Halford & Brough in the Morning - Louie DeBrusk On His Son Signing With Vancouver

Episode Date: July 3, 2024

In hour three, Mike & guest host Jamie Dodd chat with Sportsnet NHL analyst Louie DeBrusk about his son Jake signing with the Canucks (3:00), as well as what Vancouver is getting from their other new free agent acquisitions, plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

802 on a Wednesday happy Wednesday everybody Halford Brough featuring Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. Sportsnet analyst Louis DeBrusque, former NHLer, is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three.

Hour three is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. And of course, we are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands

of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet. What are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews, sore feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. Let's go to the phone lines now. Very excited to have our next guest on the program, former NHL or Sportsnet analyst out of Edmonton, father of Jake DeBrusque, Louis DeBrusque, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Good morning, Louis. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you guys doing this morning? We are well as well. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So tell us just how excited you and the family and Jake are about this new deal in Vancouver. Yeah, really excited for him. You know, it was the team that came after him hard there to the gates.

And for Jake, I believe that was really important. He wanted to go to a place that wanted him, a place that he felt he could jump into the lineup and help the lineup obviously wanted to be closer to home which was was a big part of it as well and he just checked a lot of boxes so for us we're excited to have him closer to home no question about it um you know an hour and a half instead of you know three quarters of the day to get there is a lot different like don't get me wrong I know a lot of people go through that, but it starts to add up. It was one of the things that he wanted to try and check off on the box if he could and free agency was to be closer to home, potentially in the West,

and everything worked out. So we're ecstatic about it to have him there. He's really pumped to get going with the Canucks and start a new venture. Yeah, and we were able to interview him on the day he signed on July 1st. And, you know, he was very excited, obviously, as you said, to be coming back to Western Canada as well. And, you know, he also talked really openly and I thought really interestingly about kind of his journey in Boston, right?

And, you know, early success, developing that consistency eventually and kind of how he matured and grew up. How did you kind of see that process play out? Because I imagine as a former NHL player, right, you would have a desire to really be in his ear, but there's also recognition that, you know, you have to kind of let him figure things out on his own as well. Absolutely, you have to.

I mean, there's only one person that can do that, and that's the person that's going through it. But, you know, obviously as a parent, we try and help out as much as we can. But what it really boils down to, when you get to the league and you start to vie for a potential spot when you're a young player, your job is to go in there and win a spot on that roster each and every year. You know, he did that, and a very tough roster to make. You know, and that's, for me, watching him kind of evolve and grow over the years,

that's been the biggest thing for me, is that you step on board as a young player trying to learn the ways from the great veteran players that Boston had at that time, and you just try and sponge up as much as you can. But there's an identity there, and there's a way that they play the game. And if you don't play the game that way, you just don't play.

So you have to kind of mold yourself into being that type of a player too. And that structured play for me takes discipline and hard work. You have to commit to the system. There's just no question about it. And I do believe that's kind of what Vancouver is trying to do as well under Rick Tockett. They want to be a team that's hard to play against. So in order to do that, you have to be disciplined in your structure.

You have to play a certain way each and every night. And he's coming from an organization where he spent eight seasons and some of those in the NHL in that system. So, you know, I've watched him kind of progress, progress. And, yes, he came on board as an offensive player. But when you get to the NHL, you learn that there's other things that are going to keep you there as well. And you have to round out your game and find a way to be impactful,

even when you're not producing offensively. And I think his defensive game is what's grown the most throughout his seven years in Boston. He still has an offensive upside. Obviously, he still considers himself an offensive player. But I would say to you now that he considers himself a player that can play in all situations, which, in my opinion, is a coveted player. You know, one of the things about spending a long time in Boston

is you get to play in the playoffs a lot. That's part of the program. That's part of the team. When you have elite players around, you go to the postseason a lot. Jake's done that. He's actually got more playoff games than Connor McDavid. Both came in in that 2015 draft, and Jake's played close to 100 playoff games already.

And, you know, it's hard not to look at the last two playoffs especially and how effective he's been in terms of producing points and being a player in the postseason. What is it that's allowed him to be such a versatile and valuable and productive guy in the postseason? It's a good question

but we've talked about this a lot. I think it's probably the way he plays the game. You know going back to what we just talked about you a lot. I think it's probably the way he plays the game. You know, going back to what we just talked about, you play the game the right way. You go to the dirty areas. You make the simple plays, disciplined plays where you manage the puck and don't play high risk.

That's kind of what playoff hockey is. So I think the players that play that way have a little bit of an easier adjustment going into the playoffs because it's not as big of an adjustment. Whereas when, if you're a player that's played, you know, high risk, high reward hockey and it's gone your way, you go into the playoffs and sometimes that gets taken away.

