Halford & Brough in the Morning - Don't Be Fooled By October Hockey

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk Canucks and other NHL stories with analyst Ray Ferraro (1:29), they set up Saturday's final BC Lions regular season matchup with Co-GM Neil McEvoy(23:47), plus they preview tonight's Canucks Lightning matchup with Bolts TV commentator Dave Randorf (33:15). 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.

702 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. This is a good song, too. This is a really good song. This is just Ray's song now. Yeah. Okay? It is.

It is. Ray's not getting a song. Too late, my friend. Oh, God. Is Adog already working on something? Not everyone needs a song. The regulars do. Yeah.

Okay. But this is good. This is kind of Brass Bonanza-ish, right? This everyone needs a song. The regulars do. But this is good. This is kind of Brass Bonanza-ish, right? This is in the rotation. I use this quite frequently. It's got brassy vibes. Yeah, okay. Halpern Brough in the morning. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason

Hominick at Jason.Mortgage. If you love giving the banks all your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the best mortgage for you. Just kidding. Let him do that. Visit him at Jason.mortgage for more. This entire show, the whole thing, 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 coming to you live from the Kintec Studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec.

To the phone lines we go. Ray Ferraro joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Ray. How are you? I'm not sure. I'm listening to that song. Okay. And I'm thinking of a game show from the 70s that I used to watch with my mom. I'm not sure which one, maybe like

$20,000 pyramid or it wasn't password, but does that not sound like pressure luck? Maybe one of those? It was definitely game show-ish from the 70s or early 80s. It sounded like I was at home sick from school and I was watching TV. That was the sound that I was at home sick from school and I was watching TV. That was the sound that I was getting. That was the morning routine. You weren't the only one on that one. Mom, I don't feel good today. Time to watch some card sharks.

Ray, so I texted you yesterday. I said, let's talk about being new to a team because you were new to a few teams throughout your lengthy NHL career. And the Canucks have a bunch of new players and I think it's safe to say that some of them are still trying to find their roles and find their fits and I'm just wondering if you could maybe provide some background on what it's like to join a team and what it's like to try and find your fit on a team. Well, everything that you've known is different.

There's really, there is lots that's the same, but there's a cadence and a rhythm to being on a team that until you're there, you just, you always feel a little bit on the outside. Like my last year I got traded, this is a really good example, I think. My last year I got traded, thankfully, from Atlanta to St. Louis at the deadline. And so I get there. I'm 37 years old.

I mean, I should be pretty secure that I can play in the league at this point. And you go into the dressing room, you don't know where your stall is. You don't know where you change your clothes. You don't know any of the trainers' names. You don't know how you get from A to B at the practice rink. There's a certain order to the way that you go out on the ice for a game. Where do you fit? I always like to go last.

I knew I wasn't going to go last there. Al McGinnis and Chris Pronger were there. Pronger liked to go first. I think McGinnis liked to go last, or maybe it was the other way around. The coach who I played with in Hartford, Joel Quenville, he had a bunch of different terms for similar things. So if the centerman was going to make a low circle in the defensive zone to be available for the defenseman for a little quick pass, where I had been,

it was just a quick pass. There they called it a pop pass. I didn't even know what the hell he was talking about. So you just watch and you kind of try to mimic what's going on and there's so much then you've got a new system you've got like in atlanta we had a power play i went over the boards like i you know i didn't even have to wait and see i was we were the first group in st louis i didn't even know if i was the second group and so you sit sit there, you're always on, I guess the best way to describe it, you're always on your heels a little bit

because you're just not sure and you don't want to go in there and look like a jackass. You know, like I go here and I go there and, you know, that doesn't work. That's not how a team works. And so it's really very different. And here's the thing.

They got, what, seven or eight new skaters this year in vancouver say a couple guys get the system they they get it it just it it fits in their head fits in their eye they understand it three guys sort of get it two guys don't so now you've got this wide range of players in your lineup and some are going east when they should go west some have it some are they're not even they don't even skate they're just they're trying to plot their way around the ice and it just it becomes slow and unpredictable as opposed to fast and predictable which is what Vancouver was last year So I don't want to suggest that Rick Tockett bit off more than he could chew because it's not like I disagreed with his ideas heading into training camp,

but in hindsight, you look back and think, okay, so Rick Tockett wanted to go into training camp and he wanted to make a few adjustments. He wanted to progress the team from a team that was very good defensively and structurally, but maybe a bit too conservative offensively and attack-wise. So he wanted to bring those ideas into training camp, into the preseason. Plus, he had a bunch of new players.

