Halford & Brough in the Morning - Have The Canucks Considered Trying Torpedo Sticks?

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss what the Canucks might say at their end-of-season autopsy in regards to what went wrong this season (3:00), plus they talk about new CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston and how he might try and change the league, as 3 Down Nation's Justin Dunk joins the show.  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.

Music 703 on a Thursday. It's a thrash Thursday here on the Halferd and Brev Show on Sportsnet 650. Halferd and Brev of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are now in Hour 2 of the program. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hom and Ikeadjason.mortgage. Widely known as the most metal of all the mortgage brokers. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage.

You should have gone like, that's jason.mortgage. Rage against the banks. Jason.metal. You can go with that too. That takes you to a totally different website though. You know what? Don't do that. Don't go to jason.metal. Go to jason.mortgage. You're pointing at me. We are coming to you live from the Kintex studio, Kintex Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. So the Vancouver Canucks lost five nothing to the Seattle Kraken last night at Roger's Arena.

It was not a good night. And if you listen to the first hour of this program, we broke it down pretty thoroughly. We don't often replay audio, because we like the show moving forward and it's like, you know, it's always growing. It's like this organic thing where we don't like to just reset everything we've done. But I do feel like- I prefer to move backwards. I feel like we can make a concession here because Laddie put together a piece of audio gold this

morning and it's not just for laughs. I also think it is, although I also think it's instructive and really reflects Rigtalk's entire season in one clip. So yesterday after the Canucks I think they finished with 76 shot attempts. Unfortunately, only 25 of those hit the target and unfortunately zero of those 25 went past the netminder Joey DeCord. You could make the argument that the Canucks lacked a certain something in front of goal. What that something is? Rick Tauke may have figured it out in his post-game remarks Here's Rick Tocket after a five nothing loss to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.

You know, we had a couple of power plays where you need some poise there. I didn't think we had some poise. Then they got a couple of quick goals on us. And you could see guys were getting nervous chasing the game. I mean, you know, I think we had some guys that really gave some effort, but I didn't think we had a lot of poise tonight There's some plays there and some poise stuff that we got a you know, we just got to relax in certain situations Intensity, but relaxed there's plays there and I just think we're not finding them, you know A lot of missed nets blocked shots the same old story. We just That's where the poise is, you know

You know the guys gonna be in front you got to fake it go go around, and then shoot it. These are the poised plays. 76 shot attempts are, I mean, I like it, but you'd like to see more. We've talked about being able to shoot somewhere where the goalie might give a rebound, instead of you missing that and then starting to break out. So this is a, but that's poise. You gotta keep working on that stuff.

Now if I told you once, I've told you a thousand times, poise counts! It's just as important as the others. Swimsuit, evening wear, talent, poise! Okay, speaking of talent, it's the talented players that have the poise offensively. Yeah, there's a correlation there. Right? Yeah. I mean, who's the talented players that have the poise offensively. Yeah, there's a correlation there. Right?

Yeah. I mean, who's the guy that you see moving his feet and opening up passing lanes and specifically shooting lanes? Quinn Hughes. Right. He's the guy that does it the most, right? Well, that guy's talented. And I mean, this goes for every level of hockey.

It's the lack of talent. It's the talentless guys or the less talented guys that are going to shoot pucks into a defenseman shin pads, right? Yep. You know, you're coming in there and you're like, I just want to, I'm happy. I'm in a position to shoot. I'm going to rip it. Oh, it hit the, hit the guy's shin pads. I guess he was playing defense on me.

And it's the guys with, you know, ability that will, you know, and confidence. So maybe confidence is a problem that will actually make some moves, move their feet, you know, deke a guy and get a shot away. So is this a poise problem or is it a talent problem? Well, it's, I mean, based on what you just said, it's both. They don't have enough talent and

talent is where you get the poise. Like I don't really blame a lot of the skaters out there for not having the attributes that the coach needs to finish. This is not a wide open, create tons of chances style. And this is where I've got time for a lot of the complaints that listeners and fans of the team have thrown at Rick Tauke this season. It's that there's a real, and I don't

know whether it's square peg round hole or round peg square hole, whatever the case. There seems like it's never about we need to make adjustments. It's well within the confines of the system, the guys need to perform the system better. That's what it's come down to so many times. Question. Totally. And it's, hold on, just let me finish. And it feels like we're getting further and further away from the possibility of this system being executed

to the level where they can be competitive. Like last night was a glaring example of it not even coming close. Like when the coach is like, I like part of that, that's a red flag. Like he liked the fact that they had 76 shot attempts. I would say to push back on that, you can't. You can't like having 76 shot attempts

when it results in 25 shots on goal and zero goals. Like the attempts don't really matter. What were you gonna say? I was gonna say, I know we talked in length yesterday about the talk its future with the Canucks that they seem obviously interested in bringing them back and they want them as a coach. If the Canucks end the season on a

