Halford & Brough in the Morning - Do The Oilers Make History Tonight?

Episode Date: June 24, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports (3:00), plus they wonder if the Edmonton Oilers make history tonight and complete the comeback with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (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.

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Happy Monday, everybody. This is Alfred and his brother, Alfred at Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. I guess the Tyler Toffoli news was the biggest news of the weekend. Number one story. That's where we're going to lead with.

The Canucks might be interested in free agent Tyler Toffoli. Bow, bow, bow. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, a.k.a. Tyler Toffoli Enthusiast, good morning to you as well. I'm sorry to have disappointed you, Bruff, so early in the morning.

Alfred and Bruff of the Morning is... It's only a historic game, Simon. Let's lead with the Toffoli. There's a funny little bit with Alfred's voice. Sorry. We're going to talk Toffoli all day, right? Toffoli. My bad.

For trying to be funny. Are we already a little bit... A little snippy. A little snippy, yeah. Let me do my thing, Bruff. Let me do my thing. It's a good start. For trying to be funny. Are we already a little bit snippy? A little bit, yeah. Let me do my thing, bruv. Let me do my thing. It's a good start. It's a good start.

Half and Broth of the Morning is brought to you by... He's upset that the Oilers are forced to Game 7. We are never going to get through this Vancouver Honda read. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour one of the program. We're off to a flying start.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider

powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Raphia, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfie, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. Well, it is here. One of, if not the most improbable Game 7s in the history of the National Hockey League is tonight. The Edmonton Oilers, once dead, or at least several feet into the grave,

rally from 3-0 down in the Stanley Cup Final. And there will be a Game 7 tonight in Florida. That's what's happening on the program today, along with an illustrious guest list here. It begins at 6.30. Everything that we're doing today, Game 7. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet, NHL host, to talk about Game 7.

7.30, Bob Stauffer from the mighty Chud in Edmonton, joining us at 7.30 to talk about game seven 730 bob stoffer from the mighty chud in edmonton joining us at 730 to talk about game seven randy janda hockey night in canada sportsnet 650 gonna join us to talk about game seven andrew and victoria will be happy to hear that soccer will barely exist on this show today so we had a text thread yesterday and jason he threw down a gauntlet. He's like, guys, soccer does not exist tomorrow. And I didn't even push back. Just to Foley talk today. Just to Foley. Nothing else.

A little bit of Game 7 talk. I said, you know what, Jason? I'm not even going to push back on this. You're right. I'm not going to mention that at 3 o'clock today, Columbia and Pedaguay are facing in the Copa America. No, no, no. This is a very special show because I, almost more than anyone here,

has been talking incessantly about how much we need this, how much I want to see this. You willed this into existence. History is happening. It's not often in sports that you get to see something new. Something that hasn't really happened before.

Don't yell at me. Without further ado, Laddie. Any dogs yelling at you, Laddie's yelling at me. You're both fired. The dogs are standing up for each other.

We're taking over. Have fun pushing all these buttons, boys. Oh, that's pretty easy, actually. Oh, damn it. Damn it. Laddie, without further ado, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night?

No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that?

What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. The Edmonton Oilers did it again. They avoided elimination again the third straight time in this Stanley Cup final to force a game seven.

They got goals on Friday night from all their lines. Warren Fogle, Adam Henrik, Zach Hyman, and Ryan McLeod. And they defeated the Florida Panthers 5-1 in game six. Here's what it sounded like. Chris Cuthbert, Sportsnet's very own, counting it down and forcing a game seven. They were 2-9-1. They were 0-3. And they will, Monday night,

play a one-game showdown for the All-Marbles and the Stanley Cup. Yeah, as soon as this one started, I'm not sure there were many moments while I was watching on Friday night that that game was ever in doubt. The Oilers dominated the first and left the period with a 1-0 lead.

And certainly as soon as Adam Henrik scored early in the second to make it 2-0, it was going back to sunrise. Hyman's goal on a breakaway to make it 3-0 only added to the celebration at Rogers Place. And here's a fun fact. Florida's first shot on goal by a forward came when the contest was 31 minutes old. That's bad.

Wow. It's good for the Oilers. Bad for the Panthers. Friday night in Edmonton must have been absolutely wild. It was. And certainly I was feeling, as the kids say, a little jelly. I was feeling a little jealous as I was watching Rogers Place. Did the kids say that?

Yeah. Yeah. Feeling a little jelly. Children? Children. And I was watching it and I was thinking, oh, young Jason. I'm not talking about like 12-year-old Jason. I'm talking about in my 20s Jason.

University Jason. Would love to be in Edmonton right now. How much fun would going out after that game have been? It would have been just all, it would just been a massive celebration. I realize they haven't won the Stanley Cup yet. And there are a couple of things I saw like Biz Nasty popping champagne. By the way, does Biz Nasty just cheer for every team? Yes.

Oh, okay. Whatever team is hot at the moment. Yeah, yeah. They're cooking. I'm on that bandwagon. He likes them all. Like if the Panthers win tonight and he's there, he'll be popping champagne for them too?

