Halford & Brough in the Morning - What Will The Crowd Response Be Like For JT Miller On Tuesday?

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason set up game of the World Series tomorrow featuring the Blue Jays and the Dodgers with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:25), plus they look ahead to Tuesday's home matchup versus the Rangers, and have a debate on how the crowd will respond to JT Miller's return to Vancouver (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.

It's time to chat with Adnan. It's Adnan Burkey's on the show. We're going to talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen. That's right, it's time for Adnan. Yes, Adnan Berkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the films he's seen. 7.04 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford and Brubb of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest, two much lower payments, and three, financial peace of mind.

Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We're now an hour or two of the program, Adnan, Burke, from MLB Network. It's going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. 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.org. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. We go now to the phone lines. Adnan Verk from MLB Network joins us one day ahead of the start of the World Series in Toronto. Good morning, Adnan.

How are you? I'm doing great Mike Jay is such a surreal feeling to think that the Blue Jets are in the World Series I was just seeing some promos on Fox getting stuff to game tomorrow and how about this? Always important to lobby your boss I was not scheduled to go

I'm behind the depth chart Greg Ams here Brian Kenny Lawrence Hottie Robert Flores Matt Basker's and I said please send me I'm Canadian for God's sakes so they're sending me I'm flying later today I'll be there for games one and two doing pre and post game

but here is the caveat I told my boss I don't need a hotel He said, great. So I'll be staying with my parents in Maple, Ontario, solid hour, hour distance to go. You'll see me on the subway, getting back to my parents' house at 2 in the morning, but it'll be great.

I can't wait. That's fantastic news. Congratulations, man. That's very cool, because this is one of the most hyped, and I know it's got a different kind of hype north of the border here in Canada because the Blue Jays are in it, but this is a different kind of hype

for this World Series. And a lot of it has to do with the fact that the Blue Jays are back for the first time in 32 years. And it also has to do with the fact that it's the Dodgers who are looking to win back-to-back World Series and have been an absolute wagon. I do want to start there because we spend a ton of time talking about

the Jays already. And I've looked at this series up, down, left, right, and I keep coming back to this rotation for the Dodgers. And I know we talked a lot about it during the regular season. Are the Dodgers just going to sort of cruise through the regular season, get everybody healthy, and then when the playoffs hit, bam,

it's Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, and Otani. Well, it's been exactly that. And, not only are these guys pitching, they're also pitching deep into games. They're just a really, really difficult team in a buzzsaw of an order to deal with in terms of that one through four pitching rotation. Yeah, it's formidable, Mike. There's no question about it.

And I like both of your points. One is just how scintillating they are. They've been one and a half B.A. so far in the postseason, that's incredible. Kind of makes you think of that 2019 Nationals team. I also relied on starting pitching of Schrosberg, Scher, and Corbyn. But I really like your point about how they go deep into the games, right? in that series against the Brewers, 24 outs from Snell, 27 out from Yomoto, 17 outs from Glastinow, 18 from Otani.

They're going at least into the 6th. There's not one guy who you say, you can put up a crooked number, let's get him out in the third inning. It doesn't happen with these guys. No matter what, they're going to go deep, and they're going to pitch really well. And that really is the key to this series, as simplistic as it may sound, if the Blue Jays can score runs against this Dodgers starting pitching, they have a chance of winning the World Series. You know, there's a few things that have to go right for the Jay's recipe for success.

One is four previous times in a best of seven. In the LCS, if it's gone to seven games in 1985, four times one team swept and one team won and seven. All four times, the team that won and seven won the World Series. The team that swept lost. So the Jays have to hope that this Russ versus rest conundrum impacts the Dodgers, who've had a week to hang out. Of course, the answer that would be, well, that's starting pitching one week of

rest, it's even better news for them. Like, no, they'll be fresh as a daisy. So perhaps. But at least by the history, the Jays can go, all right, maybe Dodgers are rusty. We do have the first two games at home. You know, the Dodgers want at least a split. If the Jays could go up to or rather than being down O2, that could put real fear to the Dodgers hard to make a sense that this could be a chance they could win it. But you're right. It's those starters that are awesome. And you can't say, well, well, the score runs off their bullpen. No, because they pitch deep in the game. So Snell is going to pitch seven in the third innings. You have an inning in two-thirds, all of a sudden score five runs?

It doesn't work that way. And then, why were there moments during the regular season where the Dodgers didn't look all that good? Yeah, it's really funny, broth. They're that classic team. It looked like they could flip the switch and you go, well, you can't do that in sports. It's a nice theory, but they're not robots, they're humans.

