Halford & Brough in the Morning - Who Needs Hockey When You Have Sports Media Controversy

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they discuss a couple of notable sports media controversies (6:00), plus they talk the latest news around the NHL with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (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.

da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da And a drive to left field. Back goes Varshow, and all he can do is turn and watch it go. Canucks Twitter, you're an absolute joke. Your team's a joke. You're a bunch of losers. You pooped out. You pooped out of your mouth. Get over yourselves. They're athletes.

They're athletes. Good morning, Vancouver. 6-0-1 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. This is Alfred and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Basketball, then. Good morning to you as well. Good morning. Alfred and bruv in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of this program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling.

They recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. And as always, we are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. Guest list today begins at 6.30. Greg Wyshynski, our NHL insider from ESPN,

is going to join us on the program. We will look ahead, way, way ahead, because the Stanley Cup Final does not begin until Saturday. We'll look ahead to Oilers, Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final with Wish at 6.30. 7.30, Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks, is going to join us. 8 o'clock, Dwayne Veneau is going to join the program.

He is the president of your BC Lions. The BC Lions are now just 11 days away from their kickoff and their concert kickoff at BC Place. 50,000 people are going to be in attendance for the Lions game and for 50 Cent coming up in a couple weeks' time. So we'll talk to Dwayne Veneau about all that. And the other big news from yesterday, Jonas Brothers going to be playing at the Grey Cup,

which, of course, is going to be in Vancouver at BC Place this November. I can't wait. So yesterday, Basketball Ben had a take, a spicy take, where he lined up. He compared all of the Jonas Brothers, all three of them, with a question that you asked to the Hughes brothers. And he got a lot of feedback afterwards. He nailed it, right? He said, I don't know. I don't know if he nailed it or not.

The text box approved? The text box said he nailed it. Did it? Okay, I didn't check in the aftermath. And then my personal phone said I nailed it. Right. The text that came to Ben said you did well. We're also giving away ticks to see Snoop.

And it's not just Snoop, by the way. DJ Quick's going to be there. Warren G's going to be there just Snoop, by the way. DJ Quick's going to be there. Warren G is going to be there as well. All of your 50-plus rappers are going to be there. Warren G? Regulator? Regulator is going to be there. Oh, man, I'm excited.

Yeah, he will regulate. Nate Dogg will not. He is no longer with us. But Warren G will regulate on June 25th at Rogers Arena. The best what we learned will win a pair of tickets to go see Snoop. If you want to get in on the action, Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. Hashtag it WWL. Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports.

And let me tell you, there wasn't much to learn. Also put a ticket emoji into your text. You'll be entered into the contest to win tickets to see Snoop on June 25th at Rogers Arena. 8 o'clock, it's Dwayne Vino. 7.30, it's Brendan Batchelor. 6.30, it's Greg Wyshynski. That's the guest list. Without further ado, Ben, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened?

What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. So yesterday, Bruff and I went through the exercise of laying out what an unreal sports month June is going to be. There are so many things from so many different platforms, so many different sports, so many different big events and big newsworthy moments. We should have added that this week is not included in that rundown.

No, wait a minute. It's the NHL Scouting Combine. That is true. Outside of the NHL Scouting Combine, this week should not be included in the conversation this might be one of the worst weeks on the sporting calendar did you do you enjoy how the jays were crowing about winning five of six or whatever they did against the socks and the pirates and then last night they came up against an actual good team and lost 72 to the baltimore

orioles friend we almost had to lead with that. And in a way, we kind of are leading with that. There is not much going on in the world of sports. There's no hockey until Saturday. There's no basketball until Thursday. Heck, even the domestic leagues in soccer are coming and winding down to a close as the international break is on.

So, there is no professional pickleball, at least that I am aware of. However, good old sports media the sports media industry gave us some content yesterday because it decided to eat itself on a couple of different fronts we are going to begin yes some people have asked and we are going to begin with what's going on in the wnba and caitlin clark for those that have missed it i'll give a brief synopsis of what's happened to this point. Kaitlyn Clark, star rookie coming in after a very ballyhooed career at the University of Iowa,

is now a member of the Indiana Fever. The Indiana Fever, for those that don't follow the WNBA, are awful. There's a reason they got the first overall pick in the draft. There's a reason they might get the first overall pick next year. They stink. They're really bad. She's a reason they might get the first overall pick next year. They stink. They're really bad. She's gone as a rookie to a bad team and has struggled.

She hasn't had the kind of success she had at the University of Iowa. Her team loses far more often than it wins. And in some cases, it gets blown out in those losses. However, there is a much larger situation at play, and that is that it appears on a nightly basis, whenever her Indiana team is playing games, she is being targeted by other players in the WNBA in a very physical, dare I say, bullying nature.

