Halford & Brough in the Morning - Frank Seravalli On JT Miller's Future With The Canucks

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest NHL trade rumours with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli (1:16), plus the boys hear from the listeners about the recent play of the Vancouver 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.

Frank! Cira Valley, Cira Valley, Cira Valley Frank! Cira Valley, Frank! Cira Valley, Frank! Dealey Feasov, Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Dealy face off! Frank!

703 on a Wednesday! Happy Wednesday everybody! Frank! You're listening to the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruff of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for,

sales, financing, service, or parts. We are now in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Do the exact opposite of what I said.

Let him find it. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Our next guest is a presentation of angry otter liquor. Frank Saravalli from Daily Face Off joins us now on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Frank, how are you? Better than you guys. Is everyone okay?

We're doing all right. We're getting used to the inconsistency. It's kind of like. Consistently inconsistent. It's consistently inconsistent. Yeah. If the Canucks play well one night and they played well against Toronto on Saturday night, we know or should know by now that the next

game is going to be a total disaster. Well, that's exactly what you got last night. I mean, that was about as dark as I've seen it. Where do they go from here? I know I'm supposed to have the answer to that. Yeah. Well, you did set me up nicely for my first question, which of course comes off the heels of you guys publishing

the trade deadline objectives for all the teams in the Eastern Western Conference. Can you let the listeners know what the primary objective is or should be for the Vancouver Canucks as we get closer and closer to the trade deadline? It's the same objective that's existed for this team since they stepped onto the ice for training camp. I think at some point in the first few weeks of September, if they maybe didn't realize it prior to that, they understood then that there was a hole on this team's backend and that it needed to be filled. And so it's a top four impact defenseman that can help more efficiently

move the puck for the Canucks. It's a non-negotiable for the way this team wants to play. And, you know, now getting to the point where you've got Philip Aronick and Quinn Hughes and the regular sort of lineup back together, well, I don't know if they thought that that was a reason to maybe take your foot off the gas or what, but that's... This team needs more of that and less

of some of the other pieces that they've had filter in and out of their lineup. So I know I was watching this morning the Morning Cup of Hockey on Daily Face Off with you and Johnny and Colby and you guys talked about Chris Drury and the New York Rangers maybe needing to reinvent their blue line as I try to connect some dots here. What did you guys have to say about the Rangers potentially reinventing their blue line? What would that entail? Well the Rangers have four guys, four defensemen

specifically on my trade targets board. They make up four of the top 25 which is obviously significant and sizable. And the thought process is they've got some big decisions to make and and not just about pending UFA Will Borgen and whether or not they should flip him. It extends to Kay Andre Miller and the future of that defense corps and what it looks like. Pretty much everyone outside of Adam Fox and Braden Schneider is, is available and out there

that includes Ryan Lindgren, who's been a playoff warrior for them. Um, and of course, Zach Jones, who's been a healthy scratch and victimized out of the lineup. Um, these, we've heard a lot of these same questions about the Rangers for the last few years, the team that plays poorest in its own end is over reliant on its goaltender and needs to ultimately fix and solve for that problem before being able to be considered a true cup contender. So they've got other existential core questions.

What happens with Chris Crider and some others as Crider makes his way back. happens with Chris Crider and some others as Crider makes his way back. But in the meantime, I'm sure what you're searching for is, are they a trade partner? Could they be a fit? And I mean, I think the answer to that is yes. But at the same time, in some ways, part of what the Rangers are looking to solidify is still part of what the Canucks are looking to solve. Right. Trade partners in theory, but maybe not in practice. And I know when we talk about the Rangers and we talk about the Canucks,

it's inevitable that we'll circle back to JT Miller at some point, because it's been reported on a number of occasions that the Rangers and Chris Drury are admirers of Miller. The question I have is, has anything that's gone on this year, and Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers,

the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the Rangers, the course of the last few years to say that whatever's going on this year is more of a blip than the reality? Well, don't you have your answer in being selected for Four Nations Face-Off?

Right? Like it wasn't even a question. Fair. Yeah. And that happened at the time when he was out of the lineup for the absence that's never really been confirmed or talked about. since that's never really been confirmed or talked about. Um, I think his resume speaks for itself. I think his compete level and the intensity that he brings is all part of it. And through it all, like as, as rough as this season has been at times and, um, even looking at some visuals from last night's game and body language and, and otherwise, he still has 29 points in 32 games. His, his low bar, his B game is, I think significantly higher than, than

many others around the league. And when you've got two hundred point seasons essentially under your belt and you know, you've hit 30 plus goals in each of those years that's a really valuable commodity and at age 31 soon to be 32 in March I you know even with the term remaining on his deal I think a lot of teams are saying for the next three years JT Miller could be a huge part of our team forget what the other part of the contract looks like. I don't think I've ever covered a team where body language was such a big thing.

