Halford & Brough in the Morning - Drancer Talks 4 Nations & Canucks + What We Learned

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason talk last night's 4 Nations Canada win over Sweden with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance (1:56), and what he thought of Pettersson's game last night, plus the boys tell us what they learned (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

What we just have to call Thomas Dranzerotica. Thomas Dranzerotica. Corsi. Thomas Dranzerotica. Expected Goals. Thomas Dranz Erotica. Todd Model. Thomas Drance Erotica.

Regression. Thomas Drance Erotica. PTO. Thomas Drance Erotica. 804 on a Thursday. Oh, Thomas Drantz, Veronica. 804 on a Thursday, happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough, 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. They can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program. Thomas Drantz from The Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the

expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. A friendly reminder before we get to Thomas Drance, if you want to win tickets to see the HSBC rugby sevens at BC place later this month, we are giving them away at 815 this morning. Caller number seven gets the tickets to the sevens. Phone number here, 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Don number again, 604-280-0650.

Don't call early. Call exactly at 8.15, 10 minutes from now, to win a pair of tickets to see the HSBC Rugby Sevens at BC Place later this month. Okay, to the phone lines we go. Thomas Trance joins us now on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning. Thomas, how are you? I'm fired up.

What a great game of hockey that was. That was pretty good, eh? Oh, brilliant, like electric hockey. That was phenomenal. Just from an entertainment standpoint, couldn't look away as a hockey fan. Glad we get to do this for a couple more weeks. Drancer, you're a hockey nerd.

Maybe you can help me out with this question. Has any team been able to roll out a one-two punch like McKinnon and Crosby on one line and then McDavid on the next? Oh man, there's such nukes. There's an element to which I think McDavid obviously is the best player on the planet. And I actually thought that was apparent yesterday. I think there's an element to which, you know, once Mitch Marner figures out how to help

McDavid recycle the puck, that line is going to be absolutely lethal. And it's not just on Mitch Marner by the way I also thought the Sam Reinhart chance in the third McDavid's down low he expects them to maintain possession and sort of just work the puck below the hash marks I don't think he's used to playing with a creator like Marner who's able to take that sort of kicked Reinhardt puck from behind the net and actually work it inside, right? As these guys gain some familiarity, McDave is going to start going to the net. And if he had on that play, whether Reinhardt shoots or tries the back door pass, he at

least pulls Gustafson, right? Like he at least creates the base. I think he was expecting that Reinhardt was not going to, I don't want to say shovel the puck on that, but he was going to put a cross eyes for like, McDavid was almost in the dry sidle spot. Right. And, right, but there's only one man I want in the dry sidle. So that's not a shot I want anyone else taking, frankly. I think McDavid could probably bury it, but like I know what you're saying.

They don't know each other quite yet. They don't know each other quite yet, but I still thought that line looked like Canada's most dangerous, even though it was the Crosby line, or well, it was the Crosby line that scored their most important five on five goal. So yeah, I mean, I think you're going to get even more out of that McDavid group and even, even that's like the idea of Mitch Marner, Sam Reinhart

and Connor McDavid figuring out how to unlock teams over the course of the next week, cause I'm pretty confident they will. I mean, even that's just a thrill to watch. And then obviously the CID performance was ludicrous and the assist on the Mark Stone goal where he ends up sort of off the rush in this just like lower body strength versus lower body strength fight with Gustav Forsling, who's become the best defensive defender in the sport. Right. And it's just a clear win

for Crosby and a great play. I mean, wow, just honestly, there's so much about that game that was so fun to watch and so fun to peer into in terms of the one-two punch. Yeah, the best player and probably the second best skater in the league playing on different lines. And then you've got McKinnon, you know, working with like the greatest from the previous generation who's still probably a top 10 to 15 player in his own right and has the big game bona fides and showed it again, had the entire Bell Center chanting his name. I mean, what a night for hockey, like incredible. I don't know that I can frankly come up with another sort of

answer to it. I mean even you think about the Sochi roster or the Vancouver roster, you know, I mean in Vancouver in 2010 you had like Ovechkin was the second best player in the world. He played for a different country. You're right they had Crosby, they had a Gimlala but you know it's like the second line that really mattered in that tournament was was Mike Richards Rick Nash and oh my god who did they play with I can't come up with it Mike Richards Rick Nash and Jonathan Taves who sort of turned that tournament as a third line for Team Canada and then and then 2014 I mean by the time you get there Canada's winning

1-0 right it's Chris Kunitz with Crosby. It's not an explosive offensive force. Like I think actually there's been an evolution in sort of not the nature of how Canada plays international hockey. And of course, we've gone nine years without seeing it. But I feel like Canada's got a level of skill. Like I remember in Vancouver, there was this sense that Canada might have the greatest volume of talent, but it's Russia that has the artists, the greatest offensive minds in the sport. And it just feels like those guys are Canadian right now. So yeah, I mean, I do feel like this is pretty unique. Even going back to like 86, the Canada Cup, you had Gretzky and Lemieux

together with Hauerchuck, right? So it's it's yeah, in terms of a one to punch, I don't know that I don't know that I've ever seen anything like this. We've tried to answer this next question throughout the morning, and we're just getting yelled at. I don't feel like getting yelled at anymore. You can get yelled at. So I'm going to ask the question of you, Thomas Strantz.

