Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 5/1/25

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the Whitecaps going to the Champions Cup finals for the first time in club history, plus they chat some 'Nucks with Sportsnet NHL analyst Nick Kypreos & Canucks Talk host Thomas Drance. 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. Brian White and Pedro Vite scored two minutes apart, and the Vancouver Whitecaps yet again stunned Inter Miami. This time in Miami, the score 3-1. The victory sealed a 5-1 victory on aggregate to advance past the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal, where they might, and I stress the word might, even get to host Jason the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-Final, where they might, and I stress the word might, even get to host Jason the CONCACAF Cup Final on June 1st.

Okay, well. What do you wanna know? Well, how would they host it? There needs to be a draw tonight between Cruz Azul and Tigres, both Mexican league teams who are playing one another. Cruz Azul, that's cool. I think I'm cheering for them, that's a cool name. If there's a draw in the actual match tonight,

not the aggregate, but the actual match tonight, after 120 minutes, Vancouver will host the CONCACAF Champions Cup final at BC Place. Why does soccer always have to be so confusing? They have to make it confusing. How is that possible? Let's not get bogged down in the details. Let's celebrate a historic night for the. Let's celebrate. Okay, fine.

A historic night for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Where did this all come from? Because this isn't just a Cinderella run through this tournament. The Whitecaps in MLS are on fire too. Scoring goals with reckless abandon. Just scoring whatever they feel like it. How are they doing it? How would you describe this Whitecaps team that, oh yeah, is without its best player, Ryan Gould,

are they just young and fast? They are exceptionally young and exceptionally fast, especially out wide. I think the big thing is, and I know mentality gets thrown around a lot, but in terms of mentality, it's almost as if Sorensen has told them, do not even consider sitting back.

Do not even consider absorbing pressure. Just keep going forward. Is that similar to Jesse Marsh? There is this- Because he's got a real pressure, like he'll pressure and he'll press. I'm glad you brought up Jesse Marsh. He's going to play a role in this later. And he wants a young, energetic team as well.

Yeah. They don't maybe necessarily play as frenetic and high paced and high pressed as Jesse Marsh's teams do, but when they're in possession, they have, it's weird because they have a patience about them where they're more than willing to knock the ball around to find their spots, but it's almost as if the

restrictor plate has been taken off every single guy. Like if you have an opportunity to get the ball at your feet and turn or get the ball at your feet and go with someone or make a incisive run in behind, go do it. Because it's almost that old adage, like our best defense is our offense, their ability to attack. And in this particular game last night, as we circle back to last night.

And he's not saying it's an option, it's like, this is how we play, right? This is what we are. Yeah, okay. Last night in Miami, it could not have started worse for the Whitecaps. Miami came out and scored eight minutes into that match. We talked about this scenario.

Mm-hmm, this exact scenario. And it wasn't a great goal. It was sloppy defending. It was not good goaltending by Yohei Takayoka. And on the various text threads that I had going on, a lot of people were saying, this doesn't look great. This looks like what Miami kinda wanted to do

was survive the first leg, go home, play in the friendly confines, get the big four back in the lineup, and then dominate the match. The Vancouver Whitecaps showed no signs of being rattled or phased, or even like they were bothered by the fact that they gave up a goal in the eighth minute because they came right back and started attacking. Emmanuel Sabi hit the post in about the 15th minute.

And then the first half was fairly even, I'll give it that. Second half, more key substitutions from the gaffer Jesper Sorensen and then Brian White scores early and you could just see the match turn right there because that away goal was huge did that do Miami get real old all of a sudden see the weird part was Miami there was a certain stun factor from the players and the fans attendance you could tell that the white caps had scored because the first half was fairly even I would say both teams traded chances there was a certain stunned factor from the players and the fans attending, you could tell that the Whitecaps had scored. Cause the first half was fairly even, I would say. Both teams traded chances.

It was a close match. That's not great for Miami either, right? Right. Fairly even. You'd think Miami would dominate. And they were ahead one-nil on the scoreboard. Okay. When White scored, and here's where we go back to the mentality of this team,

they didn't stop attacking. It was almost like when White scored, it's almost like they could smell or taste to the mentality of this team, they didn't stop attacking. It was almost like when white scored, it's almost like they could smell or taste the blood in the water and they just kept going. Two minutes after white scores, VT scores. And now you're thinking, well, it's done and dusted. Now you can really sit back and just absorb the pressure.

Kept going forward, kept going forward, Bearhalter scores, Five-one on aggregate. Here's the craziest stat of them all. The Whitecaps are the first club team ever, underline it, ever, to win each of their first two matches against Lionel Messi. So in the 20 plus years that Lionel Messi's been playing professionally,

you know, through the times at Barca and PSG and Inter Miami and everywhere else, no club team has ever beat him twice in the first two matches going up against it. And it's a white caps of all the teams doing it. This is like a, who's your daddy, Pedro Martinez thing. Kinda. Who's your daddy? The Vancouver White Caps. Believe it or not. Believe it or not. I mean, Messi was out there for all 90 in the first leg of BC place. And he was out there the whole, the majority of the match yesterday.

