Halford & Brough in the Morning - Landon Ferraro on Canucks + What We Learned

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

In Hour 3, Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Thomas Drance are joined by Landon Ferraro to debate the Canucks current skill ceiling, individual performances, and what this team needs to improve. What to make of a potential injury to Pettersson, and can Petey continue to find his swagger again? Then it's What We Learned time, where we learn about pizza, automobiles, and Gretzky's cream. 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.

Welcome back to Halford & Brough. Josh Elliott-Wolfe, Thomas Strantz filling in for Halford & Brough today. Coming to you live from the kintec studio kintec canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star google reviews sore feet what are you waiting for kintec you can text in on the 650 650 dumb bar lumber text line metro vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and reno warriors for over 50 years visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dumbarlumber.com halford and brough brought to you by the delari family of honda dealers experience the delari difference today visit your nearest

delari honda dealer today and this hour of halford and bruff is brought to you by campbell and pound real estate appraisers trust the expertise of campbell and pound visit campbell-pound.com today we go to the phone lines landon ferraro former nhler regular here on sportsnet 650 joins us i appreciate you taking the time landon merry christmas how are you i'm doing good i was trying to figure out as the music was playing as i was waiting there if it was just a softer song today or just hits different at 10 a.m. than 8 a.m. Usually those drums are coming through pretty good. I'm going to lean the 10 a.m. And also, as far as Big Band Tuesdays go, that wasn't the biggest of bands on Tuesday. A mellow Christmas Big Band Tuesday for you.

It was very welcomed. Landon, let's talk about the Canucks last night. They win a game against a Sharks team that's still learning how to win, right? And it looked to me like the Canucks were just cageier, managed the game better. All of their know-how played

in that game, although i give the sharks credit because they at least didn't let themselves get pushed around as a young team in that against a more sort of battle-tested opponent that said i thought from a like who has the higher five on five gear perspective it was pretty evenly matched and in fact i, I might have preferred San Jose's 5-on-5 game, and I'm kind of getting sick of saying that, you know, five times out of every seven games this Canucks team plays. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, the San Jose Sharks have done, you know, even though their record's where they are,

like if you look at even just their month of December, I think there's only one, maybe two games that weren't one goal games like they've been in they've been in every game that they play they come out generally extremely fast and they've they've scored early it's just whether they can you know they really struggle as the game gets like really into it into the thick of it they struggle to stay stay in it and they start you know having some turnovers and stuff but again like they have some skill they have players that attack they have players that can make plays like they're not an easy out even though their records where they're at like it's not an easy game anymore with i i think without question, they're massively improved,

but I do think improvement for them means more like a 76-point team. I just, I can't get over how much this team struggles to generate five-on-five and move the puck. You know, last 17 games, it's been really pronounced. They've managed to get 20 points, right? Even though they've only won eight of those 17 games, they's been really pronounced. They've managed to get 20 points, right? Even though they've only won eight of those 17 games, they've managed their losses. When they've lost, the game has secured them extra points at least.

But I can't escape the feeling that if they play 15 more games like this, the results are very likely to be less favorable. Yeah, I mean, it is tough. When you're not breaking the puck out clean, you're not getting through the neutral zone. Like, when the Canucks, like the two games ago, where, you know, they were very good at some points and then really struggling at others.

Like, the issue I find with them is when things aren't going right. There's, like, last year when things weren't going right, they could still get on the forecheck and still kill some of the play down at the other end. This year it goes back to a lot of those high flips, a lot of plays where it's kind of 50-50 pucks, but it's a lot easier for that defenseman that's looking up ice with a puck coming at him instead of the forward looking over his shoulder trying to find it like a receiver. And so everything becomes disconnected.

They don't grind teams down like when they're on that they do. That's where the Canucks' bread and butter is, is grinding teams down, being heavy in the offensive zone, and creating momentum that way. And they just haven't been able to do that with any sustainability this year and it feels kind of like the the debate lately has been like hey is this a an issue that the Canucks can solve um within their group and like obviously they need to add but is this can they can they do more with what they have or does it come down to hey like you kind of need to

add on defense to be able to to break out effectively and be able to push play the other way what are what are your thoughts on that oh i mean like it's been no secret and they've been very forthcoming with it too that they need another defenseman and and when you look at it right now like if they added another defenseman know, within another month and a bit here, like, with Hronik back, that's two, you know, ideally top four D-men going back into that defense core. Like, that completely changes that makeup. And so, like, I still think they have a team that can really compete. It's just it's been hard that, you know you know players some players have taken uh you know

or had some slumps at different points some all together and then when you have you know d-men going out on the back end and and things moving around like it's hard to really feel what the team is like they haven't been they haven't been healthy or really up to their own individual par for any point of the season for an extended stretch. When you look at this team and the inconsistencies, how important, I guess, is this next month going to be to trying to show some legitimacy to to being uh maybe not a Stanley Cup contender but doing some damage in the playoffs like it feels

like they need to flip that switch relatively soon yeah I agree 100% like it's you can't be stumbling and you know kind of good bad good bad all the way through the season like there's just no there's nothing to build off of and it's just not for you know not a way for a team to successfully go through a year and think that they're going to do do something in the playoffs but you know like even last night like you look at some of those goals and even the night before like they're starting to get to the net a bit more. Like, I know some of those were on the power play, but still, like, you know, even, you know, like, Besser's goal. Like, that's a hard play at the net, and it wasn't just him there.

