Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Leafs Will Miss The Playoffs (Hot Take Horn)

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger (1:08) about the hot hockey topics of the day, plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). 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.

804 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. A-Dog has a wry grin on his face. I'm loving this music. Great choice by Latin. Definitely got like N64 menu, video game menu. A lot of video game menu stuff today.

It's good. Theme. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three of this show is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. This entire show, the whole shebang, is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. You know what we should do? Let's go to Vegas. NHL Media Tour is on right now. Our next guest is live in Vegas. Mike Zeisberger from NHL.com joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Morning, Mike. How are you? I'm great, boys. It's been a long time, and great to see you're doing well. And hockey season right around the corner, so let's get her going. Yeah, we miss seeing you out on the road. we don't get to go on the road anymore we don't get to go on road trips and that sort of thing we're sleeping better but uh it's not as exciting well you know what at least you live in canada's most beautiful city so there is that

ah size you're very good sucking up you're very good at sucking up well some things never change do they uh you've been writing a ton out of Vegas, and that's not surprising because there's a ton of storylines to cover. Let's talk about Sidney Crosby. So we were kind of wondering when this extension in Pittsburgh was going to happen. We thought it might happen at some point this summer. Sidney Crosby says, no worries, relax. It's going to happen before the start of the regular season.

How optimistic did Sidney Crosby sound about this thing getting done before the Penguins open on October 9th? You know what? I would be very surprised if it's not done by then. And I also wouldn't be surprised if it's done by the time training camp opens. I think they are that close. If you connect the dots as to what Sid was talking about when he went over the contract,

I think the one thing that they're trying to hammer out is, you know what, I mean, he's 37 years old. So, you know, in his words, you know, even he doesn't know how do you base or gauge how long an extension would be you know to play at a certain level because the one thing guys we know about Sid I mean um you know he wants to win more than anything else um when you look at the contract he just came off of um it really was kind of a discount. But that's allowed the Penguins, at least earlier in his career,

to put some great players around him. And I think he looks at that right now, too, because the number one thing that he wants to do is win. We all know how competitive he is. And so that's where you kind of you know um if because because he understands the penguins are a young team uh whether you want to as he says whether you want to call it a rebuild or retool or that it's not going to change the fact that he wants to win so um you know he he wants and deserves to be paid, you know, not only for what he's done in the past, but, I mean, he had a hell of a season last year and showed that he can still play at a high level.

But you also don't want to siphon so much money out of the cap that you can't surround yourself with, you know, good established players in free agency. So to me, the one thing that's still being hammered out is term. But like I said, I would be shocked if this thing wasn't done by the time the Penguins open. Hey, Mike, this is going to be a rather blunt question. But if the number one driving thing for Sid is winning, why is he re-signing in Pittsburgh? You know, that's, it's interesting because the people around him, you know, that, that was one of the things that was put out, the things that were put on the table

is look, I mean, you know, you have to decide, uh, do you want to still, at your age, endure this again, whether you want to call it a retool, whatever, or do you want to win now? And I think, in his mind, maybe it's not as far off as a lot of us think that it might be. He pointed out that, yeah, they've lost out on getting into the playoffs the last couple of years, but they're close. But I think the bottom line is he's a very superstitious guy and he's a very loyal guy. I think that, you know, he also looks at his legacy. He doesn't want to be, you know, one of these guys, you know know do i bring up like a matt sundin with the canucks um who obviously wasn't at the skill level at his age that sid is still now but from what i've been

told that was one of the things that he balanced and he made the decision that he wants to stay there so um because let's face it i mean mean, when I asked him about, you know, all the rumors that, you know, that he might, you know, what about going to Colorado, which those, you know, you guys have heard those as well as I have, you know, so he could play with his buddy McKinnon. But in the end, I think he's just comfortable there. And, you know, there is a debate there, like, well, if you want to win,

like you brought up, why are you staying there? But, I mean, he thinks he can win there. And, I mean, when you look at his trophy case, even though, you know, I have questions about that, I mean, how do you second-guess Sidney Crosby? How much do you think the Olympics in 2026 will drive him to continue to play at a high level? I mean, there's the NHL side of things, but we all know how much Sid values and appreciates playing in best on best competition as well. Oh, I think it drives him a lot. And the fact that, you know, at this point of his career,

you know, he pointed out, what was the last time? I guess the 2016 World Cup of Hockey was the last time. We don't count that. Yeah. We count Sochi as the last best on best. We say it's been a decade since real best on best hockey. Come on, the world team? I mean, doesn't everybody remember?

