Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Vancouver Flood?

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

In hour two, guest host Jamie Dodd and Josh Elliott-Wolfe are joined by Tim Booth to discuss the Mariners successful stretch and break down their trade deadline acquisitions performance. They also get into potential names for the PWHL Vancouver team and what impact they expect to see from Thomas Muller.  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 & Brough, Josh Elie Wolf, Jamie Dodd, here with you, coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Halford and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80%. With no more interest, visit sands-trustee.com. This hour of howford and broth is for jason. dot mortgage if you love giving the banks more of your money then don't let jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage that's jason dot mortgage we are coming to you live from the kintech studio kintech

footwear and orthotics working together with you in step all right you can text stay in 650 650 on the dumb bar lumber text line hoping to connect with uh tim booth shortly to talk about the seattle mariners and everything going on with them as they are uh put for the post season do you I've mentioned it often but have you have you changed your opinion on my stance of the mariners being the most dangerous team in the i don't know what i have as much as where i'm settling in is it's like a six-way tie for that title in the american league it's just everyone is basically the same and it's going to be a lot of like coin flips i there's just no separation or at least it's really hard to see separation i can see your point that if you kind

of look at like the idealized lineup of the mariners and you know swarez gets going and gets hot again if you pair like the top five or six hitters they can put in the lineup with their rotation and their bullpen I can see the case okay uh so in a moment or right now sorry we're going to go to the hotline powered by power west industries and welcome in tim booth from the seattle times appreciate you taking the time tim how are you good how are you guys this morning we were doing very well and uh we were just talking about where the mariners are at right now and how they're shaping up heading into the postseason. They've been on a run, obviously, since the deadline as well.

How are the vibes around the team at the moment? They were pretty good until last night, obviously, a disappointing loss last night in Baltimore. But it's a team that right now is playing with a lot of confidence. I think they understand that they're pretty good and that the pieces that they added at the trade deadline really make them a formidable lineup. that is a lot deeper than the group that they had previously and gives them the opportunity that if they can get into the postseason, they can do something. And that is a lot different than it was, you know,

three years ago when they did end the playoff drought. That team was good enough to get into the playoffs, but they needed everything to go their way in the postseason if they were going to do something. This team has enough talent and has enough steps that, if they can get in they have the pieces to really potentially do something special

but that's a big F. They still have to get their way into the playoffs and you know right now it's going to be a real fight with the Astros coming down the stretch in the AL West. Yeah and it's now a one game lead for the Astros after the results of yesterday

but it was tied going into yesterday so as you said certainly looks like it's going to be a dog fight down the stretch between those two teams and of course the focus will be on what the Mariners can do once they make the postseason if they do make it. But the division title, if I'm not mistaken, I don't think they've won the division since the incredible 2001 season. How much does that mean if they are able to take home the division title this year

to this group of Mariners players? Well, you're right. It is 2001 was the last time they won the ALS. It's big for a lot of reasons. One is obviously ending that ridiculous drought that it's been 24 years since they've won a division title. But you win the division, you at the very least you have home field

for the AL Wildcard series, and it puts you with the possibility of maybe getting one of those two buys in the American League and just going straight to the division series. And that I think would be really big for this team because the way they're pitching lines up in comparison with many of the other teams

in the American League, if they're able to set their pitching exactly where they needed to, they have the that becomes a real another formidable piece to what they can present when it comes to the postseason is if you can sort of have the time to have the days off to line up you know Logan Gilbert or George Kirby or Brian Wu or Luis Castillo or however you end up wanting to play it if you can line them all up in the way that you need to and not have to worry about a three game wild card series or or having to you know burn it. any of your pitching in that regard. That becomes a real, a real positive for them and makes their postseason hopes

even more, you know, or postseason possibilities, even more substantial. So, yeah, winning the division comes with a lot of, a lot of pieces. You end the drought. You become, you know, you become a legendary team in Mariner history, but then you also really set yourself up for what you can.

undo in the postseason. One thing we were talking about yesterday is kind of the amount of pressure facing some of these teams in the American League. And I think the Mariners kind of find themselves in a unique spot when it comes to pressure because you have the season that Cal Raleigh is having and it's an MVP caliber season. You look at what they did at the deadline and that's not necessarily something the Mariners are known for is making big additions at the deadline. How much pressure is on this team to do something and actually, you know, maybe go on a run come playoff time? I mean, yeah, there is pressure.

