Halford & Brough in the Morning - Is A Demko Extension Close?

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with NHL insider Frank Seravalli (4:31) about the potential, albeit difficult, moves the Canucks might be forced to make heading into July 1st, as well as if the club could be circling back on Brock Boeser and Pius Sutr, along with details on a Conor Garland extension, plus they preview tomorrow's BC Lions game at the Riders, as commentator Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (27:58) 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.

Frank! Cerebelli! Cerebelli! Cerebelli! Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Cerebelli!

Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Seven o'clock on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Frank!

Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now officially in hour two of the program. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off. Hour two and then this can be followed by Frank Saravalli of Daily Face Off. We'll get all the news and notes ahead of today's NHL entry draft. Tonight's NHL entry draft, a decentralized one, still from Los Angeles.

Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominoch 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 online at Jason.mortgage. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. It's our good buddy AJ from AJ's Pizza On. He's Broadway here on the Halford and Brough show

on Sportsnet 650. What up, AJ? What is going on? Hey, Bruff. Yes? That Wednesday rant might've been one of my favorite things ever. I was... I...

It was... It was... It was... It was... I had to, but I thought about it too, because I would be the same with the Yankees and the Cowboys. Your passion.

It's just a passion and a love, right? Mm-hmm. There was an article written in the Edmonton Journal about it. All right, now we're getting into. Did you see that? Now we're getting into the good. I like it.

It was, it was, it was. Wait, I've got it. Don't worry. I've read it 16 times. That is awesome. David, David Staples like transcribed me basically. I'm like, oh, that was pretty good rant actually. The headline reads, a special hatred in your heart.

That is a sat quote. That is a sat quote. He quoted everyone. It was just like, it was insane. You know what, Jason, this is why people don't trust journalists right here. A special hatred in your heart. Vancouver sports commentator rages over a Vander Cane train.

I mean, that's accurate. That's accurate. That's an accurate headline. So I was- I could totally, I mean, that's accurate. That's accurate, that's an accurate headline. So I was- I could totally, yes, I bet it's totally accurate. I respect the hell out of you for coming on here and going straight to the heat from Wednesday because at the break, it's like,

we were talking about it, we're like, yeah, it's good that it's Friday and it's the weekend. The heat can die down a little bit around the show. I don't know, man, that's gonna last for a while. It's burning. Oh man, it's pretty good. The heat can die down a little bit around That's gonna last for a while it's burning Hey brother, so it's a big weekend is where I am gonna promote AJ's on Sunday as a footy as a footy bar because Canada plays at one o'clock in the quarterfinals of the gold cup and then Everyone needs to stick around they can go for lunch and they can stick around for dinner because the whitecaps play at six So so that's just one of them any one of the many things that's going on What's going on AJ's this weekend? That's awesome. You know hey next night is open, so don't be afraid to come

There's no more well. It's still wait lines, but you know it's not two hours anymore, and yeah It's gonna be a great weekend. I think it's kind of a long weekend right yeah, it's close enough right hey You know what every weekend's a long weekend when you got beer and pizza and two sides of the restaurant now yeah that is totally true yeah that is totally true all right buddy hey thank you guys so much and then and brufs you stay true to yourself my friend yeah he always will thanks AJ enjoy the weekend buddy have a good one take care that's AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway go visit him this weekend again both sides the restaurant now fully open and operational

I did hear by the way that they had like monster wait times when the second side opened up they figured it out That's good, but it was very it's a very popular place The first side wasn't huge second side made a lot bigger, but a lot more people showed up as well But hey best pizza in the city go visit him a J's We'll give you a gift card, but have good luck waiting in line to get to the counter well. We're not a gift card but have good luck waiting in line to get to the counter. Well we're not the kick it. Let's not do this. We're not giving away.

We're not giving away the cards. They have to win the 100 dollar gift card. It is Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder, get your Ask Us Anythings in, hashtag them A-U-A and put a pizza emoji into the text. The Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. Let's go right back now to the Power West industries hotline. Frank Ceravalli of Daily Face Off joins us here.

He is a presentation of angry audit liquor. Good morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How you doing guys? We're good. First off, where does this morning find you? Did you go out to Los Angeles for the first

and maybe last decentralized draft? Or did you find another draft headquarters for today? I did. I was out headquarters for today? I did. I was out there for the board of governors meeting. I highly recommend not doing red-eye flights on back-to-back days. Nonetheless, I'm back home on the East coast and well positioned for today's festivities.

All right. You reported yesterday that the Canucks have made significant progress in extension talks with winger Connor Garland. Anything to add on that? Yes, it does seem like the framework of a deal is in place. I do think the numbers that have been reported, I think it was Rick Dollywall that said 6 times 6.