It's constantly like, are they happy? Did they look good? Are they friends with each other? How does Petey look? Does he look happy or sad today? Does JT look happy or angry today? What does that say about this team? Or maybe it says something about the fan base,

but I don't know. I, a lot of people watch this more about the team. Yeah. I think it speaks to a group that's fragile. I don't disagree. The question is what is to be done about it? You know, like, are they hoping that one day it'll just click and they'll figure it out

and they'll be like, you know, we need to be more professional and if this quote unquote rift is still an issue, we need to put that behind us because this group, this corps, they had a great season last year, but there were still issues at the end of the season with Pedersen. And it's, it's been together a while now.

And all like Brock Besser has been on the team for a while now. And Elias Pedersen and JT Miller, they've been here for a few years now. The management group made the decision to sign JT Miller long-term and they made the decision to assign Elias Pedersen long-term. But the clock is very much ticking on both of them for two different reasons. I think JT Miller, because of his age, you don't want to get to the point where people are like, oh, he's a little old, maybe he's on the decline

and good luck with that contract. And with Elias Pedersen, it says no move clause kicking in on July 1st. So some decisions are going to have to be made and pretty soon. Yeah. And the other part that's ticking on Alias Pedersen is if this is all that he is, which I think a lot of people would look back and say, I can't believe that that's all that he is, but if he can't play up to the level of an 11 and a half million dollar player,

the other thing you're ticking against is him essentially being found out to everyone else. When does the shine wear off of this player that should have and could have been doing a lot more? And then how much does that damage his trade value? We're speaking to Frank Ceravalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. The Edmonton Oilers, Frank, who the Vancouver Canucks are going to see an awful lot over the next week, of course, starting on Saturday night, a hockey day in Canada up here on Sportsnet.

I'm curious about what is going to happen now that Evander Kane, and as you put it out, the documentation is all good. Everything is clear on Evander Kane in terms of him going on LTIR, which means the Oilers are going to accrue some cap space. How big a move or how, if any of a move, are the Edmonton Oilers thinking about making as they get closer to the trade deadline? Yeah, I think a pretty big move. I mean, this has been on Stan Bowman's radar since the moment he took over, starting to plan for what this first deadline would look like. And when it comes to documentation, I think I probably should be a little bit more clear because I did receive some tweets about it

yesterday and I'm happy to clear it up. What do I mean by that? Well, the first thing that the NHL does with a lot of LTIR cases and not just the high profile ones is they go through the medical history to understand exactly what's happening here and is the timeline that's being prescribed publicly, does that fit with what the, you know, the opinion of medical experts would be? Is it plausible? And so if the Vander Kane had undergone the abdominal surgery, um, at the start of the season and missed straight through into April, and then were to magically come back that first week of the playoffs, I think there would be a healthy dose of skepticism had the Oilers gone out and use that LTIR money to stack their roster much in the same way that

Vegas and others have done Tampa as well over the last handful of years. Now that you add in this additional knee surgery and as the oilers put it very clearly in their press release, he's had to pause rehab from the abdominal surgery, essentially halting that progress until this separate rehab can be completed on the knee theoretically, that they now have the ammo, if ever questioned by the NHL or whoever, hey, like this, he had to get this knee surgery. We, like, we had to get this knee surgery. We like, we had to clean this up

because it's hindering his comeback. So they've got, I think the goods medically to be able to present a strong case if they were ever questioned and not sure what that would look like, but the scrutiny, they would pass the smell test is my opinion, based on the information that I've learned. So they're in pretty good shape to now if the Vander Cane's timeline lines up for some time in April,

that they could go out and spend that money between now and then and be in good shape. What are they targeting? Now, well, the other thing to add in too is the Oilers were really smart about their cap from the beginning of the season with their season opening injured Reserve roster and the way that they spent their pool They've essentially been accruing cap space on most days throughout the season even while not putting Kane on LTIR They haven't had to use that money yet They got a really what's called a clean capture. So they've been banking money on top of that space.

So it's not just Kane's LTIR money that they could use in full. It's also approximately an additional million plus dollars that they've been accruing between now and then. Caps space isn't gonna be an issue for the Columbus Blue Jackets. If they can stay in this playoff race, could they make a splash of the deadline?

