Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 9/30/25

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, including reaction to a lengthy Nils Hoglander injury as well as comments from Canucks president Jim Rutherford, plus they chat with BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke about the new CFL rule changes, and preview Saturday's matchup versus the Stamps. 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. Vicks wants it, on the ground, touchdown, Denver. We watch as teams shoot themselves in the foot, then we come back. and shoot ourselves in the head. Who doesn't have a lot of experience right now, and he's not, hasn't filled out to become a man. Come after me.

I'm a man. I'm 40. I'm not a kid. Good morning, Vancouver. 6 o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford and his broth. It is Sportsnet 650.

We are coming live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adah, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie. 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-trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour one 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 the 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics, working together with you and step. Lots to get into on the show today. Guestless today begins at 630. Greg Wischinski, our NHL insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. We'll do a tour around the league with

Wish. Check in on some of the biggest stories as the preseason rolls on. Can also talk about his feature piece up now on ESPN.com about Trevor Zegris and life under his new head coach, Rick Taco Talkit. I think we should also ask Wish about the Mets and the Jets. Stole my thunder. My next line was we also got to check in on how miserable his sports fandom is right now. Sorry for stealing your thing. Nah, you know what, it's fine. Greg Wischinsky's going to join us at 6.30.

7 o'clock, Shai Daviti's going to join the program. Sportsnet baseball columnist. The MLB Wildcard round gets underway today with a quadruple header at 10 a.m. It's the Tigers and the Guardians. At noon, it's the Padres and the Cubs. 3 o'clock, Red Sox, Yankees, and then in the nightcap, it's, It's those plucky Cincinnati Reds in the L.A. Dodgers. I slept so well last night.

How excited are you? Knowing that I didn't have to worry about a stupid wildcard game. But how excited are you? Yeah, the loser teams have to play today. How excited are you, though? Quadruple has a baseball enthusiast. All day. It's going to be baseball.

High stakes baseball. I'm going to ask you a question here. Okay. Do you want the Red Sox or the Yankees? Red Sox. Answers Red Sox. there's really no way both can lose I gotta explore that avenue first

Red Sox with both teams can't lose One team has to advance You want the Red Sox I think Red Sox yeah Without Gialito and that Why? Because you're scared of the Yankees? It's honestly the stadium I don't like Yankee Stadium

I think it's a bandbox And it's more open to randomness I think Fenway is where I'd want to play Okay all right So we'll talk to Shideavity about all that In case you're wondering The Js do get underway on Saturday, October 4th.

That'll be game one of the ALDS. Their roster, their playoff roster, which was a bunch of news yesterday for all the teams submitting their playoff rosters. It needs to be in by 10 a.m. on Saturday. We'll talk to Shai about all that at 7 o'clock. 7.30. Ooh, Nathan Rourke is going to join the program.

BC Lions quarterback. Lions are riding a three-game win streak, heading into a huge game this weekend against the stamps, 4 o'clock kickoff on Saturday at BC Place. We are going to ask Nathan about his remarks regarding the new CFL rule changes. His comments directed specifically towards the commissioner

Stuart Johnson and the conversation he had with Big Stew in the aftermath of what he had to say. Do you think he definitely, did they definitely have a conversation? Yes, it has been reported. Steve Ewan wrote about it for the province. Yes. So we'll talk to Nathan Rourke about all that at 7.30.

8.10 this morning Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. Sportsnet Canucks analysts will be on the show. Busy Canucks Newsday yesterday. Headlined by the Niels Hoaglander injury. He's going to be out of the lineup for the next 8 to 10 weeks after undergoing surgery.

Canucks also made a bunch of roster subtractions. They waived Joe Labate, which I vehemently am opposed to, but I'll get over it. All of this ahead of their penultimate exhibition game. Tomorrow, Wednesday, 6 o'clock from the Saddle Dome against the flames, so there's lots to get into with Landon this morning at 8.10 a.m.

Working in reverse on the guest list. 8.10, Landon, Ferraro. 7.30, Nathan Rourke. 7 o'clock, Shia Devi, 630, Greg Wachinsky. 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.

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened?

What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies best in tools or resources and safety training. Visit them online at BC, CSA. a reminder, if you are listening today on a statutory holiday Dunbar Lembertex Line is 650, 650 let us know, are you up early

on a non-workday and non-school day? It tuned in to 650 bright and early to hear us talk about sports. If so, shoot us a line Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650, 650. We will begin what happened with the tough news of the day. Vancouver Connects Forward, Nils Hoaglander.

It was announced that he underwent successful surgery yesterday, lower body variety, injury he sustained in a preseason game against Seattle earlier in the preseason. That was announced on Monday, and the Canucks also announced that the 24-year-old is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks while he recovers from surgery. Yeah, some pretty tough news for the 24-year-old winger who was hoping to bounce back after a rough season.

