Halford & Brough in the Morning - Brock Boeser Live Media Availability

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason join Brock Boeser's live media availability, as Brock (:19) speaks about his new contract, plus the boys chat with Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre (26:50) about what's next for the 'Nucks. 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.

We're going to go right now. Join in progress, the Brock Besser media availability. I'm just super stoked to be back. We'll go to Ian McIntyre, Sportsnet. Hi Brock, congratulations. Thanks Ian. So happy to have you back in that dressing room to talk to. Can you take us, you said the last hour, can you just give us a little more detail about

that? Like, where were you? Were you sitting in with Ben or at home? And, and, you know, that call came in, they said what, you know, just give us a little more detail about how this suddenly got solved at the last hour. Yeah, I think I was actually at the gym, I thought, I don't know why I thought I'd be able to maybe train and work out and I'm not even working out and had to leave because I was on the phone the whole time. But yeah, we were sitting there and we were talking and I was

talking to Ben, just kind of going over everything. Um, and just trying to get an idea of, you know, what could happen and whatever. And then he said, Patrick was calling him and that kind of, you know, kind of raised my eyebrows. I was like, okay, maybe we can figure something out here. And then, you know, they kind of went back and forth a little bit and we found some common ground.

And, you know, I had other guys in my ears, like Gar and Demer and all those guys kind of pushing my buttons to come back too. So it obviously plays a big part to, you know, have such good friends and have belief in within the guys in the room. Well, I was going to ask you about that. How mean you just said it was a factor, but how tough was the idea of leaving those people and how big, you know, if you know, if you're ranking the factors of why you chose to stay, how big a factor was it in staying with those people, the ones you mentioned and others I'm

sure were texting you and calling you? I mean, it was hard. I think, you know, I really mentally try to throw scenarios in my head on, you know on different teams I could possibly see myself being on and try to envision it. But that can only get you so far. Just thinking about it, I just felt like in my stomach I still had a weird feeling about everything. When they called back, I kind of lit up. Just even after everything that's happened, I still kind of had that feeling in my stomach.

And, um, you know, I just listened to it and, you know, it felt right when they started talking and trying to figure out a deal. I just started getting excited and, you know, I just knew it was meant to be. We'll go to Thomas Trance, the athletic rock, just reading between the lines. Excuse me. If someone, what you said there. Sounds like you were able to wrap your head around, maybe testing the market and hitting unrestricted free agency, but perhaps not.

I don't want to be cheesy about it, but you said your stomach, perhaps not sort of the emotional side of playing elsewhere. Is that sort of fair to say and how difficult was that to sort of process? Yeah. I mean, I think there's a few times that, you know, we talked with the Canucks and the door was still open there and, you know, it felt like the door shut a couple times there. So I really, you know, had to wrap my head around moving on and, and, you know, just, you know, then obviously trying to get a sense in my head, you know, what might be a good fit and all that. So there's so many things going through my head. And that's why I said

my head was spinning a lot and it was, it was hard to kind of grasp. And you know, that phone call kind of came out of nowhere. So it was definitely, um, you know, a shock to me, but you know, the way I felt when that phone call came is like, I told my agent, I was like, get a deal done. And, um, you know, we, then we made some work. I didn't even know if Patrick was calling to get a deal done. He was just calling Hank and I was just assuming that was it. So, you know, I'm really happy that he did. When you sort of think about your tenure here, the, the fact that there's now

seven more years of, of sort of stability for you, uh, and also the, the fact that there's now seven more years of sort of stability for you. And also the fact that the organization signed so many of your teammates yesterday. How do you look at, I guess, like phase the next phase for you and also for sort of this team, your teammates, this core group that you've been playing with the last few years? Yeah, no, I have so much faith in our team and, you know, I think the strengths, you know, we always talk about it. You look at our, our defense, our D core and the goalies. It's so, it's so good.

And, um, you know, we, everyone talks about, you know, the centers and stuff and getting another center, but, you know, as far as know that we need to be better, I think. And, um, you know, I'm just happy personally that I don't have to deal with another bridge deal and play through that. I just wanna, you know, I'm just happy that I got the seven years and I can just focus on playing hockey and helping our team win games now.

