Halford & Brough in the Morning - "We Need Better Players"

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason look at the NHL teams most likely to make big moves this off-season (3:00), they preview the start of the Vancouver Warriors' playoffs with Head Coach & General Manager Curt Malawsky (25:45), plus they're joined by Vancouver Rise FC Sporting Director Stephanie Labbé (38:57), as their season kicks off tonight at Swangard. 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.

a Friday. Fiesta Friday here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Good music this morning, Laddie. You like this one? Yeah, people are really enjoying the Fiesta Friday music. I think it's partly due to the weather. You see the forecast? Have we had in April like this? This is crazy.

It's been pretty great. This is awesome. Yeah, I'm liking it a lot. Slow pitch starts this week. Yep. Great slow pitch weather. Usually it's brainy and gross. Yeah.

It's been awesome. Did you call it brainy? Rainy and gross. gross. What's a brainy? Okay, we got a lot to get into here.

Before we do, we need to take care of some business. We are now an hour two of the program. Of course, Halford and Breath of the morning brought to you by Sands

and Associates. They're open seven days a week and they're open late to help you get debt free. With no judgment or upfront fees, visit them today at Sands. That's trustee.com. Hour two of the program

brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. Dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit online at jason. mortgage. Okay, a couple of the other

games from last night, which we have not spoken about, but we should the Buffalo Sabres. My, I think I'm solo on this, right? I'm the only one that adopted them. My Buffalo Sabres with a big three one win in Boston over the Bruins last night to take a 2-1 series lead

story in this one. A couple of very savvy lineup moves from the old head coach Lindy Ruff. The biggest one, of course, is putting Alex Lyon and net, place of Ukapakalukinen. 24 saves on 25 shots for Lion in the win. He didn't stop a penalty shot, but he didn't allow a goal on the penalty shot from Victor Arvinson. So that was important. But also getting Noah Osslin back in the lineup. Now, this was a bit of a... He's a good little

player, isn't he? He is. And this wasn't really like a savvy move. Like Norris got hurt. They needed to find a replacement. Austin's a good playmaker. He's highly thought of. He was hurt. But anyway, he comes back in, goal and an assist. the Sabres now have a 2-1 lead. Despite the fact, Jason, Buffalo hasn't played that great in this series. You know, they've trailed for a lot of it. I have two thoughts.

Okay. First of all, Noah Osslin was taken one pick after Jonathan Lechromackie. Correct. And I remember him being one of the guys that was under consideration. He's a nice playmaker. And he made a nice play on that. empty net goal, like good hustle, good body position. But the other thing that I want to say is,

other than that incredible Sabres comeback in game one, has this series been kind of a dead? Like, in terms of watch, in terms of like the game action. Last night was a dull game. Yeah. I watch a whole thing. Not a lot. So you watch that and I watched the Ottawa, Carolina,

because I quite enjoyed Ottawa, Carolina. I just felt like there were some good narratives at playoff. like, okay, Kachuk, Stoza, let's get going. Like, you know, the 5 on 3 power play was not good, but it was interesting to watch. And anytime I flipped over to Boston and Buffalo

was kind of like, yeah, the game's going on. Like Buffalo hasn't... Maybe I'm just not that investor. No, it's not... Buffalo hasn't played that well and they lead this series to one. Consider last night, okay? Third straight game, Sabers law of the first goal and trail. Sabers have trailed for a ton in this series, despite the fact that they're up to 1.

Sabers, get this. 35 straight power plays without a goal dating back to the regular season. So that's a bad statistic. It's shocking that that's in place. And then finally, Buffalo takes four minor penalties last night, including two in the third period. They also gave away a penalty shot.

So nothing's really clicking for them, but they've managed to scratch and claw out a two one lead. And here's the thing. Everyone's said going into the series that the biggest, difference between the two teams was probably in net because Swamen had a bigger profile, a bigger resume, played in the playoffs before.

They thought that whoever the Sabres were going to have in net, Swamen would be a big decided advantage. It hasn't really played out that way. Like Swamen's been good. Yeah. But Pekeleukin and just only had the one bad game. Other than that, they've had two pretty good games of goaltending. And lo and behold, you know who's been really good for the

Sabers? Bowen Byron has been excellent in this series. He scored again last night. He's now he's got two goals in the series and he's been a big ad for them and it's funny when you watch Buffalo play you see the fruits of not making the playoffs

for 14 years because there's so much talent all over the place. It's crazy. Because they've been stockpiling players like you're like oh yeah Bo Byram. They're even playing against players that they drafted like middle stats on Boston. I remember him. That guy. We got AJ on the line. We got to talk to AJ

because it's it. Okay, good. It is Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Brough show. Let's go to the ABLE Auctions hotline now. AJ joins us. Thank you for patiently waiting on hold, AJ. How you doing? That was good. That's okay. How's everybody? Fiesta Fridays, right? Fiesta Friday and Ask Us Anything Friday.

And I know you haven't asked us anything for us. And I think Jason was alluding to this while we were talking about the downer that maybe has been the Sabres and Bruins so far. What's your ask us anything, dude? I just, is it me or it's just like the whole first round? Like, I don't know, almost like a dud. Okay. Well, there's a bunch of series that could be sweeps.

