Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 7/10/25

Episode Date: July 10, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the Canucks signing their first round draft pick Braeden Cootes to an entry-level contract yesterday, they speak with ESPN boxing writer Mark Kriegel about his new book, "Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson", plus they chat with former 'Nucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis on his induction into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame. 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 Half there and that's the ball game. The Blue Jays fall to the White Sox 2-1 here this afternoon as their 10-game winning streak comes to an end. And there it is, the killer touch from Djokovic. And Cavalli's magical run comes to an end on center court, beaten by his idol. And Djokovic once more, beaten in one set, but unbowed in the match. Center court is his again. Super cool, but yeah, I know a lot of people out here in Vancouver. I spent a year here playing hockey when I was younger,

so I have lots of friends here and people I know, so yeah, just super excited. Good morning Vancouver, 6 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody, it is Halford, it is Ralph, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And producer Elon, good morning to you as well. We are gonna begin yet again with another signing from the Vancouver Canucks, this time an entry level deal for the 15th overall pick in this year's draft. Braden Coots has signed his three year entry level contract with the Vancouver Canucks. The 18 year old, of course, finished last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, where he was the captain. He went to the development camp

out at UBC shortly after getting drafted and now he has signed his ELC with the Vancouver Canucks. You know, it's funny, now that he signed his ELC, he can't go to the NCAA. Yeah. Like this is something that we monitor now. It was the first thing that I thought about when I heard his name and then I'm like, wait,

he's a professional now. He signed his entry level deal. Yeah, can't go. No college hockey for him. So he'll go back to the T-Birds or... or... okay is this a conversation that that we need to have or is this is this is this ridiculous is there a chance? Is this July 10th reach conversation? I think it might be, but. Let's have it anyway. But let's have it anyway. Is there a chance he sees some games

with the Canucks this season just because he's a center? And the Canucks right now don't have the most depth down the middle. A lot of people have penciled in Autu Ratu into the lineup. What if he outplays a guy like Ratu? What if for some reason the Canucks trade Teddy Bluger before actually getting another center in? Is it worth having the conversation

or is this just, he's the 15th overall pick guys He's not gonna be in the NHL next season or do we at least say like well Maybe he'll play like up to nine games or something like that It's been a while for the Canucks since there's been one of those conversations. The only reason it's a viable conversation I think is because there is a bit of Recent historical context that we at least need to consider when it comes to Braden Coots. Last year, Philadelphia with the 13th overall pick took Jet Lachenko and that's two spots

off where the Canucks took Braden Coots this year. Lachenko came in kind of did the same thing, went to their development camp, showed out very well. They were very keen to get them locked up to his ELC. Then he went to training camp and he showed very well again. And then he played some exhibition games and showed well again. And he ended up playing four games at the start of the regular season. One of them was against the Vancouver Cuccos, if I'm not mistaken, very early in the year.

And it was a again, Lachenko, also a center. It was on a Philadelphia team that didn't have a ton of depth down the middle. Now Philadelphia ended up being a worse team than the Vancouver Canucks last year, although and Luchenko didn't last. Luchenko lasted a grand total of four games, but there was a few things there. One the opportunity presented itself because of the lack of depth that the Flyers had down the middle. Two, they wanted to reward the player and also they wanted to give them that taste

of what it's like to be a professional as quickly as possible to maybe try and expedite things. I don't know if the connects are in the same sort of expedition era. I don't think so. Like, you know, they've also got, even if there's an injury in camp, you know, they've also got, even if there's an injury in camp, you know, they've also got a guy like Max Sassen

or Linus Carlsen play the middle in a pinch, but I don't know, it's worth bringing up, I think. Maybe more importantly, is this, you know how we were talking about Gary Lupel yesterday? Yes. Okay, so Lupel yesterday? Yes. Okay. So Lupel was the first guy that I ever heard when he had the puck, you do the ooh, and then the Canucks of course had Luongo.

Now they haven't done it with Hughes, but that's a little bit different, right? It's not a pure ooh. Right. Coots is a pure ooh. He does have the double O's in is is is he gonna get that treatment Does does does he see some games because of that do you think? Yeah, your name is really channeble marketing wants to get you in here sells tickets. Yeah Yeah, like how many how many guys have the Canucks but it could also be jeers like cooties if he's in a no

No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just saying you run that risk though. Yes, the classic cooties jeer. Yeah, exactly. OK. What if he starts playing really well for us and then he goes to an away arena and gets scarred because of that? So you've got to protect the player sometimes, too.

Why do you ruin every first segment on the show? That wasn't a bad thing. That was a good play on that bit. He didn't think about it. What about the inverse? Yeah, exactly. No, we didn't even get started on the on the first part though before you jumped in and Ruined it. I'm excited to have a new ooh

I know on the Canucks right lots of people are weighing in with this exact take which is very troubling but also You know, there's there is You're you were asking who the last one was right? Who would have been the last one was a long. Oh, yeah. Must have been Lou. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then who else have who else have they had in their history? I think about Gary Lupel, Loups, Lou and Coots, Cooter, Bradys. No. OK. Cootsie.

