Halford & Brough in the Morning - Brock Boeser Loves To Terrorize The Preds

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk last night's big Canucks OT win in Nashville (3:00), plus they go around the NHL with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (28:37).  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.

Whoa, wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a fucking Canucks? Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough.

Five seconds left is played free in your circle. Paterson sends up front for Besser. He scores. Just before time ran out, Brock Besser calls game. You made a tremendous pass, so I'm happy that we could sneak that one out. They capitalized on them opportunities. Caners, it wasn't a penalty at all, and it was actually the other way. It was a diving call, and they missed it. No sense bitching, right? Nobody's going to listen to you. Good morning, Vancouver. Hey, Darrell, 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Brought, it is Sports Net 650. We are coming.

You live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford in Brought of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 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. This is the Midd-1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech, Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. Big show ahead on a Tuesday. It's a four-guester on the Halford & Brough Show. The guest list begins at 6.30. Greg Wyshinsky, our NHL insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. We'll go around the league for the latest news and notes. Busy night in the NHL tonight. 10 games on the slate.

Greg's going to join us at 6.30 to talk all things. NHL. 7 o'clock, Brandon Bachelor. play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks on SportsNet 650. As you heard in the intro, Canucks closed out their three-game road trip in style yesterday with a 5-4-O-T victory in Nashville. We'll talk to Batch

about all that and more at 7 o'clock. 7.30, the owner of the BC Lions. Amar Dolman is going to join the program after his Lions had a dramatic win over Calgary in the West semi-final last Saturday. Lions now go to Saskatchewan to play in the West

final this Saturday. with a trip to the Grey Cup on the line. 3.30 kickoff for the Leos in Saskatchewan. Amar Dom and owner of the BC Lions will join us at 7.30 to talk about all that. 8 a.m. A. A.a Ramon is going to join us. Radio play-by-play voice of the Vancouver White Caps. White Caps also through to the next round of the playoffs in MLS Cup play.

They're going to take on L.A.F.C. in a big clash on November 22nd. We'll talk to A.A.A. about the caps getting the job done in Dallas. Then playing LAAFC coming up in a couple weeks time. that's going to be at 8 a.m. Finally, we are giving away ACDC tickets today and every day this week on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. The concert is in August of 2026,

but we're giving away tickets now. It's at BC Place. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, but at 8 a.m. every day this week, caller number 5 is going to win a pair of tickets to see ACDC next August at BC Place. The number, 604, 280, 0, 650, that number again. 604-280-0-0-650B, caller number five at 8 a.m.

This morning. Working in reverse on the guest list, 8 o'clock, it's Aisa Raymond. 7.30, M.R. Doman, 7 o'clock, Brandon Bachelors, 630. Greg Wyshinsky. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss that? You missed that? What happened?

What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies investing tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca. As you heard in the intro, it was Brock Besser, scoring his second goal of the night with just two seconds left. Last night, Vancouver Canucks blew a two-goal lead, but recovered in OT to win 5.4. Let's hear it again, Greg. Let's hear that Brock Besser winner with two seconds left in overtime. off a nice pass from Elias Pedersen to close out the Canucks road trip in style.

And O'Reilly wins it back to the corner. Besser on the forecheck is tied up by Shea. Five seconds left is played free near circle. Pedersen sends up for Besser. He scores. Just before time ran out, Brock Besser calls game. It's his second of the night and sixth of the season. And the Caducs finished the road trip with two wins in three games.

Besser plays the hero. and they beat the Predators tonight. The final score. Vancouver 5 and Nashville 4. I thought we were going to cut out the second part of the score there. Brock Bessler loves scoring late goals in Nashville. It's just what he does. And that was a good win for the Vancouver Canucks last night.

They are full credit for getting a result. We can talk about the process getting there early in and a little bit here. But they got a result. They are no longer 6 and 7 on the year. They're now 7 and 7. They had a lot of contributors to the win. starts with Brock Besser Evander Cain had a couple of goals

as well. Elias Pedersen when you get him out there with time and space whether it's the power play or three on three he can still make things happen out there offensively. I know in the post game show they were saying like Lena Scarleson had a couple of really

tough moments in his own end where he couldn't get the puck out but made a really nice pass to Evander Cain. I think if you go up and down the Canucks lineup last night you had guys that were making contributions and not just waiting for others to make contributions and of course it really helps to have Quinn Hughes back

and out there for 28 minutes he was plus two on the night right I mean I know that's kind of an old school stat but I think it says something you know in a nutshell like out there you get him back there and the Canucks are plus two when he's on ice Plus minus, baby. Two very important stats in my regard. I mean, it kind of makes a difference.

