Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will The Oilers Continue To Be The Canucks' Biggest Rival?

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

In hour three, guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Josh Elliott-Wolfe chat with Edmonton Oilers television commentator Jack Michaels (1:39) on how the Oilers season will be shaped by yesterday's Blues offer sheets, the boys tell us what they learned (18:00), plus we hear from the humanoids (27:00).  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

all right ramping up the intensity here feels like a montage of like action heroes getting ready for the final battle. You know what I mean? That's us. That's us right here. It is Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd, Josh Elliott-Wolfe filling in. It's of course a Eurodance Wednesday on the show as well.

Halford and Brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit Campbell-Pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews.

Sore feet. What are you waiting for? Kintec, that is what you're waiting for. 650-650, the Dunbar Lumber text line. What we learned is coming up at 830. So still a chance to get your texts in. Hashtag WWL. What you've learned in the last 24 hours in sports.

And it's been an eventful last 24 hours in the world of sports, especially out west here and of course we talked about the nathan rourke news but in the nhl the st louis blues signing a pair of edmonton oilers players to offer sheets yesterday and to talk more about that from an edmonton perspective edmonton perspective joining us now he is the play-by-play voice for the oilers jack michaels jack thanks very much for doing this today. How are you? I'm good, guys. How's your summer? It's going really well, and we've said it a couple times throughout the course of the show now.

Very thankful to be having some really entertaining, interesting hockey news to chat about here on August 14th. I think it's probably safe to say, though, Doug Armstrong probably not planning any vacation time in Edmonton in the near future. No, shots fired. And I don't think, I think Oiler fans thrown for a loop by yesterday's news. And obviously it puts, you know, two significant roster players, you know, at risk of, you know, potentially, you know, not being around come training camp. There are some options, and I think unlike traditionally,

teams get their back up right away and say, well, we'll be making a decision. No one's rating our players. I think the Oilers are going to take a significant portion of this week and explore their different options. I don't think you'll see any statements in boldface type over, you know, no one's taken Broberg, no one's taken Holloway, no one's taken both until they've explored the reality of their situation and what the options, and there are many of them uh entail so it's a really fascinating situation you know i was reading the reactions from oilers fans and from around the league online

you know i've seen obviously some of that anger directed towards doug armstrong but also i think a fair amount of kind of second guessing and looking back at at past oilers decisions and for both of these players you know former first over first round picks with a lot of excitement about them how did the Oilers end up in this situation with this pair of players well first of all they've been making a run the last three years so there's been some assets you know compromised and there's been additions made you know in in each of the last three seasons with the intention of maybe pushing themselves over the hump and winning it all. And while that hasn't come to fruition, it has resulted in two trips to the conference final

and the fact that Edmonton is one of the very few teams that can say they've been out of the first round in each of the last three years. So they've remained in the hunt. They have sacrificed a portion of their future to do so. Philip Broberg was drafted at a time where the Oilers were not contenders, and that actually ushered in. That was the first draft class for Ken Holland as he was selected eighth overall. But because of the additions of guys, you know, bringing in veterans like Cody Cece and Matias Ekholm and Brett Kulak, that meant that Philip Broberg couldn't crack the lineup right away. And really, you know, like Holloway was kind of also on the outside looking in at times.

These are players that have been down in the American Hockey League as recently as last season. And with a veteran-laden lineup, that shouldn't in and of itself be surprising. But as you can imagine, you know, from a player- player agent perspective and from a player perspective, they're thinking they could be a little bit further down the line in terms of their growth and development. And that's never really been what Ken Holland's model was. If anything, he liked them overripe when he was dealing with Grand Rapids through all those years with the Detroit organization. So it's a combination of being in contention and having a lineup where, you know, guys like Broberg and Holloway have really had to be patient. And now just as they're ready to get in the mix, they now become RFAs and have the opportunity to get rated in terms of this situation.

And from St. Louis' perspective, you know, there's some questions about Torrey Krug's long-term health. They need a left shot, D. I mean, Nick Letty, I think, is in the last year of his deal. So there's some sense to be made there. Dylan Holloway is a guy that, you know, certainly could be in the St. Louis lineup. And I think if you look at the Blues from their point of view, they were a few points out of a playoff spot last year,

and they're potentially adding two roster players who could make the difference between, say, 88 points and the 94-95 you need to get in. How important were Broberg and Holloway expected to be for the Oilers this season, and how big of a loss would it be if both of them ended up going to St. Louis? Well, Holloway would be no worse than Edmonton's 10th forward going into the season. So in other words, they found some chemistry with a line of Janmark, Henrik, and Brown. Now, over the course of, you know, that was in the Stanley Cup final, really, that that line, you know, really caught fire. But over the course of the regular season, I would have expected Dylan Holloway to play his way up into maybe, you know, more of the forward eight position, quite frankly. And then Broberg,

you know, Broberg was going to play. Whether he'd play on the right side or the left side would have remained to be seen. But, you know, Broberg would have been inside the top six. He was a fixture by the time the playoffs came to a close. And I don't see that necessarily, you know, changing moving forward. I think he would have been right there, you know, competing for playing time, and I think both of those guys, you know, likely, unless there was some sort of regression, you know, would have been a candidate to play at least 75 games this year. Without them, you know, I mean, you're talking on the right side now of potentially having, you know, Cody Ceci back inside your top four. That was certainly not the plan.