She's getting pushed around. She's getting shoved around. She's getting flagrant and fouled. I don't know if either of those are words, but I'm going to roll with it. And this has come to the forefront of a lot of big media outlets in the United States. And by that, I mean not just your ESPNs. It's kind of transcended that to the point where they were talking about it on The View yesterday.

Yeah, it's the U.S. sports media industrial complex completely melting down over Caitlin Clark. We had Pat McAfee deciding to call her a white bee, but you know what I mean? But in a complimentary way. Rhymes with rich.

Yeah, according to Pat McAfee. Then we had Stephen A. Smith fighting with Monica McNutt on first take. You even had the Chicago Tribune's editorial board calling out Whoopi Goldberg for her take on Caitlin Clark, which is something I never thought I'd hear. Guinan? But, what I'd hear. Guinan? But, what? Guinan. She's on Star Trek.

Star Trek? That was his Whoopi Goldberg reference. Whoopi Goldberg, Guinan, Star Trek? Okay. Come on. Okay. I can't believe you didn't know that. Thank you for contributing, A-Dog.

Thanks, A-Dog. And because I had to listen to a bit of The View yesterday, now you have to listen to a bit of The View yesterday, now you have to listen to a bit of The View. In WNBA action this weekend, Kaitlyn Clark was shoved to the ground by Kennedy Carter when Indiana Fever faced off against the Chicago Sky. Kaitlyn talked about it after the game, but Kennedy had less to say about it.

Take a look. It is what it is. I feel like I'm just at the point where you accept it and don't retaliate. Like, you know, just let them hit you. Be what it is. Don't want to get inside your head and know it's coming. I think at this point, like, I know I'm going to take a couple hard shots a game and that's what it is. Just stay in the game and say what's important. I ain't answering no Kaylin Clark questions. I don't know what she said. What'd you say to her? I ain't answering no Kaylin Clark questions. Did she say anything to you? I don't know what she said. What'd you say to her?

I didn't say anything. That's not... Okay, let's be realistic, okay? This is basketball. Okay? This happens in basketball all the time. Angel Reese got a clothesline the other day. I mean, this is, you know, these are not like,

here's the ball. This is get out the way or I'm going to move you. That's what the game is. So a lot of people, however, are reading this as confrontation. But this is not. They're not playing on the court. They're there to win. You know, and just because they're women, get over yourselves.

They're athletes. They're athletes. You go, whoopee! We need a live studio audience. I don't know, yeah. How was the best part? That was the best part. Oh my! Oh!

This is basketball! It is utterly predictable That this has happened by the way When you combine two hot button issues Like race relations And there is a lot of black versus white in this And white versus black And gender relations

Well, I don't know If somehow guns were to be involved We've got ourselves the American trifecta Give it time, they can get involved Can you imagine? Yes, Jason, I could. Are they allowed to have those on the court? Is that the rule?

Caitlin Clark is like, yeah, I've been a big gun collector my whole life. Since we're on the subject. I love guns. Producers down there are like, oh! I think everyone should have guns. No, but imagine you are Caitlin Clark right now, and you're seeing all this happening. You're a 22-year-old woman from Iowa. right now and you're seeing all this happening. You're a 22 year old woman from Iowa. I wonder what you're feeling.

It must be, it must be overwhelming and maybe a bit scary, but also she's making a lot of money and women's sports is being talked about. So we will dip into the Dunbar Lumber text line If you have any questions or comments on this story But speaking of overwhelming I think Luke Gazdik got overwhelmed by Canucks Twitter He finally snapped yesterday on an Oilers podcast We played a bit of Luke's commentary in the intro

But I want to play it I'm sure most of you heard, but I want to play it. I'm sure most of you heard it. And I want to play it now because, listen, Luke has been on our show a bunch of times. Yes. We've liked Luke. Just use the past tense there. But, you know, I definitely disagree

and think he made a mistake yesterday, but we'll talk about that more. But in case you haven't heard it, here's Luke Gazdik. What was the Oilers podcast called? It was Tyler Uramchuk's podcast. I don't have the name of it at the ready, but Tyler Uramchuk is also a guy that we've had on the show as well. So this is two individuals that we have talked with at length at times about the National Hockey League and the Edmonton Oilers. Luke does a regular hit on this podcast.

