Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 4/29/26

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the latest news around the Canucks GM search, plus they chat with analyst Randip Janda about his memories of working with the late John Garrett.  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. On behind his net, got it to the blue line, and Newtown Hopkins kept it in, tipped on goals. Hampaswin, Holmes got Passenac going long, steps in, and on the side of the head if something happens here. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brother of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're open seven days a week and they're open late to help you get debt free.

But no judgment or upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Banker's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studios.

Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. If you want to text into the show, the Dunbar-Lumber text line is 650, 650 trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations. Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber online today. Let's go now to the Duick Morning Drive. It's our morning guest list. Brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 630. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host, is going to join the program.

Big night last night in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Bruins stay alive with an OT win in Buffalo. Minnesota takes a 3-2 series lead in Dallas, and the Oilers staved off elimination with a home victory over Anaheim. David is going to join us to break it all down at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus, three more games tonight, Habs Lightning, Utah, Vegas, and another potential final. game in the Flyers Penguin series. We can also check in with Frank on the still ongoing GM searches in Toronto, Nashville,

and of course, right here in Vancouver. We've got some free Jodio on that note as well. Frank is going to join us at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Paul Tenorio, senior soccer writer for the athletic. Paul was supposed to join us yesterday. He'll join us today. On Monday, Paul broke the news that a committee of MLS owners met to discuss the white caps and potential relocation to Vegas.

That's set off a firestorm of conversations locally. We've got a lot to say and ask about this situation. Hopefully we'll get some answers from Paul this morning at 7.30. And then at 8 o'clock, Randeeb Jand is going to join the program. Canucks Analysts for SportsNet 650. Talk about Cheech and his lasting legacy and some memories that Randeep had of John Garrett, who, as many of you now know, passed away on Monday at the age of 74. Randeep's going to join us at 8 o'clock to share some of his memories of Cheech.

That's the show. That's what we're doing today. No need to work it in reverse. So without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that?

What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCCSA.ca.ca. We're going to start with the latest and hottest audio that we've received. This is from the latest 32 thoughts podcast, Elliot Friedman, Kyle Bukas, talking about the latest news from the Vancouver Canucks GM search. Couple new interesting names appear in this clip. So pay close attention.

Here's Fridge from the latest 32 thoughts on the Vancouver GM search. I think they're going to start to call their list a little bit here. So who do we know? Shane Dohn been reported. Kevin Adams has been reported. Ryan Johnson been reported. Ray Whitney's been reported. Bill Scott, Rick Bonus.

Or sorry, Ryan Bonus, not Rick Bonus. That would be quite a story. I believe they also interviewed Patrick Burke from the NHL. I have to tell you, it is an enormous compliment to Patrick that he got interviewed by the Canucks, considering that the relationship between Brian and the Canucks has not always been smooth. Those waters have been rough at times. So when I actually heard about this, I was surprised and impressed that he would get that interview. But they did interview him, I heard.

There's three other names I haven't been able to confirm at this time, so I'm keeping quiet about them. I believe they had some interest in Tom Fitzgerald, but Fitzgerald, I believe his true interest is in the Nashville job. So I'm not, I don't know that that went anywhere. I'm not really sure. I did have a couple of people who said they heard the Canucks had express some interest in speaking to Scott Niedermeyer, who works for Anaheim and is, of course, a BC guy.

I am told that they never asked for permission. So I don't know if it was one of those, like, maybe we'll consider this. Maybe we'd be interested in something like this. And I don't think Scott Niedermeyer would be, you know, I've had a couple of people tell me that Niedermeier kind of likes his life where he can dart in and out and be a family man as much as he wants to be or his other interests in life. But I did have a couple different people who told me they heard that Konaughey.

had interest in Niedermeyer, all I can say is that they never officially asked the Ducks for permission so that it was either incorrect or it just didn't go to that point. So, you know, we'll see. I think they're calling the herd a bit here and we'll see where it goes. Apparently, in some of these Zooms, the Koducks had like five people talking to the one candidate. They were busy. all right let's unpack some of this here Patrick Burke a guy we actually know a little bit from our times on the road with he's a good guy

yep he is been in hockey for an awfully long time going all the way back to I think 2007-08 when he first broke in as a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers I'm a little surprised to hear his name though likewise but I guess they are again casting a very wide net and talking to as many people as possible

are one of you guys going to get interviews soon do you think I don't think so. Probably not. No. I don't think so. No. I will say, obviously the son of Brian Burke, Patrick's had a very similar career arc to his dad and that went to law school,

broke into the national hockey. He works as I believe he's the VP of player safety. So he's working in ops and the player safety department, which is what his dad did obviously as well. So it's an interesting guy to talk to for sure. The other one that was really interesting. Now, the Connucks obviously didn't get a chance to talk to him, but expects the interest was a guy we had on the show,

a couple months ago in Scott Niedermeyer, who works as an executive for the Anaheim Ducks. And we both left that interview that he had on our show pretty impressed with how well spoken he was, his acumen, his kind of, his takeaways which were candid and bold and forthright, but not like flying off the cuff. He had some very straightforward,

it seemed like a guy who had a clear vision that he knew what he wanted to see and what he wanted to do. And they were executing, obviously, that with a very good year in Anaheim. Well, yeah, he has experienced. with the ducks and going through the rebuild. So, yeah, that was the name that I'm not surprised that they considered. But I guess for whatever reason, they didn't actually interview him.