I can't remember if he got subbed off at the end cause at the end it just got, it was done. Like the, the supporters in Miami were stunned. Everyone was stunned except for the Vancouver Whitecaps who believed the entire time. I do want to throw. Can I just say one thing that I wish. You can say as many things as you like.

Because I know you watched the game. Yeah. I didn't. And I wonder how many people didn't get to watch this game because they don't have one soccer. Probably. This is the issue with the white caps, right? It's not just a MLS when they're on Apple TV.

It's this tournament as well. I mean, in this day and age, I feel like I'm a kid again, like, oh, the game wasn't on TV, but like, tell me about it So this competition the the rights are up. This is the worst part about soccer in general We and we have this conversation now. We've talked about it before every competition sells its own broadcast Yeah, yes, so if you want to be an ardent, you know football fan or soccer supporter Sometimes you're subscribing to upwards of four or five different subscribers. Sportsnet has the FA Cup. Correct, we do.

That's us, Sportsnet, home of the FA Cup. And the Dutch Eredivisie. Just throwing that in there as well. But again, if you want to watch... I love IAX. I love PSV Eindhoven. If you want to watch... PSV Eindhoven. Yeah, if you want to watch Champions League, you need the zone. If you want to watch Champions League, you need the zone. If you want to watch the Premier League in Serie A, you need Fubo. Also, one soccer is included in Fubo. And the list goes on and on and on. If you want to watch all the MLS games, you need Apple TV. But there's a lot of people in Vancouver that are like, I want to watch the Whitecaps.

So if you want to watch the Whitecaps regularly, you have to subscribe to Apple TV. Sometimes the games are on regular cable, but not all of them. This particular competition, the rights got purchased and were distributed to one soccer. This is not an MLS competition. This is a ConcaCaf competition. I really hope someone picks up the final.

I absolutely hope someone picks up the final. You got to think the white caps are well aware of this. Should I make some call to my broadcast insiders? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Rolodex that I have of all the noted broadcasters that I have? You are our whitecaps insider. I like to think of myself as such. What a great moment by the way for the... That is awesome for them though. It is terrific, but I don't wanna be negative. I'm just like,

I want the whitecaps to have success. And, um, you know, I've kind of pointed out a few ways that, you know, they've struggled and, you know, it's true. Like they're trying to build a new stadium. The stadium isn't right for them, but the broadcast thing is an issue as well. It is an issue because they've just, they've just, um, had their biggest moment in franchise history. Yes. Um, and, and the game at BC plays, I mean, a lot of people saw it cause there had their biggest moment in franchise history. Yes.

And the game at BC Plays, I mean, a lot of people saw it because there was 53,000 people there, but when this type of stuff happens, you want to, and I mean, to use a soccer term, you want to press, press, press, press, press. You want to taste that blood in the water and just be able to take advantage of it. And then you're kind of like, well, the game's not on TV. So a lot of people are like, yeah, I was watching the Stanley Cup playoffs yesterday, right? Because that

was on TV for me and it interests me. So Oz texting, you know, I don't mind going down this road. It's an important conversation. If the team's gonna grow, these things need to be addressed. Oz writes, this is a TSN slash Sportsnet issue. Neither wanted to buy the rights to show this tournament. I will say this in defense of people not picking up this tournament. I will say this in defense of people not picking up this tournament. The grand total of people that expected this to happen was zero.

Yeah. Zero. If you would have got people from the Whitecaps in a quiet room with no cameras going and no microphones recording and got them in a candid moment, they would have said zero percent chance that this is gonna happen.

Not just because of the quality of the team or whatever, but because this competition wasn't necessarily viewed as a priority at the start. Because if you go back and look at the history, Canadian teams, yeah, Montreal and Toronto have also gone to the final, but they've done it once over the span of a decade. Historically and traditionally, this is for some of the

higher end MLS teams and the League MX teams that get to the final. It is a competition that is nice to be in, but is exceptionally difficult to win because you've got such a compressed schedule already. Like, so the Whitecaps qualified through this through the Canadian championship, which is going on right now, by the way, the Whitecaps schedule gets real crazy over the next month. Like they've got a game schedule for May 31st. That's gonna need to be redone. They're gonna have Canadian championship games as well

like sandwiched into all of this. It becomes very, very compact and very, very taxing but they've met these challenges already. Like if you go through the road that they've gone through, they've been to Costa Rica, they've been to Mexico twice. Now they've been to Miami. They've also conducted their regular MLS schedule. They've had massive injuries on the team.

Ryan Gould is still not playing. He was down there yesterday, by the way. They flew all the players, including Gould down there. He was jumping up on the sidelines. I saw that. That was awesome. So it's going to be a very- Was there like a little tear coming down?