Plus, he didn't have a ton of preseason games to do this with, and there was a short time frame. Do you think, looking back, this was kind of bound to not go perfectly? Well, I don't know. If you think so, then call Jared Bednar and call Chris Knobloch, see how their first couple of days of the season are going, too. I don't believe anything that I see in the first three weeks of the season. To the end of October, I don't believe any of it. Because do you believe Utah is going to win the West?

Probably not. Do you think Calgary is going to be up at the top? Probably not. So if you don't believe that, then why should you believe the teams that are good teams are stumbling all over the place? I get what you're saying, but

if he wasn't going to make an adjustment in camp, when were you going to make it? No, no. That's my whole thesis basically. I'm saying you have to do it, but you're probably bound to have a few stumbles to start oh i well i yeah i think anybody that makes any significant maneuver to their lineup or maneuver to their systems there's there's going to be a time frame

when it just doesn't work and it doesn't look like you envision it to work but i i i don't think vancouver is any more unique than any of those other spots that i mentioned and there's a half a dozen across the league i mean hell the other like well yesterday's eight seven in ottawa you think you think that's what they were that's why That's the type of game Greener likes to play. Oh, he would have been jumping up and down for that one. But that's why I don't believe October hockey. It's fun. There's lots of goals. And then month by month, the screws get tightened.

And if they can't figure this out in a couple of weeks, then you've got a real problem. But right now, I just think it was probably predictable. It really was. It was like, I don't know how you get around it. You know, like, I guess you could have played the guys more frequently, but the way the schedules are laid out, that really doesn't work. And, you know, you're not going to play somebody seven games in the preseason

or five games even. Nobody wants to do it. And then if they do and somebody gets hurt, then you've got a whole other discussion on your hands. So I think they've got to grind through a little bit. I thought Lankanen was excellent in the second game. I thought if Shetlovs was average the first game, they would have won that game,

and then we might be having a different discussion. Yeah, I mean, we talked about this earlier. There's a real interesting dynamic at play in that, you know, they didn't use the preseason and exhibition games to try and gain some chemistry with the guys because they erred on the side of caution. And I think, quite frankly, I think you're right. I think some veteran guys were like,

I don't want to play in these games. And they're like, that's fine. We'll let someone else play. But now there is a sort of lack of patience with anything. Like we were looking at the skate yesterday from practice and Daniel Sprung now looks like he might be a healthy scratch and Arshdeep Baines, who didn't even start the season on the roster, might be a first line winger.

So I do think that there's, you know, October hockey is October hockey. I agree with what you're saying there for sure. But I do wonder if Rick Target's got a little less patience than maybe last season in terms of waiting for things to fall into place. Well, I'm trying to think back. I do remember kind of a lot of bouncing around the players earlier rather than later they kind of stumbled into uh joshua bluger and garland that wasn't supposed to be and then i think suda was hurt and bluger went in there and they took off and um they had a heck a couple of three

different guys with miller andesser and all kinds of different guys with Pedersen and I don't I know we all like to look at like we all do we like to look at a team and go okay that's the first line and that's the second line in very few places do the lines stay the same like I'll use Colorado as an example again because I you know I like the top end of their lineup a lot. But some nights you get McKinnon and Rantanen together. Sometimes you don't have them together. Sometimes Rantanen plays in the middle.

Sometimes he plays on right wing with middle stat. When they get the chew skin back, if that does come to pass, then they're moving guys all over the place. These are really good players and a really good coach. And the greatest misstatement is, you know, we need consistency for 60 minutes. We need consistency through the season. What the hell does that mean? Like, you're going to play 60 minutes.

You're going to try to. But the other team's really good, too. And they're going to probably play 20 minutes better than you. How could you have consistency game to game to game to game you'd like it it's just not possible with 82 games the the trick to this thing is that if your low points are not so low that you get points out of them when you're kind of stumbling around then you're probably going to be okay. I think they would like to have some consistency to the lineup. They just don't have it right now. Like, Sprong's an interesting case.

Like, I think people get all excited when they see the way he shoots the puck. And, you know, with more ice time comes more goals. And that's not always the case. Like, he's got to fight through some things that have really put an anchor on how quickly he can climb through a lineup like we saw it in the game against philadelphia it's a 2-1 game he kind of loses his guy in the slot and cam york comes and he's 20 feet 25 feet from the net like that's a that's a a misplay that personally i'm very familiar with because that was something honestly no joke that's something i would do you start staring at the

pocket you start thinking about if i intercept if i'm on the way out of zone right and oh wait a minute the pass went six feet behind me to a guy that's wide open was that was that my guy was that my guy yeah and then my guy? Yeah. See, the best part was we didn't have video tablets on the bench. So I never found out about it until tomorrow. He found out about it three minutes later. So that's a really good example of when you say he's out of the lineup and maybe Baines would have been in the lineup at the start of the year if the cap would have worked.

