Halford & Brough in the Morning - The 2024 Halford & Brough Holiday Special

Episode Date: December 25, 2024

A HalBro Best Of compilation from over the past year. Happy holidays! 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.

you're listening to the best of halford and brough happy holidays everybody ray ferraro joins us now in the half show on sportsnet 650 morning ray how are you i'm good i'm uh i'm in florida it's nice and warm and uh got the devils and panthers tonight so i'm uh yeah all good all good I was running through the list of games tonight. That was one of the good ones, a clash atop the East. You've got a really good goaltending matchup at Madison Square Garden between Halibut and Shisterkin. You've got the Battle of Ontario.

And then here in Vancouver, not only do you have a classic Flames-Canucks rivalry, but it is also going to be the debut of Jonathan Lekromacki for the Vancouver Canucks, which everybody is very excited about. He's playing hurt today. His voice is all banged up. He bestowed on me the honor of asking

his question. He wanted to make it clear. This is a brough question, but Halford gets to ask it. Come on. Lekromacki's coming in tonight. Talk had the audio yesterday saying we want him to be aggressive and to shoot and to do the things that made him successful at every other level that hopefully will translate to this level.

So Ray, as a guy who in his last year in the dub scored, wait for it, 108 goals in 72 games, then went to the American league with bingo and had 20 goals in 37 games. What do you remember about when you made the jump to the NHL with Hartford? Were your coaches telling you to shoot the puck as much as possible like you did in junior in the A?

Did you feel like you had to defer? What was it like when you made that jump to play for the big club? Well, nobody really told me anything. It was so different, guys. I remember I got called up, and it was so different guys like i remember the you know i got called up and it was a december game and you know i was really nervous and so at the morning skate i was out there and doing my thing and and i and i had a couple guys tell me okay you've been out here long enough get off they save it for tonight and that was really the only thing that they said to me. Like, no, there was no, like, it's so much more complicated now.

Like, I don't recall having any sit down with a coach to go over systems or, you know, an understanding of how much I was going to play or who I was going to play with. Like, there was none of that. And so I think in a way it's harder uh for the for the kids for anybody to make their debut uh in in today's game it's just uh it's just a different world um i would i would say the what i noticed right away is holy crap these guys are big and they're all really good like even the guys that weren't very good you know by nhl standards you're like they're all really good. Like even the guys that weren't very good, you know, by NHL standards,

you're like, they're all good. You know, like people would be amazed when they sit up and watch a game and they go, that guy sucks. If they got on the ice with them, he'd be the best player they've ever played with. And they, and they're like, Oh, there's, they skate well, they're big, they cover ice.

And so for, for likearamaki, like even though he's gotten, I don't know, what's the average in five shots a game or something in the American League? Like you're just not going to get that. And so there's a really fine line about, you know, doing what you can do, like doing what you normally do. Like for him, it's being a shooter, but being patient enough and understanding that you're not getting five shots a game. Nobody gets five shots a game. And it's early on. I would suspect he'll have like a, you know,

he'll be good early in like if he plays a couple of games, if he's, if he's at all close to being a legit regular NHLer, he'll play well early, and then he'll fade, and then he'll jump again. There's so much adrenaline tonight. It's the coolest thing. You've done nothing but dream about this your whole life, and now your dream is right on the doorstep.

Was it easier for you to not be deferential though because you were playing with a bunch of other young guys like if you i'm looking at that roster you guys had in hartford when you broke into the nhl turgeon was 19 kevin denine was he's your age so he was 20 ron francis was only a year older than you and denine um what i'm what i find interesting is rick tockett noted that when baines made his nhl debut last season i remember this play he went in on a two-on-one i can't remember who his teammate was but he should have shot the puck and he forced a pass on a two-on-one and I think that's what Talkett wants Lekermackie to avoid is being too deferential just because he feels like you know as a young guy you

don't want to go out there and you know your teammates think you're selfish with the puck well um I would say okay so everybody's going to be different. There's some swagger to the way like Karamaki plays, right? Like he's a shooter. He knows he's a shooter. He's always been a shooter. If he gets a two-on-one, he's probably going to shoot. Like that won't change. For Baines, it was a long road for him and maybe an unlikely path to get to the NHL.

So he would be more nervous he would be probably more deferential um you know jason you more than mike but like you know me a little bit right so chances of me being deferential were slim yeah like like i i knew that i had to score like i i just knew it i could feel it like i i had to produce offense to stay because i couldn't do what some of the other guys were doing i just couldn't i wasn't big enough and i wasn't fast enough and so for me it was always it was easier to not be, but when you get into the room, I don't care how many dressing rooms you've been in, how many games you've played,

but you're sitting there and you're trying to just say it's another game. And it's not. And I'm looking around, I'm 20 years old. I'm with like, I'm with the, aside from the guys you mentioned, we had Hartford was in a transitional stage then. There was a lot of older guys there. Mark Johnson, the great Olympic hero for the U.S., he got hurt, so I got called up. I'm sitting in his stall. The guy sitting beside me comes in, sees me sitting there, and goes, how long are you here for? That's how he said hello.

And I was like, I don't know, I guess until Mark gets back. I mean, like, what the hell was I going to say? I was 20, I was terrified. And, you know, he in particular didn't make me feel altogether welcome. Yeah, that's pretty funny.

You guys did really have a young team though. I'm like, there are some other guys now down, like Ulf Samuelsson is your age. Most of that team started in the American League. We started, all of us. Myself, Dean Evason, Kevin Benin, Ulf Samuelsson, Paul Fenton, Paul McDermott, Peter Sidorka, which came up a year later. We were all in the American League together. Brad Shaw.

And then all of a sudden, we were all in the American League together, Brad Shaw and then all of a sudden we were all in Hertford and the only difference really was they took that great logo which was on its side like a B in Binghamton and they flipped it to a W. We're a bunch of 20-year-old kids running around having a bunch of fun and we're playing

and then we realized, oh my god we're getting our teeth kicked in every night because the rest of the league's pretty good yeah and you guys finished last in the Adams division and missed the playoffs we did but finish that year I'm not going to let you go on that we finished the year they traded for Mike Liute and we went 10-0-2 down the stretch and then made the playoffs the next year it was very much like when Toc came in and they had that 30-game training camp. That was kind of what happened to us that first year.

And then the next year, we kind of came of age, I guess. Matt Sundin joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Matt. How are you? I'm very good. How are you guys doing? We're great. We wanted to first thank you for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it.

And to start, just wanted to know what it's been like for the last few weeks. You've been doing the media tour with the book, a lot of reminiscing, a lot of trips down memory lane. I'm sure you've told the same story over and over and over again, so we'll try to avoid that. But how's it been the last few weeks? It's been great, actually. You know, I haven't been not as much back in Canada

as I obviously lived there for almost 20 years and visiting back in mostly Ontario this time. But it's been great. And just it's always great to see the Canadian hockey fans, right, and visiting them. So I had a lot of fun going down little memory lanes and watching some games at the time, same time. You know, obviously we're here in Vancouver,

and you've played in Quebec, you've played a long time in Toronto, but what sort of place does that short time, but a memorable time in Vancouver, hold for you when you look back over your playing career? Well, I'm very happy about it. I wish that I could play the full season. Obviously, when you're 37, it's not easy to come into the season starting in January when everybody has already got 40 games

into their legs almost and going into the second half of the season. But in terms of the city, the fans of the Vancouver Canucks, I really enjoyed it. Me and my wife loved being in Vancouver. I thought the team, you know, obviously went to the cup finals a couple of years after I was there. But already when I was there, it was a very strong team with two great forward lines

great defense obviously Roberto and Matt we had we had all the ingredients actually to go find the playoff and obviously they did a couple years later was that why you chose the Canucks like what was the main reason I mean was it all the Swedes there I mean there were times like Olin was there and the Sedins and Edler. The whole thing, we looked at me and JP Maid, and we said, what team has the most Swedes? Oh, it's the Canucks. Let's go there. Let's join them.

No, but, yeah, I think JP Maid, at the time, we really liked the way the Canucks, obviously they were a top team in the Western Conference at the time, and it was a good opportunity to play another year. How hard was it to leave Toronto? Well, it was tough in the circumstances, and obviously I talk about that in the book. I think it doesn't matter.

We all NHL players understand the business part of the game. And when you sign an NHL contract, you're up to the judgment of the management or whatever, if you're going to coach us, how long you're going to be in the city. So I understand that part. But saying that when you play 13 years, 11 years as the captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs, it's impossible not to take it personal when, you know, Cliff at the time, he ran the road in Carolina, I think, and he said, Matt, can I see you for a bit?

I knew right away this is not great. And he said, you know, do you want to wave your no-trade clause and go somewhere? It's impossible to not take it personally, even though the Toronto Maple Leafs try to do what's best for the organization and the future. I just want to try to be part of the team and stay there. Why did you refuse to waive your no-trade clause, and what was the blowback like that you experienced?

Yeah, I think the biggest reason was when Cliff asked me, I think we're in Carolina, and I said, I think we're three or four points out of a playoff spot. I was having, I remember I had a really strong year that year too, individually and being the captain, and just like i said i think it was so hard to picture myself like i want to stay for those last 20 games and try to make it into the playoffs and also being the captain and i think more than anything when you invest so much time and effort 13 years with an organization you want want to have the opportunity and obviously

also no trade costs, which gives me the right to choose as well. So I think the hardest part when it became public and the next, you know, two or three months just to have to deal with all the questions down to the deadline, obviously that was hard, but, you know, no regrets out of that. Did it hurt knowing that fans wanted you traded because they moved on? I mean, fans are always going to stick with their team, right? But it's sometimes hard to hear that. No, I think all players go through, you know, at some point in your career,

and like I said, NHL is a business, and, you know, we all know that, right? But still, you know, you invest time and effort, and you will take it. You know, it's always harder. And the more years you've been in the organization and spent time with the fans and the organization, I think it gets harder. Saying that, though, you know, my 13 years with Toronto, I think we had a lot of ups and downs twice to the conference finals.

