Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Need To Play The Young Guys More

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason preview tonight's Canucks matchup versus the Vegas Golden Knights with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor (1:25), plus they set up tonight's Vancouver Canadians home opener with play-by-play man Tyler Zickel (24:57). 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.

It's his friend and bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor, Life from Rogers Arena, Colin Kaanaks games. It is Brendan Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor. 702 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford & Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees.

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Our next guest is the Play-by-Play voice of the Vancouver Canucks right here on SportsNet 650. It's Brendan Batchler here on the Halford & Breath Show. What up, Batch. Good morning, guys. How's it going? We're well. Hope you are well as well. Let's start with Kevin Lankinen. Your thoughts on the latest development, I guess the latest development on Lankin,

who's had a pretty tumultuous last 48, 72 hours, and quite frankly, entire season here in Vancouver. Yeah, you know, it's unfortunate that he's a bit banged up here, and I guess we'll see what sort of timeline that leads to. But the benefit from an organizational perspective is that we will see Nikita Tolopilo get a pretty good run here to end the year, you would imagine, because, you know, with where the Canucks sit,

if Lankan has anything he's working through, you know, why would you rush him back at this point? Now, I guess we'll see ultimately how serious it is and whether they do decide to or not. But, you know, some might say that this might not have happened if they had sort of run the starts evenly prior to this. But, you know, Tola Pilo is going to get a run now and it'll be interesting to see how he does with it. Why do you think they did run Lankin essentially so hard that, he's injured and those aren't my words. That was what Adam Foote was wondering yesterday's. I think it was the buildup of games played, which begs the follow-up.

Why did you play him so many games? Yeah. And, you know, that's something we'll have to kind of ask Adam Foote here at some point. I would imagine see if he's got some thoughts on it. But what I think is that they felt there were some things in Tolapilos. game that they really needed him to dial in on and improve on before they put him back in the net. And that is the one benefit of not playing is you get to stay out late after morning

skates, after practices, with the goalie coach. And Tolopilo was doing that. He was working a lot on his post work and was staying out late basically every day doing that work with Marco Terranius. And this is something I had a conversation with Adam Foote about in a more general sense. a few weeks ago, but talking about sort of managing young players and not giving them too much too soon because it can hurt their confidence and, you know, it being easy to say, well, just play all the young guys, but also wanting to put them in situations to succeed,

I do wonder if there was some of that with Tolapilo where, you know, they wanted to clean up some things in his game. They had to run a game at home with no back-to-backs and in some cases multiple days between games. And they thought, well, you know, Kevin Lankin and his capable of a starter's load, so why not give him one? Unfortunately, it's led to this now, and so Tolopilo got that work in, and now he's also going to get a run. It's just, you know, a pity that it's at the expense of Lankanen from an injury perspective. Do you also wonder about, even though the Canucks are dead last and going to finish that way, and maybe Lankinen wasn't playing like the greatest goalie in the world, but he was playing better than Tolo Pilo, and

Adam Foote is maybe concerned about games getting out of hand too soon, too early, and then you've got not only an upset Tolopilo, but you've also got other young players that he doesn't want to get overly demoralized. Yeah, I think that could be a huge factor as well, and it might come down to how he feels the team plays in front of the goaltender too, right? Like if the young guys have more confidence with the veteran Kevin Lankin and behind them and play that way, then, you know, that gives the likes of Buyam and V. Lander a little bit more room to make some of those mistakes. And look, they've got basically infinite room to make mistakes right now with six games left in the season.

Like, you should be going out there and firing passes, you know, stretch passes to the opposite blue line every time at this point, just to work on them. But, you know, all kidding aside, for those young guys, who have gone through it this year as well, right? Like, this has been a tough go for them. We saw that frustration boil over in that LA game a couple weeks ago, I believe it was, with the Zeebuy and Brandt-Clark fight, right? Like, this is the thing is you can't just play all the young guys because you have to balance what's best for some and what might be best for others.

And I don't envy Adam Foote because on top of all of this, he is also trying to prove that, you know, he's the guy to be his. long term in a season when many people within the organization are going to be under review to some degree at the end of the year when you finish in last place, when you came in with aspirations of making the playoffs. So, you know, Adam Foote has to try and worry about all of the young players' development, not just a guy like Tolapilo. He also has to worry about his own future and a lot of all of that is uncertain right now. What do you have thought about to Linus Carlson's season.

