Halford & Brough in the Morning - Embrace The Noise

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), plus they hear from Elliotte Friedman via the 32 Thoughts Podcast, regarding Rick Tocchet's future with the Canucks (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.

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- Scores! That was redirected! And Tereg does square, gets a bump down, here comes Ted! He scores! The squeeze bump walk off! Rick Tauke is definitely no shrinking violet. An 80 year old Rick Tauke could beat up 99% of people. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver. 6.01 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford in his breath.

It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well.

Hello. Hello. Halford in breath in 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 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. Big show on a Friday, last show of the week, sweet sweet final show of the week. Guest list today begins at 7 o'clock. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is going to join us.

A reminder right away it is Ask Us Anything Friday on the program. The best Ask Us Anything or What We Learned will get a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You can visit them online at ajs.pizza. Hashtag your text A-U-A or W-W-L and do not forget to put a pizza emoji into your text. 705 right after AJ Adnan Verk MLB Network is gonna join us. Gonna talk a little torpedo bat action with Adnan. Torpedo bats have taken over the early parts of Major League Baseball.

How about the NL West? The seven and O, perfect undefeated seven and O San Diego Padres looking up the standings at the perfect and also undefeated. I don't know. I'm a big AL Central guy. One of the more underrated divisions in baseball. So we'll talk to Adnan about all that at 7 o'clock. 730 the Moge is gonna join the program. Tough week for the Vancouver Canucks. The CFL has a new commissioner

and if you want to get a food ask is anything in for Moge do it now. Dunbar lumber text line is 650 650 hashtag at hashtag it A-U-A, and just put Moj in the text. So we know that it's for Moj at 7.30. Eight o'clock, Rick Dollywall is gonna join the program. As per usual, I have no idea what we're talking to Dolly about. Jason is the official Rick Dollywall handler of the show.

Rick Talk It. We're gonna talk about Rick Talk It with Rick Dollywall. A reminder it is Ask Us Anything Friday, and we are giving away a $100 gift card to AJ. So that is what's happening on the program today. 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'm moving. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety

simpler by giving construction companies the best tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. There was a lot that happened in the National Hockey League yesterday, and I'm only going to lead with the St. Louis Blues, not because they're really in the playoff chase anymore. They're in the playoffs, period. But what the St. Louis Blues have not because they're really in the playoff chase anymore. They're in the playoffs, period. But what the St. Louis Blues have done down the stretch, it deserves at the very least a lead off mention. Robert Thomas power play goal in overtime.

The St. Louis Blues have tied a franchise record for their 11th consecutive victory. Do you know what year, Jason, in which they set that consecutive victory record? 2019? That's correct, my friend, 2019. The Blues are back, so to say. What happened later?

I don't know. The Raptors won. Yes, that's right. And we have no idea what happened in the Stanley Cup. It's gonna happen again, non. Yeah. Can we just hear it? Can we have a Raptors Blues double again?

Let's play. Probably not. Let's play it now. Here is Robert Thomas in overtime for the 11th consecutive victory for the playoff bound, St. Louis Blues. Up at the blue line, Kairou skates it, drops it off to Thomas. Thomas takes the shot, he scores!

Robert Thomas, the overtime winner, as the Blues flood the ice to tie a franchise record for 11 consecutive wins tied with the 2019 Blues team for most consecutive wins in franchise history. So you gotta pay attention to it. You might not like it, you might not be interested by it, but I'm not even interested by it. But at this point, you have to pay attention to it.

You have to. I don't know, man. I think you're giving up on the Canucks a little a little too early according to money puck They've still got a 1.6 percent chance 1.6 making the playoffs and you know what I thought they played well against Seattle deserve better Yeah, it could have gone either way. It could have gone either way didn't feel like a five-nothing game Yeah, you know if talk hadn't pulled that goalie at the end It's a four-nothing game and then all of a sudden looks a little shinier. He's got a good point. By the way, the Kraken team's a good team. In terms of the playoff quote-unquote chase for the Vancouver Canucks they are gonna take on the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow. The Anaheim Ducks lost last

night in Calgary so Calgary's still very much alive in this thing. Those pesky flames refusing to go away. They are now five points back of the Wild with a game in hand for the final playoff spot. The Wild played tonight in New York to take on the Islanders, a team that's in a bit of tumult itself. I do want to talk about what the Montreal Canadians did last night, a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins for their third straight victory and in doing so ruined their own season because they got Jason Brough on the Montreal Canadian bandwagon now. And if you know anything about Jason Brough and joining bandwagons, that means that the Montreal Canadians will soon crash out spectacularly.

