Halford & Brough in the Morning - Playoffs Are Still A Thing In Vancouver

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk some baseball with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:32), they chat playoffs with Vancouver Warriors GM & head coach Curt Malawksy (26:03), whose squad is in the post-season dance for the first time, plus they discuss the Abbotsford Canucks with commentator Brandon Astle (33:47), as the Abby Canucks won game one of their first round playoff series versus Tucson last night. 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.

It's time to chat with Adnan It's Adnan Ferkey's on the show We're gonna talk some baseball And take a trip to the silver screen That's right, it's time for Redman. Yes, and at first he joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the filthy scene. 702 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest.

Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Adnan Burke is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominik at Jason.Mortgage. in just a moment here to kick off our two. Our two is Brad Tobait, Jason Hominec at Jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. I am joking.

Let him do exactly that. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. To the phone lines we go for some baseball talk. The all encompassing, all eclectic sports show that is Halford and Bref continues now with Adnan Burke from MLB

Network here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. What up Adnan? I'm doing great, Mike. Doing great. A big day here at MLB Network is take your kids to work day. So my boys are 16, 13, 8 and 6. The eldest declined, the youngest we feel like needs the schooling. So the middle tour here, the reason I mention it is when Andy first checked in with me, it's a little louder in the background, Joe the Magician right now is wowing the masses

here at MLB Network to the delight of many children, which I ask to both of you, at what age do you stop being wowed and astonished by a magician? Yeah, we have a take our kids to work day here at the radio station, otherwise known as Scared Straight. No magician here, kids. our kids to work day here at the radio station, otherwise known as scared straight. Yeah. No magician here, kids. Stay in school, kids. Or I don't know, work at a trade.

Just don't end up here. Yeah. Also, the answer to your question is not 45, because I'm still wowed every time I see a magic trick. I'm like, how do they do it? How do they do it? You know, I got a text here. This came in at

six forty nine this morning from Matt in Surrey and he says, good morning, guys. Does anybody want to take a minute to talk about the Blue Jays and the fact that they can't hit or score runs? And he, of course, is talking about, I think the most recent road swing through Houston, three losses, 15 runs allowed, two runs scored. Well, they got the lad in mostly for his glove, didn't they? Right. Definitely not as bad, or at least right now. Yeah, really ugly for the Jays.

Two runs over three losses in Houston. The offensive dried up in Toronto in a big way recently. Oh, it's honestly astonishing, guys, just how bad it's been they're averaging three point five runs per game which is the seventh dearest in baseball i want you to think now the teams that are worse than that we're talking about the rocky that we're talking about the pirates were talking about the white sock the true drag the society and three other teams as well that's where it is right now for the blue jays who incredibly are right now you know a five hundred team

specifically george springer who got to an awesome start was leading the league and hitting this is baseball guys you don't pay attention for a week you go wow George Springer is now hitting 192 in his last seven games Andres Jimenez got to a great start the first week of the season Andres Jimenez is now hitting 153 in the month of April Alejandro Kirk yet to do anything as you guys said one one home run bo yet to home run uh... found that there's a one ninety six was fine given a day off i was a

tourist is slow starter but you gave the guy ninety two and a half million dollars nobody is hitting right now the team davis schnatter got that down he was hitting as well it's an awful offense right now they thought that fixed it clearly they have not yet i know all the the cliches once the weather warms up the the bats will come, but this is awfully concerning because it looks like, at least early, the Js are wasting a lot of really good pitching under the fact they're inept at the plate. Do you think it might be tough for Vladdy with the expectations on the big new contract?

I don't know how it isn't a part of it, Jay. I mean, it's $500 million and I think, even the most confident man would say, that feels like anpay right and I don't think Vlad is thinking that he said he's thinking no I want 500 I got 500 and how do you not press a little bit if someone in your head is saying I just got paid a half a billion dollars and I have one home run like I gotta get I gotta hit the home runs here like come on like how does that not impact you anybody who's human anybody who's any sort of pride in themselves I think would impact that so how does someone get someone get to Vladimir and go, Hey dude, you're here. It's okay. For 14 years guaranteed contract, the fans love you. Just relax. I think that has to be their play.

He doesn't seem to be the guy Jay, who I think is like, you know, overly intense. I don't think he's like necessarily tough on himself, but yeah, I do think of course pride plays into it. Egos plays into it. He wants to live up to a contract as anybody would. And so far he's yet to do so. Okay, so we're about a month into the MLB regular season. It's almost the end of April, went by really quick. So I was looking at some of the trends and some of the teams that have done well

and some of the teams that haven't through the first month. I gotta bring up the Sad Sack Chicago White Sox. So a team that loses 121 games, like that's in a bad way, very impressive that you're able to lose that many games. It's hard to come out and be even worse the year after, but they're on pace for 127 losses. Their record right now, if they keep with this pace,

would be 35 and 127, which is horrific. My question is, how long can you be that bad before either something turns on the field or your fans turn against you? Yeah, so we do this thing, like 30 clubs in 15 days, MLB Network, as you know, you go to all the different spring training camps, and Craig Amsting was there on behalf of the network, and I was asking him,

you know, what's the vibe like? And normally you're there, and you end up drinking the Kool-Aid, and actually you go, wow, this team looks great, oh my god, they're so sharp, I think they're gonna contend for the World Series. And the first return is now to work here at the Chicago White Sox camp I'm fairly certain this year's team will be worse than last year's and oh my god

