Halford & Brough in the Morning - Have The Canucks Hit Rock Bottom?

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk yesterday's brutal Canucks road loss to the Oilers (6:00), plus they chat with Columbus Blue Jackets forward and Port Moody native Kent Johnson (28:34) on him and his team's excellent season thus far.   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- This is my nightmare! To dry saddle the Newton-Hopkins, he scores! This has to be rock bottom. I don't know what they do if it gets worse from here. Tonight on Rock Bottom. Corey Perry grabbed a hold of Quinn Hughes and threw his head down into the end boards. You can act like a man! What's the matter with you? Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. 601 on a Friday.

Happy Friday, everybody. It is Halford bruv, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and bruv for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices

on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. We have a show of a significant size today on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Guest list begins bright and early this morning. Very excited to have our first guest on the program at 630. Columbus Blue Jackets forward and poor moody native Kent Johnson is going to join

the program. Kent, welcome. How are you? Congrats on a great season for you and the Columbus Blue Jackets. What's wrong with the Canucks? Do you follow them still? Big fans still.

We'll talk to Kent after last night's unfortunate loss for the Blue Jackets to the Carolina Hurricanes, but a good game for him. Golden and assists brings him up to 30 points in 35 games this year. We will talk to him about this, I'd call it an inspirational season what the Columbus Blue Jackets are having currently.

Even with the loss last night, still woke up this morning holding on to the second and final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. So Ken Johnson at 6.30 this morning will join the program. Seven o'clock it's AJ from AJ's Pizza. A reminder, we are giving away a $100 gift card today to the best what we learned or ask us anything. Dunbar lumber text line is 650650,

hashtag it WWL or AUA, and importantly, put a pizza emoji into your text to be entered into the contest. 7.30, Bob the Moj Marjanovic is gonna join us. We'll talk some Canucks, we'll talk some Lions. Of course we will talk Championship Sunday. Commanders, Eagles, followed by Bill's Chiefs to see who will be playing in this year's Super Bowl.

Moj of course will be going down to the Super Bowl on Radio Roast, so we'll talk to Moj about all that. At 730, eight o'clock Rick Dollywall is gonna join the program. As per usual, I have no idea what we're Moj about all that. That's 7.30. Eight o'clock, Rick Dollywall is gonna join the program. As per usual, I have no idea what we're gonna talk about with Rick. Jason Breff is the anointed Dollywall handler. What are we gonna talk to Dollywall about today?

Demko and Miller. Demko and Miller, that's gonna be at eight o'clock. As far as the business of the show, I mentioned we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's. We are also giving away a pair of tickets to see Nine Inch Nails on the Peel It Back World Tour. They're coming to Rogers Arena this summer, Sunday, August the 10th.

We have given away tickets twice already this week. We're giving away another pair today. And then Monday and Tuesday of next week, we're giving away pairs as well. B, caller number nine at 815 this morning. The number, 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. B, caller number nine at 815,

and you can win nine inch nails tickets. Okay, working in reverse on the guest list. Eight o'clock, Dolly Wall, 730, Marjanovic. Seven o'clock AJ, 630 Kent Johnson. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? 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. And yet another brutal loss for the Vancouver Canucks. Zach Hyman had two goals in an assist. Leon Dreisaitl had a goal and two assists. And the Edmonton Oilers thumped the Canucks 6-2 on Thursday night in Edmonton.

Remember when we did the Mount Rushmore of bad losses this season? It was a fun little exercise that we did. I had fun. Last night, I don't even think you could put that on a Mount Rushmore of bad losses. It was less fun. It needs something more. It needs to stand by itself. It shouldn't have to share the mountain with three other losses. It was singular. It was like the statue of liberty of bad losses. Just, again, singular. One singular bad loss standing proudly in the harbor. Arm raised. Give me your tired, your poor, your Vancouver Canucks. That as IMAX said on the post game was rock bottom and then Satt said don't be so sure about that. But so far it's rock bottom. Sure they've lost by more goals this season and this one was at least on the road not at Rogers Arena in front of paying

customers. There's a positive. Customers who paid a lot, seen the ticker prices, but this was rock bottom so far. This was a team that got challenged by its coach after blowing a lead against Buffalo at home and against a hated rival that didn't even have its captain, best player. They responded to that challenge by surrendering five goals in the first half of the game and scoring none. The Canucks had nothing last night in Edmonton. No offensive punch, no pushback. The goaltending was bad.

The defending was even worse. The Canucks were unprepared, undisciplined, uninspired. This team is in crisis and this group has not earned the benefit of the doubt that they can find their way out of it. One good season where everything goes right does not earn a fan base's trust, especially when it was preceded by much of what we're seeing right now with this same group. I'm not even going to recap all the goals like I usually do. We all saw the game. Move in the puck, they look like a deer getting out of a car.

