Halford & Brough in the Morning - What Centers Are Out There For The Canucks?

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:15) about the possible centers available for the Canucks via trade, the boys look at more of yesterday's hockey action, plus they hear KJR Seattle's Dave "Softy" Mahler's reaction to the Mariners losing to the Jays in the ALCS (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.

Frank. Sarah Valley. Cerevelli. Cerevelli. Frank. Cerevelli. Frank. Cerevelly.

Frank. 7.03 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough of SportsNet 650. free Halford and Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal

could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are in Hour 2 of the program. Hello, Our 2. Hour 2 is brought to by Jason Homonock at Jason.morgage.

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 them online at jason. Dot mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech Footwear and Orthotics,

working together with you in step. Our next guest is a presentation of Angry Otter Licker. He is our NHL insider from Victory Plus. He is Frank Sarah Valley here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How are you guys, John? We're good. Thanks for asking.

I got a question for you. Asking for a friend who may or may not be the general manager of a local NHL squadron. Are there any centers second line or otherwise kick It's every week. What about now? Is there one now?

What about now? Maybe now. What about tomorrow? Could there be one tomorrow, Frank? Anything kicking around that you might have heard of lately? Okay, so I had a feeling you might be asking about this. I don't know where this hunch came from, but. That's why you're the best.

I spent the better part of the last hour really going through the rosters and trying to figure out where some centers might spring available. And it's still early. It's the third week in the season, but let's say facts. This Vancouver Canucks lineup, it's untenable to continue on with the issues that they have at center. It is. And last night was an indication. I mean, they've played well otherwise. So to allow this to linger, I think, is a disservice to everyone.

So what does that list look like? I mean, it's not pretty. and I guess it depends on which path you want to go down. I mean, look at the start that the Calgary flames are off to. I can assure you that this week, teams are beginning to call and inquire about Nazim Kadri. So that's one. Then you start to get into a totally different category

and class of players. We talked about Casey Middlestadt briefly, or at least he's been a topic of conversation earlier in the week, The Bruins moved him to the wing, if that answers any questions for you. There's a lower tier of players. You could bring Adam Gaudet back. Ryan Paling could probably be had. Alex Wendberg.

If you're looking for someone fresh off the IR that could hold down a 2-3C spot for you for a few months. Frank, you're making me sad with these names. You're making me sad. I know but It's not your fault but you're making me sad That's actually the point If you really want to dive deep into the well

Do you want to call Pittsburgh and say Hey could Kevin Hayes just get on the plane with us Even though he's you know he's hurt and coming back from injury I don't know I'm out of options That's the bottom of the barrel That's the list Frank can I Can I throw a theory by you

This is just a theory I'm just I think The Canucks thought It was going to be difficult but it was going to be easier than they thought it would be to acquire a center this off-season because they were willing to part with some futures. And they figured, well, every year there are sellers.

And if we go in with a big, you know, we offer, you know, these great prospects that we have, maybe a first-round pick, whatever, we'll get it done. And that's maybe one of the reasons they were like, yeah, Pew Souter, we're not desperate. to keep you and instead we're going to bring in a van der kane and bring brock bester back and we're going to let pew suitor go and then they are like oh this is much more difficult than we thought and it's not even about paying the price for it it's that the cap has gone up and there are

far fewer teams that are capped out and need to trade a player and there aren't many teams that are essentially, you know, tanking for Gavin McKenna. Everyone wants to be competitive. We have misread this situation, and now there's nobody out there to go get. I mean, it's an intriguing working theory, but I don't, I'd hesitate to call it accurate. And that's not, I'm not knocking you at all. I just think they signaled to everyone that it was going to be difficult. they told us that it wasn't going to be easy

so I think they knew going in that this was going to be a challenge they signaled it would be expensive they didn't necessarily signal it would be difficult okay that's fair and I think all the things that you pointed out from a process basis are all totally accurate the reason why

there hasn't been a push to move guys is because no one has no one's forced to from a cap perspective Yes, bingo. And the other part is there's just a lack of centers to begin with. So they're at a premium on the whole. There's plenty of other teams aside from the Canucks that can't fill out their center group that are also looking for the same thing.

So, I mean, it's that names, those names on that list are not. Cadbury, Kevin Hayes, maybe one of the guys from Detroit, copper, confer, but I don't see them moving. Alex Wendberg, Adam Goddette, Ryan Palin, Casey Middlestat, and if you wait a while this season, maybe J.G. Pajot on Long Island. That's it. That's the list right now. Yeah, I appreciate you making that list. Thank you for doing that.

