Halford & Brough in the Morning - Can The Panthers Seal The Deal Tonight?

Episode Date: June 21, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason  look back at the previous day in sports including the latest around the Euro Championship & Canada falling at Copa America (3:00), they talk a couple minor Canucks signings from yesterday as well as the latest from team president Jim Rutherford (15:00), plus they preview game six of the Stanley Cup Final with NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- You're banned from this historical society. You and your children and your children's children. For three months. We're not a serious journalistic show, right? Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios

at beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brougham for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda.

Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in 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.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. We have a big show ahead of a very,

very good sports evening on a Friday here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. The guest list gets underway at 6.30. Thunder Dan Rosen from NHL.com, senior writer, is going to join us to preview tonight's game six between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers from Edmonton. Who thought we'd be here?

Not me, after the Panthers went up 3-0. But here we are. Edmonton has a chance to force this to a game seven that we need as a society. We as a people, I'm speaking on behalf of all of you now, need this. Dan Rosen is going to join us at 6.30 to set up tonight's game. 7 o'clock.

It's AJ's from AJ's Pizza. We were there yesterday to watch England's Dower... Doer? Dower? Rhodes? Dower. Bad. Yeah, it was bad bad 1-1 draw with Denmark guessing the atmosphere was great had a good time at the bar

right got some beers got some pizza got to hang out with AJ AJ's is a great place to watch the game if only the English could deliver although they are still top of their group AJ's gonna join us at 7 because it's ask us anything Friday we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's pizza on East Broadway for the best ask us at 7 because it's Ask Us Anything Friday. We're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway

for the best Ask Us Anything. 7.30, the Moj is going to join us. Speaking of that big sports night tonight, tonight the Lions are in action. 5.30 our time. They're going to take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg. We'll talk to Moj about that. 8 o'clock, Rick. The winless Bombers. 0-2.

Bunch of losers. Could they go 0-3? Well, if they lose tonight to the BC Lions, they certainly will. 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. There's a lot of news coming out of the Vancouver Canucks camp this week. The Hronik deal, the Mark Friedman deal, new deals for Linus Carlson and Cole McWard, Ward McCole. They're all under contract now. I saw Rick Dollywall on the SkyTrain this morning.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's been everywhere, man. He's an early riser, is he? He wasn't really going anywhere. I think he just likes riding the SkyTrain. We didn't have one of these in Pittsburgh. We'll talk to Rick Dollywell about that at 8. A reminder, it is Ask Us Anything Friday. Dunbar

Lumber text line is 650 650. Ask us about anything. We are openumber text line is 650-650. Ask us about anything. We are open vessels, not just to the world of sports, but to culture, food, entertainment. Anything you want to ask us about, we'll do our best to answer it. It's Ask Us Anything Friday. Again, Dunbar Lumber text line is 650-650.

Quickly working in reverse on the guest list. 8 o'clock, Dollywall. 7.30, Marjanovic. 7, AJ. 6.30, Rosen. That's what's happening on the guest list. 8 o'clock, Dollywall. 7.30, Marjanovic. 7, AJ. 6.30, Rosen. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Avert your ears, Andrew from Victoria. We're beginning with the football. Canada held top-ranked Argentina scoreless in the first half yesterday, but then conceded two goals in the second half eventually falling 2-0 to the star-studded South Americans in the opening match of Copa America in Atlanta on Thursday night okay so this is going to be a little soccer-y so but try and stay interested

we have Canucks news to pass along as well but yeah okay if you have any questions or comments or ask us anything, text into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. Dunbar Lumber with three stores to serve you in Ladner on Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center or at Budeson Vancouver, online at DunbarLumber.com. I want to read an unsigned text that just came in.

And it said, I think Canada could have easily beaten england if you compare those two performances yesterday it is actually interesting to see the analysis written about the canada argentina match and then also about the england denmark match because england actually managed to draw denmark and denmark's a pretty good team. Yes. England scored, which Canada didn't. Canada lost 2-0 to Argentina. And yet all the praise is being directed towards Canada and all the criticism,

and I've just read a few articles that are blistering about what England did against Denmark, and there's all sorts of criticism for Gareth Southgate, and a lot of it has to do with how the teams approached the games. Canada went at it, and this is their words, and we heard it time and time again during the broadcast, before the broadcast, probably after the broadcast. It was a fearless approach from Canada. Meanwhile, you've got England opening the scoring early, which they often do.

And then as Halford predicted at AJ's, he said to me, and he said to AJ, who doesn't know soccer quite as well, he said, that is the worst thing for this match because now England is just going to sit back and hope they win one nil and when denmark tied it up with a really nice strike england seemed to be out of answers yes they're like i we don't know how to press we don't know how to be aggressive now you can have a pretty good debate on how to approach things because during the canada argentina match early on i texted to halford i was like is canada out of their minds playing like this how how are they supposed to get a result against argentina when they're basically trading chances. And in the end, they did lose 2-0.

