Halford & Brough in the Morning - Hockey Hall Of Famer Scott Niedermayer

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

In hour three, Mike & Jason chat with Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder and Canadian National Team member Jeevan Badwal (1:11) about his exceptional season for the Caps thus far, plus the boys speak with Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer (24:17), whose Anaheim Ducks are currently in town to take on the Canucks this evening. 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.

802 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. We're now in our three of the program, Jeevin Baudwell from the Vancouver Whitecaps

and the Canadian men's national team. It's going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 3. Hour 3 is brought to by the Duick Auto Group. Find out when nobody beats a job. Duick deal. I know what he has since 1926. Visit Duke Jamrock on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond and visit them online at the duikato group.com. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studio, Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech.

Our next guest, you know him for the Vancouver Whitecaps. You know him from the Canadian men's national team. Good local kid, born and raised in Surrey. He joins us now on the program. It's Jeevan Bodwell here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Jevin. How are you? I'm good. How are you guys?

We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. So let's begin with the current state of your game with the Vancouver White Caps. It's been a very impressive start to the season. I believe it's six starts across all competitions. That fantastic goal against Seattle and Concaf Calf Cup. How are you feeling about your game right now? What is it about your game right now that pleases you the most? I think for me it's just been, you know, being really confident this year.

You know, coming off a great year last year, with the team, being someone that's younger and now just coming into the new year. I feel like it's like a new me with more confidence, you know, more, more ways to my game that I've added coming out of preseason, coming out of the Canada camp. And no, it's just having the confidence of, you know, really playing with the guys and playing with guys that are really good, you know, so just having that confidence. How much is your manager, Yesper Sorensen, done to raise your level of confidence? No, he's done a lot, you know.

He's obviously put that confidence in me, but he's also put, you know, trust into me. And he's added lots of ways, lots of skills to add to my game. You know, each day, every day that I've been training or even after games or just in preseason in general, he's shown me ways that I can just develop and get better. And he's always telling me every day that, you know, I'm becoming a better player, but I can even become someone great. So he's done a lot and I'm really grateful for him. What's it like playing for Yesper?

I listened to your interview with Christian Jack from a few days ago, and you talked about his abilities to break the game down into small component parts, but then also utilize that in the big moments when you're starting a match or coming off the bench as a substitute. So what are some of the keys that make Yesper such a good manager? For me, it's just, you know, one of the things that I say is that he puts trust into every one of his players. And, you know, he brings the best out of everyone's ability. general in training is that, you know what,

makes him different from coaches that I've had is that he gets the small things out of training or even games, and he breaks it down, telling you how much you can get better at it or what you can do differently. And it's just how great of a coach he is, and he tells you so much. And, you know, you could take in the info,

taking the knowledge, but he's one of the best coaches I've had and he's doing really well. Yeah, and, you know, you along with Ryan Alumi, Tate Johnson, young guys that have been thrust into some pretty prominent roles in pretty big moments, and you guys have flourished. What does he do with particular young players, Academy products,

and everything else that has allowed you guys to play so well on the biggest stage? I think he just gives us chances. It's those moments that we get, especially last year, is that you can see how well Tate Johnson's doing, how well Ryan, Illumie is doing chances, and he's giving us trust.

And that's where the confidence comes in is that You know, when we get times to play, chances to play, it just gives us confidence to, you know, shine and do our thing. And, you know, he's giving that opportunity to make us play. When we get to play, it's that, you know, we get a chance to show ourselves and actually be ourselves on the pitch. Whether that's even in training is that, you know, he's always constantly getting the best out of us is that he's always telling us put in the great effort and it'll show on the pitch in game. So it's really the best of him is that he's getting the best out of us when he gives us chances and gives us confidence. Jeevan, you're a local kid. You just turned 20 years old.

And last season, the Vancouver Whitecaps had certainly the most magical season of this iteration of the Whitecaps. What was that like for you just to experience, you know, B.C. place, sold out B.C. place twice. and your team is playing against Messi and you had that incredible win over LAAFC and that was one of the greatest nights in Vancouver sports history what was it like to be a part of that? I think for me is that

you know, as you said someone that's local is just soaking in an experience at least being on the pitch being with the team, being a part of it going up locally especially going to games when I was younger and seeing, you know, a valuable player come and go, but especially play at B.C. place and watch him.

It was just an amazing feeling. But now being that kid, being that player on the pitch, you know, having fans come out, having kids watch you, it's just even better because, you know, you see yourself in those stands and now you're on the pitch, soaking everything in, getting an amazing experience, getting an amazing feeling. It's just, you know, it's just an amazing feeling for me. Well, soccer, you're always your number one sport.