The favorite is still just Ryan Johnson, right? It's got to be. You know? I mean... Like, they're going to go... Are they just going to go through all this? And I'm not saying they're doing it for show. I'm not saying they're not doing it for show either.

But, like, you know, who's going to stand? out more than Ryan Johnson, who's going to have a more compelling story? I don't know. Maybe one of these guys is going to come in there with a very impressive plan, a rebuild plan that everyone was blown away from and they pick him. But, you know, they got to get going calling that list pretty soon because, you know, again, the draft lottery is next week. and Drance has reported that ideally they'd have picked their guy by then.

It isn't necessary, but you know, you get chop, chop. There's a lot of things to do this offseason, and they've got to make some decisions internally too. They got to make a decision on the head coach for next season, and I imagine they're going to do that well before the draft because you don't want to, first of all, leave Adam Foote going like, hey, do you like me? you know and you also don't want to um you know stand in the way of of many mahalter if he's

not going to be with your organization as a head coach in vancouver you know i don't know if he's going to want to go back to abbott'sford for a third straight season of coaching in the hl i just don't know because he is a pretty hot commodity and uh i think he might get interest around the nchl my hope right now and this might be optimistic dare some of you say naive but i hope that this expansive, wide-ranging interview process is in part so that this organization talks to as many people as possible and gets a really good sense of how the Vancouver Canucks are viewed across the NHL. And I mean at every level, because you can't have players wanting out,

like how many players have wanted out or have left, anonymous agent polls like the one recently published by the athletic. and all of this different circumstantial evidence that points directly to Vancouver being a problem market and not explore that. Yeah, I hope they do these interviews with, you know, not in a defensive mode, which the organization has tended to strike a few times.

Backfinding mission. And almost like one of those things where when you finally break down the wall in therapy and you finally allow yourself to be properly, really analyzed. Instead of it's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's your fault. Some of it's definitely your fault. It takes ownership here. That's how this is going to work.

Okay. Let's play some more audio here. Totally different vein, but still relating to the Vancouver Canucks. I was a very emotional evening yesterday when the Sportsnet panelists returned to broadcast following the passing of John Garrett. And kudos to David Amber, who we're going to have on the show shortly. Frege, Kelly Rudy, and of course, Kevin B.XA, who all spoke passionately and emotionally and glowingly about Cheech. Yeah, so many people did.

Listening to broadcasts, I mean, Scott Oak, there's another name that had a great tribute to Cheech. And just watching a lot of hockey yesterday, all the broadcasts mentioned John Garrett had kind words. I thought Edmonton did a fantastic job of celebrating Cheech pregame. And a great video tribute as well. It was beautiful. but we'd like to play the audio from Kevin BXA yesterday because there are a few current broadcasters that were perhaps more suited or better suited

to talk about Cheech and the guy that played here and he even mentioned it in this clip like I played for 10 years in Vancouver and Cheech was on some of the biggest calls of my professional career and BX also understands that chemistry and camaraderie the threesome of Cheech, Murf and Shorty had

and he explains it all in this clip. Here now is Kevin Bexa from last. night's broadcast talking about Cheech take it away Greg yeah it was devastating news for us yesterday and really sad and but so there's so many great stories though about Cheech that we have we have to get him out he was such an unbelievable person you know self-deprecating hilarious uh passionate about hockey so I'm in my hotel room today and I start going through YouTube and I start looking at some of my favorite moments as a Vancouver Canuck and I just wonder how many of those moments did Cheech, you know, call the color for.

And I'm watching some, and it's like, oh, Cheech again, Cheech again, Cheech again. He was a part of all my biggest moments in the NHL playing for the Vancouver Canucks. And I feel very fortunate because his calls were awesome. I loved his perspective. I loved his brutal honesty, right? But that's not going to be my favorite memories of him. My favorite memories of him are going to have a Coors Light with him and Murph and Shorty at Pippins in Chicago.

Or going to Sherlock's in Edmonton to have a beer with him before dinner. or meeting them at the ARIA Hotel in Las Vegas like we did a few years ago and sitting around and shooting the breeze and telling stories and laughing and making fun of each other. And, you know, I traveled for 10 years with Cheech, and he was always on the charter, went to hotels, to rinks on the road together. And after games, when we were flying out after the game, the players would get dressed and we'd bus to the plane.

