Halford & Brough in the Morning - There Was Nothing Messi About That Whitecaps Victory

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss a big night for the Whitecaps, as well as their future in Vancouver, as The Athletic MLS' Paul Tenorio (3:27) joins the show, plus they discuss the latest Canucks news, and if an announcement on Rick Tocchet is fast-approaching, with 'Nucks beat writer Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich (30:22). 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.

Music 7.03 on Fiesta Friday here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Just 48 hours of eclectic sports talk here, although we've only been on air for four of those 48 hours. Let's see, let's run through. We've done Canadian Football League, Major League Soccer, with a spin, the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Obviously, we've done our fair share of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

You know, we've been neglectful in the NBA playoffs. You haven't touched those. Haven't gone there yet. We lacrosse yesterday. We had lacrosse yesterday. Abbotsford Canucks yesterday. Talking the PNE fairgrounds yesterday. In a couple of minutes,

Paul Tonorio from the Athletics Soccer Vertical is going to join us for some whitecaps talk. Before we get to Paul, let's take care of some business. You are listening to the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 5-star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around

to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. We're having some issues connecting with AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. We'll get Paul Tenorio on the show right now. I will remind you, the giveaway, the contest is still on. A $100 gift card to AJ's

Pizza on East Broadway. Still very much up for grabs. To win said gift card, text and ask us anything into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. Hashtag it AUA. The premise is quite simple. Ask us anything. We will answer it. If you put a pizza emoji into your text, you will be entered into the grand prize contest for a $100 gift card to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. You can use it this weekend.

You can go eat some pizza. The weather is supposed to be nice. They have a little patio outside. You can eat it there. It's good times. Love AJ's. You got one more read to do before we get the Paul Tenorio.

I've got a read? Yes, Kintec. I already did it, my friend. Oh, did you? Yeah. Nice. Welcome to the show, Alfred. Just blowing through nap time here. Sorry, guys.

It's my bad. We're both a little less sharp. I don't even wanna read. I wanted to read the text you sent me last night, but for the sake of the person involved in it, I'm not gonna read it, but I get a good chuckle out of it I'm coming in hot tomorrow by hot. I mean completely unprepared It was like 1030 at night. It was I was battling the traffic coming out of BC place, but it was crazy around there But it was worth it. I want to catch the end of the Nelly concert to

Tell you Joe rule were next door. It was a huge night for downtown Vancouver. Was it getting hot in there? It was getting hot in there. OK. Hopefully they kept on all their clothes. But it was a great night at BC Plays. Whitecaps 2-0 victors over Inter Miami.

To talk about that and a whole lot more, very excited to have our next guest on the program from the athletics, soccer, vertical vertical Paul Tonorio here on the Helford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning Paul how are you? Good morning thanks for having me on. Thanks for coming on we appreciate you taking the time. Your article, your latest article for sale and smooth sailing how the Vancouver Whitecaps have improbably thrived. Couldn't have dropped at a better time Paul. We'll get to the article in a second. What did you think

about Vancouver's 2-0 victory over Lionel Messi and all his buddies in Inter Miami yesterday in Vancouver? Yeah, I mean, look, I thought, I thought it was, I don't want to say expected, but kind of, right? I mean, Vancouver is the best team in Major League Soccer. And for all of the hype and kind of the spotlight that's put on Inter Miami, I think that, and as much as they've won, right? They won the supporter show last year, they're off to a great start in MLS again this year. I think they certainly have weaknesses, defensively especially. And I felt like this was a really good matchup for Vancouver at home and they took care of business.

They really put Miami in a tough spot now going back home in the second leg. Vancouver is well in control and we saw the things that we've seen from Vancouver all season long, how dangerous they can be in transition, how much they can kind of control the game. And it was a deserving and well-deserved result and victory. And I thought they put on a really good show for a sold out home crowd, which is important too. So it's great that you framed it as, well, it was kind of expected

because they're the best team at MLS, because locally the history of the Whitecaps is that every time they've had a big opportunity like this, they haven't just fallen short. Oftentimes they've fallen flat on their faces. Like they haven't put forth a good performance for the crowd. So a lot of people were expecting the exact opposite last night.

Like, oh, you know, we had people texting in this morning. We're like, wait, did the white caps just beat Lionel Messi and Miami? We're like, yes, that happened last night. Yeah. And all those guys played the whole game? Yeah, like people were trying to check. Are you sure?

They were fact checking. And I'm like, no, I swear we got it right. We were there. We witnessed it. But you and it was exciting and everyone had a good time, but because you, because you cover MLS, you understand that this white caps team is quite literally the best team in the league. Do you have any answers as to how they've gotten there from all the previous

eras of white caps football, which hasn't been nearly as good as what we're seeing right now? Yeah. I mean, look, I think part of it is just that they've been patient in building this team. And, you know, this isn't something that just kind of popped up out of nowhere, right? Like this has been a process where you've seen

kind of pieces start to come together over the course of a number of seasons. And I think also like, I credit Axel Schuster, because at the end of last year Vancouver sneaks into the playoffs they have a pretty solid series in the playoffs against LASC when they get eliminated and You know the easy thing to do at that point of time would have been to keep Danny Sartini Like he he was the winningest coach in the club's history or not winning his coach in clubs history Excuse me, but he was winning games, he was doing just fine.