There was someone on the backside as well. I think Hoaglander was on the backside of Besser there. Like, they need to start getting that mentality back that they won't be denied to get to the inside. Because every time that they do get to the inside and put a puck there, there's been scoring chances or there's been goals. But it's always kind of, or not always, but it's been a lot this year of one or the other. Either there's no one at the net front and the puck gets put in there and the play's done, or there's a ton of people there but they look for the shot tip off the backside

or they look for a one-timer off the back door. The puck just needs to get in with traffic and just battle it out, have a little scrum in front and see if you can start playing that way because that's where more success is going to come for the Canucks. Landon, the play of Elias Pettersson and the two goals that he gets last night, what did you see from Petey getting off the schneid before he left in the third period with a supposed minor injury? I mean, he looked engaged.

He looked ready to score. Like, the first one, you know, he makes the pass to Besser. Like, it's so easy for that forward just to kind of stay on the outside and be like, well, if I get to the back door, maybe there's something that pops out there. But he gets himself right back into the guts of the ice, and that's where the rebound goes. Like, that's a goal scorer that's starting to really put himself in those spots

that not anyone gets to, even though it seems so simple. Like, he's standing, he takes that shot from the middle of the slot like anyone could be there. But, again, like, it's so easy, and it's the easier play to just stay on the outside. So he does a good job there. And then, you know you know like we've talked we've talked you know a decent amount before of you know what we'd like to see from petterson

especially on the power play and we'd like we want to see that shot and you know more specifically the one-timer but you know as he started to get up get points especially when miller was out on the power play was a lot of him standing on the flank and putting those passes or shot passes in and getting assists or, you know, bouncing one in for a goal that way. But, you know, there started to be some confidence, but you wanted to see him, you know, take that puck and come off the half wall and, you know, put himself into a spot where he could be the shooter

and now it might open up something else for a pass. But he gets himself in there and you can almost just see it where he's just like, screw it, I'm taking this and I'm going to be the one that shoots. And he puts a perfect shot in there. That's the type of aggressiveness and assertiveness that he needs to have in his game like he needs to be able to say like one i mean is his comment between periods of like you know to be able to see that i can still do it right like his skill is there but he needs to not look for someone else to make the play like he has the ability he just has to believe in himself

again here and that was a major step. Hopefully the injury's not too, too much here. Yeah, the discipline with which he just goes to the front of the net I think is an underrated part of the Pedersen, like the imperious Pedersen we've seen when he's at his best. As much as the fancy stuff, the bro-do-your-deke stuff, the juice and speed that we haven't seen as often this season is a big part of it.

The battling harder than his frame stuff that we saw from him in the bubble playoffs, to me, is a good sign. If we're getting Pedersen anticipates and just goes to the front of the net with disciplined Pedersen, I think me is a good sign like we're getting petterson anticipates and just goes to the front of the net with discipline petterson i think that's a good sign that he's sort of beginning to think the game the way he usually does when he's confident yeah and that's what guys with you know impressive high-end hockey iq can do right again, it seems so simple when you watch some of these elite players and they get to a certain spot on the ice and they kind of just end up

whacking a puck in an empty net. And they're like, oh, like, you know, you even hear guys on the bench like, man, I wish I could get one that easy. Well, there's a reason that you don't is you don't like, you don't have the IQ of knowing where that play is going to go and those guys that can read the play they understand angles and you know it's so much

more than what's actually going on their head like to those guys they just go there because they think it's the right place to be but like it's they know their angles on the ice they know and it's you know it's no different for a PK guy. They don't have to look behind them all the time to see where the net is. They know when they look down, I'm at the top of the circle. It's at this angle behind me. It's all things you learn. But for the offensive side, it's just so much more instinct that comes into it.

And you either kind of have that ability or it's a bit harder for you and and petterson has that he's proven in the past he gets himself into areas especially the front of the net where you wouldn't expect for him to be consistently but he's in there and he can find pox so the canucks they have elias petterson trying to find his game again trying to get back to where he is where he can be jt millas Pettersson trying to find his game again trying to get back to where he is where he can be JT Miller to an extent trying to do the same two high-end forwards and then they have a few guys like Nils Hoaglander where it's like hey you haven't he hasn't really put up points in a while he hasn't been what we saw from him last year what

are the differences in like a player of Elias Pettersson JT Miller trying to get back to their game compared to Nils Hoaglander like what does he have to do to find his game again oh I mean as dumb as this is going to sound like he just needs to be able to relax a little and that is almost you know it's the dumbest thing to say right now because clearly that is the issue. He had the chance the other night where the rebound pops to the back door and he ends up putting it off his toe and it kind of goes back towards the 5-hole instead of the massive area up high on the glove side. And that's the easiest example of a guy that doesn't have confidence, clearly right now.