You know, Tom Velander out there, he's looking good. His, you know, I had questions about just his, like, his hockey sense and his hockey IQ. And I think that we're going to still, you know, that's still to be determined. But, man, his skating on the back end has definitely brought something to the Vancouver. interconnects. And, you know, again, go up and down the lineup. It was good to see Jake DeBress finally, you know, make an impact. He had a goal on the power play, got to the front of the net. Pedersen with a really nice pass across to Besser. Besser puts it into, you know, the front of the net, and DeBrest finds a way to tip at home. It was just, you know, I thought everyone, for the most

part, contributed. Yeah, it was great in that regard. And, you know, you mentioned the post-game show there in the post-game show, but a lot of other people have said this as well, that with the amount of injuries that the Canucks have right now, the MO is scratching claw and get results and get points. And it doesn't necessarily matter what it looks like right now. It's almost like in a common refrain for this organization, we'll kick the can down the road on process. Right now, let's just make sure that we don't bury ourselves in the standings and get points however possible. Because it was not a perfect game yesterday. I think anytime you blow a two-goal lead in the third period and you have the ineffectiveness on the penalty kill that the Canucks had,

it's going to raise issues. But, you know, I want to throw some, I would throw to some Adam Foot audio here because it was interesting where he pivoted in the post game. I found Adam Foot to be a pretty curious case study this year in terms of his remarks made publicly. The only thing I've really been able to glean from him is doesn't really take a lot of his guys to task, if at all,

tries to stay optimistic. And then when things go against the group, I think optimistic is a big one. Big one, right? You notice that right away. When things go against the group, he oftentimes falls back on the well sometimes those things happen reply and I'm like you know he's not wrong sometimes things do happen at him like that's very accurate and a very proper assessment of what went on

but this was interesting from last night because Adam foot went down the road of taking the referees to task in one of his post game remarks the last guy didn't do that at all not at all right he'd either say I got to go watch a tape or my personal favorite referee's got a hard job out there got a tough job about there. But we do have the best referees in the world. Do we though anymore? There's a question. I'm going to play the Adam Foot audio now. This is Adam Foot postgame remarks following a 5-4-O-T victory over Nashville to end a three-game road trip. Well, we were all over the make it. It has been up four or five goals and I mean, they missed a couple calls and especially caners. It wasn't a penalty at all and it was actually the other way. It was a diving call and they missed it. Caneer

a good game, but I like the way we hung in there. We're resilient. I mean, you saw that goal they got to tie. It was just a breakdown as far as they hit a stick and then a screen shot. So, you know, I was just happy that we stayed within ourselves. Should have won that and the without O.T for sure. But that happens some nights. That happens some nights. He also has a, speaking of optimistic, that's not the first time he said, oh, we could have been up like four or five goals there. He's had that one a few times. Yeah, yeah. He said when they lost 5-1 to Pittsburgh, I remember distinctly. He's like, we could have been up three or four-nothing.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Every single shot that we had went in. And it was C-Lawks in that, so it's not that crazy. It's not that crazy to think that way. However, so in the, and it's a small snippet. And of course, the follow-up question to that appropriately was about Tom V-Lander, which is the exact follow-up question you want to ask when the coach makes a rare comment criticizing the referees but i digress um i i think what i think what's happening there is Kane's been a penalty magnet this season right i think we can all agree on this and he's got

he's got he's got a he's got a lifetime reputation he's got a reputation for sure and i will agree with the head coach on that one that particular play on evangelist that was not a penalty like that was that was not a penalty and i know now here's a thing cane is so demonstrative on the especially jawing about calls that you never really know when he's properly aggrieved or not I mean it's never of Ander Cain's fault

but sometimes it actually isn't his fault So last night he was jawed pretty heavy When he got called for that one Of course, you know Nashville goes and scores On the power play, whatever You go back and watch And he's like he's got a right to be aggrieved there

So I think what Adam Foote did in the aftermath In his own Adam Foot way Was like this is I mean look he gets called for a lot of penalty this was a wrong one and I don't think it should be bad I don't think coaches should shy away from it

if it's the way that Foote did it like Foote's comments read maybe more inflammatory than they sound I think it's good to stick up for his players and I think he's doing the right things when we talk about process constant optimism constant positivity

and just trying to point the guys in the direction of hey just keep chopping wood and moving along and trying to stay afloat because we've got a ton of injuries and we're trying to stack up wins. Now, that's the one where, if you look at this, that's the next iteration or next evolution

of this banged-up Canucks team is can you follow up one performance and a win with another one? And I know that sounds super rudimentary, but as a 500 team, the reason I said it yesterday, like they feel like a 500 team is because they've really embodied it

through the start of the year. We've seen good results Followed up with bad Followed up with good Followed up with bad And there hasn't been A lot of rhyme or reason to Like I can't really good

Is the whole season going to be like They have a bad result And we come in and rip them and go talk You know like They need to rebuild And then the second result is like It wasn't perfect but they got a result And I am worried about that

Because I don't think I can This team is going nowhere Is this a playoff team? No they're still going nowhere Actually maybe the playoffs aren't out of the question Which is a conversation you have about a 500 hockey team, right? Yeah. When they're right on the edge.

