Halford & Brough in the Morning - JT Miller Has Been Named Captain Of The New York Rangers

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, they react to the news of JT Miller getting named captain of the New York Rangers (3:00), plus they look back at yesterday's Monday Night Football action, as Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame (25:12) 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.

You're listening to Haldon-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Braden Fischer with an unbelievable job here in extra innings. Hands off the white over the guard, spins, courts screws in, and it is a touchdown. It is a touchdown for Tampa Bay. You know what? You're spoiled. Give them some respect.

How about that? I grabbed some dicks on the way back. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford and his Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming to live from the Kidd Tech Studios

and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Good morning to you. Morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brought of the morning

is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands dash 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 you live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. Got a lot to get to you on a Tuesday show. Guest list today begins at 6.30.

Matt Verde-Ram, NFL staff writer from Sports Illustrated, is going to join the program. We will look back on Monday night football, the double header last night. Baker Mayfield led a late, dramatic fourth quarter touchdown drive to steal the win for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Houston. Then, in the nightcap, Justin Herbert, MVP, maybe. he and the Chargers were of the 2-0 with an impressive win over Vegas and Gino Smith, not the MVP,

and the Raiders last night. So we'll talk to Matt about all that. And hey, this is what I love about football season. Just when you think that the week is over, don't worry, we're only two days away. From Thursday night football, we can talk to Matt about that as well. 7 o'clock, cool one here.

Nice get for the program. Eddie Olchick's going to join the program. Former NHL are now currently Seattle Crack and TV analyst. The Canucks have, and will continue to see a lot of the Cracken in the early days of this preseason. Prospects tournament just wrapped down in Seattle. And on Sunday, the Canucks and the Cracken will face off in what is both their exhibition season opener. It's a 5 p.m. puck drop from Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday, going directly up against Sunday night football. I know where my eyes will be.

Neil McAvoy is going to join the program at 7.30 this morning. BC Lions general manager is going to join the program. Lions coming off a big win on Friday against the red blacks. They're going to look to climb back to 500 this coming Friday, but it won't be easy. They're on the road against the 8 and 4 stampeters in Calgary. We'll talk to Neil McAvoy about that at 7.30. Finally, the guest list ends at 8.10.

Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. Former NHL are now Canucks analyst. We are just days away now from the start of training camp. On ice activities begin Thursday. at the South Okanagan Events Center and everything wraps up basically on Saturday with the blue white scrimmage on Saturday, September 20th. We'll talk to Landon about positional battles to watch

going into camp storylines for the season. That's all coming up at 810. So working in reverse on that guest list. 810, Landon Ferraro, 7.30, Neil McAvoy, 7 o'clock, Eddie Old Chick, 6.30, Matt Verde Ram. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night?

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'm... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You miss that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

Making safety simpler by giving construction companies to best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. With everything that's going on in the world of sports, we are going to begin with the Toronto Blue Jays. In a season where so much has gone right, Another thing went right yesterday. Their prize prospect, Trey Yassavage, struck out nine.

Maybe, maybe the best MLB pitching debut for a rookie in franchise history. Springer, tie-breaking single in the 11th, and Braden Fisher with a clutch save. Jays beat the race 2-1 on Monday night to open up a five-game lead in the AL East. Let's hear what the close sounded like, because it was for a bullpen that has been under pressure, and at times underperform this year, one of the best saves of the year from the rookie, Braden Fisher. Here's what it sounded like Dan Shulman on the call. One, two.

Got him. Braden Fisher with an unbelievable job here in extra innings. Two scoreless innings. What a major league debut for Trey Yassavich. Think he had any fun here in his first day in the big leagues. And the Blue Jays find a way to win this game. So you savage, for those that don't know, was the 20th overall selection in last year's MLB amateur draft. One of the best prospects in all of baseball finally got to make his debut yesterday.

Again, struck out nine. He was great. A little bit of a wobble at the start of the game, but like almost a veteran pitcher, settled in nicely. Laddie? He pitched a Nat Bailey this year. How cool was that? It's pretty crazy. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm looking at fan graphs now. Looking at playoff odds, I mean, they're going to make the playoffs, but they've got a 97.1% chance of clinching a buy, which is huge for the Blue Jays, considering the playoffs have cuts. How about we just skip that whole part we've had trouble with? You know that early part of the preseason? Really risky. Let's just bypass that. Their magic number is seven.

They lead the ALE East by five. If the Jays goes... Well, hold on, hold on a second. I want to talk about you Savage. Okay. What role could he play in the postseason? Well, I mean... Is he starting?

We already have a text into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, by the way, from Berkey Boy, already calling for Yassavage to take Brios' spot in the rotation going into the postseason. Now, that might be a bit much, Berkey Boy. It's one start, although it's an impressive start. He's got a splitter that he threw a bunch yesterday, which apparently is unhittable. But sometimes when you've got a young guy full of confidence that, doesn't really know any better. You've got to take advantage of it.

