Halford & Brough in the Morning - If You Put Yourself Into The Sunlight, Then You Cannot Look For Shadows

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest hockey news with NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:44), plus they chat with Whitecaps Sporting Director Axel Schuster (28:01) ahead of today's Canadian Championship final. 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.

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Happy Wednesday everybody Halford Brough Sportsnet 650 Brain A couple things I got to clean up One, it's not the final hour of the program Don't know where that came from

Shout out to that one listener that texted in right away Was your rattled brain It was my rattled brain We are in the second hour Of the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650 Hour 2 of this program Is brats by Jason Homonock at Jason. If you love giving the banks more of your money

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Frank Saravalli, our NHL Insider, joins us here now live on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Morning, Frank. How are you guys doing? Pretty good. How are you guys doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. So big news yesterday happened while we were on the air.

Massive contract extension for Career Caprizoff in Minnesota. They get it done. It costs a lot of money to do so. what are the immediate ramifications or some of the big stories that jumped to mind both for the wild and then the NHL at large given how big the price tag was in the AAV for Caprizov.

Well, I can tell you there was a lot of happy agents yesterday seeing that deal come to fruition and get registered because, I mean, the truth is a rising tide lifts all boats and it's not necessarily for the superstar players like I don't think there's any correlation here between Kirill Caprizov and Connor McDavid.

McDavid's in a class and world of his own, and if and when he decides to sign with the Edmonton Oilers, and it's for a shorter term, it's not going to be a new record setter. He's not going to challenge the Caprizov's $17 million a year record on a short-term deal. He got the record because it is an eight-year deal and because the cap is going to be increasing so significantly.

But where it does make a big difference, is for players that, I don't know, call them close to a point per game or point per game players that were previously going to be in the $8 million a year range, those guys are now going to be getting ratcheted up to 10, to 11. It just changes the overall landscape in terms of the new high watermark and now what everyone else is going to be comparing themselves to. Frank, it's being reported by Elliot Freeman,

that Luke Hughes and the New Jersey Devils are closing in on a 7 by 9 extension. Initial thoughts on that? Pretty expensive. 9 million when you look at not just the devil's cap, but when you also look at the state of really the rest of the defensive market. now I know these deals were signed in different years and I know that this one is much longer

but Luke Hughes with two NHL seasons under his belt and not anywhere near the quality of player is now has the same AAV as KAL McCar moving forward yeah that's a lot that's really interesting when you put it like that he's getting paid more than his brother now Quinn yeah and his other brother Jack yeah which again when you sign a deal in 2025, like, and you're comparing it to a deal signed in

2022 or three, it's obviously going to be different. However, it's just, it's a significant amount of money for a player that hasn't really yet shown to be at that level. Like, and I'm not knocking Luke Hughes at all, but if he had a different last name, I surely don't think he's reaching this type of potential in terms of A.A.V. and pay. If the devils were to make a play for Quinn Hughes, if, would it be a, would it be a challenge them for them to fit everyone in? Because Quinn's going to have quite a big ask when his

contract is up. Sure. It will be, yes, so long as Dougie Hamilton remains in the fold in New Jersey. You can't have three, $9 million plus defensemen. It's, I mean, I guess you could in a couple years, but you can't right now. And this puts Dougie Hamilton, this new deal squarely on the outs. I mean, I know that there's definitely some recency bias baked into the Dougie Hamilton conversation with all the time that he had missed. But when you look at that contract, when you look at Darnell Nurse, and you look at a couple other deals, Seth Jones that were signed in one moment in time,

those deals have not aged very well and with that there was a bit of a course correction and there were some deals that brought the market down a bit believe it or not and now this Luke Hughes contract sort of ratchets that back up again

yeah this is going to be really interesting to watch now because I remember when you and I talked about this I think it was last week you did mention part of this whole story was Jack very openly saying like we need to I'm going to paraphrase here, but start deploying Luke more. Like, you know, the number one defenseman minutes and first unit power play and all those things. And I do wonder if Hamilton's presence had a bit to do with blocking that in the past.

Or maybe it was that the organization thought that Luke wasn't ready for it. But at seven years, nine million per, he's getting paid like he should be ready for it. He is. And I really have questions as to whether or not he is ready for it. I mean, I think there were some significant deficiencies in various parts of his game. Yeah, can he run the power play? Of course. Can he defend?

