Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 6/24/25

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the Abbotsford Canucks winning the Calder Cup, they talk the latest BC Lions news with analyst Giulio Caravatta, plus the boys tell us what they learned. 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-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Hey Canucks Nation, are you ready for this? History has been made! For the first time in franchise history, the Abbotsford Canucks are Culver Cup Champions! Well, there goes number 32. Calarale annihilates another one. Big Dumper is objectively a very funny nickname. Yeah, it's good. It's awesome. You think he'll say that on his coffin? Good morning, Vancouver! 601 on a Tuesday!

Happy Tuesday, everybody! It is Halford and his bruv at Esportsnet 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. Hello, hello.

Haliforne, brother of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour 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 metal recycling they recycle you get paid Visit them 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Hey, you know what? It's gonna read on my coffin

What we are coming to you live from the kintex studio kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step How much would they pay you for that? It's gonna be a lot to carve into the wood my coffins gonna say Why are you looking at this? This is buried under the ground? We got a lot to get into on the program today on a Tuesday guest list today begins at 630 Greg Wyshinski from ESPN our NHL insider is gonna join the program He's got a big expansive article up on ESPN right now about all the draft buzz leading up to Fridays NHL entry draft from Los Angeles. Wish also caught the ire of Oilers fans online by suggesting their prospect pool isn't deep and then Wish got into some old school online arguing. We'll

talk to him about all that at 630, seven o'clock. Kevin Kers, our good buddy flyers reporter from the Athletic is going to join us. Philly made waves yesterday by requiring Trevor's egress from the Anaheim ducks. Kev wrote yesterday that quote, the pivot on the flyers rebuild has officially begun. Ooh. We'll ask him what's next for Philly and GM Danny Breyer in the wake of acquiring Trevor's egress. That's at seven o'clock seven 30 lead singer of corn, Jonathan Davis. Also That was him. Also a host of a serious XM NHL radio. We'll get the Zegras trade details from the Anaheim side of things. Can also check in on the Los

Angeles Kings as well. See what their new GM Ken Holland. Remember that they hired Ken Holland what he has up his sleeve heading into the summer that's gonna be at 730 8 o'clock julio caraveta is gonna join the program BC Lions color analyst the Lions are back in action this Saturday June 28th with a 4 p.m Kickoff at mosaic stadium against the Rough Riders will Nathan Rourke be under center on Saturday if not What can realistically be expected of Jeremiah Missoli, assuming he starts for a second straight week. Finally, a question to all of our listeners out there. Have you bought your tickets for the sports net six 50 J's care 50 50

for challenger baseball yet? Uh, if you haven't buy them now, go to J's care golf.raffle nexus.com. I repeat J's care golf.RaffleNexus.com. I repeat JaysCareGolf.RaffleNexus.com. Buy tickets. It's the chance to win money. Supported by Tiltown. Proudly Canadian owned and operated since 1971. You also get to help out a great endeavor in challenger baseball as well. So do it right now. JaysCareGolf.RaffleNexus.com. Working in reverse on the guest list. Eight o'clock it's Julio Caravetta. Seven 30 Jonathan Davis, seven o'clock Kevin Kers, six 30 Greg Wyshinski. That's what's happening on the show today. Lattie.

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'm We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

For the first time in franchise history, the Abbotsford Canucks are Calder Cup champions. They wrapped up their first AHL title last night with a comeback three to win over the Charlotte checkers at Bojangles Coliseum, Linus Carlson with the game winner and his AHL best 14th goal of the post season. Artie Siloves was named the Jack A. Butterfield trophy winner for playoffs MVP. And the Canucks, yes, the Canucks have won a title. Jason, congrats to the Abbotsford Canucks. Your 2025 Calder Cup champs.

Oh, I know I'm a little bit tired this morning. I didn't get much sleep because I drove out to Abbotsford last night to honk some horns at the West Oaks shopping center. You were there too? Yeah, yeah. It was, it was a lot of fun. It was cool seeing social media, um, fans in

Abbotsford and, uh. Seven Oaks, but that's fine. Oh, okay. Someone said, someone said West Oaks on the actual, uh, social media. I thought it was, thought it was, that didn't sound right. Anyway, there are a lot of Oaks there. Some of them in the West.

Some have seven. Some of them seven. Anyway, good for a lot of Oaks there. Some of them in the West, some have seven, some of them seven. Anyway, good for Abbotsford. Uh, obviously all the players and the coaching staff and the Canucks organization as a whole, but also the people of Abbotsford and the people that have been going to these games. Uh, I know they didn't get it done in Abbotsford, but they got it done eventually. in Abbotsford, but they got it done eventually.

And it's cool to see the community spirit around an AHL team. And when the AHL originally went to Abbotsford, it was the Calgary Flames farm team. And I think a lot of us were like, what are we going to celebrate at Calgary Flames team? Are we going to support them? It was just a weird dynamic. So when they moved, this was the dream.

This was the dream when they moved the farm team from Utica to Abbotsford. And it really hasn't taken long for that dream to be realized. They haven't been in Abbotsford all that long. And for the most part, they've been a very successful organization. There have been some times when attendance waned a little bit. And I think, I hope the season ticket holder list grows for next season.