I can't think of one positive to pass along. The only line that did anything was the one with JT Miller and Brock Besser. Just two problems with being positive about that. Miller is probably going to be traded and it's anyone's guess at this point if Besser will be here next season. Hmm. What are they gonna do Mike? I don't know. I have no idea. I have no idea. I, I. What are they going to do? I don't know. I spent half of yesterday, um, reading about how a

JT Miller trade scenario is suddenly getting more and more muddied, more and more murky because the returns for Miller aren't as being enthusiastically received as maybe they once were. And I don't even know if that was the magic elixir to begin with, to solve all the ails this team, because as Bic and Sat astutely pointed out on the post game show last night, there are so many different problems with this team right now. We haven't even mentioned the goaltending yet.

We mentioned it yesterday before the game, as you astutely pointed out, that Canucks had the second worst save percentage in the entire National Hockey League collectively as a team. And it didn't look any better last night. Thatcher Demko is not riding in with the white cowboy hat on a really pretty horse to save the day for this team. That's not happening. He does not look like the same goalie right now. Right.

So put that in the problem category. The defense remains as problematic as ever. Welcome back to Edmonton for Vinny De Harne. He gets his mail sent directly to the penalty box now. The forward group, seemingly incapable of pulling this team out of its funk, when again, for the millionth time this season, you look at the two highest paid forwards on the team

and it's a no show again. Oh, and by the way, Kiefer Sherwood got hurt last night too left in the second period, didn't return. So just throw that on top of the pile for good measure. Probably the team's best bright spot in terms of what's actually gone good for the team this year. There's one now he's hurt. Hopefully it's not a big injury. But at this point, everything seems secondary to the one major question, which you just asked. What the hell are they going to do to get themselves out of this? I think there's a second question now too.

Can they even get themselves out of this? How are we back at this point again? Was last season just fool's gold? Were we fools that thought it was gold? Let's face it, this possibility was, and the possibility I'm talking about is what's we're seeing right now. It was kind of in the back of our minds, but we bought into this group.

We admitted we were wrong about them. That's what pisses me off. We thought they'd finally matured. We thought they had the right management, the right coach and the right core. Now we're back to questioning everything. How can you not be questioning management, how they've handled all of this? That includes putting the defense together. But just all of this. If the management or the leaders of the group

How they let it get to this? the coach Has talk it lost the room and if he has Does that say more about the coach or the players is? Talk I've heard this before Talk its brand of hockey is just too hard for this group to play. And if so, does that say more about the system or the players? Or does it say a lot about both?

That's a possibility. It seems like a bad marriage right now between the style that talk it wants them to employ and the player's ability to execute it. And I don't know why. Honestly, I don't. I want to play a clip from Tocket yesterday where he's talking about how many guys are exhausted

or look exhausted on the team last night. We'll let him explain the number and we can come back on the other side. So this is Rick Tocket after a game in which, as you pointed out, he challenged his group on Wednesday after practice, held their feet to the fire, said that they needed more and he was incredibly disappointed with the loss against Buffalo. With that hanging in the background and this big rivalry game that had an extra grudge to it with the suspensions his team laid a complete egg and here's what rick hawk had had to say in the aftermath of a 6-2 loss

to edmonton on thursday night from edmonton well you this this business you have to you have to bring energy i mean i felt some guys did not have energy tonight for whatever reason looked they looked exhausted five or six guys i'm not sure why. But we're gonna have to get some rest here and we got a big game against Washington. That's a must-win type of game. You always gotta kinda have in your mind that I'm gonna bring a must-win attitude. By the way, trotting out the must-win game

for a January tilt against a non-conference opponent is a big old red flag, right? If you're a head coach and you're trying to push the buttons of your team and you're trying to poke and prod to find that energy that let's be clear, he's pointing, how many times has Rick Tauket pointed out either the lack of energy

or the lack of buzz at the start of a game? Emotional investment, remember that one? The lack of juice at the beginning of a period. Take your investment, remember that one? The lack of juice at the beginning of a period. Take your pick. He's got a lot of different descriptors for it. And I'll, I will mention another one of the problems that I didn't mention earlier. And it's been a recurring theme this year as well

and happened last night. The lack of pushback on this team. I do not think that it's the single solitary reason that they are struggling. I do not even think that it's the single solitary reason that they are struggling. I do not even think that it's one of maybe the top three problems on the team. I think the top three are goaltending defense in the forwards. Um, but I will say this. When we talk about the identity of this team, the one thing that we've said on a

number of occasions is, well, they're consistently inconsistent. That's one thing you can say about this group is you never know what team is going to show up. I would add a second one and these are not endearing redeeming characteristics by the way. The other one is when they get pushed around or thumped or trucked or bullied more often than not, they don't stick up for themselves and they don't stick up for their teammates.

So last night, it's four nothing Edmonton. Connor Garland comes in on offensive four, he takes a poke at Calvin Pickard on a rebound. Probably a little bit of an aggressive stab, but nothing out of the ordinary that you don't see through 82 games over the course of a regular season. Especially from Connor Garland. It's a Connor Garland move.

