Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 9/18/24

Episode Date: September 18, 2024

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, the boys hear from players on NHL Media Day ahead of training camps opening tomorrow, and they discuss what to expect from Elias Pettersson's press conference, they talk to BC Lions owner Amar Doman, plus the boys tell us what they learned. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Jotani lifts a fly ball to deep right field. How far will it go? Into the second deck. It's his 48th home run. It is home for 50-50. That one's driven out to left center field and deep.

Going back, Jayron. Turning, looking, see ya. He checked the box. He's now homered in every ballpark in baseball. Altibe showing where it hit his foot. And now he's ejected. Oh, man, that's amazing. Good morning, Vancouver.

6-0-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. This is Halford and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you. Hello, hello.. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddy, good morning to you. Hello, hello. And Arash, good morning to you. Morning. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable

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I got a lot to get into on the program today. Training camp doesn't officially begin until tomorrow for your Vancouver Canucks. But let's be real. It basically starts today. Everyone will be descending on the South Okanagan Events Center in Penticton today. There's going to be media availabilities. They're going to do their media car wash. There's a bunch of media people that are going up today and settling into their accommodations for the next five days.

So we will be talking quite a bit. We're going to go Canucks heavy today, Thursday and Friday for the remainder of the week here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Guest list today. It's going to kick off at 630. Sean Rourke from NHL.com. So the Canucks rookie tournament up in Penticton just wrapped.

Sean was in El Segundo, California for the 2024 NHL rookie faceoff, which had seven teams in it, including a bunch of the Canucks. Yeah, yeah. Did Celebrity play? He did. One game. He played one. Is that it?

That's it. Oh, really? Shut him down. And they were like, yep, he's pretty good. Did you know they have a guy on San Jose named Quentin Musty? did you know that quentin musty musty musty yeah so you're talking you're shutting down my celebrini talk for uh for musty talk for musty talk a little musty fair enough yeah there was a bunch of the pacific division opponents in that uh tournament lots of good stories coming from there as we start to look ahead at the start of the season. Sean Rourke from NHL.com is going to join us at 6.30, 7 o'clock. Nick Shook from NFL.com.

You know, I went back, and you know how I always diligently listen to every single minute of every single show. No, I don't know that. Anyway, I've never done that once. But yesterday, I realized we spent three hours on the show and did not mention a single time that Bryce Young got benched. Didn't mention it. Just glossed over it entirely.

Like the biggest story in the NFL. We didn't talk about it. So we're going to right that wrong today with Nick Shook from NFL.com. For Andy Bloody Dalton. That's low. It is low. That's a low point. The best was when on Sunday after they lost.

I saw a Stephen A. Smith clip where he is like, ladies and gentlemen, this is worse than Jamarcus Russell. I was like, damn. That's bad. It was bad. The head coach, Dave Canales, when they lost 26-3 to the Chargers on Sunday, after the game, he said, you know, Bryce is our guy and we're sticking with him. And then he went and watched the tape and he's like,

what I said on Sunday was wrong. We are not sticking with Bryce Young. We're going with Andy bloody Dalton. And that's how he said it. He's like, can you believe it? Andy Dalton, the guy's still in the league and he's on our team and we're starting him at quarterback. It's been that bad.

So we're going to talk to Nick Shook from anoffal.com at 7 o'clock about that. We'll also look ahead to Thursday Night Football, a classic AFC East battle between the Patriots and the Jets. Nick Shook, 7 o'clock. 8 o'clock. So the BC Lions don't play this week, but we always have a BC Lions guest on the weekly. This

week, it's the owner. Omar Dolman is going to join the program. So we will talk to him about Grey Cup plans, but also the current state of his team because there was a pretty controversial decision

by his head coach in Friday's loss to the Toronto Argonauts at quarterback. So lots to get into with the BC Lions owner. We should talk to him about meeting Rick Tockett too

because I think Tockett was hanging out with him a bit during that game. That's right. We can ask, and Moj, I'm sure, we'll talk to him about that on Friday as well

because Tockett was hanging out in the booth with Moj. I thought you were going to say that to Moj. Amar Doman thought that that was Moj. Yeah, are you? No, you're not. Kind of look similar. Amar's like, so we got this new slogan, embrace the heart.

We're making t-shirts for the players. It's really picking up steam. Amar Doman's going to join us at 8. Nick Shook at 7. Sean Rourke at 6.30. That's the guest. Only three guests today after a five-guester yesterday. But that's because we have a lot to get into.

So without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened?

You missed that? You missed that? What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We will begin with some very serious news and the biggest news of yesterday,

which Bic and Jamie broke on the air on Sportsnet 650 yesterday afternoon. Canucks forward Dakota Joshua announced on Tuesday that he is recovering from testicular cancer. In a statement shared by the team on Tuesday afternoon, Joshua wrote that doctors discovered a lump earlier this summer and were able to successfully remove the tumor. The 28-year-old obviously won't be attending training camp. He is in the process of recovery. He said he plans on returning to play, quote, as soon as possible and is working hard every day to rejoin his teammates.

