Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 11/15/24

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk yesterday's Canucks loss with Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal, plus they chat with former NHLer Marty McSorley. 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Or about back the other way for the Islanders. Carries into the Vancouver zone. Driving to the net. Backhand pass in front. They score. Anders Lee all alone in front.

Oh, no. Philip Perunik. He's been dragged. No, he hasn't. The pitch to Barkley. Barkley across the third. 25, 20, 15, 10. Good boy!

I'm going to die, and it's going to be over. Who cares about a legacy after that? Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Well, it started well for the Vancouver Canucks with Jonathan Luckermackey scoring his first ever NHL goal and it ended well for the Canucks with Tyler Myers scoring the last goal of the game. The problem was everything that happened

in between those two goals. Scott Mayfield and Pierre Engvall both scored their first goals of the season and the New York Islanders got a 5-2 win. A 5-2 win in Vancouver over the Canucks on Thursday night at Rogers Arena. Yeah, like you said, the night did start out pretty well with the return of Dakota Joshua to the lineup after a cancer scare this summer. And then just two minutes and 40 seconds into the game,

Jonathan Leckermackie scored his first NHL goal, taking a JT Miller pass and ripping it past Semyon Varlamov. It was a memorable goal, great shot. And that's his, you know, that's kind of his bread and butter for Leckermackie's first in the league. And it was the last time Canucks fans felt any semblance of joy for the rest of the night. That was it. The Islanders simply took over this game. They tied it on a power play late in the first, and tied it rather easily based on the defending the Canucks were doing on that power play,

but then they downright embarrassed the Canucks in the second period. It started just moments into the second when Quinn Hughes casually and blindly threw the puck up the wall to, I think he was trying to get it to Pew Suter, but it went to, you know, the Islanders. And they took it, threw it on net, and JT Miller tipped it past Kevin Lankanen.

The problem is JT Miller is teammates with Kevin Lankanen. So that was a great start to the period. Well, guess what? It got worse. A couple of minutes later, Pierre freaking Engvall. The guy was on waivers earlier this season. Got position on Carson Soucy as his season continues to spiral and banged one into an empty net behind Lankanen.

By the end of the second period, the Canucks were trailing 3-1 and had just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 shots on goal to the Islanders, 24. This game was played in Vancouver and not in the late 70s or early 80s when the Islanders were a dynasty. Somehow, it got even worse in the third after Bo Horvat. Remember him? He used to play for the Canucks. He was their captain.

Captain Goldshirt. He went coast to coast before dishing it between Hughes and Hronik to Anders Lee for an easy one. JT Miller had a good view of that one as he coasted back. The score finished 5-2 for the easy one. JT Miller had a good view of that one as he coasted back. The score finished 5-2 for the Islanders. And look, the Canucks lost to the Devils 6-0 a couple of weeks ago. The score last night was closer, but from a process perspective, this one was worse. I gotta think it was the worst game they've played during Rick Tockett's time here. The Canucks didn't even

blink when Quinn Hughes, their captain and best player, got rocked by what was it, Max Siplykov? Late in the first. It was a clean hit, so maybe if they'd play well, we wouldn't care. But they played awful, so we do. Where was the response? The Canucks are now

2-3 and three at Rogers Arena their last three home games have been blowout losses they have been a very confusing team this season so if you're wondering about the level of frustration right now a good gauge is how Jason Brough just broke it down with the sense and the urgency in his voice and the confusion at the end they're very confusing team right now. That's a frustration. That usually leads to frustration. Confusion leads to frustration. I'm going to play a handful of clips from the head coach, Rick Talkett,

following last night's game. Some described it as fiery. Some described it as a frustrated guy. I'd go with the latter. Here's Rick Talkett right off the hop. Before anyone has a chance to ask a question of rick talkett rick talkett lays down the law and says here's what the questions are going to be about more specifically what the questions aren't going to be about let me start i'm not gonna don't ask

me what individual players today okay no offense i gotta apologize the fans we're not playing good enough at home it's on me. Guys played light tonight. I thought we were ready to go. We weren't. It's on me. I got to get this team to play harder in the first period. Spurts here and there, but not enough from a lot of guys. So got to go practice tomorrow and go right back to the drawing board.

So that's really what it is. So don't ask me about individual players. I'm not going to answer that. You guys saw it. So thanks. It was a good move by the head coach, in all honesty, because I think if you asked about any individual player last night, he would have had nothing positive to say.

Maybe Kevin Lankanen. Maybe Kevin Lankanen. Maybe Jonathan Leckermack, because he scored his first ever NHL goal. But that was a collective fail from everybody that was on the ice for the Vancouver Canucks last night. And the head coach knew it. Now, playing light, playing light came up an awful lot. Unprompted, I might add. Rick Talkett was bringing it up all on his own.

Very frustrated by the lack of heaviness that the Canucks had, and especially at home. The head coach was very cognizant to point out two things last night. One, his team hasn't been playing well and most distressingly, has not been playing well in front of the ticket-buying public. Here's Rick Talkett now on his guys playing too light at home. I don't know. I have no idea. That's the answer I got to do.

