Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 9/25/25

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk last night's Canucks preseason win over the Flames in Abbotsford, plus they chat with Abbotsford Canucks commentator Brandon Astle about what to expect from the Baby Canucks this year. 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. Whoa. Wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a fucking Canucks?

Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Passes into the slot for Ratu. Back to Kudri Apset, left circle. Heat over the track and scores. Coming deep to right center field. Going back, Taylor, track, wall, Sia.

Flight 50 is landed. Mariners looking to wrap it up the one-two. Swing and a miss. The Seattle Mariners are champions in the American League West. Good morning, Maker, 6-1 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. is Halford and his Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt free in just two weeks.

Visit them online at Sands. Dashtrustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal North Star Metal Recycling they recycle you get paid

visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio Kintech Footwear and Orthotics Working together with you in Step All the sports are happening right now We have a ton to get into on the program We have a ton of guests to talk to on the program today Guest list today begins at 630

Dan Rosen Thunder Dan NHL.com senior writer is going to join the program. I think what we'll do is a eastern, like an East Coast kind of tour also I want to do a season preview with Dan Rosen, NHL senior writers. We rip around some of the bigger stories percolating during this exhibition season. Dan's going to join us at 630 for some hockey talk. 7 o'clock Adnan Verk from MLB Network is going to join the program. I've got an update for you, a betting update. Okay. Guess who the new favorite to win AL MVP is? Oh, did Cal Raleigh get in there?

Yeah, like significantly, too. I'm looking at a couple books now. And do you remember, like, I don't know, like a week or two ago? Yes. We were kind of like, it's good that you do remember a week or two ago. I do remember it. And it was like Aaron Judge was still pretty firmly. And I was bemoaning that.

Yeah. I'm looking at some books now. Cal Raleigh minus 210 to win MVP. Cal Raleigh did hit his 60th home run of the year last year. And the Mariners and the Mariners are on four. fire right now. They clinched the AL West yesterday. Yeah. So, I mean, Judge hit two home runs too. And Vladdy

What a game for Vladdy too, right? The big three. Oh, we'll get into that. The big three of the American League. Adnanburg's going to join us at 7 o'clock to talk about all of that. So the Jays are slumping. The Yankees are surging. The Mariners are A.L. West chance. We got great, great wildcard chases

in the A.L. and N. Right now. We'll get into all that with Adnan at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Brady Henderson, and our ESPN Seahawks Insider. Oh, yeah, it's Thursday. Thursday night football, everybody. Seahawks get their first taste of the prime time this season tonight on Thursday night football as they travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals.

Seattle, a slim one and a half point road favorite in this NFC-West clash. We will pre-NFC-Wesh. The NFC-West. Sean Connery? Yeah, it's going to be quite a clash. He's going to be on Thursday night football tonight. Little known fact. Expecting a good game tonight.

We will be. preview tonight's game with Brady, this NFC-Wesh-Clash at 7.30. 8 o'clock Brandon Astell is going to join the program. Play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. A Canucks game was played in Abbotsford last night, but it was the Vancouver Canucks

taking on the Calgary Flames in NHL pre-season action. Canucks won, 3-1, on the strength of some performances from guys that did star in that Abbotsford Calder Cup playoff run from a year ago. So we'll talk to Brandon about what to expect from Abbotsford this year at 8.

o'clock working in reverse on the guest list eight o'clock brandon astel 730 brady henderson 7 o'clock hadnan 630 dan rosen uh that's what's happening on the program today laddie let's tell everybody what happened hey did you guys see the game last night no what happened i missed all the action because i'm losing we know how busy your life can be what happened you miss that what happened is brought to you by the bc construction safety Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. The Vancouver Canucks got their first win of the exhibition campaign on Wednesday night,

beating the visiting Calgary Flames 3-1 at the Abbotsford Center. Nils Hoaglander, who we'll talk about in a sec, Victor Mancini getting the A-Dog bump and Philippe Heidel all scored for the Canucks, who led 3-0 before the flames put a consolation marker on the board. Demco stops 11 to 12, total appeal cleans it up in the third period. Canucks win. Canucks win? Let's get to the concerning news first,

and that is Nils Hoaglander, looked really good to start the game, but had to leave the game with an injury. Do we have an update on that situation? Lower body injury, according to multiple reporters on the scene. Hoaglander left the building in the Chris Hanna Memorial Walking Boot, which is never a good thing. Adam Foote, the head coach of the Canucks

was asked about it, said he hopes it's not too serious, but he'd confirm it was a lower body injury. Okay. For a dog, we will start with Mancini. The Connox best player? Mancini. No, we'll get to that.

Mancini played really well again. And the thing about this guy is, and I said this on X, I went back and did social media last night. Good for you. I didn't regret it, which was nice. That's nice. Because I was ultra-positive.

