Halford & Brough in the Morning - Has Canucks Management Been Criticized Enough?

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Carolina Hurricanes reporter Cory Lavalette (2:58) ahead of tonight's matchup versus the Canucks, plus the boys talk some hockey and football with analyst Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (24:30). 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.

Welcome back to Halford and Bruff here at Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd in for Mike Halford. 7.04 here on a Friday. Halford and Bruff brought to you by Jason.Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. That's Jason.mortgage. Also brought to you by the DeLari family of Honda dealers.

Experience the DeLari difference today. Visit your nearest DeLari Honda dealer today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Kintec. All right. Now joining us here on the show from AJ's Pizza he is AJ. AJ how's it going man? I'm good I'm actually standing outside the AJ's Winter Garden

right now. Okay so tell us about this place is it open yet? Oh it was the grand opening was last night. Okay how are you feeling this morning? It was wild. No no no I went home early I went home early I was there I was there most of the day so I got a I got a couple more days here so I got to keep myself in check well that's awesome yeah it was great very exciting tell us about what's happening it's big wild-card weekend here in the NFL what's happening at the the Vancouver location right so on I mean it's happy hour all day on Sunday we got all the games on on Saturday and we're actually opening up at 10 a.m. on Sunday for the for the Broncos Bills game.

So we'll be open up early, ready to go. Here's flowing meatballs, pizza, you name it. So there you go. You can log like what? What's that going to be like? Nine hours. More than that. Ten hours at AJ's open, open at 10 a.m. Stay there, watch all three games. That sounds pretty good. Yeah. And then you just call and stick on Monday. It's perfect Have you ever had anyone that did the like morning to close shift?

There's there's a few there's a few I won't name them but there's do they work at Sportsnet 650 I just had one of them like AJ thanks for doing this, man. I'm glad the opening was a success last night and it sounds like it's gonna be a pretty good weekend at AJ's. Yeah, it is. Thank you.

Everybody enjoy the weekend. Thanks. See you, pal. That is AJ from AJ's Pizza. And of course, AJ's Pizza on East Broadway celebrate every goal at AJ's Pizza. Gets $6 pints of Pilsner during Vancouver hockey game nights only at AJ's Pizza. Corey Lavallette will join us of course he covers the Carolina Hurricanes here momentarily and in fact we now have him

on the line looking ahead to tonight's game between the Canucks and the Hurricanes in Carolina. Corey thanks for doing this today how are you? Hey guys good morning how are you doing? We're doing really well and looking forward to this one tonight First of all, I mean just from a Hurricanes Perspective is it fair to call this one a bit of a schedule loss for Carolina considering how condensed their schedule has been recently Yeah, I mean they're in a tough stretch here that that rescheduled game from from early in the year against Tampa Bay kind of got shoved into this little

run of games and it makes it pretty, pretty crowded. But that being said, it feels like the Hurricanes are getting a little traction here. It's been a bit of a weird season with a lot of up and down play, just some inconsistency, not what we've gotten used to seeing under Rod Brindamore. And last night, obviously a really rough start, but they kind of pull their game together and, you know, led by Jordan Stahl. And it could be good for them to play this many games in a row and get in a little bit of a groove.

So we'll see what happens. I feel like I've said that like four or five times this year, and it hasn't come to fruition. But at some point, you feel like they're gonna gain some traction and and kind of establish a little more consistency. Are the Canucks gonna see Dustin Tukarski in goal tonight? I would think so. Tuchakov got you know quite a bit of action last night even though you know the score maybe doesn't indicate it but that game was closer than the score ended up being so I would

imagine and you know he's been really good. It just he's not the biggest guy in the world, but rebound control has been great. And, you know, you can tell here's the guy who's seen a lot, a lot of pucks in his career and knows how to, you know, just be a pro and make saves. He's not, you know, he's not going to be Connor Hellebuck or anything, but just a solid, you know solid number three guy right now for them. With Freddie Anderson getting close, probably not that many chances left for him.

But he's been really good, so I think he'll go tonight. So how has it been for the Hurricanes this season? How are fans feeling about the team? We're so used to the Hurricanes being a very good regular season team, and then they go to the playoffs, maybe win a round, but can't quite get over the hump. Is there any reason to believe it's going to be different this season? Well, you know, expectations were down a little bit this year because of all the players they lost in free agency.

You know, you lose essentially your shutdown pairing with with Brett Pesci and Brady Shea. Cable Tarabina who's been here forever leaves. You don't keep Jake Gensel. So there was, you know, a lot of turnover. The good news is they kind of hit home runs with all of their all of their acquisitions in free agency. Obviously we won't see Shane Gostis there tonight, but he's been perfect running the first power play and that's what he's there for. You know, he's a third pairing guy, but he's a great power play quarterback.

