Halford & Brough in the Morning - Have Faith In Rick Tocchet

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

In hour two, Jason Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd discuss yesterday's Rick Tocchet interview on the show and how people reacted on social media to his comments of re-programming Elias Pettersson's playing style (3:00), plus the boys chat about other NHL teams currently chasing for a playoff spot (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.

Music Welcome back to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Halford. A 7 a.m. hour here and we've got a big, not just an open segment, an open hour to talk all things Canucks and Jason even graciously inviting the dogs to join in in the conversation if we get really desperate here over the next hour. You can talk too if you guys want. Yeah.

Oh, wow, thanks guys. Wow, thanks bro. If we get really desperate, we could bring in the dogs. Yeah, go home after the show today. Honey, Bruff told me I could talk on the show. A big day. It's a big day. Halvard and Bruff brought you

by the Delarie family of Honda dealers. Halvin and Brough brought to you by the DeLari family of Honda dealers. Experience the DeLari difference today. Visit your nearest DeLari Honda dealer today. This hour is brought to you by Jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

That's Jason.mortgage. Just a sec, Dougs, I gotta say something more here. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in staff. We need a new segment, who let the dogs out? I think. I feel like there's a good drop for that. I'm sure you guys will be prepped for that every month.

Text into the Dunbar Lumber text line if you got any questions or comments. Here's one from Austin in Langley. He said, talk, it said yesterday on the show that he's trying to change the playing style of guys like Elias Pedersen. Do you guys think that's the right approach? And then Austin notes that's

some red meat for you, Jamie Dodd. I don't know why he specified me. I don't know either, but I'll be curious to hear what you have to say after that. Yeah. But let's say, in case anyone missed the interview with Rick Tauket yesterday, here is one of the snippets from that interview with Rick

Tauket talking about Elias Pettersson. He's a great kid. I think there was a lot of expectations on him. I think he knows that lot of expectations on him. I think he knows that, was he ready for it over the summer, this season? I think he's been a little surprised at what he had to do to maintain a level that we expect of him from himself. So is there a little bit of catch up?

Yeah, I can be totally honest with you. You know, for him, and I know people joke about it. I say it all the time and it's just not for him. It's the team. If you want to score goals or if you want to be a dominant player, you got to move your feet, you got to get to those areas. You got to be deceptive. Uh, you got to play North hockey, um, regroup hockey, taking the puck back.

It won't win an NHL. I mean, I spent like two weeks with some of the great coaches of the great coaches of Cassie and DeBoer and John Cooper. They promote the same thing, and I think sometimes P likes to regroup it, slow the game down. I'm not sure how many years ago doing that might have worked, but now you have to play it more North Style, and we're just trying to reprogram his brain when it comes to that. And, uh, he's buying into that. I, that's why I think he's getting better at that. But there's another level for us and our team.

So the reprogramming the brain thing I noticed caught on on social media and, uh, a lot of the critics of Rick Tocket, basically they're, uh, what they were saying is like, who does Rick Tocket think he is to try and reprogram the brain of a guy that's had a hundred point season and showed incredible hockey IQ, uh, over his young career. And, um, talk would probably say to that, it was

like, Hey, fair enough. I know if that's, if that's what you think, but, um, you know, I, I think, you know, the goal that the Canucks scored, the pretty goal that they scored when it was Besser, Pedersen and Hoaglinder. Yep. It's funny because there was a regroup that Besser led, but I think that was more like

recognizing there's not much time left in the game and there was an opportunity to regroup and create speed through the neutral zone. And that's exactly what they did. And they made some really nice passes, including some East West passes. Yes. But the thing is, is like, they got themselves

going North. Yes. They were playing with speed through the neutral zone. Through the neutral zone. And I think that was the key on the first rush goal they scored when Leonis Carlsen made that nice play along the wall and Teddy Bluger was able to skate onto that pass and he had the neutral zone essentially all to himself. He got it to Quinn Hughes, Quinn Hughes got it to Drew O'Connor for the one timer. And that was another nice goal, but it all started

with speed through the neutral zone. So just to back up a little bit, what did you think about when Rick Taukett said, we got to reprogram Petey's brain a little bit. Did you have a feeling that that comment was going to take off on the social media? Well, yes, first of all, I was not surprised, but that was the thing that kind of got the most traction from that interview on the show yesterday. My initial reaction though,

it wasn't that they were trying to get him away from the things that led him to have a hundred point season, led him to be extremely productive. If anything, it's we got to get him away from the things that led him to have a hundred point season, led him to be extremely productive. If anything, it's, we got to get him back to that. We got to get him back to doing some of those things, because it's not as if Pedersen was never capable of playing a fast game, playing off the rush. He scored plenty of goals off the rush. He's been a very effective rush player.

