Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Sweep Cali

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk an impressive Canucks road win over the Kings (6:00), plus they chat the latest Seahawks news with ESPN's Brady Henderson (27:47). 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.

Whoa, wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose to the f***ing Canucks? You're listening to Halford & Brough. It comes to Hughes. Strong has come onto the ice to join the Canuck quartet as they score. Hughes threw it on wrong. And the Canucks have a 3-1 lead. LA number 10 has possessed a match probably for a legal check to the head. He tripped my boy.

I demand vengeance! I want vengeance! Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Friday. Sweet, sweet Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. This is Alfred. It is Brough.

It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Morning. Arash, good morning to you. Morning. Arash, good morning to you. Morning.

In for the ailing laddie on a Friday. Oh, poor laddie. Feel better, buddy. I'm excited to have Arash here, though. I've already forgotten about laddie. Alfred and Brev of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfy, what are you waiting for?

Kintec, I've got a lot to get into on the show today. Guest list begins at 6.30. Brady Henderson, our NFL Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join us. Now, you might be thinking, why are you talking to him? The Seahawks don't play this weekend. Well, one, it's a regularly scheduled hit. Two, it is sort of the midway point. It's actually the very much definitive midway point for the Seahawks.

Nine games into the season and a bye week, so we can look back on this first half of the season where they started great. 3-0 to start the season. And then they went and lost five of their next six. Yeah, I want to talk about a couple of things specifically with Brady. That's the future of Geno Smith as quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. And will we see Sam Howell this season at all?

And also DK Metcalf, because they didn't trade him. Now what are they prepared to pay him? 7 o'clock, AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join us. 705 Jack Michaels, play-by-play voice of the Edmonton Oilers, is going to join us as we look ahead to Saturday's game. Big game, Hockey Night Canada, Rogers Arena, Canucks-Oilers, a Pacific Division clash after the Canucks swept California on their three-game road trip.

7.30, the Moj is going to join us. We'll put a final bow on the BC Lions season and look ahead to an offseason, ask some questions about who's going to stay and who's going to go with Moj. We'll also do some Canucks talk with Moj. Speaking of Canucks talk, 8 o'clock Rick Dollywall from Donnie and Dolly is going to join the program. Again, I have no idea

what we're going to talk about. That's Brough's department. He's the Dolly handler. I think we might talk a little bit about Lekaramaki, about what he's doing in the AHL and listen, if Brock Besser, hopefully he's not hurt and hopefully he can play against the edmonton oilers but if he can't is that an opportunity for lecker or mackie uh we you know

in these tough economic times jason we're helping out today we are giving away a 100 gift card to mucho burrito again final one of the week and we're giving away a 100 gift card to aj's pizza on east broadway burritos pizza we're giving it all away the gift card to mucho burrito you got to call at 815-604-280-0650 caller number eight and caller number ocho will get the 100 gift card if you want to win the 100100 gift card to AJ's, send it and ask us anything or what we learned. It is ask us anything on the program. It's a Friday.

Hashtag it AUA or WWL. Importantly, put a pizza emoji into your text. You'll be entered into the contest to win a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Okay, I can't go in reverse. We got so much stuff we need to get into. So without further ado, Arash, 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? You missed that?

You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Quinn Hughes, just another night at the office. A goal and an assist.

Vancouver Canucks win 4-2 at Crypto.com against the Los Angeles Kings to sweep, sweep California. The first time in 15 tries that they've ever gone down and completed the trifecta of San Jose, Anaheim, and LA. They've never done it? First time in 15, according to Sportsnet Stats, a trusted account on Twitter. So the Canucks have now played 12 games, just two regulation losses. And I think you've got to hand it to them

because you hand it to them because in, you know, you hand it to numerous people in the organization from the management for, to the players, to the coaching staff, because, um, this has not been easy to start the season. There were a bunch of new players. Um, you know, the first thing that comes to mind if you're praising management is way to go out and get Kevin Lankanen because I can't imagine how the season would have started if they didn't get him. Another win for the guy. What is he, 7-0-2 now? He's been in there for all seven wins

and the two overtime or shootout losses. And, you know, if you want to praise, uh, the coaching staff, they've, you know, they found a new third line, which is incredible. And, you know, I, I would praise a guy like Connor Garland for helping out, uh, Elias Pettersson, who's been struggling a little bit. I think Garland has really helped him on that line. And, you know, it's just, they are, it hasn't been perfect to start the season. And there have been some tough losses. The worst one being that New Jersey loss at home. But look how they responded to it. Yep. Look how they responded to that stinker against New Jersey. 6-0 at home. They were terrible.

