Halford & Brough in the Morning - Shorty On What To Expect From The Canucks This Season

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason preview tonight's Canucks season opener versus the Flames with television commentator John Shorthouse (1:54), 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.

Shorty, the man who's got the call. Shorty, he's actually really tall. Shorty, the man who's got the call. Shorty, he's actually really tall. 8.02 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. We're coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech.

Footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. This is a tough one. We don't play it very often. I tried to time it up. I missed. I love it. It's very good. Add in those random shorts.

We need a third verse. That's courtesy the man himself. Really? Yeah, we've been working on one behind the scenes. Oh, nice. I look forward to hearing it. You don't get to rate your own jingle. We are like that's like giving yourself your own nickname.

We will unveil the third. We will unveil the third verse in 2026. That's the plan there. You are listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest. Two, much lower payments and three.

Financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands. dash trustee.com. We are now in our three of the program, as the name and the music suggests, John Shorthouse is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Our three is brought to by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dash pound.com today.

Our next guest is the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks. It's John Shorthouse here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650, end quote. Good morning, John. How are you? I'm well. Thank you, Michael. Thank you. We got to do a quick vibe check at the start of the season. I know that there's already been...

Well, no, you know what we need to do? What do we need to do? What? I need to, between now and 7 p.m., so I've got 11 hours to get a hold of my boss in Toronto and figure out if, like, the rules of broadcasts have seismically shifted because I would love tonight to be, rather than John Shorthouse, John Schneider. And then Ray could be Kevin Gosman. and we could really like, you know,

pick the you know what out of this broadcast. You almost went there right there. Each and I, each and I for decades used to fantasize about winning the lottery and then going on and having the all honest broadcast. Like the last broadcast of your career. Yeah, that would be it.

Yeah. Anyway, that was fun last night. What a week of sports. It's, uh, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's, it's been fun just to channel pop for the last week or so. And, um, it's funny. Sorry, I know I'm rambling. No, no, no, no. You know, I only come on, I only come on once a year.

And we'll get to that lyric in a second because I want to dedicate it to someone. But I, um, you know, I'm like everybody. I've kind of caught up. Um, well, not everybody. I, I can't speak for everybody. But, you know, you get kind of caught up with the Js, because I find this quite a likable group and obviously what they've done has been pretty exciting but you know a lot of us as sports fans your allegiance to their form in your youth and when it came to baseball in Canada I was more

of an expose guy right okay and when it came to baseball overall I was pretty partial as I am to most of their teams when I was a mariners guy right you know and I was kind of like mid early mid 80s mariners like Jack Perconi and Spike Owen and Ken Phelps Harold Reynolds Dave Valley Alvin Davis Alvin Davis Yeah Gorman Thomas

For that brief period When he came over From Milwaukee That was weird Anyway Um Did you run to the jingle The uh

The loses how I was so many The Mariners But I'm sure Like Andy and Laddy With their YouTube expertise

We'll find this Before the segment is over But it was like Take me to the ball game I want to see the M's The Mariners are playing hard ball hit it again and again and again hit it again

Why are you That was one An amazing rendition of a good jingle Two you should just be doing Your own jingles for the show I don't remember that one I don't remember that one I don't remember that at all

He's curiously searching it up right now I mean he was called hit it again I don't know because that was sort of the refrain that went on yeah so anyway In terms of the lyric to my song and this goes out to Brian Red Hamilton

who takes over from Pat O'Neill as the head equipment manager with the Canox this year and Red's been around the local sports scene forever with the Lions and with the Canucks now for decades. And he's amazing. He's here to an amazing job.

But he just always loves to needle me. And so the lyric coming into this segment was Shorty, the man who's got the call, Shorty, he's actually really tall. And so in honor of Red, he loves to just get under my skin whenever he can. I think the next lyric should be, Shorty, we really, we really miss.

Rick Ball. That is good, actually. We're going to pivot from one jingle to another. Laddy, Googler extraordinaire, has found the aforementioned Mariner. Here we go. I think I did a good job. Let's set it up. Get ready to play hardball in the King.

