Halford & Brough in the Morning - The MLS Cup Final Featuring Your Vancouver Whitecaps Goes Tomorrow!

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

In hour two, guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Israel Fehr preview tomorrow's MLS Cup Final featuring the Vancouver Whitecaps at Inter Miami CF with Apple TV analyst Dax McCarty, plus the boys go around the NHL with ESPN's Arda Öcal. 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 Halford and Brough here, Sportsnet 650, jamie dot Israel Fair filling in for the guys today. Halford & Brough brought you by Sands and Associates score a debt freedom hat trick. No more interest, much lower payment. and financial peace of mind. Visit sands dash trustee.com. This hour, brought to you by jason.orgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

That's jason. Dot mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Now's the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics before the year runs out. Visit kintech. Dot net. We will chat MLS Cup and white caps with Dax McCarty in just a couple of minutes here. but first, always a pleasure to be joined from AJ's pizza by AJ himself.

AJ, what's going on, man? What is, what, do I owe the pleasure of having you? Brough is, I don't know, doing what? And then Halford booked off last minute as well. So I'm honored. I got all the intel. And who's the new kid sitting next to you? You know, you've talked to Izzy.

We have the air conversation. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Amazing. I've seen Izzy watching baseball. your shop, too. So he's a supporter. Don't worry. What's going on? What's going on this weekend? What are you looking forward to at

AJ's? Well, I mean, come on Saturdays. We're open at 10.30 tomorrow. I mean, this city's a buzz. I love it. It's great. I mean, so great for the white cab. So great for everybody here. We need a win, Matt. We need a win. Yeah, we open up at 1030. It's going to be a great day. And then

obviously, rolling into football on Sunday and happy hour old day that day. But yeah, come on, man. Go whitecaps. That's all that matters. Yeah, it's awesome. And I mean, it's been, it must be great for you guys. I know it's been great for the city, right?

To have, first of all, the J's and the Mariners going deep and the Jays all the way to the World Series. And now with the white caps, like there is no shortage of excuses to get out to E.Js and watch some sports. Right. And to your point, I just think the white caps have been captured the city. And, you know, it's been a rough go for the Canucks. So, you know, we've got something here. We don't need to talk about that, all right? No worry.

But yeah, it's going to be a great weekend. Absolutely. And, yeah, I mean, perfect timing, as you said, you're opening up at 1030. The game's at 1130. Like, couldn't be better. Go grab some pizza for lunch, have a beer, watch the game at AJ's. It sounds like a blast to me. All right.

It's going to be great. Natty, a dog. You know, you guys can always say hello to me. Hello, AJ. Yeah. This is AJ. They're not used to it. You guys have a wonderful weekend.

All right. Thank you, AJ. Appreciate it. That is AJ from AJ's pizza on East Broadway. And as you said, opening up 1030 tomorrow so you can make it your spot to check out for MLS Cup. That is the one flying the oitman here,

the 1130 start time. It's early. Yeah, because I was talking to a lot of buddies, like, oh, let's go. Where are we going to watch it? And it's like, oh, it's 1130. It's like, I'm going to be at my daughter's soccer. Yeah, right.

And I'll still find a way to watch most of it. But I was like, it's not ideal. The Champions League final kicks off at 1130 noon for us. Yeah. This game is happening in North America. Yeah. It's kicking off at the same. time a hundred percent understand the the logic there i get it's on the east coast but it's another

thing that would have been nice about having it here maybe you get a little bit of a later start time uh to the proceedings if it is in vancouver um all right 650 650 is the dumb bar lumber text line again it's an ask us anything friday coming up here uh in just a second or sorry we'll do the uh ask us anything giveaway later on at 830 we're going to talk to dax micardi here uh in just a second and in fact we are now joined on the line from Apple TV's MLS coverage, former MLS player here to preview the MLS Cup final with us. He is Dax McCarty. Dax, thanks for doing this today.

How are you? Hey, guys, absolutely no problem. I'm doing great. It's beautiful down here in Fort Lauderdale, Miami area. Just getting ready to cover what's going to be an absolutely fantastic final. Yeah, I mean, let's start there. As you said, this one looks like it has the feel of something that could be pretty special. just how exciting is this matchup from your perspective?

Yeah, I'm incredibly excited for it. It's actually, in my humble opinion, if you take the ingredients that are needed for an all-time great final, superstars, two good teams that like to attack, two very well-coached teams, first-year coaches in MLS that have come in and done extremely well,

this game, at least in the lead-up to it, has all the makings and ingredients of what I think will be the greatest MLS Cup of all time. Now, there's always the possibility that crazy things can happen, right? An early goal or an early red card or, you know, whatever it may be. But when I look at both of these teams, I look at two teams that have all the ingredients of teams that can both go on and win it. I don't really see a clear favorite in Miami. I don't see a clear favorite in Vancouver.

