Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Whitecaps Are Moving On To The Western Conference Final!

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason look back at a busy Week 12 with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier (1:23), plus they chat with Whitecaps radio commentator Asa Rehman (22:40), who talks Saturday's historic VWFC win over LAFC, that sees the club moving on to their first ever MLS Cup Western Conference Final! 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.

Darnold with time going up top for Jackson Smith and Jigba drops it in the bucket and he will backpedal for a touchdown. What a throw! What a catch! on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brad to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks.

Visit them online at Sands. NashTrustee.com. We're now in hour two of the program. Mike Taney, our NFL insider from the two-deep zone, is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brats by Jason Hominock at Jason. If you love giving the banks more of your money, money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at

Jason. Dom Mortgage. We're coming to live from the Kintech studio, Kintech, footwear, and orthotics. We're getting together with you and step. To the phone lines we go, our next guest is our NFL insider. He's our Monday morning quarterback. He's a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Mike Tannier

joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Michael. How are you? I'm doing well. Greetings from Philadelphia, which is currently on fire. How are Eagles fans reacting to blowing a 21 point lead to their divisional rivals in what was a very entertaining, granted not for Eagles fans, but very entertaining Sunday

afternoon affair? It was an entertaining game objectively. There are upside down cars on fire in my street. I'm only exaggerating a little, but I don't dare check my Facebook feed right now. Let's put it that way of what my friends and neighbors and friends from growing up are thinking of that game. On the one hand, on the one hand, any time a team blows a 21-point lead,

it's a bad game, there's a lot to correct, and fans are going to be livid. When they blow that lead to a hated rival, like the Cowboys, fans will even be more livid. So there's an understandable level of rage and fury, even by Philly fan standards here in Philly.

That said, it has gone over the top. It is broken containment. And now we're getting arguments about things like firing Nick Siriani and doing some of the other really over-the-top things that a team shouldn't be thinking about

you know, 10 months after a Super Bowl parade when they are also still a game and a half up in first place in their division. Hey, what's going on with Sequin Barclay? That's a good question. You know, a lot of it is the scheme and the blocking. There are a lot of examples of defenders just getting through.

You know, this isn't the line it was last year or even two years ago, Lane Johnson, hurt, et cetera, and you'll see Sequo getting hit at the line. That said, I don't think that he's as explosive as he was last year. I think he said it himself that he can be up and down sometimes, that sometimes the bursts that leaves him, probably from overuse or whatever. He's not getting free on the open field.

He's not getting the yard as she used to. And, yeah, he fumbled yesterday. And there were other times he had the ball in space and what looked like it could have been a 15, 20-yard play, turned into a five-yard play. I think the Eagles have to be realistic about that, and they have to look at their scheme, and they have to look at backup Tank Bigsbee,

who's been pretty good in a couple of relief appearances and say maybe this team will be better if we diversify things a little bit and not expect Sequin to win games for us the way he did in 2024. Did the Kansas City Chiefs essentially save their season by pulling one out of the bag yesterday at home against the Colts? Absolutely.

You know, if you look at their playoff odds, had they lost that game if you look at things like, you know, what their division record is, which is 1 and 2 and the record in the AFC, I think, would have gone down to 2 and 5. They would have been in tiebreaker purgatory. No matter how well they played down the stretch,

they were been stuck with the fact that, oh, no, if it's a tie, the Jaguars are in, oh, no, if it's a tie, the Colts are in for a wild card. So they saved it in that respect. They also saved it in the respect of defense plays very, very well, offense figure things out, and they do the thing that they haven't done all

season, which is late in the game, have one of those signature Patrick Mahomes comebacks first and fourth quarter than in overtime to get the win. And that's been absent all year. People talk about it. It happened a little too often in 2024 where they won every one of their games by one score or whatever. But the Chiefs did what they needed to do to stay in the conversation in the AFC. You know, it's funny.

I had his long list of questions that I wanted to ask, and probably too close to the top was one about Shadur Sanders. and then I read the walkthrough, and there's Shudur Sanders. Third billing, and then this is a great what happened. Mike writes, because Shudor Sanders makes people stupid, here's a full breakdown of his offensive performance on Sunday. Share with the listeners, Mike, what Shudder Sanders did and didn't do and that win over the Raiders.

And we'll get to the Raiders in a second as well. All right. To backtrack a little bit, the Cleveland Brown's defense sacked Gino Smith 10 times, forced a couple of fumbles. Miles Garrett had, I believe, three sacks, and the Raiders could not move the ball at all. The Browns got an early touchdown when there was a long punt return with a penalty at the end, so they got the ball at the 10-yard line.