Mancini has swagger. He has confidence. He wants the puck. To the point sometimes where I think it's a problem, like there was one play, I think it was in the second period, where he was all the way down at, like, below the goal line in the offensive zone, and he turned back with the puck, and he got hit, and he got knocked over. And you're kind of like, well, that's a bad situation to be in as a defense.

fenceman, right? Oh, Victor. And those are kind of the things that he might need to to clean up a little bit. I think Sat put it well. Like, he has a lot of all or nothing plays. Yep. And the nothing can sometimes be a problem. But, man, the all plays are fun. And he scored again and, um, third star in the building. Yeah. And you, and you, you know, like of, of the, it's a, it's a, it's a tough decision that they're going to have. I know a lot. I know a of people are like get rid of Forbort and then people always forget like you need to kill penalties in the NHL right he's a very good penalty killer and the Canucks already lost some key pieces up front to their penalty kill so Forbort isn't going anywhere right like he's gonna he's gonna be he's gonna be playing

at least to start the season until or if someone else on the back end proves that there is good of penalty killers Derek Forbord yep it's also the preseason right like these young guys are looking to stand out. They're looking to impress. And every year, like, you know, we get, we get tricked a little bit. But, you know, I'm happy to be tricked by a guy like Mancini because, like, right shot defenseman with swagger, with confidence. Like, you know, it's the same sort of things you hear about DPD, right? Like, wow, he looks confidence. He, he, or he looks confident. He's big out there. He plays with, with some swagger, which, like, I keep saying I can't stop saying it, but like, it's true.

That's, that's the way those guys are playing. They're, they're, they're playing with that, I don't know, that, that element that I think the Canucks have needed it. Just say it again. Swagger. So I'm glad you brought this up because I think one of the talking points from yesterday, big picture, is that from there, probably their biggest area of strength, which is the defense, the early parts of this preseason for the Canucks have been a real testament to the

depth that they have behind the guys that might be at the NHL level because yesterday Adam Foote talked, you've already talked about Mancini, you've already talked about D.P.D. Let's not forget, Tom Villander. No, Vilander. Tom Vilander. No, Vilander. Tom Vilander. He can't do it. It's Willander. Tom Willander. Willie. Had another good game last night. A pair of apples for him. And this is Adam Foote speaking post game, not just about any of the one particular young defensemen, but all of them putting forth

a good showing this preseason and putting forth a pretty reasonable argument to stick on the opening night roster. They're good. I mean, they're all working hard and there's good game for them tonight. They'll be in and seen he made some good plays.

You know, he's got that explosiveness and he hit those goals, but there's little things that I think Dean will really help them with the little thing that he'll be able to clean up. I do wonder that at a certain point this season, if they need to address the 2C position in a meaningful way, it's going to come with a significant removal from the blue line.

Like the old, good old-fashioned give to get. Well, that brings me to Philippeel because if he plays like that, they won't need to address the 2C position, unless PD is a problem. Yeah? Heedle played really well. and, you know, A-Dog was talking about Mancini being the best player in the eyes.

I think it was clearly Heedle. He's got a ton of talent. Heedle was, Heedle stood out as clearly, like, you know how they used that word quality in soccer? Like the quality of Philippeitel was on display last night. He was clearly the, the NHLer out there. And it was it wasn't a star-studded lineup for either team

I mean He's still very reckless though It always freaks me out He likes to stick handle With his head down Like a lot He's got it Can you let me be positive

About Philippeo He looks good For five seconds I don't get it He just kind of scares me That's all Yeah Well that's the thing right

Like I think there were two questions That we came into the season With First of all Is he good enough Sure To be 2C And can he stay healthy

The can he stay healthy is like, we'll see. And the Canucks are trying to work with him a little bit on, on, you know, like there, I know Adam Foote has talked about zone entries and making sure that you're not doing too many East-West plays out there, especially with your head down. And, you know, at any rate, I just thought he was really good. I mean, he scored a goal. He was creative. He made good passes. And I know there's a lot of people that are talking about his comments, about, about. about after he came to Vancouver and remember he looked really good for the first three or four games.

And I think he told Ian McIntyre, he might have told some of the reporters. Then he started talking to the coaching staff and he started overthinking everything. And hey, I'm sure that was a factor, right? And then he kind of didn't play as well. Maybe last year's Canucks were overthinking things. Maybe they were. And maybe that's part of what Adam Foote wants to have them stop doing. and free them up a little bit, right?

Go back to a little bit of Bruce Boudreau where you let them play, you let them be their creative selves and hopefully that has an impact on Pedersen as well. I think he was overthinking last season to the point that his like brain broke. But yeah, I was just really impressed with Philippaedal last night and I guess I should have been considering the competition out there but still it's good to see regardless.

