Halford & Brough in the Morning - Is An Evander Kane Trade Brewing?

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the reports that Evander Kane's agent has been given permission to help facilitate a trade from the Canucks (3:00), plus they chat the top NHL news of the day with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:55).  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.

You're listening to Halford and Brough. And it's more just like a guy being a goofball. Yeah, that doesn't look like a moment of frustration at all. I apologize for my action yesterday. It was out of frustration, so I'm sorry about that. The line of tech the test determined that was a lot. Good morning, man, cover 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It is Halford. It is Brow. at its SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you.

Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford, in Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Got to CRA 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 are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scratch. at metal. North Star Metal recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit the Middle 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studio, Make 2026, your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics. We have a big show ahead on a Tuesday. The guest list today, the Duke Morning Drive, brought to by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30 in the morning. Greg Wyshinsky,

our NHL insider from ESPN is going to join the program. Relatively quiet night in the NHL last night, just four games. The action picks up tonight, though, 10 games on the slate. We'll go through all the latest news, notes, rumors, and rumblings from around the league with Greg at 630. 7 o'clock, Brendan Batchler, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks

right here on SportsNet 650 is going to join the program tonight. A reminder, Canucks, Sharks. 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena. Another local kid coming to town. Macklin Celebrini will be here with the visiting sharks. A reminder, you can hear pre- and post-game coverage right

on SportsNet 650. The man on the call, Brendan Batchel is going to join us at 7 to preview the Canucks and the sharks. 8 o'clock this morning, Brandon Astell is going to join the program. He, of course, the play-by-play voice of,

the Abbotsford Canucks, and don't look now, but Abbotsford's on a roll. They're on a three-game win streak. A pair of wins over the hated San Diego goals over the weekend. They've also won six of their last 10. They're now just seven points back

of a playoff spot in the American Hockey League. I really want to talk to Brandon. about Jonathan Lecker-Macki because he got the call to Vancouver in the wake of Brock Bessor's injury so I want to know how he's been doing down in Abbotsford. You guys going to talk about Aku Koskenvuo's first career professional shutout? I am going to talk about who now. I'm sorry, who is that? Say that again.

Acu Koskenvuo. I know what all the words in that sense is. Yeah, but together. Yeah, a bunch of letters. So we're going to talk to Brandon about all things, Abbotsford, at 8 a.m. this morning. Also, at 8 a.m. this morning. we are giving away a $50 gift card to the big football party at the Clayton Public House on February the 8th.

You can call us at 8 a.m. on the button, 604-280650. Caller number five will win the $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the aforementioned big football party. We're going to be doing that every morning this week. And maybe next week too, leading up to the Super Bowl, the Clayton Public House. Good food, good people, good times.

That is the Doick Morning Drive. It's our rundown of the show. So without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies

to best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. We are going to begin with the Vancouver Canucks. while there wasn't much action on the ice yesterday, there was quite a bit of it often and the biggest news coming, courtesy our very own. I call him our very own,

because I feel like he partially belongs to the show. Rick Dollywall reported yesterday that the agent for Avander Cain, Danny Diamonds, Dan Milstein, has been given permission by the Vancouver Canucks to help facilitate a trade for his client, Evander Cain. Why do they always need the agents

to help out on these trades? Not always, just a lot of the time. Does it seem like it happens more in Vancouver than other teams though. They got a lot of things on the go. That's why they delegate. Remember when Patrick Alvin was so busy, he couldn't trade Quinn Hughes?

Yeah. He had to ship that off to Jim Rutherford. Maybe Jim Rutherford's busy, and he's given this to Dan Milstein. Who knows? So what do you think Milstein is doing with this? I imagine he's probably trying to find an interested suitor in his client.

Okay. I don't know. That's obvious. Have the Kinnock's not been doing that? Have they been calling the premiership or something? at that there. The championship? There's a possibility here. And this was put out there on Twitter last night by Mark Specter, just to give credit. But this is kind of the thought that's going around. I'm not sure exactly if it's accurate, but I think it might be. Oftentimes in these

situations, this is a signal to the management group or executive saying to the agent, we've tried. We haven't gotten anywhere. Yeah. Good luck. Try and get your client to deal. You know, the only reason I'm asking this is Kevin Weeks has reported that Colorado and Dallas are interested in it. So is Danny Milstein going to be like, oh, come on, I thought you were interested. The complications around this are, I mean, obviously, first you're going to find someone who wants a VanderCam. But I think there's got to be at least one playoff team that will be interested in his services. as long as the price is right. Maybe Danny Milstein has a role in negotiating that.