I wonder about the Calgary Flames right now, so maybe we can revisit, not even from a Vancouver perspective, but is there any chatter out of Calgary? because Codry's got a full no move clause I think for this year then it turns into a no trade clause so if he's going to be moved he might want to do it like

while he's got that no move clause and he can control the situation a little better maybe I don't think so here's the situation the flames haven't had much interest at all in moving him

this season and the star and how they've just completely fallen out of the gate, the worst start in franchise history, I think is opening the door in very short order here. We're talking they've got 10 days to figure it out. If the calendar turns to November and they've got two or four points, they're out. I mean, it's crazy to stick a fork in a team season that quickly,

but the math just works so far against you. It's so difficult to come back and gain that much ground in the standings. that that's what they're staring down. And so they're going to be forced to engage in conversations that they otherwise probably weren't planning on. Like they don't want to move cadry. They view they need vets. They need centers.

But they might have to because the value might just be there. And with that, they might have to turn their attention to, you know, in a positive way, if you're looking for a silver lining, if you're a flames fan and how rough this season has been, there's a big part of that market that's saying, we've never bottomed out, we've never had a high-end draft pick. How about we go and this is the year to do it?

Take some pieces off of our roster. We're not tanking, but you can't win if you're not provided good players. So tank by default. Maybe that's a possibility. And then you turn your sights on Gavin McKenna or Keaton-Verhoff and how exciting this 2026 draft class is. So we're not far away from having that conversation with Calgary is the point. Well, okay, you tied nicely into my next question,

which was how much value right now, around the league, not even just Calgary, would a unprotected lottery ticket for Gavin McKenna be? Because conceivably, if they wanted to, the Canucks could put it out there. You want them to do this because you love the action. I'm an agent of chaos. Well, we're all junkies in that way, right? Yes.

We do, it would be amazing to see, right? Yeah. And that's why the decision that the Rangers had to make, right? Was it kind of an easy one, wasn't it? Yes. So it would be insanely valuable, particularly for a team that could be teetering on the edge or a team that has, you know, a few bad weeks could turn it into something incredibly intriguing. Um, this draft class is special. It's deep. It's filled with difference makers. And it's a lot unlike the draft that we saw this past June. But then we say that and we see what Matthew Schaefer is doing and you go, holy smokes. What a number one pick that could be. Yeah, I was a guy. I was going to actually ask you about him how good he's been for the Islanders and how much of a turnaround for this franchise. It could be that they managed to somehow win that draft lottery.

Well, I mean, to win it with the odds that they did is crazy enough. I think the part with Matthew Schaefer that we're all kind of just wrapping our brains around is we've known he's a talent, a phenomenal talent, and he's dominated at every level that he's played at. But we haven't seen him in a consistent enough way. It's just, can he stay on the ice? That was the only question. Yeah. And to see him give this Islander franchise a shot in the arm to see the vibe around the team around the building and how different it is, I mean, we're talking about history. So first multi-point game, youngest defenseman ever to score a game winner, youngest defenseman to open a career with a point streak of five games.

Alex Ovechkin has the record for most career points for a number one pick right out of the shoot. Remember, he was 19, but he had an eight game point. Street to start. Schaefer's already at six. It's like we're flirting with history here. That's how good this guy's been. And it's not just piling up secondary assist. This guy has been a machine. He's all over the ice. We're speaking to Frank Sarvelli, our NHL insider from Victory

Plus here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Speaking of another former first overall pick, Frank, I did want to ask about the Connor Badard contract extension negotiations in Chicago. Is there any update there? No update, no real push from either side to try and get something done.

And I think hear that, and I saw the responses to some commentary that I had yesterday, and they say, oh, this is a guy that's clearly sick of things in Chicago. It doesn't have anything to do with that at all. Like, I have zero indication that that's the case. It's just that with this rising salary cap environment, his side is going, okay, see these contracts that are handed out, see what Logan Cooley is turning down in Utah, our best case scenario is to sit back and wait,

have a monster year, find another gear, which his game has, I think, taken significant strides, no pun intended with the skating mechanics that he changed over the summer working in Vancouver, that this is a guy that he's finally going to tap into some of that potential that we've all known existed. And he doesn't have to shoulder the burden because Frank Nazar is there

to pick up the slack. And on defense, it's not just Alex Vlasic anymore. Now it's Sam Renzel and Artem Lev Shunoff is there. And so the situation is changing, but on the negotiation front, the Hawks were also going, we don't even really know what to pay this guy. Like what's appropriate?

