Halford & Brough in the Morning - Why Is Quinn Hughes Giving Up On Plays?

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest trade rumours pertaining to the Canucks with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:22), plus the boys chat with Whitecaps legend Carl Valentine (26:30) ahead of his squad's upcoming appearance at the MLS Cup this Saturday. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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Happy happy Wednesday everybody Halford Brough Sportsnet 650 Frank. Halford Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Scory DeF Freedom Hat Trick. One, no more interest, too much lower payments than three. Financial peace of mind.

Visit them online at Sands dash trustee. com. We are now in hour two of the program. Frank Sarah Valley. Our NHL insider from Victory Plus is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to by Jason Hominoch at Jason. If you love giving the banks more your money,

then don't let Jason shop around and find the perfect mortgage for you. visit them online and Jason. Dom Mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics before the year runs out. Visit kintech.net. To the phone lines we go, our next guest is a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor. As mentioned, he's our NHL insider from Victory Plus.

Frank Sarvelli here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How are you guys doing? Not too bad. How's your week going, Frank? It's been great What's going on?

Well, I mean, what's it been like to be involved in something that, I could be honest with you. I didn't see it coming. I didn't see Michael Boubley having a back and forth with a hockey insider, but you never know what to expect when you're a fan of the Canucks. Yeah, honestly, hasn't fazed me one bit. It's actually been hysterical to watch the reactions on social media. I mean, so, like, again, I'm sliding into Thanksgiving last Thursday with a glass of wine.

It's around 1 o'clock, and I get this message about what Boubley has said about me. Out of the clear blue sky, like, nothing different from me in terms of my coverage or anything that I've said or reported on. And the reactions have been hysterical. Like, I had fun with it. And then people are trying to take me down on social media as if I attacked his kids. Like, come on. I made a joke. That's all it was.

And it was making fun of him. A little jab. That was it. Nothing more. And so, look, I understand that sometimes being an insider, you know, what you do and say. and how you go about it can be an inconvenience to fans and teams, but it's part of the nature of the beast. And it was the fact that this took on a life of its own on social media is hysterical.

Yeah. I just wanted to give you the floor here because it has been, I mean, I've found it quite funny too. Just because it's almost emblematic of the way things have gone in Vancouver. like, you know, we weren't, we weren't thinking the Canucks we were going to win the Stanley Cup this year, but we thought the, we thought the noise might be behind us a little bit.

I'm not saying like you're part of the noise or anything, but you're part of the whole thing. You know, do you know what I mean? Like, you're part of the whole thing. Like, you're part of the bizarre nature of this. Like, I don't know, you know, now in Vancouver, we've almost moved past arguing about Pedersen and now the new one is actually,

Quinn Hughes and it's not just about whether or not the Canucks should trade him or whether or not they have a chance to keep him he's taking some criticism for his play on the ice and I don't know if you've seen some of his shifts but there have been a few shifts where it looks like he's

kind of given up on plays and you know half of us are you know well I mean I'm like half my brain is like would do blame him and the other is like yeah but you still can't do that when you're the captain of the team Are you hearing anything about, you know, Quinn Hughes and where is he, where is he at?

Like, not the whole will they trade him or won't they trade him or when will they trade him. Just like what's going on with Quinn Hughes right now on a personal level? I don't, I haven't followed up since our last conversation last week when, look, from everyone that I've talked to, the feeling has been that Quinn Hughes is a really loyal guy. that he's been focused on this team and trying to play well. And he wants this team to compete. And that the message that he's delivered to some of his close friends and people in his circle is he's committed to the Canucks.

