Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will Petey Regain His Form This Season?

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), the boys discus Elias Pettersson and his expectations for the coming season (6:00), plus the boys talk some baseball and movies with MLB Network & Cinephile Podcast's Adnan Virk (26:53).  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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Video games. Good morning, man. Cover 601 on a Thursday Happy Thursday everybody It is Halford and his bruv It is Sportsnet 650 We are coming to you live From the Kintex studios Of beautiful Fairview Slopes

In Vancouver Jason good morning Good morning Adog good morning to you Good morning Regular Zach A.K.A. Chad Good morning to you

Good morning Hi Chad Hi Chad Yeah there was a bit of An autocorrect issue In a text to Zach last night And he Hi, Chad. Hi, Chad. Yeah, there was a bit of an autocorrect issue in a text to Zach last night, and he got called Chad. So you are suggesting...

Autocorrect. Autocorrect. Chad and Zach. You're suggesting that Zach autocorrected to Chad. Yeah. Okay. Likely story. We're throwing doubt in... I've written Chad a lot because he's a sales guy

in my text i i think we all assume that you you thought his name was chad the intern chad you know chad over there you got the ch right that's what matters it's a four-letter word with c and h and is this not... How is this hard for you guys to figure it out? It's almost Zach backwards. It is. Old Chad. That's your new nickname, by the way, now. Like, sometimes you struggle to find nicknames like regular Zach.

It didn't really catch on. Chad works. Chad is a good nickname. It is. Yeah, yeah. It's also a halfway decent regular name for people named Chad. I mean, this is not like... I don't like Francis auto-correcting to Zach or something like that. Francis would be a good one, too.

I just thought of it in the moment. I'm like, did it auto-correct or did he just? He's like, you know, the kid. What's his name? Chad. No, no, no, no, no. Am I turning into Pratt? Doing one of these.

Just like you. Hey, big guy. What's up, my man? I think Pratt called me big guy at least 12 times. Pratt never knew us. Yeah. He knew that there was a show called Halford and Brough. He knew that we were on it.

And that was the extent of his knowledge. He didn't know which one was Halford and which one was rough but he knew both of us were big guy all right uh we got a big show ahead on a thursday couple meat seeker reads today as well a couple meat seekers in there yep uh it is the return of the national football league today everybody that takes precedence over any of our guests we are back we are back we got football tonight we got football on friday two leagues playing on friday at the cfl you got the lions going to montreal to take on the owls and then of course tough one and then you've got a game in brazil as a matter of fact we're going to talk to brooks cubino i'm going to go out of order here

it's 7 30 um now he's a guy that guy that originally used to cover college athletics in the South and now is working in Philly of all places. So we'll talk to him. His head must be spinning. What is going on here? He was like, I was in the South and then went to Philly, and now I'm in Brazil? What the hell is going on here?

A crazy journey for Brooks Cabine. Anyway, he writes for The Athletic. He covers the Eagles. We're going to talk to him about this very interesting game on Friday from Brazil where the Eagles are going to take on the Packers in their NFL kickoff. That's at 7.30. It's 6.30. Adnan

Burke's going to join the show. MLB Network. We're going to talk baseball. Obviously, there was a no-hitter last night. A combined no-hitter by the Chicago Cubs over the Pittsburgh Pirates. I don't recognize them. Yeah, I know. Neither do I. There's certain no-hitters that are inferior no-hitters, and that is one of them.

Too many pitchers. Yeah. Too many contributors. You know what else we got to ask Adnan about? Beetlejuice is coming out in theaters. Very excited. Got my ticket. Are you serious?

What are you talking about? Are you serious? Are you serious? You have a ticket, an advance ticket? Dude, the original Beetlejuice is a classic. Beetlejuice? Have you never seen the original? So hold on, hold on. Of course I've seen the original.

Hold on. How old were you when you saw that? Hold on. I don't know, 10? There's a good juxtaposition happening here because before the show. The new one's supposed to be good. It's getting good reviews. Sportsnet's very own Ken Reed was on camera dressed up as Beetlejuice.

And I'm like, why is he? I nearly justlejuice. And I'm like, why is he? I nearly just spilled my coffee there. I'm like, why is he? What the hell is going on? Brough, it's a pretty famous movie. I know it's a famous movie. And the sequel, likewise, is getting a lot of press. I'm with Brough on this one because I'm like, why is everyone so fired up for Beetlejuice?

Because the last one came out like 36 years ago. Right. And Michael Keaton's great as that role, so people are happy to see him again. I did not understand. Catherine O'Hara's back. I did not understand the cultural significance. Okay. And Michael Keaton's great as that role. So people are happy to see him again. I did not understand. Catherine O'Hara's back. I did not understand the cultural significance. Winona Ryder. Okay.

No, I get the cast. I did not understand. Willem Dafoe. Please stop. Please stop naming Beetlejuice actors and actresses. I didn't realize the cultural significance. They're all called actors now. Actually, that's true.

Halford's canceled. Again. I don't see. Okay. You didn't understand the cultural significance. I didn't understand it. And then I was like, bruh,

I'm like, why is everyone making a big deal about Beetlejuice? And then you're like, I have advanced tickets to go see it. I'm very excited. Yeah. It's one of Tim. I mean,

Tim Burton, Tim Burton hasn't really been in form for probably 20 years now, but back in the day, like he was, his movies lately have kind of been, let's be honest, terrible. But like back in the day,

he's like a Premier League striker. In the 80s. Yeah, exactly. Is he Everton be honest, terrible. He's like a Premier League striker. In the 80s. Yeah, exactly. Is he Everton? Yeah, exactly. He's Everton. It's a poor run of form. But back in the 80s and 90s, you know, like Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands.