They were kind of where Vancouver has always been, right? They, you know, Vancouver typically is not at the top of the league, and they're not usually the worst team in the league. They're always just kind of like in that like three to nine space, right? This kind of mediocre place that a lot of teams love to sit in at MLS because you're in the playoffs

every, you know playoffs every other year and you can tell the fan base, oh, we're doing something. The easy thing would have been to just keep that going. And instead Axel Schuster looked at it and said, like, I think we have some good pieces here. Let's bring in a coach who's gonna kind of change the mindset a little bit, maybe just shake things up and maybe tweak the way we play to get more out of it.

And that's exactly what Jesper Sorensen has done, right? He's come in, I think this team plays kind of in two different ways. One, their control of the game is very strong. And when I say that, I mean, when they don't play their best football, when they don't play their best soccer, they can still get a result.

That's really important, you know, to have a stability in the way you play that your base, your foundation is capable of getting results in the league. And I think when you start building off of that then, and to be a more front foot team, to be more aggressive in certain moments, then you can go from being kind of that base of good to really good. And you see the way that they're clicking now in midfield, the confidence that these players have, you know, the ability to get forward quickly, to use their transition ability, to find those spaces in behind the lines. They are just kind of ruthless and they get into the box

constantly. I think they lead the league in a number of touches in the opponent's box. They're constantly looking to get you on your back foot and they've just got a confidence going right now. And I think that's the most important thing with this Vancouver team. They are taking this momentum and they're rolling with it. At some point this season, it's likely that they're going to hit a bad patch and that's when we'll I think get the test now for a team who is experiencing this thing right now being at the top of the league for the first time. You know it's a really long season. Champions League we know historically takes its toll on teams. If they if they beat Miami or if they get the result of Miami next week and they go on to a final on June 1st and

they've got to go down to Mexico you know time this adds up, are they going to be able to mentally fight through those moments? Those tests are still to come, but right now I think they're just a very confident team with a really, really strong foundation. I'm glad you mentioned that part where getting results when you're not at your best because when Axel made the move to dismiss Vanni, he did say, you know, part of the issue that we had is that we weren't able to get results in those moments.

And that was sort of one of the Achilles heels of the way and the style that Vanni Sartini managed the club. And then there's Jesper Sorensen. And, you know, there was a match last week where they were in St. Louis, and it was one of the grossest, regardless of sports, one of the grossest games I've ever seen. There was no entertainment value whatsoever. It was a nil-nil final. There was about 75 fouls. The Whitecaps didn't play especially well, but they walked out of there with a well-earned road point. And I looked at the manager afterwards and I'm like, there's the difference right there. My question for you is, how much did you know about Jesper Sorensen before he took this job?

Yeah, not very much. Even I was joking with a couple of different people around the league of like, who was this guy, right? How did no one else know who he was? I remember actually speaking to Axel Schuster at the MLS Board of Governors meetings at the end of 2024, just a couple of days before they announced that the club was up for sale,

credit to Axel Schuster for keeping a complete poker face with me, by the way, not letting on at all that there was major news about to break about his club. And he just had this smile the entire time we were talking just about, you know, he said, I've got a candidate in mind that I think is going to be really, really a really good fit. And, you know, when you look at what yes for sources done with Bronbie, it wasn't like he lit up,

you know, lit things up consistently across all of the years, right? But sometimes it's about finding the right coach with the right mindset, the best ideas that fit your team and your culture. And I think that's what we've seen with this Vancouver team. Jesper Sorensen has taken things to the next level. He's instilled confidence in the group. He's given guys the ability to have a bit more freedom or just belief in themselves. And you start to see players who perform, you know, just that next level, next bit better, right? Whether we're talking about, you know, just that next level, next bit better, right? Whether we're talking about, you know, Blackman or Berhalter, guys who are,

who are clearly getting better under this coach. And for me, it's, it's a real credit. You know, sometimes you look around the league and you think, okay, is this, is this really a good coaching job? Is it the place like this feels like a really, really good coaching job so far in Vancouver and the ability to take players and make them better as well as to continue to get production out of your stars or in

the case of Vancouver, get production when one of your biggest stars is out injured. Paul, tell us about your conversation with Vancouver co-owner, Jeff Mallet, because I have to admit the Vancouver sports fan, who is a very damaged sports fan in me, is like, the Whitecaps are finally going to get good and then they're going to leave. Yeah.

I mean, I get that. I get that. I mean, anytime your team is for sale, that's, you know, unfortunately North American sports that's in the back of your mind and Vancouver's already gone through that once. So I totally get that. You know, I will say, you know, all my conversations, both with Jeff Mallett, with other people around the league, certainly the intent, the desire is to keep this team in Vancouver and those words are still scary words, right?