I see two teams that are really evenly matched. And I think it's just going to come down to the details in the finals. That's always what it comes down to. On paper, and then based on what both teams have achieved this season, I agree with you. They're quite evenly matched. But from a narrative perspective, it's not a surprise to see Miami in this final,

to see Leo Messi in this final. Whereas here in Vancouver, we've been able to follow this White Caps team throughout the season to see how they've played, the way that they've really attacked. in a way that we're not used to seeing the White Caps attack. What has stood out to you about this White Caps team that probably for a lot of people that don't follow them closely,

they are a bit of surprise to get to the championship game. Yeah, Vancouver has been one of the best teams, most consistent teams in Major League Soccer this year, bar none. And you could make the argument, other than their disappointing Conca Calf Champions Cup final loss down in Mexico, it's been almost the dream season for Yesper Sorensen and the Vancouver Whitecaps. I think they're the most well-balanced team in Major League Soccer, and they have been all season long. I saw some graphic or some metric where if you take a deep dive into some of the more advanced analytics

and the data surrounding maybe what makes teams good, what makes teams bad, the Vancouver Whitecaps are in the top seven or eight in the league in literally almost every single category. They're excellent defensively, the second best defense in Major League Soccer behind the Supporter Shield winner Philadelphia Union. They have the best, in my opinion, the best most well-balanced midfield in major league soccer now with Sebastian Berhalter and Andres Kubas playing at an unbelievably good level. Thomas Mueller has come in and taken this team for the next level in terms of just

a lot of stuff on the field, the way he interprets space, the way he finds chances, the way he's super efficient in front of a goal. but it's also the off-the-field stuff that I think has been – that's the stuff you can't quantify, right? That's the stuff that data and analytics can't quantify is what he has come in and done, taken an already really good team and turned them into a great team. Vancouver, in terms of how they attack, dangerous wingers, a great striker in Brian White, who is getting fit at the right time, you just have the ingredients of what looks like to me, not just a great team this year, who absolutely has a great chance to win MLS Cup,

but a great team for many years to come because they look like they're going to be able to sustain that type of success. Looking at some of the tactical questions at this match, Dax, and we were talking earlier in the show, and, you know, obviously Leo Messi is always going to be in the spotlight when you're playing Inter-M Miami. In past

matchups, including the successful matchup for the Whitecaps in the Concaf Champions League semifinal, it was Andre Kubis, kind of tasked with being the guy to shut down or slow down Leo Messi. Do you see that playing out in a similar way, and why has Kubis been able to have at least

a little bit of success doing that in the past? Yeah, I absolutely see that as one of the biggest matchups that you can see in MLS Cup. Andres Kubas, he's had a great season, but it's been a little bit up and down. If you guys remember, he was unfortunately at

fault for a few goals conceded in that really disappointing Conccaf Champions Cup final, and then he dealt with a couple injuries here and there, but make no mistake about it, guys. Kubas is one of the best defensive midfielers in Major League Soccer. He is, for my money, pound for pound, the best pure tackler in major league soccer, winning the ballback.

And when you are playing against Lino Messi, you need a guy in there that's going to be able to do the dirty work. That's exactly what Kubas does. He takes pride in that dirty work. And he has been the best defensive midfielder in terms of recovering the ball for his team in the playoffs. And so you want him close to Messi at all times. Messy's playing a little bit of a different role right now.

He's playing as more of a false nine, so he's able to be up near the centerbacks, but then Messi's such a smart player. Kubas and Burhalter are going to have to be really, really tuned into the game. They've got to make sure they're constantly checking their shoulders to figure out where Messi is. Because when Messi drops deep into midfield, Esper Sorensen is not going to want his centerbacks to step out of the back line

to go with Messi. That is going to be the job of Bearhalter and Kubas, and you just hope Kubas has the game of his life because if you can slow down Messi and you can slow down him supplying balls through that Vancouver backline to Silvetti and Allende who are both playing very well and they both provide a different threat

than I think Vancouver saw in the past with this Miami team you are going to have a good chance to win the game so yes it's Andres Kubas but it's not just him it's the entire midfield it's the centerbacks you always have to be aware of where Messi is at all times. The Thomas Mueller era in Vancouver could not have gotten off to a better start. He's been a seamless fit, a great ambassador. He's embraced being part of the white caps community and been a leader for this team clearly. And on the field, we've seen the unique way that he

can impact the game. But heading into this final, and he's, you know, he's downplayed the Mueller versus messy narrative. He's a guy that we've seen through the playoffs. He's taken off in extra time against L.A. The White Caps have a big lead, but he comes off in the Western final as well. Maybe some questions about just how fit he is. What do you see that he can impact this game or the role that he will play for the White Caps in this final?

