Halford & Brough in the Morning - Whitecaps Sporting Director Axel Schuster
Episode Date: July 16, 2024In hour two, Mike & guest host Jamie Dodd chat with Whitecaps CEO & Sporting Director Axel Schuster (3:00) ahead of tomorrow's match versus Sporting KC, as well as their upcoming game versus Wrexham, ...plus the boys talk some hockey with NHL.com Canucks & In Goal Magazine's Kevin Woodley (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.
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7.01 on a Tuesday.
Happy Tuesday, everybody.
It's a big band Tuesday here on the Halford & Brough Show featuring Jamie Dodd.
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We are in Hour 2 of the program.
Whitecap CEO and Sporting Director Axel Schuster is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to you by
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To the phone lines we go.
Axel Schuster joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.
Good morning, Axel.
How are you?
I'm wonderful.
Good morning.
I'm very good.
How are you guys?
We're good.
Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Good times for your club as of late.
Three wins and a draw in their last four matches,
and the goals are flying in like crazy.
I believe it's 12 goals across the last four matches,
and that's important because the last time we had you on the show,
the team was struggling to score with regularity.
So, Axel, I've got to ask, what's changed in the recent matches?
You know, I remember to ask, what's changed in the recent matches? You know, I remember very well,
and it should also be already a warning for the next game for us.
I remember very well that the last time I said we need patience,
we need our players to get back to form.
We need also to get some of the players back that are injured.
And I believe in this team. So long story short,
I think we got all of those players back in form.
Brian White, for example,
who hasn't scored for a while
and now is scoring almost in every game double.
Ryan Gold, who was just called up as an all-star,
is in best form since he ever joined the club.
And at the same time, we also have to work hard in every game,
and we have to be aware that this is a very good momentum,
and we have to work hard on Wednesday and Saturday now at home
to continue this momentum and to do what we have done well the last games.
You mentioned Ryan Gald there and the form that he's been in,
and he has been brilliant.
You know, I've watched a couple of the matches on Apple TV
because I always want to get a sense of what the national media is talking about
when it comes to the Whitecaps, like, you know, the intermission panels
and what they're saying.
And it's always about the pairing and the duo of Gould and White
and their scoring exploits.
But there's a real appreciation now for everything that Gould brings to a match.
And it's not just the playmaking ability,
but the relentless hounding of the opposition trying to win the ball back.
If there's one characteristic or quality or trait that you admire the most
about the way Ryan Gould plays, what is it?
His work ethic.
Because for those who haven't seen our last game,
we're 3-1 up, two goals lead, 90th minute
it was super humid in St. Louis
more than
it felt like more than 40 degrees
and
he is the man who
runs after his opponent
who wins the ball in the midfield to assist
and the fourth goal
I know so many star players
would just maybe even try
to get subbed or walk around.
And the way that the game is over,
it was one at that time already.
But he's never stopping
and he leads by example.
And for that reason,
he's our captain
and he is also an example
for all our young players
and the players that we bring in.
Because we really tell players,
look at what he's doing,
and there's no way you work a little less than him.
The pairing, of course, has been great as well.
Now, I want to focus on Brian White here for a moment
because he's in terrific form right now.
He's tied for fourth in MLS goal scoring with 12.
He has the same number of goals as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
You can get on your soapbox here if you want and back your guy.
Did he deserve to go to the MLS All-Star Game along with Ryan Gold?
I think it's easy for me to say that yes,
because he was the best non-DP goal scorer last year.
He will be the best non-DP goal scorer this year, I'm pretty sure.
He's also the best domestic goal scorer last year. He will be the best non-VP goal scorer this year, I'm pretty sure. He's also the best
domestic goal scorer in our league.
I think that he deserves it, absolutely.
Obviously,
right around the
election and the selection,
he wasn't in his best moment, and that
happens sometimes with strikers.
Maybe
he has to pick his bad moments better next year
but uh i i want to back up this guy he's for us as important as a dp and he is not a dp and uh
um he is also again also a very good role a role model for every young player because how humble
he is with all his success and all the goals he's scoring. So I back him up on every single level that exists,
and I will push him for next year to the All-Star.
We're in conversation with Whitecaps Sporting Director Axel Schuster
here on Halfenbrough Sportsnet 650.
So, Axel, the MLS transfer window for July is open.
I know you said you believe in your team,
and obviously they're playing well right now.
But big picture, what are you hoping to get done in this transfer window?
Yeah, look, we really want to do some additions in this window
for two reasons.
Some of them are already for looking ahead for next season.
We know that the immigration process in Canada isn't always the easiest
and that it takes some time to get players in. had for next season. We know that the immigration process in Canada isn't always the easiest and
that it takes some time to get players in. For that reason, before this season, we have decided
only to bring in players who already had a work permit or could get a work permit in Canada within
the day. And the other additions that we want to do, or maybe also some trades some traits yes that we want to do is to strengthen our roster a little
bit in depth that we that Rennie has a few more options if we end up in a scenario that we had a
few weeks ago that we had a few injuries a few selections for national team and then then with
the amount of games and travel we have, then it becomes very challenging for us.
