Halford & Brough in the Morning - Have The Canucks Damaged Their Relationship With Rick Tocchet?

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk yesterday's Stanley Cup playoff results plus the holdup with Rick Tocchet re-signing with the Canucks (3:00), plus they chat tonight's NHL playoff matchups with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski. 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- They score! They score! This one took a bounce out front! And the Panthers have taken a 3-2 lead! Hits with Rantonin! Fed there! Score! Miko Rantonin against Colorado! You can open one hand and sh** in the other and see which one fills up first. Good morning, Vancouver! 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Alfred and his Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kid Tech Studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Andy, good morning to you. Good morning. Enter Kieran, good morning to you. Good morning. And Greg, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Alfred and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. 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. Big show ahead on a Tuesday guest list. Today begins at 6.30.

Greg Wyshinski from ESPN, our NHL analyst, is gonna join us. Two games from last night's Stanley Cup playoffs to look back on. Four more tonight to preview. We can also discuss Mike Sullivan's departure for the Penguins and what it means for the coaching carousel moving forward. We'll talk to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN at six 30 about all that.

Seven o'clock Nick Shook from NFL.com is going to join the program. We'll take a look back at the NFL draft. We'll talk about the situation in Cleveland with Shader Sanders. We can also ask him about the Philadelphia Eagles Monday visit to the White House, where Donald Trump said that he likes the tush push and he hopes that they keep it in the NFL.

It's important news. I didn't see that. He said that. They flew under the radar. It was a busy day yesterday. Locally, there was a lot going on. Donald Trump likes the tush push. He didn't realize they were talking about football.

Right. So that's going to be at seven o'clock, eight o'clock, Arif Dean is going to join us from Colorado hockey now. The Avalanche are on the brink of elimination after a 6-2 loss in Dallas in game five of their first round series. Tough night for Mackenzie Blackwood in net.

For the Colorado Avalanche. So we'll talk to Arif about the team that he covers who are now facing elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs. So really quick, working in reverse on that guest list. Eight o'clock Arif Dean, seven o'clock Nick Shook, 6.30, Greg Wyshinski. We got a lot to get into on the program today.

So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? today. So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody 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. With everything that's going on in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, both last night and tonight, and everything else in the world of sports, we are still going to start with the Vancouver

Canucks. Specifically, a question about head coach Rick Tauket. What's the holdup here, Jason? Well, there are lots of questions right now. Uh, what's the holdup with Rick Tocket? Um, how will it look if he says no to the Canucks? If it's not Tocket, who will be coaching the Canucks next season?

Because I think we might be getting to the point now, or might have to start discussing some candidates. But let's start with what's the holdup. It might be as simple as the Canucks not meeting talk its price, but you also have to wonder if he's got his eye on another job like Philadelphia. There's a lot of candidacies out there and you'll recall that the Canucks, when the flyers

fired torts, were a little frustrated with all the talk in this town and pretty much in Canada, in the United States about, Ooh, maybe, maybe talk it to the flyers. And that's kind of the, kind of when it started the whole option thing. Sure. We got this option.

We're going to use it, right? They were frustrated. kind of when it started the whole option thing. Sure. We got this option, we're going to use it, right? They were frustrated and I think it was Philadelphia specifically that really got them upset. The Flyers were the spark, I think for sure. Which is. You go back chronologically.

Yes. But I wonder if they maybe knew something because we're going to play some audio from Elliot Friedman, who was on the Donnie and Dolly show yesterday. And he seemed to suggest that it was either going to be the Canucks or the Philadelphia Flyers. I think we're going to know soon. Um, you know, I don't know if it's going to be

today, but I had some people say to me this morning, like, Oh, no, knows, like today could be the day. But Rick, I knew I was coming on your show and I made sure to make some texts. I actually did some homework before I came on. And, you know, as it stands right now, just about before, excuse me, before I came on, there was no decision at this time. I think people are hoping it'll be done this week. As of Friday, and things

can always change, but as of Friday, nobody had been given permission to talk to Taukeit. So he was not legally allowed to talk to other teams. I know, I mean, I think you reported the talk it was back in town last week. I think there were some meetings with the Canucks on Friday and at the end of last weekend to talk about things. I think we're getting, this has taken a bit longer than I thought, I admit, but I think we're getting there and I think we're gonna get a decision one way or the other pretty soon.

So what's your feel and gut? Seven openings after Pittsburgh, Elliot. If Tauke doesn't come back in Vancouver, I mean, this guy's gonna land a job somewhere. I mean, there's gonna be a lot, after Pittsburgh, Elliot. If Tauke doesn't come back in Vancouver, I mean, this guy's gonna land a job somewhere. I mean, there's gonna be a lot, he's gotta be on a lot of teams radar, Elliot. He is, there's no question about that.