And I think the fact that this has become such a big storyline around the league. Yeah, part of it's because his brother's playing New Jersey. but this has been a conversation like going back months now like for a guy with two full calendar years on his contract at the time yeah and look the days slide by on the calendar quickly and some of these decisions come quicker than you know some of us even envision or realize but I don't know how many other markets where this conversation would be on fire seven days a week and part of that is a testament to how passionate Canucks fans are but part of it is

bananas like enjoy what you have in front of you like you may not you likely won't get a player of this caliber again on your blue line the Canucks have never had one like him in 50 years there's not much to enjoy watching the Canucks these days Frank they're really I get that part of it but now the next thing is okay like to use your words like all right so now is half the fan base attacking him now like how does this work well attacking him is probably not the right way to put it i think wondering what's up with him because he never he never did this before you know you know down that like

last season this guy was an absolute warrior he was clearly playing hurt at times kept him out of the Four Nations, but he just, he worked and worked and worked and never gave up on plays. And now we're seeing him give up on some plays. And I think it's only natural to wonder, I wonder what he's thinking right now. I mean, that also presupposes that something's changed or that his character is different. And I feel like that's a bit of a leap. I don't think it's attacking his character. It's attacking, it's, it's being honest about this situation right now.

The Canucks are not going to make the playoffs. And Quinn Hughes said, like, it was really important for us to, it's going to be important for us to get off to a good start. I'd like to be, you know, 8 and 2 or 7 and 3. And now they're, you know, near the basement of the NHL standings. So I think it's only natural, like, as a human being, to wonder what he's thinking right now about his future in Vancouver. and, you know, it's all well and good.

Maybe it's not so much about that as it is he hears or sees or feels what, and I'm just guessing here, is look at the message that the team has essentially put out as of last week. I think that's a very good point to make. That's a very good point to make. In between the lines of all of this, and I don't think that it's unrelated to the Bubla thing, is essentially with sending a memo to 31 other teams last Monday signaling that you're open to trading

your pending unrestricted free agents and your vets to get younger, 25 and younger, is more or less an admission that you're throwing in the towel on the season. Let's explore that for a moment here because the memo is it not like am I taking out a bridge too far like you're you're acknowledging your lot in this season right I'm I'm with you I think that there might be something to that health yeah well I wanted to go back to the memo being sent out because at first blush we all assume that this was going to be the kickstart to this frenzy of trades that you know the notoriously impatient Jim Rutherford was going to make and now that the dust is settled a little bit it's either they're taking their time a little bit more time than a lot of people thought or maybe the there was a motivational tactic or technique. I guess I'll ask you first,

now that the memo has been out there for a while and NHL teams have received it and parsed over it, what's the reaction been league-wide? How much of things heated up with regards to the Kinecks potentially trading away some of these UFAs? Well, I mean, there's definitely been calls that have been made.

You know, teams that have inquired about whether it's Kiefer Sherwood or VanderCain or understanding the market and what it looks like. But in the end, some of that excitement may have been tempered by, oh, wait, you're not moving Quinn Hughes? Okay, you're not

moving Leas Pedersen. What are we, like, if it's just about a small handful of players, then how, you know, is it really moving the needle? Is it the big question? And so, yeah, there's definitely interest in some of those guys that

we've talked about. And look, where that goes and how quickly that develops, like the other part you have to remember, and I've stressed this over the last number of weeks, is there's a whole chunk of teams that in this league right now that don't know what they are.

They don't know if they're for real in the standings. They don't know how aggressive they want to be. They don't know what they'd like to move off of their own organization, death chart, or roster to make something like that happen. And so to try and make a deal or thread this needle in a pretty, you know, limited market, for the most part, it's not an easy thing to do. And so I viewed, and in speaking to managers around the league that have made calls

and understand the situation, they viewed that as the Canucks testing the waters and trying to understand the market value of their players so that they can properly evaluate what to do next. Is one of those teams still trying to figure out their identity? identity and what they are, the New York Rangers, because I keep looking at this Artemey-Paneran situation and what his future might hold. And I'm very curious if the Rangers' direction and his future in New York, if those are two obviously tied together. They are. The Rangers, they want to see more. They think that they're a team that can

get it together and be a playoff team and have a chance to do some damage this year. And just from a pure math perspective, I mean, that's obviously. obviously the case. They've played a few more games than some other teams, but they're also one good week away from not just being a playoff team, but being in first place in their division. That's how jumbled the East standings are. And so they're authentically in it. I think they want to give this team, given the changes that they've made, including the coaching staff, as much runway as they can possibly afford it. And then they'll make a decision sometime around the Olympics as to where their

heading and whether or not Artemey Panarin will be part of that. Look, they really like Artemey Panarin. They think the job he's done as a free agent has been, he's lived up to almost every expectation short of delivering in the playoffs and a Stanley Cup. And so he's been actually, if you go back and look at it, one of the better, or I'd say a top five free agent signing in the salary cap era, all things considered. And so they're happy with him. they want to understand better the path of their team.