Shador Sanders handed off once, then left the field, so Quichon Judkins, the rookie running back, could do a wildcat handoff for a touchdown. All in all, Shadur had two really, really good throws downfield, one of them a bomb to Isaiah Bonds, and I'm sure is on the highlight reels. He had one really bad throw that was a nice. interception right into the chest of a defender.

Beyond that, he handed off, and he threw screen passes on third and long. That's all he did. Shudor Sanders was like your basic third-string quarterback for a team with a really good defense against the bad opponent. It was 14-3 early in that game, and Kevin Stafansky said, you know what, we're not even going to try anything crazy or dangerous in this. So I'll give Shudor's credit for game managing, for not taking ugly sacks, for not letting Max Crosby just, you know, tattoo him or whatever.

But I'm guessing there's probably going to be a lot of talk about how good Shador was or what special qualities he brought to the game. Billy Zappi could have won that game. You know, Clayton Toon could have won that game. Joshua Dobbs could have won that game. That was the third string quarterback performance that Shador Sanders delivered. So the other side of the ball, the Raiders, and after the game for those that missed it, they fired their offensive coordinator,

Chip Kelly, 11 games into the season, second year in a row that Vegas has fired an offensive coordinator mid-season. Luke Getsey was like, oh, nine games. We only lasted nine games last year. And I understand that, you know, some will say, and probably rightly so, that changing the O.C. at this stage of the game is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

What does Pete Carroll do with this, if anything? And we've talked about this on the show. Could you conceivably see him just walking away before this season is out, given what a mess this team is? I guess I wouldn't be surprised because, again, chip Kelly's gone. The special teams coordinator has been gone for a couple weeks, and there's definitely infighting or a power struggle.

I don't know if it's a fight or a struggle anymore. I think it's over. Tom Brady's people have won a power struggle in the Raiders organization. He's got his GM there. He's in the owner's box, in the coach's box. I don't know where Brady is. He's always somewhere, though. And the Pete Carroll people are going to be pushed out as this goes on, and Pete Carroll is one

with Pete Carroll people. And let's not forget, it's been made very obvious. His sons were on Chip Cully's staff. Now they're getting promotions, and there's probably going to be a changing there. So I would not be shocked if Pete Carroll sees which way the wind blows, sees himself being unceremoniously fired in week 18 or on Black Monday or whatever, and declares that he's resigning with a week or two to go, maybe to put one of his sons in the chair for a week or two and let him get that experience.

But this is, it's sad. It's a miserable situation in Las Vegas, and there's a lot of good coaches who got caught up in this and are now ending their, at least the Raiders' tenures, on a very sour note. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Tennessee Titans. It was a little closer than some people expected. The Seahawks weren't at their best, but I think credit to Cam Ward, he was the first overall pick for a reason. He does have some talent, and he made some plays out there. I don't want to speak too much about this game, but I do want to talk about the up-kiming game,

for the Seattle Seahawks because it's a visit from the Minnesota Vikings, which is an interesting matchup because the Vikings were like, well, we're going to see what J.J. McCarthy has. And the Seahawks were like, oh, we'll take Sam Darnold from you. Then how are Vikings fans feeling about their quarterback situation right now? I think the senses, they feel like they've been lied to. too. That's the takeaway here. You know, when Sam Donald disappears and all these other past quarterbacks who did well under

O'Connell, you know, they're gone there, they've gone by the wayside. And you wait a year for J.J. McCarthy to come back from an injury. And you spend that year hearing about how heroically tough he is in the rehab room and how he's showing up for every meeting, you know, with his pencil out and soaking up the knowledge. And what a great guru Kevin O'Connell is and all these clever things. McConnell's done to make sure McCarthy stays involved in game planning, how, you know, good he, how hard he worked in the off season, how good he looked in the off season. He does not look like he belongs in the NFL at all, period.

Like, there is almost nothing good to take away from J.J. McCarthy's experience, and he's going backwards at this point. And O'Connell is taking, like, responsibilities away from him. They're just trying to hand off to get their way through games. McCarthy is just, he's throwing interceptions. He's a deer in the headlights when he's in the, in the pocket, it is miserable. So, in Vikings fans, I think the reality has really hit them in the last two weeks,

and now they're asking the question, why? Why are we doing this? Why didn't we find a way to keep darnold to hedge our bets on this? And why were we told this kid was going to be special? When there's, he's the opposite of special. He's just, he's vaporware, he's wishful thinking, and I can't imagine him turning it around. Certainly not next week against that tough C. Huck's defense.

We're speaking to Mike Tan here on our Monday morning quarterback here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Mike is a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Pre-game to post-game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. That's 17 screens for you athletes out there. Visit them online at the Clayton Pub.com. Two-part question on the Los Angeles Rams here, Mike.

