I'm like, oh, I'm preparing to have my feelings hurt. Oh, wait a minute, no, it's good. They're talking about Miller and Petey. Hey, someone else for a change, sweet. Like, Ryan's what we learned, like we're saying,

I'm on edge, I'm waiting for people to attack us, calling us a couple of pigeons. But they're talking about Pedersen and Miller. I think most people agree with you. It's the players. Uh, Duncan the chef, what we learned. It dawned on me last night that prior to Hughes being named captain, there was chat chatter, albeit lightly of PD leading the team.

This era seems so far removed from memory, but was not that long ago. I wonder how serious it was within the Canucks though. memory, but twas not that long ago. I wonder how serious it was within the Canucks though. I know there was chatter among the fan base, but I wonder how serious it was among the Canucks, who knows. Uh, New West Eric, WWL, Jim Rutherford. Jimmy is trying to distance himself from any possible fallout with his team. He basically threw up his hands and said, it's not my fault.

So this was the other sentiment that I saw a lot of yesterday where people were, for me, a surprising amount of vitriol towards the president of hockey ops. Surprising because I, like I'm with you, I put this at the feet of the players. But this sentiment prevailed in a lot of their thoughts, which is Rutherford made a mess. Rutherford's not trying to take responsibility for it.

And part of his cleanup process is to blame it on somebody else. I understand why people think that way. I do. There was a lot of missteps along the way here from an executive. And I think one of the overriding questions that hasn't really been given a great answer, it's been given an answer, but not a great one, is why did you agree to long-term deals I think one of the overriding questions that hasn't really been given a great answer, it's been given an answer, but not a great one is, why did you agree to long-term deals

with both of these players, including Pedersen, recently when you knew that there was a continuing ongoing rift between the two players? Now his was protect the asset, and I get that. However, if you knew this rift existed and you were never really confident that it was solved or fixed or cured, it seems like a really, really risky gamble. Don't forget they signed Petey when the team

was doing really well. Yeah. Like seriously, I mean, maybe they thought at the time, okay, this thing is solved. We'll figure it out. And maybe possibly the new contract was one of the things that kind of bumped up this rift again, because Petey did get paid. He got paid a lot more than JT Miller and he didn't perform. He has not performed since he put pen to paper.

Now, if you want to poke holes in the strategy, the approach, the methodology, you brought up the Hoaglunder contract early and it really got the mind grapes going for me because I'm like, well, hold on. That is a good point. This management group has made it a priority to lock up the assets. The issue is, the assets have depreciated

after they locked them up. They've gotten worse. So it's a great idea, but in theory, but in practice, it's gone the opposite direction for two guys right now. I mean, the Holgländer contract right now is onerous for other teams to bring on, right? He doesn't score goals at all. And as the sample size grows larger and larger,

it becomes harder to sell a good story about him bouncing back and finding his previous form. The story is going to be that one year was a unicorn. It was a one-off. If they trade Petey, or sorry, if they trade JT. Yeah. And Petey finds his game again, will all be forgotten? I find that hard to believe because there's a lot of people in this

market that really loved what JT Miller brought to the table because of the way that he played. If Petey goes back to like his top form. I think I'll be forgotten. Yes it will. I think it happens within a year here right? Like last year we were talking like oh this team finally has it together and now like they're a disaster. Like there was a tweet I texted you guys of Petey like I can't remember what season it was from but he was like blowing by the Columbus Blue Jackets defense and had that one-on-one break. It was an incredible goal I don't know what you know If he gets back to that form people be like, okay, we're fine

I know and like it's it's the old saying it's like if you want loyalty you go get a dog like there's not like It's that's what this is like people will be loyal to Miller But if he's gone and PD starts playing well and they win forget about it. I get that part of it. However and Petey starts playing well and they win, forget about it. I get that part of it. However, there will be a contingent of people that, I mean, there are people that, and I'm not saying that they're right or wrong, but there are people that genuinely love the way that Miller plays. Of course. Right. When he's on, what's not to love? And there will be people that will be out of sorts because if he's the one that is ultimately

voted off the island. People have long memories. I'm still convinced that there's a lot of people that really liked Bruce Boudreaux that were just biding their time until the team struggled to start ripping on target. People have long memories. They do have long memories. You know, they'll go quiet for a bit when it

doesn't suit them to speak out. But as soon as it suits them, it's like, boom, attack time. So you trade JT, PD lights it up and those people, the PD critics, like me, will be like, yeah, he's playing well. That's good. Good for him.

Then the playoffs come around, he doesn't perform, he's like, I knew it. I knew for him. Then the playoffs come around, he doesn't perform. He's like, I knew it, I knew it. I was waiting for this. Stop with JT. Okay, let's change the conversation entirely. This one is from Davis and Langley. Hashtag WWL, what we learned.

Duval from Liam Cohen, the Jags new head coach. So I didn't even do it as awkwardly as he did. Let's just play the audio. Let's try and be as cringy as we can. Duval. Duval. We're gonna play the. Duval.

