Halford & Brough in the Morning - Frank Seravalli On What Could Be A Busy Trade Deadline

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Daily Faceoff's NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:21), who discusses some potentially big moves ahead of the trade deadline, plus the boys speak with Vancouver Giants general manager Barclay Parneta (27:43).  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! Cerebelli, cerebelli, cerebelli Frank! Cerebelli, Frank! Cerebelli, Frank! Daily face-off, Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Daily face-off! Frank! 702 on a Wednesday! Happy Wednesday everybody!

Frank! You're listening to the Halpern and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halpern and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour two of the program. Frank Cerfali from Daily Face Off is gonna join us

in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two of this program 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. 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. Still lost my voice from that

80s party. How's puberty going? Pretty good. To the phone lines we go. And have another shower. Frank Zeravalli from Daily Face Off joins us now on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Frank, how are you? Yeah. Now bringing in another pre-Pubescent voice. Yeah. Congratulations. There's a couple of great Sixers talking away about hockey.

Frank, what do you think is top of mind for the Canucks? It's February 26th. Today, March 7thth trade deadline creeping up. Brock Besser remains unsigned. Is he top of the list for the Canucks right now or is there something else cooking? Sorry, you cut out for a big portion of your question. Oh sorry. You said what's top of mind and then I didn't hear the rest.

Brock Besser pending unrestricted free agent with the March 7th trade deadline. Is he top of mind for the Canucks or is there something else cooking? No, I think he's, he's toward the top of the list for sure. I'd say the only caveat with Brock Besser is that I still think there is a likelihood or certainly a

possibility that he gets resigned. And I could also envision a world in which he doesn't get traded, doesn't have a new contract by March 7th and then signs after the fact. I think there's been a total comfort level, um, between these two parties as this whole process has gone on that in the end, Brock Bester is really comfortable knowing that whether it's in Vancouver or somewhere else this summer, whole process has gone on that in the end, Brock Besser is really comfortable knowing that whether it's in Vancouver or somewhere else this summer, he's, he's going to be appropriately paid. And beyond that, I think there's a, a part of him that even with this season

going off the rails, um, still has not just an affinity to, for, but also a, a strong connection to Vancouver that I think is really certainly pulling him. So I wouldn't view it necessarily in any form of absolutes as we get closer to next Friday. I'd be shocked if the Canucks let Brock Besser go unsigned past the deadline and risk letting him walk away for nothing in the offseason. It's something that the Canucks have said repeatedly that they won't do with pending unrestricted free agents and especially for a team that is today sitting outside the playoff spot.

I guess I should be prepared to be shocked. Is this something that you've heard recently? You're, you're just dealing with, um, I think two sides that in the end, while there hasn't been a ton of progress, um, he's already making six, six, five to get to a world in which Besser is, is re-signed in a term is certainly going to be a big part of it. But from an AAV perspective, like it, you don't have to stretch insanely far based off of what he's making now.

It's not like he's making three and a half and needs to get to nine. And I wouldn't be surprised if he came in a shade under nine. That's what the Canucks are wrestling with at the moment. It's not a huge impact to their calf based on where they're at right now. It's really the term. And so, again, take it back to Besser's point of view, he's getting paid either way. And look, I just think, that's all I'll say, is any sort of absolute like that, I wouldn't necessarily consider that in this case.

Okay, let's go through some of the general managers in the National Hockey League that could be active heading into the March 7th trade deadline. And I do wanna start with a guy that we've spoken quite a bit about over the last couple of days on this show, Detroit Red Wings General Manager, Steve Iserman. Yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings announced that Andrew Kopp was going to be out for the remainder

of the season because of surgery for a left pectoral tendon. So they've got some cap space. They've got a long playoff drought that they're looking to snap. Do you think Steve Iserman is going to make a big move ahead of March 7th? I think he's certainly gonna try. I think they desperately need an upgrade on defense, if not multiple. And the way that their center depth is structured, not that losing Andrew Kopp helps by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not like they're in dire need for a center like the way the Boston Bruins are.

So they've got some flexibility. They've got cap space. They obviously have assets and draft picks. And more than anything, they're dealing with a pressure and a realization that they need to get in. Playtime's over. The, the eiser plan has been ongoing for a while. They made the coaching change on boxing day

and this team has gone nowhere but up to the point where they've now kind of put themselves in the driver's seat of one of these wild card spots. They couldn't finish the deal last season, but missing out this year with, you know, you watch a game like, you know, Simon Edvinson making an impact like he did, um, it's, you watch this team and you go, they've got something cooking. How do you not just reward your young players?