Probably, honestly. Imagine how upsetting it must be to not be able to participate in all this? It was him and Laborda that were both on the sidelines injured and you could see- He's the Scottish Messi. Yeah, I know. Beating the regular Messi, the Argentinian Messi. It was a great night for the Caps. I do want to throw to some audio to try and further encapsulate what it all means.

This is post-match Christian Jack won soccer talking about the significance of this win and this night for The Vancouver Whitecaps the city of Vancouver and the future of the sport in this city in this province. Here's Christian Jack from one soccer This was a monumental night for the city of Vancouver for their ownership group and of course for the club both on and off the field. When we played Messi they said we have to be a team and boy oh boy were they the team. It was the collective that beat the superstar. It was a night where every player who wore the shirt stepped up and delivered. On a monumental night for Canadian soccer I was messaging the head coach of the men's national team Jesse Marsh, who told me what a terrific performance it was. That sums it up.

Again, in a few years time, we'll look back at this night and describe what a fantastic team performance it was. So we'll end with that. Congratulations to Vancouver and the Whitecaps. One more game to go, one trophy still to lift. Can I just say how nice it is to see the excitement of the Whitecaps fans texting into the Dunbar Lumber text line. But more than that, your excitement. Sometimes I wonder if you're dead inside. A little bit.

Watching the Canucks and talking about the Canucks every day. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, like we get these moments. Like with me, remember when Rory won the Masters? You were very excited. How excited I was on the Monday morning and people were texting and it was like, you know, like, listen, it's not like I have Rory McElroy posters

up on the wall, but it was just exciting. It was just exciting. Like I enjoyed it. It brought, it brought that excitement out of me. I enjoyed the whole thing. Right. And what I'm seeing from Halford here is like

genuine excitement. Like, what do you want to know? Like, oh, and then they were like, you sound kind of like a little kid telling a story about it. And that's good because we need excitement. And this has been, let's face it, like a slog at times for the Canucks. Now there's plenty of things to talk about, but oftentimes it's done with like a real critical thing and we have to remind ourselves, okay, remember, you know, we're the health and rough show, let's keep our sense of humor and that

sort of thing because, you know, it's six in the morning or seven in the morning, no one wants to hear just like anger and just like, I hate this team, you know, that sort of thing. But how else could we have covered it? We couldn't, we couldn't cover this past season of Canucks hockey with excitement. It was mostly like, oh my God, what's happening here? So it's really, really nice to see you

excited, Whitecaps fans genuinely excited talking about like, this team is making history. This is crazy. And like, and which is why I bring up, I just wish more people could share in this experience by watching it on TV. We got people texting in saying like, I'm with you, bruv, I didn't have the channel. So I watched the playoffs last night and someone else texted in and was like, I followed this game on social media. Okay. So just another, on that note about the excitement level, a lot of this for me in particular is excitement mixed with still, I'm still in shock and I'm still

surprised that all of this is happening. All of this is happening because. Yeah. Where did this come from? I mean, it's crazy. Answer your question without answering it. I'm still not entirely sure. So if you go back to when we were coming into this

white cap season and I'll say this, maybe critically of our show, with very little attention paid and very little fanfare on our behalf, expectations were pretty low. You know, full disclosure, I did talk to the people that I know within the organization and asked the question, how are we going to talk about this team without everything falling under the context and umbrella of the sale of the team?

Yeah. That was a conversation, right? Like if they're going to finish in ninth place in the Western Conference in MLS, how are we going to talk about that in an excited tone without always deferring to, well, what about the looming sale of the team? And then this happens.

They are the best team in MLS, and they're going to a continental championship for the first time in franchise history after an offseason in which they sacked their very popular manager. They didn't really add anyone of massive significance in the transfer market. They lost Stuart Armstrong, who just walked away to join Sheffield Wednesday, They lost Stuart Armstrong, who just walked away at a joint Sheffield Wednesday, and hired a manager that nobody knew, and put the team up for sale.

And then they put the team up for sale. All of that was the lead into this. That would usually suggest, we're going into the season with a bit of trepidation or it wasn't the greatest off season, and there's gonna be the distraction of the team moving. And then they put, on the heels of that, they have put together the best season they've ever had.

Like there's no debate about it. The season could end now and it would be the best season that the Whitecaps have ever had. They've given more moments in the first three months than they have maybe throughout the first 14 years of the team. It's crazy. You know, what's kind of funny is to try and think of the Whitecaps as a pending unrestricted

free agent in a contract here. Because if you're an investor and you're thinking about buying the Whitecaps and the Whitecaps have said there's a number of interested parties, look at BC Place for the messy game, sold out and I know a lot of that was Messi. Yeah. Right? That was him. But I think you could be only encouraged at the potential for Vancouver and I always say that I always say that we are potentially a great North American soccer city.

