Halford & Brough in the Morning - But Do Rebuilds Actually Work?

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk the latest hockey news with ESPN's Greg Wyshynski (2:42), they get Wysh's opinion on if rebuilds work or not, plus the boys chat with Sportsnet NHL reporter Eric Engels (25:12), live from the Board of Governors meetings. 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.

702 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 6.50. This might be too dramatic. Nothing big happening. necessarily quite fit the vibe of the show. It is good, though. This is ESPN. It's Greg Wichinsky's music. We are an hour two of the program. Greg Wachinsky's going to join us

in just a moment here to kick off hour two. This sounds like the firm. A little bit. Do you remember that? You know, there's the Grisham book. Tom Cruise movie. Yeah, it was all piano. Yeah. Like, here's Tom running through the streets of Memphis. It was what a guy that just wanted join a law firm. Yeah. And then it turned out a law firm was

crooked. You're telling me, I went to law school with the best of intentions to become a lawyer. Now, I'm working for the mafia. What if our movie score was all piano? It was. It actually worked. It worked. I also want to add, before we get to Greg Wischinski.

That is the most recent movie reference that Jason Brough has ever come up. Yeah. It was something that didn't come out in the 80s. I think it was made 93. So Wilford Brimley was in that, and I went to. Sure was. And I went to it with a buddy. And my buddy leaned over to me when Wilford Brimley was getting beaten up.

He was in a fight because he was like the security guy. He was a bad guy in that. And my buddy leans over to me in the theater and goes, they're beating the crap out of the Quaker Roots guy. It was a tough watch. That's Wilfr Brimley. Yeah, he's the Quaker Oats guy. And they're just beating the hell out of them.

The crazy thing is that Wilfer Brimley was only 31 with that movie was made. All right. Wachinsky's winning patiently. we got to do some business real quick. Halford, breath of the morning, brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest, too much lower payments than three.

Financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. Greg Wischinsky's going to join us momentarily. Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. Mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at jason. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics. before the year runs out, visit kintech.net. To the phone lines we go. Our next guest is our NHL insider from ESP. And he's a great friend of the program. Greg Wischinsky joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

What I wish. But the reason that Wilford Brinley deserved to get beat up is because he was working for the mafia and he threatened to send Tom Cruise's lovely wife, who I believe was Gene Triplehorn. Yep, that's right. photos of him kissing another woman in the Bahamas. Yeah, on the beach. And he's like, it was a honey trap or whatever they call. There's a honey pot.

He's like, and your little wife goes on down to the mailbox, she opens it up. But instead of finding her catalog, she finds you in Fla Grande delicto or whatever he said. Yeah, it's good stuff. By the way, the theme that you played for me, I believe, is the, if there's an injury in a hockey game and we have to go to commercial.

Steve Levy, just leaving it hanging in the air. No words. We're going to go to break. Yeah. Exactly. Oh, man. Okay. So our Vancouver Canucks,

we're just going to fast forward all the way to this weekend because this weekend the Vancouver Canucks are going to be playing the New Jersey Devils in New Jersey, no less. And there's no storylines going into that one, a.m. Sunday puck drop. by the way, for those that are going to be watching here locally. So with the Hughes Brothers reuniting this time in New Jersey, I imagine you've got to be at least a little bit looking forward to this one.

Maybe not even so much about the game, but about all the storylines and narratives going into it. Well, it's some of the Hughes brothers. Tushay. Tushay. I mean, Jack's off making time with Tate McCray in the village. But, no, man, it's been interesting. Like, it kind of feels like one of those ebbs and floors.

of coverage where the heat is getting turned way up right now and Quinn's having to answer the same questions over over again about the situation and when that starts happening either you know gradually the heat starts to get turned down or or this is the breaking point in everything that's happening. I do find it interesting though that like the insiders seem to be pointing to the idea that a Quinn Hughes trade could happen with another team that's not the Devils. Now, it doesn't mean that he doesn't end up in New Jersey as a USA or something, but it does sound like the idea that someone who has a better talent fit for what you're looking for could jump the queue and get Quinn for a couple of years and then, you know, hopefully, you know,

have him fall in love with, with a team in the franchise and want to stay. You know, Detroit's name's come up a lot. I saw my friend Rachel from ESPN floated the idea of the capitals being a good fit from a personnel standpoint. I mean, listen, there's no secret the devils want them. There's no secret they've talked to them, to talk to the Canucks about him. The question is, what would compel Vancouver to make this trade other than the familial aspect?

Because from a need standpoint, I don't think the devils necessarily have the same kind of package that someone like Detroit could give, for example. I mean, I know you're not technically an insider, or you don't call yourself an insider, but you're pretty plugged in. What are you hearing people talking about the Quinn Hughes situation? Is a trade coming sooner rather than later? I don't call myself an insider because I don't put in the work to be one.

