Halford & Brough in the Morning - Hockey Hall Of Famer Henrik Lundqvist

Episode Date: April 21, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest Canucks news with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor (1:19) and debate whether or not the club should target a rookie GM with a fresh perspective or someone with more traditional experience, plus the boys chat NHL playoffs with hockey hall of famer Henrik Lundqvist (25:16), as well as his work raising awareness for recurrent pericarditis via the initiative LifeDisRPted.com. 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.

It's his friend and bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor, Life from Rogers Arena, Collinca, Knox Games. It is Brendan Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor. 7.02 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford, Brubb of the morning is brad to by Sands and Associates. Are you drowning in tax debt? If you are, Sands and Associates can often reduce your debt by up to 80%

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Auctions hotline email sales at A-B-L-E-Octions.C-A to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. Let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest, the Play-by-Play voice of the Vancouver Canucks. Brendan Batchler on the Halford and Brush Show on Sports Night 650. What up, Batch? Good morning, guys. How's it going?

We're good. Hope you're well as well. So let's start with the reverberations and ramifications from Friday. When we got on the air, it was news breaking that Patrick Alveen had been fired as general manager shortly thereafter. Jim Rutherford had a very eventful media availability. What was your big takeaway, or big takeaways, plural,

from what Rutherford had to say on Friday? Oh, I don't know if we have enough time to get through all of them. Well, there was a lot. There was a lot of meat on the bone from Friday, I think. You know, obviously someone was going to have to take the fall for the team

struggling this year, and that was Patrick Alveen. And, you know, there's been some excellent reporting in the wake of that as to, you know, what led up to it. And, you know, I thought Jim Rutherford, you know, was at times accountable, right? He talked about owning this season and what happened here. And then, you know, we look forward to a new general manager and we'll see what happens in the hockey operations department in terms of whether Rutherford stays on or not. I think it's clear that if he does stay on, he intends to sort of take a step back. and allow the new general manager to, you know, be the lead hockey operations person.

But, you know, the immediate follow-up question to that is, is Jim Rutherford capable of taking a step back with, you know, how involved he's been in the teams that he's run over his lengthy career? So, you know, I'm going to be interested to see how things shake out at the top of the hockey operations department, and then the trickle-down effect that we'll see in terms of whether the coaching staff is back or not because that's really going to set the tone for everything else that, you know, happens with this team because, you know, the new GM will come in. I would imagine

they want that person in place by the draft. So they're, you know, going to be making the decisions at the draft table, which, you know, especially at the top of the first round, could be, you know, era defining for the Vancouver Canucks. So there's, there's a lot at stake here in the next few weeks and it's going to be interesting to see how things play out. Batch, if you were laying out a job description to post on, what are they doing on now? Like, Indeed or something like that? Is that where they're?

LinkedIn? People still do LinkedIn? I don't know. I haven't looked for a job for a while. I might have to see it. Guys, we don't have real jobs. No, no, we don't. But if you were to...

Is that what Craigslist is for? If you were to put a job description out there, what are some of the characteristics and attributes that the new GM of the Vancouver Canucks should have? Obviously, he needs to be a self-starter. Yes. Patience was the first word that came to mind for me because the organization has talked a lot about, you know, committing to a rebuild and Jim Rutherford even said on Friday, no shortcuts.

So, you know, you want someone that isn't going to jump the gun, but at the same time is going to be decisive when they need to be decisive. And one of those big decisions is going to be around someone like Elias Pedersen this summer. and what his future holds. So, you know, some of the reporting out there that's talked about, they want someone with experience, they want someone that's been through rebuilds. I can understand why that might be an important part of this

because, you know, this is a process that this organization has never been through before, at least intentionally. And so to have someone that understands what these timelines look like that understands, you know, what player development looks like and, you know, where guys need to be. Because I think, you know, one thing that, and it'll depend on whether they get first overall or third overall, but one thing that kind of jumped out to me about what Jim Rutherford said on Friday was talking about how they expect the player that they draft at the top of the first round to be in the lineup next year. That, to me, is a, you know, you need to be patient, right? There's no shortcuts.

and that is a shortcut that could harm the organization in the long term. And I know it's not exactly the same in terms of, you know, where they were drafted, but we saw, you know, Jake Fertanan and Jared McCann brought in really quickly as young players into the NHL and how it might not have been the best thing for them. So patience doesn't just apply to, you know, the traditional sense where people think about, oh, don't trade all your picks to get players that can help you right away. I think it applies to your player development maybe more so and not rushing guys like Braden Coots or like the upcoming first round pick

into the NHL right away and finding a way to make sure that their development is the top priority and then everything else comes after that. Do you think that was part of a sales job also by Rutherford? Because I agree my eyes opened a little bit when he said he expects Lekir-a-Macki Coots and whoever they draft, whether it's first, second or third overall, to be in the lineup. My response was like,

I think there are questions about, question marks about all three of those guys and whether or not they're going to be NHL players next season. But I also think that might have been part of a sales job, maybe to ownership, maybe he was managing up a little bit, but also, you know, if, If Canucks fans are going to sit through a rebuild, what are they going to sell?