And the book's not out on him. A lot of guys haven't seen him. A lot of Major League Baseball pitchers have not seen him. Even through the rotation, sorry, through the batting order yesterday. You could tell that they were still flummoxed. I'm sure he was nervous for his first ever Major League Baseball start. So you can sit there and say like, oh, well, is he going to have the mental fortitude to pitch in the postseason? Well, he just had the mental fortitude to make his Major League Baseball debut and it went really well.

So, like, this might be a secret. weapon for them. Almost. Sorry, go ahead. A lot of the talk post game was how, what's his usage going to be towards the end of the year? Because you don't want to show that hand

too much, but you want to get him involved enough that he feels comfortable pitching in the playoffs. So it's a fine line that they're going to have to balance. Jason actually had a good point there. I don't know if you listened to the audio from John Schneider or not, but we have it here. You sounded very much like Schneider talking about not just the pressure of his first start,

but all the extraneous stuff. His family and a bunch of people in attendance. The nerves going into it. Here's what John Schneider had to say about his rookie chucker after a very impressive MLB debut and a 2-1 win over the raise. I thought he was really good, man. Really good.

I mean, first got out of the first inning, we made some really good defensive plays. Him he played a hell of a game at shortstop today to kind of keep that inning where it should be and handled himself well. As he was coming in after the second, third, fourth, you can see he had taken a little bit of a deep breath, you know, and rightfully so.

He was getting a ton of swing and miss, and, you know, I think he gave up three hits, two to Yandi, and settled in pretty well, you know. Hard to do, you know, he's got a bunch of people right behind the dugout, screaming for him, cheering for him, but really happy with the way he settled in. So the numbers, as we mentioned, J's lead the ALE East by five, their magic number is seven. Really all they need to do is go 500, six and six and six over these final 12 games.

That's it. The Yankees would need to go a perfect 12-0 over their final 12 to catch a game. And they're at the point now, even if the Jay's falter a little bit, the Yankees would still have to have a pretty good record to overtake them. The Yankees very much to win out, I would say, to catch him. And this has just been a pretty magical storybook year, adding another chapter to it with The Savage Thing. Now, you've got some news that you want to pass along, Jason.

Well, we don't normally get breaking news on this show at 6 in the morning. But when the New York Rangers come to town on October 28th, which is not too far away, J.T. Miller will be the captain of the New York Rangers. The Rangers just announced this. Chris Drury, the Rangers president, with the quote, we're pleased to announce J.T. Miller is the new captain of the New York Rangers.

Since his arrival last season, J.T. immediately became a leader for our group and exemplifies how we want to conduct ourselves both on and off the ice. congratulations to J.T. and his entire family on an incredibly meaningful achievement and we're confident he will continue to represent our organization with class,

commitment, and integrity. The story. I had a feeling it was going to go this way. The storylines that J.T. Miller keeps providing he is a sports radio gift. I had a feeling it was going to go this way in New York. I had a feeling.

When they acquired him, they made a real concerted effort publicly to talk about how they wanted the team to play more like J.T. Miller and how they needed J.T. Miller's presence and his attitude and his fiery nature to spark life into a team that had flatlined. I wasn't 100% sure they were going to go to this move this quickly, but it doesn't surprise me. They're doing it well ahead of the start of the regular season. A lot of teams will want to get this done before training camp starts.

The storylines, I agree, that's delicious going into this year. Because a guy that was traded from one team for being, let's call it what it is, a locker room problem, was quickly acquired by another team and given the highest leadership position you can give a player in the National Hockey League. That is a very, very tasty dynamic from a sports radio perspective. And for the Rangers to come to town so early in the game. the regular season. J.T.

That's going to be, and look, let's face it, this won't necessarily go well for the Rangers. It could, but the Rangers are a team that was just as dysfunctional honestly, if not more, than the Canucks last season.

I think they were about tied in dysfunctionality. Sure. Yeah? We're going to allow it. You know what? Let's do that. We're going to use it. And, you know, there were, there were times that J.T. Miller got out of control last season in Vancouver

and that's coming from very good sources and one of the things that I've heard multiple times is that because the Canucks didn't have a guy like Zodoroff or Ian Cole that was willing to be like, hey man, shut up, you know. When there's not that voice in the room. And now and now he's the captain. So he's going to be even more unencumbered. However, on the other hand, so what if that goes badly?

What if it goes really well for the Rangers? It goes down as one of the great in-season trades in recent memory. But I'm not talking about, I don't care about the Rangers. What if it goes well for the Rangers and things aren't so good in Vancouver? Yeah. The Knucks would have to give Elias Peterson the captaincy. Just to spark it. Yeah, just to make him feel better and hopefully change things up.

Okay, this only adds to the pressure on number 40 shoulders. That's all it does, right? Like, if J.T. Miller just got named captain of the Rangers. A lot of people in this market, you know, I know there's some people that are like, never talk about J.T. again. I'm like, well, I'm sorry, we have to. We have to because this is part of the narrative of sports.