And this commerce same conversation goes for the Ottawa senators as well, but you have to give them a taste of the playoffs and allow that belief to continue to grow, even if they're not going to be making a deep run this year, that then perpetuates into the off season of, Hey, we're a team on the rise, you want to be part of this and that's a big step that the red wings have to take. So for a lot of those reasons, you the Red Wings in the buyer category for sure. You mentioned Boston there briefly. Boston's almost the opposite of Detroit in that they are a perennial playoff team that's

always buying at the deadline. But now this year, with things kind of slipping away and it looks like a playoff percent chance about 15 right now, Boston could be a seller for the first time in a long time. Boston.com had an article out the other day with a quote from Don Sweeney talking about how they're going to be quote unquote cautious going into this year's deadline. So Don Sweeney in Boston, how aggressive could he be as a seller for the first time in the deadline in a long time? Yeah, I don't know that I'd necessarily characterize it as waving the white flag,

but his comments over the weekend certainly raised some eyebrows. And the funny thing about the percent chance that you're talking about making the playoffs, and then obviously you watch a game like last night against the Leafs and you go, huh, like how's that team gonna possibly put it together? But I'm looking at the standings here.

Yeah, the Blue Jackets have one game in hand, but they're only two points out of the eighth seed. Will we see as drastic a sell-off as some have painted? I think for sure you're gonna see Trent Frederick on the move because they're not close on a new deal. I'd imagine that they try and cash in if at all possible on Justin Brazzo and the big frame that he presents to throw in your bottom six. And then beyond that, can they move one of their defensemen that has some term that's clogging up their cap? Maybe.

And what do you do with Brad Marshand? You know, it is funny to watch some of the coverage emanating out of Boston saying no way they can trade Brad Marsh and well, he turns 37 in May and like, is this not the perfect city to draw the comparison of did you not see Tom Brady finishes career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, like it is possible. So I don't know if I'd characterize it as likely because I think in the end the Bruins still want to re-sign Marshann and I think there's an avenue to get it done that isn't going to cripple their cap in dollars or term, but we're getting down to crunch time and the closer we get, I think the more likely it is without a deal being done that Marshann's on the move. The Edmonton Oilers, Jeff Jackson, Stan Bowman in Edmonton.

The Edmonton Oilers are not in a good way right now. They are coming out of the break. They've been leaking goals like crazy. And once again, the knives are sort of out for Stuart Skinner. What do you anticipate that the Oilers are gonna do? Because there's a few things that haven't worked out. The Jeff Skinner acquisition hasn't worked out. Arvidsson hasn't worked out.

And I think they're looking at the guys that they lost to St. Louis and kind of regretting that those guys aren't a part of the mix right now. And then there is the goaltending issue as well, which is always difficult to fix in season, especially at the deadline. So what do you think Edmonton is going to be doing going into the deadline? I'd argue it's impossible to fix in season for the Oilers. The goal-tending story? Is that what you're talking about? Yeah. And the reason for that is this is going to decide their entire deadline posture. The Evander Kane injury and the wild card situation that that presents, what happens if he wakes up on March 27th and says, I'm good to go.

They, I don't think they're going to be in a position potentially to spend that money. A lot of people have believed because he had that second surgery that it was a foregone conclusion wink, wink, Oh, this guy's going on LTIR for the rest of the year and we'll see him in the playoffs. I can tell you that the Oilers don't feel comfortable with that situation as it stands right now. They're hoping to get clarity on Kane's situation from doctors in the March 1st range to be able to make a decision. And I had Stan Bowman on my podcast that actually drops today and we worked through all these different situations, goaltending, Kane, the lack of speed that they have up front. And it is interesting that they may be in a spot where if they can't spend the Kane

LPIR money, the only way they can really improve their team is by trading pieces off of it cap wise. And Skinner has the no move. I guess you could move Arvidsson if you really push to do it. But those are the only avenues to create cap space if you can't spend on Kane's LTIR money. And I'm just telling you for certain, they don't feel comfortable one way or the other right now. What is the relationship like between the team and Evander Kane? Is there, is there anything going on there?

I mean, you would think they would have communicated all this between the club and the player where they'd know where they stand on the issue. Yeah. I mean, I think the communication has been fine, but it's, it's also a medical thing. But it's, it's also a medical thing. It's not just, you know, a projection of dates. If a Vanderkeen at any period of time, this is the cleanest way to say it at any period of time after like, let's, let's operate under the hypothetical that the the oilers go out and spend his LTIR money.

