Halford & Brough in the Morning - We Need A Hero

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the latest news around a Canucks practice facility (3:00), plus the boys look ahead to tonight's 'Nucks home matchup versus the Nashville Predators (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the somewhat functional Kintech Studios in beautiful Fairview Slokes in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Kind of like the new music here. Good morning. Adol, good morning to you. Good morning. And Ladi, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford in Brup in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no. up front fees. Visit them today at Sands dash trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Pall Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio. Steps strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. Okay, so really quick before we get into everything, some of our operational machines, namely computers, aren't working. This morning. So the show might sound somewhat different than usual. The bumper music coming back from

breaks. We don't have all of our audio at the ready. But it's still Halford and Brough. We are still here until 9 a.m. We have some good news though. What's that? Laddie doesn't have power. So he can't hear you guys so he won't be on air. Oh. Oh. Can you talk right now, Lattie? Or is that not even an option? He doesn't even know what we're saying. Yeah. You can like swear to him and stuff and like make fun of him. He won't know what you're saying. Now we're not going to do that. But we are going to continue the show in its usual fashion, beginning with the Duick Morning. Drive our guest list brought you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30. Adam Crafton is going to join the program. Writer for the Athletic FC. He's been covering the buildup to this year's World Cup from a number of

perspectives, specifically the financial one. Lots to get into there. We'll talk to Adam at 630 this morning. 7 o'clock. Alex Doherty is going to join the program. Preds beat reporter for the Tennessean. The Preds are in town tonight to take on the Canucks 7 o'clock. Rogers Arena. Alex had a pretty harsh takedown of Barry Trots' work at this year's trade deadline in a recent article. We'll get into all that with Alex Dordy. It's 7 o'clock this morning.

7.30, Brady Henderson's going to join the program, our Seahawks insider from ESPN. It has been a busy week of action for the Seahawks as they open free agency. Some notable departures like Kenneth Walker the 3rd, some key re-signings like Rashid. What's next

for the Seahawks? We will ask Brady at 730. clock, it's the Drancer, Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk. As mentioned, Canucks are back in action tonight, 7 o'clock, Rogers Arena. Pre-game coverage starts at 5. Maybe, just maybe, we can get into some practice facility talk with Drancer at 8 a.m. Oh, how exciting. Speaking of 8 a.m.

We're going to be giving away another $250 gift card to Golf Town. Mom, Dad, can we go to Golf Town? We can for the Trade In Days event. That's going on right now. $250 gift card goes to caller number five at 8 a.m. this morning, 604, 280650. That number again, 604-280-0-650. Jason, we're not done there. At 7.30 this morning, we're giving away a pair of tickets to see the Vancouver Giants take on the Victoria Royals. Two days from now, March 14th at the Langley Events Center. Caller number five at 730 this morning, we'll get a pair of tickets to see the Giants and the Royals in two days' time.

We've got a lot to get into on the program. Not even going to run through the guest list in reverse. Without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be.

What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCCSA.ca.ca. We're a baseball show now, specifically a world baseball classic. show now. Shout out to Canada

Baseball. Canada has made it to the quarterfinals of the WBC for the first time in its 20 year history, beating Cuba soundly I might add, 7-2 on Wednesday to set up a quarter-final matchup against Team USA who finished second in their group.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, listen, just the opportunity to beat the Americans. Let's face it, it'll be cool. Yep. You're always the guy that You want the big matchups. Nobody still expects Canada to actually win this thing. So why not see if we can upset the Americans?

Italy beat them. Yeah, it's true. Italy beat everybody. Italy is kind of a wagon. Why do you say wagon in Italian? Yeah. Italy was unbelievable in this. But I was really surprised how comfortable Canada's win over Cuba was.

You know, when they beat Puerto Rico, it was like, okay, well, I don't know if Puerto Rico was throwing their A game because they actually had punched their ticket for real. Yeah. Like for real. And they knew it. And they knew it. And it was correct, unlike the Americans who thought they'd punch their ticket. But they actually hadn't, although they did get through yesterday.

But that game against Cuba, I mean, Cuba is a country that has always advanced at the World Baseball Classic. And they were probably like, oh, we're playing Canada. They never advance at the World Baseball Classic, so we're going to win this. And Canada just took care of business. was a comfortable win. Cuba was not good. Finished with three errors, one for seven with runners in scoring position. The Nailer

boys, Bo and Josh, each drove and runs. Owen Casey, who I like a lot, by the way. Another two RBIs. He's been swinging the bat really well and shout out to the big maple. James Paxton struck out six over two and two-thirds scoreless innings for Canada who finished

a group 3-1. We had some audio. It was a great BC connection. I had audio of Maple Ridge's Tyler O'Neill singing the praises of Ladner's James Paxton, but unfortunately we can't play the audio. But O'Neill was fired up. Paxson looked great in the work that he was able to do. I keep forgetting that they've got such stringent pitch count rules in this tournament.

