Halford & Brough in the Morning - Seravalli On What's Going On With Demko & Pettersson

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason get a Dakota Joshua & Thatcher Demko injury update from Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli (1:14), who also gives this thoughts on what's been ailing Elias Pettersson, 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.

Sarah Valley Frank Cerebelli Frank Daily Face Off Frank 801 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Frank You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, 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 Frank Cervalli is going to join us in just a moment here 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 We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfie, what are you waiting for? Kintec. To the phone lines we go. Frank Cervalli from Daily Faceoff joins us now on the

Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good, guys. How are you? We are well. Let's start with two Vancouver Canucks currently not in the lineup, but two that we hope to see, well, relatively soon. One probably not, one probably. Let's begin with what you're hearing, what you know about Dakota Joshua, who is skating with the team, practicing.

It sounds like the return is imminent. What do you have on Dakota Joshua? Yeah, I was around the team uh on Tuesday in Chicago and he looked pretty good um I was told one to two weeks away and obviously he's he's grinding and working I I think they um I think the team misses him um I I think his impact is going to be felt pretty quickly when he returns. So Joshua is one, and I'm sure Demko, the next question, I don't get any sense that that's close.

I believe it's still quite a few weeks away. He's obviously putting in the work. I don't know that I've ever seen the drill that I tweeted a video of the other day with Demko after the morning skate. He was basically strongly positioned in the crease and was trying to essentially hold his stance while a coach was in the corner and they did change sides, basically pulling him on a rope, trying to get him out of that position.

And so unique, but to me, it just speaks to exactly what he's dealing with. This is a strength and stability issue that that knee injury is causing. And he, you know, I think it's up to him to tell the Canucks when he's comfortable unique's the whole key to this thing right because he said himself there's no blueprint

there's no playbook there's no precedent for an NHL goalie and this kind of injury so that is going to always lend itself to well we can't put a timeline on it because there's no timeline that previously exists uh how much breathing room is Kevin Lankanen given this whole process, though? He's been the story of the season. I mean, the way Lankanen has played for the Canucks has been eye-opening and props to Kevin Woodley for being all over it. He's been trumpeting Lankanen for a while in terms of being a guy that could break out and hold down a role. He's supplanted, at least it looks like, for a little while, Archer Shelob.

And he's really turned the temperature down on what could have been really a difficult thing for this team to work through this year to start I mean if you're missing Demko and you're not getting the goaltending it becomes a question every day that needs to get answered and he's really quieted that down and he has yeah it's made it really a lot easier for Thatcher Demko to take a step back and take a breath and say, okay, let's do this right and let's do this when I'm ready. Is it hard for them to come up with a plan that they know for sure is going to work with this injury? You talk about strengthening and stabilizing the injury are they positive that that will eventually happen that he will be strengthened and stabilized they're hopeful um i i don't

i don't know the ins and outs of that to be honest um i don't know that there's a ready-made fix for this. And I think that's actually really kind of at the root of it is it seems like basically what, at least this is how it's been relayed to me, it seems like at the root of this, Thatcher Demko is basically trying to deal with a new reality of what that knee feels like. And I don't, I don't, I don't know that how much better it's going to get in the short term. As he continues to work away at it, it might ultimately just be getting to a place where he says, okay, I understand what this is like. I understand how this is impacting me. And I'm going to have to find a way to get comfortable moving forward. What did you make of, did you hear about the little fracas between JT Miller and Elias Pettersson in practice? I did.

I didn't obviously see any video. And it's always hard to understand context. So I don't want to comment too much on it. But I do – I'm not surprised. I think there has been a growing – I don't want to say frustration, but I think the Canucks players as a whole, they've seen what Pedersen's game has been like. They've seen what petterson's game has been like they've seen what he said um publicly

and i you know i think there's an accountability thing going on that probably is really at the root of it and when you have someone that's ultra competitive like jt miller is um who's constantly you know, has his heart on his sleeve and is pushing everyone to get better, including himself, I think that kind of is probably right at the heart of the issue. Oh, there was one more question I wanted to ask before we move off the Canucks about Lankanen. Have you ever really been able to deduce why he was available so late