We're willing to, you know, obviously open the checkbook and make a deal. We want to do that. But it's been a little. bit more difficult for them to figure out what that market looks like as well so both sides are kind of in agreement here that let's just take our time hey frank how's rick talk it doing in philly i think they're off to a good start relatively i mean they're not light in the world on fire but they compete they work um which is no surprise um i think he's dealing with some guys that he's trying

to change mindsets on. I think he's trying to figure out also what he has. Like, is Trevor Zegreth actually a center? Is a question that I think is a fair one and one that they're working through? And how do we add more special pieces to this team over the years? He took that job in Philly knowing that it was going to be a bit of a process to get this team where it needs to get to. And so I think the first step,

that they've taken have been pretty positive. What's going on with Michkoff because there's a lot of people in Vancouver, especially the critics of Rick Tocket, who are going to say Rick Tocket is going to ruin Mitchcoff like he ruined Pedersen. Yeah, first off, I would say the only person that should take blame for what's happened with Elias Pedersen is Elias Pedersen himself. But I think he's shown to this point that he, I don't know, has, little interest in looking inward

is how I would phrase it. And when it comes to Rick Tockett, look, no one is disputing the fact that Matt Vei Michikov arrived in camp out of shape. And for a guy that really isn't fast to begin with,

it becomes really noticeable. So Michkoff told the flyers that he was dealing with an ankle injury over the summer that prevented him from training as the explanation for why he arrived, not in shape. The Flyers apparently didn't know about this ankle injury. Oh, my God.

And that's what they're looking at. So they're trying to first get him in shape and then figure out the rest. Did Mitch Kopp just sign an eight-year contract extension too? Yes. I mean, it is crazy the parallels right now. Yeah, I mean, what was it, knee tendonitis? Is that what we heard? Yes.

We're speaking of Frank Sarah Valley from Victory Plus here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We'll keep it in the Metropolitan Division here because if you look at the standings, the Philadelphia Flyers have the exact same amount of points, seven as the New York Rangers. Only one problem. The Rangers have played more games and lost more games and haven't done anything at home aside scoring one goal this year. And it's been really tough times. It's been a slow start for them under new head coach, Mike Sullivan. And new captain, J.T. Miller.

What are you hearing out of New York with regards to the Rangers, Frank? I think everyone's trying to take a patient approach here. I know that the home starts have been infuriating for the fan base and the expectations are high for this team to bounce back. I have to tell you that I'm actually enthused with what I've seen from the Rangers not disappointed. And the reason for that is in the goals against category. Right.

They've got 15 goals against. against in eight games. The Rangers' success and the reason why they've had a lack of success in the playoffs, it hinges on their ability to play better and cleaner with more structure in front of Igor Shesterkin. They've put better processes in place. Mike Sullivan has keyed in on it. Obviously, they have new personnel as well.

And, yeah, they've struggled to finish. But I'd much rather try and play this way than. have it be a complete yard sale in your own end every night. And that's what it's been over the last handful of years. I do want to circle back to the connection for one final question. I guess it's got a bit of a ranger's angle too. What is the future hold for Philip Heedle? Have you heard anything?

I know everyone's being pretty guarded with information right now, but it is getting to the point with Heedle's concussion history that you're like, do you want to keep doing this? And I'd have to think that's the question. asking himself. Have I heard anything? No, I think it's a deeply private issue. And I think the tough part is when your body doesn't cooperate, that it's natural to be reticent at times. It's natural to be fearful of what's looming around the corner. And I'm not just talking about the next hit, but I'm talking about 25 years from now when you want to be living a normal, healthy life, when hockey's

your rear view mirror and I think those are the questions knowing what we know now about concussions that should be asked they're healthy to ask and in general look none of the Vancouver Canucks Center issues are pinned on on Philip Heedle but if the Canucks acquired Heedle thinking that he'd be in their lineup every night that was also a faulty assumption given what we know about his history dating back to New York. So they're in a tough spot, everyone, and I think we're all wishing the best for Filipino and his health that

no one would fault him if he had made the decision at some point to step away because you're dealing with the rest of your life in front of you. Frank, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week.

We'll do this again next week. See you guys. See you later. That's Frank Sarvalley, a presentation of Angry Outer Liquor on Sports Net 650, plus program members save for game days at Angry Otter Licker. Stock up on Canadian-made favorites, ready to enjoy before puck drop. Visit them online at angry otterlicker.cr.s.

I love Matthew Schaefer. He's such a good player, and he's a guy you want to root for. You know, he lost his mom back in, I think, February of 2024, so pretty recently. lost his billet mom in junior hockey tragically. He's dealt with a lot and he just seems to have the best

attitude and he's playing really well right now and Islanders fans love him and the best part for us is he's Canadian. You know you remember you only played a couple games in the world juniors and Canada really missed him when he went out

he is a terrific hockey player and someone texted in and that has anyone thought about Schaefer for Team Canada? I was like, I mean, I thought about it. I'm somewhat concerned about Canada's blue line going forward. I obviously like some of the pieces. Like, I like Kail McCar. But after that, I'm kind of like, it's fine.