So you can only go a max 65 in the group stage. Right. And then I think that jumps to 85 and then eventually 95 in the finals. So is that a max per game or okay? It's not like, you know, in Little League rules. Yeah, yeah. It's not like per week. Right.

They're like, Big Maple, you cannot pitch for another week now. No, it's just, it's through the, and they're through the round robin now. Into the quarters. I'm totally putting you on the spot here. I love this. But, you know, you've been following this tournament closer than I have. What is the potential pitching matchup tomorrow when the United States plays Canada in Houston? That's a good question.

I don't know. Okay. Yeah, we were trying to figure it out before the show because it's such a short turnaround now. They finished the group stage yesterday. They get a day off today. and then it begins right away on Friday. And the U.S. and Canada in the prime time game. So it's 8 o'clock Eastern, 5 o'clock Pacific in Houston,

which has been the site of a lot of the USA games already, including the wild game that they had against the Italians, which almost cost them getting through to the quarterfinal stage. And that big game against Mexico, where they won 5'3, they thought they'd punched their ticket, and then lo and behold, they hadn't. So the quarterfinal matchups right now. I'm laughing because I just saw the odds.

US minus 800 in this game. Yeah, it's a super tall order. Also, because of the dynamic that's at play now, the Americans were a little embarrassed with what happened in the group stage. They're going to be locked in now. They're going to be angry, and they're kind of going to be looking for blood

because, quite frankly, what happening against Italy was embarrassing. I know Italy's played really well and Italy finished atop the group. And I'm going to be honest, for as great a story as Canada has been in this, the story of the tournament right now is what Italy is.

done. They've been remarkable. They've put up eight runs of offense in every single game that they've played so far. Anyway, before we move on to the Kinnock stuff, it's the quarter, can you hear me right now? You can't hear me, can you? No, I was talking to Lattie. We were talking about how great these quarterfinal matchups are because all four of them are fantastic. You got Korea and the Dominican Republic and that's going to be in Miami. So you know there's going to be a decidedly pro-Dominican Republic crowd there. I can hear you now.

USA Canada on Friday at 5 o'clock our time and then Saturday, you get Puerto Rico and Italy going in Houston, and then Venezuela and Shohei Otani and the Japanese team. That's a prime time game on Saturday as well in Miami. So the world baseball classic. So this whole thing, by the way, is facing, is kind of set up for Japan and the United States to meet in the final, as you would do. March 17th in Miami. Yeah. But it's been a lot of fun so far, man. Honestly, I've had a blast watching. Well, even the Venezuela, Dominican game yesterday, It had so much electricity to it because the winner of that got to avoid Japan. So even though they were both through the next round, it still had something to it.

And it was a really fun game to watch. And once again, shout out to Canada. I had a couple people on Twitter reach out to me yesterday, and you're like, boy, you sound a lot more optimistic about Canada than you did during the Adnan Verk interview earlier this week, where I think both of us kind of said this would be very quintessentially Canadian if they beat Puerto Rico and then lost to Cuba and the winner takes all game. But they did the business. So good on Ernie Witt,

good on, and specifically the BC contingent on the team with O'Neill and Paxson and Paxon playing a huge role in that game yesterday. Shout out to Canada. Best of luck. Minus 800, you say? Yeah. The Americans are in that game. We'll see.

You never know. You never know. Hey, that's baseball. Means Canada's got a chance. That's baseball. The Vancouver Canucks are reportedly close to a deal for a new practice facility. Now, Rick Dollywall mentioned the Britannia possibility on our show. a couple of weeks ago,

it sounds like it's close to reality, although nothing is official yet. Erfahan Ghaffar reported it for Canucks Army, then Patrick Johnston had a report for the province, everyone reporting the same thing. It should be noted that the Canucks have been close to practice facility deals before, only for something to trip things up

at the very last minute. The city so far has not been willing to share any details. The Britannia Community Center and its renovation and its revitalization has been a topic in this city for a number of years. It will surely be years

before the Canucks can actually move into this new facility in East Van, but hopefully construction gets started sooner rather than later. So honestly, that we can put this topic to bed. It'll be cool to see it, right? I want to see what they build.

and hopefully it'll help the team a little bit. Not to mention, we'll get at least one new rink for minor hockey in this city, which is badly, badly needed at this point. Having Britannia out of the rotation, and then there have been renovations at the Agridome, this is all Vancouver minor hockey that has been affected by this. And then there's the Golden Eyes practice at the Agrodome too. so that's taken away a little bit of ice time at times.

