Halford & Brough in the Morning - Dynasty Mode Activated

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), plus they discuss the Florida Panthers winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber. 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.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- South Florida last year was greatness this time it's historic the Florida Panthers are back to back Stanley Cup champions. We gotta be a dynasty now it's three years in a row finals two championships this this team is so special. Nobody cares you didn't win so I'm gonna try again next time. You lose good day sir. Good morning Vancouver 6 o'clock on a Wednesday Happy Wednesday everybody, it is Halford and his bruv It is Sportsnet 650 and we are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver Jason, good morning! Nobody cares, good morning!

Hey dog, good morning to you! Good morning! And laddie, good morning to you as well! Hello, hello! Halford and bruv in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, VCs first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five star reviews. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com.

We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. You get a big show ahead on a Wednesday. The official start of the hockey off season. The hockey season is

over everybody. The NHL season has come to its conclusion. Oh, the hockey season isn't over my friend. Well, the hockey season's over. There conclusion. The hockey season isn't over, my friend. Well, the hockey season's over. There's no more hockey games left. Although the Calder Cup's still going on. That's what I mean. Jeez. Oh.

Oh, our Abbotsford fans. Yeah. The NHL season is over. There you go. The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in game six of the final on Tuesday night. Our guest list is gonna begin at 6. 30. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada,

sports net NHL host will join us. We will look back on Florida becoming the NHL's first back-to-back winner since Tampa Bay a few years ago and the third team to do it this century as Matthew Kachuk mentioned in the intro. A bit of a dynasty brewing in Florida. We'll look back on everything from last night with David at six 30, seven o'clock Frank Sarah Valley from daily face off is here. We can maybe get into some of the off season stuff. Now that the NHL off season is officially underway news and rumors,

he's got a lot right now. He's got a lot of content out there. What can trades officially begin? Is it right now? I think you could technically do them during the Stanley cup final, but you get 10 lashings from Gary Bettman if you take away from the aura personally Yeah, he really enjoys it. He takes a private jet to your city ten lashes for every trade Yeah, there were trades, right? I mean the Anaheim Ducks acquired Chris Crider and they got in trouble for it. Did they? Yep, 20 lashes for them. 20.

So there's a lot of rumblings out of New York with the Rangers, Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburgh. We'll get into all that with Frank at seven o'clock. 7.30 Jason Greger from Sports 1440 in Edmonton. Sad times for the Edmonton Oilers. Where do the Oilers go from here? A couple big questions looming. What Evan Bouchard is going to get

paid. He's ARB eligible as an RFA. They're working on an extension. They're also working on an extension, I would assume with Connor McDavid as he becomes eligible to sign a new deal on July 1 and then everything else, goaltending and otherwise for the Edmonton Oilers. What's next for the Oilers? We talked to Jason Greger about that at 730. Eight o'clock speaking of the Abbotsford Canucks earlier, because their season still goes on. Brandon Astel is going to join the program at eight o'clock. Abbotsford Canucks play by play man, Archdeep Baynes scored twice during a five goal third period.

An onslaught in Abbey last night. Abbotsford beats Charlotte 6-1 in game three. The Abbey Canucks are now two wins away from the Calder Cup. We'll talk to Brandon about last night and look ahead to game four on Thursday night in Abbey. Finally, before we move along, I need to ask a question to all the listeners. Have you bought your tickets for the sports net six 50 Jays care 50 50 for challenger baseball yet? If you have not buy your tickets now at Jays care

golf dot rafflenexus.com. When we hit $15,000 in the 50-50, we will give away a signed Quinn Hughes jersey. Again, buy your tickets now, jayscaregolf.rafflenexus.com. Buy them today, keep buying them. You got a chance to win a 50-50 and the chance to help out Challenger Baseball, which is a very worthy endeavor. Okay, that is it. That's what's happening on the program today. We have a lot to get into.

So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how missing your life can be. What happened?

You missed that? You missed that? What happened? all the action because I'm missing your life. What happened is brought to you by the BC construction safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. So it is the Florida Panthers world. The rest of us are just living in it. They repeated as Stanley cup champs beating Edmonton as I mentioned, five one, five one in game six of the Stanley cup final on Tuesday night, back to back for the Panthers, three consecutive Stanley cup finals, two consecutive Stanley cup wins and a partridge in a pear tree.

Sam Reinhart with four goals. Another dominant performance from the Panthers as they hoist Lord Stanley's mug yet again. Okay. I have a question for the room. So dogs, listen up. I know this is early for you guys to actually speak on the show, but what word, you get one word that best exemplifies the Florida Panthers? Halford, start with you. And I know you know mine,

so don't steal mine. Damn, I was gonna steal yours. Just to throw a wrench into the whole thing. I'm gonna use two. They're the best. Okay, the best. Adog? Dynasty.

Dynasty, okay. Yeah, yeah, okay, we'll talk about that later. Laddie? Insatiable. Insatiable. Nice. They're going for three. Insatiable. In. Ah. Insatiable. Nice. They're going for three.

