Halford & Brough in the Morning - Dhali With A Canucks Update + What We Learned

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

In hour three, Mike & Jason get a Canucks update from Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal (1:08) after their much-needed home win over the Florida Panthers, the boys tell us what they learned (27:00), plus it's Ask Us Anything Friday (40:00)! 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.

Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Dolly. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. In a one on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650.

Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program. Rick Dollywall is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour three of this program is brought to you by

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Richard M. Dollywall joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Rick? Oh, not good, guys. Highway 99 shut down, so everybody in White Rock, oh my goodness. I left 6.30 this morning, White Rock. It took me an

hour to get to Surrey. Now I'm in Delta. I still got to cross the Alex Fraser. But when you got a major highway like that shut down, everybody in White Rock this morning, guys, it is chaos. Like, the number 10 highway is just King George.orge i mean it is chaos i'm basically not even halfway to work yet but there's a lot of people in white rock right now this morning scrambling it it's pretty chaotic out here uh this morning well sorry to hear that sorry to hear everyone uh who's stuck in traffic today i know that must frustrating, especially if you're listening to our show.

Even more frustrating. Let's talk about the game last night because that was not frustrating as a Canucks fan. In my opinion, that was exactly the type of performance they needed. Very impressive, complete

60-minute effort. We have not seen many of these games this year. Huge win at home. So there's 2-1-1 in the homestand. And you know what they did? They silenced the crowd that says they can't beat good teams. Well, you just beat the defending Stanley Cup champs by four goals. That's one of those games, I think, Jason, where in a few weeks they say,

you know what, that can turn a season around. It can put belief in the team. They needed that kind of win. You know, it was a great first period. That first period set the tone for the rest of the game. JT Miller's first game back, missed 10 games, had two assists. I really like Tockett. Managed his minutes, only 14.

In fact, I'll tell you. Managed everyone's minutes. Well, hey, you know what? That happens, Jason, when you roll four lines. Yeah, it was awesome. Max Sasson was the hero of the first period. The Panthers didn't scout him. They didn't know that he was like the fastest man in the world.

Oh, and I'll get to Max Sasson in a second here, but back to Miller. He's such an important part of the team, guys. He makes them so much stronger up the middle, helps the power play. What was he on face-offs last night? I think 12 for 60%, so a good first game back for Miller. But what about Kevin Lankanen? 27 saves, shutout.

Look, I'm running out of words to really describe this guy. Canucks have 15 wins. He's got 14. There's only one goaltender in the NHL with more wins. Connor Hellebuck at 18. What a story. And with Demko back, the Canucks are now set at the go overplay Demko. Demko can now get the necessary rest and the recovery that he needs. Hands down, the most important July 1st signing, Lankanen, he bridged the gap for the Canucks to Demko, providing absolutely calming presence in net. I don't know. I'm going to ask you guys, I don't know how the Canucks would do it, but re-signing lincoln has got to be a must but if capital letters if lankanen continues to play lights

out for the rest of the year i don't think the canucks can do it um term and money is going to be if like we we like jason i think the only way they're able to do it is if they prioritize Lankanen as the starting goalie and I don't know if that's going to happen agree or disagree and Demko's contracts up in a year and by the way they can start talking to Demko on July 1st about a new deal but just absolutely that seems unlikely don't you think like for them to do it that I know there's a lot to still to be written in this season, but for them to talk extension with Demko, you know, less than a year after he recovers from this injury.

But what if he goes on a heater the rest of the year? How about if he plays 30, 40 games and goes deep in the playoffs? I mean, things can change. We just don't know. But, you know, the Canucks signing a Lankan has turned out to be an absolute must and an absolute incredible signing. You mentioned Sasson.

Fourth line was in on the first two goals. Sasson, the two primary assists. This kid was feeling it last night. 20-plus teams. You talked about Florida. You know, they didn't scout this kid. 20-plus teams after him in college. He picked the Canucks.

If he becomes a regular in Vancouver, teams are going to look at his development in Abbotsford. Working with the Sedin twins in Abbotsford has big benefits. I get more and more agents asking me about Abbotsford. They really like the setup. And I heard Moj talk to Manny Malhotra last night, and Manny made a good comment that when kids get sent from Vancouver to Abbotsford,

they go down with a good attitude. When they're down in Abbotsford, they have a good attitude, they get called up again. The worst thing you want is when a kid gets sent down to Abbotsford and that kid is sulking and crying and saying, why me?

I deserve to be in Vancouver. Well, Hoaglander last year, you know, or the year before, he got sent down, didn't like it, but he went down there, worked with the Sedin twins, came back and scored 24 goals. So I think that that was a good point by Moj. I just think Abbotsford's got a really good reputation right now around the league. It's a really good setup. It's 10 times better than the setup in Utica.