Take me to the ball game. I want to see the ends. The Mariners are playing hardball. Did it again and again and again. Francis Tour is the vacation company That is, that is sharp That is really good That is a jingle. That is in 1983

Wow, year before I was born So that's exactly, that's exactly my real house I'm all That was a good band Was that blood, sweat and tears playing in the back? Yeah, I think it was actually It was on a, it was a B side It was, you know

All right, well, you know what, as we set up The vibes are strong right now People are loving this as you would expect But with the actual team that we'll play tonight, 7 o'clock, Rogers Arena, first game of the season. I'm curious, having been around the team for a little bit now throughout the preseason, of course, these practices leading up to the opener. Let's get a vibe check on the group. And maybe we'll start with the new head coach, Adam Foote, who has been stressing very much about chemistry and camaraderie and everyone getting along and having a good time. And he seems like the right guy to lead that kind of charge, because we've had him on the show before.

very personable, very animated, but really seems to embrace that family and togetherness ethos when it comes to building a hockey team. Well, what he doesn't do is embrace the heart, I guess. And I heard you guys talking earlier about how you wanted nothing, you wanted nothing but the worst for J.T. Miller,

and you hope that, you know, you wanted to put a cell on Rick Tockett. There was a fan in Penn Tickton who actually cracked me up, which is not the easiest thing to do sometimes This fan came up to me and said, you know what I'm thinking? I was like, what? It says, this whole Rick Tockett thing, it's like, guys, we got to embrace the hard.

Wait a second. This is a bit too hard. I'm going to say. We wanted hard, just not that hard. Yeah, this is, I didn't know sign up for this. And I think Adam Foote is, like, first and foremost, he's an excellent communicator. and what he comes across as and it's not like he's coming across as it like it's an act

he's very genuine and he's honest but he can really get his points across and he doesn't in a manner that I don't know how to put it exactly but there's almost like a fatherly feel to when he speaks to you like he's there to keep you in line he's there to tell you the ground rules and what you're going to do

but he does it in sort of like a I don't know, like it says, there's just a, there's a gentleness to it and a, a compassion to it, I guess. I don't know how to put it. I don't want to get like too, to whatever the word is flowery in describing his approach, but he's, I really think that this is going to be a good fit. And then the entire, like Jim Rutherford, I was speaking to him in the EBC a few weeks, so he's really excited about the staff as a whole. You know, Kevin Dean has a lot of experience. Brett McLean is just like Tommy Larsh, I would describe it as a little pepper pot. You know, because he's just out there with a full of energy and bark.

And, you know, he's just like a whirling dervish, if you will. Scott Young as well. And you look at the Stanley Cup experience, too. I know, Young won a couple. One is a player, one with Pittsburgh and one with Colorado. Adam Foote, of course, won twice in 96 and 01 with Colorado. Evan Dean, one introduction he had. he in his rookie year he won the calder cup and then he won the stanley cup the same spring with new jersey

and uh you know so it's they lost some experience for sure um but they replaced it quite adequately and i really think there's uh you talk about the vibe i just think there's like freshness to the entire situation starting with the coaching staff and then you take that down uh to the roster which everyone is kind of agreed is you know somewhat um reminiscent of last year, but okay, now you have a healthy Thatcher Denko, you have a clean slated, Elias Patterson, you have Brock Besser without, you know, his future hanging over his head, that's decided, you know, they're not like completely running it back, but they're running it back to a degree that I think is understandable, because for all the stuff that went on last year,

and I won't say stuff tonight if I do the John Schneider broadcast, but for all the stuff that went on last year. You know, they were, what, six points out of eighth place. Yeah. And they were terrible in overtime. Seven and twelve. Seven and twelve and overtime. Yeah. You know, it's not like it was a completely lost season.

I mean, I guess it was a lost season because there were so much potential there and they kind of sabotage themselves in a way. Is that a fair way to put it? Yeah, I think 100%. So that makes it a lost season, but I don't think it was lost in terms of, you know, being unable to look at this group and saying, well, maybe they could take that next step. Maybe they still can be pretty good. I think that's, I think we've all been pretty sensitive to the vibe this year.

Like, okay, how's the vibe? You know, because last year, obviously, it was very, it was very publicly on display. like there were issues with this team and a lot of it had to do with you know personality conflicts and and what went on in the walls of the dressing room so i think that everybody's been kind of sensitive to you know is the vibe going to be okay and there really is i think it was a really um successful camp i think i think adam really did a good job of laying the blueprint of how he wants to play i'm going to be curious to see quite honestly how sustainable it is but even he has said we're going to adapt from night tonight. But, you know, if you're going to play an up-tempo, puck pursuit, you know, really aggressive style in a condensed season, and that could be a chunk. And I know I said on the preseason, I had my math wrong,