So we want to give the team a little bit of depth
that we have a little bit more choices for the starting XI.
How closely do you and Vanny talk about potential transfers,
whether it's him saying, hey, here's what I would really need
to kind of fill out the squad,
or you maybe running potential options by him?
How closely do you two collaborate
especially at this time in the calendar when the transfer window is open
look i speak more often with him than with my wife i think
so we're sitting on flights next to each other we haven't had lately we had a lot of flights uh we
are we are we are on the road together i go to every every game. So we're sitting at the lunch and dinner table together
or even in the evening in the hotel.
So we are discussing everything.
I think there is, as I said from the very first beginning,
there's always two thumbs up needed for a transfer.
And we are very much aligned since many years.
It's a very great working relationship
because Rennie is a guy who listens to all various opinions.
And it's not only him and me.
We have a scouting and recruiting department.
We have an analytical department.
I have a technical director with Quinn Thompson.
And all of them are doing a lot of work.
And it's more giving the direction.
And then before we really make the final decision
and we can nail it down to two, three pro fights for a position,
then we come back together and then make decisions.
The Fafa-Pico thing, I just wanted to address that quickly.
For the listeners that might not be aware, Pico joined the team,
veteran MLS player, Pico joined the team.
Veteran MLS player, very exciting, very energetic.
He's currently third on the team in goals and third on the team in assists.
So there was a report out there from The Athletic that he would like to have had a trade,
possibly to the East Coast.
He denied it.
You came out and addressed it already. I'm just kind of wondering if there's any update there or if things are all good on the Fafa Pico front.
Yeah, there's everything good and
everyone who has watched our last game could see that he has actually scored two goals i think the
one goal that the vr took back was very unlucky for him that it was taken back he showed i think
one of his best top three performances this year so there's nothing nothing more everything's good
um i obviously if a player is not getting to the
minutes for whatever reason at some point and the window is opening soon i think it's the job of an
agent to to look what else is possible in the market sure um but that never ever he came to
my office and said i i want to leave or i will leave or let me leave. It was more a discussion about what the situation is,
how I see the situation in the future.
And you know what?
The outcome was very easy.
He focused on what he can do and play the best soccer he can play.
I focus on what I can do. And his best soccer he can play. I focus on what I can do and his
agent can do whatever he thinks is right. And if there is a wonderful option, we will sit down
together. But that's probably true for every player. And if not, we are working well together
as we have done in the last game. So this isn't a transfer coming in,
but a player coming back. and that's Ali Ahmed,
who's finished his international duty
with Canada.
And we've had a couple different guests
on the show that just marveled
at what he did in the tournament,
especially against Uruguay
in the third, fourth place match.
How impressed were you
with what Ali Ahmed did with Canada
at the Copa America?
I don't want to take any credit away.
I think we were the least
because we because we know what he can do and we know how good he is i was i was so happy that
then he finally got the chance after the first first few games he didn't play that he finally
got the chance um could come on uh could have this impact, and got rewarded with more playing time in the next two games.
I have been at three Canada games and have seen him live playing.
And I can really say we are desperate to get him back.
And we can't wait for it, to have him back on the pitch,
because we know about his quality.
But on the other side I
think it was a great learning experience and he will have he probably has matured a lot and will
be only better now for us than he was before and with that we have a wonderful addition for the
next games. Axel another exciting date coming up on the calendar for your club is when Wrexham
visits for a friendly on July 27th and as part of that i know
there's been reports that they've requested grass to be put in can you tell us more about that that
process and whether there will be natural grass brought in for that game yeah i have i've said
uh very often and you you know this we are we are more or less the guests in this game.
The promoter of Rexham has rented our stadium and has invited us to this game.
I cannot confirm anything official,
and I cannot really make a comment on this,
other than that I have heard exactly the same
and that from my sources it is true
that Grass will be in the stadium for this game.
And I'm looking forward to that, to see how BC plays looks with grass.
And having this experience, I invite everyone to come to see the same.
It's also a good test for BC plays before the World Cup.
And then we're looking forward to a wonderful game.
But first things first, and we have two MLS games before that,
two very important MLS games on Wednesday and Saturday at home.
And we want to grab the points.
So it's a reminder to everyone listening,
the match on Wednesday is a 7.30 kickoff from BC Place.
It's the Whitecaps, the Sporting Kansas City.
It's 80s night at BC Place.
It should be a lot of fun.
Axel, thank you very much for doing this today.
We really appreciate it.
Best of luck on Wednesday.
Let's do this again as the season continues to roll along.
Absolutely.
Whenever you want, guys.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, thanks for coming on.
We appreciate it.
That's Axel Schuster, Whitecaps Sporting Director here
on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.
Speaking of your Vancouver Whitecaps,
so their former home at Empire Field in East Vancouver.
Have you seen what's going on at Old Empire?
I have not, but regular texter Justin in East Van
sent in an intriguing text about an interactive art piece,
as he called it, going up at Empire.
So I live right by there.
I drive by it all the time.