One, can the Rams and will the Rams hold on to the number one seat in the NFC? And two, if they do, is Matthew Stafford, the NFL MVP. I think Matthew Stafford right now has to be the front runner for MVP and I think any questions about that probably were silenced last night where he just, it was a systematic

dismantling of, you know, an injury plagued and an illness plagued, the buccaneers had some kind of stentic virus. But just a dismantling pinpoint accuracy on Sunday night football. What's coming up on their schedule? A lot will be determined by the Seahawks in week 16.

They've also got the Lions and Week 16. week 15, both of those teams have to worry a little bit, that there are so many Cardinals and Panthers and Falcons on the upcoming schedule that even getting the win isn't going to be enough to stop the Rams. The analysis, the DVOA analysis on the Rams, states that not only are they extremely good, but they're extremely consistent. Week in and week out, they're the same awesome team, maybe a little better last, let's night, but that's it. Their only losses was against the Eagles, tough opponent on special team's mistakes, and the football.

49ers, tough opponent, special teams this days, that's all that's been happening that's been negative for the Rams. So they're a tough app, they're a tough team to look at and say, well, this is their weakness. And, you know, for Seahawks fans, this is the boogeyman. This is what you've got to, you know,

battle against going forward for the rest of the year and into the playoffs. Okay, I'm glad you brought that up because it's very difficult to reconcile appreciating and enjoying Matt Stafford, given the Rams are a fierce divisional rival. But what he's doing this year, I think regardless of your fandom or what tribe you belong to, it's wild that he's doing this.

This is his 17th year in the NFL. This is the possibility for him to win his first MVP. The stat that I saw that blew my mind this morning, Stafford has thrown 27 straight passing touchdowns without an interception. And that is the longest streak by any QB since play-by-play data was first track in 78. That's experience. That's experience in the league. He's learned the league.

He's like, maybe I should. After many, many, many years in the league. He's like, should I throw no interceptions in all touchdowns? And they're like, yes, please do that. He's gone out and done it with regular. So it's more just, I got, again, I hate doing this because the Rams are a beast and they're going to be tough to deal with. But Stafford deserves a ton of credit for what he's done this year.

As of August, he was in a mystery van getting his mysterious back and shoulder injury healed him. I'm like, is this guy okay? Is he even going to play this season? That's where we were in August with Stafford. And the other thing I'll say about it is he looks so much better now than he did in the Super Bowl year. If people remember the Rams' Super Bowl year, he had a couple of interceptions sprees in the middle of that season. That Rams offense, which had like, I think, well, I'm not going to say more talent, but had a lot of talent,

struggled throughout that season. Stafford is a better quarterback right now than he has ever been in his NFL career. What are we making of the Detroit Lions right now? It's a close win and a gutsy, valiant comeback win against James Winston and the New York Giants. And, you know, you look at how that game went. Who fired their defensive coordinator today. Right. And that's understandable.

On one hand, I'm watching that game and I'm like, you know, the Giants got a couple, like, really fluky trick plays to come off for touchdowns, and that's probably not sustainable. Maybe they got a little bit of luck involved at the same time. It feels like the Lions play too many games where they should beat their opponent handling that they have to scratch and fighting claw. What does a win about that say about the Detroit Lions? Well, it's a reminder when you have Jemir Gibbs and a couple of these other guys who are, you know, a step faster, a step stronger than anybody else that's going to give you an advantage. So Gibbs kind of single-handedly wins that game. You've got Amma and Roy. You got Aidan Hutchinson. And you're kind of relying on those top of the line guys to get these wins. I look at the lions and I say

they keep showing they're not in the top tier this year. You know, they go out the Packers and the opener. They're not in the top tier. They lose. They go up against the Chiefs. You're not in the top tier. You're not against the Eagles. You're not in the top tier.

You go 05 on fourth downs. You can't get the job done there. So they keep telling us that's where they are. So that was a good comeback. Let's see where we are Thursday morning, USA Thanksgiving morning here. Very early, you're taught. Lions Packers. I want to see the lions come out

and have a demonstrative victory against that team otherwise they're telling me we're a wildcard team we're going to lose in the playoffs we're going to be beaten by the Rams Eagles somebody like that or trip over somebody and that's what they've done in the last two years as well so it's not a surprising thing for them to be telling me right now

there's a third good team in the NFC West and they're in action tonight against Carolina the San Francisco 49ers give us a state of the 49ers as they head into this game against Carolina? They're pretty healthy,

and 49ers standards will get mad at me when I say they're pretty healthy. Like, we don't have McBurth and Fred Warner. It's like, we get it. For your 49ers standards, you're pretty healthy. You've got your quarterback back, you've got a lot of guys back. Everybody's got injuries right now. Because they have been so injury-plagged

for the last two years, they're kind of an enigma. We know they're good because they battle through injuries and get these wins. Don't know how good the 49ers are. They're facing a panther. team with a lot of wins against weak opponents, a lot of fluky weird wins, and also

facing a Panthers team that just noticed that Baker Mayfield got hurt last night and now the division could be up for grabs in the NFC South. So I anticipate a 49ers victory here, but there's a little bit of an expect, the unexpected factor against the hungry