and Brennan Batchelor, he's always very keen to correct me. They have, early in the year with that road trip and they're coming home and playing the back-to-back, I said on the broadcast, it was seven games in 10 nights, which seemed insane. But even at seven games and 11 nights, thank you batch, it's tough, right? with travel and that trip ends in Nashville they fly home one day between games then they go back to back Saturday Sunday at home so it like there's and they're not alone in this it's a condensed

season for everyone but with the travel they do compared to some other teams particularly the ones in the east it's going to be it's going to be a challenge but I'm excited I really am this is year 28 for me 27th season thank you Bob and Gary but 28th year and I'm excited for it. Again, there's just a good feel. They have a good preseason and there's just a good feel. Shorty, are you excited for the style that they seem to want to play under Adam Foot? And again, you know, you mentioned, I think the caveat is that some nights they're going to have to adapt to the other team so they might not want to run and gun with like Nathan McKinnon in Denver or whatever. But they do seem to want to bring up the defenseman in the rush. And,

and put more pressure on. And I know, like, last season, you must have been able to watch the games blindfolded sometimes because you're like, I bet it's going back to the point. And then if it's Quinn Hughes, he's going to dance around a little bit back there and he's going to wrist one on net. Like, you know, the game, it was,

I don't love preseason hockey, but the last game between the Oilers and the Canucks, I don't think it was a masterpiece or anything, but it was entertaining to watch. And I actually, like, it was like, I watched the whole. whole thing, like I deserve to pat on the back or anything, but it was good, and I'm hoping that the hockey is going to

be, first of all, successful for the Canucks, but also fun to watch. I hope so, too. It was the previous Edmonton game, actually, so it would have been game four of the six preseason games. Where I just, it was in Edmonton, and you probably heard the, like, kind of double take, rub my eyes, shock, and was that there?

forward. Yeah. What's he doing that? And that wasn't the owner he sport. It was, right? He scored in Calgary, right? Short-handed. Yeah, right. Which was also like,

was that there at forward? You know, like, but the one in Evanston, it was like, why's he there? Like, he's like in the crease trying to tap on a secondary path. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

And I think, I mean, I hate to admit to Spruff, but I think he probably no more. about hockey than I do. No. Like, but this is a pretty general commentary. But what is the absolute strength of this team?

If you were to ask people on the league, what's the number one strength? I mean, the back end? Or, I mean, I think if you have Quinn Hughes, I think if you have Quinn Hughes,

I might just answer with one name, Quinn Hughes. Okay. Let's take that out of the equation. But I think people, I think people would, pretty uniformly say that this team is built from the back. Yes, of course, yes.

And if you're going to activate your defense, and maybe that's, you know, going to leave you a bit vulnerable going the other way, potentially if it doesn't work out, like isn't this the team to do it with? Because if goal-tending is, in fact, your strength. For sure. Like, isn't that your big mop-up?

You know, and we'll see how it goes. You know, and there's going to be glitches and there's going to be oopsies and there's going to be all those things. And I won't say oopsies tonight if it's a John Schneider. but it could be a good bit I'm telling you but um you know I think if you have and I've heard people say people who have been around the game longer than I you know that they think this is the best one two punching goal in the league

and if it's not then it's probably up there right top five top whatever then maybe this is the team to do it with because you have that sort of get out of jail back in your own net The Canucks are going to give up 10, two-on-ones, and the bench is going to be like, prove you're the best goalie tandem out there, boys. We're speaking to John Shorthouse here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 6-5. For a reminder, the Canucks finally get their regular season underway tonight. 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena, Shorty will be on the call.

And when you're on the call, whatever kind of broadcast you're going to do, the Schneider version or otherwise, there will probably be some attention paid to the 18-year-old Braden Coots who's going to make his NHL debut tonight. Born in February of 2007. So I imagine there's lots of good material. You could even go back to the year 2007. That was the first year for the Vancouver connects with Aline Vino and Roberto Luongo on the job, just to give everyone a sense.

In the year old, oh, seven. He should do 18-year-old Sam Bennett, but 18-year-old Brayton Coots. Make that a thing all year. He'd be like, Braden, remember this Mariners jingle? I don't know what you're talking about. 18-year-old Brayden Coots gets the fuck. That's a jingle. So he's the 8th, 18-year-old to play for the Canucks.

He's the third youngest. I think Lyndon and I want to say Cam Meeley were a little bit further away from their 19th birthdays than is Braden Coutts. So he's the first since Ned that we've gone through him. But he's the first opening nighter, assuming he dresses tonight since Lyndon. And how many? I think there's five from this year's draft class that have cracked the opening night roster. That's correct. So, I mean, it's an accomplishment because he's not a number one pick.