That's the number that I had heard before sending out the tweet. Always cautious with deals that can't be papered for a few days, whether or not they change. Obviously something that can't be executed until July one, but I think they are well down the track on getting a deal done and keeping Garland in place. Okay. What else you got for us from a Canucks perspective? They still want to get a second line center. Any updates on the Marco Rossi situation out of Minnesota? Any other names that you're hearing connected to the Vancouver Canucks?

Bowen Byram has been connected to the Canucks a fair bit. I do think that Buffalo is going gonna have to make a decision here in the next 48 to 72 hours on what they're doing. With regards to Marco Rossi, I don't think the Canucks and Wild have had any substantive progress. I would say that the deal that the Canucks put on the table is just not enough for Minnesota. Like that's not gonna make it work. And the Wild were quite clear in that to the Canucks. They may ultimately be forced to go back and put together a bridge deal for Rossi because they're not giving them away and so that remains a real possibility that they they have

to just you know swallow hard and and keep the guy resign him to a deal even if it's a little bit higher AAV than they're interested in because the offers haven't materialized and then to really kind of present an overarching theme here. Look, there's been tons of conversation in your market about the decision to add a Vander Cane and inject some fresh chaos into a locker room that has been through a lot and now pair that with the Connor Garland extension, which also is basically just the same deal that he's on right now, slightly readjusted for the rising cap. That all of those things signal to me that the Canucks have come

to the conclusion in their own war room that it is insanely difficult to add top six pieces at the forward position. Look at my trade targets board. Seven of the top 10 players on there are defensemen and we're talking like legit good defensemen, no adoption, 70 point defensemen, Bowen Byrom, Kay Andre Miller, go down the list. Like these aren't schlubs, but you're missing forwards. It's dried up.

I can, I can name for you 10 teams that are banging their heads against the wall this morning going, how can we possibly get our hands on an impact forward, let alone a center. It's, they're just, it's not happening. Those guys are not available. And that's why you're seeing the Canucks scramble to get other stuff in place because they're trying to make the best of a tough market. Walk me through a potential Bowen Byram acquisition because the Canucks blue line for the first time in a while actually looks pretty solid right now.

That's kind of the tough part for me has been envisioning what that looks like because I don't necessarily, and I've said this 18 times on the air on your station, I find the Canucks and Sabres to be very difficult trade partners. said this 18 times on the air on your station, I find the Canucks and Sabres to be very difficult trade partners. The Sabres have made it abundantly clear just in the same way that others have with their pieces that they're not looking for futures. So who are you possibly trading that makes the Sabres better?

Maybe in this case, the Sabres can flip Byron for an impact forward. Again, going back to the previous thing we just talked about, how hard that is to do, maybe that helps replace for them losing JJ Peturka. I'm sure that's part of their thought process is, okay, we got our right shot defensemen, we've been left shot heavy.

How do we reimagine this? I just think it's a lot easier said than done. If the Canucks don't manage to add, I know this is a tough question to ask. I mean, your whole thing is like, it's hard to add centers, but you know, if they can't get Rossi out of Minnesota, do they circle back on Pugh Suiter?

Do they give Michael Grandland a call? You know, we've heard some rumblings about Grandland possibly being targeted by the St. Louis Blues or even the Toronto Maple Leafs. If they can't come together on a deal with Tavares there. Anything you've heard on these players or is there a centre that I'm missing here? I don't think so. I'll tell you what, I also think the Vancouver Canucks have circled back

to Brock Besser in recent days. I don't think they're leaving any stone unturned, but when it comes to finding a center, it's not a market that's teeming. So again, I think the conversation comes back to finding ways to beef up our forward group as much as possible. I mean, if you look at the daily face-off

trade target boards right now, the top 10 is littered with defensemen and there's not a lot of forwards, nevermind centers available. I did want to ask about the guy that's number one on that list. And we just talked about him prior to going to break and that's Noah Dobson. So between there's a ton of smoke around Dobson and a potential trade in it right now. So it's Friday, it's day one of the NHL draft between the Dobson trade rumors

and then the Islanders holding the first overall pick. Is this a day that's going to belong to the Newark Islanders? Yeah, I mean, it certainly seems that way. They are in a position where they have a lot going on at once. I mean, the Shaper thing picking number one overall, that's kind of the easiest part of their day. The Dobson file is more or less like, I don't think there's a deadline in the sense that like, you have to get it done by July 1st

because they're afraid of an offer sheet. I think it's, they'd like to potentially position themselves as best as possible with this round one because they're considering taking futures back and prospects back as part of this deal. So in that sense time may be of the essence today. But they, the Islanders are certainly a team to watch for the full scope of today from trade to draft. That number one player on my trade targets board in Dobson, number one overall pick is a pretty fascinating day

to be an Islander fan. So on that same trade board, there is one goalie in the top 10 and it's John Gibson. That kind of got me thinking because in a piece that came out this morning Drance and Dallowall reported a number of things including the fact that when it comes to goalies the Vancouver Canucks have started to explore the possibility of moving the reigning AHL MVP Archer Seeloff's. I guess so a two-parter there one of you heard anything on the possibility of sea loves being moved

To how does the overall goalie market look in terms of guys that are available because it looks like it's Gibson and then maybe not a lot else By the way, I did get a message while we were speaking and that six times six is is the number for Connor Garland Okay, great um with that said on the goalie front, I think it's possible that we see a faster DemCo extension materialized today.

