Halford & Brough in the Morning - It Was A Great Weekend For The Haters

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports (3:00), plus they talk a wild few days of NHL playoff action with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:20).  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- He comes in front of the net! Smith! Scored, but the period was over. I don't think it was. I think it was. I don't think it was. This is my nightmare! Bennett with Bernagy. Bennett drags it, moves it, he scores! What a goal! Sam Bennett!

Good morning, Vancouver. It's six o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Halford and his broff at his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Vladdy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and broff of the morning is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are in hour one of the program. Hour uno. Hour one is brought to you by Sands and Associates. VCs first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3000 five star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. line at sans-trustee.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. We've got a big show ahead on a Monday, big guest list, lots to get into from a crazy weekend in sports guest list. Today begins at six 30. Greg Waszynski, our NHL insider from ESPN is going to join. We will look back on the aforementioned wild weekend with Greg. He was in Dallas for that controversial stars jets game yesterday.

We can talk about that with Greg. We can also look ahead to tonight's action, Carolina, Washington game four of their series. Kane's hold a two one lead there. Also Edmonton in Vegas tonight, game four as well. Edmonton holding a two one series there or series lead there. Lots of drama in that series as well. Seven o'clock, Down Goes Brown, better known as Sean McIndoo from The Athletic is gonna join us. So when we did our last show, and I wasn't here for it,

but when we did our last show, the Leafs had a two-nothing lead in their series against the Florida Panthers. What happened? They even had two two-goal leads in game three now they're tied to two and it's best of three So we'll talk to you down goes Brown about how he's feeling about all this at seven o'clock asked them about where is Austin Matthews? He's probably feeling great. Where's Austin Matthews feeling great? We'll talk to Sean about that at 7 7 30 Brandon Astle is gonna join the program The play-by-play voice of the Abbots for Canucks for the first time in franchise history

program, the play by play voice of the Abbots for Canucks for the first time in franchise history. Abby is off to the third round of the Calder Cup playoffs after beating the hated Coachella Valley Firebirds. Artie Silov's, the hero of that series was fantastic over the final two games. They will now take on the Colorado Eagles featuring former Canucks legend, Jason Megna. Yeah, he's back. Yep. You know who else? The Colorado Eagles employ who my favorite player, Magna. Yeah, he's back. Yep. You know who else the Colorado Eagles employ? Who? My favorite player, Ivan Ivan.

Oh, I love that guy. He's the best. His middle name is also Ivan. The man's so nice, they named him Thrice. Are they the hated Colorado Eagles? Like they were the hated Coachella Valley Fireplace? No, no. They're somewhat disliked?

Yeah. Until the series gets underway. Eight o'clock, the Drancers, speaking of hated, the Drancers gonna join us at eight o'clock. Offseasonancers speaking of hated, the Drancers going to join us at eight o'clock offseason Canucks talk with the Drancers. What have the Canucks learned? What should the Canucks have learned? What can the Canucks learn from the playoffs so far?

We'll talk to Drancers about that at eight o'clock. We do have a ticket giveaway every single day this week. Jason, we're giving away a pair of tickets every day to see The Who. Who? The Who. What? The Who. The what?

The Who. The band. Who's on first? It's just The Who. Okay. Every day this week, they're going to be at Rogers Arena September 23rd. At 8.15 this morning, we're going to do caller number five. Caller number five at 8.15 this morning. The phone number 604-280-0650, that That number again, six oh four two eight oh zero six 50. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

So in the lead up to Friday, we're going to give away a pair of tickets every day this week to see the who very cool. That'll be coming through Vancouver on September 23rd. We got so much to get into. I'm not going to run through the guest list in reverse. Ladi, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was.

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed it? You missed that? What happened? Well, what happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We're going to begin with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers. I know they played on Friday, but we got to review last night's game because it was the more pressing

important of the two. Sergey Barbarovsky 23 saves for the shutout. The Florida Panthers win two nothing against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday and even up the series at two two, it is now a best of three between the Panthers and the Leafs. Yeah. Toronto was a goal away for making it a three nothing series lead when game three went to overtime.

And then their old friend, Brad Marchand banked a lucky one in and now it's two two headed back to Toronto. I have a question. Um, do they keep stats for own goals? Because this, they don't, but this, hold on, this playoffs must have a record number of own goals. I'm just thinking about the weekend. Yeah.

The, all the goals that have, you know, I mean, one went in off Hellebuck. There was a couple, one in the Toronto series and one in the Winnipeg series that banked in off a defenseman's skate. Like they just threw it out in front. Morton Riley for the Leafs. Yep.

And you mentioned the Hellebuck goal already. Yeah. And you haven't even mentioned the big one of the weekend. Right. Leon Dreisaitl.lla Watt goal already. Yeah. And you haven't even mentioned the big one of the weekend. Right. Leon Dreisaitl. Leon Dreisaitl. Yeah.