I'm not entirely sure that he's up to that level yet. But look, the facts of the matter remain really clear. This is a defenseman who in his first two years in the NHL averaged north of 21 minutes a night and average north of 40 points. Yes, that's going to get you paid in any economy or any salary cap situation. But this one, I just think it's a different set up, a different set of rules given his pedigree and given who he is that really changed the dynamic for the New Jersey Devils and made this an excruciating negotiation to the point where he's missing today's day 14 of camp. I don't know if he's in New Jersey and ready to hit the ice today, but if not, that's two full weeks of camp gone and we know historically how detrimental that's been to players that are trying to get. get up to speed. It seems like they never really have a good season, Jeremy Swayman being the last

example. What do you think, I mean, a player that came to mind when you're talking about, I mean, this guy's definitely a point of game and I think one of the most underrated players, but Kyle Connor in Winnipeg is in the same situation as Connor McDavid has got a year left on his deal, then he's UFA. I mean, his ass could be astronomical. He is a terrific player. And can the Winnipeg Jets, are they going to be able to afford to keep them? Oh, they can afford to keep him. I mean, the Jets are in one of the most enviable cap situations going. They don't have anyone that makes a $10 million A.A.V., which is...

That's true, actually. They've got Shifley locked up to a good deal. They got Morrissey locked up to a deal. Good deal. Elbubach is one of the best deals going. I mean, they're in a great... They could do anything they want. They could pay him whatever he's looking for.

the difference is they've gotten no commitment from the Connor camp and no engagement. To my understanding, these two sides have not exchanged numbers. They haven't gone down the path of exploring what a deal looks like. And I think it's raised some real questions after Nikolai Ehlers slow played the Jets last year right on out of town. the situation was amicable you know he obviously played in the playoffs and contributed

and then when it came time to are you staying or going he entertained and said all the right things but then sort of meekly slid out the door and I could envision a very similar situation I'm not predicting it but I could see a very similar situation playing out with Kyle Conner that, hey, this guy has been this team sniper, you know, hit 40 goals for the

second time last season, and then they can't retain him in some ways because they're Winnipeg. Winnipeg doesn't have a hard time acquiring guys via the draft or trade. They have a hard time retaining guys. And that's why the Shifley and Halibuck extensions were so massive. and even Neil Pionk most recently, but it's a lot harder for them to retain in Winnipeg. Have you heard any concerns from the lower revenue teams about the rising cap?

Because if it's the top revenue-generating teams that are pushing this higher cap, and I'm not saying it's all that, I'm sure it's some of the media deals that are signed as well, but are they all going to be able to keep up with this? I think there's real concerns about that. And here's the other part of it, and I'm really curious to see where this goes from here, because the conversation among executives and agents yesterday, after the Caprizov extension was signed,

was if you look at the cap numbers that the league and the PA put out for these next three seasons, they think that those are sort of the minimum bar thresholds, meaning the actual cap could be a lot. It could be significantly higher than that once all the revenue is counted. Now, I'm not convinced that the league and the PA are going to agree to that solely for the reason that you're asking, meaning they might choose to keep it artificially low, link to, even link to revenue. They're going to have to pay back money to players after the season is over, meaning it's still a 50-50 split, right? So it doesn't matter whether you get it up front or you get it after the season once every dollar is counted if the players only received

49 and the owners got 51 the owners have to distribute that extra 1% back to the players and that actually is happening for last season I don't have the official number yet but players are expected to be topped up from last season so what does that mean moving forward for small market teams let's say the cap is on paper to be 113 million two seasons from now agents and executives are projecting that internally based on revenue growth closer to 120 million. 120 million U.S. dollars creeps close to 175 Canadian. Yeah.

Well, that's why. Are the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets, the Ottawa Senators? Are these teams, at a certain point, you can't charge your fan base more. You can't, you know, double your season ticket price. the price has to be static. It has to remain what it is. And are they going to develop enough revenue sources outside of that through corporate sponsors or sweet sales or whatever it is enough to keep pace with that growth?