Like, you know, we were talking about who's going to play. that left flank position on the power play. And this isn't a criticism of Evander Cain, but at the power play, he was on that left flank, you know, a position where J.T. Miller had been, and it's kind of

like, well, that's not really, doesn't really fit Evander Cain. Like, you know, the guy's coming off the flank, either, you know, you've got the one-timer on the opposite side, which PD has on the right side, or you've got a guy that can make plays. And if Andrew Cain

to me is better suited either in a shooting position or just in front of the net where he can use his big frame and score. Now, Adam Foote did mention that Garland is still part of the equation and Garland on the left flank would make sense, although I don't particularly want to see Connor Garland on PP1, love the player, don't think he's a great power play guy. He's a right shot, but it doesn't have a great shot. Maybe Philippeal is an answer there. One final note, and on the subject of staying healthy, maybe it's a sign that we're comfortable with Thatcher Demko's health, because we didn't even mention the fact that

that Andrew Demko made his preseason debut, got through it unscathed. It's a great thing. 11 of 12, very quiet night for Thatcher Demko in goal. And I noticed that, I think it was Ben Kuzma from the province, made that sort of the lead story for him, that Demko came back and played his first game and looked good. and I guess that is an important thing to note because last year at this time, we had no idea what was going on

with Thatcher Demko. So my, how things change a year into it. So Demko gets through last night. And now the Canucks move on to another preseason game, which is, if I'm not mistaken, Friday against Seattle. Friday against Seattle, and I think this hasn't been confirmed, but it would make sense that we would see

Quinn Hughes, Elias Pedersen, Evander Kane, Brock Besser. All the guys. All the guys maybe they'll give Heidel a night off, though. Okay. He's already played two games. Let's turn our attention now to the other local team that was in action last night. The Vancouver Whitecaps.

What a wild night at BC Place in front of just over 20,000 in attendance. Veteran forward and fresh off the injury list. Brian White scored late in the 87th minute to secure a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. While it wasn't a win, which the white caps needed to stay in the chase for the supporter shield for the best overall record in MLS. The White Caps did extend their unbeaten streak to seven games in Major League Soccer. So last night, the reason I say it was crazy,

the White Caps are so short-handed right now. Unbelievably short-handed. I can't even run through the list of injured players because it would eat up the remaining 15 minutes in this segment. But put it this way. Yesterday, they were forced to start an 18-year-old striker who turned 18 last week in Ryan Alumi, who has been with their academy.

team pretty much the entire year. Yeah. They also started a left back and a right back, both of whom are 20 years old. They also brought off the bench 19-year-old Jeevan Bodwell. That's how, that's how decimated the R by injury. And in the second half of this game, they outplayed the Portland Timbers. The first half, the Timbers probably should have went up about 4-0. Yeah.

It was pretty rough at times. It was actually a really tough game for Yesper Sorensen to manage because the young guys were, they were on their phones the whole time. The entire time. The entire time. He had to limit screen time out there. I have done a beige tracker for Yesper Sorensen. For those that don't know, the White Caps manager,

Yesper Sorensen, great guy, an amazing season that he's had. I've never met anyone more committed to wearing the color beige. He wears it every match. Did this start when I was at a game where I texted you? I don't know. You were like 10 seats away, but I texted you. I was like, yesper sure is wearing a lot of beige. He loves beige.

I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's a lot. thing or if it's a superstition. It's a new thing. Like we've gone from two skinny jeans. Like skinny jeans, you know, T-O-O-O. Yeah. Like overly skinny jeans.

Vanny had the skinniest of jeans. Yeah, yeah. And Yesper's got the basest of beige's. It's really interesting. I don't know what it is. One day we'll get them on the show and ask them. But the white caps drew yesterday. So they've got a busy schedule ahead.

Hopefully some of these injured players, specifically Thomas Mueller, can get back in the lineup. They are in Seattle on Saturday night, a 7.30 late kickoff in Seattle, which is going to be another big match as they continue to try and stick around. I mean, the supporter shield is the equivalent of the president's trophy. It's the best overall record, most points in the regular season. That's where you get the big shield as opposed to the big MLS Cup at the end of the playoffs. Okay. Is it actually like a shield? It is a shield.

Like a plate. You get a sword? It's a big plate. No sword, just a plate. Just a shield, though? I don't know. Why don't you get a sword? Because it's kind of lame.

The whole thing's lame. Oh, I see. They call it the Supporters Shield, which has got nothing to do with the supporters. It's got everything to do with having the best regular season record. Okay, good for the White Caps, good result, considering the lineup. Let's start with the Jays, because...

Let's do the Jays. Laddie, I'm not going to pick on you this morning. I'm sure you're still feeling so grateful that the Jays have had this season and that you're not worried at all. other people might be a little bit worried about this team but as long as they don't have to face the likes of Garrett Crochet in the playoffs I think they'll be fine I also don't believe I use the phrase not worried at all

but yes it's not the greatest and I'm just very grateful that the Detroit Tigers exist and I've taken most of the heat off the Blue Jays and throw the New York Mets in there as well yeah yeah yeah yeah Garrett Crochet eight shutout innings as the Red Sox hammered the slumping Blue J 7-1 on Wednesday night So while the Jays are assured of a playoff berth, they have now dropped into a tie with the Yankees atop the ALE East.