And so, you know, if it goes well for the Rangers and it's not going well for Elias Pedersen and the Canucks, man. Okay. Like the stakes for this season are incredible. Unfairly, what you're saying is right and true. What do you mean unfairly? It's perfectly fair. Oh, it's not because this organization has made a point of saying we didn't choose

one over another and not one didn't solve the other, right? They've always maintained that, that it wasn't a choice between Pedersen and Miller and choose to keep Pedersen and trade Miller like they wouldn't have. Yeah, Miller eventually wanted out. Right. And they actually did try and trade PD and Carolina shopped it to Colorado. But this is just the Canucks perspective. I think that when you can't control other narratives and the way people think, it's inevitable, Jason, obviously, that people are going to say, you pick the wrong guy.

If everything that you say does happen, J.T. Miller becomes the captain, has this magical season, leads them back to the playoffs. Let's say they go on a run. It's going to be an inevitability that people are going to say, wow, the Canucks chose the wrong guy. I don't think it's, I mean, I don't think it's fair and I don't think it's right. Well, they did, they did choose, I mean, they did make a decision at one point to lock them both up long term, knowing that there were issues there. Yeah, because they thought that, you know, the two would be able to overcome. And then a year later, it was very evident that they weren't going to be able to do that.

It was even less than a year. Yeah. And this is where we're at currently. So there's been some great questions into the Dunbar Lumber. text message in basket. Three Putt Shane wants to know what does the J.T. Miller tribute

look like when he comes back to town in October. That is a great question. Fascinating. That is a great question. What do you do? What do you do knowing what you know as an organization? Can you roll out the red carpet

and throw flowers and have a tribute video? They will have a tribute video for him for sure. With his arch enemy on the ice, on your bench, Mice. That's tantalizing, isn't it? Another question just came in. Does Evander Cain have to fight J.T. Miller on site the moment that they start playing that game?

I will answer it this way. Wouldn't hurt. I mean, talk about ingratiating yourself of a fan base. That's a good way to get going. If you want to pick a moment. Would J.T. go with him? Yeah. I don't know, man. Avander is very, very tough. I mean, I think he would reluctantly, but he wouldn't want to.

You know what? In terms of being like ready to go, like that mentality. Yeah, I know he was ready to go at four nations. Miller really showed something at the Four Nations thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I remember thinking,

and this is a total aside, but whatever. He fought Pareko, right? Yeah, but do you remember? Punched himself. Wait, he did. We tried his best. Quit hitting yourself. You remember when we had Miller on the show

prior to the start of last season and we asked him about international competition? And he was like, yeah. He could not be less interested in one, the interview and two, playing international hockey. He hadn't thought about anything. So I was like, if he goes to the Four Nations, he'll play,

but how emotionally invested will he be? Well, it turns out he was riding shotgun with the Kachuk brothers on the group chat to make sure that they were ready to fight at the start of the game. So I would say, yeah, I think he could, you know what I think he understands? Yeah.

I think he understands, like, the theater and the moment and the emotion that goes into it really well. Sometimes I think maybe he's like one of those method actors that takes it too far, but I think he understands that this is just more than a sport that there's a real entertainment aspect to this and he loves it right

he loves the emotional highs he loves the energy I think sometimes he likes being the villain too okay I'll read a text from Sean do you really think PD is sitting there reading this Miller News and thinking to himself wow that's more pressure on me now geez that sucks no of course not

that is your perspective how you would feel not necessarily how Petey would feel lay off him it's 616 a.m. training camp even kicks off. He's got enough real pressure on him. Let's not make up fake pressures to add to the storyline. Well, I also don't think he's listening to the show, Big Shoots. So calm down.

Like, it's an obvious narrative that's out there. Yeah. We didn't make it up. Big Shoots. Yeah, like, calm down. I wanted to read that just to give Sean his chance to be heard because, listen, there is a real perspective. Did you just call me Big Shoots? There's a real notion out there.

And I think there's some projecting going on. like he's not he's not nervous or like you know like you're nervous i think everyone's i think everyone's at the very least if you want to call it nerves or excitement if it's not that extremely curious to see how this plays out well you know these are very divisive divisive divisive times and you got the peedy camp and you got the miller camp and one camp will fill one way about this news and one camp will fill the other way about this news and they won't necessarily react, you know, normally. And listen, we love talking about big games, okay?

