Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Can't Look Past The Flyers

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with The Athletic Philadelphia's Kevin Kurz (4:25) ahead of tonight's Flyers matchup at the Canucks, they look ahead to tomorrow' BC Lions game vs. the Riders with radio commentator Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (23:40), plus the boys do some Ask Us Anythings (39:00). 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.

702 on a Fiesta Friday here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Mui Caliente in the studio today, I tell you what. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 2 of the program. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is going to join us in just a moment.

Before we get to all of our guests in Hour 2, I need to tell you that Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominuk from Jason.Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Just kidding. Let him do exactly that. You can do that by visiting him at Jason.Mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet. What are you waiting for the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews.

So, Orfite, what are you waiting for? Kintec. Okay, to the phone lines we go. Our next guest joins us every Friday here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. The new presenting sponsor of What We Learned and the proprietor of the best pizza in the lower mainland. Nope.

The world. AJ from AJ's Pizza on broadway joins us now on the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 what up aj happy friday everybody uh i've got a nice little win i've got a question for for aj i also have one okay two questions for aj if the yankees if the yankees make the world series who do you want them to play? That was my question. Nice. We didn't even plan this. You know, from a wanting the Yankees to win, I'd rather face the Dodgers

because the Mets are on fire. I mean, New York would be insane. When I first moved here in 2000, geez, that was a long time ago, they were in the World Series, but I would rather face the Dodgers, to be honest.

What about the Padres? Are you just ignoring the Padres? The Padres are still alive. I thought they had their chance the other night. I think they're in tough. I really do. But who knows? Let's listen.

What do I know? But I really, I thought, I thought they needed to clinch that. Yeah, in game four. Yeah, I did. When the Dodgers used 18 pitchers in a bullpen game? That one? I did. When the Dodgers used 18 pitchers in a bullpen game? That one?

I was waiting for the call, right? So I was trying to power rank it because I had the exact same thought that you did, bro. I was like, there's the possibility of a Subway Series, which is amazing. There's a possibility of Yankees-Dodgers, which is also amazing, right? Otani versus Judge. And then, unfortunately, because I kind of like them, actually really like them, the Padres are number three in the power rankings. It's obvious.

Now watch the Tigers get to the World Series or something. Stupid Guardians get in there. Okay, I've got a plan for all the listeners right now where they can spend the next three days of Thanksgiving weekend all at AJ's. So you go there tonight, and the Canucks game is on, so that's like, what, $6 pints of Pilsner, right? $6 pints, right, yeah.

You go there on Saturday and you can watch Game 5, the decisive Game 5 between the Guardians and the Tigers, and then you go on Sunday when it's all-day happy hour and you're on your third day of pizza and beer and you can watch Game 1 of whoever the Mets are going to play

in the NLCS you can watch football and then on Monday just go for a run just a brisk walk several runs and then come watch the Yankees and either there you have it the four days of Thanksgiving all in ages what a time to be alive

AJ thanks for doing this today bud we really appreciate it you guys have a wonderful weekend happy Thanksgiving you AJ, thanks for doing this today, bud. We really appreciate it. You guys have a wonderful weekend. Happy Thanksgiving. You too. Thanks. We'll see you Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Okay, AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Go check him out. And if you want to win a $100 gift card to AJ's, get a what? Now we're going to

change this up, right? You said at the break, you're like, let's not make this confusing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What we learned or ask us anything. Best ask us anything. Don't forget the pizza emoji. It can be a great what we learned. It can be a great ask us anything. But it is ask us anything Friday. So we don't want to get flooded with what we learned on ask us anything Friday.

So if you have a pizza emoji in either the ask us anything or the what we learned, you are entered into the contest for the $100 gift card to AJ's. Okay, we got Kevin Kurz on the line now to talk some Philadelphia Flyers who are in town to face the Canucks tonight. Kev, how are you doing, buddy? Good. How are you guys doing? Yeah, we're doing well. What's the story with the Flyers? What are the expectations?

What's everyone been talking about? I imagine Mitchkoff has a lot to do with it. Yeah, expectations. You know, I think generally they're probably not much different than last season. You know, the team's not going to be one of the worst in the league, and it's certainly not a surefire playoff team. But, you know, they hung around last year, and they were in a great position to make the playoffs until that eight game losing streak kind of derailed them. So, you know, it expect the young core to take a group together.

That's Cam York, Tyson Forster, Owen Tippett, Sam Erson and Goal. And now Matt DeMitchkoff in particular, who is here two years early. And, you know, the whole organization, and I think the Flyers fans in particular, are really excited for this kid and with good reason. I mean, he had a fantastic preseason. So tell us about how they got him over quicker than everyone expected them to do that. I know that might be a bit of an old story for you, but not for us. It's not really an old story.

It's just that there haven't been many details revealed. The furthest I've gotten on it is they were told somewhere around the draft combine in Buffalo that it was possible. And I think that combine is what, early June or so? So for the longest time, and well after their season had ended, they still didn't think he was coming. But they found out in early June that it might be possible. I know there were some agent changes with Michkov. He moved to J.P. Barry in that group. And they released him, you know, and the reason that the Russians gave for releasing him from his contract was on compassionate grounds.