Yeah, when he was cruising through the neutral zone with the puck and confident, Yes. and was zone with the puck and confident. Yes. And was decisive. So to me, it wasn't like, Oh, this guy, when he was at his best was playing the wrong way and we're going to fix that and we're going to change that. It was this guy hasn't been at his best in an awfully long time and we need to reprogram him to get there. Now, I think there's also an element of, we want you back to that version,

but with some other things added, right? With some other, or maybe a slight shift in focus that we think will make you a more winning player come play off time or in really meaningful games. But man, the whole talk it conversation in this market, I think has gone off the rails a little bit. And I think the reaction. I saw one comment was like, but Taukett's trying to turn PD into a third line checking center. I'm like, he's not. No, he's not. He would actually prefer the hundred point version.

He would very much. And people are sharing clips of goals he's scored off the rush. And because there's an East West pass in it, it's like, well, Taukett won't let him do that. It's like, guys, if you think because talk it is saying, we want to play a North South style that he means literally, you're never allowed to make a horizontal pass.

You're only allowed to make vertical passes. You've lost the plot. And those two goals in the first period are great examples. Do you think talk it's sitting on the bench pulling his hair out because they made some horizontal passes off the rush? Of course not. Carlson, what are you doing? Get it north.

Because they were playing with speed through the neutral zone, which is the whole thing that he's talking about. That's what he wants. That's what he's trying to emphasize. So I have no problem whatsoever with him saying, hey, let's not try to slow the game down so much. Let's play with speed because you know what playing with speed does it gives Pettersson the chance to flex his creativity to be dangerous. When you're backing up the

defenseman you got that creativity. You have the space, you have the time, you don't. So I just I get it look fans are very passionate about the team it's been a super frustrating year and at a certain, I think what happens is you're making jokes on social media, but then like the jokes stop. You, you, you like believe the jokes at a certain point, you know what I mean? And then all of a sudden you're just saying wild things that make no sense. Like, Oh, I bet he hated that goal. It's like, no, because it was a good goal scored with speed off the rush. That's more of what he wants. Um, yeah.

I mean, the whole notion that Tauke it wants to turn Pedersen into a checker. I just don't know where you get that. He's been talking about how he wants Pedersen to attack space and how he wants him to shoot the puck. Um, like it's, it's just not true. I think, I think one of the issues with like a radio interview and, and fans listening, it's and how he wants him to shoot the puck. It's just not true.

I think one of the issues with a radio interview and fans listening, and it's totally understandable. The fans aren't able to have the conversation with the coach and we aren't able to ask every possible follow-up question. One of them would be like, well, that doesn't mean you don't want any East-West passing or any horizontal passing, as you put it. And you'd be like one of them would be like, well, that doesn't mean you don't want any East West passing or any horizontal passing as you put it. And you'd be like, of course not.

Yeah. It's like that's part of scoring off the rush. Yeah. And you can't, you know, the fans aren't able to have that conversation with Rick Tucker where he's like, where he's able to say, well, that's not really what I mean by that. So it is, it is tough, but listen, I think, I think

this, this is a conversation that the Canucks are going to have to have. I mean, first of all, with Rick talking about whether or not he wants to come back and whether or not they can come together on a contract for him, they do need to talk about the style of play and whether or not they are ever going to be able to progress to the type of play and whether or not they are ever going to be able to progress to the type of team,

like a Colorado Avalanche or the Winnipeg Jets when they're at their best or the Florida Panthers. Because those teams don't play the same style as the Canucks do. No. They don't. And what the Canucks have looked at is their roster. And they've said, well, on a night to night basis, on an average game, I don't

think we have the horses to play the same style as a Colorado. Now you never know. Maybe they're wrong about that. I don't know. I I've been wrong before, but I don't see it myself. I don't see the speed through the neutral zone. Um, I don't see them having enough real play drivers up front, but I don't know. Maybe you take the shackles off and they can do it, but don't forget why Rick

Taukett had so much success last season. He taught this team how to play a structured game. They were a defensive disaster before he showed up. Now at some point you do want the team to progress and that's going to be on management to get better players upfront and more skill and more creativity and more speed. But right now, I would, I would say that the team better players upfront and more skill and more creativity and more speed. Um, but right now, you know, I would, I would wager if that the Canucks opened it up and said,

okay, we're back to, I don't know, for lack of a better way of saying it, Bruce Boudreaux style hockey, I don't think it would go well. No, it wouldn't. They need to keep that defensive foundation. And I'd also say, look, there are personnel limitations holding the Canucks back from being a more dangerous rush team.