I know the Dodgers have done exactly that. They've literally flipped the switch. I think, okay, they were ready to go. You know, I think at times there was just inconsistency, which happens in the course of a baseball season. At times, they looked at a little bit bored. And at times, I do think that the depth of that starting pitching was impacted. I mean, a lot of those guys

were hurt. I mean, the only guy that pitched over 100 innings aside from Yamamoto is Clayton Kershaw, who in his 18th season is an absolute afterthought. Like, Kershaw is not pitching the World Series unless it's like mop-up duty. Or like, maybe they can't three key out somewhere. I'm like, it's just not going to happen. They're high

leveraged guys. They're going to be Vessian, Trinin. And then Sasaki's now their closer, which is a heck of a move. Make your starter a closer after he'd struggled. But I think honestly it brought, they missed those guys, right? Snell was gone for months. Glassnet was gone for months. O'Tonnie didn't. pitch until halfway through the season. If those guys had pitched the entire year, they would

have easily won over 100 games. But part of it was by design. They were not rushing anybody back, but Otani wanted to take his time. In the case of Yamamoto, as well, he was the only guy that was dealing. So I think they just didn't have healthy starting pitching for much of the season. And so when you have your Emmett Sheans and other stepping up, you do get tested, constantly, et cetera. And I do think another potential concern. We saw the regular season, their offense can go south at times. Like, they do have the star power. They do have have the big names of Freeman Otani, Betts, Muncie. Tommy Edmund's been great for them.

Like, it's not the bottom of the 30-order the way the Mariners had, like Canzon and Rivas were just absolute stiffs. But at times, LA's offense was quieted. So I do hope a guy like Atreya Savage, if he starts game one for the Blue Jays, he can try to silence that Dodgers' offense out of the gate. Is there an effective way to try and attack this Dodgers pitching staff? Because they actually faced two very different stylistically hitting teams in Milwaukee. In Philly. In Philly, obviously, you had the guys, all the guys could go yard, and they could hit bombs with Schwerber and Harper, and that didn't necessarily work. And then you had the brewers that didn't have as much power for a little bit more of the manufacturing run type. And we all know how that went. They had a grand total of 14 hits over four games. So I'm looking at the Jays, and they've done a great job of roughing up starting pitching. They did a great job of doing it against the Mariners. I'm just wondering if there's a way to attack the Dodgers in a similar fashion, or if the Dodgers starting pitching is just maybe that too good.

Well, just an example of how good that Dodgers starting pitching is, Mike. The Brewers hit 1-18 in the L-CATs. That's the lowest ever in L-CATS. That is unbelievable how feeble they wore. And if you think, well, the Brewers didn't have much offense, no, I know, but they had 97 wins in the regular season. Like, they clearly won some games with this offense. So Bryce Terrain, Christian Yellis, Jackson, sure those guys were completely rendered ineffective.

And if L.A. pitches that well, it's good night, Irene. Like, let's be honest. As good as the Jays can play, if L.A. pitches to their capabilities. They're going to win the World Series. It's why they're the favorites. You have to hope that one of those starters, or maybe even two of those starters, as an off-fay. These guys are not supermen. Perhaps the sliders, you know, missing a little bit of bite that one day. The fastball's not as crisp. And hopefully you can take one of those mistake pitches. You know, yeah, I want to have there's a lot of splitters. And Otani will throw the

splitter. Sometimes the split doesn't split, it stays up. And that's how you can get to them. Same issue for gossiping is Savage. So you have to hope there's a mistake pitch and you can punish it. So in answer your question, you're going to have to hope for both, obviously. I mean, you want contact, which is what the Jays do. I mean, nobody was better in baseball at fewer strikeouts than Toronto, and that's important. You can't just go up there hoping to get three-run, home run, jacks put the battle of the ball, put pressure on defense, and put the ball in play. But you also can't punch in Judy this thing. You can't just hit four RBA singles, and they're going to beat the Dodgers. So, Denise Vladimir,

to step up. He said 442, 930 slug. He has a 1440 OPS, which is the seventh highest ever in postseason history. They need Springer to have big home runs. Thank God he hit the Homer, after he looks so banged up with that knee contusion, that showed his heart. And hopefully Bobichette's back. I mean, this guy hits 3-11, drove in 94 runs in the regular season. They're not just getting a guy back. They're getting arguably their best hitter. I mean, he's second in the league and hits.

That's a good Boba Shett is. So they're going to need guys who make contact, your Andre Semenis, your Ernie Clements, and those types of players. But they also need some power. And if it wasn't for Springer's Homer, Addison Barger's home run would have been the most important home run since Joe Carter. The Homer that Barger hit in Game 5 was critical as well. And I think we can all agree if the Blue Jays win the World Series, it'll be a huge upset.

What is the biggest upset that you've been around to watch? And what are some lessons that you could draw from that upset? Well, I think when you look around, especially in baseball, like if you're going to shock the world, you just need your collective talent to really be at their best. And again, like I said, you're going to need a little bit of luck. You're going to need that other team to fall through a little bit. And let's be honest, maybe an interview or two. Shohi Otani was not his best last year.

Why? Because he wasn't fully healthy. So there was whispers up until that game that this guy isn't a playoff choke, but he's not as good in the playoffs, period. He had one hit in game two, and done much. And, of course, he has one of the greatest postseason games ever. So I think that you do need to have a bit of that aspect to it, which is that you want to have a team that you get a little lucky.

