Halford & Brough in the Morning - Why Don't the Canucks Have a Practice Facility?

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

In Hour 2, Mike and Jason chat with Stars analyst Owen Newkirk about what’s made Dallas one of the top teams this season. They also dive into the Canucks' ongoing lack of a practice facility, and why it's becoming a major issue. With Utah getting one and new stadium talk swirling around the Whitecaps, the big question is—who gets it done first, the Canucks or the Caps? 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.

He feeds it ahead in forehand, Johnston! Of course! Six games in a row! Wyatt Johnston! 7.03 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford and Bruv Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruv of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and Trusted Choice for DebtHelp with over 3,000 five-star reviews. This music, visit them online at S sans-trustee.com. I know everything is not a Simpsons reference, but this reminds me of Homer in the Land of Chocolate. The Land of Chocolate. Yeah, it is. That's all I can think of. I'm frolicking through. Chocolate. Half price.

Is it my turn yet? This is the theme song for the rest of the Canucks season, you guys. No it's not. We are in hour two of the program. It's a happy time. Hour two is brought to you by Jason.mortgage. Jason Hominec, if you love giving the banks more of your money then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. Now it's your time Jason Brough. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you and steppe. You really shined on that Hmm. Thank you. To the phone lines we go.

Tonight's opponent, the Dallas Stars. Joining us now from the DLLS Sports Dallas Stars podcast, Owen Newkirk here on the Haliford and Brush Show on Sports Net 650. Morning Owen, how are you? Morning fellas and if you want to talk Simpsons I'm here for you because one of the great lines from the land of chocolate was, we Germans are not all smiles and sunshine. We've used that one on occasion. Good poll. Very well done. Okay, so if it wasn't the St. Louis Blues over the last couple weeks, the hottest team in hockey would have been the Dallas Stars who ripped off a seven game win streak from the middle to end of March all the way through to April and then this weekend happened. Gasp, shock, and awe.

The Dallas Stars actually lost not one but two hockey games over the weekend. Five-three to Pittsburgh and then in the second of a back-to-back three-two overtime loss to Minnesota. What's going on? Is it a crisis in Dallas now that they've lost two games in a row? You know, it's crazy that you talk about that because if they had maybe the worst seven game winning streak in NHL history, which is such a dumb thing to say, right? Because why would you ever complain about seven wins in a row, a 10 game point streak, and the coach carved them twice in the public during that span? So Pete DeBoer called out the Dallas Stars. the coach carved them twice in the public during that span. So he,

Tabora called out the Dallas stars, just put that in your brain and go, you've won seven in a row. Your coach is mad at you. The fans aren't happy because you're getting outshot. You're seemingly losing the possession battle, but you keep winning. And so, you know, we're doing our broadcast on DLS and trying to sort of wrap our heads around this is, well, they won. They didn't look very good. They seem to get outplayed. They weren't necessarily the better team. What is it? Well, it's goaltending. The

goaltending has been phenomenal. Jake Otter and Casey Smith has both been just incredible. Their penalty kill has been good all year, but that goes back to the goal sending as well as the penalty killers, but the goal sending has been great. And they have really timely offense, right? They can score, but it's sort of, you know, capitalizing on their really high quality chances and maybe passing up on shooting a little bit too much. So you look at all these numbers and these analytics and go, man, it doesn't look good in the eye test. It doesn't look good on paper, but the object of the game is to win. And they're doing that. So shouldn't we be happy? And yet everyone's sitting there sounding the alarm of this isn't going to get it done in the playoffs. And yet, as you said, that can best record the NHL during

that span other than the ridiculous run that the blues went on. And how do you wrap your heads around that? Because I kept saying, and I actually got accused of being a homer, bringing you back to the Simpsons, by simply saying that about 30 other NHL teams would kill to be in the position the Stars are in this moment. I wasn't sitting there saying the Stars were playing their best hockey. I just said, boy, it's really nice to complain and moan about this kind of a performance when all these other teams, and all due respect to Canucks fans, are clamoring for points and dying to try to get in that position.