He's not a top three pick. But he hasn't had a misstep, you know, since they started skating in Penticton. He's just answered every quiz test, however you want to put it, that's then handed him. So why not? And you do have a, you know, you do have the option of deciding that, okay, maybe this isn't the time. But I don't see that happening based on what I've observed so far. I'm really impressed just with the mental makeup, the maturity, the level-headedness, and then the hockey IQ. Like just a little place.

Like, again, I'll go back to that game in Edmonton, game four of the preseason. I've got a little play where he goes in on the forecheck, but he doesn't just go in and I've got to fight for this puck. Like he angles himself, positions his body so that the puck is only going to be his. you know and then he's able to center and I can remember who he's saddling but um and set up a chance in front but that doesn't happen if he doesn't have the wherewithal and the the the forethought to position himself properly and that's like reading the situation as you as you enter into it not just going in blindly that I'm going to fight like hell for the right yeah um you know he's smart and and I'm excited I'm excited to see how it goes

Shorty, while you were in the middle of speaking, someone texted in, why is John Shorthouse not a regular guest? And I replied, because if he was a regular guest, it wouldn't make these hits so special. And also, he doesn't, he doesn't want to be. Yeah, he desperately does not want to be on this show. But we appreciate you doing it today. It's not my thing.

It's not my thing. Like when I, when I, when I, like, I honestly, I'll be honest with you. Listeners, listeners, lean in. Let's all have a little chat here. Okay. Okay. Like when it comes to X's and O's and contract situations and cap ramifications and all these things that go into talking about NHL teams in today's day and age, I can't compete. And so if I come on, you know, let's say once a year and have some fun, you know, but eventually like I'm going to run out of the fun things to do and we're going to actually have to get back to the brass tax.

I can't compete with this. I can't compete with grants or Carmen or, you know. It's just, so yeah, I love you guys. Mike's like my best friend. Aw. I'm just going to let that linger. Sorry, rough. Brough, you're okay.

I'm good friends with Ferraro. I'm a regular listener. Put it that way. Shorty, you just have one question about the third forward pair on the P-K and who, whether or not whether or not you think the Canucks have the right one. See you, buddy. I know my strength. I know my strength.

You're the best pal. We'll do this again in 2026. Thank you very much. This is actually fun. This was fun. You got a little emotional there talking about Halford being your best friend. I didn't love the actually. Well, no, I just wanted to let it, I wanted to let it hang. I just sort of gravitas. Yeah, that was nice. It felt great. Thanks for doing this, buddy. You're my best friend, too. I hope Murph's not listening.

Yeah, Murph just had a hole in one, so he's feeling good. He's probably working out. He did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, Shorty, thanks, buddy. See it. Bye. John Shorthouse here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.

I think he should be allowed one game a year where he can swear as much as he wants to broadcast without ramifications, without any consequence. Yeah, yeah. It's given one. The honesty broadcast, the full honesty broadcast would be incredible. Full honesty broadcast is a great idea. One of my memories of, as a kid, of listening to a Tom Larshide call with Jim Robson was, and it was on NW, obviously, and there was a player on the Canucks name Brian Bradley.

And he was, he was, he was offensively talented. Former Tampa Bay Lightning sensation. Defensively, not so much. So there was a play in the game where Brian Bradley made a mistake. and then Jim Robson was like, well, we're going to go to break. And I guess they didn't press the commercial button because all you heard was Larsh, I'd say, like, on the air, just like, what a bonehead play.

Hot Mike, hot bike. That is. Bonehead play is a good old guy thing. That was a bonehead play. And bonehead play, you're not going to get in any trouble. No, no, no. It was just so funny. I was like, but as a kid, I was just like,

I don't think that was supposed to go on the air. So here's a question on that note From last night Did anyone really have a problem With that going live to air Like unbleeped No nobody cares anymore It's 2025

I'm sure somebody complained Somebody is sending drafting a letter right now The boy loved it Brough He loved it In earlier iterations of Brough Especially on the radio You were very much minded

Your P's and Q's when it came to language and swearing You don't like you don't swear a ton Well for me I'm not going to do that That's players That's not broadcasting talking, though. That's players. That's genuine. That's so different from...