Exactly. When they're right on the edge. Yeah. And they've got a good goalie in Thacher Demko, right? So they don't always have to have a masterpiece and they can get some results. So then you come in like this morning, for example, and you're like, well, they won. So you don't want to talk about the negatives. You want to accentuate the positives. But in the back of your mind, you're like, of course, whatever the next game has in the store, because there are some, there's some like fundamental issues with the team, which we've already dove into in previous iterations of the show. Like, for example, you know what, one of the things that you talked about a lot, and you've talked about this a lot, but you brought it up with the removal of Pew Souter, and we'll get to him because he had a big light night last night, but it's like, who's going to play on the penalty kill for this team? And right now, the penalty kill is a problem for this team.

Yeah, and they also lost Dakota Joshua off the PK. Now they've got some key injuries out with Teddy Blugher and Forbork. I mean, Forbort was brought back essentially for the penalty kill. And right now, you've got some D-Men out there that are really struggling. And the penalty kill this season, Marcus Pedersen has been out there for nine goals against. Philip Peronik has been out there for nine goals against. Tyler Meyer, seven goals against. but here's like I know Drew O'Connor had a nice game the other day

but he's been on the ice for nine goals against on the penalty kill and that's like that's a forward that's not yeah that's and he's it's not like he's out there a lot but I don't know maybe he's the weak link out there right like I are one of them because you got a bunch of guys out there and Adam foot has said this like he's basically said well you need reps on the PK to learn it you need you need reps um and and he said like last season the PK got better because it got reps all right but that's a tough way to you know that's a tough way to learn through like learning in an NHL season for a team that's can't really afford to have like a major Achilles heel do

know what I mean? Like, there was a significant risk they took when they traded some of these guys away or chose not to resign in the case of Pew Souter that the PK could be an issue, especially early in the season. And obviously, the injuries to guys like Bluger and Foreboard didn't help. Yeah. And, you know, it's, it's going to be an issue until it's not an issue anymore. And again, if we wanted to do the glass half full part with special teams, we can point out first two Canucks goals yesterday came on the power play and actually Nashville throughout the course of the season I know it's a small sample size but

they've been very very effective on the kill at home they killed 28 to 29 in their first day games at home so kudos to the Canucks for figuring out a little bit on the power play and you mentioned the Carlson pass that second power play goal very nice very nice passing from a unit that at times this year hasn't zipped it around as Adam Foote likes to say with that kind of efficiency.

I will say this. And you know, it's funny, the Dunbar-Lumber text line for as much as I hate it at times, it does offer some great moments, right? And people right now are trying to contextualize the Canucks start to the season, which is 7 and 7 through 14 games,

right, the definition of 500. You can't get more 500 than that. It's impossible, right? So someone texted in, they played nine road games compared with five to home with the injuries that context should be told they're five and four on the road then the next person texts in and says yeah but it's three regulation wins in 14 I'm like both those things are true and they tell very different stories about what this team is well people texting and they're there they're only one point is it one point out of first place or two points out of two points out of two points out of two points out of people texting and they're two people texting and they're two they're two they're only they're only one point out of first place out of first place than the division. They certainly are. But then if you look at points percentage, they're out of the playoffs.

That's also very true. I mean, if you want to be housed positivity, the fact that they're even 7 and 7 with the amount of injuries they've sustained is kind of incredible. Yeah. And obviously a lot of it's Demco, but still, I mean, that's something. No, I think what you're looking at right now is a team that is full

value for its 500 record because they have their weaknesses perceived or glaringly obvious, right? And they've done well in the face of some massive injuries. The question is going to be, can this team, one, get healthy, and then two, do the thing that playoff teams do and good teams do, which is string together, a bunch of solid performances in our own.

Right now we haven't seen it. Okay, so... I'd also like to point out that that texter also pointed out that he said, quote, the last two games at home were great, to which I replied, wasn't one of them a two-nothing shutout loss to the Rangers? Yeah, that wasn't... If so, we have very different definitions of what great constitutes.

That wasn't great at all. They got four games at home coming up Wednesday. I would say the much improved Chicago Blackhawks are in town to play the Vancouver Canucks. I'm not saying that Chicago's a playoff team or anything, but from the games

that I've watched, they look better. Columbus is on Saturday and then right away, Colorado is on Sunday. that's going to be a tough one. And this is when the schedule gets hard. Sunday is Colorado. Tuesday is Winnipeg.

