Halford & Brough in the Morning - Could The Canucks Pass On Drafting Malhotra?

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

In hour three, Mike & Jason look ahead to Friday's NHL Entry Draft with The Hockey News editor in chief Ryan Kennedy (1:16), plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

802 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Are you drowning in tax debt? If you are, Sands and Associates can opt up to reduce your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in our three of the program. Ryan Kennedy, editor-in-chief and prospect expert from the hockey news is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Our three of this program is brought to by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Make a safety simpler by giving construction companies best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio, Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech.

Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. As mentioned, our next guest is from the hockey news. Ryan Kennedy joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Or Ryan, how are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming back on the show, but it's been a while. Much has happened since we last spoke, including much in the last 24 hours.

It is NHL draft week, of course. This Friday, the first round of the NHL draft will get underway. Vancouver Canucks have two picks in the first round. So it's been a long, slow burn to get to this point. And then, of course, the week of the draft, everything goes crazy in the National Hockey League. So we will try and put aside all of the deals that have happened or percolating and focus in on this draft.

What's the one major storyline or development that you're looking at at the top end of this draft heading into Friday? Well, obviously, pick number two, San Jose, is going to be very interesting. But I would say the overall theme is you don't have a lot of centers this year, but you do have like a big five for defensemen. And I'm very curious to see when that runs start and which order it occurs in, because I would say Chase Reed is probably the favorite amongst defensemen to be the first off the board. But then you have Carson Carls, you have Keaton Verhoff, you have Daxon Rudolph, and you have Albert Smiths. I wouldn't be shocked to see them go in any particular order.

They all bring a little something different and they all have a lot of potential. So let's start it too then with San Jose. say, do you see them potentially drafting for need with the blue letter based on what you've heard, what you know of the guys available, and what you're hearing around draft circles? It's interesting because if you look at last year and them going with Michael Mesa as high as they did, you would think like, well, they already have Celebrini and Will Smith, like, you know, Eklund's not that old. You know, would they go a different way? But they all obviously went with Mesa, Best Player Available,

I kind of feel like they don't care about position. They're just accruing assets. So it wouldn't surprise me if they went Evar Stenberg at number two and basically said, we'll deal with positional strength

when we need to. Even if it happens to be in training camp, you see how Sam Dickinson has progressed over the summer that sort of thing, Shakir Mukumadoulin. But again, that's the pivot point. Do they go Stenberg or do they go Chase Reed or do they go with one of those other defensemen? To me, what's kind of fascinating is with all those defensemen, they're all NCAA committed

for next year except Albert Smith, who obviously was playing pro in Finland and then played for Latvia at the Olympics. I wouldn't be surprised if Smiths could go straight to the NHL next year based on his size, his confidence, his mobility, even if he's not the first defenseman off the board. So this is what I'm saying. It's such an interesting draft class, especially with those blue liners. There was a report by the fourth period over the weekend that the Canucks will not select Caleb Malhotra if he's available at number three.

what have you heard on that situation with, of course, his dad recently being named the head coach of the Canucks? Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because we had a chance to speak with Caleb at the Stanley Cup final. And he was like, hey, look, we've got like a pretty professional household. If it happened, I'd be honored. But, you know, he's my dad first. And if he happened to meet my coach, that would be cool. it's just it's a little high to take Caleb Malhotra if you're going by best player available. I do think he's the best center in the draft.

I don't know if Vancouver is in a position right now where they should be drafting for position. I feel like teams can get a bit by that. Like I always go back to Montreal taking Yisperi Kokanyemi third overall. Like that was an utter disaster. And I think teams probably learn from that. If you're Vancouver right now, you need everything. Yeah. You know, you just traded Quinn Hughes.

It feels at number three, if you could get Chase Reed, I'm not saying he's going to be Quinn Hughes, but he had the most offensive upside of any player, you know, any defenseman in the CHL this year in terms of drafts. I don't think they're taking an American, Ryan. You know what? We were joking about that. I don't think they're taking an American.

Maybe you go Carson Carls then. He's Canadian. He has no flaws in his game. He's from out west. Or Keaton Verhoff, you know, same deal. Six or four, lots of offense. So there you go. If they're worried about that, there are options.

Okay, yes or no, a top 10 pick will get traded before the draft on Friday. Ooh. You know what? I'm going to say no because it happens so infrequently. And I just feel like this is the sort of draft where you want those kids. Although as I talk, I think about Ottawa having the number nine pick. And does that become something for Jason Robertson? Yeah. Seattle seems motivated to do something big too. I know they already made a couple of moves, but they've got. the seventh overall pick.