And I think, you know, if they don't make the postseason, it's going to feel like a really, really empty, an empty season for them. So, yeah, there's inherent pressure just because I think they know they're a good team. They have the pieces to potentially do something special and they don't want to waste that. and I think fans in Seattle don't want to see them, see them waste that. So, you know, I don't know if the pressure is any different than years past just because playoffs appearances have been so few and far between in this club's entire history

that there's always that pressure to be the team that finally gets to the postseason or finally ends the drought or finally wins a division title. That's just pressure that's always there for them. I think if anything, the pressure is, okay, they went out and made some moves to the deadline. They bring in a guy like Josh Naylor. They bring in a guy like Gino Suarez. Both guys who are on expiring contracts. Like the pressure is there to like pay that off, that they made the investment in a different way than they have in the past.

They went and got truly rental players who make them better. Now let's actually go out and make it worthwhile that the front office made those moves to put together a team. that has that has that capability of winning the division, getting the playoffs, and doing something. Tim, this is the first full season on the bench for manager, Dan Wilson. How has he contributed to what's been a pretty exciting season for the Mariners so far? I think the biggest thing with Dan is, I think this comes a little bit from being a player and being in the playing division that he did.

He's really even keel. one of the things that I've heard constantly throughout this season is that he doesn't ride the waves and he's really good at not riding the waves of hey we've won eight straight let's get all super excited or we've lost seven in a row let's you know we got a fire and brimstone kind of speech and flipping over tables and you know things like that

that's not his that's not his personality that's not the way he approaches things and I think the players understand that and appreciate that they're not going to get some of these wild swings one way or the other. And that was no disrespect to Scott Service, who I think was a really, really good manager and did a lot of great things in Seattle. But he was more emotional and he had a tendency to ride the wave and kind of, you know, when things got tight during a season, you could sense that he was, you know, sort of feeling the pressure.

Dan's just kind of Dan, and he's sort of the same guy every day. And I think that consistency resonates in the clubhouse. You can nitpick a lot of the in-game decisions he's made. I think he's made some good ones at times. I think he's made some really poor ones at times that have cost his team a couple of games here and there. But in terms of how he approaches every day, I think the players really appreciate the fact that they know who they're going to get. they know the approach they're going to get every day and he lets them go out and just kind of play off of after that.

So it's been a really successful year for him. I don't know how much he's been a true catalyst for the success that they've had, but I think the players really respect kind of the approach he's taken and the job he's done. We know the numbers haven't necessarily been there for Suarez yet, but how are the new deadline acquisitions fitting in for the Mariners? Well, I joke to somebody last night that if Josh Naylor had hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning that he might have been able to run for mayor of Seattle,

everyone loves Josh Naylor, and kind of rightfully so. He's a totally different personality than really this team has had in quite a long time. He's really very smart. He's really baseball smart, and he's really intense. but he's also just kind of a kind of a quiet keep-to-himself guy. And for whatever reason, it fits really well with this group. And then that doesn't even kind of talk about what he contributes, you know, at the plate or in the field.

So Josh Naylor has come in and been fantastic. And I think, you know, I don't know what the long-term possibilities are for potentially doing something with him and maybe trying to keep him here. beyond this season, but, I mean, it would massively solve a lingering issue that they've had at first base if they could find a way to convince him to stick around after this season. Gino, the bat has been, you know, the bat's been a little disappointing so far. He was kind of, he was already in a little bit of a slump even before the trade happened. So this feels just like a little bit of a continuation of that.

He's kind of struggled to hit breaking pitches over the last two. two to three weeks. Teams have been able to get him out a lot with that. He had a couple really good at-bats last night. And so I think the hope is that maybe that kind of can start to spark him. He hit a ball really hard back up the middle for a single early in the game and then took a really tough walk in the ninth inning that allowed them to get the two runs to tie the game.

You know, took a couple really borderline pitches, had a really strong at bat there. So defensively, it's still kind of the same old Gino. not, he's not Ben Williamson and, and, and I don't know if anyone really is Ben Williamson. I think he's, Ben Williamson is one of the better young, um, corner infielders in baseball, but Gino's still a serviceable third baseman and his personality fits right back in with this group. Um, so well, because they all remember him from, um, you know, from just a couple of years ago and how much is just attitude and his approach to the game really captivated the the clubhouse. So he's kind of come back

in and just been same old Gino and that's a good thing for this group. Tim, we've talked a lot on the show this week about how wide open the AL looks right now and you know there's a lot of teams that have some very impressive parts of their roster but basically you can point to flaws of all of those teams as

well that might hold them back in October looking at the Mariners what are the potential weak spots or vulnerabilities that you see that could be the fly in the oint for this Mariners team. I think a couple of things. One is, and you sort of saw it the last two nights,

the offense against good pitching can disappear and you're going to see really good pitching in the postseason. You know, two nights ago it was, Naylor had an RBI single in the first inning, and that was it. Last night it was, you know, they didn't do anything until the 7th