Because obviously they are, they're banking on his experience, they're banking on the unique thing that he can do. But where is he at in what you're seeing in terms of his play and perhaps his feelings? fitness. Yeah. Yeah, it's a great question about Mueller because the truth is that I don't think anyone really knows what his health status is unless you're Thomas Mueller or maybe a yes for Sorensen. So I've seen what you guys have seen in terms of maybe his effectiveness being

hampered a little bit by what looks like a minor injury. But one thing I know for sure is that he's one of the most experienced players that we've ever seen in Major League Soccer, and not just in terms of his age, but in terms of high-level experience playing in the biggest games. And so players like that know how to manage their bodies. He's traditionally been an extremely fit player, his entire career, very few injury problems, and it's because he knows his body better than anyone else. So I would be surprised if Thomas Mueller wasn't 100% fit and ready to go for the final. It's, you know, the biggest game in Vancouver Whitecaps history up until this point in their, I think, history.

and so you'd have to expect him to be fit and ready to go. But it's champagne problems for Yes for Sorensen because if Thomas Mueller has to come off the bench, guess who you have starting for him. You have Ryan Gould, who as we know, Ryan Gould is one of the best creative players that MLS has seen over the last five or six years, and he is getting fit and healthy at the perfect time for them to make this deep playoff run. So my expectation, and I obviously have just as much knowledge as everyone else, I don't have any inside information, is that Thomas Mueller is going to play.

I think Thomas Mueller is going to play from the start, and he's going to play as much as he can. So the only decision, yes, for Sorensen really has to make is, if Thomas Mueller is not 90 minutes fit, do you then maybe bring Ryan Gould into that starting 11 to have Thomas Mueller available for the last 30 minutes of a game, if it looks like it's going to extra time? Do you want him available for extra time and potentially penalties? I would want one of the greatest goal scores in the history of the game available for penalty kicks. So it's up to him. If he can play 120 minutes, you've got to play him from the start.

But I would expect Ryan Gould to have a really big influence on this game as well. One of the other players that doesn't have the big name attached to him, but I know you wrote about when you were kind of looking at your combined Best 11 at the MLS website is Allie Ahmed. And I think you said you got a text from a current player who said, this guy is one of the hardest to defend in space, full stop in the league. How do you think the white caps and Sorensen can kind of bring that to bear and really make count against Inter-Miamy? Yeah, I love

that you asked that question, and by the way, guys, let me just say putting together that combined 11 between Miami and Vancouver was one of the hardest things I had to do as an adult, okay? I knew I was going to be leaving out some very good players. I knew that I was

going to get lots and lots of hate from the bots on Twitter. So I, you know, I take all that with a grain of salt, but one of the hardest decisions in that combined 11 was like do I put in Sergio Bousquettes or Andres Kubas, right? But then the other part of it was do I put in Ali Ahmed or Emmanuel Sabi? For me, two complete unsung heroes of this, not just this MLS Cup run for Vancouver,

but of the entire season. Sabi, for me and from my eyes, looking in the studio with Bradley Wright-Philip, Sasha, Klushing, Kael, we're sitting there asking, this guy's playing well enough to potentially get a look with the U.S. men's national team. That's how good we think he has played this year. But Ali Ahmed, if you guys are, if you guys, I know you watch the Western Conference final. He had right fullback, Ian Pilcher, in an absolute tornado in a torture chamber. He was so dynamic.

He was so dangerous. He's just so much fun to watch on his day. And I think MLS, the final is going to be very heavily influenced by how effective Ali Ahmed and Emmanuel Sabi are. If there's one thing I know about Inner Miami, and especially since Javier Maserano, has made this change, right, with Louis Suarez dropping to the bench. Miami looks more balanced and they look better defensively. But the fullback position for Miami is still a position, I don't want to say of weakness because Jordi Alba is one of the greatest of all time.

But he's also, he doesn't really love to defend. And if you have a guy like Emmanuel Sabi who can make him defend, if you can push Miami back, if you can make sure that Jordi Alba isn't able to just go forward at will, then you have a really good game plan. Ali Ahmed against whoever it is, Ian Frey or Marcello Wygant, I think that's a mismatch. That's a mismatch for the Vancouver Whitecaps,

and they should look to exploit that as much as they possibly can, because these two players in space are so hard to defend. And the buddy who texted me is actually a fullback in MLS. And he said, you don't want to see Ali Ahmed running at you one v one. That is a nightmare. That's fantastic. Dex, hey, this was awesome. I really appreciate the time in the insight.

Like you said, this feels like it could be a classic. Hopefully it lives up to it. Thanks so much for doing this. Yep. Hey, no problem, guys. Thanks for having me. Anytime. Enjoy the game.

All right. Our pleasure. That is Dax McCarty now covering MLS for Apple TV, former MLS player, very recent MLS player as well. And yeah, he is hyped. And, you know, he had to go, so we could have kept him longer because that was really, that was really fun chatting with him.

But one of the other elements here is, you know, you heard from him saying, hey, this could be the best MLS Cup final ever. Between Messi and there's an, the Argentine, Tinian mid midfielder as well who's won the World Cup.