Scrum breaks out behind the net. Everyone's sort of involved. And then Corey Perry, who I will admit, makes a pretty smart calculated move that peels off of the Scrum and says, hey, there's Quinn Hughes, their best player. So he takes Quinn Hughes in a headlock, chucks them to the ice, kind of greasy, but whatever. I actually, you know, in the, in the moment, I'm like, yeah, sure. You guys were all upset that Connor Garland was tied up with Connor

McDavid, your best player last game. Go tie up the Canucks best player. Go do it. Go tie up the Canucks best player. Go to it. Pederson kind of shuffles his feet over, throws an arm around Perry. And that's the only only response that you get for the remainder of the second period from the Vancouver Canucks. That's it. The captain gets hogtied to the ground in a game where you're getting your lunch fed to you anyway. It's not a close game. You're already being embarrassed in many facets of the game and then you have to wait until the third period a minute 53 in when Teddy Bluger, Teddy Bluger of all people takes it upon himself to try and

exact some revenge with Corey Perry. Corey Perry says no doesn't drop the gloves. I don't have the bandwidth or the energy to get into the Corey Perry side of things. I did that on Twitter last night. I'm just gonna leave it there because this is about the Canucks. Friedman tried it as well. Teddy Bluger and Mark Friedman

are the culture carriers last night. Really? Those are the two, God bless them for trying. We've always said that someone's gotta try. That's what Wolf Pack mentality is. That's actually what Tauke said after the game is like, some of the guys were trying. Yeah, some of them did try.

That's awesome to hear. Yeah. Some of the guys were trying. We're giving out participation ribbons for trying. Yeah. Good on you, Mark Friedman, for taking that 10 minute misconduct, for barking at people.

It is unbelievable how out of sync, out of touch, unharmonious, inharmonious, deharmonious, I don't know the word. It's crazy that this team that had everything go right last year, now has everything going wrong. I would challenge anyone listening right now, text in to the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650650. Point me in the direction of one thing

that's going right for this team right now. It's like the monkey paw thing, like give me one good Canuck season, okay. Oh God. And at the expense of that season, everything goes wrong next year. The Dunbar Lumber Text Line is hopping right now. By the way, Kent Johnson has to follow this.

Do you think he even knows? Where were you guys talking? Why am I turning my microphone on this morning? I don't know, buddy. I don't know. See that big red. Nothing's going right this morning. See that big red button right in front of you there?

Kent Johnson's gonna come on the show, he's like, hey, what were you guys doing this morning? Anything exciting? Lots of text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trust your choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com.

I like this name, the King of Blind Bay. Text in, guys, we went from top of the league to how do we stop Quinn Hughes from walking to New Jersey for nothing? And we did it all in a calendar year. The Canucks ability to out Canucks themselves never ceases to amaze. This is another thing I want to bring up. Yeah. Because I'm hearing this more and more.

Yeah. What does Quinn Hughes think about all this? Probably. There is This notion that you cannot trade a bunch of the core While he's still under contract because he won't settle for a rebuild rebuild. He won't he won't settle for it He just won't have it What if he wants big changes has anyone considered that what if he's Looking at the team the same way we're looking at the team? Which begs another question.

What are the chances that Miller, Pedersen and Besser are all gone next season? Miller, because he's on the block right now, Besser, cause it doesn't sound like they're close to getting an extension done with him, and Pedersen, because. Cause Pedersen, yeah I get it. Are you watching? It's definitely something that you've got to consider.

Now, the sort of sub question with the subtext that I'd be asking is, how much is this group going to go to Hughes and be like, hey, you're our captain, you're our leader, you're the face of the franchise. We need to get your assessment on a lot of this stuff. Because remember, I always point back to that anecdote that Patrick Alveen had after they signed Kiefer Sherwood.

It was a minor act, but I think it was telling. And he said, Quinn Hughes came to us and said, we need a player like that moving forward. As a matter of fact, we need that particular player. Played against him in the playoffs, he was a pain in the butt. Lo and behold, July 1, boom, Kiefer Sherwood signs at the Vancouver Canucks.

I think if you have such a special asset like Hughes and you understand how valuable that he is, I think you would grant him more, it's not leeway, but you would grant him more clout within the organization. You would lean on him to maybe make more decisions than you would with another player. Because at the end of the day, players play coach is coach, executives make the moves. I think that-

You also don't want him to get into the headspace of I'm out of here. Yeah. You want to keep him happy. So you grant him certain allowances that you wouldn't with other players. And I think that when this season, and at this point, when the season is mercifully done, you go directly to your captain and you say, let's have a sit down. Let's talk about what went right brackets, not much, what went wrong a lot. And the personnel moves we may need to make. Do

you think that a Miller trade is going to happen this season in season? Because of the I just, I'm asking it because my biggest concern right now is that they make the trade, they take an L on the asset return, and it does nothing to change the course of action for this team because they're so fundamentally screwed up. I mean, it could make it worse.