Yes. Okay. So at any rate, I thought that was kind of like bad karma to be actually like literally popping champagne after game six. But you know, whatever. They're having a good time. Imagine what Edmonton will be like if they win tonight.

So, first of all, I'm going to ask you, while you were watching the game, did you allow yourself to cheer for the Oilers? Yeah, because I wanted them to get it done. I still couldn't do it. I wanted them to get it done. When the goal got wiped off the board on the offside challenge.

You're happy? I did a fist pump. Really? Yep. A fist pump. You were fist pumping. Quietly. You were fist pumping.

I want this. And how will you feel? How will you feel about that fist pump if the Oilers actually pull it off and win tonight? Terrible. Guilty? Terrible. Absolutely terrible. At least you'll admit it.

There'll be guilt. There'll be remorse. I know the dangerous line that I'm walking here. And yet you keep walking it. Said the man walking into oncoming traffic. I know these cars are moving fast, but I think I could dodge my way through them. Yeah.

That's why Frogger was such a thrilling game to play. I mean, just the thought of being squished by an oncoming vehicle, and in this case, the oncoming vehicle is the Edmonton Oilers, who have absolutely taken charge of this series. This is coming from two radio pundits who have routinely said that momentum does not exist game to game in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This Stanley Cup final, look look i don't want to get too overstated and too dramatic and too profound but this is an all-timer what's happening right now definitely it's it's an all-timer in terms of the league in terms of the sport be it like domestic competition or international i'm driving in this morning listen to maggie and perloff cbs radio i have never heard them talk about hockey once on their show they don't they're not a rights holder they're american all they really talk about is the nfl and then they make really weird bets all the time lebron did they say that all of canada is behind the oil no they didn't go there they were talking talking about the greatest collapses in sports,

but they were actually talking a lot about this series. They weren't just using it as a complete jumping off point. Everyone is fixated, transfixed about this, because it just doesn't happen. Not in a final. Not in a final. I know we got a million talking points to get into. But there's an element, too.

It's not just that this is happening. I know we got a million talking points. But there's an element, too. It's not just that this is happening. I know. It is that it's happening to break the Canadian drought. It's happening on a team with Connor McDavid. Absolutely. This unbelievable hockey player, arguably the most talented ever, who has never really played in a big game until this series.

And now he's playing in this historic Stanley Cup final. It's all coming together. And whether you like it or not, you have to be able to admit that what is happening is very special. Yeah, because there's certain moments in North American pro sports where you know that that one game is going to be like the Super Bowl, for example, is it's a scheduled event. You know, these two teams are going to meet in the final. They're going to play one game to decide it all. But that doesn't always you can't write the script in hockey.

So that's one thing like game sevens in the Stanley Cup final are rare. There's only been 18. I mean, that that in itself is really cool. Frege pointed out, this is the first game seven in any pro North American sport since COVID in a championship final. So that's huge. You want to know what else today was, which is really eerie? This would have been Bob Cole's 91st birthday. Yeah.

Today, right? Like everything out there is just sort of leading to this big monumental moment and i'm guilty i'm probably more guilty than a lot of people that are talk about sports for a living in hyping things up and being like you should pay attention to this because or this is going to be important because but this is honestly something we have not seen before i know and couldn't you see it going either way? Yeah. Like, couldn't you see it? Very easily.

Couldn't you see any scenario playing out tonight? A blowout for the Oilers, a blowout for the Panthers, a tight game that goes into double overtime. I could see anything happening tonight. I've seen mentally and physically broken teams sort of limp their way into a game seven before, like the 2011 you know stanley cup of the vancouver canucks i don't get that same sense and vibe from florida that being

said well mentally i do i mentally physically no physically no that's a big part of it right they're not out of gas well people can use that that example in 2011 and say, oh, the Panthers are done. The Canucks were dead men walking in 2011, and the Panthers are the same. Well, what about that Canucks team that won the first three against Chicago, lost the final three, and then managed to beat Chicago in game seven? Yeah, so I'm looking at it. I really don't have any sort of, like,

I don't even have an inkling on what's going to happen. If you go to the sports books, it's pretty much dead even. Playnow.com has them equally at 1.90 on the money line, both teams. If you go to any other sports book, Florida's like a slight betting favorite on the money line, but only really because they're at home. Okay, so we don't do poll questions very often on this show because they're not sponsored. Cosmic Chris. That could be yours. Wait while you're listening.

That could be yours. Here's the poll question for tonight. It's an easy one. Who are you cheering for tonight, Oilers or Panthers? Now, granted, this is coming from my Twitter account, but it's been retweeted by 650 and A-Dog. Why do you say it like that? What? And A-Dog. Why'd you say it like that? What?

And A-Dog. Well, you don't have as many followers. It's got a lot of hatred for the dogs today. I don't like this. It's been tweeted by 650 and A-Dog. I've got a high degree of sad, petty followers. Right? They follow me.

Imagine how sad that is. Yep. Who are you cheering for tonight? There's already been 200 votes on this. 71% say the Panthers, but all of Canada is behind the Oilers. Okay. Where do you want to? We had some family over, extended family over last night.