Tremendous. He leads the team in even strength points. 30 even strength points now. I think it is maybe even more than that. So, you know, for him, he's really taken the game that he brought for Abbotsford last year and made him such a key part of that playoff run and Calder Cup win. And he's found a way to, you know, to have that level of impact at the NHL level, while not necessarily playing up the lineup every night

or having a ton of minutes. And, you know, he is a player that I would like to see get a lot more opportunity as this rebuild goes forward because, you know, you wonder where the ceiling could be for him in terms of, you know, the type of player he is, the size, the frame that he has. You know, we've always heard, you know, Rick Tocke loved him for how heavy he was along the boards

and how much he won battles and got clears and now we see his ability to go to the net and create offense from the middle of the ice, which is something that many people on this team have struggled to do this year and even in the past, right? So, you know, flying colors for Linus Carlson's season. And we talked to him after the game the other night, and he didn't really want to get into any of that because I'm sure the frustration of the team struggles is still kind of weighing on him. But I hope when he gets into the summer and looks back at this season, he can be proud, because it's been a remarkable year for him

and one that I think will solidify him as an NHLer and potentially as a part of this team for multiple seasons to come as they work through this rebuild and potentially when they come out of it too. He's a pretty good development story for Abbotsford as well. And I've heard he was one of the guys that really embraced working with the Siddines down in Abbotsford. And it's nice to have those stories to tell

because I know a lot of people chuckle when they hear a 26 year old being called a rookie, but the fact of the matter is, I'm sure there were plenty of times where he could have just gone back to Europe and played there, but he wanted to play in the NHL, and he kept working at it.

And now, as you mentioned, you know, granted, it's the NHL's worst team, but he is one of their best forwards. Yeah, you know, it's not quite an Alex Burroughs story, but it's similar, right? like he he had to come in and earn every ounce of opportunity that he's been given and full credit to him that he has earned it. And he has, you know, being able to produce and find offense at a level, as I said, especially with the ice time. Like, that's what I'm impressed by is, you know, to have, you know, 30 plus even strength points when you're playing in the top six every night would be one thing.

but to be leading the team in that stat category, when you're playing significantly fewer minutes than that, he's averaged, what, 12 and a half minutes a game this season? So that certainly isn't top of the lineup minutes, and yet, excuse me, here he is with an impressive year. And, you know, also a guy that doesn't play a ton on special teams, but has found a way to produce. And could, you know, could end the year here close to 20 goals, I guess,

if he has a few more here in the next few games. But 15 goals for him is already, you know, impressive for only having just reached 100 NHL games. So, you know, credit to him. And as he joked the other night, it's a good start for him. But he would like to have a long career and, you know, credit to the work that he's put in, that he has the chance, I think, to hang around in this league for a while, whether with the Kinnocks or with someone else, because other teams are going to see the skill set he has,

even if he doesn't remain in Vancouver long term. Was the night the Canucks celebrated Evander Cain for playing a thousand games in the NHL, also Evander Cain's last game in a Vancouver Canucks uniform? Yeah, I guess we'll see what happens down the stretch here, right? You know, he wasn't at practice yesterday, so obviously wasn't on a line. They're going to have an optional skate today. And we'll get more information from Adam Foote specifically. on lineup for tonight and be interested to see if he's willing to play ball about what his thoughts

are longer term. But yeah, I think it is possible at this point in the season. It's something that people in my Twitter mentions have been calling for for months at this point is, you know, when young players have been sitting and veterans like Kane have been in the lineup. And, you know, if he has been playing through something, as Adam Foote says, then again, like I said with Lankinen, why would you rush him back at this point with six games left in the season unless he is desperate to play to try and get his numbers up and prove that he can earn a contract somewhere in the offseason. But again, if he's banged up, you know, there's no benefit to him

to throwing him into these games, and there is a benefit to having young players in these games. So it wouldn't surprise me if Evander Kane is done for the season, but, you know, I guess we'll have to wait and see. We're speaking of Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks here on the Halford & Brough show on Sports Net 650. Hey, Batch, what's going on with Philip Heedle? Yeah, well, he's been back skating and trending in the right direction. The most interesting comments around it were Adam Foote a few weeks ago, or maybe it was one week ago.

I can't remember exactly, but it was the first time that Heedel kind of joined the group on the ice for a morning skate. And we asked Adam Foote about it. And his, he said, you know, in my opinion, you know, why would he come back at this point in the year? Like, we've got to worry about this guy's health. And, you know, I'm paraphrasing him, but essentially he said that, you know, his perspective was that, you know, it might not make sense for him to come back. But Heidel seems, you know, continually determined to try and restart his NHL career and find a way to

stay healthy and stay in the lineup. And so he's been, you know, gradually ramping up, it seems like, and trying to get back out there. And so we'll see what happens. here again. You know, if the head coach is saying he's sort of tentative to play him, then I would bet against him getting into a game before the end of the year. But I guess, you know, we'll wait and see. Who knows? Have you ever seen anything like what you've seen from Jake DeBress on the power play this year? But also even strength. It's remarkable. 19 goals, 16 on the man advantage. So on one hand,

great hands in front of the net, except if it's not a power play. a less optimistic show would say that he struggled to score at five on five. But here at the Alford & Brough show, we point out that he's like a top five power play goal score in the entire NHL. Like he's right up there with guys like Caprizov and Drysaintle in terms of power play goals this year. I never quite saying anything like this. Have you? Yeah, I can't remember it.