And it wasn't, and now he is. And so this is his chance. And I do think, like, when I look at this lineup, it's very clear they miss Joshua, they miss his size, they miss his heft, they miss his ability to make a play. Not just with Garland, but just to make a play down low kind of steadies that portion of the lineup. And so, like other teams, they're, you know,

they're scraping their knees right now as they stumble around. And, you know, you're down in Florida. Who knows what's going to happen in Tampa tonight? I mean, that's such an uncertain situation around the team and the community and all that. And then you go into Florida and there's no Barkoff and no Kachuk, so you might catch a break there,

but maybe not. They just won last night. And so the trip's a chance to maybe find their footing a little bit too. You mentioned something earlier about how the Canucks kind of stumbled upon the combination with Joshua and Garland and it started out with Bluger and Lindholm eventually went there.

But, you know, it was Joshua and Garland kind of making that line. I think about the HBK line in Pittsburgh and Rick Taka was on that bench and how that line kind of came together. And I don't know if anyone had planned that line they're like you know what a lot what great line would be nick benino with carl haglin and phil kessel like you know what is awesome about that thought is coaches have that stupid whiteboard in their office and they write lines on it all the time and then somebody gets hurt in between in a game and they have to jam three guys together to make a line and they're and it just works i

mean is that not how burrows ended up with the city i was just that was that was my next example i was like i don't think anyone was like what about this echl guy former ball hockey player why don't we put him with the sedine twins and like he's he's mostly known for kind of mucking it up and running his mouth but but he might have some success. I just wonder how many line combinations, like, I wonder if Rick Talkett is just going through them all because maybe you'll find something. I don't think that's too, that can be too far off either. Um, I, one of the best lines I played with was Andrew Brunette and Donald Audette.

And we had, we were one of the top scoring lines in the league. And I was not on that line for a month at the start of the year. And somebody got hurt and I went in there and we scored a couple of goals the first game. And then it was like, leave those guys together. Maybe they'll be fine. And we played the rest of the year together. We didn't even practice together. Like we hadn't had one second of ice time together. And then I went in that spot.

And for whatever reason, it worked. There's the other thing. Sometimes you look at a line and you can see why it works. Right? You're like, oh, they got a grinder over there. They got a shooter here. They got a playmaking centerman. It all kind of pieces together.

And then other times, it just kind of works it and there's no there's a there's a read to the game i i used cadence earlier there's a cadence to a line that it just works and i i don't really know sometimes if you can predict that. Sometimes you can, but other times it just happens and it's, man, it's found money when it does. We're speaking to Ray Ferraro here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Let's run through some of these new guys here.

We were talking about them earlier. We encouraged listeners to text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Let's start with Dan Heinen because I think he's going to make a move tonight as they play in Tampa Bay as well. What have you thought of Heinen's game through the first two? He makes some good plays. He's not

flashy. He doesn't make many mistakes. And at the end of the year, he's going to get 17 to 20 goals. He's just a smart, no fuss, no must player like you just there's lots of nights you don't notice him but he doesn't make many mistakes he makes lots of good little support plays and that's why he can bounce around the lineup i i like heinens game uh keifer sher, same question?

Not so good the first game, really good the second game. More rambunctious. You know what, all the stuff that you were talking about, about guys not sure with the system and all that, maybe that a little bit would apply to a player like Sherwood who's at his best when the game is north and south and you're not trying to do things you're not capable of. And the first game, he looked like he was watching a lot to me. The second game, I thought he was really good.

Jake DeBrusque, Laddy already pointed out that it was a very nice shimmy that he had celebrating his first goal of the year, so that was good. But aside from that, the dancing moves? Yes, there's more there for Jake, and I think he's tied to Pedersen right now. So the two of them are going to have to figure out a little give-and-go thing. And when they do, I think they'll be a good pair. Jake's got more, for sure. Yeah, I'm hesitant to bring up Pedersen because we do it a lot on the show,

and it's been a carryover effect from last year for sure. But again, given that you worked both of the games and you got to see it as closely as anyone what did you see or not see from number 40 in those first two games first game i thought he was very stationary um kind of wait and watch and see uh second game i thought he was much much better um i i mean it's obvious you're you're talking about a guy making 11 million bucks there's there's more there i mean there's there has to be and i think there is i if i'm comparing the two games i thought he skated better the second game but there is a there is a tenacity to his game that that hasn't been there yet, that wasn't really there towards the end of last year.

And I think he's a little bit in between trying to please a whole bunch of different thoughts, trying to be physical, trying to work hard, trying to be tenacious, trying to handle the puck, trying to be creative, trying to be a power play scorer. And at the end of the day, if he can just relax a little bit and maybe crystallize what makes him a really good player instead of trying to do 12 things, just do what you do, which is where he was at the midpoint of last year. I think that stuff tumbles back for him.