Imagine having access to a couple of Hall of Famers like the Sedin twins, but also Manny Malhotra. You can just go up to them and be like, hey, I need help with this. And Milstein told me when they picked Vancouver for Sasson, they picked, Milstein said to Sasson, you're going to get good development in Vancouver with the Twins. So I think the Sedin Twins, I know when they were first hired,

people thought it was a gimmick. It was not a gimmick. These guys are well-respected. They have a hockey sense. They teach you. You get better. It's a really good setup down there, absolutely. No question about it.

Okay. So obviously Lankanen, great signing for the Canucks. Terrific work, not only to get him signed, but also at that number. De Arne, not such a good signing. They made a bet. They gambled on his, and the potential has not panned out. Where are they with moving De'Arne out of the organization? Well, Jason, his name's out there. Canucks are trying to see if they can move him, and I'm going to tell you something. His name hasn't been out there for one or two days. I've been told it's been out there for a while.

He hasn't been a fit. He's had a tough time staying in the lineup. The St. Louis game, he only had 12 minutes and Friedman had more ice time than him. He's been in the American League all year long. Right now, Friedman is out playing him. He had another strong game last night. Talkett likes what he brings to the table. One of the Canucks goals started last night with a wonderful hit from Friedman. When Sadoroff and Cole left, they were replaced by Forbert and Desjardins. Two huge guys. I can see why they signed them. Hockey people love size.

Size was the number one reason. They thought they could work with them, and they thought they could make them better. But projects are for Abbotsford. They're not for the NHL. The NHL doesn't have much patience for projects hockey's uh hockey people's love for size is never going to end the big guy's got to prove he can't play the small guy's got to prove he can play now day or night day or day is going to be tough very tough to move he's got term that's problem number one problem number two he's not playing great um

the the one team told me last night his puck skills are an issue for them so bottom line is canucks have to find an everyday defenseman in that third pair on the right side they haven't had one all season long that's not good i this. When Besser got his concussion, it was Desjardins who said about Tanner Janot, the league did what they had to do. Next time we play them, next time we play them. Much full respect for Desjardins for saying that. You know, he's talking about the Kings-Canucks next game. Also, I want to say this. This regime doesn't wait forever to correct their mistakes. Curtis Lazar traded shortly after signing

a three-year deal. I think it was shortly after year one. Daniel Sprung lasted nine games. Riley Stillman, Jason Studnicka, Mikheyev Kuzmenko, they move on. They move on from their mistakes. I don't know what's going to happen here if you can't make them.

You know, if you can't trade him, what do you do? You put him on waiver, send him to Abbotsford. I just don't know, Jason, what the recourse is going to be here if they can't move him. Yeah, at least maybe bury half of his cap hit in the AHL.

At any rate, let's move on to Brock Besser. Scored last night. You know, Nick Caprios wrote an article on Sportsnet.ca where he talked about Besser's potential ask. And I know you guys were talking with Ray Ferrari yesterday on your show about term, and Ray was a little hesitant about an eight-year term for Besser. How important is term going to be in all this? Both are going to be important. You just got to look at Miller's deal. You got to look at Patterson's deal. What did both those guys get?

They got term and money and Besser's in no different boat. Let me say this first. I told you guys a couple, two, three, four weeks ago that Travis Konechny is going to be a comparable for Besser. Where is he at? 8-7. But I have to tell you this, and the people get a little bit confused on the Konechny contract. Konechny is not making 8-7 this year. He starts making 8-7 next year. So people get a little bit confused about that comparable. But I will say this, will he get what Konechny gets? I don't know. But Konechny is also on pace for 96 points this year he's a hell of a player for the Philadelphia Flyers most people

you talk to around the league do feel the number will start with an eight I do feel that if the number does not start with an eight in Vancouver and July 1st is sitting there like either he's going to get eight in Vancouver plus or he's going to get it somewhere else Jason on July 1st is sitting there like either he's going to get eight in Vancouver plus or he's going to get it somewhere else. Jason, on July 1st. OK, so now let's go to this. I'm hearing it's very quiet right now. Not hearing of any negotiations yet with agent Ben Hankinson. Also, although there is always communication with the two sides i find it really hard to believe that hankinson did not meet with gm patrick alvin when the canucks were in minnesota a couple of weeks ago although hankinson would have met with him not just to talk about besser he's also got blue

bird as well now i think the canucks could be waiting to see if last year 40 goals is a one-off. In the previous four years, before the 40 goals, 23 goals was the highest Besser got. Before he suffered his concussion this year, Besser was on pace for 40. I think he had six after 11 games. Brock can bet on himself, and he can do just fine on July 1st. And I'm going to tell you something else. Goal-scoring wingers, they don't grow on trees. Developing your own is even tougher.

Look at the Canucks' current roster. Besser and Hoaglander are the only two wingers that were drafted by the Canucks and are on the current roster. Everybody else, every other winger on the Canucks was brought to you by either vis-a-vis a trade or free agency.

So at some point, this team's got to do a better job of draft and develop. The cap's going to go up this summer. That's going to help Besser. There'll be more money in the summer. And don't forget, the Canucks didn't sign Pettersson last year until March 2nd. Eight-year deals don't happen in 24 hours. You think the Canucks weren't talking to Pat Bresson and J.P. Berry for months and months and months before they finally agreed?