I even wonder about Chicago at number four. Yeah, I mean, if you look at the Blackhawks, I mean, they got to get moving, right? I mean, with Connor Bedard, he's seeing guys like Mackles Elabrini lap him already in terms of playoff berths. You know, Matthew Schaefer was very close in his rookie year to make him the playoffs. And it does sort of feel like Chicago needs to figure out how to properly support Bedard. So, yeah, it's going to be an interesting one.

And, you know, I mean, not to bang the drum on this, but if all the GMs were in the same room like they used to be in the draft, maybe we would see more action. But I guess they can just call each other long distance on Friday to make deals. Hey, Ryan, I know, I want to go back to Caleb Malhotra because I find the season that he had was fascinating. The end of his season, especially the playoffs, how much of that was he was just on a crazy shooting run and everything he shot was going in

or did he, was there something about his game that just went to the next level and all of a sudden he was a different player than he was at the start of the season where there was certainly no talk about him being the third overall pick? Yeah, I think one key for Malhotra was when Jake O'Brien was out of the lineup, you know, World Juniors and whatnot,

Malhotra stepped up and was a driver on that Brantford Bulldog team, which was basically the best team in Major Junior for long stretches. And, you know, they had some bad luck in the playoffs. They got knocked out when they probably shouldn't have. But for Malhotra, he got a chance to step into a role and kind of test drive it. And, you know, knowing that O'Brien was going to be. going to come back. So it wasn't the pressure of being thrust into that number one role and being like, you got to carry the mail. It's sort of like, see how this goes. You know, it's like it's a little

trial run. And he thrived. And you know, you think about all, you know, the aspects of his game. He's a 200-foot player. He can obviously put points on the board. He was one of the top scorers, you know, in the league, especially in the playoffs. And he's got decent size. And now he's going to Boston University for at least one year. I had to scout tell me he's, you know, the literal quote was he's a franchise number one center and that was, you know, sort of midway through the year.

But he didn't do anything worse after that, if anything he got better. So, I mean, he is the top center in the draft. Do you put any thought into the advantages of having an NHL playing father?

Sometimes. Yeah. And, you know, it comes with that poise and just being comfortable in NHL dressing rooms. Yeah. It doesn't always work out. It doesn't, you know, you certainly can't rely on it. But, you know, like I just came from a Stanley Cup final where, you know, Jackson Blake, who was, you know, basically tackled by his father, Jason Blake, on the ice after they won it. And they had a really, you know, nice emotional moment together because Jason Blake, you know, know, he never won the cup as an NHLer. But Jackson Blake, you know, told us about the work ethic instilled in him by his father.

And, you know, the fact that Jackson Blake has been around NHL rooms before. There is that level of comfort for a lot of these kids where they're not intimidated coming in and they know what it takes. So it certainly can't help. Okay. Brady Kachuk now becomes the latest player to reference. all the hate he got when he checked his phone and social media, you know, and,

you know, he was, he forced his way out of Ottawa and he's, he's going to Florida now. We saw similar stories with Mitch Marner, which brings us to Gavin McKenna, and he's already been through a lot in his career in terms of social media. And,

you know, he's, I'm sure, seen a lot of negativity on his timeline. I kind of want to leave the floor to you. Like, how do you think NHL teams should prepare these prospects for what's coming for them?

And are they doing enough to do that? That's a very interesting question. And what's sort of intriguing here is that we are now in the generations that always grew up with social media. Right? Like I guess Mitch Marner would kind of to be on the cusp, same with Brady Cachuck, where, you know, like, I don't know when they started

getting phones and that, and social media and that sort of thing. But the kids today, they've been forged in the fires of troll armies. And, you know, Gavin McKenna, the interesting thing about him is, you know, right from the beginning of the season, you know, I went to see his first couple of games at Arizona State when he first joined up with Penn State. And Penn State coach, Guy Godowski was talking about just what a cool customer McKenna was, just a really calm guy. And, you know, his teammates, you know, I remember Charlie Serato saying after the game, like, you guys don't even see all the craziness. Like, we have people like following, you know, like running up to our bus and everything,

