Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Gamble In Vegas

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports (3:00), plus they talk the latest Canada Soccer news with One Soccer's Gareth Wheeler (26:32). 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 Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. You need a goddamn occasional safe. Hello, Dwayne driving Uber. What up, Dwayne? Thanks for tuning in. And sorry you had to deal with Thomas Drans today. That is a tough Saturday.

Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-trustee.com.

We are an hour one of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit the middle of 1770 Powell Street in Vancouver. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studio. Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. If you want to text into the show, it is the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650, 650,

trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations. Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber Online today. Okay, we got a time to get into on the program today. We begin with the morning guest list. It's a Duick Morning Drive brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30. Gareth Wheeler is going to join the program. Lead commentator from one soccer, Canada's men's national team,

busy in action over the weekend, drawing 2-2 with Iceland. They got a game again tomorrow against Tunisia. Defending was an issue over the weekend. So too was discipline yet again. Gareth is going to join us at 6.30 to talk about all that. 7 o'clock, Dan Rosen, senior writer, from NHL.com. By God, is that John Tortorella's music?

It is. Huge news out of Vegas yesterday. Bruce Cassidy out as head coach. John Tortorella is in. We'll talk to Dan about that. We'll also talk to Dan about the crazy intense Eastern Conference playoff chase. That's going to happen at 7 o'clock this morning. 7.30, Brody Miller's going to join the program. Golf writer for the athletic. Author of the new article, we don't need to quit Tiger Woods, but we must ask less of him.

well that was another rough i don't know night in jail for tiger woods yeah another rough weekend another DUI for tiger another vehicle accident for tiger over the weekend made massive headlines in the golf world and beyond he's racking up the mug shots yeah telling that much uh brodie who wrote about this for the athletic is going to join the program at 730 to discuss further 8 o'clock kevin woodley n hl dot com and annual magazine is going to join the program the canucks played again this past weekend they lost again this past weekend this a 7-3 defeat to Calgary. Nikita Tolapila was thrown into action after pretty lengthy time off.

And it showed. And then he was thrown out. Yeah, thrown out of action. Kevin Woodley's going to join us at 8 o'clock. So working in reverse on that guest list, 8 o'clock, it's Woodley. 7.30, Brody Miller, 7 o'clock, Dan Rosen, 630, Gareth Wheeler. We got a lot to get into on the program.

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

You missed that? Whoa. What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca. With all due respect to the Vancouver Canucks and everything else that happened in the world of sports over the weekend, we've got to begin with what happened in Vegas. Yesterday in news that caught almost everybody off guard, except probably John Tortorella, the Vegas Golden Knights fired Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with torts,

a move that they are hoping, can spark a playoff chase and run with just eight games left in the regular season. God, I love this. Honestly, I love it. Talk about adding yet another layer to a potential first round matchup between Vegas and Edmonton. Come on. Anaheim, you got to win the division now. Please give us a Golden Knights Oilers first round series. But first, the Vegas Golden Knights will host none other than your Vancouver Canucks.

The timing of this is just perfect. Tomorrow night also be a Vander Kaine's 1,000th game in the NHL. The Vegas Golden Knights have not played well lately. Frankly, I haven't played well this season. And I was reading some analysis of the situation in Vegas last night. Jesse Granger had a good article up on the athletic. And he went through all their issues. and man, there's a lot of issues.

It's like forward group, defensive group, the goal tending, Aidan Hill, not good. And of course, they traded away Logan Thompson. He has been good for his new team in Washington. The one thing that I was, you know,

was always my opinion, like this was going to be hard to replace, Alex Petrangelo. And it's funny because the blues couldn't survive the loss of Alex Petrangelo. And I think the Vegas Gold Knights have struggled with it too. You also mentioned that Mitch Barner has been fine, but not incredible. And still isn't really found a spot with them. He's been playing center.

He never played center for Toronto. Maybe a few times here and there, but he was a winger there. And he had a spot. And usually it was with Austin Matthews. And it just hasn't been the right fit for them. And they're getting older. Now, this torts situation is amazing. I like to refer to Tortorella as the defibrillator of the NHL.

When a team gets too sleepy and needs a shock to the system, they call in torts. It doesn't always work, but it's usually not boring. It's like a good medical drama. What's interesting about this situation is how late in the season he'll be joining a team that came into the season with Stanley Cup aspirations. Vegas only has eight games left in the regular season. I was actually, I read something, this isn't torts related, but the New Jersey Devils when they fired Robbie Fittorick and Harry hired Big Bird Larry Robinson, it was eight games left and they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

So it can work, but eight games left in the regular season isn't a ton of time to make significant changes. Torts has been a mid-season replacement before, but not this late. When he replaced Tom Rennie in New York, the Rangers still had 21 games left. I do wonder how Torts is going to handle the goaltending situation. Like, is he, for lack of a better way to ask the question, is he going to be really mean to Aidan Hill? Or is he going to be supportive? It's also hilarious to me to think that Mitch Barnard left Toronto for this.