What did you think of Elias Pettersson's game last night against Canada? I mean, I thought he looked much the way he's looked throughout the season. So one thing to note is while he doesn't have burst or juice in my view, right? Like I still think those first two steps look uncharacteristically burstless, right?

There's just not a lot of power in his first two steps. So I think that limits his ability to go out and be decisive in terms of winning games, which is what you need from him and what Sweden absolutely needs from him. Given sort of the state of Zabanejad's game. And I thought that showed again last night, uh, that said, you know, I didn't think he was like costly to them, right? I think he can still hang. He's still a smart enough player that he can hang in that, in a game with that tempo. It's just that he's not likely to be the reason his team wins in a game with that tempo.

One thing I did note was he didn't have a single defensive zone start. His line was pretty sheltered in terms of their usage by the, by Sam Hollan. And as a result, you know, I think you, I think that's telling, right? Like I think that's telling about the state of his game, especially, you know, not granted they've got Yoel Erickson act, you know, you'd want him taking defensive draws, even if Pedersen was at his two way best. But I do think the sheltered nature of that line says a lot about where Pedersen's game is at. And yeah, you know, there's some missed opportunities, the two on one, obviously not a decisive moment for

him offensively. And then, and then of course, misses on the, um, the three on three overtime, sort of one-timer chance, which would have been a, a really good one if he'd been able to get it on net for Sweden. So, you know, I honestly felt a lot. Like we've felt about Pedersen all season. It's like, yeah, he can be a, he's, he performed last night, like a guy who's going to finish between 50 and 60 points, but can hold up from a two-way perspective at the top of the line up. And that's fine.

There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not what we have come to expect of Feddersen, what he's been through most of his career and what this team needs that they're going to, or this Canucks team needs, frankly, and team Sweden too, if they're going to hit their ceiling or win anything meaningful. How do the Canucks get the burst and the juice back in this guy's legs? I mean, I wish I knew. I'd be charging more than Darrell Belfort, right? I mean, I pretty consistently bought that there's a physical issue. I've pretty consistently suggested

that I think it's going to take time. That I think one of the dangerous parts of what remains this season for the Canucks is that I don't know that you get some juice in your first two steps back over the balance of the campaign, especially given that Pedersen's highest velocity shots and highest speed skating bursts all came in the first two weeks of the season. Right. This feels to me like one of those situations where patience is required and yet, you know, with his NMC kicking in at the start of the next league year on July 1, you know, patience is something that certainly would be a test for the Canucks to exercise. Right. They take on a lot of risk exercising that patience. But you know, when you're talking about a guy who was point per game plus with exceptional two way results from the ages of 20

through 25, you know, I think risk is warranted just because this is the sort of player who, if he hits his ceiling is just about impossible to find or replace. So look, I don't envy Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen trying to figure this out or come up with suggestions and work with the player on this. I think it's a tricky one. But I do think, you know, my view of it anyway, is if you're gonna if you're gonna take a risk, if you're going to roll the dice, right, and gamble, make sure that if you win, you win something worthwhile, right? And what's

more worthwhile than, you know, a point per game, top line center, who's still in his mid twenties, nothing, right? So in my view anyway, yeah, I mean, I'm concerned. Don't get me wrong. I'm not confident in this take the way I was, you know, when he struggled in the 2022, 23 season. And I was pretty confident that, hey, look, guys don't just lose their game. History tells us that. History does tell us that again, but man, it's looked so different and it's looked so different now for 12 months that, you know, I'm not gonna pretend that there's a right answer here by any means. I would just want,

if I were, you know, Connach's brass, I would just want to see what this looks like after a healthy summer. I need to see that before I give up on the player. So this was going to be my next question. Under the CBA, how much babysitting are teams allowed to do with the players? Because I want to know what happened this past off season that had the Canucks so upset about his conditioning when he came in, but also if you want to look at it from Pedersen's perspective, and we've heard it from Pedersen and

we most recently heard it again from his agent, like there was a knee issue, the tendonitis issue that kept him from training to his full capacity. So what happened last summer? And if the Canucks keep Peterson, how can they avoid a repeat? Well, and how can they avoid a fine, right? Which has happened to them in this regime. Take the fine.

