Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Gang Forces Brough To Talk About Petey

Episode Date: August 22, 2024

In hour two, Jason Brough and guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe discuss the latest Flyers news with PHLY_Sports' Charlie O'Connor (:52), they speak with Whalley Little League manager Steve Young (24:35) on his club's recent appearance at the Little League World Series, plus they discuss the NHL Network's recently released Top Centers list (38:21). 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.

welcome back to alfred and brough josh elli wolf jason brough here with you going to be joined in moments by charlie o'connor uh how for new broth is brought to you by the delari family of honda dealers experience the delri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today, and you can text in 650-650-DUMBAR-LUMBER text line. Get your what we learns in. The Bridge Street Dumbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park.

More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DumbarLumber.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. More awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. Doing okay. How are you doing, guys? We are doing well, and we're trying to get a handle on this Ryan Johansson situation in Philly. Can you explain this to us, just kind of a recap? Well, yeah, that probably would take about an hour to explain the entire situation. It's a pretty complicated one, and at least as recently as yesterday, the Flyers had not yet officially terminated the deal. So my expectation is that they are going to terminate his contract.

They placed him on waivers to terminate the contract for a material breach. Generally speaking, don't do that if you're not going to follow through on it. If he was placed on unconditional waivers, the NH has approved their uh their ability to terminate the deal but no it's a complicated situation and you know obviously the flyers are keeping this pretty close to uh close to the vest because there certainly will be lawyers involved in this but the the short of it is is that there's a clear disagreement between the flyers and Ryan Johansson when it comes to their evaluation of Ryan Johansson's injury status. And Johansson was a player who they got in the trade that sent Sean Walker to Colorado right before the trade deadline. The Flyers got a first-round pick back for Johansson, back for Walker in that trade. But basically the way the trade was set up was they wouldn't have gotten the first-round pick had they not taken Johansson back.

That was part of the concept was, my guess is they might have gotten a second-round pick from either Colorado or someone else. Had they just traded Walker and not taken a salary back, Colorado was looking to get rid of Johansson, his final year and a half of his deal. So the Flyers said, okay, we'll take Johansson back if essentially, if we can get a first round pick. So they get the first round pick, they get Johansson. They immediately tell Johansson that basically we don't want you here. They put them on waivers basically immediately

after they finalized the trade and they made it clear they were going to send them to the minors. Johansson had played for Colorado all year. He had played in the game two days before the trade. He really had shown no obvious signs of being injured. Flyers had a couple of conversations with Johansson. My understanding is at one point Johansson was trying to figure out, is it possible we could talk this through and maybe I can play in the NHL?

I really don't want to play in the minors. He had not had the greatest relationship with John Tortorella when he played under him in Columbus briefly. But Johansson basically said, I think we can work through this. And Flyers were seemingly at least open to having the conversation. That was what Elliott Friedman reported during that time. And then Johansson reported an injury. Apparently it's a hip injury.

And he, as a result of that injury, did not play the rest of the season. The Flyers were unable to actually demote him to the minors because you're not allowed to demote an injured player. So he never played in the minors. Flyers just had his cap hit on their books the rest of the season and then all summer he continued to cite the injury uh because again and i think this was the flyers plan you can't buy out an injured player during the buyout window uh flyers i believe would have bought him out had uh had he been healthy or healthy enough to be bought out instead they were not permitted to do so you're not allowed to buy out an injured player either would have bought him out had he been healthy or healthy enough to be bought out. Instead,

they were not permitted to do so. They weren't allowed to buy out a ninja player either. So it's tough to know exactly what the specific justification for the material breaches the flyers cited and the contract termination is obviously what they're aiming to do, because obviously they're keeping it very close to the chest in terms of whether there is a specific medical disagreement, whether they simply just believe that Johansson is blowing a small injury out of proportion. What we do know is that Johansson's agent, Kurt Overhart, basically released a statement more or less acknowledging that the dispute is about the injury. And he contended that, you know, basically the injury is legitimate, that Johansson is going to have to see if he's scheduled for surgery on this injury.

And, you know, they're very disappointed in the Flyers for going this route. So it's clearly something to do with the injury. My assumption is that the Flyers believe that Johansson is essentially using an injury to first prevent himself from being sent down to the minors, second, prevent himself from being bought out. Obviously, the buyout window is now passed, but that's more or less what's going on here. The Flyers would like to get under the salary cap. They'd like to not have to use long-term injured reserve and uh and johansson's sighting of an injury prevented them from doing that so they're now trying to get out from under the contract by saying that johansson had a material breach and basically isn't doing

what the contract says he should do so that's about as short of an explanation as i can give you it's a pretty complicated situation though um just one final question on the Johansson. I'm just wondering about the timing. We were joking around. Was this like one of those insurance scams where the flyers caught him jet skiing or something? Like, you are healthy. Well, and again, that's something I just don't know. The flyers are not revealing their specific evidence for why they believe that there is a material breach. Johansson did get married this past weekend. I don't know if something came of that