It's like not even a season. I was like, who's my coach? John Tortorella. Crap. Torts is 67 years old, making him the second oldest coach in the NHL. Rick Bonas is 71. He's doing pretty well with Columbus. Torts is a few months older than John Quenville and I think a year older than Lindy Roth.

So there are some older coaches in the NHL, but none that require the energy that John Torder Tortorella requires to be John Tortorella. Where do you want to start? Well, let's go now to somebody that we've got from Elliot Friedman yesterday. Just talking about how shocking a move this was. Frege is probably the preeminent insider in the National Hockey League right now. Even he was caught off guard at John Tortorella getting this job seemingly out of nowhere. It's a desperation move. Frege classifies it as such.

Here is Elliot Friedman from yesterday attacking with SportsCent Central's Martine Geyard about just how shocking this hire was. John Tortorella in Vegas. I'll ask the second one, first, Martine, it's a desperation move. There's no question about it. I think it just shows how much pressure there is on the Vegas Golden Knights to win this year and how they can't let this happen and they don't want this season to go south. But, you know, all I'll say is this.

I didn't see Tortoralla coming. I got the sense Cassidy was in trouble. You know, it's just that we've all been kind of fixating on Peter DeBore's, the guy who might come in as a replacement, but it wouldn't be in Vegas because he's already coached there, right? So I just didn't see Torteraleck coming. I thought Cassidy was in trouble,

but I missed, I guess, the obvious successor. I think the thing it says most of all, though, is the desperation on Vegas to win, and they're not throwing away this season. They need it. It's an unbelievable move from an entertainment standpoint. I just don't see how it works. even if John Tortorale can come in and give them

the defibrillator boost that you're talking about. None of it is going to solve the goaltending, which, if I'm not mistaken, what a freaking boost. Dead last in the National Hockey League in terms of save percentage of five on five at sub 880. And you can have the greatest Rob Ross Beach.

You can have the greatest motivator behind the bench. But they have not had good goaltending all year. It's part of the reason why Bruce Cassidy was done undone there. Although, and we won't even bother playing the clip, I can kind of paraphrase it. Frege went on to say that the Fischer's and the fractions in this team really started last year in the playoffs

when he had a very terse meeting with a lot of the team's leaders during that opening round or the playoff loss to Edmonton in which he said that it started to show that Bruce Cassidy, who's a demanding guy and who is a taskmaster in terms of being a head coach,

started to grind away at the players and the message wasn't being heard. Like you did in Boston? Yeah, he's got a shelf life of three or four years mostly in a lot of these places, right? which is the same as honestly most coaches in the NHL. And probably less than torts. It seems like a crazy move to bring in another high energy demanding coach.

But they're desperate. It is on brand for Vegas in the sense that it's a big, bold move. It caught a lot of people off guard. And it's a signal to the rest of the NHL that, you know, this is Vegas. We make these big moves and this is how we want to go about our business. And I will say this. In the first game, at least, they've set torts up for success. Because you could not have a better first game than going up against the Vancouver Canucks,

who were dead last in the national hockey league. How much, I want to get to the Canucks soon too as well, but I want to ask you, how much does this add to the potential first round matchup between the Oilers and Vegas? If it happens, if Anaheim holds on to the top spot in the division, I looked at their schedule, it's not that difficult. So hopefully Anaheim can do it.

I know Edmonton beat Anaheim over the weekend, so that got them a little close to first place. But just, I mean, there was already going to be, a ton of hype for, even if they don't meet up, just those two teams in the playoffs out of this division that came in with such high expectations,

and frankly, over the season at least, have underachieved. Right now of all the first round playoff matchups, the potential ones that you can actually foresee, that one is the most engaging in terms of storylines, content, the tortarella thing

just absolutely put it over the top. So as mentioned, he's going to get a chance to coach his first game of the Vegas Gold Knights tonight. against the Vancouver Canucks, a team that he used to coach. The Vancouver Canucks head into Vegas tomorrow. Tomorrow, sorry, after a 7-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday,

a game in which the Canucks got a little bit of offense, but surrendered seven goals in a really tough night for Nikita Tolapilo and Net. Four goals on 11 shots before he got the hook. Yeah, it wasn't quite as bad as Thursday's home loss to the Kings, at least in terms of puck possession and scoring chances. But the Calgary Flames dominated the Canucks all the same on Saturday night. It was 4 to 1 for Calgary just a few minutes into the second. Nikita Tolopilo got the hook replaced by Kevin Lankanen, who was immediately,

and I mean immediately. The broadcasters were still talking about the replacement, beaten by Morgan Frost on the back end to make it 5'1 for the rebuilding flames. The flames, as you mentioned, went on to win the game 7 to 3. The Canucks got goals from Liam Ogren. On a nice pass from Linus Carlson, who had received an even nice, passed from Elias Pedersen who made a solid defensive play to start the play off. Pedersen got his second point of the night when he fed Brock Besser for a one-timer on the

power play. It was later determined that Jake DeBresk tipped the puck past Dustin Wolf. That's what DeBress does. He scores on the power play usually with tip or some sort of play around the net. What he doesn't do is score it even strength. DeBresk is 16th goal of the season, 13 of them coming on the power play. Nobody took him for the goals leader bet that we have going, right? I've got O'Connor. You've got Besser. I've got Besser. I was robbed, by the way.