It's been a mess in this city. And, you know, I hope the Canucks will get a little goodwill from this. They can contribute to a community asset, hopefully, right? Like, hopefully this all gets done. Well, it's... Any thoughts on the practice facility or do you want to just move on? No, okay. The practice facility story is, you know, at the same time,

important and also hilarious well it's a shrug of the shoulders because it really only brings them up to par with 31 of the other 32 teams in the national hockey league who already have this facility built and functional

and for daily use for its teams this story is manna from heaven man this is going to be our talking point for the next six months but it can't be no it won't be but it can't be it well yes it will it can't be because you can't really laud anyone for getting on par with the rest of the national hockey.

Congrats on doing the bare minimum. Well, it's not that. It's like, again, everything A-DUC says is wrong. Everything you say is wrong right now. I think we all acknowledge the challenges in building it. Yeah, they're way behind in terms of having this facility. Way behind.

Right? But this should have been, yeah, it should have been done years ago. It should have been done years ago and it wasn't. So now that it's getting done, you can't really give them a huge round of applause for getting it across the line. But you also can't spend a lot of time. what are you going to talk about, like, zoning permits or how they're going to deal with whatever the previous leak that they had at Britannia?

Like, you know, it's got to get done. And then when it gets done, you kind of have to move on to the next piece of business to make them a functional NHL franchise in the sense that they're the only one without a practice facility and they're the worst team in the NHL in the standings. So everything needs to improve. Maybe it'll make it easier for players to get signed. Like UFA is, more inclined to come here. Maybe.

Maybe. It's just, yeah, but. then the other players will be like, you know who else has a practice facility? Everyone else. I will tell you this. There are no free agents that are making the crux of their decision whether or not someone has a practice facility. Because 31 and the 32 teams have them.

So it's kind of a thing you have to have. They might make a decision if you don't have one or if it's a hassle to get to. And I remember, you know, all these suggestions that they could go out into the suburbs for this. And, you know, down in the states, a lot of the practice facilities are in the suburbs. And you know why that is? Because the players live in the suburbs, but they don't here. And I know Jim Rutherford and the Vancouver Canucks had said,

listen, if we put this in, let's say South Burnaby at the, what's it called, is the Mary Brown? Is it or is that the chicken place? Rosemary Brown. Mary Browns is a very thriving chain of fried chicken stores. No, no, which one is it then? Rosemary Brown. Rosemary Brown. Yeah, Mary Brown is the chicken.

Okay, that's the Newfy Chicken place. Rosemary Brown is the newish community center in Burnaby. And I was out there a couple weeks ago. It's beautiful. And I was also like, they can't put the practice facility here. Because the players, you know, they, it's too long a drive. And the traffic in the city is only getting worse. And, you know, I know Jim Rutherford and the Canucksville were like, well, wherever we put the practice.

facility, well, the players will just move there. I'm like, I sure they will. I don't know about that. I don't know about that. We got a programming update. Adam Crafton, who we thought we were going to have on the program at 630, had to bail last minute.

So we're going to have an entire first hour uninterrupted Halbro here on Sportsnet 650. So if you want to start weighing in now on anything, practice facility-wise, Kinex related, we're going to get into a lot of different, pretty interesting comments from yesterday's practice and yesterday's media round up regarding the Vancouver Canucks and culture in the room and everything else. If you want to weigh in, the Dunbar-Lumber Text Line is 650, 650, we can jump into the Dunbar-Lumber Text line in the back half of this hour now that Adam Crafton from The Athletic is no longer going to be able to join us.

What's going on today? Everything is breaking. Is it Friday the 13th? Like, geez, guest canceling. The computers don't work. Did you know that tomorrow was Friday the 13th? Is it actually? Yeah.

Well, today is Thursday the 12th. So logic would suggest. Yeah. Okay. I do want to play some other. We'll have to wait and see, though. Like if we wait up, wake up tomorrow, might be the 14. Yeah, you never know.

You got to just see what happens. It also, I actually really want to talk to Adam about some of the World Cup stuff. I want to know what's going to happen with Iran at the World Cup. Yeah, so their sporting minister said yesterday that they would not be participating in the World Cup. Now, he isn't the final say. Obviously, he's not the head of the Football Association. And obviously, I think FIFA will try and intervene. But that was the messaging yesterday.