Lengthy losing streak does that change their opinion could they be like, you know what? Maybe let's try something else if they fit if they don't win a single game to finish the season Well, maybe they only win one or two. I don't even think the end is it that is but it fluctuate that much Or is he just still their guy their guy their guy? Well, Halford. I will Push back a little bit. On which part? Well, I'll just use an example. I don't think it was the Flyers plan all along to fire torts.

Yeah, I don't think so. I think he checked out and we just talked to Luke Fox. He got himself fired to a certain degree for sure. And I think he Costanza'd it a little bit. Sure, I agree with that. And I'm not saying Tauke it is gonna do that, but man, people might be thinking I'm making a big deal out of this,

but that was weird last night with the goalie pull. I wanna know more about that. I don't know if we're gonna get any more of that. Okay, well let's dive into it. Let's work through it. Well, I mean we already did. We can work through it again. No problem. So the Winnipeg game, they're down 3-1, and it looks like Demko wants to come to the bench,

right? He's prepared to come to the bench, never comes to the bench, and they lose 3-1, and people are like, why didn't you pull the goalie? Well, no one actually, I don't think any, did anyone ask him that? No, there's no one on the road. There's no one actually I don't think any didn't you and ask him that there's no one on the road Last night they're down for nothing and He pulled the goalie and allow a goal was he punching Demko and

What's that was he punishing Demko and wasn't his strongest game two of his goals were identical Alright, so I don't think so, a damn cool thing. He's like, all right, you're cool. I don't think so, but I'm going to allow that maybe something was said after the Winnipeg game because that seemed like a bit of a passive aggressive move. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Let's play talk its answer, Laddie, one more time because this to me does not sound like a guy with a, surefire 100%. This is why I did that answer. Well, you just try to, you know, you're looking for who's given up, who's not.

And I want to see, you know, who knows? You might need it on, what are we playing on Saturday? A six on five goal. Like you might as well do it. So, you know, why not? That's the way I look at. Like you might as well do it. So, why not? That's the way I look at it. You might as well do it, why not? Why not in the Winnipeg game?

By the way. You might, no, no, seriously. See, my voice just broke there. You might as well do it. Why not? We might need it later. Saturday. Well, okay, so why didn't you do it in the Winnipeg game?

Because they didn't need it then, apparently. They didn't need it for the Seattle game, but they didn't you do it in the Winnipeg game? Because they didn't need it then apparently. They didn't need it for the Seattle game, but they didn't need it for the Seattle game. They needed to practice being down four nothing and pulling the goalie. In case we're down four nothing, it's the Anaheim Ducks in a matinee on Saturday. I cannot leave this conversation and you cannot convince me that there's nothing weird about that. I go back to my question then, does this change the opinion of talking from management? No, no. You don't think? No, no, I don't think.

Unless he's trying to stay out of his way. He's like, yeah. It's like some other team in Philadelphia gave me a much better offer that I really liked to go to. It ties the Jack Adams trophy to the back of his car and just drives around the parking lot. No, I mean, if you wanna just like cut right through the bowl and get right to it, it was him just kinda

giving like an F you or a flip the bird or what to anybody. But to who? To whoever was complaining. Or maybe to the players. But it was a definitely. Do you think the players might have complained after the game? Maybe, but it was certainly a signal to somebody.