Is this one that can compete or not? And if not, they're not going to reach out and stretch to extend him to a term that they might not be comfortable with just to keep him because he's a guy that's looking for term and top dollar. So there's going to be a delicate dance there. But for the meantime, like, this isn't a guy that they're saying, oh, you know what, we're 9th or 10th place in the east this morning. we're not in it let's just make decisions

what would be the point of that there's a lot of things that have come together for the Rangers in a short period of time that I think they're actually better than what they've shown to this point in the season Frank I know you've been talking about this team and it just so happens to be the Kinnock's next opponent Friday at Rogers Arena

and that is the Utah Mammoth who started off real well They were eight, two, and O at one point. They won seven games in a row. Not so good lately. 12, 12, and 3. What has happened to the mammoth and what could happen? Great question.

If you go back to just before Halloween, through the same number of games played 11, the mammoth and the abs were talking. a top of the West. And they were in a great spot. I mean, off to one of their best starts probably ever in franchise history. I guess you'd have to go back and include the coyotes. And they looked like a team with one of the most exciting young lines in hockey,

like they were ready to punch through and become a surefire playoff team. and this month of November has been horrendous. I think they went four, 10, and three since that's that when they were tied with the abs atop the west. And it's been a whole bunch of things. Their goaltending hasn't been nearly good enough. Their top six has gone cold.

Their power play has remained atrocious through the first quarter plus of the season. It's been in the bottom. and full of the league, and doesn't appear to be getting any better. And so they vowed for some accountability. So, interesting day on Tuesday, they sent Demetri Simashev down. They brought up DeNeil Bout. Both those guys were high picks in 2023, and also put Kevin Rooney on waivers, as if

to send a sort of shot across the bow to their locker room, hey, if you don't get it together, there's changes coming. And if this slide continues, like, I don't think that's the last of them. I believe that, you know, consider it in seat warmer terms in your car, you know, the hot seat, it's now approaching second level for Andre Tournier as the coach. We're not on the one. We're on the two out of three. And so it's definitely getting warmer for a team that has expectations and to be, like, missing the playoffs, I don't think are an option this year in Utah. That's not how they view it.

have you gone through the exercise yet of the list of the most likely head coaches that would come in because we are getting closer and closer to that stage of the season where struggling teams might want to make a change and I'm just curious who some of the leading candidates are floating out there either in the minors or unemployed or guys that would be ready to jump in and take a job if they needed to salvage something like this well I think it all really centers around Pete DeBoer right yeah sure you mentioned with Kipper and Bourne earlier this week that he's

driving around with his skates in his car and he's obviously ready and excited to get back in and so i do believe that part of the conversation in front offices as we were thinking this might be a year with some real coaching job security given that 11 of the 32 turned over you know this year which is crazy enough that there's they're all sitting here asking themselves, whoever's had a really tough start to the season, do we need to make a coaching change? And then the next question is, should we to be the team that tries to grab Pete DeBore before he goes elsewhere? And so that's certainly part of the equation. I would imagine, particularly with an upstart, up and coming team like Utah, that I think has a lot of room

to grow. I'm sure someone like Pete DeBore would see it the same way that this is a team that could have some sustainable success for a while. Speaking of De Boer, I know that in that real Kipprin-Born interview, that was also the one where he sort of unveiled to the world that those that didn't know that the Olympic ice hockey rink kind of a mess? Can you explain to me? Did they not measure things over in Italy or something?