I mean, it is just a crazy number of weird goals and a lot of them have been real turning points. Austin Matthews though, he's not even putting pucks in his own net. Not scoring in any net. Will he be showing up at some point? He's not even putting pucks in his own net. Not scoring in any net. Um, will he be showing up at some point? He's going to have all the focus on him in game five because all the stats are out there. Like he can't score once you get past the first round. Does he ever have a second, second round goal?

I mean, the Leafs haven't exactly made a habit of getting to the second round. Right. He hasn't had a ton of opportunities to do so. I mean, he, I know he's getting some shots away, but none of them are hitting the net. That's a problem. Um, but I just don't, like I see Nylander out

there and I see Marner out there and I see them, you know, being active out there, you know, they're noticeable. Matthews must be hurt. Like he can't be a hundred percent. be 100%. I know he's battled injuries all season. He scored 69 goals, not this past season, but the season before. Very nice. And he just has not been himself all season really.

So I don't want to make, I'm going to say this right away. I don't want to make I'm gonna say this right away I don't want to make everything about Elias Pedersen and I don't want to make this about Pedersen But it's hard not to look at the similarities between the narratives right now So after the game yesterday, I went I listened to a bit of Toronto radio and I watched clips of Leafs talk with our boy boys JD Bunkus and Sam McKee and Justin Bourne. And I watched Kipper's hit on sports. I was doing all kinds of research. So many of the lines, if you just took out the team and then the player name, you could have applied it

to what people were saying about Pedersen all year. And a lot of it was, he's playing through something, we don't know what it is. And in Toronto right now, the question that a lot of people are asking is, what is the physical breakdown that allows Matthews to play a lot of minutes, stay in the lineup, win face-offs and play pretty well in his own end, but not produce whatsoever.

They're like, what's the- Maybe he has the yips. What's that physical ailment? Is it the yips? Is it tendonitis? Do we know? Do we have the modern medicine to diagnose? We don't know.

But it is funny the commonalities there because at the end of the day, it's the same general narrative where your star, top line, highly paid center is not producing in the clutch. And in this series, for Matthews, in this series, it's being exacerbated by the fact that a lot of different Florida guys are showing up

and putting points on the board and putting pucks in the back of the net. There was, you know, and it's all the guys that have stepped up for them in playoffs past. So you've kind of got a foil. Is Carter Verhege one of the most underappreciated players in the league? If he was on Vancouver, would he be their best forward? So you threw this out there over the weekend and I thought about it for a while.

And I was like, it can't be right. They carry over Hager right now. If you just took him out of Florida and plopped him in Vancouver, well, it can't be right. And I thought about it. I'm like, well. You know, it scores a lot of goals. It scores a lot. Easy. You have exactly have a ton, ton of ton of players that score goals.

I know. Do the times, you know, to play with good players, but listeners do the thought exercise, if you're in your car or you're shaving or you're eating breakfast, do the thought exercise yourself. I think it just goes to show how good the Florida Panthers top six group is and how far the Canucks have to go in order to reach the level of, well, the Florida Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champs. And you don't think about Carter Verhege first, you think about Barkov, you think about Kachak, you think about Reinhardt.

Sam Bennett. Sam Bennett. E2 Lusterainen, maybe not him, but the rest of them, yeah. Yeah, but there's four guys you think of before Carter Verhege. Sure, Lundell. And the guy just scores goals. Marshawn. Right?

I mean, yeah, Marshawn is doing his thing, but you can tell he's he's a few steps behind what he used to be, but he still manages to make an impact just because he's so smart. Like he's such a smart player. He's got eight points in nine games. Yeah, Marshawn. Like that's the thing. He's a third liner.

The Florida Panthers right now, just to give you an idea of how good the forward group is to continue on this thread. Florida Panthers right now, just to give you an idea of how good the forward group is to continue on this thread, they have eight players that have eight points or more in the playoffs. Eight! That's remarkable, they played nine games. They've got eight guys that are almost going

at a point-of-game clip. So I threw this out on social media. The Panthers can't let Bennett go, can they? It would dramatically change the look of their team. If they lose Sam Bennett, I realized they'd still be good. Yeah. But Sam Bennett is the definition of the guy that you need in the playoff. Yeah.

He scores big goals. He loves to get involved. He is always involved in some ways. He's big. he's tough, he goes to the hard areas of the ice, and he thrives in a playoff type game. They can't let him go. Are they going to regret acquiring Jones? Are they going to regret that deal? Let's say they manage to, I know some people were wondering if they did that just in case they're not able to keep Echblad.

And then fair enough, if they can't sign Echblad, then they better sign Sam Bennett if they don't sign Echblad. But Jones, I think, has a full no move clause. So he had to approve that move to Florida, right? Yeah. Like he had to approve it. Now would he approve?

Let's say they were like, ah, this isn't really working for us. So, like, I to prove it. Now, would he approve? Let's say they're like, is it really working for us? So like, I'm not saying he's been terrible, but he hasn't been. Hasn't been terrific. Nobody's pit isn't as punitive now because the Chicago retained. And Jones is still seven million. Yeah. But as the cap goes up, a seven million defensemen. OK, well, minutes. Yes. Anyway.

