Halford & Brough in the Morning - HalBro Remind Wysh Who Won The 4 Nations

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), plus they talk the latest NHL news & Notes with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (26:39), and look back on the incredible 4 Nations tournament.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- Neither the Canucks nor the Besser camp know what the result is gonna be at this point in time Don't rule anything out including the Canucks resigning Besser at the deadline. Brock Besser! We know that they're gonna be coming all over us everywhere on the ice. Like what Pedersen really did was hand Ian McIntyre a weapon. Oh God! That is gun! Good morning, Vancouver, 6 o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody, it is Alfred, it is Bruff, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning

to you. Good morning. Ladi, good morning to you. Hello, hello. And in turn, Alessio, good morning to you as well. Good morning. Alfred 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 one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. We were trying to come up with the appropriate clip and we ended up going with the very deep cut

from the Simpsons of the Oliver Stone directed itchy and scratchy episode. Ah, okay. Who shoots him again? Is it itchy or is it scratchy? I never know. I think it's scratchy episode. Ah, okay. Who shoots him again? Is it itchy or is it scratchy? I never know. I think it's scratchy. Oh no, get his gun.

We got a lot to get into on the show today. Guest list today begins. Was that like Jack Ruby? Yes. Oh, okay. Yes. The reenactment. The reenactment.

Oh no, get his gun. Guest list today begins at 6.30. Greg Waszynski is gonna join the program. We are going to gloat about Canada beating the United States in the final of the four nations faceoff, even though it was last week, we haven't spoken with Greg since last Tuesday.

So we'll get a chance to talk about that. Maybe do a little bit of gloating with our American friend. Did you see Matthew Kachuk was on Jimmy Fallon? Yes, Greg was, uh, glued to the tube last night. He was. He was glued to Jimmy Fallon? He was tweeting about glued to the tube last night. He was. Glued to Jimmy Fallon?

He was tweeting about it. He was delivering screenshots, all, all just glued to the TV so he could listen to Matthew Kachuk talk about finishing second in a four team tournament. We actually should ask Wish about Matthew Kachuk and what the Florida Panthers are going to do in the wake of his injury.

And I also want to talk to Greg about the about Matthew Kachuk and what the Florida Panthers are gonna do in the wake of his injury. And I also wanna talk to Greg about the playoff bubble watch, which is now bubbling to the surface at ESPN.com as we look at, not a great race, although it does involve the Vancouver Canucks in the west, the far more intriguing one in the east. We'll do all that at 6.30. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is gonna join the program.

At seven o'clock, Ray Ferraro is going to join the program. The first half of the Ferraro Tuesdays here on the Haliford and Bref show. We'll talk to him about all things Canucks. It was a complete off day for the Vancouver Canucks yesterday, so not a ton of news, but we'll talk to Ray about that. We can also talk to him about the Four Nations. He of course worked the final, then turned right around and did the Capitals Penguins game on the weekend. We can ask him about Alex Ovechkin, because the day after Ray worked that game, Ovi got a hat trick against the Edmonton Oilers

and is now just a handful of goals back from passing Wayne Gretzky in the all-time list. And then Landon Ferraro is gonna join us at eight. He was on Canucks Talk yesterday, replacing Thomas Drantz, who's traveling with the team. He was on with Jamie Dodd yesterday, so we'll get into everything leading into tomorrow's game a reminder. There's no Canucks game tonight They had a couple days off after going back to back against Vegas and Utah

Wednesday they go to LA and then they've got another back-to-back because they go Thursday in Anaheim finally. I need to Announce our giveaway for today. This is very exciting We are giving away not one, but two pairs of tickets to see Neil Young. I don't think Neil Young would like the rap horn. You never know. He's changed a lot. He's actually worked it into his show.

He's a lot different now than he used to be. Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, the Love Earth Tour 2025 is gonna be going this fall, September 6th, 2025 at Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. Terrific venue to see at concerts and all ages event. We are giving away a pair of tickets every day this week, but two today, if you wanna win a pair of tickets to see Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts this September,

be caller number one or caller number seven this morning at 8.15 a.m. The phone number here 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650, callers number one and seven at 8.15 this morning will win a pair of tickets to see Neil Young on September 6 at Deer Lake Park. And Neil Young fans should be hungry because he cancelled his show last year. That's right. This is like a rescheduled thing. Okay.

Colin. So that's happening at 8.15, Landon is at 8, Ray is at 7, those are the back to backs of Ferrara Tuesdays, Greg Wyshinski is at 6.30. It's a big show ahead, we got a lot to get into, so without further ado, Lattie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Off day as mentioned for the Vancouver Canucks yesterday.

No practice, no media availability, no nothing. Today, they will practice at 1 o'clock from the Toyota Sports Performance Center. I believe that's in El Segundo. And then they're going to do media availability for the first time since the loss in Utah on Sunday. A lot has happened since then in the media front, but not much on the Canucks front. So we will turn our attention to a rather quiet night in the NHL, but some stories that percolated

from the two games that went on. The Jets won their 10th consecutive game last night, beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in overtime. Now... The Sharks gave them a game. The Sharks are... The Sharks are up one nothing for most of that game. The Sharks are plucky.