where they were able to secure evidence that allows them to make the case that he's not actually hurt. I saw you dancing. You know, look, I'm not saying the Flyers are doing this, but insurance companies hire private investigators to follow people around. That isn't a completely crazy thing. My guess is this has more to do probably – because, look, what it really boils down to is every NHL player,

particularly NHL players, once they pass the age of 30, they're all banged up in some form. No one is 100% healthy. And my assumption here is that the Flyers' frustration is they believe that basically Johansson didn't want to go down to the minors, which, again, makes sense. This is a guy who's played over 900 games in the NHL. He's been a successful player for years. It's not fun riding around on buses and going to small towns

and playing minor league hockey. He didn't want to go to the minors. So an injury that in Colorado he had no problem playing through, he decided to basically say, yeah, that doesn't allow me to play hockey anymore because he didn't want to go to the minors. And what's going to be interesting here is if that's really their core

justification, you know, is that enough to actually pass by an arbitrator if it gets to that point? Because, you know, yeah, you could say that he was playing through the injury in Colorado, but a lot of these guys maybe shouldn't be playing through injury. It raises an interesting question about, you know, the degree to which NHL players are playing through pain and whether that's actually a good thing.

So, again, it's a complicated situation all around. And teams use that justification, you know, all players are banged up sometimes when they want to put a guy on LTIR and, you know, basically force him into retirement or, you know, and get the cap savings. So it is pretty complicated. What else is going on with the Flyers? I imagine there's a lot of excitement about Matvei Michkov. Yeah, I would say that the Michkov arrival is definitely the big story for the Flyers this year.

The expectation was that it was going to take another two years for him to get over here. That was the expectation when they drafted him seventh overall in 2023. Instead, he only had to spend one more year after the draft in Russia before he was able to sign his entry-level contract. And the Flyers as a whole this summer really didn't make any big moves. Granted, they were tight up against the cap. That plays into part the reason why they're going through this with Johansson.

So you didn't expect them to make any big signings, but they were poking around the trade market, but they ultimately never really found anything. So they're more or less bringing back the same team as last year, just with Moppe Mischkoff. So that is obviously going to be the big story. And Mishkov's super exciting. The Flyers front office has very much admitted this, that the team's biggest issue is that

they don't have high end talent, that they have a lot of good players. They just don't have anybody that you look at and you say, he's great. Well, Mishkov has the potential to be great. Now, it's not a certainty. We've seen prospects bust all the time, but given the production that he's had at a young age in the KHL and the talent that he obviously has, he could be a game changer for this organization.

So fans are through the roof excited for this guy, and I'm expecting training camp in New Jersey where the Flyers have training camp. I'm expecting it to be packed on a daily basis. I'm expecting rookie camp in New Jersey where the Flyers have training camp. I'm expecting it to be packed on a daily basis. I'm expecting rookie camp to be packed. That's where the excitement is. And it's because, you know, since they traded Claude Giroux, the Flyers really haven't had that star player.

And, I mean, Travis Konechny is a good player. Obviously, they re-signed him. Every team in the league would love to have a Travis Konechny, but he's not one of the elite players in the game. The hope among Flyers fans is that, you know, maybe not right away, but in a few years, Mavs and Mischkov can be that new centerpiece, and that's where the excitement is. What's the relationship like between Sean Couturier and Torts?

That's another complicated question. It wasn't great when he scratched him last season, I can tell you that. That said, Sean Couturier was drafted by the Flyers. He has a great relationship with Danny Breer. When Couturier was a young player, he literally lived with Danny Breer for a year, lived with his kids.

So, this is in a situation where and I know there were some rumors about it in the summer when he switched agents, he switched to Pat Bresson, the power broker. Is it, oh, is Sean Couturier trying to force his way out of Philly? I don't think that's the case. Sean Couturier is the Flyers captain. I mean, that's obviously the big reason why the scratching was such big news, especially in Canada, because you guys are absolutely obsessed with the captaincy up there.

We like torts-related drama, too. That is fair. That is fair. I mean, especially given the crazy year you guys dealt with him up there about a decade ago. But I don't think it's true he's trying to force his way out. That said, I'm sure the relationship with Tortorella is a work in progress, let's say. And I do think that part of the reason probably

why Couturier switched agents is because, you know, if it's another year of them butting heads and him getting scratched and him getting, you know, unfairly treated, at least in his mind, by John Tortorella, he can have in the back of his head that, you know, Brisson's the kind of guy who could find me a way out of there. But I think Gatture wants to make it work. I think Tortorella wants to make it work.