I don't know about a splash. I think they could make a few lowercase moves to, to try and reward this team. Um, like I don't think they're going to go out and be spending future assets to bring in rentals. Right. That's your question. I think the thought process would be along the lines of, yeah, we can engage in some conversations around the league about some younger guys that are under team control, guys that potentially need a

change in scenery that could fit with our group for the foreseeable future, that those types of deals are ones that make sense. But I think also at the same time, and more interesting for the rest of the market and league as a whole is what happens with some of the other guys on your roster that teams were counting on you to sell with Ivan Provarov who's interested in signing an extension there with Matthew Olivier who's had this season out of the clear blue sky with a crazy shooting percentage and obviously the toughness and and fighting to go along with it. Those types of pieces, ultimately Columbus is very likely

to just hang onto now that I think changes a bit of the complexion of the. Beep, beep, beep, beep. We lost Frank. We'll try and get him back. Is that what that sound is? That happened, it's two days in a row now we've dropped calls on people.

Remember we lost batch yesterday too. Yeah, but that was my fault though. I feel like this one might be your fault too. Don't worry. We are speaking to Frank Sarfali from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Yes. Columbus is a great story.

They really are. So we'll continue on with Frank about the Columbus blue jackets and what they might do. Frank, you there? Yeah, sorry about that. No problem. Yeah. about the Columbus Blue Jackets and what they might do. Frank, you there? Yeah, sorry about that. No problem. Yeah, so I was saying about Columbus, and I think you can add this in about the rest of the league or in the Eastern Conference specifically,

outside of the Islanders, I don't think there's one firm team, at least at this juncture, January 15th, that is firmly in the seller category. The Flyers, the Canadians, like go through that pile of teams that's in the mush, the Sabres, they're not sellers in the traditional NHL trade deadline sense of, hey, we're going to move out pieces and unrestricted free agents for future assets. None of those teams are really interested in those types of deals outside of a UFA here

or there. It's more so they're trying to completely overhaul and change the look and feel of their team. The problem is, and I wonder if because so many teams are in that mode that maybe this is different, that isn't the time of year that that type of surgery is done. That stuff usually waits till the off season. So it's, um, this definitely has a different feel, this deadline.

Um, how concerned should the Chicago Blackhawks be that Connor Bedard looks so miserable there? Not really concerned. Honestly, it'd be weird if he wasn't. He's, you want to talk about body language. If he was coming to the rink every day happy, all of a sudden we'd have a whole different set of questions, wouldn't we? He's an ultimate competitor. He's a guy that they quite literally have to kick out of their rink because he spends all day there.

Like, he's in that shooting room for hours. On off days, he's in that shooting room for hours on off days. He scans in with his fingerprint and he's in there shooting pox. He doesn't have a life. Hockey is his life. Um, and so he's so invested in it that he wears it on his sleeve, but I think he's also realizing that just being a really good player in this league is not enough. You can't do it on your own.

You need a team. There's 40 minutes a night that he's not on the ice. So I know a lot of people kind of were disappointed in Bedard earlier this season. If you look at him hitting the a hundred point mark as a teenager, he's light years ahead of some other guys that have been hall of fame level players in this league, um, in terms of point production at this point in his career. But here's the thing about the Blackhawks that I think a lot of people are lost on which is a

lot of the progress and development that you're seeing with that organization it's not happening at the NHL level. Like Sam Renzell at Minnesota. For me, I see no reason why he can't be the next Brock Faber. I think he's that good. He's a top pair surefire NHL defenseman. And then they've got number two overall pick Artem Levshunov. He's in the AHL and the numbers aren't eye popping there, but if you watch the games, he's starting to develop that confidence at the offensive blue line that is going to make him a really important piece and part of this rebuild.

So you start to smash a bunch of those things together, but are better than you might think at the NHL level. And then you've got Vlasic, Rinzel and Lev Shunov on the back end. And you start to add it all up and you go, okay, we've got a lot of puzzle pieces here. Let's go. But in the meantime, all you're seeing is a bunch of losses. And as a Hawks fan at the NHL level, you're going, this is brutal. What did you think of Ronik's comments on Bedard at the Winter Classic? I thought it was cheap is the best way to say it. If you've got something to say to a teenager, just why not say it to him directly as opposed

to waiting a few days later for your podcast while you're scrapping and searching for some relevancy to put them on blast. If you truly want to be a leader, just pull them aside and say, hey, this is how things work here. You salute the past, you honor the franchise legends. You don't need to be their best friend, but just a handshake and saying hi, that's the appropriate thing to do. No one else also knows the context.

What if they're walking out for the game and Badaard's so hyper-focused? I don't know the details. I'm not absolving him of whatever the alleged infraction is. It just felt like someone's searching for headlines in airtime. Speaking of former Chicago Blackhawks, Jonathan Taves, do you envision foresee him playing hockey in the NHL this year? He doesn't know the answer to that question. I think a lot of the talk about him skating and preparing for a return, which he's been doing for a few weeks now, and he's back down to his NHL

playing weight and he feels the best that he has in years, he's not sure whether he wants to gear up for this year and try and squeeze it in or wait, you know, a little bit longer, six, seven, eight months and be ready for training camps. So he's in the process of determining that of course you would have until March 7th, the trade deadline to be on a team, to sign a contract and be on a team's reserve list, um list for the remainder of the regular season before being eligible to participate in the playoffs. But that part is still TBD. Frank, this was great, man.