They go down and they beat San Jose and Anaheim as expected. And then they beat a very good LA Kings team in a team where they lost one of their best players early on. Pretty impressive. Just to recap the game, it was an eventful first period that saw the Kings jump out to a quick one-0 lead as the Canucks surrendered the first goal for a sixth straight time. Not a great moment for Vincent Darnay, whose stretch pass up the wall got picked off, leaving him in kind of a bad spot to defend Quinton Byfield. Now, Darnay should have backed up a little bit. It wasn't great defending from Brandstrom and Byfield. He's like, wait a minute, I can beat Kiefer Sherwood.

That guy's a forward. He goes to the net, and he scores. But the most significant play of the first came halfway through when Tanner Jeannot, for whatever reason, decided to hit Brock Besser with a cheap shot to the chin, earning him a match penalty and sending Besser to the dressing room. And as we learned as the night wore on, it would be for the rest of the night that Brock Besser would be leaving the game.

I'll be shocked if Jeno isn't suspended for the hit, which was really dumb and dirty and unnecessary. I think we can all agree with that. I don't think there's anyone that saw that hit and went, that has any part in today's game. Right. Jeannot also gave the Canucks a five-minute power play, which did not look good for most of it. For three and a half minutes, it looked pretty hopeless until Connor Garland, or rather Darcy Kemper, put one in with about a minute and a half left in the five-minute advantage. The goal was credited to Garland, but it was an own goal. Kemper clearly put it in when he attempted to clear it from the crease.

He just cleared it the wrong way. Normally when you want to clear the puck from the crease, you should put it forward. Making notes, do not want to score an own net. And instead of going forward he put it backwards he shouldn't have done that and the problem with putting it backwards when you're trying to clear it from the crease is that it it goes in your own net yeah sometimes your goalie can save it but if you're the goalie doing it well you're darcy kemper uh the canucks made a

two to one in the second when jake debras scored for a third straight game. They weren't kidding about this guy being streaky. Nine straight without one, three straight with one. Six more to go until his next nine-game slump. I can't wait for the next nine-game goal slump. DeBrusque actually had a couple of chances to score on the shift, which was yet another I'm going to call it an edgework masterclass from Quinn Hughes, who was all over the place before feeding DeBrusque with a perfect cross ice pass. Then some great hands by DeBrusque to beat Kemper to make it two to one.

Um, the Kings made it interesting, uh, later on, but that was after Quinn Hughes with like another, just like an incredible display of footwork at the blue line made it 3-1. He's like a point guard.

I was trying to decide a comparison. The postgame show was going down this road. Someone compared him to Patrick Mahomes and his elusivity and ability to distribute. Yeah, I can see that being like a like a mobile quarterback for sure but i was thinking about a point guard that brings the ball up up the court and then just controls the game from there with his distribution and this point guard like steph curry can now shoot the ball shoot the puck as it were yes uh so another multi-point game for Quinn Hughes.

JT Miller screens on the play. But as I mentioned, the Kings didn't make it interesting after Gavikov scored with six minutes left. But after a bunch of Kings pressure, and I thought they might tie it, Miller scooped up a loose buck and fired it all the way down the ice into an empty net. And as Shorty noted on the broadcast broadcast that was something the Canucks actually practiced the other day now

in my day you never went for the empty net from your own end because you didn't want to risk an icing do you remember that world juniors game where Eberle scored and the Russians iced it. Because the Russians iced it. But I guess now they've decided that the odds are better if you've got a clear shot to just go for it. Seriously, back in the day, you'd be like, what are you doing? Selfish. Selfish. Canucks practice, if you

missed the net, Taka was making them skate a lap. Is that what it was? Yeah. Because I noted Myers missed the net a little bit later, so did he have to do a lap after the game? They was they made him stay in his full uniform where are you going yeah uh miller did give a wry smirk in the post game media availability and said that i'm not giving rick any more credit for this one because it was him that put the puck in the net not all the work that rick made them do but alas um a lot of talking points to come from this game. I think the most important one, for me anyway, is that everyone was asking after that 6-0 loss to New Jersey at home.

Everyone, even like the most optimistic Canucks fan, was how is the team going to respond to this? Because it wasn't just a loss. It was a blowout at home on Huesa Palooza. It was not, there was no good to be taken from that 6-0 game. How do you respond? Well, the Canucks responded like how a good, solid veteran team that knows not only how to win, but importantly, when to win.