And for the last, I mean, God, I don't know how many months, but it's been months upon months.
There's been this egregiously tall and I guess they're calling it an art installation.
It's 17 meters high and it's a seating venue.
It seats 49 people.
It has 16 rows.
And visitors can climb to the top of this to either take in the majestic views or, I guess, sit and watch whatever.
Just hang out.
Local match.
I'm deathly scared of heights.
It looks terrifying.
And when it was being constructed, I guess they put the safeguards and the railings on last.
Every time I looked at it, I'm like, that's just a big, gigantic death trap.
A death trap in the sky.
Why are we doing this, city of Vancouver?
It doesn't make any sense.
It draws inspiration, according to these from the old Empire Stadium stands, a 1950 ski run and Playland's famous wooden roller coaster, which, of course, is in behind.
And it's quite picturesque.
If you're ever – we play at Empire all the time.
So if you're ever there on like a Friday night kickoff, you've got the lights from Playland shining onto the field.
You can hear the old rickety coaster going around.
So it's certainly a vibe, and this just kind of plays into it.
This art installation also has a scoreboard on top of it.
But just to reiterate, if you have a fear of heights, it looks intimidating and terrifying.
So it's an art installation that's basically just like a high grandstand,
a tall grandstand.
Yeah, and it kind of narrows out as you get closer to the top.
And you can sit theoretically and watch like you play soccer on a Friday night.
What a thrill.
Back when I was able to play.
When the body was cooperating.
Slowly recovering from a torn Achilles and subsequent surgery.
Yeah, I'll say this.
It is very unique.
I don't know that there's a lot of sort of amateur turf pitches
around the lower mainland that have this.
Empire, look, Empire's cool.
I loved the one year that the Caps were there.
I know we've talked about it
with the nostalgia glasses on
and maybe they're rose you know maybe they're
rose colored maybe they're not but it was fun i think logistically it was always going to be a
nightmare because there's nothing really around there transit's a nightmare there's not a great
like selection of bars and what have you like rest in peace the press box i think is closed now
and oscars got torn down so there's not a lot around it but um it was one of those sort of
like uniquely vancouver
things and i do miss it i understand that it doesn't really work although bc place like
it's got so many issues and you know the turf coming in is just another one i think that's
going to be a real interesting litmus test given what we saw cope america laying turf
or starting laying grass over somebody texted and see i thought that was going to be an awesome
slide when it was being built but you're not alone, unsigned texter, because a lot of people thought that.
They had a golden opportunity.
It was right there.
Like a sweet slide.
That would have been awesome.
So our home pitch was Empire for years.
And this thing was slowly being erected.
And we were kind of like, well, what's happening here?
Was it because I said slowly being erected?
That is why.
Is that it?
That is why we're all laughing.
Is that it?
I mean, I get it. You just had to say it that way. Yeah. I mean slowly being erected. That is why. Is that it? That is why we're all laughing. Is that it? I mean, I get it.
You just had to say it that way.
Yeah.
I mean, I get it.
There are other sentences and words you could have chosen.
But the phrasing, are we not doing phrasing anymore?
The phrasing was perfect.
It's the one you chose.
So, and again, like slowly.
And I mean slowly being erected.
Very slowly being erected.
But eventually becoming erect.
And now it is erect?
Yeah.
And now people can sit on it.
Yeah. Okay. I do think it would be awesome that he says i thought it was gonna be an awesome slide imagine if the mayor the city
government just came out and was like guys we're budgeted 10 million dollars we're gonna build
this sick slide on public property it's gonna be a jewel of the city. Good times Kenny would be all over that.
That's eight photo ops all the way down the slide.
He's on a burlap sack waving.
I mean, that's right in his wheelhouse.
I could see that. I apologize.
I was cutting audio, so I may have missed it.
Did you ask Axel about the video games that were going to be in attendance?
No, I didn't.
You should have asked him when you got him on the phone.
Like, hey, before I patch you through, Axel.
Yeah, I got to jot this down.
I do have one before we get off the whitecaps.
I do have one more question for you.
Mike, I asked Axel about the transfer window.
What do you see the whitecaps needing to get done?
Or what should they be prioritizing going into this transfer window?
So it's a funny one because everyone always thinks that you have to
add something of significance. We've got
to put this team over the top.
I mean, last year was the one where they went out
and signed all the Canadian
and Junior Hoylet, Sam
and Richie
Larea. And that was the sort of like,
oh, this is going to put us over the top. It didn't really work out.
There's an interesting
dynamic at play here.
Vanny has said in the past that oftentimes when you have too big of a squad,
he doesn't particularly like it because it makes the substitution patterns
more difficult.
Guys, you only have the five substitutions, and you can freeze guys out
because sometimes the changes in a match, you don't want to make them.
Just because you have the five substitutions doesn't mean you have to make them.
I know getting fresh legs on is terrific and everything,
but when you turn over nearly half of your starting 11,
it can create confusion and you lose some of the chemistry
and the vibes that you built up over the match.
So I think it might end up being more of a depth piece
because he's kind of got his squad rotation figured out.
They need to play.