Like I said last night, the Miller line with Besser was the only thing that was working a five on five and granted those goals that they scored kind of came in garbage time when the game was over. Uh, Ladi, you got something from Elliot Friedman? Yeah, he was just released a 32 Thoughts minutes ago and there's a bit of a rant that he

included in there about the whole situation with Corey Perry, the Canucks protecting Queen Hughes. So you want to hear Freedge's thoughts on the whole deal? I do. Absolutely. Okay. Let's hear what he has to say. You know, Miller kind of stared him down and I'm going to, you know, Mark Friedman got the misconduct in the third period. I bet you, I bet you Friedman sitting there and, and, and he's saying, you know, if you're going to give me a misconduct, at least let me do

something. Like I didn't do anything that was worth and Bluger tried. Yes, I give Bluger credit. He tried. But like I'm sure Friedman's like, I just got robbed, like totally robbed, like a misconduct for that. But as you said, Bluger tried. But I don't know.

Look, I'm like I'm basically the same age as Tauke. Tauke has a lot more career peddling minutes than I do, 3,000. But I don't know, it bothers me to see how much abuse Hughes is taking. And again, I'm not blaming the other teams. That's what you're supposed to do. But I don't know. It doesn't sit right with me, Kyle, to see like he's their best player. He's trying to carry them through a really difficult time.

And I just think it's he's getting roughed up a lot more than any opponent is by Vancouver. Hey, I mean, I pointed this I've been pointing this out for two months and it started and I know at the time everyone was like, ah, it's a one-off, that awful loss that they had to the Islanders in mid-November. And we've talked about it, I think it made Mount Rushmore if I'm not mistaken.

Made mine, it made mine, yeah. That was the game where Dakota Joshua made his emotional return after overcoming testicular cancer and the Canucks went out and laid an egg, an emotionless egg against the Islanders. And in that game, Siplikov trucked Quinn Hughes and nobody did anything about it. Everyone stood around and watched and I heard all the classic cliches and answers, oh, you know, you're going to exact your revenge on the scoreboard or you can't afford to take a penalty and put the Islanders and their feared power play out there and

Everyone said that every excuse in the book and then you know what happened later on in the season Tana Geno hit Brock Besser and then later on in the season Tanner Janow hit Brock Besser. Then later on in the season, Kaden Gouly trucked Jonathan Leckaromacki and the same excuses kept coming out. And now we came full circle last night because two and a half months after the Siplikoff hit on Hughes, Corey Perry decided to take liberties with him.

And you know what part of that equation probably was for Perry? Who's gonna do something about it? Who's gonna do something about it? Who's gonna do something about it? And the answer was 25 minutes after the fact, Teddy Bluger and Mark Friedman tried to do something about it, tried. If you're Hughes and you're looking around,

you're saying like, where are the other guys on this team? Who's got my back here? Anybody? Who's gonna do something here? Cause it's not a one time occurrence anymore. And the power plays didn't matter last night. It was four nothing. If someone had just grabbed Perry and just started wailing

away or done whatever, or waited until the next time he was out on the ice, it wasn't gonna make a lick of difference. The Canucks were still losing that game and still losing it in very poor fashion. If I'm Hughes, I'm furious at this situation. Furious at my teammates. He's the leader of this team and he is leading by example, by all accounts. He's a well-spoken lead communicator. He's a guy that has shown consideration for his teammates multiple times. We've heard stories about it behind the scenes. And this is what they're giving them.

They're giving him feuds and rifts. They're not even sticking up for them. They don't even act like they want to be Vancouver Canucks. You know what I want to watch on a regular basis? Guys that want to be Vancouver Canucks, guys that want to be here and tell us that. Not through the media. Like, oh, it's been reported that Elias Pedersen wants to stay. Oh, awesome. Thank God. Thank God you want to stay. Everyone else looks miserable. I get it. Losing is hard. So try winning. This team has had one good season where everything went right.

Some people pointed the New York Rangers and they said, well, you know, they looked just the dysfunctional a few weeks ago. And it looked like they were going to hit. The skids and did hit the skids for a while. But look at them, they've turned it around. That core has had so many more successful seasons than this core. You've certainly got a lot more. That core gets the benefit of the doubt that they can pull themselves out of it.

This core does not. And there have been way too many times when I've asked myself, do these guys want to be here? Do they want to be Vancouver Canucks? Do they bleed blue like Kevin BXA did? Like the Sedines did? Like Burroughs did? And half the time I'm like, I don't think they do! Doesn't sound like it. It doesn't look like it and we are basically five or ten games past the halfway point of the season. I mean and

this is why we keep asking, can this keep going? Because at this rate, when you're openly asking on a fairly regular basis, if the team is invested and the answer is kind of always shade towards no, you got a real problem on your hands. We have a problem on our hands. We're way up against it for time. We got to go to break. Before we go to break, I do need to tell you about the Clayton Public House, which is going to be hosting, of course, the big football party on Sunday, February the 9th. Visit them now at theclaytonpub.com to get reservations. Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times. We're going to come back on the other side with Columbus Blue Jackets forward

and Port Moody Native Kent Johnson here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. ["The New York Times"] Pressure, Ken Johnson, a chance, he scores! Ken Johnson right there!

