Halford & Brough in the Morning - Was Vancouver Media Too Easy On Rick Tocchet?

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk the latest baseball news with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:49), they discuss the supposed love affair between Vancouver-based sports media and Rick Tocchet (14:16), plus they talk some Jets with CJOB Winnipeg's Jim Toth (31:14), as the club potentially prepares to make some big changes this offseason.  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.

It's time to chat with Adnan It's Adnan Ferkey's on the show We're gonna talk some baseball And take a trip to the silver screen That's right, it's time for red man Yes, and then bird he joins us now To the ball game and talk about all the filthy scene 702 on a Thursday happy Thursday everybody Halpert brough sportsnet 650 Donnie loves this song by the way Don Taylor

It's all in his head. I hope it's hope he's listening right now. That's the goal of every jingle He was an earworm for the rest of the day. He's wearing his Oklahoma City Thunder Jersey driving into work Maybe he heard us lead with the NBA today We did and Donnie don't worry It is a 702 today. We didn't Donnie, don't worry. It is a seven oh two on a Thursday. You are listening to the Halferd and Bruff show on sportsnet 650. Halferd and Bruff of the morning is brought to you by Sands and associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3000 five star reviews.

Visit them online at Sands-trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. Adnan Burke from MLB network is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason hominac at Jason da mortgage if you love giving the banks more your money Then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you visit them online at Jason da mortgage We are coming to you live from the kintex studio kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step Let's go to the hotline powered by Power West Industries. Adnan Virk from MLB network joins us now

on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. What up Adnan, how are you? I'm doing great, Mike, doing great, Jay. Love the shout out to Don Taylor, broadcasting legend. I just dropped off my son in Philadelphia, eighth grade field trips. They're gonna go do a bunch of stuff in Philly, Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall.

And I dropped them off at the Rocky steps So I'm telling them. Hey, this is a really famous movie You know everyone talks about Rockies know I think I've heard of this box music app and I couldn't resist saying that's kind of over random I think what I'm like well It's absurd that it lost to taxi driver for best picture and I realized I completely lost him I should just shut up and said enjoy Rocky enjoy Philadelphia. That's where we're at boys couldn't help myself So Brough and I did the same trip around Philadelphia

when we were there and we went to the Rocky Steps and everything, and I came to the realization while walking back, approximately 9,000 miles back to the hotel, that generationally, that we're now entering an entire age and group of kids that are gonna have no pop culture relevance with like Rocky movies like you'll mention it and they won't get any of it right they won't

remember the Drago the training scene yeah they won't remember any I'll go to Philadelphia and be like yeah I think this guy lived in Philly a while ago he's like Ben Franklin or something they'll know Apollo Creed more because of the Creed movies than they will with Rocky and that makes me sad as a 46 year old male. We're living in a different time now, Adnan. No, same age, I'm 46 as well and you're right, that's a great point. The Creed they will know because of Michael B. Jordan.

It's funny, my eldest son is turning 17 Saturday so a year ago I said we've got to watch Rocky 4. He's like what? I go, I promise buddy, you're at the age now you're going to like it. And he didn't do it as much as I did. I said, we got to watch Rocky IV. He's like, what? I go, I promise buddy, you're at the eighth, now you're going to like it. And he didn't enjoy it as much as I did. I was thrilled. I said, it's so bad, it's great. So hopefully kids are still watching Rocky IV. What was, you mentioned Taxi Driver. What was up

with movies in the seventies that things got so dark. So I, I, I watched, I rewatched the end of Apocalypse Now the other day and I don't know why I was feeling crazy or insane or something. The Deer Hunter was on TV the other day and I watched that a bit and I'm like what the hell was going on in the 70s when everyone wanted to make these movies that were so dark and depressing and long. Frankly, it was just this little... I have a theory about Apocalypse Now that...

Because I watched the ending and I was like, I don't think I've ever really dialed into the ending because by the end of Apocalypse Now, you are mentally exhausted by the movie. So the first answer, what was going on, a whole lot of drugs, Jay. Easy Riders Raging Bulls is one of the greatest books I've ever read by Peter Biskind. And he talks about just the excess, and clearly, everyone's doing Coke all over the place, and Quailudes and Pot, et cetera.

But they were truly inspired filmmakers. And of course, my favorite's Scorsese, but you've got Spielberg and Coppola and Lucas, and you you know some of these great Bogdanovich were making these movies. What happened was they were making movies truly from their own personal movies but they were very successful. Like it's one thing to have movies that are you know independently minded, critically acclaimed but these were like box office hits. The Copy Driver was a hit.

Like Scorsese couldn't believe it. Opening weekend the line down the street people dressed up like Travis Bickle after a couple of showings. People really loved those movies. But you're right, what went with it, and again, I love those films. Dog Brother 1 and 2, Dogged the Afternoon, Surf or Go, I mean, a lot of those films are my favorites.

But you're right, dark, cynical. Some say it was because around that Nixon era, so I guess they were responding to a very cynical, political climate that time. Vietnam, of course, is very negative, so negative films are being made. But to your point on Apocalypse Now, you do get these great movies and there's great sequences.

Like Apocalypse Now, I always resist the temptation to call it a great movie, because to your point, it's just too long and too unfocused. But other great moments, absolutely. Like that helicopter assault, Ride of the Volcarys, is like a top 50 scene all the time. I think Duvall is unbelievable as Gilgore. But I think Brando is just mumbling his way into the ether.