They brought in Demir Krylok to be the sort of like other striker when Brian White is either needs rest and going and he's kind of been banged up.
So I would not be surprised if they look at another sort of classic, like a classic nine or a target man or a striker,
but maybe not someone that's going to push.
Yeah.
Just someone that's going to give you more squad depth because it does get
more complicated.
Now moving on,
they have a very compact schedule.
They got the leagues cup.
They still in the Canadian championship.
And then they've got all these MLS matches.
I don't know if they'll add,
you can all,
the thing is you can always use like,
you know,
you need the NHL trade deadlines. I get an extra defense. Yeah. I don't know if they'll add. The thing is, you can always use, like, you know,
the NHL trade deadline.
It's like, get an extra defenseman.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And Major League Baseball, it's get an extra arm.
You could always use something central,
maybe as an extra defensive center midfielder or a center back.
But their rotation is okay right now.
It's not perfect.
But they're also trying to work in, like, I've noticed they've work in the young australian kid that they brought over bovalina they're trying to get
him in the mix a little bit more adekube has been gone almost the entire year and i don't think we
can uh dismiss how fundamentally jarring that was the team because he was supposed to be a big part
of what they were going to do this year it was supposed to be like a spare parts guy he's supposed
to play a lot and he's barely played at all.
Also, Axel brought up a good point.
It's so much more complex for Canadian teams because of the immigration issue.
If you bring a guy in, you better make sure that he's able to play right away
and he's not tied up in administration for weeks.
It's asking a lot for the mid-season transfer window for you to dramatically
kind of transform your team right
and you're like hey we're gonna get this guy and he's going to completely change what our team is
because there are so many complicating factors then you're also bringing in a guy who has maybe
just finished a long season somewhere else right and he's coming in and that stuff it's just it's
a it's a tricky time to do more than i mean look if an opportunity is there and it prevents itself
you have to strike but to your point it's probably more realistic to do that than, I mean, look, if an opportunity is there and it prevents itself, you have to strike. But to your point, it's probably more realistic to do the kind of depth
filling out around the edges.
So someone texted in, ask Axel to acquire Matthew Chouinard.
Now, that's a guy that played for the Canadian men's.
And he actually was one of the guys that got that start.
He wasn't a squad rotation guy through the majority of Copa America,
but got his looks in the Uruguay match.
He's a young player.
He's not happy at Montreal.
He's requested a trade.
The reason I'm mentioning it
is because the Whitecaps
have had an affinity in the past
for acquiring Canadian internationals.
I think that at the higher levels
of the organization,
there is a want and a desire
to bring in more Canadians
and to make this a team with more Canadian flavor.
And, you know, last year's,
that was largely on the strength of Tosin Ricketts
going out and doing the recruiting
with Hoylet and Larea and Adekube to a certain degree.
But the idea was, hey, Canadian national teams players,
that connection that you've had,
we can try and recreate a little bit of that in Vancouver.
Now, Schwanier is younger,
and he hasn't been in the squad for as long,
but I think he'd be a very, very intriguing add,
whether he wants to go west
after playing in the east for a while.
Some guys do have issues with that,
but that's a guy that I think is an intriguing name.
I don't know how realistic it is,
but I would be all aboard for that
because I was very impressed with what he did at cope america okay um let's reset here dunbar lumber text line is 650 650 if you want to
weigh in on anything that we've already spoken on or you want to throw out uh a mount rushmore which
apparently we've stolen stolen from barstool i i didn't know they invented it i didn't know they
had ownership rights to the mount rush they built They built the original Mount Rushmore. Who knew?
Those guys.
You people know that.
They're the best to ever do it.
If you want to do Mount Rushmore's what ifs, hypotheticals, superlatives, alternate universe scenarios as it pertains to the Canucks or as Jamie pointed out yesterday, anything in the world of sports, anything you want us to try and dive into and answer on the air, it's your chance to get them in.
Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650.
You can text in on the Dunbar Lumber text line.
The Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber, and Ladner
has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park.
Once again, my favorite industrial park.
More room, more product, more awesome.
Details at DunbarLumber.com.
You can weigh in.
We're right at the midway point of the show.
Kevin Woodley from NHL.com and Ingle Magazine is going to join
us next. We're going to go around whatever news and notes
from the National Hockey League. Maybe we can get
Kev to power rank the Pacific
Division on July 16th of
2024. But Kev's going to join us
next. 8 o'clock hour, we're going to do some
BC Lions talk. Offensive lineman
Sook Chung is going to join the program.
And then at 8.30, we're going to
do what we learned. It's your chance to be on the radio.
So get them in now.
Another reminder, the Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650.
You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show featuring Jamie Dodd
on Sportsnet 650.
Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance.
We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks.
Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 7.30 on a Tuesday.
Happy Tuesday, everybody.
It is Halford and Brough,
but it's with Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet 650.
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We are in Hour 2 of the program.
Kevin Woodley from NHL.com and
InGoal Magazine. A presentation of White Rock Hyundai
is going to join us in just a moment here.