Well, bring it back to Bennett. They can't let this guy go. Well, I don't think he's going to leave. Here's the thing. If you've built a winner and a perennial cup contender like Florida has, that's an attractive recruitment right there. You come to Florida, you got a chance to win a cup.

Now, the flip of that would be like, if you're already in Florida, don't leave or winning cups. They've also got the added advantage of no state in state income tax. So if you take a haircut on your contract and you're still making more scratch than maybe you would in some other places, even if you're making a little bit less, is it worth it in exchange for super nice weather, minimal media and the chance to compete for a cup every year. I could see them being one of the places that makes it really easy to

retain free agents. Yeah. And if you're Sam Bennett, here's the other thing. Sam Bennett goes to another team, let's say goes to free agency and they bring him in as this like prized ballyhooed. He's going to give us that edge that we were lacking. That's a big ask because in Florida he brings it, but he's got other guys to do a lot of the heavy lifting with him. He's not if he goes to Vancouver, he's responsible for all that stuff. Yeah, honestly, he's like you need to fight.

You need to hit. You need to score goals and you to win us some games. Go do it. Oh, and leadership. Yeah, all of it in Florida. There's Kachak Barkov Verhege go down the list. There's Yeah, all of it. In Florida, there's Kachak, Barkov, Verhagy, go down the list. And it's not raining all the time. And, you know, it's not raining. One more point, because I don't want to get on to some of the other series. One more point about the Toronto series. It is hilarious from a Vancouver perspective to see all the appreciation for Chris Tanev.

Like everyone back East just learned that he's really tough. Eastern bias is real. I mean, it is. We're paying attention. It is funny. I remember reading one scouting report from back East on Chris Tanev and he's like, he's going to help them. Like he's a rugged physical defenseman.

And I'm like, it's not a physical defenseman. Like he doesn't throw hits. That's not his game. It's like people really didn't understand what Chris Tanev was all about. And Chris Tanev is a, he is an elite defensive defenseman that just knows how to break up plays. He doesn't use it.

Like he's not throwing body checks out there. He's not out there like breaking up the cycle with his big body, which is I think what some people expected of him. Yeah. He's just really smart. And when he gets the puck, like you see how many times he's just does these simple reverse plays with his defensive partner and you know, it's, it, it looks easy and he makes it look easy.

And he's so good at making that first pass. He's also really good at taking hits, which sounds weird, but it is a skill. He can take a hit during a play. And he, and, but he just takes hits. I mean, Florida is trying to tee off on him at any time, just because they realize how important he is for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I just find it entertaining because how many years when, you know, like the Canucks should have traded him

for something. I mean, the shocking part, or we signed him, the shocking part is they let him walk for nothing. I mean, it's just, it's just, I get- But they don't do that anymore. I actually, yeah, yeah, yeah. The new management group doesn't do that anymore until they did.

Fitty regime. I just, like, it was so, they couldn't have let him go in any worse way, where not only did they not retain him and keep him, and he was a valuable member of the team, especially from a leadership perspective, they let him go to Calgary, and they let him feel underappreciated.

They let him. The disrespect is not. The disrespect is the killer. Anyway, I'm gonna get too angry about this, but it is funny that Toronto people have finally woken up to Chris Tanev, because Chris Tanev should have been a Leaf six or seven years ago.

They should have made an aggressive move to get him, paired him with Morgan Riley when Riley was still, I mean Riley can still play, but I don't think he's playing at the elite level that he was. They should have got him. I'm telling you, it would have made a huge, huge difference. Oh well, it's Toronto.

So the Canucks let Chris Tanev go. You know who's having a hard time right now looking at the guy that they let go? Anyone who employed Miko Rand and specifically the Colorado Avalos. So Miko Rand, yet again, had another monster game last night. I'm burying the lead a little bit here, but I want to start with Rand and a goal into assist. Dallas Stars beat Winnipeg five two in game three of their second round series yesterday.

Now, Rand is a big story. He has, I had to triple check this. He has 17 points in the last six games. 17, 17 points in the last six games, nine goals and eight assists in the last six games. He is on fire. So you're thinking, how are you bearing the lead? What could possibly be bigger than Miko Randin?

Well, there was some massive controversy and we will get into this mostly with Wyshinski coming up at 6.30, because he's in Dallas for this series. In the third period, games tied 2-2, Alex Petrovic gives Dallas a 3-2 lead when his shot, and I'm gonna to call it a shot for now, from below the right face-off circle,

bounced in off Connor Hellebuck's stick. Now, I'm using the word shot because it wasn't a shot. Alex Petrovic very clearly, and according to NHL officials, clearly kicked the puck towards the net. Now you can't- But it wasn't going in. It was more a cross. It was like a cross, which is very soccer.

It was, yeah, he squared it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He put it into the box. Almost a cutback. Yeah, yeah, yeah. However- Like Dry Saito's goal, or sorry, Riley Smith, that pass wasn't going in.