Well, I mean, we can't swear on the airways. If I had a podcast that wasn't on traditional airwaves, I would swear. All the time. I can always talk. Just live bleep you. All the time. But I think there's an understanding that first of all, you don't need to swear. It doesn't... This is not something you have to do as a broadcaster. And if there are kids in the car right now going to school, I don't want to

swear. so excuse me all the kids were a bunch of assos think of the children think of the children

no it's true someone has to it's right but yeah I mean that yesterday was that was great that was great TV

it was great emotion I think you're turning it off already by that point as soon as you heard the first F bomb I think you probably probably changing the channel at that point

all right get you what we learned into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650 It is the first Canucks game of the regular season tonight. Let's hope it starts a little better than last season against Calgary. Archer C-Lov's in Pittsburgh now.

J.T. Miller's with the Rangers now. Yep. Rick Tockett's with the Flyers now. Yep. A little bit different. Get you what we learns into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line. One final segment to go today on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Before we go to break, I do need to remind you that this segment of the show is brats you by.

the BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits. Heated rivalries and non-stop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. Speak me to the fall game. I want to see the ends. The Mariners are playing hard for.

Hit it again and again and again. Hit it again. It's Canucks Central with Dan Richo and Saty R Shaw, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen, 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app.

Now for my favorite part of the show, what I say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God, this is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. on the show. 834 on a Thursday.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a license and solvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn how, visit sands dash trustee.com. We are in our three of the program. It is what we learn time.

Hour three is brought to by Campbell and Pound, real estate appraisers. the expertise of Campbell and Pound, visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dashpound.com today. Nice. Nice. Nice. All right, I think we're going to... The show is happy right now.

The show is in a good place. There's so much excitement about the Blue Jays and a possible Blue Jays Mariners, ALCS. We're feeling optimistic about the Canucks. You know why? We're faking it at the very least. Sure, yeah. Take it till you make it, brother. Fake it till you make it.

You know why? It's this summer, and I've said this numerous times on the air, this summer was such a slog. Yes. Yes. No, no Olympics, no World Cup. It felt like the, it wasn't even a Euros. No, it felt like the Canucks off season lasted 12 years. It felt like so long since they had last played hockey.

Yeah. And lest we forget, we had a, granted, smaller than usual, an abbreviated death march, because they were out of it over the final couple weeks. of the regular season. So those games didn't matter either. Yeah. I'll never forget, even though I forgot it in the moment. I'll never forget that we came in the morning after the greatest and most improbable

comeback in NHL regular season history when the Canucks rallied against the stars and both of us were like, didn't watch it. And don't care. Don't even care. I'm kind of mad they fought back. Where was this earlier in the season? One for the record books. Probably not great for Dallas, but can't be. This actually makes things worse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway.

Okay. A couple of quick notes I did want to pass along as I continue to feverishly pour over everything that's going on with Rick Talking in the Philadelphia Flyers. He has announced who the opening night game one starting goalie is going to be. Oh, let me guess. Go. The shooter tutor. Dan Vladar. Yes, it's going to be Dan Vladar. Oh, I got it. Nice. I should have gone with the shooter tutor. Yeah, well, he was okay in Calgary last year though. Yeah, but he's not in Calgary anymore. He's with Philly. That's true. And it's Dan Fuladar. What was the other option? Erson? Samuel Erson.

stinks, doesn't he? He does stink. They still might have one of the worst goaltending tenets. They had the worst one last year. They might still have one of the worst tandems. I don't hate Vladar,

but man, that team is going to struggle defensively. That's where structure comes in. Better have a lot of it. Also, is Julesen like in the six on the blue line there?

Because every time I flipped over to see some highlights from their preseason, he was there. He's their number one guy. He's on the power play. Didn't he cause something in the preseason?

37 minutes a night. It's amazing. Didn't he have a big hit or something? Yeah, he clobbered someone in the preseason. And Tocke and name-checked him like twice during the preseason. He's like, you know who's playing well? He's that Juleson kid. And they're all like, you know who he is.

You don't have to pretend like you don't. Anyway, okay, Mook out that. I like the cut of his jib. That's where you have to pretend like you don't know the guy. It's like, ooh, this Julesen character. Like, you coach him for two years. Like, you're familiar with this game. You have a handshake.