Yeah. Are there three series right now that are three nothing? So the two that went three nothing last night. I know you've liked Ottawa and Carolina, but competitively. Tampa Bay, Montreal has been good. Anaheim Edmonton, I think, has been interesting in that the docs managed to steal one in Edmonton. But Colorado, L.A., every time I've flipped to that game, I'm like, nope. Yeah.

Like what else is on? Yeah. It's just like, oh, Will Ferrell's there. is that the most exciting thing? Yeah. And then Dallas and Minnesota's never really captured the imagination. I think for a lot of people it has. Maybe not for us.

I'd put that in the kind of like medium category. But I know the NHL is not going to be pleased if three of the eight series are sweeps. And they could be at this point. So I have a follow up. I have a follow up. Ask us anything for, it's a specific question. But for AJ. So you guys. guys have turned into a Habs bar.

I was gifted some video of the vibes going in. Now, what are you expecting tonight? Because you're a Habs bar and the Habs, this series goes back to Montreal and it should be Bedlam tonight. I think it's going to be rocking tonight. I think it's going to be rocking at AJ's,

but obviously happy jerseys and heavy hats and scarves. And, you know, you get a bonus. So walk us through the weekend here at AJ's. It's another great sports weekend in the spring. We got NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs. What can folks, aside from dawning some HABS gear to get free stuff, what can fans expect this? You got a happy hour all day Sunday, which is great.

And then, you know, another reminder, it's, you know, between 2 and 5.30, Friday and Saturday. So, yeah, come down, enjoy some sports. Go walk, and the weather is beautiful. And, of course, drink some beer and eat some pizza. AJ, thanks for doing this, bud. We appreciate it. Sir, for keep you on hold so long. That's all right.

Take care. Bye. See, buddy. AJ from AJ's Pita on his Broadway here on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. And I should remind everyone that we were coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Step Strong with Arthotics and footwear from Kintech. Halford, you were so excited to get into last night's NHL action that... Well, now here comes the downer because I have to mention that the abs did push the Kings to the brink with a 4-2 win yesterday.

I've tried to watch that series. Here's my takeaway. L.A. stinks. They don't stink. L.A. Stinks. You know who was bad last night? And I hate saying this because I have a lot of respect for him. Copi? Minus three last night.

Yeah, I mean, Copi is. This is but it's, look, Copi is Copi old. The reason I said the King Stink is this thing is, this is an awful sendoff for Copithar what they've done this year. I was thinking that too. They've been very underwhelming all year. I mean, they got into the playoffs. That was kind of their victory. In the fellow fight.

Yeah, but if you look at their, I mean, do they have the worst goal differential of all the, of all the playoff teams? They overtimed and shoot out. their way to the playoffs. They're not a good team. They're not entertaining to watch. Minus 22 is their goal differential. I don't know where they would have been without Panarin, because Panarin's done as much as he possibly could for them

and kind of dragged and willed them into the playoffs. They have like three guys going. And it's Kempe at times, although he's been more like an agitator in the playoffs. Byfield's been good. I'll give him credit. And Panarin. Other than that, this organization is floundering.

Now, I'm going to, you know, backburner this. this for a sec. We will get back to the Kings because the other thing that happened yesterday was that Detroit Red Wings General Manager Steve Eisenman finally met with the media for their end of year media availability.

A lot of people were waiting on this one because of the Red Wings collapsed down the stretch. Remember they lost their final game of the year 8-1 to Florida and Tom McClellan rip the team. Took a while for old Stevie Y to get in front of the media, eh? And he finally did it yesterday. And the first question he was asked was what

the team needs to do to improve. and snap what is now the NHL's longest active playoff drought. And Iserman was pretty blunt and pretty candid. And what he had to say, Jordan's got the clip here. Here's Steve Iserman telling the assembled media what his team needs to be better next season. Well, the most obvious would be, you know, we need better players. You know, we need to improve specifically in certain areas. We can talk about goal scoring.

We need to improve in that area, particularly five-on-five. collectively, if you're watching the playoffs, and I'm assuming and I'm hoping our players are, to play with the intensity and determination needed to be successful to make the playoffs and get there. But ultimately, it's incumbent upon me and my staff to improve the team. Now, when you say the most obvious answer to our problem is that we need better players,

it opens you up to a wide range of follow-up questions. Yeah, like, how are you going to do that? Yeah, and why have you not thought about this prior to missing the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons? And also no duh. That's a comment. That's a comment. Oh, you need better players. Oh, that's it. I was shocked that he said that, to be honest.

Because it almost felt like there was a deflection. Like, well, it's not my fault. We're not making the playoffs. We need better players. Yeah. And then whose job is that to get to the players? You open yourself up to a scene. And he was in the, they were at the podium for close to 40 minutes, him and McClellan yesterday, fielding all kinds of questions.

I think he had some long meetings with ownership there too. There was a question about his job security. And he said, look, the Illich family is disappointed. They're not happy with the way things are right now. By the way, I enjoy that every time an exec goes up there and speaks or anytime there's a conversation about a team needing to get better. this offseason, Canucks fans are chiming in on social media. Can I interest to you in an Elias Pedersen? I mean, my...