Do you think the management might have gone down and complained? It was a certainly a. That happens. Yeah, so take your pick on who it was certainly a signal to somebody. Do you think the management might have gone down and complained? It was as certainly as- That happens. Yeah, so take your pick on who it was, but there was no quite- Was it sat? It was probably sat, right? Talk tuned into the post game show and he was like-

I'm looking at Sportsnet 680 right now on the People Show. There's a video of Bick saying that, with your season on the line, I was stunned that Rick Talk didn't pull the goalie against Winnipeg on Sunday. I mean- Talk, it was like, I've lost, Bic. That's when you know. That's when you know it's over. I'll show that Bic. I mean, it was, put it this way. Let's put it in another way. I want to put a ball in this conversation because I think this is a story that might

have a few more chapters to it. I think he might get asked about it again, or it might come up, or there's going to be a lot of, I don't really have anything more to add other than the whole thing was weird to me and I want to know more. Well, okay, I'll put a bow on it by saying this. I think that that was, if you're going to break it down into likelihoods, it's far more likelihood that that was about sending a message than it was of doing anything tactically or strategically in

that hockey game. Yes. Yes. Right? But the question is, who was the message for? I would love it if he came out, he's like, it's for everybody. Yeah, yeah. Just screw it, yeah, everyone.

I guarantee it's for Demko. He's like, is it me? Yeah, right? I bet you it was. It was bad, Demko was not good. He had a bad game. Laddie, he looked very tiny in the net yesterday. Did you notice how tiny he looked?

Did he make a point? He shrunk overnight. Two of those goals were identical, the exact same spot. They're like, we're picking that corner. He actually lost his gear. He was wearing a 15 year old child's set of gear. Just a little. He had a torpedo stick for some reason.

Tiny Demko. Can you imagine if the answer was just like, what happened in the Winnipeg game? Why didn't you pull the goalie? He was like, I forgot to do it. Yeah. And then the second one was in Seattle. He's like, I thought it was two nothing, not four nothing.

This time I remembered. And okay, I want to dip into the Dunbar Lumbertex line, 650, 650. Let's shelve the empty or the empty net talk for a little bit. Sure, sure. Because I think it's going to be talked about a lot on the station. Here's an unsigned text. This management group preaches accountability. They haven't been accountable for anything

except making excuses for why their UFAs didn't have any value. I think that's a fair comment. I mean, they will throw out lines like, you know, the responsibility is with me, but then they never get into, yeah, we made a mistake here. Like you, and when we were talking earlier in the last segment about locking up both Miller and

Pedersen to long-term contracts, a decision that clearly was a mistake. I want to know at the end of the season presser, like, do you share any responsibility for that? This is not- Why didn't this work out? You knew. And for me, well, we thought those issues were in the past. That's not good enough. That's not good enough because

it's like, these are two massive investments that you made and guess what? It wasn't in the past and it cropped up again. I would also ask, do you feel like you've handled the Pedersen situation as a whole correctly given Pedersen's personality? Which I think you can say is a unique personality. I don't think anyone would push back on that, even Elias Peterson. I don't think he's wired the same way as a lot of

the athletes in the NHL. So number one, you ask, can that type of personality be your highest paid player? And second of all, did by putting all this pressure on him and kind of calling, by putting all this pressure on him and kind of calling him out in the media and maybe even empowering your leadership group to toughen them up as we heard before, was that the right approach?

So, okay, a couple of things there. One, this management group's way of acknowledging that they made mistakes is to move off them. And they've done that for sure. Let's run through the list. Just most recently, De Harney, Heinen, Sprung, Branstrom, they made a move. It didn't work.

They moved off it. So there is that. They absolutely try to fix problems, which is what the JT Miller trade was all about. But this has been far, far, one more time, far from a managerial masterclass this year. They do, whether it's fair or not, or right or wrong, but it's the market, they do need to really reconsider how they go about messaging and delivering their managerial ethos or whatever you wanna call it. Because it's like the right hand is saying,

well, we wanna quiet the noise around our team and we don't want as much drama and as many fires. And then the left hand is creating two thirds of them. Right? Patrick Alvin was the one that had a pretty candid, pretty colorful, pretty tell all interview with sports net, Ian McIntyre right before the turn of the new year.

And it was Jim Rutherford who picked up the phone and called Gary Mason to lay out the JT military before it happened. Like those are strategic moves that they made that created a lot of noise. And that Alveen interview with iMac, it's funny when you read it because iMac is trying to redirect at times to like more positive things.

And Alvin's like, yeah, I don't want to talk about that stuff. I want to talk about this. They like putting their players feet to the fire, especially publicly. Yes, they do. And it's old school and it, don't get me wrong, it can work. There's no question that there is an element of

sometimes guys are at their best when they're not comfortable, or when there's animosity and strife and angst. Some people perform under that, some people don't. That's Tortorella's whole thing. Some people don't though, right? And you gotta be pretty certain that your strategy's gonna work.