Let's print out the submissions into the Dunbar Lumber text line. 650 650 if you want to add yours What we learned human art edition Brat to you is always by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway I have not called this morning But I assume it's still in business AJ was there were text yesterday And then they kind of dropped off

I have talked to him mid show today He is going to come on tomorrow Okay good So that should be an experience Because I didn't hear from him after a certain point He didn't clean the restaurant after you He just left it It's a mess right now

I just left the doors open He's like out of here Well with that being said You got to try the bar pie AJ's cracker thin crust topped with tomato sauce, matza, and cheddar only at AJ's pizza order online at AJ's. Omar, with what we learned, Quinn Hughes will likely become the highest scoring defenseman

in Canucks history in tonight's home opener. Yeah, he just needs one point. It's the perfect opportunity to begin the Quinn is In campaign. Fans in attendance need to show him the love he deserves and why he should stay in Vancouver, do whatever it takes. Bring on the cute kids with clever signs, multiple huge chance throughout the game,

and a super emotional video tribute. Is Quinn is in? Is that the campaign? I thought we were calling it Operation Guiltrip. Quinn is in brackets, New Jersey. Yeah. Operation guilt trip. Operation guilt trips aren't bad.

I love the idea to have the cute kids with clever signs or like, you wouldn't leave this face. Would you, Quinn Hughes? Please don't go. Please don't go. Does Hughes have a pet? Because maybe Rutherford could just hold it hostage, like Bart with the turtle.

I'm taking some very dark turns. What's going on with you right now? Are you okay? We've got to think of some way to make sure he doesn't leave. Well, I don't think we need to hold his pet hostage. I know it was in The Simpsons, but when you throw it out there without the cartoon background, it seems a little dark. Yeah, it might work.

It's slightly more dark. His play is really dropped. He misses his dog. I got a what we That poor dog I don't even know where he is Well this backfired Aaron left

Aaron from Alder Grove with a what we learned Ambruff this one's for you because it's about the PK ready? Okay What we learned is how much the Canucks

really did lean on Teddy Blugher last year on the PK he took 250 short-handed face-offs the next highest on the team was Pew Souter

was 52 Miller with 51 PDE, I think, is going to be the number one guy out there. Maybe with Garland, or maybe they'll be like, hey, Cooch, did you, did you kill penalties in the dub? Can you do it now? Well, seriously, who, if you're, okay, um, 250's wild work. If you have to have a center out there. Yeah.

And you don't necessarily have to. Like, I think Sherwood took a face off in the preseason. I don't know if the guy got waved out or if it was just two wingers out there. but is it Pedersen and Ratu? Like how would you, yeah, yeah. Ratu for sure. Like Ratu was not even in the lineup in a lot of people's minds.

Yeah, but he's replacing Bluger on the fourth line. Tonight, I could see him getting a heavy dose of short-handed time, or maybe just don't take any penalties. Stay out of the box. Stay out of the box. The P.K. did look good in the preseason. I've always, I've always been one of those guys. It's like, if you want to get, hey, you want to get your star players extra minutes,

let him kill penalties. I do remember that evolution of Brad Marchand. I remember him talking about it in Boston where he's like, yeah, like I look at it like the opportunity to, you can generate some chances, right? Yeah. You know, if you're Derek Fordboard, especially.

Well, if PD wants to win a rush or something. I mean, there you go. Well, I do think. He's going to have to be a big part of the PK. Yeah. I think that makes me a little nervous when he lays out to block shots there, but. Okay, so there's that part of it.

The injury concern is valid. He's so good positionally that he just gets hit with the puck a lot. It actually happens. on the offensive end too like he's there's so many times where he is very good

positionally and the puck will just like get passed to him by the other team it's the curse of being able to read the play well is like you're always in the shooting lane

or a passing lane and just always get hit with the puck right yeah you have to be lost out there like Beau Horvad on the PK yeah

recruiter Tim with what we learned hashtag WWWW what we learned so I guess torpedo bats weren't a cheat code after all

I totally forgot about the torpedo remember that the first week of the MLB season we were in here talking about torpedo bats I was trying to get one fashioned in aluminum for Little League like could we do this and like why didn't they think of this sooner

it's genius just all came back the Yankees were very much like the physical embodiment of a torpedo bat right a lot of power in a very but it was limited to a portion

of the bat much like their lineup where all the power came from just a really small part I think the torpedo bats are supposed to extend the Yeah, the sweet spot. But in the end, it didn't. The sweet spot was short-lived. Mark in White Rock, what we learned,

I learned that Brough being happy makes me sad. Am I the only one that hates the fact a Toronto team is winning? Canada's team, who cares? I was hoping that at the very least, Brough would also hate what is happening right now, but no, he's all giddy and happy, which has completely ruined my morning.