You know, you look at the players today, they go through a lot of scrutiny, whether it's the Canucks players or the Leafs. You know, I didn't have once over my years with the Toronto Maple Leafs where a fan came up to me and and um was disrespectful or something so I think the hockey fans are great right the chair for the team they want the players to do well and um but the business side is what it is what was it like to actually write the book and come up with all the material? Were there any parts of

your life that you looked back on and went, oh yeah, that happened? Well, it's a little bit of a therapy looking back at your childhood and, you know, a couple reasons why I wrote the book. I think you know, it was now or never.

I got asked a few years to do my biography, and finally I said, our kids are old enough. I think if I don't do it now, it's never going to happen. And, you know, reflect back on the childhood, and you realize when you get old, and I certainly do, that I was fortunate to have great support from my parents throughout my childhood me and my brothers at the same time look behind the scenes what happens in a dressing room when you're the captain for an

organization like the Canucks I mean like the the Maple Leafs and and you know the relationship with coaches and and pressure that comes from being an NHL player, whether you're a Canuck or a Maple Leafs. And also, maybe the most important thing, I get zero respect right now for my kids, for my hockey. They don't care that I play. So I hope my kids one day are going to pick up this book and say, hey, hey, look at it.

Hey, our dad, he was a pretty good hockey player. I'll tell you what, if they don't read the book, get them to watch the video of February 21st, 2009. You return to Toronto as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. And I went and watched the clip the other day, and it is remarkable how the storyline plays out. So they play the tribute video for you coming back, and you're very emotional.

And then the game goes to the shootout where you're the deciding shooter. Like how much, how much can one guy take in a night? You're already emotional for your return. And the fans were, as you said, they were very gracious and huge applause, but then the on ice product, you've got to go finish a game for your team. What do you remember about that night in particular? Well, it was, you know, I compare it to you know, playing

in the Olympic Finals 2006. My generation with Lidstrom and Forsberg and Alfredson and the Sedin twins, we had a chance to win the gold. First time a Swedish team to win a best-on-best tournament like the World Cup or the Olympics.

Sweden had never done that before, haven't done it since. But I tell you, that game coming back with the Canucks to Toronto was as nerve-wracking. But you know all players, I think everybody can agree about the NHL players. Once that puck drops or you're on the ice, it is like hitting a mute button. You're doing things that you've done a million times.

But I was very glad. I remember just before I took the puck, going down to take the penalty shot, I was very happy to get a chance to score the winning goal for the Canucks against the Maple Leafs in that game. What are your memories of playing with the Sedins? You'd obviously played with them on that 2006 gold medal team,

and then you joined them in Vancouver. What do you remember about where they were at in their careers, and maybe what advice you could give them? Well, I was really glad to get there. I think maybe one of the reasons too why management wanted me with the Canucks was I think I was I've been along I've been around long enough and I it was really great to watch Daniel and Henrik close closer than just playing against them see how great they were not only on the the ice, you know, as we all know,

but as teammates off the ice and just the whole work ethic of the Canucks team. And then when I compare coming from a team missing the playoffs three years in all and you come into a team that is actually challenging for a cup and President's Trophy, It was such a different atmosphere. And I think Henrik and Daniel really led the way for that generation of teams they were in. And cup finals and President's Trophy, scoring leaders, they did a lot of great things.

And I know they still do a lot of great things for not only the Canucks, but the city of Vancouver. Matt, this is a question I actually hate to ask, but I want to ask it anyway. What was it like to retire without winning a cup? It's a very common question I get. I try to actually portray that in the book. I think where I come from, and growing up in Sweden in the 70s

and the 80s, my dad worked for the local, I mean, for the phone company. My mom was a nurse. They were paycheck to paycheck. I really lived my dream, right? And to represent Sweden in the Olympics to wear an NHL sweater I'll never forget my first NHL game uh to come in the dressing room Guy Lafleur and the Joe Sackix and playing the Gretzky's and Lemieux's like I lived my dream for uh for all those years playing in the National Hockey League and were able to make a living of something that was my passion right so there's no regrets there and and um you know the only thing that i do regret a little bit is to for the fans in toronto they deserve to win the stanley cup they haven't done it since the 67 so i wish we could have pushed through for them uh I mean, hockey has given me everything, really,

in terms of meeting people, travel, playing the sport I love. But for the fans and the Canucks fans as well, like a Stanley Cup for everybody that supports the teams and the players, that's what you want to see. Is it harder to win a cup in Canada than it is in the United States, or is this all just a coincidence that there hasn't been a Stanley Cup winner since 1993? Listen, guys, I think you know that. There's no doubt that there's a difference between playing in a market like Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal than playing for Tampa or Florida or Las Vegas where

you have a few journalists and you can lose five or ten games and it just disappears in the flow of the season where you can actually lose in two or three games. Everybody wants heads to rolls and same in Toronto, same in Canada.

So it's a little extra pressure on players they have to deal with the being under an unredeemable microscope and scrutiny and they have to understand and learn how to deal with that uh that part of of being being watched a lot more in Canada than they are in some markets in the U.S. It is different. How do you do it? Is there advice to it? Because, I mean, the thing is, like, it's not going away.

So I imagine you can get yourself into, you know, it should be like this, or it shouldn't be like this, you know, should, should, should, but it is, right? Like, that's the way it is but listen i played 13 years and i mean all my careers i mean all my my years in canada and i think you learn and you have to learn to when when you leave the ring from a practice or a game win or lose you have to have a mental uh off button like you got to go a mental off button. Like you got to go home and do something completely different. I mean, you rest, you sleep, you travel, and you play. So those few hours when you're not at the rink,

like don't read everything that's going on in the media or listen to every radio show. And I'm talking about the players because they need to be able – they know themselves both as a team and players when they have a good or bad game. And they need to stay level, they know themselves both as a team and players when they have a good or bad game, and they need to stay level-headed, win or lose. So I think the players, that's my biggest advice. If you want to have a long career and play for many years in Canada

and Canadian markets, you need to be able to block all that stuff out and do other things in between your practice and games. You know, you talk about that toll and the physical toll that it takes. And it's funny, Shea Weber went to the Hockey Hall of Fame last night, and he did an interview recently where he was talking about that Stanley Cup run that they went on with Montreal. I think he said he was basically, he looked like a mummy by the end of it. He was taped up so much, and he was going through so much.

Your last kick at it with the Canucks was that run that ended prematurely. You guys lost to Chicago in the second round but um I remember you getting hurt against St. Louis and then gutting it out and coming back and you finish the playoffs with like you're a point of game guy how difficult was it that final year you mentioned already getting just getting back into playing shape halfway through the year and then playing through injury knowing that it might be your last chance at it but you still wanted to give it a go, even though you were physically limited? Yeah. Well, you know what? I loved it. And I think even I look at the playoffs, especially when I thought I had my game back

to where it was supposed to be, I really loved it. And I think once you get to the end of your career, whether you're going to play another year or not, you're obviously not the guy they're carrying. You know, you might not be the franchise player, the top guy on the team. But I remember those last games in the Chicago series, how I really enjoyed coming to the rink at home in Vancouver.

And even in Chicago, you know, the building, the atmosphere, because the only thing I really miss from the game is, you know, once you take your first stride in a Stanley Cup playoffs or an NHL game and there's a sold-out arena, there's millions watching on TV, it's such a, you know, you live in the moment. There's no time to think about what's going to happen the next week or next minute or what's happened in the past.

So you live in the presence and that's something you missed after your career. Well, Matt, on behalf of Jason and our producers and everyone here, all the listeners that are texting in, I wanted to thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. This was great getting caught up with you. Congrats on the book. Belated congrats on a terrific career. And happy trails to the rest.

Thanks again for doing all this. Thanks for having me, guys. And good luck for the Canucks. Rest of the way. Hey, it's Jason Brough. Hope you're having a great holidays. You've been listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of halford and brough happy holidays everybody

the canada soccer story the investigation into drone usage throughout the program over the last few years was finally released i'm going to try and do the cole's notes version here to get through some of the big talking points so first off um beth priestman will not be back as the women's coach. That was confirmed. Why? What happened? Neither will the two assistants, including the guy that was actually responsible for taking the drone video and got caught with the drone in his possession, Lombardi.

Now, an interesting part of this is that Lombardi did not cooperate with the third-party independent investigation that was conducted over the last few months and then given to Canada Soccer on November 5th. And one of the major takeaways from the investigation is that a lot of people did not cooperate with the investigation. John Herdman couldn't find the time, apparently. They put it down to, like, couldn't find us. He's too busy. Too busy to talk about this.

Busy schedule. He didn't want to drone on about things. Okay. Get out. In a note that accompanied the findings from the investigation, Canada Soccer wrote, independently of the investigation, that it identified, now here's the key, potential violations of the

Federation's Code of Conducts and Ethics involving Herdman. When pressed on this, they then added that Herdman was not interviewed by the independent investigator. Over the last four months, when asked why, it was called, quote unquote, scheduling issues. Canada soccer CEO Kevin Blue, here's the quote. It's something that Sonia, who is the investigator, and John's representatives worked on. And I don't really have visibility into the specific situations and why. It's a fancy way of saying you don't know.

That's some corporate speak. That's how you say i don't know that's how these business people speak we don't have visibility on this issue right now more clarity blue went on to add there was evidence gathered from witness statements in documentary review as far as i understand in the absence of a direct interview i don't know how you can release the findings of an investigation into John Herdman, essentially, when you don't interview John Herdman. You know what I would do? Just wait until you interview John Herdman. And then, well, maybe it became clear that his schedule was not going to open up. And herein lies the catch.

Canada Soccer has no leverage to compel Herdman to go along with this in any way. I think an interesting question is whether or not MLSE will keep John Herdman in this position. Right? Is the blowback going to be severe enough? Is that good for the brand? Is the blowback going to be severe enough? That's the question.

Yeah. Because this is creeping into swept under the rug territory, and it feels like enough people are like, okay. How did they do this year? TFC? Yeah, yeah. Missed the playoffs. Lost in the Canadian Championship to the Vancouver Whitecaps on penalties.

You'll remember that. What were people saying about the job that Herbman's done? Because there's always like that, like, we'll fire him, but only if he's not really doing a great job.

He said he laid some important building blocks for the future this year. Okay. All right. He inherited... Corporate speak. He inherited the two Italians

who massively disappointed and underwhelmed all year, and I don't think any of that was his fault. Do you know what still really bothers me? Was it the drones? No.