Yeah, DePaul. And Mueller, this is going to be the first MLS Cup winner who's won a World Cup. Right. It's never happened before. And I think there's just some symbolism there for the league where, yeah, it's the star power. We're like, no, these are guys who have won at the very top level playing on our biggest stage. And I think especially now is, you know, the MLS is going to try, well, they are. They're going to transition to the different calendar to match up with the European, uh,

leagues, it feels like they are ready to kind of take that next step. And I'm not saying like compete with the EPL, but just be more a normal part of the soccer ecosystem and kind of not, again, not the EPL, but maybe some of the leagues just below that in Europe, start taking those steps to close the gap. And the beauty of it is that it's not, even though the prevailing narrative is Mueller v. Messi and, you know, Miami has you said, has other really high profile players. That's just. part of the story. The other part of the story is,

in particular on the Vancouver side, a really dynamic team, players that aren't these European legends playing well. Like, you look at what the white caps have been able to build. Their midfield with Burrhalter and Kubas. You've got really young fullbacks that have stepped up this year.

You know, Johnson's played there a lot. Ocampo's had a really good year. You know, talk about Ali Ahmed, talk about Emmanuel Sabi at different points this season, certainly early this season, what Jaden Nelson brought into that spot on the wing, right? There's just a lot of other elements

that are fueling this to be a final that has the potential to be one of the best in MLS, where it's not just, oh, you know, L.A. Galaxy and David Beckham have made the final. And there's no other real interesting points of discussion. Yes, it's interesting if Messi or Mueller add this trophy, even if, you know, it's not going to be in their top five trophies that they've won, but they still are, you know, Messi has made it very clear with his actions since

joining Miami that he wants to win silverware. Messy, or Mueller, since coming to Vancouver, has echoed that message that he's not here just for a retirement league, he's here to win. And they've been able to put themselves in a position here to do that, not just because they are dragging the team, although, you know, obviously Messi has a huge impact. Mueller has a huge impact when he plays, but that the level has grown in MLS. And so it is both of those things combining to make this a really tantalizing final.

Yeah. And you make a great point about like guys like Kubis and Ali Ahmed and what this could do for their profile and moving them on to bigger leagues. And that I think still sometimes here for people who aren't, you know, European soccer fans, the idea of a player becoming a star here and moving on to a bigger league, can sound like a negative, right? It's like, well, if they're a star, just keep them in MLS.

But that's just part of the soccer ecosystem. And that's part of climbing the ladder of the leagues and the hierarchy around the world. And that's actually good for the league to be moving guys on to like really high profile situations. I think you make a great point about Bear halter. Like if we're talking about profile of players, he's someone who all of a sudden is very much in the picture for the U.S. Men's national team is like, this guy could be starting at the World Cup for them.

The way he's playing in, he's in form. scored an incredible set piece goal for them not that long ago. Like he's really raised his profile in that regard as well. Jady and Coquitlam texts in ask us anything, which would be better for MLS as a whole, a white caps championship or an inter-Miamy championship? The easy answer is messy. Right?

It's messy. Now, that's offset a little bit by having Mueller on the white caps, right? So there's still a big star. But there's a huge gap. Like he's, Mueller is an incredible player. For Instagram, it's messy.

Messy is just on a different level. For football, for soccer itself, there's a strong argument for the White Caps. Messy's star power. I mean, he's got to be one of the five most notable athletes in the world. I thought you were just going to go people. Maybe, yeah, but I'm just trying to think, like, who else would even be there? I mean, Ronaldo, LeBron, the United States. Tiger probably still, like, I don't know, Max Verstappen, like, maybe, or Djokovic.

But, like, he's up there with those. He might, I think it's just him and. Cristiano. Yeah. Like, it's right. So Mueller is incredible. LeBron's right there too,

probably. Yeah. It is interesting, though. I guess you would make the argument if you're trying to do it for the white caps. Like,

what would it be better for MLS is, is the white caps path more sustainable? And more of a template that every team in, like if you're a Montreal impact fan, you can look at what the white caps are doing and say, oh, hey,

maybe we can replicate that. Whereas, You can't really do that with Miami. No. So I do think there's a sense of demonstrating the depth of the league more if the white caps win and kind of giving hope to the rest of the league as well that says, hey, you don't have to be Miami or L.A. and attract a global superstar.

I know they have Mueller. But you can build something sustainable here that can take you all the way to the MLS Cup final. Yeah. Well, Mueller was like the final piece here. Yes. Not the building block. Yes. Right.

They were building this independently of the idea that this situation would come. up in that an all-time European legend, the guy who's won everything, would even be interested in coming to Vancouver, let alone coming into this project at this particular time and joining the team the way that the white caps have been playing. So that is what makes it such an intriguing matchup, is that, of course, on the high end, it's messy. Can he finally get through and win the MLS Cup?

And really, you know, the Miami project is one that has been long gestating, even before they started playing or even before Messi came over the whole idea of David Beckham coming to MLS and that he was promised the team and that eventually that team would play games. It took a lot longer than people imagined. So there's that storyline.