Friday, they go to Carolina. Sunday, they're in Tampa Bay. Monday, they're in Florida. I know the Panthers are not quite the Panthers team that won the Stanley Cup, but they're still going to be pretty good. So, you know, we mentioned that this November, there's 14 games in November.

and let's just say I'll be curious to see what they look like when we're out of this month because it's such a grinding schedule hopefully they get Garland back soon and apparently he's been skating out at UBC so hopefully he's back for Wednesday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks but you know it's gonna it's it's look I know they were on the road but St. Louis, Minnesota, and Nashville, not good teams, right? Or at the very least, have been wildly inconsistent.

Nashville, Nashville looked awful, like, Stamco's, I was like, is he hurt? And then I noticed him on the power play. I'm like, no, there he is, but he doesn't really do much anymore. They're bad, man. They're not, or they were bad last night. They're bad last night. Credit the Canucks.

Credit the Canucks. Let's contextualize. this. Are Nashville, Minnesota, and St. Louis the bottom three teams in the Central Division? Yes. Is Nashville only six points out of first place? Yes. It's early in the season. All of these numbers matter

and we'll welcome the wall into the conversation. By the way, speaking of division standings, the Pacific is all kinds of topsy-turvy right now. You mentioned the Chicago Blackhawks who will be in town shortly. They played Seattle last night. Seattle won that game to move atop

the Pacific Division. And The team that Seattle leapfrog to move atop the Pacific Division is the Anaheim Ducks. So right now, one, two, three in the Pacific is Seattle, Anaheim, and then the Vegas Golden Knights. So it's been a very unique start to the season in the West, if you want to look at it. Right now, you could make the argument that the Pacific has probably been the most underwhelming of all the divisions. Because right now, the Pacific has, is home to the worst team in the NHL right now. that's the Calgary Flames. I mean, I don't think there's really any way to slice it up.

Calgary's the worst team in hockey right now. They have eight points through 14 games. No one's even really that close to them. At least the sharks have Celebrating, right? Yeah, and they're still not winning hockey games with any great regularity, right? They've just got one regulation win in 13. One. So it's not, I mean, for all the great play in.

So does Calgary. Yeah. One in 14, I think. So all the, for all the great things that, you know, San Jose is down from a youth perspective, they're still not a good team. L.A. has gotten off to a very mediocre start. The Eamintroyalers who lost again last night have gotten off to a very slow start

with a minus one goal differential, I might add. So the division, again, contextualize it. The Canucks are staying afloat in it, and it hasn't been great, and that's probably to their benefit. Because if some or one or two teams got off to a crazy heater and really put a distance between them, there would be an issue.

Right now, though, that issue doesn't exist. Okay, quick reset here. there are a couple stories I wanted to get into from last night. We had a couple minutes here left before we move to the 630 segment and Greg Wischinski's going to join us then. I will jump to the Eastern Conference of what the Toronto Maple Leafs did last night. So we're sitting around, you know, firing off text during the Kinnock's game and I put a screenshot of what was going on in the Leafs Penguins game on Amazon.

The Leafs were down 3-0 to the Penguins. And at one point, through two periods, we're getting out shot 25 to 8. It was a one-way massacre for the penguins. But then the Leafs went on a run, scored three times in three minutes and 24 seconds to tie it in the third period. And then good old Bobby McMahon, you got the audio here, Greg. Bobby McMahon, late in the third period. What a comeback by the Leafs. What great time for Toronto Sports, huh?

Leaves win, 4-3 and a big comeback win over the pens. Here's what it sounded like. Robertson, powers out, gets to it. We'll save the rebound. At the right place, at the right time. And don't like now, what Toronto is crying on. Toronto. Now, as much as I want to focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs here, I do have to have...

I think that made everyone in Toronto just be like, no, I'm happy again. You know what? It doesn't even matter what happened on the weekend. We had to come back win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night hockey. I will say this. Speaking of those Pittsburgh Penguins, good Coquitlam kid, Ben Kindle, five goals in 12 games. now is an 18 year old rookie

the reviews coming out of Pittsburgh for him are off the charts. They are absolutely enamored with what he's brought to the table. Needs to have more assists. He's got a grand total of zero right now. So he's in the Kiefer Sherwood territory. Too many goals, not enough helpers. But for Kiefer Sherwood.

Yeah. But what an impressive performance from the 11th overall pick in this year's draft. I'm assuming. That's awesome. Yeah. Now that he's through 12 games, he looks like he belongs and he's been part of the most surprising team in the National Hockey League to start the Pittsburgh Penguins. Who's a goal for Pittsburgh yesterday?

