Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 5/13/25

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they chat with BC Lions head coach Buck Pierce as training camp gets underway. 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. Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Now Hall, Hall alone, in on Thompson, Hall scores! Kane will shoot, scores! Evander Kane! Evander's a gamer. What's it tough to block out the outside noise? What outside noise? I have no idea. No clue what's going on.

Good morning, Vancouver! 6 o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Ladi, good morning to you as well.

Halford and bruv of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for dead help with over 3,000 five-star reviews visit them online at sands-trustee.com We are in our one of the program hour one is brought to you by North Star metal recycling Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest Prices on scrap metal North Star metal recycling they recycle you get paid This is the middle of the 70 pile Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Four guests on the program today. Guest list is going to begin at 6 30.

Our good buddy, Pete Blackburn is going to join us. He's the host of the What Chaos show on the All City Network. We'll talk all things Stanley Cup playoffs with Pete last night. The Canes took a 3-1 lead in their series with the last night. The canes took a three, one lead in their series with the caps. The oilers took a three, one lead in their series with Vegas. Uh, we've got tonight game four of the stars and jets from Dallas and then tomorrow night, that's right. Two days off between games. Their critical game five between the Leafs and Panthers in Toronto. We'll talk to Pete about that at six 30 seven o'clock.

First time guest on the program, Kevin Gray Jr. Uh, he is the Mavs podcast, also pre and post game host on the D L L S Mavericks network. Now you're probably asking why are we talking Dallas Mavericks? Well, if you missed it last night in one of the crazier NBA draft lotteries of all time, the Dallas Mavericks despite having having less than a 2% chance at the first overall pick, won the draft lottery and more importantly, the right to draft Duke

University Star Forward Cooper flag. Surely this won't create any controversies or conspiracy theories. Not at all. Has this taken over for the Patrick Ewing draft? Yes, and immediately. What if you trade one of our league superstars to the Lakers in a trade that doesn't make any sense for your team? What if you were to do that and then somehow end up

with the number one overall pick for the best draft prospect they've had, well, since Wembe, so it's not that long ago. And then there's got to be- But a potentially franchise altering guy. And then there's got to be franchise altering guy. And then there's got to be something about them moving to Vegas. That's the next step. We'll talk to Kevin Gray about that at seven o'clock out of Dallas. Big night for the Dallas Mavericks last night. Uh, seven 30 Derek Lee is going to join the program.

Anaheim ducks reporter for the hockey news. Again, you might be asking, why are we talking about the Anaheim ducks? Well, it's already been an eventful off season in Anaheim. Greg Cronin out, Joel Quenville in, we'll also talk to Derek about what personnel moves the ducks could make on the ice this off season. Uh, you know who I want to ask about? I bet you want to ask about Trevor Ziegres. I do.

I understand that you and Jamie were discussing him whilst I was away last week. Yeah. And Jamie was trying to sell me on Trevor Ziegres. And how'd that go? Uh, you could see Bruff die in real time. It was really cool. I was like, how are his cellies? Yeah When completely blank did he do the Michigan? Yeah rough kind of player

That'll sell some video games. So Game so 730. It's gonna be him and Mitch Marner on the Knucks next year. Derek Lee is gonna join the program. Derek Lee is gonna join the program at Anaheim at 7.30. Eight o'clock, Buck Pierce is gonna join the program, the head coach of your BC Lions. What a diverse and eclectic sports show we have this morning.

BC Lions training camp is now underway at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops. Buck is gonna join us right before they take the field at 8side Stadium in Kamloops. Buck is going to join us right before they take the field at 8.30 for practice this morning. And then at 9.30 this morning, BC Lions owner, Omar Doman teased this last night on X. They're going to announce this year's concert kickoff headliner. That's at 9.30 this morning. The Lions are going to announce that. So it's a big show. There's a ton to get into. We are doing tickets to see The Who again. We're going to be doing a giveaway at 8.15 this morning.

The Who are at Rogers Arena on September 23rd. We're giving away a pair of tickets every day this week. I'll give that information out throughout the show because we've already gone way long on the rundown. So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how messy your life can be. What happened? You missed that?

What happened? What happened is Brats You Buy the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. It was the usual cast of characters getting the job done for the Edmonton Oilers last night in their three nothing win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Yes, it was Adam Henrique leading the way

in the gold department, and it was Stuart Skinner with a 23 save shutout, just like we expected. With the win, Edmonton takes a commanding 3-1 series lead over Vegas in their second round series they are now one win away from their second consecutive Western Conference final. Yeah Evander Kane with another solid game for the Oilers too. Goal and an assist for Evander. Henrik was the first star Kane was the second star and Stuart Skinner was the third

star. Evander's gamer. He sure is. Yeah. And he'll tell you about all the fancy cars that he drove to the rink in. And it was like, weren't you, how are the finances? Are they still good? Maybe they're leased. Maybe they're... Anyway, if the Oilers play like that, for the rest of the playoffs, they're going to win the cup.

But we just don't know if they can. Right. It's just, I mean, they played, they played really well. And there was a save early on. I think it was on a Barbachev that Stuart Skinner made when Stetcher actually got beaten. Yep. Stetcher was out there, otherwise played well.

