Halford & Brough in the Morning - Can The Seahawks Repeat As Super Bowl Champions?

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason wrap up the Seahawks' storybook champion season with ESPN's Brady Henderson (3:54), and if the club can do it again next year, plus they chat the NHL at the Olympics with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (26:02). 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.

You're listening to Haldon Stateness, Hardin' Stips, three balls. Hardin ties the game on a three. Cooper, you know, I'm sure he has a plan, but he's not revealing it. I would be shocked if it's not Finnington. This is my nightmare. Good morning, make here for 6-1 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It's Halford and his Brough. It is Sportsnet, 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning.

Gladie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. TFCRA debt, if you do. Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. We are an hour one 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 Pall Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio, new year, new opportunity for comfort with orthotics from Kintech. We got a weird, weird start to the show this morning. I don't think we've ever done this before. We have guests at 6, 6.30, and 7 o'clock. So three guests to start the show.

That is the Duick Morning Drive brought to by the Duick Auto Group. In about two minutes time, Brady Henderson, our ESP Insider, for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Still sounds good. Still sounds good. He's going to join us in a couple minutes here. We will look back on Sunday's big 29 to 13 win over the Patriots, which saw the Seahawks capture, of course, their second ever Lombardi trophy.

Yeah, Brady's got to fly out of San Francisco, so the schedule is a little muddled today. So Brady's going to join us in a couple minutes time for a little Super Bowl champion talk here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. 630, Greg Wischinski, our NHL insider from ESPN, our de facto Olympic hockey insider today. We are now just one day away from the start of the men's Olympic tournament in Milan. We will also preview Canada versus USA on the women's side.

The classic rivalry match goes today, 11 a.m. our time, still waiting on a help dip. Update on Marie-Philippe Poulin. Wish is going to join us at 630 to discuss all that. 7 o'clock Brandon Bachelor is going to join the program. Play-by-play voice for the Canucks on Sportsnet 650. the Canucks may be on a break right now, but that doesn't mean the news has stopped yesterday. SportsNets Ian McIntyre had a very interesting piece on Elias Pedersen up at

Sportsnet.com. A reminder, PD and the Swedes are the second game to kick off the tournament tomorrow. That's going to be them, the Swedes against the Italians at noon our time. It's the second game to start the men's side of the tournament. So that's how it's going to work. We're going to have guests right off. the top here. We'll get into the topics of the day at 7.30 onward. So the back half of today's show is all uninterrupted. Halberl, working in reverse on that guest list. 7 o'clock, Brandon Bachelor,

630, Greg Wischinsky, and I believe Brady Henderson, excuse me, is going to join us in just a minute here. Excited to talk to Brady about the Super Bowl. Getting all choked up about the Super Bowl victory. I am still a little, like, emotional about the Super Bowl victory. It was a pretty big one. And Brady Henderson very graciously on his way back from Santa Clara. I joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Brady, of course, joins us on the ABLE Auctions hotline. Good morning, Brady. How are you?

Good morning, fellas. What's going on? How's it feeling? How are you feeling? Yeah, we're feeling pretty great. It still feels a little surreal. Like, I keep having these conversations with my buddies. Did the Seahawks just win the Super Bowl?

Like, that's not what we expected going in this. Did they do it with Sam Darnold? they sure did, and they did it in dominant fashion. What was the experience like for you, Brady? Yeah, I mean, a long week, as you can imagine. I've been here since Sunday. It's probably the longest I've ever spent in any single hotel room. And, you know, it's funny.

You made the point about how it hasn't really set in yet. It's kind of weird. Like, I have kind of these two different feelings of one, you know, it's like when this season started, you know, whatever it was, five, six months ago, I was not viewing this team as a Super Bowl team, and I don't think anybody really was. And yet, you know, the moment they won that NFC championship game, even, you know, this whole week, I've been telling everybody who asked me, yeah, I think the Seahawks are going to win by 10 plus points. Like, I just don't think the Patriots can hang with them. And so on one hand, it felt inevitable. And then, but also when

you look back a few months ago, you're like, I did not think I was going to be here. I thought I'd be on a golf course or on a beach somewhere this time. And so here we are. So it was just, you know, the game played out. I guess I didn't necessarily expect them to get after Drake made that much, but the game played out kind of the way I thought it would, which was that the Seahawks are just a much better team that it showed. Was there a certain point this season where either the switch flipped or you knew

that this team had the chance to go deep into the playoffs and possibly win a Super Bowl? Yeah, it was after that week 16 game. And I know this sounds kind of, this does not really sound like great football analysis, but I just remember thinking after that game, you know, this might, it might just be their year, you know, like Team of Destiny kind of stuff like that, you know, like they are obviously a very good team. It was clear they were a really good team to that point, clear that, you know, probably it's them and the Rams as the two best teams in the NFL.

And then when I saw them win that game, you know, despite a lot of things, not going their way early on. It's like, okay, you have excellent special teams. You got a Pro Bowl quarterback. You got one of the best defenses, if not the best defense in the NFL. And by the way, maybe like fate is on your side, too. So that was, as soon as they won that game, I remember thinking, I just don't know if any team is going to stop this one.