Maybe somebody gets banged up. Maybe Lukie Betts gets hurt, free of me, et cetera. Maybe, as I said, those pitchers aren't as sharp as you think they might be. like you need some of that that's just that's just you know part of it but then you also need unsung heroes and players to step up the way that you may not necessarily expect and so that's where you get us to like an early clementmentment when the fact that you had like over a thousand ops like it was ridiculous right like the fact we did against the yankees you have stories like that you have these mark lemkees that come through like that you know i just think of even the podres for a few years ago when they beat the dodgers in 2022 the doggers have won nine n l west titles in 10 years and they'd won 14 of those games against the Padres, they'd own them. But the Padres made some good moves. They were able to save their bets for L.A. Sometimes these things happen.

You do have to get a little bit lucky and just hope that not only your stars, but also your role player step up. Like that's the big thing to me is you can't just, well, like Vladik can flip a series absolutely, but you're going to have to get a little bit of luck as well. Even I think of that 2019 series, brock, the nationalists are at 19 and 31. Like they're up two on the series. They dropped all three games at home.

they're down against Houston, they still won. And it was Howie Kendrick, who hit that home run off the foul pole in Game 7 that gave Washington the World Series. Like, Howie Kendrick's a good player, but he's not your superstar. So that's where I'm like, it has to be a guy like that who will step up sometimes and make a big difference when you at least expect it. You know who I think could be the key to the series is Tray is Savage. And we were talking around, talking about the 1988 World Series.

Dodgers were involved in that, of course, but they were the underdogs. against the A's and that was of course the famous Kurt Gibson home run in game one. Another key for the Blue Jays, get game one, put a scare into these Dodgers, but we'll remember the performance that Oral Hersheiser had in that series, which only went five games.

You know, you savage to me seems like the type of guy that could give the Dodgers trouble just because they don't really know him very well. Yeah, I was asked in the Levitarcher show, like give me the most important pitcher for the Blue Jays, and I to Trey is Savage. Because Gossman, they know, right?

He pitched the Ores, pitch for the Giants, puts in the same division. Like, everyone knows. Gossman throws two pitches, if that splitters on, like, watch out. But, like, he will give up a homeowner, too. Bieber, to me, is a little bit concerning. Like, I do think he's a guy that can go up during six-nings, three runs. But, like, he doesn't have wipeout stuff. He's going to give up runs. He's going to give up home runs.

And it might be seven hits he gives up in a game seven. And you go, okay, that's it for Bieber. We can't use him. Also got roughed up against the Yankees. Scher, again, is an X factor. Again, I give him credit. he pits like a lion. By the way, I got a bunch of tweets and, hey, you needed me a call upon Vancouver

radio. He said, Scherzer wouldn't pitch well. He pitched great. There's no doubt about it. I said, Best case, five and a third, three runs. He was even better. Five and two thirds and two runs. But can you really count on 41-year-old Max Scherzer? So I'm with you, brought the guy that I can trust is Trayy Savage. He's got the best stuff of any of those guys. He's 22 years of age.

He started the year in single-Aid Dunedin. He could be there, Paul Skeens. And the fact that they've announced it yet, Gossman could start game on a short rest, three days rest specifically, after throwing an inning in that game seven. But I wouldn't be surprised as Sean, I'm going to create a Savage. I'm going to pitch this guy in game one and game five.

And we're going to win those two games. And this could be a tremendous story. I'm with you. If the Blue Jays win the World Series, the Savage will win, if not won, both of those games. You know, the Jays have had a ton of success in this postseason, specifically with a lot of the stuff that they did during the regular season, but one is putting balls in play and putting pressure on the other team to make plays. And we saw it against the Yankees. They made a bunch

of errors in the field. Even the Mariners, a good fielding team, a solid fundamental team. they made three errors in game six and that paved the way for game seven. I'm wondering if there's something to exploit with the Dodgers maybe in the outfield which has been a problem this year. They did move Mookie Betts to shortstop

and he's been fantastic there but I know in August they even flirted with the idea of moving them back because their outfield defense was so poor. We're really breaking it down to its constituent parts here looking for the tiniest little things to exploit but I do wonder if the Js can at least put balls in play. Maybe there's something to exploit there. No, I agree with you, Mike.

started doing like a tail to tape. Who's got the better offense? Dodgers lineup, Jay's lineup. I'm like, listen, the Jay's line up, it's been a great story that our fourth in the league and run scored. They do have a lot more depth than the mirrors. You know, Jimenez, it's nine to get home runs. But it's the Dodgers. Like, look at Star Powers. It's ridiculous. I have MVP's all over the place, right? If I see Dodgers starting pitching, Dodgers in a walk. If I say bullpen, maybe you can actually lean Jay's. Jay's won a bullpen game,

despite the fact Little's home run, Hoffman looked great in six and seven. And the Dodgers have some concerns. But again, Bessia, Triton, Sasaki's been good for the them. Maybe we'll call it a push, maybe you give it to the Jays. The one advantage, perhaps you'd start to say maybe defense, right? Toronto really picked it well against Seattle. You saw how good their defense was, helping out you Savage in