Hour 2 is brought to you by
Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously
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Before we get to Kev,
I'm going to throw this out there and you guys can answer via the Dunbar
Lumber text line,
six 50,
six 50,
uh,
Dalvier,
the commander.
He's even given himself his own nickname,
which is awesome.
He's got a Mount Rushmore idea.
Now I acknowledge the Mount Rushmore thing can kind of become a bit played out.
You do them enough, and it's like they've lost all meaning.
But this one is something that we haven't addressed yet,
and it's a good way to address it because you have to narrow it down to four.
Dalvir wants to know, are Mount Rushmore of worst contracts
the Canucks have signed in the cap era?
Now, be clear, contracts that the team acquired don't count.
OEL cannot have his face etched in stone on this one
because they traded for that contract.
It would have qualified if they signed it,
but they didn't sign it.
So think about it.
Construct your Mount Rushmore of the worst contracts
of the cap era.
For those that are asking,
we'll call it 05 and beyond.
Okay?
That work?
We'll call it that
because that is, in fact, the cap era.
Some people are saying,
is it starting in 06?
No.
Like, the moment that they put the salary cap in,
2005.
So you got 20 years of bad contracts
to go for.
Exciting.
Dunbar-Lemmer text line is 650-650.
Get them in.
We'll put it together on the other side of the Kevin Woodley interview,
which we're going to conduct right now.
Kevin Woodley joins us on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.
What up, Kev?
Wow, like thinking caps, right?
Like right out of the gate here.
So I'm just going to go because I don't have the ability to pull up a computer.
I'm actually in my car.
Just to be clear, I didn't mean to throw you on the spot.
But we may as well go down this road now.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I know one probably jumps to mind for you, Kev, I'm going to say.
Yeah, so that's what I mean.
I want the easy out.
I'm taking the easy one, the top of the charts.
Like, as soon as he put the goal into his own net,
I can never forget being in the press box and watching louis erickson bank
pass to nobody and have it go into the empty net uh on a delayed penalty and thinking wow that's
rather ominous yeah um so he's he's gotta be and like like i said like total top of the head here
i'm sure there's some doozies um but that one has to be number one with a bullet in my mind so i'm
sure your listeners will tell me if I'm wrong quite quickly
But I'm taking the easy way out
And just putting him up there on the Mount Rushmore right away
I don't think you're getting a lot of pushback on that one from the listeners
I think that's got to be number one
We had the chisel out earlier
Yes
Louie's luscious hair into the side of the rock
Okay, earlier in the show we were talking about the Quinton Byfield extension in LA,
and then we jumped off to talk about the Pacific Division
and how it stacks up right now.
And I thought, like, we should ask you from a goalie perspective
because we're trying to figure out who the power players are going to be
and not be in the division and go one through eight and what have you.
So the two really interesting ones for me,
we kind of said, like, Edmonton will be good.
Vancouver will be good.
L.A. and Vegas, and both of them made pretty curious goalie decisions this summer.
At the very least, they made choices and they made moves.
I wanted to get your thoughts on what L.A. did with moving off Talbot and bringing in Kemper
and then what the Golden Knights did, basically shipping Logan Thompson off
and now going with a tandem of Aiden Hill and Samson off in that.
Well, I think if you were to rank the Pacific Division,
forget the goaltending as a whole, I'm with you.
Those are the two biggest wild cards, right?
It sort of always felt like Vegas would just figure it out,
and yet you're right.
There's some serious questions there, including in goal.
And in L.A., bringing in Darcy Kemper,
I just kind of point to what I said about Cam Talbot last year.
Cam Talbot's going to be fine in L.A.
because goaltending is not something they typically have to worry about
because they don't ask them to do much.
They were the best defensive team in hockey, and yet we saw in the aftermath
of the season some pushback, surprisingly open, from players about the style
of hockey before the team doubled down on the coaching staff.
So I do wonder slash worry for the Kings about buy-in.
I suppose much like Boston when it was Bergeron leading the way,
you probably don't have to worry too much about it
as long as Andrzej Kopitar is there.
And so as long as they play the same way,
Darcy Kemper's going to be fine. Now listen,
Darcy Kemper's numbers were off the charts bad last year.
Like I think 97 qualifying goalies on clear side analytics and sort of,
sort of set the minimum on who played, like he was,
he was 97 out of 98 or 96 out of 97.
Like that's how bad it was, his adjusted numbers.
That wasn't just Charlielie lingren stealing the job that was darcy kemper handing it to him on a silver platter
so that he could go run with it in washington i do believe in talking to people that were close
to it that most of that was injury based and that is sort of the outlier for Darcy Kemper when it comes to seasons.
I think he'll be more comfortable back in the Western Conference
where he spent most of his career.
And if he gets back even to the year he had the first year in Washington,
behind that defense, he'll be fine.
Like, Cam Talbot had the highest expected save percentage in the NHL
by a wide margin.
I'm frankly more curious about the Red Wings' decision
to give him $5 million over two years
than I am doubting whether Darcy Kemper can have success in LA.