Hey, man, they made it to the finals. They're the European team. That's it. Except for a bunch of countries in Europe. Yeah, let's just throw them together, put them in a blender, and we'll play. But, no, he's really looking forward to it. And I think one of the things that drives him, too, is this is a chance for him to play with his buddy McKinnon.

You know, Brad Marchant, the three of them obviously live in the Halifax area. And, you know, they train every summer and work out together. But also the chance to play with Connor McDavid. And I know talking to Connor yesterday, how much he's fueled by the chance to play, you know, with Sid and vice versa. So, yeah, I mean, it really does drive him. And to that end, they just last week, a bunch of them were in Vail. Sidney Crosby's trainer puts together four or five days where the workouts are really, really intense. And it just so happened that a lot of guys, you know, McKinnon was there.

McDavid was there. Mitchell Marner was there like a lot of the guys that um could be candidates for team Canada were there and it's all driven by sit um and that's how much he wants this um and even for the four nations you know like people people that think oh it's just an exhibition game I can tell you, like after talking to McDavid and Crosby in the last 48 hours, you just have to see how enthusiastic and how competitive they are when they talk about the four nations that it means a lot to them. And let's face it, guys, it's going to be a dress rehearsal for the Olympics in 2026. So, yeah, I mean, Sidney Crosby doesn't need a lot of motivation.

You know, he's very, you know, he's one of those guys kind of like McDavid that gets really peeved off even if they lose like a January game to Anaheim. So the chance to go to the Olympics is definitely, you know, front and center for a lot of these guys, especially those two. We're speaking to Mike Zeisberger from NHL.com here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Mike is in Las Vegas for the NHL's North American Player Media Tour. Not just for players, of course, Mike. Bill Daly, a one-man content factory.

We were talking about him earlier because he was talking about international hockey and the upcoming calendar. I also know that you wrote about how impressed he is by the quote-unquote unbelievable accomplishments that Utahah has already had despite not even playing a game yet what have they done well they just signed kyler yamamoto to a pto i don't know if that made the list but well that puts them over the top then right all right uh what were some of these unbelievable accomplishments that daly was talking about well no he's just saying how quick the turnover has been and he pointed out uh you know, the one thing that, or the one kind of situation

that kind of reminds me, reminds him of it a bit, is when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg. But as he pointed out, they already had an arena. Mark Chipman and True North Sports had already run the AHL Moose. So they kind of had the infrastructure in in in place whereas you go to you know when they when um you know arizona it's kind of weird because uh you know they don't say that they have relocated from arizona to utah. It's just like, oh, it's the fledgling season of Utah. And it's like, well, wait a minute.

All the guys came from Arizona, so is it not a shift? But however they want to paint it, you know, it was in April when all that happened. And I know we all remember when the players formerly known as the Coyotes came to that rally and there were 12,000 people just going to the arena just to watch them walk out on the stage. So that was really impressive. But from that point, I mean, guys, you know, they had, they, they had to get a practice

arena ready. They had no, you know, they didn't have team colors. They didn't have jerseys. They didn't have a broadcast team. They didn't have an ice crew that works all these games. So I think that's one of the things that Bill Daley was referencing, is that they needed to get this infrastructure in order, and that's what he's been impressed about,

because these guys are going to be ready when the puck drops. I found it kind of interesting. So when they were doing, on Saturday, they were doing tryouts for the ice crew, and 60 people showed up. I just want to ask you guys, were there 60 people at Mullet Arena for the home game? Yeah.

Maybe a few more. Definitely not on the ice crew. Not on the ice crew. Maybe more ice crew. Two-thirds of the crowd. Ice crew, yeah. Mike, I want to talk a bit about the Toronto Maple Leafs because we just talked about them,

and I know you cover them very closely. To make a long story short, I am not high on the Maple Leafs this season. I don't think their blue line is very good. I think they've got a lot of wild cards. Just from a functional standpoint, what's going to happen with Mitch Marner?