And, you know, I've covered Sean Gatture for a really long time. He's a stand-up guy. And he's not the type of guy that's going to necessarily hold a grudge. I think both sides will benefit from having an offseason to cool off and then circle back to start the year. I think back to the previous season, Tortorella clashed with Travis Sanheim. You know, he scratched Travis Sanheim in a game in Calgary where Sanheim had his, like, basically his entire family and friends had flew in to see him play in Calgary where Sanheim had his like, basically his entire family and friends had flew in to see him play in Calgary

and Tortorella scratched him. And it was rough and the two were not happy with each other. And then last season they, you know, they talked it out in the summer and he showed up to camp in the best shape of his life. And Travis Sanheim had a great year. And now everything's peachy between the two of them. And I could see the Couturier situation going the same way

the big thing for Couturier is that he needs to have a bounce back year because he missed the year and a half due to injuries, due to surgeries and whatnot, back surgery he started out last season and it looked like he was going to have that comeback

season, first half of the year he more or less looked like old Sean Couturier. And then in the second half, he fell off a cliff. Now, I think a lot of that was driven by the fact that he was playing through a sports hernia, which he has had surgery to address. But we're still talking about a guy who's in his early 30s, who has had multiple back surgeries, and now has had another year that was possibly spoiled by injury. So if Couturier comes back and is the same guy from the second half, John Tortorella is going to get frustrated with him

because that guy wasn't very good. And John Tortorella is a guy that holds his players to high standards. But if Couturier comes back, shows that it was the sports hernia, it wasn't aging, that caused the second half collapse of his game and the collapse of his offensive game in particular, then I think the two will get along fine. I do. But obviously, that longtime old assistant coach. We were joking during the break that Sully's going to get torts to get him coffee and that sort of stuff as not revenge, but as kind of a joke, because you're working for me now. I love that story. I am fascinated to talk with John Turderell to start a camp about his thoughts

of working under Mike Sullivan after, after obviously years of him being the, the boss man before, before Sullivan took over the, the Pittsburgh head coaching job. And obviously the establishment was always one of the best coaches in hockey. What I can tell you is that they're still buddies, you know,

they're, they're still very tight. There's a lot of mutual respect there. When the Flyers play the Penguins, you see the two of them chatting in the hallway so I think it'll go great but I'm sure that there is going to be a lot of a lot of good-natured ribbing between uh between the two and I personally don't know Mike Sullivan that well you know I've obviously covered John Tortorella for two seasons um but I imagine that Sullivan is going to get a real kick out of it. Who do you think has a better team on paper, the Americans or the Canadians?

Sorry? Who do you think? Oh, you mean for Four Nations? Sorry, for the Four Nations. Yeah, sorry. I don't even know if I mentioned that. So Torts is going to be the assistant coach under Mike Sullivan for the American team in the upcoming Four Nations tournament.

And we were talking about this yesterday. Obviously, you would give the Americans the goaltending edge. And I was also mentioning, like, I like a lot of the players on the Canadian blue line. I don't know if they match up to previous Canadian blue lines, which were always the strength of that team, that and the center position. But now the Americans have good defensemen and the Americans have good centers and they obviously have good goaltenders,

elite goaltenders. It's a pretty even matchup in my eyes and I wonder if I might give the Americans the edge. Yeah, it's going to be fun. Obviously, the big thing is goaltending. But by the same token, it's not as if the canadian goaltenders are awful they you know the way i look at it with goaltending is you know yeah

obviously on paper the american goaltenders look better but it's not as if the canadians are going to be throwing total scrubs out there and a goalie can have a good game like all you really need you know because i you're going to get to you know a knockout round all you really need is a goalie can have a good game. Like all you really need, you know, cause I, you're, you're going to get to, you know, a knockout round. All you really need is a goalie to have a good game once and you win. And I do think that Canada has the better skaters. Like I think they have the edge in terms of skating.

I do agree that the, the American defense is deeper. But I think that the Canadians have the, the edge and top end talent. They're going to have, I think they're going to have to play a more dynamic game. And, you know, can the Americans, you know, stop them in goal if they get outshot, you know, 30 to 20 and then make up the edge and goal? Sure. But I still think I would probably go with Canada just because of the edge in terms of firepower.

But it's definitely close. And, you know, as someone who is obviously from the States, you know, I certainly will go into that feeling, feeling like the U S could win it. Whereas in past years, you were like, well, if everything breaks their way, they certainly could win this, but I still lean towards Canada. Do you think this is going to be a good tournament? Are you, are you excited for it? I don't know. I, talked about this on my podcast, PHLY Flyers, I believe earlier this week. And my co-host asked me about it. I said, you know,

it's hockey. I'm going to watch it. So am I super excited about it? No, not really, because it's not the Olympics. That, I think, just adds a certain mystique, given the fact that, you know, it's not just a standalone tournament. It's part of a larger thing that obviously for the last, you know, month or so was a blast to watch all around. But it's hockey. It's the best of the best, and that'll be fun. I'm sure that once it gets started, I'll be into it. Right now, I wouldn't say I'm exactly pumped to watch it, but I'll get into it once it gets going. Charlie, thanks for joining us today.

