Halford & Brough in the Morning - A Good Rebuild Starts With Setting A Culture

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest hockey news with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli (2:25), plus they talk a pivotal time of the season for the Habs with Sportsnet Montreal Canadiens reporter Eric Engels (26:22). 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.

Sarah Valley. Sarah Valley. Syra Valley. Frank. Sarah Valley. Frank. Sarah Valley. Frank.

Frank. 702 and A Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them.

Today at sands that's trustee.com. We are now in our two of the program. Frank Serrali is going to join us in just a moment here. Our two is brought to by Jason Homonock at Jason. Dot Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online to Jason.

Dot mortgage. We're broadcasting live from the Kintech Studio, Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech. So before we get to Frank, I just want to say that sometimes it feels like as hockey media, We are, we're doing some sort of Ponzi scheme of excitement because I read, like, everyone's like, everyone's like, you know, like I saw, I saw an article by LeBron on the athletic and it was like, the trade deadline didn't meet expectations. Didn't quite deliver, but it might have set up an off season of explosive moves. and like you know if the off season doesn't it'll be like yeah but just wait till the trade

this is more of a trade deadline move it always whenever I get home yep I hear like how did the trade deadline go and I was like I was like yeah it's pretty quiet right and and I get like it's always quiet whenever you say there's going to be something big like nothing big really happens I'm like, yeah, but wait until free agency. Right. Well, I usually tell them, I'm like, first you have to wait for the draft. And then if the draft's a dead, you say, don't worry, though. July 1 is just around the corner.

Let's go now to the Able Auctions hotline. Frank Cerra Valley joins us now on the Halpert & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning of Frank. How are you? Pretty good. I'm really glad that you mentioned that was actually probably the perfect way to frame exactly how I feel about what just played out. And then, look, I love Pierre like a brother. And I know you guys do too.

I just, like, I read his column yesterday and I was like, okay, did we just invoke Connor McDavid and Austin Matthews moving in the same summer? Like, what, I mean, look, I guess like a theoretical possibility for sure. But the likelihood and the dangling of that, I just, you know, it felt like a bridge too far. Yeah. Let's start with the big picture here. We've talked about this a lot with the National Hockey League at large. It's when stacked up, especially to the other big sports in North America

that have massive roster turnover and big, splashy off seasons and these multiplayer trades or massive star players moving locales. We always dream about it for the NHL and kind of what you were alluding to, Jason, with the Ponzi scheme, but it never comes to. For example, Frank, most of the really interesting stories about, the trade deadline that just passed aren't about the deals that got done, but more about the teams that didn't get anything done.

So let's start there. Which of the teams really stood out to you in terms of ones that didn't do anything at last Friday's trade deadline? There's a bunch. I mean, you'd start with the Montreal Canadians who had at least one, if not two separate transactions

that were thwarted in the last handful of minutes before the deadline itself. And look, let's just take General Manager Kent Hughes at his own words in saying that we were close and it didn't happen. But that's always the dangerous part about diving into the what could have happened or what might have happened game is because there's two sides and two parties to these conversations and you go to them and seek information or background. And a lot of times there's two different stories on just how close a transatlantic. action really was. So Montreal stands out for sure in terms of

not getting it over the finish line and obviously this would have been an impactful trade for what they termed as a young, important player. I think some of the speculation that's been out there, at least based on what I can tell, is not

quite accurate. And I'll leave it at that. But then there were the Carolina Hurricanes who didn't get something done. They had tried on a bunch of players, including a couple that I think were off the board. The Boston Bruins were in the mix on a few different things. They didn't get anything done. Like, there were a lot of teams that wanted to, Utah wanted to make more noise than just McKenzie Uigher.

There were a lot of teams that were fishing for larger transactions. And I guess we could get to why that doesn't happen. But, yeah, like, doesn't mean that there was a lack of interest in trying to do something. Okay, obvious follow-up question. Didn't it happen? Well, I mean, I think the true answer is, and this is a moralistic answer for the entire sport, is there's a lot of really scared managers. Yeah.

I mean, let's talk about how the trade deadline typically works. You're dealing with trades that for the most part can't be judged. Two teams transacting in entirely different pools. one offloading pending on restricted free agents that on a team that doesn't have playoff aspirations or hopes to a team that's in contender mode that's trying to add and get better. There's like very rarely an actual transaction that exists where there's risk on both sides where you're dismantling one part of your team and the other team is dismantling part of theirs and we're going to see the results play out over the next six to eight weeks and then beyond.