He's mentioned it on our show in the past. So why don't we just let the audio play and speak for itself. We'll come back on the other side. Here is longtime Halford & Brough guest Luke Gazdik talking about Canucks fans and Canucks Twitter and the Vancouver Canucks. I don't know if Canucks fans listen to this. When they were trolling, when the oil absolutely dusted them they were my account still will not stop with canucks trolls my tweet last night on twitter just saying

congrats oil country i'm going through instagram message requests here now and the amount of hate and absolute it's the most garbage jitterish gibberish trash i've ever seen canucks twitter you're an absolute joke your team's a joke you're a bunch of losers so the oilers are going to the stanley cup finals uh look i get it Canucks Twitter can be tough. We are like the big bad Bruins or the Broad Street bullies of hockey Twitter. I like Luke, but I don't think he made a very good decision with what he said yesterday. It's okay to call out the trolls on Twitter. But when you start calling the team a joke, you've crossed the line into lashing out. And you're not going to get much sympathy from people who might have otherwise given you a break because there's a lot of people even in Vancouver that think Canucks Twitter can be a little much sometimes. Elliot Friedman always quotes that line from The Godfather.

This is the business we've chosen. It's mostly a great business to be in But there are some downsides to it Some of the things that people say on social media Are completely over the top Especially considering the main topic is hockey It's just a game, it's just hockey It's just opinions on hockey Even if those opinions are biased

It's just hockey It's a game of hockey But here's the thing but here's the thing. And here's the thing that everyone in media needs to understand. And the players need to understand too. You cannot control what people say. In media, you give your opinion. You try to be as honest as possible. You try to see things from as many angles as possible, and you will still have people calling you an idiot. That, another thing Elliot Friedman likes to say, that is life in the big city. It is a jungle out there. Now, granted, it is easier said than done to stay above it all.

I've had things said to me online. Halford has had things said to him online, whether it's Twitter or in the text inbox. Even A-Dog has things said about A-Dog. Look, A-Dog, he's lovely. He's lovely. I know. I'm shocked as much as you are. He's adorable.

Dogs catching strays. And some people, you know, like they don't like him. You know, and these things cross the line. I've had things said to me, like things about my personal life, which is part of being a public figure too. They cross the line so badly that you'd sit there and you'd like fantasize about confronting

the guy and maybe, I don't know, setting him on fire, for example. That's a reasonable take. Went to setting him ablaze pretty quickly. Yes, but you obviously can't do that. I mean, because they're hard to sometimes find. That's true. And, you know, gas is so expensive.

I was going to say, is it hard to put them on fire? Is that what you were going to say? Yeah. I think there'd be other hurdles in the way. Well, no, there are. Two big ones. And then ultimately you get there and they'll run away from you. But listen, you can't let them get to you.

You can't let them ruin your day. You can let them ruin maybe an hour of your day, but not the entire day. Um, it's impossible not to feel the hurt a bit. Like I, I think here's the thing, here's the thing. And here's what Luke Gazdik needs to learn. And, um, maybe some players in this market have to learn, um, since the dawn of the internet and social media, we have all learned that there are a lot of idiots in this world. Like way more than we thought there were. Remember when they started reviewing offside challenges

and we were like, I bet the linesmen get it right all the time. And then we started reviewing them and they were like, wow, they're missing a lot of offsides. That's the one major downside of social media, right? The idiots have always been there. It's just now, obviously, they have a platform and you hear them every day. We drastically underestimated, though, I think, the number of people who have no idea how to communicate in a constructive manner. Because, let's be honest, it used to be a bit of a hassle to send a message to someone. You had to write a letter, then mail that letter.

What's the address? What's the postal code? How do you spell moron? Where are the stamps? And then you had to walk all the way to the post office box. It was a huge barrier to entry for idiots. So most of them just sat there eating chips. Couldn't even lick the envelope.

And breathing through their mouths. Now it's a lot easier. Sure, you know, they're going to get sour cream and onion dust all over their phones, but they can send messages to almost any important figure in the world and everyone can see these messages. But you still have to just accept that it's going to happen. If you want to be in the media world, if you want to be a public figure, you can say it's

wrong. And once in a while you can say, you know, certainly you can say that, you know, it's wrong, but you can't let it affect you. You can't lash out like Luke did yesterday. And he made a big mistake. He's a national broadcaster, and he called the Canucks a joke. Well, that's the major thing, right, is the national broadcaster part. I mean, this isn't just an Oilers media member.

It's the guy you see on the national panel for every game, and they're supposed to be, unbiased, right? Yeah. For sure. And he goes on in that clip saying, like, have fun watching them in the cup. Have fun watching me on the panel. And I'm like, ah, man.