It's always been tough to project where Hoaglander fits into the lineup. But at the end of the day, he's probably a middle six winger on the Connolly. knucks. This injury is bad news for Hoaglander, obviously, but it's also more opportunity for a youngster to step up and replace Hoaglander's minutes. Guys who need to step up and seize the opportunity include Lekaramaki, Carlson, Baines, Kravsoff, and I would say among those four wingers. Only Leckermacki has shown well in the preseason. Yep. And there's only two preseason games to go. Wednesday and Calgary, Friday at home. Could a young center like Ratu or Coots bump to the wing? Maybe. Possibly.

The Canucks are going to practice today at Rogers Arena. So we'll see what the lines are like today. They made a bunch of cuts yesterday. So it's a much small. smaller group now, you know, I think we went into this season having questions about everything when it comes to the Canucks forwards, the top six and the bottom six. And the Hoaglander injury, you know, I know people were texting into the show yesterday, you know, like the Panthers can lose Barkoff and they can lose Kachuk for half the season. And they're like, we'll probably still make the playoffs. And the Canucks are like, oh, Hoaglander's out for a few months and it's like oh how much does that affect things like the the

forward depth is is a concern yeah and this doesn't help you know the slightest it's a concern tripled not crippled that's a lot oh but they are not a team they're not one of the NHL teams that can readily and easily deal with the absence of a middle six forward which is a damning indictment i would say to a certain degree i'm not saying that this is going to hamstring the team entirely but it probably opens up a spot for a guy that quite honestly either the organization didn't think was ready or didn't think was going to play the role he was going to play at the beginning of the season well even your forward depth is just not that great yeah and i don't think there's any way to get around it

jim rutherford said it himself we got a ton of jim rutherford audio by the way he was on the 100% hockey podcast a podcast that talks 100% hockey and he oh whoa i know it's tough to maintain that percentage imagine if you talk for like a second about non hockey you can't call yourself that anymore. All of us changed the name. 99% hockey. Okay, we're now 93% hockey podcast. The entire podcast, ethos, goes out the window.

Anyway, Rutherford had a ton to say about the team, but one of the things he talked about was this is not the greatest collection of forwards. And they are still actively searching, never mind for a winger to possibly replace what Hoaglander is going to be out for the next eight to ten weeks, but they need a center. And, well, I just, I want some of these guys that played so well in the Memorial Cup, or sorry, the Calder Cups to show up. I'm not putting a lot of stock in the preseason stuff though.

The preseason is when the young players should step up and show the coaching staff. They should put stock in the preseason. Preseason is also junk. Let's just get that. It's not. It's not for players that are looking to make the team. This is tryouts.

This is tryouts for them. If you want to put it that way, this is, you know, a lot of minor hockey going through tryouts right now. This is tryouts for a guy like Linus Carlson. This is tryouts for Baines. Baines needs to show up and look to replace a guy like Hold on her now. That should be a doable, attainable goal.

Otherwise, guess what? You're not an NHLer. Well, this pretty much solidifies a spot for Lekker Mackey now, I'd assume. I would think so. Like, he's by far the standout of those wingers. Like, it's his spot to lose, I'd say at this point. There was probably a thought organizationally that they would like to have him in the opening night lineup anyway. And this just maybe makes that a little bit.

So Lechromacki's in the top six, do you think? And then Garland can be on the third line. Garland, it looks like they want to have them on the third line. And I agree with that. I mean, Leckermack is the kind of player, like, you wouldn't want to put him in the bottom six. Like, that's not the kind of player that he is. Like, you want to utilize his abilities. As a guy that's a one-shot score and who has played with Heidel, a fair bit in the preseason.

Sure. Give it a shot. It's a big ask for someone that, you know, you mentioned the Calder Cup run at Abbotsford. he was a bit player in that thing for large stretches. And didn't play a lot of the games. And which isn't great for his, I would say probably not great for his development and probably not a great indicator of where he's at.

But you do get afforded some luxuries when you're as high of a draft pick as he is and you are atop the prospect bin. You get chances like that. And you want to have your high-end prospects play in positions in the lineup where they're going to succeed. And that could be a top six role for Lekra-Macky. Okay. What did Jim Rutherford say?

A lot. Rutherford had a lot to say about a lot of different topics yesterday. I've tried to call some of the audio highlights from the Kinex president of hockey ops from yesterday. So this is a podcast with John Shannon, who's in the podcast game quite thoroughly right now. Where do we begin? Well, let's start with the biggest story going on as confirmed by the president of hockey ops himself, Jim Rutherford.

