Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 7/11/25

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

Guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe & Brendan Batchelor look back at the previous day in sports, they chat with former NHLer Shawn Horcoff about his 2025 BC Hockey Hall of Fame induction, plus they preview Sunday's BC Lions matchup at Edmonton with Leos radio commentator Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich. 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 league, Cooper Flagg. It's his friend, and that's your learn, that's your learn, that's your learn. Emotional. 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. The top seed. Beaten. An American in the Wimbledon final for the first time since Serena, six years ago. Red Sox win it.

Four and three in the final as they ripped off seven straight wins. Good morning, welcome to Halpern and Bruff. No Halpern, no Bruff. It's Josh Elliott-Wolf. It's Brendan Batchelor, as the intro suggests. Here with me. We also got Adog, we got Eddie. I'll say good morning in a second, sorry.

I know I'm doing things silly. Did you call him Eddie? Yeah, I did, I did. I don't know why. I don't even know. Good start, good start. Yeah, okay, anyway I did. Great start to the show, guys. Good start. Good start. OK.

Anyway, restart. Brendan, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning. Good morning. Elon, who is not Eddie, that is Elon, good morning. Thanks. Good morning, Batch.

Yeah. Thank you. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step, you can text in 650 650 on the Dumbar Lumber Text Line, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years.

Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Darlumber.com. And Halford and Bruff 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 sans-trustee.com. We're filling in.

It's very early, as you can tell. I'm calling people by the wrong name. It's tough. You are Eddie That's true. Yeah, it's also dog days of summer Dog days of summer and that's why you heard in the intro it started with summer league highlights They did that's a that's a good sign of where we're at right now Yeah I was saying when we got into the studio this morning you go to sportsnet., you look at the top stories and one of them is about the NBA Summer League. I think we here on July 11th can officially declare this

the dog days of summer. But it is a Friday on Alford & Brough. It's an Ask Us Anything Friday. So it's the most clutch day for us to be in doing a show that theoretically might not have too much content, but I believe in our ability to create content and I believe in the text lines ability to create content. I was gonna say never has ask us anything been more true than it is today you can literally ask us anything you want because there's not a whole lot happening in sports there aren't a ton of

you know breaking storylines that we need to get to we've got lots coming up for you on the show don't get me wrong but this is your opportunity right now to ask us anything a UA on the dumb bar lumber tech yeah anything scandalous to will answer it we often do relationship advice recipes favorite recipes things like that I can't wait to hear what Eddie has to say about it was an immediate I got the first letter right and then I mean I got I got some summerly takes okay so we'll let you fire those off as we will nod and smile as you deliver those oh yeah Cooper flag I know him also

so the the best correct me if I'm wrong here and But the best ask us anything Wednesday $100 AJ's gift card or what we learned we do both. Okay Yeah So the best piece of content for the day that gets us talking the most and you'll get a hundred dollar AJ's gift card Assuming you haven't won in the last 90 days. Okay, so with that caveat on their text in So with that caveat on there text in 650 650 on the dumb bar lumber text line and you could win a hundred dollar AJ's gift card so on the show today We do have a few guests at 630 It is one of the BC Hockey Hall of Fame inductees

Sean Horikoff played a thousand games in the NHL a lot with the Edmonton Oilers Went to a Stanley Cup final in 2006 with the Oilers, is now a member of the Red Wings front office. He's a AGM and also GM of their AHL affiliate. So he will speak to us at 6.30 and also his son just got drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. So continuing the legacy of the Horkhawks in the NHL, at 7.30, we're gonna speak to Rebecca Tauber from The Athletic. And so she had a piece on extreme heat, disrupting athletic events worldwide.

Is sports ready for the future? Scary question. It's an interesting conversation to have though, because the World Cup, for example, is gonna be hosted here in Canada and in North America and the US and Mexico next summer. And in preparation for that, we've seen the Club World Cup taking place this year,

but there have been all sorts of issues with heat players commenting, as we were reading in Rebecca's piece been, you know, all sorts of issues with heat players commenting as, as, you know, we were reading in Rebecca's piece about, you know, how tough the conditions are to play in. And then there've been, you know, lightning strikes and storms that have caused massive delays in games, which is not something we're used to seeing traditionally. So interested to get Rebecca's thoughts on the changing landscape in terms of the weather and how it's

Impacting the world of sports and then at 8 o'clock It's the Moj and we'll talk about the BC Lions and they're getting set to take on the Edmonton Elks Lions 2 & 3 on the season got Nathan Rourke back last week had a had a skirmish a fight after the game as well and so we'll get into everything going on with the BC Lions as they look to move to 500 on the season so working in reverse it is the Moge at 8 it is Rebecca Tauber at 730 and at 630 Sean Horcoff will join us that's what's happening on the show. Elon, let's tell everyone what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how 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 bccsa.ca I have to get reused to this show and being like oh I got to read something before I move on to to anything so I'm conditioned I'm back I'm good we got'm back, I'm good, we got this. Moving into what happened. Where do you wanna start here? So there were a couple trades made in the NHL yesterday. There were also some like drafty news, some developmenty news, both with the Canucks and around the league.

What do you find the most interesting of those options? I would say the developmenty news is what's most interesting to me, because you and I were talking about this when we were on the air on the midday show yesterday, and it was almost like we had a crystal ball, because we were chatting with Dave Hall from Canucks Army about Braden Coots signing with the Canucks

and what that meant in terms of where he might play in the next couple of years, as he signs his entry-level deal. That means he's no longer eligible to go to the NCAA, which we saw Gavin McKenna decide to do this week. And Frank Ceravelli, yesterday afternoon, reporting that starting when the new CBA begins, so not this coming season, but in 2026, 2027,

each team will be able to send one 19-year-old aged player to the AHL. And this is a big change on the way things have worked. And we're speaking specifically about players out of the CHL here, because for a long time now, if you were drafted from a Canadian Hockey League, Western Hockey League, OHL, QMJHL team, you know, you couldn't play in the AHL until you were 20.