That's a pretty ballsy thing to say you're literally there the key of talk these guys are that I don't say it like there's Definitely here the pipeline and I know that there's a thought with some fans that go Well, either be contending or be awful because I mean you're awfully get the draft Bakes yeah, okay So tank or win, but it doesn't always win when you tank because you can stink for three years and always stick There's no foolproof planet just because you're awful I'll send you the top pick again the major league rules for those who are unaware They've changed that really you don't just necessarily get the first pick you're then the lottery

You get the fifth pick the eighth pick whatever and the baseball draft unlike let's say the NFL draft we've been talking about tonight it's much more of a crapshoot NFL draft you like 50% of those guys hit maybe it's higher than that in baseball you have no idea so I look at this thing specifically guys the Orioles the Orioles were bad right what happened they kept hitting all these drafts and now take a look at the standings what's happened people thought the Orioles were going gonna be a contender for years to come.

And what ended up happening was, they made the playoffs last couple years, but no playoffs success. And now they're a sub-500 team in a really tough division. Like now the Yankees feel like the class of that division, again, I think the Red Sox are a good team, the Jays really not sure what we're getting there, and the Rays are always pesky.

The Orioles, it's crazy, though the windows are already closed, wait, they stunk for a while, all of a sudden they got Adley Richmond, G but got her headers over their pitching awful they've got a little worse pitching staffs in baseball so it's a cautionary tale to anybody who says oh you can stink and then all of a sudden you're great the Astros did it okay that's true they bottomed out they're a horrible they call those great players off to be career pregnant etc and they hit on all those guys but it's no foolproof plan so to answer your question how long can you

stink before it matters? I think two or three years, that's it. And like, you're always going to get 12,000 fans, maybe like that's your die hard fans. But I wouldn't alienate an entire populace. I have to go to the game and say, there's at least one reason to watch. You know, I get to watch Louise Robert Jr.

or whoever it is right now, the white socks, because if you're paying to go see a game, I mean, it's a pretty tough place to be. So what happened to the Oilers, the Orioles? Like what happened to them then that they got good and now they're not good again? Did they lose some players or did some players plateau, what happened?

I think with the Orioles, see what's happened is that, you know, they're starting pitching, there's never really a strength of that team, but it was weakened considerably by the fact that Corbin Burns was left to go to be back to put a game of a big contract he just didn't want to say you know that the offer from arizona was better the rest of stephen ephelin's been decent he's okay he's a little banged up now but the rest of those guys just are very

good and you know 30 are against a 746 starting area you can't win in baseball just because you've got some good position players I think that they were first off position player heavy rather than focused on pitching now the position player part of it Gunnar Henderson's an absolute stud I think he's a great player will be for years to come but Adley Rushman was thought to be oh he'll be the next Johnny Bench his numbers from the second half of last year into this year have been like highly disappointing like he's not even close he's like a 600 OPS like oh my gosh just falling off the table.

So I think that when you're making these picks, you have to be careful and hope that you can get some guys that'll hit and you have to make sure you have a balance, right? Pittsburgh's another example where you go, okay, they've got schemes, they've got some good young pitching, no question about it. But then where's their offense?

Their offense is paltry, just like the Blue Jays. Like there's only so much that McCutchen can do and the likes of these O'Neiser jet to come to fruition keep writing a great defensively can't get so baltimore pittsburgh is a couple examples again for the white socks this picture back you'll get a couple good players to get more than a couple of the start of the mba mba you can be you can stay and get what you got to know we got look at but that dot you so carriers or

ever it is dot like that in baseball we're speaking at an order from a little bit Network here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. And can you put into context what Aaron Judge has done through the first month of this season, like to be a better hitter than he's potentially ever been is pretty wild, considering he's the reigning American League MVP and was already the best hitter in baseball.

But to do what he's done through the first month, it's truly impressive. I've kind of run out of superlatives. Are you able to put into context what Aaron Judge is doing right now? I'm so glad you mentioned it, Mike. I was doing the show last night with Chris Young, and that was I said to him too. I go, this is like the most underappreciated superstar

in sports because come on. I see he plays for the New York Angels. You think everyone would always be talking about Aaron Judge, but he's hitting 415 right now. Nobody knows he's leading the majors in hitting like that unbelievable his on baseman says is over 500 he makes he gets on base more than half the time yesterday was a great example of judge not hitting home runs which is getting on base four hits a triple like he's been unbelievable for this team he's got like a 1300 OPS

he's already won MVP twice he doesn't have one solo in that lineup. And he just keeps trudging along and credit to Paul Goldsmith. He's been a great pickup guy. I was very skeptical. I said, you know what this feels like a former MVP in his thirties. He's 36. I'm like that speed slowed considerably. That feels like a bad Yankee contract. I was wrong. He's been great. Goldsmith is in 362. He's like second in the majors and hitting behind judge, but he is such a quintessential superstar

that lifts up his entire team. And I'm so glad you mentioned him because again, it's funny to say, how could a Yankee possibly be underappreciated? But I let people realize just how great judge is, barring a catastrophe. He's in the third MVP this season and it looks like he'll be the focal point of a team that

wins the division. And then we picked on a few teams during our hits, whether there was Pittsburgh Pirates for their lack of spending or the Chicago White Sox just now, we've talked a lot about the athletics. Um, I've got a question I was wondering the other day, what is the point of the Miami Marlins?