And that is a thing about when to win. They went out and swept California. They've now won all six of their road games this season. I believe that's the fourth longest stretch in franchise history. Six consecutive road wins, which is very impressive. And suddenly you look at the standings, you want to talk about how things change in a week. With the fewest games played in the division,

the Canucks are 7-2-3. They're two points behind the Kings. They're two points behind the Golden Knights. And they go into that game on Saturday against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, which a lot of people were circling at the beginning of the season with a lot more optimism and good

vibes than, let's say, last week when they lost to the Devils. So that's a very good thing for this team. I mean, one of the things that the team took pride in and Rick Tockett would constantly give them credit for last season was how they responded to bad performances and how they didn't let bad performances linger or snowball into even

worse performances. And you remember the Canucks of old, under their old coaching staffs, would start feeling sorry for themselves. And, you know, the woe was me. And it was tough to watch, frankly. And I think Rick Tockett has just delivered accountability to that dressing room and the leadership group is doing a good job delivering accountability to the dressing room.

And, and the other thing too is they're just a better team. Mm-hmm. Right? Like, it's a lot easier to have a good response when you've got the ability to do it. And right now, you've got Quinn Hughes, who, frankly, is giving a heart trophy-level performance. You've got Kevin Lankanen, who is playing... Giving you a best-of-the-caliber performance. Like, honestly, if Demko was in there, and he was playing as well as Kevin Lankanen, is playing. Giving you a best of the caliber performance in that. Honestly, if Demko was in there and he was playing as well as Kevin Lankanen,

we'd be like, yep, good. Lankanen was their best penalty killer last night. Yeah, I was actually surprised. I didn't think their PK looked very good. They mentioned it. Sad and big we're talking about. Yeah, like the PK was. Scrambly.

I think it was perfect. It didn't allow a goal, but I didn't think it looked very good. The Kings also missed the net a lot. They had some chances. How many shots do you think went off Lankanen's stick? There was a few. There was a few that went off. There was definitely a few.

Yeah. So, Lankanen, and then you look up front, and you've got all these guys contributing that, you know, JT Miller, of course scored that, that goal and that, that was good for him. And he also, you know,

might've gotten assist on the cut. That was a great pass to Connor Garland on Garland's goal, but they ultimately didn't give JT Miller an assist because it was an own goal from Darcy Kemper. There were three unassisted goals yesterday. Just one of the, one of the, selfish,

selfish hockey team, selfish team. Yeah. But then you look Selfish hockey team. Selfish team. Yeah. But then you look at the guys that are contributing up front. I think about Garland a lot, just how important he's become to this team. And I think about a guy like Kiefer Sherwood and frankly that entire third line.

The third line they had last year was one of the best third lines in the NHL. And now they've got another one of the best third lines in the NHL with only Teddy Bluger remaining from it, but they've got entirely new wingers. And I think it was interesting that when Brock Besser went out of the game, you know, some of you might've thought, well, maybe they'll throw up Sherwood into that spot, but he didn't want to break up that line. So it was actually Hoaglander went up there. I thought Hoaglander played quite well in that spot.

He was noticeable. He had some opportunities. They were on for a goal against, but I don't think that was his fault necessarily. Yeah. So there are guys stepping up all over the Canucks. And I think it's, I think it's good considering that, you know, again,

they're missing their starting goalie. They've got, I think, a deficiency on the back end in terms of the personnel in the bottom four. I thought Carson Soucy had a really good game last night. That was good for him to bounce back from a kind of a wild night against Anaheim. And, you know, Elias Pettersson made some nice defensive plays last night. Offensively, still not getting it done, but defensively he was battling. And, you know, if you're going to struggle offensively, you know, and it's not working and it definitely isn't working for him right now, contribute somewhere. And he did contribute. Yeah, the forward depth was the other thing that we needed to talk about after this road trip, not necessarily last night's game,

but there's not a lot of teams that can go out and have a much-ballyhooed free agent signing like Jake DeBrus come in and do absolutely nothing offensively aside from a handful of assists through the first nine games and then just sort of wait and still get results, still collect points, still get wins until he gets his game going. That's what the Canucks have been able to do.

There's a lot of NHL teams that wouldn't be able to withstand their $11.6 million a year first-line center to have five points through 12 games and still be within spitting distance of top spot in the division. But it's because the Canucks are getting contributions from Sherwood Heinen both of whom scored the previous game against Anaheim when those guys can like keep you full and keep you happy it allows the DeBrusques and to a lesser degree Pedersen because he still hasn't found his game yet but now DeBrusque is on a heater he's got three and three and this is all of a sudden a team where you're saying this is what forward depth looks like and this is why they can be so tough to game plan against because

on any given night it's not a cliche any number of combinations can go out and do damage like there's a case you could be made several times this year where that third line is their first line. We used to make that joke last year. Like the third line is the first line. The first line is the

third line. Second line is still the second line. Brandon in Vancouver texts in, are they purposely using Petey in a defensive role? Riccio mentioned he's

getting more D zone starts and I believe he's primarily playing with the Susie Myers pairing. Possibly. You know, I know the Miller line gets a lot of time with the Susie Myers pairing. Possibly. You know, I know the Miller line gets a lot of time with the Hughes and Hronik pairing,

and that's a huge advantage for them. But Petey is not being used in a defensive role in one area, and that's the power play. Right. Right? He's out there on the power play. He's out there on the power play, and, you know, he just really isn't contributing.