Intent and desire. You have to still find the right owner to make this happen. I think realistically, the fact that there's a conversation about a stadium is a really big deal because that's always a huge part of any equation in terms of team sales. The business of MLS is a tough business. These teams lose a lot of money and the thing that generates revenue more than anything else in MLS is not media rights as it is for a lot of the bigger leagues. It's local revenue. It's game day revenue and you have to have the right stadium deal to make that game day revenue work. That business is

even more difficult when you're a Canadian team, right? Because you're paying your players in American dollars and your revenue is coming in in Canadian dollars and that makes things even more difficult. So you know I think certainly every group that they've spoken with so far about buying the white caps is Vancouver based. That is where their focus is. I think if this sale were to extend out two, three, four years and they can't find an owner,

I don't know that that's gonna be the case forever, right? At a certain point, if you're trying to move an asset and you can't find local ownership, I think you probably start to listen outside of that. But the hope would be that it's not a three or four year process, right? The hope is you identify the right group in Vancouver. I think certainly from the club's perspective,

the hope would be that you get a stadium deal done. They wanted to do a stadium as far back as like, I mean, shoot, like 18 years ago, or something like they started working on trying to do a stadium. So back as like, I mean, shoot, like 18 years ago, or something like they started working on trying to do a stadium. So there are a lot of moving pieces here, but I can say that in, right now as things stand in the sale process,

which is moving along with Goldman Sachs, every group that they are speaking to is a local Vancouver ownership group that would keep the team in Vancouver. In terms of stadiums and stadium deals, where does Vancouver rank in MLS? Because again, Mike and I were at the Whitecaps game last night and there was 54,000 people there

or 53,000 people there. And there was a lot of food and beverage being sold and I couldn't help but think none of that is going to the white caps. Yeah, I would say it's the worst stadium deal, probably right now in MLS. Um, you know, you, you, you look at the Chicago fire as, as similarly untenable, right? There's a reason why the fire talking about building a stadium in, in downtown Chicago, because they, they do rent soldier field.

They have to pay a lease. They don't get full benefits of the revenue. But when you look around the rest of the league, I mean, it's not a coincidence. This has been a focus of MLS essentially since 2007, when Toronto FC came into the league and that first era of expansion started. The focus has been building stadiums, controlling revenue. And the dynamics of those stadiums have changed a lot since 2007. You know, we've seen clubs coming in where you look at LAFC, you look at even in the Miami in the

temporary stadium, but certainly in the new stadium that they're going to open next year, Cincinnati. You know, these Columbus, these stadiums are being built not just so you can control revenue, not just so you can have an intimate atmosphere where it feels like it's a big sold out atmosphere, even if it's a smaller stadium all the time, but also it's built to build in revenue, right? LAFC has all of these suites. The idea is to make as much money as you can because the media dollars aren't there. That's what makes this business work a little bit better. So it's, it's a huge, huge deal for Vancouver to be able to figure out a

stadium, uh, figure out a stadium situation and start to bring in more revenue because again, frankly, the business, the business of owning a sports team is not great in general. I think outside of like, you know, uh, one or two leagues around the world. Um, but you know, MLS right now for sure, the math is not easy and the stadium deal factors in very, very heavily for these teams. We're speaking to senior soccer writer,

the athletic Paul Tonorio here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Your answer there, Paul, dovetails nicely into a question a lot of our listeners have and it's about the broadcast rights of MLS and the Apple TV deal. How do the owners right now view that Apple TV deal? Ooh, that's a heavy question. You know, I think that the,

there is still a level of optimism that exists of what the Apple deal could be for MLS, right? Like there is a belief that, you know, the partnership with Apple should yield benefits in the longterm. However, there is the reality of the lack of distribution that occurs. And I think what we have to remember with this TV deal

is that it's not just a national TV deal. The easy thing to do is to sit back and let's compare it to Fox and ESPN and TSN and Univision and the deal that existed before for the national games. I think that would also be taking away from the realities that existed for a lot of MLS teams in terms of their local TV deals,

where they were already paying production costs, the distribution wasn't great, the numbers were terrible, the number of people watching. And at a time when regional sports networks are collapsing and we see the impact of that on the NBA and other leagues in North America where they're trying to figure out what to do as these regional sports networks struggle.

And so MLS was really focused on getting ahead of that problem with its product, right? To get a place where it could get all of its games, not just its national games, into one place, one stream, or get paid for them in a way that they weren't before. The Apple deal certainly solved that problem. But from a national perspective, there are issues with this deal. How many people, it's not just how many people are watching, which I think is not enough,

but it's also how do you grow your product? How do you bring new people into this league? And that is a critical part of the equation for Major League Soccer. They need to bring new fans to the table. And this Apple deal presents real problems, and I think you're gonna continue to see ways that they try to address that.