Shout out to Stetcher. A little confusion on that play, but Stuart Skinner came up with the save and Barbership's been a little snake bitten. But when he made that save, it was like, uh-oh, because the Golden Knights really didn't create much all night. So if they weren't going to have a shaky goalie

in there, they're not going to win that game. Yep. And that, this is the crazy thing about the Oilers, like we've seen the Oilers at their best in this series, but we've also seen them at their worst. So it's just a matter of, can they bring their best four out of seven games in a series?

Because if they do, they're going to win the cup. They're that powerful when they're good. The one thing I did not expect from this series was that Edmonton was going to find a way to blanket the Golden Knights attack. Just consider this. That was the 105th playoff game in Vegas Golden Knights history.

Prior to that, they had been shut out a grand total of four times in those 104 games. They just don't get shut out. Look at these numbers. Jack Eichel did not have a single shot on goal last night. They only mustered 23 in total. Your boy, Jack Eichel, Stone and Carlson had one shot a piece. So if you're telling me that they were able to hold Eichel, Stone

and Carlson to two shots combined. That is a remarkable thing. Yeah, this is a Vegas team that was tops in the Pacific Division. Going into this series was the betting favorite, and I think the favorite in a lot of people's minds as well. And through the first few games in this series, it very much looked like, OK, if Edmonton, if Edmonton is going to win, they're going to do it kind of playing this fire wagon hockey where they outscore their mistakes.

Then out of nowhere, they put up one of the most, you know, it was a blanket of a performance. Yeah, they absolutely stifled everything that Vegas had going. And this comes after a game where they allowed five and it was punctuated by an absolute clown car routine in the third period to let Vegas win the game. The oilers make little to no sense whatsoever. Here's the, what the few things that I can say definitively about the oilers. Um, there's oftentimes where they're going to have the two best players on the ice

at any given moment. And you're kind of at their mercy at that point. The other thing about this team and shout out to Jason Greger, who came on our show right at the end of the King series and pointed this out. And he said, I think the Oilers might have the best forward group in the NHL right now. And I was like, okay, Edmonton guy loves the group. Take it with a grain of salt. But then you watch it and last night.

Well, yeah, if their depth comes through, they obviously can make a case. Now we were talking about Florida's forward group the other day and I mean, that's really good. But, and that's why probably those two teams met in the Stanley Cup final last year and it was really close. Consider last night, Adam Henrique with a pair of goals. You mentioned that Evander Kane had a goal and an assist.

I did not, I forgot that Casperi Capitan played for this team. He, they dragged him out of mothballs yesterday. He's got cool little skates with orange and blue. Did you see that? Yeah, sweet. So he gets out there and he gets to play on a line with scoring sensation Vitaly Palkolyzin

and Leon Dreisaitl. And this was a line that had not played together for the course of the season. He throws it together in a very pivotal game midway through the second round. And lo and behold, like they're they're an effective group out there. And I saw a couple of different people talking about it last time. They said, imagine if you're Nal Block and you're throwing this together and you're like, OK, Leon, I know you had a really tough game last game. You know, we're going to shelter you a little bit.

Yeah. And it kept right. So instead of saying, like, go out there and, you know, reconnect with McDavid and score eight points, you're going to get Podkosin and Kaepernick, who hasn't played this entire series, and you're going to go there and you're going to be part of this blanketing defensive performance that I had. I was again, I hate giving this much effusive praise for the Oilers. And I'm sure some people in the Dumbar Lumber

text message in basket are hating every minute of this. Well, they know it too. I mean, they know that when the Oilers bring their A game, they're a very good team. We all watched the playoffs last year. You know, I had, I had doubts about their depth this off season. I think of Vander Kane's a massive story. He didn't play all regular season and there was

questions about whether or not, I mean, the whole thing just seemed weird with the whole, you know, like, can they spend his LTII? But regardless, say what you will about a Vander Kane and his character and the fact that sometimes, you know, his teammates don't exactly love him. This guy is a terrific hockey player.

He is an unbelievable hockey player. He is a power forward with skill that can really rip the puck. And you know, he's the type of guy that any team would like on their team if we're just talking about the actual player playing hockey. He is very, very effective, especially in the playoffs. And he has been in this series in limited minutes too. Like he's not out there playing 20 minutes a night.

He's playing 12 to 13 minutes a night. He was a total wild card heading into these playoffs. I don't think anyone knew what to expect from Evander Kane and what he's giving them right now is a real power forward performance. He drove Aiden Hill nuts yesterday. I think Aiden Hill, I know he only allowed three goals, but he was rattled, man. He was rattled. He was totally rattled. They did a really nice job in that first period of coming out, punching, quite literally, in the case of the scrap that happened in the first period between Nick Hague and Trent

Frederick, punching Vegas in the mouth. Shots were 15-5. Everything about that first period was tilted in favor of the Oilers and it just felt like Vegas could never catch up. I'm going to be dead honest. Vegas' looked slow. I'm gonna be dead honest. Right now, between that first round series against Minnesota, they won, obviously, but it wasn't the most convincing. No, not at all.

