Halford & Brough in the Morning - Batch Talks Canucks + What We Learned

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

In hour two, Halford & guest host Thomas Drance set up tonight's Canucks road matchup in Calgary with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor (1:18), plus the boys tell us what they learned (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.

It is Brendan Batchelor, Batchelor, Batchelor. Live from Rogers Arena, calling Canucks Games. It is Brendan Batchelor, Batchelor, Batchelor. 804 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough featuring Thomas Drance on Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in the final hour of this program. Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice at the Vancouver Canucks. He's going to join us in just a moment here. He'll, of course, be on the call tonight. Last game of the calendar year for your Vancouver Canucks. Six o'clock from Calgary.

It's the Canucks and the Flames. The final hour of this program is brought to you by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. Thomas, before we get to Brendan Batchelor, can you please tell the good folks listening out there in the ether about Kintec Footwear and Orthotics? Yeah, we're coming to you live from the Kintec studio.

Kintec is powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, to the phone lines we go. Brendan Batchelor joins us now on the Halford & Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Batch? Good morning. How's it going, guys? We are well.

How are you in the wake of what's going on with Manchester United right now? Oh, I'm completely demoralized. It's brutal. I cannot explain it at all. It's, I mean, obviously they're not good enough. They don't have enough good players. But to make a coaching change, to bring in a new manager

and a young forward-thinking manager that you think can improve things and then to have it go this pear-shaped is, you know, I'm rarely at a loss for words, but I'm at a loss for words for how poor they've been. And, you know, it's difficult when you're looking at them legitimately being close to the relegation zone, but that's where they are right now. So hopefully Ruben Amorim can figure things out there.

But it does not look good, and, you know, it's very disappointing. They should have brought in, like, an Allardyce or something, right? No, no, no. Lump it up to the strikers, get some 6 six foot seven Tyler Myers-esque strikers up there. 100%. Don't they need a manager who people describe as a firefighter at this point? You know what? I'm going to put a bow on the conversation right here because I know our listeners are like, what's going on right now?

Even though I want to dive deep into what happened with Joshua Zerksy yesterday, we'll leave it for now. We will move on to the Vancouver Canucks because they, of course, are going to play their final game of 2024 tonight in Calgary, 6 o'clock puck drop. Batch, who are you expecting to start in goal for the Vancouver Canucks tonight? Yeah, that's a good question. I don't know.

You know, maybe Kevin Lankanen after a bit of a shaky performance for Thatcher Demko, but at the same time, this is what, a three-game-in-four-night stretch. So do you want to get Demko back in there, try and rebuild his confidence and have it be a situation where he can play two of these three games, or do you want to give Lankanen a chance to go back in there and play as well as he has, especially on the road

in Calgary tonight. So it'll be interesting to see which way they go. Drance brought up a pretty good point prior to going to break, which was if you play Lankan tonight, it does give Demko an opportunity to exercise the demons against the Kraken in the first game of 2025, almost like a starting fresh in the new year, because that game on Saturday, for as much that went wrong across the board for the Canucks, especially in the final five minutes of the game, that wasn't exactly a banner day from Demko on Saturday. No, it wasn't. And so I guess the question is,

do you want to give him the chance to exercise those demons or are you worried that the Kraken are like a bogey team for him, I guess, to kind of use a soccer term there. I'm not. Oh, yeah. I mean, Demko can, you know, you want him to probably play two of these three games, I would assume.

You want him to rebuild his confidence quickly. I guess you could start him tonight and then could go back to him against Seattle and then play Lankanen at home on the second half of the back-to-back. But this is the good problem for this coaching staff to have, is that I don't think anybody would be surprised or shocked or disappointed or outraged if either guy started a game at this point, and that's a good spot to be in, at least for the moment. So Lankanen's made three starts since demko returned um does

that surprise you from a volume of workload perspective like the fact that it's been to demko for every lankanen a little bit yeah especially right off the bat and you know i guess there's a school of thought that you need to get Demko playing. You need to get him game reps. You need to get him comfortable with the speed and the pace of the game and the traffic that he has to face that you can't replicate in practice. But I think the other thing that makes that number more surprising is that, well, I guess part of the reason that number is elevated is because Lankanen was sick, right? So Demko had to play a couple more than maybe they would have liked early on but i think prior to the game against seattle demko has been pretty good and you know this coaching staff has shown a tendency well you think so he hasn't been bad let's put it that way other than that game like do you think that he'd

had a stinker or had looked you know vulnerable that Matty Beneers goal from inside the blue line? I mean, I just think he hasn't been himself from a sharpness perspective, I would say. No, no, I think that's fair. That's okay. That's a high bar, right? Like, I'm not. Well, exactly.