And frankly, if not for Max Carpeaux, I think it could have been a big score. Argentina could have really lit them up. I mean, it was a very unusual soccer game. There were breakaways, and it was a bit of a weird one. And yet, you really did like the approach that Canada took against Argentina. Yeah, I mean, the other part you got to remember, too, is as we contrast the two performances, England's and Canada's, is that Canada had far lower expectations going in than the English had going in, which means the results are going to be viewed differently.

A 2-0 loss. Yeah, of course, of course. That's a big part of it. Canada is not up to England's class, and Argentina is better than Denmark. So with that said, let's focus first on the Canadians. A 2-0 loss to Argentina. Let's just start with this.

Overall, it was a positive experience for Canada. They fought hard. They had some very good moments. Entertainment value, off the charts. Great match to watch. I think that even if you were a footballing novice and didn't even like the sport, you would have watched last night

and said, that was very entertaining through the 90 minutes. Chances traded both ways. Goals scored. It was feisty. There was a bit of what we call craphousery, but you call it a worse word at the start. They had it all, really. Yeah, Messi didn't score, but he was prominent.

He manned the match and he got an assist on the Martinez goal in the 88th minute. It had almost everything aside from a Canadian goal, which would have been nice. But so that was a positive uh crepeau was unbelievable unbelievable there's nothing really more to say but he he played he played the keeper position like canada played overall somewhat recklessly now i want to put this out there don't you think though yes just let me okay he was forced into doing that because of the way that Canada was playing. Yeah, okay.

Fair enough. I don't think he went out there with the designs of, I'm going to play like a whirling dervish today. But he had to because of how Canada was playing. Canada lined up and tactically set themselves up in a way that was going to, oh, God, I want to use all the cliches, but I'll use this one, put themselves on the front foot a little bit.

I don't think that they wanted to go into the opening match of a massive tournament against this kind of opponent and just sit there and park the bus and play caustic, negative, cynical football. I just think it's interesting that Canada's manager, Jesse Marsh, the new manager, is known for being aggressive. Yep.

He's known for that high press that if it works, great. But if it doesn't, if they manage to get through you or maybe you get tired out sometimes, can really cost you. Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate in England is often criticized for having this really talented team and having them playing conservative soccer. Yep. Right? But what often happens in England tournaments is that during the group stage,

there will be all sorts of criticisms of Gareth Southgate's approach. It's cynical. it's negative and yet england in the last few tournaments has found itself with a pretty good chance of winning those tournaments so what is the best approach to take because this is a big this is basically a lead up and great practice for canada for hosting World Cup. And we would like to see Canada, well, we would like to see Canada get a result at the World Cup. Yes. But we would like to see them advanced out of their group.

I'd like to see them get a result at Copa America. And what is the best way to do that? Be caustic and cynical. But is it? Is it? Yeah. What England is doing right now is tournament football at its most purest form.

And by purest, I mean most boring. But they don't win. That's the problem. They don't win. They can get to it. They won the first against Serbia, and they drew against. They don't win tournaments. But sometimes the goal is to just advance and find yourself in a position.

Because that's where some teams will fall by the wayside, some teams will fall out of the group. It's a very, very uninspired approach. It's very, I think it's taxing on the manager who no doubt probably wants to throw a little more caution to the wind, but it gets you where you want to go. They're like Cutwaters at GM Place,

at Rogers Arena. They get you where you want to go. I think it's GMaters at GM Place. At Rogers Arena. They get you where you want to go. I think it's GM Place after a few years. Yeah, that's true. I want to focus a little bit more on Canada, though, because England's going to do what they do. They enter the group and everything. And I'll say... I just think it's an interesting juxtaposition between the two games that were just played. And we love

interesting juxtapositions on our show. We talk about them constantly, right? And I think for Canada, it was by no means a perfect performance and it was by no means something that they can just pat themselves on the back and say, oh, it's another moral victory for us because in a lot of ways it wasn't.

The most interesting thing that Marsh had to say in the aftermath was, and I'm paraphrasing big time here, but it was essentially, it's not the system that failed us today. It was the mistakes that the players made within the system. And that's exactly what he's referring to here. Well, maybe his players aren't capable of playing that system.

And it is still early days. He's only been the gaffer for three matches now, right? Can you call him the manager? No, he's the gaff. Three matches, early days. This isn't Burnley. They're still learning how to do things. matches now right i mean it is can you call him the manager no he's a gaff in three matches early days this isn't burnley they're still learning how to do things and let's be honest they still have players in the mix that just don't cut the mustard internationally that being said how about the maritime messy nova scotia's very own jacob schaffelberg yeah he was coming on in the second

half and making an impact the the MLS Nashville star. So I think that there's some positives to be taken. By the way, speaking of the fantastic sports night, for those of you out there that are kind of like, oh, I think I'm becoming a soccer dude. I think I might be a footy guy now. Tonight, you have the opportunity, because it's televised, to watch Peru versus Chile,

both of whom will be the opponents for Canada. Moving forward, if you really want to go deep. I think a lot of people are going to be watching the hockey game. Yeah, but if you really want to go deep, if you really want to go deep on this, folks, just saying it's out there. Here, I want to read a few texts into the Dunbar-Lumber text line. Wasn't the worst showing, I thought.

