Halford & Brough in the Morning - Giulio Caravatta Talks Lions + What We Learned

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason discuss the latest news around the BC Lions with analyst Giulio Caravatta (1:40), 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.

In a one on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for net help. With over 3,000 five star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-trustee.com. We are now in hour three of the program.

Giulio Caravetta is gonna join us for a little lion's talk here in a moment to kick off our three hour three of this program spread to by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics,

working together with you in step. Guests on Sportsnet 650 calling on the hotline powered by Power West Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today. They keep the lights on. We're about to set a record here on Howl from Brough Show. This is gonna be six consecutive reads to start a segment.

First, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. As I mentioned earlier, biggest rivalry part of the year, Lions, Rough Riders, Saturday, July 19th at 4 p.m. with the Watermelon Smash on Terry Fox Plaza. Get your tickets at bclions.com. I also need to tell you about the Vancouver Giants. It's never too early to get your Vancouver Giants season's tickets.

Tickets start at under $19 at VancouverGiants.com forward slash season tickets. Is there an AJ's in there? Is there? Not yet, laddie. Is there, what else can we add to the list? Well, I'll tell you what. Our next guest comes courtesy

the Power OS Industries hotline. Color analyst for the BC Lions, Julio Caraveta here on the Haliford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Julio, how are you? Good morning, guys. I'm doing well, thanks. So before we look ahead, we got to look back.

And it was a tough game for the BC Lions over the weekend in the rematch against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. It was a big ask for Jeremiah Mazzoli filling in for the injured Nathan Rourke. Just before we get going here, your thoughts on that game, the rematch and another loss to Winnipeg on Saturday. Yeah, you know, I mean, I'm very disappointed, probably. You know, I think they felt that going into that game that, you know, they had the ability to beat them.

I think, you know, anytime you turn the ball over four times and what was it? 17 points off four turnovers. You mean, you're just, you're not going to win that way. But you know, I, there is, you know, I mean, I thought the defense played very, very well against a pretty good offense. I know it was Zach Caleros' first game, but I thought they did a tremendous job against them when you hold the blue bombers to 255 yards in that offense. It was, you know, they should be proud of that. But offensively, as you said, Jeremiah Masoli just, you know, he just wasn't good enough.

And, you know, he admitted that to us faster. There's too many plays left out on the field. And, you know, you just can't do that against good teams. Julio, the Lions have Saskatchewan next in Saskatchewan. The riders are undefeated. And then the following week, Montreal, in Montreal, the Alouettes are undefeated. My next question just happens to be, when is Nathan Roark back?

Well, I mean, all eyes are going to be on practice today, right? That's, we're going to get a pretty good indication today as to whether or not he's going to be ready. But you're right, you know, it's not going to be an easy couple of weeks. He did three weeks, really they're on the road three weeks in a row. And that's always difficult to do. Um, but as you said, you know, going to win it or go, excuse me, go into Saskatchewan where they're undefeated and then have Montreal waiting there.

Um, those are the two top teams right now. So it's not going to get any easier. And as you said, you know, it's a lot of this is going to hinge on Nathan and his health and is he going to be ready to go? Because the other part of it, you guys, you just don't want to rush him back. It's a long season and I know it's about winning now and you don't want to let games pass you by, but his health is obviously the number one concern. And if they if he needs another week to, you know, be 100 percent, then I think that's the path that you've got to take.

So it'll be interesting to see what what what we see today. How big or tall of an ask is this for Missoli? Because it's not just coming in as the backup and a veteran guy is 36 years old, but it's also replacing maybe the best throw of the football in the Canadian football. Yeah, that's tough, right? It's, uh, it's never an easy task. As you said, you know, Jeremiah has been around a long time. It's his 12th season.

And I think that's the kind of guy that you want, um, coming in off the bench because of his experience. And you know, he's, he's pretty much seen everything and you know as I said he's probably pretty disappointed about you know his performance and what I'm sure watching the film for him was a bit frustrating but you know they've got I think a good combination of quarterbacks and this is why you have guys like that right you if you need him you feel comfortable bringing him off the bench and putting him in these situations. And I think too with a new offense, a new offensive coordinator, you're going to have

those, you're going to have those, that feeling out process of what he does really well and what plays work for him. So I think that's only going to get better as the year progresses and Buck gets used to what he's he's good at so, you know, it's a process right and and You know, it's not how you start a tight finish So I really do have a lot of optimism for this team moving forward As I said, they they wanted to get much more physical. I thought that they showed that especially on defense

Sure, there are parts of their game, especially offensively, that they want to tune out. But that's part of the process. And you hopefully you know, you progress and you start to do, you know, you're getting better and better as the weeks progress. Early days, small sample size and an injured starting quarterback. Take all of that into consideration. But I'll still ask the question. What have you thought of the job that Buck Pierce has done early days in his BC Lions head coaching era? I really like Buck, I like his style.