Between that and what they've shown in this second round, this has now been a terrific playoff for Vegas. I know it's not over yet. I know they can still find a way to rally, but I would be shocked if Vegas wins this series. Shocked. And I know that's not a hot take because they're down 3-1,

but I feel like last night was a series. And if you look at it, right now, there are guys on that team specifically, if they go out meekly to the Oilers, you're gonna look at, you're gonna first look at Eichel, you're gonna look at Stone. who granted Stone's banged up, and he's not playing at 100%, but when has Mark Stone ever played at 100%?

Eichel, Stone, Carlson, you're gonna look at those guys, you're gonna be like, where were you in this series? Where were you guys? Has Hurdle been effective? Hurdle has not done much. Dorifaev, who is like a really important goal scorer for them, who's been snake-bitten as well, like they just, their offense just really dried up

Yes, hurdle hit something his trainer. That's right. You made a point of bringing that up Yeah, they put protective tape on the trainer just to make sure it doesn't hit No, they did like a chalk outline on the back of the bench where he hit his own trainer with his stick So again, I'm not writing this series off when when does Vegas start if If they go out to Edmonton, when does Vegas start going? Oh, some of our key guys are slowing down a little bit. Like Mark Stone, love the player. I think Mark Stone's a terrific hockey player. And he's their captain.

But he has a lot of injury history. He's never been, I mean, he is a, let's call it charitably a unique skater. He's 33 years old. And then you look at Patrangelo who's, he is a, let's call it charitably a unique skater. He's 33 years old. And then you look at Patrangelo, who's, what was he, 35 now? He's getting on, right? So all of a sudden you're looking at this team and going, yeah, they're still good.

They're still good. But can they attack you in waves like they used to? It doesn't seem like it. No, it's a different team. And we had Jesse Grainger on the show last week as well as we were previewing this series along with Jason Greger. And while he noted that they were great

in terms of statistically scoring off the rush this year, he did say they're not a fast team. Like you look at them and they might have some individual pieces that can skate, but they're not fast this series. really the series prior to they've looked slow at times and it's going to be really interesting to see moving forward because there's a couple of teams in that Pacific division. Now we can probably get into the Los Angeles King stuff later,

cause it sounds like they're going to announce Ken Holland as their next general manager. There's a couple of teams that now that this, you know, it's not over for Vegas yet, but it is over for the Kings. They might take a look after the dust settles on this season and say you know what are we missing and what do we need moving forward and maybe some major changes could be a foot there the other playoff game last night Carolina Hurricanes continued to handle the Washington Capitals it is now a 3-1 lead for Carolina and that's here's after a 5-2 winning game for over the cap Sean

Walker scored Taylor Hall scored They both had a goal in an assist seven goals. What was everyone drunk in this series? Well, what's going on? That's crazy times. That's crazy times seven goals It was I watched it was still pretty boring the 5-2 score kind of not entirely indicative of what the game was a 3-2 game With just a few minutes to go Sean Walker scored on a bit of a odd man rush after, who was it? It was a Sandeen stick got stuck in the boards and then they went in on a three on one and he scored

and then they scored an empty netter after that. So a three, two game near the end, a five, two game at the end. I don't have a ton to say about the series. It has been incredibly boring. They have choked the absolute life out of the Washington Capitals in this series. Washington has had 21 shots on goal in the last three games,

three games, 21 shots on goal. And then they had 14 in game. One of the series, like they're just not, Ovi finally got on the board yesterday. So he was able to score a goal, which was nice. Yeah, he absolutely did. Yeah. But outside of that, um, I believe there was six minutes of penalties in Washington favor in the first period.

And they got a grand total of one shot on net. Carolina is just dictating this series defensively, doing whatever they want to do. And it doesn't make for very entertaining hockey. I know it's great. I know that they're very good at what they do. I know they're the most disciplined and structured team in the NHL.

Maybe there's going to be an Oilers Carolina rematch, the rematch that nobody wanted. That's a good way of framing it, actually. The NHL is already working on the slogan for that one to almost 20 years later. Edmonton, Carolina. Nobody wanted it the first time. Now nobody wants it again. It would be a cool contrast of styles, but I mean, I don't know how much of that's. I wouldn't use the word cool, but it would be interesting. Cool. I'd like to see. How much of that series have you watched?

I watched quite a bit yesterday. Yeah. It's just, we're not putting it on. No, no, no, Wish put it perfectly when he was on with us yesterday. It's a throwback series. Like that's how playoff hockey always used to be. Yeah. Where you're like, oh, it's two, one.

Yeah. The other team is done. It's only the second period. Yeah, I know, but it's the NHL. One goal lead is insurmountable in that series. And it's been lousy for Washington because they were the second leading scoring team in the NHL in terms of goals per game during the regular season. And they can't get anything going in this series.

I wonder, I kind of wonder, I know they haven't been eliminated yet, but I'll be curious to see what Washington is like next season. Like we've seen teams find- That's a good question. You know, lightning in a bottle for a year and everyone's like, how did they, they turned it around, it's brilliant. They're just incredibly managed. Like I can't think of a team that was like that where everyone was like this this management group really figured it out

They took some chances and man, it's all come together and then like the next season it kind of falls apart I I know that doesn't happen, but I can't think of any to well that might have happened But like I don't know never heard never seen or heard of it happening before Yeah That might have happened but like I don't know never heard never seen or heard of it happening before Yeah, where I I'm very curious to see what happens with a vetchkin next year because obviously the goal-scoring chase is over Yeah, I don't know how much of the end of games you've been watching here But like Carvery doesn't play of etchkin when they are I mean they haven't been sitting on a little bit Everyone for scum stopped running like it was like he was like, I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now. Could that be Ovi? Could Ovi just go home?