It's been forever since he scored. You know, he finally got an assist last night. That was nice to see. But when, you know, if that's last year even, and he's putting the puck in the net, like, that's just an easy, soft hands play where you put it in the upper part of the net. Like, he's done that a million times but you get that chance now and all of a sudden you get really excited you squeeze your stick tighter because you're like well i need to make sure this goes in and then you shoot a

little bit early and you miss like you miss time and it's just the little things like that it's just you know i feel like he's done a better job of getting around the ice and making himself effective on board battles and things like that. But it's just put, like I was saying, with Pedersen at the beginning of the year, like you just start trying to build your confidence piece by piece.

Like every little board battle should add a little bit to you. Every little pass play that you make adds a little confidence. You just have to slowly chip away at it because it is tough form right now. It's just not going. Landon, on the other side of this holiday break, the Canucks have a variety of winnable games.

You've got the Kraken, you've got the Flames, Kraken twice in fact, then you've got the Predators, and then You've got the Kraken, you've got the Flames, Kraken twice, in fact. Then you've got the Predators, and then you've got the Canadians. And then suddenly it turns. Capitals, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Jets, Kings, Oilers. Right? It gets pretty crunchy.

Oilers and Capitals actually play the Canucks again before the end of January, and Dallas does as well. How important is it for this team to find a level early on the other side of the holiday break, and how do players sort of approach that, given the need to spend time with family too, given the hamster wheel that is the NHL season? Yeah, I would say that the game coming out of the break is almost, well, it's just as important, but if not, it might even be a little bit more important than the one just before here. You know, you need to get yourself rolling. Like, that was a good win last night, and,

you know, everyone seems to be, you know, it's it's nice like you get a win before the break you can feel good for the couple days but like you need to get that rolling as soon as you get back because exactly what you said you know the Seattle game they've been floundering a bit but you know Calgary's still been playing some good hockey and and then you're right into tough teams like you it can be something where you get on a bit of a roll in those first two games, and then it's almost the best thing that could happen is being forced to play every night against really good opponents where you have to mentally be in it. There can't be any letdowns.

Sometimes just being thrown into the fire is the best thing for you. You don't even really get to pick your head up and have a breath between games because you're just right into the next one, and that sometimes can be a really good catalyst for getting a team to get back moving. When you were a player, Landon, what's your most memorable holiday break,

and what was your worst one? What was the worst one for travel reasons or just like you know the the you're stuck somewhere and and on and on uh i mean honestly i'd almost put them into one uh i decided i always stayed where i was playing for the most part you'd only get a couple days and and I was always in the Midwest or out east, so trying to get home was just way too much. But one year, I decided, you know what? No, I haven't been back in a long time. I'm coming. My flight there was fine. I was home for, I think, just over 24 hours, and then the disaster started as soon as I got back to YVR. Flight canceled, flights delayed. I think I ended up going to three different cities trying to get back to Grand Rapids.

And it was about an 18-hour travel day. So I think I was in the air more than I was home. It was good while I was there, but, man, I was not rested when I got back. Landon, I appreciate you taking the time. Merry Christmas. Have a good one. Yeah, you appreciate you taking the time. Merry Christmas. Have a good one. Yeah, you guys as well. Have a good one.

There is Landon Ferraro, former NHLer and regular here on Sportsnet 650. Does anybody have any what we learned before the break here? Yeah, I was going to do a quick one with the Laine situation out in Columbus. I don't know if you guys saw any of the hoopla around that. I did see the hoopla, yes. I want to play one of the clips. I guess there was a clip making the rounds of Patrick Laine not throwing his old team under the bus,

but just saying that there's a culture of losing in that room and that they just weren't a right fit for him and the team got wind of this. And Zach Roranski actually had a few words for him in the postgame and he didn't mince them, as you'll hear right now. It's unfortunate. You know, I think as guys here and a guy that's been here, we're nothing but good teammates to him,

nothing but good friends to him. And for him to bash us like that, I think it's just unacceptable. You know, I hope he's all right with whatever he's dealing with tonight but he didn't finish the game you know a couple a couple hits and um yeah i don't know what happened but it's unfortunate you know we were nothing but good teammates to him for him to come here and say that's um definitely not happy about it and none of us in this room are happy about it and i think that speaks more about him than it does us. So there you go.