But so much of this comes down also to Elias Pettersson's performance this year and his lack of production and his inability to be consistently dangerous and to be doing the things that Rick Taukett is stressing and moving his feet and all of those things. If Elias Pettersson was playing at the peak of his powers, I think we'd be having a very

different conversation about what this team is capable of. Right, so, so, um, Rafe just texted in, Rafe in the sewer. Good luck to you. Congratulations, Rafe. He said, boys, looking ahead to the Canucks future, where do each of you think the Canucks are competitively in two years time? Give me your best case and worst case scenarios.

For me, it hinges so much on Pedersen. Yes. Well, and Quinn Hughes. Like best case scenario is in two years, Quinn Hughes has signed an eight year extension. That is the absolute best case scenario. And Pedersen is back to his potential. And if those two things happen, you are

going to have a shot to build a contender, at least a shot. Now you still have to nail some things and you'll need Leckermacky to establish himself. You'll need Volander to establish himself. You'll probably need another prospect further down the rankings to pop and at least play some sort of role. There'll still be things that have to go your way, but if you have Hughes

under contract and 100.2 way, Elias Pettersson, man, that goes a long, long way to building a contender. So that's the best case scenario is you have those two building blocks in place, and then you're just trying to fill things out around it. And you know, I have a certain degree of trust in this management group to be able to fill things out around those players. The worst case scenario is Pedersen never gets back to that and he just walks and then you're hooped.

Then you're in a rebuild, whether you like it or not. Yeah. And the Pedersen contract in some ways is, it doesn't even mean anything cause you're in a rebuild. Yeah, you're like, well, whatever. We don't need that cap space anyways. That's like, it's not even an Albatross at that point. It's just like, okay.

Like it's not like Calgary is weighed down by the Huberto deal right now. They're not even spending to the cap. You know what I mean? So at that point it's just, yeah, we've got this expensive player as the cap increases. Andrew in Victoria texts in, so the question is what happened to the horses they had? Is it a management issue that the team had the best center depth in the league two years ago to what they have now? Okay.

Let's not get caught up on whether or not they did truly have the best center depth. Um, I might take McDavid and Dreisaitl over the fact that the Connaughts did have three very good centers in Pedersen, Miller and Horvat. and I did have three very good centres in Pedersen, Miller and Horvat. I think there needs to be a discussion about what happened and how it got to the point where two of their best players were fighting so badly with each other and unable to get

along to the point where one of them had to be traded. And the other one, how much of that rift had to do with his, you know, or did it, how much of it did it hurt his performance? What was the relation there? I know if they end up, remember it's been one good game. Okay. We're back baby. You know, it's funny, like all the texts are coming in, you know, should, maybe the connect should keep Besser

and it's kind of like, yeah, I get it, man. Like I was watching it yesterday too. It was like, I was into it and you know, like Besser got his feet moving. He looked energetic, you know, he's a good guy. He seemed to be well liked. Quinn Hughes called him a good friend and we gotta keep Quinn happy.

There's still an emotional connection and it's completely understandable to specifically Hughes, Pedersen, Besser. And think back all those years, right? When Hughes made his debut and there was the overtime three on three with them and it was, Hey, this is the future. This is the future. And I get why people aren't ready to give up on that. I completely understand it. You've, you've invested so much emotionally in not just the team, but those three players forming a core group. It's hard to buy into moving on from that for

a lot of fans. And if you're seeing glimmers of hope like that, I get why fans are grabbing at it. Cause it never amounts to anything. Nope. You know, in theory, what the Caddocks had, they had it down the middle. They had a good goal scoring winger in Brock Besser.

They had finally in Vancouver, the number one defenseman, the Norris trophy winner, and they had a Vezna caliber goalie in Thatcher Demko. And it's kind of like, you just, you can't believe that it didn't really, what's it amounted to? Not much. You know, a second- Second round playoff series.