Right, yeah, yeah. I'm way too cynical. I feel that. And I don't manage relationships well enough. You don't want to tweet out every person that's gone, the waiver wire? that and just like also you have to remember that I'm an American so like I don't have a cottage next to all the GMs every summer in order to make time with them like there's a lot that goes into it that I simply can't be bothered with because I want to make lewd jokes on Twitter

as far as what I hear like you know I've definitely asked around on it and I think that everybody is kind of in the echo chamber in so far as anticipating the devil is doing something, you know, because it's a, they've lost five in a row. They clearly can't score without Jack Hughes in the lineup. I think their goals per game, I think, might have dropped by, like, over a goal per game with Jack out of the lineup. He'll come back eventually. And when he does, I think they'd probably like to address some of the needs on this

team from a scoring perspective. But then the question is, like, how far do they want to go and how far do they want to push? And, you know, it's, like I said, there's also there's also. just sort of thinking that maybe it's not going to be Jersey and that maybe if they all want to unite, it's going to be him as an unrestricted free agent or maybe them in a different market. Who knows if it's like if they trade him to Detroit and then all of a sudden he signs an eight to eight year deal, then Jack's a free agent in 2030. Well, lo and behold, they're all in Detroit now where they all kind of grew up. So I think one of the short form is

that nobody knows nothing, but I think that the general feeling around the league is that this is starting to come to a simmer and eventually come to a boil and then you know then we're going to have to see what vancouver really wants to do you mentioned that the devils might not have the pieces that the connects need the connects need centers uh did you hear who their four centers were last night wish i saw i saw someone treated out but i i didn't i don't recall here were the four centers uh because alias peterson is hurt so he he was missing so david kemp was their 1C remember him

he terminated his contract and yeah he's their 1C now he went from being sent to the HL to 1C which is pretty rare Atu Ratu Max Sassan

and then they didn't have another one so they were like Drew O'Connor you played center when you were like 11 can you do it and he couldn't

and they lost 4 to nothing can you remember hearing like a team that rolled out four centers like that for a real

NHL game. Not in recent memory. It does sound like you guys are pretty hard up for a center. Could I interest you in Cody Glass

and a two for Quinn Hughes? Well, this is where I wanted the conversation to go because I'll let everyone behind the curtain here. This is the

exact DM I sent Wish on Sunday. It started out with, don't yell at me, but would the devils be able to afford Quinn and Nico Heeshire extensions? Because I looked at it and I was like, Nico Heeshire's in the exact same position contractually as Quinn Hughes. So why don't you answer, you can yell at me if you want. I'm not going to, I'm not going to yell at you. Here's the thing, like, there is a reality in the multiverse where Bob McKenzie tweets out,

it's Quinn Hughes from Nico Heeshur, the trade is one for one. Like, there is a reality in the multiverse where that could happen. But I don't think it will for two reasons. One, I think there's two players on this team where the doubles would basically, the old fans would basically revolt if the, if the Hughes family won out, Quinn gets traded, and either Nico Heeshire or yes for Brack goes back the other way. Like, I think now you're, now you're risking the thing where Quinn gets. It's booed, honestly, if that happens. Like, that's how popular those two players are. The second thing is, and this is why I think the devils have some difficulty

in coming up with a perfect match for this deal, is if you traded away a Niko Heeshirt, I mean, now you're putting yourself in a pickle. Like, it's great you got Queen Hughes. It's great. You got Jack Hughes for how many games Jack Hughes plays. And then you don't have a viable number two center on the level of a Niko Heesh. or on the level of anybody that's can help you win a cup. So that's kind of the issue.

Like they could afford to trade at Dawson Mercer, but Dawson Mercer's not going to be as sexy as a Ryan Leonard, you know, to the Canox, for example. And they can certainly trade, you know, one of their defensemen. I think I DM'd you the funniest thing about this whole situation is that the perfect trade piece for Quinn Hughes would be Luke Hughes. But that kind of defeats the purpose, I think, of making the Quinn Hughes trade.

So, yeah, I do think there's probably other teams that can ante up a better deal from a positional needs standpoint for Vancouver than New Jersey. And it certainly wouldn't help New Jersey if, you know, like I think I said to you, like, what's the sense of trading Nico Hues for Quinn Hughes when in two years you could have Quinn Hughes join Nico Hesier's team? Yeah, yeah. And then, but I wonder if there's any concern in New Jersey, if they really, really, really want to get Quinn Hughes and, you know, know, for reasons maybe that go beyond hockey, just the marketing potential is incredible. And, you know, you get three great players. You add them, even if it's not the perfect hockey fit, you find a way. Are they worried at all that, let's say, the connect send Quinn Hughes to Detroit?

