Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 7/14/25

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

Jason Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd look back at a busy weekend in sports, the boys discuss the Canucks trading Arturs Silovs and all the fan reaction that's come along with it, plus jumping off a Sinner v Alcaraz Wimbledon final, boys discuss the best rivalries in sports including the NHL Entry Draft vs. entertainment, plus the boys chat with Vancouver Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen about the club's recent struggles, following such a hot start to the season. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa John Sider out of the dugout. He is upset right now with the result. He is going to go get his money's worth from Tripp Gibson. Really happy to be able to build a really good, you know, relationship off the court, but then a great river reel on the court. That should be deep enough. The legacy of the court, but then a great river reel on the court.

That should be deep enough. Dominguez back. Oh yeah, it's deep enough. See ya. A two run home run. Swanson goes yard. And it's 3-1 Chicago. Good morning. Welcome to Halford & Brough pier sports Sportsnet 650 I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Halford here on July 14th and Bruff good morning and you know we're really in the hot part of the sports schedule when the intro audio

clips begin with a foul ball being upheld. Yeah it's all-star week for Major League Baseball known as the slowest time of the sports year. But believe it or not, we've got some Canucks news to talk about this morning. Good morning, A-Dog. How are you? I'm well, how are you? Basketball Ben, good morning. And you'll be excited this week because it's the British Open. It's fantastic. There's lots to talk about.

There is. There is. There is. So what do we got on the show this morning? We'll go through the guest list here. Actually, before we even go through the guest list, I will tell you that Halford and Brough has brought you by Sands and Associates Species, first and trusted choice for debt help.

With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit sans-trustee.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. And as always, 650 650 is the Dunbar lumber text line and never too early to start sending your what we learned submissions in. Of course we'll do that at eight 30 hashtag WWL what you've learned in the last 72 hours

in the world of sports. The guest list begins at six 30. Adam Gold covers the Carolina hurricanes. He's the host of the Adam Gold show in North Carolina. We'll chat to him about the off season that the hurricanes have had and they're getting a lot of rave reviews for the work that they've done as they often do to be fair. The Carolina hurricanes, no strangers to that. Yeah. I think most people out there would call them, I don't know if they, if someone were to say, who do you think

won the off season? They'd be a candidate? Yeah, they'd be a candidate, them and Vegas, I suppose, for landing Marner. Yep. 730, Jesper Sorensen, Whitecaps manager, and very interested to have a chat with him because the tide has really turned for the Whitecaps. I mean, they were such a positive story earlier in the season. Of course, they go all the way to the CONCACAF Champions League

final. We know how that turned out. And it seems like really since then they've lost a bit of their mojo lose again on the weekend, another three nil defeat. So some major questions also about player availability, potential exits from the club in addition to the form of his club. So a lot to get into with Jesper Sorensen at seven 30 and then at 8 o'clock We'll talk about one of the other local teams playing right now. They had a big win on the weekend JC Abbott He covers the BC Lions for three down nation He'll join us at 8 o'clock and of course as I mentioned 830 we will do what we learned

So of course, I'm filling in for Halford. I have to do it in reverse as well We've got JC Abbott at 8 o'clock from 3 Down Nation, Jesper Sorensen, Whitecaps manager at 7.30, and Adam Gold at 6.30 covering the Carolina Hurricanes. Before we do any of that, 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 missing your life can be. What happened? Missed that? You missed that? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how messy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What happened 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 went through the guest list talking Carolina hurricanes white caps BC Lions it was Wimbledon there was a lot of sporting action on the weekend But we're starting with a trade that of course involves the Vancouver Canucks. They trade goalie Archer She loves most recently the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs for the Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks he is now a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, Prospect Chase Stillman and a 2027 fourth round pick. Coming back to the Vancouver Canucks, Shelovs finishes his Canucks career with 19

regular season NHL games and 880 save percentage in the regular season, 10 games and an 898 save percentage in the regular season, 10 games and an 898 save percentage in the playoffs. So we've, we came into already an angry text in the Dunbar Lumber text line, 650 650. If you want to text in and have a question or a comment for Dodd or I, and it just says, it's unsigned, it said said why would they trade Artie for Stillman and a fourth round pick this guy's a prospect that hasn't been proven at the NHL level I'm hoping I'm wrong and we come out winning. Seelovs is a prospect that hasn't been proven at the NHL level as well I think

he was referring to Stillman. Um, it might've been referring to she loves. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that kind of proves my point. Um, listen, we all loved. Arter's seal offs, but if you were spied, surprised by this trade, you, you, you weren't paying attention. The Canucks signed Lankanen and Demko to extensions. They talked up Tolopilo and Ty Young for Abbotsford next season, then drafted and signed another goalie

in LXA Medvedev. The return they got was exactly what most reasonable observers were expecting based on the results of The return they got was exactly what most reasonable observers were expecting based on previous trades. Now, it's a bit unfortunate because again, we all loved what Sealovs did for Abbotsford in the Calder Cup playoffs, but the goalie market is fundamentally different from the skater market.