That's so great. It's like, what really is the point of the spread side? Again, it always seems to me, Jay, you have to tell yourself, if I go to this game, I'm going to see this. So again, Pittsburgh, they're not a good team, but on every fifth day, I get to watch Paul's games. As we just said with the White Sox, what exactly is the draw?

With Miami, you go, well, I guess it's Miami. It's kind of this crazy ballpark, it's lavish, whatever. But like, when are you going to actually be good? Like what are we actually doing here? And I think that's a legit question. If I said to you, do they have some pieces of it? Yeah, they got some good pictures. Obviously, Samuel Contra, I think is a name that people know,

won the signing award back in 2022. He's back now after having Tommy John a season ago. But like, what really, as you said, what is the purpose of this franchise? What have they done? It's kind of remarkable that they've won two World Series, way back, it seems, years ago, in 97 and 03. But on a on a day-to-day basis like who's really coming to support the Marlins And here's the thing I don't get fellas. I spent time in Florida, Miami is a rich Cuban communities

We all know right Latinos Hispanics love baseball I don't know why they don't draw better than they do but it doesn't matter if they're good or bad the Marlins don't draw Particularly well there. There's not much buzz in that city it's a dolphin's tail it's a heat tail the Panthers of course now because they've been in the back to back cup finals the marlins like a distant fourth there as far as fan interest I don't get it you would think people want to go see baseball the park is pretty nice I was there for the all-star game a few years ago what's your point what is the point of the marlins not much of a point right now they're more they're more of an MLS town I was gonna say now they're overshadowed by Messi and Inter Miami, who, by the way, are playing in Vancouver

tonight. OK, Adnan, we're up against it for time. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week and all the ball that's on tap. We'll do this again next week. Thanks, boy. They'll get back to David Copperfield here in the studio. We'll talk to you soon.

Enjoy, buddy. Adnan Virg from Take Your Kids to Work Day at MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. That is definitely one team that I'm like, I never think about them. The Miami Marlins. I don't know why. The other day I was like, what's the point of these

guys? What are they doing? Their stadium isn't even cool. Their stadium just looks kind of tacky. If you have a- Money laundering. Money laundering? Yeah, that's what it is.

Oh, OK. If you ever want to- It's a huge operation. Is it cocaine money laundering operation? Miami, come on. There's one team that was going to do it. If you ever wanna, is it cocaine money laundering operation? It's Miami, come on. There's one team that was gonna do it. If you ever wanna know, like if a professional sports,

Man, those barlars are swimming really fast. Yeah. If a professional sports franchise ever wants to know how to properly make a foothold in the market, especially a crowded one, and the simple answer is always winning. The Florida Panthers now are so much more relevant in Miami.

Like you see it in just sort of like subtle nuance stuff on social media. Like they get mentioned in non hockey hits on the news and there's like, you know, celebrities coming to the games whenever otherwise have gone to hockey meets, all because they won, right? That's it. And they don't even play in downtown Miami.

You would more say it's Fort Lauderdale and it's not even Fort Lauderdale It's sunrise. It's a bit of a hoof to get to the stadium the Marlins have won though Yeah, but then they won and then they tore it all down. Yeah. Yeah, it's a big old times, right? Mm-hmm. I Think what I'm like, I also talk about recent winning right? So I'm talking about recent winning, right? Right. Recently. Not one or three or whatever it was.

Yeah, not 20 years ago. Not when we were still young, even in potential. Also, I want to point this out. Every time I hear the name baseball player, Corbin Burns, I instantly think about the actor, Corbin Berenson, who of course played Roger Dorn in Major League. Wasn't he in LA Law too?

Yeah, baseball. I was like, I know, I know. He always comes to mind first from that Seinfeld episode Where Jerry goes down to LA and is on a talk show and George tries to sell Corbin Burtis in an idea for LA law And he just makes fun of him the entire time has a deep cut. I don't think I remember that I don't think I remember that George Wentz as well as in the same one like Cheering no army. I use another I watch a lot of Seinfeld man We don't discuss it enough from the show, because you guys aren't, you know.

Well, we're fans, but I don't watch. That's not on the same level as I am. No, no, no. Yeah. Our Simpsons is your Seinfeld. Seinfeld to me is like Simpsons, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So we went Miami Marlins to...

Well, Roger Dorn, Major League. Corbin Berenson. Yep. And then Corbin Berenson's rare appearance in the Seinfeld episode. Yes. And then Adog was like, I like Seinfeld. We need to discuss it more on the show. Well played, Halford and Bruff.

Well played. OK, quick reset here. We've still got four more guests on the show. If you're thinking, wait a minute, you've already talked to two. Yeah, that's right. It's an eclectic sports Thursday here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

In the next segment, Kurt Malosky is going to join us from the Vancouver Warriors. He is the head coach and the general manager. The Warriors are going to the NLL playoffs for the first time ever in this version of the franchise's history. They went way back in 2017 when they were the stealth. Speaking of the playoffs, at 740, we're going to talk to Brandon Astle. He's the play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. Abbotsford, the way the Calder Cup American Hockey League playoffs

work is the first round is a best of three. And what's more, all three games are played at the higher seeds rink. So all three games in Abbotsford. But the third one might not be necessary because Abbotsford won last night for three. Kind of a crazy game. I didn't get to watch it So I've got to ask what happened because apparently The good for RDC loves is that he stopped a penalty shot with about 30 seconds left to preserve the victory That's good. The bad is that I believe RDC loves caused the penalty shot by pushing the net off its moorings

Oh, that's bad. That's not great. So we'll talk to Brandon. The penalty shot did come with a free Froger. Yeah. That's good. That's good. The Froger was also cursed. Oh, that's bad.