If he wakes up on one of those days and says, you know what? I'm feeling tremendous. I want to be back in the lineup. And he gets clearance from a doctor. It could be a second opinion. The oilers don't have any recourse. There's no, it's, it's part of the CBA. There's no way you can tell a player who's been cleared,

you're not allowed to return. So if that happens, what you're dealing with is a situation where they have to essentially trade players off of their team after the deadline and attach multiple picks just to be cap compliant. I mean, communication is one thing, but given the sort of mercurial nature of Kane and the best of times, I don't know how you could feel really good about it one way or the other. That would be insane if he did that though. If he's like, put me into the lineup, I'm healthy.

I'm ready to go. Like has that ever happened? The same things that have played out to this point in his career, I'm not certain that that would be in the top five. So they're actually worried that that might happen. Like that would go down in NHL lore. They haven't said that to me, but like if you were them, wouldn't you feel uneasy about it? Well, yeah, I wouldn't have brought him in in the first place, but I mean, he's a heck of a player when he's healthy.

They didn't, the previous regime did. Yeah. Um, what other teams should we be keeping our eyes on, um, ahead of the deadline that we haven't talked about? Um, we were chatting with David Amber earlier in the show and I kind of asked him like of all the teams in the East and the East is so

close right now, everything like from top to bottom. It's wide open. Yeah, it's wide open. You know, I do wonder about the Florida Panthers. Again, we're talking potential LTIR with Kachak. Could they do something big? Could the Leafs do something big? And then of course there's a situation with

Rantanen in Carolina. Yep. Yeah. And Carolina is also in wait and C mode, right? It's, they haven't gotten a no from the Rantanen camp, it's just non-committal. And that certainly leaves some uneasy feelings as well because their first priority and preference is to resign him they put what is a

franchise record deal on the table and They went out and did the heavy lifting of acquiring a game breaking player. But now the question is, can you keep him? And then if not, or if you're not sure, will they roll the dice and say, you know what, we'll see if we can put together a deep run and maybe convince him along the way. And if he walks in free agency, then so be it. We've got now this cap space opening up or do they put the pedal down and say, we can't, they're essentially now, if you think about it, they're in the same

position that the avalanche were just a month ago, which is what do we do with this really impressive expiring asset? Are we forced to cash in and get something back? Not all that dissimilar to the best or conversation we were just having, but just on a totally different level. And do we have to recoup assets? And then maybe can we find a better fit for our team as it stands right now? It's some might say it's an uneasy position to be in.

I look at it from a totally different perspective and say, we're good either way. We've, regardless of what happened to Jay Gensel last year, we traded for Gensel and Rantanen at back to back deadline periods. We didn't give up a first round pick. back-to-back deadline periods. We didn't give up a first round pick. We gave up Marty Nacius who has looked good in Colorado playing with McKinnon, but was going to be do a big raise as soon as this summer.

And we didn't give up any of our top five prospects. So we were moving on from Nacius at one point or another. We preempted that. And now if Rantanen doesn't stay, we've got cap space and a ton of our future still intact. Well, how big a blow would it be though, just the reputation where if you, you know, you acquire Gensel and he goes, nah, I don't really want to stay here. And you acquire Rantinen and he goes, nah, I don't

really want to stay here. Um, Halford and I were talking the other day and I don't know if this has anything to do he goes, nah, I don't really want to stay here. Um, Halferd and I were talking the other day and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but, uh, it was interesting. I thought, uh, was it the athletic did that player survey and they talked about the worst facilities in the NHL and Carolina won by a landslide.

And I'm just wondering what the reputation, um, of the Carolina Hurricanes is among players in the NHL? I think there are two totally separate conversations. The first one in Gensel, they don't have anyone to blame but themselves. And they put the full court pressure on in March or April to get Gensel's re-sign before the playoffs and just said,

hey, yeah, we'll give you eight times eight. He probably would have signed it. But we got to a position where they hemmed and hawed, threw down some offers that were just mediocre, and then waited until the last week before free agency to go pedal down. By that point, it was like, hey, I might as well just wait five more days

and see I can have my pick of any team for relatively the same cost or, or money in my pocket this time around with Ranton and by all accounts, they've put a legitimate eight year, a hundred plus million dollar deal on the table. If he doesn't get done, I don't know that that's an indication or a negative shot to the Carolina hurricane's reputation. I don't, I'm trying to put myself in ranting in shoes. I just had my world flipped upside down. I won a cup and loved it in Colorado. And now I'm here in Carolina. I got to experience it for 10 days, then played at four nations for two weeks.

