Halford & Brough in the Morning - It Was A Great Weekend To Be A Vancouver Sports Fan (Mostly)

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, including a huge Whitecaps win that sees them moving on to the Western Conference final, as well as a successful debut for the Vancouver Goldeneyes (3:00), plus they discuss last night's Canucks home loss to the Calgary Flames (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to Haldan-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-na. You're listening to Halford and Brough. The Calgary Flames come into Vancouver and win their third in a row. They edge the Canox five to two. Obviously, we wish it didn't happen at that point. It's a shit-fion. The Nishima delays a pass and pour in. Scores!

Matthias LeBorder against Ugo-Lurice to send Vancouver to the conference final. It's got! Vancouver to throw! Vancouver I've won it! Let's go, Katz! Good morning, MacGer, 601 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Halford, it is, bro.

It is SportsNet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adol, good morning to you. Good morning. And Lattie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford, inbrough in the morning, is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech Footwear, and orthotics working together with you in step. What a weekend it was in the world of sports specifically in the lower mainland. What a weekend, everybody. We got so much to get to on the program today, including a lengthy rundown of the guest and show programming.

Guestless today begins at 7 a.m. Yes, that means an entire hour off the hop of uninterrupted Halbro. Guest at 7 a.m., Mike Tannier, our NFL insider from the 2 Deep Zone. Another crazy Sunday in the NFL, wild comebacks from the Cowboys, and the Lions. And of course, we'll recap Seattle's win in Tennessee.

Wasn't an oil painting, but Seahawks get the win. We'll talk to Mike about all that. At 7.7.30, Asa Raymond is going to join the program. Radio Play-by-Play Voice of the Vancouver Whitecaps. What a night on Saturday night at BC Place. We'll unpack all that with Asa at 7.30. 8 o'clock, Kevin Woodley, NHL.com, and Ingoal magazine. Tough night.

As you heard in the intro for the Vancouver Canucks last night, they fall 5-2 to Calgary on home ice. We'll talk to Kev about all that at 8. Now, we have a couple of announcements. First, the big one, right off the hop. Guns and Roses are coming to town. August 29th, 2026, assuming they're still around. They'll be at BC Place.

We're giving away tickets every day this week here on the Halifred & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-650. Tickets go on sale Friday, December 5th. You can beat the box office with Halford and Brough every day this week. Tickets are being given away at 8 a.m. Caller number 5, 604, 280, 0650.

That is not all. We are also giving away a $250 gift card to Golf Town today and every day this week. This is for the Golf Town Black Friday sale. It's on now till December 3rd. Perfect time to beat the holiday rush. Call in again, this time at 7.30. Caller number 5, 604, 280,000, 6.0,000. That number again, 604-280-0-650.

Not even doing the guest list in reverse today. We got so much to get into without further ado. Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was.

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you behind the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies invest in two. resources and safety training.

Visit them online at BCCSA.ca. Man, what a wild weekend in sports. A lot of good, and then the Canucks. Sold out Pacific Coliseum for the Vancouver GoldenEye's debut on Friday, which was a great win for the home team. Sold out BC Place for the White Caps, incredible, incredible win over LAFC and the Canucks played on Sunday. They sure did.

We got to start with the white caps. Yeah, we do. Because that was I'm not exaggerating here. Not exaggerating. If you didn't watch or if you weren't there, maybe you won't get it. That was one of the greatest games in Vancouver sports history. I concur. I think about the games that I've been alive to watch in Vancouver. Not necessarily there, but on TV. There was game six of the Stanley Cup final in 1994, the Pacific Colise team where the Golden Ice played on Friday. The Golden Goal in 2010, that was in Vancouver. It wasn't a Vancouver team per se, but it was in Vancouver. The Slay the Dragon game in 2011. I don't know

how I'd rank them and we're not going to do a ranking. It's not worth it. Maybe I'm missing a few great games in there as well. I'm sure I am. But Saturday and night at BC Place, was in that conversation. It was in the conversation for, you know, top 10 games ever played in Vancouver sports history. This was the night, this was the night the Vancouver white caps have been waiting for since, what, 2011 when they came into MLS? That's right. The actual game was incredible with the caps taking a two nothing lead in the first half before surrendering two goals in the second half. The latter, an absolute beauty-free kick

by one of the biggest soccer stars in the world. Son. Then you had extra time where the caps went down two players and somehow didn't concede, somehow. A lot of guts, some luck. Then you had penalties where, remember that huge star who tied the game, Son?