into the free agency period and why the Canucks were able to get him on the type of deal that they did when they did because I'm looking around at some of these other teams that are struggling in that and it sure seems like they could use a goalie of that caliber I think part of at least the the thought process that had existed um at the end of the summer. And I don't know how accurate this is. But the thought process was because he's had pretty good numbers the last two years at Nashville, that he was looking for a little bit of a higher ticket than some teams as they've transitioned to value based goaltending were willing to pay. And so I think there was a period of time where he probably had to readjust some expectations. And then really, you know, what seals the deal

from the Lankanen perspective is just that there was an opportunity and opening here. I mean, like anyone else, he could see that Demko might not be ready and that this could be a chance to even if it doesn't ultimately for him end up being in vancouver which he's probably changed that story um that he's a chance to to show his stuff and and play in front of a good team that might open up some other doors for him in the future so maybe So maybe acquiesce and take a little bit less, get a chance to play, knock it out of the park, bet on yourself, and who knows what happens next. I'm going to bring it back to Pettersson.

How do you think? Yeah, and I was going to say, I have plenty to talk about after watching the Canucks on Tuesday. Well, tell us what you got. I'm really impressed with the continued progression game by game that we've seen from this team. Things are different. Lots of new faces, as we know.

Certain aspects of this team still aren't right in the sense that there's a ton of room for this team to grow moving the puck. And I think that has been a real focal point from Rick Tockett and his staff, really obviously outside of that first pair. It's a glaring issue, but it feels like game by game they've added another layer. The compete and effort has been there which has been important and they're finding ways to to put points together in the standings um at a time when you know things have been a little bit in flux and so um that part i, has been really impressive. So I was going to ask you about Rick Tockett and how he might best handle this Pedersen situation

because it is an important one for the club. He needs to find a way for Pedersen to get back to his potential and the type of player that earned that eight-year contract extension. Have you heard anything about what the Canucks are planning with Pedersen or what they've, you know, started with Pedersen? Because Tuckett did say about a week ago that we have a plan with Pedersen. Yeah, I don't know what that is. I didn't ask, to be honest. I wonder if in some ways he requires a little bit more of a soft approach. And I don't know that he's going to get that. But to me, it just feels like watching him, he's clearly frustrated for one. And by the way, to be fair, I will agree with his assessment. Like I thought he definitely seemed more engaged on Tuesday, which I thought was a positive step forward. When you're making 11.6 million a year, production is what matters, not moral victories

as we approach Halloween. But it all stems to me from his head. And he's someone that is obviously hard on himself. He's someone that also obviously listens and reads and hears everything that's said about him. And he seems to wear it and take a lot of it personally. And in a lot of ways, as different as these two individuals are he can probably use a little bit of the JT Miller don't give a bleep um where a lot of it just kind of

rolls off his back um I I don't know how you approach that from a team standpoint because Miller has an edge to him and he's hard and Rick Tockett has an edge to him and he's hard and Rick Tockett has an edge to him and he's hard like it's it's a really delicate thing that I think not a lot of people are used to that he probably just that's how I view it at least requires a softer touch um I know you were talking about the coaching situation around the NHL and coaches on the hot seats. Is there a hot seat in the NHL right now? I don't think it's we're not even reaching level one on the seat warmer

but if we have one that's getting closer to that, I mean, to me, the team that stands out is Detroit. Derek Lalonde. I just think there's been an ongoing amount of friction there between roster decisions and, you know, even going back a few years to when he appeared on Sportsnet during the playoffs and sort of revealed some secrets i don't know that everything's been you know super um you know well put together there

the last little while so detroit has expectations this year they need to play better they need to get close closer to a playoff spot they should be in the playoffs after falling that short. And they've had some, you know, really up and down games so far this year that I think have been a little eyebrow-raising. So I don't see it with Nashville. I don't really see it with any other. Like, Barry Trotz isn't firing a coach five games or six games into his second season. I don't see a lot of other movement, but I guess in the NHL,

it's never really too early because I was covering a team once that woke up after their fourth game and said, you're out of here, Peter Laviolette. What about the Penguins? Because the Penguins are coming to Vancouver on Saturday, and now they've got to stop on Friday in Edmonton to play the Oilers. So that's going to be tough back-to-back for the Penguins. They're off to a 3-4-1 start.