So which teams are really under the gun to improve this offseason? Detroit. Well, Detroit. Yep. I mean, I think L.A. is going to need to address the departure of Copatara. Yep. We've talked about that being a potential destination for Elias Pedersen. They are not rebuilding there.

They just acquired Rettemian and... Ken Holland, their GM said, we're not rebuilding there. Okay, Detroit, L.A. Seattle. 100% is a team that is going to be aggressive this offseason if they know how. They're going to try. I mean, they tried to get Panarin failed. So they've gone up there and they're under the gun from ownership.

Maybe that's why they're bringing in Patrick Alvin. It's to get more aggressive. He can work the phones again. Patrick, I heard you know how to work the phones. You're on the most aggressive scouting mission you've ever been on. Imagine Alvin, Alvin's making calls. He's like, Patrick Alvin, again, still looking for a center, but this time for Seattle. Could you imagine if they were like, Patrick, tell us about Elias Pedersen?

He's like, oh. Can you imagine? Where do I start? If Alvin goes to Seattle, I don't think Petey's going to. Welcome, Alvian. Welcome, Patrick. Just heads up, we do need a number one C. And it's like a thousand yard stair can zoom's on an Alvin.

Yeah. Okay. So, and then a few. Detroit, L.A., Seattle. I think those are the, those are honestly the most obvious ones. and then ones that I have questions about are Winnipeg because of Connor Helibuck's comments. I don't think I would have even,

I don't even think I would have thought about Winnipeg. Hellebuck put them near the top of the list. Yeah, yeah. By virtue of his comments, you kind of have to do one of two things now. You either have to placate your best player, Helibuck, and make some improvements, or you got to trade them.

Or trade them to Edmonton. Yeah, seriously. And then a couple more Columbus after their, God, how didn't even his life? like collapse post-resurgence, post-bad season? Yeah. Like, where are they right now? And, you know, how much pressure is on them to improve this off-season?

It's Columbus, so whatever. And then the final one that I just don't know about because they don't have a general manager yet is Toronto. But what are they going to do this off-season? Is the new GM going to be allowed a one-year... retool or, you know, what's Austin Matthews going to say to the new general manager? And what's William Neelander going to say to the new general manager? So I think there's just a lot of uncertainty as to what Toronto's plan this offseason is going to be. What is Toronto doing, by the way?

That GM search seems awfully strange. But it sounds now like Mike Gillis from a bunch of reports is not a strong candidate. Isn't the outside looking at that sounds like when you're, you know, kind of judging the speculation. which is what we admittedly do on this show a lot, that Mike Gillis was, you know, maybe going to get that job. And it did make sense, right? Because Keith Pelly said that he wanted, you know, a data-focused GM.

And Gillis is certainly open to all sorts of, you know, scientific analysis, statistical analysis. And he's a thinker like that. And also the Toronto Maple Leafs are maybe one of a few teams, out there that could provide or would provide a guy like Mike Gillis with the resources that he needs outside of player salaries and he needs he needs a lot and he said like listen I'm not going to go to a team that's not going to provide me those resources not in those exact words but you can read between the lines you know now there's there's talk that it could be John Chica

so that is who is a controversial figure in the analytics community because he paints himself as a numbers guy, but a lot of the analytics guys are like, I don't know if you really are. I don't know if you're one of us. Wasn't part of the controversy there that his data wasn't like readily and publicly available

and no one really knew got to take that look behind the curtain or how the sausage was made and they were doubting, I guess maybe the validity or the accuracy of some of the data. Also, I haven't thought about John Shaker in a minute. Did you know that he is,

a he's a Wendy's franchisee. That's one of the things he's been doing. He's running some Wendy's? Like 12 of them. Nice.

Yeah. Really? Yeah, he was doing like consulting work. Now, don't quote me on this, but I'm almost going to Gus Fring. Yeah. No one would have seen it coming

except for the brain scans he was doing. So he's part of a larger conglomerate. that I think accumulates fast food franchise. Okay. I can't remember with a group. It's like a JKG group or something like that. But yeah, he's a Wendy's franchisee.

Nice. Yeah. I mean, he was always an interesting character in the sense that his interest expanded and extended beyond just doing hockey stuff, right? He was sort of like considered the Wonder Kid and this brainchild and everything. And he had a lot of other things. Loves cheeseburgers too.

And he loves a burger, right? How can you blame him? Also, Scott White is expected to be still in the running for that Maple Leaf's job. He's the assistant general manager under Jim Nill and Dallas. Okay. Let's do some Ask Us Anythings. Sure. And Jason, the killer goalie, following up on this Wendy's conversation, ask us anything.

If you could have one not healthy food be extremely healthy, which one food would you choose? Oh, easy. Okay, calm down just for a second, all right? Easy. Okay. So I think this is a food that you're going to want to have to eat a lot of, right? It won't be, you know, one of those foods. You're like, I really like this, but only once a month, right?

This is going to be a daily food. And, A Dog, what would you choose? Ice cream? Chocolate. Chocolate. Yeah, like, if chocolate was, like, super healthy for you, oh, man, that'd be a game changer. You'd look better.