Like, it's not bad. Matthew Schaefer's on the way, though. But at this current Olympics. No, I know. It's fair to say that the Americans have surpassed. Yeah, they've got the better blue line, especially if Quinn Hughes is out there. Which in previous iterations of international play was never the case. Canada could always bank on having the superior blue line.

Like some of the players that are going to be on Canada, I mean, some of them that were. I mean, Thomas Harley got the call up. That's great. He's a good player. Like Thomas Harley. I like him. But, you know, Travis Sannheim? I don't think he'll be this time.

Colton Pereko? Yeah, I hear you. Well, if you don't, like, who's going to be on, who do you really like on Canada's blue line? There's no... Evan Bouchard. Just kidding. God. Just kidding.

Stay as far away from Canada. You're not the country. You're allowed. Can you play for someone else? But not on the team. Can he play for the Americans? Well, he's never going to make the team because he's not going to get power play time with Kill McCarer on the team. I just don't think you could play him in a tournament where you get into a one game winner takes all and you've got that kind of liability on the ice.

He's just too irresponsible. I mean, he's a good power play guy, but he's got some pretty good players to play with. He makes too many big loud mistakes and too many big moments. I'd be terrified of having them in there in like a gold medal game or something like that. Am I wrong, though, to be a little bit worried about Canada's Blue Line? Like, it's always been their strength. No, no, I don't. Yeah, you do.

No, I, first of all, back in like 2010 and 2014, I sure wasn't worried about Canada's blue line. Right, we were worried about, I don't even know. Goaltending. Yeah, it was always goaltending, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like, should Chris Coonitz be on this team? Who should play with Sid? Yep.

That sort of stuff. Right now, I'm obviously also worried about the goaltending, but I look at that blue line and say, yeah, it's good, but is it Canada good? Okay, we got to do one to watch. Brought to you by Limitless A.V., Canada's most trusted audiovisual integration experts. The number one is very interesting here.

I'm going to turn our attention to the Calgary Flames, do a little bit of a different one to watch, because one is the number of goals that the Calgary Flames has scored in each of their last three losses. They've lost six in a row. The last three, a 3-1 loss to Utah, a 6-1 loss to Vegas, and a 2-1 loss to Winnipeg. The Calgary Flames are going to need to score more than one singular goal if they hope to get off the Schneid, and they are playing the Montreal Canadiens tonight.

A reminder, light night in the NHL, so in terms of things to watch tonight, it is the Habs, it is the Flames from Calgary at 5.30R time. The one to watch will be if the Calgary Flames can get more than one goal tonight. because they haven't in their last three games. One to watch is brought to you by Limitless AV. Vancouver's most trusted audio visual integration experts specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces.

Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at Limitlessavit.c.a. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Grants. 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. Everybody, Halford Graves, Sportsnet 650.

This is a keeper. Yep. We've used this one before. Yeah, this was on the list. This is on my bangers list. Honestly. My headphones on? Okay.

This is, this is Revenge of the Nerds 4. Yeah. Yeah, wow, that's very specific. Do you want this for your phone for like when you're on the road? I want this is my alarm clock. Yeah. I'd hop out of bed. There was a Revenge of the Nerds 3?

They've made 13 of them. No, they haven't made that many. I know there was Revenge of the Nerds. of the nerds, too. Go back and watch Revenge of the Nerds. No. Wouldn't be acceptable. Doesn't hold on today.

Cancelled after like 11 minutes. That's most 80s comedies, though, to be honest. What if we were to put a camera in a sorority house and then watch that camera? This will go over well with everyone, especially women. Oh, man. I just got canceled for laughing at that. I didn't laugh. You're listening to the Albert Impruff Show on SportsN,

at 650. Alfred and brother the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty

box of debt and back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com.

You know, the only guy that wasn't interested in that? Lamar. It's true. He's too busy practicing the javelin.

We are in our bomb better work nerds, our two of this program is about to be Jason hominic at Jason dot mortgage. If you love

paying too much for your mortgage then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason, Dow Mortgage. I was wondering when the bra bomb was going to be spoken.

Adog didn't disappoint. That's when Homer spikes the punch. It's like, your parents have all been called. That was a Wallen Inspector, wasn't it? That was also the Wallen Inspector. You find everything here in order? Homer going back to college is a great episode. Yeah, it could be in the top ten.