I like his attention to detail, watching him during training camp. It's gonna take a while for the guys to kind of really settle into what his expectations are. And that's one of the things that really jumps out at me is his attention to detail. He demands, especially in practice, that the practice is performed at a much higher level

because he really believes in that carrying over to the game. So what you're doing in practice is really going to be an indicator of what it's going to be like in a game. So I know that he really pushes his team in practice to really really hone in on the details of what's being asked and again that's a process right. So Bucs a former player he's he was a very successful player his coaching resume speaks for itself he was very very successful in Winnipeg and I have no doubt that he is going to be successful as a head coach. I know that just talking

to the guys each week how much they enjoy playing for him and how much you know he understands the players perspective but he also is pushing them to be a little bit more and that's what you want. So we're talking to a former quarterback. The team is're talking to a former quarterback. The team is coached by a former quarterback. Let's say that this weekend's game, if Missoula does get the start and it sounds like it might end up being that way

if they don't want to rush Nathan Rourke back, do they need to look at the possibility of bringing Chase Bryson and seeing what he can do if you get another similar look on offense like you did against Mike Pegg? I agree with that. Right. You mean, chase has been here for a few years now, right. And, and you need to know, uh, for a young quarterback, what,

what you're getting, especially it's, it's one thing to do things in practice, but again, a completely different thing to do them in a game and you need to, you need to know that. Right. So here's the thing though, too, right. I mean, buck, I think, you know, you see the, you know, you're seeing him all the time if you're Buck Pierce, right? You're around him, you understand, you know, what kind of player he is, what you're getting

at practice, how he preps for games, all those kinds of things. So you know, they have to find out whether or not he's going to be able to do it in the game. And, you know, Chase did a good job when he did get his limited opportunities last year. Um, but you know what you're going to get from Jeremiah, right? That's he's been around the league a long time with chase. You, you're not a hundred percent sure. Maybe you need to find out in game. So I'm with you. If, if you do get a situation where you want to say, Hey, we need to find out whether or not this guy can play to have some situations maybe where he does go in the game and, and, and have, has a few series. Um,

but again, that's, that's Buck's decision. And, um, but they need to find out whether or not chase is going to be the guy moving forward. The lions are back in action this Saturday, June 28th, a 4pm kickoff at mosaic stadium against the rough riders. Julio will be on the call. Julio, have a good call this weekend. Hopefully it goes a little bit better for the Lions than it did last weekend, and we will do this again soon.

Thanks for doing this. Thanks. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. Have a great day. You too, thanks. That's Julio Caraveta, BC Lions color analyst here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It's funny when he said at the end there,

he's like, you know what you're gonna get with Jeremiah? And I was like, yeah, that might be why you go to a different option. And this has meant as though meant is there something else? I hate being snarky about this particular situation because when the ask is beyond where the player is at or what the player can give you, it's not fair to the player. And like, again, Misoli was victim of one of the dirtiest hits

in league history that like forever altered his health and his career. And he's probably a lot closer to the coaching phase of his career than he is the effective player part of his career. But he's still on the roster, he's still the back one. Why is he out there? Still in the roster, he's still- Why is he out there?

Because the CFL doesn't have a lot of quarterbacking depth right now, unfortunately. People would argue with that. What? That fact. That the- They came in crowing about the quarterback? That fact. That the- They came in crowing about the quarterback depth. Sure. In the CFO this season.

Okay. And I was like, a lot of old guys though. A lot of old guys. I don't think that the crowing was anything more than people talking themselves into what they thought they had. The reality is the product on the field. Yeah.

And it, I mean, again, we had this conversation yesterday. I don't, we don't need to rehash the whole thing, but for what was once known as a pass happy and exciting passing league, it's not that anymore. I mean, even if you go back to the opener where Trey Ford came in, I'm not going to talk about Rourke, because Rourke was very good throwing the ball in the second half of that game, but

yeah, Trey Ford at quarterback who's supposed to be one of the young promising throwers in the league. Not good. Oh, and I know. He's incredibly mobile. I know it's. Fun to watch. I know it's early days and I know that this will

probably get ironed out as the season goes along. But I mean, even if you look at Kilaros, who's, you know, one of the more established veteran, the established veteran signal caller in the league. I mean, it's not super pretty often. Uh, okay. So what we learned. Let's do some what we learns. Um, I learned that Gavin McKenna has a choice, but

it's not about whether to stay in the CHL or go to the NCAA because it sounds like that choice has already been made. According to Elliot Friedman, it's between playing at Penn State next season or Michigan State. Ooh. And, you know, I'm not going to sit here and be like, hey, you should go to Penn State because I don't care.

Sure. But this whole scenario that's been opened up with CHL players, allowing to play in the CHL first, which is the WHL or HL or QMJHL, and then still go to the NCAA is changing a lot of things. Change the game. CAA is changing a lot of things. Change the game. And, um, you know, it makes sense for a guy like Gavin McKenna, who probably doesn't have much more to prove in the WHL.

If he goes to college, you're going to be playing against bigger, stronger, more mature players. So are you suggesting. It's a stepping stone towards playing professional hockey in the NHL. And here's something else that is getting brought up more and more.