Everyone was just so into him for, I mean, this year has been crazy for Ovi and it's been a terrific story. But maybe at the end of it he's like, I'm pretty tired. There's no way. I guess he could. I'm not even joking. He won't. He's got a contract. I know, but he's done what he wanted to do now. I guess he could I'm not even joking. He won't he's got a contract I know but he's done what he wanted to do now. I guess he's won a Stanley Cup He's the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer I mean this would be I mean you don't want to go out after like a meek five game loss to the

Carolina Hurricanes, but you know you can't write your own script a lot of the times okay before we go to break I want to give a quick update on the Canucks coaching search before we go to break Elliott Friedman was on with Donnie, give a quick update on the Canucks coaching search before we go to break. Elliot Friedman was on with Donnie and Dolly yesterday because it's been kind of quiet and people are asking like, where are they at? When are they going to name a new head coach? Where are they at in terms of interviews in a short list? When are they going to get to the fireworks factory? Here is Fridge with an update on when the Canucks might get to that fireworks

factory. Here's Fridge on Donnie and Dolly from yesterday. I believe they did a whole bunch of interviews last week. Malhotra's name obviously is there. Marco Sturm's name got out, and I think that's pretty legitimate. I believe that this week, the Canucks are gonna try to drop to a short list of three or four candidates.

I would think that Sturm would be on that list. I would think that Malhotra would be on that list. Um, and then probably one or two more. So, but that's why I understand the Canucks are in the process of doing. They did their larger group last week and they're going to narrow it down to three or four this week and prepare to do those interviews. So, um, at the beginning of the season, I, uh, would not have bet on me saying, I wonder if

Marco Sturm could be a good coach for the Canucks. I hadn't done any Marco Sturm research, quite frankly, in years. I hadn't thought about them. Didn't he play for the Canucks for like six games? Yes. Yes.

Good pull. Noted German, Marco Sturm. I mean, it's so crazy that he's probably gonna be an amazing coach. Six games, exactly. Marco Sturm could be the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Marco Sturm. Zero points, two penalty minutes.

He was not here for a long time, or quite frankly a good time, but he was here Um, I like how um, so you're some of the reporting on sturm has been like he's very ambitious Like he just wants to prove that he's a head coach Is he sending out resumes or something like that? Like what what does that look like? Are the are the canucks interested in marco stern because he's actually interested in them Well, he's also on he's, I can't remember if he was interviewed or the Bruins were just interested

in bringing him in for an interview, but the Bruins. Yeah, this guy keeps on sending his resume to us. Well, and he also played for the Bruins. Very good winning percentage in AHL as a head coach, by the way, every year he's gone up. It is interesting that he does. How long has he been a head coach in the AHL? Three years in the AHL.

He was four years as an assistant coach with the LA King. He's got very similar resume to Manny, actually. But he's got more head coaching experience in the AHL, he was four years as an assistant coach with the LA King. He's got a very similar resume to Manny, actually. But he's got more head coaching experience in the AHL. Two more years as an AHL head coach. 625 winning percentage with Ontario Rheinland. And he's very ambitious. He's ambitious. You could say Manny is ambitious, probably.

He does one of those things where he's like, you deliver your resume in a very creative way. Like you sneak in there. Telegram. Yeah. And the telegram says there, telegram. Yeah. And the telegram says Marco Sturm wants to be a head coach. A candy gram. That will be going from Rick Sackett to Marco Sturm.

I know a lot of the players, like they don't care as much as maybe we did about what players did in the NHL, but S talk had kind of had that presence of like, I was one of the toughest power forwards in the NHL. You are grossly underestimating Marco Sturm's playing career. Grossly underestimating. Like a seven time 20 goal scorer, almost a thousand games played. German.

Yeah. I mean, here's the player, the player coaching is, it's an interesting dynamic because everyone talks about Rick talk. It was this big, mean, tough guy. Players love him because they remember him as some of them remember him as a player and others, don't they look him up on YouTube music?

Wow, he's a nasty piece of business. 40 goals, 600 penalty minutes in a year, right? Did you just headbutt that guy? Right. I wonder if it's about the type of career that you had or that you had a career. Cause I remember a couple of people had told me that they were shocked that Travis Green had

gotten into coaching. They're like, if you watch Travis Green as a player, it was no condemnation of the way that he played, it's just, he never struck anyone as a guy that was going to get into coaching. At the end of the day was, I'm joking about this stuff because that only gets you, um, like your first day, it's like, wow, Rick Tauke, you know, or whatever.