Why? Well, it originally looked like it was a Besser goal. Oh, the Desolet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And DeBrusc gets a stick in there for a tip. Vancouver's third goal was by Nils Holglander, who got in on the forecheck and laid a big hit on referee Graham Skelliter. The puck.

He hammered him. Skelliter was just like, caught right up. First of all, another thing, I've never heard of referee Graham Skelethal. Not until that moment, right? Now I will never forget. I don't know the refs anymore. I hate that. It would have been way better if he was like, and then he just like ran over Don Koharski. The puck, anyway, eventually found its way to Victor Mancini, who made a neat pass to Hoglender, who tipped at home for just his second goal of the season. Skeletor was not hurt on the play. Holdlander didn't even go over and say like, hey, are you okay? He was too busy selling.

He was just just like, yes, he got in my way. The Canucks, as mentioned, played Tuesday in Vegas where Van der Kaine is set to play game number 1,000 of his career. I imagine there will be some sort of ceremony when the Canucks get home for their latest loss. D.P.D. was a healthy scratch in Calgary. Kind of seems like Foote has been trying to pair a young D with a veteran, which is why P.O. Joseph is playing over D.P.D. I believe the pairings were booted. William and Hronick, Marcus Pedersen and Willander and Mancini and Josephs. I did want to mention something about the flames.

Okay. Because the flames are in a rebuild, and so are the Canucks. And the Canucks are, Canucks have got a few pieces already. We'll see how big those pieces ultimately are. The flames have to be feeling pretty good about their rebuild. They've made four first round picks in the last two years. including Zane Perak, who's a good young defenseman, played pretty well against the Canucks. Plus, they've got an extra three first round picks coming up in the next three years.

So they could make 10 first round picks over five years while the Canucks make just five. Ten first round picks versus five. Ten is better than five. First round picks. Granted, that is a bit of an oversimplification of. the matter, easy for me to say. Because the Canucks picked up recent first rounders,

Booium and Liam Ogren in the Quincy Hughes trades. So, yeah, but even then, you're like, okay, 10 to 7. But here's another thing that the flames could be loving. Those picks that the flames got from Vegas could be really nice if the

Golden Knights go in the tank. This year's is unprotected. So Vegas could miss the playoffs. They could. Vegas is four points clear of the playoff bar right now. The real good bet they've got is with next year's first round pick,

which I believe is protected into the next year, but what if Vegas just tanks? Like they just, the lineup just isn't good enough. You know, teams get old in a hurry? And then all of a sudden you're like, yeah, they're not that great anymore.

What happens if their goaltending doesn't improve? John Tortorella completely sewers the team. there's so many things that could go wrong in Vegas. So it's possible, possible, that the flames could get an unprotected first in 2008. The way of the trade is set up. Do we also want to quietly mention that the flames are only seven points out of a

playoff spot with one game in hand on the second wild card in the West, the National Predators, and they're one of the hottest teams in hockey right now. I know Blake Coleman mentioned over the weekend that he felt like they were upsetting members of Team Tank in Calgary because they just continue to win games. and I get that side of it. People are obviously upset. They want to see Calgary finish as low as humanly possible. And now they've created a three-point bulge between them in Chicago

and a 20-point bulge between them and the Vancouver Canucks. A heads up, boys, Vegas plays the Canucks tonight. Yes, it's tonight. My apologies. That's okay. It's okay. But yes, Vegas Canucks tonight, 7 o'clock from Vegas. So just to clear that one up from everyone that was listening right now.

So it was a busy weekend in the National Hockey League. We've got about five minutes before we go to break and turn things over to the footie. with Gareth Wheeler from one soccer. We should take a look at a very busy weekend, brackets, non-Kinnucks division around the National Hockey League, because there was a lot going on,

and there was a lot of teams that had some serious jockeying for playoff positioning. I don't think any team, and there were a lot of teams that had good weekends, but I don't think any team had a better weekend than Rick Tockett's Philadelphia Flyers. Everything that I had tried to put on Rick Tocke about having a negative year and maybe losing a lot more games than winning, and really having some Shaddenfroid, hopefully, for quitting on the Vancouver Canucks.