He had an opportunity for a one-timer, and he actually took the one-timer, and he put it about three feet wide. So he's just not feeling it right now offensively. And I know the power play did score last night, but I still think – it's funny. I would say the Kings power play looked better than the Canucks power play, but the Kings power play didn't score. The Canucks power play did score.

So it's one of those, you know, they got, they got some luck. They got some luck on the power play when Kemper, you know, put it in his own net. It was one of those games where if you didn't watch and just looked at the box score, you would have said that the Canucks quote unquote won the special teams battle. And you'd be, you know, hard pressed to argue it because, you know,

statistically speaking, they did, but I'm with you. Like the, I think it's part of this is nitpicking a little bit. Like if the penalty kill is perfect, you're not going to argue about it too much. You're going to pack your bags and fly back to Vancouver,

but Arlen was out there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mentioned that their best penalty killer was Lankanen. And before we go to break, I mean, we've said several times,

like we should not take for granted what Quinn Hughes is doing this year or at all. I think the same rule should apply to Lankanen, but maybe even more because it's so surprising to me. Like I expected based on some of the analysis that we got prior to his signing, especially from Kevin Woodley, that he'd be a fine

solid goalie right now but remember who got the start in the first game of the season it wasn't him no it was i mean a part of that was because he was like brand i don't think he had pads at that point so it would have been hard that's true hard to play without pads but if you go and look right now you could make a legitimate conversation that through the first eighth of the season, the first month of the season, the first 10, 12,

14 games of the season, Lankanen has been the second best goalie in the NHL. It's been Connor Hellebuck. And then Kevin Lankanen. He's got a nine 23 safe percentage. I know goals against is an antiquated stat, but he's got a 2.08 goals against. And here's the thing.

What's this plus minus? It's plus minus is I don't have it at the ready. Here's the thing. What's his plus minus? His plus minus is I don't have it at the ready. Here's the thing. He's a workhorse. He started eight of the last nine games. He's playing all the time. And I mean, now going into Saturday's game, like, do you even entertain the idea?

You didn't even let me finish the question. No, no. I'm looking at a rash. I'm looking at a dog. Yes, but for humor's sake, it would be very funny if they put she loves in. I'm looking at a rash. I'm looking at a dog. Yes, but for humor's sake, it would be very funny if they put she loves in. I mean. Maybe he'll find his game against the Oilers.

He played well against them. You do run the risk of him atrophying completely because he's going to go a long time without playing. Yeah, but I noted yesterday when we were talking to Drance, the part of the interview I was paying attention to. That's good. Before the... Yeah, before he said something. I don't know. I don't know what it was.

But Lankanen, if you look at total time on ice and compare it to other goalies, he's not up there in the top five or top ten because the Canucks haven't played as many games as certain teams, and they haven't had any back-to-backs, hasn't been a compressed schedule. So I'm not worried quite yet that they're running

him into the ground. Hopefully Demp goes back soon anyway, right? So I just wanted to add one more thing about Quinn Hughes and it's just that, this is so weird, but like appreciate this guy's skating. It is incredible. The dance moves that he made on his goal. He's a good little dancer.

They had a camera that was on him and just him. So they had a closeup of his footwork. And this was after the game, they showed the shift. I took my remote control and I watched it, rewound it. I'm not kidding you. 10 times just to see what he was doing with his feet.

And it is incredible. Like, and, and, and actually the King's defense, but I don't know who that was. Well, he player, but he looked like he was having the worst moment of his life. No, and it is incredible. Especially the Kings defenseman. I don't know who that was, but he looked like he was having the worst moment of his life.

He's like, I have no idea how to defend this. And did you see how far off he was from Hughes? Oh yeah, he could not keep pace with him. He's like, well, no, he just stood there. Yeah, he just gave up. There was no keeping pace. It was just like, all right. I don't know what's going on here.

He was just like watching. It was like Fred Astaire out there with the tap dancing it was timely reference it was it was in it was incredible to watch and if you see the edge work that he uses and how quickly his feet work and the deception that he puts into his game very few guys in the league that can do that that's why I compare him to a point guard. Sometimes you get these point guards that can, I mean, he's not putting the puck between his leg or anything, but it's just like...