They're going to sell young and exciting hockey. Maybe not necessarily winning hockey, but if you're going to go watch a Canucks game, there's going to be a lot of stuff that happens out on the ice. What do you think about that? Yeah, I definitely think that it's selling to some extent, right? You're right, they have sold ownership on this rebuild and being able to market young talent is probably part of that. At the same time, you know, they want people to renew their season tickets. They want people to come back to the rank next year. And I think if they get Gavin

McKenna, then that won't be a challenge for them. But if they don't, and if they end up picking second or third or, you know, whatever happens happens, then, you know, there is some selling and some marketing that needs to happen here, although I do think it is notable and Rutherford brought it up as well, how full the building still was throughout the duration of this season, in spite of the way it went. So, you know, that to me has to be the pitch, right? And, you know, I actually think back to when I worked with the Vancouver Giants. The first year I worked there, our marketing campaign was Champions Under Construction.

I remember that. Yeah, which, you know, in hindsight, I don't know if that was the best way to market a team is to basically say, look, we're guaranteeing you. We're not going to be good this year. But, you know, that kind of is the way the connections need to lean into this. You know what? We might not be a playoff team. We might not be top of the league.

We might not be contending. But we're going to be fun and we're going to be young. And you can get excited about the future. And in Vancouver, that's a great, you know, tact to take because we love our young players and prospects in Vancouver. And we're always arguing over young guys that should be getting more ice. time and elevated roles. So in many ways, Vancouver was made to go through a rebuild like this because there's

going to be lots of young players that people can get excited about coming in the door. Do you remember, just to jump in, do you remember the Grizzlies marketing slogan in the early days of Stu Jackson? I do not. Losing is learning. That was actually the marketing slogan? They wrote that? Yep.

They wrote that out. It was losing as learning. And he was like his phrase that he coined. And then in the documentary years later, that Kat Jamie did. He was like, that was a mistake. That was a bad call.

We probably should have done that. You don't ever want to put the word losing in your marketing campaign. So, Batch, be comforted by the fact that locally, that marketing campaign was far greater than the one that Stu Jackson had the business. I thought the Vancouver Giants marketing campaign was, come watch Robin Big Snake.

He will fight every game. That's a good marketing campaign. And it actually, it actually brings me to my next question, like, batch, how many Curtis Douglas is, do the Canucks need in the lineup next season?

Yeah, that's a good question. You know, I guess it depends if those Curtis Douglases can play or not, because you don't want to just have a bunch of rough and tumble guys in there. One thing that I was encouraged by, and Curtis Douglas was involved in this late in the season, was how much they started sticking up for each other. And, you know, I think it was at least one occasion. Douglas dropped the gloves to defend a teammate, but we saw Teddy Bluger do it. we saw Philip Hironic do it.

And that sort of wolf pack mentality is something that has been missing. And, you know, I think that's maybe the greatest sign of all, rather than hearing what people said at the press conferences or, you know, just feeling the vibe being better in the dressing room. That sort of we're going to stand up for each other on the ice is, I think, the best indication about the culture starting to shift. Now, is it tremendous yet, right? like this is still a team that lost a lot of games.

I'm sure they've got work to do to build that culture, but the fact that the starting point seems to be, we go to bat for each other, we stand up for each other. And even a guy like Teddy Blugher stepping in and fighting Radco Gudis, right? Like that means something to his teammates. And, you know, so I like that indication. And if you can have that sort of mentality going into next year,

then maybe you only need one Curtis Douglas in the lineup, if everyone else is willing to stand up for each other too. So it felt to me like the media kind of took it easy on Elias Pedersen. We all know that PD's been going through some tough times at home. But I wonder also if there's anything left to ask of Elias Pedersen that is going to give us any insight into his struggles. Yeah. You know, I think the question about whether he,

He, you know, he sees his future being here is, is one that had to be asked and was asked. And he gave the answer that he has to give in this situation. But beyond that, you know, we're going to have to wait and see. And, you know, it's another off season we're going into where someone high up in the organization is talking about his preparation or his work that he puts in, right? Like, remember last year it was all about OPD's going to stay here to start the summer and, you know, get a bunch of his work. work done here before he goes back home to Sweden. So, and then this year, it's Jim Rutherford openly saying, you know, he hasn't put in enough work to be prepared enough to be the player that we need him to be.