Does it just go to show the expectations for the Stars in the playoffs that they're winning games but they're maybe not playing as well as they could and everyone's realizing that they're going to have to probably play Colorado in the first round and they better get going? Boy, you hit on both of them. The bar is set so high and also the fear, I think from the fans especially, of who they most likely will face in the first round. If you could say what we all want it to be, which is they should have it, you know, let's let the two division winners be one, two in the West and then let it be three through eight and, and it shake out that way. It doesn't mean you're not going to face a really good

opponent, but not having to play Nate McKinnon in the avalanche in the first round seems like a nice proposition, especially for a team that has a shot at being the President's trophy winner. So, and of course from last year, I think there's some scars from Stars fans because of the fact that they had to play the not eight-seeded Vegas Golden Knights in the first round, a brutal seven-game series, then had to play the not eight seated Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of a brutal seven game series, then had to beat Colorado, then had to play Edmonton and still feel like you could have beaten maybe should have beat the Oilers and didn't. And so here we are with the expectations of you have to win the Stanley Cup or at least get to the final.

Otherwise, what have you done all year? Right. And that's, that's an incredibly high bar, but that's kind of the reality. When you build a team that's gone to the conference finals, back to back years, if they don't at least get to the conference finals, it'll be considered a step backwards, which is, is really, I mean, you guys know this, it's so hard to get through the first two rounds. To get to the third round is really, really hard.

And for many years, as I was covering the Stars, that second round was kind of the impassable bridge of they couldn't get by the St. Louis Blues a couple of times, and they just couldn't quite figure out how to get past it. So when they did, and they did it in the bubble. They went to the final and then they went to conference. That's an incredible run that most fan bases would kill to have. But that's the reality we're at. The expectations are astronomically high for the Stars.

No pun intended. And they should be. Um, but I, I wonder how much of your conversation about the stars is about Miro Heisken and when he's going to be back. Well, that's a great point. Again, man, it's like you almost have been listening to our show or something.

But it's funny because yeah, look, the stars have had a phenomenal record since Miro's been injured, they've been really good. Thomas Harley has stepped up and been really good. He was good before that. He's taken a bigger role because of the absence of Miro. Look, Miro is an all-world player. I think Harley is a better offensive player because of his instincts and the way he plays. Teyskenen is so dialed in to be a team player that I think sometimes he defers and passes off when he can and has the ability to be, you know, a number one offensive guy.

But I'm not saying he's not a number one defense. He's unbelievably good. The crazy thing is in spite of the good record the Stars have had, since Hayskinen's injury, they went from having a massively positive shot differential, shot, shot attempts, you name it, to a pretty severe negative. And what is it? Well, Miro uses his legs to break the puck out. He is so good with his feet that he can literally be your one man breakout from the defensive zone, skate it and off they go.

Well without him, they're doing a lot of the high flip. It's one of their favorite things to do, which is just a grenade from the D zone. They send a couple of forwards long and it's a 50-50 puck battle between a defenseman having a forward racing at him somewhere between the red line and the far blue line. Well that's all fine and good. It's been effective all year, but teams also know this and they're dealing with it better. And the Stars possession numbers and their shots just haven't been the same. Now they're still winning and you know, most fan bases would hear me describing how unsatisfied

Stars fans, coaches, broadcasters are alike and they'd say, cry me a river, I'd love to be in your position. But that haste in absence, you don't just, I mean, let's face it, you guys know with the Canucks, Quinn Hughes in the lineup versus Quinn Hughes out of the lineup. Pretty similar, pretty similar. It's a stark contrast, right? And you can't just sit there and say, how do you replace Quinn Hughes? You don't. You try to make, how do you replace Quinn Hughes? You don't.

You try to make up for it, but it's just not the same. We're speaking to Dallas Stars analyst Owen Newkirk here on the Haliford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Owen, you're now a grand total of 15 games in to the Miko Rantanen era in Dallas. How's it been so far? A little underwhelming in the numbers, but otherwise fantastic. He is a truly elite talent. You can see it. I, I watched him as an opponent of the stars for years and he was such a thorn, especially, you know, just marauding on the, I don't want to say on the coattails of Nathan McKinnon, cause that's not fair, but it was such a successful combination.

That duo between the power and the finesse that Ransom has, and then the just blinding bulldozing speed of McKinnon and all the things that he does, they really terrorize the stars a lot, especially when you're up at altitude in Denver. The thing that has perplexed me is he hasn't scored a goal at home yet. And it's been six home games and it's been nine total since he last scored. I actually just looked this up this morning before you guys called. He hasn't scored a game on home ice since February 27th. It was Carolina against the Buffalo Sabres.

And that's not a big deal, right? He's putting up points, his passing is elite. He is, for such a big guy, he has great hands, he sees the ice incredibly well. I'm not surprised that he hasn't come out gangbusters from the trade because he's been with one organization his entire career. Then he gets thrust into two deals in such a short span and that has to be mentally frying to him.

