Halford & Brough in the Morning - HalBro Give Their Canucks Predictions (Ominous Music Plays)

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason preview Week 1 with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier (1:15), plus the boys make their predictions on how this upcoming Canucks season is going to go (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.

7.02 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford Brough in the morning is bratsy by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Mike Taney, our NFL insider and Monday morning quarterback from the two deep zone substack. A presentation of the Clayton Public House.

He's going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two of this program is backed by Jason Hominoch at jason. 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 them online at Jason, Dow Mortgage. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Mike Tanier, our NFL insider, joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Michael. How are you?

We are so back. It is so good to finally be here. And stop talking about general NFL and start talking about next week's games. I'll still talk general NFL if you want, mind you. But it's exciting to have a game's just like, what, 48, 96 hours away. We are going to do some NFL. We're going to take some chances with our content here. I'm going to ask you, going to put you on the spot.

We're going off the board here. Well, it's NFL adjacent. It's NFL adjacent. Did you watch the University of North Carolina and Bill Belichick's collegiate coaching debut last night? I fell asleep early in the third quarter, and so did the North Carolina Tar Heels. Is this? I woke up.

to the score, but I was not surprised by the score. You weren't? No, because I watched the first half, and I think, like, a lot of people I watched the first drive, it's like, well, my goodness, I guess that shows you that Bill Belichick is, in fact, a good football coach, and then it deteriorated slowly, and as we approached

halftime, like, North Carolina was afraid to throw the ball. Yeah. And they weren't getting anything done on defense either, and it's a realized, this is going to be a wake-up call, poor Belichick, and probably a wake-up call for a lot of It was like Belichick super fans out there. We were talking about this prior to going on a break, and one of my many takeaways,

I sat through that entire thing last night. I wanted to see it right till the bitter end. And at the end, my biggest takeaway was we could be in Belichick being, oh, God, I've made a huge mistake territory. Is that possible? Because he has, you know, he does have a history of walking away from jobs early. If you go back to his NFL days, he's done it before. I'm wondering if he might have looked at it,

thought this is going to be a way bigger task than even I imagined. This is 100% the case where, you know, by the time we reach November, you know, we might have a Tar Heels team that is, I don't know, four and six or something to that effect, and then the NFL coaches get fired, you know, then the Colts coach get fired, then McDaniel gets fired in Miami, then the Giants potentially get rid of Daibal. You know that phone's going to be ringing. You know Bill Belichick is going to answer the phone of John Mara of the Giants is on the other end of the phone or some other NFL owner that he has a relationship with, and you might see something like that.

We're speaking to Mike Tan here, our NFL insider from the Two Deep Zone here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, let's start chewing on some of these NFL stories for real. We haven't spoken with you since the massive Micah Parsons from Dallas to Green Bay trade happened. It's had some time to marinate. It's all sunk in. What were some of your key takeaways from one of the biggest blockbuster

trades we've seen in the NFL in quite some time? You know, I was happy that my phone didn't really ring from, like, too many people to analyze it, because it analyzes itself. Michael, Michael Parsons, I said Michael, like I'm Jerry Jones. Micah Parsons is a phenomenal player. Losing a phenomenal player a week before the season starts is very, very bad. For the Packers, it's very, very good. You get somebody at a need position who changes the dynamic of your team and the dynamic of your division, really. And for the Cowboys, it has the opposite effect.

It's very simple. I've seen people try to spin it different ways and certainly Jerry in his press conference tried to spin it a different way and people start talking about the draft picks or Kenny Clark. That's all ancillary. A great player went from a struggling team with like bad vibes

and a bad culture to a team on the rise that needed a missing piece. It is what it says on the label. This makes the Packers a much more serious Super Bowl team causes problems from the lions and takes the Cowboys and puts them in the territory where they can kind of fall apart this year. Do not just the Parsons

is lost, but sort of the mentality around that team as they lose great players instead of adding them. How big an impact do you think it has on the opener because this was a trade that happened after all the preseason games were done very late in the process and now the Cowboys without Micah Parsons have to open up against the defending Super Bowl champs. I believe they're a seven and a half point dog. I'm not sure the number is going to get any more inflated, but what are you expecting from that Thursday night opener now that Parsons is no longer a member of the Cowboys?

Well, let's actually talk about that line because last night before I shut off the UNC PCU game and went to bed. It's like the Eagles were seven-point favorites. I'm like, okay, that's reasonable seven-point favorites. And all the news is coming out. It was coming out last night. It's coming out this morning. No new news about Micah, obviously, but quotes from some of the other players. I think it was C.D. Lamu said, man, I hope when we face them in week four,

Mike is not in the backfield every other snap trying to sack Jack Prescott. And I think it was Trevon Diggs who came out. I was like, no, we all loved him. We all respect him because there's a word going out in Dallas that he was a problem or something like that. Like, you know, Jarrett spread and propaganda about it. It's like, no, we love him, we respect him, and people were jealous of his talent.