Is that the sport that you fell in love with? Or did you play other sports as well growing up? Soccer was definitely the number one sport for me. You know, my dad was really forced on that. You forced me on to that. I played other sports growing up because my parents wanted me to, you know, get a feel of other sports because, you know, there's different skills involved, different areas

where it can help you get better within other sports, you know. So I played basketball. I played hockey for a bit. I didn't enjoy it. But definitely other like little sports, like swimming, track and all that. So Mike and I were much older than you. And we remember growing up where you couldn't really watch soccer in Europe. Or you couldn't watch.

There wasn't soccer on TV. And obviously there wasn't YouTube or highlights that you could look at. Who did you watch when you grew up? what were the leagues and the teams and the players that you watched growing up? Definitely one was the White Caps growing up. But one of the teams that my dad, you know, we all support in love is Liverpool in Premier League. And the player that I grew up watching was Stephen Gerard. He was probably one of my favorite players growing up.

You know, he was just someone that I idolized. And, you know, I take part of my game in after him. and you know nowadays it's the game's developed a lot and I like to watch someone who I did like to watch was Conte but no I would say Stephen Gerard and Liverpool were was a team and a player that I really love to watch I still love to watch Liverpool now but Stephen Gerard was really my idol we're speaking of whitecats midfielder jevin badwall here on the halford and brough show on sports net 650 you know part of what makes your story so great is that you were raised locally played locally then you joined the academy and worked your way to through pretty quickly to be able to make your MLS debut.

I'm curious, you know, playing at Surreyfc and all the other clubs and then making the jump at a youth to the White Caps Academy. Was there a certain point where you realize like this is the thing I'm going to do professionally as a career, this is going to be it for me? Was there one particular moment or breaking point in time where you said, yeah, this is what I'm going to do and this is where I'm going to do it? I think it came definitely when, you know, I got a call for the second team right below the first team, but I was still in the academy and I didn't have a contract or anything,

but I just come out of playing in the U-17 World Cup with Canada, and, you know, they had told me that I was going to play with second team more regular more often. And at that point, I was like, okay, you know, this is a real chance, you know, as an academy boy, coming into the second team now. and getting a chance to play professionally as still someone that's young, it was something for me that was like a turning point where if I'm doing this as an academy player, playing with professional players and only I know the second team, but getting that chance, it was just for me to show that I'm capable of playing in the

second team and getting that chance to get a contract with the first team and playing the MLS level or just in general play professionally, you know? So for me it was just getting ready to play that professional level and just getting the chance from the academy to a professional league. The rise at the club level has been very impressive. Your rise through the Canadian men's national team ranks to full senior cap has been impressive as well. What was it like getting that call from Jesse Marsh in January to join the camp ahead of the Guatemala game? Oh, no, that was an amazing experience.

And especially getting the call was just, you know, I was very ecstatic about that. I know my parents were really happy about it too. But no, getting that call was something amazing. gave to play under Jesse and in the Canada badge was just an amazing feeling. You know, Jesse's a great coach. He really wants something out of you and the staff there were just amazing.

They wanted, you know, full effort from everybody. Playing with guys that, you know, come from different clubs, you know, different ages and everything was also an amazing feeling. What was it like going from being managed by Yesper to being managed by Jesse? Because I would suggest that while they're both good footballing, minds. Slightly different approaches, I would suggest that Jesse might be a touch

more high energy and verbose than Yesper. Yesper seems pretty calm and stoic and then there's Marsh who kind of like manages like he played like his air is on fire. What was it like working under Jesse? Definitely you had it right that he's more very energetic.

And for me it was it was a great feeling, you know, because obviously under Yisper he's more calm but more calm and more like, you know, he still wants something out of you, but with Jesse, he was super like 100% all the time in training, you know, even if you're just standing still in training or something, he just wants that 100% out of you. And as a young player, like, I love that that I just want to keep on going, you know,

and keep on working hard, just keep working. And that's something I really loved about Jesse is that he wants that full effort from you every time. And, you know, it's a great feeling to have because as a coach like that, it was great. And what he's doing is that he wants to. want something out of you and that really takes place for me is that you know if you want something out of me is that

then I can just keep on going, keep on giving them 100% and get that confidence on me. We're speaking of White Caps Midfield or Jeevan Bodwell here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Local sports stories like yours Jeevan, they're important because they make dreams and goals feel attainable for