He had some classics. And back in the day, he was considered to be one of the top directors. And this is the first movie he's made in a long time where people are like, hey, he's kind of like old Tim Burton again. A lot of practical effects, really zany look. People are excited. Text into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket right on cue. I have my tickets too.

They didn't sign it because they didn't want to acknowledge that publicly. Unlike A-Dog. I have my tickets too. Signed Beetlejuice. It was just A-Dog texting him. If you ask Adnan about this, I guarantee you Adnan will be excited about this. Chad's a cool guy. Chad's hanging out at the beach this weekend,

kicking sand in Beetlejuice's face. Okay, 6.30 at Adnanburg, 7 o'clock, Axel Schuster, Sporting Director of the Vancouver Whitecaps. We're going to talk about their new designated player signing, Stuart Armstrong. We're going to talk about this weekend's match at home against Dallas. Jason asked me yesterday, how many regulars are the Whitecaps missing on the weekend?

And I said, all of them. At the very least, there's seven of them missing. It's going to be a very tall order. And I don't believe that Stewart Armstrong, who, by the way, we're going to have on the show tomorrow, I don't believe Armstrong is going to be match fit for Saturday, but who knows? We'll ask Axel at 7 o'clock.

As mentioned, 7.30, Brooks Cubina, who's going to talk about the Eagles-Packers game in Brazil on Friday. We'll ask Axel at 7 o'clock. As mentioned, 7.30, Brooks Cubina, who's going to talk about the Eagles-Packers game in Brazil on Friday. 8 o'clock, IMAC, who has a piece up now on Sportsnet.ca based off his interview with Canucks president of Hockey Ops, Jim Rutherford. Also, once again, we are giving away a four-pack of tickets to see the Vancouver Canadiens take on Spokane in Northwest League playoff action next Tuesday.

That's September 10th. Again, Spokane is mentioned at Nat Bailey. Best What We Learned gets the four-pack of tickets. Hashtag it WWL. And the Dunbar-Lumber text line is 650-650. That is what's happening on the program today. Chad, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? That is what's happening on the program today. Chad, let's tell everybody what happened.

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

What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We will begin with some Vancouver Canucks news. And that, of course, I just mentioned. Ian McIntyre, Sportsnet's very own, who will be on this show at 8 o'clock,

spoke with Jim Rutherford yesterday for a lengthy sit-down interview and then subsequent article in which Rutherford touched on a variety of topics, including the Canucks school attending. He did some dancing. He did. He did a little dancing. Now we've got to stop talking over each other

because Bill from Buffalo texted in and said all this talking over each other is giving him a headache. And Bill from Buffalo, we apologize. It's a dog's fault. He's excited for a child's movie. Jim Rutherford really did dance around the topic of Canucks goaltending. He was asked about obviously the injuries to

Thatcher Demko, Archer Seelovs, and he said, we haven't even done physicals yet, but I know our goalies are working hard and working towards being ready for the start of the season. As an organization, that's what we're hoping for. Well, guys, we can all rest easy. The Canucks goalies are working hard. That's true, and they haven't even had

their physicals yet. He also danced a bit, a little more dancing from Jim, who still got it, around the reports of the Canucks poking around the goalie market. I guess that's the phrase we're going with? Yeah. Poking around? That's the dolly wall? Taking a sniff, if you like. Taking a sniff? Poking around. Poke, poke, I guess that's the phrase we're going with. Yeah. Poking around. That's the dolly wall.

Taking a sniff, if you like. Taking a sniff. Poking around. Poke, poke, poke. Smells like Lankanen. Ooh, could be anti-rata, though. He said, we look every day at every position. That's when you know that there's something up

when they say like, well, every day we're trying to improve our team. Doesn't matter if they're goalie, right wing, left wing, center, defense. He just said, he went on, we don't just sit around and day we're trying to improve our team. Doesn't matter if they're goalie, right wing, left wing, center, defense. He just, he went on, we don't just sit around and think we're all set. So we are aware that potentially we may have to take a goalie off of waivers in order to fill a gap for a little bit. The good news for us is we are in a position that we can do that cap-wise,

but we prefer to stay out of LTIR to start the season. That's important for us, and we're pretty sure we can do that. A PTO could be an option. So again, I don't even know if Halford understands this. The reason you want to stay out of LTIR is so you can accrue cap space.

Does this have to do with escrow? It does not have to do with escrow. And so you can accrue cap space and have more cap space available for you later on in the season, say at the trade deadline. The Edmonton Oilers are hoping to do the same thing by not putting Evander Kane on LTIR. And that's just so you can have some more flexibility and have the ability to add players down the line. Because if you're into LTIR, it means you're pretty much just like using everything. So you're not accruing cap space.

At any rate, I probably got something wrong in that too. That's fine. Rutherford does like the added depth up front. He said, I believe that this position could be pretty competitive in camp when you look at some of the younger guys we have coming from the AHL that are either ready or very close to

playing in the National Hockey League. You know, I started thinking about the other day, just randomly, whatever happened to Atu Ratu? Like that's one of the guys, right? Like that's one of the guys that I want to see at camp and haven't really thought about that much. Another guy that I'm curious to see,

I don't know if everyone is, but Max Sasson, because he gets talked up by management all the time. Sasson. Sasson. Yeah, Max Sasson. Now there's a reason that Vasily Podkolzin was traded. First of all, the Oilers needed some youth because they were in it with the St.