Always fun chatting hockey with you. Enjoy the rest of what's left of the summer, and I'm sure you've got a lot of things to talk about with the Flyers this season. Absolutely. Thanks for having me, guys. See you, Charlie. Sounds like are you going to be invested in this tournament or is it just going to be a dog night like i'm not going to be super emotionally invested in this tournament i'm going to be interested in it as a warm-up to the olympics

right like if canada loses if canada loses to the americans in this tournament i'm not going to be um i'm not gonna be happy about it right but um i'm not gonna be devastated over it either fast forward to the olympics if that happens then i'll just be like oh my god we're no longer on top this is the worst see if there's goalie problems with the team and then you can start panicking for the olympics yeah the goalies screw up the foreign issue um i don't know if, you probably don't know this, but like I demand two things from the Canadians at the Winter Olympics. I demand that we win gold in both women's and men's hockey.

And I demand that we win gold in both men's and women's curling. Okay. I think that's fair. Curling has... Curling's been rough, right has Curling's been rough Right? Curling's been rough For Canada Yeah

The world's caught up We gotta get back on top The world's caught up You know what we gotta do? We gotta stop sending Our coaches to these Other countries To teach them how to curl

Yeah Or at least send Like bad coaches Be like Throw it as hard as you can You can send them But they should be Sabotaging it

Just wait Yeah Sabotaging the other team See what you wanna do Is throw the rock The opposite way Yeah Yeah

What are you doing Sl on the ice there? You just got to huck it. You got to stand up. And you're allowed to do flips now. You can do flips. Style points. Yeah, so I still remember in Vancouver when Cheryl Bernard did not get it done

for the Canadian women. And then in Russia, they did. They swept them all. Won all four gold medals, and that was great success. I actually snuck into the women's curling event just to make sure. And it wasn't like I went in there and was like celebrating. I just went in there. We won the gold.

I gave a head nod and left. I was like, good. I didn't realize you were this invested in there. We won the gold. I gave a head nod and laughed. I was like, good. I didn't realize you were this invested in curling. I'm not really. I just demand it because it's our sports, right? It should be something we're good at. Yeah, it's hockey and curling. We should own those.

When lacrosse is in the Summer Olympics in LA, do you demand gold there? Is it going to be field lacrosse? What are they going to be playing there? I think it's like a sevens. Is it like a hybrid? It's like a shortened. Yeah. Yeah, it's not going to be the same lacrosse

that you're used to watching. But lacrosse is so big in the States too, right? Field is massive. I don't understand it. But no, I'm not talking about the size of it. I'm just like, it's popular. It's a huge sport. No, field lacrosse is major, major sport.

Yeah, and it's like a big NCAA sport. I grew up a box lacrosse guy. So the world of field lacrosse is so out of my realm. And to see it so huge in the States, it's like, what? Yeah, to answer your question, I won't be demanding that. Just because I think the Americans have a pretty good lacrosse tradition as well fair enough uh at any rate i think we need a medal that's what we need uh oh definitely definitely 650 650 keep those tax coming in on the other side steve young not the not the

quarterback but the wally little league head coach is going to join us we'll get into the whole experience for the team and him in Williamsport and everything that went into that. Before we go, I got to find a read for the CFL report. Here we go. That was the Canadian...

Oh, no. Oh, no. Time now for the Canadian... He's scrambling. Brought to you by the... Halford? Is Halford back? He's channeling.

He's channeling Halford. He's like, Halford's listening at home. He's like, good. Excellent. He's learning. He's learning. Brought to you by... He's completely unpre him. He's channeling Halford. He's like, Halford's listening at home. He's like, good. Excellent. He's learning. He's learning. Brought to you by Steering Canada.

He's completely unprepared for this. The official life insurance partner of the CFL gets going tonight, week 12, the Rough Riders in Toronto taking on the Argonauts. Your BC Lions in action on Saturday. We'll see if Nathan Mork bounces back against the Ottawa Red Blacks. Tomorrow, Hamilton takes on Winnipeg. And Sunday, the CFL's best Montreal Alouettes face off against the Edmonton Elks. That was the Canadian Football Report.

And I lost the read again. I keep going one page too far. That was the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securing Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. I'm sorry, Securing Canada. Well done. You know what?

The last one I had to do, and I had it, and I fumbled, and that's okay. Before we go, also, JanPro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial. If your workplace demands a clean environment... We're going to need to call in JanPro to clean up Josh after this. Just mop him away. Contact JanPro for a free, no obligation quote.