You know, I guess I realized it was probably, they're probably going to see the Rams again. So, you know, they were still going to have to get past L.A., the other best team in football. but that's when it really started to seem like a very real possibility, if not likelihood, at that point. All right, let's take a cue from Mike McDonald and get back to work here on this Seahawks team because we want to get them to another Super Bowl next year. You always got to be chasing those edges, Halford.

That's what they do down in Seattle. Season started, new season started yesterday. Okay, I guess the first big question facing the Seahawks this off season is how do they replace? Clint Kubiak, the offensive coordinator who was won and done in Seattle. He did well. But now he's off for a bigger challenge in trying to turn the Las Vegas Raiders around. What was the talk about replacing him down at the Super Bowl? Yeah, isn't it funny how quick the cycle works?

One minute Clint Kubiak is celebrating, you know, fresh off the field, having just won a Super Bowl, and then 12 hours later, his kids are in Raiders' gear. he gets off an airplane in Las Vegas to go make that deal official. So it's just wild how quickly it goes in the NFL. But my understanding is that there's a very, very good chance that they're going to promote from within to fill that job and that they're going to interview and hire somebody who's currently on their staff, which makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons. But the guys I would keep in mind right now would be Andrew Janoko, who is the quarterback's coach,

Jake Peets, who is the offensive passing game coordinator. And then kind of a wild card here. Maybe not somebody who, you know, whose name is on everybody's mind at the moment, but Mac Brown, not the former Texas, you know, North Carolina coach, but Mac Brown, who is their tight ends coach, a really sharp guy who I believe will be in consideration for this job. So those are the three guys. And I think it makes a lot of sense, especially this late in the game, to hire from

within. If you guys remember when they hired Ryan Grubb, you know, it was sort of around this time two years ago. And, you know, one of the, one of the reasons why they landed on Grubb was because they were so late in the process. Remember, they hired McDonald late. And, you know, by the time they started, you know, looking for offensive coordinators, it was early February. And by that point, a lot of the best ones were really, you know, the pool was picked through. So didn't have a whole lot of viable alternatives. And I think now you're sort of in that same position where I don't know if there's a whole lot of really good offensive coordinator candidates who are still out there,

either on other teams or who are free agents, so to speak. And there's obvious benefit in just promoting somebody who's going to run the same scheme. You know, a big part of the appeal with Kubiak in the first place was that he runs a proven pro-style system, you know, unlike his predecessor, Ryan Grubb. and, you know, there's obvious appeal and not making Sam Darnold and the rest of the offense learn a new system. So if I had to handicap it right now,

my gut tells me that Andrew Janoko, the quarterback's coach, would be the leading candidate. And, you know, I've got to imagine that Clint Kubiak is going to want to try to take him to Vegas. But staying in Seattle, you know, if he goes to Vegas, he's probably not calling plays because Kubiak would do that. And so I imagine that this job would have more appeal to Janoco if he is their top choice than the Raiders.

or so C. Job would. I'd like to imagine that interview. All right, guys, who was paying attention to what Clint was doing? Because we got to do that again. Okay, let's go to the roster. And I want to start on the defensive side of the ball because that is the strength of the Seahawks. Can they keep this band together? Not entirely. No, but for the most part, yes. I have been pretty consistent in this for the last over a year, I would say,

that I don't think that they are going to resign Rick Wollin. And that's not because he got beat for a touchdown in the Super Bowl or because he got beat for a touchdown and had a silly penalty in the NFC championship game. I think it's kind of just been trending that way for a while. You've got so many guys to pay, and you're going to have to say goodbye to somebody. And, man, multiple somebody.

That's just the way it works in the NFL. Boy, Maffei, is probably another guy who I don't think is going to be back because I think he's got enough talent, got enough of a resume to where some team is maybe going to give him $8, $9 million a year, something like that. And so the question mark for me is Kobe Bryant. He was a guy that they actually tried to resign last summer, and the two sides were just too far apart.

I mean, they were way, way far apart. And so it just kind of became a non-starter. I definitely think they'll try to resign him, But I think the fact that Tai Okada played as well as he did when he filled in for Julian Love, I think that gives them a pretty viable alternative, you know, and a guy who would cost a fraction of what it would cost potentially to resign Kobe Bryant. So Josh Job, I think, is going to be back. So I would put the likely guys as, you know, Josh Job among their free agents,

Taya Kada, I think, is a restricted free agent. so they'll get that deal done. And then the guys that I don't see coming back are probably Boy Amafé and Rick Ward. So the older guys like Leonard Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence, those guys are all good to go? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Lawrence has two years left. I think Leonard Williams has one year after this one.

So, yeah, those guys will be back. Okay. What about on offense? Well, Ken Walker the third, just, I think, between the Charbonnet injury and the way Walker finished this season on a tear, I think he's ran his way back into Seattle's long-term plans. And, you know, before the season started, I would have told you probably a less than 20% chance of that happening, just with knowing how much they love Zach Charbonnet, knowing the durability concerns with Walker. Well, guess what?