I've still believed, you know, like I said, I think now that Sullivan's on the market, he's the Rangers number one guy. I think Tauke was a potential mix in New York, but I think Sullivan rockets to a potential mix in New York, but I think Sullivan Rockets to the top of their list. I really do think if it like I really do think if he's coaching next year The most likely outcomes are Vancouver and Philadelphia and and we'll see where it goes You know, I think in Vancouver part of it is contract. I think part of it is I mentioned on the pod today

Yeah Hoover, part of it is contract. I think part of it is I mentioned on the pod today, you know, I went back and I listened to Rutherford and he talked quite a bit about the practice facility and initially I kind of glossed over it because, you know, I'm not there like you guys are. Sometimes I don't, sometimes I look at things like that and I say, I don't know if that's, you know, so much something I have to worry about. Well, someone said to me that there was, that there was a reason that Rutherford talked about that quite a bit and it's because talk it's brought it up. So I think contract is a big one but I think also practice facility, Quinn Hughes future direction but to me I've

always believed that you know can they agree on a contract and can they get the practice facility done what's Quinn Hughes thinking? Yep. And I think it all kind of morphs from there. But you know, like I said, Rick, I think we're getting close and like I said, I think it's, my bet is if he's coaching next year, it's either in Vancouver or Philadelphia.

So a lot to chew on there. Again, it might be as simple as the Canucks not meeting Tauett's price. And if they come up or Rick Tuckett comes down a little bit, maybe they just come to a number that makes sense for both sides and they sign and they move on to the off season. But you know, I think after the season that the

Canucks went through and with things like the practice facility and the specter of Quinn Hughes, his contract being up in two years, and at that point, he could go anywhere he wants. You do have to wonder if Tauquets, just thinking like, just thinking like, is this a place where I can succeed? Talked at 61 years old, he's won a lot during his career as a player and coach, but he's never won a Stanley Cup as a head coach. And he did not try and hide the fact that this season was extremely taxing on him and the rest

of the coaching staff. And I know you're supposed to meet pressure with pressure and embrace the hard. Who said that anyway? I can't remember. I think it was Winston Churchill. Yes. But there's also the notion, and I just kind of mentioned this, of putting yourself into a

position to succeed. Does he see that with the Canucks? And I realized that there's no perfect jobs open right now. The Philly job, there's a long way to go in Philly, but at least he'd just be kind of like day one there. You know, the Philly job must be tempting too. If the Canucks don't block him from trying to get it.

He's such a Philly guy and I'm sure he'd love to help turn the flyers around. I think that would be tempting with all the ex flyers there, Danny Breary in charge, and the flyers looking for some guidance. They need some guidance and Tauke could be a guy that goes in there and he's a hero in that city. He's in the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He is like, he, I don't know what the flyers want to do. I don't know if they want to maintain this long

term identity that they've got, or if they think that's a good idea to do. But like, if you bring back Tauket, who is not just kind of like a gimmick head coach either, you know, like when Gretzky went and coached the Coyotes, it was kind of like, you know, that's a bit of a gimmick, but like, Tocket won coach of the year.

Like last season. And, um, you know, if he goes to Philly, I think he would be really embraced there. Cause there's, let's face it, there's, you know, half the fan base right now, it seems like, does not embrace Rick Tocket. And he went through a lot of stuff this season and he doesn't have a practice facility, which brings us to my next question.

How will it look if he says no to the Canucks? And we've kind of hinted at this a few times on the show. The answer, the obvious answer is it will look awful for management and the organization, obviously. Now, you know, this is life and life is unpredictable. Maybe there's a chance it's a blessing in disguise and the connect find someone who meshes better with the players. But you know, let's say this week it comes out that they couldn't come together on a contract and

talk it is granted permission to go talk to other teams and he's like, Oh, I'm going to Philly. That's going to be hard to spin. That's going to be hard to spin. Um, especially if it's over money. The Canucks are supposed to be one of the big money teams in the league. But if they can't afford their own coach, they don't have a practice facility. And oh yeah, they're bickering over relative pittance to sign their top prospect.

People are going to start to wonder, Hey, what's up? And the biggest question is how Quinn Hughes would see a failure to sign the head coach that he went out and said I want this guy back and if it was about money and Quinn Hughes is sitting there going like Is the the organization can't afford to sign my head coach, right? There is There's art. I think there's already some damage done with the way that this has played out.

It feels like there's been a certain strong arming from both sides. Talk, it's demanding. Uh, if you believe all the reports, a certain level of compensation, which is fair, but it does seem like this is dragged out to the point where there'll be, there'll be a lingering sense of why did it take so much

and so long and so much work to bring a guy back to a job he already had, where a year ago, he was the coach of the year, they won 50 plus games, they had a hundred plus points, and they were one win away from going from a conference final. Like there's obviously going to be a lot of questions about how happy he is there. I think the level of convincing that would need to, or that is

needing to happen right now is worrisome because the other jobs out there, sure they've got some enticing aspects to them, but we've broken them down thoroughly over the last couple weeks on the show. There's warts on all these other jobs as well, like none of these are perfect gigs that you'd be walking into. Now granted, there's not always perfect gigs that you walk into. Usually when a vacancy happens, it's because coach got fired because it didn't go well last season. But I mean, you look at Philadelphia and I understand that it ticks a lot of boxes. They also have a practice facility by the way, in Voorhees, New Jersey. Yes. Um, Philadelphia job, you're not winning next year.