None of that has come to fruition. The Philadelphia Flyers won both games this weekend and they signed their first round pick, highly anticipated kid from Michigan State Porter Martone. They are now just two points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second and final wildcard spot in the east. And that is after beating Dallas yesterday, 2-1 in overtime on a Trevor Zegro's goal. Do we have the audio from this as well? Let's play the audio. This is a huge goal for Philadelphia.

playoff chase. Trevor Zegrois in overtime yesterday as the Philadelphia Flyers take care of Dallas in overtime. Moons on up. Takes a look. Give him some room. Takes the shot and score. Be the shot. I'll take the shot and he wins the game. Zegris has got to be the most valuable overtime slash shootout player in the NHL. He's very good at both, especially the shootout. Like it's incredible how many points he's helped deliver them this season just purely in the shootout or overtime. I will say one thing, Halford.

The Flyers are still unlikely to make the playoffs. And if they just miss, their fans are not going to be happy. No, I get it. They need elite young draft picks. They don't need middle first rounders. No, no, no.

I get that. Look, I hate that. We do this all the time with the sort of mushy middle teams. And I understand how it works. And everyone's talking about with regards to the Vancouver Canucks, make sure you don't get anywhere out of 32nd place.

I understand the value of getting to the bottom and getting the high-end pick, but how do you not love what's gone on in Philadelphia over the last two months? You don't love it if they're a mushy middle team that doesn't get a draft pick, and then all of a sudden you're not significantly improved for next season.

That's how you don't love it. But they've got young players in the mix who are doing the business in meaningful games in March and April, going into April right now. They've won six of their last seven. They're 12, 3 and 1. in their last 16. Like, they are doing the things that you need to take those steps to become a playoff team

and then hopefully eventually one day a Stanley Cup contender. I know it's too early. How are they going to win the Stanley Cup? I know it's too early. How are you going to win the Stanley Cup if you don't get elite young players? Follow up question. What do you do? What's the alternative here?

You can't lose games. You got to go and try and win as many as possible. You strip it down. You do. You strip it down. That's what they want. So that's what, I mean, I don't know why I'm arguing with you over. the facts that Philadelphia has had a similar discussion as we've had in Vancouver.

And there are some people, of course, that are going to want the flyers to make the playoffs this season. And they're just going to always cheer for the team to win. And there are other players that look at it a little differently. And they say, like, look, yeah, it's nice that we've got, you know, younger guys like Zegris. And of course, there's Mitchcoff, who, by the way, is so slow. Like, man, is he slow? he is a slow player. You know, they do have some good young players.

They're going to get Porter Martone, but like, do they have a center that they love, right? No, and I'm not sure you can I think you're a real goalie in the door either. Although their goal tend to be better this year. It's been a little better. Anyway, Philly's an interesting story. Maybe we'll get a guest on from Philly this week. Yeah, we got Kevin Kerr's coming on the show tomorrow.

We've also got to talk about a couple other teams that had big weekends. The Montreal Canadians, they kept rolling as well, beat Carol. Carolina, 3-1 in Sunday on Sunday in Carolina, and Nashville 4-1 on Saturday. So they've won five straight. They've now jumped a third in their division. And if you look at where they're at in terms of the standings, they're just as likely to overtake Buffalo and possibly Tampa in the standings

as they are looking behind them for the teams that are in the wild card. Interesting to note here, the habs play Tampa twice down the stretch, including a big one in Tampa tomorrow night. So there's a game that could have some major implications for where the habs finish. It seems like they might be on a collision course for a first round matchup against Tampa, but there are only four points back of Buffalo for top spot. And the way that they're playing right now, the way that they're ripping off wins, they could end up being right at the top of that division, wins all said and done.

Speaking of that division, the Boston Bruins also had a very good weekend. They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in the shootout on Sunday. That came after a 6-3 win over Quinn Hughes and the Wild on Saturday. So now the Bruins have won three straight. They've won 6 of 10. and they've now opened up a four-point gap for the first wild card in the east. We'll get to the losers from the weekend coming up later in the show. But as you can kind of piece together,

all these teams winning games in the east, it doesn't bode well for teams on the outside looking in like Ottawa, specifically Detroit, who keeps watching their play-off chances get thinner and thinner because all these teams in the east are winning games. Yeah, Detroit's getting squeezed from the top and the bottom now because the flyers are on their tail. Yeah.

So we got a lot more to get into on the program today in the Halford & Brough show on Sports. net 650 coming up on the other side. Hey, Halford, before we go, can I just answer a few listeners because we're getting a million listener questions right now about this? You can answer all the listeners questions. So just, also kind of an exciting announcement. We're in a brand spanking new studio. We're in very excited. We just moved in. But it also means we're not streaming right now. The streaming is not set up. So apologies for those on Sportsnet Plus. No streaming. Probably this week. Hopefully we get streaming going next week. Okay. That's my announcement. That was a singular

question. No, I saw like four or five people answered. No, I know. Ask it about it. and you wanted to answer a few listener questions. Oh, a few, well, a few listeners had the same question, rather. So we're not streaming today. Hopefully we'll get the stream up later, but we are working from a new studio on West Second. So we've got a lot to get into on the program. Coming up on the other side of the break, Gareth Wheeler's going to join us, lead commentator from one soccer.