And I've been stealing your bit, Mike, and talking about how, you know, you have to sell a story on someone if you want to move them in the off season. and there is a great power play production story there to tell on Jake DeBrusk. So, you know, that's going to be interesting to see how the offseason goes, because if there's a team out there that needs a net front guy that can score a bunch of goals on your power play, then Jake DeBrusk might be the guy for them, and we'll see what his future holds in Vancouver. But, yeah, especially lately, like, he's been finding a way to score everything on the power play. Like, there was one in a recent game.

I can't remember which one specifically, but there's a settering pass, and it kind of sort of just deflects off him and rolls slowly across the goal line, right? Like he has had all of the luck and all of the touch on the power play and none of the luck and none of the touch at even strength. And, you know, I think part of that is, you know, tied similarly to what we talked about with Brock Besser earlier in the year where things haven't been settled in the lineup. He hasn't had consistent line mates at times he's been playing down on the fourth line, down the lineup, you know, with players that can't necessarily get him the puck in the areas

that he can be most dangerous. But, you know, one thing that we remember seeing from Jake DeBrasch in Boston was his speed on the wing and some of the rush goals he scored. And that hasn't been there really very much this year. So, you know, that's disappointing for him, I'm sure, and disappointing for the Canucks with the kind of player that they were hoping to get when they brought him in. And I do wonder about his future with the organization. Obviously, he controls that process to a large degree. But, but yeah, man, on the power play, he's been great. And in general, I think the conducts power play has been really good lately. And I credit a lot of that to Marco Rossi and his playmaking ability and him finding his game. I think, you know, him working,

excuse me, off that left half wall has, you know, allowed Elias Pedersen to feel a little bit more confident and get involved in some of the offense on the power play. And obviously it's benefited a guy like Jake DeBrusk who just continues to score when they are up a man. I mean, it's funny saying this for a guy that's signed a seven-year deal in 2024. So we're about roughly two years out. But things are dramatically different for the Vancouver Connects. And quite frankly, DeBrus, like he didn't sign up for this when he signed the seven-year deal. Remind me, what was the big selling point for DeBrus to come to Vancouver? who is he going to play with?

Who's the guy who was desperate for a winger? He had his choice of centers. Did he not? He could have played with Elias Pederset. He could have played with J.T. Miller. J.T. had Brock. It's true. That was they finally found.

You were the one complaining about all the lack of wingerers for PD. And then they finally found one. Look at him now. Now they found a power play sniper. And by the way, while I'm on a bit of a petty run, Halford stole, you got to sell a story from me. So, and then you stole it from Halford. Right.

Yeah. Well, I was giving credit. to Halford for it though. So I guess I'll give credit to your show in general for the selling a story bit. If you know Jason, you know that's not going to cut it. That's not going to cut it. In any rate, many people have said

I'm petty and now I just lean into it because I kind of am. Anyway, what were we talking about? Jake DeBrusch is getting to play with Elias Pedersen. And yeah, I mean unfortunately for Jake DeBrus, the timing of his arrival has kind of coincided with the, where did

Elias Pedersen go? conversation. And, you know, I'm sure this wasn't how he wanted it to go when he arrived in Vancouver. It's definitely not how the organization wanted it to go a couple of years ago when they brought him in, but they are, you know, where they are right now, strange bedfellows, I guess you could call them in terms of going in different directions. And so that is why I think there's a lot of speculation around DeBrusk's future and why, you know, a veteran player like him who, you know, is above minus 30 on the year now. So he and Brock Besser are both, you know, right down there in terms of contending for the green jacket in the NHL. You know, that's a situation. I think that he might

be willing to move on from, given the right opportunity. And for the Kinnock's going through a rebuild, you know, does it make sense to have a veteran winger with that sort of term on your team right now? It probably doesn't. So we'll wait and see what the summer brings. I think, you know, oftentimes we talk about, oh, it's going to be a big summer. They're going to to do so much. And, you know, instead it's a similar group that ends up coming back, sometimes, you know, to some extent, out of their control. But this offseason does feel like one where things could change. But I'll knock on wood as I say that because, you know, not only have in-season trades and roster change has been hard to predict, but off-seasons have too.

So, Batch, I want to end on a bit of a positive note because as crazy as this sounds, because is the Canucks are still losing. I've been enjoying watching their games more lately. Like it's not, I'm not feeling like it's 2011 again, but they're more interesting to me because there are these young players and we're all trying to get a handle

on what these young players are and what they need to work on and we're starting to get invested in their journeys in the NHL. And I think, I'm not in the room, but it feels like, those young players have come together and said, listen, this situation isn't the best,

but this organization is counting on us to try and turn it around. And it seems, although the team is still losing, the situation feels less stale than it had been for a long time when I would turn on a Canucks game and I would see the same thing over and over again. Yeah, I agree completely. And, you know, they've been even more enjoyable. to call lately as well, right, in terms of, you know, this is turning into a hardworking group

with some young guys that, you know, are endearing to the fans that you want to root for. And, you know, obviously, you know, they've locked up 32nd now. So, you know, there's nothing that should be stopping anyone from rooting for them here the rest of the way to have some good results and feel good about themselves going into the offseason. But I do think we saw a notable culture shift. right after the trade deadline in terms of, you know, two more veteran players went out in Garland and Myers.