We're going to miss them. Now the line's 8.5. The Eagles went up a point-and-half favorite. They're 8.5 favorites. It's telling you not just that Michael Parsons was lost is a big deal, but that the Cowboys are feeling the departure, like in their minds, in their hearts. They can't stop talking about it.

They can't just say, hey, next man, up is this as usual. That's a sign that like at least Vegas, the house the handicappers, the public, they think this team's mentality is, uh-oh, we're in big trouble. And when a team thinks like that, they're going to play like that. Hey, Mike, Friday night, we got the Chiefs

and the Chargers. A lot of people are down on the Chiefs. Are you? Not really. I'm down on them that I think that the Bills and the Ravens are the better teams. But that's it. And the Bills and Ravens were the better teams last year. At least they look like it. And then, you know,

wacky-doodle stuff happens in January. So for now, I'm not down on the Chiefs saying that they're going to go to Brazil. They're going to have a hard time with the Chargers. Chargers are an injury-plagued team. They did not have a really good off-season, both in terms of acquisition and in terms of health news, losing Rashon Slater, their star left tackle, losing some other guys. I think the Chiefs are going to take care of their business in the division. We'll see what happens when they're facing the other powerhouses because they get the Ravens this year.

I think they get the Bills. I think the Lions, we'll see what happens against those stronger opponents. for now, they're the team to beat against opponents like the Chargers. So we asked another guest this question, and it was a tough one. Who's going to lead the Chiefs in receiving yards this year? I guess worthy? That's a really good question. It's not going to be Rice.

I can't imagine it's going to be Kelsey at this point. It's not a back Pacheco's not a good receiver. Okay, I'm going to go with Juju Smith-Schuster. Because he's going to catch 100, 6-yard passes, or 107-yard passes, he's going to be 700 yards. And it's definitely going to be a committee situation among eight or nine guys, depending on who's healthy and who's not suspended. I want to talk about Cam Ward for a bit. We've seen so many times, and I know you've written about this,

we've seen so many times where, you know, a quarterback is drafted very highly, and he's happy about that and proud of that and rightly so. and then he's like, oh, wait a minute, the reason I'm going to this team first overall or second overall or whatever is they're really bad. Is Tennessee in a good position to bring

Cam Ward along? Not really. They made some additions to their offensive line. They do have Calvin Ridley, but it's an incredibly weak roster. The one thing that they have going for them or that he has going for him, his expectations are low.

No one is looking for this young man to turn the Tennessee Titans around. No one really pays attention to the Tennessee Titans, so it's not like there's going to be national storylines. And he has such a reputation that I think they've started to see as a super-gutsy, super-confident competitor and leader type of guy. I think that'll work to his advantage. Other guys get in this situation.

They might take some sacks get down on themselves. He's more like a Baker Mayfield. Maybe that's not the best example. The example, the Baker struggled, but it was a real zoo when he struggled for the Browns years ago. Or maybe a Cam Newton, some of those guys where no matter what happens, he's going to dust himself off and get back out there. The team will respond to that. The coaching staff will respond to that. The fans will respond to that.

So even if it's a five-win season with all kind of messiness, he's going to come out of it okay and say, what are we going to do next? What are we going to do to build something here together? Who is going to be the worst team in football this year? it's the saints Yeah And if you can name four saints I would then turn around and say Try to name four saints under the age of 30

And I might have to warn you when you name guys That they might be retired They might have retired quietly along the way You know when I look at the worst team I look at the Browns And their quarterback situation And say yeah they still have Miles Garrett And Denzel ward and guys on their defense

And they have a pretty good offensive line For them to have the worst record they're going to have to collapse because they realize the quarterbacks aren't getting it done and they have all that money into Sean Watson and they have to have a collapse. I'll look at a team like the Giants and say, man, they have to have a collapse to be that bad. The Saints don't have to have to have a collapse. The Saints just show up with the guys they have and Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shuck at quarterback and, you know, their cap situation of mess.

They show up as a team with the worst record. Their team that could just wind up winning two or three games just because they simply don't have the horses to compete with anybody else. The Sunday Nighter is a good one. Ravens and Bills. What do each of those teams have to do to get over the hump this year? Oh, they have to be there again on January 23rd or whatever against the chiefs or each other and execute when the time comes. So, like, we'll know more on Monday morning because we'll know which team won, which means that team has a better chance at home field advantage. All they can do right now is stay healthy. which you can't do anything about, and stack their wins. And this is a big one to win because you have all those tiebreakers,

and let's get that game in January to be in Buffalo or be in Baltimore, or does it not be in Kansas City by hook or by crook? And that's all they can really do right now. So it's an important game, absolutely. But if the final score is, you know, 34, 31, which team or the other, it's like, okay, that team has the edge now. It's not like they knock the other team out of competition. It's kind of like getting leverage.