And, you know, a certain lowering of the bar, too, I thought, where it was, you look, we don't need him to be a hundred point player. We just need him to be a point per game player, right? So, like, that's a, that's a recognition, I think, that they are looking for anything from Pedersen in terms of improving. And now it's going to come down to him and putting the work in. and coming back next year with a level of commitment that shows that he can get back to being

at least some version of the player that he was. And, you know, look, he was good defensively at times this year. He led the NHL in blocked shots by forwards, but that also means he spent a lot of time in his own zone blocking shots. And, you know, you want your top line to be driving play. And, you know, that's something I've been talking about, it feels like, for three years at this point.

It probably isn't that long. Like for me, the bar for Pedersen isn't so much points as it is play driving. Because the points will follow if you can drive play. He doesn't do that anymore. He doesn't drive play at all. He barely jumps up in the play. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, that to me is like the, if I'm lowering my bar for Elias Pedersen,

it's be a play driving centerman that can be used in a matchup role. And even if you're like, I don't even need him to be a point per game player in that scenario. If he could be a 70-point centerman that wins his matchups and can drive play, then I think that's good enough to really help this team. Unfortunately, he hasn't got there yet. And now we head into another off-season where we're asking all sorts of questions about, A, can he get back to being that kind of player going into next year? And B, is he even going to be here next year?

And that's another key decision that the new general manager is going to have to make when they arrive. Yeah. I actually think a point of game is more achievable the way I'm watching him right now than becoming a play driver because he can still pile up some points on the power play. But he's not even close to a play driver. But enough about that, Batch. We got lots of time to discuss Lias Petterson. Thank you for joining us so early in the morning.

Thank you for having me, guys. Have a good one. Thanks, Batch. Brendan Batchelor, PlayBet, Play, Voice of Vancouver Connects here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. the Canucks. You pose the question prior to going to break. Should the Canucks be wary of hiring

a rookie GM or should a rookie GM with all his newfangled ideas be the target? This is a tough one for me because some rookie GMs do a great job. And I think we all want a guy with fresh new ideas to take the reins

as opposed to some old hockey man who got fired for a good reason by some other team. I think the loud negative reaction to just hearing Mark Bergevan's name is proof that a large segment, or at least a loud segment of the fan base, is not looking for a traditional been there, done that candidate.

They want someone who's going to do things differently. They want a guy with like a PhD in quantum mechanics, you know, who's going to run circles around the Luddites who do things the way, things have always been done just because that's the way things have always been done, you know? And I have a lot of time for that sort of hire. I'm just not sure it's out there for the Canucks.

You know, I don't know. I mean, look, if we want to look back on history a little bit, over the last couple of decades, the Canucks have gone from, in terms of GMs, Mike Gillis to Jim Benning to Patrick Alvin. Yep. Those are three very different people. Benning and Gillis were both rookie GMs. but they could not have been more on alike when it came to their calling cards and their approaches and just what they talked about and what they were interested in, right?

Remember that the Canucks hired Benning with the intention of improving the Canucks drafting record, which had lagged under Gillis. He was a scout. Benning was, yes. But when it turned out, and everyone was like, oh, wait, you need to be more than a good scout to be a good GM. the Canucks turn to essentially the experience of Jim Rutherford, who hired Alveen, but didn't really take his hands off the wheel for long. But that's three straight rookie GMs, right? Mike Gillis, to Jim Benning, to Patrick Alveen.

Yep. By all accounts, ownership has been appreciative of Rutherford's experience. They may not like where his decisions have left the team, but there's a reason he's been tasked with identifying the next GM. They still respect his experience. And look, this may not be a popular opinion, but I don't blame ownership if they're wary of hiring another rookie GM, especially if Rutherford departs and the rookie GM is left all by himself. It is a tough job and the spotlight is bright in Vancouver. Benning did not handle the spotlight well. Alvin did not handle the spotlight well. They both.

had some deer in the headlights moments and that does not send a strong message to the season ticket holders. I think it would be valuable to have experience as a general manager in a Canadian market. I think it would be valuable to have experience in dealing directly with ownership, which is something else that if you're like an assistant GM, you don't have to do that. I think it would be valuable to know what worked and what didn't in a previous GM job as opposed to not knowing what you don't know because you've never done it before. This is all going to sound like I'm advocating for Mark Bergervan, which I am not. I really, you know, we were talking about this last night.