I hope people really enjoyed the hockey this year and want to enjoy more of it. If you look at the AHL attendance, the average attendance, Abbotsford's not exactly at the top of the list. So hopefully that changes going forward. It's just nice to get a title. Yep. It's nice to get a title. Astel just texted me, by the way, he is up right now and listening to the show.

So I'm not surprised. I don't think I don't think Brian Astle is going to sleep for about a week based on what I saw on social media yesterday. If one guy was buzzing more than anyone else, it was the play by play voice of those Abbotsford Canucks. So a couple of news and notes to pass along from that yesterday. There is a West Oaks mall in Abbotsford. Yeah, that's what one texter texted in.

Oh, okay. Yeah, and then another one texted in, West Oak, isn't it seven Oaks? And then someone finally put it together that they have both. Why is everything named Oaks, Abbotsford? We'll never know. A couple of- Did they have to decide? It everything named Oak? Sabbathsford will never know. I couple of them. Did they have to decide as like, which one are we going to?

The answer was both. So kudos in order for a bunch of different people. Let's start with the coach of the team, at least for now, Manny Melhotra, the first rookie head coach to win a Calder Cup. Since Jeff Blaschel did all the way back 13 years ago for Grand Rapids. And Jeff Blaschel went on to coach not one, but a couple of NHL teams. Be very interesting to see what happens with Manny Malhotra next because his coaching star has risen to great heights.

Should also point out that Manny becomes the 19th person in history to win a Calder cup, both as a player and as a head coach. I got a little bit of audio here from Manny yesterday. This was his post game walk off interview with Lindsay Horsting, formerly of sports net six 50 talking about the team itself. And you know, you get these questions in the aftermath and you're running through your answers because you kind of want to go party with the guys but Manny actually takes a pause here when she asks about the belief in the room and really gives it a moment here to think about what they

built in Abbotsford over the course of this year. It's a brief clip but I thought it was a good one. Here's Manny Malhotra after the Abbotsford Canucks captured the 2025 Calder Cup Championship. What's the belief like in the room? Far greater than I ever could have thought a team could have. Um, they all believe in one another. They believe in our system. They believe in the culture that they've built. Uh, and that's the main reason that, uh, we're called a cup champions. Well, you won the Calder 25 years ago as a player, and now you've won as a coach.

How special is this moment? Extremely special. Obviously a different feeling as a coach. But to watch the journey of this team throughout the course of the year and watch them grow as players and watch us grow as a team it's such an unbelievable feeling as a coach.

The other big reason that the Abbots for Connects were able to win this was in net. we mentioned that already Seal of one the playoff MVP the numbers that he put up through over the course of this playoffs are eye-popping a 201 goals against average which we all know is the most important goalie stat goals against 931 save percentage over 24 starts and five shutouts along the way including 28 in percentage over 24 starts and five shutouts along the way, including 28 in last night's game six victory,

a game in which Abbotsford trailed to nothing early. And then they and Artie Sealov slammed the door shut. Sealov tied an American hockey league record for wins in a single post season. It was a remarkable run for him. I think early on, he staked a claim to being their most valuable player with the work that he did early in these playoffs and that continued on to the point where even with Linus Carlsen's heroics and the amount of goals that he put up, there was really no question about who the playoff MVP was going to be at the end of this. If

Abbotsford did win, it's a great thing for Seeloff's. I know we've mentioned it countless times on this program about how difficult a year was for him professionally, especially early on becoming virtually unplayable in Vancouver being demoted to that sort of you know Neverland where you're the third goalie in the organization which means you're not really playing at the NHL level and you're not playing enough at the American League level for him to be able to turn this around and still at a relatively young age, it's a great thing. I don't know what it means long-term for Seal off. So he's still got two pretty big roadblocks organizationally in Thatcher,

Demko and Kevin Lankanen. But now, but I think, but yeah, but I think we should probably ignore that at least for a day and celebrate a guy who, when faced with adversity, when faced with challenges, didn't just rise to the occasion. I think surpassed everybody's expectations. Cause this was a hell of a run for Marty C loves. Well, while we're on this, this topic of, um,

you know, turning a season around, I would say Baines deserves some kudos as well. Turning that playoff around. Man. Well, I also think, you know, he got sent down from Vancouver and I know at the time, certainly reading the Dunbar Lumber text line, not many people were too thrilled with what Baines provided the big team and I didn't think it was very good. what Baines provided the big team and I didn't think it was very good.

I thought Lienis Carlsen was the best of the callups and I thought guys like Max Sassen showed better than Baines. I don't think, Baines has had two years of getting the odd chance and each time we say, oh, maybe this will be the time and he didn't. And that can be distressing for a player. You get to the NHL, you get your chance and you're like, oh, I don't feel like I grabbed

it. The story with Baines is that, and the story that we like about Baines, he's an undrafted kid and he always just finds a way. I don't want to say I'd given up on him I'd give it up on him as an NHL player, but I kind of moved on to other guys that I was more interested in. And then Baynes, I don't know the exact story, but I don't think he was producing that much. What was it early in the playoffs? He wasn't, he wasn't producing much, just.