And, you know, as Quinn Hughes put it, you know, there has been a lot of change here in the last little bit. And when you actually do look at this roster and compare it to a couple of years ago, there's not many guys that have been here for very long, which from a culture perspective, I think was probably needed with the way this season went. So, you know, are the young guys taking more ownership? Yeah, I think that absolutely is the case.

they being empowered by some of the guys that are, you know, the veteran leaders now in the wake of some of the players that have left? Yeah, I think so. I think Philip Heronik is doing a good job of that. Now, I'm not going to go as far as to say, I think he should be named captain or anything like that, because I don't think that would be the right decision at this point. Nothing against Heronic, but more just, you know, not needing to name a captain at the moment and letting things sort of shake out and seeing how leaders develop and who emerges as the next captain of the Canox rather than trying to, you know, force it. But, you know, I do think there is a marked tone change within that room. And look, they're still very frustrated when they lose games,

but it's, it's, you know, stale, yeah, I think was one way to describe it. You know, a lot of the same that we had seen in the past years and things are different now a little bit. And, I think you see it in the way that they play, and we see it in the way that we deal with them in the media. And so, you know, we'll see where that goes heading into next year. But they, you know, they do have a chance to kind of define their own culture here and forge a new path going forward with the number of young players that are going to be involved and the young players that are going to join the organization this summer too.

And, you know, you hope that that emerges into a team that you want to root for here a little bit more because as you go through a rebuild, it's going to be hard. You know, you're going to lose lots of games. You're going to struggle. You're going to miss the playoffs for probably multiple more seasons here before you get it to where you want to get it to. But through all of that, it can still be a somewhat enjoyable process. If you've got a team that you want to root for that works hard and plays the way that you'd like to see your team play. And hopefully the conducts can find that.

Yeah, you just nailed it there, a team you want to root for. that's that's kind of how I'm feeling now I'm starting to feel that way all right batch a busy stretch for you to end this season six games in the next 10 nights starting tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights thanks for joining us today and enjoy the the closing stretch as this season comes mercifully to a close see you yeah it'll be a sprint to the finish here guys thank you thanks batch brandon bachelor play by play voice of the Vancouver connects here on the halferdin breath show on sports Net 650.

We're going to go to break. We're at the midway point of the show. Coming up on the other side, play-by-play Tuesday continues. Tyler Zickle, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadiens. On Sportsnet 650 is going to join us. The C's home opener is tonight.

7 o'clock at the Nat, the first of a six-game series against Eugene. Tonight is also the post-game fireworks extravaganza. We'll talk to Tyler about tonight's game and the upcoming C's campaign. That's coming up next. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Breft 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. Arjun Namala stands in right side. First pitch to Ard's, one on, hit in the air deep towards right field, going back to Hazus, he turns, he looks, and it's gone.

Arjunnamala on the first pitch he sees in 2026, hits an opposite field solo home run and just like that. The seas are in front one-nothing. 732 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford and Bruff, SportsNet 650. Halford and Brother the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Hey, you, do you have credit card 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 in our two of the program with the midway point of the show. Tyler Zickle, that voice you just heard, Play-by-Play Voice of the Vancouver Canadiens is going to join us in just a moment here. Our two of this program is brought to by Jason Homanoch at Jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason.com. Let's go now to the Able Auctions hotline. Our next guest, as mentioned, the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadiens. Tyler Zickle joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Tyler. How are you? What's up, boys? Happy opening day. I'm coming to you from the press box here at the Nat. She's looking

to beute, 75 years young, and we're ready to get rolling. Can you believe the weather that we're going to have for these next few days? I think the baseball gods and Mother Nature, they're both Canadians fans. So we're definitely going to soak it up all we can. Tons of April and May home games this year more than ever since we got back to the Nat in 2022. So we're keeping our fingers crossed and our toes as well, but so far so good. remind us of some of the changes that have occurred to Nat Bailey over the off season and what's to come for fans who are visiting the stadium. Yeah, totally.

So what the first thing fans will notice when they enter the building, they're going to see a brand new concession stand. Thanks to our friends at Triple O's. I know we stopped by the studio about six weeks ago and dropped off some Triple O's with you boys and we announced it. Well, it's all good to go. They did a little test kitchen thing yesterday. They fed the staff and they are firing on all cylinders.