This is, this game is October 28th in Vancouver, that the Rangers will play, and Miller's going to come in there wearing the captaincy of an original six franchise, and who knows how they start. Who knows how the Canucks start. Regardless, it's like we love these storylines. Maybe some people don't. They don't want any, they don't want

storylines that you know, that add to the stakes of the game. They don't want the drama. It's like, can't everyone get along? Yeah, I know, but like, isn't the drama why we watch sports? Yeah, that's the whole premise of it. Like, that's the best part

of it. This won't just be a Vancouver Hoover thing. This will be people all around the NHL being like, you know what, I'm going to tune into this game because I want to see what the crowd reaction is. This will be a national news. I want to see what Miller does. I want to see how Pedersen plays, you know? Like, do you think Rick Talkett will be watching this game? I guarantee he will. Yeah, probably. He wants to see how this goes. Yeah. No, it's a and it's going to be a test of both teams who went through a terrible seasons last year to see how they rise up to this occasion. Isn't that why we watch sports?

Yes. I don't think... Some people why don't like, I watch it for the Michigans. Right. Sick sellies. Sick sellies. I don't think we need to justify content all the time.

But I appreciate you reading Sean's text. I guess there's that element to it. But as we also pointed out in this segment, that that narrative is partially maybe fully unfair to Pedersen. Because as we pointed out, he didn't ask to choose one of the other. And the Cucks have maintained. that it wasn't a choice between one of the other.

They did not choose one over the other, even though it appears that way publicly. And there is an unfair element of them being pitted against each other for the remainder of their careers. And the move on narrative from some of you, totally valid. But to ignore it entirely is...

But we're not going to. I'm sorry, we're not. But to ignore it entirely is kind of a bigger issue today where if you don't hear something, or if you hear something you don't like, you try and rebel against it. that just because you don't like it, not necessarily because it's based, in fact. So I want to throw that out there. We'll move on once Petey has a great year and Miller will sort of be forgotten and the Canucks

do really well and, you know, it'll figure itself out. Like hopefully Petey has a hat trick, Miller gets zero points, Kane fights them, and we just all collectively move on as a nation. And I know that we're not focused, I know that we're not focused on the Rangers as a nation. Yeah, we got to come together. Yeah, it's horrible for our country, but this is great content. I know that we're not focusing on the Rangers part of this. But to me, I think that there's an equally fascinating story

for what this does to this organization. Because this is not a team and a roster that is bereft of veteran presences. There are guys that have been there for a long time. Now, I know some of you will say, well, Miller was already a Ranger. Yeah, but that first chapter doesn't really relate to this current one because so many of the guys weren't there. There's a lot of guys, I bet, that thought they might have been in line for that captaincy who have served a lot longer under the current regime that aren't that guy.

Miller was brought in for this, and it's fairly obvious right now. Because you've got to remember, the guy that just named him captain of the Rangers was also a captain of the Rangers. Like, Chris Drury understands. And Jerry clearly hated his team. Yeah. But he was like, I mean, he beat kind of blew it up last season. As much as he could, right?

and I'm sure. And honestly, I wonder about his judgment, to be perfectly honest with you. Naming J.T. Miller captain, it's a huge risk. But look at what he's done, right? Moved out Truba, moved out Crider, moved out Miller, took big pieces of that team, kicked him to the curb, and brought in J.T. Miller ahead of last year's deadline, and then within six months, named him the captain of the team. Mark from Calgary, Texan.

If Vince McMahon was involved in the NHL, this would be a storyline. Correct. It would be a bigger storyline. Vince would know how to play it He probably wouldn't read text from Sean either But I digress Okay we gotta get going here Sean would be watching wrestling

And he'd be like Do they have to just involve so many theatrics I'm here for the wrestling Why is everybody so mean to each other? Just the purity of the sport That's what I'm looking for You can do without the promos to be honest All right

We gotta get going Because we've got a bunch of NFL talk to do It was a double header on Monday Night Football last night Matt Verdeeram from Sports Illustrated is going to join us next. And I should mention the Canucks training camp is still on the horizon. Landon Ferraro is going to join us at 810 this morning for some Canucks talk and a look ahead to Thursday's camp, which goes up at the South Okanagan Events Center in Penticton.

Speaking of training camp, all training camp coverage on SportsNet 650 is brought to you by Pastime Sports and Games for the latest in hockey cards, sports memorabilia, and upcoming in-person autograph sessions, visit pastimesports.ca, where customer service is their top You know, you were lucky that we didn't have to talk about the NFL in the segment because you might have to admit that you were completely wrong about Baker Mayfield. Yeah, I was thinking about that last night. I was like, wait, that was two years ago that I went on my anti-Bucks rant. But you know what? Last year, Baker won me over. Yeah.

That's how he's a great story. It is. It's like J.T. Miller's turnaround in New York. We got to go. You're listening to the Alford & Breft Show on Sportsnet, 650. Mayfield, head swiveling back and forth, moves his tie-in, gets the snap, hands off the white, over the guard, spins, courts, cruxs in, and it is a touchdown. It is a touchdown for Tampa Bay.