And now you're putting this deal in front of me and you're saying, Hey, can you commit here for the next eight years? I just don't know that I'm ready to make that decision yet. And by the way, whether it's seven years somewhere else or eight years here, I'm about to be a hundred millionaire and it doesn't really matter one way or the other. I'm going to take my time and do it on my terms. We're speaking of Frank Ceravalli. What's with the hot tub here?

We're speaking of Frank Ceravalli from Daily Face Off here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, Frank, I wanted to ask you about your chat with NHLPA boss Marty Walsh on the latest Frankly Speaking podcast. I know you guys talked about the Four Nations faceoff and how he gave a ton of credit to how hard the players played and that's what made it such an outstanding event. I wanted to get your main takeaway from that conversation with Walsh and also if the conversation went towards the aftermath of the Four Nations face off, which is the number of injuries that happened during the tournament, the number of key guys that have been knocked

out of play, if that became an issue with the NHLPA and how they're going to address it. I don't think it's an issue. Look, key injuries happen in any course of play. They've already happened since their return to play, but it's a byproduct of how hard the players did compete and what they put into it. That they raised their game to a level that not only made it super appealing to non-hockey fans and casuals, but they were willing to put it on the line because they cared. And so it was complete and total buy-in from the players on the ice and off the ice.

Media access, storytelling, behind the scenes, all really good quality stuff that you could tell the players really put a lot into it. And part of that was the conversation with Marty Walsh, but the other part of it is that I think it's so fascinating. As good as Four Nations was, I'm sure in the back of your mind, you have to be thinking, why didn't we do this for 11 years?

And I thought it was really interesting that Gary Bettman at the press conference before Four Nations started said doing this and putting together a firm international calendar with Olympics and World Cup alternating biennially that it wouldn't be possible without the relationship that they have now with the NHLPA and it's so odd having covered so many lockouts on a street corner in New York that this is where we're at. But I wanted to drill down on that with Marty Walsh in our conversation and say,

what is it about the relationship? What is it about whatever you brought to the table that's allowed this to blossom? And I think a lot of it comes back to communication, which then bears trust on the other end of it. But it's really interesting to see the shift between these two parties and the fact that we have a cap number for the next three years, and that by the nature of having cap numbers

means that kind of on a factual basis, we've essentially started CBA negotiations for a deal that doesn't expire till 2026. Like if, if you were in a coma for the last 12 years after the last lockout and you got to this point, you'd wake up today, you know, shocked about a lot of things, but that would be on the list. I got two more real quick I wanna hit you with before we go to break.

Two players in particular. One, the Seth Jones situation in Chicago. Does that get rectified via trade by the deadline? I doubt it. The Hawks are willing to retain, I believe somewhere between two and two and a half million dollars on that deal to knock him down to the seven million dollar range. But this is a two part problem. One, Seth Jones has to be willing to provide

the Hawks with a list of teams and it can't just be, hey, I want to go to Dallas because Dallas to my knowledge hasn't shown much interest. And Jim Neal has hinted at the idea of, hey, we've got to pay all these young guys that need new contracts. So we can't be taking on a deal like this one. And two, um, there needs to be generally more interest around the league. The term remaining on that deal at five, five years is, is significant. And I believe in Seth Jones as a quality number two defenseman in the NHL. And I'm sure some Knuff fan is making a Pedersen joke right now.

Um, but that said, it's been slow going. And I think it's one of those deals that if it happens, regardless of his voice growing louder and more prominent, particularly after last night's loss to Utah, in which the shot attempts were 93 to 39. That it's gonna require a lot of heavy lifting to get done. And finally, real quick, before we let you go, Jordan Bittington, after the glow up

in the Four Nations final, is there any chance that St. Louis capitalizes that and moves him out? Is there any chance that he's on the move? I know you guys talked about it on daily face-off live. Yeah, just tell me which team is interested, which team needs a goalie. We just went through the complications in Edmonton. Yeah. Even if they could do it on their list of priorities and they had the cap space, would goaltending be number one? I'm not convinced. Carolina,

maybe, but I just don't, they don't want to spend on a goalie. So I, and I can't see them doing it on a goalie that has marginal season results that are less than what they're currently getting. So I don't see a goalie market period, but I guess crazier things have happened. Frank, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Wednesday. A whole hit without PD talk.

I didn't know it was possible. It is. Brave new world here at the Haliford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Thanks, dude. That's Frank Ceravalli from Daily Faceoff here on Haliford & Brough. See that?