trying to get a look at him. And, you know, he's totally calm about it. And obviously there was, you know, things that happened during the year that Rose's profile even more. but I am kind of intrigued to see what this generation's like because they know about social media more so than certainly people our age did. And I'm probably the generation just before them. How they handle it, I think it's going to be something to watch. Yeah, because I mean, Halford and I were kind of laughing about this topic

earlier when we were talking about when some of the old school sports writers were first introduced to internet comments on their articles. or social media. And they were like, I thought my writing was the word of God. And apparently some people disagree with me and are saying some mean things. I wonder if, and I hope, I guess,

that kids, if they are raised in that environment, it doesn't bother them as much. What do you think about that? A hundred percent agree. And, you know, you think about like the sort of baby boomer calling this, like, how much hate could they have possibly gotten in the 80s and 90s. Like their editor could just not show them the mailed in letter from some angry fan,

you know, in wherever it happens to be. It takes effort to write a letter, too. Most people won't do it. Yeah, you got to buy a stamp. You know, you've got to walk to the mailbox.

You really have to sustain that hatred. So, yeah, you're right. I mean, they probably thought they were doing awesome for decades. And then all of a sudden, now these people are like,

no, uh, there's this thing called, analytics and everything you think about, you know, player X is wrong. And they're like, what? No, I'm, I'm perfect, you know? Whereas, yeah, I think, you know, you look at kids these days and, you know, for better or for worse, they're exposed to a ton of toxicity. And, you know, hopefully, you know, for all our sakes, they, they learn that, you know, that you just got to touch grass sometimes. And, you know, social media is not the be all and all of their lives. And, you know,

Hopefully they find that balance where, you know, they just go on to read awesome articles that we write about them and all their potential. We're speaking to Ryan Kennedy from the hockey news, one of the aforementioned publications with all those awesome articles here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I want to go back to, you know, the notion of drafting Americans. Now, two-part question.

One, do you think that the American factor, air quotes around that, the American factor will become a thing. And secondly, do you think it would manifest itself at this year's draft? Yeah, we were talking about this morning, actually. And for me, it's like, I don't think yet, it's also kind of a weird time because we're in a cycle where there's not a lot of strong American prospects. Like Chase Reed is the best. maybe Wyatt Cullen goes top 10, but it might only be 15, maybe Brooks Ruggowski goes top 15, J.P. Hurlbert.

But like the NTDP was historically bad this year. Okay. And, you know, they might only have one first rat or maybe they get two. Whereas, you know, whatever, 10 years ago, the NTDP was having lottery picks all the time. Jack Hughes, Austin Matthews, Jack Eichol. next year's NTP it's all right but players are already fleeing

for other places Trevor Daly Jr. is going to go to OHL Susu Saint-Marina after playing one year with the NTDP so that's an entirely different conversation

is what's happening to the NTDP but it's sort of a funny time to be talking about this because you know you don't have these elite Americans like a

Quinn Hughes or a Brady Kachuk who were top 10 picks you know should have been top five I pick, that sort of thing, who can sort of make those declarations. And the other thing, too, is like, you know you're going to have the player for at least seven or eight years.

You know, nobody on an entry-level deal is going to force a trade to the Panthers or I hope not. Not yet. Not yet. Who knows? But it is sort of an interesting thing to think about. I mean, maybe if you have a tiebreaker, you go with the Canadian kid if you're a Canadian team.

but I would worry about that second guessing and, you know, thinking yourself out of a great pick. Ryan, this was great, buddy. Thanks as always for doing this. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the week and, of course, enjoy the first round of the draft on Friday. We'll do. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on. That's Ryan Kennedy, editor-in-chief and prospect expert for the hockey news here

on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Okay, get your what we learns into the Dunbar-Lumber text inbox. we will leave the entire next segment up to the listeners, and they're what we learns. We'll print off the submissions. So we'll do some what we learns now, and I'm going to start. I learned that Wyndham Clark won his second U.S. Open

after barely holding onto a six-stroke league that he brought into Sunday, he played terrifically and made some incredible. pars on Saturday and then I'd say on Sunday his tournament was summed up on the par 516th. Didn't hit a very good drive but hit a good recovery shot

out of some deep rough and then didn't hit a very good approach into the green but nailed his birdie putt from a fairly long distance. That being said the most interesting thing about the Wyndham Clark victory

at the U.S. Open was that even though he is American, he was getting chirped hard. That was my question, my follow-up question. Ogressive. Why do people not like Wyndham Clark? Because he destroyed the locker rooms at Oakmont last year at the U.S. Open. It's a bad look.