I don't imagine that Evander Kane is sitting there going, you know, like, what do you think about an extension? I don't think that's, you know, that's oftentimes when you do get the agents involved. Yep. I would be surprised if Evander Kane is trying to negotiate an extension through all this. And maybe the one hold up right now is the timing,

of the deal just with I know we've heard it a few times that teams don't exactly want to pay these players to sit around and do nothing during the Olympic break and that would be hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Vander Kaine so maybe I don't know he's trying to convince

some teams that they should do that all I know is that the Kinnocks have five games left until the Olympic break and I'm not sure what the point of having Kain in the lineup is anymore. He's been in the league for a long time. Teams know what he is and who he is. You're not going to have a GM out there who's like,

Evander Kane is it? Is he related to Patrick Kane? I've never heard of him. Well, I'd like to see him play. I think we should send our scouts there. The last thing anyone needs right now is an injury. The Canucks want to trade him. And I'm sure Evander Kane himself wants out.

because he needs to go somewhere and write his sales story for next season when he is a pending unrestrictive free agent. So he's going to want an opportunity to showcase what he's about. And he's not getting that in Vancouver. Let's face it. Hasn't been a good fit in Vancouver. He hasn't found a center that he's got had chemistry with. And the centers are probably saying the same thing about him.

Yeah. I'm just wondering, is it really worth playing him? in these meaningless games and risking an injury to an older player in what is a lost season. Now, the Canucks won't have Brock Besser in the lineup tonight, and they recalled Jonathan Lekker-Macky from Abbotsford in response. So in theory, the Canucks could replace Besser with Leckermacky and then take out one of the guys who was a scratch in the Pittsburgh game, Ratu or Kamp,

and put him back in and just sit Evander Cain and just say you know what it's not worth it teams know what you are let's give you lots of rest

and you know even more rest heading into the Olympic break and just make sure that nothing happens and you might say like all the odds of him getting an injury are low really in this season I feel like if there's something bad to happen

it will happen Yeah, and this isn't a Teddy Blugher situation. The Compril will be like another pending unrestrictive free agent that they're looking to flip, is that Bluger wants to get minutes, reps, get his skating back, get everything back because he's barely played this season. So him playing right now at the risk of injury. Also, he's going to the Olympics. He's going to the Olympics. So there's a lot on the table for him.

From a asset management perspective, I think the Canucks would be very wise to just sit cane down. And you know what, a little tangent off this conversation. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Evander Cain tenure era in Vancouver, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, you know? All things considered. And it wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. But when he first signed, I wasn't great, man.

I know it wasn't great. That's what I'm saying is I can't believe. It actually wasn't even as bad as I thought it was going to be. When they first signed him. They're 32nd in the league. Are you going to let me finish? Sure. If you want to go, if you've got something planned, by all means, go.

I'm just playing with you. Like, at 32nd in the league, he hasn't done much. So tell us how it could have been worse. It could have been worse because he could have done Evander Cain things. To be perfectly honest, the most, I'd say controversial thing he did while here was the whole Cash Patel photography situation, which ended up being a blip because the organization never really addressed it. He played in 51 games.

he didn't play especially well, but he didn't do anything hairbrained. And actually, when I looked at his numbers last night, I was shocked that he had nine goals and 24 points. That's actually more production than I anticipated he would get through 51 games, especially with how badly the team has gone. He seems, if anything else, that he's just sort of going through the motions right now,

waiting for his next step. And that, to me, might be the best thing for both parties, that he doesn't do anything outlandish or wild, either get himself hurt or get himself in trouble, and that they can move them. honestly, in the grand scheme of how many things have gone badly for the Vancouver Canucks this season, the Evander Cain era is

for me, like, kind of at the bottom of the list. It just should have been like a blip. There really hasn't been much to it. Fan base can't stand him. But there hasn't been much to it. Point to me the biggest things that he's done in a negative this year, individual instances like what we've seen throughout his NHL career.

Oh, I know what you're saying. It just hasn't been very good, though. No, it hasn't. It hasn't. It hasn't. And he was their big offseason action. acquisition. So I'm not going to sit there and be like, oh, it could have been worse. But that's not fair. If he killed a guy? But that's not, well, he didn't, thankfully. But the big, that's, I think more to the point is

that when this deal was consummated, what was the first thing that you said? It's the wrong move. It's a bad move. It doesn't make sense from a culture perspective. It doesn't make sense from where this team is headed. And now I'm actually surprised that it hasn't blown up worse than it has. It's been surprisingly drama free. Kind of. Yeah. I was at. At the very least, if you would have told me that they were going to be dead last in the NHL and they would have traded Hughes, I would have been like, well, there's probably a huge fracture along the way. Same thing happened in Edmonton.

Like, Oilers fans were sorry to see him go. Most of them loved him. He was pretty much drama-free there also. I don't think the same thing happened in Edmonton as it did in Vancouver. Edmonton had success. Yeah. So did he at time. I'm more talking about the off-eye stuff.