The Canadian? They're Canadian. They're like, oh, it's so great. All of Canada, the whole nation is behind the Oilers. And I just didn't really feel like getting into it at the time. So I was kind of like, yep, that's a pretty crazy story. It's a pretty crazy story. I want no part of Edmonton winning tonight.

You'll never hear the end of it. It'll be their sixth Stanley Cup as a franchise. It'll be the final coronation for McDavid in this career arc and the trajectory that has really just... The last three games, it's been... I don't know. He didn't do anything in game six. I know. Well, you didn't get a point.

He's going to win the consmith, win or lose. It's been remarkable. It's the second generational all-time player that this particular franchise is going to have, and he's going to have his cup to ascend to the Gretzky level in Edmonton. It'll also be super painful from a local perspective to know that the Vancouver Canucks had the Edmonton Oilers

down 3-2 in that series and had two chances to eliminate them. All right. I know you sometimes have problems with this, but I'm going to ask you to be a little empathetic. Who are you thinking about the most ahead of tonight's game? Now, it could be a guy like McDavid, who has had

a lot of pressure on him to be the man and to start writing his hockey legacy. And it can't just be, you know, individual, oh, I won the scoring race again, or even the Hart trophy. You've got to win as a team. There's a lot of pressure on him. People said, well, Gretzky had already won a

cup at your age. You know, Gretzky and Lemieux had the 1987 Canada Cup together. Sid won a Stanley Cup and, you know, scored the game winning goal in the Olympics early on Olympics fairly early on in his career, and you've been good. So I'm definitely thinking about him and what he must be thinking heading into Game 7 because if he has a no-show or the Oilers have a no-show and the Panthers suddenly win it, the comeback, it won't be forgotten.

And his great goal to set up or his great assist to set up Corey Perry, that won't be forgotten, but it won't mean as much. It'll all be in a losing effort. So I'm thinking about him. Who else are you thinking about? Sergey Bobrovsky. That's the first one that popped to mind. I mean, would he be the biggest, not like goat in the old sense,

you know, like he's the guy to blame? Would he be the guy that would own this the most? Through the first three games of this series, he stopped 82 of 86 shots. He had 133 goals against. I think his save percentage was 953. I was talking about it being a record. It was remarkable.

To the point where McDavid and Dreissel were non-factors. Remember the guys that were scoring? It was like Ekholm and Fogle. Fogle, yeah. Yeah, and that was it. And then it just changed like that. And if we're going to look back on it,

something obviously happened. I don't know what. I'm not a sports psychologist, but something happened in the 8-1 game. Something happened when they put up eight. I don't know whether it was incredible confidence gained by the Oilers or the seed of doubt being planted into Bobrovsky.

But something changed because since then, he's given up 12 goals on 58 shots. His save percentage in the last three, it went from 953 to 793. Yeah. First three games, next three games. And you know why I think of Bobrovsky is because every time that they cut to the Panthers front office in their suite up there, it's usually Bill Zito. I'm always looking for Luongo. I'm like, where's Luongo?

I'm thinking of Luongo a lot. Adog, you must be thinking about Luongo because you were the one that was like, I'm cheering for the Panthers for Luongo. And I kind of pushed back. I was kind of like, he's not on the team. It'd be cool if he won it as an executive, but I guarantee it'll be even a little bit bittersweet also you don't like luongo you know the the gif or the meme of the ptsd dog

where it slowly zooms in on his face while it's looking at the cupcake and it just looks like it's gone through hell and back yeah it's pretty much longer right now yeah every time the camera would be on him he's like he can't believe this is happening like do you think he's gone down and talked to bobrovsky no do you think he's doing well actually maybe I don't know like there's a there's a handful of guys Longo goes down he's like run yeah just run away just start running only gonna get worse from here I don't know how else to say this I've got your car started just go I mean it's go disappear into the night you don't want this the parallels are pretty eerie yeah Yeah. Oh, it's almost comical. I cannot believe this is happening to him again. The only real difference is that, so in the, well, everyone remembers 2011.

I think some people forget that after Luongo got absolutely torched in Boston, he came back and posted another shutout. So it was very, like, yo-yo. It was up, then it was down, then it was back up. And Bobrovsky has a chance to do the back up part of the yo-yo. But right now, it was three games amazing. And then three games, yeesh. It would be kind of funny if after all this blow up and all the pressure

and everything that's going into this game seven, all these stories and this historic thing, no one's ever seen anything like this, and the Panthers just absolutely destroy the Oilers. They shut them out like 6-0 or something. But don't you think that's possible? Yeah. Because everything is on the table. Everything is on the table. Because the difference in

the Canucks game 7, so Bill Simmons has this theory, or at least he did when he was writing good stuff, back in the day when he was the Boston sports guy. He had this levels of losing. And one of them was dead men walking. And we all know that Bill Simmons was a big Red Sox fan. And when Bill Simmons started writing, the Red Sox hadn't won the World Series.