Obviously a jarring piece of news for Joshua, his family, the Canucks, and the fan base to receive whenever you hear the word cancer. It deserves your attention. The good news here is that testicular cancer has a very high survival rate as long as it's caught early. It's a young man's disease, typically affecting males in their late teens

through their early 30s. Sometimes it does require radiation or chemotherapy. Other times, surgery and just monitoring it is good enough. Now, a lot of athletes have been through this. Lance Armstrong famously dismissed his initial symptoms of testicular cancer because he kind of thought, well, you know, it's in the groin region and I ride a bike for a living. That's probably, you know, something going on there. And the cancer unfortunately spread to,

I believe it was like his abdomen, abdomen, can't say it, lungs and brain. And I think, you know, and he survived that. And this doesn't mean this is going to happen for Dakota Joshua.

It really doesn't. The whole thing is really just a good reminder that if you feel, for you guys out there, you feel something in your balls, whether it's a lump or pain, go see your doctor. Don't be embarrassed. Don't just assume it's nothing. Don't ignore it. Don't put it to the back of your mind.

Don't think, hey, I'm super healthy And I have a really good diet The cause of testicular cancer Isn't fully understood Again, it's not related to Not taking care of yourself physically Or a poor diet, it's nothing to do with smoking Or anything like that For all we know, it's just

The luck of the draw And unfortunately, Dakota Joshua Is going to have to go through this. We'll find out more about, well, a lot of things today when the Canucks hold their season opening. Media avails this afternoon in Penticton ahead of training camp. I don't know how much more. I don't know if we're going to get a timeline on Dakota Joshua.

I don't know if we're going to get a timeline on Thatcher Demko. But health is certainly at the top of everyone's mind as the Canucks head into this season. Yeah, training camp is going to be, it's always interesting, right? And part of that has to do with the long, slow burn and build of waiting for things to get underway. And it's another one of those benchmarks in the offseason. Guys, you know, arriving wherever training camp is held this year, it's in Penticton. Today it'll be a lot of talk and there'll be a lot of audio to parse through

and there'll probably be a lot of information passed along, as you mentioned. There's going to be the health updates on Joshua and Demko. There's going to be some introductions as well. It's going to be our first look at a lot of guys, specifically the guys that are here on PTOs and Ferguson and Sammy Blay, the new guys that are going to be here, even though they've spoken with the media on a number of occasions,

all the free agent signings, this is still going to be their first chance to don the Canucks colors and get out on the ice. Those new guys do add an element of energy and a little bit more originality to what at times can be a kind of routine procedure,

going through the drills, going through the skates, getting things back with a bunch of veterans that are going to be returning to the team. So the other topics that might come up today, perhaps more on the contract status for Rick Tockett, the head coach. Alvin sort of addressed that with IMAC. You tell me if this is addressing the situation. Sportsnet, is it still the organization's plan to wait until after this season to re-sign your coach? Alvin, we have a club option for next year. I think with the relationship we have with Talkit

and the trust we have in the communication, I think when the time is right for both of us and then obviously the ownership, we'll look into that. Nice. Patrick Alvin is still very good at saying a lot without saying anything oh so when the time is right you know could you tell us when that time might be i like no all right you know what he's very good at he's very good at extrapolating the details that everybody already knows like when he says when the time is right we'll look at it and obviously ownership will look at it as well yeah like ownership wasn't going to like,

it's just like, whatever. I was thinking that you would do it when the time is wrong. Yeah. Cloak and dagger. And you convinced me that I was wrong on that. Any other questions that you would have for Canucks Brass or the players?

Text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. If I sound a little sped up right now, it's because I got off the ice about four hours ago, I think. Oh, you had a late hockey game.

I know you had a late game. I didn't know you had a late game. So I just kind of like went to sleep for a bit. And then I was like, all right, I'm up. Am I on? You're on.

Am I on the power play? How did your game go? Terrible. We shouldn't have lost, but we did. This will also be the first time we will hear from Elias Pettersson. He's been in town. He's hadn't spoken to the media.

So we'll see if we get a more upbeat version of the player after a summer of reflection and hopefully some hard work. But the reflection is probably the biggest part of all this. Not my words, Rick Tockett. Rick Tockett said he spoke to Pedersen a couple weeks ago. Sounded a little more upbeat on the phone. And he said last year when I spoke to him, he sounded a little subdued.

And most of the fan base that had watched him and seen his press conferences were like, yep. He looks subdued. He sounds subdued. He looks sad. A little birdie told me we might get an update on the Rogers Arena seats saga. We're going with saga.

We're going with saga. It's a saga. Yeah. Yeah, I know other shows have been more into going with Saga. It's a saga. Yeah. Yeah, I know other shows have been more into this than we have. Like all of them? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Saga. Okay, you're fired.

Seats Saga. Sounds better. Wait, so you're saying Saga over Saga? No, he's saying Saga over Saga. We do have an extra body back here, so if you wanted to fire one of us, today is the day. She's just like, I'm here, boys. And he's like, what? So we might have an announcement on that.

Do you have any other details to share? Now I'm intrigued. I don't even care about the seats and I'm intrigued. I don't think all the seats are going to get replaced this year. They're not going to get time for October? They might be able to do the lower bowl.

I think they ran into some issues with their supplier. Their seat supplier? Yeah. Seat, seat, seats was the company. They didn't have enough seats. It turns out they only had two seats, not three. Sorry, we're sold out, guys. Yeah, they were like, you want 18,000 seats?

What? We could do one a day. By October? We should replace them. These are handmade. Yeah yeah we have one worker some guy named t-bor stitching them in the bag like this is gonna take a lot longer people doing it during the game yeah um okay the seats say yeah um all right i did you know so uh kudos to imac who has a very comprehensive training camp preview piece up on sportsnet.ca right now.

