Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Departure of Sherwood + Whitecaps Season Outlook

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

In hour 2, Mike Halford and Jason Brough are joined by Sheng Peng (3:30) to chat about the San Jose Sharks season. The trade sending Kiefer Sherwood down to San Jose, whether Macklin Celebrini should be a legit Hart candidate, and an epic goaltender fight last night. After, Director of White Caps Sporting Operations Axel Schuster (25:50) joins the show from the Whitecaps training camp in Spain to preview their upcoming season. 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.

goes after Rodriguez he's throwing punches. On a Tuesday, happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford, Braves, SportsNet 650. The first goalie fight in the NHL since, wait for it,

Mike Smith fought Cam Talbot in the Battle of Alberta back on February 1st, 2020. So, yeah, six years. Six years between goalie fights. I don't think there's a more exciting

thing if you were actually in person at the game and you're able to see the goalie start to skate across the ice and you're like yes and I say this as a goalie though has there ever been a like a great goalie fight? Yeah. Ray Amory that wasn't with another goal

well he beat down Behran and then moved on very quickly. Wasn't Felix Potfan a pretty good fighter too? Felix Potvin was a pretty decent fighter. Yeah it's probably the best one when he punched Hextal. It's hardwarming to know that in these trying times where we're so polarized and tribalized and everyone's at different ends of the spectrum,

there's one unifying thing that's everybody loves a goalie fight. Yeah. I cannot find a single person on the planet that doesn't like it. Why do the officials try to stop it every time? I don't know. It's the perfect combination of aggression, which we like in sports, but also pretty funny. Hilarious costumes.

Pretty great. You know, you know what? Every time I look at, I was like, that looks exhausting. Yeah. Just exhausting. Putting the gear off and on is exhausting. So fighting in it, yeah, that's exhausting as well. You didn't get to play this part of the clip,

but the best part is, so they got two, five, and ten, I think. Pretty standard fare for, but they don't serve the penalties. So Bobrowski got to, in front of his home crowd, skate off, collect his breath,

then come right back down the tunnel and reenter the game to this thunderous applause that you're not going to get any other way. They didn't kick him out? Nope, he went right back in the game, went down the tunnel,

and people were going ballistic. It was awesome. Anyway, uh, Shang Pang is patiently waiting. on the line here. Before we get to them, we do need to get into some business here. We're now an hour two of the program of the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Got CRA debt. Sands and Associates cut what you owe by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. This hour of the program is also brought to you by Jason hominock at Jason dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. Dom Mortgage. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio, Make 2026, year-year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics. We have a very, maybe old, but very learned listenership because a lot of people are texting in about Patrick Waugh versus Chris Osgood.

Another good one. Patrick Waugh was in Rogers Arena yesterday. That's right. Chris Osgood was, hey, not so willing combatant in that one, but he did it and God bless me, tried. Okay, to the phone lines we go. Our next guest is from NBC Sports, California. San Jose Hockey now. Shang Peng joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Shane. How are you? Hey, how's good? Good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. I guess we got to start with the goalie fight. You were there to witness it. What did Alex Nadelcovic have to say in the aftermath?

Because speaking of maybe not so willing combatants, I think he knew he had to do it, but maybe he wasn't all that thrilled in having to fight. I think he was more surprised than anything to see Sergey Mabrosky streaking down the ice like that, like the flash there. So, no, he definitely, I think, was a woeing combatant. But that was an interesting fight, though. And I think Ned got the best of at the end. Let's talk about the Kiever-Shirwood trade.

That was the big news here yesterday, obviously, of Vancouver. And I would imagine pretty big news in San Jose yesterday. A multi-part question here, how was the trade received? in the room by the guys. And do you get a sense that this may be a rental for San Jose or maybe potentially a longer-term thing with Kiever Sherwood?

I think that the idea is to keep him around. I don't think the sharks are in a position right now to yet to be doing rental. So I think the hope is to keep him around. He does seem like a perfect Mike Rear player. Just just a perfect

type of a forechecker speed. And that's a lot of what the sharks tried to do. They try to play this up-tempo style, and I think Sherwood fits it well. And so I think the plan is to try to keep them. The room, I think the room can see that the sharks aren't selling anymore. This is the first time that sharks have legitimately added a player at a trade deadline to help them make the playoffs since 2019, Gustav Nyquist. So that had long ago. It's been

seven years, seven long years for the sharks. And so definitely well-received to get a guy like Sherwood. The general consensus I got from all the analysis that came out yesterday was this was almost a late Christmas present from the general manager, Mike Greer, to a team that I think a lot of people would say has defied expectations to hang around the playoff chase this long. Do you see it in a similar vein and how far ahead of the curve are the sharks in terms of being a playoff contender? Well, yeah, I think the team has definitely earned it. Macklin celebrated as emerging as one of the best players in the league. league has definitely dragged the timeline forward. And you have to show a guy like Macklin, who's due for extension on July 1st, that

you're serious about winning because that's what he is all about. And so in terms of this team being a playoff contender, I mean, the West is weak, so the sharks can make it. Actually, from this point on in their schedule, according to the Tankasson, they have the weakest schedule in the league. And after the Olympics, the toughest teams that they face, I think, are Edmonton and Montreal. They don't have Colorado, they don't have Tampa Bay.