So I think they're just built not to rely on goaltending,
and so Kemper will be just fine even if the ticket, the cost,
and what they're paying him won't won't really match probably the
underlying numbers vegas vegas is curious because aiden hill by all accounts has been held together
by duct tape and bailing wire for a couple of years now and so with that you need a lot out
of your second goalie logan th Logan Thompson gave them that at times,
but I think was frustrating to them in some of his approach stuff.
You know,
the word professionalism was one that I heard a little bit behind the scenes
question at times.
I think he took stride last year,
but clearly for them to move off a contract that was effectively had a year
left,
even if they knew they wouldn't keep them beyond the year,
but a year left, under the league minimum,
on a team that has capped challenges annually,
and is giving you good minutes when he is healthy and ready to go,
I think that tells you something, that they were willing to move off of that.
And in Samsonov, I'm not sure that they're going to be that much more impressed by the same
sort of questions.
Like, there's talent there, but I'm not sure, and I should say that I've heard this now
from two organizations, there are questions about sort of the commitment and the work
ethic.
And so if they get that out of him, maybe there's upside yet.
But two teams haven't.
And so, you know, this one, like, it could go either way.
And I'm not convinced, based on some of the conversations I've had
over the past couple of years about some of those, you know,
work habit things and about some of the expectations in Vegas,
I'm not sure I see that as a perfect fit, despite the obvious upside that Samsonov brings.
He just hasn't, whether it was in Washington from the get-go or even at times last year,
the last couple of years in Toronto, hasn't seemed willing to sort of make adjustments. And the way he played in Toronto, positionally, tactically,
not really the way Sean Burke would prototypically ask his goaltender to play.
Like, they may see this as like, hey, if we can get him to play our way
and fit into our system, play a little deeper in the crease,
that Ben Waller, Sean Burke philosophy, we think there's more upside here.
But there's a track record of not really being willing to make those types of changes
or, at the very least, willing to do the work necessary to make them easily.
So I actually have more question marks about what the goaltending ends up looking like in Vegas
than I do with the Los Angeles Kings despite
the fact the goalie going to LA has more question marks based on last season.
Looking a little further down the projected standings at least in the Pacific Division,
Kevin, and the Calgary Flames, so of course with Jacob Markstrom out now, you've still got Dan
Vildar and then Dustin Wolfe, the much-hyped young goalie who's been so good at the AHL level,
he's going to get a chance to be a full-time NHLer now.
But you look at that roster, and on the blue line,
there's not a lot of established talent there beyond McKenzie Wieger
and Rasmus Andersen.
We know they're kind of in teardown mode all over the roster.
How difficult a spot is that going to be for a young goalie like Dustin Wolfe
trying to establish himself as a full-time NHLer,
given the talent that's going to be in front of him in Calgary?
Yeah, it's going to be tough.
And I think, like, I fully believe in the talent of Dustin Wolfe
and the work ethic in the mentality.
I said that when he was one of the last players picked in the draft here in Vancouver,
like that he was going to prove a lot of people wrong despite the size questions.
And so far he has. Like that he was going to prove a lot of people wrong despite Desai's questions. And so far he has. Like he's going to get there. I'm really confident in that.
Whether there is really good 1B or like bonafide number one starter, I lean more towards the starter size. But, you know, I'm biased because I've gotten to know the kid over the last,
well, actually probably five or six years and talking to his coaches and sort of understanding
what makes him tick and seeing that upside.
But you're going to have to have some patience.
There's going to be some growing pains.
With Markstrom gone, there is no number one
to sort of mentor him in those next steps.
Dan Vladar is going to be, you know,
learning on the go himself in terms of the expectations and
requirements of more minutes after being a backup for most of his career and he's given them some
some good stints um but this is an entirely different ask and so to have both guys in new
roles behind a team that you know interestingly enough um some of their defensive metrics actually
improved as the year went on last year like
for the first two-thirds Markstrom was basically being asked to stop bullets in his teeth and he
was to the point where prior to the trade deadline and shedding of you know not only some of their
best defensive players in Tanov and Lindholm and obviously Noah Hannafin pretty much your top pair
but also some of his closest friends not just on the the team, but in hockey in Tannev and Lindholm.
He was a guy up to that point that was running away statistically with the Vezina.
I don't know that he would have got it, but at least statistically,
Clare Seid had him lapping the field, 10 goals saved ahead of Hellebuck,
ahead of Demko in second place around that time before the bottom fell out.
And the bottom fell out for him
but some of their defensive metrics actually started to improve so just because you've lost
the name brand talent and clearly as you said in more of a rebuild mode doesn't necessarily mean
the environment's going to worsen significantly um you know the coach there did a nice job of
sort of over the course of the season getting them
adjusted to a new style a new system and we'll see if we'll see if that can continue regardless
though when you're in a rebuild mode and you've got a young goaltender and you know a goaltender
in front of them that's never done it before it's just a lot to ask and I would expect there to be
peaks and valleys as much as I also expect us and Wolf
to come out on the right side of it just don't know if it'll you know will it be this year will
it be next um you know the fan base and the management in Calgary they have to have some
patience with it and it's it's almost like double because it's Wolf and because it's so easy to start
questioning the size rather than
properly evaluating the environment and the performance and i've seen it happen to him
already and so that's where you have to be careful like don't throw the baby out with the bath water
and just start looking for faults based on the size and you know that that to me is the bigger
task for the calgary Flames, as a management
group even, and for
their fan base, especially this season
for Dustin Wolf.