It's relatively recently, right? Take the fine. Yeah. I mean, I agree. I agree. I look, there's not a lot of babysitting you can do. You have to trust that your best players and your team are partners in winning, right?

Like that's kind of that. And so, you know, you can make some recommendations, you can set up a training regiment, but you're, you know, you can't have staff on the ice with the guy, or at least you can't get caught doing it. And you know, you need to make sure that whatever you do do, whatever resources you're working

with or providing the player, the player is on board because again, all it takes is one guy to be like, no, no, this is too much. And you know, you're going to get your wrist slapped. So look, it's a tricky one to navigate, but you've got to have trust that the player wants it enough. And look, it's, it's a tricky one to navigate, but you've got to have trust that the player wants it enough. And look, I mean, the thing about Patterson, right, is, you know, like I still remember, I go back to Victoria, the first time I really

started covering him at that training camp. And like, he was out there mossing guys in scrimmage with like a smile on his face. Yeah. Right. Like he, he dusted everyone in the 40s skate You know, he pulled off a Forsberg deke to win a scrimmage You know, it was a pretty It was a pretty alpha performance frankly from from Pedersen

I remember seeing that from a 21 year old kid like very clearly putting His own stamp like hey hey this is my team is effectively like the hockey language he was speaking in that setting and you know I remember seeing that and being like man there's a core of steel here now I've since seen a lot of stuff that has made me question that but I think why I'm bringing it up is to say like that's in there. This is not a, you know, normal level competitive guy. This is not a guy who I think needs to be motivated or babysat necessarily or hasn't at all times in the past. But for whatever reason, like I think more than anything, it's trying to figure out how to tap back into that. How to sort of get him back to being this guy that honestly we have seen in the past in terms

of that sort of killer level of will. Um, you know, I think that's in there because I've seen it, but I don't know that we've seen it in a while. Okay. Let's move on from Pedersen and I know you and Harm and the rest of the crew over at the Athletic are getting ready for the trade deadline, which is March 7th.

So less than a month away. And I'm sure there's plenty of calls being made between the teams during this two week break. What do you think the Canucks, if anything, will target? What should they target? And what should they be willing to give up? Well, so I think a lot of this depends on what they sell, right? Like I think that's the first thing. I do think there's a sense that the organization would love to let the dust settle

in the wake of the JT Miller trade and given how the team has performed in, you know, four or five, depending on whether or not you want to count the Dallas game as a trade that occurred before or after the Miller deal, right? Miller was scratched as a result of a pending trade, but he was scratched, right? Like he was officially on the Canucks roster at the start of that game. So whatever, I'm not getting into the semantic argument, but no matter what over those five games, you've seen, I think a lot of impressive hockey

being played by this group. Do you wanna give that a chance to rise as it were, you know, to steal a baking metaphor, or are there bigger picture items that the organization needs to be focused on? And Brock Bezier is really the face of that, I think now until March 7th, right? The question of, can you, as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, pretty significantly far back of the Kings from a point percentage perspective, from even being third in your own division, can you afford to let, you know,

pretty consistent 30 goal per 82 game goal scorer who's still in his 20s? You know, can you let that guy walk in free agency without netting a return or do you need to stay focused on the big picture given, you know, that this team has materially changed their direction with the Miller deal and the internal logic of that trade. Making that determination, I think, is key as a first step because if the Conex are buying, I think they're buying as most likely hybrid sellers where maybe you deal better, but you're also not going to wave the

white flag on this season. So if you deal better, you're probably going to look to bring in another top nine winger, right? Ideally a player that's slightly more affordable or multiple players using the assets that you gain. Um, so, you know, honestly, I think that's the first step. It's, it's not what should they be willing to part with. It's not what should they be willing to part with asset wise? Like what should they be willing to part with asset wise?