They don't have some of the clear-cut cup contenders on their schedule after the Olympics. So there was kind of a runway for the sharks here to make the playoff, even if they don't last too long in it. The sharks have a ton of cap space for next season. It's funny, you go to their puckpedia page, and you're like, oh, yeah, carry prices, $10.5 million. Cap-Hid is coming off the books next season. got guys like Macklin Celebrini playing on his ELC,

do you expect them to be movers and shakers this offseason? I know they got a couple kids on the blue line, but they got to make over that defense as well, don't they? Yeah, no doubt. And I think that if they continue as they have been, and McLean doesn't hit a wall and they make the playoffs, that that does move the timeline forward, And yes, I can see them being very aggressive to add a piece or two on the defense.

Where is the defense, is the area of concern? I know they just acquired Kiefer-Shirwood, so they acquired a winger. But, you know, I'm looking at all these guys that you got Klingberg, Ferraro, Liljigrin, Dernay-N-A, they're all pending UFAs. Dmitri Orlov's 34 years old. he's only got one more year left on his deal. Now they got a kid like Sam Dickinson waiting in the wings, but he's only 19.

Is that the area you look at as needing the most work? Yeah, yeah, definitely. The Sherwood trade was a surprise. If you look at the sharks, if they have depth anywhere, it would be on the wing, actually. But Sherwood, though, again, the type of player, though, that the sharks don't have. They don't have that in their system either,

of that type of player. And so I think that's why that made sense. But the defense is the clear sort of, if the sharks are going to make that leap into cup contention, then that's the area that needs to be addressed somehow, some way. Speaking of Cup contention, they did take care of the defending Stanley Cup champions last night in Florida. I think lost in all of this with the goalie fight and everything else

was that the sharks went in there in Matthew Kachuk's return and won a pretty important and pretty, you know, very spirited hockey game. How significant was that victory last night, Shang? I know it's only won in a 82 game regular season, but it felt like not just the win, but the way that the sharks were able to win that really made a statement yesterday. Yeah, you know, if you think about last year,

last year the sharks were in Florida, they were outshot 54 to 29 in a 3-1 loss of the Panthers completely dominated that game. They were just stayed in that game because McKenzie Blackwood made 51 saves in that game. Two days later, they're practicing at the Panthers practice facility, and they trade McKenzie Blackwood,

basically waving a white flag for the season last year. So, you know, what a difference the year makes? Same location a year later. They are adding Keith, Keith of Sherwood, one of the best better forwards out there, trade deadline forwards out there. And they basically, they honestly, they bullied the Panthers yesterday.

I mean, D.RNA was knocking around Massachusetts to Chuck, Granted, it was Kachachuk's first game in a while. And granted, these aren't the same Panthers from last year. You know, they don't have Barkoff. They've had a lot of injury. So, you know, that's all granted. But they knocked them around. Pavel Raganza set up for Michael Mesa.

Obviously, when the Panthers pushed back, you know, the Delcovic fought back. So that was just a remarkable, a remarkable day in a lot of ways. Just how much has changed, you know, around the Sharks franchise. in a year. Covering him as closely as you have this season and seeing the trajectory that the sharks are on, how much consideration should Macklin Celebrini get, not just to be a

heart trophy finalist for MVP, but potentially winning the heart trophy for most valuable player? I think if the sharks make the playoffs, right now he's my vote. He, I think the only other player that is as involved

in the scoring for their team is Honor McDavid, right? 50% of the points. I think Bacclan is right there. Of course, I think he has like 30 or 35 more points than second place on his team, which might be

Alex Wembourg. It's incredible. He's got 72 points, Celebrini. Winberg has 33. That is... 39. So there's no dry saddle for Celebrini. No. No, no, no dry saddle. And so if you look at the definition,

right, like is Connor McDavid? it's still a better player than Macklin celebrating. Yes, he is. Is Nathan McKinn a better player than Macklin celebrating? Yes, he is. But most valuable, if he took Macklin out of the Sharks' lineup, I'm not really sure what they would do.