Is Craig Berube really going to mesh his style with the top players on the Leafs? I think their goaltending could be a bit of a wild card as well. What are the expectations

for you for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season? Do you think Brad Treliving has improved the team, or do you think they're about the same? I think he has improved the team a bit. I mean, you know, I think their defense is a bit better, but that doesn't mean that it's good.

I'm fascinated to see, but look at, you know, and this might be a cultural reference that your younger listeners won't link up to, but, you know, in the Charlie Brown comics, Lucy would always get ready to hold the football when Charlie Brown was trying to kick a field goal. And at the last second, she'd always pull that football away, and he'd land on his derriere. Every single time, and the next time Lucy would say, I'm not going to do it again, and then she would do it.

Well, that's the way the Maple Leafs have teased us, okay? They have these great regular seasons, and then in the playoffs, it's wash, rinse, repeat. One playoff win in 20 years and i think we're at the point now one playoff round win in 20 years but i think we're at the point now at least for me you know i'll change my opinion of the maple leafs when they show that they deserve that i change my opinion but it's all kind of focused on, you know, what's going to happen come April. And I think that's the big litmus test.

Now, Bradtree Living was kind of handcuffed. I mean, that Tavares contract, you know, he's got a no trade. Marner had a no trade. So they are pushed up against the cap. I think where, if you, you know, in Brad Treliving's defense, it's going to be next summer. If you want to remold this team, give it a different vibe because Marner's contract runs out and Tavares' contract runs out. And you couple that with the cap going up, you know even if they decide to re-sign

marner um this is going to be next summer should be the first time in you know probably since kyle dubas signed uh tavaris way back when that the maple leafs might have enough money um to to fix their achilles heel which to to me, you pointed out, let's see how the goaltending goes this year. But defense, defense, defense. And all teams have to pay their marquee players now. But you better make sure they're the right marquee players. And I'm not saying the Leafs' so-called core four aren't good players, but they're the right marquee players and i'm not saying the leafs so-called core four aren't

good players but they're all forwards and to me you can't have four um you know four got four guys who are forwards taking up almost half of your salary cap i just wonder who they go out and get well that's that's another problem right well yeah you, yeah. I can remember when they were trying to woo Alex Pietrangelo before he went to Vegas. He's a Toronto area kid, not so much a kid anymore. But when I look at it, that's probably the biggest marquee guy at the time in terms of defensemen that they had a chance to get. And that didn't work out for one reason or another.

They probably ran out of cap space and Vegas gave them what he wanted. But that's the big issue. I mean, how ironic would it be, guys, if the Leafs finally have cap space and there's not that marquee guy on the market that they can use it for? Mike, one final one before we let you go. We started this hit talking about Sidney Crosby and his pending contract extension. Let's finish with what you wrote about most recently.

Connor McDavid and his new contract, which everyone assumes he will eventually sign in Edmonton when he's eligible to do what did mcdavid have to say about signing long term in edmonton after his running mate leon dry sidle did the exact same thing just a few weeks ago well it's interesting because uh connor talked uh yesterday in edmonton and he was you know i'm not going to you know revisit this um you know he goes i'm not worried about my future um but when i managed when he came down to vegas and we talked yesterday he said there's a lot of factors and and you know family and you know um you know whatever what works best for

his family and to be around which will get get all the conspiracy theorists going because he is from Ontario. So it's like, oh, he's going to the Leafs. He must be going to the Leafs. And I would, you know, let's just push the brakes on that a little bit. But, you know, he talked about, like, it's what the loyalty to the Oilers, you know, the direction that they're going in. And, you know, for me, when I connect the dots, look, he and Leon are so close.

Leon has started spending his summers in Ontario. From what I was told, he's bought a house north of Toronto, not too far from Connor. So when you, you know, I mean, let's all read the tea leaves there. I, to me, Leon Dreisaitl would have got what he got or even more had he gone on the free agent market. Instead, he decided that he was going to stay in Edmonton. You got to think that these guys who are best friends talked long and hard about this you know i mean uh you know if you stay then i stay and we're going to do this look i don't know that for a fact but you just get little

hints of that and i just you know i can't see that leon would commit for that long if he didn't know that his you know that they had talked and his buddy was thinking about doing the same next July. That's what Leon said yesterday. He says, I can't wait until next summer to see what happens. Well, I think he probably knows. I'm ditching you, Leon.