I'm going to go with loaded and not in the sense that they got loaded after winning the cup last night. Well, they probably did. Or they are currently loaded at the elbow room. And they probably are. But just sheer, just the sheer number of great players they've got. Let's go through what they've got in Florida. But Broski, Laddie, we'll start with the goalie

because we love you. He's a Hall of Famer. He's your Hall of Famer. Yep. And he's the starting goalie. So that's a nice place to start. The defense is deep with a balance of offensive and defensive ability.

Um, you know, on the right side, you got Seth Jones and Eklad, well, Eklad for now. Um, you know, they were raving about Gustav Forsling and the job he did on McDavid. Uh, and that's not all. Uh, and then we come to the forward group. Oh, the forward group, which is really the most loaded part of this roster. This might be the deepest forward group we've seen in the salary cap era.

Just wait until I list off all these players, because it's insane. It starts with Barkov, the captain and a three time selkie winner, including this year. Uh, then you've got Kachuk who brings the swagger and the cockiness, not to mention a pretty nice shot, which we saw last night. Sam Bennett, the tough guy who won the conspite trophy, leading the league with goals in the playoffs.

Sam Reinhardt. Then you got him. The hero last night, a player that's already named to Canada's Olympic team. There's also Brad Marchand, a surefire Hall of Famer now. And Anton Londel, one of the most underrated players in the league, the center of that third line, featuring Marchand, third line, which means we've named six forwards, six forwards that were like, whoa, what a player, before getting to a guy like Carter Verhege, who had 23 points in 23 games in these playoffs.

Appoint a game player in the playoffs and he's the seventh forward you'd list. That my friends is one loaded team and it was assembled through a mix of solid drafting, smart trades and savvy free agent acquisitions. Yes, the weather and the tax situation helps, but for decades, the Panthers were a joke. They've built something really special there in

the last few years. And I think it's okay to tip your cap to the guys who put it together. There was any, so they recorded a 32 thoughts overnight Freage and Kaloukoskis and Freage was talking about his conversation that he had with the owner Vinny Viola on the ice yesterday and he talked about you know the the way that this organization got to this point and

You got to remember like this was a team that had achieved the great regular season success with minimal returns in the playoffs as part of their, like, learning lessons. And there were a lot of guys on this team that were part of that president's trophy winning team that got unceremoniously dumped in the first round of the playoffs a few years ago, and that was kind of what led to the Kachuk trade

and the Maurice hire, and them sort of reinventing themselves, realizing that just being good wasn't good enough. That to be this team where we're coming up with the one word superlatives for how good that they are, it takes more. You know, it's interesting. Like when I look at Florida right now,

I said the best because if you want to talk about what it means for the rest of the league, they've set the bar in a salary cap world really high. Like the way that they've done it, we've seen good teams come together for two or three years and then kind of get whittled away by age or injury or the salary cap or a few of the other things that happen to these teams. And it might very well happen to Florida as well.

But the manner in which they've been able to build, reload, and then put forth a performance in consecutive Stanley Cup years, where there was no doubt that they were the best team in the NHL. Like, no, there's no doubt. That's why I used two words. I cheated.

I said the best. There was no question that that was the best team in the National Hockey League. They didn't have any weaknesses. Mm hmm. And they managed to get through a regular season where there should have been a Stanley Cup hangover. They should have been affected more by the amount of injuries and absences that they had, but they had enough depth. They had enough resolve. And at the end of the day,

they just had a good enough team to get through. They didn't need home ice advantage in any of the rounds. They didn't even need Barkov to be much of a factor in the Stanley Cup final, honestly, in terms of scoring. Matthew Kachuk was, and if you heard it in the aftermath, he tore the adductor right off the bone, so he was playing it way less than I'd say 80, 70, 60, 50% always way down there.

Didn't matter. Cause he was able to go out there and give enough with a group that was just too good for everybody else. And this is, you know, if you've got anything else you want to add to the Panthers here. Cause I kind of do want to. Yeah.

Well, I do have a little bit. I did not see Nate Schmidt getting the cup first from Barkov last night, but it makes sense. Schmidt just missed winning cups in Washington and Vegas as soon as he left, they won the Stanley Cup. So he fits the profile of the veteran who finally got his cup.

And I think that is just part of the culture that the Panthers have built down there. Did you see what they did after that? The cup went to every single guy that hadn't won a Stanley Cup before. That was cool. Seth Jones got it. Seth Jones, Tomas Nosik, Vitek Vanecek, AJ Greer, Jesper Boquist, and then Reinhardt, Bennett, Kachuk, or sorry, not Kachuk because because he got it first. Like Marshawn was way late. Yeah, I thought Marshawn might be the guy.