I think talks have progressed and there's an avenue to a deal. I don't think that's at all a done deal, but I think they've gotten to a place now where they can at least wrap their brains around it. But we're also reaching like the clock is ticking because it's that your demo is either going to be resigned or he's going to be part of another organization by Tuesday. I don't think the Canucks are, I mean, and like by Tuesday, I mean, like not a hard deadline,

but the Canucks aren't entering the season with Thatcher Demko as a pending USA with most goalie positions filled and the potential for injury. That's just not, I don't think that's how they're going to manage the asset. Got it. So that's, that's the thought process is that he's, he's either signing, which seems to be the likely course or they're moving him. I think the ask for Demco has been a first round pick. think the ask for Demko has been a first round pick.

Teams have felt with his recent injury history that that's an expensive price. I think it's really reasonable given the high end nature of his game and the upside. And I'd be real curious to see what an extension looks like. I'm really curious to see this because I remember at the end of season press conference, Jim Rutherford said, we'd like to keep Thatcher Demko, but there's got to be sacrifice on both

ends. The Canucks are going to have to take some risk with resigning a guy with his recent injury history, but there's also got to be some sacrifice from Thatcher Dempko because he can't be treated like a healthy goalie, a fully healthy goalie. Do you have any idea what it might look like? Well, I mean, it's got to be a raise. That's the start and end point of the conversation. The goalie market has shifted significantly. This is a guy who over the course of this time has turned into a

Vez and a finalist, um, was the, you know, one of the focal points and backbones of this team. But you're right. That the history and that knee, that damn popliteus muscle, it complicates this. It really does. And he's, I think, an incredibly loyal guy. I think he really, like, Canucks fans should be celebrating Thatcher Demko because he really

wants to be part of it. And with that, um, he wants to like, he, he, he wants to be part of the solution to getting this team back on track. So those things, like you take them and smash them all together, the push and pull of getting a raise, getting a few years of security, all of that. I mean, I still think that's the most likely outcome, but to hazard a guess on what that AAV looks like, it's hard to do because then you look at the Lankton situation and that contract and you go, yeah, that seems to be. Like a pretty bold statement, but as the cap increases, like your run of the

mill backups are going to be, if you were at two or two and a half, you're going to be in the three and a half, four and a half range in short order. And Lankenen is just the new market value for a high end 1B or backup. For sure. Yeah. And backups have never been more important, I don't think, in the NHL. I agree. And so what does that mean for Demco then? how high does that push his number? It's hard to say. Cause of the injury. We're speaking to Frank Sarvali from daily face off here in the Halford and Bref show on sports net six 50, uh, one more Canucks one before we push onto a

couple other things here, uh, given what we've talked about, the lack of centers that are available at high end centers, uh, is there anything worth exploring or considering in terms of teams, maybe checking back in on Alias, Pedersen with regards to the Vancouver Canucks? It's a great question on Pedersen. I think that there's been some increased conversation like teams just checking in, um, to see if like A,

is he actually truly available? B, like what would that look like? What would the cost be? I don't think the Canucks have been slamming down the phone, but I think that their intention has been to have, let's see what Pedersen looks like and let's see if we can have an internal solution here. Cause if you move him,

all you're doing is making this that much harder to fill out that position and all the things that we just talked about. Definitely have to check back with Souter then. Um, Frank. But like Souter can't be your, like, look, everyone loves Pew Souter and the nature of his game, but like that, he cannot be the answer.

He's got to be a 3C guy. Yep. I agree. I mean, or a winger. I mean, he is versatile, but I'm with you on that. Frank, I did want to, since Evander Kane is now a Vancouver Canuck, and since you were the first to report the potential investigation or the investigation by the NHL into Edmonton's LTIR situation, I just wanted to see if I could get a little

more information out of you about what specifically the issue was and how the investigation started. Was there some sort of whistleblower involved or was there just like the league looking at that situation and going, hey, I want more information on that? Well, no, like to answer your question, no, there was not any sort of whistleblower situation or anything like that. was not any sort of whistleblower situation or anything like that.

Uh, the truth and the crux of the issue for the NHL was. Kane had a massive surgery in September and everyone was on board and, and understanding that situation where the league takes issue and draws questions is why did he decide to have surgery on January 9th jointly obviously with the Oilers on a condition that was congenital he was born with whatever this tumor like issue that was in his knee that apparently continued to grow. And so they're saying he's 30 some years old. How on earth did you possibly decide to have this surgery on in January, which conveniently extends your rehab period for seven to eight weeks when you were on track to come back and, and skate and play long before that.