Not so much as much as play on the guys. Doesn't that just show, doesn't that just show how low the bar was, though? Yes, very much. much. I don't think it's been, I don't think you can say it's been a success and like, maybe he hasn't brought the drama, but he hasn't been a solution to anything either. Like, like no one's saying this was a good move in hindsight, right? Absolutely not. And I want to make that abundantly clear. I mean, I was just trying to point out the other side of it is that the bar was so low that it's actually, hey, nothing terrible happened during his seven and a half, eight months

in Vancouver. The fact that they're going to be able, I assume they're going to be able to ship him out and they're going to be able to get something in return. That's almost a net win for, and I know there was higher thoughts, especially organizationally, about what he was going to be able to bring to the table. But you and I both thought that that was a pipe dream from day one. I mean, never mind the attitude and the off-ice issues and the personality.

When he signed, I care, or sorry, when he got traded, I kept coming back to the same thing. He hasn't played an entire regular season in over a year. Like, you got to remember, he sat out the entire regular season last. year and then just kind of got the juice and the energy and the enthusiasm from joining a playoff run. What happens when all that's gone? You get nine goals and 24 points and 51 games and kind of a checked out performance in Vancouver. He's also old. Yep. He was a terrific player when he was in his prime. When he was 24 and 34. And every once in a

while with the Edmonton Oilers, he showed what he used to be and which is what older players can do at times. But it was not the right move. And I think it was, was just a signal. It was yet another sign of how much of a struggle this past off season was for Canucks management to add difference makers after ending the previous season and saying, we've got to make some changes here. And even if the prices we pay, it's going to hurt. We got to do it. Well, they didn't do anything except for that. No, the move was a gigantic miss in terms of what they expected, which again, and I'll say it, was wildly unrealistic at the time and in hindsight almost looks comically unrealistic, right? Okay, I'm really starting to wonder about Ratu's

future with the team. I didn't think it was a big deal that he got scratched a few times earlier and I kind of like, wow, whatever, they'll find a way to get him into the lineup at some point. But his camp must be hating all this time in the press box. When you're 23 years old and you're obviously dying to make it in the league, you know, 23 years old, you're not old. But if you haven't yet established yourself in the league, you're like, how much longer do I have in the NHL? Yeah.

You know? And then you can't even get into the lineup of the worst team in the league during a lost season? I bet that stings a bit. I bet you're frustrated. So where are you on this? Because I'm of two minds. One,

if the organization's made this decision, it might say where they're at on the player. The flip side of it is, even if you're down on the prospect or maybe ready to write them off, even then, does it make any sense to be playing Comf or,

I guess, like in this instance, So, Evander Cain, who you can just sit, like, would it not make more sense to see if there's anything? Even if it's a fourth and 27, Hail Mary, we're just going to give it a shot and see maybe there's something there that we missed. Just play the young guy anyway. Yeah. That's where I'm at with this.

Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, they've got a trade, conf and Bluger. And I don't know if they want Ratu on the wing just because, I don't know if they want it. Here's the thing. I don't know if they want them at all. I don't think they want him anywhere.

He doesn't move that well. Yeah. And that's kind of a... But the points, at least at even strength, were there relative to others. You know, if you look at the underlying numbers, they were there. But when you watch him play, you're like, oh, it doesn't move that fast. I know he's worked on his skating, but this is a fast league now. It's an interesting thought exercise because if you took the name bar off the jersey and just said,

here's a 23-year-old player who has pretty good metric. at even strength and he scored some points for you and you acquired him in a pretty Ballyhoo trade in which he was one of the assets coming back of note would you not want to give him time to grow and matriculate and maybe he's a late bloomer right but with the name played on the back I feel like the organization is just kind of giving him a shrug like I think that they think he might top out as a 4C and if he does it's not going to be with this organization might be with another one it's kind of a tough break they were really low to move him last off season, according to what's been reported.

Yeah, because he was going to be packaged in like a potential Marco Rossi trade, right? Which would have been... But they said, I don't really want to do that. Yeah, and I really have a hard time with this one. I don't know if this is Adam Foots assessment on them, but we've had countless people texting in about this throughout

the course of the season, just being like, what's the game plan here? One of the big pieces from the Bo Horvath trade. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Okay, let's run through some of these stories that have been going around the National Hockey League from last night. There was a trade in the National Hockey League last night. Our old friend, Carson Sussi,

remember him? He is now on his way to the New York Islanders having been traded from the New York Rangers. Now, this trade isn't exactly going to, like, move the needle across the National Hockey League, although it's only the fourth trade that hated rivals. New York Islanders and New York Rangers have ever consummated

between one another. They haven't made a trade with each other since way back in 2010, so it's been 16 years. And of course, it was Carson Sousie to break the ice between the two teams. So if the islanders fall apart now, maybe Carson Sousy was the problem all along. They moved him out of Vancouver. He went to the Rangers.