Is it going to be Cootsie? Anyway, honest on a more serious note, if you start to squint and look at it from a distance connects prospect pool half bad all of a sudden It does say something when you make one 15th overall pick and it you know I don't want to say drastically improves your depth in terms of actually see games next year though Like is he actually that I can't see it like we just we just talked about games next year though like is he actually that I can't see it like we just we just talked about

There's the only the only way that he would really is at the beginning of the season yeah, so I Tend to doubt it, but with the connect situation down the middle We'll have to wait and see okay. What else happened yesterday I do want to turn our attention now to the hockey, the, or sorry, the hockey, the soccer. So yesterday there was a bunch of games in the Canadian championship. So this competition, for those that don't know, has been dominated by your Vancouver Whitecaps for the last three years.

They are the Canadian champions, three years running, and that is how they qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, the Champions Cup, which they went to the final two and lost to Cruz Azul. They're back at it this time and it was a really, really unimpressive but narrow victory yesterday against CPL side Valor. 2-1 victory for the Vancouver Whitecaps late yesterday.

We've got audio of the match winning goal. The Norwegian defender Bjorn Utvik at the death. Here he is climbing the ladder to go up and head home to put Valor down. Whitecaps win two one. Here's what it sounded like late from Bjorn Utvik. Preso. Nelson.

Nelson's ball. It's up, eight it's in. Bjorn Utvik with the second header this time as the 90th expires. So the interesting thing here isn't necessarily the Vancouver moved on because they were heavy favorites and they managed to, again, despite a pretty underwhelming performance, Jaden Nelson in his walk off interview yesterday said, we made that way harder than we needed to. And he's right. They absolutely did. But the interesting thing now is the whitecaps go into the final for the

semifinals of this competition as the only MLS team remaining. They better win this again. And it's interesting that they could host a final against Vancouver. Yes. So, Vancouver, there was a, there was a, there was a new draw. Yeah. Which caught everyone by surprise.

I was like, wait a minute, there's a draw here? This, I love this. It looks like I was looking at the bracket and the bracket said this. So I love this competition because everyone finds out about what's next. The moment before it happens. So in, in earlier stages of the Canadian championship, there was a match, I believe it was involved Calgary cause their manager, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. Was unaware that matches went straight to penalties after regulation.

They're like, it's a rule. We didn't really explain it to everyone. We probably should have whatever. Also they used to have an away goals rule and now that's gone. And now yesterday on one soccer they did a live draw for the semi-final to which everyone said Oh, I thought there was a bracket that already existed. So things are happening fast and furious. Okay, so Vancouver's gonna play Forge FC and they're the ham they're the laddie team. Yeah, they're out of Hamilton. From Hamilton and then Vancouver FC is going to play, sometimes I hate it how we do this in North America,

Atletico Ottawa. See, you got to give them a pass because they actually are affiliated with Atletico Madrid, but it is kind of. Okay. Are they CPL? They're CPL. Okay. So they're the same league as Vancouver FC. And the same league as For FC and the same league as Forge and the same league. Pretty much the one that has dominated this competition so far because TFC

bowed out early and then yesterday Forge beat FC Montreal in a huge upset. OK, so it is now it's the Whitecaps tournament to lose, even though they have not been overwhelmingly good in this tournament. And yesterday, you know what? For as much as they'll say, well, by the end of the match, it was sort of their second squad out there. Like Bearhalter got in the match. He came out at halftime, right? Brian White was in the match. There was a lot of the regulars in the Whitecaps lineup there.

And they had to scratch and claw and fight their way. Sometimes that happens in these cup competitions. I'm sure that everything that happened yesterday was in part because the Whitecaps have their eye on the weekends game where they're gonna take on Colorado in a very important MLS clash. But whatever the case, the Whitecaps move on. If we were to get the Vancouver v Vancouver Derby in the final, I think it would be fantastic.

It would add some real sizzle to this competition. Well, it would be huge for Vancouver FC. Yeah, I mean, it already is. This, you know, yesterday- No, no, no, no, no. It already is, but it's not- It's not as huge as taking on the Vancouver Whitecaps. It's not that big for them, and they really haven't had any big newsworthy moments.

Nope. Despite the fact that we get PR emails about them them, like we get like three a day. At least. It's crazy. I, I've almost been like, please do not send me any more emails. Vancouver FC. I do not need to know anything. How do I unsubscribe from this?