Chris Faber, Canucks.com. Brock, I don't know if you saw much online yesterday. Oh, we lost them. Apologies. Let's try that. Go ahead, Chris. All right. You got me there? Yeah. Perfect. Brock, there was a lot of Canucks fans very excited online.

I don't know how much you saw of it, but what does it mean to you to just be able to continue to kind of grow a relationship with the fan base? Yeah, it means a lot. Like I've said so many times, they've been so supportive of me, you know, not just with hockey, but, you know, away from the r base. Yeah, it means a lot. Like I've said so many times, they've been so supportive of me, um, you know, not just with hockey, but, you know, away from the rink and, and that means the world to me. And, you know, I run so kind outside when you see when you're just out and about and people say, hi, everyone's so kind and, and respectful. And you know, that means a lot to me. And I've said many times, Vancouver feels like my second home and it's just so comfortable.

I love it there. Maybe I can get a house there now. Thanks, Brock. Congratulations. Thanks. Thank you. Next up, we'll go to Patrick Johnston, Post Media. Hey, Brock. Congratulations here. Thank you. Now that you can actually think about where you are and what you're going to be and that you're here and you're not going anywhere, when you

look back at last year, how can things be different this year? What needs to happen? I mean yeah there was a lot of noise like obviously we all know that there's a lot of noise you know in that middle part of the year. And, you know, that was tough to play through. It's tough to focus. It's tough to, you know, get ready and compete every night. And, you know, I think just this year we can focus on, you know, really bonding as a group, coming together

and pushing for the same goal. You know, it's not about individual stats. It's about winning hockey games. I think, you know, I think if we can get out to a good start of just meshing together, when you're working with each other and being a real good solid team, I think we will be in the right direction.

And look, we had a lot of injuries last year too, and we were still right there in the hunt. So, I really believe in this team. Sorry about the five year old's back. No, I didn't hear. All right, good. Anyway, you also got recognized. Got the letter.

Sorry, it's kind of quiet. Can you speak up a little bit? You got recognized as a leader last year. We got a real sense of where you were recognized. You've been here for a while. How do you evolve as a leader? What happens for you come going forward? Do you talk more?

You know, are you more conscious of that? Yeah, for sure. You know, I definitely think I can speak more in the locker room. You know, sometimes I feel I might get a little too focused on my individual game and playing the best I can, and I'm all quiet in locker room. So I definitely think I can speak up. But, you know, I think it's you know, with that, it's always, I think just like the mindset of coming to the rink

and working hard and always trying to continue to get better too. Jeff Patterson, Nation Network. Hey Brock, congratulations. Thanks Jeff. You touched on it a little bit and you've got real estate agents now in a frenzy here in Vancouver,

but the money I'm sure is great, but I just want to ask you about trade protection and controlling your situation now, like how important is that given the last couple of years where obviously your name has swirled at different times for, for different reasons, but what about the ability just to have some peace of mind and control the situation? Yeah, no, I think that was a big part of coming to terms too. I think just structuring it that way, I think it's important. And now I don't really have to worry about that for a bit. Like I said, I can just focus and play hockey and be the best I can be. And yeah, I know it's, you know, I just, just looking at the deal,

I thought it was a deal that was fair for both sides, at least for me, I thought so. And you know, with the cap continuing to go up over these years, I thought it, it would be fair enough for both sides. We talked to Connor Garland yesterday about his extension. He talked at length about his excitement of playing for Adam Foote.

Obviously there's continuity there, but it's an interesting scenario in that Adam spent so much time focusing on the defense side of things. Now he's the guy in charge. What's your rapport like with Adam and what do you think he's going to be like as a head coach, as opposed to an assistant coach? Yeah. Uh, actually I've talked to Foody a lot. He's been pushing hard.

We have a great relationship, and we've talked a lot. And he was definitely a big reason who I wanted to come back to. And I think he's going to be a great head coach. He's always so detailed. Doesn't matter, defensive side of the game or PK or whatever. He's so detailed, he's so smart. And I think he's a great communicator.