He did not miss a single game this year, played in all 20 games, showed, you know, at least for the final few that he can handle, you know, the full load. I still don't think that would be an ideal situation over the course of a full season, but the guy stepped up in a massive way, had 417 scrimmage yards, four touchdowns in the playoffs, a lot of that coming after Zach Charbonnet went down. And just the nature and the timing of Sharbonnet's injury means it's probably looking at second half of the season, maybe even December, you know, that he is going to be out until. And so I don't know if he wants.

want to move on or not have both of those guys next season. I think you resign Walker. I think you hope Charbonnet can come back for the second half or maybe late in the season and either draft a running back or sign kind of a middle tier, inexpensive guy to really hold down the fort until Charbonnet returns. So John Schneider, the general manager, who we all love, is kind of famous for being like, yeah, I just don't want to bring the same team back. I want to improve this thing.

He's always looking to improve, always, you know, with his head coach chasing edges and trying to get better. So, you know, forget just bringing the band back together. How do they improve this team in the off-season? And are they in a good position to do so? Yeah, I mean, the one obvious spot, I would say, is left guard. And, you know, I think Jaylen Sandell has played well enough at center to, at least have a chance to a strong chance to compete for that job. But I think if you're looking for areas to

improve, the one spot that probably is top of mind for them is right guard and Anthony Bradford. And he's, he's a, you know, I think a starting caliber player, but they can do better. You know, they can find an upgrade there.

So that's probably the first spot. You know, I think another spot really to keep in mind is not necessarily for next year, but just for the long-term health of that position, they really got to inject some youth into that defensive line. I mean, that was the strength of this team, no doubt. But DeMarcus Lawrence is 33.

Leonard Williams is in his early 30s, as is Jaron Reed. So a lot of veteran guys up there, you know, you've got, and by the way, you're trying to know, is in his late 20s, so he's not a young guy either. So I think, you know, you're probably looking at spending at least a pick or two to get some youth at that spot. No one, you've got some great starters there,

but guys that are getting up in age. We're speaking to Brady Henderson, our ESPN Seahawks Insider here on the Halford-enbrough show on Sportsnet 650. Brady, what are you expecting next with regards to the sale of the Seattle Seahawks? Yeah, I think that could happen relatively soon, or at least put up for sale, you know, the process of it actually becoming sold.

that's another story. But I do think there's a good chance that the team is officially put up for sale at some point in the near future. And then that process of, even once you agree to a sale, it takes many, many months for that to become a fish. I mean, the Blazers,

I know it's a different league, a different sport, but the Blazers, you know, there was an agreement for them to be sold reached, I think, late last summer. And, you know, we're looking at this coming spring for when that deal is finally, that sale is finally going to be complete. So, you know, I don't know if this will officially, you know, change hands before the start of next season,

but I do think that process is going to officially get underway in the near future. So one of the things I noted on social media that you posted was when the Lombardi Trophy was handed out and Mike McDonald wanted to share it with as many people as he could. You know, we've talked a lot about egos in the NFL and even with the Seattle Seahawks. The last team that won a Super Bowl

had a few egos on that team. They ultimately kind of took the team down. Maybe just tell us, you know, why you felt the need to post how egoless this leadership group is. with the head coach and the general manager. And I would say like a lot of soft-spoken veterans, you know, Kenneth Walker is a soft-spoken guy.

JSN is a soft-spoken guy. Sam Darnold is very, very humble. And just one thing I noticed about the Seahawks is, you know, they're happy to talk about themselves that they're asked, but they so often want to defer to talk about their teammates and their coaches. Sam Darnold was like, my teammates and my coaches, they all believe to me. and that meant a lot.

Yeah, and it's one thing to say that in a press conference. I mean, we've heard we've heard quarterbacks, you know, say that, like deflect phrase publicly. And, you know, Sam Donald really sounds like a guy who kind of lives that way behind the scenes, you know, when the cameras and the microphones aren't on. And I just, I pointed it out because it struck me in the moment, and it's really struck me all season how you can just tell. It's hard to kind of describe, but you can just tell that McDonald is not a guy

who really seeks out praise. and validation and, you know, John Schneider is the same thing. And, you know, everybody, look, when everybody is an expert on the draft and free agency moves, like, I'm sure that there's plenty of things that have picked him off about, you know,

things people have said and written about the moves that the Seahawks have made, but he's not a guy who, you know, I've interacted with John a lot, and I can tell, like, he is just a down-to-earth kind of regular guy who, you know, just treats people really well. And there's no ego.

and I think you really, for a GM head coach pairing to work, you guys really have to check their egos at the door. That's something that Pete Carroll and John Snyder did famously well for 14 years in Seattle. And, you know, I think another thing that I'll note here is, for me, the indelible image of that post-game celebration was what I saw David Winterspoon do. And remember, you know, the real heroes of this game were Ken Walker,

the defense, Jason Mike. even Michael Dixon was great. Like Sam Darnold was not the story of this game by any means. And yet, and Wetherspoon himself could have easily won MVP if it weren't for Walker. And yet in the locker room, there's Devin Wetherspoon proudly holding up this USA Today newspaper with Sam Darnold on the cover under the headline champions. And he's, you know, showing everybody and, you know, saying basically that's my quarterback. And my quarterback is a Super Bowl champion.