But Eric Robinson has been just fantastic, you know, scored again last night. Sean Walker's been very good. William Carrier also hurt, but he's been really good. Jack Roslovich, you know, maybe not the greatest defensive player in the world, but he's been really good. Jack Roslovick, you know, maybe not the greatest defensive player in the world, but, um, he's got 17 goals, which, you know, for under $3 million, I'm sure any team in the league would take,

would take that kind of production. So they've gotten better production out of those replacements than maybe they thought. And then the start to the year was so, so good that I think it people thought, Oh, this is the, the you know it's kind of you know gone back to the mean a little bit and they're not as good as they've been in recent years but at the same time Sebastian Ajo really you know despite the numbers really hasn't gotten going yet this year and if he can get going it seems like you've closed and again I said it about the team as a whole if he can really get back to the player he is

night in and night out you know this team could again you know push its way to the top of the Metro so kind of a weird season you know I think the fans were ready to you know take a step back and be like okay maybe this is a wild-card team a you know a third place team something like that and then the hot start raised expectations again and ever since then they've kind of hung around 500 a little bit. So I think they're better than a 500 team. I also don't think they're a 110 point team. So it's been a little bit weird, but they've got a big reload coming after this year. They're going to get Alexander Nikishen at some point this season near the end if they can hang around a bit in the playoffs and he's going to be a star

and they'll have some cap space with Orloff and Burns coming off the books. They put themselves in a really good situation, but I think all along you kind of look at this year and you say, okay, it's not a rebuild because that's not really necessary, but it's a bit of a reset. You mentioned the hot start to the season for the Hurricanes a big part of that Of course was Martin Natures who was just on a tear to start the season and you know, he's cooled off a little bit Recently, but you know nature's such an interesting player for the Hurricanes We know there was maybe some uncertainty about his future signs a two-year deal

So still some question about whether he's going to be in Carolina long term where's his game right now and what do you think the future holds between Natchez and the Hurricanes? Well you're right he definitely cooled off a lot he was not you know has not been particularly impactful for the last month I'm not a superstitious guy but at the at the beginning of the year he lost a golf bet to Brendan Lemieux, who's no longer with the franchise. He had his contract terminated so he could go play overseas, but ended up dying, had to dye his hair blonde.

And he came out at the start of the season and was unreal. And he kind of joked about it. He's like, no, I'm not keeping it. And then he comes out last night and his hair is blonde again. And we're all like, what? He, I guess maybe he is a little superstitious. Uh, and believe it or not, even though, you know, he just ends up with an assist last night, he looked a lot more like the player that dominated early in the season

using, you know, really the key to him being successful, I think is yes, you're fast, yes, you have a lot of moves, but use that speed to get to open spots on the ice. You know, he does a really good job when he's going of entering the zone with speed, pulling up, and then being able to assess everything that's going on in the offensive zone. And you saw it again last night for the first time in a while that there was a lot more confidence and honestly I mean the way he played at the beginning of the year was unreal right he was at the top of the league in points with guys like McKinnon and and Kaprizov and I don't think anybody saw that coming regardless of how much talent you think he has but

last night again he looked really really good and you hope that he can read you know rediscover that and he doesn't have to be a, you know, two points a game guy. But if he can be a point per game guy, uh, that just makes a world of difference. And he has all the skills. I mean, you watch him and, and, and you all see this with a guy like Pedersen, you know, sometimes he just leaves you wanting more, right? Like, Oh man, I wish, uh, if he could put it all together every night, this guy could be unstoppable. And I think, you know, a good sign last night.

We'll see if he can follow it up tonight against the good Vancouver team. We're talking Carolina Hurricanes with Corey Lavallette. The Canucks are playing the Hurricanes tonight in Carolina. Corey, you mentioned Elias Pedersen there. Has that discourse reached Carolina and have fans been talking about the potential of the Hurricanes maybe acquiring Elias Pedersen since they were, you know, the Canucks had talks with Carolina last

season before Elias Pedersen eventually reached a big contract extension with the Canucks. Yeah, I sniffed around this a little bit and everyone's keeping kind of quiet, but I, I guarantee you the hurricanes are in on this on some level. They're kind of in on everything. That's kind of their mantra is if there's somebody available, let's kick the tires and see what, you know,

what's possible for us. That's how you end up with a, you know, a unique contract like, like Demetri Orloff two summers ago, where, you know, the last thing you think Carolina needs is defense. And then all of a sudden they, they find out they can get a really good defenseman for two years and not, not commit to a long-term deal. And I think that's probably what they're doing here is seeing, you know, could this work, you know, you mentioned Natchez and what his future is in Carolina. And I think, you know, he's probably the centerpiece

that Carolina would offer for any kind of deal for Pedersen and obviously only signed for one more year and he wouldn't be inside an extension right now. But, you know, I think if there was a commitment, at least from him to, to sign longterm there, that that would be your centerpiece. It's interesting. I mean, I think it's an interesting dynamic, obviously, Pedersen makes a lot of money, but the cap's going up, and like I said, Carolina has space, so they've needed a second line center, pretty much since Rod Brynnamore took over as coach