Yeah, then you got to coach. But then you got to coach and then it's about building relationships with the players. And the players at the end of the day, they care about themselves. Yes. And hopefully they care about the team, but mostly they care about themselves and they care about their career. And, and how many times do you hear players say like, the thing I like about this coach is he showed that he actually cared. He actually cared about me. So, you know, you could be the greatest hockey

player of all time and be the head coach. If you don't care about your players, then you're not going to be successful and they're not going to respect you. Because these guys don't remember these, a lot of them anyway, right? The, you know, how many, how many Canucks watched Rick Tauke at like none, but probably what, you know, for Quinn Hughes, the guy that would loved Rick Tauke at maybe the most. Yep.

Um, it was about the working relationship. Yeah. He said, he said he got significantly better under the tutelage of talk it and foot. Yeah. I mean, that's what it was. The relationship stuff, the respect for the way that he was able to deal with players. Yes.

But in terms of just straight coaching, Hughes was pretty adamant that they made him a better player. And that's something to be said because Hughes was a pretty good player before they inherited him. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and

Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first untrusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at SandsJazzTrustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio.

Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Yeah, that was a tough one. Buck Pierce is about to join us and guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the hotline powered by Power West industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today. They keep the lights on. They sure do. In the middle of the Buck Pierce call today we're gonna be doing a giveaway for a pair of tickets to see the Who at Rogers Arena on September 23rd.

At 8.15 this morning, so don't call now, call in 13 minutes time. Caller number five at 8.15, 604-280650, that number again, 604-280650, will win a pair of tickets to see the Who at Rogers Arena on September 23rd again 8 15 this morning phone number 604 280 650 be caller number five now though we turn our attention to the aforementioned power west industries hotline bc lions head coach buck pierce joins us now on

the halferd and brough show on sportsnet 650 good morning buck how are you hey good morning i'm doing excellent how about you guys uh we good morning, I'm doing excellent. How about you guys? We are well. Thanks for taking the time to do this right ahead of today's practice, which gets underway soon. So I know you've gone through a lot of training camps before.

You've done it as a player. You've done it as a coordinator. But now, as the head coach of the BC Lions, what's it been like? How's it been different for you, this training camp as prepared to other ones, now that you're the head coach of the BC Lions? Well, yeah, you know, it is different. I have been through quite a few training

camps, you know, in my time in the CFL. Uh, but you know, obviously the head coach is a little bit different, right? It's a little bit more, you know, planning going in as a player, you know, you, you, you prepare, you know, your body, you know, to get ready to go and compete. And, uh, you know, as a coach, um, or an offensive coordinator, you know, you body, you know, to get ready to go and compete. And, you know, as a coach or an offensive coordinator, you know, you're installing plays, right? So you're going to spend the majority of the time on the offensive side of the ball.

So now, as the head coach, you know, you just kind of do a little bit here and there, you know, and just, you know, make sure everything's going smoothly, right? But, I mean, what a beautiful facility we have up here. You know, the players are excited. The energy's been great. So it's been good work so far.

So I was reading a quote that you had earlier in the week where it said, training camp isn't just about X's and O's and running plays that are drawn up on the board. It's about finding out who you are as a team and being close to your teammates. Who do the BC Lions, who do you guys wanna be this year as a team? Well, to his teammates. Who do the BC Lions, who do you guys want to be this year as a team?

Well, you know what, I think exactly that, right? I mean, you know, obviously our expectations are extremely high, you know, for this group. You know, we have some talented players, you know, we're in the process of, you know, finding out who we are, you know, and that's what training camp is for, you know, and, you know, we're looking for players, obviously, that can help us win on the field,

but are also great character guys, good locker room guys, guys that are great in the community. Those are the guys that really help you in the long haul. And the idea of becoming a team, those are the things that will withstand adversity. So I'm big on teammates, that's one of the big things. To me, one of the only motivations you should have as a player is not letting down the guy next to you. Training camp is for forming those bonds, know, where guys are here to compete,

you know, earn a job. And that's always been a part of training camp. But I also believe it's a time for us to grow together and get to know each other. How do you do that as a coach? Because you can't just be like, hey, guys, get to know each other. Like, are there things that you do?

Well, you know, I think you have to, you know, create that environment, that healthy balance of, you know,? Well, you know, I think you have to, you know, create that environment, that healthy balance of, you know, competition and, you know, allowing the players to, you know, have time with each other as well, right? I mean, you know, the great thing about coming up here to Kamloops is we're around each other all the time, right? We eat together, you know, we're at the same hotel,

the same dorm, we're in meetings at night, we're in meetings in the morning, we're at the same hotel the same dorm We're in meetings at night. We're meeting in the morning on the field together. So, you know that atmosphere You know creates itself a little bit right so the more time you spend together more you get to know each other Have you felt any nostalgia coming back to the BC Lions? What's what's new? What's the same? Like when compared to your time as a player here? Well, this is my first time coming to Kamloops. When I played, we had training camp in Chilliwack my first year in 2005, and then we were in Abbotsford. So a little bit different.

I mean, what a beautiful facility, what a great place to hold training camp. The community support's been great. Yeah, I still know a lot of people within the organization as well, so there's some familiar faces. But I do get pretty excited when I walk in in the morning and I see that BC Lions logo hanging in my locker. As a former CFL quarterback and specifically a BC Lions quarterback, how excited are you to work with Nathan Rourke? Oh, extremely excited. And Nathan's been great. Nathan's been great.