Canada played over the weekend against Iceland, a two-two draw. They're back in action on Tuesday against Tunisia. Lots to get into, including a recurring theme for this team. And that's an inability to remain disciplined in way too many red cards. There was another one over the weekend against Isom. We will talk to Gareth Wheeler about that coming up next on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650.

From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 631 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Alfred, Breft, SportsNet 650. Alperin Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Are you getting collection calls? If you are, Sands and Associates can get your debt by up to 80% and stop those calls. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. Still in hour one of the program, midway point of hour one, Gareth Wheeler, league commentator for one soccer is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Bankruptor's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid.

visit the Middle 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest, as mentioned, the lead commentator for one soccer. Gareth Wheeler joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Gareth. How are you? All right. Seems like he's doing good.

Pretty good. We are having some technical difficulties here. For those that are unaware, we have Transition Studios here at SportsNet 650, so we've got some issues on the board. We're going to try again here with Gareth Wheeler from one. soccer league commentator. Gareth, do we have you? I hear you.

Beautiful. Good morning. Good morning to you. How are you doing? Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. I want to start with Canada's 2-2-draw over the weekend against Iceland. Now with the result, not with the defending, but the disciplinary issues that continue to plague this team. It's now three consecutive red cards in full friendly matches. Jesse Marsh talked about it

after the match. Big picture. What are your takeaways about the disciplinary issues that continue to plague this team as we get closer and closer to the start of the World Cup. Yeah, I don't think it had much to do with the result in fairness when you dig yourself a two-nil hole and you're forced to climb out, then that changes things. But I don't think it's, it's, it's as much of a disciplinary issue as it is a style of play issue. Sure. In international football, things are typically played at a much slower pace. And this Canada team just plays at one speed. They just press all over the field. They're in the face of their opponents. And I think that

it makes things a little bit more confrontational. And when there's a lot of fouls and in high intensity play, I think that it sets players up, you know, to be in a position where they're a little bit more vulnerable. Now, you know, Cajon Buchanan is throwing that although it was just completely unnecessary at that time. I don't think that there was any malice. I think that it was just a complete miscalculation. But these things are starting to build up. And that, and that's what the is it started with Jesse Marsh being sent off last year and now it's happened four times since where a player since the Nation's League just a year ago have been sent off. So it's certainly something to monitor. I would recommend that the team maybe slow things down a little bit and be a little

bit more calculated in their approach. But I don't think it's because they're bad eggs or they're just playing in a dirty way. I think that they just tow that line based upon the intensity that they play at. When did you think about the performance overall? Um, mediocre. Look, when you go down early, it's very difficult to get back into game. So I think that the team does deserve some credit in the way that they were able to fight back. I mean, I just look at some of the things like the first penalty that was given. If that was in the World Cup, I just don't think that VAR would have kept that as a penalty.

I think it would have been reversed. So you kind of need to look through the lens like that. I just look at how this team plays. they're more comfortable playing without the ball than they are with the ball. I just don't think that they create enough high-level chances. For example, over their last 15 games, they've had more than 50% of possession on six occasions. They're two-two and two over that span,

and their wins came against Honduras and El Salvador. Like, hardly the standard that you're going to play in the summer, less than 50% nine games over that span, there are five wins, four draws, and no losses. You know, with wins over Venezuela, Wales, Romania, the U.S. and Ukraine. those are better opponents. So they tend to do better when they're without the ball. I just think that there's some real problems within this team.

Obviously, the goalkeeping position, that's up for grabs. Centerback right now when you're playing with your fifth and six centerbacks, that's less than ideal. The central midfield, they're without their two starters on the weekend. And the number nine position, I think it's the biggest decision that Jesse Marsh needs to make. He refuses to play Jonathan David at the number nine, and he's the one player that regularly produces for, country and has played the number nine position for his for his club side, whether it's

Lille, whether it's Juventus, week and week out. He's playing in a different position, playing a little bit deeper, and who's ever leading that line is just being completely ineffective, whether it's Kyle Lerrin, who's only scored one in his last 22 games under Jesse Marsh, Kenny Olishay scored twice in his last 21. And the other players, whether it's Jebison or Russell Row, they're kind of like outsiders, if you will, just in terms of the big picture. So there's some real issues for him to figure out in order to figure out what combination of players

and which way to play them that will work out the best this summer. What do you think the backline is going to look like the first time Canada play in the World Cup? Canadian fans better hope that it's Mose Bumboito and Derek Cordelia's but at this point at this point I mean that's

that's very much up in the air. It sounds like Bumito's recovery is being slower than expected and his biggest trade is just the sheer physicality that he played at. And same thing with Derek Cornelius, I think they really formed a good partnership out of the gate for Jesse Marsh, which helps some of those early results, because if you're going to press and play aggressive, you need players that can play that way.