Ray, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Tuesday. Next Tuesday, different song. Thank you. Okay.

See you, buddy. Ray Ferraro does not like his music. Here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Yeah, so in case you missed it, Murph tweeted out the line combinations yesterday at practice in Tampa, and Danton Heinen is going to probably replace Daniel Sprong on a line with Petey and DeBrusque. It's possible that Arshdeep Baines is going to be on a line with JT Miller

and Brock Besser, and Heinen was there before. Sprong, potentially a healthy scratch. So I think, thank you so much for that. Very good. That's him being ejected from the lineup. I think Heinen being the reliable type of player, not too flashy, but does his job, replacing Sprong, who is flashy,

but doesn't always do his job, is the move that you could probably expect after Sprong had a tough moment against the Philadelphia Flyers that ultimately cost the Canucks a goal, the tying goal, and maybe even the win. And also, you got to remember that the Canucks are on the road now,

so you don't even have last change. You can't get your matchups. So that is something to watch for tonight in Tampa. Okay, so we got to be sharp here, and we're not usually all that sharp on the Halford & Brough show. Neil McEvoy, the general manager of the BC Lions, is going to join us next. Obviously his team is very much under fire,

not playing well, will not host a playoff game unless it's the Grey Cup. So we'll talk to Neil about what his team is going through and what can still be gained by their last regular season game against the Montreal Alouettes at BC Place. And then we'll talk to Dave Randolph about 10 or 15 minutes later, the story from Tampa Bay, what's going on there with the community, how it's affected

the team, and also the change of Stephen Stamkos no longer being on the Tampa Bay Lightning. So all of that is coming up in the next segment of the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. And speaking of Neil McEvoy and the BC Lions, the Roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season.

They will host the Montreal Alouettes this weekend. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 7.30 on a big band Tuesday here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We have some big news in football of the American variety. Huge trade in the National Football League.

Well, it's been rumored for a while. Star wide receiver Devontae Adams on his way from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New York Jets. Of course. The reunion with Aaron Rodgers is complete. Rodgers was on the phone all night. I imagine that Devontae Adams' hamstring injury probably will clear up real quick. Call it a hunch. You are listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Halford & 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 2 of the program. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at Jason.Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the best one for you. Just kidding. Let him do that. Visit him at Jason.Mortgage to find the best one for you. Just kidding. Let him do that. Visit him at Jason.mortgage. To the phone lines we go. BC Lions General Manager Neal McEvoy joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Neal. How are you?

Good morning, guys. I'm doing okay. Thanks for having me on. It's always good to talk football regardless of the sport or the variety on a Tuesday morning. But, yeah, thanks for having me on. Well, thanks for coming on. We appreciate you taking the time.

First question, how are you feeling about your football team right now, Neil? I'm still optimistic. I still have lots of high expectations. The last 10 weeks have been tough for this team. We've had three wins out of, you know, 10 games. But, you know what? I still have to hang on for hope that these guys can figure it out. You know, we have played high-level football.

We have beaten Winnipeg, Montreal, and even Ottawa before they were on their little bit of a losing streak. So, you know, I just have to have hope that these guys will start playing the football that we know they can play and start getting on the winning track. But unfortunately, we're running out of time here. We've got one more regular season week left this weekend against Montreal, and then we're heading to the dance for the playoffs, which is obviously a single elimination tournament

that you have to play your top football or you're going to be out. Why have we not seen the elite quarterback play from Nathan Rourke that we all were excited for and we all expected? Yeah, I think all our expectations were maybe a little bit too high. Him going through four offenses and the teams he's been through, different game, different environment. And that being said, he has played good football. It's just that maybe he has not played up to the level that he's wanted to

and we wanted him to, and maybe those expectations were too high. But at the end of the day, we cannot put all the blame on that position because football is the ultimate team sport, and all guys have to play at a high level, or you're just going to get left behind. So what do you do in this final game against Montreal? I know you're not the head coach, but I'm sure you've had some conversations with the head coach. Do you keep just hammering away

and try to make things click with Nathan Rourke, or do you have to get Vernon Adams in there and get a few reps for him as well? I think this week at practice, they're going to look at all things because, like I say, we are running out of time. But I do know one thing. One of the things with Nathan is that he has not had a lot of reps in the last two years.

Sitting on the sideline and holding the clipboard, albeit in the NFL, is probably amazing and the pay is great, but it doesn't help your overall football career. So he does need the reps, but I do know at the end of the day, we do need to win football games. And this is a game that we need to win. There's nothing worse than limping into the playoffs and then, you know, losing again.