Yeah, it's close enough. I don't know. I think it's a meters feet thing. I don't know. Can you explain to me and Braff and our listeners? One, what's going on here? and two, how high the level of concern is with all of these NHL teams

that are sending their players to the Olympics? So here's the real interesting part about that, and you use the perfect word, reveal, is I don't, to my knowledge, the NHL was not aware of this as well. Okay. They signed an agreement with the IHS and the IOC for a regulation,

size NHL rink to be built. Not Olympics. The plan was never to have an Olympic size rink. The plan was always to have an NHL-sized ice surface in Milan. And so for them to find out as this construction has labored on, and we were looking at an arena, the largest indoor arena in Italy, that didn't even have a roof on it as of Halloween, to be playing Olympic hockey games there in February,

I think this has reached like a four or five alarm fire in terms of the concern level, which to be totally fair to the NHL, and I think a lot of people two years ago when Gary Bettman first mentioned the concern about it, people kind of shrugged it off saying, oh, that's just the NHL again, not really wanting to play ball and go to the Olympics.

And now here we are going, holy smokes, I can't believe, were this close to it and they have this much work to do and then oh by the way the rink isn't the correct size it's four feet smaller than what they're used to i it just it seems like it's one thing after the other that the concern level is definitely real that's absolutely wild frank thanks for taking the time to do this today man we appreciate it enjoy the rest of the week we'll do this again next wednesday hey before i go can i just add in one thing just to totally clear up this ongoing, quote-unquote, Boubley feud, which is hysterical because I had an NHLGM

on my show yesterday, and that's the first thing that he wanted to talk about. The floor is yours. Yeah, look, there is no bad blood here, just so everyone understands. Boo Blake sent me a message five minutes after he said it on the show last week. There's no ill will on my end. I think he understands that I didn't have any to begin with, as I just took shrapnel for no clear reason. So before anyone makes this into something that it isn't, just calm down.

Okay. Since you brought this up, do you have any regrets bringing Boubla's kid into this, if you want to put it that way? I addressed that off the top. I didn't bring his kids into this. It was a jab at him being a Canucks fan. That's all it was. For people to turn it into something else was truly wild and unbelievable.

Okay. Well, we'll leave it at that. There are a lot of people texting in, so I wanted to ask you that since you wanted to clear things up. Thought I'd ask that question. It was a poke at him being the ultimate Canucks fan. That's all it was. It was never anything more than that.

Also a poke at Elias Patterson. That part was in her. Frank, thanks, man. We'll talk next week. See you guys. Frank Saravalee, our NHL insider from Victory Plus here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You know what? I think he's our most popular guest.

Well, the in-basket's the in-basket, right? It's it is funny that the number of people saying that they will never listen to a Frank Sarah Valley hit ever. It's also like the amount of people. that are texting in during the hit, clearly listening to the hit. You know what I mean? Like, you know,

there is a way without being so demonstrative to express that you don't like. And I get that people are trying to voice their opinion and they don't like it and that's fine. Yeah, yeah. I don't think that there was a couple people taking shots at Brough during that, which I thought was like stupid and completely unfair.

Like, our job is to bring on a guest. Here's the floor. Let them speak their voice and let them explain. If you don't like the explanation, great. But don't hammer away at the guy asking the questions to get that answer. I'm not going to be like, how dare you? Because I honestly didn't think it was that big a deal. Yeah.

But you know what? Some people do. And that's fine. That's discourse. And that's, you can have disagreements with things and not take your ball and stomp your feet and go home and cry to your parents or whatever it is that you folks in the Dunbar Lember text message in Basket are doing right now.

I don't know. But whatever. Frank was a presentation of angry out or liquor. Plus program members save for game days. angry outer liquor this month, score big on 750 milliliter bottles of Crown Royal and absolute vodka. Stock up before puck drop. Visit them online at angry otterlicker.cr.s. Coming up on the other side of the break, someone perhaps a little bit more beloved by the citizens of Vancouver and this fine province of British Columbia, Carl Valentine is going to join the program.

Whitecaps legend, Canadian international legend. Now an ambassador for the club is the whitecaps embark on the MLS Cup final this Saturday. We'll talk to Carl and take a trip down memory lane about the 79 soccer bowl winning team. He was just a young pup back then, just a rookie on that team. But we'll talk to him about being part of this team and now bookending it with a chance

so many years later, nearly 50 years later, for the White Caps in their MLS era to win another title. Carl Valentine's going to join us next on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. We're just a few days a few days away, Whitecaps. Pretty excited.

Cup final. Pretty excited, man. I'm pretty excited. I still can't believe it to be. I'm pretty excited. Pretty excited. 11.30 our time, 2.30 Eastern.