And, you know, there's the story with Mitch Kopp's father who tragically passed away, right, a couple months before the draft last year. So, you know, it's so hard to parse what's coming out of Russia as he stays, I think, in hockey and in everything else that the details are probably going to be lacking here for a little while. But he's here. His mother and his little brother came over also a couple weeks after he got here. So they're re-situated in south jersey as a family and um you know again the flyers didn't have any inkling he was going to be able to come over until until early june so

this thing happened really quickly they got him here over in august trying to acclimate him to everything as soon as possible but he's willing to's willing to learn. He's really trying to take all the steps necessary, including English lessons and hanging out with his teammates and all that stuff. He wants to be a part of this. I know this is a bit of a grim question, but did they ever find out what happened to his dad? No, I don't think so. I don't think so.

Yeah. But, yeah. So, I mean I don't think so. Yeah. But, yeah. So how, I mean, does that come up? Yeah. What's that? Does, I mean, does the media ask them about that, or is it just kind of like understood that we're not going to talk about that? Well, no, no one's asked them about it yet.

And we haven't gotten in a, you know, we've had interpreters for them, but they've been team personnel, and it's been sort of a bit of a clunky back and forth just because of that. You know, we haven't had a legitimate interpreter to speak with him yet, which is unfortunate. But, no, no one's asked him about that yet. But, you know, based on everything we know about him, it was a very close relationship the two of them had.

And I know he said at the draft after he was taken by the Flyers that his father would want nothing more than for him to play in the National Hockey League. So that's part of the reason he wanted to get over here as soon as possible. That's my understanding of it anyway. So tell us about this other young kid, Jet Lachenko. He was playing for Guelph last season, 13th overall pick. Has he for sure made the team or is this one of these nine-game auditions for him? No, I wouldn't say for sure he's made the team. I think it's a little

bit surprising he's here in the first place because, listen, he had a great camp. He does have a lot of tools. He's got speed. He's got the smarts. He's in ridiculous shape for an 18-year-old. Part of the reason the Flyers took him in the first place is because he crushed all of the physical tests at the Combine in Buffalo. So I think that sort of raised his profile a little bit heading into the drafts. But he's got a pretty big weakness in his game right now, and that's finishing in the offensive zone. And if you look at his performances in the preseason,

he had a couple assists in the preseason opener against what was a very weak Washington lineup. And he played three preseason games after that. He didn't look out of place, but he didn't do anything offensively, right? He's starting as a third-line center. He's going to be with Bobby Bragg and Joel Farabee tonight on that third line. I think he's even going to be on the second power play unit based on what they've done so far. So, you know, we'll see.

Part of me wonders a little bit if they worry about their speed down the middle with their other centers. Sean Couturier had a weak second half last year. He looked like he had lost his step after missing two years. Scott Lawton, they've moved him to the fourth line wing. So Luchenko's essentially replaced him. So we'll see. My impression is that the coaching staff was really pushing hard for Luchenko to stay.

I don't think it was unanimous in the Flyers' front office, but they're going to give him a look here, and we'll see where it goes. We're speaking to Kevin Kurz from The Athletic in Philadelphia here on the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Let's turn our attention to the coaching staff here, Kev, because they've got a pretty tall order. This is a young team. I know guys like Farabee and Frost and Tippett and Cates,

they're not kids, but they're still young. And I think it's what, like 14 of the 23 players on the roster, 25 or younger. And leading all this is John Tortorella. And I know Torts had the guys up at Whistler for a little team bonding exercise.

And I don't know if you got to get up there as well and get in on the trust falls or whatever else they were doing, but no, no, it's too bad. bad um what is the outlook for torts what are his big concerns going in with this young of a group to this season well if the power play is number one I mean that if you're just looking at it from age aside the power play has been in last in the league for the last three years so that that's that's first and foremost what they have to fix. And they've taken sort of a unique approach in trying to fix it. They brought in people from all sorts of corners of the organization to sit in a meeting with with Rocky Thompson, who leads it.

But they had Patrick Sharp and John LeClair. Danny Heatley is a pro scout. Now he was in the meeting. Danny Breer obviously had success in the power play. So that's number one. They hope that a healthy Jamie Drysdale as the quarterback will spark that. And obviously Mitch Koff playing on the walls, they hope that'll get it going. So that's the first thing to keep an eye on.

The second big unknown is the goaltending. Yeah. And, you know, that was the biggest, that was their biggest problem over the second half last year is they lose Carter Hart around the all-star break. And Sam Erickson was playing really well up to that point as sort of a 1B to Carter Hart. And then he couldn't handle the workload.

And I think the coaching staff erred a little bit too. They overplayed him. He wasn't ready for it, and he was tired, and it showed. On the other hand, they didn't really have a reliable backup at the time, and we're still not sure if they do because now they've got Ivan Fedotov, this 6'7 Russian that came over in late March last season, and he's their number two. So we'll see where it goes, but that's the biggest question mark going in.