And I think Pittsburgh was the perfect landing spot for Sealovs because the Penguins don't, well, they don't really care about them making the playoffs. In fact, they probably want to miss. The Canucks do care about making the playoffs and they couldn't risk giving Sealovs a spot on the NHL roster because of that. But they also didn't want to risk losing sea lobs for nothing on waivers. So they did the best that they could.

Now I still have time for those who wonder about the contract they gave Dempko given his injury history, but they were never, ever, going to go into next season with Lankinen and Silov, says their tandem. No, that wasn't on the table. And if you wanted to kind of backtrack to how we ended up with this goalie tandem,

going forward for the Canucks and going forward for the foreseeable future, right? With Lankinen signed for five years, Demko under contract next year, and then a three-year extension beyond that that's four years Theoretically of certainty that it's gonna be Demko Lankton in the Lankton side of things I think in retrospect is maybe a little confusing right the a five-year deal at 4.5 Million a AV for a 30 year goalie who's never really been even part of a starting tandem now. He played really well for them

When they signed that deal, I felt like maybe the writing was on the wall for Demko's time with the Vancouver Canucks. It's like, well, why are you going to give Lincoln in that much money? If you're then going to turn around and commit, you know, start a clear cut starter money to Demko. That's what they chose to do. And I guess their strategy is, Hey, we're going to, we're going to pour resources into the position. So we feel we have a chance to have one of the best goalie

tandems in the league. Fair enough. The caps going up, I think you can stomach how much you're spending on that position. But that was really the key decision point for me. And then once they decided to sign Demko as well, as you said, I don't know that Patrick Alvear has ever tipped his hand as much as he did when asked about Arthur Shilov's and he references not only Nikita Tolopilo but also Ty Young and that was really the tell to me.

Ty Young was in the ECHL for most of last season and he played well there and that's fine for a goalie. Like a goalie playing in the ECHL is not the same as a skater playing in the ECHL but the fact that they were so aggressively referencing all of the other goalies they had, you could see where this was going. And, you know, I've seen people say things like, wow, what are they going to do if one of them gets hurt? They're not going to have it. Well, they're going to sign a veteran HL third type, like third goalie type to be in the organization. And I mean, this is just the waiver system working exactly as

it's designed. The waiver system does not prevent you to just hoard young talent in the AHL. It's designed to distribute it around to the rest of the league and it worked in this case because the Canucks felt they had to get ahead of it and make this deal. JT on Van Island texts in, I don't see why everyone is so angry. His numbers aren't that great. He had almost no path to being a full time backup. I hope he gets a legit shot in Pittsburgh. And yeah, like he's started not counting the playoffs. He started 18 games in the NHL and his save percentage is something like 880.

880. Thankfully the goalie that can't track pucks at long distance is going to the defensive juggernaut known as the Pittsburgh Penguins Sure, it'll be well for him because they let teams get so close and do all this fancy cross-ice passing He's like, this is great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah and Carlson's like I'm not blocking shots. So he's gonna see that so Look, I listen I I understand why people are upset because seal off's might have a bright future Listen, I understand why people are upset because seal offs might have a bright future. Let's, let's, let's talk about the fact that this

might come back to bite them because it's a goal. Well, that's the thing. Never know. There's always, and people will say, well, how do you only get a fourth round pick for a guy who was just the Calder cup, uh, playoff MVP. As you said, the goalie market is just so different from the skater market.

And the reason I think it stings for some fans, well, because look, as much as we're saying like, hey, how can you be surprised by this? I also do understand you can be disappointed that she loves is leading the organization, leaving the organization while also understanding the logic. You know what I mean? Like, and especially he just had a great moment for the Abbotsford Canucks and are a great series of moments for the Abbey Canucks. And a lot of fans got on board with that.

So I understand that if you're surprised at the return, though, it's just that's the nature of goalies because for a guy who is as unproven as he is and we've seen flashes of brilliance in the playoffs, we've also seen some really low lows in the regular season for Archer. She loves where he was essentially unplayable. They did not trust him. They trust him against Chicago. Yeah, they trust him against Chicago. That was it. That was the only time they trusted him. No other team was he allowed to play against at a certain

point last year. Now he's still only 24 and goalies are so unpredictable that yeah, he could end up being a decent NHL starter. And then you're going to look back and say, oh man, that's unfortunate. The risk though is low enough that this is where the market was. They were never going to get significantly more than a fourth round pick and a throw in contract. Does anyone out there think that the Canucks should have traded Demko and had Lankanen

and Sealovs as their tandem. Or if you want to say trade Lankanen and have Demko and Silovs as the tandem. I'd be curious to hear from you if you think that's a, you might want to put yourself on the record because there is a situation out there, a possibility that Seelabs goes to Pittsburgh, he plays really well and then the Canucks, as solid as they look in goal right now, maybe Demko gets hurt early on and it's like, oh my God, like really? He's still not healthy. And then Lankinen is playing too much and he wears down, he doesn't play very well.