I know there's no unsubscribe button too. It's so aggressive. And I feel, and I find I'm like, I'm a pretty rude guy, but I'm not rude enough to do that. Whatever it gets what they're doing now, you email me too. Whatever lack of hustle they have on the pitch, they've made up for it with their hustle in the email game. Absolutely, absolutely. But that would be a big moment for them.

So I would say it's, I know the Whitecaps take a lot of pride about winning the Canadian championship and it also opens doors to other competitions, which is very important. So it's very important for the Whitecaps, but this, you know, they need to get to the final, Vancouver FC. If they don't, they'll be very, very disappointed.

Okay. Other things that happened last night, we mentioned this in the intro, Major League Baseball's hottest team. Well, they finally lost. The Blue Jays dropped Wednesday's season finale 2-1 to the White Sox. It was kind of the harbinger of old Blue Jays earlier in the season where they stranded a bunch of runners. I believe they were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The only managed to cross one across the plate the Jays Still win the series the win streak comes to an end and now they've got a final three game set They get to go to the SUT in Sacramento

So they get today off there in the set three game series in Sacramento Against the A's to wrap up their schedule try and tack on a few more wins as they go into the MLB all star break. The story of yesterday and I was listening to a bunch of the J's post game audio, including the remarks from the manager, John Schneider was kind of a shrug. Like eventually you're going to run into a very stall solid pitching performance on behalf of the socks and one where everything that was going right for you, the small ball, the bunting, the moving runners along being advantageous when you've got runners

in scoring position, eventually it'll just dry up. Now the interesting thing here is gonna be in the second half of the season, the Jays have tried to park, talk about the red hot streak in the historical context going back to 2015. Max Scherzer talked about it and saying like, I don't even care about the actual streak. The important thing to me is that we're playing

quote unquote good baseball. And by good baseball, he means not making, running errors on the base pass, Vlad E. Greer Jr. Being able to move runners along, manufacturing runs, that old cliche, and having really good pitching. And those are the things that allowed them to rip off 10 consecutive victories.

It's not always going to be the case. Sometimes you'll play good ball and the bounces won't go your way and you won't have one of those 10 game streaks. But they seem convinced that the style of their playing is sustainable. Like they don't shoot themselves in the foot like teams that we've seen in the past. They feel the ball pretty well. The pitching has been solid. And that's going to, you know, with 162 game season, that's the kind of stuff that keeps you around, right? You want to win series. You don't want to

win. And I know it sounds crazy to say you don't want to win every single ball game, but the goal is to go into a series and emerge the victor in the series. And that's what Schneider said yesterday. Like, Hey, our wind street came to an end. That sucks. We left a bunch of runners on yesterday. That sucks, but we won the series. And that's what we want to try and do here. So the J's got one more chance to do it with a three game series in Sacramento

against the A's starting tomorrow. Okay. We're going to have Mark Kriegel on the show next. And he's got a new book called Baddest Man, the making of Mike Tyson. And it's been very well reviewed so far. And it tells the life story of Mike Tyson. And I guess for some of the younger viewers, I wonder what their opinion or how they view

Mike Tyson is. Because despite, for you and I, Halford, Mike Tyson was on my hangover and he just fought Jake Paul and it was pretty sad to watch him. And he's almost become, I don't know how you, how you, he's like a C-list celebrity now or like, do you know what I mean? Like he kind of shows up here and there in things and it's almost done with a sense of

irony, I would suppose. Like here's, here's, this is Mike Tyson. Like what the hell. He had a cartoon for a little while. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. One man show. That sort of thing. When you and I were growing up, this guy was, like the book says, the baddest man.

And I remember his fights were events. Like they were, and not like the, whatever it was when he fought Jake Paul. I mean, that was an event, but that was, again, it seemed like I was watching it with a sense of humor. Like I was kind of like, look at all these, look at this, look at this. Look at this, you know?

Let's try something here. Okay. It was a side show, wasn't it? It was a real sporting event. It was a, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was 59, it's hard to watch. No, I know, it was a side show. That's a perfect thank you, A-Dawg.

You're contributing, yes, that's good. In a positive way for a change, Elon, you're, okay, this is the thought exercise. I'm of the younger crowd In a positive way for a change. Yeah. Elon, you're okay. This is the thought exercise. I'm of the younger crowd. How old are you? I'm 26. Okay.

So when Mike Tyson comes up in conversation with you and your peer group, is he viewed as what? A sideshow, a curiosity? Does everyone understand the historical context? Do they care about the historical context? Tyson's an absolute monster. Everyone knows that. I mean, we've all seen the highlights. You know those nights where you go back and you had a couple beers to drink, you go back, you order a pizza and you watch some highlights of

whatever you want. Maybe it's Tavon Austin. It's every night of my life. Maybe you're putting on the Siddiens. You're just describing a daily event for Halford. Yeah, so I think Tyson's still in that conversation. Let's throw on some Tyson highlights and just kick back and watch what he was. So that's interesting because there still is a cultural currency and relevance with Tyson in whatever form that it takes, like sideshow or ironically funny or whatever. He's still at the forefront of everything.