Dennis Hopper is clearly high as a kite. There's a lot of greatness and there's a lot of what the hell is going on in this movie. Alright, what were we talking about? Baseball. What's going on with Juan Soto? I'm reading a funny headline earlier in the show and it was something along the lines of, the Mets will have a talk with their $765 million player about hustle.

You think for almost a billion dollars, you get some hustle out of the guy. It's pretty funny, man. Imagine the average Canadian makes what, $50,000, $55,000 a year. Imagine their boss in a pole to the side. Hey, listen, I really need you to have a little bit of a better work ethic.

Please be on time. Please hustle to get to the bathroom. Hustle to get to meetings. You know, don't just be dilly dally. Like, this is the situation that we're in right now. Juan Sal is a nice, tough guy. I've interviewed him before. He's a great athlete, obviously,

but he's not enjoying himself right now. And the stories are coming up, but he's got buyers or more spiky okay is the voice of the eighties to perhaps the body but i've always like michael pleaded he reason to exaggerate he says both of some friends of people close to solar they said he wanted to be a key because by frankly what the matter that it was pushing house family

because the itself family plus boris means i should be a key uh... of course the operative is well though he a keys offered sixteen percent So, he goes, so family plus Boris means, no, I should've stayed with the Yankees. Of course, the offer was competitive, as we all know. The Yankees offered 16 for 760, if I'm not mistaken. Metz went 15, 765, so one less year, five million more. But apparently, the family gripe was a part of it. And, you know, now these stories are coming out that Soto's not exactly the most upbeat guy. He can be a little bit moody. It's crazy to think for a player that talented, that young,

he's now in his fourth team, like Nationals, Podgers, Yankees, Betts, and this version of him right now, Jay, resembles what he was in the Podgers that first year. He'll take his walks, but he's not slugging the ball to any sort of authority, and what was funny, specifically the incident you mentioned, he clearly doesn't punch it in the box, but those are the manager politely says,

yes, we'll talk to him about it, but Soto was hilarious in his response. He didn't say yeah, that's on me. He was like no I'm awesome all the time. You guys saw it out there like what are you talking about? There's a different game We're watching to do so last night He struck out three straight times fellas on nine pitches and he didn't take the bat off the shoulder once Thank God his final at bat. He got a sack fly. He must be giving a huge relief because he looked terrible against Derek Crochet. He's been a disappointment so far. He will turn around because he's a great player,

but he went from Juan Soto to Juan Soso, and it's a New York Post, and after he didn't get to the box, he's won no show. We're speaking to Adnan Verk from MLB Network. God bless the New York Post. That's a good one, actually. We're speaking to Adnan Verk from MLB Network here God bless the New York Post. That's a good one, actually. We're speaking to Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the Haliford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.

I want to jump around to a couple of different stories here, Adnan. So later in the show, we're going to have to Sean Redon from The Athletic to talk about NFLers going to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to participate in flag football. Now, in the wake of that news, there has been a lot of talk, especially from the L.A LA organizing committee about getting major league baseball players, finding a way for them to join the 2028 Olympics. What's the likelihood? Where's Rob Manfred on all of this?

Do you think it's a possibility or do you think there's not going to be enough time to get things lined up for MLB participation in the 2028 Olympics in LA? Well, I surely hope so, Mike. And I think, you know, all these leagues are copycat leagues. They see what happens with other leagues and how popular the Olympics is. And we all know what happened with foreign nations, what a boost that gave to Canada and U.S. here in America.

Although I looked at the numbers the other day, by the way, 25% ratings are down right now on ESPN and TNT. It's around 885,000. Canada ratings up north of 45%, 2.2 million. Crazy to think about. A country of 35 million, we're getting 2.2 million watching a hockey game, and 330 million, it's 880,000, but I digress.

The Olympics, obviously, everyone knows, is a jewel event. It would be great to see Mike Traub playing for USA. It'd be great to see Shohei Otani playing for Team Japan. I think Rob would like it to happen, whether or not it happens with regards to logistics, the players union signing off, that remains to be seen, but my deep down guess would be

they'll do their best to make it happen. I don't know if they'll have enough time. Are they at all worried about how it would impact the world baseball classic or is it too small an event to be that concerned about? I think it's small enough. I think it was this real cash cow. Then they go, you know what, this is too important. We've got sponsors, partners, but what they realize that it's gotta be some global event,

whether it's four nations, whether it's WBC, whether it's the Olympics, it is something in a national that people will get very excited. Now, baseball again is still referred to as the national past. And we all know it's more of a regionalized sport now it doesn't have the national cache say if NFL and NBA but events like that people get behind it they all know that just Aaron Judd playing for Team USA would be a really cool event you'd get casual sports fans definitely wanting to see it so I don't think it's accomplished for the WBC they just want to have something that's going on on a national level. We

should mention the Blue Jays here because they have won three of their last four, eight of the last 12s. Huge, huge win, at least in terms of the number they put up on the scoreboard yesterday. Your thoughts on the Blue Jays, have they been able to win enough to be able to resonate to the point where you guys are talking about them

with regularity on MLB Network? Not quite yet. Last night was the yonder launch of Dan O'Dowd. We were pointing out how weak the hail east is. And that's what's amazing is that the Red Sox have been married to mediocrity. They are the classic win three, lose two, win two, lose three. They can never quite get over the hump. And again, last night they fell below 500. But then there's the Blue Jays right behind them, almost at 500. And if you look at the standings, you go, well,

they're only five games back in the New York Yankees. Like, you're going to run, who knows? So, I think it's a situation where people are like, yeah, the Jays are hanging around, but in general, the AL has been a real disappointment. Like, okay, the Mariners are late in the West, that's a nice story. The Tigers, the best team in baseball, they've been awesome in the Central,

and then the Yankees, great job by Brian Cash, but you lose, so do, and yet, they're still a first place team in their offense, it's been terrific, and their pitching's been really good as well. So I think for the Blue Jays, they're kind of getting a lump to all those other mediocre type teams waiting for them to break out and do something. We'll say Vlad Jr. Look at the numbers, 315 average during a 21 game on base league.