Visit JanPro.ca. This is Halford & Brough. Josh Elliott-Wolfe, Jason Brough here with you, coming to you live from the Kintec Studio. Get your What We Learns in on the 650-650 Dunbar Lumber text line. Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the

Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. All the reads are in my head right now. It's a jumbly mess inside my brain. I'll start it. You're just going to have to pull yourself together. Make some adjustments. Four hours left of total show time.

A lot of stuff could happen in those four hours. No, let me tell you. Brought to you by Jam Pro, Canada's number one Honda dealer. No, that's not right. This can't be it. We go to the phone lines now. Steve Young, head coach of the Wally Little League team that represented Canada in Williamsport

in the Little League World Series. See, now I can't even say these right. in the Little League World Series. See, now I can't even say these right. In the Little League World Series. God, he is Helfer. He's Helfer. Yeah, yeah. Alfred would have said Little League World Series. Steve Young, we really appreciate you taking the time.

How are you? Hey, I appreciate you guys having me on. I'm doing really good here. I'm sitting here on the hillside overlooking Lameday Field as we speak right now, so I couldn't be in a better place. So what's the experience been like for not only you, but the other coaches and most importantly

the kids? Yeah, you know what? It's been amazing from the day we arrived here. It was a long journey to get here and the boys put in a lot of hard work, but from the minute we got here we, just been treated like rock stars. ESPN interviews, getting geared up by Eastings and Rawlings, just tours of the facilities.

And then immediately we get thrown into the Grove here where they stay and interacting with all the different nations from around the world representing and all the different regions across the U.S., just watching the boys, you know, interact. And we say if we could handle politics in this grove with these boys, I think we'd have a better world. So it's been awesome. Tell us about your history with Wally Little League. Yeah, yeah, I grew up in Wally.

You know, I was born and raised in the Surrey area. I myself played at Wally. I was born and raised in the Surrey area. I myself played at Wally from 1982 to 1991 as a player. I never got to experience a Little League World Series. I was an All-Star, I think, at 10, at 12. I grew up in that era of Kevin Nicholson and all these guys that got drafted, so it was a tough crew to compete with. But it was always a dream to get here. I came back in the early 2000s when Wally went in 05-06 as a volunteer and a coach. So I got to watch it then, and I just said to myself, if I ever have the opportunity to have a son, which I was lucky enough to have in 2011, and be able to bring him up through Wally like I did, and him be a part of this team and this journey so it's been a dream come true for him and for me as a dad I'm reliving that 12 year old life as a 48 year old so it's been amazing to share with my son and

all these boys so I've coached a lot of these boys since they were seven and eight years old so to be able to be on this journey the last four or five years has been amazing and for it to end here couldn't ask for it to be any better. What I find incredible is the journey that these kids take from the ages of seven when they first start playing baseball and how good they get in such a short time. Can you tell us just about all the hard work and all the reps that goes into that? Because anyone who's ever seen like seven and eight year olds try and play baseball, they're like, they first of all, can't do anything. And then they don't know what to do if the ball comes to them. And there's, there's not only the physical skills that you have to learn in baseball,

there's the situational awareness, which is, it's really incredible what you guys do with those kids. Yeah, you know, Wally's always been good for that. They build a good foundation. It starts with, you know, getting all the coaches on the same page at a young level where we're teaching the same fundamentals across the board, you know, at each age level of different teams. So when they, you know, change teams throughout the years, we're teaching the same things, the same fundamentals.

And then from there it comes down to the boys who really want it. Even from seven to eight, you'll see the ones who want to put in the work and are there to get better every year. Those are the ones that tend to rise to the top. Being where we live, I know we get a little bit of rain and stuff, but we have pretty much a year-round seasonal opportunity to play baseball if you want. That's what a lot of these boys do is they put in the work all year and uh you know some of them have this focus in this goal you know from when they were 9 10 we got second in the province at 10 and we said boys we

got two more years so if you guys want to put in the work two more years set a second in the province let's go to nationals let's see what we can do there and that core stuck together and and you know we did it we fought through four and a half weeks districts national or sorry districts provincials nationals and we did it we got to williamsport and while we were here as much as we just wanted to be here you know we wanted to put something up on the board and we were lucky enough to do that and get a big win with puerto rico so we're not going home with a goose egg. We got a win. We're happy. How cool, not only on the field you get the win,

but the experience as a whole for the team. There's everything that you mentioned with the ESPN stuff and getting outfitted with all the equipment, but also just everything else that goes along with it too, like the MLB games that were there. I mean, your team was in the background of the clip going around with the Soto shuffle getting really into it. How has this experience as a whole been for them?