I don't think the blonde guy played very good. Yeah, Liam Miller didn't play very well. Another text. Didn't mind Canada playing aggressive at all, but their attacking players are eventually going to have to put the ball in the net. How far down the road do you want me to go with the analysis here? Because I got takes on this too. Not far.

Not far. Because here's another text. Long story short, Canada couldn't kick the ball better than the team from Argentina. Let's talk about hockey. Okay. Argentina. Let's talk about hockey. Okay. Okay. Let's talk about hockey. Do you want to do Canucks or do you want to go do Stanley Cup final?

No, you know what? Let's leave the Stanley Cup final stuff for Dan Rosen because he's going to be joining us at 630. I think everyone knows what's at stake here, right? Listeners, you guys know what's going on. Edmonton Oilers still back up against the wall, down 3-2 in the series, but have been probably forced a game six at home. McDavid's got an opportunity to set a Stanley Cup final scoring record, breaking Wayne Gretzky's record in the process.

So there's all that out there. Let's focus on the Vancouver Canucks stuff, because they did make a couple signings yesterday. More under-the-radar stuff. Linus Carlson and Cole McWard agreed to deals. But big picture now, we're talking about things are happening. Hronic deal earlier in the week done then friedman the day after done and then a couple more guys and i do think lenis carlson could have an impact on

this team next year uh in a bottom six role sure i and i brought this up it was good i mean in his limited role i brought it up with bruff and you guys uh i think it was about a week and a half ago i think it was a i hate using telling half ago. I think it was a... I hate using telling on yourself because that's got negative connotations, but I think they kind of gave a nod to what they think of Carlson when they plugged him in in the playoffs. In those two series.

Because he played in the national series, if I'm not mistaken. He's reliable. Yeah. And I think that they said, this is a guy that, if we perhaps lose some forwards off the active roster in a depth role,

or we're forced to bring a guy up, he will be number one on the list. Does he cut the mustard? He cuts some mustard. He does? Yeah. So I think the most newsworthy stuff to come out of the Canucks yesterday was an interview that Jim Rutherford did with Ian McIntyre, and there were two players that I want to discuss

based on the interview that he did. Ian asked Jim Rutherford, after a 40-goal season, Brock Besser is heading into the final year of his contract. Will you make a decision on his Canuck future this summer? Rutherford said, long story short, no, we won't make a decision on his Canuck future this summer. But he said, I just couldn't be happier for a player

for the year he had after what he's gone through. I think that this will be a case where we will watch this closely into the season. But we believe that Brock is back on track and he'll continue to do what he was doing. And once we get confirmation of that during the season, then we'll make a decision on him going forward. Now there is the whole blood clotting issue

that kept him out of game seven against the Edmonds Dunn Oilers. So that's something that the Canucks are, and obviously Brock Besser are going to have to manage and monitor going forward. But basically, if I'm reading this correctly, Jim Rutherford is saying yeah brock besser keeps having a season like he did last season we want to resign him yeah and i mean

that makes sense does it not i mean if you're going to be an organization that is going to have a at the very a little bit of loyalty or reward guys for meeting challenges and overcoming them then brock besser i think the two guys from last year probably would have been Besser, Joshua. I'd maybe even throw Garland in there because he had some tough times last year as well. But I mean, Besser scored 40 last year. And then I think there was a bit of a question mark whether or not that was going to carry itself over to the playoffs.

And he was a brilliant goal scorer in the playoffs. So at that point, if you're Brock Besser and his agent, Ben Hankinson, you're probably saying, please look at our resume. We ticked a lot of the playoffs. So at that point, if you're Brock Besser and his agent, Ben Hankinson, you're probably saying, please look at our resume. We ticked a lot of the boxes. We met a lot of the challenges that were put in front of us. But it's price dependent.

It's price dependent on what he wants. No doubt. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. So if Brock shows that he can be a consistent 30-goal scorer, I know he got 40, but if he can show he can be

a consistent 30-goal scorer I know he got 40, but if he can show he can be a consistent 30-goal score and he looks like the player he did last season and next season, then listen, the Canucks are in their window right now. They're not going to be in the business of trading away Brock Besser just because, you know, like, well, we can't get him signed.