As always, thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the games this week and this weekend. We'll do this again next Wednesday. Sounds good. See you guys. See you later. That's Frank Sarvali from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet

650. Frank was a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor, your hockey headquarters for your favorite game day beer, wine and whiskey. More at angryotterlicker.crs. Okay, we've got an open segment on the other side, so we're going to dip into the Dunbar Lumber text line 650650. Get you what we learn in for later in the show, but if you have anything to say, if you have any

questions or comments about the Canucks or anything else in the world of sports, text them into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650-650. Metra Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and Renault Warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com.

One thing I want to talk about on the other side is all these break-ins that are happening to professional athletes. Evgeny Malkin is the latest victim of these break-ins and according to the reports, three Stanley Cup rings were stolen this past weekend out of Jenny Malkin's house. It's happened to a bunch of athletes and when

you think about it, you've got access to their schedules so you know exactly where they're going to be. Sometimes they're not even going to be in the city. The Penguins were actually in town, but they had games over the weekend. So I just want to talk about this because it's gotten to the point where the FBI is releasing

like statements telling athletes, listen, this is happening and this is a sophisticated group of criminals that are targeting these athletes. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Strantz. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650.

Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Shhh 731 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Ruff, Sportsnet 650. Is this, is this a polka? I think so. Techno polka. Electropolka, yeah, exactly. We're big in Sheboygan. That's a Home Alone reference. There you go. Very well done. John Candy, rest in peace. One of the greats. I miss that guy.

What was the name of the band? I remember you had the songs, Polka Polka Polka. Yeah. Look it up. The King of the, oh, fuck. OK. Go look it up. Polka King in the Midwest was the, oh, the Kenosha Kickers.

The Kenosha Kickers. Kenosha Kickers. Yeah, thank you. Okay, good. All right, you are listening to the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford & Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination

for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. I've told you before that the Jason Hominuk read has really inspired the listeners to come up with creative new ways to do the read. This one comes courtesy, The Stickler.

In Dunbar number text line 650650, The Stickler just wanted to try something new with the Jason Hominuk read. He said, Halvardford on the mortgage read, try putting an exclamation point after the word don't and then begin the next sentence with let Jason. I'm gonna try it, okay? Okay.

Dodd doesn't do this, does he, A-Doc? No, he's a professional. Halford and Bruff in the morning was brought to you by Jason Homonuck at Jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. I think you've also got to hit the love in kind of a sarcastic way.

Okay, let's try it again. Okay. Half of the rough in the morning is brought to you by Jason Hollen. A whole thing. Jason.mortgage. If you love giving the bank more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around

to find the perfect mortgage for you. That's Jason.mortgage. More like, if you love giving the bank more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around for you there you know like really sarcastic it up yeah like a normal person okay we're just reading and let's get on with the show I've never seen Andy's jazz hands get jazzier than he did during that he had sarcastic jazz hands sarcastic jazz hands yeah you need that as part of it helps performance we

call them sar jazz hands. Okay. Let's get into robberies. How's this getting broken into by professional athletes? So this story, uh, popped onto a lot of people's timelines last night, Pittsburgh penguins forward of Jenny Malkin had his home broken into and burglarized over the weekend. And all three of his Stanley cup championship rings are now missing. The penguins said they are working with local police as well as their own team security officers, and that Malkin has requested his privacy, does not want to take any questions, does not want this addressed in the media

due to the fact that it's an ongoing investigation. I will point out that the reason this story got the amount of attention that it did obviously isn't just because Jenny Malkin is a big star. He's one of the most beloved athletes in Pittsburgh But he's the latest in a very disturbing rash of home invasions Where pro athletes have been targeted either while at work or on the road traveling for work? I'm gonna run through the list of on the road traveling for work. I'm gonna run through the list of professional athletes whose homes have been hit since September,

working in reverse. In December, late December, after Christmas, Milwaukee Bucks center Bobby Portis has had his home robbed. That came after the Dallas Mavericks, Luca Doncic, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow. Remember that one? We talked about it on the show. Another professional Dallas athlete, along with Luca Doncic, the Dallas stars, Joe Burrow. Remember that one? We talked about it on the show. Another professional Dallas athlete, along with

Luca Doncic, the Dallas stars, Tyler Sagan. That happened in November. Two Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey had their homes robbed in October. And then in September, Minnesota Timberwolves point guard, Mike Conley Jr. That's a lot in a short period of time. Yeah.