the next generation. When you go back and you speak to, you know, either kids like Surrey FC or the younger kids in the White Caps Academy right now, what are some of the messages that you tell them about your journey and where you got in a relatively short period of time because you're still only 20 years old? For me that, what I usually tell kids is that, you know, never to give up, you know, there's a lot of bumps that come along the road and, you know, it's known to bring you down or, you know,

cause something to happen. But if you never give up and give your full effort and work hard, you know, you'll get to where you want to get, whether that, you know, the college level, the professional level, or even just somewhere that you get really happy at, that you've got to keep on going. Because, you know, obstacles will get in the way. Bumps will come along the road. But if you really never give up and go past those obstacles and bumps,

you'll get to where you want to get. You know, another great thing about these local sports stories is that you get to spotlight people who are working in the community that are helping people go on to achieve great things. So with that said, I got to ask you, like a guy like Paul Behue, who's the technical director at Sirius, and I know you know him well. What is a guy like that meant to your playing career?

No, he's meant a lot, you know. He's done so much for the community and done so much for me is that I'm really grateful to have people like him in my life. You know, they give me support, they give me a role as a mentor. And someone like him is just doing a lot for the community. And, you know, when he's done so much for me is that I could give back by giving to the community

and giving to, you know, the kids that he manages, or the kids that he trains or kids that he coaches. And I'm just really grateful to have people like him in my life. I brought him up because there's a video someone showed me the other day of him rifling two goals past me in a Masters Cup game about three years ago. And I was like, you can still hit a ball pretty well. Those were the easiest goals I've ever scored. I was going to say, I was like, are there any saves on the video?

And the guy was like, I don't think so. So, yeah, anyway, great guy. And he's doing a great job. been seriously. Jeevan, I know you got a lot on the go here. So with that we'll let you go. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. Best of luck with everything moving forward. And keep it going, man. It's a great story. Thank you. Thank you guys for having me. It means a lot. Yeah, thanks for coming on. That's Jeevan, Ballwale, Whiteca's midfielder, and Canadian men's national team member here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Halford, when you're in goal now and you're facing a penalty kick, do you just hope for the Penenka? Is that your idea? Is it? You know what? I saw it in his eyes. I thought he was going for the No one my age does it. No one doesn't. The risk is too great. But you should say, like, because people would be like, hey, your feet didn't even move. And you were like, you know what? I played a hunch.

Thought he was going with the pananka. The key now. I can't even imagine diving for a ball. I can't imagine you diving for a ball. I'm doing it, buddy. I'm still doing it. Every Tuesday, when we go out and train, still doing it. It does hurt a lot.

Yeah. Every time that I do it, I'm like, this seems like not an activity for a 46, even a 46-year-old that's in decent shape, which I am not. But it's, it's, because we talked about this earlier in the week, right? When we were talking about you watched an old man soccer game the other day and just, like, this looks dangerous. Just a level of danger involves in it, right? And I'm thinking about it. I'm like, imagine the amount of things it can have when I hurl my body towards the turf to try and block something. Like any number of things can have.

cold. It is cold all the time. You know what? Even when it's warm, it's cold. It always feels cold now. Are you becoming like a kid again where you're just like wearing a lot of clothes like really? Oh, it's funny. Okay.

Just like, Halford can't even move. Not because of the physical restrictions, because of all the clothes on him. That video that the guy sent me where Paul like just hammered two goals past me too. There's like this shadowy figure. And I'm looking and I'm like, how many layers was I wearing them? The match.

The match was in eight. I think it was like 14 degrees outside. It wasn't even cold. I had like eight. I got three scarves on. Seriously. I had like three undershirts on. I don't know what I was doing.

But I guess like, as to the point there were the referees like, I don't even know if this is legal to be wearing this much clothes. He's a reason you're letting in all these goals. You can't move. Goretex body suit. It was unbelievable. Anyway, okay.

Let's, we got a few minutes here before we get to Scott Knight, Niedemeyer here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Let's do a couple more what we learns and ask us anythings. If you've got some queued up, that'd be great. A reminder, down bar, number tech sign is 650, 650, hashtag him, WWL. Adam, the former bath guy, what we learned, I learned that there's a different feeling to this death march when the team is guaranteed a top three pick.

It is exciting that the connects are going to add a real talent to their prospect group. Like a real blue chip talent to the prospect group. You know, the worst they're going to draft is third overall. That's actually, according to the odds, the most likely. But we're obviously hoping that they get for the first time in franchise history first overall. Still most likely odds first overall as well, though. Let's not forget that. They have the highest chance of first overall, too.