Yeah, he missed his penalty. He missed it by an inch. And it gave the caps the opportunity. They needed to win a game they could have and maybe should have lost but they didn't so that was the game that was the game but before we revisit everything that happened on the field i want to talk about the crowd yep that crowd was a spectacle with almost 54,000 in there everyone waving towels and it was so loud in there. I was blown away by the noise in that stadium. It was way louder, in my opinion,

feel free to disagree. No, you're right. It was way louder and way more intense than the win over Miami. No, that's right. Miami was a great win and the crowd was amazing, but it was more just like, hey, that's crazy, Messi's playing here, and we happen to win. I kept looking around and I almost couldn't believe that this was a white caps game that I was at, a white caps game. I honestly think the players felt the same way too. I know they had big expectations for the game

but just watching how the players reacted both during and after the game when they were looking around to the crowd and yes, Persorinson, the manager came around after the game and he was applauding the crowd and it was just genuine. Yeah, can I? I want to,

to jump in here actually because I want to play audio that I think is very instructive to this. So on the Apple postgame show, they had Sebastian Berhalter on and he hadn't seen his penalty yet that he scored in the decisive shootout. So the Apple TV guys ran it back for him. Listen to his reaction when he sees the penalty goes in and hears the pop from the BC place crowd. It's a great bit of live television. We'll play it now. Here's Sebastian Berhalter on the post game show after an epic win for the white caps over L-AFC in the Western Conference semifinal. What a relief to see that one hit the back of the net, I'm sure.

Yeah, I just, you know, a new account of my teammates after that, you know, just try to do my job and tuck it away and then let Yohei and the, wow, that's loud as anything. Holy crap. That's loud. But, yeah, just so happy for this group. And, you know, we're not done yet. You know, this is still just putting us in this mid-finals, so we're just getting started. So he was, he was, I watched it.

about four or five times just to get us. He's genuinely shocked at how loud it was. And I think and you... I was too. I was shocked. I was very excited for the game and I thought, man, this is going to be cool with a sold-out BC place. But right from the start, I'm like, there's something different about this tonight. The crowd

is taking it to another level. Now, I tweeted out after the game, you know, that was one of the greatest wins in Vancouver sports history. And most people agreed, but there was some people like, that's a low bar. I'm like, yeah, it kind of is, I suppose.

And some people that, you know, didn't watch or don't care that were like, it's a quarterfinal win. I think that, I think focusing on it being a quarterfinal completely misses the point. The MLS version of the Whitecaps have been in the city since 2011. Yep. And they've had a few good moments, sure. But Saturday night dwarfed those moments.

like it was like remember that Canadian all those Canadian championships we won yeah those were nice that like there wasn't even it dwarfed those moments those moments for sure still good but in hindsight those were two out of ten moments and this was 10 out of 10 it dwarfed messy coming to town and beating messy and it dwarfed it pretty significantly I would say it was like the white caps made up for all the times they'd under delivered and they did it in one night. And I have to say, there's a couple texts that I sent Halford. I was like, I can't believe I'm so nervous for a whitecaps game.

And he was like, you know, I was happy for you because you've been invested in the whitecaps since they came back here. And I was happy for all the hardcore whitecaps fans that have been supporting this team through a lot of just mediocrity, a lot of just like meh, you know? Yep. And I was happy for Vancouver as a sports city because there were two events that happened this weekend,

Friday the Pacific Coliseum, and then Saturday at BC Place that brought the city together. And it was just like a genuine feel good. I'm happy to be there game. That's exactly what it was. And I want to throw it to Yesper Sorensen now, because he talked about this specifically. I don't want to get too schmaltzy.

I don't want to get too, you know, syrupy with the narratives and everything. But there is something to be said about what the sport. And this is also applies to what the Golden Knights did on Friday night, that it can do to the crowd and it can do to the community. It can do to the market when it's, obviously there's a high level of success on the playing field, whatever surface you're on. But there's something more when the crowd. when the crowd really appreciates what's going on and the players and the coaches appreciate what the market is doing and want to be a part of it.