Of course they were. Ray Ferraro on our show made a lot of good points yesterday. He's worried about eight years. Where's the foot speed for Brock in years six, seven, eight of that deal? Eight-year deals are always dangerous for guys who are 27 and 28. What do you look like at the tail end of that contract? Now, I do believe both sides, the desire is really strong to get this done in Vancouver. So the timing of this, do you think it's going to be similar to the Pedersen situation,

that it goes right down to the wire ahead of the trade deadline? Yeah, well, they should get kicked. I mean, come on. I think, well, they should get kicked. I mean, come on. I think in January they should start kicking. And to think that they don't have general feeling of what it's going to take, I'd be shocked. They pretty well know. The Canucks know.

And, you know, people that complain about the $8 million, it's not like Brock's going from $4 to $8 million. He's going $6, $5 to $8, which isn't really a super-duper jump, considering the caps going up, considering he's coming off of 40 goals, considering he led the team in playoff goals with seven, and he scored four of those goals after he broke his finger in Nashville at a practice. So look, either way, this guy's going to get paid. Wingers that score are going to get paid, Jason. And whether it's going to be in Vancouver or elsewhere, that's what we've got to wait to see.

I thought he was going to get a two-year, $3 million contract. Well, you're definitely not his agent, I'll tell you that much. All right, Rick, I hope the traffic improves. I hope you get to work on time. I'm in a park. I pulled in a park, and a couple of people just went right by me to give me a dirty look. I've got to get out of this park.

Someone's going to call the cops on me. All right, I've got to go. I've got to get to work later. See you. Be safe, buddy. That's Rick Dollywell in a park on the Halford & Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Hope he's okay.

He's in a park. He's pulled into a park. There's so many ways we could go with that. We're not going to do it. I'm just like biting my tongue quite aggressively. I'm bleeding now. Yep. Let's do some what we learned.

Sure. I want to play another bit of audio from Elliot Friedman on the most recent edition of 32 Thoughts. We already played a little bit about where they are as a team and, you know, the need to maybe move Darnay, et cetera, et cetera. Here's something on the return of JT Miller and how that might go.

Even Besser told Ian McIntyre the other day, it's been a lot different without him. So just having him around again, even before you step on the ice for a game, you could sense within the room, it's different for all the right reasons in Vancouver. And it has to stay that way. I think he has to bend

and the other guys have to bend. Everybody has to bend a little bit. It's like a podcast, Kyle. You've got your talents. I've got my talents, although I'm still trying to discover exactly what those are. And we have to bend them together

to make the podcast good. And hopefully by the time we are both fired, we will find a way to do that. So he has to bend and the Canucks have to bend. So this is hinting at some sort of dynamic flexibility, right? There was some sort of,. Flexibility. Right. There was some sort of,

what Elliot is hinting at is, we're not trying to make stuff up here. There was some sort of dynamic that was going on in the room that needed a break. A dynamic, you say? Well, elaborate, Jason. Oh, okay.

Here, let me make it up. Yeah. I don't know if we're ever going to get much past this point of very vague speculation. But I think maybe what we can conclude is there were issues within the room, within the team, because some people have wondered if it is like a purely a personal thing, right? Like nothing to do with the team whatsoever, purely a personal thing.

What I think we can conclude from that, and Freedj isn't just going to put this out irresponsibly, there was something going on there, right? And they need to work on that. Just like they needed to work on that just like they needed to work on the relationship between but like no but what are you laughing at no there's so many rumors out there right like there's so many rumors out there that just you just said here's what we know something happened yeah but but no but you're not you're being disingenuous

because there are some people that said that this has nothing to do with the team. This is purely a personal thing for JT Miller. There were some people that said. That's not true. Nothing happened. Okay, fine. Be disingenuous. I'm not being disingenuous.

You are. We're trying to have to. Again, I sound like Dollywell here. I'm repeating myself 6,000 times. All the rumors that I've heard is like, oh, it's something at home or whatever. Something happened within the team. Yeah. Right?

I think that's important. That's not nothing. No. So they're going to have to make some changes. And he's saying that Miller's going to have to bend a little bit and the Canucks are gonna have to bend a little bit essentially saying like you have to let Miller be himself but also Miller has to acknowledge that being himself you know sometimes I guess my point I guess my point would be that after 10 games and nearly what 20 days of um no messaging no explanation then the player returns with no messaging and no explanation um well the message was i will

not be giving an explanation but this is where this is where we're at it's still a very vague very nebulous guess at what's going on to which brings me back to the point that i made in the first hour of the program this might just be it this might just be this very weird very brave new world where we're not getting anything and it ain't coming anytime soon like we haven't gotten anything in the past the usual insiders that were clawing and scraping away for it, either they know. We just got something, man. Yeah, I think you got a general idea now.