Like not a lot, right? Not a lot of future value should go out the door in the narrow pursuit of improving this team short term. Look, maybe they come back and they beat Vegas, they beat Utah and they beat LA in three of the first four games. And that may motivate you to be a little bit more aggressive, but even then I think you're looking at like a second and your second tier of prospects to

bring in some reinforcements to just sort of give like the locker room that like pat on the back of hey good job we'll give you something you know like I think that that would be worth doing but I think anything more than that you know would require the team to first sell would be worth doing. But I think anything more than that, you know, would require the team to first sell would be sort of in that hybrid mold where you're, you know, operating with both the left and you are almost not, not, you are overwhelmingly likely playoff team this year and a playoff team that, you know, has some reason for optimism, you know, best defenseman on the planet plays for you. You've got, you know, pretty good goaltending tandem. You play pretty good team defense. You've got a pretty good blue line. I mean, those are reasons to bolster this roster with some level

of sort of moderation and balance. But I don't think you can go all in on a season where you're not close to challenging, you know, Vegas or Edmonton or Winnipeg for being one of the top teams in the West. And, you know, those are the four teams you're most likely to see in the first round. You know, that's unenviable. You don't want to send a lot of assets down the drain in sort of pursuit of winning three games or two games in that series, as opposed to, you know, going deep. Well, Jancer, I was going to ask you if you shared my opinion that the top six needs some more size and strength and, and punch, But I guess. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I mean, we'll table that conversation for another day. Maybe that's an off season project for them, but. I'm with you though. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Good. Pretty simple.

Yeah. Yeah. But, but also speed, man, like you need more speed, you need more size, you need more juice, you need to be able to generate shots. There's a lot of different items. Other than that, perfect. Other than that, they're in good shape. Okay. Trancer, enjoy the to be able to generate shots. Other than that, perfect. Other than that, yeah. Very good shape.

Okay, Trancer, enjoy the rest of this tournament, buddy. We'll talk again next week. All right, cheers boys. See you, buddy. Thomas Trance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk right here on the Haliford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. So a lot of people are texting in, I asked Trancer, has any team been able to put together So a lot of people are texting and I asked her answer like, has any team been able to put together

a one, two punch like Canada had last night when it was McKinnon and Crosby on one line? And then, you know, Swin was like, oh, okay, we survived that. And then, oh, oh, McDavid's over the boards. This is going to be hard. And, uh, that 87 team, Canada Cup team had, um, Gretzky and Lemieux playing together, but then also Mark Messier

was and like the Oilers, someone texted in, I apologize for not giving you credit here because we've got a lot of texts in, but that Oilers team had Gretzky and Curry together and then Messier and Glenn Anderson. That was a good combo. Like Glenn Anderson. Glenn Anderson was one of the most underrated players on that Oilers team. He was so, so good.

And yet he was overshadowed by all the other Hall of Famers on that team. When did he get into the Hall of Fame? It took a long time, didn't it? I can't remember. You should know this. He's a Burnaby guy. Yeah.

I think he got in in 08. Yeah. It took a while to get in though. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up, it's What We Learn time. We're gonna do our What We Learns. You're gonna do your What We Learns.

We're gonna read them on the air. It's your chance to be on the radio. We're gonna announce the winner of today's Rugby Sevens tickets, the HSBC Rugby Sevens, which is gonna be a BC place later this month. And we're going to have some good times.

It's the final half hour of the show. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Hal Ferdinand 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. Now for my favorite part of the show. What'd I say? Talk to the audience. Oh God, this is always dead. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time.

It's what we learn time. On the show. 832 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough supports Net 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff

that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program, it is what we learn in time. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Pound.com today.

Check this out, cool cats. We have what we learns from everybody involved with the Haliford and Bref Show. Well, we got to go real quick because we got a lot of what we learns in the Dunbar Lumber text line as well do you have to steal, why do you have to take away from the monumental occasion? Go, go. I'm going to start, the National Basketball Association, the Hoopies, if you will. We haven't, I'm just kidding. I'm just trying to drive you nuts. So last month I mentioned that we had a new all-time single game Canadian scoring record set by Shay Gilders-Alexandriou. Remember when I did this? Wasn't that long ago? It was only a few weeks ago.

Well that's gone. Last night Jamal Murray was like, uh-uh SGA. I'm taking back that record. 55 points last night for Jamal Murray in a 132-121 Nuggets win over the Trailblazers. Is 55 points even a lot to score in the NBA? It is. Everybody's pretty good. Did you guys know? I'm joking. I'm joking.

It's not. We're seeing more. Every NBA score looks like an all-star game from like 15 years ago. Well Jamal Murray did it in typical modern NBA fashion too. Seven threes on way to 55 points. So his 55 eclipses SGA's 54, which eclipsed the previous mark by Jamal Murray. So they're just trading the record back and forth now. You know who had the best game in the NBA last night? Kyrie. He was great last night. I watched that game. Yeah.

They beat the Jimmy Butler led Golden State Warriors. I say that because did you see what happened at the end of the game? They had a chance to, I believe tie, or go ahead with a three, and instead of putting the ball in the hands of Steph Curry, Jimmy decided I'm gonna take this to the rack in typical Jimmy fashion.