They do take advantage! 6.33 on a Fiesta Friday here on the Haliford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. First half hour of the show. Muy caliente. I have a couple tabs open for unread texts in the Dumbar Lumber Text Message In Basket. One of them currently sits at 130 unread texts. That's a lot. I will try and get to some of them throughout the show.

But we have a lot to get into on the show. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ken Johnson is going to join us in just a second here. I should mention that Halford & Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Our next guest is a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets and a Port Moody native. Joining us now, Kent Johnson here on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Kent, how are you? Good morning, yeah. Thanks for having me guys. Thanks for coming on. We appreciate it. So where in North America is Kent Johnson and the Columbus Blue Jackets right now? You played in Carolina last night. Are you in Columbus now? Did you stay in Carolina? Cause I know you got a grand total of one game this

weekend before you're right back out on the road. Uh, yeah, we were in Columbus now. So yeah, flew back last night. So. Um, so obviously I can't imagine what you and your teammates have been through after the loss of Johnny and his brother in August. And I don't think many gave the Blue Jackets a chance to challenge for

a playoff spot this season, but that's exactly what you guys are doing. You're right in the race. How have you done it? Um, yeah, I mean, I think, uh, you know, I've learned, you know, we're family in here just leaning on each other, um, you know, early on with that. And, uh, and then, yeah, I think, you know, we're family in here just leaning on each other, you know early on with that and And then yeah, I think you know on the ice just obviously we've been inspired and you know We think about Johnny a lot and keep him in our hearts and crush here on there in season And yeah, there's definitely some hard times

But I think you know, we've all just you know brought that joy that he had coming to the rink every day So try to do that and and then just yeah just work work hard. And I think, you know, new management coaches have been great and, um, so yeah, everything's been going good. Tell us about the coach. Yeah, Dean's been awesome. He's, uh, you know, just got good command over the room, holds everyone accountable and, uh, you know, makes it really fun to come to the rink every day. And, uh, so yeah, it's been good.

Kent, what were your personal goals for this season? How do you think you're doing? Uh, yeah, it's been good. Kent, what were your personal goals for this season? How do you think you're doing? Uh, yeah, I'm feeling good. I mean, uh, just wanted to, you know, help the team win a lot. And obviously, you know, kind of produce a lot and take on a bigger role, hopefully. And you know, that's, uh, you know, what's, what's been happening. So obviously, um, you know, got a good opportunity there with, with Dean and, you know, uh, everything's been going smoothly.

So yeah, just can't complain. Obviously, I still got a long ways to go and I can get a lot better as I get older. What kind of conversations do you have with Dean Evison? What is he telling you to do? What are you trying to do better out there? Not that you're not doing a lot of good things out there. There's a reason we're having you on because you're playing well.

What do you talk about with the coach? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, they're always happy, you know, when I'm winning battles and playing good defense and yeah, obviously that's something I want to do. So yeah, just be good on the four check and in my battles and yeah, if I can win those, typically can have the puck more and you know, that's what they want.

They want the puck more stick they say. So yeah, just to try to take care of my D-zone, get out of there quick. And yeah, that's that, that, uh, you know, what I'm playing my best. What is the key to winning battles? Um, yeah, I think there's a lot of things I think actually for the first time, like actually worked

on it this summer. So I think, uh, lot of things I think actually the first time I actually worked on it this summer so I think Kind of something that you know a lot of people you kind of get lost and don't really work too much on just think it's all about will and Obviously a lot of it is will and just wanted to pop but I think there's some technique to it and for a guy like me I'm you know better with my stick Always, you know as my option to win a lot of battles But obviously sometimes

body positioning and yeah, just timing, getting in there at the right time for me is a big thing. So yeah, try to do all those things and yeah, it's fun when it works out and you're winning them, it feels good. You feel good about your game, but obviously there's some big strong guys that are good at battling in this league, so it doesn't make it easy. Who helps you with that? Do you, are there, are there, are there skills guys? Or, I mean, Dean Evison was a pretty tough player.

Does, does he help you out with that? Because we, you know, we've talked about this a few times. Like a lot of people are like, you, you just got to want to win the battles, but there is a lot of technique to it as well. Yeah, no, definitely. I think that was like the thing, like before the summer, I never like even really thought about it too much.

Just like would be, I'm just going to try to win. And then, uh, this summer, my skills coach, uh, Justin Rye, we kind of liked it some video and he actually like showed me different ways that guys are winning battles. And like, I'd say some guys like that are, I'd say more like skilled guys that are, you know, kind of winning their battles with like timing and being, being kind of really smart about it. So we actually, you went over some videos this summer and worked on that on the ice. And I think it really helped me.

So, um, yeah, just got to keep going and something I want to keep doing it better at it's a, yeah, like I said, it's a good feeling when you're winning your battles. But, um, so yeah, definitely try to try to keep getting better at that. Um, what was it like playing for the university of Michigan and then getting drafted by Columbus, the home of Ohio state? Yeah, it was definitely, it was funny. You know, obviously a lot of jokes about it and whatnot,

but it's, it's honestly been really fun to just be a part of the rivalry kind of like right in Columbus. So obviously I'm lucky I got like three teammates that went to Michigan as well. So there's a lot of like good jokes about it and whatever, like with the fans. So yeah, it's fun to be a part of and Columbus is a great city. It's been really nice to live here. So Ohio State wins the national championship, but Michigan beat Ohio State this year. So are you actually claiming victory in that

rivalry for this year? Yeah, that is a joke that has been made for sure. But yeah, it's a weird one, but I mean, obviously yeah, pretty cool for Ohio State to win that. But yeah, it's such a big game. So it definitely gives Michigan something to hang their head on this year, even though it wasn't their best season in other aspects.