I remember and I've made this comment a few times since Joe Pavelski comes to Dallas as a free agent after spending his entire NHL career with San Jose. And he didn't look good. He just wasn't for that first year. It was 2019, 2020, until the COVID lockdown freeze in early March of 2020. Then we come back for the bubble playoffs in Edmonton, and Pavelski starts to look like himself. And it was off and running for the next couple of years,

he was Joe Pavelski, absolutely the same legend that we always expect. So that's sort of the perspective I put it in for Ranson and his that because he signed a huge extension, he was the main topic of the trade deadline. You're kind of expecting him to come in and skate like McKinnon or McDavid and he's up there in talent. I don't know if I would compare him with those two beyond the stratosphere guys, but it's going to take time. And in the long run, I think the Stars will be extremely happy to have Rancidon, but it is kind of weird to see that some

of those pucks haven't gone in yet. Has he played with the same guys for the most part in Dallas or has he been shifted around? I mean, you got some good centers there. You got Rupiah Henson, you got Wye Johnston, Matthew Shane is leading the team in points. I didn't see that coming. So has he been with specific guys or have they been trying them out with others? Well, lately, yes. At the start, no, and that was part of the issue. There were some injury problems, and so there was some jumbling when he first got to Dallas. And Hintz took a puck to the face and missed some time, so he played with Rantham briefly,

and then they had Wyatt up there with Robertson, and Rantham, he played a little bit with Duche. Here's the thing, all of them have looked good at times, but they are really trying lately to get the Hince Robertson and Ransom in line going because, and again, I don't expect any sympathy from the Vancouver listener at all here. If Tyler Sagan recovers, which he's on track to do, and you can have a top nine of Robertson, Hintz, Ransom, and you put Sagan back with Duchenne and Marchment, which has been an unbelievable line when they've been healthy and together. And now your third line is Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Ben and Mikhail Grandland. That's a pretty good top nine.

It's not bad. That takes the dawn of into your fourth line and you have to decide whether or not Maverick Bork gets a chance to play or not. And I mean, Sam Steele and Oscar Beck's been good. It's a massive amount of debt. Yeah, this team better win a round or two, eh? Better not go out in the first round to Colorado's. Good team. A lot of pressure on them. That's the nerves. I think that the anxiety of is a good team. A lot of pressure on them. That's the nerves. I think that's the anxiety of having a good team is

knowing that if you don't perform, then what is it all for? Now I remember that from like, I don't know, 15 years ago. I remember that. I remember that pressure. 2011. Yeah.

I remember that pressure as well. Um, the goaltending, um, is there any way they would consider giving Casey De Smith any starts in the playoffs or are they just going to go Ottinger? Because we have seen that conversation around the NHL about tandems in the playoffs and Casey De Smith has been pretty good for the Dallas Stars. Well, he's been more than pretty good. He's been lights out. The fact that he got the loss against Pittsburgh was not on him at all. In fact, he was tremendous in that game as he's been all year.

He's been fabulous as the Stars number two, especially in a lot of games. As you guys know, the second game is, or the backup goal, he usually gets a lousy scenario, right? It's the travel, it's the back to backs,backs, it's the the night where the team doesn't have much, so here you go, go win it by yourself, we'll try to get you a goal or two. And I remember talking to Casey earlier this year, and I can't remember what the date was now, but it was somewhere about midseason, and the goal scoring run support for Casey was like at least a goal a game less than Jake Ottinger in those starts.

And he still had a winning record and was giving great effort. But I remember saying to him and he kind of laughed and he knew what I was talking about even before I brought it up. He was aware of this. He talked about the scenarios and everything. But I said, man, if you could get Jake Ottinger's run support, imagine what your numbers would look like. He's like, you're telling me. Well, that's picked up in the back half of the season. He's gotten some more of that and it's showed. I mean, his numbers have been tremendous as far as his

save percentage. But the question about the playoffs is really fascinating because in all intents and purposes, Casey Smith has showed that he is someone you can rely on to go and play a big game and give you a great performance. But how do you not play Jake Ottinger in the playoffs? Right? He's your number one. He's the guy you just gave all the money to a huge extension early this season for the next eight years. And you expect him to be one of the top goalies in the NHL. You know, it wasn't for Connor Hellebuck.