Yeah, sorry to the Montreal Canadians. I already did this to Columbus. I'm still on Columbus' bandwagon by the way. You should get off it. So that means that the New York Rangers will be qualifying in the Eastern Conference over Montreal and Columbus. The Rangers are still in there. They've actually managed to win a few lately. But man, I like the spirit of this Montreal team. It is a fun team, admittedly. And I've watched their last couple of games at the Bell Centre in Montreal, and everyone

in Montreal is just having so much fun. I was lucky enough, god this is 25 years ago, to see a playoff game in Montreal and you know how long ago it was? Dominik Hasek was in goal for the Buffalo Sabres and he played unbelievable. At any rate, the atmosphere there was incredible, for me watching the playoffs, like, it does matter. And I don't know if I'm, like, I like this more than the average fan, but I think some of the reasons why I don't get into certain teams like Dallas or whatever is like, I don't know, watching a game in Dallas for me, it's like, there's nothing, there's nothing really special about it. But, you know, I used to, a few years ago, I loved those

Islanders runs, especially when they were playing at the Old Barn. Well, only when they were playing at the Old Barn. That was awesome, right? It was a spectacle and you could feel the energy and you could feel the intensity even if you were watching it at home and you could see that the players were were kind of like built up and they were juiced by it. And Montreal fans are awesome when the team is going well and they've been having a lot of fun. The other day when Suzuki scored late and then he scored the overtime winner, it was like a five minute standing ovation in there. And I just really hope that they end up making the playoffs because I think when the Habs are in the playoffs, it adds something. And I'd love to see them take a shot at Washington.

Like I don't, I don't, I'm not saying like, no, no, I totally with you. Give them a shot, just a puncher's chance, throw them in, give them a shot, see what happens. There's nothing better than these young teams. Like you never know when these young teams, it's, I always think about what Torts said is like when he like when he coached Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup, he's like, we didn't have any idea why, like what we were doing.

And that was part of our power in some ways, right? It was our naivety and the fact that we didn't know we should be there. The way that Suzuki's playing right now, he's just giving them a lot of energy. They have a lot of energy as a team, and I'd love to see them play Washington. They famously upset Washington, what, back in 2010 when it was Jaroslav Halak? Yes.

And that caused a lot of problems in Washington afterwards, but that doesn't have anything to do with it. But it's just for me like I was actually I was actually thinking of this Because people will be like, oh you never cheer for Canadian teams in the playoffs well, first of all, they haven't made the playoffs yet and now that I'm on the bag and wagon they probably won't but I Think I would cheer for the Habs at least in the first round. Like I would love to see them pull the upset. I'm not particularly worried about them winning the cup and ending Canada's drought and that not

being the Canucks. Um, but I was actually thinking about this and we've had this question before and I'll just throw it out as an ask us anything to first me, but then you guys. If a Canadian team has to win the cup and it's not the Canucks, who would you'd rather it be? And I think my pick would be Montreal. Explain.

Okay. Montreal won a lot of cups in the franchise history. They were the last team to win the Stanley Cup in Canada in 1993. So my theory is misery loves company, right? Sure. Like, so if the Canucks don't win the Cup and it's Montreal, well, we're still in the same boat

with Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and Okay. Calgary and Edmonton and Ottawa, right? Like Montreal just is kind of like, I know it's been a while for Montreal, but it would kind of be like the Yankees winning it, right? You're like, yeah, they've done it before. They've done it before. So for me, it's kind of like, I don't think they would, I don't think for some reason, maybe they

would do this to Toronto, but not Vancouver. I don't think Montreal would hold it over us like a Toronto would or like an Edmonton would or a Calgary or even Winnipeg, the teams in the West. I don't think they'd hold it over us. And you all know, like I'm, as a sports fan, I'm a terrible person and I'm, my, like envy plays a massive role. Sometimes not as a sports fan, yeah. Sometimes. What do you think about that theory though?

You know what? Because everyone else is like, I pick Winnipeg because they're cute, right? That was my pick. Yeah, I wouldn't care if Winnipeg won. I'd be like, whatever. Even Ottawa, I'd be like, okay. They wouldn't phase me really. The interesting parts of the theory, there's two interesting parts of the theory.

One is that Montreal's had the most success and the most recent success, and therefore would probably have, in a weird way of putting it like the least to gain out of all of the Canadian teams. That's an interesting theory. Also that, you know, lording it over the rest of Canada might be beneath them as the royalty of Canadian hockey. That's very interesting as well. And half the fan base, if they tried lording it over the rest of Canada might be beneath them as the royalty of Canadian hockey.

That's very interesting as well. And half the fan base, if they tried to lord it over me, I'd be like, I don't speak good French, so I don't even know what you're saying. Joke's on you, I don't even understand. That's interesting. The Bolger. I still, and I don't think Winnipeg

because it's cute or neat. I mean, one, they're really good. They've been really good all year. I think the other, but there is a certain like folksy, Canadian-a part of it to me. It's like, it's the, it's, it's so, it's such a small market and it would be hilarious for like what is clearly the outpost of the NHL, all due respect to the other teams when it begs the outpost in the NHL, for them to be able to win it and to do it in a way that it's a very odd path that that organization has taken, right? From the teams that were powerhouses that you thought were going to win that ultimately

fell short to be able to come back with this kind of team with this kind of record. I'd love to see it happen. A little subtext and final point I want to make on that Montreal game last night because we love Schadenfreude here at the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. That was Boston's 10th loss in a row. The Boston Bruins have not lost 10 games in a row since 2009-10, so it's been 15 years since they've been