and haven't really found one, it would be a blockbuster, right? I mean, I think that's obvious, but they'll sniff around it for sure and we'll see what comes of it and what Vancouver decides to do here. Obviously, you never want to be put in a situation where you're selling from a point of weakness and maybe that's where they are right now and they're probably hoping they can just you know wait this out and things kind of straighten out in the locker room. Hey Corey, Seth Jarvis has developed into a really nice reliable player and productive player as well at a fairly young age still for the Carolina Hurricanes and I think it caught some

people maybe out here you know in the Western Conference by surprise that he was named to be part of Canada's roster for the four nations face off. For the fans who maybe aren't as familiar with his game, what makes him, you know, a player worthy of that spot on the roster? What makes him so effective for Carolina? Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is I think he's become one of the best 200 foot players in the league. If you watch him every night, he doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes defensively. In fact, he's so impactful defensively. He's a

fantastic penalty killer. Um, and then there's all the skill he has. And on top of that, he's not the biggest guy, but he's fearless. I mean, he's played with a bad shoulder all of last season. Uh, he, he won't say it, but I think that shoulder is still bothering him. This year he missed, he missed a handful of games earlier in the year, and he's back to wearing kind of that body armor shoulder protector that he wore much of last year and, uh, is playing through it all and still just, just a really, you know, fun player to watch and, you know, everything you want out of

a, an energy guy with skill on top of it. He plays hard, he plays the right way. He's defensively so good. I mean, Carolina's penalty killer is at the top of the league year after year after year. And he's a big, big part of that in the last few seasons. Cause he, you know, he came into the league and had great success as a, as a rookie and then kind of rebuilt his game from the ground up. And the way I compared it into article I wrote last year was it was like when Tiger Woods, you know, came on the PGA tour and came out and was immediately

successful and then about a year and a half in he and Butch Harmon totally rebuilt his swing. They're like, all right, you're good, but we need to make you great. And that's kind of what they did with Seth Jarvis was all right, Seth, we know you can score goals. We know you can be offensive. Let's build your game from the back out. And then you're going to be able to layer in all that skill you have. And that's exactly what's happened. I mean, he's, you've got the potential to be a, you know, a guy who gets selfie consideration, even

though he's a winger. And I even wonder at some point if they might even give him a shot at center. But right now he plays so well on the wing that you know I think just a remarkable player and so young and willing to play through so much and I wonder what he's going to be like when he's healthy again because he's been banged up for two years now and he's still producing. Corey really appreciate the time. Thank you for chatting with us. Enjoy the game tonight. Yeah. Pray for us here with our one inch of snow we're supposed to get tonight. I hope you, I just hope the golf courses are okay. All the,

all the milk and bread are gone from the shelves. Uh, you know, hopefully, hopefully everything we hold it together. Stay safe. Stay safe out there. Yeah, I'll try. All right. Thank you, Corey. Thanks Corey. That is Corey Lavallette covering the hurricanes

for the North State Journal and the athletic as well, teeing up tonight's game against the Canucks. Okay. It's Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Bruff show here. And don't forget, we've got a hundred dollar gift card to AJ's for best ask us anything. Be sure to include the pizza emoji if you want to

be entered into the contest and text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650 Metro Vancouver's Trust Your Choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Sounds as old as I am. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. So we get this question a lot, this type of question

a lot, and I'm going to read two of them. Let's keep calm when I read this one from Rager. Ask us anything. If you could vote on it and voting yes meant the Canucks win the Stanley Cup, would you want Canada to become a part of the United States? No. Yeah, that's going to be a no from me, Ranger.

No. The other one from Jason from Burnaby asked us anything, would you give up watching the NFL until the Canucks won the Stanley Cup if it meant they were guaranteed to win the cup within the next three years? So that's an easy yes. Easy yes. But here's the thing, and maybe this is being fussy about it. I still need that element of surprise. being fussy about it, I still need that element of surprise. Do you know what I mean? Like I will take that, I'll say, I'll commit it,

but then I need- And then it's gonna be game seven, and you're gonna be like, I know what happens. No, but I need the men in black thing. Right, right, right. That, that, that, and then all, but then I'd be wondering, I was like, I wonder why I don't watch the NFL anymore. I'm just not that interested anymore.

It's just boring. I've watched it in years. I've got a lot of time on Sundays now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I need the element of surprise. I imagine when the Canucks, if the Canucks ever win the Stanley Cup while I'm still alive, that I will be like, they did it. They actually did it. They, they actually, they did it.

They got it done. Cause I was so convinced they were going to do it. In 2011, I was just like, I was so convinced they were going to do it. I didn't feel the same way in 94. I thought they were going to lose that game seven, but I was so convinced they were going to do it. That that was the ultimate rug pulling, you know,

like I was like, oh my God, like what just happened? What, how did this thing go so pear shaped? Like, so if they ever get to the point where they actually do it, I don't want to be like, I knew this was going to happen. Right. I want to be shocked.

Yep. And you want to feel the emotion. I want to feel it. I want to, I want to, I want to wake up the next day and be like, was that a dream? Or did the Canucks actually win the Stanley Cup last night? And I'll wake up on Robson Street. Yeah. I was going to say, I want to wake up and be like, where am I?