You're probably not winning the year after that. And then you're talking about year three of your tenure as a head coach in a league where coaches don't last that long. So that's, and then if you go through some of these other jobs, like Fried said, Sullivan sounds like he's the primary candidate for the Rangers job.

Uh, I don't know what happens in Pittsburgh now. Maybe that's an option as well, but there's no great other options out there yet those are being considered at least as strongly as the Vancouver job and Rick talk its eyes. If you're going to believe the reporting from, from Freed, which I would imagine is pretty accurate.

So there's already going to be some damage with regards to how will it look? Because even if he comes back, I think there's going to be that lingering, took a lot of convincing to get you back here. Who are the three, who would you say are the three key players on the Canucks? Because I would go with Hughes, Pedersen, and

still I would go Demko. Yep. Okay? Yeah, yeah. And let's, I mean, even if you wouldn't, even if you wouldn't pick those three, it's the number one center, the number one defenseman, and I still think when healthy, the number one goalie. There is so much uncertainty with all three of those. Yeah.

And if you're the head coach, you're kind of like, don't you have to make a bet? I mean, someone texted in and said, that's a really good point about he's the guy that says, meet pressure with pressure and embrace the heart. And now what? He's going to bail.

But you do have to, if you get to the point where you're an unrestricted free agent or a free agent, like Tauke it is about to become, he's still under contract to the Canucks technically, but he doesn't have a contract for next season yet. You do have to make a decision at that point and go like, where am I in a position to succeed? God, how many times have we seen that in our industry?

Like, you know, like, oh, I got this opportunity. You know, oh yeah, well, what time's the show at? Uh, what kind of exposure are you going to get? Who's your cohost? What kind of support do you have? It's like. Who are your producers? Yeah, yeah, who are your producers?

Like, oh God, is it those two? She's a couple of dogs. Well, good luck. And we can be like, I'm excited for you to get the opportunity. And then Halford and I will go and we'll talk behind their backs and be like, this is going to go badly for them. That's a disaster.

Because it's put yourself in a position to succeed. And if you're talking, and you've already been here, right, he is the, believe it or not, and you just made, you made a good point about how coaches don't last long in the NHL much anymore. Um, Tauke is the eighth longest tenured head coach in the NHL. Right?

They don't last long. So what happens if there's another down year in Vancouver? Do you think the fan base is going to rally around him? No, no, obviously not. No, right? And it's kind of like... Well, a lot of the goodwill that he sort of built up over his first year in Vancouver is whittled away.

Except with the media. Except with the media. He was always going to bat for this guy. The water carrying media. I mean, it is true. I mean, the media is except with the media, it was always going to bat for this guy. The water carrying media. I mean, it is true. I mean, the media is more supportive in general, I would say, than the fan base. And there's a few reasons for that.

I think the defensive hockey or, you know, the low event hockey that we've seen a lot of in Vancouver this season, and frankly, at the end of last season. And a lot of people don't like it. And a lot of people who are Pedersen supporters are kind of like, well, I actually want a different guy in because clearly this is not working. Yep. That's fair.

And it is fair. I mean, everyone's got their opinions and Tachit himself would come out and said, hey, it's sports. People are going to have their opinions. And when the team doesn't perform, you know, criticism is going to be made. But I, you know, I, again, like there's, it's crazy to say because Tauke it really hasn't

been here that long, but the idea of a fresh start in a place like Philadelphia, where he's already a hero and he's going to get way more of a benefit of the doubt than here in Vancouver. It must be, I'm not even going to say might be tempting, it must be tempting. Okay, so let's work on the notion that there is a possibility that Rick Tuckett might not be back as the Vancouver Canucks head coach next season.

The next question is, well, who will be? Yesterday on Canucks Central with Sat and Dan, Frank Zara Valley joined the program and he threw out an interesting name about the job with a guy that has ties to the Pittsburgh mafia now residing here in Vancouver, Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen. Here is Frank Zara Valley on Canucks Central yesterday

talking about if there is a potential coaching vacancy in Vancouver and who might fill it. Frank Zervalli right here. Yeah, I think that's really well put. Just because it's a record for the Canucks doesn't mean that it's up to snuff for the rest of the marketplace as a whole, which by the way, I think is going to change in a significant way because Mike Sullivan is going to have the opportunity now to raise the bar on coaching salaries. He was already the second highest paid coach. There's a reason why the Penguins didn't really fret in making this decision and parting ways because they believe that he's going to have a job within the week, I was told. And so

within the week and theoretically for a higher number, the penguins are off the hook. And it's not a financial commitment that they need to worry about anymore because of the offset. The other interesting thing about the Mike Sullivan situation is everyone is so focused on the Rangers, which I think is a great fit and probably the very clear odds on favorite to land Mike Sullivan.

