Farhan Lalji: Why is the new coach (Manny Malhotra) signing taking so long? It is time to start looking elsewhere?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
So, Kirsten Price from the Historic Wall Center, we welcome in TSN's West Coast Bureau Chief, the Dean of Vancouver Reporters. our friend, Mr. Farhan Lalji. How are you? Dean, wow.
Dean, wow. That was a BMAC moniker back in the day. Now you have officially made me feel old. You know what? In fact, IMAC has been doing this, I think, two years longer than I have. So we can make him the dean.
Yeah, but he only covers Canucks. You cover the full spectrum of Vancouver sports, Farhan. You're versatile. In fact, I saw you on the TSN World Cup team. He's a soccer reporter now, Blake. I'm talking about other sports.
No, I know. You know, it's been a long time coming. So I'll tell you a story. In 2004, I mean, like Mary and I got married. My wife, you know, she's half German. So two years later, we go to Germany to visit and the World Cup was happening. And I had turned down the World Cup assignments. Because I had done like two months of NHL playoffs. I had done the NBA finals. I was tired. I did not want to, you know, follow around a sporting event around a country I didn't know. And so when I showed up to Germany and a bunch of these family members hadn't come to the wedding, you know, a long way to go. And I explained to them that I had turned down the World Cup in Germany. Didn't go so well. You know, I coined the Becks commercial to Thomas Muller one day, the Germans don't do romance, they do beer.
I got none of that on that trip. No romance, no beer, no nothing, because I offended everybody by saying I wasn't going to cover the World Cup at that time. So now I'm excited about it.
And you're back in the good graces of your German in-laws.
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. The extended family. I was always in the good graces of the, of Mary's parents, but everybody else that was in Germany, not so much.
Well, when you say nine to a world cup, I mean, come on. I mean, you were very much crazy flowing against their culture.
There was Shiza mentioned during my call. There was a lot of that.
Yeah, that's fair. At what point do you get worried about the Manny Melhotra situation?
Getting there. Now, nothing that I have heard from anybody I've talked to closer to the subject would suggest that this has come off the rails at all. However, this shouldn't have taken this long, right? I mean, look, I was expecting a press conference two Mondays ago, two weeks ago. I understand that Manny wanted a healthy sum. I understand that he wanted a healthy term. And I understand why he would want that term given that he's entering a rebuild, right? And you don't want to be the guy that kind of sets the table for the next guy to take it over after you've done all the hard work, right? So I get why he would want a four-year term, but the GM only has a three-year term. So I could understand why they want to kind of
Marry those and limit that a little bit. You know, I don't know that Manny was asking for top of market money in terms of what an experienced NHL head coach is receiving. But I think he wanted significantly more than, let's say, the last first time guy with a similar resume in Spencer Carberry. So, you know, when you add all of that up, I understand why it took a little bit of time. But this is a group that has been completely aligned. Malhotra didn't have to go to Ryan Johnson and the Sedins and make sure they were on the same page. You've known they've been on the same page for quite some time, probably while Adam Foote was even employed and, and Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alvey were in their roles.
You knew that those other people were aligned. So I'm surprised it's taken this long and, and, you know, reading that Henrik saying that, you know, we've spoken to another, I think that's responsible. I think that's the thing they should be doing. And again, I, I think Manny Malhotra should be the head coach of this team. I think he's the right guy. I think eventually it's going to get done, but it shouldn't be too long.
The fact that they've gone cheap on Rian Johnson's contract... Aren't they saving money here? Like, even if Manny Malhotra is asking for a lot of money, this is not cap dollars.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–7:17
2
Why is the Manny Malhotra head coach signing taking so long?
7:17–8:26
3
What contract term and money disagreements are stalling the Canucks’ coach hire?
8:26–25:26
4
How do agent dynamics and Caleb Malhotra’s situation factor into negotiations?
25:26–34:15
5
Should the Canucks launch a broader coaching search if Malhotra falls through?
34:15–36:29
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Sekeres & Price Show
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