Like, they're in their window. A lot of it will depend on how the Canucks come out next season and if there's any regression. So I think, I think to be determined is the case with Brock Besser, but if Besser continues on, then it sounds like the Canucks

want to keep him, which does make sense. So the other guy that I found it interesting that Jim Rutherford brought up without being asked about was Jonathan Lekaromaki. And the question from IMAC was, how big could the job be this summer if most of your free agents leave? And Rutherford said, it's always a big job to try and make the right decisions. We do feel comfortable in the fact that we have four or five guys now from Abbotsford that should be knocking on the door to be with the big team. We have Lekker Amaki coming, which based on his year this year in Sweden, if he comes in and has a good camp, he'll make a case to be on the team right away.

We have a bigger pool of players now to turn to than we did a year or two years ago. I was surprised by that. LeKarimaki-Gensel-Pediline? I'm here for it. So, two thoughts on this. Number one, pressure on some of those young guys from Abbotsford

to come in and really impress in camp. Remember how Pod Colson came in this season? Did not impress. Immediately down to Abbotsford. That can't happen again. Lekker Amaki, it's interesting because I think it was about a month ago, one of the videos that we posted on the show was me saying like,

you don't want to rush a guy like Lekker Amaki. Don't make the same mistakes that the previous. Or do you? The previous regime did. Yeah. With guys like, you know, Vertanen and. McCann. Jared McCann and even Adam Gaudet to a certain extent. You can say, well, those guys would have turned out the way they did. Regardless, they just, you know, whatever. But I think that it would be like,

I want them to err on the side of conservatism with Lekker or Mackey, but it's a fine line that the Canucks are walking right now. They've given Petey his money. They've given Hronik his money. They're probably going to go out and try and sign a guy like Jake Gensel, and he's going to get a lot of money. Yes, I realize that they do have good value contracts in Demko and Quinn Hughes,

but they might be tight against the cap, and they might be tempted to put these young guys into positions where they're fast-tracked a little bit and sometimes you just need to do that because you feel like you're in a window and you're like all right this is our best option here but you also have to be cautious that you don't screw up a guy's development by doing it but what if this time it works out but what if what if for us it's different? Yeah. I mean, it's possible. It is possible.

It is. It is possible. My thought, my read on... But you were probably one of the guys early on in Jared McCann's career in Vancouver

when he was scoring lots of goals in the preseason and he started scoring early in the year and meanwhile Willie Desjardins who ultimately turned out

to be right was sitting there going, I've seen this play out before the young guy comes up he's he's he's way more motivated for his pre-season and training camp than the veterans who kind of take it a little slower and know because they've been there before and they're not trying to make the team and it's not a big surprise that a young guy comes in and scores goals because he's playing on adrenaline and then the league gets hard for him which is exactly what happened to jared mckinnon eventually he was traded it's a big ask totally okay first off look at his look at leckermack he's draft class and look at the guys that were around him at 15 like they are not nhl regulars and they weren't't last year. The top half of that class, there's a handful

of guys that are playing with regularity, Slavkovsky and Cooley, but I wouldn't put Lekker-Mackie in that conversation because those guys were elite talents at that draft. There's that part of it in terms of the age group. You've got to give him a few games, though, right? I don't know. Lekker-Mackie? I'll give him preseason games.

He would have to come in and not just hold his own. He would probably have to blow the doors off people. Yes. Because what I read from Rutherford's remarks was, sure, there's an opportunity, but, and the but would be he would have to. Of course.

He would have to be so impressive that we cannot keep him here. But here's my problem with that thinking, is that that was always what the previous management group said. It never worked. But, okay, can you let me finish? Yes. It would always happen that these young guys would come in and they'd be so motivated in training camp that they would play well.

And it would be incredible. You'd be like, wow, these guys are great. And then, you know, Jim Benning would say, well, they've made the team because they've proven that they they should be on the team but that stuff runs out sure when you're young you're not used to playing in the NHL because you never have you're not used to the long hard season that you get in the NHL so sometimes you have to take those early performances by the young players and take them with a grain of salt.

Right. There's two ways that this can go, though. And the dangling carrot part of it is absolutely an element. But the other thing is that you can only prove yourself on the proving ground provided. You know what I mean? Like if you go out and you play really well in the exhibition campaign and the first couple games of the season,

you've earned based on what they've given you. That's it, right? Every veteran NHL and hockey man can say, well, kid, it's going to get tougher for you along the way. All the kid can say is, but I'm doing everything I can in this moment. I don't think this is going to be an issue anyway i think based on this management group's previous experience especially in pittsburgh they've seen the benefit of letting prospects matriculate and marinate down in the american league wilkes-barre was that for them for a long time but sometimes you're putting

these positions where you have to you have. You have to at least consider fast tracking because you don't have the cap space and you need goal scoring. Right. I just think that historically, and we've seen it here in Vancouver, they've done a good job of not rushing anyone. Yeah, no, no, no, it's true.

You know what I mean? If his history is going to be the predictor of the future, I would say, look at Maluk, but I do not expect him to play. I would say Pod Colson, Baines, Carlson, who's another one that you could see? But in the Rutherford-Alvine regime, has there been a player that has forced them to make a decision? Because Pod Colson, for example, came in last season.