He's been better, but they just got to hit some more home runs. Only four teams have hit fewer home runs than them. And I'm going to say Ante Santander. Look at his numbers. I really runs than them. And I'm gonna hit these Santander. Look at his numbers. I really like that contract. That guy's five years, 92.5 million. He has not lived up to it. He's hitting 174 his last 20 games.

He had 40 home runs last year. He's on pace for 21 so far. Gotta pick it up. Hey, speaking of sitting around waiting for things to happen, when are we expecting Shohei Otani to resume pitching for Los Angeles Dodgers? So funny you mentioned that Mike, last night on the air, unannounced, Odoud and Yonder boasted, I don't think he's going to pitch this year. And I go,

I thought he was going to pitch in June. Last I heard of him, he was ramping up. They're like, man, ain't going to happen. And Dan, former executive, obviously with the Rockies and Yonder's a former player. Dan goes, there's, there's no reason to him. Like, what do you mean? They've got 11 Dodgers in the IL starting pitchers a former player fingers there's there's no reason to look what do you mean they've got eleven doctors in the aisle starting pitchers he said yeah but why would you risk it at this point if there's still a first place team even with all those injuries they're going to have snow and glass numbers of

the players come back i don't see it and i said i just think it's too important to not to pitch like i just think his whole thing when he first saw the angels was hey i'm going to be a two-way player and that can't do that leaves half the teams in baseball. He said, well, we're not interested. He proves that he can do with the angels and clearly with the Dodgers.

He did not say, I'm going to take your $700 million and we have full time DHS. I still want to pitch. So I can't imagine him being contentious or argumentative, but I imagine if the Dodgers pulled him aside and said, we don't want you to pitch, he'd say, no, I'm pitching. Like some way or other it's going to happen.

So that's the first I've heard of someone saying it won't happen the last I've heard Mike was sometime in June. We'll see Adnan this was great buddy as always. Thank you for taking time to do this We appreciate it. Enjoy all the games this week and for the remainder of the week. We'll do this again next Thursday All right, thanks so much boys go enjoy rocky for for me We'll do I always always do, buddy. I never from MLB network here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Yeah, that trip to Philadelphia, we were there for the draft, I want to say. And we walked approximately

30 miles that day to go to the rocky steps. And all due respect to Philadelphia, which is a cool city, and I loved a lot of it, the Rocky Steps were wildly, wildly underwhelming. Wildly underwhelming. Did you- They were steps. Did you hear that the Vancouver media is crowdfunding to build a statue of Rick Taukett here in Vancouver. I. Because he went to Philly and we're like, you know, Philly's got the Rocky statue and you know,

we all know the Vancouver media just loves Rick Taukett, so they're going to build a statue and uh, the fans are pleased about that. I'll never forget those two years. Rick deserves that statue. That's a media thing. I'm going to start. It's a media thing. I'm going to start. It's just a media thing.

I'm going to start leaning into that more just to troll, the kids call it trolling, troll all the fans that cannot stand the love affair that the Vancouver media had with Rick Tocket. I'm just going to be like, next year, it's going to be like, man, I wonder what Toc would have done in that situation. I will never understand the visceral reaction

that some people had to the talk it era. But if the Canucks were horrible, horrible and won 15 games and were blown out with regularity and were the bottom in every statistical category, I could say, yeah, I understand some blowback on the coach. For sure, right? There've some blowback on the coach for sure. Right. There have been bad coaches in the NHL. There's been bad coaches in Vancouver.

So I understand it. But in the two years on the job, nothing that he did can adequately explain some of the vitriol that's been thrown his way. Hey, don't get me wrong. Vitriol for a head coach. I got time for it. I love dumping on a head coach. I love second guessing.

I've been doing it with Jim Hiller and they've been eliminated for two weeks. All right. I'm still got Jim Hiller jokes for forever. But I don't get this. I think part of it is a lot of the Canucks social media accounts, the prominent ones that drive narratives, are inherently contrarian.

I think being the opposite is a badge of honor for some people, and that's fine. It feels disingenuous, but it's fine if that's what you want to do. I think the other part of it is there is some currency in dumping all over everything all the time. It doesn't matter what, but being consistently negative on everything across the board. It's weird. It's not sarcasm and it's not caustic and it's not tongue in cheek. Why don't you just for a second give them the benefit of the doubt that that's just their honest opinion, that they didn't like the style of hockey

and that they thought that Rick Tauke wasn't the best guy for some of the players on the team. That's fine, but even that doesn't equate the, like calling him a dinosaur is crazy, I think. I didn't, I found none of his approaches to the game, especially with his players in a Jurassic in nature. I would always defer to what the players had to say. Yeah. And look, you could say, well, of course,

the players are going to say that publicly. And now he's gone. Not when he's gone. There's saying I like my coach or I think he does a good job. And then there's the effusive praise, right? You don't do that just to fill some reporter's notebook. You don't. And I think that if the players,

the ultimate litmus test of whether a coach is good or not is do the players like him? Do the players respect him? And do they play hard for him? And I'll say this, I never once questioned the majority of the Vancouver Canucks, maybe with a I never once questioned the majority of the Vancouver Canucks, maybe with a few exceptions, but the majority of the Vancouver Canucks playing hard for Tauke it almost every night.