I have real questions and concerns about that. And I know they do as well, which is why we might see my prediction is a lot of internal budgeting where, hey, the cap might be 120 million, but you can only spend 103. That's kind of why I asked about Kyle Connor Like can they afford it from A money perspective Not necessarily

I think they can I mean look at who their owner is Like what no one ever really points out Like he's the richest man in Canada Like they could literally do whatever they want Yeah All right Are you hearing anything about the Vancouver Canucks Because we've been going through their forward group

and with the Nils Hoaglander injury and they already came into the season looking a little thin down the middle. A couple of young wingers haven't really shown all that well in training camp. Although Lechromacki and Coots have shown well, are you hearing anything about them?

Are they going to be looking at the waiver wire? They're going to be looking at any trades? Yeah, I think they are. I wouldn't be surprised if they're one of the teams that's interested in Lucas Reichol, who's available from the Chicago. a Blackhawks. Look, a really talented winger with speed that I think has so much more to give but hasn't found any consistency at the NHL level. In fact, his game is kind of infuriating to watch

because you know that he has all the tools, but hasn't strung it all together over the course of a full 82 games. And so the Hawks are very likely to be moving on from him over the next five to six days, maybe even sooner than that. It's not going to cost you much. Like, think mid to late round pick. Is that the type of flyer that the Vancouver Canucks should be taking at this point in time? Given some of the issues that you just talked about, and that Hoaglander one, like, you would think seemingly on a more complete team you could withstand a loss like that.

Not saying they can't, but that actually is a pretty significant blow for this team. if I'm not mistaken Reichel was drafted and signed to his ELC by the previous regime right that was a Stan Bowman not a Kyle Davis and yeah is that part of this is that it was the new regime just going in a different direction

or they just not very impressed with the player no I think they've sort of been banging their head against the wall here trying to get this guy going and he requires opportunity it's not kept space like that's not an issue but if you're going to be putting him in the lineup he needs to you can't just plug him in a fourth line role. That's not really

what he is. And anywhere else higher in the lineup, he's taking opportunity away from someone else for a player that they just don't they don't think has earned that spot. So I know some Knox fans listening might say, okay, so why

would we want that guy? Change of scenery and overall skill and talent. I think there's really something there. I'm not saying he's going to pop, but I look at that guy, and watch him play 60 games last season, I'm convinced that someone's going to dig it out of them.

We're speaking to Frank Sarvelli, our NHL insider here on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. I do want to ask you about the Florida Panthers, Frank, and what they're going to do in the wake of the Alexander Barkoff injury. I was watching some of your content on Bleacher Report yesterday. He had a very interesting suggestion for potentially filling that center spot. Can you tell us what it is?

Yeah, I mean, you don't. have to look very hard. So, like, there's two schools of thought here, right? Like, if you're the Panthers, you either get super aggressive and try and address that from the get-go with, you know, there's no one replacing Alexander Barkov, right?

Right. He's the most complete defensive center. You could even make the argument in the game's history. So, moving forward, do you do that off the hop of the season and try and put your best foot forward and say, we'll address whatever the cap issues are later? Or do you bide your time,

and try and, you know, soldier through the season and then address it at the trade deadline. One player that if you're putting on the aggressive hat of Bill Zito, which he's been pretty aggressive as their general manager, one player that really stands out is a Gennie Malkin from the Pittsburgh Penguins. I mean, obviously in the last year of his deal, I don't know how much longer he's going to be playing after that is a real question. but this is a player that at one point in time

was one of the most dominant in the game he's not going to be Barkov and he's a totally different player but if his cap hit is kind of potentially at the right price if you can get Pittsburgh to retain which they've shown an interest in doing and if you can intrigue Malkin Miami is where he makes his offseason home so it's not it wouldn't be

tough for him to make that adjustment after so many years in Pittsburgh I just think it's an interesting fit and I think there's a way capitalized to do it if Pittsburgh retains half to get him under the league average annual salary from last year which is $3.83 million

and then you could still have the potential of bringing Barkov back for the postseason if you want to do. Very interesting indeed. Frank, thanks a lot for doing this today, man. We really appreciate it as always. When we do this again next Wednesday, be on the eve of the opening night

of the NHL season, which I cannot wait for. Thanks again, man. Appreciate it. Let's go. See you guys. See you later. Frank Cerr Valley on SportsNet 650, a presentation of Angry Outer Liquor. He's a let's go guy too. You hear that? I heard that. Let's go. Plus program members at Angry Outer Lickers save. Bryson Deschambo.