My Lord, that sounds like a pig fating. Homer, they're clearly nerds. Okay. We got some other stuff. some odds and ends here because we got an open segment including all antalimes all right that's enough

I'd like to see that every time you think that the gag is done not quite it's the Halford and Brough touch featuring A dog okay we got some odds and ends we got an open segment here

on the Halford and Brough show on Sports 10650 we ended last segment talking about the Canadian defense and then by extension Evan Bouchard well what a lovely segue

to another game last night that we haven't touched on yet the Edmonton Oilers snapping a three-game winless skid with a three-to-win over the Ottawa senators on Tuesday night, and it was maybe not the guy you would have expected who scored the winner in overtime. Jake Wallman, making his season debut, scored the winner at 224 of overtime in Ottawa. Here's what it sounded like, courtesy Jack Michaels. He's didn't get a shot on that, off the draw. Wolman scores. Jake Walman! in his season debut

Blisters home the winner Final score Edmonton 3 Ottawa 2 in overtime So it's been a very slow start for Edmonton this year McDavid just got his first goal

That's the other thing that happened last night Yeah McDavid scored his first I knew he'd do it And he wasn't even one that he like kind of made himself He was just waiting and he got the low to high pass He still hasn't created a goal He had to wait for not moving his feet He's not moving his car.

Classic McDavid, not moving his feet. Had to wait for the nudge to do it. You know who's been one of their best players this year in Edmonton? Stu! Stuart Skinner! Except for the first game. I was going to say, he's out of some ups and downs. Outside of that.

I mean, he's actually part of the reason why they've got the record that they do, because they have not been good to start the year. I saw a lot of people yesterday being like, if this is it, if this is what, Edmond, because yesterday was supposed to be a culmination of sorts, because Walman, who they just gave that big ticket to, was finally making his season debut. Sure enough, he showed up, scored the game winning goal in overtime and everything. But I saw a lot of people saying,

if this is what Edmonton's running it back with. Ike Howard scored, though, didn't he got his first? It was a big night for Edmonton. How have the, I'm putting it on the spot here, how have those young kids been? Like, how has Howard been? How has Matt Savoy? Go look at the sheet.

It's not great. It hasn't been a great start to the season. Now, Edmonton's gone through this before. We probably shouldn't get, like, snookered here into thinking that they're on their way out. They've had slow starts the seasons in large part because, as we've seen, when teams go on those deep runs in the playoffs and either win the Stanley Cup or lose in heartbreaking fashion in the final, sometimes there's a motivation issue.

Sometimes there's a lack of energy at the beginning of the season. But it just hasn't been great for Edmonton period to start the year, right? I mean, the McDavid thing is that's an aberration more than anything. else. Everyone's like, okay, well, McDavid's going to figure it out eventually, right? But jury's still out on a lot of these guys. And last night, for as sort of unenthusiastic is the win, like it was a three-two win over Ottawa in Ottawa. So you get a road win. You're never going to discount it. But I think everyone's just waiting, like when is Edmonton kick it into gear like they normally do? And they haven't

so far yet. Also. Is it interesting just on Edmondson still? Yep. What does it say that the Canucks are still in second place in the Pacific Division? Glad you brought that up, because the Pacific Division right now is rotten. They got two of the worst teams in the NHL in that division, man. I don't know what to say about San Jose, but... Well, San Jose and Calgary, I don't think we need to say much more. Like, they're...

You need to say something about how bad they are, dude. Okay, but not in terms of the Canucks making the playoffs. They're combined one in 11, though. But that sets free points for the rest of the division at this point. They have one win between them. So L.A. is off to a tough start. they got six points in seven games that are minus six goal differential

you already kind of mentioned the Oilers middling start Anahe you know they're they're fine big win last night and then Seattle is in third place but I don't believe in them

like they're not they're not a good team Seattle is hitting the skids right now they lost in Philly and Washington I wonder what the record of the third place team in the Pacific Division is going to be you could absolutely make hay in this division

if you get off to a good start because there are so many teams that are struggling right now. Is your record even going to need? I don't think so. Will it be amazing to finish third and that's an automatic playoff spot? I'm counting.

Okay. Is that the biggest hope for the Canucks right now? Is the division? I've been watching it closely. I've been watching that division closely because let's just assume for projections sake.

Vegas is Vegas. Vegas is going to be good. They're already good. I'd say Vegas is probably the odds on favor to win the division right now. Let's also put Edmonton in second. Let's also put Edmonton. Or Edmonton,

one, two. Edmonton, Vegas won two. We'll give them a benefit of the devil. So now you're fighting for third. Let's run through the candidates. Seattle, Anaheim, L.A., that's it. Because San Jose and Calgary aren't candidates to finish. If I'm not mistaken, L.A. has two wins on the season.