And I guess the FBI released a warning and it said that these are sophisticated groups employing sophisticated technology. And here's a quote from the FBI, organized theft groups, bypass alarm systems, use wifi jammers to block Wi-Fi connections and disable devices, cover security cameras and obfuscate, one of my favorite words, their identities.

Um, they take advantage of the fact that most people don't have windows sensors or motion detectors on their second floors. They have Wi-Fi jammers to stop the alarm company from being notified. So these are sophisticated groups. This isn't like a bunch of guys are like, Hey, the penguins have a game today. So Malkin. You know what it's not is you remember the bling ring? It was back in the late like bling ring. I do not remember 2009, 2010, there was a group of teenagers

that were hitting a bunch of celebrities houses in Hollywood, there's a Netflix documentary. Oh, I think I saw it, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I saw that. I watched a bit of it. It does not speak well of thievery, because this was just like complete idiots trying to do the job. Like I'm not trying to like promote

the really good cat burglars or anything, that's not what I'm trying to do here, but the bling ring was just a bunch of kids that were running around the Hollywood Hills, a bunch of teenagers that eventually got- Bored rich kids? No, they weren't even that rich. They were just bored kids.

Okay. But they hit the rich people almost by accident. At certain they realized they were robbing someone famous and then like, what if we did it again? But with no sophistication whatsoever, these home invasions of these professional athletes, it sounds like and I think this is partly the reason that the FBI is now so thoroughly involved that it's almost like it's a crime syndicate type thing. Yeah. They're these guys are very

organized fully trained professionals who are in and out of their houses and it's not the kitchen sink bandit. Home alone. The wet bandit.'s in the wet bandit yeah that was the sticky bandit that was the second one sometimes I get to look in a dog's direction oh my you know the answer to this I know my home alone lore yeah the wet bandits I will say this if Jenny Malkin apparently had his safe was left open which kind of defeats the purpose of having a safe. Is that if it's left open, it makes it a lot easier for the burglars to take things. He needed access to the bundles of cash in there.

You know, Travis Kelsey had $20,000 in cash stolen when his. Just lying around. Yeah. Rich people, that's the answer. No, I know. Who has $20,000 in cash lying around? Not you, cause you're not rich.

I have $20 lying around and I have an underlocking key. I don't know, I don't know in what circumstance in the modern era that you would need $20,000 in cash. My, I would guess strip club, right? If you were going to a strip club, you need cash.

That's a largely liquid operation. But in, if you're going to strip club, you need cash. That's a largely liquid operation. But if you're a really wealthy person, what would you need $20,000 in cash for in any given moment? To pay your bookie. Maybe. Yeah, right. If you were to- Duh. Yeah.

It's got to be gambling related. Bribes, yeah. Gambling, drugs, or strippers would be my guess. Yeah. Sure. Those are usually the big three I mean terms of cash operations. Yeah, Malkin has been bribing politicians for years in Pittsburgh. He didn't have cash. Oh, he didn't Okay, sorry Kelsey had the cow. Okay. Oh Kelsey has been bribing politicians in Kansas City for years now We're yet now reliable

It's gonna clip that one out of context one second Yeah some of the stories from the National Hockey League last night, by the way, because there were a bunch of games not involving the Vancouver Cubs. Well, it was really unfortunate that Malkin got robbed because Joey DeCord went into Pittsburgh last night and robbed the Penguins of a victory.

So I had this written in the inverse. I know, I was going gonna start with the Kraken story and then segue to Malkin, because Malkin had a golden assist last night. And the Kraken made me look like an idiot last night. An idiot. We're gonna work the other way. More so.

Well, not really an idiot because your reverse jinx powers are quite famous. So I watched the first period of the Penguins and the Kraken. And the Penguins, despite the game being tied, I think at the end of the first period of the Penguins and the Kraken. And the Penguins, despite the game being tied, I think at the end of the first period, were all over the Kraken. They were dominant.

I think the shots were something like 16 to 2. At one point, the Kraken were not in this game, but the Penguins weren't able to take more than a 2-1 lead. And then early in the third, the Kraken scored two real quick goals and they were able to hold on than a two one lead. And then early in the third, the Kraken scored two real quick goals and they were able to hold on for the victory. But, you know, I'm not backing away from this

hole, like the Kraken are bad because the Kraken have shown some chutzpah in, you know, coming back in games where they didn't really deserve to win them. One of them against the Vancouver Canucks. But I'm watching this team for most of the game last night. Not a good team, but neither the Penguins. The Penguins have lost a bunch in a row now.