Cause it's funny, cause when Jake Paul fought him, part of it was him saying like, this was at one point, and that's the baddest man on the planet. Now you got to understand is that for the olds, like Bruff and I, there was an added element of where boxing stood in the cultural and sporting hierarchy. Being the heavyweight champion of the world, it wasn't quite when like Muhammad Ali was,

but it still had a ton of cashay and a ton of currency. Because when you were the heavyweight champion of the world, there was, at that stage, you gotta remember, like UFC was not a thing. So in terms of beating people up and fighting and being tough, that was the bar. You were like, you know, you were, you'd have those, those.

Also boxing still mattered back then. Yeah, but you'd have those. It was really big. You'd have those conversations with your friends where you'd be like, could you take so and so in a fight? Now there's a lot of candidates to be so and so, but back then there wasn't. Now it's Nick Tarnaski.

Right. He's kind of the top of the, top of the list. Bang! And then when you ask, the answer is no. Now, the interesting thing with Mark's book, Mark Kriegel, who we're going to talk to coming up, author of the new book, the Mike Tyson book, that came out about a month and a half ago,

I've read a bunch of interviews and kind of brushed up on what we're going to talk about. He talked about the level that Tyson got to that transcended sport. And he said, there's this great quote here from one of his interviews. He said, he's famous in a way that killed Michael Jackson, that killed Elvis Presley, that killed Marilyn Monroe.

And it's true. Mike Tyson, a lot of the things that made him famous kind of had nothing to do with boxing. And a lot of it was in a- He spent three years in prison for rape right in a very you know married Robin Givens who was a pretty big celebrity at the time and did not go well right and those were the things that moved him into that sort of cultural currency the fact that he's around is part of the reason why the

book is really intriguing because I mentioned all those celebrities in that brief blurb there. None of them are around, you know, to be the living focus of a biography. And, you know, Tyson's still working through and, you know, we'll talk to Mark about this because the amount of things that Tyson survived throughout his life and the fact that he was even able to step in the ring, how old was he when he fought Paul, 56, 58 years old? The fact that he was able to do it

is kind of a remarkable thing. It's a remarkable journey from an athlete that became a celebrity and known well beyond the boxing ring. So we're gonna talk to Mark about that coming up in about six minutes time. Our next guest is an author, a journalist, and a television commentator,

perhaps the finest boxing writer in America. He's the author of the new book, Baddest Man, The Making of Mike Tyson, New York Times bestselling author, Mark Kriegel here on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Mark, how are ya? Good morning gentlemen, I'm pretty good.

Thanks for taking the time to do this today, we appreciate it. So For those listeners that might be unaware you've done a variety of sports biographies throughout your writing career You did the Joe Namath one you did the Pete Maravich one and now Mike Tyson Why at this time why now a book on Mike Tyson? First I owe the publisher money and okay unlike the other book other book. The other book, I had an idea and it came to me. This I resisted because I covered Tyson first as a young city side reporter covering cops and courts when he was getting into trouble.

And later was a sports columnist and I didn't really care to revisit that. I started thinking about him differently though. He was kind of the designated villain back when I was a newspaper man, at least for me. And I came to this idea that it's better to judge a guy by what he survived than who he's knocked out and Tyson was in a place I couldn't have anticipated I don't think he could have anticipated either which is you know still alive much less this odd place

where he is right now where he's kind of beloved and I never I never anticipated that for him and I don't think he anticipated, you know, ever reaching this age. So it's an attempt to understand him, to recast him, think about him in a new way. So you, if I'm not mistaken, you covered his rape trial in Indianapolis in 97, correct? Correct, yeah, yeah. Could you ever have envisioned at that time

that 30 years later later we'd be discussing and having Mike Tyson with the kind of cultural currency that he has right now? No, absolutely not. I mean, it's not just the idea of being redeemed or not redeemed. I remember asking him in 2012 when he started doing his one-man show,

did you ever think you could be here? No, obviously not, but he never envisioned being alive that long. He was 45 then. He could have been dead of any number of things, at any number of junctures. The idea that we've come to love him or at least our addiction to him. That's what's explained in this book. Why the stuff that went into making Tyson, not the best heavyweight,

but certainly the most lucrative, the most extraordinary creation, a guy that we're still sort of addicted to who can draw like 113 or 8 million live stream, whatever it is with Jake Paul, that's one of one. Jake Paul could only have done those numbers with Tyson. This is trying to figure out all the ingredients that went into making that kind of special attraction.