Second round that got to game seven and even in that series, the Wheelers I think were clearly the best team. Yep. So, you know, Rafe, if you ask me, where do you see the Canucks in two years? I have no idea. I have no idea, but a lot of it hinges on the

play of Elias Pedersen. And if Elias Pedersson is playing up to his capability, then I think Quinn Hughes is more likely to stay. Yeah. I mean, it would go a long way. I would think certainly. There was another text that came in earlier

that I wanted to read. This one's unsigned, but it says the Jets were in cruise control, did take over the game in the first half of the second, but Lankenen was spectacular. Great to see Brock score an entertaining game and a win for the kids. He says the Nucks got plenty of bounces, but they also played hard enough to make their chances happen. The point about Lankenen, because you look at it and it's 6-2 and it's all Besser played

really well and Hoaglander and all this and Linus Carlsen, Leckermacky on the power play. You're not going to spend a lot of time talking about the goaltending, but Lankenen was huge in that game. And there were like, Rick Tauke always talks about moments. There's moments. And I think that game was a great example of it. Offensively, you know, the three, one goal with two seconds left in the period. That's a huge moment. But even after the Jets made it three, two in the second, Lankinen had to

make a couple of massive, massive saves to prevent the Jets from tying in. The one off Kyle Connor was incredible. It was absolutely incredible. So- Connor must be thinking, man, I had so much room there. I put it right in the middle of the net. Seriously. And then he made a big one off Shifeley in the second as well.

So he had to make some huge saves. Otherwise, you know, if the Jets tie it up at three, three in that second period, considering how how I think fragile this Canucks team has been so often this year, we're probably sitting here having a very, very different conversation. So I just wanted to read that to highlight Lankton's performance in that game, despite the 6-2 win. You don't think of it as a big goalie performance,

but they needed him in key moments in that game. The loud Titans fan, Texan, big Tennessee Titans fan. Good texture though. What is the path to possibly even getting better than Euler, Stars and Abs? I don't see any path even with Hughes. Brock having a good game reminded everyone that,

I'm not going to read the rest of this, but that he could have gotten a second round pick at least. The path to possibly getting better than the Euler stars and Avs is very difficult. But again, they've made the decision on their number one center. They could change that decision on their number one center. They could change that decision, but there's a reason they gave Elias Pedersen that contract.

And it's not me picking on Pedersen. It's just, I'm telling you the truth here. Pedersen has to play up to that contract. It all starts there. Now what happens after that remains to be seen. They're going to have to be smart in free agency. They're going to have to be smart with any trades. Hedl is going to have to stay healthy and he's going to have to take his game to another level. Leckar Mackey is going to have to pan out. Willender is going to have to pan out.

Right now I may be most bullish about the potential blue line that they could put together with Hughes there and Hronik who wasn't playing with Hughes yesterday, which was noteworthy I think. And you've got Marcus Pedersen there who's I think been up and down a little bit in the last little while, certainly didn't look very good on Ehlers goal, but he's a veteran defenceman that I

think has helped the blue line, helped the stability of the blue line. And then you've got some promising young pieces in DPT and Mancini and Willander coming. Like that could be a really good blue line if Quinn Hughes stays. And even if he doesn't, if those guys pan out, it could be fine.

It could be an okay blue line. You wouldn't have that number one guy, but you might be able to have depth on that blue line. But the forward group to me remains a very, very challenging thing to fix, especially if Pedersen doesn't find his game. And that's why I talk about him so much because fair or not to put so much of it on the number one center in the NHL, imagine if McKinnon's game fell off. Imagine if McDavid's game fell off.

Like that's, you can say it's ridiculous to compare Pedersen to those types of players, but that's the role he's playing on the Canucks. He is the number one center. So he doesn't have to play quite as well as those guys, but he has to play up to his potential. And there's been a lot of bar lowering around Pedersen to the point where half the time I'm like, are we treating this guy like Nikolaj Goldobin here? Like where he makes, you know, a couple of good plays out there. And it's like, he's, you know, that's great to see. He's holding onto the puck and he was able

to pass him back to the point. Awesome. Well, he is in the NHL, you know? It was always the coach's fault, Goldoben too. That was another similarity. Yeah. Like I understand the lowering of the bar to a certain extent because it got so bad for

Pedersen where he was essentially, his coach was saying like, man, you got to have the courage to shoot the puck. Because you know how bad it has to get for you to be like, the coach was like, I just need him to muster up his courage to take a shot on goal. Right? And so hopefully what happens is that bar

slowly gets raised back up again. And we're not, you know, every time that Pedersen makes a nice pass, we're like, he's back, you know, but if it doesn't get raised, if the bar doesn't get raised to answer the question, I think is going to be very, very difficult without a significant rebuild to get back into the upper echelons of the NHL.