It's kind of like winning the first last. happen in a long race, and that's what they're setting out to death. Do you think it can be a challenge for those teams that expect to make the playoffs, and it would be a shock if they miss the playoffs, to look at the long road ahead in terms of the regular season and know that nobody's going to judge them, really, based on the regular season? It's all about what happens in the postseason? Oh, it is.

And it's a credit to McDermott and Harbaugh that they keep the teams from falling apart due to the expectations and due to the nothing we do matters mentality that can creep in, that can have guys pressing, that can hide guys beat demoralized, it could have players leaving and not a lot of really core players have left, the guys who've left are like Stefan Diggs types. It's like, yeah, he was going to wander off no matter what. So keeping them up when, oh, this was a big win and they got to walk out there after beating one of their rivals and say, this doesn't matter. They'll face the Chiefs, they win against the Chiefs, yeah, this is good, we have to do it again.

fans are saying the same thing, media is saying the same thing. It's a credit and testament to the players themselves, to the coaching staff, to everybody to say, these expectations are this high, you lose like a random game that feels like a disaster, shake it off and still be there. They've done it for years. I think they're going to do it again this year. Is it easier hard to power rank the NFC North? It is hard.

I was very, very comfortable saying, yeah, it's lions, Packers, Vikings. Bears. And now with Micah Parsons in there, it looks like it's Packers and Lions, or maybe it's Packers first, or maybe they're tied. And it's not just me, you know, my buddy Aaron Shots, Football Outsiders, FTN Network, runs all the analytics. Usually after a trade for like that, he runs the analytics and say, okay, it made a tiny difference. These trades only really make small differences in the big scheme of things. He's sending emails out, like, this does not make a small difference. This is an all pro edge rusher for a team that didn't have an all pro edge rusher. That changes things. Their opponent of the lions

have injuries we had to factor in. This changes the strength of schedule between the two teams. If you look at the handicappers, the Packers are now the favorites. Now, I'll say this, I can't make the Packers the favorites because I think people are sleeping on how good the Lions were before injuries last year. But the one thing I did with my little personal predictions, I took the Lions out of the Super Bowl prediction. There's too many factors there, one of them being the Packers,

can get games from them, the Vikings being a better team, et cetera, that says the Lions did not do enough in my opinion in the offseason to say, they're going to be my NFC pick for the Super Bowl because it's just too strong. The competition is just going to be too tough. What about the Vikings and the Bears? Let's start with the Vikings. There's obviously a new quarterback there in JJ McCarthy. What should expectations be for him?

He's a pretty young guy. Yeah, it's funny where the expectations are for a 14-win team. So they won 14 games last year, and a lot of us can point to one-score victories and things. Chiefs got a lot of one-score victories too that are wacky and we never say that about them but we say it about the Vikings and they change quarterbacks but they go from Darnold who none of us were impressed with

to the first round pick I think McCarthy will be fine because McCarthy will have Jefferson and he'll have Addison after a three-game suspension and you'll have Hawkinson and they have a great Brian Flores defense so he can game manage he can game manage his way to a bunch of wins

and use yak and go get it Justin etc but what does that mean? I don't think it means 14 wins. The house doesn't mean it's going to be 14 wins. It's going to be 9 wins, 10 wins. And I think Vikings fans in general, hey, yeah, let's get this young man healthy and on board and winning games

and getting the ball to who we have to get to. And let's get a 9 or 10 wins season. And let's have a future. Because with the Vikings, with these big winning seasons they have, usually they turn around and say, okay, what now? We have to get rid of Darnold. Oh, Case Keenham was our winning quarterback a couple of years ago. We can't stick and roll with him.

Let's have a winning season and a quarterback we can actually they roll with, and I think the Vikings are in good position to do that. What about the Bears? Their fan base has just been dying for a turnaround, and they started the season pretty well last year, and then lost 10 straight. So hoping for better things this year, is there a chance of that? There's a degree to which I think their fan base is in a similar place. Please let Cald Williams go out there and throw for 4,000 yards and throw for 25 touchdowns, and have a normal really good quarterback season

because we haven't had one of those since who knows when, Jay Cutler or whatever, and he's not exactly normal. Let's get that, and let's see if we get to 9 and 8. Let's see if Ben Johnson's program takes hold and we have a good offensive line and we're a tough out

and we're not just a tough out because the defense is doing all the work. I think those are reasonable expectations. We got to see some of Cald Williams in the preseason and they had one amazing game, and then he had one, you got some stuff to work on game. So it's going to be interesting to see, how that unfolds as the season goes on and how he manages expectations.