See ya. Leaving you at the altar. Yeah, the Leafs all of a sudden have to look to cap space. See you later, buddy. Hey, Zyze, this was great, man. I can guarantee you they won't have that much cap space. Zyze, this was great, man.

Always great talking to you. Love getting caught up again. Enjoy the rest of Vegas. We'll do this again as we get closer to the start of the regular season. Anytime, guys, and I i'm gonna say it again uh you know uh hello and everybody in uh canada's uh most beautiful city be safe and uh hope to talk to you guys soon sounds great thanks buddy that's mike zeisberger from nhl.com here on the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 in all seriousness there aren't many ufa defensemen nope for not this season

obviously but next season, I think it's Shea Theodore. Yeah, but then the year after that, two years from now, that's when the Leafs are really going to bring it home. Yeah. Just have to wait two years. Because no one will retain any of those defensemen in the meantime. That's it. Joseph Wall will just be getting over his injury. He'll be ready to roll.

He'll be ready to roll. So when the Leafs miss the playoffs this year, will they be trading like everyone in the offseason? Like everyone? Just completely clean house? Two years. They're going to miss the playoffs this year, will they be trading like everyone in the offseason? Like everyone? Just completely clean house? Two years. They're going to miss the playoffs this year and next year. And then when the free agents come, then they'll be able to.

Get you what we learned into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. You're listening to the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show What'd I say? Talk to the audience Oh god, this is always dead It's what we learn time It's what we learn time It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time.

On the show. 831 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in Hour 3 of the program. It is what we learn time. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider Powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews

So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec I believe they want to get rid of this segment What we learned? You bandied about it earlier Look, when you're going to freshen up a show You have to look at all facets of it For example, we've talked about getting younger, cooler dogs

It's always a good idea to take away your most popular segment on the show and replace it with something else. And best song. Sometimes you've got to turn a team over. Yep. Sometimes you trade someone at their highest. Or you can just hold on to Marner, Tavares, and Matthews, and Nylander, and just hope it just works out every time.

What we learned is Wayne Gretzky, he's an institution. Even Wayne Gretzky got traded, though. Yeah. And look how that works out. What we learned is Wayne Gretzky, he's an institution. Even Wayne Gretzky got traded though. Yeah. And look how that turned out. A couple times. As a matter of fact. Changed the face of the game. It's true. It's true. Yeah. Completely altered

the sport. We could do that. We have that kind of clever. By removing our most popular feature. Yeah. Look, i'm just saying move the producers at this point yeah i could replace also our most that's not moving the needle that's not moving the needle we gotta we gotta work on hosting even worse than is what you're saying instead of a dog we're gonna have we're gonna replace andy with some sort of alien life form and laddie with a robot yeah and somehow a butler is gonna be involved i haven't quite

workshopped that one yet. Anyway. Those clowns in Congress are at it again. So we're going to start with a soon-to-be robot, currently a dog, Laddie. Laddie, what did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? I will inform you now what I learned. Okay. Roberto Luongo.

I remember him. He responded to a Facebook ad desperately searching for a goaltender for this Beer League's championship game, and he comes rolling up. There's a video on social media out there now of him rolling into the dressing room in full gear, wearing his Hall of Fame pads that were gifted to him, by the way. He's just strutting around, and apparently he went out and played this game, and they beat the five-time defending champs 4-2. So they did sneak two past him, but he got them the win,

and it's amazing. Was this in Florida? I believe it was in Florida. It doesn't say on their jerseys where they're from. What's the beer league level like in Florida? Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Yeah. I mean, pretty impressive.

I won't go there, but they were able to get two past Luongo, so there must be some decent shooters on the team. And it sounds like this was a pretty strong team they were playing, so we probably had the majority of the action. But that's pretty cool. Funny how Marshawn was playing for the other team too. Really got in his head. Snuck two past him.