that'll be the first thing fans notice with their eyes, their noses, and their ears. And then once you get into the seating bowl, you're going to see down the right field line, the brand new two-story building where the first floor is all state-of-the-art facilities for the Canadian team and the staff meeting rooms, clubhouse, weight room, training room, etc., batting tunnel. And then the rooftop terrace and patio still under construction, but it's going to be open come June 1st, and our first game is June 9th. That's going to be for fans. Everybody who's got a ticket to a game can go to part of that rooftop patio, and there'll be some private

areas as well. I know we can get you boys out there on the roof. Is there a bar on the roof? Like, is it an area where you can go get a drink and hang out with your buddies? Oh, yeah. We were not going to not include a bar in our brand new facility down there. So, if that's the draw for the two of you, whatever it takes to get Halford and Brough on the rooftop, we're going to do it. Let's do it. All right, let's talk about the team a little bit here. We heard his name coming back from break, Argen Nemala, early days in the season and everything. But how

excited are you to be covering him for as long as he's going to be in Vancouver, I suppose? It's super exciting. You know, we had Arge all last season, his age 19 season a year ago. Remember, he was the 20th overall pickback in 20203 out of Strawberry Crest High School down in his home state of Florida. The Blue Jays have sent him back to us this year, whereas traditionally they'd like to challenge him with a higher level than his age. And of course, even at 20, he's still one of the youngest players in this circuit.

But they sent him back this year now to be able to, one, be a leader on this team, as opposed to a young phenom who is just very talented, but not necessarily. necessarily at the front of the line, and also to light a little fire under him a little bit. He's got incredible talent. The stats from the first two months of last season were incredible. He's now looking to sustain that success over the course of a full campaign. But my number one message I've been saying to people who are into watching prospects in the Blue J system, get to the Nat in April or May this year because Arjun will be a New Hampshire Fisher Cat sooner rather than later. So looking forward to watching him do his thing.

And tonight's starter, the 19-year-old left-be prospect, John. Johnny King. He's the number four Blue Jays prospect making his C's debut tonight at 705. And then those two are just two of the 28 guys on the roster who we're really excited to have. What are those real strengths of Nealala's game right now? For Arge, I think it's power. You heard it in the highlight that y'all shared coming back from break. First pitch he saw in Pasco on Friday on the first game of the season. He took a fastball outside and sent it the opposite way with an easy flick of the wrist for that solo home run. part of a two-hit four RBI day to start off his season.

So the bat always there. He is our starting shortstop tonight in almost every game. He plays great defense as well. And he's very quick on the bases. For me, though, the bat is definitely the calling card. And he put on about 20 pounds of muscle in this offseason. So he is coming in in terrific shape. And we're looking to watch that ball fly off his bat, not just tonight,

but all week long here at opening week. Tell me a little bit more about second year manager, Jose Mayorga, because I didn't even realize until the World Baseball Classic was on that he was the Panamanian manager at the WBC. Yeah, and the C's job is often a feeder job to the Major League. Right, and just one stepping stone after another, right? So first tell me about him, and then I'll ask you about his experience at this year's World Baseball Classic because it was an eventful one.

Jose is fantastic. Year two with us, he won 75 games as the skipper last year in his managerial debut in High A. Of course, North Delta Bc-C native Brent LaValley, who's now a position player coordinator in the organization. He has three straight seasons here, racked up a lot of wins. But Jose already the second winningest single season manager in Vancouver professional baseball history looking to add to that. He's only 33 and he's got the full support of the entire organization, including former Canadians and current Blue Jays manager, John Schneider.

I interviewed John about two weeks ago just at the end of spring training. And Schneider told me, Jose, as he calls him, super great guy to be leading this group. he's got a bright future and top to bottom, all signs point, thumbs up for Jose Mayorga. How much has he spoken about his experience of this year's World Baseball Classic? Because I don't remember a time where we covered baseball that early in the year

and that tournament as closely as we did. It goes without saying, I mean, we're not reinventing the analysis wheel here. It was electric. It was an excellent tournament. And Panama was very competitive in that group. They beat Canada. They had a couple one-run losses along the way.

So it was an eventful time for Majorga and Panama at the tournament. tournament. Yeah, Mayo told me that he loved being a part of the World Baseball Classic. He is certainly one of the most well-regarded Panamanian managers in their entire country. And so to be able to have that opportunity to lead his home country's team really is something that he will never forget. And he really did enjoy the entire process despite going one and three and also having, you know, a little bit of back and forth with one of his players at the end of the pool play there. But to beat Canada, he had a laugh when we talked about it down in spring.

training because he felt a little conflicted as well, working for the Blue Jays and of course knowing some players on that team Canada. And he had a couple of former Canadians on his Panamanian roster, easy for me to say, Leo Jimenez and Abdel Mendoza. So for that type of experience to now translate to a Canadian season, I think that's a one-of-one type situation. There aren't many minor league managers in the game right now who can say they were a world baseball classic manager as well. Okay, before we let you go, it's the home opener tonight, 7 o'clock from the Nats, Fireworks Night and all that, but it's a six-game homestand against Eugene to open up the season.