Sometimes that just starts to dry up because everybody's checking so hard. And if you use the example of the Stanley Cup playoffs we just saw go by, I mean, it was tight checking hockey and it's elite skill and, you know, breakdowns that you capitalize where the goals were scored. And the mistake could be small, but in the playoffs, that little small mistake usually gets capitalized on, or at least it turns into a really good chance. And that's how you create your chances. And that's what you're looking for. So that's that patience that you have to play with in the playoffs. And you have to just keep grinding and keep looking for that opportunity the right way if you start cheating you start doing things that you're

out of your character it's usually not going to turn out too well yeah you can be high risk high reward the playoffs to a certain degree but in the end i think it's the team that's patient playing the right way that's going to that's going to be successful in that journey and uh yeah so i mean i think that bodes well for him because that's just the way he's been brought up to play in the nhl into the system in boston they carry that over to the playoffs and that's kind of how they get things done yeah and you mentioned he's always yeah sorry lee sorry sorry to interrupt but you know you mentioned kind of that that structure system and the the defensive attention to detail in boston and that's what vancouver is trying to

build and we saw them take major steps forward under Rick Tockett last season going to the playoffs, and it really feels like they are leaning even more into that identity now, right? Starting with signing Jake, who's capable of playing like that, you know, Derek Forbort, Danton Heinen also from Boston,

Vincent Desjardins, another big body on the back end. Kind of overall, what did you think of what the Canucks have done so far in free agency here? Yeah, that's exactly what it looks like to me. At the time with Jake negotiating with Vancouver and the deal getting done, I didn't realize that Forbert and Heinen were also in the mix there, which makes total sense to me, though, when you look at where they're coming from.

I think the teams are excited to get players from Boston. I've heard that in my journeys doing what I do, covering the NHL as an analyst and talking to people because of that foundation. I think that foundation is appealing to a lot of systems and a lot of coaches because they know they can bring those players in. There won't be much of a transition into playing the system they're playing. And I believe that. I've seen it firsthand with the players that have left Boston

and been able to go into systems and just step right in. And I think that was one of the factors also for Jake coming on with Vancouver was the fact that he looked at the roster. Obviously, he loves the top six. He loves the elite skill, but he also loves the depth and the structure they played with last year to win the Pacific Division. This is a team that really buckled down and started to play as a team under Rick Talkin, and I think that is appealing to him

because he knows he can step in there and he says, hey, I look at that system and this will be pretty easy for me to step in because it's something I've played my whole career. So he'll be a compliment to that, and that was a big checkmark for him moving forward with Vancouver as well. But when I look at the offseason acquisitions, starting with my son and then Danton coming on board, he's had two stints as a Boston Bruin.

So that just goes to show you right there in itself that he's had success there before. He's a player they like to bring back, and they wanted to bring him back and re-sign him again. But Vancouver, his hometown team, came in and snatched him from Boston, so that'll be appealing for Denton coming home. I know his dad, Rick, will be really excited. You guys will see him around the rink a lot.

He's a real joyous customer that loves to come around, have a good time, watch his kid play hockey, and now it's in his home province. So congratulations to all the Heinens. And then Derek Forberts, a big defenseman that plays that system as well. Strong, defensive, hard-nosed guy, which I think when you look at the back end and the size they have now with Tyler Myers re-signing, Vinny DeHarne coming on board,

who really took a big step this year in Edmonton, and I felt became a regular and a really important piece to their successful season and getting themselves all the way to the Stanley Cup final and losing in Game 7, there's a guy that kind of fits the mold too. Big right-handed defenseman, plays a defensive style, blocks a lot of shots, smothers out cycles, protects the front of the net.

This is going to be a hard team to play against and I think that's what they're building. Patrick Galvin and Rick Talk and the management staff are trying to put together a team here that each and every night they can go out there and implement that system and let the opposition know this is going to be a tough night for everybody. We're speaking to Sportsnet NHL analyst Louis DeBrusque here

on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Louis, I want to follow up with what you just said about Vincent Desjardins. We actually just had him on the show at 7.30. Great chat with him. Seems like a really engaging, personable guy. He's also got a great story because it took him a long time to get to this point. He was talking about a 10-year journey through the East Coast, the American

League. He actually played in Chilliwack out here to start everything off. What is it about those guys that had to scratch and fight and claw to get to this level that adds an element to your team that goes beyond what they're bringing in terms of counting stats or box score or time on ice there's a personality that a guy like day harney brings and guys like that bring where they really had to fight and claw their way to

the national hockey league i agree and i think there's a chip on the shoulder which is all i think if you talk to any coach that's like seeing players with that chip on their shoulder you know go out there and play hard go out there and play with that chip on their shoulder. You know, go out there and play hard. Go out there and play with that chip. And he definitely does that. He ruffles some feathers on the ice. You know, for me and Vinny, you look at it, I think when you journey that hard and you have to persevere and go through a lot of that to get to the point

where you get your opportunity to, you know, to get your chance, right? You have to continually be impressing. You have to continually be gaining in. You have to continually be gaining in your game and improving. And I think he did that. I think that's the one thing, especially being as big as he is. You know, 6'7", and I know Tyler Myers is 6'8", and I said earlier in Tyler

Myers' career, and earlier in my broadcasting career, I said, I think this guy might be the best 6'8 skater I've ever seen. You know, Tyler Myers always had a great strike and always skates. But I think for a lot of guys that are six six and over it sometimes takes them some time to learn how to use that big frame and that I believe was Vinny DeHarne he spent four years at Providence and you know obviously was a Daniel Chara being the big defenseman that was in Boston in his four years there I think that he know, I don't think I know he did.

He really concentrated on trying to work and be similar to Chara. He'd watch video on him, how he used his stick, how he was physical in front. And you try and emulate big guys that have done it before you. And when you know you watch him play, it's kind of the way he plays. He's going to give you a crash check. You're going to know he's there. He's going to ruffle your feathers in front of the net. Not afraid to drop the gloves.