I'm talking top five soccer city. We have a history here. We have the type of demographics that suggest we could be a great soccer city, but we need the right kind of structure to it. It takes more than just the team, right? You need the right stadium. You need the right, well, honestly, media, broadcasting. Like everything has to line up in order to make this

something that is worthwhile to investors to come in. And just, this is what the whitecaps are asking of investors. Sure. They're saying either you're gonna buy the team for hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars and keep them at BC Place, and maybe this leverage of a new stadium makes BC Place a little more open in lease negotiations

and they say, I don't know, you can have a piece of the food and beverage or whatever. I don't even know what they'd be open to. We'll give you the tequila sodas. Yeah, we'll give you the tequila sodas and Halford drinks a lot of them. So actually that's like more significant. I'm doing my part.

Than you think. Well, a champions cup and an MLS cup would go a long way to keep you them here. Right? Hold on a sec. You're either asking them to do that or you're asking these investors to come by the team and build a new stadium and the Whitecaps might be able to deliver, okay, we've got the site, but this current ownership group is not the ones building the stadium.

You know, they might get it to a certain point where the new ownership group takes over and says, okay, fine, we'll take it from here. But then you're asking this new ownership group to go through all that, go through the process. And we all know how sticky stadium situations get. I mean, I just think of the one off the top of my head is the Washington commanders

who finally agreed to build a new stadium on the site of the old RFK Stadium. Not RFK Junior Stadium, that's the RFK Stadium. Those are different things. But they've had like three or four different stadium plans that look like they're ready to roll, you know, whether it was going to be in Virginia or back in DC or Virginia again or Maryland, DC, you know, like it's all over the map. And it finally, frankly, it took a new ownership group to get the

stadium built. So what I wonder about the ownership as well is, is it gonna be someone from outside Vancouver or is it gonna be a local? And the reason the local would have the advantage is maybe they have the relationships. Potentially, yeah. With the city to come in. And they have the understanding of,

I mean Vancouver, like any big city in North America has, there's unique things about the city, like you have to know. So, you know, we've heard, there's been a little confusion in the reporting. Like I've, I've heard, you know, there's local owners that are interested, but I don't, I don't know if it's that. I think it's been reported almost like there are

investors that are looking to keep the team local. That's the reporting that Paul Tenorio from the Athletic had. Right. And we had him on the show last week. But that doesn't surprise me because the way you'd approach this, if you were approaching MLS and the Whitecaps about a sale, is you'd be like, yeah, I want to keep them in Vancouver, and then you go about a sale, is you'd be like, yeah, I want to keep them in Vancouver.

And then you go through the process. Yeah. Right. And that's what everyone's worried about is like, it's another Vancouver Grizzlies situation where an owner comes in and says, oh yeah, I definitely want to keep them in Vancouver. And then they kind of go through the motions and be

like, yeah, we couldn't get a stadium thing done. So this team isn't viable here. Bye bye. The public messaging from both Axel Schuster and the one co-owner that does speak publicly, Jeff Mallett, is that the number one sole and primary, and only intention is to sell to someone that's going to keep the team in Vancouver.

Which is BS, because the number one goal of the ownership group is to get as much money as possible from the sale. So if you're- They're not going to leave $200 million, $100 million on the table out of goodwill to Vancouver. Yeah.

And I'm not naive enough to think that the franchise valuation is altered that significantly by the on-field performance. Franchise valuations, there's a lot more that goes into it than winning and losing. Champions when keeps them, more likely keeps them local, does it not? Like if they win this time and say they win them I mean more likely how much more like I don't Know 30% more like I don't think you're a champion twice no less in one season Surely that must help their yeah

Like I don't see a little bit locally to have an owner be like Raiders have moved like 600 times and they've won titles Yeah, like I don't think it hurts get me wrong I think I think it helps in terms of this is a viable plan that they've got on pitch in terms of operations starting from Axel as the sporting director and what he's been able to do. Also what they've been able to do on a shoestring budget because they don't spend a ton on like active MLS salaries and then their support staff as well. Overall, it's a good day. It was a good day, it was a great day, it was a fantastic day for the Vancouver Whitecaps

and hopefully there's many more of those ahead because there's still a lot of things that they can win this year. There's a CONCACAF Champions Cup Final, there's a Canadian Club Championship, and then of course there's MLS Cup. And right now you'd have to say, based on their form, the Vancouver Whitecaps are legitimate candidates

to win all of them, which is a crazy thing to say the treble Jason the treble this year Dare to dream. Okay, we're way up against the listeners are wondering though Can you Esper Sorensen coach the Canucks potentially like does he know anything about hockey? Oh, you know what he seems like a great night. Maybe yeah, he seems like a great tactician certainly knows how to get his substitutions Right. I bet he'd be good at line changes would have to see anyway We're way way way up against it for time. We got a calling the referee for a line change. Yeah Doing this he's like we'll just hold up the signs. I do know Number 43 you're back out there again. 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 Nick Kiprios joins us now on the Hellford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Nick, how are you? Gentlemen, good morning, how are you? We're well, thanks for taking the time to do this, we appreciate it. In addition to being the co-host of the Real Kipper and Boran show on Fan 590, you're also an accomplished author. You've got a piece in the Star that was up yesterday, which includes Kipper's Corner, one of my favorite parts of the