Louis Blues at the time, who were going after a couple of their younger players, including Holloway, who's a forward. So they had a need for a player like Podkolzin and the Canucks were probably thinking, look, even this guy has a really good camp. I don't know if he's going to make the team. And then we're going to be in that situation

where we're playing chicken with other teams who are saying, well, put him on waivers then. Well, we'd rather just get a fourth round draft pick. So I think it will be pretty competitive up front. And he said overall that he's optimistic about the upcoming season. He said this team is certainly in a much stronger position because the players have learned to play Rick Tockett's system

and they've bought into it and they played it well. Also, we learned from experience with what we went through last year. You put all that together and stay focused and you prepare to take another step. Now, in this whole article, and obviously I'm obsessed about this, so I made sure of it. Nothing about Pedersen so I do

want to ask IMAC if Pedersen came up at all because you know goaltending new additions and then Pedersen would be another big topic for me sure he asked about Petey and he just started swearing under his breath it's really weird weird. You gotta move off the topic quickly. Yeah, he did some more dancing. Physical dancing. Danced right out of the room. Yeah, the Pedersen thing, we'll have to ask IMAC about because there was nothing about it in the article. The one thing about it in the article that did get me thinking was a pretty

definitive statement that he and Patrick Alvin, sorry, Rutherford, not IMAC, and Patrick Alvin feel that this group is either stronger or significantly stronger and deeper at forward. So I thought, okay, let's go back and look at what the forward battles were like going into last year's training camp, right? So all you got to do is Google 2023 Canucks training camp battles.

And it is a pretty stark reminder that this team has turned over a lot of players from one September to another. Guys that were in the forward battle last year for positions, and some of these guys weren't even in the battle. They were in the lineup. Names like Andrei Kuzmenko, Anthony Beauvillier, Ilya Mikheyev, Vasily Podkolzin. You forget that going into training camp, Tanner Pearson was firmly in that.

Then he got traded the day before training camp started. So I look at what they've jettisoned out. And I'm thinking, yeah, maybe the executive kind of saw it. Because you talked about this quite a bit last year. How good are they on the wings? And how good really are they, especially at the depth forward positions? Because going into last year's camp, you kind of went the old, when it came to some of these quote-unquote battles.

Like, they weren't really overwhelming. And look. But at the time, we weren't like, how are they going to match up with the Oilers in the second round of the playoffs? No. So it was just a different conversation at that time. And I think with the benefit of hindsight, you realize that that group, it wasn't up to what alvin and rutherford wanted and i think for a variety i

think speed was probably and i think i think talk it too and talk it was going into that camp you sat there and you went okay well besser can play with miller and kuzmenko can play with pettersson yep and that's exactly what it was right right exactly and you. And there was thinking that Beauvillier was going to be the guy that was going to play with Miller and Besser as well at times. And it became pretty apparent through the first bit of the season, even prior to when they realized they were moving guys out, is they wanted a different look with a lot of different forwards. And, you know, one thing I'll say about this management group

is every free agency period, they have made very distinct moves to build the identity of the team that they want. And I think a lot of that has to do with Tuckett's input. This is the second summer in a row where they've gone. Size on defense is a pretty obvious one. Height particularly, right? And at forward, I think they've made very slow steps to get faster. It's not easy just to snap your fingers and say, let's get faster. Okay, I took the summer off from talking about Pedersen,

aside from the odd question here or there. They dragged me back in. Here's a question, okay, because I'm back in. It's hockey season now. It's back, baby. Jason, do you not have confidence that PD is going to have no issues this year and he will finish the year at about 90 to 100 points? Why are we making such a big deal about his regular season?

His whole career, he's been good in the regular season. Did you miss his regular season for the second half of last season? It was awful. It started at the all-star break and it just so happened coincide with the Canucks putting pressure on him to sign a contract. What was going on in Petey's life? What was going on there? Was it just tendonitis? Some people will just say it's just tendonitis. So when you ask me, do you not have confidence that Petey is going to have no issues this year and he will finish the year at about 90

to 100 points? Here's what I'm going to say about Petey. I have no idea what to expect from him. I'm optimistic that he's going to come back and he's going to be energized and have better players to play with. A guy like Jake DeBrusque, perhaps they have chemistry there, but you don't know about chemistry until you see it. I have optimism that he's going to be working hard or has been working hard all off season with the strength trainer, as Rick Talkett alluded to in an interview with Thomas Drance earlier in the summer. I have optimism that Rick Talkett's going to be able to work with Pedersen and impart some knowledge to him, which is something that the head coach, not me, said. I still don't think, or see, this is maybe just a general disagreement in opinion because I am not the god of all sports knowledge.

But to me, the way Patterson played in the last few months of the regular season and into the playoffs was not just a slump. That was not just, I've seen slumps. That was a shocking fall in form, in body language, in appearance, in battle level, in like, it wasn't just like, oh, he's snake bitten. He wasn't getting chances. He was bad defensively. So I hope he comes back this season after clearing his head in the off season

and also maybe strengthening his body. And I hope he comes firing out of the gates. Would I be surprised if that happened? No, I wouldn't. Because the reason I'm so hard on Petey Is we've seen him play at such a high level before Now, I'm fully prepared for Pedersen to come back And fire out of the gates

And people to say Bruh, if you didn't think he could do it When I literally just said I wouldn't be surprised by that But it is a major factor for me. It's a major, because I watched the games. I'm not just looking at points and going, well, back then, you know, he's always

put up this many points per game. Did you watch the games? He was dreadful. Dreadful. Honestly, I don't even care about the regular season. I mean, I hope he finds his form in the regular season. I care about the playoffs. Can he be the best player on the ice in the playoffs? That's what matters. That's what's important. Yes, he

needs to find his form. He needs to have a good regular season. I'm pretty confident he will, but even if he has a good regular season, assuming the Canucks make the playoffs, my question going in will be okay, can this guy be a factor in the playoffs? Does it matter that we have seen him perform at a high level?