I don't know if you could be a plucky shark. Isn't that really an adjective you often use for sharks? Guys plucky, he's hanging in there. And he bit that guy's leg off. But they're plucky, they're a plucky team. They don't win a lot, but they manage to hang around in games in large part because of all the young talent that they've comprised.

Now they can't keep the puck out of the net with regularity. They bleed goals, but I will say this, having watched a lot of San Jose Sharks games, including bits and pieces of last night, an entertaining team. However, I feel, I just want to mention that we always do this with Winnipeg is we're always like, we should pay more attention to the Jets.

We should really, you know, really dig in more to this team that is on pace for approximately 120 points. Connor Hellebuck is on pace to win 49 games this year, which would set the NHL record, breaking the mark of 48, which is held by Martin Brodeur. Why do you think we're not, we're just not

into them that much? Like this could, this. There's a multitude of reasons. They could be the Canucks first round opponent. Yes. And they could be the, I mean, very, very much a Stanley Cup team. They could be representing the West this year. There's no reason to think that they couldn't,

other than their past playoff failures. I think part of it has to do with, um, like wake me up when you do something in the playoffs. Cause we've seen great, you know, Jets teams go to the, go through the regular season before get to the post season and then kind of fall flat. Yeah. But we talk about the Leafs.

We do because we relish in their failures. That's true. Yeah. I'm, that's, that's, that's a good point. I know that one of the. Also one is Toronto and one is Winnipeg. That's the thing. Slightly different markets. I know that one of the- Also one is Toronto and one is Winnipeg. That's the thing. Slightly different markets.

I know that the bedrock of our show is we're supposed to be jealous and really not wanting anything good to happen of the other Canadian teams, but as we've said on a number of occasions, if there's going to be one Canadian team that's going to have success, I'd be okay with it being Winnipeg. I really would.

Do you think it might be that in Winnipeg their star is a goalie? I'm not saying they don't have really good players. Mark Shifely is really good. Kyle Connor's really good. If you look behind the glass right now, you can see Greg's heart, the exact moment that it broke. Well, yeah, because I mean, anything that's

interesting to Greg is by rule, not interesting. Correct. Inherently we learned that over the years. Inherently not interesting, right? So because their star is a goalie and an American goalie at that, it's kind of like, yeah, I'm not, like last night I was watching sharks and jets and there was really one player

that I was tuning in to watch and that was Celebrini. Sure. Celebrini is really fun to watch. Yep. And if I was Connor Bedard, by the way, just as an aside, I'd look at all the youth that is, has already arrived to support Celebrini in San Jose and all the youth that is still on the way.

Plus they've got, they're going to have their first round picked this year and they picked up another first round from Dallas in the Grandland trade. Like I'm not saying that Chicago has nothing coming besides Bedard, but Celebriani, like there's a lot there already, guys like Will Smith and Eklund. And, and, and like they've got some good young defensemen coming as well. And again, opportunity to pick up more. It just seems like, it honestly seems like watching their games too, they're having a lot more fun. I was watching last night, Celebrini had a smile on his face when he was playing the game. That's a very good point. I want to elaborate on this because one

thing that Conor Bernard has not had in Chicago really at all this year is a good time. I think fun has been- Even both teams are bad. Terrible. Both teams are bad. San Jose is worse than Chicago if you want to look at the standings. Do you think the pressure is less on San Jose? I think- Do you think the pressure is less on Celebrini because he's not in an original six market

and he didn't arrive with the same hype that Bedard did. I think that there's less pressure, I think that there's less spotlight, I think there's less scrutiny. I think if Macklin Celebrini has a night where he finishes minus three and has a bunch of turnovers that it doesn't get amplified because of the market that he's in.

That being said. And they won't be on a ton of national TV broadcasts. I went back and sort of relitigated my own stance on what the work that Kyle Davidson did at the GM of the Blackhawks bringing in all these veteran presences. And you know, there's no right or wrong way to do this, but I. Well, there is a wrong way and a right way. Yeah, but I get what he was trying to do. We're trying to insulate a young player with some veteran presences.

Got to be the right guys. I get what he was trying to do. We're trying to insulate a young player with some veteran presences. Gotta be the right guys. Yeah. Then I look at San Jose, and the entire season has been a marketing campaign for these two great young players who are also like buddies, but also college rivals because they both went to different Boston schools

in Will Smith and Macklin Celebrin. It's created this real neat dynamic where they're almost growing up together. Yeah. And they were, and, and Bedard doesn't have that. Like Kane and Taves did. Right. Like the big thing.

They're different, very different people. Totally. But they, but they, but they, you know, they, they grew up with that Chicago team. One was Canadian, one was American. One was very serious. One liked to get into hijinks early in his career. He was putting them mildly.

You know, you look at that dynamic and then you look at what's going on in San Jose and you say, Celebrini has Smith and Smith has Celebrini. It would be interesting if some of these other early picks that Chicago had were able to be in the lineup right now and maybe not even necessarily take the pressure off Bedard, but kind of be that guy that I'm also going through it with you.