We were like, who do you want? I'm like, I don't, I don't really have a guy that I want because I'm not in on the interviews. No. Like I, you know, to judge players, I got to watch them play, right? And, you know, and I also have time for, for people that learn. from previous experiences, maybe made some mistakes, maybe made some big mistakes, and would do things differently a second time. I think there's a reason that some coaches are a lot more successful in their second jobs

as their first. You know, all I'm saying is that if the Canucks do hire a rookie GM, he'd have to, you know, if it was me hiring, he'd have to knock me out with his resume, his plan and his interview. And I would have to be very confident that he could handle all the kind of non-talent evaluation and non-thinking stuff. He would be able to have to handle the administrative side of things. He would have to be able to handle dealing with people that may not agree with the way he goes about doing things.

He would have to deal with the ownership. And yes, he would have to be able to go up and speak. well in public, oftentimes under duress. See, the interesting thing about experience is that there's experience from working in different places and then there's the experience of being in Vancouver. And how many times have you heard either Rick Dollywall or other people on this station, countless media members say that even someone is wise and his sage and his veteran as Jim Rutherford didn't fully appreciate and maybe underestimated what it was like to work

in the Canadian market, right? guy in the 70s, a hockey Hall of Fame builder, but even he didn't fully understand what it was like to work in this particular market, right? Carolina and Pittsburgh, you just can't compare to what you were getting here.

Which is why, for me, I think that Ryan Johnson more and more becomes a super viable and maybe the most logical candidate. Yeah, I think he's an absolutely viable candidate. But a rookie GM. But apparently,

ownership isn't quite sure. Yeah. That's fair. Those are the reports. Because he's a rookie GM. Maybe there's just, maybe they're just not, he's not their style.

I don't know. I would like to know why. Well, for me, we're hearing these reports that, you know, Jim Rutherford tried to sell RJ to, it'd be funny if we went from a Jha RJ. But they tried to sell RJ to ownership,

and they were like, hmm, let's do a search. Sure. I don't mind that. I think that if you're not, being diligent and looking under every rock and going to every crevice and, you know, canvassing the league, you're not doing your job.

At the end of the day, I wonder if a few things will end up being Johnson being the most logical decision. One, it's been with the organization for over a decade. I doubt there's any candidate out there right now that has a better understanding of how the organization works and most importantly, what's gone wrong. How many times have we talked about, you know, you've got to get someone that understands the past and the mistakes that have been made and how this fan base and media and the organization, all of it seems fully aware, eyes wide open of what went wrong and why you can't

go down that road again. I think Johnson ticks a lot of boxes in that regard. Secondly, and when we've talked to him on the radio, he seems fairly well-spoken, comfortable. I think he's very comfortable dealing with the media, answering questions. We've thrown all kinds of questions at him. Very narrow, specific ones about particular players or situations and also big, broad, open-ended questions where you're talking about philosophy and ideas and he always seems to answer them with a plum. Like, he knows what he's talking about because he's played in the league for a long time and he's worked as an executive for a long time. I just think that when you stack everything up, you have to wonder if, even though it seems convenient, did you have the best

guy waiting there all along, period. And are you going to risk passing him over and losing a valuable asset like him because you just think that he might not be ready yet? Well, they will lose him. If he's not the next GM, they will lose him. And look what Chicago did with Kyle Davidson. Now, you can quibble and argue about the trajectory of the Blackhawks, but for what he was set out to do right now, they are extremely happy with the job that he's done.

He's amassed young talent. And that's the primary objective. He was a young guy that started in the lower ranks of the organization, much like Johnson did here. And he's done the part of the rebuild, which is super important, which is stockpiling young talent, like you said. And when we played the audio of the owner and the CEO, Rocky, no, not Rocky, it's the kid, words, the kid words. He's, you know, he very much said, we're thrilled with the job that he's done, even though the on ice product doesn't look great right now. So they believe in what they're doing there. Okay.

Henrik Lundquist is going to join us next. If we have time after talking to the King, we will dip into the Dunbar Lumber text inbox and read a few of your texts about this conversation we're having about the value of experience as a general manager in a Canadian market like Vancouver. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central on Sportsnet 650,

from exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays, 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 732 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford and Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough for the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Got debt?

If you do, reach out to Sands and Associates during regular business hours, and they'll get back to you within 20 minutes. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We're an hour two of the program at the midway point. of the show. Henrik Lundquist is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of Our 2. Our 2 is brad to by Jason Homanock at Jason. Dot Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason.

Dotmort. To the Able Auctions Hotline, we go, our next guest, the Hockey Hall of Famer, now doing some analyst work for TNT. Henrik Lundquist joins us now on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Henrik. How are you? Good morning, guys. How are you doing? We're great. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it.

So the playoffs are well underway. We're into night four now tonight. But before we get to any of that, I did want to start with your current and most latest project. It's a focus raising awareness of a serious cardiovascular condition called recurrent paracarditis or RP. I know you have a history with it and you're working on it now. So let our listeners know more about RP and what your current project entails. Yeah, you know what? The first time I heard about it, I wasn't sure what it was, to be honest.