So let's dive into a couple of these things here. There is a very, when you look at the numbers, there is a very interesting battle on the wings and in terms of the 12 forward spots on this team going into camp. If you want to do the math, I would say that you can kind of pencil in your centers one through four right away. You know who those guys are going to be. It's really the eight spots on the wings that aren't necessarily up for grabs,

but that's where the pieces of the puzzle start to fall in. You know who the four centers are going to be? I think so. Who are they? I think you'll go JT Miller. Yeah. I think you go Pedersen.

Uh-huh. You go Bluger. Not for sure. You don't think so? Well, I think so, but I think Suter's a candidate. Suter's also a candidate to move onto the wing, of course, and he could fit into this as well.

And then Nils Amon, 4C. But maybe, I don't know, maybe Atu Ratu goes in there. Well, he could force his way into the action here. So let's focus on the wings. Sorry, I cut you off. No, no, no, that was good. Let's say the eight spots on the wings. It's interesting because you've got four returnees.

That would be Garland and then Joshua, who now with an asterisk, because we're not sure when he'll return to the wings. It's interesting because you've got four returnees. That would be Garland and then Joshua, who now with an asterisk, because we're not sure when he'll return to the lineup. Nils Hoaglander and Brock Besser joined by the four newbies, Jake DeBruyck, Stanton Heinen, Kiefer Sherwood, and Daniel Sprong. Now, if you're going to go on the assumption that Dakota Joshua is going to be out in the interim, that means that a spot, at least for now, is open.

So you're looking at D. Giuseppe, Nils Amann, Jonathan Leckermacki, Linus Carlson, Arch, Steve Baines. I forgot about Sammy Blay, the PTO signing. Yeah, and someone texted in and suggested maybe they found out about Dakota Joshua and brought in Sammy Blay. I have no idea. The timing could work on that. But who knows about that?

Well, you do know the one stat that jumps out when people were talking about Sammy Blay during the last couple of years in St. Louis, right? He led the team in hits. Yeah, hits a lot. Yeah. You know what? Not to go too deep on Sammy Blay,

because I'm not sure he's going to be a huge factor on this team this year. The reviews were very middling from St. Louis Blues fans because he had a couple stints there. And if you'll remember, he won a Stanley Cup and actually was a pretty useful contributor to that team. He got to play with Ryan O'Reilly quite often because Berube really liked how physical he was.

Well, there's a reason he's on a PTO and not a contract. Yeah, I'm just saying it's almost a guy that he was really hit hard by injuries. I forgot he had his ACL torn on a dirty hit from P.K. Subban a couple years ago. Subban's last year in the league. The Canucks also announced yesterday that they're going to honor Alex Edler on October 11th. It's a Friday night against the Flyers. Alex Edler hated the Flyers.

Yep. He just hated them. There was one team he couldn't stand. It's a Friday night against the Flyers. Alex Heather hated the Flyers. Yep. He just hated them. There was one team he couldn't stand. It was Philadelphia. So they're going to honor Alex Heather. I think it's the Canucks' second home game of the season. I thought I heard that. I didn't double check it, so I might be wrong.

The press release was a little lacking in details on what exactly will happen that night. I always assumed that Alex Heather would go into the ring of honor one day but you didn't think he should yes i did no we talked about this yes i did there's no way i said alex edler doesn't deserve to be in the ring of honor we had an argument about this on the air no we didn't yes we did okay well then i changed my mind okay good yeah he should be in the ring of honor right okay yeah i think we there was a lot of pushback when i brought up when there's no way i've said that yes there's no way yes find the audio because

i don't have the capabilities does anyone else remember that i think it's i'm glad that we're on the same page now because i distinctly remember not being on the same page with this with alex edler yeah i've always been alex edler's biggest supporter i've always thought like he's so i heard the underrated, overrated segment yesterday on the station. They were like, Alex Edler. I never understand the game. I don't understand how it works.

Because you're an idiot. And I always thought he was underrated. I always thought he was underappreciated by the fan base. He did make the occasional mistake. He maybe never became the number one defenseman that some people expected him to be. And I think rather unfairly considering he's

a third round draft pick. Um, it's not like he was highly touted when he was drafted. Uh, but he did have a lot of potential, right? He was a big boy. Um, he was strong and sometimes he would make a loud mistake or just do something that kind of leaves you shaking your head.

That guy was tough as nails. That guy was an absolute workhorse. Like that was a perfect way to describe him. He was a workhorse. And I think, you know, when Adler and Tanev were still on the team and the Canucks started to turn the wrong way, I think those guys took a lot of heat, and I think it was really unfair.

But we saw what happened when you don't have enough of those guys. You don't have enough of the guys that can go into the corner and win a puck battle, which Alex Adler was very good at. That guy played a heavy game, and when he was on, you weren't winning a puck battle with which Alex Edler was very good at. That guy played a heavy game. And when he was on, you weren't winning a puck battle with him in the corner. He would go in there and body you and come out with the puck.

Both of those guys blocked a ton of shots. And, you know, it just turned into like, oh, they're blocking so many shots. It was because the team stunk. Yeah. Right. And they were doing their job. But they were doing their job.