Not afraid to, you know, step up with a big hit. He's excellent at blocking shots and really complimented a very, very good penalty kill, especially in the second half of the season, the playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers. So those are the factors for me that I think Vancouver saw. And they're picking up a real good guy and a guy that's worked hard to get there. He's going to be very well liked in the room, and he has a real good outlook on life. He's happy to be there, a big smile on his face,

but he works hard to maintain and keep himself there, so I think it's a good signing by Vancouver. Yeah, and we enjoyed chatting with him. As we said, we just had him on the show about a half hour ago, and it was interesting. One of the things he said directly was, you saw how well this coaching staff worked with Tyler Myers, and as a guy of a similar st ago, and it was interesting. One of the things he said directly was, you know, how well this coaching staff worked with Tyler Myers. And as a guy of a similar stature, right, he looked at that and said,

hey, this seems like a really good spot for me. Does that match kind of what you're hearing around the league, that players and, you know, other coaches and teams in general have kind of taken notice of what Rick Talkett and his coaching staff were able to do? I mean, obviously he won the Jack Adams, so he's getting that recognition. But the players are looking at it and uh saying you know what that's pretty interesting they can help me take that next step in my career well i think for sure they have and i think um

obviously when you um win a division title right and you are fighting potentially for the western conference title in the regular season in the standings. People take note of that. The Pacific Division is a tough division. I think the West, obviously, is tough. You can make an argument East-West all you want, but there's some elite teams in every division. There's elite teams in every conference in Vancouver.

Right from the get-go last year with their first two wins over Edmonton, they just came in and set the tone saying, hey, we're just not this other team in the Pacific Division. We're a team that's working the right way. Rick Tockett had stepped in a year before and come in and started to implement what he wanted to implement with the team and then carry it over into the

regular season. And you could tell. You could tell right away this team was going to be a little bit different. They were going to play hard. They were going to play right to the end of the game. They were going to make it a difficult night. They were going to get timely scoring. Some guys were going to have some big seasons and were ready to play hard. They were going to play right to the end of the game. They were going to make it a difficult night. They were going to get timely scoring. Some guys were going to have some big seasons and were ready to take that next step. And they did.

And they showed that they could play with pace. And I think that's the most important thing when you're playing that system. You have to work every single shift. Your shift lengths have to be shorter. And you have to go out there and make sure you're working harder in those shifts to be able to execute at that level and with that much discipline and I and I think it was a work in progress but if you look at it they paced the Pacific Division the entire season they never really relinquished that it went up and down it was close and here and there but you know what they they were able to manage to hold on to

that right to the playoffs and quite frankly you had a had a 3-2 series lead on Edmont, you know, this is a team that had two times to finish off Edmonton to go to the conference final. Edmonton found a way to win those two games in really hard, tight, hard-fought games. But I think it also kind of justified what they were doing. I like the ovation. I mentioned that at the end of that game. The fans really cheered for the team because I think Vancouver fans looked and said,

okay, we see what's going on here. We see the growth. We have an understanding of where this team's going. And they want to try and continue that step up the ladder and make themselves better every year. So, yeah, I do believe the teams look at that. They take note, no question. They understand this is a team that's coming into their own,

right into their prime, where they are in their evolution as a team. And you know what, when you win a Jack Adams like Top did, and when you win the Pacific Division, people take note. So with the steps that Vancouver took last year, and as you said, you know, going to seven games against Edmonton, then you also look at what Edmonton was able to accomplish in free agency. And I think people understandably pretty positive about you know retaining henry signing yanmark to an extension uh victor arvidsson jeff skinner are these going to be the top two teams in the pacific again in in your view louis well you would think so uh i would say so i mean if you're a betting person i don't think you should

go wrong betting on those two teams one of of them potentially winning the Pacific for sure. And, you know, Edmonton's going to push hard. I think that run to the Stanley Cup final going all the way to Game 7, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to make it a series and an exciting Game 7. I'll tell you, it was the most watched game on our network's history, I believe, in the playoffs. So that just goes to show you how much interest was in that. But it was, you know what?

I think that there's going to be other teams that have bolstered too. I think there's other teams that are always in the mix in that conversation. But yes, I think the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton, are definitely two of the top three in the whole Western Conference. And from where they finished last year, I don't see why anybody would think any differently. They haven't really lost a lot. They've been able to gain.

You know, obviously Lindholm is a real big loss down the middle for Vancouver. He came in and was a really, really solid depth player there in the system they had in the playoffs. I thought that line was really, really good. And he'll be a great acquisition for Bruins, and he'll step into that system. But you know what? They tried to support that by bolstering around it,

and so did Evans. And Evans was able to bring back some veteran players. They haven't tweaked it a ton, but they brought in a little bit more offense, some veteran guys that have put the puck in the net, and they're hoping they can come in there and, you know and step in and just bolster that lineup a little bit more. And I think when you look at the back end, obviously losing Vinny is a guy that certainly stepped in there and had an impact on the team.

He's now a Vancouver Canuck, but I do believe he's a guy that they would have liked to have gotten signed, would have liked to have gotten him done and kept him on board. But they will now, again, be one of the older teams, if not the oldest team in the league, the Edmonton Oilers. So that goes to show you that they know they have their core. They know they have their pieces in place. They want to build around it.