And so part of the reason you play him a lot is because you want to get him to that level of sharpness. So, you know, I think that number is probably slightly elevated, as I said, by the fact that Lankanen was sick and Demko had to play a couple of extra there. But if you want the guy to be the guy that he's been in the past, the way to get in there, I would imagine, is to play him a fair bit. So, you know, ultimately, he's going to play a lot, and Lankanen's going to have to play a fair bit in this crazy month of January coming up, where they have 15 games. And I couldn't believe it when Rick Tockett said, coming out of the Christmas break, there were 21 games before the Four Nations face-off. That's a quarter of the season being played in the next five or six weeks here. So it's a crucial stretch

for them. They have a high volume of games games and they're going to need both goaltenders um in order to have some success here especially with the guys they're missing from their lineup right now well yeah and let's get into that because i'm not sure like i'm not predicting that the canucks are going to lose a bunch of games in the absence of quinn hughes and company we've seen that this team can find ways to outkick their coverage, right? They've got the onions, as it were, when it comes to grinding out victories. So this isn't a results take, but I am pretty confident that the Canucks are going to be widely outshot over the next several contests.

At least until Hughes is back, I think this is going to be tough from a process perspective. How do you think that interacts with kind of the goaltending decision-making that Rick Tockett and Marco Trenius and the staff need to sort of wait here? Well, yeah, your goaltending is going to be really important because you're going to need guys to keep you in games at the very least, if not steal the odd game for you, if you want to keep your head above water without Hughes in the lineup. And, you know, I think the shot metric number

is a good point because this is a team that is pretty selective with their shots anyway, even with Quinn Hughes in the lineup, and oftentimes get outshot even when he is. No, they also get outch don't do that don't do that they also generate nothing and give up too much this season yeah no i agree i agree but no what i'm saying is the shots tell the story if for this team the shots tell the story yes oftentimes they do and you know that they when they have been at their best and when they have had success even

this season it is about being opportunistic on the chances they create. It is not about creating a high volume of chances. And Quinn Hughes is a big part of the quality of their chance generation. So not only are they likely to be not just outshot, but potentially heavily outshot because of the way that Hughes helps them control play. But their top guys need to make the most of the chances they do create because if they don't, then it's going to be really tough for them to generate offense without the guy that helps them generate offense the most.

And that's where the comments from Patrick Alveen yesterday get put in bold and underlined and circled and italicized in whatever other way you want to emphasize them, is in order for this team over these next few weeks, however long Hughes is out, to continue to keep itself in a situation where right now they're in a playoff spot, although if they lose tonight, the Flames can hurdle them, which, you know, I know it's a little early. We're still in the first half in terms of games played to be looking at it that way but if you have a bad two weeks here you could fall out of it and get into a situation where you're chasing and for this group that has struggled to string together consecutive strong performances and you know get on any sort

of run in terms of results that would be a really tough spot for them to put themselves in so when you're in a situation like this what do you do you have to look to your top players your JT Millers your Brock Bessers you know Elias Patterson if and when he gets back in the lineup these guys got to score they got to generate and they've got to put the puck in the net when they do get those chances because if they don you know, there's only so long you can go relying on Hugh Suter and Kiefer Sherwood to produce at the level they have. And, you know, luckily for the Canucks they have to this point. And, you know, that was a point that, that IMAC made during that interview. I think that,

you know, those guys have helped the Canucks keep their heads above water, but ultimately your best players need to be your best players is a cliche for a reason. And, you know, this month could very well define where this season goes for the Canucks. And if those guys don't step up, then, you know, there will be a lot of big questions around this team and this core group going forward. I think. Eric Brandstrom led the team in five on five ice time,

but only played two shifts after in the final five minutes of the game. And my observation would be moving the puck was a problem, certainly on the Vince Dunn game-tying goal, or sorry, the 4-3 goal, but I might even argue the 4-4 goal as well when Derek Forbert lost where the puck was behind the net um how much do does this coaching staff need to just keep entrusting this guy and maybe even like up five on five ice time and play power play one and I still come away from that game thinking they need to get more comfortable playing brandstrom in high leverage

moments here if they're going to survive without hughes yeah well i think that kind of speaks to the situation that they're in with the injuries is eric brandstrom was uh a late pickup before the season in a salary dump trade and now we're talking about him being their most important defenseman on december 31st um so you know that's uh that's a really tough spot to be in and as much as we've seen brandstrom do a lot of good things moving the puck up the ice we've also seen him get beat in the d zone and off the rush and that is probably where the coaching staff's hesitancy to put him out in some of those high leverage situations, as you would say, to answer. You know, that's where that hesitancy comes from. But when you struggle to move the puck in general and you've got a guy that can move the puck, you probably need to play him more.