Both teams sit at 90 and 68. One more loss will be very nice for both those teams. Four games left for each. Toronto still in the driver's seat because they hold the head-to-head tie breaker. That being said, the Jays lost for the sixth time in seventh games. They have scored, Lattie, one run or fewer in all six of those losses in their last seven. That's a gone cold. First time since 94.

That's right. Do we have the John Schneider audio? Do you want to play Vladdy getting tossed or do you want to play John Schneider? Do you want to play both? Well, there's two things that I want to hear from John Schneider, the one where he swore, he said a swear. I've got that. And I also want, I also want to hear the part where he's like, we got to stop with this. Umpires are out to get us narrative.

Okay, well, let's play the clip that we do have. And if we don't, we can always pick up exactly. specifically what John Schneider's talking about. Here's John Schneider yesterday after a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox, take it away. Yeah, I mean, even before you clinch a postseason spot, you're kind of playing playoff games. So the way I want and expect them to go about it is what we've done probably about 90% of the time this season. Try to beat the starting pitcher, play good defense, make good pitches. That's the way I want them to go about it.

It feels like it, you know, the sky is falling right now, and it's not. I mean, we got 90 wins and we're in the playoffs, and if the season ended today, like I said, you're winning the AL East. So I want them to come out and not press. I want them to come out and play confident, play fast, play loose. When we're doing that, we're really good, you know. So I don't want them to get caught up in the last six days have been tough because this season has been really. really, really good. Okay, the other thing he said was

we're not losing because of umpires. Ooh, I don't know about that. We're losing because we're not scoring enough runs. I don't want to feed into the narrative that the umpires are screwing us because they're not. We're not scoring enough runs. And it is hard not to look at two things. Number one, the injury to Bichette.

Yep. And when's he going to be back? and at what level is he going to be back at and number two the guy who got kicked out of the game yesterday because this was the same night where Cal Raleigh went off for the Mariners and Aaron Judge went off for the New York Yankees

and in soccer parlance a lot of soccer parlance Vladdy was sent off in the Toronto Blue Jays game Vladdy was ejected by plate umpire Gabe Morales for arguing after he struck out looking in the seventh. We got the audio here, Laddie, let's let it roll. There is a larger narrative brewing here with the Jays versus the ums hitting coach David Popkins. Better knows David Pumpkins.

Remember that character? David Pumpkins. He also got tossed from the dugout. Here are the Jays frustrations boiling over last night. Dan Shulman on the call. One two again. And on the inside corner again at 99. for strike three call.

And Guerrero just got tossed out of the game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been kicked out of the ball game. Gabe Morales, the home plate umpire, tossing Guerrero out. I don't ever remember Vladie getting tossed out of. I don't either. And, you know, I didn't think he was that out of him. So what's going on,

right now, and why did Schneider say what he said? Well, Vladdy got tossed for arguing balls and strikes, and as Dan Shulman astutely pointed out in the clip, doesn't happen very often. Vladdy's not a guy that routinely gets rung up and thrown out of games for arguing balls and strikes. The game prior, you'll remember we played the audio of the George Springer incident where he hit a ball down the third baseline that he thought was fair, but was called foul, and then was rung up on the very next pitch for a strike three.

John Boy, for those of you that aren't online, like terminally like I am, John Boy Media is an MLB content creator who does this great bit where he does the lip reading, right, where he takes the still shots in the video of guys arguing either at the plate or in the dugout. And while they're mouting the words, he tells you exactly what they're saying. He put together a five and a half minute one on George Springer after that game the other day where they were playing the Red Sox and from the bench

after this sequence went down Springer is very loudly saying that the umps are given the AL East to the Yankees. I think that's why John Schneider said yesterday. He's like that was a message not only for the fans but maybe first and foremost for his players

knock it off with this stuff. George Springer is a 35 year old veteran presence. Now here's the thing. He was hot in the moment. Yeah, yeah. Right? He got robbed on two consecutive calls he thought he was trying to say some hurtful things because he was in his feelings. That's right. He was projecting, right? And it happens sometimes. But with where the J's are at and at this time of the year. And then I don't think the Vlady situation helped at all last night because what's the narrative now? J's are getting, Js are becoming unraveled. They're starting to blame the umps. They're not looking inward. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that's a narrative. I think that might be happening. We use some more therapy talk. You're not looking. inward for solutions. You're projecting outward to try and find solutions. Laddie, let's just, an open-ended question. How do you feel right now? Uh, the baseball is kind of stupid. And I also know that this all could just flip on its head tomorrow. That's just how stupid baseball is. We did this. Okay. That's Gibby right now. Yeah. That's baseball. I don't know

you guys hate when I use that, but it's just, I've, I've, all you can see. say at this point. But can you concede that the rotation is a bit of a mess right now? Rotation's a mess and obviously the absence is looming large. You take the hits leader out of a lineup, that's going to have some repercussions and they kind of carried on for a little while without them, but it's obviously