Yeah. The Penguins did well to get back into the playoff picture after a rough start to the season, but they've hit the skids a little bit now. Uh, although if Jenny Malkin did come back into the lineup last night, we should help them. The crack in Jason. I think what we can take from this is that you said part of the reason you wanted to dump on them on Monday and Tuesday was that nobody else was doing

it. No one in Seattle was doing it at all. Nevermind. Effectively. Everyone saw that the crack and we're off to a lousy start to the season. Everyone saw that their CEO, Todd, like Wiki joined the team on the road in a rare bit of the executive coming down to meet with the players. And it just sort of got a collective shrug from the Seattle media. You held their feet to the fire. You said how lousy they are and how lousy a franchise it's been. And then they responded with

a very improbable victory in Pittsburgh. So you in a very weird way, your reverse jinx powers are pretty impressive. Yeah. Anytime you go- And I knew as soon as I tweeted, your reverse jinx powers are pretty impressive. Yeah. Anytime you love- And I knew as soon as I tweeted it out, the Kraken are so bad, I was like, they're winning for sure tonight. And God did they, in the most weird fashion imaginable.

By the way, I wanted to mention this off the top of the show because I heard some people saying, hey, there was a silver lining for the Vancouver Canucks last night, Calgary also lost. to which I say, I don't want to live in a world where we're doing this. I don't, I, I feel like. Battling with Calgary for the final wild card spot and losing.

How do I say this without saying that we're better than this, but we're better than this. You got to watch out for the blues now. There are only two points back of the Canucks. Canucks have a couple games in hand But still I don't want to be in a world where I have to pay attention to a mid-January Game between the Calgary Flames and the st. Louis Blues for playoff jockeying, but I did I watched it last night And I was like very quietly so nobody heard me. I was like I hope this doesn't go to overtime

So that there's not three points on the board here doesn't go to overtime so that there's not three points on the board here. Anyway, the St. Louis blues did beat the Calgary flames last night to one. They'll play again Thursday and St. Louis. Hopefully it's not weird. No overtime there either. It's a schedule wrong here. What's going on here? No, you mentioned this yesterday. I know it's so bizarre. Um, Calgary is playing in the second of a back to back. They had beat, as we mentioned on yesterday's show, the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night. So they went in and played a very adequate road game, but were unable to get any points.

And this is your reality for the next couple of weeks. And X fans are going to harbor a guess probably up until the four nations face off. The Canucks are going to be mired in this either nightly or alternate nightly scoreboard watching where you're going to have to pay attention to what the Calgary Flames are doing and what the St. Louis Blues are doing, because the way the Canucks are playing right now, I do not foresee a run where they're going to rip off four or five, six,

seven wins in a row, which is what they need to do. Because as you mentioned earlier in the show, winning streaks have not been a thing for this team this year. Unlike last year where they were very capable of ripping off three and four and five game winning streaks, the Canucks can't put together consecutive victories, which is what you need to distance yourself

from the rest of the pack in this playoff. We've had a four game winning streak early in the season, a three game winning streak, and that's it. Basically since the calendar turned from December and then December to January, they've been mixing in wins and losses and lately a lot more red L's than green W's and it's not a good sign. The loser point has really kept them afloat.

Loser point has absolutely salvaged this team. Nobody's better in the NHL than getting loser points in the Vancouver Canucks. So here's what's coming up for the Canucks too. Tomorrow they're going to host the LA Kings. Is that going to be revenge? Tanner Janow on Brock Besser? Day or nay has pretty much promised it.

He might not be in the lineup though. So that's another element to watch is how the Canucks will respond with Tanner Janow. The Edmonton Oilers hockey day in Canada, they're in town on Saturday. The last time the Edmonton Oilers were in town for a Saturday night in Vancouver, they beat the Canucks seven to three. And that was after, that was after the

Canucks had had a pretty good win over the Los Angeles Kings. They went down to California and they swept San Jose, Anaheim and had a, maybe their best win of the season against the LA Kings. And then they came home and they got pumped by the Edmonton Oilers. Yet another example of this Canucks team having a really good performance and following it up with not just the average or met or so-so performance, following up a good performance with an absolute dog effort. Another example of it.

So it's three home games in a row, the Kings, the Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks sad club brethren will be in town Tuesday and then it's off to Edmonton for another game against the Oilers before returning home for a game against Washington. So these next five games, you got LA, Edmonton, Edmonton, Washington, so that's four good teams there,

plus Buffalo, the problem is it's at Rogers Arena where the Connexions have lost to some bad teams this season. And I have no idea what to expect. No idea what to expect. I know what these games... So I would say four of the next five games are yet again, either measuring stick or litmus test, or at the very least, games in which you're going to get a really good opponent.

