Halford & Brough in the Morning - Could The Canucks Make A Big Trade During The 4 Nations?

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli (2:16) about if the Canucks might make a trade or two during the break, plus they speak with NHL 4 Nations Face Off commentator Chris Cuthbert (25:45) ahead of his call tonight for Canada versus Sweden. 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.

Frank! Cerebelli, cerebelli, cerebelli, Frank! Cerebelli, Frank! Cerebelli, Frank! Daily face of, Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Daily face of... Frank! 703 on a Wednesday! Happy Wednesday everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Free!

Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, 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 two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Footwear andec footwear and orthotics working together with you and Step. Before we get to Frank, you mentioned that back in 2010, when we were working the Olympics, we got credentialed to go to the Russia house at Science World. You know what I remember about that the most? So that Russian hockey team had

amazing superstars on it, right? Pavel Datsu, Sergey Fedorov, Alexei Kovalov, Ovechkin, Malkin. You know what one athlete had more swag and more aura and more star power than all those guys? The figure skater, Evgeny Plushenko. Oh yeah. He sucked the gravity out of every room that he was in. And like all the, like, Ovechkin.

Yeah, because he ran like a mint code or something. It was amazing that he was in. And like all the, all like, oh, yeah, cause you'd be wearing like a mink coat. It was amazing. It was amazing. It was truly, it was like Dave Chappelle doing the Rick James skit where he'd walk into a room and there was that aura behind him. And like, honestly, all the hockey players would just kind of follow his lead

as he strutted around Science World. It was an amazing time. I forgot about Jenning Plushenko. That's what the Four Nations Face Off gives us, memories. Memories that last a lifetime. We're going to switch gears a little bit now. We're going to talk about the business of the NHL with our next guest, Frank Saravalli from Daily Face Off joins us now on the Hellford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Frank, how are you?

Good morning boys, I'm good. Very cold today in Montreal, but happy to be here. Frank, first of all, congratulations on the Eagles. I heard yesterday on the station that you were able to attend the game with your son. What an incredible memory that must've been. Yeah. Epic weekend.

Uh, incredibly fortunate to be able to do something like that and just walking out and hearing him say, I'll remember that for the rest of my life. That's what it's all about. Yeah, I had lots of memories with the Canucks, with my dad. Dad, I'll always remember the time we went to see the Canucks lose 9-3 to the Edmonton Oilers in February and they missed the playoffs. That was my life growing up. Frank, let's talk some business of hockey here.

I heard you a bit on the station yesterday and you were talking about how you actually expect some trades to go down and how the NHL probably would not push back on trades going down because as much as they want people focused on the four nations, they also want the business of the game to carry through the days where there aren't games or there aren't enough games. What's one team that comes to mind that you think could be busy during this break?

There's a lot. I mean, I would look at the Philadelphia fliers and Scott Lawton and Rasmus Ristlelinen. I'd look at the Seattle Kraken with the four players that they have that are on my trade targets board. Um, you know, I think that's what's really interesting about this deadline is there's been a

lot of activity to this point and we've seen some major names moved, but we really haven't seen any of the traditional rental deals or I should say many of them. So there's a lot still left out there. Like I wouldn't expect a team like the New York Islanders to be active during this period because they're still believing or trying to figure out that they're in the, if they're in the race. stuff like that will probably wait till closer to the deadline. And there's a few teams that are looking at some cap situations. Like I know the Oilers are still working out the exact situation with a Vander Kane, but

there's plenty of teams that would like to get something done during this 12 day break and we'll see if they can pull it off. What is the outlook for the Flyers? Because I know Danny Breyer has been pretty vocal about what he wants to try and accomplish and it sounds like he's got big plans to move the organization forward. I know he already got it kickstarted with moving Frost and Farabee to Calgary, but what else does Breyer have in store for the Flyers?

Well, the big difference between this year and last year is the Flyers are pretty well out of the mix. And if you remember last year, until early March, and it's kind of after the trade deadline, if we're looking back at the calendar, the Flyers were in third place in the Metro almost the whole season from start until then.

And then the wheels absolutely fell off and they plunged in the standings. This year they're out of it much earlier. I don't think there's any disillusions about what this team is and isn't. And there's still probably some more pain to come in terms of prying some pieces off of this roster. That could potentially, as mentioned, include Lawton and Rista Linen and some other players that don't necessarily fit the Flyers age scheme. And part

of that is not necessarily to try and ensure that they bottom out this year and get a good draft pick. Although I would argue that's what they need the most. Um, but it's in an effort to eventually try and find a difference maker. Can you take what you get from those players and package it to get something else? Um, and the cap space is going to be important. It's no coincidence that.