There was a lot of talk about Quinn Hughes and his future in Vancouver on the 100% hockey podcast yesterday. I thought it was interesting that Rutherford talked about the sort of small microcosm, which is like, we need this team, like just the hockey part. We need this team to win in order to make Hughes happy. And he also talked about the sort of bigger picture landscape stuff where he said, I'm not afraid to talk about this huge situation at large. And I'm not afraid to talk about future contract negotiations,

how important it is for him to stay here. He even went so far as to say, I'm not afraid to talk about this in the context of it's a huge media story. So Jim Rutherford is very much front and center at the Quinn Hughes discourse. Remember this throughout the year. Whenever anyone wants to clap back at certain media outlets for quote unquote making the Hughes thing a story, the president of hockey ops is very, very, very candid in saying that this is a huge story. But I do want to start with what Rutherford had to say about making this team attractive for Quinn Hughes.

Hughes to resign. He wants to make it the best team that the Canucks can be. And that's what he told the 100% hockey podcast yesterday. Take it away, Laddie. Well, no, his decision is not going to come until next off-season.

But at the same time, you know, we're like all teams. We want to have the best team we can. We want to be a playoff team. We want to contend. We do think our team's improved. We We like our coaching staff.

We like the direction they're taking the team. We're coming out of having a very good camp, and I believe that the players are well prepared. The question is, do we have enough players to compete and to contend? And so that's something that all players look at. You look at other players that are talking about signing extensions and staying with their teams, and it's important for any player to know that the organization's going to the right direction.

And that's what we have to deal with. Pretty straight forward stuff from the president of hockey ops. They need to win. They need to compete. They need to try and be a playoff team. But that's only going to be part of the equation. Yeah. Okay.

What's the other part? The other part is how much do we have moving forward? So it's not just about this season. But like any player, and I think we're seeing this with Connor McDavid and Evanton right now, and a few other places, players are key. keenly aware of who's got what in the cupboard and what's coming through the prospect pipeline. And, you know, do you have, say, one or two of my brothers playing for the Vancouver Cucks? I don't think it's that.

And it's not that. But, I mean, look, Rutherford is a lot of things and very candid is one of them. And sometimes it's to his detriment. And he said that publicly. And sometimes I think it's very advantageous for him and for the people that cover the team because there's not a conversation about his team that I don't think he's willing to have. I am watching the Cowboys documentary, finally, on Netflix. How is it? It's very good, first of all.

But Jerry Jones is Jim Rutherford with a Texas accent. Sure. Or an Arkansas accent, whatever he's got going. He's from Arkansas, yeah. Yeah. Like he, I mean, their stories are different, but like the... Jerry Jones has slightly more money, but... The way he talks is very similar.

old school direct straightforward no nonsense approach and no topic is off limits yeah and the way he comes across even the way he like smiles sometimes the way when he's talking you know you're like is that Jim Rutherford anyway I'm really enjoying the documentary

but every time he talks I'm like he's gonna start talking about the second line center in Dallas soon and how they need one and how Patrick has to go out in there and get one have the Cowboys had any issues retaining star players recently? I can't think of it. No, I don't think

so. I do want to play this audio where Rutherford is talking about talking about Hughes, because I think it's important and I think it's interesting that he's not going to shy away. Here's Rutherford on. No reason to shy away from the Hughes discourse. Well, I usually do. It doesn't

matter what situations they are. Sometimes it get in trouble for being too honest, but I don't think there's any reason to shy away from it. everybody's going to talk about it, rightfully so. It's a huge story. It's a huge story for the Canucks and for their future.

And I think as much as I can say about it is important. Whether people want to agree with me or not, that's the way things work. But I'm just given my honest opinion of Quinn Hughes and where he goes forward. Like that's a very Jerry Jones thing to do. I think as much as I can say, about it is important, whether people want to agree with me or not. Yeah, just keep talking about it, you know? Keep the full court press on.

Remind everyone, including Quinn Hughes, nearly every day, that this massive decision hangs in the balance. Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's useful to shy away from it either. Now, it might get to a point where the players are sick and tired of their own president talking about it. Well, you know what? I did think about that.

I do wonder if part of, if Rutherford talks about it. about it, then maybe it does alleviate some of the concern of having the players needing to talk about it because they're like, well, just Jim's doing all the coverage here. Yeah, right? Like, you don't need to ask us any questions. Our president of hockey ops has got a little bit. Yeah. Hey, they, I think they are setting. They can just be like, well, Jim set in on the 100% hockey podcast. So, talk to Jim. Download it, download it today. Apple, Google. I do think that there's something here about setting an expectation without specifically saying where they want to go this year.