Are they worried that Detroit is able to convince him to stay and sign an extension, essentially in his hometown, with his hometown team? And he's got a buddy there and Dylan Larkin, and, you know, maybe that's, And then all of a sudden the devils are like, whoa, wait a minute. We were waiting for him, and now he's never going to go to unrestrictive free agent. Well, and Larkins their buddy, too, like Jack and Luke too. There's totally that fear. There's totally the fear that this reunion could happen somewhere other than New Jersey.

I mean, like the numbers add up to the point where if Quinn ends up in a place like Detroit and Jack's a free agent in 2030, then they trade for Luke. Like, that's a completely feasible scenario. You know, it's funny. Like, I don't think there's a marketing component to having Quinn with the devils outside of the devils maybe being a better hockey team. This is still a team that plays foreigner at home games. Like, they're not really a team that necessarily is on the ball when it comes to, like, you know, like, I cover the capitals during the rise of Ovechkin. And, like, that's a team that really.

really understood how to market itself as the hot new thing. I don't think the devils necessarily have ever convinced me that they know how to do that. So it's a separate conversation, but I just, I don't know if there's a really a marketing component to it. The reason you do the deal is to keep Jack happy, which is the same reason you

paid Luke for services not yet rendered on a contract. And so like, that's the thing. Listen, he's the second best defenseman in the league. I'll do respect to the people that think he's better than McCarr. I don't think he's better than a car. So obviously you make the trade from a hockey perspective for that reason.

But ultimately, you know, you've got a pretty decent young defense right now. It's not as if, listen, everyone needs Quinn Hughes. I'm not trying to say that. I'm just trying to say that, like, there are other needs on this team that aren't necessarily needs that Quinn Hughes fills. But you also have your franchise player wanting to play with his brother and your brother potentially being available. So that's, I think that's going to always be priority number one for the devils. Well, I wish here in Vancouver, we are stuck in the never-ending debate about whether or not to go tear down rebuild or try and retool it on the fly. And the Buffalo Sabres just happened to be coming to town and they'll play the Canucks on Thursday.

You're such a knowledgeable hockey guy. I want to hear your take on whether or not the Buffalo Sabres are proof that a full. tear down rebuild is really hard to make happen. Are the sabers the are the sabers like the reason why the strategy can't work or is it about

something else besides the actual strategy? It's about something else besides the actual strategy either I mean again like as a New York jet stand some franchises are just cursed and Buffalo may be one of those teams but if you look up and down the stand And you look up and down the scoring leaders, time and again, you're seeing players that were chosen in the top three, the forwards that were chosen in the top three, populating those teams and populating the leading scores list.

So you have to be able to draft high in order to get those players, unless you're lucky enough to trade for one, which brings me back to Buffalo. They had that guy in Jack Eichol, and they decided not to let him have the surgery that he wanted. and then they had the trade him to Vegas, and then Vegas won a Stanley Cup with him. And so, you know, they did do it right. Like, they had their franchise guy. It's just that they fumbled the ball. And so there are two lessons that you learn from Buffalo, maybe three. One is the cursed thing, which you can't ever ignore.

The second thing is let your star player have the surgery that he wants. And then the third thing is, if you are going to be terrible, best hope it's not in a season where a, a, elite but not franchise level defenseman is at the top of the draft because they have two of those guys now in theory although I think the jury's out on all in power yeah and and if you know either of those guys are not not you know defensemen but there's Austin Matthews or or Jack Hughes then we're probably having a much different conversation about the Buffalo Sabres so it's a little bit of like are you bad in the right season and then also if you do end up with one of those guys don't be dicks about it and let the guy get the surgery

that wants. Respina and Greg Wischinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. It's December 9th. I find myself getting increasingly bored with, I mean, part of it has to do with the Canucks, but the National Hockey League, I would love to see some player movement happen in the not too distant future. I just want something. Like, I was told, I was told to anticipate moves and, you know, cap freedom and aggressive

general managers and teams want to make the playoffs. Is this what freedom looks like? I want no part of it. Not my kind of freedom, I'll tell you that. When are the National Predators going to start making moves? I'm tired of waiting for the Canucks. One of the National Predators are going to start making trades? Well, I talked to Barry Trots recently,

and he kind of indicated that there was a 10-game stretch that was going to decide whether or not they were going to get maybe more aggressive in trading players or not. And so they've not been terrible lately. They've been kind of winning some games and picking up points. The issue is, that even if they show a little bit of life right now, there's still a country mile outside of the playoffs in the Western Conference.

And so, you know, when he told me that, I'm like, that makes sense that you want to give the team a chance to win. I think, you know, the Predator's second half come back to make the playoffs a couple years ago is one of those brainworm moments for guys like Perry Trots, where you're like, you never know when it can happen again. And so I do wonder if they've shown enough life to kind of pull. put off the inevitable. But look, they're getting calls on Ryan O'Reilly.