And then of course you've got the Bruins and you've got that whole, you know, Northeast geographical reason. But I have to tell you in talking to people close to Mike Sullivan today, they mentioned if things don't work with Rick Cockett and the Canucks, don't sleep on the idea of a Mike Sullivan and Jim Rutherford reunion. I mean, look, I'm not going to say that there's nothing there. I'm somewhat skeptical that the Canucks would be able to land Sullivan, especially if the Rangers

go hard after him. And I'm not even sure if it's a good idea to keep trying to recreate the Pittsburgh organization in Vancouver. There's only one Sidney Crosby and none of these guys would have been successful without him. And he will not be walking through that door in Roger's arena anytime soon.

Unless he is, unless they make that happen, in which case let's go, let's get Mike Sullivan, and bring Gino here. Why not? Get them all. Mark Andre Fleury, you're back. Coonence, you're back. Look, I'm sure Frank is talking to a lot of

people that are kind of like wondering themselves too. Right? If he can't make it happen with Talk It, Rutherford is a guy that gets after it. Of course he's going to try and bring Sullivan here. Of course he would. It's the same thing. Like it's the same idea about, well, we're worried

about Queen Hughes leaving for New Jersey. Let's find a way to get the Hughes boys here. Here. Like I know a lot of people thought he was joking about that and there might've been some humor to it, but I have heard they've kicked it around. Of course they've kicked it around.

Like I don't know how serious it's become, but of course they've kicked that idea around. How couldn't they? You know, like, are you just going to immediately dismiss that idea? You know, you're sitting around talking just like we do on this radio show and we get texts in, you know, what about bringing, what about bringing the Hughes boys here? What, what will we need to do to make that happen?

Now it might be a short conversation because it's like, wow, we can't and New Jersey's in no position to do that deal. What are we going to do? What kind of package could we put together to bring Jack Hughes and his brother here that wouldn't, that is respectful of what New Jersey wants. So why not think, well, if we can't get Tauke, why not get Mike Sullivan?

Now you'd have to make that case to ownership because if you think Rick Tauke is asking for a lot of money, Mike Sullivan's going to ask for even more and just, justifiably so. Yep. He's been considered one of the best coaches in the NHL for the past decade. He's won two Stanley Cups as a head coach. Rick Tocket has not won a Stanley Cup as a head coach.

Now, if it's not Tocket and if it's not Sullivan, we've had a few people texting in about Manny Malhotra because he's got the AHL team going so well. We've had a few people texting in about Manny Malhotra because he's got the AHL team going so well. And I guess they could, they could do it, but if they do, they need to add some serious experience to that coaching staff. And I really do think it should be noted that it's way different coaching an NHL team than an AHL team.

The players are just in a different mindset. Down in the AHL, they're like, what do I need to do to make it? And in the NHL, especially with some guys that have already made it and already got paid and they're not worried about being sent down to the AHL. It's different. And I think all you have to do is look at what happened with Pedersen and Miller last season and go like, yeah, I don't really, that doesn't like, you don't see that story in the AHL.

The two highest paid players on the, you know, the Tucson road runners or something, can't get it wrong. And it's like, well, they all make 70 grand or whatever, you know what I mean? Like I'm joking there. Like it's. Tuckson. It's just, it's just different.

And I know Manny's been behind the bench in Toronto and Vancouver and he, and obviously played in the NHL for a long time. So he knows how things are in the NHL, but there's also a difference with the media obligations, like every day, pretty much as a head coach, you have to go out and face the questions every day before a game, after a game, after a morning skate, after a practice,

like it is constant. And, um, you know, I know it's not the biggest part of the job, but it is something that becomes taxing and I think we saw that with Rick Tauke at this year. Yep. What about just hiring Jim Hughes? Just Quinn Hughes' dad?

Yeah, he's coached before. Then the brothers might come over here. 4D chess. I like that. Don't go after the brothers. I like the way you think. Go after the father. Yeah.

It's like minor hockey. Yeah. Does your dad want to coach? Yeah. Does he want to be the manager? He has to make decisions. Just collect every other Hughes and eventually Go after the father. It's like minor hockey. Yeah, does your dad want to coach? Yeah, you want to be the manager? Just collect every other Hughes and eventually they'll all come together. Okay, we got a lot more his last job Didn't he coach in the KHL? He coached in the KHL. He was the head coach of the A HL's Manchester Monarchs He hasn't been behind a bench in an awfully long time

Well, maybe that it shouldn't get back that just means he's been learning. You know what? I know you're joking, but I think we should push this narrative. I think we should really do it. You know. Lean into it. Everyone, again, oh, the simple minds out there, like just get the brothers. The advanced minds are like go for the dad.