They are fully, fully cognizant of the fact that Canucks are that this is, I've called it a referendum season several times. Everyone top to bottom is aware of this, that there is a lot of pressure and a lot of expectation. I know Rutherford kind of stopped short of saying like we need to make the playoffs or I expect us to be a playoff team, but they know, they know what's at stake and why bother shying away from it when everyone in the room knows anyway. Okay, we've only got a few minutes to go in this segment and then we're going to talk to Wish on the other.

side. So I do want to talk about what Jim Rutherford had to say about Adam Foote and the system the Canucks are playing. And we've had a few hints at what this system is. You know, Drance has come on and suggested maybe they're playing more of like a swarm defensively or they're trying to overload situations on the ice, which can work, but it can also be risky. It's, I don't know, if you, if you want to boil it down to a word, maybe it's more aggressive. Aggressive in the defensive zone, try and get the puck back quicker by overloading, you know, you might leave a guy open, but hopefully the puck never gets to him. Maybe it's the same in the offensive zone. I don't know. Maybe, maybe the players went to

Adam Foote because they had that meeting. Remember the golf course meeting that Pedersen flew back for and Hughes was there and Demko was there and apparently there were also lots of times where Adam Foote was, you know, having Zoom sessions with the players. Remember Quinn Hughes was like, this guy calls me every day. I got to turn my phone off. Sometimes twice. Don't you think some of that was about the style of play and don't you think some of that was the coaching staff or Adam Foote himself saying like, how do you want to play? When you, if you were the coach, if you were the coach, if you were Adam Foote and you had a conversation with, say, I don't know, Elias Pedersen, when you would be like, how do you, how would you like to play hockey? Well, especially like the fact that foot was there last year watching them play that's, like he got a front row view to seeing how they played under Rick Talka last year.

So I think if anyone knows that some things needed to change with certain players, it would be the guy that saw it closer than anybody. Now, we're going to play some audio here from Rutherford talking about his coaching staff. and that'll dovetail into what we want to talk about, about simplifying the style. Here's Jim Rutherford from yesterday on the coaching staff and what they're doing to prepare the players for this season. I believe it's always a coaching staff that has to work together, but when you look at the situation we found ourselves in,

when Rick Tocke decided to go back east and go to Philadelphia, I think that we are very fortunate that we were able to, to hire the people that we did. These guys are very, very good. I've watched them here now over the last month and so prepared, simplify things, explain things very quickly,

in a simple way that the players get it real quick. We have great drills in practice. We have very good practices, high-tempo practices, and I really believe a lot in our coaching staff. So twice in that clip, Brotherford, talked about how they were simplifying things for the players. He then went on to say, I like what

foot's done to prepare this team. He simplified our system for our players and they bought into it. Now, there has been some stuff anecdotally over the summer where certain players and I think there was a Philippeal throwaway line where he was talking about how after his first four games in Vancouver in which he felt really energized like he was playing his best hockey, suddenly he got into think about it mode, which means every time he had to go out on the ice he wasn't playing with a lot of freedom

he was always consciously trying to decide what he had to do next based on his coaches you know like ideas and thoughts and philosophies and strategies so and it looked like a team overthinking it last year at times yes maybe sometimes why when they were deferring to each other all the time

they were like get the puck I forget what I'm supposed to have to do here I'll just give it to Quinn and he'll do some stuff so is it a simplification of the process maybe that is it at the end of the day maybe foot came in and thought we're too bogged down by too many rules and decisions and, you know, credos that we live by.

And they had to go back to that, I think, where they felt they had to after the Boudreau. Bruce, there it is, era. Sure. And then Tocke came in. And I thought he simplified things in a way. Like he was just like, hey, remember how to play hockey? There's positions involved. Yeah.

But, but remember also what people have always said about. playing for Bruce Boudreau, he lets you play. He gives you freedom. So maybe Adam Foote, maybe, these are all maybes, by the way, because we need to actually see how it plays out. And you're going to hear some probably conflicting analysis on this as we see what the system actually is. But maybe that's another word that we can throw out there, freedom.

Are the players going to have more freedom to do what they want to do out there and with that they take on more responsibility because you know with freedom comes that responsibility where you're not just having someone tell you what to do in all situation Tocke did say

remember he came in he was like we're going to have some non-negotiables on this team like there are certain rules that we are going to follow I'm sure there's still more rules I'm sure they're not like they're like if you

want to like throw the puck up the middle of the ice when you're behind your net just do it just like yolo bro just be yourself you know um but maybe there's just fewer non-negotiables and or maybe there's something completely different but like if you're adam foot you'll have to do something different and if you're the leadership group i hope or the whole team i hope they can latch on to something that is different from what it was under Talket. You know, because you need to latch on to something.