Right. There's I mean, Buffalo is the the anomaly here where Buffalo is the worst team in the NHL You're not getting any better win that one. You're not lost twice at home to Nashville. That's what I'm saying Like you're not getting it. That's the cupcake game on the schedule That's where you'd think that you'd be like circle out They lost it home to the Islanders and one of the worst performance of the season I understand there's a way out of the playoffs. So I have no idea actually They're not that far out. Everyone in the East, the buffalo is pretty

much in it, but I digress. Relatively speaking. Um, I just have no idea what to expect from this group on a night to night basis. Uh, the Kings game coming up on Thursday, you would think would be a pretty good opportunity for this team to come out and show some jam. They just got the wheels beaten off them in Winnipeg.

They're coming home after a lengthy road swing. You mentioned the Geno thing, and yet again, I bring to the forefront that this is a team that doesn't show a lot of pushback in a multitude of ways. Whenever there's a big hit on the ice, more often than not, there's not a response from the team. I know there has been on occasion, but there really hasn't been. And I tweeted out last night, I was watching the Florida New Jersey Devils game last night and someone absolutely trucked, I think it was Kachuk, trucked Nico Heescher. And that set off a full blown, everyone on the ice, it's go time

melee. Everyone got after it. And then someone texted in this morning, did you guys notice that Jonathan Lechermacki got smoked again last night, this time by Logan Stanley, and there was no pushback. I would say in that- There was someone on the Canucks bench that said, hey, keep your head up. Yeah, you're learning the hard way there, Jonathan. said, Hey, keep your head up. Yep. You're learning the hard way there, Jonathan.

I will say this. Um, with every passing game, I get my, my lizard brain takes more and more over where I'm like, just show us, just give me something, just show me something. Show me that you're pissed off. Show me that you care. Show me that you're not happy with how things are going. I think the lizard brains of Canucks fans is starting to take over too, in that they're throwing the whole asset management thing out the window and just going, I just want some change.

Like here's an example, unsigned text. I'm at the point now where I'd rather the Canucks miss the playoffs if it means Miller and Besser are traded to revamp the core. I'm not even overly concerned about the return for Miller, addition by subtraction. You know, is that logical? No. Is it emotional? Maybe a little bit, but I get it.

I get it. There are times when I watch this team and I know logically if the Canucks trade Miller and Pedersen, and while they wouldn't do this, especially if they were to trade them for like futures or whatever, right, which they they wouldn't do this, especially if they were to trade them for like futures or whatever, right? Which they probably wouldn't do, but let's say they did. I know it would take a long time to revamp what they've got down the middle. And I know they'd be wandering into the wilderness, but sometimes I'm kind of like, yeah, but you know, what do I foresee with this team?

And this is the question for management. This is what you honestly have to ask yourself. Do you see this core of players leading you to Stanley Cup glory? And right now the answer is an obvious no. Quinn Hughes, can you trust him? Yeah, you can. Ped Quinn Hughes, can you trust him? Yeah. You can.

Pedersen, can you trust him? No. Miller, can you trust him? No. That's two out of your three leadership group. Yep. And if you're asking that question of the executive, I'd take it a step further and I'm like,

why don't you ask your head coach? If you were to get him in a private moment where there are no cameras around and no interviews and IMAQ wasn't there, being the sole representative of the media. Can you win with these guys? I wanna play this again. Listen to what Rick Tauket said after the game last night.

Listen to what he said and see if you can parse between the lines and read between them and all that stuff, what he's talking about with his group. This is Rick Tauket following a 6- one embarrassment in Winnipeg last night. It's hard to be consistent, right? It's hard to do the right things all the time. It's hard. It's hard to go through people. It's hard to serve properly. It's it's hard to reload properly. Um, it's hard to get the pucks out when we need to.

It's hard to take pucks than that And you can't do it once in a while if you want to be a good team. That's what it is. Yeah, I mean, it's my job. I gotta get some guys committed. It's on me. So what he's saying is, is that all the things that this group needs to do to be better

are hard things to do. What he's not saying is that this group isn't interested in doing those hard things. At least not with any regularity. They're interested in doing it once in a while, but they're not interested in doing it all the time. And the other thing that he said, it was a very smart thing by the head coach

cause he fell on his old sword. He said, it's on me. It's on me guys. But you know what he said it's on him to do? To get guys committed. When he says that, do you know what he means? He means this is a bunch of guys on the team that aren't committed.

Don't care, right? Isn't that the harshest way of putting it? He also used, remember a little while back, emotionally invested. We got some guys that aren't emotionally invested. And he's not. And I was like, when he said that, I was like, damn. But he's not., emotionally invested. We got some guys that aren't emotionally invested. And he's not- And I was like, when he said that, I was like, damn. But he's not-

Not emotionally invested? But he's not stupid. He's not gonna come out and say it like that. He's gonna say, it's on me to get these guys emotionally invested. It's on me to get these guys committed. But the underlying sentiment is the same. They're not emotionally invested and they're not committed. They need someone to get them there. And here's the same. They're not emotionally invested and they're not committed.