That was Zach Wierenski talking about his old teammate and Patrick Laine and there was no video tribute in Columbus for Laine in case you guys were wondering. Yeah. So... Jay Beagle gets one but Patrick Laine. Jay Beagle should have gotten one. Jay Beagle was good.

Jay Beagle played top nine minutes for the Canucks on their tied for most successful playoff run since 2011. Don't turn this into Jay Beagle. This is a bad thing. How dare you pick up what I'm saying and run with the ball. I don't even think what line I said was that bad, to be honest. No, and would I laugh about it? Because Don Waddell, when he took over the job there,

said the exact same thing in those words. Said there was a culture of losing when he took over. I do think it's different. How is it different? Okay, so when a GM comes in, and they're new, right? They come in. It was the same here in Vancouver where it's like, hey, things aren't going well. I don't see any banners yeah i look up at the rafters i don't i see zero banners none of them they're bannerless and that's like the same situation in columbus where it's like

hey like there's a culture of losing here when a gm comes in and says that i don't think that should be a surprise of anything he's the boss's the boss. Yeah, exactly. But Lanai can't say it? A guy who's in the room and might know a thing or two about what's going on in Columbus? I mean... But you're probably, like, in the end, if you're a player, you're part of the, you are part of the losing culture. I think the answer, though, is, thank

God we got rid of the losing culture. That's what Rensky should have said. He's like, somehow we've shed ourselves of the losing culture over the summer. I'm glad the losing culture is on their side. Yeah, what changed? That's the right answer. Anyway, I have no problem with Wierenski taking exception to it.

I have no problem with the Columbus Blue Jackets going hard at the Montreal Canadiens over it. Denton Matejchuk, by the way, good BC boy, making his debut in that game. Columbus has juice, man. I'm telling you right now, I like this Columbus team a lot. Monaghan's got 20 assists already. Yeah, he's been on fire. Did you see the play where

Voronkov and Lyonnet collided? Lyonnet went to throw a hit at Voronkov, and Voronkov just absolutely tossed him to the ground. That's so sick. Yeah, Lyonnet went to throw a hit at Voronkov, and Voronkov just, like, absolutely tossed him to the ground. That's so sick. Yeah. Voronkov's so cool. And then the Marchenko game winner was lovely stuff. Columbus is, like,

in my top five teams I enjoy watching this season. 650, 650. Keep the text coming in. If you want to get what we learned in, you can. We'll hit them on the other side. Thank you. Yeah, sorry. I Got to move, Cal. Thank you. Yeah, sorry. I forgot to move, Cal.

That's on me. That's the first time I forgot this entire week, though. Yeah, one warning. Yeah, okay. Fair enough. Do we all learn something, or do we learn that we have to go to break? We learn that we have to go. We can do more on the other side.

Oh, man. You learned something unwittingly. I learned that we can do it on the other side. It is Halford and Brough, Josh Elliott, Wolf Thomas, Dranz filling in. Final segment next on Sportsnet 650. Welcome to Kelownafarnia. West Coast.

Yeah. Kelowna, baby. Best place in the world right here. Kelownafarnia. Kelownafarnia. Kelownafarnia. world right here. Welcome back to Halford & Brough. Josh Elliott-Wolf, Thomas Strance here with you. Coming to you live from the Kintex studio. And you can text in 650-650-DUMBAR-LUMBER-TEXLINE.

This hour of Halford & Brough brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit campbell-pound.com today. And Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. And it is time for what we learned. What we learned is brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway.

Try AJ's Bar Pie Pizzas in-house on Thursdays for only $16. Only at AJ's Pizza. Bar Pie is damn good. So thin crust, cut lengthwise, can eat an unlimited amount. It's like a cracker. It's like a cracker. It's like a cracker. It's unbelievable. Pizza cracker.

Laddie, are you ever worried? Like, are you and A-Dog ever worried? In general. About the cops coming and arresting you for playing songs like Colonna Fornia on a weekly basis? If you notice, it's a quick fade out on Kelowna Fornia. Have you noticed, too, that people are in the inbox like, I need my Kelowna Fornia!

Where's my Kelowna Fornia today? There you go. The cops are coming. It's a Tuesday today, but we had to bust in. If you run, I will hide you. I'm willing to be an accomplice for you on this fine holiday season, but they are coming. You're going to jail for your music selection.

It's incredible that it has not happened yet. I know. You heard some of the musical selections on this show. We have Crazy Horns. We have a whole bunch of other ones in our arsenal here. That's why the cops are on their way. You can hear the sirens. It's going to be Siren Wednesday.

What day do you guys have open for? I don't think we have any more open anymore. No? No, because it's Eurodance Wednesdays. Oh, yeah. Thrash Thursdays now. Thrash Wednesdays. Thrash Thursdays.

Very big hit. Recent one. And then Fiesta Fridays. Fiesta Fridays. And then Mondays, we're still kind of on the fence about. Okay. Motown. Sometimes we do like the weekend on the fence about. Okay. Motown. Sometimes we do like the weekend sound-alike songs because it's Monday.