Well, there's two things. One is the NIL. So name and image likeness. Now it's a little complicated when you're a Canadian going down to play in the United States because you're on a student visa, so you're not on a work visa. But there are workarounds. You can go home to Canada and do a social media post and be like, that's the money right

there and then go back to the United States. There are workarounds. So Gavin McKenna, if he goes down to the States, they're going to find a way to pay him to do it somehow. I don't know how much he's going to make, but he's going to the States, they're gonna find a way to pay him to do it somehow. I don't know how much he's gonna make, but he's gonna make some money. The other thing too, have you ever seen some of the facilities at these big colleges?

I saw the one, nevermind a big college, I saw the one of the hockey facility at North Dakota. It's incredible. It was awe inspiring. There are guys that go to professional hockey and it's a huge downgrade. Yeah. From what they were experiencing in college.

It's amazing. I don't know if the hockey players ever have to share the facilities with any of the other athletes. Like, I don't know. I mean, there might be situations, but like some of those facilities, like Terry Pagula funded Penn State hockey essentially. Right.

And they've gone from, I think they were playing club hockey not too long ago to them being a powerhouse. Yeah, they're a big program now. In college hockey. They wouldn't even be in this discussion for McKenna 10 years ago. Yeah.

Like it would have been North Dakota, Michigan State, boom, boom, boom. Michigan. Penn State wouldn't even have even entered the conversation. So that's the other thing that's interesting about this is that the star players in the CHL, who will go into the CHL when they're, I mean,

sometimes when they're 15 or whatever, and become star players like McKenna, McKenna's still only 17. Right. Now he's got this choice, I guess, especially the younger ones. Cause like McKenna, you would think is going to go straight into the NHL after he's drafted.

Yes. But I guess the lesser stars, maybe the guys that aren't ready to play in the NHL at 18, but there's still star players in the CHL, they're probably going to be like, well, yeah, I want to go to the NCAA because then I can, you know, then I can make my decision. I'm not going to get sent back to the CHL. At the very least I can maybe play in the AHL.

Like it's professional hockey. The late, the late birthday guys. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, it's. They're all going to be going to college. They're all going to be going to college. Yeah. So where does this leave the CHL in terms of star power? Because it's a lot of those guys that aren't

necessarily the first overall pick but maybe you're the sixth or the seventh overall pick and you get to your first NHL training camp and you're like we like you a lot you're a good player but you got to go back to the CHL because you can't go to the AHL those are the star players at the CHL level. Those are the guys that you win Memorial Cups with. But those guys are now are going to be like, well, I'm going to go to the NCAA actually. For numerous reasons.

First of all, I can make some money, but I don't even think it's mostly about that. I think it's about seeing the NCAA as maybe a bit of a step above in terms of the maturity of the players. You know, you hear all the, and it's very uncomfortable. It's like, we want them to go play with men. Men. Right? There's, you know, in the NCAA there's 24 year olds.

23 year old forward with two kids playing for Michigan Tech. Yeah. You know he's hungry to play. But also the facilities. Yeah. You know he's hungry to play. But also the facilities. Like is the CHL going to be forced to either pay the players or really, really invest in their facilities? Or both. To the point where they're like, you know, I think would the London Knights be the best example? Sure, probably. In the CHI. How different is playing for the London Knights compared to playing for, I don't know,

Swift current. Well, can I give you another example of that? Yeah, sure. I've dealt a lot in the BCHL. So I've talked to players that chose the BCHL for college reasons before this WHL even opened up. So these guys were hell bent on going to college to begin with, even when the WHL was an option.

And they spoke a lot about the environment. They go to visit these campuses. They're gonna be the big dog on campus. They get to play better quality hockey. And they just, they look at the environment of the arenas during these games. You got the band playing, you got the, you know, your classmates in the building, like that is-

How about the sorority party on the weekends? It's a huge, huge draw to these kids. Yeah, it looked fun. It looks amazingly fun. You want to go play for Brandon, the weak kings? We've got a 36 hour bus ride coming up. Right? Like it's a huge, this is something the CHL needs to think about.

This is a huge, this is your competitor now. Well, it's fun. And this is what you're up against. It's funny because this is also, from the basketball landscape, this is also crushing European, the basketball academy. So I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but NCAA programs now are littered with European players.

Yeah. And what they've done is they've said, instead of playing for partisan Belgrade or Barcelona, all these like, Renathe Necces. Right, all these like Renato, the night goes right. All these really big basketball academy. I've seen them. They don't have the greatest facilities.

It's not the most glamorous lifestyle playing for the United Panathinaikos U-19 team. These guys go and they they're like, yeah, I'm going to go to the US. I'm going to play for one of these programs. I don't like it. I can bounce around because I enter the transfer portal every year. And and these European basketball academies, which the bedrock of them was they would find young players and they'd bring them up through the academy

to their first team and then they'd go to the NBA. Yeah, now they're not even doing that. So they're not they're training these academy kids. They're not getting to the first team. They're going to the US and they're saying like, we can't compete with the NCAA right now because hockey's doing it to the players team, they're going to the US and they're saying like, we can't compete with the NCAA right now because hockey's doing it too. The players can get paid.