And obviously with Macklin, do you see some of the clips too? I think a clearer one was his assist in Washington, his assistant, his assistant regenda, where he takes the puck from Nick Dow to pretty good center himself. And that kind of 200-foot game,

that kind of hunger for the puck and blend out with offensive skill. I mean, that kind of play is kind of a statement of why he is worthy of being the Hart Trophy winner. Chang, I know you're the airport and I know you've got to fly, so we'll let you fly. Thanks for doing this. We appreciate you taking time. Enjoy Kiefer Sherwood. He's a lot of fun to cover and a really good guy.

I look forward to it. Thanks. Thank you. That's Shang Peng from San Jose Hockey now. And NBC Sports California here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Yeah, you know, so a few people texting in about the sharks and saying they're still not there. I think the sharks realize they're still not there. But they want guys like Kierfeshirwina on the team.

He's a good player to have on your team. Now, are they going to risk maybe overpaying? Maybe, but they also have a ton of cap space. A ton. Now, you don't want to get into the habit of overpaying guys, but that's the least of their concerns right now. They've got to get to the cap floor for next season. So that's not really a concern for them.

Although they do, you know, we've talked about this before. You have to be careful to make sure not to hit the gas too early. Yeah, I don't necessarily think picking up Sherwood for a couple seconds is that. Now, if they, if they entertain the idea of an extension, like personally, if I'm saying. What are you talking about if they entertain? They are going to entertain. I think that's the mistake. Oh, my God, Alfred.

Why do you think they got them? Why do you think they got him for a little boost? Give him a little boost. Get him into the playoffs. What a freaking boost. And then decide afterwards what you want to do. Okay. Here's the thing with Sherwood. I will almost guarantee that he signed.

In San Jose? Yes. I would push back on that. I got a feeling he might go to market. Okay. Anyway, here's the thing with Sherwood. We've said this before. I think you could very much make the case that the season prior,

maybe this season of the best seasons he's ever going to have in the NHL. it would be difficult to suggest. But if he keeps bringing this level of energy and, you know, willingness to shoot the puck, willingness to do those things, that's fine. I don't think you're necessarily getting him as a pure goal score. That's not why.

I'm not talking about goal scoring, though. I'm talking about everything. Okay. I'm talking about the energy it takes to play the style that he does. Yeah, it's hard. Right? The fact that he's going to, I mean, the drop off for guys,

he's been a hungry player for a long time. Yeah, right? Yeah. And then what happens when you're not so hungry anymore, right? He was also a lay bloomer. What happens when you've bloomed? You know, those kind of questions. I think right now, he's a great fit for what San Jose wants to do. You know what I did think about, though? Oddly enough, another, remember when San Jose picked up Yannick Hanson? Remember that way back when? And I thought that was going to work. It just never

worked. And that was so weird. Yeah. Because you felt like, and I know we're just going down the way way back machine here for no particular reason. I don't think there's any similarities, by the way, other than the fact that Hansen and Sherwood were late bloomers that turned into fairly decent goal scores in Vancouver. And they worked hard. The sharks were in a much different position at that point. Hanson never making it in San Jose was the weirdest thing to me ever. Yeah.

I didn't get it because he was such a selfless player. And he would almost do anything that anybody had. He could play up and down the lineup. He just didn't find a spot in San Jose. Maybe the coach didn't like him. I don't know. He'd always feel like he was a guy that if the coach told to do something, he'd be like, yes, sir.

And he go and do it and everyone would be like, that's great, but it just never worked there. Curtis in T-Town texts in and said, if Foot is questioning the vet's culture and work ethic, why is Patrick Alvin protecting this core and refusing to trade them? How can they mentor the young guys if they don't have their own stuff together? I mentioned the cap floor when it comes to the San Jose Sharks. I did not expect Patrick Alvin to reference the cap floor which he did yesterday

and he said well you can't trade all these veterans because as we've seen players are hard to find in free agency and I'm paraphrasing here but then he said you know you have to get to the cap floor was that just a I think it was a throwaway offhand comment

or was that them hinting at the fact that they're not going to be a cap team or maybe even close over the next couple of years because that is one way. If the team expects that maybe their revenues are going to decline a little bit if they go into this rebuild, one way to offset that is you don't spend to the cap. I think that's, I think not spending the cap is a viable option because you could spin it and saying we're keeping our options open. If we need to bring some money aboard during the season, maybe we take a bad contract on, whatever. And I know those are less and less. The only reason you would spend to the cap in a rebuild

is to weaponize that cap space and to take on the odd bad contract. Correct. Now, I'll say this. When Alvin said the line, and maybe it was a throwaway line, so I'm not going to like hold it, you know, behold it to her,

like have it engraved, you know, whatever. I don't think that you need to find any reason to keep a majority of these veterans around other than do you honestly and earnestly believe that they're going to be beneficial to this rebuild. And they're only going to be beneficial in one or two ways. And one is setting a good example and mentoring the young guys. And the other one is not allowing crappy habits to creep in.