Oh, a lot better. A lot better. I think it would be ice cream for me. Yeah, well, sure. Ice cream's up there, yeah. Yeah, because I could eat. every time I eat ice cream like you know those little

those little hog and dust things they give you you're like I shouldn't eat all of this but I easily easily could it's a challenge yeah it's one of those it's one of those things where I'm going to leave just a little bit in there to tell myself that I didn't just eat the entire hog and das

the whole thing but like I'll just that is a single serving ice cream right there right that is single serving if you don't finish the whole thing that there's something wrong. Especially if you're eating out of it. You know, like if you put some in a bowl, right, you can be like, okay, I'm going to only have that.

But if you're, you know, like me, I'd take that to the couch with a spoon. Yeah. And I'm just going to just a little bit. And then it's like, I'm halfway there. I tried the bowl trick. Didn't work. Didn't work. I put some into the ball and just like, ah, screw this.

The whole thing is already eating from it. Okay. John and Calwood with an ask his thing, are you early tax fly? or last minute when it comes to getting your returns to the CRA. I'm a bit of both because I will load my information into the tax thing. And then, but I won't actually file. I still haven't filed it. I'm just like, I want to check it a couple more times.

You do a January 1? Well, because I'm like technically self-employed, there's a lot of extra work involved with it. So what I do on January 1st is I go through all the numbers. and then I send them to my family's accountant. But it doesn't actually get filed until April. So in that part, I'm not bad. But I mean, I do actually. Is your family running a lot of revenue through you as well?

Yeah, yeah. I'm the mule. Yeah, we got to run these arms sales through Adox account. I love waiting for the last minute. I consider it a little. Yeah, like it's a little rush. You know, you wait until that very last minute. You got to understand.

There's like, it's, I'm not, you're not dealing with like a fairy guy. godmother like it's not like it turns into like a pumpkin at midnight like yeah also this is the canadian government why do you want to like wait till the last it's a rush i don't get a lot of rushes in my life anymore so like that one where i'm like ooh i'm evading the tax man when really all i got to do is press send on turbo tax um by the way this isn't the someone texted this in and it's not there was a food specific one right if you could pick one food someone texted in that the correct answer isn't any food the correct answer is cigarettes and i'm like he's got they've got But what if you don't enjoy the aspect of smoking?

But it allows you to be instantly cooler than you are. Yeah, yeah. Right? I'm addicted to health. Yeah. Right? Could you imagine? I mean, the element of, you know, danger and this is bad for you would be eliminated.

So I don't know if cigarettes would be inherently cool. But who has not looked cooler smoking a cigarette? I challenge someone to not look less cool if it was healthy. That's a thing. Like nerd. The dynamic to have another cigarette. Yeah, right. It'd be like even care of sophisticated.

Yeah. Yeah. The organic cigarette. Juan from Comox, ask us anything. What builds more character? Being coached by your own parents or by someone else's parents.

Because I'm pretty sure getting benched by your dad hits different, especially when you still have to ride home with him. I'm going to disagree with one. Yeah, I disagree with that. Because if my dad benched me, I'd be like, first of all, why are you the coach? You don't know anything about sports. Right.

And second of all, you're running the demon of the ground. Second of all, I just like, I wouldn't. think about why. I'd just be bad at him. I've seen some coaches coach their own kids. Not me, of course. I've never done this,

but that they've had like residual carryover from whatever's gone on outside of the playing field. Totally. Like you've been benched because you didn't clean your room. I'm like, you can't do that. They're not allowed to do that, but he did. So there's an element of like you're not actually being punished for your poor play on the field, which is how you should be punished, right?

You do poorly on the field. Their demands of punishment. I think getting either reprimanded or maybe in a positive way coached up, but having someone that's not your parent kind of, for lack of a better term, discipline you on the playing field. I think it has more impact. I can't tell the boy anything. Right.

He just, he just like doesn't care. But if he hears it from an actual coach, he'll think about it. It'll consider it. Okay. We're up in time. And by the way, that is a relevant conversation considering, you know, I saw, I think Steve Ewan wrote about it in the province, the possibility of Manny Mahhotra being the head coach and Caleb Malhotra being drafted by the Canucks. It is a weird dynamic at that high level.

But are they going to have to delay their decision on Manny depending on who, on the draft lottery and all that sort of thing? I've never thought of that. They really, really like Caleb. But what if they've got the third overall pick and they're pretty confident that Caleb will be there? And we're going to talk about this with Rick Dollywell, by the way. What if they're pretty common? And he's the one they want.

Like they're not reaching for position or anything. They're not like, we need a center, so we're going to do this. They really do believe that Caleb is the right call. But also that they want Manny as their head coach. What do they do there? That's complicated, man. I mean, you could wait. I know we're up against for a time.