It was a double digit goalist route in terms of games played. He wasn't, he wasn't producing much, just. There's a double digit goalist route in terms of games played. He wasn't scoring, although his Brandon Astle, who's listening right now and shout out to Brandon, great call yesterday, by the way, pointed out that, uh, in addition to a lack of finish, there was also a lack of luck along the way. So that can also get you down.

Right. Right. And then that pass to Carlson on the winning goal was brilliant. I mean, I watched it a number of times just to appreciate it. And I'd like to ask the listeners actually, one of the things we wanted to discuss today was which member of the Abbotsford Canucks will have the best NHL career with Vancouver. So this is, this is kind of a tough one

because first you have to determine whether they have a promising NHL career ahead of them at all, and then you have to decide if it will actually be with Vancouver. So let's take you through some candidates. Sealovs. Yep. Carlson. Baines, Max Sassen, Ty Muller,

Lekkeramacky, Mancini, Kudriatsa. I'll sleep on that last one. Um, Sealovs, Lekkeramacky and Mancini have all had their names come up in trade speculation, although that's purely our speculation. I really like Carlson and I like what I hear about his work ethic and his desire to get better. I saw him interviewed last night and the one

thing that I really loved is every answer, it was thanking his teammates, it was thanking his coaching staff. It was an appreciation for some of the guys like the captain Chase Waters and Stevens that have his coaching staff. It was an appreciation for some of the guys like the captain Chase Waters and Stevens that have been there for a while. His appreciation for them wasn't about himself. It was about the team.

But all that being said, which is great for Linus Carlson, I also acknowledge that he's a 2018 draft pick while Leckar Mackie is a 2022. When Carlson was Leckar Mackie's age, Carlson was still playing over in Sweden. He's a 2018 draft pick while Lekaramaki is a 2022. When Carlson was Lekaramaki's age, Carlson was still playing over in Sweden. So each of these guys makes a Kempallen case. You know, I already talked about Bains and how he lost a bit of his developmental momentum this

season, you know, you just want to see guys, it's not going to go perfectly. Yeah. But you just want to see guys, it's not going to go perfectly. Yeah. But you just want to see you guys bounce back. Seal off, bounce back, Baines bounce back. A lot of these guys down in the AHL have faced a level of disappointment in their careers. Um, and it's nice to see them overcoming that

and just, just working, just, just work hard. I wonder if we see that line of Baines, Sassen, Carlson at training camp next season, or even in some preseason games. As for Sealoffs, they have a decision to make on whether they see him in the NHL next season. Winning the AHL MVP is going to put him on a lot of teams radars. I mean, he's got a pretty good trophy case and he's got a lot of accolades. If you want to talk about stuff outside the NHL between his international accolades and what he's

done in the American league, he's got a lot. He really struggled in the NHL early this season. He did. Yeah. And that happens to goalies sometimes. And it's going to take someone with far more, more goaltending knowledge than me. Like a grad perhaps. To determine even more. To determine whether, oh, yeah, yeah, I said Oh. I said it. Whether like- The person doesn't exist. Does this apply to the NHL? Can you, how different are the shooters in the NHL?

How different are the situations in the NHL compared to the NHL? And can you say, okay, he just played really well in the NHL. We can make you our backup for next season. That is a big, big job for a team that would be a bubble team. I mean, it's a huge job. You cannot run Lankenen or certainly Demko, but Lankenen is probably going to be the guy probably. Uh, like you can't, it was, well, especially if

Demko is traded, Lankton is going to be the guy. And you can't be like, okay, well, you have 65 starts, C-lobs you're getting, you know, 17 or whatever. No. Like C, you have to say like, okay, C-lobs, first of all, you're not going to be playing every day.

Like you were down in Abbotsford on this run, you're not going to be playing every day like you were down in Abbotsford on this run. You're not going to be playing every game. So you're going to have to get used to being a backup. Do we trust you in those situations? And I know there's a lot of excitement around C-Labs, but there was a lot of excitement around C-Labs

heading into this season because he had played, he played, he played well for Sealov's in the playoffs, but if you looked at his numbers, they weren't terrific numbers in the playoffs. So that's a very, very, very tough one because he, again, he's now on the radar of other NHL teams. That Butterfield trophy. Ah, the Butterfield.

The old Jack A Butterfield, I think that's called that. It is. That means a lot when you win it as a goalie. Sure. Especially. Some really good goalies have won that. Kerry Price won it one year. Robin Lainer won it.

A lot of goalies have actually won it. Michael Neuvert, remember him? Yep. He won it. One of my favorite old Maple Leafs, Alan Bester. Yeah. He won it going way back in the day. So there've been a lot of guys that have had

NHL careers that have won that trophy. And so the connects are really going to have to make a decision here. And then I just want one last, one last point. How about Kudriatsa rocking a plus 18 in the playoffs, Alfred? You must love that. Plus 18, you love your plus minus.