He understands and I'm really excited to see him as a head coach. We'll go to Daniel Wagner, Glacier Media. Congratulations, Brock. Thank you. There were reports during the season that the Canucks had offered you a five-year deal. Now we come in, it. Thank you. There were reports during the season that, you know, the Canucks had offered you like a five-year deal.

Now we come in at seven years. How important was, you know, that extra term having a long-term deal where you know where you'll be that extra couple of years? Yeah, for sure. And you know, I think, you know, that deal came, you know, really early in the year and year and I didn't know how the year was going to play out. So we just talked about it a little bit, but then it kind of went away and we were just playing hockey.

But it definitely was part of why I didn't sign. I wanted a couple more years to get those couple extra years and you know, it's and I wanted to be in Vancouver So that's why I also wanted those years too. So, you know, it definitely was a key to Trying to get those seven years And you know couple seasons ago you you hit that 40 goal mark Last season obviously didn't go quite as well As you go into the offseason do you look at those two seasons? Do you look at video?

Do you see what you did well previously that got you to that? Mark, is that something that you break down over the off season with video? Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, I, I've talked about it before I worked with, with, uh, someone privately and you know, privately and we talk about what went well in that season two years ago and what went well last year and what didn't go well. And compare and look at stats and really dive into how many shots I had, where was I shooting from, where was I scoring from?

And kind of just look at everything combined and just kind of see what I need to do to get back to scoring more goals. Adam Kersenblatt, The Hockey News. Hi, Brock. First off, congratulations on the new deal. Thank you. This organization now has 10 players,

including yourself, signed to at least three years. So as a player, what does that mean that players want to stick around and sign these kind of long-term deals with this organization? Yeah, I think it means a lot. And, you know, that's that's what one of the reasons why I wanted to as well. You know, I think we got great pieces locked up for a while. I think that's really important. I think it's good for guys coming together and being a team and playing together and just sacrificing out on the ice for each other. It's something that gets me really excited and that's why I'm super happy to be back. And you know, this whole process

from the beginning of the year to when you signed, especially the last couple of weeks, was there anything that you learned kind of about yourself or about the organization as you went through this signing process? That's a great question. I don't know. It was, I mean, it was just a roller coaster. Obviously you wish

it could have gotten done sooner and not at the last few minutes before it gets to July 1, until free agency opens. At the end of the day, I understand what they're trying to do with the Canucks. I want to be a part of it. So I'm just happy that I can. Thank you, Brock. And thank you all for joining us. That will conclude today's media availability. 8.15 in the morning, you are listening to the Hal Ferdinand Breff show on Sportsnet 650. That was Brock Besser's media availability following his seven year extension signed with the Vancouver Canucks yesterday. A lot of takeaways there. seven year extension signed with Vancouver Canucks yesterday, a lot of takeaways there. Definitely sounds as though it was a gut feel in a literal sense for Brock Besser that he,

when they got the call and there was a deal on the table that they liked, it sounded like Brock just wanted to stay home, his second home, Vancouver, which is a pretty cool thing. Yeah, and he sounded really excited. I mean, Brock Besser, we all know the way he talks, it's kind of like that surfer style. Oh, monotone at times.

Monotone sometimes, but he sounded legitimately excited to be back. How do you like $50 million? Yeah, sweet. It's a buy a house in Vancouver now. He said it himself. Yeah. That was pretty funny.

Yeah. But I think it's just like he could have afforded it. It's just the uncertainty. You know, you don't want to dive in and buy a house and then you'd be like, oh, you've been traded. Ah, well, call that realtor back. Do you do refunds? I don't think it works like that. I got a receipt.

You know, I was surprised actually, there were no questions about Pedersen and where he sees himself playing in the lineup because the question about how do you get back to scoring 40 goals? I mean, a lot of it was his chemistry with JT Miller that year. But Brock, all these, know where they want to play and with who, they don't often go public with

it because they don't want to create anything. But like, I'm sure Besser has an idea of where he wants to be on the power play and who he wants to play with and what he thinks can make him a better goal scorer. First of all, the things that he does, but also the situation that he's put in. I keep coming back to this setup for this coming season and I think it's going to be fascinating because this core has been granted this opportunity

for a second chance. Well, some will say a third or a fourth or a fifth chance, but they get a redo on what happened last season and a lot of things went wrong last season. And now, you know, they're all coming back. Yep. And they say, they say, you know, we're great friends here, we're great friends here.