The Rangers fell apart. Yeah. And now, you know, maybe it wasn't J.T. Miller and Elias Pedersen. It was Susie all along. It was like, it's like the end of the usual suspects, right? Like, he's just walking out of bed. Yeah, yeah. Suddenly his limp goes away.

Yeah. It's him. It could be. He leaves Madison Square. He leaves Madison Square Garden limping. And by the time he gets to the Islanders, he's just walking upright and there he goes. Have you seen all the people in Vancouver

that have been discussing Shane Wright? Yes. All the blogs are like, should the Canucks acquire Shane Wright? Did we start this? Is this your fault? You're the one that brought this to the table. Yeah.

I hadn't even thought about it until you started discussing it last week. And then you started... Well, Dave Pagnata from... Was it the fourth period? Yeah, correct. Through his name out there. And then...

Then he did it again, I believe. Well, I think there's one site that takes everything that it's like NHL rumors or whatever on social media. And, you know, I think it sounds like what he's reporting is that the Seattle Cracken aren't shopping, Shane Wright, but they realize that like everyone else realizes about the Cracken, they need to make some moves to make themselves more interesting, right? They don't have any star power. so I threw it on social media yesterday. I wonder if there's a trade that the Canucks and the Cracken could consummate that would really spark the rivalry.

And some people didn't get it. They were like, well, I think it's going to take the playoffs to do that. I'm like, I mean, I don't know. I want to yell out. Like, what if there's a package where Alias Pedersen goes to Seattle and Shane Wright comes to Vancouver? Now, the Canucks aren't going to do that one for one. I don't think.

unless there's no I mean it would be pretty funny no retention or whatever you know but like I don't think so but if if the Cracken are looking for star power right

yeah who were they going to get are there a lot of stars on the block right now like Panarin's not going to sign there no and we're talking about a trade here with Shane right and you know in theory in theory

if the Canucks were to move Elias Pedersen to a team. It's been reported or speculated that they'd like to get a young center back. Okay? Yes, that's clear. That's, okay, so Shane Wright, still young, center, right shot. Now, would the Canucks want more?

Probably, right? Because PD has shown what he can do in the NHL. Shane Wright still hasn't. We don't know if Shane Wright will, but I'm just throwing it out there as a kind of can you imagine if the Canucks traded Elias Pedersen to Seattle of all teams if they do go down the trade route? Well, we did just see the Islanders and Rangers make a trade.

So if those two can do it, I'm sure the Canucks and Cracken can do it. I'll also add. Is that a risk that you'd be willing to take if you were the Cracken? No. No way. I mean, I say this as someone who is ardently in the camp of the Canucks need to move Pedersen. So I should be welcoming any. team. But if I was the incoming team, I would be

just terrified, terrified of acquiring Pedersen. Right? Because again, wouldn't you be kind of excited? No. Maybe you get them for cheap and my biggest concern right now is that the decline in his game isn't just about what's going on in his head or the skaters surrounding him or the situation is in. Is that there's a

physical component to this that's going to see him go steadily downhill as opposed to he's going to rediscover his game that a change of scenery and a fresh start in a new location is going to spark him. I hope that's the case

because I would, I mean, I know the show has been at times somewhat critical of Elias Pedersen. I know. It's crazy to say it out loud, but I'm going to say it. The show has at times been critical

of Pedersen. Ultimately, I would like to see the trade because I think it would benefit him a lot and I'd like to see that. But from a physical perspective, it's the only thing that really makes sense about how his game has deteriorated on the ice

from what we've seen three or four years ago, right? The yips and a lack of confidence and headspace doesn't really translate into some of these things that we're seeing, right? Well, I think it has at times. I actually have, it's funny. Some of the things. I have more time now

for the linemates argument because DeBras cannot finish at five on five and the other guys came. Yeah. You know, I don't think there's much chemistry between those two. Those are the two main players that he's, two main wingers that he's been out there the most with.

Now, he's had a spin or two with Brock Besser and it hasn't gone well. And Brock's game hasn't exactly been amazing this season. But what I'm just telling you, what I'm seeing right now is Pedersen with a little more confidence with the puck. I think he's through the yips part. My concern right now is his,

and maybe this is a physical thing, maybe this is a fitness thing, like his skating just isn't where it used to be. And I will concede to you that, you know, I think the wrist thing has, as constant allusions to nagging injuries. Yes. Constant. Yes. You know, whether it's Ian McIntyre's most recent piece on Pedersen from a couple weeks ago on Sportsnet.com, or things that you hear leaking out through, you know, the club or through various media sources. it always feels like there's some sort of nagging injury that he's playing through, right?

And maybe not the same willingness to play through it? Yeah, there's that too. You know? Or that was always what the club was hinting at. Yeah. This isn't me with the tendonitis thing where he didn't miss a game and the club was kind of like, yeah, he might have had a little thing there, but all NHL players have that.