And the cap space is going to be important. It's no coincidence that Farabee, Lawton, and Rista-Linan are all signed to deals for next season and beyond. And they want to have enough cap space to ensure that whatever they'd like to accomplish this summer, whether it's signing a top end marquee free agent if they could go after one, trading for a player that might have some term on his contract. I would include the flyers among the list of teams that would be interested in Pedersen and maybe even be a team that, that gets in the offer sheet game.

So look, I think that's the other part of this summer that people really haven't started to wrap their brains around yet is there are teams that have made it their mission, their sole mission this summer to go out and land an RFA via offer sheet. Well, you mentioned Pedersen there. So let's say that Pedersen doesn't have a good end of the season and the Canucks decide, all right, we're going to move on from this guy. What do you think the market would be for him?

How many teams, and there's going to be a lot of teams with cap space and cap space looking forward too, because the cap's going to go up apparently 25 million over the next three years. Do you think there would be a healthy market for Pedersen? Yeah, I would expect that half the league or maybe even two thirds of the league would be interested in having that conversation. I think the tougher part for the Canucks would be trying to sift through the

teams that are sound trade partners from the perspective of the Canucks can't go through a rebuild process. I mean, you're going to have to rejig and retool this, but ideally what you would get back is another NHL difference maker plus an eye toward the future. So that's why when you're coming up with a list of teams that not only are other NHL difference maker plus an eye toward the future. So that's why when you're coming up with a list of teams that not only are interested but that fit with the Canucks, like I'm not entirely sure that the Flyers are a good trade partner. I

don't know what you could take from this Flyers team that you would say, okay, this helps make the Canucks better right now. And this is what we can give you for the future. The future parts easy. The Flyers have that down. They can, they could deal in that world all day, but it's the same thing, you know, in terms of, you know, it'd be a different conversation if you're having, uh, one with the Buffalo Sabres.

Maybe there's a piece or two that you look at from that team and you say, Hey, let's different positions here. I'm just totally spit falling hypothetical here, but let's say Pedersen's involved and the Canucks ask about Owen power or pick another top end defenseman. Maybe that's a different starting point. And you can start to envision from a Canucks fan or from a Canucks front office perspective how that might make sense to keep this team in a competitive cycle with a chance to win. So that's going to be the name of the game is not

necessarily teams interested because that's going to be easy. It's going to be teams that can make a deal that makes sense for you. We have seen though that this Canucks management group can make a trade with one team and then use the assets that they got in that trade and make a trade with another team.

That's how they ended up with Philip Horonek and Marcus Pedersen. So I totally understand the point you're making because if they trade Pedersen, they need to find a center. They've already got, I mean, they traded away JT Miller. They did get Philip Heidel back and maybe he can be a 2C, but I don't think anyone sees him as a 1C. They've also got Pugh's suitor as a pending unrestricted free agent. So the center position is kind of the wild card area with the Canucks right now. They're so incredibly hard to get your hands on. Yeah, well, yes.

So many teams around the league are looking for a. And that's why the flyers big quest would probably include someone like Pedersen on their list is because they don't have one. They've got Michkov who's a winger, but if you're checking the positional boxes to help try and make your team win, they've got a scoring impact winger, no center, no top end defenseman and no goalie. That's, that's a lot of work still left to do. And for the Canucks, to be in a spot where you go from Miller and Pedersen to neither of them, it would be really difficult. But how are you going to get a center back in return in that deal that makes sense without them being a much lower end version like we saw in the Miller

for Hedal trade. We're speaking to Frank Zervalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Frank, you caught my curiosity and attention there when you were talking about teams loading up for offer sheets to RFAs this coming summer. Who are some of the guys right now that you're keeping an eye on RFA wise that might be the target of offer sheets? You know what? I haven't begun to even look at the list yet, to be honest. But I had heard that in conversation, one GM specifically mentioned that last week that in conversation with his owner, that's their one sole mission. Like, yeah, we're gonna do other stuff, but my owner really wants me to go out and get an RFA from Offer Sheet.