We want to win together. The culture here is good and it's not as bad as people have been making out. Okay, well go prove it. Yeah. I mean. No, go prove it because it's great. Like we love hearing that you guys are all

friends and you want to sacrifice for each other and you want to win for each other and you want to push each other. So go do it and let's see if you guys are good enough to hang with some of the best teams in the league. Yeah, I mean, the die has really been cast for the redemptive arc. Now, the Arc won't come easy. There's a few different prongs to it. One is you gotta win more games, plain and simple. And this group is gonna have to make a more concerted effort to put up better performances at home.

If that doesn't fall in the leadership of the group this year and that core group, that has to be addressed in some meaningful way, even if it's just like some hollow statements that we weren't good enough in front of our paying fans last year. Yeah. Because if you're going to talk all this mess about loving Vancouver and loving being here and wanting to be with your boys and playing in front of this great fan base, then you

have to have a better... And I'm not talking just about wins and losses. So many flat listless don't give a crap performances at home last year, which were just they were unacceptable. So there's that. They are going to have to collectively that group figure out a Vandercane. They are, they're going to have to figure out a way to make it work, to make it harmonious, to make the room adaptable to him, to make him adaptable to the group, and to avoid the pitfalls that have happened in other NHL markets.

That's another one. They are also going to have to do this for a new head coach. I think in a lot of ways, it can be a rallying cry. Footer, footy stuck with us, Tauke quit on us. Foots the guy that hung around and took the job talk it was the guy that left Do you think you should be allowed to call your head coach by a nickname? That's a good question. I was actually yeah. Yeah. No a lot of teams do it. I remember no

I know they do I know but it's just like, you know when when we were growing up we wouldn't call our Our friends parents like hey Jack. No, yeah, that's a good point. It was mister. Yeah. The one- Footy should insist on that. That would actually be really funny. One of the rules that I have is-

You would call me coach Adam, it's fine. Not Adam, not coach, coach Adam. Sorry, I distracted from the conversation. No, that's okay. But you know what one threw me for a loop this year was when William Nylander called Craig Brubay chief Because that's been his nickname for forever. Yeah, I'm like, but he's nice your coach and Nylander does it in a way like his shirts off and his hair sweatbag and he's like just does it in such a cool way

They're like, alright, I can live with it, but it's still not okay. Anyway back to the head coach thing I do think that in terms of The die being cast on this narrative arc, this redemption story, that they can rally behind having a guy that is, he's there now. I mean, I, you know, I'm not saying they're gonna go so far as to have like a talk at a dartboard up in the room or anything,

but they could definitely rally behind, hey, the guy behind our bench now wants to be here and is fully invested. And the guy that left us for Philadelphia, who was rotten last year, it'll probably be just as rotten this year, isn't here anymore. So there's that.

And then, and then foot comes out as like the game plan is basically the same. That'll make some changes. I thought it was interesting that Alveen was talking about the coaching staff and how they have some ideas about how they can score more goals and play better. And I think Adam Foote will probably take a lot from Rick Tocket, but Adam Foote is going to want

to make changes. He needs to make changes. They need to find a way to play differently. I mean, you and I were, were as big a talk at supporters as anyone in this market. And basically all the media were talk at supporters. So that says a lot, but like, I'm open to new ideas to generate whatever you can out of Pedersen, right?

Like obviously what talk was doing didn't mesh. Like it didn't, you know, I don't, I'm not necessarily blaming Taka, but I'm also conceding like he didn't get through to him. Well, okay, I'll take it in a different direction here. The other thing that with this group coming back and the band being back together and running it back, this group needs to figure out what the identity is going to be.

Because if you love the individual parts, if you love Besser and you love Garland, you love Demko and you love Myers and you love Pedersen, that's great as individual pieces. And this team's identity can't be that it's a bunch of guys that really like each other that have been in Vancouver for a long time and haven't won Jack. That's not the best idea. That's not an identity. You know what that is?