So you either had to be in the NHL or you had to go back to junior. And this, I think, had a negative impact on multiple players' development. The most notable case in recent years was Shane Wright with the Seattle Kraken, who, because he couldn't play in the AHL, but they were able to send him on a conditioning stint for a while, had a season where he played in the NHL, the AHL, and then on two different OHL teams because

he got sent back to the OHL and was then traded. So for players that are in that kind of tweener spot where they've been signed by their NHL team, so they're not eligible to go to college, they now don't have to either be an NHL player or go back to junior where they may have advanced past that level. Each team can send one 19-year-old aged player to the AHL and this may apply specifically to Braden Coots, not this season, but next season. If he has a really good year in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds, and next year they want to turn him pro and make him their one player

that they can send to Abbotsford to further his development, they can do that with him. They can also do it with Alexey Medvedev, who they signed yesterday, which is another thing we can add to what happened. The second CHL prospect that they've signed this week, so he also is now no longer eligible to go to the NCAA. Yeah, so it's interesting.

I do wonder how often it's going to be implemented, this 19-year-old spot in the AHL, if it is eventually made official here. Because it does feel like it would have to be such a sweet spot of Talent I guess or potentially the one thing I've thought about is like what if you're just too big to play in the CHL right like you're you've kind of your body has matured faster than some of the other players around your age and

Whatever team that drafted you looks at you and they're like well He could dominate in jr. Because he's just bigger than everyone but if he goes to the AHL maybe it's maybe skill wise there's still something to develop but maybe that's uh that's how you kind of even out the playing field a little bit for for whatever prospect we're talking about here but I also do think it's going to come down a lot to like Brighton Coots would be the Canucks option, but I do think it's going to be more frequent for top five to ten picks, I would say. Yeah, mostly first-round picks or players that are drafted and then take a big leap in their development in their draft plus one year, right? You know, we see all the time, like

it made complete sense for Gavin McKenna to go to college now that that was an option for him because he was a two point per game player in the Western Hockey League last year. So, you know, prior to this, he wouldn't have even had that option. Gavin McKenna would have been back on the Medicine Hat Tigers this year, probably putting up three plus points per game. So, you know, I think it's just another domino that we're seeing fall in the evolution of development of players.

And this evolution is really good for players because now if you're someone like Gavin McKenna, who is highly touted to go at the top of the draft, guess what? You can go play in the NCAA if you're a player like Brayden Cenna, who is highly touted to go at the top of the draft. Guess what? You can go play in the NCAA. If you're a player like Braden Coots, who let's say he has a big step in his development, really produces at a high level in the WHL this year. Well, now it's not a, you've got to find a way to keep him on your NHL team. So you don't send him back to junior where, you know,

he's advanced past that level. And I think the core conversation around all of these things is the opportunity to play against older players for guys who are ready for that. Because if you stay in the CHL, you're playing against mostly teenagers, and in fact, the average age of the CHL is likely gonna skew a little bit younger

now that 19-year-olds can leave to go to the AHL and 18-year-olds can leave to go to the AHL and 18 year olds can leave to go play NCAA hockey so you know I think we're gonna see a changing landscape in the level of hockey at the CHL too Which means there might be more need for some of these players to advance to another level to continue their development And you mentioned so the the Canucks do make another signing yesterday, another ELC signing in Alexey Medvedev and he is the second prospect they've signed this week from the most recent draft and so when we're talking about 19 year olds going into the AHL I do feel like it'd be wild to see a goalie

selected by a team. Yeah. They would, it would, that goalie would have to be so good. And it'd have to be at such a weird level where the team is confident they can thrive in the AHL, I guess, but not confident enough that they can play in the NHL. So I do, I feel like we won't see goalies take up that spot frequently, but it is, it is worth noting that now he can't go to college.

Yeah, so and also one thing that isn't clear about this yet because it hasn't been confirmed, this is just Frank Ceravelli reporting this at this point in terms of these 19 year old players. I do wonder though, if it'll apply to the ECHL as well. And if it does, then, you know, as you said, not every team is going to have the need to send a 19 year old to the AHL every year. But, you know, Alexey Medvedev last year, albeit playing on a very strong London Knights team,

had a 9-12 save percentage in 34 games. So let's say there's a world where he goes back to the London Knights this year and he's one of the best goaltenders in the OHL and puts up tremendous numbers and You know you talk about size like, you know, he's pretty big goaltender listed above 6-2 if I'm not mistaken So which isn't huge for goaltenders But you know to your point earlier about guys who grow earlier or more physically mature than some of the players at the level they're playing at. I do wonder if this, you know, new addition or, or provision that

will allow these players to turn pro would apply to the ECHL as well. Because you're right. I'm not sticking a 19 year old goaltender in the AHL unless he's like the second coming of Martin Brodeur potentially. But I do wonder if, if teams have no other players that they want to send to the AHL, could you stick Alexey Medvedev in the ECHL next year, get him a taste of pro hockey?