I mean, I even look at that completely unnecessary comeback they had against Dallas late in the season. Remember that one when they scored three times in the final minute? Completely unnecessary. It was totally unnecessary. It did nothing for either team other than set an NHL record. But that was a team that was playing hard for its head coach in my estimation.

I don't understand how anyone could look at that and say, you guys are carrying water for a coach that was reviled by so many of us in the fan base. Yet carrying water for what? Like why? I don't know. I just, I thought he was a pretty good coach and I liked the way that he handled his business.

That was it. It's that simple, bro. Yeah. As you like to say on the internet. Right. It's just that simple, bro. I mean, but I understand, understand the, the desire to be like, Hey, he's gone now.

And I even understand the, like, you came in here and you were talking about embrace the heart and meet pressure with pressure and then you left. Like, I don't agree with that, but I understand it. And I think in some ways, that's how people support the team. All right? You're no longer with us. I'm not going to say nice things with it about you. You want to leave? Fine. You're the enemy now. And that's kind of what I was getting at yesterday

when I was talking about, talking on with Donnie and Dolly, he's like, yeah, I got that. I watch sports. I know what we sign up for. Oh, I have no problem with it now. Yeah, yeah. Once he's gone, you're gone, right? Once you've left, especially the way that he left. Well, I don't, but I don't see it that way. But I don't. But I understand fans that do.

Sure. That's more where I'm going at with this. It's like now I can understand being scorned. Right? And I also understand if you've got a favorite player on the team, no names mentioned, you really like this player and you really want this player to succeed, to try and find reasons for his lack of success. And, um, you know, I, I've taken a real, you know, it's happened to me with a coach

before I was all over Tortorella when he was in Vancouver. Sure. Um, so, you know, the idea that the media would never criticize a coach or anything, I think that's totally wrong. Cause Tortorello got a lot of criticism and he was fired after a year and he deserved to be. His heart was never in Vancouver. Um, I didn't think he'd ever get a job in the

NHL again after that. And I was wrong about that. And he's gone on to do honestly a pretty good job. I think there's something to be said for Torz going to a young team, an impressionable team. I think he was totally the wrong coach for the Vancouver Canucks though. That being said, I thought, you know, like, here's

it, here's another thing. Like there are times when coaches, they're good coaches, but they don't do a good job. Do you know what I mean? Like sure bad situation, wrong fit, all that stuff. Or just,'t do a good job Do you know what I mean like your bad situation wrong fit or just stuff or just they do a bad job Yep, I know the maybe the fit isn't right or they haven't prepped like the thing with torts is I feel like he came into that job and he's like you guys don't know how to win You know, I'm gonna tell you how to win like this team doesn't know how to win. I was like We did a bad job.

It was a bad approach. It was like three years ago, they went to the Stanley Cup final and a lot of the players are still there. I think they know how to win. They want two straight president's trophies. I think they know how to win. So that for me was like a guy that didn't coach to his lineup. And, but you know, at the same time,

the Sedens have always said that they had a lot of respect for torts. So I don't know. I'm not in the room at all, but I do find this dynamic interesting with Tauket because it's hard to find a member of the media. And I understand this. It's hard to find a member of the media that has a lot

of bad things to say about Rick Tauket. it's hard to find a member of the media that has a lot of bad things to say about Rick Tocket. It's easy to find a fan that has some bad things to say about Rick Tocket. So there is that, that divide that I don't think exists all the time. There, you know, sometimes the media will be divided on a topic for sure.

Um, and the fan base will be divided on the topic, but the media is fairly unanimously on the side of Rick Taukett. Agreed? Yeah, now I will push back on one thing here. A couple people are texting in saying, guys, they offered him five million and he walked. Come on, guys, he's scoring the team.

Maybe we didn't do a great job of breaking this down. There's a lot of people who think that Rick Taukett isn't a good head coach and didn't do a great job of breaking this down there's a there's a lot of people who think that Rick Tocket isn't a good head coach and didn't do a good job and was too archaic and Jurassic during his time in Vancouver After he left I would say take the gloves off and start throwing because if you are staunchly behind the argument that he Was like embrace the hard and meet pressure with pressure and then the moment that it got hard and there was a lot of pressure He bolted I got time for that I

Think that his messaging in the aftermath rings a little hollow Especially given where he left to go I wish could you blame him based on how the season was like I totally I was not shocked in the slightest I mean, I understand why people might be between I'm set by it, but it's just like now I get it right but Shocking upset are two totally different emotions and two totally different experiences. Yeah, but surely you must be able to understand his reasoning based on How's it going? Don't think of it that way. They're like you're either with us Like it's like no you're either with us or against're against us. What team are they watching then? Like it's- But no, you're either with us or against it. So many fans just have a different approach. When I was a kid and I used to listen to Dan Russell, I was like, why is he so mean about

the Canucks? I liked the Canucks and they were horrible. This was the 80s Canucks and they were horrible. And I'm not saying that's a childlike way to approach a team because some people still feel that way. They're just like, I like the Canucks. Just blind devotion. But there's something endearing about it. You know, like I'll cheer for the team through thick and thin and this is my team

and this is, you know, any way they're gonna go. Now that you're no longer coaching, you're the enemy. You're the enemy, you put on us. And I think- Yeah, I guess. But I mean, this is, you know, any way they're going to go. Now that you're no longer coaching, you're the enemy. You're the enemy. You put on us. And I guess I guess. But I mean, and then there are other people. What happened this year, though? I mean, you got to you got to think a little critically for a second. You have to understand the reasoning.