We just got something. We tried the same thing with Popliteus and we got Popliteus eventually. I mean, yes, Halford, I understand what you're saying. Obviously, we don't know for sure. We probably never will, but we have an inkling of an idea now

in general what it was. That's what we're saying. That's what I'm saying. We've got a hint of a feeling. Well, that's something. That's something. The notion of the something that we think is pretty sure might have just happened. Open your ears, man.

I am opening my ears. Open your disingenuous ears. I love when people text in and they're genuinely upset when we fight. Like, please stop fighting. I'm not even fighting. I got stuck in traffic. He's like, I'm just trying to get to work. He's so defensive that he won't admit to that he's fighting.

I'm late to work and mom and dad are fighting. I'm not fighting. You're fighting. Yeah, you're fighting. Okay. I do get what you're saying. I do get what you're saying. I do get what you're saying. I think that part of you doesn't want to acknowledge that the way that I'm approaching it,

this sort of like, I don't know what else to tell you, but we're not getting anywhere here, isn't like the most viable. We're not. We're not getting anywhere here. We just got somewhere. We're making progress here. Okay.

To what end? That we could infer that it was just a problem within the team. There's some sort of team dynamic that needs to be fixed and worked on. Yeah. That's all. Nothing crazy. We're just trying to rule out some of the crazy rumors that have been going about. Compared to all the other crazy rumors, this one is at least not crazy.

It's just standard. Like, yeah, sometimes guys- Yeah, he had a fight with his team or something. That happens. It's not a huge deal. It happens just standard. Like, yeah, sometimes... Yeah, he had to fight with his team or something. That happens. It's not a huge deal. It happens. Right. Not some outlandish conspiracy theory

that's been being thrown around for three weeks now. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. We've got a lot more to get into on the program today. I had a What We Learned, but I didn't want to... My What We Learned was the Buffalo Savers have made it clear

that you are allowed to bring inflatable palm trees to games now. This is courtesy of the... You had to clarify? Yes. So back on December 6th, the general manager, Kevin Adams, had that press conference. I wasn't here for it. I'm sure you guys talked about it at length,

where he was talking about his team's woeful start to the season they were 11 14 and 1 and then adams went down the road and i think you classified it as the press conference got away from him yeah that he said buffalo has issues attracting and retaining talent and the line was you become a perennial playoff team that has a chance to win the stanley cup year after year but you're on no trade lists we don't have palm trees we have taxes in new york those are real those are the things you deal with and the one thing that everyone plucked from that was the palm trees yeah yeah right because it's it is tribe been to buffalo didn't see a single palm tree the entire time they don't exist there there was one that was really struggling it had no leaves

it was dead at a sign it said please help me it's like the palm trees we have down in english bay those are hanging by a thread i'm not developing like i should so kudos to the buffalo sabers fans who kind of took this and ran with it and they started wearing hawaiian shirts and started bringing inflatable palm trees to the games. But of course this took a weird turn like most things do in Buffalo because you started getting anecdotal evidence and stories that ushers were taking palm trees

away from fans and telling them to deflate them before they got back to their seats. So kudos to regular weekly guests of the program, Greg Wyshynski. He reached out to the Sabres and they confirmed that it is okay to bring that paraphernalia

into the rink and to sport it as long as it's not obstructing anybody's view of the ice. They should start selling them. They're thinking about leaning into it. Sabres logos, man. They're thinking about leaning into it. Also firing Kevin Adams. Actually, you know what? He might be selling them. That is one way to lean into it.

Poundries, yeah. Get your palm trees. I need the license money. All right. I'm sorry we had a fight. Let's moo cow. Okay, you want to announce the winner right now? We're going to announce the winner.

It's the last day that we're doing this. It's the tickets to see Creed and Big Wreck. August 2025, Rogers Arena final. We've been doing this five days in a row. The final winner of the week is Adog. Congrats to Nick from Poco. You will be taken higher. I believe it's called Pocompton. Ah, yes. That's right. You will be

taken higher. Nice one. Okay, so there's your winner. That's not the only contest that we're just thinking of. Pocompton. Can you imagine a less threatening guy than Bert? He's the toughest guy in Poe Compton. Ooh, it's that Bert guy. I've heard about him.

Bert? Don't make eye contact with him. What was the name of the guy that won? Bert. Nick from Poco. Nick. Nick should take Bert. They should do like a Poe Compton thing together.

Nick and Bert. Anyway. Okay. We're going to go to break. When we come back, we're going to do our more What We Learns if we've got them. We're going to do your What We Learns and Ask Us Anythings. We're also going to give away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway to the best What We Learned or Ask Us Anything.

That's all coming up in the final half hour of the final hour of the final show of the week. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Kelownafarnia.

West Coast. West Coast. Yeah. Kelowna, baby. Best place in the world right here. Kelowna, California. Kelowna, California. Kelowna, California.

California. Kelowna, California. Hey. Kelowna, California. Kelowna, California. Kelowna, California. California. Kelowna, California. Hey. Hey, 32 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650.

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 three of the program. It is what we learn time. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound.

Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We do have a what we learned from our side of the table. It is Canucks related. And it is courtesy yet again from Jason Brough. Jason, tell us what you learned. I learned that the 50-50 draw is rigged. Yeah. Canucks Teddy Bluger's mom won it. You heard that right.