And like the curse was still, I mean, they'd won a long time ago, but the curse of the Bambino was still out there. So he talked about the 86 Red Sox and Bill Buckner. And some people often think that that was game seven. It wasn't. It was game six. So the Red Sox still had a chance to win the World Series in game seven. But here's the theory of a dead man walking team. Applies to any playoff series when your team

remains technically alive, but they just suffered a loss so catastrophic and so harrowing that there's no possible way they can bounce back, especially disheartening because you wave the white flag mentally, but there's a tiny part of you still holding out hope for a miraculous momentum change so you've given up but you're still getting hurt if that makes sense if the panthers lose tonight that will definitely apply like that that'll be in hindsight dead men walking. And I think in 2011, in hindsight, after going to Boston for game six and Marchand scores early on Luongo, Marchand is, you know, punching Daniel Sedin and there was no response. And also the Canucks were so badly banged up physically, mentally. The Game 7 in hindsight in Vancouver at Rogers Arena

was kind of a dead man walking. But I remember going into that game thinking, well, it's Game 7 at home. The Canucks should probably win it. Yeah, no, there was more of a, well, coin flip element to it. I didn't really have a lot of faith. I distinctly remember that because they were just, they looked and expressed themselves and just felt like a team that had

nothing left in the tank at that point. Yeah. And that was in part because so many guys had gotten hurt and the guys that were getting pulled into the lineup with a lot, you know what I mean? Like it was just, they were attrition. It was a war of attrition.

How did this happen in three games when there haven't been any, you know, like it seems, it seems different to me. So we got to text it into the Dunbar Lumber text line. A lot of texts this morning. Dunbar Lumber with three stores to serve you in Ladner on Bridge Street. Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center or Budus in Vancouver. Online at DunbarLumber.com.

The text line is 650-650. Unsigned text. I'm thinking about Paul Maurice, who I don't ever think is a very good coach and is now overseeing one of the great collapses in sports history. I'm thinking of Paul Maurice too. Didn't love Paul Maurice freaking out on the bench when the goal got overturned on the offside.

Didn't love it. Felt like it was between that and Zito throwing the water bottle. I know those gestures don't mean anything, but it keeps feeling like a team. It's a loss of composure. That knows it had it and can feel it slowly slipping away. And then everyone's supposed to be in charge

and it's supposed to be the emotional barometer. Everyone's looking at them and they're like, why are you freaking out? Why are you throwing stuff? Why are you freaking out behind the bench? That to me is a bad sign. Well, can you blame them? I mean, this is unprecedented.

You can't blame them. But the in-game kind of having a snapshot when the goal, like the goal was offside. Yeah. I don't know what, like, I get that he was frustrated and I get that he thought it was the wrong call, but they went to it. But it wasn't the wrong call.

As soon as I saw that, I was like, that that's offside and he was still going on after the game yeah he's like if i if it was roles were reversed and we were asked to challenge i wouldn't challenge it because that's how close it was i didn't think it was going to get overturned i'm like i don't even know what that thought it was clearly offside and also like these people you know whether they're texting in or i see them on social media they're're like, you know, if it's that close, then it shouldn't be reviewed. It's like, it's either offside or it isn't. Yeah. You know, like if you're going to do an offside review,

you can't be like, well, that one was close. So we're, we're not going to make like, that's the whole idea to be good is to review the close ones. And they brought in, they brought in the idea of, well, if you get it wrong, you get a penalty. And when, but here's the thing. When you start talking about things going against you, or the roof is caving in, or the momentum has changed,

things like that become so much more profound. It's like, we're not getting, nothing's going our way. We score this big goal, we cut it to 2-1, we got our mojo going. They answered really quick off that early goal in the second period. It was a big goal. We cut it to 2-1. We got our mojo going. They answered really quick off that early goal in the second period. It was a big goal for Florida. It was one of the biggest and, in hindsight, best

challenges of all time. It was huge. I don't know where that game would have gone if Florida had scored there because Florida needed something to get back in that game because the first period, they didn't do anything. Tyler texts in, so I just found out I am doing something right.

I have turned my six-year-old onto the Canucks this year, but what I've actually accomplished was that when Brough asked who we want to win, my son said the Panthers because he doesn't want Edmonton winning. And you know, at the end of the day, it's all about the kids. It's all about the kids carrying on the sadness and the pettiness

and the jealousy. Nothing makes Brough more happy than seeing a kid just be miserable with sports. It brings a tear to my eye. So beautiful. By the way, even though we're

talking game seven all day today, this is a huge week in the National Hockey League. You've got the awards in like

48 hours and then you've got the draft at the end of the week. All NHL. Oh yeah, the draft. Everything is

happening. They're still going through with that. They're going to hand out the Stanley Cup. They're going to

hand out all their awards and they're going to do the draft all in the same week. Gotta love the NHL. NHL draft coverage on Sportsnet 650 is brought to you by Oxygen Yoga and Fitness. Not your typical

yoga studio. The read doesn't explain why. It just says not your typical yoga studio. Visit Oxygen Yoga and Fitness to find out more. Coming up, David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us. We will discuss more about the biggest game possibly ever in NHL history. Those are the conversations that are going on.