So there's lots of opportunities over the next six nights for people to go out and watch some baseball. Throw a couple highlights at us from this six-game set against Eugene that people can come check out to start off the season at the Nat. Well, you guys mentioned the fireworks tonight, of course, but it's also the on-field debut of our new the Nat jerseys. I've never seen a ballpark get its very own jersey look, but that's what we're doing for the 75th anniversary. wear those Nat jerseys on every single Tuesday home game this year. So that's happening tonight. Our BC Week Air Wednesday is supporting United Way BC tomorrow. Then, of course, can't wait for the

first nooner of the year on Friday at 105. We've got Filipino Heritage Day on Saturday with some very special custom jerseys designed by a local Filipino artist. And there'll be a jersey auction as well. And then on Sunday, it's White Spot Family Fund Sunday. An umbrella giveaway that day just in case, maybe for a non-game day to be used. And, of course, post-game kids run the bases as well. That's the first six of 66 home games here on Ontario Street this year, boys. And I know we're going to get you out, let's say, for at least five of them. Minimum, minimum five games this year.

I've got my eye on May 28th. That is the first dog day of summer. So I'm going to bring up Pedro. Who is my dog, by the way? Get the dog out. And by the way, I'm sure you two have heard, but just shameless plug, our two bobbleheads this year. June 9th, Addison Barger. August 25th, Trey is Savage, the first bobblehead of Trey is Savage since he became a pro.

So that is a great opportunity for fans to take home a one-of-one keepsake. And of course, I got to chill the Canadians' bubblehead package. You can do that at Canadiensbaseball.com to make sure you can guarantee tickets and those two bobbleheads. Baseball is back at the Nat. Tyler, thanks for doing this today, man. We appreciate it. And yes, Bruff and I will be out at the Nat real soon.

Always a pleasure, boys. We'll keep the yard dog warm for you for maybe a lady in the tramp style moment. We also have yard nachos this year. Three feet nachos as well. Three feet nachos as well. So get your appetites ready. Three feet nachos go. You got it, boys.

You know, it's right on brand for us. Thanks, man. Appreciate it, Tyler. Have a good one. Cheers. Tyler Zickle, the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadians here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Please tell me the nachos are in the form of a sombrero.

Yeah, how does three feet notches even work? What is the, is it one giant nachos? It's a trough. You guys ready to late in Tramp those nachos? We could do that too. I mean, if it's a three feet. Three foot not to that be something else. So we meet at the middle.

So I made a suggestion on our show chat last night and Adog laughed, but I heard nothing from Laddie in response to this because I suggested that we have an occasional segment where we just call it Laddie gets defensive about the Toronto Blue Jays. Because Laddie, you are a true fan of the Blue Jays. And it feels like any time since we. we've been working together that we've brought up the J's in maybe a bit of a negative light, you find a way to get defensive. Like you will never go all in on like, oh, like this team. Like this team drives me crazy.

Like they're hopeless or whatever. And, you know, it nearly paid off for you last season when they, oh, so close, one, nearly won the World Series. I mean, I know we've talked about this a few times, but very close to winning one of the greatest, World Series of all times, but several times. Ultimately fell short in one of the most cruel

heartbreaking moments. Heartbreaking moments I've ever seen. And now the Jays are back this season. They got after a pretty decent start, but they have fallen on very hard times. And yesterday, the Dodgers back in town, the Jays looking for some semblance

of revenge. And what was the score, Halford? 14 to 3rd. 14 to 2 for the Dodgers. So it's close at least. Very narrow. Am I able to talk now? Yeah.

You're allowed to talk. Okay, so now you get defensive. Well, I just think I'm a little too level headed for you. I think that's the problem. It's at 162 game season. Well, yeah. It's bad for radio, man. You got to take big swings.

I understand that. But baseball doesn't really, you can't apply it like that in baseball. That's baseball. That's baseball. And I am a hockey guy at heart. So I understand the comparisons and the want to have the knee-jerk reaction, but it's an incredibly long season. It is super, super

long. We saw it last year, where the first two months of the year were... They didn't flip the switch until June last year. Yeah. So I am not going to panic at any point unless, you know, you're three months into the season and you're still struggling. Then you can probably start to panic a little bit, but it's just the way baseball is.

And like I said, it doesn't make for great radio when you're kind of tempering expectations all the time and telling people to relax. It's an important voice to have, though, because it is a hundred and sixty- And you can have many people yelling into the microphone. Everyone doesn't need to do it at the same time. I will say this.

The health of this team right now is a significant concern. Because you can withstand one or two injuries to start the year. But when it gets up to... Nine misfortunes? And you lose ground in a very competitive division. That's where it's not about... You can say, they're not executing. The bats have gone cold.

The pitching's gone cold. The fielding's bad. The base running. bad. Those are all correctable mistakes when health goes by the wayside suddenly, what are we going to do? What are you going to do about Kirk's injury? What are you going to do about Ponce's injury? What are you going to do about any of these injuries?