We're going to extend the weekend. No. Right. I think Motown. Motown Mondays. Motown Mondays. Yeah. Motown Mondays.

It's got to be something that's like a little upbeat. I don't know if the weekend is upbeat enough. Or you could like do like Mondays kind of like Mond in French and you could do like world music Mondays. Too much. Too much thinking for Monday morning at 6. Too much. Too much thinking for Monday morning at 6am. Too much thinking for this program. For this program.

Hey Mike. Anybody have what we learned before I move on to the That's not sirens, Drance. It's crazy horns. JD and Coquitlam killing it in the inbox today. That's crazy horns by the way. That's Crazy Horns, by the way. That's just a sampling of Crazy Horns.

Sorry, sorry. Feed me a little more. You want more of that? I want a little more Crazy Horns. Oh, yeah. Ready? This sounds like a dude screaming. It's so good. It's not good, but I love it.

Who goes in the studios? Like, I'm just going to make this noise for the next 10 minutes. It's brassy. It's in your face. So it could get worse. It's vital. It's provocative. Yeah.

The people are going. Okay, so I'm going to go to the text box then. Let's print off listener what we learned. Very good, very good. Yeah, I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Woodrow, the eligible bachelor, what we learned since November 25th, no one has scored more points than Quinn Hughes

with 42 points in 34 games. The Canucks captain is on pace for 101 points on the season. He's a defenseman. He is. That young lad is a defenseman. According to Gretzky and his cream. We're done with that. I know, but then Gretzky came back up and I had to... You know, when

you think of Wayne Gretzky, there's only one thing that comes to mind. Yeah, on pays for 101 points. Is it 2,000 points? What? When you think Wayne Gretzky, I think of 2,000 points. No, no, no. It's cream. And only cream.

At least on this show. Today. I will say I have a bottle filled with Wayne Gretzky cream. And... Just waiting for your return. I'm going to drink it all up, lap it all up like that. No. No.

The moment I get up to Pemberton and finish my drive. Three hours. Three-hour drive. Well, two and a half, depending on traffic. Yeah, fair enough. So I was worried about traffic today because it's an unpredictable day. You don't know how desperate people are going to be.

I know the show even today, starting two hours later, started late enough that it wasn't that much of a concern, but it wasn't as bad as a concern but it wasn't uh it wasn't as bad as i i was worried it might be going through the tunnel so i i was always i'm always worried even at four thirty in the morning i'm worried yeah true uh this one what we learned anthony and north van speaking of the traffic i learned that sweet sweet holiday traffic is the best and traffic issues in vancouver van in Vancouver would be solved if only 70% of people were off work every day. You know what? That would do it.

That's a great idea, Anthony. Get 70% of people to work from home every day. You know what I think the real problem is? What is it? Bike lanes. I don't know if it is. Hey, it's a Vancouver morning radio classic, right? Yeah.

Play the hits. Bike lanes. Also, Die Hard, Christmas movie. What about Pineapple on Pizza? How do you feel about that? Let's not go there, please. Yeah. No.

And also, Die Hard is, of course, a Christmas movie. And Pineapple is great on pizza. Yep. We're all there. We've decided. Everyone's in agreement. Yep. Moving on.

Ask us. You know what really elevates Pineapple on Pizza? What's that? Green olives. You on. You know what really elevates pineapple on pizza? What's that? Green olives. You got to go pineapple and green olives. I thought it was either olives or anchovies. We're going with one or the other. Well, no, but black olives and pineapple is like, you're sick.

Really? You're sick. What? You're a sick person. I like them individually. They're fine. Black olives with pineapple on pizza is fine. Nope. What's sick about it? It's not green fine. Black olives with pineapple on pizza is fine. Nope.

What's sick about it? It's not green olives. Green olives and pineapple. Green olives are the superior olives. I would agree. Yes, but green olives and pineapple specifically on pizza gives you that sweet, salty hit. Fair enough. It goes high and low at the same time.

Yeah. Dangerous combination of foods. Like Kucherov on the Kachuk last night. Well, he just went low. That was a brutal hit, by the way. Kucherov's sneaky dirty. Not even sneaky. I don't know if he's sneaky anymore.

Yeah, it's like when Evgeny Malkin, people would be like, he's sneaky dirty. It's like, no, he destroys people. He's just dirty and scores a lot of points. He's just both of those things. Yeah, and players can do both of those things. What we learned, or sorry, ask us anything from Leaf. Mimosa or Baileys and coffee on Christmas morning?

Well, Gretzky's cream and coffee. Yeah, sorry. I'm more of a mimosa guy, personally. I like mimosas too. I don't want... Well, of course. I'll be honest. People sometimes are like, what do you like to drink?