And those two players, I mean, stylistically speaking, it suits them down to a team. And so if it's not those two players, then I think some real questions are asked about what the team is all about and how they're going to be able to defend in a high press aggressive style that they kind of set out to play. We are speaking to Gareth Wheeler, lead commentator from one soccer here on the

Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Your thoughts on the former Mexican international, now Canadian international Marcelo Flores, who made his debut over the weekend. I really like him. I've liked them for quite some time. Just because this March style of play

is a lot of athleticism, a lot of quickness, but you need players with a level of technical ability. to just unlock teams just in critical moments. And he loves having the ball on his foot. He clearly has pedigree. I mean, I didn't follow him when he joined Ipswich Town, but I followed him very closely when he's in the youth ranks at Arsenal.

And that just doesn't happen by mistake. And I think that it's taken some time for him to kind of find his comfort level, both at the club level, as well as figuring things out internationally as well. but he's been really good in recent months in League MX, a very difficult league to play at where you have more time on the ball. So I think there's certain games at this World Cup. I look at Qatar, one of those games where Canada might have the ball a little bit more,

that I'd start Marcelo Flores. I would love to see him play underneath in behind Jonathan David. I'm just not sure that that's going to happen, but perhaps it's in place of Ali Ahmed down the left-hand side. we'll see how that looks, but I think he showed something. But anyone that's been watching this player to any extent trying to realize the talent that he is and how he brings something completely different to the table

than really any other player available in this Canada side. What's the latest on Alfonso Davies? Is he going to miss Canada's got three friendlies remaining? Correct me if I'm wrong there. Is he going to miss all those friendlies and then maybe just hopefully play in the first game of the World Cup? That is very much up in the air. Byron Munich playing the Champions League against Real Madrid in the quarter final.

The Champions League final would be played right before that Edmonton game against Uzbekistan. And that's really in the 10 days leading up to the World Cup. So time is of the essence here. I have to admit, I'm a little bit surprised that he didn't come over to Toronto for this camp. for a number of different reasons. First and foremost, he hasn't been around the team since last March. He watched from a box at BC Place for one of the games, I believe it was the Honduras game last summer,

but he wasn't really in and around the team, so he wasn't like an active participant. But while players like Alistair Johnston and Moyes-Bombito have been spending the week in Toronto around this group, Davies has remained back in Bayern Munich. And look, the players overall well, is paramount, but you have to remember the last time he was with Canada. He suffered a very serious injury, and Alfonso Davies' agent lashed out against Jesse

Marsh. And from where I stand, I don't think they've been in the same room together since the head coach in Alfonso Davies. They may be in contact, but I mean, this is arguably the most important player and the most well-known player and the captain of Canada. So it does surprise me that he didn't join the rest of the group in Toronto. So we'll see where he's at. Most importantly, though, he just has to be healthy. And he looks, I mean, we on one soccer air the Bayern Munich games each and every week. We do a studio show around him around those games.

So I've watched him really closely. It looks like a player who just doesn't trust his body right now. And that's worrying when you see athletes just not willing to fully press or when they feel something, they're going down in the field with their hands, with their head and their hands in tears. So it's tough to watch because these injuries don't really seem, you know, obviously since he did the ACL last year, don't seem to be significant in nature, but it's kind of like death by a thousand cuts right now.

So we'll see where he's at. There's still a lot of football to be played, but once again, the time is ticking. So, Gareth, you're the soccer expert. I am not, but it seems to me as the non-soccur soccer expert that there are a lot of unknowns for this Canadian team right now. I mean, we don't even know who the keeper's going to be. There are all sorts of health issues that that might impact the style of play that Canada is going to play at this World Cup.

We don't even know who they're going to play in their first game. It's going to be Italy or Bosnia-Herzegovina. Is this usual for World Cup teams? Or would you say Canada's got a few more unknowns than they'd like? Well, because of the 48th Team World Cup, I mean, this is the first time that teams have not known their opponents this late. So that is something that is completely new. Look, like all teams experience injuries and absences and question marks heading to the World Cup. It's very rare where you're rolling up the same team that you even played in qualifying.

It's just the nature of international football. And it's funny, like Killian Mbapé says it, the great, the brilliant French striker. he said, it doesn't matter how I'm playing with the national team. Like my true preparation for major tournaments is how I'm playing my club football. The problem is, it's one thing when Kiliin Mbapé says it, it's another thing when you're a Canadian player, not of that level. So I think that it does have a knock on effect for this candidate team and the fact that Jesse Marsh, his style of play is very specific

in terms of what he wants and it's very demanding what he wants out of this team. So I do think it creates some challenges. Look, we've seen England going into World Cups where there's like a late May, you know, metatarsal break, whether it's Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, you know, David Beckham, like this stuff happens. You've got to kind of adapt and move forward. So it's a challenge, but in international football,

it's not an excuse. Dane St. Clair started on Saturday against Iceland. Max Crapo is going to start Tuesday against Tunis. who's going to start when Canada opens the World Cup in June? It's a great question. What do the bookmakers say? What are the prediction markets? I mean, at this point, I honestly think it's a toss-up.