You know, I did want to ask you about one of your Michigan running mates, Zach Wierenski, who's having an unbelievable season for you guys. And I've noticed watching national media, a lot of people have really elevated him into that Norris conversation. Some of them right to the top of that Norris conversation. Tell us a little bit about the season Wierenski's having and how good he's been for the Blue

Jackets. Yeah, I know it's unbelievable. I mean, yeah, I think he deserves to be right there and, you know, obviously he's my vote for the Norris right now. And I think just what he's doing, like, I mean, I think he's leading our team or close to leading our team in points and, you know, you know, just his two way impact every night, he's up and down the ice and he's never getting tired. He's great defensively, great offensively and really good on the power

play, so it's fun to play with him there. So, um, yeah, we're really lucky to have him. He's obviously, you know, been the biggest guy or MVP for sure. I want to talk a little bit about your time in the lower mainland. Um, correct me if I'm wrong here. You played minor hockey at the North Shore Winter Club. And then did you go to the Academy at Burnaby Winter Club? Is that what you did?

Yeah. Yeah. I played when I was younger in Port Moody and then Badham hockey at North Shore Winter Club. And then, uh, in midget I played at the Academy for, uh, BWC for one year. So how did you make all that decision? Because there's a lot of listeners that have kids in minor hockey right now, and they look at

the minor hockey landscape in the lower mainland and they go, I'm confused what's going on with minor hockey because there are so many different options. What were some of the things that you were weighing and maybe throw in there the decision to go to the BCHL because you wanted to go the college route?

Why did you decide to do that as opposed to going to the WHL for example? Um, yeah, I mean, yeah, I've heard like the minor hockey is crazy right now. So I think it's, yeah, even crazier than when I was a kid. But I think for me, I played a poor Moody all growing up is just, you know, the natural thing to do. And, uh, you know, it was really fun.

And, um, but then in band I'm like, uh, like wanted to play it, play AAA and at the highest level of his poor Moody was tier two. So, um, you know, my parents were, I was fortunate that they could, could make that work for me. And, uh, but honestly, I think the biggest thing is just, you know, wherever the kid's going to have fun. And, um, you know, I think when you're too, too young, you don't need to worry too, too much on the development. You can just, you know, have fun and, and, uh, play in the basement or whatever, play street hockey and, uh, not take it as seriously when you're young, maybe play other sports too. But obviously if you get older and the kid is really driven, I think obviously you can

take it more seriously and figure out where the best spot to play is. But yeah, I think for me the BCHL is just a good starting point after Midget. I thought it'd be the best spot to play as my 16 year old year. I had Jeff Tambolini there in trail and he was unbelievable for me. So, uh, I just really wanted to stay there for my 17 year old year. And I was excited to go to Michigan for my draft year. So just, uh, for me, it was a great fit.

Um, obviously I think both routes are really good. And I think now it's, you know, you can do both go to the W H L and then college. So it's going to be interesting, but, uh, yeah, that was, that was a great choice for me. Hey, I got one more question for you. Do you still play inline hockey? Uh, a little, I played a couple of games this summer.

Um, but I mean, yeah, I mean, it's never, it's never been too much. I guess always was like once a week. Uh, I dunno, it's like 10 games, maybe a summer, uh, but this summer I only played a couple of games just because I was a rehabbing injury right early in the summer, but uh Yeah, I mean I like it like I'm sure I'll sure I'll get the wheels on a couple times next summer probably but uh Not really sure not really thinking about that yet. Did you play with Badaard? Yeah, yeah What was your team name the great guys or something like that?

It was this is the North Van league that like Badard and Kent Johnson, who were some other guys? Was it the other guys that were playing in the league? Um, yeah, when you're younger, like when I first got to North Van and then I'm like our whole like Band of A1 team, everyone was playing. Um, so that's what got me into it. And, um, yeah, I mean, Fraser Menden plays, uh,

on Toronto there and I think who else, but, um, yeah, I mean, Fraser Minton plays on Toronto there. I think who else but yeah, no, it's fun. Andrew Crystal, Tyler Crystal. So yeah, it's really fun. I always thought when I was younger, especially like where I played in band, it was so good for my development. I feel like I started to feel really good on the ice when I went back just making so many plays. So yeah, it's definitely fun. Well, Kent, thanks for joining us today. We wanted to have you on to tell everyone that you're doing great and the team is doing great.