starting to get to them. By the way, Bichette is like, I would like that contract. Yeah. See, I am important to the team. By the way, in defense of what you're saying, the Mariners are the hottest team in baseball right now, right? The Mariners are ripped off 15 wins in their last 16, they just clinched the Ailes. What were they the week before that. They had lost four in a row and six of seven and we

had Softy Mahler on from KJR Sports Radio in Seattle and he's like we already feel the doom like we know what's going to happen next. We're Seattle Mariners fans. We know that the collapse is inevitable. They won a game where they blew out the Braves 10 to two and then they just went on an

unbelievable run where all the bats got hot. Everything turned itself around and they started winning ball games. Now the issue here is the Jay's only have four games left in the regular season. and if they lose this AL East and they got to go into the first couple days of the playoffs because there's not a lot of there's not a big break

between the end of the regular season and the start of the wild card I know momentum a lot of people don't think it exists I do think vibes exist well the rotation is more of a concrete thing like who are you trusting right now like who's starting tonight they've got a reliever starting

this is Louis Varland's the opener they've got the opener yeah they've got the opener tonight okay We're going to park the baseball talk until 7 o'clock. Didn't even get to Cal Raleigh. Second hour, but we can talk about that with Adnan Furk. We can talk about the Mariners, the Yankees, and the Blue Jays with Adnan, plus the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians.

Man, what a finish to this baseball season it is, and we're going to have a great postseason as well. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. get free for fashion. Now it ends up high slot. Miramato, try to shot that was blocked. Re-out! What a saved by Demko! He robbed, drive, and hunt on a clean chance through the middle,

and now there's a big scrum in front of the Vancouver goaltender. The tempers starting to boil. 801 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody, Halford, Brough, Sports Night 6.50. Was that the sequence that led to the Joe LaBate, Joel Fairby fight? Might have been. Joe the Body Labate, by the way. Yeah, man.

Joel Farabee was lucky to survive that fight. I was listening to a clip the Calgary call of that fight. They're like, oh my God. Please stop! By the way, I forgot to mention also that women's rugby. Why are you such a jerk? There's a lot of things going on. We had a guest on yesterday about this.

I know. This is a good way to remind everyone. But there is a crazy amount of sports going on 8 a.m., Canada, England, women's rugby World Cup final from Twickenham. We'll even mention that it's on. Canada's got those fast rucks. This is how much we care about it. It's on a rival competitor network and we're talking about it.

No one knew until today. By the way, if you want to download yesterday's Hour 2 podcast, Hour 2, we had Will Owen from Squidge Rugby on the show. Awesome interview. Talked about the sport at large because he's one of the premier content creators in the rugby sphere, but also got a great breakdown of the Canada, England women's World Cup rugby final, which goes tomorrow at 8 a.m. Okay, it is now. Saturday. What day is it today? Thursday? Yeah, it's Thursday. It feels like a Friday. It feels like a Friday. Yeah, I know. The thrash music

on. Sorry, it's Saturday morning. Okay. It's 8.03 in the morning here. Brandon Astell's going to join us in just a moment to talk some Canucks. Before we get to Brandon, you need to do a bunch of business. One, Halford and Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. Two, this hour, hour three of Halford-enbrough, is brought to you by Campbell

and Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound, visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dashpound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear, and orthotics working together with you in step. Gats on SportsNet 650, call in on the hotline powered by PowerWest

Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at Powerwest.ca. Today, they keep the lights on. To the PowerWest Industries hotline, we go. Brandon Astell, play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford-Kinnock's here now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Brandon?

Bella, it's great to be back, and you're not kidding. What a sports weekend we got lined up. Very, very sneaky. We got the Hawks game tonight, Ryder Cup tomorrow, Lions Argos, Canucks preseason. Saturday, can't forget, my Penn State, any lines host Oregon. That's a three-verse-six match. up and then a full slate of football on Sunday. I mean, it's going to be raining all weekend,

so a great excuse to stay in. Husky's Ohio State from Husky Stadium? Man, there's a lot going on. Okay, let's start with Adog's favorite here. Mancini, can this guy make the Canucks? I mean, he's making a great case right now, isn't he? And I'm not surprised with what he's doing right now over these last two preseason games.

He's getting a lot of hype, and rightfully so. but we saw this in the Calder Cup playoffs. Like he wasn't just taking over games. He was taking over series, especially that third round against Colorado. He was an absolute workhorse. And, boy, just look at the tools that he has. There's not a lot of players that has what he does.

6.3, 2.30, can skate like the win, play physical, eats a ton of minutes. He'll shut down the opposition's top players if he have to. And the skill that he has, very underrated and showed some of that last year and Abbott's heard of the season went along. And when he was traded here, nobody really talked about his puck skills, but he's got a nice set of hands, great offensive instincts.