But can you imagine Roberto Luongo just showing up to your beer league game one day? It's like that commercial where Marty Brodeur comes rolling in for the Enterprise commercial. It is such a cool thing for Luongo to do, too. Luongo's like, this is going to be great. Then Tim Thomas skates out to the other team. He's like, oh, come on. He's still not saying anything nice about me.

It is confirmed. It's South Florida Beer League. That's per David. Well, there's probably some good players from the Northeast that moved down there. I always admire, you know, this is a bit of a tangent, That's per David. Well, there's probably some good players from the Northeast that move down there. Yeah. I always admire, you know, this is a bit of a tangent, but I always admire the guys that still go out and play like competitive men's league after they retire.

After the NHL. Remember Ryan Smith? Yep. Yeah. He played in a seniors league. He played for like the Allen Cup and stuff like that. Actually, he had a really bad injury playing competitive high-end rec league because he got hit really hard.

It's the love of the game. Yeah. And then there are some guys that once they're done, they won't even put skates on again. A lot of goalies will not wear the pads again. Kirk McLean will still go out to the Canucks alumni and play out. I thought Luongo enjoyed that too. Wasn't he playing out in a few?

In the Hall of Fame game. In the Hall of Fame game, right. It's pretty amazing he went and played in that. Yeah. But like I would have that would have been cool if he showed up. He's like, yeah, I know you were looking for a goalie. He's got fresh new hips. He's feeling good. So I guess new hips. New hips. Anyway, that's a very good one

for the goalie guy. Mukau. All right, A-Dog. It's your time to shine. As I said, dozens, dozens of single people have been texting in asking about... A bit like your single men, want to know. Asking about a Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice review. Yeah, it was pretty good.

I mean, it wasn't... Hold on, hold on, hold on. Anyways, that's not what we learned, Mukau. So... Wasn't very good, was it?. Wasn't very good, was it? It wasn't very good, was it? A-Dog talked up. Okay, so I'm going to set this.

They brought back a movie from the 80s, and it wasn't great. Let me set the stage. Okay, I'll put the context out there. You've been very excited about this. Yeah. You got your tickets well in advance, and then Bruff kind of was giving you advance to get on the secondary market. Yeah, they're hot tickets.

Sort of like 8chan but for Beetlejuice. Anyway, Brough was kind of giving you a hard time and then you went yesterday and I feel like it fell short of expectations. I mean, it was fun. It visually was fantastic. It looked great. It looked like a

Tim Burton movie of old. It really felt like he went back to his roots. Lots of practical effects. Even the CGI, they did a really painstaking job of making it feel like old 80s retro kind of looks. Oh, so it sucked. They brought back 80s CGI. Awesome.

There's a bot coming. Let him get to it. I really appreciated the visual style. I thought the acting was all great. Like Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, Jen Ortega, who had never seen anything before, was great. Of course,

Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice was terrific. So there was lots to like. However, I found the story to be rather unengaging. Like I just didn't really connect with what was happening. It was just, they were throwing so many different things at you so fast. You said it was too busy.

It was way too busy and it was only an hour. Connect with the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice story. No it was just it was just so much was going

at you so quickly. There was so much being thrown at you. What was the main idea? What was the plot line? It wasn't even a two hour movie.

It was an hour and 45 minutes so it was a really short film and it felt like they had like four movies worth of stories in there and they just all crammed it into one.

I asked him, I said, what was the plot line? He's like, there was too many. The plot line is Beetlejuice is trying to get out of the afterlife to come back to Earth, and he wants to marry Winona Ryder's character again, and pretty much just rekindle what he tried to do in the first movie, being a complete creep about it. But too much.

The first movie, I guess the reason it was so jarring for me is because the first movie's story was so original at the time. It was so unique. It was such a creative idea and a cool story back when it came out, back in the day, it was so fresh. This time, it just fell a little short, and I was like, okay,

it felt more like, as I expected it would, felt a little more like a retread. With that said, I still enjoyed it. It was still fun. If you liked the first one, you'd probably get some at least visual enjoyment out of this movie. It is worth seeing in the theaters for spectacle.