Let me reiterate. That's awesome, though. Teddy Bluger's mom won the 50-50. Ladies and gentlemen, a winner has been chosen for today's giveaway. And the 1997 Pontiac Astrowagon goes to the fan sitting in seat number 0001, C. Montgomery Bain. Yay! The fans do not like this one bit bit And here come the pretzels Dark day for baseball

Anyway, congratulations to Teddy Bluger's mom, Jana She came from Latvia Very nice woman Probably not like Seymour Montgomery Bernthal She's like, I'll buy 50-50. It goes to a great cause. She apparently didn't even know how it worked. It had to be explained to her why and how she won. Well, I joked on Twitter.

I was like, wait until she finds out about the tax on Latvian tourists here. It's 100% tax on Latvian tourists and their lottery winnings. Did you say it's only for Latvians? And it's paid directly to Jason Brough. Congratulations to her. Have you guys ever won any 50-50 at anything? Not that amount. No, obviously not that amount. You wouldn't be here. The lottery was

like $4 on a scratch and win. Yeah. Was that a big one for you? That was a big day for you? Yeah. I go to a lot of hockey games where the pot is like $60. Yeah, yeah. I've won that I think a few times. Who is the sports reporter from Global that won? Barry DeLay, man. That was amazing. That was a Kenckman that was ken brockman yeah there's me very delay do you remember they do you remember they uh the flood in a koala didn't shorty win it one time

gotta go shorty and cheech won it yeah um but uh so when i was watching that for some i don't know watching it would have been awesome they put up a graphic of their reaction. No, but the person who read it, it was Sophie Lou and Squire Barnes, but someone read it and it wasn't them. Like it would, they brought someone on to do the draw and it was like,

Barry Dealey, like, and they're like, Barry delay. And Barry delay was right there. Cause he was working at the time. I don Barry DeLay was right there because he was working at the time. I don't know if he was right there actually. No he called him. I think he got called later. Yeah that was the house

right? He won a house? $2.5 million house. Oh god. The Children's Hospital Dream Lottery. That's a great moment in BC history. Oh my god that was amazing. Anyway congratulations to Teddy Bluger's mom the CRA will be coming for you soon. Okay.

Give us a mookow on that. Mookow. Anybody else got one? Let's move along. Time now for Humanoid What We Learned, brought to you as always by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Try their traditional New York pizza or sink into their famous Detroit style. You can also go

Saturday for $6 pints. Sunday, happy hour all day this weekend only at AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You can also visit them online at aj.pizza. Nick and Suri, what we learned, I learned last night that the Canucks actually can make tape-to-tape passes, including in their own

zone. What a stark contrast compared to the flip-fest that we saw on Tuesday against the Blues. I hope they can keep it going. It makes their transition game and breakouts so much cleaner. Yeah, and against a heavy four-checking team like the Florida Panthers, very impressive. I talked about just in the first period, I mean, it's not like this is going to show up

on any highlight reel, but Derek Forbord getting the puck up to Teddy Bluger to start the rush on Danton Heinen's goal. Simple plays like that. It wasn't the most difficult pass, but it was on the tape. It allowed Bluger to keep going

and he passed it up. I guess he got it to Sasson and then Sasson got it to Heinen and it's a goal. It's just if you can transition the puck up the ice, it makes all the difference in the world. But it's hard. It's hard.

First of all, you know, like, you got these four checkers on you. You've got to make sure all the forwards are in the right place to actually get the puck and skate with it. It's difficult, and it's the challenge for pretty much every team in the NHL. Like, that's the name of the game. It's like, you know, we talk about the Seahawks, right? And their offensive line is blocking and pass protection and creating. It is similar, right?

If you give your defensemen time to make plays, you're good. If not, you get into trouble. I think so. We were talking about unlocking the code and putting the Rubik's Cube together to figure out the right match. Look, as currently constructed, the defense is far from perfect.

But I think there's a belief internally that they can find the right pieces and move them around and find the right pairings and they can make it passable, salvageable. I don't know if there is that belief, but maybe that belief gained something yesterday. I'm pretty sure the coaching staff is, number one, just waiting for Hronik to get back,

but also, number two, probably assuming that there's going to be an addition. But here's the thing. I think that Tockett likes his blue line better with Mark Friedman in it, for example, than Brandstrom, because Friedman brings different things. Yeah. Namely, he's a pain because Friedman brings different things. Yeah. Namely, he's a pain in the ass to play against.

He's also a right shot. And that makes a difference. Sure, but he gives them an edge. He's got to be consistent, though, too. Yeah. Like, he's not game in, game out like he hasn't been. But he will bring that part of it consistently. Sure.