We did it. Yeah, and the Pedersen he was mentioning was Marcus Pedersen. Right. Not even Leas peterson I don't even know who leas peterson is Guys didn't even ask Frank why the cucks are manapede No

Juicy no, we didn't yeah, you're gonna have to find something else to put up on social media Someone is make my life hard. Someone just said Halford using the term glow up in 2025. Am I out of touch with the lingo of today? No, it's the children who are wrong. Do they not say glow up anymore? I don't know. What's the new one? Glaze?

Someone was saying the other day asking us if glaze is a thing. Apparently, Ferraro used it on a broadcast. People were freaking out. Do we know? Alessio is young. Ask him. We got to go to break. When we come back,

we're going gonna talk a little of Vancouver Giants with General Manager Barclay Parnetta. That's next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. podcast app. This is one of my favorites for sure. 734 on a Wednesday. Halferd Braub, Sportsnet 650. There's so many twists and turns with this song. You never know where it's going.

This is from Fletch 5. Didn't get a lot of attention in the 80s. Was there a Fletch reboot? Yeah, there was with Jon Hamm. Jon Hamm, yeah, okay. Did you watch it? Yeah, it was okay. It was part of the Fletch multiverse.

Laughter You are listening to Halford and Bruff 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 in hour two of the program. Vancouver Giants general manager Barclay Parnetta is gonna join us in just a moment here.

Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominock at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. To the phone lines we go, as mentioned, Vancouver Giants General Manager Barclay Parnetta

joins us now on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Barclay, how are ya? Yeah, well I'm okay. I had a little bit of a bug going through our team and I think it finally caught up with me there last night. It kinda hit me pretty hard. So I'll struggle through this just for you guys.

I appreciate it man. Please, playin' hurt, that's what you need. And you need it this week, cause you guys have a very busy week on the horizon. Barclay tell the listeners what the giants got this week. And falling off the back of the three and three as well. So we're going down to Spokane yesterday. So tonight's a big Spokane game and another busy weekend.

We're down to like the stretcher. I think it's 12 games left. And it's really important that we kind of put something together here, going to the playoffs that, you know, gives the belief that we can do something. So far it's been a couple steps forward then a step back but you know on some nights we look like we could win the league and on other nights it looks like we struggle. Always interesting getting the back stories on some of these players you have especially the new ones a 16 year old rookie by the name of Tias Sparks. Can you tell us a little

bit more about him where he came from and some interesting lineage with his dad having played for the BC Lions? Yeah, so his dad actually, it was interesting when we drafted him because we knew he had a connection to Vancouver but obviously Nate Sparks was a backup quarterback and I'm sure he picked games for the Lions. Back, you know, it was a while ago, but he was there. His mother actually also was a national level gymnast and she, they were both on at Boise State on scholarships and that's where the parents met. But you know, Nate is, is a bit of a hero down there in Boise on the blue field. He was a pretty big star for that football

team way back in the day. So, but Tyus, you know what? I got to tell you this kid, he, you never know what you're getting with these kids. And he came in, he's very athletic, obviously, but jumping from where he was playing, he was basically a satellite player in the U S. So he lived in Boise, but he had fly into, to his teams for games for the weekends, usually, you know, he had practiced from time to time, but not that much.

So we weren't sure where he was at initially at the start of the year, like with systems. You know what? This kid, he just said, I want to be here. I'm going to do whatever it takes. He's working out. He's figuring it out. And you know what? I mean, he's got 10 or 11 goals now. He just can find the net. He has a really bright future and he's gonna be a big part of the Giants' future. Kids like that that are willing to go through so much travel to play hockey, it must be nice that you're like, well, at least I know he loves hockey.

You know what, yeah, you have to do that. I think even initially for him, when he came here, he knew Ryan Lin, he had played on the brick team with Ryan Lin that back in the day they brought another fly in player and he joined him for the brick team and they lost in the finals I believe but just for him to go so far away from his family like this without a huge support network. He does have an uncle that lives in Richmond, uh, you know, still, but man, to transition from what he was doing at home, playing minor hockey to jump into the junior ranks like that. Like honestly, uh, I, I really am impressed

with his sort of resolve and how the kid took it upon himself to say, you know what, I'm going to do this. Do you know how he got into hockey? Like you're in Boise, Idaho. No, I never did ask. It's kind of a strange area, Boise, to jump into hockey like that. I really didn't.