and I know that there are contingency plans in place. I think it would be to have the next top qualifier from the region, which I think would be Iraq to go instead. But there's also the qualifiers that still need to be played. So there was some thinking that maybe they could just kick the can further down the road until May when the qualifiers were done and then sort of reassess, but still very much up in the air as to who's going to take that spot in the World Cup. Anyway, for the Vancouver Canucks,

there was some interesting audio yesterday from head coach. Adam Foote. Now in a media scrum on a practice day ahead of today's game against the National Predators, Foote was being asked a lot of questions about what certain veteran players on the team were providing in terms of leadership. It was a fairly innocuous back and forth with reporters. And I think a lot of guys who were running out of things to talk about with this team, we're trying to look at the big picture. So in a rebuild, now that the trade deadline has passed, you still have some veteran players around. How are these veteran players? How are these veteran players going to mold the younger group and the younger generation with regards to what it takes to be a pro

and how the room operates. Adam Foote was asked about Philip Hironic and he took his answer in a very interesting way. The question was pretty basic. What does Hironic mean as a leader to this group? Listen closely to what Adam Foote had to say about Hironic and then the remainder of his teammates and that room in the Vancouver Canucks or the Vancouver Connects dressing room. Here's Adam Foote from yesterday. Well, accountability. I mean, everyone leads different. You know, some do it on the ice and some just have a great practice to have. It's going to be true pros that way.

And he'll, in his own way, when he feels neat, he'll hold guys accountable. And I think he's doing it the right way. We trust him with that. And for me, it's nice to see, you know, a room starting to take care of things themselves, which I think for years was missing here. And, you know, Phil's a big part of that. So it's best. It's nice to see a room starting to take care of things themselves,

which I think for years was missing here and fills a big part of that. That was the quote from head coach Adam Foote. And I just want to point out here that whether it's intentional or not, whether he's doing it on the sly or not, there have been several times this season where Adam Foote is sort of off the cuff mentioned that for years this team has had a culture problem, a leadership problem, and a room problem.

And he mentioned it before in the context of during games, when the team would allow a goal or things would not go their way, it's the veterans who would get defeated first. Yes. And he doesn't do it in a really sort of pointed way. Like I can't imagine that any of this was planned. He's like, you there, reporter, ask me about Hieronics. So I can take off on a spiel about how the room hasn't been great for years.

Yeah. And of course, remember that Adam, while he wasn't the head coach the last couple of seasons. He was on Rick Tocke's staff. So he knows the room. He's not new to the organization. He knows everything that's gone on. So for a coach that for the majority of his time in Vancouver

has been not all that critical of the team. He's been, you know, I'd say overwhelmingly positive, given how bad the year has been. I do find it interesting that he continues to point this out. When someone who just, generally skews positive or optimistic, says these sorts of things. I think they carry more weight. And I think what Adam Foote has really noticed,

since the moment he got hired as the head coach, is that something was off with this group. You know, there was so much talk made right around the time of his hire, how Foote was going to come in, and there was going to be a new vibe. There was going to be a new energy. There was going to be a new approach with the leadership group now that the PD& Miller situation had been,

rectified. Remember there was the golf match that Foot had set up in the off season with all the leaders on the team. Demko, Hughes, and Pedersen. And Foote talked a lot about... Do we consider any of them leaders now? No. And you got to... I mean, Demco, it's hard when you're always recovering

from an injury and you're not around as much. Hughes is gone. And I think the ship has just kind of sailed on Pedersen being a leader. I just don't think anyone considers them that, including any of the coaches or teammates, whenever Foote's asked about who is leadership, whose leaders are, you know, even in an offhand way,

Pedersen certainly doesn't come up. Well, so for example, the P.D. Miller Rift, when Adam Foote says that it's nice that the room is starting to take care of things themselves, you can kind of point directly to that moment and at the very least infer that the guys around Pedy and Miller weren't able to solve that situation. It was very clear that they didn't have the kind of room where a coach could say,

I'm leaving, I'm locking the door, and I'm not unlocking it until this gets sorted out. And it comes back in. Why is Peterson in the locker? Who's dead? And we joke, but. Yeah, we joke, but there are teams where that has been done before. There was a very famous anecdote about the Los Angeles Kings under Daryl Sutter where they did the inverse. They locked Daryl out of the room.

put a garbage can up against the door and they're like, get out of here, you're making it worse, we'll figure this out ourselves. And that's what you get when you've got a team with, one, a lot of guys that have won and know what it takes to win. And then two, veteran presence is that, and here's the key, they know what they can say,

and it's usually most things, and they're comfortable saying things, knowing that there's not going to be like hurt feelings or blowback or residual effects. Like, everyone acts like a grown-up. And if you need to have the hard conversations and say the hard things, you can say it because the room is tight enough and the guys are tight enough that nothing said to one another is going to bring everybody down.

And it's not going to fracture the room. And I really wonder, I really wonder if the cuts have gone even close to it deep enough with this team as they enter the rebuild. Because I said at the deadline, after they traded Connor Garland, and there were so many people online arguing about, did they get enough? was the return bountiful enough for Connor Garland? My response was that should not be your focus right now.