And their second win came yesterday, courtesy and Adrian Kempay overtime winner, I think. They've got Anzee Kopitar on IR right now. He's out with a foot injury week to week. Darcy Kemper's been in and out, and they have not been good over all, as a team. Anaheim is the one that I'm kind of keeping an eye on because they're hanging around, they're winning games, and they're playing better under Joel Quinville. It might come down,

honestly, to how many points you can max out with the dregs of the division. Because you're going to, and the connects have already done the business by beating Calgary 5'1. You're going to need to take points off Calgary and San Jose this year because they're going to be really bad. San Jose is really bad. Like, I don't know what else to say, but I wonder how much long. they can do that, how much longer they can do this with Wersowski as their coach. Because they were, they had an awful start to last year. And I know it was like

Johnny Good Times, good vibes. Yeah. With Celebrini and Smith. But a couple people have also pointed this out. On the interwebs, that Celebrini Bardard narrative, which really tilted in favor of Celebrini last year, as early, early days,

early days were barely 10 games into the season, not even. It's tilted back in favor of Bard, because Bedard looks way better in the celebrating looks this year. And he's got a buddy and Frank Nazar, who's a good player. He's got his Will Smith.

He's got his guy. Yeah. So I'll be curious. He's not out there with a bunch of vets. Yeah. Like, Bardard seems in a better spot,

which pains me as a Canucks fan that wants to see him one day come to Vancouver. Yeah. But I know he looks stronger out there. His skating is, I mean, he was always kind of a dynamic player.

I heard he was, and you know, hear a lot of stories locally. Let's just say I heard he was very motivated this offseason. Sure. He took a lot of He worked his butt off.

He took a lot of bullets last year. And he was telling people like, they'd be like, how was your season? I'll be better this season. Yeah. What's his answer? His shot is still insane. Like, he scored a goal the other night.

I don't know how he gets that release off his stick. Like, it shouldn't be. Torque, Andy. It's all torque. But the shot was always there, right? And you can't rely on, you can't rely on just shooting from 30 or 40 feet out. And that was being all your goals.

You know, like everyone talks about like Brock Besser. And he's got a great shot. Most of his goals are for mintight. Yep. Like, yeah, there's once in a while where he'll use his great shot. I mean, he used it in the shootout the other day. Yeah, yeah, he won the shootout. And there are times when he will score from, if you want to call distance, right?

But most goals are just around the net and get in there. But to do that, you need someone to get you the puck. That's true. Like, that's a tough pass to make. You know, how many times did Besser, for example, example, have a tap in or some sort of player on the net when J.T. Miller was the guy that was making that play. Taparoo. Tap it in there. Tap it in there. They should play that commercial more. We should play that commercial more. How was Quenville's return to Chicago? Did you watch that?

Yeah. That was on Sunday. Did that make waves? Glad you brought it up because the guys in the athletic wrote about it. Yeah, yeah. And it really flew under the radar. Yeah. It really didn't garner a lot of attention. Now, I'll say this. It's a time of the year where there's so many other things going on that that it didn't surprise. Did the Blackhawks, again, I don't know. I wish I knew. Should do more homework on this, but did the Blackhawks give any sort of video tribute? It's very muted. It's very muted. It's almost like they didn't want to draw attention to it, which I kind of get. It's almost like they didn't want to draw attention to that scandal that rocked the organization. And that's kind of what Lazz and Scott Powers from the Athletic Road,

but they kind of said like this was the way, like the final chapter of that part of the book that I guess needed to be written. I know I'm probably butchering the way I'm delivering this message, but there was always going to be a return to Quinnville to Chicago. It was an evil. I was just hanging in there. It was almost like, let's get past this

and then try and move on, I guess. By the way, you are listening to the Halford and Breff Show on Sports 9-650. This segment of the show is brought you by Jan Pro from Wink. rooms to exam rooms and everything in between Jam Pro keeps workplaces tidy clean and disinfected for a free quote

Visit them online at janprow.com.C.A. Steve from Burnaby, also of Pitt Meadows. You're all over the place, Steve writes into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. What is going on in Dallas? Started 3-0, now with three-game losing streak, losing to Columbus. Seriously,

yes, Steve, if you listen to the Halford and Brough Show with regularity, we played the audio that suggested this was coming. Remember we played the audio from Glenn Gulletson after they lost to the Vancouver Canucks and he said we could feel this coming. This is creeping into our game. That 3-0 start might have been a bit of a mirage

because we've struggled to keep leads and now they can't keep them at all because they've lost three in a row. Okay, we're going to turn our attention to something entirely different here. Prior to the Toronto Blue Jays eliminating the Seattle Mariners from the American League Championship Series

in seven games, we had Dave Sondon. Softie Muller from KJR Sports Radio in Seattle on the program. And Softie, who is a very passionate and very animated Seattle sports fan, came on these airwaves and kind of went viral in the aftermath for his passionate support of his team and also trashing Toronto, Blue Jays fans, Blue Jays fans in Vancouver. Are I missing any targets? Softie took a, oh, the guy that sat beside him

in full Blue Jays regalia. Right. It was a very funny hit. Some people were offended, but most people thought that was amazing. Do you know how many people came up to me after that? You got to get that Seattle guy on again. Likewise. Softie resonated with the people, I would say.