He barked back at everyone that had been barking at him for weeks and weeks and weeks, right? I mean, I get it. Don't get me wrong. I get it. I mean, as Bruf said, social media can be a brutal place. So I understand, like, the defense mechanism. But at the same time, you've got to rise above it, right? That's the thing.

Yeah, but that's a lot easier said than done. Oh, totally. Oh, totally. It's also a very damning thing. There's an element of extremely, extremely aggressive behavior that's been normalized now and i don't know if that's a healthy approach but what are you gonna do what are you gonna do if if you're if you're in the if you're on the job right now whether you're media or a player or any sort of public figure, you can bemoan the normalization of that behavior, but there is nothing you can do about it.

There isn't. The only thing you can do is control what you can control, and that is to ignore it. I would call to light the comments that you'd get as opposed to firing back at it. I would be like, here is a sample of some of the things that I am dealing with. And I'm not talking about Luke in particular. I'm talking about anyone that has to.

My biggest concern with all of this is, again, I said it, it's the normalization of not just playful, friendly chirps or even aggressive chirps. It's stuff that goes way beyond. The idea is to get to the bottom as quickly as possible and to try and hit someone below the belt as quickly as possible but when you bring to light those comments you just keep it going you just keep

it going not only in the public sphere you keep it going in your mind yeah right and the alternative the alternative is is that you almost become like a virtual pin cushion for people to be able to. No, but you only turn yourself into a pin cushion if you allow it. Again, there are people that have the ability and the experience to deal with things in the way that you're suggesting. And there's some that don't, that are learning along the way. And Luke is learning so i mean i again if you if you people you people have been subjected some of the stuff that's been said to you and i through various channels sometimes i look back and i'm like i can't believe that

another person would fire that off i can't believe that another person said half the stuff i can't repeat because it just goes so beyond like what would be considered a taunt or a chirp i don't think people even understand what those two phrases mean anymore i think people um for a multitude of reasons command the mediums that are presented to like people say you know like twitter is a cesspool and it's like twitter is the vehicle it's the human. People say, Twitter is a cesspool. It's like, Twitter is the vehicle. It's the human element that's turned it into a cesspool. It's the format. What percentage of people are actually those trolls that are being horrible? I don't know.

1%? 1%? But they're always the loudest, right? It makes them seem like they're more than they are. But, you know, yeah, they're always the loudest because you read their text and you're like, damn. Yeah. And you know probably like one out of 100 people might act that way, but those are the ones you'll remember and those are the ones that will stand out. Yeah.

The bad ones always stand out. But it's like when something happens in, okay, do you remember when England lost in the penalty kicks to Italy in the Euros and the three guys that lost were black? Or sorry, missed their kicks. They still are. Okay. There was racism on Twitter, which was not the least bit surprising, but it's almost reported like it's this shocking thing.

Do you know what I mean? And I'm okay with like saying that's bad, but 99% of people weren't doing that. Like this is something that I've just come to terms with. And maybe that's sad that I've come to terms with. It's like, there are idiots in there, in this

world, like complete, like people that, and here's the thing, do not know how to communicate. That's a big part of it. You know, like they don't know how to write a sentence. They don't know how to get their thoughts out. And I imagine this happens to them in their everyday lives. They're not just like normal people going about their business and then they get onto Twitter and they are a complete nightmare. Like I am sure that they have trouble communicating with their family and friends if they have any, I'm sure it's a problem at work for them. So what are you going

to do about it? Like, there's nothing you can do about it. Absolutely nothing you can do about it. It's like, you know, there's air pollution. Big picture, maybe you can do something about that, but like, but no, but seriously, like you're going to go outside and you go, what are you going to not breathe? Because if there's a few, there's a bit of pollution in the air. Right.

Do you know what I mean? Like there's, it's just, you have to accept it. I've said this about young players on the Canucks who might be affected by social media. Turn off your phones. If it's bothering you that much, just turn them off because this is our world. There are idiots in the world.

Most people aren't, but there are some. There are some texting into the Dunbar Lumber text line right now. We got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Greg Wyshynski is going to join us next. Brandon Batchelor at 730. Dwayne Veneau, president of the BC Lions at 8 o'clock. And then at 830, we're going to give away a pair of tickets to see Snoop at Rogers Arena on June 25th.

That's going to the best what we learned. Get yours in. Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. What did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Let us know. Hashtag it WWL and put a ticket emoji into your text to win tickets to see Snoop on June 25th. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks.

Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4-6pm weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 6.31 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday already. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff.

They can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program. As the music suggests, Greg Wyshynski from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of Hour 1. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling.

They recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go. Greg Wyshynski joins us now on the Halford & Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Wish. How are you? Doing well.