But with the Whitecaps, it would just be absolutely the exclamation point on what's been a truly incredible season. All right, we're going to take a break here in just a second. Arda O'Call will join us from ESPN's NHM. coverage. We'll talk NHL with Arda next. I also do want to note this. If you're on social media,

Frank Saravali, regular on the show a few minutes ago, just tweeted simply the eyeball emoji. The eyeballs emoji. What could it possibly mean? What is Frank up to? What is Frank telling us? Incoming Quinn Hughes trade? Well, hey dog, come on. Don't go there on a Friday. Why did you say that?

Why did you say that, hey dog? Anyways, just something to keep an eye on. All right. At 730, so not yet, but right on the at 730 is your chance to win a $50 white spot gift card. It's going to go to caller number 5, 604-280-0-650 is the number. Again, caller 5 right at 730, not now, 730, 604. The lines aren't even open.

280-0-650. That's right. We have shut out your call right now. It will not go through, but you can win a $50 white spot gift card. Some great things coming from White Spot right now. Homestyle pot roast is back at White Spot. spot until January 4th, enjoy tender brazed beef, tomatoes, mushrooms, and Parmesan mashed potatoes,

atop a golden Yorkshire pudding with beef juo. From now until December 31st, for every $50 gift card purchased, you get a $10 holiday new year bonus. The $10 holiday new year bonus can only be redeemed January 1st of February 28th, 20266. Visit your nearest white spot to purchase a gift card and be caller 5 at 604-280-0-650 to win your own $50. white spot gift card. All right, Arda O'Cal next here on Halford & Brough, SportsNet 650.

Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Welcome back to Halford and Brough on a Fiesta Friday here on the show. It's Jamie Dodd and Israel Fair filling in for the guys. They will be back on next week. Halford and Brough brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn how, visit sands dash trustee.com.

This segment, this hour of the show brought you. you by Jason. Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. That's Jason. Dot mortgage. We are going to be joined by Arda O'Cal from ESPN's NHL coverage in just a moment here. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years, visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dumbar Lumber.com. We've already given away one of our prizes on the show today.

That's the $50 white spot gift card. Congratulations to the winner, who very nicely, I thought, said part of the prize was getting to talk to A-Dog on the phone. That's the real prize here. It's not up to A-Dog. It's a true honor. At 8, if you're caller 5, you're going to win the secret prize. It's day 5 of 12 days of Halbro here.

So a secret prize will go to caller 5 at 8. again the number is 604-280-0-650 and at 830 we'll give away a hundred dollar a j's gift card to a jays pizza on east broadway for the best ask us anything so send those ask us anything's in and we will announce the winner at 830 but before we do any of that as i mentioned it's now time to chat with arda okal from ESPN's NHL coverage arda what's going on man gentlemen, great to be on the show with you. I'm doing great out of yourself. Arna, we're just going to drop you and try to reconnect because you've got a very garbled connection right there. So we will try to figure that out with Arda O'Call, so he doesn't sound like he's speaking through a modulator

or he's like he's a robot or something. That was fun. That was very surprising. From the bottom of the sea. From the bottom of the sea. The connects are at the bottom of the sandings and the phone lines. And Arda is at the bottom of the sea. But we will check in with Arda momentarily here.

A lot going. on. And I saw, you know, I woke up and I checked 32 thoughts today, the podcast. And one of the lead items was Connor Bedard is booking his spot on Team Canada. So that is starting to become a major storyline. All right. Let's try this again. Arda, what's going on? Am I still underwater? No, this sounds amazing now. This sounds pretty perfect. Yeah. We did it. We figured it out. Let's go. When look, when two mega corporations like ESPN and the Disney Corporation and Rogers put their together. Nothing is impossible. All right. So I was just

talking there before we got you on again. Connor Bedard scores again last night. Chicago wins. They are, or he is absolutely red hot right now among the league leaders in NHL scoring. And as I'm sure you know up here, there's been a lot of debate, a lot of chatter. Bedard and Celebrini. Can you take either of them, both of them, to Team Canada

at the Olympics in February? And for a long time, the conventional wisdom was, well, Celebrini's probably going to be there, but there's still too many questions about Bedard, so I don't know. Can you really leave them off at this point, though, Arda? My question to that is, if they had been in the league for six seasons each

and they were where they are in the points race ahead of everybody other than Nathan McKinnon, who was on the Four Nations roster, every center anyway, would we be having this discussion? Nope. We wouldn't be. So what I'm saying is the age of those two players is the singular factor that people are pointing to to not send them to the Olympics.