And you probably need to make him the focal point, as scary as that might be for you when that guy is eric brandstrom who i think you know has given the conduct some good minutes and played well for them this year but you know in an ideal world he's still not a top four defenseman on this roster but that is sort of he sort of is being he's the quinn hughes understudy who maybe you know didn't have all his lines memorized and isn't ready for that big moment. But you've got no other choice. Quinn Hughes is down. You've got to throw him in there under the spotlight and see how he can do.

And, you know, much like I've talked about the key players needing to generate, if Eric Brandstrom can step into this, these big shoes of Quinn Hughes. And not just, you know, not that he needs to become Quinn Hughes, but he needs to help them drive play for a few weeks here until they get Quinn Hughes back. You know, maybe 10 games at the most, I guess we're assuming, although we don't really know a definitive timeline on when the captain will be back. If he can just have a short spurt where he can be a very impactful puck moving defenseman that helps them generate, that they can trust at both ends of the ice then that allows them to survive this very difficult stretch without their top pairing in the lineup and then you know he can go back to being cast more properly when those guys get back in

the lineup but you know you're right i think branstrom needs to perform at a certain level in order to get those opportunities and the coaching staff probably needs to trust him more in some of those bigger moments. And I'll be interested to see if the way things unraveled in the third period against Seattle informs the way they deploy him going forward, and I guess we'll find out as soon as tonight when they face the Flames.

Batch, this was great, as always. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this tonight. Have a good call tonight. It should be a good game, and Happy New Year, bud. Happy New Year, guys. Have a good one. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this tonight. Have a good call tonight. It should be a good game and Happy New Year, bud. Happy New Year, guys. Have a good one. Thank you. You too. Thanks. That's Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks right here on Sportsnet 650. You can hear him

and Rand Deep on the call tonight. 6 o'clock right here on this very station, Sportsnet 650. A reminder, Sat and Dan have you for Canucks Central from 3 to 5, from 5 to 6. They will then flip the switch to the Canucks pregame show. And then the postgame show after the Canucks and Flames at 6 o'clock tonight. Postgame show will begin as soon as the game is done and run until 11 o'clock tonight.

So you've got your full slate of Canucks stuff all right here on Sportsnet 650. Interesting note here, courtesy of Sportsnet 650's very own Joey Kenward, who is an avid listener of the show and texted me, did you know Thomas Drance that tonight is a battle, a battle of the two teams with the most loser points in the NHL this season? Makes sense. The Canucks have eight

and they're alone. They're alone in loser points. And then the Flames are tied with Nashville and one other team with seven this year. So pretty good chance that tonight's game will go to overtime and or the shootout. Or I guess or the shootout, not and or. Well, the Canucks are going to have to score for that to happen, Mike. Possibly.

The Canucks are going to have to score some goals. Or it could be 0-0 going into the shootout. That might be how we get there. The Canucks are, so it's really going to be fascinating just because this team struggles so mightily to threaten at all without Hughes on the ice. And this Calgary team,

I will give them a ton of credit, under Huska this season, they have, every time I watch them they attack their opponents in exactly the right way like do you remember that that first game explain I want to hear this this is good the first game they played against Vancouver yep they're playing against Artur Shilovs and they made no bones about it they were like we are getting traffic to the net and we are shooting from the point shoot from distance and and it was like the Canucks were up, they were down,

and they were just like, we're pretty confident if we keep this up, we're going to get a break and we're going to get back into this game. And they just stuck to it and the dam broke in their favor. And you see it like every time I watch them play, when they go up against a team where I'm like, oh boy, I don't know about that defense. They're just like, we're going to dump it in and we're going to forecheck you. They are very good at picking at

opponents' weaknesses. I hate admitting this out loud because of the inherent rivalry, but I have a begrudging respect for what the Flames have done this year. It's really impressive. They have no business being at 17, 12, and 7 and one point behind the Canucks for the final wildcard

spot on talent alone. They don't. On true talent level, they are no better than point behind the Canucks for the final wildcard spot. On talent alone, they don't. On true talent level, they are no better than the 13th best team in the West. Just go look at their team right now, and you almost wonder how they're doing it. They've had good bounce-back seasons from Huberto and Kadri. Huberto is top 20, I want to say top 20 in goals in the NHL. He's got 15. He's played well. It's a nice story for him.