They're getting calls on Stephen Stamco's. They're people, you know, the vultures are circling, circling this team. And it's just a matter of when they decide to start making these changes. But also, you know, the other part of my conversation with Barry that I thought was interesting was about Andrew Brunette. And Barry said, like, you know, for all to talk about Brunette's future, no one from ownership has come to Barry and said, we got to fire this guy. And until those kinds of conversations start happening,

he's not going to be as to consider it. And so I do wonder that when it comes to like trading a stamp coast or trading an O'Reilly or trading a march or so or even cutting deeper than that, if there needs to be some signal to Barry that, okay, we need to flip the page and go to another form of this franchise before he starts making those kinds of decisions. I found that comment to be interesting,

and I wonder if it applies to the trades as well. Yeah, the coaching thing is interesting because that's another thing. Like I'm not to say that I'm waiting for someone to lose their job, although I guess I am. Like we're December 9th. Usually there's been at least one coach that's been dismissed or one team willing to have shaken things up. I know this season is wildly different than other ones with, you know, the Olympic break, the compressed schedule. Everyone's seemingly in this, you know, stuck in this moment of inertia where no one really seems to want to do anything and let this process play out. But you got to remember last year, I think Montgomery got fired in November and then he took the blues job.

So another coaching change shortly thereafter. Like we had a few coaching changes. And traditionally you do in the National Hockey League by this stage. But not only has there not been any yet, doesn't seem like there's anything really on the front burner. Like maybe Tournier in Utah. Yeah. It's like I can't really think of anything else that's really front burner.

That seems like an offseason move. And now he's got kind of plausible deniability with Cooley being out. Sure. If they like hit the skids a little bit, it's like, well, you just lost your leading goal score. Hiller in L.A. maybe? I don't know. Well, I mean, the two that were a kind of feeling that they were teetering on the precipice were L.A. and Toronto. And, you know, Toronto is getting a little bit of goaltending now.

So all of a sudden, that's kind of calmed down. They've got some good wins recently over Florida, Carolina, and then last night, Tampa. And then in L.A.'s case, you know, the heat was getting turned up that it might be a Pete DeBore stop. I think I'm partially responsible for that for saying Pete DeBore when after a recent L.A. King's loss. And then all of a sudden it became a thing. But, you know, he's making $4 million for sitting on his hands right now. And does he really want to go to L.A. where, you know, two of your top five players are probably going to retire with him in the next two.

You know, one's going to retire after this season. And who knows with Doughty. So you're right. I mean, like, Calgary's not firing Hoska. They were, you know, right on the cutoff line for the playoffs last year. And they're not playing poor hockey with their underlying numbers right now. And I don't think, I mean, obviously, like, Like, you know, Buffalo with Lindy is a weird situation where there's a certain amount of, like, fealty to the owner because he loves the guy.

And, you know, Nashville is the situation I just described. So I'm not surprised that we haven't had a firing yet because I don't think there's a situation that really demands it. And also because the weirdness of this season where everybody seems like they're within four points of the playoffs. So, you know, I'm not shocked it hasn't happened yet. wish we got to let you go we'll talk again next week and it'll be after the Quinn Hughes visit to New Jersey so I'm sure we'll have something to talk about after that

I don't know maybe he'll be traded by then who knows at this point anything's possible with the Canucks except for the playoffs it's just bizarre how these things kind of become cyclical like I don't know how we entered into this cycle I guess maybe the memo did it for with Quinn even though I think the memo was specific to UFAs but it just seems like now every time I wake up, there's just some other speculation about him.

And then when you start to get into that point, you start to wonder if something will actually happen. But then again, like, it's Jim Rutherford we're talking about ultimately, and he's not exactly one that's swayed by market forces all that often. Wish, thanks, buddy. Appreciate this. Anytime. Greg Wischinsky from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Eric Engels is going to join us next. Eric's been covering the Board of Governors meeting in Colorado Springs.

That's in Colorado. They've got some springs there. They do. In Colorado. Look chilly. I think it's hard for Hartford, actually, I think. So we're going to find out about what's going on with the Olympic rink and whether or not the NHL is optimistic that this thing is going to happen.

The Olympics and venues. It's always interesting. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. This segment of the Halford & Brough show was brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick GM. on Marine Drive, visit them downtown, visit them in Richmond or visit them online at the duke auto group.com.

It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 731 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sports Night 650. This is our show's first foray into holiday music. It is. Well done.

A-Dog. Okay, it's fine. I approved it. It is just. December, I guess. December 9th. Yeah, that's fun. We have contemplated.