It's a better environment. There's fewer games. There's less travel. There's less responsibilities. You're still technically a student because you have to go to school, but you're also getting paid to be a student athlete. It's just, and you're way better going to the continent. It's only Arizona state.

Don't worry about it. Going to the continent and playing in front of scouts that are going to be a student athlete, it's just, and you're way better. You're going to the continent. It's only Arizona State. Don't worry about it. Going to the continent and playing in front of scouts that are gonna be drafting you hopefully if you're an NBA hopeful. Like here's the thing, when it's like McKenna, theoretically speaking, he doesn't really even need to choose between Penn State and Michigan State because he can spend one year at one,

and then if he doesn't like it, he just enters the transfer world. Oh, he's going to. Well, he's going to. But I'm just saying. That's different. Let's say something happened. He suffered an. But I understand. That's different. That's different. Let's say something happened.

He suffered an injury or I don't know, whatever. I'm just saying he can do whatever he. Really like his teachers. He can do, but here's the thing. Yeah, right. He got a bad report card. He can do whatever he wants. Yeah, basketball Phil, who's the biggest Gonzaga fan

that listens to the show at least. Yeah. Texts in and said, the Zags just got a kid from Spain and they already have a kid from Italy. I did some. And Gonzaga is a program that has recruited a lot from Canada. I've, I did some thorough research and then I

read one article from the athletic, but I know that this is, it's a problem right now because everyone is saying it's almost regardless of sport, they're like, what the NCAA athletics has done is created an almost unfair advantage. And you know what, when it really started to happen was when kids started bypassing college and college athletics.

I think there's a real, they're like, we can't let this happen. Our institutions are going to die. So the CHL and the BCHL and all these leagues, junior leagues in Canada and the United States CHL and all these leagues, junior leagues in Canada and the United States need to answer one question, like, what is, what is the draw? Because the CHL, the draw used to be like,

look at all the great players that have played here, follow their path. Well, it was also, this is the best league you can play in. Yeah. Which isn't correct anymore. That's not an answer anymore. I mean, it might be as a 16 year old.

Because it's your only option. Because it's your only option. College isn't an option yet. But the BCHL, it used to be, well, come play for the BCHL because if you go to the CHL, then you are ineligible to go to the NCAA. Right. So that was the calling card for them.

So those leagues need to determine, and it can't be spin, they really have to believe it. You know, there's no work around. And so they're going to need to work and maybe it's paying the players, maybe it's really investing in the facilities, but they are up against an absolute monster in the NCAA. There is a culture down in the United States of

supporting your college and university through massive donations that we don't really have in Canada. And it's why all these facilities are there. And also the meteorite steals that they sign to broadcast, well, football and basketball to a certain degree, baseball and hockey, but they have a lot of money to throw around and they throw it around.

Give us a moocow on the segment. Hey, before we go to break, I'm just going to put this out there. There's some rumblings online right now that Carolina may have traded for Tomas Hurdle out of Vegas. Cam Robinson tweeting. You know, there's also an agent from BPM Sports that put it out there and said he may have pulled the trigger too quickly on confirmation, but it sounds like that

is in the works. Well, Vegas, they're the biggest X account, Twitter account. You saw that too? Yeah. Had, uh, I mean, I have to speak Internet ease here it just had It tweeted out. Good morning and a waving hand and a waving hand. What could it mean Marner? I Wonder if that's faced. I have

To get the cap space to get Marner. I have wondered if Marner's rights are going to get traded. Not because Toronto was like dying to monetize whatever they can get for Marner. But if one of these teams like Vegas would go to Toronto and say, we want to talk to them now. I know he's got this plan to go talk to a bunch of teams, but what you can do sometimes in these situations is to be like, Mitchy, Mitchy, Mitchy, here's the offer. This offer is on the table until July 1st. We don't want you talking to anyone else.

You make the decision in these next few days while we have exclusive rights to you, and you either say yes or no to the Vegas Golden Knights. Now you can always go back on that and it hits still I first and just kidding, you can still sign with us, but you know, that would be the idea behind trading for Mitch Barner's rights in a landscape where there are very, very few elite unrestricted free agents. I've wondered if that might happen.

I'm not saying this is definitely going to happen, but I do wonder. Okay. So again, we've got no. I guess it's like, I may have committed some light tampering. We've got no. It's not tampering.