You know, people have asked me a few times here at different interviews, and my first word is just, wow. You know, what Little League does for these boys is amazing. It's their five minutes of fame, their time in the spotlight. And I will say our boys have taken every minute of that. You talk about that game with the Yankees and the Tigers, and I feel like our boys were there. We represented Canada well.

They were sort of the highlight of that night, and ESPN had the spotlight on them with the Soto shuffle. And even when Aaron Judge was up, he kind of tipped his hat to our boys as they put a good Aaron Judge chant on. So they're soaking up every minute of it. They know the experience that they're able to have here is once in a lifetime. So I feel like they're truly enjoying every minute of it. And yeah, it's just wow.

Wow is the word I say all the time. Steve, what was the funniest thing that happened down in williamsport because i'm sure you guys uh i know you've been serious about the baseball but i'm sure there's been lots of laughs too um you know what like you know there's been a i don't know it's tough to pinpoint one thing you know i you know the funniest thing is just the little sayings I think the boys come up with. You know, they have their little things. You know, our big thing has been, you know, wait, what? You know, anything they get asked, that's the response.

Oh, God, I hate that. I hate that. I know, I know. I've been trying to ban that in my house. Like, everything's like, wait, wait, what? Like, what's going on? Yeah. Yeah, we went by the pete rose motto and

it was uh be aggressive to be more aggressive and three was never be satisfied and the first time i said it one of the boys looked at me and said wait what and then we just stuck so that was our fourth one so that'd be one of the funnier ones outside of that you know along the way they're 12 year old boys they're just making us laugh all the time, you know, and just truly taking in this moment. But, yeah, I can't say enough about these boys and how they've represented, you know, Wally, Surrey, D.C., and Canada. They've done a great job down here.

What about the parents? Did the parents have a good time too? Amazing. We were lucky. All of our parents, you know, followed us from, you know, from Surrey to Victoria for the week and a half. You know, every player had a representation in Kingston, Ontario, and then everybody had a parent down here in Williamsport, including some grandparents. I can't say enough about our parent group and the support they've given us

coaches and the players. And I want to give a special shout out to us three coaches jason and eric and myself and our employers back home specifically for me bc fresh they've been amazing to give me you know seven weeks of time off to uh to truly soak this experience in and uh it's great when we have companies that support us and encourage us to go out and support these boys in this dream uh you mentioned eric he was the one that had the the like half a haircut right what was yeah what was the story behind that so when we were i think it was victoria and the boys uh you know i'm bald so they can't really do anything to me um so eric kind of made a comment they all bleached their hair um and that was the big thing

they wanted eric to bleach his he goes no boys it's not happening he goes but if you guys win and and we uh we get to the world series he goes i'll let you guys shave my head and it was first going to be a reverse mohawk right down the middle um but we were managed to convince it but as soon as the boys got in front of espn and told the story espn made it happen they did a big segment on it so they decided to shave half of eric's head which was a big segment on it so they decided to shave half of Eric's head which was a big hit here and Eric was a trooper he kept it for the first game so ESPN could highlight him as we stood out there you know facing our flag with the anthem and he had

one one half a head of hair so he wore it for a few days and now he's just got no hair so he's starting with a clean slate now. But it was cool for the kids to be able to do that and good on Eric for having some fun with the boys. One final question for you, Steve. What life lessons do you think these kids have learned along this journey? I just think they've had to learn to be more independent because they've been without their parents for five weeks and and you know um and to be a team and to be one and to support each other there's so many um i truly say this experience for a 12

year old it's kind of that it's been an you know an extra thing for them as they transition to becoming young men and going into high school a a lot of them, just, yeah, being on the road, having to rely on each other, going through the emotions of not having your parents there all the time, so many. And I just think it's a huge, a great experience for them having fun. It's a huge growth experience for them as they move on from being kids to young men, and our boys did it well. And it's just, like I said, it's been an honor to watch.

Truly a summer for me as a 48-year-old man. I'll remember these kids for the rest of my life. Well, congratulations, Steve. And thank you for all the volunteer work you do. You made Wally proud. You made BC proud. You made BC proud. You made Canada proud. And, you know, you made a real impact in these

kids' lives. And I hope you can take some time to reflect on that. But enjoy Williamsport while you're still there. Are you still there? Correct? Yeah, we're still here. We are going to hit KSUS and we're going to fly

home. We've got an 8 a.m. flight tomorrow. We've got one more round of games today. Yeah, these boys want to get home. I want my bed. So that's what I'm looking forward to. Fair enough.

And then the kids need to go to school and you can just be like, all right, go away. Yep, there you go. Give me a break and I'm sure we'll regroup at some point and have some celebration over what we experienced here. But I appreciate all the support back home and all the Little Leagues back home. National Little League on the island has been a huge supporter.