And I know we've marveled a lot about Gino Malkin's start and all the points he's been piling up. But defensively, the Penguins seem to be having some issues. And I have wondered about Mike Sullivan's future in Pittsburgh, if only because he's been there for so long, and the Penguins, you know, they need to start winning some games. They do, but I don't wonder about Mike Sullivan and his job security. Iall and Sullivan is super tight with the Fenway sports group.

Boston guy spends his summers back in Massachusetts, goes to Red Sox games, sits with the owners. They have sort of eaten up everything that he's, he's thrown at them and he has their trust and faith and he essentially earned not earned he struck out his contract extension with Fenway Sports Group more or less without any purview from Ron Hexall who was the manager at the time so he got a new five-year deal that made him one of the three highest paid coaches in the league. And now that's the guy that Kyle Dubas has inherited.

I don't think Mike Sullivan, two-time, you know, back-to-back Stanley Cup winner, at any point became, you know, woke up and became a bad coach um there's real roster construction issues with that team and flaws and i just don't see him as someone that fenway is going to look at and say oh yeah you can fire one of the highest paid guys with multiple years left on his deal just because the same thing year over year is happening again. It's not really on him. What about the other team in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Flyers, who are now 1-5-1 and have lost six straight after beating the Canucks a couple weeks ago and suffered a loss last night?

John Tortorella in Philadelphia, who I was a bit surprised was coming back anyway this season. I know it's early, but it's a young team, and there's been a lot of losing so far. How do you see the seat in Philadelphia with John Tortorella? It is. I think that temperature is rising. This is year three of the John Tortorella experience,

and I just look at something as simple as him and Nick Seeler going at it during the game last night on the bench. This is a team that exceeded expectations last year, I think in large part due to his coaching and his intensity and the fact that he rings every drop out of the players that he's given. This year, there's even you know there's bigger expectations for them to take a step forward because you have someone like matt vaynechkov there and and jet lutranko um at least for the time being that they're to get off to a

start as tough as this to be swept by the caps in a home and home on back-to-back nights to really look out of it um for periods of time that they're not even really in games um i don't i don't know like i i think it's still a bit early in that they really seem to be enamored with john tortorella in the front office and also in the group that runs the team from the CEO, Dan Hilferty, on down. But if you continue to see some significant friction, I think that's going to build. What do you know about the situation in Montreal right now? Because they're not playing well,

and they haven't been good for the last couple of years, but everyone understands that it's this slow build, and I understand that. At the same time, this year feels different because it feels like people are actually frustrated with the results and not winning more than they have been previous years. The comments from Marty St. Louis on a nightly basis where he says this is very concerning or this is very disappointing.

Nick Suzuki has put the team on blast a couple times. They just got annihilated by the Rangers the other night. They're close to the NHL basement as well. Not necessarily a hot seat coaching thing, but more a discontent. What do you know about Montreal? Well, it's growing pains, right? I mean, look at what they're asking Lane Hudson to do. He's averaging, what what 24 minutes a night

so far yeah now they're talking about sending him down which is that's a big drop yeah i mean i and you see what he can do and the talent and skill that he has but at 24 minutes a night you're going that's not on lane hudson that's on the fact that they don't have anyone else to play some more minutes to put him in a more manageable position. So I think a few things have caught up to them. First, they've also asked Sam Montembeau to do a ton. Their numbers at five on five are abysmal.

So it really comes down to asking, and it's not just Hudson, you're asking a lot of young defensemen to do a lot. And that's really contributing to their issue. I think they have a closer to playoff ready forward group, like closer than a lot of people would believe or imagine. And they've got a lot of work to do to continue to build and and find that depth and strength and part of it is you can only do that by gaining experience and playing games but you've got to find a way to find a happy medium because having someone you know essentially 10 games into their NHL career biting off that much in ice time is probably not a huge recipe for success. Hey Frank I got one more question about the Flyers what has happened to Sean Couturier?

It's tough to answer because I mean think back to like his career arc he missed so much time and that back really has never been right that you're talking about a guy who won the Selkie in 2020, and for that chunk, you know, from basically 2017 to 2021, was pretty darn close to a point-per-game guy that was one of the best, most conscientious defensive forwards in the league. He missed almost two seasons. And just from a pure offensive production standpoint, that hasn't come back. He was never fast to begin with.