And I'm like... Mimosas'm like everything i'm a screwdriver you know people are like do you like yeah sure people are like do you like red or white wine i'm like both they're like what type of beer do you like do you like ipas and it's like i like every you had me at beer yeah exactly like i i like i like miller light like i like i like a good Cervezo with some lime, but I also like that really hoppy, can only drink two, and you're like, ooh. I like stouts. I like everything.

I don't have a type. Yeah, good for you. I've put it out into the world that my next evolution of being a guy and is mid to late 20s now is being a beer guy. I just think that's next for me. There's some really good Christmas beer. I'll say that. If you want to get into it, the winter ale, the Dunkels, that's some good stuff.

I'm in. Now is the time. I like port. I'm excited to drink some port. I like to drink port on the holidays. Okay. A snifter of port? Oh, a snifter.

A snifter. Boy, I can't get enough snifter, I'll tell you that much. And here's a weird one for your Christmas drinking pleasures. De Sirono on ice. Huh. It tastes like an almond sugar cookie

in a glass. A couple flavors. It's also really good. The white bottle of De Sirono does really well. Wow. Okay. Zach's also really good. The white bottle of De Sirono does really well. Really? Wow. Okay. Zach's given me something to try. I'm a man of taste. You're familiar with your game, Zach.

One thing I learned about Zach the other day used to... What were you? You were a craft beer manager? Well, I wasn't a manager per se, but I ran the craft beer section specifically at a liquor store. A lot of good free samples. I never really had to pay for stuff.

It was great. That's fantastic. Yeah. What a world Zach was living in. No kidding. And then he got into radio. Yeah. What were you thinking?

Hey, got a free Barnside beer. That's true. That's true. Fair enough. Head out to Barnside in Ladner. Delightful. I really enjoyed my can. I mean, I have four, so I have a few more left,

but I really enjoyed the can I drank the other night of Five for Fighting. Genuinely a really good beer. Yes, I very much. It might have been the catalyst in me being like, you know what, I might need to be a beer guy now. To bring in the sponsors. Yeah, exactly. I was reading about the history of Christmas the other day.

That's beautiful. That is wonderful to hear. And so Christmas effectively replaced a thing called Yuletide Miss. Right. Have you ever heard of this? Way better branding with Christmas, I got to say. They nailed it. Well, so it was a pagan holiday, usually celebrated on December 5th.

And at Yuletide Miss, you basically gathered around your hearth, your fire, and everyone got absolutely hosed, just drank and partied. And then Martin Luther and the Reformation, they sort of caused it to fuse with Christmas, right? And like the celebration of St. Nicholas and then Sinterklaas and, you know, through this sort of amalgamation of different cultural celebrations, we got the big red guy, which is really an American innovation, the contemporary Santa Claus. They got Father Christmas in England. And over time, too, they tried to make Christmas more kid-centric

and about gift-giving. But it used to be just a drunken party. Well, I mean, I feel like we still hold on to those traditions. To some extent. But I'm just saying, December 5th every year, I honestly believe we need to repatriate Yuletide Miss

and have just like a big adult drinking holiday officially around the holidays. People do it all month anyway. But why wouldn't we have a December version of what St. Paddy's Day is? Yuletide Miss, let's celebrate our... On the 5th. On the 5th, gather around a fire and get wasted.

That is my pitch for society. Reminds me of high school. Bring back Yuletide Miss. I don't know if it's getting off the ground. Yuletide Miss? Yeah, I don't know if Yuletide Miss has the legs. All right. Christmas is just like.

Well, Krampus tidings to you all. Christmas is just that, but with the other stuff too. Trance trying to turn Christians pagans. It's 2024. How dare you? Good text. Good text. Very good.

This one, ask us anything from KTG. After listening to one of your sponsors during the commercial break, I have a question. Would you ask someone to marry you in front of people at a Christmas Day dinner or at a baseball game I feel like it's unfair to the person you are asking so basically like in a depends depends how big a Hail Mary you're throwing oh are you saying they're like if you're like oh she might say no I gotta do this in front of a big crowd. If you have any doubts, do it in private. I go to a lot of sports games with my significant other,

and I was given a staunch warning not to do that. Really? Yeah, me too. Oh, like from your wife. I thought when you walked in, they were like, hey, don't propose. Not from the facility, from my wife. Security like packing you down. They're like, wait a minute.

What is this? Is this a box? Is that a ring? So I had to get married for immigration reasons, my wife couldn't like my girlfriend we'd been together for 10 years and we were i thought i honestly thought i was going to be one of those people you know what i mean where it's like we've been together for 25 years and we never got married like i legitimately thought i was going to be that human being and uh but then i got a job in the states and so i needed to get married so that my wife could come with me so i got married i i went to like a restaurant i had a hotel room

booked in the right like the restaurant was in the hotel and um i said that i had to take a call and my and my partner was like super mad at me and I like planted a, like I got a note with the hotel room key card brought to my wife by the bartender like 10 minutes after I left. So then I was in a room, I had the ring, I shocked her,

it was great. And then I got married four days later. So I'd been with my partner for 10 years. We got engaged and our engagement lasted four days because we had to get the paperwork. Cut to the chase, baby. It was like a long throat clearing and then a very fast wedding.