The shot that Dry Saito put in. Riley Smith's shot was not going in. It was not going in, and that kick wasn't going in. The shot that Dry-Sidle put in. Riley Smith's shot was not going in. It was not going in, and that kick wasn't going in either. Right. But the rules don't, and this was, now for the record. I think they were trying to figure out the rules there. I think they were trying to figure out the rules. They were like, what's going on here? So the crux of this entire thing is, if it's a kicking motion,

and it's judged to be a kicking motion, can any puck go in? And this is sort of where the kicking motion thing gets weird because if you kick a puck directly into the net and it's a distinct kicking motion, that's no goal, right? That's pretty clear. Yeah, yeah. But if you kick the puck towards the net and the goalie sort of fumbles it and bats it

in his own net. But it wasn't going in I think that is very key like it wasn't close to going in was it it was because he kicked it from the and here He almost kicked it from the goal line. It would be impossible for it to go. Here's where it gets tricky He wait he kicked it backwards, right? Would you say he kicked it backwards? I would say it was close to being a lateral almost like like the Music City miracle, the Tennessee Titans. I think it was backwards. It was very tight.

Put it this way, when I watched the replay and I watched the play, I was like, rule book aside, that should count as a goal. Because the spirit of the kick is that you don't want, and the kicking rule is in place essentially so guys aren't flailing their blades all over the ice and it runs the risk of danger. You open up kicking.

But you want them hitting crosses into the box? Kinda. Definitely went back. Sorry? Yeah, it went back. It was like right at the goal line and it ended up almost to the top of the crease. It was a cut back.

Yeah, yeah, it was a cut back. Yeah. So it definitely went backwards a little bit. Right. So Arneal's argument was that there's nothing in the rule book about a goalie, cause they use the word propelling. They said Hellebuck propelled the puck into his hand.

He's like, but there's nothing in the rulebook. He kind of ramped it up his stick, right? Yeah, but the referee said that he propelled it. And our Neil's argument was there's no rule in the rulebook that suggests what the goalie does with the puck matters. It's that there was a distinct kicking motion that rules it out.

So I'm with you on the replay, which by the way took nine and a half minutes in house, which is a long, long time to sit and wait. Do you get the extra beer served though in that time? Right, there's always a winner. I think they were trying to figure out the rule. So I do want to mention the Euler series before we go to break and we can talk about all this

with Greg Wyshinski on the other side. I think he was in Dallas. He is in Dallas, yeah. The dry sidle own goal with 0.4 seconds left, it's goals like that and not just specifically to dry sidle but just the absolute panic in the Euler's end. It's goals like that, which make me wonder if the others can really win the cup with either Skinner

or Pickard in goal and all the glaring defensive breakdowns the Euler's experience. That was sheer panic by Edmonton. Yep. Including Skinner. There's no way that puck should have been able to make it into the slot. You know, when, when there was the

four check from Vegas. I'm not talking about. Carlson was in the four check. I'm not talking about the Riley Smith pass. No, before. I'm talking about the original one that went to Riley Smith and there's no way that Smith should have been that wide open in the high slot.

And I know it's easier said than done to keep your composure in that sort of situation. And I guess in fairness, they played it well enough to force Smith wide and missed the net with his shot. The only problem is that his shot, which was clearly going to slide through the crease without going in the net, was deflected into

the net by dry saddle. But I want to play some audio from Chris Knoblach because he was asked, he was asked, was that goal kind of emblematic of the way the Oilers defended in that game? Chris, was the last play of the game, perhaps a microcosm of some of the challenges you guys had in a lot of the night where they did a lot of the little things that help you win games and you guys didn't manage situations.

Sometimes with the puck, the amount of turnovers through the first two periods and even in the final seconds very well. Yeah, anytime there's turnovers in the neutral zone you don't want you know we're not a team that's can always dump and chase and put it behind you never want any mistakes, but it is the game and you Try and limit those as much as possible the game winning goal

You know we're in good position. We've got as much as possible. The game-winning goal, we're in a good position. We've got, really, it's a one on three. He dumps the puck in, they retrieve it, and we're just playing a little desperate to try and make the play, block the shot. And what happens is they make a play, and unfortunate that that's the end of it.

It is amazing to watch the Oilers on a nightly basis. They played, I mean, game one they played terrific, but after they surrendered, they're two nothing lead. And they checked really well, but it's almost, I don't wanna say freebies, but it's the goals where you're like, the defensive breakdowns are shocking. But that's what makes them so entertaining to watch.

Oh, they're so much fun to watch. They're way more fun to watch. They are way better to watch this year than last year. I know last year part of it was because they beat the Vancouver Canucks. But this year, they are so flawed. They're like us. They're imperfect.

They are very imperfect. But they're unlike us in that they've got immense levels of talent that can compensate for a lot of these problems. Like that goal that Leon Dreisaitl slash Riley Smith scored. That's the first time I've ever seen that. Like the Edmonton Oilers. And it's tough to do stuff that you've never seen before in hockey.

We've pretty much seen. I think I've seen it all. Right. You're going to have a hard time showing me something that I haven't seen yet. You know, I remember that. Yeah, I have never, ever seen that. I've never with point four seconds left in a playoff game scene and I know you wanna go off on Skinner. Well, I was gonna say, they are a very human team.