You can wait till after the draft to name a coach. Yeah, but then I think Manny's going to be upset with that. Like I just tell him it's like, hey, it's a weird dynamic. Yeah, but what if, and then they draft him and they're like, actually, Mani, we don't need you. And Mani's missed out on some interviews. Like, they're going to have to, they need to be. I understand that it's, but like, I would not put all your eggs in any basket until you figure

what's going on in the draft. You have to, you figure out of the player first. You have to figure the player first and then you go from there. I agree with you. But I think they're going to lose Manny if they don't make him the head coach. Possibly. And the same goes for Ryan Johnson. I hope he doesn't have a son in the draft because

they're going to need to make a decision on him too. Okay, we got to go to break. When we come back, we're going to go local Kurboski head coach and GM of the Vancouver Warriors. Warriors are in playoff action tonight. And then Steph LeBay is going to join his sporting director of the Vancouver Rise. The Rise are also in action tonight as well. That's all coming

up next on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 6. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 734. The fiesta continues on a Friday here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brup of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're ready to give you the financial fresh start you deserve. With no judgment or upfront fees, visit them today at Sands dash trustee.com.

Still in hour two of the program, midway point of the show. Hour two of this show is brought to by Jason Hominock at Jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around and find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dot mortgage. We have Kurt on the line now. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline.

Our next guest is the head coach of the Vancouver Warriors. Playoff lacrosse is back at Rogers Arena. Tonight, 7 o'clock. Kurt Malaski joins us now on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Kurt. how are you? I'm good, guys. Thanks so much for having me on.

Yeah, thanks for coming on, taking the time. We appreciate it. Before we preview tonight's game, let's take a look back on a wildly successful NLL campaign for the Warriors. 13 and 5, first place in the NLL, and a franchise record 13 wins. How are your warriors able to put together such a comprehensive and successful regular season?

I think it starts with obviously our goaltender. We feel we have the best goal in the national cross. So you get Christian Del Bianco. and then built a really good defense a couple years ago before we acquired him through the trade deadline last year. So we built from the kind of the back end to the goaltender and then picked up a couple real good pre-agents and Curtis Dixon and Jesse King

and Reese Cowies and Shane Simpson in the offseason. So we got beaten the semifinal last year. So we just bolstered the roster a little bit more. And we got a good mix of young guys. And we just, you know, we had some really good ups and downs throughout the season. And, you know, lost by 10, one by 10, lost some tight games, won some tight games. So, you know, really had a good,

you know, good experience throughout the season to put us in a position to place ourselves for the playoffs. So I ended up 13 and 5 and, you know, the first place is great, great for the fans,

great for the organization. But at the end of the day, it's just a number. It's all, it all gets wiped out tonight. Right. So you mentioned second consecutive year in the playoffs.

Also the second straight year, you're hosting the quarterfinals. What lessons did you guys learn from the playoff run last year that you're going to try to imply to this year's playoffs? You know, we got a pretty veteran-laden teams.

So I wouldn't say the intensity and the pressure of the playoffs. It really had that much of a significance last season. I think we ran out of goals. I think we just didn't have enough up front to score, you know, especially in the two or three. And the one-offs, it's guys, it's roll the dice.

Like, it's super tight. Anybody can win, like, the team or client tonight, you know, they've lost seven one goal games. So it's so close. But in a two or three series, typically the better team wins. And we lost a three-time chance last year. And we just didn't have it. I didn't feel we had enough up front.

Maybe at times our discipline. cost us a little bit, got a little bit too excited and key moments of the game. And, you know, the tipping point of a game in the LLs or in sport in general doesn't always have to be the last 30 seconds, the last minute of the third period of the fourth quarter for us. It could be anywhere in, you know, second quarter,

third quarter if you go and have a bad run and they go to a three-go push. So we had a couple of five-minute segments where we weren't very good. So we just got to learn from that and clean that up come tonight. You mentioned your opponent, the Halifax Thunderbirds, a bunch of one goal losses, including one to you guys, just two weeks ago, 8, 7, it was at Rogers Arena.

What did you guys learn from the Thunderbirds in that game? And what are you expecting as you preview tonight's quarterfinal? Yeah, we've been hammering the video this week. So I learned a lot about their defense and some of their tendencies offensively. They have a world-class face-off guy. He was the team candidate, Jake Withers.

But our face-off guy, they're really good against him. So we need the exact same effort there. But the big difference in that game, I feel, was their goaltender. You know, we put 60-plus shots on the net, and he was in close to 87 to, say, percentage where a typical analog guy having a good night is low 80s. So he played extremely well. I think that's kind of how it kept it to a one-go game.

But he is a good goaltender. He's been stopping the ball really well lately and had a very good season himself. So, you know, we're going to have to execute. We're going to have to hit our shots a little better. And, you know, maybe not so much just volume. We need to just make sure we're posting in and a little bit tighter and value our shots. But, you know, I thought we played really well. And I think if, you know, if we play to our potential tonight and they play their potential,

we should be good. But you never know. It comes down to goal. attending, special teams, and discipline. And if we can hit those three areas, I like what we said. Nice to be playing this one at home. It's amazing. Yeah, our fans over there, you know, I've been here now for three years,

the two and a half home, and the issue will be three. And it's just grown exponentially, you know, working with Dax Aquilini and the family and the organization, you know, I came from Calgary, but it was great in Calgary, too. Don't get me wrong, but this is the first class organization. They treat our guys so well. You know, they take care of the families. you know, we're always got primetime practices, you know, whatever we need.