Now, here's the thing. I completely understand that if you do bring Celebrini and Bedard to the Olympics, you're not bringing two either veterans or players in their prime. And I understand that. But here's the thing. You're running the risk of, oh, if Canada doesn't win. gold, well, then they're going to point to those decisions, but if they win, it's not going to matter. To me, we don't have the benefit of hindsight, obviously, at the moment, we're still deliberating and it's fun to debate, but if age is the only reason, and that's the only

thing, they were one and two in scoring two weeks ago in the art roster, and they've been top five for pretty much the whole season. So, like, what else are you expecting them to do in order to prove themselves that they belong on this roster? Well, the age asked, comes up, I think, because of A, the stage and how they'll respond to it, which I don't think, you know, these guys are number one picks. They've been able to withstand pressure throughout their young careers. But B, and probably more importantly, the role, right? So if you're putting Connor Bedard on this team and the way that he scored and the dynamic offensive player that he is, typically that player is not a 13th forward, even on an all-star team like

team Canada. So do you have any concerns about, okay, we're taking Bedard and this is more Bedard than Celebrini. I think the idea is that Celebrini could fit a number of different roles in a top nine or even on a fourth line. Whereas Bedard, what is the right fit for him if he does make this

team? Power play, shootout, overtime. Like I feel like he would be a great special teams guy. I mean, look no further than the move he pulled against Vegas, which is like an all-timer. He combined, he combined, like, three superpower moves from NHL superstars passed into one shootout attempt. Like, he Voltroned. He basically stitched together the greatest hits of shootout moves.

I don't know. Look, I think that if you go to either of those guys and said, we need you to play this role. Hey, you're a fourth line center for us or you're an extra forward. They're not saying no. They'd love to represent. Any player would love to represent their country. I don't think I have a concern there. I think that, I will say this, though, if they are not selected and Team Canada does not win gold, then the opposite is true as well. Then a lot of people will be saying, well, we should have invited the guys that were top five in scoring that are ahead of, you know, I'm not saying Mark Shifley shouldn't be there. I'm just using this as an example. Ahead of centers like Mark Shifley and other players. Like, I know that they're going to have

to up-seeing up-to positions if both of those guys are invited, but they're making a compelling case and a very strong case. And again, the only reason that we're having this debate is because they can't legally buy a beer in the States. Yeah. And we always, the hypothetical always comes up, right? Like, oh, you're leading a game in the third period. Are you going to want them out there?

But I think the flip side is equally as compelling. If you're in a, you know, if you're losing one nothing to Connor Hellebuck and the Americans in a semi-final or a gold medal game, don't you want the game-breaking talent? Because that's really what we're talking about. I mean, you mentioned the shootout goal against Vegas, but the goal he scored earlier in that game, just a phenomenal release. Like, he's a guy who can create a goal out of nothing at any point,

and maybe he's not going to play 20 minutes a night for you, but I think you want to have that option, that kind of bright glass in case of emergency option, if you are trailing a game. And you know when I want them on the ice, to your point about being down by one, when it's six on five. I would happily have Vadard and Celebrini on the ice,

the goal he pulled. Bedard has unreal hockey sense. Watch him play five games and you'll see him make the right move eight out of ten times at minimum. Like he's just so, the ideal move. He sees people, other people don't see.

He makes passes, other people don't think about. And Celebrini's the same. Like the sharks for a good stretch, uh, were a lot of fun to watch six on five and in large part because of Celebrini, almost essentially quarterbacking that six on five situation.

Like if you're telling me that that's the position, that they would be put in on Team Canada among, you know, other superstar talented players, I think I'd be happy with that. Now that's, I think, it's going to be the roster decision that gets the most chatter here. And of course, we're only, you know, less than a month away now from learning these rosters. On the American side of things, what's the debate or the dilemma that stands out the most to you as they put together their team? I mean, the goaltending is an embarrassment of riches for them, obviously, Thatcher Demko.

not having as many games as one would like. You know, you wonder where his position will be, Connor Hallibuck being injured, but like having a terrific four nations, you wonder, you know, what decisions will be made there. I wonder about guys like Patrick Kane. Like, I feel like my opinion here,

like Patrick Kane has a spot. Like, this might be the last time he wears a Team USA sweater. So, you know, like, even if it's like the two of the point earlier about shootouts and special team situations to have him and leadership, quite frankly, you know, on the roster. So I know that in Four Nations, guys like Dylan Larkin were taking more vocal roles in the locker room, right? You know, Austin Matthews isn't necessarily the most vocal leader in that sense.

And there were guys like Dylan Larkin and other veteran presence voices that were stepping up in those situations, even though they didn't have to because they weren't wearing the, see, right? So, you know, Patrick Kane can certainly be that sort of voice in the U.S.A locker room. And I think that, you know, there's certainly, like,

Tage Thompson is another one. Sure. You know, you got a guy like Cole Caulfield. Like, the USA are in a good position to really, really contend. And I think that, you know, the fine-tuned points are going to be where they're deliberating. One of the interesting

wrinkles of the Four Nations is that people thought, certainly in Canada, like, if Canada wins this thing. They're going to get too attached to these guys. They're not going to want to make changes. They're not going to consider players who are having great starts to their season. That seems to be shifting in terms of Bedard and Celebrini. It feels like a similar conversation with Team USA.