Yeah. Right? Like there has to be something like, why do you think you guys are going to have success? What, we're going to do something differently. Yeah. And you know what? The other part of that too is also the identity of the team. Like leaning into, hey, we don't hate each other anymore is a super good identity

to have going into this season. And they've talked a lot about that, right? I know Rutherford didn't talk as much about it in the podcast. but Adam Foots talked a ton about the chemistry and the camaraderie and the fact that they don't have this room that's been torn apart by a saga that went on all of last year until J.T. Miller was traded. By then it was too late to try and rectify it. Now begins the rectification process and we'll see how it goes. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.

731 on a Tuesday, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brub of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn more, visit sands-trustee.com. We are in our two of the program with the midway point of the show. BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brad to by Jason hominike at Jason. Dot Mortgage.

If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.morgage. To the Power West Industries hotline we go. Our next guest is the starting quarterback for your BC Lions, Nathan Rourke. Here now, live on the Halford and Breff Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Nathan. How are you? I'm doing well, guys. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming on and taking the time. We appreciate it.

So it's been a bit of a week for you. There was that football game over the weekend, and there was also a lot of attention paid to the comments that you made in the aftermath of the CFL announcing its new rule changes. I just wanted to ask you straight out. It's been about a week since the rule changes were made, and you said what you said. do you regret saying what you said

or do you stand by what you said about the new CFL rule changes? No, I stand by them. I stand by them. I think that I speak for a lot of people who haven't necessarily have the platform or the opportunity to say something. And so, you know, when I hear from, you know,

coaches and players from around the league, you know, that kind of, you know, validates my position. So I'm glad I said something. You know, who knows if it's going to actually mean anything at the end of the day, but I'm hoping that the, you know, the fans' voices and the players and the coaches and the front office people in this, in this league, or maybe it'd be enough to at least get the conversation going.

How much of the frustration came from not being consulted about the changes? I mean, a good amount about it. You know, I think, you know, when you never, you never in any position, you want to be in a position where someone is telling you, you know, telling you that they, know what you do better than you do, right? You know, it wouldn't matter what field you're working in. I think that's always difficult, right? So I just, I just, you know, I think there was a good opportunity to be able to be

collaborative and show, you know, that type of leadership from the league. And I think it was an opportunity that was missed. Nathan, we had the commissioner on the show last week, and he said he was going to reach out to you. Did that conversation happen? Yeah, yeah, it did. Can I ask how it went? Yeah, I mean, I'm very grateful to the, you know, to sue for doing that.

You certainly didn't have to reach out or anything like that. I just, I think I came away from that conversation, feeling like we were even more further apart than I initially thought. So, you know, who knows what's going to happen in terms of further conversations and whatnot, not just with me. I'm not looking to get into, you know, being in a, you know, getting to the inner circle or anything like that and try to get privileged information.

I just want to be able to set a standard of collaboration and make sure that our voices, people play the football game, and who've been around the game are heard. Okay. We'll close the book on that for now because Nathan, your team has been winning some games and honestly a month ago,

I was sitting there going, there is no chance this team is hosting a playoff game. And now, all of a sudden, look at the, how many teams are tied for second place in the West? You've got a huge game against the stamps. There must be a lot of excitement about what's been going on recently. Yeah, I think, I think the most exciting for us is that, you know, something that we've, you know, in the building we've known for a while, you know, that we're capable of. You know, it's coming to fruition, which is good.

You know, we've still got a lot, a long way to go. You know, we still got things to clean up. but we're excited right now of where we're at, obviously, like you said, the West is very, very tight, and so, you know, we certainly had our growing pains early on, and, you know, you've got some things still to work out, but it's anyone in the game, and that's, again, part of the beauty of the CFL is there's so much parity in this league. Every game is exciting, and we're here for it. We're going to give you the platform here to shout out the guys on the other side of the football.

How impressed are you with what your defense has done the last few weeks, especially against the Argos last week? Yeah, they've been phenomenal. They've been phenomenal. You know, the energy, I think, in practice, to me, has been the biggest thing. We've had very competitive practices. They're flying around. They're playing really fast. And, you know, I think it's a huge testament to their resiliency and their work ethic as a group to be able to rebound from a, you know, a team that we played them the first time. They put up 50 points in Toronto.

And this time they were holding, and they held them under 25. So that's just a great game. And they ended up winning it for us. I mean, let's be real. You know, offensively, we didn't play up to our standard. But defense, especially teams kept us in it and I was able to make a big play there at the end to follow us to throw it out the clock.

So, you know, I think, you know, when we're playing complimentary football, we're at our best, and we've done the last couple of weeks. Matthew Betts is a guy that got a little bit of criticism early on in the season. That criticism has disappeared. When you watch them now, how glad are you, that you don't have to play against him.