piece. And then the first note, it's like those little notebooks that you used to run into. Love that. Yeah. Kipper's Corner, first note. I'm just going to read this for everybody. Give me the gossip. While the perception is Rick Tuckett's decision to leave the Vancouver Canucks wasn't just about money, many believe it was exactly that. The Canucks didn't reach a number that the Tockett camp couldn't refuse. End of story. It's juicy Kipper. Can you please elaborate on this for the listeners right now about the number and what the Canucks

offered? Well, listen, I think Rick Tockett has found himself in a position that he's never really found himself in a position that he's never really found himself in a position before. He's coached in the National Hockey League either as a head coach or as an associate. And then every once in a while you're in a position of strength and he had one in Vancouver and the negotiations I heard were fine. it was amicable on both sides, the eventual decision to part ways. But when it, when it's all said and done, you

know, most often than not, these situations come down to make me an offer I can't refuse. And that I'm told never happened. It was reported, I think Dollywell reported that they got to five by five, so $25 million. That wasn't his price or did the offer come too late? You know what, again, I don't know whether or not he felt, he feels like there's other opportunities

to go and maybe get that offer. And then, you know, once you once you're comfortable with the money, then there's also other factors that come into play. So, you know, where is where is the offer with everything else around the job description may have come into to to come into an account of his decision. And, you know, if he feels like that's a number that's achievable elsewhere, then it's

a matter of okay, what do you what do you want to do here moving forward? So it'll be interesting to see not only Rick target guys, but Mike Sullivan. And part of what I wrote the other day was also that many close to the industry feel like Mike Sullivan can rewrite basically what Mike Babcock started many years ago in Toronto. And that is resetting a market for NHL head coaches. Now the feeling is that Sullivan might be in a position to get the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers in a bit of a bidding war. If that's the case, I don't like Boston's chances to outbid the New York Rangers, but there's a sense that he's going to be the

highest paid coach in NHL history if that's a top priority for him. So going back to Rick Tauket, if Mike Sullivan is up around wherever he thinks he can get $7-$8M a year, how many outside of Vancouver would be willing to go 5 million for Rick Tocket? So a lot, lots of, uh, lots of things to think about, but Tocket didn't feel like he was in a position, I think of, of, of feeling like he could turn down that offer and never come close to it again.

So we'll see where this thing goes moving forward for Rick Tocket and perhaps talks with Philadelphia or, or, or Boston or anywhere else he chooses to interview. How frustrating knowing him and knowing what makes him tick. Do you think this past season was with the Canucks when you've got two players in Miller and Pedersen that can't get along to the point where they have to trade one of them and the guy that's left you're sitting there and he's like, you got to move your feet and you got to practice harder. You got to get stronger. Like, you know sitting there and he's like, you got to move your feet and you got to practice harder.

You got to get stronger. Like, you know, I know, I know you've kind of reported that this was like, it starts with, with, with money, but I don't know. I know you wrote end of story. I just feel like that's not the end of the story. There's other stuff there. You know, you know, again, this is only pertaining

to how much more do you have to give me to put up with the BS, right? Again, this is only pertaining to how much more do you have to give me to put up with the BS, right? So that's where this is money I can't refuse. So that's the gist of where that comes from basically, right? And that stuff is heavy on him. And you know, at times I'm sure he grew very tiresome of it. But you know, that's extra pay, right?

If you want me to stay and continue to deal with that in this market, then, you know, again, you're going to have to maybe overcompensate me. And I don't think Vancouver was in a position to want to do that. But it's not really out of the ordinary as well from teams you know in any generation that you're gonna have guys that personalities clash. You know Rick Tarkett spent a lot of time in Philadelphia where the Snyder family was heavily involved as well in decisions on what happened, what doesn't happen, who gets traded, who doesn't. And, you know, I'm sure, you know, there was a level of that as well from him

to Patrick to Jimmy Rutherford, you know, eventually to the Aquilini family, you know, so there's a ton for him to manage and go through. And I think once you're in a position to renegotiate a contract, then you pick your pros and cons. And at the end of the day, he chose to move on. And for whatever reason, bottom line money, bottom line not money,

there's a lot of factors that went into his decision. Our next guest is also what's happening me trade requests in our fantasy football league. It's Thomas Drance from the athletic Vancouver here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up Drancer? Gentlemen, good morning. Hi.

What is the trade request in your fantasy? Oh, you don't wanna know. Okay. I draft. You haven't heard of any of the players. Okay. No, we are, what is the trade request in your fantasy? Oh, you don't want to know. Okay. I draft. You haven't heard of any of the players. Okay. No, we're going to, we're going to pull back the veil of how disturbing and sicko like this league is.

So it's, it's May 1st, right? Is Drantz are getting caught up in the minutiae? You never, that never happens to him. It was April 29th. I want to remember the day cause it feels like every day, but we had our auction for free agents in the league, which was preceded by our rookie draft. Those are separate entities. My eyes are glazing over right now.