And he was banned from Oakmont. They said, you can come back if you take like anger management classes. And I don't know. where that went, but obviously had to pay for the lockers. But yeah, the American fans and like the shirt... Well, this is my other follow-up question. Was it

Wyndham Clark reserved or was it for everybody? Because it sounded like there was a lot of abuse being hurled at golfers. Yes. Yes. And it was a lot of Wyndham, but Rory I saw got it. And this was a much better behaved crowd than we saw at the Ryder

Cup. But it was still, I guess there was still elements of New York, even though it was He's in the Hamptons. But I'm going to sound like the judge from Caddyshack right now. Timely reference. The behavior on the golf course from some of the fans is not good for this game. Unbecoming of golf.

It is outrageous. The world needs ditch diggers too, but I don't want them at the tournaments. Right? And like these people are so emboldened by like I can't I can't wrap my head around I saw this one clip of Rory

hitting a T shot okay and a guy who's very close to him is screaming get in the bunker get in the bunker and like people were you know it's not chirping

it's like obnoxious yelling at Wyndham Clark like I hope you choke it's like Happy Gilmore you're describing Happy Gilmore Yeah, it wasn't... But that's awesome. Isn't that great?

No. You need more of that, don't you? No, you don't. I don't want it on the golf course. I think it sucks. And I love the comments, like the new, the people that agree with me will comment, like, shrink the game. Yeah. You know, you always say, like, grow the game.

Like, no, no, no, no, shrink the game. Like, during the pandemic, golf experienced this big boom because people realize, like, oh, I can play golf and life is somewhat normal out on the golf course. as like, that's why I'm like the Ted Knight from from Caddyshack. I'm like, you know, like, no, get these like, get these people off the golf course. We need to make our sport. Far more elitists. Yeah.

Far more. Far more. And bring back the traditions and bring back the good behavior on the golf course because I don't know, man. Like it's, it's just like, you know, the waste management open. That got out of control. Totally out of control. And am I old? Yeah.

Am I a little bit grouchy for sure? But I don't think that golf is a sport where you want people yelling in back swings or just being rude. Can you imagine at Wimbledon? If it was like this, that's kind of what it feels like to me.

There's a reason that you... It's crossed a line. There's not all tradition is bad tradition. There's a reason that you uphold tradition and decorum. and rules, and it's to have something that's unique. Because if it was,

if you didn't hold those things in place, it would just be like everything else. And part of the reason that golf existed in, you know, you love this, in a vacuum at times was because it was,

there was an exclusionary element, like exclusion element to it, right? Like certain people couldn't access it because it was too expensive and the rules were too stiff. And sometimes it went beyond. even that, like there were socioeconomic. It was snobby.

Right, but there was also, there was a lot that goes into it. But when you started to erode all of those barriers, you kind of ruined what golf was. Like, it was meant to be a certain thing, right? And, you know, you see a bit, here's the thing. All of the leagues and all of the tours and everything, like everyone's obsessed with growth and revenue. We've got to make things bigger. We have to reach more audience.

We have to. We have to. we have to. And in that chase, oftentimes you lose sight of what you are as a sport and what your identity is. Live was a disaster. You know? And it, and that... We're going to

play music and the guys will wear shorts. I don't want to see his legs. And there was always this thinly veiled understanding that you were somehow trying to reach more and expand more. You know, I go to the National Football League right now. They're playing games all over the globe right now because they want to

not content with making billions of dollars in North America, there's always more. We can expand this globally. We can make more money in other countries. We can expand our footprint, right? And that's great, but you don't know what the unintended consequences are going to be.

For the NFL, I think eventually the players are going to get worn out from traveling. Yeah, going to Australia in the middle of a football season, which is already physically taxing. So anyway, Muckeau that. Home Town Heroes lottery. Friendly reminder, don't miss the huge early bird with 61 winners. beat Friday's deadline for your chance to win big.

Tickets are now available at London drugs. It must be 19 plus to play. Know your limit. Play within it. Coming up, humanoid, what we learns, the noids. Get them in. Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, 650, 650, and tell us what did you learn over the last 72 hours in sports?

Hashtaget at WWL, you're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Favorite part of the show. What's that say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God.

This is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time. On the show. on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Got debt? If you do, reach out to Sands and Associates during regular business hours,

and they'll get back to you within 20 minutes. We are in hour three of the program. It is what we learned. Time. Hour three is brought to by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies, advice, and tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca.ca. Hey, not bad. Not bad. Not too bad. Go ahead, Jason.