this bad. With that loss last night, the Boston Bruins are now officially dead last in the Eastern Conference 2009, 2010. So it's been 15 years since they've been this bad. With that loss last night, the Boston Bruins are now officially dead last in the Eastern Conference. Yikes. They are terrible. Terrible. And Lin-Holm and Zdorov are still out there like putting in a regular shift. Lin-Holm scored. Lin-Holm scored last night. He broke the shutout last night. And it is wild to see that Boston team considering where they started this year. Remember they were signing Zdorov and Lindholm was like,

we're back baby, we're going. We're you know, Marshawn's got the three surgeries but he's healthy and ready to go. You know, pasta's ready to go. Jim Montgomery was still the head coach of the Bruins at the beginning of the year to see how far that they have fallen in one singular season is remarkable, honestly. Uh, Keith, the water guy texts in and he says,

speaking of the Habs, now compare the Canadians rebuild with the Canucks trade and chase tactics. I like that. Trade and chase. It's a good strategy. It's not dump and chase. No, no, we trade and chase. Trade and chase tactics.

Yeah. I mean, we're, we've talked about the Canucks seeming like they're kind of down to their last credit card and you're going to put what they owe on one credit card onto that credit card and then figure it out. How can we skip it? That should be the thing with Canucks. How can we skip a step? That's what the slogan should be.

How do we skip a step? Take cash withdrawal on the credit card and go to the casino and just be like, come on, I need this. As soon as I win this cash back, I'll put? Cash withdrawal on the credit card and go to the casino and just be like, come on, I need this, right? As soon as I win this cash back, I'll put it right back on my credit card. Not that I've done that. Listen, I think number one, I don't think anyone should be taking victory laps for the Montreal Canadiens quite yet. The Canucks have certainly been in the same territory as the Montreal Canadiens where

you're feeling optimistic about the future. You take it back to the bubble when Hughes was still young and Pedersen was still young, Horvat was still there. Was JT there? I can't even remember. In the bubble. JT Miller was in the bubble. Yeah, okay. So you're looking at Ndemko is there and everyone's like, people across the country are like, this is an up and coming team. Do you remember who was it? Gord Miller tweeted out. I think a lot of you, oh, Jim Benning, an apology.

How about a thank you, Jim? Yeah, how about a thank you, Jim, right? So teams have been in this position before, where they've been young and promising and they've been playing with energy and enthusiasm and no expectations. That's a big deal. No expectations. So I just want to throw out that caveat that they're not quite there yet. But I think they'll get there. They've got a lot of good young players and they balanced it out with keeping some valuable veterans like a Brandon Gallagher. And I think Suzuki is even getting better and better and he's right in his prime right now. And they've got a lot more coming and they've got draft

capital and they've got cap space and yeah, I think they've done a really good job. And I think the Canucks probably should have done something like that, but they haven't and until their philosophy changes, which I don't think it will this off season, this is what it is. You know, Montreal had the, had the, had the guts in a hockey mad market, um, to go through a number of losing seasons almost intentionally, but also doing their best to maintain a culture and to build a culture. And that can be really tough when you're losing more games

than you're winning. You have to have the right people around you, and you have to choose the right core. You have to make sure that you have chosen the right young players to build around. So that's an important part of this, what he just finished with there, the right young players. So I got a bunch of friends that are much

well, Canadians fans and we'll talk with regularity and at length about this particular team. And the reason that this team is different and the reason that there's such an energy around this particular group is because the fans were told very clearly and very specifically from Kent Hughes and management, what they were going to clearly and very specifically from Kent Hughes and management, what they were gonna do

and how they were gonna go about their business and that they were going to draft it in the case of Suzuki, trade for a prospect and develop. So they understood that there was, you're always gonna be invested in this particular crop of players. The excitement comes from now watching these guys that you've always had hopes for achieve those goals

and fulfill those hopes and promises. If you look right now, the crazy stat from yesterday, and you mentioned this in the notes, I had it as well. So Suzuki assisted on one of Cole Caulfield's goals yesterday, the Caulfield goal was his 35th, so he leads the team in goals. That's a pretty significant mark. Suzuki's assist was his 80th point of the year.

He is the second Montreal Canadiens player, this is crazy, in 25 years to hit the 80 point mark. Can you guess who the other one was in the last 25 years, the only other Habs player to hit the 80 point mark? Alexei Kovalev. Okay. That's how long ago that was. So you're talking about the kind of Mark

that they haven't seen in nearly two decades in Montreal. So, and then you wanna add another layer to it. You can make the argument that the two driving forces on this team were Suzuki and Caulfield, and the third has been another young guy that the fans have followed and become really enamored with and that's Lane Hudson. They've been talking about Lane Hudson for the

last two years, watching his collegiate games, you know, watching preseason scrimmages and being enamored at how talented this kid is. He's going to win rookie of the year, right? Yeah, he is. The betting odds don't reflect it as him being a runaway because Celebrini still got a ton of support.