Like, obviously, it makes sense that he left. Why? Because of the all the drama that went on this year. I probably lost 10 years of his life coaching the team. This fix the drama. Like if he had hair it would be great. They did not fix the drama. They fixed the drama. They did not fix the drama. Like dude, it'd be like the Obama before and after White House picture.

That's how he looked at the end of the year. Like just so completely drained. In any way. And I completely understand it. This whole thing just started with a little joke that I was trying to make. No jokes! And then Helfer got serious about it. I think it would be funny if the Vancouver media

got together and like put up a statue of Rick Tauken who's like the greatest coach that ever lived. I don't know how you can actually embrace hard in statue form, but if we could have him embracing hard, I think that would be great. By the way, it's also a lesson to Adam Foote. Say nice things about us. Yeah, just play the game, Adam. We are easily swayote. Say nice things about us. Yeah.

Just play the game, Adam. We are easily swayed. Just be nice to us. Complete reversal. The fans love Foote. All the media hate him. Yeah, because he's mean to us. Yeah, exactly.

That's part of it too, right? Yeah, he kept giving us good questions. Good question. The fans love it when the coaches battle with the media. And you know what another thing is that um, that I would, I was thinking about this the other day and I know I gotta go to break, but, um, you know what I would say if I was a coach and I had a player that was upset with the media coverage, I'd be like, buddy, you're a player.

They will love you if you play well and hate the media. Like the default setting, love the player, hate the media. And the players have to know that, they should know that. Because I think that helps them. You know what I mean? Like if you're a player, does this make sense? Like if you're a player and you're like, man the media coverage is really getting me down.

Just always keep in the back of your mind that the fans want to love the players. And frankly, some of them want to hate the media. And that's what we've taken on and we get it. We understand that. So, I think it's just always important to keep that in mind. Okay. We got to get to break.

No, we don't. We have to do one to watch. All right. One to watch. Okay, tire. Tonight's one to watch. I went off the board again with my choice, Carolina Hurricanes head coach, Rod Brendemore. So the major talking point in Carolina and quite

frankly, everywhere following this Eastern Conference final right now is the one big ugly stat that is staring hurricanes players and their coach right in the face. 13 consecutive losses in this round of the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2009. That's right. 13 consecutive losses for the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final. Now, Bryndamore has only been in charge for nine of the 13 straight losses,

but all of them, including the past five against the Florida Panthers, four in 2023, all by one goal and two in overtime, and then a five two loss in game one on Tuesday. Now Rod addressed this on Tuesday when talking about what the team needs to do to reverse this very unsightly trend. Rod Bryndemore's answer? We will change nothing. Well, you're going to talk about it. You guys are going to say it, but what do you want to do? Bryndemore told reporters, you're going to change your game. Well, that's not going to work.

I know it doesn't work. I know you could try and go there, open up, start risking, start doing different things. But that's not going to be the answer. If there is one thing that the Carolina Hurricanes need to do tonight, Rod Brynnermore can imprint on this team. It's try and score the first goal of the game. The Hurricanes are 5 and 0 this postseason when they score first, just 3 and 3 when they don't.

It's time to put on your Toyo tires, whether you drive a car, light truck, or van. Toyo tires are designed to perform in all kinds of conditions. Visit Delaney's OK Tire in Langley and Aldergrove. OK Tire Service Repair and Tires. You're listening to the Haliford and Brev 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. 7.36 on a Thursday, not just any Thursday, a thrash Thursday here on the Haliford & Brev show on SportsCents Exhibition. Haliford & Brev of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Homonuck at jason.mortgage, the most metal of all the mortgage brokers. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you visit him online at Jason dot mortgage I thought you're about to be like we are in our to I was thinking about it almost did it it hurts

my throat I did that the break to isolate I on my throat hurts now I shouldn't do the metal voice Thursday's are tough we're gonna're going to go to Winnipeg in a moment here. Jim Toeth is going to join us courtesy the Power West Industries hotline. So we're going to need to crowdsource this because I'm having a hard time finding the appropriate auto audio. There's a trend going on social media, specifically TikTok, but it's also seeped its way into X and Instagram, where wives are encouraging their husbands to call their male buddies at the end of the night

to tell the homie, good night, I'm going to bed now. At the end of the day. Yeah, end of the night, just call them up, be like, yo, what's good, what's good, homie? Just called to say good night. And then there's a long, uncomfortable pause. And usually What's good, homie? Mm-hmm just called to say good night, right? And then there's a long uncomfortable pause and usually the responses say what? There's the one guy that was like I like it yeah, I like this very much if you can find good audio text it in Dumbart number text line 650 650 we will explore this further