If you've got, if you trade for his rights, do you remember, do you remember Dan Hamley's rights got traded around a bunch before he signed with the Canucks? Yeah. Philly had them for a bit. Okay. So that was back when free agents actually were

like, no, I'd prefer to go to Vancouver. Let's frame this properly. Ah, yeah. So him for a bit. Okay, so that was back when free agents actually were like no I'd prefer to go to Vancouver. Let's frame this property a functional organization. We're not doing anything libelous or slanderous there are reports rumors rumblings out there that Tomas hurdle may be on his way out of Vegas potentially on his way to Carolina We will wait to try and get some confirmation on this here's what we know about our hurdle He's in the fourth of an eight-year deal that pays eight point one million annually And he does have a no movement clause. I think it's a three team approved list so very narrow But those things are always negotiable and they always thought it was overrated Hurricanes fans like well

We're not getting the Marner, but we're getting Thomas Erdahl. Maybe injury. Who knows to be in Carolina? We have no idea what's gonna happen here. Everything is still very much up in the air I kind of agree with broughy was a tad overrated. He didn't have a bad year last year though 61 points 32 goals in 73 games nothing to sniff out for 8 million with a raising cap. That's fine We don't know what's going on yet, though It's out there silly season may be upon us, but we got to go to break when we come back We're gonna do more what we as you're listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah,

your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to 6 PM weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show. On the show. On the show.

On the show. On the show. On the show. On the show. On the show. On the show. Everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. 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. Throw a little bit of a curve ball here. I also need to tell you about Jan Pro. From warehouses to washrooms and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps

workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected for a free quote. Visit JanPro.ca. We have three more of what we learned from our side of the table here. I'm going to go first, then Laddy's going to go, and then Adog's going. And he says it's a surprise what we learns from our side of the table here I'm gonna go first then laddie's gonna go and then a dogs going and he says it's surprise what we learn We have no idea what he's that's kind. So we're gonna save that one for God. Is it gonna make me angry? I Have learned that Jesse Marsh has avoided all further discipline and has been cleared from any wrongdoing All further discipline and has been cleared from any wrongdoing Following Canada's six nil win over Honda is a BC place cleared from wrongdoing. Yeah, let's go

The can it can I keep it calling at the CSA Jason always gets on my case Canada soccer announced yesterday that Marsh had been cleared of any wrongdoing but The Association was fined for two minor undisclosed incidents at Canada's opening gold cup match, which was, of course, a six nil win over Honduras last Tuesday. Now, what this means, Jason, is that because he's been cleared of any wrongdoing, Jesse Marsh gets to return to the sideline tonight. Seven o'clock Canada, El Salvador. Canada is pretty much already going through to the next round.

So this match doesn't have that much meaning to it, but it is a chance for Marsh to return to the sideline. Canada to bounce back after that lackluster one, one draw against Curacao take top spot in the group. And I hope boil down to a true proper starting 11 that they can start today and then in the knockout stages and eventually all the way to the final of this gold cup so we can go win the damn thing.

There's no way they will play Mexico or United States in the quarterfinals because the US is playing Costa Rica and Mexico has a CONCACAF main state, Saudi Arabia. Yep. Long time. The gold cup is funny. It's like, it's mostly CONCACAF and then also some, well, Saudi Arabia is coming this year. Qatar came one year, didn't it?

Yeah. It's been very strange how they've done it. They kind of have it every second or third year Sometimes they'll invite someone from a different Federation just for kicks Well, it's I mean the Saudis been confirmed as the hosts in the future of the World Cup Yeah, 30 To something like that 30. I can't remember. It's definitely stuff. Yeah. Yes. How do they get to the gold cup? They just invite them they invite them. There's no like qualification. It's definitely, it's definitely gonna happen. Yes, but yes. How do they get to the gold cup? They just invite them? They invite them, yeah.

There's no like qualification, there's like, here you go. I thought you went, how did the Saudis get there? I was like, probably in a very expensive jet. Yeah. No, they swam. They literally got in. Solid gold. They swam the whole way.

It was part of their pre-season training. Is that Brooks Koepka? So, so they get invited, and then that kind of came at the expense of some of the lesser tier central Caribbean, central American and Caribbean teams. Right. So they're now apparently plans to have another more expanded concha calf tournament.

And I can't tell whether it's going to be in conjunction with the gold cup or if it's going to replace the gold cup. But there are some countries that weren't in this thing. And then, of course, Saudi Arabia is there. And then someone looks at a map and they're like, well, that doesn't add up. I don't know how it's going to work moving

forward. It's a very strange region. Conca Caff. They tend to do things without any real explanation or logic to them like the Jesse Marsh thing. Just the left. Just they just I don't know. They just decide to do things apropos of nothing. You see that they earlier we I just decide to do things apropos of nothing. You see that they, earlier,

I was gonna do this for What We Learn, but I didn't get a chance to do it. They officially denied the request of Greenland to join CONCACAF. Did you see that? Greenland wanted to become a member of CONCACAF. A powerhouse. And they said no.

They were worried about coming to the United States. It's like, gotcha. I don't hear ours now. So if you look at, in terms of geography, it actually makes sense because Greenland's closer to Newfoundland and Labrador than I think it is to most of continental Europe. Yeah. But, conca cap.