And then the backup, whoever that is, isn't trustworthy either. I mean, that could happen. Yeah, absolutely. That's not a totally crazy scenario to talk about. And by the way, Drantz, I had, oh Drantz, Dodd. Oh my God. I was just going to say you've been- How dare you, sir. You've been with Drantz for a while. And we haven't spoken much.

Yep. What do you think about the Canucks and what they've done, which is basically bring back everyone except for Pugh Souter and now Vander Kane. Yeah, they swapped out Pugh Souter for Vander Kane. I think it was. So the key one here is the Besser contract, right? Because that was the guy who it seemed like was out the door. And I think a lot of people were like, okay, it's over.

Free agency is open. It's not going to happen. And then the surprise contract comes and he stays. And I think looking at the Besser one specifically, you can have concern A about the lack of change on the roster, which I think is very fair because at the end of last season, certainly I was in the camp of man, they just need to make changes because it's so stale. So I completely understand that. But in the moment, right?

When it was actually, you know, 9 15 AM on July 1st and you're seeing what is out there, we have this cap space,. What what can we do with it? They weren't going to find a better use of the cap space than that deal for Brock Besser They tried to they tried to and it didn't happen and they weren't going to so from that moment And you can you can still rewind and I still think okay if they had been able to move him at the deadline Get in extra assets could they have swung a deal for a center at some point could they have done something else? But from that moment, I don't think they were gonna do anything better than give him that contract and I like that contract I actually think it's gonna be totally fine. It's gonna age fine, especially with where the cap is going

No problem with it Garland similar thing like with the cap going up. No problem with that contract he's become a key player for them the Demko one worries me a little bit just No problem with that contract. He's become a key player for them. The Demko one worries me a little bit. Just get it shorter term and that's where they kind of manage their risk. But the AV is significant. I can see all of the moves in a vacuum. It is kind of striking when you step back.

And as you said, the only change is Pugh suitor out for a Vander Kane. And okay, those are very different players, but it's still just one kind of middle six forward out one middle six forward in mm-hmm You're betting a lot on the health you're betting a lot on alias Patterson bounce back I don't know if you've considered that that he's a really key player. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, I just wanted to bring that to your attention No, no, no. Yeah. Yeah is important, you know, and you know how he's working out in the summer and everything that's gonna be really important but You look at it, you're like, OK, I get that. But then you take a step back and it's like, well, hold on. We're just running this back again.

Like it's it's Adam Foote instead of talk it. And it's a Vanderkeen instead of Pugh suitor. Those are the changes. Yeah. I guess. I mean, the two keys to me are you mentioned it. Stay healthy and Pedersen bounce back. If those things happen, they should be a playoff team. If they don't, they could be a disaster. The Besser contract is also dependent on a center that is able to get them the puck.

And JT Miller got Brock Besser the puck and when Miller was playing his best hockey, oh, weird. That Brock Besser was puck and when Miller was playing his best hockey, oh, weird. That Brock Besser was also playing pretty good. Yep. And then when Miller wasn't there, it was like, oh, hey, no one's getting Brock Besser the puck in dangerous areas. Yeah, exactly. So those are the two keys for me.

Uh, David Langley texts in, yes, I think we should have traded Lankanen or Demko and kept Sealovs. For me, it's more so the fact that we're now paying 13 million for goalies. and I get the cap is going up and that's everyone's justification. But if you're just giving every player on your team more money because of that, it dries up pretty quickly. I'd like to see the Canucks for once prioritize

some younger guys like Sealovs and have some of the older guys that have, and move some of the older guys that have bigger value or at least Lankenen similar value. I think when they made the commitment to Lankin and they were like, they're not going to trade this guy. No. You know, you don't typically do that unless there is a

fundamental change in something that's happened with the player. Hey, it would have been a huge gamble. It would have been, I think the Canucks, the way they see their team with the trouble that they had scoring goals because of a number of factors, mostly involving the top two centers last season, one being moved out, one not producing.

They looked at their team heading into next season and thought, listen, we better have the goalie position locked down. And it still might not happen if Demko gets hurt or I don't know, maybe they just don't play well because goalies are unpredictable by nature, but it might be not the most exciting game plan, but it's not like they brought in an offensive specialist as the head coach. I don't even know if they brought in an offensive specialist as the head coach. I don't even know if they brought in any offensive specialists on the coaching staff. Well, someone's going to run the power play.

Someone's going to run it. By default, someone's going to run it. But it wasn't like they brought in a guy with a ton of new ideas on how to create scoring chances or anything like that. I think they see their team as they got solid goal sending if everyone stays healthy and plays up to their ability, a really promising and good blue line. And they're just gonna try and win games three to two.

Like it's not a two one league, or it's not a three two league, so I don't know. Three to two, whoa, that's fucking crazy. Three to, yeah. That'd be high scoring. Right? What a bar burner. Whoa! Three goals tonight.