We might, well, and Philip Gustafson has had a great year in Minnesota too, but you might be talking about Jake Ottinger is the best goalie in the central division. Now Hellebuck is going to run away with a Vezina, but there is a scenario where you could have Ottinger as one of the finalists and that's a, that's a darn good year. Could it? I mean, traditionally I say no, right? You're going to ride with Otter in the playoffs. But if there's some reason, I guess the only one that makes sense to me is that unless, knock on wood, Jake

gets hurt. If the Stars had a game where they're just getting routed and you say, you know what, it's not the goalie's fault, but it's the only move we can do, right? You see this happen during the regular season from time to time. Maybe that's the scenario where you pull Jake, not because it's his fault, but just a, hey, let's save him, put Casey.

But I don't see that a realistic scenario where Casey gets a start, and that's not on him at all. It's just, you know, Ottinger's your guy. I want to get a gauge on the temperature of the rivalry between the Stars and the Avs. They have met twice in the last five years, I want to say, in the playoffs. They met in 2020 and then of course, 2023, 2024,

there was a second round matchup as well. Obviously there's an inherent rivalry given the division, they're two elite teams and everything. And I guess it's been heightened to a certain degree by the presence of Rantan. So give our listeners a temperature check on the rivalry between the Stars and the Avs going into the playoffs. Yeah. I mean, there's always been layers to that. And, you know, watching Val Natusken struggle early in his career with Dallas after a good rookie season. He had a hip problem and had surgery

and he just wasn't the same player after that. He was young and it took him what I think it was two or three seasons in Denver before it finally clicked of, oh, this is how I have to play to be successful. And then he became a force. We all saw that he could, but wondered if it would ever click. And I think it was easier to digest for me, I don't know about for Star Spans, but for me, because it wasn't an instant click, like, oh, we were doing something wrong in Dallas. Why is it all of a sudden working so easily in Denver? It didn't, right? It was more of the same.

And then when it finally happened, you go, see, this is what they all saw. This is what Jim Nill in his scouting department saw and a lot of other people and just wondered if he would ever get put all together. And I remember, I think it was the year that he really had the breakout with the avalanche that, uh, it wasn't me directly, but somebody talked to Jim Nill and Val went to, to star general manager and personally apologized to him, you know, like I, this is the player I should have been. And you know, that shows some real character from Val.

And I know Newtushkin is going, has been going through some personal stuff over the last couple of years. And that's been at center stage of the avalanche playoffs. And I, you know, I'm not trying to disparage Newtushkin, but I will tell you that that's in the back of my mind. So I'm sure that the avalanche has to be thinking that because it's burned them in consecutive playoff years So the rivalry has been there from that the ranting and stuff just elevate that to another level, you know He had an early game. I think it was his second or third game

I think it was his third game with Dallas after the trade at the deadline in Colorado It was after I think the Vancouver game, if I remember correctly, but I could be completely wrong. You know, like 77, 78 games kind of blur together. Yeah, they're all together. Yeah. Exactly. But he went on, you know, they played in Colorado. It was the first time since the trade with Carolina. And then of course he traded again. So now here he is back in Denver in his division and signed an eight-year extension and boy he handled it with all the media so incredibly

well but I saw a lot of you know the comparison I make is not a hockey one but it's actually a Dallas one it's Luka Doncic to the Lakers. The, the, the thing is, is that Doncic didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay with the Mavericks and he got traded to the Lakers in a deal that nobody in Dallas likes. And yet somehow they did that. And he's about to come back on Wednesday and play in Dallas for the first time since that trade.

And Ranton and said straight up, I didn't want to leave Colorado, wanted to stay there. They traded me. And so there was a lot of disbelief from Avalanche fans to see Ranton and their beloved guy who had won a Stanley Cup in their building in a Dallas Stars jersey. If that meets in the playoffs and it looks

very likely, I'll bet you that amount of like soul sapping pain for Avalche fans is gonna be worse. And so that'll really create that rivalry even further than it already is. The Dallas Stars are playing host to the Vancouver Canucks tonight. It's a five o'clock puck drop our time pregame postgame and the actual game. You can hear it all right here on Sportsnet 650. Owen, thank you very much for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Great stuff.

Enjoy the game tonight. Let's do this again as we get closer to the playoffs. My pleasure, guys. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on, Owen. We appreciate it. That's Owen Newkirk, Dallas Stars Analyst here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So a lot on the line for the Dallas Stars

in the playoffs this year. We didn't have time to run out, but I wanted to actually ask them about Jamie Benz's future because he's a pending UFA, 35 years old. I think he's still. Future Vancouver Connect, Jamie Ben? I think he's still an NHL player, but Ranton and took a lot of cap space with his extension. So, you know, I don't think Jamie Ben would be

asking for the same contract that is going to expire, but still that's a pretty big name for the Dallas Stars. I want to talk about something on the other side. Okay. Because I saw on the news yesterday that Utah, the Utah Hockey Club, new to the NHL in Utah, is getting a practice facility. Oh, good for them.