He forced them to make it the other way. And was like so bad, so bad that they were never tempted. They were never tempted. They were never tempted. There hasn't really been a young player that is, unless I'm mistaken here, I could be, it's early, I haven't had coffee. Has there been a young player that has tempted this Canucks management group with a good preseason training camp? No, the closest would have been... Rutherford hasn't liked any of the training camps.

No, no, no. He hated the Boudreaux training camp. I think the closest thing that you're speaking of probably would have been Archdeep Baines having the first half of the season he had last year for Abbotsford, being named an AHL All-Star, going to the game. But that was more of a reward. That was different. Right? Would you classify it as that?

He didn't have great preseason or anything like that. But it was more of a reward for what he had done as opposed to knocking down the door, kicking it down. Dan Rosen is going to join us. We'll talk about the big game six between the Oilers and the Panthers tonight in Edmonton where it should be crazy. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks.

Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4-6pm weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 6.32 on a Fiesta Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Alfred Brub, Sportsnet 650. Alfred Brub of the Morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for.

Sales, financing, service. Four parts. We are in hour one of the program. Dan Rosen from NHL.com is going to join us in just a moment here to set up tonight's game six from Edmonton. Hour one of this program 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. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling.

They recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. So I didn't even realize this until doing the research for this game. This was the last possible home game that the Edmonton Oilers could have played this season. And they got there. It was a weird road to get there, but they got there.

They went down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final. Didn't think they'd get past Game 4. I didn't think they'd get past Game 5, but here they are, Game 6 tonight in Edmonton. Joining us now to break it all down, Dan Rosen from NHL.com here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Dan. How are you? Good morning.

Wait, so you didn't realize that Game 6 for the team that didn't have home ice advantage would be the last possible home game? I didn't think of it that way. And then I was reading it yesterday. I'm like, oh, yeah, they made it all the way to the final possible home game of the year. That confused me, too. Like, how did you not put that together? How did you not get that?

Did you think game seven might be in Edmonton? No, I didn't think of it in those terms. The game six was going to be the last possible home game. But then you said you did the research. Yeah, I read something. What's it like? First of all, Dan, thank you so much for waking up early to chat with us. I realize it's going to be a long day for you.

So I appreciate you taking the time. What's it like in Edmonton right now? Are people already drinking? Well, I mean, they were last night because it stayed late the sun stayed out until about 1 a.m um no i'm just joking you are up north it was uh still dusk at like 10 45 last night and it's just a little strange but that's the way it is up here no listen this place i'll tell you what man that i've been to a lot of places for big games for stanley cup finals and all that and this place if it doesn't blow them all out of the water it at least ranks up with every every best place i've been to uh for for games it games. It's an awesome atmosphere.

The setting of it to have, you know, the Moss Pit outside and the concert series that they had outside, a lot of people watching games there, two different places to watch outside. Inside the arena is just phenomenal, like the vibe, the electricity. It's great. You know, people downtown here in edmonton through the course of the time that i've been here you see them walking around with oiler stuff on all over the place jerseys hats t-shirts whatever it may be parkas you know i'm just kidding um you know the the uh

it is it is a great atmosphere here it really is so looking forward. I mean, this is going to be one of those remember it well type of atmospheres for a game because, I mean, even in game four, right? I'm sorry, game three, you know, their team loses and they're down and these fans were right in it. Game four, they come in,

they're like, no, no, no, we're not done yet. 3-0, who cares? Like, let's go. They're having the time of their lives. It's great. Is there a belief there? It's a huge belief. I mean, there has to be. It's a huge belief, and they've made this a series,

which, you know, it's funny because getting to this point is not exactly, we didn't, you know, the route it took to get to game six is not the route that anybody thought it would get to but i don't think anybody's surprised at that it is at game six because the way these two teams are and the way the oilers can play and you know mcdavid and you know having the ability to take over games which he clearly did in game five. And he did after it was the role players got them started in game four. So I don't think it's a surprise, but down 3-0 to come back and have this momentum carrying through this, you know, taking you in back home, you know,

bringing the Panthers back here. This is the last place that they wanted to be. There is a lot of belief here. There really is from them. But let's flip it around. There's a lot of belief still in the Panthers, or at least that's what they're telling us. So we'll see.

But the fact of the matter is that only one team can win the Stanley Cup tonight. And it's the same team that could have won it in Game 4 and it's the same team that could have won it in game four, and it's the same team that could have won it in game five. So it's still a situation where Florida is in control, even though it feels as though Edmonton has wrestled that control away from them. Dan, I think you and I are of the same vintage.