We're going to have it next with David Amber. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Nobody ever, ever has played on a backdoor rink in Canada and scored the Game 3 overtime winner in the qualifying round.

Ever. It's one game always that excites you. And that is the context of this game and the one that we will live in that context. When you were kids

and you scored the winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final, who were you? Who was I? Yes. Uh, Leon in Germany. Cologne.

633 on a Mondayay did they should have asked uh uh when you were a kid did you ever dream of you're up three nothing in the stanley cup final and then you lose the next three and you are on the verge of the greatest collapse in nhl history, if not sports history. Do you ever dream of that moment, Game 7? As a child. He's like, weirdly, yes. I mean, I'm German, so I mean, you know, self-loathing here.

You're listening to the Alfred and Brett show. We lost Game 7, by the way. Badly. Badly outshot. Alfred and Brough in the morning. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling.

They recycle. You get paid. Visit them. 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. This entire show is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts.

To the phone lines we go. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host. Joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, David. How are you? I'm doing great, guys. It's a great day. We had this debate at dinner last night i have a feeling and tell me if i'm wrong but i think tonight might be the biggest game in nhl history i i think you could argue with you know greatest player as you just mentioned potentially the

greatest comeback in nhl history and it's pretty cool to to be part of it tonight i was i was thinking about that last night because I was watching a hit that Freedj did with Tony Luffman on NHL Network, and they were discussing it for about two, two and a half minutes. And it was almost hard to come up with a game that had everything at stake like this. Like, there's been other big games. Like, someone was saying, like, the Mark Messier guarantee game was pretty huge. The Game 7 where Ray Bork finally won the Stanley Cup.

I mean, Bruins, Canucks 2011. Game seven was big, although the game never lived up to the hype. 94. The postgame lived up to the hype. Postgame lived up, yeah. A lot of hype and fire. And then 94, because the Rangers were involved and there was the drought.

That was a big game. That was huge, too, right? And the star power because the Rangers were involved and there was the drought. That was huge, too, right? And the star power of the Rangers. But I don't think when you run through the potential of a reverse sweep, Florida looking for its first cup, like, let's not forget that. The Canada drought, McDavid. Yeah. All of it.

I don't think there's been more at stake in an NHL game ever. I think it's a good argument to have. Yeah, and I think you touched on the ones that we touched about at dinner. You know, I'm having a dinner with Ron and Kelly and BX and Elliot last night and we're going through it and we're sitting there and we're saying, what are in contention? And we got to 2011. Obviously, that was a really big game and, you know, great series, et cetera. And highest rated, you know, NHL game that I can remember was over, I think, 11 million people watching at its peak. But yeah, the 94, Game 7, again, Canucks, Rangers,

that was a massive game, a massive series and everything else. Like, those are big ones, but I think when you just cobble through what we've cobbled through with all the different storylines, and we're talking historic storylines. It's hard to argue, you know, tonight. Who knows what the game actually is going to be like. But going into this game, this is arguably the biggest game in NHL history. So it's really cool.

And the city's buzzing. I'm in Florida, but I'm telling you, at first I said there's going to be 10% Oiler fans. It's going to be more than that. I mean, there's a lot of Oilers fans here. People have emptied the bank accounts to come down, and they want to witness a piece of history. And I think there's also the anticipation that,

you know the Cup's coming out tonight, and you also know, or you don't know, but there's a feeling amongst the Oilers fans that it's going to be on the right side of the ledger. So there's incredible anticipation there. So I expect there to be a very strong contingent of oiler fans tonight uh in the amaranth bank arena yeah when i was looking on the secondary market i was like oh the get in price is about fifteen hundred dollars canadian uh fly down there you gotta get hotel i realize it's not in reach for a lot of people but man if you had the means you'd almost have to like you'd almost be

obligated to to do that if you're you're a big Oilers fan and I'll be very curious to see how many Oilers fans are in the building tonight um David I'm curious when you're chatting with Kevin Bieksa um what does he say about this because he hasn't been in this exact same situation before, but he's been close. Game seven, 2011, the Canucks had a two-nothing lead in that series. Boston wins four of the next five. So there were some similarities, some differences. You know, I think the Canucks were a lot more banged up than the Panthers were, but what did he, what has he said maybe even off air about,air, about the situation that the Florida Panthers are in compared to what the Canucks were in 2011? Yeah, I mean, he's been asked about that a lot.

I don't want to speak for Kevin, but I can tell you, and I don't think you'd take exception to me, just saying they felt the pressure back in 2011 of having the series lead, of flying their family all the way across to Boston with the potential of winning a Stanley Cup. You know, he said, you know, maybe from a mental standpoint, that was somewhat of a turning point in the series. When they went to Edmonton for Game 4, when they brought all their family out for Game 4 with the anticipation of we're on the cusp of winning this, you know, in a sweep, and then they got the doors blown off and lost 8-1.