Asset value has actually taken a backseat for me in my thinking. Slightly. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to see them do like the free car giveaway or whatever. Like you need to get assets. I'd be okay with a certain player if they don't have to retain doing a free car giveaway. And I think that that might go for me. Put it in H.

Maybe more than one. Yeah. Because if you're going to get rid of organizational rot, and it's fair to throw that term around. If the head coach is continuously pointing out the flaws of the chemistry and camaraderie in the room, then you have to go deep. It has to cut deep.

If you use the renovation analogy, like you're ripping it back to the studs and if you're finding rot, you've got to go even deeper. So Adam Crafton couldn't make our show today. So we'll hopefully have them back another time. But that means we've got an open segment on the other side. And there's a lot more to get to on this culture.

issue because both Patrick Johnston and Ian McIntyre of Sportsnet wrote on this topic. Ian's topic was solely based on Brock Besser, but the culture thing came up. And we'll go over some of those articles on the other side, and we'll also dip into the Dunbar Lumber text line and hear your thoughts and anything you want to talk about, because we got an open segment text in, Dunbar Lumber Text Line, 650, 650. We should also talk about this Nick Schmolt signing and what free agency is going to look like this off season, not just for the Canucks, but for the rest of the NHL.

You're listening to The Halford-Imbrough show on SportsNet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. 631 on a Thursday, no matter how many technical difficulties we face the Halford and Brough Show. We will always make sure that thrash Thursday arrives. Brough is thrilled. Thrill, I tell you. You are listening to the Halford and Brubb Show on Sportsnet 650.

Halfford and Brub of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Are you getting collection calls? If you are, Sands and Associates could cut your death by up to 80% and stop those calls. This is them today at Sands.com. We're an hour one of the program. Uninterrupted hour of Halbro here to kick off the show. Hour 1 is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. So I mentioned the articles that were written by Patrick Johnston of the province and Ian McIntyre are very own Ian McIntyre, and you can read that up, uh, Sportsnet.com. Um, both of them had a culture angle. And apparently, on a flight home from Winnipeg, I guess that was last weekend,

Philip Hronick and Teddy Blugher came up to Max Sasson and said... Give me your milk money. Yeah. And then after that, they were like, hey, it sounds like you guys had a pretty good culture on that Abbotsford team.

How'd you do that? The same Abbotsford team that won the Calder Cup last year. Yeah. So they had a conversation. on that. And that also tells you, by the way, Philip Peronik and Teddy Bluger, two of the leadership group, I would say right now, and Teddy Bluger wasn't traded at the deadline. And people were like,

you couldn't find anything for him. And my theory on that is that they felt that if they traded him way, he wouldn't come back. Fair. So they kept him. You know, I'm sure, I'm sure, you know, if they'd met the Canucks price, you know, got a third round pick or something, that they probably would have strongly considered trading him. But, you know, I don't buy that they couldn't have gotten a sixth round pick for him. At any rate, he's still here. And I assume they'll re-sign him and that he'll be part of the leadership group next season. That's why he's making these big investments into the room.

Brock Besser is another guy who was chatting a lot yesterday with reporters, including Ian McIntyre. and he said, I feel like I'm really trying to focus on trying to set a culture. We are restarting again. We talked about culture two years ago, and I thought we did a good job. And then last year was chaos. And now we're resetting again. Us older guys had talks once the trade deadline passed, and we're really focused in on that. I feel like we've set some good stuff to build on.

right now. There was more good stuff in both those articles. I encourage you to read it. You know, another part than this was in Pige's article. Besser was talking about you don't have to be an older guy to talk and communicate. We need communication. We need guys getting into the game and being loud and positive. We don't need negative energy.

We talk about how even young guys that are uncomfortable, it's okay to speak up. When I was young, some days you would show up to practice and you're like, I don't got it. But that's part of maturing, growing up. So anyway, there's good comments on that. But clearly, clearly right now, either the players have taken it upon themselves or they've been told, we got to fix this culture. And some of the young guys are being drawn into this. and they're being asked even for their advice

because they did have a good thing in Abbotsford last season. I mean, I'm laughing at some of the possible conversations that, you know, Max Sasson could have with some of these guys like, what was the key to the culture? He's like Sammy Blay. One of the keys to the culture was not having two of our leaders fighting with each other.

That probably didn't happen in Abbotson. We functioned as a show with our two leaders that always fight with each other. Why didn't connect? We fight less now than we used to. But we used to thrive on that energy. Some call it toxic energy. We just call it regular energy.