You know, all the things you hear about, you know, when you're at other places and you're watching work are, you know, spot on. So he's been good. It's been good communication. You know, extremely competitive. You know, he wants to be coached, wants to be learned, and, you know, we're excited about that. What does he need to work on? Well, I think, I think, you know,

everybody has something to work on, right? I mean, his physical tools are elite, you know, what he can do, you know, throwing the football, his leadership skills, you know, the way that do, you know, throwing the football, his leadership skills, you know, the way that he commands the huddle. I think right now it's just growing into the new offense, right, it's continuing to, you know, understand the little intricacies of what we do differently

than what he's done in the past, and being able to communicate that, you know, to the rest of the group, right? So I think, you I think with Nathan, where he's been and coming back in the middle of the season last year, he's really able to sink his teeth into this and learn it from the foundation.

Right, so I think that's the biggest jump for him right now. I'm sure you've had some conversations with Nathan about what happened last season. It was a tumultuous season just for the team. And some days it looked really good for the team and other days it didn't look good and it didn't end well. In your conversations with him, what do you think happened last season with Nathan Rourke

and how can that change this year? Well, you know what, to be honest with you, like, you know, we've discussed, you know, certain things about, you know, how things were, how things were ran, those types of things, but we don't really get into, you know, much of that. You know, we're moving forward, you know, he's moving forward, you know, and excited about the opportunity, you know, to do something this year. The quarterback position is obviously looked at and put up on a pedestal.

But the reality is we gotta build pieces around it too. Our part as coaches is to continue to make that job more manageable, easier. And that takes all of us. That's not just Nathan. What does a Buck Pierce offense look like? Well, we're going to hold our standard of things that we want to see. Right?

We want to be physical. We want to be tough. All those things. And if you're those things, if you're physical and you're tough, all those things. You know, in Kichikana, if you're those things, if you're physical and you're tough, you can be balanced, right? You know, we want to run the football. You know, that's something I've always done,

you know, wherever I've been. But also, you know, I tell the players all the time, it's up to them what it's going to look like. You know, we're in the process of training camp here, finding out, you know, what guys do well, right? And, you know, how we can utilize their strengths in different spots and different, you know, formations, all those types of things, right?

So that's what training camp's kind of for, but, you know, ultimately, you know, the players are going to, you know, build this offense, you know, based on what they can do. What did you take from your time with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers? Because as much as I would hate to admit it, they have been very successful over the last few years. Yeah, I think you take a little bit of everything. Obviously, we had some success there.

But it's a new chapter. I was fortunate enough to be there for 10 years as a coach and watched the growth throughout the years and helped get it to where it was. So obviously there's a lot of lessons there just from how we practice, how we prepare, and then just what winning football looks like, right? And what it should look like, you know?

So that's probably the biggest things I took away from that. Well, Buck, I know you got practice coming up in about 19 minutes here. So we'll let you go. Enjoy everything up in Kamloops at Hillside. It should be a good week. And happy to have you on board here.

Happy to get you on the show. Let's try and do this again as we get closer to the start of the regular season. Hey, sounds great guys. You guys enjoy your morning. Yeah, you too. Thanks Buck. That's get closer to the start of the regular season. Hey, sounds great, guys. You guys enjoy your morning. Yeah, thanks, Buck. That's Buck Pierce, head coach of the BC Lions, getting closer and closer to the start of practice. So just real quick on that note,

training camp goes all week at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops. They're going to start at 830 this morning at 930 this morning. BC Lions owner Omar Doman, he teased this on Twitter or X. I started I'm saying X more, which I don't like. That's obviously I always sound that I always sounds like I'm trying to be extreme. So, yeah, just call it. I posted on X. I know it's just like being into my subconscious.

On Twitter. OK. On Twitter last night, thank you. Amar Doman teased that at nine thirty this morning, they're going to announce the headliner for the concert series. And that's, you know, Taylor Swift. Right. So there's a miss for the first time. Eight twelve in the morning, the spoiler came series. And that's, you know. It's Taylor Swift. Right, so there's a spoiler. You missed it the first time. 812 in the morning, the spoiler came out

at 9.30's announcement. So it was 50 cent, LL Cool J. I don't know what this year's is gonna be, but again, the BC Lions owner, Mara Doman announced yesterday that they'll announce it at 9.30 this morning. Do you think they'll go country? Don't know, don't know.

I don't know if it's necessarily The genre as it is the size and scope of the artist yeah, that's the important thing right I think that you know as we get more and more as we evolve more and more as a society Cannibal Corpse or Cannibal Corpse musical genres they break down yeah, and we just understand that it's all music It doesn't matter what category you're in I mean it would be very funny for them to book a really big death metal band For the children remember what we thought it would be sweet remember when we thought 50 cent would kind of rated PG I thought you clean it up No kids learn some new words that day, but then I thought about it

It's like when they do the Flanders family will never be back to a BC I Was thinking about it at the time expect like obviously you wouldn't do that well know like when they do when you have a radio Edit that's what it means It's edited for the radio. They don't record a clean version mm-hmm so 50 cent probably only knows how to perform the song one way way yeah I don't know how to bleep it out as he's going along well just use dancers though yeah I mean they probably could have done some choreography switches it's amalterations no I'm not complaining