Not yet. Not yet. It's just the deception that he uses in order to open up passing lanes and shooting lanes. That pass he made to DeBrusque, everyone was like, what a great goal by DeBrusque. Sick pass, though. And I'm like,

what about Hughes' pass? It was right on the money. And at any rate, I'm going on and on, but I'm sure none of you really care that much. We're all happy to have a player like Quinn Hughes right now.

It's incredible to watch. Just incredible. And frankly, I think Connor McDavid is the best player in the league, but I think right now, It's incredible to watch. And frankly, you know, I think Connor McDavid is the best player in the league, but I think right now, I don't know if there's anyone playing as well as Quinn Hughes. Well, I mean, yeah, if you want to put a tangible end point

on that soliloquy there, it would be this should all lead towards Hughes being a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate and finalist this year. That should be the push. I know we're aiming high. Aim high, the push. I know we're aiming high. Aim high, Willis. I know we're aiming high,

but right now he's the leading scorer on this team. He's playing 25 minutes a night. If you want to look at something that gives you an idea of how valuable he is, check the disparity between him and the next leading defenseman scorer in the Vancouver Canucks, who for fun facts is Philip Peronik with four points.

And I don't think, has another Canuck defenseman scored a goal this season yet? I still don't think they have. I don't think so. If I'm not mistaken. So you're talking about a guy that is carrying a blue line. It's almost single-handedly, sometimes single-handedly, and is leading his team overall.

All the forwards that they have, all these great forwards that are scoring at close to a point in the game. Besser, Miller, Garland, all close to a point in the game. Hughes is outscoring them. And you know what? He's also a nice young man. And he's a nice guy. Good captain, good leader.

Brady Henderson's going to join us next for a little Seahawks talk, but don't forget, it's Ask Us Anything Friday, and after we talk to Brady for a few minutes, we'll dip into the Dunbar-Lumber text line at 650-650. The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome details at DunbarLumber.com.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 6.33 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. It's a Fiesta Friday here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We're giving away Mucho Burrito gift cards on Fiesta Friday.

The symmetry of this show, I tell you. Halford & Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are an hour one of the program. Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join us in just a moment here.

Do you think there's a burrito out there with a piece of pizza inside? I've been thinking about this all morning because we're giving away both gift cards. Do you think there's a pizza burrito? Literally, just someone just shoves a slice of pizza in a burrito and wraps it up? You could probably take the traditional top.

That's an abomination. I mean, I'd eat it. Very unwieldy. Hard to eat. I think you could take the traditional toppings from a pizza and put it in a burrito. No, no, I want a full slice in there. All right. That's a lot of carbs.

Okay. Doesn't seem to be a problem for you? There's definitely one out there. Yeah, actually, you know what? There's definitely one out there. I must find this. Okay. Before we get to rating, I need to tell you that

hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. The Seahawks have hit the midway point of the season. They're on a break. They got a bye.

They're four and five. That's not great, but we want to know more about the midway point of the season. Joining us now, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, Brady Henderson here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Brady. How are you? Morning, fellas. I'm doing great. How's it going? week, but we're going to bring it back down to earth a little bit here because I want to ask about a mid-season grade that you would give this Seahawks team. I mentioned the record. It's 4-5. Started great. They were 3-0 to start. They've lost 5-6 since then, and it's been

a tough go the last couple weeks, especially at home. There's a rookie head coach. There's a bunch of things going on. If you had to grade the first half of this Seahawks season, Brady, how would you grade it? it boy I would probably go B minus I mean they have not been a good team for much of this stretch but I think I would go B minus over C plus just because you also expected there to be some rough patches in the first year of a new program with all the newness on the coaching staff that we've talked about I think that the thing that's probably most troubling is just some of these sloppy undisciplined play

and they lead the nfl in penalties after 12 for you know what 90 yards on sunday and then there's also just the line of scrimmage sloppiness that um you really think that they would have figured out by this point in the season i realized they've got got a new center, and Connor Williams has struggled with snaps in the past, but you're midway through the season, and you just shouldn't still be dealing with some of the issues that they've been dealing with. So you can understand some of the schematic issues when you're breaking in new schemes on both sides of the ball, but just the operation stuff that's really got nothing to do with scheme, that's the thing that I think drags their grade down for me. Does it matter that so many of their losses have come at home? And they've been really bad losses. The loss to

the New York Giants was bad. The loss to the Buffalo Bills was bad. And frankly, I'm going to throw the loss to the Rams in there as bad because they had opportunities to win that game and they just made so many mistakes. Yeah, and there's been a lot of conversation locally about, you know, the home field advantage and what used to be a great home field advantage is no longer. And we can talk all day about sort of the why of that and about why

it seems like it just anecdotally there's more opposing fans at lumen field than there have been in the past that not not so much in that rams game just because the rams don't have a really deep fan base i mean they have a hard enough time filling out their own stadium let alone getting people to travel but certainly the bills the week before I mean, that's as many opposing fans as I can remember at Lumen Field in a really long time. And, again, you can go into sort of the why of that. As you may know, we've got some inflation issues, and in America things are pretty expensive.