I just see it, and listen, I kinda get it. Yeah, I know it's nice. You can't, you can't. What am I gonna do? Like I know it would be great if the Canucks played at a super exciting brand of hockey, and it was running gun, but if your job was dependent on putting together the team that had the best chance to make the playoffs, wouldn't you lean into

the goal? You'd lean into your strengths, which I would be going to be on the blue line. And then you go to goal prevention from there and you know what Demko is capable of at his best when he's healthy. And I think the best way to think, you know what Demko's capable of at his best when he's healthy. And I think the best way to think, as I've been thinking through, okay, they have both Lankin and Demko signed to these contracts now.

I think what it is is they wanted to invest in way more of a typical backup. I hope to give Demko the best chance of staying healthy. So that they have a guy they can rely on to the degree where they don't have to ride Demko as every coach. Yeah. Green Boudreaux talk. It has been tempted to do every coach who's had Demko at the NHL level has gotten into the mode where, man, I know he's played the last five, but man,

we really need these two points. I'm just going to play him again. Right. I know he's, I know he's working so hard with Ian Clark physically. He's probably spent and like that's another thing that they've tried to stop. They have to, from the top of the organization, down to Thatcher Dempco, get out of that mode and if investing 4.5 million in Kevin Lankidon gives them the best chance to do that,

then I can understand it from that perspective. I think that's the bet. Let's keep Dempco healthy, let's have a really overqualified backup behind him so we're always gonna have good goalt attending and then we've got a defense core We feel really good about in front of them. So we're gonna be one of the best goal prevention teams in the league That's the blueprint and if everyone stays healthy, I don't think it's a stretch to see it working out now I wanted to read this from Snoop the dog who says I was surprised by the trade to

Surprise that they netted a former first-round pick in Stillman along with a fourth round pick. You called me Drance accidentally a few minutes ago. I'll do my best Drance impression here and throw cold water. Okay. On the calling chase Stillman, a former first round pick technically accurate. Yes. He was the 29th overall pick in 2021. But if you're, if you're talking yourself into this trade because they got a former first round pick as part of it, first of all, 2021.

That's four years ago now. So that's long enough for the first round pick shine to have come off. That was also the weird COVID draft year where like he was in the OHL. He didn't play in his draft year. So they were kind of drafting kids from the O blind that year. Like, oh, this guy, we thought he was going to be good. Definitely. I looked at that. He didn't play in his draft year. So they were kind of drafting kids from the Oh blind We thought he was gonna be good Definitely. I looked at that. That was a I hadn't heard much about this guy and I looked at his draft here I was like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. It was a crap shoot. Yeah, and

Since then his numbers both in the OHL after he was drafted and in the AHL as he started his professional career Not very impressive. So I don't want to say he's never going to become anything but if you're saying like oh wow former first-round pick significantly downgrade you're at lower your expectations this was a contract I actually looked at the athletic when they ranked the top Penguins prospects back in January he was not in the top 15. So just give to give you a sense of what we're talking about here with Chase Stillman. Okay.

A few other things that happened over the weekend and we'll talk later in the show. The BC Lions went into Edmonton and absolutely dominated the Elks. Another fine performance from Nathan Rourke. So the Lions are up to three and three, which is encouraging because they went into Montreal, staring at a one and four start and they got the win in Montreal and they got the win in Edmonton.

The Montreal game, not really an expected win. They were the underdogs there, but not huge underdogs and they got the job done there. It wasn't pretty, but they did. And then they went into Edmonton and like, I mean, yeah, the Lions played well, but the Elks are, who the Elks are, who the Elks are bad. And I don't know if this, this Trey Ford kid is exciting, but I don't.

Did you see the man with the balls he missed? Did you watch the game? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was not even close. He wasn't close. He wasn't close. He can scramble. He can run around and scrambling can't,

can't throw the ball. And I think they're probably going to have to. Is passing important in this? It is't close. He can scramble. He can run around and scramble. He can't throw the ball. And I think they're probably gonna have to. Is passing important in this? It is. Yeah, it's interesting. It's important in the game of football. The Whitecaps, man, they're, you mentioned it earlier in the segment,

they're going through a rough bit and we'll talk to Jesper Sorensen later in the show. The manager, I watched his post game and he was just like, yeah, we're not doing anything well right now. Like he didn't, he wasn't trying to paint a pretty picture with what's going on. He's just kind of realistic with what's happening and they've got some injuries.

They played a lot of games. They lost some guys to international duty, and right now I think they've just lost their mojo. Wimbledon, that was a fine final, a good story for Yannick Sinner, if you're a fan of his. He beat Alcaraes after blowing it, if you want to put it that way in the French open. So that's a good rivalry and maybe we'll have a conversation about rivalries later on in the show. And Dodd, your Blue Jays went into the all-star break with a pair of losses to the athletics. But more importantly, they went into the all star break

with a two game lead over the Yankees for first place in the division. And I guess the way the season started, you must be pretty thrilled. Oh, I mean, they've got a two game lead in the division. You absolutely can do can be nothing but thrilled that they have that lead. And to be fair, the Yankees lost two in a row going into the break as well. So kind of no damage done to the Jays, at least concerning the Yankees. The Red Sox all of a sudden are in a 10 game winning streak.