Okay. It was Bev Priestman. Her speech after this whole thing broke. Yeah, well, she messed up. She messed up. She took a very wrong tact. And she was like, I'm going to miss the New Zealand. It was a New Zealand game because that's the right thing to do.

And it's about sportsmanship and it's about leadership. While at the same time, she was totally chucking some of her underlings under the bus. And she acted like, oh, she was like, I'm going to do the right thing because that's what we do for Canada. She was lying. Right. I mean mean i get that she eventually doubled down she doubled down big time and in the end at the end of the day the same result she if she had stepped down at that point and said i'm gonna fall on my sword um it might have been more noble but at the end of the day like i could i'm gonna be dead honest i could care less about beth priestman like she got rightfully dismissed from her job because of this the fact that she didn't own up is more a

personality thing like that's what that was her very foolish way of dealing with it but as long as the outcome was the right one which is you need to get rid of her because not only did she show a lack of judgment by allowing the drone spying scandal to go on but she didn't own up to it but she's gone now right the more interesting thing for me is what you brought up will there be enough people speaking very loudly and very candidly about this to keep the stain and the stigma of cheating going yeah or does it all just go away and does herdman just kind of get to skate because he just won't cooperate? And he'll just wait it out. Yeah, he might.

I mean, maybe that's his plan. Like, he's under no legal obligation to meet with these lawyers who are doing an investigation. It's not like they have, like, subpoena power or anything. Remember, a couple weeks ago when I said... You're under arrest, John Herdman. I was like, aren't you a lawyer? Yeah, who't you a lawyer? Yeah. A couple of weeks ago when I was talking about sometimes in the face of controversy or criticisms or you feel like you need to respond to something.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is not say anything at all. I feel like Herman is really taking that to heart. And he's like, if I don't say anything, I can't get in any trouble. And it might be sneaky and underhanded and avoiding ownership and responsibility and all those things. But there is a point to be made here that if you don't say anything, you can't get trapped in what you say. But will MLSC want that hanging over him? It's a great question yeah i really is he is he worth it that's that's always the question like is this guy worth sticking our neck out for

yeah and i think we're gonna find out over the next couple months because they'll either have to make they have to make this decision like in this offseason well and then like mls offseason is like what four days yeah so it's got to be quick. Three hours. You better hurry up because the season starts in January. Your first day here. Was it not my turn? You have to wait until I hit the post. You know how he is with the post.

He likes to hit it. It's a thing. I don't pay attention to that stuff. I didn't care for it. Just say Kintec. Just say Kintec. Kintec. Yay. So a funny thing happens when you put your picture on social media and then you end up on TV, on the broadcast.

And that funny thing is people say hurtful things about how you look. That's fine. It's great. It's fine. It's fine. Most of them are It's fine. It's fine. Most of them are from me because I wasn't there. So Laddie, who was not at the game, just throws out this banger during the break. He goes, people often say I look like Leon Dreisaitl.

No, no, no. Hold on. Like a wish.com Leon Dreisaitl. No, no, no. Hold on. Like a wish.com Leon Dreisaitl. You were trying to frame it like, oh, the plights that we have to carry. Someone said Halford looked like the Rizzler. By the way, it was the camera. Which is true. They say the camera adds 10 pounds, and there was three cameras on me yesterday.

Do the math, people. So then Laddie chimes in. He's like, yeah, i know how you guys are feeling sometimes people say i look like leon dreisland i'm like what was brad pitt not available for a comp anyway you looked it up not close because i have generic white guy face so they think i i've been told i look like a variety of different generic white guys people often say i look like henrik lundqvist. Now, I got to- I want to downplay these notions.

So, you know what? I want to own and embrace this, by the way, because I don't care. I mean, I didn't look great on camera last night. I can accept that. I think I look better. I think I have better IRL. I didn't, I-

It had nothing to do with the pizza, by the way. What we learned is brought to you by AJ's Pizza on his Broadway. Did we go there before the game? Yes. Did we overeat a little bit? Did I have three beers and six pizzas? Maybe. Why were you wearing six coats? I was cold.

It was cold there, man. It was cold. We're getting older now. And you don't have the circulation that we used to. You look like the Ikea monkey. So there's a monkey? I got my jacket on the whole game. Yeah. I bought an extra jacket in the second intermission. It was Gore-Tex. What we learned is brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway.

Try AJ's mini pepperoni Detroit, which we had yesterday. Yeah, the mini Detroit Ronnie. Which is still a lot of food, by the way. Even at a mini Detroit Ronnie puts you into a food coma. And it showed on camera repeatedly. $22 in-house only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so you can go there today. You can visit them online at ajs.pizza so here's another another funny thing about this I got the Rizzler which was funny someone said Jimmy Galante former uh mob boss owner of the Danbury Trashers that was funny

um a lot of people were like why are you growing a crisis goatee and I was like I'm doing it in advance of the inevitable crisis it's probably gonna come with uh you know my crippling depression because everyone's making fun of me then people you're like ray gun yeah i'm like i didn't just tap it out i didn't but ray gun went and competed i didn't know i was gonna be on camera i would have worn two less jackets if I knew I was going to be on camera. Anyway, people, Adog got Luke Shen, Braden Shen, and there was a couple other ones. You're making fun of me for the dry-cidal comp. They made them, Laddie. You made them. I didn't make them either.

I'm not claiming this. You know, the only time I've ever heard the Laddie dry-cidal comparison was from Laddie five minutes ago. Okay, last time I deliver info to you. Anyway. I've often been told I look like Leon Dreisaitl. Yeah. And I've been told by myself every morning when I look in the mirror.

Anyway. So you look like the mysterious third Shen brother. Yeah. The Shen brother. I got a lot of Matt Sequeiras for some reason. Actually, I love Sequeiras. He's my boy. We work together.

I don't see the resemblance personally, but okay. You're backing that one up. Good to believe. Anyway, it was a fun night. Thanks to AJ's for sending us. And thank you all for pointing out what we look like. Because I didn't know. And I didn't see it on camera.

Moocap. WWLL. What we look like. Don't open that up. Hashtag WWLL. Okay. What we look like. Don't open that up. Don't open that candle up. Okay. People who look like things. Yeah.

Maybe a new candle every now and then. Let's print out some submissions. Hold on. Oh, yeah. I got a couple. Okay. We got to get to the people. We don't have to get to the people.

People are jerks. All the what we learned is just making fun of our appearance. Do we really need this? The people are fat shamers. As far as I'm concerned. Okay? One guy said it was nice that Brough brought his boy, so I had someone my own age to be there with me. I was going to read that one.

Some of your comedy was pretty good. Yeah. Go ahead, Andy. All right. I have an actual mailed what we learned. This is great. Physical. This is a letter that I'm crinkling.

Okay. Why don't you just open it? I opened it. It's from Bea in Vancouver. She actually mailed what we learned in. Bea? Bea. Bea.

Bea Arthur? Yeah. You can actually do this. You can mail in what we learned, and we will... If you put in this amount of effort, frankly... You're almost clear to get on the air. If you put in this amount of effort, frankly, to get what we learned in... I hope the air. If you put in this amount of effort, frankly, to get at what we learned in, by mailing it to us.

Especially if you spend treats along with it. Can you imagine if it was just like, PD needs to find his game? That's all it says. Well, I'm in the mail. It took a few days. He found it. Yeah.

All it says is, it's actually for a sponsor of ours, Kintec, what are we waiting for? The possibility of seniors discounts of Kintec. Please ask. I've been sidelined with an ankle slash foot injury and I'm contemplating Kintec. When better, I can saunter

on down to AJ's for some tasty pizza. All the best. Not so fast. B in Vancouver. We got to hook up B with Kintec. Yeah. We salute you, B. That's very nice that you did that. So, A-Dog, put that letter, find our carrier pigeon, and send that up to the sales team. That's amazing.

Thank you, B. Thank you, B. We'll try and hook you up with something. Yeah. This entire process will be done by 2026. Don't worry, B. We'll get it done. Okay.

You got another one, too? Another quick what we learned. Yeah. Go nuts. I learned that Blue Sky is absolutely popping off right now. Now, for those that don't know, Blue Sky is a new social media app. It's pretty much old Twitter. It's a new platform.

New platform. It's made by the guys that made Twitter before it was bought by Elon Musk. And all it is, in essence, is Twitter. It looks exactly like Twitter did pre the Musk buyout, and it's super popular now. I didn't really ever use it before. I was on it. I know Laddie's on it.

I thought Ruff was briefly on it, but I don't know if he is anymore. I've got an account. Yeah, and I will full disclosure, I don't really use Blue Sky a whole lot yet, but I was kind of perusing it a bit last night. It's very active now. What are you laughing at? We're bringing in Dorsey. Well, I'm just saying. I don't really use it. I'm saying, but it's out there. it last night. It's very active now. What are you laughing at? We're bringing in Dorsen.

Well, I'm just saying. I don't really use it. I'm saying. But it's out there. I started getting all these notifications of people following the account and stuff, and I'm like, what's going on here? And I just opened it up one day. It's like really popular now. It's like hundreds of thousands, millions of users, all of them flocking over from Twitter.

Is Drance on it? I don't know if Drance is on it yet. Get on there before he does it and then you can enjoy it. A lot of Sports at 650 guys are. A lot of Canucks Twitter in general. It's not specifically what I'm referring to here. Is it migrating over there? It has, yeah.

It's really, really active. It's super active now. And I just got to say, if you haven't checked out Blue Sky yet and you want to go into the Canucks Twitter realm on a different app for whatever reason, check it out. Do people disingenuously argue about politics on that? Because I'm looking for that. Looking more of an echo chamber-y sort of thing.

I'd like to see every tweet that goes out there somehow related to politics. Politics? Yes. I haven't noticed that yet. It seems sort of escaped from that, which I think might be kind of the point, is why

people are going over there. But so far, it's been really cool. Has it gone woke? I can't speak to that. Pre-woke. It's the pre-woke experience. Now, they say that sometimes when you go woke. You go broke.

You go broke. Did you know that? I've heard that a billion times. It's starting to sink in. In all seriousness, though, with ADogs, what we learned, I have noticed not just an uptick in blue sky knowledge and people joining it, but people are leaving Twitter. It's noticeably emptier on Twitter these days

than it was a month ago. I tweet way less than I used to. I'll tell you what, after last night, I'm going to try and have less social media in my life, not more. I don't need another platform. The Guardian announced it's left Twitter X, sorry. And so it's migrated over.