And, again, try and spread the wealth on the four lines. And if you look at the veteran wingers, especially they picked up, they're going to be a hard team to play against. And they're hoping that a guy like Skinner can come in and find that offensive stride. Arbitrin can compliment Dreisel on that second line. I mean, I'm just slotting them in those spots right now. I'm sure they're going to tweak it

and move it around to see where it fits. But, you know, essentially they've kept the back end together and we'll see if that's still a work in progress or what they do. But from the last few games they've played in the playoffs, they've been able to keep that six together, which is always important. I think when you can play together for longer, and I know they signed Hronik to a long-term deal in Vancouver as well, for that reason, he's Quinn Hughes' running mate.

Those two guys play great together. So you find that pairing that's consistent, secure. You want to keep it for a long time because it's only going to get better and more comfortable. And if you ask defensemen especially, they just seem to have that little closer of a bond as being partners because it's so critical in the defensive zone. You make a mistake there or your communication gets, you know,

put off a bit, it can mean a puck in the back of your net. Us as wingers playing wingers up in the offensive zone, we had 200 feet to get back and try and make up for our mistake. But if you make the mistake in the defensive zone, it's a little more glaring. Louis, this was awesome. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it.

And enjoy the offseason. Enjoy some time off. Will do. Take care, guys. Yep, thank you. Louis DeBrusque, Sportsnet nhl analyst former nhler and the father of new vancouver canuck jake de brusque here on the halford and bruff show on sportsnet 650 uh let's do a couple quick what we learns here before we go to break

i've got one it was the big news of the morning in the national basketball association lebron james has agreed to return to the los Angeles Lakers. He will not be taking a hometown discount. Two years, $104 million. LeBron James. LeBron James. LeBron James. Two years, $104 million. That includes a player option for 2025-26.

And interestingly enough, a no trade clause. Now you're probably thinking, Halford, what are you talking about? What's so rare about that? There are only two players, two players in the NBA that have no trade clauses. LeBron James and Phoenix Sun Guard Bradley Beal. Of course. The only other

player as historically accomplished as LeBron James in the NBA. It's 1-1-A in terms of the GOATs. You gotta get to that level to get the no trade clause and Bradley Beal did it. This was going to be my what we learned. No, it's alright. You got in there first. Hey, the early bird gets the worm. That's fine.

At 8.22 in the morning. Ruff would have been raging about that. This is a totally new dynamic. We didn't communicate. It's fine. This is the chemistry that Jamie and I have. We can do things like this. I can roll with the punches roll with it so there's two things that stand out one is there was speculation that because they drafted his son brawny that lebron might sign a bit of a team friendly discount now woge is reporting that

it could be the max which would be two years 104 million104 million. This is the funny part, though. He might take $1 million less than the max to keep the one. So a $103 million deal instead of a $104 million deal. So generous. You laugh, but that might actually be a difference because they've got these new punitive rules. I don't understand it, but there's something called the second apron. Right. It's a chef term.

So if you go above the second apron, you're basically totally hooped in what you can do with your team after that. So if he takes a million less, they'll be below the second apron, whatever that means. They'll be a first apron team. They'll be a first apron team. I don't even use one apron. Never mind two.

You're just a splatter guy all over your clothes. So big concession there. Big concession there from LeBron. And I got to say, I don't know that I have ever seen one player dominate a franchise the way LeBron does. Why? Whatever do you mean, J.D. Dodd? Just he has them so in his back pocket. They hired his podcasting partner who has no previous coaching experience to be the head coach.

All the while, LeBron is like, no, I didn't talk to him about it. Are you kidding me? It's got nothing to do with me. What? Why? Why would you even think that? They draft Bronny. Yeah.

And then yesterday, they're like, yeah, Bronny earned this every step of the way. And like, look, no disrespect to Bronny, but okay, whatever. And then a two-year, $104 million deal. Player option, by the way, for next. So it's basically a one-year deal. Then he can choose to take the option. Or he can opt out and do this whole thing again and look i like it sounds like i'm ripping lebron here i'm a lebron guy i like him i have a ton of respect for what he's accomplished but he has the lakers so wrapped around his little finger is absolutely incredible well the crazy part of all of it is we're not talking about like the

Charlotte Bobcats, right? Like this isn't like, you know, this and I know that's a great point. I know they're the Charlotte Hornets now. I'm just saying like they're not talking about a franchise that doesn't have any history. You're talking about one of the most iconic brands in sports. Never mind the NBA. You're talking about a franchise that had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic

Johnson and Kobe Bryant and this is where it's ended up and it's not necessary here's the thing I don't necessarily think any of this is bad well I think there's what what's motivating this is a recognition from the Lakers probably at some level that they other than like LeBron is the only thing propping up that Lakers mystique right now. Sure. And as soon as he leaves the franchise, they're kind of just another NBA team. And there's always this idea. Well, oh, they'll land the next big star. I got Bronny.

They do have. They do have Ronnie. But once LeBron goes like you're kind of just another team, you're another franchise. So they will become or sorry, they could become the first father-son duo in NBA history, which I think is significant. I don't know how it'll be retold in the annals of history because I don't have a, like a fortune ball, a crystal ball in front of me, right?

Fortune ball, I just called it. Alive on the radio. Classic fortune ball. Classic fortune ball, guys. An orb. You don't have an orb to ponder. Because Ken Griffey Jr. and Senior did this, and it's regarded as what?