But I think that part has really caught up to him and he just he thinks and processes the game on such a super elite level that to me the answer is his body just can't keep up is this going to end in an LTIR situation for the Flyers? Because he signed until 2030 with a cap hit of almost $8 million. That would, I think they would probably even have a case too with his back. Like that's how bad it was and has been. Yeah. So, I mean, this isn't an issue of torts and him not getting along. This is like, can you blame torts for anything in the relationship with Sean Couturier?

I mean, he healthy scratched him last year and didn't tell him. I didn't think that was great, but it's not torts just picking on him, is it? No, I don't think so. I mean, there needs to be a certain amount of accountability for Sean Couturier too. Frank, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week.

We'll do this again next week. Yep, have a good one. See you guys. See you. That's Frank Cervalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's so NHL, isn't it? Like, oh, is there an injury that we could use?

Can we get out of this contract, please? When you told me he was signed until 2030, I looked at my screen. I thought it was a joke. I'm like, oh, but it's 2024. That sounds bad. Yeah. I don't think the back is going to magically get better over the next six years. He's making 7.25, I think it was.

Unfortunately, I think he's done, too. He's playing 14 minutes a night. He's got one assist in seven games. Put it this way. When you brought him up, the Canucks have seen Philadelphia twice, and I don't remember Sean Couturier from either of those games.

Yeah. This is the guy that was one season, one of the best two-way player in the game. Forward. I know why they made him the captain and gave him the contract and everything. It's because it was a great comeback story. It was.

I mean, his career, many people thought it was over, and he came back and achieved great things. But hindsight being 2020, it was not the move because now it's, I mean, it's not killing them because they're kind of like a, they're in a weird position. They're in a rebuild, although they've got that contract on the books. He had back-to-back 76-point seasons. He won the Selkie the first year,

and then ever since that second 76-point season, it's been all downhill for Kucherov. Maybe it's because the Canucks have played them twice. I've seen them, and I just don't know what the point, like it sounds harsh, but what's the point of the Flyers right now? Like I know it's to Milkov. Right, so if that's the case, then just clear everything out and start

from scratch because mitch goff's so young they might have the worst goaltending duo in years that i've seen in the nhl weird thing to me and i know the carter hart situation was out of their control flyers and goaltending man oh but i know their history there not a good mix but it's like it feels like a terrible um formula to have a young team that doesn't know how to play properly at the NHL level and then insulate it with maybe the worst goaltending in the NHL. Like it feels like you're going to lose a ton of games and they already have

already. And a captain whose body might be, you know. And a really old, angry cranky head coach. Okay. We're going to give away the $50 gift card to White Spot right now. Be caller number three. Phone number 604-280-0650.

That number again, 604-280-0650. Caller number three. All you have to do is call. Be the third caller and have not won anything for the last 90 days from Sportsnet 650. You will win a $50 gift card to White Spot. A-Dog's going to take the callers now. We're going to go to break. We're going to come back.

We will announce the winner, and we'll do some What We Learned. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Big 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. 832 on a Thursday.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough in the morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda, North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program. It is what we learn time. 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. Nice. A-Dog, who is super busy, he told us at the break, he's like, I'm making videos, man.

Lay off. Podcast. Contest winners. You're doing it all. Sorry, I can't do a whole word. Sorry, you have to work. You are the most diverse dog. That's your new name.

Diverse dog. Diversity dog? Diversity. That's a different name. Nope. No, not that. That's a training I haven't done yet for Roger's diversity dog. Diversity. Yeah, he points me in the right direction. Anyway. done yet for Roger's diversity dog. Diversity.

Yeah, he points me in the right direction. Anyway. Lisa, not now. The dog is barking. Can you please announce the winner of the $50 gift card? Even these Simpsons things are a little beyond me now. Diversity dog. No, no.

Remember the crime fighting dog? Yeah, yeah. McGruff. McGruff, yeah. Oh, yeah. The Simpsons also had the cartoons that never got off the ground, and one of them was Dinner Dog. Right.

Dinner Dog. Anyway, Andy, announce who won the $50 gift card to White Spot. Congrats to Z in East Van. Z. Yeah, first name Z-E-E. Nice. In East Van, you've won a $50 White Spot gift card. Congrats. We got one more tomorrow a $50 White Spot gift card. Congrats.

We got one more tomorrow along with the $100 gift card. One of our listeners calculated that's exactly four chocolate milkshakes. I said eight. Right. It's actually only four. Someone pointed that out yesterday. I did not realize. Shakeflation.