You're probably going to start to see a lot of news platforms. The reason they're doing that is because- Alfred, you remember how the report came out that PD's friends send him mean things that people send on social media? I'm going to start doing that to you. There's a lot of options. Here's another guy that says you're fat. Yeah.

Hey, look, this guy tells you to mix in a salad. Oh, okay. Creative. Do they have that on blue sky? Moo, Calmy! Alright, fire the dot matrix. Print out some humanoid submissions for What We Learned. A reminder, What We Learned is as always

brought to you by AJ's Pizza on his Broadway. Visit them, eat their pizza, drink their beer. It's good for you. It's healthy. Scott with a what we learned. Pedersen is playing well again. Where's the next driest timber? Hashtag Demco. Yeah. Man, if Petey finds his game, what do I pick on next?

We got accused of earlier in the show from Andrew and Victoria, one of the aforementioned jerks, that we just quickly pivoted off Pedersen because he's playing well and automatically did our, like, jackal routine. I'm like, no, man. That's not a fair assessment. That is disingenuous. We gave Pettersson a lot of love for the fact that he's played,

strung together two good games in a row. What we're looking at is that they've got a surplus of forwards because last night was another, you know, very good bit of evidence that they've got depth at forward. And, I mean, we're looking ahead to Thursday's game, and that could be Dakota Joshua's season debut. You know what Tuesday was? An NHL debut for Laker and Mackey. So there's new guys coming back into the fold.

It's only logical to think like this. And they need help on the blue line. Yeah. I mean, this is what teams that hope to be a Stanley Cup contender when they enter the playoffs, like this is what happens. I know this is still relatively kind of new again to Canucks fans that you start looking ahead to the playoffs, but this is what happens.

I mean, there was a reason why that, you know, remember, what was the old trade? Raymond Ballard in a second? Yes. Like, Holglander's name is going to be floated around in speculation just because I don't know. He's their most

tradable asset. He's the guy that could trade and everything would be, like like you're not gonna be like well we're gonna trade you know Miller right are you gonna trade no one wants to trade a guy like Sherwood or anything like that but like Hoaglander hasn't really found that spot in the lineup where you know he's bounced around the lineup and the coach has been critical of him at times. And yet he's not like, well, who's going to want this guy type of player? You know, it used to be like, they should trade this player who's totally not working out.

Right. Well, that doesn't work. But Hoaglander, if you're, if you're talking to other GMs, you could have a great story to tell about Nils Hoeglander. Here's a guy that had 24 even strength goals last season. That's incredible. He's still young. He's under contract. In Vancouver, he's been blocked out of playing in the top six, but in another place, I think he could really thrive in the top six.

What we learned from Gary, because it's unsigned, hashtag WWL, what we learned, the 2026 World Cup draw will be hosted virtually, which is a shame because Vancouver had been a rumored location for the location to be hosted live. Yes, I had heard this, and according to a report from The Guardian, the draw is going to take place on december 13th of that year and two days prior to that saudi arabia is going to be confirmed as the

host of the 2034 world cup some spoilers coming out of the guardian now none of this is official this is all just reported do we know where 2030 is i don't okay not at the top of mind um what i do know is that vancouver as the texter mentioned gary was rumored to be getting one of the big marquee either events or setups for the 2026 world cup i had heard some rumblings that they would potentially be the location of fifa's international broadcast center the ibc or the media center but it sounds like dallas might end up getting that now again this is all still speculation nothing's been written in stone but um the it sounds as though that instead of naming a spot for where they want to host the draw and thereby upsetting the places

that don't get the draw johnny infantino he pulled a fast one on everyone he's like we're gonna host it remotely so no one can get upset it's like the nhl draft now see it's remote yeah uh two third to the 2030 world cup spain portugal and mor. That's right. The tri-bid. It's the first time that three countries from two different continents will host the competition. Yep. A-Dog, where is Morocco? Now, where's Morocco, A-Dog? Sorry, what's up?

Where is Morocco? It is in Bangladesh. Do you honestly not know where it is? It's in Spain. Oh, come is? It's in Spain. Oh, come on. It's in Mexico. It's Northern Africa, dude. I was getting there.

You didn't even know it was a country. I don't think you were getting there. You thought it was a city. Oh, I got one. Mike in Nanaimo. Hashtag WWW. What we learned. I learned that the Boston Celtics have a green floor and it looks hideous. Yeah, all the things that happened last night.

The NBA Cup was underway. It was on when we were at AJ's. And that was the Raptors and 76ers from the 76ers. Very blue court. It was very blue. Very blue court. A little too blue. Yeah, in Philadelphia.

So that's how they differentiate these. That was Milwaukee, I think, wasn't it? The one we were watching? I thought it was Philly. I think it was Milwaukee. I'll have to double check. Okay, one of the screens had the blue court in Philadelphia. We had two games on at the time.

So in case you are unaware of this, there are regular season games that masquerade as League Cup games. And to differentiate them, they have wacky courts. And those games count towards the eventual League Cup standings. Right. So the Knicks were playing the Sixers in Philly, and the Raptors were playing the Bucucks in Milwaukee. As a matter of fact the 76ers blue floor is on the television

here right now and can confirm it is very blue. It has. It blew itself. Basketball Phil. What we learned. It's a perfect start in the tank for Cooper Flag for the Raptors who are 2-10. Worst record in the league.

Best two players both injured, Scotty Barnes and Quickly. The Raptors are officially... They're bad. They're not calling it this, are they? In the pooper for Cooper? Oh, I thought it would be in the bag for Flag.

Yeah. Let's go with the latter. Yeah. You like that one better? That one's better. I'll take that. Yeah. Sensational Gary Martell with What We Learned. This one's for A-Dog. Don't worry with the latter. Yeah. You like that one better? That one's better. I'll take that. Yeah. Sensational Gary Martell with what we learned.

This one's for A-Dog. Don't worry, A-Dog. It's not about geography. Thank the Lord. Or your personal looks. Gary writes, you guys touched upon the Hall of Fame yesterday, but you left out a critical part. My Little Pony and the Transformers finally made it into the Toy Hall of Fame.

What? Took that long? Those two toys along with the Phase 10 cards beat out other finalists including Apples to Apples, Choose Your Own Adventure books and balloons. How's Choose Your Own Adventure not in there? Gallop and Roll?

I don't know what that is into the rightful place in the hall for my little pony in particular this year is extra validating the beloved toy was a finalist seven times before getting in said the guilty of toys the chief curator so this is like a holiday for bronies everywhere now? Of toys. So the Hall of Fame for toys started out in the class of 2000. And it's hilarious. What was the first toy? The first one inducted was bicycle. Bicycle.

The classic bicycle. Number two, I've never heard of this, but maybe it's called something else. Knuckle bones? Nope. I was going to say the yo-yo. Are those jacks? Knuckle bones? Is Slinky in there?

Is Slinky in there? Okay, so jump rope, Mr. Potato Head, and Slinky. That was the class of 2000. It was just like a red ball. That's got to be in there, right? And then the class of 2001, only two toys made the cut. Wow. Silly Putty, which I loved to eat as a kid. Oh, it's delicious.

It explains a lot. A lot of nutrients. And Tonka Trucks also love to eat Tonka Trucks. Yeah, a couple of hospital trips there. Two of the most delicious toys ever. I would just love to be at this ceremony. The class of 2002, we would like to congratulate Jigsaw Puzzle. That guy walking out with a jigsaw puzzle with legs underneath.

So is this class celebration? Is it like a giant Optimus Prime and some guy dressed in a My Little Pony outfit? Just like a brony dude walking out on stage? I hope so. I don't think so. I cannot get over some of this because I want to be there for the induction ceremony. Class of 2009, the following toys were added. Number

one, the ball. It made it! It made it! It made it! Hey, it's Jason Brough Hope you're having A great holidays You've been listening

To the best Of Halford and Brough You're listening To the best Of Halford and Brough Happy holidays everybody Connected practice yesterday And

Lo and behold Susie and Myers still together. But Rick Tockett did take some time out of his day to talk to some of those defensemen. And you know those very public, wow, Rick Tockett has sure been talking to these guys for a while. Well, he went around to various Canucks defensemen. I think it was the big three.

It was the Meyer, Soucy, and Juleson. Yeah, the big three of errors. The big three of errors and had some time with them. I need you to do the exact opposite of what you've been doing. Guys, maybe I should have had this chat earlier with you, but I've noticed you've been struggling. Everything you're doing is bad. I want you to know that.

And then Rick Tockett addressed the media afterwards about all that, and he had this to say. I think Mizey's game has come on the last couple games. I think Sousa's got to get his confidence up. I think everything is magnified, everything he does that's in our net. And I talked to him today. He's close.

I would like to see him, and I told him, is just get into people a little bit harder. That's when he's at his best. I can say that about every player, but I'm a big believer is you got to get people, like, you know, you saw the, just the bandage act goal, you know. I think it was Ratz, like, you got to take a stick. You can't just be with a guy.

I think that's one thing we got to get better at, whether it's Susie or Raddy or whoever, Petey. You got to get into people, and I think we haven't been as good as getting into people, but we're getting better. I like that. You got to take a stick. You can't just be with the guy skating next to him.

How you doing, bud? Hi. How's the day going? Notice you've got the puck there. Would you mind if I took it? Can I have that back, please? So stupid. So Rick Talkett obviously listens.

I like being with you. And then Rick Talkett's like, you need to be inside the guy. He's like, what? You've got to go through him. Sir, I don't know about that. So obviously Rick Talkett listens to the Halford and Brough show because yesterday, in between all the conversations we were having about the blue line and the endless iteration of,

do we need to switch up the pairings? And the newest one, which is how long before they acquire Marcus Pedersen or another defensive cog. I did throw out there the notion that in these trying times where so many guys are out of the lineup and you're relying internally for guys to step up maybe just maybe the answer is susie myers you're gonna have to do more play better you're gonna have to play better the cavalry is not coming we do not have a trade lined up we are not going to fix this by moving the guys around in pieces on the chess

board you're going to play together as a pairing. You just need to play better. I think that's what they're doing. I think that's exactly what it is. I think they look at, you know, first of all, the difficulty of the trade market and how much they would have to give up to get a guy that was a significant upgrade on what they've got right now. I'm sure they can go out and acquire another 5'6 defenseman, but they're kind of chock full of those right now, the way the guys are playing.