The defensive core they've built, if Quinn Hughes sticks around plus peak Pedersen, that gives you a puncher's chance to be a contender, right? Like you need, again, things have to go right. Maybe you need a little bit of luck, but that is a legitimate foundation that you can hope to build around. If Pedersen isn't that if Pedersen is this version of Pedersen where he's like a fringe second line guy probably more like a third line center you're hooped. So yes it makes a massive

difference and there's a reason there's so much conversation around him. We'll take a break here keep sending your texts in we ended up not allowing the dogs to really participate in that segment. Well, maybe we'll try again in the next segment here though. But send your texts in 650, 650 to the Dumbar Lumber Text Line. We got another open segment next. So we'll read some more of your texts here weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. So Welcome back to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd in for Mike Halford.

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serve you or online at DunbarLumber.com. I do want to talk a little bit about what happened last night in the NHL non-Conucks version. Sure. I'm going to read you the first paragraph of Larry Brooks' piece on the New York Rangers performance, Larry Brooks, longtime columnist and reporter for the New York Post. We've had him on the New York Rangers performance. Larry Brooks, longtime columnist and reporter for the New York Post.

We've had him on the show a few times. He is a very honest man. Texted in, the Rangers, texted in, he wrote, the Rangers. Larry's text again, good for him. Big listener of the show. He wrote at the New York Post, the Rangers regained their good name

by turning their season around in January, but the season is long and it has become too long for the Rangers who are soiling themselves again to put a perfect bow on 2024, 25. I was not watching Flames Rangers last night, but I was following along on my phone and I'm looking at the shot totals throughout the game and I'm going, what the heck is going on here?

Where Calgary is going into Madison Square Garden, playing on the second of a back to back after getting trounced in Toronto the night before. And the Rangers are supposedly a desperate team. They're playing Calgary. They're plucky, but they've mostly been like, Hey, great goal timing and hanging in there. How is Calgary going into Madison square garden

and dominating the Rangers possession wise? I don't know what the final shots on goal were, but they were something like three to one ratio. Yeah it was bad. It was like 35-13 or something along. Yeah 35-13 exactly. I think if you consider, okay I know it's a 2-1 score line, but just in terms of like the territorial battle. Calgary on the second half of a back-to-back, on the road, and let's not forget, Calgary is one of the worst offensive teams in the NHL. I mean, think back to when they played the Canucks and there was all those graphics like,

hey, these are two of the worst offensive teams in the NHL. They're bottom of the league in shots, chances, goals, all of those things. For in that situation, for New York to get dominated like they did by that Flames team, in those circumstances, that honestly might be one of the worst performances in the NHL all season. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Like the most shockingly bad. Like you should have seen the comments.

I often go on to a team's social media account and then look at the replies after they're like, it's a final out of New York. And Rangers fans were like, that was disgusting. Yes. That was shameful. That performance against the Calgary flames. It was like, how else can you put it?

And I thought it was really interesting. Um, we had David Amber on, right? And he was saying, you know, JT Miller's losing his composure out there. Like, wow, who saw that coming? Uh, that he was going to lose his composure a little bit. But even, you know, Peter LaViollette can't push the right buttons right now, can't pull the right strings for this team. And we talked to Arthur Staple earlier in the week about the Rangers and you brought up, you know, you look at this roster and Panarin's 33, Zabaniad is 31.

He had a massive fall off this year. Miller's 32, Kreider's 33, Trochek's 31. Like this is an old team and they're already putting up performances like that last night where they're getting run out of the building, run off their home ice. That is a potentially very dark future coming up for the New York Rangers.

It was a massive risk acquiring JT Miller. And a lot of it was, um, just how the Rangers have been looking this season and the vibe in New York. And I, and I realized that most of the, of the analysis so far and the commentary about JT Miller's return has been positive. And they've been saying like, he's what they needed.

Yeah. But he was, you know, when he was in Vancouver, his age was a risk that in some ways, you know, I'm happy that the Canucks no longer have to deal with that age related risk. When teams get old, they can fall off real quick. It's exactly what happened in San Jose. All of a sudden you're like, Oh my God,

this team is old and not very good. That's what happened in Pittsburgh, right? You can have good players that have had really good NHL careers, but if you have too many of them that get to 31, 32, 33, the falloff can be dramatic and we keep hearing things like the Rangers are going to make significant changes. 31, 32, 33, the fall off can be dramatic. And we keep hearing things like the Rangers are going to make significant changes. And you're kind of like, well, how?