Tristan Jari was in net for the Penguins yesterday. That's a tough third period for him. Yeah, I know. What would have happened if R.E.C. Loves was in net. And finally, and I know we're pushing it up against it for time here, but I mentioned Pew Souter earlier in the show, and I'll circle back on him because despite the headlines going to Connor McDavid,

becoming the fourth fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,100 career points, it was Pew Souter scoring the go-ahead goal and a very important goal for a struggling St. Louis Blues team. As the Blues beat the Oilers yesterday, 3-2 at the Enterprise Center, here's what it sounded like, former Kinnock Pugh-Suter, continuing his hot start to the season in a win over the Oilers. Souter walks it in, drives the goal. Blues pick it up.

Shen, wraps it, ear wing, straight away. Barricone, rebound and score! Souter on the doorstep, tucks it home. Three, two, Blues. One, 23 to go. So they're saying the same things in St. Louis right now that the Canucks fans were saying. He's got five goals and eight points in 13 games.

And everyone's like, why was he just readily available for us? Because that was the Blues. Like, that was when the Canucks got him late in free agency. They're like, why was he available for us? And now the Blues fans are like, why, dude, why was he just sitting there for the price that we got him at? Because he's there, he's platooned as their 1C this year. Does that sound familiar to Connors?

fans. Told you. Yeah, I mean... At the time, I was like, this is stupid. The conduction of kept them. And I know why... Oh, were you the only one?

Everyone was in there, man. Just me. No one else. Everyone was curious what happened. I think we know what happened is they gave the suitor money to the cane, right? That was the flip. And I know it was probably more complex than that,

but we're just trying to break it down to its basic parts here. But the more that he continues to thrive, the worst it feels, not just from a production standpoint, but he's mentioned on the kill. Like he's really, he was a versatile guy last year, and he really stepped up. And yeah, he probably wasn't going to replicate the numbers he had. However.

Dude, okay, however go? It was a vital, vital contributor to last year's team. Do we need to have like a three horse race now because I know a lot of people were going to be like, okay, let's see how many points J.T. Miller gets versus Elias Pedersen. Do we now add like Pew Souter to that race? I never thought we'd be there. Honestly, I didn't, I didn't think we would.

Who's the real number one center? It's, wow, it turns out the Pew Sitter. He was there all along. Now he's making foreign change in St. Louis on a two-year deal. It did help, I think. Was Robert Thomas back for? Thomas' back, Neighbors is out long term. He's out five weeks.

Thomas back for the Blues is big for them. Yeah, okay. Of course, they've got Jimmy Snuggarood, right? Who can forget? There is a four points. There's a, you know, Okay, now I get that. That's the rubber Thomas drop.

There's a four-way tie for eight points. Cairo, Thomas, Snuggaroo, Souter. They're all leading the blues in points. Okay, we've got a lot more to get to in the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Greg Wischinsky's going to join us next. Our NHL insider from ESPN, you're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

It's Canucks Central with Dan Richo and Saty R Shaw, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, Inside Info, and even the post game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. I love how you keep finding these I don't know how you do it This is this year's version

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is brought to by Sands and Associates Get out of the penalty box of debt And back into the game With a financial fresh start Visit them online at Sands Dashdea.com We are in hour one of the program. Greg Wyshinsky from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here.

Hour one is brought to 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. Greg Wyshinsky from ESPN joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Wish?

You guys treat the ESPN theme song like when they give away something at a game every year and it's the same item but then they just change the sponsor yeah yeah it's it's the same magnetic calendar uh the days are a little bit different but it just as a you know it's a different bank this year that's sponsoring it to me all the yes outside of some of the ones that were more grandiose like more trans-Siberian orchestra i think all the ESPN songs sound the same to me this would explain why we get so excited when we see a t-shirt cannon at any game it i'm just like hey look it's canon, it shoots stuff, and it's got t-shirts in it. This is great. You ever caught a

t-shirt from a t-shirt? Never caught one. It is a rush, man. I know. It is, it feels like it chose you. I caught it. I caught a t-shirt that was parachuted down from the rafters once, which as Jason knows, is the benefit of height. Definitely, definitely. You feel like

you feel like the Kenbei Matambo and you reach up and grab a t-shirt that's floating down from the ceiling. The Mets, the New York Mets have a t-shirt canon thing that I have on my bucket list, which is that you can stand on the field and fire a t-shirt cannon into the apple that rises from the top hat in center field. And then if you get it, if you get it inside the apple, I don't know, maybe you win another t-shirt.