Maybe we'll call and wish someone good morning. They like sing each other lullabies and stuff. They're just like I'm thinking of you Okay, the best part is when the guy asks a follow-up question. He's like so what's going on here? It's everything okay. Yeah, no, I just I'm just calling to say Good night, and I'm thinking about you all right night, and then hang up And then your buddy will not sleep for a week. Yeah, and he's never calling you ever again To the power West industries hotline we go, Jim Toth out of Winnipeg, CJOB 680, host of the Jim Toth show, and Jets Lunds joins us now

on the Halifax and the Breath Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Jim, how are you? Gentlemen, good to be on with you again. Good morning, and you covered a lot of ground there. The hair metal to relationship advice, this is an all-encompassing program. Well, let's talk about Ehlers because this is a guy that some Canucks fans would be like, oh, I wonder if the Canucks can convince Ehlers to come to Vancouver and free agency, but it sounds like the Jets are going to make a pitch to keep them.

Do you think it has a chance of succeeding? Well, I think he didn't even want to play for Denmark. He just didn't want to answer these questions. So he had, I'm just didn't even want to play for Denmark. He just didn't want to answer these questions. So he had, I'm just kidding, of course. But yeah, it's an interesting situation. We were discussing it on Jets at Noon yesterday as well, cause that's the number one off season question,

I think going in for the Jets. But look, I've covered this for a while now. Nick Ehlers said at training camp, it's not just about the money. I want to be here, but they have to want me here too. And they mentioned, you know, Kyle Connor, Mark Shifeley, Connor Hellebuck, Josh Morris, Adam Lowry, all drafted players that have, you know, re-signed and then got free agent deals here and want to be here.

And he kind of mentioned that, like I do believe him. I don't think it's about, hey, can I make $9 million next year? I think it's can I get a raise, but also be around family and where I want to be. I also know that Nick Ehlers has kind of been talked about and been wanted in trades with with over the years of Carolina, that his name has come up and things like that. And, and he's also said at this point that, you know, he doesn't want to leave. He wants to stay and he's not looking to get out. But if something were to happen via trade, he would also welcome, you know, a change.

So that's the debate, right? And so I was told around Christmas time from being at a game and talking to some people that they said, you can do whatever you want, but I wouldn't bang the Ehlers contract too much. I think that they were kind of referencing that there's been some discussions in the organization that they might want to move on. They might want to get bigger in the top six. They might want to get more production out of the second line. They might want to be more physical come playoff time because he hasn't really had a good playoff career up until this season when he was a point of game player. So, but that being said, distance traveled, right? And the Jets are well aware that

it's not always about trying to get somebody better because it's really tough. Free agents don't want to come here and sometimes you have to keep what you have and keep trying to run it back. So it was interesting yesterday to hear Kevin Sheveldayoff say that they're going to put their best foot forward and try and, and, and try to keep them and see where it happens. So I think that's also an indication going back to training camp when either said they have to want me that there is a want there and we're, we've told Nick that, um, but what that is and what the cost is.

And then I think Nick's earned the right to, you know, his usage gets talked about so much here guys. And even ice time came up and I was screaming on the radio yesterday, stop talking about ice time. Look shifts look at shift length um people were saying Mason Appleton had more time than him in game six and they misused him all the time and I said well he had 21 shifts Appleton had 20 and what was the situation right and I also know Marchman tattooed him in this series I don't know how healthy he is so So I think that he's a guy that I did say in his defense, he might want to be a top line guy.

He might say, you know, I love it here and everything else, but my role here makes us a really good team on that second line and top power play unit. But I also, you know, I'm at that stage of my career after eight years and free agency, I might want to be a top line winger in the national hockey league, which I think he could be. So it's going to be a fascinating summer with him.

Is there a sense the Jets need to get bigger upfront? You watch the Florida Panthers play in there. I mean, it's not just their bottom six guys, it's the top six guys that are out there just like physically dominating. Yeah, I don't, I think there has been a little bit of that.

I think within the organization, there has been talk about how we get to, I mean, I think he had four goals and 34 playoff games prior to this, right? Um, I just go back to that Colorado series and I hate to harp on them because every time I do there, there are parts of his game that I love as well. Um, but there was 14 seconds left and, and, uh, Manson was in the box and he took it up the wing and got knocked down and he sat on his butt and literally on his butt looked around where the puck is

and then he saw it and somebody grabbed it and threw it out to Manson coming out of the box and Manson scored in a breakaway, 14 seconds left in a period. Well, you can't do that in the playoffs. The playoffs has to be every shift, every inch. And I think that that's what they were kind of looking at that this is a game-changing player but he doesn't always game change.

And so I don't know if they want to be more physical, if they want to get bigger. I don't think they need to be. Like, I think that the second line is the most talked about spot. And Nemesnikov did a really good job for a second line center, but also saying he's not a top end second line center, but for the job he did. So I'm interested to see, I think Braden Jaeger is going to stay center when he gets here. And he was called up after the Lethbridge hurricanes were eliminated in the Western hockey league playoffs. But I'm looking at this roster and some people say they need to be more big and physical. Well, they went and got Luke Shen, right? And he played on the blue line. And I think if you look at Neil Pionk, he's not a big person. He was the big, most and, and he played on the blue line. And I think if you look at Neil Pionk, who's not a big person,

he was the big, most physical, um, best defenseman throughout the consistency of the two rounds. So who knows what they really want, but I think that they look at this core and they look at they took steps this year. And I think the step they took in the playoffs really changes the narrative here. If they had gotten eliminated in the first round again, my St. Louis, I think they would want to make some changes.