No. That gets it. But I mean, and that is just the, listen, it's not a massive deal, but I think it's a good jumping off point to talk about the culture that has clearly been been built down there. And again, you can complain about the tax situation

and you can say, wow, they got the advantage of the sun. And it's like, yeah, but those things aren't going to change. Like they've clearly, we've seen other great cultures in the NHL. And I mean, the Canucks had a great culture back in 2011. It was one of the big reasons they had a lot of success. They had a great culture. And sometimes, as we've discussed on the show before, culture is a, you know, is it a chicken or egg thing where it's hard to build a strong culture without the talent. Because if you look around the room and you don't necessarily see a chance to do great things, it's

sometimes hard to go above and beyond. And you can say, well, they're professional athletes. They should be doing that all the time. Well, yeah, they should, but they don't. You know, any workplace that you've been in, you know, sometimes you look around at the people and I'm looking at Laddie, I'm looking at Adog,

I'm looking at Alfred, and I'm just like, you know, we'll be a 500 show, right? We don't need to win titles. We don't have the talent. No. No. Yeah, but in all reality, you know, if we're comparing this situation to the Canucks, the Canucks clearly had a major culture issue this past season. They did? I mean, two members of their leadership group couldn't get along to the point that one of them had to be traded. If that's not a culture issue, I don't

know what is, but hopefully the big problems are behind them now. They've made some tough decisions, but they still have to build a leadership group under Quinn Hughes. And I think that's going to be extra challenging with Quinn's future in Vancouver. So uncertain. But look, I think what the Panthers have, have done is really remarkable because we were talking with Wish yesterday and, uh, you

know, I, I said, you know, it wasn't that long ago that I was almost convinced that Florida was going to move. They were just in such dire straights. Um, their arena isn't in a great place. And I had a buddy that, that went down there actually for game four and he said, God, it's, it's like, you know, it's such a hassle.

It's like, yeah, it's like a 40 minute Uber ride from Fort Lauderdale. And we've seen teams with arenas not in ideal situations move. That's, that was the big deal with the Arizona Coyotes. And you remember watching road games when the Canucks would go into Florida and the place would be half full.

Sure. Their only big games or their only big crowds would be when Montreal or Toronto played there or the New York Rangers and all the people that were cheering for or on vacation from the North would go to their games. It's really different now. And I think you got to credit the ownership

and the management and the players there. And if you want to talk about the Oilers, it might just be that the Oilers were really unlucky to come and go up against one of the best teams we've seen in the salary cap era. And the last team to lose back to back cup finals was the Boston Bruins. And that was in 1977 and 1978.

And that was not because the Bruins were necessarily just like not good enough, you know? Like they came up against Montreal and that was one of the most dominant teams we've ever seen in the NHL. Like they barely lost games in the regular season. They barely lost games in the playoffs. They were absolutely dominant.

And there have been teams in the past that were really good, but came up against dynasties. And if we're going to call the Florida Panthers a dynasty, and I think that's fair. That was a dog's word. In the salary cap age to call them a dynasty. I mean, we called the Blackhawks a dynasty and they never went back to back Stanley Cups.

So I think we can call them a dynasty, three straight Stanley Cup finals. That's pretty good when you win two of them. You know, the Bruins in the seventies and the eighties came up against dynasties because the Bruins also lost to the Oilers twice in the Stanley Cup finals in the eighties. The Flyers lost twice to the Edmonton Oilers in

the eighties, you know. Um, sometimes it just happens. Um, and I'm not exactly sure where the Oilers go from here. I'm pretty confident that McDavid is going to re-sign in Edmonton, although we'll probably talk about the chances that he doesn't, but they've got a lot of work to do.

Where do you think it starts? Well, actually I wanted to pivot off to a little bit of audio from last night from McDavid and Dreisaitl specifically. I listened to a lot of audio in the aftermath of last night's game, just trying to get a sense of where the Oilers were at after losing the Stanley Cup final. Having done this gig for a while, I know that sometimes the

answers in the immediate aftermath of losing a cup final can be disjointed and rambling and gets raw. The emotion of you're not just losing, but your season coming to a crashing halt, It all hits at once. But there was one very clear thing that came across in listening to almost every oilers player or their coach talk yesterday was a sense of frustration. And I think the frustration stems from exactly what you just said, that there wasn't a lot they could have necessarily done better or done more

because they all seem to acknowledge whether it was through gritted teeth or not, that they lost to the better team that they just ran into for the second consecutive year, a really good team. I want to play the frustrated Connor McDavid audio first. We'll go there. Here's Connor McDavid being asked about, uh, either what went right or more specifically what went wrong against the Florida team that he acknowledged is the back to back Stanley cup champ for a reason.

Here's Connor McDavid following the game six loss in the Stanley cup final last night. I mean, obviously their four check was great. We, they took the drink. They were able to kind of stay on top of us all over the place. Um, never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. We kept fucking trying the same thing over and over again, banging our heads against the wall. So credit to them. You guys played a pretty good first period, two mistakes and something in the back of the net.

I guess is that the way you kind of play mistake through your pocket? Yeah, we kept on saying we want to try to win it to one game. Never found a way to do that, obviously. You got great players, you know, how many guys had 20 plus points in their postseason, you know, they're as deep as it comes. Now, I want to pivot to an even shorter clip from Leon Dreisaitl.