Short explanation, inflammation around the heart, and it actually forced me to retire from hockey. So that was my first experience with it and to understand how serious it can be if you're not in good hands. You need good guidance. And for me, the key was really to educate myself, understand really what it was. So now work with Kinnicksa and my goal is just to spread awareness about it and encourage people to talk to their doctors and educate themselves. There's a lot of people dealing with recurrent perkyitis in the United States. So I hope through this campaign, you know, you can go to Life Disrupted.com and find out more about it. But to me, over the last five years, you know, I've had setbacks and, you know, I've had setbacks.

in terms of flare-ups and, you know, you deal with a lot of pain and fatigue and stuff like that. So it's about just to get to know your body a little bit better and, again, know a little bit more. And that will help you get back on track. And it's been the case for me. I feel great right now. And, again, knowledge for me has been key throughout this process. So thanks for giving me a couple minutes to talk about that. Sorry, go ahead.

How long did it take for you to get the diagnosis before you, they figured out why you were feeling these symptoms? So I was coming off of open heart surgery, if you remember that. And then I tried to get back to playing in the NHL. So I would say from the day I felt the pain and got the diagnose, maybe three, four weeks. But it was only a coincidence, to be honest.

I had a follow-up, checkup from my. surgery and that's where they found the inflammation around the heart. And then I, you know, describe the pain I had and the symptoms I had, being so tired and, again, pain through my chest, out my back. And the specific things you can look for when you're dealing with this. And at that point, I hope there was just a one-time thing, but it is developing to recurrent parquetitis, which means it keeps coming back here and there.

and you just need to be aware of it and look for those signs and learn to adjust your lifestyle a little bit, which I have over the last few years. So I feel good and confident about my health, but I'm aware of, you know, potential setbacks at times. We're speaking to Hockey Hall of Fame and TNT Analyst, Henrik Lundquist here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports Net 650.

Okay, Henrik, let's turn our attention to these playoffs. And again, early days and everything, but has there been a particular team or storyline in the first one or two games of their respective series that's really caught your eye or maybe you and the guys on the TNT panel with four games a night and everything going on? What's one major storyline that's really caught your attention

in the early days of these playoffs? I have to say Philadelphia Flyers. They're up to nothing against Pittsburgh and you know, you look at all the series. You might think you know something here, but they're pretty wide open. You know, there's so many good teams, and that's the exciting part about these playoffs. There's so many teams that improved from last year.

They're now in the playoffs, and they have a good shot here of making a good run. So many teams, but if you start with Philly, you know, the way they've been playing, great goaltending to. Yeah, who knows where that series is going now. They're going back to Philly, feeling extremely good. So exciting for them. if you look at other series you know my big favorite

going into these playoffs obviously Colorado Avalanche just the way they've been playing all season long and you break it down the different areas of the goaltending the back end forwards

it's just so elite right now so it's going to be hard to stop them but we'll see if if LA can make a push in the second game. I think we've all enjoyed the atmosphere in Buffalo after the Sabres made the return to the playoffs. I mean, that's been incredible. I've always said that MSG is, you know, top three, top five places to watch a NHL

playoff game. I'm sure you agree, but what were some of the visiting ranks that you really enjoyed the spectacle of Stanley Cup playoff hockey to plan? Well, I played up in Montreal twice. And I have to say, you know, to play playoff hockey up there was pretty incredible. The intensity and just how much people care. Obviously, people care everywhere you go when it's the playoffs. But up in Montreal, it's just another level, how loud it was.

And again, the intensity up there. So I really enjoy that. But speaking of Buffalo, I do remember, you know, my early years in the league and playing Buffalo in the playoffs. It is a hockey town and really happy for the fans in Buffalo because, you know, it's been a long time because they were in the playoffs and also the way that game was played and the way they came back. I mean, they're on fire up there right now, that's for sure.