That's a big Monday nighter. We're going to be talking about this game next Monday because there's a little bit of a side hustle between these teams. Cald Williams, his parents, everybody said they wanted to go to the Vikings, not the Bears. They said that in Seth Wickersham's book. There's kind of like a two-man rivalry between these two quarterbacks. That's going to be an interesting game within the game, and I think

we'll be talking about that six days from now. We're speaking to Mike Tanier, our NFL Insider from the Two Deep Zone here on the Halfford & Bruff Show on SportsNet 650. On the two deep zone, Mike's got the latest and final piece of the installment. Closing arguments, the stinky poo teams. And for those that don't know what that is, the teams that are not going to be very good this year. And I mentioned one of them, I mentioned one of them already. You've got a handful of, like, we talked about the Saints and, you know, kind of talked about, you know, Titans adjacent in this.

You've got all the teams that I would expect to be in the stinky poo category. You've also got Miami in there. And the line is, I'm not picking. on the Dolphins for putting them in here. They put themselves here by picking on themselves. Can you explain this a little bit further to our listeners? Yeah, the entire Dolphins off-season has been one little mini-drama after another. Like if these guys were playing in New York or Chicago,

we'd be hearing nothing about the, nothing else, except for the fact that Tyree Kill was taking himself in and out of practices. He was taking little shots at the coaching staff. He was taking little shots at teammates. Tua Tunga Viola was being asked about Tyreek Hill and said, you guys had a little conflict at the end of last season. That's been worked out. And it's like, yeah, we're kind of still working on it.

If you look at their injury situation, if you look at who they brought in, they don't have anybody in the secondary right now. They were bringing guys off the street at the last minute. There's this overriding sense that this is a team that kind of shed salary, shed veterans, shed leadership has a reputation for being soft. At one point, they got beaten up in a team scrimmage against, I forget who it was. It was the lions and the Vikings, or lions and bears in back-to-back weeks. Their veterans were saying, hey, hey, the bears and the lions were too hard on us.

They were going too hard in practice. Who says you're going too hard in practice? Who says that? Who says that in this world? This is a soft team that lacks leadership. and the bottom line is I've been saying this and Dolphins fans have pushed back on me I picked the Stinky Poo teams

based on the odds. Like I took the teams with the odds to have the worst record in the NFL and I think if anybody was over plus 2,000 they got in there. The dolphins were on the list. The dolphins are on the list to be in last place, the odds to have the worst record in the NFL.

So again, your argument's not with me if you're a Dolphins fan saying, hey, hey, we still got Tyreek, he's going to get us seven wins by himself or whatever. the house sees this and anybody's been following that team closely sees there is drama, there is discord this is not a team that has its mind

right to go out there and be competitive for a full 18 weeks. Going too hard in practice, that was a problem with Rudy when he was at Notre Dame, wasn't it? That's true. That's a good point. Vince Vaughn had a problem with it. That's a good point. Yeah. It really makes you think. Tore that team apart, actually. Perfect.

Perfect. No notes. Mike, you're the best, buddy. Thanks for doing this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy week one. of the NFL season. We'll be doing this again next Monday to wrap up everything that happened over the weekend and then look ahead to Monday night football. I'm so excited.

Can't wait for it. Thanks, dude. Can't wait either. Take care and enjoy your week. You too, thanks. That's Mike Taney or our NFL insider. From the two deep zone substack here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650,

he is a presentation of the Clayton Public House. Pre-game, the Post game, the Clayton Public House is your home of football. Catch all the action on 15 screens and two giant projectors. Visit them online at the Clayton Pub.com. Okay, which game are you most? excited for. I'll give you some options here. Sure. Okay, you got the Thursday

nighter. Cowboys. That's exciting because it's the first game of the season. Eagles. Well, also to see how the Cowboys look. It's a pretty good team in the Philadelphia Eagles. There's 49ers and Seahawks, so... That's great. 49ers and someone just texted in, yeah, 49ers are two and a half point

favorites in Seattle. Road favorite week one? Let's go Seahawks. Seattle is not getting a lot respect out there, nor a lot of buzz. And one of the questions I want to ask Softie when we have them on is like, what is the hot button issue with the Seahawks right now? Yep. I'm like, is it the jerseys that they came out with that look like half New York Jets and half Oregon ducks? Like is that is that the thing people are arguing about? It may be. We've got lions and packers in Green Bay. That's going to be great. Ravens Bills. And then the Monday nighter, I'll just throw this out there because

it's the Monday night here, but it's not the right pick. Vikings and Bears. I am most excited for Sunday night football. I know it feels a ways away and there's still a Thursday night game, or Friday night game. They didn't mention that one. From Brazil. It's the Chiefs and the Chargers, but that Sunday night game,

kudos to the NFL. They just get it. They know that we've been starved all summer. The sports world gave you guys nothing for months on end. We are going to give you week one, Bill's, Ravens, Alan Jackson, let's go Like even the quote unquote bad games