In terms of the roster, in terms of the young players that you mentioned, a lot of them, I think, are still trying to prove to Tortorella and to everyone else that they should be part of the core moving forward. Guys like Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, you know, these guys have to step up. It's a big year for a lot of those guys because if the brass, team brass doesn't believe that they're going to be part of the team moving forward, they could find themselves, you know, ending up on the training block.

Kev, always good to catch up with you. Hope you enjoy your stay in Vancouver. And we'll talk again soon when the Canucks play the Flyers. Yep. Okay. Thanks, guys. Kevin Kurz, talking Philadelphia Flyers. Yeah, I mean, this should be another game like Wednesday's against Calgary where the Canucks should be favored to win. But, you know, the Canucks have had their issues with the Flyers

in the last little while. I feel like they've struggled against them. Weirdly enough, I'm more excited about seeing guys in this game from the opposition than I was against Calgary. Like, all due respect to Calgary. Yeah, I want to see Michkov. I kind of knew what I was getting, right? Like, it's not a great team.

Pospisil, like the tennis player. I was like, I don't need to see him. That's fine. This is interesting. So, Luchenko's going to be the youngest ever player in Philadelphia Flyers history tonight when he takes the ice against the Vancouver Canucks. He was born on August 21st, 2006. That makes me feel real old.

It's remarkable that a kid born in 2006 is now playing in the National Hockey League. And not even in January of 2006. He was a summer baby in 2006. I was in grade 10. Yeah. I was almost done high school. It makes Greg feel old of all people. What is going on here? And I implore everyone to go to The Athletic

if you've got a subscription and read Kev's piece on Mitchkoff because they're talking about him in very special terms. They're not talking about this kid's got potential to be a real good player. I mean, what we heard in the draft was superstar- potential superstar level talent the one hang up and why he fell all the way to philadelphia was the russian factor but

outside of that i mean he also came over and delivered right away like every challenge he put in front of him so far yeah he's met and it's been very difficult because apparently his English is extremely limited. So they are operating. Just think about it. He's 19 years old. He's never played in the National Hockey League before. He's got kind of a unique head coach in John Tortorella. And there's a language barrier involved.

Yet, despite all of this, they're like, he's just blown the doors off everyone in the preseason. Torch is actually fluent in Russian. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, Torch is actually fluent in Russian. Yeah, you know what I mean? Torch is just sort of like... Language barrier aside. This man does not seem very happy with me. Right.

He's like, he's not... You can convey his emotion pretty well, I feel like. Why is there all the yelling? Why is he so red? I do think that it's an interesting dynamic of play to have a player this talented come in under this head coach in this particular like phase of their evolution let's do some ask us anything it is ask us anything friday and gumstick james texts in that is a name uh he said uh he sent this one in before

okay we never got to it i didn't even know gumstick james was texting in. Well, he is. He said, I recently pulled out my childhood hockey cards and have gone full obsessive to complete sets I started in the late 80s, early 90s. My wife thinks this is absolutely ridiculous, but I've explained to her that according to 11-year-old me that this is a foolproof plan to pay for our kids' post-secondary school tuition so the big question is who here still has their childhood hockey cards and how many textbooks

could you buy if you sold them i think i've probably got some hockey cards somewhere maybe stored at my parents place and yours would be worth something because they're from like the 40s yeah yeah mine my wartime concern they're not even in because they're from like the 40s. Yeah. Yeah. They were wartime conservative. They're not even in color. They're black and white. Mine actually weren't because I never took care of them. And I never really collected them like a collector. We used to, at recess, we used to flip for cards.

So that's what I enjoyed with hockey cards. So they all got banged up. But I have friends that have been big-time collectors, and now they do it with their kids, which is kind of cool, I think. It's a nice hobby, right? It's better than just constantly being on screens or whatever. I still have mine. I mean, they're in good shape.

I remember going to Hockey Cards Plus as a kid every day. Kids love to organize stuff. It was a long time ago, but it was a great store in the Valley, and I always spent my allowance on my hockey cards, and I loved it. I think it's a great way for kids to learn about the players too. I've got all mine. So I was a bigger baseball card collector than a hockey card collector back in the day. We've still, like, my brother's got, he had one from a 1970,

I want to say it's like an Opeche set. And they used to do those cards that were like the league leaders. And it had, it was like, I think the leading defenseman scores that year and it had Bobby Orr on it. That one's, and it's in pristine condition. It's in the frame and everything still. A little glass box. Yeah.

Like I didn't have great, like a Denny Savard rookie, which is pretty tough to get your hands on now because it was so long ago. I think of the four of us, Laddie is the biggest collector. Yeah, I've been holding off. Do you have a bunch of old cards? No, I do have some old cards, but most of my cards are by generation.

And my goal in collecting isn't like most collectors to get the full set or whatever. My goal is actually to get every goalie who's played one NHL game a card for each goal. That is a very cool question. That's my end game for my hockey collection. But you are still a collector, right?