Because if it doesn't, the problems are twofold. One, the player doesn't perform. And then two, you might end up losing the player entirely. Okay, Halford, I wanna read a text here. And this is from Brian. Hi, Brian. And I think this takes us to Hi, Brian.

The next move for management. Brian texts in,. And I think this takes us to. Hi Brian. The next move for management. Brian texts in, I don't think it backfired and it is them going to the media and holding those players feet to the fire. It was a test, writes Brian, and gave them clarity on what they have in EP 40. Well, if that's the case, and I actually think you might be onto something there, Brian.

Okay. What are you going to do about it now? Trade him. Well, what if you can't? What if it gave you so much clarity that it gave the rest of the league so much clarity on this player and they're like, so much clarity on this player. And they're like, I don't want this guy.

And then you're, then you, like people always want like, why is Prof always talking about Pedersen? Why is he always talking about Pedersen? It's like he is the highest paid player on the team and he's supposed to be a leader on the team. If you've tested him and he's failed and you're stuck with him, that is such a corrosive situation on the team and in the room.

It'll be worse than the OEL contract. It'll be the worst contract on the team for the rest of their. It'll be 1,000 times worse than the OEL contract. Because OEL had the respect as a veteran player who had injuries and like, he was, I don't know, he was, it was different and this is a bigger contract and you know, if Brian's right and he says this was a test and it gave them clarity on what

they have in EP40. You know, how many times have we heard talk at say like, I want to know who's in and who's out. Okay, but that's great to say, but are you going to act on this? Like I know the guys, I know Dodd and, and Drantz and Donnie and Dolly and their crossover

were talking about talkauke's remarks from a couple of days ago when he was giving injury updates on Pedersen and Holglinder. Yeah. And they were kind of like, you know, yeah, Pedersen, he's feeling a bit of discomfort still, I don't know, he's day to day. And then they were asked about, he was asked

about Holglinder and he was like, oh, that guy just wants to get back into the lineup so bad. We were actually going to have to be real careful guy just wants to get back into the lineup so bad. We were actually going to have to be real careful because he wants to get back in the lineup. You know, I think there was something to that. You know, I know Dodd was very careful with it and he was, you know, he was saying like, listen, I don't want to be reading too much into this,

but I did notice it. I noticed it too. Everyone noticed it. Everyone noticed it. And everyone has noticed all season that, you know, talk it has maybe not come out and like hammered Petey with criticism, but there's enough there where you're like, uh, is Petey

his type of player? Well, if you've had the test and that player has failed the test of whether he's all in on the team or whether he's a guy that you can win with, this is your highest paid player, playing one of your most important positions. What are you going to do about it? Cause if he's failed the test,

then something dramatic has to happen. Either you don't have that player anymore, or you dramatically change the way, the approach in how you're getting across to that player. Yeah. You know a lot of people have texted in too and said like talk it needs to take some accountability for the whole JTPD rift and I agree. You know they've said like that happened in his dressing room. Frankly, the only person that I've seen take accountability and show some level of guilt about what happened is... Quinn Hughes. Quinn Hughes.

Because he's a leader. Because he's a captain. Yeah. And maybe Quinn is actually the answer for... God, my voice keeps breaking. I'm not crying about this. Maybe Quinn is going to be the guy that they're going to task with turning Petey around because he obviously has some empathy with him. They tried that with JT Miller. Wow. Quinn might take a bit of a different approach.

You think? But I mean- Imagine he doesn't imagine he's just like, really? I mean, at this point, Quinn's gonna be driving the team bus and cooking all their meals too. It's true. You know, like the guy has to do pretty much everything.

Playing net. Okay, we are gonna switch gears here for a bit. It might be not a bad idea to take a pause on the Canucks stuff for a minute and talk about a big story elsewhere. Yesterday, the Canadian Football League finally announced that they've got a new commissioner. And it was a very interesting hire. It's the former president of TSN, Stuart Johnson, who's gonna take over from Randy Ambrose.

It's the 15th commissioner in CFL history. It's the first time they've had a new commissioner in quite a while. Justin Dunk from Three Down Nation is gonna join us to talk about what direction the league might go in now, what's expected of the new commissioner, what this league needs to do moving forward. We're gonna talk about all those things next with Justin Dunk from Three Down Nation. That's next on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets,

weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 731 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough, Sports Night 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour two of the program. Justin Dunck from Three Down Nation is going to join us in just a moment here.

Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage. Yesterday, the Canadian Football League announced that Stewart Johnston, formerly of TSN, has been hired as the league's 15th ever commissioner, taking over from Randy Ambrosio. Big news for the Canadian Football League, new direction on the horizon. Joining us now to talk about this development, Justin Dunk from Three Down Nation joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Justin. How are you? Doing well fellas. What about

you guys? Uh we are well as well. Uh we were on the air yesterday when this news broke. So, we were keen to get someone on to talk about it. I'll start with the big question, big picture, most obvious question. Uh why Stuart Johnston as the

new CFL commissioner? I think you can look at this from multiple angles but the biggest one has to be the upcoming broadcast rights deal that ends in partnership between the CFL and TSN after the 2026 season. Of course, it could be extended. And the last time that deal was getting closer to the end, it was extended around two years prior to that last deal ending. You got to go way back for that one. So we're already in a shorter time span. And I think that is the number one key for the league because really that approximately $50 million that the CFL gets from TSN for its broadcast rights, keep the league alive and

going for the most part. How is this, how is Stuart Johnson going to be different than Randy Ambroschi? You know, I think he brings a much different background in terms of media, understanding the landscape where some people are transitioning to live streaming but by and large part I think Stuart Johnston is going to know very well that still when you're talking about the Canadian Football League and

even you know the NHL guys the deal that they just did with Rogers that a lot of Canadians are consuming those two live sports in broadcast through television. Now people are going over to streaming, but I think that's the real key here in terms of Johnston being different is his background in media. He's been at TSN for well over two decades and has been leading them as their president. So he'll have a great understanding of how to negotiate broadcast rights, how to go into the future, and then how to integrate that. And ultimately, I think the real key here is going to be how to grow the CFL's brand in Canada on social media and be ready for when that

younger generation, ideally that I think the CFL wants to capture, getting them involved in terms of putting that game right in front of them, the CFL games I mean, so that they can consume it easily. Is it fair to say that, and maybe this is a kind way to say it, that Randy Ambrosie was Brogy was naively ambitious about the CFL and the global appeal of the CFL because I noticed you said that Stuart Johnston's task is going to be to grow the CFL brand in Canada. And I just wonder if Randy Ambrosio wasted too much time with kind of pie in the sky ideas when

he should have been focusing all his resources and his energy on the country of Canada. I would definitely agree. And I think you put it nicely there. And I would advise Stuart Johnston, and I think he's probably much smarter than I am, but to under promise and over deliver. I think Randy Ambrosi stated very

early on in his tenure that he wanted to double league revenues and he admitted at his state of the league out there in Vancouver during Grey Cup that that hasn't happened, that CFL franchise valuations are flat. And one of the things that he did not talk about as much near the end of his tenure that he talked about, as you alluded to, was a global program. Like there were millions of dollars invested in that. And you can't get anyone that you talk to in CFL circles to tell you that there was anywhere close

to even a return seen on that money. So I do think the one positive that Ambrosia leaves, and it's the most major one in my mind is that the CFL's stable of owners is arguably the best that it's ever had in its history. Now it took him some time to get there. There was wasted money in the global program. There was the Gary Stern experiment as owner of the Montreal Alouettes, you know, with some other people involved there, Sid Spiegel being one of them. But I think that's the real takeaway here is that you need to focus on your home and

native land and make sure that that is strong before you entertain any of these other ideas that Ambrose had about global, let's say, competition, because the NFL is truly a global league and the CFL needs to realize what its strength is. And I think Johnston will understand that inherently because of his relationship with the Canadian football league and him being at TSN for so long.

Whatever happened to that genius sports partnership? That's another thing that doesn't get talked about too often, right? You ask people around the league about it and they'll just say, well, I never really lived up to its advanced billing. There was the whole schmazzle, let's say, with the statistics that are still not fully back for the league, which are important to its history, as you guys well know. So it's easy to read where these things

have gone based on how much they're talked about by the commissioner or the people that are supporting him in his role. And when you don't talk about genius sports very much and you don't talk about the global program, to me, that's an admission of failure in itself. Like I think he was a dreadful commissioner. And I just thought he was a salesman and you

talked about over promising and under delivering. I think you nailed it right there. He talked this massive game and, and maybe part of it came from like, he loved the CFL so much and he wanted, he wanted so much for the league. He thought it deserved more attention than, than it, than it was getting. But, you, but at the

end of the day, like you said, millions wasted on this global ambition that was never going to happen. It was never going to happen. And the genius sports thing was a disaster. Didn't they sign away 10% equity of one of the business groups, the CFL to, to that group. And what have they got to show for it?