Panthers team that, while they're not very good, are good at beating you if you show up and have a bad game against them. Mike, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight and we will do this again next Monday. Absolutely. Take care and enjoy your week. You too. Thanks. That's Mike Tannier, our NFL insider from the two deep zone here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports Night 650. It is time now for the one to watch, brought to you by Limitless AV. And this was a difficult one to do

because I was kind of focused on everything else that was going on. And then I looked at the slate tonight. Now, this is a weird week for the national hockey. because of American Thanksgiving and no games on Thursday, obviously, to not go up against the National Football League. They're a Black Friday League. They're a Black Friday League. And there's a lot of games tonight on a Monday when traditionally there isn't. So there were no shortage of ones to look for.

So I said, you know what? I'm going to, the NHL Public Relations Department puts out an email every morning. And they highlight some of the big games. I was like, let's see what Connor Bedard is doing tonight. Let's make Connor Bedard the one to watch. So here's an interesting note from NHL Public Relations about Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. Tonight, they are looking to get a regulation win against Minnesota for the first time since December 15th, 2019. I had to double check this to make sure, but it's true.

December 15th, 2019, the last time Chicago had a regulation win against Minnesota. That time, 2019, 14-year-old Connor Bedard was playing with the West Van Academy, where he had 52 points in 23 games and led the Canadian. sports school hockey league and goals and points to secure MVP honors. So from a mere 14-year-old with West Van in the West Van Academy program to now, Connor Bedard will look to have a night tonight

and hopefully get Chicago win against a team that they haven't had a lot of regular season success against. That is the one to watch, brought to you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts. Hey, buddy, I've got bad news for you. Oh, no. That game's on Wednesday. Pardon me?

games on Wednesday. Chicago versus Minnesota. Oh my gosh. It is. Maybe you shouldn't prep two minutes. My bad. My bad. My bad.

My bad. Hand up. That's my bad. You're too excited about the White Calf's game. That's my bad. I thought that was tonight's game. Because I was like, man, I watched Connor Burdard yesterday against Colorado. That's my bad.

That's a tough turnaround. Yeah, that's my bad. Sorry, guys. Tonight's one to watch is going to be Trevor Zegris as the Philadelphia Flyers. Take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa Bay. It is your one to watch. brought to you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts, specializing in seamless video conferencing and solutions and hybrid workspaces.

Book your, like, I'm glad you caught me in time, though. Book your personalized tour of the Experience Center today at LimitlessAV.C.C. Okay, you're very excited about the White Caps weekend, and it's okay. Saturday, fried a lot of brains, and I want to look back on that game. Asa Raymond, the radio play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Whitecaps is going to join us. Coming up next to recap everything that happened on a wild Saturday night at B.C. Place. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go, though, friendly reminder that we are giving away a $250 gift card to Golf Town.

This is ahead of their Black Friday sale. It's on now until December 3rd. Perfect time to beat the holiday rush. Call in at 7.30 on the nose. Caller number 5, 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-6-50. Caller number 5 at 730. wins a $250 gift card to Golf Town. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. 733 on a Monday.

Happy Monday, everybody, Halford, Druff, SportsNet 650. So we all straight on the Limitless AV one to watch thing Trevor Zegris tonight I got that all right No it's Connor Bardard No it's not He's playing tonight That's Wednesday

I'm pretty sure Connor Bradard is playing tonight Radio just told me In a very roundabout way I've actually done research for Wednesday now Which is nice But again So we'll just flip it and play that back Wednesday I thought your one to watch

Might be an MLS game That would have been the game But I think the idea of the limit of this AV one to watch is to pick an individual player. I suppose I could stretch the boundaries of it because you are right. Adog, who's your favorite player on San Diego

FC or Minnesota? I like them all. Too hard to pick. You know what? He's a great teammate. Not only did he save me last segment, you also mentioned that the one to watch tonight is, of course, San Diego against Minnesota.