That's true. So even though they have a higher chance of getting third, they still have the highest of all the teams are getting first. I think it's like 25%. Yes, that is how the draft level works. I'm just saying, so don't forget about that because people always go to the, They probably get third, but whilst they have the best chance at first, though, too. Let's not bypass that.

Anything else to add on probability? Today, an A-Dog plays the lottery. Yeah, well, it's important. Because some people actually aren't aware of the true probabilities, like the hardcore sports fans that are listening to us all the time do. I'm just saying let's be positive. Put good vibes out there, good energy. We're getting first overall.

I don't think our show is equipped to put out good energy. We got to try once. Just once. Arbutus Omar, what we learned, with the race to the playoffs in the West becoming a quote-unquote pillow fight, yeah, that's according to Connor McDavid, NHL parody is becoming a problem

with the exception of the exceptional Canucks. There are now more middling teams that can't put a win streak together while the few remaining elite teams aren't as elite as they used to be. We are getting close to a playoff world where average teams are playing against each other and upsets don't exist.

Yeah, I mean, that's been the reality for a few years now. You know, there aren't real upsets anymore in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Like, not huge upsets. Like, when the Kings beat the Oilers back in the 80s, the miracle on Manchester, those don't really exist anymore. There can be significant upsets, like when you think of, about when Columbus beat Tampa Bay and they swept them, right? There are those last team to make the playoffs that can beat the first seed in the conference.

But then you look at the record of the last team to make the playoffs, and maybe not in the West this year. But in the East, you're looking at a team like the Islanders have 40 wins, 26 losses, and five overtime losses. That's a pretty good record, you know? and what if they play what if they play Buffalo what if Buffalo managed to get the first

overall seed in the Eastern Conference if any team beats Buffalo in the playoffs is that an upset I don't think so no like a massive upset I don't think so I don't see a massive

Buffalo was Buffalo has been good for like three months I don't yeah I don't have been good for three months I don't see a massive upset in the I don't. Like I I think Buffalo's going to win the Atlantic like you kind of said, right? And then they're going to get one of the two

wildcard teams. And I would say that based on Buffalo's history and the fact that they have been on a heater, but it's really been a three-month heater. Yeah. But that's kind of what gets you in the playoffs these days is you got to go on one of these extended runs. Do your thing. Well, okay, we got a little bit. Your smart decision. Yeah, brought to you by Crow. This is going to be a smart decision with a question mark at the end. A smart decision? Because I'm not sure that this is the greatest decision.

but it appears as though it's a decision nonetheless. At a celebration of life for former late Green Bay Packers President Bob Harlan, the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike McCarthy, said that he is all for a reunion in Pittsburgh with his former quarterback in Green Bay, Aaron Rogers. Yes, it'd be a great story, McCarthy said on Monday. he then went on to say, I would love to tell everybody there's breaking news,

but I can't. It would be really cool to see Aaron at age 42 and to see a young man at 22 and all he's been able to accomplish in between and where he's at in his personal life trying to make the decision. I don't know if this is actually going to happen. I think it would be kind of a cool story,

but the possibility of it working out, based on what we saw last year, especially in the playoffs in the Pittsburgh Steelers, seems like it's pretty thin. Talk about teams in the mushy middle. Yep. Man, the Steelers need to bottom out. They do.

Or they've got to find a quarterback somehow. This is ridiculous. What they're doing. They don't even seem that concerned about it. The whole situation's weird. Bringing in McCarthy. They've got a lot of talent in other, like on the defensive side of the ball,

on the offensive side of the ball. And it's all just going to waste because they can't fight a quarterback. Yeah, I was surprised at the McCarthy hire. I'm surprised that he's got the door open to an Aaron Rogers return at 42 years of age where it looked like he was playing on fumes at the end of last season. But I guess they're hoping for maybe more of the same, another season where they win nine or ten games and get into the playoffs. Maybe that's the idea.

I don't know. I really don't know what the thing. And then what? Get crushed by Houston? And that's why smart decision with a question mark. Brought to you by Crow, your trusted accounting and tax advisors for 55 years. Crow, smart decisions, lasting value. Learn more at chromokai.ca.ca. Coming up on the other side of the break, Scott Niedermeyer is going to join the program, the Hockey Hall of Famer, now working as a special advisor in hockey ops for

the Anaheim Ducks. The ducks are in town to take on the Canucks tonight, 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena. Scott Niedermeyer is going to join us next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division. It's a bit of a pillow fight right now. I'm going to take a pillowcase

and fill it full of bars of soap and beat the shit out of you. Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. 831 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by the Sands and Associates.