Like, you still buy them. Technically, yeah. I just, I don't trade and sell them like people, like, it's like a stock market now. Like, people are like this. Yeah. I don't like, yeah.

I don't go that far. I don't love the current style and setup. It's like NFTs. Right, because some card companies are... Honestly. Some card companies

are consciously making the cards rare. Yeah, yeah. But they can produce as many as they want. Right. Back in the day, a card was rare because it was rare. It was like Donruss put one out and, you know, like... It's all they could muster.

Right, and then the company went out of business. I don't think the Honus Wagner cigar box card was... I don't think there was a long game there. What do they call the artificial scarcity? They're intentionally jacking up the prices of these cards. In the 80s, I was deeply into baseball. I loved the Oakland A's and Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire. I have a litany of the 87 Donruss-rated rookie Mark McGuire cards

and the 86 tops Canse Seiko, with the rookie. They're not worth anything anymore because those guys are huge steroid cheats. But aside from that, it's good. I've also got way too many Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards. Okay, here's another one. Ask Us Anything, unsigned text. Who was your celebrity crush growing up?

And then this person says, I'll date myself here. But for me, it was suzanne summers wow you have dated yourself an 80s kid watching three's company reruns after school this is the easiest answer of all time i didn't for me okay where you go kelly kapowski oh okay i'm a decent when she so you're so you're is she is she your age or a little bit older maybe she's right like suzanne summers when i was growing up like, like she was pretty old. Yeah, that guy's old. No, no, no, no, no.

I think he was just a younger man who looked at Suzanne Somers was a little bit older. I always had the age appropriate one. For me, it was Alyssa Milano. Yeah, that's a good one too. But it's not Tiffany Ambrose. Just like Angela Lansbury. A young lass when I was watching television.

Yeah, she was smart, too. That's two old men. She was a reader. I liked a bookish woman. So when Tiffany Amortheason made the heel turn and went from All-American Good Girl in Saved by the Bell to the Bad Girl in 90210.

All right. Did that rattle you? No, it was amazing. The versatility. Like, wait a minute. You could be a good girl and a bad girl? This is incredible. It was so good.

It was so good. Anyway, yeah. And she's still very active on social media. So it's great. But yeah, that was mine. All right. What do we got coming up here? Moj on the other side. Tiffany Amber Thiessen to Moj.

Oh my God. Slight drop off in attractiveness. You should ask Moj this question. Moj and then Dolly Wall at 8 o'clock for some yelling. Lots more to come on the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance.

Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. It's the Moj. I did not eat four burgers. Yes, it's the Moj. I don't want to go to Winnipeg. Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food.

It's the Moj. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalania. I don't want to go to Winnipeg. Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Halpert's fine, but, you know, Brumfuss is grumpy all the time. It's the Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, Moj, 31 on a Friday. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in Hour 2 of the program. If the name or the music didn't give it away, Moj is going to join us in just a moment here. Highlight of Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominick at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. To the phone lines we go. A presentation of the Clayton Public House.

Bob the Moj Marjanovis joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Moj? Linda Carter. Linda Carter. Oh, Linda Carter. I actually met her one time at a Grizzly game. How did that go down?

How did that go for her? Was security called in? Well, I just walked up and said, hey, you know what? I was a big fan growing up, blah, blah, blah. It was all good. The thing that blew me away, like when you see her on TV, you always thought she was like 5'10 or 6 feet or something.

She was pretty short. She wasn't as tall as I thought she'd be. Interesting. And this was at a Grizzlies game? Yeah, she was filming a series, I think, in Vancouver or Langley or something like that. I can't remember the name of the series. It was set in the 1800s.

But yeah, she was at a Grizzlies game, sitting behind the net, and just decided to walk up and just say, Hey, these big fans just want to say blah, blah, blah. Turned on that Moj charm. Showed up. Okay, so you've answered the first one. I know you've... So, teenage celebrity crush check

hockey cards. I'm fortunate enough to have a friend of mine that got me a birthday present, which was wicked. It was funny. We were just talking one night with one of the reps from Pastime Sports, and he said, what's your

favorite set? I said, the card set that I really like to get my hands on. It was my first set that I started collecting. And I don't know, I lost it. I don't know where it disappeared to. It was the 7172 Tops. And if you remember, that's the Ken Dryden rookie card. Those are the ones that kind of have like an oval portrait.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. I'm looking at them right now. Anyway, for my birthday, he got me like basically a set mint condition so i was like thank you very much it's an awesome gift yeah that's a great that's awesome yeah the the oval on the white background with the big cartoonish font those are nice cards exactly yeah yeah yeah nice okay uh did you you're not in uh saskatch yet, right? You're still here? No, we fly out at 1230. Okay, good.

So, Lions. Good, we got you here. This is going to last longer than 16 seconds. Yeah, good. You're not on the tarmac. This is good. We can work with this. Lions, Rough Riders for second place in the West.

One of the best cliches in football is when you get in the red zone, you can't settle for three. You got to go get seven. Red zone efficiency matters. So the Lions, unfortunately, have not been very efficient in the red zone as of late. Have they, Moj? No, they haven't. League worst ranking in the red zone.