The Vancouver Canucks, been in the NHL since 1970, do not have a practice facility. No, they do not. They're working on it. Only them and the Calgary Flames are without a practice facility and the Flames are getting a new arena and a new practice facility. So where are the Canucks with this practice? This is what we're talking about now with five games left and they're kind of

meaningless games, but I do kind of want to set the table for some of the stuff that might be talked about at the end of season presser. And we know some of the topics that are going to be talked about, but this is one that's just been for me at least, has kind of been in the background and in the back of my mind. It hasn't been front of mine.

I know a lot of people have talked about it along with like new seats at Roger Serino. When are those coming? New seats in the practice facility. I've been in a race to see, you know, what are they going to, who's going to win this race? And I don't know who's going to win the race. I think the new seats might be ahead by a

nose right now. So we're just going to talk about this on the other side and love to get your thoughts on the fact that the Canucks don't have one. Uh, text in on the Dunbar Lumber text line, 650-650, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and renter warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve

you or online at dunbarlumber.com. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. 734 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80%. Wow, 80% with no interest. Wow, no interest. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.comcom Are we bootleggers or what? What's going on right now? The swingin' it's showin' town!

Big band Tuesday, bro. Yeah. Feel like I'm hanging out at Speakeasy. Okay, let's talk about practice facilities. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominock at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at j Jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. He'll get you a good deal. That's the noise. That's the official noise of Big Day. You gotta drop a couple of Yesssane. The Utah Hockey Club is building a practice facility. So I heard. And here's a quote from the owner. We're building a practice facility. We want to be competitive in the NHL and to do that, you got to have a place where these guys can practice

and they can recover and it's home. Vancouver Canucks do not have a home. No. They don't have a practice facility. They have a house, but not a home. Vancouver Canucks do not have a home. No. They don't have a practice. They have a house, but not a home. And I just think it's worthwhile to bring it up because we were talking about stadiums yesterday and this segment we might talk a little bit about

the White Cap Stadium situation because the mayor had some comments on it. But, you know, Jim Rutherford, when did he sign on? It's been a couple years now right? Yep three years on the job. One of the things he's been tasked with is getting practice facility and man how many rumors have we heard? Do you remember there was a rumor was like they might do something at SFU. I do remember that. I'm like oh the players all love that they all live in Burnaby right? It's not that bad of a commute. Well I remember that. I'm like, oh, the players will love that. They all live in Burnaby, right?

It's not that bad of a commute. Well. I digress. It's not, I don't think it's ideal. We've heard. Lovely campus. A lot about potentially something at UBC. Yes. Um, and that would be more of a renovation

because they already got the rink out there, but they would need to add the facilities. because they already got the rink out there, but they would need to add the facilities. There's been some talk about building like a whole new facility for the Canucks, but you know, where in Vancouver land is an issue here in Vancouver and we all recognize that. Like we all recognize that it's probably a lot

easier and cheaper to find the land in Utah. In Sandy. Than it is in Vancouver, but the New York Rangers have a practice facility. Yep. The Toronto Maple Leafs have a practice facility. Yeah. I've heard land is expensive in California. Yep.

Those teams all have practice facilities. El Segundo, it's quite nice. They found ways to make it happen. Why haven't the Canucks yet? California. Yep. Those teams all have practice facilities. El Segundo, it's quite nice. They found ways to make it happen. Why haven't the Canucks yet? Rick Tauke had always talking about the importance of practice. And half the time, if you're a media guy covering the team,

it's like, where are they practicing today? Is it at Rogers Arena or are they going to UBC? It becomes more alarming when you are now one of two NHL teams that doesn't have a practice facility because that means that you know 30 of the 32 have figured it out and that includes Utah and Utah had a practice facility. They were using the oval in Utah. I think it was an Olympic oval mostly for speed skating but they still had like a place to go practice. Not that the Canucks don't, but I'm saying they had something. They just decided to massively upgrade their practice facility within a year of being in

the National Hockey League. And what they're building is massive. It's going to be at the end of a shopping mall in Sandy, Utah. Yeah, for me, you often hear about, well, you want to attract free agents, and that's what you use your practice facility for. You give them the tour of, look at this you want to attract free agents and that's what you use your practice facility for, you give, you give them the tour of like, this is a great place to hang out. Yeah, that's part of it, but what about just the day to day of the team? What about the idea of a place where you can hang out and build a culture?