And their second-leading scorer is Kadri. He's got 13 goals. Those are the only two double digit goal scorers they have. You know what he kind of reminds me of right now? Because he was. Yeah. Yeah. He reminds me of like the watching sort of the late career Sedins play,

play on different lines. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

It's like he's a lefty. He's not fast. He's an incredible playmaker. He's a good finisher, but he's not an elite finisher. That's not what makes him special. And he's just kind of a monster on puck. He's really good on puck. So it's him, Kadri, and Martin Pospisil.

Not to be confused with tennis icon Vasek Pospisil. Yeah, anything is Pospisil. Well done. So that's your top line in Calgary. And they've actually managed to manufacture reasonable production. They're one of the lower scoring teams in the NHL. Yeah. This could, I mean, by all accounts,

this should be the lowest of the low event games tonight, the lowest of the lowest scoring games, which means it'll be 7-6. Go ahead. Conor Zeri. Uh-huh. I paid close attention to Conor Zeri. You know what he reminds me of? He reminds me of hockey James Harden. Okay. Now, not at that

level of MVP James Harden. Right. But you know how James Harden doesn't look fast? Yes. And then he just gets by everybody? Yes. You know what I mean? And it's James Harden doesn't look fast And then he just gets by Everybody He doesn't look like he should be a great shooter And then he just gets it done Connor's area is not particularly big He's not particularly fast

And he's just going to get to wherever he wants to On the ice every time out It's wild It's a terrible shame for him that he's being saddled With having to play with Kuzmenko on a regular basis. Yeah, it is. It sucks. Especially because he's the good version of what that type of player can be.

Do you remember when everyone in this market was convinced that Kuzmenko was a star? Do you remember when the Shorthouse family used to laugh at me for saying that they should have taken a second round pick for Kuzmenko rather than extend him? That, okay. I don't think they laugh at me for that anymore. That. I think when it's all said and done, we're going to look back on Andre Kuzmenko's, wait for it, 39 goal season.

Yeah. Which I went and looked this up last night. Andre Kuzmenko has a top 20 all-time goal scoring season in Canucks history i know he's up there with like the skrikos and the tanties or like single seat like i know that they they put up 40 they put up images of him in on the side of the building he was a i mean again he didn't hit 40 but at 39 you see kuzmenko jerseys that is one of the top 20 all-time single season goal scoring marks in Canucks franchise history and it belongs to a guy that

in the long history will be a blip. That whole season will be a blip. He has one goal in 29 games this year. He's going to be in the KHL next year. To this day, to this day, the fact that Elias Pettersson had his 100 point season

playing on a line mostly with Andrei Kuzmenko and Ilya Mikheyev, and then after Ilya Mikheyev, because it was really Ilya Mikheyev playing on a torn MCL. And when they dropped Ilya Mikheyev, they replaced him with Anthony Beauvillier, and that line didn't miss a beat. Tito!

And then, the next season, he was making Sam Lafferty a 15-goal scorer. And people will still say with a straight face stuff like, Elias Pettersson doesn't make his line mates better. I wanted to make this about Kuzmenko. You did a Jason. You turned it into something about Pettersson, which is good. Except I turned it into something positive about.

So it's like an anti-Jason. Turn that frown upside down. Every time I look at it, I'm like, I cannot believe that year. It made no sense. It made no sense. But when you look at it in the annals of Canucks history, it's going to be there alongside some of the more prolific sniping seasons. Out of a guy that you will forget about over time.

Only 10 Canucks in history have had a season with more goals. I know. 10 different players. I know. It's remarkable. What was funny was it was obviously a fraud the entire time, and only I was willing to say it. Only?

Only Drance. Only Drance. Okay, coming up on the— Hey, I took a lot of abuse for that. I'm going to really enjoy this one for years to come. You know what? I'm such a good friend. I'm going to allow you to do it on the show.

I'm not even going to push back. I'm like, go off. If I took as many victory laps about goalies as Drance takes about his team. He's only taking one today. And you know what? He's got to get another. We're starting fresh in 2025, right? Clean slate. I'm going to get everything out there for 2024. I may have jinxed

and Kuzmenko's going to have a hat trick. It's one of the great individual efforts. You said it. It's going to be a 7-6 game. Kuzmenko's scoring four. I don't know if It's going to be a 7-6 game. Kuzma goes score on four. I don't know if it's going to be for the team that had seven or the team that had six. Taking a run at Sittler's record.

Yeah. Anyway, we got a lot more to get to on the program. Give you what we learned, Zip. We don't have a lot. I've got some audio on a team that we need to pay more attention to going into 2025, if we haven't already, and that's the New York Rangers. There's a lot going on with that team.

Not a lot of it good. We'll talk about them. We'll do our What We Learns. We'll do your What We Learns. Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650. What did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Let us know. Text it in.