Are kind of intriguing Steelers and Jets Week one, everything's still on the table That's the thing But the storylines But like week 13 They always match up the storylines Let's say that game happened to week 13 When the both teams had like a sub 500 record

It wouldn't be as enticing This opening and by the way Aaron Rogers Has really ingrained himself into that Steelers room You know I was reading an article this morning That he's always been a guy that's been curious and interested by the world and he's taken that

approach to his new teammates also did you know that there is not a single stealer on the active roster that was in the NFL when Aaron Rogers won the Super Bowl not a single one that's crazy he's old I know he's old yeah but I would I could see

that stat happening when you like there was no players and when you broke in but when he won a Super Bowl it doesn't feel like it was that long ago but it was that long It kind of feels like it was a long time ago. Longer than you think. Yeah. But that's a good one as well.

But what game are you most looking forward to? The Seahawks. Honestly, I'm on my team kind of guy. I like... And until they're out of it, I'll be watching the Seahawks. I like that they're coming in as a home dog. Yeah. I think that's got...

By the way, I can't wait for start doing our betting on this so we can go sub-500 and have everyone yell at us and take the pick seriously. Spoiler alert, you should not take any of our picks seriously but that one I've already circled in big red circles of ink with them like that's one that I think that they're going to take they're going to say that as disrespect okay we're going to have some Canucks talk coming up next because a bunch of the preseason predictions and a lot of these are kind of quantitative models analytics models that predict where the Canucks are going to end up

are starting to roll in and most of them have the Canucks either just into the playoff or just out of the playoffs. My theory or an idea that I'm going to throw out there is that the Canucks are one of the toughest teams to predict in the NHL. That's fair. I'm going to ask the listeners, are you having trouble predicting how this season will go?

Like if your buddies come up to you and say, how do you think the Canucks are going to do this year and a lot of people are coming up to me and asking me that question and I ask them, I answer them honestly. I'm like, I have no idea. No clue. Other people, I don't know,

some people are very confident in their predictions. We see it all the time in the text inbox. So are you feeling confident in your prediction and are you an optimist or a pessimist? I want to hear, I kind of want to just get a feel for what the fans are thinking right now about this team. team optimism, or are you team pessimism, or are you team? I have no idea what to expect

from this group. We'll discuss that on the other side of the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. It's another season of hard hits, heated rivalries, and nonstop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. 7.33 on 8 Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Alfred Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com.

We are now in hour two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show. Hour two is brats by Jason Homonock at Jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Do you follow Jay Fresh Hockey on social media? I don't engage in social.

social media. Oh, right. Yeah. It's not good for my mentals. Well, Jayfresh, I'm sure you're familiar with him. No, I know who is. Patrick Johnston. Who's he?

At the province wrote an article about J. Fresh, and now we're going to talk about it because that's how the sports thing goes. That's good broadcasting. Jayfresh has predicted with his model, it's not just him like, he has an analytical model. And he predicts that the Canucks will finish with. 98 points and finish

fourth in the Pacific Division which will be good enough for them to make the playoffs. I like this model, Jason. Yeah, it's a good model. The ones that, where the Canucks miss the playoffs,

it's a bad model. Tell me good things, model. It's a bad model. I don't want a model tell me bad things. My response to all of this, though, is that I don't know if

analytical models are the best way to predict what's going to happen with the Canucks because there are just so many wild cards. Like an analytical model cannot capture what's happened to Ilius Pedersen. It can't accurately predict injuries. Well, maybe it does. Who knows what Jayfretches model does? predict the effect of a new coaching staff led by Adam Foote. Despite the Kinnock's returning of a very similar roster, there were a few changes, of course

there were, but it's quite similar. They have to be one of the hardest teams to predict in the NHL. You could easily talk yourself into them bouncing back and being a playoff team because they've got, they do have elite talent at all the key positions. And potentially, I would say the most talented blue line. in franchise history in terms of what they've got from some of their veterans

but also some of the youngsters coming along which is another wildcard young players you never know when they're going to pop or if they're going to pop but there are also huge question marks around two of those elite players that they've got in Pedersen and Thatcher Demko Demko you know