And, you know, you had done all the logistics and you'd already sort of been right there able to touch, you know, the championship and then having it pulled out from under you. The mental pressure does change. The seed of doubt is planted. And then you go back and you're like, OK, well, let's hit the reset. We're in front of our home fans. You know, you have Matthew Kachuk saying, oh, we're going to do it tonight. It's our greatest opportunity. And then you fall flat again. You have Connor McDavid just,

you know, do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. And, you know, that incredible play we all saw and, you know, a four point game. There's intense pressure there. And Kevin spoke to, you know, there's only been a a couple times where he's felt maybe, he's a very loose guy. As you know, he's just a hilarious guy. Intense on the ice, but he lets things roll off of him. I think part of the reason Kevin was such a good pro is he didn't carry mental baggage game to game, shift to shift. He's really strong mentally.

But he'll allude to the fact that there was some mental fatigue there back in 2011 just knowing the opportunity was lost in Game 6 in Boston and then going back to Game 7 and with the pressure on. And I'm sure to a greater degree now you have social media and all these other different elements there pushing different narratives and the players have to be well aware of what's sitting, staring them down right in the face right i mean this is paul maurice has been asked about this now for the last four days

about this being a legacy game you either are a stanley cup champion and you've climbed the highest hill there is to climb in the national hockey league or you're going to be helping author the greatest collapse as you guys said in hockey in hockey history and equivalent to sports history, really. So that's a lot. That's a lot of a burden to carry going into a game. This isn't just a game for a championship. This is going to be how are you remembered, essentially, and people are calling it a legacy game.

So there is something to that, and Kevin alluded to it, and he even alluded to it back guys with the Chicago Vancouver series when Vancouver blew the 3-0 series lead thankfully they won in game seven but just the pressure in game time was like oh god is this how we're going to go down is this how we're going to be remembered so that that is part of this equation here big time I realize all the momentum is on the other side but the same goes for Connor McDavid too right like you I don't think he's going to be going into this game think he's going to be going into this game thinking it's going to be easy or

anything or that the Oilers have this, you know, done and dusted, but his legacy, or at least partially is at stake too. If the Oilers come out and lay an egg tonight and McDavid is their best player and they lose game seven, then, you know, the comeback won't be forgotten and his terrific assist on Corey Perry's you know the comeback won't be forgotten and his terrific assist on cory perry's goal won't won't be forgotten none of this will be forgotten those

people in edmonton will still have those moments and those memories to look back on but it'll certainly change the equation a hundred percent and you know connor mcdavid has said as much like if you watch as the clock is ticking down at game six, you think, and I'm telling you, I was in the building. It was going off, right?

Like fans are going ballistic. We want the cop, the chance, the craziness of game six. If you look on the bench, guys are high-fiving. Connor McDavid is just looking forward. Clock's ticking down.

Didn't you? What is so cerebral? You wouldn't know if it was a preseason game versus Columbus in September or if it was game six of the Stanley Cup final. You wouldn't know if they were winning or losing. He knows the mission wasn't to win three games. He knows there's no prize whether you win games four, five, and six or

win games one, two, and three is immaterial. It's about winning that fourth game. He's very focused on that, but you're 100% correct. If Edmonton falls short tonight, it's just going to be, wow, they got so close, but, and that's, that's how this is going to be remembered, but they didn't win. And now what? And then it's going to start, you know, the narrative very quickly will turn to welcome.

Leon Dreisaitl is a free agent in a year. I don't have to tell you guys that, right? Like that's the funny thing about the Canadian markets. We know what embraces the good for too long because there's always something negative to look forward to down the line, right? So this is really big, guys, and I think that speaks to what we were talking about is this is the biggest game in NHL history. There is so, so, so much on the line here on so many levels,

not just the championship but all sorts of, you know, moving forward, how we're going to view these teams and view these individual players as well. How about this for a stat? Stuart Skinner is 10 and 0 this playoffs in games four to seven of the series. We all remember the Vancouver series when he was actually replaced in goal by Calvin Pickard. We got to hand it to Stuart Skinner. The guy has faced all sorts of adversity this postseason alone. A lot of people have doubted him.

Game six, he made some pretty big stops to allow that game six victory to happen. I realize that the Oilers were dominating, you know, most of the game early on, but he did make some key timely saves. What have you thought of the way that Stuart Skinner has turned things around in this postseason and especially the way he's played in these do-or-die games? I think he's been great. I think the narrative going into the Dallas series was, well, the big advantage for the Stars is they have Jake Ottinger,

and who knows what the Oilers are going to get in that, and he outplayed Jake Ottinger. I mean, that was a 42-save or whatever it was, 45-save performance in Game 6. The puck was in their end for 45 minutes of the game. I mean, they had no business winning that game. He stole that game for them. You know, he was as good, if not better, than Shilohs in game six and seven of that series.

And he was fantastic. And he's been pretty damn good in the Stanley Cup finals, certainly save for save with Bobrovsky in the last, you know, number of games. And there's been a couple of seminal moments, guys. Back in game four, it was a 2-1 game. There was a 2-on-1. Verhege takes a shot at a legitimate goal scorer. And Verhege, he slides across the crease, makes this incredible glove save.