I see a lot of myself in Stuart Skinner. And not in a good way. What was he doing there? I guess he was just saying like, there's not much time left, so I'm gonna go so aggressive here and just almost like kill the play. Well, his internal clock was off, right?

He obviously thought there was less time. Yeah. Than there was, cause you don't make a bold move like that. I was very bold. Like maybe with one second left, sure, go for it. Very bold. With four seconds left, obviously it was a

little too much time left on the clock. He misjudged that one. And Dry Saddle had a rough game overall. I mean, he was trying to make a play there. He was trying to back check. he was trying to make a play there. He was trying to back check. He was trying to make a play. It didn't go his way, but I think that game was a rough one for him. We did not mention the Carolina Washington series on purpose.

I'm actually disappointed at both these teams for how boring they've been. They've got a chance to make amends tonight, but the first three games of this series have been a total dud. And it's a shame because the other three series have been full of drama and intrigue. That one is not. So that takes us up to break. We've got a lot more to get into on the Halford and Brough show on sports net six 50. Greg was since he's going to join us next on the other side, I believe he's still in Dallas. If not, he's on route to wherever the road may

take him. But he was in Dallas for last night's stars jets game. So we'll talk to him about that. We got a lot more to get into. There's hockey talk throughout the show, so don't go anywhere. You're listening to the hell for them brush show on sports net six 50. It's Canuck central with Dan Rachel and satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks exclusive interviews inside info and even the post game show.

Listen four to 6 PM weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 632 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halford and Bruff, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruff of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first entrusted choice for debt help. With over 3000 five star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. Greg Wyshinski is going to join us in just a moment here. The midway point of hour one. Before we get to Greg, I need to tell you about North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's

premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the hotline we go, powered by Power West Industries. Greg Wyshinski, I believe from Dallas joins us now on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Wysh, how are you? Well, let's see. I sat outside under beautiful lights and a tree and had a beer and a cigar last night. So I'm clearly not in New York.

Uh, yes, I am in Dallas. And I love going to stars games, man. I don't know if we ever really kind of like sit down and put pen to paper on best arena experiences in the league, but Dallas would be up there. Combination of music and fans and atmosphere and people hanging out before the game. Dallas is definitely a fun place to catch a hockey game. It's one of the arenas I haven't been to.

Where is the arena within the city? It's downtown. It's surrounded by, they've really built it up too. It's surrounded by a bunch of restaurants and bars. It's within walking distance of a bunch of places. I mean, it's not like, you know, Bell Center necessarily, but I mean, it's, it's not, it's not, you don't have to like drive to the middle of nowhere

and parking in a giant theme park parking lot to get to the arena. It's pretty accessible. And it'll be interesting. I was talking to somebody last night. I didn't, I don't know if this is like a thing or not But I guess maybe the Mavericks are looking to build their own place at some point and then who knows what happens at this place? But yeah, it's it's fun. And you know as they showed in a picture on Twitter last night a lot of people wear green

Except for the one guy who was dressed head-to-toe and orange last night I've come to find out he it's a local realtor who calls himself the human highlighter and and he likes to attend games wearing the color that no one is wearing. It's very interesting. I like it. He's contrarian. Where should it have been a goal? Okay so I'm glad we touched on this. This is such an interesting debate because the the Winnipeg Jets rightfully point to the rule for kicking and according to the referee it was a kick. Okay so we have to start with the premise that it was a kick even if I don't necessarily think Petrified kicked the puck. If he kicks the puck and it goes in and deflects off a goaltender stick then it's no goal. I mean, that's what the rule says.

So the NHL and to the delight of Dallas coach Pete DeBoer goes to kind of another part of the rule book to say, if an opposing player puts the puck into their own net by any means, then it's a goal. So the Winnipeg contention is the minute that it touches the stick after a kick and goes into the net because of that, it should it shouldn't count and then the NHL contention is Hellebuck put the puck in his own net. I kind of see both sides because the puck is clearly going wide if it's not for Hellebuck putting a stick down and it going off the blade of a stick. That being said, the kicking rule is pretty cut and dry. There is no caveat in that rule for, well unless the goaltender of course puts it into his

own goal. Like there's nothing there that says that. And so I kind of sympathize for the Jets for this goal because I do kind of feel like it might be a loophole play where it shouldn't count based on how the rules are written. But I also don't think he kicked the puck. So, like the entire premise of this argument to me should be negated because I don't think he kicked the puck. So, how much of a challenge is this going to be for Scott or Neil, the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets to just keep his team focused on the goal and try and forget about what happened in game three? I think it's pretty easy because like your whole thing now and your whole thing going into Dallas is probably get a split, you know, and reclaim home ice knowing how well you played in game two. and reclaim home ice knowing how well you played in game two and you know I think he has a lot of things to build on from that game last night as well I

thought they played really well outside of a couple of stretches and especially after the the goal review situation which went on for eight minutes yeah they're trying to figure out the rules like everyone else. It was a long one. I guess I got to get again, I have to put over the Dallas game operations here because at different times during the Gold Delay, they had a DVD. The screen saver. Screen saver, thank you, going on the Jumbotron.