Like I'm sure that it- Do you remember when Tyler Sagan was with Boston and he was kind of like- He was a lone wolf. He was, well, yeah. A young He was a lone wolf. Well, yeah. A young, a young lone wolf. Let's not throw that phrase around too much. But he was just, all the other guys were kind of, they were just older and they were in

different stages of their lives. And there was that famous clip, I guess it was Benning, when they traded Sagan. They're like, we're not here to be babysitters. Well, you know, sometimes with kids, you can leave two of them at home together and one of them can call mom, right? If something happens, right? 50% less likely to burn the house down.

Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, he just, there was someone, it's, it's nice to have people your age that you can relate to and grow up together in the NHL. Yeah. You still need the veteran guys, like, and they've got a guy like Tyler Toffoli in San Jose.

And I'm sure he's a, he's great for that team. You know, that's a perfect type of guy. He can still play, but also he's well-liked by teammates, right? Anyway, let's not throw too many roses at the San Jose sharks. Cause I was thinking the other day, you know. Dead last in the national.

There was a time when, uh, this was a couple of years ago when everyone was like, there's no way that Anaheim won't be great in a few years. Right. And now you're looking at some of the guys on that team that we thought were going to be the leaders. And Trevor Zegras now, I don't, I don't even know where his career is.

I mean, he's suspended now for the next three games, the NHL came down on him. Um, but I don't think as many good prospects as Anaheim has or did, I don't think they anything had anything like Celebrini. No. Celebrini, I don't know who he's going to be in terms of, you know, you compare him to all the former Canadian greats.

Um, you know, I, I don't think he's going to be Sydney Crosby, you know, you compare him to all the former Canadian greats, um, you know, I, I don't think he's going to be Sidney Crosby, but like, he has the potential to be like Patrice Bergeron level of good or. Bergeron's the one. Bergeron's the one. Or, you know, Sackick, Iserman, like that, that type, like he is, he is a very, very good player

and he is responsible at both ends of the ice. And I would say things are starting up pretty well for him. So the other reason that we led with this was that the Winnipeg Jets, now when we say that we don't focus on them enough, I did not realize until last night that this was a team that has already had an eight game, a seven game and the current ten game winning streak this season. Any other team I, had put together those kinds of streaks through the 60 game mark of a regular season.

You'd say we need to pay tons of attention to this team because that's the kind of team that could go on a run in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I guess the big question now in Winnipeg moving forward is what they're going to do going into the deadline. They've dipped their toe in the rental waters before trying to bolster to go into the playoffs. I do wonder if this time they maybe consider adopting the, if it ain't broke, don't fix it philosophy.

Because they've got a good thing going. They're about as complete a team in the national hockey. I would say that there is right now, roster wise and production wise. And then of course, in wins and losses. I think that they are the most complete team in the NHL. That being said, right now, if you were to give me a choice with just straight odds on who I think is

the most likely team to come out of the West, I would still take Edmonton over Winnipeg because Edmonton. Edmonton's not feeling it right now. I know, but Edmonton has the superstar power that quite frankly a lot of teams don't have, including the Winnipeg Jets. Well, there's two things about the Jets. One is Connor Halepuck has to show up in the

playoffs and he hasn't the last couple of times. And, you know, they're very, I shouldn't say overly reliant on their power play. There's nothing wrong with having a good power play, but their power play is over 30%. And sometimes the power play goes dry in the playoffs just because teams tighten up and the best teams typically have the good penalty

killing and the good goal tending. And sometimes that can be a problem. So we'll see about that. I mean, they're, they're obviously a very, very, very good team, but there does seem to be some hesitation and I don't know if it's just us, they're kind of like, I don't know, like are they, and maybe it's because they don't have a

McDavid and a dry saddle. Maybe they don't have like, like again, upfront they've got some very good players, but do they have future hall of famers? Cause those are the types that typically lift the cup. So the other game in a two-game slate in the National Hockey League last night, actually very much of interest to Vancouver Canucks fans because the Vancouver Canucks next opponent, the Los Angeles Kings, were in action at home at Crypto.com Arena where the Canucks are

going to play on Wednesday night as a diligent Canucks analyst, me of course. I decided to sit down and watch this game as a preschool for tomorrow night's game. And I watched Quinn Byfield put up a career high for assists, Los Angeles Kings scored four goals unanswered in the third period to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 at Crypto.com. My takeaway from the game is that, you know,

as much as his name might be mud in these particular parts and that he's not anything close to a favorite in Vancouver, the impact that Drew Doughty has had on this team since returning from his injury, which cost him 47 games, is clear as day. Why is he, why is he, what, cause he said team like that?

Yeah, people still remember that. Oh God, that's lame if they, like. What do you want me to say, man? I just listened to the streets. I know what the streets are saying out there. They don't love Drew Doughty. I personally, I have a ton of admiration for Drew Doughty. But I also want to respect our listenership

who still remember a team like that. Well, I have a ton of respect forhip who still remember a team like that. Sure. Well, I have a ton of respect for Duncan Keith. People can't stand him. They very much can't stand him. He is one of the great defensemen of all time. And Drew Doughty, I don't think he's quite at Duncan Keith's level, but he's pretty close, man.