So I want to play Esper Sorensen. I think the audio is a little twitchy at the start, but it'll clear itself up. This is Yesper talking about the fans at BC Place, the spectacle that it was, what it meant and how much of a difference that environment made on Saturday. Here's Whitecaps manager, Yesper Sorensen,

after the big win on Saturday night against L.A.F.C. And I forgot about also the crowd, you know, just coming into the pitch before the games, see in all the towers, see everybody cheering for an amazing atmosphere. And I'm so happy for everybody in Vancouver because I think that creating these moments together with 54,000 people and, you know, getting this kind of game. And I just think that the joy you can have with sports. when you're together, I just think that it's amazing feeling for everybody there, and I'm just happy for everybody.

And, yeah, I think it was unbelievable. Like, here's the thing about Saturday is the way that the White Caps won it. Now, this is, I was thinking about this last time. Like, how am I going to phrase this? The way the White Caps won it is might end up being damaging long term to their title aspirations because of what happened in the second half and what happened in extra. time. They lost Tristan Blackman to a red card. They lost Bilal Halbuni to what appears to be a torn ACL. No confirmation on that, by the way. That's just me speculating. And Mueller might have

tweaked a hamstring. Like, it was a battle. I don't like throwing around war, but it was a very, very trying situation. If they had taken their two-nil lead at the half and salted it away and finish that match at 90 minutes, it probably would have been, not probably, definitely would have been better for their long-term hopes. I still would have. I still would I wouldn't have traded it for what happened. No, I wouldn't have traded it for what happened. To watch them go, two men down. So they're 11 v9 for, and I think I, some was saying 25 minutes.

I think it was closer to 15, but whatever. If you were to watch it in the building and understand that when Yesper's talking about what sport can do, when everyone there is experiencing it together, you saw and you felt like 54,000 people dying with every opportunity the L-AFC had. because they should have scored. Yeah. There's no question they should have scored. And the way that... The three posts in two seconds or whatever?

And the way... So you Esper also talked to what he's like, at that point of the match, you're relying on things that you haven't done all year, which is just defend like your life... like matter is on the line. Like, you have to just basically boot the ball as far as you can

and then anticipate another wave of attack coming. There were people in the crowd yelling, ice it. Yeah, I was... Ice the puck! Ice the puck! Ice the puck! Get a day, right? And God bless them,

they were doing it with as much... much effort. And this is after a hundred and fifteen minutes of running, 120 minutes of just tracking like Bearhalter and Kubas and Laborta and Pryso running their tails off and they're exhausted and they're two men down and they're doing everything they can just to get it to penalties. And somehow, and I've never seen this, I've seen matches that have gone 11 v9 before. And it almost always ends with at least one goal being conceded by the nine. Of course. Always. And yesper said in the aftermath, I don't think of it. He said, I've never been a of a game like that in my entire life.

So to have that kind of theater for in front of this sold-out crowd, you couldn't have asked for a better set of circumstances, even though this might be such a taxing victory that it could end up hurting their chances long term. I still would not trade it in for what happened on Saturday. Preet from Ladner texted into the Dunbar-Lumber text line and he says, I was in the stadium

and my soul left its body when the caps got that red card and then Son scored that free kick. I thought it was over. I'm still in disbelief, so happy for this club, go cap. So when Son scored that free kick, I knew he was going to score. I actually knew, like, there's a lot of texts that went back and forth, and I can't even keep track of them. But, like, when they gave up the 2-1 goal, I was like, L.A.F.C. is tying this.

Because I know, and I was actually thinking in my mind, I was like, okay, it's going to be the serial winning of Thomas Mule. versus the serial losing of Vancouver Sports. Who's going to win in the end? And it looked like the serial losing of Vancouver Sports was going to win in the end. I put my head in my lap like the same way I did

when Russ threw the pick in the Super Bowl. Yep. And it was like, I did the same thing. I was like, I, it took, because like at that point, I mean, this sounds silly if you, if you weren't there, there's some people texting the end,

like I couldn't even watch the game so it's hard for me to understand all this it was it was so emotional and when they and when they tied it it was like how are we going to come back and win this now

how are we going to do this because the game had turned to the point of man like I guess they're just going to have to grind grind and grind and grind and get to penalties and then you don't even know if they're going to win

it if they get to penalties. Like getting to penalties was a win. The crowd went crazy. Right? It's like you guys hung on. You got a little bit of luck but you hung on and you defended that was so gutsy but then you still got a like and Mueller's out of the game.

Yep. Right? So he can't take a kick and like Sun steps up and you're like well he's going to score but when he missed man It was like, oh, the door's open. And yet, this doesn't get mentioned much, they nearly blew it in kicks. Yeah. Because they had four chances in the end, the way it went, where they needed either a goal or a save, and they would have won. Yeah.