I don't know what it's, but, but it's the skill, the skill that's the skill that's the skill that's required, it's, uh, you know, a lot of physics, it's a little bit of American gladiators, uh, it's a, it's definitely a dream for me to do that. one day. All right. Let's turn our attention now to the hockey's. Specifically, some awards, Greg. October is in the books. That means we get to start talking about the leaders in all of the respective categories. Hey, I got a question for you right now, and I know it's early days, but we are a month into the season. Who's the

MVP of the NHL so far? Well, according to the voters that we surveyed, remember the NHL is watching ESPN is the one that goes and talks to the actual voters. We get dozens of ballots and and kind of figure out where the wins blown on these candidates is. The leader for MVP right now is Jack Eichol of the Vegas Golden Knights. It's a crowded field. He's not running away with the thing. He's got 42% of the first place votes.

But it's kind of easy to see when he's got 19 points in 11 games. The Knights are playing well. He's, you know, it's not all been the product of having money on the team. This offensive explosion he's had. And, you know, I think that Eichol over the last couple of years,

at least since the cup win, has sort of cemented a reputation rightfully or wrongfully as being one of the better two-way centers in the game. So, you know, he's never won the heart. He's definitely somebody who has been on the radar for it before, just only like twice in his career. And so I think that he's the leader. Now, what's interesting about the MVP race, though,

is the guy who's second right now plays for the Colorado Avalanche, but his name is not Nathan McKinnon. His name is Cal McCar. And so what's interesting about that, I looked back at it. I didn't realize this. We haven't had a defenseman as a finalist for the heart since 2000 when Chris Pronger won the heart with the St. Louis Blues.

We haven't had a defenseman since then even finishing the top three in the balloting. And McCar certainly is on the trajectory where he might be the first guy to do it in 26 years. Well, this was a big thing for me last season because I thought Quinn Hughes deserves some attention for the season that he had. And if you're talking about the Hart Trophy, the MVP, you know, Quinn Hughes on the ice for the Vancouver Canucks versus Quinn Hughes off the ice for the Vancouver Canucks, it's two different teams.

You know, one is a playoff team and the other is a lottery team. So, I mean, I've always kind of felt like defensemen get shafted in the Hart Trophy race. And I know all the analytics guys was like, I think you'll see that the forwards, the best forwards make the biggest impact, out there. I'm like, yeah, but they don't play 30 minutes a night. Like, that's, that's, that's a, that's a big,

that's a big deal when you've got a guy that can play half the game, you know, and I, and I think it's almost like ridiculous that defensemen have received so little attention in the Hart Trophy race. Well, it's ridiculous in the sense that I would say probably like from Eric Carlson on, we've had some defensemen that have done things offensively that have been sort of like history book rewriting as far as their output like stuff that like we're having guys

have seasons that are evoking the name of Bobby Orr as far as like their scoring rates yeah and so that's the kind of surprising thing for me considering even if you are someone who doesn't really buy the idea that a defenseman should be up the heart every year and and you think it's all about the skaters well you've got defensemen that are scoring at the rates of skaters so from that aspect it's surprising I'm also kind of surprised that Considering how unbelievably heralded this guy was as a player and the number of Norris as he won, I'm really kind of surprised that Lidsstrom didn't sneak into the top three at least once during those years with Detroit. I mean, he was the backbone of the team, he was considered the best defenseman of his generation.

You figure at some point he would have snuck into the top three, again, like it's hard to break through when you're dealing with the offensive totals of an Ovechkin or a McDavid. but right now McCar has it and what's interesting about McCar too boys is that you'd sink with McKinnon there a guy who's won the heart and he's been a finalist a bunch of times it'd be hard for McCar to break through but he actually finished sixth last year

in the voting while McKinnon finished fourth so there might be enough oxygen in the room for both of them when it comes to the MVP race I wish there's some teams that are off to surprising starts as there are every year and that's the point where we go Are these guys for real? So teams like Pittsburgh and Seattle, Chicago, and Columbus, they've all had positive starts to the seasons.

Are there any of these surprising teams that you think have what it takes to keep going? I'm intrigued. I should throw Anaheim in there as well. Well, Anaheim, I predicted before the season, was probably going to be in the playoff race until the final week of the season. Like I think people really slept on what Joel Quinville was going to be able to do to that team from a structural standpoint. And if you look at their offense right now, and I think that's always been kind of a calling card for Q on the teams that he's coached, their numbers at five-on-five have surged. I mean, they're getting a hell of a lot more of a percentage of the shot attempts than they did last season, and their goals per game or goals for 60 is like completely jumped year over year, too. So he's really unlocked something with that team.