I know UBC is not that. I'm out at UBC a lot. I play there sometimes, um, you that. I'm out at UBC a lot. I play there sometimes, you know, I'm out at kids practices out at UBC and for Canadian university, they got nice facilities out there. Yeah. Not for the NHL though, not for the NHL. And if you want a team that is close, has bonds.

Like, you know, this is such a reach, it's crazy. Oh no. But, Connex Home record this year, versus the way they play on the road. You know, like, look, it's a reach. So- As a deep reach. But, I mean, we're all trying to figure out,

like, why are the connection like not great at home and versus on the road? Well, maybe there's something to the fact when they're on the road, they're bonded together. You know, they're hanging out together. Yeah. I don't know. Bonding together, bonded together is like glue.

Right, yeah. Maybe they do that too. Okay, but this whole- Sticking together is what good waffles do. You know, I just think that for a team that is considered one of the big spenders in the NHL, always spending to the cap, there are areas where they've fallen short. And again, I understand the

challenges and the Canucks have gone down the road a few times, Plaza of nations, they nearly had a deal there, but why didn't it happen? You know, it's, it's all well and good to try, you know, and we nearly had a deal, but when are they going to get it done? Because yes, there are constraints in Vancouver and there are challenges, but

well, that's what you're hired to do. You're hired to meet those challenges. You can't just be like, well, it's too hard. A lot of other teams in expensive areas to live have found a way to build practice ranks. And some practice rings and some of the times you partner with someone else and you know maybe the Canucks could partner with UBC on something but they haven't yet and until they do you know it's gonna it's gonna be a disadvantage for the Canucks. How big is the disadvantage? I don't know I can't quantify it but it's a disadvantage otherwise teams wouldn't have. I can't quantify it, but it's a, but it's a disadvantage. Otherwise teams wouldn't have practice facilities.

Well, you know, the other part of this too is like where Rutherford and Alveen came from and Pittsburgh has, um, it's not like to call it state of the art or anything, but they've got a very, it's an important part of the organization. What they've got now it's in cranberry, which is like a township, cran name. Cranberry. But it's they partnered with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. It's called the UPMC, Lemieux. It's got like all the corporate branding you could possibly imagine, but it's turned itself into this sort of thing. It's gone beyond a practice facility.

It's got like a full medical center and training staff. It's available to the public and it's become this entire second entity. And I think that a lot of people naturally looked at what happened in Pittsburgh and said, Hey, here's guys that not only oversaw this operation, but understand the value and importance of having it. And when you talk about your local team and you talk about a parody based NHL, where under the salary cap, the margins are very thin between the have and have nots and the teams that are making the playoffs missing.

You know, the small details do matter. The little things do make a fairly significant difference because everyone's on equal footing. To be one of the only two teams in the National Hockey League now without a practice facility, and they're the only one without anyone on the horizon, it's a detriment, it is. Like there's another way of looking at it.

You're not putting it on for effect. You're not reaching too deep. Maybe trying to tie the home ice advantage or lack thereof. But whatever, like the point being is that when you don't have something that everybody else has, it's easy to point at that, especially if you're a free agent or you're an agent working for players and saying, well, we want to go here, but, or my guy would be interested in signing with you. However, there are these certain hiccups that go along, right? So Jay texts in and he said, how much land do you need for a practice facility?

How far do players usually travel to get to this facility? There are so many communities bereft of ice time. I'm surprised they can't find some land close to Highway 1 and partner with a municipality for the betterment of everyone. It's going to have to be a partnership. Jay, I'm sorry, I don't know the answers to those questions because it's not my job to do it. How much land do you need for a practice facility?

I don't know. It probably depends. What else you've got on the facility, right? Like, do you have that medical centre? How many sheets of ice do you have? Who else is gonna use it? It takes 28 minutes to drive from downtown Pittsburgh to Cranberry.

Right, but a lot of, but the players don't live in downtown Pittsburgh. A lot of the American, a lot, well, they do. A lot of the American players, I mean, they live in the suburbs, and they will often live close to the practice facility. I don't like the way you say cranberry.