And we've already seen big changes this year in terms of distribution, deals with Comcast, deals with Direct TV, things they're trying to do to get this product out in front of more people. But those talks need to be accelerated and I think you need to see a much stronger marketing and advertising push either from Apple or from MLS to try to find ways to tell people that these games are happening and where they can find them. Paul, this was great, man. Super insightful. Love always having you on the program. Enjoy

the weekend and everything that's on tap. And let's do this again as the MLS season rolls on this summer. Sounds good. I'm going to be down in Fort Lauderdale, excited to see Vancouver in person for the first time this season. It should be a fun one next week. All right on, enjoy it, man. That's, that's Paul Tenorio from the athletic senior soccer writer and MLS coverage here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

Let's do a few Ask Us Anythings. We've got Moj coming up next. We're going to talk to Moj about Rick Taukeit and we'll talk to him about maybe the NFL draft as well. Greg in Pitt Meadows asks us anything, have you done your taxes yet? I have not done mine because none of my slips

have showed up. Aren't they due now? At my CRA, they're due at the end of the month. Like has anyone else had that problem? I know there's been some technical issues, but. Um, I haven't checked cause I got mine in by a snail mail. Yeah, I got mine too. Yeah. No, I I haven't checked cuz I got mine in by a snail mail Yeah, I got mine too. Yeah. No I have I have the hard copies

Yeah, but like I love I love I do do you do your own taxes? I go old school I punch in every number you punch in every number makes me feel like an account I just I just use a program that downloads it from CRA and then it just automatically puts it in it takes like five minutes To do it. I like to pretend like I'm Ben Affleck in that movie. Oh do you? Good Will Hunting. Oh okay. Yeah right.

Not the account. Yeah I was gonna say the account. No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not that one. Reindeer games? So I'm just gonna wait. Gilly?

I'm just gonna wait a little bit. If anyone else has had that problem, text in and I don't know what we're gonna do about it, but at least we can have some. Or if you have Brefs T4, just send them the information. Yeah where are my T4s? There is a scene in Geli where he does his taxes, by the way. You've seen Geli?

I'm kidding. Oh. That's the big, that's the most breaking news of the day, is that someone watched Geli. Omar on Arbutus ask us anything. It's refreshing to finally have a big non-Conuck sporting event not only happen, but deliver the goods. What is the greatest non-hockey sports event you guys have ever witnessed in Vancouver? Okay, so witnessed is,

I'm going to assume you have to be at the game. I was not at the Miracle Mile, at the, uh, the miracle mile, for example, cause I was, cause I was not alive. Cause you were in high school. Um, I have to admit my first few thoughts turned to the BC lions back in the day, the 2004 West final, uh, where Paul McCallum missed that kick for the riders, uh, that went to overtime and the Lions went on to win the gray cup as Halford looks blankly at me like, I don't know what that is.

I wasn't there. Or you don't remember it, but that's- I remember it, but I wasn't there. Do you really remember it? Like I remember it happened, doesn't stand out to me because I wasn't there and I wasn't- And you're not a huge CFL fan. Yeah, yeah.

It's okay. Excuse me of looking blankly. Well, you kind of did look blankly. Cause there was nothing there for me. This is how we always look. Yeah, yeah. There's nothing there. And when Rocket Ismail came to Vancouver and

there was like 50,000 people at BC place and the Lions won a really fun game. I think that one went to overtime as well. Ray Etheridge with the big touchdown. You remember, you know, the one CFL memory that does stand out for me though, is I went to the game where Ricky Williams made his, I think it was the CFL debut was in Vancouver for the Toronto Argonauts. Was he high as a kite? Probably, probably. That was a big story back in the day. Ricky, because you remember Ricky Williams.

Yeah. Um, yeah. From the moment they entered the NFL, he was always a big deal because remember the New York, New Orleans Saints traded their entire draft to get them and then, you know, the trade and then the marijuana, like the exile, which again, looking back. Okay. Where we're at with, yeah, anyway, go ahead. At any rate. Yeah.

Those are my memories. What about you for non, non-hockey events that you, you've been to? You know what? I don't have a great answer for this. Unfortunately, I have a, like, I have sports, non-hockey sports events that I've seen in Vancouver, but none of them were like outstanding.

To be dead honest, last night was probably on the list. Honestly, like, I mean, I was, I'm just trying to think like in person when I've traveled, I've gone to tons of great events right but locally I don't know it's because the CFL has never been a big part of your life no not really like I said one of the big ones was when Ricky Williams played it yeah and that was just really wasn't a big deal that was a novelty act

yeah when we left we're like that was a novel and you know why it was a big deal is because you were an NFL guy yeah well that was the thing I'm like I get a former NFL great and he was very good in the NFL for a short window. Uh, no, uh, a lot of people texting in about the 94 great cup, Louie's walk off field goal. Yeah. I was, I wasn't at the stadium for that one, but the, but that was obviously a big deal.

But, uh, yeah, the Lions games really stick out for me. Um, you know, I, I never saw, I never went to Empire Stadium, so I don't remember the white caps or the Lions there. You were in college then. Yeah. Uh, yeah, I was busy.