That's how you recruit a junior. Just give the dad a job with the team. That's all you gotta do. You got him in the bag. The dad is coach, the mom is manager. Moms are so organized. Yep. Right?

Do you know how to run team snap? We need someone to do that. You're sad. Kyle Pedersen signed out. Yeah, for all, no, okay, anyway. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the program. Coming up, Greg Wachinski is gonna join us. We will turn our attention

to the two Stanley Cup Playoff games from last night and the four that are on tap tonight. Two teams are facing elimination tonight, including Greg's beloved New Jersey Devils. So we'll get into all that coming up next. Greg Wyszynski, our NHL insider from ESPN, next on the Halford and Brough 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. 631 on a Tuesday. It's actually 632. I can't read a clock. You're listening to the Halpern and Brev Show on Sportsnet 650. Halpern and Brev of the morning is brought to you by Sands Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday,

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Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of 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. To the phone lines we go. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN joins us now, here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

What up, Wysh? Hello, everybody. It's another day, another day to playoffs. This is where I'm gonna lament my East coast bias in the sense that games go late, man. Not gonna lie to you. Games go late. What did you think of what happened down in,

where was the game? It was in sunrise, wasn't it? Yes. Yeah. I'm confused because all the road teams. Just say Florida. Just that. Yeah, no, no, no.

All these. I know. Just say Florida. What did you think of how Florida pulled off that win and also Coop's reaction after the game when he got asked about all the controversial hits in the series? And asked the media what their opinion was. Yeah, that was funny.

Beautiful work from Cooper, honestly. Um, you know, I've been, I've been in press conferences like that before, where, uh, we're like a coach will turn it around and be like, what, you know, to a reporter, well, what do you think? And I never get, I never get picked for those questions because I would literally stand up and

opine for an hour about whatever they're asking. I'm glad you asked, John. Yeah, I'm glad you asked. Can I come up to up in Opine for an hour about whatever they're asking. I'm glad you asked John. Yeah, I'm glad you asked. Can I come up to the podium actually? I'm just going to sit right next to you. Yeah. Like, like I saw during a Cam Neely's press conference last week for the Bruins, like

Kevin Paul DuPont, who's like a Hall of Fame reporter for the Boston Globe, asked a question about their draft strategy. And Cam Neely was like, well, what, you know, what picks didn't you like? Or like or like what did you think and I'm just like oh my god if it were me if it were only me I'd be like you know in this and then in the sixth round in 2013 but anyways so I kind of figured Florida was gonna do that last night I in Tampa played Tampa played pretty well in their win game three and got a really good game out

of Asoleski but if you looked inside the numbers the Panthers kind of had their best offensive showing of the series in that game so there was nothing in that game under the hood that really gave you the sense that Tampa was tipping this thing and as you watched it you know the the depth that we thought was going to be there for the Lightning kind of isn't. You know, they they're relying a lot on Vasileski and overall, I mean, Florida just seemed to have a different gear at home at times. Now, granted, you know, the lightning did a hell of a job last night after Hegel went out. They took the lead and, you know, in 11 seconds, then the Panthers come back and do the same thing later in the game.

But you know, I think the series is where it should be right now based on the play of both teams. And ultimately, I think it was probably lost for Tampa in game one. Okay, I got it. There's no justification for Echblad not being penalized last night, not being out of that game, and then being able to contribute. I believe he scored the game tying goal,

the first of the two goals in 11 seconds for the Panthers. I mean, that is, that's about as egregious a miss as it gets from the officials. And I don't understand how there wasn't some mechanism, given they've got all the tools they need. They've got iPads and cameras and phones and a situation room that they could have reviewed that. They've got a wobbly Brandon Hagel skating off the ice.

Like all the components were there to be able to make sure they got that right. And they didn't. And now I guess we just sit and wait for the inevitable Aaron Echblad has a hearing or tweet coming out from the Department of Player Safety. I think what has to happen in this league, based on where the current rules are,

is that anytime there's a concussion or an injury that is the result of a collision between two players, you have to call a major. Right. Like every time. And then you review it. In the Devils game against Carolina the other day, Timo Meyer got a major penalty for colliding with Freddie Anderson.

Yeah. And then they reviewed it and they decided there would be no punishment. And so that's the current mechanism. The current mechanism is that you can call a major anytime you want and you've got four officials on the ice. And let's be honest boys, you also have a Jumbotron that they all look at you know they lie and say

they don't of course we know they look at the jumbotron and so like they they should just they should what they should have done last night is what they usually do in a situation like that which is we don't know what's going on we need to figure this thing out we'll call a major penalty we'll review it if there's something then we'll give it to them. If there's nothing, then we play on. And I understand why it wasn't called in the moment because my friend Dave Jackson on ESPN broke this down.