So they're only three games back in the A.L. But as you said, with where expectations were, the lack of general excitement, I think it's fair to say, based on what the Jays did in the offseason or didn't do and how they started the season to have them get on that run and find themselves where they are right now You can't be anything but very very excited about the second half You're listening to the best of Halford and brough you're listening to the best of Halford and brough Yes, we're sorenson is gonna join us at 730 manager of the whitecaps But before we do that we got an open segment here and we mentioned just briefly in what happened, probably the most significant sporting event, not from

a local perspective, but from an international perspective on the weekend, the Wimbledon final and the the gentleman's final specifically between Yannick center and Carlos Alcaraz center wins, gets his first career Wimbledon title. And I think more importantly, like there's I don't want to downplay the match itself. It was fine. It wasn't a classic, but I think the bigger significance more so than, you know, center winning his first Wimbledon title more so than the match itself was this was a rematch of a match that was a classic, their epic French open showdown, which Alcaraz won. And a lot of people, as you said, kind of said, Center blew that one.

He should have got he should have gotten it. So I think the bigger picture story is that you have a set of results like this back to back at majors at Grand Slam events in tennis. And I think very important for the sport that center one here, right, that he kind of evened up the score for this year in the Grand Slam finals, because this is quickly developing into maybe the best rivalry, at least individual rivalry in sports right now. You know, it's big because it has its own Wikipedia page.

There you go. Yeah. Like you have to have a Wikipedia page to be official. And I think it's just incredible when you think about the run that the sport of tennis enjoyed and tennis fans and you know, the people on the business side who make their money off the sport and all of that when it was Federer Nadal Djokovic and I know people throw Andy Murray in there as well, but like come on, let's let's be real here. Sorry Andy Murray Yeah, anyways, it was the big three. Yeah, it was the big three. And they went through this incredible is this kind of like unique three way rivalry. And it was a rivalry as much as there's the mutual respect.

It is still a rivalry. And they just dominated and carried the sport. And I think it was incredible and fans loved it and it was awesome. And then they start to end their careers and joke. Fitch is still playing and still very competitive. But you see the finish line in sight for him him and you kind of wonder who's going to fill the vacuum and to see it. Now there's Alcares and center have a long way to go to reach the higher area that the big three they've reached, but you're high level off to a great

start and to see it almost seamlessly transition from the big three era. What's going to replace it to, Oh, the Alcara center rivalry, which already has classic chapters in the books already looks like it's going to be one of the best individual rivalries in sports. It's really incredible. And I mean, it must be an amazing feeling for tennis fans. All right, this is great. We get on board with these guys now going forward. It also got me thinking like. What are even the other contenders for best individual rivalries in sports right now?

It feels like we're at maybe a bit of a low ebb. Like there's nothing in golf, right? No, I mean, McElroy and DeChambeau is pretty good right now. In the US Open battle, the Masters battle, there's been there's the live and the PGA side of things with them too. There's been some stuff in the media. Bryson, after Rory won the Masters saying, he didn't talk to me all around. Yeah. There's some animosity there.

But, but they're not the best players in the world. That's the problem, right? Like Scheffler is the best player in the world. And, uh, I know what you're saying, but, you know, Tiger, he was so dominant, but he, he did have Phil, right? I mean, that was a rivalry that was, I mean, it was very one-sided. That's, that was the issue there. Very one-sided, but it was, it was still there.

See, cause I, you're right, but I will kind of if we're talking rivalries in Tiger Woods to me what I'll remember most is just that The period of it seemed like guys were gonna step up right like David Duvall or Sergio Garcia and it never materialized Yeah, and I think even with Phil there was the personality element, but from a Head-to-head battle perspective for supremacy in the sport it never really developed either. Yes, I think it's fair to say yeah Oh, yeah, that's fair to say what about what about Steph Curry LeBron James say? I don't think that's a rivalry now is it I'd say they're both playing the same division They've been so many finals against each other LeBron

And the thing is like there that I think, when they went to four finals in a row, like, OK, two of the best players, arguably one and two in the sport, four finals in a row against each other. That clear cut note about it. No doubt about an awesome rivalry. And I'm sure they still feel a personal rivalry. But they're also like, like the Warriors are a playing team most years now. You know what I mean? Like, it's like they not, they're not elite, elite at that same level.