This one was maybe even more revealing to me, and it's small, and I know he's frustrated, but he was asked what the takeaway was going to be after losing for a second consecutive year to a Florida team and going on the run that they went on, then having it come up short in the final again. It's kind of a recurring theme for Leon when he gets frustrated. Here's a very short answer from Leon Dreisel when asked what the takeaways are from this year Stanley Cup final The takeaways that we didn't win. That's Nobody cares like nobody cares. We didn't win so Good try again next year. There's a great There's a great pivot in the middle of that one where they will try again next year, you know what the why are you so pissy? Well, I just lost the Stanley Cup

again next year. You know what the- The why are you so pissy? Well, I just lost the Stanley Cup again. I would- That's suck it up. I would push back on the nobody cares people in Edmonton seem to care. Yeah, I think what he meant was that- People might care. Yeah. I think what he meant is like, nobody cares the reasons. They just care that we lost. It's trying to put a positive spin on it for Leon. Here's the thing. The thing that him and

McDavid both had in common is they did not have answers for why they couldn't beat the Panthers and I both think that they just didn't wanna say the one thing out loud which was like, we got beat by a better team. That's what happened. Why didn't you say goaltending? I don't think that the goaltending sunk them

in this series. Didn't help. The last two games they weren't close. The last two games they weren't close. They got outscored by way too wide of a margin to put that on goaltending. No, it was just lack of depth. Like the Oilers lack of depth

and the Panthers incredible depth. Well, even Kichuck was saying too often, it's just, you know, McDavid, you do it. I mean, he said, I think the one thing that was really telling is like, we kept on trying to do the same thing over and over which is bang your head against the wall. Well, yeah, and that thing was like,

Connor, here you go, do something special. The thing is, I don't know if they were built to do anything differently, because that's how they got through the playoffs, was you ride the two, maybe the two best players in the NHL, two of the top five players, and they had the comeback against LA, they dispatched to Vegas with relativies, and they took best players in the NHL, two of the top five players. And they had to come back against LA. They dispatched to Vegas with relativies

and they took care of Dallas with relativies. And then they went up against the best team in the NHL. I will say that the injury to Hyman hurt. And maybe, I know he was able to play, but do you remember how much we were talking about Ryan Nugent Hopkins and how well he was playing earlier in the playoffs? Like this is the best hockey he's ever played Nugent Hopkins and how well he was playing earlier in the playoffs like this

The best hockey he's ever played well You know clearly he was injured in the Stanley Cup final and it was noticeable He I I it was noticeable in that I don't remember anything that Nugent did in the Stanley Cup We're gonna go down this road, but There were way too many guys at At forward for the Oilers who were contributing extremely well and regularly during the first three rounds. Completely disappeared in that cup final.

Like, Evander Kane was probably more of a detriment than an asset. Well, he disappeared so much, he missed the handshake line. I know you got the 10 minute misconduct and normally in a hockey game you would, it's like, all right, that's my night. But I think it's worth pointing out

that he didn't come back for the handshake line. You're not the only one that pointed it out. And I'm very curious to see if he's back with the Oilers next year. I know he's got one year left, but I'd be pretty surprised if the Oilers don't try and move that contract. It's a pretty big and telling sign when you've got Vasily Podkolson as one of your top forwards

in the Stanley Cup final. That says that a lot of guys didn't show up and Podkolson was one of the best forwards and it's no slight against the guy even though it just sounded like that given what I said but there were a lot of guys that and I know this is an old-school reference but we're on the side of a milk carton in that Cup final and I think Florida had a lot to do with that and I think Florida's forward scoring at will during the Cup. I'm like Sam Reinhardt had four goals in the Stanley Cup clinching game, right? And here's the thing, if it wasn't Sam Reinhardt, you could envision five other guys doing it because that's how often those guys did

with regularity. I don't really want to get into ripping the Oilers too much today. Honestly, I don't think it's ripping, but I think it's acknowledging that we've got a generational player. Yes. That's gone up against a generational team two years in a row. No, I know, but look, the others made it to back to back Stanley Cup finals. That's an incredible accomplishment. And it wasn't all McDavid and Dry-Cytle doing it, but clearly if they want to come back next season and have a chance, they've got to make

some changes. They've got to figure out their goaltending. I don't think you can sell to the fan base, bring Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard back. The thing is in Edmonton, they've tried many times. Goaltending has been an issue there for a long time. Yep. They've tried to fix the issue and they never really have.

They're still paying Jack Campbell. You know, and you go back to the Talbot years and Talbot was like a success there. Even Stoller's got a cup of coffee in Edmonton. That's right, he did. And he kept him. Speaking of the fan base, how would that feel? Like imagine if the Canucks went to back to back

Stanley Cup finals and lost to the Bruins twice. Well, we got a question into the- Like imagine if that happened. I know. How would that feel as a fan? I don't know if I'd be able to think that. Not good. Well-

Like what are Oilers fans going through right now? Well, we got a question into the Dunbar Lumbertex line and who do you think feels worse, the Oilers fans right now after losing back to back or Canucks fans in 2011 after losing to the Bruins I think there is Back against the same team is way worse. Adog, you've said it four times now.