Ocampo was saved and then they had a chance. They won with their final kick. They won with their final kick. We played the Laborta penalty at the end. That was the one that won it. But yeah, they had an opportunity prior to that to Salterway. And when Lurice made that save, and we'll talk about Lurice in a minute, I did wonder if, like, there was one more cruel twist of fate to come, right?

Because they still had a cushion after Ocampo was saved. But I did wonder, I'm like, is this going to be another chapter in what's been an unbelievable drama already? Thankfully, it wasn't because I'm not sure everyone in attendance could have taken anymore. Like, everyone there had been. like rung out and left to dry like there was nothing left and anyone my voice was gone too and you can tell my voice is not 100% right now

yeah go ahead we're gonna talk later we'll talk more about the white caps as a show but I do want to we're gonna by the way we've got a full hour of Halford and Brough just me and you talking for the first hour of the show first half hour is gonna be

that was great second half hour Mount Brough was rumbling last night watching the Canucks but I do want to end on this segment this good vibe segment on the Vancouver Golden Eyes

because they very much delivered in their franchise debut the stakes weren't as high as the Vancouver Whitekeps game but I loved seeing the Pacific Coliseum full and fun again I didn't go to the game

but I talked to a lot of people that did. I know the traffic was crazy. I know parking was confusing and the lines were long, which can be expected. I mean, the merchandise lines were going to be long for a team making its franchise debut. But by all accounts, the vibes were great on Friday night. And, you know, I was thinking about this. I've got a couple nieces that play hockey. and there are so many more girls playing hockey now

and I have seen firsthand how important it is for them to have female role models and for them to see women playing hockey in front of an NHL-sized crowd and getting treated like NHL stars that's obviously going to make a big impact. Now, the Vancouver Golden Eyes, if they're going to be successful, can't just be like, you know, hey, it's great that women are playing professional hockey, right? And they're great role models. You know, they are going to develop their own narrative. And the league, the PWHL, the expansion rules have set up the Vancouver Golden Knights very well. And they were able to. And Seattle. And Seattle. And they were able to get a lot. of stars on this team and it was very fitting I think that Sarah Nurse

the scoring for the Vancouver Golden Eyes and they've got a very good chance to be a successful franchise I don't know I don't know I'm optimistic about it I'm bullish on the Vancouver Golden Eyes in this market and I think they've done a really good job so far but you know we'll we'll see we'll see how they do but I think it's a great addition to the market. And Friday, great times in the stadium. Saturday, great times in the stadium. And, you know, I was like, I got to be honest with you.

Like, on Saturday, I'm at this game. I'm at the White Caps game. And I'm thinking, I really needed this. Like, I needed this as a sports fan. Yeah. to be at a game where it was a spectacle and the game was incredible and I think you made a great point about

just like how we all felt there like we were all in this together and we were like when I left the game and I think there was a couple of people that maybe recognized me and I was like giving fist pounds to guys and like pumper knuckles you know just like I was I was

I was pumped you know and like you know the people that listen to this show are kind of like haoff and broth are getting pretty old and they're pretty jaded so cynical

they're pretty cynical like there was no cynicism there no I was I was like booing at the ref like blow your whistle you know like with all the stoppage time and some of the calls and like I felt like

I felt like a kid again I wasn't a media member you know I was just a fan it's nice and it was awesome it was awesome man it was awesome and you know like i i don't want to i don't want to act like it doesn't you know it doesn't matter to me if the white caps go on and win or lose in the rest of these games like but for me like that's that was it that was that was that was that was the white caps moment for me yeah and it was an awesome moment and before we go to break i did want to ask you laddie speaking of

people having moments is laddie was there on friday night at the colisem for the golden eyes It's PWHU, PWHL, inaugural game. It's also your birthday, so you got your name on the Jumbotron, which is pretty cool. I did. What did you think? Basically, Brough summed it up. It was an amazing experience. My daughter had a wonderful time.

The vibes were just so high. You can't really describe it other than if you were there, you understood that this is a long time coming. Everyone was so excited. And, yeah, the opening goal by Sarah Nurse, it was super loud. And just amazing to see the Pacific Coliseum like that again. It's just another Hamiltonian making a huge impact here in Vancouver. So you got to love it. You got to love it.