It was in the bubble. Yes. But he played really well then. Yeah, he should be able to do it. To me, that wasn't the story from last season. I don't see Pedersen struggle as, well, the playoffs came and then he started to struggle. Well, because he was already struggling going in. Because he was already bad.

You know, maybe Hughes a little bit. Like, that would be a narrative that I would see. But imagine how good the Canucks would have done last year, potentially, if Petey was good in the playoffs. Like, imagine what would have happened. Let's pretend for a second Petey was at the top of his game last season during the Oilers, in the Oilers series. Obviously, it's a lot of what-ifs, but pretend that happened. Would have been a completely different series. So that's what matters.

The playoffs is what matters. And we're assuming the Canucks make it, and we hope they do. Petey has to be a factor in the playoffs. That's the key for me. I mean, just to parse through some of this stuff, the regular season in its entirety was an 89-point campaign for Pedersen, which is great, but, I mean, rough spot on. You can go back and look at the exact moment. It was right at the All-Star break.

And then when he came back, the production fell. He had seven goals in February, March, and April. Guys, it wasn't just the production. Like, you watch the games, right? You know what everyone says? You got to watch the games. Well, I watched them. And I watched a guy who fell off in a way that I found very perplexing and unusual.

And I was wondering what was going on with him. And I wonder if it had anything to do with the Canucks negotiations with him. Maybe that affected him. Obviously an injury. Could have been a major factor. It could have been a minor factor. Maybe he wasn't very happy with his line mates. I'm not pretending that he got the best line mates. He didn't.

But I think we should all remember that Rick Talkett, down the stretch, tried his best to play Petey with all his best wingers. He got Besser for a bit. He got Garland for a bit. You know, like he got these guys. He didn't do anything with them. And then Talkett was sitting there going, well, I got to put Garland back with Joshua,

and I got to put Besser back with Miller because those guys are doing stuff with, you know, there is something like, I can't just constantly trying to get Petey going. So, um, you know, I, I'm very curious to see what this guy is like at training camp. And again, I'm going to take bullets if Petey is really good because I've been really critical of Pettersson.

I don't really care about that. But, you know, remember what I'm saying right now is like, I have no idea what to expect from this guy. Okay, we do want to change the tone as we go to break here to finish off the first segment of the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. As many of you probably saw either on television or social media last night, there were very, very emotional vigils in both Calgary and Columbus last night for the passing of Johnny and Matthew Goudreau.

In Columbus, the Blue Jackets couldn't immediately provide the size of the crowd that was in attendance, but it was believed that it was well into the thousands and over 2,000 candles were handed out for a team-sponsored vigil. The first of two that happened last night. The second one in Calgary, which I'm sure many of you saw the visuals from last night. Thousands of Flames fans stood outside the Saddle Dome. They recognized a 13-minute and 21-second period of silence to represent the numbers

that Johnny Gaudreau, number 13 numbers that Johnny Gaudreau, number 13, and Matthew Gaudreau, number 21, wore during their professional careers. And in addition to that, a number of the former teammates of Johnny Gaudreau spoke. So we thought a fitting way to go to break today as we move along for the show is to play some of the audio from some of the teammates who are very, very clearly still very much in the shock and grief period of this. And that's probably going to continue for a very long time. Many of the players still spoke almost flipping tenses between present and past

when speaking about Johnny Gaudreau to kind of underscore just how difficult this is to come to grips with and how some of them just can't believe that it really happened. We've got audio here as we go to break from Johnny Gaudreau's former teammates in Columbus, Zach Rorensky, one of his best friends in hockey who he played with in Columbus and in Calgary and Eric Goodbranson. And then finally, his former teammate in Calgary, Michael Backlund. Here now, about a minute of condolences and eulogizing from former teammates of Johnny Goudreau. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Seriously. I just want to say thank you, John, for choosing Columbus when other people wouldn't. You brought so much joy and excitement to the city. I've never quite seen anything like it. Something only truly special players can do, and that's what you were. You're an amazing father.

I'll forever remember you complaining about a sore back after spending the night in Noah's crib and the pride you carried the day you brought Johnny into the room for the first time. The love you shared with Meredith was a sight to behold. You were truly a family man. And you will continue to inspire me to be just like you. Rest in peace, Johnny Matthew. I hope you're having your pasta just the way you like it up there.

Love you, man. It's time to chat with Adnan It's Adnan Berkey's on the show We're gonna talk some baseball And take a trip to the silver screen That's right, it's time for Redman. Yes, and then Berkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ballgame and talk about all the films he's seen. 6.32 on a Thursday.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Adnan Virk's going to join us in just a moment here from MLB Network.

Hour 1 is brought to you by Northstar 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. Got a text in earlier from Jen the Rock Crusher.

It's a cool name. I wonder what that's all about. Jen the Rock Crusher. What do you think Jen does? I don't know. She crushes rocks crushing rocks i guess she's being pretty specific she says uh quote nfl is back nothing else matters today i think she's a crack dealer or something then you immediately spent 10 minutes talking about beetlejuice i love this show yeah i mean we struggle with a lot of things on the halford and brough show focusing is one of them broadcasting Broadcasting is another one. But, you know, there was

a reason for this. General knowledge about sports. I wanted to make sure we got the Beetlejuice combo flowing early. Professionalism. I knew that we were going to, yeah, wait. I knew that we were going to talk to Adnan eventually. He joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Adnan Virk, MLB Network. In the morning. Good morning, Adnan.

How are you? I'm doing great, Mike, Jason. I'm just outside right now. It's plus 19, a slight chill in the air. It feels like fall weather. Not sure what it's like in Vancouver, but it's a great time of year, man. I can't wait. It's going to get up to like 27 today or something. It's so hot here today. It's going to feel like 30 today and tomorrow.