Game 6, Connor Folefa, Jimenez specifically. But then I say to myself, the Dodgers were third in the majors and defensive run safe. Like, there's a subpar defensive team. They're an elite defensive team. And you're right, maybe there's a corner Alpians. Toska Hernandez is a butcher. I mean, I love the guy. He's an absolutely incredible

player. He's making his return Toronto. The best thing about his defense is his hitting, right? That's why he's there. He will hit a big run, but he is not good defensively, period. So you're right. Teosher might bumble a couple of balls, but I'm like, if that's the way I'm looking at a recipe for success, if maybe Teoster drops a ball, I'm like,

I'm going to need more than that to try to win the World Series. But you're right. You're looking for every single aspect, every single race you get to game. Maybe there's an edge there. And yeah, having said that, if Bichette plays, I can't imagine he plays shortstop, fellas, because I don't think he's at 100%. I don't think he's particularly good defense.

He looked at the numbers. So that means Bichette becomes the D.H. hasn't played September 6. That means Springer then goes to the outfield. Now, George played 54 games in the right field, but he hasn't played the outfield since I think September 24th. Yeah. So that could be a potential concern.

Now, again, Schneider played Anthony Santon during the Outfields. Clearly, he's willing to sacrifice defense for offense. But that's part of the frustration if you're the bludges. You go on every level. If you're really being objective, the Dodgers have the edge, even including defense. It all gets underway tomorrow. Five o'clock, a reminder.

You can hear a game one of the World Series right here on SportsNet 650. Adnan, thank you very much for doing this today. Enjoy games one and two in Toronto. It should be a lot of fun. We'll do this again next week. Thanks, can't wait, boys. Pre-imposed game from Toronto, it's going to be a blast. Enjoy it, buddy. That's Ednan Verk from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports

965. Lattie, Lattie, as he ducks his head back into view. What are you going to do? You're the manager. You're Schneider. What are you going to do with Bo? Put him in the lineup? Yeah, anywhere? Do you deach him?

I think you have to D.HM. I think you're out of options there. Although he did look very good in the video of him running the bases the other day. He looks spry. I think the lateral movement required to play his position is not something you want. So you DHM, next question, follow-up question. What do you do with George? You got to put him in the outfield.

Where else are you going to put him? What else are you going to put him? I don't know. Not out of the lineup. I was doing the, I'm like, could he play first base and then move Vladdy to third? There's a lot of talk about Bo just being more of a pinch hit guy. off the bench. That's what I'm wondering.

How many games do you go four for four during the season? You've got to have them in there, I feel like. Okay, we got an open segment on the other side. You can text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and renter warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of the three locations to serve you or online at Dunbarlumber.com. I'm reading a headline right now on Sportsnet.com. It's an article written by Eric Francis, who comes.

covers the Calgary Flames and the headline is on cusp of lost season time for flames to embrace Montreal style rebuild. I really wonder if there's going to be some phone calls made about Nazim Kadri. And do the flames start

unloading or is it too early in the season to do that? I mean I know it's not too early for the Canucks to think about picking up another center. I don't know if Cadre makes sense for them. It's pretty old. But he's still a pretty effective player. We'll see, I guess, what's going on with that.

When we come back, this is kind of sports radio-ish, but I'm going to throw out this question. Is this next week for the Canucks, even though it is still very, very early in the season, does this have at least hints of make or break this next week and on the other side

we'll go through the games and we'll go through the situation that the Canucks are in feel free to just say no you're being

sports radio guys but I think this next week at the very least is going to be very intense and busy for the Vancouver

Canucks with the teams that are coming in and the amount games that they have to play. Okay, I got a bunch of stuff we've got to do before we go to break. One, I need to do one to watch brought to you by Limitless AV Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual

integration experts. Who else would it be tonight? Elias Pedersen, yet again is your one to watch in large part because resident bookmaker Jason Brough has placed the overhunder on Elias Pedersen's ice time at 19 minutes and 59 seconds tonight. I don't know what book

might have this later to wage you on, but if you just want to do it for fun, make Elias Pedersen, your one to watch today is the Canucks take on the Preds 5 o'clock from Nashville. That is your one to watch 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 limitlessav.c.com. Also, it is a Canucks game day, so I need to remind you that Canucks game day coverage on Sportsnet 650 is brought to you by Panago. Game Day the Panago way, buy two medium pizzas, and score free cheesy bread.