Yeah. Shakeflation is real. That's crazy. Yeah. But I was like, what are you doing ordering four milkshakes, man? Right. That's also a ton of talent. I'm having a great night.

Okay. I'm having a great night. Okay, I'm going to start. Brought to you by. That dog can sell anything. That dog should work for Sportsnet. They sell some of the other shows. The sale dog. You hear these voicemails like that? What is this?

I'm going to call them back at least. Yes, I sold. I am curious. All right. I learned yesterday that Canada's Jonathan David owns Madrid. The entire city. The entire city. The entire city. Both teams that play in Madrid

because Jonathan David playing for Lille, my favorite French team. Not for long, but he's still there. After scoring the winner against Real Madrid, Jonathan David came through with two goals to help Lille beat Atletico Madrid, 3-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday. And with those two goals, Jonathan David became Canada's all-time goal-scoring leader in Champions

League history with six, one more than Thomas Radzinski. Yep. It is pretty remarkable what he's doing. He's upped his game. Yeah. For sure. For the national team, too. They had a graphic during the Whitecaps broadcast last night

talking about, they were doing the other soccer stories around the world, and they had the Jonathan David thing. So there's a list of the most prolific goal scorers in top five European leagues over the last, I think it's two years and it's like holland levandowski mbappe jonathan david yeah like he's scoring on that level which is crazy you're laughing laughing someone just texted in please never play that dog clip again my dog just went nuts i know i'm sorry it's's like when we do the Hey Siri thing on the air. Oh, there it is.

Yeah. It's not great, but that dog is funny. A million phones just lit up. Yeah. So here's a couple things that I want to touch on here. One, every time Jonathan David scores a penalty, the knife gets a little deeper from Alfonso Davies taking the penalty against Belgium in the World Cup.

Because he's clinical, man. Someone said every time Jonathan David scores a penalty, we get one step closer to deporting John Herdman. And I don't disagree. Anyway. Also, I know been feels like Jonathan David has been on the transfer market for what three years

and that he's always the next big thing is coming but it's now gotten to the point where it's like he has to move he's scoring with regularity in the Champions League and as you pointed out against some of the giants Atletico Madrid Real Madrid Lille's next

big European match is on November. I want to see November. One of David or Davies will move eventually There's been so many transfer rumors around these guys. Well the Davies one's getting ugly because Bayern is starting to bad mouth his agent in the press Ah. Yeah. They're saying

one of the quotes was, it was translated from German so i don't know if something is byron in a bad way right now for byron relative to byron because they lost what 4-1 to barca yeah but the i mean uh my my beautiful boy rafinha former leeds united he scored a hat trick for barca yesterday um there it's weird because the bar is so high for byron if they don't win everything it's like a colossal disappointment. It's like if you don't win the Bundesliga and the European Championship and everything else, it's a disappointment.

That's how high the bar is there. So yesterday was a smack in the face, though, because that's a pretty – Poor Harry Kane. He's never going to win anything. No, he's not. He's not. His job in life is to just be a runner-up. Or a third-place finisher.

Anyway, I think we covered everything on that. Oh, Jonathan Davis' next match with Lille, the next big one, they play Juve. So he has a chance to score against another famous European opponent as well. Mukau that. I learned that Mike McDonald figured out what was wrong with his defense, and it was the linebacker position. So yesterday, Mike McDonald and the Seattle Seahawks went about tinkering with their linebacker course.

So the big news is that they acquired Ernest Jones IV, not the first, the second, or the third, but Ernest Jones IV. He's the good one. From the Tennessee Titans. In exchange for Jerome Baker, a guy that they recently brought in to play linebacker for the team. There's also a draft pick involved. It sounds like the Titans are going to get a 2025 fourth-round pick.

Now, the interesting thing here is that McDonald said that Ernest Jones isn't just joining the team. He's going to be the starting middle linebacker, like the moment that he comes into the team, he's going to be the starting middle linebacker. Like the moment that he comes into the team. Now, I'm going to say that if you acquire a guy that's already been traded twice and he instantly becomes your middle linebacker, you weren't happy with your linebackers. And in a subsequent move, they also made a move on waivers.