The winner will face the white caps in the Western Conference. Finally, now, how it works. We're cheering for Minnesota. We are cheering hard for Minnesota. Minnesota wins. The game will be at BC place because Vancouver will be the highest of the remaining two seeds. If San Diego wins, though, the game will be held at

Snapdragon Field in San Diego. So we wait and see that game kicks off at 7 o'clock tonight. Big fan of Herving Lozano, by the way. Wow, Chuckie Lozano, look at you. That was a really impressive pull. I just Google it. I know you did. To the phone lines

we go for some more Whitecaf's talk, the radio play-by-play voice of those white caps. Asa Raymond joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Asa. How are you? Good morning, guys. Doing well. Finally recovering from the big game on Saturday and just like you guys, yeah, looking forward to this match tonight, San Diego and Minnesota. So it should be a fun one.

And you're right. Vancouver's rooting for Minnesota for the fact that we'll get another home game. Talk to us. Just tell us what it was like for you and Colin, calling that game. It was a three-hour match. It was a marathon. There was a lot to go through and a lot to parse through. I listened to your final call, and I heard you in calling the elation. I think both of the White Ceps in one, and then it was finally over after all the drama.

What was it like on Saturday for you guys, Asa? Oh, it was a roller coaster, and it was one of the best moments of my life, honestly, the greatest of my commentating career. and it was something that I will never forget. And, you know, you prepare and prepare for moments like this, for a game like this. And we had three weeks leading up to it as well. And when we found out that we were going to play LASC,

we had three weeks to prepare and get ready for this game. I embraced it. I really look forward to the opportunity to really dive into the matchups in this game. Some of the players that, you know, could step up potentially and have a big moment. and we have that. We had Emmanuel Sabi scoring this incredible goal, one of the best goals. I think we've seen at BC Place, and there have been some bangers at BC Place as well. So this game had absolutely everything.

There's some debatable calls, but nothing that was egregious, nothing so crazy that you're really frustrated at the refereeing. So, you know, it gave us absolutely everything. It had the stars showing up in the moments, and then it had the right guys winning in the end as well. So, yeah, it was a blast. to call. And I was definitely feeling the energy and the tension as well in an extra time. And I don't know if I've ever felt that before while commentating a game, realizing, yeah, I'm working this. I'm trying to paint the pictures here. I hope I'm doing a decent job. And so invested in the results here as well. I've never experienced that in my life. Okay. So the White Caps have a

magical first half. You mentioned their first goal, which was incredible. and their second goal, which was probably some poor goalkeeping, must have been the turf that affected that. And we can maybe talk about that later on, probably not. Were you confident that the White Caps had done it after the first half or in the back of your mind, where you're like, oh, there's going to be a real push from LAAFC here? I knew that LACFC is capable of coming back, pushing back in the game.

didn't see them doing what they did in the second half. I still thought that the white caps would be able to control play, dictate play, do what we saw them do in the first half. So I was surprised to see LAFC continue to keep the ball and keep pressing. It was impressive. They made some tactical adjustments. Thomas Mueller talked about that after the game. And LAFC fully deserved to get back in that game. And then an absolute worldly talked about the savvy goal being one of the best I've ever seen and commentated on that, that Sun Young men goal was probably the best. There's nothing anyone could have done to stop that one.

The wall jumps and it clears it by a foot or two and then it just dips and just nestles into that top corner. It was unbelievable. And that's why I think what a lot of people were looking forward to. The neutrals would have been looking forward to seeing Son kind of rise to the occasion here and give us that moment. that. So, yeah, credit to them because they found a way

and they just kept pressing and pressing in that match. So Sebastian Bearhalter became my favorite player on the white caps in extra time when he was, the white caps go down two players eventually.

One due to a red card, two yellows accumulated, and one due to an injury and they had used all their subs so they couldn't put anyone else back out there. And Sebastian Barrehalter is just revving up the crowd and knowing that they were going to need the crowd and maybe a little luck if they were going to get this thing to penalties.

And there was no idea of the white caps maybe scoring an extra time. This was defend, defend, defend with everything that you've got and get it to the penalties and take your chances there. What was it like for you calling those moments, including there was a two-second spell? where L-AFC hit either the crossbar or the post three times. Yeah. We'll start with the Burrhalter moment,

and that was so uplifting, and it was needed in that moment. I don't know if the white caps get the results without that moment, because you could feel it, you could sense it. And it started, honestly, with the son situation where the free kick was because of the the foul of the infraction that led to Blackman being sent off picking up his second yellow so you're already feeling the effects of that

son scores seconds later and it's all tied up and the momentum meter is just shaking it's rattling in favor of LASC and then you're right you have Bilaha Boone dealing with that devastating injury and it was

you could hear a pin drop the place was dead silent and one person One person alone lifts the spirits, lifts the energy of 54,000 at BC Place. It was incredible. And I'll say it again, I don't know if they get the results without that moment. And then you talk about, yeah, the Post and Crossbar. The first one caught me by surprise from our angle.