We're speaking to Kevin Whitley from NHL.com and
Ingle Magazine, a presentation of White Rock
Hyundai here on the Halford & Brough show
on Sportsnet 650k.
Non-goalie division,
within the division, but just the teams in general.
Who's going to be worse next year? The Anaheim Ducks or the San Jose Sharks?
Oh, man.
Like, they're both going to be bad, right?
I haven't even looked at the Ducks roster.
Like, I know they've been trying to shed John Gibson this summer,
I believe, at his request, but no takers there.
So I feel like that could get even worse, right?
Like in terms of the mindset and the approach,
if things get off the rails early.
We've all heard the talk around Trevor Zegers.
It's like it's a turtle derby, right?
And that's the good news.
You've got two question marks in Vegas and L.A.
Even if one of them is a wild card in the positive direction,
I don't expect them both to be.
And then you've got sort of the bottom of the division.
It's going to be really important to feast on those opponents, right?
Like I thought Anaheim for a stretch this year got at least tougher to play against.
Didn't win a lot, but were in more games and
made it more difficult on opponents more often than they had in the past and so if they take
strides they're like if they force you to put your work boots on you're not going to be able
to give away because because i believe that the players and management were right in their
postseason address here in vancouver about not surprising anyone like i don't know that the
first third half of their season is going to be as easy next year as it was this year.
I just think teams, it's human nature.
Like, they inherently overlook them early on.
You don't have to go back and look, but, you know,
it just feels like a lot more backup goaltenders coming into Vancouver,
especially early in the season.
I don't think they'll have that.
And so, against the lesser lights,
if they do start to buckle down
defensively and force you to work like that's going to be that'll be the test right like not
playing down to opponents levels and making sure you bank those those points against teams you
should um you know even if especially with cronin and anaheim like he's a guy that can
can make you earn it um and would like to make opponents earn it more than they've had to in
the past against anaheim.
And that'll be, it shouldn't, these are points they should always come away with here in Vancouver.
But it might be a little tougher next year, even if it's marginally so, in Anaheim at least, compared to San Jose.
Because I think the Sharks, as much as they've added a little bit of talent on on the
ups on the offensive end you're still going to be a massive work in progress defensively and
um I actually don't mind their goaltending with Mackenzie Blackwood but can he stay healthy
uh completing our our spin around the division here the Seattle Kraken I mean
they they made the two big swings right on Chandler Stevenson and Brandon Montour
which a lot of people around the league were not enamored with they made the two big swings, right, on Chandler Stevenson and Brandon Montour,
which a lot of people around the league were not enamored with. They made the change behind the bench as well. It feels like there's a real desire to take a meaningful step forward. But, you know,
I look at the roster and it does still feel like it's just crying out for some true top-end talent
in that lineup. What do you make of Seattle and what their position to do in the upcoming season well i'm curious to see how they play um style wise right like it was pretty easy to see what happened last
year i mean they got that buy-in the season before got to the second round of the playoffs i cover i
covered their their stanley cup playoffs um two years ago and you know that four-line mentality
um make you know talk about make
teams earn it all the way up the ice tough to play against defensively life easier on their
goaltenders they got that buy-in two years ago but when you have a little bit of individual
success and you think of the mccanns and the veneers and the success they had two years ago
like getting those guys to do the same things the next year can be a little
tougher, right? Like, Hey, I'm, you know, I'm a, I'm a call to trophy winner.
You know,
nobody's going to notice if I don't chip this puck deep and try and carry it
in and Oh, I turned it over and it's going the other way.
Like those types of things crept into their game and they couldn't survive it.
And as much as they have made improvements uh obviously especially on the back
end with Montour um should help them transition the puck I'm with you like I don't see enough of
that top end talent and they've already sort of pulled the plug on one coach who was trying to
get them to grind it out and sort of have the approach that worked two years ago.
I'm curious to see what Bilesman does.
Like, does the approach change?
And if it doesn't, I don't know that they have the horses.
And, you know, like, so I'm really not sure. Like, again, you could probably actually throw them in
with the Kings and Vegas in terms of wildcard.
Like, I'm not sure
they have the personnel to play much differently than they were trying to last season and yet they
couldn't get that personnel to play the way they wanted to play often enough for long enough even
last year and and the coach paid the price for it so can the new guy come in and ask them to do the
same things and if he doesn't and they try and play it a little more open,
I'm still, I'm with you,
I'm still not convinced they have the horses to do it.
So they're kind of, it's easy to see them being stuck in the money middle,
but much like the Kings and Vegas, it feels like, you know,
at least one of those ones is going to find that formula
and make it work next year.
I guess the question becomes, is it two out of three or is it just one?
Kev, this was great, man.