Maybe we should make a play for Greenland. What do you mean? Canada. Oh yeah. We're reinvesting in our military. Maybe that could be our first, we're at war with Denmark. Pretty sure there have been disputes. Maybe start with the NHL expanding to Greenland and that would be our foot in the door. Greenland gets a NHL team. Worst travel schedule ever. Attendance is just not where we need it

to be. So this did all start with Jesse Marsh being cleared of any wrongdoing. So we'll finish with that and we'll give it a moocap. Ah! Thank you for some wild rides here on the Haliford and Brush. That's where we go. Laddie, take us on another one. What we learned, there will be no first overall pick trade

in the NHL this year. What? The DM of the Islanders, Matthew Darsh, saying on the record to reporters, he will not be trading the first overall pick and that the team quote has an idea of who they will be selecting number one, but will continue to debate and do their due diligence.

So it's going to be Schaefer, right? Probably. That's the consensus first overall pick. NHL website said he has aura. Do Riz. I don't know what it means, but he has aura. His riz closure is up. So that means he's gonna be taken first overall.

One of the draft analysts was rizzing him up and it's the next lead. All right, give us a quick moocow on that one. Good information. And now I may live to regret this, but Adog has a surprise what we learned. I like this. Vancouver is awesome had this interesting poll that crows, the bird, are very popular

in Vancouver. Vancouver is pro-crow. That's hard to say. Pro-crow? Pro. Quid pro-crow? Vancouver is Awesome did a reader poll of about 1600 readers and 38% of people very positive in the crow category 38% of people love crows another 26% generally

positive and only 10% very negative so Vancouver is a very pro crow city imagine voting I'm generally positive about crows. Yeah. One of them attacked me the one time. Much keeping you from very positive. Well, I forgive them. Have you ever been dive bombed by a crow? I was going to say, it's not fun. I haven't, but there's tons of-

They get very aggressive in certain areas. Well, right now, because they're having their babies. Yeah, yeah. In the West End especially, tons of crows. Well, I'm sure everywhere. But the West End has tons of crows, lots of trees, obviously, and the crows. Every day I go out walking anywhere I'm always seeing crow dive bombing somebody. Yeah, they're very one of them had a switchblade

Yeah, it was very smoking a cigarette I mean, they're very they can be very aggressive, but it's it's also very funny This survey also said that 53% of people that were polled Said that crows were a symbol of Vancouver. They're gonna say, why am I doing this quiz? Remember, 50% said what? Remember Canuck the Crow? Canuck the Crow was very popular.

12% said this is a Vancouver is awesome thing, right? No. Please get away from me. Yeah, don't talk to me. Are you the passage to Boulos guy? No, the crow, so I've got a hat from East Van baseball and it's the Mount Pleasant Right the murder of crows people ask about it all the time and

Everyone says the same thing. They're like, yeah, it's very symbolic of the city to have and more I'm I mean, I don't think any sports team is like jumping out of its skin to go be named the crows No, but I have a crow mask or intelligent birds like there go be named the crows. No, but they're super intelligent birds. They're some of the smartest birds in memory. They are so smart. They're like the polar opposite of pigeons. Can they start acting like it now? They feel like just walking to traffic for food.

Crows are so, so smart. Really cool birds. Did I tell you guys I had to get a bunch of Canadian geese off of Pacific Avenue? Where was I? I think I was at the Lions game. It was a Snoop concert. Were they in there to see Snoop?

They were all high. They were high as kites. And there was like a hundred of them on Pacific Avenue and quite a bit of traffic. Take up space, they don't care about it. So I was just like out there like, yah, yah, get off the road. I was like, you're hurting, you gotta call a dude.

I was like, we gotta get him off. Because, well not that way, Yeah, yeah get off Yeah, because well not that way but I had to get off the road oh, yeah, yeah, and they were like I'm walking Yeah, and I'm gonna walk this way. I do there's a hundred of us. What are they gonna drive over all of us? I was like that guy might get off the road anybody listening the Weston right now would back me up Get off the road buddy listening the West End right now would back me up Canada geese own that place like yeah stop traffic constantly I live right next to Stanley Park I've had to heard them frequent times because they just won't move No, they won't stand in the road and just stare you down like yeah over. I was like you're stubborn. I respect it Yeah, all right What what we can do this summer is one show and they'll probably be countless given how slow things get is we can power rank

the local birds Yeah, we come up with our favorites to our least favorites. Oh pigeons have got to be at the bottom. Okay. Well save it for the summer Let's not waste the Delta guys. The Herons got to be up there. I don't Let's not burn this we this will be an entire show So this is a week of content. I hope the crows aren't listening because they'll pick you out. They will. They'll make an enemy and they'll tell all their friends. They have memories. And all of a sudden you think you got a problem with this crow, you got a problem with all

the crows. That's why they call them a murder. They will kill you. Muca. Fire up that damn matrix. What We Learned, humanoid edition brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Our favorite, the white Vesuvio featuring roasted mushrooms,

house made Italian sausage, and extra creamy ricotta only at AJ's Pizza. Order online at AJ's.Pizza. Justin from Abby, he's gonna do a little crowing. That's very good. What We Learn, Social media has been telling me all year the Canucks have no depth but I guess the cupboards aren't bare after all. We'll see what some of these guys turn into. Mancini will be a regular right? You think? Well, semi-regular? Carlson. Yeah, Carlson. I just assume that Lek, I'd be traded man. Carlson. I'd be traded. I hope not.

