Halford & Brough in the Morning - Yeah, I'm Thinking We're Making Progress

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk a big Canucks win & great performance from Elias Pettersson (6:00), plus they chat a massive Whitecaps victory last night with The Athletic MLS' Felipe Cardenas (28:09). 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.

Whoa, wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a f***ing Canucks? Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- You are listening to Halford and Brough. crap. That's my captain. The only team that hasn't come back in the third period so at least we broke that goose egg. Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. It's Halford and it is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as to you as well Hello, hello Alfred and bruff of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers They have a friendly knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for sales Financing service or parts we are in our one of the program our one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling Day Recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. You know, Jason, you don't get a lot of nights in this area. Vancouver sports I'm talking about like last night. The Vancouver Canucks won an emotional, highly charged affair in Calgary. The Vancouver Whitecaps won an improbable game, technically they drew, but they advanced on the away goals rule in Mexico.

The Abbotsford Canucks won last night as well. I don't want to say it's going to be an unforgettable Wednesday in the history of Vancouver sports, but it was a pretty good one. So we do have a lot to get to. We'll take pretty good at this point, but it was a pretty good one. So we do have a lot to get to. We'll take pretty good at this point, right? It was a good one. It was a pretty good one. It was pretty good. I had a lot of fun last night. We'll take it.

I spent a lot of time on the couch last night. So our guest list today begins at 6.30. Felipe Cardenas from The Athletic Soccer Writers is going to join us. So originally when we booked them, we just wanted to talk about, you know, all the consternation about this Apple MLS TV deal. We, they had a big article up at the athletic where they interviewed some anonymous executives anonymously and we're talking about the league. And then the white caps went out and got a crazy, very improbable result last night against Monterey in Mexico to advance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. So we'll talk to Felipe about all that at 630. 730 Brandon Astle play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks is gonna join us. What a great night for the organization. Abbey got their third straight win last night a 2-1 decision over Bakersfield.

We'll talk to Brandon about that. You know the winners of three of their last four, four of their last five. Who's cooking in Abbey right now? Who's doing the business for the Abbotsford Canucks? How are things shaping up for the postseason? Abbotsford is very much in playoff, good playoff shape going into the Calder Cup playoffs. So we'll talk to Brandon Astle about that. Huge arcira. Yeah.

Two points already. Yeah, he's had a big impact in a short window for the Abbotsford Canucks. So Brandon Astle join us at 7.30 to talk about that. At eight o'clock, it's the Drancer, Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk. Big gutsy win in the shootout yesterday for your Vancouver Canucks, four-three in Calgary,

in the second of a back-to-back, and the first time, and I can't believe this stat, so I'm saying it early, the first time all season, 24 opportunities, the first time all year 24 opportunities the first time all year The Canucks trailed going into the third period yet managed to win a hockey game It's crazy that when it's March 13th, and it's the first time it happened all year, but they did it Talk it knew it too. He knew it right away. Yeah. Yeah. He said in the post game He was like it was nice to cross that off the list

So Drancer at eight Brandon Astlele at seven 30, Felipe Cardenas at six 30. We are once again doing two giveaways on the show today at 8 a.m. Monster trucks. Yes, the monster jam at Pacific Coliseum, Friday, March 21st, four packet tickets to see the monster trucks in late March. If you want to win the tickets, be caller number seven at 8 a.m. The number here is 604-280-0650. That number again 604-280-0650. At 8 15 this morning, four packet tickets to the Vancouver International Auto Show. It's an automotive weekend. That goes from March 19th to 23rd, so it's the same weekend as the

Monster Trucks. Again, a four of tickets to give away. Be caller number seven at 815 this morning. 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. We get giveaways, we got guests, we got a lot to get into. So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

What happened? I missed all the action because of our movie. We know how busy your life? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'm moving. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety

Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. In their biggest game of the year today, the Vancouver Canucks came away with a 4-3 win in the shootout in Calgary on Wednesday night. Elias Pettersson tied the score with under seven minutes remaining,

scored in the shootout. Connor Garland got the winner in the shootout. Canucks with a huge win in Calgary and now Vancouver and Calgary tied on 71 points for the final wild card spot in the West. So I know we'll probably get to a few storylines from this game, including the return of Quinn Hughes and whether or not Connor Zeri deserves a one game

suspension for elbowing, but considering it's this show and we talk about Elias Pettersson a lot on this show, I think we should note that he's starting to show some real progress. And I don't know if there's a John Wick reference where John Wick is like, am I making progress? Yeah. Yeah. I'm thinking we're making progress. I'm thinking I'm making some progress, right? Like if we had that line, because the whole like,

is he back thing, like it just, it's getting a little much. It's a bit tired. And we honestly keep getting fooled once in a while. So like progress is what we want to see. I'm thinking I'm back. All right. I'm thinking I'm making progress is a hilarious line by the way.