They picked up Josh Ross. Now, the interesting thing here is that he doesn't really play defense. He's more a special teamers. But the reason everyone is mentioning this is because, one, he played for McDonald in Baltimore. That's who they picked him off waivers from. He also played at Michigan under McDonald. So it's like Mike McDonald is already starting to bring in his guys. Yeah. Mike McDonald is already starting to bring in his guys, and he wants to change this mix because I think through seven weeks,

he's seen that the defense is not good or it's not where he wants it to be. I mean, the defense played well against Atlanta. It goes to show, though, right? It came up with plays. But it wasn't the linebackers. I did notice going into this year, I'm like, I don't really know these guys. They don't seem very good.

And long gone are the days of Bobby Wagner running around. And remember even Jordan Brooks when he was healthy looked like there might have been something there. Well, the Seahawks have a huge game on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills that we'll look forward to. Let's get to the Dunbar-Lumber text line. First, mookow that bit on the Seahawks. Print out the submissions into the Dunbar-Lumber text line.

6.50, 6.50. Oz is a big Whitecaps fan. What a night last night, eh, Oz? And Oz and Squamish with what we learned. The Whitecaps truly broke the timbers. Portland's Evander Ferreira put out a Twitter thread apologizing to the fans and calling out the ownership. You love to see it.

I do love to see it, as a matter of fact. And he's, you know, it's funny that he's just Evander. I know his full name is Evander Ferrer, but he's, he just got the Evander on the back of the shirt and they only call him Evander. He was completely irrelevant last night, as were most of the Portland Timbers. This is pretty strong though.

He goes, Portland fans do not deserve the people who have power over this club. People who say they are men, but do not keep their word. People who are only there when the team wins. Unfortunately, these are things we have no control over. I have always fought and will continue to fight to put this team on top, to put the fans you deserve, to the fans you deserve much more. Thank you for your unconditional support, and we'll see you next season.

Damn, that was a bad loss. Yeah, it was, it's the kind of loss that gets you fired. Like I, I was, I wasn't joking this morning at six 51 when I said Phil Neville, the Portland coach.

And then I looked, I'm like, for now, um, you know, no one really cares because everyone's probably focused on the white cap side of things. And then not the huge Portland contingent here,

but I don't think you understand how crushing it is to host a playoff game and in front of your home fans get embarrassed. They didn't lose. They got embarrassed. That's embarrassing, what happened last night. They got drummed off the pitch. And there were some decisions like Max Krapow didn't start.

Yeah, that was weird. It was very weird. I texted you and I was like, wait a minute, Portland has two Canadian goalies? Two French Canadian goalies, as a matter of fact. Because James Pantemis is from Quebec. And where is he on the Canadian goalie depth chart? Not where Max Krapow is, I'll tell you that.

Not that you're going to blame him on a lot of those goals. I don't want to say that I... I'll just say this. I don't want to say that I saw this coming or I was like a prognosticator or anything. But when I saw that Neville made that move, my spidey sense went up because I thought it felt like a coach

who was overthinking it and trying to play for the moment and trying to manage in the moment. Vanny was guilty of that a few years ago when the Whitecaps went to the playoffs. And I think it was in Real Salt Lake or Sporting KC when they went down there. And he started a guy that basically never played

the whole year, Marcus Codino. And everyone was like, what are you doing, Vanny? And he was trying to do the mad scientist thing. Sometimes you can overmanage and you can overthink things. And I think that was part of what happened. Was that Stuart Armstrong's first start? Second. Second start.

Yeah. But first significant contribution. I know he scored a goal, but he was useless up until this point for the Whitecaps. And then he came out last night and he was brilliant. Yeah. He made that nice little pass to Ryan Gould who chested it and then volleyed it. Up until this point for the Whitecaps. And then he came out last night and he was brilliant. Yeah. Like, I know. He made that nice little pass to Ryan Gould who chested it and then volleyed it. Go watch the goal. That was an incredible goal.