You're more of a baseball. But Ken Senior, he was seen as, like, he was not washed, but he was pretty late in his career. Okay, Griffey was what? The third overall pick, right? He was a phenom. And then his dad followed him. Yep. From Cincinnati. That's a phenom. And then his dad followed him. Yep.

From Cincinnati. That's a lot different. It's different. 100%. The dad is the great player, and I'm ushering my son into the league. It's not considered one of the most historic, iconic baseball moments. It's noteworthy. It's in the books.

The back-to-back homers. The back-to-back homers is pretty sick. That's a big deal. That's pretty sick. But yeah, and then you've obviously got the Gordie and Mark Howe and everything. And that was also like, it's an iconic look because Gordie Howe looked like he was 70 years older. I mean, and it was. But Gordie was still good.

And he was good, right? And so it's interesting. I don't know. I don't know how it plays because I think there's such a discrepancy between what the father was to basketball and what the son might be. There's a big gap there, right? And it almost was, I guess the Howes are both Hall of Famers at the end of the day. So there's more commonalities. Mark was a pretty good player himself.

Yeah, right? It's just, I don't know how it will play. Because the father-son thing is more of a narrative than an actual historic moment that people try and achieve. And by the way, Shams, the other NBA insider, just tweeting that Bronny James has signed his rookie contract with the Lakers per sources. Four years, $7.9 million team option in the fourth season. That is way, way more than your typical 55th overall pick. They gave a million to Ronnie. Way, way more than a typical 55th overall pick is getting.

Yeah. Someone pointed out Dusty Rhodes and Gold Dust as a great father-son iconic duo. Yeah, that is one of them. Okay, so Mukau that. I'll do my other one on the other side. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show

with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Now for my favorite part of the show what'd i say talk to the audience oh god this is always dead it's what we learn time it's what we learn time it's what we learn time. On the show. 834 on a

Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program.

It is what we learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. All right. We still got a couple of what we learned that we need to unload on the general public here. Laddie says, quote, I have a goofy one. And then Andy said.

Tell us what Andy said. Great detail as to whether Goofy is a dog or not. Well, I just said it's perverse because Goofy, his pet is Pluto, who is also a dog. Well, no, no, no, no. Pluto is Mickey's pet. No, he's Goofy's too. What do we share the pet? Yeah. No! Pluto lives with Mickey. They were in a relationship at one time

and then, you know. Goofy and Pluto hang out a lot and they're both dogs, but one is in pet form and the other is like the master. That's just really weird because you have two animals of the same species. Not what my what we learn is about in any way. A dog can't own a dog. Please, don't interrupt. This is important.

How can a dog own a dog? I'm still stuck on you thinking that Pluto is Goofy's pet specifically. Well, whatever. You know what I'm saying, right? Goofy is Mickey's friend. And Pluto is his pet. And you think Goofy is somehow okay with this? It seems very strange to me.

Like, Goofy's like, Mickey, like, dude, this is a dog. I think I'm a dog. Why are you treating him this way? I think what there is is that in that world, there's two different species. There's dog dogs and there's people dogs. And Goofy is a people dog. That clears it up. And Pluto is a dog dog.

I don't like that. I think that's what it's doing. And I do my what we learn now. But they still make Goofy a stupid human dog and Pluto is a dog dog. I don't like that. I think that's what it's And I do my what we learn now. But they still make Goofy a stupid human dog. Yeah, it's true. Could you imagine

if it was like that in real life? What's that? It'd be like one of you owning each other. It'd be like a dog owning Laddie or vice versa.

Oh, is this like a dog solidarity thing? Is this where this is coming from? You're just handing up for the dogs out there? Us dogs were created equal. Do you want to continue on this one, or are you good?

I'm good. Can I do my what we learned? Yeah, you know what? Why don't you do your what we learned now? It's baseball related. It's baseball related. It's not goofy related. Well, here's a downer.

Okay. Well, it's one of those, like, you know, the baseball's known for those silly injuries, right? Players missing time because of dumb, dumb, really dumb reasons. Yep. JD Martinez just hit a big home run the other day for the Mets in extra innings. Might miss some time because

he purchased the wrong shoes on Amazon. He had a late delivery for his cleats from Adidas and he thought, you know what? I'm just going to go on Amazon and order my own pair. And apparently they were so ill-fitting that he may miss time with an injury to his foot. That's what happened to me.

That's why I had to get Kintec. You ordered from Amazon? I ordered my shoes online without trying them first. Big mistake. Are you serious? And they hurt my foot. You are JD Martinez. I got a foot injury from the shoes, and I had to go to Kintec, and they fixed me up.

That's your story. I didn't know that. That's actually what happened. I did not know that the trip to Kintec was because you had two small shoes your previous pair. Well, they were technically my size, but you know how some shoes just don't fit the same as others? You don't break in the right way? Yeah, it just didn't work.

And I was stubborn, and I tried it for four months. Well, at least you're not making millions of dollars as a ball player. How long did you wear the shoes for? Three years. Yeah. Okay, so what else we learned is that J.D. Martinez and Andy Cole now have something in common. Sorry, I'm hijacking laddies. What we learned yet again.