We have contemplated getting in on the ratings bonanza that is the Christmas format in radio. It's not talk Canucks anymore. Just one day. Just go 24-7 wall-to-wall, Mariah Carey, non-stop. Or we could talk Canucks, but we all have to do it in like Christmas theme. Sportsnet 650, you are home for unlicensed Christmas music. It all sounded like this. I'd be get behind it.

Totally. That's great. I think most Christmas music is unlicensed, so you're fine. It's all like Well, I know what we're doing For the next couple of weeks Something along I'm playing booblet coming back

Next time Hard turn Alfred in Brough of the morning It's brought to you by Sands and Associates Only a licensed insolvency trustee Can cut your debt by up to 80% With no upfront fees to learn how

Visit them online at sands Das trustee.com We are in hour two of the program We're at the midway point of the show Eric Engels Going to join us in just a moment here from Colorado Springs At the NHL Board of Governors meetings

Hours two of this program is brought to by Jason hominike at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.orgia. To the phone lines we go. Sportsnet's Eric Engels joins us now on the Halford and Breastrow on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Eric. How are you? I'm great. How are you guys? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this from Colorado. We appreciate it. So right off the hop, the big story right now, are the concerns over the quality ice, the venues being built into the Olympic hockey

venues in Italy. What are they saying from the NHL board of governors meetings? What did NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill daily have to say yesterday? How high is the concern level for the playing surfaces in Italy? Well, I think the concern leading into this week was certainly significant

enough for the amount of noise to have been made that we heard. I think it's being mitigated by the NHL taking on much more involvement in the process now. And I believe that some of the reason that we heard some of the things being said is that they want wanted to assert a bit more influence over the process there and just not be left in a situation.

Look, it's crazy. Every Olympics, there's always something, you know, there's always concern about not just in hockey buildings being built out of nowhere and the expedience with which they need to be done so things could be ready. A lot of in the past buildings that were built specifically for ice hockey were tested a year in advance. So to be getting down to the wire where the first test event at the second range, will be a week from now

and then there will be one in January but it was pushed back from December of course it would create legitimate concerns you know less concern over the dimensions of the ice which obviously weren't built to NHL spec that's been well covered at this point I think the NHL PA has gotten over it so is the NHL because ultimately there's nothing

you could do about it at this point quality of ice should be a legitimate concern for everybody and considering the NHL's experience in building best ice surfaces that their players would play on, it would certainly mitigate some of their concerns with their involvement. Bill Daly expressed a lot of optimism that things will get done on time, that the rinks will be complete, not just in terms of the ice surfaces,

but everything from concessions to accessibility of the building, whatever you want to throw into a building construction by February 2nd, which is three days before the women's tournament starts. And, you know, the 11th is when the men's tournament starts. And look, speak my first. with somebody from one of the federations a week ago, like they said flat out the whole thing is a joke. But that said, I don't think it's enough of one that we're going to miss seeing NHLers in the Olympics. So it looks like it's trending in the right direction. So Eric, you said

that the NHL is involved in there sending some people over there. Is this like an emergency crew of like ice specialists? Like, don't worry. I built ice at, you know, know, like the Winter Classic and wherever, like, is this, is this what they're sending over? There's sending a bunch of people over to, to help out the Italians? Yes, it is. And look, I think one thing that people should keep in perspective is, it's one thing to build an ice surface, it's another to build it to a level of resilience of putting, you know, NHL players skating five times over a two-day period on it.

Like, that ice needs to hold up to a certain standard that is not typical for temporary events. So, of course, they would want to oversee it. I think they've been willing to do that all along and potentially kept at bay a little bit just by, I don't know if it's ego or it's just politics, but whatever it is, I think, you know, the average fan that's sitting around saying, is this like really going to happen again? the last second they pulled a shoot. I think that that can be tempered. I think a lot of the talk and a lot of the concerns being aired, I don't want to say were, wasn't like false bravado or anything.

I just think they wanted to apply a certain level of pressure to make sure that they get what they expect to have when they arrive in Italy. There's a bigger picture here, and that's the sort of ongoing, I can't even call it a tug-of-war, but I'll use that phrase anyway, between the NHL, the IOC, and the double IHF,

where it seems like the NHL understands, and now that they've committed to participating in the Olympics and having an international calendar, that they're going to have to cede a lot of the control to other stakeholders and other entities. Is this what it's always going to be like just because of the dynamics at play, that the NHL understands the importance and significance,

especially to its players, of participating in the Olympics and is almost going to approach all of the participation with a, well, we're not in charge and we'll have to let them conduct things as they conduct things, but there's always going to be a bit of side-eye

as to how those things are conducted. Yeah. In a, not that it's a good clip for radio, but in one word, yes. Like, it's just what it is. It's when you don't have control over the decision-making process, but you are subjected to so many things that are out of your control.