I find visual enjoyment quite important in a movie. Well, I mean, it's a fun... Some would say it's the main thing. It's like the fun summer popcorn flick where you just turn your brain off and watch stuff happen. I'm mostly there for the taste of the movie. And sometimes, you know, sometimes that's all you need. So I would say, if I'm being generous,

seven out of ten, but maybe closer to like a six out of ten. Can I read a scathing review from Vanity Fair? Absolutely. That was the one I sent. With its limp humor, canned sentiment, and over-egged efforts to gross us out, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a waste of a good cast and a defacement of a classic film's legacy.

Harsh. Those are some strong words from Vanity Fair. A-Dog sounds like when Halford and I used to go out on the road, he would sometimes choose a restaurant. And hype it up, then it falls short. And he would hype it up, and it would fall short, and I would just be willing to say, like, yeah, it's not very good. He'd be like, it's good.

It's good. It's good, right? I wouldn't say I would. He's choking the food down. He's like, it's good, right? You realize a lot of, right? I wouldn't say I was. He's choking the food down. He's like, it's good, right? You realize a lot of it is like a bit, right? Like I wasn't hyping it. I knew exactly what it was going to be when I went to see it.

Oh, now it's a bit. I was like, you know, I was like, I'm sure I'll like the movie. I'm sure it'll be fun. It'll be visually enjoyable, but it won't be like. Since you're walking backwards right now, just watch your step because it can be hard sometimes when you're walking backwards. It was fun. It was definitely worth seeing in the theaters.

I enjoyed it. Okay. Luke out. Worth seeing in the theaters. It is. I mean, I would rather see it in the theaters than a small screen. At least with the theater effect, you get all the, you can really take in all the visuals, right?

This sets the stage nicely for tomorrow because Adnan's going to be joining us tomorrow. I don't know if he's seen Beetlejuice. I don't think, he didn't seem to. He did not seem super keen on it. No. Okay. You're done, right? You don't have one.'t seem to i did not seem super keen on no no okay um you're done right you don't have one i am almost done yeah okay you know what let's go let's turn i could go through some nhl news and notes but let's just turn this over to the humanoids dot matrix me

give me some of that sweet sweet fire plan oh my god we're having a fire What we learned from Amro the actor I learned that even with all the buzz And news and changes In the NHL still nobody cares about the Ottawa Senators I care a bit about the Ottawa Senators I don't I want to see how Greener does Ian Mendez is now working for the team

We can't even get him on the show anymore Because he's gone to the dark side. I'm not saying working for an NHL club is the dark side, of course. Although I just said it. Unless it's the Senators. Unless I just said it. I've always kind of platooned back and forth between Ottawa and Winnipeg being, I guess,

what, the least offensive NHL team in Canada to support? Right. Montreal, maybe. I don't know. I got mixed feelings on Montreal. They're plucky. Yeah, and they kind of did all their winning way back in the day. So I don't really worry about them too much.

I am somewhat intrigued by Ottawa because of Greener. I really want to see what's going to happen there because all the pieces are there for him to potentially have a good season and for them to make a stretch forward. I'll leave it all, Mark. But you know, there's certain organizations that just have like the stink,

like the car in Seinfeld is just there. You can't get rid of it. Yeah. I wonder if Ottawa is one of those. I wonder if the whole Melnick regime and everything that went on, if it's just going to take a long time to get. It might. They've got some good young talent, though.

I know, but sometimes dysfunction just, this makes no sense. But, you know, it just permeates everything. Well, but that was happening with the Canucks for a few years. Yeah, but to the degree where, like, the Shane Pinto thing. Like, why did it happen in Ottawa? Like, there's 31 other NHL franchises where someone could have done it. You couldn't have seen that happen to Vancouver in the last, not before last season happened?

But it didn't, right? Yay. Yay. If Greener drops the ball and he can't get the stank off the Senators, does he get another opportunity somewhere? I don't know if we're in a last chance corral, but we're close. So Dustin

the Joker on Twitter, or X, what we learned, I learned, I must be missing something. While drafted in the second round, Anthony Romani's numbers are pretty crazy.

He is my pick for someone who we will all be talking about this weekend in Penticton. Yes, Tony Romani. Tony Romani. Played for North Bay and put up 111 points in 68 games. Now, it should be noted that he was draft eligible the year before and nobody took him. But he just turned 19. So he is still, he's not like they didn't draft like a 20 year old.