That's tough. So we'll talk to Brandon about that coming up at 7.40. Did you see the news out of Tampa Bay that Sorelli? I can't keep track. I knew he was hurt. What happened? Well, he's not at the morning skate. So the Lightning, who got beaten pretty badly by

Florida in the first game, although they didn't give up many shots. They were not good. Yeah, they were not good. They were not good at all. Um, and they are facing, I mean, if there's a game two must win, being down one nothing at home is a game two must win.

And they might have to do it without their, you know, really underrated and underappreciated two-way center, Anthony Cirelli. I am, I was borderline stunned at the first game of that series because all I heard going into it was how much these two teams hated one another and how the rivalry was forged in fire.

I think they met four of the last five playoff years and that animosity, at least from the Tampa Bay side of things, was sorely lacking in game one. Florida just kind of came out and you're right, they didn't get a lot of shots, but a couple of the chances they had were like wide open, gray days. I think it was the first Kachak goal. There was not a Tampa Bay Lightning skater within 10, 15 feet of them. Like it was a colossal breakdown and Tampa Bay just seemed flat, which was weird for a series and a rivalry of that magnitude.

I anticipate, like most playoff series, that things will swing the other direction in game two, and it's going to have to. But losing Sorelli is a killer for them. I got a massive piece of the puzzle for the Lightning. In other NHL news, Bort just texted in and he said, so the flyers fired all three of their assistant coaches. Interesting. Yeah.

The flyers announced this yesterday. I believe, um, Rocky Thompson, Darrell Williams. Yeah. Funky for Darrell. And the, uh, the assistant coach skills coach, Angelo Ricci. Um, so clean slate, I guess in Philly. What's, what's going on with, is Brad Shaw still like there with his newscaster hair?

He's got, hi, I'm Brad Shaw. Hi, I'm Brad Shaw for Como. That's right. Traffic and weather coming up next. Uh, I, they're obviously starting fresh behind the bench. Like I'm sure that technically there might be like an interim tag, maybe not necessarily attached to his jacket or his three-piece suit. But the fact that they've gutted the entire staff leads me to believe that they want to go in a very different direction.

We saw that at numerous times this year, even before they fired Tortorella, right? The trades they made to the Calgary Flames, the deadline, turning things over to like a younger core, including Matt V. Mitchgoff. And then of course, having horrendous goaltending, which kind of ensured that they weren't gonna go anywhere this year and they weren't gonna have

the same thing. Remember they fought close to the end for a playoff spot last year, which eventually led to Torts being like, I don't want any part of a team that's in this Torz being like, I don't want any part of a team that's in this kind of situation. And we don't want any part of you. So, I mean, you know, I'd be very curious

to see what comes next in Philadelphia. I don't, looking at it from sort of like the 200 foot view and looking down on it, I still think that they are so far away from being a contender that the next guy you bring in sort of has to be like the teacher and he has incredible amounts of patience and you have to be prepared to lose. I think we're talking about Rick Tauke and the

possibility of him going elsewhere. I mean, there's a reason Bort texted that in, right? Yeah. Clearing the decks for a whole new crew in Philadelphia. Um, I think there, I think this is obviously something about money and talk it wants to be, um, compensated. And I think in a way that, you know, people will

say, well, he hasn't even had success. I don't think it's just success that he's talking about. I think he's saying like, look, this year was hard. And you guys have said very openly and publicly that you've been very impressed with what I've done. So reward me as such, because if I come back to coach the Vancouver Canucks, it can be easy. This is not going to be an easy challenge for numerous reasons.

I'm having to put my faith in you as a management team to work out a number of big things this off season that a lot of media guys that are wondering how are you going to pull this off. Um, you know, talk had a lot to deal with this season and hopefully they'll have less to deal with next off season. But I think part of, uh, part of the, uh, like I'm,

I felt like Rutherford was spinning a little bit at the press conference when he said, you know, we're going, uh, you know, we've never really done this in Vancouver for a coach. And he was talking about the offer that was presented. What he didn't say is that we have met Taukeats Price.

Right. Because they were well aware of the price. Okay. Taukeats said, this is the price. And you heard Dolly Wallace like, Canucks know the price. aware of the price. Okay. Tauket said, this is the price. And you heard Dolly Wallace like, Canucks know the price. They know the price. So if you were Rutherford and you'd met that

price, you would say, well, we met his price. We're just waiting for the yes. But if you were trying to spin a little bit, like maybe you'd given a generous offer, but you hadn't quite got to Tauket's price. You would have said, you'd given a generous offer, but you hadn't quite got to talk its price. You would have said, we've given a very generous offer considering the history here in Vancouver, right? Like that's how you'd spin it. You'd be like, it's a lot of money. Well, did it meet talk its price? It's a lot of money. Given a lot of money. Do you know? Like, like I really got

the feeling like Rutherford was spinning just a little bit there where he could say we've given a serious offer, but it didn't quite meet the price. Uh, it's time now for one to watch brought to you by Delaney's OK Tire and the one to watch tonight, since we just talked about it, Andre Vasilevsky, the goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had a pretty rough outing in game

one of the battle of Lightning, who had a pretty rough outing in game one of the Battle of Florida. Six goals allowed on 17 shots. A save percentage, and I know Laddy loves single game save percentage, of 647 in game one. You're probably not gonna win too many playoff games when you're saving 65% of the shots faced, Laddy. I'm not a goalie expert.