But it's a little, not to break down the dynamic of the show, but it's a lot different when it's just two individuals as opposed to an entire room. Because I have to sometimes hold Halford accountable. But here's the thing. Nobody ever has to choose between like one side or the other. That's what, no, you guys. I mean, Adog do? No, you don't.

We both have our favorites. Wait, do you? We're not going to tell you. I think a big part of the Pedersen Miller thing was that whether guys knew it or not or consciously or not, you kind of tend to align with one guy or the other, even when you don't consciously choose someone. You know, it's like it becomes awkward and uncomfortable because like everyone's been in a workplace or some of you have probably been on a team where there's factions and there's groups. It happens in every level of schooling from elementary all the way

The high school and university There's cliques and there's all that stuff And that does happen on certain teams And there's certain unspoken rules that come into play And there's certain guys that you feel comfortable talking around And there's certain guys that you don't There's certain guys that you'd be willing to say something to And then there's certain guys you stay away from

Because it's not even so much that you're worried about How your words are going to be interpreted It's that you don't know how they're going to be into it's the unknown Right? Yeah. So you just don't say anything. What kind of mood is this guy in today? You don't say anything for fear of saying the wrong thing.

You don't, you know, and it can be the smallest little grievance because we're talking about the few hallowed sanctums of professional athletes, the plane, the room, the places where only the players are allowed to go. That's where the real conversations happen and everything. And oftentimes, it can get heated. Role players, young players, fringe players, those guys. often don't have a big say in what goes on, which is why something as simple as asking Max Sasson what he experienced in Abbotsford. Maybe it's a gesture and not really like anything more than that.

But that kind of stuff does matter because eventually everyone needs to be pulling the rope in the same direction. That's the end game with building a culture. Is that you try and get buy-in from as many players as you can. And in the rare instances, everyone's pulling the rope in the same direction. Okay, we got a text in here. And when we talk about culture, there's one guy that still comes up a lot.

And this is not me bringing it up. This is the text inbox. And I think it's a huge decision that the Canucks have to make. Unsigned text reads, I was all aboard the trade PD train until I realized the Canucks could be drafting Stenberg or McKenna, who are both wingers. Who will they play with? There are no centers in the system to take over a number one. role. And like Garland, PD plays better when there is talent on his line. There is no rush to dump every vet until there are placements ready to take over. I responded to him, who doesn't

play better with talent on their line? And he said, culture is so overblown in sports. The only culture is winning. Win and culture is good. Lose and culture is bad. I challenge you to go to any team that has won and say, culture is overblown in sports. or disagree, those people will say strong disagree. Why do you think Cory Perry keeps going to teams that end up winning the Stanley Cup? Losing the Stanley Cup.

Yeah, well, going to the Stanley Cup final at the very least, right? Like, you know, he's a big part of culture and winning, and your culture is made up of quality individuals. And, listen, you don't have to be you don't have to be

like an angel or frankly, you don't have to be like a great person in order to be part of a strong culture. You just have to do what's best for the team. And that is be part of the team and also just work hard and take care of your job, right? Take care of the things you have to take care of. You know, there's sometimes people think, well,

you know, a quote unquote bad person can't be a hard work. That's not true. Like you could be the hardest worker in the world and still like not be a very nice person. Yeah. Right. And those are the types of people that can sometimes be on as part of a winning culture. You know, it's not, it's not a, it's not black and white.

You could also be a very nice person and not work very hard, you know, and have, and have your weaknesses. You can have, you could be a teammate that people really like. He's like, I like the guy. He needs to work harder though. Yeah. You know, because, and then, and then it becomes. problematic. It's very complicated because it involves human beings and we are very complex, sometimes ridiculous members of this planet. But my thought on this is very straightforward.

And I love what Besser said there in the two different articles about how he wants to be a part of rebuilding the culture and everything. But my opinion will remain unchanged. They need to move on from all of these guys that have been here for the last five to 10 years or as many as they can. I love that they're enamored with Philip Hironix leadership capabilities. I also think that it was a miss not to try and move him at this year's deadline or try to move him at the draft or around July 1st for free agency to try and take advantage of a soft market that doesn't have a lot of high-end, right-handed shooting defensemen on it.