Maybe you don't play him every game. He's able to work on his development and rather than going back to the OHL where he may have dominated and not be facing pro level shooters, if he can get that experience earlier. So it's an interesting conversation. And just like there's been a lot of talk both on this show and you and I have talked about it this week,

about the change with NCAA hockey eligibility and how that's already impacting the way players make their decisions. It's going to be a team to team and player to player player basis whether guys go to the AHL at 19 or not. I'm gonna be interested to see how teams, you know, differ in their decision-making process around the best pathway for players to be developed here because, you know, this is now a blank book, an open book, a new page that's being written in player development and there might be some trial and error here in terms of figuring out what is best for some of these young guys in terms of when to make the jump to pro, when to make

the jump to college and everything like that. Speaking of that, do you guys think Kootz sees in the NHL games next year for the Canucks, even pre-season? Pre-season, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. How about during the season? Is it possible? Yeah. I mean, I mean, he's, I know he's obviously very young. He's very young and also he's not a large

player, right? He's undersized. So I would say the odds are against him playing regular season games, but they're not zero, especially with the, the Canucks, you know, at the moment issues with depth down the middle of the ice wondering like injuries crop up all of a sudden he obviously has that ELC so you're like oh well yeah so he's possible you could play him the you know under nine games or whatever it is and then still send him back to junior after that so there is a possibility but I would say that it's

more likely that he comes into training camp, he'll get to play in those young guns games. Obviously it's not the typical young stars classic in Petticton, but they're gonna play those games against Seattle, he'll get that experience. I would imagine he gets at least one NHL pre-season game. And then beyond that, it'll be sort of,

how do the factors around the roster develop in terms of, you know, do they go out and get another centerman? Do they have injuries or not? And then also just straight up how he performs in camp and if he shows that he's deserving of that opportunity. But generally speaking for a guy drafted in the middle of the first round, it would be highly unlikely that we see him in the NHL this year. I know Halford loves his Jet Luchenko comparison. So maybe it's a similar situation where he plays a few games and it's like, well, you

got a taste. Now go back to him. We were saying he's got the changeable last name, the cooed subject. For that reason alone, from a marketing perspective, you got to get him up here. Got to give him a go. Other news yesterday around the NHL, a couple trades. The first one, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquiring Matt Dumba and his 3.75 million from the Dallas Stars, including a second round pick going to Pittsburgh. So what's next for the Dallas Stars is going

to be a big question. And then another trade, Ryan Reeves traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the San Jose Sharks for Henry Thrun. And Reeves was the one who announced his own trade. I guess I should have thrown to that better. I'm out of sync. We're out of sync. That's on me. You got it?

Okay. Here we go. Here's a clip. We can blame Eddie for that one. Yeah, that's classic Eddie. Here's Ryan Reeves breaking his own trade. Well, you got one of the best players in the world coming in here for sure. You know, Mitchie was one of the best players in the league the last couple years and you guys are going to love him. I'm jealous I'm not playing with him anymore.

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you see a line like this of fans waiting to greet them? It's good to see that they still love me. I'm not gonna lie, you guys are actually gonna get the first scoops here. They may start hating me pretty soon, so I just got traded to the Sharks, so we'll see how that goes over with the fans. So yeah, that was Ryan Reeves at an autograph signing.

They were like- Announces his own trade. In Vegas, right? In Vegas. Because he's being asked about Mitch Marner. And they were like- Announces his own trade. In Vegas, right? Because he's being asked about Mitch Marner. Oh, by the by, I've been traded. Yeah, I don't know why he didn't lead with it too. It's really funny. He's like, let me talk about Mitch Marner first.

And then, by the way, I have been traded. And then he was also like, you might hate me because I'm playing for the Sharks. And they were like, you know what, buddy? It's San Jose. I don't know if you're going to be too much of a threat this year, it's all good. But it is fun. Players announcing their own trades. And Vander Kane kind of did too. Yeah, that's what you're going to be too much of a threat this year. It's all good. But it is fun.

Players announcing their own trades. Evander Cain kind of. Yeah, that's what I was going to say is Evander Cain kind of broke his own news that he was coming to the Canucks as well. I'm here for players just breaking their own news, right? I'm sure Elliot Friedman and the insiders don't necessarily want to hear that. But why not? Why not? Just yeah, by the way'm I just got told I've been traded like we could use more of that We need we need that kind of content for sure. I think it's fun So that's what happened doing a screeves like even look at Macklin Celebrini funny

Yeah, I'm gonna get you. He's probably he's probably gonna play more in San Jose Than he did in Toronto. I think it would be an indictment of gonna play more in San Jose than he did in Toronto. I think it would be an indictment of where he is in his career if he doesn't. Yeah, that would be tough. That'd be a tough thing to hear. I did want to squeeze in a few Ask Us Anythings. You can get those in 650 650. On the Dumbar Lumber Text Line, someone has essentially alerted me to what day it is. It's July 7th, which means it's 7-11th. It's July 11th. What did I say?

You said July 7th. God, what's happening? It's July 11th. It's your first morning in a while. I know. It's a particular one. I haven't woken up this early. I know.

Hey, when I came in and I saw both of you guys give me that, like, my first 430 AM wake up look, I'm like, yeah, I feel you, man. It's okay. I have young kids. Oh, yeah, you probably do. I have young kids. I'm used to being sleep deprived all the time. So this is old hat for me. Andy saw me, and he was like, he's

going to call you on Eddie today. That's how the show's going to start. So anyway, it's July 11th. It's July 11th. And that means it is 7-11. Free Slurpee Day. Free Slurpee Day. Ah, there you go.

One of my favorite days of the year. So we get a text in from Phoenix. In honor of free Slurpee Day. Free Slurpee Day. Ah, there you go. One of my favorite days of the year. So we get a text in from Phoenix. In honor of free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven, what is the best Slurpee flavor of all time and how do you attack the Slurpee machines? Mm, that's a good question. I'll be honest, it's been a minute since I've had a Slurpee, but I think you have to mix flavors, right?