Go watch the Whitecaps' third goal, Ryan Gould's second goal of the match if you haven't seen it. Because the ball doesn't touch the ground between Stuart Armstrong flicking it in the air and it landing in the back of the net. We've actually got a What We Learned from Mike, the urologist from Brockville on that. What We Learned, Ryan Gauld on that third goal did what all the best athletes do, made an extremely difficult play look absolutely pedestrian. The guy looked like he was out kicking the ball in QE Park with some buds,

not in the middle of an MLS playoff game. Yeah. It was just like perfectly weighted volley. And I wouldn't even call that a chip. What is it? It was a lob. It was a lob. It was a lob. He lobbed the keeper. And that's like an awful position for the

keeper to be in. Like, ah, I wish I was taller. Cause you're flat footed and you have, all you're doing is just, you're not running into the dive or the leap or anything. You're trying to do it flat footed. But so to give you an idea, it went Armstrong flicks the ball about, I don't know, nine feet in the air.

And then it drops to Gauld who chested and pops it up in the air. And then just so casually and so deftly lobs the ball. While again, this is all happening in the air. The ball does not touch the pitch at all. And I'm watching it, and I'm like, he just did that in a do-or-die elimination playoff game. And just not a care in the world. That's when you're feeling it, right?

And it helped that it was 2-0 at the time. Unsigned what we learned. Steve Nash should speak to the Lions before their playoff game, too. Yeah, I guess Steve Nash, who's a part owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps, had a little something to say to the boys before the game.

We don't hear from Steve Nash very much when it comes to the Whitecaps. Neither do the Whitecaps. They're like, who is this guy? Didn't you used to play basketball or something?

Man, you own this part of it? Wow. Chad in Kelowna, with what we learned, I learned that a very casual and unofficial Halford hot take cashed in big time with dividends as Ryan Gould had himself a game. I can't remember Mike's exact take, but it was something along the lines as a key for the white caps to win was for Gould to just quote unquote take over. And the rest is literally Whitecaps history. I didn't even know. I do remember saying that. I was busy cooking up the Conor Garland for Team USA. By the way, you see Donnie and Dolly went off on that yesterday, right?

They were just going through all the Canucks that might make the Four Nations. Yeah. You inspired them. Yeah. I love it when Dolly delivers news that he thinks is groundbreaking. And we're all like, yeah. He's like, Donnie, Donnie, look, look, look. I'd be shocked if JT Miller wasn't on the American team.

And then I'll be Donnie, and I'll be like, yeah. He's one of the best players in the league, and he's American, so he's probably going to be on the team. Dolly also tweeted right after our show, I just talked to the Swedish coach American so he's probably going to be on the team. Dolly also tweeted right after our show, like I just talked about Pedersen or talked to the Swedish coach about if Petey's going to play or whatever it was. That was Mike and Willoughby. That wasn't us.

We take no responsibility for that. Oh my god. What was the Swedish coach's name too? Like Sam Halal or something like that? Not Halal. Sam Halal? Sam. I think it's Sam. Sounds like a Dr. Seuss character though. I think it's Sam Hallam. H-A-L-L-A-M.

Sam Hallam? Yeah. Yeah, he's like, and then I was talking to Sam Hallam. Sam Hallam. Sam Hallam. Sam Hallam. I was like, come on, Rick. Like, it's clearly not Hallam.

I'd be shocked, Donnie. I'd be shocked if Conor McDavid doesn't make the Canadian team. That wasn't the best one. The best one was when he was like, guys were on the radar. He's like, Brock Besser's on the radar. I'm like, yeah, he's an American player in the NHL. He scored 40 goals last year. He's probably on the radar.

Sources say he may be on the radar. Rick's probably driving in all furious right now. Taking shots. He's angry. He's angry. Unsigned, what we learned. Actually, this is from D he's angry uh unsigned what we learned actually this is from dino bravo i apologize what we learned rest in peace fernando he was an icon in 1980 i was 11 years old yep born in 69 nice the memories of the electricity that fernando mania

generated that summer will live with me forever i was a huge sports kid every day me and my best friend would go to the local park get on the mound and try our best to emulate fernando's pitching cadence and delivery every single day all summer i am sending you this because you are all too young to have witnessed the impact he had on not just me but basically the world that year that was 1981 Fernando was 20 years old I was only five years old I don't remember Fernando mania but I remember Fernando Valenzuela when he was pitching in the league he was a six or seven time all-star, but that first year was like, who is this kid? And he was Mexican-American playing in Los Angeles. And he really energized that population and he helped the Dodgers win the World Series.