I think that was a thing that was going on between the club and him. Right. So you go back to this and you're like, if you're a team that's acquiring the player, what are you getting health-wise? And that would be very concerned. So getting back to the Seattle thing, does their desire want need to get that impact superstar $11.6 million year player in the door? Does it maybe overtake some of those concerns? You would hope because it was facilitated deal. Yes, it would. Right. Now, the other side of it is, I don't know about the Shane Wright thing. and I know we're up against it for time but I don't know and I think the more that you put it out there last week the more I tended to agree with it the notion of

trying to jump onto an age cycle type thing trying to skip the process not drafting your own guys and trying to target players that you know I don't want to call it Island Misfit toys but there is an element of that well the reason it would work is because it'd be like you take our risk and we'll take

your risk. What's the risk in Shane Wright? What's the risk in Shane Wright? that he's not a player. That he doesn't develop into what he should be. And you're left with the contractual future where it's like, well, he's no longer on an ELC. You're going to have to figure out if you want to retain him. He doesn't play nearly up to his draft pedigree.

So there is risk for risk. I will acknowledge that, right? But I don't know if you're in a rebuild, you want to take that kind of risk. Don't you think there's way more risk in Pedersen? Oh, yeah. Yes. I had to stop myself, but yes.

Pedersen scored 100 points in the NHL before. Shane Wright has not. 17 goals of 49 points, if I'm not mistaken from Shane Wright. The Shane right. I think it's an interesting trade idea, to be perfectly honest with it. Oh, it's interesting. If they're going to move him. Yeah.

Because both teams would have, I would say, risk, yes. But don't you think there's significant upside in both, too? The more you talk it out, the more you kind of slowly nod, and you're like, I could see the framework of it. It's not ridiculous. No, because the conceptual ideas are there, right? And the framework makes sense. Anyway, we're way up against it for time. Lots of stuff going on across the National Hockey League.

Greg Wischinsky, our ESPN, NHL Insider, is going to join us. Next on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. 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. Ford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Rubb of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Do you have credit card debt?

If you do, Sands and Associates, can get your debt. By up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands. That's trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Greg Wosinski from ESPN. and it's going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of hour one.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. This is the Middle 17th Pall Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go, Greg Woshensky from ESPN, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning.

Gregory, how are you? I'm doing fine. Thank you very much. I was told by your producer there was a scathing debate about the quality of movie The Mighty Ducks happening on the show. And you called it what? I called it a pretty good kids movie, right? I was going more, it's a child's movie to which I looked at Andy,

who's a fan of the Mighty Ducks, and I said, yes. Why I'm an adult child? I'll admit it. Well, listen, I mean, like, like, that's one way of looking at it. The other way of looking at it is it's a movie about a group of players who come together to win and succeed despite their coach being a drunk. which basically makes it a documentary, I think, for many NHL teams. Someone put this on social media the other day.

The scene where Emilio Estevez gets arrested in the movie for DUI, he's physically drinking in the car. He's drinking a beer. Yeah, I think he was like, you can't fake a DUI. You really got to sell it. That's acting, right? I don't know. But, yeah, I guess.

Listen, listen, listen, we've all been there. There's only one way to get out of that ticket. which is to offer the police officer one of your six. And he didn't do that, and that's the issue. If you don't share with the officer, you're definitely getting a DUI in that situation. Hey, Wish, you know how we got onto the topic of movies? We were debating whether or not we needed another documentary or movie about the miracle on ice. Have you guys not covered it completely down there?

I want one of those guys to come out eventually who's so tired of talking about it like this can't be the only thing interesting in my life and him for you just to say yeah we got some good goaltending that night and they didn't and you know we goalied them and the shots were you know 39 to 16 for them I don't know that's hockey I guess

well what's exciting is this new documentary on Netflix actually pushes the miracle on ice past the Kennedy assassination for the most documented occurrence in the history of the United States. That's a very exciting thing. I'm sure the boys are happy. So I'll say two things. First of all, I haven't seen the documentary. I've heard from people tangentially that there might be some good high quality stuff that might be, we haven't seen before. I don't know what that means, but, you know, I saw Miracle. I've seen the 30, you know, ESPN documentary. It's like, I'm

good. Like, I'm fine with this. But I'll still check it out because Netflix, has a good job on that kind of thing. But the other thing about it, we've talked about it on the show before with regard to the USA hockey mindset and how they build out their rosters, it has made my country red, white, and blue-pilled when it comes to how these teams should be built

and what they should look like. And, you know, there's a bit more, you know, goal-scoring and offense on this roster that Bill Guerin is built, but not enough of it, in my opinion. when you're leaving guys like Cole Cawfield home. And I think that speaks to the entire blue collar, lunch pail aesthetic where, you know, you need more Micahruziones and Neil Broughton's on your team.