Because there's a lot of defensemen. I think it's like Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Kayandre Miller, a bunch of young fours, then Wyatt Johnson in Dallas as well. So there's no shortage of guys, there never is. It's just interesting that people are already talking about that. And I suppose it makes sense with the cap going up Well, but here's the thing and since you mentioned those names I

I'm hesitant to say that one of those guys or I'm gonna say it's it's unlikely that one of those guys ends up moving because It's usually not the higher-end guys end guys that linger for a long time. To be honest, you only need to be on the market for a day as an RFA in order to make this happen. But those guys get taken care of and they're a lot harder to get because of the capital required to give up. That's why the Holloway and Broberg deals were kind of a, I don't want to say perfect storm, but a perfect match in the sense that the Blues didn't have to give up a ton of capital and the cap hits weren't crazy high and you could design it in a way that was really advantageous to you and really damaging to the oilers. So that would be the realm of players that I'd be looking in somewhere between

one to four and a half or 5 million bucks, whatever the thresholds end up being. Cause they don't get released much closer to, um, free agency opening on July 1. I think it's usually mid June that we see those numbers and where the, the picks, um, what the compensation required is. But I wouldn't be thinking about a Bouchard type deal. I'd be thinking about something in that range. Yeah. Of course, with more cap space too, it's easier to match those even if it's a top player or a medium player, whatever you want to call it. But that will be interesting, also going to be interesting. Wait a second.

That said though too, because of the fear of offer sheets and now that everyone knows that it's real, you're going to see the best way to prevent a team from offer sheeting your players is to not let them get to restricted free agency. So I think there'll be added pressure to get these guys done before the opportunity even presents itself, which is another reason why if, if you're

dealing with a situation like that, you make sure as soon as your off season begins that you're all over it. Um, Miko Rantinen, what are you hearing about him and the likelihood of signing a contract with the Carolina Hurricanes before the trade deadline? Because I imagine if he doesn't, they're going to have to flip them. So conversations have begun. I know that the production has been slow to start

So conversations have begun. I know that the production has been slow to start. And yes, I do think to your point, the Carolina hurricanes are just crazy enough to be that team to land a true top 15, top 10 player in the league. And then if it's not working out, be the one that flips him and tries to either get their money back or even potentially get a little bit of a return on it based on how surprising the deal was itself. That said, I think they're going to do everything within their power to try and make something happen.

They went into this eyes wide open, knowing two things. One, the reported realm in which the Rantinen camp was looking in, which was the dry-side deal. And two, that if somehow Miko Rantinen had made it to market, would the Carolina Hurricanes be on the short list of teams that he might be interested in? And I think the answer to that was yes. Now I'm gonna, you mentioned the idea of flipping him, I'm gonna take it another step further in a different direction. What happens if he makes it to market? Given

what we know about the cap that we didn't know at the time this deal was made, is there any chance a reunion could be in order in Colorado if he were to hit the free agent market? I mean, I wouldn't rule it out, but I don't know the situation. What have you heard on it? I think there was so much surprise that you know obviously he was caught off guard. I think it's been difficult to

process. I think the Avs as a team interestingly enough you know Miko's production has slipped. The Avs struggled to score for a huge chunk. They had 15 goals and six games at one point. Um, and I think to be honest, the abs were also caught off guard about just how lofty those salary cap numbers were that I'm not going to say that it changed their thought process. Cause I don't think that's true. I think they would probably still try and make the same deal today.

But I think there were a lot of teams that I talked to right after the numbers were releasing, man, we knew it was going up, but not this much. And that part, I think, just changes the calculus of the conversation. How much does it change for a guy like Mitch Marner in Toronto? I mean, probably not a ton. I know that, you know, market conditions, it'll help him of course, if he makes it to market. But in terms of his negotiation with the Leafs, I think he, the interesting thing about Marner is I think that he has been really

appropriately paid the last few years. That when you look at his deal and you look at his production and yes you look at the complete nature of his game and he's unquestionably been the Leafs MVP this season That he's do a raise my question would be how much and I don't know that it's it's as massive as some might think But in the same token what he'd be playing that against is here's what I could get on the open market, which probably is closer to a dry cycle type number at 14. Being, you know, a free agent and truly free, that's a different

story and someone might bid that up to that number, but if you're talking extension, all it really has done is benefit the Leafs. I'm not so sure how much Marner because there's a couple more bucks, but at some point there's a limit to an internal cap as well. Frank, this was great, man. As always, thanks for taking the time to do this. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the opener of the Four Nations face off tonight. It should be a good game. We'll do this again next week. Thanks guys. Yeah.