So go watch Fernando Nation, the 30 for 30. It's everywhere. You can find it quite easily. Because not only was this sort of like unknown, and this was at the time too, where there obviously wasn't the reach that we had with all of our abilities to watch prospects play. Like people knew he was drafted, but that was about it.

The other thing was, was he starred in this world series in 1981 after getting called up to the majors in late 1980 like he had he didn't have a lot of major league experience and no one really knew about him as a prospect because it wasn't super highly touted he'd kind of done things in like the texas league and high a california league but it wasn't like this number one overall draft pick. In his delivery too, right? He looked up at the sky. Yeah. It was, yeah.

Also, can I just, I want to point out one more thing. He started his career 8-0. He went 8-0 to start his career, but seven of the eight wins were complete games. Well, that's the way they pitch back. I know. They weren't quitters like they are now. Laddie, you were talking about this the other day.

Five innings, I'm done. You were watching a clip where someone was saying, I don't know if he's going to come back out. That was Valenzuela. Oh, was it? Yeah. Because he had already thrown 100 pitches. Vin Scully said he comes out for the ninth,

he's at 108 pitches, so you know he's got a lot of gas left in the tank. Only 109. And I just left in the tank only 109 that's it does like i know i'm all excited for the world series and the baseball playoffs have been great but i will go to my grave being like i cannot get down with a pitcher who tips his cap and gets a standing ovation when he's recorded four outs and he's recorded four outs, and he's thrown 11 pitches. Like, come on, man. Jack Morris would throw 12 innings on nothing but tobacco and shredded elbow ligaments. Maybe some speed.

And, yeah, whatever greenies they were giving him. And he had a mustache, and that's how baseball is supposed to be played. You're supposed to throw until you can't throw anymore. And then you put that ice pack on it. That's it. Well, I told you the story, right? I heard Pat Tenken

telling a story about how he knew that he threw a good game when he got to his car and had to start at the ignition with his left hand. Yes. Yeah, exactly.

Because he couldn't raise his right arm high enough. There should be a certain level of numbness in your arm after you pitch. That's probably not good. Yeah, your shoulder

is just a mess. It sounds like a car starting every time you try to move it. Do you remember Nolan Ryan used to have that commercial for Advil? Yeah. Pop a couple Advil every day. I'm like, yeah, pop a few more than a couple. Rub them right into your shoulder if you can.

Basketball Phil, what we learned, five points, five rebounds, and six fouls in 15 minutes for Canadian Zach Eadie in his NBA debut yesterday. Welcome to the league, kid. I'm predicting he will figure it out and be fine. In fact, I predict he wins Rookie of the Year. I replied to that one. What did you reply?

I love you, Phil, but he looked terrible last night. Did he look too slow? Yep. And you know those big I'm going to be not, you know, those big kids in elementary school that you look at him and you're like, Oh yeah, I bet he's really good at basketball.

Then you watch him play. He's like, he has no control of his body. Right. Yeah. That was kind of what was going on. He was just flailing. The NBA is so fast.

Yeah. He followed out so fast. He followed out. He's like, this isn't the big 10. Yeah. He played 15 minutes. I think it was 15 minutes. I don't know if you have the box score there 10. Yeah. He played 15 minutes. I think it was 15 minutes.

I don't know if you have the box score there. Phil passed it along, but. 15 minutes. So six fouls in 15 minutes. Yeah. Which for you mathletes out there is basically a foul every three minutes. He was physically engaged at least. Yeah, he was.

He was a kicking guy. A little too much. One foul for kicking in the back, which he could have controlled, but he's still the favorite to win Rookie of the Year, which I think maybe speaks more to the rookie class. Kicking in the back. Kicking him in the back. But you know what?

He did make progress in college as well. Oh, sure. I think he's got it. There was, before he went back to Purdue for his last year, there was people that were like, there's no way he won't even get drafted. I am rooting for him because he's Canadian and because I think it's a good story and everything, but he's got a long way to go.

He's learning the hard way that the NBA is a lot more difficult than college ball. All right, the Canucks have a day off today. They don't play again until Saturday against Pittsburgh, so we'll still be back tomorrow. Preview the World Series, talk a little Canucks, talk a little hockey.

It's Ask Us Anything Friday as well tomorrow on the Halford & Ruff Show. Signing off for now, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Ruff. He's been A-Dog and he's been Laddie. Thanks for listening.

This has been the Halford & Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650.