You wanted to start. You had a direction you wanted to take us. Yeah. Do we need to print off the submissions? Do it. Do it. Humanoid submissions for what we learned. Brought to you, as always by A.J.'s Pizza on East Broadway.

Two sides of the restaurant now to serve you better, 325 and 327. Once again, be sure to get your reservations in for all the Canada matches. They still have some seats available. Visit them online at 8. AJ's dot pizza for Rezos. Okay, Andrew and Victoria. No, no.

Our favorite listener who, who hates soccer, because I'm trying to prove a point. What we learned from Andrew in Victoria, we need a PD trade on Wednesday at 11 a.m. because the Cachuk trade just showed how irrelevant the World Cup actually is in Canada compared to hockey. You know what? I'm not going to take the bait.

I'm not going to do it. Okay. I'm not going to give Andrew the satisfaction. Like you? Here's some, what we learned in response. This one's from Jay. What I learned is the World Cup has been not just the soccer, but more. It has brought the world together, cultures embracing each other.

When everything seems so divided, the World Cup has been healing. From the Tartan Army, absolute legends, to the Koreans in Mexico, the Norwegians in Times Square, English lads singing in stadiums and the rodeo in Dallas. It has been phenomenal. Canadians clapping as Qataris citizens walk past Jackpool Plaza in their traditional attire. It is some healing and a time where this World Cup has eased tensions and shows how embracing and seeing other cultures is one of the most beautiful things. It's well said. What a good text that was.

Andrew and Victoria is like, I don't like soccer. That's the genesis of his character. Here is another what we learned. The World Cup is bringing everyone together. I just came back from Dallas. I watched Croatia, England. One of the best experiences of my life. I'm a Croatian fan and was singing Wonderwall with the English.

Spent hours in a Texas saloon speaking with England fans and wearing a Croatian kit. The World Cup experience is like no other. I like that text too. It's definitely better than the first one. People are loving it. And I have actually yet to be downtown in Vancouver during the World Cup. But I'm going tomorrow. I'm going to go downtown.

I'm going to watch England play Ghana. Better win that. And I just want to walk around. And then on Wednesday, I'm going to be at the fan fest. And I bit the bullet and spent on reserved tickets for the amphitheater. And honestly, like I feel like I'm getting a day. deal because the ticket prices to actually get into the game, you know. But here's one on the amphitheater, Jason and North Van, what we learned.

The Peony Amphitheater is probably the coolest thing Vancouver has done since the Olympics. Highly recommend going to watch some games or bands there. So there's a concert also on Wednesday night. I don't know the band because I don't know any bands. Broken social scenes are Friday. Okay. So I watched, I went to the amphitheater on last weekend. And the sound in there is awesome.

Yeah, that's great. I watched that great Japan-Netherlands game. And there were more Japanese fans than Dutch fans. But when the Japanese scored, it sounded like I was in a stadium. And there's only, you know, a few thousand people. But it was so loud. I can't wait to see a concert there. So if you haven't been to the FIFA fan fest yet, a couple things.

One, I highly recommend you go. It's a great time. They've really done a good job. You can absolutely experience the majority of it for free. Let's make that abundantly clear. You walk up, you walk in, you can walk around. There's all, I hate saying this, but there's all the activations. There's the robo goalie.

You can pose for pictures with the man of the match trophy, brought you by Mikulob. you can go to Beckham's backyard brought to you by the Home Depot. Wow, look at all those activations. Yeah, there's a lot. Take me to an activation. There's a lot of sponsors. There's a lot of food vendors.

It's great. It's a lot of fun. There's a lot of free places where you can stand and watch them out on matches on multitude of screens. They've kind of messed up the amphitheater part of it with the ticket pricing. Because right now, prior to every match starting,

they allow in a select number. I think it's between $2,500 to $3,000 free. And that's up front. You stand during the matches, which is fine. And then, so anyway, go on. There are swaths of seated tickets that are unpurchased and grassy knoll tickets, which are unpurchased. Swaths. Yeah.

And it's because I think this might have been something where they needed to do dynamic pricing for it. Because going to the amphitheater to watch Canada, Switzerland is a lot different than going to the amphitheater to watch Ecuador and Curacao. Yeah. Dynamic pricing would have been. made so much sense because I someone texted in that the reserve seats for the Canada Switzerland match are gone now.