How much do you think, though, that the Four Nations and having that international experience and recent memory will ultimately play a role in making maybe some of these tougher decisions for the U.S. and the Canadian teams? I think it adds to the plus column, but like, you use Canadian goaltending as an example, right? Like, how do you deny the Canadian goaltenders that are just playing out of their minds so far this season, you know? Like, it's just really difficult to look at a couple of those goalies that were not part of the Four Nations roster and think, how can they not be seriously considered? and, you know, like Jordan Binnington, you know, he, when he's at his best, he's elite.

Unfortunately, it's not always the case, right? So he showed up and showed out in that gold medal game at Four Nations. And overtime, he made key save after key save, especially on Austin Matthews, which essentially led to the goal, right, going the other end. So you have to factor that in. At the same time, I mean, I don't know. I feel like Canada's in a better position today, goaltending-wise, in terms of being able to make decisions and candidates,

than the conversation was this time last year going into four nations. Talking to Ardo, O'Call from ESPN's NHL coverage here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. All right, let's dial in on some of the results and things happening right now in the NHL, Arda. And I feel like we've all been waiting for the Edmonton Oilers to kind of finally turn things on here, We've seen it in years past, slow start, then they get red hot, and they charge up the standings. It's felt different this year. It's felt much less inspiring, less inevitable.

But then they go out and they hang nine goals on the Seattle Cracken last night. Do you think that could be a turning point in the Oilers season? Yes, definitely. Like, you know what it feels like? You know how we always have the conversation? Like we're having it with the Panthers right now. We should be having it with the Oilers, too, even though they didn't win. Cup. It's the, oh, man, they've been playing 20 to 25 extra games in year. How tired could they

be physically and mentally, like the bottom's got to drop off at some point, right? Well, maybe it's just going to take a longer time in the regular season for these players to get jazzed up and motivated, right? So maybe we've hit the inflection point now. I mean, by the way, they're only, they're tied with Utah right now, and Utah's occupying the second wildcard spot. So it's not, like, I get it, I understand, as an Oilers fan, you're probably like, come on, guys, like, give me something to cheer for here. Like, don't go too far. Like, don't lose too many of these games. These points are going to matter in March, April, et cetera.

I understand all that. But to put it into perspective, especially for me as a guy who's looking at the league from a 20,000 foot view, the Oilers are at 29 points. Utah's at 29 points. There's a healthy amount of Western teams that are in that wild card. Hunt position, like it's not doom and gloom for the Oilers at all. I would, I would attribute it more so just to the fact that they're not tired, but like, okay, they might need to find their spark at some point, but I don't think all hope is lost, nor do I think that they're not going to find it. And this win against Seattle could very much be the jolt to another, to your point,

12 game win streak that they just vault back up to the top of the Pacific. Well, to that point, and it's just one game, I don't want to make too much out of the nine. goals, but through two months of the season, goal scoring was an issue, right? We spend a lot of time talking about Edmonton's goalies and the way that the Oilers defend, but their offense year over year over the last three, four years has declined. And I think some of that probably has to do with, as you're saying, this team has had a lot of miles, extra miles that they've had to play through. You can't always play that breakneck run-and-gun style that we saw from, you know, the earlier iteration of this Connor McDavid team.

Is that the strategy for the Oilers, you think, that they should at this point embrace outscoring their other problems? Yeah, I mean, the conversation, one of the conversations, I should say, certainly was goaltending in the last several years, right? Like that's always a key point that people dial in on, but two years ago they lost the cup by a goal, you know? and they made the cup final again last year. And if they dial it up again,

there's enough faith in McDavid and Drysidal and, you know, what moves may come at the trade deadline for this team to compete yet again. So I do think they miss a player like Corey Perry. Like I think that, you know, that style of player is missed in that lineup. That's just one thing that, you know,

in watching them play recently. He was a, you know, obviously he's a pest, but he certainly had that contribution to the oilers lineup that is probably sorely missed in that locker room right now. But, yeah, again, I'm not, I'm not, you know, pushing the panic button at all for the Oilers right now. So, Arta, before we let you go, I got to ask, I mean, you work with Greg Oshinsky at ESPN and Wish, of course, is a well-known New Jersey Devils fan. And like, what's the, on a scale of 1 to 10, how excited is wish about the Quinn Hughes situation right now? I believe he already bought his Quinn Hughes Devil's jersey. He, I think he actually already put the C on it too.

Oh, wow. Mistaken. Wow. Yeah, he probably, I think he already put the C on it. And he's already bought a replica Stanley Cup. I think he actually showed me a parade route around Newark so he's ready

he definitely alerted all the restaurants in the area for them not to admit the Hughes brothers so there will be no and in Chicago as well so he's just making sure you know he's hedging all of his bets but yeah he's very cautiously optimistic

as are oh by the way just to pull the curtain a little bit I would say a majority of our staff on the NHL and the SPN, director, statisticians, a lot of them are devil's fans. And this comes up all the time. This comes up at length. Like, it is not an if, but when, and where, how will this team be different, all of the, like, it's almost as if they're talking, like, it's already been done, and we're talking about how he slots into the lineup and the culture and dynamic, etc.