And I just don't understand that mindset. But I think it's directly related to the miracle poisoning the brains of a bunch of boomers and Jen Xers for the last 40 years. What a fascinating thought exercise. I never put it that. By the way, red, white, and blue. loophild is great. I'm stealing that too. I never really, I know that

obviously the miracle on ice is a cultural touch point for the nation. The fact that they're still doing documentaries about it, but... Mike, the country was down at that point and they needed a lift. And these college kids provided the country that they needed to get into the Reagan era. And to think, to think

50 years later, it's still affecting the selection process. A new day was dawning and it dawned because of the miracle on ice. So this is basically, that's a really good narrative, by the way. That's a good voiceover. This is really a thing, I guess. I never really thought about it this deeply, but it's a thing. Oh, it's definitely a thing. I mean, listen, man, we were high on our own supply for years after that, you know,

and, you know, trickle down economics. Let's do it. arming the contras, let's do it. Like, we're all about it. USA, USA. And look at you now. Yeah, I was going to say that that lasted until I think the second

Clinton administration and then things started to wobble a little bit. But no, man, like, listen, like one of the reasons why I am rooting extremely hard for any American men's ice hockey team to win Olympic gold is so I don't have

to talk about the miracle anymore. Like, I don't, that's not the last instance of glory. Right. For the, for the country from a hockey perspective. Do you think that I like the, listen, I know that Gretzky being at Four Nations was fraught for a lot of reasons for you guys, but he's still weighing Gretzky. Who do we have waddling out for our, our, our, our moment of international hockey glory? It's Mike Arruzioni, yeah.

Again, you know what I mean? And so, like, I would love nothing more for there to be another touchstone and point of reference for American hockey fans. That isn't something that, like you said, Jason, happened at a time when we were worried more about gas prices than the what was happening on the ice. Although, I guess that's also now, now that I come to think of this. Hey, speaking of sports documentaries in 30 for 30s, when do you think we'll get one on William Neelander's middle finger? I know it won't be on T.S.10, that's sure. Based on their reaction to it. So I'm glad you guys bought this up, because I do have a little bit of news for you this morning.

Even though your boy is still technically on paternity leave, I did reach out to the league because I found it interesting that George Peros gave a statement to Chris Johnston, our good friend Chris Johnston, about the fine that Nylander got. found that interesting because middle fingers, slurs on the ice, that sort of thing is not something that the Department of Player's Safety has ever adjudicated. That always fell under hockey operations and Colin Campbell. Right. And so I was surprised to see Peros give a statement. So I actually reached out to the league this morning and I come to find out that basically beginning with this Nylander Middle Finger bit, all of that stuff,

at least this is where the league is right now is going to fall under paros and player safety. So all of the suspensions now for physical fouls and also guys slipping off cameras are going to be handled by player safety. Is this because he doesn't suspend players anymore and they need something for him to do? I think it's just because the way I understand it is that

the reason that they had it split is just because it had always, has been split since player safety started. Sure. Which was back, I think, around like 2010 or 11 or 12. I forget exactly when the anniversary was. I should know. I wrote a story about it.

But, you know, at that point, Chanahan's player safety department was handling all of the Rule 48 stuff. And then, you know, all of the off-ice stuff would fall under Colin Campbell, who, of course, used to be the guy that was handing out the suspensions for hits from behind and stuff. it was that way for like 15 years until just now basically where they've decided to put it all under one umbrella. Now the only thing that I'm interested in here, and I said this to the league this morning, it's kind of interesting to have the guy who will suspend you for hitting another player in the head also be the guy that will rule on you saying something over the line on the ice or flipping off a camera or whatever.

it's wondering if there would be any bleed over for one to the other where we've established you're not a good guy, right? And now you've done this other thing and will that other thing be amplified if we've already established that you're not a good guy? To which the pushback on that is, well, if there's one thing we know about George and the Department of Player's Safety, it's that they treat every offense differently. You know, a Tom Wilson hit from behind, well, that's part of a legacy of hits from behind. And if he trips somebody, it's not part of that, that, you know, legacy of infractions. So I guess from that aspect, you can expect there to be some separation of church and state here. But I just, I did find it interesting that, like, now one department will handle all of that.

What did you think of the act itself? Because I'm not going to sit here and clutch pearls or anything. Like, it's whatever. But, but I actually do wonder, you know, kind of like you'd wonder about some, you know, teenage boy that did something dumb, that you'd be like, what? And how many parents have had that? Like, what were you thinking in that situation?