Don't need a lot of context for a 647 save percentage. You don't. So he gets a chance to rebound tonight against his Russian counterbards Sergey Bobrovsky in net for the Florida Panthers game two goes tonight on another busy night on The NHL calendar in terms of Stanley Cup playoff action It's time to put on your toyo tires whether you drive a car light truck or van Toyo tires are designed to perform in all kinds of conditions visit Visit Delaney's OK Tire in Langley and Aldergrove. OK Tire Service, Repair and Tires. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Hey, it's Mick Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650. This is a banger. Accentuating. Thrash Thursday and the impact it has is that Jason Bruff hates it with a passion. It's just too early, man. No, man. It wakes you up, gets you going, starts your day. Coffee wakes me up. This is musical coffee.

Musical coffee. It is. If you weren't fired up and up already, Listen to that caffeine. We got a giveaway on the Haliford and Brough show coming up. We're going to talk to Vancouver Warriors head coach and general manager Kurt Maloski here in a minute. We're giving away a pair of tickets to see the first Warriors playoff game at Rogers

Arena this weekend. If you want tickets, be caller number 5-604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Lucky caller number 5 is going to get a pair of tickets to see the Warriors in NLL Playoff action this weekend. Why not preview that game right now? Joining us on the line, as mentioned, Kurt Miloski here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Kurt. How are you? Good. How Kurt, how are you? Good, how you doing guys? Uh we're well thanks for taking the time to do this we appreciate it so talk about the excitement level and the anticipation of going to the playoffs and getting a home date in the playoffs for the first time is this iteration of the Vancouver Warriors. Yeah you know the the group's really really excited you know for the organization and all the fans British Columbia

It was a big thing for us. It's you know, 14 team league It's tough enough to make the playoffs just to be top eight But you know to be in the top four is pretty special the host of a home playoff game And you know the way pretty good driving motivation to down the stretch, you know The last game of the day against Philly it was either we're gonna end up in Rochester Which is you know, I played there for six years Not the best place but and then or we're being home and rewarding our fans and organization to the home playoff game so the guys dug in and did a great job and so fortunately

we're at home on Saturday night it's good. It was a good regular season throughout but there was obviously a pivotal moment when you guys acquired star goalie Christian Del Bianco from Calgary. Talk about what he's meant to your team since being acquired and how that's really changed the course because you're 6-0 since his arrival. Yeah, no question guys. Aidan Walsh was doing a great job and I think the perception out there was that your goaltending wasn't really an issue but when you have an opportunity to bring a guy in

like Christian Del Bianco, MVP of the National Electros League, NLL champion, won at multiple levels in the amateur ranks, winning national championships there as well. It just changes the complexity of the team and the respect that everyone's a little bit more calm. They understand that Christian's going to be able to make the ones he needs to and then some, and then he gets the ball up the floor really, really well. I think what gets lost in translation a lot of times with Christian, he's a phenomenal leader, you know, very fiery competitive guy, but has a very, you know, common demeanor on the bench. And he's very logical thinking.

And he just, you know, he just gives our offense a little bit of time with the ball more and, and you know, helps our possessions. We don't have short clocks on the 32nd clock. And, and then again, if we don't score, you know, early in then again, if we don't score early in possessions or if we don't score early in games, we can just kind of stick with it. So his presence is translated throughout the whole team.

Hey Kurt, how did you turn this team around? Well, it's a team effort. I got great people around us and I wouldn't be able to deal without the support of the Connect Sports and Entertainment. Dax Ackley and I work really close together. And I think it was just, we had a vision of what would fit our culture. We had some good success all those years in Calgary.

It's tough to leave, but I have an opportunity to come home and coach in the home province was super important to me and the guys that came along with us. And I think we knew guys that would work in our system and there are some guys unfortunately that weren't going to work in our system. With the swipe of the pen last year, we moved about seven or eight, maybe nine guys out from the previous year. Not to say they're bad players or bad people, but not at all. We just started bringing in guys that we knew and we were comfortable with and that had won NLL championships. We didn't have an opportunity to get a goalie right away. The young Walshy did really well near the

end of the season last year and we were able to draft another one for the future of Conroe Tool. We just slowly started building our pieces and we got big for ages. Kevin Crowley last year and then we just started building the offense through the draft. When the opportunity arose to make a trade for Christian mid-season, and that was something that we couldn't pass up. We thought there was more going to happen this summer. But I like how things kind of moved forward. I think we're ahead of the plan and obviously we're going to be

very aggressive in free agency, but we've got big things in front of us this year. Why were you guys so good at home this year? You know, I think it's just, you know, the time change, you play a lot of the this year. Why were you guys so good at home this year? I think it's just the time change. You play a lot of Eastern teams, they don't have a ton of Western guys. I think that helps. The game started at 10 o'clock Eastern for them. I think obviously our fans are phenomenal. We've had great, great crowds and they're on the glass. They really motivate our guys.