Their teams aren't elite, elite at that same level right now. What about Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese? I think that might be the best one, honestly. Of individuals on teams against each other. Because that now, I guess you could also, there's a bit of a like a Tiger Phil thing here, right? Where I'm not a WNBA expert But my understanding Caitlin Clark much more impactful much better than Angel Reese

And I do feel like also a lot of the rivalry heat Comes from outside of the two individuals, but not all of it Like I do think there's some legit heat between them and Caitlin Clark an extremely competitive individual Like she does not back down on the court. If you're just talking like to a casual sports fan in the United States or even in Canada, and you had to sell, watch this game because these two are going head to head, like I think Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese right now does that better than almost any individual rivalry I can think of, just because there does seem to be that, that be that level of potential fireworks on the court, which you kind of need for it

to really be an exceptional rivalry. Is it better when they don't like each other? Of course it is. It would be better if Sinner and Alcaraz weren't so gentlemanly. There is. If it was the gentleman's final, but a little bit of, like that's what, that was so great about John McEnroe. He was just like, I mean, he didn't necessarily

like hate his opponents or anything, but he was interesting. He was a loose cannon. He was a loose cannon, right? They are not. I mean, don't get me wrong. Like I'm not the hugest tennis fan anymore, but I watched that match.

I woke up and I knew it was on and I was like, I'm going to watch a bit of this. It was good. It was interesting that Sinner won because some of us might have wondered, oh, is Alcaraz just the guy that's always going to end up on top, especially in the Grand Slams. And Sinner did a good job of that, even when it was getting down to match point, in the back of our minds, I think it was three match points that Alcaraz overcame in the French Open. So right until it was done, it wasn't done until it was done.

But for me, there has to be part of the build up too. Though what I think Tiger and Phil, like Phil was kind of his own worst enemy. Yes. But like there were some good sound bites. Yeah, sure. Especially from Nicholson. Absolutely. And I think it's striking here because like you brought up LeBron and Steph, and I think that was true going back a few years now.

Somebody texted in Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and F1, but then they immediately texted in like, I guess that's a few years in the past now as well. Somebody else says, what about Ovechkin versus Crosby? That's long past in terms of like a real focal point rivalry for the sports media created any. Yeah, it was. But I don't know. I think there was some element of rivalry between the two as well.

It was never like it never had sparks in the way of some of these other ones. We were when they were going to go at each other. They probably thought about it. Yeah. But I'm sure they were like, I'm sure. I would like to beat this guy. I'm sure. Oh, that you can thought about it when he, but I'm sure they were like, I'm sure I would like to beat this guy I'm sure of that you can thought about it when He was still Stanley cupless. Mm-hmm Into his 30s. Yes, and I'm sure he thought about it when he finally won that cup And that was the great equalizer between the two but like again, we're going back

You know five to ten years and we have all these great suggestions. Yeah, and now we're like Our athletes like too nice now? Is that the thing? Can we turn this into a rant against Gen Z? And they're being nice? And NHLers are. I think they all hang out with each other in the off season. I wouldn't say nice. I would say careful.

I think they just want to. They play it safe. And that's why guys like Matthew Kachak are so important to the league and Brad Marchand because they're not scared to make A headline, but I wouldn't say like Kachak and McDavid are rivals. No, no, I don't think it's hard. It's hard cross-conference Yeah, you know like maybe if they meet again next year and the oilers not even the best player on his team Yeah, that's right. You know, yeah, he's just like the spokesman for the team. Yeah Hey, I've got a great rivalry

the NHL draft versus entertainment Cuz I don't know. It's pretty one-sided to be fair the NHL entertainment would be like the meme. I don't think about you know, I Don't know if anyone saw the news but the NHL has decided to keep I don't know if anyone saw the news, but the NHL has decided to keep the decentralized draft. And by the way, I have a theory about this, that all the teams just voted to keep it decentralized because they didn't want to hear Gary Betman say, I told you so.

Because Gary Betman was never for this idea and he had a very passive aggressive way. They voted for out of spite, you're saying? Yeah, of saying it basically like, well, you know, I said, don't do this. And then the draft was a disaster. And, you know, I'm sure Gary Bettman expected everyone to be like, okay, well, let's go back to the old way.

You were right. But they voted it to keep it the same way. And now the challenge really from the NHL and from Sportsnet's perspective is like, okay guys, it's decentralized, but we cannot do this again. And for me, this whole thing should start with, okay, what's our target length for the broadcast?

And I think it should be three hours, like a hockey game, which is more than doable. I think last year, the first round went five hours. Yeah, four and a half, almost five and a half. I worked it. Ridiculous. It's like the Oscars. Ridiculous.

And I have a crazy idea here. almost five and a half. Ridiculous. It's like the Oscars. Ridiculous. And I have a crazy idea here. And I'm just going to start this and I'll allow exceptions. All right. No player interviews. I would say definitely once you get outside of the top 10, you really have to pick and choose the player interviews. Pick and choose.

There's got to be a really compelling story. Absolutely. Let the teams post their interviews. You know, leave it to the teams because I don't really care what, for example, and I'm just looking at the draft right now, Justin Carboneau has to say after being drafted 19th overall by St. Louis.