And it's crazy because you would think that moving the ball up and down the field is not an issue. I can understand it in the American game. And in the American game, you're dealing with 10-yard end zones. So the field shrinks, right? So your offense is kind of restricted in terms of what you can do. But in the Canadian game, you can pretty much run your full offense

with a 25-yard end zone. So it's really interesting to see how the Lions have just failed to produce in the red zone. And they've got to figure it out because you cannot settle for field goals when you need touchdowns in big games, whether it's going to be Saskatchewan this week, Montreal the next, Saskatchewan probably the following week, and who knows if you're lucky enough to play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers again.

So to me, that's something. But good news for the Lions is, offensively, they're starting to get some bodies back. First off, Jarrell Broxton, their left tackle, will be back for this game. Arguably the team's best lineman nominee last year for most outstanding lineman. They get David Mackey back.

And Mackey and Javon Catoi are two big pieces of this offense that kind of fly under the radar, and I'll tell you why. Because when you have these players in the game, they have such a diverse skill set. They can do a lot of different things Mackie can line up in the back field he can line up as a tight end he can line up as an H-back he can line up as a slaughter receiver on certain occasions Katoi can you know line up obviously as the receiver he can come down play tight end he can block as an H-back and when you have that personnel in your game you don't have to change your personnel when you're running, you don't have to change your personnel when you're running,

or you don't have to change your personnel or packages when you're trying to execute certain plays. So, like, I'll give you an example. We talked about this with Nathan Rourke last game. With those guys in the lineup, if you're going to run a running play, well, you've got to bring in Andrew Pearson now as your H-backer, as your tight end. If you're going to run a passing play, well,

maybe you're going to bring in Kieran Passant as your receiver. And what it is, it's a tell. So when you bring in those players into the game, you're pretty much telling the defense what's probably going to come up. So it's a bit of a tell, but with those players returning the lineup eventually, hopefully Katoa gets in next week there, hopefully he's going to get in this week, but he's not. You take that tell out of the equation. Moj, remember at the beginning of the season? You may not. I asked you what the strength of this Lions team is,

and you said it was the receiving group. Do you still agree with that? Well, the way William Stanback has played this year, you can make an argument for running back, but that's just basically one individual, right? I mean, David Mackey as well has done a great job on short yardage. If I had to look at it, when healthy, yes. But at the same time, I don't think that they have probably met the expectations

that they had going into the season. I know Keon Hatcher still hasn't got a touchdown. You know, it'd be great to get him involved in the offense this weekend. Katoi's been banged up quite a bit this week, or probably this year. He's missed some games. Holland's obviously got off to a great start, and then he's kind of tallied off a little bit. It never hurts what I expected for him to be,

and same thing with Justin McInnes. But, yeah, I mean, I still probably look at it as a strength when healthy but that's been the big issue i don't think they have been completely healthy all year long um why aren't they able to stretch the field a little bit more is that on the protection around rourke well it goes hand in hand i mean to stretch the field you do need time from your offensive line. The other thing, too, is you need a guy that can, as they say, blow the top off. Alexander Holland's getting hurt, hasn't helped. The other guy that they're pretty high on, but he really hasn't produced as of yet. This first year, I mean, hopefully next year he produces a little bit more, but that's Stanley Berryhill III, the kid that got out of Arizona.

So that's probably something that they're looking to do. But I think the biggest issue with this Lions offense, for me at least, is the fact that a lot of their offense is north-south. They're not making defenses go east-west. Now, you don't see the Lions run jet sweeps. You don't see them run a lot of hit screens. And one of the things that we've heard from offensive coordinator Jordan McSimmick, Far talked to him and, you know,

he basically said that they don't have the blockers at receiver that other teams do. So maybe that's a bit of an issue as well, but I think that's one thing you'd like to see. And, you know, Rick Campbell talked about this a few weeks back and that is you got to make defense, especially after the Winnipeg game, you've got to make defenses. And I'm paraphrasing here, but you got to make defenses play especially after the Winnipeg game, you've got to make defenses, and I'm paraphrasing here, but you've got to make defenses play in fear or not necessarily fear, but you have to create doubt, right?

And you can create doubt by running different sets of formations. You can run different sort of movement, pre-snap movement. So that's what creates doubt. And when defenses don't play with any doubt, they can play with a lot of aggressiveness and confidence. But you have to have something on your offense that creates doubt for a defense. We're speaking to Bob the Moj,

Mark Jonovich here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Moj is a presentation of the Clayton Public House, your home of football. Every game day, catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Moj, let's shift to the National Football League. Thursday night football last night, Seahawks lose their third row

and their sixth in a row to the San Francisco 49ers. What's the little thing that added up to a big thing in the Seahawks' loss last night? Well, you hear coaches talk about this. And by the way, it was a tough loss for the Seahawks. That's the type of game. I mean, that's a game you need, right? I mean, if you win, you're at 4-2.