Doing well. As well as a man who picked the Panthers in six and the Oilers in six can be doing on the eve of the Stanley Cup final. Don't hurt your back too much by patting it. That same man also picked the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup. Oh, that is true. Alfred, that's absolutely

correct. I did, in fact, pick a team that is still alive a scant four wins away from raising the Holy Grail to win the Stanley Cup in October is when I made that pick. Hey, Wish, we'll get to hockey in just a bit, but this is something we discussed in the first segment of our show. And since you do work for ESPN, I do want to ask you this question. Oh, God. What is going on in your country with Caitlin Clark?

Oh, I mean, so this is an interesting topic actually, uh, that is probably way more nuanced than any conversation we're about to have. But I mean, the biggest rookie sensation to come down the pike in, in the WNBA, probably in its history because of how huge she was in college. She is getting a rookie initiation with the physicality she's facing, and there's a lot of discourse about that. Now, what is the more interesting topic for me is that you have the WNBA League, which is decades old now, and you are getting more discourse about the league, about the players,

about the teams, about all of it than you've ever gotten before. And you're seeing a very awkward transition from, you know, not only shows on ESPN but other shows around the sports media and the sports media in general, the awkward transition of the coverage of women's sports by people who do not traditionally cover women's sports. And, and it's producing some very tense moments. You know,

that's a very good synopsis. And I was thinking about that last part of it quite a bit last night when we're putting the show together. It's that I don't even think a lot of people realize that the league is, it's in three decades old. It's been around for 28 years. Like, so you can understand why when Caitlin Clark bursts onto the scene that the league is like, well, we didn't also just burst onto the scene.

We've been doing this for an awfully long time. And there is, there's that really um really tough divide right now for a lot of traditional sports media outlets to on how they should cover women's sports because i think a lot of people um don't do a good enough job of covering it just as athletes and then in the case of caitlin clark it's 18 different things at once like br, Bruf brought this up in the intro. You're talking about race relations, gender relations, and then her being the messiah while also being a rookie. It's like four different major conversations all trying to happen at once, and it's proved really difficult for people.

Yeah, and it's, you know, it's a lot of conversation from people who don't know the New York liberty from the Statue of Liberty. And so that's kind of the issue, right? So, and listen, as a hockey fan in the U.S., we sometimes get a taste of this ourselves. You know, I can't even imagine what the discourse is going to be from general sports commentators when, like, Ovechkin's within two goals of Gretzky.

Like, what is that conversation even going to be like? It probably will not involve much nuance. It probably will not involve much discussion of era versus era or all of the other things that we've talked about vis-a-vis NHL records. But that's what happens when the shows that traditionally only cover the National Basketball Association and the Dallas Cowboys start talking about other things.

Hey, another conversation we were having this morning pertained to Luke Gazdik. I don't know if you saw this last night or not, but he really popped off at Canucks fans, Canucks Twitter, and then the Vancouver Canucks themselves in the aftermath of the Edmonton Oilers beating the Dallas Stars and going to the Stanley Cup final. Luke's obviously a national broadcaster, and he's been subjected to a lot of criticisms online, a lot of hate on Twitter, and I guess he just decided to fire back.

Now, I bring this up with Wish because you've been aggressively online for the better part of what? A decade and a half? Two decades? I would say the better part of two decades. Right, and you've dealt with more online trash than a lot of people because your career has been forged online. Do you have advice for people now, now that you're a sage old scribe, about how to deal

with trolls, internet hate, Twitter comments and the like? Yeah. The first thing is to always punch up, which was something that I had to learn the hard way. Because, I mean, you know, being online for most of your life and most of your day, you tend to just try to, like, get into fights with people. And then you come to realize that, you know, sometimes when you have 200 some odd thousand followers and someone doesn't, that sometimes that could make for a real kind of power imbalance in the number of people that pay attention to what you're saying and maybe want to get involved in the conversation. And that's not always fair. The other thing is just judiciously use the mute button. For anybody that's listening that may reach out to me and I've not gotten back,

let me put it this way. If you've ever criticized me or my network, I have decided that I don't need that in my life. I've got enough stress and strain. So it's a one-strike rule. I just mute it. I don't need it. I can control my social media experience. And until Tesla boy decides to take away the mute button,

I will use it whenever I want. And so it really is a one strike rule. And it really is one of these deals where I you just because you follow me does not mean that you have the access and the ability to ruin my day. I can choose who can ruin my day. That aligns very closely to what Bruf was saying in the intro that, you know, for better or for worse, whether it's right or wrong, and whether this solves any problems or not, the only thing you can really do is ignore. And you have to accept that this is out there and then choose to actively ignore it. Right. And I mean, listen, it's still an interesting platform and it's still a place where if you really feel like you need to get something off your chest about, you know, Canucks fans or whatever, I guess you can do it. And it's still a place where,

I mean, I'm not trying to portray myself as being innocent. I truly troll every day of my life on this platform and, you know, and, you know, do what I can to provoke and make interesting conversation. But as far as just people taking runs, it's just not. That's not something you're allowed to do to me, so I just mute you. I've probably muted roughly a billion people, I think, in the last three years, I'd say. Do you think it's a challenge for sports teams now to, if they have young players coming into the league, to make sure that they know how to handle the criticism that's coming in on social media?