And when we walked on, Cheech, Shorty, and Murph would all be sitting ready on their seats waiting. and they'd have these red plastic cups filled to the brim with red wine, like almost overflowing, so like it was a joke. And I just remember walking by them, win or loss, and it would put me in a good mood, and I'd smile, and I'd say something to Cheech, like, I'd chirp him about, like, Lotto, like, 649 his goals against average. I'd call him Lotto, and right away he'd fire back at me.

Like, don't worry, Cadd, those four goals you're on the ice for, none of them were your fault. And I would just laugh, and I just love that camaraderie. And, you know, a week ago today, you know, Cheech and Harner Ryan are working the Vegas, Utah game, and we're doing the intermissions, and he's doing the color. And we're texting each other back and forth. The same thing. He's making fun of something I said in the intermission. I'm making fun of something he said in the color.

And I feel fortunate that that was my last interaction with Cheech because that's who he was and that's what I loved about him. So, Randeep's going to join us at 8 to share some more thoughts about Cheech. David Amber's going to join us at 630 as well, and he was on the broadcast yesterday. You know what it made me realize yesterday is that Cheech and Shorty and Murph were actually a pretty big part of that culture of the 2011 team? Like I know, you know, those guys had a pretty good relationship with AV to. And they would go in there and have a lot of laughs together. And there was a lot of laughs among that team. And Cheech was a big part of that.

And, you know, it's easier to have laughs, I think. when the team is winning and you're successful. But, you know, I think it just, you know, all this stuff reminded me not only of the great times with Cheech, but of the great times with the hockey team. And the need to get back to that. Okay, let's turn our attention now to the playoff action from last night. I do want to start in Edmonton where the Oilers facing elimination found the right time to play and find their best game of the season, or at least in these playoffs anyway.

A 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks to trim Anaheim series lead to 3-2. Let's hear what proved to be the eventual game-winning goal. And it happened early in the first period. Zach Hyman off a Lucas Dostall turnover. And we'll talk about him in a second. Here's the Hyman goal as Edmonton rolls to victory 4-1 over the ducks. Dostal to play. New Denomkin's able to pick it off.

Rearrected and stop. I wanted to mention Dostal there because the story in this series so far when it comes to goaltending has obviously been the Oilers. And by the way, they went back to Connor Ingram to start last night after starting Tristan Jari. Yeah, yeah. The previous game. He's their guy, Chris Knoblock said. He's been our guy down the stretch and he's going to be our guy in the big games. Except for the game before.

That's your guy? Well, it's not Tristan Jari. Right. Except for the game before that. And then Chris Knoblock went, not that guy. So the numbers on Lucas Dostal now, he has an 864 save percentage. Now obviously that was massively skewed last night

because he got hooked after three goals on nine shots. But very quietly, he has been one of the worst goalies statistically in the opening round of the playoffs. Now a lot of that has to do with the firepower that he's going up against. But now you look at this series and I don't know how much momentum exists in this one because it seems like it flips on its head from game to game.

Yeah. But this is, and that, and that turnover he had on the Heim and goal yesterday, you could put that entire sequence on him. It was not a good look from Dostal. They gave him one more crack at it, but after he allowed that third goal, he got the hook.

I'd be very curious to see how he bounces back. I'll be very curious to see how a young and inexperienced Anaheim team bounces back after they got pretty thoroughly outplayed yesterday. Two points. Yep. I know people have already made mention of this, but this kind of reminds me of that crazy Flyers Penguins series. Do you remember a few years ago?

2012, where it was like every game was 7-6. Mark Andre Fleury for the Penguins. And then that was the year that the... It was Brze Gallov. It was Briss Galloff? Yeah, for a bit. Was Laten there too? Lain was there, yeah.

I'll have to go back in. Let me double check everything on that one. Was it Brzgaloff or was that the year that the Flyers were convinced to go and get Brzgaloff? Anyway, they went to the Stanley Cup final in 2010. I thought it might have been in that year. But anyway, the other point that I wanted to make is that the docs do need to have a big response on Thursday at home. And is this not why you go out and get those veterans like Chris Kreider, Jacob Truba? I guess Goudis is still hurt.

But also, you know, you have a coach. like Quenville. And this is a test for this young Ducks team. I think before last night where they weren't very good at all, I actually think they've been the better team in this series.

And like I think they've, for the most part, controlled play at five on five. It's been kind of a wild series to try and get a handle on it because there have been so many goals. But, you know, last night, it was 3-0 for the Oilers

in the first period. And, you know, normally in a hockey game like that, it'd be like, okay, this one's over. I was like, I don't think I'll keep watching this. And when the Ducks did score. Yeah, McLaren scored to make it 3-1, I know everyone in that building was like, uh-oh, because the Ducks have so much firepower. Now, the Oilers did well to respond very quickly and make it 4-1 and snuff out any rally that Anaheim had.

But, you know, I think I've been very impressed with this Ducks team, really impressed, because I thought, you know, you go into the playoffs. I'm like, God, like, I think they're the worst. I think they're probably worse than L.A. in terms of the quality of their play. I knew they had lots of talent. I knew they had lots of firepower. But I also knew they were pretty dreadful defensively.