The Cracken are interesting. I talked to Joey DeCord for a story I'm working on the other day. And he talked about how they entered the season with an incredible amount of confidence. I didn't understand why because they're not like predicted to be good and they haven't been good. But he said that Lane Lambert kind of came in and really like put some win in their sales, which is a weird thing to think of because he was not exactly all that success. with the Islanders, but maybe just having, and this is going to be a little shade, I'm throwing here,

having someone come in who's a little bit mature, who's a little bit systems oriented, who brings the right composure behind the bench, maybe his personality jibes of the players. All of those things factor in to Lane Lambert, kind of giving this team a foundation on which to build that maybe a previous coach didn't. What are you suggesting?

What are you suggesting? What are you suggesting about poor Dan Bosma? I don't know. I'm suggesting that maybe when coaches are won and done after percolating in their minor league for like years and years, it's kind of a weird look. And there's got to be much more going on there than we anticipate. I think the Lambert thing really kind of has been a transformative thing

for a roster that maybe needed a little bit of a boost. Now, the other team you mentioned is the Blue Jackets. And that's the one that is really intriguing. because if you look at the stats right now, maybe the most stunning stat in the league right now is the number 9-12. And the number 9-12 is the saved percentage as a team

the Columbus Blue Jackets have. And there's only one team that has a better save percentage than the Blue Jackets right now, and that's the team with Connor Hallibuck. So the amount of goals, I think they're getting at a Jetgreaves right now and out of Merz Lickens right now is kind of crazy and will it sustain itself?

I don't know, but if this team's talented enough up front where if they got a lick of good goaltending they were going to be at least a bubble team but now they're getting more than a lick they're getting a sloppy dog kiss of a lick of good goaltending and if that keeps up then they could be

a real surprise in the East. Well the Kinex next three opponents are the Chicago Black Cox who have been, I think, better than people expected this season. They've got those Columbus Blue Jackets and they've got the Colorado Avalanche and the Avs, they just look like, I know we've already talked about them a little bit here, but, you know, what did you think about that Martin H.S. contract? What do you think about how they're looking? Are they still too top heavy? Are they

relying too much on their big dogs or are they, have they got things going right now? I'm never going to, I'm never going to shade a team for being too top-heavy. Look at the teams that excel in this league. I mean, there are certain years in which the teams with depth, you know, make it through. And obviously, in Florida's case, like their depth is kind of the thing that put them over the top to win the cup twice. But, I mean, the team they beat, I think, has got there because of how top-headed they are. in Colorado's case, you know, they probably need to add a little bit more in their bottom six

if they're going to really make a run for this thing, which I'm confident they'll be able to do because to answer your other question, they've positioned themselves from a cap perspective to do that stuff, I think. And part of that was not acquiescing to what Miko Ranton was asking for contractually. And so you got to give Chris McFarland credit when they traded Rantan, And they stated quite, quite, you know, obviously that this was a financial decision and they felt, they didn't say this part out loud, but they felt that they could find someone that could give them 75% of Rantanin for much lower cost. And so if we're expecting Rantanin to sign for 14 in Colorado, which was the ask, and then they get NACIS at what they got them for, which I think is like maybe 2.2 less annually, I mean, that's. that's a good bit of business because the numbers tell you that he's a point for game player

on that team. The other thing that's weird about nature is like there was a point last season and you guys probably remember this where there was sort of this talk about him not being happy there. Yeah, I remember that. I think maybe that was just him getting his world rocked by that trade. I mean, you got to remember like when he was traded despite all the conjecture over the years about him maybe being available, dude was like leading the league in points. He was like, he's like way up there.

amazing season. He's probably thinking in his timeline in Carolina, like this is probably the lowest point in which he would be traded because things are well. And then it gets moved. I think he wrote a little bit, but the notion of him being on the fence about committing to the franchise or going to free agency, I think it's because they're about last year and also some of the negotiations he had with Tom Dundon were rough and show me a guy. who hasn't had a rough negotiation with Town Dundon. I just think it's kind of his reputation took a weird turn in Colorado, and I think it was completely overstated that he was unhappy there.

Greg, this was awesome, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy all the games tonight. It's a 10-game slate in the NHL. We'll do this again next Tuesday. Hey, absolutely. And to my friends in Canada,

I hope you all enjoy our election day today. Always a fun time to look down at, at your neighbor and be like, what is going on? Stop doing these things. Yeah, we're getting a lot of news about the New York City mayoral race. Dude, when they're into opening SNL with sketches about the New York mayoral race, it warms my heart. It reminds me that I do.

I don't live in the center of the universe like our friends in Toronto. I definitely live in like, maybe like the middle of the sun is how it feels like when people pay attention to our politics. Enjoy Election Day, Greg. We'll do this again next week. Bye, everybody. Bye. That's Greg Wischinski from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.