First of all, you gotta start there. Yes. If you're a one-flavored're a one flavor person every single one of them I don't even care what it tastes like just making a complete abomination Yeah, I want the 7-eleven guy looking at me funny by the time I get up to the counter Yeah So now do you pick like a few flavors and layer them or do you just mix it all in? Stir it up and like oh stir it like swamp. Well, do you remember swamp water? So is it like do you do swamp water when you were a kid? Yeah, I watered it up, yes.

So is it like, do you do swamp water Slurpees or? I think I like the nice, like the texture. Yeah, like when it looks. I want to make it look like art almost. It's similar to like, not just like the aesthetic appeal of it, but also like when you, for example, you get an ice cream cone, you get two scoops, you get a couple of flavors, you have that moment where you're transitioning from one flavor to the other.

Oh, buddy. You can get that with your Slurpee as well. A moment. So my wife is a one Slurpee flavor person, and I think less of her because of it. She only gets the Coca-Cola flavor, but I'm a mix. Yeah, well, and if you're a one flavor person, that's fine. But Coca-Cola, as I know, one flavor, I don't know.

I do say I will say I usually only go for the the pop flavors like cream soda might be my go to. And then I'll get like Coke and root beer or whatever else is there. I'm with you there. That cream soda is probably at the top of my rankings for slurpee flavors which interestingly enough we were talking about the the dude soda ice cream float at Bells and Whistles earlier this week maybe that's something Randi can branch

out into now as well is a dude soda slurpee flavor hey you might be on to something Wow good for him look at it just expanding markets we're doing all the work for Randy yeah I will just hand him the idea. I need this batch soda for that That's true. I say as a dessert connoisseur I'm always so impressed by bells and whistles dessert menu like it blows my mind like you just don't see that at most bars It's an underrated thing. Yeah, it's very impressive And one more before we go Mike the urologist from Brockville ask us anything Josh This is for me because I'm Josh as a man who wears his hyphenated last name proudly,

what are you gonna do with your name if you have kids? Triple hyphenate. Now they're probably just gonna have Elliot Wolf because my wife took Elliot Wolf. Oh, okay. So now we're all with just one family. I will say the concept of triple hyphenated names is a play-by-play guy's nightmare.

Yeah, maybe I should. What if both of their names are hyphenated? Could you have four? Quadruple, yeah My wife did have a name that had a space in the middle So we were like we can't even like we can't even consider this because it would be four names Yeah, be way too many. Oh, man. I think that's kind of crazy I think we're well

but as as Generations continue and people with hyphenated names marry other people with hyphenated names like we could get To the point where people's last names are six eight ten Could you tell me my way guy calling that no you just have to make give them a nickname I think of that or you just pick the first First last name to or you go to them and you say okay, you've got 12 last names you get to pick one Yeah, what's your last name Yeah Are you disrespecting me? Yeah, sometimes I just tell people my name's Josh Elliott for the sake of ease But Josh Elliott as opposed to Josh Wolf. Yeah, I don't know. It's just the Josh

Wolf has like a like I don't like secret agent Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I'd pick Josh wolf. I Don't know. It's the it's the Josh. I mean Josh. Oh'd pick Josh Wolf. I don't know. It's the first one there. I mean Josh Shelley it's fine, but Josh Wolf is right there. Josh Wolf is more of a radio name. Josh Wolf. Anyway, rolls off the tongue. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Sean Horcoff has played a thousand games in the NHL going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow and is a member of the Detroit Red Wings front office currently. Appreciate you taking the time Sean, how are you? I'm doing great thanks for having me. No we appreciate you taking the time

this morning. So what does what does this mean to you going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame? Well, I mean, it's just an outstanding honour. First and foremost, it's not something that you think about or, you know, really actually quite surprising when I got the call. But obviously very honoured to be a part of it, some great names, along with the great names, being able to join that. So, like I said, when you play in your career, this is the kind of stuff you kind of think about, but as you retire and the years go on, you're, you know, it's fortunate to be thought of

in a situation like this. And I'm sure a moment like this gives you a chance to reflect on your career and some of those experiences. How do you look back on a thousand plus games in the NHL now that you're nearly a decade removed from playing? Yeah, it's funny. It sure goes fast It doesn't feel like you know thousand games Doesn't feel like it

Now sitting here back and looking I think if you write it the one thing it does it does allow you to go back And kind of reflect a bit. It's funny when you, when you retire, you know, fortunately moved on to, to management kind of right away and started working again. So, you know, right away, like right that September. So I didn't really have a lot of time to sit and kind of reflect and, um, you know, being, you know, when this thing kind of came up and thinking about the soul, you know, a celebration of summer and talking to some family, definitely reminisce about some of the times, but, um, exciting,

obviously growing up as a kid, it's first of all, it's just your dream to play in the NHL, even just for one game. Um, and then once you get there, you realize, you know, just how great it is and you don't want to leave. So you find a way to do anything you can and hang around for as long as you, you know, as long as you're able to. So for me, just to get to a thousand games was just a humongous honor and something I'm

very proud of. You spent the vast majority of your career in Edmonton with the Oilers, went to a Stanley Cup final. What do you remember from your time playing there and how do you kind of look back on your time in Edmonton? Honestly, it was the best time of my hockey career. As a player, I was able to experience the ultimate highs and the ultimate lows. There were seasons where we were last and we had the first overall pick. There were all these two seasons that we got to the Game 7 Stanley Cup final.

I think one thing about playing in Edmonton for a player that's great is it holds you accountable. You know, there's the fans are, you know, such passionate, passionate, knowledgeable fans of the game. Um, you know, they, they support you. Um, you know, when we, I remember our Stanley cup run there was just outstanding, the support and the talent. It was unbelievable.