We're speaking to Vancouver Giants general manager, Barclay Parnetta here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Let's talk about another rookie. The ripe old age of 17 and a guy that laddie has brought up a few times on The show burk hood good names on the team this year Taya sparks burk hood 17 year old rookie goalie has been very good for you guys I know it was a tough game last Sunday, but how is burk hood been for the Vancouver Giants this season? Well, Burke's really settled in on the second half and I mean he's six foot four goalie I mean last year he played on the

the brand new 18 elite team and he won 25 games. He didn't lose a game this kid. They went to the telescope finals and you know he was a starting goalie. They did fall short slightly in the telescope. They came in second but I mean he's just been performing. He's a really cool character like he's got a really good demeanor to be a goalie and he really listens and adapts to things. So I really think that that Birdcud has got a bright future ahead of him as well. I think that I'll be shocked if he's not drafted. And I just think that hopefully like that last game he can, that's what he's got to get out of the system and she'll give us like three really good games and then there may be one. So, and that's just maturity really in that position. So I saved the best for

last year. Of course, this Sunday, two o'clock, a matinee at the Langley Events Centre, it's Nickelodeon night for the Children's Miracle Network. So you guys are going to be wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jerseys. How does this whole campaign come together? How does this happen? Well, it's a league initiative. So this happens throughout our league and it's for a good cause. We've done it a couple years now here and there. I think we go through some of the choices. I think there were some interesting choices of what jerseys we could use from Nickelodeon,

but I think that the turtle one was the most appropriate anyway. So I actually have to start the timer. It's a four o'clock puck drop on Sunday. Go check them out. Vancouver Giants games all coming up, especially the one on Sunday. Should be a lot of fun. Hey Barclay, thanks for taking the time to do this today and for playing sick. We really appreciate it. Feel better and enjoy all the games coming up. You got a busy schedule. Hopefully you get some dubs. I do. I'm going to go sweat it out. I had a coach when I played junior and I remember I called him and said, I can't come.

I'm sick. He goes, you know what? You're going to come and you're going to play better. You're going to sweat it out, he said. You're going to sweat your cold out. He told me. So I'm going to go do.

Good luck, buddy. Appreciate it. Thanks, bud. See you, bud. Barclay Parnetta here on the Health and the Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You kind of chickened out on asking about a player that was in our prep notes.

I didn't check it out. It was very intentional. I didn't ask. Where's Laddie? We need a pronunciation on this Adam Tittleback. I can't say it. Are we pronouncing that right? Tittleback?

I guess. Where's Laddie's laddy? You've worked the games. He's just get on the microphone and do the proper pronunciation of the player from Czechia named Adam. What's his last name? What's his name? It is Adam Tittleback.

And I'll give, I'll give you guys the floor to guess what his nickname is in the dressing room. I think I know. What is it? Baki. Close, close. That's good, that's good. Thank you, laddie. Okay, let's turn back to some of these NHL stories

that we didn't get to throughout the course of the show so far. So we went over the Leafs win in Boston last night, huge comeback victory. We talked about Edmonton stinking it up in a road trip that's really gone south of them, bleeding goals like crazy We haven't really mentioned what happened between the Washington Capitals and the Calgary Flames last night other than a cursory mention

At the top of the show, but Alex Ovechkin scores yet again now 13 back of Wayne Gretzky for the record So that's the good for the Washington Capitals the bad for the Washington Capitals and the Vancouver Canucks is the Calgary Flames Beat the Washington Capitals, the bad for the Washington Capitals and the Vancouver Canucks is the Calgary Flames beat the Washington Capitals in Washington last night 3-1. And played well. And that is not an easy task and not something that happens very often. First time since November 23rd, the Caps lost in regulation at home. They had a 16 game point streak at home. So a huge result for the Calgary. And it wasn't one of those games where Washington just got goalied. They earned it.

Yeah. The flames. So the flames coming out of the four nations break, three to win over San Jose in Calgary. You'd expect that. And then they head out on this six game road trip, which a lot of people were looking at and being like, okay, well, it's nice that they've hung around, but this is going to bury them.

Get a load of this road trip, Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida, Carolina, Philly, and Dallas. So Philly, you might look at it and be like, well, it's not that tough. Well, Philly played great last night. Well, they pumped Pittsburgh. Yep. The Penguins are done. We'll get to that one in a second. So they're almost as done as Seattle. pumped Pittsburgh. The Penguins are done. We'll get to that one in a second.

So they're almost as done as Seattle. God, they were down seven nothing to St. Louis. Came back and made it seven two though. Love dumping on the Kraken. What are they gonna do? They gotta sell everything, honestly. And then just like start over again. Just be like, okay, expansion again.