I thought it was awesome that they did it was legit it was like 430 in the afternoon I know it was a very it was a daytime performance you guys remember that very famous rage against the machine concert on BBC and they told them like there's no swearing yeah and they're like don't say I know it was a very it was a daytime performance you guys remember that very famous rage against the machine concert on BBC And they told them like there's no swearing. Yeah, and they're like don't say I know you say f you I won't do what you tell me about 30 times to end your song Do not do that and then they did right off the hop. Yeah, they're supposed to do frig you Yeah, I don't know what they were expecting. Well, I think they told don't perform that one song Oh, right, and they also didn't want them to be super political, but it's like it's rage against the machine

They didn't want rage against right she and to be super. I know it's like why did you book this man? Darren Drager is reporting on X. You know what it sounds like do you remember when Vince McMahon introduced the XFL? Yes Anyway, I get it posting strong indications this week, Rick Tauket will soon land another NHL head coaching job. Philly, Boston, Seattle, believed to be among the top contenders. The Flyers want to be aggressive, good fit.

So we've heard all sorts of different information, some of it contradictory. You know, there was, I saw people discussing yesterday, maybe he's just going to go back to TNT. This report suggests that he's not going to go back to TNT and he's going to be coaching. I've always thought it's going to be Philly just because. Yeah. Um, and you know, Boston. Boston's intriguing. Boston's intriguing, but look, we had this conversation with Pete Blackburn. One of Taken's big things here was like, I don't

love the middle of the ice. Yep. Where it's trending. Do you love the center position? And no, I mean, I mean. Boston is the number one problem. And Seattle, um, no Seattle, no, no, Seattle. No one's taking that job.

Well, if they, if they, if they bid it up, it would sure be interesting. If Tuckett took the Seattle job. I think Seattle's trying to make a splash. I think they've probably heard a lot of people and whether Rick talk it as a head coach would be a splash, I don't know, but the franchise has been boring. Man, even their head coaching positions, they're like, oh, okay, Bilesburg, great.

Who's the guy they had before? Dave Haxtal. Yeah, Haxtal. It's like, okay, what's interesting about these guys? The recycling program continues. Right, and the whole team is not interesting at all. So here's what I think has happened with Talkit, and Pete sort of framed it nicely.

By the way, if you want to hear Pete Blackburn's interview, our one podcast, our two's available for download, our three will be there soon. Apple, Google, wherever you get your podcasts. I think it's worth noting that Pete said, it feels like, and he got this from Freage it feels like Rick Tocket is interviewing clubs more than clubs are interviewing Rick Tocket yeah and it's because he's the belle of the ball right

now and he is to a certain degree I think you can say that while also acknowledging that he's not the greatest coach that's ever been behind an NHL bench, and he's not without flaws. He's just he's well respected, though. He's the hot candidate at the right time. And he I'll be objectively speaking, I'll be honest. He has played his cards almost perfectly, almost perfectly. He did not commit to the team that wanted him back. He probably left not on a high, but I put it this way,

if talking to come back for another year, I think even more shine would have been off than already was. I think more bloom would have been off the rose than already is. You got to put yourself in positions to succeed. He saw a robust coaching market with a lot of opportunities and he saw the only other really highly coveted candidate, Mike Sullivan, go to market and get swept up in like five days. So I think the talk it has played his cards exceptionally well. Well, we'll see until he. No, but what's the worst case scenario is he doesn't decide on a job this summer, he goes and works in television for a year, He goes back a year later. Yeah, that can be a risk though

Yeah, that's fine. But he's played it to this point. I'd say he's played it Almost perfectly because he's got teams clamoring for his services He's built up a bit of a bidding war and here's the thing if he takes the Philadelphia job Inherent in taking that job is that you are not expected to win right away. You're not. Yeah. Boston's a different scenario. Boston to me is intriguing because of the history of the franchise, the market, the fact that they do still have pasta and McAvoy and Swamen.

Now, if I was Boston, I'd be looking at the possibility of entering a rebuild because I think that they are in no man's land right now. But Sweeney and Neely have made it pretty apparent that they're gonna be aggressive and they're gonna try and build this thing back up and in a hurry, whatever the case. Part of me admires what Tauke is done on a personal level

and is happy for wherever he lands. But the other part is like, I don't really care. Like for me, the talk it chapters closed. I do out of interest though. Out of interest. Yeah. Emotionally no, but I'm just curious about it. And the funny thing is- Yeah, Whisk is over here. I'm far more interested in what the Cucks do next behind the bench because I think it's more intriguing than where Tauke ends up because the job. I think it'd be very intriguing if Tauke ends up in Philly

because. Not really, not next year. Because the Flyers, here's the thing. If Tauke goes to the playoffs, or sorry, if Tauke goes to Philly, Tauke is not a playoff coach next year, and Tauke is losing more games than he's winning next year. I'll put.

For sure? I'll put money on that. Yeah, they're bad. They're bad. And they're not gonna- There's a whole off season to change the roster. But they're not gonna do that because they're in a rebuild.

They're not gonna go out and get a real goalie and they're not gonna go out and spend big on a top six forward or center and they're not gonna get a prize. They're gonna be bad. Do you know that for sure? Yep. Do you have intel from the Flyers organization?