And then- Maybe Wolf. Or could Dustin Wolf split the vote? That would be the question. And I wonder about that. But whatever the case- They need to vote strategically. Everyone needs to put all their votes in Wolf.

So back to Montreal and how it relates to the Canucks. There was a time when the Canucks did these things. They drafted and they were developing. But when you saw the outside of Quinn Hughes, when you saw some of these products get to the highest level, it didn't materialize. It didn't work out. It was either, and you can blame whoever you want.

You can blame the prospects and the players individually for not fulfilling their promise. You can blame the organization for not You can blame the prospects and the players individually for not fulfilling their promise. You can blame the organization for not matriculating the prospects properly. Whatever the case, just look at it in very raw form that the guys that you did the rebuild around, rebuilt with, didn't come as a good finished end product. And they're seeing that in Montreal right now,

which is very cool. We got a text in, the Montreal rebuild thing drives me nuts. They were in the Stanley Cup final four years ago. They didn't even suffer that long I didn't count but you know, but you know what they did a bubble Stanley Cup final Yeah, there's a runoff bubble and it was all I mean remember they upset the Leafs and then upset the Jets Was it they won the Canadian division? Yeah, they won the Canadian. That's not going to Stanley Cup final, dude Well, it's not it's not but But it was, I mean, look, people were excited there.

They were decisive. They were like, this is the direction we're going to go. And we're not going to, like, they found that happy medium, I think, between, let's say, the Canucks, a team that kind of outright refuses to rebuild, constantly spending to the cap, putting things on their credit card, in a team like Buffalo, which tore it down to a crazy level. Mike, you and I always talk about that game in Buffalo where the Buffalo fans were cheering

for Arizona And that's that's where like they got so into that and the management group wasn't prepared To deal with the consequences of all the losing and the management group wasn't Good, although and and you just had this situation that went. I mean they got jack I think they got, they got Jack. Yeah, that's the thing. They got what they needed. I mean, they've drafted a ton of talent. But I think if there's one thing to learn from Buffalo, it's not to tank.

It's that you better be prepared for how you're going to tank and maybe don't call it tank because that's like, you know, you know, she can bring in some corporate buzzwords, right? Like a strategic reorganization or something like that. Yeah. I think Chicago right now is making the same mistakes that Buffalo made. You know, do they have the right leadership in charge there? Is it the right coach? I think Marty St. Louis deserves a ton of credit. He's going to gain the respect of the players, in large part because he's Marty St. Louis. I think they've got the right management group in

place. They kept the right veterans. It just seems to be going really well for Montreal. They're not there yet though. Let's say they make the playoffs this year and even if they went around and then they come back next season, okay, well then you get the expectations. And then, then things switch a little bit because in a place like Montreal, which is similar to Vancouver, a lot of pressure on the players, a lot of the focus, right, then the expectations are okay, a lot of pressure on the players, a lot of the focus, right? Then the expectations are, okay, playoffs at the very least, like Vancouver win in this season. And then you see how they handle it. Then you see if the leadership

group is up to it and the players around are up to it and management makes the appropriate off season moves. Well, look, I'm not trying to advocate for any one particular way of going about this. All I'm trying to point out in this snapshot in this moment in time, the reason why Montreal fans are extra excited and extra motivated, it's because they've almost like regrown up with this group.

It's worked, it works for a variety of reasons, some of it luck. And you know, you could make an argument that maybe it would, maybe Cole Caulfield would have gotten to the NHL level with another team and would have been snuffed out because he's so small and he wouldn't have been effective. But for some reason it's clicked and it's worked in Montreal. Do they deserve credit for it? Yes.

Is there an element of luck involved? Yes. Would it happen everywhere else? Probably not. But right now they're enjoying the moment. And what it does do is it gives the fan base a sense of confidence and trust in management because management promised, and then right now is delivering. And that's an important thing, right?

So when management maybe makes a riskier move or has another gamble or tries something a little bit outside of the box or to expedite the process, you're gonna get a lot more buy-in from your fan base because the fan base has that trust in you. And that trust doesn't exist across all Canadian markets. I will tell you that right now. There are some teams, maybe locally, maybe not,

where the management group does not have the trust and the belief of its fan bases. And it's an important thing. It's funny though, because they had the full trust for about a year. Last year they had the full trust. It's like, these guys can do no wrong. It shows how quickly trust can be eroded.

Um, speaking of management and noise in Vancouver, uh, we got some audio from Elliot Friedman coming up on the other side of the Halford and Bruff show on the Rick Tuckett situation. It's from 32 Thoughts. We're only going to play a snippet of it if you want to download the 32 Thoughts podcast and listen to that instead of this. It's all sports net so it doesn't matter to us. It is Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Bruff show.

We got an open segment on the other side so text in your Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Bruck show. We've got an open segment on the other side. So text in your ask us anythings and be sure to include the pizza emoji if you want to be entered into the contest for a hundred dollar gift card to AJ's. Text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors. For over 50 years, visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. And if you're wondering why I'm such a good mood, I get to play golf today.