That's not something we want to do. So we are going into this game like we need to win it because, you know, at the end of the day, we do need to. We need to win games. That's just the reality of it. So the coaches are putting their plan together and we practice uh three days before we have a walk through on thursday and then or friday and then play saturday so uh this week i think we'll see both quarterbacks take a lot of reps and then at the end of the day we're going

to do what's best for the team to put us on the winning the winning call um if you had to guess would you expect vernon Vernon Adams to appear against Montreal just in case anything could or would happen in the playoffs? Well, I think you're going to see that again. This is a game that, you know, albeit we want to win it, it does not affect the standings at all. So,

you know, my mentality would be, well, why not? Let's see if we can get as many guys out there as we can to see once we get to the playoffs, we have the best team available to us. And that's something that I know the coaches have been talking about. But, you know, like I said, at the end of the day, whatever's going to make us win is what we're going to do. And I know that those guys have been working hard over the Thanksgiving weekend to put us in the right position. This season must feel like an absolute roller coaster to you,

the way things started. And then, you know, then you had a losing streak. And then Nathan Roark comes back. Matthew Betts comes back. You've got this trip to Victoria. You go to Montreal. You get a big win against the Alouettes and you think it's all going to be roses, or at least we were,

and then you come back kind of laying egg against the Argos, have another poor performance against Hamilton, but do get the win against the Stamps, and then you go to Saskatchewan and get blown out. It's hard for fans to watch this team and know what to expect on any day of the week. Yeah, it is. Honestly, a roller coaster is exactly what it is the parody in our league right now you know it is good for the fans uh because there's no there's not really even the teams that are not making the playoffs

are actually good teams edmonton at the end of the day uh had such a poor start but they are a good football team and tough to deal with. Calgary has shown, you know, good things. And as you say, Hamilton beat us in overtime a couple weeks ago. So, you know what? Yeah, it has been a roller coaster going to Victoria. The game that really made me think of this team as we have stepped is the Montreal game. Going into Montreal, a hostile environment, playing at that time the best team in the league or still the best team in the league record-wise, and we handled them.

Even though we did throw or we had about two or three turnovers, I always felt that the offense was just clicking and there's nothing going to be able to stop us. And we just have not been able to get back to that yet. And that's something that, again, the coaches have to figure that out because in that game against Montreal, we were a potent offense and our defense was playing physical. All the things that we knew we could do and wanted to do. And then we haven't been able to get that magic back.

But like I say, the guys are working as hard as they can to get it back. Because I know at the end of the day, our players do want to win. Obviously, our coaches want to win. back but um like i say the guys are working as hard as they can to get it back because i know at the end of the day our players do want to win obviously our coaches want to win and we want to make uh you know our fans proud of this team uh neil before we let you go so vernon ams jr did address the quarterback situation on social media this week he said i just want to say the bc lions don't have a quarterback issue as a team we need to be better in all three phases and make more plays going into the playoffs. I appreciate all the love and support,

but not one player is going to change all of this. Let's take him at his word here and say that there's not a QB issue with the team. What is one issue that this team can fix to, as Vernon say, change all of this? Yeah, Vernon and Nathan are actually quite close.

They sit on the plane together, so that's not an issue. Our guys just have to dig deep and play harder. I just find that some of these teams that we play, and I'm not criticizing anybody or any of our players, but sometimes it seems that these teams are just a little more digging deep and playing more physical. I know our guys are working hard but you know we have a good football team on paper team looks great but you know you

don't win games on paper so our players have to dig down deep and get they are a tight-knit group they don't like to lose so our guys you know at this especially at this time of year you just have to dig down deep and play uh physical you know-free football, which I know our guys can do. And like I said, our guys are preparing to do that starting this weekend. Neil, thank you very much for doing this today. We really appreciate you taking the time. Good luck against Montreal. We'll do this again soon. Appreciate it, guys. Have a great show. We'll talk soon.

Yep, thank you. That's Neil McEvoy, general manager of the BC Lions here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. They say it's not a quarterback issue, Jason. Quarterbacks are saying it. Well, quarterback singular is saying it. I mean, I said this yesterday. The most likely scenario in the way this season is unfolding is that the Lions have two games left.

One against Montreal that's going to be meaningless, and then they'll go to either Saskatchewan and Winnipeg and lose, and that'll be it. That's the way they're trending. You can't say any other way after their performance in Saskatchewan. And I know that Neil McEvoy and a lot of us, including myself, are holding on to that hope that this is the CFL and you just need to get hot at the right time and that the Lions did go to Montreal

and put together a very good performance against the Alouettes, but that was a long time ago now. Their last four games was a terrible game against the Argos, a disastrous second half against the Hamilton Tiger Cats, a win over a terrible Calgary team where the defense stepped up and made some scores. Yep. And then an absolutely dreadful performance in Saskatchewan. That's the last four games.