Like, almost like just not ready to perform in the playoffs. And they've proven me wrong because they've been very good. And they've showed, they've just showed a lot of fight, I thought. And I think last night, they're probably going to be pretty disappointed with that effort. I'd be surprised if they came out with a similar effort on Thursday. And this is the one they probably have to win on Thursday because you don't. And there's a couple series in the same kind of situation where you're looking at the team with the actual lead in the series. And you're going like, you guys better win game six because I'm not sure I love your chances in game seven.

A couple of things there. The Ducks are still wretched defensively. They've given up four goals in almost every game this series, except for the one where they gave up three. So it's not like they've really clamped it now, which is why Dostal's numbers are so bad. Well, he's actually got to, in the regular season, a much worse, say percentage that he had the year before.

But his goals against average stayed the same. So that would tell you they've improved defensively. Yeah. But they're allowing the same amount of goals. And I mean, the series has not been a defensive masterclass by other. Now, you mentioned the 2012 series. Yeah. And that was indeed Ilya Briss Gallop in that.

Now the two goalies for. Pittsburgh were Mark Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson. Can anyone guess who Brise Gallov's backup was who also featured prominently in that series? I looked it up so yeah. It was a young Russian netminder. Oh, Bobroski. It wasn't one for Philly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 23 year old Sergey Bobrovsky appeared in that series. Finished with like a 773 save percentage. There's some wild goaltending stories back there because I remember when the Flyers traded Babroski to Columbus. I was like, that's going to solve your problems? And it kind of did. This guy stinks. Well, I don't know.

That was the reason for that. Wrong again, brough. Ian Clark had something to say about that. Yes, that's right. Went under the tutelage of Ian Clark and became one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League. Okay, so there's your Edmonton, Anaheim story. I do want to get really quickly to, I think,

the biggest game of the night, at least in terms of the drama in which it ended. David Posternak, 914 of overtime in an elimination game on the road in Buffalo. He scores Bruins win and stay alive with a 2-1 victory. Here's what it sounds like. of Nesson. This is a fun little call as pasta ends it in overtime.

Pasta got onside, walks in, shoots, he's gone. Your pasta is served. The Boston bronze have forced this series back to Boston. Now, the last bit of that call your pasta is served isn't bad. Not bad.

Not bad. The important part of that clip was that the series now goes back to Boston because they return to the scene of the crime. And the crime was the six one lost that they suffered at home. The last time they played in Boston, you'll remember that game because of course, Jeremy Swayman, despite playing great,

got hooked after it was for nothing, yelled at his teammates on the bench upon exiting, and they talked at length of Bruins did about how embarrassed they were for having that kind of performance at home. And then they also talked about the response from the Boston fans, because the Boston fans booed them off the ice in that

game. In his walk-off interview, David Posternock was asked about his team's resiliency and going back home. I've got the clip here. Here's pasta after the big overtime goal in Buffalo to win 2-1 to send the series back to Boston. Here's what he had to say. What was to say about the team, the resiliency to bounce back after a loss like game four with your backs against the wall.

Yeah, it was all our focus to get the series back to Boston to show our fans again. We're not going to quit. We never quit. We didn't quit the whole season. We love each other. We're going to battle till the last drop. And we all know what happened. Last game. at home so we wanted to bring it back. Yeah, message to the fans going back to Boston now. Just be loud, please, and be patient. We're going to shoot the puck.

Don't worry. Were they yelling shoot? Yeah, please, please stop saying shoot. If you watch the clip, he's saying it genuinely. He's like, is he smiling? No, he was, he was genuinely. He's like, I ask of you, please, more patience. Like, he's like, because they were very irate.

Yeah, yeah. I don't know how many people watched the first period of that game, that game in Boston. but the Bruins were terrible. Oh, they were down 4-0 in the first period. It was awful. And they got booed off the ice in the first period and it didn't really get a lot better. Yeah, they were already in a bad mood

because the Red Sox just cleaned house and they hate the ownership there. So they were like, we're going to take it out on the Bruins. It's a good point to bring up because the vibes in Boston were low. And they sunk even lower following them. Imagine if the Sabres low this, for lack of a better way of saying it,

the Sad Club has a gravitational pull back to sadness. Every time you think you're out. You have to like, you have to be like a rocket ship escaping the gravitational pull of the sad club. You know, everything has to go perfectly,

you know, even in the first round. You know, sometimes the first round can be the toughest for these sad club teams because they get that thrilled excitement. You know, the Canucks back in 2011, a 3-0 lead. on Chicago. Then the sad club kicked in. Now they

barely, barely escaped that. The gravitational pull was real, though. The gravitational sadness pull. And then, uh, then we escaped that first round. And we're like, we're definitely going to win the Stanley Cup. But it has that pole. The sad club, black hole. Yeah. Especially when I was head

spinning. Especially we're up, uh, two nothing and three two. Remember those? Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Okay. Uh, one more before we go to break. And in keeping with the show, tradition. We've left little to no time whatsoever for the Dallas Minnesota series. Sorry to you, Cody, the singular Dallas fan. Kareil Kaprizov

had a goal and two assists. He has been phenomenal this series. Caprizov's a beast. That empty netter he scored yesterday was great. Minnesota wins 4-2 against Dallas. The numbers on this thing at 5-on-5 are crazy. If you were to look at just a five-on-five stats, you'd be like, how is this series

even close? Yeah, Dallas has been awful five-on-five. The stars went... You know who they miss? Rupé Hintz. Yeah, big time. He's a driver for that. He's a good player. Yeah. The Stars went another game without a five on five goal. They have now been outscored in this series 14 to 4 at even, specifically 11 to 3. at 5 on 5.