Is there any concern about whitewashing his history? No. I mean if you read the book, no. I've been dealing with his history, I've been dealing with him for probably close to 30 years now. I didn't mean it so much for you, but you know to repose the question has his history been whitewashed to a certain degree? I don't think so. I mean I think that even in his own accounting of things, his own accounting of things, you know his behavior was something less than stellar, even his own autobiographies, and there are two volumes at this point,

are pretty confessional. I mean, it's not like he doesn't take it easy on himself. He understands his problem with booze, with coke, with sex. He sort of eviscerates himself in his own recollection of his relationship with his mother. What he seems to insist on is his innocence of the rape. However you stand on that, he did do his time unlike a lot of other guys. Sorry, I got you out there. What was his childhood like?

Childhood was an absolute mess. You know, I mean, he was being groomed as another stick-up kid in New York and somebody like popped him and he was, you know, before he found boxing, no one would have cared. I make the point early in the book that he was like the lyric out of, he's like a lyric out of a Grandmaster Flash song. His neighborhood, Brownsville in Brooklyn, is, you know, I guess usually described as a ghetto.

And to me, when I actually went back and I covered Brownsville fairly frequently when I was covering cops, like ghetto seems wholly insufficient. It's almost like a science fiction movie. It's a dystopia and it's block after block of abandoned buildings, abandoned children. Then in the middle of this thing, you stick like the greatest concentration of housing projects outside of the Soviet Union into one, a couple of square miles. And it's a truly frightening place.

I mean, it was ravaged by gangs, by horrible economics, by every sort of urban ill that you could have. And someone told me a kid who lived next door went on to be a pretty good basketball player. He says, listen man, at least I had family. Because Mike's family was basically the street. And I think that's largely true. His mother was broken, his father cut out. He was on the street and of the street from a very early age.

We're speaking to Mark Kriegel here on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650, boxing writer, author of the new Mike Tyson biography. So Mark, when you start writing a book on Mike Tyson, how do you go about it with Mike Tyson? Well, I didn't want his cooperation. I don't want to owe my sources like that. So it's a pretty fair record of what he said when, because he's been so damn famous for so long. So we had a couple of video chats,

and they were each of them funny in their own way. All I wanted from him was basically, don't try to shut me down. And he was more than accommodating with that. And I was really happy about it, actually. We talked, we did talk about it. I probably wrote more nasty things about Tyson than anyone living. I venture a fairly educated guest, because I was a newspaper columnist during his worst year, and he was an easy target.

Not an undeserved target, but an easy one. And we talked about this, and then I proposed something to him, and my idea then was to write a kind of essay. I didn't want to write anything fully biographical. But I said, hey, your famous coach, Custamato, who got you out of jail as a kid, as a juvenile, I'm not sure he did you all favors,

because from the beginning, was it wasn't about like Mike becoming a Champion or entering in the Golden Gloves or we'll get you out of prison and we'll get you like a high school equivalency Diploma none of that from the very beginning. It was about we're gonna make you the youngest the most ferocious The greatest champion of all time and that's a pretty unforgiving standard for a 13 year old kid who's come off the street And in that and out of lockup And then you take that kid and you put him under hypnosis and you tell him you're a scourge from God Like, you know, what the hell did you think was gonna happen? Now when I said this to Tyson, he says he pushes back on it

I understand he's defending the great Cus DeMando, his trainer and he said well, I said, you know, Cus is asking me to make him live forever, to make him immortal and he says well didn't I? And I think in fact he did, the question is at what price? There's a place in the book where he spars with Lennox Lewis, who had a wonderful coach in the amateurs and a somewhat parallel journey with Tyson. You know, Lennox didn't come from great circumstances. He was apart from his mother for years who left him.

She was in Canada while she left him in Great Britain. There wasn't enough emotional trauma there, but Lennart had a really good coach. He just didn't want to go down in boxing history. He wasn't front and center. I think that Tyson's relationship with Custamato is based on immortality. And they'll both be immortal. My book poses the question, you know, that immortality came at what price? Did you ever come to or did Mike ever come to an answer to that question? No, he said, of course, as long as people know my name, they'll know his. I think that immortality was, immortality was in fact the goal. You know, what I think is like a Faustian bargain, Tyson considers an accomplishment. But the process of making

him immortal in that way, I think took a toll. You know, and I think that I mean that look they're different guys but Lennox Lewis Wasn't you know, he had enormous potential and they spar together is I guess his 17 year olds before before before they go into Olympic training and Tyson has his way the first day and each subsequent day Lewis catches up because he refuses to be bullied and he gains his composure and Cust turns to Mike and said don't mess around one day you're going to fight him. And I think that DeMato always thought of Tyson as fighting the very best.

And Tyson himself, Tyson used to watch film of all sorts of fighters, but Sonny Liston in particular. One day a guy watches him watching the film of Sonny Liston and Tyson, who is now 17, 18 years old, 17 years old, 18, there about, begins to weep watching this old black and white film. And he says, Mike, are you crying? Well, yeah. Why are you crying?