They have taken the lead on a two-yard touchdown run by White. The clock at six seconds. 6.30 on a Tuesday. everybody, Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. Halford and Breath of the morning is brought to 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 still an hour one of the program. Matt Verde-Ram from Sports Illustrated. NFL writers are going to join us in just a moment here. Hour one of this program 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 the 1170 Powell Street. in Vancouver to the Power West Industries hotline we go. As mentioned, our next guest is an NFL writer for Sports Illustrated. Matt Verde-Ram here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Matt, how are you? Doing well. How are you? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

So more Baker-Mayfield theatrics yesterday. A very cool stat after he orchestrated that game-winning touchdown drive late. He joins Doug Williams, the immortal Doug Williams, as the only Tampa Bay quarterback to open a season with two consecutive game-winning drives. I'll say this. It wasn't always pretty for Mayfield and the Bucks last night, but they are very entertaining to watch, especially late in games. They are, and they're also not a full strength.

I mean, this is a team that they don't have Godwin, they're on a Big Mellon. Abuga's in his second career game. You know, they're missing, I mean, at worst, didn't play at all, and then they lose their right tackle almost immediately. And yet they still beat Houston, who, looks like it's going to be a challenge for Houston to score 14 points every week. I mean, Tampa, you've got to give him credit.

And Mayfield, did that game. They looked at the fourth down scramble. He looked like he was going to get shocked by five percent guys and got out of it. It makes a play, you know, continued to move the ball. No panic. They kept their timeouts. I mean, that's as good as you get in the NFL in a two-minute drill. That was really well done.

Mayfield's become a top ten quarterback in the league. The Buccaneers, to me, are a top. I don't know, what, a team in football minimum. So it was very impressive. And it's a really nice win on the road against a team that Houston was after a home opener. I'm on the night football in a desperate spot. Could Mayfield have done this in Cleveland or did he need this journey to get to where he is right now? You know, it's an interesting question.

I've thought about this before. I think he might have needed a little bit of humility and a little bit of of a wake-up call in some regard, which he wasn't probably going to get as a brown. I also think it's fair to say, and it's just an a name against Kevin Stefanski, but the culture in Cleveland is just a disaster. Like, I don't know that he was ever going to succeed fully there.

I mean, obviously, he had good moments. I mean, the playoffs, but I don't know that he would have blossomed to this degree. You know, he fell on the right spot. He got Dave Canales and Liam Cohen. those guys really helped to take his career from floundering due to the sustained excellence it is now. So in the end, I think he could have been a good quarterback in Cleveland. I don't think he would have been.

C.J. Stroud in Houston, it wasn't that long ago that C.J. Stroud was the next great thing at quarterback in the National Football League. And life moves fast because now they are 0 and 2. They failed to crack 10 points on the road In their first game against the Rams They failed to crack 20s You mentioned at home in their home opener The offense looks stagnant

Now you've got like Jane Daniels comes along And everyone forgets about C.J. Stroud It's like the hot new quarterback Comes every single year And here's another one Where are you at on CJ Stroud? How much concerns should the Texans have Right now for this season

And then maybe long term for Stroud? I think Stroud is so early in quarterback They just think they're horrible around the guy I mean let's just be honest They've got a new coordinator because Sloa got fired after the last season and they're offensive line I mean, you could make a real argument

and look, Cincinnati, you know, Burrow I'm sure like to have a very strong word about this. Houston's got maybe the worst offensive line. I mean, they can't block anybody. Tampa Bay was in the back field in some of those plays literally before he hit his back foot. It was just, it was unbelievable. And really, you know, the Buccaneers,

they don't have a great pass flush. I mean, Yaya Di Javi and whatever's left to Hassan Reddick. and, you know, Cancy got hurt with the peck early. I mean, it wasn't, it wasn't like you'll watch Tampa and went, wow, you know, they've got Dexter Lawrence inside or Chris Jones inside. They've got, you know, T.J. Wad off the, I mean, that's not what was going on. And yet Houston just couldn't block them.

And, you know, that's on Casario. That's on Nick Casario, because they've known that that's been a problem. Look, I covered the playoff game. They lost Kansas City last year. They gave up eight sacks in that game. You go watch the tape. They could have given up 15. I mean, he was hit almost every time he dropped back.

Like, at some point, yeah, he can't make that once before he made to David. They should have been picked off. But, like, I just don't know what you do if you're strapped. You have no help around you outside of Nico Combs. Let's turn our attention to the second game last night. The late one, the 7 o'clock start, our time. Justin Herbert, another very effective game for the Chargers, another very good defensive performance from the Chargers.