No 5 on 5 goals for the stars in the last 207 minutes. Yet the series is only 3-2. Now they're facing a deficit. You texted me this. You thought it was a really poor performance from Dallas at home in a series where it's now best, the 3. And I agree it was not a good performance at all. Their backs are up against the wall now.

And by the way, Yesper Walsstead in net 4. Minnesota has been excellent in this year. I think he's got a 930 save percentage now. You're smirking over there. Why are you smirking? We just spent an entire part of the segment talking about the Oilers struggles. And they had that 20th pick that they traded away to Minnesota, which they used to select Jesper Walsday. Okay.

We got a lot more to get into on a Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions. Hotline, our next guest has a presentation of bells and whistles. Randy Janda joins us now on the Halford & Breath Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Randi, how are you? Good morning, gentlemen.

I'm well. How are you guys? We're okay. It's been a tough 24-48 hours across the station. Everyone obviously upset at the passing of John Garrett, but also with a smile remembering all of the good times, the memories, the thoughts, appreciative moments of well. what Cheech meant to everybody.

And with that, I'll just cede the floor or the phone or the microphone or however you want to phrase it to your memories of Cheech, Rendeeb. You're 100% right. This is a tough couple of days. Obviously, Cheech, a very special person. If you met him, if you watched him on television, if you caught his interviews on Sportsnet 650 or any show, you know, he was full of energy, he was just a special person.

So anytime you lose somebody like that, who's been around us, really as fans, you know, for me personally, I watched him growing up here in Vancouver, then got to work alongside him in the gondola. It's such a loss for the community. And my thoughts go to John's family, of course, his closest friends. It's an emotional time, but you're right in the sense that this is also a time where we can remember and celebrate the special person that he was. And for me, Cheech, you know, is so many things, right, where he's a broadcaster, he was a fan of the game, obviously. You know, he was just, I feel

like you were the comedian, he was an amazing person, and unfortunately, you know, there's a lot of sadness at this time as well because he was a special person, but I think looking back at it, we can also appreciate the time we had with him, whether it was in person or watching him on TV.

From the broadcasting perspective, can you speak on what Cheach meant to you and maybe some of the ways that he helped you forge your own career? Because, you know, we talked about it a lot. You don't really realize how many different markets and how many different broadcasters and how many different careers cheat you impact until

you look at the scope of his entire career working in so many different places. And we were talking about the pregame in Edmonton yesterday, the big ceremony they had there because he had worked for the Oilers doing goals for them for a while. So what did he mean to you, Randy? Yeah, he meant a lot. This is an individual that

I didn't see him play because he retired the year before I was born. So as a player, you know, John Garrett didn't really register for me until well after the fact when I was looking up, you know, the All-Star game and all of the games that he played and all the moments he had. So from a broadcasting perspective, guys, he was big, right? He informed me as a fan growing up in the city, first and foremost. He was a part of my story as a hockey fan. And, you know, that trio of Murph, Cheech, and Shorty for everybody in this city, if you watch Cunx Hockey even internationally, they had a role in it.

So first and foremost, just bringing that fun to the game, which is so important. Sometimes I think we overthink the game. This is supposed to be fun. And Cheech reminded us that you can think hockey at the highest of levels, but at the same time, this is supposed to be a fun game. That came from the fan experience. Now, when I stepped into the gondola for the first time, you know, to call games, it's an intimidating experience because, you know, being somebody from this market,

you know what that Jim Robson broadcast gondola means. It's named after the goat in the city, but also, you know, Shoredy, Larshide, obviously, Cheech, Jim Houston, go through the names of people that worked in there. It's an intimidating place when you step in there. And John was one of those individuals that, you know, we had a bit of a relationship before when he'd do the radio shows, we'd chat over the phone.

But in person, I didn't know them that well until I took that role. And what I loved about John was that, you know, I'd get there maybe a couple hours before Puck drop. And I remember one time he just basically said, hey, come on, let me show you how my system works. Like, I didn't ask for it. He didn't have to, but he just, he showed me his handwritten system every single night. He'd sit there, watch highlights for half hour, 45 minutes with his granddaughter.