You're a gatekeeper at that point. So right now, there's a lot of guys, and we heard from Adam Foote yesterday, that are failing to do that. I don't think it's that difficult in free agency to find guys that are maybe looking for a shot are maybe, and I hate leveraging desperation against the guy, but maybe look and to hang on, that will come in and do exactly what you ask them to do, that's not win hockey games.

That's the hard part. Because you wouldn't have to change their job description. I look back at what Ian Cole brought in. Was he great on the ice? At times, no. At times there was a struggle. Yeah, he had a tough playoff. But everyone loved him.

And he exemplified all of the characteristics and attributes that they wanted from a veteran leader. And they brought him in on a one-year deal, and he came in, everyone liked him, and then he was gone. I think there are more guys out there like that than a lot of people understand. A lot of guys that would love to keep their NHL careers going

to be that kind of veteran mentor. And you pay them accordingly. Don't give them onerous contracts. You don't overpay for intangibles, like the Great Beagle and Rousel deals. You can overpay a little bit. The problem with Jay Beagle was not. not the cap hit.

The problem was the term. Yeah. I still remember when the debate or it was rumored the Kinnucks were interested in Jay Beagle. Okay. And then we were like, ah, two year deal, that's fine. Maybe three years, maybe three, if you have to stretch it. And then they announced it and it was a four year deal. And they're like, what are these guys doing?

Yeah, see, that's too long. What are you doing? Two years was pushing it. That's, if you double that. That's four. That's insanity. What did Patrick Alvin say yesterday that was interesting to you? Oh, I mean, there was a lot into, there was a lot of updates as a matter of fact.

So with the line of questioning opened up beyond the Sherwood trade and there were a bunch of injury updates, do we want to talk about this Thatcher Demko update that he's sort of in passing, mentioned that Thatcher Demko is now Carmen San Diego scouring the world for solutions with regards to his health. And they don't have any sort of timeline on Demko's return, only that he's seeking, specials and Alvin was the one that said like around the world. Yeah. Right. That seems to be more common now that players are going over to Europe for diagnosis.

I guess because the United States is back to like using leeches or something. Maybe. We didn't get into the specifics. Patrick Alvin just said the Demko is gathering further assessments on his lower body injuries, plural and that the organization still hasn't ruled out shutting him down for the season. At this stage of the proceedings, I'd be very, very, very. surprised if they brought him back because I think the immediate question would be what's the point other than to see where he's at but the games don't matter he might win you games you don't

particularly want to win and as Woodley said on our show yesterday there's a sense that he rushed himself back from the previous injury which has been a recurring theme for Demco and I don't hold this against him at all he's a competitor he's a fighter he wants to play he's probably going to push his body to the max. And oftentimes pushing your body to the max means pushing things earlier than they should, right? Trying to fast track the timeline. By the way, did you get the sense when Patrick Alvin was talking that as much as he's trying to say the right things like, we're in a rebuild now, you know, I don't want to make excuses. If you hooked him up to a lie detector, his truth would be like,

we got screwed by injuries. I think Alvin... We got screwed by injuries. I think he did make some sort of comment about the record with... Nine and five. Heedle or Rossi in the lineup. Heedle or Rossi.

Nine and five with one of those two in the lineup. Yeah. Right? Now, I think that part of that isn't necessarily just Alveen. I think it's a bit of an organizational ethos. We got screwed. But hockey gods.

Who could have seen a number of. injury to Philippa. Victim mentality in Vancouver? No. Not us. Surely you jest. I think sometimes they fall back on that. And that starts to the top, right?

Rutherford does it a lot. I don't love it. I know what he's trying to say. He's trying to paint a full picture. But I don't love the incessant pinning of the Miller-Peterson feud as the breaking point for everything. You know what else they do a lot that I don't like?

I don't like the revisionist history. I really don't. We've been a rebuild for two or three years, actually. I hate that. Yeah. I hate that. That's the cake and eating it to thing, right? But it's not because they never said it before.

When they were out, you know, resigning Brock Besser and Connor Garland, Thatcher Demko and trading for Evander Kane, you never heard that those were moves to facilitate the rebuild that we thought we're going to rebuild? Mike, we heard two months ago that the rebuild is not what we want to do. Yeah. So it's not even like that messaging was there and they're just revisiting it. It's complete revisionist history. It's also like... And it's unbecoming. I mean, we joked about it right after he said it.

But when he said, well, actually, you know, the process of rebuilding has been going on for two or three years with the young players we brought in. Every team has young players. Yeah. Everybody's got them. You know? You know, some teams don't trade away all their first round picks. Well, and the blaming the young players phenomenon that's been going on,

kind of got blown to smithereens last night because the head coach after 49 games finally said, well, there's also this big recurring issue that we have with our veteran players. I'm bringing it up now, but it's been here for not just this season, but years. So there's a lot going on in terms of narratives and the driving narratives.