You want to be in that boat? Plus program members, save for game days at Angry Outer Licker. Stock up on Canadian-made favorites, ready to enjoy before puck drop. Visit them at Angry Otterlicker.com. E-R-S. Alfred's got some Bryson vibes for sure.

Let's go. Yeah. Not just because of the let's go stuff. Remember my bulk? This is a big head? Yeah. Remember when I did my intuitive dirty bulk? It was called the last 15 years.

Yeah. You've been bulking for a while. Bryson's not all bad. Kids love him. Yeah. He's a big YouTube guy. Anyway, enough golf talk. God, we talk way too much golf on the show.

And I want to talk about what Thomas Mueller had to say yesterday ahead of a Vancouver Derby that I feel like he thought was going to be more passionate. Sure. But maybe he doesn't understand like one of the teams hasn't been around for long. So let's set the scene here. Yesterday was Media Day for the Canadian Championship. For those that are unaware, the Canadian Championship

is a soccer tournament, features all the MLS teams in Canada, all three of them, Vancouver, Toronto, FC and Montreal, all of the CPL teams, which is the Tier 2 league. Forge, baby. Including Forge from Hamilton and Vancouver FC,

who made the final for the first time in their history. It's a competition that has a trophy at the end of it. It gets you qualified into larger tournaments. And it's a trophy. White caps have won at three years in a row. They're looking for their fourth win. But even I, as an enthusiast of the sport, will freely admit that it's not really like a super difficult tournament.

For example, the Whitecaps this year on their road to the final did not play another single MLS team. And they won't in the final. That's right, Jason. Also, they've never played Vancouver FC before. This is the first time ever, this Vancouver Derby, the 604 Derby, as they're calling it, is going to take place. That's the backdrop to yesterday's media availability

in which Mueller was sort of asked about the soccer, the footballing landscape and the sports landscape in Vancouver. He kind of started to talk about what it was like from a soccer perspective, but then it got a little bit bigger. And there was one quote in particular that drew everybody's attention. And we'll play it now because he also references the Vancouver Connects in this. Here's Thomas Miller yesterday. Media availability day ahead of tonight's Canadian Championship.

I came here and when I talked to some people, Yeah, we're never winning something. The white caps are not winning. The Canucks are not winning. And after feeling the Vancouver people, they accept not winning. It goes on from there, a little bit of an abbreviated clip. But the essence of everything that he said was that I came here, not necessarily just the hoist trophies,

because he's done that throughout his career. But he's like, the feeling of winning and the pressure of not winning should be way up here. And I think what he's experienced since coming here is that especially with the white caps, there's not that pressure. Now you've got to understand,

like coming from Bayern Munich, which is the biggest sporting entity in the entire country. Like there are other big clubs in Germany for sure. You're expected to win the league every year. Right. He plays for the German national team, which is the most popular team in the country,

and then he plays for Bayern Munich, which is the biggest club team in the country. And this supersedes every other sport that they play in Germany. it's the height of it. The media is relentless and frenzied and there's a lot of pressure. You also face,

and this is the big thing with a lot of the European clubs, you face a supporters group that is a lot more front facing and demands a lot more of the players. There's not this disconnect like you see in a lot of North American sports where players only get,

or fans only get to see players like through curated social media or what the club allows. Like if you have a bad run of matches in Europe, you're forced to sit there while the supporters like hurl insults at you after the match

you say this is unacceptable supporters will routinely organize almost a union like type thing to call out lousy ownership and all this kind of thing so it's very very the stakes are high and the stakes are also high because you can be relegated

losing is really bad in these leagues because if you lose enough you lose your spot in the top flight yeah there's not meanwhile in North America it's like first overall pick Right? And I've talked to guys that have come over from European leagues before, and there's always been this, they shake their head at what competition looks like in professional North American sports.