From Chase Stadium in Miami. You know what's really small, I only seats 21,500. More people are made to watch party. Yeah, good point. The watch party at BC Place is already up to 15,000 tickets sold with a few days left.

There may be more people at BC Place than in Chase Stadium. I was going to take a Monday off because I'm up in Camloops for a hockey tournament. I'm like, oh, I'll get myself a buffer day. But then I was like, if a Vancouver sports team wins a title, and I'm like, well, I'll take a day off on the Monday. Classic broths, probably not going to look great.

So, I mean, I can't wait to break down the game. I mean, this is the Vancouver Whitecaps in a rematch of sorts with Lino Messi. Third time's a charm. And enter Miami. Well, don't say that, because that's, for Miami. No, it's for us.

To have a perfect 3-0. Oh, okay. That's not usually the way it works that when you say first time's the charm. I put a little classic Alfred and breath twist on it. Yeah, third time that they're facing one another. Of course, this time, what a marquee

for MLS by the way. Muller, Messi in the MLS Cup final. They're like, yeah, it's a Canadian team, but we'll take it. Bradley Wright Phillips came on and astutely pointed out like, this is going to have global reach, which an MLS Cup

final doesn't always have. Like, all due respect to the other two semifinalists, but if this had been NYC, F.C and San Diego in the final, that's not global reach. Messy, Mueller, Saturday, 11.30 a.m. It is going to be a historic day for the White Caps, and we thought, you know what, we need to get Carl Valentine on the show, of course,

just a mere rookie when they won back in 1979. The old NASL days in the first iteration of the Vancouver White Caps, and fortunately enough, we're able to get Carl on the program. He's going to join us right now. White Caps legend club ambassador. Carl Valentine joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Carl.

How are you? Morning, guys. Thanks for having me on. If you could see the smile on my face, you'd be even happier. I saw the smile on your face on Saturday in a great gesture when they brought you out to give the Western Conference trophy to the current captain of the squad, Ryan Gould. it was a tremendous moment, but I wanted to ask you, what was it like getting to go out there

all these years later after winning the soccer bowl in 79 and hand that trophy to Gould? How special a moment was that for you, Carl? Yeah, it's hard, yeah, it's hard to put into words, yeah, it was just really special and, you know, watching the game, especially we go to two goals up in the first 10, 11 minutes, and, you know, we're really dominating the game. I'm already thinking, wow, this is happening. I'm going to get and present the trophy because you're going all the way down there and you're like, well, you know, if we lose, I'm coming down there for nothing.

But yeah, you know, so I got to enjoy the whole game and I was like just so excited. I was like a kid in a candy store and couldn't wait for that. And especially giving it to Ryan Gold after the, you know, the season, you know, that he's had, you know, missing most of the season. It was just so rewarding to, you know, just to be part of that for Ryan Gold and this team. there are a special bunch of players. We are going to get into the 79 team and what it meant the impact on the city

and how it grew both parts of the city and the sport in the lower mainland. But I did want one other question with just this particular team, this particular year. Like as a club ambassador, you're around everything. And I know going into this year, no one was really certain what the white caps were going to be. And I know this might be hard to put into words,

but what is this journey of this season been like watching this team get off to an amazing star? go to three different finals, Conccaf Cup final, the Canadian Club Championship Final, and now the MLS Cup Final, and watching what might be the greatest individual soccer season, all due respect to the 79 team,

that we've ever seen in the city of Vancouver. What's this entire journey been like for you, Carl? Yeah, it's been incredible. And, you know, the MLS panelists, whoever they were, that predictors to be last in the league or near the last, you couldn't really blame him because, you know, without a coach until they were leaving for Spain for pre-season,

a number of players were lost, some new players coming in, that nobody knew about. So you didn't expect too much, and especially, you know, the amount of games we played. And I think when, you know, you look at the season, you look at this team, they just seem to keep overcoming adversity throughout the season. You know, we've had numerous games, obviously,

Ryan Gold. going down early Sam Adacubi, Rancow players that were out for the, you know, most of the, some for all the seasons, some for most of the season. They just kept overcoming when you just think, you know, it's probably going to be too much. You know, we've got too many players missing. It's too many games that we played. They just come out and surprise you just game after game, moment after moment, when you think it couldn't get any better, it just did.