They had different graphics of old computers booting up on the Jumbotron. It was really really funny. I think they played well though. I don't think they played all that poorly. I asked Arneal last night about Hellabuck who, you know, the bar is set at don't get pulled and I think he cleared that bar but he didn't play all that well in the game. I mean I think he gave up a couple softies and then put the puck in his own net. Not ideal. So you still have that issue.

You still have the issue of the guy who has now lost eight of the last nine road games he's played in the playoffs, so that's a problem. But again, get a split, go home, and then hope that you're able to play as well as you did in game two, two more times. The road games for Hellebuck this postseason, goals allowed. Six in the first one, five in the second,

five in the third, and five again in his last game, which was the Jets fourth road game of the postseason. Any theories on what's going on there? Is it a mental thing with him? Is it the way the Jets are playing in front of him? What is going on? I do think that there's something to be said for the way the Jets play in front of him. The numbers are the numbers and if you're the best goalie in the world who's about to win his second straight, if that's in the trophy, then you should be better than this

without question. But you even saw it last night. Some of the chances that the Jets are giving up are grade A. I think the the Stars did a had a concerted effort in trying to take his eyes away on some shots. But that being said, I mean, you know, like, like Ruben Hintz scores on a on a knuckleball from the Crete from the slot that he should probably stop. You know, The situation with the reviewed goal is a mistake on his part. I mean, he didn't have a good game. It was better than what happened in St. Louis, I think, in the sense that the Jets were very much in the game until the third period. But there's not enough

there to really kind of like start printing headlines in Winnipeg newspapers about Helly back. start printing headlines in Winnipeg newspapers about Heliback. He came off a shutout in game two and then played like that in game three. I don't think it's all that encouraging. Do you think Nathan McKinnon went to the world so he wouldn't have to be on the same continent as Mika Rantunen?

I think Nathan McKinnon went to worlds to sit next to Sidney Crosby and be like, and then we have these wonderful breweries in Denver. And we have the Colorado Rockies. They're a baseball team. We have mountains in Denver. Yeah. The ranted in story is, is incredible.

Um, I think he's kind of proven that he wasn't a product of, uh, McKinnon and McCarr, don't you think? Yeah. And I was talking to someone with the stars last night about that, the idea that sometimes when the guy who is the co-star goes someplace else, he's never the star. He never gets to that point.

And this is kind of reminiscent of, for lack of a better comparison, like Messier-Wingretzky left. Like, this is the guy who was the second banana who, you know, was sometimes overshadowed, all the time overshadowed by the star on the team, both because of the play and the personality. And now he gets to be the guy. And the one part of this obviously is like the guy who was labeled a great playoff performer when he was traded to Carolina and then to Dallas actually being one and those stats not being a product of McKinnon and McCarr and the Avalanche. And the second thing is just the chance for people to really see his game through a clear lens and not within the prism of him being side-kicked to McKinnon.

It's incredible what this guy does. His size, his hands, he goes to the corners, he controls the puck, he loves having the puck and he's incredible at controlling it. And then obviously the offensive finishing skills and his playmaking skills. It's really remarkable. I can't recall a time, A, when someone has been on this kind of tearing the playoffs, and then B, just a star-making moment for someone

who kind of was a star already, but now I think has elevated his game to superstar status with just the way he's played. He's a big dude. Huff, remember when we saw him for the draft? It was in the draft in Florida, wasn't it? Yep. And that was the McDavid-Eichel draft.

So there wasn't a ton of focus on the other guys in the draft. But I remember when Ranton was drafted, it was like, who is that giant? He is a big boy. You mean, I remember being in the locker room though. I covered the first game that he played after, the trade to Carolina. And Carolina's got some size on the roster,

but at that point in the locker room, it was him and Koki Mianni and Ajo. And I just remember looking at Randon and look at these other guys and it's just like, this guy looks like Chewbacca compared to the other guys in this locker room. It was, he's an anor, I mean, his nickname is the moose for good reason.

He is, he's so, he's so tough to take off the puck. It's kind of, kind of Yager-ish in that way, like, like, like latter day Yager and, and the, and his ability to kind of like use his body to shield the puck and then, and then make plays based off of that. Like he posts up on guys sometimes. Um, he's, he's. He's a remarkable player. One more question about this series and being in Dallas.

I wonder if you've heard any updates on Heiskenen? Yeah, the update is everyone is really surprised he's not playing. Like he started to skate during the Colorado series. He's been skating throughout this series. I talked to some people who saw him in Winnipeg and they're just like, yeah, he looks like he could play. Um, so there's, there's a lot of, of mystery as to why he hasn't, you know, is it just buying him that extra time to make sure

that he is completely ready because of the speed and the intensity of the playoffs? Is it Pete trying to hold this thing back until he has to break glass and energize the team by having Miro come back to the lineup. I don't know what it is, but everyone connected to the team or that's around the team, I should say that I've talked to. It's just like, we're shocked that Robertson came back before he's getting in. And we're shocked that he's going to isn't back yet. Has anyone gone down the road of like, he tore his ACL?