You know, Josh Brown or Troy Stetcher, one of whom would be in your lineup every single night. I don't think that was necessarily the plan. That was more of a, you know, defenseman seven and eight when they made, you know, the acquisition of Stetcher last year and Josh Brown the signing this year. So it does change Edmonton's depth, especially, you know, when you consider on the back end, Broberg, you take a legitimate prospect, your best defensive prospect out of the mix. And once again, you're kind of chasing it a little bit. Now you're looking for maybe two guys. And, you know, so it really does have an impact on a team that really felt up until yesterday it was set to make another deep run

and depending on Evander Kane's situation, maybe have some, you know, room at the deadline to add yet another significant piece. So with those potential roles in mind that you sketched out for Holloway and Broberg and what they could do and, you know, could still do for the Oilers this year, who are they going to be more motivated to keep? And it's tricky, right? Because, you know, it's easy to say Broberg, he's also going to cost substantially more than Dylan Holloway,

but if it does kind of come down to okay, we've got to make a decision here and keep one over the other, who's more important from your perspective for Edmonton to match the offer sheet on? Well, so much of this is also related to what are they going to do with Evander Kane? If he's not ready

at the outset of the year, they have two choices. They let one of Broberg or Holloway go and keep Kane on the roster and essentially not have a full complement of players available because he's not going to be ready to play at the start of the year. But then you're accumulating LTIR rooms so that theoretically you could make an addition at the deadline and get Evander Kane back in the same fell swoop, but of course at the cost of, let's say, a Philip Rober.

The other thing you could do is put Evander Kane on LTIR and either make a trade or, you know, start the year shorthanded with the players in the American Hockey League and then potentially keep both because Evander Kane at 5.1 and then you've got the two players we're talking about here this morning, you know, it's about a $2 million difference. So you're going to have to get a couple of players in the American Hockey League or you're going to have to get a couple of players in the American Hockey League, or you're going to have to make the trade. And, you know, one of the potential situations you could do, just because he's a right shot D, is, you know, I suppose theoretically,

if you wanted to keep both and you were thinking of Evander Kane on LTIR, then maybe there's a move out there because he's the right handed shot D and, you know, in the last year of a deal, maybe there's a move out there for Cody Ceci. I, you know, I don't know. And it's pure speculation, but there are so many options and they're interwoven with this Evander Kane situation and how they want to approach it. Because again, if they store Kane on the roster, you could potentially get a two-for-one type of scenario at the deadline. But on the other hand, if you want to keep Broberg and Holloway,

you almost have to put Kane on LTIR because, you know, the only other option is to be putting, you know, basically forwards 9 through 12 in the American Hockey League and starting the season in some ridiculous pickle of 10-6 or 11-6. And I think that's the far less likely scenario. The other thing looming over all of this is the pending contracts for Evan Bouchard, Leon Dreisaitl, and the year after, Connor McDavid. Does that play into this at all, do you think?

Well, I think it all plays into it. I mean, that's why I started this conversation by saying I don't think we're to see any grand pronouncements about how we're keeping these two players come hell or high water because there are so many variables at play. My strong hunch is that the Leon Dreisaitl deal, while not done and while not imminent, is one that both parties feel like they have under control. I just get that sense.

I think there would have been far more disquieting news about that scenario if it was more likely than not to get done. I think the biggest thing they have to decide is how they want to approach the allocation potentially of Evander Kane, LTIR versus non-LTIR, and how much do you want to disrupt, you know, the opening, let's say the opening couple days lineup? I mean, this is a veteran team. It will be, it will cause ripples if you have veteran guys who are key contributors come playoff time last year,

like a Connor Brown, all of a sudden starting the year in the American Hockey League for cap purposes. That is not the way you want to go into the season with a veteran team, with guys that are important inside and outside of that locker room to be completely unnerved and unsettled, even if it's at the start of the year, nine months before the ultimate goal. So there's some real issues to be worked out over the next seven days, and there are so many options. That's why it's intriguing, and I do honestly believe that a potential trade is one of those options to be explored.