and then had to rally for two runs in the ninth. They're a little home run dependent. And so if the home runs aren't coming, they can sometimes struggle to string together enough, you know, hits, walks, sacrifice flies, those kind of things to put together kind of a rally to score runs. And that's the flaw of a lot of teams, maybe except for the Milwaukee Brewers. So that's just, you know, it's a concern for a lot of teams going into

the postseason. The other concern, I think, for Seattle is they really heavily leaned on their leverage arms in the bullpen. guys like Andres Munoz, Matt Brasch, Gabe Spire, those have kind of been the three, you know, primary guys, and they've pitched a lot so far. And I think if they could have gotten, if they had their wishes, they would have figured out a way to get one more bullpen arm at the deadline. I know that they were really close on Duran that ended up going to Philadelphia, like the Mariners thought they had him at one point the day before the deadline. and then the Phillies swooped in and put together a deal that was more attractive to Minnesota. So how the bullpen ends up getting set up and the fact that those guys have pitched as much as they have already is something that I think will need to be watched.

The counter to that is say you're in the division series, you're in the AL Wildcard series, you know, you could put Bryce Miller in your bullpen or you could in theory do what you did with George Kirby in 2022 when he came out of the bullpen against Toronto and was just dynamite as a short, you know, a short stint kind of guy. So those starters who aren't going to be in the rotation in your playoff series all of a sudden become options in your bullpen. So that'll that'll help a little bit. But as we go down the stretch kind of how those, how those arms hold up, because this team plays a lot of close games, how those bullpen arms hold up will be really, will be needed, need to be watched. Hey Tim, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for this. Yep, thanks,

guys. Have a good day. There is Tim Booth from Seattle Times talking about everything going on with the Mariners as they push for the postseason and hopefully look to take over the AEL West lead as the season goes on as well. One game back of the Houston Astros at the moment, both teams looking really good right now. I did want to mention we have some breaking news that's related to a guest we're going to have in studio in 45 minutes release put out by PWHL Vancouver at 7 a.m. PWHL Vancouver has signed Defender Ashton Bell to a two-year extension with the team.

So that means this upcoming season and two more years. So three years for Ashton Bell in Vancouver. Big day for her. Gets the contract extension and gets to talk to us. Incredible. What a thrill for her. She's getting the Sportsnet 650 bump before Stevens appeared on the station today. Yes.

Yeah. They looked at it and said, wow, she's putting in the work to go and talk to those slums. We got a reward her. We got to reward her. We got to give her a contract extension for this. They have to give her a lot of money to come here. But it is interesting in the release that they sent out as well. You know, they have the quotes from the GM, Kara Gardner, Mory.

And she says, Ashton will play a significant part in building the foundation of our defense. She is going to be a leader both on the ice and in the locker room. And we are delighted to have her with us through 2027, 2028. And there's a couple of things that stand out to me there. One is, and this is not a surprise. We saw how they went about their business, putting the team together, the focus on the blue line. And of course, Ashton Bell was the first pick in the expansion draft process. But previous to that, they had gone and got Claire Thompson and Sophie Jakes from Minnesota,

who are elite defenders as well. So obviously a real emphasis on building from the blue line out for PWHL Vancouver. and now they follow that up with signing her to an extension as well. But, you know, also interesting to hear her referenced as a leader, a leader on the ice and in the locker room. Because you look at, you know, the two players I just mentioned, right, especially Claire Thompson, Sarah Nurse, of course. You expect to have a leadership role.

The goaltenders as well, you'd expect to have a leadership role. And, you know, she's 25, Ashton Bell. Now she's an Olympic champion. She's a world champion as well. So she's got a lot of really good hockey under her belt. But I'm curious to get her thoughts on what it means to have the GM say, saying, look, this is not just about your play on the ice. We have expectations for you as a leader as well.

Yeah, and I think in an expansion scenario in any sport, that's always a weird thing to kind of figure out. Like, everybody on the team is new, right? You're all coming together. You're all going to figure this out at the same time. And part of that is like, okay, you've got to figure out who's kind of like, who's the person to look to in the locker. It is.

It's such a unique situation, an expansion team process. And we've seen it play out a couple of times in the NHL recently, obviously with Vegas and Seattle, but you're right. There's no established dynamic that you're coming into. Now, a lot of these players will have played together at world championships or even previously in the PWHL, Olympics, things like that, maybe in college. So there are some relationships, but that's part of the expansion process. It's not just building your identity on the ice.

It's going to be figuring out what's the culture in the locker and what's the vibe. What is the hierarchy? Who do we look to in those big moments to kind of pick us up and lead us into the fight? I wonder if Ashton Bell will end up being one of those players. Yeah, so we will talk to her at 8 o'clock. She will join us in studio. So we'll talk to her about the extension and also everything going on with the team

as they get set to play their first ever season here in Vancouver at the Pacific Coliseum. And yeah, it's going to be really exciting. And there's going to be a lot of lead-up, a lot of stuff leading up to the first game for PWHL, Vancouver. Still without a name. I thought we might get a name before the season. starts, but I don't think we're going to.