He also enjoys hot cocoa on cold evenings. Who wouldn't though? Was it Glenn Allen Hill that he was sleepwalking and then he fell through a glass table? I think it was Glenn Allen. I remember Todd Helton was carrying deer meat

and fell down the stairs. That was his big one. There was one where it was an ATV accident, I think, or something like that. And it wasn't explicitly in his contract. Like, you will not drive ATVs in the winter. And he was like, I got some bad news, guys. Wasn't there a dumb Canucks injury like that?

Like, Sopal? Brent Sopal hurt his back bending over to pick up a crack. Griffey broke his arm, I believe, wrestling with his son, which is not something you see too often. J.D. Martinez. This is the second time he's appeared on this list because he once ruined his ankle running out to center field and tripping over second base.

Why would he buy poor shoes if he knows he had bad angles already? I believe Martinez missed a playoff game because of that too. Anyway, Mukau. Remember like a year ago that one guy in the inbox that got so mad at us for poking fun or making light of some guy's injury? Isn't that funny? These injuries aren't funny. Was it the bicycle accident? We some guy's injury and like it's not funny like these injuries aren't funny was it the bicycle we were just like oh it's kind of funny i disagree you might not find it yeah it was a bicycle it was a cyclist that was like bicycle accidents aren't

or something to be taken seriously and we were just joking about except in this instance yeah yeah absolutely hilarious yeah so hold on this is gonna be yeah i gotta go do more baseball so you said it was todd helton who was injured with deer meat. That's who I thought it was. So it was actually his teammate, Clint Barms, who says initially he said he got injured carrying a bag of groceries. Then later he changed the story to actually I was I was carrying a package of deer meat i got from todd helton his teammate and he and he changed the story to say i just didn't think it was the right thing to bring todd helton into something like this he didn't want to pin it on todd helton but okay this was

also the atv guy this was the guy who had it in his contract that specifically prohibits him from riding an atv and so they there was this idea that him and Helton were coming up. They had been riding ATVs together. There was deer meat. I remember that. These are all connected. Helton says, I cannot say it strongly enough. He did not get hurt riding an ATV. I was there.

He never left my eyesight the entire time. They're like, Todd, no one asked about an ATV. Yeah, no, but I just want to make it abundantly clear. This is a cover-up operation from Todd Helton. No, no, no. It about an ATV. Yeah, no, but I just want to make it abundantly clear. This is a cover-up operation from Todd Helton. No, no, no, it was the deer meat. It wasn't the ATV. It's enough of a problem that you have to have it written in your contract not to do it. Okay, mook out again.

I knew guys had ball hockey and soccer in their contract, but not ATVing, that seems. I really like ATVing. This is a hard turn because now I'm going to talk about another injury. Oh, I know what you're going to want to. You another injury. Oh, I know what you're going to. You got it. What? I know what you're going to. Yeah.

Well, this is decidedly less funny. Not like those crazy, hilarious hijinks injuries. Tayshaun Buchanan broke his tibia. Don't laugh at me, Dodd. We're going to work through this. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to work through this together.

He broke his tibia in practice ahead of Canada's Copa America quarterfinal against Venezuela. It is not good for him as an individual as far as his career goes. He just landed in Serie A with Inter. He was just at the end of the year starting to get into some matches and find his identity. And I think that part of the reason that he wasn't playing exceptionally well for Canada prior to the injury was because he was not match fit and didn't play a ton in Serie A.

As for Canada, not great going into a match against Venezuela now that the Copa America schedule has been set. And because Brazil finished second in their group, they are now on a collision course with what many consider to be the strongest team, brackets, non-Argentina division. The Uruguayan team, led by my former beloved gaffer, Marcelo Bielsa, two teams that, you know, have a long history and a ton of Copa America titles are going up against is totally in the realm of possibility, they will advance further in Copa America than either Uruguay or Brazil, which is a sentence I never thought I would ever say live on the radio. It's a remarkable thing.

So best wishes and speedy recovery to Tejan Buchanan from his broken tibia. Just a totally unfortunate and disastrous thing to happen at a training session. Hopefully Canada can rally and win this one for him and advance to the semifinals of a tournament that let's be honest, if they were to get to the semifinals of Copa America,

it would be up there in terms of the greatest performances ever by a Canadian national team. And I'm pulling for it. That match is on Friday at 6 p.m. Moo, Cammy. Time to fire up the matrix. Humanoid editions of What We Learn. We have to scrap the get fire plan

because it's no longer in the rotation. So I know, sad times. Do you want to play the drop anyway? It feels like... Oh my God! We're having a fire plan! The fire plan people are probably like, you know what?

We should get back on board with the show. Except not, because we're doing it for free. Yeah, exactly. It's the best deal ever. They just love it so much. They've integrated it in their show so much. Those idiots aren't even charging us anymore.

All right, let's go. What We Learned's humanoid edition. Dunbar Lover text line is 650-650. Get yours in. All right, this one came in very early, and I'm reading it mostly to roast the listener, but Justin E's van texted in, hashtag what we learned. What we learned, I've circled November

8th on my Canucks calendar because I'm looking forward to game 8 against the Oilers, and I found that funny because the game is in fact on November 9th. So, Justin, you have circled the wrong day on your calendar. I hope you're not already making plans, taking the day off work, making reservations

at bars. It is November 9th that they play the Oilers for the first time. Also, we don't have to call it game eight, guys. It was a second round series. We don't need to do it. There was only one game eight. Yeah. And there will forever only be one game eight.