And then you see what happens when you don't have those guys in and you bring in a guy like OEL who let's face it was essentially the replacement for Alex Edler. And he's not willing to do those things. He doesn't do those things. You saw what happened. You know, the team got even worse. the pk was an absolute disaster um alex edler um ring of honor again i i just cannot i cannot believe that i would have argued against that i will trust your memory and say that i did maybe for i don't know just because i wanted to annoy you but like that guy deserves to be in the ring of honor. I think there's no question.

You're absolutely right that the second game of the season is indeed the home game against the Flyers. So I guess you're not going to, you know, your opening night is your opening night. You're not going to jam in the Alex Edler honor that night as well. So second home game of the year, Alex Edler signing the one-day contract. We got a text in brough always supported edler i know and then we got another one that said it's true so i don't know what that means

i don't hopefully that's hopefully that's maybe we're just split on this in memory only in memory only maybe you were i don't know but i'm glad that we're aligned on this i'm also uh it gives me an opportunity to kind of re-litigate the fact that edler is going to have this very weird place in vancouver canucks lower where he was probably their best defenseman and held almost every significant defenseman record and they're all going to be obliterated in short order by quinn hughes do you know what i do remember you suggesting that his number be retired and me going like quickly. No. Okay. I probably would have had the conversation. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it was like, no, like not even, not even close. I think I went. Yeah. And I, you know what? I think you're, I think we're slowly starting to read. Yeah.

We drink too much. I think we're slowly starting to rediscover. We're getting a little bit older. I'm going to vote. Yeah. I think Alfred suggested the Canucks change the arena name to Alex Edler arena. And I was like, I think that's a little much. I liked Alex Edler as a player, but I don't think we should rename any plaza for him.

We're going to go back and we're going to be like, also, the conversation was about Chris Tanev. It wasn't even about Alex Edler. But anyway, so Edler is going to have a very strange history because like I said, all of everything that he at one point held, which I mean, if you're the best defenseman and you hold all the defenseman records for a franchise that is 50 plus years old, you're one of the elite players in that franchise's history.

Now you could put the asterisk aside and be like, yeah, but it's because they've never had an elite defenseman or it's been, you know, issues on the blue line from day one. That's fine. But this is an organization that has honored other players within the context of where they're at as a franchise, right? That's why Stan Smeal's number is retired. That's why Trevor Linden's number is retired.

And that's sometimes why when visiting fans and media come to Rogers Arena, they're trying to figure out why those numbers are there. That's maybe why I brought that to the table with Edler. That being said, if you look at the fact that he played 15 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, and as I mentioned, is the defenseman leader in all those categories, it's very impressive, it's very important, and it means something. It's also going to be obliterated by Quinn Hughes.

I don't mean those numbers aren't going to be obliterated by quinn he was like i don't mean like those numbers aren't going to stand long i mean they're not going to stand long and hughes is going to surpass them by there was never about the numbers though no no it was never like oh look at his numbers no no no not there uh like on a cue because he played 15 years the guy was the guy was an all situations player yep um you know he again like he killed penalties he blocked shots but he also got the puck moving going in the right direction and and did chip in on offense now was he the ideal to guy to run your power play no he wasn't in the connects when the during 2011 had a better guy to run the power play and that was christian erhoff who happened to be his defensive partner. So I don't know what the future holds for the

ring of honor and Alex Edler. Again, the press release didn't have many details. It was kind of like, we're doing this. He's going to sign a one day contract with us. There was a quote from Edler. There was a very nice quote from Edler, which I guarantee wasn't all him writing it.

Alex Edler was like it was a bad interview let's put it that way remember yeah right before he did the horn yeah yeah he's he really hyped us up but he like the thing with him is like he just didn't want to do that sort of thing and i always respected that i'm like if you're if you don't want to talk to the media don't say i'm not going to talk to the media just make it so vanilla and boring that the media doesn't want to talk to you he's like i'll show you super nice guy but not exactly the best hype man the night which i thought it was weird that they brought him in for the sole purpose of being a hype man that day the nightmare for other was always you know when when he was center of attention

for whatever reason, you know, will he trade his, will he waive his no trade clause or whatever? I think we asked that for a few years

and he just like, he just feel like, I don't want to talk about this. And he'd be like, I don't want to talk about anything. The other defenseman,

by the way, if you're wondering, currently in the Canucks Ring of Honor, Harold Snaps, Matias Ohland, and if you want to count Pat Quinn as a defenseman,

I mean, he was, but he was also the head coach, general manager, and president. But those are the three defensemen. I expect BX will be in there one day. Yeah, and then I think they might close the book on 2011, guys. On that era. Although I don't know what they're going to.

I mean. Kess? Yeah. There's a lot. They're going to do something with Kess, don't they? I don't know. Okay. So he was another one that we had on the show during the playoff run last year.

Much more verbose than Adler. Although most are. That cactus was. I think they might have made peace with one another, the fans, the organization, and Kessler collectively, and I think that might be enough. Does that make sense? Like, I don't – on merit, he probably should, right?

Just for that one year, even, where he was a 40-goal scorer and a Selkie winner and a driving force to the Stanley Cup. And won, I mean, I'll say it, he won the National Series. That, to me, those are the kind of performances that you're supposed to honor, right? It was elite, elite, elite. And you just don't see them very often over the 50-plus years of Canucks hockey.

That being said, there was so much additional noise and drama and, you know, the exit. I think he'll get in there one day. Maybe. Time heals all wounds. Well, not all of them. Some of them. Most of them.