I'm thinking I'm making some progress. So. Could you imagine the scriptwriters at John Wick, they're like, could we punch this up a little bit? No, no, I really like the progress line. Don't change it. All right.

So there have been six games in March for Elias Pedersen. Uh, March 1st was that game down in Seattle where they lost 6-3 and he had that one chance where he was coming downhill with the shot and he didn't. And that wasn't good, right? So the next game was against Anaheim, it was a three, two win. And at the very least he had three shots on goal in that game. The game after that, Minnesota, he ripped home that one timer and it was like, there it is. That's the one.

Next game came against Dallas and he didn't earn his ice time. Right? That was kind of a step back. The game against Montreal, um, you know, his line along with Bester, I mean, he was a minus two on the night, but he had a goal. Yes. He ripped home that Rister from, from the top,

had his feet moving, opening up shooting lanes. That's good. And then I would say his, his best game of, of the month was last night in Calgary and you know, the game tying goal, I know some of the Petey haters out there will say, will say it was an open net. I could have scored that. What stood out to me was his poise with the puck when he got it in the corner before he got it back to Mancini.

It was Hubertou that could have made a play, but Hubertou's a forward, so it's kind of like, well, I don't want to get stuck down in the corner with Leas Pedersen, so I'm going to make sure that I cover my man, which I guess is the right move, but Pedersen, I don't know if he recognized that, that was Hubert O, but he was like, okay, well, I'm just going to hold onto the puck then. Yep. And he looked calm and cool and poised with the puck.

He eventually did get it back to Mancini and credit to Mancini for getting away a quick shot that went on goal, low, hard shot, nothing fancy. But Pedersen, after he had passed the puck to Mancini, got those little feet moving and he got to the net. And you know when they say that when you're playing well, the puck follows you? A lot of the time it's because you're going to areas

like Pedersen went to. And again, credit to Mancini, good shot. Dustin Wolfe with the rebound, right to Petey Stick. And I think he actually had to make a little bit of a slight adjustment to put that in, but he buried it with confidence too, right? And again, we're really putting this guy under the microscope, but if we're going to rip this guy

when he doesn't play well, we have to praise him when he's making progress. And I think that's the best way to put it. And I do think there's something to the fact that when was it that Rick Tuckett said, we're starting to see Pedersen put the work in. Right? Like I know a lot of people will say everything changed when they had that

media session and kind of like admitted that, you know, I'm not perfect and kind of made a little bit of an apology to IMAQ. He said, I didn't mean what I said there. I was frustrated, et cetera, et cetera. That might've been it. That might, that might've been cathartic for him to get some things off his chest. But he, but Tauke also said like, yeah, I've

seen him put in the work. I've, I've watching him doing things that he hasn't done all season. And you know, we were talking about this yesterday, we were like, okay, well, where was that for the rest of the season? Well, it doesn't matter at this point, right? We'll get, we'll figure that out in the off season

because the Canucks are in a dogfight for a playoff spot and it's just so encouraging him to see him making progress. So it's interesting that you focused on that part of that talk at Presser and those remarks particularly, because I remember the exact same remarks and I think you've got a point there. The thing that stood out for me though,

was in that same media availability when Rick Tocket, and I'm gonna paraphrase here, but Rick Tocket essentially said, hey look, wasn't great over the first 60 games of the season, but he's got a chance to erase all of it over the final 20 of the season. That was the crux of all of it. And I was like, okay, this is pretty symbolic on a number of levels.

One, it's the coach saying that, hey, we're not giving up on you and we can turn this around. And two, it was finding opportunity where there was a patch of darkness. Like the first 60 games of the year, the team underachieved, underperformed. It was a disappointing campaign.

So if you wanna talk about the whole is he back or is he not narrative, which quite frankly has become a meme at this point, like as we were pointing out in the intro, look at it like this. If Pedersen can meaningfully contribute to getting this team into the postseason, then you've got an entirely different conversation going to the off season.

Because talk it later in front of them. Meaningful contributions in March. He's got to be a point of game player, I would say. If you want to get it down, boil it down to whatever. Yeah. And if you want to look at it even deeper, and this will pivot off into the next point I want to make, it's going to be almost exclusively reliant on two guys, Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson.

You saw the difference that Hughes made last night, what a Quinn Hughes-less team looks like against Montreal the night prior, and what a team featuring Quinn Hughes looks like. Hughes almost played 30 minutes last night, was again, an absolute driver throughout. But his most meaningful contribution on the night, as crazy as this sounds, might've been in the post game. He did a walk-off interview with

Sportsnet Calgary's Ryan Leslie, and I got about four texts in the post game. He did a walk off interview with Sportsnet Calgary's Ryan Leslie. And I got about four texts in the aftermath being like, did you hear what Hughes said? Did you catch that interview? Did you hear what he said to Ryan Leslie? And I cut the tail end of it, so I went back and rewound it. And this was a captain sticking up

and laying it out for his guy. Not just any guy, but his guy. I'm gonna play it now. This is Quinn Hughes on Elias Pedersen following a very dramatic and very emotional and very important four, three shootout win over Calgary last night in Calgary. Really happy for him.