You're listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 632 on a Friday. It's a Fiesta Friday here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Everyone's excited.

Bruff's playing golf. I don't have to work tomorrow. Two big Canucks games this weekend? What about the one o'clock start on Saturday? Don't like that. That's good for kids. I think they did this last year. Maybe even against Anaheim. I believe it was the Dakota Joshua hat trick game. Was it? Yeah. Oh, okay. I'm almost positive. I think RDC Laws got the win in that game as well. God, my memory is good. Be a ton of... Well, you gotta Law's got the win in that game as well. God, my memory's good. Be a ton of- Man, I'm good at this.

Well, you gotta make sure that you're right about it. A ton of screaming children there on Saturday. So don't go hungover. Well, that's a little sage advice from the vet over here. How do you think the Canucks feel about being in the position they're in right now and having five of their last seven games at home? I bet they feel great about it. They got boot off the ice against Seattle.

They have, and I know I brought this stat up a couple times now, but there are only three teams in the National Hockey League that have 15 or fewer wins on home ice this season. Winnipeg and Washington, right? They're great on the road. No. Vancouver, Chicago, and San Jose.

Oh. Now the problem with that is that the last two teams I mentioned are the two worst teams in hockey. You do not wanna be in any conversation, you do not wanna keep any company with those two. And they're the Vancouver Canucks. Speaking of the San Jose Sharks, quick addendum. Okay, look, I got it wrong in the intro segment. I said that the Calder odds at

various sports books for NHL's Rookie of the Year were close. They're not anymore. They're not anymore. I was reading one from March, so this is how much the line has shifted in two weeks. On March 21st, Macklin Celebrini was the favorite at minus 145. Lane Hudson was the second favorite at plus 110. Boy, has that changed. Hudson's what, minus 800 now? Minus, well, some books, I'm looking at one book, minus 1400. Oh my God. That's crazy. Dustin Wolf, bit of a long shot laddie at plus 10,000. Could happen.

People want to run? Celebrene plus 900, Michkov plus 1800. The other one that people in Vancouver might be interested in and disappointed in, the Norris trophy, Quinn Hughes plus 10,000. The higher the number is not the better. Kale McCarr who scored his 30th goal of the season last night, he going to win the Norris. He's minus 2000. Wait, Kale McCarr has 30 goals? Yeah.

What? He scored his 30th last night. Yeah. I have not been following that. That's insane. The ninth defenseman in the history. It's like Paul Coffee numbers. Who was the last guy to do it? Was it Greener?

I think it was Mike Green. Yeah. That is wild. Not Travis Green. No, not Travis Green. I don't think Travis Green scored 30, period. Well, as a forward. I think Quinn Hughes might be a finalist along with, obviously, McCarr and Zach Rurenski.

Yeah. Rurenski has been unbelievable for that team and a great story as well. But Kale McCarr is going to win it. Yeah. Quinn's missed too much time. And when he came back. McCarr scored 30 goals.

I know, but yeah. You got to tip your cap. Nah. I'm petty. I don't like doing things that way. He will win it and he deserves to win it, but a large chunk of the reason why in my estimation is that Hughes missed too many games. And then when he was playing, he wasn't anywhere near,

he's not near 100% right now. You can just tell. Did, you know how I've said my cup favorite right now is Colorado? You did not say that, but okay. I've said that. I've said that. I'm pretty sure I have. Whatever. Let's not argue about that.

Okay. Let's just move forward. Do you have one? Huh, that's a good question. I don't think I do. Yeah. What's funny is my cup favorite could easily go out in the first round, easily against Dallas. Yep. You know? But I just really like, I don't think they're quite the same as the team that won the cup a few years ago, but

If you had to ask I like the ads that they made If you had to ask me right now, like take a chunk of money and throw it down on someone And I know the inherent risk with doing this because they've been to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals But I would go with Florida. Yeah, I think they are going, what's that line that Drantz always use? A boost of nitrous? Which I still don't understand. What a freaking boost But I think their freaking boost is going to be getting...

It's like nitrous, you know, isn't video, that happens in video games, right? Like nitro boost. Well it's like drag racing. Fast and furious. Fast and furious. They have that in pitfall. You get the nitrous, the nitrous boost. Yeah, and then you just get right over that alligator.

Yeah. Maybe two. Yeah. Anyway. Nitrous is an energy drink isn't it it's nitrogen isn't it I don't know nitrous oxide trans is an awesome night your socks okay I was throwing it all sorts of weird who knows it's what they use in cars actually in like in the car doesn't have a nitro boost fast in

the fast and furious anyway that didn't work. Why hasn't the Fast and Furious won an Academy Award yet? I don't know. You'd think with all the efforts they've made. Which one? They're pushing movies to do length. Every time they come out with a new one. There's like 14 of them, I mean.

Yeah, that's the thing. You would, like the scatter plot idea, like you just make enough movies, eventually one'll hit. Oh, Tokyo Drift was brilliant. It was pretty good. Okay, yeah. Keep it pretty directed. Tokyo Drifted right into my heart. Florida's. Starred Anthony Hopkins? Florida's. It was brilliant. It was pretty good. Okay, yeah. Keep it pretty wet. Tokyo drifted right into my heart.