So maybe it's the fact that fans are, you know, selling some of their tickets for a premium to try to make some money. I don't know. But I know this, that the sort of assumption for a long time has been that, you know, the fans make the Seahawks defense great when they're playing at home. And I think there is some truth to that. But I think it works both ways. I think it's not only that the fans being loud makes the defense great, it's the defense being

great that also makes the fans loud. You can't expect fans to yell for three hours or for however long the Seahawks are on defense at home when their defense has been as bad as it has been for most of the last five seasons. So I think that thing goes both ways, and I

think part of the reason why they haven't had that home field advantage lately is just because they haven't been a very good team. In particular, they haven't been a very good defense. I find myself going back and forth between sticking up for Geno Smith and kind of ripping Geno Smith. And that game against the Rams was a classic example of that. I realize that he does throw a lot of good balls, and he has a terrible offensive line in front of him, but the mistakes that he made in key moments, and there have been more and more of them it seems this season,

how do you square that with the future of the Seahawks and the quarterback position? Yeah, they have been. It's such a complicated issue with so many layers, and talk about something we could spend all day talking about here. It's really hard to project how it's all going to unfold because you could look at Geno. I mean, it's sort of like a, what do you call it, a Rorschach test.

You know, like you could look at the way he's played and say, okay, this is a guy who's had to carry their offense because they've had no run game and their offensive line is terrible. And he's been doing as well as any quarterback could do, not name, you know, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Lamar Jackson in the situation. You could also look at it and say, pressure aside, all that aside, he's still making some mistakes that are really killing them. And, you know, look, the first interception bounced off the wide receiver's hands.

You really can't put that on the quarterback. Second one and the third one, you could both point to some of those, you know, some of what happened in those plays and say, okay, you know, Gino gets hit as he throws on the first one. Okay. You understand why he didn't get everything on that throw. Second one, AJ Barner gets held up as he's crossing the line of scrimmage or crossing the formation, excuse me. And, you know, Gino's kind of trying to play with anticipation and trying to throw that ball to where he thinks Barner is going to be. That said, you know, on the first one, he even admitted it.

He sort of held onto that ball too long. Just throw that ball out of the back of the end zone before Jared Hurst gets to you. Second one, yeah, just make sure that A.J. Barner gets across the formation and he's open before you unleash that ball, especially in the red zone or, you know, near the goal line, knowing that, you know that every mistake is catastrophic.

And they just had too many of those catastrophic mistakes. And so no matter which side of that coin you fall on, the reality is this team is not going to have a lot of alternatives and not a lot of viable alternatives if they decide not to pay Gino Smith and if they decide to move on from him this offseason. Sam Howell, you know, I was on another radio show yesterday and the question was posed to me, what would the Seahawks record be with Sam Howell at quarterback this season? If he had started all nine games,

I honestly think they might be one in eight because I don't know which of the other, which of the four games they would have won aside from the Miami game, which they, you know, they ran that game going away. So this might be a one-and-eight football team with Sam Al. I really don't think he's the answer. Not a great quarterback draft, especially if you're not going to be picking in the top ten. So, yeah, that's a long-winded answer of saying

there's both sides of the way Gino's playing right now, and there's not a clear path to replacing him this coming offseason if you don't feel like he's the guy. In light of what you just said, is it fair to suggest that the most pressing priorities for this team, in terms of personnel changes, and I know it's still the midway point of this season, so we're a long way away from that,

but is finding some more defenders that can defend the way Mike McDonald wants them to and improving the offensive line. You're talking about for this coming offseason? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think one of the sort of under-the-radar surprises this past offseason was they really didn't sign any of Mike McDonald's former players. And that's usually an automatic when a new coach takes over.

You typically see him bring in a couple free agents from the team that he came from just to help with that transition, and they really didn't do that. And maybe it just didn't make sense with each individual player. You know, Geno Stone, I don't think they were ever going to sign Matt Ibuke. I think he got franchise tagged anyways. But, like, Geno Stone, Kyle Vanyle van noe clowny was there last year there there were some other guys that could have signed and maybe it's just as simple as it it didn't make sense individually because you know it just wasn't a right fit for whatever reason maybe money wise or whatever but yeah i

would expect him um you know in the second year to – I would expect there to be some turnover and getting more players that he feels like are a fit for that scheme. He had some coaches, too. So, you know, for the lack of, you know, players that he had, he did have, I think, enough coaches that he brought over or at least guys that he had worked with in the past to help with that transition. But, yeah, I think you're going to need some more.