Because it's coming for the star players, it's coming for the non-star players, it's, you know, you're not going to throw a perfect game in your sports career, and you're going to hear about it on social media if you actively seek it out. Well, I don't know if you know this, Ruff, but none of these guys read social media. They will always tell you that they don't have burner accounts. They don't read any social media. They don't check their DMs. They're completely ignorant to all of it is what they'll tell you, which is absolutely a lie.

They have training. They've had training for maybe over a decade now on social media behavior. Now, I don't know if part of that training is don't engage. I hope it is. And if it is, I think it's been effective. But I think it's also, you know, make sure you know what you're putting online, you know, make sure that you understand who's looking at it. You know, don't, don't embarrass the league. Don't embarrass yourself. Don't

embarrass your team. Don't do anything that might get your contract terminated. So they do have a certain amount of social media training, but I also think that as the generations come through this league, there's much more savvy about it. They're much, they've been living this life already, you know, insofar as what to put online and what not to put online and who to interact with. So I think not only do you have education from the league, but you also have these players coming in fully formed Gen Z. We've lived on the internet our entire lives. Do you think they know how to deal with criticism better than we did?

To make a long story short, I've seen with a lot of the media that has been around even longer than us, Wish, that they've really had trouble adjusting to the new way of basically dear editor letters, which used to be actually dear editor letters, which used to be actually dear editor letters. And it would take a lot of effort to write a letter to a sports columnist if you disagreed with their take. And most people wouldn't even bother. Now a lot of people do. And I've seen a lot of people have trouble with that.

And I just wonder if maybe even the younger media members or the younger players, they're just used to seeing the criticism and it's easier for them to deal with it. I just can't imagine having a bad game in a big game and then you search your name online and you read some of the things that people say about you. From fans of your team, it must be difficult. Like it's psychologically damaging, I imagine. Well, so a couple of things there. First of all, I think as you get older, you get more comfortable in knowing what you do well and what criticism of that means insofar as like, they don't know. Like if somebody says, I'm not a good writer,

I know I'm a good writer. They could say my takes suck. They could say my opinion sucks. They could say my jokes are hacky. That's fine. But I know I'm a good writer. So it, you know, it's gotten to the point where if somebody says that I just dismiss it. And so if you're like a 30 year old player and someone's like, you suck. And you're like, well, actually I'm on my third contract and I've been an all-star and like i know i don't like i know i'm pretty good it probably rolls off your back a little bit quicker than it was when you were 22 um but the other thing too that i find interesting maybe this is a separate conversation is i feel like in, my opinion of a player, while it might irk them, will not rock the boat as much as, say, something they hear on Spit and Chicklets or something that they're engaging in the take factory. I feel like there's much more attention played to the guys who played and their comments and how they sting than someone like me

who's just chucking grenades from his basement. So let's talk about some hockey now. Panthers, Oilers in the Stanley Cup final um do you think this matchup's going to get spicy right from the start oh it could be real physical right and i think that that's the panthers mo and i think that they know that there are certain pressure points that they could apply pressure on on the oilers where you can get guys to kind of get off their game your vander canes your cory perry's Leon Dreisleitels and players like that. So I do think it's going to be physical off the hop,

and I think it's going to be really intense. But I do wonder inherently if this isn't a series where you have the best team in the league on paper against the team that's playing best right now. Because I truly think the Oilers have turned a corner and become a different team in the last two rounds. And are playing the kind of defensive hockey for 60 minutes that I truly didn't think that they could do. So it's a fascinating matchup, to be honest. And I think that in a lot of departments, it's probably closer than maybe we thought it could be between Florida and Edmonton.