I think they wouldn't want to run it back again, but with the way they are and how they galvanized around Schife Lee in that last game, I think they like their mix, but I definitely think they want to add to it. We're speaking to Jim Toath from CJOB Winnipeg host of jets at noon in the Jim Toath show here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. The last part of your answer there dovetails nicely into what I wanted to ask the big picture question here. Was this Winnipeg jet season, a disappointment, Jim?

I will say yes, but with a caveat, it wasn't the Leafs. It's a good caveat. You always got to say that. Right. But, and I only mean that in those guys got worked in on home ice twice in three games, including an elimination game. The Jets growth this year was that they were in that Dallas series. I think two of those games they lost, they were the better team in it. I think Conor Helbuck got his confidence in his swagger back and was great even in the losses in Dallas. That's the growth I've seen. Josh Morrissey talked about this two days ago. They went into the off season last year and I call it the long cold summer,

because it's summer, but it's cold. Like how these guys look themselves in the mirror after getting worked again against Colorado the previous year in Vegas. And we have to keep in mind gentlemen, for your listeners, they got a no show in game five in Las Vegas. And that's when Rick bonus said, you know, disappointing and disgusted. Then they went into an elimination game on home ice against Colorado and got pumped again. And, and, and so the growth was, is they, they

pulled out a game seven against St. Louis, they were in every single game with Dallas and they created more than enough chances to score that series. And the season ended on failing to capitalize on your chances because they created a ton of them and just couldn't bury some things.

And so that's what they were talking about as the next step with this team. But I see the growth there. I see this as a team that's been knocking on the door and needed to learn things and needed to mature. And I think they matured and I think they came a long way. And so now the work this summer is, okay, we can create, we, we could have won that series. How do we finish some things?

How do we elevate to the elite as opposed to just really good? What's the city of Winnipeg thinking about Connor Hellebuck right now? Well, they're back with them, I think. Um, but I gotta tell you guys, I, I spent a week and a half in my cohost camp boy just did too, having to tell people, you do not start, start Eric Comrie. Uh, you just don't. And I love Eric Comrie. I was on the moose season when he was rookie and, and had a really good year. He hasn't started an NHL playoff game.

And my mantra for days and days on end, especially when this team would go season when he was rookie and had a really good year, he hasn't started an NHL playoff game. And my mantra for days and days on end, especially when this team would go on the road, was you don't ask an average player to do something exceptional. You ask your exceptional player to be better and you try to figure out a way to do it. And I think Conor Helmuck did that against Dallas. He mentioned after the overtime win against St. Louis in game seven that when Cole Profetti scored with 1.6 seconds left, he said, that's when I just knew we're going to win this series. And it's like a light switch went off. He admitted that he was like trying to figure things out and the pressure and everything else. He clearly did that in the overtime against St. Louis and then into the Dallas

series as well. So I'm not sure where they're at now, but again, you just look at the home games and they were MVPs. He shut out Dallas twice and then he lost a 3-2 game at home when the team played well enough to win. He lost a game in Dallas in game three where something was propelled, which is a new word, after it was kicked at him. And then he stood tall in game four too. was propelled, which is a new word, uh, after it was kicked at him. And then he stood tall in, in game four or two. He had one bad goal in the three games in Dallas. And that was the first one from Granland in game four.

Other than that, he stood tall. So I think they're in love with them again. They desperately wanted to win the MVP, but there is also this fever around for years now that he can't get it done in the playoffs. And I really had to, to become an anti-Eric Comrie guy, which he's such a great guy I didn't wanna do, but I could not believe the fever around starting Eric Comrie in this city.

So we had Ian McIntyre on the show yesterday. He was working the series for Sportsnet.ca. And I shouted out at the end of the interview saying, the work that he did, he wrote several pieces on Mark Shifely and the tragic passing of his father right before game six. And then, you know, Ian kind of framed it as that out of a tragedy came something really beautiful for the sport of hockey. The,

the aftermath with as tough as it was to see Shifely in the box when the game winning goal was scored by Thomas Harley, all of his teammates flooding over to help him almost physically help him out of the box and then the handshake line and all the you know even the Jamie Ben moment of course too I think that one really resonated with iMac when he was talking about it. I was curious to get your experience working as closely as you do with the fans and everyone that watches this team and is so emotionally invested seeing something of that emotional magnitude what it was like for you as a host, you know, hearing the feedback and hearing how much. I think fans really resonated with that moment because it

does serve transcend hockey and becomes a real human emotional story. You know what guys, human emotional life story and then what it did was it put the game in perspective. I think there's a lot of fans who still think this wasn't good enough a second round but I think it galvanized a lot of fans to go. They fought hard right to the end and this is a good hockey team and sometimes hockey just doesn't work out. We had two days, I was on the game six broadcast here at 680CGOB and I just sort of said, that game equates to life. Life isn't fair. If life was fair, Shifu would have got out of the box, probably taken a pass from his own zone on a breakaway and won that game, but it's not a movie, right?