That's a country club. That's a friends group. That's a group of friends. That's it. Like it's cool that you're friends, but you need to have some sort of identity. And if it could be like, if they go through the whole year pissed off

at how last year went and that's their identity sure I don't know what the slogan will be last year suck. That's not a great slogan But there's other ones probably better than that where the whole thing is about Last year stunk, but you got another chance and you're gonna embrace it. You're redemption, baby. Yeah, it's redemption to her It could be I mean, yeah redemption to her so much went wrong last year that like Things go wrong in seasons what happened last year is like an outlier like like that never happens like it's it was so wild And so I'm sure management's probably banking on like look even if it doesn't go great this year There's no way it'll be as bad as last year

But it's like every possible thing that went wrong could have gone wrong. That's not gonna happen twice in a row is it? But let's put it this kind of actually asking a question as well Like every possible thing that went wrong could have gone wrong. That's not gonna happen twice in a row, is it? But let's put it this way. Kind of actually asking a question now as well. I know, but let's put it this way. It couldn't happen twice. Right guys? Right, but let's put it this way.

Prior to- We don't really die, do we? Yeah. Prior to yesterday, I did not think that this group was gonna be back in the form that it is today. But maybe that's why management's banking on that. They're like, well, it's not gonna happen again. Like they're not gonna have all these awful things happen in a row. They're gonna get a bit it's not going to happen again. They're not going to have all these awful things happen

in a row. They're going to get a bit more luck than they did last year. Maybe not as much luck as two years ago. And that's fun. But the team that they are is somewhere in the middle of the three teams. But I'm not really concerned about management's ideas now, because that's in the past.

Looking forward, it's like, well, this group has now been handed something that I think was unexpected. And it's like, what are you going to do with it? The group has to take control. Yeah, exactly. The group has to take control. The group has to take control. Yeah, exactly. The group has to take control. The group has to take control.

These guys are all now veterans in the NHL, believe it or not. Like Quinn Hughes is a veteran. Brock Besser is very much a veteran of the NHL. So they're not the young, you're not this young, promising core. It's like, let's put it in Halfords, let's go. It's time, let's go.

Now here's the kicker. And if you don't, man, it's gonna get ugly. So that can be motivating too. And this is not to say that the Halford and Bruff show dabbles exclusively in skepticism, but if you are skeptical about this group just somehow flipping the switch, because that's what it's gonna be to a certain degree,

and you're skeptical about it, you're not wrong to be skeptical. These a lot of groups have been given a lot less opportunity and a lot less time and have produced better results. I'm not saying that this is the Maple Leafs West or Maple Leafs light out here, but that Toronto group say what you will about their lack of postseason failings, they were there every year. They got there every year. They had a level of success that other core groups didn't have and it still fell well short. They could sleepwalk to a hundred points in the regular season. And that group has looked back on now that it's broken up with a

bit of scorn and in the case of Marner, a lot of scorn. So I love the syrupy narratives that we're pulling out of this about redemption and buddies and a good unified room now making strides, but there has to be some tangible results now. It can't just be that they're really good guys and everyone here liked them and a bunch of people own their jerseys

and they all have dogs. Like that's, you know, all the, they all love their dogs. And the dogs all like each other too. And they're all having kids now and they're all gonna grow up in Vancouver. That that's, you know, all the, they all love their dogs. And their dogs all like each other too. And they're all having kids now and they're all gonna grow up in Vancouver. That stuff's great, but every team in every market has that.

There's gotta be some tangible results. And I think- JT Miller left his dog here. Yeah. That dog hates everyone. There's one dog left. He doesn't get along with any of the other dogs. Dog is quite reactive.

Okay, we're way up against it for time. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about- He's just attacking all the other dogs. It's got a muzzle on him. I need to tell you about the BC Lions July 27th. Bring the family to celebrate generations of lions fans at the family traditions game. Your lions will take on the tie cats on the 27th. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. You're listening to the Halford and Bref show on sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Mick Nazar. Have

your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Music Hey, 34 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, SportsNight 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. Ian McIntyre, Sportsnet's very own, is gonna join us in just a moment here. Hour three 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Ian McIntyre joins us now in the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.

Morning Ian, how are you? Oh, good. I'm old enough. Whenever somebody says hotline, I think of a red phone. With a, yeah, multiple lines, right? Eight of them available. We got guys on- All of them flashing. Yeah. That's right. All of them flashing. All of them flashing.

