Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Panthers Are Partying Hard & Oilers Fans Don't Like It

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, including Abby losing Game 5, OKC and SGA winning it all at the NBA Finals, the criticism around the Panthers Cup celebration (3:00), plus the boys talk a BC Lions loss as well as some Canucks off-season predictions (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.

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6 o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. It is Halford and his Brownford is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey Don, good morning to you.

Good morning. And Lydie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brownford the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Andy never sent the read, so I don't have the copy in front of me. We are in hour one of the program this is our one of this program

is brought to you by North Star metal recycling Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal North Star metal recycling they recycle you get paid visit them 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver you don't have it memorized by now no just make it up on my yeah just make it up on my yeah, just make it up Associates They stop foot pain. No, that's not it. Do you want me to do mine first? Yes, please I'll do it really slow so a duck and you can do it as slow as you want that email ain't coming brother All right We are coming to you live from the kintex studio kintex footwear and orthotics working together with you in step guess what didn't show

Up during your read about Kintec? The email? Yeah, that's right. Okay, well, let's just talk about the guests we got. We have a big show ahead on a Monday. Guest list today begins at seven o'clock. So first hour is entirely uninterrupted, Halford and Bruff. Chris Peters is going to join the program at 7 a.m. NHL draft and prospects analyst for Flow Hockey. Flow Hockey, Greg. The NHL draft is this Friday, June 27th.

We figured, since it's the week of the draft, we should figure out who some of the players are that are gonna get drafted. We'll do that this morning with Chris. We'll also talk to him about the Calder Cup final, which he's covering as well for flow hockey. So Chris Peters on the NHL draft and the American League finals.

How many prospects could you name? Oh boy. I can do Schaefer. Schfer Hagen Mesa Mesa Mesa Smith Gavin Jones Gavin McKenna he's next year. Oh gosh, right. Oh, it's Bergen Josh Ravens Bergen. Oh god. He's some goalie Ravens Bergen. He's one of the top goalies his middle name He's George isn't that a publisher of children's books? Brave burger. I think it is look it up. We'll check it out. Chris Peters.

Ravensberger. Yeah, maybe. 730 Peter Ball. Peter Ball from the Athletic is going to join the program. New York hockey writer. So last week he had an explosive tell all piece inside the New York Rangers 24, 25 descent from playoffs to sell offs.

No one here is happy. So already this off season, the Rangers have gotten rid of Peter La Violette. They got rid of Chris Crider. We're going to take a deeper look at how bad things got for the Rangers. What does Chris Drury have next in store for his team? We'll talk to Peter Baw about that at seven 30 eight o'clock. It's Brandon Astle play by play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. The Abbotsford Canucks were just one shot away, a single solitary shot away

from winning the Calder Cup on home ice this weekend. But alas, they did not. They're now playing in game six of the series back in Charlotte tonight. Brandon will be on the call at four o'clock. A reminder, you can get all your coverage pre, post and the actual game right here on Sportsnet 650. It'll begin with Sat and Dan and connect central at three o'clock puck drop is at four. And then we have a Abbotsford Canucks post game show after the game.

Maybe it will be a Calder Cup championship post game show. Who knows? Uh, another friendly reminder, by the way, I have a question. Have you bought your tickets for the Sportsnet 650 J's care 50 50 for challenger baseball yet? Jason, you could ask that question of me. your tickets for the Sportsnet 650 Jays Care 50 50 for Challenger Baseball yet. Jason, you could ask that question of me because I now have to purchase $100. Yeah, worth the 50 50 tickets after the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals yesterday. Go to Jays Care Golf dot raffle nexus dot com right now.

Buy your tickets. Support Challenger Baseball, be a good person. You also have the chance to win some money. J's care golf at raffle nexus dot com. Uh, that is your link for the 50 50 to the sports net six 50 J's care 50 50 for challenger baseball. Okay. Working in reverse on the guest list, eight o'clock it's Brandon Astle seven 30 Peter boss seven o'clock Chris Peters. That's what's happening on the program today, laddie. Let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'm moving. We know how messy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance making safety simpler by giving construction companies investing tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We are indeed in our one of the program by the way. Our one is brought to you by SANS and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help

with over 3000 five star reviews. Visit them online at sans-trust.com. Thank you. Not for pen. Thank you. We'll give them a little extra love right now. Help with over three thousand five star reviews visit them online at sans We'll give them a little extra love right now sans and associates, they're very good We turn our attention first To the Abbotsford Canucks it was oh so close on Saturday evening out of the Abbotsford Center in front of nearly 7500 fans in attendance. But it was Jesse Puglia Jarvi. Remember him? He scored 1522 into the first overtime as the Charlotte Checkers spoiled the