Are you thinking that this is a team that's going to get to the Grey Cup? I don't. I am not thinking they're going to get to the Grey Cup. They'll be in the Grey Cup playoffs. And it sounds like the management is pretty upset. I know Neil is going to choose his words carefully, but you could tell with his last answer there, he was not happy with the compete level of his players.

And how could you be after you go to Saskatchewan and have that type of performance and get blown out like that against a team that you could very well be playing in the playoffs? Remember a couple weeks ago when Rick Campbell said, sometimes when something bad happens to our group, they don't respond very well? I think there's been a couple comments over the last few weeks from the coach and from the manager.

It's concerning, the group as a whole. Hey, Dave Randorff knows something about the CFL. He sure does, and he joins us now. The play-by-play voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning connects her in Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning tonight. Dave Randorff joins us on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Dave. How are you? I'm good. I watched that game, by the way.

Or at least I watched until I got sick of it and turned it off. I was going to say, how brave. I'm paying attention, and I'm listening to you guys about this meltdown that I've been following with the Lions. And unfortunate for sure, especially with, you know, when everybody was excited that Rourke had returned and everything like that, but anyway, hopefully they can get it

together. It has been a very bizarre season, to put it mildly, although everything kind of pales in comparison to what you guys in Tampa Bay have had to go through at the start of this season. So we mentioned that the Lightning have only played one game because their second game of the season, which was supposed to be the return date against Carolina,

was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. So can you kind of walk us through what the last week has been in terms of dealing with the storm, surviving it, now the cleanup and trying to get back to some semblance of normal as there's a game tonight, of course, at Amelie Arena against the Canucks? Yeah, the cleanup does continue. And for those who don't know, Milton came in basically on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which devastated a lot of people,

did a lot of damage in the Tampa area. I know a good friend of mine whose house had four feet of water in it in the downtown area. And so they were just mopping up and cleaning up from that, and then we get almost a direct hit of a Cat Category 4 hurricane. It waggled a little south in the last 24 hours, thankfully, and spared this area the brunt of it, but it was a big one, one of the worst storms they've ever seen in this area.

So my street still looks like a bit of a war zone, and thankfully, personally, I've had power and didn't suffer too much damage around the house, a couple of fence panels and things. But it's draining on everybody, and I know that I'm watching the Lightning go through their morning skate right now. Half the team is still in a hotel because they don't have power yet here in Tampa, downtown area.

And I'm pretty sure the head coach is still in a hotel as well. He was talking about it the other day. So it's been a process, and this has been, you know, hurricane season, people are used to it around here, but this one felt heavier. There's been a lot of storms, and the last two have been damaging. So tonight we'll see what kind of crowd we get here tonight, because there's still gas shortages around the area.

There's still power out. We'll see. But the show does go on, and the Lightning are going to do their part to try to give people two or three hours of reprieve from everything. Was everyone associated with the Lightning in Carolina during the actual hurricane? Yes. They evacuated as a group, the staff and players and family and dogs and cats, on a charter jet to the Raleigh area because we didn't go because we weren't scheduled to do that game anyway

because it was a national game here in the States. But they stuck around there all week. I think Tuesday they went. And so they got into hard practices. And you say that they lost their home opener or it's postponed. It's supposed to be Saturday. They also lost their last preseason game, which, you know, for the coaching staff and the players,

that was a scheduled game where everybody was – that they were supposed to play their full team and get everybody going. There's a couple guys that now have only played two games. So there's a couple guys, like I'm looking at Victor Hedman right now, and he will play his third game tonight. So, you know, I'm not, oh, woe is me for hockey players, but those are the logistics of what they're dealing with to start this season.

Having said that, they got two points on the road Friday at Carolina. me for hockey players, but those are the logistics of what they're dealing with to start this season. Having said that, they got two points on the road Friday at Carolina, a team that a lot of teams struggle with in that barn. They held them to 21 shots, albeit a couple of too many grade A chances as far as the head coach was concerned, but they got away with a 4-1 win with a couple of empty netters and they'll take it. But if you look at the division standings, it's odd that, you know, they're only two points out of first place, and everybody in the Atlantic has played at least two more games than they have.

How weird is it without Stephen Stamkos? It's, you know, everybody's kind of gotten accustomed to it now and used to it now. But, you know, it'll probably hit home big time tonight for the first home game. It'll certainly hit home. I believe the date is October 28th this month. It's a Monday night or when Nashville comes to town. That will be a very, very emotional night.