So they felt, I'm, I'm sort of paraphrasing here, but I, I believe the league felt that they had a choice to make either we're going to go down, you know, path a and have the surgery and deal with whatever happens after that. you know, path A and have the surgery and deal with whatever happens after that. Or we're going to press forward, have Kane come back and not have as much cat flexibility. And I think the league is wondering, did the Oilers make the wrong move? All of that said, it has nothing really to do with Kane himself. Uh, like now that he's on to Vancouver it doesn't change the conversation there's obviously no

connection to the Canucks but I'll make you a proclamation here or prediction that when the league announces today the framework of a new CBA, that it will also mark the end of this continued investigation for Evander Cain because the LTIR loophole will have been effectively closed. Right. The only reason I wanted to come back on this is because I remember having conversations with you and I think, I guess it was prior to the trade

deadline and we were collectively wondering if Evander Kane and the Edmonton Oilers were on the same page. Do you remember that? Like there was like, can the Oilers use this LTI space or can they not? Yeah. Because there was talk about Evander wanting to

come back and play some regular season games. Um. Well, he's no different than any other player. Anyone wants to play. The push is to play. So it's always to play. It's not like no one's signing up to say, yeah, you know what? No problem.

I'll wait another month or month and a half or two months to play my first game of the season. No one really wants that. But I believe that there's definite truth to the idea that this growth was really bothering him and he wanted it out. Frank, before we let you go, speaking of that, CBA that could get announced today, based on your reporting, will be announced today, based on your reporting and people that you've spoken with. What's been the biggest takeaway, maybe the biggest change or the biggest move of significance? Is it going to the 84 game regular season? Is it the contract term is going to be limited to seven

for players resigning with their current club or six if they're free agents? Is it the comprehensive playoff salary cap? Or is it something else that I'm missing here? What's been the biggest takeaway from the new CBA? It depends on who you talk to. I think for fans around the league, the biggest takeaway from the new CBA? It depends on who you talk to. I think for fans around the league, the biggest thing that I've seen in my mentions has been this LTIR conversation

that we're having right now. Yeah. They'd like to just see a level ice surface and teams all playing by the same set of rules as opposed to ones that either end up with a legitimate big injury or magically end up with an injury that creates flexibility and space. I get, you know, they're saying, Hey, it's not a coincidence that look at all

these teams that have loaded up in recent years from the golden nights to the Tampa Bay lightning to the Florida Panthers. How is it that all of those teams are winning Stanley Cups with significantly bloated payrolls in the postseason? I think part of it is just timing and luck, and part of it is like science. And I think everyone's excited to have that play out in a way that is leveling the playing field but at the same time what I'll add in there is be careful what you wish for because

let's see how the machinations of this work but sometimes you end up with unintended consequences where teams that really do have problems with injuries are unable to solve for them based on whatever these new rules look like. And maybe that ends up in less deadline transactions. I don't know. You like, so you can think of the permutations and how this might have a ripple effect, you never really know until you see it. And I think part of that's why the NHL has been hesitant to address it before.

Frank, enjoy the day. You've done some great reporting. Thanks for bringing it to our show. Thanks, guys. Have a good one. All right. Frank Zanralli from Daily Face Off here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. He didn't ask him about his free agency. He's a free agent. July 1.

That's how we get the inside scoop. Well, we'll get him on one more time next week. But we could have had the we could have had the scoop.. Well, we'll get him on one more time next week. But we could have had the scoop. Maybe he would have announced it live on our show. Maybe he's got an idea. Be funny if he was like, I'm not hearing anything. Yeah.

It's gotten pretty quiet. Talks are quiet. It's gotten pretty quiet. All right. What do we got coming up next? We have got a big show ahead. Who do we have next? We got Moj coming up.

Moj coming up next. Sorry. I was looking at my next read. Coverage of NHL Free Agency 2025 is brought to you by Homes by David L. Young of Dexter Realty. Here, there, everywhere, visit homesbydavidlyoung.com. I was late to this segment, so I forgot to do my Kintec read. The coffee machine is not in draft day form right now. Very slow. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step.

Moj is coming up next on the Alfred and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Drance. 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. 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. It's the mooch. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalaniha. Yes, it's the mooch. Halper's fine, but you know, Ruff is just grumpy all the time. Mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, mooch, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, Alfred and brother the morning is brought to you by sands and associates BC's first

and trusted choice for debt help deliver 3000 five star reviews. This is the online at sands trustee.com we are in our two of the program. Moe's is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off our two hour two is brought to by Jason hominac at Jason mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you Visit him online at Jason dot mortgage to the phone lines. We go the power West industries hotline He is a presentation of the Clayton Public House

He is Bob the mode Marjana Mitch here on the Haliford and brush on sports net 650 what up moge? Good morning gentlemen. It is the line here. You guys get a long weekend You get like Monday off too? We do not. And we're working Tuesday. How about that? You're working on Tuesday? It's July 1st, man. It's free agency.