They couldn't even get regular stats up, um, you know, early in the season, as opposed to these dynamic stats that were going to change the way that CFL fans watch the game. No, it didn't. It didn't change it at all. In fact, things got worse. You know, I agree with the majority of that.

And that's why I think Johnston needs to come at it in different way, right? Your actions speak louder than words. And I believe that on multiple fronts, like just in my personal life and the way that I go about my own life. So I think in this instance, that's very true. And, you know, I think it does sound like from

you, it's a harsh analysis of Vembrosi's commissionership, but I think you're pretty much bang on and we should just add to the fact to provide some balance that he did have to go through the COVID pandemic, but like things like going to the government and asking for up to $150 million. Didn't handle that well. Without a financial plan is just going to leave a and asking for up to $150 million. Didn't handle that well.

Without a financial plan is just going to leave a black mark on your legacy. And yeah, did not handle that well. Now maybe perhaps the board of governors put them up to it, but how could you sit there and think, oh yeah, this is a good idea. Like I'm going to go ask the government for $150 million or up to 150 million with no plan of how it's going to help the league stay afloat. So there are definitely some major black marks on his resume.

And that's why I say the major one positive that I think he can point to is the stable ownership. Um, okay. Well, I have a question about ownership and it's specifically the one in Toronto with all the goings on with MLSC. Is MLSSE long for ownership of the Toronto Argonauts?

I think the only way guys that we're going to know about that is if something happens publicly, you know, with relation to any of those teams. And obviously you guys know Roger's well, being with Sportsnet and they own the Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre and they're so committed to that. The NHL writes that, you know, based on the few comments that were made, the only public

availability that was done after the acquiring of MLSC, let's say, you have to think that they're going to continue to support it, but we'll see how that plays out. Are we, are we generally expecting TSN to get the rights again? You know, I've talked to some people around the league, especially after the Rogers NHL

deal was resigned all the way through 2038. And then now this move with Johnston going over to the CFL, it seems like a lot of people think that that is likely. You know, I would tend to agree. I don't want to say that it's set in stone. And to further that conversation, fellas, you know, you hear fans talk about it when you see them

or on social media and say, well, you know, why don't they get an Amazon in there or Apple TV or another bidder in Canada? Well, guys, you know the industry well, who else is going to bid for the rights and TSN has a need there too, where if they don't have the CFL in the summer, what are they putting up to compete against the Toronto blue jays games that are on almost every other day with the way that major leagues baseball schedule is like to me, that's where I just can't see, you know, somebody else coming in with a big

bid. Like some of these deals that we've seen, let's say Apple TV with the Major League soccer rights. Well, that has global appeal when you have guys like Lionel Messi and David Beckham and other stars in your league from around the world that are literally known around the world. You know, you look at Amazon trying out some stuff with hockey, with what they're doing with Monday night

hockey, that's not a full package. So I think that remains to be seen, but as much as I think some people feel like there needs to be a second bitter to drive up the rights, like this still has a lot of value, the CFL rights that is, to TSN. We're speaking to Justin Dunk from Three Down Nation here on the Halifax and the Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

I got a couple of non-business related queries that I wanted to throw your way. Actually, you kind of touched on this talking about superstars and global recognition. Obviously, one of the biggest stories of the off season was Edmonton Elks, general manager, Ed Hervey, uh, making the comments that the CFL doesn't have any superstars. What's it been like in the aftermath of his

making those comments? Cause I know that ruffled a lot of feathers across the league. It definitely did. The Canadian football league players association sent a letter to Elks president, Chris Morris and to the league office. And I believe what they're hoping to get

out of that is at least an apology and perhaps even for Hervey to be fined. And, you know, I've talked to a number of players and coaches and general managers around the league. And the consensus is too, that they feel like there should be some repercussion for her saying that because it's harmful to the league's business, right? When you're talking about players, like let's say McLeod, Bethel Thompson getting fined for bringing the league into disrepute,

I think was one of the phrases they used. Well, how does this not hurt the league trying to do business, attract partnerships, sponsorships, all that kind of thing. And I think though you can understand where Herbie was coming from because he explained it in a subsequent interview that he felt like the definition of a superstar was like Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali or Michael Jackson. To me, guys, those are global icons.