But yeah, so the Fl, look, it's, they still got a long way to go. Uh, their next game is in Tampa Bay. And we just mentioned that the lightning are playing really well. They've won six in a row and they just, uh, handed the Oilers yet another loss and then into Florida and then into Carolina and again, Philly and

Dallas like that is. The tough stuff. That is pretty tough, but credit to the flames. They are hanging around. They've come out of the break, they've won their first two games. The Canucks have come out of the break, they've lost their first two games in regulation too.

And the result is that the Canucks and the Flames have each played the same amount of games and the Flames have one more point than the Canucks and the Canucks are currently out of a playoff position. Tonight's game in LA is a very important game for the Canucks, not necessarily because it's a division game. Like I don't think catching the Kings is in

the cards anymore. I know there was talk. Is it a must win? It's close man. Like they just, you know what it is? It's a must perform well because. Must dance. The, they gotta get dancing out there.

And hopefully the return of Quinn Hughes is going to make a massive difference. I think if the connects, you're going to make the playoffs, they're obviously going to need Quinn Hughes to keep doing what he's doing, but I'll also be curious to see what these new line combinations are going to result in because I'm going through the lines right now and I'm like, man, like

you've got Pedersen who we don't even really, haven't even talked about in the last couple of days because there's nothing really new there between Hoeglinder and Debrecht. Hoeglinder is getting a shot up in the top six again with Pedersen. They've had a semblance of success there together, so maybe he can provide a bit of a shot in the

arm to that line. And then, Hedl between Joshua and Garland, and that means that Brock Besser drops down to a line with Souter and Drew O'Connor. And you're kind of like, what are you hopeful? Like of that, of that, of everything there that I've just gone over. What are you most hopeful for?

Is it Hoaglander bringing something to Pedersen and Debrecht or is it maybe Hedl and Garland bringing their ability and their, their ability to like move their feed and have energy and maybe as a combination, they can have something. Hoaglander though, Hoaglander for me, 100%. I think it's a, it's a heathel between Garland and Joshua for me.

Why would you like. What, what am I most hopeful for? Is that. No, but like what are you most optimistic? Like hope is one thing. Optimistic is that Hoaglander can regain some of the form that saw him score 24 goals in 80 games last season.

And after, I mean, let's be real, this has been a horrific season for him. 53 games in, he's got four goals. Like he's fallen off a cliff in terms of production. Without, and in the case of Joshua, at least you could point to a very serious medical situation and a lengthy layoff at the beginning of the season. At least you could explain it away. With Hoaglander, it's much more difficult to try and figure out how a guy that was a

tremendous story last year during the regular season, granted struggled in the playoffs, but during the regular season last year, 24 goals, especially all at even strength, there's nothing to sneeze at. That's massive production. He's taken a huge hit. And if I, I'm not saying I'm optimistic in the sense that I think it's going to happen. I'm saying I'm optimistic in the sense that if I want something to happen, that would be good for the hockey team that we follow this closely, that would sure be nice. I'd have my doubts that it's going to happen because again, through 53 games this season, he scored four times and had a, how long did his gold drought go? Did he get to 30 games? It was close.

Yeah, it was close. Right? And at that point you're just begging for something to go in for the guy. I don't know if playing with the wildly underperforming center is going to spark him somehow, but at this point you are grasping at straws a little bit because the the forward group is Been so flat and is bereft of drivers and talent You're almost begging someone to step up, right? I mean we talked about Besser earlier I did anyway, like it would be great if Brock Besser could kind of take this Game tonight by the scruff of the neck or pull up the team by the bootstraps and say, I'm gonna be the one that's gonna produce,

cause he has four goals in his last 21 games. Who's line am I on? Puce? Drew? And that's not gonna help. But another guy, you would love to see Dakota Joshua find a spark or catch fire and have, replicate some of the goal scoring that he had

in the second half of last season. Like we talk about a forward group and we're pointing to, well, where's the driver? Where's the catalyst? Where's the difference maker? And none of the guys jump to the forefront because they're not elite level players, but in the same breath, you could say,

hey, it's time for a bunch of guys to step up, who especially last year, we saw score with more regularity, Joshua, Besser and Hoaglander, the three that I'm thinking of most specifically. How many Canucks fans out there are still desperate for the Canucks to make the playoffs? Like I still want them to make the playoffs, mostly cause it'd be like.

Thanks for getting that on the record. No, but well, well, listen, like there's still, there are people like the whole get into the draft lottery thing, that's back. I know you don't spend much time on social media, but that is back. Well, that's. The whole, the whole, well, just hold on a sec.