20 to 9 win over Gino Smith and Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders last night. I wanted to get your thoughts on Herbert right away. We had a tech started with a buddy of ours, and he astutely pointed out that if you were to give away an MVP after two weeks of the season, you might be giving it to Justin Herbert, who has been very good for the Chargers. That's a win in Brazil against the defending AFC champs

and now a win on the road in Vegas to start the season. Yeah, I know. They've really, quite honestly, should pass my expectations. I thought they might step back a little bit to share. They've been excellent defensively. Jesse Mentor has done an awesome job, with that defense. They led the league and points for game allowed last year, and this year off to a very strong start. Herbert has done everything you could ask of him. I mean, he was

excellent against the Chiefs. I thought he was very efficient against the Raiders last night. Obviously, it's that big ball to Johnson down the side line early at the end of the first half. But he's been excellent. Now, you know, the Chargers, the question's going to be like, it always is with the Chargers. Can they sustain it? Or is it one of these things where they, you know, they go out, they have some horrific, you know, stretch, and they lose a four to two teams that should never beat them, like that's, you know, that's

fair or unfair. I think that's going to be the question with the charges throughout the year. It's just like, can they continue to play like this? If they can, they're very good. And Herbert has been excellent. Look, they were, you know, I mean, not to give any credit away from them, but they were helped out by the fact last night,

Gino was just awful. I mean, that was, and part of that's because of the Chargers. But yes, Herbert to this point has been very, very good. I think you mentioned earlier that you thought the Chargers might step back this season. Why did you think that?

Because they were first and points for game allowed last year. When you look at them defensively, I don't think they have the personnel that would tell you they have the best defensive football. I mean, it's a defense that I think it's bad personnel-wise, but I don't think you look at it and go oh, they have the personnel of the Houston or Denver or the Rams or pick your team and you really like your defense. So I felt that a little bit

and offensively I just worried about did they do enough to add around McConkey a receiver because McConkey's awesome but you know you just wonder like okay Keenan Allen he was a free agent into August for a reason like is there going to be enough

now to this point Quentin Johnson's really stepped up again is that kind of back to the same thing is that something that's going to be we look back and go wow he was great for two weeks then he did it disappearing act or does he continue to play like this he continues to play like this

changes the game. I also, you know, when Slater got hurt, I just felt like that offensive blind is not going to be able to hold up. But to their credit, they're very well coached. Herbert's played very well. Johnson's played like a first round pick through two games this season. And the defense is proving to be more of the, you know, some of the parts in the hole. So it's been, it's been very impressive. And look, they're off to a great start, the first place all along by themselves in the AFUF. Matt, I know you got a busy morning and you got to get going so we'll cut you short here. Thank you again for doing this.

Great analysis in nine minutes. That's efficiency, folks. Let's do this again real soon. Anytime, guys. Thanks a lot. Yeah, thank you. Matt Verde-Ram from Sports Illustrated, NFL writer. Following Monday night football here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650,

I wanted to ask him about Gino yesterday because that was... Yeah. Three picks, nine... I mean, one was essentially a punt. Yeah, but three picks, nine points. Mm-hmm. After the opening... never looked comfortable.

But after an opening weekend where there was so much optimism because of the way that he was throwing the ball around and this thought that, well, we did this on offense. This is Pete Carroll talking right now. We did this on offense without our stud rookie running back, Ash and Genti, even getting going last week. Imagine when he gets up to speed and it just never came together. Now, I will say this.

If the Chargers can keep playing this style of football, it's going to be tough because Cleo Mac got hurt yesterday, he suffered an elbow injury, came out in a sling, so that could be long term. Their defense is very good and they limit teams and they score enough on offense that they'll win a lot of games.

But if that's what it's going to look like for Gino, the old Gino, the erratic Gino, and he talked a lot between weeks one and week two. I don't know if you saw that article in ESPN where he was really lamenting his time in Seattle, talking about how he never felt like

he had the belief of the front office and his coach. Yeah. And I'm like, well, there are... Come on, man. There are reasons. Yeah, yeah. You turn the ball

over a lot. Yeah. And he did it last night. How about cut down on the really dumb throws? Now that being said, Sam Darnold, his replacement, had two horrific throws on Sunday as well. But they won that game, right? And that tends to be a salve for a lot of errors in the NFL is when you win the game. But we'll see what happens with Gino and Pete.

That was a very disappointing because that was their, that was at home, right? You go at home, Monday night football in front, you know, and I know Vegas is a weird crowd. Home. I know Vegas is a weird crowd. But still, both home teams lost on Monday football last night. If you're just joining us, the news of the day is that J.T. Miller, yeah, remember him? He's been named the captain of the New York Rangers, the full leadership group in New York. And I think every name here is interesting.

Like, let's take the Canucks out of this equation and just talk about the Rangers in a vacuum. Sure. Captain is J.T. Miller. Alternate Captain, Mika Zabanajad, he needs a bounce back. Artemi Panarin, what's the future hold for him in New York? Is it a little bit surprising that he was named an alternate captain, considering some of the, let's call them, HR issues? Yeah.

Adam Fox, the luster is very much off of Adam Fox. Norris Trophy winner, what, a couple years ago? Yep. And the final one is Vincent Trocheck, who is probably the least controversial of all those guys. But he is a very good friend of J.T. Miller. And one of the guys, I think, that was leading the charge to bring J.T. to the New York Rangers and maybe convincing J.T. to come to the New York Rangers. that's a veteran group of players that has a lot to prove this season.