I think you can be a superstar in your genre or in your sport. So I think there are superstars in the CFL, but let's not get it twisted or talk like Randy Ambrosio did with the global program. There are no CFL players that are globally known like a Muhammad Ali or a Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan. Like that is just not right now, or even close to being there for any CFL players, with all due respect, who I think have a world-class athletic kind of a performance when you look at some of these guys and what they do around the league.

Well, let's be real here. When you're talking about superstars in this sport, you're talking about quarterbacks. That's what it comes down to, is that's the most recognizable position, athletes, stars either in the CFL or the NFL for that matter. So with that in mind, I just wanted to ask you about this particular crop of Canadian quarterbacks, the 2025 draft class. I've seen it being categorized as like the greatest Canadian quarterback class in the history of the Canadian football league.

So let us know about it and why everyone's so high and optimistic on this particular class. Yeah, man, it's almost like you're reading what I'm about to put out on 3downtnation.com, which is literally the title of the article. 2025 has the chance to be the best Canadian QB class in history. And I say has the chance to be because we need these guys to actually go into the pros and show that they can get it done there. But at least from the prospects level, you have two quarterbacks, one that perhaps some fans out your way might know because of his tie to Nathan Rourke. That's Curtis Rourke, his younger brother, who had a great season at Indiana while playing with a broken thumb and a torn ACL to boot.

Like just unbelievable that he did that. He's drawing NFL interest and rightfully so for leading Indiana to the season that he did. And I would say, you know, arguably the more intriguing one because the NFL can judge the competition level playing in the big 10 with Rorke at Indiana and the CFL will feel very comfortable with that as well. So that's why I say Taylor Elgrisma is the more intriguing one. Wilford Laurier, university quarterback who had a fantastic season, actually a couple of seasons back to back was the Ontario University Athletics Conference MVP back to back won

the Crichton trophy. This year is the most outstanding player in youth sports, was really close to being Laval in the Vanier Cup. He gets an invite to the senior bowl, shows he fits in, looks the part. And you know, if some things had played out differently in the process, I think could have gotten an invite to the NFL combine, but nonetheless, goes to the university at Buffalo pro day and felt

as I was there and I could tell you that the NFL scouts main takeaway was that that dude's a leader. He was talking to the receivers. He was hyped up when they made catches, whereas you had the UB quarterback that was there and that's his house, so to speak. And he was very quiet. There was literally a team that sent a coach just to see El Grisma live in person at the pro day. So the interest in those

two are real. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a couple of other guys that I think deserve to be mentioned. That's Jonathan Seniquel, University of Montreal, quarterback, one-head Crichton in 2023 in a dream season where he led the Carabao to a Vanier Cup championship. Arnaud Desjardins, by the way, who plays for Laval University has two Vanier Cup rings. He only had one interception throughout the entire regular season last year and I think threw for 18 touchdowns on the other side. So a very accurate passer. And you have a couple of other intriguing guys. Jackson Tichinsky from the university of Manitoba, who's more of a running quarterback than a refined pastor.

He's being looked at as a potential guy that could play receiver. And then there's one guy out by where you guys are, and that would be Garrett Rooker, who's actually a league city, Texas native, but because he's played in the youth sports for his university career, gets the Canadian designation in the CFL and he's played at a high level, has helped the UBC Thunderbirds get to a Vanier Cup appearance.

So I think when you start to break down this class and you understand the guys at the top and then those second tier guys, how good they can potentially be, that's why people are talking about it having the potential to be the best Canadian quarterback class ever. If you wanna know more about that particular Canadian QB class or the new CFL commissioner, go to Three Down Nation now. Justin, this was great, man.

Thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Thank you, fellas. Stay well. Yep, you too. That's Justin Dunk from Three Down Nation here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I will say, for a league that teeters as much

as it does between, I'm going to say it, relevancy and irrelevancy, they have some really good people covering it. Oh yeah, Justin's excellent. JC Abbott's really good too. Yeah. It's crazy because I mean, I would also be like, you guys are really good at what you do.

Like, but they love the CFL. Maybe you should be the commissioner. They love the CFL, right? But they do like an outstanding job of covering it. And Justin's one of those guys for sure. Uh, oh, on the subject of other local sporting squadrons, we did the BC Lions there and the CFL stuff.