I have a question for you since you brought it up in your heart of hearts. Do you think the Canucks will win the Stanley Cup in your lifetime? We're getting we're getting dark here. We're getting morbid No, I Come on That's so long. Hey, well, yeah, I mean they will my diet. Okay. Well Like you're asking me will they wait win in the next three years? There's two factors here, yeah. There's two things we gotta consider. There's a lot of teams, man.

There's too many teams. There's a lot of teams. They keep on talking about expansion. I'm like, no more teams. No more teams. Stop making it harder. We gotta start cutting some of these teams. It's too hard right now.

There's 32 teams. Get back down to 12 teams, all right? Let's make this a little easier. I mean, I think the Canucks should have some sort of advantage over the average team because they constantly spend to the cap on like some teams, I suppose, but then there's the whole, they play in Canada part, other teams have an advantage, tax advantage.

So I don't know if the Canucks are, I don't know if, I don't know where they stand in terms of, you know, if we're talking about baseball, right? If you're a Red Sox fan, for example, right? You're just like, yeah, I mean, we're a top five spender or a top 10 spender, depending on the year with the Red Sox. Anyway, I think we'll probably have another one just because the odds suggested, but there's so

much parity in the NHL. I just feel like every year, if you're going forward and you're handicapping, it's like, well, it's a one in 32 chance. Yeah. And that's assuming the odds are equal, right? But you look at, now this is in the moment, if you're projecting decades in the future, you never know, but it's fair to look around the league and you look at like ownership situation and front office and all

of that, and you know, you adjust the odds accordingly, but it is like going 30 years without winning the Stanley Cup is what most teams should expect in the NHL now. Yeah, it's kind of like, uh, so many more great players are going to enter the hall of fame without it, without winning the Stanley Cup. And I mean, we've seen it recently with the

Sidines going in, Luongo going in, Joe Thornton going in, and there are others. It used to be almost, if you went into the hall of fame, it was a given that you'd won a Stanley Cup for the most part. But that won't be the case going forward. Uh, Dylan, with an Ask Us Anything, he says, I'm booking my trip to Portugal, a country I've never been to.

Dylan, you're going to have an awesome time in Portugal. I've been there. It's great. I'm wondering if you guys could choose any country to go to that you've never been to, which country would you go to? So I've never been to Asia and I'd really like

to go to Japan. That was going to be my answer as well. I've been, I've been to Hong Kong and Taiwan, but not Japan. So Japan jumps out for me for sure. I think also South America, like Argentina, uh, Brazil for whatever reason doesn't interest me as much, but yeah, like

Argentina or Chile, something like that. I think would be really cool. I've never been to Africa either. And I would like to see the nature there and the animals there. I think that would be incredible to go on a safari there. I'd go to Switzerland. For your banking needs?

Yeah. Adogs got some gold to hide. They got some good fencing there in Switzerland. I don't know. Yeah, they do. Every time I see pictures of Switzerland, it always looks so picturesque. It is beautiful.

And I just, I don't know, it's just, You always looks so picturesque. It is beautiful. And I just... You would be able to afford 17 minutes in Switzerland. Yes, I know it's incredibly expensive, but it looks amazing to go to. I also have always wanted to go to Norway. Something about the fjords. Oh, for the fjords? The fjords, yeah. You want to see the fjords?

The fjords are calling to me. I think that would be too scary to stand up there and look down. Oh no, that'd be great. Oh, wow, okay. All right, Moj is going to join us. Next we'll talk to the Moj and then Drancer at eight o'clock. Jamie can't wait to talk to the Drancer because he never gets that opportunity. Of course, it's going to be a thrill.

You're listening to the Alfred and the Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Get set for adventure. Discovery Channel has moved. All the latest seasons of your Discovery favorites are available on Channel 411 on Roger's Xfinity TV. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strantz. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Eat four burgers! Yes, it's the Moch. I don't want to go to Winnipeg.

Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food! It's the Moch. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalaya! Yes, it's the Moch. Halperg's fine, but you know, Bruff is just grumpy all the time. Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Mo Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj Moj It's the most. All right. Welcome back to Halford & Brough, your Sportsnet 650.

I'm Jamie Dodd, filling in today for Halford. Halford & Brough brought to you by Jason Dot Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Go to Jason Dot Mortgage. Also brought to you by the DeLari family of Honda dealers. Experience the DeLari difference today. Visit your nearest Delari Honda dealer today. Don't forget to get your Ask Us Anything and What We Learn submissions in 650 650 to the

Dunbar Lumber text line. There's a hundred dollar AJ's gift card up for grabs to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway for the best Ask Us Anything. If you want to be entered in that include the pizza emoji in your text. 650, 650 to the Dunbar lumber text line. You heard the theme music. It is time to chat with Bob the Moj Marjanovic. Moj, what's going on, man? Good morning, bro. Good morning, counselor. You know, Dolly well is not the brightest bulb in the house. I'm doing a hit at seven 30. For whatever reason, he decides to phone me at what? Seven 30. I don't know what's going on