We have to change pregame skates. We got to do something different because we cannot play light. We're too light of a team. You cannot guess where the puck goes. You don't have to kill people. You don't have to ram guys to the boards, even though every once in a while I wouldn't mind it. I'd rather a guy just stay in front of a guy. That's your man.

We're just spinning off people. There's too many goal-like scramble goals. It's just a, you know, it's got to stop. So that's really what it comes down to. It's a bizarre team right now through, and we're in November 15th.

So we're six weeks into the season. We got to see all of October and what it brings and the first half of November. And the team has played well enough in particular games to make you think they're not a tire fire. But there have been, like you said, this is the worst game of the Rick Tockett era. And I'd say, yeah.

And there's been a couple other candidates this year. 6-0 to New Jersey was right up there. If I may ask, why do you hate this one more than the Jersey loss? Why do I hate this one more? The shot totals. Shot totals, yeah. I know, five shots through two periods. I can't even believe that's sad.

They were just dreadful last night. The New Jersey one, also I think New Jersey's a better team. They had some skill. Seelov's was in goal. That's fair, yeah. Last night was, you know, Dakota Joshua is returning to the lineup. Lekker Mackey scores his first NHL goal of his career early on, and then they just stopped playing.

I don't know how he only managed two shots against the Islanders. I also think that it's worse because it followed two really poor home games. Now, I know they beat Calgary the other day at home, so it wasn't like consecutive, but they lost 6-0 to the New Jersey Devils a couple weeks ago. When was the loss to the Oilers? It was on Saturday. Correct.

That was 7-3 at home, and the Oilers were by far the better team. That was a disappointing effort that the Canucks had on prime time, everyone watching. The Canucks also blew a 4-1 lead at home to the Calgary Flames at the opener. That's right. Forgot about that. 6-5.

So this has all been piling up. So it's always, you know, if you ask me why it was worse than the New Jersey game, it's like, that's why. Because the Canucks are clearly not getting the message that they need to come out stronger. I mean, this went up 1-0 last night, but the first periods have been pretty dreadful. Last season, the Canucks only lost five games in regulation

at Rogers Arena. They've already lost three in regulation at Rogers Arena, and all three of them were kind of embarrassing losses. It's not even remotely close to the fortress that it was last year. I ran the numbers, and by that I mean I added up goals against. Some real advanced math here on the Halford & Brough Show. Through the first eight games last year, when they got off to that great start, the Vancouver Canucks had two shutouts at home

and 16 total combined goals allowed through eight games. Through the first eight games at home this year, they're 2-3-3, and they've allowed 34 goals. They've allowed double the amount of goals at home. You've got to understand how big a change that is for a team that a lot of last season was predicated on the fact, the hashtag, hashtag the start and how good it was especially at home they had that shut out against the blues there was a very

comprehensive victory at home to start last year they had another one against dallas where they slammed the door shut and didn't allow anything and played defensively responsibly as a team not just thatcher demko and net it's jarring because they have had some really good performances on the road this year. That win over the Kings at the end of the California trip was a good performance on the road. The win in Florida earlier in the season in overtime was a good performance on the road. So you know that they have the capabilities to go out and do the things that they need to do. It would be more concerning for me if they look like this consistently these aberrations though and when the coach says like i don't know what's going

on we might need to change a pre-game skate that raises my concern because at least publicly it sounds like a guy that doesn't have the feel for his team at this given moment it was a dreadful night for the Canucks defense in terms of protecting the front of their net uh in terms of I mean Quinn Hughes at the beginning of the the second period it's the face-off to start the period the the Islanders won the face off and they dumped it in and quinn hughes goes back with not much pressure on him and just kind of like flips it up the wall and i guess he assumed that pew suitor would be there but you know suitor's not the fastest guy out there apparently and he wasn't in his spot at all and hughes just ended up flipping it right to the Islanders. And, you know, it was a tough night for Quinn Hughes. And I would also say Philip Hronik on the Anders do, but it wasn't taking a man because Horvat just kind of flipped the puck between them, not flipped, just slid the puck between them.

And Anders Lee is like, thanks, I'm wide open now. And you also have the ongoing struggles of the Soucy-Myers pair. And I would say almost especially Carson Soucy. And it's just because, you know because last season he was so solid. He missed a bunch of games through injury, but when he was out there, I don't remember anyone really complaining about him. He did his job.