And I think that just typifies the season. Obviously, Blackman, who was, you know, up for the defender of the year in MLS, he's out for the game in San Diego. And they go in and put a performance like that. It's just an amazing group of players and obviously coaching staff. Is there anything about this run that is reminiscent of the run you guys made in 1979? Yeah, definitely. I think the, you know, the biggest factor is, you know, we had a similar sign in Alan Ball, who was a World Cup winner at 21 for England. It's the only time I can mention England and winning the World Cup back in 66. Yeah. He wasn't young at the time when he came to Vancouver.

No, no, no, he wasn't and you know Tony Waiters in the interview just felt that he was the missing piece to our team and he was you know he was a winner similar to Thomas Mueller

and when he come in he come in with that winning mentality and they just took it to another level and you just see the effect that Mueller has had on the squad who was already a good team and you know ready to to challenge for the cup, but when he come in,

you know, he just seems to have taken the whole club to another level. What was the thinking behind all the English players that came over to the team? My dad for the record is English.

He came to Vancouver in around 1970. He's from Lester and at the time there were a lot of English people that were moving to Vancouver. I think there were some changes in the immigration laws and people saw, you know, English people saw Vancouver as a great place to land. And I don't know about, you know, I don't know if you socialized outside the team much,

but I wonder if you remember a bunch of English people in the city as well when you came over. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think Tony, you know, it was just a very, very smart man. He was, you know, way ahead of its time. And I just think that, you know, he brought in players. and we had stars like Willie Johnson that were coming in Allen Ball but they were grafters

and I think that that resonated with the city of Vancouver is that when we went out we had some talent but we wasn't maybe not the most skilled team when you look at the Cosmos and LAS LAS tech as some of these teams but you know

we weren't going to be outworked in the game and I think the fans appreciated that because every time we went out on the field, you know, we put a shift in and, you know, we were going to be tough to beat. What do you remember about soccer in terms of popularity and standing as a sport in the market,

especially prior to going on to the run in 79, you joined as a rookie and then going through that run. What do you remember about that shift in terms of soccer in the landscape in Vancouver sports? Yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing. And I just, you know, obviously as a 20-year-old, you know, a lot of things are going over your head. So, you know, when I look back at it, you know, we did a lot of cross promotions with the Canucks and the Lions and Stan Smeil, Glenn Johnson, all these other great athletes that were in the city.

But I think, you know, then we were averaging over 24, 25,000 for that season. And every way you went, you just seemed to see white caps jerseys. And it just seemed like the city fell in love with us. When did you fall in love with the city? Because you never left. Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's. It's. It's a great question because when I come over in 1979, I was 20 years old, when I first heard, you know, no Google internet had to get a map to see where Vancouver was, I knew where Canada was. But Tony Waiters basically convinced me to come over, you know, said just come over for a couple of years and you can go back to England. It's growing here and I thought that was, you know, a great idea.

And, you know, maybe that first day in training when we drove from downtown to B.C. Place, it was a sunny day. We were training there. The mountains were there. And I knew it was here somewhere special and it just got better and better every day. So it's funny. We've talked a lot about the pitches that the white caps have played on, specifically the one at B.C. place. But there was also some pitch talk when you went down to San Diego. go to win because the pitch there wasn't very good in their quarterfinal game. Can you tell us about some of the pitches

you guys played on in 1979 because watching some of the footage it just looks like it was I don't know what you some of the early early AstroTurf and then

there were all sorts of lines on the field it was it looked bizarre. Did you think anything of it at the time or is that just how it was? Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, you know, you didn't have much choice. I mean, we trained at Empire and, you know, to say it was Asseturf. I mean, you could have painted it on.

It was almost like playing on concrete. And I was just glad I was a winger because I didn't have to do much tackling or slide tackling because when some of the guys slid on that, it took half the skin off and they'd be screaming in the showers afterwards. It was pretty bad. And then, you know, going to a place like San Diego, you know, we played in the baseball stadium. So you were running on grass onto sand. That's the kind of, you know, stadiums that we played in.