Lynn Valley Little League, all these guys who've been out there watching us and supporting us along the way. Just I say thank you to everybody. It's been amazing. And yeah, we can't wait to get home. Well, thank you for taking the time to join us this morning. Happy travels on the way home. Appreciate you guys.

Have a great day. There is Steve Young, Wally Little League head coach in Williamsport at the Little League World Series. And it's kind of a grind for them. Yeah. Because they went right... But that's one of the life lessons, right?

Think of what they've learned going through all this. And not only just this last few weeks where they've gone through the regionals and the provincials and the nationals and they've gotten to Williamsport, but just all the way back to when they were nine and 10 years old and they're like, okay,

we have an opportunity here. And like, you know, anyone with kids at home, you know how difficult it can be to get them to focus on something. And it's a tough balance because you want to push them, but you also want them to have fun along the way. And it sounds like Steve and his coaching staff has done a great job in balancing that. Yeah. And especially, I think, in hockey here, it becomes, in Canada, it becomes something that's like, it's maybe too much of a grind. It's too much of a chore.

You kind of have to be too committed to it. But to this, from what Steve was saying, it does feel like he's found a balance of like, hey, this is a sport and it's supposed to be fun. And that's something that is really good to keep in mind, especially if you're a parent out there that has kids in sports. It's like, hey, this doesn't have to be be too serious there aren't much things better than having team success yeah i would way rather win something and you know i don't think i'm ever going to win a

professional sports title but i would got time but i would way rather win a team sport. Like we won our beer league league six years ago. Yeah. And that was awesome. You know, when I play golf with friends, I would far rather win, you know, in a, in a pairs match. If we've got, you know, like two guys against two guys in just like a fun little game. It's just, I don't know, for me, I always have this thing with Halford where I'm like, you're selfish.

You like the individual accolades. But I think having the team success, and I think this is just why it's so important for these kids to have that team success and to learn to prop each other up as well and support each other and have that experience. I mean, I don't know. Maybe I'm overstating this, but I think that's going to go a long way in their lives.

Yeah, I don't think it's overstating it at all. 650-650, Dunbar-Lumber text line. Keep the texts coming in. Keep the what we learned coming in. One thing we were talking about earlier in the show that we did get some response to is a list. People love a list. JT Miller, number 11 on NHL Network's top 20 centers currently in the NHL.

One spot behind Elias Pettersson. We get a text, Robin Suri, for the best centers. Pettersson ahead of Miller is absolutely hilarious after the way Pedersen vanished after getting paid and when the games got tough in the playoffs, he doesn't even belong in the top 50 centers in the league. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I do think that it was surprising,

even to me as like I'm a Pedersen defender. Miller should be above Pedersen right now. Yeah, for now. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. For sure. So what was – so in this list, like how was it – I swore I saw something. So NHL network producers and analysts, they're responsible.

They're a list of top 20 centers in the league right now. Yes. So it's like currently if you're starting the season only for this season i assume it would be who are you taking in one game or a series whatever it is essentially um and for most of the list it kind of like to be fair it's not a crazy horrible list one other thing i had an issue with though conor bedard was number 13 on the list. Yeah. Which is just... That seems a little high at this point in his career. I probably wouldn't even have him top 20 right now.

Like, there's probably 20 centers. Yeah, who would you rather, if you've got a game to win, who would you rather, Conor Bedard or... I mean, Nico Heischer is at number 20. Yeah, Nico Heischer. This was a guy that was, like, number two in the Selkie. Did he have some injury issues last season? I mean, Nico Heischer is at number 20. Yeah, Nico Heischer. This was a guy that was like number two in the Selkie. Did he have some injury issues last season?

I mean, the whole Devils seemed like they were injured the whole season. They took a big step back. But he is a really, really good player. And I think one of the more underrated players in the league. And he's number 20 on this list. I think that's also just based on... Like Zibanejad, number 19. Yeah. Do you think he should be higher or lower?

I think he should be higher than Bedard. Yeah, yeah. Right now. That's fair. I'll be really curious to see what Bedard does this season though, because he had his rookie season and by all accounts, it went well. He was the rookie of the year.

And I'm not trying to to the hype that he received preseason remember all the stories on Conor Bedard remember all the attention that he got did he live up to that hype was it impossible to live up to that I think it was impossible to live up to that especially

when you're playing for last year's Chicago Blackhawks and like you just had no help and it's kind of a like it's hard to win in that situation. Do you put him on the Canadian team for the Four Nations even just for the experience? Yes. Yeah.

I think so. Like, he makes that team, even if he doesn't play much, you put him on the team and say, this is going to be you, or it better be you, in a few years to start leading with these guys. Yeah, and you can play them in some less important games. Well, they're all important.

There's like four games. Yeah, I guess. You know what I mean? You can play them against Team Finland. But I do think he has to be there. Canada's losing to the Finns now. Yeah, that's my bad.