He's not going to give you the offensive upside of Brandstrom. No. But for what they need right now, and spoke about it yesterday, he's like, we were better in our own end defensively. We boxed out better. And he said it a couple times, he's like,

Freeman is what he is. He's going to be a pain in the ass to play against. But he gives an edge that they didn't really have. Freeman's a bit like Juleson because you like his physicality,

you like his courage as a player. Sometimes he gets running around a bit, though. Makes mistakes. So hopefully, the Canucks can have another performance like they did against Florida going forward against Boston and Colorado on Monday I think Colorado is going to be the real challenge my entire point was like could you imagine if we exist in a world where the unlocking of the defense was because they got Mark Friedman and Derek Forbort into the mix finally. That would be an amazing storyline.

I do think that Forbort is important for this defense because he's a journeyman. And I compared his career to Ian Cole. He's a good, solid player. He's not going to be too flashy, but he's kind of seemed like the unforgotten man. And someone texted in earlier

into the show and said, I kind of looped, or I kind of put Forbort and Darren A in the same camp. And it's like, no, they're not even close to being in the same camp because Forbort has played hundreds of games in the NHL. First round pick in 2010. And Darren A has always been a project. Yes, that's a good one.

Sonny, this was for Moj, but we didn't get a chance to ask Moj. Sonny asked, what does everyone think about Devondre Campbell giving up on the 49ers after the first half of yesterday's game? Yeah,

that was a crazy part of last night's Niners Rams game. It actually deflected away in a good way for the Niners, how terrible the Niners were, because that's all anyone was talking about after the game. So if you missed it yesterday, Dre Greenlaw made his season debut for the San Francisco 49ers last night. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw. You may remember him as the guy that tore his Achilles in last year's Super Bowl.

Remember, he was so amped up on the sidelines, he jumped up to go run onto the field and then tore his Achilles in last year's Super Bowl. Remember, he was so amped up on the sidelines, he jumped up to go run onto the field and then snapped his Achilles. Well, he's been gone since then, made his return last night. Now, unfortunately for Devondre Campbell, his return came at the expense of Devondre Campbell, who went from being a starting linebacker to a backup. Greenlaw gets hurt. They ask Campbell to go back in in the third quarter and Campbell says

no. Said he didn't want to play today is what Kyle Shanahan said after the game a couple of his teammates including George Kittle took to the media afterwards and very much admonished the player. It's great to have a scapegoat after losing that game right? I think quietly

Kyle Shanahan was like, thank God he did this, because that took away from the fact that they put up six points in prime time at home, right? Yeah. Purdy looked terrible. Didn't have to talk about Brock Purdy, didn't have to talk about the complete lack of offense,

didn't have to talk about the fact that the season might be cooked. Everyone just wanted to know about Devondre Cannon. Also, I feel bad. Sonny gets us on Twitter a lot and texts in and he's a big Packers fan big Packers fan so we got a rivalry game going into Sunday Night Football have fun down in Seattle Sonny I hope you enjoy the game uh Tanbeer good old Tanbeer there's Tanbeer what we learned the Canucks have a have to make a decision between

Brock Besser and Lekker Mackey. Okay, Tanbeer. Tanbeer goes on, if you think this is your Stanley Cup window, you have to extend Brock and trade Lekker Mackey for help now. If you think the team isn't good enough, you have to trade Brock and hope Lekker Mackey can replace Besser. Tough decision. I'd trade Lekker Mackey because the window is Hughes' contract length.

I don't know if it's quite as black and white as that, Tambir, but I will say that it will be interesting if the Canucks do maintain a playoff position ahead of the trade deadline, what they are willing to give up. That's just it. What are they willing to give up. That's just it. What are they willing to give up in order to get help? And a lot will depend on what is that help. If it's a rental,

they're obviously going to be willing to give up less. But if it's a player that they think can come in here and not only help the team for this playoffs, hopefully they get there. That's your Demko for a star defenseman. There it is. All right. I just...

Hard to argue against it. Sometimes think I need a vacation. Sometimes it bothers me. Other times your timing is impeccable. I'm just saying. We'll see what happens. We've really... We haven't stoked...

You guys are perfectly named as dogs, by the way, right? We haven't quite stoked the flames of the goalie concert for City Day, but there's definitely some kindling there.

We've definitely done a little bit of groundwork. Well, Ruff says you've got to get 10 games, just in case Lankanen continues to play

great and Demko doesn't play so great over 10 games, then. So we all know that I've got a dog at home. His name is

Pedro. He's from Cabo. And so we could be having a really serious moment in the house and then having a, not a serious moment, but have an adult conversation in the house. And then the other day, Pedro got up on the counter and ate six cupcakes.

Dogs provide comedic relief. Who among us don't? But that's like a dog. It's just like we were having a serious conversation for us when we're talking about, okay, what are they going to do with the trade deadline? And then A-Dog basically eats cupcakes in front of us. You're like, A-Dog, get off the counter.

Come on, man. You're better than that. You're just mad that I sounded so, so right. That's what Pedro said. Nick in the Ridge, hashtag WWO, what we learned. And ask us anything at the same time. If the Sabres and the Red Wings both lose again tomorrow, can we officially write these teams off?