It'll be like, you know, when Lennon first came back to Vancouver, you know, wearing a different jersey. It'll be the same thing. So it is odd. And on the ice, it's part of the for my money the big the biggest story was the with the lightning and a huge part of their identity on and off the ice is not there but during the game it's it's their power play has been one of the best in the league for six years running it was the reason probably that they made

the playoffs last year it saved them because they got off to a tough start but they cashed in on the on the power play while they were giving up way too many goals five on five and stammer of course is one of the best that's ever done it and and they've got to restructure they got to restructure their power play without harming the great players they still have here like kucherov like points and like headman so you're going to see a bit of a different look you're probably going to see Darren Radish down in Stammer's spot over on the left boards. And he's got a very heavy shot.

Nobody's got Stammer's shot. You're not replacing it, period. That's just end of story. But they're going to start with Darren Radish over there and see how it goes. But that is, to me, that's a big storyline going into the season with the Lightning. We were talking about this with Greg Wyshynski earlier on the show.

Do you think at the end of the day, you don't re-sign Stamkos, but you bring in Gensel. Was that about age more than anything else? And you get a guy who's a few years younger, and so you've still got this lightning forward group at least that you know if you know Kudrov I think is into his 30s but barely he's 31 uh Gentil's 30 and then you've still got some young players in Brandon Point and Sorelli who are still in their late 20s was that about just maintaining that those players as well and adding some younger players,

whereas if you were to re-sign Stamkos, you've got a bit more of a risk as terms of how old he is? I don't think there's any question. Steven means so much to this franchise. He's been the best player they've ever had. He owns every record in the book. And off the ice, he's a pillar in the community,

and he's set the standard here for this decade of excellence. He and Hedman have set the standard. I think I've said that on your show before. Day in, day out, it started with those two, and ultimately it started with the captain. Having said all that, there's no question they needed to get better five on five. And I just talked about how valuable stamkos is on the power play but five on five you know it wasn't his strength and uh genzel is a far better uh ad on

the top line to claim all those minutes five on five to help it these guys were down to the bottom of the league boys and goals against five on five i think they were 29th for the first half of the season which was just unheard of for them and they they needed to defend harder. They brought Ryan McDonough back in for that. They've added a couple of other pieces to play a little harder, like Zemgis Gergensen, the veteran from Buffalo. But Gensel is a guy who can be more dependable at even strength and provide more even strength scoring instead of just always relying upon the power play. But he also can do that as well. I mean, he has a two-time 40-goal score. So I don't think there's any question the age factor

and the fact that Stephen wanted some term to go along with it. And Julian Breezeball around here is very careful to not get caught in one of those contracts with a lot of term, with an aging asset that doesn't age well and there's how many of those contracts are there around the nhl uh we all know about that they end up getting bought out so he was very wary they they had a it's funny when they traded uh circuit chef to utah everybody thought oh well there's your cap space they'll get stammered done now and no not so fast breezeball had his number already in mind, and he wasn't going to just bump it by $2 or $3 million a year

just because he moved Sergachev and his $8 million salary. He's got a vision. He's got a plan to keep this team competitive and try to keep this window open because don't forget, they've still got Vasilevsky. They've still got Point. They've still got Kucherov, who had 144

points last year. They've still got Hedman. They've still got Point. They've still got Kutrow, who had 144 points last year. They've still got Hedman. They've still got Brandon Hagels, turned into an excellent player here. They gave up a lot to get him. They've got a lot of pieces here. It's not like this Lightning team is done and not a factor. Are they a top five, top six elite team in the NHL right now? No.

Are they a team that can put things together and put a scare into some of the playoffs? Absolutely. No question about it a team that can put things together and put a scare into somebody in the playoffs? Absolutely. No question about it. And that's what he's trying to preserve, and he had to make a hard decision. And it was a hard decision here in Tampa. I'm telling you right now, I was asked about it everywhere I went, and people were upset for two months.

But I think maybe at the end of the day, they'll look back on this and be thankful they've got a GM that had the onions to pull off a move like this. We'll see what happens. But Stephen's legacy here is intact. His number will go to the Raptors as soon as he's done playing. He'll probably have a statue in front of the building

and deservedly so, and he'll go straight to the Hall of Fame. But for right now, it's about about winning and the business aspect took over um how does john cooper keep it fresh every season gosh we were talking about rick talking it's like second full season with the canucks and we were like how's he gonna change the message he can't keep coming back with the same message he came back with it once or didn't even come back with any one coach of the year john cooper's been there forever. I'm just wondering about the challenges of keeping it fresh

and keeping the players motivated. A bunch of, and a core group that has already won a lot. Yeah, it's 12th full season. Longest senior coach in the NHL. 13th season here, 12th full season. Of course, a BC native himself. I believe his brother lives in Vancouver. And so, yeah, he, listen, as we all know, John's a smart guy.