Hashtag it WWL. It's your chance to be on the radio. One final segment to go in the last show of 2024. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show featuring Thomas Drance on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets

weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Now for my favorite part of the show what'd i say talk to the audience oh god this is always dead it's what we learn time it's what we learn time it's what we learn time on the show learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show. 832 on a Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford, featuring Thomas Drance on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough for the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in the final hour of the program. It is what we learn time.

Final hour is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. One final post being hit for 2024. You look at me so proudly when you do it. Bing! All right.

We have a lot to do here. The four of us, the Halbro Collective, which is Drance, myself, Adog, and Laddie, we all have what we learned. Because understandably, we don't have a ton of submissions today. People aren't in their usual listening patterns. People are on vacation.

Call them out. No, I can't. I'm going to start fresh in 2025 by saying how much you all disappointed me in the new year. But for 2024, I say, hey, it's okay. We're going to start with Drance, who warned me at the break,

quote, I am going to talk so much fantasy football in this segment. You have a fantasy football what we learned, do you not? Oh, yeah. I definitely do. Okay, go ahead, Thomas Drance. So you and I play in the same league. We do. It is the most complicated dynasty format of all time.

It's a commitment. Yep. I effectively wrote a CBA for it. Yes. Which, you know, no one would be surprised by. It's a lot. Let's just put it that way. It's a lot. It's a lot.

And after like a year of work, hours and hours, okay? Dmitry Filipovich. Host of the PDO cast. Host of the PDO cast. Right here on Sportsnet. Podcast hours. Okay. Dimitri Filipovich. Host of the PDO cast. Host of the PDO cast. Right here on Sportsnet. Podcast network. Won. And he won by six points over Chris Faber.

And he basically, the swing basically occurs in the final. The winner is basically determined because the Detroit Lions, on their very first drive of last night's game, Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers. Yep. Get into the 10-yard, within 10 yards. Get. And give Jamar Jefferson,

former Austin Eckler handcuff, two carries to bring up third and goal. Right. On like the two-yard line. Okay. And then bring Jameer Gibbs back into the game only to hand it off to Jamison Williams who scores. One of the final teams had Jamison Williams.

One of them had Jameer Gibbs. And that was the difference. The game is decided by six points. The final is... So after everything we did, it comes down to probably the craziest, most ridiculous series of play calls that the Lions made all year.

Jamar Jefferson! Two carries inside the 10! Didn't even know he was on the team. I didn't even know he was still alive! I thought he was working at Magnuson Ford. So, what I learned, fantasy football is stupid. It is stupid. Yeah.

I can't wait to start next season, which has already begun. There's already waiver claims in our league. Anyway, congrats to Dimitri. Congrats to Faber. Congrats to you. Oh, thanks, Drew. Your answer, you are a hell of a commissioner this year. I look forward to renegotiating the CBA in the offseason.

Moo cow that. Oh, what happened to that poor cow? He's just really far away. He had to walk closer to the microphone. You know what? We got a Drance theme going here. A-Dog, you said you had an Ask Us Anything, which kind of goes against the rules.

It does. But you know what? It's the last show of the year. You can kind of tell that we don't really care at this point anyway, so go ahead and do an Ask Us Anything. It's because it's specific for Drance, and I never get to ask him anything, right? Because he never works on Fridays with us.

Except in the first segment of the show where you asked him 12 consecutive questions. Yeah, but that wasn't an Ask Us Anything. This is an Ask Us Anything. Touche. That was an Ask Him Something. Right. Go ahead, Aiden.

So my question for Drance is since you're so convinced the Canucks aren't going to trade Elias Patterson do they move JT Miller in season or during the offseason I don't think they move either in season okay but so they do you're saying you're saying the Canucks will trade JT Miller this offseason I think if this season

goes south options that we previously would have considered to be wild and improbable probably are on the table. Because I don't think this club will tolerate having taken a significant step back this year, even with all the injury context and weirdness context that obviously we all know kind of explains where they've found themselves. You know, i think that that's part of what we should read into alvin's interview like he's kind of thrown the gauntlet down here like one of if not the thing that has most defined rutherford and alvin's tenure here has been to double down on and support this core, complement this core, right? DeBrus, Koronek, like, refusing to rebuild.