He's pretty close. Close. And that's just a personal opinion. Keith versus Doughty, I would take Keith. But yeah, I was really impressed with Doughty at the Four Nations. He played great. And yeah, I mean, it's a tough task at his age coming back from that injury and that long a layoff.

And it's been some good, some bad in his return, but I wonder if that Four Nations is gonna give him a bit of a lift. So the one thing that I noticed in the Four Nations was the, when things slowed down, cause he's not as fleet of foot as he was when he was 20 years old or whatever, but when things slowed down, his ability to move the puck

and to make the long stretch passes out of his own zone, it was pretty pronounced, right? I mean, I think we all remember in the first game against the US, the stretch pass to McDavid, where he snapped it and found him at the blue line. McDavid goes in and scores. Drew Doughty's an elite puck mover, especially at his age where he's seen it all

and he's got that crafty veteran vision. I don't wanna like connect one to the other 100%, but it's hard not to look at the fact that since he's come back in the lineup, the Kings are one, undefeated in regulation in their last five, and two, their offense has taken a huge spike. Like I watched them last night, I'm like,

these guys actually look dangerous and dynamic offensively. They put up four goals in the third period against the Golden Knights, they've scored at least four, I think in five of their last six games. If you go and look at some of their recent victories, they're putting up four, five think in five of their last six games. If you go and look at some of the recent victories, they're putting up four or five, six goals, very unlike the Canucks. You're right.

It's like the Kings have become the Canucks and the Canucks have become the Kings. It's a very strange thing, but they've all of a sudden, they've got a bunch of offensive punch and they're, they're a totally different team when they're scoring goals as opposed to the one that puts up that one three one picket fence. Okay. Uh, I do want to talk a little bit about Brock Besser today, cause there was quite a bit of conversation yesterday about Besser and I know Rick Dollywell

had an update, but I want to table that for later in the show, cause we only got a few minutes before we got a break and then get to Greg Wyshinski. So with the Canucks going to practice today and with them playing Wednesday tomorrow in LA against these high powered Kings. Do you think the top six is going to stay the same? Because we talked a lot about it yesterday and we

talked about how right now as it's currently constructed, there isn't a lot of creativity. There isn't really a player that's going to drive the offense out of the top six, which is a problem for a top six. Now, Quinn Hughes might return to play. So we'll see if he's at practice and a full participant in practice. And that is going to help the offense. Yes.

No, he's a defenseman. We all know. Like how Drew Doughty helped the Kings. We all know what Quinn Hughes can do. Um, and that's more than Drew Doughty can do. 100%. By the way. 100%.

Um, but you're looking at the top six in Vancouver right now. Is there anyone you could theoretically add to that? That, that, I mean, that, that, that old man groan. If you're watching this. Sound, you're watching this. You're watching this. It doesn't suggest that there are a lot of options.

Like I know there's been some push to give Nils Hoeglinder a little bit more time. Um, you know, I, I'm, I'm, if they want to try that, like, I'm not going to be like, Oh no, Drew O'Connor got dropped down or oh no, even Kiefer Sherwood got dropped down. If you want to put Nils Hoaglander up there, try. But I really wonder if Rick Tauke is looking at

the players that he has available to them in the top six and going like, I don't know, man. I think it really just. I think we're going to have to grind out another game. I think it really underscores just how quickly things can change in a league where you need elite talent to score and you need depth of scoring.

You need both those things going at the same time. Because when you rely too heavily on your top guys and your bottom six isn't doing anything, that's a problem. And then when your bottom guys, and your top guys aren't performing. That's a bigger problem. Yeah, now here's a problem. And then when your bottom guys, and your top guys aren't performing. That's a bigger problem. Yeah, now here's the thing. Last year, the Canucks had a bounties of options upfront

because, and part of it had to do with the fact that the third line, the third line, and we all know which one it was, it was Dakota Joshua, Teddy Bluger, and Connor Garland, was oftentimes producing like a first line or at the very least a competent line that you could say was a top two line on any NHL team. That's how good they were at stretches last year. There were 20 game stretches last season where that line was generating with some of the top lines in the NHL. And it wasn't necessarily like it was more especially the beginning this

season I would say they were good. They weren't necessarily producing, but they were controlling play. And they would, if the momentum of the game turned against the Canucks, you could often put that line out there and they would find their way. And then. They would, they would tip the momentum and then.

In the second half of the season, I think Josh was goalscoring really spiked. Definitely. Highlighted by that hat trick that he had against. That has been the almost inverse this year. Joshua has been, I mean, health is obviously played a significant, significant role in what's gone on in his season.

You can't tell the story of the season without talking about his health and his cancer diagnosis and overcoming cancer, but it has been. Three goals in 32 games. It's been the, probably the biggest hindrance to that third line. One, being able to reconnect and then two, having the kind of production that they had last year. Well, also Garland sometimes being required in the top six.