But also, there's nothing really down on the farm. People were texting me, what about Jet Wu and he was like, what about Jet Wu? I'm like, come on. What about Jet? Let's stop doing this. I've never played in the NHL before. Yeah. I don't think he's going to solve everything.

Yeah. I don't think he's going to hop into the top four and be like, where have you been? So the best answer might be. What about Colmick Ward? Okay. The best answer might be just to, you know, play better.

We know these guys can do it especially Susie right I mean it's not like Susie is Susie's been 38 years old or anything like he was good last year he was solid he was reliable and right now as Tuckett said it just seems like everything is going wrong for him like I got Ian Cole vibes from him in the last game where off Ian Cole play off Ian Cole right remember when Ian Cole was and he was hurt and he was going through a lot and it just like everything that happened to him was like a comical mistake it was magnified it just it was almost like the camera was on him and anytime the puck was around him bad things were gonna happen yeah it was like OJ Simpson's

character in the naked gun pretty much right much. What's his name again? Nordberg? Nordberg, yes. Getting big Nordberg vibes. Yeah, Susie, I mean, here's the thing, though. And then somehow Susie manages to stick his finger into a wall socket or something. I didn't even know there was one on the ice. Here's the thing.

Don't put a fork in there, Susie. As we get back to the seriousness of it all. 732 on a Thursday. You're listening to 6.50 a.m. The Zone. A thrash Thursday. I kind of like that, actually. Thrash Thursday. I know, right? It's not bad.

Get the energy up. What did we have before on Thursdays? We didn't. Open day. Thrash Thursday is all right. Who's the thrashiest of the thrash metal bands? Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse Napalm Death?

They don't sound You went too far with Cannibal Corpse Does it sound hardcore? You went too far Hey, you asked You went too far with Cannibal Corpse Those are the old school I mean, there's a lot of newer ones

Megadeth, Anthrax Well, Megadeth is a classic You should read some Cannibal Corpse track titles Slayer, of course Yeah, Cannibal Corpse track titles. Slayer, of course. No, no. Yeah, Cannibal Corpse is too far. Slayer and Megadeth are almost like mainstream thrash, though. Like, you got to go like...

That's fine. That's thrash enough. You got to go down more. I feel like we've got adequate thrash with those guys. Oh, yeah. We don't want to go deeper into the thrash subculture. A lot of thrash there. Guys, we're a hardcore band.

What should we call ourselves? What about Napalm Death? That'll do it text all the boxes all right uh jc abbott is going to join us in just a moment here for some lion's talk we're a country band yeah yeah didn't see that coming playing the opry christian folk rock uh i did we i went to go see slayer at the Commodore like two decades ago. Nice. It was right after my buddy had shoulder surgery, and he still insisted on going. I was like, buddy, such a bad idea.

You're going to get jostled. His shoulder never healed. He's in the mosh pit. This was a bad idea. He's like, do you think it'll be rough? I'm like, I bet it will. Special congratulations to a guy that has been a terrific hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks

and just had a baby boy, Connor Garland. Congrats to Connor Garland and his family. He left the Rangers game right after it ended and raced right to the hospital. And he has a son and Connor Garland and his wife have named the son Quentin after Quint, the character from the movie Jaws. If you're not familiar with the film. Spoiler. Quint meets Jaws near the end of the film. So you have the lead of the movie. That would be Jaws.

Then you have the second character, the antagonist, I suppose. I don't know which one. Who's the protagonist? Who's the antagonist there? Martin Brody and Jaws are the two leads. Did you call the lead Jaws? That's the lead Jaws. He's the number one Jaws.

Not the lead character. He's seen in the film for all of five minutes. He's the lead Jaws. He's the number one Jaws. Not the lead character. He's seen in the film for all of five minutes. That's the lead character. It's what the movie's about. He's not the lead character. He has no dialogue. He's not a real person. Anyway, I did not realize that there's a...

Well, Richard Dreyfuss was in it, and he was the scientist, and then there was Roy Scheider, who was Martin Brody. Roy Scheider was the lead, yes. Roy Scheider was the lead, yes. Roy Scheider was the lead. The tritagonist. Jaws was not the lead.

Jaws was the lead. Jaws had top billing. His name was on the poster. His picture was on the poster. He was the one that got the Academy Award. He went up there. He won the Academy Award.

Yeah, he went up there for it. For all the sharks out there that preceded me that didn't get this award, the tritagonist was Quint. I learned this. Yeah, the great monologue about World War II, being in the ocean with the sharks.

I like how that connects to be very upfront about this. So the people didn't confuse that it was for Quinn Hughes. No, no, no. Quint. Quint. The T is vitally important there. That was called foreshadowing. Yes.

Yeah, that's right. Because things did not end well for Quint. Did not. Connor Garland loves sharks. But. And this is. Comes with a but. This is hilarious.

I love how much he's still fascinated with sharks. Like apparently as a kid, grew up on the East Coast where Jaws is from. Yeah. And. He has a summer home on the Cape Coast where Jaws is from. Yeah. He has a summer home on the Cape. I just want to imagine he's on that. He just loves sharks and you get all these – I was doing some research for this yesterday because I just thought it was hilarious.

And I think he grew up with Ryan Donato. Yep. Who was – what was it? Conor Bedard's line mate recently. That's right. In Chicago. Now with Seattle. Right.

You could tell that Donato was like, oh yeah, the guy loves sharks. I just want to imagine Garland sitting on the Canucks bench right next to Hughes or something, just dead silence for 30 seconds. He looks at Hughes. What's your favorite kind of shark? I just think They're neat

Okay Hughes is like what? Garland starts listing all of his favorite Sharks in order why he likes them like Milhouse With the sprinklers but the butt that comes with it I keep trying to tease the butt here The teasing of the butt What else? Connor Garland loves sharks but He's terrified of them

And I don't think he's actually ever seen one. No. He's too scared. He stays in the locker room during the sharks warm up. That is. During away games when they come out of the mouth. Apparently he won't swim in the ocean. Yeah.

Because of sharks. But he loves them too. That is the true test of how much you respect the shark. Yeah. It's like me with bees. You love the bees, but you're fearful yeah of what i was talking about bees i respect them but i'm terrified the power they possess yeah so i did way too much research on this the phenomenon of uh what's it called

galeophobia which is the fear of sharks and i i was up till midnight last night i just became fascinated with this so what we all have to understand that you stayed up till midnight last night. I just became fascinated with this. So what we all have to understand that- You stayed up till midnight researching this? I did. As a species, we as humans are not inherently fearful of sharks. So you're not born fearful of sharks. Yeah, you see jaws and then you're like, I'm scared of sharks. It's a learned phobia.

And then I guess- Like quicksand. I remember- Yeah, right. You're not scared of quicksand when you're born, but once you get stuck in it. When I was a kid, we did the Universal Studios tour. Oh, I loved that tour. And I was terrified of the Jaws part.

That mechanical shark. That mechanical shark. I was like, dad. And as a kid, it means last year. Yeah. You know, you're in those carts. I was like, dad, why don't you take the aisle seat? But it's interesting. I was absolutely, Dad, why don't you take the aisle seat? But it's interesting.

I was absolutely terrified of the backdraft sequence. So my brother is the exact same as Garland. There's equal parts admiration and love of the shark with fear. What do you think it is about the shark? Is it the... Well, it's the teeth. Obviously, it's the... It's those cold, it's the teeth. Obviously, it's the... It's those cold, dead, black eyes.

I think it's the eyes, man. I think a lot of it's the eyes. They live forever, and they just don't stop swimming. They're like a relentless killing machine. Yeah. If they stop swimming, they die. I think...

They're nature's psychopaths. Yeah. But they're not. But anyway... Yes, they are. What, are we going to snuggle with a shark? I mean, it depends on the type of shark, too, though. Sharks have gotten an unfair rap of being carnivorous, I want to kill humans.

Yeah, some sharks are pretty docile, but some are terrifying. When sharks bite surfers or swimmers, it's often a curiosity to be something unique. Yeah, they think it's like a seal or something. Yeah, that it's entered their ecosystem, right? I went to the Ripley's museum yes just like a couple months ago in toronto okay so i'm a bit of a shark expert i'm gonna say i did my research they they were in the tanks with all the other fish there and everyone was wondering like how can that be and it's because they keep them well fed and apparently the only time they attack

anything is if they're like starving hungry they won't go after any of the other fish all the other fish are like larry's got low blood sugar right now. Look out. Also though. Can you please toss him something? Throw him a couple humans. He's got that crazy look in his eye. They showed an x-ray of the shark's teeth.

Yeah. That's terrifying. It's like a conveyor belt of teeth that just keeps going. Did you know that sharks don't have bones? Just teeth. No bones in a shark. It makes them delicious. Shark fin soup, man.

Yeah, it's like salmon. You're constantly shark fin choking on it. That's not legal. Yeah. Oh, is it not? So I should stop making it? Probably. I'm telling people.

My shark fin soup party is. I got to clear out my bathtub. We got some problems at home no like okay and you the scariest part of it i think is actually captured on the original job there was a novel first and then the book was better uh the the novel first and then the poster which is i thought i thought the weird part about the book was when it was written out the whole first chapter is that. Spoiler if you haven't read it yet.

And don't tell me you were going to go home and read it. You weren't. So the cover is, it's an unsuspecting. How do you write that in a book? It's like, and then the shark came. And then you have the da-da, da-da. The cover and the movie poster are the unsuspecting swimmer. It's just a leisurely day at the beach and they're swimming.

And there's this gigantic bloodthirsty teeth showing shark underneath. So I think that's what the fear is. You can't see it. Garland's going to miss the next game because he'll listen to this segment. He won't get any sleep. Or he's going to be so upset at our lack of shark knowledge. He'll be yelling at the radio. We should get Garland on and not ask him any hockey questions.

Just shark talk. Just talk about sharks. Just shark talk. That would be amazing, actually. That would be very funny. We should pitch that. Nothing about hockey. Just sharks.