He had a color-coded system. And he said, I'm old school. I still do it by hand, but everybody's got a system. And I'm sure you have yours too, but he would, you know, he just, and he didn't have to do that. But he kind of welcomed me, and this is a guy that, you know, was at it with the greatest broadcasters of all time. And to get that sort of inroad to his line of thinking or the stories that he would tell, you know, playing against, you know, whether it was Lemieux and the game misconduct or just those little peaks into his history and him cracking jokes. Like, it just normalized everything for me who was stepping into the broadcast.

I was nervous. You know, I hadn't hadn't been there before. and Cheech was just whether he was showing his process, whether it was making fun of himself to just normalize everything around him. He's so fantastic in that way because guys, we know broadcasters, you know, in the industry. If you've been at it for 40 years, 35 years, 30 years, whatever it was at that point in time, not everybody's so welcoming, right? And Cheech, that was the beauty about him, whether it was, you know, somebody that walked into the gondola

for the first time on a tour or if they're your colleague, he just, made you feel at home and he'd take a shot at you every now and then but he'd take a shot at himself as well and and that felt normal and it was he you know he was just so special in that regard I was talking to shorthy last night and he said that cheech was the best teammate you could possibly have and I thought that was a really nice turn of phrase and a way to coin it and you know as it relates to like what you and batch have built now working together for so many years and you guys are podcasting together you're calling games together how important is that you're that It's not just camaraderie, it's being a teammate and being able to provide an assist from time to time.

How important have you found that dynamic in light of the fact that Cheech was as regarded by many as the ultimate broadcasting teammate? Yeah, when you have your play-by-play, you know, partners say that. And any broadcast, right, like it doesn't, it doesn't have to be that role. But I think in that role, because it's a two-person job, obviously bringing Murph as the ringside, you know, there's a lot of heavy lifting there in moments sometimes when if you're a play by player you need a commentator you need your color

commentator to jump in there you that trust has to be there that ability to say hey I might I might spring a joke on them is he ready and it felt like with the chemistry some of the classic clips whether it's the Luongo you know jinx job or there was that weird noise on the broadcast that one time against I believe it was

Tampa you know just the ability to A have great analysis was one thing and they're the best of what they do. But guys to have that levity and have an understanding of I can throw anything towards my color commentator, he's going to be ready for it. That's not easy, right? Like you guys and a lot of hockey fans out there will listen to broadcast, watch broadcasts. Like that takes time, but it also takes a special duo or trio to work off of each other.

And, you know, I think that comes from a genuine just love for each other, right? You see the photos of them traveling. I know that, you know, the tribute they had on the hockey night yesterday and Mervf mentioning, basically traveling 1,500 days with Shorty and Cheats, like, that's a brotherhood, right? And that comes with time, but there's also something that it felt like it was so natural. And it was, you know, what we heard and what we witnessed on television, it was because they genuinely, like, loved each other, right? And that doesn't come easy. That's not a natural thing for every broadcast.

So I think Vancouver, we had something special with that trio. Whether the outside world, whether the rest of the NHL understood the jokes or not, whether they're in on it or not, who cares? Like, it was uniquely Vancouver. And we were privy to such great analysis, but also fun moments. And you're right. You know, Cheech was a huge part of that, I already mentioned. Hey, Randipe, I hear you're going to be a very unpopular guy tomorrow because it's your job to go to a school and tell kids to get off their screens.

And if I were a kid in today's day, I'd be like, don't tell me to get off my iPad. I love my iPad. What are you going to tell them? Because you were doing something called Screen Break presented by Rogers. Tell us about that. Yeah, so it is a multi-year national program by Rogers to help Canadian families address excessive screen use. And guys, like, we're of the generation of like we knew a world

without iPads and iPhones and, you know, all that. The newer generation, the younger generation, hasn't had that. They've grown up with iPads. They've grown up with phones from a very young age. So this is a program that's set up by Rogers, screen break. And it's going to include parental controls, youth programs, programming, research and partnerships, and education and advocacy, essentially, what it helps is it just helps to manage that screen time. So that youth programming aspect includes a visit to schools with athletes and experts to talk about how to manage screen time.

And athletes are going to share how they navigate it as well. This is not only an issue that, you know, the younger generation deals with. Like, I got my screen time issues as well. I'd like to decrease it. We're going to be joined by Sarah Nurse tomorrow, hitting up Mosker. up secondary and Burnaby Central in Burnaby. So with experts, we're just going to just have a chat. And Sarah's been a part of this campaign and she's been trying to manage it herself.

You know, I think she mentioned that she was on her for only, what, six hours a day. And she wanted to drop that number a little bit. I'm not going to lie. I've had my seven hours days too, you know. So we're all working on it. But it's an interesting initiative because I do feel like it is something that, you know, over the last couple years, boys. Like, I've been looking down on my phone a lot more as well.

It's a part of our job. But, you know, this is something that obviously it's a part of our life, but how do you manage it? And that's what we're going to have an event. So I might not be popular, but I think... Boo, who this man? Give me a screen instead. Let's be honest, though.