That being said, will this be the biggest challenge for Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl in facing defensive experts like Barkov and Gustav Forsling? I don't know, man. Kopitar and Deneau are pretty good. And then, like, if you look in goal, I mean, they just smoked Jake Ottinger in a series. That's the thing, you know, I agree, like, Barkov is obviously, like,

the final boss when it comes to beating defensive centers in this league. You know, he won the Selkie. He completely, you know, eliminated Mika Zvanijad from the conference final against the Rangers. He's great. And at least in the games in Fort Lauderdale, or I'm sorry, South Florida,

they're going to get that matchup, and then they're probably going to put Bennett on dry sidle. But just like there's been all this conversation about, hey, look what the Florida Panthers penalty killed it against the rangers where the rangers went one for 15 oh my god well what can they what will they do against edmonton well edmonton's power play is like like immortal like like it's godlike like it's 37 in the playoff and and so the question is is as good as barkoff is as good as they are defensively when they are going against you know a freak of nature like Connor McDavid, will it even be enough? Because he's Connor.

He is the thing that overcomes all challenges with his talent and his ability. And right now, I think also his health. I think he's probably healthier than maybe anybody would have expected in this round as well. And he's got some rest time too as well. I mean, the series doesn't start until Saturday. Wish, how important is it for the league as a whole and maybe the American national broadcasters

and the Canadian national broadcasters that Connor McDavid does play on the biggest stage in the Stanley Cup final? Well, I mean, look, if we're talking about what was best for the league and the broadcasters, it was the Rangers. Full stop. Because when it comes to Connor, it's great that he's on this stage and it's great that he's going to have this moment and hopefully the casuals tune in to see if the best player in the world can win a cup. But the thing you can't get past is the word Edmonton. And, you know, for a lot of U.S. fans, seeing that word is going to be repellent, right? Because they want to tune in

to watch the Rangers or Boston or Philly or Pittsburgh. And when they see an Edmonton, even if it has Conor McDavid on the team, they might not tune in, which sucks, but it's just the way of the world. I think that more so than the league and broadcast partners and whoever, this is the most important thing for Conor, because it reminds me of the conversation we had about Ovechkin a few years ago, where we were like, oh my God, this guy is going to break Gretzky's record. And then when he goes to the Hall of Fame, the conversation is going to be about, but he never won the big one. He won the big one.

Why couldn't he win the big one? And so it's a chance for Conor to not only be on the level of Gretzky and Mario and the pantheon of the greatest hockey players in the history of the world, but also have that accomplishment on his record and not have a caveat, not have an asterisk. And again, I think in Conor's case, it's different than Ovi,

where there is much more blame on the organization than there is on Conor for them not having won. But even still, like, get the kid a ring, and we never have to even think about this conversation. We're speaking to Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. We talked about the potential spiciness factors of this Stanley Cup final, and I do think I was kind of bemoaning the fact that it wasn't New York

and it was Florida for the respective markets. But as far as the stylistic matchup goes and the team goes, Florida's a great foil for Edmonton, and I do think that having Matthew Kachuk front and center in a Stanley Cup final against Connor McDavid is huge from a spiciness element because he seems like a guy, among others, but definitely the guy that gets that matchup and what it means and what it represents. And I feel like he's going to make it his business to be in McDavid's kitchen as much as humanly possible. And that could really elevate the spiciness level of this final. Yeah, but you're missing the sidebar to that, which is that he has 26 points in 32 games against Edmonton, and he has 32 games against Edmonton because he played in Calgary, and

at one point, Matthew Kachuk was the single most hated player in the history there, besides the player-versus- player matchup with McDavid. It's really one of the more interesting underlying stories to the final, which, by the way, is chock full of really interesting stuff. I mean, not only the stylistic clash, but Maurice versus Knobloch and the special teams battles and the fact that Florida made it last year and Conor's trying to win it. Like, all that stuff is inherent. And to me, it's a really – there wasn't a wrong combination in the Final Four.

Like, I thought those were the four best teams. I thought any combination would have produced a really good final. As much as it's not going to be the blockbuster for the casual fans as it would have been if the Rangers were playing McDavid, I think this one is, from a series standpoint and a narrative standpoint, probably as compelling or more compelling. Yeah, because one of the things that I found missing in that Western Conference final was the hate.

I know Dallas plays a certain style and kind of prides itself on being the least penalized team in the NHL. But it really seemed as though that it never really popped off in terms of the hatred and the physicality and the violence. And I feel like that element is much more alive in Florida Edmonton than it was in Dallas Edmonton. Yeah, I agree with you. For all of the intensity of the play in that series, there wasn't enough of an attempt by Dallas to try to get Edmonton off its game.

And I think maybe that's part and parcel of them being able to control like 55 minutes of a 60-minute game in some of those games in the Western Conference Final was that Dallas didn't have enough pushback and certainly didn't put a scare in him at all. So you're right. I mean, again, this is a Panthers M.O. It's the Sam Bennett of it all. It's the Matthew Kachuk of it all.