Yeah. Like what? Like, are you going to send out another letter to season ticket holders? Like, you know, I think we all admired what the Rangers did to rebuild so quickly. And they had the advantage of being New York. Yes. Right. So guys like Panarin want to sign there and

guys like Trubo want to get traded there. And JT Miller wanted to be in New York. And I don't know if that was for New York reasons, he's really good friends with Trocek and the family friends that grew up together playing hockey. So, so he wanted to be there. But then all of a sudden you're looking at that,

a lot of those names and you're kind of like, well, these guys become problems now. This is the, this is the reality of the hard cap NHL where sometimes if you've got an owner, it's funny, I was reading those athletic rankings of owners and I was, and I was chuckling because, you know, the Canucks ownership did not rank highly. In fact, they ranked 31st out of 32.

And I understand in some cases where, where the fans are coming from, but then I saw like willingness to spend was an issue. I'm like, what are you talking about? That's not true. What are you talking about? Like, not true. What are you talking about? Like, I mean, do they, would it be nice if the Canucks had a practice facility?

Yeah. Um, are there some areas where they might be a little tight? Yeah. Well, they're running a business, but willingness to spend on players is absolutely not a criticism unless you're talking about they're too freely

willing to spend on players. Yes, they're doing the wrong type of spending. Yeah. Yeah, because you can actually spend your way into problems in the NHL, which is a weird way to look at it, but I, I sometimes still feel like people don't quite understand that. You know, yes, there are some cheap owners in

the NHL and that does present a problem, but being cheap with spending has not been a problem with the Canucks. Yeah. I guess the bright side is if you're cheap on players, you'll never get into cap hell. You'll never be like, Oh boy, what are we going to do with our salary cap situation?

Now you'd still rather have the owner that's willing to open the checkbook, right? When hockey ops comes to them and says hey this is a deal that makes sense. You look at the Rangers and for all of the you know good vibes after the JT Miller trade for them and he was producing a ton and all of that it really doesn't mean anything if they miss the playoffs this year because yeah he's under contract till 2030 so it's not just a this year thing, but you're not at his age. You're not acquiring him as, okay, well, this is a guy who's going to help us for the next five years.

You'd love for that to be the case, but you can't bet on it. You can't assume it. You're making that deal to give them a shot in the arm and make a playoff run this year. And if even that, like that should be the part of the trade you're most confident in that he is going to push us to the playoffs and not just that, but hopefully give us a chance to do something once we get there as well. They look like they're going to miss right now. And if they do squeak in, they don't look dangerous at all. And now you've given up a first round pick to get JT Miller in. So yeah, significant changes. I mean, they already tried to give away Chris

Kreider this year. They couldn't, they had to give away Jacob Truba. The Zabanić had full no move or full no trade. Like JT Miller full no trade. You just acquired him. Trocheck has a, has a no trade that'll kick into a modified no trade in the summer. There's not a lot of options. There's not a lot of easy moves where you say, oh yeah,

just deal this guy and we'll completely reshape our roster and they've got some huge, huge problems to try to solve on that team. Um, the Edmonton Oilers last night absolutely pumped the Utah brunch. I don't think that's going to catch on. I don't think that's going to catch on. The Utah Drancers, maybe?

Yeah. The Utah hockey club. Edmonton beat them seven to one. And I tried to turn this into a negative from an Euler's perspective, because I noticed that Calvin Pickard got the start. Yep. There's still no trust in Skinner in Edmonton, is there?

I wouldn't think so. No. And why should there be? You can't have this allegiance to him, as Amber said earlier. If it's like bad start game, one of the playoffs, all right, thanks, you're out. It's Pickard. You know what I mean?

Like there's no leash there whatsoever. I think that now can he build some up early in the playoffs, right? Like if he plays five really good games and then game six is not great, I think you're going back with him the next time. Are you bullish or bearish on the Oilers for the playoffs this season?

I'm somewhat bearish. I'm starting to get bearish. I was. Like 7-1, that's a good win over Utah, which is hilarious that we're, this is, I don't like the others. So, um, but yeah, just the way they were playing before and I also just think their goal-tending

situation is pretty problematic. If you had asked me in December or January, I probably would have said they're my cup pick this year, but they've fallen off enough and the holes on that roster and just the, the lack, like nobody other than Dricidal is really stepping up this year. Nuge is starting to score, which would be

huge for them. That would be massive. But you know, even like the Skinner, Arvidsson, that tier of players on the blue line, Bouchard hasn't had his best season. It's just, there's not enough clicking. And the hard part with the Oilers is you always look at it and think, okay, they've got all these flaws, but if McDavid turns it on, they might be able to beat anyone. And so there's always that doubt lingering in the back of your mind and that still exists, but it can't just be a two horse show there.