Most of them. Most of them. Yeah. Wounds over, you know, trade requests. I've been as big of a Kessler critic as ever, and I'll give him credit. He came on here, and I said, like, hey, your time here didn't end well.

Like, it was not pretty. And he, you know, stood in there I said, like, hey, your time here didn't end well. Like, it was not pretty. And he, you know, stood in there and said, yeah, like, he had regrets and he wished it had gone a different way. Right. So there's something to be said for that. But I don't know. The other part of this whole thing is the how many 2011 guys do you immortalize? At a certain point, you have to stop. Right.

It's like Victor Rescovich. Come on down. Like, it's got to. He's getting in. You never know. Lee Sweat. He was in a thing. There we go he's getting in. You never know. Lee Sweat. He was in a thing. There we go.

That's what I'm talking about. Lee Sweat in the ring of honor. Just keep going down the list. Keith Ballard, his one shift in Boston. How could we forget? Well, they're going to have to fix their error. There's a dog on the highway. There's a dog on the highway.

They're going to have to get Luongo's number up in the rafters after they fix their error. They can't. They're going to go back. We should have brought that up. They can't. We should have brought that up with Bones, by the way. Rick Bones, when we had him on. I was like, talk about Keith Ballard's one shift in Boston.

Yeah. He's like, I don't want to. When he went out there, he's like, oh my God, it's just too much out there. It's crazy. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. There's going to be a guy at a podium for the Vancouver Canucks that a lot of people have been talking about in Vancouver, and that's Ilyas Pedersen.

Pedersen has not done any media since arriving in British Columbia from Sweden. Other guys, especially some of the new guys, though, have been talking to the media informally at some of the skates. Petey didn't talk during the Jake Milford golf tournament when a lot of guys did. He participated in the tournament. Looks like he has a nice smooth swing too. Didn't talk to the media. So I think it'll be interesting to hear what he has to say

and more specifically how he says it. Like, is he in a better mood, basically? Does he seem, I'm, basically? Does he seem... I'm not joking. Does he seem more excited about playing hockey? It sounds funny. It does sound funny, but it's ridiculous. Are you going to go and ask him a question?

I'm actually not because it's in Penticton. Oh, it's going to be tough. I'm not going to be able to make that. I figured you'd make the drive for it. And then back. Yeah. A real journalist would. Yeah, just to ask Petey the hard-hitting questions.

Well, what would the hard-hitting questions be like? He can smile a little bit more this year. I frankly, I don't care if he's polite to media. I do not care. On the ice, though, as a Canucks fan, I would like him to look a little more energized and a little more into it. A little more like it doesn't seem like it's an absolute nightmare playing for the Vancouver Canucks.

Yeah. Because there were times last season where that's how it looked. And I do think, I mean, part of the entire experience of training camp and the preseason is the newness, the rebirth. You start fresh, right? It's a whole new slate in front of you. Everything's been wiped clean. You've had the entire summer off.

So I would expect that there will be a certain energy among the group, among all of the players involved. And I think that even if you don't necessarily have it, the other people's enthusiasm will permeate. And, you know, it's funny that we're contrasting it with Toronto because Toronto actually has legitimate pressing questions about the futures of guys going into this season.

Like, no one knows what's going on with Marner. And by the way, the postscript, the subtext to that. Well, the Canucks do have questions about a guy like Brock Besser, but not even remotely close to what the Leafs have with Tavares and Marner, right? Tavares is sitting there. He's been stripped of the captaincy, which we're not making a big enough deal, by the way. You keep referring to Austin Matthews as the new captain. I'm like, no, we all have to refer to him as the guy that stripped John Tavares' captaincy away. That's who Austin Matthews is. That's the divide in the room. That's what's going to break this team apart. Can we park the Leafs talk for just a second here?

Yeah. Patrick Alvin, the general manager, was asked by Ian McIntyre in an interview, is Elias Pettersson, after his difficult second half last year, the X factor for this season? And essentially

what IMAC is arguing is basically saying, lookinn hughes won the norris trophy jt miller had over 100 points and nobody had any complaints about jt miller's play brock besser scored 40 goals and thatcher demko was a finalist for the vesna trophy so his argument is kind of like where where's the growth going to come from? And is Pedersen, how many times have we thought about, wow, if Pedersen had been on during the playoffs,

maybe they could have beaten the Oilers. I think that's a more than fair statement to make about that series, especially how close it was. If he was on, like we've seen him in the past, does that put the Canucks over the top against the Edmonton Oilers? It might have. and Alvin said I definitely need Pedersen back to another level which he's capable of we all know that I think

he's extremely hungry hungry to show that he's a proud person and player and I'm pretty sure that he has set his individual goal and mindset at a different level here. I think he's really eager to come back and show everyone that he's capable of playing consistently. Now, IMAC asked a follow-up question. Were you surprised how much he struggled last spring, especially after signing his big contract extension? And Alvin said, I don't know if I was surprised,

but the contract negotiations were hanging over him and could maybe see it was a little bit of a relief after that. Maybe he took his foot off the gas a little bit. But then he went on to add, he said, I think for a lot of the players, that was really their first time playing in the playoffs with all those fans traveling, et cetera, et cetera. And then he said, I think Quinn Hughes could learn from some of the things that he dealt with during the playoffs with all those fans traveling, et cetera, et cetera. And then he said, I think Quinn Hughes can learn from some of the things that he dealt with during the playoffs to become a better player.