The referee is actually looking in a different direction when the play happens. So he doesn't actually see the forearm hit Hagel's head. He just kind of sees the aftermath of the play. And then there's another official behind them that's kind of like watching the puck at that point. So I get why they missed it, but there is a mechanism in place where if a player is injured on a hit and call something, you can review it, you can check it out, and then if it's, if there's nothing there, you play on. And so maybe we need to make that mandatory because that's how you

avoid situations like that last night. Well, and that's what I thought Cooper, like I liked what he had to make that mandatory, because that's how you avoid situations like that last night. Well, and that's what I thought Cooper, I liked what he had to say, that I don't think he wanted to go down the road, but he could have easily pointed that out. I mean, can someone explain to me why that didn't happen? Because you brought up a good point. We talked about the Meyer-Freddie Anderson incident from the weekend, and that seems like the textbook way on how to handle this. Did we get a great look at the incident? No, but there's an injury, there's a

collision and we've got this out almost for the officials. We call the five in a game and then we can go back and take a look at it. Like that's a big failing on officiating last night in my eyes especially since and we pointed this out you've got the NBA running its playoffs at the exact same time offering reports at end of games and everything talking about, okay we got this wrong, this didn't go the way that it should have and I know it doesn't make anything better in the moment but at least there's transparency about the way things should go and how they didn't go. And we're not even talking about becoming the NBA which is you know become a sport where

there's like shot-by- shot reviews depending on where the game is, you know, as far as like, is it a three, is it a two, how much time is left. I spend more time looking at the hard cam pointed at a referee as he's watching a television screen than I do watching the game half the time. But in this case, like, it's a huge turning point in the game. It's a major penalty. It is a penalty against a player who just came back from a suspension, and we all knew there'd be some level of retribution in this game for him going after their captain.

Like, that is the epitome of why you should be able to call a major in that situation. But they didn't. They blew it. And here's the thing we all have to kind of worry about now. Because I haven't seen anything from player safety yet this morning I haven't talked to any sources this morning about whether it's gonna be a hearing or whatever and this is this is this is something my homies in Vancouver will understand Gregory Campbell works for the Florida Panthers okay and already last night I was getting messages from media in Tampa saying,

hey, Wish, your story about the Colin Campbell emails has been sent to me several times. Should I batten down the hatches for a conspiracy theory that Colin Campbell is not penalizing the team that his son is an executive for. I don't think you should. I fully expect Eklad is going to get a hearing for what happened last night. But the fact that, you know, there's already people that think Kachak should have been suspended. I completely disagree with that. But that took that gave Florida some heat. If nothing happens to Eklad after last night with an injury on the play, I mean, get ready for the Colin Campbell discourse

to come back around again. Yeah, brother. I'm already there. I saw Colin Campbell's picture like four times on Twitter last night. This is bad. Trending in a bad direction. The Campbell's have been running this league for too long now. It is, it is his own fault.

Everything that comes down on that man, it is his own fault. He used his position as a position of influence to try to get some benefit for his kid and his team. It is a fact. It's not even a point of debate. And the fact that this guy still works for the league and was inducted into the hockey hall of fame is, you know, we talk a lot about Betman's legacy. Yeah. And that's not really one of the high points

of Betman's legacy, having gotten this guy's back for as long as he has. Wish, I do want to ask you about the Mike Sullivan news and how it might affect the coaching carousel because we're here in Vancouver and we're, you remember that waiting on Guffman? We're, we're waiting on Tocket right now. Yeah.

And it's interesting. That was one of the things I thought about when I saw the Sullivan news yesterday, which is that everybody's like drawing the line between Rick Tocket and the Philadelphia Flyers. And I'm like, oh right. He also played in Pittsburgh and was an assistant there and had a lot of success there.

And now all of a sudden there's a new hockey nepotism thing to worry about if you're a Vancouver fan. I've never seen a coaching carousel like this, boys. Like, the idea that, you know, we're going to have a Quenville hiring of some sort this cycle. The fact that, you know, Tocket may or may not leave. The fact that Sullivan has left. You know, you have other coaches like Woodcroft out there and others that are has left. You know you have other coaches like Woodcroft out

there and others that are highly desirable. It's a crazy cycle so you know what are the Penguins ultimately gonna do? I don't know. Kyle Dubas talked about the idea of there being some coaches that are still in the playoffs not only in the NHL but the AHL that they wanted to talk to. You have to imagine if it's still Sid and Malkin and Letang there next year, that they probably can't go with someone too young, right? But ultimately, I don't know what direction they go now after parting ways with Sullivan. But as far as Sullivan goes, I can't imagine that the Rangers aren't going to just

open up the bank account to get that guy in there. They've wanted him forever. It's a veteran team, you know, that, that I think they, they believe still has a window to win and why not get Mike Sullivan in there to be that guy. What are you hearing about Philly? Because, uh, Freage was on in our market yesterday and he was saying, if I had to bet, uh, when it comes to Rick Tauket, he's going to be

coaching next season in Vancouver or Philly. Yeah, I mean, that's the sense I think we all get is that, you know, he has that, that affinity for that franchise and his, there's always been talk around that team that he ultimately would, would end up there. But again, I can't, I can't climb into, into Tocket its head and understand what it is he really wants right now. If he wants to be a bit closer to winning, there are better opportunities out there than the Flyers.