San Francisco drops to 2-4. You open up a two-game lead against a divisional rival. So that was a huge, huge game last night. And not that their season is over, but obviously the road becomes a lot tougher. But, you know, it's interesting. Coaches always talk about little things that add up to big things, right? So you look at the game, first and 10 Seattle. They're down 23-17.

They have a first and 10 at their own 25. What, eight minutes left to go in the game. Geno Smith hits DK Metcalf for a five-yard pickup. Guess what, though? That's negated by a hold on the rookie, A.J. Barter, the rookie 10 at a Michigan, right? So they back him up 10 yards. So instead of having a second and five at your own 30,

all of a sudden now you have a first and 20 at your own 15. Well, first and 20 pretty well become one-dimensional in that situation, right? Next play, Geno Smith goes down the middle. D.K. Metcalf gets the intended target, intercepted by Renardo Green. I mean, at first and 20, you're not on schedule, as Pete Carroll would say. And the other thing, too, when you're one-dimensional like that, it gives that defensive back or the defense in general just the ability to play with a lot more aggression and a lot more confidence,

knowing that it is going to be a pass. He jumps the route, and the next thing you know, it's pretty much ballgame. It makes it a two-score game after the Kittle touchdown, and the Seahawks are cooked. But, you know, you talk about little things that add up to big things. That hold puts them in a first and 20 situation and we all know what happened after that.

Not even close enough to being a good football team where they can make those kind of mistakes and get away with it. There was the touchdown that also got negated on a really stupid, like, Ken Walker just didn't come to a pause trying to line up outside when he was in motion. Oh, do I have to stop? Just stop. I was watching the replay and I'm like, walker just didn't come to a pause trying to line up outside when he was in motion oh do i have to stop a little bit just stop but i was watching the replay and i'm like he's just dancing on the spot like i'm like just stand still like you know you're not even moving he's

like a toddler just sit still yeah it was ridiculous and you know they're not good enough to make those kinds of mistakes and i mean they got a tough road ahead here with atlanta and buffalo so we'll see how it goes okay a lot of different of different things we've got to get to with Moj here. You did a story on Danton Heinen as we turn our attention to the Vancouver Canucks. Tell us about the story and this really bizarre, trivial part that you couldn't include in the story. I mean, you guys have both written in the past, right? So you know what it's like to put a story together,

and sometimes you get something and you're trying to figure out, how do I squeeze this into a story so i mean dead hein and it was it was a very positive piece in the sense that you know kid comes home um his dad of course has been his family's been they've been season ticket holders since 1995 um it was funny i bumped into patrick alveen at ubc um on what was it, last Sunday, I guess, when they were practicing out there. And we just started chit-chatting, just small talk, and I said, yeah, I'm here doing a piece on Danton Hyde, and he kind of laughed.

He goes, yeah, he goes, I've seen his dad around a few times. He's been bugging me to sign him off. We finally got him, and he was kind of joking about that. And, you know, of course, he knows Hyden from his days in Pittsburgh. But, so, a real positive piece in the sense of his family was there, his brothers, you know, siblings, sisters, you know, 10 family members, over 30, 40 friends. And, um, I know Rick Heinen, I've met him at a couple of charity events. So I said, Hey, do you have any photos of that? And like, you know, when he's younger was any pictures with the connection? I had like a whole bunch of

him. He had a picture of him and his siblings with Trevor Linden, but this photo on the ice of Danton Heinen when I think he's, like, 12, and he's with Ryan Johnson, right? He was one of those kids that came out, I don't know, what is it, the Tim Hortons thing or whatever, you know, you would skate around and, you know, stand with the team

at the Blue Line during the anthem. It was during Luke Bourdain's tribute night oh right yeah so it's just like i was like how do i i can't right i mean it's just totally against the flow of the story right so but it was uh just like a weird type of thing that popped up but yeah so he was actually on the ice the night they have the big tribute to Luke Bourdain. So some takeaways from the season opener, and you said something to watch for that isn't an overreaction. We don't overreact here on the Howlfield Coach Show on Sportsnet 650, so I'm glad that you have something else. I love overreacting. That's kind of what we do.

Moj is our kindred spirit. He's also not overreacting. This is just straight goods here. You know what the thing is? As I've gotten gotten older i don't overreact as much when i was younger i was just a hothead right you should see me like when i was in my 30s like now i'm i'm mellow i'm metal mooch now in your 40s you're you're mellowed out a little bit yeah that's good um you know the one thing that kind of stood out for me we're talking comments post game we're talking about defensive zone coverage and the fact that in training camp they work so much on transition. They didn't work as much as they did on their defensive

zone coverage. And he talked about that. Not only talked about it after the game, he talked about it the next day when we were out at UBC for practice. And that's kind of interesting because this is a lineup that has what, seven or eight new bodies in it in the home opener, right?, seven or eight new bodies in it in the home opener, right?

So seven or eight new players. And, you know, some of those players may not be familiar with the Canucks' defensive zone schemes and systems as much as they should be. And, you know, perhaps some of the returning players needed a bit of a refresher course as well because, you know, he's talking about transitioning in any sport, never mind hockey.