Got to. Oh yeah, that's right. I totally forgot about that. We forgot to put that in our contract. Hey Moj is. You know who wouldn't work the first would be like, Taylor, Pratt. Oh, I'm aware.

But they would never work the first. Yeah. Every day in July, Pratt wouldn't work, but I digress. Emoja, here's a good say, Kalford. Yeah. Is Nathan Rourke going to work this weekend? Ooh.

Yeah, new. I doubt it. I mean, he didn't practice yesterday. Practicing limited, um, in terms of what he was doing in practice, he was getting some reps terms of what he was doing in practice. He was getting some rep stirring team and throwing the ball downfield, but mainly like check downs, nothing like really airing it out. I would be extremely shocked if he starts this game. So probably more Jeremiah Mazulian. Maybe just maybe we'll see Chase Bryce as

well who got a lot of rep stir in the course of the week in practice too. So, but, you know, I did a piece for Black Press and the Lions website regarding this situation and I found a study by a guy named Stan Conte, he used to be the trainer for the Los Angeles Dodgers and he did a study a few years back on oblique injuries. And the average in terms of players returning from oblique injuries, now of course there's different types of strains, but the average, it took hitters 27 days to recover. Pitchers took 35 days to recover. Nathan Rorick, when we go into Regina on Saturday, will be at 16 days. So maybe next week, but definitely I don't expect to see him this week at all.

Because the Lions, I mean, I know it's a long season in the CFL, but they're kind of staring down the barrel of a one and four start because they got to go into Saskatchewan tomorrow and then they got to head to Montreal to play a pretty good Alouettes team the following week. Yeah, it's something I touched on my piece as well. That's where you have to balance. You always hear about football, it's about winning the next game. A lot of people talk about that mantra, that type of philosophy or outlook, but man, you got to look at the big picture here. Yeah, okay. You've got Saskatchewan this week. You got Montreal the week after

And then you're on the road to Edmonton. So it's three straight road games But man, you have to look at the big picture and you have to determine well If you start Nathan work and if he has any sort of setback now you might be Setting the the recovery back maybe two, three, four weeks, who knows how long. Um, and then your season is basically like, you know, in real trouble. So I think you just kind of ride out this storm the next couple of weeks and hopefully get

Nathan Rourke back in at 100%. Uh, any other changes to the Lions lineup? Not that Rourke is a, is a change. Mazzoli played last week. Yeah, there's a couple of changes of significance. Number one, Jonah Tavae, baby Tavae, as I'd like to refer to him, defensive tackle will not play in this game.

He's had a really good start to his season. He's got a bit of a calf injury from what I understand, I think overly serious, but he'll fit this one out. The good thing about it is Marcus Moore drops back into the line and Marcus Moore had a really good preseason. In Victoria, it was strange. He got involved in a play where he got his helmet knocked off. He suffered a bit of a, well, he did suffer a concussion. Unfortunately for Marcus, like he came back into the game and then the next couple of

days he was even fine. And then the symptoms kind of crept up after that, like three or four days after. And he did not make the opening night roster, but he draws back in. So that's going to be interesting to see because he had a really good training camp and he's in his, I believe, third year. So the Lions are expecting for him to be more of an impact player. We talked about Rourke and the other one is the big one is that Deja Allen, the prize offseason acquisition from the Toronto Argonauts will not play with an arm injury. And there's a lot of concern with Deja Allen moving forward as well.

Should they lose him for any extended period of time, that would be a big, big hit. Because like I said, he was probably the prized off season acquisition. Hey Moj, last time I watched a game in Saskatchewan, it was earlier this season. I think it might've been the writers home opener. There are a lot of green seats there. Yeah. Like a lot of empty seats for Regina.

And I thought, and I, and I know you, you have something, uh, something to say about the attendance this weekend. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see where they wind up in terms of attendance and the reason why I say that is because as you mentioned, attendance hasn't been that great in Saskatchewan the last few years. It's not like they're drawing 15,000, but even for their home opener, they didn't sell out Mosaic Stadium. But this is a day, and again, their home opener was on a Thursday night,

and all we're hearing from the people that we talk to in Saskatchewan is that the schedule sometimes works against the riders by not having games on the weekend. They have so many fans that come in from out of town, you know, gas prices are up, hotel rooms are up. So that prohibits people from showing up from out of town. But the other thing too,

probably the bigger thing is the fact that I think they're really kind of disengaged a lot of their fans when they moved into Mosaic because it was like, okay, here's the stadium. Now you have to come. And they didn't really bend over backwards to make their fans feel welcome. I told this story on a podcast this week and it's like, it almost seems like they've gone a little bit too much corporate for the folks in Regina, but I bought a 50, 50 to get his walk around the counter. It's like, we of course arrived three hours before the game. I bought a 50, 50 ticket.