Are you getting collection calls? If you are, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% and stop the calls. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in our three of the program. Scott Niedermeyer is going to join us in just a moment here. Our three is brought you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal

why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duick Jam on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond. Visit them online at the Duick Auto Group.com. It is the Canucks hosting the Anaheim Ducks tonight. 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena. And we thought who better to get

on the show to talk about the ducks and everything that's going on with this franchise, then they're a special advisor in hockey ops, a hockey hall of famer. Stanley Cup winner. Scott Niedermeyer joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning. I'm doing well. How are you guys? We're well as well. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. I imagine these have to be pretty exciting times for you and the entire Ducks organization. Not quite there yet, but it's trending in the right direction to end a seven-year playoff drought. What's the vibe around the organization right now? now, Scott? Yeah, it is a positive thing to see. Obviously, you know, things haven't,

there hasn't been a lot of winning in the last few years in Anaheim going through a rebuild and, you know, being involved in it, there's been moments for sure where you wonder when, when will we turn a corner, when will things start to sort of get better and start winning more hockey games? And fortunately this year, with a lot of our young guys, you know, taking a step, You know, Joel Quinnville coming in, I think that's helped a lot as well. And, yeah, we're doing a little better. We're benefiting from an interesting Pacific Division as well, which, you know, has been, I don't know if you'd call it a playoff race or I don't know what you call it.

But, yeah, we're happy to be involved in it, for sure. What's the hardest thing about a rebuild? And I ask this as someone that covers the Vancouver Canucks. And I think we're about to embark on a very long and difficult process here in Vancouver. Yeah, and I think that's an accurate statement. You know, I think everybody wants to be optimistic and think that will be short or can happen this quick, but it takes time. I mean, I can speak as a young player that, you know, started in the NHL and there's a lot to learn. No matter, you know, how talented you are to win hockey games in the NHL is difficult to do. Maybe now

as difficult as it's ever been. And it just takes time. You have to take your lump. along the way, take your losses and learn from them and keep grinding away to try and get better, and it does take time for sure. I mean, we're still in the middle of it. I mean, we're, you know, I think our goal differential is still negative, so there's a lot of work, a lot of areas are game that have a lot of room for improvement. And you show up every day trying to put that work in to become a better team. Does it seem more difficult now than ever to acquire talent? I mean, you look at the list of pending unrestricted free agents that still remains, and no disrespect to those guys, but it's not superstar-laden.

Yeah, it would be interesting to really sort of see the numbers or the type of players that are changing teams by unrestricted free agency. I'm not sure, you know, that was really, I think that was a good way to supplement, you know, some talent maybe that you've drafted and developed in your own organization. You look at teams that have won Stanley Cups in the last 15 years. And, you know, their stars are usually drafted. And then they kind of build around it with maybe with some trades and free agents, that type of thing.

That seems to be the pattern. You know, and that's why it takes time. Like I said, those young guys, they need experience and they need to learn lessons how you win in the NHL, especially in the playoffs, which is a whole other thing. And that would be, you know, if we are able to qualify for the playoffs this year with the Ducks, it would be great for our young guys to experience what that's like and the differences in playoff hockey compared to the regular season. Scott, tell us about some of the conversations that you guys would have internally

and maybe some conversations that you would keep coming back to and there would be debates about should we do this or should we do that. What were some of those difficult conversations? I think two things kind of pop into my mind. I mean, I think it is patience is a big one. you know, you see mistakes happening. And then, you know, I guess the other part of that is how do you deal with those mistakes? You know, do you give the player another chance to go out and correct it?

Do you sit and maybe watch a shift or two and realize that that's not the way to play? And that's a real trick, a real balancing act. I think to kind of get the most out of your players to get a message across and help them develop and to becoming better hockey players and a better team. I do think Joel is very good at that. You know, he's very in touch with individual players, what they're going through. I mean, he was a player for many years. And I think he is real good at kind of making those adjustments and those calls as to what the player needs.