We kind of get, obviously, make sure the guys earn it. It's not a country club kind of like it was a little bit when I first got here, guys, to be honest. But we've kind of changed things around now and it's like you earn it, you get it, you don't earn it, you don't get it. And we're kind of been a place now where, you know, people want to come, a free agents want to come to Vancouver. And it has a ton to do with that. And it also has a ton to do. It's just that British Columbia itself is a lacrosse hoppet. It really is.

And there's no reason why we can't draw. you know, a massive amount of fans. Like, it's super proud to say, guys, this is huge for us in Vancouver, is that we're fourth overall in attendance this year of the 14 teams in the National Lacrosse League, which is massive, massive growth. So we've got all the resources on this game tonight, and throughout the season, we have a great ticketing staff, a great game prez. They're exceptional.

So, you know, it's just growing and growing, and it's nice to see every week. You see the same kids that are, you see at their arenas in the summer. They're at their cheer in the game with their jerseys on, and I know their parents in it, just the people from the island are coming over, people from the interior are coming down. To be honest, I said to the guys when I signed on, I said I really, really want to grow the game in British Columbia. We put a really good team together,

and it's been a collaborative effort by everyone from top to bottom in the organization. But that's one of my proudest moments, 13 to 5 is amazing. But that attendance record and just getting the growing game in British Columbia, because there was a point where we're a little bit worried it might not last year. You know, if it left again and it went somewhere else, it might not come back. So, you know, we have a ton of people working extremely hard. And, you know, I want to thank the fans, man. and we're not letting them down tonight.

You got my word on it. It's great to hear the passion in your voice. I can tell how much it means to you. And, you know, anytime I ask someone about their experience at a Warriors game, they've always said, it was a really fun time. Like, I had a great time there. And I think the atmosphere tonight is going to be excellent. And it's a big game for you guys.

Like, you know, like it has been tough at times for this Warriors team. So are you feeling a bit of pressure to get this done tonight and get a big win in front of the home fans? Well, I'll be honest. I've been in the NL for 30 plus years, so I've been around for a long time of coach for close to 20. Had an opportunity to get fortunate. I won a couple national championships in this league. So I kind of have a recipe that I believe that knows what it takes. And taking on pressure or adding pressure to any type of this situation has zero value to it.

It's really control the controllables. you can't control what the referees are to do. You can't control what the other guys are, and the other team's going to do. You just have to take care of your self-discipline and make sure, you know, self-disciplines do and discipline, and then that translates through the team discipline.

So if we could just play discipline and just, they focus on our jobs and we break this, we break a 60-minute game in a five-minute segments, and we play five at a time, we play where our feet are, and then it's like, we completely wipe out the last five minutes and focus on the next five. Believe it or not, guys, it really makes a difference

with your athletes and just focus it on the, basket hands. So that's what we do going into these big games is just remember who you are. Don't go change and don't more change in your game plan. For sure, we're going to adjust to Halifax and for sure we're going to add some new stuff, but we're not going to change our ideologies or our identity going into a big game because you end up being someone that you're not

or a team that you're not, you're definitely going to lose. So very confident with our game plan, very confident with our athletes. But again, the ball's around, anything can happen. But we're very confident and pressure is something that's, you know, We say confidence is a byproduct of preparation. We're prepared.

Hey, Kurt. I know you're locked in on tonight, and you sound very locked in, but I was hoping you could help us with a conversation we were just having on the show. And it's about fathers coaching their own sons. You've got a son, Cody, who plays lacrosse. If there was an opportunity for him to join the Warriors, would you want that or would you be wary of it? I got two boys.

Well, young guy Dawson that plays that you, you seven. 1881 with me and Maple Ridge and my older boys at University of Denver played in the ad necks. I'm fortunate to win a couple of mental cups last year. So, yeah, it's a good question. I'll be honest with you. Like, I would not go sell the farm to try to move up the draft to get my son. You know, and if he's there and he's available and it's a need that we need, and we're up the draft enough to get him, then I would do that.

You know, I would do obviously what's best for the organization and our needs. You know, dad's son aside, I've coached Cody all the way up. and we had no issues. Like I'm pretty stern, focused, passionate coaches, you can kind of tell. And I'm the same way with my son on the lacrosse floor. So, you know, we've won a lot of championships together, him and I, and I don't take it. I think, I really think it's how you, I feel kids are products of their environment. I feel how they're, you know, how they've been brought up around, you know, at home and how they've been taught the game and how they taught to be an athlete and taught to be what I refer to as a good pro on the floor and off the floor.