What do you think he was thinking in that situation, Greg? And he was tired of being on camera, even though he's injured, which actually I have a level of sympathy for because if I'm covering a team, I'm not exactly supposed to have too much access to the guys that are injured. like I can't just be following around Willie

an injured Willie Nealander with a camera you know and and documenting him if he's injured that usually isn't allowed for people like me so I that was actually my first thought Jason was like okay this is sort of different rules for different folks in the amount of camera time we're giving these guys because if it was me I certainly couldn't do that but that's like the journalistic response to it

my other response to it is I find it really funny that if this had been captured by an Amazon camera, it would have been in the trailer for the show. Like, it would have been a moment of, look how badass our players are. Oh, this Willie Neelander. What a loose cannon. You better watch the Amazon show to see him dropping actual F-bombs on camera towards Austin Matthews, which is something that happened on that show. So it's, whenever there's an offensive thing that happens, for me, it all comes down to the venue and expectations. And so the expectation, if you're watching this game, is that if the camera is on a player in a press box or an owner's box,

they're not going to flip the finger at the camera. That's the expectation. So he exceeded that expectation, and now he has to pay a fine for it. And to his credit, he knows that he did that. But if you watch, like, Sean Dersey last night in the pounding box, where he's just, like, clearly mouthing the words, FU, multiple times while the camera is on you,

well, you can make the argument he should know that there are cameras all over the place and you shouldn't do that. But he didn't do it to the camera. That's what I'm going to say. You can make the argument that he didn't do it to the camera. And so it just becomes a whole thing and just another, you know, just another reason why, you know, you should, I guess Willie has learned his lesson. If you're going to flip off your buddy in the press box, don't flip off the camera and you'll be fine. Hey, who's your official surprise team of the season? now that we're more than halfway through the season

because Pittsburgh just came through Vancouver and beat the Canucks. I mean, that's not unusual that anyone comes through Vancouver and beats the Canucks. But Pittsburgh is really hanging in there. And, you know, I guess you can make the argument for Buffalo as a surprise team or a few others, but who gets your vote?

It has to be Pittsburgh. So Buffalo would be one, but I actually think the surprise for that team is based on our knowledge of what that team was for the first two months of the season. Yeah. Like, we kind of thought they'd be one thing and then they fire Kevin Adams and then everybody gets really scared that Yarmo is going to trade them and then they get real good. I think Detroit is probably in that conversation too.

But again, like when you peel back the layers, it's an enormous amount of puck luck and John Gibson. And again, we probably haven't praised them enough for the John Gibson thing because I was definitely a skeptic as to whether or not that was going to solve a lot of stuff for them. And he's just been on, you know, a vesemate worthy heater now for like two months. And so, like, they did a really good job in addressing one of the primary concerns for that team. But it has to be Pittsburgh only because we entered this season with even Sidney Crosby being like, I hope these young guys are good.

Like, you know, not even he being all that sure that this is going to be a team that could contend for a playoff spot. and Dan Muses that's on a hell of a job there. They've gotten enough goaltending, including, you know, Stort Skinner. Somehow making the Edmonton Oilers regretful for having traded Sturt Skinner. And really getting an enormous amount of good play out of a supporting cast that I don't think we all thought was going to be all that good. So, yeah, they're clearly the surprise team for me. Who do you think is at risk of full?

falling out if Florida, whoever keeps expecting to get on fire and they've won three in a row, is to knock a team out because you might look at the New York Islanders, but they're third in their division and they might be able to hang on to that spot. The two wildcard teams, Montreal and Boston, they each have 63 points, which is four more than Florida, although the Panthers do have one or two in hand. I still think Boston's wobbly.

I respect the job that they've done there and they're better than I expected them to be and obviously Pasternacks just on another level and so far as his contributions to their victories but I still think they're a little wobbly and that would be the one where I figure Florida could probably pick them off for a wild card spot. The Islander situation is intriguing because like you said,

they're third in their division. That's easily the best path for them to try to make the cut and then the team that they're probably kind of glancing over their shoulder at is the devil if they can ever get on a bit of a role. And, you know, they've played better lately. You know, they're still, they still have their stumbling points like that game against Seattle. But that's still a team that I think has a streak in them.

But what they don't have is really a Sorokin, which is kind of the great equalizer. And there's probably a, you know, like when a trapeze artist falls, there's just a giant net to catch them. That's like Sorokan. Like the islanders can fall only a certain amount of. of distance. As long as Sorokin's healthy, he's going to not let them hit the ground. Speaking of the Islanders,

how shocked were you to see the Islanders and the New York Rangers consummate a deal yesterday? That's another consummate, by the way. It is shocking. Like, like,

anytime the Devils or the Rangers of the Islanders trade with each other, it's like, it's very dogs and cats living together mass hysteria ghostbusters. Like, it feels apocalyptic that these two teams

would even talk to each other. It's also intriguing because they're playing the Islanders I think like twice this week. Right. So there's a little bit of like, oh, hey old friend. But yeah, I mean, you know, the intrigue for me there was that at the end of the day, the Rangers

I think gave up a third for Sosie and then get a third for them. So there's no not too much of a cost benefit for having flipped them. But a good addition to the blue line, I guess, for the Islanders. And now the Rangers

officially begin their retool and, you know, sexier trades are to come whenever they decide to flip Panarin, which I've heard could probably happen before the Olympic break, but we'll see how things shake out. Where do you think he's going to go,

if you had to guess? It's a lot, I mean, it's really intriguing. I think Washington, to go back to your point about, like, the playoff race, I think they feel like they could really level up

if they got them. If they end up getting Panarin, and then Dubois comes back. Well, now you're talking about, like, a shot of nitro into your engine at the right time. Like, they could really, really use that boost. You know, there's a lot of intriguing teams. I've often thought he's going to end up in Carolina.