Oh my God, okay. Adnan, I want to start with what happened in Chicago last night. Cubs first no-hitter at Wrigley since 1972. Shota Imanaga combines with two other pitchers for a no-hitter. So I have to ask you the question, do combined no-hitters count

as real no-hitters? The answer is no, but feel free to answer any way you like. The answer is absolutely unequivocally no. My brother texted me, who's a Cubs fan, and wrote, Cubs no-hitter. And I wrote back, like, capitalized, italicized, underlined. I go, combined no-hitter. It's not the same thing.

Now, it's not as putrid as, let's suppose, six pitchers that are going to combine no-hitter. Like, at least I can buy that Imanaga went seven strong, which is great. But you need to go nine innings. Like, the combined no-hitter, like at least I can buy that Imanaga went seven strong, which is great, but you need to go nine innings. Like the combined no-hitter, I wrote back to him, I go, it's a fugazi. He's like, what? And of course the Donnie Brasco reference. It's a fugazi. It's a fake.

Remember when Pacino's telling Johnny Jeff about the rigs? They're going back and forth. To me, no, it's absolutely a fugazi. It's a facsimile. It's not real. Hey, the Cubs have had a nice little stretch recently. I give them props. Yemanaga has been a great signing for them.

You know, he's effective and has had an excellent season. There's no question about it. But a combined no-hitter? Like, could you imagine going out last night to Murphy's or out on Waveland Avenue? God, we did it. No-hitter. Combined.

Combined. Not the same thing. Yeah, and, you know, I went back and looked. I was like, it feels like we're light on no-hitters this year, and not especially. I think there's only been four. So, I mean, it's pretty much – it might be a couple fewer than previous seasons. But I just assumed that the individual no-hitter was going to be phased out

because of pitch counts and, you know, guys not – it seems as though, like, the honor and the prestige of throwing one has been overtaken by like, well, you're up to 98 pitches and we got to conserve your arm for later. Do you see it trending in that direction? Or do you think that unlike last night, most managers will say, you know what? You've got a chance to make history here. Go out and make it. No, I'm with you, Mike.

I think generally speaking now, you're just not going to see as many no-hitters. And if you had asked me just off the cuff, I would have thought we were down this year. So I'm not surprised we're at 4-5. Renaud Blanc, I remember that was very notable. But a good example was Bowden Francis recently, who's been terrific for the Blue Jays. Yesterday's start, notwithstanding, as he got pushed around by Schwarber and the Phillies, especially early before he settled down. But he had two consecutive games, no-hitters into the sixth inning.

And I was with Jake Peavy, who was the former Sine Award winner, and when Francis was starting the ninth, he was at 115 pitches. And I believe his previous high had been like 98. And I said, man, if they get to 130, his arm is going to fall off. And I said it, you know, tongue-in-cheek, but immediately Peavy got mad. He said, oh, come on, man.

We used to throw 140 pitches back in the day. It was nonsense. So I do think there's this old school, new school thought. But generally, the managers, the GMs, those running teams, as you said, are saying, no, they've got to be careful of these guys' arms. And the old school mentality is, if you've got a no-hitter, go for it. But, yeah, I think front offices get very weary once it gets to 100 pitches, especially if it's, let's say, the seventh inning. Because that's that borderline area.

You go, okay, if he's averaging 15 pitches an inning, to get a no-hitter, that'd be 130. To do so, what does that mean? Do we skip a start next time? Does he hurt himself, et cetera? So it's a quandary that I don't think a lot of teams want to be in. Players, obviously, the rest of your life, you can say you threw a no-hitter. But I think more teams, if you push them, they'd say,

eh, we'd rather just go six strong and turn over the bullpen and get say you threw a no-hitter. But I think more teams, if you push them, they'd say, eh, we'd rather just go six strong and turn over the bullpen and get the gasp combined no-hitter. How much money is Vladdy going to make? So I was talking to Dan O'Dowd, Jason, and he's the longtime Rockies GM and foot office executive. And I was talking to him about it, and he was like, you know, it's tricky because he's like first baseman, not sure how well he's going to age as far as the body, etc.

And I said, yeah, but he's had a monster second half in a sport which is starved for offense. Like, monster second half he's going to put up. He's hitting like I can't believe he's second in the batting race right now. He's not going to catch Bobby Witt, although Witt's been pumping a little bit, but he's at 12 points behind Bobby Witt. Can you imagine

Vlad Jr. batting champion? James only had one guy to do that, John Oluro, 363 back in 93. So he's going to get 30 to 100. I go, look, those are monster numbers. So I said to O'Dowd, how about eight years, 240? Would that kind of cost $30 million a year? And Dan said, I'd sign

him to that, yes. He said, I think his camp wants over $300 million, which on the open market, I think he absolutely would get. So $8,240 sounds team-friendly. $10,300 sounds more accurate. But I think if the Jays don't sign him this offseason and he has another year like this, oh, my God. Like, all of a sudden, you don't think Steve Cole and the Mets

would give Vlad $350 million? Like, he's a young player who's a multiple-time All-Star. And what's fascinating is that when it comes to Vlad and Bo, of course, we all know both those guys going into one more year, it's like, I wouldn't say it's quite a fait accompli, but it feels like, well, Bo's coming off the down year. If you trade him, you're trading him at a low end. But he doesn't sound like he really wants to be in Toronto,

whereas Vlad actually, I think, wants to be a part of a winning franchise. He wants to be part of the answer. So my long answer, Jay, I think 10 for 300 would get it done. That's Machado numbers from a couple years ago. It seems almost unfathomable that they wouldn't make a decision this offseason, though, right? Like one way or the other with Vlade, they can't go into next season with this unknown. Can they? No, I couldn't agree more. I mean, there would be nothing more frustrating to any Blue Jays fan if they just run this thing back the exact same way it was. I remember the three of us talking a few months ago.