They're gonna be bad. I'm just telling you they're gonna be bad. Right. I mean, I could see that. I'm just telling you they're going to be bad. Right. I mean, I could see that. I could see next year being about, OK, you bring in the Tauke culture. Yeah. And he talks about eating elephants

and all that sort of thing. And he teaches them how to play structural hockey. And then maybe you make your moves after that. But I also know that a lot of organizations don't really act that patiently. They're like, if we're bringing in Rick Tauke as the head coach and we're paying him, I don't know, top dollar for a coach, we want

results and we want them pretty quick. And the Friars have been out of the picture in Philly for long enough, I think, for that organization. I realized that they've got the roster that they do. Yeah, their roster stinks. Yeah, but look at the Canucks roster, man. It's not much better.

But that's not what I'm talking about. But talk is not coaching here. I know. Talk is coaching maybe in Philadelphia. Yeah, but the management here is saying, we expect to be in the playoffs next season. Yeah, but that's not what I'm talking, I'm not talking about that, right?

I'm talking about, if he goes to Philly, they're gonna be bad. In Vancouver, whoever the next head coach is, I think it's a far more interesting dynamic because of the types of coaches that they're targeting, what they're inheriting and what the pressure is going to be and their crazy expectations because they've got Queen Hughes still. Yeah. And there's that. That's not that dynamic doesn't exist in Philadelphia.

Quite frankly, it doesn't exist in 31 other NHL markets. That there's this impetus to be good with a very imperfect roster because you don't want to lose your franchise defenseman. The pressure that that puts on a coach coming in is high. And you're also seemingly trusting it to a guy that does. Right now, if you're going to say that the clubhouse leaders are, let's just say Manny Malhotra and Marco Sturm for sake of what's out there and reporting. Neither of them has a single game of NHL head coaching experience on their resume.

Never coached a game in the NHL before. Both are similar playing profiles, played close to a thousand games in the league, well respected for what they did during their time, but they to a thousand games in the league, well respected for what they did during their time. But they've been assistant coaches in the NHL and very brief 10 years as head coaches in the American league, which we know is a different beast. How much do you think Taket's decision to leave Vancouver and go to a new team, do you think it was influenced at all just by the short nature of coaching stints and how much coaching life a coach has in the modern day NHL, which is like two years.

So if you go to a new team, you're like, okay, we start the clock again, right? Because if Taka had signed a lengthy extension with the Canucks, let's say you got five years and then he comes back next season and things aren't good. Right? Like that's a tough situation to be in. You get so much more grace in your first year.

You know what I. As a head coach. I'll use a poker analogy for target, which is fitting because I think I've heard you like poker. You know, when you try and like figure out the pot odds, that's like the potential reward as opposed to the risk of like calling a bet or whatever. Yeah.

I think that's what he did looking at the Canucks job as opposed to anything else. Yeah. You know, people, people still ask me and they're like, why did he leave? And I'm like, dude, take your pick. Yeah. And, and, and, you know, maybe it's, he doesn't

expect Quinn Hughes to resign. Maybe he looks down the middle and he sees it's tough. The challenges of fixing it at this offseason, so much is dependent on number one, Petey bouncing back, number two, finding another center in a trade. their center in a trade. And then you go to just like the vibe and you go to the lack of a practice facility. Yep. And there's also, and again, I keep coming back to this and if he takes the Philly job, I'm going to

be really curious to see how excited he is. He might not take the Philly job and I could be totally wrong about this, but I still feel like when Torz was fired and when I was like, oh, the Flyers are going to need a new head coach, that must have perked his attention and be like, oh, I can go back to Philly. And the thing that informed me is just how the

Canucks reacted. They were very frustrated with the speculation about Tauket going to Philly. Very. And not just from the local market, but from the national market in Canada and the United States, all this talk about, oh, Tocket going to Philly makes sense.

That's when they started saying, we're going to wield that option. Right? They were like, no, no, no, he's ours. And then eventually they realized, okay, well that's probably not the smartest thing to do because we don't really want to have a head coach here that doesn't want to be here. And they said that.

And so to me, Philly is the obvious choice here. I agree with you. The question that I can't answer is why hasn't it been done yet then? Maybe he's negotiating, man. Maybe he's feeling a bunch of offers. I mean, we're saying that- He's trying to get his price up. Yeah, but if he wants to be in Philly and Philly wants him, why isn't it done yet?

That's the puzzling one to me. Maybe he wants to go do the TNT thing for a minute. When Sullivan got fired from Pittsburgh, it became pretty apparent right away that the Rangers wanted Sullivan and Sullivan wanted the Rangers. Bang, deal's done, right? Real quick. And now you look at it, Anaheim filled their vacancy, Quenville. And now I know that there's other vacancies across the league, right?

As a reminder, you still got Boston, you still got Chicago, Vancouver, Seattle, Pittsburgh. So there are vacancies there and there might be more. Who knows? LA might still come available. But what I'm saying is if it felt and seemed like that much of a layup, but the layup hasn't been made yet, I just keep coming back to the Y. And that's, I mean, Drager's reporting that it's probably going to be one of those three teams this week, but Philly, Boston or Seattle. Yeah. So we'll see.

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