party, beating Abbotsford 4-3 in game five of the Calder Cup final on Saturday evening. Let's hear the call of this truly bizarre goal that led to the Charlotte Checkers win. Here's Jesse Puglia Jarvi from behind the goal line, winning it for the Charlotte Checkers win. Here's Jesse Pujarvi from behind the goal line, winning it for the Charlotte Checkers. Sort of with a chance, it's wrist shot, blocked. Looks like Mueller got in the way. Now Kirsten, the defenseman's in deep. One hands up behind that for Pujarvi. Looking in front, they score. It goes off of Canuck, body it in. It'll be Pujarvi's goal. And this series will continue as the Checkers win at four, three, and overtime. So it actually went off to Canuck, defenseman, and I put this question to you guys. Was that hockey's version of the double doink? Technically, off a center and then a defenseman,

because Ty Mueller was doing good work in the zone. So I went off Ty Mueller, then off Guillaume Brizebaugh. But still, that was a double doink. Was doing good work in the zone okay? I went off time Mueller then off Guillaume brees walk, but still Doing it was about as double don't kiss as it gets Apparently and I only the only thing we didn't get was that classic double doing sound it would have a slight Doink instead we just got the sadness and Brandon Astle's voices now. I have a clip to edit. Yeah, you should put that together I'm very nervous Apparently pull your RV scored a really weird goal to advance them to the Calder Cup final as well in the sweep that they had in the, in the Eastern final. But nothing is weird as that one.

That's really disappointing. Yep. Terrible way to lose. With, with, uh, I mean, very Canuck, but with a chance to win the Calder Cup on home ice, the last chance to win the Calder Cup on home ice for a goal like that to go in, really, really disappointing. It's not like Charlotte was totally undeserving

of the win or anything like that. Yet again outshot Abbotsford. Yeah, but you know, I mean, this series definitely isn't over now. I know Abbotsford has two chances to go down to Charlotte and win a game, just one game, just one. Definitely. Please, just one.

And Sealoffs could go down there and steal one again, or the Abbotsford team could just come together and have a good performance. But you know, Charlotte played really well down there. And I think they probably came into this series as the favorites and you get one double doink goal. Man, like I just hope, I hope that isn't the turning point in the series.

So it was Linus Carlson, the playoff hero. My boy, my boy, my boy played well. Two goals for him. Archie Baines, yet another goal. So he's really heated up in the second half of these Calder Cup playoffs. Arter Seeloff's 36 saves. So another really good performance for him. Yeah, they were out shot not by a massive margin, only out shot by eight,

I think, at the end of the end of the game. But Seeloff's was busy yet again. Another, again, as you I think, at the end of the end of the game. But C. Loves was busy yet again. Another again, as you mentioned, it unfortunate for all of the fans at the Abbotsford Center because they tied the record for most attended A.H.L. game in franchise history, 7470. It would have been fantastic to see them go out and win that thing on home ice. But as you mentioned, game six and seven are now back at Bojangles in Charlotte. Again, the game goes tonight.

A reminder, you can hear everything you need to hear as it pertains to this Abbotsford Canucks team right here on Sportsnet 650. Sat and Dan have Canucks Central, which will sort of act as the pregame show from three to four. Puck Drop is at four o'clock. And then there'll be a postgame show as well. Again, if the Canucks are able to hoist the Calder Cup tonight, we will have it all, including the celebrations and everything right here on Sportsnet 650. There was an NBA title handed out last night, Jason.

What a wild day in the National Basketball Association. Fittingly, the best team all season was the best team in the end. As the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 103 to 91 in game seven of the NBA finals on Sunday night, the coronation is complete for Shade Gilgis Alexander and his teammates. There's a lot to unpack from this game, but I think we do need to start

with the biggest story of them all. And that was SGA capping off what's been a remarkable, remarkable season for the good Canadian kid, Laddie's former high school teammate. Yeah. Yeah. Like I mean, there were so many stories from the NBA Halliburton's injury was just tragic for the Indiana Pacers and him. And speaking of guys that have suffered injuries in the NBA finals, Kevin Durant was traded yesterday. But yeah, the story for us should be, and is, SGA completing one, well definitely the greatest NBA season of any Canadian and up there with the greatest NBA season.

Regardless of nationality. Any NBA player, I mean like, what were all the accolades? So it was the NBA Finals, NBA. I'll go through it right now. Okay, go through it all. Because this is a Canadian kid. He's the first player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, the Conference Finals MVP,

the Finals MVP, all in the same season. Now, that comes with an asterisk because the Conference Finals MVP is a relatively new award. Still, he also became the first player since 2013, back when LeBron James did it 13 years ago, 12 years ago, sorry, to win the regular season and finals MVP in the same year. It's incredible, he's doing things that

only the greats in the game have done. And the thing with Oklahoma City, as much as this former Sonics fan hates it, they got a lot of runway to keep going with this. Average age under 26, Shaq Gilderis Alexander, of course, himself is 26. If you want to put him within the pantheons of the true greats and eliminate that conference finals MVP, there are just four players in NBA history, twin league MVP, playoffs, MVP, and the scoring title in the single, single season. Those three previous to SGA are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan,

and Shaquille O'Neal. So in this singular season, he is in the pantheon of the greats. There's no question about it. The scoring, the statistics are there. The accolades are there. The individual trophies and the team trophies, it's all there. You know, Basketball Phil, he barked at me on Twitter last night and asked if I was ready to concede the title