It can't just be dry side Olin McDavid carrying them to the cup. They're going to need performances from other players and they just haven't gotten them at all consistently this year. And that's a big deal. Have we talked enough about the St. Louis Blues in this race?

Probably not. Because this is the next opponent for the Canucks. They play them in St. Louis tomorrow and the Blues have now won three in a row and they're coming off a 4-1 win over Nashville. And, um, you know, like we're always trying to figure out what separates these four teams.

And, you know, each, each day we're kind of trying to power rank them. And, you know, we would each day we're kind of trying to power rank them and you know, we would have, yesterday I think we power ranked Calgary last out of the four teams chasing for this final wild card spot. And then Calgary goes in and totally dominates the Rangers.

And you know, we're kind of like, I don't know about the Canucks and then the Canucks have a great performance against the Winnipeg Jets last night and they pumped the Winnipeg Jets six to two. Didn't see that coming. Yeah. Utah. Utah, who we were all talking about like, Oh man, you know, I think they got the

upper hand on the Canucks. They were definitely the better team on Sunday. They go into Edmonton and they lose seven to one. And then the St. Louis Blues have just kind of been around all season. And maybe they're the team that's going to capture it. Who knows? And a lot of people have made the point about their schedule and you look at it coming

up here, home for the Canucks, that's a massive game for them tomorrow. Home against the Blackhawks on Saturday, home against the National Predators who they just beat on Sunday, home against the Montreal Canadians who are playing well, but are not a dominant team either. Away against the Montreal Canadiens who are playing well but are not a dominant team either. Away against the Preds again, so a third game in a span of about nine days against the Predators for them. Then it does get a little tougher, they have to play the Avalanche, but even towards the

end of the season, you know, they've got Pittsburgh in there, they've got the Seattle Kraken, and then they wrap up with Utah, which could be a massive game. There's only, they've got a stretch where they do play the Avs twice, they play the Jets, they play the Oil massive game. There's only, they've got a stretch where they play, they do play the abs twice. They play the jets, they play the oilers. So it's not a complete cupcake schedule, but they've got a lot of very enticing games on their slate left more so than the Canucks do. And the margins are so fine between these teams

that strength of schedule could be the deciding factor here, like the Canucks now, to be fair to the Canucks, they were going to have to beat, they were going to have to get some surprising wins if they wanted to make the class. And last night was wonderful. And they did it. So they need to be able to find another result

against, you know, Vegas at some point here, maybe Edmonton, something like that. But they at least took care of business last night. St. Louis is in a position where they can probably get in if they just take care of business against the teams that they should beat. You know what I mean? They probably don't need surprising wins in order

to make the playoffs. So this six game road trip, it's going to be a real interesting one. Tomorrow against St. Louis, against one of the teams they're fighting. Saturday in New York, and that's a 10 AM start for us, 1 PM New York time against the Rangers. Uh, then they're going to, they're going to stay in that area for

two more games because they play Monday in New Jersey and that's always a special game for Queen Hughes, even though Jack is done for the season. Wednesday they play the Islanders and I don't know if you've been noticing, but the Islanders kind of hanging around in the wild card race again. And that's what Rick Taukett is talking about. We're going to go play in some desperate

buildings because they also finish off the road trip at Columbus and we'll see if Columbus is still. Hanging around. Legitimately hanging around in the, in the playoff race on Friday, March 28th. And then they finished the road trip in Winnipeg against the Jets.

And even though the Jets did not look particularly good last night, you know, they're pretty good home team. And the last time the Canucks went to Winnipeg to play the Jets, the Jets dominated them and I'm sure the Jets will be looking to make up for what happened last night against the Canucks, but

of those six games, you got desperate team in St. Louis, desperate team with the Rangers, desperate team with the Islanders, desperate team with Columbus. Yep. And they are, they're going to need to match that desperation. And that was maybe one of the advantages they had over Winnipeg last night, right? As we talked about in the show yesterday,