So, and Mueller in particular, like I called him, when the White Caps first got into this negotiation with him, everyone was asking, we're like, what type of player is he? What's his strengths? Does he do stuff like messy? Does he do stuff like Rinald? And I'm like, this is going to be hard to explain, but he is a, he's a serial winner. like you just there's one of the it's almost like an elite intangible

because every team that he ever goes on he just makes everyone better with his ability to understand space that's the Rom Deuter name and his ability to show guys

where to be on the pitch it's almost like having another coach or a brain out there he's also a fantastically talented player but all he cares about is winning

and people say well everyone cares about winning well some care a lot more and some know how And some know how. Some care. They don't know how to win. Jeremy and Abbotsford Texan,

Mueller will soon understand. Give it time, kid. You're new here. I bet he's shocked at, I bet they couldn't prepare him for where the white caps and soccer sits in the sporting landscape. You can't prepare him for that.

Do we, again, I come back to the same question over and over. Do we know for sure why he chose the white caps? Do we know, do we have, Has anyone, like, asked them, like, hey, not to have an inferiority complex here, but why Vancouver? The only thing that I can come up with is that he took a chance. He took a big chance.

He took a risk. He took a shot, and he took a shot on an adventure. This was a complete, it was a lot of unknowns. Do you think he didn't want to play in the States? I think it was part of it. Yeah. Yep. Because he had offers from Cincinnati and from Los Angeles.

Yeah. Right. I mean, Cincinnati, I can understand, but. He is, he is a different sort of super. I will say that. Like, if you go back and you look at his time in Germany, even by the standards of the professional footballers there, which are a little bit more modest at times.

Yeah. Some of them anyway. He was like, yeah, I watched Pete Heggs at the yesterday, and it kind of reminded me something from my old country. See, there's that. There's that element of it about not wanting to go to the U.S. And I think that's maybe viable. No one's asked them about it.

But when this opportunity arose, I think that he saw, himself as someone that was actually going to be able to make a difference. And I'm not joking, this is going to sound syrupy and like sappy, but make a difference in a profound way for a team that's never had anything like this. Okay. Let's ask Axel. Sure.

Why did you choose Vancouver and maybe Axel can speak on Thomas Mueller's behalf? We're going to talk to the Whitecaps sporting director. Axel Schuster coming up next on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. players that were previously going to be in the $8 million a year range. Those guys are now going to be getting ratcheted up to 10, to 11. These go to 11. The numbers all go to 11. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance.

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. 734 on a 734 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt and back into the game with a financial fresh start.

Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are in our two of the program. Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at jason.orgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.mortgage. To the Power West Industries hotline, we go. Our next guest is the sporting director of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Axel Schuster, here, now live on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Good morning, Axel. How are you? Good morning. I'm great. How are you? We're good as well. Great as well. It's a very exciting time. Exciting time for your club, of course. The Canadian Championship is on tap tonight. 7 o'clock kickoff from BC Place. The Whitecaps are going for their fourth consecutive Canadian championship and Axel. adding to the excitement Ryan Gald is finally back

and ready to rejoin the team what was that like getting to make that announcement yesterday that Ryan Gould is finally back, healthy and ready to rejoin the team yeah you know maybe the most important message was going forward

and one that I got asked so often over the last weeks and we were so carefully saying something because you know his comeback was an up and down and to finally put it out and to say okay he's back and with that not only for today he's back for the rest of the season and the playoffs it's such a great message let's get a quick health update on some other guys because there's a lot of health concerns with the club do you have

any update on where tristan blackman is at with his knee injury yeah it's actually okay he's a little bit ahead of the plan but that will not change our approach that we try to get him back for the playoffs and not earlier and I think this is still possible and then it would be okay but we will not force anything because it doesn't help us

and so I would say the target right now is to have him back in the playoffs whenever that is we will play at least two games and if he is back for the second game it's also fine how is Brian White doing with his hamstring Andrew seems to be hanging around

and lingering quite a bit Yeah, you know, it's an unfortunate story because it feels like now three games in a row He had issues with his hamstring Okay, same like with Tristan We would give him time off now It wasn't too bad But it is concerning enough that it could become worse