Florida's- Start Anthony Hopkins. Florida's- It was fantastic. I used to do a, when I was in high school, I used to do a Volvo station wagon drift around the neighborhood, especially when the leaves, in the autumn, during the fall,

when the leaves were out there, I had that 240DL, perfectly timed to drift around the neighborhood. And your dad would get mad because you'd be blowing through all the tires. Like another set of tires. No, no. He loves to drift though. No tires though, because the leaves would provide

the slip. Yeah. Anyway, it wasn't- So Jordan and Van writes in, Mike, you criticize every team. Well, I'm about to explain the boost of nitrous that the Florida Panthers are going to get. I think when they get Kachuk and E Ekblad back and well rested and healthy, if I had to bet right now, take

out a substantial sum of money and be forced to throw it down on one team, I know how difficult it is to go back to back and never mind going to three consecutive Stanley Cup finals, but they're built for this. They are absolutely built for this. And I think getting Kachuk and Ekblad in, dare I say fortuitous situations, even though it's an injury and a suspension, it's certainly seemed to work out for the Florida Panthers. Getting Marshon, that extended runway of games

where they're leaning upon him quite heavily and he's playing a lot, they to me are positioned. Does he playing well? No, I mean, he's not doing anything exceptional. His legs are at the end of the... They are. They're, you know, like we're talking about tires. Like, the wear is very thin on Marsha.

Like, I noticed that at the Four Nations. Four Nations, it was, I mean, he was a bit player at the Four Nations. He Nations, it was, I mean, he was a bit player at the Four Nations. He won't be on the Olympic team, but we obviously wish him all the best luck. I salute you, Brad Marchand. Okay, let's do some Vancouver Canucks here, okay?

We've got some overnight audio from Elliot Friedman, 32 Thoughts podcast, the subject of Rick Tocque and the Vancouver Canucks and whatever's going on with the coaching position and the option that the club apparently holds and is going to wield that power over Rick talk. It. Elliot did a deep dive into it. There's over seven minutes of audio that we tried to parse through. It's a big component of this week's 32 thoughts. We've narrowed it down to what I get 30 seconds snippet here that we've got.

We will play the audio. We will parse through it and come back on the other side. Here's Elliot on the latest on Rick Tuckett's future as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. You know, Jim Rutherford, he's no shrinking violet. Rick Tuckett is definitely no shrinking violet. And I think everybody's got their backs up a bit here. I still think this is solvable. To me, this was just the Canucks

putting a stake in the ground and reminding everybody, hey, we have some control here and people are going to respect what the contractual rights are in our favor. So I still think it can be sorted out. Yeah, it just cuts off pretty quick there. He goes into a bunch of other stuff. So if you want to download the podcast, it's like a seven minute segment where Freage talks about the situation. And, um, there's a bit of a funny part where he says he was talking to someone and they were like, Elliot, you've been like killing the Canucks all season.

And he's kind of, and he was like, well, yeah, but like a lot of stuff has happened. How is this reporting what he heard? How could you not you had like a rift between two of the star players that you know, ended up in one of them being traded like, of course, I'm going to be talking about a lot. You know, they're big stories. Thatcher Demko's injury was another big one. At any rate, we all know it's been a crazy season in Vancouver. And one of the things that, I understand what the Canucks are doing here when they're putting out their statement or leaking to the media. We have this option and we fully intend to use it. And it's what Elliot's explaining. I think they were annoyed by what happened

when, when torts got fired and all the people speculating about, you know, talk it to Philly. They were annoyed. I don't know if, you know, they had words with Philly or anything like that. I don't know if Philly did anything wrong or if it was just the media speculation that they were upset with, but they want to put it out there that

talk it contractually belongs to us. And if he's going to be doing anything next season, speculation that they were upset with, but they wanted to put it out there that Tockett contractually belongs to us. And if he's going to be doing anything next season, it's going to be coaching the Vancouver Canucks or not coaching. Like that's basically, he can go to TV or something, but he will not be coaching for another team.

And Elliott also in that post addresses the whole thing about, well, maybe they can get some draft pick compensation for Tauchett. And it was like, that doesn't exist anymore. That's not a thing. And also that's not what the Canucks want. They want Rick Tauchett to sign an extension for them. Now, having said that, I understand it, but I just wonder if this is yet another bit of noise

that is going to define the season. Well, they're trying to, they're trying to, excuse me. Big whiff of nitrous. They're trying to silence the noise and that's gonna be one of the narratives that you're going to hear. I think especially in the post-mortem and in this off season is that one of the organizational

mandates is going to be, can we keep things quiet and can we lessen some of the noise? I've been thinking about this by the way and I appreciate the fact that there's some sort of goal at the higher reaches of the organization to keep everything quiet. I think that is a futile chase and I'll explain why. What they've done in this last week sort of slipped through back channels that Rick Tocket is contractually obligated to coach here and coach here alone nowhere else. He can do other jobs, but he can't coach anyone I'm pounding my fist on the desk for a reason right like they wanted to make it clear Right and they did it in an effort partly to silence the noise around their potentially

Free agent coach specifically like layoff Philly right so it was their idea to silence the noise. But what did they do by trying to silence the noise? They in essence created noise. It's because people care about the team and they wanna talk about the team and they wanna know what the future of the team is. And they're interested by the inner workings and the dynamics. There's thousands of losers on Twitter

that have based their lives and their personal identities online around the team. You know, like me. Like, sorry. Sad Club Commish. Right. So what you're saying is embrace the noise. I don't think that's it.