And here's the thing. When you don't speak honestly and you don't tell the truth and you're always in spin cycle, eventually it just catches up to you. People keep receipts. People keep track of these things. And eventually you can't spin your way out of it.

And the fans have been here longer than you have. That's the other part of it too. Those scars run deep, brother. They run real deep. We're going to turn our attention to another local sporting squadron who are overseas. The Vancouver Whitecaps, Axel Schuster, sporting director is going to join us on the other side from Spain. They're in Marbella for their annual.

They've been there for a couple of years now. Preseason training camp in Spain. They're going to be there for a month. They landed just a couple days ago. So early days in Spain, Axel Schuster's going to join us for an off-season catch-up. Haven't talked a lot of white caps since the end of the MLS regular season, the playoff run, and then the announcement of the memorandum of understanding at the P&E for a potential stadium build. So lots to get into with Axel on the other side.

8-10 this morning, Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. He, of course, was on the call last night. He was working the panel for the Knox's 11th consecutive loss, this one to the New York Islanders at home. So lots more to get to on the Halford, show. We're just about in the midway point of the show. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. 32 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford. Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt?

If so, Sands and Associates could cut that debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. If you want to learn more, visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour to the program with the mid-exhaired. Midway point of the show, Axel Schuster Whitecaps, Sporting Director and CEO is going to join us in just a moment here from Spain, where the Whitecaps are currently embarked in training camp. Hour 2 of this program is brought to by Jason Homanock at Jason Dow Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dow Mortgage. To the phone lines, we go. Our next guest, as mentioned, White Cap Sporting Director and the MLS's reigning sporting executive of the year. Axel Schuster joins us now in the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Axel. How are you?

A wonderful, good afternoon from sunny Spain. Very good, thank you. How is Spain so far? I know you guys just got there, but I imagine it's pretty nice so far. Yeah, it's really nice. We're here the fourth time now in a row, and it was always good to us. Pretty sunny, not too hot, but it's also good

because you don't want to have too big differences if you come back and play. and conditions are great. Pitches, hotel, all is good. And we're looking forward for three very intense weeks. We started slowly. Black and the Canadian national team players only arrived yesterday evening. But now it picks up and be very intense to be best prepared. I did want to ask about the mood going into this year's camp.

You mentioned you've been to Spain several times in a row now, but never after losing in an MLS Cup final, and I'm always curious when teams get to the summit and then fall just short of their goal, what the vibe is like going into that next season, especially since it feels like it was like three days ago that you guys played in Miami, a very short off season.

So how different is this training camp in Spain compared to years prior? Yeah, I would say it's different, but not because there's bad mood or somebody is still down from the final. I think everyone was having a few days off and really going through the season again felt very proud about what big step

we have done forward, what this group could achieve last year and everyone feels hungry to do it again and then to get a second chance to final and to prove to everyone that this group can win such big finals and this group can win Silverware and this league and we have a special group together and the guys really believe in that. They put a high number out as an own expectation

on how many points we should make this season. So I like that very much. There's a good wipe. Oh, what's the number? No, that's internal. But I can tell you that put the... Oh, that was coming from the team, so I had a really good feeling.

I said, okay, the guys that really want to go for it, coming back and try to surf here a little bit, they actually put the bar for it. we're speaking to whitecaps sporting director, Axel Schuster, here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Whitecaps are in Spain for their training camp. The Tristan Blackman situation, Axel, I've got to ask you about it. I know that from your side of the ledger in the club's perspective,

the matter is closed and maybe there wasn't even ever a matter to begin with. If you had the opportunity to tell the general public something that either you or the club wanted to know that maybe the media got wrong or someone got wrong about this Blackman situation, what would that one thing be? you know that maybe I would have handled this situation very differently this is my 26th professional season

or 27th professional season I think one of earlier years I have seen it all sometimes there's a little bit of a miscommunication sometimes something gets lost in translation sometimes it's also two people getting onto a phone at a bad day and they get a little bit too heated up

I would say there was really not No story. We haven't closed the story because we never opened it. I think I have a really good conversation with Tristan and the clear goal is to find a solution that he stays here for a very long time. And as I said, the last time this has taken three months to get it done and that was two years ago, like three months again. But I think it was the right thing to get nervous about that after one week. So Inter-Miamy plays a large figure in this, and they played in a lot of things as it goes across MLS.

I was thinking about the way to ask you this, and it's tricky because I don't want to get you in trouble, but there's a way that Inter-Miami does its business, and there's a way that they're treated by MLS, and there's a way that that organization operates. I'm curious to get your thoughts as a sporting executive what you think of the way that Inter-Miami does business in the way that they are treated by MLS?