Winnipeg has nothing to play for. Yeah. At the moment. So were they 100% locked in going into that game? And I'm not trying to downplay the Canucks result. They need to make that an advantage. You know what I mean? When there is a gap in how much the game means between you and another team,

you need to make the most of that and you need to match the urgency and the desperation of some of those other teams that you're mentioning on the schedule. You know, what was so interesting to see was after Besser tipped home that power play goal, how he noticeably had more energy. Yes. And I always think that's a tell that a player is struggling with his confidence when something good finally happens for that player. And the next shift he's got noticeably more

jump in his step. And we've seen that from Pedersen at times this year too. And I think it's just when guys have confidence, they want the puck on their stick and they want to make plays with it. Well. That they're going to move their feet, they're

going to want the puck on their stick and they're to make plays with it. Well. That they're going to move their feet, they're going to want the puck on their stick and they're going to want to be deceptive and shifty with it. And when they don't, they don't move their feet and they do, you know, what Taukeed has said constantly, the word is defer, is defer to others. And I think anyone that's played any sport at any level knows that feeling of, do you want the ball or the puck or do you not want the puck? And a lot of it comes down to how good am I feeling right now? And I think that's really telling when you see it

play out on the ice. Like Besser, he just had like noticeably more energy and noticeably he was more willing to go out there and try to make stuff happen after he finally tipped home that shot. It's so funny psychologically how, like there was just one play. He got into the right spot.

The Canucks made a nice play. Leckermacky, who I thought should have shot frankly, got it back to Quinn Hughes and then Quinn Hughes shoots from the point. Besser's in a great spot, makes a nice play, Leckermackie, who I thought should have shot frankly, got it back to Quinn Hughes. And then Quinn Hughes shoots from the point, Bester's in a great spot, makes a nice tip, and then like everything changes in that game for him. Everything. When was the last time before last night that we'd seen Bester like make plays

off the rush, right? Because it's later in that first period after he tips home the goal that he is regrouping, but then playing with speeds, the neutral zone. Making a good sharp pass. Making a really nice pass and a nice read. And again, playing with pace. You don't have to be the fastest player to play with pace, right?

You can still make plays off the rush and it's just been so absent in Brock Besser's game. And you know, is part of that adjusting to life without JT Miller for him? Sure. But as you said, sometimes all it takes is that little confidence boost. And then all of a sudden it's like, wait a second.

I'm a good hockey player. I can do things. I can make plays off the rest. Oh yeah, I make millions to play hockey. I must be good at this. I've scored a lot of points in my career. I can do this a little bit. I can make this pass to this guy and it's night

and day for him coming out after scoring that goal. How good would it be if Pedersen and Besser can not only find their game, but find it. With each other. Together. Yeah. I found it sound like our old prime minister. We can find it together and we can get

through this together. That's right. Um, you know, that would be, that would be terrific, you know, like everyone's been, been looking for someone to get this guy going. Yep. And we've been struggling with Besser because the guy he played with before, as he mentioned,

G.T. Miller, they had good chemistry and were kind of like, well, who's going to get them going? Teddy Bluger, Pugh suitor, and then Elias Pedersen were kind of like, no, no, no. Who's going to get him going? Who's going to get him going? Who's going to get him going, right? What about if they did it together?

That would be nice. And they could hold hands. They could be friends together. They could be friends. Friends out there making plays. Well, I do think it's interesting. Somebody texted this in, I don't have it in front of me, but there's a relationship with Pedersen and Besser.

We know Pedersen and Holglander are friends as well. Does that play a role in it for Peterson? Just like, Hey, I like these guys. I'm out here with two guys I like. I've played with them before. I know them well. And I think when Holglander is on his game, his style really helps.

There's a level of comfort there and familiarity with the players. At the very least you've got something that is worth going back to. And how many times have you and I, other people in the station, other people in the market said they need Patterson and Besser going. They need Patterson and Besser going. If the answer is playing them together and all of a

sudden out of nowhere, you have a legit top line, not necessarily an elite top line or anything, but just like a top line you feel good about. When's the last time they had that this year? Like not since JT Miller's left. Have you had a top line that you look at and think, you know, I have a, I have confidence they're going to score a goal or they're going

to be dangerous tonight. They haven't had that. If they do, that completely changes the dynamic of their playoff push. Have they had that all season? Not really. Yeah. Like JT Miller had some stretches, but even

he was not anywhere near his best when he was here. I mean, the line juggling, and I understand why Tauke was doing, maybe he was doing it a little bit much, but I had, I would come in every morning and be like, who was on the lines again? Like. Seriously. It was.

Who was playing together? Sure, was Sherwood up there? You know, it just got to be where there was absolutely no continuity. Thomas Drantz is going to join us next. Sorry, you've probably thought you had the week off from Thomas Drantz. That's all right.

But it's nice to talk to Thomas after a real tough loss for Utah in Edmonton. Seven, one loss for Drantz's Utah. Hate to see it. You're listening to the Alfred and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.