Thank you. Frank Sarah Valley from daily face off here on the Haliford and Bref show on sports net six 50. So the RFA thing that he was talking about, uh, before he acknowledged that he didn't quite, or hadn't quite fleshed out the list, my next question was going to be, got any of them RFA centers that the Vancouver connects might be able to get, got any of them RFA centers that the Vancouver Connects might be able to get? Got any of them there? So the guys that are gonna be RFA's at year's end,

that would be interesting and purely hypothetical, but also fun, Wyatt Johnson out of Dallas, that would be good. How are they gonna get him out of Dallas? You're going to sign him to an offer sheet. And then Dallas would go, we're going to match that offer sheet. Maybe they can't because they got so many big contracts on the books. JJ Piterka out of Buffalo, that's the guy that's the, I'm just listening to the guys that are on the, these are the centers that are on the list. And then Mason McTavish out of Anaheim. I could be wrong on this.

I don't think offer sheets are going to be a huge factor this off season because I think what happened with the Oilers last year was kind of a perfect storm. They picked two players that were offer sheetable where you would. Good word. You know, like if you go out and get a top player, they'll just be like, yeah, okay, we're going to match though, right?

So, and also the Oilers were so up against the cap because we were still in that flat cap environment. Now that we're out of, or we're getting out of that flat cap environment, I don't know how many teams are going to be in a huge cap crunch. That's fair. I do think that I might, would almost use that

argument in reverse though, is that if you look at what St. Louis got, like Holloway's been great for them. And Broberg has been maybe not as valuable as Holloway's been, but it's a young defenseman that you get under contract. I know it was a certain situation that got exploited by St. Louis and that might not land every off season. But I do wonder if other teams might look at that and say, that really benefited the Blues.

We should at least explore the idea of getting those second and third tier guys. You have to crazy overpay those guys. Basically, you have to make it a decision for the other team where they're going like, man, do I really want to give Dylan Holloway this, right? Overpay a mid guy. But you also risk making a huge mistake because you've

intentionally overpaid someone. Sure. Do you think the Hurricanes are, do you think they'd want to do over on Kokanami? Yes. Right? Like they were like, OK, we've got to be aggressive here. And then Montreal went, sure, you can have them.

You can have them, right? Yeah, someone texted in that at this point, this is an unsigned text, at this point, if they trade Pedersen, I can't see how it isn't a rebuild. They have one scoring center now, and to go with none, it's not viable having now and to go with none, it's not viable having two guys like Hedl as your one and two C. That's why it's such a huge issue.

These centers don't grow on trees. And I think it's way more likely that they can actually keep Pedersen than trade him, but for that reason alone, but I also do wonder if Pedersen doesn't have a great end of the season, if they're just like, we need to move on somehow. We got to get going to break here. We're at the midway point of the show. We still have a lot more to get into. Our guests for the second half of the show, Chris Cuthbert is going to join us at 7.30. He'll be on the call tonight, Canada, Sweden, five o'clock from the Four Nations face off. Eight o'clock Adam Kierzenblatt, Canucks reporter for the hockey news is going to join us.

We'll turn the conversation back to your local hockey squadron, the Vancouver Canucks. And before we go to break, I need to tell you about Denny's. Yeah, that's right. The restaurant, True North Tastes the Wastes with Denny's 100% Canadian beef burgers made with, hey guys, new shredded iceberg lettuce all on a brioche bun and the classic ingredients you love. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance.

Get your daily dose of Canucks Talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 732 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halperd Brough, Sportsnet 650. What a track. This is the everybody. Halperd Brough, Sportsnet 650. What a track. This is the Four Nations face-off theme. Four Nations facing off.

Brough and I said it at the exact same time. Huge this week in baseball vibes. And now it's time for Twib Notes. Mel Allen leading us through the weekend. I miss that show. That show was so awesome. Could use a reboot. Could use a reboot.

Bring back the old graphics, the old music. If they ever get like, we talked about this earlier. When we were at NBC, we worked with a guy that was one of the original producers from George Michael Sports Machine. Remember that show? Yeah. That was awesome.

Where we'd ask him, can you bring in the big red button just for us to play with? Just slam it so we can play some highlights. You are listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruff of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, 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 two of the program.

Chris Cuthbert is going to join us in just a second here, the highlight of hour two. Hour two of this show is brought to you by Jason Hominuk from jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage.

To the phone lines we go, our next guest needs no introduction. It's Chris Cuthbert here on the Hal Ferdinand Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning Chris, how are you? Good morning. I thought that was a Swedish orchestra you were playing the next half hour into it with, but good to be with you. It's great to have you on the show. We've been very excited all morning about not just this tournament, but the return of best on best international hockey. It's been a while, Chris, and you've got a long and rich history with international play.