Offensive foul drawn by Kyrie Irving. Yeah. The offensive foam. Anyway, um, this was the third highest scoring game in nuggets history. And I actually watched a lot of this one. Jamal Murray was fantastic. So it's very cool that they are trading back

and forth the Canadian scoring record. Maybe it'll get broken a couple more times before the season's out. Anyway, Mu count me. Okay. Uh, I count me. Okay. Uh, I learned that I will forever be jealous of the whole idea of Darby's in. The hats?

Uh, no. Oh. Uh, not horse races either. Nope. But the intercity competitions that teams can have in England because there are multiple teams in a lot of the bigger cities, multiple teams in London, multiple teams in Manchester, multiple teams in

Birmingham. And I know what we saw yesterday was the Merseyside Derby, which is a county between Liverpool and Everton. It was the last game at Goodison Park, which is Everton's home stadium. They're building a new stadium. Hopefully they'll stay up in the Premier League

for that new stadium next season. It's the nicest stadium in the championship. But this was an incredible ending to the last Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park. Liverpool, who are probably going to win the league this year and maybe Champions League, not the FA Cup, but they might do the double. They were up 2-1 and it's been hard for Everton supporters, really hard, but they had their moment yesterday. Harrison is closed down.

Mikhulenko is on the overlap. Lofted in by Mikhulenko. Erebunen! Jokovsky! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Gladys Freak has a moment for history, for eternity. James Tarkovsky beats the Goodison Derby. Farewell.

Good night. So, um. That was friend of the show, Peter Drury, by the way. Incredible call, incredible moment. And even if you don't like soccer, if you have not seen it, you've just heard it. Google it up, go onto YouTube and find the highlights because the crowd there went ballistic and then there was all sorts of fireworks afterwards. Um, there was some.

There was a fight. There was a fight. There was a bunch of card, red cards. Four red cards. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Post game red cards. Someone was taunting. DeCurre went to the Liverpool, uh, supporters

section and was sort of like beaking off at them. And then Curtis Jones came over and got in his face and they started, and then they came to blows. And then the Liverpool manager, Arne Slutt. What was that? Hey, Doug, just got interested. Yeah. Say that again.

Is he close to the Young Boys? Arne Slutt. Yeah. No way. Okay. S-L-O-T, keep going, keep going. He, this is not gonna do soccer any favors, he too aggressively shook the hand

of referee Michael all over here. You know what that looks like though, right? Like, yeah. He shook his hand, but there was intent. There was meaning in that hand. Did you hear the crowd when that goal went in? They went nuts. Tarkovsky, who by the way has been capped twice there was meaning in that hand. Did you hear the crowd when that goal went in? They went nuts.

Tarkovsky, who by the way has been capped twice by England, he's not Polish, he's English. He dove into the Goodison Park faithful and they spilled onto the pitch. It was intense. It was intense because there was five minutes of added time. The big electronic board went up with a five. That was scored in the eighth minute.

Listen to the crowd though, like you said. It was a... It was a... It was a... It was a... That is a moment. Give us a moocow on that. Ah!

Is there any chance young boys could get slit? So... Why don't you do your what we learned? Don't get distracted. Again, we've got a lot of what we learned in the text line. His assistant coach's name is Sipke. OK, my what we learned. OK, so the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for this year

are in yesterday. And I actually know most of these names. I was proud of myself. But the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for 2025 are as follows. Bad Company, The Black Crows, Mariah Carey, Chubby Checker. Uh-huh. Don't know that one. What?

What? What? You don't know who Chubby Checker is? I don't. You don't know how to twist. God, Adolf. And twist again? This is worse than not knowing who John McEnroe was.

How is Chubby Checker not already in? Yeah. Joe Cocker. Was he in the Builders category? How is Joe Cocker not in? Billy Idol, Joy Division slash New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Manna, Manna, M-A-N-A with the little thing above the A.

So Manna, I don't know. Aren't you a musician? I don't know this one either. Oasis, that's cool, I like Oasis. Outkast, Fish, Soundgarden, awesome, and the White Stripes are the nominees for this year. When I saw that list, my first reaction was, how is Joe Cocker not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

already? He was like, a lot of people don't know this, but I think he was the highest paid performer at Woodstock. Really? Yeah. I didn't know that. So the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's got a lot of people that you think would be in that

aren't in, because they just haven't put them in yet. It's not like they've been like, you know what I mean? Like I and it seems like I don't know the exact Inductee rules because it's obviously like chubby checker was like in the 40s. I know you do have to have a career spanning I think it's something like two decades and a mult a number of Albums released I think like five or six. So there are qualifications you need No, I know but I'm talking about like- You can't just be like a one hit wonder. Fans have declined it too in the past. They've been offered it and said nothing.