Yeah. Carlson. I just assume that Lekromacky is getting traded. I just made my peace with that. Sealov's gold in the future. Really? Really? Yeah.

I think Mancini is much more likely to be traded than Lekromacky. Really? Yeah. I mean. Yes. Yeah. Yes. For sure.

They just got him though. I know. I like him. He's all new and shiny. I like them both. I don't want them to be traded. There's a lot of compelling guys down there. I don't know if any of them have, well, Lekkeramaki is the blue chip of them all. He probably has the highest ceiling, right? Unless it's sea loaves. But there's a lot of guys that, I mean, Kudryadzev, the things we keep hearing about this guy and the analytics on him.

Well, I don't know if they're, well, plus minus at the very least. It's an analytic. I want to, I want to read one. Okay. at the very least. It's an analytic. I want to read one. Okay. Came from Chet in Burnaby.

What we learned, Kudriavsa was on the ice for three goals against all playoffs. Not at five on five, not shorthanded, period. In 21 games, three goals against all playoffs. Move a defenseman, man. I'm reinvesting in your, I can't remember how long ago you did it. I think it was about a month ago where you floated the idea of trading Philip Aronic.

Yeah. And at first I was like, no, you can't do that. It's Quinn Hughes' defensive partner. But now the more I think about it, I'm like, that could be the play. Yeah, he's got a no move clause kicking in July 1st as well. Yeah, he got to do it fast.

He got seven days left until July 1st. But I mean, think about it. That is your position of strength. That is the one place where the connects might have a leg up on the rest of these teams trying to make inroads this summer is that they had two or three guys on the American League. Let's say two that I think at the very least earned themselves the opportunity to try and be NHLers next year. I think it's Mancini, I think it's Kudriasev. Try right.

Anything that you're going to be doing is fraught with risk right now. But if you're talking about can you elevate DPT to a bigger role? Maybe. Can you play Willander? Maybe. Can Mancini and Kudriatsov step in? Maybe. That's four maybes! That's pretty good. That might be able to, four maybes might give you enough to replace what Hronik, I mean you lose a lot with Hronik. I still feel like I know nothing about Kudriatsov.

He's Russian. He was plus 18. What else do you need to know? What's his seventh round pick or something like that? I don't, he played games for the Cucks last year Three only two. Yeah, I do not remember that no one does. I don't think he does. This is from Brendan and Gibson's Hashtag WWL what we learned. Oh, this is Brendan not Marcus and Gibson's it's confusing buddy You know what just pick a name and stick with it DPT and Nils Oman both played enough regular season games with Abbotsford to win the Calder Cup. Brendan and or Marcus, whoever you are.

I'm going to have to take your word for it. I did a lot of Abbotsford research yesterday. I did not see who was cup eligible to get there. I guess they get their name. Did they get their name on it? How does the Calder Cup work? I don't know. Does everyone get their name on it? Do they get a ring? Is that what you're suggesting? I don't even know how they're going to be able to fit already see loves his name on the Butterfield Cup

Does the Calder Cup have a handler like the NHL like this didn't seem like it no no did not seem like it's a Don't end it, but if you do whatever Whatever. Did you see who the AHL commissioner is? I forgot about that. Scott housing. Oh yeah. I was looking, I'm like, is that Scott? How is that who I think it is?

Is that Scott housing? It was. Uh, Gabe and Vic, what we learned, I learned my 11 year old daughter is becoming a true member of the sad club when this morning at breakfast she asked if the Calder Cup last night was the most un-Conucks moment of my life because they actually won. Yeah. It's a big day for the organization.

I saw one of our earlier texts of the show is like the monkey paw effect again. Like, I hope the Canucks win the cup, monkey paw girls. Vancouver Canucks, the Vancouver Canucks. Well, I guess it's close enough. Omar with a what we learned, and I wanted to read this one. I learned that radio can still deliver. Yes.

Nice. No offense to you guys. Wait, what? But being kind of forced to listen to the Canucks win the Calder Cup on the radio turned out to be pretty captivating. He's right. Anyone who missed it should take a moment to at least

listen to Brandon Astle and Landon Farrower's call of the last couple of minutes of the game and the emotional post-win commentary, their detail and passion translated through the airwaves on how big winning a Calder Cup championship really is and what it means to any professional hockey player. So I listened, I was driving around in the car and I was listening and there was a face off

outside the zone with six seconds left. And I, Brandon got really excited prior to the whistle being blown and the face off going. Cause I think he knew it was over at that point But then he had to land it land. It was like breathing to that paperback. He's like bro. You gotta check yourself Six seconds disaster can strike right but he was outside the zone and I don't feel based on Brandon's description He's like they're lining up like it's an onside kick. I'm like, I bet they're not gonna score Anyway, let we'll play the call in its entirety some Brandon's description. He's like, they're lining up like it's an onside kick. I'm like, I bet they're not going to score anyway. We'll play the call in its entirety.