This was like in June and July. You were early on it, Jake. This is not a good team. I'm like, well, you know, they're hanging around. Yeah, but if they have more losses than wins by virtue of the area, bad team. And the run differential was terrible. Right. And we discussed the fact

what if it all comes back the same way? And you said with certainty to me, like, well, there's no way they're going to bring back the entire organization. And then what happened? Mark Shapiro a month ago was talking about the importance of stability and how that's important in a franchise. I go, oh my God. Like, I took a deep breath. I go, are you telling me next year it's going to be the exact same thing?

Shapiro president, Atkins general manager, Schneider manager, Bichette, Vlad Jr., Gossman, Bassett. No changes. Like, go add a couple of guys just like they did last year. Okay, we'll go get Isaiah Conner for last. We'll go sign Justin Turk. Sure. But, like, if you tell me as a Blue Jays fan that there's going to be

no major changes, I would be aghast, quite frankly. And specific to what you're talking about, which is Vlad and Bo, how could you have two guys who you thought were your cornerstones both going into their walk years? Like, for God's sake, sign Vlad the softies. Get it done, okay? You had upwards of $600 million to sign Otani.

You've got the $300 million for Vlad. And again, I think 8-2-40 is very reasonable, but I could totally see Dan's point. You know he wants $600 million to sign Otani, you've got the $300 million for Vlad. And again, I think $840 million is very reasonable, but I could totally see Dan's point. You know he wants $300 million. Look, I'll take it fine. And if the contract doesn't work out, at this point in time, I would still feel comfortable doing it.

Again, look at the relative paucity of offensive players and guys who can put up numbers like Vlad. Bo, again, I think he wanted $200 million. He's not getting that now. Would he get a short-term deal? Maybe. But it was always a sign. When they bought out his arbitration years but didn't extend it,

that was always a sign like, okay, we'll take care of you for now. We're really not going to take care of you once you hit the open market. But, yes, to answer your question, to let either guy just go to the walkie without signing the long-term would be, I think, a mistake. Yeah, and do they need to get to the bottom of what Bichette wants? I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about where does he want to play ball?

Yeah, I looked at his numbers, and I was like, okay, he's a two-time All-Star. I thought he was like four-time. I looked at the yesterday. Okay, he's a two-time All-Star. He's led the league in hits. He can be a potential buying champion. But these numbers for this year are horrendoustime All-Star. He's led the league in hits. He can be a potential buying champion. But these numbers are horrendous. He hit 220.

He played 80 games. He had four home runs. Just awful across the board. So clearly, whether he was healthy or not, he was ineffective when he was playing baseball. And the general consensus is that he's not crazy about playing in Toronto. What does that mean? Does it mean he doesn't like Canada?

No. I think maybe he doesn't like the current management structure. Has he had some issues with Shapiro, Ack and Strider? Like, that can be fairly ascertained. So, to your point, you've got to sit down with him in the offseason and go, like, do you want to be here or not? And it's okay if you don't want to be here. Like, quite honestly, you had a bad year,

so that's not great for us if we want to trade you, but that will save us money a year from now before you get potentially very expensive. So if you want to be the guy, like, here's the numbers we can do. Here's what we can do. We can have you and Vlad here for years to come. The way we thought we would, we'll have a successful team. But if your issue is that you just don't like the structure,

you don't like the Rochester, you don't like the way you've been treated, whatever, let's get this taken care of. Like, I think that the best case scenario for all concerned is sign Vladdy long-term. And if Bo doesn't want to be here long-term, and if Bo doesn't want to be here long-term, then trade him as well.

And I get it, the fact you're trading a guy who's coming off an offseason, but guess what? You can swindle somebody. You can convince some franchise, hey, he's a really good player. He just had one bad year.

He was just mad at the franchise. He had some off-the-bill issues, blah, blah, blah. You can, trust me, Bobachet, there's still a market for him. I know it may be hard to believe, but trust me,

somebody would still absolutely give up prospects or whatever you want for Boba Shett. So I think you're right. You're just going to be honest with the situation and go, if you don't want to be here, why are we just having one more year? Like I saw an article the other day was saying, well, the Jays kind of owe it to themselves to, to see this through. Like why? We'd owe it to whom? Like, are you kidding? Like if you think that Bowen Vlad,

could you imagine if neither guy tells you this off season, I want to be here long-term. You owe it to yourself just to see it. Why would you do that? Screw off then. We got a job to do. Right. You could have potential mediocrity another season,

and then both guys walk, and you lose them both. That would be a disaster. Sign one, trade the other, figure it out. What happened to Bo Bichette? Like, I know you're suggesting maybe he's, you know, upset or not in the best headspace, but I mean, he was always, in my mind, he was the consistent one. He was like the reliable one. And Vladdy was the guy that you went into the season and went that could be good but it could be i don't know hitting into a lot of double plays right but for for for bichette's

ops to fall from in the 800s consistently to 595 that i mean to me like there needs to be a diagnosis like from the jay's side and maybe from Bo's side of what exactly happened here. Yeah, and again, I think it's too easy to say, well, he wasn't healthy, and when you're banged up, it affects everything. Even when he was playing, he wasn't healthy. As you said, under 600 OPS. If you look at anybody in the majors who played a minimum of 80 games a season, that's got to be top five worst in baseball.