The, it had such a home-wice advantage when teams came in that the noise, just the enthusiasm, the energy in our crowd was second to none. It was such an advantage and I know now it's very similar for those guys making their runs today. So you know I look back at my time in Edmonton as the best years I played in the NHL. It's kind of come into question lately, the amount players want the pressure of playing in a Canadian market, at least here in Vancouver, is that something you wanted as a player was like, hey, I want to play in a Canadian market and a place

that cares about having success with the local hockey team? I do. There was tough times. Obviously there were times where I was a fan favorite. There's probably times where they hated me, you know. I think that's part of it as a player. You know, I think it made me better, you know, having learned how to deal, how to play in situations like that and learning how to deal with pressure. Um, I certainly know it improved me as a player. Um, it held you accountable. Like I said, you had to come, come every night and bring it, um, and, and be expected to show up. And I think one thing that the fans in Edmonton appreciate is hard work.

Um, they appreciate effort and intensity. And it was something that I kind of tried to model my game around and, um, you know, like, like but but you're right I mean I read the press and I don't know there I guess there's lots to be made of it but at the same time those are the type of players that organizations want they want players that are gonna face that stuff head-on it's gonna motivate them they're not gonna shy away from that and I think that's you can find players players that, uh, that, that want to play in situations like that, it's only going to make your team better.

Former NHL or Sean Horkoff with us here on Halford and brought this morning on sports net six 50 part of the 2025 BC hockey hall of fame class of inductees. And you alluded to it a little bit there, Sean, but, uh, you know, certainly in the wake of back to back Stanley Cup finals for the Edmonton Oilers, you had that experience of going all the way to the cup final in Edmonton. What do you remember about that run in particular about, you know, how the city came together to support you guys? And, you know, when you look at the current Oilers team and what they've been through

going all the way two years in a row and being unable to get it across the finish line, you know, what do you take away from what you learned through that experience and what the current edition of the Oilers might be able to take away from it in spite of the disappointment? Well, I haven't been there to watch any NHL games in the city or playoff games on these last couple runs for these guys, but I'm assuming it's different, honestly, like these guys are expected with Connor and their team and obviously the success that they have there, these guys are expected, um, to make a run, right? I think the fans are expecting a long run, especially after, you know, last

year, especially going into this year with us, it was more of a surprise. You know, we kind of, you know, we snuck into the playoffs late. I think it was, I think we snuck in with two games to go, um, in the regular season and just kind of went on a magical run. You know, so I think for the fans, it was probably, certainly unexpected. We played Detroit early in the first round and they were a powerhouse and we're fortunate enough to get by them. I think once we did kind of gave us as players, a ton of belief.

Um, I think the fans were like, Jesus is amazing, you know? And then, and then obviously the success of, uh, you know, the second run against San Jose, just kind of think each round, it just grew and, and grew. And there wasn't really any heavy expectations on us, right? I think it's completely different with the players now, um, you know, that, that are, that are faced with what the players are facing now in Edmonton. And, and you can see it, I think on, when you have such great are, that are, that are faced with what the players are facing now in Edmonton. And, and you can see it, I think, on, when you have such great players like that, you can see it in Connor and, and, and Leon, just how much they want to,

they want to bring a cut back. And I'm confident at some point they certainly are. They're, they're two of the world's greatest players and they're darn close right now. They're just, you know, I think this year they, more than anything, they just ran into just a fantastic team in Florida, really, really super deep team and you know, it's, which made it really tough to get to get over that help. Going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame, as a guy that grew up in Castlegar, just talk us through your development path through BC Hockey, obviously through the BCHL and then to the NCAA,

because we've talked a lot this week about how some of these development paths are changing. We're hearing that 19-year-old players, one 19-year-old player per team may be eligible to go to the American Hockey League going forward. Guys that play in the CHL now are gonna be eligible to go to NCAA. We saw Gavin McKenna make that decision this week,

but take us back to your time coming through the developmental ranks in this province and how that sort of molded you into the player you became. Yeah, I mean, I played and played in BC right up until I left for college at Michigan State. I grew up in Cassadar and played all my minor hockey here. Um, you know, I was growing up this area of trail and Nelson and beer Valley, uh, was, was just, had a really rich, rich, impactful energy players at time, Ray Ferraro, uh, Travis green from

Casca the den marshes, uh, Dallas Drake. You know, there was growing up as a kid, I certainly had belief that if I could, if I was a good player in this area, you know, I had a chance of playing in a chill. Um, it was hard not to, and there was just current players that were doing it. And, um, so that was obviously a really kind of a nice thing. It was very competitive, even though for a very small area, there was, you know, the hockey was great. And, um, and it was just, uh, you know, like I said, we didn't have to travel.

I didn't travel much as a young player. We played around this area and maybe we'd go to Kamloops or Spokane for a tournament, but we didn't, it's different now. My son was a player and these top teams and kids, they travel everywhere now to go get games, especially in the United States, but it was just different. And then it was probably unexpected. I just happened to take an invitation to at 15 years old to, um, to go try out for the trail smokers.

They were a junior eight club in the Rocky Mountain junior hockey league. And, um, you know, not really expecting anything. It was more so just to get myself in a shape. And I think the decision was probably going to try to play, you know, junior beat hockey and Catholic are that year, but I had a good camp. Um, and I remember coming out of camp, uh, Sean Brant was a coach and, and I remember him sending to my dad, you know, I think we'd like Sean to, you know, we want to Sean to make the team.