I think linebacker is the big one. Obviously, they've got Ernest Jones. They're going to have to re-sign him. But, you know, I do think they might have to make another move at that other spot, inside linebacker, knowing that Tyrell Dotson is a free agent or will be a free agent. And, you know, he hasn't really solidified that spot either. So, have the Seahawks now effectively committed to paying DK Metcalf big money?

Not necessarily, no. I mean, because you could still, if you are of the mind that you're better off trading him, I think you could still do that in the offseason. But you just weren't going to do it at the trade deadline. I mean, the thought of, you know, this has become a conversation of would they be better off? Would their team just sort of big picture roster-wise be better off if you trade DK Metcalf and you are then able to, you know, get some very high picks to really address your offensive line and fill out other holes and really start that clock over on those, you know, first round picks or on cheap rookie contracts who aren't going to be in line like DK Metcalf would be for a $30 million per year extension.

There is, I think, some merit to that argument. But when you look at the trade deadline and the wide receivers that were traded before that, I think the best comps were probably Amari Cooper and Sorry. I'm blanking on his name, Amari Cooper, and then Devante Adams. And you're talking third round picks in those trades. I think one of them was a conditional third round pick. And then maybe there was some pick swapping late,

but the best pick was a third round pick. Okay. Forget about it. So like, if you're, if it's one thing, if you're thinking it's going to be some Jamal Adams, like hall or something similar to what Tyree Kill got traded for a couple of years ago

from Kansas City to Miami, then you can have that conversation. But if all you're getting is a third round pick or even a single second round pick, then forget about it. And maybe that's just the product of teams aren't willing to pay that kind of premium in season. Maybe they're a little bit more willing to do so in the offseason. You saw that with Tyreek Hill a couple years ago. That was, I think, multiple first-round picks changing hands in that trade.

So if there's something like that on the table, then that's a conversation. But it's a non-starter given where the wide receiver market was, the trade market at that position over the last couple weeks. Real quick, one more, just because we were talking about Metcalf and what he means to this team at the wide receiver position. Did that game before the break, the 26-20 loss in overtime to Los Angeles, was that the first inkling that Jackson Smith and Jigma might be ready to become the number one guy on this team?

Yeah, there have been some signs, but by and large, he hasn't really had that breakout game i think the the other one was the new england game but yeah and i think the big thing is i've got the notes right in front of me because i'm getting ready to talk about it on another radio station his average depth per target this year is 9.12 yards as a rookie it was a little under six so they are starting to use him as more than just a move the chains, kind of third down slot guy. You're throwing the ball to him deep, and he's showing that even without that elite speed,

he can be a pretty good deep threat. Brady, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy the bye week. We'll do this again next Friday. Sounds good, fellas. Talk to you then.

Talk then. That's Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Pre-game to post-game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Visit them on the internet at theclaytonpub.com. We got a bunch of texts in to the Dunbar-Lumber text line. I just wanted to read this one from Bubble Matthew.

Matthew writes in, Pavel Bury seemed to arrive as a fully realized player. One thing that has been so impressive about Quinn Hughes is that every offseason he works on something specific in his game, and the next year there is a vast improvement. It's inspiring to see someone keep leveling up like that. Yeah, for multiple reasons too. First of all, because it's good for the Canucks.

Yes. That their best player keeps on getting better. But also, he's the captain. And how many times did we hear when the Sedins were the leaders on the group, everyone would come in, new players, young players, and they would say, those two work so hard. They're always working on their game. They're always out of practice. And listen, I'm not trying to start something here,

but I think there's a reason why Rick Tockett, when he talks about Elias Patterson, says, he's got to work harder on his game. You know? So, and move his feet for that matter too. Think about the two guys that we've maybe praised the most in terms of Canucks skaters. And it's probably been Hughes and, well, maybe Connor Garland.

Those guys are always moving their feet. Now, I think Petey did a good job of moving his feet last night defensively. Made some really key plays defensively. And hopefully that can help out the offense. But you know how Hughes is constantly moving his feet when he has the puck. Yep. When he has the puck and that opens up passing lanes,

it opens up shooting lanes. You can even beat a guy one-on-one. Quinn Hughes can beat two guys one-on-one. That's what Petey Nets needs to get back to. He's not beating guys anymore. He's not getting past them with his deception by skating, by moving his feet. I think he's trying. He's involved in a lot of board battles. He's involved defensively. He's getting involved in the defensive scrums in front of the net.