I guess what I'm saying is like from our understanding of the pro sports, it's after you retire, you go in with a class of your peers, sort of, these guys that played at the same time. Yeah, no, it's not a retirement thing because obviously lots of the nominees still perform. It's like, Joe Cocker's not in, he's still performing. Right. It's like Chubby Checker and the White Stripes going in together. It's like,

well, slightly different areas. They cross paths at some point. Okay. Give us a mook out on that. Again, I hate to move everyone along, but people take the time to text into the Dunbar Lumber text line. Howford calls the listeners Chudz. It's not helping our relationship with the listeners here. We have a listener named Judd who wrote in He's like you just call me a Judd and I said I didn't call you a Judd Judd I called you a Chud but not you Judd. I called the other Chuds Chuds not you

You're gonna love my what we learned bruff. All right, it's baseball season babies pitchers and catchers have reported Let's go. You know who's already causing problems? I don't care. I wanna know. Marcus Stromann. Oh, okay, I care now. He forced his manager to answer questions about why he unfollowed the Yankees on Instagram. And Aaron Boone said it was just a routine purge that he does, even though Stromann still follows a couple hundred people. Yankees aren't one of them.

Why did Marcus Stromann not just answer the questions himself? He hasn't reported yet. He showed up Tuesday for his physical, which was required, I guess, with his contract, and then peaced out. He hasn't shown up for any of the workouts or anything. Technically, he hasn't till the 22nd to get there, but all the other pitchers and catchers are there,

except Marcus Stroma. So what's the story that's bubbling under the surface? Well, he was basically benched during playoffs last year. He did not pitch, and the second half of his year was terrible. So a lot of Yankee fans thought he was getting traded this off season. It didn't happen. He's still with the team. Clearly he's a little frustrated you guys.

Marcus Stroman, who would have thought causing problems. He's just always got a chip on his shoulder. Who'd have thunk it? Every single, okay. Give us a moocow on that and let's print out some submissions into the Dunbar lumber text line here. What We Learn, Humanoid, Zabrazio is always by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You want to try one of the Halford and Brough favorite pies? Try the white Vesuvio featuring roasted mushrooms, house-made Italian sausage, and extra creamy ricotta. Only at AJ's Pizza.

Order online at ajs.pizza. What We Learn, uh, there's the best players in the NHL. Then on a completely different level, there's Crosby, McKinnon, and McDavid. That was so much fun to watch last night. It really was the, the talent that it's like, they're a force. They're an absolute force. They say, I'm going to take this puck and I'm going to bring it over there. Okay, I got a question. And there's nothing you can do about it.

How many of the best players in the world, like if you're going to go rank all of them in this tournament, Canada has, number one is McDavid. Number two is McKinnon. Yeah, some people would say dry, I think, at this point. But he's not in the tournament. Oh, in the tournament. Yeah. Oh, in the tournament, right. Yeah. Number two is McKinnon? Some people would say dry, I think, at this point. But he's not in the tournament. Oh, in the tournament. Yeah. Oh, in the tournament, right.

Do we choose McKinnon? Okay. Number three, I don't know if- Bennington. Stop. Macar. Macar Bukele. Macar.

Yeah. Well, Sid last night. And then Sid after last night. Stop doing that. And then Sid after last night. Does Canada have the best four players in the tournament? Yeah, because Hughes isn't playing for- Yeah, Hughes isn't there. Hughes isn't there. Yeah. and then sit after last night. Does Canada have the best four players in the tournament? Yeah, cause Hughes isn't playing for. Yeah, Hughes isn't there.

Hughes isn't there. Yeah. Does Hellebuck count as one of the best players? I was joking with Bennington. I was gonna say, now that you're doing real suggestions. Well, he is a hard trophy candidate. Yeah. Like, he's in the conversation.

He's up there. He's top five, I think. Matthews isn't the player he was a couple years ago. I think that, like, Matthews is not a hundred percent healthy. Who's the best American player? Like if you were to say this is the most important player on the team. Oh, Hellebuck. Hellebuck. Yeah, I think their goal is in there.

Their goal tend to win that tournament. I got another question kind of spinning off this for you guys. Yeah, Greg. Does this make you pine for a less watered down NHL? Seeing all of these players playing together, setting each other up for these amazing plays, is the NHL too watered down with 30 teams? Too many teams. That's what I thought when I was watching this.