He was just solid. He wasn't flashy or anything, but he did his job. He was good defending the rush. He was a good player for the Canucks. I don't know what's happening this year, but if I'm the coaching staff, I'm at least having a conversation about maybe we're going to switch up these pairs

because Hughes and Hronik have been together the entire season and pretty much the entire time that Hronik has been in Vancouver. And Soucy and Myers have been together the entire season and it's not looking good and I realize that long term it's probably going to be best for Hughes and Hronik to be together but I was kind of feeling last night I was like you know what maybe Hronik because someone texted in yesterday actually and was like are you concerned about how Hronik's playing and at the time I was

like yeah I don't know that pair has been pretty good but then all it took was one game I'm like maybe this guy should go on another pair and like show that he's worth the money that they gave him because you know like with the way that the the Canucks defense looks right now like I think it needs a shakeup. And I know I've heard a lot of people that are like, well, bump up Brandstrom to the second pair. I'm like, ah, okay. Let's not, maybe, but I don't know.

I think you need the guys that the Canucks are paying, the guys that the Canucks have put their trust in to just do a better job. And, you know, Hronick has never really had to prove that he could carry a pair. And I think it would be a wake-up call for the Canucks and Hronick himself if you're like, hey, man, you're playing with Susie now. You're the second pair. Look at your paycheck. Go out and get this job done.

Okay. I'm glad you bring this up because there was another, the final of the three clips, Laddie, where Rick Talkett at the end, I think this was more of a I don't want to pile on the players too much, so I'll shoulder some of the responsibility himself. But the end of this clip is interesting because he says that he got outcoached by Patrick Waugh last night.

Here's Rick Tockett following a very disappointing 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday night at Rogers Arena. Didn't move our feet. We talked about hitting the weak side. We didn't. We were jamming pucks. Fours were skating backwards instead of knifing through.

It's not the defense of the forwards. It's a collection of five. I give Nylas credit. They played a great, well-coached team tonight. Patrick coached me tonight. Here's something that I think is worth exploring.

Brock Besser gets hit by Tanner Janot in the L.A. game. There's's no response we chalk it up to the guys on the ice and the circumstances in the situation uh quinn hughes gets hit last night by siplikov there's no reaction we maybe shrug it off because it's a clean hit there's no penalty on the play and we move along even though that doesn't seem to be the case for a lot of other players and teams and organizations in the NHL. Dakota Joshua makes an emotional return

from testicular cancer to play in his NHL debut, or sorry, his season debut, and Jonathan Lechramacki, the team's prized rookie, scores his first ever NHL goal. All of these things have happened in the last week. They all kind of point to a team that doesn't really have the jam or the lift or the push

or the hardness or whatever talk it's speaking of in all these different terms. It doesn't seem like any of this gets a rise out of the guys right now, which is very concerning. We've had people text in over the last few weeks. It's like at the this gets a rise out of the guys right now which is very concerning we've had people text in over the last few weeks it's like at the end of a blowout at home in front of your home fans how are you not sending some sort of message and i'm like well sometimes you take your lumps and you go home and you regroup and you play the next game after the fourth or third

or fourth blowout where you're getting your head kicked in. I know it sounds barbaric and maybe archaic, but you know, people do want to see some notion that you're not happy with the way things are going, some notion. And I don't know if all of these things are connected. I don't know if no response to Brock Besser getting a cheap shot from Tanner's,

you know, is related to having a listless game against the aisles, but talk. It seems as though he's very confused as to how to push the buttons for this team. I think that's what he's talking about when he's talking about coaching. Like, I need to get these guys ready. I need to do something different. It's not X's and O's. He's not talking about X's and O's.

I think he's having a hard time figuring out what buttons to push. And maybe most concerningly, if there is a button that he can push, because I think some of this has to come from the players themselves. You saw DeJarne try. He tried. He got into a scrap with Matt Martin, and then Martin pulled his jersey over his head, and that

was the end of that. Does the team lack heart? I don't do that. I don't do that. Intangible, but you know what I'm saying? that I don't do that Intangible but I mean you know what I'm saying The motivation isn't there From all these things that you just listed Like you think the team should be able to get up

For all of these things And they don't They're not embracing hard Call it whatever you will But do you remember talking at the beginning of the season If you think last season was hard Now it gets harder. Yeah.

They haven't really been able to scrap their way to that next level. They haven't been able to work their way to that next level. I think they're going to work today. They're going to practice out at UBC at noon. And Tauket said, this is going to be a hard practice. And there is some risk in that for Rick Talkett because they played last night, practice today,

game Saturday at home against Chicago game Sunday at home against Nashville. I think Talkett at this point is like, I don't care if you're tired, like we're working. Well, he's got to try something different. So if the idea was traditionally, we're going to give him the day off. The different thing would be make them work. Like, we're working. Well, he's got to try something different. So if the idea was traditionally we're going to give him the day off,

the different thing would be make him work. Look, we're not saying that the season is torpedoed. We're not going blatant overreaction. Yet last night in a vacuum was bad. The issue is so too was the Edmonton game and so too was the New Jersey game. And what all three of those have in common, they were on home ice.