I'll say this. That would not have happened 12 years ago. Seahawks' defensive players were not doing that with Russell Wilson 12 years ago. And again, just your latest example of hundreds of them over the last seven, eight months, about how highly regarded and how respected and love Sam Donald is in that locker room, not just among his offensive guys, but the entire 70-man roster. You know, I was going to cut it off there, but I did ask one more question. and now that you mentioned Witherspoon, the blitzing that the Seahawks did in the Super Bowl,

was that a bit of a wrinkle that Mike McDonald threw at the Patriots that they maybe didn't expect? Yeah, I mean, if you're them, I don't know why you would expect that. I mean, Witherspoon has kind of been used sparingly as a blitzer this season, at least compared to what Pete Carroll and that staff were doing with him when he was a rookie in 2012. I looked this up last night. He was averaging less than one and a half pass rush snaps per game, and there they go sending him six times against the Patriots. I think they just realized, they had to realize that, you know,

that was an advantage that, you know, they had. Their pass rush in whatever form that took had a big advantage over New England's offensive line. I mean, Will Campbell was a highly talented guy, top five overall pick, but did not have a great rookie season and was particularly, really bad in the playoffs and it may be affected by the knee injury that he had suffered earlier in the year. And he had a very tough game.

And that's not to say that all of the pressure came against him, but, you know, they were getting after him pretty good. And I think, you know, sending Devin Witherspoon the way that they did, you know, that wasn't necessarily targeting Will Campbell, but it was just targeting New England's protection plan, which, you know, has shown to be vulnerable. I mean, those guys giving up five sacks to Drake May in each of their three playoff games to that point. And, yeah, that was a fun wrinkle.

I would have thought that if there was a defensive back who was going to be sent after Drake May, as often as they did there, I would have thought it would be Eman Worry, but instead it was whether it's been kind of a throwback to his rookie season kind of game and just an example of, you know, how good of an overall, all-around football player he is.

Brady, this has been a hell of a year, man. it's been awesome awesome doing this with you every single week on this really unexpected journey where I don't think any of us the three of us really knew where it was going to go the journey went from like it's time for another Seahawks season maybe five or six games into the season

are like are they good and then a few more weeks are like could they win the Super Bowl and it all happened on a way are they going to win the Super Bowl and then they won the Super Bowl what a journey so on behalf of everybody at the show we want to thank you a ton for doing this all season long. It's been amazing.

And again, we didn't see this coming. But for my money, you're the best Seahawks insider out there. We're super happy to have you on the show. I always say we'll bid you farewell for the offseason, but we usually end up calling in one week's time. But still, for now, thank you for the entire season. It was great. We really appreciate it.

And enjoy some well-earned rest over the next little bit. Well, I will do that. And I want to thank you guys as well. You guys are awesome. I know I say it all the time. I have to stop myself from saying that's a great question because I feel like I say it so often. But I really do mean it.

You guys are awesome. It's always great talking to you guys. And like I told you last year, I don't know what I'm going to do Thursdays at, you know, 7.30 in the morning, whatever it is. I'll miss talking to you guys. But, you know, the NFL offseason is such that never goes too long without something big happening.

So I'm sure we'll be in touch over the next few months. Yeah, sounds good, but fly safe and thank you again. All right. Thanks, guys. See you. Brady. Brady Henderson. The Seahawks Insider, our Super Bowl champion insider from ESPN here on the Halford

Inbuff Show on Sportsnet, 650. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the program this morning. There's a big hockey game today. The first big hockey game of the Olympics on the women's side, Canada versus the United States. It starts just after 11 o'clock hour time. And we got an American up next. Talk about it. It's true.

Greg Wischinski, not in Maliburton. for the Olympics, but still our weekly, our erstwhile NHL and Olympic insider. We'll talk to Greg but everything and we will also keep tabs on whether or not Marie-Philippe Pulin is going to play for the Canadian State. She was hurt yesterday in a 5-1

win over Chequia. We have not received any updates as of yet, and as Jason mentioned, we're now about four and a half hours away from puck drop between Canada and the U.S. on the women's side. The greatest rivalry in women's hockey gets underway in a short period of time. No word yet if MPP is going to be there.

for the Canadians, but we'll keep tabs. Greg Wischinski is coming up on the other side of the break. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. 691 on a Tuesday. Is this the Olympic version of this song?

I thought I class it up a little bit. This is the closest we can get to Olympic coverage without ruining anything for a rights holder. You are listening to the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Halpert and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have credit card debt? If you do, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program.