I was like, man, this is great hockey. This is amazing. This is the best in the world doing it. And they'll never do it again for another four years. I listened to Bill Daly talk about expansion and he was adamant that they feel that they've got more than enough talent. And I think it's because of the growth of the game in the US and how many states are playing it now as compared to before, that they've got a wealth of talent that they

don't feel that adding two more teams would dilute the talent level at all. Like they're, they're very convinced of that. Austin and Langley, what we learned Crosby and McKinnon were the last two people doing interviews post game last night. And they're the first two on the ice at an optional skate, less than 12 hours later, absolute sickos. They don't play for the Kinetics yet, but people

this dedicated are really hard to not root for. And that's why these guys wanted this best on best experience. Because if you're like, they've got money, they've got accolades. What these guys thrive on is the competition. It's the actual act of, it's not what you get from it. It's not like the fame, it's not the money, it's the actual competing part of it.

And it's hard for us to imagine because we haven't been at the level in anything in our lives, in our sad, depressing lives that these guys are at. But they just want to compete, that's part of the, that's the bigger payoff. And that's why I compare it to things like the Ryder Cup. They don't get paid for that, but they all want to be part of that team. They're desperate to be part of that team for the competition. So that's what it's for.

You want to know where my sad, depressed mind went when I read this? Cause I was like, you know, Crosby and McKinnon they're out there. Last guy's off, first guy's on. They just love to be there. They want to be there so bad. This is something that I would do.

I can feel what you're going to do. How hurt is Quinn Hughes? How injured is he? Oh, okay. That's not what you. How injured, how injured is he? Seriously. Like is I'm, he's not there.

Crosby came back from injury to play in this tournament. He's 37. I bet, and I'm not saying Hughes asked out. You could tell from all the conversations and all the quotes that he really wanted to, like, how hurt is he? My guess is not like crippled, but he still doesn't want to risk.

You know what I mean? But it's still, he just still doesn't want to like take a chance. Can you please put up a video with a caption, Quinn Hughes, probably not crippled. Probably not crippled. That's not. I think he might.

The senses are telling me. I wonder if he has an injury that they're worried about. Apparently it's the obliques, which I wonder if he has an injury that they're worried about. Apparently it's the obliques, which I haven't put a lot of attention to. Allegedly. It's a crippling oblique injury. So that's, this is going to be funny.

This is like, that's your core, right? You can't do sit ups. You look like a pop of this. Argh, my core. No, no, no, but don't you think that could be potentially an injury that gets worse if you play it? Yeah, he doesn't want to aggravate it. He doesn't want to aggravate it and make it worse.

Yeah, that's what that means, not to put Halford. Well, you're the one who said cripple. Yeah, he doesn't want to aggravate it. He doesn't want to aggravate it and make it worse. Yeah, that's what I mean. Not for Biff Halford. Well, you're the one who said crap. I didn't even think you were supposed to say that anymore. Yeah, don't put this on me. We're going to get canceled because you don't know the proper verbiage. Look, all I'm saying is that he missed four games prior to the break. He's not there and he clearly wanted to be.

I'm just a little concerned about how significant the injury might be. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but old tiny Tim also known as Quinn Hughes. He's pretty important to what the Canucks want to do here. That's, that's why the Canucks put pressure on him without really like admitting that they were putting pressure on him.

They're like, I'm sure Quinn will make the right decision for the team that needs him so desperately to stay healthy down the stretch. I'm sure he'll make the right decision and that he won't put himself above the team. The right decision, I mean, that's up to him, but the right decision is going to be. He'll make the right decision. Right decision, Quinn, lock the door. Lock the door. Just lock the door. That what we learned was also more reflective of where my mind goes at times. So don't worry too much about using. Sure, it'll be fine.

I went immediately to Pettersson. I know you did. What we learned. Oh, sorry. Well, I was just real quickly back to the- Do you have another person you wanna- We've gotten to two what we learned so far. Can I just say, like, I know we're marveling

at like McDavid and McKinnon's speed. And I don't know why I forgot about this, but it just still blows my mind after all these years how incredible Crosby is at protecting the puck. Like seriously, once he gets the puck, you just can't take it from him. Nobody can take the puck from him. You know who says that all the time? Rick Tuckett. Do you remember? He was always like, you know, when I was in Pittsburgh,

Sidney Crosby, you know, if there was back pressure on him, he'd just turn his back to the defender and protect the puck and he'd still make plays. It's like the auger back in the day, like you just, once he gets the puck, he just cannot take it away from him. The third goal last night, perfect example of, yeah. Protect the puck, get your head up. There's nothing the defender can do when your

body's between him and the puck. You're so strong that you can hold them off, get your head up, still make a perfect pass. Well, the second goal he held off for Sling too. Yeah. That's not an easy defender to get to beat. Mark Stone probably like, this is awesome. Jamie, the Armstrong fisherman, what we learned, Canucks prospect, Leckermacky is a goal scoring

machine in the AHL. He's on pace for 31 goals in 53 AHL games this season, which would tie him for the six most goals by a 20 year old in the AHL in the last 20 years. Yeah, I guess he scored again last night. Yeah, I had to go and check this because the last user submitted Abbotsford Canucks thing we got was completely wrong.