How excited are you for this tournament to get underway? Yeah, I'm pretty fired up. For best on best, I haven't done anything since Vancouver 2010, so I feel like just about everybody else it's it's been way overdue and just the thought of McDavid, McKinnon, Crosby, McCar on the same team is I mean that's exactly what we want to see. You know we actually mentioned earlier in the show about you know being the voice of one of the most famous iconic goals in international hockey history and

obviously Canadian hockey history. How different was, if you can remember all that way back, it was 15 years ago now, but going into the Olympics in 2010 as opposed to going into this tournament now, because we've spoken about this a few times, 2010 was four years after the massive disappointment at the 06 Olympics. This tournament, it's been such a long time since anything's gone on, it's almost like the freshness and newness of international competition is the major driving storyline. What was it like back in 2010? Well it was special because it was Vancouver, it was home ice and I remember you know a few weeks or before

the tournament Scott Dieterbaier talking about once in a lifetime and I remember you know a few weeks or before the tournament Scott Dieterweier talking about once in a lifetime and I'm thinking Scott Dieterweier's won everything and he's talking about a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it was for everybody. I've never been in a rink like that Sunday afternoon with Canada and the US and and I can't wait for Saturday because I think we'll have some of that and a lot of it probably but it will be tough to live up to one of the greatest moments in Canadian hockey history but at least we're on the right track back because not only have we been waiting a long time for this but kind kind of a, you know, it's our our four derby before the Olympics next year.

And, you know, everybody can play coach and GM and figure out what the right combinations will be for this and going forward for the, for the one next year that will mean even more. On paper, where do you rank this Canadian roster against ones we've seen, you know, in the last,'ve seen in the last 10 to 20 years? I think it's as good as any except obviously the big question marks the goal and that just isn't the same. But it's funny that over the years Team Canada's greatest goaltenders have often struggled. I mean,

right back to, I'll play the old-timer card here, even in 72, Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito, it was a struggle for them. And Marty Baudur and Curtis Joseph even, you know, in 2010, and Roberto Lelongo comes in to save the day. So, uh, uh, goaltending is unpredictable, but clearly on paper, it's not the same, but, uh, but the star, star power upfront is, uh, as good as it gets and, uh, you know, I, I, I mentioned the three great forwards, but I'm just as excited to see, uh, Cale McCarr.

What about the Americans? There's been talk out there that this is the best US roster ever put together. And I kind of have time for that. I guess you'd want to compare it to what, the 96 World Cup that they won. That would be the other one that you compare it to? Yeah. I, you know, you had me thinking right away that I

haven't done a deep dive in comparing you know the goals and the stats but that that team was loaded that in 96 it had it had a lot of veteran guys at least maybe that's just my memory now thinking all those guys were or you know drizzle bets but yeah they're veterans now yeah maybe they were all young bucks back then too but this clearly is a good team with a lot of firepower. I still like our chances, you know, skater-wise, and again, Connor Hellebuck could be the big difference, but I go back to it, depending on how unpredictable Connor Hellebuck's playoff success has not been terrific.

So, you know, we don't know exactly what we're gonna get, but I think Saturday's gonna be magic. And if fans in North America get their way, they'll get a rematch next week as well. We're speaking to Chris Cuthbert here on the Alfred and Bruff show on Sportsnet Sixage. Chris, of course, will be on the call tonight, 5 o'clock. It is Canada against Sweden in the opener of the Four Nations faceoff for Montreal.

Hey, how's the weather in Montreal right now, Chris? I understand, is it like 40 centimeters of snow already or is that still coming? No, it's coming. I think it's going to hit tonight. I just walked over and it's winter cold in Montreal, but the sun's shining right now. But I guess they're really going to get socked in and Montreal has never led the league in snow removal. So it might be an adventure before the week's done here. Yeah, the mafia decides when it gets picked up.

Yeah, exactly. I do want to mention Montreal though, because location plays a huge part in this. You mentioned how special it was for 2010 in Vancouver. How great is it to have this tournament in Montreal? Yeah, it is, you know, so much history here from the first game of seven. You know what, I was thinking, and I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here,

but two of the worst moments in Team Canada history were here in the game one of the 72 Summit Series and the 81 Canada Cup, which when we got blown out, everybody has conveniently forgotten that game in Canada. But yeah, obviously, I mean, I'm sitting here watching Sweden skate, and you look at the rafters and that's the only reminder you need. This is a special place and I think there is some disappointment here that only Sam Montembeau is representing Montreal and even for Team USA I think people are finding it hard to believe that Cole Cawfield's not on this

team but nevertheless these are great fans and I imagine it will be as electric as it always is here tonight. From a Sweden perspective, what's the main headline story line for you when it comes to this team? Just one Pedersen to worry about. You know what? This is, these guys, Finland's got the reputation of being the perennial spoiler or the underdog that embraces it.