That was the real one. Okay, so Liam Cohen is the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Previously, he was a highly regarded offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, largely credited for this great offense that they got in Tampa Bay, reviving Baker Mayfield, throwing the ball all over the place.

They were excited about the hire in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have this thing, they play in Duval County in Florida. Right? Which county? Robert Duval. Duval. County.

One more time. Duval. So that's not how the chant sounds first off You extend on the you as you would imagine you don't Well, not that Sorry, I was ready the way you did it. How do you do it? How are you supposed to do it? Do ball like that. You extend the U. That's what you do. What you don't do is punch it up at the end

like Liam Cohen did with this. Do ball. You're not asking a question. Like am I in do ball? I actually thought he was saying do ball. Yes. Like let's do that hockey. Yes. I thought he was like let's do ball. But he didn't say it like ball. Yes. Like, let's do that hockey. Yes. I thought he was like, let's do ball.

But he didn't say it like that. Yeah. He was doing the Jeopardy. He was in the form of a question. Can you play it one more time? Do ball. That's not a question. It's just weird.

So everyone looked at him after they did that, and they're like, we're screwed. The season is over. This is going to be a disaster. We're going to go out in 17. People made fun of Dan Campbell. People made fun of Dan Campbell. So the NFL does have a history of guys getting up for their introductory presser and being

nervous and awkward. Remember when Adam Gase was introduced as the new head coach of the Jets and his eyes kept darting everywhere. Wild eyes. Yeah. And. Zach Cassian eyes. He had those eyes. Just going everywhere. Like didn't blink for minutes at a time. Like get him some Visine. His eyes must be so dry. And then there was Nick Sirianni, his introductory

presser in Philly was a disaster. Part of the reason why he's not really liked in Philly, despite all the success that he's had. Is there like, they just didn't like his personality, they found him cringe or whatever. You can really set the table in a good way or a bad way for what you're gonna do based on that presser. And unfortunately for Liam Cohen, it was kind of fine until he screwed up the Duval thing.

Can I just mention as well, the audio portion is just half of the picture. It's the way that he- His face while he says it is quite terrifying. Can I just mention as well, the audio portion is just half of the picture. His face while he says it is quite terrifying. It's weird. He's got like a creepy big boy statue. You know the big boy statue? It looks like that with the hair and everything.

Skinner and Chilliwack, what we learned. Petey and Miller should go camping with a big bag full of mushrooms and get deep. Cry and laugh and heal. We are going to look back on this with a lot of what ifs. Doesn't work. Try it, it doesn't work. Can you imagine if they did that and that's what started the rift?

Try it, it doesn't work. Who would be most likely to freak out? Peter. Peterson. Petey? No, I think Miller. Petey would be like, this is awesome, man. No.

This is great. No way. No way. Should that be a poll question? That could be for, so Donnie and Dolly always always rip off our poll questions. So Hendo, here's a poll question? That could be for, so Donnie and Dolly always always rip off our poll questions. So Hendo, here's a poll question for you. If Petey and Miller went camping with a bag full

of mushrooms, who would be more likely to freak out? Freaking out, man. And then Dolly will be like, oh, oh, can you imagine that? That's it, I'm going hunting. We said no guns Dolly well has that a lot. He's like, oh, yeah That's you think he's just that is his phone like he gets a text on his phone. It goes. Oh Kick you imagine him in like a funeral. It's like we all

Loved Frank. Oh Oh, the best. He was the best. Sir. Rick, we've talked about this. You're not even at the podium, sir. You don't even have a microphone. No one even asked you to speak. He was a great family man.

Oh, family loved him. Loved him. My apologies to the family. Kick us back at the priest for making the sermon later. You said 804! Dolly was never joining us again. One final What We Learned, and we'll try and end on a sporting note. Ryan in Black Creek, as Thutley points out, hashtag WWO What We Learned.

What I learned, I learned that the Preds have allowed 16 goals over the last three games to the Sharks twice twice and the Ducks. Surely the Canucks will win tonight. Hashtag ready to get hurt again. I can only hope, Ryan, and only hope for your sake that the Canucks win and win emphatically tonight, because if they don't, I am bringing up this text first thing tomorrow morning. The reason it didn't happen is because of Ryan in Black Creek.

Actually, I am in a very, very cathartic way looking forward to just watching the game tonight and just focusing on the game because... They should have a PD and Miller cam and just keep it on the game. Oh, definitely. Despite everything that's gone on and how hysterical and drama-filled that it's been,

I have to go back to the fact that they are still just one point out of a playoff spot. And if they win tonight, they hold the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference. Oh, the playoffs! Playoffs, baby! Okay, the music means we gotta go. We are out of here for today. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you all for contributing. Thank you all for listening. And thank you all for texting. We'll be back tomorrow to talk about everything that happened today. Signing off, I have been Mike Halford, he's been Jason Brough, he's been A-Dog, he's been Laddie, she has been intern Ryan, and this has been the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.