I thought it's a big good scoop today or something. I was trying to he's he's he wants to see if you've been talking to agents out there He's he's looking for sources. He's all over it all over the story What does I understand that you think maybe Canucks fans have some misdirected anger right now? It is what it is injuries to force the Canucks to elevate players into different roles and you know God bless Tyler Myers he's trying to give it everything he's got but let's face it Tyler Myers at best is the number four defenseman on a really good team he's probably a five and yet the Canucks fans are going you know you get on a social media and they're ripping

Myers they're ripping Day Arnay, they're ripping for, they're just ripping the defensive core because of their, you know, inability to be a number two or number three. If you want to rip anybody, rip management. I mean, they've been here for three years, right? Figure it out. They've known since they got here that they got to improve the blue line core. They did a little bit last year by bringing in the door off. People kind of got slid into more appropriate roles upon his arrival. But they haven't done anything to address that issue. I'm sure. I mean, day

hard and forward. Yeah, solid five, six, seven types, but they're not guys that you can play in your top four. And I don't understand why Canucks fans are going nuts and ripping into these players when the bottom line is it's management who should they should be ripping into. And trust me, there are people out there that are critical of Rutherford and Alveen for the situation that the Canucks are in, in terms of the blue line core. But man, every time I see these comments of anger directed towards some of these players, I'm just like, I don't think so. Yeah. Especially on that overtime play the other day, you know, if you're, if you're going to rip anyone

for all three players going into the corner, rip Jake DeBrasque. Like that's not where he should be going. I think with Myers, the thing is like, he does make some loud mistakes, right? I mean, I know what you're saying. He's, he's doing his best and, um, he's, he's definitely working hard and, and, and, and, and,

you know, like you admire the, uh, the effort and by all accounts, he's, uh, he's a great teammate and I know Elliott Friedman was on, on, um, the show in Toronto the other day and talking about how, uh, the fan base, the abuse towards Tyler Meyers just goes way over the top sometimes. I think, isn't that just kind of the way it goes though with name players like Tyler Meyers?

People know who he is and he does make these loud mistakes and he is playing a lot right now. So he's naturally going to get a lot of the criticism, whether it's fair or not. Agreed. And the bigger you are, the louder the mistakes are. You made a great point there. For whatever reason, when you're a guy who's six, four, six, five, six, seven, and you make a mistake, people notice. Right. But, you know, it seems like in history with the

Vancouver Connection, there's always for whatever reason, been a whipping boy on the blue line, whether it was Eric Goodbranson, you go all the way back to Dana Merzen. Dana Merzen. Yeah. That's the first name that comes to mind. I mean, there's always that defenseman that people

just want to just, you know, take a run at and just criticize and all of these things. So it is what it is. It's just like I said, sometimes if you just think about it, um, you know, it's, I think sometimes the criticism is a little over the top and unfair. Uh, so obviously the big talking point around the Canucks right now, or one of the Mojas, the whole Miller, Pedersen thing, and you know, Bruff pitched it to me. Do you think they're actually going to do this?

Is it actually going to happen? I'm still skeptical that they move one of these guys especially in season, but the noise is out there, the reports from the national guys are out there. What's your read on the situation? Are they actually going to trade one of JT Miller or Leas Pedersen? Well, I think if it improves the hockey club, they probably make a deal, right? And I mean, what do you hear all the time from any general manager in the national hockey league, if we can improve our team, we'll make a deal, right? So that's the bottom line. The unfortunate thing for the Canucks is, and we all know this, anytime you have a really good player, quote, the best player in the deal, you usually wind up losing that trade.

I don't care whichever way you slice it. Sometimes you might get some compensation back and I know people were talking the other day, I don't know who was talking the other day, they were talking about Loongo and Markstrom, right? I mean, they trade Loongo and they get Markstrom. Hey, great, right? But when you have the best player in the deal

and you've got to trade them, more often than not, you're not getting a player that is as good or better than the player that you're giving up. So that's the concern that you have if you're trading a Miller or a Pedersen. Something else that's kind of popped up on the radar over the last couple of weeks is Rick Taukett's contract situation. And, you know, this tends to be framed as well. Will the team give him an extension? Does he deserve one? Let's not forget Rick Tauk some agency here right we've heard now reporting that the option for next year is more of a mutual option so he

has some say in it so with that in mind how much of a priority should getting a commitment and getting a new contract for Rick Tocket be for the Canucks organization? Well I'm a big Rick Tocketett fan. I mean, you know, last year he was the Jack Adams winner and he could walk on water and this year, all of a sudden, people think he's a dummy. Well, certain some people, some fans think he's a dummy. I think he's a great coach. I really love the way he empowers his staff. I love the fact that there's so much communication between him and his players and not just him.