What do I mean? Well, before the season starts, surely. A name? You don't, no, I don't think they're going to roll in as PWAHL Vancouver? Yes. What? Yeah. I think so.

Because the first year of, I know, but what? Jamie has never been so disappointed. Are you kidding me? I mean, Utah Hockey Club was just a hockey club for a year. Oh, man. That's disappointing. I want the name. I agree.

I hope we get a man. Surely they know what it's going to be. Like, how long does it take to decide? I thought it would have been. something that they, like, figure out before they announce the expansion teams? Or, like, pretty quick. Yeah, okay, guys, we have a team. Let's have a meeting. Right now. Let's decide on the name. I think all the leagues are going to go this way where the teams have this

placeholder name because you sell these sort of unique jerseys and shirts and then you get the rollout of the actual one year only. It's like a ploy now that teams are using. I don't like. It's intentional. No, I don't like it at all. I want to know the name. I want to see the jerseys. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like, I do like the color scheme of PWHL I do as well and PWHL Seattle both have pretty good color schemes and so part of me was like man this is going to go great if you have

a logo and you're doing all this but seems like it's going to be a it's also just clunky and this is very selfish as a radio broadcaster I would like an easier shorthand way to refer to them other than PWHL Vancouver doesn't really roll off the tongue yeah I've been trying to think of things and I'm I just can't

like P dub Vancouver is that a thing we can do that sounds bad already what's going On of the P-dub. P-dub. P-duv. Yeah. MLS is handling marketing for PWHL Vancouver. Yeah, it's, we'll try to figure it up.

Maybe we'll ask As As someone that's going to be here for three years, what do you think the name should be? Yes. Put it all on her. Maybe she'll preview the name. I'm going to put the pressure on her. Spill the beans. You got the new contract. This is a hardcore interview.

They can't take the contract away from you now. It is dry. Now's the time to spill the beans. in the contract there's a clause that's like if you reveal the name contract is void so you're telling me we might have to wait like a full calendar year until going into next season to learn the name i bet next summer we we know the name of the team wow i mean i i hope it sooner nothing would nothing would bring me more joy really maybe something maybe if your apartment stopped getting flooded every few months all right that's number one of my list i had forgotten about it number one most joy that number

two, learning the PWHL Vancouver name. The joy of doing the show and being back in studio had made me forget about all the bad things that had happened in my life, Jimmy. And now you've brought them all back. Not a bad team name, PWHL Flood. Yeah. You know what? It might

be bad. I don't know. It might be bad. All right, okay. Moving on, on the other side, we are going to talk to nobody. It's an open segment so you can text it in six to us. We'll talk to ourselves. Yeah, yeah. We'll talk amongst ourselves.

So you can text in 650, 650 on the Dunbar-Lumber text line. Did want to read some text about Thomas Mueller and everything going on with that as well as he speaks to media today. But also, we might get in some NHL hockey talk too. That's coming up next. It is Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolf, Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet, 650. Welcome to Alfred Abram. Welcome to

Alfred Dubbrough. Josh Elliott Wolf, Jamie Dye. Tried to commit to it. Couldn't commit to it. That was good. You should have kept going. I know.

Okay. Who do you think of the station would be the best and worst front man of a death metal band? I think best. Best, you want the sneakiest best pick for best? Yeah.

Yeah, Zach Clark. Oh, yeah. I can see that. I can see Zach. Into the... The A dog was in. Well, because the aid dog is the music.

Yeah, he was in a working musician A metal band Yeah, so I mean Was he the front man? No, he was on the keys I believe All right In a metal band?

Yeah, interesting. Playing the sin? That's a melodic Sure. Hearts to them. Not really what I associate with metal. How did you do? I played the flute in the metal band I was in.

What? Harmonica. Alfred Nebraska is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could catch you on the road to being depth free in just two weeks. Visit Sands dash trustee.

dot com this hour of halford and bruff is for jason dot 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 i don't know who the worst halford i can't see halford oh see i think bruff would be worse than halford i think halford has the mount bruff i don't channel that but i don't commit yeah that's the thing i think halford would have fun with it he'd be like i'm going to get into the bit i think bruff would be like i feel very awkward i think this i think worst might be a sat might be the worst really because I don't just texted him as the best as the best yeah I disagree with that I don't know if you'd commit it's all about the commit yeah the commitment

uh someone texts in Jordan and Langley worst is Josh just heard it fair enough I mean it wasn't great I'd laughed immediately yeah have our answer I laughed immediately I was like what is this this is a new bit from Josh uh very exciting didn't work out you know what throw some shots up whenever you can Absolutely. 650, 650, Dunbar-Lumber text line. So we were talking about at 8 o'clock, Ashton Bell from PWHL Vancouver is going to join us.