So Alvin kind of deflected a little bit on that. It's the same messaging as Talk It when he's talking about Pedersen. Yeah, Pedersen, you know. I mean, I know that this is what they're going to put forth. Like, yeah, he didn't live up to the standards that we thought, and yeah, he's struggling on the stretch. Yeah, that's why I'm less interested to hear from those guys because they're going to put forth. Like, yeah, he didn't live up to the standards that we thought, and yeah, he's struggling on the stretch. Yeah, that's why I'm less interested to hear from those guys because they're already on the record.

Alvin and Taka through interviews they did with IMAC on PD and Taka basically just said like, listen, I expect this guy to be a driving force for us, but I do want to see and hear from PD and I recognize that maybe press conferences aren't his thing

and I'm not expecting him to come out like you know like Dana White to hype up the season or anything like that but we've seen Petey in a good mood before we've seen him jovial we've seen him joking around with people okay hold on hold on I do think we're running a dangerous parallel here between my middle name is dangerous parallel between Between how the player acts publicly and the way that he talks and how they play on the ice. The two might be relatable. They might not. Here's the thing.

If Pedersen was miserable and surly and short and curt last year and was putting up three points a game, no one would have cared. No one would have cared. But he wasn't, and he was miserable. But we automatically connect the two. We just assume that one has to do with the other. So does the coaching staff.

Talkett said when I talked to him last year, he sounded subdued. When I talked to him on the phone... But Talkett never said he sounded subdued, and I think he was subdued, and that carried over to... Well, what do you think carried over to well what do you think the inference was what do you think the inference was direct talker didn't he seemed okay here's what i'm saying the inference he literally said that for a reason what i'm saying is what petterson says and whatever is said over

the next couple weeks is so secondary to what he does because where the, the alarm bells and the red flags will go firing up for me is if he comes out and it's flat again on the ice, because then all of a sudden, nice. If we got both, then what we're saying is okay on the ice, what's the problem?

What's the issue? We got a text into the the Dunbar Lumber text line. The vibes from Petey remind me a bit of Luongo when he was a Canuck, not really understanding the market, taking himself too seriously. Yep. Living and dying with every negative comment or story. I hope he gets it sooner than later

so he has a chance to enjoy this amazing time in his career while also excelling and helping this team win a cup i couldn't say that better than my better myself i can barely read it yeah he almost didn't yeah i don't get me wrong i understand exactly what everyone is talking about here is there's a visual representation of struggle when the player is talking to reporters or having to face questions about his ineffective play all that stuff the coach talking about no or having to face questions about his ineffective play, all that stuff. The coach talking about,

no, he's not jovial. He's not happy. He's not upbeat. Like all that stuff. It's very easy to connect the two. All I'm saying is that right now, I just care about what it looks like on the ice because they answered a big

question of their own. When they said he was having a rotating cast of wingers and then the subtext brackets was, and those wingers weren't very good. They went out and addressed that as a club. So he doesn't have that excuse anymore. That excuse is gone. Here's the thing.

If DeBrus comes in and is ineffective, I got a feeling that that's going to point more towards the guy he's playing alongside than DeBrus himself. You know what I mean? Like if the production's not there, it's going to be looking towards the guy he's playing alongside than DeBrusque himself. You know what I mean? Like if the production's not there, it's going to be looking at the guy who's playing center as opposed to the guy who's playing wing.

Like that, you know, sometimes you can make too big a statement with offseason moves and what it signifies and what it means, but it was pretty obvious that this was designed to eliminate that part of the equation. And that part of the equation is, you know, who's going to play with Petey? Who's going to be his running mate? Who's going to be the guy that's going to finish these nice passes and, you know, be able to be the trigger man on all of these opportunities in front of the net?

It requires him to play well, though. That's it. That's what I'm saying. Show me on the ice. Show me on the ice. Show me on the ice. To the phone lines we go. The owner of the BC Lions, Amar Doman, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Amar.

How are you? I'm well, thanks. How are you guys doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So let's start big picture here because it's a bye week and it's a chance to look back on everything that's happened. Your team on the field is 7-7, a 500-football team. There was a five-game losing streak in there.

There was a brief two-game winning streak going into the bye on a loss. And then there was everything else that's happened. Of course, touchdown Pacific, planning for the Grey Cup. So at this point of the season, the bye week, how would you, Amar Doman, sort of encapsulate how the season has gone thus far? Yeah, it's been a season of ups and downs. Obviously, there's been some injuries, et cetera, and some roster adjustments that the team's getting used to,

obviously, having Nathan back and Matthew Betts. So there's been some adjustments there. Certainly, we're not where we'd want to be or thought we'd be, probably at 7-7, but throwing in those factors and there's still, you know, four games left here. So, you know, let's see how this team finishes up. I think we've got a great roster, one of the best in the CFL. And when we're on fire, no one can beat us.

So I'm confident we're going to, you know, have some good strong games here as we finish and head into the playoffs. What was the toughest thing about bringing back Nathan Rourke? Did it create a bit of controversy? No, no, not at all. And I think the whole team, including VA, welcomed him back. And, you know, it's just evidenced by how good the locker room is. There is no riff. There's no bad comments. We've got a good club that's well coached. And, you know, I just think the locker room's in great shape. What do you like about Rick Campbell as a head coach? Because here's a guy that's come under some criticism, especially after the performance against the Toronto Argonauts.