Kids, I think, are more understanding than maybe our generation in high school. I think there'll be a little bit more, hopefully, a little bit more welcoming. We'll see, I guess. Hopefully you won't be We're back next week. Here's a good segue. Hopefully you won't be booing the screen today when you're at Bells and Whistles watching Athletico Arsenal.

I can tell you one thing. It's not going to be 5'4. Yeah, it won't match. You know, it'll be a 1-0, maybe 2-0 if we're very fortunate. But absolutely, I will be there. I will be doing my prep for the Rogers Green Break event from there as well. So, guys, head up to Bells and Whistles, 32-96 Fraser Street.

Champions League soccer going on currently. They've got hockey playoffs, basketball, as well. And you want to book in those spots for the World Cup in June and July as well. Bells and Whistles, YDR.com. So if you want to watch the Champions League, I'll see you later on today. Sounds good, buddy. Thanks, Randi, we appreciate this. Appreciate you guys. Take care. See, pal.

Randy Janda, connects analyst and a presentation of bells and whistles here on the Halford and Breft Show on SportsNet 650. Okay. It's funny if Randy's thing was pre-recorded and they wheel out a TV screen. Yeah. I'm worried about your screen time. You're not present as much anymore. I've noticed that look at you.

You're scrolling on your laptop right now. You're not making eye contact with me. You're just scrolling on your laptop right now during work. Try to do work. You're just never here with us. I am. We used to be a family here. And you were just constantly looking at your social media.

You were about to talk about something rather, I don't know, gall for dogs. For people that don't have a live shot, How far uses technically three screens because he has two laptops and his phone. Maybe you need a screen break. That's what you need. I'm just what the kids call locked in. I'm just locked in right now.

You're screen maxing? I'm screen maxing. Okay. I learned that the CFL, which is very popular with the kids. Yeah. They are making some changes. One change I like, the other change I do not like. What do you like, Jason?

The one change I like is the schedule change to start on the May long weekend, aka Victoria Day. The kids, I don't know, May 2-4 weekend. And I've always associated that with... That's the Ontario way to say it. Well done. We got 24 beers for the May 24 weekend. You guys don't call it that here.

That's a nice time of the year to start watching some football in a lot of the country, including BC. It also moves up the Grey Cup a few weeks. You know, it's still going to be cold if they play the game on the prairies, but hopefully not life-threatening cold. Well, these changes sound great, Jason. Not all of them. I hate the playoff format.

And look, before we get, I don't know if there's any of these hardcore CFL defenders that still text into the show, but I know the league wants more games and more revenue. I understand the challenges. I understand they have to get creative in a game, Gate Driven League. That doesn't mean I have to like a playoff format where you can lose a game.

This is football. You can't lose a game in the playoffs in football. Now, what am I talking about? What are you talking about? Okay. We're going to play some video and the league did need to produce a video to explain the new playoff format, which might be a bit of an issue. you tell me if you're following this new format.

Eight teams will enter the Great Cup playoffs, four rounds, nine games, one champion. The journey is evolving. The stakes are rising. The regular season means more, as each win down the stretch get you closer to the playoffs, more chances to get in, and more chances to clinch a home playoff date.

With the addition of a new round of playoffs, Every team must win and win again to survive. Borrowing from Curling's page playoff, the new first round will feature the division showdowns and play-in games. The top two seeds from each division are guaranteed a minimum of two playoff games and will compete for a buy to round three, the Great Cup semifinals. Seeds 5 through 8 face-off and single elimination to advance to round 2, the elimination games.

from there it's sudden death until the journey ends where legends are made at the Great Cup what I know they said words there but when is the West final and when is the West semi-final and when is the Grey Cup? So wait if eight of nine teams make it why not just go straight to the playoffs and like rock paper scissors for the team that misses? Just do a full season of just playoffs. I had the Nathan for you meme where it's like, The idea, they're all playoff games, right, from the opening week.

Or just, like, pick a name from a hat. Like, not, you don't make it this year. Like, straight for playoffs. Okay, so first off, eight of nine teams making the playoffs. There's no way to avoid a joke. There's no way that the CFL can say that with a straight face. How embarrassing to miss the playoffs in the CFL now. What did you, did you not show up to do the regular?

Did you forget you had games? Was it like Beer League where you had too many forfeits? Like, why did you not make the playoffs? Why not just let all nine teams make the playoffs and just do. You know what? I rarely say this about an A. All playoffs. I rarely say this about an A-Dog question, but what a great question.

Why not just let all nine make the playoffs? Oh, you got to have stakes in the regular season. And I understand there's going to, look, there still is an advantage to getting one of the top two positions in the division. But there always was. Yeah, yeah. That's not changed. But there still is. People saying like the regular season doesn't matter is not necessarily true.