This team, I don't know how many more times individuals involved with this team need to say that this is not a good group. great guys individually, some great players in there, but collectively it's a bad group. And they can be tight, you know, they can be good friends. But they all just need to go somewhere else. If you're going to do a fresh start,

do a fresh start. Do it earnestly and honestly and as thorough as you can. Cut it right back to the studs. If McKenna doesn't have a center to play with in his first year in the NHL, be bad enough so you can draft one for a second year in the NHL and build that way, right? there's not a lot of first overall picks

that jump into the NHL and have success right away pal whoever this textor is like you're not going to win anyway having a good center like and I'm using air quotes like PD with McKenna or just having a run of the mill center like PD with McKenna whatever the case you're not going to win a lot of games

in his first year anyway it doesn't work like that so you're not going to get the winning equals culture thing right away anyway what you're going to get is bringing in guys that aren't jaded from the past and don't have the stains of two previous regimes and the Pedersen Miller feud and Hughes wanting out, look at these guys across the NHL right now that have played in Vancouver

the last two years that are thriving elsewhere. And it's because they got a second chance, second lease on life. Apply that to more guys and just understand that you are in a process that is going to take a long, long time. It takes a long time to build culture. It takes a long time to accumulate the right assets. It takes a long time to figure out how to win. It's obviously not happening this year,

and it's not going to happen next year either. And quite frankly, it's probably not going to happen the year after that either. If you look at how the really successful rebuilds have gone in the NHL, they start from scratch, they build up a group together, that group grows together, and then hopefully when you're ready to step on the gas,

you do it at the right time. And it's a five-year plan, right? So the start of it is get rid of everything, that's bad and get rid of everything from the previous regime. Yeah. Right. It's why they don't let general managers and coaches, you know, inherit messes. And a general manager comes in.

He usually tries to, you know, fix his predecessor's errors or he tries to wipe the slate clean or that's not my guy. That's not my coach. I didn't hire that guy. I didn't draft that guy. I want to start fresh, right? I'm sure you can apply this to countless businesses and, you know, executive corporate takeovers where they just got the entire thing.

It's cold and it's callous. but that's how you start. You start fresh. You know what I mean? The scars from the previous regime. I do think the challenge for the Canucks as opposed to, say, the Montreal Canadians, is that they don't have, you know, you say these things start from scratch, not all the time, right? Sometimes there are some leftover good pieces.

Sure. And for all that Kent Hughes, all the good stuff that he's done as general manager, he was lucky enough to inherit Nick Suzuki, who is the tank. But I think Nick Suzuki, sure. I'm not talking about talent here. I'm talking about, like, I don't know as much about Coffield as a leader, but much has been written about Nick Suzuki as a guy that just gets it and he embraces the responsibilities of being captain of the Montreal Canadiens.

And there's probably a lot of things. Like you have to be, you know, respectful of the past. and understand the history of the franchise. But he seems to just do that naturally, and he wants to do it. And apparently he's good with everyone, like good with people, knows everyone at the building,

is good with them. And that's the type of, and he's also a really good hockey player. Very good hockey player. You know? And the Canucks, I guess they've got Hironic. Is he going to be their Nick Suzuki?

I don't know. I don't know if he is if he's up for that but we'll see I guess because they're not going to trade them despite all the people that think that they should including you Halford and I understand why you say it right I understand it I even I even have I even have time for the conversation but you know oftentimes it just starts with with with one guy and that guy has to be really special and the con of that guy and I I remember they don't. No, not at all.

But as a kid, as a kid, you know, the connects were terrible in the 80s. And they were just kind of lost. Like Stan Spiel was still there for a lot of it, but he was getting a little bit older. And then they drafted Trevor Linden at the same time, around the same time as Pat Quinn came in. So that, in my opinion, at least, was two special individuals. Trevor Linden had qualities about him. He was a really good hockey player. I mean, he was the second overall pick.

He was a very good player for a youngster. And then Pat Quinn came in, and he just had a presence and a command. And he knew what he was doing. And then they grew from there. You know, adding Pavel Burry, talent, but maybe not a leader, was a big part of that. And then they grew from that. And they nearly won a Stanley Cup with that group. But they were lost.

They were lost until they drafted. Trevor Linden, who's not a Hall of Famer, you know, but he was that guy that you could be like, okay, we can get behind him. And he can lead and he can handle this. Right now, I don't know if the Canucks have one of those guys. And that's really, really, really difficult position to be in when you compare it to a team like the Montreal Canadiens.

But you need to get those guys. I know. If you don't have it, you shouldn't try and force your way into it. For example, do you know how the Montreal Canadians got Nick Suzuki? In a trade. They didn't draft them. Well, they traded him from Max Patrick Reddy. Max Petcheretti.

They traded Max Petcheretti at the height of his, and maybe even on the downward slope, but when he was a valuable commodity, a guy that would fetch you a lot in return. The Canucks have one of those. His name is Philip Horonick. You could go and you could, if you want to talk about an acceleration part, you should be dangling him right now. Heronix is 28 years old. By the time this thing turns around, he's going to be 33.

And you're going to have burned through five of the seven years of his deal with a team that didn't make the playoffs and wasn't even particularly close to them. Might he provide a nice mentor for the youngsters? Yes, but you know what else he could do if you moved away? He could get the youngsters in that someone else could mentor. He accelerates your rebuild because he gives you some building block. It quite frankly, they do not have right now.