Use code Canucks deal at Panago.com. Panago for it, restrictions apply. I'm not done yet. Coming up at 7.30. On the button, 7.30, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see the Canucks and Oilers this Sunday, 7 o'clock, October 26. The phone number here is 604-280-650. that number again, 604-280-0-0-650. Rogers Xfinity is bringing you an unforgettable night

as the Canucks take on the Oilers on October 26th. It's the Rogers Xfinity Canucks promo night, and to celebrate, we are giving away that pair of tickets at 7.30 this morning. Rogers Xfinity is Canada's most reliable internet. Visit rogers.com forward slash Xfinity to learn more. 730. Call in. You also get to talk to.

to Adog. That's part of your prize. We've got a lot more to get into on the program. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Big Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays, 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650, or wherever you get your podcast. 732, not a Thursday. It's a thrash Thursday here on the Halpern Breft Show on Sportsnet 650.

It's also a giveaway Thursday. We love our listeners so much, so much. We're doing two giveaways today. Now, one is already in the books. About three minutes ago, we just gave away a pair of tickets. It's not a big deal to see the Canucks and Oilers. Sunday night, 7 o'clock, Rogers Arena. Pretty good prize, pretty good game, right?

Free tickets to see McDavid. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad. Get this. Got a concert announcement, first and foremost. September 20th, BC Place. Wait for it.

Foo Fighters with Queens of the Stone Age. Oh, yeah. That's an A-Dug special. Oh, boy. That's awesome, actually. Both those bands are red. Let's we forget, Gouge Away. I've never seen Queens live.

I've seen Food Fighters live, and they're awesome. I saw Food Fighters live at Rogers about 20 years ago. Is there much fighting? There's a bit of fighting. They opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That's a cool show. Yeah. And Cool Keith was there for some reason.

I don't know why. I'm interested in Gouge Away. Are you? Are they like a Pixies cover band? Don't know. I don't know anything about them. Listeners, if you want to tell us about Gouge away, feel free

gouge away it's a pixie song I know but I don't know anything about the band I know so if you want to if you want to let us know

650 650 Is that something like a wrestling ref says like gouge away guys your finger right in there oh boy it's my favorite

kind of match we're going to be giving away the tickets at 8 o'clock caller number 5 again so the who what where or when you know who's going

September 20th BC place tickets if you want to buy them they go on sale on Halloween Friday, October 31st at 10 a.m. If you want to get tickets now and three days next week, we're giving away Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

Be caller number 5 at 8 a.m. this morning, 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-650. Call it right at 8 o'clock. Not 758, not 7.58, not 759, 8 a.m. Caller number 5 is going to win a pair of tickets to see Food Fighters with Queens of the Stone Age and gouge away September 20 at the BC Place. We're giving tickets away tomorrow as well.

And as you said, Monday to Wednesday of next week. So excited. Very exciting. Very excited. Do you want to do some sports radio stuff and really kind of like amp up the anxiety of the fan base? So you are suggesting that next week. So we're not counting tonight's game against Nashville, right? No, we'll count it.

Yeah, we're counting it. So games 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the season. Nashville, Montreal, Edmonton, New York, and St. Louis. St. Louis. Not just the games, my friend. not just the games. Right. What happens off the ice

with any updates on Philip Heedal? Okay. And what the Canucks can do about that? Because, you know, I feel like Dolly Wall could be on the show right now. You're like, you don't think they're working the phones, breath? I was like, no, I'm pretty sure they are.

You don't think they're trying to get a replacement for a 2C? You don't think that? Halford, you don't think they're working the phones trying to get a replacement for a 2C? I never said it nor thought it. You don't think that you'll... You don't think they're watching Filipino? Wait, no.

You don't think they're trying to, like... Halford, there's nobody out there. Who are they going to go get? I don't recall saying they're going to get any one. You don't think they're going to try? I mean, everyone wants them to replace the 2C. You don't think they're trying, Halford? I don't like to be the straw man to Dollywall.

I don't care for it. So there is that element of the off-the-ice news about Heedl. and I don't know if we're going to get a firm update on it but it doesn't sound great right now guys it doesn't sound great that part is very valid the importance of Heedel the injury and then this week could very well be

the diagnosis or the verdict so yeah and what are the Canucks going to do about it sure that's fair that's valid it's a big part of the season now let's talk about the games tonight in Nashville this is a game where I know it's on the road but Nashville's not very good. The Canucks need to show something tonight. They need to be the better team on the ice.

We'll see if the results go their way. They need to be the better team on the ice. Unless Thatcher Demko is incredible again, and then they probably don't need to be the better team on the ice. They just need them to be great. But I'm almost overlooking the Nashville game. Sure. Okay?

Because Saturday, Montreal comes to town. Now, I just read that headline on Sportsnet. because Montreal went into Calgary yesterday and Calgary played pretty well. Calgary out played them. But Montreal won the game in the second and third periods. In overtime. They got the win on a really nice play by Demadov.