It's, you know, whether it's foot, whether it's his other assistants, you name it. I really love what he brings to the table now. Hey, the bottom line is winning, right? I mean, it's about production. And to be fair, this year, the Vancouver Connect have had, they've had a lot of adversity. I mean, it started with not having Demko. Of course, Lincoln had played well enough to kind of absorb that loss., but you know, you lose Besser for a while, you lose Miller for whatever it was, 10 games, you've lost Pedersen, you've lost Ronick.

To me, Ronick's probably the biggest hit. The fact that, you know, of all the positions where you probably couldn't afford to lose somebody to me was that defenseman such as Ronick, because you don't really have anybody else in the lineup that can replace them. So they've had a lot of adversity and you know, they're still there. They're right there in the playoffs fight. You look at the standings, you look at the teams below them,

you don't really think any of those teams is good enough to pass the connects when it's all said and done. I just think this team has to get everybody back, has to get everybody healthy. And they face it, injuries are a part of life in the National Hockey League, but once they get everybody back and kind of get a little cohesion going, I think they're going to be okay. Moj is an awesome sports weekend on Saturday. We've got Leafs-Conucks. We've also got two wild card games starting off with the annual Saturday morning Houston Texans game. They are hosting the Chargers and then the evening game is Steelers and Ravens.

Other wild card games, Broncos, Bills, Packers, Eagles, Commanders, Buccaneers. And then on the Monday night, a game that has been unfortunately forced to move to Arizona because of the fires in Los Angeles. It is the Vikings and the Rams. Which game has your attention? You know, I think of all these games, I mean you rattled off six of them, the one that interests me probably is the Vikings and the Rams, right? I mean, Vikings 14 to one against the NFL, 0 and 2 against the Detroit Lions. I think this is gonna be interesting because it's being played in Arizona.

It's a different dynamic, right? So for me, it's almost like a road game for both teams. And I look at this game and I look at the Rams defensive line, which is one of their strengths going up against the Vikings offensive line, which has been struggling as of late. Um, to me, that one intrigues me probably the most commander's box is up there as well.

The game that I think to me should be the lock. I think the Ravens are going to just roll over the Steelers. I mean, they're nine and a half point. What are they nine and a half point favorites? I like this, this little exercise I like to do at the start of the playoffs is to see how teams perform against playoff teams. Ravens had the most wins of all playoff teams against playoff teams. They were seven and three against playoff teams.

I mean, this is a team that, um, shredded the Steelers for 220 yards along the ground. The last time they played on December 21st, I think they're going to give Derek Henry the ball at least 20 times. I think they're going to run rough shot over the Steelers again. So, and the Steelers in their slide, they're coming into what? Four game losing streak. Yeah, they look, Oh, I look at that game and I'm kind of going, I like the Ravens here.

The game that intrigues me fellows a little bit Broncos and the Bills. Bills are eight point favorites. And the one thing that I like about the Broncos is their defensive line, 63 sacks first in the league. Buffalo, however, only allowed 14 sacks. Bills are eight point favorites and they were two and three against playoff teams this year. Broncos were two and five, including that, you know, whatever went against the Kansas city chief. So maybe just maybe the Broncos could cover in that game.

And the other one too, that I like, I like the Eagles if you're going to put money on a team that could get to the Superbowl five and two against playoff teams. Yeah. I've heard sounds, the concussion, you might get some value there with that, but I like the Eagles as well over the Packers and the Packers by the way, 0-5 against the Lions, Vikings and Eagles this year. What's that tell you?

Yeah, but you know, we saw them against Seattle. I know Seahawks didn't make the playoffs and they looked so good. And then I think the following week they went out and shut out the New Orleans Saints. And I was thinking maybe the Packers are a team that could get to the Superbowl, but they do not finish the regular season very well and they don't

have the momentum, kind of like the Steelers heading into the playoffs. I think the big thing there is the concern with Jordan Love and his elbow. And then the other thing too, losing Christian Watson's a big blow too, right? I mean, he was a big part of their offense. I think, you know, you look at this game, to me, it's, it's going to be interesting.

Whoever can run the ball, if they can get Jacobs going, Green Bay might have a sniff, but you know, he goes up against Barkley as well. So two very running backs in that game. Well, I actually wanted to ask you about another running back. How much do you think Derek Henry could help Lamar Jackson, who's admitted that he had some jitters in the playoffs in the past. And I don't know if there's another player with more pressure on him to perform in these playoffs than

Lamar Jackson, just because of his history and the fact that he is a two-time MVP. He's in the running to be the MVP this season. His numbers during the regular season were incredible, but there's that thing hanging over him and that's his performances in past playoffs. Well, here's the thing, and I touched on this earlier when they played the Steelers before they ran for over 200 yards, Derek Henry to me is going to help Lamar Jackson.