Greg Wischinski from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour 1 is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 policy. Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go, the Able Auctions

Hotline. Greg Wischinski joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports 9650. Morning, Greg, how are you? I told you guys before. I think there was an injury on the ice version of the ESPN theme. So, is it Jack Hughes? Just tell me right now, like, whether

or not Jack hurt himself again. There's a lot to unpack there. One, that is right. That's the one they play going to commercial when the stretchers being taken out. I know we want to talk about the Olympics and everything, but you brought Jack Hughes to the forefront. And I noticed that you have also, that you've become aware, and we're later corrected about the New Jersey Devils and their Hughes cropping photo story. I was completely unaware of this until going on to social media. So can you explain it in detail, I guess, how you got duped and then how it later came to be that this is a running gag of the devils?

it's not so much duped as in a complete failure for this team's social media apparatus to root the room. So basically there was a picture of the Kachucks and the Hughes brothers that was taken at the Olympics that USA hockey published. And then the Devils did their own edit of the photo, which was to edit out poorly, Quinn Hughes, to the point where like there's extra limbs and like, you know, an extra lagger. It's obviously poorly done, which probably should have been our first clue that it was a bit. Unfortunately for the Devils, so I should say this is a running bit that they've done, I guess,

where they've taken photos of Luke and back in Quinn and edited Quinn out as sort of a running gag because he's not on the Devils. Keep in mind they did not do this when they played Minnesota in January for some reason, but regardless. So this is a running bit for them, but unfortunately, A, not enough Devils fans knew about it,

And B, no one outside of New Jersey knew it. So you had like Ryan Whitney of chicklets and leecher report and all these places, including me running this photo of Quinn Hughes being poorly edited out and being like how hypersensitive and, you know, snowflakey are the devils to have to edit Quinn Hughes out of this photo because they didn't acquire him in a trade. And so, yeah, it ended up being a bit. But it was also a gigantic mistake. their social team, assuming that people understood the bit. And I actually, you know, heard from some people around the team that said, yeah, you're

kind of justified in saying this was dumb because it became a thing and it shouldn't be a thing. And, you know, there needs to be a better read of the room, I think, in several ways. Okay. Thank you for clarifying. And to the Olympics we go, as an American, where is your confidence level going in to today's game between Canada and the U.S. the rivalry renewed the U.S. holding, I would say a considerable amount of momentum going into this one with their most recent results against the Canadians. And of course, we've got no clarity on whether Marie-Philippe Huland will be playing for the Canadians today.

Yeah, I mean, that's the whole thing, right? Like, you know, as someone who cherishes this rivalry, I wanted to play. Like, I don't like the idea of these two teams not being at their apex when they face each other, especially on the, the Olympic stage. So that was a real bummer to see that news yesterday. And so hopefully she's all right, if not for this game, but then for the inevitable rematch. But, yeah, I mean, the U.S. has really taken it to them in the game leading up to this tournament. And obviously it's been a bit of a role in the Olympics outscoring opponents 15 to 1.

So, you know, my confidence is pretty high today, especially at Poulin doesn't go. But ultimately, all that matters is the next match. when they inevitably meet for gold. So that's kind of what I was going to get out with my next question. It would take an enormous upset, regardless of who wins today's game, to not have Canada and the United States meet again. February 19th in the gold medal game. So what could be gained or lost in this game?

Is this a psychological edge game? Like if the Americans pound the Canadians, maybe the Canadians lose some of their confidence despite the fact that they got all these veterans that have won before if it's closer, does it give Canada some confidence? What are you watching for today? Yeah, I think it's much more on the... Given the recent history, it's probably much more on the Canadian side

to hang tight and maybe even pull a W out of this, which obviously becomes a little bit tougher if Poulin doesn't play. But, you know, it's kind of the state of women's hockey. It's been like this for a long time where you have two teams that are head and shoulders above the rest of the world. The idea that they won't play for gold in a rematch is kind of like who's beating these guys. I don't even think there's a goalie in the draw that could really stand on our head and win a game against either of these teams. So, you know, they've already qualified for the elimination round, both teams. and so it does kind of almost become a bit of an exhibition,

but every time these two teams play, it's hard to say it's ever an exhibition, right? There's just so much inherent rivalry baked into it, and the intensity is always there. But ultimately, as pre-usual, this game matters not anywhere near as much as the next one does. Okay, Canada just announced that Poulan will miss tonight's game due to a lower body injury, which is, I mean,

just it's the right thing to do. Just there's nothing to be gained. from playing her in this game and make sure she's healthy February 19th. So she's got a few days to get healthy, assuming there isn't any serious injury there. So can you just tell us, like, what, I mean, with Canada, it's an older team. And we know that Poulin is still, even almost at 35 years old,

still the heartbeat of the team and still probably the best player on the team. The American team has Hillary Knight on it, and I think she's going to retire after this Olympics. It's her last – she's already announced it's her last Olympics, yeah. Where is the strength of the team in the veterans, or is it in some of the younger players? Well, I mean, look at the scorers in their last game. I mean, you know, of the goal scorer is you didn't see Hillary Knight. You know, you didn't see coin. You didn't see a lot of the veteran names that are still on this team.