You know, if there's a lesson from this weekend to be learned, it's that sometimes connecting and sports can be really simple. Win some games, care about the market that you're in, and connect with your fans. It can be that simple sometimes. You don't need advanced marketing degrees to figure it out. The stuff that matters can be really simple, and we saw it on display on Friday and Saturday.

We got to go to break. We got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. A reminder of this entire first segment was brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick at GM on Marine Drive, visit them downtown, visit them in Richmond, or visit them online at Duick Auto Group.com. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. 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. 6.32 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Halford & Brough for the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a license and solvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. to learn how, visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. Still in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Okay, so remember the first half hour and the two guys that were absolutely fawning over the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Vancouver Golden Eyes? It's us. Those guys are gone now. They're dead.

Tell us why. Took them all back and shot them. No, it's because we're now going to turn our attention to the Vancouver Canucks. It was a very, very disappointing game last night. Sunday night at Rogers Arena. It's hilarious. I have to scroll all the way down in my notes. Normally where the Canucks would be the lead story,

they've now been relegated to third spot because it was Morgan Frost and Connor Zairey scoring 35 seconds apart in the first period to a race an early and exciting lead for the Vancouver Canucks. Calgary Flames and the second of a back-to-back went on to defeat the Canucks 5-2 at Rogers Arena on Sunday night. Very, very disappointing game. Maybe the worst home game of the season. Oh, no.

We suck again. Not good. Not good at all. California road trip starts Wednesday in Anaheim, with stops also in San Jose and L.A. And ending outside of California, unfortunately, in Colorado against the NHL's best team, The Avalanche.

Are we at ugly yet for this Vancouver, team? Are we there now? Did it get, did because like they've had a bit of cover from the Blue Jays, the Canucks? Yep. And this weekend they had a bit of cover from the golden eyes. Sweet sweet goldenized

cover. And the Vancouver white caps. Although in some ways one of our favorite words gets thrown in now and that's juxtapose because to juxtapose the results and the good vibes in the Pacific Coliseum and BC place.

with the atmosphere and the result Sunday at Rogers Arena. There were a lot of Flames fans there. I don't know why they're all showing up. Maybe the tickets are cheap now. They won three in a row. Like, on board. Yeah. You know, I just think that was, if I'm going to use my Tony Gallagher impression,

a dreadful performance by the Vancouver Canucks last night. And I feel like there's some. disconnect going on between the head coach and the market right now, like a lot of disconnect. And I wanted to play some Adam Foot audio, not from after the game last night, but from on Saturday when they did a media avail. And it was a question by Thomas Drance. And Drance put it on a platter for him. Okay. And he basically said, like, can you just recap all the Because Adam Foote has been, you know, quite positive about his group, considering the results. So Dranx just asked him, like, can you let us know, like, you know, let's ignore the results and all that sort of stuff.

And he said, just tell me the things that you're proud of of your group. Like, this was an opportunity for Adam Foote to sit there and go, like, this is what I'm proud of in this group. and he did a bit of that but he also did it in a really defensive way we've got results I mean our defensive zone hasn't changed the last three years

we're working on it when you lose that many guys up the middle at once it's just logic that you're going to numbers are going to go down I mean I don't know how they can't until you get these guys up to speed and they get used to playing those reps I mean right that's logic to everybody like it's logic to me

to really you know unfortunately in our world we don't talk about the good. We just don't because it doesn't really sell. We talk about, you know, you guys go back, what did you ask me when I got the job, right? You guys got to go back and think about it. But now, we got a lot of good. You look at this the last seven-game segment. Our numbers in the offensive zone off rush, off-four check. It's off-goal scored. Off chances four. It's four, five, one. Second chance is one. Rush, you know, one or two. So that's what we're thinking about as players now how do we clean up the defensive numbers get young guys up to speed

defending if we're undersized how do we defend gap up ice faster so we can have clothes with numbers so we don't come back so we're working on that right but I mean the resilience is another one that really makes me feel good about the group where if we're down on a game quick we're not really getting off you saw in Florida maybe it happened a little bit but you're playing against a team and we were up to nothing, and then, you know, it happens fast, and some of those goals maybe shouldn't have went in, I don't know, but you're playing heavy minutes, heavy teams,

and, you know, it gets away, but it wasn't as bad. Like, we got that thing back, the 5-5, right? It was good. So I just, like, there's some really good numbers. And, you know, now that defending hard, working on it, we're going to keep getting better at that with this young group. Okay, so Mountbrough is Rumbling