Because if you have multiple game eights, you can't have that reference point anymore. And we need it for that 2012 game. Scott with a what we learned. Hashtag WWE what we learned. There is a very important fact that has been overlooked the last couple of days. The Canucks finally have a Melvin in the system. I noticed this.

It's important. Finally. That was the first thing I noticed with that signing. Yes, Melvin. You don't get a lot of Melvins. No. These days. It's a rare name.

Yeah. So you were out at Prospect Camp. Yes. The development camp. Did you have any sort of exciting takeaways or what have you? I know we talked about it briefly prior before. Tom Villander's there. Are we going Willander or Villander?

What are you doing? Villander, I think. Isn't it Villander? I thought it was Villander. Yeah. I think it's up to us. But there's always this. I mean, I'll probably say Willander out of laziness, but.

It seems like we pick and choose how we... Whether we do anglicize it or... Right. ...prample it the correct way. I don't know. I feel like we're going Wielander. Just ask him. I'll say Wielander, I would assume.

You did talk to Macklin Celebrini's brother. I did. Aiden Celebrini. Great kid, first of all. Really good interview, and he was super, super excited for his brother to go first overall. I did not ask him to spill the beans on whether Macklin's going back to school because they play together at Boston University. That's right.

And he was really effusive about what a fun experience that was for them as brothers. So there might be some draw there for Macklin. We'll see. I'm leaning towards him. He's going to go to San Jose and turn pro. But, yeah, it was great to have a chance to chat with him. So who was the last first overall pick not to jump immediately to the NHl was it owen power i think it was in buffalo right that sounds right he spent a year going back to school i could understand it because celebrini's not huge

and i don't know if he has uh the dynamic skill set that is comparable frame guy like conor batard had for example and don't forget Conor Bedard's rookie season was interrupted significantly because of an injury that he sustained, in part because of a hit that he received. I don't know if San Jose needs the boost or the shot in the arm or if that's even worth it for them. What a freaking boost.

Thank you. There are some advantages to going back, especially if you're an undersized guy, right? He's not that undersized for his age, but I also just think he had 64 points in 38 games last year. That's closing in on two points a game. That's for NCAA.

Yeah. You know, how much can you learn? How much can you really grow when you're already pacing the league in that environment? I'm with you. And he's already at camp signing autographs, and he's quickly become one of the face of the franchise lest we forget the background in history with his experience in the bay area and his dad working with the golden state warriors there is a marketability there i got a feeling that he'll

be in the nhl come game one in oct, but the fact that it's a conversation still. It's interesting. Yeah. Because he certainly has the profile that you're like, yeah, no problem. You'll be fine in the NHL. I think it really just comes down to how much does he value the college experience playing with his brother

and chasing a national championship there. Ask us anything, excuse me, for Jamie, for me, who stood out to you the most, if anyone, at development camp? The player I was watching the most was Valander. Because, again, he was far and away the best prospect there. It's always so difficult to... You don't want to take away too much from these events, right? Because they're mostly just doing drills out there.

Where was LeKarimaki at, by the way? LeKarimaki just graduated. I think they said, you know what? Oh, he just said you don't have to be there. Oh, okay, fair. You're above this now, basically. The Devils had a 31-year-old at their Dev camp. They had a 31-year-old?

Yes, please explain this to me. I don't know why Nikita Gusev was at Devils camp, but there were reports that the KHL scoring leader was going to a development camp. See, I saw that, and I thought, has he joined their development staff? No. That's what I thought.

He's 31 years old. Yeah, he was there as a player. So was Wielander that stood out to you the most? Yeah, Wielander. That's the guy I was watching the most. He definitely, you could tell his skating is at another level from a lot of the prospects there. That's going to be his calling card.

He looked the part, at least, again, in these drills that I was watching there. A few of the GIFs I saw, it looked like he had nice hands. Yeah. GIFs. GIFs. Get out of here. Yeah, I looked like he had nice hands. Yeah. GIFs. GIFs. Get out of here. Yeah, I'm a GIF guy too. Yeah.

I will be. I don't care if the guy that invented it. Yeah, he's wrong. Yeah, he's wrong. Anyways, a few of the GIFs I saw, Fielander did look like he had really nice stick handling ability. I can confirm that Melvin Fernstrom was indeed the top rated Melvin at camp. Yeah.

So that's good for him. Nice. Our Melvin rankings are through the roof. We're going to have a Melvin Monday. All Melvin Fernstrom was indeed the top-rated Melvin at camp. Yeah, so that's good for him. Nice. Our Melvin rankings are through the roof. We've got to have a Melvin Monday. All Melvin guests. Good luck with that. It's not even sports guests, just random people I meet. Well, there's some Mels, right?

I don't know. Sideshow Mel. Mel Brooks. Sideshow Mel, yeah. Mel Brooks. Get Mel Brooks on the show. There's also real human Mels. Scared the hell out of me. Mel Bridgman. If we get Mel Brooks on the show. There's also real human Mel. Scared the hell out of me.