He's going to the net offensively, but he's not beating guys one-on-one and he's not helping with things like entries on the power play or entries just five on five and that's the next step for him yeah i mean that's the big thing right now with hughes is his ability to create something from nothing which is really just a one-on-one i mean you're not drawing that up other than the game plan being like, you should get the puck to Quinn. And when he doesn't have the puck, consider giving him the puck and then let him do things with it.

Like, that's not whiteboard one-on-one or anything. That's just like he is going to create things because he can move his feet faster than the guy that's trying to defend him. Tones texts in, do you guys think the Canucks call up Lekker or Mackey? Or is Joshua close enough that you play Hoaglander up the lineup and let Lekker or Mackey cool in the AHL? First of all, we need to find out what's going on with Brock Besser. Now he left yesterday's game. Rick Tockett didn't provide any update. He kind of, I don't know, he was ignorant of the situation or feigned ignorance of the situation, but Besser has had, I think, one concussion in his career,

and that was all the way back in 2019, and it was during the preseason. And he's able to come back pretty quickly from it, if I recall. Hopefully, he doesn't even have a concussion. Maybe they were just being overly cautious with him. That was a big, dirty, cheap hit from Tanner Jeannot and I expect Tanner Jeannot is going to be suspended. I don't know if we've heard anything from player safety yet about whether he'll earn a hearing or whatever. I know he was given a match penalty and thrown out of the game, and that is a punishment in itself,

but I think it deserves more than that. Yeah, if Besser isn't ready to go on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, it'll be curious to see what they do about it. They could, I suppose, call up Leckar Mackey, or maybe Dakota Joshua is ready to go and they'll put him into the lineup. But don't forget, Joshua missed a practice this week

and didn't get a lot of attention. And he was supposed to practice and he didn't. And Tockett said, look, it isn't a setback, but they're going to be cautious with Dakota Joshua too. So maybe they just recall Baines. You know, that's possible. I thought Hoaglander did pretty well on a line with JT Miller and DeBrusque last night when he was called up onto that line

to replace Besser. Because remember, Besser was missing for most of the game. The hit happened halfway through the first period. And then you could just put Baines back onto the fourth line with, you know, whoever and Sprong. And then, you know, it's not ideal, but I think you really got to ask yourself the question, you know, do you want to rush Dakota Joshua back? You know, you ask yourself the question, look, would this guy be playing

if Besser wasn't out? Or do you want to put Lek amaki into that situation i'd love to see lecker amaki you know as a curiosity thing but you got to do what's right for the prospect so the number of insiders or people around the team that have either hinted or intimated at a lecker amaki call up leads me to believe that it's probably in the works in some capacity and this might be you know the spark that lights the fire that allows him to rise right I mean iMac tweeted it out last night we've heard Dolly Wall reference it we've heard Freed's reference it that wouldn't surprise any of them if he was to get in I do wonder if any injury to Besser or even just an abundance of caution with

Besser, like, yeah, you're okay, but we're going to make sure that there's nothing wrong here because remember, uh, hit to the head exits,

the game doesn't return flies home overnight. Like there's, you know, there's a lot going on there in terms of making sure that the player is okay. Uh, a rash got in my ear here, apparently on the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts,

which recorded overnight and is now available for public consumption, Freed actually spoke about the Tanner Jeannot hit on Brock Besser. Now, I know Joey Kenwood threw it out there that a majority of guys who received a match penalty for hits to the head last year ended up with either a, somewhere in the neighborhood of a 2-5 game suspension. I would be shocked if Jeannot doesn't get a suspension just based on the eye test. But for more on the incident last night, here's Elliot Friedman from 32 Thoughts. The number one thing I look at when there's any head contact is does Besser do anything

at the last second that gives Jeannot or anybody who hits him an excuse to hit his head. Does he move his head at the last moment? Does he make a sudden movement that a player can't alter their path? And the answer here is no. Like Besser's head does not move. That responsibility is on Genoa to not make contact with the head or not pick the head and you know sometimes if a player comes back you can escape a further suspension because they'll say oh he got kicked out with 50 minutes left in the game it was you know just after 10 minutes into the first period that's long enough but now that Besser's hurt and he didn't come back, that's not going to help Jeannot here.

So, a match penalty is an automatic review, and that obviously was going to get reviewed anyway, and Jeannot's got to know he's in danger of more games for this one. You can't do that. The responsibility is

on him. Okay, coming up on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650, AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is going to join us at 7. After him, Jack Michaels, play-by-play voice of the Edmonton Oilers as we look ahead to Saturday's big game

on Hockey Night in Canada. Moj at 7.30, Dolly Wall at 8. And two $200 gift cards to give away today to Mucho Burrito and AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. It's a big show. Hour one is in the books. Two more to go. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.