Everything has been done to put this, like, Demko, Hughes, Miller, Pedersen, Axis in position to win as a group, as a collective. Which, to be fair, is the right move if there are no issues, right? Because it's a really good core on paper. If there's no internal struggle and guys aren't having issues of their own with their play or off the ice or whatever, say everybody's playing at full tilt, then it's great to compliment that core

because it's a great core. I mean, I was pretty skeptical. I was pretty skeptical going into it. And look, they're currently poised to end the season with, or to end the calendar year with something like the eighth or ninth depending on the result of tonight's game the eighth or the ninth best record in 2024 which excludes the like charmed two and a half months where the team scored five goals off like

sam lafferty's took us right so even excluding that miracle pdo bender that the team went on in the fall of last season I mean this has been a very very strong team across the last 12 months and yeah I mean I think they're still I still think they're a fringe contender like I kind of worry that with the core that this team is built around that they're kind of capped at a ceiling of hey maybe you can beat the Oilers three times out of seven right like maybe you can beat the Oilers three times out of seven. Maybe you can beat the Oilers three times out of seven if Stuart Skinner dies mid-series. So that's my concern. You say they're a great core.

They definitely have one player who is a great player. I think Pedersen can be a great player. I think Pedersen can be a great player. I think we have real question marks around Demko because of the unprecedented injury he sustained. You know, I think JT Miller, I mean, JT Miller is elite every second year. Right? Every second year, JT Miller is elite.

But then you have the other year and his commitment to the bit is actually pretty remarkable at this point I do like it. So between those two players if there was to be a big shake up to this core this offseason more likely it would be Miller than a Patterson? What are you trying to get me to say? Nothing man What do you want from me?

I just want to know your thoughts. I think if this season goes south I think there will be consequences in terms of this organization asking themselves some pretty tough questions re-examining re-examining re-examining the potentially to the point of rough what if he would be by now and just picked a player no no no bro i would have told you to shut up by now i i think any objective hockey analyst looking at the thing would just say, pick the younger guy. Pick the younger guy.

So, I mean, if you want me to pick a player, that would be the player that I'd pick. But on the other hand, Pedersen doesn't have trade protection or move protection that kicks in until July 1. So there's more flexibility there. But again, I think this organization wants it to work with this core. They've spent years trying to make it work with this core. I think they're going to push through that until it becomes truly untenable.

Okay, no more questions. We're going to do a quick moo cow. I will do my what we learned on something that I think very much relates potentially to the conversation we just had. The New York Rangers, who last night lost yet again their fourth in a row, 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers in Florida. Do you guys remember way back on Tuesday, November 19th, when the New York Rangers came into Vancouver and won 4-3?

It was their third win in a row on a road swing. Yeah. And we were like, okay. Record-wise, they were fantastic at the time. They were 12-4-1. But there was this undercurrent, underbelly, which eventually just rose to the top. That record was, you know.

They couldn't defend a lick. Yeah, it was a Fugazi 12-4-1 because they weren't really nearly as good as that record suggested. Fugazi. Since beating the Canucks. I like that word. I do.

On November 19th, the New York Rangers have won four more games. They've lost 15 games since beating the Canucks, or four and 15. And this is a team that has now traded away its captain, Jacob Truba, traded away an unhappy young forward and a former second overall pick in Capo Caco. Healthy scratched Chris Kreider. Done almost everything you can do to try and right the ship. Caco, by the way, a beautiful assist in the game yesterday. The win over Utah.

Great stretch pass. So the next thing in the gm's handbook here after two trades and a prominent healthy scratching of a veteran forward and a team leader is obviously the head coach let's play the audio now this is from the most recent 32 thoughts with frege and kyle talking about what comes next for peter laviolette in new york when you read that column that was in the New York Post on Sunday from Larry Brooks where he talks about they're going to have to fire Peter LaViolette, Larry Brooks, there's nobody that has better sources in the Rangers than he does.

Nobody. He's writing that, and it's not because it's necessarily his opinion, but you have to look at that and you see that he is getting that directly from someone who matters. He is getting that from somebody whose opinion carries weight. Like that was a harsh, harsh column. Like he really hammered the players there.

And what that said to me, Kyle, is that what we've seen so far with the likes of goudreau and truba either we haven't seen anything yet or more of that is coming oh more of that is coming i assume that lavia that won't last the season new york you fair to suggest that if this keeps going the way that's going they're gonna have to almost mercy fire him yeah i mean they honestly should consider doing it quickly before they've lost too much ground to the Ottawa Senators to catch up.

I think the season's cooked for them. I don't think, I mean, it shouldn't be. They still generate scoring chances. They're still good in Adam Fox's minutes. Yeah. So, well, I mean, they're elite on the power play. They're good in their top pair defenders minutes, which is 40% of their 5-on-5 ice time.