So, yeah, it was pretty bizarre. And, you know, you just have to, you know, you just have things every time, you know, you went on the road and went into stadiums because there was not all these soccer-specific stadiums that you have now. We're speaking to Vancouver Whitecaps legend. and club ambassador Carl Valentine here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. White Caps, of course, in action. This Saturday, MLS Cup final,

11.30 a.m. kickoff our time from Miami. Carl, you've mentioned Tony Waiters a couple times here, and you've mentioned how he was ahead of his time, and I've heard him classified and described by others as an innovator and a very forward thinker. This will parlay into a later question about

Yesper Sorensen and what he's done this year. But going back, expand on that a little bit more, what made Tony Waiters such a good gaffer, a forward thinker and innovator, and helped you guys win that soccer bowl back in 79. Yeah, he was, it's just his tactics. It's just how he's seen the game. You know, he just had his so well prepared when we went in there.

As I said, I don't, yeah, I wouldn't envision us as, you know, the most skillful team in the NASL at the time. But, you know, we were just so tough to be. because we were so organized and just so prepared and obviously you know he with the Canadian national team when there was no outdoor league and he was just going touring around the world with a group of players and then went into qualifying and qualified for the World Cup

also the Olympics before that so he was he was just you know the way he's seen the game you know, he really had his prepared. And, you know, we're wet on the field, you know, especially against the cosmos that had so many great stars and so many great players, you know, I think we beat them three, four times that year. So it wasn't a flute beating them in the playoffs.

You know, we were, you know, good value for our wins and that soccer bowl championship. Be honest with me here. prior to Yesper Sorensen taking the job with the Whitecaps, how much did you know about Yesper Sorensen? I didn't. I don't think anyone did. I mean, obviously, you have to give credit to Axel Schuzen,

whoever was involved in going and getting him because, you know, obviously some success as a player and coach in Denmark and, you know, whatever they've seen in him. It was gold because, you know, he's such an exceptional coach. And, you know, if you look at our team as well, and, you know, we were a good team last year trending the right way. We're in the playoffs. We almost beat LFC there.

You know, he's come in and taking the players to another level. And if you look at the squad and the team this year, because of all the injuries, because of all the turnover of players that come in, every. time a player comes in, he knows his role and he's able to be confident in that role and help the team continue to get wins. So, you know, just a tremendous job by him and the staff. Carl, what did you think when you saw, I mean, BC Place has been sold out completely for two Whitecaps games this season. That LAFC game for me was one of the most special nights I've ever had as a Vancouver sports fan and I feel lucky that I was in attendance. What are your

thoughts? I mean, because there were some quiet years soccer-wise in Vancouver, some years when we didn't even have a team to support. And, you know, it's to be in attendance at that game for me was like, I knew Vancouver was a great soccer city. And I always, always knew this and I always feel like we should get more Canada games here. They always go to Toronto and understand that for travel reasons, but I think that Vancouver is the best soccer city in Canada and I think we've been proving it this year. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's been amazing because I think the last three home games that, you know, when we signed Thomas, we sold the lower bowl out for that. And obviously the Dallas game,

32,000 and then LASC, a sellout crowd. And I think, you know, being a part of, of that, it's everything because the Dallas game, when we played the last regular season game that we lost and lost of the home field advantage because we've got a guy sent off after 11 minutes. I was at a Hall of Fame do, and I was just getting

accreditation. There was a lady there that recognised me. She says, oh my God, she said that game on the weekend was just the best, and I'm thinking we lost. But I think what she was saying, what you're saying is when you're in that environment, a soccer environment like that, a full stadium, you're part of the game.

So when you're in there, you may not be chanting to every song or waving a flag or whatever, but you just feel just part of the game. And obviously, if you've got a team on the field that's playing well and competing as well, it's even better.

LASC could have, you know, when we went down to 9-Men, they could have won that game, but I think everyone would have went away from the stadium almost feeling like you won because you was just part of a great environment and I think that's what

when you have, whether it's a lower bowl or the whole stadium, when you have an event like that, you just feel part of it and you want more. Just one match left in what's been a magical season for the Vancouver Whitecaps and it could be capped off with the biggest win of the mall, Saturday MLS Cup final against Leonel Messi and Inter Miami.