Right now By the way, where was the resilience last night? I asked this question with all due respect Oh, maybe not Is this where the bar is set for the Canucks right now? We're going to practice hard and get better And the centers aren't very good

So what did everyone expect and, you know, we don't quit in games. Is that the bar? Let me know, because the bar seems to be going all over the place right now. I mean, for me, that's a very low bar. And I know management says, we're now a team in transition, right? But like, you can't tell me this is what they planned going into this season, this season that they're trying to keep Quinn Hughes

and now all of a sudden the head coach is talking about them like they're a team that is going through a rebuild like that they don't have players that are being that have massive contracts on the books and I'll be honest with you I'll be perfectly honest with you I don't really have a lot of time for the injury excuse and it's not because other teams are going through it this is why I don't have much time for the injury excuse

the Canucks gambled on Dempco and Heidel staying healthy and they lost those gambols spectacularly they gambled on a van der Kaine being a difference maker and they lost that spectacularly are we supposed to pretend that whoa that's just crazy bad luck that they've had are we supposed to pretend that those weren't huge gambols not to mention taking a head coach that couldn't even last a season in the dub

a goalie that can't stay healthy a center with a serious concussion history and an old winger with questionable character and hockey IQ the latter of which actually both of them were on display last night unsportsman-like penalty and you know he got shots on goal but I've never seen a guy hit more

goalie logos in my life like this guy is aiming at belly buttons out there it seems and the fans look I know my you can attest I stayed quiet since my reaction

to the Canucks acquiring Evander Kane because you know what I knew I wouldn't have to say every time, like, he's not doing much, is he? The fans can't stand that guy. They can't, because not only does he not carry himself in a way that a lot of people like, he's not even good. He's not good anymore. His career is nearly done.

And everyone said, whoa, it's a contract here. He loves money. He's going to play better. what like he's old his body is breaking down he can't get to pox anymore you know and and and like

what do you think about this whole you know like the injury stuff like it kind of it really does bother me when Adam Foote is sitting there going like well our centers are young and inexperience what did you expect? I was like well your management group said they were going to try their hardest to fix the center position and they couldn't do it

and they either completely misread the market in terms of how easy it would be to fix that, or they just failed. They just failed. And I just want a message for, you know, there's some people that are going to be like, oh, typical negative media,

always ripping on the Canucks. They're going through a hard time. Why don't you show them some support? Why don't you ask for more from the Canucks? why don't you as a fan expect more from a team that you put your

time, money, and emotional investment into. This team that said, our vibes are great now, we're going to bounce back after last season because all that noise is in the rear view mirror.

This is a team last year that the two best players had a big fight and they couldn't get along so they had to trade one of them two of their best players, two of their so-called leaders and then they come back this season and yeah they had some bad injury luck talked about the gambols

who could have seen Thatcher Dempco getting hurt who could have seen Philippeal getting another concussion and this is the result they're one of the worst teams in the NHL. And you know what? They might play a better game Wednesday in Anaheim because they'll be embarrassed about what happened.

They might go down there and have a good performance. Yeah, they'll have a couple bounce back performances. And it'll be like, oh, you know, like maybe they can do it. They won't. Maybe they're back. They're not. And you as a fan that, again, you put a lot of time and effort and emotional investment into this team,

you're allowed to expect more. you're allowed to you're allowed to want more from your favorite team yeah i think that's a very important message to pass along and yeah it's timely and of the moment and we're existing in a bit of a like an emotional vortex here with how inspirational saturday was and how profound Friday was for a lot of people and maybe when some of that dissipates and we'll be back to the sort of regular scheduled programming but I think it's important to pounce on these moments when they happen because it is very telling very telling that this market went from a sense of pride and euphoria on Friday and Saturday to apathy. I try to say discipline.

But I'm not even sure how many people are disappointed anymore, as opposed to those that are just kind of like, yeah, this is what it is. This is what the Canucks are and this is what we got served up. You got sold a false bill of goods in the off season by a president of hockey ops who said two things, two things. One, the vibes were going to carry them through and they were going to seize the day with the improved camaraderie and chemistry in the room. and it might be improved it might be better but it's not resulting in wins oh yeah the vibes look great

every time Quinn Hughes talks and then the other one was it's going to be more expensive for us to not acquire a second line center than the cost it's going to take to acquire one

and they never addressed it never meaningfully addressed it they tried to paper over it and they tried the heedle thing and like you said it's blown up spectacularly and now what's the messaging Well, we've got young centers.