Did you ever think, maybe take yourself back 10 to 15 years when scoring seemed impossible in the NHL at times. Did you ever think there was going to be a player that would push the records that Gretzky and Lemieux set in the playoffs? I mean, no, because those guys are, you know, we talk about, I guess maybe because you talk about generational players, but those guys are more than generational players. Those guys are all-timers. They carry generation, those two guys. Probably not.

We're just talking like 10 years ago, it was Jamie Benn leading the league in scoring with 87 points, something along those lines. And now 87 points is like, all right, he had a pretty good season. Bit of a down year, he can he can bounce back a bit of a down year but he can bounce back from that and they'll get 100 next year you know like so it's uh it is remarkable probably not no i probably would have never thought because i also you know when it when it was back 10 years ago you know you heard about a kid named connor mcdavid that could be coming up

through the ranks but my feeling was i would never see a player in the national hockey league in the time that i was covering the national hockey league that was better than sydney crosby and well they're different right i can't say that connor's better than crosby because sid's the all-around guy who's won the cup you know multiple times he's won it three times right so you can't say that Connor can't sit here and say that Connor is better than him but he's got more skill right he's more electrifying uh he can put up numbers that Crosby could never touch um so you know it's just it's it's amazing it really is and you know we've been talking about his goal it's not even his goal right know, it's just, it's, it's amazing. It really is. And, you know, we've been talking about his goal.

It's not even his goal, right? I mean, it's his assist on Corey Perry's goal. Um, he does everything on that play. We've been talking about it. And you think about it, like he does that five, six times a year. Right. I mean, like it's, it's really amazing. But now he's getting a chance to do it in big games.

And even though I am a pretty damaged Canucks fan and I'm cheering hard against the Edmonton Oilers because I can't stand the jealousy or the thought of them having a Stanley Cup parade in Edmonton, I can appreciate what Connor McDavid has been doing. I can also appreciate the worry that Paul Maurice must have. What has he been saying in the last few days? I'm sure he's been doing some media veils in the two days off. What has he been saying about the approach he's taking with the Florida Panthers?

Because they still do need to be confident, but they also have to recognize that it's possible that this one is slipping away from them. Yeah, and I think there is a recognition of that, although it's not a stated recognition of that. I think Paul Maurice has been very calm, very measured in his approach, keeping perspective. I think the players have been keeping perspective too, like,

hey, guys, we still have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. We're the team that can do it. We're in control. Nobody thought this was going to be easy. All of that stuff. I think he's been trying that. I mean, heck, I don't know if you saw the press conference yesterday. I basically asked him

like, you know, the last place in the world he wanted to be. You didn't want to be here right now, so what's it feel like to be back in the place that you never wanted to come back to this season right now and this was last night and his perspective was like you know he disagreed with the premise of the question and you know if it depends on your time you pick a time pick a day you know a question of would you do this and he said i'd cut your arm off to have this opportunity, Dan. And so you said my arm, it was funny. Yeah. Like mom, I cut somebody else's arm off, but like, why not cut your own arm off? Why are you going to sacrifice me?

Just asking the question, buddy. Seriously. But it was the perspective of like, you know, let's not forget where we are and let's not forget what we're doing. But that being said, you can have that. You can talk that way on an off day. You can talk that way on a morning skate of if he does again today, he's going to do his fifth press conference from the end of game five to the start of game six.

He's going to have five press conferences, Paul Maurice. You can talk that way. Are your players going to play that way? Are you going to coach that way? Are you feeling the pressure of it? How are you not feeling the pressure of the situation? Because let's think about it, right? They lose this one tonight, now they can make history

in the wrong way, and that's what you'll be remembered for, especially if you're the coach. That's what you'll be remembered for, that you were the coach who led the team that blew the three to nothing lead in the stanley cup final for the first team to do that in what is it 82 years so there's got to be pressure that they're feeling but they're not hourly expressing it we're speaking to dan rosen nhl.com senior writer here on the alfred and brough show on sportsnet

650 have you allowed yourself to think dan given that you are the same vintage as us and you've been doing this for a while, what you might get to cover if this thing does go to Game 7? Because I'm with Jason on the I don't want to see Edmonton win, I'm a petty Vancouver fan thing. But as a sports fan, and I've said this several times this week, I almost need to see a Game 7 here because in the history of Best of Seven Championship Finals

in North American sports, this just doesn't happen. So to have it happen during my professional lifetime, I really want to see this. Have you allowed yourself to think in a similar fashion? Well, yeah, of course, because you're right. We're sports fans first, right? And we love the game first. You can't do what we do without really, really appreciating the game,

loving the game, because you're around it all the time. You're in the bubble of the game all the time, right? And we're sports fans first, so absolutely. It would be amazing. Now, I'll tell you what, right? So this series, the travel is hard. No one cares, right? Nobody listening to your program right now cares about my travel.

That's not their worry. But when you're in the bubble of the series and you're in the travel and all that, those days of travel days, those days, you know, those days are like a drag. They can be. But then you think to yourself, like, I'm so excited now because this event tonight, it's not just a game, it's an event. This event tonight here at Rogers Place in Edmonton is going to be off the charts. It's going to be fantastic.