Yeah. Out of the OHL who dominated. There was an article in the province, if you want to Google it up, about the Sedins actually working with Tony Romani. And he, you know, I think the knock on him is his defensive play, his awareness on the ice. So he puts up 111 points.

Like honestly, that's led the team. And it was, it was a good team yeah they were like 39 20 and 9 so they they were a good team yeah i mean maybe there are some people writing articles about this guy maybe he's going to be the steel of the draft these are the guys that i am curious about i mentioned this earlier in the show it's not how will Max Sasson look in the young stars or Akita Hirose those guys need to show in camp but it's the rookies that

have never really played pro hockey that I want to see in this camp Anthony Romani speaking of as we go Tony Roma does it still exist Tony Roma's ribs it still exist? Tony Roma's ribs?

They used to be by our old office down on Berard. Yeah, that was good. It used to be the definitive place for ribs. Right. Vancouver's never been like a rib town. Come to Vancouver. Try our ribs. Not to be confused with Tile Town.

Ribton. Call it Ribton. Juan from Comox. What I learned as a Broncos fan, I was excited for the revenge game against Wilson. It'll have to wait with Fields being announced as the starter. I didn't even know the Steelers and the Broncos were playing in week two. Yeah. I wonder if Fields is just going to take the job

and not exactly like be amazing with it, but not play so badly that russ gets in there i watched the game it was it was the game it was ugly but he didn't make any massive mistakes did you see he got a lot of stick for this on social media did you see russell wilson on sunday yeah yeah on the sidelines yeah. Because he was dressed in full uniform and pads. Yeah. The only issue was he was inactive for the game, so he couldn't have played.

They were like, this is... Maybe he forgot his sweatpants or something. I know that... No, no. Did he have his helmet on the whole time? I mean, it was the most obvious. It's a very, very low-key, but very obvious look at me move.

Yeah. You know, like it's, you don't do that. You don't wear pads unless the possibility of playing football is on the horizon. Has there been any worse sports divorce? You've known me for my, like, well, half my life. A long time. Have I had a sports divorce worse than Russell Wilson? No, because it was messy. And you were like, you had a sports divorce worse than russell wilson no because it was messy

and you were like you had a lot of because i went from there was a lot of unresolved feelings i went from real love yeah to disdain it was the embodiment of a messy divorce like i think i still love you and then you're like no i don't i want nothing to do with you ever again i get the ick with him now and then yeah but there's also like i can't believe i loved you but you've also said you you gave me so many good times it was very we did have some good years together it was very conflicting won the super bowl together it's like we'll always have that a good old messy divorce we had like we used to have them back in the day we had nine kids did you know that none of this co-parenting thing it's a lot. A lot of people texting in about Roberto

Luongo, Nick on the drive, what we learned in addition to winning the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last NHL season. Roberto Luongo is now a beer league champion. He responded to a Facebook ad looking for a goalie and strapped on the pads to help a team take down the defending league champs. What a beauty. Yeah, I mean, that is a really cool move to make. And what a cool move to make for a professional athlete to do that. And the surprise. Can you imagine?

How do you think that went down? Do we know any more details about how it all went down? Did he just respond to it and be like, yeah, I'll be there? And then the whole team must have been thinking, first of all, was that really Roberto Luongo? Number two, is he really going to show up? And if he does,

is he... I mean, can you imagine? A lot of times there's behind-the-scenes stuff. I don't know if there was a PR agent that knew somebody or hooked them up, but it's a great story. Why do you have to be so cynical story could you not see of all the guys to do something like that doesn't Luongo still play in a fantasy football league with a bunch of Canucks fans yes right I mean that's that's awesome and you'll reach out to random people like he'll dm just random fans because he wants to talk to them so I could I could see him reaching out to just some beer league

guys and just scouring the best part for me is that it was an 11 o'clock game, too. Oh, wow. Like, good luck finding a goalie for that game. And then it's Luongo. Yeah. I've got a late game tonight, too. I might not be at my best. Another tie.