He goes, well, I can never beat him. And he means Sonny Liston. And what do you mean you never beat him? She's dead. You're alive. You know, you can't beat Sonny Liston. You're never going to fight him. He goes, oh, no, no, you're alive. What the hell's going on? You know? You can't beat Sonny, you're never gonna fight him. He goes, oh no, no, no, no.

I fight him all the time. And he points to his temple, his head, he goes, he's here. Which means to me, I mean, to this point about immortality, like DeMando has him doing, has him fighting ghosts and immortals. How do you ever win that? 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 best of Halford and Brough.

Our next guest is a 16 year NHL veteran, longtime Vancouver Canuck, 2014 gold medalist with Canada. And now going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, Dan Hamuse joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Dan, how are you? Morning guys, doing well, thanks. Thanks for taking the time to do this this morning.

We appreciate it. And first off, congrats. I know the announcement was a while ago, but this weekend will be the official induction into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame. And it's times like this where you always look back over the course of your playing career and you're asked to reminisce and everything.

How does that feel now that you're just hours, days away from going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame? Well, I'm actually thinking about the speech that I have to make. That's also part of it, yeah. Yeah, but it's actually kind of a new opportunity to, like you said, to reflect on the career. It was awesome. We really enjoyed the journey. There's just so many people along the way that made it really special.

Some experiences, different teams that I got to play on that made it special. You know, I feel pretty grateful to be involved with three really great organizations over the course of my career with Nashville, Dallas and Vancouver. And then, you know, being involved with Hockey Canada as well. I think I had nine tournaments with them at different levels,

World Juniors, Olympics and World Championships. And so many great things to reflect on. And so many great people along the way that were a part of it that we got to share and enjoy it. And a lot of great people along the way that shaped, shaped that experience for me, too, and shaped me. There. And a lot of great people along the way that shaped, shaped that experience for me too. And shaped me. There's been a lot of talk this off season in Vancouver about players wanting or not wanting to play in Vancouver. And I know as a guy that, you know,

was from Smithers and a BC boy, you got the opportunity to play for the team from where you were from. How important was you, how important was it for you? And how great was it for you to be able to play in Vancouver? Yeah, it was a pretty special for me. I mean, um, when I signed, I didn't know that we were going to go to the Stanley cup final that next year

have the success that our teams had while I was here in Vancouver. There was some unknowns. Um, but it was, there's just so many things that the organization was doing well at the time. And it was just a great city to live in as a team that I grew up playing for. And there were other offers out there for me at free agency in 2010. I chose to play for the Canucks at a lower number, somewhere that I thought was a great fit for our family, a place that I wanted to play. And I grew up watching this team. So maybe for me, it was a little bit of the opposite. I really wanted to be a part of it. And looking back, I mean, I'm so glad we made that decision.

It was, yeah, it was really worth it. And the experience was fun to probably turn out better than I could ever imagine with the success we had, but the teammates and the organization was just first class. Were there challenges that went along with it as well that were different than maybe playing in Nashville? Yeah, sure. I mean, there's a little more, I would say a little more outside pressure with the team.

I mean, you know, there's a lot more media exposure as well in Canada. I think there's more time on radio, more space in newspapers that need to get filled in Canadian markets and then a place like Nashville. Nashville, we kind of had one main writer and follow us and one main radio station that kind of covered the team and they would follow kind of the main story that was going on and sometimes in Vancouver or these bigger Canadian cities, they have more space to print and you're kind of looking for stories. And sometimes, uh, he, when, when media can dig into those, they're

not always the most fun and, um, uh, as players, if things are, aren't going well, there can be, uh, you know, there's just a little bit more exposure to be in a negative, uh, articles written or radio things. So for me, I, I heard about it. I talked to other guys that dealt with it and I may try to make a big effort just to not expose myself to that. I didn't listen to the radio on the way, radio on the way into the rink or to practice.

Um, I didn't want to read the newspaper articles. I didn't want to let that be an extra pressure to deal with. And I think it's even harder now for guys because at that time social media wasn't as big. But now it's everywhere. It's right in your back pocket and you're on your phone there all the time. So yeah, there's certain challenges,

but I think there is ways to manage it. It just takes quite a bit of discipline to do it. Yeah, you always seem to have the personality to deal with it. Is that, you always, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong here, but you always came across like a humble guy that knew the important things in life. Was that something that was, you know, you were born with or something you had to learn along the way? Well, hell's having Kevin B. Exeter beside me as my D partner.

He did a wonderful job handling the media all the time. He took the pressure off of me and he's still doing a great job with it. So, you know what? It was, yeah, it was, it wasn't never really my favorite thing to kind of have the attention around, but, know, I had pretty good, I try to have good relationships with all the media guys. I mean, it's their job too. That's their livelihood and they're trying to do their job and, you know, try to treat

them with respect and it would be a two-way street. Who were some of the people that really helped you along the way? Maybe when you were younger, getting into hockey and then realizing, oh, I can make a career out of this. Well, early on, my parents would have been the biggest influence. They were all in, fully committed. My mom and dad, dad coaching a bit, um, mom running the concession, doing their duties as very involved Smithers Minor Hockey parents.