They're sold out. Yeah. I'm not surprised. I would go I would spend the money to go to that. That would be a great atmosphere. Yeah. I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like even though I've been watching the World Cup, I've mostly just been watching at home and enjoying the games and I haven't really

experienced what a lot of people have experienced in Vancouver. So this week is good. And at least it's not going to be super hot out, right? Yeah. It's going to be hot. It'll be very hot. Oh, I'm going to the game. I'm going to the match on Wednesday.

I'm excited. Yeah, I'm excited for you. That's going to be such an awesome experience. This is interesting because I got to find this what we learn because it's about the uniforms. Oh, the Canada is wearing white on Wednesday? Yeah. Let me just. Okay.

So this is from Kevin, the former cabbie. Okay. Couldn't do it. It's just the grind. Very retired. Yeah. I don't know. What we learned.

Since Mike revealed Canada will wear white on Wednesday versus Switzerland and Swiss will be in red, I hope some fans will go all Winnipeg white out. I know most will wear red. Yeah. But hopefully some will wear white. And after all, Canada's flag is two colors. Yeah, I'm still okay if it's all red. I think it looks, I think it looks pretty cool.

I mean, you've got your red jersey, you're going to wear that. Yeah. It's going to be a red out again. It's too late to change it. Yeah. The sea of red. Yeah. It will be weird because, again, the Swiss will be wearing red.

Yeah. But this was... I don't think they're going to feel supported, though. I was trying to get a gauge on how... Because there was next to nil, Katari presence. Yeah. Last week. I was trying to get a handle on the numbers for what the Swiss

contingent is going to look like in terms of volume, but it was hard to get a figure on it. But it doesn't matter. I think there will probably be like 5 to 10,000. It'll be less than Bosnia. Bosnia, in retrospect, did an incredible job of not matching, but putting up a valiant effort.

So just to reiterate, Canada only needs to draw Switzerland to win the group. Now, that is very important that they do that. If they lose to Switzerland.

Not only do they not get a game at BC place in the knockout stage. Because you got to win your group. They've got to go to Los Angeles and very likely play. 77% likelihood. Very likely play Korea. Yep. And the Korean crowd will be strong in Los Angeles. I mean, look who.

There's 300,000 Koreans that live in Los Angeles. There's a reason that Jungman's son chose L.A.F.C. as the MLS team because it's got a massive Korean contingent there. If Canada does manage a draw or even beats the Swiss, the opponent is very much up in the air. Right now, according to the athletic, there's a 23% chance it could be Iran, 21% Egypt, 18% Algeria, 12% Austria,

12% Austria, Belgium, Jordan, New Zealand, Ecuador, Senegal, they could all be and because they're the, it's a third third place. There's a lot that they're going to play. There's all. The only teams right now that it can't be are Turkey, Haiti, and

Tunisia because those are the only three teams that have been eliminated from contention thus far. Now I know there's other teams that can't. Well, there's other teams because it's just from certain groups. But I just wanted to bring up the fact that only three teams have been eliminated thus far. And I know with a 14th, team and a round of 32,

there's less likelihood of being eliminated. But Haiti technically was the first team to be eliminated. That was after their loss to Brazil. And then shortly thereafter, because Haiti was kind of expected to bowed, in the group stage, the biggest upset of the first turn happened,

when Turkey bowed out after their second consecutive loss, losing to Paraguay. 10 men, Paraguay. So the Americans have played really well. Okay, I don't want to talk about it, but we're talking about it. Let's go.

The Americans looked. really good against Australia in Seattle. They look like they're going to walk to the round of 16. Do you know who they're most likely to get in the round of 32? Because it could be tough. Not crazy, tough, but tough. Bosnia. Yeah.

And they defend well. I think Bosnia's cooked. I think I match against Switzerland might have been the tip. I don't know. Mexico and the United States, both close. lynch their groups after two games. Mexico's already announced that they're dressing a bunch of backups for their third and final group stage match.

Choa, the 95-year-old goalie, he's actually only 40, but he's going to get the start. And I think they're going to make a couple of their changes as well. They're going to arrest some guys to the playoffs. You know who Mexico could get in Mexico City? Scotland. You do love this, by the way. I love it. The Athletic has one of these generators that constantly updates the matchups

for the round of 32 and buffs on there. It's like it's your tankathon, basically. You're just hit and refresh the entire time. Well, it's so much fun. Can you Imagine if Mexico in the round of 32 got Scotland and then got England in the round of 16, both games at Azteca. Terrific. Honestly, I hope there's enough hospitals to treat sunburns because I'm really curious to see how the English fans are received in Boston after Boston.