I think Sweden's got that opportunity here because Finland's just really roster thin, but you know, this Swedish team's got some firepower up front, but they've got an oppressive blue line that's got a nice veteran mix and they've got some offense from the back end too like Edmund and Carlson and Forsling and Dahlien. They've got probably as good a blue line as anybody in the tournament whether or not they can get enough up front. Elias Pedersen is going to be an important guy here. He's going to play with Adrian Kempé and Philip Forsberg. And funny enough, here's the stat for you. William Carl, or sorry, William Nylander has the most goals in this tournament among Canadian

board players and among Swedish players. He's got it covered both ways. Who do you think gets the matchups for Sweden against the McDavid line and the McKinnon line? Well, I've seen first hand twice, Pedersen this year, he tremendous in a shutdown role. So, is it going to be him? It could be Eric S said act always uh... a guy that has a who had that traditional role uh... but he played on the line with lucas reyman yes for brought to leeds

sweetened point so uh... you know i maybe these coaches are i don't think john cooper's afraid of going to straight to get straight to get anybody in the tournament will will find out right we don't know much about Sam Hallam, Hallam who is the, uh, Swedish coach. It'll be interesting to see, uh, uh, how he handles it,

but make his advantage as listed as their number one centre. And he's the number three centre with the New York Rangers. So, uh, you know, I don't know what his options are. Well, we were saying earlier in the show that, um, you know, it's funny that Sweden's got, their top two centers have been maybe the most criticized players in the NHL this year and Mika Zabanić and Elias Pedersen. And you know, you talk about Eric Karlsson, you know, the reviews haven't been terrific

for him in Pittsburgh. So I guess, I guess this team has a lot to prove out there. Yeah, that's, that's not a bad position to be in because it's like a giant reset for a lot of guys. And I know Craig Simpson always talks about that first game of the playoffs where a guy who's had a bad season has a chance to change everything. And a guy that's lit it up and has a great season, well, he's got to do it again. Or if he doesn't, he's going to hear about it. So it is a, and the Swedish coach did talk about this yesterday.

It is, it is a chance to reset and, and change the narrative for some guys. And, and they may just embrace that. What do you think the bread and butter play for Canada's power play is going to be? Because there's so much talent out there, but only one guy can have the puck. I talked to Cale McCarr about this yesterday. I said, you know, what's the danger of everybody deferring to each other? And he acknowledged that that's it. But he said, I think I'm going to just be shooting. I think everybody's going to just be shooting. I think everybody's going to have to have that mentality. You don't have to play nice in the sandbox here. Everybody

can score. It's a pretty impressive group. Watching all the skates, there has been more time put into powerplay and penalty kill than anything else. It's almost been exclusively a focus of at least the skates yesterday for all the teams. A hot power play can win the tournament for sure and no reason why our guys shouldn't be the ones that have the hottest power play. Chris, before we let you go, has Sweden given any indication? I know you're out there for the skate this morning in the practice. Who might be their starting goalie tonight when they take on Canada yeah, it's a good question. I kind of watching and you know I don't know if they designate home net here

I I think it's probably gonna be Gustafson But I will say if it's Lena Solmark He may have the best set of pads at the start of it, so they're they're pretty good-looking Trey Croter so But yeah, I think Gustafson will see, and we probably will know in about a half hour from now. I was going to say, we'll find out soon enough because the tournament gets underway for real tonight. Hey, Chris, thanks a lot for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate

it. Have a good call. We know you will enjoy the tournament. It should be a lot of fun. And once again, thanks for doing this. My pleasure guys Yep, enjoy should be great. Thank you. That's Chris Cuthbert the play-by-play voice of Sportsnet and the four nations face off here on the hell for the bruff show on sportsnet 650 starting to get excited Starting to get excited just a few hours away from drop be honest Are you starting to get excited or you is there a tiny bit of you trying to talk yourself into it?

No, I don't do that. I'm all sincerity, 100% of the time. You're not. I'm the most sincere person on radio, I think. I actually just replied to someone, Halford and sincerity have never been in the same room before. I saw it. It hurt my feelings.