So you're seeing a trend and Rick Tockett sees it too. And that's why he addressed it the way that he did following the game yesterday. Did the team lack heart? Something was lacking. Let's call it heart. No hustle either, Skip. That's right, Darren.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. To the phone lines we go. Rick Dollywall joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. To the phone lines we go. Rick Dollywall joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Ricky D? Halford, it's 8.03. What's going on? You're the bus driver. You're the guy,

the lead guy, the veteran guy, wily veteran, coming in at 8.04. I had to let Jason Brough cook in the previous segment because he had a passionate, passionate rant. I had Moj on the 8.04. I had to let Jason Brough cook in the previous segment because he had a passionate, passionate rant. I had Moj on the ropes. Yeah.

Slugging him left and right. Moj took a standing eight, and then he wasn't done. He kept throwing shots after the bell, and it went all the way to about 8.50 or 7.57. I had to let him go, Rick. I had to let him cook. He was doing good stuff there. Rick Dollywall got some of my

Randy Ambrosia heat last night on text, yeah. If you want to start there, I will, because if you guys are going to say the CFL is dying, you're going to get into a big argument with me, because it's Grey Cup week. They've sold 50,000

tickets. Don't tell me it's dying. Go to Ticketmaster right now and look at all the empty seats. Are you okay? Because the lines aren't in it and people are off selling their tickets. I get it. No, no. These are unsold tickets. Not resale market. Listen to me.

CFL has been around 100 years. It's not going anywhere. It has its ups and downs. It has good years followed by bad years. They're getting a hell of a lot of money from their TSN contract that helps pay a lot of their problems. Yes, some cities are doing well. Some cities are not doing well. I'll give you that broth, but go tell me there's not NHL problem cities in the NHL. Yeah, there's some cities that are struggling.

Every league's got good teams, bad teams, good management, bad management, good ownership. The CFL, look, what's the first word in the Canadian football league? It's Canadian. Okay, show some national pride. The Grey Cup national party's here. I've covered many Grey Cups all over Canada. It's a, okay? Show some national pride. The Great Cup national party's here. I've covered many Great Cups all over Canada. It's a great party. It's going to deliver the biggest numbers the TSN ever sees in a year this coming Sunday.

There's going to be close to three, three and a half million. Sometimes it gets over four. And you know what, Jason? You guys are an all-sports station. And you guys do a good job, actually, of covering the lines on that station. You guys have had Campbell on, McAvoy, Adams. Think about if the BC Lions left the Lower Mainland. They've had such a proud history. Think about what would happen. You're going to be one less. You won't be talking to the coach and GM and the players. I mean, all sports radio needs teams like the BC Lions in Canada, because guess what?

Otherwise, it's hockey 24-7, and you'll drive your listeners nuts. Dolly, why do you think I'm talking about this? Why do you think I'm talking about this? It's not because I'm picking on the CFL. It's because I'm worried about the CFL. Yeah. And Dave, do you remember, and I'm going to go back, when the Sports Illustrated had a picture of the Argos, this is probably at CNE Stadium, and it was on the front page of Sports Illustrated. The CFL is dying and they had a bunch of birds. There was no fans in the stands.

It was on the front page. The CFL's always had good times, bad times. It's always going to have good times, bad times. But right now in British Columbia, they have a good owner who's kind of created a buzz, Jason. He's done a good job. And, you know, I don't know about your text line, but when Donnie and I started the show, we didn't have many texts about the BC lines in years one or two. But as soon as Rourke came, the new owner came, you know what?

We started getting, when people care and they text, I know you guys get a lot of texts as well about the Lions. That shows me people care. The TV ratings for the Lions in the lower mainland, I'm going to tell you, are pretty strong, and they're a whole lot better than the Whitecaps ratings on television. You can take that to the bank. You know, they're way better.

Lions do really well on television. You can take that to the bank. You're way better. Lions do really well on television. It's just getting people off their seats at home and getting them to the stadium. That's always been, it's always been, Jason, the toughest thing. And now you got Netflix, you got these

cell phones. It is tough to get people to leave. And in the summer it's barbecues, it's the lake, it's this. I'm giving you reasons why people aren't going to BC Place for the Lions games. I'm telling you why they're not. It's a tough time to get people to leave your house and go pay

for $50 for parking, which is ridiculous. The fan experience is getting very expensive, and people are getting fed up. But I think the CFL is going to be fine. I don't see them going anywhere. But I understand your point. Let's talk about the Canucks game last night because I don't know if you'll agree or disagree or just yell at me,

but I think that was the worst game of the Rick Tockett era here. Yeah, it was not good. Six shots after two periods. You're on home ice. You're against a 500-team riddle with injuries, and the schedule's been easy. They've had tons of days off. They've had a ton of practice time, which Talkett loves.