There is the sad club element of it though. Yep, like the Canucks have never won a cup. Mm-hmm. And I think that Considering they had two games to win the cup in 2011 and they had a game to win in 94 And the way that series went getting off to a two-nothing lead Yeah, but a lot of the Oilers fans weren't even alive for the last Stanley Cup I don't I think it's way worse to lose back-to-back cups against the same You know what's interesting about it. I don't know if it's way worse You know what's interesting about is there was a lot of people and this was another thing that McDavid and dry side will brought up Was they openly acknowledged that this year's Panthers team was better than last year's

Panthers team. And that was the thing too, there was always the acknowledgement, there wasn't the acknowledgement that the Bruins were a great team until almost later, when it was like, oh Bergeron really is that good and oh Marshawn really is that good. Canucks were still the better team in 2011. You know, like Chara, uh, I think there was an appreciation for his game and Tim Thomas, we all know that he played really well, but I still think

there was that element of like the Canucks should have won that they should have, they were better than the Bruins and maybe that changed a little bit as Bergeron's career continued to blossom and Marshawn's career continued. Sure, sure, sure. He turned into a player we actually respect in some ways. But I think it is a lot easier when you get to a final and lose and you're like, well,

they were just better. And I think that's what happened yesterday. Yeah. I think that's what happened last year too. Yeah. And it was interesting listening to the guys talk in the aftermath. Sometimes you just, you tip your cap, so to speak. And you just say, we got beat by a better team. We will continue this conversation coming up on the other side of the break for

those asking. We will absolutely get into the Calder cup game three last night from Abbotsford, huge win for the Abbotsford Canucks, six one over Charlotte. We will talk about another huge win that happened right here in Vancouver. BC place last night, six nil Canada whips Honduras in their gold cup opener. We'll get into all of it, but on the other side of the break, David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada Sportsnet NHL host joins us to talk about the Florida Panthers going back to back for Stanley Cup titles.

You're listening to the Halford Bref Show on Sportsnet, 650. What word best exemplifies the Florida Panthers? Hardworking, alpha male, jackhammer, merciless, insatiable. It's Canucks Central with Dan Rachel and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show.

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Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is gonna join us here in a moment. The highlight of hour one, hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the Power West industry's hotline we go. David Amber joins us now in the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, David. How are you? Good morning. How are you guys doing? We're well. We spent the first half hour of this program breaking down in great detail. Everything had happened last night,

the entirety of the Stanley Cup final. And then at the end of it, I think we came to the most simple analysis imaginable. It was that the Florida Panthers are just better and they're the best team in the NHL and the best team in the NHL won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year. Was it too simple an analysis, David, or is that what happened here?

I think that's it. Is that all you need from me? Because I think you. Good talk. Thanks for the season. This has been great. Love having you on the program. I got to ask you guys, was there any celebration at all in Vancouver, just knowing that Sam Reinhardt had arguably the greatest Stanley Cup final game you can have. I mean, it's going to hit a record, you know, historic type performance when you score four goals and, you know, win a second straight cup like that. I know Wes Van probably was celebrating somewhere, no? Oh yeah, for sure.

I mean, we were all happy that it was a local boy that had the big game, but I think what was crazy about the Florida Panthers and we went over it in the first segment was how many guys it could have been. You know, like in Edmonton you're like, well, it's probably going to be McDavid or Dry Cytl with a big game. In Florida, I mean, Carter Verhage was the seventh forward that we named in terms of importance. And he was a point to game guy in the playoffs. Yeah. I don't know if I've seen a forward group that loaded in the salary cap era.

Yes. You make a great point, Matthew Kachuk, and I'm not sure if he was sort of poking and prodding the Oilers at the end of the game, but he was like, well, you know, we're a real team on any given night, anyone can step up and you know, the Oilers, they really rely on one guy and when that doesn't go well. And then he went on to say, well, I'm sure McDavid's going to get a

cop on positive about that. Who knows where it'll be like, we're listening to this going, Oh my God. Um, but I mean, at the end of the day, there was some truth to what she's saying. And forget about the oiler side of it, but just from the Florida side of it, guys, what we witnessed was, you know, one of the best thorough full team efforts. And we also, we, what shouldn't be lost on it all is just. How dominant a performance it was 14 multi-goal wins of their 16 wins. 14 of them were multi-goal. I think 10 of them were by three or more goals. I

mean they they didn't have to squeak it out. I mean they really impressed or imposed their will on everyone else they played. I know it went seven games against Toronto but all four all four rounds we started on the road. They just had a different guy sort of stepping up. You know, we walked into the third period and Elliot, uh, he votes on the cons smite and he was debating between Bobrovsky, Marchand and Bennett. You know, most times when you get to who's going to be the cons might, it's a clear cut. One guy has carried this team has carried the load.

You know, it was those three guys, we didn't even mention, you know, how good Barkov was throughout the postseason, Lundell, as you mentioned, Verhagy. Like, they just have so many good players and, uh, it was, it was impressive to say the least. Well, Leafs had them up two-nothing and in an overtime in game three. Uh, are people in Toronto, do you think they're

like, do we technically finish second now? Because we came closest to beating the Panthers. I mean, listen, I guess it takes a little bit of the, you know, it adds a little shine in some perspectives knowing you push them to the brink. But I mean, you know, if I'm the Maple Leaf, I'm still sort of sitting there going, man, we had them. We were up three, one up two games. You know, all these guys were talking about who were coming alive were all kind

of dormant at the time. And then they just found a way and had the Leafs found a way to win that game three and overtime. Brad Marchand scored the game winning goal. But I can't imagine there's a scenario where Florida would have won Florida. Oh, I mean, maybe they would have, but, um, but chances are they wouldn't have. And we have a completely different narrative. So you know, I guess there'll be some Leaf fans who are saying, well, we're, you know, look at us, we pushed them further than Edmonton and Carolina and Tampa. That is true.