I know a lot of people, you know, they're going to be Canucks fans in Vancouver, but they're looking at the Columbus Blue Jacks and hoping you guys can make the playoffs. So good luck for the rest of the season and thanks for taking the time to join us this morning. Yeah, thanks so much guys. Thank you. That's Kent Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets forward and proud Port Moody native here

on the Haliford and Breast Show on Sportsnet 650. He is having a very good year. A lot of guys in Columbus are. Johnson's basically a point of game guy. He had a goal and an assist last night in the loss to the Columbus, or to the Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the Carolina Hurricanes. But Columbus remained in a playoff spot in the East.

And with the Canucks season going the way that it's going, I'm already starting to look elsewhere for things that are going to compel me down the stretch, just as a safety valve. I've got that meme thing in my head, like, great, good, happy for you. Yeah. Wonderful. I'm glad you're doing so well. Glad you're doing so well. It's fantastic. Maybe we can adopt them.

Maybe one day I can do well. Maybe we'll have to. We might have to. I'd love to see the playoffs. I never thought that I would be saying this after the year the Canucks had last year, but we may have to, you know, in like March or April,

have to adopt a team for the postseason. If it keeps going the way that it's going, we're absolutely going to have to, you know, in like March or April, I have to adopt a team for the post season. If it keeps going the way that it's going, we're absolutely going to have to, because this season. I'm already, I've already adopted a couple of teams in the East. I want Columbus to make the playoffs, and I want Montreal to make the playoffs.

Yeah, but you know me, I'm such a glass half full kind of guy, a cheerful optimist. I always think that things are going to turn out great, especially for the local hockey squadron. Although I will admit I am having a very difficult time figuring out what's going to turn and what's going to get better for this particular group of players. You know, I'm a big goal differential guy.

I know you're a big goal differential guy. Canucks minus 19. Minus 19 is the goal differential. Calgary, who is three points up on the Canucks with a game in hand for the second wild card spot, minus nine, St. Louis minus seven, Utah minus three. Of those four teams based on goal differential, the Canucks are significantly worse.

They're giving up way too many goals. And that brings us to, well, I mean, they were dreadful in front of Thatcher Demko last night. But I think that first goal that Hyman scored was both, it was awful defending from Philip Peronac, but at the same time, Demko looked pretty upset that he allowed Hyman to beat him on that goal.

Yeah. And you know, when we played the audio from Thatcher Demko after the Buffalo loss, which the Canucks held a lead going into the third period. And for the first time this year, not a blue lead in the third period without getting anything out of it. So not even the loser point, which was kind of their calling card earlier.

Demko shouldered us pretty fair amount of the blame and openly acknowledged that he's not happy with his game. He doesn't think he's playing well. And, you know, okay, we may as well say the quiet part out loud here. Health issues aside, there was always two major concerns with Demko going into this year. One was the popliteus injury, how he was going to recover for it and if he was just gonna have to live with having kind of a wonky

knee. The other part of it was is he going to be able to reclaim the Vesna caliber form when all of the traits and characteristics that led him to that form have now been changed. By that I mean the seemingly ruthless practice regimen, the endless amount of work and strain that he put on his body. We talked about it repeatedly in the off season. It's the double-edged sword. Yes, training and working out and practicing

at an incredibly high and intense level gets you prepped and gets you ready for the games. It has you sharp during the games. That level of training can also break your body down. There's no great answer to it. If you want to keep a guy healthy, you have to kind of keep them off the ice when he's not playing games. Is there even a perfect balance?

I don't even know if there is. Cause in this particular instance, the, I particular instance, everyone talked about it last year, how incredibly hard Demco works in a position that's very taxing on your body. The reps hurt. I mean, Laddy, you can attest to this, right? You're a ruthless trainer. Sure. That's what I call myself. So could he make- Your body is broken down because of all the training, right? I'm not even good.

My body's broken. I can't imagine what he's going through. So the question became, can he maintain the form that he's had while changing this regimen that, one, he was used to, right? Goalies and a lot of professional athletes are creatures of habit. And then two, have to do it on the heels

of a pretty significant injury. Sample size is still relatively small. What's that game 12 or 13 for Demko now? Yeah. Since returning. But the early returns, you're kind of giving it the clenched teeth emoji, like, oh, it's not great.

And it really does kind of underscore last season how a lot of the Canucks mistakes and errors were covered up by really good goaltending. And those same mistakes and errors are now being exposed by really average goaltending. It's unfortunate. I don't really put a lot of this at the feet of Demko. It's a major, major shift in a single year for a guy. Right. It's like, Hey, uh, your long time goalie coach, he's gone. We're going to bring in a new guy. We're going to change your practice habits and regimen.

You've got a pretty significant knee injury that you're going to have to figure out how to deal with compounded by the fact that it's rare for hockey players to have, so there's no real blueprint on it. Oh, and by the way, the team in front of you is playing like hot garbage. Have fun, Thatcher, go get them. So here's what's coming up for the Vancouver Canucks. They've got Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington

capitals coming to town on Saturday. Ovi had an empty netter last night and he's now 20 goals away from breaking. 19 to tie, 20 to break. Okay. So there's a chance he ties it on Saturday, the way the Canucks are playing. There's a chance.