I know that's out there and I'm sure no one's saying it on the record, but he missed 32 games in the regular season. We're now like over a month into the playoffs. I, you know, I've seen it out there. I'm just wondering if you've heard any of the same stuff. I haven't had any conversations where that's come up. We're speaking to Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halifax and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Let's turn our attention to Edmonton Vegas. We were talking about this in the opening segment that we've been doing this for a

long time. As of you, we all grew up on the internet together. And then, so we've seen a lot like hockey's offered us a lot. There's very rarely where I see something that I haven't seen before, but God bless the Edmonton Oilers because they gave us a sequence at the end of game three that I've never seen that before. Have you ever seen anything like what we saw with the Riley Smith slash Leon Dreisleidl goal to end Game three between Edmonton and Vegas? I have. And so Merrick and I did our show on the sheet on Sunday.

And I made that point of like, I kind of I kind of sympathize with the Oilers in this situation. I know they're getting slaughtered for, you know, not playing to the buzzer and all this other stuff, but you know, there's no drill you run for everybody's on the line change, except for one guy and he skates around the net and there's like a millisecond left and, and, and then he puts it through like four guys. Like there's no, there's no drill you run for that moment. And you know,

but if there was, it wouldn't look like that. It certainly wouldn't look like that. I have a couple of guys at the deck in the slot. I mean, Skinner skates out to, you know, to Manitoba to try to stop the shot. And then dry saddle dry silo is essentially trying to, I guess, defend a path across the crease and, and maybe cut off the post with a stick and then he puts it in and it's just I felt bad for them. I felt bad for them because it's a situation that they're not ready for, they don't know how to handle and it goes off as disastrously as one might expect. And it's

crazy like I'll admit like I was I think getting off a plane at that point and I checked the ESPN app and it said, you know score tied and it said going to overtime. I'm like, alright, that's awesome Settle in watch some overtime Starts streaming the game and I'm like wait what what happened here? It's it's remarkable that the end of that game and and you know It's one of those moments in the playoffs as you're kind of alluding to with that goal review in the Winnipeg game it's one of those moments of the playoffs where you you wonder if there will be any any aftertaste if there will be any

deleterious effect to this to the series with the way they lost that game and the way they lost that game was such a gut punch that I'll be intrigued to see if if it does if there is any carry over specifically for Vegas now having like a defibrillator put on their heart and they're back in the series. Well, think about the Kings Oilers series. Think about how that turned on the Jim Hiller challenge and then in game four, by field, not

being able to get the puck out. That, that was the series right there. Um, can the Oilers win a cup this way? Because it goes against everything that we've been taught where you have to be able to check, you have to get capable goaltending. Have we seen, when was the last team we saw that truly won the cup by just outscoring its own many mistakes? That's a good question. won the cup by just outscoring its own many mistakes. That's a good question. I mean, I guess it all depends on how you

feel about Tom Barrasso. Um, so like the, I'll push back on this a little bit because when Skinner's in goal, then they're that team, um, they're really Lucy Goosey in front of them and he's bad. When Pickard was in goal in the playoffs, they were much better. Not only with what he was giving them in goal,

which was like replacement level, but then obviously better than Skinner. But this is also a team that like, didn't they limit Vegas to like one shot a period in this series? Well, game one, after they give up the two nothing lead, which is kind of Edmonton-ish, they played one of the best games I've seen them play,

but they still gave up those two goals, right? Real quick. Sure, but the point being is that I do think this team can defend when it needs to. And one of the reasons why I didn't pick them coming out of the regular season is because I didn't see that level of consistent defensive play that we saw in their run to the Cup final last year.

I thought last year under Knobloch they really tightened things up and they were much more defensively responsible than I thought they could be and there are still moments when they're that team. It's just that it doesn't happen all the time and it certainly doesn't happen with the consistency of being a championship team. So to answer your question, I think that they can win a cup playing like this because I think that they can batten down the hatches when they need to.

But it all is contingent on having a goaltender that they A, have some semblance of faith in so they don't feel like they have to win every game nine to eight. And B, that can give them an occasional save because they're obviously not gonna be playing the trap in front of these guys. We're speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Greg, when will Austin Matthews appear in this Florida Toronto series?

When he dips his body into a healing bath somewhere and is mystically healed from whatever is ailing him. He's clearly hurt. Yeah. He's hurt all season, you know, and I think that now potentially hockey has just caught up with his body this year and he's just ineffective and, you know, they at first started to kind of like give the narrative of, but he's playing silky worthy defense. And then as the series of, all these series have gone on, they're just like, but we'll definitely need a goal at some point. series of all these series have gone on, they're just like, but we'll definitely need a goal at some point. And so I feel terrible because I, you know, he's, he's played through it. He's, he's gutted it out. He's, he's been there and, and, and this is, it's a real bummer

to have a Leafs team this good and then not have him at a hundred percent, which is kind of what's playing out right now. Cause I mean I mean again every time you watch this Leafs team you're like all right this is a team that could be cup worthy and to not have your best score anywhere near physically able to be dominant is is pretty horrible timing but again you know I say that with the acknowledgement that the Panthers are now pantering in this series. You know, we saw it against Tampa where they just start playing their unique brand of punishing, bludgeoning, blunt force trauma hockey. And then if you can't respond to that, you know, in a way that's usually related to the scoreboard, then they're just going

to keep punishing you. And the greatest example of that was last night where, you know, I get sent sometimes video clips of Panthers players delivering high hits. And I don't disagree for a second that it's probably the dogma of the team. You just hit them hard and hit them high, right? And it just happens so often that at some point you have to consider it that it's probably the mantra that they have. But they do it within the course of play. They do it within the flow of play.