And I think that's the type of player that Flames fans are like, we need one of those, young, exciting. You know who scored the game winner? Matheson. One of Vancouver's favorite sons, Mike Matheson. So you know, what if Montreal comes in and outplays

the Canucks and gets a win? Then people are going to be like, oh man, like, you know, that Montreal team, they did it the right way. They were in a hockey mad market and they decided that they could do a rebuild and, you know, look at them now. Now they're looking at a runway of a bunch of great years ahead of them. We'll see if it turns out for them. Six and two, first in the Atlantic Division right now. So that's Montreal on Saturday night. Good team. Hockey night in Canada. I know a lot of people will be distracted by the World Series, but still that game is going to get attention. Sunday, the Edmonton Oilers coming to town.

We all know that it's a big game when the Canucks play the Oilers. So how's that game going to go? How's Petterson? How's Petterson going to fare against McDavid in that game? How's the rest of the center group going to fare against this Oilers team, right? I mean, with the Oilers split up McDavid and Drysadle and be like, okay, well, Pedersen gets one of us. and then Ratu?

What do you think about trying to try to take on dry sidel? So that's the game on Sunday. By the way, just to jump in real quick, Oilers Habs tonight from Edmonton. Right. Montreal's doing the back-to-back. The West Coast swing right now.

Yep. So you'll get to see both of the Cucks opponents tonight in Edmonton. And then Tuesday, I would say, is the biggest one of all, with J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers returning. That's a biggie.

And again, I'm not saying these games are going to go either way. I'm just saying that the results of these games is going to be, they're going to be widely discussed. I mean, if they smoke the Rangers, I think that could create some belief, some more belief. If they lose to the Rangers and J.T. Miller has a big night, that's going to be tough. And then, you know, they're just, there's so little rest for this team,

because they come home from this road trip they only get tomorrow off they only get Friday off normally you get a couple days off when you come back from a road trip they're like okay well you get one day off where you get to go talk to your family and take care of stuff you know and then we're going to have a practice day and then we'll have a game

well they don't have that this time and as soon as they play that Rangers game they're back out on the road again so they go Tuesday against the Rangers in what's going to be an emotional game and then they got to go back out on the road and start this road trip Thursday in St. Louis against that same blues team that came into Vancouver and frankly dominated them.

Yeah, although the blues have kind of hit hard times recently. I don't know what to make of them, but I get your point. I don't know what to make of them either, but... Your boy Jimmy, Jimmy Snuggler got called out by his head coached. I know, man, I was very... Snuggler? Snuggler got called out. Jimmy Snipes was Jimmy benched. He was less than fine.

He was benched. He was less than fine. I got a question, if Elise Patterson plays less menace than Max Sasson tonight, is that bad? I don't know. I'm going to need to, here's the thing. I'm going to need to wait to get an explanation from the head coach about what's going on on that front. Because I don't exactly know what's going on. I am allowing myself to not be a skeptic and to be open to all ideas and explanations and interpretations right now.

But isn't it also strange that they haven't let us know what's going on? Like, that could have been a very easy, like, oh, yeah, there's X reason why. And they're just like, oh, okay, thanks. And that's the end of it. But instead, they're doing the classic, let's not say anything and make everything so much more worse. So I'll have to kick the can on the road on that one, though, because we're not going to find out until they get back. And they've got this weekend doubleheader back to back Saturday, Sunday against the Habs and the Oilers. And you're looking at it, you're saying, yeah, these are going to be, these are spotlight games.

Like, this is how you describe them. They're spotlight games. their Canadian opponents with a large throng of traveling Canadian media coming into your city Saturday night is a hockey night Canada game Sunday night because it's a 7 o'clock start

that's a marquee game on a Sunday night because it's a late start and it's McDavid and it's the Oilers and it's in Vancouver those are big marquee games now you would think that well we can duck out of the spotlight after those wrong because then you have J.T. Miller

and the Rangers coming so it's three games of significant importance in a row And that's where oftentimes a few things happen. One, media intensity gets ratcheted up. Two, more people start paying attention. And three, it does become a bit of a referendum on where your team is at. Because the habs are off to a really good start. The Oilers are the defending Western Conference champions two times in a row.

And they're the bar, like it or not. If you want to get somewhere in the playoffs, you're probably going to have to go through Edmonton. And then you get the Rangers one. The Rangers one is a referendum on the J.T. Miller trade. and we can circle all the way back to the Heidel thing like one major part of that trade is out and facing a very uncertain future

the other part of that trade Mancini is Mancini like there's nothing really there's no referendum on it's the crowd going to be like in the Rangers game I think they're going to be all over Miller personally I think they're going to

I think it's going to win yeah I think so I think it'll be split I don't think it's going to be split I don't think it's going to be split I think it's going to be split now I don't think so How much of it depends how the game goes. You know, in those big games, like, let's say a New York crowd.

Okay, let's, let's, if you're talking about a New York crowd, you're like, remember when the Blue Jays went to Yankee Stadium? And people were kind of like, oh, I wonder what these Yankees crowd is going to be like. Because when things go well to start the game, like it's a good start, the Yankees fans are great. But they will quickly turn. Yeah. I think that's. Now let's talk about the Vancouver. I think that could be the crowd.