Um, and I guess maybe it takes some comfort in that, but at the same time, I think you sort of, because of how it broke down, you know, games five and seven on home ice, where you, you know, collectively didn't show up, you know, I think it's a bitter pill to swallow still. Yeah. There's a lot of stories of teams that have won the Stanley Cup that got pushed and got a bit of a scare early on. I mean, I remember the Canucks pushing the

Flames in 89 to seven games and the Flames, I think that was their toughest series. They went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. Yeah. So it does happen actually quite often. What are the, I know it's the day after, but what are the next steps in Edmonton? What moves do they make?

Because they've still got McDavid and Dreisaitl at the peak of their powers, but a lot of other changes I think need to happen and will happen. There's a lot of free agents there too. Yeah, I mean, and they doubled down on experience and on a veteran group. They were the oldest team in the NHL this year. And I think that helped them certainly at times when they fell behind to nothing

in the LA series, having that veteran group, probably they didn't panic at all. And they pushed through when they lost game one to Dallas, uh, you know, when they had that heartbreaker, when dry saddle put the puck in his own net with 0.4 left against Vegas, I mean, they faced a lot of adversity, had to go back and forth with two goalies. Uh, but having said all that, um, where did it get them? It didn't get them to where they ultimately look to be. Uh, you know, now they have some decisions, you know, Henry can Perry and Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner and all these guys that they

either brought in traded traded for, or resigned, you know, now you need to make decisions on them again. Do you want to go and try and find a bit more speed, a bit more, you know, be a bit more dynamic or whatever they're looking for, they're going to, and they're also going to have to figure out a way to pay Evan Bouchard. Um, so there's, there's certainly some decisions that need to be made. And I'm sure the number one decision will be like, who's going to be our goalie. No, again, when you go into game six, the Stanley Cup final and your coach,

your head coaches and announcing the starter till, you know, the afternoon of the death of the game, what does that say? And it doesn't mean they're going to get rid of Pickard and Skinner, but are they going to make a concerted effort to go get John Gibson or whomever? I've just thrown out a name because he's in their division and it's apparently been on the trade block for some time. Are they going to go out and try and get a different guy to sort of lead them? And it's hard.

And they've looked down the last two years, they stare down and get pinned to the ice. And when you have, you have Sergei Bobrovsky, two time Vezina winner, first ballot, you know, hall of famer closing in on 500 wins. Rock solid played every single minute of every game in the postseason. And look at Edmonton, how many times was Skinner pulled, how many times did Pickard have to come in?

They were the second team ever to always have to win seven or more games in the postseason. So to me, that's the number one question is where did their gold tending lie and, and, uh, you know, start from that point and move forward and see what they have to do to fill in the blanks moving, moving into next season. Hey, David, I'm curious what people were saying

either on air or behind the scenes about Evander Kane, he gets kicked out of the game and gets attempted at misconduct. Doesn't come back for the handshake line. Is that okay or is that poor sportsmanship? I only, I only actually, you know, Ellie and I were in transit, we were out on the ice postgame. I only, I only was told he missed the handshake

line late last night when we were kind of in a post crew got together. post game. I only realized, I only was told he missed the handshake line. Um, late last night when we were kind of having a post crew get together. Um, I don't think, I'm not sure it's going to be a massive thing. You know, last year one of the talking points the next day was, wow, Connor McDavid didn't come out to the cons might. I mean, I, you know, this was a fear series. There was a lot of bad blood on the ice to ask for a Vander Kane had been thrown out of the game to make a lot of bad blood on the ice to ask for a Van Durkheim had been thrown out of the game to make a point of coming out.

Um, maybe that's unrealistic. Uh, and I'm giving them a path. I'm just wondering what, what other guys have come out. I don't know. I, I don't know. No, I was sitting with guys who've been in those handshake lines, Kelly, Rudy, Craig Simpson. And, and I think both of them were basically like, yeah, there's no way it was

going to come back out and do that. Right. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Is that going to be sort of the takeaway? Wow. What a poor sportsman. Or that's just like, look, I started a game.

I'm heartbroken. You know, like he's been in the league since 2010 or sorry, 2009 jumped in with Atlanta as an 18 year old. I mean, this has been, you know, 16 years for him or 15 years for him. And he's, he knows how hard it is. He didn't get a chance to play last year. He got injured in the best.

He's pretty heartbroken. So just like Connor McDavid, I think that'll pass. Uh, you know, but again, when we talk about the future, the oilers, there's another guy, you know, He was fantastic in the first two games. He struggled later in the series, like many of the other Oilers. And he has one more year left on his deal. Is he going to be wearing an Edmonton Oilers sweater

at the start of next year? That's a great question. We talk a lot in Vancouver about how difficult it's going to be for the Canucks to remake their top six. With all the teams with cap space and all the teams that are thinking aggressive. You know, there aren't many teams that are like, okay, we're willing to take a step back.