Rushing the quad. So, you know, someone texted him, what about all the Grizzlies games you went to? Well, it's hard to classify as any of those is great sporting moments. I got to see a lot of the NBA like stars that I wanted to see because I was a huge basketball fan at the time, but it'd be hard to classify those as iconic or great sports moments. For example, I always wanted to see John Stockton and Karl Malone, Stockton to Malone, the pick and

roll, the Utah Jazz. So I got to see it. But the game was a blip on the radar. No one remembers when the Utah Jazz came through. Saw Kobe and Kobe and Shaq, like that was cool, but everything Grizzlies related was largely like, well, they lost, they never had any games that were of significance or meaningful. You know, maybe if you were in the building for the Jordan game, yeah, or the Jordan game of the first game, there's that.

But yeah, you know what is actually making me sad that I don't have great answers for that. Okay, you've got to do one to watch. I've got a couple corrections or one correction. The Lions lost that Grey Cup in 2004. They went to Ottawa and lost to the Argos, but I just remember them getting into the Grey Cup and beating the riders too.

Now who's staring blankly? And then I think a bunch of riders fans dumped manure on Paul McCallum's lawn. Why do I remember that? I've seen, I guess it's CFL lore that I remember more than CFL games. And he was like, I'm going to the lions. Those guys are winners.

Okay. You mentioned I got to do one to watch. See you later, Duncan O'Mahoney. I do need to, Duncan O'Mahoney. Oh, there's so many CFL polls this morning. Okay. Uh, one to watch is whoever the Edmonton Oilers start in goal tonight, be it Stuart Skinner

or Calvin Pickard, that's right, two games into this series and we already got a good old fashioned goalie controversy. So you'll know that the Oilers last defeat, a 6-2 loss in game two in LA, followed the 6-5 loss in game one on Monday, also in Los Angeles. So that means over the two games at crypto, the Kings basically scored at will 12 goals total five for 10 on the power play.

And I think Andre Kuzmenko scored all five of the power play goals. So despite not pinning the series deficit on Skinner, Edmonton coach Chris Knobloch did say he is contemplating starting Calvin Pickard in game three. So you're one to watch today. Whoever gets to start tonight because Edmonton desperately needs that victory. It's time to put on your Toyo tires, whether you drive a car, light truck or van, Toyo tires are designed to perform in all kinds of conditions. Visit Delaney's OK Tire in Langley and Aldergrove.

OK Tire Service, Repair and Tires. You're listening to the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. I did not eat four burgers. Yes, it's the Moch. I don't want to go to Winnipeg. Nobody wants to go to Winnipeg. Yes, I love food. It's the Moch. I went online and kind of did a little surfing. Jamalani.

Yes, it's the Moch. Halperg's fine, but you know, Bruff is just grumpy all the time. Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, Moch, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, moach, Moj, it's the Moj. 7.35 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody. Halperd and Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halperd and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt. Help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit sans-trustee.com for more. We are in hour two of the program. Bob, the Moj Marjanovic is gonna join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to you

by Jason Homonuck at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. Really quick, because we haven't addressed this yet, and I wanna give Moj a chance to weigh in the Coles notes version From round one of the NFL draft which went last night which we have not spoken about at all

And I apologized to all the football fans out there really quick Let's see how fast I can do this one Titan stuck to the plan They took cam ward from Miami first overall things got interesting with the second overall pick Cleveland had to pick traded it to Jacksonville Cleveland got a nice little bounty in return for letting Jacksonville move up three spots. That allowed Jacksonville to take Travis Hunter's second overall, the Heisman Trophy winner, star two-way player out of Colorado.

Speaking of Colorado, the big news in the first round is that Shider Sanders, their quarterback who just had his jersey retired, slipped entirely out of the first round and will now wait to have his name called in the second round. But there was a quarterback to go after Cam Ward in the first round.

It was interesting, two quarterbacks went in the first round, Ward at number one, and then one of my favorite names, Jackson Dart from Ole Miss. That's an awesome name for a quarterback. He's got an X in Jackson too. Ooh, even cooler. He spells it cool. He's extreme. He's an awesome name for a quarterback. He's got an X in Jackson too. Ooh, even cooler. He spells it cool. He's extreme. He's an extreme quarterback.

Now with the New York Giants, 25th overall. And if you're wondering about the Seattle Seahawks, they drafted at 18. And as Jason predicted, they addressed their offensive line, their interior line, as a matter of fact, taking a big old guard, Gray Zable. There's another good name, Grayzable. Is that a name where you have to use both first and last names? Sure is, friend.

There's Grayzable, Grayzabel they call him. The ol' Grayzabel. Like a Pokemon. You know who else, there's a handful of athletes that had that, I challenge you to ever hear someone call Rick Nash, Nash. You always had to say Rick Nash. Rick Nash.

Two syllables. Always, sorry, yeah. Gray Zable is in that, not the syllabic part of it, but it's very much a, you have to say both names. Anyway, six foot six, 316 pounds, and yeah, out of North Dakota. So there's your- It's like Bob Dole.