Now that you said that. That's on me. That's on me. But he should. Ain't nothing Finland, but to the Finns now. Yeah, that's my bad. That's on me. That's on me. But he should. Ain't nothing Finland. Bedard scores and is on that. Yeah. How did this happen?

Mark at the office texting in, right now I would take Bedard over Petey in a one game take. Yeah, that feels a little... Like, people... Dude, we're going way overboard with the Pedersen stuff. Would you take... Hold on. Would you take Bedard over Pedersen?

Yeah, that's rough. Ruff has thoughts. I can see you, Yeah, that's rough. Ruff has thoughts. I can see you like thinking it over. Ruff, why is there steam coming out of your ears? Number one PD discourse leader here. It was bad, man. I know. He was really bad in the playoffs and down the stretch.

Like it was, I hope it was an injury. I hope he was, I hope this offseason he's able to reset. That's what I expect of him. I'm not saying that he's going to come back and be bad. I expect him to be good. I expect him to figure it out physically, mentally, whatever he needs to do, and come back next season and honestly be shot out of a

cannon to start the season. That's what I expect. He's being paid like that. We've seen him do it before. Um, but since you put me on the spot, I don't really want to talk about this, but I've had many conversations with people where my point is like, I don't think people appreciate how bad he was. Sure. Like he, he Sure. There were times where if he was a rookie, he would not have been playing. Yeah. He was that ineffective. And that's fair, but at the same time...

I've never seen anything like it, put it that way. Yeah. I really haven't. It was crazy that someone... Because even when people are playing injured, when star players are playing injured, you can still tell that they at least have something going for them but it was he had no fight to his game there was nothing there he had no second effort to his game his defensive play was off he was obviously off along with the

rest of his teammates when it came to things like the power play it was bad man yeah and it's and it's frustrating because i think if he was on, they could have beaten the Oilers. And I think to start the season, to your point, he has to be the hardest working player on the team. Because like bounces, whatever, they might not go your way, but you have to at least be putting in more effort. Hell, in training camp. Set the tone there.

Yeah. Start from scratch right there. And honestly, I think a lot of it that needs to change this year is the body language on the ice we've talked about it with jt miller and it's obviously different in the way they express things but i like i just don't want to see a player be visibly disappointed in themselves on the ice after missing a shot i think it's a distraction for the team when you got a guy sitting next to the bench pouting. Yeah.

And again, I would say I'm probably a Pedersen defender. I think that he's going to be fine. I don't really have any concern. It's funny. I am too because the reason I'm so hard on him is that we've seen him play at such a high level. We know he can do it. Yes.

It's not like criticizing, you know, Vertanen or whoever these, Goldobin, or all these guys that have been kind of like flashpoints, even Podkolzner, Hoaglander. You criticize with love in your heart. No, I wouldn't say that. I criticize with expectation in my heart because I've seen it before, right?

Like we never saw Jake like, wow, like that guy's incredible. What a complete game this guy has. There's a reason we were talking about Pedersen the way we did earlier in his career. Like this guy could be, he's Datsoukian. Yeah. Well, that's the frustration. You know, and then you see him playing like this and then it got weird when there was that disconnect when he said, yeah, I've been dealing with some – I can't remember if he said tendinitis

or if Talkett said tendinitis, but he said it. And then Talkett seemed to kind of – I don't want to say blow it off, but I also kind of want to say they blew it off. They definitely downplayed it. They downplayed it, yeah. They didn't take it. And everyone else on the team, like Hronik, nearly fought J-Pat because he was like, I wasn't hurt.

Yeah. You know? And, man, that press conference was weird. Because Pedersen went first, too. Like, that was the first question. And he was like, yeah, I got tendonitis and my knee. And then it felt like he didn't get the memo. And every other player on the team was like, no, I'm not hurt.

Like, Quinn Hughes, remember, there was worry about him being injured and he was like no i'm fine if i'm playing then i have to like hit a certain level and yeah well the team doesn't want to make it look like they're making excuses right so they just tell all their guys probably be like this but then probably starts with the players though right don't tell them you're injured yeah sure you know this is our culture now. Yeah. So we got a text saying, God, this fan base is going to be even more insufferable over the next eight years. Why are you blaming the fan base?

Why? I don't understand, like, the text of blaming the fan base. The Canucks have made a massive commitment to this guy. It's the fan base's fault Petey isn't playing well. It's all the fan's fault.

We all want him to play well. Of course we do. We got the Let's Go Petey chant going. Yeah. Like, everyone wanted him to play well. Anyway. And he never got there. Do you know how many times I've ended the Petey conversation with?

Anyway. Moving on. Before I get in trouble. Moving on. The Roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. On the other side, it's Thomas Drance on Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolf, Jason Brough, Sportsnet 650.