Why do you think I'm projecting now? No, we have been accused, accused, jacuz of trying to pump this tournament up. No, I've we have been accused accused. Chuck Hughes of Trying to pump this tournament up. Why you bring Jack Hughes into this good one? I don't we don't do that. If you listen to this show enough, you know that You know, we're not We're not super earnest about a lot of things. We I always say like we're very cynical I've always got a Snyder

mark, the Haliford and Brough show, I've always got something sarcastic to say. Maybe slightly dead inside. Okay. However, that should lend credence to when we're excited about something, it's genuine. We're not going to put it on just because we think we need to promote a product for our company. I think Saturday is going to be awesome. Rogers, a very good company. Um, no, I look. They're all about family.

We. Making money off your family. Off your family. Um, there you go. We're the side remarks. Brough and I, I think kind of uniquely have been around long enough to have worked international competitions before and with the ability of, you know, the fond retrospect

realized how important they were in the context of what we do. I remember 2010, not just because it was the great ending, but I remember thinking and good on me, as I pat myself on the back, good on me for noticing this in the moment. Like I remember thinking, and good on me, as I pat myself on the back, good on me for noticing this in the moment, I'm like, this is rare. We don't do this very often.

We don't have an opportunity to collect the best players and play in this really cool tournament. And then lo and behold, I didn't realize that it would go away entirely for the better part of a decade. And maybe it's because, and I alluded to this earlier, the international windows for soccer, like international football, it's a special time.

Guys really take it seriously when they get called up to represent their national team. And because it happens with a little bit more regularity, it doesn't necessarily lose its uniqueness. But you kind of understand how the whole thing works. And you know, you're like, you understand how squad selection works. You understand what it means to get your cap for

your country and go midweek as I joked earlier to go play Lichtenstein because it's been so long that we haven't had best on best international competition. I do think a lot of people are just sort of unfamiliar with it. And that's why. They're out of rhythm. They're out of rhythm. Like, it's just sort of like,

what is this? Is this a replacement for the all star game? Is this just a break so the non good players can go to Cabo? Is it like, what is it? It's just a money making machine for the NHL and NHLPA. And I'm trying to come at it from a perspective of no it's international best-on-best competition which is cool and awesome and this is a way to get back into it. Aaron the assistant cruise director texts in and he said everyone is comparing has been comparing the four nations face-offs to the Olympics and the World Cup when we really

should be comparing to it to what it is replacing. The NHL All-Star game, based on the amount of attention the media already gives it, an invitational style tournament like the Four Nations will always be 10 times more watchable than the All-Star game. I think it's infinity times more watchable than the All-Star game because I don't watch the All-Star game. In fact, I love the All-Star game because I don't watch the All-Star game. In fact, I love the All-Star game for the kids. For me, I despise it.

Can I tell you what? This is what I want to see. I want to see the best players playing with intensity. I don't want to see the best players hungover and playing beer league hockey. And I think the players are going to feel an obligation to bring their best for two reasons. Number one, you're representing your country and that is always a big deal. Number two, they have been asking for this. They asked for it.

They have been organizing this. Is it a perfect tournament? It's not. Ideally, you'd like Russia to be a asked for it. They have been organizing this. Is it a perfect tournament? It's not. Ideally you'd like Russia to be a part of it. Ideally you'd like some other countries to be a part of it. But this is what they've got. This is what they put together. Canada versus the United States on Saturday night. If they aren't up for this, if the hockey is lethargic in any way, or there's no intensity, I will come in next week and I will crush these players because they've been asking for this and I don't expect that I'm going to have to do that. I think they are going to be

ready to roll. They should be. They should be. Question. Yes. If Pedersen scores, should he stare down, talk it? For what reason? Just cause. Just cause. To start drama.

Just cause. Yeah. And he pointed them. So I know that there's going to be a lot of eyes on Pedersen. I think tonight it's going gonna be about what he looks like coming off the Toronto game and then this, does he gonna have this continued pep in his step? But I mean, let's be real, everyone's waiting for him

and Miller to be on opposite. Of course. I mean, and that is. I'm more excited for that game than the Candidate game on Monday. And that is gonna be the biggest takeaway. Really, honestly, of the games that I'm looking forward to and the moments that I'm looking forward to

in the round robin, Canada versus the US on Saturday night is huge. I would honestly, I would put Sweden USA ahead of the Sweden-Finland game. In terms of, and that's my personal bias. Well yeah, the Sweden-Finland is not my rivalry. I don't care about it. But they do. Yeah, no, I know. It might of, and that's my personal bias. Well yeah, the Sweden, Finland is not my rivalry. I don't care about it. But they do.