You know, I mean, honestly, for me, a lot of this is also kind of a chatter that I read, follow, and it's not that I'm really sitting at the table and see how they do their business and what they really do. I would say overall, they are really good for the league. They give us a lot of attraction, and there's nothing sweeter than to beat them.

We did that last year in the Champions Cup. We unfortunately couldn't do it in the cup final. So everyone feels like we want to go for it again and we want to have another duel between Thomas Miller and Leonel Messi and this time we want to win it. So it's also sometimes good to have a team that is, I would say, a little bit stands out and everyone is talking about and everyone maybe sometimes even just, yeah, I don't know,

heated up or angry or a different way. I don't have the perfect English word for it. because you need that type of and you need even games that sometimes even getting into each other a little bit in such things. I think this will only help to go to the league. We need more stories. We're happy

to have this story and to compete with them on the pitch and we want to compete with them next year again on the pitch. Hopefully in the Champions Cup that would be another semi-final already and then hopefully in the MLS Cup final again. Axel, why did Ali Ahmed want to move on from the club?

You know why? Because players have their own dreams, players have their own ideas and visions for their career. And for him it was the one thing. He wanted to go to Europe. He thinks this will help him. He's a way late, Bluma, we know that. He wasn't with a cup in his first 18, 19 years. So he has the feeling that this will help him to jump to do a step forward.

And he was pretty clear and outspoken about that. go already. There was not the perfect and right opportunity for him a year ago. In summer, that was a beauty club showed up. And I had to say, Nope, I think we might have lost them. Axel Schuster, White Capsporting Director. We'll probably have to drop that call entirely.

Zach, if you don't mind getting back on the line, just thanking Axel for taking the time. No, no, no, no, no, I want to ask him a few more questions. Got him back on the line, please. And I want to ask him about the lease, the least, the kind of the White Cubs don't even have a lease at BC. Yeah, but I don't know if the phone is working. Okay.

Yeah. We'll try. We'll try. We'll try and try again. Try and get a better connection. Yeah. What were you going to ask about Ali Ahmed? Because he wanted to move on.

And, you know, the white cap said when it became apparent that a contract was not going to be possible with the white caps, then they made the move. Yeah. I mean, it could have been possible if they were willing to pay a lot. I think here's what I think. He was, he's not a super young player. Like, I think a lot of people think because he's, he came through the academy and is only broken out that he's really in, but he's in his mid-20s.

If he's going to play in Europe, now's the time. It might not be a year from now. It might not be two years from now. Even if the white caps offered a pretty sizable chunk of money, still might have wanted to go because how many times are you going to get the opportunity to play in Europe in your career? It doesn't pop up for all these players. You're going to strike when the iron's hot.

And I watched him play the first. He only got a half with Norwich in his first game against Rexham, as a matter of fact. And he was doing all the things. that Ali Ahmed did for the Whitecaps. And that was kind of heartbreaking in a way because you want to see him play and you're going to miss what he brought to the pitch.

My question, the follow-up question, is how do you replace him? Because there were times last year, especially on that run through the playoffs, where Ali Ahmed was the best player for the White Caps. In San Diego, was the match that I'll remember most. Right. Like Thomas Mueller's out there, Brian White's out there, Ryan Gould's out there, Kubas, Bearhalter,

And of all those players, Ali Ahmed was the best player. When I really noticed, it was when we had, yeah, I think his phone's toast, by the way. We're trying to get them, but we've had phone problems here before. Anyway,

I've seen a Whitecaps team where he was like their best player. And the amount of coverage that he started to get nationally when we would bring on those Apple TV analysts, and people that covered the league at large and really never paid any attention to the white caps weren't talking about Mueller when they came on their show. They were like, Al-A MET was the best player on the pitch.

So that's where I was like, okay, he might have grown past where he's at in MLS right now and needs to go overseas. My question again, and I think I already mentioned this, but how are you going to replace them? Because it's not an easy task. Yeah. It's not just can you elevate someone from within? And I know the obvious answers are you bump Brian Gould out wide

and play him more on the left as opposed to centrally and you play Kenji Cabrera more. What are your expectations for Ryan Gold next season? I don't know. I don't know. It was a serious knee injury. I don't think he was any denying that. That was a very serious knee injury.

He was never 100% fit. Not even close. Yeah. Not even close. And I give him a ton of credit for pushing. I think he knew that, I think he was crestfallen at times that he suffered the worst injury of his professional career

in the best year, success-wise, of his career. He's never played on a team that got to those heights in Scotland or in Portugal. So he really wanted to be a part of it. And let's be honest, I think there was a lot of white cap supporters last year that were dreaming of that one day where Gould and White and Mueller would all play together at the peak of their powers and it just never happened.