It was so hard to understand what exactly happened. So it's getting crossed in, and we see it being crossed in. So you expect it to fall to someone's, you know, right around the six or something. and all of a sudden it comes up the crossbar and I'm shocked and I said it's hit the crossbar obviously it comes back the other way Bwanga hits the post hits the crossbar again it was

unbelievable and I think that's the other moment where fans are just going nuts and realizing okay someone's on our side here feels like the stars are aligned and this is happening and then once it gets to penalties I think everyone was believing that the white cats were going to get it done at that point when you know that being said

when Sun missed his penalty, I was in a bit of a state of disbelief. Like they needed something like that to happen, but maybe you could recap just how close that was because that didn't hit the post and go out of play. That wasn't blown over the bar like his teammate did a couple shots later. That was maybe one inch from a perfect penalty?

Yeah, that's a great penalty. great way to put it. You've done it. It was that close. It looked like the perfect penalty. The way he struck it with conviction sends Yohei Takoko the wrong way. He's hitting him with his right foot so it should be curling in towards the goal, not

away from it. It looks like he's done everything right. Hits it with power as well and somehow just just hits the inside of the post but doesn't go in, stays out and you're right, that was the other moment. And it was early as well, right? The first taker. And then you

really felt the momentum shift right back to the Vancouver Whitecaps. The other thing, if we're talking about the panel leads, I think there was some concern from Whitecaps fans maybe going into it. Yeah, you're down to nine, but you've also got a couple of your takers unavailable in Thomas Miller and Brian White. So we were doing that as well in a commentary booth, myself and Colin Miller, just kind of going through the list, like, who do you like here? Obviously, you got Gald, you got Burrhalter, and then who do you like here?

So, yeah, credit to Jada and Nellner. And obviously, Matthias LeBorda, so for getting that crucial one to seal it. I want to talk about the crowd with you for a bit because I've been in good crowds. I've been in big crowds before. But that one had something extra. What do you think it was?

Because I was at the Miami game as well, and it was a big crowd, and it was a good crowd. You know, feel free to disagree with me if you want. That crowd felt very, very different. Yeah. You know what, guys, I think it was the attitude going into it. And the Miami match, I was there. And that was a fun one.

That was more of an enjoyable spectacle. Even though, you know, you wanted the white caps to win, you were kind of there for the occasion. And the stakes were so different in that one as well. That was a two-leg tie. So, you know, you had the two games. And even though they had the great result, it was the first. the two games against Miami on that occasion. But this was completely different in that.

This is a win or go home and a team that I think that we've grown to love throughout this season. So you've seen them kind of rise to the occasions and build up for this moment. And you have Thomas Milder coming in. Everyone obviously loves him for this occasion here. And then I'd go up against L.A.F.C. as well, the team that's knocked the out the last couple years. So there's so much that was going into this one and then there was this calm

confidence going into it as well. So I think everyone there really wanted, needed the White Caps to win. So I think that was the biggest difference and you felt it. You felt the energy in the stadium because of it. We're speaking to Aceryman, White Caps Radio, play-by-play man here on the Halford & Brough show

on SportsNet 650. We've mentioned the prominent protagonists in this one and the guys that stepped up and the guys that got the plot. It's who's someone from the White Caps side of things. Maybe an underrated contributor or someone that maybe isn't getting the headlines two days after but played a

very integral role in that game on Saturday. So, you know what? Hard to pick just one. When you get down to nine, even someone like Valaha Abuni who comes in to do a job only to pick up that devastating injury,

absolutely everyone stepped up and had a moment in this game. I mean, Andreas Kuba seems like he's always the one that kind of gets unnoticed. He doesn't score the goals. He's probably never going to score the goals. But he's always in and around it

and had one of the toughest assignments when he's dealing with Son and Danny Pawanga on the other side. They knew that it was a potent attack. You've got to find a way to shut it down. And he did an incredible job the entire way. And that was the other thing that I kind of talked about, I have been talking about over the last couple of days.