of the greatest Canadian basketball player of all time. And this comes from, for those that don't know, me, my favorite athlete of all time, regardless of sport, is Steve Nash. He's like, I know we're close in age, of all time, regardless of sport, is Steve Nash. I know we're close in age, but he is my hero when it comes to athletics. I will gladly and happily, to a certain degree, acknowledge that Shea Gilder's Alexander

has surpassed him as the greatest Canadian basketball player of all time. What he did this year, I think probably because it's still fresh and it just happened, we're not gonna be able to put it into the proper context. It's a remarkable, remarkable season. I know the Thunder have a good team. I know that they're well coached and I know that it's a different NBA than those

previous eras, you know, with where you are. You had sort of the face of the league and the dominant team, and it's not really like that anymore. You're getting a different title winner every year. But take that away. To be able to do what he did in a single year is truly, truly special. We may not see it again for an awfully long time because of the parody that's kind of come on. It feels like there's different winners of different awards

and different teams that have their moment. But to do that in one calendar year. And here's something a takeaway that I wanted to play for you, Jason. After the game, Jalen Williams was at the podium on ESPN with Scott Van Pelt. And he had a very, very compelling bit of audio here talking about the camaraderie and the culture that the friends on that team built and how tight they were as a group. And I thought it was interesting in light of everything that happened with the Canucks last year.

And we're going to be talking about how dysfunctional the New York Rangers were today. We'll play the question as well from Scott Van Pelt. Here's newly minted NBA champ, Jaylen Williams on the camaraderie and the brotherhood of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You've been incredibly, I think, humble, the 40 piece, like you could have been something else. What has been most satisfying that you gave this team along the way?

That when you look back on it, when you're old and washed like me, you're like, you know, I did that. Is there one thing that you'll take great satisfaction in from this run? Nothing's more precious than time, I think. And I think when... That's so true, man. Just giving the team my time and them giving me theirs. We've had team dinners after we've lost.

We've had plane don't take off till 4 a.m. and we sit on the runway. Like all those like cool times where we were present with each other and like had fun, played bourree on the plane, uno, listen to music together. Like all that stuff. I'm happy that I did that with this team. I think that's why we were present with each other and had fun, played bourree on the plane, uno, listening to music together. All that stuff, I'm happy that I did that with this team. I think that's why we were so good. All the off the court stuff is stuff that I'll remember. And when it comes to time, it's like, yeah,

just spending extra hours with each other. Me and Chet used to go in the hotel and watch film on our pick and rolls when he was coming back. That's the stuff I remember from this run more than, I can't even remember what happened our last series So it's like those are always moments that stick out to me Well, you shared your time with me throughout this and for that I'm grateful I enjoyed a chance to get it to know you a little bit and I

Look forward to doing it again somewhere down the road. Yes, sir. Appreciate it. Thank you very much I did mention this too in the wake of the Florida Panthers having their Stanley Cup celebration and mentioning About nine thousand times what all the team dinners that they had and how it did. They've never felt like they went out for a dinner unless there was 40 guys in tow. What did you think of some of the things that they said there? Let's call it just their unapologetic Stanley Cup parade. I saw I saw some all time. Salty takes on social media.

Were some of them out of Edmonton? Yeah. And just like how they were classless and no man, that's, that's just a team that's, that's enjoying its time and has heard the critiques of the team. And you know, I, I always say like, you know, I know there were some, some, was it Sam Bennett who said like, for those people that think we're a dirty team, like whatever.

You did the Conor McGregor. I apologize to absolutely everyone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what I always come back to is like hockey can be a dirty sport. Do you want to have the team that shies away from that stuff and really isn't able to participate in the knife fights?

Or do you want the guys that are able to participate in that stuff if it's needed? I'm glad they were totally unapologetic about what they did and the way that they did it. Yeah. And people that have criticized Florida's market or just whined about the tax situation. Like they will have to, like this is how I feel. At the beginning of the season, you re-humble yourself. You go like, hey guys, that was last year. This is this year.

We need to do it all again. There's no shortcuts. And this comes from watching a team that its own management and coaching staff said, I don't think we were humble enough, the Canucks in this pre-season and training camp, because we thought we had accomplished something last season, maybe we thought we had arrived as a team in the NHL and you know, we hadn't,

clearly, but I think when you win the Stanley Cup, you are allowed, you don't, you don't have to, but you are allowed to have a message for all your critics. Yeah. I don't, I don't, I get why people might've thought it was over the top, uh, with a lot of booze, a lot of swearing.

So I guess if you want- Well, it was over the top. It was a Stanley Cup parade. Yeah. But I'm talking about the entirety of it, the social media posts, the polling of I mean, they look Marsha on thanking every team that they're going out of their way to troll every other team along the way. But I don't think that there should be any pushback or any hand wringing about this in a serious sense.

We work in a league, we work adjacent to a league where the hatred and the feuds and the blood lust has been washed out of the game. The NHL can be really sanitized compared to what it used to be. Yeah. I mean, for years now, you've bemoaned the lack of rivalries and you've asked openly,

what's the best rivalry in hockey right now? And we're often left scratching our heads. Well, scratch Hansen's oilers right now. Right, and we're often left scratching our heads or talking ourselves into a rivalry that's not really there. So then you get this Florida team that's big and loud and brash and is gonna rub it in the face of the rest of the teams after they beat them.