It's the physicality. It's the way they play. They're a blunt instrument. It's interesting to think also about the way that these teams act when they get a lead. Like the Oilers had 10 shots the other night because they tend to get a lead and then try to insulate Stuart Skinner as best as they can. And Florida is like the complete opposite. Like Florida plays to their identity where if they get a lead,

they just stay on the attack and their best defense is a good offense. And that's also a really fun juxtaposition. Wish this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it as always. Enjoy the rest of the week and the start of the Stanley Cup final. We'll do this again next week. Appreciate it. And thanks for not getting me fired, I think.

Well, hopefully we'll do it next week. See you, Wish. See you, Wish. Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Punch! Sorry, go ahead. No, no, no, go, go.

You can't just be like, punch! Punch up. I never thought about that before, you know, when you're talking about dealing with harassment trolls uh negativity toxicity do you remember when wish got a lecture from the bob father yep i do that's bob mckenzie for those that don't know that was a long time ago see and that now we're really getting into like the inside baseball stuff and some people be like i have no idea what they're talking about greg wischinski who we just had on the show from espn has been writing online about hockey for two decades way back when he was working for yahoo as the puck daddy he was an internet trailblazer he was and uh being an internet trailblazer means that you're subjected

to all that the internet has to offer good, bad, or otherwise. The wild, wild west of trolldom and everything else. And I do remember at one point that Bob McKenzie, legendary Hall of Fame hockey writer and media member, told Wish, don't engage. Don't go down. Don't argue with stupid. Don't fight with trolls. Don't get down in the gutters with people. You don't need to go in go down. Don't argue with stupid. Don't fight. Don't get down in the gutters of people.

You don't need to go in the mud. But it is, but it's a, it's a, it's a transition for wish because part of the reason that you become popular sometimes online is that you do engage with your followers. There's an engagement level.

And then. Absolutely. Occasionally you get so big, certainly hasn't happened to us, but occasionally you get so big that you stop doing that. Or there are people that aren't your fans, but follow you because you've got a lot of followers and they're not going to share your sense of humor. They're not going to share your opinions. And then all of a sudden you've got a lot of followers and they're not going to, they're not going to share your sense of humor. They're not going to share your opinions.

And then all of a sudden you've got a whole different mix. I think about that a lot with Bill Simmons. Like Bill Simmons went from a writer, like an online writer who was popular with hardcore fans that really liked his sense of humor, right? And then he blew up. And then all of a sudden he's got millions of followers, not hundreds of thousands, millions

of followers on Twitter. And it changed because it has to change. You know, you can't, you can't be the same guy that you were in a lot of ways. Like you can't, you can be the same person that you were, but you can't really operate in the same way. If you were going back and forth, every tweet you've got has literally hundreds of replies to it, as opposed to the one, two, or three that are just throwing out like poorly spelled swear words and grammatically incorrect like taunts.

Like there's people that are aiming for the heart or the head, like kill shots when they're, you know, and their sole purpose isn't to offer constructive criticism or feedback. Or to engage in a debate or something. It's to get to engage in a debate or something it's to get it's to get to someone as quickly as possible and that's the real crux of what i was trying to get at earlier is there's some people out there who you know everything is a race to the bottom as quickly as possible and i don't know why and i don't know what fuels it and i don't know the rationale behind it but there is that element that it exists and there's people that are like what can i say or what can i do that will upset or damage this person as greatly as possible as

quickly as possible yeah and when we talk about nuance it's like sometimes a conversation can have layers to it where you're disagreeing in one breath and the next you're agreeing or you're trying to see somebody's point and there's a serving volley of ideas now we get and the worst part of it is that when someone says something that i don't agree with and it's you respond with a clown emoji or die in a fire or something like that yeah right agreeing or disagreeing with someone should be a nuanced conversation that goes back and forth and i know that i'm living in a pollyanna world you are man but the reality of all we get now is um comment reply how quick can we get to the bottom and how quick can we get into the mud and how quick can we get into the dirt and that's something that i've learned that is an inevitability is that that sort

of digging to the bottom as quickly as possible is always going to happen and that's why you only tweet about leads i found my own way uh we got the second hour of the halford and brough show coming up brendan bachelor is going to join us at 7 30 uh and i would just throw it out there that we've got an open segment on the other side, so text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. The Stanley Cup final doesn't start until Saturday. Do you think we'll see any big news this week? Maybe some trades. Trades are allowed now.

Trades are not between the Panthers and the Oilers. I think that would be frowned upon, but trades are allowed. You're listening to the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.