I know Gavin McKenna is available soon in the draft, but there doesn't seem to be a big tank for Gavin McKenna appetite in the NHL. How difficult, how big a challenge is it going to be for the Edmonton Oilers? They do have McDavid and Dry-Cytle still and that's going to take them a long way. But I think everyone looks at the forward group and says, well, the goal-tining too, but the

forward group and goes like, they just need, they need more there. So they're not playing dry sidle and McDavid, you know, sometimes they're out there 25 minutes a night. They were playing like number one defenceman minutes and that's, that's tough. Yeah. I mean, listen, I don't think there's any

scenario where they're going to go from game six of the Stanley Cup final till how do we get Gavin McKenna. And also there's no exact science to that anyhow, as we see with the New York Islanders getting the first pick with a 3% chance this year. Stanley Cup final until how do we get Gavin McKenna? And also there's no exact science to that anyhow as we see with the New York Islanders getting the first pick with a 3% chance this year. So I certainly don't think that's in the books.

I appreciate what you're saying though about how do we reinvent ourselves so we look more like the Florida Panthers with the level of depth that they have. And it's not an easy thing to do. I think the big question marks is what is Evan Bouchard going to want, you know, dollar-wise? And you have Conor McDavid, who's a USA,

not this year, but next year. How is that contract going to look? And how do you sort of share the wealth when you have these high-end superstars? You know, someone tweeted out last night, and I believe it to be true, we've never seen a Stanley Cup winner with a player that has an average AAV more than $10 million. Sergey Bobrovsky is a $10 million guy.

I believe Barkhov is right at $10 million as well. We've never had a guy, we've never had a Stanley Cup winner with a guy making more than that. Um, you know, Nathan McKinnon won when he was at his old contract of six something million, et cetera. So that's interesting, right? It's not just a, uh just an oiler problem there's other teams with superstars too that are probably feeling that pinch. The cap's about to go up appreciably as you guys know and that's going to help spread the wealth and be able to have more depth on your team but it's it's it's that's the big question mark how do you surround

Conor McDavid and Leon Dryshuttle with guys and pay them what they deserve market price and surround them with guys that they can get to the Stanley Cup championship and win? And that's a really big question for Stan Bowman, Jeff Jackson and the management group. And Bill Zito, I mean, he deserves a lot of praise. He grabbed guys off the scrap heap like Gustav Forsling. He was able to facilitate trades for guys Seth Jones and Brad Marshand. And part of it was he's a very good executive and part of it is

he was based in a situation that guys wanted to go to. Let's put it this way guys, the Leafs got Scott Lawton at the trade deadline for a first and a B level prospect. The Bruins traded Brad Marshand to Florida for a second round pick. I mean, you do the math, right? Like that could the Leafs have given up a second round picking on Brad Marshand? I don't think there's any way in hell. And not just the Leafs, but a bunch of other teams. Cause Brad Marshand basically said, trade me to Florida.

Seth Jones said, trade me to Florida or trade me to Dallas. And that makes life much more difficult for the, the outgoing GMs and it makes life a lot easier for the ongoing GMs and Bill Zito, uh, again, made the right moves and was sort of put in a position for his teams to succeed in that, in that regard. And, you know, Edmonton, um, and some other markets, Vancouver, et cetera, they're not at the luxury of having to get these sweetheart deals coming their way.

So it makes life a lot more difficult. Okay, so David, the Stanley Cup has been handed out and the season is done, but the fun stuff still rolls on. You know, the handing out of the Stanley Cup means the first bit of off-season stuff begins because the window is now open for club elected salary arbitration. Then we got the best time of the year. It's like elected salary arbitration.

I just sit on pins and needles waiting to see if the club will elect somebody. And then we've got the draft and then we've got free agency. So we won't say goodbye, but we will say thank you for coming on weekly throughout this entire season and all the playoffs. It's been great getting caught up with you every week. We won't say goodbye, but we will say thank you for coming on weekly throughout this entire season and all the playoffs. It's been great getting caught up with you every week. We'll continue to do it for the next couple of weeks. So travel safe back from Florida

and we'll learn some prospects now, David. Yeah, and now study up for the draft. Yeah, I'm ready. I'm off to LA next Tuesday. So I guess if we chat next Wednesday, it's gonna be an early morning for me. I have to change my time slot next week. I might still be asleep. I'm sorry fellas. Yeah, I know, listen, I love being on the show. You guys do a great job and, you know, Canucks, I know it's been a tough couple months for the Canucks nation, but better days ahead and we'll see what the off season brings.

It's gonna be really, it's gonna be really interesting to see how teams maneuver and you talked about the Oilers, but there's a lot of teams really trying to make the right moves and, you know, follow suit with what Florida's done the last two years. Yep. Agreed. Thanks David. Appreciate it. But have a good one. Take care guys. David Amher, Hockey9 Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Well, it was a dark season for the Vancouver Canucks,

but there is a silver lining. There's some sun peeking out of those clouds at the very end, and that's the Abbotsford Canucks who last night took a 2-1 lead in the Calder Cup final over the hated Charlotte Checkers, Archdeep Baines scored twice during a five goal eruption in the third period. If you look is on fire. Look at the score like 6-1. Now they thumped Charlotte. Well, not necessarily.