I'm not a Scotty Bowman. Don't pretend to be. And, you know, football, I'm not a Bill Belichick, but I know a he's talking about transitioning in any sport, never mind hockey. I'm not a Scotty Bowman. Don't pretend to be. And, you know, football, I'm not a Bill Belichick, but I know a little bit more about that. The thing is, you have to always be sound in your base foundation, what you do, right? And, you know, I think Rick talked and might classify that as identity, right? And then you kind of move from there and kind of add things

or tweak things and stuff. And maybe just maybe the Canucks just need to get back to that. Like you said, it's just one game. We'll see what happens. He said, if it's, you know,

four or five games, maybe it's a bit of a concern, but I find that kind of interesting and something to look for moving forward. Moj, this was great, buddy. You already did the,

you did two ask us anythings today as well. So good job on that. No food questions today. Just a teenage crush. Be nice to Dollywall. You know what?. So good job on that. No food questions today? No food questions today. Just a teenage crush. Be nice to Dollywall. You know what? He yelled at me on Twitter. I felt the yell on the keyboard

because he says that we're getting back from break too late. He doesn't like to sit around until 8.04 a.m. He's old school too. He expects a tight clock. You know, he... What? It's like...

Yeah. What? Nothing. nothing at all moj fly safe enjoy the game this weekend we'll do this again next friday old fashions hotel sask looking forward to it fellas smoked old fashions have yourself a good weekend enjoy everybody that sounds like fun smoked old fashions with moj we regina we've gotten to the point on this show where we just we can't say certain words we're never gonna be able to say tight again no is that tight clock like you're you get it is well come on just you just got to be careful you got to be careful because if you mispronounce one word it turns into a whole different thing and i've done that before okay yeah i just know

clock's a tough one we have the eight o'clock hour coming that's thank you alfred thank you eight o'clock hour we have to be tight because uh rick wants to be on right at eight o'clock well too bad we have important stuff to discuss like this one from tambo in east Van with an Ask Us Anything. What is on your guys' fast food meal, Mount Rushmore? Oh, we are going to do this. Okay, we talked about this earlier. So Tambo says you need a burger, a side, a drink, and a dessert. Okay. So I think the most obvious one, let's just go with the side first, because that has to be McDonald's fries.

So here's what Tambo did. For example, he is a teen burger burger, and then it's a McDonald's fries. Then his drink is a Coke. And then his dessert is a McDonald's hot fudge sundae with nuts. So let's talk about, but can we all agree that McDonald's hot fudge sundae with nuts. So let's talk about... Let's talk about size. But can we all agree that McDonald's fries is like... We're just talking fast food specifically,

not like normal restaurants, like just the fast food. Fast foods. I would like... Yeah, I'd say McDonald's fries. Unless I'm in a mood for onion rings. Yes. Usually... Oh, onion rings from A&W?

A&W onion rings. But you gotta be in a mood for it. But fries are... They're legendary. No fast food restaurant has come close to McDonald's fries. That is true. Now, probably someone's going to text me, like, actually, I like the curly fries from this. Come on.

There's none that have reached the level that McDonald's fries have. It's like a base fry. No one does it better. No one does it better. Nobody does it better. My favorite fast food burger is by far a Whopper with cheese. It's by far my favorite fast food burger. I love the

cardboard broiled. A cardboard broiled? That is so good. Get out of here. The answer for burger is triple O's if anyone's asking. They're in the conversation. Well, yeah, White Spot's awesome, but does that count as fast food? Triple O's is fast food. Okay, well, I awesome, but does that count as fast food? Triple O's is fast food.

Yeah, yeah, Triple O's is fast food. Okay, well, I changed my answer. I wasn't thinking, I wasn't considering them fast food. Yeah, Triple O's burger is pretty amazing. But for me, like, actually,

after that sourdough jack experience down in the States, that's off the board. That's a game changer. That's off the board. But the one I get the most is the Big Mac. But I like the matzo burger

from A&W. I think that's an underrated burger. Good choice. Yeah, that's not bad. I'm still stuck on the sides, to be honest. How are you stuck on the sides? It's McDonald's fries. We all agree to it.

We have consensus on this. Here's the thing. The onion ring is more difficult to procure because only a handful of fast food places do it. And A&W does it with approximately 1,000% sodium, like your daily intake. I find they're too greasy, though. I can't eat that many of them.

I find them dangerous to eat sometimes. Yeah, like they are good. It's too hot, too hot, too hot. After I've had like a handful, I'm just like, man, I don't know if I could do this anymore. Like Donald's fries, I could have like, you could wheel up like a wheelbarrow to be able to do those fries. Those onion rings, man, I need a toothbrush real quick after that can I add another side to the mix absolutely what about

the Wendy's baked potato oh man come on what are you 80 are you what are you Dennis Hildy are you kidding me loves the Wendy's baked potato that's an old person order cheese sauce that's yeah do you get the chili too that's also an old person order. Okay, the drink is... I don't know. Let's not discuss the drink too much. I mean, there'll be root beer. Yeah, fair. Coke, just a Coke.