Yeah, it's kind of so fascinating to see how they stick handle this one. And, you know, you were mentioning the Leon Dreisaitl extension and how your read on the situation is it's probably in a pretty good place because we haven't really heard to the contrary. You know, Evan Bouchard is extension eligible as well. And of course such a breakout campaign, especially in the

playoffs for him. And I do find it fascinating that these are, you know, two-year deals, the offer sheets for both Broberg and Holloway, because it's not just their cap situation this year it's the cap situation next year which comes into play for the Oilers as well but I mean how complicated even setting aside the offer sheets just for Evan Bouchard how complicated is that next deal for him and Edmonton potentially going to be well that also relates to exactly how much the cap is going up and how much maneuverability you'd have. I mean, that's the other thing that we don't really know yet.

There's an assumption that the cap is going to jump forward and that teams in Edmonton situations with a couple of high-profile contracts in the offing, that they're going to have some room with which to work. But there are no guarantees. So that is what makes it compelling. And, I mean, there's the real practical evaluation when it comes to Evan Bouchard is, you know, what is the power play versus the five-on-five? And will that become a bit of a stumbling block in terms of, you know, perceived value based on overall points and overall offensive standing within the league. And, you know,

what is the five on five core value and your value from the blue line in, in your own zone. And that, that will be one of the things that you know i think you know when it comes to the bouchard camp that that will be a that will be a bit of a tug at war because you know it's it's awfully hard to ignore an 80 plus point defenseman yet at the same time if you're edmonton you've got to make all this work and if Leon Dreisaitl who could probably get 15 million dollars elsewhere you know comes back to the team for appreciably less than that I think the same thing is going to have to apply there's going to have to be some networking going on here where the team's core understands look we can't all max. We either max out and we do it somewhere else,

or, you know, let's say in Bouchard's case, you know, the number begins with an eight instead of what it could be elsewhere, which would be potentially a 10. I mean, that's, when you get up into 80 plus points, those are the kinds of contrasts we're talking about, and part of it has to do with Edmonton's championship window, and that's the biggest challenge for Stan Bowman, is to extend that window out to six or seven years, because as we saw in Chicago, that window kept getting extended, and then all of a sudden it was gone. It was best record in the Western Conference one year,

and then nowhere close to the playoffs the next year. The biggest challenge for Stan Bowman is to find a way to extend this window out until, I would suspect, at least 2030, maybe another year or two, when McDavid and Dreisaitl are in their mid-30s. And you're exactly right. The Evan Bouchard contract is absolutely part of that equation. Jack, it's going to be fascinating to see what transpires here while Edmonton, as you said, kind of figures out their options

and tries to decide what to do. Thanks for joining us and walking us through it. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Always a pleasure, guys. Take care of yourself. Thank you. That is Jack Michaels, play-by-play voice of the Oilers, and doing a great job of just laying out all of the different nuances

and the layers of complexity here that now confront the Oilers. That point he makes towards the end, right, about the desire to stretch out the championship window for another, you know, six, seven, maybe even eight years i completely understand that but that is a dangerous game to play too because what happens then if you're so cautious about preserving you know okay we want to be a competitor in 2028 and 2029 and 2020 30 you risk giving yourself the best shot in these next couple of years when you are really really primed to be a contender and then all of a sudden okay okay, maybe you have a stretch

where you're consistently winning a round or two in the playoffs, but I think you also risk coming up empty-handed with the big prize at the end of that. Yeah, there's always the ideal version of how things are going to go, and you're like, oh, man, in a world where you can be competitive until 2032, think of all the chances you have at winning the Stanley Cup. But in reality like some years you're gonna look at it and you're gonna say hey like this team is maybe weaker this year

that we thought would be legit competition maybe there's a key injury on a team that's another cup contender and you have to take chances at some point so there is a there's a level of hey i get being cautious and trying to stretch out a window because all teams want to do that but at the same time you're right it can be a dangerous game where it you might be sacrificing your best shots at winning because you want to give yourself more shots at maybe winning yeah it's a very very uh fine line and you know tough needle to thread uh for stan bowman ed the edmonton oilers it's safe to say the oilers are by far the Canucks' biggest rival this season. Well, right now they are, for sure.

After the Western Canadian team just met in the playoffs. Of course. You'd love for that to continue. November 9th is their first game against the Canucks in the regular season. I mean, they obviously have a bunch of preseason matchups. But the first big match, the one I'm circling on my calendar, November 9th, Oilers come to town. That's going to be a wild one.

By the way, JD and Quitlam, you guys are going to let Jamie get away with 2020-30. I know. I looked at Ben as soon as he said it. I'm like, I'll leave him alone. See, if you were Halford, Jamie, I would be roasting you for the rest of the show, but because you're a guest host, I'm taking it easy on you. That is a very stupid thing for me to say.

That's incredible, actually. I did not even notice that until he texted in. Compared to what I'm used to, you're a gem. This is nothing. That is very, very bad. 20, 20, 30. That's incredible. Anyways.

It's so far away. That's what happens. Are they going to be competitive for that long? Yeah. That's what comes after 20, 29. 20, 20, 30. Guys, come on. Get it together.

20, 20, 31. One, 20, 20, 32. Like, let's go. Okay. It's Alvin Abruf here. Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dod Abruf, your Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dodd, Josh Elliott. We'll fill it in.

We'll do your What We Learned submissions coming up at 830. Before we get to that, we've got a few of our own to get to here today. I will start what I learned. The Little League World Series starts. This is a two-part one. The Little League World Series starts today. That's always exciting. Always exciting. Shout out to Wally from BC. We're going to be representing. It is a two-part one. The Little League World Series starts today. That's always exciting. Always exciting. Shout out to

Wally from BC. We're going to be representing. Is it Wally? It is Wally. I live there. Look at you. You don't know? I'm sorry. I'm sorry, guys. You don't have your finger on the pulse of local sports? I live in Wally, yeah. Wally, traditional Little League powerhouse, man. When I was growing up, they beat

Little Mountain. I have bad experiences. They beat Little Mountain. So it's tough, but I was angry when they beat Little Mountain this year, but I'll get on board for them representing Canada. I'm fully behind Wally. Growing up, I lived in Newton, and that's where I played my Little League, and we were the worst, and we had to play against Wally often, and it was bad.

It was always bad. I grew up in North Van, so in actual Little League age, I never had to play them. But then when you're like 13, 14, 15 and you're playing, there's not enough teams in North Van to like satisfy your schedule. So we ended up having to go out and frequently play like double headers against Wally in Wally. And that was, man, we got our butts kicked. And that was miserable. I absolutely hated it. But they are very, very good at baseball.

Anyways, literally a world series starts today. Wally is playing Chinese Taipei. So that's a tough first, first game matchup. Obviously Chinese Taipei has won the tournament a lot. They're always really good, but go Wally.

The other thing I learned is that the little league world series starts today. And if you're so inclined, you can wager a little league world series. Now, not legally here in bc because of course play now our partners a reputable above board sports betting operation they're not putting lines out on 12 year olds playing in the little league world series that

would be in but if you search for it there are offshore books out there that yeah have not just like odds to win but lines money lines for the game. Who's putting these together? I don't know. Who's scouting all these tournaments? Will Timmy in Iowa is looking good. He's on a hot streak. Out of context, that would have been a tough play. No, I said it, and I was like, please don't.

No one noticed. 2020, 30, am I right? So if you're interested, Wally are a plus 250 dogs against Chinese type type A today. So, hey, if you want to back the home team again, not legal here in BC. I'm not recommending you do it, but there are some degenerates out there. There's some good juice. Let's bet on Wally.

Here we go. They've got the juice today, guys. There are some degenerates out there who are apparently gambling on the Little League World Series. That's the age we live in now. I think that's when you know that you have a problem. You have an issue, yeah. Yeah, when you're gambling on the Little League World Series. Well, it's especially like real baseball is happening right now. You know what I mean? So it's not even like, it's like, oh man, there's not

I, there's nothing on. I just gotta find something to put some money on. It's like, no, there's a full slate of Major League Baseball games on today that you could wager on. The sound you hear is Thomas Drance awkwardly laughing, being like, yeah, who would do that? Who would ever do such a thing? But there you go. If you're so inclined, drance awkwardly laughing being like yeah who would do that who would ever do such a thing but there you go uh if if you're so inclined go ahead and and

search that out all right give us a moocow there josh uh i'll do mine other side all right i i well that's fine i i don't care about going along here but whatever we'll we'll take a break if

you're insistent what would dom say what would tell me to take a break. We'll take a break. If you're insistent. What would Dom say? What would Dom tell me to take a break? Exactly. We'll take a break here. We'll do our what we learns on the other side and then dive into the inbox for yours as well. Last chance to get them in here. 650-650 to the Dunbar Lumber text line. Final segment of the show coming up here.

Half an Abrupt. Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show. What'd I say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God, this is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time.

It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show. It sure is. It's what we learn time here on Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dodd and Josh Elliott-Wolf filling in here. Final segment of the show for today. What a show it's been. Halford & Brough brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers.

Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit campbell-pound.com today. And, of course, 650-650 is the Dunbar Campbell and Pound. Visit Campbell-Pound.com today. And, of course, 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. The Bridge Street in Dunbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome.

Details at DunbarLumber.com. Still time to get your What We Learned submission. And if you've been sitting on it, if you've been on the fence, I don't know, is this worth sending in? Just send it in. See what happens. Who knows? Maybe we'll read yours here

in the remainder of the segment. Before we go into the inbox, though, we've got a few of our What We Learned to do. We'll start with you, Josh. Do you think people mull over it? Absolutely. They're sitting there like, oh, I can't send this.

Someone out there is doing that. Absolutely. Now you're free. And people get on us sometimes like, it absolutely they're sitting there like oh i can't 100 someone out there is doing that absolutely now now you're free and people people get on us sometimes like oh you only read this text from a few people's like because they shoot their shot and they send a text in don't you can't you can't complain about whose text we're reading if you don't get the submission in so be the change you want to see in the world give us something something to read. Shoot or shoot. Yeah, exactly. Become the new urologist. That's right.

You could be the new Mike the urologist. First, you got to do a lot of schooling. But then you could be the new Mike the urologist from Brock. Half the battle is coming up with a name. I mean, let's be real. That's true. Coming up with a catchy text inbox name makes it like 300% more likely that your text will be read just because it's fun to say. Well,

and I also will say people complain about Mike specifically, Mike, the urologist from Brockville. Whenever we read his text, people are like, Oh, you're reading. You always read his text.

I think the only reason they complain is that he has such a distinctive name because there's lots of people whose texts we read very, very regularly. We just said Mike from Brockville. Yeah. I think people would be like, Oh, I think it's because it's such a distinctive name Brockville, I think people would be like, oh, this is Mike from Brockville.

I think it's because it's such a distinctive name, it lodges in people's memories. But yeah, we read his text because he texts in. He's a good texter and he has funny texts. People should put their occupation in text. That's right. We should require everyone to include what they do for a living. We've got guys like we have a professional mouse toucher.

He's one of the guys. Yeah, that's a good one. Cracker factory guy. He's one of them. So, I mean, we have a bunch of guys. I don't know if he actually works at the cracker factory. Well, let's pretend that he does for the sake of this bit. For the sake of the guys. That's a good one. Cracker Factory guy. He's one of them. So, I mean, we have a bunch of guys. I don't know if he actually works at the Cracker Factory. Well, let's pretend that he does for the sake of this bit. For the sake of the bit.

Sure. Anyways, Josh, what's your what we learned? So, the Minnesota Vikings are my favorite football team in the NFL. Yes. And they are very, very cursed is what I've known. And now I guess what we learned for today. J.J. McCarthy, who looked promising in his first preseason start. I didn't have super, like I have high hopes for him long term,

but I wasn't like, hey, I'm putting all my stock in him this season. He is now injured. Messed up meniscus. Bad knee. And don't know how long he's going to be out. Depends on what surgery he needs. But being a Vikings fan is very bad. And that is what I have learned.

And you chose it. I did. You don't even have the excuse of being born into it or being in Minnesota or anything. You looked at the history of the Vikings organization and you said, sign me up. My dad's a Cowboys fan and I was like no no I mean that is at this point like you would have definitely you missed the glory days in a big way there but at least

you'd be able to bond with your dad about it yeah you guys this is just me by myself just separately miserable about cheering for your teams and really Minnesota Vikings it sounds great give us a moo cow there basketball ban I know you you teased us with a what we learned for the Minnesota Vikings because it sounds great. Give us a moo cow there.

Basketball Ben, I know you teased us with what we learned before we went on air at the beginning of the show. This was a big one. So we've been waiting for more than two and a half hours here to hear what we learned from Basketball Ben. Yesterday, I played my first ever golf round with Jason Brock. Wow. I didn't realize it was the first ever Man no we'll play again

Since I'm going to Ottawa It's the breaking of playing golf I'll be back to play golf So it was very intense We had a 2v2 matchup We all knew each other in the group And Brough and I get paired together And immediately I'm like

Team Sportsnet here we go And Brough what I get paired together. Okay. And immediately I'm like, team Sportsnet, here we go. And Brough, what I learned, very good player. Very solid. The match goes down to hole 18. We lost 17. It's all tied up on 18. And the other team missed a three-footer. Team Sportsnet, 1-0, undefeated.

Oh, they pulled a Rory. Yeah. They shoved it to the side And I was like, ah Mark He's the best guy in the world He arranged all this too He missed the putt, maybe it was on purpose, I don't know But Team Sportsnet 1-0

Brough and I teammates forever now So what was the golfing with Brough Experience? He even said, you're going to hear some self-talk Today that might not be hear some self-talk today that might not be awesome and i was like some self-talk you gotta work and we talked about you can't have negative self-talk brough come on we talked about when with josh when josh and brough hosted together and i was like you know what it wasn't that bad and then immediately i

get in my car go home after add a beer up there and um texted me right away Okay, swing tips What'd you see? What do I need to work on? And we text back and forth For a good like hour Did you actually Did you have like thoughts On his swing?

Totally, right away And he was like This is exactly what I think too It was really good It was a fun time Good experience And he wasn't that bad Self-talking

It wasn't negative It was good It was great vibes out there And we won You know what annoys me About this? That's very sweet I've been We have been trying to get Ben to golf with us Bad self-talk. It wasn't negative. It was good. It was great vibes out there. And we won. You know what annoys me about this? That's honestly adorable. That's very sweet. I've been, we have been trying to get Ben to golf with us for maybe two years.