We don't have those. How are you guys doing? We're well. Thanks for taking the time to join us today. I know you, like us, were all listening and we didn't interact, but you were interacting to the Brock Besser media availability. My first question goes even back to before that. Yesterday, when the news

broke that Brock Besser had resigned with the Vancouver Canucks, the Open Free Agency, what was your response? Selfishly, I'm very happy because Brock is one of the really good people who I've covered, one of the best people who I have covered. And I've covered a lot of guys but Brock is thoughtful and empathetic and he cares about people around him, he cares about things around him. And of course I view all hockey transactions as

what does it do for me but I was happy. I was happy for Brock and then of course like most people I was surprised. I was also happy by the way, I was really happy by the way, that our friend Dan Murphy was the guy who broke the story. That was great. That was great for us. And then I was surprised because it just, there'd been so few reasons to hope, right? There just never seemed to be traction

whenever there were reports about it, or people like we discussed it, it seemed like, well, they made an offer and no, it didn't get very far. They brought once more than five years or once this amount of money. And so it was interesting for me listening to Brock this morning, hear a little bit of detail about how it came about, the last literally the last hour phone call from Patrick Albion to Ben Hankinson, but also Brock saying that when he when he heard that Patrick was calling,

his mindset was get a deal done, just get it done. He's a guy, Brock, who had had a lot of time to prepare himself for a separation he did not want. But I think he was resigned to it. I think he, you know, on a intellectual level, he understood the business and the realities. And this is what my next step is going to be. And it's going to be somewhere outside of Vancouver. But as he told us, it never felt well in his gut, which is another way of saying it never felt well in his heart. This is where he wanted to be. And, and I thought it was, was great that Brock shared with us that when that call came in, it

was his only thought was get a deal done. I want to go back to Vancouver. Ian, we read and talked about the piece you wrote for sportsnet.ca where the likes of Tyler Myers and Connor Garland kind of pushed back on the notion that the Canucks room was quote unquote broken last season by the rift between Pedersen and Miller.

Um, but you know, Jim Rutherford has come out and said like, yeah, it was, it was, it was, it was a pretty big deal. And he's kind of, he's kind of put that out there as the number one reason the season went off the tracks. Besser did concede in this media veil that it was tough sometimes to come to the rank.

I don't know if that was his personal situation or if it was the noise around the team. I guess the question is, what is the true story here? Yeah. Well, I think there's probably elements of truth in both those versions, which seem quite opposite. But talking to Tyler yesterday, and of course, I cover the team fairly closely in season, I have the great luxury and privilege of being about the last reporter who still travels.

So I do have conversations with guys. I have a chance, you know, because the dynamic between the Canucks and the media, this is for a whole other show or maybe a PhD thesis, but the dynamics between players and media is entirely different on the road than it is at home. And I think a lot of that is just sheer volume and demands on their time.

But I knew from talking to guys last year that a lot of them felt the way Tyler and Connor expressed it yesterday, that you can have these divisions and nobody disputes that this was a really strained, unhealthy, I would say, I'd use that word, unhealthy coexistence between Pedersen and Miller. But at the same time, you can also have the rest of the room, although they're distracted by it, maybe divided by it, depending on who their friends are,

the rest of the room gets along fine with one another. And I think in some respects was frustrated with those two that come on, you know, like, let's get this together, we got to get going here. So I think I think there's I think there's truth in in both narratives. I do think it was a huge factor in undermining the team. But it became a factor after other factors. It became a factor, and again, I know at some point we have to move on from this, but it became a factor when Pedersen didn't show up in the condition that the other leadership

group players had all told each other, let's meet a certain standard. And then he played poorly and the team played poorly. And then it started to unravel from there. So it's kind of hard to know because unless you're in the room, you're not in the room. And, but I really believe in people like Tyler Myers and Connor Garland, two of the guys I do have, I think, a level of trust with.

I do think that they are telling their truth that this is what they believe and this is how they feel. And it got me to think about something else last night. And I know we don't have time for a long rift here. No, go for it. We do. All right. You know, these are difficult times in the world, right? Like unless you bury your head in the sand or if you're really rich, bury your head in dollar bills. There's a lot going on in the world right now that's challenging.