And me stumbling over the name is why we're getting a bunch of texts on the 650-6-50-Dumbar lumber text line with potential names. If you've got a great idea for a name, texted in 650, 650. In all seriousness, and I'll open this to everyone, I'm allowing you guys to speak. It's very, very generous of me. What a hero. Jamie Dodd.

Anyways. Do you guys have, like, a pet favorite name for the team? Because as much as I'm saying, oh, how could they not have one ready? They should have been, like, I haven't seen one yet where I'm like, oh, that's it. That's the name. People suggest the Valkyries, but that's the new WMBA team in the Bay Area. So I think that's out. I like that if it wasn't already taken.

But I haven't heard like the one. Because I think with names like this, you kind of know. Like you hear it and you're like, oh, that's it. It clicks. If you have to talk yourself into it, then it's probably not the right name. Do you have one that you think fits the mold? I do like the idea of rain. I don't mind that.

That's probably the closest. But the fun spelling of R-E-I-G-N. I like Vancouver Summit. Oh, that's good. I like that as well. There you go. Yeah, look at us. I just want it to be plural.

That is my one gripe. I don't care what it is, as long as I don't have to awkwardly phrase my sentences because it's a singular name. Here's the issue you're going to run into, Lattie. Okay. Every, almost every team in the PWHL is a non-plural name. Not the SEPters.

Not the SEPters. Or the Sirens, but the Boston Fleet, the Minnesota Frost, the Montreal Victoire, and the Ottawa Charge are all. So, you know, 67% are non-plural. Got to get it back to 50%. That's right. That's right. We can do it, guys. Seattle, Vancouver, it's up to you.

I don't mind the idea of Valkyries to be on. know there's the like it might be now you wouldn't be the first team to have it but i don't mind the idea just because it sounds good i just think it would be one thing if it was a more established team but like they just started i feel i don't know and i think there's going to be there's a desire for originality i think now right because it's all viewed as laddie was saying with the oh have the jerseys for a year the the placeholder one so you can sell them as a limited edition thing, right? Everything now is viewed through the lens of marketing and all that, right? So I don't think they're going to go for one that's just been recently taken. Now, there is

an AHL team called The Rain, but I don't think that counts. I don't think that counts. I think that is acceptable to double up on. Yeah. So that would be my pick, but you can text in. 650, 650. If you've got a, if you've got a good suggestion. We got one, Canucks number three, the Vancouver Canucks, the third. So there's the Vancouver Canucks, the Abbotsford Canucks. and then lean into it. We're all the Canucks. It's like George the slogan. George Foreman's kids.

They're all, they all have the same name. Are they actually? I believe that's correct. Yeah, that's possible. That was just an urban legend. No,

I think it's true. Yeah. This one comes in from Justin East Van, PWHL team, the Vancouver Glaciers. I like that. I like the glaciers. Got a couple Vancouver voodoo.

Glaciers is like a slow moving. That doesn't scream. No, but it's like, it's unbeatable. No one's ever defeat. to the glacier. It may take a while, but it will win.

Like the Canucks. It might take a while, but they will win. They're just on glacier time. I guess Glacier does lose eventually. To global warming? Yeah. That's fair. But historically, it has a very good record.

As long as Seattle isn't like the Seattle sun. Yeah. And we're good. The heat. Yeah. Oh, no. Immediately this is bad. The greenhouse gases.

Ah, our one weakness. okay i see a vancouver eagles but what about vancouver ravens i like that wasn't there richmond ravens is the girl hockey program that was the lacrosse team i want to say oh right there wasn't a Vancouver right like that shouldn't that's that's past yeah i like i think the ravens is cool yeah i i could be open to the ravens uh a lot of text coming in 650 650 dumb bar lumber text line keep the text coming in there uh we'll try to hit more as the show goes on. But also earlier in the show, we were talking about Thomas Mueller. And I missed the flight tracking day yesterday. I was sad, disappointed. Devastating for you. One of my favorite days.