So, you know, if they're brought up really well, I don't see any, any issue with taking your son. But, you know, I wouldn't be one of those dads that have, there's been a few that have overpaid to move up to get them and spend too much. So, you know, obviously, you know, it'd be the organizational hat first, dad hat second, but I wouldn't be shy away from it. Playoff lacrosse is back at Rogers Arena. The top seat of Vancouver Warriors are going to host Halifax tonight. 7 o'clock Rogers Arena, tickets start at $34. Go get them. Kurt, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today.

really appreciate it. Best of luck tonight. Go get a win. Thank you so much. So if we can do it again next week. Yeah, sounds good. Thanks, Kurt. We appreciate it. That's Kurt Maloski. GM and head coach of the Vancouver Warriors. See, because he's the GM, he can actually decide whether or not they give the head coach, his own son to coach. Jesse and a Jeep just texted in. I've never watched a lacrosse game in my life, but I think that this guy might be one of the best interviews. Yeah. I mean, he's very passionate about the sport. And there's a lot of people that are passionate about

lacrosse in BC. I've never been involved in lacrosse. Like my friends didn't play it growing up. It was never even a thought to play it, but I know that it is having a bit of a moment in BC. And I'm hearing about more and more kids that are playing the game. Well, look, the Warriors had an outstanding season, right? I mean, that's a franchise record for wins in the regular season. that's the reason that they're the first place team in the NLL.

It's the reason that they've got home quarter advantage. Like this is, the momentum isn't just we got into the playoffs. It's we had this fantastic regular season. They got Del Bianco and Net who led the league with 13 wins. So there's a real chance like you're seeing something that could be a championship caliber team and you can hear it in his voice. He's super excited to get going. Speaking of local championship teams, we now turn our attention to the NSL and the Vancouver

rise who will begin their campaign tonight. night for local sports. 7 o'clock at Rogers. Oh, we don't have Steph yet. Okay. Steph Lebe is going to join us in just a moment here. Hopefully. She, of course, the sporting director for the Vancouver rise. Obviously, it was a big year both for the league and its inaugural season and the rise who captured the championship so we can get to Steph in a second.

While we're waiting, Jason, if you want to grab and ask us anything, that would be great. A reminder, it is. Ask us anything Friday here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. If you want a chance to win a $100 gift card to A.J's Pizza on East Broadway. Text them in. Dunbar Lever text line is 650, 650. Put a pizza emoji into your text. Hashtag at AUA.

Ask us anything from Reed in New West. Does hearing how much the Canucks room atmosphere improved post-dedeline help draw more comparison to the Seahawks roster makeover, let the Sabres leave the sad club, but we won't be members for long either. Read that is very optimistic. The Seahawks did. make some improvements to their culture

and they are very, very focused on drafting character. I know the running back they got out of Notre Dame yesterday. One of the things, what's it, Jeremiah Price? Shadian Price. Okay. One of the things they were very impressed with him is that he stayed at Notre Dame

because there was competition for that running back spot and he easily could have just gone into the transfer portal, but he stayed loyal to Notre Dame. Notre Dame and I think that improved or that that that impressed the Seattle Seahawks. But man, the Seahawks had difference makers. Yeah. A lot more talent. They have a lot of talent.

Like the Canucks, the Canucks, I know there's excitement and I don't want to rain on any parades here, although I'm pretty good at it. They don't have difference makers and they don't have future difference makers. Maybe Boolean can become that. you know, maybe, maybe Coots. But, like, they're not projected to be these guys. They need to draft them. And they need to draft a bunch of them.

And it is going to take years. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest is the sporting director for the Vancouver Rise. Steph LeBay joins us now on the Halford and Breff Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning. Steph, how are you? Good morning. I'm doing great.

It's happy game day today. It is happy. game day today. The NSL, it's the Champions Night at Beautiful Swan Guard Stadium in Burnaby. The NSL championship rematch against AFC Toronto. The banner gets raised celebration with fans. How much

are you in the rise looking forward to getting this season underway tonight, step? But obviously doing it under very special circumstances. Yeah, for sure. It's been a long off season. I know the players are itching to get back on the pitch. And I think the biggest thing, as you said, you know, raising the banner, really being able to celebrate the championship

from last year for the first time. being able to celebrate it right here in Vancouver at Swangard Stadium in front of our loyal fans who, you know, were with us game in and game out last year. So to be able to come home, have the trophy and really celebrate that ballstone with our fans, it's going to be a really historical night again. Give us an outlook for this season before we look back because you're returning the majority of the championship roster, but there are a few new exciting additions to help you guys try and repeat. So walk us through what the team looks like going into the 2026 campaign.

Yeah, we've got obviously some of the big names returning. We've got Justa Filippo and Latifah Abdu up top. We've got Quinn holding down the midfield continuing. And then, yeah, some of the same name, Shannon Waller in the back, Jessica Cowart, that helped us win that championship. And then, of course, our championship MVP and our goalkeeper, Morgan McAisland coming back. And, yeah, we've added in some new names, hometown Mia Pante. She's come back from playing in Italy at Roma.

So really excited for her to get the chance to play in front of her own friends and family. And then, yeah, we've brought in a couple of internationals. We've got Maita Lopez and Camilla Reyes, both from Columbia. Really exciting players. Mite is just 19 years old and has already broke into the senior national team for Columbia. So some really exciting players that I'm excited for our fans to get to know to see them play. They're going to bring a spark.