They came very close to making it a 2-2 game. And who knows what would have happened. Instead, the Oilers roll up six more goals and win it to one. And no one really remembers that save. But there's been a couple of sort of seminal moments where he made big saves game five florida's pressing so hard in the third period he made a number of big saves to maintain the one goal lead they had an empty net or a couple empty net goals or whatever it was and and they they come out to push it back to drag him back to edmonton so he's been very good and his confidence is very very high, and he's been right there what they've needed.

They didn't need Patrick Waugh, but they needed someone they could trust to make the right save at the right time, the way Grant Fury used to for these Edmonton teams, and he's been that guy. We're speaking to David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. David, in your roundtable meal last night, did you guys happen to discuss

if there's a favorite in tonight's game? Because according to most sportsbooks, it's pretty much dead even. The local one here, playnow.com, has both teams at 1.90 on the money line. I've seen some sportsbooks have a very slight advantage to the Panthers, and I mean slight on the money line. I'm assuming it's because they're at home.

But is there a favorite tonight? That's a great question. I mean, this is the thing. It's one game. Let me ask you this. Can Bobrovsky do tonight what he did in game one? Edmonton was the better team in game one, but Bobrovsky played like a two-time Besna winner

and essentially stole that game could that happen tonight a hundred percent that could happen certainly the ice has been tilted in favor of the Edmonton Oilers and if there is a discernible advantage without simplifying it you know I'm gonna I'm gonna put my money on the team that has the best player in the world right I could just the Connor McDavid factor is a factor, right? In game five, we saw how we can take over a game.

I don't think there's anyone really on the Florida team that can compete with that. Hockey is a team game. It's not a one man game. So it's not going to be as simple as saying, well, they have McDavid, they're going to win. But if I'm going to pick a favorite, I'm going to, I'm going to go with the team that has the greatest player in the game right now, and that's Connor McDavid. But again, I think Vegas has it right. This is basically a pick-em because anything can happen. Both teams, you know, Ekblad didn't skate yesterday.

Bobrovsky didn't skate yesterday. There were some questions there about the level of health there. But I just can't wait to see it unfold there's it's hard to predict anything at this point um but one thing we know for sure is that connor mcdavid and you know i imagine he's going to pull his team forward in in their best fashion tonight hey david how's your mental fatigue right now this we've got a seven game stanley cup final and it's not like you get a bunch of time off after tonight's game you gotta go to vegas for the award show and and then the draft what are you feeling about this crazy week and then it's then it's free agency on on july

first i hope you've got some vacation planned after that um yeah i listen i it's been a long it's been a long road guys but i'm not I mean, that's why we get in the business, right? Those Tuesdays Columbus-Anaheim games, you're going, what the hell, why did I get into this business in November? And you're kind of going, oh, shoot. You're in it for these types of games, and this is really honestly going to be a highlight for me. I've been doing this for a long time,

but this is going to be one of the big highlights, you know, of my career tonight to be there, to witness this historic night, however it unfolds. And, you know, I think the adrenaline of that pushes you through. I am flying directly to the draft, and that's another big night coming up, obviously, on Friday for us. So, listen, it's been tiring, all the cross-country travel and all that, but it's definitely worth it.

And the level of excitement for the game tonight is really just awesome. I'm really pumped, guys. I can't wait. I can't wait. I hope. And I know there's the whole Vancouver thing with Edmonton. There's certainly some fans who I hope will be hate-watching. They want to be tuning in just to see the Oilers lose in your market.

I know that would be a big thing. And that's fine, too. I just think it's cool because we're going to be, if you're a hockey fan, this is essentially must-see TV, you know, the most, the purest form of sport, right? So I'm really, I'm pumped for it. The adrenaline's there. So I'm not feeling much fatigue today. Yeah, David, just I have one request.

So I've seen this on both the Sportsnet broadcast and I've heard it on the ESPN broadcast as well. All of Canada is not behind the Oilers. We did a poll question this morning. Who are you cheering for tonight? And this poll question has 742 votes. 74% say the Florida Panthers. So if anyone says that and just goes like,

oh, all of Canada is surely behind the Oilers, I want you, for journalism and integrity's sake, to pipe up and say, I'm not sure about some of these other markets, especially the hardcore fans. Listen, 100%, and I get that. I'm in Toronto. I'm from Toronto. If the Leafs were in the final, we would have 20 million people watching, and probably 15

million would be rooting against the Maple Leafs. I 100% get that. And listen, I think that's what's great, that rivalry, the passion there. But I'm with you. There's certainly some fans across Canada who've jumped on the bandwagon and want to see a Canadian team win it because it's been so long. But I know for every one of those fans,

there's probably a fan like in your poll that are going, damn that. I'd rather Florida win. I don't have to deal with their fan base as opposed to having to deal with the Oilers fan base for the next year bragging about how great it's been. David, this was great as always. Thanks a lot for joining us.