You take him away. As a catalyst. You take him away from being a catalyst on that line. The other part, obviously now, if you look at it, is that JT Miller is no longer there. And that's how quickly it goes from being a team last year that offensively was more than capable of holding its own on a night to night basis and

ticked a lot of boxes with things that you want. And now your top six is O'Connor, Hedl, Besser, Debrus, Pedersen, Sherwood. Well, your two centers, neither of them are playing like bona fide one C's in the NHL. O'Connor's probably masquerading as being a forward because he's got the physical tools to do some of the digging and forechecking and bringing

the speed that you want. A top six forward. But he's not. He's a forward. But he's not a top six forward, you know, by production. It's, and Kiefer Sherwood's in that mix as well. If you told me the beginning of the year,

then on February 25th, Drew O'Connor and Kiefer Sherwood were going to be top six wingers on the Kinect. So I would've asked you, what the hell happened? How did we get here? But that's exactly what they're staring in the face tonight, or tomorrow night going into Los Angeles.

I'd be like, uh, isn't Drew O'Connor on Pittsburgh? How did that end up here? Greg Wyshinski is going to join us next on the Hal Ferdum Rough Show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance, we'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 PM on Sportsnet 650 or

wherever you get your podcasts. 6.32 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. Halford 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 one of the program. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is gonna join us in just a moment here to kick off hour one.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler, pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Our next guest joins us from America, the same nation that finished second out of the four nations that competed in last week's Four Nations Face Off. Joining us now, Greg Wachinsky from ESPN here on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Greg, how are ya?

You know, I heard the ESPN scene you played sounds very much like the holiday band Mannheim steamroller, and speaking of steamrollers, how about that team, Canada? They squish any team that's down to 10 forwards and is missing the best defenseman in the world. They absolutely squish, it might take over time and a defensive laughs by Adam Fox, but they squish him like a steamroller.

We, we have empathy for people that lose and we know you're just lashing out a little bit. Um, and that's fine. Injuries are part of the game. Canadians actually just play through them, but that's fine. Uh, Wish overall, what did you think of the tournament? We were hoping our guys could play through them but that's fine. Wish, overall what did you think of the tournament? We were hoping our guys could play through them but apparently some certain teams that may or may

not be located north of the border refuse to let their players get on planes even after the American coach says they're coming. That just sounds like poor communication on behalf of Team USA. Yeah, it sounds like a lot of dysfunction in that association. Were the Minnesota Wild Dockers also handling the communications department? I don't know. Who's to say? The Canucks kept Hughes out of their first two games for optics. So listen, I'll say this, like top five moment of Four Nations was Mike Sullivan getting on the mic and just being like, Quinn Hughes is coming. He's a poster for a new season of Game of Thrones.

It was awesome. But, so listen, the tournament was, what am I going to do? Put icing on top of icing on this cake? Like it was smashing success from the audience to the fact that Matthew Kachuk was on the Tonight Show last night after a mid-season, regular season tournament. I mean like it's insane how big it got. I think we all know why it got big from the three fights in nine seconds to the geopolitical, you know,

spice on the tournament to the fact that, and I think this is the most important thing, critically as a hockey fan, to the fact that when all the normies tuned in to watch the game that had the fights, they then saw like the best version of our sport. The fact that when all the normies tuned in to watch the game that had the fights, they then saw the best version of our sport and then they're like, they're going to run it back next Thursday.

I will watch that again. Maybe there'll be fights, but also it was super entertaining. And so that to me is the most exhilarating thing was the NHL was smartly got ahead of the Olympics and having a best on best that featured all of these guys that have never gotten the chance to do it yet, whether it's McDavid or McKinnon or McCarr or the Kachaks or Matthews or whomever and they knew the quality of play was gonna be off the charts and and it was and you got to give them credit and the players credit for pushing for for international best on best for as

long as they have to know that getting this in before the Olympics was gonna be a really smart decision and they got two USA Canada games out of it and you know, now the All-Star game might be dead. I mean, it's the end result of all of this. What's the latest on Matthew Kachuck and what might the Florida Panthers do if he's out long term? Well, it's going to get a bit, but obviously, Paul Maurice said yesterday that it's not going might the Florida Panthers do if he's out long term? Well, it's gonna get bit, but obviously Paul Marie said yesterday that it's not gonna be a season ender.

