Halford & Brough in the Morning - Are Demko & Miller Close To Returning?

Episode Date: December 6, 2024

In hour one, Guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Israel Fehr look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), the boys discuss tonight's Canucks home matchup versus Columbus, and if Miller & Demko are close to returning (6:00), plus they preview Sunday's Seahawks game in Arizona as ESPN's Brady Henderson joins the show (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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Happy Friday, everyone. Welcome to Halford & Brough here on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough themselves still on vacation. I'm Jamie Dodd here filling in today. A couple days with Brough next week as well. Joining me today is Israel Fair. What's up, Izzy? Good morning, Jamie. Yeah, let's do this.

Let's do this. Friday edition of the show. Very exciting. The dogs are here. A-Dog, how's it going? Oh, no. Oh, man. I decided to throw you a curveball.

It's going well. I am having a good time. See, much like Rick Dollywell, you should have given me very precise instructions on how to address you. Jamie, don't you know this show is entirely scripted? Why are you going off book right now? By asking how you're doing? Yeah, geez. Oh, Laddie, you're in no position to talk.

You've done the exact same thing. This is true. So let's try it. How's it going? It is going well. Hello. Hi. You're so frustrated that I didn't let you say hello.

Hello. Your catchphrase. Oh, well. Oh, man. All right. We're coming to you live from the Kintec studio here. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet.

What are you waiting for? Our half and a brough is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Hour one of the show 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. 1170 Powell Street. Okay, there's a lot going on on the show today. A lot I have to lay out here. So bear with me for a second. First of all, it is an Ask Us Anything Friday. The concept, pretty simple. You can ask us anything.

We'll do our best to answer. You can send in those questions right now, starting right now, 650-650 to the Dunbar Lumber text line. Include the hashtag A-U-A on those. And we'll read those throughout the course of the show. Also, don't forget about your What We Learn submissions. Hashtag WWL, what you've learned over the last 24 hours in sports. Send those in.

We'll read them at 8.30. And the best What We Learned wins a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. So that's very exciting as well. So we've got Ask Us Anything. We've got $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza going to the best what we learned. So get those submissions in. Beyond that, even, we're giving away another pair of tickets to see ACDC on the Power Up Tour 2025 with special guests, the Pretty Reckless, on April 22nd, 2025 at BC Place.

Tickets go on sale later today at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.ca. But you can get your tickets before that. Again, we're going to do it just like we did yesterday. 8.15, that's the time. You call in at 8.15 on the dot. The number is 604-280-0650. Not 8.10. Not 8.10.

Not 8.10. We won't answer. You can try at 8.17, but you'll be too late. 8.15. A-Dog might answer and actually berate you. That's right. If you want to be berated. Uh-oh, people are going to call in now.

If you want a chance to talk to Aog yeah maybe now's your chance 8 15 on the dot 604-280-0650 caller 10 wins a pair of tickets to see acdc april 22nd 2025 jamie sorry to mention this but also for the best what we learned for the hundred dollar aj's gift card please include the ticket emoji. Pleat the pizza emoji, surely. Pizza emoji. Yeah. It's early. Let's not confuse things. Include an emoji.

All of the emojis. It's easier for us to track, that's all, because we get so many texts. Oh, of course. The listeners know this, but just to make sure, include the, yes, you're tracking. Well, no, because this used to drive me nuts when you're giving away things, and you're giving away a pair of tickets to tonight's game, and you do a trivia question, people answer and they're like oh i can't use the tickets like well why'd you answer the trivia question yeah so yes if you've got a flex man if you want to be eligible and you can in fact use it include the pizza emoji in your what we learned submission okay now i have to do

the guest list yeah take a breath and work in reverse. Yeah. 6.30, Brady Henderson from ESPN. Of course, he covers the Seattle Seahawks. So we'll look ahead to this week's matchup for the Seahawks with Brady Henderson. 7, we'll have AJ himself of AJ's Pizza on for a few minutes to chat, see what's going on at the shop over the weekend. 7.05, Frank Cervalli from Daily Faceoff.

Really looking forward to chatting with Frank. Lots happening around the Canucks, around the NHL, of course, with a coach firing yesterday. That's at 705. 730 is the Moj. We'll chat a little Lions and Canucks with him. And 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall, who has a very specific list of questions for me to ask

in a very specific order. And we'll do that with Rick Dollywall at 8 o'clock. Working in reverse. 8, Dolly 30 the modes 705 frank servali 7 aj 6 30 brady henderson it's a very busy show today so let's tell everybody what happened hey did you guys see the game last night no what happened i missed all the action because i was we know how busy your life can be what 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 bccsa.ca. And we will start with the Vancouver Canucks who were back in Vancouver practicing yesterday at Rogers Arena.

And I knew that it was going to be, or I had a feeling at least, it was going to be kind of a newsy day. And there'd be lots of questions for Rick Talkett. The media really put him through his paces after he spoke for 13 minutes yeah that's a long avail we haven't talked to you in so long rick what's going on they really grilled him on a lot of different things miller's status demko's status uh the home road splits all of those things so lots to get into and we can start maybe with the most immediate news, which was Thatcher Demko giving an update on his injury status. And to my ears, and we'll play it in just a second here,

a bit of a pleasant surprise because we talked on the show yesterday where it seemed like maybe the return date was getting pushed a little bit for Thatcher Demko. There was maybe a little bit more uncertainty than there had been earlier in the week. But the circumstances at practice where, you know, Shelawes was on the ice early, Thatcher Demko had his own net. That's a positive sign. And then afterwards, he sounded pretty optimistic as well. He did. Yeah.

And I mean, I do think it's nice that we've got a goalie expert here in Latty because I do have something that I think needs to be pointed out. Not a Poplatius expert. Just putting that out there. No, but this is not about his injury. It's about he says he's ready to back up, which sounds nice, but unless something goes wrong with the starter, that means that you're still not playing.

So can you explain? Is it like a mindset thing that you're strapping on the pads, you're getting ready for a game? I guess you're at least open to going in. You're like, the possibility exists that you're going to go into the game. But unless something bad happens to the goalie, you're still not playing. Even if you're backing up, you're still going through the rigors of game day. So that's what it would be seen as like, okay, he's ready to do that.

It's like a trial run. Just like we don't have to push it and get you back starting yeah and then with warm-ups you can leave the net at any time you know it's it's a little bit easier for a guy coming back from injury rather than just being thrown into the fire okay that makes sense there you go that's why we have the goalie extra game day skate yeah so there's there's this is going through the motions essentially he's trying to get back into the swing so So this would just be another signpost. Another stepping stone, kind of, to full availability.

Although it is, like, if he's going to back up, you have to have full confidence that he can go into the game, right? Because Kevin Lankanen has an injury in the first period. Like, you got to play that at your Demko, right? So I get it as a stepping stone, but you also pretty much have to be 100% sure that you're not risking anything putting him in the game if he's going to serve as the backup.

Let's hear from Thatcher Demko himself in his own words kind of describing where his recovery is at. Here is the goalie yesterday after practice. Yeah, probably pretty close to it. Yeah, I mean, it's just about getting that consistent practice time. It's been a little tough just with the schedule. The guys have been playing a lot of games. So, you know, just trying to find that time and, you know,

on the road trip back-to-back there and then a couple afternoon games. So not a lot of team skates, but that's just the nature of the schedule. So it's just about managing that and finding times where I can kind of get consistent reps and practice and things like that. Do you feel like there was time on the road, though, to make progress, to feel like you're further ahead? Yeah, I mean, there's always time. You know, you can make stuff work with the tools that you have,

and, you know, Marco has been great trying to accommodate me with, um, you know, at the same time, keeping already in, in link sharp. So, um,

yeah, I definitely feel like I've been, uh, working and progressing since I talked to you guys last. That is Thatcher Demko. And, uh, you know,

he also says that he, like he's in a position where he can have a conversation with talk out about what the availability looks like. I guess if I was at morning skate today before the columbus game my question to talk would be like did you have that conversation how did it go what came out of that so we'll see but overall i think a pretty positive day of practice and of commentary from thatcher demko and from the coach about his availability and the chances that we see him sometime here in the next handful of games, although it certainly sounds like it's going to be Lankanen tonight against Columbus.

The other piece of news, and this was kind of on a couple of fronts, it started with Rick Dahliaw reporting that JT Miller back on the ice skating, not with the team, but on his own this week. Frank Cervalli on Canucks central saying he expects jt miller should practice with the team next week pointing to wednesday as a possible return date and rick talkett as well saying they have a plan for jt miller they who's been skating this week and they're in conversation and they have a plan for him to get back, rejoin the team, and then presumably be in the lineup at some point. So, I mean, this is the first real concrete timeline dates we've heard around JT Miller.

And, you know, if he's practicing with the team on Wednesday, that is in the very, very near future, and that would be an incredible lift to the team. And all of a sudden, you know, i think just a couple of days ago the uncertainty around both miller and demko was extremely high now we're looking at you know they've got this six game homestand there's a possibility they're playing games with both of those guys in the lineup on this homestand which i think would be a major major pleasant surprise for canucks fans if that happens yeah because I mean look the the Miller absence has been talked about and poured over and speculated on since the announcement but we're now just over two weeks since the announcement and since he hasn't played

if he's targeting and I'd like if Frank is reporting that the idea is that he could be back practicing in about five days and then getting into the lineup before the end of this homestand which ends on monday the 16th against colorado then you're still looking at a guy who will have missed three weeks of game time right like that's that's pretty significant in the in the nhl and if that that should be enough time you would hope uh especially given we talked about this yesterday. He's named to Team USA for the Four Nations face-off. All indications there from that management group was that,

hey, we have absolutely no concerns. This guy's not only going to be available to us in February, but is going to be ready to go and ready to be a big-time contributor. And so that will be two months away by the middle of next week. So you're looking at an idea that that timeline makes sense to me. And it's not a firm one. And as we've seen in other instances, but in this one in particular, we don't know. But we'll probably start to get a little bit more information.

And if he does practice with the team on Wednesday, the 11th they play the panthers the next day thursday that might be a little too quick right you have one practice back but then you know the bruins on saturday i think that would be a possibility right you get a few skates in with the team maybe you're ready to go by then so that could that could be as few as four additional games that they play without JT Miller on this homestand. And maybe he's able to get back in for a couple before the end of the homestand and for a few before the Christmas

break as well. Again, we'll see lots of uncertainty, but really positive updates from reporters plugged in. We'll talk to Dollywell more about it. We got both of them on the show, actually, Dollywell and Cervalli. So we'll see if they have more information on JT Miller, but Rick Tockett confirming as well that they have a plan

for Miller rejoining the team, reintegrating and getting back in to the lineup. A couple of other quick notes. It was a maintenance day for Quinn Hughes yesterday, so he wasn't on the ice, and with no Quinn Hughes and no Philip Roenick, the defense pairs they were rolling out there were pretty scary from a Canucks fan perspective but talk it assures us it's just

shades of 2018 absolutely oh like Derek Foreboard on the top pair all right let's go good that he's back at practice interesting um but yeah talking assuring us it's just a maintenance day for Quinn Hughes no questions about his availability for tonight also in terms of the roster machinations for the Canucks they put Philip Roenick on LTIR they called up Lekker Mackey as IRF reported yesterday they called up Cole McWard they recalled Max Sasson as well so temporarily the dream of them kind of daily accruing cap space because they're not operating in ltir that's over for now but as i know sat has kind of laid out and other people laid out as soon as guys like demko and miller are healthy good to go back on the roster and you've sent you're sending you know she loves down uh cole mcward whoever right you're sending

the corresponding pieces down they can be back below the cap and even with philip ronick on long-term injured reserve they can get back to kind of that cap space accrual so it's a temporary blip it's the kind of thing that can get complicated if there's more injuries and you have to keep calling people up and all of those things but it shouldn't hurt the Canucks cap situation too much down the line especially if Miller and Demko are back pretty soon here yeah it sounds like you know matter of days in both instances now so yeah they have to fill out the roster yeah you have to account for that you know that extra bump in salary you know typically under a million for these guys, but you call up three guys, that adds up. Demko, Hronik, Miller, they're on big salaries.

Teams that have to navigate having three guys on big salaries. For the most part, it is just LTIR, and the Canucks have done a pretty good job of managing this. We learned about the accrual. It's not just as cut and dry no as if you're an ltir you don't accrue no we're all learning a lot about the number we're learning a lot about the cba because we've been so used to just like well they're an lti so it doesn't matter oh they're at the cap as soon as that announcement with with heronic yesterday came out i saw the

mentions on social media are like yes we are pulling a lightning in golden nights and we are going to trade for somebody immediately that's not what's happening that's not what's happening because that he has to be out to the playoffs for that to work guys he's not going to be out to the playoffs let's go fire it up the dallas stars they might be pulling a golden nights with tyler second but we'll see how that one plays out. I'm also curious. Cole McWard got up, got called up. I wonder if we see him at some point. I know the organization is pretty high on him.

He's been playing well in Abbotsford. I don't know that he's poised to be a full-time NHLer right now, but I just wonder, given all the circumstances on the blue line, does he get a look? They've kind of established this process of they'll call guys up just to get him a taste of the nhl right i mean lecker mackie for five games right they have no problem calling a guy up getting him in sending him back down if he's not quite ready or for whatever reason right so cole mcward we've seen that up forward a bunch

right with guys like baines lecker mackie you you know, Ratu went back down, then came back up. I wonder if Cole McWard could be the next guy in line for that kind of treatment. Um, we can maybe talk about the game itself and preview that a little bit later. I mean, really, the biggest entertainment event happening in Vancouver tonight, the Columbus Blue Jackets coming to town on off of back. The mood is going to be wild off of back to the Columbus Blue Jackets who played town. Off of back to back, no less. The mood is going to be wild. Off of back to the Columbus Blue Jackets who played last night in Edmonton. Yeah, the vibes downtown for the Blue Jackets are going to be just off the charts.

So many people downtown to go see the Blue Jackets. Yeah, they're closing streets, Jamie. Yeah, to go see Ken Johnson and Sean Monaghan and the Columbus Blue Jackets. I feel like that's an overreaction, closing streets for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Look, man, they're plucky this year. It's true. They're hot. people are really excited to see them this year get take

extra time right when a marquee opponent comes to town you know it's going to be busy so take extra time to get to rogers arena if you're going to the game uh tonight i do want to talk about this story around the nhl and the big news around the nhl yesterday the chicago blackhawks fire their head coach luke richardson promote their ahl coach anders sorensen to be the interim for the remainder of the season and this is not a big surprise right i believe luke richardson was in the final year of his contract we all all know what the results have been, although it's not as if he's had a ton of talent to work with. Not a big surprise. The timing is really

interesting because already the dominant story for Chicago season has been the frustration of Connor Bedard, right? We've heard Elliot Friedman mention it. We've seen it play out. He's spoken about it. I mean, you remember the game he played here, right?

And he wasn't good in that game. He has the turnover late. JT Miller scores in the empty net and the shot of him on the bench. You know, that is an extremely frustrated, dejected player. Then on Wednesday, Conor Bedard is officially left off the team candidate roster for the Four Nations faceoff. And one of the things you heard in the aftermath of that decision, I think Elliott Friedman wrote about it in 32 Thoughts,

is not just Conor Bedard, but you throw in Stephen Stamkos in there as well, whose Nashville team has really, really struggled. Being on that roster means so much to these guys, and they know the fact that their teams are struggling, that they're not in a position to succeed. That really cost them a chance now I think you look at how Canada put together its roster and the way what they prioritized

beyond you know the six or seven best forwards I think it's fair to say fair to ask the question like even if Chicago was a much more functional team and Conor Bedard had a bunch more points and goals would he have been there I don't know right because you look at it, they wanted to take guys who were really two-way players.

And it's the same thing with Stephen Stamkos. I don't know if Stamkos was realistically going to be on this team. But from the player's perspective, anything that hurts their chances at making that team is going to be extremely, extremely frustrating. And you just think about the visible public frustration we've already seen from Bedard, what we've heard reported. Then you put this on top of it.

And it's like, OK, well, now this is impacting not just what I'm doing at the NHL level and my ability to win games and perform. Now it's impacting my ability to represent my country at the highest level. Look, I'm not saying that's why Luke Richardson got fired. I just thought the timing was really fascinating and i can't remember a situation like a tanking rebuild situation turning sour this quickly that we're two months into conor bedard's second season and frustration already boiling over,

they're in a very delicate position here. Like they have to absolutely nail this next hire because you can't get into this cycle of, okay, we're a rebuilding team, but we're not winning. We're getting frustrated. So we got to fire the coach. Then we hired another guy because we had to hire someone, but he's not the right guy either.

Now we're frustrated again. Then all of a sudden you're in a situation where, you know, Conor bedard's five years into his career and he's had four different coaches and there's no continuity if it's built up i i can't remember another situation go south this quickly there's still time for them to turn it around to rebuild or start rebuilding that relationship with conor bedard but to go from the high of man we got the first overall pick for a generational prospect, new face to the NHL, franchise savior to where they are now is just an incredibly rapid decline for the Blackhawks.

Yeah, it's concerning. And in Chicago, they have some other issues swirling. They have a local TV dispute at the moment that is filtering down to the players that the athletic scott powers and mark lazarus are writing almost every day about the frustration and bedard's front and center understandably he's not producing and he's had uh he had a pretty cold stretch goal scoring wise earlier this year that was obvious to the eye that was really gnawing at him but the players are talking about,

we feel like we're letting the fans down who are going out of their way to watch us because they have to go through some hoops and ladders to get there. And looking long-term as well, we do have this really great generational young player in the middle of our lineup, but are we such a mess right now that people aren't going to be buying in

in the next two or three years? So you're right, Jamie. You look at who that next coach is going to be. It's very easy, I think. And it's easy enough that we can do it on the radio and in this market, did it for a long time, where tank, trade everybody, get some young players, and then, oh, well, you've got all this cap space. Why don't you sign these veteran players who are, well,

the veteran players are probably available because they're not at that cap hit going to a contender. So you've got this mishmash roster, and it's easy for a guy like Kyle Davidson to take in all the plaudits and, well, yeah, my strategy is working, it gets a lot tougher when, A, that prospect that you drafted is incredibly frustrated, and, B, now you've got to start showing some results. That coach that's coming in now is going to have to be

a really big part of that to turn this team around and get them in the right direction. You mentioned this hypothetical where maybe Bedard has three coaches in the first five years of his career. I immediately think of the Buffalo Savers with Jack Eichel. Yeah. Right? By the end of his tenure there, and he had the injury thing,

which was a big asterisk to the situation, but he was just done with that environment. He goes to Vegas. Since he's been in Vegas just done with with that environment he goes to vegas since he's been in vegas he's been a really productive player he's going to be a big part of that team usa at the four nations and is he at the level of guys like mcdavid and matthews and mckinnon no but he's he's pretty darn close yeah he's an absolute stud and it's just you know it's so fascinating right because the blackhawks get Bedard and everything seems poised for this incredibly bright future. The Sharks get Macklin Celebrini.

And the difference, and I know the Sharks got thumped last night by the lightning, right? They're still a very young, not that talented team. But the difference in vibes is just off the charts. And it's so fascinating how easily it can turn one way or another. And, you know, Chicago's in big trouble right now, and they've got to start turning it around in a hurry to kind of get that shine back on the Conor Bedard era for the Blackhawks. Okay, we'll take a break here.

650-650 is the Dunbar-Lumber text line. Keep sending your ask us anythings in. Hashtag AUA. I think we'll have a chance after we chat with Brady Henderson to dig into some of them. Send your What We Learn submissions in as well. Hashtag WWL if you want to be eligible for that $100 AJ's

gift card. Include the pizza emoji in your What We Learn submission. More coming up next year on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info,

and even the post-game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Welcome back to Halford & Brough here at Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd, Israel Fair filling in for Halford & Brough today. Halford & Brough brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Halford and Brough brought you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Hour one brought 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. 1170 Powell Street. 650 is 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Keep your what we learned and ask us anything submissions in. Right now, it's time for our NFL preview

brought to you by the Clayton Public House. Pre-game to post-game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Claytonpub.com. And joining us now to help us look ahead to the Seahawks game this weekend from ESPN.

He is Brady Henderson. Brady, how's it going? Doing great, Jamie and Israel. How are you guys doing? We're doing very well. Thank you for making some time to chat with us today. So Seahawks and the Cardinals on Sunday. What's kind of top of mind for you to watch for going into this matchup? Yeah, it's whether or not the Seahawks can continue their defensive resurgence. And, you know, it started, I would say, a little bit before they played Arizona. But really, that's when Leonard Williams, the absolute terror that he's been on,

that's when that started two weeks ago. And I think that's an offensive line that he and the rest of Seattle's pass rush can take advantage of. And, you know, it's difficult when you're rushing Kyler Murray because, you know, you're not just rushing him like a typical quarterback. You really got to worry about staying in your rush lanes and being disciplined in those. And I think sometimes you sacrifice a little bit of your aggressiveness and how you go after the guy in order to keep him contained. And despite that, I mean, they did both of those things really well in that first game. They sacked him five times and also held him to nine rushing yards. And so it's getting harder and harder to not think of this defense as anything other than,

you know, one of the very best units. As hard as that would have been, you know, a month or two ago to imagine when they were, you know, giving up 150 rushing yards a game, whatever that number was, almost that high. But this defense is looking more and more like it's for real, and it's doing it not just against bottom-tier quarterbacks. It's doing it against probably that second tier of quarterbacks, and Kyler Murray is another one of those guys.

There's been a lot made about the improvement specifically since the bye and sure there was some personnel the linebackers basically getting completely swapped out mid-season but it also seems like the players that that were brought in whether it's guys like Leonard Williams or players that you know obviously have been in Seattle for the last couple of years like Greek Woolen or Devin Witherspoon, have taken their game to another level in the last few weeks. What is the combination between making some personnel changes versus the players that we know have a pretty high ceiling and have a high pedigree just fitting better within the scheme and the structure? Yeah, it's kind of wild to think of how different this defense is,

just personnel-wise, from the first month or so of the season. And some of that is guys were down, like they lost several defensive linemen. They're going into that Detroit game, but just by choice, they have made a number of personnel decisions. The two linebackers, like you mentioned, Josh Jobe is now their third cornerback uh instead of trey brown who you know trey brown really struggled in that first 49ers game they pulled the plug on him inserted josh job and he has really steadied that job out remember ray sean jenkins started the season as their starting safety he got hurt um and now kobe bryant is in that role and he won nfc defensive player of the week a couple weeks ago, and he looks like a really good player there,

especially for a guy who only really played nickelback his first year in the NFL. And so I don't think any coach likes for a guy to lose his job because of an injury, but in this case they made an exception because Kobe Bryant's really playing well, and they're obviously using Rayshawn Jenkins as that third safety so he's still playing but for a team that is in first place um and wasn't going through like this total rebuild they really have made a lot of changes on the fly and you're seeing them do that uh now with their kickoff return game and their punt return game i think you're going to have new guys at both of those spots on Sunday. And so, yeah, a lot of this is really, you know,

some of it certainly is just getting more comfortable in the first year of a scheme. And that's going to take time to grab hold. You know, guys are just going to – it's going to take time for guys to really get used to what they're doing scheme-wise. But certainly you look at the personnel and the changes they've made on the fly which is rare for a winning team those have made a huge difference as well yeah you know as you mentioned you know first place in the division and obviously a big game against the cardinals uh this weekend and you know just how much have

these last three weeks in the defensive improvements we've seen from the Seahawks kind of changed your perception of what this team's ceiling is come playoff time, right? Because they've got a very good shot to win the division if they can take care of business and be in the playoffs. And I think a few weeks ago, people would have written them off as, you know, well, even if they do make it, they're not going to do much once they get there. But how much has that changed for you given what we've seen over the last few weeks? Quite a bit. Yeah, I didn't think they were a playoff team a month ago, and nothing that you would really

see would give you the indication that they were. I mean, they did win three straight games to start the year out, but that was against some bad teams, at least at the time. Bo Nix is obviously playing well now, but that was his NFL debut. He played Jacoby Bursette, who has since been benched. He played the Dolphins without Tua. And then they lose, what was it, five of six games. And so, yeah, they didn't look like a playoff team.

And now, not only do they look like a playoff team potentially, although this game is going to go a very long way in determining that. They're still not guaranteed to make the playoffs, but if they do make the playoffs, I think there's a much, much better chance that they do that as the division winner as opposed to one of those wildcard teams. And obviously when you win the division, you're playing at home, and you're probably, if you're like the third seed,

then what, you would be playing the sixth seed. So you're playing, I don't know, who's that going to be? Green Bay maybe? They obviously took Detroit to the wire in Detroit last night, so Green Bay looks like a good team. But when you're playing a home playoff game, I know the home field advantage at Lumen Field isn't what it used to be, but with this defense playing the way it is,

now you talk about a team that's you know looks like it could win a playoff game whereas you know three four weeks ago you were wondering you know if this was a lost season in the first year of a new regime mike mcdonald came in as as the head coach in the offseason obviously with the reputation for being a really sharp defensive mind and that was going to be a big part of what he did with the Seahawks. It was a big part of the reason that he was hired, and he is getting credit for their defensive improvement of late. People are talking him up and saying,

look, this is what was expected of him. But he also came into Seattle after Pete Carroll, who was there for such a long time, had established himself as such a strong personality. I'm curious, covering Mike McDonald here, and I think he had a pretty big week with the arrival of a child, so it's been obviously a very big and important time in his life, football-wise and away from the field.

What have you learned about Mike McDonald and his personality and the way that he's approaching the Seahawks in this season? The thing that stands out to me is just, and I hear this from players all the time, and I just see it even when he talks to us in the press conference settings, is he's such a direct communicator. And the term I've heard from one of their assistants is he just hits you right between the eyes. And there's zero room for interpretation. And you would think that a lot of coaches, every coach must be like that.

That's really not the case. I think some coaches are trying to manage their relationships. And sometimes you kind of have to, I think some coaches feel like they have to, you know, soften things up. And with him, there's not that. He's just very demanding, very direct, very stern. And, you know, he, I saw it in training camp when we're out there watching practice. I heard it several times behind the scenes. Like, McDonald will get on guys, and he will coach them really hard, and he will come down on them.

Now, I think every disciplinarian-type coach, that's typically, you're going to do that more so with younger players, and you give the veterans, you know, a little leeway, and you communicate with them a little differently. But this guy is very stern, demanding, and yet he's got kind of this cool sense of humor that comes out every now and again. And so I think just the person at like the, you know, the leadership stuff, I think for any young coach, like a first-time coach like him at 37 years old, you're kind of figuring that out on the fly.

You know, you're figuring out how to address the team in meetings and what to say to them and what tone to take and everything. I think when teams hire these young head coaches, the idea is, okay, you're bringing in the scheme. That's what gets these coaches on teams' radars in terms of, like, filling head coaching vacancies. And then I think a lot of times the thought is, okay, you get the scheme in the building, in the system,

and then you let the guy kind of figure out the leadership stuff as he goes. And I think that's what's happening with Michael McDonald. And you're seeing the scheme really benefit them right now. Brady, always appreciate the time and the preview. Thanks for doing this. We'll chat next week. All right, you got it, fellas. Thank you.

See you. That is Brady Henderson from ESPN covering the Seattle Seahawks. And, of course, they'll take on the Arizona Cardinals on the weekend in a big game in the NFC West. Huge game. All right. Well, I do want to talk about the Thursday night football game at some point on the show, which we didn't have a chance to get into

in what happened. But there is a situation developing in the NHL with the New York Rangers and Jacob Truba. So Chris Johnston from The Athletic had this tweet while we were on the air with Brady. He says, there are a lot of balls in the air regarding Jacob Truba per sources. He will not be on the ice for the New York Rangers today due to roster management purposes.

Possible he's traded or even hits the waiver wire at 2 p.m. Eastern. Of course, 11 a.m pacific here is waiver time now arthur staple also at the athletic what a great institution what a great outlet you guys you just attach yourself at the hip with people that work at the athletic it's okay it's okay you guys really i really gotta get a free subscription at this point like come on yeah dren hasn't hooked you up? No. Hook us up, man. Come on. Paywall, baby.

I mean, they're like a dollar, guys. Yeah, it's true. Every week, it's like, big, big sale, $1. I know. I can read my email box, Izzy. It's $1. So you're saying Truba for Hoaglander? That's what's happening?

Arthur Staple says, if it's not a trade for Truba, believe he may be on wait waivers later today possibility that a team will have a claim ready to go as with Goodrow back in June. Remember they put Barkley Goodrow on waivers because they knew the Sharks were going to claim him right eat, which did not sit well with Barkley Goodrow. Either

way looks like Jacob Truba's New York Rangers tenure is over. So that's how a captain got put on waiver on waivers. That's crazy and I know I get it right. Things are dire in New York. They are very frustrated with how things are going. They've already tried to kind

of send a shot again shot across the bow at the team and say, hey, we might trade true, but we might trade Crider. There's the bad feelings from the trade situation of Jacob Truba in the summer that are lingering as well. Man, putting your captain on waivers, that is an extreme, extreme move.

Now, the other thing with the waiver possibility is you can't retain salary. You can't take salary back. So for some team to claim Truba, they're just taking on all of the $8 million for the next couple of years for Jacob Truba. And as bizarre as it is to be talking about a team potentially putting their captain on waivers, from a pure performance standpoint, I do understand the frustration of Jacob Truba. He's not getting the job done.

He's not the player he once was, and he's making $8 million. But it's hard for me to picture another team really excited to step up and take on that contract on waivers, right? A trade would make more sense because then the Rangers can retain a little bit. Maybe you can send a bad contract back, whatever the case is.

But as Arthur Staple suggests, it looks like it could be the good draw, the waiver situation here. We'll find out after our show at 11, but as Staple says, either way, it looks like Jacob Trob truba's new york rangers tenure is over yeah i mean it's escalated pretty quickly although look any time

that there's reporting that major veteran players can get moved and it's coming out of new york and it's not just speculation or rumor like you know we had for years here as jt miller gonna get traded as bo horvath going to get traded talking about that kind of stuff every day it was pretty clear that that proclamation was coming straight from the Rangers front office and it was as you said Jamie a declaration to the team that hey like this isn't acceptable you haven't been playing at a high enough level we can't be too comfortable and with truba it does go back to last season in the offseason and it's a it's a really uncomfortable spot and appears like that

has that has spilled over uh to to the players and the way that they are feeling about where they're at and it seems like from everything that i've heard i heard elliot friedman mentioned this a little bit yesterday that it's mostly in sympathy to truba that he is the leader guy and that's that's the only reason i think that there are some teams that maybe are you know down or they would be up in term down in the standings up in terms of waiver priority yes that they would be excited to take this guy on because they don't necessarily have the cap constraints. And he is, by all accounts, the leader guy. And it sounds like he's been muted this year.

And the Rangers don't necessarily have someone else to fill those shoes. I mean, who were we talking about earlier? Chicago, right? You fire the coach. You want to do something to change the culture, to jumpstart that team, to just change the vibes around the team. Okay, you have a guy who's the leader, who's a captain, who has been a high-level player even if he's not right now. And as you said, it's not like cap constraints are an issue there.

So that's just pure speculation, but that would have to be the situation. I don't think any – I mean, how many contending teams have $8 million in cap space that they can just slot in right now and even from a performance standpoint i don't know if they're looking to add a player like jacob truba at the moment so we have people texting in like oh no don't don't trade uh don't trade nils hoaglander for jacob truba they're not doing that no they are not doing that that i mean first of all like just wouldn't work cap wise i guess maybe you could make it work right now but then you have to fit them all pieces together but then you have to fit them all back under the cap anyways and

and troop is not moving the needle really i don't think i i get that this management group often looks at physical defensemen and thinks okay we can coach more out of them but just man the the salary for true but not at that performance is no i i just don't think it uh i don't think it makes a ton of sense um another athletic reporter peter baugh this is a fascinating tweet here's what's happened for the most recent rangers captains jacob truba time with the team seemingly done with one one and a half years left on his deal ryan mcdonough traded ryan callahan

traded chris drury bought out to end his career. So Chris Drury is like, this is New York. We can do whatever we want to a captain. I know. Maybe he's trying to end the curse of the New York Rangers captaincy. But it is now apparently the most cursed position in hockey,

being the captain of the New York Rangers. That's pretty funny. You're done. I'm just thinking of that entire Amazon NHL episode, the series they released over the summer. There was an entire episode focused on Trouba and how much he was looking forward to the season playing for the Rangers and looking back and I'm like,

well, that didn't turn out as expected. Yeah. And a bunch of people are pointing out, and this was the same thing with Barkley Goodrow, right? The waivers thing happens in part because if you have a no trade clause, but not a no movement clause, right? And we know Jacob Truba has flexed his no trade clause in the past. Yeah.

You can block a trade to a specific team, but you can't block going on waivers. So the idea was Goodrow would have blocked being traded to San Jose, but you can't block going on waiver. So the idea was Goodrow would have blocked being traded to San Jose, but he can't block the waiver pickup. It's one thing to do it with a player, you know, bottom six guy with Jacob Truba or sorry with Barkley Goodrow to kind of pull that

where it's like we're explicitly trying to get around your contractual rights. We're gaming the system here to send you to a place. We know you don't want to go if that's how it plays out that is a spicy spicy decision from chris jury i mean you have to be right look at the vegas golden knights yes and you know they've traded guys to places they didn't want to go and by all accounts they're not necessarily a warm and fuzzy front office. And everything we've heard about Chris Drury is that he takes the Billy Bean approach.

He does not talk to the players. He is management, and he's going to make these decisions from the top down. And in this case, obviously by going after the captain of this team, it's basically the loudest message that you can send and it says look performance matters uh your salary we will find ways around this issue and it's it seems harsh

and the rangers are in that group of teams right they've they've been pretty good the last couple years there is an expectation that they need to break through some people thought maybe that was going to be last season heading into this year very high expectations that they could be uh the best team in the eastern conference and a team that's built to go on a long playoff run but those guys you talk about truba and crider the two guys that were uh listed and you know talked about in those rumors of these are the next guys out the door, they're on the wrong side of 30 now. And this league is just getting faster and faster,

and not just faster on the ice, but faster in terms of, hey, you've got to cut bait sometimes. And the Rangers, they're not messing around. It's a lot to take in. And Kreider, in some ways, would be even more extreme to me than Shruba because I think Kreider can still help a team in a lot of ways. And also, isn't he like second in all-time Rangers goals or something? He's an incredibly long-tenured player,

been extraordinarily successful for them, among the franchise leaders in a lot of categories. I get it. I get the you have to be ruthless, right? And it's such a fine line though, because when it works, you get away with it. Right.

Like nobody is going to be scared of going to Vegas because they see the success. And I'm like, Hey, I want that. I want to be a part of that. And we've seen, you know,

Noah Hannafin signs a big extension there. Shea Theodore signs a big extension there. So the ruthlessness doesn't stick to them. But if you are ruthless and you don't win a cup and you're not perennially one of the best teams in the league you know we have people texting in i mean how much your veteran player is going to hold this against chris drury it really depends can he turn this team around can he if he gets eight million dollars in cap space what does he do with it to make the rangers successful because if it doesn't turn around, well, then you've just pissed off players and shown that you're willing to stab them in the back for no reward.

There has to be the reward on the ice. And if there is, the players will forget about it and say, okay, hey, look, I want to go somewhere and win. So maybe I know that I'm at risk of being cut or put on waivers here, but I'll accept that. But if you lose, it's stick to you yep yep you've got to win and that's the bar and look i mean for as much as players uh and from what we understand in new york huge they have huge respect for jacob truba as a leader and he brings that that intangible element to a team that maybe apart from him doesn't have that but they're also very intelligent hockey players and probably attuned to hey this guy hasn't been amazing and while they they will get

over the initial shock that this is what's happening if if as you said jamie they're able to bring in one or two players to fill that gap, raise the team back up to the level where it thinks that it should be. It is that simple. You see teams a lot where there are awkward situations like this. I think it's not entirely the same because this player stayed with that team, but the LA Kings stripped Dustin Brown of the captaincy, gave it to Andrzej Kopitar. That made a lot of sense on paper,

but that is still something that players are going to react negatively to, Dustin Brown of the captaincy gave it to Jose Kopitar. That made a lot of sense on paper, but that is still something that players are going to react negatively to, even if that was one is like Jose Kopitar is one of the, he's obviously one of the greatest Kings of all time is on the short list of one of the best players of his generation. That made some sense. Dustin Brown was, was aging. He wasn't kind of having the same impact that he had earlier in his tenure.

This is a little different because you are just, you're, you're shipping a guy out of town and a guy in truba who did a lot of maneuvering to get to new york in the first place uh update from pierre lebrun i believe that's the fourth athletic contributor i've cited already in this second it's got to be a record one dollar guys one dollar a month even for me but pierre lebrun says hearing that the rangers have multiple deals on the table involving truba but they all need his consent to waive his modified no trade the census truba was going to sleep on it last night and perhaps decide today as david staple alludes to there's a potential threat of waivers at play here if truba doesn't waive his no no trade clause for one of these trades. So basically the idea is, look, we want to

send you here. If you don't waive and let us, we're just going to put you on waivers and one of these teams is going to claim you anyway. So you may as well just waive and do us a solid. We'll see. We'll see how it plays over the next few hours and we'll talk to Frank Cervalli about it in the next segment.

We'll also talk to AJ from AJ's Pizza about what's going on at the restaurant over the weekend. Lots more to come here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650.