He must be the best player on the team, right? When I saw the number, I had to change my answer to the question, which member of the Abbotsford Canucks will have the best NHL career? Because if you go plus 18 in the postseason, you are on your way to superstardom, as far as I'm concerned. I, I don't, I actually, I'm really intrigued right now by, there's two positional pushes that I wonder if they'll have enough of a knock

on effect to make things happen this summer at the NHL level with regards to the trade front. The one, and we went over it pretty thoroughly is the goaltending. I'm still, I'm sorry. I know it's the morning one and we went over it pretty thoroughly is the goaltending. I'm still I'm sorry. I know it's the morning after and we should be celebrating and not looking anything glass half empty, but I'm still very hesitant and underlined very like six times, very hesitant to take this Jack, a Butterfield MVP performance and try and translate it into being a full timetime backup at the NHL level next year.

I'm just I am. Yeah, I probably saw too much last year. I saw too much. I'm too scarred. It's like seeing too many horror movies, but I Whatever. So there's one though. There is a possibility. I think it exists that Sealov's could Make something happen to force the hand of management because of how well he played. I think Kevin Woodley has done a lot of Edmonton radio lately just to talk about Demko. Right. There's a lot of Demko talk in Edmonton. There's a big debate about whether they even want them, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Because if I go back to my point yesterday and saying that you have to be open to moving

anybody on the roster and if Demko could get you a big or significant return in terms of a roster player. I think it was reported that Demco could be had the fourth period reported that Demco could be had for a young controlled forward. So if that's the case. Cost controlled. And you go with that logic and theory from yesterday that sometimes a bold move needs to be Anywhere on your lineup. Yeah, try and bring a piece in then maybe that's the one so there's the goaltending part of it The other part of it and again if you're talking about making a deal where you're gonna move something of significance

maybe you take it from the deepest part of your organization you take it from your blue line because during this run, I do I do wonder how much guys like Mancini and Kudratsev have improved their stock to the point where if you look close enough and maybe you squint a little bit, maybe you're really optimistic. You're saying maybe these guys could get fast tracked. I mean, in the case of Mancini, he has had a handful of games at the NHL level. And in the case of Kudratsev, I think at the very least, it wouldn't be,

or so it wouldn't be harmful. I think it'd be worth a look where you kind of play two games for them. Last season. Sure. But more of a look where you go kind of with the DPD approach, where we're going to give them the opportunities and we're going to put them in some positions. We're going to see how he fares. And with DPD, it worked're going to give him the opportunities and we're going to put him in some positions. We're going to see how he fares. And with DPD, it worked out because what you saw was a guy that kind of blossomed in those opportunities, right? Yep. Showed a lot of the characteristics that and some with the especially with the

fight, you didn't even know that he had. And if that is the case, maybe you get lucky and you strike gold with one of these young guys and you're able to move off another piece on your blue line. That's those are maybe the two biggest takeaways for me organizationally of what happened over this run. Is there some guys that really kick the door down in terms of where they're at in the organization? Because yes, it's an American hockey league title.

And yes, at the end of the day, it's always going to be secondary to what happens at the NHL level. But I go back to what I said earlier. When you talk about opportunities presented and giving guys prove it moments, this is the biggest one you can have at that level. They're the only guys in North America playing hockey still.

Everyone else is done for the summer. This is it. The Calder Cup was their opportunity to show, we can play at a high level. The beauty league still has to take place. Correction. There is still the beauty league going on. So you can you can look at these guys and say, Seal of Carlson, go down the list.

They got handed a great opportunity to show something where the pressure's on. And there is, you know, an impetus on winning. And they really thrived. They really thrived. This is maybe up their trade value. Good management. Be like, well, maybe a team will an impetus on winning and they really thrived they really thrived There's maybe up their trade value could management be like well Maybe a team will take a fire on C loves we could use him as a trade ship I can't see C loves having any trade value really not much. He won the MVP. Yes He did and their teams and you go to my clear waivers you guys. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah

That's goalies for you though. That's goalie of value I mean the Canucks plucked Lankan in off the unemployment line in September last year right it's just it's the nature of the goaltending position I'm not sure that anyone who saw see loves play at the NHL a lot NHL level last year Saw this run is like we're gonna give up a very you know tangible asset You might get you a fifth, or seventh round pick and return, but I don't think there's enough of value in the asset to get something really interesting in return.

And the final question in all this is, uh, what's next for Manny Malhotra? I, like things are, he could be the big winner of all of this, by the way. You know, now that the Calder cup is done, people have wondered for a while, do the Canucks have something in the drawer, a trade in the drawer that they were just waiting for the Calder Cup to be over with? We'll find out on that. Um, and people have wondered, man, why are the Dallas Stars taking so long to hire their next head coach?

Haven't they kind of. It does. They're all the guys. It, you can't ignore it. It, you can't ignore it. No, you can't. You can't. It's like, what would you be waiting for? What would you possibly be waiting for?

Do you think their AHL coach Neil Graham is like, which, which make that decision now? Let's go. He should be like, he should just fall on his sword and be like, I lost to Manny Melhocha, he deserves this. Cause he did. He bested him in the playoffs. I don't know.