And I mean, he has helped them in so many ways. And the reason why is because the Ravens, they don't have to be one dimensional on offense, right? I mean, all they have to do is give Henry the ball 20 times and they'll probably wind up winning that game. Yeah. Right? I mean, when you're in a second and four or a third and two or whatever, all of a sudden now Lamar Jackson becomes twice as dangerous because you're so concerned about, you know, Derek Henry as well. So, I mean, it's a tremendous, tremendous compliment for Lamar

Jackson to have a running back of that caliber. By the way, um, I've met a few people in my day. Um, there's like three guys that, you know, just like, I just look at and I'm going, oh my God, like, I mean, you see a lot of football players, DK Metcalf as one guy that like I bumped into one time. And I'm just like, this guy's a freak. Derrick Henry's another. If you've ever seen this guy in person, I'm just like, dude, he's big, he's imposing, he's physical, he looks like he can go and dunk a basketball. He's a freak and that's why he's one of the best running backs in the NFL.

What do you think the Steelers are going to do, assuming they don't go on a run in these playoffs with Russell Wilson? What do they do at the quarterback position next season? Well, I mean, here's the thing. To me, when I think of quarterbacks, we talk about this with the Seahawks and Geno Smith, right? Can you win a Superbowl with the guy that you have at the helm right now? Do you believe you can win a Superbowl? Right. And if you don't, you're kind of asking for your, the rest of the team to be so good that they can compensate for that lack of skill at quarterback.

Yeah. They have to have like an incredible defense. Exactly. Or, you know, just so many great pieces around them. Um, I don't know. Like, I mean, and the problem is, is okay. Russell Wilson may not be that guy. Gino Smith might not be that guy.

Well, who do you go out and get? Especially if you're a team that's got 10 wins or 11 wins, or doesn't have that type of draft capital where, you know, you can move up to say into the top five and draft that franchise quarterback. But even when you do man, I mean, it's, it's, it's a process, right? It's a two or three year commitment to see this through. And you know, maybe even sometimes by the time the time, by the time the player becomes good, the quarterback becomes good, all of a

sudden now you got to pay them. Right. And that impacts the rest of your team in terms of the salary cap. So it's, it's not, it's, it's not easy winning, man. It's so hard to do a salary cap there. You just have to find that quarterback one way or the other, you know, look at the, how the Seahawks found

Russell Wilson, it was not in the first round. And Lamar Jackson was, uh, the first round pick, but the, I think the last pick in the first round. Lamar Jackson was the first round pick, but I think the last pick of the first round. He's a 32nd pick. Yeah. Yeah. And when you look at quarterbacks and coaches, coaches are so married to their quarterbacks, right? I mean, all you have to do is look at the Chicago Bears, whatever the last four first round picks, their coaches have been fired the next year because the quarterbacks have flopped. To me, you look at all the great coaches and usually there's a quarterback

that's right there with them. I mean, when you think of Pete Kerley, think of Russell Wilson. When you think of Bill Belichick, you think of Tom Brady, right? When you think of Jimmy Johnson, you think of Troy, but you just go on and on. That's why when I think of a guy like Joe Gibbs,

I think he's probably one of the most vastly underrated coaches of all time. Guy went to the Super Bowl three times with three different quarterbacks and talk in, um, Joe Thiesman, Rippen and Doug Williams, right? I mean, to me that's an amazing feat, right? I go name another coach has won three Superbowls with three different quarterbacks. And to me, like, like I said, I mean, you're so married to your quarterback, you better go out there and find the right one, because if you don't, well,

you're not going to have a long lifespan. Moj, it's an ask us anything Friday here on the show. I know you love this, this segment on the show. So Garrett in the Ridge has one for you, says if you could travel anywhere in the world just for the food, where would you go? Oh, wow. Well, we're going to New Orleans for Super Bowl. Not bad. Yeah, the food there's like Orleans for Superbowl. Ooh. That's a start. Not bad. Um, yeah, the food there's like, it's.

It's all health food, isn't it? Cajun and Creole is not that bad. No, I guess not. I'm not a big fan of Parisian food. Like, you know, it's just way too rich for me. So pass on that. Um, you know, maybe like Argentina, Brazil. Just steak.

Like you know. Steak and steak. Yeah. Yeah. Japan maybe for the sushi. Japan. Japan for the steak too. I heard you guys talking about, yeah, well Wagyu too.

Yeah. I heard you guys talking about Japan earlier, right? That'd be an interesting place to go. Yeah, so probably those two, I'm just trying to think of, hey, you talk about Portugal too, that's on the bucket list. Everybody that I've talked to that's got a Portugal. Yeah. I spent like a month in the Algarve there, uh, in my

twenties, it was, it was incredible. And it's, it's reasonably affordable too. Oh yeah. And that's the other thing too. It's not crazy, stupid, um, expensive. Do you have any Befinas? I don't think so. Is that a drink?

Cause I had a lot of drinks. What is that? Befinas? Oh man, think so. Is that a drink? Because I had a lot of drinks. What is that? Befinas? Oh man, you guys got to go to the Portuguese club on commercial. Befinas is like a little sandwich with pork. It's like a little pork sandwich, a little spice to it. The food I remember for Portugal was the fish.

Oh yeah, just tons of fish. You know the thing too, what they like to do, they like to put olive oil on their fish. Okay, sure. A lot of salt. You know the thing too, what they like to do? They like to put olive oil on their fish. Okay. Sure. A lot of salt. That's the big thing. Like, I don't know why, but that's like a big thing. Portuguese people like to do is put olive oil on their fish.