What do you expect us to do? Sometimes you are getting taken for a ride. Sometimes you are getting taken for a ride with the messaging, right? It's treat the media like enemies, keep everyone in an arm's distance, insulate the players, and have a head coach go up there, and I don't know if this is directed or if this is foot freelancing, but the issues on a nightly basis never really seem to be addressed. the mistakes are always little ones and the problems are always going to get cleaned up

and there's always help right around a corner in the sense of the guys on the ice they're going to figure it out they're going to make it better and things are going to get better you just wait and see and a lot of us and a lot of you in Listenerland because you care about the team

and you want them to do well you'll keep waiting for it I don't know if it's going to happen I'm beginning to think less and less that it's going to. thankfully there's other things we can pay attention to a few people have text in about the caller last night that got a little emotional on air and I'd like to play it

and you know we're gonna try her best not not to poke fun well let me jump yeah let me just jump in just as a precursor this whole thing um stew and North Van this guy's name calls into the post game show last night uh I think it's pretty

genuine. I don't think he's putting on a show for whoever's listening. He sounds upset. I think as we evolve as humans and as people and as we get older, we try and have more sympathy and try and be more empathetic to whatever people are going through. I just want to put that out there ahead of playing a call of a guy crying on the air and not automatically laughing at. I'm like, I probably used to do. I probably would have done that in the past, right? Take what you will from it. I'm not telling you to take it with compassion. Or sympathy, I'm just merely saying how Bruff and I are trying to address it, but this is a caller to last night's call-in show right here on SportsNet 650

after a 5-2 conducts loss to the Calgary Flames, and you will hear it now. The fall from Grace, Great's being losing the Stanley Cup, but still, being that high, what have we had the last 14 years? It has been absolutely pathetic. And for myself, I started the phone call saying that this will be my last calling for a while because I need a break, boys. I need a mental reset. I'm getting to a point in my life.

You know, I'm getting towards my later 30s, and I need to make sure that I'm taking care of myself. And if something's so negative that it's causing me to just get pissed off, 82 times a year, boop, gone. I have to, I got to take a step back. It's too much. I'd rather do something more fun.

But, um, hope it gets better. Talk, you'll later. Um, all right. We've had a lot of texts. I mean, I feel him, you know, like that's... I do. I do.

Sometimes also when you're, when you're, you know, in a public speaking position. Yeah, you get a bit nervous. You get a bit nervous and your voice waivers a little bit, yeah. It's like, you watch this team and you're just, all I can do now is just throw my hands up in the air. I just, I don't know what to, it's just too much, you know? Yeah. I just, I'm just, I'm almost checked out, which is crazy to say, because, because, Even in my, like, lowest moments with this team, I still, like, hate watch them.

And I'm like, oh, maybe they'll get McKenna or something, you know? But at this point, I'm just like, I don't know, man. Like, there's just nothing there anymore other than, rather than Quinn Hughes. I'm not checked out because I'm not willing to. Well, you can't be you're talking about it. Well, no, I don't want to be. I don't want to be. I think there, I think there needs, I think there needs to be voices in the market that, that, that, that keep banging the drum, that this is not acceptable. This is, this is not acceptable.

and see I'd push back on that I would push back on that because I think that's not what matters I mean I'll give the you know what I'll give the organization credit they've done a remarkable job of ignoring the noise they've done a really good job of it

they don't care they don't care I don't think they ignore the noise I think they've got a victim mentality and a siege mentality and I think it comes across clear when Adam Foote talks that they think that everyone is out to get there Yeah, but that's what it comes across.

And it is such an unattractive quality. There is. Everyone's out to get them. The media jackals out there. You know, this team has received, and you might not believe this. Some people think the media is just like the devil. They have received incredibly soft coverage. When they had the season they did two years ago, we could not throw more roses.

There was a rose shortage in the city. We were just like, what an incredible job they've done. And then, like, again, two of the bigger pieces from the team had a fight. Yeah. And they couldn't get along. And the organization had committed long term to those. And then they're like, well, then we had to trade JT. And well, now we're in a team in transition.

Like, do you accept any response? responsibility in what happened there? None? Let me pivot up that. It was just bad luck. Let me pivot off what you just said because it's interesting because two years ago there was very positive and optimistic and flowery coverage of the team, right? And that coincided with what?