They need someone to get them there. And here's the thing. I would push back on what Rick Tuckett said. No, it's not. It's not on him. No, it's not. It's just the easiest way to say it. It's not on you to get them emotionally invested.

They're hockey players. They should be emotionally invested. They're the leaders on the team. They wear A's on their jersey. The coach has to remind them to be emotionally invested. The coach has to find a way to get through to them. I gotta get through to these guys to make sure they're emotionally invested. When is that ever said about some of the other quote unquote superstars in the NHL? I gotta get these guys emotionally invested.

You know, Sid, it just doesn't seem interested. I mean, Nathan McKinnon, I don't know. I just can't, you know, like, I don't know. I just can't get him emotionally invested. Doesn't seem interested in playing right now. Go look at Miller's ice time after the four point night in Montreal to start the road trip. It falls off a cliff. He goes from 19 minutes against Washington to just over 17

against Carolina to just over 13 against the Leafs. And he didn't play 15 minutes last night. I mean, how do you count on a guy where... And this is... Tocket's deployment, right? Tocket knows what he's doing He said this is the amount that I can count on this guy. I'm playing a middle six minutes Playing him as a top nine forward not as a guy who's a two-time 100 point plus guy in the league

Like it's not that talk it Isn't trying I think talk it knows that when the guys checked out You have to start looking at other players and you have to start seeing who else is going I think that Taukit isn't trying. I think Taukit knows that when the guy's checked out, you have to start looking at other players and you have to start seeing who else is going. Why aren't they emotionally invested? That seems to be a recurring theme in the inbox. Like, you see that they aren't, but why aren't they?

They're professional athletes. Why are they not emotionally invested, especially considering they are supposed to be the leaders? You know what? This is one of the most difficult situations I can remember a management group being in, where they have themselves made the decision to commit to JT Miller and Elias Pedersen in a big way.

And now there are talks about them moving them. And this is one of those things where you would go to the owner and be like, hey, remember when I asked you for the commitment to sign these guys and we're all excited about this team. Well, that was last year or that was two years ago. Things have changed and now we've got to trade these guys and, you know, there's probably going to have to be some changes to the marketing materials around here. You know, it's, it's, it's a big deal when you trade players like Miller or Pedersen

and it's not just because of the team on the ice, although that is the biggest deal. Like there's a lot of stuff you gotta do, right? Like look at Roger Serena, it's covered in Miller and Pedersen and you know, like I know that's, people are like, that's minor stuff and it shouldn't be a concern. I agree, it shouldn't be a concern, but the Canucks had charted this path.

They charted this course where, you know, we got Hughes, Miller and Petey and for the next few years, we're going to be contenders. And now you're looking at it and you're like, you're like, ah, we can't get a couple of them emotionally invested. Yeah. Well, in the case of Pedersen, it's less, it's

less than 12 months. That would be the crazy part. Is it in 12 months, you went from giving the biggest contract in the national, in your franchise history to moving them. Like that- Especially after last season, how would you not wanna come out screaming and prove that last year wasn't a mirage

and you wanna take another step? And it's not just about making the playoffs, it's not just about the second round, you wanna get to the conference finals, you wanna show you're one of the best teams in the league, like you looked like last year at times. I'll say this. But how do you take a step back from that?

I heard Yannick Hansen on with, I heard Yannick Hanson on with Sat and Reach, I think it was a week and a half ago. And he said something that was pretty important and poignant at the time. He said, you don't understand, and you probably underestimate how large egos can get in an NHL room because these guys are the elite of the elite.

They're the top 1% of their jobs in the world. And the smallest things can be the biggest things to guys that have supreme levels of confidence and talent and ego and in their abilities. With that comes like riffs because it's a lot of, you're not holding up your end of the bargain. You're not treating me fairly, I deserve better, I deserve more, and it has to do with the fact that you pay guys $67, $80, $90 million to play a game. You're like, well, how do professional athletes not show up when they're getting paid that amount of money?

Your sense of self-worth and ego and what you demand and what you respect and what you want goes through the roof too and it's not fair and it's not right and it sounds completely abnormal to like our day-to-day existence but that's the ecosystem that these guys live in is that sometimes you get fed up or you get checked and you're there's a stubbornness involved with it too. Then it's on management for not being able to read that and giving them those contracts if that is indeed what it is. Uh, Randeeb's going to join us next.

We'll talk about last night's game and what's ahead for these Vancouver Canucks. You're listening to the Halifax and the Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Rogers Xfinity TV, mystery solved. Watch all new seasons of your favorite true crime shows on Investigation Discovery. to the world.