Well, I think the other thing for this last little stretch is there's been an illness going through the whole team, which I haven't really talked a ton about, but... It's called sucking a baseball. That has been the big problem. Yeah, this is contagious. Cicitis, I think it is. But Scherzor, everyone thought he was ill,

which is why he left after two innings last start, but no, it wasn't. It was four. It was four. arm tightness. So that's even more concerning. So yeah, a lot of red flags to start the year for the Blue Jays, but I'm not not packing it in yet. I don't know if you stuck around Jason until the end of the game yesterday, the 14-2, but

we got not one but two position players pitching in that game. Tyler Heidenman, we didn't bring up Tyler Heidman crying the other day either. I don't know what was going on. They kept showing him on the screen. He said that there's something else going on, maybe outside of baseball, but he was very upset. And then they threw him out there as a mop-up relief pitcher yesterday.

And then, and I saw someone on Twitter refer to this as a potential humiliation ritual for the Jays. The Dodgers pitched Miguel Rojas in the final inning of that game. Miguel Rojas, of course, who played such a fundamental role in ruining the World Series for the Jays last year. It's like, what if we threw him out there in a 14-2 game? He actually pitched pretty well. Yeah. Yeah. And he was great.

He's got a better ERA than Brendan Little. He can do it. Sorry. He's got a better ERA than Brendan Little. Brendan Little formerly of the Toronto once his year. It was like in the 40s. He got it down to 37. Nice. So good for him.

So he's making progress. See, over a longer season, by the end of the season, it'll be down probably in the 20s. Well, no, because he's no longer on the team. He got options hard. He got option to triple A. Well, maybe he'll be back. It's a long season. So tonight, tonight it doesn't get any easier for the Jays

because now they get World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the bump, who has a three- point O ERA, which is high by his standards. I was going hitable in that first appearance. Yeah, and Gossman's going for the J's, so maybe they got a chance to turn this thing around, but it is,

it's a tough start to the year without question, because getting swept by the White Sox is embarrassing, for sure, no matter start of the year, end of the year, whatever. Following that up with an absolute dismantling at the hands of the Dodgers, that's tough. I mean, again, you come back tonight, you get the

bats going, Gossman has a good start, you can kind of correct what happened in game one, but. Gossman getting a good start is the big for me because even going into Scherzer's start. But doesn't really matter? I mean, it's such a long season. Well, yeah. If he doesn't have a good start. But you need that moment where you turn things back on course. Already, though?

Already. Yeah. I thought we could wait until halfway through the season. Yeah. Going into Scherzer's start, the talk was, can you just give him a normal start? Give him seven innings, you know, do a normal to the setup guy and to the closer. Far from that in that game yesterday. So we really need Gospin to do.

Let's do the basketball real quick because we were going on a few more minutes. before we go to break. So I wanted to tell. So that's the end of the Laddie gets defensive about the Blue Jays segment. Let's not talk about Blue Jays. I think we'll bring it back on a regular basis, hopefully.

So yesterday, I was watching the Sabres Lightning game. Yes. And I was enjoying it. And I knew the basketball game was starting, Michigan and Yukon for the national title. And I'm like, I'll flip over and watch a bit of that. Couldn't get into it.

Not at all. And part of it was, I hadn't been watching the tournament. It's a pretty gross game. But the other part was like, this is kind of boring. And I don't know, man. Like, what,

what's happened to me? Why am I not into college basketball anymore? Well, I thought you would have liked the game because your complaints about the modern basketball, that was a throwback. I mean, how many three-pointers Michigan hit yesterday? Two. Is that it?

In the entire game? How many did they try? A lot. Right. And they only hit two, but they still won. But that's the problem with, like, college basketball.

if you're trying a lot of threes and you're missing them, but it's boring to watch like clank, clank, clank, clank. It was funny because up until that game, they had kind of been an offensive juggernaut. Yesterday, it was a grind yesterday. Let's not make, get it twisted. It was a defensive battle. There was a lot of rebounding.

There's a lot of bad shooting. And by the way, Michigan won. Michigan won by six, so they failed to cover the seven. But they were able, they were able to capture their first NCAA title since 1989. When Glenn Rice back in the day led Michigan 37 years ago, to a title. Now, the interesting thing about this team is their Fab Five, not unlike the old Michigan Fab Five. I can see if I can remember it off the top of my head. It was Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Jalen Rose, Juan Howard, Chris Weber. Wow, I did it. That was off the top of time time.

Time out to. Right. Right. That Fab Five team never won a title, but they were known as being the Fab Five freshman, who all came to Michigan at the same time, played his freshman, spent a couple years there. This group a lot different because it was four of the five as transfer players. Kadoe, who was named the most outstanding player, came from North Carolina, Johnson came

from Illinois, Mara came from UCLA, and I think the other guy came from UAB, Londonborg. So what you're looking at now is a sort of reflection of the modern game where teams, especially these elite teams in Michigan was elite, the only last three games

all year, are made up, of transfer players because the transfer portal is such a hot thing right now. So I have a question for you. We've been down to March Madness a few times and we've watched Gonzaga play. Yeah. We've watched the Huskies play. There was, yeah, the Huskies actually had a decent men's basketball team for a few years. Even Wazoo had some good teams.