Just sharks. We'll pitch that to the Vancouver Canucks. We don't normally do a lot of business news on the show. We did shark news for 15 minutes. We did do shark news for a while. It wasn't even news. It's not really related to this business news but the Department of Justice down in the states has essentially ordered Google I know them to sell the Chrome web web browser. Okay. Basically saying like Google owning the Chrome web browser

is monopolistic. Okay. Do you understand any of that? Yes. Okay. Do you know about competition laws and all that sort of stuff? Yeah. Okay. A hundred percent. Are you, this is really tough. No further questions needed. Now, if you look at Google stocks today, they're way down because people know that Google owning Chrome is good for the company. If they're forced to sell it, not good for the company. That makes sense. All of this is to say that I learned that A-Dog still uses the Firefox browser. I don't know why you're so surprised by this. Respect. It uses the Firefox browser. I don't know why you're so surprised by this. It's the better browser.

Are you a Linux guy? I just looked at it. It's way better. I asked our good friend, ChatGPT, about the percentages of people that use certain browsers. And it said, as of this year, Google Chrome dominates the global browser market with 65% of all platforms. In second place, Apple Safari.

Sure. Are you just going to say one word? Sure. Yes. Hmm. Huh? Are you just going to say one word? Sure, yes. At 18.5%. Firefox is at 3%. Damn.

There are dozens of you. Is that third, though? Keep it alive. No, third. Microsoft Edge. I'm an Edge guy. Yeah, you would be. That's game traction.

You would be. Because that's the browser that's on your laptop. Call me an Edger. It's given to you. It is so bad. It's like Internet Explorer 2.0. an edger. It's given to you. It is so bad. It's like Internet Explorer 2.0. When I'm using it, I call it edgy. Well, you're using Firefox. I used that like

15 years ago, man. Chrome is where it's at. I use Chrome for work and it's perfectly fine. It's not perfectly fine. I just prefer Firefox. Do you still use Winamp? I still use Netscape Navigator. Netscape Navigator is the OG. That's the best.

If I could use it now, I would. I mean, none of the sites load, but I use it. I just like seeing the little graphic. So, I didn't know that the disparity was that large. Yeah, me neither. I wouldn't have guessed that that many people use Chrome. I've been very happy with Chrome. Chrome is so much better than all the other.

It's very corporate. Yes, man. Well, when I got my laptop from work, Microsoft Edge was the one that was there, like the most easily readable, attainable icon. Firefox tells the truth, man. It's the real browser. Yeah, but having something, say what you will about monopolies, right? Great board game.

Okay. You know, it is nice to have, you can use everything with everything, right? Like I have parts of my life that are all Google. We just got put, had Google Home put in. Yeah. And like controls the temperature in the house, et cetera. But I also have a certain part of my life that is all Apple, right? Like I have an iPhone and a MacBook and I like to use that all together.

You like the ecosystem. But if you bring in Firefox, then Firefox is like, can I be part of this too? It's like, yeah, it's just harder. You know what loads all the websites? Hey, we got a text in here. Firefox is the best for security and not being tracked. What do you have to hide, A-Dog? That's my next question.

I'm secretly a superhero or villain. Yeah, A- a dog is on like telegraph or whatever it's called does it get the dark web by any chance exactly it's for my shark shark fin soup yeah i was gonna say the shark fin soup thing's gonna come up again okay mukao the browser talk that was very well done uh i'll get it back to the world of sprats specifically the hockey so So I mentioned last night that a late night working was watching the Kraken

and the Preds. Kind of wanted to keep an eye on the Preds after they beat the Canucks the other night. The red-hot Seattle Kraken just finished their homestand 5-1. That's how you do a homestand, Vancouver Canucks. So a couple things, takeaways from here. One, Joey

D'accord, your favorite goalie, Greg. Yeah, you got a Pepsi shutout last night. So what's that now? They give you a Pepsi if you get a shutout. They have sponsored shutouts now? We may as well. We've had it for a few years now. If you had five Pepsis and you take away four Pepsis, how many Pepsis do you have left?

Joey D'accord's numbers this year, 9-3-1. They've won nine of the 13 games that he started this year. He's second in the league, I think, in goals saved above expected. So very good numbers. 9-23 save percentage. His first shutout of the year yesterday. Unfortunately, I looked, he is American. So yet another guy.

He sounds Canadian. He can't play for Canada at the upcoming Four Nations, which is too bad because I would have put him in right away. Then I looked at Seattle's upcoming schedule. Who did this? They go to Los Angeles on Saturday. That makes sense, right? Then they go to Anaheim.

Logical follow-up. Sure. Then they go home to play Anaheim. Then they go on the road to play San Jose in San Jose. Then they go home to play San Jose. And they move a few of those dates around.

It is the weirdest four-game set. I don't understand. I don't know who dreamed this up. They're like, what if you played all the California teams at once, but you kept bouncing back and forth between California and Seattle? Seattle's right there. I'm sure there's a reason for it.

I just don't know what. You're looking at it right now, too. It's the weirdest schedule. They love their home and homes. It's not awful because it's Seattle to California. Like, who cares? But it's just a very bizarre schedule. Anyway, those games are almost all winnable because Seattle or Los Angeles

looks like junk right now, too. They got shut out on home ice by the Buffalo Sabres yesterday. There were three shutouts in the NHL yesterday. And two of them late night were Joey Dacor and Ukopeka Lukinen. Yeah, I think Nashville had like 17 shots again. Nashville's bad.

Nashville's really bad. Everything that they do is like on the perimeter. They can't get into the guts of the ice except when they play the Vancouver Canucks. I thought it was easy. They find the guts quite easily actually. Okay. Give us a mookow. The Dunbar Lumber text line is just

full of, I use Firefox too. There are dozens of us. Heck yeah. The real man use Firefox. Let's print out some submissions into the Dunbar member text line. And we got some business here.

What We Learned, Huey and Odie edition, as always, brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. So no longer, you missed, if you didn't go yesterday or the day before, you missed out on the mini Ronis, which Andy and I ate together and can confirm that a mini will fill up to large adult males. 22 bucks in-house. Go check them out.

You say it together like very romantically, but we were sitting next to each other. It wasn't like a, you know. We lady in the tram. Yeah, it wasn't lady in the tram. It was very romantic. Visit them. AJ's Pizza on East Broadway or AJ's.pizza. Jen the Sand Miner.

Not a what we learned learned but i wanted to read it anyway 15 minutes about how cool sharks are while there is so much hand-wringing ringing going on about the caducks is what makes this show so freaking awesome love you guys yeah very cool our lack of attention uh where was i going what do you think a sand miner is? Anyone? A shark. What? A type of shark.

Someone that mines sand? Thanks, Andy. Yeah. A sand miner shark. Maybe she's down at the beach with one of those metal detectors. Oh, yeah. Possibly. Please write us back and let us know. While we're on the topic of sharks, by the way,

a note here from Dan Milstein. His client, Yaroslav Askarov, will make his Sharks debut tonight. I do wonder if Conor Garland's endgame is to play in San Jose at one point. Or would he be too scared to play in San Jose? He would never be up for it. He's always scratched against San Jose. Why? He'd be in the locker room every game.

We can't get him out on the ice. He got that big shark mouth. Every home game, he just waited in the locker room until the. We can't get him out on the ice. He got that big shark mouth. Every home game, he just waited in the locker room until the shark mouth gets pulled away. Tony with what we learned. What I learned is that last season's Canucks health and lack of injuries was only a blip, and we are right back to

the usual litany of man games lost. Yeah, and I think they're making up for last season's remarkable health. It wasn't perfect last season. Dakota Joshua had some injuries. Susie had some injuries. And then Demko got hurt at the end of the season.

But, yeah, it is – I mean, we said this yesterday or whenever the JT Miller news came out, that it is – it's very Canuck, some of the things that have happened to this team, because it's not your usual, yeah, he's got a knee injury, he'll be out three to four weeks, right? It is Demko with the Paul Plotius injury. Like, we've never seen a hockey player with this injury ever before. None of us had really ever heard of the term popliteus unless you were,

I don't know, in the medical field or just really into knees. And then, of course, Dakota Joshua just in a terrible luck, testicular cancer and having to come back from that. By the way, I thought he looked good in the last game, and I thought that was really encouraging. I think we saw some of the old Dakota Joshua in the Rangers game. And then this JT Miller leave of absence. You know, again, we said this yesterday.

This does happen occasionally in sports, but it is quite rare. And I can't think of many times when a player has taken a leave of absence for essentially what Frege called today in 32 Thoughts, burnout. Hey, it's Jason Brough. Hope you're having a great holidays.

You've been listening to the best of Half's Jason Brough. Hope you're having a great holidays. You've been listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Happy holidays everybody. Justin and his fan ask us anything. If you were on a news team, but you

couldn't cover sports, would you rather report the traffic or the weather? Great question, Justin and East Van. That's interesting. There's a depends, though. What's that? Because I would say weather would be more fun because you get to be in front of that cool green screen.

However, traffic... Okay, we're on the radio still. Oh, it's the radio. Oh, then it's not. Switching mediums. I was going to say, because traffic... Well, we're on the radio still. Oh, it's the radio. Oh, then it's not switching mediums. I was going to say, well, okay, I'd pick traffic then because there's a chance you get to fly in the traffic helicopter. That is true. I wouldn't want to go up in the traffic helicopter.

Really? That'd be fun. Really? Have you been in a helicopter before? Never. Helicopters are terrifying. It makes me nervous, man. I've never been in one.

I was in one once. How was it? I'm not really scared of flying, i was okay with it but i could helicopter seems different than a plane i could under i could understand why people freak out yeah everything's too close the propeller the window the inevitable fall down it's all just too in your face well there's no forward momentum yeah you're just it's very it's you know it's very unique at least uh like i again i'm not an expert on helicopters but but at least in a plane, you're kind of like, well, if the engine blows, we can glide. I don't know if even that's true.

You just kind of, you know, like, the wind will keep us up, right? They're like, yes, sir. The wind will keep us up. I didn't invent the name, but there's a thing called a Jesus nut. You can look it up. It's the point on the top of the helicopter that if it ever fails, you drop from the sky, essentially. That's definitely not what I thought of. It is a single point of failure that is on every helicopter, and if it ever breaks, I'm war toast.

Yeah, well, good luck to everyone in a helicopter today. I'm sorry. I'm just putting that out there. I'm just putting that out there. It's called the Jesus nut? It's called the Jesus nut. Definitely not what I first thought of when I thought of Jesus nut. Yes, I know.