Yeah, I think we're all, I think the whole hockey world, well, maybe not Boston, but the whole hockey world is pretty happy for Buffalo right now. Hey, I got to ask you, Henrik, what's the, what's the, what's the, state of the Rangers? The state of the Rangers? Well, of course, it was disappointing not to make the playoffs, and it was a

turning point. You know, you're two points out around Winter Classic, and then both Shasturkin and Fox goes down with injuries, and that's really where things went the wrong way. I mean, two key players, and they're just

means so much to that team. It was just too hard for them to recover from there. And now I think the good thing with the Rangers, if you try to find some positives, I had a lot of young players come up the last couple months, get some good minutes, and

they're producing and playing well. That's a really good sign for them come next season. But obviously they have some big decisions to make over the summer and kind of go from there. But if I take away

any good parts, it would be the young guys coming up the last couple months and get some good minutes. We're speaking to Hendrick Lundquist here on the Halford and Breft Show on SportsNet 650. We saw a pair of penalty shots in the Stanley Cup playoffs last night, one successful, or sorry, both unsuccessful, actually, that Jordan Martinuk won in overtime. And then, of course, Owen Tippett against the Penguins yesterday as well. So going back to your playing days with the amount of penalty shots and shootouts that you faced,

was there one particular guy that stood out as the toughest or most difficult shooter you ever had to face in those one-on-one situations? I remember Ilya Kovych really good of breakaways and all he had a long reach he could really shoot the puck with a lot of accuracy

and he could de-you as well so I remember he was always extremely challenging on a one-on-one but it's you know as a goalie when you're in a shootout or a breakaway situation it's so much mental you need to be patient

you can't make the first move you can't get ahead of yourself. You have probably a little bit information on some of the top guys and their tendencies. But at the same time, you want to stay in the moment. So it is exciting, that's for sure. Everything is on its edge when you're faced like that in one-on-one situation. And, yeah, always a good challenge. Yeah, I've always wondered about that because, you know, you'll see it in soccer sometimes

with certain goalies. They'll have the shooter's tendencies, like, printed out on their water bottle. they'll have an idea of where guys are going to go. And you see it more and more prevalent now, the amount of research that goes into it. So when you were playing, how do you balance that part of it, trying to get as much of a read on the guy's tendencies? Because guys have moves. What does this guy do?

It's already in the net. But also, yeah, like you also have to kind of, you know, be in the moment. Like you said, how do you balance those two things? Yeah, I think it's a constant thing, right? We talked about that on air the other night on T&T that as a goal, you gather so much information about the team you're playing, certain players, their special teams, how they like to shoot certain guys. So you use that, but at the same time, you can't get ahead of yourself.

You can't cheat the game because players are too good. They're going to take advantage of it. So, yes, it's back of your mind and you keep it there. But at the same time, it's so crucial you play the situation that's happening in front of you. I think for me, any goalie, if you're paid, and you rely on all their other things. But if you start making the first move because you try to predict what's going to happen,

a lot of times you lose that battle. So for me, when I play the game and when I watch great goalies right now, the guys are patient and reading, their timing is just much better, and they make it a lot harder for guys to score. Is there a goalie going right now that's your favorite to watch? Maybe not necessarily who you would consider

the best goalie in the NHL. I don't know if you have one identified, but a guy that you really like watching maybe a little bit more than others. Well, there's so many good ones. And that's what I love about the playoffs. You see guys elevate their play. Freddie Anderson is very technical, very solid always. I'm a big Vasilevsky fan.

But I think you look at the last couple of seasons in the playoffs, he hasn't really reached his full potential, so we'll see if he has a pushback here in game two. Well, I mean, Hart in Vegas, he had a really strong finish for them, and now in the playoffs it's going to be interesting to see him if he can carry it all the way for them. But it's almost like every team has a really good and interesting goalies. And what I love about goaltending right now,

there's a lot of different styles. Some guys are very aggressive, some guys are sitting back. You have short goalies, taller goalies. You have a mix of everything. And that's what I love. India, and it's about stopping the puck. But there's different ways of getting there. So it's good to see.

It's not just one shape and form of goaltending right now. Well, we're going to get to see eight more of them tonight. There's four games on the slate. He's going to be another fantastic evening of playoff hockey. Hey, Hendrick, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. we really appreciate it. Remind it for everyone that's listening about R-P-R-P-D-R-D-D-R-P-T-E-D-D-D-D-D-com. Go check it out.

And hey, Hendrick, thanks again for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Have a good one. You too, thanks. That's Hendrik Lundquist, hockey Hall of Famer, TNT, analyst here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. You must have liked that, a little goalie talk with Henrik Lundquist.

I'm going to start, if we ever get to a shootout, I'm going to start putting the shooter's tendencies on my water bottle, like a pro. Because I've really been tracking what this guy's tendency is to put the ball past me. Repeatedly. It's done it every time with regular. Did you have a strategy in penalties? I think he's going straight down the middle.

I'm just going to stand here. Hopefully he's going straight down the middle because I ain't moving. No, there was a couple of guys that I knew they had the same go-to. I remember playing against one guy in college. And he did the look away or the no look all the time. So he's... Oh, okay. So if he's looking left, he's going right?

But he would look in the corner, the opposite corner, like, while he was shooting. He was skilled enough that he could do that. Yeah. So he could do the... I just feel that's a bit risky, though, because, like... Your body will follow your eyes sometimes. He also wouldn't hit the shot that hard because I think he was worried about missing while not looking.