Good bad or otherwise, he made his mark. Well, you all know what happened in the aftermath of that hit. Seattle Mariners went on to lose game six and seven of the ALCS and blew it despite holding a 3-2 lead and having two chances at moving on to the first world series in franchise history.

3-1 lead with 8 outs to go. So Laddie, yesterday or the day before? Was it yesterday's show? Well, it was yesterday morning's show. I went on the KJR website and...

You're a good worker. You went out and you wanted to... Because people were asking you an A-Dog, like, book Softie. Yeah, that's why I did it. Yeah. So Laddie did the work. He did the grind.

We probably weren't going to book him for the show. And you listened to Softie's show yesterday. Now, what he said and then what you've got to share with us. So there's about 10 minutes

right off the top and I highly suggest people go and listen because this is it's such a big sports moment in general and to hear his take on it as such a passionate fan

it's about 10 minutes off the top of the show there was no like intro bumper it was just they went straight to softie and his voice was breaking up like he would it started a little morbid

excuse me because he went to his father's grave and apparently he had this planned months before the games were scheduled And so it starts, I'm not going to play that part. Okay. But I'll play it towards the end here, the last minute or so.

And you can hear, you get the gist of it. So they cold opened this. Basically, yeah, at least from what I could hear from the podcast. That's crazy. We've done that a few times when people have died. Very somber, yeah. Okay. So extremely somber.

It was a lot sadder. I thought there would be more anger. There was a few moments, but I thought it would be more anger and less sad, but it was more just sadness. So you guys want to hear from Softie himself? Here's the last minute or so. of his rant to open the show last yesterday morning. I'm most sorry for the fans.

I really am. I know a lot of people say the players, hey, look, the players, man, players are more like goldfish than we are. They'll get over this. They'll move on. They'll go to spring training. They'll sign contracts with other teams, right? They'll get traded.

They'll have other things to do. But the only consistent thing about this sport, and it's not even the team because we know teams can move we saw that with our beloved sonics the only consistent thing guys is us is the fans we're the only ones that stay we're the only ones that aren't going anywhere and so we are the ones that eventually will have to wear this for the rest of our lives and this is the worst scar today and again maybe i'll change my mind dick tomorrow but for me where i'm sitting right now the absolute unbelievable sadness

that I feel in my heart after what happened last night is the biggest scar that I've ever, ever, ever felt as a sports fan. And it effing sucks. It sucks right now, man. So, sorry.

So, that's tough. You're a lot to unpack that. You can just hear the pain in his voice. So first off, I think because of where we're at and the fact that you're a huge Jay's fan and we sort of approach this as like, let's just embrace all of this ALCS, when the Jay's won, what do we do?

Focused on the Jay's winning. I did do the dive into the Seattle side of things. And I, when I saw the players after the game, that's when it really sunk in that it wasn't just a loss. It's that they felt like they were on their way to it. And that's a big difference. So the fans. So the fans got that feeling of like, this could actually be it.

This could be the year. It wasn't like the Brewers getting wiped out in four games in the NLCS. where they never had a chance. The Mariners fans and a lot of the Mariners thought that they had it and you know what I think that they had it or they thought that they had it

was after the Ejani Oswaras home running game six. You're game five, sorry. They thought that was their moment and that's hard to deal with. And it wasn't necessarily winning the World Series it was just getting to won. For the first time.

For the first time. You know, if we wanted to talk about Canucks fans, like we've seen the finals three times. Which, you know, when you consider They're like, yeah, they've been in the NHL a while, but getting to the finals three times, that's around what you'd expect, right?

Like maybe certainly a little on the low side. You'd like to win one of them. Yeah. Here's what gets me, and then when I throw it out to the listener, sometimes they're like, I never thought about that. The Kinexov have played three games where if they won that game, they'd win the Stanley Cup. They've lost all three.

They lost game seven to the Rangers. They had game six against the Bruins. and they lost game seven. So, I think, sorry, not to jump in, but the Mariners had two cracks at it to get to the World Series. And they had a lead in Game 7. And it looked like,

it looked like it was going to happen. Things were going to be pretty good in Game 7 there for a while. I mean, we had a great interview with Dan Shalman yesterday. And he was saying that, you know, they were saying, heading into the 7th, they're like, this is it. Like, this, they better,

they got the guys coming up that, you know, I mean, I know the whole Jay's lineup. can hit but it was kind of like this is it right and I know you were sitting at home going like because your daughter had said

Springer's going to hit a home run in this game and you're kind of like Molly better on listening because he's probably not going to get up again and then he did it even when so I know I know that the Js put guys on base

and they bunted over to second and third and I know so there was a somewhat of a building excitement but I still feel like when Springer hit the home run it was more shock

I was shocked like that it happened because Well the setup was to get a run across Like remember how they'd gotten those guys On base too It was like a single

And a walk Right so it's not like Oh we're getting to them or whatever You know It was designed to get a run across Yeah they were trying to They were trying to manufacture anything they could Well even Springer said on his swing

He wasn't trying to get a home run Yeah he was just trying to hit it somewhere deep So now put yourself in the position of being a Mariners Finn. And you're like, you're feeling it. You're kind of being like, I don't want to say anything here. But like the Jays kind of looked like they got nothing here. Softie said he was at a bar and he was turning to his buddy and they were just flashing hand signals.