They didn't even face the Islanders' number one goaltender, and nobody saw that effort coming. No excuses. Anyone that makes an excuse for these guys is out to lunch. Here's something I like about Talkett last night. He apologized to the fans, and he he was out-coached by Patrick Waugh. When coaches say they've been out-coached,

they don't say that lightly. I remember Canucks were in Toronto. Mike Babcock said that Travis Green out-coached him. I remember once Don Matthews said Joe Pau-Pau out-coached him. They mean that. That's just not for show. That's showing respect to the opposition

coach. You don't say that every day. And I admire Tocantin going out of his way to say, you know what? I'm part of the blame last night. You love his honesty, but there's some alarming trends with this hockey team. After 15 games last year, the Canucks had 65

goals and 34 goals against. 15 games last year, the Canucks had 65 goals and 34 goals against. 15 games this year, they've scored 18 fewer goals, and they've allowed 15 more goals. I don't know what to say about the home record. It's 2-3-3. I know they're 6-1 on the road. Last year, for the first time in a long time, the Canucks were a tough building to play in.

They were 27-9-5 at home last year. For the first time in a long time, teams were saying, geez, I don't want to go to Vancouver. Not this year. Where's the compete, the care level in front of fans who pay a ton of money to watch you? The Canucks' blue line had a total of five hits last night. There was a game against the Oilers in the playoffs last year. That blue line had 19 hits. Three of the Islanders goals

last night, right in front of Lankanen. Susie Myers leaving Islanders unchecked on two. Hughes and Heronic on the third. Cockett won't like that. He's all about boxing out and protecting the middle of the ice. Three last night, four against Edmonton, right in front of the net. I mean, he says he's going to have a hard practice today. Boy, is he ever. And here's another one for you. I know everyone in town is bitching about the blue line, but I'll tell you something. It won't be easy to fix it. Prices are high right now in the market. Nobody wants to help you. You have to trade for players who don't play for the Penguins. You know, all the time it's Penguins. We're after

Penguins. You got to go trade for other players as well. You know, and I'm going to bring up another Penguin. And the Canucks are very well aware that Marcus Patterson is available in Pittsburgh. But guess what? The price is high. And if you get him, you're going to have to push a defenseman to the third pair that's making $3 or $3.5 million. So then you're going to have $5 million tied up in the third pair. That's not ideal as well. So it's not a quick fix. It's not a fix that's going to be made tonight at midnight or in the morning at 9 o'clock.

And I want to get this in. The Canucks schedule, very easy to this date. They have played a ton of non-playoff teams. Two more weak teams this weekend. They need to start collecting those points because they're going to get a heavy dose of Vegas, Edmonton, Dallas, and Winnipeg in the second half of the year. The Canucks to this date have not played four of the top five teams in the Western Conference yet. They haven't even played Colorado, who are eighth, and are getting healthy, and they're getting the Russian back this weekend. So get those points now, because the schedule

is going to get really, really tough in the second half. Any updates on Brock Besser? It's tough. Just like Demko, it's tough. I will say this. It was really good to see Besser at the rink at the game day skate yesterday. It was eight days ago today he took that cheap headshot from Tanner Janot. This is all brutal timing for Besser. He was leading the team in goals. It's contract year.

The U.S. team at the Four Nations was watching him closely. They were keeping an eye on him. Besser was always a bubble player for the Americans. He would have really had to have big numbers to get on that team. The team is going to be named in a couple of weeks, and Besser's obviously out for a while. No one has a timeline for Besser. It's going to be very tough for him to make that American team. It's not going to happen. The Canucks have to be prepared for everything.

If Besser is out long-term, they're going to have to get in the market for a top six forward if they get an inkling that Besser is going to be out. Now, I will say this to you, Jason. Predicting head injuries is very, very hard. Nobody in the Canucks organization thought Tucker Pullman was going to be a career-threatening injury. And I'm going to tell you this, too.

With Pullman, he was dealing with a lot of whiplash issues. It wasn't the head, the concussion. It was a lot of whiplash issues that were causing Pullman the issues that he still to this day, sadly, is putting up with. So hard to put a timeframe on concussion injuries. So I will say this to you. You're just hoping and praying for Besser to get a little bit better every day. What about the BC? I know we got into the CFL, but I know you were reporting some of the changes that might occur for the BC Lions.

They're obviously not going to announce them before the Grey Cup, but next week I guess we could have some announcements. My very good friend, Julio Caravetta, dropped some bombs yesterday. Boy, did he ever. Caravetta says there will be major changes announced with the BC Lions next week, which makes sense.

Guys, you can't... Remember, you know the Stanley Cup Finals week and Batman tells all teams, don't fire coaches, don't sign anyone, blah, the Stanley cup finals week and Batman tells all teams, don't, don't, don't fire coaches. Don't sign anyone, blah, blah,

blah. Same thing. Teams are being told at the great cup. We don't make news with signings or firings. So it would be crazy. If owner, Amar Dolman state status quo consumer confidence is low with the lions. They've lost,

they lost nine of their past 14 games. When the changes are announced next week, and they will be, this team is going to have to get to work. I do not think GM Neil McEvoy is going anywhere. He may have different help with the GM title, but he's not, what I've been told, not going anywhere. After the changes, the number one job is going to be to hit a home run with the Vernon Adams trade. They got to get some nastiness on the lines of scrimmage, both the O-line and the D-line. They don't have enough of that right now.