You can't just say Dole. You gotta say Bob Dole. There you go. Take me to Bob Dole. So there's your NFL draft like Bob Dole. You can't just say dole. You'll say Bob Dole. There you go. Take me to Bob Dole. So there's your NFL draft Bob Dole is the name. That's a good pull. Okay. Let's go to the Moj now. He's waiting patiently on hold a presentation of the Clayton Public House. He joins us now in the Halford and Rough show on sports net 650. What up Moj? Hey, Nasher. What's up? You got a guy Nash. Nash? No. No, and I disagree with that take. Rick Nash.

Right out of the gate. That was my Gord Miller impression. Rick Nash. Oh. Yeah. How you doing Moj? Good. How about you guys?

Beautiful Friday afternoon, looking forward to the weekend. Big night last night for the Whitecaps. I mean, we've got a lot to talk about, fellas. Playoff hockey, NFL draft. Hey, have you been in touch with Rick Taukeet at all? Like what's going on there? This was supposed to be the decision day for Rick Taukeet and the Canucks.

Jim Rutherford suggested that they'd have a decision one way or the other by the end of the week. Well, it's the end of the week. Yeah, I haven't heard anything officially from either side and obviously being in touch with some people with the Canucks and having some conversations with Rick. But man, my gut feeling, fellas, is that I don't think he's going to be back.

I really don't. I mean, I just think it would have been done by now. And this is nothing official. This is just my gut feeling. I think it would have been done by now. I mean, we've heard that the Canucks up their offer that they're getting closer but yeah I just if you're Rick Tocket right you're looking at the fact that you're gonna have a lot of leverage if you decide to test the

market the Philadelphia Flyers are clearly interested the Anaheim Ducks are another team that has come into the mix. Um, the New York Rangers, uh, you look at the connection that he has in Seattle with Ron Francis, both of them played together. They played together in Pittsburgh. Boderl the GM, the newly appointed GM is the guy that was in the front office in Pittsburgh when Rick was an assistant associate coach, assistant coach. I just, like I said, to me, there's just too many factors that are saying that he's not going to be coming back so

If he does come back great, that'll be awesome for the Vancouver Canucks But I think the other thing to you got to look at guys. What does this tell you about Quinn Hughes's future, right? Um, I Think when you look at target and his plan for the Vancouver Canucks I'm pretty sure that it would include a guy named Quinn Hughes in terms of building this club moving forward. Now if pocket is uncertain of Hughes' future in Vancouver, does he really want to come back? Right? I mean, throw that in. You have to throw that into the equation, right? I mean,

you're your star centerpiece player. You're the guy that you want to build your franchise around could be gone. And if that's the case, man, there's another strike against coming back to the Vancouver Canucks. So I don't know. Like I said, I haven't heard anything official. No one's come out and said anything. Just, you know, all you keep hearing is that talks continue, but if I'm a betting man, I just, I don't

know, I'm going to say that he's going to be leaving. Man, can you imagine if you have to add that to the plate of Canucks management, all the things they got to do this off season, pretty much rebuilding their top six. And now you put hiring a new coach onto that list. Do we have to start going through candidates now? Well, I mean, I've already seen some, some

columns out there. I think somebody from the Daily High have had one and they had Manny Malhotra listed as probably the leading candidate. But here's the thing with all due respect, when I think of if Rick Tuckett does leave, what's the one thing that we've heard about this leadership group that it needs to get stronger. They need to get stronger leaders.

I don't think you can bring in an inexperienced coach at the NHL level, an inexperienced head coach at the NHL level and make them the guy if you have a leadership group that will need some help, that will need a little bit more stability. So we'll need a little bit more experience as well. So just given from what we've heard in terms of the connection and trying to build that leadership group up, I think they probably would go the veteran coach rather than a first-time NHL head coach We're speaking of Bob the Moe's Marjanovic here on the Haliford and brush show on sports net 650 Moe's is a presentation of the Clayton Public House as I was stunned into silence there with I was actually thinking who the next head coach would be

Of the Vancouver Canucks. Does that happen to you often when you start thinking you just shut down completely? I was just like what's going on? Why is my brain working this way? Is this what they call thinking? I mean who, let's go down the road. If Tauke doesn't come back, who's the more, is it Malhotra gets the bomb or do they start he's just been there for one year as a head coach.

He's coached the NHL before, he's been behind the bench as an assistant coach. It's not like he's completely unfamiliar with being a coach in the NHL. He's worked behind two different benches. Yeah. I mean, what would you do? Would you go back to the free agent pool and, hey, Peter LaVielette, what are you doing? Like that doesn't seem like a super inspired option either. Maybe a guy like Gerard Galant, right? Veteran type guy. Yeah. I just like I said to me I just don't see a first time NHL head coach getting the gig like Malhotra and just for the points that I made earlier. I think they're probably gonna want to have somebody who obviously has NHL experience, a guy who has been through the process before of maybe building a team and know what it

takes to get from point A to point B. So it's interesting because there's so many things that come into play with this Connect team and you know, the biggest thing for me, it starts right with Quinn Hughes. Is this guy going to be a part of your future moving forward? I think it's something that the Connect's management is going to have to figure out pretty quick because if they do have long range plans in terms of making this team a successful one, they obviously want to know if Quinn Hughes is going to be a part of it or if he's going to bolt and join