My dad just is like, no chance. It's like, he's going to go back and he needs to play 15 years old. He has to play and Sean said, no, no, no, he's got to have to, he's going to play. You know, and I think there's a lot of, a little bit of an argument there. And you know, dad asked me, what do you want to do? And of course I'm like, I want to play junior hockey and, you know, being a young, naive 15 year old, um, but he was more concerned about it. But thank goodness that they, they convinced them to, to, to, to let me stay.

And, and I think that's really kind of where my, my career kind of took off. It didn't start off great that year, but I had a really good second half and, and, and a good successful season. I was rookie of the year in the league. And that was probably the time where I was like, okay, this is a, I never going to that summer really motivated to kind of work hard and, and be like, this is something that I can maybe do for a living. Um, and then played there for two years and I was still in my 15, 16 year old

year, and then at that point I decided to point I decided to go to college, to go to college route. So moved on to play junior hockey and Chilliwack my 17 year old year, and then on to on the Michigan state after that. Uh, you mentioned your son and, uh, obviously just recently taken, uh, in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Will Horcoff. How special is that for you and your family? Yeah, it was an emotional, incredible moment for us. It's much different being in management.

It's much different sitting on that side of the aisle as a parent and as an NHL team, I'll tell you that. Certainly very exciting. There's lots of hard work. He's, he's, he's a very passionate kid. He loves the game. Obviously growing up around it, being an NHL rings was, I think the passion to play. And, and his dream of being an NHL player was probably embedded in him from a, from a

young age, but, um, you know, he's, he's a big kid. I don't know where he gets it from, but he's six, five, and he's just trying to, starting to mature now, but, you know, playing's a big kid. I don't know where he gets it from, but he's six five and he's just trying to start to mature now But you know playing University hockey at the University of Michigan this year and actually he's not going to be able to be here this weekend because he actually is in Pittsburgh for training right now with you know with a bunch of other prospects so It's a two-day he's not going to be here But he's always excited to be in pit training and then we'll see you know lots of work to be done

But exciting time for sure for all of us. Yeah, how would you describe watching him develop through hockey and you had your own experience and you spoke on that coming through in BC and going to Michigan State and then obviously being a fourth round pick and going to the Edmonton Oilers. He's a first round pick here, and I'm sure there were times where you wanted to sort of be really involved with his development and moments where you had to step back and let him learn things.

And how different was that for you as a parent, as opposed to going through it yourself? Yeah, it was different. His path was a little different. You know, he had made the world or the, uh, the American, uh, development team, probably the USA, your team, USA development team, um, as a 16 year old there in, in, in Plymouth, Michigan. And, uh, you know, he kind of went into that as one of the better, you know, you, you know, younger players around in the U S and, um, really sprouted, kind

of grew over a little course of a couple of years, grew about five inches, uh, to about six threes, six, three and a half by the time he was 16. And, and, and, and really was skinny, kind of took some time. He was really uncoordinated and took some time to get going. And, um, by the time his, you know, last year, by the time Christmas kind of came around, he was starting to take it all a little bit. But the opportunity finished high school early and the opportunity to go to Michigan, the University of Michigan early came up.

Their head coach, Brennan Erato, had approached us and said, listen, they had a couple injuries and a player had left their team early in September that he didn't expect. So they had some room and the opportunity to go to Michigan was, was presented to us. And us. And I was probably very similar to my dad at that time. I was a little bit hesitant. That's a big step for 17 year old. You know, college hockey is upstanding nowadays and it's a much older league. But he wanted to do it. You know, when my wife and I kind of talked it over and let him make that decision, I

think it was the best thing that ever happened. Cause he went there, he played very, very well. Um, and his stock kind of took off from there. There's, you know, he's starting to feel better in that big, big frame of his, but it's going to take some time, you know, to physically mature and, and put on the weight. But, um, he's got a bright future. He's a different player than I ever was. He's big, he's, he's physical.

He can score, um, much better than I ever was. He's big, he's physical, he can score much better than I ever did. So he's a completely different player, but he's a player that's hard to find. He's 6'5", he can play center and he can score goals and he's physical. So he's got a bright future. And again, he's young, but we're excited for him. Sean, before we let you go, you've also been part of the Red Wings organization for almost a decade now in player development and you've kind of worked your way up to assistant GM with the team. How has that been for you over the last almost decade?

Very exciting. I've been very, very fortunate in Detroit to work for some, you know, two fantastic general managers. The first was Kenny Holland. He's the one that hired me, uh, right when I retired there. Um, you know, I remember kind of sniffing around with some teams. I was turning 38 and now I'm not really sure what I wanted to do. I didn't have great options.

I had a few options to still play, but not, you know, it was more so be the, be the old guy and come in and help with these young vets. And I just travel or move my family a lot. I had three children and I'm going to talk to my agent being like his player development job came up in Detroit. And what do you think? And they said, listen, I think if you want to be in management, it's, it's something you should seriously consider because it's first off, it's a hard job

to get, there's only one on any team. Um, it's great experience. If you want to get into upper management, working in the player development side, because you're on both the pro and amateur side and you can just learn a lot. And Kenny Hollenwell was one of the best, most generally nice general managers in the league. And Kenny just said, listen, here's your job. And I lived in Detroit at the time, so we had to move my family.

And he's like, listen, here's a job. Here's what it's going to entail. Not really knowing what a player development person did. It's funny as a player, you don't realize what any of the management does until you get there or how much goes into it. But, um, so I took the job and he just said, Hey, you're more than welcome to come just kind of hang around the rink as much as you can. So that's what I did.