Yeah, I mean, super glad. He's been playing extremely well, and, you know, he's a guy that, you know, he's just full effort, right? He's given his all every single play, and, you know, he's just so quick and fast. And, you know, I don't get the, I don't play against him, you know, on game day, but I do practice against him quite a bit. So I do feel like, you know, him just being out there gets our guy better, helps me, you know, me get better as well

and ultimately that's what we're all about so happy he's having a great year and I don't know that continue for the rest of the year. Do you still keep in touch with Vernon Adams? Yeah we've been we've been texting here and there throughout the season after wins and you know big

big time performances and stuff like that just wishing well and you know I've got nothing but good things to say about VA and appreciative of the time that we spend together so no reason to to not stay in touch. We're speaking to BC Lions quarterback,

Nathan Rourke, here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Brough and I've talked a lot about this watching like Seahawks teams of year past when they were able to really run the ball and run it effectively and close out games with that real physical element. And you guys did that on the final drive

against Toronto. A lot of people wrote about it like going forward on third and ones and you get in the plunges and Xander Horvath, who's a big, big dude, what does it feel like when you're in the huddle and you know that you're going to be able to, like, grind a team down and salt away a win because you can out-physical them on offense.

Yeah, I mean, it's certainly a good feeling. You know, I think it's been interesting this year just the, you know, the different ways that we've had to find ways to win. And I don't think we've necessarily had, you know, the out-physical edge all the time, especially some of our losses. So for us to be able to, you know, as an offense, finish the game on the field and finish in that way I think was great and felt really good for us

and hopefully just a huge confidence booster for the entire team as we move forward to some really important West games here. How is your relationship with Buck Pierce evolved as the season has progressed? I think just like the more time we're spending with each other, we're just able to kind of learn a little bit more about, you know, what they like

and how they, how Buck, how he sees things and the rhythm for maybe his play calling and stuff like that. Like we've just being able to go through it and, you know, make some mistakes as the season goes, goes along and just kind of feel each other out. I think, I think we're feeling like we're on the same page and we're, you know, peaking at the right time. And I just, I just enjoy learn from them and just being around them every day. I've been watching this Cowboys documentary on Netflix and there was a, there's a funny part when Troy Aikman and Jimmy Johnson bonded over aquariums.

Like they had like Jimmy Johnson love. He was like such a tyrant but like I guess he had some aquariums that you're like I find this peaceful watching the fish and he was like I also like watching the predator fish eat the weaker fish and then so he says to Troy Ackman was like you should get

an aquarium so anyway they bonded over that. The relationship between a quarterback and a head coach it is a unique thing is it not? I mean or maybe it's not Maybe that was just, I don't know, Troy Eggman and Jimmy Johnson.

Well, I mean, when you're describing that, the challenge is a little bit like a psychopathic tendency. Yeah, yeah, Jimmy J. There were a few psychos on that Cowboys team, but boy, did they win some Super Bowls. Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, I think, you know, obviously, yeah, it is important for sure. But, you know, I think what the advantage that, you know,

we have is Buck played the position. He described some of the stories of playing for some, in a different time, frankly, and just, you know, him understanding what it takes to be a player in this league, quarterback in this league. And, you know, he's done a fantastic job of, you know, opening it up for communication and making it a collaborative process, you know, through the game plan.

And she got a great staff as well. And I just feel like he's, you know, that everyone's opinion is valued. And I think it just allows for an environment where people are able to come in to give input and, you know, work things out together. And, you know, I think that just, you know, it makes you want to come to work every day and give your all to them and, you know, get it figured out. So I think that's just been great.

Get a little bit worried if Buck gets an aquarium or invites you over there because it's going to get weird then. Yeah. Hey, before we let you go, let's set up this game. Saturday, 4 o'clock kickoff at home, BC place. Calgary back in town. We talked about the VA side of things and everything. But from your perspective, preview this in terms of what you guys want to clean up on offense

and try and limit the turnovers that you guys had against the Argos. Yeah, I mean, that's a big one for sure. You know, we want to be able to make sure we're not giving them any free possessions. The first time we play these guys, we did a really good job of that. And that's going to be key again. You know, they're a scout defense. They're world coach. They play around real fast.

And so we're going to have to, you know, be decisive. and what we're doing and get the ball out of our hands and, you know, limit the amount of turnovers that we have as an offense, but also just limit the penalties that we have. We just had too many against Toronto. So, again, that's been something that we've been doing with all year, and we take care of those two things. I think we'll be all right.

Nathan, this was great. Thanks for taking the time to do this and answering all the questions. Have a good game on Saturday. Go get a win. Thank you. Appreciate it, guys. Yeah, I appreciate you too.

Thank you. That's Nathan, Rourke, BC Lions quarterback here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. That's a huge game for the Lions, and they've won three in a row. They've got a chance if they finish the season strong to host a playoff game, and we wouldn't have thought that a month ago. So get out there. Four o'clock start at BC Place against Vernon Adams and the Stampeders.