Coaching changes are coming 100%. Will Rick Campbell be gone? No one can get confirmation on his future. I talked to a lot of people last night. No one knows if Campbell be gone? No one can get confirmation on his future. I talked to a lot of people last night. No one knows if Campbell is gone. Dolman is keeping that very, very, very close to his vest. Can you sell him in the market? Already rumors that Campbell might end up in Edmonton.

That's where his father, Hugh, led the Eskimos to five great cup titles. Warren Moon in the 80s. Man, I hated those Eskimo teams. They would come out to Empire Stadium, sold out every time they came to town. Man, just like you hated the Oilers and all their Stanley Cups, you hated the Eskimos

and all the great cups in the 80s. We had a lot of texts from listeners since the Lions have been gone. We will not renew season tickets if Campbell is back. You want the attention of the owner? Cancel season tickets in a league where they are crucial and vital. David Braley in his best years in British Columbia with the Lions

had the season ticket base to 22,000 to 24,000. Lions are nowhere near that. I don't even know if they're at 10,000. Dolman's got a lot of time to think. Since the season ended, he did everything right. He spent over the cap. He brought back. Nathan Rourke paid him a ton of time to think since the season ended he did everything right he spent over the cap he brought back Nathan Rourke paid him a ton of money he did everything now he's got to make the right moves again starting next week Dolly always a pleasure chatting with you enjoy the gray cup

this weekend enjoy two Canucks games one against the Blackhawks On Saturday Conor Bedard And then And then Sunday Against the Nashville Predators I think it's going to be A very interesting practice today As well out at UBC For the Vancouver Canucks Enjoy it all Dolly

Thanks for joining us Alright guys later See you buddy There it is Rick Dollywall Canucks reporter here On the Halford & Brough show On Sportsnet 650.

So tonight, the Vancouver Giants, in conjunction with the Langley Events Centre and White Spot, are going to hold Legends of the Sin Bin. As part of this event, Marty McSorley, Archie Henderson, and Bill Goldie Goldthorpe, who is the inspiration for Ogie Oglethorpe in Slapshot, are going to take part in a pregame hot stove at the Langley Events Center. That begins at 6 o'clock. Giants game is tonight against the Blazers at 7 o'clock. So we thought, let's get Marty McSorley on the show.

And that's going to happen right now. Joining us on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. As mentioned, Marty McSorley here on the Halford & Brough Show. Morning, Marty. How are you? I'm doing great. It's nice. Actually, it's nice to be back in Vancouver under different circumstances. I was going to ask,

so is this like the first time you've been back to Vancouver doing media, appearing on Sportsnet 650, your home of the Canucks? Have you been back since the incident 24 years ago with Donald Brashear? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, the people in Vancouver, what was really, even during the trial,

so many of the people on the streets and whatever, they're like, leave him alone, right? They're like, come on, let's be real. And so the whole thing leading up to it and everything, it served a lot of masters, but the vast majority of people were really, really great to me. The vast majority of people, I know I'm a huge hockey fan. They're a hockey fan.

I enjoy going to games, partaking in conversations, and listening to the people that pay the tickets and go to the games and support the game and hear what they have to think. So what did they tell you about the incident? Well, it's so funny. I mean, once they know a little bit about it, like from a standpoint that I wasn't angry. I mean, when the linesman and I came together, I was like, listen, Mike, I said, I don't

want anybody to be hurt here. But nobody ever carried that. Or the league office saying he never hit his head on the ice. Absolutely not. And nobody sent him out to fight. He did this all on his own. All of those things just pointed to the fact that, okay, all right. That's, that's, you know, people, you know,

skirting away from it or running like rats to their holes. Let's be let's be real about it. And I felt bad, like when Todd Bertuzzi went through his situation, the media called me and I said, listen, Todd Bertuzzi didn't mean to happen what eventually happened. Like he went on the ice to do his job and don't think he wasn't put on the ice to do his job. And people I think people appreciate it. I know Todd did. It sounds like you still blame Donald Brashear and others besides yourself for the incident. No, no, no, not at all.

Here's the thing. I'm put on the ice with 22 seconds left to make Donald Brashear fight me. That's my job. Everything that led up to the fact that our goalie got hurt and put out for the rest of the season. I remember sitting on the bench. They scored an empty day, emptying that goal to make it 5-2. And I'm like, oh my God, why are they putting Donald Brashear back on the ice? Why would Mark Crawford do it? He turned to our bench and smiled. And so it forced Pat Burns. He ran down the bench and said, get him on the ice why would mark cropper do it he turned to our bench and smiled that and so it it forced pat burns he ran down the bench and said get him on the ice get him on the ice me at the same time

i don't know if people know this like what happened that when when i when i gave donald brashier a whack for him to turn around and fight me and stand up for. He, if I would have waited until after the buzzer, I'd have got a 10-game suspension. Well, you got a bigger suspension because you whacked him in the head. No, did you? I mean, if you watch it, if you go in the video, which the court threw out, wouldn't accept, the stick hit him on the shoulder.