And we hear a lot of things in sports as well and the NHL in particular about, you know, tax, no tax states and tax advantages and weather advantages and people who only want to play at a certain stage of their career, they only want to go play for a certain team because it's so important to them to try to win a cup. You know, there's tension between Canada and the US, our border. And yet here yesterday, our three American guys who, for whatever our benefits and flaws are, all want to come back here and play in Vancouver for the Canucks with each other. And I think that's got to represent something positive that the guys on the team have that belief in each other and that belief that if they do come back, they can still do something here. They're not looking at the best buy date for this group is over.

Now whether that's realistic, because this group has been here a while, whether that's realistic or not, I don't know. I guess we'll see how this season goes. But I got to think that it's a positive thing that these guys believe in this team, in this place enough that this is where they want to remain. How do you turn all this camaraderie into actual on ice success next season? Because you're right, I enjoy the story. We've been saying on the show a lot and our listeners have been saying like,

I want to cheer for a team that gets along. And that's why the Rift was so off putting. It's cause like they couldn't put the team first ultimately and one of them had to go. So this is hopefully healing for the group and maybe even the fan base. But I also know that if they get off to a bad start next season, that it'll be like, well, what

did you expect? You brought back the same core and you're getting the same results. Yeah. Well, I spoke briefly to Brock after his call and before this call. And he said that as well about the importance of the start, that these last two seasons, if you

look back at it, everything can be traced, the things that happened to what occurred in training camp pre-season, the first month of the season. So it's really important to your point, it's really important that they start well. But I honestly don't think it's all that complicated about what has to happen. about what has to happen. Their best players have to be, they all have to be their best players. We know last year they weren't. They need luck to stay healthy. And last year they had atrocious luck, especially with their top player.

Virtually every top player on the team, maybe a few suitor who would probably be near around 10 or something, whatever. But they had so much last year. Then on top of that, you had the drama that spilled out publicly about the dysfunction. There was just a lot that went against them, but they have to play better and be better prepared to play, which again, I'm talking about, you know, not just Pedersen, but others as well, but a lot about Pedersen. Be prepared to play your best. And then none of that matters if you don't have good coaching and you don't have accountability and conscientiousness and professionalism. And I think that's where, you know, it's, Adam Foote is going to play a huge role as well, because I think they started, well, I know that

they started to change their standards and expectations under Rick Tauket. And they can't let that slip because you use the word camaraderie. And we've heard Patrick Albion say this isn't a country club. And that's where you can have players who are only playing because, hey, it's fun. But typically that's not going to be in Canada, in Vancouver, in the rain, in winter. Players are going to want to do that in Arizona or for a long time in Florida before they turn things around. So I don't think it's that.

I don't think it's just, hey, we like hanging out and who cares whether we win or not? I think they care. I think they care. But there's certain basic steps that have to occur for the team to have a season like it had when it was 109 points, 109 point team. And there's certain mistakes and flaws and bad luck that have to occur to be a 90 point team like they were last year.

And these guys believe that there's no reason they can't take those necessary steps to be that hundred and nine point team again. And I, I don't, that's an awfully high bar. Like I would say the over under lower than that. But I think, I think they could be closer to 109 points next season than they were to 90 this year. So I guess that means 100. Right. Well, let's set the over under at 100 for the Canucks. That's a good point.

Over under 100 set July 2nd. I like it. Do you think they're done? Do you think for the most part the Canucks are done or do you think they could take another stab at getting Pugh's suitor signed? I know they would have to move out some salary in order to achieve that, but suitor played pretty well last season and he was a big part of the PK. So if he's not back, they'll have to find a way to replace him.

Maybe some of the Abbotsford guys are ready for that role. Yeah. I mean, the PK role I think has been really underrated when people talk about the Canucks and potentially losing Pugh Souter. I think it's a huge factor because the PK was such an issue here for years. So they finally had that part of their game at least figured out. And it was Pugh Souter and Teddy Blher, who's a guy who's mentioned as possible salary dump if they need more cap space, who were first out on every penalty kill.