How many outs were left? And they couldn't believe it. And it was getting lower and lower. And then it got to eight. It's a fascinating thing about these flashpoint moments in sports. Because I remember going back and watching the 2011 documentary from the Bruins side of thing. Oh, yeah.

And not realizing at all that there was happiness involved with 2011 at all. Like, I never thought about it because 2011 was such a nightmare scenario from blowing game 6 and 7, the riot, losing on home ice in such like sad fashion. And I was like, oh, wait, like this was a, this was an amazing moment for people. And they're like, I mean, the Bruins are still doing the, they have those Zoom calls where they get all the 2011 guys back together. Well, they only won one Stanley Cup. They kind of underachieve for the type of team that they did have and the seasons that they put together. They shade, nice shade.

And then you compare, yeah, right. Kind of underachievers that, Boston team. Yeah, a bunch of losers aside from 2011 if you think about it. But now you stack it up to this. And like, we came in on Monday and I was like, well, the story is the Jays, right? I mean, what are you going to say? They're going to the World Series for the first time in 32 years. They do it in dramatic fashion.

The story is the Jays. But there's an entire other story out there of misery. I mean, for a variety of reasons, you just, don't talk about. They had Larry Stone on after that clip and he said fans allowed themselves to dream the impossible dream and then it was snatched away.

And that's the painful part. But that's what happened here. Yeah. And Qualicum golf guy like it us 2011ers can empathize with Softie exactly the same feeling this market had with true Canucks fans except it was tainted with the violence in the streets.

No mob in Seattle to taint it and deflect the feeling that loss stuck with me for a long time I'm kind of over it now 2011 but it's 14 years later

it's stuck with me for a long time and you know people should say well maybe you should grow up like you're a grown man like it's just sports it's just like yeah but

that's why we do it that's why this show focuses so much on fan bases sure like yeah obviously the players are interesting and you want to get into the contracts and you want to get into the analytics. But the reason Softie is popular,

and I would like to think the reason that, you know, people enjoy our show is we talk about the fan bases. Like, that, to me, is the most interesting part. Us, we are the most interesting part. Like, we're watching this, and we're putting this meaning into sports.

And maybe it's kind of like childish to put meaning into sports, but like, I don't know, it passes the time. It's something to do. do right and means you don't have to focus on real stuff he said in his clip there he said number of times he had to stop himself and say why are you letting this affect you so much you're a grown man yes and he would he would break down and it it affects you it just does because you know what it is though it's like we want the

moment yeah we want to experience the moment we want to we're it's a it's a curiosity what the hell does it feel like to be the fan of a team that wins the Stanley Cup I know what it feels like to be a fan of a team that wins a Super Bowl and it's really good and a fan of a team that wins Olympic gold in a great moment and it felt really good

and the Stanley Cup I want to know what that feels like and it might be just like Softie was probably also thinking a lot about his dad too right who never got to see the Mariners when it becomes so that adds to a layer of emotion as well it becomes that's what it becomes and it's kind of like well the time is kind of ticking down and that's why I'm just like

and they're adding more teams more expansion you know when I was a kid it was 21 teams it seemed like doable yeah they'll do this if there's 34 or 35 teams you're like maybe they won't do this I hate to cut this off in a cold-blooded emotionless way but I do need to remind everybody this segment of the show

I'm sure they're thrilled to be part of it is brought to you by JanPro from conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between Jampro keeps workplaces tidy clean and disinfected for a free quote visit of Jampro Also, I need to remind you about the chat room at Tyrant Studios. Join Joe Leary and special guests this Sunday afternoon at 12 noon for Vancouver's coolest talk show.

The chat room at Tyrant Studios here on Sportsnet 650. Finally, and finally, we are giving away a pair of Giants tickets coming up on the other side of the break. This Friday's game, that's October 24th, the Langley Events Center. You can see the Giants in action. Be caller number five at 8 a.m. We'll do it right at 8 a.m. during the break. Caller number 5. 604-280-0-650.

That number again, 604-2-80-0-6-50. Call it 8 a.m. and be caller number five for a pair of tickets to see the Giants this Friday at the Langley Event Center. You're listening to The Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.