I feel so alone. okay this is truly an i can't win scenario for me when i'm in a bad mood i'm grouchy when i'm happy mark in white rock is mad so we had a text thread going last night about the toronto dynamic and i said like i know that there are certain media members in vancouver who have made it their bread and butter to loathe everything toronto and some people loathe everything about a particular sports city. I've never been like I have certain hate

for the individual entities. Like I hate the Leafs. Always will. Don't like anything about it. Don't like a lot of the guys that played there. I found them annoying repeatedly. And yeah, sometimes they did get collectively shoved down our throat. To me, I don't, I don't, I never viewed the Jay's in the same vein

as the Leafs in terms of. Well, we have complicated sports relationships with two cities, Toronto and Seattle. Sure. I grew up a blue Jay's fan. Hardcore Jay's fan. The fandom has slipped a little bit, but I'm happy to see that everyone else is happy, believe it or not.

Seattle's weird because I've been a Seahawks fan my whole life but I don't want the Cracken to win. I don't want the Sounders to win. Basketball was hard because I was a huge Sonics fan and then we got the Grizzlies

and I'm like, oh but then that was a short-lived problem for both teams. I think, but I think, like, there's an evolution here where it's like,

you don't, and if you hate everything, Toronto, great. Yeah. But don't project that onto anybody else. Like,

there's some people that have very polarized black and white views that this should be a Mariners town because we should hate everything Toronto and geographically, the Mariners are closer.

I remember back in the day, it was a lot easy, like my folks from Seattle. I remember my dad watched tons of Mariners games on Cairo because you could get them up here. It wasn't until, the earlier mid-2000s that the Jays thing

started happening as far as like the rights holding and the black house and stuff. Yeah, but this was always a this was always a Jays city. In 92, 93 but you could catch Mariner's games on TV. There were people celebrating on Robson Street and the Jays 1. But I'm just saying there were lots of Mariners fans and are in the city because of the fact that

in the 90s and before you could watch Mariners games. There weren't. There weren't a lot of Mariners fans in the city. The Mariners were so bad in the 80s. There are. There are. There are. the fact that you could watch those games on TV. I would venture that it is a 10 to 1 ratio

of Blue Jays versus Mariners fans in this city. Just based on all the Blue Jays gear that I see in the streets and the very little amount of Mariners stuff that I see. Now, to pull it into this century, you know, when the Raptors went on their run, it was very popular here.

And I remember there was some very, very polarizing views from local media members who didn't like it. it because it was Toronto when they had watch parties at the Shark Club and there were a bunch of Vancouver fans and I was like again I feel like this very antiquated little brother Vancouver I see Vancouver versus everybody not Vancouver versus Toronto like there's certain teams that I don't like and there's certain teams that I don't mind but I think the blanket thing with like let's complain about the 4 p.m. start times is so old and tired of jays makes a little more sense raptors makes no sense at all there's no basketball team even more anywhere near here at least with the jays you have the Mariners excuse but there are There's no Sonics currently, so what do you want? Greg and Ladd Wasson, what do we think of this? I just want to say that you're absolutely allowed to love both the Js and the Mariners. I really want this series to happen because it guarantees I'll be happy

and have a team to cheer for in the ALCS. Go M's tonight. Then we can just relax for 10 days knowing one of our teams is moving on. Now, I mean, I'm kind of with Greg on this just because I don't have a hardcore or fandom, but like 1992, Jason would not have been on board with this because he was all in on the Jays. But if you like, if you're

a fan of the Sprots, it's just sports, Blue Jays Mariners is amazing. Incredible. Incredible. That's where I've never seen that before. It's kind of where I'm coming from. My perspective would be like, I would love to see something like that. Biggest stage, grand

theater. There's a cooked in, very dynamic relationship between the two, which is At times a rivalry, for sure. Here's what I would dread. Here's what I would dread. The only thing I would dread about that is there would be arguments over whether it's unpatriotic

to go down to the states to cheer on the Blue Jays. You know what? That's a good point, but I'm willing to accept that annoyance. It's just so predictable. It's so predictable. It is a real thing. That's, you have to understand. No, I know, but it's just so predictable.

I think it would actually add to the juice. I can't believe I just used juice, but I think it would add to the juice in the series. Do you get a waiver for that? You know how in 72, all those Canadians went over to Moscow to watch Canada. You get a waiver. You get a waiver? Yeah, 100% you do.

Do you just say like, okay, I'm not going to spend much money on what I'm not going to contribute? Just the thousands on tickets. Well, how about if you're just like, I'll do some littering? Sure. You know? Maybe some graffiti. Some casual graffiti. Whoa, whoa, don't do it.

Let's not go too far. Let's not go too far. You can draw maple leaf. They might not let you in. Yeah, yeah. Be careful. You don't tell. If you go down there.