Reminder for everybody, kickoff is at 1130, ticket sales to the watch party at BC Place. I just got the text while we were talking to Carl. Ticket sales are now 16,500 to watch the game at BC Place, which is an amazing total. So it's going to be a lot of fun. Carl, thank you very much for doing this today.

We really appreciate it. Enjoy the match on Saturday. It's going to be a lot of fun. Well, thank you. And it's my pleasure. And thanks for having me on. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We appreciate it, Carl.

That's Carl Valentine, Whitecaps Legend, and Club Ambassador here on the Halford Inbrough Show on SportsNet 650. We're going to have so yet tomorrow every day this week we've had a guest leading up to So tomorrow we're going to have Leonel Messi.

No, close. Ken Levica. Who's that? He's the ESPN Interimmy Radio. Play-by-play guy. Oh, okay. So he's the guy on the call

for the matches. Yeah. So we're going to have him on. Leanyl Messi's brother-in-law. Right. Leanyl's brother, Ken. So I wanted to. Can you imagine that?

You're like, we got a little messy today. And then Brandon Batchelor. We'll also join us. Yeah, this Batchez is like, really, today? So I wanted to get someone on from Inter Miami, and I was, you know, you're parsing through. And I wanted, I think I wanted to get someone that had called the matches just because this run that they've been on the last three has been so dominant. For those that don't know, this isn't just an Interimic. team that has star power and kind of has muddled its way through.

Like, it has star power and it plays like it has star power. Yeah. And they have been dominant. Dominant, dominant. It is a tall task what the white caps have to do at a very odd kickoff time. It's going to be peak heat in Miami. They're in Miami where this club has been exceptionally tough to beat. And it is a different team than the one that we saw earlier in the summer.

in the two legs of the Conca Calf Cup semi-final, which, by the way, the White Cups won that 5-1 on aggregate. Like, I know people are like, yeah, like they won in B.C. Place. But when we had Esper on the show, he astutely pointed out, they played better in Miami than they did in the victory at B.C. He said he didn't like their start in Vancouver.

He thought they were a little overwhelmed. Yeah, and I think part of it had to do with the 53,000 in attendance, and part of it had to do with, like, a lot of people were there to see messy. And it was like, it was a spectacle kind of vibe back match. It wasn't like the LAFC match. That was a spectacle, but it was more about the game. But the stakes were higher, the drama was higher, the theater was more. The intensity was higher for sure.

A lot of it, right? I mean, even if they had lost that first match at BC plays against Messing Company, they still had a chance to make up for it on the back end. But I'm really happy to talk to Carl about all this. And for those that missed it, it was a great moment where the two generations of white caps, the old NASL version represented by Carl and the current MLS version, represented by Ryan Gould, Matt, sharing the trophy together, right? I know it's not the ultimate trophy, but to win the West and to go the road that the White Caps did is impressive in its own right.

But there's one task left. And it's on Saturday in Miami against a very difficult foe. I'm very excited for it in case you couldn't tell. We are up against it for time. Hour two is done. Got one final hour to go on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. We are going to talk more Vancouver Canucks on the other side. Randy Janda is going to join the program.

He, of course, was on the call for last night's game of 3-1 loss to the avalanche in Denver. We'll talk to him about that. He was on the post-game show as well. She got a little spicy at times yesterday. We can look ahead to what lies ahead for the Vancouver Canucks now that road trip is in the books. Also, at 8 a.m., we are doing day three of the 12 days of Halford and Brough Christmas. So for those that are new to this, every day up until December 16th, we're giving away our version of a secret Santa, I guess. There's a bunch of prizes that are going to be up for grabs.

Very good prizes. Yesterday's, for example, a $200 gift card to Kintech footwear and orthotics. You won't know what you get until you call. Now, we'll announce the prize after be caller number 5 at 8 a.m. The phone number here is 604-280-650. That number again, 604-28. 0.650. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. will win today's

Halford & Brough 12 days of Christmas prize. That's coming up at 8 o'clock in the morning. Hour 3 is on the horizon. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.