So in the wake of all this excitement, Drance is trying to trade me a fourth round rookie from the Tennessee Titans at, when did this come in? 7 58 in the morning. Just a step into Drancer's brain. I don't need that. No. All right, Drancer, let's get to the red meat. What did you make of this, this whole week, the latest chapter in the Canucks saga with Rick

Tauke leaving? Why did he leave? I think the uncertainty surrounding all of Vancouver's best players to a timeline, the Ilias Pettersson deterioration, I think is a fair word, and the Thatcher Demko injury uncertainty. I think those three factors loom pretty large in terms of how a guy like Tocket thinks about this. I also think this season, war on people internally more than we can probably understand from the outside.

You know, to this day, I still don't know exactly how it went down over the course of this year, but I think the day to day misery, um, the demand of trying to make it all work, especially for a competitive guy like Tocket. I think that was extremely difficult on everybody. And I think especially the head coach, although I also think especially some leaders within the team environment.

And look, I think the truth is that Taukeet's got a pretty high threshold in terms of his commitment level, in terms of how he works, in terms of how competitive he is. And this is a guy who's coaching career, right? Started, excuse me Started in Tampa Bay before Jeff Vinnick bought the team, right? And so a dysfunctional organization, Barry Melrose was hired.

He coached 16 games and was fired. Tocket replaced him. He had to rebuild Stamkos' confidence. Melrose had publicly pronounced that Stamkos wasn't ready as an 18-year-old rookie. Like it was a complete mess. He works a season and a half there, fired just as Vinic and takes over and hires Iserman, right? Just before the organization turns it around and becomes the best practices model organization

we've seen across the last 15 years. You then get to Arizona, his next shot after a successful stint with the Penguins as an assistant and we all know what the laundromat Arizona Coyotes were, right? I mean you had the penny pinching, the preposterous roster building strategies just to meet the cap floor, a completely odd roster. building strategies just to meet the cap floor, a completely odd roster. Um, you had the general manager effectively leaving the team over a contract dispute that later got him suspended from the league two days before the playoffs start. I mean, just a mess. And then he comes to Vancouver and it looks like, Hey, this is a stable spot.

Uh, working with people I trust working with people I've won with. And then this season happens. And you know, at some point you get to be, I think if you're someone as competitive as talk it, and this is not just me reading between the lines or feeling my way through this, like I have a sense of this. I think you get to the point, you know, you're in your early sixties, uh, you're still able to sort of keep up with the demands of being a head coach. And at some point you got to ask yourself, like, don't I owe it to myself?

Don't I owe it to myself to give myself a shot to win in a functional environment? Like, don't I care too much about this? Don't I put too much into this? And, you know, the fact that the Canucks ended up stepping up in terms of making a very fair offer, like the sort of offer that I think Tauke in his camp viewed with respect and Tauke had still decided to leave. Like I think at the heart of it is, you know, a bet that maybe this isn't the best place for me to win.

And I think that's a heavy thing to grapple with if you're the Canucks or Canucks fan. Some people have texted in and wondered, and I think quite fairly about the criticism of management for not getting Tauket locked up last off season. Is there a chance that management tried to lock up Tocket? And he went, nah.

Like, cause the narrative so far has been that management slow played this, but maybe Tocket did. Yeah. So I don't know enough to talk about like what conversations were like last summer. Um, in terms of this side of it, I know that, you know, I'm a guy who doesn't like to see a team allow a lame duck coach to work through a season. I think it's counterproductive. I think it causes a misalignment of incentives, but I do think Rutherford is, you know, philosophically not opposed to it.

And I think the organization has obviously seen this occur time and time again. I mean, realistically, Tauket just became the third coach to work in the final year of their deal since 2021 with the Vancouver Canucks, third different coach, right? Green worked out the final year of his deal in 2021, Boudreau in 2023, and Cockett this year. And how's that working? Like, do we like that? Do we think that's a good plan? Do we think that helps build organizational stability? You know, so for me, there's a reason that most teams don't

permit this that most teams want guys who are bought in long term whose incentives long term are aligned with those of the organization. It's not something that connects organizationally have cared about at all. And I think to ill effect. And I think it's something that Rutherford personally is comfortable with just because, you know, I think there's a sort of a different more old school view of it. From talk it's sorry, from Rutherford perspective. So I don't know if they tried to get it done last year. I don't have a good enough sense of that to comment one way or the other, but I do think the topic of this is an interesting one to consider just given the fact that while this

situation feels unique, it's almost only unique because of the decision talk it made. The truth is that Boudreaux had that decision in May of 2022 or whatever, where, you know, do I accept my mutual option and Konex applied some pressure and ultimately folded and decided to come back and I'm not sure how he feels about that. Green had a decision in 2021, decided to come back, worked 25 more games before he was fired. So you know, I do think an overhaul on this, something I've harped on repeatedly and I'll probably keep doing it. I just think it's a poor way of doing business and