It was more of a placement thing. So once I saw it once, and I realized that he was going to it every time, there was like a book on that. outside of that, no, there's not a real strategy to it. So in soccer yeah, are penalties does it seem like they're getting harder to score? To score. Yes.

Like, why is that? The research is a lot more thorough and a lot more diligent. Like the writing on the water bottle it's proven to be not super like statistically effective, but there is a, there has been an uptick because a lot of shooters when they find something that they're comfortable with, they'll just do

it over and over again. Are the goalies bigger? Yeah. It looks like, it looks, back in the day, it was like, oh, this is easy. Just pretty big goal. Put it in there. And now it looks harder. And they've amended the rules so that it's more advantageous for shooters. Like you can't come off your line early.

They're not just step forward, right? If it's funny, if you go back to the sort of now famous, well, it's always been famous, but the Liverpool, Milan, Champions League Final, like two decades ago, Jersey Dutnik in net for Liverpool. If you go back and watch now, like he is cheating. He's all over the place. And he's way off his line before the shots taken. He's going to like kick the ball away before it gets hit.

When you watch it now, you're like, you have no chance of scoring. He's so far out in front of it. Right. And so they've mitigated that part of it. Well, I think they've also done some studies on the success rate is far lower when you go to penalties as opposed to a penalty in the middle of a game.

Yes. It's a lot different. That's partly pressure, but it's also partly maybe you're running out of the guys that are best to take it. It's the theater of the shootout though. Yeah. It's that you have to match with the guy before you did. In a game, like, if you were awarded a penalty during a match,

it's like you step up and you finish the chance it got taken away from you. This one, it's like, well, now I need to match what the shooter before is done. You know what I love is the long walk up to the ball? That's a part of it. Like, where do they, where do they keep the, they keep the, they keep the, they keep the, teams, essentially at half? Yeah, basically the center circle. Okay. And then they're like, okay, Bob, yeah.

You're up next. And he just has to take that long, slow walk. I mean, that is, that's theater. And, you know, imagine that feeling. Well, it's good that you brought that up because that's one of the massive differences between a penalty in match and then the shootout is that in a match, you're just kind of standing there waiting. There's guys around you.

Usually there's VAR going on. there's a lot of things. This one, you have the long walk. And you have to... And it's my design. You have to leave the clutches of your teammate. Yeah.

They're like, good luck now, right? Yeah, don't screw it up. Sending the soldier off, yeah. We're all depending on you. Right, you need to score this, but good luck. No pressure. Yeah, I found that fascinating.

Okay, we did get a bunch of texts into the show about whether or not experience as a general manager is going to be an important factor for the Vancouver Canucks. Here's a text unsigned. I personally feel like if there is ever a time to have a rookie GM, or rookie coach for that matter, it should be at the very beginning of a rebuild. If after a couple of years a rookie GM slash coach shows that they aren't up to the task,

you can change direction while your prospects and young players are still young enough or early enough in their careers. So they can develop with the vision of the new GM coach. Of course, the risk is that the GM coach does such a bad job that they ruin the development. of said prospects or young players. I mean, I would argue... This is damned if you do. I would argue that the early stages of the rebuild are the most important because you're laying the foundation,

so you really don't want to screw this up. Now, you never want to screw up any higher. It's not like you ever want to do any... You want to make sure that everything you do is thorough and thoughtful and diligence, so you don't ever want to have like, oh, we'll just take a mulligan if it doesn't work. It doesn't work like that. Yeah.

But I would very... much push back on, well, this is a good time to let someone learn the ropes because it's kind of inferring that the stakes are lower. Yeah. I would disagree with that. Like this pick that's coming up in the draft is fundamentally important to the future of the Vancouver Canucks.

This draft is fundamentally important. They've got two high-end picks. They've got an opportunity to replenish what is a very diminished prospect covered. This is vitally important. And all of the decisions are. Because, you know, we talked about setting a culture for a team yesterday, I think the same can be said of a front office in an organization

where if you take every decision with the utmost seriousness and like this is a crucial building block to our organization, more often than not, you'll feel good with the decision you reached. Like even if it doesn't work, you'll say the process was right and the way we went about it was right. Does it, does it feel weird for me to say that I'm somewhat re-energized when it comes to the Canucks because they came crashing down so hard and they are now moving forward with something else. And yes, there are going to be perhaps some holdovers from the old era. But I think for the most part, I just felt like this ain't it for so long.