I said I didn't name it, but that's what they call it. So I would take weather, just because I'm looking at the weather all the time anyway. Yeah. So I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to deal with long commutes. Yep. I hate the traffic in Vancouver, and I think I would get stressed out if I had to do it. Let's give everyone a little look behind the curtain here.'re getting older the Halford and Brough show we're no longer the young fresh-faced kids on the block we're old with wrinkles and don't look good uh we also don't

commute during normal hours so traffic is a non-factor but as we get older everybody knows every year you get older the more into weather you get oh yeah it's an axis thing the xy every year bird watching thing as soon as you turn 60 you're like hey birds are everywhere let's start watching them every year you get older you spend a correlated amount of time more on weather apps or just looking outside being like tut tut looks like rain it looks like rain and in the summers it like, we really needed that. It was hot, right? That's a dad move.

It's a dry heat. Yeah. So I think that weather fits what we're doing. If we were to do a natural pivot where they finally were like, you guys have been doing this for a long time. We're going to shut it down. That's understandable. They're like, okay, you have a choice.

I think we'd both go directly to weather. Like together, you mean? You report at the same time? Just two, yeah, Bert and Ernie, Stadler and Waldorf, doing the weather, just pointing at the clouds. The text inbox is predictably full of helicopter experts.

One's from Melissa in a helicopter? Yeah, she actually is in a helicopter, so she's probably the person we'd be speaking to about this. She asked us if we wanted a ride in a helicopter. Nope, I don't. What about the previous conversation suggested that we would fly one? We are all terrified. Was it the inherent fear of ride in a helicopter. Nope, I don't. What about the previous conversation suggested that we would fly one? We are all terrified. Was it the inherent fear of being in a helicopter?

This text, I don't know if this is real or not. Oh, boy, you guys are wrong on helicopters. Ha, ha, ha. All the fellow helicopter pilots are freaking out at their radios this morning. Do we have a big listenership in the helicopter community? I want to imagine that we do. What did we, other than Brough's... The helicopter demo, big in the half of the... Other than Brough's assertion

that maybe it would just float, what did we say that was so incorrect about helicopters? Well, someone texted in, a helicopter can be landed safely even if the engine fails and has no power. That's cool. Yeah. Did we say that it would... I wasn't really paying attention. If it lands on a giant pile of pillows.

Do we have one of those handy? Or if people I wasn't really paying attention. If it lands on a giant pile of pillows. Do we have one of those handy? Or people just hold a really big net all together. This is, okay, this is. I like this one from Matt. When helicopter pilots start learning to fly, one of the first things they teach you is that the helicopter is always trying to kill you. Also, the glide down when a helicopter engine fails is called auto-rotation. Okay.

That means spinning uncontrollably. To the layman. And someone yells out, Jesus, the nut is loose. Oh, not the Jesus nut. I'm reading the page. That's actually why they call it that, because if it ever fails, the only thing you have left to do is pray to Jesus. Right. That's why they call it the Jesus nut. I'm reading the page. That's actually why they call it that. Because if it ever fails, the only thing you have left to do is pray to Jesus.

Right. That's why they call it the Jesus nut. Jesus take the wheel now that that nut is gone. Okay. I don't understand why they got to start the blades first. That made me so nervous. I don't want to like duck under blades as they're swinging around above my head. Can't you wait to start the blades so you get in?

I don't know. We have countless helicopter experts. I'm solely going based off of movies here. Does everyone have to duck, too? Like, even shorter people? Do they have to duck? I think instinctively you'll want to. Or can you walk confidently to the helicopter?

I don't think anyone's walking confidently to the helicopter. Dude, I'd be crawling to the helicopter. I'd be, like, just down on the ground. I'd be like, no, I don't want to be anywhere near this blade. Anyway. Shout out to Dalvir, who cherry-picked the Lion of the morning, by the way, courtesy of Jason Brough. A helicopter seems different from an airplane. If you're going to have one takeaway from the show this morning, that should be it, because they are, in fact, two totally different things.

Yeah, but then I went and stated the example of like if there's engine failure, that seems like a different situation. He didn't confidently say they were different. He just said they seemed different. So that implies they could be the same. It's the touchy-feely generation. I feel like a helicopter is different than a plane. But I don't want to state it on the record. Yes.

Okay, we've got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough Show. But I don't want to be criticized. A lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. AJ for AJ's piece. I don't want to offend anyone, but I think a helicopter is different from an airplane. So the show goes off the rails on Fridays, right? Previous segment, we're talking about helicopters and our inherent fear of being in them. Then a very, very inaccurate scientific breakdown of how helicopters work.

Then we quickly pivoted to what's going on with Jay Leno. Anyone got any ideas there? If you want to weigh in, Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. I don't know what's going on. Hope he's feeling better. He had a fall.

Sure he did. You just love conspiracy theories, don't you? Big helicopter got to him. It was actually written up. It's everywhere. In a bunch of newspapers. It's everywhere.

It's on CNN. Right. Why doesn't he sell one of his hundreds of exotic cars if he needs the money, like the conspiracy theory suggests? Does he have the cars still? He's addicted to the cars. He can never let them go. Don't a lot of people, don't a lot of celebrities not care for Jay Leno? Like he doesn't have the best

reputation. No, Conan doesn't. That's correct. That's correct. Yeah, the Conan thing. Well, it's not just that though. He's seen as kind of like a snake, right? That is also correct. This show on Friday, just one big one. I didn't expect to come in on a Friday and just run Jay Leno

down after destroying the concept of helicopters. Okay. We learned something about helicopters. Auto rotation. And the Jesus nut. We learned something about sharks yesterday. It was a big week of learning here. No bones.

No bones. No bones in a shark. To the phone lines. You can just eat them. Don't. Don't do that. Take a big bite out of them. Please don't do that.

That's why they always got to keep swimming. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. No bones. Don't. Don't do that. Take a big bite out of them. Please don't do that. That's why they always got to keep swimming. No bones, no bones, no bones. Don't. Don't. Don't. AJ. AJ from AJ's Pizza. I'm sorry I'm so aggressive.

I have no bones. I'd be mad too if I didn't have any bones. Right? Please, I beg of you. Please stop. Laddie, I'm going to give you. A buddy of Danny Milstein's. 90 uninterrupted seconds to say your piece.

Never make fun of agents. You heard Rick. You need three hours to really break down the whole BCHL, CHL discussion. You're not going to get that much. You're not going to be able to get all the details out in this little bit. And full disclosure, I work in both leagues. Okay. So I have connections to everywhere.

And it's not just what Rick was saying. It all comes down to control. Hockey Canada, for the longest time, they haven't seen Junior A as the viable route for them. That's always been a failure in their eyes because those players leave Canada and go play in NCAA, which is America. So they want everyone funneled to the CHL, which is their baby. It's their lot of money invested in that league to have success. And they want all of the top players, every single one of them, going through the CHL. So they made things in years past, even before the BCHL left Hockey Canada,

they made things very difficult for them to get anything done, to have any sort of increase in sort of talent in that level. So the BCHL took the step, as Rick mentioned, to leave Hockey Canada. And my question comes down to is why are we ceding this much control to Hockey Canada? Do we want them having this much control over all of the players in Canada and making them go the route that they deem the best? Shouldn't it be on the player, the consumer,

to decide which team they go to, which route they want to take? Why does it have to be sanctioned by Hockey Canada? The whole sanctioning process is by Hockey Canada. They're the ones that make up that system. They can choose to sanction BCHL players to go to these events, but they choose not to because it's a power play. They're trying to force players into their direction. I mean, it was also the NCAA had a strong impact on where players would go.

Yeah. And now the problem for the BCHL, without getting into any of the Hockey Canada stuff, is what are you selling now? Because if you go to these kids, 15, 16-year-old kids, and say, come to the BCHL, if you go to the dub, you can't play NCAA. Well, they can't say that anymore.

No. So what are they going to sell? Because that was the main selling point. So Rick called it a mistake leaving Hockey Canada. I saw it as it was a head start basically for the BCHL to show hey, we have these coaches. We have these programs all lined up to push these kids

to the next level. We're good at it. And the lead up to this whole thing was the BCHL recognizing that this ruling was eventually coming and they, they're a direct competitor with the WHL now. So do you think they did see it coming? Absolutely.

They saw it coming and they had no feedback from hockey Canada through that entire process. They repeatedly tried to get hockey Canada involved in a solution to come up with a way to have two different paths. They got radio silence from hockey Canada. So that's why they took the step that they did. I'm smiling because hockey just in general is so confusing right now. Starting at minor hockey and all the way through junior and NCAA,

you know, minor hockey in Vancouver now with the academies and HPL, you know, and there are still associations like the North Shore Winter Club and Burnaby Winter Club that are still doing, you know, high level stuff. But it's just, if you're a parent right now. Oh, you got so much misinformation, people pulling you in all directions. Agendas. Agendas. It's a power struggle.

And you know what? I knew Harvard was going to make the money sign, right? There's a lot of money at stake right now. Because we went so late last segment, arguing the merits of the Canadian Football League and the BC Hockey League, we are now just going to go straight to the humanoids. We're not going to do anything on our side of the table. It's time for What We Learned and Ask Us Anything from the Humanoids.

They are all brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Try AJ's traditional New York pizza or sink into their famous Detroit style. Try the mini. You can only get it at AJ's pizza. Order online at AJ's pizza. Okay. So this one, this is gift wrap for you, Halford, because I think this is one of your most enjoyable things that you've ever covered. He's rubbing his hands right now.

Marshall asks, what is the funniest or most ridiculous athlete statement or phrase you have ever heard? And this might be on the heels of yet another hilarious Jameis Winston pregame, postgame, halftime, whatever he was doing. He is pretty funny right now. But for you, what has been the funniest athlete statement ever? Well, we're coming up on the 10-year anniversary of it. I'm going to throw to it. We're going to play it.

I'm going to come back. I'm going to explain a little bit. Then we're going to play it again. Jonathan Bernier on Nelson Mandela. What knowledge or awareness did you have of him growing up, or when did you learn of him? Well, obviously growing up, he's one of the most known athletes in the world and a lot of impact in any kind of sport that he did.