You know, does he need that pat on the back and encouragement to go out and, you know, get back into the game? Or maybe he needs to sit and think about it for a bit. I know I went through, again, I talk about myself, but I went through that as young player, Jacques LaMere, you know, I wasn't doing the things he was. wanted. It was time to sit on the bench and think about it for a bit and maybe try not to do it again. So those are tough decisions and each player's different. You know, but that's kind of the job you have to try and maximize their talents and help them become, you know, a winning hockey team. It's obviously your goal. The Cutter-Goce acquisition in the year that he's having right now,

he's got 36 goals and 69 games and, you know, he's on pace to be a 40-goal score if he had played every game this year, or if he ends up playing every game this year, he could flirt with 50 further on down the road. Has he exceeded your guys' expectations, maybe just in terms of the goal scoring, or is this what you guys kind of expected when you acquired him from Philadelphia? I mean, I think we knew he was a shooter, you know, really good skater and a goal score. But he is, you know, having a real good year, you know, a big increase from where he was last year. So I don't know if we expected that to happen right away. You know, and I think the other part of kind of putting a team together,

and when you watch hockey and you realize that it really takes a bunch of different styles and sort of specialties out there to have success as a hockey team. And Cutter's a guy that you give him the puck, and you don't have to tell him to shoot it. You know, there are a lot of players that like to move the puck and make plays and hold on to it a little bit. You need those guys too, but you definitely need a guy like Cutter. When it's on a stick, he's putting it on the net. and that's how you score goals.

And this year you find it a way to do that, which has been great for us. How have you guys gone about getting the right mix of young players and veterans? Yeah, that actually has been a big sort of part of the discussion. You know, as you're going through it, like I said earlier, it's a tough league. And you really need veteran players that understand it,

that have good habits and know what it takes to win. and that has been a real focus for us in the last four years to try and find those type of guys. And they're not the easiest to find. You know, teams that have those guys, they hold onto them, they cherish what they bring to their organizations and trying to win and have success. You know, so you kind of keep your eye out when there's opportunities to get a veteran player that plays the right way. You know, plays hard, maybe has been involved and had success in the past, one Stanley Cups, those type of things.

It's been an emphasis on us for the last four or five years. We're probably getting sort of up against it now where now we have to pay some of the young guys and that's going to kind of change. We won't have the room to be able to do that like we did three years ago where we could bring some guys in, maybe overpay a little bit and hope that that can help our team and our young guys get better.

Some big decisions to make, I guess, this offseason about the blue line, which I'm sure you'll have input on. You got some veteran guys, John Carlson, you just acquired from Washington, Jacob Truba, Radco Gudis, the captain. They're all pending UFAs, and the only defensemen of you guys got locked up long term is Jackson Lacombe. So what are some of the discussions you're going to be having about the Blue Line group? Yeah, and that's, you know, exactly. Like I said, this is kind of where it does get tough because, you know, we probably just won't have the room, you know, to do everything we'd love to do.

we have to sign a bunch of our restricted free agents too a cutter is up as well as Carlson a couple of defensemen so you know there's a lot of work to do on that side of it now you know go out and drafting good hockey players is part of the process but then it's about fitting everybody in with a salary cap and and getting contracts that work for both sides

so that will be the focus this year it'll be a little different summer than we've had over the last few years because that hasn't really been an issue for us up until this point So it'll be a new challenge in this phase of our rebuild, I guess. I do want to ask you about a couple of players. I just want to know where they are in their development. Where is Pavel Minchikoff, the defenseman that was taken 10th overall a few years ago? Yeah, again, I can kind of speak to that fairly well as a defenseman.

And going back, I know I've said this, but I would say as a defenseman, the league's even tougher. You know, to learn how to be effective, to learn the other players. you cheat or you make any little mistake, and it can lead to a great chance against, a goal against, and cost you a game. And that can sometimes be hard on a young player, you know, when you get caught in those situations and you feel responsible for losing a game or whatever it may be.

And he's, you know, he's had some, he's played some great hockey. He's had some struggles as well. I think this year early on he maybe wasn't at his best, but he's a real positive. He's kind of hung in there, kept working, and he's now really kind of been playing some of his best hockey, I think, that he's been able to play. He's killing penalties.

You know, the coaches trust him in a lot of situations. He does provide some offense. He's on the power play a little bit, which is good as well. I think that's what a lot of these young players, I know, you know, when you're an offensive guy, that's really what you focus on. And it's hard for these young guys to really prioritize or put the importance on defending and being reliable in that sense.

And I think he's learning that, which is a positive thing. It seems we ask so much of defensemen in the NHL. And I say especially, I realize we asked them a lot when you were playing as well. But you could hold guys up a little bit on the forecheck. You could get away with a little bit of interference. Now those guys have to go back quickly, get the puck, turn, make a decision, probably take a hit. And then also, oh yeah, you also have to learn how to defend in zone.