It's great. It's great. You know what? And if they fall short and lose and get their comeuppance from a team that was fueled by all of that bravado, that's even better, because that's where the narratives and that's where the real intrigue comes in. Right. I don't love that. A lot of the guys in the NHL grew up playing A bunch of hockey together along the way and when they get to the NHL they see each other

And they're all buddies because they did summer skates and Etobicoke or wherever I got a Etobicoke. I know Yeah, it actually it actually says in the NHL rulebook that if you beat the Oilers twice in a row in the finals You're allowed to do whatever you want. Yeah. No, I know what you mean though. It's like, oh, we played in the Little Caesars program together or whatever. We were teammates in the brick tournament. You know what? You get to the highest level, the biggest level, the best level. You want to see some animosity and you want to see some hate.

You should be a hater. You're expected to be a hater. The Florida Panthers are good for the league. Yeah. Totally. They are good for the league because guess what? Next year, some team might beat them, you know? And then, and then you get to see the thing is

when you act like the Florida Panthers, you put an even bigger target on yourself. And some people might say, well, there's no bigger target than the Stanley Cup champs, but I think there is. I think when there's no bigger target than the Stanley Cup champs, but I think there is. I think when there's a team that celebrates like this, it's going to mean even more to the team that beats them. And let's remember.

There's always a downfall. If the Canucks ever win the cup, I hope they celebrate like this. I look forward to the hating. Let us remember, just to put this into context, is that this does happen every year. It just sometimes it feels fresh because we have the attention span of like gerbils, right?

Like people seem to forget the outrage and the purse clutching when Nikita Kucherov was walking around half cut wearing a T-shirt that said 19 million over the cap, right? Yeah, yeah. People were furious or whatever much they were over the cap. Right? Yeah, yeah. People were furious, or whatever much they were over the cap. I think a lot of it is Oilers fans are just extra sensitive

on social media right now, because they were embarrassed twice. Two losses in a row. And they obviously have a lot of media as well that get on that bandwagon too, and you're just seeing that right now happen in real time. Well, Aaron from Coquitlam is texting in, Aaron is a Leafs fan.

He said, spoken like a true good NHL supporting sports net employee, classless trash organization. I hope he's talking about the Panthers there. The fix is already in for next year. Betman's NHL at its finest, worst playoff ratings of all time for a reason. Come on, Aaron. Aaron makes a lot of good points there. He makes no good points there.

The ratings reason was because they're on TNT, but it's also a team from Florida and a team from Edmonton. Did anyone think that those were terrible Stanley Cup finals? No. I mean, they didn't end as well as they started. The second, the back half of the Stanley Cup I thought it was disappointing, but that was because of how good the first half of the Stanley Cup final was.

Games one and games two set the stage and it set the bar really. The first four I think were terrific. The first four games? Yeah. Game three was lousy. That was the sixth one. But four was terrific.

Yeah, four was good. Four was terrific. Honestly, you know what? I was going over the notes last night. Three of the six games were great, and then three of the six were really just too one-sided to be compelling. But over the course of two Stanley Cup finals,

Edmonton and Florida did a lot, they did a lot for the league, Aaron. One, they developed a legitimate rivalry. Two, they delivered more storylines and narratives than we could even possibly think of. And three, it's created a really interesting subplot for McDavid now moving forward because in the wake of consecutive Stanley Cup finals, losses and reaching the first big I would say this is the first big

pivot point of his career, potentially. That has a lot to do with what the Florida Panthers did to him, because now the conversation really becomes, is Comet David going to lay down roots in Edmonton and make this the place where he tries to get over the mountain or? The consensus right now is that he's gonna sign a short term deal.

Right. That's what all the experts seem to be saying. So like, so yeah. And that makes sense because if I was him, I'd want another shot or two with this current group. I agree. But I'd be very hesitant to sign on long term because I think once guys like Nuge, Hyman, guys

like that age out and they're a couple of years away from that, then this team, this oilers team is going to have a lot of trouble replacing those guys. You can't just do it with cap space. You're going to need prospects and the others don't have many. So if I was him, I'd be like, yeah, okay, I'll sign on for a little bit, but I'm not making

a long-term commitment to the NHL's oldest team without a very good prospect group because yeah, Dry Seidel's there and I love Dry Seidel as a running mate, but I'm Connor McDavid. I'm pretty good. I can find another running mate if I need to. And what's proven now to Connor McDavid is that yeah, you need star power, but unless you

have the depth to go with that star power, then it's really tough to win a Stanley Cup. Okay. Coming up on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650, we do need to talk about probably the two biggest sporting disappointments, at least locally from the weekend, and that was the BC Lions and team candidate, the gold cup. We'll also get into a bunch of Canucks talk as well. It's another big week for the Vancouver Canucks. Hopefully we start to get some moves because the NHL draft is on Friday.