Neither goalkeepers look great to start the MLS season. I would have loved to have seen the young goalkeeper Owen Goodman at least get a start. But it seems like Jesse has been dead set on these two goalkeepers. I think that both of them are good, not great. For whatever reason, just doing as many candidate games I have over the years, I just feel the team looks more assured with Max Propos as a starting goalkeeper. I don't know what it is. It's just like maybe it's just the eye test.

I'm not sure what it is. He would be the player that I would lean to. But, I mean, he wasn't starting for his club side. In fact, another Canadian goalkeeper in James Pantam. was starting to Portland. However, of course, the last season is still playing very well. But again, this is another big call. Just as, you know, the positioning of Jonathan David,

I think it's the biggest decision that Jesse Marsh is making, but number two is going to be the goalkeeper. Because arguably at a World Cup, if goalkeeping's not strong, if you don't have that number nine position locked down, you know, these can be make or break, you know, positions just in terms of victory and defeat. So it's a big call.

look, I would look to their club former the next few months. I think that's going to be huge. And we'll see how Max does tomorrow night against Tunisia. I think at this point, it actually matters, which at this stage is a little bit perplexing. But that's where we're at. And look, this isn't even on Jesse. This is on like the players. They just need to show more.

They need to show that they're ready to go into the tournament of their lives. I wonder, I wonder if it might come down to the best that they've played under Marsh, in my estimation anyway, was it Copa America where they got the results and they had some good performances and Max was the guy that was in net for it. And I know he had a big blunder in that tournament as well. But aside from that, he was pretty solid. And I agree with you on the eye testing.

I also feel like they've wanted St. Clair to be the number one. And St. Clair's never been able to reciprocate by grabbing it. I wonder if all those dynamics lead them to just say, you know what we've had success with Max in the past. And maybe that's what gives them the nod when they go into the World Cup. two things on that you're right about Copa America but I'll even spin it back

I think first impressions matter and when Max Capo it was the second game under Jesse Marsh played against France it was he was incredible he made big saves he looked comfortable he was good on the ball he looked like

that was the place that he was meant to be and I think that those initial impressions they linger and they last. The other thing is I just think that Kropot is more technically sound. Like sometimes Dane, I think, might be a better shot stopper,

but his technique, his footwork, just the way that he commands the 18, the 18 yard box, I just don't, I think it's a little bit more manic. It's a little bit less calm. So those would be the two things that I would keep in mind, just in terms of just any decision that's being made.

Hey, Gareth, just quickly, how are the Americans and the Mexicans looking in the lead-up to the World Cup? The Americans got smashed 5-2 against Belgium. I just, I love that American kit, like the waving flag. It looks great, but that might be the highlight of the World Cup. I mean, I just, I'm not a big Mauritio, a Pontchino fan. I think that, you know, coming out and saying that this team, you know, can go on and make a World Cup semi-final at home.

I think it's wishful thinking more so than anything like that. They showed nothing under this manager. Like when we're talking about positions that they're weak at, Tim Leam, who's like, I don't know, pushing 40 now is still like playing and starting at center back. It's crazy. He's still in the mix there. I watched the match on the weekend.

It is wild he's still playing. I don't get it. I like, I honestly don't get it at all. There's good players. I don't know if they can play Pachitino's system. I think that with the pressure, I think that this is the World Cup of chaos just because of everything that's going on off the field,

what can play on the field, but I mean, the American team is the embodiment of it. So let's just leave that. I think Mexico, there's very little reason to believe that they're going to be able to do any damage, other than the fact that both probably have decent pass through the group states. I mean, the group stage of this World Cup could be dogs breakfast guys.

I honestly, because it's so watered down, there's so many teams that I don't think most people actually even want to see. But I think that's saying that, you know, once you get to the knockout round, when there's 32 teams when a normal World Cup is all about, you know, that's going to be exciting. It could be really great to some of the matchups and the high pressure moments. That's when the tournament will really start. And then it just depends on who your draw is. Mexico is very pragmatic right now. They don't score a lot of goals, but they don't concede a lot of goals. So they're going to be living on the edge

and hoping that some home matches can take them forward. But, I mean, the Americans are nowhere near under as much pressure as Mexico. I mean, they expect their team to go out and perform and go to a certain level. So, look, I don't think any of the three host nations are looking at things right now that things are kind of playing in their favor based on circumstance and current form. But all three are capable if the cards fall the right way. And for me, like, just circling back to Canada, like, Canada has to win the group. Like, I just, I can't see this team playing this pressing style anywhere outside of Vancouver

is really going to work. If you end up in some really warm weather climates, I think it's going to play a huge role this World Cup. So if they win the group, they stay in Vancouver for potentially two knockout games if they go that far. And I think that that could be a decisive factor. So I just don't think advancing from the group is good enough for Canada if they want a real chance of like really having success of this World Cup. I think they got to go to win the group and stay in Vancouver. I'm glad you mentioned what the group stage might look like. Jason and I have talked about it a lot. And we're obviously getting hype for the World Cup and talking to our listeners about how

exciting. This tournament is going to be also acknowledging that some of these teams that are going to qualify, it could be real ugly for some of these matches. For example, I watched the new Caledonia Jamaica qualifier last week and came in afterward. That was 90 minutes. I'm not getting back.