Remember yesterday? Yeah, they played the Condors. Yeah, they were like, they didn't play the Condors. They got smoked. No, they won. Yeah, they won and it was not against the Condors. Yeah, they didn't play the condors. They got smoked. No, they won. Yeah, they won and it was not against the condors. But other than that, the text was accurate. Austin, go ahead.

So it's 16 goals in 27 games. Little bit of Cy Young with his stats, 16 goals, eight assists, but 24 points in 27 games. Austin in Alberta, I'm gonna run through a few here. What we learned, watching Canada versus Sweden makes us all realize how Oilers fans feel, a team full of skill, but you never know what your goalie is, when your goalie is going to run through a few here. What we learned watching Canada versus Sweden makes us all realize how Oilers fans feel, a team full of skill, but you never know what your goalie is going to, when your goalie is going to

give up a weak one. Uh, what we learned unsigned here, Shay Theodore sustained an injury last night. The injury will last exactly 64 days. Very funny. I wonder what, uh, the Vegas golden nights are going to do if Shay Theodore, and it sounds like if John Cooper was already to, ready to like

rule him out of the tournament last night, I wonder if, I wonder if he broke his arm last night. I think he did. Or broke his wrist. I think there's a broken bone there. There is an update from Vegas by the way. So Vegas announced on Twitter about 15 minutes ago that, uh, Shea Theodore is expected to be out

week to week due to the upper body injury he sustained at the Four Nations face off. I will also add that there are exactly nine weeks until the end of the regular season. So. He should be back in late April. Right. I mean, far be it from me to suggest that the Vegas

Golden Knights would do anything nefarious, but I bet Kelly McCrimmon was sitting there being like, hmm, what can we do with this? Unsigned what we learned. Knights would do anything nefarious, but I bet Kelly McCrimmon was sitting there being like, hmm. Yeah. What can we do with this? Uh, unsigned what we learned. I think you guys were a little hard on PD earlier. He didn't make any mistakes and was good defensively.

Forsberg and Nylander should be taking the blame for the Swedes along with Hedman's bad pinch on the Marshawn goal. And it was funny cause Hedman was spelled Herman with the autocorrect. I'm like Herman? Like the old cartoon? Kiwi? Um, well, Forsberg made the big mistake on the And it was funny cause Headman was spelled Herman with the autocorrect. That's cool. I'm like Herman, like the old cartoon? Peewee.

Um, well, Forsberg made the big mistake on the goal where Petey was out there. Like you gotta get that puck deep and it turned over to Canada's defense and I can't remember who had it, but the puck was up to, um, Braden Point and, uh, Seth Jarvis so quickly. And then they made a nice play and got it over to Marshawn.

Like that, you, you can't, you can't turn pucks over at the blue line against good teams because they will, you know, they will punish you and, and Petey, yeah, it wasn't Petey's fault. He was up on the rush with Forsberg, Forsberg turns it over, boom, boom, pass and, and, and Pedersen's just there like stuck in no man's land, but that's really wasn't his fault.

Uh, this one is from Troy, the retired bread guy. What we learned, it's going to be tough going back to everyday NHL action. I look, I don't want to be that guy, but let's wait and see what happens tonight. Right? Cause the first game, Canada, and there was a lot of juice and energy in the building.

USA and Finland have a goal to accomplish tonight. It's like, you need to match the intensity level and keep this tournament rolling and put forth as good a minute. Like, that was a great game, period, last night. Like, kudos to the Swedes for not letting that thing get out of hand and sending it to overtime and giving us that great overtime. Hey, USA, Finland, it's on you to keep up your end of the bargain. Do it tonight. Don't screw us over. That's my

warning to them. Both. You don't get many Herman cartoon references on sports radio these days. I forgot about Herman. That was a good cartoon. Remember Hagar the Horrible? Yep. Oh yeah. That was a good one too too I'm sure a dog spent a lot of time reading the far side. Oh, so old that was your book report Our side of Calvin and Hobbes man. Those are my go-to's you feel like a Ziggy guy to me. I never know not Ziggy Peanuts is always a solid one laddies giving us the wrap it up finger classic Ziggy over there. Just wrapping it up Okay, we got to get out of here for today, but we will be back tomorrow. Enjoy the game tonight everyone. We'll be back tomorrow to talk about it. Signing off for now, I have been Mike Halford, he's been Jason Brough, he's been Adog, and he's been Laddy. This has been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.