They're going to bring a little edge and continue to make this team a really exciting team to watch. Seems like a perfect night for soccer at Swangard. You must love the setup there. It's a beautiful stadium. You guys get a lot of support, too. Yeah, we led the league in attendance last year, and so, you know, our fans in this city has really rallied behind this team,

and that's a big reason of why we were able to have such a fantastic year. We had such a strong home record, and that's because our fans make it a really hard place for other teams to come play and a really fun place for our team to play. So I'm excited for that to continue on. I know the Crowe Collective is out there, making noise, got their drums, and they're singing songs all game long.

super family-friendly, so I really encourage anybody who hasn't come out to a game to come out and check it out. It's a very family-friendly stadium. Great for kids, great for people who want to sit and watch the game and enjoy a beautiful game of football, but just so much to do, so much to see. And a team

that's really, you know, really fun and easy to get behind as well. Okay, let's take a look back and talk about year one collectively of the NSL. Obviously, the rise had a great season. And, you know, the attendance figures, the on-pitch product, all great. how was the rest of the circuit?

Because, you know, the quality of play, high. Obviously, attendance figures are going to be different in every market for a variety of factors. But as far as I could tell, walking away from year one, it felt like a lot of people involved with the NSL were pretty happy with how a startup league went. For sure. I mean, it was fantastic. I think, as you said, you know, some of the attendance numbers were skewed. You know, obviously we hosted the first game in BC place.

It was 14,000. but then we averaged around 4,000 at Swangard, which is close to a sellout, which is fantastic. Across the league, we were the third highest attended league in the world. And so being able to say that in just year one is unbelievable. So number one, the Canadian fans have stepped up and supported this and got behind these teams. And then, yeah, across the board, it was competitive.

You know, no game was a given. No team was just guaranteed to beat another team. There was results, you know, on both sides of the spectrum. Even for us, we had a pretty up-and-down scene. season. We had some big wins, some big losses, and every game was unpredictable, which I think makes it super exciting for fans to get behind because there's, you know, no, as I said, no given scoreline. And so it's really fun to watch. There's a lot of really exciting players. And, you know, we had some emerging stars that came out of this league that are now, you know, pushing their way into

the women's national team. So it's a fantastic level that we've started with, some great international players. And, yeah, I'm excited to see what year two gives us. I love a good Vancouver, Toronto, rivalry as much as anyone. Firing the shot last year of beating Toronto in Toronto to win the title and then getting them in the first game at home. How fierce is that rivalry right now going into tonight?

Yeah, I'm sure the players are all feeling it and I'm sure there's a little bit of a fun edge to be able to celebrate the championship again tonight with them here. Probably a little salt in the wound there so I'm sure they'll be coming out, you know, guns of blazing ready to try to kick us down but

I know our team's ready for the fight and and we're ready to have a fantastic battle, and I think it'll be an unbelievable opening game for the season this year. Okay, so it's tonight, 7 o'clock, Swan Guard Stadium in Burnaby. They are expecting a sellout for the opener, but tickets still available if you want to go get them. Steph, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it.

Best of like, not just in the opener, but all the games this season. Let's do this as we get closer and closer to the playoffs and everything else during the regular season. Yes, for sure. Thank you so much and looking forward to seeing everyone out tonight. Sounds great. thank you. That's Steph LaBea, the sporting director for Vancouver Rise FC who get their season underway tonight. A reminder, 7 o'clock, Swan Guard Stadium in Burnaby.

So, Steph was very well spoken, and Kurt Molloski was very well spoken. Get out there and support your local teams. Rick Dollywall is coming up next. Oh, there we go. And he's going to shout at us for about half an hour. And we're going to talk about Caleb Malhotra. because his draft stock seems to be on the rise. And, you know, the Canucks, they are probably, probably, based on probabilities,

probably going to pick third overall. Only slightly probably. Sure. You know, I think it's like 55% third overall and then kind of slightly probably. Slightly probably. Is it a thing? It is. Okay.

And then they've got, you know, I don't know, combined 45% chance of picking first or second. something like that. So they might have a big decision to make. If they get first overall, I'm pretty sure they're taking McKenna. But third overall, all of a sudden, you're in decision territory,

and maybe even second overall, based on Caleb Malhotra's draft stock and the fact that it is rising so quickly. So we'll talk to Rick about that on the other side. We'll also obviously get into the GM search and what Rick is hearing. get your ask us anythings into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650. 650. You are listening to the Halford-Abrough show on Sportsnet, 650.

But before we go to break, I do need to do the smart decision brought to you by Crow. And I loved what happened late in the draft yesterday, the NFL draft, of course, what the Philadelphia Eagles were able to do to their in-stay rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. So if you missed it yesterday, Mackay Lemon, the wide receiver out of USC, was on the phone. with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the Pittsburgh Steelers were like, congratulations. We're going to take you with the 21st overall pick. Just one problem.

At the last minute, the reigning NFCE champion Philadelphia Eagles traded the 23rd overall pick, which they held to Dallas along with a pair of fourth round picks to move up to number 20. So while McKay Lemon was on the phone with the Steelers, he was like, hold up. I'm getting a call from the Eagles. And the Eagles swooped in to take him with the 20th. overall selection. Then that of course is incredible is a smart decision because it sounds as though that they are

soon going to part ways with AJ Brown at wide receivers. So smart decisions galore from the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday. Those all brought... Could you imagine? What a great what a great first full circle moment that would be for everybody. Anyway, that's your smart decision brought to you by Crow. Your trusting accounting

and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow, smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at Crowe. Dought. Yeah, you're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.