Cranberry. Because there's a lot of cran in it. You need more berry. So the Toronto Maple Leafs, for example, I'm just going to read this right off Wikipedia. They practice at the Ford Performance Centre. It was built as a joint venture between the Lakeshore Lions Club, one of my favourite clubs,

the Toronto Maple Leafs and the city of Toronto. And the Lions Club contributed 40 million to the project. And I think the, at any rate, it was Toronto district school board, leased the land. There's all sorts of stakeholders involved in it. So you do need some deal making to do this stuff. And you do, like it's a Canucks practice facility. I think it almost like has to

be used by people besides the Canucks. For sure. Cause I don't think the Canucks are going to be practicing seven days a week, you know, 12 hours a day. It's just not, it's not what happens. So they used to have it out at eight ranks and a lot more happens out at eight ranks, but my point of this is like, I don't

want to get into the details because again, you know, we're not tasked with this, but we do know that it's pretty important and it's now been a few years of Jim Rutherford's regime, where he hasn't been able to get something done, and he's been tasked with it. And of course, ultimately, it's the owner that's responsible for giving the thumbs up or the thumbs down. But what is going on here? It just seems like, yeah, we're going to... When Rutherford first got the job, he was quite confident that something would happen. And I remember him saying like, yeah, we got momentum or we're pretty close to an announcement. Where's the announcement?

The quote was, we're making headway. We're not quite to the point of making an announcement, but at this point, there's a lot of hope. So where's that from? That was from last summer. By the way, I have another follow up question for you. This was asked by a guy that sits next to me at the Whitecaps game, avid listener of the show. He said, what gets built first, the new Whitecaps stadium or the Canucks practice facility? And I laughed and I

said, that's a good question. I'm stealing that content for our show. Okay. So what's the latest on the Whitecaps stadium? Because I know the mayor, Ken Sim, was asked about it yesterday. Let's hear from Kenny Ballgame now. Ken Sim, mayor of Vancouver. It's a short clip, so pay close attention. On the latest with the Whitecaps,

stadium talks at Peony. We'll do anything that we can to help that. And we've had conversations, but the nature of those conversations, I can't share with the public. And there we go. Do we have Axel speaking as well? Here is a White Camp sporting director

and CEO, Axel Schuster on the latest. Our main goal here is to create a scenario that has options for a potential good next ownership group to not only take it over from here, also to have a future that allows the club to grow, that allows the club to compete with its competitors who are growing fast and who are doing similar things, building soccer specific venues and creating more and getting more revenue out of the buildings to invest it back into the team and having better and more quality players. So the government is also, the provincial

government also has a stake in this because they own BC Place and the Sports and Culture Minister said, obviously we are looking at the impact on BC Place. It could lead to more dates, more openings for things like concerts and other needs, better flexibility for the Lions. So I wish the Whitecaps well as they study what could work best for the organization because we want the Whitecaps to succeed. They are a great club, huge fan base.

Obviously we love having them, so a bit of a positive spin on the potential for the Whitecaps to move out, but they're going to need, if they stay in the market, they're going to need some sort of lease extension at BC Place that's going to carry them through to a new stadium. I think what's become clear is that BC place is not a viable long-term option for the white caps. Yeah. And they are either going to, here are the options. They are either going to build a new stadium or

they are going to leave. Yeah. Uh, by the way, I know you're a big fan of Stadia. That's plural of stadium, by the way. You don't say stadiums, you say stadia. Oh, stadia. Stadia. You're rude.

Where Nashville, the one that they built in Nashville for Nashville SC, it's perfect. It is perfect. I think the final total on it was 335 million. Not that the number is like matters. I mean, the number matters. Yeah, I know. But you know what I mean? Like, you're not gonna, let's hit the 335 mark. Like, I'm just saying that's what that one cost. It is perfect in every way for a soccer specific North American stadium. So what do you like about it? Well, one, it's grass.

I mean, it goes without saying, you need grass. That's sort of secondary. So it's 30,000 capacity. So it's big enough that you can have a variety of different things in the stadium. But in terms of sight lines and viewing for soccer specific, it is perfect. Right on top of the action.

Right on top of the action. Just like BC Place, right? It's one of those funny things you say where it's like, it's not too big, it's not too small, right? But there's a certain charm with the stadium that doesn't try to be gargantuan, right? It's like, it under, you know. It's my big problem with BC Place when they reno'd it,

and everyone was saying like, it's the largest something something structure in the world. And I'm like, for a league like the CFL and MLS, which has been going intimate, more intimate, is that a good thing that it's massive? Yeah. You know, look, we've said this before, and Vancouver is in a,'s a it's it's a unique city because

it's so different having a big stadium in Canada versus the United States like if you look at Cowboys Stadium for example in Dallas yeah or whatever it's called AT&T yeah there's Cowboys games there. There's so much more there. You know, there's college football. There's these massive bowl games. They have the NBA All-Star game there. There's boxing. They have all sorts of events there.