That's one thing to say a guy had an offseason, but if you're one of the worst seasons in baseball, that's staggering. And I haven't looked at his defensive numbers, but the thought was always, yeah, he can make a flashy play. But if you look at the metrics as far as defensive runs saved and out of the average, he's fairly pedestrian. He's not an above-average defensive shortstop. So you look at a guy who, if he's going to be productive in the lineup,

yes, he's playing a premium position as a defender, but he's not playing at a premium level. He's there to hit. If he's not hitting, if he's not there offensive, you've got a problem. So I don't know is the short answer to your question, but, yeah, there has to be more to just him being frustrated with management or the organization of the team or whatever it is. We all know there have been situations where players have not liked the manager

or the GM or the president and still went out there and put up big numbers. We all have pride, obviously. So if you can go out there and still be successful. But the thought, the sentiment seems to be that Bowe was unhappy off the field and that translated to on the field. Whether or not that's an excuse, whether or not that's legitimate, we'll find out, but he better figure it out, because if they run it

back next year, let's suppose they sign Vlad, they don't sign Bo, and he has another struggle to start the year, then obviously I would think they're going to deal him by the trade deadline up next season, and at least for a couple of months get something for Bo Bichette. Or even better yet, if he doesn't want to be here, they can't find a suitable trade partner, he

has a great first half, then you trade him, and you get some value for him. Then that ends up being a win for them. But it's a mystery. There's no question how this guy could go from being a truly very productive player. And you're right, Jay, it's all changed in one year. If we have this conversation in April, you say, which one are you signing? Oh, Bo, of course. I'll do 10 years,

250. We're good to go, right? This guy's a great offensive player. He'll be my shortstop for years to come. He'll be my Derek Jeter. Vlad's very enigmatic. He'll never be the same guy he was in 2021. Those numbers were ridiculous. But he was playing in Buffalo, for God's sakes. He was playing in Florida. He's not the same. Now it's completely flipped.

You can't lose Vladdy. Sign him. Figure it out. We're speaking to Adnan Berg from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Adnan, not just from MLB Network, also of the Cinephile podcast. So we have a couple of movie-related queries for you. The first, this was a conversation we had yesterday because Andy brought up that they're making a Minecraft movie

which is going to star Jack Black and Jason Momoa. So I threw it out to our listeners. Who is the bigger box office movie star right now? Is it Momoa or is it black yeah that's funny that you mentioned those names because it's got to be momoa because jack black and i like jack black you know back in the day sure high fidelity school of rock i mean he's a funny guy maybe a bit of a one-trick pony but but definitely had carved in a career for himself super mario brothers couldn't imagine like i yeah going to say, the movies that I'm mentioning,

this is well over a decade. Where's Momoa? And again, I'm not running out to see a Jason Momoa movie, but I would just think the average 18-year-old goes, oh yeah, Aquaman, of course. That movie made $500 million.

So I think if I'm selling Minecraft tomorrow to the majority of people, it's Jason Momoa as the guy. They're both similar looking. Yeah. Two peas in a pod, really. Second question.

Beetlejuice coming out this weekend, Andy said, I believe. He's got tickets already to go see on Tuesday. It's out tomorrow. It's out tomorrow. Are you as excited for Beetlejuice as our producer A-Dog is? No, I was going to say, I'm not going to match gonna match a dog's enthusiasm for beetle juice beetle juice beetle juice but i i do think that it could be rewarding here's my my why i'm tepid tim burton's been a long time since he made a great film he told me i went back and re-watched ed wood which

is a movie i love black and white movie about the worst director ever johnny depp's fantastic martin landau won the won the oscar for Actor. And Burton, instead, that's his favorite movie. It's his most personal movie. In many ways, that relationship of director and star, remember him and Vincent Price, Edward Scissorhands, blah, blah, blah. So Edward for me is a movie that I love. And I'm watching this and I go, okay, if I could best Tim Burton movies, you'd go, okay, Batman.

Batman Returns, I think, is actually underrated. Edward Scissorhands and, of course, Beetlejuice. Those are his five. But like, Big Fish has been a long, it's like a couple decades since my man made like a legit great movie and generally speaking sequels the further apart you go the worse it's going to be like Bad Santa

I loved all time Yuletide classic Billy Bob Thornton came to ESPN when promoting Bad Santa 2 wonderful guy we talk Sling Blade we talk St. Louis Cardinals baseball like he's awesome what I knew this movie was going to stink. I said, he's waited 17 years to make a sequel to Bad Santa. It's just a paycheck movie.

So I'm trying to fight the belief that this is a paycheck movie for Burton, for Michael Keaton. I love, huge Pirates fan, by the way, big Pittsburgh sports guy. I adore Monica Bellucci. She's always gorgeous. Hopefully she'll be great. But I have this sneaking suspicion that it's nothing more than a cash grab. Now, Michael Keaton was on Smart List, terrific podcast. Of course, fellow Canadian, we learned that, Jason Bateman.

And he kept saying, I defy anyone to say this isn't a good movie. He goes, years from now, I know. Again, he's promoting the movie. What else is he going to say? But he said, I would fight anybody who says this isn't a good movie. I'm telling you guys, you're going to love it, blah, blah, blah. It got good reviews at the Venice Film Festival. Most movies do well at festivals. So I was in a good mood to see

it there. 84% Rotten Tomatoes. I saw the early rankings. That's good news. So again, I can't match A-Dog's enthusiasm. I will see it with my wife Monday afternoon. I'll renew it on Cinefile. I hope it's good. But I love the original and I'm sure it will not match the original. Can you imagine going to the Venice

Film Festival? Like, what are we seeing tonight? Beetlejuice. Really? Does that seem odd? That's what you chose? Adnan, you are the best, man. Oh, no, thanks. To Jason's point, Venice, you're picturing literally the gondolas and the beautiful food

and the music. Like, hey, let's go see this movie with a guy. We got two tickets to Minecraft in Venice here. Yeah, I shouldn't have go see this movie of that guy. We got two tickets of Minecraft in Venice here. Yeah, I shouldn't have worn my tuxedo. This is weird. Adnan, thanks for doing this, bud. We appreciate it.