Fountain Coke. Frosty mug root beer is fine. If Triple O's counts as dessert, then I would have to say, and it's maybe a drink-dessert combo, is the White Spot milkshake is legendary. It's like one of the best milkshakes of all time. I will allow it. So if we're considering White Spot slash Triple O's fast food, then I would say the Triple O's chocolate milkshake is legendary. It's like one of the best milkshakes of all time. So if we're considering White Spot slash

Triple O's fast food, then I would say the Triple O's chocolate milkshake as a dessert drink combo. The inbox is just on fire right now. Oh, nothing gets people going like food conversations. We should have asked Moj this question. Are you suggesting that our listenership often delves into the world of fast food? I find that hard to believe. It's like there's almost

some sort of crossover here. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to reset real quick here as people continue to pour in how much almost some sort of crossover here. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to reset real quick here as people continue to pour in how much they love. Oh, Blizzard. Yes, thank you. Okay. We know you like desserts. Well, yeah.

We haven't even done dessert yet, but it's clearly Blizzard. Blizzard was on there. Clearly a Blizzard. What's your favorite kind of Blizzard? Oreo? The more chocolate, the better. So like the Cocoa Fudge. How about, you know what's underrated in a Blizzard?

Rolo. Yeah. Rolo is great know what's underrated in a Blizzard? Rolo. Yeah, Rolo's great. Reese's Pieces. The classic Oreo. I mean, any Blizzard. God, I'm hungry. Remember when we had Blizzards for breakfast like a month ago? Yes. Oh, they were on vacation, weren't they? Yeah, we did get those. It was so good. Oh my God, it was amazing. How did your day go? It was amazing.

Apparently you were on vacation for a healthy lifestyle that day. I read it pretty quickly, but it was delicious. I heard, apparently, I don't know this for a fact because I don't get desserts at McDonald's, but apparently, they've rejigged the hot apple pie. What, are you too good for McDonald's desserts? People don't like it, right? Yeah, sorry? Are you too good for McDonald's desserts?

Kind of. You said it so condescendingly. Kind of. I don't get desserts at McDonald's. I don't like dessert, period. And then I definitely don't need it from a fast food store. You know, it's the best McDonald's month right now. It's like free sponsorship power.

Yeah, keep going, Andy. You know, it's the best month for McDonald's right now is because they have Monopoly going. Do they? Oh, yeah. McDonald's Monopoly is so much fun. How is it? Even though you never win.

Are you collecting things? Yeah, you collect little stickers. You put them on the McDonald's board. Sometimes you get free cheeseburger. You never win a big prize. Yeah. No, you never win a big prize. Yeah. No, you never win a big prize. Yeah, I threw away a free cheeseburger the other day.

What? I didn't have a wallet on me. You brought it to me. Well, come on, man. Like, that's something. Really? I come to you like, I won a free cheeseburger at Monopoly. Here you go.

Dude, that's awesome. Oh, David from Cologne. I meant to ask this every time we bring up fast food. He says, the number 10 from Dairy Queen, triple cheeseburger. Does anyone eat the food at Dairy Queen? It's not number one on my list. Last time I had a burger, Dairy Queen, I think I was a kid. Yeah.

I think they're actually quite surprised when you order. Like, I'm going to have a cheeseburger. Really? What? They're like blowing dust off the thing. Yeah. The kitchen is not that busy. It's like, yeah, we make blizzards here.

Just give me whatever's hot and fresh. I'll just take whatever. It doesn't matter. I have like a ribwich sandwich as like my go-to, but it's only here occasionally. It's from Wendy's, the bacon mushroom melt. It's like my holy grail. Really?

Yes. With a nice baked potato. If I see the sign where they have it. They only have it for like a month a year though. And it's just like, I have to get it god i love i love our listenership like i'm looking at all the texts and there are just so many fast food texts yeah and then there's always one that doesn't quite get it with the like just sex in the keg twice baked potato that's not it well since i brought up like i agree the keg of a drive-thru window that's a great twice i'll have your finest steak please but you're

like kind of in the conversation but this is fast food like we made fun of laddie for saying like what was it that you like so the baked potato from where from wendy's as a side and then this guy here is like i like baked potatoes you know what has a good baked potato the keg imagine the keg did faster i am now my mind is racing with the idea of a takeout window at the keg sir your mushrooms neptune are ready like take your car for 45 minutes this escargot in a box. Man, this line's moving so slow. All right.

We got to make sure that we're on time for Dollywall. Yeah. Let's just get out. Dollywall's got a bunch of good stuff on how Hoaglander got signed. Okay. Probably with a contract and a pen. Some paper was involved, I'm sure. Yeah.

So we'll talk to Dolly Wall about that and much, much more coming up next on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. The Roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. Linda Carter.

Linda Carter. I actually met her one time at a Grizzly game. How did that go for her? Was security called in? Well, I just walked up and said, hey, you know what? I was a big fan growing up, blah, blah, blah. It was all good.

Better turn on the all-wigram charm. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Perfect! Oh, boy. That sounded bad.