Okay, Brendan Batchelor is going to join us next, and we can look back on the Canucks game last night, a 5-4 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators. So, you know, for all the concern about this team, and we've expressed ours, they are 7 and 7, and they are hanging in there with all these injuries. they've got a very, very busy and at times difficult month of November

coming up, but they haven't been buried yet. Well, they might not get buried at all. They might not get buried at all. Yeah, just to put that out there. There's another glass half full kind of statement from the Halford & Brough show. So we're going to talk to Batch in just about 10 minutes.

And then Amar Dolman, the owner of the BC Lions is going to join us. Now, Amar isn't going to be on our show to promote any games at BC Place because the BC Lions have played their last game of the regular season or of the season at BC Place. They hosted the West Semifinal and beat the Calgary Stamped, so they go Saskatchewan next weekend and then the Grey Cup, hopefully. So the conversation with Amar for me, I kind of want to. to treat it as a bit of like a check-in with him because he's now owned the team for a little while and he came in and he certainly talked a good game and then he delivered on his words yep he really did right and I think we as a show have talked a lot about what Amar

Domain has done as the BC Lions owner you had an absentee owner that he took over from and the brand and the team I don't want to say it had been ignored because that's unfair for the people that were working for them and working hard to market them and do all the things that you need to do but I think they needed a jolt of energy

and they got that but I don't think by any means that they're home and safe and one of the things I want to talk to about Amar is like what have you learned about the CFL What more do you have? Like, I think there's still a demographics problem. Like, you hear Rick Dollywall coming on on our show every Friday,

and I love Rick's passion for the CFL, but I also feel like he's emblematic of the demographics problem. Like, him and Donnie are so passionate about the Lions. A lot of, like, you know, I remember, you know, an Empire Stadium, and, you know, when BC plays first open, And yeah, that's great. And, you know, it's awesome that you have those memories. And Rick doesn't kind of get it sometimes.

He's like, oh, you know, he'll just repeat himself. And he'll just be like, I grew up with the line. Yep. Yep. Yep. Well, right now kids are growing up. Still, the kids are still growing up right now. And are enough of them into the CFL.

Well, on that subject, I think it's worth noting. Like, what the, and it's going to be in a smaller scale. I want to preface this by saying it's going to be on a small. scale. But what you saw with the Blue Jays and the run that they went on, you do see that there's one sort of universal evergreen in sports. And it is winning and advancing and going to high stakes games will draw people in. It'll be at different levels given the stakes involved and the platform you're playing on like the World Series. But the Lions this Saturday do have a huge opportunity. And that is going to the Grey Cup.

which is where for two weeks you are one of the focal points of the entire league. And everyone congregates media and fans otherwise, you know, in the Grey Cup host city. And you become a major focal point. Now, it's on a smaller scale because it's a Canadian football league and it's not Major League Baseball. But the number of texts that we got on Monday show talking about, dad's watching the games with their sons and families getting together who hadn't watched a baseball game all year. Those are the kind of things And those are the kind of opportunities

That the championship level of sports presents Getting to the Grey Cup This Lions team If they were to rip off an eighth consecutive victory Winning where they're three and a half point dogs In Saskatchewan this weekend That would be a big result And that would be a big opportunity

For this fan base to further expand And get more fanning gets passed down to When you're watching With your kid The games seem to matter I still remember the first Grey Cup that I ever watched on TV it was the 83 Grey Cup

and B.C. Place was pretty new and they hosted the Argos and they lost the game but it was my first experience I didn't even know the B.C. Lines existed until then and then I became a fan after that now I sound old, right?

Now at the time the B.C. He was actually and he started the game for B. Science. You know the names that I grew up were legitimate stars in this town arguably bigger than

the Canucks and it was Roy DeWald it was Mervyn Fernandez like those guys were like guys that kids talked about are kids in elementary schools talking about Nathan Mark? I don't know no and that it's definitely

one part of the conversation there's and people are we got text coming in and it's like they need to go to four downs they need to Americanize less they need to do this they need to do that and what I'm suggesting is in the current

context and climate, there's one thing that you can absolutely control to get more people to pay attention to your product. It's the Al Davis. It's just win. Win. Get through the playoffs, get the title games, and win championships. That draws attention. That's the best, and I know I'm not reinventing the wheel here. That is the best marketing campaign right now that you can have is win. So I know that Amar is going to be very excited for his team. Try and get that opportunity this Saturday in Saskatchew. Again, I think Amar Dolman has done an excellent job. So I'm going to be looking forward to just checking in with him to see how the job, uh, is going for him. And he's going to admit if there's still things to work on, and I'm sure there are. Uh, Brendan Batchel who's going to join us

next. We'll talk about, uh, what just happened on this Vancouver Canucks road trip and what lies ahead for the now seven and seven. No longer six seven Vancouver Canucks. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650.