Now I'm sure there's going to be some prospects expert that was like, I was really curious to see where Justin Carboneau would go. You know, you, you, you have to make this appealing to the typical NHL fan and the typical NHL fan. I'm just going to let you in a little secret here, doesn't care that much about most teams. No, they care about the top teams and they care about their team. Just make it 30 minutes. Really, really 30 minutes. Yeah. Well, and this is the issue that the NH, like, okay, so here's the thing. I saw the reaction when they voted to keep it decentralized and because The draft was such a slog this year and it did not work as an entertainment product as a TV product

I get why people were aghast but I they're actually separate issues like there's no reason That whether the GM's and the war rooms are present or not in the building should determine how entertaining is on television Yeah, like they're doing almost completely separate. So you can have a really entertaining centralized draft or a really boring one. You can have a theoretically a really entertaining decentralized draft. Exactly the NFL draft, the NBA draft. The issue is and I think obviously the NFL draft, the gold standard of drafts, of televised drafts in professional sports, the first round of the NFL draft. The big thing there is one college football is a huge sport.

So the people are intimately familiar with those players. And you're expecting them to come in and be starters day one for you. And even if your team has already picked, well, your division rivals might have picks coming up in your. Oh, how are they going to improve? How are they going to get better? Cause I'm going to be watching this guy or taking him on my fantasy team in like, in a few months, you know, the players, you know, the players and they're going to be relevant right away. Yeah. And the issue

in the NHL and I think the NBA runs into this a little bit, certainly outside the top 10 as well, where it's like, Hmm, a lot of these guys, yeah, they'll make rosters, but they're not going to matter. They're not going to be day one starters. They might never be starters in the league in the NBA. It kind of drags a little bit in the NBA. You tend to see more trades, which helps. I think also, uh, maybe there's a little bit more like the interviews provide more, more content, more fodder than they do in the NHL. So the NHL has got to find a way. Okay. After the first five picks, these are not big names.

You probably lose a lot of that, just casual interest. Could that almost be like background? The draft? What do you mean? Like have it as a conversation. Sure. You know, like less, I mean, this is, this sounds crazy. I know, but less analysis about the actual picks

and more about just the league in general. Talk about the team. Like if Columbus is picking, like talk about the team. I don't, I don't need to hear a guy say like, Oh, this guy's got a great motor. No, you know, I, I, you know, I, and he's a great teammate and you know, or he's a, we moved to pocket, he's got a great first pass. Or I don't need to hear the player be like, I'm so excited to be drafted by Columbus or whatever. For me, it's just give the fans what they want.

And a lot of that is even just have the broadcasters engage in some salacious talk, interesting talk. And I also think. What is the worst thing that happened to you as a child? Go now. Like we need way less time of people talking on the stage. It should be Gary Bettman walks up with the fifth overall selection,

whoever selects whoever out of the OHL right like that's it and then he walks off Yeah, that's it. That's all we need. We don't need the quirky celebrity No, we don't need all of the other stuff like I don't cut cut cut cut cut Gary Batman walks up makes the pick walks off That's all we need and then it's back to analysis back to other stuff We all thought obviously and this is this is obvious the Zoom interview thing, cut, cut, cut, cut. That was terrible. Anything where there's awkwardness, you need to be able to cut that off.

If a player says, uh, you should just cut them on a map. Okay, you're good, bye. Like the second the kid's like, uh, you're done, bye, next. Like I think they gotta limit the player interviews because they're 18 years old, they're not gonna say much interesting. And a lot of them, for a lot of them, English isn't even their first language. So that's tough. So have an interview with the general manager and then don't ask the obvious questions. I guess you got to be like, what do you like about this kid?

Yeah. But then beyond that, get into like, how does your team look? Cause that's gonna keep people, though, when I start, when I flip off the draft and I turn it off a lot, right? It's like. I thought you meant like literally flip it off. Well, I have. Yeah.

I have done that a few times. Just setting it home in front of the TV. Yeah. But I think. Double birds. Oh, I hate this so much. But like, I at home in front of the TV. Yeah. But I think- Double birds. Oh, I hate this so much. But like, I would love to do this with the NHL. Like, I will watch that draft over again.

I'd be like, I would turn it off here because like, I don't, like, I don't, I don't care, right? No. It's when you start getting into the real hardcore analysis about these prospects and if the prospects guys complain, let them complain because they are 3%. Do a simulcast, do a hardcore prospect simulcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah, something like that.

We've got 10,000 channels. We can throw it on one of them. Well, and also, the prospects guys aren't gonna learn anything. They're not gonna learn anything by having someone be like, oh, this guy's got, I love his motor. Or he's a great teammate.