This is normally the week where there's a lot of moving and shaking across the NHL. We're going to discuss Pugh suitor, Brock Besser and ask the question, will the Canucks be forced to bring back either or both? And if they do, what do we think about that? You can start weighing in on those questions. Dunbar Lumbertext line is 650 650. We'll read those throughout the show. And before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro.

From the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected. For a free quote, visit them online at JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshaw, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 631 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halperd Brough, Sportsnet 650. We just watched the 95th replay I think of Tyrese Halberd tearing his Achilles in game seven.

How does that make you feel? The entire East, two peas in a pod, two of the best ever do it in their respective sports, tearing their Achilles on the biggest stage. Him and game seven of the NBA finals. Me on a rainy Friday night at Burnaby Central. That was awful, too, because he was on fire. Yeah, he was just canning threes for basically half court. Something else him and I had in common. Taking fuller shots.

The one day this summer, I feel like maybe we should dedicate a show to the rise of Achilles tears. I don't know if we're just in an odd rash of them, but the NBA alone. Right this year, we had Tyrese Halliburton, we had Jason Tatum, we had Damien Lillard, all in the playoffs. Sam Matacube, playing for Canada. Have we reached the point of just like peak human

performance and the Achilles just can't handle it anymore? Are we too strong for our own attendance? Well honestly though, like honestly. It's a legitimate question. Yeah, when you put that sort of force on the Achilles and in my case wait We'll get it in that anymore you are listening to the halferd and bref show on sports net 650 halferd number for the morning is Brought to you by sands and associates BC's first and trusted choice for that help with over three thousand five star reviews This is the my line of sands-trustee.com. We are still in our one of the program.

It's all Halbro this hour. Our one is brought to you by North star metal recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North star metal recycling. They recycle, you get paid. This is them 1170 pile street in Vancouver. Okay. Uh, JD and Coquitlam, uh, text into the Dunbar lumber text text line at 650, 650 and he says, that was one of the worst football games I've ever seen.

Mazzoli seems like he's very scared to get hit and it affected so many of his throws and even caused him to throw when it seemed like he could get more yards by running. Get well soon, Nathan. If you have no idea what JD is talking about, congratulations because you missed the BC Lions game against the Winnipeg blue bombers over the weekend. It was a loss by the BC Lions.

Jeremiah Mazzoli, who was in a quarterback to replace Nathan Rourke, did not look good. Um, he threw a couple of picks, but it was also just the misses, not necessarily the interceptions, but it wasn't, well, it was the interceptions and the turnovers for the team. But he just did not look, it didn't look like a starting CFL quarterback.

So, and the Lions and on the defense, I suppose, kept them in it, but the offense was never, it never looked like it was going to do anything special on the night. I don't want to pile on Miss Oli because he's 36 years old. If you talk to enough people and JC Abbott wrote about this as well for three down nation, he's

got one foot into coaching already. Like he's old. Yeah, he down nation. He's got one foot into coaching already. Like he's he's old. Yeah, he's old. He's old. He also suffered one of the worst injuries and one of the dirtiest dirtiest hits in CFL history. The Garrett Marino one. Yeah. And like that kind of derailed his career. He's never been the same player since. Asking him to go in and try and win you a football game

this early in the season to replace who's probably the best quarterback in the CFL. Now there's gonna be some debate on that, but I don't care. It was way too high, it was way too tall of an ask. The one glaring takeaway from that Lions game on the weekend is that this team is absolutely cooked if Nathan Rorick can't play. Absolutely.

They can't win without him. You're not gonna win without him. There are two backups have been storylines for the wrong reasons this season. Right. Right. Early on, Chase Bryce had short yardage issues in the first game of the season.

Now, fortunately for the Lions, they were playing the Elks, so it didn't really matter. And now Mazzoli's in and he's not very good. The Lions are now one and two on the season and they got ahead to Saskatchewan on Saturday to play the undefeated riders. I just looked at the line and it's only Saskatchewan by five and a half.

That's got to do with the uncertainty about Roark. Roark. Roark. Roark. Well, if it were super uncertainty, then it would just be off. Yeah.

But for me, if that's a backup going in there for the Lions against Saskatchewan, I'm taking the riders minus five and a half. I would take them minus nine and a half after what I saw. I mean, there's another conversation here. We probably won't get into it today, but there was a couple of threads going around on social

media, former Seahawks tight end Luke Wilson talking about the caliber of play. And I know it's early in the season, so it's especially ratty. But if you looked at that game on the weekend, the bombers, Lions game, like if you're a Lions fan, you're probably walking away from that saying that was some of the most uninspiring football I've ever seen. And through no fault of anyone anyone like Mazzoli tried. He was, you know, he was out there doing everything that he could.

But he there's a lack of quarterbacks in the CFL. It's early in the season. Penalties are a problem league wide. It's start stop play. What was once and Luke brought this up in his mega thread on on Twitter. What was once a dynamic passing league is really turned into a dump it off across the middle and let the guy scamper league. I've been saying this for years.