not best practice given what we see other teams in the NHL do and given just like the management 101 side of aligning the incentives of middle managers with the long-term incentives of the organization. I think it's something the club should really take a long, hard look at and avoid doing in the future. Well, something I've wondered over the last, I don't know, decade is what will make the

organization from ownership on down rethink its overall philosophy and be like, can't you look back on the last decade and maybe, I don't know, talk at leaving is the thing they need to finally get them over the hump to just kind of like ask the question, Hey, is our thinking working? You know what I mean? Like, is there any, is there any moment of self

reflection where you're kind of like, uh, should we just switch things up a little bit here? I mean, if the immediate fading away of the Boudreaux bump didn't do it, right? If the immediate setback after the bubble didn't do it. If the eight years of Jim Benning didn't do it, you know, like I'm not, I'm not sitting around here waiting for the light bulb to go on at this point, gentlemen. No, it does what it does and it does what it does for a reason. And

you know, the truth is too, is like, I feel a little beaten down by it, like just covering about covering it and talking about it. You know, like I, to some extent, I was a little surprised over the course of this week by the reaction of Canucks fan to kind of seeing the bottom of the well, right? This idea that like this team's in freefall, this team's in freefall. And I get it. Like it feels like this is a sharply downward moving line now, right? Going to where sort of Hughes' contract situation comes to a head.

But the truth is that this isn't something that's like a sudden crash, right? This has been a decade plus long meander down, down a gradual slope that we've been saying eventually gets to the bottom of a damn well. But suddenly, you know, what's been obvious to a lot of us is finally obvious to fans or at least it's harder to deny, right? It's at least more seen more clearly but you know, I mean I struggle to imagine that this isn't the inevitable byproduct of effectively under investing in doing all of the

things that winning teams do, whether that's facility construction, whether that's, you know, locker room construction, whether that's being willing to sell at a deadline once, just once, whether that's being willing to lean into a season in which you don't have a chance to win the Stanley Cup to tank and accumulate futures. Yeah. Um, you know, that, that this is, this is where it gets you, like not just stuck in the middle, but stuck toward the back half of that middle in terms

of your future outlook over the next two or three seasons to the point where, you know, even people who are committed, who have close relationships within the organization, who love the city, who had success here, uh, who have close relationships within the organization, who love the city, who had success here, who have close relationships with star players on this team, who have players on this team that left money on the table to sign here to play for you,

is willing to sort of take the arduous path, like look within themselves and say, hey, like, I don't know if this is for me. We're speaking to Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, Drantz, who's gonna be the Canucks next head coach?

A fascinating question. I suspect we'll begin here pretty quickly, probably mid next week, a little bit more in terms of who the club is talking to, who makes the shortlist, what the club is looking for directly. The truth is that the Canucks weren't viewing Rick Tuckett as a free agent three weeks ago. They were viewing him as their coach. And over the course of this past week, even as uncertainty, I think began to creep in,

right, there was an internal sense that the longer this went on, the less likely it was that Tocket returned. You know, despite that, and despite the club, you know, I think wanting a resolution early this week for sure, you know, I don't think they're very early this week for sure. You know, I don't think they're very far along on this process and that's okay. They have some time. Like it's, what is it, May today? So-

May 1st, buddy. It's gotta be May. So here we go. You're not behind the eight ball in the hiring process yet, but you did have to start now, right? Like you did have to begin to take your first couple steps along the way in this process now. If you're going to keep up, especially with there being so many head coaching vacancies around the league. And so in terms of who will be the next Connex coach, I'm not ready to handicap it.

Like I think if you were to sort of put a favorite on it, you'd have put Manny Malhotra, but like you would have put the Carolina Hurricanes as the Prohibitive Cup favorite yesterday, you know, before Washington and Florida advanced because they're already guaranteed sort of a seat in the next step of the process. You know, and I think Malhotra is a strong candidate. I'm not sort of suggesting he isn't so much as I'm just saying, but that would be kind of where we'd start. Um, you know, I, I wouldn't be stunned at all. Uh, if the club spoke to guys like Mike, yo, right.

Who, who've got head coaching experience, who've been around this group before, who Patrick Alveen has a close and long relationship with dating back to their time and, you know, the Penguins organization, guys like Mike Volucci, who's had a long-standing relationship with Jim Rutherford. You know, those are the sorts of names I expect to surface as the club goes through their process. But we'll see. I don't have a very good grasp yet of them having a lean, in part because I think this process, you know, based on what I was hearing earlier this week anyway, like this process is very much in its sort of nascent stages.

It's just getting ramped up given the fact that this was something that the club was thinking about as a possibility, but certainly hadn't taken steps to begin executing until Tauke had made his mind up earlier this week. In this election week, you saw a lot of endorsements for candidates and everything. The Halford and Breff show yesterday, we endorsed. Yes. We dog endorsed it hard. Yeah. I was-

You're so excited. So it's three people on the ticket. It's Manny Malhotra flanked by Daniel and Henrik Sedin behind the bench. Let's go. Oh. Sure. I mean, look, I think that- That's not the endorsement.