I always say that BC fans are very knowledgeable when it comes to the game. They really appreciate the hard work that the guys put in. And you know you get the familiarity of your, you got your same practice time on Friday nights or Thursday nights whenever the game would be and then you have the same shoot around time. You got your meals and your video session. Everything's kind of laid out and guys are sleeping in their own beds. So I think that's a big part. And then in times you get a chance to play in front of family and friends, you know, got a little action motivation. You want to do your family proud and your friends proud. And I just think, you know, with our game presentations and just the way that everyone

in our office is done, just putting a good product, you know, in the stands and the entertainment value of it, I think it just makes it real tough for visiting teams. They don't have a ton of BC guys that play out of kind of out of the lower mainland that come back. So it's like strictly usually a straight banker or warrior's crowd. One more from me before we let you go. So the playoffs work, it's a quarterfinals, a single elimination, semifinals best of three,

finals best of three. So it's a road to get there. And I know it's, as a coach, you're like, we're taking this thing one game at a time. But I also know that you've won an NL title before. What does it take to go on a run in these playoffs? Well, to be truthful, you need a little, you need some luck. You got to stay healthy, number one. And you know, we have a great training staff from Saquib and Karen Nichols that do

a really good job of keeping our guys healthy. Our injury report's been, you know, pretty good the last few weeks. And so that makes a big difference down the stretch. Obviously, goaltending and special teams are huge. To be able to go on a run, you need to have a better special team. Your power play needs to be better than theirs. Your man down has to be better than theirs. Obviously, your goalie, the most important guy in the most important position has to be better than the guy to your right. That's a big part of it too. I just think for us, what we've done the last six weeks is really something to build on. I think we don't need to change.

You get these games where they're the higher stakes and the bigger the magnitude and teams will change. So they'll be something that they're not. And I really think the mantra that we talked about that, you know, remember who you are and play those five minute segments. I think that, that methodology as we went out throughout the season and down the run here really translates well into the playoffs. We don't want to change too much. Obviously, the stakes are a lot higher. If you make a mistake out there, it's magnified. I think that calmness, contagious

attitude is something that we've had and it's tried, tested and true. Like you mentioned, we won a championship previously. Our coaching staff knows what it takes. We've got a lot of guys with cups in that room and that was another mandate we wanted to do is bring champions in. So we just trust ourselves and remember who we are and make sure that we scout well and you know and let the ball let the ball bounce where it goes. Playoff lacrosse comes to Rogers Arena this Saturday, Saturday April 26th. 7 p.m is the start time it's the Warriors it's the Nighthawks from Rochester. Go check it out visit them online at VancouverWarriors.com for tickets. Kurt, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. Best of luck on the weekend against Rochester.

Let's do this again after you guys get a win and move on to the semis. Sounds great. Thanks for the support guys. Really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. That's Kurt Malosky, a Vancouver Warriors coach and general manager here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Continuing the playoff talk, see the Vancouver Canucks let us down, no playoffs. Thank you Vancouver Warriors and thank you Abbotsford Canucks for giving us some playoff action. Well, and also congrats to Ray for winning the

Vancouver Warriors tickets. Shout out to Ray. He's going to the game on Saturday, April 26, seven o'clock, Rogers Arena Warriors and Nighthawks. Adog said, I forgot to ask Ray where he's from, so just make something up. Yeah. I'm not going to make something up.

Yeah. Ray from Parts Unknown. Yeah, yeah. Ray from Atticus Island. He lives there in a warehouse. Yes. Do we have Brandon on the line? We do.

Okay, let's go now for a little Abbotsford Canucks. The play by play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks, Brandon Astle here on the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Brandon, how are you? Boys, how are my people doing in the Dunbar text inbox? Let me tell you, last night your station picked up our game, so I got access to the inbox. Nice. Yeah, it's a fun place.

The amount of messaging. I can only imagine what comes in during your show because it was all night. Only compliments. Only compliments. I know, I bet, right? It was like people come texting in from Brazil, Mexico, Maple Ridge, like it was everywhere. I just thought like, what does Halford and Bruff read during their show? It's a lot.

Yeah, we love our listeners. I'm saying that with a straight face. I want to talk about this game last night So Sammy Blay the hero already see loves the hero. I asked the question right away So I got to get the answer what happened with 34.6 seconds left that led to Seal of stopping a penalty shot to secure the four three win lay it out for us as a play-by-play guy set the scene in the sequence I'm still scratching my head.

It just came out of nowhere because, yeah, Tucson was trying to tie the game. They had the goal tender pulled. And then all of a sudden Max Sassett was skating the puck out of his own end and was going to have a good shot at the empty net. And then the referee blows the whistle and I just see like the net's knocked out behind Shelah so they go, okay, that kind of sucks for Aberture. It looks like they're going to ice the game there, but now the face-offs probably is going to be in their own zone and we go from there.

But then the ref points to center ice and then Shelov is like, what? And the Abbey Canucks, the fans were all confused, but to Tucson's credit, they knew right away something happened. They were like telling the ref like that's a penalty shot. That's a penalty shot. Apparently Shelov just intentionally knocked his net off, which is an automatic penalty shot. So jumping over the boards was a defenseman who isn't known for his scoring Mac Zuber. He's a big left-handed shot defenseman, went one for one in the shootout, had seven goals all year,

put on a pretty decent move, but Sh lost me to a nice right pad stop to Preserve the game one win and just yeah several of one of those things you don't see every day That is absolutely that's a wild sequence. So so like was there any any like Did he knock it off like did he knock it intentionally off like? Did we get to the bottom of it or what? Yeah, it sure looked like he did. I don't know why it happened because the puck wasn't near the net. I don't know if he's upset with something and just wanted to get the referee's attention, but he was right there to make the call.