So it was in private, though, then. Heck yeah. I will say, every time I see someone doing it, it doesn't feel like special. Please tell me Dran's proposed at a Hotel Denny's. No. That would have been beautiful, though. I was at the Shangri-La in Toronto.

I splurged. Wow. It's a special day. Denny's would have been more on brand, I've got to say. You think so? Yeah. Than me going to the noodle bar at Momofuku beforehand? Come on.

Mine was at Bunsen Lake. I proposed at Bunsen Lake. Not in front of people. It was in December, so nobody was there. I was at Notre Dame in Montreal. Wow. Love that. So you probably win. Before the Expos game where they kicked me out for

trying to propose. It was after a Blue Jays game in Montreal, but yes. Christmas party proposal is kind of pompous suggests one person in the inbox. I'm signed, so that's Gary. I do sort of think you should be careful about what you make about you.

Yes. Like a Christmas party is not about you, man. Or like proposing at someone else's wedding. Well, that is unconscionable. Preposterous. But I also think people have a fundamental misunderstanding too about like, it's my day when it comes to their wedding. And it's like like it's kind of

about everyone else and your desire to spend time with them and if you want everyone in your life to celebrate you it makes sense to make it like relatively straightforward for them to do so and not put them in like not not make them emotionally conflicted you know what i mean like there are a lot of ways to do a wedding selfishly i i think there's a certain level of maturity that it helps to have in sort of making those decisions and expressing those values in a way that makes it fun for everybody else. So don't do that. It's my day thing. I really, that's like one thing I really don't like about weddings. But it's my day.

I don't think I said, but it's my day once at my wedding. And that was a few months ago. I doubt that. It seems like a Josh thing to say. This one, Aaron, the assistant cruise director, ask us anything. What is a past or present Boxing Day ritual you guys had before online shopping took off? I have fond memories of heading to Metro Town hours before opening the lineup at places like American Apparel, and would eat Chinese food underneath the escalators of TNT because there was no space in the food court.

So for me, Boxing Day, and probably Zach as well, it's kind of been mostly online for most of our lives. There was never a time other than when I was a kid, I think, when it was like, Boxing Day is a thing. Sorry, how old are you? 26. Okay, yeah, because both Basketball Phil and another unsigned texter immediately texted

A and B sound. Yeah, A and B sound. And what was the other one? Her Majesty's was that HMC? HMV? HMV. Her Majesty's video. How do you forget HMV? Dude, I just like spaced on it. I couldn't figure it out. HMC? HMV? HMV. In Her Majesty's video. How do you forget HMV? Dude, I just spaced on it. I couldn't figure it out.

HMR? Well, I was about to say, my Boxing Day memories were from working at HMV, and I used to work at Sports Check, too. I did a double one year, and that was the worst day of my life. That was crazy. Yeah, dude, A&B Sound and HMV, I always... I'm old enough that boxing day was an in-person event i never like did the lineup thing and like the full capitalist indulgence but like i definitely went and bought a ton of cds and stuff there's been good deals back in the day

dude amazing deals like i there was no black friday back then now this was the day is the day because boxing day like because we do everything amer does, apparently. Yeah, I know. I've compared prices, and Black Friday is generally... And maybe it's different depending on year. Black Friday is generally better prices. I just buy clothes, though, now. Because I don't buy media the same way. You know what I mean? I'm not buying CDs.

I just buy stuff for my kids. I still like... I pay for a subscription streaming service. It's just different. I do like to go into Best Buy and be like, what's on sale today? This is fun. And then I get in there and I'm like,

bad idea. I don't need anything. But you want everything. But I want everything. My new Boxing Day thing, I do a spa day. Me, my wife, and one of my best friends, who's only ever home for the holidays.

But every day, Boxing Day, we do a spa day. my wife and my one of my best friends who's like only ever home for the holidays but every day boxing day we do a spa day and it rocks mine is uh so mine now tends to be i guess along the same lines but just a relaxing day because we have three families we have to go to i have my dad's side my mom's side and then my wife's mom's house we go to. So it's like Christmas Eve and Christmas are two days of cramming in as much family time as possible. And then Boxing Day is like, oh, man, that was a lot of stuff. Now we're home and we're just not going to do anything. But I do online shop. I do do that.

I will say I used to, like when I was a teenager, Boxing Day, I would go to Best Buy and be like, what video game am I going to buy today? Oh, yeah, yeah. And that was kind of the main thing every Boxing Day, I would go to Best Buy and be like, what video game am I going to buy today? Oh, yeah, yeah. And that was kind of the main thing every boxing day. Fair. Man, it's been a long time. Like, I only have a Switch these days. You know what I mean? I used to be a big video game guy, a sports video game guy.