Thanks for taking the time to do it.
As always, we really appreciate it.
Enjoy the rest of the week.
I'm sure we'll be calling again soon.
Yeah, because it's like, you know what?
You guys, like, it's mid-July.
Hockey season's starting for goalies.
I'm up in Kelowna next week.
Handful of NHL guys.
Everybody else goes on vacation.
The goalies go to work. The goalies start to grind next week. Who's going up to Kelowna next week, handful of NHL guys. Everybody else goes on vacation. The goalies go to work.
The goalies start to grind next week.
Who's going up to Kelowna?
Are you allowed to tell us
or is it top secret?
Actually, I got to be honest with you.
There's a couple names
that I can't tell you.
Oh, intriguing.
I like it.
That's good.
Okay, we'll leave it.
We'll lay you off the hook.
Go enjoy the rest of the week.
We'll do this again.
Thanks, guys.
Okay, Kevin Woodley from NHL.com and
InGoal Magazine, and apparently going to a
top-secret goalie camp in Kelowna,
which is very exciting, here on the Halford & Brough
Show on Sportsnet 650, a presentation
of White Rock Hyundai. I'll be there.
Andy Cole. Yeah.
No longer the goal king, Cole.
The goal stopper. Yeah, I'll be in that.
You'll be in that. Yes, that's what goalies do.
Stealing my bit. Yeah, that's Laddie's thing.
You can't do that.
Hey, dogs, we're coming in all Blue Jays gear tomorrow.
Just take over Laddie's life.
Yeah.
Hey, they say imitation.
That's true.
What did you think about what Kev had to say about the L.A. situation
and the Vegas situation?
Because that, honestly, if we're looking at the Canucks outlook for next year,
I think LA and Vegas are going to be the two that are going to have the most
impact on the division.
I think we're pretty much, again,
like we were shocked this year that Edmonton got off to a lousy start.
Right?
But they righted the ship.
They had a very good season.
I think we know, barring something crazy,
that the Canucks are going to be there.
LA and Vegas are by far the biggest wildcards because they've had the most sort of bizarre off-seasons,
and both of their seasons ended poorly last year.
LA was not happy with the way things went in the playoffs.
They basically gave away Pierre-Luc Dubois.
They think there might be addition by subtraction there.
They kept Jim Hiller, which a lot of people weren't sure they were going to do,
and they leaned heavier into this very grindy sort of stuff.
And the Vegas Golden Knights didn't have a good year,
barely got in the playoffs, got bounced in the first round,
and lost a bunch of really important players,
and both made goalie moves.
Yeah, I think wild card is putting it lightly,
and I think those teams are sort of emblematic of the way
a lot of newer teams are starting to treat their goaltenders,
almost like a running back in the NFL, right,
where they're replaceable.
Okay, we'll go into the season with this, but hey, 20 games in, it might be something completely different.
We don't care as long as we figure it out by playoff time.
And that's kind of how they're going into the season, I think.
And I can't say it's my favorite way to approach your goaltending.
I would rather have a goalie in your system ingrained and a system designed to play in a way that supports their goaltender.
I think that is the way to go if you want to have long-term sustained success with your goaltender.
But, hey, it's the route they've chosen to take.
And I don't know if Darcy Kemper at, what, age 36 is going to be the answer, but they're going to try in LA.
So I want to reset here because prior to having Kev on the line, we threw out a potential Mount Rushmore.
Yeah, Mount Rushmore is here on Sportsnet 650.
This one was from Dalvir into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650.
He wanted us, and then we in turn turned it on the listeners.
We can do it.
We're tired.
Passing along our work.
You guys do this.
Mount Rushmore of worst Canucks contracts in the cap era now
here's the thing the canucks had to go out and sign this deal they couldn't acquire one so oel
doesn't count okay and for those that don't understand the premise like the guy who texted
in lol only you levy for kachuk i don't even know what that means. It's not a contract. Right. It's also, they did not a trade.
I don't know.
I know you've got beef with this,
and I understand where you're coming from,
but it doesn't pertain to the conversation at all.
So I thought, let's reset.
Let's really hammer this home to the listenership.
Worst Canucks contract that they signed in the cap era.
That's 2005 to present day.
We're trying to fill out the Mount Rushmore. What we're going to do is we're going to go to break. We's 2005 to present day. We're trying to fill out the Mount Rushmore.
What we're going to do is we're going to go to break.
We're going to come back.
We're going to talk to Suk Chung from the Lions for a few minutes,
and then on the other side, we'll put it together.
Now, I just want to clarify, it doesn't have to be a UFA they signed.
It can be a player that they either drafted and then signed to an eventual
contract or traded for, but then you have to sign him to a new contract.
That's what rules OEL out.
They never actually signed him to a deal.
They inherited that deal from the Arizona Coyotes.
But there are other examples of players they traded for and then signed
that might end up on this list.
You know what?
I'll even open it up.
The contract doesn't even have to be a standard player contract.
Is that a tease for someone who might make this list?
I don't know.
You'll have to stick around
for the final hour of the show to find out.
You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet
650.