It's just saying this for years. The NFL is a is a more entertaining passing league than the CFL now. Like Missouli went twenty five or forty four for two eighty one. But the story was that he missed a bunch of wide open throws to guys for big plays. Yep. Like, you know, and it's apparently I haven't watched a ton of CFL this year admittedly, but I've watched it in years past and you go around and you flip around and there's

not the quarterbacks that are flinging it and slinging it, making it really exciting highlight reel 50, 60 yard bombs. Like that's just kind of gone. And people forget how entertaining guys like Matt Donegan and Damon Allen and obviously Doug Flutie were. They were really, really entertaining. And they played at a high level. Okay, let's get on to.

Hold on, stop. I'm just gonna mention the Canada Drew with Curacao. Someone texted before the break. Someone texted and said, are we going to get to Canada versus Curacao? Thank you. In the history of sports radio, that has never, ever been texted.

I've never seen that before in my life. Are we going to get to Canada versus Curacao? Spoiler alert, I did text that in by myself during the break. I thought I recognized that number. Yeah, so now we're not gonna talk. You know what, I can't do it. It was so bad, it was so gross, and we got some Canucks talk, but they drew 1-1 with Kershaw. It was miserable

It probably won't end up being a big deal at the end of it because they're gonna get through the group anyway But it was gross. It was bad. It was terrible. Yeah, the gold differential that they got against Honduras might help them Yeah, they might need it. Okay, so It's Monday today. Yep the Draft is on we're talking to NHL now. The draft is Friday and Saturday. Free agency is next Tuesday.

So this is going to be a massive eight days for the Vancouver Canucks. So far they have done nothing. They've done nothing, which is okay. Which is okay. Other teams have done nothing. They've done nothing, which is okay. Which is okay. Other teams have done nothing. Yep. There's been talk. They'll try and extend.

Connor Garland. There were reports that Matt Duchesne was their number one target in free agency. Unfortunately for the Canucks, Matt Duchenne decided to stay with the Dallas Stars and sign a long-term contract there. Which brings me to a question that I've been wondering about. Will the Canucks be forced to bring back Souter and Besser? And if they do, what do we think about that? You can text into the Dunbar-Lumber text line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trust to choice for contractors

and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. I just want to remind you guys of a few things. Um, the Canucks top three goal scorers last season The Canucks top three goal scorers last season were Jake DeBrusk, Brock Besser and Pugh Suter. Jake DeBrusk is under contract.

Pugh Suter is not, Brock Besser is not. Obviously Elias Pedersen is under contract and we hope for a better goal scoring and point getting season for Elias Pedersen next year. Dolly Wall reported last week that the Canucks have already reconnected with Pugh's suitors reps. As for Besser, the only thing we've heard is that he might have to choose between signing with a contender for less term or signing with a non-contender for more term. Dolly Wall is reported that, Freege has reported that. We know that term was the main issue when it came

to resigning with the Canucks. Besser wanted long and the Canucks were like, hmm, I don't know. Maybe we'll go five years. Sure. Now I like both players, but I was okay with the idea of each player moving on. I just think with Suter, he was great when he was a

bargain, but I'm not sure I want him paid fair market value in a market that's going to overpay for centers. On Besser, I think he's a nice guy by all accounts he's a good teammate and I think he's a very good complimentary player but who is he going to be skating with next season? Besser is not the kind of guy who can drive a line so unless you're really confident that you can find a play driver to skate on his line, whether that's a rejuvenated Pederson or someone else, I'm not sure

the Canucks should be locking them up to what's going to be a big contract. By the way, now I'd love to hear your thoughts on all that. Did anyone catch the Canucks commercial on Sportsnet prior to game seven of the NBA finals last night? I did not. If I were to watch that commercial as somebody who didn't know a thing about the Canucks, I'd conclude that Hughes, Garland, Myers and Lankenen were the

four stars of the team. I don't know, they might have flashed by my eyes really quickly but I didn't see Besser, Pedersen or Demko. You had your PD blockers on. And before you roll your eyes this is a thing and I know it is. I remember when it all went down with JT Miller prior to his 10 game leave of absence. What happened there? I was told that the marketing team was told to remove him from all campaigns.

This sort of stuff happens. And even if they're just playing it safe with their current marketing, I think it's quite telling that long time core guys like Besser, Pedersen and Demko are not at the forefront of the team's messaging. It doesn't guarantee that they're going to get moved, but the idea of those guys not being front and center from a marketing perspective was practically unthinkable for what, the past five or six years? Okay. Yeah, those guys for sure.

Besser I'd put in a different category. My takeaway from this year was that the organization was more than ready to move on. I remember that the remarks that were made publicly got more and more to me obvious that they were ready to turn the page on Besser. The the the the line that always sticks up for me was the one from Alvin, where it was after a year after scoring 40.