My options were like 25, 50 and a hundred dollars. Right. So I bought a 50 50 ticket. My options were like 25 50 and a hundred dollars, right? So I bought, you know, I'll buy a $25 when I get my ticket. It's one set of numbers. And I'm like, I only get one set of numbers for 20. Oh yeah, you should have bought the 50, you get 10. So hold on. So if I buy $50, you're gonna give me 10 sets of numbers. I buy a $25 ticket, it's only worth,

I only get one set of numbers. But that just kind of tells you the attitude that I was thinking like, you know, that you see in Regina right now. It's like, and it's upset a lot of people. So it's gonna be really interesting to see with this team that's three and oh, what type of attendance they get this Saturday.

Because you know, everybody in Winnipeg raves about the attendance in Winnipeg. You've been to five straight great cups. Of course you're gonna have the best fans in the CFL, right? So for me, like your fan support is, it's not when you're doing really well, but when you're in the middle of the pack and when you're not doing well, how are your fans coming out? And that's a concern now in Regina. There's the fact that they are 3-0, so there's no more excuses. All right, I know you have some things to say about the Vancouver Canucks acquisition of a Vander Cane. Oh, this one fellows is a long, long time in the works. I know for a fact that the Canucks met with the Vander Cane when he was a unrestricted free

agent with the Winnipeg Jets. They met with them at that time so of course the regime is no longer the same but the owners are still the same. I really think that you know when you look at Vander King and I think this is true for a lot of players and not to say that this was Francesco Aquilini's call but I I just think that, you know, he's of the ilk that he likes to see these guys coming home. Right. And, you know, obviously getting a player of a Vander Cane's capabilities. I mean, you know, I know you're not a big fan of the signing and I'll say this is Brian Burke used to say, we don't play a game until whatever October 15th or 20th,

whatever the case may be. So we'll see what happens with the dynamic of the room between now and then. say we don't play a game until whatever October 15th or 20th or whatever the case may be. So we'll see what happens with the dynamic of the room between now and then. But on paper now, yeah, I can see where a lot of fans have concern with the Vander Kane and, you know, you know, his arrival on this team in terms of off ice. But Bob Stauffer was on with the fellows yesterday and you know the long time colour analyst for the Edmonton orders is on with Donnie and Doll and he was just raving about you know how Evander King got along with his teammates, how he was involved in the community so we'll

see. But like I said, personally myself and Evander was part of my golf tournament for a few years, never had any issues with them, no problems, always was accommodating, but we'll see what happens moving forward. It's gonna be interesting to see. Okay, Moj, a food ask us anything as per usual to close out a Friday hit. This one comes from Colin in Tawason,

and it actually bookends this hit nicely because we opened talking about Canada Day in July 1. Moj, ask us anything food from Colin in Tawason. In honor of the upcoming Canada Day holiday. What is your quintessential Canadian meal? Wow. That's a good question. Central Canadian meal. Yeah. That's a really, really tough question to ask.

Um, hot dog and poutine at Costco. Uh, I'm not a big poutine guy. What? Maybe beaver tail. I don't know. Beaver tails maybe. Right. What would you guys come up with?

I mean, poutine has to be in the conversation. If you, I love, if you do a cursory quintessential Canadian food, Google search, poutine's the first thing that shows up. And you maybe don't necessarily need to go to the culinary expertise of Costco to get it, but anywhere I would say. The beaver tail is definitely in the conversation. Other ones include Canadian bacon, of course,

Atlantic or Pacific salmon, the tortilla, the donut. I suppose you could just kind of cram all of them one into a very unhealthy meal, which would be quintessentially. But yeah, I don't, a meal is different though, right? A meal is like not necessarily a food item. It's something you would sit down and it would either have to be like multi-course or the one sort of like combination of things that are all Canadian.

Let's be honest, a lot of these don't really go together unless you eat poutine and donuts together. Is ice wine Canadian? Kinda, yeah. That's a yeah, you can finish it off. It's too sweet. Too sweet. You can finish it off with a little ice wine.

I can see that as well. Like, yeah, like I said, I'll tell you what, I have had some unbelievable poutine. Like probably, well, I think it might even originated there. She asked him in Quebec City. Yeah Legendary for its routine and it was really really really good on this subject. Are you a Caesars? Like the drink the guy are you a Caesar guy because you are Was less and less now. Yeah, less and less. But you know, Caesar is kind of like a Guinness.

You can only have one or two. That's a great point. Once you start having too many. Like I don't think I've ever sat down and had like seven Caesars in a row. Even though they were a refreshing drink, maybe like in the morning or whatever, like close to brunch.