Let's focus maybe on Gonzaga because they are the team that still had a decent team. chance heading into March Madness this year. How do you think the NIL era is going to be for Gonzaga? Because I was looking at the rankings for next season, ESPN put them up. And Gonzaga is down at like 21 or 22. Apparently they're losing some guys to graduation or eligibility or whatever. I don't know if they graduate anymore. It's just eligibility runs out.

Yep. Do you think a program like Gonzaga is going to be able to compete in the NIL era? Will that program fade away? Will they find ways to raise the money that's now needed to recruit not only coaches but players? So for those of you that don't fully understand what Gonzaga is, it is a very small school based in Spokane, which for the those of you that know, is not exactly a big, glamorous market. It's a tiny school.

Basketball is by far what drives the athletic department. But it is, I mean, we've been to the campus. It is such a far cry from Ann Arbor, Michigan, or Dainesville, or some of these big schools. I mean, it's not like a community college or anything. It's small. Yeah, it is small. Yep. When you talk about NIL money, oftentimes the powerhouse schools are big.

big prestigious blue blood programs with big, robust booster and alumni departments and huge arenas. Right. I mean, you look at the team that just won. I've been to Ann Arbor before. I have seen the Chrysler Center and where Michigan basketball exists, and it is a gorgeous, massive facility. I've been down to the University of Oregon and seen what their athletic facilities look

like. Big schools with big money don't look like schools. They look like professional programs. So the question for a school like Gonzaga is, can you compete when there's no cap on NIL money and you've got schools that have so many more resources and so much more funding available to them? It's going to be really interesting.

Gonzag is such a unique situation because it's carved itself out as a prestigious basketball program. Without question. They sent countless players to the NBA. They're a perennial tournament team. But now the game has changed on them. The game has changed dramatically. They're leaving the West Coast.

conference and they're going to the PAC 12 and they're not going to be the big fish in a small pond anymore right that's what they were i don't even know what the pack 12 is going to be anymore they just by nation 12 is still going to be small it's not it's not it's not going to be a big deal like no it's not going to be a power conference no but the schools will be big it might be a name yeah some of the schools will be bigger like what well you're not going up against st mary's and san francisco and who you're going to be up going up boise state Washington state those are still bigger schools, at least in terms of like enrollment and boosters and everything

else. And I'm not talking about giants, but I mean, what a freaking boost. You know, honestly, it's funny that you say, Boise State, like Boise State's a big school compared to some of the schools that Gonzaga was playing basketball against. It's not UCLA. It's not USC. It's not Washington. And those are almost in Oregon. Those are almost in a conference

by themselves now. Like the big brand schools, right? Yeah. And Gazaga's not that because they don't have a football program. They don't have anything outside of college basketball. Yeah. They're going to the Pac-12 and they're like, oh, by the way, we don't have a football program. The PAC-12 is still like, that's okay. We'll take you.

We're desperate. We compete in swimming, but that's like every other year. The college sports landscape, and I know it might be like white noise to some of our listeners because it's been talked about without a lot of people maybe fully understanding the ramifications. But, you know, I think if you want to tie it into something that we understand, what it's done to the landscape of hockey is fundamentally altered junior hockey and how we understand.

prospects coming through. And look no farther than the Gavin McKenna. And the Gavin McKenna thing, I think you classified as an experiment this year. Because he was the first to do a lot of these things. He was the first, that prominent a player to leave the CHL, the first one to get some NIL money.

The first one to try this different route. And he set the stage and he's kind of blazed the path for other people to do it. Well, now Ryan Lynn is leaving the Vancouver Giants. So it's had an impact on the CHL, which of course, includes the WHL and league. like the BCHL, because the BCHL used to hang its hat on,

well, you're not allowed to go play in the dub if you want to play college. So come play for us for a bit and then you can go to college. And now all these leagues are kind of repositioning themselves as, what are we? And we don't know the answer to that. The only clear answer is that the NCAA is the winner. And they are the ones with the deeper pockets. And oftentimes in, certainly in pro sports, but in college sports now,

I think the conclusion to all this is that the deeper pockets programs are better suited to not only have the best facilities, not only have the most highly paid coaches. Now, it's the highly paid players. And it's still weird for me to see. like, you know, the University of Arizona has agreed to a new deal with player. Well, Duke's payroll this year was $24 million. Payroll.

But that includes the coaches, right? Yeah, but still. $24 million for a collegiate program to run. That number's going to go up too, right? Unless they dial it back. And you might, I think this story is far from being written. Me too. I wonder with everything that's going on

with the president and the White House and trying to put rules and restrictions on this. Because right now, it's run amok. Players can change schools every year. Seems out of control. Players can change schools every year if they want. There seems to be this back and forth between, well, do we want it to be fully professionalized?

Can you put a cap on professionalization? For example, if you're going to put a cap on the amount that someone is going to transfer schools, are you not essentially limiting their earning potential? And you are. And how are you going to put a cap on it? How do you do it? Do the players have a say?

That's right. So there's so much to be decided to do. Is there going to be a player's union? Who knows? More Blue Jays talk, Lattie, coming up with Ben Shulman on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.