No. I think it's just have the acknowledgment. Well, you can't silence it. It makes it worse. So you might as well embrace it. How about you just accept? But they don't need to lean into it and you don't need to shy away from it.

You just need to understand that the market is going to be how the market is. I think leaning into it and you don't need to shy away from it. You just need to understand that the market is going to be how the market is. I think leaning into it would be a lot more fun though. Okay, here's a question for you. Sure. Did they do it in a certain fashion that was like in a strong arming fashion that creates more noise?

Because the way that it was leaked or at least the way it was portrayed by both Drantz and Elliott Friedman is like, hey, we've got this option and if we have to, we'll use it. So everyone, hold on. So everyone extrapolates what that might look like. We're going to force Rick Tocket back behind the bench if he doesn't want to be there? That's what I'm talking about. It reminds me of the Pedersen situation when he wasn't signed to the contract. In the strong arm tactics that they used, first of all, telling the media,

I know he wants to wait until the off season, but we don't. We want him to get signed right now. And that's eventually what happened, but not without some strong arm tactics, which is essentially threatening to trade him to Carolina. Any signs and they get what they want. And, uh, it all, it's all worked out perfectly with Elias Pettersson, obviously.

Um, you know, I, I think, I think there's a way It all worked out perfectly with Elias Pettersson, obviously. You know, I think there is a way to do it where you don't have to brandish a weapon. Does that make sense? No. No. I would push back vehemently against this. But the Pettersson thing, they brandish like, oh, they're like, oh, we're going to trade you then. Or with the talk of things like, oh, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to like, we're going to force you back because we've got this option. I would say to this, no matter what approach the club takes, there's always going to be a critic.

If they came out and were a little softer in their messaging, they'd be accused of not being definitive and not taking enough action and not having the bold declarations to say and to defend the rights of the organization. Right? If they don't do strong arming, they would be accused of being weak. And if they soft shoot it, they would be in the exact same position, only the critiques would be on the other side of it. It's just part of it. You don't have to do it so publicly though. I mean, I don't even think this is that public.

They just mentioned to a couple of reporters. It's not like he called the Globe and Mail and had an interview with Iran. They intentionally planted this story. Yeah. They intentionally put it out there. Right. I think with this whole, looking back on the Pedersen thing, I think they honestly have to wonder like, okay, well, why did he want to wait until the off season?

Did he maybe not want to sign with the Canucks? And if he doesn't want to sign with the Canucks, then don't sign them because you need your players to be all in. And I would say the same thing with Rick Tocket, right? Like, if Tocket is, if, this is a huge if, okay? And I don't want to put words into Rick Tocket's mouth, so this is just an if. Usually what you say when you put words in someone's mouth. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not, no, I won't.

Okay. I won't. But if Tauket is not fully in on this team and the direction of the team, don't have them as coach. Yeah. As much as I like Rick Tauket, I don't want an unmotivated, unbelieving Rick Tauket. I don't want a Rick Tauket that is going to return to the Canucks because they made him an offer that, you know, his agent is like, well,

it is a lot of money and you know, well, the Philly job's already gone because, you know, it's like, I don't want that. I want people that believe in the direction of the team and they're going to work their, you know, what's off to make it happen. And you know, I will still wonder about Pedersen's headspace after he signed that contract

because that's when it really went downhill. But you know. I want to know, okay, why didn't you work hard in the off season? Was it just the injury or are you a hundred percent motivated? I want to know that stuff. And I don't want Rick Tocket coming back going like, yeah, they had the option and they kind of used it.

So I couldn't talk to anyone else. So then I went into negotiations with the Canucks and it made me a pretty good offer. It's a lot of money and I just took it. Right. But nobody, I mean, they're not going to, no one's coming back if they're not fully invested. I mean, Elliot said it in the clip. This was about telling everybody else, hands off, he's ours.

It wasn't about telling, talking to him. I think it was about telling everybody else, hands off, he's ours. And if he doesn't want to coach here, he's just not coaching anywhere else. No one's forcing a guy back against his will to coach with a gun pointed to the square of his back, like now change the lines.

Like that's not happening. But by saying, by saying you're not allowed to coach anywhere else, you are limiting his options, right? Uh huh. What if he, he want, desperately wants to coach in the NHL, doesn't really want to go back to TV, but he doesn't believe in the direction

of the Canucks. Then he won't coach the Canucks. No one's coming back unless they're committed to the bit. No one's going to make it like, I'm 50% in. Hey, man, we've taken jobs. We've taken jobs where we weren't all in. But we also didn't have a lot of options. Well, that's what I'm, dude, that's exactly what I'm telling you.