Thanks, fellas. Talk soon. See you, buddy. Adnan Virk from MLB Network and the Cinephile Podcast. That is the most comprehensive breakdown you are going to get of Beetlejuice on Sports Talk Radio.

I can definitively state that. So when is the show you're going to see? I don't disagree with him. I don't expect it to be as good as the first because the first is like classic. I expect it to be fun and enjoyable if you're a fan of the original. And I love the fact that it's largely practical effects

and they're making it look like the 80s one. So it's not like crazy CGI everywhere. I really like the style of what it looks like. And it looks like Tim Burton kind of coming back to form. Will it be amazing? I'm not going and expecting it to be amazing. I'm just expecting it to be fun. And apparently Michael Keaton is fantastic in it.

So the early reviews are positive. Which films that they've remade or brought back from the 80s have been successful because i watched and i talked about beverly hills cop which i watched when i was on vacation and i was thoroughly disappointed in it because it just it it tried to recapture the magic and it failed it was like trying to bring the band back together yeah it was like when the Blackhawks tried to bring back Sod. Right. They're like, we're bringing the band back together.

It's like, it's not the same. Sure. It's not the same. Honestly, I can't even think of one off the top of my head. Oh, Top Gun knocked it out of the park. Top Gun. Yeah, Top Gun Maverick is, okay, that's probably the gold standard. I mean, nothing really comes to my mind instantly.

99% of the time when you try and reinvent a franchise, it goes poorly. I watched the new Fletch with what's his name? Yeah, what's his name? He's a St. Louis Blues fan. John Hamm. John Hamm. Yeah, it was okay. Did anyone watch Roadhouse with Jake Gyllenhaal? Yeah, that one was weird

man. I did not. And Conor McGregor was in it. That was entertaining though. Okay. But that was weird it. That was entertaining, though. Okay. But that was weird, but so was the original Roadhouse. Yeah. It was a very different vibe. I saw a lot of the people looking back on Roadhouse so fondly as this American classic. I'm like, did we watch the same movie?

I mean, it's okay. Roadhouse is bad, but I think people go a little overboard sometimes. The whole time I was watching that, I was like, which part of Ireland is Conor McGregor actually from? What kind of accent is this? He's a big dude, though. He's a big fella. So it was just weird?

That was your... It was weird. Okay. Yeah, it was a weird movie, but it entertained me. I watched it. I finished it. Mad Max? Mad Max. Yeah, that's a good one. Very good. I watched it. I finished it. Mad Max. Mad Max. Yeah, that's a good one.

Very good. I watched Fury Rosa over the weekend. Yeah, it was good. Yeah, it was good. Yeah, I know Fury Road, that is a good call and George,

because it was George Miller again coming back after so long and just absolutely nailing it. But honestly, man, like the Mad Maxes and the Top Gun Mavericks, those are like the exceptions to the rule.

Like it rarely works. Tron and Tronicks, those are like the exceptions to the rule. It rarely works. Tron and Tron Legacy? There was like 30 years between those. Yeah, that's not bad. Jumanji was in the 90s, right? What was the second one? The remake that you didn't see it? Because someone just weighed in with that. Jumanji. Jumanjified.

Jumanji 2. Electric Boogaloo. I didn't see either of them. I gotta start watching more movies, I think. Jack Black and those as well. Yeah, that's right. It's Jason Momoa. The bigger movie star of the two. Okay, so for the dozens that texted into our show and

want more Whitecaps talk, there are dozens of us. Dozens! Axel Schuster is going to come up next. We're going to talk to him. They're also going to Beetlejuice on Tuesday. And then we are also going to have the newest addition to the Whitecaps. Yes. Stuart Armstrong is going to join us tomorrow at what time, Andy? 8 o'clock?

7.30? He'll be on in the morning because we're a morning show. He'll be on at 7.30. There we go. Yeah, very good. So I don't know if he's going to play on Saturday. He did his introductory presser the other day, and he said he's fit but be on at 7.30. There we go. Yeah, very good. So I don't know if he's going to play on Saturday. He did his introductory presser the other day, and he said he's fit but not matched.

Okay. So it remains to be seen. But they need him for Saturday. So Axel Schuster is going to come up next, and Halford's going to ask him the question, do you have any concern that you're building around Scots? Two of them. And they used to play together.

Is that a concern? Is that a problem? Sorry, McClutch. Are you invested in – Sorry, McClutch. Are you invested? Sorry, McClutch. Are you too heavily invested in ex-Dundee United players? I'm just going to ask this question. We're giving away tickets today as well.

Did we even mention that? We did mention that right off the hop. But I can mention it again right now, Andy, because you brought it through the front door. A four-pack of tickets to see the Vancouver Canadiens playoff game on Tuesday, September 10th. It's against Spokane. It's at Nat Bailey.

We got four tickets to give away today and tomorrow. Every day this week, we're giving them away. They're going to go to the best of what we learned. The Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. Text in, hashtag it WWL, and put a ticket emoji into your text. You'll be entered into the contest. Best what we learned gets the tickets. Blade Runner, a lot of people texting in.

Oh, 2049 was good. Yeah, that was really good. And just like the original, it underperformed in the theaters and became a cult classic yeah which is another story for itself one hour in the books two more hours to go you're listening to the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650