He saw him go harder than at last night on his goal there in the first period on a great setup by Carlson. And he just looks so in control when he has the puck. And Brof, I know you said he's been looking a little swaggy, and that's bang on. He just got a lot of confidence. And he just looked different with the puck

than others on the ice right now. And it's just obviously a matter of refining his game a little bit. Adam Foote talks glowingly about him, but after the first game in Seattle, he also said they got to calm him down a little bit in the neutral zone. And as we see, he can be a bit of a riverboat gambler at times. But I love the Moxie that he plays with, and you think that learning under a guy like Adam foot will be great for his development when it comes to buttoning things up in the defensive zone and taking care of those little details.

But I'm interested to see how this season goes for him, no matter where he starts. I'm definitely happy for him to make the big club. people forget he made the New York Rangers opening lineup last year as a fifth round pick so that goes to show the type of potential they thought that he has but if he starts an avatar that's fine

too because he's going to play a lot of minutes in all situations under Mani Mahhotra again but as the season goes along I would not be surprised at all he becomes a big big factor in that Vancouver lineup because his potential is through the roof and it's just awesome to see him go out there and compete the way he is right now

you know I was watching the game last night and I was sitting there going, why doesn't Adam Foote just have a fourth line that was the first line in Abbotsford last season with Max Sasson between Baines and Carlson? Like, those guys have unbelievable chemistry. Yeah, those three really mesh well together, and we saw them take over later on in the Calder Cup playoffs, especially in the finals that combined for 24 points that are just all over the Charlotte Checkers.

And we saw it last night, like they just know where, the other is going to be like when Baines put it over to Sassam going hard to the net last night had a great scoring chance they just read off each other very well and each of them bring something unique to that line you got Linus Carlson who's like the workhorse he'll muck and grind in the corners he'll stand in front of the net tip home puck also has some great skill can shoot the puck archie Baines does a bit of everything takes care of the defensive zone his playmaking and vision are his best assets he's got a nice set of wheels and You can play on the PK power play.

And then you got Max, who's got the wheels and really is the driver of that line when it comes to carrying the puck in the attacking zone. A great set of hands can make plays. He works hard. Grin the, getting better in the face off dots. So I love what everybody, what all those three bring to that line. And obviously, right now, like, they're looking at each other. Like, you're my internal competition right now.

Like, they're fighting for a spot on the big club, which is kind of weird to think about because those three were leading to charge back in June towards that Calder Cup. Do you think Carlson skates well enough to be a regular NHLer? Yeah, I think he does. It looks like he got a little bit of a boost in the offseason. I don't know if I'm seeing things, but I think that he's definitely worked on that over the summer. It's his other stuff that's going to make him successful

if he's going to become a full-time NHLer. Obviously, you've got to be able to skate and keep up. And I think that if he can do some work at it, while refining his other skills, whether it's net front presence and going hard on the net for rebounds. And he's just the one that creates space for other guys on his line, like Sassin and Baines. And it's just a matter of him finding that consistency at the NHL level, which all prospects struggle with. You see time and time again, guys get an opportunity getting called up.

But at the end of the day, things don't work out for whatever reason. and what I like about Linus is that obviously in Abbotsford these last three years he's been a go-to guy offensively especially the last few years he's been on the first line top power play unit top goal score top point getter but if it makes Vancouver he's likely going to start in the bottom six but he did that early on in his Abbotsford career and when he got called up last year of Vancouver I thought he fit in that third line role pretty well obviously his minutes are going to be reduced he might not be on the power play but he's someone that doesn't a lot of minutes to have an impact on the game.

He's in your face, plays that grinding style, and just love what he does in front of the net and in the corner, it has that real heavy sticks. So I know guys love playing with him, and if he just keeps working on the skating, I think that he's definitely going to be a full-time NHLer. Just one more thing on Carlson's offensive ceiling. Like, last year, there was a difference

because he's always been a pretty good score, especially at the American League level, but last year it was like borderline elite. Like 23 goals in 32 games is outrageous. production. Playoffs is 14 goals and 24 games, which is lights out production as well. I only mention this because when the Canucks got Kiefer Sherwood, I remember people pointing and saying, go look at his last couple years of American League scoring. Like he didn't score at a good clip. He scored at an elite level AHL clip. And then you see it last year,

Sherwood comes out of nowhere to become a 19 goal score in the NHL. Now, I'm not trying to say that Carlson is going to do that, but I do wonder if there's an offensive upside to his game that could be explored more at the NHL level if he gets a role higher in the lineup. I definitely think so. He's got that potential. That's a great comparison in Halford and Sherwood because he bounced around the H.L.

He was with San Diego and the Colorado Eagles and Milwaukee. And then last year, his best NHL season came at, what is he, 30 years old? He had almost 20. And Carlson, he's not young anymore, but he's not old. He's 25. And someone that I can see starting lower in the lineup and working his

way up just by the way that he operates around the rank. He's not going to score the prettiest goals, but he's someone that makes a lot of noise in front of that. His hand-eye is incredibly. He scores a lot of tippins, a lot of rebounds, and he has a sneaky skill set with making plays of the puck. He's a good passer as well.