Now, if the Oilers win the game, well, I'm sorry, if the Panthers win the game, well, we'll get to see the Stanley Cup award, right? So that's really cool. If the Oilers win the game, tomorrow's going to suck, okay? Because we're going to have to do this travel all over again. Again, nobody cares, right? That's just on me. Nobody cares about that. I'm not asking for anybody to feel sorry for me for that. Who would? I'm getting to go to game seven. When we get to game seven that day, that's going to be incredible. So you've got to keep it into that perspective if you're me,

but if you're just a fan at home watching the game, you probably want this game to play tonight. And if Edmonton wins it, you probably want game seven tomorrow. Like you probably, you just, because it's that exciting, you know? We're speaking to Dan Rosen from NHL.com here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Just going back to Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers, what changes are they expected to make for tonight? Well, you're going to see more than likely

Nick Cousins go in the lineup. I think he's going to take out Kyle Ocposo. So it was Ryan Lomberg taking out on the fourth line, taking out Stephen Lawrence for game five. It looks like Cousins will be back in for Ocposo. So that fourth line

will be Lomberg, Kevin Stenland, and Cousins, which that was their fourth line early in this Eastern Conference final against the Rangers. So that's one lineup change. Oliver Ekman-Larsen is going to go to the point on the first power play unit, replacing Brandon Montour, who we have seen victimized for two shorthanded goals. I mean, the first one in game four, Montour is the only guy back. He slides. He slides directly into Bobrovsky and takes him out. And on the first goal in game five, the shorthanded goal, it's his pass that gets intercepted.

So, looks like Montour's going to be off that first power play unit. At least it's a start with Ekman-Larsen going on it. And they made a change in the third period of game five, and they found something, putting Rodriguez with Sam Bennett and Matthew Kachuk and bumping up Carter Verhage. He's been pretty quiet in this series. third period of game five and they found something putting rodriguez uh with sam bennett and matthew kachuk and jump and bumping up carter verhage used and pretty quiet in this series to play again with

barkov and reinhardt so three changes two changes one we saw at the start the third one we saw in the third period of game of game five uh i can't believe i'm asking this question um because it's only been two games that Bobrowski has struggled. But how short is the leash for Bobrowski tonight? You know, the guy who was going to win the Consmite Trophy like a week ago? Yeah. Well, I think they could hand the Consmite Trophy to McDavid in a press conference today and then play game six. Yeah.

Yeah. Probably. I don't think that's a concern. Honestly, I don't think that's a concern. Honestly, I don't think it's a loop. I don't think there is a leash, you know, on Bobrovsky. It was five goals, right? That was what it was in game four. Again, they're still in the team in a driver's seat.

So you give a long leash to your goaltender. It was five goals, excuse me, in game four. I would imagine that's what it is for game six. You should ask that question of Paul Maurice before the game and see if he cuts your leg off this time. He may literally cut my arm off at that point. Dan, I really

appreciate you waking up and chatting to us. I know the travel is hard. I think we spent an entire day in LAX together once. Yeah, we did. Remember that one day? New York to LAX.

Yeah, so the travel can be bad, but the excitement overrides it all, and you're very lucky to do what you do, and we're very lucky to chat with you about what you do. I miss you on the road. We used to have some fun times. Hopefully, we'll be back there soon, but enjoy tonight. Appreciate

tonight and we'll look forward to chatting again soon. Well, I really appreciate it and I definitely appreciate this as well. It's the perspective you got to keep. It's a lot of fun. I appreciate it, guys. Thanks, Dan. Appreciate it. So much appreciation. I appreciate you, Dan. Is he still there? Totally remind me, like, I miss

your smell. I miss you. I love you. I appreciate you, Dan. Is he still there? Totally reminded me, like, I miss your smell. I miss you. I love you. I have always loved you. There, I said it. We were doing it. Who am I kidding? The Lou Howell was the time.

I already dropped the call. Sorry, guys. It was the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. Then we were going back and forth between JFK and LAX. And it was a bunch of us all stuck. I think we were stuck in LAX. I think we were trying to go back to New York. Yeah, we were going back.

And I just remember Dan, dan like basically making a lap pacing from different like carols and podiums to try and figure out which airline could get us back to new york and you and i were just like asleep yeah i was face face down like actually this is pretty good we're used to doing nothing all day yeah i mean this is okay i got some stuff on netflix it's ask Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Brough show. And that is when you can literally ask us anything. It can be about sports. It can be about the Canucks, Stanley Cup Finals, soccer, golf, whatever. It could be about life.

Yep. And Chris, it says Chris on LTIR. Oh. I hope you're feeling all right, Chris. Okay, buddy. Text in, ask us anything. If you're in bed and you hear a mosquito buzz right by your ear, what do you do? Do you get up and do whatever it takes and kill it or hide under your blanket?