Like, I spent years ranked in the top 1,000 online players in NHL. Like, I spent a lot of time. Humble brag. Yeah. Killing it in chill. The amount of like absolute trash talk I had for like 11 year olds so much fun I love that one-on-one trash talk and then like and then like also getting so mad getting so mad I will say there is no video game that makes

me more angry when I'm playing it against people especially online than nhl nhl is so triggered it's insane because i like i'll i used to play call of duty a lot and i was like i never got mad i would just be like oh i'm bad yeah it's fine i remember when the online hockey just started like playstation network just opened up and it went from the you have to go to your friend's house to play against them to actually opening up to the world of good gamers out there. I thought I was good. I could beat all my friends and then the internet opened up and I was not good.

No matter how good you are at these games, there's always going to be some 11 year old kid who spends double the time you do playing the game and it's going to beat you. I just spent all the metas. My problem is I just spent all the time gaming my Corsi. It's Puck Possession Beast. I was just like so interested. That's your be a pro mode. You just Gaming my Corsi Puck possession beast I was just like so interested

That's your be a pro mode I was just like man I'm going to be the Corsi champion Yeah Anyway I used to play a lot I'm talking like 2015 through Or like 2012 through 2000 So roughly the era you're talking about Through 2016

And then I fell off Like I don't think I've passed a game Front to back Definitely the era you're talking about. Through 2016. And then I fell off. I don't think I've passed a game front to back since the newest Grand Theft Auto. Wow. I think it's been that long. We're talking like eight years. It's almost another Grand Theft Auto. That's how long it's been. I know.

The last video game I bought with the intention of passing was Red Dead Redemption 2. Good game. There's way too much in was Red Dead Redemption 2. Good game. There's way too much in it, though. I didn't finish it. I played like three hours the day I got it on Christmas Day. Yeah, you got to brush your teeth and you got to put your boots on. There's so much to do in that game. Totally.

Then choose. Are you going to be evil or are you going to be a good person? No, whatever. I do enough of that day to day. I always choose evil. The last one I finished would have been, I think Spider-Man 2. The Spider-Man games on PlayStation. Those are very good. We need Adog here

for this discussion. My family all got really into Fortnite over the pandemic, so I still play with my dad and my sisters, which is a lot of fun. And we'll be playing some tonight before Christmas. Badass. There was, yeah, a couple weeks ago... I'll play some Smash Bros tonight. Zach was talking to me and he was like,

oh, my dad's texting me about Fortnite again. I'm like, what do you mean? But it's beautiful. They all play together. That sounds like a silent Fortnite. That's beautiful. Right?

Holy Fortnite. Wow. That's a good one. Woodrow the Eligible Bachelor, we will end with this one. Ask us anything. If you had the power to reverse time to five minutes ago, how would you use your powers?

Sorry, if I could reverse time to? Like five minutes. That's your limit in reversing time. Oh, I'd never lose a video game ever again. Keep jumping back. I'll show you, 11-year-old. Dude, I would make millions on millions of dollars betting any time touchdown, any time goal scorer.

I'd just sit and watch television and rake in millions and millions of dollars. Of course, that's where your mind goes. That's the easiest way to use the power. Yeah, that was where my mind went to. Five minutes is too short a period of time for me to close stock deals. You know what I mean?

You can't be like, oh oh the market's about to crash like sell sell sell buy buy buy like it's too hard you don't have time to do that in five minutes yeah I mean I guess you could with a quest trade account or whatever but like it would take a lot more monitoring whereas just like sitting around watching the Hawaii Bowl tonight and just being

like okay I can literally triple or quadruple my money on every single touchdown. Yeah. Just wait for something rare to happen. Yeah. I wonder how long you could do that before the betting accounts were like, okay, we don't know what you know, but you know something, so we're going to stop this. As anyone who's good at gambling will tell you, right?

Winning your bets is only half the game, right? Yeah. Finding the action is the tough part. But luckily we have books like circa with which will always take it which will always book it uh appreciate everyone texting in on the 650 650 dumb bar lumber text line everyone listening happy holidays to everyone appreciate everyone who did listen on christmas eve spending your time with us. Hope the best. Hoping the best. I will end this smoothly.

Wishing you the best over the holiday season. Regular shows will be back next week, and I believe there's a game on Saturday. There is. So, you'll have some post-game and stuff for that. You'll have something on the station over the weekend, but for now, we are done. Thank you for that. So you'll have something on the station over the weekend. But for now we are done.

Thank you to everyone. Thank you to Laddie. Thank you to Zach. Thank you to Thomas Dran. Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas. I've been Josh. Merry Christmas.

One and all. This has been Alfred and Brooke on Sportsnet 650.