just his health and also his play management did not manage to upgrade the center position which they said was absolutely vital and in fact it got downgraded because they lost Pew Souter and again they've got a rookie head coach in Adam Foot and you don't know

how he's going to handle the pressure who knows the Canucks play six of their first eight games on the road which may be a good thing based on how things went at home last season but they'd better not be as bad as they were home last season. That's kind of another wild card. And don't forget, the starts to the

season seem to be especially important for this group. Two years ago, it was 12, 3 and 1 out of the shoot. And the vibes stayed high for most of the season. They really did. There was a few ups and downs, but for the most part, they stayed high and they even want to playoff round and push the Oilers to 7. Last year, they blew their first game badly and didn't get their first win until their fourth game. And after that, actually their longest win streak was right after that start

because it was four straight wins. They didn't manage to do that again for the rest of the season. Oh, I remember. They never gained. They were never able to gain any positive momentum and there were all sorts of things that went wrong last season.

So we threw it out to the listeners. You know, are you optimistic? are you pessimistic or do you have no idea? And I know that as a sports radio guy, he's got opinions. Like I have no idea what to expect out of the Canucks isn't the best answer, but I'm just honest.

I have no idea what to expect out of the Canucks this season. And a few people agree with me. Christian from Tuas and Texan, guys, I have no idea. Just ready for more Canucks stress, I guess. Lucas the fuel guy texts in, every year I start out optimistic and then over my 30 years of fandom, that slowly gets beaten out of me.

With that said, I think they beat out LA for third in the division and make the playoffs. Lucas said every year, he starts out optimistic. And, you know, a few other people are like, okay, I'm going to read this one here. On sign, I'm in the no idea what to expect category the reason for that is because there are just so many variables.

Will Dempco stay healthy? Will PD bounce back? Can Bester score 30 to 40 plus now that the contract uncertainty is behind him? Can depth like Hoaglander and Carlson step up and make a difference? Still not sold with Heidel is number two. But this texture is excited to get to training camp and get camp started regardless. There are a lot of people that are optimistic. and their reasons are kind of like

it can't go any worse than last season and a lot of people expect to Pedersen bounce back and in some ways that's tied to well he can't be any worse than he was last season whether it was the strain that was brought on by the J.T. Miller feud or whether it was injuries you know J.T. Miller's gone now

and by all accounts Pedersen is healthy and we heard a report from his trainer this year he says he's got his flowback so yeah I mean let's choose to be optimistic about Pedersen now my whole thing is that

like I think injuries were maybe a minor factor but I think when I watched him I'm like that's a guy that is lax confidence so for me my first test isn't going to be how he looks in training camp or anything

It'll be like how he looks in a game situation. Are you willing to rip the puck? Are you willing to go make plays? Are you willing to move your feet in an attack space? That's when I'll know if Pedersen is back or not. But do you agree or disagree with the notion that this team is incredibly hard to predict? Toughest team to predict. Toughest team to predict in the last 10 years, I'd say.

Because last year it was such a bizarre. bizarre year when now that we've had a couple months to digest everything that really happened and you've got like a you've got a lifetime NHL executive in Rutherford talking about how this rift in the room was like the worst he'd ever seen

yeah and been better out and saw it all and in spite of that and the litany of injuries that they had last year they still got to 90 points and were grasping at playoff air for the last three weeks of the season before it was ultimately snuffed out

So could it get worse? Absolutely. They didn't deliver on some of the promises that they made as an executive group in terms of roster reconstruction. If you look down the middle, they're really weak. Really weak on paper, compared to some of the elites.

That's honestly my biggest concern. I would pick that over PD and Demko would be the Canucks center depth. Like if there's one thing... But if PD is good, then your center depth doesn't look so bad. You've got an elite number one center. Yeah, but even if PD is good,

Heedles your 2C and if one If he's injured again, then who's your two C? Well, I think they're going to miss suitor. I think they're going to miss suitor in situations. Like center depth after PD is the biggest thing I'm concerned about. By far. Yeah, yeah. By far.

What about injuries and health? There's some wild cards there. Like, Evander Kane is another guy that has, that has, you know, not questionable health. He's just like, it's an older player. Yeah, yeah, but it's not the way of put it. He's an older player, and we don't know how many games he's going to play. I'll say it. Okay. I just, I'm pulling up the numbers here with regards just to making a point about healthier.

When the Canucks had that great year, two years ago, where they finished with 50 plus wins and 100 plus points and won the division and made it to the second round of the playoffs. Hughes played 82, Pedersen played 82, Garland played 82. Miller, Besser, Heronick all played 81, Hoaglender played 80. So they had an incredible run of health during the regular season. All their top guys were available all the time, all the time. Thatcher Demko played in 51 regular season games. So your number one goalie was available for a good chunk of time as well. Health with this group really does matter. And I think part of the reason it's so tough to make a prediction for this year is you can't predict health.