In a way it makes no sense for Dallas because they've got internal candidates. You mentioned Derek Graham, but they've also got guys that have, you know, the la violettes and the galants of the world, guys that could come in and maybe just not be Peter DeBoeur. But at the same time, what young coach has had his star shine brighter than Manny has over the last three months.

Like, there's just not one around the pedigrees there. He played nearly a thousand games in the NHL. He's been behind an NHL bench twice as an assistant. Now he's gone the American League route and won a Calder Cup in his first kick of the can. Like, again, if you're talking about the next in line young, young up and coming head coach, Manny would probably be on anybody's list across the NHL just wonder if it's gonna be for Dallas you're listening to the best of Halford and brough you're listening to the best of Halford and brough In a one on a Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for net help. With over 3,000 five star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour three of the program.

Giulio Caravetta is going to join us for a little Lions talk here in a moment to kick off hour three. Hour three of this program 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. Guests on Sportsnet 650 calling 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.

We're about to set a record here on the Haliforne Brough Show. This is going to be six consecutive reads to start a segment. First I need to tell you about the BC Lions. As I mentioned earlier, biggest rivalry part of the year, Lions, Rough Riders, Saturday, July 19th at 4pm with the Watermelon Smash on on Terry Fox Plaza get your tickets at bclions.com I also need to tell you about the Vancouver Giants It's never too early to get your Vancouver Giants seasons tickets tickets started under $19 at Vancouver Giants comm Forward slash and the nizern ages in there is there yet laddie. There's what else can we add to the list?

Well, I'll tell you what our next guest comes courtesy the power west industries hotline color analyst for the BC Lions, Julio Caravada here on the Haliford and brush on sports net 650 morning, Julio. How are you? Good morning guys. I'm doing well. Thanks. So before we look ahead, we got to look back and it was a tough game for the BC Lions over the weekend and the rematch against the Winnipeg blue bombers. It was a big ask for Jeremiah Masele filling in for the injured Nathan Rourke. Just before we get going here, your thoughts on that game, the rematch and another loss to Winnipeg on Saturday.

Yeah. You know, I mean, I'm very disappointed probably. You know, I think they felt that going into that game that, uh, you know, they had the ability to beat them. I think, you know, anytime you turn the ball over four times and what was it, 17 points off four turnovers, you're not going to win that way. But I thought the defense played very, very well against a pretty good offense. I know it was Zach Kolaros's first game, but I thought they did a tremendous job against

them when you hold the blue bombers to 255 yards in that offense. They should be proud of that, but offensively, as you said, Jeremiah Masoli, he just wasn't good enough. He admitted that to us after. There's too many plays left out on the field, And you just can't do that against good teams. Julio, the Lions have Saskatchewan next in Saskatchewan. The riders are undefeated and then the following week, Montreal, in Montreal, the Alouettes are undefeated.

My next question just happens to be, when is Nathan Rourke back? Well, I mean, all eyes are going to be on practice today, right? That's, we're going to get a pretty good indication today as to whether or not he's going to be ready. But you're right, you know, it's not going to be an easy couple of weeks, easy, three weeks, really, they're on the road three weeks in a row. And that's always difficult to do. But as you said, you know, going as you said, going to win it or going to Saskatchewan where they're undefeated and then have Montreal waiting there, those are the two top teams right now. So it's not going to get any easier. And as you said, a lot of this is going to hinge on Nathan and his health and is he going to be ready to go? Because the other part of it, two guys, you just don't want to rush him back, right?

It's a long season and I know it's about winning now and you don't want to let games pass you by, but his health is obviously the number one concern. And if he needs another week to be a hundred percent, then I think that's the path that you got to take. So it'll be interesting to see what? What what what we see today? How big or tall of an ask is this for Miss Oli because it's not just coming in as the backup and a veteran guys

36 years old, but it's also replacing maybe the best throw of the football in the Canadian football. Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's tough, right? It's It's never an easy task as you said, you said, Jeremiah has been around a long time. It's his 12th season. And I think that's the kind of guy that you want coming in off the bench because of his experience and he's pretty much seen everything. And as I said, he's probably pretty disappointed about his performance and what I'm sure watching the film for him was a bit frustrating. But they've got, I think, a good combination of quarterbacks and this is why you have guys like that. If you need him, you feel comfortable bringing

him off the bench and putting him in these situations. And I think too, with a new offense, a new offense coordinator, you're going to have those, you're going to have those that, you know, feeling out process of what he does really well and what plays work for him. So I think that's only going to get better as the year progresses and Buck gets used to what he's good at. So, you know, it's a process, right? And, you know, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. So I really do have a lot of optimism for this team moving forward. As I said, they wanted to get much more physical.

I thought that they showed that, especially on defense. Sure, there are parts of their game, especially offensively, that they want to tune up, but that's part of the process. And you, hopefully, you know, you progress and you start to do, you know, you're getting better and better as the weeks progress.