One thing you've never checked out and I've been there obviously. If you like meat, go to Serbia, Croatia, anywhere in the Balkans, the former Yugoslavia, um, get some chevap, get some of those Nietzsche. Oh, like if you, if you're, if you're vegan, forget about it. If you guys like meat, um, you'd love like, uh, Croatia, like, you know, Dubrovnik, or if you go to Serbia, go to Belgrade or whatever, because it's all about meat baby. And like Chevaps, I think I've told you about them.

There's like little cigar shaped sausages that have like a combination of spices with veal, pork and beef. And rejnic are basically like little cubes, skewers of either lamb, veal or beef with again, different spices. So good. Do vegans exist in that part of the world?

No, they don't. Like they wouldn't understand. They get, they get driven out. They get exiled. No. Yeah. Moj, always entertaining. We got you, you're always informative.

Um, and we will talk again next week, pal. All right guys. Have a great week. Enjoy a great sports week and it's going to be sweet. Uh, thanks Moj. That's the Bob the Moj Marjanovic. I was kind of just curious to see how long we could keep Moj on the line with him just naming

different meat dishes. Yeah. Just he was on a roll there. He's like shrimp gumbo. Shrimp on the barby, shrimp creel, beef stroganoff. Love that. Just go think as many ones as you can Moj. We got all day here. Uh, it is how to breath your sports net six 50.

Yeah. I've got an ask anything from Willie in Willie's puddle texts in if you could have any sports league or event in Vancouver, what would you choose and why I would choose something that's coming. World Cup. you choose and why I would choose something that's coming. World cup. That's a good one. I think that is going to be awesome.

Yeah. It is going to be so much fun. It's going to be in the summertime. We're going to have what? Seven games here. I think so. Yep. You know, I've never been to an international men's soccer game.

Well, for Canada, I've seen Canada play and I saw the women's world cup when it was here. I went to one of the Canada games at BC place and it was a lot of fun. This event is going to be like the Olympics. It's going to be the feeling in the city. And when the teams are announced of who's coming to Vancouver in the group stage, it's going to be so cool, right? And then you're just going to be taken over by people from that country and people coming from all over the world just to experience the World Cup in North America. That would be my pick. When I heard, you know, originally when it was, it sounded like we weren't gonna get

games at BC Place, I was really disappointed. But at the same time I thought, okay, well it's still in North America, I'm gonna still go see this World Cup, but I'm gonna have to travel. I'm probably still going to travel to places in the States to go see, I want to see England play because it's on my bucket list and you know, what better time than now to do it. But to actually host World Cup games in Vancouver, it's almost like I can't believe this is going to be happening. Yeah. And it's coming up too. We're 18 months away. Yeah.

It's really all of a sudden it's kind of just around the corner. I agree that when we find out which teams are coming, which teams we get to watch, the fans that are going to be here, that's going to be a really cool moment. I do, I kind of think people in Vancouver are sleeping on just what a big deal that's going to

be and how cool. I think so too. It's going to be. It's going to be, I don't know how you compare it to the Olympics, but in terms of the actual event, the world cup is bigger than the winter Olympics. Oh yeah. But we hosted the entire winter Olympics.

So it was a little bit different, right? Like we were the only place and in this world cup, there's going to be focus on all the major cities in North America for the most part. So that's going to be focus on all the major cities in North America, for the most part. So that's going to be a little bit different, but just being part of this world cup, the biggest world cup in history, I think is going to be something really special for this city and

a great opportunity to show off our city in the summer. Now, having said all of that, the back to the original question, cause I agree with you about the world cup, but he said a team or an event, it's hard for me to choose a one-off event so like the clits the cliched answer but I want an NBA team back I have since the minute the Grizzlies left if I had my choice any team NFL baseball whatever I'm taking an NBA team back in Vancouver easily you would take the NBA over Major League Baseball yes I thought you were a bigger baseball fan the bad I know I love basketball I thought you were a bigger baseball fan than basketball.

No, I love basketball. I am a huge Blue Jays fan as well. But I mean, my dad and I had season's tickets for the last couple of years of the Grizzlies. I was a huge basketball fan, played basketball in high school. I'm still a fan. I don't get to watch a ton of NBA anymore,

but I still love the sport. Do you think our city would be better able to handle it this time? I think so. Yeah. I definitely think so. Yeah. I think so too. And look, this question is like in an ideal world. I think demographics-wise, time? I think so. Yeah. I definitely think so. Yeah. And look, I mean, this question is like.

I think demographics wise, it would be. Absolutely. Yeah. I a hundred percent think so. So that would be my easy choice. I don't think it's going to happen, but it's still, every time that question comes up, MBA, no doubt about it for me. Uh, okay.

We'll take a break here. What a thrill for me coming up next. Thomas Drantz joins the show here on Halford and Brough, Sportsnet 650. It's all about me, baby.