It's not going to necessarily sit well with the major stakeholders or with the players or with anybody. And look, nobody wants to cry for billionaires who are losing money shutting down the season and this and that. Like, well, boo-hoo. It's a business. And they're in it for profit. And there's not only costs here, there's opportunity cost.

And on top of it, you know, there's no licensing agreement for the Olympics where, the NHL can take advantage of all the highlights and the the the the uh the merchandising and all that and the ticket sales and so when things are done in such a manner that doesn't that creates concern uh you know it doesn't sit well with any anybody in the game so it's it's always going to be this way i think what else is going on at the board of governor's meetings what are the, what are the hot topics there? Yeah, I mean, the typical things you would expect in a December meeting, you know,

the NHL makes projections for revenues at the beginning of the year. And then, you know, at this meeting typically, we'll update the governors on whether or not they're falling under them or they're hitting them or they're trending towards record revenues. You know, they'll talk about the salary cap. They'll talk, they'll get, they got updates from hockey operations in terms of player safety, talked about certain things. The rules.

Embellishment was the subject yesterday. They'll get a conversation. They had a conversation with USA Hockey yesterday. They'll have one with, I believe, the USHL and CHL, and just the whole issue of 19-year-old players in the HL. I think that's something that might come up here. Standard kind of league business is always discussed here.

I think expansion has been a subject in the past, and it's an ongoing discussion in the game. greater hockey world. It's not really on the table at this point. The fees to expand are exceptionally high or believed to be exceptionally high. There's been expressions of interest from certain groups in certain cities. I think the NHL is quite selective about who they go with when they venture into a new city. So look, we'll see what comes out of it when Gary Betman speaks in a couple hours from now. But there's nothing on there. There's CBA implementation stuff. Obviously, the playoff cap. And there's nothing on there that's,

going to shock anybody. I'm sure gambling will be a subject. We'll see where it ends up at the PN when we speak to Babin. What's the latest on the Habs? I watched both their games over the weekend, beat the Leafs in a shootout, and then they lost to St. Louis at home.

4 to 3. That's not exactly how you build momentum. What's going on with the Habs? Yeah, well, they beat Winnipeg before that, before the game in Toronto. What's going on with the Habs is what's going on with almost every team in the standings. You know, like every team runs up against the schedule crunch, the haves are in theirs. There's a 15-game December for them with five sets of back-to-backs.

A lot of travel involved and just they're missing a regular player on each one of their lines with Newark and Kirby Doc and Line A out. And then they're, they got Kid and Gouli, who's kind of a security blanket of the defense that's been out for a long time at this point. And yet, you know, they've got a chance to be on top of the Atlantic Division tonight with a win over the lightning. What's going on with the lightning? They won five games a row and have lost four in a row. This is the world we're living in in the NHL in 2025 going into 2026 where the crunch of the Olympic compressed schedule is crushing teams. Or just not enabling them to sustain a certain level of consistency from one game to another, let alone one week to another or one month.

to another. Cream always rises to the top. The avalanche have done that. But, you know, New Jersey was able to cobb together a 13 and 4 record with a ton of injuries and now it's caught up to them. This is what we're getting this year. And I just think there's a lot of fans

who and a lot of us in the media who will react with the wins and losses in weeks and months. But like, man, you have one really great month. when you're not expected to and the whole thing changes and you have one really bad one when you've got an advantage

in the schedule and it can tank your whole season. So it's, I think it's just going to be a wild ride from here to the end. Like, go look at the Eastern Conference standings. Detroit's in first in the division now, aren't they? Okay, they won last night, so there you go. Like, they lose two games

in a row, they'll be out of the playoffs. Like, it's, you're one good week away in this, league or one bad week away from the narrative completely flipping on its year. So I just think if you're running these teams, you better keep all that in perspective. I do want to ask you about one particular player because we all know that goalies have their ups and downs, but Sam Montembow, who was on the Four Nations team for Canada, his save percentage is 861 right now. What happened to him?

What's the theory? And what can the HABs do about this situation? What can they do about it? It's not much. It's up to him, right? Like, he's trying his hardest to work his way out of it. It's the biggest challenge of his career, despite many that he's faced prior to this.

You know, he finished last season with a torn groin and knocked out of the Washington series, came back this after the summer, and just hasn't looked right since training camp. and I don't think it's physical. I think it's mostly mental. And it's a crisis of confidence in which he's got to dig his way out. And unfortunately, for any player in that situation, confidence, just because you have one good performance, doesn't just all of a sudden return to you.

It's built step by step, layer by layer, just as it's stripped away in the same fashion. It's never stripped away in just one broad stroke. Like, I think it's really tough. I think those numbers are represented. of how he's actually looked this season, which is very unfortunate. He's, I don't think he's forgotten how to be a goalie. You know, like he had two really good years. When he came to Montreal, nobody thought he was an NHL goalie.