Zabanajad's game just like fell off a cliff. Yeah, and they're thinking about bouncing him to the wing to try and revitalize his career, take some of the heavy lifting off him as the center. And Trocheque might be down the middle, I think. And I think that's going to be the play there. So a top six in New York could be Trocheque with Paneran and Lafran.

I'm reading just off daily faceoff here. J.T. Miller between Zabana Jed and Will Cooley, one of my favorite names. Even though it's spelled funny. Yeah. No, I, the Rangers story, and I know that the story, you know, here locally is probably more about the Canucks than the Rangers, although some of you would disagree. Again, to bring Miller in and to have him ascend to the top of the leadership group in such short order. says a lot about Miller but it says a lot about the group

there's no shortage of veteran presence as big important players in that list you just named you're talking about a former Norris winner a former heart trophy and Art Ross candidate in Panarin talking about Zabinajad who's been there for forever and has been on some of the deeper playoff runs

that they've had those are all like veteran vested rangers and J.T. Miller jumps ahead of all of them to become the captain of the team. You know why? Because when Drury made that trade last year, and they said it, they weren't hiding from it, they needed the fire and the attitude, and quite frankly, the pissed off angry J.T. Miller, they wanted that at the forefront of their identity. They felt like they valued it. They felt like they lacked it.

But so did the Canucks until it went too far. And I do think that sometimes you have to take that. risk. If you're missing it and you're lacking it, it becomes one of those beggars can't be choosers type things. It's like, well, you have to take it in any way you can't. I think that they thought they're bringing him back to New York, the place that brought him into the NHL was going to be an important factor, maybe even just from a inspirational standpoint. But they wanted him back. Yeah. Very much wanted him back. So here's a question that I'll throw out for the listeners. I'm not saying, just let me preface this with, I'm not saying that

your captain should be just like this like fiery out of control guy that's just always yelling and freaking out like i think one of the big aspects of or one of the big characteristics of a good captain is composure and showing composure in the big moments and and showing sometimes quiet confidence but i do think that every team needs a spark plug or an emotional leader if you want to go back to 2011, it was Kessler. But they had a bunch of guys. You know, like the Seneens were quiet leaders, but they also had Kessler and Burroughs. They had very much had players that played with emotion. Yeah. Okay. That's right. We can't have anyone freak out out there, okay? Yeah. We've got to keep our composure. That was Quinn Hughes.

Not too far. There's too much to lose. It's not just keep our composure. It makes me laugh every time, though. What's the question? Who is the Connoisseur? emotional like who's it going to be because it's not I think you know who it is and who I'm going to say yeah you're going to say

Avander yeah yeah it is there's no question about it actually I mean who else could it be it's him that's he was brought in it's not gonna work I just finished saying like think about the inspirational part

of the JT Miller story which was this was the team that drafted JT Miller and this was the team that brought him into the NHL It was his first club. It gave him his shot at this professional career. And now he's coming home.

And what's been kind of the narrative with Evander Kay in this summer, he's coming home. I just love the idea of them when I'm signing him, sitting down with him. So, Evander, when the Canucks play the Rangers on October the 28th, we're going to need you to beat up J.T. Miller. There's been a lot of talk about him coming back home and where it all started and back around the family and back to an organization that he always wanted to play for, and back for a team that he cheered for when he was a kid.

so when you talk about the emotional leadership I mean he was signed to put the puck in the net and to you know provide the fist of cuffs and get in a forecheck and be tough to play size and strength in the top six which they desperately needed but he was also brought in to give them an attitude and to give them an emotional lift because that's what he does

it's a fine line with the vandercaine you've seen that in the past right and is he able to is he able to get his teammates going Guys that bring that profile can do that. But like Miller, you always run the risk of it going too far and it's turning bad. I don't see Kane and Miller is the same. Same in terms of the-

No, no, no, no, you're not listening. It's in terms of the risk. And I'd say Kane has a history of being far more risky proposition. But with Miller, what you've seen now is a guy that can go over the edge. Well, I think Kane can go over the edge too. He's completely laxed discipline. but what I'm saying is that Kane is different because

he's not always he's a bit of a lone wolf sure I think he just like his issue has been that he hasn't fit in in dressing rooms like Miller Miller was well liked by the Canucks I know not by one of them but he was

more than one well liked more than one by the Canucks yeah but come on man like who well like there's a there's there were people that had issues with what he did, but it was kind of like, yeah, J.T. went too far, but I really like him.

But there was obviously a faction in that room. I mean, I don't want to say. How big was the faction? He divided that. He divided that locker room. J.T. Miller did. There was obviously. Much like he divided the fan base.