He can go back to television. But maybe he doesn't want to do that. You're talking about this job. It'd hurt me. Like he's this job, right? Is that what you mean? Yeah, is it this job? He's, okay, so if you're Rick Tauke,

and you're 60 years old. Oh, we're talking about two different things now. No, no, no, I'm not. If you're, I think you should, the only, it should be a pure signing. That's what I'm talking about. It should be, Rick, you can do whatever you want. How about if you were to say that?

You open up negotiations and be like, listen man, you can do whatever you want. You wanna go interview with the Flyers? Fine. But we want you here, and here's the direction, and we'd like you to buy in, and here's a good contract for you. Okay, right Let's say let's say the money is equal in Vancouver and Philly. Okay, okay If he chooses if he chooses Philly

Then I think that says something. Yes, it says that he doesn't believe in the Canucks. Yes, it would so Why would you force him? You're almost like- They wouldn't though. They wouldn't bring him back if he wasn't all in. But you're almost like, yes they would. No. Yes they would.

I disagree with that. They wouldn't. They would be so silly. Because it would be a PR disaster. It would be a one year write-off. No, no, no, no. They won't bring him back on a one year deal. It would also be.

They won't bring him. But if you limit someone's options and say, like that's what they did with Pedersen, right? Yeah, but why would they want a guy coaching the team if he's not invested? Yeah, I'm not seeing it. That is ridiculous. But if you limit someone's options and say, like that's what they did with Pedersen, right? Yeah, but why would they want a guy coaching the team if he's not invested? Yeah, I'm not seeing. That is ridiculous.

That's what they did with Pedersen. They were like, we're strong arming you into this. Well, yeah, but that's because Pedersen's like, in theory, a generational, generation, in theory, a very good player. See, but this is where the comparison falls short. Kock is not like the Pedersen of coaches. Hold on. That's not entirely the Pettersson of coaches.

Hold on. That's not entirely accurate because Pettersson was given a choice. It was signed or the very strong possibility exists that we're going to trade you. So there was an option. It's here or somewhere else. Not here or nothing. Yeah, but you're doing the same thing. But you're limiting options, right?

You're basically, what if neither of those options appeal to him? Then he's going to be like, fine, I'll take the Vancouver option. Right? Like, and you're suggesting you do that with talk in between, well, you want to coach the Canucks or you go back to TV? Yeah, but there are a lot of other coaches out there. There aren't a lot of Pettersons out there. That's a different thing.

You could find other good coaches there. That's a coaching carousel. There's a lot of good coaches in the league, but a player like Petterson is special when he's on his game. By the way, we do that. I know you guys are making some good points. I know you are. I just can't fathom the idea of the Cucks bringing

back, talking on a long-term deal if he's not fully invested. That would be wild to me. Guys have signed contracts because their options have been limited and the money is there. It has happened a multitude of times in sports and in life. Why would the Canucks want that is what I'm asking. Why would they do that to themselves? Because they want Tauket.

50% of Rick Tauket. Why would you want to check out Rick Tauket behind the bench? Okay, Adog. I'm going to get this check out of Rick Tauket behind the bench quickly. How does it look PR-wise? Is Rocket Tech, well yeah, that's what Rocket, Toggett says, Rocket, Toggett. Start calling him Rocket. Hold on, hold on, no one's hiring

a 50% motivated coach as a PR gesture. Like it's not happening. We're like, well we will save face. And then Rick Toggett's wearing sunglasses and sipping a Pheonina Colada behind the bench. I wouldn't put it past them. Go make some changes boys. I mean, it would be hilarious if it happened, but it would also be incredibly worrying. All I'm trying to say is, I just want people that definitely want to be here. Yeah, me too.

100% all in. Yes. And you guys, like, I understand your points and you're making good points. And I actually agree with your points, for the most part. But all I'm saying is, I want him to be motivated to be there, because it is a very tough taxing job and we're seeing it right now. And if you're not all in, Torz wasn't all in. Torz was the opposite of all in. Torz wasn't all in, but they gave him a big contract. And then he was like, all right, fine, I'll do it.

But he wasn't all in because his heart was still in New York. Just avoid that situation. It's not a matter of winning or losing this argument. It's just a matter of like, that's what I want to make sure of, that's all. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the Hellford and Breaststroke on Sportsnet 650. Hour one is in the books, hour two is coming up Up we got AJ from AJ's pizza on Broadway a reminder

It is ask us anything Friday get the best ask us anything you can think of in Hashtag it a UA put a pizza emoji into the text you could win a $100 gift card to the best pizza place on earth 705 adnan Burke is gonna join us for some baseball talk 730 mode you'll join us for NHL and CFL talk eight o'clock at Stallywall. And then at 8.30, we will do our What We Learns and Ask Us Anythings and announce the winner of the aforementioned $100 gift card.

To AJ's, you're listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet, 6.50.