And, you know, there was the one season a couple of years ago where I was like, well, maybe I was wrong about these guys. but it so quickly came back to like, no, this ain't it. This group ain't it. And these guys need, the organization needs such a shock to the system

to get them out of their old ways. Now, hopefully they are officially out of their old ways. I just feel like I know it's going to be hard. I know it's going to take a long time and there's going to be a lot more losses to come. Mm-hmm. I'm just more curious about this new chapter.

It feels like I'm starting a new book as opposed to being forced... As opposed to being forced to read this book that I hate that, but I'm like, you know, like I'm three quarters of the way through it, so I guess I'll finish it, right? Yeah, my hesitation, like I'm kind of with you on...

It's new and it's invigorating and they've gone to the bottom and you've got to work your way back up. I really hope, and I haven't had a lot of signs yet, but I really hope that this organization from ownership to executive is really going to truly embrace

what happened last year and what a rebuild takes. And the biggest word that I hope, and the biggest thing that I hope they embrace is patience. Yeah. I really hope that they understand that this is a long haul.

I did not like Rutherford talking about how next year they're, you know, we might not be a playoff team, but we're going to be competitive. I thought that was reckless, man. I was just putting, saying like,

we're going to have Lecker-Macki Coots and the new guy in the lineup. Are you still going to have that young defense? And you're going to have these, like Leckermackie is, in my opinion, prove me wrong, not an NHL player and probably won't be. There's Coots needs time to develop. And he needs to go and play at the world juniors and be one of the best players for Canada. And, you know, even the third overall pick, like maybe, you know, if it's McKenna, I'm sure he's going to be in the lineup to sell tickets.

But let's just. let's be patient in your words. I think there's a big difference between positivity and projection. I don't think that in mid-April, it's wise to go up there and start projecting what your lineup's going to look like in October. I think you're going to be positive about the young guys that you have. But when you do stuff like that, you kind of set an expectation. And I don't think that you should have any expectations right now

other than we're going to try and stockpile talent and we're going to hope that our young guys get better. And then you just leave it at that. Because if Coots doesn't make the team out of camp next year, someone, and it's going to be one of us, Jackals in the media, is going to say, well, you know, in April, Jim Rutherford had you penciled in for a roster spot.

Yeah, it seems like he's failing, right? Which is not. Jonathan Lecromacki needs to spend another year in Abbotsford. They're going to say, is this guy ever going to make it? Lecormacki's a different story than Coots. Lackermanackie should be ready to be in the line of the line.

You don't think he's going to be an initial player? No. Really? No. He's too slow. Not strong enough. What if he gets faster and stronger? I guess that would be good for him.

Tushay, what if he gets better at hockey? Yeah. I mean, yeah, if he gets much better at hockey, then I'll be like, huh. I was wrong. Okay, it's time now for the smart decision brought to you by Crow. Laddie is not on the microphone, but he's back there, you know what was smart decision was, Lattie? when the Blue Jay signed Dylan Sees to a seven-year, $210 million contract this offseason,

because he is the lone Blue Jay who has shown up and delivered this season yesterday, struck out 12 in five innings of work. Do you know how hard it is to strike out 12 guys in five innings of work? He also took 110 pitches to get 15 out. So it's a weird, you know, it's funny, a buddy of mine is a big Padres fan, and Cs was there before, and he's like, this is the Dylan Cs' experience. He's got unbelievable talent, but it comes in different weird shapes and sizes. So like five innings, 110 pitches, 12 strikeouts.

It was a workhorse performance. I think he's now second in Major League Baseball and Strikeouts. So in what's been a pretty down year for the Blue Jays thus far, C showed up in a big moment. Smart decision to get him aboard, although they paid a lot of money to do so. I know you got your read, but if you noticed like the Mariners aren't exactly killing it either. They had a bad game last night. Gave a bunch of solo shots in a loss to the A's.

I saw a lot of, is this the right manager discussion on Mariner's social media? You know what else I saw? And I was like, I'm not interested in this. I'm going to go back to hockey social media. I saw a lot of empty seats at Safeco. Well, it's early. Still, that was a team that was. Beautiful night, too.

Yeah, I know. Like, could you not think of a better night to go to the, like, the ballpark? And I know it's early days and everything, but it's not like they're a bad team. They were a, you know, a playoff team last year. Obviously, that sort of unforgettable series against the Js. So, anyway, smart decision brought to you by Crow, your trusted account. hunting and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow, smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at chromokai.com.com. Finally, before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan

Pro. Cleaner workplaces start with consistent cleaning. JanPro helps businesses stay clean day after day. Start clean, stay clean. Visit them online at Janpro.com. Coming up on the other side, Jack Michaels is going to join the program, play-by-play voice of the Evanton Oilers. Big 4-3 win in game one of their series against Anaheim. Yesterday, we'll talk to Jack about it coming up next on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.