Yeah, I think we always look to point to the coach. But, you know, the players were out there, too. It was a bit of a soft start. And, you know, it's one game. So we look at the 31 regular season games. He's won two playoff games since 2022 we're very pleased with his track record so and he's had a lot of different things to deal with like all coaches and you know nathan leaving and quarterback carousel you know those kind of things happen in the cfl we get that uh but certainly he's done a hell of a job and uh you

know he controls that locker room very well he's a level-headed guy and we're very pleased with rick campbell and the challenges he's faced with and how he's overcome. Do you guys need a bye week? I think the bye week's good. Number one, just to get everybody healed up. We play the next three out of four here at home, and we're hoping to have some big crowds in there to get noisy and really, really help when we're on defense.

Take us through your experience when Nathan Rourke became available, when Matthew Betts became available. I know you're not the general manager, but you're kind of in charge being the owner of the team. How involved were you with those discussions? And what was your thinking in bringing back Nathan Rourke and Matthew Betts? How much of it had to do with the fact that the Lions were hosting, are hosting the Grey Cup this year? Yeah, you know, I think the Grey Cup thing is something you chase every year. So, you know, it's great that we're hosting it here,

and that's wonderful for the CFL. We're going to put on a hell of a show, and no matter who's in it, obviously, selfishly, we want to be in it and host. That's the dream for any team. But that doesn't factor in our decisions on personnel at all. You know, those two quality players, you know, I think it really, I would say, reflects on our organization how, you know, they came back to us. You know, we were certainly not the only ones interested in having them, you know play so for us to have them back uh i've got to tell you just you know hats off to our team and our organization to you know attract them back and have them you know with us and playing

hard immediately you know difficult circumstances you know going from the nfl back and forth this kind of stuff is difficult on the brain and the travel and in the headspace but i think it says a lot for the bc lions that they're here they're back, they're happy, and they're working their butt off. We spoke with Matthew Betts shortly after he rejoined the club, and he did acknowledge that there were other offers out there. From your perspective, was it as soon as he was done with the Detroit Lions, like he was coming back to BC and there were no questions about it? Yeah, you know, obviously the management team handles that. But certainly, you know, when it came across my desk, it was an absolute 100%

green light on both those players. We're speaking to BC Lions owner Amar Doman here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, off the field stuff here, Amar, I mentioned it's exceptionally busy season. Feels like there's constant planning going on from the opener with the big concert,

and then to Touchdown Pacific, and of course the great cup festivities uh i do want to ask about touchdown pacific because now you probably had a couple weeks to take everything in and digest um were you happy with how everything went in victoria you know for our first time doing an away game like that in a true regular season game you know it's a big deal. The planning, the, you know, the infrastructure setup that we did, I mean, God, we built, you know, 12,000 seats, you know, that's a lot. And, you know, I think it was a hot day. You know, there were some issues, I think, with water and concessions. And, you know, the end zone was packed, you know, so, you know, could we do a couple things better? Absolutely. Is it a nine out of 10? I would call it easily a 9 out of 10, if not a 9.5.

A few things that we could have done better we didn't know. You know, just on the fan experience on certain zones and stuff. We've listened to the fans and said, hey, we hear you. And if we ever go back, we'll have another exceptional experience. So I had a great time over there. And I think, you know, virtually all the fans did. It was one of the best environments I've ever been to. It was very, very special, and I think everyone involved, the players, the fans,

everybody will remember that one forever. Are there other places in the province where you can play a game? You know, I think there are. There's other mayors calling us saying, hey, what about us? What about us? And obviously it's complicated. We have to lose a home game to do that. And so there's a lot that goes into the cauldron to make that thing work.

But, you know, hey, we're going to study kind of any and all situations to see what's best for the fans and the CFL and the BC Lions. Amar, we got a text in to the Dunbar-Lumber text line that said, could you ask Amar if he would consider putting decking in the end zones for a bar zone area type thing yeah we've seen it in a few other cfl stadiums they have these i guess you could call them social areas where people are able to congregate they're usually at at field level um anything like that planned uh for the bc lions yeah you know a couple of things there you know we certainly would love to have that uh that type

of experience and you know in the end zones kind of a party zone um whatever you want to call it you know a couple things obviously bc place is constrained to what they can do but i do know that i think some changes are going to be made in that regard hopefully for the upcoming fifa renovations so i think let's just stay tuned to see what pavko is up to at bc place but i believe that that is part of the strategy going forward so let's stay tuned and hope that happens i'd certainly be a fan of it but i can't change the seating and do things like that it's pretty much cemented in as it is right now um is the world cup going to be is it is it top of radar for you or is kind of back of mind but knowing that you're probably going to have

to deal with some stuff you know right now it's it's still a couple of years away so we're focused on finishing this season and then getting into 25. So it's a ways away. You know, I know we'll have to be away for the first part of that season. But, you know, pretty cool that Vancouver's got, you know, this international event here. So I think we can all just say, hey, that's super cool for British Columbia. And, you know, having FIFA here is an honor. So I think that we can, you know, kind of swallow hard on what we have to do as a team

to get around the difficulties and challenges that will come with that. I mean, it's been a season of events so far. We mentioned the opener with 50 Cent. We mentioned Touchdown Pacific. The Grey Cup is obviously going to be a big deal. And if you could give our listeners an update on the latest, I know that the Grey Cup Festival musical acts are now being booked. Over 20 artists, they're going to be coming into town.