I know a team, a local team, that's really good in their top pairing defenders minutes that is going to make the playoffs more than likely. But just to spin it back to what we were talking about. They have an elite goaltender. There's enough there. They shouldn't be wasting the season. But to spin it back to what we were talking about with the core and the guys that you build around, the guys that you count on,

I do wonder if it's reached the point where Drury has to look at this and say, like, are we going to be able to do what we want to do, which is obviously get further than the Eastern Conference final and win a cup with the guys that we've assembled here. And I don't know if they can. I don't know if it's just too profoundly broken at this point because there's obviously something that's going on beyond the on-ice metrics here. Well, they can i don't know if it's if it's just too profoundly broken at this point because there's obviously something that's going on beyond the on ice metrics here well they can't defend

like they can't defend when without adam fox on the ice like ryan lindgren has fallen off significantly braden schneider has not become the guy that canucks fans were hoping for when he was constantly rumored in those old jt Miller trade packages. Oh, yeah. Mika Zibanejad is the intractable one. Yeah. That's tough to deal with. I mean, he's signed for how much longer? Too long.

Like, definitely past 2030. And his skating, like, Mika Zibanejad's already at the point where I think he needs to be used like Sam Gagne in Columbus where he's like a fourth line winger who kills it on the power play for you a very specific role it's called the DH seen once never again in NHL it's called the DH and I mean he's already there and he's got years yeah he signed till through 2030 that's rough you got to be careful signing those older players right he's 31 and it's rough You gotta be careful Signing those older players Right He's 31 And it's like

This is It comes to a point Where it's like The first step is Still good when he's healthy But he's healthy Less and less And then

You get to What I call The Devontae Adams moment Where it's like He still looks Like the best Receiver on the planet Some games But it's not every night Or it's not every week Or you know For his advantage Not every night Right He still looks like the best receiver on the planet some games,

but it's not every night or it's not every week or, you know, for his advantage, not every night. Right. And then you're the DH. So the reason I bring it up, in light of what we're talking about here, oftentimes the dance partner that you find when you want to make a deal, you want to make a trade, is the one that's as profoundly broken as you are or the one that's looking to shake things up as much

as you are. The Rangers are obviously not done moving pieces out or moving things around because with four wins since November 19th, that is a team that is in disarray. The type of losing streak from an elite team that you just don't see all that often

in the NHL. You see it from the Buffaloes of the world. You don't see all that often in the NHL you see it from the the buffaloes of the world you don't see it from the New York Rangers of the buffaloes of the world yeah which which a good a good one for 2025 yep which player which quote-unquote loser player will leave the buffalo sabers and then be like the the clutchest nailsest guy on a Stanley Cup following in the proud lineage of Ryan O'Reilly and Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhardt. It's really incredible. Yeah.

Legitimately. You know who I hope it is? Who? Owen Power. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. I like that. Yeah.

Rasmus Dahlien. I'm serious. I don't think it'll be him. For JT Miller. The Canucks need to be. I'm not indulging A-Dog's... Don't. I'm not indulging A-Dog's murderous tendencies.

He really wants to hit the Dr. Evil button. I respect how you're closing out 2024, A-Dog. I am an agent of chaos. But the Canucks, if they want to win a Stanley Cup, they need to be looking hard at Buffalo Sabres depth, guys. Honestly. Yeah. That's where you go.

That's where you go. Guys' careers get revived, which is another damning thing for Jeff Skinner. Jordan Greenway, come on down. Oh, man. I don't know. I've always liked Greenway. I think I'm more tantalized by what he brings to the table

than what he actually produces. Yeah. Right? I think I'm more tantalized by what he brings to the table than what he actually produces. Yeah. Right? I think that's true for everybody. With Greenway, right? Yeah. And now he's hurt anyway. Okay, Mukau all that. That was a lengthy one. Laddie, you had one? That was a what? That was a lengthy one. Oh, good.

You know, time. Long amount of time. Laddie, you had one. Yes, I do. You know who's been out for a long amount of time is Jonathan Taves. Yeah, that's right. He might be coming back though. That would be awesome. In an interview with GQ Magazine, he said he's willing to give it his best shot and see what happens

regarding an NHL comeback. Where is he going? Chicago or to his hometown Winnipeg? Yeah, Winnipeg. Winnipeg. Fourth line center. Fourth line center. There you go. They actually could use it like they play Nemesnikov with two really good players whose names escape me right now. It's, uh...

I'm on it, don't worry. Thank you. Filibuster, friend. Filibuster. I will. The... They have Nemesnikov who's, like, played really well for them, but I'd love Nemesnikov on the third line. You know what I mean? Or on the fourth line, as opposed to where he plays, which is with. Last night he played with Cole Perfetti and Nikolai Ehlers.

Right. So you see what I'm saying? Like if Jonathan Taves was able to refine his pre-long COVID form, I think you'd be, you know, if those visits to Camartage have got him more Doctor Strange than Doctor Strange, then, you know, I really think that would be interesting and I will say

having dealt with Jonathan Tabes on the media side, he kind of rocks. Just as a guy, he kind of rocks. He was kind of terrible when he left though. Like hockey-wise. Yeah, like hockey-wise. He was not great. He turned the clock back

though in the bubble, and then that series against Edmonton, he was fantastic. And then we never really saw him play well again. And I think we understand or should understand that there's some context around that. Now, it's not like that context has changed or that he's going to be better having taken two years off, but man, would I love to see Jonathan Taves make a triumphant comeback.

And I do think middle six center is like the thing I would point out that the Jets kind of need. Okay, Mook out that fast. He's still 36, by the way. In classic Halbro fashion, we've left four minutes to get to the humanoids here. So fire up to that matrix.

What we learned humanoids is always brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Celebrate every goal at AJ's Pizza. Get $6 pints of Pilsner during Vancouver Hockey Game Days, which, of course, today is. Go visit AJ's on East Broadway. Okay, Chayton and Suri, hashtag WWO, what we learned. Eli Manning is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I get that he won two Super Bowls, but when I think of Eli, I think of a fine QB, not Hall of Fame level. We had this conversation, oddly enough, at AJ's over the weekend because we were talking about Matt Stafford on Saturday night when him and the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cardinals. I think Stafford's a Hall of Fame quarterback. And then we got to the one. Eli is the most polarizing one because he's going in.

He's going in with the two Super Bowls. But if you look at him statistically, and then after he won that second Super Bowl, it's a tough, tough argument to be made. The problem is, the problem is, is just when you think you have it pinned down, he somehow wriggles free and then hits a wide receiver in the helmet, and they come down with the most clutch catch in the history of football.

It will go down as one of the most polarizing decisions in pro football Hall of Fame history. He needs to make it. He has to. He has to. But he also maybe should. You can't understand the last 20 years of football history without understanding Eli Manning.

Right, but you can also understand that if you stack him up against a bunch of other guys. Stack him up statistically? It's not even really close. It's not. No, no, no. The thing about Eli him up statistically it's not even really close it's not no no the thing about Eli Manning is it's always close enough for him to look terrible for 55 minutes and then put together the most astonishing fourth quarter drive you've ever seen to win the game but you could that's who Eli Manning is though like that's who Eli Manning yeah

so of course like the fact that the statistics don't back it up I think only adds to The lore Of like this is You know what he is? He's like Mike Tomlin Personified as a quarterback He's just got the onions man He needs to go in

He needs to go in It sucks though East Van Trophy Husband Hashtag WWW what we learned I learned my son who is an Oilers fan He needs to go in. He needs to go in. It sucks, though. East fan, trophy husband. Hashtag WWW, what we learned. I learned my son, who is an Oilers fan, only likes to listen to Halford and Brough when the Canucks lose, as he takes great delight

in relaying your disappointment to me. I respect that. I'm outnumbered 4-1 Canucks to Oilers fans in my house. Sorry about that, East fan, trophy husband. The final two games on the NHL slate tonight for 2024 involve those two teams

it's the Canucks and the Flames at 6 o'clock and it's the Oilers and the Hockey Club of Utah at 6 o'clock so you've got a couple games to watch tonight a reminder you can hear it all pre-game, post-game and the actual game all right here on Sportsnet 615 as the music plays

we'll take a couple seconds here to say thank you to all of our listeners out there for sticking with us through a very, very interesting 2024. We can only hope that 2025 will be as interesting and you'll all be all along

for the ride. And I couldn't think of a better way to close out the year than doing a show with you, buddy. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. Happy New Year to all your listeners. Happy New Year

to all the listeners as well. Adog, Laddy, would you like to give the listeners a Happy New Year as well? Happy New Year to the listeners. Atta boy. Happy New Year. If I don't hear from you for a little while, don't get worried, but I'll be back soon. Okay. Sounds good.

Thank you. That was ominous. It does sound ominous, but it's not. Thank you all for listening. Thank you all for contributing. Is Adog going to kill Laddie? Is this like where the- That's what I'm implying.

Laddie's a superhero. And that's exactly how I wanted to end 2024. Signing off for contributing. Is Adog going to kill Laddie? That's what I'm implying. Laddie's a superhero. And that's exactly how I wanted to end 2024. Signing off for now, I have been Mike Alford. He's been Thomas Trance. He's been Adog, and he's been Laddie. This has been the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.