Halford & Brough in the Morning - This Super Bowl Could Be Wild

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason preview Super Bowl LIX with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier (1:55), plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

7.04 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halperd Brough, Sportsnet 650. Dogs are rockin' over right now. Halperd Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, four parts. We are in hour two of the program. Mike Taney, our NFL insider,

is going to join us live from New Orleans in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominak from 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 on the internet at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. I was thinking about the security at the Superbowl in New Orleans after the tragedy that

they had a little while ago. Plus Trump is going to be there. Yep. Plus Taylor Swift is going to be there. Yep. Like it's kind of there. They're going to be like, you know what? No one's allowed in.

Mike Tannier. Mike Tannier is going to be there. Security detail going to be like, you know what? No one's allowed in. Mike Tannier. Mike Tannier's going to be there? Security detail, walking around. No, it was Dave Naylor who wrote something the other day when he's down in New Orleans, of course, covering the Super Bowl. He put out something on Twitter saying he can't believe the number of armed presences at this Super Bowl. He's been to Super Bowls before, and it's always been there, but it's much more prevalent this time around. So let's go now. And he wasn't even talking about the police, right? Just an armed presence everywhere.

Everywhere. Let's go now to the phone lines. Live from New Orleans, Mike Tanier, our NFL insider joins us on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Mike, how are you? I'm doing great. Way to talk me in with some really lighthearted hair there,

guys, I appreciate it Yeah, just speed metal and now and now we're talking about security. I will say this Yes, if you go to Bourbon Street, there is an armed presence there and that is a little a little jarring But you you also see the the memorial to the tragedy that happened just a month ago. It's very fresh So you understand why that why it is the way it is So set the scene for us because it's a very interesting time in the u.s. This is a very unique place New Orleans that really does a Super Bowl Well, you've got a lot of storylines going in but you've also got the fact that I'm not gonna lie

I'm shocked that this happened It kind of feels like Super Bowl week has been somewhat overshadowed in the sporting realm by the craziness that's gone on in the NBA. So what's the whole week been like down in Louisiana? Well, I'll tell you what, there's a lot of NBA talk around here. There absolutely is. And I mean, this seems to be a very dark segment,

but there was an NBA tragedy a couple of years ago when we were down in Miami, you know, Kobe that had his accident. So that was a, that was headed its own thing there where we were talking about basketball at, uh, at the super bowl. So it's not unprecedented for that to happen. Um, that said, if you're asking about sort of American politics, USA politics, we're in a bubble down here. Uh, we know know what's going on but nothing like that is really being discussed down here and like you said there is security everywhere

uh... there is a feeling of that but like you know if you know new orleans it's a big place there's a party everywhere if you slip off the sides of folks have been following the umpire's guy you get into the neighborhood and we are partying we're having a super bowl we are having to do it, we are having the QA music, we are having cocktails, we are letting the good times roll down here as best we can and we're gearing up for a game.

So is basically the headline for this game, Chiefs trying to become the first three Pete in the Super Bowl era, Eagles trying to make that not happen. Like is that the main hook? That's it. And then that boils it down to that. And then you say, there's that and it's a rematch. And this time the Eagles have Saquon and they, like, will that be a difference?

So that's the other side of it. If you're, if you're on the silly side of things, of course, I'm based out of Philly, then you're saying, here we come again. Look, we've got it. We've got a new guy and he's been crushing everything in his path. And that might be the X factor that overtakes Mahomes, Kelsey, Reid, and Jones. You know, it's interesting because I understand why a lot of the focus is on the legacy and finishing the job for this Kansas City team becoming the first three Pete.

But I know it's interesting, I was reading something from Bill Barnwell the other day talking about Saquon Barkley. And the coronation here might be that we could be in the middle of the greatest full season of running backs ever had in the NFL. Because when Eric Dickerson set the record, they were balanced in the wild card round and they only put up 13 points in that wild card game. He lost his glasses, that was why.

He's like, where are my goggles? I can't run without my goggles. Sequon has not had that problem. I mean, if anything, what he's done in the playoffs has re-established all the greatness that he proved in the regular season. How much time has that narrative been given that we could be witnessing the greatest season ever by a running back, regular season and playoffs combined? That I think is true because the real, like you said Dickerson, that wasn't really a great team,

that was not a good playoff team at all. Terrell Davis is the guy where when you look at everything he accomplished and what he did in the playoffs and he still holds the record for all across the seasons, regular season, post season yardage, although Barclays 30 yards away. and what he did for that Broncos team that couldn't get over the hump even without way until he was there. So that's the standard and Barclays right there next to that standard. And you know, I remember those, those seasons and Charles

Davis was phenomenal and he's a Hall of Famer and I'm living through this season right now and I'm living through it in my hometown. So it's hard not to look at this and say, this is the best season of the Super Bowl year by a running back. This is historic. This is, you know, not maybe not unprecedented, but it's something you see every 25 years or whatever that should be celebrated. I've been hearing these storylines like, you know, is Saquon Barkley the best, the best free agent in NFL history?

And it's like, guys, we're here in New Orleans. Drew Brees is right here. Drew Brees brought the city back from a hurricane for heaven's sakes. So let's not go in that direction, but let's celebrate what this guy has done as a running back. Cause again, you don't see seasons like this anymore. We have to go back 25, 35 years to find the precedence of it.

And it has been absolutely special to watch. So how are the Chiefs set up to stop Saquon? By playing really well in offense. You know a lot of things that the Chiefs do, they try to penetrate, they try to attack. I was actually watching your NFL segment and your teams that can penetrate get in the backfield, they know Saquon's coming, they can stuff him. The problem is you can show a bunch of highlights of Saquon getting stuffed using these tactics, and you're like, wow, that's what we're gonna do.

And if you show all the times those tactics were used by all the teams, you'll see the stuffs, and all the 60 yard runs are there too. All the 60 yard runs are there, so it's like, hey, loss of two, loss of three, 60 yard touchdown. That's not a win for the defense. That's not a win for the defense. That's not a win for the defense. So, you know, what they, what they want to do, I think is, you know, get the score

up to, you know, 28 points, 31 points and say, Eagles can't just run the ball constantly with Saquon, they've got to throw the ball more often. They're going to be on third and 10. Sometimes they got to throw and when, when the chiefs know it's coming, when let them blitz and if they can do that, they can put themselves in Chiefs know it's coming and let them blitz. And if they can do that, they can put themselves in a position where maybe Saquon has 90 yards, maybe he has 150-yard touchdown, but it's not enough to lead the Eagles to victory. We're speaking of Mike Tan here, our NFL insider from the Too Deep Zone here on the Haliford

& Breast show on Sportsnet 650. Mike is live in New Orleans for Super Bowl week. Hey, tonight, Mike, we're gonna find out this year's inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And this has been a very interesting year for the Football Hall of Fame, not like other ones aren't, but the Eli Manning conversation. Now I know you've dug into this.

Whoa, that's such a good one. Yeah, you've- Such a good one. Mike's done the research, he's talked to the voters, he's written the articles. What sort of conclusions did you come to about Eli Manning's Hall of Fame candidacy? It's funny. I was talking to one of the voters yesterday when we're standing in line, a security line, and it's not one of the voters I talked to

during that article I wrote last week which folks can find on the 2D zone. And he said, you know, all I would have told you is, uh, if I, if you spoke to me beforehand was Eli, no, just no, just no, no way. I, that's not the language he used, but I'm not going to share the language he used. A lot of the voters were in that camp. And if you read my article at the two D zone, you'll see a lot of, I don't even think he's a hall of famer at all.

And then you had a lot of, well, look, I mean, we can talk about it maybe in a couple of years, whatever. But in this first ballot, we've got much better players on this ballot that we need to put in. So I have a feeling that we won't be hearing Eli Manning's name tonight. And I think that will be very controversial. I think people will be talking about it a lot. When you look at his overall body of work and compare it to the

15 guys on the ballot if you compare it to Jared Allen Antonio Gates, so you know Luke Keighley Your Tori Holt some of the other players on that list I think most people who aren't John and fans if they had to pick five from that list They wouldn't pick Eli Manning in the top five. So who do you think will go in? I Think Antonio Gates is the one shoe in. He almost got in last year but there was, I forget who was on last year's ballot frankly, but at the last minute I think a few people were like look we got to get these guys in now and like we know Antonio Gates will get in next year. It's not so much for snubbing him as like trying to trying to move people through you know trying

to get everybody in. Gates is the one one shoe and after that it's very confusing I have a feeling Jared Allen might get in I know that Reggie Wayne and Tori hold have been waiting I think six years or seven years as finalists And I think there's gonna be a lot of movement to say let's just just get these guys in the hall now so we can Argue about Steve Smith's market about the next group of guys But it's confusing there might be fewer in the hall now so we can argue about Steve Smith, argue about the next group of guys. But it's confusing. There might be fewer players.

We're used to five players getting in and then like a coach and like a senior. It might be fewer than five because the Hall of Fame changed the voting procedure and now guys need 80%. It's gonna be controversial. It's gonna be unusual. And I would say expect the unexpected.

Okay, let's get back to Sunday's game for a bit. So there's going to be on the field the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles, but also the officials. How much talk has there been about the officiating? Because the Chiefs are in another Super Bowl and the Chiefs have had some calls go their way along the way. I'm very curious to see how this game is called. Yeah, there's not much chatter around here. I haven't heard many people put the microphone on a player's face and say, talk about the referees. I think my colleagues realize the players are not going to talk about the referees.

They're not going to say anything. You know, Roger Goodall addressed it and, and you know, he, he, he, you know, condemned any conspiracy theories. And I think he shouldn't. I think that that's appropriate. The, the head of the officiating, uh, union came out and condemned it. Uh, later today Fox was going to make their experts available. I'll talk to Mike Pereira. I'll talk to Dean Blantino and they'll give their thoughts on this. You know, gosh, I think we've done it on the show here.

Teams get Michael Jordan got superstar calls, you know, LeBron gets superstar calls, Tom Brady gets superstar calls. I believe Patrick Mahomes gets a superstar call down that I don't think it's anything unusual for somebody who's spent decades watching sports to see the superstar call now and then. I don't think it's egregious. I don't think it's anything unusual for somebody who's spent decades watching sports to see the superstar call now and then I don't think it's egregious. I don't think it's a conspiracy. I don't think it's anything worse than we've seen from past superstars. I've been doing bills radio. Uh, you know, if you want to beat the chiefs, you've got to beat the chiefs.

You, if the thing is, well, it's going to come down to a fourth in one, or it's going to come down to, you know, a borderline call. You can't let it come down to that. Again, you couldn't do that against Jordan. You couldn't do that against Brady. You can't do it against this team. And I think the Eagles realized that. Okay. Who's winning on Sunday? You know, I'm so here's my thing. I'm telling people he's the Eagles to like four and a half and take the Eagles because if the Chiefs win is going to be close It's going to be one score In my heart in the back of my mind. I'm feeling the potential of an Eagles blowout now

Please don't put your mortgage on an Eagles blowout your listeners But if you're somebody who puts a couple a couple of bucks a little mad money money you'd spend on chicken wings, whatever He's the Eagles to like minus six and a half Okay, what's your line of thinking for that? So what would be the payout on that plus 300? Like about plus 300 on that. Yeah, so that's your five dollar wager folks I'm very sketchy about losing people real buddy on this might The two vibes I get one is the Super Bowl I think was 55 when the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs the Chiefs offensive line in that game fell apart

Yeah, I think the Chiefs offensive line in this game can fall apart. That's one of the big vibes I'm getting from this the other vibes something about the Eagles reminds me of the 2012 Seahawks, the original team that went out there and destroyed Peyton Manning and the Broncos. And I feel that here, one team has the superstars of legend, Peyton Manning and Von Miller and those guys, and the other team is the scrappy upstart that kind of does things differently. These are just vibes. Okay. But I can't, I can't escape this feeling. And I, I grew up an Eagles fan. Eagles fans never think the Eagles are gonna win

We are fatalists we are damaged humans So it's I keep getting this vibe that the Eagles are gonna take this one and it's going to be easier that it looks on Paper. I mean the Eagles have been incredible since their two and two start they went into the bye week and they've what lost incredible since their two and two start. They went into the bye week and they've what lost once since then. And that was a three point loss in Washington. Like this team is on fire. Three point loss in Washington when Jalen

Hertz got hurt in the first quarter. Yep. And they've just been bludgeoning people. It's an interesting take. I, you know what, I've got time for it and I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned the Tampa Bay game where you're right that the offensive line for the Chief just absolutely collapsed

that game. That's really interesting. So Mike, we had this texter a couple of days ago. I think it was Jay in Okay Falls texted in and he said, I am a New York Giants fan and I am almost cheering for the Eagles, which is very rare for him because if the Eagles win the Superbowl and Saquon Barkley is the MVP,

that is the rock bottom that this franchise needs to truly go up. How do you think Giants fans would react if the Eagles won and Saquon Barkley was the MVP? I mean it'll be a sick feeling in their stomach. I think that that guy is thinking what will the owner do? What will John Marra do after he went on hard knocks and said, guys, do not get, do not let Saquon Barkley go. I think Giants fans were thinking maybe Saquon Barkley wins the MVP. Marra's head explodes.

He fires the entire coaching staff and runs out there and starts over. I could see that, but yeah, I will say this. The Giants media is here. They are on the Saquon beat like every day talking about Saquon and everything. I feel like stop rubbing this in the noses of the fans. It's not the fans fault. The fans wanted to keep him. Everyone liked him. It was bad salary cap management. It's bad ownership, et cetera. But give, give these poor fans some peace and some closure. Mike, this was great, man.

Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game on Sunday. It should be a lot of fun. We'll do one final hit next week to wrap up this year's NFL season. Absolutely. Take care guys and enjoy the game.

Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Mike Tenney, our NFL insider from the two deep zones up stack here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I've got time for his theory there. I really do. We haven't had a very wildly unpredictable Super Bowl.

We actually haven't had a Super Bowl blow since the Chiefs got steamrolled by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I gave my hot take that the Bills were going to beat the Chiefs and and there was gonna be a call that went against the Chiefs. And it went exactly the opposite. So I'm out of hot tags. I'm just gonna enjoy the game. It could go anyway, says Jason Ruff. I'll tell you what, it has been a very strange week because having done this gig for a while now, Super Bowl week is primarily focused on the Super Bowl. Like not a lot of things take the energy and the focus away from the Super Bowl but I mean locally the Canucks have gone through such a profound change over the last week that that's taken up a lot of

the oxygen. And then I have spoken to a number of people that either work in the US or are in New Orleans for the Super Bowl. And they're like, you do not understand how much oxygen the NBA has taken from the collective sports industry in the US right now. How badly did the NBA need all this considering the season that they were having? That's one of the great conspiracy theories that's going on right now, right? That this is all Adam Silver, who I managed not to call David Silver, who was of course a character in 90210. This was his response to sagging ratings and- Go make some trades.

Go make some trades. What's the marquee, the two marquee franchises in the NBA have always been the Celtics and the Lakers. Well, the Celtics are the reigning NBA champions and the Lakers just pulled off maybe the most stunning trade in NBA history, acquiring Luka Donjic. And the Warriors are like, we're still relevant too. So that one, that one is Cole's notes version. And we'll get into this maybe a little bit more because we're going to do what we learned coming up. By the way, get yours in. Dumbart Lumbertex line is 650, 650.

What you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. We're doing them at 730 because we've got guests at eight and a 30 day Thomas Drantz and then Richard Sherman. But originally the Warriors were on Jimmy Butler's short list of teams he'd go to. But then he apparently nixed the trade originally because he wanted an extension

and the Warriors weren't willing to go there. And then I guess eventually they capitulated and gave Jimmy a two-year extension worth north of 120 million. There are reports that Steve Kerr is not thrilled with this because they had to give up Andrew Wiggins who he's very fond of. And I think maybe in the recesses of Steve

Kerr's mind, he knows that. They're old. Jimmy's passed his expiry date, Steph's still Steph, but they're not even a mid team. They might not even make, make the top 10, which we need, like right now they're tied with a bunch of teams here, Sacramento, Phoenix, and Golden State for ninth in the

Western Conference. And one of those three is probably going to miss the playoffs. Those are all together. And those are all 500 basketball teams. Yeah. So you're looking at it and you're saying, well, yeah, there's an opportunity here to burst

out of the mushy middle with Jimmy Butler, who's going to make it better, right? However, I don't know how good it's going to make them. Um, I don't, you know, there's going to be the shot in the arm and there's going to be, and let's not underestimate this. The fact that there's only a handful of players that are really like tailor-made for playoff basketball. And you could put Jimmy Butler in that conversation for sure.

There's, there are guys where the playoffs suit them so much more better and Jimmy Butler's proven that, especially during his time in Miami. Right? So much more better. So much more better. So much more. You heard it here first folks. Yeah.

So much more better. So much more better suited for the playoffs. Okay. We got what we learned on the other side. It's an early what we learned as our eight o'clock and eight 30 slots are filled up today on the Haliford and Brough show. So get your What We Learns into the Dunbar Lumber

text line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and Renault Warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. They are so much more better than any other lumber place. The number one better runner warriors. Yeah, yeah. So much more.

So much more. Better. You're listening to the Haliforne and the Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Mick Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays three to4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 731 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination

for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can know what anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour two of the program. We're gonna do what we learned now because at eight o'clock we've got Thomas Strantz on the program and at eight thirty, fingers crossed,

we've got Richard Sherman on the program. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk from jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. I am joking. Let him do exactly that.

How? Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage. Okay, we're gonna do our What Me Learns here. We're gonna start with, twirl my finger around the room, Jason Brough, who's got an NFL update that has nothing to do with the Super Bowl, nor the Hall of Fame.

The NFL is going down under. They announced yesterday that they're gonna host their first ever regular season game in Australia. The Rams will be the designated home team and they're going to play it in Melbourne at the MCG, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the most famous stadium in the country. I love it there.

And continent. I love it there. Get that? Yep. Country and continent. Same thing. Yep. Right? Yep. Learn that. It's its own continent. I love it there. Get that? Yep. Country and continent. Same thing. Yep. Right?

Yep. Learn that. It's its own continent. Grade six. I think the capacity of the MCG is a hundred thousand. So that's going to be pretty cool. I don't know when the game will be played, like which part of the day it's going to be like, the game starts at 2 AM and three days from now.

What? I don't really understand what's going on here We'll see if the the Seahawks could be the team to go down there. I wonder if they would pick a West Coast team and the Rams and the Seahawks have to play every year So I guess it could be the Seahawks going down there The Philadelphia Eagles are the other team that hold the marketing rights in that continent. What? Yeah the Rams have them. That's a bloody outright jitters. I'm gonna take this all the way to the prime minister. I knew that was

coming. Andy! What's the good word? The Rams hold the... so part of the way that this works, they did like a draft basically. They drafted the world? No, yeah, they drafted the world. And the Rams drafted Australia as did the Eagles. Okay. And then they can both draft Australia? Yeah, because there's not enough places

that the NFL wants to go. There's not like 32 places. The Seahawks are like Uzbekistan. Big fan of the Stans, Kyrgyzstan, we're gonna go there. No, like this, so the Eagles, so some people are suggesting that it could be a classic NFC matchup

between the Rams and the Eagles since both hold the marketing rights there, but I haven't checked the schedule. I don't know if they are on a collision course this year. But so the Rams will be the home team though, because Stan Kronke said that was, when they made this available, they were like right at the front of the line, like we want to go to Australia. I think Aussies are going to love the NFL.

Like this is going to be a big success. I think now I'm not sure what the players think of the travel, but Aussies love sports like the NFL. Like rugby league is a lot like the NFL in terms of its culture and so is AFL, Aussie Rules Football. I think they're going to love this and I think it's going to look really cool at the MCG. They have played a preseason game there before. They have?

Yep. Back in 1999, the Broncos took on the Chargers in Sydney. I do not remember that. Oh, okay. It was in Sydney, but it wasn't at the MCG. It wasn't in Melbourne. Okay. Yeah. Do you ever watch AFL? No.

Really? I only got to, yeah. I. You would never come back. You remember what was on the other station? Yeah. Um, it would be on sometimes Friday nights or Saturday nights, come home from the bar like

1 a.m. and I would get into an AFL game. I'd be like, come on, G-Long. Right. I hate those Sydney Swans. That is a good pull. G-Long is a good pull. It's actually a great game. I love it.

It's frantic. I could never. It's totally frantic. It's very easy to understand. Is it? Very easy. You know what I probably should. I don't watch enough sports, so I probably should.

Yeah, it's a great game. Give us a moocow. Oh, to cool them Chaswazers. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

That's how he's kicking it back at us. Ah! Ah! Ah! All right, I gotta focus now. Yesterday, I passed the long word that the NHL's Department of Player Safety handed down a 10-game suspension suspension to Minnesota greaseball Ryan Hartman for his very dirty face off play

on team Stutla. Now we're learning that Ryan Hartman has filed an appeal. Actually it's not Ryan Hartman that files the appeal. It's the NHL players association. I'm sure they're thrilled with that. They're like, oh, we're going to lose this. Which once again highlights one of the weird parts of hockey in which the union responsible for Tim Stutzla is also protecting the guy that tried to kill Tim Stutzla. Ryan Hartman had 48 hours from Monday's ruling to decide whether

or not he wanted to appeal. He decided, yes, yes, I do. Part of this has to do with the fact that it's the longest suspension that player safety has handed out in six years. So here's how the appeal process work. It goes first to Gary Bettman, and he almost overwhelmingly sides with the Department of Player Safety. I'm not sure if he's ever disagreed with the ruling.

I think he's knocked a couple of them down by a little bit. So that's interesting because one of the ones that got knocked down was back in 2018 when Tom Wilson had a 20 game suspension and it got knocked back to 14. Did he knock it down though or was it the- No, it was an arbitrator. Now the interesting thing here is that

Wilson's suspension got knocked down from 20 games to 14 games after he had already served 16 games. Takes forever to get these things. So if you're wondering, like, how does that work? He can't make up the games, well, he gets the money back. So I do wonder if this is Hartman just trying to recoup some of the money. I wonder if they'll drag their feet on this.

But the NHLPA is kind of like, you know how you hear, you're watching the news or watching a TV show and the is kind of like, you know how you hear you're watching the news or watching a TV show and the prosecutor will be like, I don't want to take this trial to, I don't want to take this case to trial because I'm not going to win it. Right? Um, they feel the same way about it because they

don't want to have precedent on things. So sometimes they will, sometimes I'm not saying it happened here and Ryan Hartman's got every right to grieve this if he wants to. But sometimes the PO will be like, hey, we're going to lose this. So let's not actually have precedent set. Right?

So I'll be curious. I don't think he's got much of a chance of a reversal on this. No, I mean, the only wild card with this is that because of the four nations face off, his suspension would last an awfully long time, right? Cause he would be suspended for however many games Minnesota has before the break. Then he sits out obviously during the break.

I can't imagine he's gonna get the call to anybody's national team. Can they add more games? Right. Is that possible? See, I wonder about that. Sometimes I wish Gary Batman at the end of this appeal would be like, I have decided to up your suspension

to 14 because you're a gigantic jerk. By the way, Hartman said, quote, he was attempting to use his hand to regain his balance and then was using Stutzla not to drive him into the ice, but as a support mechanism to keep Ryan Hartman from falling. Yeah, and actually Stutzla was the one

that let them both down. And then the best is the punctuated. If Stutzla had more core strength, Ryan Hartman from falling. Yeah. And actually Stootsla was the one that let them both down. The best is the punctuation. And if Stootsla had more core strength, then this would never have happened. In the player safety video, it was a two line sentence. It was, we disagree. And Bob Probert all these years was just punching air and people just filled that air and that's not his fault. Okay.

Mukow that. Laddy, you have a one learned. Sorry. I'm just laughing at something that's come across my feed here. Uh, Andre Kuzmenko is unavailable tonight for the flyers. The paperwork is done for Kuzmenko, but his

flight got canceled from Toronto because of the weather, Torts said. The flyers are hoping to have him Saturday. You know, he missed his flight, right? We're just putting that out there. He missed, a hundred 100% he missed his flight he showed up to the airport 25 minutes before he's like can I get through TSA real quick and they're like no you're not making that flight they're

still the icing the plane let me on yeah okay Lattie you've got a what we learned yeah speaking of laughing bruff you guys remember LMFAO the band the band sure do well one of the members red foo at the ripe old age of 49, made his pro tennis debut. What? Yes, he joined some kind of tournament and played a- Some kind of tournament. I don't even know what to call it. It's obviously not the highest level of tennis.

Is it a seniors level? No, because he played a 23-year-old. How'd he do? And he lost in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. LOL. Six love, I should say. LMFAO. Yeah, he didn't last very long.

The match was only 43 minutes. But hey, kudos to getting out there. You know, you had that long, illustrious musical career in LMFAO. Now he's trying his hand at some tennis. You know how he got into tennis? He used to date Victoria Azarenka. Yeah, apparently he's at a lot of the events. He's in the crowd, they always show him there,

and he's a big tennis fan, obviously, and now he's trying to get into it. And there's some video footage if you look up this Red Fu character. What's the best LMFAO song? Is it Shots? Party Rock. Yeah, I don't even... They have other songs other than Party Rock? Yeah, Shots. I didn't know that was them. Shots was with Lil Jon. Yeah. Featuring. Yeah, they have other songs other than party rock. Yeah shots. I didn't know that was them shots was with little John Yeah, featuring. Yeah, I mean I know the song I just didn't realize it was them. They know the song you go shots

Yeah shots shots shots shots shots. They had like two or three hits and then rode off in the sunset I think that's the way to do it. I respect that. Yeah, I respect that Okay, moocow All right, let's print out some submissions into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. We've had a lot of texts about SGA and I'm going to read one. Colin and Twasim, what we learned, Shay Gilgis Alexander is so much more better than everyone else in the NBA. It's true.

Right now. He is so much more better than everyone else in the NBA. It's true. Right now. He is so much more better. That is a good callback to Halfords grammar, but also SGA is incredible right now. What is it like 50 points every night for this guy? And like 50 points spectacularly? 50 points three times in a seven game span. So he had 50 last night and a nail-biting

140 to 109 win over the Sun span. So he had 50 last night and a nail biting 140 to 109 win over the Suns. So that was his third. He had a career high 54 against Utah on January 29th. We actually talked about that the day after because he became the highest scoring Canadian ever passing Jamal Murray and Steve

Nash. And then. God, it sucks he plays for Oklahoma city. Not only because they stole the Sonics, but also because small market. Very small. You know? I know it's not like nobody's paying attention to this guy. A lot of people are paying attention to him. Well, he's the most valuable player in the end. Yeah, but I just, don't you feel like it would be... Does he get enough attention in Canada?

I didn't... He doesn't. No. I didn't have the same affinity for the Sonics as you had. So I mean, I'm disappointed that they left for, of all places, Oklahoma City. And it is a very like tiny pissant market, but I'm thrilled that he's taken his game to these heights. I think it's fantastic that he's the odds on favorite to win the MVP.

I hope that this will translate over to Canada basketball, which by the way, speaking of what we learned, did you see that Jordy Fernandez has stepped down as the head coach? I did see that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it hasn't been made official yet.

It's interesting because Michael Grange, sports net NBA writer, had the scoop on this one and I think people actually tried to ask Jordy about it because he's coaching right now in the NBA and he kind of said, I'm paraphrasing, but you're on the right track. I just haven't made this officially yet. And I, on behalf and out of respect for Canada

basketball, we'll wait till the statement comes out and I'll talk about it. So no one's really sure exactly why. Because he had. Probably just looks at it as like, well, there's another three and a half years until the next Olympics. But he had committed to it verbally through 2027.

Yeah. So it's an interesting dynamic. It gives them the opportunity to go out and get another big name hire because the step forward now is going to be, Hey, you've got too much talent, a wealth of talent to not be right there with the U S gold silver going into all of these major competitions.

I'm going to put you on the spot here. Great. How is Jamal Murray's game now? Um, well, he's not- No, no, you don't know. He's not. Well, I watched him play the other night. Yeah. The Olympics was a tough one for him, obviously.

Very tough. Yeah. He wasn't at 100%. There were a lot of concerns at that time that his body might be breaking down. He's had, you know, he's been fine. Actually, I watched him the other night. He was having a great night with Jokic and he was spotting up from three and he looked like the Jamal Murray.

That Olympics was weird because you never got the feeling that he was mentally or physically 100% in. No, he never looked comfortable. And it showed on the floor. The interesting thing now is that window that the nuggets had, make no mistake, like Jokic is still like a singular force in the NBA. And if you have him, you're always a title contender.

But everything has changed so dramatically in the last couple of years. Like the super teams right now in the West is obviously the Thunder who are 49 in the East. It's the Cavs. But you've also had this sea change of players changing over the last 96 hours where the balance of power has shifted too, right?

Uh, what we learned on Syntax, somehow the headline Vancouver Radio thinks chiefs get blown out by Eagles headline will end up being motivation for the chiefs to win. You all heard what Mike said, right? Mike Tannier's hit whereier's hit where he said, you know, like, I think there's a pretty good chance of an Eagles blowout.

Now he said- I know he said pretty good chance. He just said he was getting vibes. Well, yeah, I think what he said was like, his recommendation, and it wasn't to put your life savings on this, I think he said a $5 bet is like tease the Eagles to minus six and a half and that's going to give

you a bigger payout to like plus 300 and take that. Yeah. Which I'm down with. I like those types of bets on the Superbowl too. Like do something creative as opposed to being like, you know, I'm going to pick the Chiefs minus one and a half or whatever, right? Like don't take the, with the sports books out there, you can have all these like, you know, I'm going to pick the Chiefs minus one and a half or whatever, right? Like don't take the, with the sports books out

there, you can have all these, like, you can have whatever line you want. Right. Right. You need to do the, the parlay that, um, Travis Kelsey, they win the Superbowl and then he announces his retirement after the game. And then shortly after that, he proposes to Taylor Swift on the field.

If you can lock that up into a three, like single game parlay, those three things happening, lock it up. Halford told you first. Would that be lame? I don't think it's gonna happen. No. I mean.

Are they in it for the long haul? Do you guys, you know, I'm looking at the wrong guys to what do you want to know here? What's her longest relationship? What's her longest relationship? I don't know. Is this it who is Taylor Swift dated before? Matt I know is she mad. I know Jake Gyllenhaal. She did Matt Healy the guy from 1975 I don't know The guy from what? I don't even know. 1975? I don't know.

A lot of blank stares going on right now. Sorry, man. Laddy's not even recognizing this conversation. I know that band. You know the band? Yeah, I know the band. Okay. I'm going to move on then.

Lenny on the Hill, what we learned, what we will learn from tonight's game is how a team full of teenagers can confidently make controlled zone entries. The Canucks are down in San Jose to play the Sharks tonight. And Lenny continues, as a fan of both the Sharks and Canucks, I don't think that's allowed. It's been frustrating watching how confidently Celebrini will carry the puck and take shots.

While it seems to be impossible for our team full of highly paid stars to do more than a chip and chase. Did you see that goal the Sharks scored the other day when all five of their guys it was just like boom boom boom boom boom in the net. Okay. And they lost by eight goals. I want to frame this as accurately as possible. They're fun to watch. They're fun to watch. They are horrible defensively. There's a reason they're dead last in the NHL. are horrible defensively. There's a reason they're dead last in the NHL. They are a tire fire defensively.

And I'm sure part of that has to do with the goaltending. I don't know what the long-term prognosis is on Askarov. Maybe Ladi, if you could, is he still considered to be like a really bright goaltending prospect? Yeah, okay, so he's just behind a terrible team. Yes. Yeah, okay. Well, even his numbers aren't like horrid. They're the only team that he's on. They're the only, well, they give behind a terrible team? Yes. Yeah, okay. Well even his numbers aren't like horrid

They're the only team that he's on. They're the only well he just they give up a ton of goals I think they give a ton of shots too They're the only team in the NHL that's given up over 200 goals at this point in there are 206 They played your game a lot. We'll just put it that way. They've lost In five of their last six losses, they've given up at least six goals like they routinely have In five of their last six losses, they've given up at least six goals. Like they routinely have seven, five, six, four games. So they are fun to watch.

The goal they scored last night, two nights ago, sorry, against Montreal, I want to say, was fantastic. Like tic-tac-toe passing. Every time I turn on one of their games, because I do watch a lot of them, they're fun to watch. They really are. They play with an energy too. They do.

So I get why you would be enamored with them, but like make no mistake, they are the worst team in the NHL. Records wise, standings wise, points wise, they're worse than Chicago. Somehow Chicago has managed to outdo it. They are bad, but they're fun to watch. So one of the things tonight about the Canucks power play to watch, I think is Philip Heidel being on it and seeing what he can do. He replaced Connor Garland on it. I don't love Garland on the power play because as much as I love Garland as a five on five player and his ability to drive play in the right direction, not the best shot. It's all about physics, right? Like when you,

it's all about that lever effect. And when your lever is a pitching wedge, you're, you know, you're not going to shoot it that hard. On that subject of not hitting the target, hitting the target without much velocity. I like how hard Hronik hits the puck. Yeah. He never hits the net. It's not with enough.

Well, I mean, he's not alone on the Canucks, right? No, I know, but he's kind of, he's being tasked with it now. Cause with Hughes out, it's like, oh, cause I'm used again. He's got like a hard snapshot that really hits that glass hard. It sure does. A lot of plank.

Not, it's. Here's the play by play, Aaronic at the point. He shoots, watch out! Yeah, kinda. Honestly, cause you said. He's doing drills before every game, just hitting the glass over and over and over.

Well, he has hit a few guys in the face this year, hasn't he? Well, the only reason I'm bringing it up is not because I'm trying to be like, I couldn't hit the net. It's not me. It's, Taken has said on so many occasions this year, like when we get a chance to hit the net, boy, we gotta hit the net, right?