Early days, small sample size and an injured starting quarterback. Take all of that into consideration but I'll still ask the question, what have you thought of the job that Buck Pierce has done early days in his BC Lions head coach era? I really like Buck. I like his style. I like his attention to detail, watching him during training camp. It's gonna take a while for the guys to kind of really settle into what his expectations are. And that's one of the things that really jumps out at me is his attention to detail, right?

He demands, especially in practice, that the practice is performed at a much higher level because he really believes in that carrying over to the game. So, you know, what you're doing in practice is really going to be an indicator of what it's going to be like in a game. So I know that he really pushes his team in practice to really, really hone in on the details of what's being asked. And again, that's a process, right? So, Bucs, a former player, he was a very successful player. His coaching resume speaks for itself. He was very, very successful in Winnipeg.

And I have no doubt that he is gonna be successful as a head coach. I know that just talking to the guys each week, how much they enjoy playing for him and how much, you know, he understands the players perspective, but he also is pushing them to be a little bit more. And that's, that's what you want. So we're talking to a former quarterback. The team is coached by a former quarterback. Let's say that this weekend's game, if Missoula does get the start and it sounds like it might end up being that way

if they don't want to rush Nathan Rourke back, do they need to look at the possibility of bringing Chase Bryson and seeing what he can do if you get another similar look on offense like you did against Rameg? I agree with that, right? I mean, Chase has been here for a few years now, right? And you need to know for a young quarterback

what you're getting, especially, it's one thing to do things in practice, but again, a completely different thing to do them in a game. And you need to, you need to know that. Right. So here's the thing though, too, right? I mean, Buck, I think, you know, you see the, you know, you're seeing him all the time. If you're Buck Pierce, right, you're around him. You understand, you know, what kind of player he is, what you're getting at practice, what, how he preps for games, all those kinds of things. So, you know, they have to find out whether or not he's going to be able to do it in the game. And, and, and, you know,

Chase did a good job when he did get his limited opportunities last year. But you know what you're going to get from Jeremiah, right? That's, he's been around the league a long time with Chase. You're not 100 percent sure maybe you need to find out in game. So I'm with you. If you do get a situation where you want to say hey we need to find out whether or not this guy can play to have some situations maybe where he does go in the game and have a few series. But again that's that's Bucks decision and but they need to find out whether or not Chase is going to be the guy moving forward. The Lions are back in action this Saturday, June 28th, a 4pm kickoff at Mosaic Stadium against the Rough Riders. Julio will be on the call.

Julio, have a good call this weekend. Hopefully it goes a little bit better for the Lions than it did last weekend and we will do this again soon. Thanks for doing this. Thanks. Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. Have a great day. You too. Thanks.

That's Giulio Caravetta, BC Lions color analyst here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. It's funny when he said at the end there, he's like, you know what you're going to get with Jeremiah? And I was like, yeah, that might be why you go to a different option. And this is medicine or something else. I hate being snarky about this particular situation

because when the ask is beyond where the player is at or what the player can give you, it's not fair to the player. And like, again, Masoli was victim of one of the dirtiest hits in league history that forever altered his health and his career. And he's probably a lot closer to the coaching phase of his career than he is the effective player part of his career. But he's still on the roster. He's still the back. Why is he out there still on the roster, he's still the back one.

Why is he out there? Still on the roster, he's still out there. Why is he out there? Because the CFL doesn't have a lot of quarterbacking depth right now. Unfortunately. People would argue with that. What?

That fact. They came in crowing about the quarterback depth in the CFL this season. Okay. And I was like, a lot of old guys though. A lot of old guys. I don't think that the the crowing was anything more than people talking themselves into what they thought they had.

The reality is the product on the field. Yeah. And it's I mean, again, we had this conversation yesterday. We don't need to rehash the whole thing. But for what was once known as a pass happy and exciting passing league, it's not that anymore. I mean, even if you go back to the opener where Trey Ford came in, I'm not going to talk

about Rorke because Rorke was very good throwing the ball in the second half of that game, but Trey Ford at quarterback, who's supposed to be one of the young promising, you know, throwers in the league. Not, not, not good. No. And I know.

He's incredibly mobile. I know it's. Fun to watch. I know it's early days and I know that this will probably get ironed out as the season goes along. But I mean, even if you look at Kalaros, who's, you know, one of the more established veteran, the established veteran signal caller in the league.

I mean, it's not super pretty often. Okay. Show us what we learned. Let's do some what we learned. I learned that Gavin McKenna has a choice, but it's not about whether to stay in the CHL or go to the NCAA because it sounds like that choice has already been made.

Uh, according to Elliot Friedman, it's between playing at Penn State next season or Michigan State. Ooh. And I'm not going to sit here and be like, hey, you should go to Penn State because I don't care. Sure. But this whole scenario that's been opened up with CHL players allowing to play in the CHL first, which is the WHL or HL or QMJHL, and then still go to the NCAA is changing a lot of things. Change the game.

And, um, you know, it makes sense for a guy like Gavin McKenna, who probably doesn't have much more to prove in the WHL. If he goes to college, you're going to be playing against bigger, stronger, more mature players. So are you suggesting. It's a stepping stone towards playing professional hockey in the NHL.