Well, I was going to ask, I mean, even beyond just, you know, the fact that you work with a lot of devil's fans, it feels like the Quinn Houston kind of exploded beyond Vancouver this week, right? You started to hear like, what would Detroit be willing to offer? Could Philly get involved? Has it really started to kind of penetrate the consciousness south of the border as well at a national level? Like, hey, what's going on here? And could this guy actually be on the move? I think at a national level, we certainly are paying attention to it.

I don't know if we're, oh, this is definitely happening. Let's begin cutting the features, you know, or begin planning the segments. But we're definitely keeping an eye on it and we're definitely aware and we're definitely monitoring the situation. But I don't think it goes beyond that at the moment. Arda, this was awesome. Really appreciate it. And thank you for taking some time to chat with us today. Anytime, boys.

Have fun. Thanks, Arda. That is Ardo Ocal from ESPN's NHL coverage. I did not realize it was. beyond wish, a hotbed of devil's fans at ESPN. So maybe that's who's driving this whole thing. It's not the Vancouver media. Pull it, pull it back.

The ESPN media. They're pushing to get Quinn Hughes to Newark, apparently. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. You can text in it's an ask us anything Friday here on the show. There are a couple I want to read later on in the program here. But Justin and East Van has one. anything, is lemonade an acceptable breakfast beverage? No. Way too sweet. Now, I guess people will say, like, well, what about orange juice? That's got lots of sugar. It just feels different,

though. Lemonade is, there's no way you're drinking lemonade before. There's no way you're drinking lemonade before lunch. That's crazy. Yeah, what does lemonade pair with for breakfast? Yeah, like, what would you have with lemonade? Cereal, obviously. Yeah, like having, sitting down with like a plate of eggs and lemonage. See, that's where my hang up is. That feels wrong. Yeah, I couldn't do it. I've had, I've been out for brunch and had a Coke with breakfast, though.

So maybe I'm a huge hypocrite. Were you hung over? No comment. Because let me tell you, my friend, when I'm hung over, it doesn't matter what time it is. A large Coca-Cola is maybe the greatest thing in the world. It goes a long way. That's for sure. 650, 650, Qualicum Golf Guy texts in.

Ask us anything. Do you decorate for Christmas the outside of your home with the mindset of being the Christmas house in your neighborhood? Is there another house or houses that you compete with? And is it friendly or truly competitive? When do you decorate the outside of your home? So I have like a town home. So it's not really ideal for decorating outside. So I don't get involved in that. Even if I had a house, I would be a lights only guy. I'm not doing the inflatable. Now I don't have a problem. No, Santa's on the roof. No, I enjoy. walking around and seeing them in the neighborhood but I'm going to leave that to other people a nice lights display simple classy that's good for me I'm going to let everyone else go crazy and I will reap the benefit of their hard work. Would that be also

like your Halloween opinion? Yes although Halloween I feel like because you don't do the lights so you're not you're just you're not going to be that front yard that's not the inflatable I mean some of the tombstones some of the Halloween displays in my neighborhood now are

completely like over the top. And again, I appreciate it. It's cool. But I'm just like, I have, I do not have the energy. You tip your cap. I tip my cap. I do not have the energy or the wherewithal to put that together, though. I like the lights. I'm with you.

Yeah, lights only. All right. Keep sending your Ask Us Anything's in. Remember, we will give out the $100 gift card to AJ's pizza at 830 for the best Ask Us Anything. We've got Rick Dollywall coming up on the other side as well. And very exciting here. we are mere minutes away from giving away the secret prize for day five of the five days of

of halbro here on sports net 650 you call in right at eight right on the dot at eight not before be caller five at eight 604 two eight zero six fifty is the number again 604 two eight zero six fifty is the number you win the secret prize I don't even know what the prize is I will reveal it on the other side once we have awarded it I'm very excited to find out what it is. I'm very excited for the winner. 604-280-0-650 right at 8 o'clock. A bunch of textures are saying lemonade does pair very nicely

with a light meal of fish and chips, which you're obviously known for. Oh, I forgot about that. I mean, fish and chips and lemonade sounds great, to be honest. For breakfast, especially. Iszy, are you aware of his eating habits? How every meal to Dodd is like a light meal, like he'll eat like a full pot roast and be like, oh, that's my

appetize. A snack. I was like, oh, fish and chips so heavy it's like whatever not really he's built different you guys he is him we must have discussed that on on this show at least four or five times after you admitted it on the air it's come up a lot however it really stuck with people rough was stunned got a steel over here that's right look i know what i like i mean you did you you you you uh you make it with the the coca colas in the morning like after that everything's everything's a light meal listen i've got a i've been gifted with a nice metabolism we'll see how long it lasts I probably am going to have to shape up at some point, but I've been very lucky up to this point.

All right. Rick Dollywall next here on Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650.