It would be funny if for that seriously just close the border. It's just always been silly to me because I've always been able to separate the Leifes from Toronto. The Leifes are their own entity and then there's the rest of the teams in Toronto. That's the way I've always seen it the way I've always played it. You've always been a Tycats guy anyway. Yeah, obviously. Number one in your heart. Oh, out of Hamilton?

Because I also load all the Leifes that they would trot out. Like Doug Gilmore get Ben. Matt Sundeen, go away. Didn't like him when he was here. There's a huge. segment of Jace fans. No, I didn't like Sundin. There's a huge segment of Jays fans that loathe the Leafs.

And these are people in Toronto and they hate when you bring up the comparisons between the least players. Like, it's out there and I don't understand why you lump the Jays into that. They're their own separate thing. Wendell Clark, no thanks. Zomar and Abby, you are so wrong, brough. There are lots of Mariners fans in these parts during the Griffey days. Yes.

I think it might be more like 73. For the, I was, I was, Adog mentioned the 80s and like I, that, that, That wasn't, the 80s, no one cared about the Mariners. I'm just saying, though, but they were able to catch the games up here, as my point. Like, it was different than it is now. Like Mariners games played on Cairo or whatever the channel was all the time. At least when I was growing up, because my dad being from Seattle would always watch the games here. But I don't think...

You can't do that anymore. I don't think that had the influence that the Mariners actually being good. No. That was way more influential. No, but I'm just saying there was a presence here that there isn't anymore, which explains why some people might have grown up watching them, or at least being able to see. Possibly. Yeah, possibly. They weren't very good.

Trev just texted in. I'm a hardcore J's fan and a softcore M's fan. Gotta be a better way to say that last part. What does that entail? Norm from Richmond, this wasn't always a J's city. When the Expos are around, it was an Expos city. No, it wasn't, Barb. Where are you coming up with this, Norm?

It was like, it was an exosity. Why? Because it wasn't a Toronto team and the Expos were good. They had that one game at BC place. It wasn't my house. true. There were Expos fans. Shorty said he was an Expo's fan growing up. But to pretend that in the 80s when the Js were going to the ALCS and they had guys like George Bell and like there were stars, they were absolute stars. Tom Hinky was, you know, selling aftershave and like,

yeah, we liked the Expos for sure. Like nobody hated you. The Expos. What was the aftershed? Was it? Aquavela? Yeah. Was it? Are you sure?

Yeah, it was The Terminator. It was very sure. It was a good musk. Okay, we need a vote on this, guys. Pay attention, okay? We're going to do a referendum on whether we're going to stick with this or not. This is from Jay to what we learned, talking about the potential bottom pairing for the Canucks. If it's Pedersen and Mancini, he said D. Pini might be the bottom pair on the Canucks.

defense tonight. Are we willing to go here? Is it going to cause too many problems? D. Peney just doesn't sound. As a nickname? Yeah. That's awful. The pairing. No, I don't, never say that again. The word peony should not be said. De Pini. No. No. I think forbert's going to play, isn't it? I don't know. Wasn't he practicing the other day? Yeah, but who knows what's going to happen, this crazy world we live in. How about Manterson? What'd you just say? What did you just say? Manterson. Mancerson? Yeah. Mancini. in Pedersen. That's way worse. Man, sure.

Okay. I'm going to turn it over to basketball Phil because basketball Phil is our Bill Belichick correspondent. Oh, yeah. What we learned, it's getting so bad in Chapel Hill with the rumblings that the hoodie is looking into a buyout. So both he

and the university have both released statements saying they are committed to the program. There will be a documentary on this story. That is going to be fascinating, hilarious, and maybe a bit sad? Yeah. I don't know how to, I don't know.

This whole thing was weird from the start. And people will say, it's his own business who he dates. There is something going on there. That is so off. There's a lot more going on than just dating a 24 year old.

I'll leave it in that. Yes. Okay. We got to go. I mean, normally I'd be like that's awesome. Pretty cool. Pretty cool. Okay. We got to get out of here for today. Go home to be in trouble.

Well, I said it out loud. We will be back tomorrow, I think. Enjoy the game tonight, everybody. Enjoy another terrific sports night. We'll be back tomorrow morning to talk about it all. For now, though, we're going to say goodbye. Signing off, I have been Mike Alford. He's been Jason Bruff.

He's been A-Dog. He's been Laddie. This has been The Halford & Breff Show on Sports Night, 650.