Both teams are looking to be five-plus games below 500 before Christmas. What a disappointment. Stevie Y and Kevin Adams should be packing their bags. We've already talked about Buffalo, so let's set them aside. Detroit, you brought this up on Twitter yesterday, and you made me put it in the notes, although I was going to do it anyway. The Wings lost last night 4 was going to do it anyway. The Wings lost last night 4-1 to the

Flyers. They're 11-14 and 4. They've got a game this weekend in Toronto, right? Or they're playing Toronto? Yeah, they play Saturday in Toronto and then they have a few days off before they host Philly, I think. If you're going to make a change, it's then.

Otherwise, it's just too late. It's too late. The underlying sentiment here is that someone's going to hire Joel Quenville. He's the big fish that's sitting out there just waiting to be hired. Do I just roll your eyes at me? I'm just. Not at you. This is like when people yell at Wyshynski.

It wasn't at you. I'm just saying what's out there. It wasn't at you. I wouldn't hire him personally. I think it's a lot of baggage. Could the wings make one correct move though? Like Jake Wallman is basically a point per game this year. He just broke his career high in points.

I will always be in favor of dumping on Jake Wallman and moving him wherever. Apparently he's doing quite well with San Jose. That's great. That's Sarah Carlson 2.0 vibe. Passing it up to Celebrini is working out well for him. Celebrini is so good. Why isn't he on Team Canada? That's my next what's Sarah Carlson 2.0 vibes. Passing it up to Celebrini is working out well for me. Celebrini is so good. Why isn't he on Team Canada? That's my next what we learned.

Hold on. He should be on Team Canada. He's still only 18. I know, but he should be on Team Canada. Bedard had a good game last night, too. I think he had three points. Forget Bedard. We got Celebrini.

Okay, so Red Wings, keep an eye on it. If they get skunked this weekend in Toronto, they got a bunch of days off, they could be the one that jumped the gun and jumped the queue and say, hey, you know what? We're going to fire our coach and we're going to bring in Quimble. I could see that happening. Then Macklin Celebrini last

night. Two goals and an assist. He got revenge for the Vancouver Canucks because the Canucks lost to the Blues and he's like, I won't stand for that. You beat my hometown team. I'm going to take care of you single-handedly. I don't know how. Celebrini's already played three games against the Blues, and he's like, I won't stand for that. You beat my hometown team. I'm going to take care of you single-handedly. I don't know how. Celebrini's already played three games against the Blues,

but he has. He has seven points in three games against St. Louis, 12 points in 17 games against the rest of the league. This guy just haunts us. He's 18. He has now got 10 goals, 9 assists, 19 points through 20 games this season.

That mark for an 18-year-old, the only guys that have ever done that, to have that many points in the first 20 games of their career, Crosby, Kane, Nugent Hopkins. That bouncing it off of Prejko back to himself was hilarious because it kind of looked like an accident, but also kind of looked like on purpose. I knew he was good.

Don't get me wrong. He was the first overall pick, and there was a lot of hype. I am stunned that he is this dynamic right out the gate. I thought there would be – because he was good. Don't get me wrong. He's the first overall pick, and there was a lot of hype. I am stunned that he is this dynamic right out the gate. I thought there would be – because he just hurt. He's incredibly creative with the puck. He's super high IQ. Really good. Ryan, the school board worker, texts in.

Ask us anything. If you could add one more professional sports team to Vancouver, what would it be, NFL, Major League Baseball, or NBA? NFL. Baseball. Over be? NFL, Major League Baseball or NBA? NFL. Over NFL? To go to an outdoor MLB game in Vancouver? We're talking no restrictions.

The stadium gets built. You've got the owner. You're good. Still NFL. NFL would be awesome. Also with a Seahawks rival would be a lot of fun. BC Lions, no it wouldn't be. NFL would not be with the Seahawks rival would be a lot of fun. Yeah. BC Lions like, no, it wouldn't be. NFL would not be. Nobody wants that.

Yeah. Bad idea. You know, the only thing I'm thinking is how good we're, we're not as young as we used to be. We'd like to retire soon. Not that soon, but yesterday.

Yeah. Yesterday. How awesome would it be to have a Major League Baseball team to retire? Like, that's what you do when you're retired. I know. You just go every,

like, that's 80 days that are, you've kind of figured out what you do. Or if you travel, you can go see the team on the road for a few days.

No, but just like that, yeah, you go to spring training. Like, that could be your thing, right? Yeah,

just take it up right there. I've seen it pretty good. And my mom's network of friends, they got snowbirds that go down and do spring training in Cactus League. I really want to do spring training one day.

Not a care in the world. Right? It looks great. Yeah. It's always sunny. If you want to go to the game, you can. If you don't, it's no big deal. There'll be one tomorrow.

Only spring training. Yeah, you know? It's like, well, I'm not going to go today. And everyone's like, it's fine. Take the day off. I could be one of those guys that keeps score. Yeah. You know?