You're not good enough. No. Get on Brough's level and then he'll go out there with you. Are you, would you have won with Team Sportsnet if it was you and Ben out there? It would have been all of Ben's shots. You got to get at Brough's level and then he'll play around with you. Brough contributed Big time too Okay

So what was like The ratio Or were you guys like Was it scramble Or was it No we played best ball So we played our own ball Right

Best score counts Handicaps Okay And so There was a couple Holes in the back nine There where I was I made a couple bogeys

And he was like Don't worry I was like I'm in his backpack right now I'm riding this train All the way home Like we're good It was a full team effort.

Fair enough. All right. Give us a moo cow there. Hey, dog. Look at us. All of us having what we learned here. This is impressive. I'm piggybacking off of Woodrow the Eligible Bachelor because this was also my what we learned.

Today is Pirate Pack Day at White Spot, where adults can order Pirate Packs without feeling shame. $2 from every Pirate Pack sold is donated to Zajac Ranch, which is a fully accessible summer camp for kids. A really good cause. Yesterday, White Spot was very kind and dropped off a whole whack load of Pirate Packs for us to have for breakfast. Breakfast of champions, as I tweeted at AndyHole1984 on Twitter. And yeah, I'd say it was really cool of them to do that yesterday. And if you're looking for something to do tonight, want a nice meal, have a Power Pack, get one of those little doubloons and a little cup of ice cream they give you,

and of course a classic white spot burger. Yeah, Power Pack Day is on today, so that's really cool. So I was devastated. You guys left just before they delivered that. Because I've done the fill-in thing on the morning show for a few summers in a row now. And it's a tradition, right? It happens every year and drop off a big thing of pirate packs. And it's perfect because it's like, well, it's 9 a.m., but I've been up for enough time that I can justify eating a burger.

Yeah, exactly. Like, I'm going to eat. So whatever. And I just no one told me. No one told me. I didn't. Maybe it was in my email. I missed it.

I have, you know, I have sources on the 1130 side who normally keep me up in up to date about things like this like you have a pirate pack the blizzard day well blizzard day was a couple weeks ago or last week i was informed about that it was like hey there's going to be blizzards here i'll put one aside for you go get it i was like all right this is great that process did not happen for pirate pack day i'm pretty devastated i was pretty disappointed that was a tough one i got the picture in the group chat i was like yeah you guys are missing out i blew it i almost turned around i was like basically home in surrey i almost turned around free burger and then i was like you know what probably not worth the cost i was so choked like i was left and i saw the photo the photo looked fantastic

the photo looks amazing pirate man i i love white spot i love white spot burgers i sent it to my ontario friends because they don't know what this means yeah and they're like what am i looking at and i'm like no no this is a staple in every child a foundational part of bc culture okay yeah i honestly i might have to go today and get the buyer pack like i missed out on it yesterday for free. It's something we do at my household. We've been doing consistently for a very long time now and it's well worth it. And it's for a good cause. It's for a good cause, of course. Okay, give us a moo cow there.

Alright, let's go into the inbox, print out some listener submissions here. And of course, there we go. Ben knows where to it we have to play the fire plan i love how every text now is people are putting their occupations at the end you know what we've got some new catchy names here when josh said that i was like this could get dangerous so this one from justin the controller of power from langley. Fantastic. This is great. What we learned.

Not sure if you talked about in the first hour, but Nathan Rourke already has the second best odds to win CFL MVP this year, which is incredible. There's no way, though, right? What are you halfway through the season? He's clearly the best quarterback, but halfway through. But I don't know. I don't. I haven't looked at the rest of the odds. I know Vernon Adams was kind of leading there for a a while but then he's been injured and the play

dropped off a little bit as well if nathan rourke is clearly the best quarterback for the remainder of the season i think he's got a really good shot at it like i don't know but there's the other clear-cut candidate out there that it would make sense look i'm not saying he's a lock or anything he has to be really really good but i definitely see a path to him being i the utmost outstanding would have to be like above him he would have to be transcendent i think like me personally i guess maybe just the way i think like 2022 level nathan rourke probably gets it so i'm looking at play now. Cody Fajardo has the best odds, 1.8. Nathan Rourke, 3.0. And then Vernon Adams, 3.5.

And then there's a big drop-off to a fourth at Trayford, 36.0. So Vernon Adams is third. Vernon Adams is third. So it's Fajardo, Rourke, Adams. Yes. Vernon Adams ain't winning it. No. He's going to be on the bench.

No, there's the 2QB system unless Nathan Roark completely blows it which I don't think is gonna happen or gets injured or something yeah right so I mean really it's like can he can he surpass Cody Fajardo in half a season yeah I don't know I don't know I don't know but the but the way I've always approached, like, hey, MVP, most outstanding player, has always been, you can be amazing for half a season, but I still think someone who was really, really good for the entire season might be more valuable. That being said, there's a world where Nathan Rourke, I think a very real world, where he is amazing and probably gets a lot of votes. I don't know if he wins, though. I don't know. If I had to vote, I wouldn't vote for someone that plays half the season. It's going to be tough, but I think second best.

I mean, I think the fact that Vernon Adams has the third best, despite being in this situation, tells you that it's not necessarily a super crowded field right now. So I think that's what it comes down to, is that there is at least an opening for him to make it a discussion if he performs up to expectations over the remainder of the season. Sticking on the BC Lions Nathan Rourke page, YVR Ray says, What I learned is I am very glad I bought Grey Cup tickets early.

As with Nathan Rourke at the helm, BC plays Here We Come. Or at least he says, or is it Here We Are already? But that's from YVR Ray. And yeah, I mean, the hype was already going to be intense for the Grey Cup. You know, first time hosting the Grey Cup under the new ownership of Amar Doman. You know he's going to do everything in his power to make it a really good show. Now you add in Nathan Rourke. And again, look, we'll see how it goes.

Maybe there's some growing pains as he integrates back into the CFL and with the team. But I think there's going to be a lot of people like Ray who are either happy they already have tickets or trying to figure out how they can get tickets to be there just in case the Lions are there. One listener suggested, have the BC Lions thought about change? Because, you know, the slogan is the roar is back. Have they thought about the roar? The roar is back. The roar is back. The roar is back.

I mean, I think it's right there. Can you do that? You do that for like the marketing for Sunday. You know what I mean? But you're not full switching to the Rourke is back. You do it. No, you shouldn't. $200,000 marketing, man.

Yeah, do it. No. Do it. No. You can think of better ways to use that. Would you not want to read The Rourke is back every morning? That'd be so much fun. The Rourke is back at BC Play.

I mean, it's a one-off thing. You do it to promote like the return game, but you don't use it for the rest of the season. I use it for the rest of the season. That's silly. Not as silly as him winning most outstanding player. No, he's at second best odds. You think you're better than the odds makers of playdown.com? Is that what you're saying, Josh?

You could do their job. You could do their job better than them. Wow. Aggressive. Aggressive from Josh Elliott-Wolf. Anyway, what we learned. Maybe I'm just mad because we have this Jordan, the chemical warehouse worker in Coquitlam.

Incredible. See, I love this. Incredible. I'm now a rival of Josh. Go Pack Go. The pack is back, baby. I hate. There's no team or organization i hate more than the green

bay pack yeah it's a tough one for vikings they're just so annoying actually the way they dominate that division is pretty like because i know it's not just you guys right like bears fans hate the pack yes i'm sure lions fans lions fans have been irrelevant, but they're like, oh, man, I hate the Packers. And so because normally in a division, you've got, you know, like you look at the NFC East, right? And it's like Cowboys, Eagles, huge rivals. But Eagles, Giants, huge rivals, right? Cowboys, Giants, all the teams of Washington. There's an intense rivalry between all of them.

I don't really get the sense that there's like, I mean, I'm sure there is still at some level, but like the Vikings-Bears rivalry, it's just so far secondary to how much you both hate the Packers that it almost doesn't even feel like a rivalry at this point. It's like a come together to hate the Packers type thing. And it's just because they've been so good for so long. Like credit to them. They've had two amazing quarterbacks and now hopefully it's not a third, but it might be a third in Jordan Love. And they just like, man, everything about them.

Stupid Lambeau Field, too. I hate Lambeau Field. And the whole ownership situation. Get a real owner, Green Bay Packers. Don't have multiple owners. Your fans aren't the owners. Stop it. I have no attachment to the Packers but i do think it would

be so funny if jordan love has a hall of fame career and wins the super bowl like that would be i don't i know you don't but that to me would be one of the funniest things just for that entire division who have been so like mired in futility for so long to see them do it again to get away with it again, uh, would be absolutely phenomenal from an outsider's perspective. Obviously, obviously not from your perspective. I just wanted to read this one.

It's not really a, what we learned, but, uh, text in, Hey guys, I don't really have anything to add to the show today, but I have to get my name included.

Have a good one signed. Jess, the undertaker. That's a legit, that's a legit profession. Is that a profession yeah you don't know what an Undertaker is you just thought it was the wrestler yeah it's like uh oh my

goodness yes what I learned today Josh doesn't know what an Undertaker is wait what do you know it's a job of course I know it's a job what did you think it was I just thought it was his name oh I see.

Don't you understand? But he's like, it's the whole undead theme. He's like the zombie guy. You don't understand the connection there? No. It's like a mortician. Coming out of the casket. The casket, yeah. I mean, I don't think a lot of people go by Undertaker.

I think probably they're called morticians, mostly. I don't know. I would go by Undertaker. That's way cooler. That's so sick. That's so cool. No, I didn't know. I would go by Undertaker. That's way cooler. That's so sick. That's so cool. I didn't know. I thought it was just the wrestler. Wow. This is amazing. Josh. Big jinx

there. We're all blown away. I didn't think it was that surprising either. Usually this is my rule. I'm really happy that you're here, Josh, because now I could pony this off to you. Every day is what we learned. Wow. Who knew? Most people, actually. Bill from Buffalo corrected me

on the Little League teams I played against in my own provincials back in the day, because apparently I didn't play against Wally. I played against other teams in Surrey, because Wally and Newton are not in the same division, because once again, Newton, at least in my time

very bad in Little League Baseball we had somebody text in I don't think they signed it but that they back in their Little League days played for Little Mountain against Wally in the provincial finals lost but they pulled a Connor McDavid and won the MVP

of the of the Little League tournament and the losing very braggy to say that But very humble to not sign it yeah That's true I love it they didn't sign It but whatever like it's a safe space Here that's not so sick you can brag About your youth sports accomplishments If you can't do it to the sports radio

Inbox where can you do it can really can We get a response to if he went up to accept the trophy or not? Or did he stay in the dugout? I was going to ask him, right? Did you? No, I was too broken up. I was in the dugout.

I was in the dugout with my friends. I'm not going out there to take that trophy. Josh, Peter in Cloverdale wants you to know that Hitman is not Bret Hart's middle name.

Oh. Legally, it's not his real middle name. What about The Rock? That's not his real name. No, it's Dwayne Johnson. Oh, my goodness. Josh learning a lot today.

Learning a lot. Although Steve Austin's first name is actually legally Stone Cold, so that sneaks up on the room. Fair enough. Steve's actually his middle name. It was a really weird name in school. Stone Cold, get over here. Yeah.

650-650, Steve and North Sanich text in what we learned. Edmonton media sewering the former coach GM after they leave town, after defending them to the death when they were there. A tradition like no other. Yeah, and this is not unique to Edmonton, right? Like Boston is always the one that comes up to me that is just legendary for this, right? As soon as the guy leaves town, all of the knives come out, and you're picking

apart their resume and go, you know, just like, oh, they made this mistake and they did a mistake. But the whiplash from the praise for Ken Holland and, you know, building a team that gets to game seven of the Stanley Cup finals to, oh my goodness, how could he have possibly allowed Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to be in this situation? What a mess that we all saw coming. And look, a lot of people did see this coming, to be fair, that they were not handling these young players, that they have a history of not handling these young players in the right way. Evan Bouchard, who's on a bridge deal, right?

Another example of this. But again, the turnaround from all praise all the time, you know, he's Ken Holland, he's a legend, to, oh my gosh, he completely botched this. It can be a little much sometimes yeah for sure and well the the thing i will say as well is i feel like people are kind of going overboard on how important broberg and holloway are it's like oh how didn't you get this done in january it's like well because it's philip roberg and dylan holloway yeah but they are really like they put. Okay, you can say that that they're not that important.

But then if you don't view them as really important for your future, you should have traded them for help. Right? Like that's the problem with that line of thinking is if they are so good to be untouchable. Right? And you're like, no, no, no. We need them in our system. We've got this plan for them for the future. Then you also have to handle

their contractual status better you have to figure out a way not to be in this position i think the problem is is like they kind of wanted to have it both ways and now this is the result that you left yourself very very vulnerable i will say in holland's defense like how often do we even see offer sheets of any kind so he probably wasn't like oh we're gonna get double offers you know what I mean? Because it's like, we've never seen that before. At the same time,

they could have done better to handle this situation. Herb from Wally, what I learned is that you don't know the difference between Little League and BC minor baseball. People are really mad

about this. Dude, I was 10. I was, I like, I don't remember. All I remember is that I played baseball when I was younger and I played against teams from other cities sometimes,

and that Diane Watts did not throw the ball to me properly at one point. The mayor of Surrey. Did you tell that story? No. I'll tell it. So at the Provincials, which apparently was not the Little League Provincials, if I'm being precise. You fool.

Newton, the only way we qualified was because we were hosting. And so the mayor of Surrey threw out the first pitch for the tournament, Diane Watts at the time, and I got randomly selected from my team to be the catcher for the first pitch. What an honor!

And Diane Watts flubbed it. She threw it to, like, all the teams were lined up on the baselines, went to a kid from Abbotsford. Everybody cheered for the kid from Abbotsford. Ten-year-old Josh was upset, but that's okay. I didn't, like, make a big stink about it, but I was like, man, this was my moment.

Good for you. And then I won MVP on the losing team. 15 years later makes a stink about it. It makes a big stink about it. By the way, we'll wrap up on the story about the guy winning the MVP and the losing cause. He texted. It was J-Dog the Car Hog. Another new name invented after us telling people to get those names going.

And he says he did accept the trophy. I sulked and grabbed the award with a miserable look on my face in the picture of me accepting the award, which is absolutely fantastic. That's exactly how you want to accept it. Just looking absolutely miserable that your team lost. So thank you for texting that in, J-Doc. Thank you to everyone texting in. Thank you to our guests as well. We're back tomorrow for another edition of Halford & Brough here on Sportsnet 650.