Within 30 games of being here, people were begging the Canadians to make him their number one. He's played great hockey over the last couple of years to make this team much more competitive than most people expected they'd be. They made the playoffs last year. He was a huge part of it. So, look, it's not too late for him to turn it around. I don't know how impressive those numbers will be when all said and done, but I could tell you that he can definitely play better than what we've seen from him so far. And I would hope for him, just based on how it's gone, that he's able to.

And the Canadians are going to need him to. I mean, Dolbich has been very solid. He's had a couple of ups and downs here and there like any goal he would, but for the most part, he's done the job, and I just, we'll see what it means for Montemone. So we got our big issues down the middle here in Vancouver. Major, major issues down the middle here in Vancouver. But the HABs have been looking for a second line center for a while now. Do you think that's something they will address this season,

or are they going to play the patient game with this situation? I think they have to play the patient game. You know, I think they had dreams of Sidney Crosby, and Sidney Crosby himself is kind of undone them. You know, what he's doing for Pittsburgh, and we'll see if they can sustain it like any other team that they're in the same crunch as everybody else and nobody expected them to be doing what they're doing

and he's he's on a path right now where his buddy Nathan McKinn can finish you know like 20, 30 I don't know how many points ahead of him in the overall of one of like the greatest seasons of all time if he keeps going this way and for a team I mean and like Sid could end up with

case for the heart chopy with what he's doing he's on a career he's on pace for a career high in goals like it's insane but like short of that as a stopgap solution to the michael hages and alexander shirovsky's uh other world who's an ideal fit for the canadians and and ultimately what they'd be looking for really is a second line center as a guy who's like a one b and a guy that is not a maybe but but like a guy they plug in and say he's absolutely a second not a third line or might be able to play on the second line, like, who's out there? Who do you get that fits that? And are the Canadians, if they go get one of those other guys, whether it's Ryan O'Reilly, who I'm not convinced wants to play in Canada, or some others that'll be bandied about, but maybe

Philip DeNoe, who's being talked about in Los Angeles right now and has a $6 million price tag and only has five points this season. I don't think he's as bad as that, but I don't think he's as good as a guy who you say definitely a second line center in the league. And you're not going to be a contender. Like, what is that, are you giving up for that type of piece? Yeah, even a guy like Nazim Kodry, you're like, yeah, you might be okay for a year. He's 35 and he's got three years left. Well, we know how much.

He feels about that too. Yeah, true, right? Yeah, exactly. So I just, I think, look, are they looking hard? Yes. Are they, when they love to tomorrow, wake up and say, you know what? There's a second line center out there. We have the assets, like he's a bonafide.

second liner. He'll be here for a couple of years. We'll do it. Sure. Whether or not they do though, they will not rush to that type of decision or make a move to patch a hole, so to speak, just for the sake of patching it. So it's got to be the right fit. And I don't see an ideal one currently in terms of the names that we've been throwing around. But look, with the structure of the standings and some teams over the next month or two potentially cratering, and all of a sudden that the picture changes and a name could become available that would be of real interest. So we'll see.

Is Nick Suzuki a lock for Team Canada? Oh, I can't say that. Yeah, I can't say he's a lock. In my mind, I would have him on the team for sure. And I think if he's on that team, he'll work his way up it if he starts in a lower position. But yeah, I mean, the competition is phenomenal. You know, I said this on a podcast

yesterday, so I hate to repeat my own content, but I'm going to, for the sake of your listeners, that we are going to have extremely hyperbolic reactions to whoever doesn't make these teams. And that comes at the end of the month, and I think everybody should keep in mind that 30 games later, when the players go to the Olympics,

all the players that you were complaining about not making it have a really strong chance of being there if they're healthy and some other guys aren't. And I think with the way the schedule is structured, there's going to be, unfortunately, for the people who do get aiming and deserve to be there, just the reality that a couple per team are not going to be. But I think Nick Suzuki will make Team Canada. I can't sit here and say, I think he's a lock, but I think he will make it.

And I just think he just has the profile that's so complete that if you're looking at him and saying, well, you know, where do we play him? The answer is literally anywhere. Yeah. Like he can play any role and do anything. He's trending towards, if he does. doesn't win the sell key, he's going to finish in the top three, and he's on pace for career highs in points. So it's, he's, and he's in the best matchup every single night. You know,

he's up against the best of the world every single night. And so, not, not 55% of the time, like 75% of the time he wins the matchup. It's, uh, he's, he's an unbelievable player. Eric, always fun to catch up with you. Thanks for the reports from the board of governors And also thanks for the update on some of the interesting stories Around the Montreal Canadians Hope you're doing well Thanks for having me guys

Thanks Eric Eric Engel Sportsnet NHL Montreal Canadiens reporter Here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650 Okay let's set out the Vancouver Canucks week Can't wait They host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and then

that's it for them in terms of home games before the Christmas break they head out on the road after that they go to New Jersey on Sunday the 9.30 a.m. Sunday hour time

12.30 New Jersey time then they go they play the Rangers on Tuesday the Islanders on Friday and the Bruins on Saturday and then December 22nd, this is the fifth and final game of their five-game Eastern Road Trip. They are in Philadelphia to play Rick Tockett.