You had the red card, obviously, to Tristan Black, meaning of Brian White putting in his shift, and by the end of it, when you're down to the nine players on the field, you're looking and wondering, who are the adults in the room? You've got Jeevan Badwell out there, you've got a bunch of kids. You're like, you know, yeah, who are the adults in the room? You had Ryan Gould, obviously, one of the captain's arm band. And then, and And Andres Kubas, the quietest of the group,

but leads by example. And I think that, yeah, he put it in his shift and deserves a lot of time. credit here as well. Yeah, I thought Preso at the back was phenomenal. And for those that are unaware, that's a guy that they took midway through the season to sort of converted into being a centerback

because they were so thin at the position with all of the injuries that they had. That's a Canadian kid who came through the Toronto FC Academy and kind of bounced around MLS. And Esper Sorensen did a remarkable job of coaching him up and getting him into that position. But the player deserves a ton of credit

because he was out there tip to tail for all of it, just defending like his life was on the line. I thought he was huge in that game. No, you're huge. You're exactly right. He was huge. He had so many moments in this game. There's one tracking back where it looks like Danny Bwonga's on a breakway,

partial breakway. And it's a subtle thing because Bwonga still gets a shot off at around the 18 yard box right to top of it. But Ralph Pryso just gets on his horse, gets back, and just puts enough pressure on him so we can't get enough on the shot. So it ends up being a comfortable save for Yohei Taco. good. But yeah, if he doesn't sort of put that bit of pressure, it's an easier

shot. Maybe it's a goal. Maybe it's a different game. So guys, how are the white caps set up here to continue? Because although it feels like they won the championship on Saturday, if they do win the championship, they're going to have to play two more games. Talk to us about the

suspensions. Talk to us about the injuries. Yeah, good question. So, Blahobuni, not going to be available. for this next game. That's a devastating blow because Tristan Blackman

will serve a suspension presumably here, so he won't be available either. And Ralph Prezio's going to have to put in a shift once again. He'll be called upon. And then you're going to look at some of the players that they've brought in.

They brought in during the summer transfer window that we haven't seen a lot of in Yucin, and potentially Sebastian Shunlau as well. I think Pupa is closer to returning. We've seen him in action, so he's probably the more likely to get some minutes here.

Kate Johnson didn't feature in the last game. He's been incredibly exceptional for the white caps throughout the season as well in that left back position. So he might get into the lineup. When it comes to Brian White, it was nice that he got those minutes, and I think that we'll see a better Brian White in the next game. So they should be in pretty good shape.

If deserved a couple days off here, we'll find out how they're looking at training throughout the week. But at least, I mean, this is one of the deepest teams. in the league, and we're seeing how valuable that is right now. We'll find out who the white caps are playing and where they're playing them tonight. The winner between San Diego and Minnesota goes at 7 o'clock. Asa, hey, thanks a lot for doing this today, man. We really appreciate it.

We'll check back later in the week, and we'll see how things are going ahead of Saturday's Western Conference final, and we'll figure out where it's being played. But thanks again for doing this today. Thank you so much. Have a good one, guys. Yeah, thank you. That's Asa Raymond, Radio Play-by-Playman of the Vancouver. white caps here on the

Halford Inbrough show on SportsNet 650. Should Yesper Sorensen have subbed out Blackman? Oh, I love it. This is the kind of hard-hitting analysis. We're not just all flowers throwing them at the feet of the white caps. Yeah, that was a mistake. That was mistake.

In the second half, for those that don't know what we're talking about here, Blackman had a glorious opportunity to put the white caps up 3-1 and his volley brilliantly saved by Hugo Lurice, probably his best save of the match. Outstanding stop.

While that was happening, Halbuni had been brought up and he got rid of the warm-up penny. He was ready to go. We all assumed in our seats that that was going to be the flip because Blackman hadn't played in forever. And he also crashed into the post. And he was also on a yellow. And he was on a yellow. So everything led us to believe that, okay, Blackman's hurt. He's on a yellow.

He's played and put in a shift. And he hasn't played in like almost a month and a half. and I think Yesper waited because he wanted to squeeze a little bit more to Blackman because Blackman I mean he was the MLS defender

of the year he is their best best defender and he was playing national team member for US and he was a good player and he was playing a very good match yeah right so he took the risk he took the gamble

I did notice for a very calm and composed and collected individual uh yesper was very demonstrative frustrated after the the Sun goal, not just because it tied up the match, but I think he realized, oh boy, Blackman had stayed in, Blackman had taken the foul that led to the free kick.

Blackman had been red-carded. Now it's two, two, and we're down to ten men. It was a hugely pivotal moment, not subbing Blackman out, but as he, as Jasper said in the aftermath, they had a lot of luck on their side, and that was part of it, was they managed to escape disaster when Blackman got sent on. Question, I'm sorry if you already mentioned this. Yes, Andy. Why don't they pick up the ball?