You had your J.T. Miller fans in the locker room. And you had players on the team that did not care for him as much. So other people have been texting in that Garland could be the emotional leader. Sure. 100%. I would actually, I think that's a better show. out than Cain. You know,

Sherwood, yeah, he's going to provide energy for sure. But Garland, to me, would be the,

let's call it louder culture setter. Sure. You know what I mean? Like, he's not afraid to speak up. And he plays

with a style that you want all your players to emulate. And what a story for Garland, by the way there were Connor Garland chants at Rogers Arena yesterday or not yesterday but last season and I think that's quite a story from coming over in a very controversial trade and let's face it Garland did

some good things but I don't think delivered early on maybe didn't find quite find his role with the Canucks until Rick Tocket came and then has become an integral part. of the team. So I think Connor Garland very much is, I would probably choose him as the emotional leader for the Canucks over a Vander Cain. Now, Kane is a wild card that can add to it, but I think, you know, after thinking about it a little bit,

he's the guy. Yeah. By the way, I think Zavid just pointed out. I think I said that he was cheering for the Canucks in 2011. I meant 2001, not 2011. 2011, he was fully immersed in the National Hockey League, like an active NHLR, so I doubt he was cheering. for another team.

But the point being, the growing up in Vancouver, the coming back. And it has been one of the talking points, both with Kane and with the organization. And then as we tie it back to the emotional leadership part, I think there's a handful of candidates. I think you do need one.

I don't think people are either, I don't know if it's one guy. I think it was Rager that's not listening or you're not getting it. But we're not saying that the emotional leader has to be the leader. because some teams, as you pointed out, have quiet lead-by-example type guys.

Sid. Take your pick. Hughes, I think, would be a good example of that, not super vocal. Most of those teams, though, with that kind of guy in church, also have, I don't want to say a leader riding shotgun, but someone alongside that's either the foil or the alternative one that does provide that. And you need one of those guys in every room, I would argue, because sometimes if it's too flat and no one's bringing it up,

the energy, the attitude. It affects the on-ice play. And there are a handful of guys on this Canucks roster I think can do it, but I do think that Kane was brought in like almost specifically for that role. I'm just going to end all this discussion with the plea and the hope that the Canucks can come together and meet the challenge of this season.

Again, this Rangers team is going to come in to Rogers Arena. One of the first handful of games at Rockies. Rogers Arena this season. I don't know what it is, like home game number five or six or something like that in Vancouver. And I just hope that they can come together because they're being presented a massive challenge, but sometimes when you're presented a massive challenge, that's when you do come together as a group.

And I think about that season just two years ago, Rick Tock was a fairly new head coach. she'd come in halfway through the previous season. And we all talked about the start. We all talked about hashtag the start. And then got off to one of the best starts in franchise history. And we're pretty much able to carry it through the entire regular season, save for a few blips here and there. I just hope they can use, like as opposed to one of the things that I always admired about

Talket, and I know people are tired of the Talket love on this show. But one of the things that, one of the things that, that I always admired about Talk It, whereas he'd just be like, we're not going to run away from challenges. You know, I mean, meet pressure with pressure kind of lost all meaning because we made fun of it so much. But that's what you need to do. And you don't need to talk yourself out of this being a thing.

Like you don't need to go into, I hope I don't hear anyone say, like, oh, this game against the Rangers is just another game. Fifth home game of the season, by the way. You're correct. So it's one of 82 games. we're just going to go out there and do our thing. That's running away from it. No, it's not. Your fan base doesn't feel that way.

So go out there and, you know, play like it means something to you because it should mean something to you. Especially on the whole eyes. Because a lot of these guys too, guys like Garland and Besser, have chosen to stay in Vancouver. So you have chosen to remain in the fight with the Vancouver Canucks. so go out and show it because that's all fans want

they just want to know that you're in the fight and they want to know that you've come together as a group and you're going to do your best. The biggest turnoff from last season and I don't, I'm not even going to take sides here. The biggest turnoff was that two of the star players couldn't get along

and you know you can say well this guy had this guy was this guy's fault or this guy's I don't you know at the end the day, I don't really care who's fault it was. It was that two of their star players couldn't get along. And to me, that as a fan, that's just such, it's, you know, like gross. Yeah. It's, come on guys.

Like, we want you guys to be successful. So you've all, everyone on that team, or a lot of those people on that team, the star players have made the decision to stay in Vancouver and fight for this team. So do it. Go out there and show it. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC. Lions, it's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and nonstop entertainment for tickets. Visit them online at BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. Coming up on the

other side of the break, the hockey talk continues, but this time on a familiar foe with the Vancouver Canucks, Eddie Olick, former NHLer and Seattle Cracken TV analyst, is going to join the program. The Canucks have, and we'll continue to see a lot of the Cracken in the early days of this preseason Prospects Tournament, just wrapped down in Seattle. And on Sunday, the exhibition season opener for both teams, Canucks and Cracken, takes place 5 p.m. Puck drop on Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena. Eddie Olchuk is going to join the program next.

You're listening to The Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.