You can say the most obvious thing, which is they stay health. they're going to be good. If they don't stay healthy, they're going to be bad. But that goes for every NHL team. Heedles had eight NHL seasons and he's never played a full one. Yeah. He's had two seasons in the 70s. I think I know what you're saying like the health. You can say that for any team, but there are some teams. Yeah, yeah. The point is that there are some teams in the NHL who can withstand the losses of players and withstand injuries a lot better than some. And I would put the connection in the category of a team that can't. Yeah, but my point was something different. Thank you for finishing, though.

Is that there we are so back. We are so back. That some teams are more injury prone. For sure. That's what another valid take on this whole thing. I don't know if the kind of are. Like Demko, we don't know what his health is going to be. Demko

is now in the category. I have no idea what his health is going to be. Demko and Kane are now in the categories of you've got to prove that you're healthy. Heedle as well. Heedle's always been like that. He's never been in the category if you've been healthy. Also, the concussion issues are always scary because you're worried about the guy's actual quality of life. But also, you know it's one hit away. Can the Canucks make the playoffs if Teddy Blugers are 2C for the bulk of the season?

Because that's a realistic possibility. It's something we have to prepare for. Because, like, if he'll goes out, which he tends to, then Blugers your 2C. Yeah. I feel like they're going to have nothing against Blue. Like Blugers, you know, he's Teddy Blugher. I don't have a problem with Prueger, but he shouldn't be your two C. I feel like they're going to address the, I don't think it's going to be a big move,

but I feel like they're going to address the depth either prior to the start of the season or within a couple weeks or month of the season. You think really? Well, look at their track record. Okay. No team over the last coming. They waited too long to address the defense last season, though. Too long.

And it bit them, right? Because previously they had done good work in that early stage of the preseason. Like, you know, when you guys are showing up and it's like, is it a rookie camp, do I need to be here? that part of it and then you saw I think it was two years ago they were the most active team in the early stages of the year

right so there's a track record then they got Zador off pretty early too they got they did the shopping early that's where they can't tap and line shuffle but when they got Zadore off they were also off to a good start I don't know if it'll be a really like eye popping you know headline grabbing move but I think that they're going to address that position

in some fairly meaningful well if it's not eye popping or headline grabbing then is it really going to address the issue because the issue is really at 2C and that's an eye-popping position. I think it might be a guy that they bring in that's like if he gets elevated, it might not be as damaging as having Bluger be that guy

because Blugher is so limited offensively. I mean, again, it's just me spitballing, but I look at a couple things. One, track record, two, lack of depth of center and three, it does seem as though that we've had a off-season that's been a virtual standstill across the league. Something's got to give at some level. I can't imagine all these teams going into the summer.

By the way, did you see these on the dark corners of social media? All these talks that the habs are lining up a trade to move Kerry Price's contract because they want to start making their deals now. Yeah, but that just makes sense because he's owed a bonus. I think the point I was trying to make was like, I think that things are just going to kind of start to move now. Like everyone's getting back from the cottage. Trading a Hall of Famer.

I know. You used to be able to dump that contract in Arizona But you can't do that anymore So I don't know But anyway, back to the Canucks conversation Unfortunately There's going to be There's going to be the two things

I know you've got it in the notes But it's if PD can bounce back And the team can stay healthy Okay, can we have Can we, are we're going to need Some sort of Counter Some sort of sound effect

A bell every time we say if Pity can bounce back and they can stay healthy like we need I know Lattie's I don't know what Lattie's doing right now he's like looking at the Blue Jays

depth chart or something looking for a closer but we need some sort of sound effect every time we say that because I like that is that the one

I might be it that's not terrible Turn it up a bit. You know, like with this, with this team, like I, I know, I know we say it all the time, but if PD can bounce back and... No, no, no, no, it's too early, too early, too early, too early, okay, you need, there's two things here. All right, working on the timing. Two things, like, let's premature. And you're going to have to, you're going to have to be, you're going to have to be ready to go here, and you're going to have to put that on the hot keys, but because we can't have you searching around for this, because we're going to say it a lot.

And also, by the way, It's going to apply to guests. They won't know it, but it's going to apply to guess. What the hell is that? If Petey can bounce back and rediscover his old form and the team can stay healthy, I think they've got a chance to make the playoffs. Too late.

Too late. Too late. Too late. After healthy. I didn't know when you're ending your sentence. After healthy. But you got to cut me off sometimes. Yeah, it's good. Okay, it goes.