So it's a balance. I think this is a really strong balance of good young players and the old guard that obviously still has tons left in the tank based on how Hillary has already performed in these Olympics. So, you know, there's a reason why they've been as good as they've been against Kent perspective in one of the better, I think, groups best have had, you know, internationally in maybe like the last decade, good goal tend to thing. and a good mix of the players that have been kind of carrying the program and the next wave.

Okay, let's turn it to the men's side, and I want to talk about something. This is another photo discussion, and you tweeted out yesterday, and it was the team picture of the Canadian team, and I think I looked at that picture for about half an hour, and I still can't stop laughing at how Sidney Crosby is he looks like an elementary school teacher of that group. Yeah. Do you know what I mean?

It looks like they're on a field trip. The chaperone. Yeah, or yeah, yeah, it looks like they're on a field trip. And he's in, if you're looking at it, the top right of the photo. But kind of standing like a couple of people away from the entire group. So he looks like the chaperone or the teacher. And then, you know, front row you got Drew Doughty who's, you know, if it's in elementary school,

his baby teeth just fell out, so those would be coming in soon. And you're just looking around at this group, and it's all a bunch of jokers. And then Sid, what were your thoughts? What did you think about that picture? Because, I don't know, I started it for a while, and I was sending it to my group chats,

and I'm like, look at this, and everyone was pointing out little funny things about it. Well, it was a great thing. photo and also notable for maybe being the last time we seen McKinnon's smile until like they win gold also notable for that I love that you know the Sid

thing was the first thing I saw too and what I found interesting is if you look at the other side of the group who do you see standing on like the complete opposite side far side left of Sid it's Celebrini who is like getting all of the Sid comparisons

right in his second year in the league and I'm like oh that's that's kind of interesting to see the symmetry there, like old SIDS over here, new SIDS over here. And maybe he's learned, maybe, maybe he kind of like glanced to his left and like, all right, Sid's on the outside. I've ever been on the outside too or something like that. But, you know, it's, it's like one of the, like any picture I see of the U.S. or Canada, you know, in a candid way at these Olympics, it just kind of like brings it home how awesome it is that these guys get to experience it. I mean, like they collectively bargained to go to Beijing and then got

screwed out of it because of COVID. You know, this means so much to the players to have this experience and to be, and to represent your country and to do it on this stage that like, you know, there's a certain playful playfulness to all of it, at least at this part before the game start, that almost becomes kind of infectious. Are you surprised that Mike Sullivan and quite frankly, a few of the other coaches that are prominent at this tournament are going back to their old bread and butter what worked at the Four Nations as opposed to looking at recent form and taking that more into account.

I know Sullivan's mentioned a handful of times when discussing putting the Kachukes with Jack Eichol and potentially just going with Connor Hallibuck rather than maybe Galaxy Braining in a net, that they're going to go back to what worked for them at the Four Nations as opposed to what guys were really on a heater in the NHL going into the Olympics. Well, that's, I mean, that's part and parcel of how the teams are built though, right? like why would you deviate from what you did in four nations when you basically outside of maybe two or three guys have the four nations roster? Like I think all that stuff is kind of baked into the roster that you build. So once you leave Cole Cawfield home and once you leave Jason Robertson home and once you leave Lane Hudson home and all of the other incredible offensive talents that aren't on this roster,

you're pretty much going to double down on the, we've built a team to beat Canada mindset that that's, they had at four nations. And so I'm not surprised there's a doubling down of all of it because it's essentially the same team outside of a few changes. So as a Canadian, I'm looking at that American blue line and going, man, that's one of the best blue lines ever assembled. Canada's had amazing defenses at the Olympics. Think back to 2010 and 2014 and before then. I think this Blue Line is fine, but I think relative to other blue lines for Canada at least, it's a little below average. You guys must be excited to have Quinn Hughes for this tournament. Is this kind of what a lot of Americans are banking on? Yeah, we lost the Four Nations in overtime. We barely lost that,

but we didn't have Quinn Hughes. Yeah, Shea Weber's not walking through that door, Canada. No, no. Actually, I want to answer your question with a question. Could you make a case that Sweden has a better defense corps than Canada. Dahlene. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Who is, yeah, who is Dahlian?

Dahlene Foresling, uh, had been Rastas Anderson, and then Eric Carlson and I forget who like their sixth guy is at this point, but like, like I don't think they have a macar. They don't have a car, but like,

Dahlene can give you like 80% of a car. Like, I'm pretty good. Well, I think, you know, everyone was talking about leaving Badaada. the roster and I'm like whatever that forward group is not going to have trouble scoring and if they do something's going horribly wrong the one guy that I think

they might regret is Schaefer not having him on the back end because I think he could have been pretty pretty valuable I understand I mean he's 18 I understand why they left him off but I do wonder if they're they're gonna regret that one I'm I'm with you and I mean like the benefit the Americans have is I still think Lane Hudson should have been on this team, if only for the experience of it all, like, because he's going to be a cornerstone for that program going forward.