And here's something else that is getting brought up more and more. Well, there's two things. One is the NIL. So name and image likeness. Now it's a little complicated when you're a Canadian going down to play in the United States because you're on a student visa, so you're not on a work

visa. So, but there are workarounds, like you can go home to Canada and do a social media post and be like, that's some money right there. And they go back to the United States. There are workarounds. So Gavin McKenna, if he goes down to the States, they're going to find a way to pay him to do it somehow. I don't know how much he's going to make, but he's going to make some money. The other thing too, have you ever seen some of the facilities at these big colleges? I'm curious, I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious.

I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious.

I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious.

I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm curious, I'm curious. I'm college, it's amazing. I don't know if the hockey players ever have to share the facilities with any of the other athletes. Like I don't know, I mean, there might be situations, but like some of those facilities, like Terry Pagula funded Penn State hockey essentially. That's right. And they've gone from, I think they were playing

club hockey not too long ago to them being a powerhouse. Yeah, they're a big program now. In college hockey. They wouldn't even be in this discussion for McKenna 10 years ago. Yeah. Like it would have been North Dakota, Michigan State, boom, boom, boom. Michigan.

Penn State wouldn't even have even entered the conversation. Yeah. So that's the other thing that's interesting about this is that the star players in the CHL who will go into the CHL when they're, I mean, sometimes when they're 15 or whatever, and become star players like McKenna. McKenna is still only 17.

Right. Now he's got this choice, I guess, especially the younger ones, because like McKenna, you would think is going to go straight into the NHL after he's drafted. But I guess the lesser stars, maybe the guys that aren't ready to play in the NHL at 18, but there's still star players in the CHL, they're probably going to be like,

well, yeah, I want to go to the NCAA because then I can make my decision. I'm not going to get sent back to the CHL. At the very least, I can maybe play in the AHL, like it's professional hockey. The late birthday guys. Yeah, it's- They're all going to be going to college. They're all going to be going to college. Yeah.

So where does this leave the CHL in terms of star power? Because it's a lot of those guys that aren't necessarily the first overall pick, but maybe you're the sixth or the seventh overall pick and you get to your first NHL training camp and you're like, we like you a lot. You're a good player, but you got to go back to the CHL because you can't go to the AHL. Those are the star players at the CHL level. Those are the guys that you win Memorial Cups with, but those guys are now are

going to be like, I'm going to go to the NCAA actually. For numerous reasons. First of all, I can make some money, but I don't even think it's mostly about that. I think it's about seeing the NCAA as maybe a bit of a step above in terms of the maturity of the players. You know, you hear all the, and it's very uncomfortable. It's like, we want them to go play with men. Men.

Right? You know, in NCAA, there's 24 year olds. 23 year old forward with two kids playing for Michigan Tech. Yeah. You know he's hungry to play. But also the facilities. Yeah. Like is the CHL gonna be forced to either pay the players,

Yep. Or really, really invest in their facilities. Or both. Or both. Yeah. To the point where they're like, you know, I think would the London Knights be the best example? Sure, probably. How different is playing for the London Knights compared to playing for, I don't know, Swift Current?

Well, can I give you another example of that? Yeah, sure. I've dealt a lot in the BCHL. So I've talked to players that chose the BCHL for college reasons before this WHL even opened up. So these guys were hell bent on going to college to begin with, even when the WHL was an option. And they spoke a lot about the environment.

They go to visit these campuses. They're gonna be the big dog on campus. They get to play better quality hockey and they just, they look at the environment of the arenas during these games. You got the band playing, you got the, you know, your, your classmates in the building. Like that.

How about the sorority party on the weekends? It's a huge, huge draw to these kids. Yeah, it looked fun. It looks amazingly fun. You want to go play for Brandon, the Weak Kings? Or you wanna go to North Dakota? We've got a 36 hour bus ride coming up. Right?

Like it's a huge, this is something the CHL needs to think about. This is your competitor now. Well, it's fun. And this is what you're up against. It's funny because this is also, from the basketball landscape, this is also crushing European, the basketball academy.

So I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but NCAA programs now are littered with European players. And what they've done is they've said, instead of playing for partisan Belgrade or Barcelona, all these like. Panathinaikos. Right, all these really big basketball academy, I've seen them.

They don't have the greatest facilities. It's not the most glamorous lifestyle playing for the Pan panathenaicos You 19 team these guys go and they they're like, yeah, I'm gonna go to the US. I'm gonna play for one of these programs I don't like it. I can bounce around because I answer enter the transfer portal every year And and these European basketball academies which kind of the bedrock of them was they would find young players and they'd Bring them up through the academy to their first team and then they'd go to the NBA.

Now they're not even doing that. So they're training these academy kids and they're not getting to the first team. They're going to the US and they're saying like, we can't compete with the NCAA right now because hockey's doing it too. The players can get paid, it's a better environment, there's fewer games, there's less travel,

there's less responsibilities. You're still technically a student because you have to go to school, but you're also getting paid to be a student athlete. It's just, you're way better. You're going to the continent. It's only Arizona State. Don't worry about it.