Even playing hockey, everyone knows him, right, from being the type of person that he was off the ice and on the ice. And it's unfortunate that he passed away a year ago, but, you know, he changed a lot while he was with us, and he's a tremendous guy. Fought apartheid, won a Nobel Peace Prize, awesome 200-foot game. Sulky winner.

Did it on both ends of the ice. It was. So, I remember so much about this. So much. So many good things. Great guy on the ice and off the ice. Dude, do we ever... Ask me any questions.

I will ask you. Who do we think he was thinking of? No idea. Okay, you don't know that one. I will ask you, who do we think he was thinking of? No idea. Okay. You don't know that one. I don't think he knew. I think he was like, I need to get all my media training and hockey cliches out here. Why?

Okay, here's another question. Yep. Why didn't the interview say, please stop? Because he was like, this is amazing content. This was a content factory before we knew what content factories were. I cut the second half of the answer. He goes on about sharing and being a leader. I know. It was a content factory before we knew what content factories were okay i cut the second half of the answer he goes on about like sharing i know and being a leader i know it was a long answer and it just kept going so here's what happened in december of 2013 nelson mandela passed away at

the age of 95 a year later the toronto raptors as a symbol of a year to the almost the day of his passing held an event prior to a Raptors game called the Giant of Africa among those in attendance for this game to celebrate Nelson Mandela where Irvin Johnson Charles Barkley Brandon Shanahan Shanahan, Damon Allen. So everyone that was there knew exactly what they were there for. It was to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela and everything that he did in his great humanitarian efforts over his 95 years on the planet.

So when they were on the red carpet, everyone was asked about it, right? What did Nelson Mandela mean to you? What did, you know, very basic. Assuming that every athlete did, like, the bare minimum of research to go to this event. Yes. Assuming, which was the problem. Mandela also had, obviously, a connection to sport as well.

So there was a montage of clips that came out in the aftermath. It was on a Saturday morning. I remember this because I was working at NBC and for some unexplained reason the Toronto Raptors decided to put the Jonathan Bernier red carpet interview on their website and on their Twitter I want to play it again Jonathan Bernier on Nelson Mandela he's one of the the most known athletes uh in the world and a lot impact in any kind of sport that he did. Even playing hockey, everyone knows him from being the type of person that he was off the ice and on the ice.

It's unfortunate that he passed away a year ago, but he changed a lot while he was with us and he's a tremendous guy. Wow! They'll never let us show that again. Not in a million years. So here's the kicker to the whole thing. Toronto, collectively, the market, the city, they've tried to wipe it from the record.

It was deleted off social media. I might be taking a chance here against Big Smoke. Who did he think he was talking about, though? That's, that, that is... Nelson Mandela, the power play specialist. I was thinking...

No, but you said, like, the impact in all the sports. Yeah, and he's great on and off the ice. It was just a word salad. Everyone's seen it before. There was the Miss Universe contestant a while back

that tried to answer a question. It was just a word salad. It was just word after word. And in this case, cliche after cliche strung together. I thought at first it might have been...

Did he say he was with us? Did he play for the Leafs? Yeah, it was... I thought at first it might have been former NHLer Nelson Emerson. Did he have that much of an impact, though?

Or current NHLer Brock Nelson. Oh, he passed? Nope, he's still with us. Oh, okay. Still scoring 20, 30 goals a year. He also had a good 200-foot game, like Nelson Mandela. Anyway, the post-script... Mike from Thunder Bay says,

I think he was talking about Jean Beliveau. Jordan and Langley thinks Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali was the first one that I thought of until he said on the ice. That's great. Muhammad Ali was probably not that great on the ice. Maybe he was. Jean Beliveau would make sense, although he didn't play for the Leafs.

Now, hold on, hold on, hold on. That would be great if it was not a ceremony for Nelson Mandela. So anyway, the postscript to this, and I might be taking risks with my career because I know that the capital of Canada is trying to wipe this off the road, but I'm willing to speak out. Be brave. Big brother is listening i wrote about this approximately 10 times when i was at mbc because i'm like this is hilarious like i i found the video i think i i just put it up twice i wrote a second article like here's that video i posted earlier i had and i won't say who it is but it was a writer from a prominent toronto newspaper

reach out and be like when are are you going to drop it? And my response was like, what do you care? This is hilarious. Like, I'm sorry that there's it's embarrassing for Bernie, but this is funny. Congratulations to Marshall, who won the hundred dollar gift card because he allowed us with that question to revisit that time with Jonathan Bernier. One of the greatest hockey interviews of all time. One of the best ever doing. One of the greatest hockey interviews of all time. One of the best ever doing. One of the best soccer interviews I've ever heard.

Aaron and Langley. The red carpet's a giant of Africa on it. Why would you think you were talking about John Beliveau? He was great on and off the ice. Aaron and Langley, ask us anything. Is Jack McBain on Ovechkin, the play, our generation's version of Bobby Clark on Harlamov. Good Canadian kid protecting our own, as in Gretzky's goal record.

That's a unique spin on it. It is. I mean, I don't think McBain meant to do it. Bobby Clark meant to do it. Yeah. Was it one of the guys? Was it a coach that said, why don't you give him a little tap on the ankle? I said, okay, I can do that.

And he's like, my taps are a little bigger than most people's taps. I do feel bad for McBain. I've watched the play enough times. He might have dangled his leg a little bit.

Nah, he didn't. It was a complete mistake. Well, he had to fight right away. Yeah, I know, but that's because it's Ovi. It's unfortunate for everyone. It's unfortunate for Ovi.

It's unfortunate for us as hockey fans. And it's unfortunate for everyone it's unfortunate for olby it's unfortunate for us as hockey fans and it's unfortunate for mcbain i'm going in a particular direction here though so mcbain had to fight on that hit okay i know it's ask us anything friday and there's listeners and everything but i do i wanted to bring this up have you found it a bit curious that i can count like three fairly significant big hits that have been laid on Vancouver Canucks recently. And there's been nothing in the aftermath. Pedersen got one against the Rangers. Hughes got one against,

which one was the big Quinn Hughes hit? I can't remember. It was a good hit though. I mean, it was a clean, it was a clean hit. Right, but that shouldn't even matter anymore. Yeah. And then Brock Besser from Tanner Janot. Yeah.

You shouldn't have to fight after a clean hit. And I used to think that way, but then I started thinking, like, who cares? It's your teammate. If you're upset that your teammate got hit hard, even if it's clean, it's your teammate. This isn't a court of law, right? There isn't like, well, he shouldn't have to fight. Well, he's my teammate this isn't a court of law right there isn't there isn't like well you he shouldn't have to fight well he's my teammate yeah so i want to fight we didn't do you know what i mean like do you understand what i'm saying here like it's not like uh it's not like a a moral

obligation topic it's just like yeah but we're a team you know and and I like to see guys stick up for each other when that sort of stuff happens. I think most fans like to do it. Obviously, you have to be careful if it's a playoff. If it's in a big game, you're not going to put the other team on the power play if it's something like that. But, you know, I think one of the things that Canucks fans appreciated about the team last season was that they started to feel like a team.

They started to feel like a team that was playing for each other and they were sacrificing for each other. And that's what people like to see. Um, have you ever used the same approach, philosophy, pack mentality in men's league? No,

not men's league. I don't want to fight i know i'm not fighting but like if someone knocks one of your guys at you have you i don't know depends if i like to give him a shot on the way by i don't know i've got two guys it's so different i don't want to compare my men's league to the nhl no no why not it's a band of brothers you're in there together but it's even more of a band of brothers because you're all out of shape yeah exactly yeah it's like that's dangerous the guy that did the hit was the risk is even more you're like i'm not going around it's even it's even more appropriate

for men's league because then you really have to weigh the risk you're like i gotta go to work in the morning i don't really like that guy that much like i gotta stick up for him yeah it happened one of our guys got crunched and attacked i remember going in at halftime and being like, I was like, I'm going to use this and see if it works in the real world. And I was like, I think it's embarrassing that no one stuck up for Rich when he got tackled. And we all just stood there. I'm like, band of brothers.

Anyone seen it? Yeah. Spoiler. It didn't work. We lost even worse than I imagine we would. Alan Burnaby, ask us anything. What is your favorite tequila drink? That's appropriate. It's Fiesta Friday.garita paloma tequila soda tequila soda i'm i love a tequila soda i'm a

margarita guy i i think i've had more margaritas in the last two years than any other drink i i'm now uh order a margarita in the wintertime guy on the rocks or blended on the rocks i'm an adult if i want a slurpee i go to 7-eleven yeah okay that's fair uh i drink the tequila soda is my drink of choice yeah and it's made so so much easier now because all of the flavored sparkling waters that are out there i don't know if you're aware of this or not, but I think they were made specifically as mixers, right? That's it. You don't have to buy a ready-made one. Just buy the sparkling water.

What's your tequila of choice? Well, the prices are through the roof now. Yeah, but you're rich. Nope. Nope. Is it now the most expensive liquor? It's getting up there It's hard getting the designation from working on the liquor shows that we have

Yeah On this channel I mean, Adog, you were gonna It's hard to get the license to call it tequila Like it needs to be grown in Mexico And have all these Your average Mickey a tequila like I'm not talking about the averages

I'm talking high end Well, no, I'm just saying What's the most Was it still like the best scotch or the best whiskey? Is that the most expensive? Well, yeah. I mean, we have scotches that are a couple thousand bucks and we have tequilas that are like a thousand.

So scotch probably tops out higher, but like the average price of tequila is so much more expensive. How do you keep those bottles, by the way? Like, do you, do you security? Yeah. Hey, don't go to the shotgun. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. They give me weapons. I'm not trained to use them. Let me tell you about the low end of the tequila scale. But even like a Mickey tequila that was $30 a year ago is like $20. It's gone up so much in just a year. If you're going to go real low end and you're going to get... Oh, now we're running out of time.

Great. The lowest entry price you can get for a 750 mil is $35. If you're going to go up a notch higher, which is like above the dirt, you're looking at 40 to 45. So for all the kids listening that need to know how to drink cheaply. Oh, we've run out of time. I'm sorry we don't have that advice. Stay north of the border, I guess. I don't know.

It's getting expensive down in Mexico. 45 bucks for 750 mil. Anyway, we got to get out of here. Hey, it's Jason Brough. Hope you're having a great holidays. You've been listening to the best of Halford and Brough.