his brothers in New Jersey. Yeah, and the thing is, people can say, well, the Canucks still have Hughes for two more years. Do they? Because he can sign an extension next off season and if he doesn't do it then maybe you have to start considering a trade just because like the bounty that you could get from that trade could set up the

rebuild that you're definitely heading into if Queen Hughes leaves. Let's park the Canucks talk for a bit. We had the new CFL commissioner, Stuart Johnston on the show, uh, this morning. What have you heard that you've liked or not liked about the, the new commission? Well, I mean, ironically enough, uh, we both

used to work for the same company and never had the chance to cross paths with them, but everything that I've heard has been positive. Um, a guy who loves the leagues, loves the league. He's a bit of an innovator as well. Um, hopefully for your sake, he'll get rid of the global. You're a big fan of that, but I mean, you need to get somebody on board who has a vision and more importantly, somebody who can get the owners to align with that

vision and that's not an easy thing. Remember the commissioner works for the owners, right? And the big thing is if you've got an idea, if you've got a vision or you've got a goal, you've got to be able to convince those owners that this is in the best interest of the league, right? So for me, that's the one thing that I've always heard about, you know, particularly in the Canadian football league is the fact that the commissioner has a very difficult job in terms of trying to get all the ownership groups on board because everybody has different interests. You have some small market teams, you have big market teams.

I mean, you have teams that, you know, you look at the Toronto Argonauts, their franchise models completely different than say say the Saskatchewan Roughriders or the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. So, it's going to be interesting if he can get all the owners to unify and follow his lead on his initiatives. Um, I think the most concerning part right now might be Alberta and how far the CFL seems

to have fallen in Edmonton and Calgary. Well, number one, Calgary, it's the stadium. To me, it's the worst stadium in the league. I know one of the members of the organization called it the Fenway Park of the CFL, which I thought was complete garbage. Seriously, Fenway Park has character, right? I mean, don't tell me that.

What is that sound you're making? Sorry. It's equal part, not you, Halford. It was equal part laughter and then like flabbergasted to someone. It's so ridiculous. Yeah. Build a new stadium, 30,000 seat stadium in

Calgary and I think they'll be fine. I mean, you know, in Edmonton almost, so it's true, I think the CFL has to start looking at a model that, you know, their, their stadiums have to be. And we've seen this in Toronto. We've seen it Winnipeg. They have to have the, you know, say about a 30, 35,000 capacity with the ability to expand

maybe for a breakup. But you know, part of the thing is fans want to go to the game. They want to go to an event. They want to have fun. And I mean, Edmonton, the stadium is so freaking big. It's massive. And it's so far away from the field because it's got the old track there.

Yeah. I mean, you know, you need a new stadium in Edmonton and you need a new stadium in Calgary. So to me, it starts with getting some stadiums in place and we've seen what's happened in Hamilton, we've seen what's happened in Winnipeg, right? I mean, even Toronto with BMO field, it's a

beautiful facility for football. Yeah. Edmonton stadium is what I would include in like the Soviet era stadiums. There's like no suites, but the place is massive. There's a running track there. The big O, that's that, that's Soviet era for sure. Yeah, exactly. Well, you know, it's funny because back in the seventies when all of those cookie cutter stadiums came through, like Riverfront, Three Rivers, the's funny because back in the seventies, when all of those cookie cutter stadiums came through like riverfront,

three rivers, the vet in Philadelphia, there were all the same stadiums. And then, you know, what happened eventually in the early nineties, people said, Hey, let's give some of these, I'm talking baseball stadiums, mainly even football stadiums to an extent, let's give these stadiums some character. I mean, you go to Safeco or T-Mobile now, you go to T-Mobile and you know, the park's not that old, yet at the same time, you feel that it's like a ballpark that's been around for 40 or 50 years. It just sounds out and feel. I don't know why is Dolly Wall phoning me right now when I'm doing a hit. Like seriously.

Oh yes, this is great. You can, what do we want to do here? Let Moj go to pick up the call? No. is great. What do we want to do here? Let Moj go to pick up the call. We could get Dolly Wall on with Moj at the same time. No, no, no. That's too much. We have to put too much. Yeah, and Rick will be joining the program later. We are speaking to Bob the Moj Marjanovic here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey Moj, why do you think Shudder or Sanders dropped? Bad interviews. I mean, reading some of the comments from some of the stories and

everything is pretty much consistent and everyone's talking about the fact that he just came across really bad in the interviews. That you know this is a kid who came across as entitled, who was more of a me guy than a team guy and if you're gonna have a if you're gonna invest your future in a first-round pick and it's to be a quarterback, you want to make sure that not only can the guy do the stuff on the field, but you need that building block, that leader who's going to bring everybody else along for the ride. And I think that's probably the biggest issue with Sanders was the fact that he interviewed so poorly with all of these NFL teams. And as a result, they were just kind of like, I don't think we'll take Sanders in the first round and we'll

see what happens. Maybe it's something that humbles the kid and moving forward, he will kind of, you know, I guess, like I said, it'll be humble though. They definitely should be a motivator for him. Well, I remember when Aaron Rogers fell, a lot of it was because, I don't know if it was the interviews, but they were just like, yeah, I don't

really like this guy's personality. He's kind of arrogant. And they were right. Um, well, and they were, that's the thing though. Like they were right, but he was also a terrific quarterback. Future Hall of Fame quarterback. Does Shudur Sanders have that potential?