The whole, what is even the point of, of making the playoffs? That's back. I mean, if you think about their possible matchups, what's it going to be Vegas, Winnipeg or Edmonton? They haven't exactly matched up too well about those, with those, with those teams. Now personally, I would, I would like to see it.

You know, it's at least 10 days that we would get of coverage of that, of that series for us. But like, but like. Well, let me walk through this hypothetical. If people were actively rooting for them to miss, they're not going to miss by much. They've already won too many games. They're not going to bottom out. So you're talking about getting what, a 0.1, 0.5% chance at a pick that would be of significance. Otherwise you're drafting in the middle of the first round. I understand what people are talking about in theory, but in practice,

it seems like a total no brainer. Also, I don't think that cratering and missing the postseason would be wonderful for the room and the guys within it and specifically the captain of the team. Whoever one is hell bent on keeping with good reason. I think every effort should be made right now. Whatever goes part and parcel with, you know, appeasing the best player on your team. And I would suggest that would be like, we're going to be as good as we can and try and go as far as we can, even if we are a flawed team at the moment.

Do the Canucks have the ability to put a scare into a team like Winnipeg, Edmonton or Vegas? Yeah. Why? Well, one, it would be the post season. Winnipeg first off would be, they have their demons in the first round of the playoffs that they haven't exactly set the world on fire. And Connor Halibuck as a impenetrable force and net that hasn't really played over to the playoffs. You always go into those series where you're

like, well, if we can steal one on the road and then maybe you go back home and you got a good crowd and then all of a sudden you win one there and then you're in a series, right? Yeah. Then you're in the series and, and, and the other, all the pressure moves to, to the other team.

I mean, Edmonton is not in a good way right now. I would point to last season's playoff against Edmonton and say that there's a textbook about how you can be the better team by a significant margin and still not be the dominant team in terms of getting through a series. That still took Edmonton seven games and a three, two game in game seven, even though I think everyone

objectively looked at that and said, Edmonton was the better team. Goaltending let them down. Um, timely scoring can be a thing. I, you know, I understand living in the day to day of this season, how it could be more frustrating by a large amount than positive, more negative than positive for a lot of people

that cover the team. The Pettersson narrative throughout the year, the Miller-Pettersson rift, ending with Miller gone, and a couple people have already texted in and pointed out, have you seen how many goals JT Miller's scoring with the Rangers? Yes, we have. We've all seen it, right?

When you're talking about a team that's not scoring right now and you've got a guy that's gone to the Rangers and is putting up the goals that he has, that can be frustrating. The team has been stylistically pretty unpleasant at times this season. I can understand why that's frustrating, and left fans with the negative.

But they're still hard to break down. Can also point to the goaltending, the situation now with Thatcher Demko. I can see why a lot of people would be glass half empty when you look at Demko, and how tough it's been for him to stay healthy. So I understand why people aren't all that, you know, don't have the rosy optimistic glasses on when they're looking at this team, but they're trying, they're in a playoff chase. It's going to be foot down, let's go to try and make.

That's why tonight's game is so big. Like they better know. But they all are. They better know that tonight. No, but. They all are now. Yeah, yeah. That's easy to say, but the way that things have gone out of the break where, you know, we've all looked at this offense and gone like, how

are they going to do anything? What's going on here? And then Calgary winning their first two out of the break and leapfrogging the Canucks into the playoff spot, tonight seems like one of those games where at the very least you hope they bring something extra. Well, cause the, also cause Hughes is back.

Yeah. It is, it was a bit naive of us to come in on Monday after back to back games on Saturday and Sunday where the offense was sputtering and not openly acknowledged that, Hey, you know what? This team is built so that if they don't have Hughes in the lineup, they are significantly,

significantly less dynamic. Some other teams can deal with the loss of their best player because they have other guys that can pick up the slot. They got other dancers. The Canucks have one dancer and he's a beautiful little dancer, but he's just by himself out there and that's how they're built.

That's it. End of story. There's the Canucks tiny dancer. By the way, there's a clip. If you're wondering why we're referring to this, there's a clip that's up online right now that explains it in great detail. You can also go back and download our one of the

podcasts. It's all there, but we gotta go to break. When we come back on the other side, more Canucks talk, we'll follow. Randi Jandab, color analyst, he'll be on the call tonight, seven o'clock with Batch. We'll talk to Randi next about all things Vancouver Canucks and maybe do some Champions League recapping as well.

You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.