So it sounds like it's going to be similar to everything else that you guys have done this season. And it's going to be a really big party with a lot of really big names. It really is. And, you know, it's been 10 years since we've had the Grey Cup here in Vancouver. And really to have BC coming in and fans from all over the country. I'm really after kind of the younger and the youth group to really kind of see, hey, this is, you know, Canada's Super Bowl, if you will, and to see how cool the parties are, how fun the vibe is, and what we're going to do.

You know, zip lines over the water. There's going to be, you know, e-sports pavilions going on, and most of it's free down there, which is going to be great for the fans. And, of course, the big game on Sunday is going to be incredible. But the lineup of artists is ridiculous. So it's almost going to have a music festival theme to it as well. But I've got to tell you, our Grey Cup team, they deserve the credit. This is going to be, I believe, the best Grey Cup that Canada has ever seen.

And the organization, the list, it is going to be special. We've got, I think, 120 school buses of kids coming in. We are going to really re-energize the CFL here in Vancouver, and it's just going to be special. We've got, I think, 120 school buses of kids coming in. We're going to really re-energize the CFL here in Vancouver, and it's just going to be awesome. And I'm just very happy to be part of it. Can you give us an update on ticket sales for the Grey Cup? Absolutely. So I think we're just about at 45,000 already. And I think that last little bit of a squeeze starts to come now when the rest comes on sale but certainly what happens is you know who could you know who ends up in the gray cup starts to drive ticket sales in a certain

fashion as well as we get towards the end it's a big building to fill it will be filled and it will be rocking uh for uh november 17th amar thanks for taking the time to join us uh it's been a busy year so good luck with the rest of it. Thanks, Amar. All right. Thank you. Thanks, Amar. Amar Doman, BC Lions owner here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet. Six, 50, 20 acts, 20 musical acts lined up, including Sam Roberts' band, Biff Naked. Vote of confidence for Rick Campbell was what I was going to focus on. Fine. Yeah.

Fine. That's fine. I mean, the Grey Cup is going to be fun. I hope the Lions are in it. There's a zip line, apparently. Yeah. but also the vote of confidence for rick campbell i suppose like over the field like i don't know where the zip line is gonna go andy we didn't get that deep oh man yeah that's what i want to know we get back on the air hey mar sorry one more thing okay uh let's do some what we learns here uh we'll go around the table i have

one and i'll kickstart now this is probably more of like a media nerd one although it is big news um the preeminent i would say sports insider not just nba insider but sports insider in the industry is retiring to take on a very interesting new role everyone knows who adrian wojnarowski is right the woj woj bombs espn nba insider constantly breaking the biggest news in the national basketball association for the better part of what two decades everyone geez when you can just be known as Woj, you have certain clout, right? Moj. Exact same.

Woj, Woj, Woj. We'll send to the Woj. Anyway, please stop. He is retiring from his post as ESPN's senior NBA insider, and he's going to become the general manager of the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team.

Now, for those that are wondering, what is that? St. Bonnie's? The Bonnies of St. Bonaventure. It's a very small school in Western New York. He is an alumnus of the school. Okay. It does have a longstanding, a kind of proud basketball history. Why is he doing this?

Well, he's been working for a long time. Well, that? Well, he's been working for a long time. Well, that's one. He has been working for a long time. The other thing, too, is that there's this, I don't know if anyone's been paying attention, we've talked about it quite a bit, a radical sea change in collegiate athletics. One, I think we've talked about it at length,

all the conferences have been blown up and everyone's just kind of playing everybody now to make the most money that they can. But two, the name image likeness, NIL has really changed the landscape of collegiate sports. And that recruiting now isn't about you don't go sit in a mom and dad's living room and have coffee cake and talk about how you're going to give their son a good four year education. They're going to graduate with a degree. They ask you how much. What are you going to do?

How am I going to make some money off this? So the idea here is that Woj comes in and uses, and he's got probably the most massive network of NBA influencers, insiders, agents, general managers, all of this. He will use that clout and that power to recruit maybe higher end prospects to saint bonaventure okay with all due respect to his new job the fact that he's leaving his job that made him famous is the big story here this would be the equivalent just the equivalent of elliot friedman retiring to become the general manager of the i don't flip firebirds or something is that fair st mike's

buzzers there you go i just wonder and i've wondered how much i've wondered this about all nhl insiders especially the real top ones the ones that everyone expects to have information on every little story regardless of the market, how exhausting that must be. Day-to-day life. Cannot. How many of these guys have like three or four phones? Yep.

Constantly on them. Constantly getting texts. Working for a college recruiting is a step backwards for him. It's relaxing to him. That gives you an idea of how much he was working. This is a transitional gig

to retirement. Would you want the insider job? No. You would get paid a lot of money. Hearing stories from Friedman, though. He is always on. He always has to be working. And I think it takes a certain type of personality, very type A, very energetic.

And also, probably, you have to make some sacrifices along the way in terms of time that you can spend doing other things that you want to be doing um can you imagine for example um you're out on the golf course uh a story breaks in the nhl or something happens in the nhl your round is over yep do you know what i mean like it's to have life interrupted by breaking news is tough yeah i mean your nap time would be decimated. I couldn't handle it. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough.