Halford & Brough in the Morning - Trying To Fix The Canucks Defence On Thrash Thursday

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat last night's Canucks loss and how to solve the team's defensive woes with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance (1:42), plus they chat the latest Canada Soccer news with soccer analyst James Sharman (25:59). 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.

And what we just have to call Thomas Drance Erotica. Thomas Drance Erotica. Corsi. Thomas Drance Erotica. Expect the goals. Thomas DranceErotica. Top model. Thomas Trans-Erotica.

Red Russian. Thomas Trans-Erotica. PDO. Thomas Trans-Erotica. 703 on a Thursday. Not just any Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving, America. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Halford and 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 help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour two of the program. Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two.

Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominick 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. That's me being funny. Seriously, check him out. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, to the phone lines we go. Drancer, Thomas Drance, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Drance? Gentlemen, best day of the year.

Happy football Thursday. Yeah, happy bro Christmas to you both. Bro Christmas. Can I just say this, though? Are there any good games today? Yeah. What do you think of it? I know you're excited, and I'm excited, too.

Everyone loves a full buffet of football day, but the games are, dare I say, mid. Detroit is always fun to watch, though. Caleb has been good the last two weeks, too. Detroit's got a lot of injuries on defense. They've been blitzing a ton. They're basically the Vikings defense now. They're playing a different sport

since Hutchinson got hurt. I think the Bears can do real damage and hang around in that game. I mean, you guys will remember last year, we were all confident that the Lions were going to stomp the Packers and Jordan Love, who struggled all season, and then he went ham and became excellent the rest of the year. So, yeah, no, I'm excited for that Chicago game.

I think it's going to be really strong right out the gate. And, yeah, I mean... It's the Cow Chicago game. I think it's going to be really strong right out the gate. And, yeah, I mean. It's the Cowboys-Giants game that ruins it for everyone. It's the Cowboys-Giants game. I disagree. And plus, that's the highest stakes game of the day for you and for me. It is true. Because we're in a big playoff game.

So, I'm just saying. Okay, okay. We're not doing this. We're not doing this. Okay, we're not doing your fantasy football. We need to talk about. That's the one I'm most excited about. Hey, buddy, me too.

Yeah. All right. I wish you were in the studio to see Bruff's face right now. He's like, God, I hate you. I know. I hate you both equally. I hate this conversation so much that I want to, that I want, that I am willing to talk about the Canucks defense. That's how badly I hate this conversation so much that I want to, that I want, that I am willing to talk about the Canucks defense.

That's how badly I hate this conversation. Drancer, I mean, where do you start with this group? God forbid, Filip Peronic actually did get seriously hurt. Yeah. With like,

it was like 45 seconds left. He got driven into the boards and it looked like he hurt his shoulder. There was no update on it. Rick Talkin wasn't asked i know you're not on the road so i guess we'll just have to wait and see on that one but you know even if he is healthy this this defense is problematic and i and i know you wrote about it uh a week or two ago and yeah the the point was that the Canucks like what they've got in the system, whether it's in the AHL or in college or in, in major junior, but you know, they need help right now. So what did they do? Yeah. And, and I think they're weighing that, right? So what, you know, I think think the the substance of what i reported

i'll start with that and then i'll and then i'll editorialize a bit the canucks know that they need defense help uh they know that the second pair in particular has been a sore spot i think we can tell now based on the deployment since they split susie myers for that ottawa game and it's been a little bit hard to ferret out exactly what signal, what's noise because Quinn Hughes got the misconduct against the senators, which threw everything into something of a blender on defense. And then you get that, you know, Canucks holding on by their fingernails in Boston,

sort of negative game script, right? So neither of those is like an instructive example, but last night we did see an extreme trailing game script and we saw brandstrom play top four minutes and we saw myers play you know a lot more than carson souci and we saw the souci juleson pair have you know i i thought the biggest breakdown of the night on that brian rust pass right that that you know the second pittsburgh goal the raquel goal which i thought was a really ugly defensive sequence for that terrible jules chasing and then juleson going oh chasing

looks fun i'll do that too yeah you know and you don't you don't like the hughes horonic um you know but that like at least it's crosby who beat them you know right down sort of uh main street through the neutral zone that was the four one goal i think myers was on At least it's Crosby who beat them right down Main Street through the neutral zone. That was the 4-1 goal. I think Myers was on the ice then. Was it Myers-Hughes? He was the one that I thought got caught up the ice,

but I don't know. You could be wrong. Hughes was the one who was caught. I could be wrong. Hughes was the one caught back, so I think you may well be right. I just tracked it as, oh, Hughes is on the ice for one. That's pretty rare. Canucks, of course, still won Quinn Hughes' minutes last night,

five on five, by the way. Three-two. Classic, right? Like, even in that game, they win Hughes' minutes, right? Like, even in the Boston game where they get outshot 11-billion to five, right? They come out of the game with, you know, nine shots on goal with Hughes on the ice, nine shots against Hughes on the ice. It's like, he can't even get out shot

in that Bruins game. It's incredible. Anyway, the truth is, is that that top pair is unbelievable. Maybe the best pair in hockey. And that second pair has been an issue. And over the last week, we've seen them experiment with Branstrom sort of of moving up the lineup and i don't i think the results have been mixed now it's early right i still think the second pair has struggled to such a massive extent and brandstrom has succeeded to such a massive extent through the first 21 games of the season they're like giving him more than three games all of which have kind of been weird right it is worthwhile right like i'd like to see that experiment continue in Buffalo on Friday. I'd like to see that experiment continue in Detroit on Sunday.

At the very least, maybe you give it even 10 games, really, just to know what you have. But I do think the Canucks are aware of, clearly, and I sort of reported it before these lineup tweaks, but we've now sort of got it cemented. They're aware that Carson Soucy is struggling. They're aware that their second pair is not good enough and they're aware that they have defense help.

And yet, you know, I think when you assess this team versus last year, I do think there's compelling reasons to think some of the logic of like pushing chips into the center of the table and buying rental players like Zdorov and Lindholm, which the club did last year, you know, might be something the club's a little more circumspect about. And I think there's a lot of things that go into that.

Like I think there's not as much wind at this team's back right now. We all know that, right? There's a ton of absences. There's a ton of injuries. There's a ton of uncertainty. What's Demko going to look like when he gets back when is miller going to get back can this team consistently show up early in games and play the right way right alvin was explicit about it last year now this is me

editorializing a bit because i know that the club is weighing the future versus the past differently than they were last season that that is fact but my my spin on it, like one thing that I'm curious about is how much of that is, as Alvin talked about explicitly a lot last year, like these guys have earned, right, the right for us to go out and spend. Like these guys have earned the right for us to bring in whatever reinforcements we can find to give them a shot. To what extent is the club currently weighing the future and the present and those sort of priorities a little bit more a little bit differently than

they did last season to what extent is that like hey guys like we're not starting games on time consistently enough we're not playing the right way consistently enough we're chasing too much in the defensive zone we're not being disciplined about our structure um you know forget forget the way that the bounces are going in like we're not even protecting the inner slot at a well above average rate this season um to what extent is that sort of view of the defense being caught somewhat in between in the club looking at you know kudravsev and Volander and, you know, even McWard and Sawyer Binio, who probably will play for team Canada at the U twenties over the holidays.

Right. Like them looking at those guys and being like, look, we're a year away from having options on the backend. So if we part with assets, we've got to be getting a long-term piece back. We can't do the Zdorov Lindholm, you know, part with a first, a third, a Brustevich, a bunch of other stuff, and end up, you know, yes, having won a playoff round, but eight months later with nothing to show for that. It's funny.

We said the exact same thing in the first hour where we were talking about how last season a lot of it was like these guys have earned the right to get some help at the trade deadline or they've earned the right, that things are going well. Right now, if you were looking at it, it's like there are little fires

and big fires burning everywhere. And there's a bunch of guys that just aren't playing well right now, especially on the back end. And I don't know if you'd want to like your reaction your first reaction is like get some help but then there's always that price to pay for that help and is it worthwhile this season but then on the other hand as someone texted it in you know they're currently getting great value from Quinn Hughes's contract do you want to waste a year of that you know if Demko comes back and plays really well they're getting great value from that contract do you want to waste that but I guess you have

to look at it on a team-wide approach yeah and i mean i look is it is it wasted just because you don't go spend right like is it wasted because you don't spend a first or do you have to think of it too from the perspective of you know we we have three years on quinn hughes's deal like that's you know whether we hit now or in year two or year three, like we have to be careful about using that window, right? Like we have to be careful about using that efficiency over a three year timeline, right? Like last year they didn't have Pedersen signed, right? They had various other, I think fish to fry.

They had the business case of needing to re-excite the market in a different way and not that they've been sold out yeah right like there have been some empty seats at rogers arena especially on that last homestand perhaps the quality of hockey that the club has played at home um has played a factor there but you know i do think the the level of excitement and sort of pride or the the fact that the organization's not viewed widely around the league and in this market is like a punchline right like a hapless always losing franchise i think changes some of the way that you can look at this and i think it probably should now i still think they're going to do something don't get me wrong i just think the

you know the the quality of options available on the market are low, right? Generally speaking, especially in terms of the expiring class of UFA defenders. The cap is going to go up massively. And even though the club has a well above average amount of dead space on the books for next season, like five and a half million between Mikheye and the oel buyout jumping up they're still pretty well positioned like this management group's done a really good job managing the term on some of these deals you know you've got suitor you've got brandstrom you've got besser you've got lankan and expiring so it's not like they have nothing um of value that they'll have

to lock up in fact there's a lot of those players that i would describe as key or even priorities but um you know they should have the ability to retain you know besser you know maybe depending on where the prices get on lincoln and brandstrom and suitor either retain those guys or replace them affordably and take another big swing right like there's flexibility on the horizon um so and then and then to top it off every single contender needs a top four defender you know like does it make sense to pay massively for a marcus petterson or a mike matheson caliber guy when you know or at least you should suspect that if they even come in here and then we're talking two months down the line and Carson Soucy's found even if not his form from last year but something

between his form from last year and what he's been through the first 21 games of this season you know Talkett's playing Soucy ahead of him anyway and you paid a whole bunch of capital to upgrade over Branstrom and it might not even be that big an upgrade because Branstrom's killed it at the very least in the third pair role, right? Like, if Soucy returned to form, I think you'd feel pretty confident or pretty comfortable in your options on defense.

So I just think it's a very interesting place that they're in, and the way that it was described to me is the team feels like they're caught in between, right? Where they've got some guys coming that they're really hopeful will bolster this defense in 12 to 18 months. And yet they know there, there's some issues now there's, they know there's some short-term needs. And I think balancing that set of priorities, especially given, you know,

and again, not just the win loss record, but the way that this team has showed up and the inconsistency with which they've shown up with focus right I do think that's you know weighing on the internal thought process pretty significantly let's talk about some of these young players um and you know Tom Willander he's the first round draft pick so obviously he's going to get most of the attention and perhaps deservedly so but in terms of meaningful impacts which guy down uh in the system or in college maybe or maybe junior, which guy is closest to making a meaningful impact on this team? Like a meaningful impact as in above third pair?

Yeah, let's go with that. Yeah, I mean, I think the answer is in terms of readiness, I think it's Kirill Kudraev, right? Which is crazy. He was a seventh-round draft pick in 2022. Seventh-round draft pick. Well, and the story goes that the club's list had run out, right? Like, they'd actually, the draft had gone through their list.

So, you know, truly, truly a remarkable story. But, yeah, look, he's killing it in the american league like his points his production is there the defensive play is there he's on this pair with cole mcward and they're prop they're easily they've easily been abbotsford's best puck moving pair um and so you know the thing that i get a little concerned about there is and and we're seeing it a little bit with Branstrom right is the model of like the undersized defensively reliable but not like big mean penalty killing defensive value guy who's good offensively but probably not elite offensively right he's never gonna supplant Quinn Hughes on the power play or you know probably even supplant Quinn Hughes on the power play or, you know, probably even supplant Philip Peronic on the power play. Sort of there's a real ceiling on those types of players unless they become,

you know, top 0.5 percentile defensive players. Like unless they become Jared Spurgeon, right? It's pretty hard for those players to be more than a third pair guy. And sort of what I worry about with a player who has Kudraev's profile, even though I think he looks pretty like he looked NH, honestly, he looked pro ready in the preseason. He looked pro ready at training camp. And I was kind of saying this then, and I'll repeat it now because it's still true. Unless you can get to that completely preposterous defensive level, right? Then, you know, you might be ready quick, like a Victor Mete was. Remember the Victor Mete

hype? But that doesn't mean that you're more than like a 6'7 in the NHL, right? Like just because you're ready soon doesn't necessarily raise your ceiling, right? Even if it does mean that you're probably pretty good at hockey. And I think Kudraev says now at the point where it's like, he's just good, right? Like he's just good. And that's interesting. And the Canucks may want to see what they have there,

especially if he can sustain this level of production and form in the American League going forward. So I'd say he's closest, but what does that mean, right? In terms of making a real impact, what does that mean, right? I don't know. I don't know, but I have some suspicions that what it means is, you know, you might have a good asset as opposed to, like, a really impactful future top four fixture.

So weigh everything that we've just talked about. Do you think the Canucks are going to make a big trade this season for defensive help? I'm never going to bet against a Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alvien team making a big in-season trade. I'm never going to bet against that. I think the prospect of having a mid to late first in this draft class versus having real help now, I think ultimately the balance on that, the ledger is going to point the Canucks toward making some sort of deal

to bolster their fortunes short term. Perhaps you could expand that deal and it includes, you know, a good young asset, either a prospect or a Hoaglander type or, you know, even an Atu Ratu or like that sort of tier of, you know, young players that the club is now able to use pretty consistently, but still sort of has some undefined future value um you know i could see something like that but i do think the club is going to be looking to grab term if they can like i i think that was uh what was sort of interesting about like the zadorov name float from elliot friedman last week for example was like zorov has five years, right? So that's not just a fit this season.

That's a potential fixture. Even if the club, you know, wasn't willing to go there in contract talks, I'm not trying to like reheat up Zdorov back to Vancouver, just using him as an example of a guy with term, a guy who's a multi-year fit to help this blue line. That I think would be the priority. And if something like that presents itself where the club feels like they can acquire a player

for a multiple year span, I think they're going to do it. What I will be a little bit surprised by at this point, I might change my mind in a month, depending on how this team performs and sort of where they're stationed and what things look like. But as it stands today, I'd be a little bit surprised to see them swing like a big expensive trade,

you know, third rounder for, for, uh, with, uh, for an expiring contract depth defender that, or, or like an Ethan bear type young player lottery ticket. That won't shock me, but to spend like the first on a rental player, uh, that, that right now would be, you know, a mild surprise. Not something that would stun me because, again, this is probably the most aggressive front office in the league in terms of making and swinging in season deals,

but it would certainly be something that raises my eyebrows. It's something I don't expect at this juncture. I know we got to go, but I'm going to ask anyway, because I don't care, because it's my show it's rough show too has uh archer silavs reached unplayable status yeah oh yeah i think so i think so and i feel bad for him because to be totally honest with you gentlemen i thought the first goal against was an unlucky bounce i thought the second goal against was a preposterous breakdown and then you sort of wonder if that rattles a guy who's on a bit of a cold streak. Like, I don't think he's unplayable and that he's unsalvageable. Right. But in the moment,

you know, can this team rely on him to win them games at the NHL level? I don't think so. Like, I think he needs to go back to the American League. I think he needs to find his game. I think he needs, you know, one of those classic resets. I think that's obvious. And the reason I think that is that after a bad bouncer beat him on the Blake Lozot goal, just a really unlucky bounce off the end boards and a brutal breakdown where no one would blame for the Raquel goal. No one, no unreasonable anyway. I thought he was too aggressive on the third goal or sorry, I thought he was too aggressive on the fourth goal. The third goal um or sorry no no i thought he was too aggressive on the fourth goal the third goal just squirted through him along the like he lost it in the crease that's that's tough and then the fifth goal can't can't go in the fifth goal which ultimately stands up as a game winner like

that can't go in that's an unscreened wrist shot from a non-lethal shooter like come on man yeah so i just thought i just thought he started reeling after those two unfortunate ones that i wouldn't pin on him and that's just the mark of a of a goalie that's you know a little bit there may be not not shook but their confidence isn't where it needs to be to perform at the nhl level so uh you know i don't think that they can rely on and rely on him right now at the nhl level given everything we've seen this season and given that, right? Like, given the way that it snowballed on him last night, that's what concerns me. And look, he's waiver exempt.

He can go down to the American League. He can find his game. This is not a commentary on what Shelov's can be long term. My confidence in that is indented in that, you know, it's a goalie. I was never that confident anyway, but I still think he's a super talented young player worthy of development and confidence. But, yeah, it's not working for him right now. And I thought last night the way that, you know,

two goals that weren't on him snowballed and became a third and then a fourth and then a fifth in relatively quick succession. I thought that spoke volumes about where his game's at. I don't think you can count on that to be in the net at the NHL level short term anyway. Drancer, this was great. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it.

Enjoy your day of football. And if the after the Ballyhooed afternoon affair of Drew Locke versus Cooper Rush doesn't do it for you. Let's go. Mix in an app. Just mix in an app. It's way better. It's way better without Tommy DeVito. This is functional QB play, baby. Let's go. Mix in an app. Just mix in an app. It's way better. It's way better without Tommy DeVito.

This is functional QB play, baby. Let's go. Let's enjoy some functional QB play today, guys. Have fun, buddy. Cheers, Spike. See you, pal. Thomas Trance from The Athletic Vancouver here on the Halford & Brough Show

on Sportsnet 650. Warning to Andrew and Victoria. Soccer talk coming up next. James Sharman from the Footy Prime podcast is going to join us to talk about canada's men's national teams john herdman vanny sartini man city all of andrew's favorite topics coming up next are you ready for some soccer on the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 hey it's big nazar have your say and join me on the people's show with big takes and even bigger

bets weekdays three to four on sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 7.33 on a Thursday. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. It is way too early for this. Crash Thursday. You're listening to 104.4 The Boneyard, Vancouver's home for metal. I can't do this. I may kibosh thrash Thursday before it even becomes a thing. Nope.

Adog loves it. You don't have control over the music, so these guys sit there and like it. I am at the mercy of you jackals. You are listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in hour two of the program. James Sharman from the Footy Prime podcast is going to join us in just a moment here for hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason hominem. I get Jason dot mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. That was sarcasm. Do exactly that.

Visit him at Jason dot mortgage to the phone lines. We go. James Sharman joins us now on the Halford and breath show on sports net six 50 morning, James. How are you? Morning fellas. I'm doing just great. Thanks. Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, James. How are you? Morning, fellas. I'm doing just great.

Thanks. How are you guys doing? We are well. I want everyone to know that even before Canada moved up to 31, the highest ever in the FIFA rankings, we had James booked. This just happens to be a perfect coincidence that this news came out this morning that the Canadian men's program has reached its highest ever global ranking from FIFA. It's a great thing. You know, we're already looking at the rankings and we're saying we're coming for you, Hungary. And now we've got Serbia in our rearview window. It's fantastic. My question is this. What was the biggest thing that happened

for this team in 2024? Was it the wins and the performance that they had at Copa America, or was it getting Jesse Martian as the manager? Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, what a year it's been. A fantastic year for the men's team. I would say it has to be Copa America, but with that comes Jesse Marsh.

I don't think they would have made that run without him as their head coach. He was the perfect fit at just the right time. His energy, his message was delivered perfectly, that the players were ready for a new voice. So, you know, it all works out very well, but that Copa performance,

I still don't really believe it when you say, oh, Canada 2024 Copa America semifinals, like, what? Really? You know, and how they did it, right? And playing Argentina twice, these top teams and holding their own. Just a great, great month for Canadian soccer.

And I think we discussed it at the time. The energy I was feeling around, you know, Canadian soccer community, or just Canada as a sports community as a whole. I'd never experienced that before, you know, covering a game in this country. There was a real belief and a real attachment to this team and these individuals.

So for me, it has to be Copa. But with that, like I said, comes the Jesse Marsh signing. What is it about Marsh that is connected so well with this team? Was it his particular style of play and the way that he wants to attack? Or was it that this team was really in search of something different in light

of how things kind of went pear-shaped at the end with John Herdman? Yeah, I mean, listen, they were obviously ready for a new voice. That was, you know, obvious. That happens in, you know, in all sorts of professional sports. But I think with Jesse Marsh, he came and he saw what he had, and he understood that for this team to be successful, he has to really um cater to their energy their athleticism their dynamicism right and the type of football that he coaches that

high press high octane football just fit beautifully like a jigsaw piece you know with the players he had adding the fact that he's a respected coach right he's coached in europe at some really big clubs that helps you know a lot of these players, the majority of whom are now applying their trade overseas in some pretty big leagues, especially the leadership core, generally speaking, are playing over there. The biggest clubs and the biggest stadiums and huge fan bases in a sophisticated football culture.

You can't talk down to these guys, right? You just can't. They won't buy that anymore. So, you know, they bring in a guy who's been there, done it, you know, success, failure, understands how the European mindset is when it comes to footballers.

And I think that was a big reason for it. The buy-in was straight away, you know, and there was concern, would he get the buy-in straight away? Being an American, doesn't matter. You know, that first training session, from what I understand, they realized, okay, this guy's a proper football coach. Doesn't it seem like for the last few

years, whether it's the men's team or the women's team that we've kind of gone careening back and forth between celebrating the program and being ashamed and embarrassed of the programs. Like it's crazy. Like I wake up on, I'm like, should I be excited about Canadian soccer today or embarrassed of it? We just can't have nice things, right? That's what it feels like sometimes. You know, the DroneGate thing, I mean, that's going to replace the labor strife. So there's a bit more to sign than that, even though that's not signed just yet,

although it's very close to being signed. There's always something, but I think in this regard, this year in particular, it didn't involve the players, right? DroneGate wasn't the players' fault. That was something entirely different. So we could look at the performance of the women's team at the Olympics and throughout the year and remove it from that saga, that controversy, and celebrate what they did, you know, which is quite amazing, really, considering what they were under. So I think it's important to really separate.

Then the Canada soccer brings in the new leadership, right? They bring in Peter Caruso as president, Kevin Blue as general secretary and CEO, guys that weren't there before when all this nonsense was happening. And basically, it's a fresh start, right? So I get what you're saying. And generally speaking, you're 100% right. You know, there's always something that reminds us where we're at in the football fight, which is usually pretty low.

But this year, I think it's important to just separate it all. That the players on the pitch, what they've done, it's been incredible. That's a good jumping off point to my next question. What do you think is going to come next

or happen next with John Herdman? That's a great question. And that's the, you know, the million dollar question, isn't it? Canada Soccer, they are, you they are taking out disciplinary measures. It seems that way against them. They are embarrassed by this. Will he walk away scot-free?

It's possible. Who knows? Was he involved in the Olympics? No, but if he was the forefather, the OG of the drone program in Canadian soccer, is it fair that he walks away? That's what Canada Soccer must determine and also what MLSC must determine as well.

Do they want to have this hanging over themselves? So the fact that it's got this far with nothing happening, I think maybe there'll be other heads to roll. Maybe John will survive. But at the same time, if a press conference is called tomorrow and he's being let go, that wouldn't surprise me either. The bottom line is it's an embarrassment to the program. But beyond that, and I think what's really happened the last couple of weeks,

beyond DroneGate, the sub-story has been the culture within the women's program since Beth Priestman took control of that program. That wasn't John Herbman. For all the critics of Herbman, the players, generally speaking, loved playing for him. The culture was apparently decent for much of that time. the critics of Herbman, the players, generally speaking, love playing for him. The culture was apparently decent for much of that time. The best reason it wasn't.

So, you know, I know Jordan is kind of getting mixed up right now with this culture thing. But to me, at this point, the culture thing is the biggest concern with the women's program. I want to deal with that. We're speaking to James Sharman

from the Footy Prime podcast here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, with 2024 coming to a close, we look towards a new year. And I got to ask for a couple, two key players specifically. Let's go. Where will they be playing in 2025?

Let's start with Alphonso Davies. Where will Alphonso Davies be playing club football, if you had to guess, in 2025? Well, I don't think it's Bayern Munich, put it that way. The fact is, you know, they've offered him a good contract. He said no. He's looking to move on. We're going to find out probably in January

when these players, as free agents in European football, you can sign a pre-contract with another club. So both Fonzie and John David, who I'm sure we'll get to, can sign with another club in January and then play out the remainder of this season at their current club. So Fonzie, I see, you know, Real Madrid's been there from day one, right? This fit on the left-hand side where there is perhaps an opening

there. They are still very determined to be the crown jewel of European football. And when Real Madrid come calling, I don't care what club you are in the world, it is very hard to compete with the allure of that club. So at this point, I'd favor Real Madrid, but I know Manchester United are also very interested. They almost got him originally. They were after him from Vancouver when he was at Bayern Munich. With Luke Shaw getting older and always being injury-prone, he would really fit into a Ruben Amorim system there, I think.

I would say one of those two teams, but quite frankly, there's going to be a lineup of clubs looking for Alphonso Davies and what he provides on that left-hand side. Is his stock still super high? I think so, yeah. I mean, listen, last year may have been a slight down year perhaps, but I think he's been pretty good this year. He's staying healthy.

He's now captaining his country. He's still young. Don't forget, he's still very, very young. He's still relatively raw, but he's a world-class left back. There aren't too many world-class left backs around right now, but he stands out. You want to get a more dynamic fullback and a guy that can also play up the pitch as well.

We've seen that with Canada over the years as well. So I think his stock is still very, very high. If he was in contract and being sold, he'd be fetching a lot of money, $60, $70, $ 80 million for a fullback, which is incredible. It's funny, the idea of a Canadian playing a starring role at Manchester United. Well, if you would have told me that 10 years ago, I would have been really excited. But now I'm like, I'm kind of worried about it, you know, which is crazy. Would you like to see him at Manchester United considering everything?

I'm a Liverpool fan. So, you know, that would be very difficult for me. From a selfish standpoint, I watch so much Premier League.

Obviously, I'd love to see him in the Premier League. That would be incredible, right? My Saturdays, as it is, is wall-to-wall

Premier League and then throws the CPL and MLS. It's a lot of football during the seasons. But to see a Canadian kid playing,

you know, those kind of minutes in the Premier League would be amazing, but it would be a tough pill to swallow being a Liverpool fan seeing him in those, in the United colours,

to put it that way. Jonathan David, where is he going to be playing club football in 2025 if you had to guess? Again, you know, there aren't that many

like proven, consistent goal scorers right out there and especially as free agents and you know barcelona's being mentioned there i think it'd be a great fit in the prem as well a team like arsenal are in the market for a center forward i even heard liverpool actually um a couple weeks ago which is which is something i know he would love to play at Barcelona. That's why he said that recently. Again, there's going to be a lineup for his services. But from a selfish standpoint, what he can do on the pitch,

I think it fits so well into the Prem. You know, Adelio is playing that typical number nine position. But for Canada, he's playing a deeper role. He can play almost as a number 10, very versatile type player, still obviously very young as well. There'll be so many suitors for this guy. But, listen, in a perfect world, fellas,

imagine if we start next Premier League season with Fonzie and John David in the Prem. I mean, I know you guys watch the league. That would be something pretty special. So we know that when Canada starts resuming play in March for the CONCACAF Nations League, they will take on Mexico in the semis and then play the winner, hopefully if they advance

between the United States and Panama. That's going to be a big competition. The Gold Cup is going to be a big competition in 2025. We know that David's going to be there. We know that Davies is going to be there. I think what we don't know right now is who's going to be Canada's number one netminder in those tournaments.

It seems like it's leaning towards Dane Sinclair, but Max Crapo has the experience factor. If you had to guess, another look ahead to 2025, who will emerge by the end of the year as Canada's number one goalie? Yeah, I still lean towards Max, I think. It seems that Jesse Marsh was leaning towards him

obviously through Copa America. But then he had a poor end of the season and Dane had a great end of the season. Regular season in particular was just fantastic. And although he got smashed in the last match and Dane had a great end to the season, regular season in particular, which is fantastic. And although he got smashed in the last match and he crashed out in most playoffs, he's still very, very good. Wasn't proven against Suriname. You know, did nothing wrong, obviously, but didn't get much chance to show his colors.

There's some real competition there, which is really great. Don't rule out a guy like Tom Miguel, who plays at MK Dunn's in England. Very respected there. It's a good league. It's a good team. I don't know too much about him, but he's a player that very much makes the matchday squads for most of Jesse Marsh's squads so far.

But if I'm going to be a better man, I'm going to say Max will regain the gloves after an off-season where he can kind of regroup. But Dane Sinclair is fun to watch. I like his swagger. Great shot stopper we're in really good shape and it's one thing

that Canadian footballers over the years we've had great goalkeepers it's one position we've always had depth in and I think that's been proven once again now

So let's get back to England because I feel like you're going to be glued to the couch on Sunday when you're Liverpool host Man City I have many questions about Man

City, but from your perspective, if Liverpool win this game, are you going to celebrate like you've just won the league? Well, that'd be 11 points, right? Up on City if they win on Sunday. I mean, City could still run the season, win every game, but I would be, I'll be happy, let's put it that way, and very optimistic. I've seen this team crash and burn in the past, but they got a new energy under Arnaz Slot. They're playing the best football maybe in Europe right now, the top in the Champions League group.

Apparently, it's so confusing, that group, but they're in first place, so I'll take that. It's fun to watch, you know, seeing young players making a mark on that team right now as well. And even the Mo Salahs, he's 32 years of age, you know, out of contract at the end of the season, wants a new deal. So many narratives around him. He's playing the best football in the country right now.

It's all looking really great for a team to find their form again under a new manager while their general favourites for the title, the City, the Arsenal, even the Chelsea, aren't quite there this year for some reason. It's a good opportunity for a team to win this thing. Can you put it into perspective for people that maybe don't follow soccer on a regular basis, what this past month has been like for Man City?

It's incredible, isn't it? I mean, you understand when dynasties fall off the mountain, right? Every dynasty comes to an end. You know, the Oilers came to an end. The Red Wings came to an end. The Patriots right now. The Patriots, yeah, exactly. Prime example, you know, with a big, you know, well-known manager.

But to see, you know, what's happened to City last, since basically since Rodri, one player gets hurt, Rodri gets injured, who's their most important player, a central midfielder. Not flashy, but incredible. He gets hurt and the wheels fall off a team that has played so much football the last number of years. There has to be fatigue there, mental and physical.

Maybe there's some fatigue around the manager, Pep Guardiola, the greatest of the modern generation. Every great manager has to reinvent the team. And it's been a pretty similar team for a number of years here. Maybe he's waiting a little bit too long to reinvent that team. But I still don't believe that out of it, they're done.

This is Pep Guardiola. He will figure it out. January is going to be a huge transfer window for them. They've got to find some more help in midfield where they keep getting overrun. But the talent's still there.

It's okay not to win a title every now and again, right, for a team. But we've got so used to this team winning something or a few things every year, specifically the Premier League,

that this seems bigger than it is. I can see them having an off year. Maybe it is. Win an FA them having an off year. Maybe it is. Win an FA Cup. Maybe they win something. Or nothing.

But then they retool in the off season. Roger comes back healthy again. Pep signed a new deal for one more year, apparently. Assuming they don't get banned or relegated through this court trial right now about financial regularities, I can see them bouncing back strongly next year. But maybe this is the off year. Every great team's allowed it.

But maybe, maybe it's the end of a dynasty. But I doubt that. I'd like to see them relegated. That would be funny. Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all? I want to see Pep down there. I'd see how good he is now.

Yeah, cold, rainy night in Stoke on a Tuesday for Pep. James, we got to let you go. We're up against it for time. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it. Great recap of what was a very good year

for Canada soccer in 2024. Always enjoy it, fellas. Thanks. Thank you, James Sherman from the Footy Prime podcast here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. All right.

Where do you want to go from here? Well, we are going to talk to Brandon Astle coming up next on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I got to say, a lot of text here. Love me some metal in the morning.

That's from one guy. Okay, just one guy. There's definitely more people texting in about the metal than the soccer talk. One guy said, it started so great with the metal when I tuned in. With the thrash. All that's Andrew and Victoria. He hates soccer. But you know what? You better get used to it, pal, because you're getting more of it. Reg says, forget thrash. All that's Andrew and Victoria. He hates soccer, but you know what?

You better get used to it, pal, because you're getting more of it. Reg says, forget thrash Thursday. Thrash every day. Never trash thrash... It is hard to say that. That's part of the reason I don't want to... Never trash thrash Thursdays, one listener says. Please, it's pure bliss.

If we have to put up with Euro trash, then we can put up with some awesome metal. Chris and Kamloops. It is a bit of a tongue twister. I know that if we continue to do it, I'm going to call it Trash Thursday. One listener says, Thrash Thursday has me ready to run through a brick wall LFG.

Okay. Let's freaking go. Andy, it's very rare that you're this enthusiastic. You haven't yawned once during this little diatribe. No need for nap time. Don't blow through nap time. Yeah, you can't. You can't with Thrash Thursday. Are you kidding me? You know what? Let's do it.

You seem keen about this. You seem really excited. One guy was like, this is way too early for Thrash. But he didn't say he didn't like it. He just said it was early. One guy said, I'm trying to do emails here. My head keeps bouncing off the table. We'll keep it around for now.

Anyway, Thrash Thursdays aside, we're going to talk to Brandon Astle, play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks, coming up. And we decided to do this because with everything that's been going on, one, it's a very busy sports calendar. Two, we've been hyper-focused on the Vancouver Canucks because there has been no shortage of storylines through the first 20 games of the Vancouver Canucks season. We've kind of been remiss in checking in on the American League team.

And I think another reason for that is that our Abbotsford updates have kind of all come by the way of recall. Like anytime that we want to know what's going on in Abbotsford, another guy from Abbotsford makes his way up. And, you know, we've talked at length about this with Sat earlier in the week that it seems like because of the geographical closeness and the fact that there does seem

to be some real symmetry between the NHL and the AHL club we are seeing more and more guys make their way up to the NHL level and even there's five guys there's five guys on the Canucks right now that have played games for Abbotsford this season Max Sasson, Atu Ratu, Archdeep Baines, Eric Brandstrom and Artie Silovs who might be playing some more games for Abbotsford soon. Right. In the not-too-distant future. And as we talk about Abbotsford.

Who would be the number one goalie call-up, though? Well, in their last four games, all wins, the wins have been split between Ty Young and Nikita Tolopilo. Tolopilo got his first shutout of the year a couple games ago. I do need an update. Is Patera hurt? I'm not exactly sure what's going on with Patera. I thought I did enough research by mentioning that Nikita Tolopilo had a

shutout his first of the year. We'll ask Brandon. Ask Brandon when guys get sent back and forth to and from Abbey, if they actually have to go to Abbotsford and prove that they were there. We debunked this theory with Drance. He confirmed that they don't have to do that however i like to think that it's like you know when you buy it brandon would have the inside scoop you know when you buy an air tag for your dog i think it's like that they just clip them

on to whatever guy like max assassin they're like come here yeah they put one on the back of his shirt and then he has to so they can track him back by the way the assassin nickname is very good i like that so yeah, yeah, I saw this. I didn't really get time to parse through it. It's assassin, but obviously assassin spelled S-A-S-S. So Max Assassin. Yeah. I like it.

He's got two points in two games. I know. He's on pace to have a point per game for the rest of his career. Is there a better way we can do that? Max Assassin? That sounds like McDonald's version of an assassin. Max Assassin. Max Assassin.

Can I have three McSassons, please? Yeah. It comes with a toy. It's a throw knife. Max Sasson is the first Canuck to start his career with points in consecutive games since Elias Pettersson did it. Oh. Yeah.

So there you go. Anyway, so we're going to talk to Brandon Astle coming up next about the Abbotsford Canucks. At 8.30, we're going to do what we learned. Get yours in. We have some. We could always use more. It's your chance to be on the radio.

And consider this like a, I don't know, trial run, a tryout period. You can test some things for tomorrow, which is a big what we learned day. Because on Fridays, we give away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway to the best ask us anything or what we learn. A dress rehearsal, if you will. Dunbar-Lumber text line is 650-650. Get him in, hashtag him WWL, and let us know what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. We're going to do this all in the final hour of the program.

It's coming up on the other side of the break. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.