That's not the strong worded endorsement we were looking for. No. I'll say that. I'll tell you this. It's not enough. Like, you know, three guys on the bench, four guys on the bench, whatever, but I think if you're bringing in Manny Malhotra, I'd wanna see them bring in a super experienced

assistant coach, ideally someone who's been head coached before. I hear you, I hear you. You said that too. So I think that's key. Malhotra's been a head coach for one year at the professional level, right? And it's been a, and Final, he's done an excellent job. And so if the organization wants to make the case that this guy's on this like, you know,

exponential arrow pointing upward sort of development path as a head coach, right? Manny Malhotra, one of the smartest defensive players we ever saw, right? A guy who carried himself with all of the leadership qualities you could ever want. A guy who basically was a player coach during sort of the tail end of his career. That's how intelligent he was about the game. He's a guy, he's a genius level guy. We have to give him his shot because this is the right guy. Like I buy it, but it does feel soon and it does feel, um, it does feel thorny from the perspective of all of the balls that this club is going to have in the air, all of the stakes of this season. Like, are you really putting a guy who's had one year of professional

experience as head coach in a position to succeed at his first kick at the can at the NHL level, if he comes in and is your head coach for this season, right? That to me is the question you have to ask yourself. It's not, is Mal Houcher the right guy? Because I buy that he is. It's, is he the right guy now? Right now? Right? Right now, right? That's the question that I think you have to ask or the organization has to ask themselves if they do decide to lean toward Malhotra.

And if the answer is yes, then I think you have to get him someone who's done the job to be on the bench with him. Yeah, and I mean, the other thing we got to consider here, we've talked about this at length over the last couple of days is the carousel ain't done spinning yet. Like there's still the first round, the teams that lose in the first round that are bitterly disappointed, maybe you know

there's a little bit of emotion behind it, but they're willing to make a change. I mean you got to consider like is John Cooper gonna shake loose in Tampa Bay? What happens if the Colorado Avalanche loses? Is Jared Bednar in trouble there? There's a handful of teams that had expectations and if they fall short in that first round, we've seen it time and time again. Jim Hiller in LA, like is he going to walk the plank for what's going on right now if they collapse again? So, you know, I don't want to say it's like a silver lining for the team because the disappointment of not getting target back, it's obvious. No

one's trying to gloss over it or sugarcoat it, but I do think that the landscape might change a little bit more where it's more robust in terms of coaching candidates and that could be a good thing. So let's be real here. I think if you consider the last 10 years of Canucks history, you know, despite all of the conversations that we had about like Travis Green and the Dump and Chase and then Bruce Boudreaux and the lack of structure and then Rick Tuckett and the lack of offense and on and on. This team has been well coached. This team has been well coached. Like grapple with that, right? I really think it's important that everyone wrap their head around this because generally

speaking if you were to say aggregate talent level of the players, right? Organizational stability and vision from ownership on down, quality of connects management, quality of coaches, consider those four planks independently, right? Number one, the thing that this organization has had at the highest level across the last decade, the work behind the bench of their coaches, okay? I really want people to understand this, right? And as we go forward here, right, maybe there's a world where the Canucks are able to land that top hope inspiring

candidate. You know what I mean? Like maybe it's Cooper, right? Maybe Prince George boy comes out. Right. Not expecting it, but maybe that happens. Dare to dream. I get it. And boy, oh boy, would that be a big PR win for an organization, you know, in the context of this week, like, man, that would be a feel good story.

But again, you'd be strengthening the area that this club has been most reliably average or above in terms of, you know, in league wide terms across the last decade, it wouldn't be sufficient. It's not sufficient, right? Like it's a start. It would be great, but it's not enough.

There's more that needs to happen here. And enough. There's more that needs to happen here. And frankly, there's more that needs to happen here to be attractive to land a guy like Cooper. Right. Maybe you can do it. You know, you can always open the pocketbook. Uh, the lure of home, the lure of winning in Vancouver, the engagement of this fan base is, is going to, is still going to appeal to people. Right.

This is a place where if you win, you are a legend. You are a legend forever, and that matters. But, you know, there's work to be done too, to make sure that you're not having to overpay for the top candidate, that people want to come here, that when July 1 hits, you're able to get a meeting with the Mitch Marner and Sam Bennett tier guys, right? And, you know, I think some of the news this week points us in a direction like, why do you think

Connex management is managing our expectations in terms of being able to recruit a top three agent forward? Like, why do you think that? You know what I mean? Like, come on, like it's, it's time to look beyond sort of Band-Aid solutions or the small wins and really think and think clearly about sort of the distance that this club has to travel if they want to get back to being the sort of, you know, industry leading team that they were 15 years ago when they were last winning president's trophies and going deep into the playoffs. Dranser, always insightful, always great having you on the program. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today and I will see you on the waiver wire.

Sounds good. Trade for Chimera DK already. Come on. Yeah, okay. See you buddy. Bye. That's Thomas Drantz from the Athletic Vancouver and Canuck Stock here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.