You've got to be able to learn how to break up a cycle. it's a lot on these young defensemen's played. So how do you go about doing that? Because the connects are in a position right now where they're playing three or four young guys every game. And, you know, it's a struggle at times. Yeah, and that's the way it is. Unfortunately, it takes time.

It takes a lot of reps. Learning sort of the subtleties of the position. You're exactly right. I mean, you know, the way the game is played now, I mean, it's been like this, I guess, for a while. But I think a lot of the young players, the skilled offensive players, they now know that

you can get right into somebody and still stick handle, make plays. You know, when I was a young guy, there was a lot of defensemen I didn't want to get with intense stuff because it was going to hurt.

I wasn't about to try it. Whereas now these young players have growing up, fifth style of hockey, their skill level obviously is extremely high and defending. I mean, you just don't have the tricks

and the things you could do to kind of slow down offensive players like you could many years ago with holding and hooking. So it is a much harder position to play now, I would say, because they've kind of taken a lot of your tools away that a lot of, you know, Ken Danico and guys like that used to be able to use to greater effect. I mean, they could be valuable players on your team, and he was for us. But that's just not anything you can do anymore. Yeah, it's a very tough position.

Patience, I think, is extremely important for young defensemen. I will say that Radco Gudis comes close to it. I mean, there's comparisons to be made with Scott Stevens, who was a pretty mean piece of business. That's fair. I mean, yeah, Radco plays hard. You know, he does commit to some big hit sometimes. And unfortunately, you know, when you do that, then the player steps out of the way. Sometimes, unfortunate things happen like did in Toronto a couple weeks ago.

But yeah, but he's still limited. You can't, you know, there's not a lot of hooking and holding, but he will bring a physical element when he can. for sure. The other player I wanted to ask, not a defenseman, but Mason McTavish, where is he at right now? Yeah, so he's probably not happy

with where he's at. You know, I think, again, this is a fairly, I don't know if it's predictable, but a common sort of situation in a young player's career where he had some early success, you know,

earns a good contract, kind of comes back in, and, you know, you sort of see where that success, or that expected success doesn't happen right away and frustration sets in, maybe lose a bit of opportunity, some other players that are playing well.

And now, you know, you're trying to get it back on track and find your game again. And that's not always the easiest thing to do. And I think that's kind of what he's gone through this year. You know, he provides us another unique kind of element to the game. He's a player that likes to play in traffic and, you know, is strong and good at protecting the puck.

And, you know, I think when we are hopefully getting into some play, half hockey, you know, that'll be an extremely valuable thing to have. But right now, you know, probably his confidence isn't as high as he'd like it. And there's work to do to kind of get his game back for sure. How would you classify the working relationship with him and Joel Quimble? And I guess by extension, a lot of the young guys, because Q's a pretty veteran coach. He's won a lot in this league. He can be very demanding. And you do have some veteran presences that are maybe more adept or able to handle that style of coaching as opposed to the young guys. I'm curious about the dynamic with McTavish and Quesson.

and then by extension, all the young guys with Quenville. Yeah, I mean, I can't speak exactly to it. But, you know, I think, you know, you look at, say, your first power play unit, you have five players out there. And that's, you know, you can't throw more guys out there. So you're going to go with the guys that you think are doing the best job. You know, and maybe Mason at times hasn't been given that opportunity. And I'm sure, I mean, again, can speak to this as a young player who thinks their offensive player. it's frustrating.

You know, you want to be out there. You want to be out in those opportunities to make a difference. And sometimes you don't handle that the best way. You know, you kind of, you get frustrated and, you know, if you don't maybe look at the solutions that are in your control, you start to look outside and that isn't going to help you. So I think Joel's pretty good at handling young guys. I think if a young guy's out there playing hard,

I think Joel will put him out there as much as he can. And I think the same thing goes for the veterans as well. I mean, he wants us to win hockey games. He wants to win hockey games. And he's going to try and put the best guys out there to help us do that. Scott, tell us a bit about the ownership group in Anaheim because you've been with this organization for so long as a player, a coach, special advisor now.

I'm sure you've done pretty much every role in the organization. There's a financial commitment when a team enters a rebuild. Tickets aren't as popular. You can't charge what you can to a really good team. You don't get your playoff revenue. I know there's a lot of real estate development going on around the arena now. What has it been like to work for the Ducks owners? Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, it was interesting because when I signed there, I guess talking about unrestricted free agents, I'm from New Jersey. I just bought the team from Disney. It was 2005. I did not love a Saudi Wally family at all. Brian Burke was just hired by them a little for that. He spoke very highly of them.