They call them Taco there. Trevor Ziegers just calls him that. I'm going to be really curious to see what the crowd is like on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres, both in terms of their attitude. There were like a kind of smattering of booze at the end of the game yesterday. And I get that some people

might have left already and I get that there was a lot of Red Wings fans there and I also understand that the Kinecks didn't play they weren't terrible right they they handily outshot Detroit and I don't think it was

one of those games where you're like you guys didn't even show up so maybe that's why there was kind of only a spattering of booze or maybe people are just like I don't know let's go let's go I think it's a ladder So I did look at the ticket master for the Buffalo game and there are a lot of empty seats right now.

Not even, I'm not talking about resale. I'm talking about they were never sold. Right. There's a fairly large swaths of seats in the upper deck. Now, those might get snapped up by someone in the next few days. But you mentioned a couple of the homestands that they have in the. New Year? It's the one at the end of January. That's the one that really stands out for me. Because on that trip, sorry, the homestand. On that homestand, you've got, for example,

Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, all coming through town. And then it ends with the Leafs game. Under any of their circumstance. Maybe Quinn Hughes with New Jersey on January 23rd. Huesa Paloosa in a whole new way. That, that's going to start to cry. But under any other circumstance, that homestand would be a defining entertainment property for the year. Look at it. McDavid, Ovechkin, Crosby, then the Leafs.

Four of the eight games on that homestand are of the marquee variety, where you either get to see the NHL's best player in McDavid, the NFL's all-time leading goal score in Ovechka, which might be the last time you ever get to see him in Vancouver. Crosby and then the always popular 4 PM Leafs game what is that going to look like

if you're in Canucks Sports and Energy I think the arena will be full for those games yeah most of them and what will it sound like and what will it feel like and what will the vibe be I'm that I am not in the business of predicting what the

fan the business response is going to be because it's wildly unpredictable their last two losses, Friday against Utah, and last night against Detroit, they didn't play badly. But that's not the point. No, it's not the point. But I think if you want... It doesn't seem like it's resonating out of the way to the fans.

Yeah. The 5-2 lost to Calgary on November 23rd. Remember that on the Sunday right before they headed out on the road trip. That to me was a little surprising that there wasn't more vitual from the fans. Because that, you know, again, they played well against Utah. They played fine against Detroit. I know they got lost, they lost 4-0. So they didn't play fine enough.

But the game against Calgary was a really, really bad performance against a bad team. And that was also, you know, after they lost to Dallas. And, you know, they lost two straight heading in. And they were not in a good way. And then they had that performance against Calgary. I actually thought like, oh, we might see Jim Rutherford pulled the trigger on something after that game because it was so bad.

I think we're all just waiting for the other shoe to drop, aren't we? We're just waiting for something major to happen. Does it happen before Christmas? I'm glad you brought that point up, well, it's something happening because here's my thought on the last two games at home, one which was a good victory of 4-2 win over Minnesota on Saturday, followed by a bad loss,

a 4-0 loss to Detroit. at home. Listeners, after each of those games, a good, I would say, morale boosting victory given who scored and the reaction and everything against Minnesota and then the loss against Detroit. Did your outlook on the season fundamentally change after either result after the win or the loss? Did you get even the slightest bit more optimistic after the wind,

or did you get the slightest bit more pessimistic after the loss? Did anything really fundamentally change by your overall perception or view of the team? Because that to me is saying yes to that. Right. That to me is a big takeaway. Yeah. It's like, well, because then you're kind of asking, like, what are we doing around here? And if you're going to the game purely as an entertainment property, then you better

be damn sure that that upcoming ape game homestand is all about you get to see McDavid, you get to see Ovechkin, you get to see Crosby, and you get to see the Leafs, I guess, if you're into that. Okay, we got to go to break. When we come back, we've got Landon Ferraro at 8, then we're going to do what we learns at 830. Previous hour in this segment of the show was brought to by Jan Pro from the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between. JanPro keeps the workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected for a free quote.

Visit them online at Janpro.com. Coming up in three minutes time, call in to win today's Halford Embrough 12 days of Christmas prize. We're not going to tell you what it is. You're not going to find out until you call and win. We'll announce the prize and the winner at 830. call it 8 a.m. Caller number 5, 604-280-0-650. That number again, 604-280-650. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. is today's winner of the Halford-enbrough 12 days of Christmas. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.