And when you try to respond to it, you do dumb, dumb things like Domi did last night with Barkov. Yep. Where, you know, if Barkov got hurt in that play, Domi wouldn't finish the series. As it stands, I don't think he'll probably get anything for it. But that's the difference between what Florida does and what everybody else does, which is they're able to do this bullying and this punishment, these hits, like during play, and usually your response is going to be something that, you

know, is outside of the parameters of the game, and then you'll never get away with it like they get away with it. They can't let Bennett go, can they? You'll never get away with it like they get away with it. They can't let Bennett go. Can they I Mean I don't I don't think that they can and I don't know if he wants to go I mean, that's kind of the other part of this joy. He's gonna make a enormous amount of money wherever he wants to play but You know if they want another cop like where's what does he want to do? Does he want to go and and be someplace else if you want another cop, like where's, what does he want to do? Does he want to go and be someplace else?

Does he want to go play for Toronto? I mean, I don't know, but to me it's like they've got an amazing thing going here and it just seems to keep getting better. That being said, you know, you never know with Bill Zito and the management team, if, if, you know, they've got other financial considerations in mind, if they feel like they can go and find a 75% of Bennett with another cheaper player I don't know but I I have a hard time imagining guys really wanting to leave this situation considering how incredible this team is

right now. Okay I just want to ask one question about the other series Carolina and Washington do you think Miko Ranton is like that's why I didn't want to play for them? There was, I remember hearing some chatter about like, style of play being a consideration and then not wanting to play in Raleigh. I think it was much more geographic than anything else, but that was an interesting point.

I mean, I also think the flip side of that when I watched Carolina play, which is, damn it, that's why I wanted Miko Rantan. Oh yeah, 100%, for sure. For sure, that's why they wanted Miko Ranen. Yeah. Oh yeah, 100%. Yeah. For sure. For sure, that's why they went out and get him. Yeah, and Gensel the year before. I mean, there's still that team.

There's still the team that plays to the margins, that plays every game incredibly tight. But that series is, the more I think about that series, the more I'm like, it's comfort food. It's a throwback. It's the way playoff hockey used to be before scoring hit levels from the mid 1980s. It's like the 2-1 game was the Philly Cup playoffs

for like the last 15 years and the series is really running it back. I mean, it's nostalgia for a lot of us. I've covered this series, I covered it in DC. I'll be back there for game five. It is your quintessential, you best score the first goal against Carolina or you're probably not going to win the game series.

Like that's what it boils down to. If the Capitals can get a lead and get to their game and feel better about themselves, then they can win these games. If they get down early, this Carolina team, I think, I think it was like, you know, like 30 and seven or some such when they score, I don't know, when they score first in the regular season or something. They don't lose a lot when they score first and there's a reason for that,

which is the way that they play in front of their goal pending. So if Capitals can get a lead, great. We've got ourselves a fun little hockey game. If they can't, then congratulations to your Eastern Conference finalist, Carolina Hurricanes. They might be the most disciplined team and I mean that in all facets that I've seen in a long time.

You can't even rile them up emotionally. Wilson's tried. That's his bread and butter is he can get under the skin either after the whistles or when he can lay a guy out when play is on. But they just do not. They're very unflappable. It's boring. It's much more entertaining to watch Edmonton pukke all over itself and then try and make up for it.

But like Carolina is probably the most disciplined team I've seen in a long time in all facets. Yeah. And you know, and the Capitals, you know, they've got some decent firepower on their team to try to break through what Carolina's throwing at them. But I mean, there's been some guys that have been, you know, conspicuously quiet in the series, Ovi being one of them. And it's it's, you know, it's it's not over.

I mean, I again, like use use game to as an example of what the the Capitals can do when they get to their game. But, you know, they've got to get to their game and get to it early. Wish this was great, but enjoy the games tonight. We'll do this again next week. Anytime. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up on the other side, hour two, we're going to kick it off with Down Goes Brown. That's Sean McIndoe from the Athletic. We're going to talk some Leafs.

Can I just throw one question out there for discussion? Sure, Fran, you're part of the show too. We'll discuss it after we talk with Down Goes Brown. If the Canucks ever get back to the Stanley Cup final, do you want the rest of the country to cheer for them? Great question, Jason. Do you want it?

Remembering what happened in 2011, do you want that to happen? Do you want the rest of the country's support? You're listening to the Howford and Brepp Show on Sportsnet 650.