Not sure how he knew them. Maybe his willing to become general manager. But in my time there, they've definitely been very supportive. I think they understand. that they're not hockey people with a hockey background. They love to watch the, we have playoff runs early. They were at every game, they loved it. They were kind of wrapped up in the emotional playoff hockey,

which was great to see as well. And they're very, the community, I think, I think they're real in Orange County. You know, they support a lot of things for Orange County. And I think they view that as the Inheim, Texas, being part of Orange County, the Orange County's team, and they want to see it be successful and be there for a long time. So I think it's been great. I mean, you know, there's a hiring people. They let kind of them do the job and, you know, hope that they hire the right people to do a good job.

Scott, this was awesome, man. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Best of luck with the remainder of the season and, of course, the playoffs were counting on that one to go through. And enjoy it. It should be a lot of fun. It's been a while. I appreciate it.

Thanks, guys. Thank you. That's Scott Niedermeyer. Hockey Hall of Famer, special advisory at hockey ops to the Anaheim Ducks here on the Alford-Urubb show on Sportsnet, 650. Yeah, it's too bad his call cut out a little bit near the end when he was talking about

the ownership group because they have had to make a big investment. But you know what? He's going to be okay. I think his net worth, Henry Samwelley, is about $36 billion. Are they located in Orange County? I couldn't tell from their jerseys.

Yeah. They weren't getting that point across enough. I was going to ask when I was like, Are you guys going to fix your jersey soon? Honestly. Very orange. Aggressively orange. He was very open.

It was. Yep. That was a good interview. Yep. I mean, I think he basically laid out what we're going to experience here in Vancouver where there are going to be some tough decisions. And it's, I find it funny when, you know, people say, well, they're rebuilding. And then, and then as if there's no. debate on how to do it properly or there's no um you know i don't even say

criticism i like honest questions like i asked them you know um what are some of the debates that you guys have had and he said yeah there's a few that come to mind and you know one of the things is like um how many veterans should you have what kind of veterans should you have like what's the appropriate mix and then also i imagine One is like, when do you pay young players? Mason McTavish gets paid. I don't know. Did he get a little fat and happy?

I don't know. I know Drancer had an article the other day in the athletic and saying, you know, one of the things that the Canucks should look to do is get Zee Booiam signed to a long-term contract. Okay, well, that's fine. It can sometimes be a very, very smart decision to get your young players locked up to reasonable cap hits. Look at Montreal.

We talked about them earlier in the show. They got all these guys locked up to these great, long, term contracts and they panned out. Yeah. You know, the culture and the character of those players is such that they are still going to be motivated to put in all the extra work even though they did get their contracts. You know, the other debates that you have from a coaching perspective is how do you deal with mistakes that players are making on the ice?

Do you just put them out there for another shift or do you sit them down and say, listen, if you make those mistakes continually, you're going to sit down and you're, we're going to to hold you accountable. And then he also said, every player is different because certain players will take the criticism in different ways. Some guys will get down on themselves and other guys will have a, well, I'll show you attitude. And the next time I go out there and I'm going to have a great shift. Other guys will play more tentatively. Like it is, it is so many, there's so many little micro decisions that you have to make along the way. And oh yeah, you better nail your draft picks too and make sure that you've not only hit the the talent evaluation like is this guy

a good player and is he going to be a good player? And number two, character, is this player going to be, if you're spending a top five pick or a top 10 pick, that player better be one of your leaders. Now, the hitting on the draft pick thing and why we continually, continually say you need to stockpile draft picks, just consider this. 2018, 2019, 2020, the first three picks that the Ducks made in all those drafts were Isaac Lundestrum, Trevor Zegris, and Jamie Driesdale. You know what all three of those guys have in common? They don't play for the Anaheim Ducks anymore.

Now, Driesdale's an asterisk because that got them Gochay in the door, but still. But still. It tells you just because you stockpile picks and just because you've got a bunch of prospects, it doesn't mean it's just going to work out magically. Sometimes it takes a long time. And for the Ducks, it's taken seven years. That's how long this rebuild's been going on for. And as he said, we're happy.

there. Yep. Okay, we got to get out of here. That's what the music means. What a fun show. We'll try it again tomorrow, but for now, we've got to say goodbye. Thank you all for listening

and thank you all for contributing. Signing off. I have been Mike Halford. He's been Jason Brough. He's been A. Doug and he's been Lattie. This has been the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.