Did you see this stuff? Boston and Glasgow became sister cities? Yeah. I'm like, you're like, come on, guys. Like, get a room. Okay, I want to do one from Bob and Gibson. We'll dive back into the hockey stuff here. hashtag WWL from Bob and Gibson's what we learned.

Brady Kachuk got his way going to play with his brother in Florida. Quinn to New Jersey is simply inevitable. Bob, I'm not so sure about that. Here's what I'm kind of starting to realize is that all these guys they have very particular markets

that they all seem to want to plan or float out there. It always seems to be and the three that pop out the most for me, Vegas, Minnesota and Florida. Now here's the interesting wrinkle, and I'm going to try and hash this out over the next few days.

I'll try and call, I don't know, maybe someone that works in hockey. Or maybe I won't. I probably won't. The first time you ever did any reporting. Yeah, and it'll be the last time

because it's boring. But consider for a minute when we talk about this U.S. team that won the Olympics, Bill Zito and Bill Garen were very prominent members of the executive. Bill Garon was obviously

the general manager, Bill Zito was a big part in putting that team together. I wonder if they're going to start to leverage those connections and be more aggressive in trying to recruit than ever before. And in light, because they're emboldened by this. Now, the other guy in this mix... When does tampering get to...

Is it tampering? What's tampering? Telling a guy that he... We got a good team here and you should... That's tampering, yes. Is it? Well, telling him you should. Not telling him you got a good team.

Okay. What about you should think about it? That's tampering. Yes. I don't think that's tampering. If he's under contract, that's tampering. That shouldn't be tampering. That should be creative decision making. Because here's the other one.

No, no, but it's tampering. You know what Kelly McCurman's doing right now? Tampering? Yeah, kind of. When he's going out there and being like, hey, come to Vegas, we do it better than everybody. Yeah, that's selling. But when you're actually like speaking one-on-one to the player and being like, hey, let's get you out of where you are. So here's the thing, you just say, hey, if you happen to be an American,

that won a gold medal in men's hockey at the Winter Olympics in Italy and you would like to be on an American-based team that goes to the playoffs and might have a chance to win the cup. Call me. I think that's what these GMs are going to do now. Yeah.

I mean, it doesn't need to be said one-on-one, right? The signaling is obvious. And again, I go back to you know, the fans are going to whine and complain, and that's fine. It's part of being a fan and they're going to hate these players and good.

What I would say to the Canadian teams are what are you going to do about it? Are you going to whine and complain? You can't sit there and cry. You got to get creative. Or you're going to do something about it. And I really think, you know how McCriman can get a little

passive aggressive with his comments? A little. Be passive aggressive in the Canadian markets too and be like, yeah, you know. Some guys don't want to deal with the pressure. They can't handle the pressure. They can't handle the comments. And that's fine.

Those guys can still be good hockey players. We're looking for people that want to embrace the market, that don't want to embrace the passion of Canadian fans and want to do something really special. And that's win a Stanley Cup in Canada. Are you going to get blowback for that? Yeah, you are. But that's the only foot you can plant

if you really want to make a stand and say, why Canada or whether you can't golf all year okay I guess you could in Vancouver but it's wet okay

our taxes aren't comparable in a lot of ways to places in the United States that is also true may make less on your paycheck that's also true but where we're going with us again

are you are you a hockey player or a golfer are you doing this just for the money, or are you doing this because you love the game and you want to do something special? And, you know, I think you can make some, you can make some comments that even if you, even if it stirs up some of the other franchise, you can be like, yeah, I saw the Stanley Cup parade in Carolina. Nothing like it would be in Canada. Yeah, I think, well, I think you're on the right way. I think you're on the right path here because I think it's going to be, when I talk about question their manhood.

Why are you so scared? Now are you so scared to play in Canada? Now is not the time to be polite and to rise above. It's time to get in the gutters and get dirty. And everyone being emboldened and I think it's great because I think for too long the NHL has been too reserved, too polite, to button down, two, we don't do that. You hear that a lot.

Oh, we don't do that. They do now. And you have to, and to your point earlier, The response shouldn't be, well, I don't like that. The response should be, what are you going to do about that? Yeah, this is a competitive league. Shots are, shots been fired. How are you going to respond?