He turned hard to his right. His shoulders were at a, you know, his right shoulder dipped really far down to the right. The stick hit him on the shoulder. You could see his jersey gather up. The part that hit him in the side of the cheek was a foot and a half up from my blade. I didn't come up over the top. I came up from my waist to whack him in the body. And there's guys sitting on their

bench it happened in front of their bench that are sitting there yelling and screaming it all happened so fast i never had any intention to hit him in the head and we had a gentleman a expert in biomechanics that they wouldn't let him testify and they said he was no way an expert. Yeah, well, the judge disagreed with your assertion that you were aiming at his shoulder and the judge said Brashear was struck as intended. So what were you aiming at? I was just whacking him in the body to get him to turn around and fight.

I was hoping he would turn around and fight. He wouldn't. He didn't. I'm running out of time like i had the puck behind the net i don't know if you remember this i had the puck behind the net and i'm holding the puck donald versheer comes in front of our net smiles and turns and starts getting the other way didn't even come into the puck like i held the puck waiting for him to come to me now i gotta go after him because i'm put on the ice to do that job like i said our goalie got hurt by donald brashier for the rest of the year he was challenging

our bench our coach was losing his mind and i remember saying to our guys in the bench just relax calm down um like we we were we were down, one, I assisted on a goal of eight, eight minutes left in the game to try to get us back in the game. And then all of a sudden they score an infinite goal. They put Donald Brashear on the ice. They jerked me off the bench, put me out in a position I don't play. And now I've got to get Donald Brashear to stop, turn around and fight me before the buzzer rings.

Um, it sounds like you fight me before the buzzer rings. It sounds like you've gone through the explanation process a number of times and that you've got a lot of this committed to memory. How much pushback do you get from people when you take this particular tact in explaining and defending the actions of that night? See, no, I really don't. I mean, this is the first time in a long time that anybody's ever brought up. Do you know that so many of the tough guys

went up to Donald Brashear after the incident and said, don't be such a coward? Because from their standpoint, if Donald Brashear would have said, it's part of the game, it happens on the ice, we'll look after it on the ice, never would have gone to court. They'd have had to thrown it out. So what kind of a reaction do you think you're going to get from the Vancouver Giants crowd tonight?

Oh, listen, I mean, the fans, the hockey fans are great. They really are. I can tell you where the pushback is. A, not unlike anybody who's maybe sued the NHL or different things, any time that anything happens where the NHL wants to distance themselves, it's hard for those people to be accepted back into the game, which I get. And I can give you a plethora of instances that nobody really wants to talk about where players don't get job offers, interviews, all the rest. We know that and that's okay. But the public are awesome. They really are.

The media sometimes are really funny because they push a point, right? You got to remember at the time there was nothing else in sports going on. So it became such a media blitz. I remember being really surprised by the amount of media on it. There was the NFL was done. Spring training hadn't started. There was no conference basketball championships at that time. They hadn't started doing them yet. There was nothing else going on in sports. And I remember, wow, I said, I see what they're trying to do. I'm not sure they picked the right instance. So I'm not, in a sense, defending whatever. I just tell them the truth. And if people accept it, they accept it.

If they don't, they don't. That's okay. I'm a big boy. Did I like what happened? No. Did I intend what happened? No. Have you spoken to Donald?

Sorry. Steve Hines. Steve Hines, my teammate. He was like, big boy. He goes, I really feel bad for you. He goes, I knew why you went on the ice. I knew what you were trying to do. He was sitting on our bench.

He knew everything. He goes, this is a joke. And that was one of my teammates, right? And now, I mean, one of your teammates is going to support you, but Steve Hines is a pretty honest guy. So I'm comfortable with it. I rarely ever have to defend it, the hockey public. I do a ton of events all across Canada.

I do a ton of events where we put helicopter pads into towns. We put MRI machines, CAT scan machines. I go into these towns all through Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Maritimes, and I really enjoy it. And the people are honest. They're very matter-of-fact, and they're wonderful. Have you spoken to Donald Brashear at any point over the last 24 years? No, no. If you were to speak to Donald Brashear, what would you say to him?

It would be different than if, like, Sandy McCarthy and I had a number of fights, Proby and I had a number of fights and I saw those guys like Clark Gillies and Dave Semenko before us did their job. And guys like Gina Wojcik did his job with class. A tough job. A very tough job with class. Not sure. Not so sure about the other one. If you could go back to February 21st, 2000, what would you do differently?

I would have cross-checked him and made him turn around and fight me. But I couldn't get to him. Because that was my job. Well, Marty... It was interesting. It was interesting. My hands were a foot and a half apart. I mean, you can go back and look at how many other guys come up over the top with their hands together.

Mine weren't. It didn't break the skin, didn't break his cheek. In the league to say his head didn't hit off the ice. I mean, all of those things, you're just like, really? Let's put all the facts into a jar and everybody look at it rather than not. Like, we couldn't even get the video of it. My defense team.