I could see it. So after the Washington game, then they head out on the road to play St. Louis, one of the teams they're in a fight with for that second wild card spot, Nashville and Dallas. Nashville's won five in a row. Their games with San Jose are hilarious.

Yeah. What was the final last night? Six-five. Six-five? That was after a seven-five game against the same San Jose Sharks team. Every game has a minimum of 10 goals when the Sharks and Preds play.

Like the Sharks stink, but at least they're kind of fun to watch once in a while. Don't get me wrong, They absolutely stink. They're terrible. They are terrible defensively They're a nightmare, but celebrate is great He had his 15th goal the season yesterday like that's fine But I mean I thought that they might be a little better than last year But they're trending to be not as bad but pretty putrid they're dead last in the NHL the state only empty net goals of Eskin Has this year eight? Looking at it says five on this website. Okay, I took it. Yeah They're dead last in the NHL in the stands. Do you know how many empty net goals of Eskin has this year? Eight?

Look at it, it says five on this website. Okay, I took a guess. Oh, okay, you just took a guess. Yeah, your website is better than my guessing. Five empty net goals. Yeah, that's good. He's out there every time the net's empty. Here's a question, here's a question.

It means they trust him defensively. Yeah, here's a question. He's, okay, he's one away from tying the record and there's an empty net situation. Do you put them out? Well, didn't Gretzky break the goals in a season record on an empty net? Yeah, but this is a slightly more significant goal. No, this is a dead serious question. You definitely don't want him to break the record in an empty net, right? him to break the record in an empty net, right?

Definitely. So Gretzky, when he went 50 and 50. We just talked about that. Yeah, yeah, but I think that was different because that was his fifth goal of the game. Yeah. Right, it was like, oh my God, what a night. It's not like he played a game and didn't do anything and then he was like, fire it into the empty net, right? But when there's a time aspect to it, he needed to do anything and then fired it into the empty net.

But then there's the time aspect to it. He needed to do it in the fewest amount of games possible. Since, here's the thing. Since I think you can kind of control it, like you can decide, like if there's an empty net, don't put Ovechkin out, right? I just don't think anyone, Ovechkin, the Capitals, the NHL, anybody wants to see,

that would be in the pantheon of iconic goals in NHL history, right at the top, right near the top anyway, along with a bunch of Stanley Cup. You can do some kind of wild celebration or something. That'd be kind of cool. I think you owe it to everybody involved, if you're the coach, be like, we're not going to put you, if you're on the one goal to tire, the one goal to break,

you can't do it into an empty net. I think it'd be hilarious, like, you gotta earn it. Yeah, you do. You gotta have a goalie in the net, right? I think you do. I thought about this last night. Can you imagine if he went in on a two on O on an empty net and he passed it off?

It's like, I'm not doing it that way. Yeah, he should, absolutely should. And then he got hurt and his career was over. The other one I was thinking about was like, I'm not doing it that way. Right. Yeah, he should. Absolutely should. And then he got hurt and his career was over. The other one I was thinking about was like, imagine if he was out there with an empty net and he had a clear cut break and then someone hauled him down and they awarded him the goal. That would probably.

An auto goal? Or what? That would be the worst one to get. What if it goes shin pad or something? Yeah. And they don't know. Yeah. Or if his butt, he's standing in front and

then, oh, there's the goal. Yep. I would love, I, there's the goal. Yep. I would love, I, you know, like it would be unfortunate for him, but I would love him to score a banger of a goal, like come flying down the wing, rip it top corner. Everyone's celebrating his teammates are on the ice. Oh, it looks like Nashville challenging for the

offside here. They would have snipers. Hold my hair. They would have snipers in the building to make sure it doesn't happen. They're like, is Trotz looking at the iPad? No, we're not Trotz. Who is it?

It's Brunette. Is Brunette looking at the iPad? I was like, take him out. And all these red dots. Yeah, you're like, you can't. Like the challenge for offside. Yeah, so many red dots on Brunette. He's like, he starts to get,

he's like, is it warm in here It's like I have cancelled my challenge. It is fine. Don't worry about getting a new voice on my earpiece here Okay, we're way up against it for time. I need to tell you a lot challenge Go on we got two things to tell you about before we go to break the first Rogers Xfinity TV get set for adventure Discovery Channel has moved. All the latest seasons of your Discovery favorites are available on Channel 411 on Rogers Xfinity TV. I do want to say something, so get through your business and then I will.

Secondly, I can tell you that you need to reserve your spot for the big football party at the Clayton Public House hosted by Sportsnet 650. Visit theclaytonpub.com. Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times. Okay. We got AJ coming up and then we've got an open segment and it is Ask Us Anything Friday. And we do want to have some fun. We need some fun.

We as Canucks fans deserve some fun. So get some good Ask Us Anythings, use the pizza emoji if you want to be entered into the contest for best Ask Us Anything, $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza, best pizza in the world. Now in Winter Garden, Florida, if you happen to be in the neighborhood. So get your Ask Us Anythings in and we'll read them on the other side of the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.