And you'll get it back. If you enter the fray, you better be prepared to get it back. And people will be like, you know, whatever. Like, there's a reason they go to the United States or whatever. And that's why they win cops or whatever. It's like, yeah, we're trying to change that. And for too long, you know, it's always been a, about like, oh, what can we make, what can we do to make you feel more comfortable here,

you know, in Canada? Do you want us to hire a coach that you like, hey, why don't we sign your buddies? How about just be like, ah, we want guys that want the pressure? Sure. And maybe it'll work and maybe it won't. Maybe it won't. But like, you'll at least have some pride and you'll be able to appeal to some guys. Like, sell them the dream of winning the cup.

And honestly, especially for the Canadian players. Yeah. Oh, that's the key. you want to set the table for attracting some Canadian players back to Canada. I agree. Because the Canadian players are proud of being from Canada. They love playing for Canada. They like representing their country.

Well, see if they'll prove it. And they like beating the Americans. Yep. I think this is a great development. You know the other part of this too is I did not, we always talk about unintended consequences on the program. I did not see the return to best on best. international play

manifesting itself like this. This was a turn that caught me by surprise. But it quickly turned into us versus them. And a lot of it was outside influences. Us versus them is the best thing about international hockey competition. We used to have those commies.

Now we've got the, I don't know, what's the opposite? But I, yeah, right. The Thumb brothers. I didn't think that, I didn't think that

it would bleed over into the NHL as much as it has. I thought there'd be a division like church and state almost like international hockey is one thing professional hockey's the other thing and all because Nathan McKinan missed an open net seriously right what a sliding doors moment

for the world could you imagine but could you imagine would have been that different though if Canada won't well okay here's what happens if Canada wins they don't go on the 48 hour booze fueled recruitment party to Miami and they don't get criticized for the Trump phone call they don't get one and they don't

go to the White House none of that happens Trump calls and calls them losers yeah what is our losers added bonus. Seriously. Seriously, though, none of that happens. revokes their citizenship. The butterfly effect would have been so, so dramatic

because none of that would have happened. Matthew Chishuk would have requested a trade to Ottawa. Right. John my brother. Not feeling so welcome anymore. Mike in Nanaimo, what we learned, I learned that the African teams have greatly benefited from having their Afcon tournament

only six months ago. Would not be surprised, one or more make it deep into the tournament. So at the Qatar World Cup, correct me if I'm wrong here, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semifinals. That's correct. Are they

the most likely to make a deep run? They're the best team. Do you know the Dutch could get them in the round of 32? Yeah, I saw that. That would be a... That'd be like... That'd be kicking the teeth. Yeah, the Dutch. You look so good. You're undefeated in the World Cup in a long time.

It's like, who do we get in the round of 32? A Moron Morocco. I am anticipating, I'm anticipating unprecedented levels of match fixing in the final group stage matches to try and figure out what matchup you want. Oh, yeah. Because there's some that you're just going to get the worst luck of the draw, right? By the way, it's a good point on Africa right now. So I would put Morocco as the best, but you had Egypt yesterday getting its first ever win at the World Cup, which was fantastic.

How awesome was that for everyone there to see not only Mosala, but see him, score the winning goal. And then he had a, he's, there were a tough year, Liverpool. There have been people that were like,

this guy's cooked. He's done. He's too old. His legs are gone. And he scores that big goal. But I'll tell you what's a really interesting story right now is, is Cape Verde with a population of 525,000 people. And I know the diaspora was all over Europe where they were able to pull their players from.

Yeah. But the fact that they are in a pretty good spot to qualify out of the group is stunning. when you look at how small the country is, how new this program is to the World Cup, and a lot of these players are to one another. It's pretty cool. Yeah, it's great. So, yeah, it's been a very, very good.

And I do wonder if Afcon had a role to play in it. Okay, what are the games today? So coming up at 10 o'clock, you've got Argentina and Austria. It's actually flipped. Messi was the nightcap of the big three today in this match day are France, Norway, and Argentina with Messi, Holland, and Mbapé

working in reverse. But the order is going to be flipped because I'm not mistaken, it's Messi and Argentina kicking it off at 10 a.m. this morning. Then France, Iraq, Norway, Senegal, and Jordan, Algeria. That's the nightcap. Okay. Well, enjoy it, everybody.

We will be back tomorrow to talk about it all. But for now, we've got to say goodbye. Thank you all for listening and thank you all for contributing. Signing off. I have been Mike Alford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A-Dog. He's been regular Zach. This has been the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.