Those almost never happen in season. It's always player for prospects or player for picks. And part of the reason for that is it's safe. You don't get called on the carpet. There's no judgment. You can't judge any of these deals for three to five years from now, for the most part. and whether or not you got a second or a first or a second and a third, you can quibble on, you know, hey, 30 picks before or after,

whatever the case may be. And there's a risk aversion to really putting your team out there, opening up your roster, and making decisions that could have lasting impacts. Yeah. I sometimes wonder if there's enough talent to go around in this league because the general managers just seem so terrified to trade away talent, even if it's not perfect talent. Let's talk about St. Louis for a little bit, right?

How long have we heard Jordan Kairu's name in trade rumors? and I would also add like Robert Thomas lately, but ultimately the Blues, they made a bunch of moves, and I thought they did really well at the trade deadline, relatively speaking to other teams, but they still got Kyru and Thomas because the argument would be something like,

why would you trade away these guys, then you'd just be trying to draft those guys. And I mean, my counter argument to that would be like, no, you'd be trying to draft a better version of those guys, because I don't know if you can win a Stanley Cup if you're building around Robert Thomas and Jordan Cairo. Maybe just your thoughts on, I mean, you can talk about St. Louis or is there enough talent to go around?

Why are general managers so scared in this league? Well, there's a million reasons why, but one of them is what you're hitting on. That I think fundamentally there is an overall lack of high-end talent. There's talent all around, but truly to find difference makers. But that drives home the point that we were both making at the very top of the segment, which is the reason why there's unlikely to be a monstrous summer is because there is such little talent to trade that those teams that have it hoard it. And that's the same reason why this pre-agent class is like, no offense

to niche malts or to whoever else is at the top of the board, Alex talk, I mean, it's relatively hot garbage. There's a couple really good players, and then there's depth. That's really, I mean, not to like oversimplify it, but that's kind of what the free agent board looks like, and which is why, you know, when you do talk about Connor McDavid or you do talk about Austin Matthews, and, I mean, we're living in a world to be totally fair and balanced,

where Quinn Hughes did transact this season. So perhaps, you know, some of this should be a little bit more measured because we're speaking in generalities and some hyperbole. But I would say that for the most part, that's why a lot of these actual transacting periods are relatively muted. We're speaking to Frank Saravaleigh from Victory Plus, our NHL insider here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I want to dial in on a couple more of these individual teams.

and what happened with them, Frank. We're going to see the Nashville Predators here in Vancouver tomorrow night. They had a big win last night to keep their playoff hopes alive against the Seattle Cracken. But the Prads had a really weird deadline. What happened to them in the days leading up to Friday and then on Deadline Day in Nashville? It's a great question because they started the process and they took the low hanging fruit, the easy stuff with regards to some of the players that they moved. I mean, Cole Smith and depth players further down their lineup.

But when it came time to actually moving the pieces that would generate significant returns, I mean, the fact that we're on the backside of this deadline and you didn't move Eric Hall as a pending on restricted free agent in his mid-30s. Like, it just doesn't make sense. now it's a slightly different category that rhino riley and stephen stambos and jonathan marshesau remained as they have term on their deal but jonathan marshesau has been trying to get out of nashville for more than a calendar a year now stephen stamco's my understanding is he didn't want to move and and ultimately wouldn't have approved a deal so he's in a separate class but then Ryan O'Reilly

I mean he doesn't have no trade protection and I know at least one team that was like they viewed Ryan O'Reilly as the perfect fit they were lusting after Ryan O'Reilly so in the end are you like it's like they dip their toe in the trade deadline waters

okay Michael Bunting Nick Blankenberg Mike McCarran Cole Smith but they didn't do any of the truly heavy lifting required to reinvent the team because you're still stuck with a roster led in salary and statistics by players who are on the wrong side of 30. And now those decisions have all been left on the plate of the next guy. You would think that Barry Trots would want to at least bite the bullet, undo some of the really bad contracts that he put on the books

and get at least one or two of them off so that the next guy has a little bit more flexibility and some ammunition by virtue of picks and prospects to then be able to go tackle the next part of this. Another team that had a really weird deadline was the Los Angeles Kings. Now obviously they've been kind of thrown into arrears

with the Fiala injury. They acquire Artemey Panarin. They fire their head coach. There's a lot going on around the deadline and then it was an odd one for them. What did you make? How did you size up the Los Angeles King's odd trade deadline? I mean, it was odd for sure. They had to use a Seinfeld reference a little bit of Vandaleigh industries going on,