And life is tough. It's how you deal with that toughness that you move on. And that's why I think sports is reality TV. And I've always mocked the whole bachelor programs and all that. It's all produced drama. You can't produce stuff like what we saw in game six. And so I think that, you know, there was a reason why it happened. Mark Shifeley is a man of faith. He often talks about God and I'm not, and I just don't know how he not only played

that game, but played so well. And so I think it's just a beautiful life moment that teaches us that life's not always fair and you gotta, you gotta pick yourself up. And I think that the whole hockey world and outside of the hockey world, people realize that as well. It, this is tough for this team guys. Uh, Kyle Connors, 28, Josh Morrissey's 30, Mark Scheifele's 32, and all three of those men have lost their fathers. And I'm 53 and I thankfully have mine at 90.

And it just really puts things in a perspective for what those three guys who are really close friends and often spend most of the summer together in Calgary, how they galvanized around each other and propelled each other up. And I think despite the loss, a lot of Jets fans here and I think the hockey world goes, there's no loss in that, right? Like it was a penalty he had to take. He was the best player on the ice that night, and how he was, I'll just, I know years from now,

decades from now, I'll be like, that Mark Scheifele game is something you can teach your kids about. Jim, that was very well said, and thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. You know, there's still lots to go in the off season here. Who knows what's gonna happen in Winnipeg We'll catch up with you if and when anything does happen this summer

Anytime guys and if you lose those sign there will have you on our show. Okay, sounds good, buddy Thanks, that's Jim Toth from CJLB Winnipeg here on the Haliford and Bref show on sportsnet 650 Are you gonna be watching the world's today? Have you have you watched the world's cuz it's it's the quarterfinals now the world hockey champion world the world hockey champion Yes, I have heard of that competition. Mm-hmm. I mean, there's some pretty good players playing for Canada. They played Denmark today I hate Denmark. Yeah, good. Actually, I'm just kidding. Yes for sorenson's from yeah, actually I love that one like them bar I'm cheering for Denmark. No, I feel a little Denmarkish this morning. Denmarkish, Denmarkish.

We never really did address that one thoroughly, but we'll move on. The United States and Finland are playing right now. They're tied one all. I'm just wondering what your interest level, I haven't watched barely any of it. When I saw the roster unveil, I thought, well, Crosby and McKinnon together, that's cool.

One last tour of duty for Marc-Andre Fleury, that's cool. Macklin Celebrini's over there, local kid, and he's gonna learn the tutelage of Sidney Crosby, that's cool. Scored a night's goal. None of it has got me to watch a second of the tournament. Because it's your nap time. Because it's still the World Hockey Championships.

It's still, this has meant, even though that sounded incredibly disrespectful, this is men is no disrespect to the tournament. But it's always been second fiddle in hockey at the time that it's on. It's always, and you can't watch it while the playoffs are on because it's just sort of played at a. If Canada's in the gold medal game, I'll usually make time to watch that game because it means something. But a lot of those players-

We always talk about stakes, right? We always talk about stakes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think once you get to the gold medal game, and the players will be like, what will they say? Every time you put on that maple leaf, you know, I could bring- and I don't doubt that, but I also know that the players go over there because it's a great experience. A lot of them bring their families.

It's like, you know, Sidney Crosby loves hockey so much. He's kind of like, can we go on a hockey vacation? It's what it kind of is. You know what I mean? Like there's a lot of social aspects to it. They do play hard and they prep like professionals, obviously, but it does sound like a cool experience to go to as a player. There was some unfortunate news though.

Bo Horvat got hurt. Saw that. And had to be sent home and he's got a lower body injury and now he's going to get checked out by the Islanders doctors. So hopefully Horvat's okay. I think, you know, I don't know how the bracket breaks down if they recede or whatever, I don't really understand it, but you know, if Canada, for example, plays Sweden or the States in the gold medal game, I'll probably watch it. But yeah, for me, I don't know, I'm with you, like I need, I need stakes.

I was trying to explain this to the boy the other day, actually, because he asked me, he's like, have you ever been to an All-Star game? And I'm like, yeah. I've been a lot of All-Star games. He was kinda like, isn't that- Brent Burns at an All-Star game. He's like, isn't it amazing?

And I'm like, eh. I was trying to explain to him, and I was like, yeah, it is cool. It is really cool and I hope you get to go to an All-Star game one day. But for me, and I kind of joke, I'm like, I'm old now, boy. And I need meaning behind the games. I need emotional stakes behind the games. And if I don't have that, it's really difficult

for me to get into it. We were at the last really semi-intriguing all-star game. In Nashville? Yeah, in Nashville. Because not only was it the first time that they went full three on three with a sort of noteworthy monetary prize at the end of it, that was also the John Scott all-star game.

And that had a lot of intrigue in it. But the all-star game now moving forward I know we're right up against it for time I'll be very curious to see what the NHL does with this moving forward because I think they've now acknowledged everyone hates it Well, but once you don't everyone what's like it sponsors like it once you did the four You know likes it once you did the four nations the four nations won some award yesterday By the way, like best sports event of the year I don't know who's in charge of you you know, handing these awards or naming them.

Gary Berman. Yeah. Canada came up with the award. It was the runner up in the US. OK, we got to go to break. When we come back, it's the final hour of the program. We're going to talk flag football and the Olympics. Tashawn Reed from the Athletic is going to join us in case you missed it. Flag football is going to be at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and NFL

players are going to participate. What does it look like? What is flag football like as a spectator sport? I want to know more. I am intrigued. So we're going to find out on the other side. We're also going to do what we learn is get yours in Dunbar Lumber text line six 50, six 50. Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports and hashtag it. W W L you are listening to the Halford and Bref show on sportsnet six 50.