I hung around. Ryan Martin was the assistant general manager. Uh, Chris Draper was on the amateur staff and was a big part of me getting that job as well. Um, and I just kind of hung around with those guys and listened and, you know, sat in on meetings and, you know, for, for at least a few years, didn't really say much, just kind of took it in and in my, my, my role eventually kind of grew. And then when Kenny moved on to Edmonton and Steve Isma took the job, um, I kind

of graduated from that into a, uh a management role, a player personnel role. And then when Pat Verbeek was the assistant general manager at the time, he got the job in Anaheim. Steve then kind of, I took over for Pat in terms of running the minor league team and helping out the pro side of Steve. Sean, we really appreciate you taking the time. Congratulations once again and all the best moving forward. Great, thanks for having me guys. Appreciate it. No problem. There is Sean Horcoff played 1008 games in the NHL going into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow. His son was just drafted in the first round and he is a member of the Detroit Red Wings front office as well.

We welcome in the Moj, a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Appreciate you taking the time, Moj. How are you? Good morning, gentlemen. One of these days, she could aid dog just to loop that and like have like a 15 minute loop and we just run it into the entire interview. See how that would go over. Well, he was joking yesterday, Moj, with me on Twitter that he was going to try and play

my intro every time I went to speak on the show today. I did think about it. So we could have just played three hours of the Brendan Batchelor intro and then gone home. That would've worked. That's actually my alarm clock in the morning is just Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj.

It'd be good. What a way to wake up. You should do a poll question one day, most popular intro or least popular intro. Yours is actually, I think we've done that before. Yours is up there. It's usually between you and Dolly. I was gonna say, Dolly's the other one

that's right up there. Dolly's good. Trance is just creepy. Yeah, I know. It's supposed to be though. It's exciting though. I wonder, are we ever gonna get to the point of remixes to the intros?

Like are we gonna be five years down the line, we've heard the intros so often that they need to be changed up or redone? It'll have to happen. Yeah. I'm just very lazy. Yeah, that's fair. Moj, we were talking about grilled cheese before the break, and what the best form of a grilled cheese is, what the best bread, what the best butter and cheeses are. Do you have any thoughts on the ideal grilled cheese? I'm not a grilled cheese? What is the best bread? What is the best butter and cheese?

Do you have any thoughts on the ideal grilled cheese? I am not a grilled cheese fan. Oh really? No. Alright. I am just not a grilled cheese fan. I am not really a cheese person per se. Some people want cheese on everything. I think one of the grossest things you can do to any sort of food is put blue cheese on it.

Oh, really? Blue cheese is absolutely disgusting on a salad or a steak or you know, whatever. It's just, oh, it just completely takes it over. But that being said, if I have like a mild blue cheese on a charcuterie plate, I can tolerate it, right? But when you put blue cheese on any sort of, like a blue cheese on a burger, it's like you tasted the blue cheese, it's sick.

Hell yeah, Mo, done with you. I hate blue cheese, hate it. Yeah, yeah, like, hard task. I can do it, but not too much, right? Like, I think it's like, like anything that has such a strong flavor like that, it has to be just a little bit to compliment, but I can understand how it could overpower the other flavors. Like I can go with gherkinsola. I can go with

brie. And usually, like I said, that's like on a, you know, a charcuterie board or whatever, but I'm just not a real big fan of strong cheeses when you add them to salads, burgers, whatever. Pass. And like when it comes to grilled cheese, my mom used to make me grilled cheese sandwiches when I was a kid. And then I just kind of got away from them. I don't know. I'm not a big fan of cheddar. I'll tell you that. Like cheddar, I won't put cheddar on a burger.

I won't put cheddar like on anything. Like if there's any cheese that'll eat, like I said, it might be a brie or garganzola, but like cheddars and grilled cheese sandwiches, hmm, pass. Fair enough. Okay, so we gotta talk about the BC Lions. They come back to win last week taking on the Elks on Sunday. What do you think about where the BC Lions are at through

five weeks? Well, you know, it's interesting because I really like what Buck Pierce said to the team after the game and he talked about the process, right? And it's this team, I think is really kind of getting the message from buck Pearson, the coaching staff. And that is, we just got to keep working on getting better. Right. And, you know, they won that football game. They took advantage of a couple of Montreal mistakes, namely the

penalty on the field, while the game, the lead, um, and then obviously playing prevent defense late in the game on the last play, the game, the lead. Um, and then obviously playing pre-vet defense late in the game on the last play. But the thing is with this Lions team is they, they realized they got away with what there was a lot of mistakes that they made in that game. Yeah, they made plays at critical times and wound up winning the football game, but they also know that there's a lot of room for improvement. And as Buck Pierce told me a couple of days ago, practice, he goes, it's not sustainable.

You can't win games like playing the way the Lions did in that game. So that's the really, um, I think that's a real positive with this team, because I think last year when they won those five games and got off to a five at one start, there was a sense of, Hey, we're a good football team. Well, you weren't because in the end it caught up to you when you went four and eight and finished the season at nine and nine. And I think this group, even with the victory coming home from Montreal, it was subdued. It wasn't like it was, you know, Hey, we want a big game and let's, you know,

everybody's in a great mood. It was just like, okay, we want to, you know, it's interesting because you heard Rick talk, he talked with us last year with the Canucks all the time. We're not last year, but I think many of the year before. But he just said it was just an even keel approach, right? Like they want a game to get on the bus. So they weren't going crazy. It's not like they won the seventh game in the Stanley Cup. And Coverson, the same with the Lions.