We got Axel back. Okay, we're going to try it again. We'll hope the connection is good. Axel, we got you back? Yes, I've walked out on my back on me. I hope this works better now. Sounds good so far. Okay, Mike was actually going to ask you, how do you plan to replace Ali Ahmed?

Yeah, I said it recently. It's important for all the people who maybe don't follow us so much. They know how important Ali was as a player. We played almost a whole season without providing gold. So, I mean, of the starting 11 that we played in the most important games, Ali is not any longer there, but Ryan Gold was never starting. So right now we replace Ali Ahmed with Ryan Gold, which is probably not a bad thing. But we will invest the dollars that we got for Ali, and that was our main goal from the beginning to invest into new depth player and to new young prospects, players we can develop.

And maybe we will also bring in one more experience player, but I would say in the starting 11 itself, we had so many good players and such good. depth that for now it's not even needed to bring in the starter. Is Ryan 100% now? How is he going to be able to, I mean the pace that Ali Ahmed brought, I know Ryan Gald has pace, but when you're dealing with an injury like that, you wonder how it can affect that? Yeah, Ryan played more than 60 minutes against L.AFC in the conference semifinal. That is, was somewhere in the middle of November.

and so he has continued to not only play in the other games, so he has also continued to build up again. And he has started here into preseason full and normal like every other player. So there are no more concerns and he will be fully ready. But as I said, we have also Kenji Cabrera, a young guy we signed, who has looked really, really promising already last season, who came on in several games and had a good impact. And we want to sign another winger.

but the idea to replace Ali Ahmed with another guy who can play like Ali Ahmed that doesn't exist in our mind we want to have Ryan Goldbeck on the pitch and we then want to have some additional and different profiles for selection for Yerspa. Can I get a lease update from you when it comes to BC Place? Yeah, we're not there yet. We have weekly meetings. also was on a call here from Spain

and we have another one this week. I mean, the one thing that I continue to say and that everyone can be sure we will play in B.C. plays. So it's not so much about do we have a lease and can we play in B.C. plays and whatsoever.

It's more really about what our situation, what is our situation in BC Place and how can we improve that and how can we even in the longer term, midterm, long term get to a better for us economically more healthy situation and for that reason it takes on time but the lease and the ability to play our first games in February that's that's no brainer. It's a no brainer. Is there, have you sensed any openness on behalf of the province which owns BC Place to

explore alternatives. Yeah, we are not speaking publicly about it, but we have said that we look into every option. And we have to, because I want to be optimistic and I want to believe that there is an option and there is a better

set up for this club. And so we don't exclude anything. We had this discussion and I have spoken about the P&E side and the letter on or the memorandum of understanding that we have there. We're speaking with SpeeC. Place and we look into other options and we have other options.

But I don't think it's really helpful to discuss that because a lot of people are worried about the situation. A lot of people are concerned. And I would say too much of confusion is not helpful. And the main message here is, yes, we are working with Svec Place. Yes, we are working with the city. And we are also working with other groups and other stakeholders to see, is there one? and is this one then good enough.

Is the club still officially for sale, or would you say that the club is now looking for investors and partners as opposed to being up for sale? No, that hasn't changed. The club is for sale. I would say we had a lot of learning through this many months, and one is also that we need a better stadium solution. we need a better revenue solution for our match days

because otherwise we are not I would say competitive enough on the economical side to have a long-term sustainable setup and so these discussions about oh okay they maybe get a new stadium somewhere and then there is no sale are not right the discussion is more, the situation is more. We need to find a solution on that

because otherwise it will be hard to find somebody who wants to buy the club. What's a timeline to find a solution? The MOU is a year long? Is it safe to say that you guys have a year to figure out some sort of solution going on in Vancouver or there could be a risk that the team moves? Look, there's a...

As I said, the MOU and the P&E side is one option. And I think at the day where we announced, I have been very clear that this doesn't mean that we're not looking in other options and that not BC Place, for example, could also be an option. How long is the timeline? I think we are playing in Vancouver this year. We are fully funded for this year. And we will play in BC Place. so it is more about what will be the situation in 2027 and so as long as we have to believe

that we can get to a better solution for 27 and beyond I think we have time Axel want to thank you for taking the time to do this today and for picking up the phone call a second time this was great enjoy Spain I don't need to tell them to enjoy Spain there's so much better things to do in Spain than talk to us on the phone I was going to say you're in Spain you know what you know what

it's a good thing to talk to you on the phone from Spain in the sun. Aw, that's the best thing we've heard all morning. Thank you, Axel. Enjoy the rest of training camp. We'll do this again soon. Enjoy Axel Schuster, thank you, thank you, speak soon. Oh, good, yeah. Axel Schuster, Whitecaps, sporting director and CEO here on the Halford & Sheph Show on Sportsnet, 650. All right, we have one final hour on the Halford & Brough show to come. Landon-Farrow is going to join us at 8-10 this morning. Note the start time, 8-10.