I haven't gotten intel as far as like what a bit ultimately means, is it gonna be an LTIR special for the playoffs, is it gonna be back before that? They're pretty ensconced in a playoff spot right now, even though the Atlantic has gotten certainly a lot more interesting in the last months with Ottawa and Detroit both kind of making their moves to the wild card they already you know played through the loss of Barkov this season I think they've got enough on that roster to play

through the loss of Kachuk for a little bit but listen I mean you know when it comes to trying to make the Stanley Cup final for a third consecutive season, they obviously need them healthy. And they also need a lot more on that roster. I've got, uh, you know, the bubble watch on ESPN.com this morning, looking at every team's playoff probabilities and they're pretty much a lock right now. But if you look at that lineup, I think they're pretty top heavy. They definitely need more offense from their

blue line. And I think that's probably where Bill Zito goes shopping. And so we'll see if it's with Matthew Kachuck's LTIR money or with the anticipation he'll be back soon. I want to continue on this Four Nations talk. I want to ask one more about Matthew Kachuck, really the Kachuck brothers. I'm really curious where they're at in terms of the pantheon of hot American celebrity right now. Because Jason was in Sochi in 2014 and I was back here and we were doing the coverage for NBC and I distinctly remember the level that TJ Oshie got to when he had the heroics against Russia

and I watched a hockey player transcend hockey and become celebrity. Now I'm not saying- For about four days. It was too quick, right? It was too fast. It was a good time, not a long time. However, I'm seeing that right now with the Kachak brothers, Matthew especially, and I'm just, cause I mean, you're there, you're in the States, we're not. I'm just curious about, like- Could they fight the Paul brothers? Yeah. Like, is that where they, are they, are they the new version of the Paul brothers. Yeah. Is that where they are? They are they the new version of the Paul brothers? That's why Jason sounds like he's asking a favor. Could they fight

the Paul brothers? They bring their snakes. The U S international glory part of this is interesting because you're right. I mean, like Ryan Miller was a household name for four minutes. Right. He Yoshi was a household name for four minutes in both cases. You know, it didn't result in a gold medal. And I think that's really when you become extremely transcendent is if you lead the U S to their first gold since 1980, whoever does that, whoever gets the lion's share of credit for it will then become a household name. Like, I mean, hell, we're just,

we're still trotting out Mike Arruzzione and he was last relevant in like the Carter administration. So I mean, that's what we do. Like, our sports heroes are forever if they lead us to the ultimate prize. But it's a good question about the Kachaks because I actually had an argument about this, a disagreement, I don't want to say argument because I'm about to talk about my wife, I had a disagreement with my wife about whether or not the Kachucks had become household names and she said she argued no and I argued well I kind of feel like for a lot of people the name Kachuck has suddenly become synonymous with USA hockey because both brothers fought in

that you know nine second span and then they both played really well in the tournament until the end and she argued no and then Matthew Kachuk ended up on Jimmy Fallon last night and so she conceded the point like like they clearly something's happening here with the Kachucks where they are now like more much more mainstream than they were two weeks ago to the point where, you know, tonight's guests are Chelsea Handler and Matthew Kachuk. So, you know, something's going on here,

but ultimately to become like household name, like a, you know, Megan Rapinoe or somebody who leads their team to, you know, the ultimate prize, it has to happen in Italy next year. Speaking of Italy next year, how much time have you spent thinking about the roster that was put together, what worked? I mean, defensively that was a very good performance.

And I think Jacob Slaven might be a household name in Canada now, but what didn't work and who might not make the next team and who might make it. Well, like what does the United States need to do? It's pretty close right now to get over the hump and beat Canada. Well, it's, I had to think about it a lot because, uh, my editors wanted to publish a, a 2026 Olympic

roster projection moments after the four nations final ended. So, uh, that's on the site. Covered in tears. Uh, you know, it's, yeah, it's like, uh, you know, everybody's, everybody's description is, well, maybe if this guy could step up when it counts, then you could be on the team.

No. Um, so like, I obviously there's two factors you have to remember here. The first is that these, this tournament will be played on NHL ice. This, this, uh, this be played on NHL ice. This, this, this Olympic it's not international ice. Uh, at least that's the last word I heard about it. So yeah, I think the idea that you're going to add.

Yeah, I think it was CJ that did it. So like, um, you know, the idea that you're going to add like Cole Caulfield because the ice surface is larger, is a non-starter in theory, because they're gonna play these games on an NHL ice. The second thing is, I think they're gonna have to really make a call here on the bottom six. You know, they played really well defensively, but how much did like Brock Nelson, Vincent Trotschek,

and these guys really do it? And how much did they do that couldn't be replicated by maybe younger, more offensive players. So there's a bit of an expanded roster, so I imagine T.H. Thompson will be on it. There's going to be conversations to be had about Cole Caulfield and Clayton Keller and a few others. The defense, like you said, is pretty well set, but and a few others. The defense, like you said, is pretty well set, but I'm going to be honest with you. I don't, I wrote about this as well. I don't think Adam Fox's spot on this team is guaranteed. I really don't. I think he had an awful tournament. Um, you know, he didn't generate anything offensively. He wasn't, I mean, there are better power play quarterbacks

by the time the championship came around, came eat his ice time it dropped for all the people in Canada that are pilloring Austin Matthews for that play on on the McDavid goal that's that's Fox's guy barter that was left wide open and Matthews is trying to compensate for it on the play and and I think that there's a lot of you know observation internally that Adam Fox's mistake you know know cost the the US and overtime So I think there are some people knocking on the door and I don't think Adam Fox's spot on this team is guaranteed that being said He's a Ranger. He's still considered one of the best defensemen in the world

I'm sure he'll probably make the roster but he's nowhere near as cemented as someone like Warren ski or Slaven is or favor is at this point. Did you expect more out of Jack Hughes in that tournament? I mean, I'm always expecting more to Jack Hughes because he's like one of the most brilliant offensive players in the league. You gotta remember he played the entire tournament out of position. Yeah, right.