Took a lot of crap this year and, you know, we obviously need him at this point in time with 17 games left and showed up today, you know, we obviously need him at this point in time with 17 games left and showed up today, you know, brought his a game and we're going to continue to need him to do that. But I'm obviously proud of him and he's a competitive guy too. You know, you don't get to the level that he's gone to without having that, you know, inner jam and desire. So it's been, um, hard little run for him, but he's a, he's a great player and he's, he's going to be just fine.

And you saw it tonight. When we talk about giving Pedersen another crack and not giving up on him and saying, you got a chance to turn this around, you got a chance to prove this, there's several stakeholders involved with that. Tauke is one of them for sure. And I think Tauke probably his future,

and by his future, I mean like him deciding his future is whether he thinks this group can get it done or not. So they've got a proving ground over these 20 games. Pedersen has a lot to prove over the 20 game segment that we're talking about to management and to everybody else. And then there's another really important stakeholder in all this and it's the captain, Quinn Hughes, who obviously this organization needs him

and should do whatever it can to appease him moving forward. I would even issue an addendum to my earlier remarks where I was like, I think that if this is gonna work longterm, they're gonna have to part ways with Pedersen. My addendum is now brackets, asterisk, unless Quinn Hughes wants to keep him. In which case you have to, I'm not even joking on how stupid that sounds.

No, I don't think it sounds stupid at all. I don't think it's. You have to consider it, you have to consider it, and here's the thing, if they are able, and I'm just boiling it down for simplicity's sake, but those two in particular, to take this very flawed and very, very un-perfect team into the postseason. If they can do it, there is a building block

there moving forward. But they gotta do it because they're not even in a playoff spot this morning. Like Calgary's still got them on the tiebreaker because they got a game in hand. So we're not saying that this is a done deal or it's a layup, but last night was very profound. I think you saw it on all those guys' faces

after Garland scored. That meant something to them last night. You know, when you were little and your parents would say, don't worry, everything's going to be okay. And it felt good, it felt reassuring, even if they're lying to you. Which they were most of the time. Most of the time, yeah. Yeah.

When, when Hughes said, he's going to be just fine, I bet a lot of people felt reassured. I believe him. He's going to be just fine. Well, as I was saying yesterday, I'm like, everything that Canucks do move wise going forward should be with Quintin Hughes' blessing. They should be like, Quintin, what do you want us to do? Every single move. Quintin, what would you like?

He's such a good leader. Not only is he a hard worker and a courageous player. We all know he's an amazing player, right? Mm-hmm. But for him to be playing through what he's playing through right now, not everyone would do that. And, you know, when, when Hughes plays, there's a big difference between, you know, like if, not

everyone when they're playing injured knows that they're going to be targeted all night anyway, you know? And Hughes knows that he's going to go out there and the Canucks went down to five defensemen so he had to play more than he probably would have otherwise. He played what? 30 minutes last night? 29, 31, 30 minutes. He played, yeah, he played a lot last night. What? His first game back. What always stands out to me when Hughes speaks, more often than not, he kind of deflects from the talk about himself and talks about someone else.

And when given the opportunity, he talks someone up and that's what leaders do, right? Like, you know, when you talk about guys making players better on the ice, that's what great players do, you know, when you talk about guys making players better on the ice, that's what great players do. I know this guy just, you know, whether it's a Hughes and the defence partner he plays with, or, you know, think about some of the great forwards in the league, especially good centres, they make other, they make

the players around them better. Yep. Um, that's what a captain has to do. And Queen was obviously one of the guys behind the scenes who tried to mend the rift between JT and Elias. Sure. And he said, when it was all done, he was like, I feel a little bit guilty as the captain of the team

that it got to this point. said when it was all done, he was like, I feel a little bit guilty as the captain of the team that it got to this point. I'm sure he tried his best and we heard lots of things about like there were meetings arranged and I'm sure Quinn was involved in what happened with JT Miller and JT Miller's not here anymore. And I think Quinn is probably like, we got to lift PD up here. You know?

Yep. Instead of probably some of the things that J.T. was saying to Elias Petters. Yeah. Okay. So I want to whip through some of the other talking points from last night's game because there was a lot of them. Again, I want to say, and I want to reiterate just how crazy this is. This was the first game that we're at game 63.

It's the first game that they won all year when trailing after two periods. They had 24 opportunities prior. And look, some of this had to do with Calgary last night. They threw to the panel with Bourne and Gazdick and everyone else afterwards. And Bourne astutely pointed out, he's like, hey, that was a great win for the Canucks

and good on them for, you know, finally getting that comeback. But Calgary stopped playing hockey in the third period. They just stopped trying to do anything that made them successful in the first and second. Ryan Huska, the head coach, alluded to it earlier. But you know what the thing is, is if I was the Calgary Flames last night, I also would have tried to just salt the game away because the Vancouver Canucks had hit their two goal total. The thought of them scoring a third, and let's's be honest for about two-thirds of the third period it didn't look great. Yeah they were you know piling a lot of shots on goal but

it felt like the same thing. This team was going to keep pushing and pushing and pushing but not being able to get it across the line only this time they were able to and that was a big thing from the Canucks. Getting the win obviously was huge, but mounting a comeback in the third period on the second of a back-to-back was big. The Connors Zeri hit, and I'm calling it a hit because I don't have another apt descriptor at the ready.

It was a cheap shot for sure. In case you were wondering why the Canucks were down to five defensemen last night, Elias Pettersson the defensemen Put a pretty big hit on Nazm Kadri early in the game Zary and I feel bad because I'm the one that's always advocating for this stuff like he jumped in right away No questions asked and went after the guy that hit his teammate What are you gonna say? You're just ready to go Greg. I thought you're gonna

Any you're talking we got some really good PD audio We'd like you to hear really quickly. Okay, if you have some moment, you know what let's try it People keep asking if I'm back and I haven't really had an answer But now yeah, I'm thinking I'm making progress You guys cook that up in the lab pretty quick We got to play that for drance cuz drz tweeted out last night that he was back. Yeah. He's, you could say he's back making progress because he's made progress before.

Anyway, I think the other, the other Pedersen, I do want to focus on him. Connor's very, I'm just going to throw out, Connor's very needs to be suspended. He's got to be suspended for that. Oh, I'm so dirty man, I can't believe it. Yeah, I know what you're saying. We want the Canucks to stick up for each other. I'm having internal turmoil about this. There were some moments last night where I think if the Canucks hadn't won that game

last night, there'd be a lot of people texting in, why wouldn't you stick up for... Quinn Hughes is out there getting bullied a little bit. Right. I had a text from my buddy, you know, like, why doesn't this team stick up for each other? They stay, okay, here's the thing though, just to play the devil's advocate, because I know what's supposed to come in. They did the appropriate response to the Lombard roughing up and then cross check is they went

out and scored on the power play. And then I loved Hughes, jarring it, Rasmus Anderson afterwards. Like, it's great. That's what you want to do. I'm just saying I have long advocated for if someone knocks your guy, you don't think about what you're gonna do. You go ahead and do it. And Zary did that.

Now, the negative side of that is that he knocked DPD out of the game. DPD came back for one more shift, took a spin, wasn't able to go, and then they ruled him out for the rest of the night. So, came back for one more shift, took a spin, wasn't able to go, and then they ruled him out for the rest of the night. So, I mean, the one thing I'm advocating for, like the immediate response, severely hamstrung the Canucks because they were down to five defensemen for the

rest of the night. So I was a bit. That's why I think he needs to be suspended. I know he got. I'm with you on that. And I think the refs called it interference or something like that. I don't know if they saw the extent of what he did, but I hope the Department of Player Safety takes a

look at that today and gives them a one game suspension. I don't want to see a final one to see a one game suspension because Elias Pedersen did nothing wrong on the play. It was a completely clean hit on Nazem Qadri and I think Qadri was preparing to just get up and be just be like, yeah, I went over the middle of the ice and the young kid got me with a good hit.

I'm okay. Let's play on. And Zary's out there throwing elbows. So the standings right now, the Canucks are still not in a playoff spot. They're tied in a playoff spot. They're tied in points with Calgary, each team has 71, but Calgary has a game in hand.

They also have one more regulation win than the Vancouver Canucks have. So there's a lot of work to be done. And we also should mention that Kevin Lankton went back to back. Yep. And, you know, like I, it was funny. I was watching a bit of the, uh, the intermission panel as well and they're like, they're kind of getting at something that I've been thinking,

like we need to stop being so hysterical about a goalie playing back to backs. Like it can be done, right? I realize it's not ideal for both performance reasons. I think there's a lot of information out there that the second game of a back to back for a goalie is not as good. And I realize you run the risk of injury when you overplay your goalies. Like that's obvious, but this is desperation time for the Vancouver Canucks.

And by the way, they have another back to back coming up. Vancouver Canucks. And by the way, they have another back to back coming up. They play at home Saturday against Chicago and they play Sunday against Utah. So it is a very similar situation where they played Montreal, which is not a team that they're in a playoff race. And then the second part was a very important game against Calgary. This is the same Chicago is in their conference, but they're not on a playoff race. And then the second game is against Utah, which is one of the teams they're in a playoff race with. So I'm not counting on Thatcher Demko being available to them.

No, I don't even know if he's going to be available to them the rest of the season. This is not me reporting, but I, you know, if he's back great, give him a shot. But you know, right now I almost assume that this is just like all Lankanen. I'm with you on that. I, you know what I mean? Like, I, I don't know if that's, I don't know how that's going to end, but Rick Tauke and the coaching staff and the goal-tending staff have some decisions to make because in

theory you could say, all right, if we want to play C-lobs or maybe if Demko returns to practice this week and he would be ready to go, you'd give him the game against Chicago. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And save Lankenen for Utah. That would give him the game against Chicago. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And save Lankton in for Utah. That would give him some rest. He's going to have some rest anyway.

You know, today's probably going to be a day off for the Canucks. I haven't checked the PR. They'll probably practice tomorrow and then they've got the games on the weekend. But you know, it's like, I hope the Canucks don't feel too satisfied about what happened in Calgary because this coming weekend, it'll all come tumbling down if they don't perform well. It is a full team day off today courtesy of Canucks PR. Okay, we got to get going to break.

When we come back, we are going to spend some time talking about what the Vancouver White Caps did last night. They are through to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals. This is probably the biggest and most improbable result that the Vancouver Whitecaps have gotten since they joined MLS. It was a stunner. They were huge underdogs to get through, but they did. We'll discuss that and a whole lot more regarding MLS with Felipe Cardenas from the Athletic. He's going to join us next on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I'm just trying to be the best player I can be every game.

I'm thinking I'm making progress. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. podcast. Today in the second leg, they advance on away goals without their star player, Ryan Gold, and a laundry list of injuries and everything stacked against them. The Canadian side with one of the most memorable wins in Major League Soccer history. 6.33 on a Thursday. I told you it was a good night for Vancouver Sports. You're listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

Halford and Bruff 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, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Felipe Cardenas from The Athletic is going to join us in just a moment here. A kick off hour one. Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star

Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. When we originally booked Felipe onto the show, we wanted to talk about his article at the Athletic where he did a polling and a bunch of questions of anonymous executives, specifically the Apple TV deal with MLS, you know, a lot of people locally have been talking about it, how hard it is to watch Whitecaps game. Then the Whitecaps went out and got a crazy result

last night in Monterey to advance to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. So the timing on this is perfect. We're very excited to bring our next guest onto the line. As mentioned, senior writer for the athletic, Felipe Cardenas here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Felipe, how are you?

Good morning guys, how are you guys doing? I'm doing great, I'm doing great. I like when you guys pivot without telling me that now we're gonna actually talk about the White Cats and what a night for them last night. It was a fun watch. I know that I'm not throwing you on the spot because I follow you on Twitter and I know that you were following it along with a lot of for them last night. It was a fun watch. I know that I'm not throwing you on the spot because I follow you on Twitter and I know that you were

following it along with a lot of other people last night. For the listeners that either didn't get a chance to watch or don't understand the significance of what the Whitecaps did last night, can you try to put it into context, it was a draw in Monterey but that was more than enough thanks to the away goals rule to push the Whitecaps on to the quarterfinals of this competition? Yeah, I mean it was a huge win because you know first of all it's just it's an underdog

story. You know, nobody, you know, I think perhaps not nobody but you know Monterey is a five-time winner of the CONCACAF Championship Cup. They are a very wealthy club. They're one of the wealthiest clubs in North America. They recently signed Sergio Ramos, the defender, the former Real Madrid winner, who's won everything in his career,

including the World Cup with Spain in 2010. And honestly, they're a club that has a lot of European players. They've really invested in that first team anytime they're on the pitch. Monterey is a- Felipe Cardenas from The Athletic here on the Haliford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650.

So I'm gathering you probably didn't watch the match last night. I did not, no. Fair to say. So not only did the Whitecaps get this result, the craziest part of all of it is they kind of did it with their second team. So no Ryan Gould. Okay.

Because he's hurt. Because he's hurt. No Sam Adekube because he's hurt. No Jaden Nelson because he's hurt. They gave their starting. No Sam Atacube cause he's hurt. No Jaden Nelson cause he's hurt. They gave their starting goalie, Yohei Takayoka the night off. They didn't start Brian White. They didn't start Matias LaVorta.

It does not sound like they went into this game expecting to win. They didn't. They gave up a goal in the fourth minute. And I was like, well, it's gonna be a long night in Mexico. They weren't playing at Monterey Stadium cause there was a Shakira concert booked there.