But, like, they have the benefit of having Quinn on the top pairing and then, like, oh, good, the third pairing's out for the Americans. Oh, geez, it's Zach Worensky. He's going to probably win the Norris this year. Like, it is, you're right. I mean, it's an insanely deep group with

a game changer in every pairing in front of, you know, a really deep goalhending group. And so to answer your question, like, I think Americans are very confident on the foundation on which this team is built, especially with having a healthy, healthy Quinn Hughes and as much of a healthy Charlie McAvoy as you could probably have at this point in the season. And then it becomes a question of whether or not the forward group is going to hold up there into the bargain. Yeah, what do you think of that Cachuck pairing with Eichol up front? It feels like Austin Matthews is the captain, but maybe just in sort of like symbolic nature only because I feel like aside from the Kachucks being the heartbeat of the team, with I. Eichel, that's also going to be their top line

and probably going to drive things to the majority of the tournament. The Cichols and Eichael are the leaders of this team, along with McAvoy. Like, it's not even a discussion. I mean, Austin is wearing the C because it just creates a problem you don't need to create for yourself to take the Cs off of him if you wore it at Four Nations. Like, it'd be idiotic to do that.

But, yeah, the heartbeat of this team is the Cucchucks. You could throw Eichol in that mix, too. And again, when you start talking about the Cichs and Ickels and Eichael, those are two of your three guys on this roster with a Stanley Cup ring, the other one being Jake Gensel. And so it really drives home. And I talked about this today on ESPN and the piece I wrote about like previewing the men's tournament. It really brings home the experience gap here. And it's not to say that there aren't guys that have played in big spots like swam and backstop the U.S. to the

world championship for the first time in like 90 years or whatever it was. Like there's a lot of guys that have good experience in big spots. But, But only three guys with a ring compared to Canada, where you walk in the room and it's like a jewelry store. There's so many rings. And then on top of that, like when push comes to shove, if you're down to one in the third period of Finland in an elimination game, like the Canadians can turn to Sidney Crosby and be like, give us sage advice. And the Americans are kind of just like looking around the room. Like there is a serious experience gap between these two teams and so far as thriving in this level of spotlight,

including the fact that there are some guys on this American roster who have become infamous for not doing so. So it's one of the things that I'm kind of nervous about of this team. But again, like you don't win until you win. And maybe there's, I'm just like overrating the idea that the Canadians have more guys that have done it. It's not a hot take to say on the women's side that it's a two-team tournament. And we largely expect Canada and the United States to meet in the gold medal game. could you almost say the same on the men's side this year? Because listen, just bear with me, bear with me.

There's no Russia, obviously. Sweden is without Leo Carlson. And maybe Elias Lindholm? And maybe William Neelander now. And maybe William Neelander. Yeah. So down the middle, you're like, okay, well, good luck. And Finland's without Barkoff.

You know, I'm just, you know, I feel like it's going to take a pretty big ups. for Canada in the United States not to meet in the gold medal game of the men's side too. I think with the Swedes, when you have that defense and you have Gustafson or, you know, if they really wanted to throw a wild card in their Walshead,

like that's as good a foundation as you're going to find in the tournament. And then you just need someone up front to kind of like make a play. And so I'm not counting Sweden out. And part of the reason I'm not counting Sweden out is because I think one of the things that we're missing here in this tournament is that the US and Canada are in different groups. Now, why is that important?

Well, it's important because of what happened in 2014, which is that both of those teams needed an overtime win in their round-robin groups. And Swedes won three times in regulation. And then all of a sudden, the gold medal dreams of a matchup between the US and Canada for gold was scuttled

and those two teams meeting the semifinals. And that scenario is, very much on the table given Sweden's group, like you said, Finland with No Barkoff I think it's like Slovakia, right? And Italy is there? I mean, those are very manageable games for the Swedes. So I

think the thing we're all, like we're all so enamored with the rematch. And we all want it to be for gold like it was in four nations. But we only have to go back to the Sochi games to see how this thing could play out where all of a sudden the US or Canada is playing like maybe Sweden

in the final instead of each other. Because it's important to know the bracket isn't like set. It's not rigid, right? It's fluid. And in this semifinal round, they reseed. So the highest seed plays the lowest seed. So to your point earlier, if they don't finish one, two in the group stages and that group B winner is atop, then you could have something like what we saw in 2014 where the

matchup everybody wants to see is in the semifinal, not the final. I got another question about the Americans. I know Mike Sullivan said that he had a plan with what they're going to do in goal, and I suspect given the compacted nature of the tournament, we might see more than one goalie play. How are you sort of power ranking the goalies going in? I know Hallibuck is probably going to be the starter and get the lion's share of the play. But Swayman's been very good during the regular season,

especially in the lead up to the tournament. Ottinger is Jake Ottinger, and everyone understands what he brings to the table. But it seems like there's a little bit more of a conversation among the three now. as opposed to being a clear hierarchy. At some point we're going to all have to have a discussion about what you just said about Jake Ottinger, which is that we all know what he... What do you bring to the table?

Again, like if you look at his playoff numbers, I think his reputation outkicks his actual performance. And I think we all remember the Calgary series. And that's cemented him in our minds as being this like unstoppable force in the postseason. And it's just not the case. I love the guy. I love Jake Ottinger.