It's okay. I'll get over it. But we did get some text in, like this one from Grimmis in Ladner. I assume it's not the Grimmis. Oh, also, sorry, he goes by Joe and White Rock now. So disregard that. It's definitely not the Grimmis. Muler is on many lists as a top 20 to 25 player of the last 25 years this is a big deal let that sink in so yeah we've been talking about how like for me i always classify myself as a casual soccer fan and especially like when it comes to european soccer like i'm not super in the know about that i'm not going to pretend i'm in the know about that um so i usually use myself as a barometer for like how excited a casual fan would be about whatever the white caps are doing or or whatever it is in the world of soccer that

that's making headlines. And this for me, it registered on a pretty high scale. So I do feel like, and look, I have some personal ties to it. I'm hosting a show and I'm like, oh, content. This is great. But I do think that this is probably the biggest move, or it's definitely the biggest move in Whitecaps history, that will hopefully capture the attention of the casual audience.

Yeah, you have to think so. I mean, if there's ever going to be a move that's going to do it, and especially I think it is notable, that again this all ties into why Mueller is coming here is that it's he's not just like oh I think it'd be nice to live in Vancouver and I don't really care what the team's doing it's just going to be a new life experience I've always wanted to live over on the west coast or something like that right like he's coming here to win and the team has put itself in a position to be the beneficiary of a player like this of a of a surprise kind of out of left field move like this so

I think the combination of getting the big name But not just getting the big name in any season in one where you're having one of the best seasons in franchise history. You look like you're actually poised to potentially threaten for the MLS Cup come the playoff time. I mean, the combination of those two things. If Mueller comes in, he fits in, he's providing them that incredibly high level of quality that we know he's capable of. And this team keeps hitting its stride and looks like they're going to go in a deep playoff run. Because that's always the thing, right? Nothing sells more than winning.

And I think if you have the combination of the big name acquisition from Europe dropped into a winning team that looks like a true contender and goes on a run, if there was ever a perfect storm that was really going to jumpstart more casual interest in the white caps, that's what it looks like. Yeah, it's definitely my fear with how the season was going for the white caps is like you got off to a really good start and you could kind of feel, especially with the injuries, it felt like it was maybe petering off a little bit where, you know, you had the potential to do something this year.

And when we talk about trying to capture the attention of casual sports fans in the city, it felt like they were maybe on the road to doing that, especially if they started to put stuff together even more as the season went on. Then the play started to dip a little bit. And again, there were the injury, so I don't necessarily put it all on them. But this is obviously a move that kind of revitalizes everything. I think it will revitalize the team as a whole, too, on the pitch. I would assume there's going to be a different feel to how they're playing, maybe a different aura.

That's a good word in the current. I mean, kids are using that one a lot of it. It's a good point too because it's such a long season and it's a grind, the MLS season, right? Especially that a lot of these players aren't necessarily used to coming from wherever they played previous to MLS if they're not a North American player because it spans the continent and that's not how it is in South America or in Europe. So the travel, the length of the season, I think it can be a lot. for these players to deal with what better way to kind of pick up your energy help you refocus, help you get

energized again and kind of galvanize as a team than dropping Thomas Mueller into the side. And also like again the the vibe he's bringing is one that I don't know if we've really ever seen from a European player of his magnitude coming over to play in

MLS. It always kind of feels like yeah I'm going there as a retirement situation. You know and it feels like he's legitimately excited to come here. he legitimately wants to win and that's part of why he did come to Vancouver and also when we talk about like how teams have had to build

around European stars when they get them to come over to MLS it doesn't feel like the white caps are going to have to do that like he's going to fit in and he is a very versatile player that should be able to fit into what the white caps are doing and also like he

is obviously they are going to build around him to an extent because he's Thomas Muller he is Thomas Muller yeah so you're going to have to make some concessions, some allowances, maybe some deviations to your system. I've talked to people. You're going to be happy to do it for sure, right? And I've talked to people who are, you know, maybe a little more hardcore soccer fans than me. They say, you know, they really like to press up high and does he have the pace for that at this age? And so there may be our questions about how it's going to fit. But I think this is a classic

example of you bet on talent, you bet on skill, you bet on quality, right? And he has all of those things in spades. And I'm also really excited. I mean, one, I'm really excited to hear from him today because as we were talking about earlier in the show, he's got a very engaging, very thoughtful personality, as we've already seen on display. So I'm curious to hear what he has to say. I'm also very curious to see how the other players on the squad react to getting a chance to meet him, getting a chance to train with him every day. How quickly does he kind of take that mantle of leadership, maybe not actually wearing the captain's armband, but kind of being the de facto leader of the team

because that's always the kind of thing that even when you're dealing with a player with the name recognition and the resume of Thomas Mueller that can ruffle some feathers but it feels like he's got the kind of personality where he's going to come in and he's going to be a leader but he's going to do it in a way that

everyone just kind of appreciates and respects. Yes. Yeah. It's not going to be like it doesn't feel like there's going to be a lot of friction coming into Vancouver and that's a very nice thing when you're getting someone of his magnitude. So yeah, once again he is speaking today to me. in Vancouver. I'm sure we will be playing some clips tomorrow about what he's here.