So I just love the mix of different traits that he has, and he saw it a couple times last night after Whistles, like he'll go in there and stand up for a team and give someone a face loss. So even if he is in school, boring or producing points. He's able to find other ways to impact the game. And that all goes back to his work ethic.

Like he's someone that really takes pride in his craft. He's out there early in practice and in the film room and stuff like that. Very down-to-ear, humble kid. And he knows this is a big year for him. He's been interviewed saying that he knows what's on the line and knows what he's capable of and how much success he had when he had his call up late in the year and just seeing the way he played last night. He pretty much just picked up where he left off after that call the conference.

front of look like. We're speaking to Brandon Astell, the play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Brandon, last year you were treated to an outstanding goal-tending performance in the playoffs from Artie Cilovs. He, of course, is no longer with the organization, but you might be in line for some more good goaltending this year because Nikita Tolopilo has been very good through the first two playoff, first two exhibition games that he's played this year.

Yeah, and last year, people forget he was a starter at Abbotsford. Sheelov didn't play a whole lot in the regular season. He has back-to-back 20 win campaigns in Abbotsford. Obviously, he didn't get a lot of time in the playoff, just that one appearance in mop-up duty. And it looks like he's even refined his skills even more because he's got the thing he can't teach. That's his size and athleticism.

Like you're not going to see a lot of goaltenders at 6'6-230 pounds that moves the way that he does. And the best thing that I like about Nikita is the way he competes. He never gives up. And we saw it last night, him diving back towards the goal line with his paddle. to keep it out. That's something you see a lot in Abbotsford, but he's also someone that takes a lot of pride in his positioning.

Him and Justin Pogie last year, his goaltending coach, really were a solid combination, and Justin did an outstanding job with Noita, with McKita working at the finer points of his game. And I just think he's got an incredible ceiling, and what he's doing right now in the preseason is not a surprise, and it's great for his stock. And it was awesome to see him get a couple of starts late last year with the big club.

And it sure seems like Vancouver is very comfortable to call him up if needed because the way that he played last year and how he's looked in the preseason so far has been great to see. Is Joe LaBate the new Sammy Blay? He's noticeable, isn't he? I mean, he's got NHL experience that he makes you think, like, is he going to start with the big club? I mean, probably not. I think he knows where he stands. He's an older guy.

32 years old and former Canucks draft pick played in what six games last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets and provides that sandpaper and grit in the bottom six and who knows if the Canucks need a guy as this season goes along to help out in that area or get some injuries

you never know, Jill's been there, done that so that's another great signing there by Vancouver management. Jonathan Lecker-Mackie do you think the short off-season might have hurt him? Yes and no. I think it was great for him to experience that Calder Cup playoff run. Obviously, he didn't play in every single game.

So maybe perhaps his body wasn't as beaten up as some of the others. So maybe going into off-season training, which was shorter. His body was feeling a bit more fresh. But I know just by talking him at the end of the last year, he knew it was a big off-season for him to work on the details of his game. Obviously, we know what he brings on the offensive side. He's a game breaker. Someone Vancouver hopes can be a fixture in the top six. He's got a lot of tools that other guys he's competing with right now for spots don't really have. But it's just a matter of working

on the play away from the puck in his own zone. And roughly, at the end of the day, like if you're going to be successful in the NHL, you've got to win more 50-50s than not. That's one of the big things that Manny and R.J. have preached in Abbotsford is winning those 50-50s, whether it's in your own zone along the boards and the offensive zone in front of the net. And I'll give him credit. Like last year, he didn't look very

scared at all going after loose pucks in the corners and things like that. And we know what he brings to the table. Like in the regular season in Abbotsford, he's one of the best rookies in the American League. And then in the playoffs, experienced a little dip, unfortunately, with the oral surgery

and had issues staying in the line but when he did, he was able to find his game again later on in the playoffs in that series against Texas and in Charlotte. So hopefully he can use that as a bit of a confidence boost going into this year because it is a big one for him. Do you think you'll be calling a lot of V-Lander games? That is a great question. He looked really good last night.

If he plays like that, he's definitely going to give Adam Foote and Canucks Man, it's something to think about because he's a smart player. He can skate, make plays, look very comfortable out there for a young guy. I know you don't really want to rush a young defenseman in the NHL. What we saw last year from Elias Pedersen, you don't see very often with how he just continued to develop as a season went along. Could VLander do that? Perhaps he definitely has the tools and skill set to be a very solid NHLer.

For the end of the day, he hasn't played pro hockey yet, and there wouldn't be an issue at all. I wouldn't have an issue if he started in Abbotsford and kind of got his beak wet down there and learned under the tutelage of Mani Mahhotra and Jordan Smith, the defensive coach in Abbotsford, who did great work with youngsters last year, like Pedersen, Mancini, Kudrazov. So I'm interested in a see, man. I love this logjam on defense that the young players are making decisions tough for the coaches in Vancouver in management like Mancini

Vee Lander Man Carrillo Kudratsov is an absolute stud too man like Elias Pedersen like the state of the defense right now has me excited for years to come because these young guys are really pushing for spots and yeah I'm not sure where Tom's going to end up but I'm excited

to see what he does this year Brandon it was great catching up with you I'm sure we'll chat a lot this season enjoy the tremendous sports weekend ahead of you Lots of time on the couch and non-guilty time on the couch, especially if it's raining outside. You got it, broff. I cannot wait.