I just don't, his reputation is necessarily tied to reality as far as in the postseason, at least. Doesn't mean he can't just, you know, destroy in this tournament because I think he could. Yeah, but I think they'll probably give Hallibuck and Ottinger a chance to secure the crease, which, again, like you said, brings us to an uncomfortable point, which is that Swamon's outplayed both of them this year. Right. Yeah. I mean, Hellebuck missed a chunk of time. That's got to be factored in.

too, but Swayman's been great. And, you know, one of those things that Bill Guerin has done for this team, rightly or wrongly, is put an enormous amount of prestige and importance on that World Championships win last year. And Swamen was incredible in that tournament. So I don't know if that factors in. I don't know if that nudges him up the depth chart at all, but it's something to keep in mind that on what was the biggest stage for this team outside of Four Nations, Swamen was awesome.

And so that's something to kind of keep in mind going forward. Maybe we can, can we trade him to Canada for like Mark Stone? Is that on the table? That's kind of where I was going with this though. Mark Stone looks hilarious in that photo too.

He does. That guy just got out of prison and now he's in a hockey team photo. Yeah, that drifters go to the Olympics. Yeah, he's holding a bag with an old tuxedo and a watch. Anyway, to my preview,

I know where up against him for time, but to my previous point, what I was kind of suggesting was that I wonder if Swamen has played himself ahead of, I mean, Audensur's safe percentages here is bad. I think he's sub-900. I think he's like at an 897 or something like that. They've won a lot of games because the Dallas Stars are good, but he hasn't been fantastic.

I just wonder because of what you said about the world championships, because of what Swayman's done during the regular season, if he's maybe moved himself into the conversation that you're not just here to sit in the press box and be the third goalie and eat popcorn. You might be a contributing factor when this is all said and done. It's possible. I will caution you, by the way, that, like, being sub-900 is no longer a mortal sin in this league based on the average save percentages.

You know? So, like, I mean, having Jordan Bennington's a save percentage is a mortal sin, but, like, if you're, like, at 897 or something or 896, like, it's not the end of the world anymore. It's just how the league has changed. No, I think all three, it's a good, again, it's a good problem to have. Let's just say that. I mean, if you have Hella Buccane-Ur and Swainman, and you have to pick one guy to win you an important game, it's a good problem to have.

And ultimately, I think all three of those guys are capable, the defense is capable. It comes down to whether or not there's enough goal scoring on this roster, and it comes down to whether or not, if this team does find itself in a pickle, they have the guys to step up and make a play when they need one. Because I think that's my biggest problem with this team right now. It's like, I'm scared to death that it's going to be 2-1 Finland in the third period,

and all these guys start gripping their sticks, one, because they are so desperate to win gold for the first time since 1980. And two, because they don't want to embarrass themselves by falling short of a game against Canada. And so there's like two different levels of pressure the Americans are facing that I don't believe the Canadians are facing. Because like, do you think, do you think Sidney Crosby cares about playing the Americans again? No, I just want someone other gold medal. Right. But the Americans care a lot about playing Canada again.

And that's going to put even more pressure on them if they're in a bad spot in one of these elimination games. Wish, very well said, bud. Thanks for taking the time for doing this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy the game today and the start of the men's tournament. We'll do this again next Tuesday. Well, I mean, before the game today, it's the mixed curling final, which I'm really into. Right.

It's a good day for the Americans today. Oh, God, are you guys in the mixed curling final? We are. And here's the thing. The man and the woman are both named Corey. Isn't that nuts? They're both named Corey. Was this the 80s?

The Corey Hotline. That's great. That's right. I don't have anything else to say. They're dreaming a little dream. There, that's what I'll say. They're dreaming a little dream, and the Corries are hoping to win today. Okay, see you, buddy. It's Greg Wichinsky for me.

Here are things that rhyme with Corey. Allegory. Story. Coler was a huge name in the 80s. Corey Hame. Feldman? The original two Correys. Did you know Corey Feldman is going to be at Fan Expo this weekend?

He'll be in Vancouver at Fan Expo. For why? It's like the, it's our Comic-Con, Fanx. A-Dog's on the Corey Feldman beat. Corey Feldman will be there as one of the guests. Why? It's just a celebrity guest that people get autographs from. Is that what he's doing?

You'll be very excited about this, bro. A lot of the Lord of the Rings cast are going to be there, including the Talking Tree. Including the ends. Oh, that's great. No, really, the voice of the talking tree, John Reese Davies will be there. He played Salah in Indiana Jones. I bet the after party is going to be awkward. You know, indie.

He'll be there. All right, we've got to go to break. Before we go to break, I do need to remind you that the first hour of this program and whatever that last bit was, was brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal and why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duick Jam on Marine Drive,

visit them downtown, visit them in Richmond and visit them online at the duik Auto Group.com. One more guest to go as we start the show with three consecutive guests here on the Halfford & Brough show. Brennan Bachelor is going to join us

on the other side of the break. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650.