He did the ref and waiver. He pointed and rated center. So obviously, Shelov was thinking, I got to stop this. This cannot go in. And to his credit, he did. OK, Shelov dramatics aside, the story of the game was, of course, the win, a 4-3 victory, which puts the Abbotsford Canucks on the verge of clinching

as they go again tonight against Tucson. Give us an idea of some of the other standouts from last night. I know Linus Carlson scored. Archdeep Baynes had a pair of assists. And I know that they got some major reinforcements the the Abbotsford Canucks, with all the guys that returned to the team from the Vancouver Canucks once the NHL regular season was done. So how are the Abbotsford Canucks looking on what we hope will be the start of a long Calder Cup playoff run?

Yeah, getting those seven guys at the end of Vancouver's season is obviously huge. Obviously, it's a bit of a transition going from the NHL to HL and stepping into the playoffs. I think the two-game buffer they had last Friday and Saturday, the last two games of regular season was huge for those guys like Carlson and Rahtou and Sassett and Victor Mancini. When you look at last night's box score, obviously what stands out is Sammy Blay with the two power play goals. Are she things with, with two assists? But the one guy that I circled and you look at his box score, you're like,

I don't know. Victor Mancini was awesome. Like I know he was a minus two, didn't have any points, but he looked like a man amongst boys. And Saturday in Ontario in a must winwin game to clinch second place, he was unreal. He had a couple of points, he scored a great goal. I'm just so impressed by his not only obviously skating ability for a big guy but with his poise of the pocket he's got some great offensive instincts, he makes great pinches, he's solid defensively, if he gets caught out of position he races back like so fast to get back into the defensive zone. So I just really liked his game. Max Sassen, he just brings it every

single night. The power play entries weren't working so great. So he just like, screw it. I'm just going to skate it myself and did a self chip in the offensive zone twice and set it up. He had four shots and was a force. And yeah, everyone that pretty much came down had a pretty big impact. So yeah, big game number two tonight. They got Tucson on the ropes. We'll see what happens. Does Mancini play a bit of a different game in Abbotsford compared to the game he plays in the NHL or like, I'm just wondering how far he can go and if he plays a bit safer in the NHL because

I've seen some highlights of him down in the NHL and I'm like this guy's all over the place in a good way. Yeah you nailed it Bruv I would say probably the NHL maybe not the last few games of the season he probably played a little bit more safe and I could totally see why be the young guy doesn't want to make any mistakes in the NHL, want to play more of a safe game. But in the NHL, sometimes he's a rover out there. He's making plays, he's looking to get pucks to the net, he's getting them through the blue line.

He handles the pucks so well and just his defensive play too is so strong. He's a guy that's obviously pretty big and used the size like last night, separated some road runners from the park in front of the net in the corner. Uh, and with those skating ability, just kind of skates around the net. And he was like a one man breakout. So, um, just seeing some of the glimpses that we're, we're getting right now, especially on a big stage, uh, in the Calder Cup playoffs. And if you, if you look at it, you think like, okay, maybe last night was his first Calder Cup playoff game.

It was an 11th playoff game. Like he had some good experience with the Harper rules pack and it definitely showed last night. And I just think he's such a great piece to add. I'm glad the Vancouver management were pounding their fists on the table to get this guy as part of the J.T. Miller deal because they don't really have a right-handed shot

defensive and that could do the things that he does with the puck and let alone his defensive play as well. I just think that his future is so bright. Uh, how does, how does, uh, Lekermacky look? Uh, he's, he's, he's wearing a full bubble right now. Um, so I did tell that he might be fighting it a bit, but, um, obviously playing his first Colby Cup playoff game, last maybe with a bit of some nerves, he had a great chance

early on in the first period and finished with two shots, played the point on the power play. So I think it's just a matter of time before he breaks out. And if you look at his last few games with Abbotsford, he doesn't have any points, but I've been really impressed. I know it's maybe a bit of a compo answer, but I just, I'm really impressed with the defensive play so much so like I talked to Rob to after the game and he's a sentiment right now and asked him like, have you noticed an uptick in Lector Mackey's defense? And

he's like a hundred percent like he has come so far in his defensive play. Like last night alone, I name checked them two, three times and making a great play in the defensive zone. Just getting like a stick in the lane, breaking up a cross-ice pass and winning more battles along the wall. So it's great to see him grow in that aspect. Obviously his best asset is what he does in the offensive zone but just the confident plays he's making in the defensive side first has been really encouraging and I'm sure that's probably gonna lead to offense soon. We're speaking to Brandon Astle, play-by-play man for the Abbotsford Canucks here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Abbotsford Canucks have a chance to win their first round series against Tucson with a win tonight in Abbotsford.

Speaking of the first round potentially being done tonight Brandon, is there a sense or is there a vibe in Abbotsford right now that this team has the potential to go on a pretty lengthy run? I'm thinking about the way that they ended the regular season. I'm a big time jinx, Alfred. You know what, I gotta say it. I say the things that people are afraid to say. The team was fantastic during the stretch.

They ended the season on a crazy heater. They got all these reinforcements from the NHL team. I look at the box score from last night and it's like there's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They got a loaded team, man. There's Kudriasev, there's Kudriasev, there's Sassen, there's Ratu. We already mentioned Mancini. It just seems like this is a team primed to make some noise in these playoffs. Yeah. I mean, you look at the roster, this is the most talent that they've had entering the Caller Cup playoffs. And I was a little worried about having all those guys

coming back all at once, just because who knows if I could mess up, I know the energy or the, what do you want to, the kids call it the juju in the locker room, the momentum that they built. Like they had that 13 game winning streak and had all sorts of depth players stepping up, punching above their weight class to get the job done.