They had him on a wing, he doesn't play wing. And so he had 11 shots on goal because he's trying to generate whatever he can off the wing. But you know, Jack is a guy that likes to puck. He's playing with another guy in Matthews that likes to puck. And so he's trying to adapt to doing something differently at a time when any mistake you make

is going back the other way for a goal. You know, like the other side... It's not Ottawa on a Tuesday night, you know, in the four nations. It's the best players in the world on the other side of the puck. And so I think he made some mistakes and I think that he had a really hard time adapting to playing a new position. I don't know what that portends for 2026.

I doubt it means anything as far as the status of the team. Cause again, the amount of players on that roster that do what he does are few and far between. But I mean, if you're looking for the reasons why he struggled, that's the reason. He was playing a new position and trying to be perfect because he knew mistakes would lead to goals the other way. We're speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. So the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, I just wanted to look ahead because obviously the announcement happened during the four nations face off

and we got some details, not a ton. I think they're anticipating that Russia will, the sanctions will be lifted and they'll be allowed to participate internationally again by 2028. And then everything else after that sort of seemed like up in the air or we'll get around to figuring that part out. Do you have any, did you hear anything in particular about like what teams are going to be participating? Are they going to have a qualifying tournament?

Where are they going to hold the games? Any other details that we can look forward to? Because this and I talked to a lot of people about this, it was amazing that of all the leagues, the NHL was able to knock a tournament out of the park. That might have been the most shocking development at all of this. So there are going to be some anticipations for when they do it again four years from now. Let's let's just take a step back for a second. Because I mean, I know circumstances help

them, but I mean, I mean, you can't you can't just like, I mean, I love that this happened and I'm so happy for the NHL and the NHLPA, but I mean, the geopolitical thing, the gap between best on best tournaments, the generation of players playing each other for the first time, the three fights in nine seconds, like there's a ton of things that are not going to be repeatable in Syria in future events. And I think it's important to put that in context. The World Cup though, like as far as I know, they'd love to have qualifying for it. They'd love to have some games,

I think both in North America and overseas to really make it an international tournament. I mean, I think they are allowing the bid process to include European cities. You know, the Russia thing is a huge, a huge, you know, elephant in the room, but I think they are betting on the fact that the conflict will be resolved by 2028. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad wager. And then, you know, they're hoping that the double IHF, you know, it has readmitted Russia back to things like world juniors by then. Um, but the most fascinating thing for me about the setup is the

declaration that this is not going to be a double IHF event. That it's just going to be the NHL and the NHLBA putting it on. Which means that all of the players that will populate Germany and Switzerland and the Czechs and the places that need reinforcements from outside the NHL to fill out these rosters are going to come from leagues that the NHL will negotiate with themselves, which is a huge change from previous incarnations of the tournament. And you know, there are some leagues that have this kind of break built into their schedules already, and it won't be a big deal to shut down for the World Cup.

And there'll be other leagues that it will be a big deal for them to shut down for the World Cup. And I think, if I was going to speculate, I'd say there, there probably have to be some financial, you know, machinations that are happening between the NHL and those leagues to make that viable for them. But it is a huge change for the NHL to shoulder the populating of these rosters on its own versus inviting the double IHF to the table.

Wish let's move on from the four nations and look ahead to the March 7th trade deadline. What's gonna happen with Rantinen in Carolina? Oh I think he's staying. I understand why there's a lot of speculation about well if they can't you know get them under contract then you know maybe they'll flip them for something but the ultimate goal here is winning the cup. And I feel like this is some cost fallacy. The idea that you've acquired a player ostensibly because of his talent in the regular season, but more importantly because he's one of the most accomplished

postseason scorers in the NHL in the last 15 years, and you're a team that's been one goal away from playing for the cup in for the entirety of Rod Brindimore's tenure. The idea that you're gonna you know punt on this season essentially because you're never gonna find a player that's as good as Rantan if you flip them is something I can't wrap my brain around. I don't think that this front office despite it being brilliant and despite it being forward thinking and despite it being like, well, if we can't sign them, we should get something for them.

They bought him in to win a cup. And maybe their window is one year and maybe their window ends up being eight years, but they bought him in to win a cup. And I can't imagine that the contract is going to somehow, subvert that plan because again, who's ranting then? Would they flip them one for one for Pedersen and then watch him spend the next four months

trying to find themselves? Like, there's nobody out there that's gonna be as good as ranting. And so, you know, even if you're not sure you can sign them, I think they keep them because they got them to win a cup. So on the latest Playoff Bubble Watch at ESPN.com, you've got the Boston Bruins with a 10.4% chance of making the playoffs.