Here is Brandon Astle and Landon Ferraro calling the first ever Calder Cup in the history of the Abbotsford Canucks organization. Three players lined up on the left wing. Mueller's going to take a draw against Chris Colo. It's coming down to this folks. One last drop of the puck, perhaps. Checkers win it. Here's Puyarvy left wing. Mueller's gonna take a draw against Chris Colo. It's coming down to this folks. One last drop with a puck perhaps. Checkers win it. Here's Pulyarvy left wing. Three seconds left for a shot. Misses the net. Hey Canucks Nation, are you ready for this? History has been made. For the first time in franchise history, the Amersfoort Canucks are Calder Cup champions. Let's get out of here with the Calder Cup. They pour off the bench.

The celebration is on. They've done it Abbotsford. They've done it. The Canucks beat the Checkers in six games. What a team, what a season. I feel like he missed an opportunity to say something like, they were playing checkers, but the Canucks were playing chess. Oh yeah, that would have been good.

Do you know how many social media posts are like that? All leading up. Really? Yeah. Because this is the first time I thought about it. I don't go on social media much anymore. Pretty much everyone that played the checkers had some variation of a checkers joke. Oh. On social media.

I, you know what? That's too bad. I you know what I too bad I only name your team the Charlotte Charlotte chest though Why the checkers like chests because you're lying your team is less intelligent Here's the question will know what Chuck what chess figurine would you put on your jersey? I'd pick the horsey the rook. I don't know which one that is Maybe this is why they went with checkers I've never had you tried to teach me chess three or four times and I did not play chess No, I'm terrible man. I know to play checkers though great great

Well, it is a little confusing you know like this horse thing that's like How many rules? It can go up but then it's gotta take a hard right Yeah, it's too confusing What? Brav just assumes it's the most powerful piece on the board Yeah, cause look at it Look at it

Yeah, I like it It's a horse Couple things Chess is to checkers what Jeopardy is to Wheel of Fortune in the programming Totally Oh, of course Totally Also

I like to pick an L There's no L there is a skill to solving the puzzles though since it's no kidding No, like my wife gets it with like one letter on the board. Are you trying wheel of fortune? No, it will fortune. Okay, since we need summer content. I've asked you this before and I'll ask it again Are we ever gonna do show jeopardy again? Like we did in the old station. I know we can't play the song that's what's stopping us But surely there must be a knockoff Jeopardy theme we could play. Can I say something about Jeopardy? It's not it's I've never ever been into it since Alec Trebek passed away. I agree. Yeah It's not the same but I'm still in I'm not it's just not I don't know

I maybe it's cuz I'm old or maybe it's kids Tre Rebecca. I'm also way worse at it now that I'm old That's true and the variation like I know this don't get tongue to bum a tongue I just seemed to got better as you got older you know I also don't like the variations of it I don't got a lot of bad things to my body, buddy They shouldn't have done pop been in sports talk radio for yeah 20 years now or whatever like they shouldn't have done pop culture That's the best one. No, but that's. The Colin Jost one? Yeah.

Yeah. That's the only one where I stand a chance. It diminishes the brand. Okay. We got, I want to read a couple more of what we learned. Yeah. Um, and, uh, there was a good one that I've already

missed, but, uh, okay. So Robin Surrey, I wanted to mention CalRally. Yeah. What we learned is that not only have the Mariners climbed back into a playoff spot, but Calrally is on pace to break Aaron Judge's 2022 home run record. Yep. I like that.

Of 62 home runs. Is that considered, that's considered the clean record, right? 62 home runs. The American league record. Is that like the. So they made up when judge was chasing it? Yeah.

So they couldn't say, major league baseball couldn't say clean record. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very obvious reasons. So they started, I remember it became colloquial. It was like, oh, it's the American league record. I'm like, what is that? Something nobody has ever talked about before.

Yeah. Now all of a sudden it was a major deal. Cause they wanted to give him a record. I get it. I didn't expect to see at some point this season the list of AL MVP odds. And it went Aaron Judge and then the catcher for the Mariners, Kyle Raleigh. The big dumper himself. Yeah.

We started the show with a big dumper reference and we're ending the show. Before we go though, I have to say the Abbotsford Canucks post with the final score last night, the caption, we were always playing chess. Aw, well done Abbotsford. So there you go, bruv. Shout out to Abbotsford, to Artie C. Love, to Linus Carlson, to Brandon Astle, to Landon Farrarro, everyone involved. It was a great accomplishment and very well done.

It was a pleasure to have your games on Sportsnet 650. We gotta get outta here for this morning, though. Thank you all for listening, and thank you all for contributing. Signing off, I have been Mike Halford, he's been Jason Brough, he's been Adog, and he's been Laddy. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.