It feels like another tie on the horizon from Bruff's Beer League. Jay and Van, what we learned, Halborough, have some amazing hot takes today with the Leafs and Vegas not making the playoffs. Wondering if the two of you can make the same style of arguments for why the Canucks won't make the playoffs. Not that any of us want that or even think it, but hypothetically, if you had to argue why the Canucks won't make the playoffs,

what would be your arguments? Goaltending? Goaltending. Injuries? Not being so lucky with shooting percentages and health. Special teams, defensive weakness. Yeah, I'm a PD, still looking like the PD that we saw down the stretch and into the playoffs. I don't like doing this exercise, just for the record. But it would be fun to do with other teams that I don't like. What if Quinn Hughes got hurt? Yeah,

but that goes for any team. No, it doesn't. It does not go with any team. There are some teams that can sustain injuries better than others. Yeah, but any team is going to get, like, that's a possibility for anyone. There's, I think, team-specific ones as opposed to, like, injury hitting, right? Now, I also want to say that Jay and Van uh i don't know if this was intentional or not called it the j bro show not the hal bro show uh yeah we're moving on that cuts me that's that's his first time i said it was hal bro

because it wasn't my opinion that vegas is gonna miss the playoffs right exactly alfred's like first of all how dare you um also i i don't like doing this exercise with the Canucks. I'm actually, not just because it's good for business and good for my brand, on board with everything the Canucks did this offseason. I genuinely think that they are a better team than they were last year. However...

I like their depth up front more. If I'm going to entertain this, the answer, the number one answer with a bullet, there's not even anything remotely close to it, it's one and one alone there's no one A and one B is Thatcher Demko's health. Yeah. And it's super easy and nothing more

needs to be said. Austin in Langley, what we learned Austin in Langley must be a dad The Canucks missed a huge opportunity to have DPD wear number 42. Get it? 42 T O O as well.

Cause his name is Elias Petterson. I get it. I get it. Do you like it? Hate it. Okay. Coquitlam Casey. Someone likes it, right?

With a what we learned. Right? Late last week, the province had a fantastic article paying tribute to the recent passing of Pavel Bure's dad, Vladimir. I didn't realize how much his dad was involved as a trainer and how intense of a fitness regimen Pavel had to follow. It made me think of Bure's body eventually burning out with injury and reminded me of the discussion of Demko

and the balance of training and rest. And I would also say the balance of working with someone who pushes you really, really hard, and sometimes you get to the point where you've just had enough of it. It's always neat when... That was a good article, by the way, I read it. Yeah, it's always neat when people go back and... Because I knew this.

And a lot of people that probably grew up in our era knew that part of the reason that... He had a really simple training style too. Yeah. It's like you got a barbell and we're going to do a number of things with that. So Burry's dad was an Olympic-level swimmer for the former USSR. And then he went on to become a strength and conditioning coach for the Devils. And a lot of the reason that people said that Buray quite literally shot out of a cannon when he made his NHL debut was that his physical fitness for the time especially

was at a level that you didn't see like a lot of young guys came in and they found like you know look at how dave babbage is so strong and yeah hair everywhere right like he was like he's like it's just a walking testosterone everyone had grown man strength but they didn't have that sort of physical fitness right where you were explosive and i mean there was this sort of very famous picture of burry with his shirt off getting measured and he's like looks like a greek god like yeah hot right like it just there weren't many guys like that in the nhl at the time add in the fact that he's an unbelievable skater and he was young there was a reason that he played at a faster speed

the rest of the connects were like i'm gonna keep my shirt on. Thank you very much. He's swimming with his shirt on. What I learned as we're running out of time here, unsigned, the U.S. men's national team celebrated their new gaffer, gaffer signing, Pocatino, by pulling out a stunning draw against the mighty Kiwis. Open wide for some football. Yeah, the American soccer team is not in a good way. The Mexican soccer team had to resort to a bunch of dirty tactics to keep Canada to a nil-nil draw.

Canada, kings of CONCACAF. We are peaking too early. We are peaking way too early and it bothers me. 2026, boys. Go on, guys. Eyes on the prize. It's been a fun show.

Thank you all for listening and submitting your What We Learns. We got to get out of here for today, but we will be back tomorrow. Signing off, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog and he's been Laddie. This has been the Halford and Brough Show

on Sportsnet 650.