We were talking about this story yesterday. Boston.com had a piece up where it had a quote from Don Sweeney saying that unlike the previous, I don't know, 10 NHL trade deadlines, they're gonna have a very cautious approach. And everyone kinda read that as him waving a white flag on this season. Do we dare see the Boston Bruins in the rare seller mode

going into the trade deadline? And then the obvious question is, would Brad Marshawn ever entertain leaving the team possibly at the deadline? I mean, it's always possible. And I think that people have to remember, I think people get blinded by the way that they treated Patrice Bergeron with such reverence

that they forget the way they treated Zdeno Chara. You know, like where, you know, once we didn't need you anymore, now you're a Washington capital. I do think that there is a lack of sentimentality sometimes within that organization when it comes to players like this. And as much as Don Sweeney has talked about Brad Marchand envisioning him finishing his

career with the Bruins, the fact of the matter is that when you look at that roster, the number of players with true value at a trade deadline is very short. And Marchand is probably the top name on it. I mean, let's be honest, like he's, he's a game changer. He's, he's the quintessential playoff performer for a team that's looking to get over the hump. Uh, he's the last piece of the puzzle guy. And you know, those guys always get overvalued at the deadline. And I think in Marchand's case, like he'd, he'd fetch a pretty, a pretty

hefty return from a team that believes they could be one agitating, scoring winger away from winning the cup. God, I absolutely forgot the final two years of Zdeno Charo's career were in Washington. And then I forgot he was a New York Islander for the last year of his career. Yeah, he was.

I don't remember that at all. I remember the capitals kind of everybody remembers them building statues for for Bergeron. But like the arguably like the second or third most beloved player in that run for Boston, you know, ended up, you know, is that Zdeno Char or the Washington Monument? I don't know. But he's in Washington now. Like it's it's crazy. Yeah, wish this was great. But thanks as always for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We will do this again next Tuesday.

Anytime, boys. Thanks. Thank you. That's Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Wish might have changed my mind about what the Hurricanes are doing with Brantanen. I always just assumed if they couldn't resign them, they were going to flip them, but maybe not. But that's a hell of a risk to give away what they did to Colorado and bring in Rantanen, who

stylistically hasn't been a great fit with Carolina so far, still early. He could still find his game. Remember when Lindholm came to Vancouver, different level of player, but in a little trouble fitting in and then eventually found his spot on the Canucks. Um, but if they give away what they gave to bring

in Ranton and then don't get it done and then he just walks away in free agency, yikes. But then again, you know, as media members, how many times have we said like the problem with Carolina is as well as they play as a team and as disciplined as they are with the system. And yes, they've got some good individual players. They always seem to be lacking that big dog, you

know, that guy who was going to get them the big goal and maybe that's Rantaman. I think, I get what Wish is saying about the, especially the sunk cost fallacy. Like part of this very much was for this season, the immediate, the present, the now is it, you've got a team that can win a Stanley Cup in an Eastern conference that I would say is fairly

wide open with whatever's going on in Florida. Maybe the most wide open I've ever seen it. I mean, I would still, if Florida's healthy, I'm still saying I like Florida, but the wear and tear of going to consecutive Stanley Cup finals, getting to three Stanley Cup finals in a row is an incredibly difficult task. The top team in the East right now based on points and gold differential is the Washington Capitals, and a lot of people are still like, really? Washington? Okay.

But I said this yesterday, they don't fit the criteria that we have traditionally had for a Stanley Cup champion. Who doesn't? Washington. Oh, right. Yeah, okay. Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. But it's so wide open.

To your point, the East, I think the whole league is wide open, frankly. So if you're Carolina, you're saying, okay, let's roll the dice. We already rolled the dice, bringing Rantan in. Let's do this without getting a contract extension locked in prior to the deadline. We'll play it out and we'll just keep working away at this thing. Cause we're confident we can get him signed. That's what happens when you put a hundred plus million dollars in front of a guy too. You can change minds with that kind of money.

I know that Rantanick could probably have his choice of wherever he wanted to go in free agency. But if a team's offering him the, remember here they can add them the eighth year, they're the only team that can do that. And they're already talking about getting into, I mean, what, they're 14 figures now, right? I mean, the money that's being thrown around,

13 and a half, 14 million per 100 plus million on the contract, that could- Did you just call it 14 figures though? Yeah, I said they're into the 14, 15 figures now. Because when Freedge said they're into nine figures, right, I had to stop and I'm like, what is nine figures? And then I was trying to do the math in my head, like how many zeros that was.

Yeah, they're not into the 14 figures. They're into the trillions now. They're gonna pay him a trillion. He's gonna be the first trillionaire athlete. They're gonna pay him so much money. But that's the thing, is it's like, they're willing to make him the highest paid player on the team more than Ajo,

and they seem ready to do it right now. But at the same time, he's thinking like, I can get that somewhere else. Maybe not that eighth year, but I'm still rich. Yeah, and that's the counter argument. He's like, well, if he hasn't already agreed to that, agreed to some money now, do you add more? Do you make him $15 million a year? Is that gonna make the difference? I don't know. Ray Ferraro is gonna join us next. Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.