Going to the continent and playing in front of scouts that are going to be drafting you hopefully if you're a NBA hopeful. Like here's the thing, when it's like McKenna, theoretically speaking, he doesn't really even need to choose between Penn State and Michigan State because he can spend one year at one. And then if he doesn't like it,

he just enters the transfer world. Oh, he's going to it. He's going to it. But I'm just saying, let's say something happened. He suffered an injury or I don't know, whatever. I'm just saying, he can do whatever he- He really likes his teachers. He can do, but here's the thing, yeah, right.

He got a bad report card. He can do whatever. I like his teachers. He can do, but here's the thing. Yeah, right. He got a bad report card. He can do whatever he wants. Yeah. Basketball Phil, who's the biggest Gonzaga fan that listens to the show, at least. Yeah. Text in and said, the Zags just got a kid from Spain and they already have a kid from Italy.

I did some. And Gonzaga is a program that has recruited a lot from Canada. I've, I did some thorough research and then I read one article from the athletic, but I know that this is, it's a problem right now because everyone is saying it's almost regardless of sport, they're like, what the NCAA athletics has

done is created a almost unfair advantage. And you know what, when it really started happening was when kids started bypassing college and college athletics. I think there was a real, they're like, we can't let this happen. Our institutions are going to die. So the CHL and the BCHL and all these leagues, junior leagues in Canada and the United States

need to answer one question. Like what is, what is the draw? Because the CHL, the draw used to be like, look at all the great players that have played here, follow their path. Well, it was also, this is the best league you can play in. Yeah. Which isn't correct anymore. That's not an answer anymore.

I mean, it might be as a 16 year old. Because it's your only option. Because it's your only option. College isn't an option yet. But the BCHL, it used to be, well, come play for the BCHL because if you go to the CHL, then you are ineligible to go to the NCAA. So that was the calling card for them.

So those leagues need to determine, and it can't be spin, they really have to believe it. There's no work around. And so they're going to need to work. And maybe it's paying the players, maybe it's really investing in the facilities, but they are up against an absolute monster in the NCAA. There is a culture down in the United States of

supporting your college and university through massive donations that we don't really have in Canada. And it's why all these facilities are there. And also the meteorite steals that they sign to broadcast, well, football and basketball to a certain degree, baseball and hockey. But they have a lot of money to

throw around and they throw it around. Give us a moocow on the segment. Hey, before we go to break, I'm just going to put this out there. There's some rumblings online right now that Carolina may have traded for Tomas Hurtle out of Vegas. Cam Robinson tweeting. There's also an agent from BPM Sports that put it out there and said he may have pulled the trigger too quickly on Confirmation, but it sounds like that is in the works well Vegas the they're the biggest

X-account Twitter account you saw that too. Yeah had I mean I have to speak internet ease here it just had It tweeted out good morning and a waving. And a waving hand. And a waving hand. What could it mean? Marner. I wonder if that's phase two. I have wondered.

Well yeah, they're trading hurdle to get the cap space to get Marner. I have wondered if Marner's rights are going to get traded. Not because Toronto is dying to monetize whatever they can get for Marner. But if one of these teams like Vegas would go to Toronto and say, we want to talk to them now. I know he's got this plan to go talk to a bunch of teams, but what you can do sometimes in these situations would be like, Mitchy, Mitchy, Mitchy, here's the offer.

This offer is on the table until July 1st. We don't want you talking to anyone else. You make the decision in these next few days while we have exclusive rights to you and you either say yes or no to the Vegas Golden Knights. Now you can always go back on that and it hits July 1st and just kidding, you can still sign with us, but that would be the idea behind trading for Mitch Barner's rights in a landscape where there are very, very few elite unrestricted free agents. I've wondered if that might happen. I'm not saying this is definitely going to happen, but I do wonder. Okay. So again, we've got no- I guess it's like, I may have committed some light tampering.

We've got no- No, it's not tampering if you trade for his rights. Do you remember Dan Hamley's rights got traded around a bunch before he signed with the Canucks? Philly had him for a bit. Okay, so- And that was back when free agents actually were like, no, I'd prefer to go to Vancouver. Let's frame this properly as a functional organization. We're not doing anything libelous or slanderous.

There are reports, rumors, rumblings out there that Tomas Hurtle may be on his way out of Vegas and potentially on his way to Carolina. We will wait to try and get some confirmation on this. Here's what we know about Hurtle. He's in the fourth of an eight year deal that pays 8.1 million annually and he does have a no movement clause.

I think it's a three team approved list so very narrow But those things are always Negotiable and they always thought it was overrated Hurricanes fans like well. We're not getting the Marner But we're getting Thomas hurdle. Maybe injury on who knows to be in Carolina We have no idea what's gonna happen here everything is still very much up in the air I kind of agree with bruff he was a tad overrated He didn't have a bad year last year, though. 61 points, 32 goals in 73 games.

Nothing to sniff at for eight million with a raising cap. That's fine. We don't know what's going on yet, though. It's out there. Silly season may be upon us. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.