I think I might know the answer to this, but I want to hear you explain it anyway. How much has this affected your life over the last two plus decades? No, no, no. I mean, like, trust me, I'm going to be honest with you. People in the media make it a big deal because for them, that's what they want to talk about. And I kind of laugh and shrug my shoulders and say, fine, have your fun. Look at it honestly though.

My only thing is if you look at it honestly, and then you come back and say, well, we don't believe you, but at least believe the facts. Right. And if you believe, if you look at the facts and then come back and go okay right and i mean it's it's a tough job done by at that time by a lot of players put into really difficult positions night in and night out um and you know here's the question how many tough guys real like real tough guys when when they retired, were they celebrated? Very, very few. I'm looking at the video right now, Marty, and it's like, I don't... Hey, listen, I got a question for you.

Is this an interview about the Donald Brashear incident, or are we going to talk about the Vancouver Giants, why I'm here? I mean, why do you think you're here i mean this is the promotion for the game and i think it's going to be a very interesting reception for you tonight i'm here i'm here supporting 16 7 18 and 19 year old kids with a really great organization that's developing kids getting them ready for the nhl i'm going to go in their locker room and shake their hands and say good luck and tell them don't miss an opportunity to get out there and challenge yourself. You know, go out there and play.

Talk about the fact that I wasn't drafted to either junior or the NHL, but I had to fight my way in there. And I went out the same way I went in. That's why I'm here. I'm here with Archie Henderson and Bill Goldie, and these guys, they did a really, really hard job for years. And if truth be told, some of the things that have happened to so many of the tough guys, if it was ever publicized,

I think people would go, oh, my God, right? But it was just we looked after it on the ice. And so that's not why I'm here. I'm not here. Now, when I go into lively Saskatchewan or Shawnaven or Fort McMurray, do people want to talk about fights? Yeah, they absolutely do. They want to talk about my time with Wayne Gretzky? Yes, they do. They want to get my take on who's better, you know, Mario Wayne or, you know, playing with Mark Messier or Ray Bork or all those guys are playing against Gila Fleur

or playing in the first outdoor game ever in Edmonton. That stuff comes up. It's the media. Well, let's kind of recontextualize that because you are here is something called Legends of the sin bin. And in the release it's penalty box hero, Marty McSorley.

I don't think it's in any way, shape or form out of line to ask a question about one of the most infamous penalties in NHL history. But I don't want to dwell. We don't want to dwell on it. Right? No, but we're mostly diving into it because I didn't realize that you hadn't

spoken about it that much. So we're just trying to talk about it as well. To be perfectly honest, when we were looking it up last night and doing research for the interview, there wasn't an awful lot of anecdotal stuff from you or Brashear in the aftermath. So this is a sort of first time element for a lot of us. A lot of the comments that I made and things that happened were never really put in. Right? They just, I'm like, okay, where is this?

I'll give you, for instance, a week and a half, 10 days after the incident, like did they ever say Donald Brashear has a broken jaw? Like what happened was they said, oh my God, he two-handed him over the head. Well, it come up off his shoulder and hit him in the side of the cheek. He went down, hit his head on the ice. He got a concussion. Not anything anybody wants to see, not something that I wanted to happen. And those are the actual facts. Whether you think I did it on purpose or not, anybody can have their own opinion. But for people to say

two-handed him up over the head, that's not true. At the same time, did he break his cheekbone? No. Did he get stitches? No. Did the stick break? No. Did he hit his head on the ice?

Yes. The league said, well, we're going to now make a new chin strap rule that chin strap has to be an inch and a half from the chin so that the helmets don't come off. They made no reference to Donald Brashear's helmet. And that's the reason why they put the rule in. The next September, Paul Correa got a match penalty for attempt to injure in an exhibition game, and the comment from the league office is,

don't worry about Paul Correa. What Marty McSorley did is the worst thing in NHL history. I'm like, really? To me, that's comical. Well, Marty, we do want to thank you for taking the time to do this today. If it didn't go in the direction that you thought it was going to, I apologize, but I feel like everything that

we asked was more than fair game and within the bounds of what's going on. Listen, I'm not shy about you asking about it, but let's focus on the Vancouver Giants. Let's focus on the fact that these kids are people coming out to the game.

The building I was in is a beautiful building. The team is developing NHL players. It's a great place for these kids to come and play, for families to let their 16-year-old boys go and try to follow their dreams. That's where I think the focus should be. Well, with that, I'll close by saying that you will be there tonight

at the Langley Events Centre. The pregame hot stove begins at 6 o'clock. If anybody wants to attend, go to the Vancouver Giants website, find out more. It's Legends of the Sin Bin Friday with Marty McSorley, Archie Henderson, and Bill Goldthorpe. Marty, thanks for doing this today. We do appreciate it.

Okay. All right. Marty McSorley here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Do you remember when I said I was worried about this interview because I saw some stuff where he didn't really accept responsibility for what happened in the incident? Yep. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough.