Halford & Brough in the Morning - Arturs Silovs Beats The Injury-Riddled Canucks

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk last night's Canucks road loss to the Pens (3:00), plus they look around the NHL with Sportsnet's David Amber (27:25). 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.

You're listening to Halford and Brough. As the Vancouver Canucks dropped their first game on this road trip after winning the first three in a row. We could have been up three or four nothing in the first ten minutes when it didn't happen. to coast to have, you know, this team to grasp onto is really cool. I felt the connection when I was managing in Vancouver. Last night is the biggest scar that I've ever, ever, ever felt as a sports fan. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

This is Alfred, it is brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adol, good morning to you. Good morning. And Ladi, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Alfred and Brett for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One no more interest, two much lower payments and three financial peace of mind. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech Foot, and orthotics working together with you and step. We got a lot to get into on the show today. It's a three-guester on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. And the guest list today begins at 630 in the morning.

David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host. It's going to join the program. Tonight is Wednesday night hockey. It's an all-Canadian matchup this evening at 5.30 our time as the red-hot Montreal Canadian take on the lowly Calgary flames in Calgary. It's a relatively quiet night in the NHL tonight. just three games on the slate. So we can also take a look back

on a very busy Tuesday evening around the league. David Amber is going to join us at 6.30 for all of that. 7 o'clock, Frank Sarah Valley, NHL Insider for Victory Plus. So Frank, any good centers out there available for trade?

Scratch good. Any centers out there available for trade? We'll ask Frank about that what the market looks like. He did discuss Casey Middlestad out of Boston on his latest show on Victory Plus. and ask about any other potential centers that might be available for, I don't know,

maybe the Vancouver Canucks. I also want to ask Frank about the Connor Bedard contract extension negotiations in Chicago and the New York Rangers slow start to the season. That's all coming up at 7 a.m. with Frank. 8 o'clock, Randy Janda is going to join the program. Color analyst for the Vancouver Canucks right here on Sportsnet 650.

As you heard in the intro, Vancouver's three-game win streak, it's over. It came to an end last night with a 5-1 loss in Pittsburgh to Sidney Crosby and the Pans. lots, lots to unpack from that rather confusing game. Many of us here at SportsNet 650, including the guys on the postgame show, just trying to get a handle on exactly what happened. Yeah, we're not even being critical. We're just trying to understand here. Just inquisitive guys want to know more about the hockey team. Hey, I've got a guy on the job

in Nashville. The Canucks are practicing this morning. You've got a spy? I've got a reporter. Nice. I've already prepped him on what to ask. Good job, Jason. So hopefully he comes through for me. An agent, not of chaos. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But of the Halford & Bruff show. That's really good. Yeah. Don't spoil it now.

I'm not going to spoil it. The press have B reporters? He's looking at his phone. I've got... I've got a guy. He's got a guy. I got a guy. He's like, uh, what's your favorite thing about Jason Brough?

Yeah, yeah. Isn't he handsome? That's all my question. So much a statement of fact. Because I saw a lot of fans last night. It was like, when the Canucks get home, and they're going to be home and there's going to be home and there's going to be Canadian media in the building. Obviously, they host Edmonton and Montreal this weekend.

I think Montreal Saturday, Edmonton Sunday. And we get a preview Montreal tonight. Yeah. And Foot is going to get questions. But I was like, I'll get someone on it just to kind of stoke the fires a little before they come home. Don't say he doesn't do anything for you, listeners. He's out there. Do you want those questions asked? I got a guy. So 8 o'clock, Randy Jand is going to join the program. I feel like Moj.

He's like, I got a guy in Nashville, too. He does, but it's a brisket guy. 8 o'clock, Randy Jandes, 7 o'clock, Frank Saravalley, 630, David Amber. That's what's happening on the program today. Greg, 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 happened? Miss that? You miss that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction. Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler

by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.C.C.a. Sidney Crosby scored his fourth goal of the year and became the Penguins' all-time leading score in the regular season and playoffs combined. That was the Pittsburgh side of things. As for the Vancouver Canucks, they were on the wrong end of a 5-1 loss

to the Penguins at PPG paints arena in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. You mentioned Sid there? Um, Remember our text thread? I was like, oh, that wasn't the best play by Kiefer Sherwood on Sidney Crosby. What did you say then? Feels like Sherwood's out there an awful lot. Yeah.

Maybe too much. Yeah. And I said, so is Cain. They're out there all the time. Anyway, we'll get into that in just a bit. That's called foreshadowing. It was a strong start for the Canucks, one where Adam Foote said the Canucks could have been up three or four nothing. But the only goal they did get was from Connor Garland.

and things fell apart in the second period. Or as foot put it a couple of times, the connects just ran out of gas. Penalties were an issue for Vancouver, and they were a factor in the game. The pens went two for five on the power play, and key players, like Garland, spent a lot of time on the PK

instead of creating offense. In a related story, deployment was the main talking point. point on social media. As simple as the question is as simple as this. Why did the top line of Garland, Pedersen

and DeBresque play so little at five on five and why did the likes of Ratu, Kane, and Sherwood play so much? I wonder if Garland's extra work on special teams kept the even strength ice time

for Pedersen and DeBress down because that's a line. and Garland was out there for, what, five minutes on the PK and five minutes on the power play. But even if that is the case, doesn't foot need to find a way to get Pedersen and DeBresk out with someone else?

He was like, yeah, Garland's, it almost seemed like it was like, Garland's pretty tired from the PK, so PD and DeBrasse, you guys rest with him. Yeah, you get a free rest. Yeah, it wasn't like, okay, who else, who's fresh

that I can throw out there with Pedersen and Debrusk. So, you know, is that the case? Or is this foot simply playing the players that he believes in at five on five? Or was it, as many people were like, you know, desperately, like, I don't want this to be an issue. So they were like, maybe it was load management during a game that got away from the Canucks in the midst of a very busy schedule. Maybe. but then I would ask you

what about load management for Sherwood and Garland and Evander Cain like what do they not do they not need the load management it doesn't really add up the load management thing you know or load management for some and maybe

not for others now we're really stretching the boundaries of that explanation yeah and also you know I think it's fair to wonder okay it can get complicated running a bench So if you've got Garland, who you play in all situations. You got him on the PK, you got them on the power play, obviously plays it even strength.

Took a turn in that. He did play well. Yeah. Yeah, it was good. A return to the smaller goalies. He plays a lot. So it can get complicated for a bench boss when he's playing all this, you know, extracurricular power play PK time. Sure.

To get his linemates the ice time then. But you have to do it. I mean, that's one of your jobs as a betterson line, go. You know, Ratu line, go. Go again. Yep. Go again. Stay on there.

You know, like you have to mix and match your lines sometimes to take into account even strength. And if you look at the numbers from last night, if you look under the hood, as they call it, Pedersen-debrusk at 5-and-5 pretty much only played with Garland. It was like the coach was like, If Garland isn't out there with you, it was like the babysitter. It's like, we don't let you cross these streets unless you're with an adult. You have to stay here. You have to.

And, you know, so if Garland isn't with you, you're not going out on the ice. So is that a message that's being sent? Or is that like it was pretty complicated to juggle the lines in my head at the time. I want to imagine that's how he says it to him as well. Like if Garland isn't with you, come back here. What are you doing? Don't get out there. And here is.

Garland holds his hand. And here's where we don't really know. We don't know. We don't know yet. And we're going to try our best to figure it out. But for those of you that are like, you know, oh, it's just rampant speculation and a bunch of guessing. Yep, yep, pretty much. And that's why you got a guy.

I got a guy to ask some questions. IMAQ was the only reporter on the road yesterday. And it was from us. And then the other two people asking questions of foot in the post game scrum were MIRF and Olivia, both of whom just sort of did the standard. not to like make light of their journalistic abilities, but they're there to ask certain types of questions. And we didn't get any sort of answers as to why things were deployed the way that they were.

Because we're trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt here with the multifaceted explanations. Maybe it was load management. Maybe there was a plan, but we didn't even get an idea of if this was calculated and methodical or whether it was a guy losing his bench or sticking to a rotation of one through four that he didn't want to deviate from.

So someone takes it in, does Pedersen not play on the PK and power play as well? Yes, he does, but not as much on the PK as Garland does. And I would also suggest that, you know, if you're talking about load management. Okay, so PD last night

ended up playing 16 minutes and 56 total. Yes. So he didn't even play 17 minutes. almost five minutes of that was on the power play and two and a half minutes was short-handed so if you look at the five-on-five numbers

okay five-on-five numbers overall with the team Pedersen and DeBresc played the fewest minutes at five-on-five Debrusk seven minutes and 31 seconds at five on five

which is crazy. Pedersen nine and a half minutes at five on five. Now Garland also only played nine minutes and 33 seconds on five on five, which is two seconds more than Joe LaBate. Yeah. Right? Joe LeBate played more at five on five than Pedersen and DeBras.

I love the body. I love Joe LaBade. I love his story. But that's his first NHL game this season. And he was brought up under the most dire of injury circumstances. The only reason he's here is because they're so banged up. I mean, everyone knows this. to deploy him in that manner

is crazy work and also kind of unfair to him like why is LeBate getting the same amount of ice time at Evens than the top end guys yeah like in a game where and even strength ice time is the most tiring

right would you agree I would agree like power play it's fun you're out there sure I guess the kill can be time and space the kill can be but like but there's no forechecking no when you're on the penalty kill and there isn't a ton I mean if there's a loose puck you've got to chase it

and you got to put pressure on it it can be tiring I will I will give you that but there's not as much there's not as much chasing because you don't really want to run out of position right I also want to throw in here though that this is not the first time in the seven games of the connect to play this season where foot's deployment

has come no no this isn't a one off this isn't a one off people you know we haven't talked about it much but I know the post game show I know sat and the likes of Bick have been like, what's going on with deployment? And they're a lot more fair than we are. We're jackals in the morning, right? We're ready to carve up anyone.

Sat and Bick were very much, I mean, doing like borderline aerobic exercises bending over to try, bending over backwards to try and figure out like what is going on here. And they brought up the idea. They're like, maybe this was some really advanced load management from a coach that saw that the game was getting away, got away, and then decided to curl back the minutes.

If you want to go down that road, though, you've already mentioned like, well, Kiefer Sherwood was not subjected to this load management. He played over 20 minutes again. He plays a physical, very physical game. The blue line was not subjected to this load management because the top two pairs played a ton and the third pair barely got out there.

And if you want to look at the splits from periods one through three, like Pedersons was almost dead even. Like he was playing as much in the first period, he wasn't the third. And Garland played a lot. So it wasn't like he was like, well, the game's out of hand, we'll rest PD for the third. It didn't look like they clawed back the minutes. It just

didn't. It looked like I'm not going to harken back to the Willie days where you'd have a TV time out with a two minute break and then an offensive zone draw and the fourth line would be out there all of a sudden and you're like, this is clearly you're just going one through three four, one two three four, one two three four. House League

Canucks. Right, just go out. It's your turn. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are. The parents call in if the ice time isn't even. Right. And then you got to let them on the line. Do you have let them online? How does youth hockey? Get to wait 24 hours, right? It's 24 hours. 24 hours. Willie's like, you can talk to me tomorrow. Not today. But anyway, so all of this.

Oh, it's Derek Dorset's mom again. Oh, again. She's a killer. Yeah. I'm playing him a ton. Okay, look. It's Mrs. Dorset on the phone. The reason we've gone this far down this road is because I felt like yesterday was a very puzzling game. I, you know, I didn't want to do the Travis Green callback. or I said it didn't really feel like a 5-1 game, but it didn't feel like the ice was that slanted or lopsided in favor of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Scoreboard-wise, yeah.

I thought it became that way at certain points later in the game. They got away from them in the second, but the third wasn't even that decidedly one-sided. I didn't think. Did you watch the third that closely? Yeah, unfortunately. I was kind of like, yeah, this game's over, right? Both teams are for a skate.

Let's get to Nashville. Here's a question I've got. What? Does Drew O'Connor do? What does he do? I know he took a penalty last night that led to the goal by Tommy Novak, which sounds like a guy I used to know on the block.

That's right. Another one of your guys in Nashville. And they got a Kindle guy, the book reader. Yeah. He's a local guy. He's a local guy, yeah. Yeah, his dad used to play for the white caps. Right, yeah.

But back to Drew O'Connor. What does he do to justify his $2.5 million cap hit? Do you remember when the Canucks acquired them, they, like, immediately gave him a, two-year extension and Dolly Wall was upset. I got Ben Hankinson on the line wondering what's going on

because Brock Besser can't get signed and Drew O'Connor? I was like, I think they're different. I think they're different negotiations, Dolly. But regardless, like, what is, I know he's, I know he's fast and can in in theory get in on the forecheck.

Okay, but for two and a half million dollars, you got to do something else. He kills penalties. I don't know if he's a great penalty killer, but he's out there trying his best. But what does, like, he's been thrown up, he's been up and down the lineup, right? That's what I think the issue is. But I'm kind of like, what, what's the issue, though?

The issue is that he should be like a fourth line guy. And they're probably overpaying for a fourth line guy at $2.5 million. But he has no hands. He also had 10 minutes and 42 seconds at 5 on 5 yesterday. Played more than Petey. And DeBrusk. Almost three minutes more than Jake DeBrusk. Yeah.

Anyway, O'Connor's, it's interesting because I think earlier, I think my event last week's show, I said he feels like a man without a home like a guy without a country, a man without a home because he was bouncing all over the place on the lineup, right? They come out for practice one day and all of a sudden he's a first line winger then you look at his deployment, some

games and he's clearly being deployed as a fourth line guy. He doesn't really seem to have a great fit with anyone that he's skated with. I think the player himself is probably a useful player if you can find him the right spot and that falls to the coach. But at the same time,

it's a very valid question to be like what do you say you do around here like what's because i'm not exactly sure what that thing is to be honest i'm not sure he knows what it is on this team right now uh foot said that he hoped to have brock best are back from his personal leave for thursday's game in nashville but there was no guarantee on that and hopefully everything is okay with brock now bill from buffalo we're going to give you all right your flowers today fine and sometimes you just got to say, you know, as far as last night, you were right. And Bill from Buffalo texted in. And I have him in our system as Bill from Buffalo, the biggest Seelof's fan in the world.

It's a long title. And he texted in and he said, good morning, Seelov Bashers. Do you think the penguins would like to undo that trade? Sure, glad we spent $4.5 million on Lankan. Sure couldn't use that cap space now, eh? your friend and loyal listener, Bill from Buffalo. Yeah, CELOV. TTIP.

TILA, I mean, it didn't start out well for CELOVs, but he buckled down after allowing a goal on the first shot to Connor Garland. Nice tip pass at center by Elias Pedersen. So, you know, Garland scored last night and PD got an assist. And then just really didn't, I don't know, we don't need to go into that much more. Lankin was not good last night. No. that was disappointing actually

he had a poor performance and I imagine that Demco will be back between the pipes Thursday in Nashville and you know something going back to something we were talking about yesterday Demko he's clearly been the MVP so far right? Clearly like Garland's played well

Sherwood's played well Garland Sherwood Demko yeah and it's crazy that the connects are in the position they're in and I would say okay you would have expected Demko to be there but if they got off to this kind of start you would said that Hughes and Pedersen would have been right there with him, but they're not. Hughes has been off.

Yeah, a little bit. He's been off. He still does incredible things out there with his escapability. And he plays the game so quickly. His feet are moving so fast. But he's had a lot of turnovers. His play has been a little loose in his own end. And I wonder, I just wonder how he's feeling right.

now about the situation. A bit distracted perchance? Maybe. His brother got a hat-trick last night. Oh, did he? Yeah. Jack Hughes has six goals in his last three games. He got a hat-tricking. Are you still thinking that he wants to get, like, because New Jersey, does that make sense with Luke there? I don't think that, with all due respect to A-Dogs, and good, you're good at stirring it up and get your big wooden spoon back there. I got a out of foot take as well. Okay, just hold on. We can only have so much hot take at the beginning of the show. I don't think that that's

an issue with Hughes right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he means everything that he says where it's like at the end of this season because I can't sign a contract anyway, I'll wait until the end of the season to figure it out. And I think that whatever is going on right now,

and again, we are seven games into the year. I'm trying, I am trying my best to be inquisitive and have a level of intrigue and try and be, like, have this be more thought provoking than just being like this doesn't look good like trying to figure out exactly what's going on with everyone across the board yeah yeah right for sure

trying to figure we're getting to no foot like we don't know we have no idea like he doesn't say much no he doesn't he's either guarded or part of me thinks that there's been a bit of an organizational mandate to not say anything that could be perceived as negative right Less is more, as I would say. Yeah. So I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, foot is just trying to keep a positive. Maybe things are different behind the scenes.

I don't know. Or maybe that's just who he is. I don't know. Maybe who knows? I don't know. This is a good segue though. Okay. Laddie, grab the clip where it's foot saying that,

where are we here? Penns were chasing the game more than us. So this is in response to one of the Ian McIntyre questions yesterday where IMac asked about the face-off battle, and the spoiler earlier here is that the Canucks lost the face-off battle quite badly yesterday, and how difficult it was to be losing those draws while they were chasing the game, which seemed like a pretty standard question because the Canucks lost, you know, 5-1, and they were trailing for, you know, the majority of the game.

It'd be nice to get the puck off the face-off instead of like, yeah, definitely not a negative question. Here, I don't know if we have the question there, but here's Foote's response about how the penguins were chasing the game. More than us. Yeah, they were better at us on the face off today, but I mean, that's part of hockey. And I don't think we were chasing the game like it made it sound there. I really don't.

I think they were chasing us. They got away with it early. We could have, like I said, been up. And it looked like we just ran out of gas. He's also gone to the let's not overthink it line again. And I won't even bother playing the clip. But he just kind of muttered it when talking about the game and being tired and then being in the middle of a trip

and running out of gas. And that's the second or third time he's brought that up as well is let's not overthink this. Right. So when he comes back and is asked the questions. And our show is like, okay. Yeah, I love not thinking.

I do it for a living. When he comes back and he's going to be facing more questions, I think there is going to need to be a little bit more thought specifically when it comes to answering questions about deployment because it just doesn't really add up unless there is a plan. In which case, just let us know. and then that question gets put to bed and we can focus on a variety of other things last night.

I did want to met on C-Lovs, by the way, and good on the post-game show guys for bringing this up. Like, he deserves full credit for what he did yesterday. Was it the first shot of the game? The Garland shot, if not, it was really early, and then he blocked it down after that. I think it was 23 consecutive saves after the Garland goal. Post-game show brought up a good point,

and this was highlighted yesterday, but has been an issue apparently with the numbers that they got from Kevin Woodley throughout the year. The Canucks are one of the worst teams, in the NHL in terms of generating anything on screenshots like they just don't do it very well and I don't know whether it's intentional because they're spacing in the offensive zone is different this year or they're just not particularly good again even layered screens singular screens the flash ones where you pop in and out right they're getting nothing off that and to me last night would

have been a good night to try more of it because Demko's numbers again this is all courtesy of the post game show see loves sorry see loves numbers drop considerably when in traffic more so than your average NHL goalie. But last night, he saw what he saw and he stopped what he saw, I would say. And he did a good job of it. So good on him. He's having a good run in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is 5-2-0.

I think we should also mention that. Yeah, Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has looked okay. Yeah. I mean, they play a pretty open style, I think you could say. But yeah, they're 5-2-0. Dan Mews. Who would have thunk it? Nashville, meanwhile, are struggling.

They're two, three, and two. They've lost four in a row. So in theory, that's a game where the Canucks should be able to jump on a bad opponent unless the Preds are saying the same thing. Yeah. Okay, David Amber is joining us next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Quick reminder that this segment of the show is brought to you by your BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits.

Heated rivalries and nonstop entertainment for tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. It's Canucks Central with Dan Richo and Saty R. Shaw, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby.

It is time for David Amber. He will tuck some hockey, maybe. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber. He will tuck some hockey. I'm on the hotline, baby. I'm righted in the mushrooms talking.

I remember what I was doing at 23, cooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here, guys. No one's fighting Rick talking. No one wants to fight Rick talking. I'm on the hotline, baby. It is, it's David. It is, it's David.

Amber, it is, it's David. He's on the hotline. 633 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford, Brough, SportsNet, 650. Halford in breath of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees to learn how. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com.

We are an hour one of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night, Canada, Sportsnet, NHL host is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of hour one. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit the Middle 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go.

Our next guest, as mentioned, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host. David Amber, now on the Halford & Breff Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, David. How are you? Hey, fellas. All good. Can't wait until Friday. Let's go, Jays. I was going to say, what a unique time. We were just talking about this at the break. Very rarely in these Canadian markets is baseball overshadowing hockey in late October.

But, I mean, we may as well just acknowledge it and kind of relish you It doesn't happen all that often. I actually have a question for David. Yeah. Are the Blue Jays providing cover for a Leafs team that seems to be a little bit problematic right now? I flipped over to the Leafs Cracken game just in time to see Stolars get run over by, I think it was Mason Marchman. And Brandon Carlo just kind of stood there while Stolars went nuts himself. And it just seems like things are a little testy and uncertain in Leafs.

What's going on there, David? Yeah, and last line against New Jersey wasn't much better. In fact, Craig Baroubae, so after Crack and Stolar's kind of called out his team, like, what the hell I'm getting run over? No one's doing anything. And then after last night's game, Craig Barube called out his top line. It was Matthew's Nye's and Domi, and then later in the game, it was Matthews Nive and Nick Robertson.

They've been trying to find some sort of chemistry, and he's just like, it's a one-and-done. They don't get any sustained pressure. I know what chemistry is going to take away. but I'm getting pretty tired of watching this. So things are heating up here. Yes, the Js are a perfect deflection. No one's really overly focused. It would be front page news otherwise,

but it's been buried in the back because everyone's sort of obviously very focused on baseball. But there is some very concerning trends that have happened with the Leafs thus far. And they knew the transition from Mitch Barner to without Mitch Barner was going to be tough, but they also felt they brought in some pieces that were going to help bridge that gap

and it hasn't happened thus far and quite frankly they were getting skated around last night I mean they gave up four goals in the second period they look slow so there's a lot of inner turmoil right now with the Leaf team it's not panic yet it's you know obviously we're three weeks into the season

but at the same time you don't want to bury yourself you don't want to have to dig out of a massive hole their schedule has been incredibly soft so far a bunch of non-playoff teams from a year ago, a bunch of home games, and they're certainly not taking advantage thus far. So there is some concern there. And Chris Tannav got hurt last night, didn't he?

Could he be out for a while? And how could that affect them? Yeah, I haven't heard the update yet. Have they given an update? No. Brubay addressed it after the game, said it was upper body, and then he was asked if TANF could miss some time,

and he kind of stopped and then said, possibly. So people are expecting that Tenev might be out for a bit here. TANF doesn't lay on the ice TANF doesn't leave games I mean you guys He's an ultimate warrior You guys saw him in Vancouver

He plays so hard So that's never a good sign When he has to leave a game You'll wait and see what that's about And that's just another issue Right another backup goalie Joseph Walls left the team for personal reasons They're not scoring at a very efficient rate

You know Alston Matthews last year was injured the whole year, and now he's seemingly healthy, but has been ineffective, you know, from the expectation of being a superstar in the league. I mean, Jack Hughes had a hat-trick last night. He looked like the star in the game. So there's a lot of question marks. It's early, as I've said, but you have to imagine Brad Tray Living's probably working the phone

seeing what, if any, possibilities there are to add a legitimate top six-four. That's what he said was his goal. And, you know, adding Matias with Shelley, who's an okay. playmaker. It just hasn't fit in properly yet in the top six of the Leafs. And there's just some concern guys that they're not the dynamic team. You know, they certainly were a year ago. Well, it's funny, you know, we're talking about the Blue Jays and Vladdy strolls into Game 7 wearing an Austin Matthews jersey. And that's like the best thing. What are you doing? I know and it works. That's like the best thing that's happened to Austin Matthews to start this season

because it's been pretty disappointing. And I know Brubay called him to the carpet yesterday and said that it hasn't been good enough. They need more sustained offensive pressure. He's getting tired of this rotating cast of wingers that they're trying to audition for the spot there. So there is a lot going on there. And, you know, Brubay's not one to really, well, two things. He's not one to beat around the bush.

He's pretty blunt and pretty direct. And he also seems like a guy that doesn't have a ton of patience. He wants to see results now. Yeah, I mean, I think he wants to put a little bit of pressure. He's noticing what everyone else is noticing. And it's concerning, right? Because pre-season, everyone says all the right things. We're going to do this.

We're going to do that. I feel healthy. It's going to be great. Oh, my God. The chemistry is going to be there. Everything's great. And then you get out on the ice, and it just hasn't been. And he's sitting there.

And again, he's mixing and matching trying to find that third person to go with Nyes and Matthews. And at a certain point, he's probably saying, you're often Matthews. You know, you're a three-time Rocket Richard winner. You know, Matthew Nyes, you're an up-and-coming star in this league. We just invested, you know, a lot of money into you. as well, it shouldn't be so incumbent on me finding the perfect guy for you to. You two

alone should be able to carry a line. That's really got to be the expectation here. It can't be like, well, we need to have someone perfectly, you know, suited for us for it to work. So I think Craig Brubis is a little he's seen enough. And again, his, you know,

his declaration post game where it's won and done, that's exactly it. No sustained pressure. It's like, okay, over the line, get a shot on that potentially, or get it deep. and then it's coming back out. There was no sort of minute-long shift in New Jersey's end last night from that top line.

And that's got to be a major concern, right? Because that's where your office has to come. It's going to have to come from that line or the Tavares Neelander line. You're just not going to get a ton from your third and fourth line on this Toronto team. So, you know, maybe that's something again, Brad Trayleavy's going to look at.

But Craig Barubei, he uses his words really wisely. He doesn't go and have blowups every two games. You know, it's not like Lindy Rough or Todd McClellan and was calling out the whole team after night one, although it seemed to work because Detroit's gone out a bit of a run since then. But, you know, he picks his spots very smartly

and he's very conservative if he's going to do that because he knows he's in a very intense media market. There's just such a volume of media here in Toronto. They parse every last word he says. So when he decides to use that bullet, you know he's really hit with Zen and that's where we're at right now.

I mean, they've had six home games guys, they've played one road game. And again, they have not played, maybe they've played one playoff team so far. So the record's a little misleading to say, are two playoffs teams. Seven games in, yeah, okay, but these are games that when the season started, you're like, these are winnable games.

At home, non-playoff teams, these are the games you want to bank. So when you're playing in Vegas and playing in Dallas and in Colorado, and in Edmonton, you know, things happen that might not go your way, but you've banked the games you should have won. So we got Montreal and Calgary tonight. Two teams going in pretty different directions.

Are the Calgary Flames going to be playing to prove Kevin BX are wrong tonight that the flames actually do have a good culture because we heard the former Connucks defensemen call out the flames on the broadcast. Yeah, I mean, listen, that was a really tough game in Vegas. And Kevin, Kevin's excellent. He's really on point, and he doesn't, it's not about cheap, I mean, he's been there. He's played. He knows what effort looks like. There's no shame in going into Vegas and losing to a very good Vegas team.

There's no shame in that at all. There is shame when you start trailing and guys sort of their body language and how they're, you know, playing out on the ice doesn't look like they're putting their full effort in. And that's what he said. And, you know, I'm sure Ryan Huska had a conversation with a team post game as well. Like, we need to stick together. The whole identity of the flames last year was this great, gritty team, right? It was, you know, blue collar.

It was the Lomburgs and the Klapkhas, and we're going to skate hard, we're going to play hard, we're going to finish our checks, we're going to get some great cold tending. What's their identity right now? It's not that. And that's got to be of major concern. You know, they've buried themselves. When you're one in six, you know, you're asking a lot of a team that had to, you know, they don't have any superstars on their team.

They're a team with some good players, but without superstars in a division with McDavid. and Drysidal and Quinn Hughes, and, you know, they're in a division. And, you know, obviously all the guys in Vegas. Like, they need to play a brand of hockey different than no superstar-laden teams. They need to play a brand of hockey that's blue-collar, get the puck deep, reap havoc, get the timely saves, be opportunistic when you can to score and hope for the best. And if nothing else, you give the best effort you can.

I'm interested to see what tonight brings against the Montreal team, that if you do, if you don't, if you don't bring it, if you do screw around on the ice, Montreal will bury you because they, they are a dynamic team. They're must-see TV, guys. I can't think of another team in the league. And I used to say this about Vancouver a few years ago, where I was just like, oh, man, Canucks are on, I'm glued to the set because they were, they were just young and vibrant and exciting, you know, obviously a little different now.

Montreal has sort of taken that mantle for me when you think of the young stars on the team and just the excitement. and it all starts with their head coach, Martaise San Luis. It just feels good, this Montreal team, and they're going to make some noise from all accounts here. Some people thought that maybe they regress, and maybe they will.

We're still early here, but I just love the feel of that team. And Matheson, Dobson, Hudson, I mean, you've got three puck-moving defense, and if you get up the ice quickly, attack as a five-man unit, they're just a real joy to watch. Yeah, it seems like everything is going well

for the HABs right now. people are happy with their management. They're happy with their coaching staff. They're happy with their leadership. They've got some young, exciting players like Demadov, who has so much potential, and he's going to be a big factor. They got prospects coming as well. Is there any area, what do you think is the area

where they're looking to improve? Well, the second-line center has been a constant conversation. You know, Alex Neu-Hook has run through there. Kirby Doc has had a hard time staying healthy run through it's getting that depth up the middle. One thing you find from the Florida Panthers, the Colorado Avalanche to Vegas Golden Knights, and they're winning the championships,

Tampa Bay Lightning, so deep up the center, right? Montreal doesn't have that luxury. They're still figuring that out, but they do have a surplus of good young players. That's the thing. They do have some great prospects, some, like, level A quality prospects. If you're Kent Hughes, you have some chips to play.

You know, like Brad Trey Living, going back to the Leafs for a second, Well, we want to get a top six forward, but what are you going to do? You've traded your first round pick, you know, for next year, for the year following. You don't have a lot of, you know, blue-chip prospects. You know, Easton Cowan is sort of the least biggest prospect. He's not, you know, he's going to be a good NHL player, but I don't think guys are just, you know, ready to hand over a top six forward

with Easton Cowan and a late-round draft pick attached to it. That's the thing. So Montreal, conversely, has a lot of draft capital. prospect capital and good young players. So if they do want to solidify and it will probably be closer to the trade deadline seeing what's available and what's not, they have the ability to do that. But having said that,

the chemistry is so good. I had to spend some time with the Canadians this summer. I was supposed to get a golf tournament out in St. John's Newfoundland for Alex Newhook, and there was a bunch of the guys there. And I could say they really, really, there's a tight-knit group. There was a bunch of weddings this summer, Nick Suzuki, A few other guys got married, and the whole team's there. It just seems like, you know, chemistry is such an important thing.

We're seeing out with the J's, right? Like, the Jays have legit chemistry. They are a team. And, you know, Anthony Stewart's used to always say, are you a team, or are you a club? You know, is everyone out there kind of counting their own personal points? Are they working together? And it looks like with the Montreal Canadiens, they're all pulling in the same direction. They like each other.

They respect each other. They stand up for one another. Lane Hudson got absolutely blitzed behind the neck. Saturday night and within 30 seconds, Arbor jockeyes in there going toe to toe defending their star defensemen. So they just have a good

chemistry and the vibes are very good coming out of Montreal tonight. If you haven't had a chance to see them, tonight's the night because it's not up against the Jay's game. The deck is clear. The last two Wednesdays we were up against Jay's, I can imagine

it was friends and family viewing only. But tonight you get to see a very good Montreal team, exciting to watch. And, you know, Calgary Flames, let's see if they respond, as you said, to the X are calling them out, and I'm sure their coach calling them out as well. And for all you Canucks fans listening right now, that's a nice chance

to look ahead to Saturday's opponent, because, of course, Montreal is going to be in Vancouver to take on the Canucks this Saturday. David, thanks a lot for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. Should be a good one. We'll do this again next week. Yeah, go Jays. I'm excited. Are they pumped in Vancouver for the Jays?

Are they on the bandwagon firmly now? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, the bars are hopping during Jay's games. Like, it's a, you know, there are Mariners fans here, but the bandwagon is definitely full of Jay's fans, and it's actually pretty exciting. Did you know that in 1992, when the Blue Jays won the series, I was in grade 10, and Blue Jays won the World Series, and there was like people honking their horns down Robson Street. Like it was like it was a big thing I got a ticket from a police officer for being

kind of like I was outside the car the car window like like Dukes of Hazard style with a Canadian flag and a police officer gave me a seatbelt ticket and I was like I will accept that ticket for my country grade 10

Jason was a huge Jay's fan huge I thought you were going to say you're hanging out the window with a Canadian beer, and that was the problem. No, it was a Canadian flag. I was like, I'm a patriot, and you're giving me a ticket for this? It was a different time. Well, let's hope you can recreate that scene. I'm not sure you're going to do that again, but it would be pretty often.

I don't think I could physically do that. My back would go out. Just be hanging out the window. Someone helped that guy. We got their hands full against the Dodgers. They go in into prohibitive underdogs, but I'm not going to sleep on this chase. team. Every time we think they're done, they've shown that they aren't, so let's hope they've got one more

in them. David, this was great, bud, thanks. Take care, guys. David Amber, Hockenank, Canada, SportsNet, NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A couple of things I wanted to run through from last night. We'll get into a... There was a ton of games on the slate last night. There was only

three tonight, including that Habs and Flames game. I did want to draw our attention to a couple, though, with a little bit of audio involved. In Boston, a very emotional evening for Boston Bruins fans and specifically former Boston Bruin, Brad Marchand, who made his emotional return to Boston

this time as a member of the Florida Panthers. The Panthers won the game in very bizarre fashion 4-3 on a late goal in which Carter Verhegey scored with 27 seconds left banking it in off of Andrew Peak in front of the Boston goal. It wasn't just banked, it was post and then banked. It was a bizarre goal.

It was the weirdest goal I've ever seen. That was overshadowed by the tribute that the Bruins fans and the Boston Bruins organization gave Brad Marsha. Now ESPN was calling this game and Ray Ferraro was working the benches. And during one of the intermissions, they did what you would expect, the big tribute video and everyone gave Marshaun a standing ovation. Marshawn went out on the ice and did the customary twirl and acknowledged the fans and patted his heart a few times.

Cried a bit. Then Brad Marchion went back. to sit on the bench after the video and broke down entirely and was just, I don't want to say sobbing because that's not a fair reflection of it, but crying, trying to hold it back, but just let it all out.

And then Ferraro picked up the play-by-play from there. So here's Ray Ferraro during Brad Marchand's victorious return to Boston yesterday. You often hear about people fighting to hold back tears, not holding back tears.

The Stanley Cup champions of 20 11, involved the young Brad Marchant, the sweat, the Stanley Cup champions of 2025 included Brad Marchand, his jersey will go to the top of this building someday, a beloved player here in Boston. Laddie, you said you had a question about this. Well, yeah, you mentioned you went out and did a little twirl and acknowledged the fans. What level do you have to get to to get to do the twirl? Because sometimes you see guys, they just, you know, some of them don't even stand up,

they kind of just gnaw their head. some guys stand up, you know, give a little bow. That's a great question. What level do you need to get to in order to qualify for the twirl? It's a great question. Are you number in the rafters guy, in which case I think you're doing a twirl? Are you a Ring of Honor guy? Maybe you just stand up on the bench.

You don't get the twirl at that point. It's all very valid, Lattie. There are different layers to this. There's levels to this, as the kids like you say. Is he going to get his number retired, do you think? I mean, that was what Ray said in the clip. I think he will. I think he will, too.

Like, if you're in the Hall of Fame. So I watched that game. I mean, what kind of organization, what kind of organization would not retire the number of a player that played so many games for your team and ends up as a first ballot Hall of Fame? Or that, like, does that ever happen? Teams just don't do that. That doesn't happen.

New question, new question. Is Luongo a twirl guy? Is he a stand at the bench guy? He's a twirl and ride on his stick guy in my mind. I'll watch the beginning of that. game because I wanted to see the pregame ceremony stuff and they actually held it for in game so I kind of tuned out but they did a streeters thing where they went out in front of TD Garden and tried to get as many people wearing Marshon jerseys as they could on camera and the Boston Faithful did not disappoint there was like a thousand Marshon jerseys walking into the arena right like he he was the most obnoxious gathering in Boston history is it not amazing though is it not amazing how that guy has turned around the narrative on his career. Yeah, yeah.

You know? Because he's a good player. He stopped making people. No, no. Scores big goals. But he also cut out the stuff that was getting him suspended every second week. He did. He did.

He cut out the suspension stuff, but he didn't cut out the fines. Did you see what he did to Rosemus Dahlian's helmet? That was hilarious, right? But that's different than trying to hurt a guy. The only, yes. Yeah. That's different than trying to hurt a guy. The low bridge hit on Sammy Sallow really bothered me.

It remains one. of the... Really bothered me. But that was the difference, I think... It was like someone did a low bridge on my, like, grandpa or something. Sammy Sello's been through so much. Right? So much.

You can't just do this to him. And he was such a classy player, too. Yeah. Sallow specific, like Sallow... Think of one, like, dirty thing that Sallow ever did. He just got... Went out there, he got hurt. He hurt people with a shot.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he suffered the moment. He was like, sorry about that. He got injured all the time. Most random, crazy injuries you could imagine. and then for that to happen but yeah that was a long time ago but that that's kind of was almost reflective of my point

that that guy that Brad Marchand is a way different one than the guy you see now he just doesn't do that stuff anymore and I think someone in the Bruins organization it might have been Claude Julian and I even wonder if the NHL at some point maybe the player safety department said like this is going to go one or two ways for you

like the suspensions are not going to get less severe I think what the Bruin said was you're too good a player to be playing like this I think that's part of it too yeah like you're better than this is what I would have said to him. You don't need to do this stuff. And he was like, I've always felt that I'm not good enough

a person. And they're like, you are, you are. Is that a scene from Goodwell Hunting? It's a scene from my head. All right. We got to go to break. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the RTD and Spirit show. This segment of the show is brought to you by that aforementioned show. Marchon's getting suspended like two games from now from the dirtiest play in NHL history.

He killed a man on the ice. And I do it again. Showed no remorse in his hearing with the Department of Player's Safety. This segment of the show is brought to you by the RTD and Spirit Show, presented by Sun-Torri Global Spirits. Join Joe Leary and Daryl Lamb this Saturday night at 10 p.m. Ciders, sodas, and cocktails, three of my favorite things. The RTD and Spirit Show here live on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show also on Sportsnet 650.