If we let him play during the regular season And since we are qualified already for the top four And know that we start with a home playoff That's now the target for everyone And the two players that you brought in at the back when the injuries to Vazilinovich and then later Blackmun having Can we get some updates on those acquisitions? Sean Lau and Pupa, both of them haven't played yet

but I think a lot of fans are waiting for them to try and get back in the line. Do we have any updates there? Yeah, this starts to become a frustrating call because we only speak about injuries. I can tell everyone that Sondlau has played. Unfortunately, he has only played 30 plus some minute in our next role game during the international break and he got injured

in this game so that was another unfortunate and we were aware about the injury of puber and we were okay with it because we said we added also shown now. Now the things have changed so Yodrake has trained with our

second team over the weekend and he is now joining our first team training and he should be eligible for minutes I would probably guess already on Sunday. Okay that's it for health updates. I'm done. Jason, take it away. No, I'm going back to one. I was wondering if you could just explain a little bit more what Ryan Gould went through

and your confidence that this injury is over because it seems like it was a little more complicated than your typical injury. How confident are you that he can stay healthy because you've got a real important stretch of games coming up? Yeah, so first of all, for everyone, one, we also not force him into something unreasonable, also not tonight. So he is on limited minutes and he will be on limited minutes for the next weeks. But I have to say this is probably one of the now most complicated injuries. And it sounds like not such a big injury at the bone bruise.

And the problem with the bone bruise is if it is at the wrong position, at the wrong spot, then it creates so much pain that it limits everything you do and it and also then it takes longer if you if you force it too much it takes longer to heal so it is it is one of those injuries where you have no idea from the beginning how it will go because it could go faster it could go slower and and you always work on this red line of tolerance and and for it because you also don't want the to tell the player that he can go home and sit in the amchair for four months. You are working on what is tolerable and what not.

And then, yeah, actually at one point you maybe find out two days later that it became worse because it was too much. So for that reason it's such a complicated injury, but since he has no pain anymore, and we did, I think, five MRIs through the time to always double check. how it has progressed. We are very sure that it's now fine. I think the biggest concern right now is that he would pick up a muscle injury because he hasn't played for so long. So for that reason, we will keep him on limited minutes

and we'll build him up from here. So do you anticipate once you get to the playoffs, that's pretty exciting. Could you have on the pitch at the same time Ryan Gould, Thomas Mueller, and Brian White? yeah that's that's actually the plan and i would say medicine is never 100% and we went through this this season and i would say with all the the non-fortune that we had this season we are very careful to say such things because i think every time we became a little bit optimistic about players

returning we had something new happening so i'm i'm i'm a little bit careful here but i would say if everything goes normal and we don't speak about going perfectly or too good, too ahead of the plan, if it just goes normal, then this should be really the scenario. You must be, one, very excited at the opportunity, but two, feeling the pressure to deliver. On the final tonight? No, just in general, like on the final, yeah, well, you better win tonight. but also like going into the playoffs you know this is an MLS squad

that has never really sniffed a title and this is your best chance to do it and might as well just follow up on some of Thomas Mueller's comments the other day where he's like I get the feeling that Vancouver accepts not winning well because he said that we're not going to accept not winning anymore

yeah I don't think that our organization our team that we have built here over years was ever shy of not trying to win I think that's one of our strength that we go on every game and we want to win no matter what players are available or not

and we have proven that lately we had to play games with seven, eight starting 11 players out and we still picked up a result because we are never looking for excuses and at the same time we are always the right way concerned and respectful for the next

opponent. So I think this is a good mixture that we have here. And we, I would say we won a lot. We haven't won silverware this year. We try to win the fourth time in four years, the Canadian Championship, what is the title and what is a, what is something that we always aim for. But then, of course, after that night, we will put our focus on MLS. And the only thing, what we can focus on is a game on Sunday and to make sure that we

finish as high as possible we can still if we win all our games we will finish first in our conference and then we would have the best starting position and that's where you start to the race for a title because the higher you see that the better the program

should be and the more home games you have and I think that's what we should do and then I don't think that anyone in our organization at least with the team that we have put now together and Thomas came also for a specific reason to help us to maybe be this inch better, this inch more hungry, and to compete for it. And that's actually what we want to do.

And we know that if you put yourself into the sunlight that you cannot look for shadow, so then you have to also go out and say we want to win. and then you have to live with the consequences. It doesn't happen, but that's something you have to think after something goes wrong, and we are not anticipating something goes wrong. Is that a German saying? Because that is an awesome saying. I wrote it down. If you put yourself into the sunlight, then you can't go searching for shadows.