So I think it's a good sign. I think, you know, it's a sign of maturity that this team realizes that there's a lot more room for improvement. Yeah. At the same time, I'm sure they want to build some momentum here in terms of results. So how important is it for them to build off a game where maybe they didn't play their best, but they found a way to win and try and gain some traction against the Elks this weekend? Yeah, and you know it's going to be an interesting game going up against Edmonton. They're coming off a win, so they're going to be playing with some confidence. I think there's a

couple of things they have to clean up. Number one, penalties. The first three weeks the Lions were the least penalized team in the league and the last couple of weeks they've hit triple digits in terms of yardage in both games so they've got to clean that up. I mean you know and when those penalties are occurring right I mean you've had two weeks in a row where penalties taken a touchdown off a board and you had to settle for a field goal. Um, so that's going to be something that they want to clean up is not only, um,

taking penalties, but when those penalties occur at critical moments. So I think that's one thing I think, you know, ball security that got a lot better last week other than that, you know, turnover in the first quarter in the interception by Nathan Lerner. But other than that, they, they had good ball security. So I mean, those are two key aspects of the game that they I think really want to focus on. They cleaned up on one last week

and now they got to clean up on the other in terms of penalties. I know he's been dealing with some injuries the past few weeks, but have we seen Nathan Rourke really at a hundred percent since he came back to BC last season? I know he was kind of trying to reintegrate himself coming back from, you know, the NFL.

And then this season is his first full season, I guess, back. Well, you're talking about either physically or you're talking about just performance wise, because physically with this oblique, I mean, this week he's taken some reps off during practice. So if I'm looking at it from a physical perspective, I don't think he's a hundred percent heading into this game. Now, if I'm talking about a performance perspective, I think you probably, you're probably right. He's not even at a hundred percent in terms of his

performance. Just given the fact that he's not a hundred percent physically, right? I still think there's a lot more room for Nathan. I think there's a lot more room for the offense to grow as well. Right? I think you're in a situation where we have a new coaching staff that's still trying to figure out what players can and can't do and conversely I think with a lot of the players on the, well most of the players on this team is the fact that they're still trying to understand what the coaching, well I think they do understand what the coaching staff wants for them. It's just

going out there and executing it. What can they take away from the season opening win against Edmonton looking back to that that they can try and apply the work for them then that could work for them again this weekend? Well, I think number one, you have to control Edmonton's running game and they did a pretty good job of that in the first week. I mean Rankin and Lake Thunder and Lightning, those two guys offer two different sets of skills, but they're both equally as dangerous. You try to contain Trey Ford. And I think in that game, he also made Edmonton one dimensional, right?

If you can make the Elks a team that is, you know, looking at second and eight, second and nine, second and tens, all of a sudden, now it's a different ballgame. Conversely, if you're putting points on the board, right? Now you're kind of forcing Edmonton out of their running game. So that's two things that we saw in that first game that the Lions would

like to do the same thing this time around. Circling back to Nathan Rourke, you know obviously he's the quarterback so you know this may sound like a bit of a dumb question but how much is he going to be relied upon here in spite of the fact that he may not be a hundred percent to kind of steady the ship here because you know we saw how they did when he was out of the lineup and obviously, you know, they find a way to win last week, maybe not their best game, but, um, you know, does he provide some of that calming influence and steady things for the offense once he's able to get back in and get to a hundred percent?

Yeah. I mean, I think when you look at certain positions in sports, if you have a gap that position, your team just plays with a different confidence level. In football, of course, it's quarterback and you know, batch in hockey. If you've got a stud goal tender, you think you can win any game, even if you're off that night, right? And conversely, if you don't have elite performers at those positions, sometimes you feel like you almost have to go above and

beyond to win a game. So I think when you have a quarterback of Nathan Rourke's talent, his skill set, it permeates confidence throughout the whole team. So yeah, I think that's huge when you have a guy like Nathan performing at his top level, the confidence of the entire team goes up. It is the Lions and the Elks coming up on Sunday as BC looks to get back to 500 and improve to three and three with a victory. I wanted to ask you a Canucks question as well here, Moj. We've been spending so much time talking about what they might

need to add. The middle of the ice for this team going into the season, they've lost Pugh's suitor. You know, where do you see that area of the roster right now in terms of what they might need to bolster down the middle? And is there an urgency or should there be an urgency, do you think, for them to add that piece in the off season or is it something that they could get into the season,

see where things lie with the center ice position and try and figure it out after that, if they need to go and make a trade or bring someone in. Well, I mean, what's that old Brian Berkline? We don't play a game until October or whatever, right? Remember, you used to use that line in the off season all the time. So you know, they've got time to see what happens in terms of the center ice position. You know, maybe they run with the heat, let's see how he performs now.

And you know, one of the things we've seen with this team, it's definitely not afraid to make any moves or trades during the course of the season. So maybe it's something that, you know, they try to run with at the start of the year. And if they can't, you know, if they feel that it still needs improvement, maybe they go out and make a trade.

But you know the thing that surprises me, fellas, and you know, this is, I've harped on this. I'm still shocked that they really haven't done anything. The one thing that, that I kind of got from talking with the people within the organization last year is that they needed to strengthen the leadership group, right? And they haven't done nothing in that regard. They've signed, you know, while they traded for a Vander Kane and they really haven't done anything to

bolster that. And you know, and it's not going out there and signing a player five or $6 million. It could be a winger or center or defenseman at a million, two million. Like you need that Ian Cole type of player, right? That's who I was gonna mention, yeah. Yeah, and you know, that's one thing that in talking to people last year

that they were kind of missing. They were missing the checks and balances of having some of those veteran leaders. And that's the one thing that surprised me. And I think that's one thing that they're probably still looking to acquire at some point. Maybe it hasn't been out there in the free agent market or the trade market at the price that they like,

but I still think there's gonna be some sort of move that you're gonna see. And I go, why they bringing this guy in? Well, that's gonna be one of the reasons why. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.