It's a very challenging position that the Canucks are in because they are asset poor. And all the people that yelled about asset management, asset management throughout the years, this is the product of it. I know, you trade away your draft picks. And people would say, well, to what end? What's this going to do? You're going to win a Stanley Cup? You're not really close to a Stanley Cup. And they never came close.

And eventually, you know, you bleed these assets enough. bleed draft picks enough and then you have your own sort of asset destruction which comes with feuds or signing players to contracts that create negative value

and this is where you end up where you're in this very very tough situation where let's admit it here we're all essentially like what was the song called we're waiting for Trevor Linden we're waiting for a Pat Quinn type to rescue this team.

Yep. Maybe it can be Gavin McKenna, possibly. Well, they have a bunch of young guys that will be their leadership core and they look like they'll be good leaders, but they're several years off from being that, right? Adog, do any of them... Are any of them... William, Vellander, Coutts, maybe,

and then if they are lucky enough to get a guy like McKenna. So there's like three or four guys that you could see being their leadership core, you know, in a few years, four years, five years from now, but you don't have anyone right now. The only problem with that is, I don't know what all those guys are going to end up being as NHL players. No. But I'm just saying like if you were to try and target guys on the team now that you're like, yeah, I could see that.

Like Coots might be a really good player, but he also might top out as being like a 3C in the NHL. But I'm just talking about as your leadership core. Like the core group of players, good or not, just the guys that everyone comes to in the room that sort of like sets the standard. Sure. But in the modern NHL, like your leaders have to be elite players now. I'm convinced of that. Like there's very few teams where the leadership group is comprised of like,

roll guys. You know what I mean? Like what brush talking about? You need a guy. A special. You mean a hero. You need a hero. Seriously.

You do. We do in the skin. We do. Say in. You need. You do. This team is waiting on a hero. Yeah.

I know. They are. I mean, it sounds so funny when you're not singing it. But yeah, no, it's to that point. Yeah. Like, Zeeb Bouillon could end up being a really good quality NHL defenseman. He could end up being like a just. offensive defenseman.

We just don't know. You don't know with any of these guys. And I know some people in the inbox are saying, well, Coots seems like he fits the profile. I'm like, he sure does. But here's the thing. It just might not work out. There have been much higher end picks

than Braden Coots, who everyone thought was going to hit in the NHL that just don't. And it's not necessarily the player's fault. They're working their ass off. They're trying to be it. Some guys make it and some guys don't. It all goes back to the original thing. The ethos

of this, which is get a million prospects and talented guys in the door. And don't count on one or two to make your team and don't rush it and don't force it. And see who takes the leadership role in it and embraces it. These things cannot be anointed. And I feel like one of the things that the Canucks did with a guy like Pedersen is they almost like forced them into a leadership role just because he was a good player. Yep. I think some validity to that. And it's like he's not that guy. You can't force it.

There are people that want to lead. There are people that go into the room, and even if they're young, they want to speak up. They have that confidence in themselves. Some of them are control freaks. And they just want to lead. And those are the guys, not necessarily the control freaks, but those are the guys that should be your leaders, the ones who want it, the ones who want to stand up

and talk to their teammates, the ones who, you know, want to set an example for everyone else. That's what you need. Okay, we've got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Coming up on the other side of the break, Alex Doherty,

Preds beat reporter for the Tennessean is going to join the program. A reminder of the Preds are in town to take on the Canucks tonight, 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena. Alex had a pretty harsh takedown of Barry Trotz's work at this year's trade deadline in a recent article he wrote for the Tennessean.

This was also, of course, Barry Trots' last ever trade deadline is the general manager of the Nashville Predators. It's an interesting team. They're still right in the thick of the playoff chase in the Western Conference. But it was a very odd deadline. So there's lots to talk about with Alex Doherty.

That's coming up at 7 o'clock. And then at 7.30, we're going to shift our attention to the National Football League, specifically the Seattle Seahawks. Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. It's been a very busy week for the Seahawks, yet they haven't really made any huge splashes in free agency. They lost some key guys, including Kenneth Walker III.

They re-signed some of their key guys, but they haven't really gone shopping on the open market yet, and there's still no clear idea what they're going to do at the running back position. So we'll talk to Brady Henderson about that at 7.30. 8 o'clock hour, Drancer is going to join us for some Canucks talk. and then at 8.30 we're going to do what we learns. That's a reminder. Get your what we learns in now. Dunbar Limer Textline is 650, 650.

Tell us, what did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Let us know, hashtag at WWL. At 830 this morning, it's your chance to be on the radio. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.