Hey, it was a lights out performance last night at BC place. So I don't know what was going on at BC place yesterday. No, that's a good, that's a good segue. Don't womp on him. Everyone loves a good dad joke at 7.50 in the morning. Uh, the Vancouver Whitecaps continue their

Conca-Calf Cup campaign against another Mexican squad, Pumas from, uh, Liga MX yesterday. 1-1 draw at BC Place, incredibly frustrating on a number of fronts, including the electrical front, because the lights kept going off at BC Place last night. I think it happened four separate times. Four separate times during the play?

Three or four. Was somebody leaning on the light switch? It couldn't. Oops. There's one light switch that covers the whole arena. No, it wasn't on. Oh, my bad. There was one instance of just completely on and completely off.

The other ones were flickering. I really want to imagine there's just one light switch at BC Place. That would be so funny. Yeah, it's got a big red sticker button. Do not touch. Yeah. Anyway, that aside, incredibly frustrating night. This tournament, I understand its importance.

Every region has its club championship. I mean, there's Champions League. Well, the Whitecaps scored more than the Canucks at least. They did, one to nil in that regard. It was one-one. Pumas did nothing other than the very typical CONCACAF club, I can't say the word I wanna say, so I'll call it crap-housery.

It was crap-housing. The entire match was just the typical stuff that people that don't follow the sport a lot see and get turned off by it. Uh, faking injuries, rolling around on the ground, um, delaying the restarts of matches. You know, actually it's funny.

They were talking, the guys that were calling the game for one soccer had an anecdote talking with Jesper Sorensen and he astutely pointed out that when you go and play the Central and South American teams in CONCACAF, it's almost like the match is broken down into a series of three or four minute matches because that's the way they want to play it. They don't want free flowing open long stretches of play that go without whistles. They want it to be dragged down into the mud because that's where they, I mean, quite frankly,

thrive in playing in that kind of match. Why do they thrive in that? They are more adept at controlling individual moments and short segments of play. I think some of it, honestly, has to do with speed and athleticism, is those are in short demand at times with a lot of the Mexican clubs, especially recently, like Pumas are having a bad year.

They barely beat Calgary, the CPL team to get here. So is it kind of like their version of like mucking up the neutral zone? Yep. Yeah. I mean, in a way, it's less stylistic in structure in terms of where the players are positioned. They don't want free flowing. They want to start stop.

Yeah. I mean, if you watched Mexico- Did they catch their breath in the- Oh, Mexico at the Nations League did it to perfection. Slowed it down, played it tight and very close to the vest defensively. And then when it came time for set pieces and drawing penalties, they did it.

They scored off set pieces and they scored off penalties and they won the tournament. I, there wasn't a lot of joy to be taken from the way that they played it, but at the end of the day, they were hoisting a trophy that three other countries couldn't. So the Whitecaps actually did take the lead last night, Brian White.

It was an ugly goal. Um, so it was like a goal mouth scramble kind of thing? Yeah. And in the lead up to it was Jaden Nelson kind of bumped the Mexican keeper. He put his knee into the back of the Mexican keeper's knee.

It was like a glance. Okay. Mexican keeper goes down writhing in pain, waving his hand to the sideline. Like at least the seven minute delay he gets up and then on the subsequent corner, he can't deal with it. It falls in the goal mouth. They scramble it over the line.

Yeah. Jaden Nelson says something to the keeper and then of course he gets shoved to the ground by one of the Mexican players. No caution, nothing on it. It was almost one of those moments where there's so much going on. The Pumas defender took advantage of the chaos and got a free shot in basically. It didn't get caught by VAR or anybody.

And it was that kind of stuff all night. All night, it was just really frustrating. And then Pumas tied it up late. And that was just bad defending. And then the lights went out again. And then the lights went out again, yeah. It was- And everyone's wallets got stolen.

You know, I mean- Do you think that was? Do you think that was someone playing with the lights and it was like there was a robbery? I don't know. I honestly, it was very bizarre. There was nobody there and it's, I don't know. That was the problem with the plan. Yeah. I don't put this in the, I can't blame the Whitecaps for this. They only get like a week's notice on these games because that's how CONCACAF Champions League works. Yeah. They just, they find out that who they're playing after they beat their previous opponent. Then it's like, okay, go sell some tickets to the game. And it's short notice and people, it's a Wednesday night at 6.30. I mean, it is what it is. They again, managed to get another draw at home.

They haven't won in three straight matches though. So they got a chance to beat Colorado on the weekend though. Thomas Trance is going to join us next on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.