Yeah, no, I know. It might be a more intense matchup. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But from a, from a personal perspective, and I'm very self-centered, like. Yes. USA, Sweden is what I care about, you know, in terms of the non-Canada stuff. I'm actually probably more excited for Sweden, USA than I am for Canada, Finland, unless Canada is in this position where they

have to beat Finland in order to get to the finals, which they very well could be. Uh, Latty has, very befitting that Latty has the goalie update, but Latty has a goalie update on which Swedish netminder is going to start tonight and face Canada in the opener. Well, it's not, it hasn't been spoken by the coach, but Dan Rosen is reporting that Linus Ohlmark is in

the starter's net for Sweden this morning. So tell us how his season has gone. I know you kind of touched on it earlier. Of course he gets traded to Ottawa. Then what? Starts off a little rough. Uh, then he had an insane run where I think he was 7-0 and one over the stretch.

He was very good. Then he got hurt. Ottawa sort of struggled without him. Then he came back and he's been1 over the stretch. He was very good. And he got hurt. Ottawa sort of struggled without him. And he came back and he's been average since coming back. So I don't know. He's a former Vezna winner. I think he still has a high ceiling.

I would, I don't mind. He had a 915 save percentage, which in the current NHL is like you win the Vezna with a 915. Okay. It's remarkable. So Ladi, assuming sorrow starts for Finland and Hellebuck starts for the Americans, power rank the goaltending situations. You're obviously going to start number one

with Hellebuck. Yeah, Hellebuck number one. I'd say with the way Sauros season has gone, maybe Olmark number two. I'd say Olmark is the second choice and then Sauros and Bennington. I think. Bennington did not look good against the Canucks.

Bennington did not look good. When was that? A couple weeks ago. All season. Yeah. He's looked terrible from start to finish this year. Canada's starting goalie in a best on best tournament. He's confident though.

He's hyper competitive. Canada's starting goalie in a best on best international competition has a losing record and a sub 900 save percentage for a team that's eight points. Well you saw the tweet, right? There's three Canadian goalies with a higher save percentage currently in the NHL than the three goalies that are at the tournament. Again, I mean, if you want to-

So all three goalies are not the three best current Canadian goaltenders statistically in the NHL. Go download- So that's a choice. Go download our one of the podcasts, because we have this conversation in depth about taking guys on reputation and past accomplishments as opposed to taking guys that are the most informed goalies. And if that is Canada's undoing at this tournament is because they relied on guys that won Stanley Cups either two years

ago or in the case of Binnington six years ago, that's going to be one of those conversations where you're like, what is hockey Canada doing here? Not to the degree of where we were so critical of the junior team selection this year, when they fell short, but if that's the choice, why are you shaking your head at? I just going over Bennington's stats from this season alone, he's played 39 games, he's had 19 games where he's had a 900 save percentage or more.

That means he's had a sub 900 more games this year than he's had a game with a 900 safe. Jordan Bennington is not. In 40 games. Jordan Bennington is not even the clear cut number one in St. Louis with the amount that Hofer's played. They're more in like a one a one B situation.

It's bad. Right? It's not looking good. And I, you know, I. That means he'll get a shutout tonight. I have looked at Aiden Hill's numbers as well. Uh, not great, not great at all. I know some people have tried to talk

themselves into the fact that, um, it's been the team in front of them. That's kind of been leaky defensively, but you gotta remember now we go to Canada's backup goalie is also a guy who very recently got called out by his own head coach in Vegas for his inability to make saves like Bruce, Bruce Cassidy came

out mid January and said like, we need our goalie to make more saves. That's your backup goalie. Aiden Hill is Canadian Antiniemi. That's Aiden Hill. Wow, what a pull. Four goalies facing off. All right, we gotta go to break. I like this text, what's the best on best tournament

without Canada changing goalies mid-tournament? Yeah, there's no time for it in this one though. Mid-tournament is after the first game. You're already in the middle of the tournament. Are you allowed to bring in a goalie into the no actually you had to have your roster So and finalize that's joy to chords music. Do you know the injury rules? What if there's a You they've got everyone if all three of their goalies gets hurt in the same game You're not playing up front he's on the outside looking in, eh? He's not playing. It's Konekni, as soon as Konekni was over his illness,

right in and then Sam Bennett is on the outside looking in. Is that Jeff Galulli in the? A bunch of y'all? They all got food poisoning somewhere. I don't know, it's weird. Okay, we're up against our time. Logan Thompson. We gotta go to break.

When we come back, Adam Kierzenblatt, Konek's reporter for the hockey news is gonna join us. You're listening to the Halifax and Bref show on Sportsnet at 6.50.