I am a killer. Yeah, you got to kill it. And so when I was growing up, I don't know if mosquitoes like are attracted to like certain types of trees or whatever but i had a big tree outside my bedroom window and mosquitoes would always come in and my wall was a disaster it's just because i would wake up in the middle of the night graveyard and i would be stalking them And sometimes they'd get you first. And then so you'd kill the mosquito and you'd be like, ooh, that's a bloody kill. That's my blood.

All over my bedroom wall. My parents used to come in there and be like, what's going on here at night? I'm just displaying their fallen brothers so they know when they come into the room. Their demise will be that wall in my hand. I can't sleep knowing that there's a mosquito, especially if a mosquito has bitten me. Not that it's going to bite me again, because it's probably full. The buzzing is so annoying. There's also a revenge factor.

Yeah. You're like, you did this? Well, guess what? Are they the most annoying animals in the world? And the most useless? Like, if they were to suddenly all die. One of them was deadly. There's a couple of dogs. Yeah.

One of them was deadly. Also, very liberal use of the term animal. If they were to suddenly all cease to exist, would anyone care? Would anything be affecting them? Sorry, did you say most annoying? Yeah. Wasps. Yeah, wasps.

Well, yeah, I hate those. For sure. They really don't. They terrify me. Yeah. They basically. Yeah, wasps. Well, yeah, I hate those. For sure. They really don't. They terrify me. Yeah. They basically exist on garbage. That's true. Yeah, they're garbage animals.

Dr. Terry from Sydney hasn't asked us anything. Morning, guys. What would be more painful if you're a diehard oiler fan? To lose tonight on home ice

or to come all the way back and tie the series only to lose game seven so close but no cigar let's face it canuck fans are still talking about losing game seven in 94 and 2011 yeah i'm gonna be brutal game seven in triple overtime i appreciate what he's trying to do is he's trying to frame it losing in front of the home fans but if you get that close to the greatest comeback in modern nhl history and you fall short in game seven, that would be, I can't even imagine the scale in which you'd need to measure that kind of pain.

That would be unbelievable. And that's kind of the, it's a, it's a two-parter for me. One, I want to see Edmonton win tonight. I'm on record saying it. I want Edmonton to win the hockey game tonight. Not only because I want to see a game seven where a team is blown a three nothing lead. Yeah. I also understand that the pain inflicted on Euler nation will be so much more severe.

Do you think though, when you're watching the game, you'll be, you'll allow yourself to cheer for the Oilers? Because I, I, I said that in game three, I was, I went into it. I was like, oh, I kind of want the Oilers to make a series of this. And then as the Panthers were destroying the Oilers in game three, I was like, I'm enjoying this. This is good. I like this. I probably won't be like an actual fan cheering.

But if there's a moment in the game where it's pivotal, I'm like, I'll be like, yeah, I'll be pulling for it. Really? I don't think I can allow myself to do that. I'll have to because I want to manifest it. I know what you're saying. Into the ether. I want to make it happen. And I feel like positive vibes.

My vibes aren't going to make anything happen. I like this. This is an early what we learned from 5 a.m. Frank, who texts in during the 5 a.m. hour. It's what we learned. I said, I learned that for all of us that are cheering against the Oilers tonight, what we need is for Bruff to change course and cheer for the Oilers tonight. After listening, this actually gets a little bit hurtful.

After listening to Halbro for far too long and often, I have identified that Brough is what we call in fandom a sports loser. You can remove the sports part. Try as he might, whatever he wants to happen in sports doesn't, and whatever he doesn't does time after time. So for all of us Oilers haters to not sweat and enjoy our weekends, we need Jason to pull a reverse Costanza and cheer as hard as he can for the Oilers this evening. 5 a.m., Frank, we have tried time and time again to weaponize my bad luck in sports. It's too difficult.

It doesn't work. It doesn't work because the sports gods know what I'm thinking. Yeah. They know what I want. You can't just manifest this. It's true. It is a purity that you can't manipulate. I wish I could.

I feel with my bad luck, I can bring world peace. Like that can happen if I just manifested it, but I can't. And so the Canucks never won a Stanley cup. And while I've been alive, England has gone and gone to finals, semifinals,

shootouts, shootouts, and they've never gotten it done. And I'm a little bit worried that the Oilers are going to pull this off because I desperately don't want them to because my jealousy will be through the roof. Okay, coming up on the Halford & Brough Show. Okay.

Okay, that got dark. Okay, coming up on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. AJ is going to join us on the other side, and we will continue to read through some of your Ask Us Anythings. Friday is Ask Us Anything Friday, and we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. 730 Moj is going to join us. 8 o'clock, it's Dollywall, and then at 830,

we're going to do What We Learned in Ask Us Anythings, and we're going to give away that aforementioned $100 gift card. That's all coming up in the second hour of the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.