That was miserable. Miserable football. There's just no there's no signature must win group of death game that you're looking at in the group stage. It's very unlike previous world comments, right? There's going to have to be upset early, I think, to put teams in a pressure situation.

I've tried to coin the term the group of near-deaths because there's, that's the only, and I guess that would be France, Senegal, Norway, but again, there's no jeopardy because three teams can advance from the group. Yeah. So there's no such thing as a group of deaths is, you know, this time around. So it's more, again, it's just more about who will face who, which I think will be a matter of circumstance more so than anything else, unless you just make your priority to win the group,

where I do think the stakes are high for Canada that way. But I mean, like Curacao, like Haiti, like Jordan, like I can go down the list of like 12 countries right now that you're saying you're charging how much to see this team play. I like, I like, it's just, it's just absolutely crazy to me. And look, like, like I'm a soccer guy. I work in this space. I care.

but it's just the reality of a 48 team World Cup. I think that they just expanded too much. I think that if they want to expand, it would be more difficult just in terms of the way things work. But I mean, 40 seemed like the compromise, but they went eight more. And I just think it's just a little bit too much. Gareth, this is great.

If you're up for it, hopefully we can do this again as we get closer to the actual World Cup. Yeah, you guys on my number. Keep up the great work, guys, and hopefully we'll be chatting soon. Yeah, you as well. Thanks, Garrett. that's Gareth Wheeler, lead commentator for one soccer here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.

I don't know if I'm loving Canada's chances to win the group, especially if Italy gets in there. I mean, when he said it, it makes sense because he's taking the long lens approach. Yeah. Which is, and a very astute observation, how hot it's going to be in a lot of these U.S. cities in the dead of summer, where the style that Marsh wants to implement is going to be super taxing physically. I get that part of it. I think that, you know, when we watched the Gold Cup last year... If they finish the runner up in their group,

I think they... I want to say they might go to SoFi Stadium, Inglewood. So that's not bad because that'll be climate controlled. Yeah, but I mean, I think the bigger picture is also like talking about the home field advantage. Because when they were in the Gold Cup and they played that game here at BC Place and they thrashed. Yeah. Honduras. Yeah. I mean, Marsh talked about it afterwards.

They went to neutral locations after that. And there just wasn't the same energy and vibe. And for a team that is swashbuckling and pressing and trying to raise the energy, having that at home crowd is a huge advantage for them. So they're going to need to make hay in the group stage. We'll see if it happens. Okay. We got a lot more to get to on the program today. We're going to dive deep back into the hockey on the other side of the break.

Dan Rosen from NHL.com is going to join the program. Huge news out of Vegas yesterday with the firing of Bruce Cassidy and the hiring of John Tortorella. John Tororella's first game in charge of the Vegas Golden Knights is, tonight against your Vancouver Canucks 7 o'clock from Vegas. A reminder, pre-post and the actual game, you can hear it all right here on SportsNet 650. So we'll talk to Dan about that. We can also talk to him about the super intense Eastern Conference playoff chase. There are a lot of teams still very much in the mix as we are now, everyone pretty much less than 10 games remaining in their regular season.

So Dan Rosen's going to join us at 7. Then at 7.30, first time guest on the program. Brody Miller is going to join the program. He is a golf writer for the athletic. He wrote about Tiger Woods after what happened to Tiger Woods over the weekend. For those that don't know, Tiger was involved in a rollover vehicle accident and was charged with DUI. This is not the first time that either of these things has happened to Tiger Woods over the last decade and a half. It's not funny, but the golf channel cut off all coverage of the PGA Tour tournament down in Houston.

And it looked like CNN. So it was like they had the sheriff on live on press conference. mean it was good coverage. It was really good coverage, but it was like, I wonder if they've got like, in case of emergency, break glass, like Tiger rolled his car over again. See, I'm glad you brought this up because that's almost more of a part of the story. Like there's the incident in the arrest and the personal story,

but there's also the coverage that it gets still for a guy. Tabloid stuff. For a guy that hasn't played golf in a while. Yeah. You know what I mean? So there's lots to get into there with Brody Miller. So again, our two of the program, Brody Miller's going to join us for the Tiger story at 730. Dan Rosen on the other side.

And before we go to break, I do need to remind you that this show is brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal and when nobody has since 1926. Visit Duke GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond and visit them online at the Doick Auto Group.com. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.