So they had a, it was a neutral site in Mexico. But anyway, it long night in Mexico. They weren't playing at Monterrey Stadium because there was a Shakira concert booked there. So they had a, it was a neutral site in Mexico. But anyway, it was still in Mexico. So I'm watching this game and I'm like, okay. They went down on the fourth minute. I'm like, well, the bright side is, I'll be able to pivot and pay complete attention to the Canucks game because this one feels like it's over. And then the Whitecaps just started playing.

And I mean, just going at Monerey to where I'm like, oh, well they're creating some chances. This is interesting. And then early in the second half, they scored to make it one, one. And I'm like, well, the very least, we've got extra time looming. One, one in Vancouver, one, one in Mexico, okay.

And then they brought Brian White on as a sub and he scored and now all of a sudden. Was Brian White like, I didn't think I was gonna play today. I don't think he thought he was going to play. I think when that game kicked off, they were like, anyone that usually plays is not playing tonight. Yeah.

You get those games in beer league where it's like, hey, end of the bench guys, it's your time to shine. Get out there and play. They had a 19, the Whitecaps did, had a 19 year old kid that they drafted out of North Carolina. Right. Who had played, I don't know,

a hundred minutes of professional football and he was out there playing last night. I'm just picturing Brian White with a ticate at the end of the bench. He's signaling for the waiter. He's like, come over here. And then all of a sudden he had to go in and score. It was, okay, do we have Felipe back on the line? Okay, we'll try this again. Felipe, we got you now? I'm here. Sorry about that, guys. Bluetooth is still a new technology in our life. OK, all good. You were midway through talking about the significance of the Whitecaps victory last night.

Yeah, it was huge. I think it's a big victory for Jesper Sorensen as well. I think in MLS, traditionally when new coaches come in, especially foreign coaches, there's always a stigma. Can they do it? Can they adapt? Sorensen, the Danish coaches, there's, there's always a stigma, you know, can they do it? Can they adapt? Sorensen, the Danish coach, obviously having replaced, uh, the Sartini, who

is someone that I think we all got used to, if any Sartini became sort of like the face of the club and now under the radar, you know, Jesper Sorensen has this team playing well, I thought last night, the one thing that I would take away from just their, their identity, their style of play, very structured, the shape was there throughout the night. They were never intimidated by Monterey who has a lot of stars as I mentioned before. I really thought the Whitecaps just battled throughout, were really difficult to break down. In the end, like you mentioned before, the away goals, which is still an important part of the CONCACAP Champions Cup, you know, that's the difference, but that's all you

need and the Whitecaps have advanced. Wasn't just last night against Monterey that's been sort of the shocker for the season, everything the Whitecaps have done. I know MLS Soccer, all their pundits had them somewhere between 8th and 14th in their preseason predictions in the Western Conference. There were not a lot of expectations going into this year. They're undefeated in their last six outings across all competitions. They're atop the MLS standings. How big a surprise is this for you in particular? I don't know if you did the same preseason prognostications, but how surprised are you at this Whitecaps start overall? I'm very surprised and I'm always one to,

I'm very happy to admit when I'm wrong. It's like I'm wrong sometimes and like, no, I did not have the Whitecaps at the top of the Western Conference or even battling for the Western Conference title. I think they're a team that's gonna have them in the playoffs and they're a tricky side to defeat. You know, you look at these last, uh, playoff runs where they meet at LAFC

and, and, and they play them really tough. You know, it's, I think it's a team that, uh, most teams, you know, in the postseason and perhaps even now in the regular season, you know, don't really want to see the white caps, not because they're full of stars and, uh, and it's a side that might, you know, just throttle you, you know, four or five nil, but it's a, you're going to have to bring your lunchbox. You gotta bring your lunch pail. You're going to have to really tie up the boots tight and, and be ready to play. And, you know, as they bring in a little bit more, uh, creativity to that side and they just, uh, honestly get used to

Jesper Sorensen and his tactics, it's going to be a team that's going to figure out ways to get results and what they've done in MLS so far, undefeated, you know, eight goals scored, two against, it is impressive. I know it's early and this is, you know, MLS as we know is a bit of a marathon, but so far so good for the Whitecaps, impressive run. Felipe, since we're on the topic of the white caps, we'll get to the survey in, in just a sec. Um, I did want to ask you, since I'm sure you're a

little more plugged in than I am in MLS circles. Um, has there been any talk that you've heard about relocation for the white caps? Because there are some, uh some worried fans up here. There's only a year left on their lease at BC Place, which is not exactly an ideal stadium for them. And they are for sale and a lot of people have been wondering, considering the interest from a few cities down south in gaining an MLS franchise, if

this team could be on the move? Yeah, like I don't have reporting to add, you know, like what I've heard. I think it's certainly a possibility. And when you look at, like you said, you know, that there's still markets in the United States that want an MLS team. MLS expansion is something that is not stopping. You know, I think getting to 30 teams was a bit of a goal and an objective over the last decade. Now they're there. But I don't see MLS just simply pulling the plug and saying, we're good here. There are still markets that are very, I think, ripe for an MLS side. Vegas is still one that keeps popping up a lot.

Sacramento, I know, had a run and their big process was a bit choppy and I'm not really sure where they stand right now. But Vegas is the one that I think is still the hot, hot market, just in sports in general. And so, listen, me personally, I think it would be a shame. Honestly, I have family that has lived think it would be a shame. You know, honestly, I think, you know, for, for my, you know, I have family that has lived in Vancouver. They love it.

It's, it's a wonderful city. Uh, and I think when you even compare, uh, you know, the, the current status of Canadian football, when you go to Toronto, like what's, what's happening there, uh, and then you, you sort of turn your head and look at Vancouver and there's just like a steady flow, uh, of results and the fans do support that side. You know, it would be a shame. It's going to come down to you. Like you said, like what happens, you know, with the new ownership group

and what entices that new ownership group, do they want to stay and really build off of something that is established or do they go with the shiny new object, which is in my opinion, the MLS footprint? Where can we establish ourselves where we haven't been yet? And that's going to be the push and pull of this current relocation, this situation with Vancouver where it's going to be a wait and see process. We're speaking to Felipe Cardenas from The Athletic here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. MLS is such a kind of unique,

intriguing league. It runs at a different time than a lot of traditional leagues. They've done different things and very unique things with their TV model. They've acquired Lionel Messi and that's a big signature thing for the league. I do want to focus on this TV deal here because I know in your piece up at the Athletic, the anonymous executive survey, you talked a lot about this and the feedback, maybe dare I say blowback from some of the executives. Philippe, when we talk about the white caps here, a lot of people, a lot of the feedback that we get

is that it's increasingly difficult for people to watch the games and consume the product, and that to me is problematic. What did you glean from that anonymous executive survey about what people think at the executive level about MLS's deal with Apple TV? That a lot of the executives in MLS, people that make a living in the league,

that make important decisions, certainly on the pitch, because we're talking to sporting directors and some general managers and other executives, that even for them, the Apple deal, you know, a $2.6 billion deal, a 10 year deal, uh, it's problematic to your point in that, you know, it there's a lot of things that they, I think they value, you know,

Apple as a brand is a massive, massive brand as a platform. It's an, it. When you go to the MLS soccer, MLS season pass on Apple, the presentation is okay. It's good. You sort of know how to navigate throughout that platform. But I think when you just make a drastic and abrupt move to one place, MLS is not a league where TV viewership is something that defines the league, attendance defines the league, but TV viewership continues to be really lacking. So when you remove the linear aspect of television and put it behind a paywall, you're really asking a lot of the viewers. And so I don't think it's really a point of I can't find the games because you know where they are now. They're on Apple. It's do you want to pay for it? Do you want to pay for another subscription? Is it worth it to you as a fan of this team when perhaps

you can just either go to the stadium or tune in when you think it really matters, perhaps in the playoffs and wait for a deal from Apple. Sign up for free and watch the playoffs. So I think my takeaway was that a lot of the GMs and sporting directors still see this as a work in progress. Some of them are completely against it, thinking that it hasn't pushed the league forward, that MLS is not a league and a brand that is strong enough right now to be put behind the paywall.

And the fact that still so many of the games are all on at the same time, it does limit variety and it really does put every single team sort of like in one bucket. And you're asking the fans to choose which game do you want to watch? And so I look at it. My takeaway from the anonymous survey is that there's work to do on the TV side. Some GM say we need to get rid of the Apple deal. You know, we need a TV deal like TV deals are ultimately what do define,

I think, revenue for sports leagues and MLS is certainly not the NBA or the NFL in this case. And for them to just think, hey, everyone's going to come on and there's not much promotion we need to do. It's on Apple. See you later. I think it's a bit naive. It's a bit naive from MLS. And there's certainly, I think, still work to do around the TV deal. We'll see if that's something that happens within the next year or running into the World Cup. I don't know if this was addressed in the survey or not, but when you talk to people about the league,

where do they see this league in 10, 15, 20 years? Because there's just so much money being invested into it. And even though there are issues, like they got to figure out, you know, when they're going to play the games, are they going to have a traditional soccer schedule or they're going to be a summer league? There are issues with the TV deals, you know, there's some problematic franchises. Overall, there's a lot of money being sunk into this league.

And with some of the personalities that are involved in it, like they don't want to be associated with like a B-league and I'm just wondering where they see it. Like do they one day envision, nobody yell at me please, do they one day envision being a legitimate competitor with some of the top European leagues? legitimate competitor with some of the top European leagues? Well, I think that depends on who you ask. I think MLS from a league perspective believes that they can eventually get there and that they're close. Over 30 years, they've gradually made smart decisions to get to the point where

depending on which metric you want to look at, they are a top 10 league in the world. You know, that's, I think it depends on who who's running that survey. It can be very subjective. I think we know that there is a huge talent gap between, you know, just North American leagues. That includes League of Mechies, which is a very, very lucrative league and continues to expand and has a passion of fan base, big clubs and billionaire owners, you know, it's still the talent level to from Europe, from Europe's top five leagues, it's still very pretty drastic. And so it really does depend on on who you ask, I think from

from walking away from the survey and asking people in the league, you know, where's this league going? You know, what will happen after 2026 in this very monumental moment with the World Cup coming to the U.S., Canada and Mexico? I didn't come away thinking that everyone is just fired up that some game changer is going to magically happen after this major tournament. And that also Lionel Messi has done a lot. You know, I think he is showcasing the league to everyone in the world. Everyone in the world that follows football knows that Lionel Messi plays in America, plays in Major League Soccer. But is that enough to progress the league?

I think a lot more has to happen. One of the bigger takeaways from that survey around that question wasn't necessarily what happens in the future, but there's a very specific question about like, how does, what, what, where, where does investment need to go in MLS to grow the league? And that's where there's a lot of division. Some, some sporting directors still believe, Hey, pump money into the academies and pump money into youth development.

While others were like, no, like we can't continue to throw money at youth development in academies that honestly are the academy system is still in on on training wheels in this country and across MLS. When you want to, if you want to really make a difference from a viewership perspective, from a perception perspective, you need to invest more in the first team. And so that was the takeaway if you want this league to really make a difference and to quiet the distractors Quiet the haters around the world then open up the first team spending and allow these teams are nonetheless To do to have a more strategic hold on their on their squads

And so that's what I see even when I travel around South America or speak to sources You know around the world everyone is like on a from a sporting perspective There's a lot of respect for what happens in MLS But fans still aren't sure if they should care about MLS around the world Real quick before we let you go because Messi is such a driving force and very uniquely Like he's a he's a signature piece of the league not just one of the franchises in the league But the league can you tell our listeners a franchises in the league, but the league. Can you tell our listeners a little bit more about the concept of messy fatigue and how much more

juice MLS can squeeze from a guy that's getting closer to 40 years old? Yeah, messy fatigue, I think it started last year, last summer, and it's really a notion that we've noticed on social media, we've noticed even on the stories that we write at the athletic when fans comment, it's turned into like what?

Like another messy story, why don't you write about anything else? You know, messy, messy, messy. Even some of the sporting directors admitted that the promotion and the focus on messy in Major League Soccer, even from a league perspective, can be tiresome, but at the same time, they understand it. And my personal opinion is, I wrote it in the story.

I think it's an interesting gripe to have when a league that we've just talked about it, guys, it needs as much promotion as possible. It needs as much more storylines, more narratives. And when you have perhaps the best player to ever play the game, one of the most famous human beings on the planet here in your league and you're tired of watching them play. I mean, that's a problem, I think, for just American soccer and the perception that some people have for fans of the game here. Like I still, I cover, I've been covering Messi closely

since 2021. So it's, it isn't, you know, the 22 year old Messi that just destroyed Europe, that scored over 500 goals. It's late stage Messi. And to this state, to this point, like when I watch him, I'm still like, I can't believe this guy's here. Like he still does some crazy stuff on the pitch. And so that is the tug of war. Do we appreciate greatness or do we want to focus more on other teams and other players? And that's really sort of the case study of Messi in the US. Has it been too much or are we not appreciative

of this moment? And so that is a very interesting topic. Messi fatigue for me, I think is something that's going to continue until he finally says, I'm done playing. Felipe, this was excellent, man. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it.

Enjoy the rest of the week and whatever else the future has in store. We'd love to do this again as the MLS season rolls on. Yeah, you guys know where to find me. Happy to join anytime, guys. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Thanks, Felipe. Yeah, Felipe Cardenas here on the Halford and

Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Get this, only one person, only one person texted in complaining about soccer talk after a big Canucks game. We're making progress, folks. We're making progress. Just like Petey. We're making progress. I think I'm making progress. Either that or people are just like, nope, I'm just fast forward the podcast.

Okay. And to be fair, he was a pretty good guest. He was a good guest. Very well spoken on the variety of things that are going on in the footballing world in North America. But anyway, back to the hockey. We go seven o'clock.

We've got an open segment coming up. So we'll dive back into the big four, three shootout victory for the Vancouver Canucks last night in Calgary. Any questions or comments, text them into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650650, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years.

Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. You're listening to the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about CIBC, smart everyday banking helps you easily track your spending with confidence. Get $450. Wow, $450. When you make the switch, visit cibc.com forward slash smart.