If he wants the comfortability and the chance to really kind of like probably have a good portion of power given who else is in management there, I think Philly is a good spot for him. But yeah, I mean ultimately you start to see the broad strokes of how this thing will probably play out right. I mean there's, Quenville interviewed in Anaheim, if they're comfortable with the amount of backlash they're going to get, I think he's probably a smart choice there. I mean from a hockey perspective, even though I don't think he should coach in the league again, if Tocket leaves Vancouver, you could see him in Philly. If, you know, with Sullivan out of Pittsburgh,

you can see him in New York. Like you start to kind of see the broad strokes of how this whole thing is going to play out. And then, and then there's some mysteries about, you know, Hey, look, if, if, if Colorado gets gassed in the first round by, by a broken down Dallas team, are we sure Bednar's okay? I don't know.

Then if Bednar's not okay, then all of a sudden the David Carl thing probably boomerangs back around because that's the job he wants. Yeah. Jared Bednar's replacement was actually sitting behind him yesterday in Dallas. It was fantastic last night.

It was pretty good. But for real though, like we've been talking about all these teams, all these teams that are like, disasters, like like oh my god Can you imagine if Winnipeg goes out again with the way the hell of bucks played and oh my god What a disaster it would be if XYZ loses the first round Like I don't think we've given enough thought and maybe we should now that Dallas has the lead The Colorado went all in for this team at the trade deadline. They knew to their goal-tending

You know, they they they got Landis Cog back. They're playing a Dallas team, missing their top defensemen and second leading scorer. And they might lose in six. Like I, I think that is a huge amount of disappointment in this league of Colorado loses the next game. I mean, massive. Yeah.

They were my cup pick. I thought they were going to win the cup, but, but all along I was like, they just got to get through the first round. It was a tough matchup for them. What did you think of last night? Not an ideal way to start the game. No, not an ideal way to start the game.

And then the minute they looked like they were going to really put the screws to them with that McKinnon goal, then all of a sudden Dallas is off to the races again. I thought two things. First off, we probably need to put out an APB for Kail McCarr. Like for all the talk about Star stepping up and not stepping up like that guy has been unimpactful in this playoff in a way that I find very peculiar. And then the second thing is I got to give Pete DeBoer all the credit in the world for last night because he you know got up and talked before the game yesterday and explicitly said, you

know, our top guys have not been good at all in this series. And then you start to look at the numbers and coming into game five, it was like Hint said one point, Ranton had one point, Duchene had no points. Like he's completely right that it's been the Harley show and no one else as far as their offense goes. And then look, look who hit the square sheet last night. It, you could say it's a matter of time for all

that to happen, but then you can also say the coach challenging his star players at the right time is what got Dallas that win last night. And we'll see if it carries over to game six. Hey Wish, I want to get your thoughts on, on Philly and where Philly's at right now, just as it relates to Rick Tocket, because, um, you know, we were talking about Tocket trying to put

himself into a position to succeed and you might look at the Vancouver situation and let's be honest, there's a lot of uncertainty there. Uh, whether Quinn Hughes is going to be here for much longer, where, whether Pedersen is going to be able to bounce back. Um, you know, they've still got Thatcher Demko here and his health is a massive wild card. is going to be here for much longer, where whether Pedersen is going to be able to bounce back. You know, they've still got Thatcher Demko here and his health is a massive wild card.

So a lot of uncertainty here, but where exactly is Philly in their retool rebuild? Like where, what are they looking at down the middle, because that's the number one topic of conversation in Vancouver when it comes to the roster. Well, I haven't, I haven't checked the Philadelphia depth chart in a few weeks, I have to admit, because the playoffs started and they

aren't in it. So I couldn't tell you about their center position, but I could tell you that they have Matthew Mitchgoff. They've got a nice collection of younger players in that roster right now. Um, their goaltending is terrible. I mean, it's not even a conversation to be had that that is maybe the biggest disappointment

of the season for Philly in the sense that they thought maybe they had something in Fedotov and it didn't work out. And clearly that franchise losing Carter Hart in the manner in which they did, I think, set them down a path that they've not been able to recover from in the crease. They've got some players, I mean, but they're in a rebuild. As much as John Tortorello was able to squeeze out of that team last season, this season they sort of showed their stripes as far as like how far away they are from contention. So, you know, there's no question that Vancouver has more pieces in place that they can build

around to try to win in the near future. And Philly's a bit of a longer play, but, but it's not, it's not a barren landscape there. Uh, you know, when you're starting point is, you know, a guy with the dynamic play of a Mitchcoff, you're doing okay for yourself. What do you, do you think coaches are cognizant of, I'm sure they're cognizant, but I'm

wondering what they think about this notion, this reality that a lot of them only last two or three years. Like we were joking around at the fact that Tauke it is now the eighth longest tenured head coach in the NHL and it doesn't feel like he's been here for long. Well, I wrote about the coaching carousel last week on ESPN.com. I did a tiered look at the coaches