Okay, awesome. He needs to get bigger and work on his skating. Yeah, if anyone says he needs to get bigger and stronger, they should be fired because it's like, yeah, he's 18. That is an interesting idea the NHL could do. They could have like a draft bingo, and whenever one of the players or the analyst say something cliched, there's a big like, eh, and whenever like one of the players or the analysts say something cliched

There's a bit like and it like crosses now I honestly man that would be funny that would be funny Why do they like cliche bingo seems like it hit everything I do think in the analysts aren't allowed to know what the words are In the interest of fairness to the NHL here and in fairness to our employer sports set there are two things I think that can make a draft really exciting and we talked about this with the NFL draft in the NBA draft one as you said familiarity with the players and the expectation that they're going to make an immediate impact. NHL draft doesn't have that certainly not outside the first three or four or five picks. The other one is transactions. The expectation that a lot of deals are going to happen even if it's just movement around the board but especially deals involving players already in the league. The NBA draft has that pretty well. The NHL draft doesn't have both either of those. Yeah. And it's outside of their control. They can't force the GMs to make deals. You can talk about it though. You can ask the GMs. You can put

the GMs on the spot and I think we have to start from that spot. Those are the two key ingredients. You don't have them. Now that doesn't mean give up that means okay Then we have to get really creative for how we're going to overcome those obstacles because we're not changing those So what are we going to change another to make it a better product? Do is force an NHL team to make a trade after they draft a player you have to make a trade once you draft your player No matter what you're not allowed to not trade someone then we just don't prospect for product Yeah, no can no, no. Can't trade.

That has to be hockey trade. It can't be draft picks or the guys you just drafted. Just pure chaos for half an hour. Every team has to make a trade. I would watch that, but it's a ridiculous idea. That's why it's so gay. They shouldn't do the draft, though. It should be like.

Lean into ridiculousness. At some point in the middle of August, when nothing is happening, there's a 24-hour window or a 48-hour window it's like the purge where every team has to execute a trade with a roster player leaving you get like a five million dollar cap it again is the purge for that we always the person coming up in a sports radio it's like oh yeah it's purge week Can be NHL who's going every team's planning the entire year around the purge

Fantastic all right. Maybe we'll talk more about the purge later on in the show coming up here He's the manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps. He is Jesper Sorenson. Yes, but thank you very much for making time for us today How are you? I'm good. Thanks. So what is your focus right now as a manager, as a tactician and as a motivator? Yeah, of course there's a lot of stuff. And that's a good question. You ask that because that's, it's not just about, you know, how can we, how can we make the right tactics?

It's also, you know, how can we, how can we make the right tactics? It's also, you know, how can we motivate the players to look past a couple of bad games in the MLS lately, and also how can we manage the schedule we have? Right now, we go to Houston tomorrow and play Wednesday. And then we go directly to San Diego. And after San Diego, there's an all-star game in Austin, where four of our players will participate. And so we'll not have many days where we're together and train and can do a lot of meaningful training.

So it's very important that we use the time that's possible, that we motivate the players as best possible, that we motivate the players best possible, that we of course look how to play our opponents, but also more importantly look to see how do we want to play more in general, and how do we want to be a good team because it doesn't matter where you are in the standings, it only matters how you play because if you play as a top team you'll become a top team and if you play if you don't then over time you won't play become a top team so it's important that we that we get back into how we want to play and how we want to do things. Anytime you go deep in a competition like the CONCACAF Champions League of course part of the issue is all of the extra matches on your schedule. And I know that competition is done, but are you still feeling perhaps the impact of fatigue on your squad as a result of the extra games? I think maybe, I think maybe, you know, that we that that mentally fatigue more than anything.

You know, it's big games coming up all the time. You prepare mentally. It takes a toll on you also, the mental preparedness for games like that. And then you get back into a season afterwards where you go straight into the middle of the season and you have to, of course, perform every week, but it's not the same. The games you just played, if you look forward, there's a long time until it's the playoffs. It's really a tough grind in the MLS over the summer, I experienced now.

So it's, yeah, it's maybe, but again, that competition is over and there's a lot of good explanations but what is important for me is that even though those explanations are good and we can understand them, we have to get out and perform. Is Pedro Vite going to finish the season with the whitecaps? Is there anything you can tell us about him? I can't say anything, but of course if you have a young player like him and we have a transfer window now, there will be a lot of speculation and there will be a lot of, there's also a lot of interest when you have a very good player like Pedro. So that will be normal.

If he finishes the season or not, I don't know, but we have to see. It's a good player. I don't want to lose him, but sometimes it's not about me. And if we do, then we're going to find somebody to replace him. Jesper, thanks for joining us today. Hang in there. Good luck on Wednesday. I was going to say you're still third in the Western Conference. It was a doom and gloom

interview but we wanted to give you that. I think if people had told you at the start of the season, hey, July 14th, you'll be third in the Western Conference, that probably sounded pretty good. And you know, the one thing I think about in this business is that time is such a difficult, it's very difficult to mention this because sometimes a month seems as a year. If we look back five weeks, it's like we can't even remember. So that's how it is. Everything is is very much in the present and that that makes it very intense. But that's also, you know, it's just it's just how it works in this business. And there's not much memory, but we'll have to we'll have to go out and create

some good matches and play well. And and I'm pretty confident that we can also turn that corner. Jesper, really appreciate the time. Thank you for doing this. And best of luck with your matches coming up. Thank you very much. Thank you. That is Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.