The team winning and having a lot of success and going to the second round of the playoffs, right? Now the team is losing. They're not going to make the playoffs. and the coverage has become more negative. What that is is the both sides of the coin. When you have people that are paying attention to the team, they're going to be with you, and they're going to talk a lot about when times are good.

And they're also going to do it in the inverse when times are bad and things aren't going very well, right? You can't have it where you get your cake and you eat it too. You can't just say, well, we only want positive coverage, optimistic coverage, glass half full, happy, happy coverage when the team isn't performing. It's unrealistic. But that's the world that the organization is kind of envisioned for itself.

And then when the chips are down, everyone should rally behind them and be like, it's okay, guys. Things will turn around. Sure, you made some gambles and they didn't work out, but, you know, someone will go well. You guys are working hard. You're not giving up when you're down in games. Wow. I used to say this when I was coaching. I don't coach anymore.

probably a good thing for everybody involved but I used to tell the parents I'm like there's going to be decisions that are going to go in the way of the favor of your kid and you're going to like those decisions and then there will be decisions that won't go in favor of your kid and you got to ask yourself in that moment am I applying any sort of objectivity to this

because it can't always go right for your kids sometimes your kid's not going to play well we're going to have to sit them sometimes they're not going to get to play the position that they want whatever but you kind of have to put some faith in who's in charge and say I'm going to respect your decisions

good or bad, right? So if you're looking at it from the media, I think there should be an element that says we're going to respect what media and fans and everyone else are doing with our team, good or bad. If they're celebrating us and cheering us on more winning, that's great.

But if they're also voicing their displeasure when we're playing poorly, we have to accept that. We have to acknowledge you, we have to embrace it. You can't just shut out the noise. It doesn't make any sense. And just say things like, you know, like, you know,

why aren't you guys focusing on all the good things? Like what, man? Like what? And that's fine if you want to take a moment to do that. But the reality is they've lost six of their last seven and they're on a three-game losing streak. They got two regulation wins in their last 17? So more often than not,

there's going to be some negativity that goes along with that. We're on the bottom five teams in the NHL and the standings. Yet you have injuries for sure. But people are going to go beyond, well, they're without these players to start asking, why are they without them? Why are these players relied upon so heavily? That's what an invested hockey market does is they ask more questions and they poke and they prod and they want to find things out. And then you end up with a situation where we're at right now where the connects with third billing coming into this morning show on a weekend where, and I actually want to play, you know, we can bring this back to the Whitecaps. We play the Thomas Mueller audio.

Let's go out with that. And then we're going to have some NFL talk with. with Mike Tanier. Maybe we can talk about the Las Vegas Raiders or something. Here's a guy. Here's a guy. And I think everyone knows the situation, right?

One of the most decorated footballers of his generation has won 35 titles. Doesn't really need to prove anything at any level. And when he came to Vancouver, everyone was like, what's going on here? Cynical Halford and Brough spent weeks

trying to figure out what his end game was. Is he getting a piece of the team? Or what's going? We could not. Here's how jaded and how messed up we where we could not accept the fact that the guy just wanted to come here and be a part of something

because it didn't make sense in our jaded cynical minds. So consider this. For all this guy is done, he's still in the dressing room. So someone got a hold of me. They're like, Mueller is vlogging at midnight

from the dressing room at BC Place. I'm like, what are he talking about? He just posted a video. And I'm like, okay. So this is Thomas Mueller, and he's doing like the selfie video holding up the phone and just recording and listen to what he has to say

about how happy he is for the team and how excited he is for the market and how much he loves being here. I do think it means something. Again, we're not trying to get too schmaltzy here, but we'll go to break with this Thomas Muller following a terrific win and an unforgettable night for the white caps on Saturday at BC

Place, then we'll go to break. Here's Thomas Muller. Hey guys. I don't know really what to say. Yeah, what a night. What a night. I'm so proud of the team and be part of this group. I'm very happy for the crowds, for the city. First time ever in the modern MLS era that the White Cups,

the Vancouver White Cups, are heading into the conference finals. I'm very happy to be part of it. What a group of people. Yeah, the match was so intense. for sure there were moments we had to suffer there were moments

maybe LASC deserved a win to we were lucky in some situations with nine men two men down in extra time so

everything what makes our sports so beautiful we've seen it all tonight thank you everybody for your support and have a good night me go on

let's go caps