So I think that's part of it. I think they will circle back, but with the way the market went yesterday and how little is available, I kind of think that there's going to be teams willing to pay and able to pay Puce much more than Vancouver. But I would also say, look how surprised we all were yesterday that Brock Besser was resigned. Because if you were, if you were comparing the two, it felt like there was maybe a lot more baggage and a lot more

negativity around the Besser situation than there was around the Souter situation and Besser's back. Maybe Souter can be but I doubt it but to your question I don't think they're done I think they're done for now but I think they know that they need a little more center insurance. They know that. Stability. And it's not that it's outrageous. It's their idea that they can have a one, two of Pedersen and Hedl.

It's not outrageous, but you need depth. You need a fallback position because look what we saw last year in the last month of the season when they're desperately trying to keep themselves in the playoff race. We had Puce Souter as the first line center and Teddy Blue were on the second line. You need another guy. I think they'll look at that. They've obviously had some success with Puce and a couple others in being patient and seeing what the market offers them after the initial frenzy.

But I also think, you know, if they're going to be a good team, and we're going to know like in the first two months next season, if they're going to be a good team. If they're going to be a good team, the real deadline is the trade deadline, like for making your team, for setting your team. Because remember two years ago, the Lindholm and Zdorov trades in mid season. So I don't really see it as, if they don't have another center by training camp, they're screwed.

I don't see it that way. I think they've got a lot of time here. Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of money, but I think they've spent it the way they wanted to. And other than Pedersen's deal, I know people raise eyebrows at Demko's AVV and there's always things you can nitpick. But I don't think there's any real terrible contracts on the team, but their $92.8M player has to play like that. So I think the Canucks are probably pretty happy with how they have spent their money. But now it's like the fine details at the end. And they are going to allow some space both in roster and cap room for their entry-level

guys from Abbotsford to have a chance to earn a reward for what they've done last year. And I think a couple of them will be on the team. And then they'll have to be very patient, very efficient in what and who they add after that. And I think if somebody does come along and maybe Pugh circles back and he lowers their price to the point where they think they can make it work, then they'll have to shift some salary and whether that's Dakota Joshua or Teddy Bluger or somebody else, I think they could do that as well. But for now, I think they're happy with the work they've done and they're going to be patient, but no, they're not finished.

They're still going to look for that centre. Well, I'm at, Halfer and I have got three months left to discuss everything that we just talked about today. I imagine you're going to write up something on Brock Besser and then what's your plan? Do you get some time off? Soon, soon. I've got a couple other things this week and, uh, I've still got to, uh, try to come up with something next week, but then I'm going up to, uh, Lacklahash in

the middle of the middle of, uh, July and hopefully not much between then and, and training camp. So. Nice. You guys, you're not going to be talking about for three months. Stars like you, you've got to have what? Six weeks off starting mid July.

We're going to take some time off. Yeah, we will. Yeah. But we probably got at least two months. Well, listen, weren't the last two months harder to talk about than the next two potentially? You know, maybe not. I don't know. I'm not in radio. As you know, I'm, I'm not a broadcaster.

We're going to find out. I'll tell you that I were dead up against it for time here. So we gotta let you go. Thank you very much for doing this today. We appreciate it. I enjoy the last little bit of writing and then some time off. Thanks guys. Thanks for having me on it. Enjoy your summer. You've earned it. Yeah. Thanks. You too. I'm Mac. That's Ian McIntyre connects reporter here on reporter here on the Hellford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It's not very often that a guest runs us right up against the end of the show,

but that's what's happened today. Uh, we will be back tomorrow. Friday. We're off. We're back next week and then for a couple more weeks in July until we take some time off in August in case you're wondering, but there's still lots to be decided in this world of free agency. Still a lot of guys out there and not a lot of movement this morning. We kept an eye on it thoroughly, but I don't think there are any signings to note this morning. I think we'll be able to discuss an Ehlers deal tomorrow. That sounds like a likelihood. I agree. Okay. But for now though,

the music's going, so that means we got to say goodbye. Thank you all for listening and thank you all for contributing. Signing off, I have in Mike Halford, he's been Jason Brough, he's been Adog, he's been Basketball Ben, and this has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.