If there's a regular season game to go to this year, that's the one. Just building momentum until 2026 when you get to play in Colona. Everything points to Colonna. Everything points to Colonna. That's it. The Apple Bowl is rocking. So sometimes on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650, we have been seen as guys

that talk up too much of the national football league game and not enough of the Canadian football league game so I thought you know what let's give Nathan Rourke some love have him on the show he answered the tough questions he did got in the trenches

and he even conceded like we're actually further apart than I thought that was an interesting remark I think there's more rule changes to come Anyway, I want to just point out that we are not all about praising the national football league because last night was some of the worst football that has ever been aired in primetime. It was... And we're not, I mean, the Tyree Kill injury was awful.

I'm not talking about the Tyree Kill injury, but thank you for pointing it out because, yes, it was gross. And for those that missed it, Tyree Kill suffered an awful, awful knee injury during the Jets Dolphins game in which he dislocated his knee and then reports from this morning said in addition to a dislocated knee he also tore basically every ligament in his knee including his ACL that could be a career threatening injury. The quality of play yesterday was

atrocious awful and don't take it from me take it from the people that were working the games I want to start I think with the Cincinnati Bengals who put up a grand total of three points

three points You've got to credit the Broncos defense. They have a very, very good defense. But it helped, I thought the Broncos when the Bengals' offensive line didn't block. Didn't even try. It seemed like at times. Do they like Jake Browning? The Bengals did not cross midfield after kicking a field goal on their opening drive.

Do you understand how bad that is from a viewing perspective? So the guy's calling the game yesterday, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Troy Aikman coming up a lot on the show today. You could hear their growing discontent with the game as the broadcast went on because they knew that they were calling a dud of a game. And they knew that it's like, this sucks. People are tuning in and this game is terrible. And there was a million flags. And this was supposed to be the good game of the night because people were like, Jets and Dolphins is going to be

Terrible. Troy Aikman actually said that the product isn't very good right now, but he saved his most, and him and Buck save their most scathing critiques for the Bengals. Granted the Bengals were without Joe Burrow. And yeah, it's tough to try and manufacture offense when Jake Browning's a quarterback. But they made mistakes all over the place. Here, this is during the broadcast, this is Joe Buck and Troy Eggman just lambasting the Cincinnati Bengals for their lack of effort on Monday Night Football. Here's what it sounded like. I mean, they've got more penalties than first downs tonight. There were pre-snap penalties. There were defensive penalties that just were crushing. There were, I mean, you name it, holding calls, whatever. And if you got Jake Browning, a quarterback, you cannot play a game like this around him with all the mistakes and expect to compete.

And they just, frankly, after their first possession, didn't compete. No, and how they're going to clean this up and have a better out in against Detroit, who's rolling. Good luck with that. But this is, yeah, this has been an embarrassing effort by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Do you know how bad it is when one guy says that there was no effort beyond the first possession? Then the other guy follows it up with, yeah, that was an embarrassing effort. Those were hot mics, right? That was a hot mic, right? That was scathing, right?

Okay, so there's that part of Monday. So Monday Football, that was the second game, and you're like, ugh, that stuff. What was the first game like? Well, the first game involved the New York Jets. New York Jets are now 0 and 4.

They've got a first year head coach and Aaron Glenn. They're trying to pull out of this abyss that they've been in forever. And they've tried a lot of different things. They've tried coaches. I don't know if you'll remember, but they tried a future Hall of Fame quarterback

and Aaron Rogers. And they just can't get it right. It's just an organization that seems like it's just stuck, not in mediocrity. but in being awful. So last made the playoffs in 2010. Like it is a bad franchise. The Buffalo Sabres of the NFL.

They're the Buffalo Sabres of the NFL, exactly, where you just, the rot is so deep and the dysfunction goes so far that you can't ever see to get away out of it. They fell the 0-14 yesterday. This is Connor Hughes from SNY Network in New York. This is just the stand-up that the reporter working for the team did in the aftermath,

talking about how, like many teams in the NFL, the Jets are trying to find their identity. And maybe they did, and it crystallized last night. Here's Connor Hughes from SNY on the Jets on Monday Night Football. Identity. That's such a buzzword in the NFL. Teams want to find one, cultivate one, carry one throughout the season. Four games into 2025, the Jets have theirs.

They are ill-prepared. They are undisciplined. And because of those two characteristics, you can say that this team is poorly coached. I had a player talked to me in the locker room after this game against the Dolphins, and he kept shaking his head and repeating over and over and over again. They are not better than us. But the Dolphins beat the Jets on Monday night football because the Jets committed 12 penalties

were called for 14, but two were declined. They had three turnovers, including one when Braylon Allen fumbled going into the end zone, and another one where the Jets fumbled on the opening kickoff of the second half with a chance to drive down the fields and tie. Mental errors, like fair catching a punt inside the five-yard line. As Breeze Hall said after the game, we watch as teams, shoot themselves in the foot, then we come back and shoot ourselves in the head.