I would say, based on my 46 years of experience in the city. Have you ever, you haven't, you haven't been to many, like, you, you don't go to many Canucks games personally, right? Have you heard all the J.T. Miller chants that were there before, like, you mean when he was part of the team? Yeah, there's a lot of people that would still like him to be part of the team. Right, but never underestimate the pettiness of a Vancouver crowd. They're going to want.

Of course, they're going to want. Like, that's obvious. But the other part of it is, like, my, like the bit, and it was only half a bit, because part of it was serious is like with Talkit, I like the guy. But when you're not with us, you're against us. That's how I like that. Talker was a coach, not a player. Doesn't matter.

There were no Rick Talkett chance in Rogers Arena. Are you kidding me right now? Are you kidding me right now? This is a guy that got traded away from the team because he got in a fight with the guy who is still here. There's going to be a large section of people. Buddy, you know who they blamed? Not Miller.

I think you're nuts if you think that there's going to be people that aren't going to be loudly and vociferously booing. Yes, there will be, and there will be some people that cheer the hell out of J.T. Miller because they loved him. And a lot of it is going to depend how the Canucks play.

Well, if the Canucks get the doors blown off and there's going to be booze. I'm not naive enough to think that. If the Canucks get the doors blown off them, there's going to be J.T. Miller Chants. But we're talking about, and there are... This is pretty exciting, isn't it? That would actually be, that would actually be Are we amping up the anticipation?

Like obviously I want the Cucks to win, but if they lose and then you start the J.T. Miller Ches, that would be. Rick from Colonna, Texas, and Brough is hyping me up and giving me nightmares about next week of the same time. Yeah, this is why this next week is going to be intense and just enjoy it. It's going to be awesome. Of the three games, for me, that's the one that I have the most anticipation for. All due respect to the Habs, all due respect to McDavid and the Oilers.

That game is of the three. If you had to pick, what wonder would you want? it's for, that would be the one. Ian and Coquillum, the real question, does J.T. Miller get a video tribute? Is he a twirl guy? Brilliant question. Is he a twirled guy? What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? Look, I'm just going to say it. The best would be just like showing him on the screen. No video just like, welcome back JT

and then just cut to a commercial or something. Just zoom in more and more in his face. How do you do it with Pedersen there? How do you do it? How do you do it? It's a fascinating, guys. You do it as a split screen. So you can say QDD watch the tribute you imagine like let's not get this twisted there is an element of the guy that bullied the other guy the bullies coming back to the school yeah I don't we what how else do you want me to put it hey I don't I don't know if you've been watching the world but bullies are kind of popular these days he's a well like a bully he's a well like bully yeah bullies people respect them I all I'm saying foolishly but they do because I would almost be I would consider it a bit of a

personal affront as a fan of the team if people wanted to go there because at the end of day, there has to be some loyalty to the lawn. I know it's the laundry, but there's got to be some loyalty to the laundry here. Does it not? At the end of the day, even if you like the guy, I go back to my original point. Like, if you ain't with us, you're against us, you know? And I know that they miss them. And I know that there's probably an even split, or maybe even leaning more towards Miller, who was like, they should have kept Miller and they should have got rid of Pedersen. But they didn't. So if you're, if you're a fan of the team, there, is going to be that element of it's like well we ride with the guys that are here

wearing connect's colors and we're not going to ride with the guys that are coming in from new york wearing rangers colors how much of it just matters how the canucks are playing because conucks fans will like everyone they're fan of a lot of people a lot of a lot of myself fake fired up well i know you do you live your life like that um i got to make this about hate tonight i i think you're you're underestimating the potential for if the are not playing well and let's face it they are very under under like they're they don't have centers right now they've got they've got peterson and three guys that you know are between the n-h-l and the hl well okay now that that that is going to be tough so if so peterson is basically

you know if if if we thought he needed a bounce back from him all together like we definitely need him to play now and if he doesn't you know how fans are Like some, some are just like, I'll cheer for my team regardless, right? And others are like, you know what? I'm not going to cheer for a team because that makes me feel bad about myself. I'm going to turn on them. I'm going to start playing the blame game. I'm going to make it as bad as possible.

That's why we've had, you know, nights at Rogers Arena in the last few years where it's, frankly, it's been ugly. I do. Because the team hasn't played well. I wonder if what the internal struggle, the conflict at Connucks Central, not the show with Sat and Dan, but Canucks headquarters. now I'm starting to think about it even more in the moment what do you do if you're the Knox

do you roll out the red carpet for the guy because here's the thing if you don't if it's a muted like you just put his picture up on the big screen and they say thanks for the memories people are going to notice that they're going to be like wow they really made a point of not celebrating I think that's more likely what's going to happen

because of the fact that Patterson's still here and obviously he's on the team because the element that you're bringing up is very much alive the fans could turn on this thing that's what I'm saying Like that. So as an organization, do you play into it almost innocuously by giving the guy a tribute video, saying how much he meant to the organization? I don't think so.