I know Carolina's liked him in the past, and they've got a treasure trove from which to draw, you know, as far as prospects and stuff like that goes. And, you know, there's a few other intriguing options out there, too. I think that you're going to need a team that does have another Russian on it for him and you're going to need a place where he's going to want to play, which is I don't know how he feels about Raleigh. Listen, heart of hearts, he wants to be in Florida,

but I don't know how they possibly make that work financially. What is wrong with Carolina? Carolina seems, I mean, maybe it's the golfer in me. It was like, I'd love to live there. It looks quite nice. Dude, there's nothing wrong with Raleigh. Yeah. Like, what a, you know, the weather is nice.

Yeah. You can go get yourself some Torchise tacos in the margaria for lunch. American trash tacos. Have you ever had Torchise on the road boys? No. Torchise is like, Torchise is a place where their tacos are not any. It's even less authentic than Taco Bell where all it is is like a chicken finger and some shredded cheese. It's white people taco.

It's white guy taco night. That's what it is. It's white guy taco night. Right. It's one in the morning and I'm binging. beat Bobby Flee and I need something to eat and I'm going to put a chicken finger

on a flour tortilla O'LS, shredded cheese and barbecue sauce and that's my taco, that's core cheese. And can I just tell you I probably have it every other day when I'm covering the hurricanes in the playoffs. Wish, you're the best man. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week.

We'll do this again next Tuesday. Anytime. Greg Wischinski from ESPN here on the Halperdon Brough Show. On SportsNet, 650. I would like to get to the bottom of why so many players are loath to go to Carolina. Yeah. I don't get it.

I don't get it. It had the country club reputation for a while. Sure, perfect. Some guys like that. I'll be joining many country clubs while I'm in Raleigh. Well, some guys sign their long term, but a lot of guys kind of steered away from that. Do you think it's a country club with Rod the Bod? Not anymore.

I think historically it was. That was their reputation. They win a lot of games. They're in the playoffs every year. Is it the system that? they play? Maybe. But then, like, who are you to complain as a potential for each?

I know Randon specifically, like, did not like the style of play. And he said, this isn't going to fit my game. This isn't going to suit what I want to do. And that's fine. One guy I can understand, but you know, if you listen around reporting throughout the national hockey league, there's a lot of guys that don't want to go to Carolina. Well, apparently

Pedersen didn't. Yeah. And it's kind of bizarre because it seems like an innocuous place. You can point to certain places in the NHL understand why guys don't want to go there. Like where? Well, I mean, look, I hate kicking Winnipeg all the time, but Winnipeg's

one, right? They don't even have an airport. They do. They're all the jets. No one wants to go there because the weather's especially heinous in the winter, right? And I get that part of it. And it goes for a bunch of other places as well. Some guys like it. A lot of guys don't. But Carolina,

the only thing I could think is that maybe it's just too small and maybe it's too innocuous. Like you go there and there's not, you know, sort of pressure and there's not any sort of driving force to be great. Is it Columbus with better weather? That's what I'm kind of wondering. That's it.

Back to Winnipeg. I am. That's a good way of putting it. Columbus with better weather. I wonder if that's the stigma that it has. We'll never know. We've got to go to break. On the other side, we got a lot more to get into.

Brendan Bachelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks is going to join the program. A reminder, tonight, 7 o'clock in the evening, it's the Canucks and the Sharks. batch will be on the call for that one. 8 o'clock, it's play-by-play day here on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. 8 o'clock, the play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. Brandon Astell is going to join the program. And before we go to break, I need to tell you about the big football party at the Clayton Public House. At the Clayton Public House is hosting the party Sunday, February 8th.

If you want a seat at the table, by that I mean a reservation, email info at the Clayton Pub.com. Clayton Public House, good food, good people. Which game is that? It's just a big football party The big game? Party. Let's emphasize party. We're not even

We're trying to skirt around the legal. We're not even to say that it's around a game. It could just be a celebration of football. There is actually a giant football in the middle of the... That's what the big football is. Would you say it's going to be super exciting? It is going to be super exciting. There may be a bowl involved.

Careful. Careful. Come on. Clayton Public House. Good food. Good people. You're listening to the Halford Improv Show on SportsNet 650.