And they were the parents that came on every road trip and any opportunity in the summer. Thankfully back then we didn't play 12 months a year, like a lot of kids are now. It was more of a six month season, but I do one or two summer camps and they would drive me to that. And that would be my sister's sacrifice too, is that would be our summer holidays, wherever my hockey, hockey school was. And so, yeah, they were, they were a huge part of that.

And then in junior, my head coach had Dempsey there and he, he seen something. He gave me a few extra chances, I think, to make the, make the team and get established there in Prince George. And that led to a really great junior career and then into the NHL. And that organization in Nashville was outstanding for me. Early, they were patient. Barry Trotz was just a fantastic guy. And yeah, he had a lot of, I would say, you know, his work ethic, he's a small town, um, Canadian guy that kind of, I think he understood me where I came from and, um, helped me out a lot along the way.

And, um, yeah, there's just, there's so many coaches that just, you know, I felt cared for, um, as a, as an individual and as a person, just as much as they obviously were in it to, they wanted me to be the best hockey player I could cause it benefited them, benefited the team, benefited me. But there was also, you know, a lot of guys that I care about and felt, I felt that they cared about me as a person. And I think that made a huge difference and probably made me a, uh, a better hockey player too. In the end.

We're speaking to a former Canucks defenseman and BC hockey hall of fame inductee, Dan Hamhus here on the Alfred and Bref show on sports net 650 you alluded to PX of their Dan who are some of the guys or former teammates or buddies on that 2011 team specifically that you still keep in touch with? Yeah, I mean a few of those guys that are still in the Vancouver area really Cross paths every once in a while. So that's it's nice to stay in touch And a few of those guys that are still in the Vancouver area really cross paths every once in a while. So that's, it's nice to stay in touch, um, stay in touch with Manny,

my whole try and he just came off a fantastic season as a head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks and winning the Calder Cup there. I'm, I think it's, I don't want to say I'm, I can't say I'm really surprised because he, uh, he's just a fantastic player. He was, he was that guy in our dressing room in 2010. And he, uh, took such a big leadership role as a first year player, not in the NHL, but a first year player with the team and, uh, just a natural leader, such great energy and his wife and my wife are really good friends.

We stay in touch and then, uh, yeah, get a chance to see the Sedin's when I'm down there, Kevin and I talk, there's a whole slew of guys from, from that team that, uh, he are still around, still involved in hockey and we stay in touch with, um, specifically with Manny, what are some of the characteristics or traits that guys have as of in their playing days that can really resonate to being good head coaches like Manny's becoming the American league?

Uh, man, there's just so many things that would go into it. And, uh, you know, I think with Manny, he's, he's got this, uh, realistic positivity, I would say, a lot of them. He just carries this great energy. Um, he has this perseverance and resilience and he can go through hard times with that positive outlook that I think inspires people to want to jump on board with him and go through it with him. Yeah, he's just a guy as a player that pursued excellence every day.

He was always looking for the edge. He took care of the details and his preparation and his work ethic and understanding the game, um, confidence speaking up in the dressing room, whether he, I mean, I think it's fairly natural to him, but he knew that's what it took to win and that, uh, he had something to share the guys needed to hear. How can we be better? And, um, yeah, his consistency in, in that messaging, his work ethic, his attitude and his personality, it's, uh, yeah, so many of those things come together and yeah,

he's got a lot of the tools to be an outstanding head coach. When you talk about resiliency and, you know, facing adversity and going through it, how much did him coming back from the injury to suit up and play again, resonate with you guys in the room at that time? Yeah, it's pretty incredible. That was a really scary injury with that puck to the eye that he had. And, um, you know, he never has been the same sense with that either still, um,

some blind spots there, but he did everything he could to make that work. And he played in the NHL after that. Um, you know, he extended his career quite a bit longer than probably anyone expected, probably certainly the eye doctors expected. And, um, you know, it's pretty amazing what he was able to accomplish. And when you're a teammate of his and you see the work that he puts in every day, uh, to be able to make that happen.

And, you know, there's, there's a lot of hard days going through something like that, a lot of frustrations. And, but you just see him grinding and working, trying to get back at, certainly makes you appreciate being healthy and in the lineup. And it also, you know, makes you want to be better and get the most out of yourself when you see a guy like that doing that.