We really appreciate it. I don't even need to tell you to enjoy the game tonight because I'm sure that you will we'll be doing this again in a week's time and it'll be July 1 it'll be free agency this is crazy but thanks a lot man we appreciate it awesome man guys enjoy the game tonight thanks again

for everything this season it's been a lot of fun yeah it sure has thanks David appreciate it that's David Amber Hockey Night in Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halfordockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So, historical stuff tonight. It is indeed the 18th Game 7 in Stanley Cup final history. The Oilers are trying to become the first team in 82 years

to win the Stanley Cup after falling behind 3-0 in the final. That was another thing that Freed was talking about on that stand-up on NHL Network I was alluding to, is they were looking back. It was the 1942 Stanley Cup final. They're looking back on that? Yeah, well, just in a sort of like tongue-in-cheek way, just being like, it's not even comparable.

What were the analytics on that, sir? Yeah, exactly, right? Like, you know, how many forward passes did the teams make? All the guys, Luffin was making jokes, like the guys had nicknames like Bingo and Slappy. It was a six-team league. It was almost 100% Canadian. Seven teams, I think, that year.

Okay, but it was almost 100% Canadian. Yeah, yeah. Right? It's nowhere even remotely close to what you've got right now. It wasn't on ESPN. It was not. Or yeah, I mean, I mean, TNT, are they there? I don't even know. So it's it's crazy to think that we've had to wait this long. And, you know, one of the things that Maggie and Perloff were talking about this morning is that hockey has lent itself to more 0-3 comebacks in series than any of the other sports. I mean, it was so rare in baseball. That's what made the Red Sox 2004 ALCS comeback against the Yankees even more special is because Simmons had been writing about

the dead man walking, and he often said, anytime a team falls behind 0-3 in baseball like it's curtains you you're done basketball nope like just does not happen yeah if a team goes up three nothing in basketball it's because that team is so much better than the other team you know it was funny because last year we had the the celtics heat series which had a it was close and i remember being very excited for the game seven which ultimately fell short in terms of competitiveness but um it just doesn't happen hockey you've got i forgot about the sharks blowing a three nothing against the kings in 2014 you forgot about that yeah i just you forgot about the mental breakdown that the organization i remember they said it was like

we've had a bit of a nervous breakdown here put it this way when i think of 03 comebacks i almost have to like jog the memory that that one happened. The Philly-Boston one stands out to me for more than that one. I don't know why. It was crazy that Boston went through that, and then the next year they had one of the most clutch performances ever in the playoffs. That Philly-Boston one was crazy because Game 7 was in Boston,

and Boston got off to a 3-0 lead in that early on. That was what was crazy because game seven was in Boston and Boston got off to a three nothing lead in that early on that was what was crazy early on they were like okay they scored three goals in the first period and it's like okay no worries yeah okay so they blew two three nothing leads in that series a three nothing series lead and then a three nothing lead in game seven I'm glad you brought that up that was crazy man man. That was an unbelievable collapse. Because I'm thinking about it. Like, could you imagine if that happens tonight? Can you imagine if Florida gets out to a 3-0 lead in game seven when they're already blown?

I can't imagine that. I can't imagine anything happening tonight. Well, because anything, it's Kevin Garnett. Anything is possible. I have no read on this. When it's this unprecedented, it's really hard to be like, oh, I think this is going to happen. Because you've mentioned it before.

But if the Oilers win tonight and they win easily, we'll look back on it like we should have seen that coming. We should have known that Florida was done. Right. Anything else, we could be like, I didn't see that coming. But the only thing that we'll look back on and say, well, that's truly predictable, is if the Oilers win this one easily tonight. And Florida has essentially given up.

And by the way, someone texted in and said, does anyone know why Matthew Kachuk has been a healthy scratch these last three games? Talking about guys and their legacies? Matthew Kachuk is one of them. Yeah, there's a lot. This guy needs to go out and do something. Could he be hurt?

I don't know. I don't know if it matters. I really don't. I think it does. I don't. Really? I don't know. David and Dreisaitl were banged up earlier in the playoffs.

I think Dreisaitl's still banged up. He's still managing to make plays. Let me explain. I think it matters in terms of what he's able to give. But I think in terms of how we'll remember it and the narrative arc, it'll just be that he no-showed. Because this is the double-edged sword when you make yourself the main character, which he's guilty of. Let's be honest. Right?

You play a certain style. You talk a certain way. You act a certain way you put yourself in the line of fire and he likes it he likes being the center of attention he likes being the target likes being the villain at times i think he takes a lot of what brad marchand has done and be like i want to embody that so you can't really just get taken off the hook when it's like i got an owie and it could be much more serious than that okay we got an open segment on the other side so lots of time to dip into the dunbar lumber text line 650 650 one of the things we're going to discuss on the other side is where would this rank in terms of team chokes in sports

history so let's take the individuals out of the equation i mean we just saw rory mcelroy not too long ago choke pretty badly in a major two short miss putts, but let's keep this on teams. Where would this rank? Not just NHL, all of sports. And we can talk about the whole notion of a team choke, because I think that is, that's, that's fundamentally different than an

individual choke. Right. And we'll get into that on the other side of the Halford and Ruff show on Sportsnet 650. Yeah.