Always great catching up. And, yeah, we'll talk soon, boys. Thanks. Thanks, buddy. That's Brandon Astell, the play-by-play voice of the Abbottesvich Connect here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. I want to do what we learned with some audio here. And shout out to basketball, Phil. Are really connected to all of the U.S. collegiate sports, basketball, obviously, by his handle, but also football.

And he brought to my attention, something I had in my folder, my dossier yesterday, but I forgot to do it. Mike Gundy was fired. It's the head coach of Oklahoma State University's football program after 20 years. How old is he now? No reason why I wonder. So for those of you that don't know, and what Jason is cleverly alluding to here, Mike Gundy was the voice of one of the most infamous coaching rants of all time. And you've managed to parse it down to a minute and 20 of audio. Laddie probably won't even do it just this.

because it is a pure, it's the essence of sports rants. It's one of the greatest ones of all time. It stood the test of time. Let's just hear some of it now. This is Mike Gundy, who was 40 at the time of his rant. That's why I don't read the newspaper because it's garbage. And the editor that let it come out is garbage. Attacking an amateur athlete for doing everything right.

And then you want to. write articles about guys that don't do things right and downgrade them, the ones that do make place. Are you kidding me? Where are we at in society today? Come after me. I'm a man. I'm 40. I'm not a kid. Write something about me or our coaches. We're writing about a kid that does everything right, that's heart's broken, and then say that the coaches said he was scared. That ain't true. And then to say that we made that decision because Donovan was, because he threatened to transfer, that's not true. So get your facts straight. And I hope someday you have a child and somebody downgrades them and belittles him, and you have to look him in the eye and say, you know what?

It's okay. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me? That's all I got to say. It makes me want to pique. Wait, there was applause.

There was applause at the end. I never knew there was applause at the end. It's one of the great, so many great, untold stories about that rant. And we don't do a lot of college, like American college football talk, but. That reminds me of the good old days of sports blogs, by the way. Yep.

It was that line. Yeah, yeah. It was infamous. When social media was, like, more fun. Yeah, and, you know. But you had these catchphrases. that they were because that was still

kind of new in the heyday of sports blogging so and you kind of had to like be in the know like you remember the line

you're with me leather yeah yeah how many of you in listener land remember that one yeah you're with me

leather I'm not even going to explain it the best part of that rant is and it's a shame that it wasn't

in the clip at the beginning he's holding up the newspaper article and he says I want to talk about this article right here

and you can tell he's fired up and then he says if anybody hasn't read this article don't read it. This was brought to me by a mother of children.

Like, what else is she going to be a mother of? A mother of children. He wanted to, and it was great. So the applause at the end, I think everyone in the room thought that they had just like bared witness to one of the great speeches of all time. That this was going to be. The Oklahoma newspaper will never be the same.

This is going to be a seminal moment in sports and we're never going to forget where we were. It's like when the Berlin Wall fell and then when Mike Gundy held up the newspaper. Can we play first a little bit of the Mike Gundy clip as a reminder to what we just heard? But then Will Ferrell doing we've got to keep our composure because to me they sound remarkably similar. Come after me. I'm a man I'm 40 I'm not a kid

that's right we can't have anyone freak out out there okay we've got to keep our composure we've got too far there's too much to lose we've got to keep our composure I mean that could be the same guy

I'm a man I'm 40 Mike Gundy does under with a big burnover his staff oh man anyway Gundy got fired and like

he absolutely deserved to be fired because they were a pitiful football program by the time he was done. So this year, some of the low lights included, they lost, I think it was 69 to 3. Nice. Yeah, to Oregon. And then Gundy went on this rant about how Oregon had all this money to buy players under NIL and everything. They lost to Tulsa for the first time and forever. If you're not from the backwater hit countries of the U.S.

Tulsa and Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, that's a big rivalry. Yeah, yeah. is predominantly dominated by Oklahoma State. Tulsa beat them this year. So Gundy's out. By the way, he's now 58 years old. Every decade he should upgrade the speed. He's like, oh, man, I'm 50.

I'm a man, I'm 60. He's 58 now. What did you call Oklahoma? Backwater hit. Yeah, but you're backwater hit country. Why? It's Oklahoma and Tulsa. They're not, I doubt they're streaming the show.

There goes our listeners from Oklahoma. They don't have internet, so you're fine. I doubt they're streaming the show. Anyway, you know, it's comments like that that lead us to the political

position we're in right now. That's true. Looking down on people like that. Now let's mook out these mouth breathing hicks. And we go to break.

If anybody hasn't read this article, I don't read it. This was brought to me by a mother of children. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.