Mel Bridgman. If we get Mel Brooks on the show. It can't be Mel though. Mel Gibson. That'd be a controversial one. I'm not sure the Christ 2 is coming out. Yeah, we might just bypass Mel Gibson in its entirety. Marcus in Gibson's hashtag WWL what we learned. I learned that Chris Tanev is so consistent that even his AAV hasn't

changed for a decade. Nothing. Chris, we'll give you eight mil. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

That seems like a little much 4.75. No, bring it down. Bring it down. Just a touch. His agent just hates him. Find someone that loves you as much as Chris Tanev loves 4.5. That is what he,

so he's made that on AAV I think really for I think it's been 10, it will be 10 years by the time that the deal's up in Toronto and it's just what he likes. Chris Tanev is a meat and potato It's the kind I like. Yep. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch

every day and 4.5 million. We were joking at the break that every two weeks he loves having the exact same dollar amount come into his account consistently and thoroughly. Look, just keep it simple. Keep it predictable, right? And no problem. Okay, Sasha in darkest North Vancouver texted.

I don't exactly know what that means. I think it's Lynn Valley. All right, sure. As a man that grew up in Lynn Valley, that is not a dark place. It is very… Doesn't it rain more in Lynn Valley? Yeah, it does. It rains more in North Van in general.

And then I think within North Vancouver, Lynn Valley gets the most. I wouldn't call it dark. It's gloomy. I've heard people say. Sash's terminology. We can just roll with it. Anyways. That's actually what we learned.

Last weekend at the Canadian Track and Field Championship in Montreal, Ethan Katzberg from Nanaimo. Friend of the program. Broke the Canadian Championship hammer throw record three times winning the event. Cameron Rogers from Richmond claimed her fourth Canadian title in the hammer throw. Both are heading to the Paris Olympics as the top-ranked hammer throwers in the world. So not just Canada top-ranked in this event, both from BC, the men and the women. We can claim the top ranked hammer throwers in the world. I wonder why we are such a hammer throwing hotbed.

A lot of pent up anger. We had Ethan Katzberg on the show before, and it was one of those things where someone looked. He is huge. He's 6'6", 236. And they're like, have you ever considered throwing things for a living? Have you ever threw a hammer? He's like, no. Every time I think about hammer throwing, there was a legend at my high school, which

I 100% believe that my shop teacher had once been suspended for throwing a hammer at a student. So he was just an angry, bitter man. Now, he's talking about an actual hammer right now. I want to make this abundantly. Like a tool. This is what I thought. No, no, no.

Like a woodworking hammer. Yeah. That's what I thought the hammer throw was. And want to make this abundantly. Like a tool hammer. This is what I thought. No, no, no. Like a woodworking hammer. Yeah, that's what I thought the hammer throw was, and I was correct. You can just grab a hammer and whip it. Yeah, that's what I thought it was. So the cool thing about Katzberg is that he's only 22, and he's ascended to being the best in the world at the hammer throw in very short order. And I guess when he first broke out and won one of the prominent medals,

I think it was at the World Championships, it was the biggest news in the hammer throw world in a long time. He broke some longstanding records. Yeah, he just came out of nowhere and just started smashing the competition. So good on him. Will go into Paris as the gold medal favorite. Yeah, we got to all start getting ready to care deeply about these events in a few weeks here in Paris.

You know, this is a really good sporting summer. It's great. Yeah. Some of them let us down, like last summer, which was awful. Remember that 48 hours where we got really into the Cincinnati Reds? The COVID summer. That was tough. But when all the footy dies down, and for some of you,

you'll be like, yay, thank God. Then we will go quickly to the Olympics, which is a great, as Jamie alluded to. Much to Bruff's chagrin. But it's a great way to start caring about. Heck yeah. Bruff hates the Olympics. He's not a big summer Olympics guy. He's a winter Olympics guy.

He went to Sochi, yeah. I know. I don't get it either, Jamie. It's so much fun. You host a sports talk show, bro. And there's all this cool content of all these sports you know nothing about that you get to learn about. And you become an expert in instantly.

Yeah, instantly. Yeah. Like in instantly. Yeah, instantly. Yeah. Like break dancing. Yeah, breaking. I'm very excited. That's actually, I'm not even joking. That's the one I'm by far the most excited for. Breaking and skateboarding.

I just want to see what it looks like. Yeah. I mean, like, beyond the obscure ones, like the 100-meter sprint, swimming, gymnastics, there's a lot. Basketball, there's fantastic events at the summer. Well, that was the addendum that him and I both threw on is, like, this year we are so incredibly excited lot of basketball. There's fantastic events at the summer Olympics. That was the addendum that him and I both run. It's like this year we are so incredibly excited about the basketball. And on that note, basketball fill with what we learned. Hashtag WWL, what we learned.

Those last chance Olympic qualifying tournaments are underway. Croatia beat Luke in Slovenia yesterday. And Brazil got a win over Montenegro. And then he's very happy that Canada doesn't have to go through these qualifying tournaments like they had to a couple years ago, including the disaster in Victoria. Yeah, one of the things I'm very much looking forward to at these Paris Olympics is watching Canada try and go for gold, which they have a legitimate shot at, even though that U.S. team is so loaded.

Well, Jamie Dodd, we made it through the first show together. We'll be back, this dynamic duo known as Halford and Dodd on Thursday and Friday. We've got a lot more to get into, but for now, we've got to say goodbye. Thank you all for listening, and thank you all for contributing. Signing off for today, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jamie Dodd. He's been Andy Cole.

He's been Greg Ballack. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.