And now most of those guys are healthy scratches, right? Because seven guys coming down, seven guys got to come out. So it kind of sucks for them in that regard, but they understand it. And that's why I think those last two regular season gains were huge for the guys that came down just to get acclimated back on this Abbotsford team. But yeah, you look up and down their roster, like their fourth line center right now, their captain Chase Waters, two weeks ago he was their first line center.

So everybody just get bumped down a bit in the lineup. Like Ty Mueller, is their MVP, is their AHL All-Star I should say, he's their third line center. So there's just so much depth up front and on defense right now that they could be poised for a big run.

They got a great two headed monster in Shelov and Tolopilo. I don't know how man he's going to operate the goal-painting situation like if he starts Shelov back to back, but he's got Tolopilo who's got an eight game winning streak going just came back from the NHL. So I wouldn't be shocked if he got the call tonight. But yeah, this team has been the best in the aHL since the calendar flipped to the 2025 and the unique Unique thing about this roster which separates them from the rest The guys that are leading the charge are their top prospects other teams rely on their aHL veterans and aperture does have a couple for sure

He just said people will add in but it it's the likes of Lekker Mackey, Baines, Ratu, Mueller, Mancini. Like that is rare for an AHL team to be led by that crop of young guys. And they are playing so well right now. But at the end of the day, like this is the best of three, like a season could be over tonight. If not, if someone's season is over on Saturday, like your playoff run can last 72 hours and anything can happen in a best of three a Goal tenor can steal a series so that was a bit of a worry for me going in to last night because Tucson does have a very solid goal tenor but credit to Abbotsford coming away that game one win and We'll see if they can turn the lights out tonight

If you want to hear tonight's Abbotsford Canucks game and our man Brandon on the call a reminder It's here on sports net, 7 o'clock puck drop. Abbotsford Canucks playoff hockey. Playoff hockey in Vancouver. Who would have thunk it? Brandon, thanks a lot for doing this today, man. We really appreciate it. Have a good call tonight. I'm sure we'll be doing this again real soon. Boys, the in basket, as you call it, I almost called it the in basket about 10 times last night, so thank you for that, Halford. It will be open. Let's get those checks going throughout the game. 6.50, 6.50, Canucks Roadrunners, 7 PM. Let's do it. Thank you, Brandon.

You're doing our job here. Nice. Can you do the read too? Yeah. Thanks, buddy. We'll catch up soon. Thanks, Brandon. All right, guys.

Take care. Yeah. Brandon Astle, play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet. 6.50. From exotic locales such as Brazil, Mexico and Maple Ridge. One of the most underrated lines in show history just got dropped.

That was amazing. Yeah. Uh, the Dunbar Lumber text line, if you want to text in 650, 650 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years, visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. You know how we always like to compare

players to previous players? Yeah. Mancini, Biaxa. Oh. College guys, fifth round picks, both of them, right shot defenseman. Interesting. I think Biaxa has probably got a little

more offense in him. Maybe a little more. Mancini also knocked out Fedor Fedorov one time. He did. Right. Yeah. Couple years ago. And Fedor's like, I'm almost 50.

I did not even do that. I deserve the first knockout, the second one. I don't know. I would imagine Biaxa probably a little bit more snarl. Maybe, yeah. Yeah. But Biaxa was, so Mancini is 22 right now. Biaxa was 24 when he first joined the Canucks because he played four years at

Bowling Green where he studied bowling. It's because he played four years at bowling green. Right. Where he studied bowling. It's a big bowling school. Lawn bowling. Lawn bowling. Lawn bowling. Lawn on the green.

Obviously lawn bowling. It's good. Hello. Uh, and then, uh, spent quite a bit of time in the AHL now Mancini spent some time in the AHL as well, but not as much as BXA did. And you know, if I know a lot of things are going to change this off season and Mancini could

even be traded, who knows like what the Canucks are going to be doing. But I imagine he's kind of like penciled into the lineup next season. Down the right side, you'd probably have Horonik, Myers and Mancini. And especially with the, we don't know what's going on with Willander. It is funny that you brought up BXA

because it hearkens back to a time where, I don't know if it was just the sign of the times where we weren't as invested or had as much information available for prospects and stuff, but it seemed like we were okay with a longer matriculation process back in the day. Like if you look at it, like BXA played like a hundred and something AHL games.

He didn't follow the prospects. No, it was just different. There wasn't like the cottage, it was a cottage industry. Now it's like big industry. Right. The big prospect talk. Right, like he spent four years,

like you mentioned, a Bowling Green, played a hundred games in college and then played another hundred games in the American league before he was a full-time NHL-er. Yeah. Now we'd be like, what's wrong with this Kevin B X of fellow Why is it taking him so long to make the jump but back then that was? Kind of how you grew as a player if you made the NHL at 24 or 25 it was fine Because back then you're like well, you don't hit your peak until 30 any way

Yeah, you know you're pink till you're 38 and it was just a different time. It's a different time to be alive What can I say? Okay, we got one final hour to go and two final guests to go on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Thomas Drance is going to join us first in the eight o'clock hour. And then at eight 30, Shelley Frost is going to join us.

She is the president and CEO of the PNE and there's lots to talk about with regards to the PNE. Vancouver's new PWHL team, we'll talk about that. We can talk about the Whitecaps, the World Cup, and of course, the most important topic of them all, the summer nights concert series. That's all coming up in the final hour of the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650.