Yes. It's a German saying, yes. That's a really good one. Speaking of Germans, why did Thomas Mueller choose Vancouver? I still don't have, I still haven't heard a great answer. And maybe this is an inferiority complex coming up. Like, why us? But why the white caps?

You know, this is a question. I also got asked very often and sometimes I say, look, guys, but you know how beautiful the city is. And I think everyone who is following us should have recognized that we are one of the best teams in this league this year. And the main thing why he chooses us is that he is hungry for success, that he wants to win titles, that he wants to be seen as a soccer player, and he also want to be needed as a soccer player, not as somebody who sells a franchise, not somebody who is doing all the marketing stuff, no somebody who is helping us in training to become better, who is pushing every player, holds every player accountable, somebody on the pitch who leads the team to success. and I think that's the main reason and we have been very clear from the beginning to him

that we have a team that has been in a Conquer Cup final and we felt we were not ready and something was missing. We are a team that last year lost in the first round of the playoffs by an inch against LFC that was a very good team and we felt there was something missing

and he should be that one piece that was missing and he's taking this way seriously and I can tell you that in every training he tries to lift the performance of everyone and on the pitch as well. Can you explain to our listeners because you're obviously very familiar with how decorated and storied his career was in Germany

what it's like to watch a player with that much success already been accomplished to be as hungry and determined and as enthusiastic as he is about this project and this idea of teaching younger players and trying to win at a place that hasn't had a lot of success. A lot of people at 35 that have done the things that Thomas Miller done are more content to rest on their laurels,

but he seems uniquely driven to keep winning. And what does that look like on a day-to-day? Yeah, I'm more than happy to share that, and it's exciting. So he comes in every training, and as soon the training starts, and as soon there's not a warm-up, it is some form of a competition, something with a goal,

he wants to win every single session. And he pushes every of his teammates to be ready and to perform at the level to win this little session. And I would say, with also the more attention that we get, everything is a little bit more electric. Everyone feels the sunlight

that I was speaking about before. And no one is looking for the shadow. Everyone is lifting his own performance. also to not look bad in all of this now. And on the pitch, then, you can see it. He is directing every player. He's pushing them. He's speaking with them.

He's showing them where they should run and where they should pass to help them to perform better. And he's also holding players accountable in training. So if somebody is not in the good route or somebody has not a good day, he's going there and pushing him and holds him accountable to not let his teammates down and so he is a player that makes every player around him better

and I think that's it's something that fits very well to what we have built here a team where we don't have one single star who is then the biggest difference maker on the pitch and scores all the goals where we have a team where I think in every

position we have a player who can be one of the best players in the league, but we are very connected as a team and we are very relational team. And so our strength has also to come always from a team performance. I want to talk about one more positive story. God, this has been very positive, the return of Ryan Gould, some big games for the White Caps coming up, Thomas Mueller. How about your manager, Yesper Sorensen, you must be thrilled with what he's done for you

guys. Yeah, no doubt. I would say that you don't find anyone in our organization who will not confirm that Jasper is a key for the success of this year. And I think the more games we play

and the more games we play with different lineups, with many players out, you have to see, we play in Seattle. A team that was I would say always setting the standard, a team that was maybe always an inch too big for us over many, many years.

And we go there and our first five centerbacks are out. So our first five starting centerbacks are out. And we play a midfielder who has never played centerback with us in all his years as a centerback. And he's prepared. He was coached right. And he's playing amazing. And he's playing a really good game.

And we get there at the point that we needed to at least finish top four. we now had four points against Seattle in two games where we had not our best lineup and that's what the difference is of this team this year and there's also what I said before it's also the difference in our mindset we go there

I have worked for teams I have been in a moment where you have five of your starting centerbacks out and you go there and you say yeah guys okay but if we lose here that would be normal no no we go there and say well we are going there not to avoid a result.

We go there to win a result, and that's what we did. Axel, this was great. As always, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. Best of luck tonight in the Canadian Championship. Let's do this again before the start of the playoffs, which are going to be very exciting this year in Vancouver. Thank you very much, and have a great day. Yeah, you too, thanks.