that are available and you know Charlie Jacobs, the CEO of the Bruins said recently what exactly what you're saying which is that you know the and you know, the president they're not the ones to go the players, you know, they're not the ones to go but the coach you can say that their message wanes after a few seasons and the results aren't necessarily there and and then they're usually the one to go. You know, the the short form of that is you can't fire the players. The guy who fires the coach ain't gonna fire himself, so someone has to pay for a team not playing up to standards and it's usually the coach. Um, your, your, your expiration date thing though, is interesting in the sense of

like, if you're somebody looking at the Rangers and they're firing a coach every two years after making like the conference final in their first year, is that a place you want to go? And I kind of think of the options of target wanted to win now. That's clearly the best one. I mean, in some ways it's, it's kind of the same DNA as, as, as the, as the Canucks, they have a franchise defenseman that's one of Norris, they have a goalie, uh, that they're going to rely on for many years to come. And she's sure can, I mean, they've, they've got a lot in the cupboard

and by the way, they've got his old buddy JT Miller too. So, but do you wanna really go there knowing that, you know, two coaches that have now had as much success as you can have without playing for the cup and then not getting the same success in the next season and then they're unemployed, even if they have a contract. Like, I don't know. I can't tell if the prestige of coaching the Rangers and what's on the roster and what

could be coming to the roster is enough to entice you to go there knowing that you've got someone with a very itchy trigger finger at the top of the organization. I read the article you're speaking about here and I implore all of our listeners to go check it out. It's up on ESPN. There's a ton of information in there about the coaching carousel. My question as a follow-up is, is this the summer that Joel Quenville finally gets back in as an NHL head coach? Everyone I've talked to believes that it is. I think part of it is the notion that there are some teams that are going to be desperate enough to withstand the PR hit of hiring this guy. And by the way, it's not just hiring the guy is the PR hit. He's going to have to talk about it.

And quite frankly, from everything I've heard from people that know the situation better than I, Stan Bowman could at least stand up there and name XYZ as far as like what he's done to better himself, to mend his reputation. I, again, I don't think either of these people should ever work in the NHL again, but Joel Quenville is gonna have to answer those same questions and I don't think he has the same answers.

And so it's not only a PR hit when the press release comes out, it's a PR hit when he starts to try to have to explain why this will be different and what happened and all of the things he's never really addressed in a scrutinized way outside of a couple of really, really friendly podcasts. So I think he's getting the gig. Maybe it's Anaheim, maybe it's not. But I do think that the NHL clearing him takes a lot of takes some pressure away from the teams in the sense that it's the NHL's call that he's now able to work again. And the fact that the Oilers hired Stan Bowman also relieves a little bit of pressure in the sense that one of the Blackhawks disgraced employees is now

employed again. We'll see. I don't know where it'll end up being. I don't know if it's New York. I don't know if it's Anaheim, but everyone I've talked to believes he'll coach again. Okay, one more real quick. I know we're up against it for time, but David Carl, speaking of the Chicago Blackhawks, withdrew his name from consideration for that job. What do we read into that decision? We read into that decision that he has a very specific set of demands and circumstances that he wants met in order to leave what is a very plum gig in college hockey.

OK. And it's not only term, which I've heard is like four to five years, but it's money. And and I think Kyle Davidson, you know, probably wanted to go as far as he could go because he's been laying the groundwork with David Carl for a really long time to get him to Chicago, which honestly would have been in Kyle's best interest because it would have extended his own life. Hey, I've got this coach on a five-year contract. You better keep me around. I'm his guy." You know, that would have helped. But he's under no pressure to leave Denver. He's very happy there.

He's got a great gig. He can pick and choose where he wants to end up in the NHL. And, you know, maybe there's still a place for him that he's going to land. But ultimately, I've always thought that he wants to be near his family. He's making maybe a geographic decision. And I've kind of thought, and this is just me now, that he'll wait out Colorado. Interesting.

Good, we'll end on that one, Greg. It was very well done. Thank you very much for joining us today. We appreciate it. Enjoy all the games tonight. Hopefully the Devils can stay alive. We'll do this again next Tuesday. Yeah.

Well, I appreciate the sentiment, but Jack Hughes is back at training camp, boys. Okay, buddy. Have a good one. Thanks again. Take care. Yeah, Greg Wyszynski from ESPN here on the Haliford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. We got to go to break. When we come back, we are going to turn our attention to the National Football League. Everything that happened at the NFL Draft that we didn't get a chance to cover yesterday, we'll do it with our good buddy Nick Schuch, including the Schudder Sanders situation, with his local team, the Cleveland Browns.

In the next segment following Nick's, we've got an open segment, so feel free to text in any questions or comments into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650 Metro Vancouver's Trust of Choice for Contractors and Rent-A-Warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. You're listening to the Hal Frenham Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.