And by the way, Ryan texts in. I'm a casual fan. I'm actually contemplating getting the MLS package on Apple TV for the remainder of the season. My fiance is going to love more sports in the house. That's from Ryan the H-2-O distributor. But I appreciate Ryan texting that in because that's the question. It's one thing for people to text into our show, right? That's free and be like, oh, wow, Thomas Mueller. That's cool. It's another thing to actually translate it to dollars. or spent. Like, I am willing to lay down my hard-earned money as a direct result of this signing. And whether that's going to the game on Sunday, buying tickets later on in the season, or as Ryan says, buying the extra package to watch the games, that's a massive deal for the white caps for MLS as well. And the fact that we're having this conversation before he's even stepped on the pitch is a big deal. Definitely. And I'm sure Ryan is in that camp and I'm sure a lot of people are in that camp of like, yeah, I'm going to find ways to watch the white caps more

often because it is it's a it's an exciting time for them and again it would be different if muller was coming in and they were like not not doing that well and maybe lower in the standings and it was like okay you know this is fun but like are they actually going to do anything now it's like okay he's coming in and also this team is good and can do something this season so it's kind of the perfect storm of like this is a really good time to get into the white caps if you're a casual fan and we'll see hopefully there's a lasting impact from this as well. If you've been biding your time

for the last 14 years since they joined MLASC you know what? I'm not sure. I'm on the fence. This is the time. Now is the moment. The time to take the jump. Yeah. There might not ever be another big moment like this. So get on board right now. 650, 650,

$6.50, dump our lumber text line. Keep the text coming in there. So before the break, I did mention that we may talk some NHL hockey. And here it is. There was a list put out by the NHL network. Just as the prophecy foretold, we are talking about the NHL now. It has arrived to 15 minutes

later. Here it is. A list from the NHL network. Their top 20 defensemen right now in the NHL, here it is, we will agree and disagree with some of these. Should we start at the top? Are we going to read the whole thing?

We'll start at the top. All right. Kill McCar. Yes. Number one. Do we disagree? Well, let's, we'll say Quinn Hughes is number two. So I let's just get out. get that out there right now. I can't find it in myself to strongly disagree. Like I think you could, if we're doing the, you know, we did the tears thing earlier in the week and I was doing the exercise.

If you need to win a game tomorrow, who are you taking? If you're asking you that about Kail McCar and Quinn Hughes, I probably lean to Quinn Hughes. Now, is that just biased because I've seen, I've watched so much of Quinn Hughes, I have so much kind of firsthand knowledge of what he can do on the ice? maybe, but I do also think you can make the case that he impacts

the flow of play more on a regular basis than Kail Makar. Having said that, I think the gap is so close that if you're putting together one of these lists, you do kind of have to give the tie to the guy off the hardware, right? The guy with the Konsmife trophy, with the Stanley Cup

championship, with more Norris trophies, all of that, right? Like, until Quinn Hughes is the challenger to the crown of number one defensemen in the NHL, and I think when you're the challenger, it can't just be a tie for you to get it right or it can't just be close you have to decisively unseat kail mccar if he's going to be widely regarded as the best defensive man in the nchel what does that look like probably another norris trophy uh international play i think

is an interesting wrinkle to this list that we can talk about with some of the other names so maybe something at the olympics this year and then of course playoff success that's what it's going to come down to so would i quibble maybe if i was putting the list together would i have Quinn Hughes number one, probably, but I can't be outraged about them having Kale McCar over Quinn Hughes. Can I throw a take at you that I've said a had for a while? The Colorado Avalanche would be better with Quinn Hughes than they would be with Kail McCar.

That is very interesting. So I think the Canucks clearly would be better with Quinn Hughes than Kale McCar. I agree. I do think because they have Nathan McKinnon, right? Because the thing that makes Quinn Hughes so incredibly valuable for the Cadux is his ability to drive play. And they just don't have anyone else able to do it anywhere close to his level. Does some of that get lost a little bit when you're going to play with Nathan McKinnon versus Kail McCarr, who has the incredible offensive prowess and the ability to threaten 30 goals as a defenseman?

Is he more suited to be kind of the running mate or the second guy next to Nathan McKinnon? I don't, I'm not, like, saying for sure, but I'm right. Like, I think there's a case to be made in both directions. I definitely agree that Quinn Hughes is better for the Canucks than Kail McCar would be. I could see the argument, though, that Kail McCar is better for the Avalanche. Yeah, I can get the, I get the argument there. I do, what I guess I would say is when you look at the numbers, uh, with Kail McCar and and not playing with Nathan McKinnon, I do think they're not as, yes.