That's Axel Schuster, Whitecaps, Sporting Director, here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. I want to read a text that came in. Okay. It's unsigned, and it's a new texter. Love a new texter. If there's any takeaway from the Mueller interview, it is that Vancouver sports fans need to considerably change their mindset of success here.

A guy like Mueller being not so familiar with our losing history with the Canucks Grizzlies and the mediocre white cap seasons, we should be moving forward thinking how he is thinking and think more like winners instead of losers. Okay, I like the text, but what I will say, is the fans think a certain way because of the history and what they've experienced? Sure. And the fans will keep thinking that way.

We don't need some sort of motivational speaker to come in and change our way of thinking. What you need are the players. The players determine how the fan-based thinks. The organizational leadership determines how the fans think. Think about the city of Boston. 30 years ago, they were like, we got the Celtics, but we're kind of a loser city. Like the Patriots are nothing.

The Red Sox are cursed. The Bruins haven't been relevant since, you know, for a while. And then they started winning. And it was because they had great players that led them to success. They had Brady and Belichick. and they had guys like David Ortiz and they had Patrice Bergeron you know and it's not

it's not the fan base's way of thinking it's whether or not the players and leaders you bring into the organization are quote unquote winners like that was your whole point with Thomas Mueller you know I think I think about

well two teams like I think about whether or not the people or the players on the Canucks, are they winners? You know, we know that Jim Rutherford has won before, but he had Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh. He is, Sidney Crosby is a winner. If you're asking me, hey, why did Pittsburgh win the cup? It's not because of Jim Rutherford. He made some nice deals. Don't get me wrong.

He made some good decisions. But that was Sid. You know, I think about the Toronto Blue Jays. Is Vladia a winner? Is he? And it's an open-ended question that we're going to find out. You're a loser until you're a winner. Your best players, your best players chart the course.

And your best players essentially determine how you think. When the Canucks were good over a decade ago, the fan base thought positively. There was sure there was a bit of like, well, you know, like we always, things always go badly. the end. But like we did change our mindset. There were expectations of winning and then they were like yeah it always happens like that. Ah yes. Ah yes. That old

feeling but but you need like it's not the fan bases it's not the fans it's not the media it's the players that determine your thoughts because you either have trust in the players or you don't have trust in the players. I don't

have trust in the players. I don't have trust in this current Canucks core until I see them winning consistently. I don't have trust in the Blue Jays until I see them winning in the postseason and being led by their best players. Right. So to your point I think that's what makes the Mueller acquisition and the way it's gone so far such an intriguing story and quite frankly one that

everyone should probably be paying more attention to. Because you're talking about a guy that if you want to talk about winning and the trust, there was nobody that exemplified those two things more than him over his time with the German national team and with Byron. He said, I mean, he mentioned it flippantly yesterday. He's like, I think I have 35

titles. Like, you just mentioned it again. So, he comes to Vancouver and sees almost the opposite, I would say. A team that has no standard of winning, no mentality

of how important victory, are and is kind that kind of is like his driving force right now like whatever extraneous stuff there might be the YouTube channel and plans for after his footballing life there's a real sense of authenticity and earnestness that he's going to go somewhere at this advanced age and say I'm going to make like a profound difference just in terms of winning and I'm going to show a bunch of guys what it's like to win because I know that that's one thing that I've done over the course of my career consistently. I win stuff.

And that feeling and that mentality and the approach. I mentioned, I asked Axel about like what is it like on the day to day because I watched a clip of him playing soccer tennis which is they just set up a net. And like vehemently arguing calls and the rules because he wanted to make sure that he won.

It wasn't that it wanted to make sure it was fair that everyone was getting a chance. He wanted to win. It's that obsessive competitiveness that has been discussed about the Canucks leadership group certainly a few players and whether or not they've got it or not and the exciting thing is

we're going to find out soon and of course that dedication and obsessive competitiveness will be on display tonight in Calgary when the Canucks take on the flames in the second of the last exhibition game of the season. Randy Janda is going to join us next to talk about all that and more

we got one final hour to go so don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet, 6.50. After feeling the Vancouver people, they accept, not winning. Loser! You're a loser! Are you feeling sorry for yourself? Well, you should be because you are dirt! You make me sick, you big baby! Baby want a bottle? A big dirt bottle!