In Vancouver, we're a big enough city that it's great to have BC Place for things like concerts. Yeah. Right? I'm glad we have BC Place. So concerts like Taylor Swift come through town. Not that I'm a big Taylor Swift, but I think it's nice as a city to have a venue that can host

these big events. Yep. But the stadium is not suitable for its sports tenants. have a venue that can host these big events, but the stadium is not suitable for its sports tenants. Yeah, it's more like, I don't know what it would, maybe like a fancy dress that you only wear out to the big events, you know? You can't wear it every time you go out for dinner or you go to the keg.

Like it's not for that, right? Right. I don't know exactly what you're talking about. The lion's of the light gaps of the keg, I think in this thing, but no, youg, I think, in this thing. But no, you need, I mean, it's funny because the evolution of stadiums is like the big, massive, like megaplex,

where you can have these massive events, 50,000 plus, 60,000 plus, you kind of need them if you're a major market because that's how you get the draws like you're saying. Major concert tours or anything else of that matter. But as a day-to-day tenant, you will walk in, and I've done it hundreds of times, walking in for a Whitecaps game and you're like,

it just is, it's too much. Hello, hello, hello. It's cavernous and a 14,000 person crowd looks sparse and spread out and kind of sad on television. And it's never been ideal, it won't be ideal. It's great that it's there and I'm sure it could be of use but as time goes on, it's become like a bigger and bigger eyesore than anything else.

Especially when- I don't think it's an eyesore. I think it's an eyesore when you're inside of it. Oh, when you're inside. Yeah, I think it's an absolute eyesore when you're inside of it. Oh, when you're inside. Yeah, I think it's an absolute eyesore when you're inside of it. Yeah, yeah, okay. Because there's just too much white space, there's too much empty space,

there's too many vacancies and voids everywhere. Yeah, except in the bathrooms, which are pretty packed. Yep, and the three concession stands that are open during Whitecaps. There are big lineups of those. Big lineups of those. Which one do you think gets built first, the Whitecaps Stadium or the Canucks Practice Facility?

I mean... The easier one is the Practice Facility. Yeah. But both are just sort of ideas at this point. Neither of them have anything very concrete. If you want to talk about starting points, where's the starting point for either one? They're all just ideas,

these nebulous ideas floating in the ether. Well, at least they've got a site to focus on for the whitecaps. See, there is a leg up there. We might not know what the Canucks have got going right now. Okay, let's rephrase it. Of the publicly available knowledge, we know that there's a site, a speculative site for the whitecaps as opposed to the practice facility. So with the whitecas, it sounds like even if they get the site and they get approval to build,

they're basically gonna say to the new owner, okay, you build it now. So you're gonna ask someone to come in and pay, what is an MLS franchise valued at? Almost half a billion, right? Half a billion, yep. Like basically a Vlad-i-Guerrero. Yeah, one Vlad-i-Guerrero is an entire MLS team, yeah.

Plus build a new stadium. And even if you get land, for example, from the city of Vancouver, you're still gonna have to actually foot the construction cost. We're not big into publicly, we're not big into publicly financed stadiums specifically for like in Canada. By the way.

That doesn't happen as much as it does in the States. Did you catch that snippet from Bob Mackin yesterday when he was talking about what he's been hearing about a potential build with the white caps and that it would be privately funded? Well, yeah, it would have to be. You don't think that they would just like, maybe ask about the public funds? Well, I think that. Well.

Throw it out there. Like. I think when you build a stadium there, it depends what you, it depends what you think is part of the contribution from government. So if you build a new stadium and you handle all the construction of the stadium, some people would say that's privately financed, but what about

the land that the stadium is on? If the city gives a sweetheart deal, for example, you give, I don't know, 50 year lease or whatever, 100 year lease or whatever. Right. And a sweetheart deal. And it's a sweetheart deal. Well, that's a contribution from the public.

What about if you need to build new roads to access the stadium, who's going to pay for that? What about transportation? Who's going to pay for that? Yeah. So it all depends on how you look at it, whether or not it's purely privately financed or publicly. When you classify or denote as public and private funding.

Yeah, no, I get that. Andrew and Victoria sent in two soccer texts. That's how you know you're winning over hearts and minds. When Andrew sends in two soccer related texts and neither of them says soccer sucks. We'll read them on the other side. Landon Ferraro is going to join us on the other side as well for some Canucks talk. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From warehouses to washrooms and everywhere in between, Janpro keeps workplaces tidy,

clean and disinfected. For a free quote visit Janpro.ca. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.