That does seem very tranquil. Bring a little transistor radio And listen to the call On the radio Like you just don't You don't even really care If they're good Yeah You're still going to game

146 Regardless of the record It's a nice little retirement Right You're not even filling Out the box score You're just doodling It's honestly why I like baseball

It's so different From other sports It's relaxing Yeah it's relaxing The feel is completely different Is baseball the only pro sport where there's more people in stands not paying attention to the game than there are? I can't see another one.

Cricket. Cricket. Cricket. People are drinking tea. Nobody understands it. Not even the players. England's baseball. The players are like, we don't really know what to do.

And you know what? We're going down here. Rules, we don't know. We're just making them up. But now that I think about it. It's kind of strange. Shouldn't we have gloves? I don't know.

It seems dangerous. And now that I think about it, for the weekly Halford juxtaposition, there might not be a more tranquil sporting experience as going to a baseball game than an absolutely nightmarish one as going to an NFL game. I haven't been to a Seahawks game for years

because I find it exhausting. It's, you know when you... The day is long. And especially if you go down there the It's, you know, when you... The day is long. And especially if you go down there the night before, you're not sitting around doing nothing the night before. Well, you remember when you were... What are you doing, bro? You were in your younger days and you're...

Partying with the kids. Yeah, but you remember in your younger days... Me, Bill Belichick, and his girlfriend. Yeah, right. Doing keg stands with Bill Belichick. You remember in your younger days when sometimes the sole objective would just be to get

just as drunk as you can. Yeah. Right? I'm drinking not because it's social or fun. Now imagine a bunch of adults doing it four hours before a sporting event. Yeah. That's the NFL experience sometimes.

It's not great. I got tired of people that I didn't know telling me to yell louder. Yeah. I don't like that. I had one guy just like, I'm super hungover at a Seahawks game. And it's against like Tampa Bay or something.

It's like a mean nothing game. And the guy behind me is just like hammering me on the back because I'm sitting in the chair. He's like, get up. You got to join the 12s. I'm like, I'm leaving soon if you don't stop yelling at me. Buddy, it's 28 to 3. I don't.

Actually, that was the game. I can't get that excited. The Seahawks were down 21-0 in the first half to Tampa Bay, and when Tampa Bay was terrible, they came back and won. I think that was the last game I was at, and that was a long time ago. Neil in Vancouver, hashtag WWL, what we learned. Thomas Drance's sleeping giant theory got a lot more juice

after last night's game. I thought about that, Neil, throughout the entire, all three periods of that game. I was like, damn, he called this. Because it was a statement. There was a bunch of crazy scores in the NHL last night. In case you missed it, like the Habs lost 9-2 on home ice, which is embarrassing. Calgary gave up eight goals to Tampa. They got destroyed single-handedly by Kucherov.

And then Edmonton went into Minnesota and beat the wheels off of the Wilds. There were some weird goals. So I could understand why that game in Vancouver might have got overshadowed a little bit, but beating the defending Stanley Cup champs who were on a heater that emphatically, that was the first time

Florida had been shut out all year. So I'm like, okay, let let's see how this kind of plays and it didn't get a ton of attention nationally but i did think about drance's sleeping giant theory and i was like man he had some very very interesting timing bringing that one up tambo in east van ask us anything what's a movie that you were super excited to see but ended up being super disappointing? There's obviously tons, but for me, it was The Blair Witch Project. I love that movie. I've still never seen The Blair Witch Project.

Anyway, I have the one that I remember was the Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Oh, yeah. I remember being really excited for that. I liked the first half of it. It was the second half I didn't like. It was horrible. The whole thing was terrible. I went with a buddy and

we both grew up with Indiana Jones and we were excited and we left the theater and we both kind of looked at each other and was like, that was pretty bad. It wasn't great. For me it's easy. It's Sleepy Hollow. I remember being so excited for that movie when I was a kid. The Tim Burton Sleepy Hollow, Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and it was just very average it was just

not what I was hoping it would be I was hoping super excited for Sleepy Hollow it looks so good and I remember seeing it being like this is just okay it wasn't great we me and a couple of 14 people I was really into Flubber and man it just wasn't up to snuff. This isn't like the original. Yeah, quite violent. A couple buddies and I went to see, in the opening week, went to see Jerry Maguire on the pretense that it was a movie about football and sports agents. And then we got there, and it's like, we need to sue for false advertising. This is mostly a love story.

Hey, you complete me. Aw. We made up. Something happened. Now show them. You. Complete me. Aw. We made up. Something happened. Now show him the money. Something happened. Do we read the winner? Safety Mike?

Oh, yeah. Congrats to Safety Mike. He was the one that did the JT Miller what does he mean to the team thing and gave us a lot of Why is he such a fan favorite?

Yeah, that guy. Safety Mike has won a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. He's going to celebrate with the safety dance. That's another timely reference. Dollywell got it. We are out of here for today and for the week,

but we will be back on Monday to talk about what looks to be a great sports weekend. So enjoy it, everybody. Thanks for listening. Thanks for texting. And to all our winners, congrats. We've got to go for now, though. Signing off, I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough.

He's been A-Dog, and he's been Laddie. This has been the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.