But yeah, Caesars are great drinks, but you can only really have one. I've seen someone do it before, just get annihilated on Caesars. And I'm like, that's a lot of clam juice, brother. Like, you've consumed more than what's healthy. You've got to annihilate it on Caesars. Yeah, that's more than a healthy amount

of horseradish and clam juice. I don't know what the limit is. I don't know what the Canadian food and drug administration. Was that like Wretch during the Stanley Cup finals or something? Yeah, that's exactly it. But you know, here's the other thing too, you can't get features in the States. You can only get really good in Canada. Yeah, I don't mind a Bloody Mary, though.

I like to switch it up once in a while. Yeah, Bloody Marys are a little lighter. Well, they're lacking the clam juice, of course. So yeah, there's that. OK, well, just has been great, buddy. Thanks for doing this as always. Have a good call on the clam juice, of course. Yeah, there's that. Okay. Well, just have been great buddy. Thanks for doing this as always. Have a good call on the weekend. Enjoy the game. We'll do this again next Friday. All right guys. Guys have a great weekend. Yeah, you too buddy. Thanks. That's Bob the Mojmar

Johnovich here on the Hellford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Yes. You know what this Bloody Mary needs? A little bit of clam. Clam juice. Clam it up. I don't like, again, I know the origins of the drink and everything, but I don't know what would've ever inspired anyone to be like, you know what this needs? The juice of a clam. Just the two words together. You brought it up before, the origin of the.

The origin? Yeah. It was about clam chowder, wasn't it? They wanted a drink to go with clam chowder. Yeah. Something like that. So they made up clam juice? Why don't you turn this into a beverage?

What if you made it more clam intensive People drink this willingly, you know, I see So so popular everybody I know loves my What's your go-to non beer drink? Well, everyone knows mine bourbon, I guess bourbon. Yeah like ladi Draw a blank on the cider cider. Okay. I go, I guess. Bourbon? Yeah, like tequila. Latte? Draw a blank on it. Cider.

Cider, okay. Yeah, I go with the cider. Tequila soda. Get some cider. Yeah, like I'm a big margarita guy now. Margs are great. Margs have a lot of sugar. Yeah, the sugar.

Constantly on vacation. Yeah. All right, it sounds like a Noah Dobson deal. It's on the horizon. Is coming together soon. Maybe Montreal, maybe Columbus. That sounds like those are the two suitors. Wants to stay in the East is apparently the rumor. Yeah. Right shot defenseman. Who needs those anymore? Hey, you remember that Edmonton Oilers Trent Frederick extension that

got reported about seven days ago? And then they said it was gonna be finalized the sounds though It's been finalized the Edmonton Oilers and Center Trent Frederick agreed to a get this eight-year extension with an AAV of 3.85 million that's courtesy Darren Drager. So a couple things here Frederick gets one of the last ever eight-year deals that we'll see in the National Hockey League because those are going away at the Dodo Bird when the new CBA comes in and it'll cap it at a max seven year. Hey, well you got a chance to sign Trent Frederick

for eight years. Okay. That's a weird one. I still can't wrap my head around it. Well, was he that impactful? He had two seasons ago, he had a really good year in Boston. Okay. The goal scoring total was 22, I wanna say. He was like a 20 point, 40 point, sort of 20 goal. 18 was his good year in Boston. Okay, the goal scoring total was 22 I want to say he was like a 20 point 40 point sort 20 teen was his career high with Boston, right?

So he'd be like a 20 at his peak I think what they were assuming is he'd be a 20 goal 40 point guy that was tough and would fight and again This is the everyone's looking for eight years. Well, I guess it brings the AAV down, right? Yeah, you had four points and 22 playoff games with the Oilers. He scored 55 goals in his NHL career and he's 27. Right. Everyone's trying to get the team new version of Tom Wilson, team new Wilson as they call them.

Wish.com Wilson. Right. Tom Wish.com Wilson. That's a good one. So sometimes you bend over backwards and you come out of your shoes to get one. I think this is exactly what happened here is They paid a premium for him at the deadline. Of course, he was hurt when he came aboard Yeah, missed a lot of time and then 22 games in the playoffs. He had one goal and three assists

I realize he does other things but Almost cap it a four million dollars I I know the caps going up and everything, but is he going to stay healthy for those eight years? It just, I don't know. Maybe the oilers- I don't like the deal at all. Yeah.

The oilers are obviously in this position where they've had trouble finding wingers. They're going to have to get off of the Arvidsson deal. Skinner never really worked out. And of course they just dumped a Vander Kane to the Vancouver Canucks. So maybe they're just in this position of like, you know, we got this guy, let's keep him. Sounds like Connor Brown's going to go to free agency. Yep. So there's another guy that they won't have.