I think he does. I mean, but right now it's about pros and cons. And clearly when teams are looking at this kid, they're saying the cons are outweighing the pros by picking him in the first round. So I think he does have the physical capabilities, obviously, of being a very good quarterback at the end of the level. They're more concerned about his makeup.

And if his makeup comes around, or even if he just goes out there and does his thing, he could be a very special player. But again, like I said, right now for teams, they're looking at him and saying, no, it's not worth the trouble. I've got an Ask Us Anything for Moge from Melissa in a Helicopter. She is the entirety of our helicopter demographic. Melissa in a Helicopter wants to know, ask the Moge, how do you properly layer a sandwich? Does the tomato go on the lettuce or under it? Does the cheese go on top of the meat or on top of the veggies?

Moj, how do you properly layer a sandwich? That's a tough one, because I think I know the proper way, yet I'm kind of haphazard, because number one, if you're gonna make a sandwich, you're gonna eat the thing pretty damn quick, right? So you don't have to worry about it getting soggy or anything like that Okay, but but if you are, you know say making a sandwich that you're gonna eat in four or five hours Number one. I always keep like anything that would make the sandwich soggy separate, right?

Right, like I'll just put a different bin than when I want to eat it I'll put all the slap it all together. But if you have to I think you have to Whatever element that could make it soggy between the meat and the bun, right? You don't want to have like a tomato against the bun. Yeah. Because it's just going to get soggy eventually, right? So put the tomato against the meat and the meat on the bun. Um, I can confirm that most- Or just don't have a tomato in there at all. I can, you don't like red stuff. Yeah, I don't like red sauce. We never even dove into this.

I don't like red sauce. We're going to as soon as we're off. I remember that now. I can confirm that Moj doesn't, remember when Moj used to come in when we would cross over at noon and your lunch would be like 18 component parts of a lunch. And I always respected it because I'm like,

there's a guy that doesn't want to have this like soaking wet sandwich So you'd have all the condiments from the sandwich and then you just put it together while we were talking to him on the air Yeah, you also drinks every used to have like three peri a's that was the other thing too. Yeah Sophisticated moach that not everyone gets to see hey buddy. Thanks for doing this day, man. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend Okay, fellas. Have a great weekend. Yeah, buddy. Thanks, bud That's Bob the Mojmar John of a chair on the health of the breath show on sports net 650 you signed off the show yesterday Saying you don't like red sauce. Yeah, I have so many questions

Are you talking strictly like a pasta sauce? Yeah, or do you mean like do you like salsa? Does that constitute like salsa? Okay, so like you wouldn't just eat a plate of normal spaghetti if I, I, I don't really like that sauce. No. Weird. Like a tomato sauce. A tomato based. Usually tomato hate is about like the texture

of tomatoes and then people are okay with the sauce and with ketchup because it's just a product. But red sauce. But you're just totally out on. I'm not out on it. I'll eat it. Red sauce is so delicious though. I'll eat it, but like, I'll just, I'll,

I'll complain about it. I would prefer, I would prefer. I'll eat it, but I'll complain. Yeah. I, I would prefer a cream sauce. Like if, and if someone's giving me. Not going near that. If someone's, well, come on, grow up guys.

Come on. Beedog. Um, if someone were to, uh, say, do you want spaghetti, all I've got is tomato sauce. I'd be like, no, I don't want that. If someone were to say, do you want spaghetti? All I've got is tomato sauce. I'd be like, no, I don't want that. I want something else. That's why he likes AJ so much.

Cause they have a lot of cream sauces on their pies. Yeah. Like what is it? The Vesuvio? Yeah. I like that. He pays attention to things, right? On that note, AJ's all, he's okay.

I checked, a lot of listeners were worried when he did. Oh, okay. He was supposed to be on at seven this morning. He wasn't. What happened? He just slept in? Yeah.

I get it. It's pretty early. He said, and I quote, I was out late celebrating my four game hockey parlay. I'm like, that's my guy. That's my guy. So Moj doesn't think that talk's going to be back. I heard that.

Which means we're getting the press release in about an hour that talk is back. Right. But we're going to ask ask maybe Dolly Wall was calling Moj because he was like, no, no, talk's coming back. That's what I was thinking. You're embarrassing yourself on live radio. Tens of listeners are gonna hold you to this. Dolly is the Brian Cranston Walter White meme in the car when. Rick couldn't wait five minutes till he's on the air himself.

I think he maybe wanted to save his buddy, the Moj. We'll find out. We'll see. Uh, cause we're going to talk to Rick Dollywall next on the subject of Rick Tocket and all the other things that are going on in the wild world of Vancouver sports, you're listening to the Alfred and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.