He's like, why not score 50? I know I'm paraphrasing. I know he didn't say it just like that, but there was a sense of they felt that either Brock had more to give or quite honestly, what I think was they he's not the type of player that they want, that he didn't fit the type of winger that they wanted and they were ready to move on and I think that's why The end of the regular season played out the way that it is still has I've offered him contracts though Yeah, I think they have but I think they'd like to keep if he was to stick around put it this way if he was to stick Around just I think they want it to be on their terms not his and exclusively on their terms, not his. And they will leverage the hometown factor

and maybe the fear of the unknown. Cause I don't know what Brock Besser on the open market looks like. I know that there's been some, some stories out there, including one from Ben Kuzma in the province about the New York Rangers potentially having interest in Besser. And I think you can connect the dots on how those stories come to the surface. But I, I think at the end of the day, this team wants to, and quite frankly,

probably should move on. Now part of this is my inherent bias. They're like, you need change. You need it all the time. That's, that's totally me too. You just need it. I just, I just need this. You need it all the time. That's that's totally me too. You just need it. I just I just need this. You can't be in love with all these people.

No, no, no. People you can't. I know everyone likes the player. Brock's a great guy. His community work is second to none. His personal story. I can understand why it's endearing. And he's a very good person. But within the context of a team and making it work.

Consider some of the pieces that this management group has already moved out from the one they inherited, right? Big frontline players, you know, franchise staples in a lot of ways. Horvat, Miller, I think the next will be Besser. Like it just, it seems like that's the way that this is going. It does make you wonder why they re-upped with Pedersen,

but again, that could just be a mistake on management at the end of the day. But I think that this is something where even though you need whatever goal scoring he's going to bring to the table, think both parties might be better off just moving on at this point. Now, all that being said, they're probably going to resign him now, now that I've said all that. Well, I just wonder if they like, so the reason I phrased my question, are they going to be forced to bring them back?

Because if Matt Duchenne was their number one target in free agency, and that's been widely reported, Freage mentioned it in his 32 Thoughts, he was like, Vancouver was very interested in Matt Duchenne, and he decided to stay in Dallas. Yeah. They're just, they're kind of running out of, like, first of all, there weren't many targets to start with. No, I know. Um, and you know, like I, I, I read yesterday

that the Sabres are, are interested in Marco Rossi in Minnesota and that the Canucks have already made a, an offer for Marco Rossi. And we're talking about Marco Rossi here, right? Like, is he going to be the game changer in all this? The bell of the ball this summer. Like I, I don't know.

I, I just think I'm looking at this whole scenario and hopefully I'm proven, you know, wrong in a week and the Canucks may are able to make all sorts of roster changing trades and moves and everything's completely different and like, wow, look at this team, but I find it hard to picture how they're going to do it with the limited assets. Now, Paul has texted in and said, are the Abbey Canucks holding up trades? Are there players from Abbey part of trade talks, hence no moves?

There definitely could be. Leckermackie could be part of that. Mancini could be part of that. So it is possible that there are players from Abbey that are holding this up. Absolutely. But I'm still struggling to think of and come up with realistic trades that the Canucks could make that don't significantly affect their current roster,

which means that they're only giving in picks or prospects to make their team better because nobody, well, not nobody, but a lot of teams don't want picks or prospects. How many teams are rebuilding right now? Pittsburgh? One. Pittsburgh. That's it. Is it clearly identified we're tearing this down and we're selling off parts? Yeah, it's Pittsburgh. Outside of that, there's not many. I wouldn't be opposed to bringing back Souter though. I wouldn't.

Yeah, same. Assuming it's not a really expensive contract. I really I know what's what's your limit because he might get five by five I don't know if you Shane and Donato are pulling four and four and a half I find it hard to believe that suitors gonna knock it out of the park he might well four by four I mean it's I do four by four there the problem is that now I'd be expecting more yeah suitor on two and a half great you love's great. You love them. Hey, sir. We're making two and a half This is or whatever. He was making this is great. I think he's given us all enough that he's worth that No, he's he's a good player and I and he's actually been here less than some of the other guys. So I think Here's the thing. Where is he on a Stanley Cup contender? He's a three-see

Yeah, yeah, but he's a three-see not when Philip Heidel's the two C, you know, like it's that kind of thing. Canucks have three C's. I'll say this with suitor, though. You do run the risk of him having already played the best hockey he's capable of playing in Vancouver, production wise, usage wise, health wise, you know, like there's a very, very good possibility that that was the best season of his entire NHL career is the one that he just had. And anything after this would be, and not a significant decline, but he had a really

good year last year. And I know a lot of it had to do with deployment and the opportunities that he was given because by the end of the year, he was there once. How much was it that he was hunger for a contract? No, so that comes into it as well, right? I think you have to consider that as well. Yeah. So it's going to be-

But does it not also, does it also not also make the case that there are players out there that if you give them the opportunity, they can take advantage of that opportunity? Yeah. That's the nice thing about, even on a bad, even on a bad rebuilding team, there are always guys that step up that you don't expect and all of a sudden, like, whoa, that guy's got 25 goals.