So it was not a great... That is a hell of a quote. That is a hell of a quote. I saw people, you know, I wonder if Brees Hall's going to get fine for that. I'm like, I don't think so, but it's close. The fair catch was hilarious. So bad. On the three yard line or whatever it was. So bad.

The still picture that I saw in social media. He's like, someone said, this was fair caught. Oh, someone like, I was watching a video and some guy in the background was like, the Jets is stupidest team in football. It's just so stupid. Anyway, I'm glad you brought up the Sabres because the Jets thing is

when you talk about a long-suffering fan base, like I don't even count us in Vancouver in that conversation because at least there have been some bright spots over the last little while. Two years ago was an awesome year. I don't think I can say it any other way than that. Watching that team win 50 plus games

and 100 plus points and winning a playoff round and having watch parties and everything, it reminds you how much fun this can be, which I think is why we're just like, let's get this regular season going. Like, I want the Canucks to start playing hockey again. I don't know what it must feel like

to be a fan of the Sabres, where anytime something good happens to you, the immediate thought is how is this going to go bad? Because that's what 14 years has been for them. And that's what 14 years has been for the Jets. Yeah. Like the Jets got, remember when they drafted Zach Will.

Wilson, that's a high, high, high draft pick. High draft capital. What you tank for is to get a guy like that. And the earlier iteration of him was Sam Donald taken. Yeah, it was the second and third overall picks. And then, you know, the other thing is that how many Sabres players have gone to different teams and thrived or even won championships? Jets fans are watching, you know, look, Sam Darnold's not going to win the MVP or anything. It would kill for Sam Darnold right now at quarterback.

But it wouldn't work because they're the Jets. Yeah, I know, but that's what I'm saying. Like a guy that could play the position that competently. Because Fields, he's all over the map. Yeah. It just, it is really interesting to look around the sports landscape and see some of these other organizations that are just stuck in the rot. Now, I don't want to tie everything back to the Kinex.

And that's kind of why I'm saying, like, you know, I don't think that the organization currently is in that spot. But it is fair game to constantly ask about Quinn Hughes because of the 50 years of Canucks hockey, 50 plus years, he is one of one, right? Never had a defenseman like him. And I think he is the best player to have ever played for the Canucks. And there's some high bar guys at Burry, the Sedeens, everyone.

But that's why the stakes are so high. And that's why Rutherford, in a very interesting way, like he's not shooting from the hip or off the cuff or being candid for candid sake he seems very cognizant of and I'll give him credit because he's not that familiar with the market he hasn't spent his entire career here he knows exactly what it is

he knows exactly how much this particular moment in time means to the entire city the entire market and the entire organization guys like Hughes don't just up and leave without it having some major residual effects right I think some people have a different reaction to Jim Rutherford talking about Quinn Hughes because everyone deals with anxiety or worries a different way.

Some people are like, okay, let's talk about it. Let's get it out in the open and we'll talk about it. Other people are like, what if I just like cram this feeling down and just deny that it's even there? Like when Daddy hit the Empire with a bottle. Yeah. Exactly.

Well, I just don't even, if you talk about it, it gives it energy and it gives it momentum and sometimes people believe that you can talk something into existence and maybe that's partially true. Maybe with Jim Rutherford and everyone talking about Quinn Hughes possibly going somewhere else, he's like, somewhere else, or at the very least, he starts thinking about it a little bit more or a little bit differently. So I understand why people get frustrated with it, but I'm kind of more of a rather for, like, let's talk about this. Let's get it out there and not pretend that there isn't a massive fork in the road coming up for the Canucks. And that fork is one, let's say the left goes, you know, Quinn Hughes stays. And the other one is he doesn't and just fundamentally changes everything about the future of the Vancouver Canucks. Well, I make no mistake. Part of this is strategic. Like Rutherford, he loves getting out in front of a story.

And that's what the entire Gary Mason interview prior to trading J.T. Miller was all about. It's a very old school approach. It's like you don't let the narrative control you. you control the narrative. So there's a strategic element to this, but maybe I'm just trying to set the stage for the season to be or read the tea leaves a little bit, but this is a conversation

that is going to happen a lot. And I think in a good way, because it puts expectations and pressures on a team that they need. Like this team needs to perform. Last year was not, just a disappointment on the ice, not just a disappointment in terms of the standings, but a disappointment in terms of

letting down a bunch of fans who were emotionally invested in a team that couldn't get along and couldn't get their together, right? Like, you know what, you know what I mean? And that's a problem. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.