He's a lawyer and he's an intelligent man who knows how to keep it fresh in that. A lot of it came from, and I hate to use it, but I'm going to use the C word here, culture that they have built with guys like the aforementioned Hedman and Stankos and McDonough is now back in the fold. He was a big part of that as well. A lot of it runs itself inside the room in terms of the pressure and things like that.

But I'm sure there are challenges to keep the message fresh, but there's no question about it that the desire and the hunger for this team still remains. I don't see it wavering. I know that they had an average season by their standards last year. They didn't qualify for the playoffs until April, which is kind of unheard of. Usually there are teams on cruise control by at least February. But I think it was kind of good for this team, too. It taught them how to fight and claw again,

which they did, and led by Kucherov and Basilewski regained his form down the stretch. So I think a lot of it comes from in that room, but I think John is just a student of the game. He's never afraid to change his approach a little bit, and he empowers the players too. He knows that he can't be on them all the time. With the micromanaging, with the constant grinding, yes, there will be times when he'll put the hammer down,

but I think he empowers this group because there's a lot of trust that goes two ways. And I think that's what they've built here and it carries them a long way. What has Hedman had to say since being named captain? He was humbled. Obviously this is Stanco's best friend. They came up the ranks together. They both came here as young 18-year-olds, a year apart,

and they're buddies, and they will be forever more, for sure. So it was a natural, you know, succession, and I'm kind of glad that they didn't do one of those things where they waited, you know, a year or two to put a C on somebody because they did have Victor Hedman here, and it's been very well-received. And Julian Breezebaugh and John Cooper decided to take a poll of the players, even new guys that came in, like Cam Atkinson or Jake Inslee.

Everybody had a vote, and it was unanimous. I mean, yes, it was the obvious choice, but still, it was gratifying for Hedman to hear that it was unanimous amongst all of his peers in the room that he was a natural and wanted choice to be the C. So interesting. He's never, a couple things. First of all, he's never been a captain, ever. And I asked him about that, and I said, geez, why is that?

He said, well, you know, part of the reason is because I was always younger than everybody. You know, he was so good, even when he was playing minor hockey in Sweden, he was always younger than the older guys that are captains. And then he was in the NHL at 18 years of age, and the rest is history. But one guy he singled out that you'll find interesting, that kind of helped

him prepare him for this role and this moment, along with all the experience that he's gained himself, he singled out Matthias Ohland. I knew you were going to say that. And Ohland, who finished his career here, last two years here in Tampa, signed a big deal and arrived the exact same time as Hedman, and he took him under his wing.

Victor was 18 years of age, and I don't have to list out to your listeners what Matthias Ohlen was on and off the ice and what he meant to the Canucks. He was here for a short time, but he had the same type of impact here because that's who he was, and Victor singled him out right away. It would be funny if Gensel came in and voted for someone else he's like mike yes he might dave thanks so much for joining us uh i hope everything is is is going well for you okay um with regards to the the hurricane and uh know, we're thinking about the people in Tampa and hoping to get through all this.

Yeah, thanks a lot, guys. It's been a heavy week, but thankfully, listen, we're safe. My wife and I are safe, and we're fine. But I appreciate it. And now I'm going to rejoin your buddies, John Shorthouse and Dan Murphy and Dave Tomlinson, and continue talking about the Canucks. Thanks for having me on and once again, hello to all my friends and family there in the Lower Mainland.

Thanks Dave, we appreciate it. Have a good one. That's Dave Randolph, the play-by-play voice of the Tampa Bay Lightning here on the Halford & Brush Show on Sportsnet 60. That was a seamless transition with him having his CFL knowledge. Yeah, that was very good. I was like, I can't believe you watched that game. I would have turned it off.

So good on you for sticking through a 31-point blow loss for the BC Lions. If you look at, for example, longtime Lightning beat writer Eric Erlandson, who we've had on the show a number of times, everything that he's written over the last week and everything that's on the Lightning's website, there's nothing really about hockey.

This has been a start to the regular season, which has been very tumultuous, very stressful, and not involving any hockey because they've only played one game. So when they play tonight, it's their first game at home. Their original home opener got postponed, so it's going to be a sort of like makeshift home opener. They're still very much in the cleanup and relief efforts from Milton. There's a lot going on not having anything to do with hockey,

so it's a very, very, it's a tumultuous dynamic that's at play in Tampa Bay. We'll talk to the second Ferraro of the show, Landon, coming up next, and we'll preview Canucks Lightning, more from the Canucks side, but we'll talk a bit about the Lightning as well with Landon Ferraro on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.