Yeah, and now there's like, what's going on there? I don't know. It's weird. It is weird. It is weird. But I do, it is revealing that like, hey, maybe he's not as good as Quinn Hughes seems to be when he's playing with essentially nobody in the forward. Well, the relative possession numbers really bore that out. When you look at, like, they have very similar possession numbers overall. But when you look at the relative numbers compared to their teammates, Quinn Hughes is in like double digits. And Macar is still pretty average. So he's on a much better team. And I think the environment, you have to factor that in because it's not. a vacuum. So I guess the argument I would make, and the reasoning I have behind this is that if you put

Quinn Hughes on the avalanche, I think you could afford to play him away from Nathan McKinn. Then you don't have to worry about that possession dominant player. You're right. I get that. They would still play together a lot. They're just so, the McKinnon and McCarr combination is just so outrageously good. Do you want to go away

from that? It's kind of the same argument. And Drans and I have this argument all the time on the show about splitting up Queen Hughes and Philopronic. Because I've been a bit of a proponent of at least trying it, right? Like, okay, can Heronik run his own pair? Can you have two pairs you feel really good about? And Drance's point is, you know, maybe, but they're so good together, right? Do you want to lose that high end? And I think that's kind of the case in Colorado as well, where it's like, could Kail McCar take on more of the heavy lifting away from Nathan McKinnon? Yeah, he's incredibly

talented. I'm sure you could do it. But they're just so dynamite together. Like they want to have that super high end combination on the ice as much as they can. Yeah, definitely. And so I don't, I don't blame them for it. I just, that's kind of where I've been at with, with Quinn Hughes and Kail McCar again, that I do think that if you put Quinn Hughes on the avalanche, they might not be a significantly better team, but I do think they would be a better team than if they, with, with Kail McCar right now. Okay, moving on through the list, Zach Worensky in number three. Okay. Meryl Hayskin and number four. Victor Hedman rounds out the top five. I don't have a problem with that. You don't have a problem. No, what? You're, you're, who are you? I think Hedman's a little bit old now.

But it's again, it's the kind of thing where someone's got to unseat him. And I look at the next five on the list, which is Morrissey, Dahlene, Slaven, Yose, Bouchard. Who are you taking over Victor Headman? May, yeah, like maybe Morrissey. But I get your argument. No way. Morrissey had a really good year. He did.

I'm not the biggest Josh Morrissey. I think six is a little rich for Josh Morrissey, to be perfectly honest. I also really like Rasmus Dahlene, but also I just don't know how to grade him because Buffalo. You know, it's like, ah, I don't, maybe, maybe you're awesome. Yeah. But you play on the sabers. So it's really hard to say. I do find one part of this list really fascinating,

which is you go into the bottom half of the top 20. And again, this is put up by the NHL network. Top 20 defensemen in the NHL right now. You got names like Charlie McAvoy, Gustav Forsling at 11 and 12. That's great. 13 and 14, Jake Sanderson and Thomas Harley. And I think one of the things that's really fascinating about that, first of all, I mean, we're doing this list a year ago.

Neither of them are sniffing the top 20, right? Thomas Harley, I don't think he's on this list unless he gets the Four Nations exposure, right? Like I think his placement on this list is a direct result of coming in in the circumstances he did and performing like he did at the Four Nations. Now, he had a great year in Dallas as well. Don't get me wrong. So I think there still would have been some recognition. But I think we're already seeing just from the Four Nations, which was a much smaller tournament than we're going to see at the Olympics, then they want to do for the World Cup in future years. We're already seeing how much, the international best on best hockey

and the return of it to the calendar is going to influence how we perceive these players. I think Jake Sanderson's in that mold as well with what he was able to do for Team USA and Adam Fox in the other way. He struggled with Four Nations. He was the whole idea out at 16th. Yeah, that part to me, that was the other one

I was going to bring up. Like, he should not be at 16. Yeah, but you can really tell how much like, okay, what do these guys? And I think this makes sense. When you get all the best players together and you put them in these super high pressure games that are played at the highest level we see even higher in the Stanley Cup playoffs what do these players look like I mean I think that's a great metric to measure them on and Thomas Harley and Jake

Sanderson both looked fantastic yeah and both of them obviously young they have more room to grow too but yeah it was I do think their stock I agree their stock was increased because of what they were able to do internationally and yet Adam Fox being at 16 like I talk about a guy that could be top five I think he could be top five yeah I don't know why I don't know how he fell that far in their rankings. But you can find the full list, the full top 20 on Twitter at NHL Network. Okay, keep the text coming in, 650, 650 on the Dunbar-Lumber text line. On the other side, very excited to speak to PWHL Vancouver defenseman, Ashton Bell, their first expansion pick and recently signed a contract extension as well. That's coming up next on

Alfred and Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolf, Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet, 650.