Who do the others have on the wings now? Uh, that's a good question actually. Like Nuge can move to the the wing he could once in a while. They've still got Hyman. Yep Pot Colson and and I wonder if pot Colson is gonna get a bigger role next sounds like we're gonna re up with Corey Perry Right Corey Perry. They're gonna keep Corey Perry sounds like that's gonna be done There is there's a dearth of forwards right now available. Yeah, it's a good thing. They're expanding there's a dearth of forwards right now available. Yeah. It's a good thing they're expanding. Okay, a couple other news and notes to pass along from the NHL from yesterday that we haven't got

to yet. I only bring this up because he's a former Vancouver giant and people in Washington are wondering what the hell they're doing. The Washington Capitals acquired Justin Sord, if everyone remember him from his days as a Vancouver giant? Yeah, well, he was drafted by Florida. He played a few years in the Florida organization, got a grand total of one game at the NHL level, thrived in the American hockey league. We saw him with the Charlotte Checkers in the NHL playoffs. He's on his way to Washington. Washington sent a second round pick and a sixth round pick. Seemed a little high to you? Yes, because Justin Sortiff, as I understand

it, was no longer waivers eligible So someone could have made a claim on he was no longer waivers exempt. Sorry. What did I say? Eligible the wrong eligible. Okay So the idea here would be you're paying a premium for a guy that you could put a claim in on and if you know Maybe he'd even have to go through waivers again after the 30 days or whatever Like he's gonna be available and he also hasn't made his mark at the NHL level yet, despite the fact that Florida last year, you'll remember, was really banged up with injuries in the early parts of the season where there were spots to be had.

Now, I know Paul Maurice talked about him as a guy that they thought would eventually move up to the NHL club. But I guess getting a second and six round pick in exchange was too good to pass up for Florida. He did get into a game this year and he scored. I know, that was the thing. He played one game, he scored. And then, like I said, I remember distinctly Maurice

talking about him glowingly saying like, this is a guy that will probably have to play for us when we inevitably lose players. One more player I wanted to mention, and it is Edmonton Oilers related. There were some noise about Darnell Nurse last night and Ryan Rashog tweeted out about an hour ago, he said, lots of chatter in various circles about Darnell Nurse last night and this

morning. My understanding is there's nothing to it at this point. Lots can change quickly, but as of now, it's not a thing. Do you know what happened? Do you know why? What happened?

He took Edmonton Oilers out of his bio on Instagram. I saw some people saying that his Instagram hadn't changed at all though. You gotta watch for that. People have posted, no one has that. There's conflicting reports out there. Some people said it had been unchanged in 2018. No, there's people that will take a screenshot

of a player. The world is passing us by. Yeah. They'll take a screenshot of a player. His status, his social media status has changed. They'll have no mention of their team in their bio at any point, and they'll take a screenshot of a player. His social media status has changed. They'll have no mention of their team in their bio at any point and they'll take a screenshot and be like, oh look, no mention of their team.

And just to get everyone riled up. So be very careful when you see stuff like that. Yeah. Well, I mean, trading Darnell Nurse. Looking at you, Halford. Is certainly an idea. Because his cap hit is $9.25 million and he's not a $9 million defenseman.

Let me, the biggest question I get, who's trading, my biggest question would be like, who's trading for Darnell Nurse? It's great that he removed the Edmonton Oilers from his Instagram bio. But he didn't. I know, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. The question would be, how?

Like who's taking him on? He's got a full no move too. I know, it just, I don't know. Again, he did take the thing out of his Instagram bio, which is the definitive fact. I loved following it last night, and by loved I meant hated. People were like, he was Connor McDavid's best man

at his wedding, and then there were pictures of him at McDavid's wedding. It's just like people's ability to do all this research online. I know, it's just like people's ability to do all this research online. I know, it's great. People say that the internet and like Twitter have gotten worse. I say it's gotten better.

It's so odd though, like you get these snippets of their life and then you act like you know them personally. What? Why would you do that? Yeah, they're bored mostly. I know they're celebrities, but like don't pretend to act like you know who's best friend and you're in the room.

I heard they had a falling out. Come on. I heard Darnell Nurse didn't do a great job as a best man at Conor McDavid's wedding, you know? Drop the ball on the bachelor party. Or the fan 69 tell you that on Twitter? Yeah. Jeez.

Okay, we gotta go to break. Final hour of the program. Rick Dollywall is gonna join us. So if you missed it this morning, Dranson Dolly dropped a huge article, a meaty article, tons of information in it at the athletic on everything. That's going to go on today at the NHL draft, the Canucks hold the 15th overall pick and then everything that's going to lead up to July 1st,

possible extensions for Connor Garland, possible extension for Thatcher Demko. There's a lot going on at Canucks line. So Dollywall is going to join us on the other side of the break. At 8.30, we're gonna start doing what we learned and ask us anything. A reminder, you can win a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway if you submit the best Ask Us Anything.

The Dunbar number text line is 650-650, hashtag it A-U-A, and put a pizza emoji into your text to be entered into the contest to win a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Final hour of the show is coming up. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.