Signing him to this massive deal, giving him life-changing money, they did all that. If he didn't leave under the circumstances that he left under, it would be more likely. But based on how everything went down, I'd be a little surprised if they gave him a tribute video. What do you do, what do you do? I think they're giving them one. Put a picture up on and say, thanks, Jay-Tee. Maybe not a video, yeah. Yeah, I just make it muted, like you said.

I don't know how you power rank the tributes. Well, I think it goes by how many minutes there are. Just put up a picture, say thanks J.T, and they cheer him at the very beginning, and then the rest of the night when he touches the Bucke-Boo. Well, don't you think J.T. will want to acknowledge the fans? Oh, sure. Isn't that? Isn't that?

Like, what if J.T. goes out there and... Starts bowing mid-play? Well, I don't... That's a good question. That's a good question. Like, J.T. is probably going to come in here. He's going to do media beforehand, and he's going to just be like, I had an amazing time in Vancouver. and I loved the fans, and I wish it ended differently.

And then people would be like, how did it end anyway? And he'd be like, well, you know, we're on to Cincinnati. I love the fans and most of my teammates. I'm happy to be back. Now, I'll say this. I distinctly remember when they signed Miller to that extension. When he spoke, there was a real earnestness about he talked about, like, he didn't grow up with much.

And this was, there was life-altering money that he got from the Canucks. Like, he had been paid well before in the NHL. question about it. It's not like he was going to starve after he retired, but they gave him life-altering money and made this huge financial and term commitment to him and it meant something to him. So in that regard, I can see what you're saying. He's probably going to want to be

like, yeah, this place meant a lot to me while I was there. It was a very interesting dynamic at play. Yeah, so during a stoppage of play, they'll put his picture up, the camera will pan to him. It'll do a little wave to the crowd, people will cheer and then the game will go on. Like, it'll happen, but it won't be like a crazy, like, brew-haha

celebration just based under the fact that well, Piedie's right over there and the circumstances. I want him to be like Brad Marshall like he comes out and then he's just bawling on the bench and it's really emotional to the really big thing.

Guys, how exciting is this though? That's great. This next week. I'm just completely looking past all the games before. Like, McDavid, Habs, forget all that. I want Tuesdays game to have.

No, I think the whole thing. I think the whole thing is going to build to that. I mean, even tonight, man, it did not go well Tuesday in Pittsburgh. They better have a better effort tonight

I'm encouraged that Demko's in goal because he's been so good and National is not very good but it's always like what if they lose right? And they're kind of expected to win tonight right? Maybe? I don't know what's the line? Do you have the betting line in front of you? I don't. But

they just need to look better because if they go into this weekend and let's call it these three games and four nights against Montreal, Edmonton, and the Rangers, then they're not really feeling it. And then the pressure starts to build on everyone. The pressure starts to build on the players.

The pressure starts to build on a coaching staff, which has a rookie head coach there. Let's not forget. The pressure starts to build on the general manager, Patrick Alvin, and the president of the team. The owner is watching. You've got these three games at home. we are

what eight games into the season and we're already talking like this but I don't even think it's I don't even think it's unfair to be talking about this and also like let's ramp up the excitement and see how it goes there are some people that like

want to just like downplay everything that's fine but they don't work in radio no but they're also like not really kind of enjoying it you know or letting themselves or letting themselves put some steak into these games

like these are big listen if you want to say like oh it's early in the season these games these games don't matter there's all this I fully believe that the Canucks season was heavily impacted

by what happened in game one last season yep Game one was an ugly forward to the rest of the year set the tone okay so it's basically a pickum tonight by the way Canucks are slight

underdogs on the road. They're at 1.95 on the money line. The preds are 1.86. So there's not a lot to choose from between the two on that one. So, and again, I hate almost overlooking this game, but mentally I've kind of overlooked it

because the next three games are going to be so huge. And this weekend, I don't know we've talked about this, but this weekend is going to be amazing. And that's part of the reason why I'm like, I do one. Tell your family, you got like a business trip or something.

Right. Book a hotel room in town. You didn't even go anywhere. I'm like, I didn't. Stayed home. I got a business trip in the living room so I'd bother me. But like between Friday, Saturday,

World Series, white caps, the playoffs on Sunday are underway. You mentioned like you might take a buy from the NFL this weekend because the Seahawks aren't playing. It's my buy week for the NFL too. Like even Monday is going to be a great night as well. And then that all leads into this Tuesday game

against the Rangers, which I have been looking forward to since the schedule was released. Maybe they should do a Miller tribute video and immediately follow it up with a PD highlight package. Right. Right after. Everything even across the boards. Yeah. These highlights are from four years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They look so

young. They do a thank you Miller video and then it's just the thank you, Peter, just for stuff. Yeah. Just thank you for being you. Okay. We got to go to break. It is a Canucks game day. As mentioned, they're playing the preads. You got the betting line now out there as well. Canucks game day coverage on Sportsnet 650 is brought to you by Panago. Go for the win. Buy two

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