importer exporter of fine latex goods. They just like, okay, so we add Panarin, which I think in a vacuum makes sense, no matter where you are. If you have a player who wants to come to you and it's a real, relatively limited return and he's going to sign a great contract extension. I mean, sure, we just talked about how hard it is to acquire talent. There's a guy still well north of a point per game player. So you do that. But then moving Corey Perry, you know, you understand why that makes sense for a second. And you get through that and you go, okay, well, Fiala's out

for the year. Kuzmenko is likely done until the end of the regular season. Quentin Bifields banged up. this is Anzayko-Patar's last year. Like, I know statistically the Kings are in the playoff race, but it's been a pillow fight for the last seat in the Western Conference, and they don't even seem most nights like they're in it. So then you add Scott Lawton on the back end of it, and I think from an asset management standpoint, you can wrap your head around it.

There's a player transacting for a third, you know, and one year ago to Toronto went for way more than that, including a first, that, you know, you say, okay, there's some value here, but just this notion of what are we, I think some teams really, going back to the first part of our conversation, I think some teams really struggled to put a stake in the ground. Are we buying or are we selling? Or are we going to try and do half measures of both? Yeah, half measures don't work. Take it from a guy that's watched the Vancouver Connects for a while. But maybe I view it through two black and white of a lens.

Possibly. Convinced me otherwise. Well, I mean, clearly the kings are trying to put themselves in a position where they don't cut their legs off at the knees just to sell. I don't know. I mean, obviously making the playoffs is incredibly important to them. Yeah. You know, you mentioned the Leafs there with the Scott Lawton trade.

and I think some of our listeners might be getting tired of hearing about the least, but I think they're at a pretty fascinating crossroads. You know, I think the easy thing to do is to make a coaching change and to run it back and say, with a different coach, you know, maybe we'll have more success, but what do you think about where they are right now and how extreme could they get this off-season? I think in the end, the main, the men, measure of extreme is probably relatively limited.

And maybe the only way that changes is if Austin Matthews comes to you and says, you know what, I'm just tired of this. I'm tired of the focal point being in the spotlight every single night. Every single thing I do is critiqued and I'd like to do it somewhere else. If that's the case, you're dealing with a totally different set of parameters. But short of that, I mean, I know people have talked about. about this notion of should the Leafs try and move Austin Matthews? Like I know that his play and productivity level is way,

way down from where it was. But I just don't know how you could possibly move on from Austin Matthews and even with a haul of a return, think that there's going to be any window for you to be competitive within the next five years. The only way to get there is by better surrounding Austin Matthews with a different mix and group. of talent. And now that you finally have some flexibility on your roster and cap space to maneuver,

I mean, this is the year to do it. I guess then the big question is who's going to be the man at the controls doing all that? What do you think about these Doug Armstrong to Toronto rumors? I think they took a hit over the last week. I think Doug Armstrong's reputation took a hit for sure. Just with the Pareko stuff? Not just for Raco. I mean, Braden Shen was really critical yesterday in his return, saying, I mean, I got the message being asked to waive my no trade for the second trade deadline in a row.

I'm clearly not wanted here. I mean, he's the captain signed to a long-term extension by the GM with no trade clause protection also offered and signed by the GM. And we talked a little bit about St. Louis. but it's odd to see, at least from my view, a GM that's continually so malcontented with the team that he himself built. At the end of the day, when you construct a blue line that is not just as veteran-laden as they have been, but also all of them, their top four for years had featured no trade

protection that you made these deals. You made all these contracts come true. Now on the other end of it, you don't like it. It's just an odd, like you go around and around in a circle and the finger pointing. Yeah, but it brings you back to the topic or it brings me back to the topic of no move clauses and no trade clauses. And it does feel in some ways like GMs have been forced in a lot of ways now to give these clauses out. Otherwise, the deal won't get done or the contract won't get signed. And, you know, I, I don't think there's anything wrong per se with a general manager, say, bringing in a guy saying, I think you can be part of the solution and then watching it and going, you know what, I was wrong. So I'm going to make some changes now. But it

makes it a lot harder to do that where the market almost demands a no trade clause and a no move clause. And it does make me wonder if something is eventually going to happen about all the no move clauses and all the no trade clauses. Look, the league would love to limit them. There's no doubt about that. I mean, it's definitely been on the list of general manager requests for CBA negotiations. But at the same time the proper response here is to have the general managers show some sign of restraint and be more judicious and how they hand these out. And I know what you're saying. The market demands it.

Player won't sign unless he gets it. Then that's your negotiating right to say, yeah, I mean, I'm happy to give you one, but you're going to need to now take less money in order for me to give this to you. Or maybe just say like, to me. Yeah, I don't know.

But then on the back end of it, you're asking the guy to wave and not give him anything for it. Yeah. So let's say, you know, let's, I mean, I think Tyler Myers is the perfect example, and I know that his situation is different than others, family-wise, but he took way less than market rate to stay in Vancouver and to have that full control. and I can only tell you from talking to people really close to him that he expected at some point there to be a conversation with the way that the Canucks were turning.

I don't know that he expected it to happen at this deadline. But he did get value out of that clause. He did get a sense of ownership of the situation. I know he ultimately was traded, but he ultimately was traded to a team. that he was fine going to. So there was value in that clause. It worked out pretty well for him. But I'm saying he took, if he went to market,

Tyler Myers would have been making a lot more than $3 million. Agreed, but he might not have had the control then, right? And then maybe he is in Detroit right now. Right. So, but he took less and then still was asked and not pressured, but put in a position where he had to make a decision. Yeah. And I think that's the tough part.

These guys are unsure how to manage or navigate that, especially when it comes up at a time that you weren't really ready to do it. Yeah. Timing matters too. It's an interesting topic, and I'm sure there's going to be a lot more talk about it. I don't know if there's anything that can be done about it until the next CBA negotiation. I'll give you my 30-second pitch. Sure, go.

Limit them by number. Per team? Instead of like the St. Louis Blues, I'm just picking a team. Let's say they have 20 players on their roster. 13 of them have no trade clauses. That doesn't make any sense. Limit them to say there's six total full no trade clauses

you can hand out to your team. And however you want to chop those up, kind of like an NCAA scholarship, you want to give a guy 25% of a limited no trade, or you want to give a guy 50% of the league or whatever it is, you give certain superstars, they get the full no move with no waivers.

that counts as one, but you can chop them up and divide it up and allow teams to, hey, there's a limit here. There's only so many guys on our roster that can have this protection. And sorry, you don't meet the threshold of criteria in our view, in our eyes. Frank, I am intrigued by your ideas

and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. We've got to get going. We're up against it for time. Thanks a lot for doing this today, as always. We'll talk again next Wednesday. You guys, thanks. Frank Sarvalley from Victory Plus, our NHL Insider and noted pitchment.

man here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. That was a nice little debate we had. It was good. You guys have the best debates. Before we go to break, we need to do the one to watch. She's a friendly back and forth of ideas exchanged. Oh, the text message inbox is popping off.

Before we go to break, we need to do the one to watch. Brought you by Limitless A.V. All I'm going to say is that we need to watch the World Baseball Classic tonight because there is so much going on. Canada's future hangs in the balance with its game against Cuba. USA is under intense fire and scrutiny right now for the way they've handled the last 24 hours.

The manager, Mark DeRosa, is getting skewered online because their fate is now in the hands of Italy and Mexico. We don't have the time to run all the audio I want to run. We'll do it on the other side. We're going to talk to Eric Engels, but we're also going to run through what has been a wild 24 hours at the World Baseball Classic. So tonight, you're one to watch all of the World Baseball Classic

because it's going to be theater. drama tonight. It is brought to you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts, specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid work spaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at Limitlessavv.ca. Coming up, we're going to talk to Eric Engels out of Montreal, and we're going to run through what was a wild last night at the World Baseball Classic in which Team USA might have made one of the biggest blunders in terms of understanding where they were in world baseball classic history, maybe sports history, given how this thing could turn out.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 733 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford and Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sayans and Associates. Are you getting collection calls?

If you are, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% and stop those calls. Visit them today at Sands dash trustee.com. We're in our two of the program. Midway point of the show, Eric Engels is going to join us from Montreal here

in just a moment. Our two of this program is brats by Jason Hamanuk at jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. com.

mortgage to the ABLE Auctions hotline we go. Our next guest, Montreal Canadiens reporter from SportsNet. Eric Engels joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Eric. How are you? Good morning. I'm doing great. How are you? We're well. I'm going to start with the question we've been trying to answer with a variety of guests

over the last 24 hours here on the show. What was it that Kent Hughes had up his sleeve or ready to pull the trigger on at the deadline that never came to fruition? Tell us as much as you can, Eric, even if you can't tell us the whole story. Yeah. Sorry to disappoint you, but as I said in a few other places, there's the difference between what I know and what I can prove. And so long as I can't prove it, I'm not going to play the guessing game.

That said, what I can share is that it was something very big. It was something very big, and I don't know if everybody's looking in the right place on this. Why, I think, you know, there's been some rumors out there. I understand people are speculated. at Franton Center. But the reason I don't think anybody's going to come out with something conclusive here

is because this thing is still on the bind. I think it's something that really could materialize the summer. And I'm going to leave it at that. Okay. How about the disappointment level in Montreal that it didn't get down because this is a team that was on its way

to the playoffs for a second consecutive year. Maybe not in cup contender status yet, but still a good young, exciting team that could make some noise in a pretty wide open ease. How disappointed was, I guess, let's start with, you know, the organization, the executive, the brass, about not being able to get something big done at the deadline. I mean, I think they were pretty annoyed, considering how far down the line they went with it,

that they were going to get it done. And I think some of the other things that could have happened centered around that happening. So, yeah, I'm sure they were pretty frustrated. As for the fans, you know, they've been kind of, believe it or not, clear-eyed about Montreal situations since the beginning of the season, and the objective was to grow and hopefully build on their first playoff appearance to the rebuild and keep building towards the future of being a perennial contender. And, you know, I think they understood once Kat Hughes said what he said,

that he wasn't going to part with certain assets for, you know, the Mike McCarrons of the world, when he could be pushing them into a home run swing versus, you know, a bun single. So, you know, Minnesota, you understand them doing that. Like, I'm not sure I understand the Islanders doing what they did, given where they are. Maybe they look at it like the East is truly wide open, and they're in a division that they get through or win a series or two. I don't look at them as a Stanley Cup contender, so, you know, to give up a first, a third, a gold-headed prospect, Jonathan Drouet for three more years of Braden Shenn and $6.5 billion bucks. And I love Shed. Shed's a beast.

He's a competitor. He's a playoff player. He's also minus 69 combined over his last four years and is, you know, at half of his production. You know, if a team that is a true contender went out and got him into deadline and accepted that for a couple more years, he'd be on their cap at full value, I'd get it. You know, like, I think if Montreal did that, you'd hear me with a more critical tone than I usually take for them. Okay, I think I know the answer to this, but if there is a glitrioled, layering hole on the roster?

Well, not really a hole. Let's call it an opportunity to take the Montreal Canadians from what they are right now and turn them into a strong Stanley Cup contender. What is that hole? Might be surprised by the answer, but it could be with the guy who they just called up, Jacob Fowler. You know, Jacob Dobish has been pretty good. He's got 21 wins and 31 games this year. so nothing to complain about

can the two of them provide the type of tandem that the Canadians were hoping to get out of Dobish and Montepo this year I don't know if either of them are ready to be an all-out starter but can they in tandem

push the Canadians a bit more over the edge look I still think they're missing a couple of edgy style players guys like Braden Shend but younger and on the rise instead of on the decline you know I still think think a second line setter that pushes Oliver Capitan down

one line would turn them into a true contender. I still think a huge right-handed defenseman that pushes Caden Gouley to the left and Siss Vex, Wayne Hudson, it'll add up, would turn them into a contender. I think the big

moves that they're trying to make are going to happen in short order and the things we're talking about are going to happen to. I think this team is going to be really good for a long time. And I think a lot of people around Canada probably share that opinion, watching, you know, Slavkoffi doing what he's doing, you know, a few days from his 22nd birthday,

watching Glynne Hudson break Serge Zubov's record for the most assist through his first 150 games in the league, watching Kappin and scored 20 goals as a rookie, watching Debedov dominate last night, you know, to get close to the 50-point barrier after looking like a rookie for the first time all year for a few games. Like the future is tremendous, not to mention the president with guys like Dobs said at Suzuki and Kofield and go down the list. So, you know, I don't think anybody's sitting here being like, oh, they needed to get there by the deadlines.

Okay, so the Kinnocks are officially heading into a rebuild. When you look at the job that management has... They are? No, no, they are. They are. Yeah, yeah, they are. It's going to be a couple months. It's going to be a couple months long, but they're going to hopefully rebuild in the next couple months or weeks. And we'll see how they look next season. When you think about the job that management has done in Montreal, rebuilding the team, what stands out as the virtues of their rebuild? The foundation is culture.