And if you want to get anything off your chest as it pertains to the Vancouver Canucks, the Dunbar number text line is 650, 650. They had a lot to unpack from, let's see, an 11th consecutive loss for your Vancouver Canucks. That was last night at home, 4-3 loss to the Islanders at Rogers Arena. There were the post-game remarks made by head coach Adam Foote, where for the first time this year, he called out as veterans for, their lack of composure on the bench, slamming gates, hanging heads. Bad line changes.

Bad body language? All of it. No heart either, Skip. Yep. Bad attitudes, too. We can also talk about the key for Sherwood trade, if you like. Sherwood, if you missed it yesterday. Now a member of the San Jose Sharks, he was traded for a defenseman Cole Clayton, definitely not enough Cole Clayton coverage today,

and a pair of second round picks in 2026 and 27. Patrick Alvin spoke yesterday. A number of takeaways from that, including a bunch of health updates. He even touched on Adam Foot and the job that he's done this year and what the job might look like moving forward. I wonder if that changed last night.

I think Evander Cain's game was noteworthy. He was named the third star. He was impactful, scored a goal. He had a breakaway and had a couple big hits on young Matthew Schaefer. I always thought. I was kind of like, don't hurt him.

Yeah, run around. But not with Matthew Schaefer. Everyone else is fine. I thought earlier, and I think you and I didn't necessarily argue, but we went back and forth on it, I thought it would be more than likely. I don't want to say relatively easy, but easy enough to trade Kane at the deadline. Yeah, I wasn't so sure. I just assumed someone would take a flyer on him, maybe even the flyers.

But I thought, like, why not? Yeah. If it doesn't work out, you just don't play them. And the cap hit would be nonexistent because it would be a lot. because it would be a rental. You'd probably, if they could recoup a fourth round pick, I think the Canucks would be thrilled to do it. It seems like an easy trade to make for a guy that,

despite all the flaws and despite all the baggage, in a short run or sample size, could maybe give you something. Yeah, and he could tell that team, look, I haven't really been trying all that hard this season, so like, I'm fresh. Yeah. No, that's not a joke.

It's kind of a joke, but it's not really a joke. No, it's not at all. Yeah, I'm not saying... Body's feeling good. Haven't been taking a lot of contact or giving it. Like you've noticed that he's just sort of out there. Yeah. He hasn't rocked the boat.

He hasn't really done or said anything in the last few months that's been really noteworthy. Just kind of gone about his business. Take some long shots on goal. Yeah. Last night. Hasn't posted any pictures on social media in quite a while. I think he knows, it feels like a guy that knows what game is being played here. Like he knows what the game that is going on and how he has to play.

I don't think it was a coincidence that Kane had that performance, that energy last night, throwing the body around, getting scoring chances, getting his nose dirty around the net, getting involved the day that Kiefer Shrew was traded. I'm glad you mentioned. I just remembered. I wanted to mention this as dialing it back to Foote's comments. I don't know if you listened to his media availability pregame after the Sherwood trade had been consummated. but he went out of his way to praise Sherwood but also make a very pointed remark about how Sherwood had cleaned up a lot of those distractions

from his game like being outwardly frustrated and being overly demonstrative. Oh, that's interesting he said that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because he was one of the guys that you would see on the bench slamming a stick against the boards if he was frustrated. But taking his gloves off and then taking his other gloves off. The second set of gloves.

But also said, foot also said part of the reason for his success was because he cleaned that up and he just focused on playing hockey and not letting the highs and lows of the game be a distraction now i don't know if foot was just talking off the top of his head and spitting some bars or if he actually was like methodically setting up what he was going to say post game but i do think that it's beyond coincidence that on a day where a player got traded who foot was enamored by his ability to show restraint. After the game, he pointed at all the guys that are still on the team that aren't showing that same restraint, the keeper sure would show. Yeah. I think it's interesting. If you guys clean up your game, I promise.

We'll trade you. We can get you out of here. You can break free and go to sunny places like San Jose. Okay, so anyway, there's lots to talk about in the final hour of the program. Way in now. Dunbar Limerick's text line is 650, 650. Get your text and get your what we learns in, too. We're going to do those after we talk to Landon Ferraro.

hashtag them WWL and we will read them at 830. Finally, before we go to break, I need to remind you to reserve your spot for the big football party at the Clayton Public House hosted by Sportsnet 650. Email info at the Clayton Pub.com for more. Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.