It is true. No, it's not. It is. What I don't like about it is, the commissioner was explaining this on the radio yesterday. He was saying, you know, the reason that you have an incentive to get the first or second seed in the division,

is that you're guaranteed two playoff games. And that alone doesn't sit well with me. Like, this is football. You're not, you get one chance. You know, and the reason why it's, it's great to win a great cup is like,

yeah, we went undefeated in the playoffs. Like, the reason it's great to win the Super Bowl is like, yeah, we went undefeated in the playoffs. That's how we won a Super Bowl. You can't, like, I'm going to have a real hard time hyping up the, what are they calling? The division showdown. Yeah.

Right? When you're like, man, we've got to win this division showdown. although if we lose, it's okay because we're still alive. Right? I mean, what are we doing here? This is all about getting more revenue. I know they're desperate, but like...

No, I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry. This announcement, hold on a sec. Yeah. It actually made me more worried about the CFL. I was already a bit worried about the CFL, but now I'm really worried. It's like hearing your friend

tell you about their new job and you're hearing the details of the job and your friend's kind of a struggler in life and you're like, this job sounds shady. Like it's a pyramid scheme. It's definitely some sort of multi-level marketing scam and everyone can see it, but he's talking it up like it's such a great opportunity

and he just needs to put the work in. It's like the office meeting. Like there's not a pyramid scheme. There's one guy at the top, two guys blow him. I'm in the third layer. And you're like, are you in financial trouble? Do you need some help?

Because I feel like you're going to lose even more money with this. Like, it's exactly right. You cannot, you cannot hype up the division showdown. Right? It's like, what if we lose?

Don't worry. You get another division showdown next week. The CFL's like, all right, we're introducing our new pyramid scheme playoffs. No, don't call it that. Okay. Ponzi scheme playoff. No, again.

I mean, good alliteration. It's, you can't look at, they're jukeing the playoffs. When you know when they say jukeing the numbers, a jukeing the stats, that's all this is. Is they're just creating more playoff games because they want more playoff games, but they can't be playoff games when you're not eliminated by losing. It's inherent in the playoffs that there's stakes involved with losing. This is time immemorial in sports.

Truly they must have realized the reaction from this when they set this all up. Wouldn't have been someone talking them and like, guys, just a heads up when you announce this thing. See, now you're going down. There will be a lot of comedy that comes from this and I don't know you like it. Now you're going down an interesting road because no one with half a brain launches this and doesn't realize that there's going to be tremendous blowback. So the answer is how desperate do you have to be as a league to go this route? That's the question, right?

When's the new TV contract coming up? It's got to be soon, man. The bidders are going to be lined up. They're like, we get 36 playoff games out of these guys, right? Are all the games do or die? No. In fact, some of the playoff games aren't do or die. If you lose this game, you're out.

Except there's one more after. And then you'll play the, like, it's like seeds five through eight. I always loved that the Grey Cup was going to be West versus East, right? Sure. Kind of harkens back to like, old. old Canada where you're like, you always forget about us in the West, like, we're the trailblazers out here and like the east would be like, we're the big money Toronto and Montreal, right?

Like it's great. Now, you know, the crossover has kind of muddied those waters anyway, but like there's a potential here and some people might like this, but the way it's all drawn out, it's like, are we going to have like a Hamilton Toronto Grey Cup? But I understand. That would be kind of funny. I understand the fancy people from Toronto.

It's the, fancier people from Hamilton. Hey. I even know. I know that there's some people out there that they're going to, here's the thing. They're going to frame this as like CFL bashing and they're going to frame this. It's not.

I'm worried about these guys. This is, I don't think it says anything to do with the CFL. This was an idea drummed up. And I know that they, again, in a hilariously Canadian moment, the Canadian Football League, drawing on inspiration from curling playoffs. Drawing from curling. the most exciting sport.

We're playing in an ice. This is not a CFL story. This is a league that is on, and again, to pardon the pun, but it's on thin ice. Yeah, this is a business story. Desperately drumming up. Yep. What, because here's the thing. A lot of people have said more playoffs across the board.

How many, we've had countless conversations about the NHL playoffs and expanding the field and having a play in tournament. The NBA has expanded its, you know, field and done a play in tournament. But I don't think any of them have ever been pushed to expand the playoff field out of desperation. And that's what this feels like. Yeah, the CFL is doing it out of desperation. The NBA is doing it out of greed. Right. That's the way you separate it. Which I respect. Okay. Mucow all this. I really hope we haven't offended any long time CFL fans. I know you, a lot of you go to bat for the league. I don't know.

I don't see anybody. Every time. There's a few people I saw on social media. And every time like the CFL is like, you got to give it a chance. And it's like, yeah, it didn't work. I think a lot of old school traditional CFL fans probably hate this. Can't stand the new commissioner too. But just take that part out of it where he's tried to change the game and the rules.

This is so utterly, like it's transparent. It's thinly veiled. I guess this is just an opportunity to say, hey, could we get more playoff games? Oh, I got a way to do it. And all you do is ruin whatever sanctity you had of actual playoff football. End of story. It's a bad move. It's not going to work.

And I'm sorry that they're doing this to a league that is so desperate that they had to be pushed to these measures. It sucks. Don't love it. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.