Okay, we're going to try it one more time. right we're going to have these problems with clutch but that's fine uh if throwback yeah that was a throwback we also did uh yeah all the time repeatedly he wasn't my first day training with him he was playing stuff on the air while he was editing the audio he was like i wasn't supposed to be doing that yeah no it's it's it's not a high paying position so you know you get what you pay for um sorry laddie we love you um so okay that was pretty good all right we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna we're going to nail it this time. Okay? You know, there's a lot of question marks

about the Canucks this season, but I I truly do think that if Petey can bounce back and they can stay healthy that... There you go. Okay. I like it. Right? Yeah, because it's the healthy part that you can't go past that. Yeah, yeah. Everything hinges on the health.

I thought it was the bouncing back PD part, but it's the healthy. No, it's both of them together. Because those are the two things. Those are the two things for the... If PD bouncing back isn't enough. Yeah, yeah, if PD bounces back but they don't stay healthy, then... Thank you. Okay, then that's a...

But a PD doesn't bounce back, even if they stay healthy, I don't like the chances. You need them both together. I can't believe that this is our new version of hashtag the start. Because now you've got two clauses, right? There's two things that the entire season is hinging on.

And when it comes to predicting, and we asked, you know, countless people to text in, Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650, 650, so weigh in on this. There's been a million texts already. having a prediction based on two things needing to come true is tough. But the two things cover a lot of stuff. But most teams have one key to the season.

But the health covers Dempco, Heidel, and Kane. And then just overall. A lot of guys that weren't healthy last year. Yeah, yeah. No, I know. Ronuk missed a lot of time. Mentally as well. Mental health.

I mean, Hughes's health. right he played 68 games last year I don't even say that like he only played I can't even I think a lot of people maybe because you look at some of the bigger

more catastrophic injuries from last year I think a lot of people kind of forget that Hughes only played in 68 and of those 68 how many was he less than well less than 100% no that's a very fair point

I yeah because he still had a great year he still put up 76 points but you could tell his play wasn't as dynamic and as great as we're accustomed to well teams target going to so much too and he's going to play he is going to play a lot you know he's going to play for

the americans at the olympics if he can stay healthy yep and a p.d. can bounce back no one that doesn't cover that one um you know so that's going to be a lot of games for him and a lot of travel they're going to go over to Italy he's going to be he's going to be tired and and again it's mentally taxing he's in a situation where probably every road city he goes to he's going to be asked about his future. When they go to Italy for the Olympics, they're going to have a few days where the media just gets to ask questions. I've been a part of this. And you talk a little bit about the Olympics, but then you're also like, okay, I've got access to this guy. Let's talk to him about its future as well. Yeah. They've also got to come up with 25 goals of offense. Like that's another number

that jumps out last year. It's like Souter, in addition to being the Swiss Army knife, not the fastest skater, but a bright one, a cerebral one. He was tied for the second leading goal score on the team last year. Don't forget the PK. Kane is going to, in their minds, let's say. Kane is going to replicate some of that goals. I'd say probably 80% of it, what, 20 of the 25 goals, you should probably try and pencil them in for if you get what you're expecting.

But he hasn't played a full NHL season in over a year. I don't know how he holds up over the course of an 82 game grind. But again, that goes back to the health thing. Conceivably, you're making up that offense. with Kane, not positionally. It's going to be the winger rather than the center, but you're going to make up that offense there. I'm just glad they have a strong, calming locker room presence

like a Van or Kane help this team through these dark times. Personally, I'm just happy that that's here for us. All joking aside, I'll go back to your original point. When you're looking at these statistical models and things that are based on advanced analytics, there is no metric that takes into account what a first time head coach and a brand new head coach behind the bench

is going to do with a room. that had very public issues last year. Did it get solved with the Miller-Petterson trade? That's to be decided. Because it didn't feel like last year like getting rid of Miller solved everything. No. Did it?

At any point last year, did after the military be like, oh, they figured it out. They are rolling. And now you're bringing in another big personality in Kane into a room that's now spearheaded by Adam Foote. I think that adds to the uncertainty. why, again, I'll say it,

I think of the last 10 years, going back to 2015, this is the toughest team to predict. Other teams you could kind of see like they're not going to be good, they are going to be good. This one, I just don't know. Yeah, I don't know about the cane thing.

I just think if PD can bounce back and they can stay healthy, that they can make the playoffs. We've got a long more to get to on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. hours in the books coming up on the other side we're going to go down to seattle what an exciting time right now for seattle sports you got the mariners clinging on to their playoff lives you get

the seahawks going to open their campaign on sunday at home home dogs against the hated san francisco 49ers the league's cup on sunday maybe not necessarily the sounders winning but the spitting incident that's taken the world by storm we'll talk to softy mauler from kj sports radio in Seattle about all this coming up next on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650.