The foundation is bringing in really good people who understand that. you can have really good players, but you won't win unless they're good people too. And I think culture is a widespread word. It's also based on teaching your players how to play the right way and creating those types of habits from very early points on. And I think some people could look at the Canadians play now and say, well, I don't know if they play exactly the right way. I mean, they are still the youngest team in the league.

And also, they've had such an influx of talent that the side-steads, here in terms of their defensive play is really that it can become a little easy sometimes to rely on that talent with the amount of goals that they can score. And that comes with maturity. But at the basis is the intentions are the right ones.

And the coach is the right one. He was the right one at the moment to flip around what was a really, you know, similar to Vancouver, a very dark kind of atmosphere coming out of the Bergen-air, the Stanley Cup run in 21, and then the

quick jump into a rebuild because everybody was hurt and just finished. And, you know, Marty St. Louis had to come in and bring the fun back. Like, that was the first thing he did. He didn't come in here and start pounding away at the defensive game. You know, goals are fun. Let's go out and play and have fun. And now that was, it seems loosey-goosey, but it was calculated. And then it was starting to chip away.

And how are we going to play? And how are we going to build our identity? And how are we going to do it together? And I think when you have a young group of people that you throw together that are all growing at the same pace, that helps too. But it's just, you know, from top to bottom. And I said this, like going back two years, you know, I thought Ottawa was ahead of Montreal in terms of what they had on their roster. I thought Montreal jumped way ahead in terms of their culture. And that's the product that we've seen, you know.

Like Ottawa should be right there with them. If they had goaltending that was better, they'd be there. That said, you know, the Canadians have had goaltending for most of the season under 885. Yeah. And for most of the season that they've gotten it over, they almost have like 100% win ratio. So I think culture goes pretty far. Talent helps, but it's at the foundation of everything. How fortunate was Kent Hughes that when he got the job in Montreal that Nick Suzuki was

already there. Cole Coughfield, too, right? Drafted 15th overall. Caden Gouley there also. I understand he's had an injury, riddled kind of start in his career and hopefully that's behind him. You know, it's been a bit of a struggle this season. Given all that, he's going to be a really good player. So, yeah, you need some luck.

You need some pieces in place. You need, you know, it wasn't all bad under Burscha. He did bring them to the Stanley Cup final, putting together team that was made to do that type of damage in the playoffs. And for the people that are like, oh, it was the COVID year and it doesn't count. That is the dumbest stuff ever, seriously. They deserve to be there. They played phenomenal team hockey to put themselves in that spot.

And the only team that beat them, Tampa Bay, was the only team playing better team hockey than they were. And they were built for it with the Weber's and Edminsons and charots and Perrys and stalls, not to mention the young guys that you, you know, Suzuki and whoever else. was around. They kept some good veterans around too. You know, Gallagher and Anderson, okay, they were forced into doing that

because of their contracts. But, you know, last year they could have traded Armia and Savard and these guys were bringing in Monaghan the way they did. Like, they had good vets all the way around. If you don't insulate these young players as they're coming up and teach them how to be pros and teach them how to play the way,

they don't do it by the time it's time to win. So you can have a rebuild where you're like, all right, we're progressing and we're ready to start winning games, but to win the big one, there's not like five different ways to do it anymore. Or not that there ever was. There's only one way. The Florida Panthers showed you in the last couple years against a dynamic, offensive machine that the Edmonton Oilers were,

that there's only one way to win. Like, it really is. When it comes down to the crunch time and the playoffs come and the whistles on certain plays get pocketers, You got to be ready for that and you don't get there without proper insulation proper way of playing proper attitude and and building it that way It's split it comes down to Suzuki though I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit about

Suzuki and and I mean he has he's been the captain for a few years now and from an outsider perspective He just seems to get what it means to be the captain of the Montreal Canadians, and he seems to embrace that opportunity. Correct me if I'm wrong there. No, I don't need to correct you. And he learned from Shea Weber. You know, like it helps.

Obviously, what he has, he has inside of him and has always had it. Here's the guy that from the start is humble Canadian as it gets, but he also knows how good he is. And he always knew how good he was. and he always had ambition to be better. And his trajectory has been a straight line. You know, like, that's pretty rare. It's very rare to jump into the league

and just never move anywhere but upward. He's a phenomenal player. He's a phenomenal person. I don't know if you have his stats handy. One of them that stands out, even though it's not a stat that I put, all the stock in is his plus minus. This guy plays against the best players every single night.

He shuts down some of the best players in the league every single night. And he is plus 30. Plus 25 right now. Yeah, plus 25. Okay, he's plus 25. Pretty good. It was up a bit a few games ago. In California, the whole team kind of just allowed a lot of goals,

despite taking three of six points on the row. But this guy's the leading candidate for the Selkee trophy this year. That's not according to me. It's according to people that are polled that, I have a vote on it, and I'm not going to say I'm not leaning that direction, because watching them play every night, you know, he's in that mold of a barkout, and I'm not saying he is barkout. Barkout's his own thing.

But Suzuki is in that mold, and I think the Olympics were a great experience for him to continue to grow his game, that he has not hit his ceiling at 26, and he is as good as he already is, is another reason why it's not just about this year for the Canadians. It's about the next six, seven, eight. Sorry for saying six, seven, my bad. Are the kids still doing that?

Still doing that? I made the hand gesture. I was with you on that one. Okay, I want to jump in here about the rebuild. And I've been pretty critical of Adam Foote's presence in the early stages of the Canucks rebuild. And I know he was hired not to be the guy steering them through the rebuild, but things changed.

And I was surprised that the Canucks didn't make a change as their season progressed, and they went from being a team that kind of wanted to be in the playoffs to a full-blown rebuild. Marty St. Louis, when the Montreal Canadiens hired him to be the coach at the early phases and to take them through the first era of this rebuild, he did not have a lot of head coaching experience. If I'm not mistaken, he was coaching the mid-Fairfield Rangers U-13 AAA team and then jumped right behind the bench of the Montreal Canadians. What was it about

the Habs brass that thought that this guy should be the one to take them through the early and very important stages of the rebuild? Can I, can I, first all, it's very funny that you said if I'm not mistaken and then named his exact team that he was coaching.

That was funny. Can I flip this on you as someone who's in Vancouver and what your perception is? What's your perception of why they hire Marty Sandlerby? because he, I think it was because of his playing career, right? Like he was the diminutive undrafted, had to work his way to being a Hall of Famer, and was going to teach the guys as a, and here's the thing,

I never thought, and I still kind of don't, that St. Louis will be the guy when they're a cup contender to maybe be another coach, but he was the perfect guy to teach young players. That was my impression. Okay. I think, yeah, that's part of it. I think part of it is how, relatable given his playing career

he was to every single player. Copields, yeah, yeah. To the healthy scratch, to the guy who went undrafted, to the fourth liner, to the guy who bounced back and forth between the HL and the NHL, to the guy who became a third liner, a second liner, a first liner, an all-star,

a Hall of Famer. So nobody in the room was going to look at him and be like, that guy doesn't get me. Right. That was a big factor. and if Kent Hughes and Jeff Gordon knew that before they hired him because they both had very close relationships with him and Gordon tried to hire him in New York, but he still wanted to be around his kids at the time

and Hughes became very close with him because both their kids played hockey together and they coached against each other in the same system. It was really obvious to the players on his first day of the job and then made really obvious to the media in him knocking a grand slam out of the park on day one with that first impression. Right.

here's the thing to the perception that Marty was the perfect guy to develop them through the early stages of rebuild but not the guy that take them through and win with I say I will bet against that every time now

because I think what we've learned about Marty is that he's a winner and he knows how to teach people how to win you know he did it last year bringing the Canadians to the playoffs from a very unexpected place he's done it again and he had his 150th win in the league last night

and has done it again this year putting them in the top 10 throughout the entire season and as this team picks up experience and the type of players Kent Hughes and Jeff Gordon were trying to swing for at the trade deadline, which they're coming. You know, whether it's those ones specifically

or others that become available, they're coming. I just think Marty St. Louis going to prove to everybody exactly what I'm saying about him. That's what I've learned. You know, I've sat down with him at the beginning of every year. I've built a strong relationship with him to really understand how he thinks and why he does things. And I'm a believer.

I'm a believer in what this guy can do. And given his entire history, like anybody who's ever doubted him, he's pretty much shamed him. Like it helps, right? Yeah. It must be fun for you to cover a team where there's so much positive energy around it. I mean, the fans must love this team. You know, when I go back, I think a lot about Vancouver, okay?

Because when I go back from 2020 or like really like 2017 through 2021, the drama in Montreal was endless. It was there was left, right and center, just insane drama, particularly from 2020 through early 2020 before they made the Gordinar. You know, from COVID to the Logan Mayhew drafting to everything that happened with Bursjave, and guys like Andre Markov and Alex Radha,

the drama becomes suffocating in a market like this. And I truly believe, and I don't know if Vancouver fans like hearing this, I think Vancouver's arguably the toughest market in Canada. You know, I see the way the players are discussed, the way the organization is discussed. And I don't think it's just the fans. I think it's the media. I think it's the organization itself too.

And, you know, when I go there for, you know, a game a year or whatever it is, and every player is doing almost a press conference instead of like an informed normal, we're in the room talking to players. It's like they're facing a firing squad every time they talk. Yeah. And they act like it. They act like they've got, I say it's like a siege mentality in that organization. Everyone acts like everyone's out to get them.

I mean, if you're automatically put with your back against the law, you're kind of going to act like it, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. Look, it doesn't mean it can't change. It doesn't mean, like, this is an opportunity. that the Canucks have in front of them. And they're not the only ones.

A lot of teams around the league that have rebuilt and decided to rejig their culture. But some major changes have to happen there to get there. And the drama needs to end. Like the drama is toxic and exhausting. And it's really a lot of it, just like the Canadians through those years

that I mentioned, self-inflicted. And that really needs to change. If it doesn't change, you're starting off on the wrong foot. And you can't afford to start off on the wrong foot. But you just can't. Not with this many teams and not how competitive the league is. And there's lessons to learn from Montreal.

They'd really be at the top of the list of teams I'd be looking at and saying, how did they change this and where are they going? Eric, we're out of time, but we should continue this chat at some point. Really curious to see how Montreal finishes the regular season. And should they make the playoffs, which I expect them to do, how they perform the playoffs. I think this is a rebuild that we're monitored. pretty closely in Vancouver and maybe taking some tips from and hopefully the Canucks are as well.

Thanks for taking the time to do this and enjoy the rest of your day. Yeah, of course. All right. Thanks for having me. See you, buddy. Thanks, Eric. We appreciate it. Eric Engels from SportsNet in Montreal here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's time now for the smart decision brought to you by Crow. I love this from the National Football League.

The NFL is exploring the possibility of playing a game. the day before Thanksgiving, this according to ESPN's Adam Schaefter. So in addition to Thanksgiving in which the NFL firmly has a foothold, right? NFL American Thanksgiving play three games on the day. They've added a Black Friday game. But isn't that the NHL's area?

The NHL's like, can we have Black Friday? The NFL said, oh, we'll take some of that. Like Thanksgiving leftovers, we will pluck some of that from you. And now they're thinking about doing a game on the Wednesday as well. I'm a big proponent of more days with more NFL football is better for everybody. Sometimes on a Sunday, I don't get to watch all the teams I want to watch because there's too many damn games. But this would be great. This would mark the latest move by the NFL to deviate from this traditional lot of games on Sunday,

one game on Monday model. We've seen Thursday night football, the advent of that. You can see them slowly creeping into more Friday games as well. We'll see if it continues. I, for one, am all for it. the more NFL on more days, the better. That is the smart decision. Brought to you by Crow, your trusted accounting

and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow, smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at chroma-kai.cai. We are giving away, what are we doing right now? We're doing the giveaway for the $250 gift card to golf. Was that a golf swing? Very good, Adon.

I wish we had a dog cam right now. Can I see it one more time? Can I see it? Nice. Form A-Dog. You want to see it again. I want to see it again. Okay. Instead of getting on the microphone and saying in my ear, golf town,

A-dog did a golf swing to remind everybody that we are giving away right now, actually in four minutes time, you're laughing at the golf swing. This is why there's no cameras back here. They're hitching that swing. Yeah, a little handsy on the swing. I was like, are you? A little stiff there, aren't you, bud? He's swinging a sledgehammer?

Yeah. It's the most I've moved in weeks. A $250 gift card to golf. Golf Town is up for grabs at 8 a.m. Caller number 5, 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-0-650. You got to call right at 8 a.m. You could win the gift card.

And if you don't win, don't worry, because we're giving away on Thursday and Friday as well. That's at 8 o'clock. On the other side of the break, we're going to talk to Brendan Bachelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks. And then after that, we're going to do what we learns. Get yours in.

Dunbar Lumber. Text message in basket is 650, 6-6-50. Tell us what you learned over the last 20. 24 hours in sports, you're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What stands out as like the virtues of their rebuild? The foundation is culture. Do you have a culture problem that needs to be fixed?