It is harder than it looks to hit the net because teams are so good at getting in the shooting lanes and that's why you gotta keep your feet moving, right? And that's why Quinn Hughes is able that's why you got to keep your feet moving. Right? And that's why Quinn Hughes is able to do it because he can keep his feet moving and he can open up shooting and passing lanes by himself. Horonik doesn't skate like Hughes and that's

nothing against Horonik. Nobody skates like Quinn Hughes or certainly not many people. And that's why, you know, I'm going to be curious to see if Pedersen was once again out there for PP1, if he gets his feet moving. I was yelling at the TV in the last game when they had that five on three and he's just, he's not

moving with the puck and you have to have movement out there to open up those lanes. I understand that what I just said is kind of born of getting to watch Quinn Hughes at the point all the time, where part of the reason he's so effective at getting shots on net is he opens up shooting lanes that just other guys can't. Like I don't expect Horonic to take a pass, dance around, you know, the high forward and

then put something on net. Like he's there to kind of hit one timers and get that snapshot off. It just doesn't hit the net that often. JDog the car hog texts in, when was the last time Petey scored a one-timer on the power play? Even those like- 2019, I feel like.

It sometimes requires that, I think he did one this year. Did he? Nah, he had one not super long ago, but it was such as like, it stood out because like, hey, finally. Everyone's like, he's back. He was like, he wasn't back.

No. But even then on some of those one-timers, like you actually have to get your feet moving before you hit the one timer, you know, like skate backwards sometimes, or just, and it's just, I don't know. We'll see if Heedle, because Heedle, this is why I'm curious to see Heedle, like what's the thing that everyone has been impressed with? He takes the puck and he moves with the puck.

He's not just looking to defer it. So maybe he can add some energy to that power play because it needs it. Yeah. You know what? I am, I know it's early days. I know it's early days, but I did not expect to be talking about and focusing on Philip Heidel

as much as we had, when the trade was consummated, he felt like kind of a, how do I say throw in? Not a throw in. Not a throw in. Well, Rangers fans have been really, like I've seen lots of comments from Rangers fans on social media with being like, wow,

this is exactly what we were hoping for all his time in New York, because he always showed these great flashes of offense. He just was just never given the opportunity because of their centered. I didn't say throw in. I would also say he just never given the opportunity because of their centered. I didn't say throw it. I would also say he was never given the opportunity. There were times when he had the chance.

Let me work through this. But he's gotten hurt too much. Let me do more good, better. Much. So much more better? So much more better than my first. I felt like his impact on the team might've been more on the level of what I thought Drew O'Connor

was gonna bring as opposed to what he's bringing. Well, I thought he was gonna be a devil. I don't think you saved yourself there. I mean, I don't think, I think Heedle, everyone thought Heedle had a lot more upside than Drew O'Connor. And again, Rangers fans were excited because they're like, this guy is showing stuff.

Like, we wanted this in New York Yeah, I'm surprised that I again I knew his game had Like to punch no it had upside to it, but I also thought that I didn't know you I'm gonna save you a little bit here. I didn't know he was you're not saving for this how I felt prior to it I'm telling you exactly how I felt. I didn't think he was quite as dynamic as we've seen. Yeah. I didn't have as high of expectations having watched him. Like I thought he would just be like a guy, right?

I did not think that Rick Tocque would be like, we need to play more like this Hidal guy, like that was not on my like board of things I thought were going to, my vision board of things I thought were going to happen. We'll see if he can keep this up. You know? Yeah, it's two games in. It's two games in. He wanted to make a good first impression.

He certainly has and it's been fun to watch him play. And hopefully he can lead the way out there. You know, he's been the Canucks best forward since he's got here, but it's only been two games. Right. And that's a problem, I think too, if Filipino is your best forward. Not, not on one night, on one night, on one night is fine.

It is. One night he can be your best forward. Totally is. You know, when you're talking about a sample size, it's getting larger and larger. Well, have I mentioned that Elias Peterson hasn't really lived up to this contract? What?

You should bring this up more often and in different creative ways. You know what? I came so close. I came so close. I came so close. I guess I'm going to do it now. Yep.

But we were talking about Jamal Murray. I was like, Jamal Murray in the Olympics was the Pedersen of Canada because I started thinking, this is accurate too. Cause I started thinking if he was on, Canada could have won that thing or at least gotten to the gold medal game. And I thought about that the same way in the Oilers series. If Pedersen is on, the Canucks could have

beaten the Oilers. The exact same thing. The one major takeaway from this I think is Elias Pedersen could be so much more better than he has been. He really could be. So much more better. So much more better.

We've seen him be so much more better. It's a good way to say it. So much more better. The show's gonna get so much more better on the other side of the break. Thomas Drance is gonna join us. Well, Richard Sherman maybe too. Don't forget about that.

Thomas Drance at eight, Richard Sherman at 8.30. What We Learns are in the books. A reminder, What We Learns were brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. It is a Vancouver hockey night tonight, folks. So a reminder, you can get $6 pints at AJ's. Go sit, watch the game, drink some beer, eat some pizza, have a good time.

AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Visit them online at ajs.pizza. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.