Yeah. The biggest issue is when you start to elevate them into roles that they can't thrive in with regularity. We've seen it countless times. I don't know why I always pick on the Nick Benino one, but the Nick Benino one was a classic example of a guy that was a 3C and then did really well at that job. And then the two teams in a row that acquired him tried to make themselves believe that he would thrive as a 2C under that same sort of idea. It's like, well, he was a 2C in Vancouver,

and he didn't thrive. Do you remember that series against Calgary? Like I. He got buried. He was, he was terrible in that series. Like he was terrible. And then he went to, he went to Pittsburgh and nobody really thought much of Benino coming to Pittsburgh, everything. The talk was Brandon Sutter, speaking of a guy

who was placed into a role he couldn't, he couldn't manage. And, but Benino ends up in the perfect role for him on that third line with Kessel and Haglund. He was a playoff hero for them. He won two Stanley Cups. But then Nashville, who had just been beaten by Nick Benino and the Pittsburgh Penguins were like, was Benino guys pretty good? Let's get him. Put him in as a 2C, didn't work. Yeah. Someone texted in unsigned text.

It's a good question. How come foot speed he says of the future, future foot speed is an issue for a guy like Besser, but not like suitor both have high hockey IQs and suitor is ranked even lower based on NHL. Who says it isn't? I think it is an issue. That's the biggest thing that will prevent him

from being a two C is just doesn't skate well enough. And neither of them are getting younger. I think that's something to remember as well. Yeah. Right. That's Besser's 29. Is he almost 29? Besser and Suter 28, 29. They're in that age range, right?

They play, there's a lot of miles on both of them. Suter probably less because he's played less at the NHL level, but age is age. Man. That's this really, I know it's not going to happen. I know this frustrates you when we bring this up. Imagine if the Canucks just decided to sell. Like if they just went like, we're calling an audible.

You get up to the line of scrimmage, you're like, oh, I don't like the way this looks. Imagine if they decided to rebuild. Rutherford under center with one of those old leather helmets. Look at this market. Think of what they could get for some of the guys. Well, if they were to go into this market with Hughes, it would be,

it would flip the entire National Hockey League on its head. It'd be the best player to come available. Although I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to Quinn Hughes. Well, that's but that that's the thing is you can't go into either of these like half stepping or half or half-assed. You either do one or you do the other. That's what worries me about them just sticking around. The idea of next season them bringing back

pretty much the same group, like if Besser's back and Suter's back and Petey's back and Garland isn't traded, Debrusk is there and maybe they they've got a few kind of minor additions. I don't know, man. It's gonna be a long year. Well, you know what? They could get close to the playoffs with that group. They could.

They could. But it definitely lends itself to being big and being bold either way. If you're going to say, we're getting back in this thing, and we're gonna do everything we can To appease Queen he was a mega souls as good possible then it should be Yours aggressive as hell this office and also I don't think it's in Rutherford's nature to just roll it back

Yeah, I would be surprised if that happened like the only guy that shouldn't be on the table is his Hughes Like you should be trying. No, he should be on the table if they're properly gonna rebuild. No, I'm not talking about the rebuild I'm talking about about trying to get better. Like you need to make big, bold moves because right now what you're talking about is trimming around the edges and doing cosmetic upgrades to a team that was on 90 points last year. And you're saying keeping Hughes trimming around the edges. If you know, if you know, he's gone in a year or two,

like the bold move is to trade him. No, you're not listening to what I'm saying. I'm saying either way, bold has to be the play. So it's either bold that you go completely nuke and you start from ground zero, or you say it's, we're gonna try and do whatever we can to make this team as good as possible, not just okay around Hughes.

Right? And that would be, is it, is a Pedersen trade on the table? Yes. Is it Demco trade on the table? Yes. Is anything on the table? The answer would be yes. Just not Hughes, right? Are you ready to trade Garland even though he's been good for you? Yes. Are you ready to move on from Besser and Souter and try something new? Absolutely.

Are you ready to trade the first round pick and Will Lander? Yes. Like nothing should be off the table. Isn't the worry that a lot of Canucks fans have is just locking into mediocrity. Well, yeah, that's why it would be go big or go home summer. Not in some ways. Let's resign suitor and then make a pitch for Ehlers and then hope that defense and goaltending is going to get us to 98 points next year. Yeah. Like if you bring back Besser and Souter

and you pay them fair market value in this market, which means they're getting a lot of money, are you just locking into mediocrity then for the next few years? Like, I like when- Some mediocrity if Hughes leaves, but yeah, you see your point. I hate to credit transfer anything,

but I like this thought exercise that Drance does. When you're thinking about resigning a player, do you see this guy as a member of the next, you know, great Stig, great Canucks team? They say it's a fair way to look at it, 100%. And I get where Drance is going. But again, we go back to the old thing. It feels like a futile thought exercise because

everyone seems to know what this team wants to do. And it is, there is some locking into mediocrity without question, without question. Um, okay. The other question I wanted to ask for the listeners and we'll, we'll discuss this throughout the show. I'm going to talk to Chris Peters next. Um, besides the Canucks, which other teams are you going to keep an eye on

closest this coming week? So text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line, give us the team and why you think this might be a team to keep your eye on. Uh, we can also keep an eye on the Vancouver Giants because it's never too early to get your Vancouver Giants season's tickets. They're on sale now. Tickets start at under $19. Visit them online at vancouvergiants.com forward slash season tickets for more. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.