Yeah, it seems like that it's just. kicking it is very counterintuitive since I was there and I couldn't hear the play by play because I was there watching why was Mueller subbed? What happened to him? So a couple people pointed out to me in the aftermath that it looked like he grabbed his hamstring after

Sahn scored. Muller was in the wall he was one of the guys that jumped as high as he could and could not block that shot I think that he had a tweak of some kind. I also think that because they went into extra time with 10 men and they knew that they were going to be

defending for the entirety of it. Yesper rather astutely, he put the young legs of Jeeva Wadwal on because he's going to run around. Like, I don't know if Mueller had enough gas in the tank to do the running that was required 10 v11. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if it was 9 V11

and he was out there because he didn't have enough left in the tank. And why don't they let them put whoever they wanted penalties? Like I want them to take the, I mean, I was out of the game. It's out of the game. They should change that rule, that's stupid. I mean, it was Hey, don't watch his one soccer game. Had some rule changes.

You should be allowed to put it whoever you want, man. It's entertainment. But I got some big ideas. I want to change some things around here. I want to see him take the kick. But that was also part of the decision that had to be made and taken Thomas Mueller out.

Someone else also told me that Mueller made a nod to the sidelines. Like, get me out. Like I think he knew that he wasn't going to be able to do the running required. I mean, but this injury won't keep him out of the next game, will it? I doubt it. I think it's pretty much if you've got a leg and it's not broken or there's not ligaments torn, like you're playing, right? I will say they did a couple things as much as you can strategically,

first down one man and then down two men. And Jesper deserves a ton of crap. Yesper was coaching his ass on the sideline trying to get the shape right. And Mueller mentioned it in the post game. He said there was a quick adjustment when they had 10 men that they changed the block and they changed five to four and four to five. And then they made very conscious decisions about who they would pressure when they had the ball and who they would allow to carry. So you'll notice when LAFC went down the right-hand side a few times, Martinez was allowed to kind of run free.

And they said, we're almost going to let him do it. Like he's the lesser of the evils out here. Yeah, yeah. You know, like, but when Saan and Boanga got on the ball, it was you have to get on them right away. To do that in the moment and to make those tactical judgments are very difficult because, one, guys are gas, guys are exhausted. There's 54,000 people yelling and screaming. It's hard to get messages across. It was a lot of luck involved, for sure.

But the way that they defended with nine men was it was inspirational at times because they did a good job of it. Yes, LAFC had a ton of chances, but it's to be expected. You just don't really ever see that. Like I said earlier in the show, I've seen 9v11 before. And it always ends up in the back of the net for the nine. Always, without question, especially with that amount of time. Well, that amount of time. With that amount of time, it always happens.

The fatigue on the, at the end of it, where you're an extra time. You know what it often happens though is it's not on a buildup, it's when they're trying to clear and they just flail at it and someone puts in a ball to falls their feet.

And they had one. Martinez had one. I think it was a baud wall clearance that just went right to his feet on the penalty spot and he skanked it wide. He did too. He was like right there. Oh man.

Just reliving it now. You're not going to get many moments like that. There's so many moments like that. You're not going to get many games like that ever. I was trying to tell the kids that we brought. I'm like, You won't understand it because you're 14 and you're all idiots, but you won't appreciate what you just watch.

That's what I was telling the kids. I was like, you might not appreciate that. These kids were nine. And I said to them, you've just seen one of the great games in Vancouver sports history. And for a lot of the extra time, you were asking when the game was over. Because it was getting on a bit.

Classic old hand. I was like, put your phone away. No iPads. Oh, yeah, that's another thing. With the OT, why isn't Golden Goal? Why do they do the two-fifty minutes in full? They had Golden Goal at one point. They got to bring that back, man.

It's way better. No, no, no. It wasn't that great. It wasn't that great. Why? Sudden death is awesome. I don't know. Unless you lose, then it sucks.

Then it sucks. Yeah, that's a good point, E. This is our hard-hitting announcement. Women would lose. Hold on, hold on, hold on. In five minutes time, big announcement. Guns and Roses, one, is coming back to Vancouver, a place that's near and dear to their heart.

August 29th, 2026 at BC Place. Tickets go on sale Friday, December 5th. We're giving away a pair of tickets every day this week. The giveaway will be awesome if you win. It'll suck if you lose, though. It'll be like, why don't they make the giveaway some sort of ridiculous change? Guns and Roses tickets, 8 a.m.

Be caller number 5, 604-280650. That number again, 604-280-650. If you want to see the guns and the roses, they'll be here next summer. we're giving away tickets every day this week. Be caller number five at 8 a.m. Kevin Woodley, coming up next. We'll talk some goaltending.

Kevin Lankinen. Not great. Last night against the Calgary Flames, although the guy's in front of them. Also, not great. You're listening to The Halford Abrupt Show on SportsNet 650.