It was a tight game going into the third and then five goals in the third period. As mentioned, Bain scored two of them. 6-1 over Charlotte to take a 2-1 series lead. So now if the Abbotsford Canucks can do the business over these next two games, they will be able to hoist the Calder Cup in front of the Abbotsford Faithful. There was over 7,000 in attendance last night in a raucous Abbotsford center to see Linus Carlson with a four point performance as mentioned, our also is my guy, man.

Yeah. He's had a good year. I just had a good playoff. I came into Baines, both had four points in the game last night. This, this guy would be on the Canucks next season. He I thought he looked good when he was with the Canucks this year and I remember when he got sent down, I'm like, why? Why is he being sent down?

I was like, is there some sort of waiver rule or what's going on? What's happening here? Yeah, I didn't understand why he got sent down and eventually got called back up again, but the one thing I've heard about Carlson is that he really puts the work in. He is embraced working with the Sedines and the Sedines really have embraced working with him because they know he wants to work and the Sedines are happy to work with the guys that want to work. And Linus Carlson is one of those guys that's taken advantage of that and you're starting to see the results now. Now, Carlson is 25 years old, so he should be doing well in the AHL, but you know, maybe he's a

bit of a late bloomer, but I'm really curious to see what he looks like next season. I don't know, I don't know where he slots in for the Canucks. I don't know where he slots in for the Canucks. I don't know if he could be part of the solution in the top six. I've asked a few people in the Canucks organization about him. And when I say, do you think he has top six potential? They're kind of like, let's just wait and see here.

Sure. But I think he's a guy that people should be, like you don't need to be excited about Linus Carlson, but you can say that's impressive what he's done down there. Because when he came to Vancouver, it was kind of like, Linus Carlson, right? Like really? Okay. And then he didn't really stand out at all, but I think he's really in a groove right now. I mean, four points last night,

the guy is piling up points in the Calder Cup playoffs and he's being relied on. And I think that's only going to help his confidence heading into training camp next season. Speaking of piling up points, Artie Silov's with an assist last night. Did you see that, Greg? And not one of those phony,

like it just touched his stick assist. He head manned the puck. Up to Phil DiGiuseppe. Yeah, it was great. Free feeling as a goalie. And Jonathan Leckermack, he got back in the lineup last night. We talked about it ahead of the show yesterday and noted hockey savant. Mike Alford said there's no way that they're going to put him back in the lineup for game three after he had sat out so many games in a row. That's why I know the sport folks like our Mac, you went back in. It was a fine effort from him.

He certainly wasn't one of the major talking points, but he finished plus one had a grand total of one shot on goal. But the story really is that Abbotsford absolutely whipped on a Charlotte team that hadn't lost a lot of games in these playoffs. And, you know, if you go back over the history of the Calder Cup playoffs, you don't get a lot of five goal losses. Period. You have to go all the way back to the twenty twenty three

Calder Cup final final blowout of the six one variety. Yeah, I know it was a close game going into the third period. But as I mentioned, a capacity crowd of just over seven thousand. It does seem as though that this Abbotsford team and again, I don't want to jinx the thing and we'll talk to Brandon and ask him about this at eight o'clock. But look, they have been unbelievably good in Abbotsford over the last few months.

They're now nine and two in the playoffs. They have not allowed a power play goal. They've been perfect on the penalty kill in Abbotsford throughout the entirety of the Calder Cup playoffs like they. And I don't know if this has to do with travel or the condensed schedule, or it's really difficult to travel in the American

league, but there definitely seems to be a real lean when it comes to playing on the road and playing at home. And Abbotsford has been lights out at home. If they were able to do the business and win this thing, That'd be awesome. It'd be great, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So great for the organization, the franchise, but more importantly for the city and the market of Abbottsford and the fans that have really

embraced this run, made the team their own and made it a difficult place to play because I've talked to a bunch of different people that have gone out and they said that the atmosphere is great. Can I tell a quick Adog story? No. I know I got toog story? No. And we got to get to break and- Just kidding. Frank is coming up. Do whatever you want. So we were joking around on our text thread

about where the parade would be in Abbotsford and of course all the predictable. It'll start at the Cactus Club and end at the Cactus Club. And Adog said, why don't they have it at the place where they do the air show? Where would that be? The Avonford Air Show. It should end it there. And I said, do you mean the airport? Yeah,

it was a great moment. Yeah, the Avonford Air Show place. Like, did you think it was at the Sikh temple one year or? No. Maybe there's another spot. There's a parking lot somewhere they can do it. It's like, where are we having the air show this year? I think we should do it at the airport again. Yeah. Because it has the runways. They got all the facilities. Now we got a nice park picked out.

All the amenities you could possibly use. They should have ended at the airplane place. Oh, the airport. Oh, the airport. You know what? That makes sense. That makes sense. I mean, it would be a good place to end the parade. Frank Cerarelli is going to join us next on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650.