Well, how hard was it for you to miss most of the Stanley Cup final in 2011? Yeah that wasn't fun. That was tough to watch sitting on the side and you can't do much anymore and you know it's kind of a dream to be able to play in that situation in a Stanley Cup final. For me it was just once in my career to be able to get there, and it was unfortunate that I went out. Yeah, it was, I think you're left after that, especially when you don't win. You're left with a lot of years thinking what if, and what could have been different. But you never know. It's part of the game. I was playing aggressively. It was a great hit.

Fortunately it took me out. Do you just have to make peace with it, I guess? Yep, I mean there's not much you can do. I mean, that was a pretty extensive injury, so I had a summer full of rehab and it was a shortened summer. I think we were done on like June 14 or 15 that year. And so I had to get my act together to make sure I was ready for training camp next year. So that

was my, my focus was to get healthy and back playing and try again the next year. So it's kind of, it's hard to move on, but you have to move on. For that 2011 group, we're speaking to Dan Hamhuis, former Canucks defenseman and BC Hockey Hall of Fame inductee here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. For that 2011 group, even though you came the one win short of winning the Stanley Cup, the legacy and the impact that that group has had,

I'm sure you're aware of it with regards to when you talk to fans or of course now you're going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, but how cognizant are you of this current crop of really high-end talented NHLers from the lower mainland? Specifically, I'm thinking of guys like Connor Bredard and Macklin Celebrini who you know, they grew up as huge Canucks fans and they idolized that 2011 group. Are you cognizant of the impact that you've had on this current crop of NHLers? 2011 group. Are you cognitive of the impact that you've had on this current crop of NHLers?

You know, I never really thought about that too much, but I know that for me as a kid, the 1994 Canucks team had a major impact on me watching that. I was 94, I was 12 years old watching that and right in the prime of my hockey watching days as a kid and oh man we got Kirk McLean, Trevor Linden and that whole group was really inspiring for me so I would imagine the 2010 group was very similar for a lot of young guys and it'd be pretty cool if we inspired them and there's some pretty high-end talent coming out of BC right now which is cool to need to see. Well Dan we want to do a couple of things here. One, we want to thank you for taking the time

to do this this morning. We really appreciate it. And two, offer congrats on behalf of the entire show for going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame. It's very well deserved. Thanks a lot for doing this today. We really appreciate it. All right guys, well, yeah, thanks for having me.

That was fun. Thank you. That's Dan Hamhuis, former Canucks defenseman here on the Haliford and Bruough Show on Sportsnet 650. The whole interview I was like, do I ask him about missing the Stanley Cup final? And then he kind of, he talked about what man he went through. I was like, here's a chance.

I didn't want to do it. You knifed him down. He's like, well, haven't thought about that for a while. Thanks guys. Yeah, but like, I'm sure he was. Every time we have one of these guys from the 2011 team on, you know, I don't know if we're obligated to do it, but it almost feels like,

you know, like that's a big part of the story. Yeah, you got to do it. I mean, people would be more upset if you didn't ask. Yeah, like when we had Aaron Rome on the show back when we made him cry. How about we talk about the only thing we want to talk about, right? I mean, let's be real with Rome especially. I just, Dan was just like, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you have to make peace with it?

He's like, yeah. Yeah. Fourteen. I haven't, but I guess I should. Thanks for bringing it up. Yeah, 14 years later. I, you know, I did want to ask him about, as I've continued this ongoing narrative

at the Haliford and Bref show about the impact of that 2011 team had on the current crop. Yeah. You, you put a good, good positive spin on it. Thank you for doing that. Yeah. But that's, um, Did it scar this current crop of BC hockey players for life? Like it did us. Well, I do wonder if it, you know,

if you're ever going to talk, look, if you're ever going to talk about the silver lining of that, not, not getting the job done in 2011, one day, it'll be that there will, I am confident of this, that there will be some guy out there or some player out there that was inspired by that to go and finish the job and come back to either play in Vancouver or to win the cup in Vancouver. Because there was countless people. Finish the job. Finish the job.

At 10 years old, they were determined how you're gonna finish this job. 10 or 12 year old kid watching. Radicalize me. That day, his origin story was game seven while the city burned and he's like, I'm gonna put out the flames one day. He's gonna come back to Vancouver.

I'll be in. He's gonna sign with the Canucks. I'll be in the basement working out, mom. That's gonna be, it's either celebrating or bedard. You choose, choose your own adventure, kids. But one of them will do it one day. That is, I would love to see it happen. I think that would be a great narrative.

Because there was, there's always gonna be that, and it's a perfect script. There was a group of players that were so beloved by the city, and the one thing that kept it from being the true storybook ending was that they didn't win in game seven. It was being one of those sports, you know, there are a bunch of sports movies out there where the heroes did win or like the protagonist loses in the end. Yeah.

Right. I mean, that was the whole Friday night lights thing. You get emotionally involved in this team and all the players and then they come up short in the final game. It's a pretty classic narrative is a pretty classic trope, but it's a ring. So true with that group, you're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.