Halford & Brough in the Morning - It'll Be Weird If Demko's Not In Net Tonight

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

In hour one, Jason and guest host Jamie Dodd look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they set up tonight's Canucks home matchup versus the Blues (6:00), plus they look around the NHL with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:05).  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 da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da A look to throw. Fires a pass. Caught by Jamar Chase. Down the sideline. 20, 15, 10. Touchdown! Bengals! Toward the end zone. Touch diddly down. Burrows pass incomplete. Blown up by Moe Sislak. Oh, God. Choking on my own play chair. Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Halford. One final day here on the program. Brough, what's going on, man?

Good morning. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I actually, I have adjusted to this schedule just in time to go back to my normal schedule tomorrow. I feel vaguely human this morning. So Jamie and I live pretty close to each other, so he comes over to my place and waits outside. Yes. I come down, and yeah, he's like a lost dog outside.

Well, I'm not going to ring the doorbell at 5.30. No, it's fine. How frosted up was my car this morning? Very frosted. It was an icebox. Yes, it was. Why was my car... Does my car sweat at night or something like that?

Is that why... That's why it was way more frosted than any of the other cars on the street. They say cars take after their owners. Yeah, it was just a sweaty mess. Sweaty mess of a car sitting there getting all wet and then frozen, I guess. Anyways, A-Dog, hello. Good morning. Laddie, hello.

Hello, hello. Wow, good job. Laddie, hello. Hello, hello. Wow, good job. All right, so we're all here. Lots to get into today. First, though, of course, Health and Abrupt brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today.

Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Hour one of the show is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling. They recycle. You get paid.

1170 Powell Street. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. 650-650, of course, is the Dunbar Lumber text line. You can start sending your thoughts.

And busy day on the show. At 6.30, Greg Wyshynski from ESPN is going to join us. Not a busy night in the NHL last night, but some interesting results that we can get into, some interesting news out of the Board of Governors meetings and just lots going on generally in the sport. We'll talk to Wish about that at 6.30, 7 o'clock. More NHL talk with Ray Ferraro, maybe a little Canucks there, of course,

around the league stuff as well with Ray. 7.30, Jeremy Rutherford. He covers the Canucks opponent, the St. Louis Blues, for the Athletic. They've made a coaching change recently, so lots going on, lots to get into with Rutherford at 7.30. And then 8 o'clock, a second Ferraro on the show, Landon Ferraro, Canucks analyst, who you hear on this station, you see on TV, on the game broadcasts as well. So we'll look ahead to tonight's game, talk about our recent results for the Canucks

with Landon as well. So working in reverse, 8 o'clock, Landon Ferraro, 7.30, Jeremy Rutherford, 7 o'clock, Ray Ferraro, 6.30, Greg Wyshynski. Lots of hockey talk on the show. Before we do any of that, let's tell everyone what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? What Happened brought to you by the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit bccsa.ca. It's a Canucks game day. They had the day off yesterday, but still a little bit of news to get into with the Canucks, Jason. Yeah, they sent Max Sasson down to the AHL. Now, this is likely just a cap move. One of those cap accrual things we've gotten really into on the Halford & Brough show. Although I don't. We love cap accrual. It's a big.

It's one of the themes of the season. And given the Canucks didn't have an extra forward in their last game, Mark Friedman was the only healthy scratch. It's possible, I suppose, that the Canucks could call someone else up instead of Sasson. Would they consider Lekker Mackey, who's been scoring some goals down in the NHL? We'll see. There is a media availability

this morning there's a game day skate at 10.30am followed by a media availability so we'll see who's on the ice for the Canucks Max Sasson could be back or I suppose could be someone else I do

did you want to add something on the max sass not really just that you know talk it's done talk it's done this a lot with young players where he really likes their game in game one or two but then when the media checks in on the player like a week later talk will say well it needs to be more consistent right and so i think max sasson impressive performance in his first couple of games but talk it just like he is with Baines, like he maybe was with Lucker Mackey, waiting to see more from some of these young players. Yeah, Baines could get called up again. I mean, look, I think that's only natural, too.

I don't think that's a Rick Talkett thing. I think what happens when young players come in is they are, like, really dialed in and got the adrenaline going and they are super focused and then it gets to games four or five or six and I don't want to say they get comfortable but you don't have that same sort of adrenaline going through you and how many times do we hear the whole thing of like what it takes to be a regular

everyday NHLer is just to have a routine that you go through and one where you are consistent and the coach knows what to expect of you in every game. I have a question for you. Okay. Tonight against St. Louis, because JT Miller isn't expected back tonight, and we'll get into the latest JT Miller news after this, should the Canucks keep DeBrusque, Petey, and Besser together as a trio? Yes, I think so. I know their play has tailed off over the last couple of games, but those are your three most skilled forwards. That's your best bet right now to have a line that's really dangerous on a consistent shift to shift basis. And I think we saw when B besser came back and he was playing farther down the

lineup there's no really other good spot to put him yeah you kind of need to put him with petterson that's where i'm at right it's it's about besser and where you put him because right now as currently constructed with jt miller out the second line with garland and joshua that's the second line yeah typically that's the third line and Yeah. Typically that would be the third line. And I know there are some people, by the way, that are like, okay, we got to see something from Dakota Joshua soon. My whole thing with Joshua when he came back, this isn't because of what he had or anything like that.

He's a big guy. He's going to need to find his legs. You remember, was it even last season where he came into camp and Rick Taka wasn't very impressed with his fitness? And that was on Dak, right? And it took a while for him to find his legs. He needed to get into better shape.

This season, through no fault of his own, I'm sure he lost his fitness. He's a big guy that needs to find his skating legs. I said, before he came back, I'm going to give him 10 to 15 games to find his, and he's not there yet. So hopefully he comes around a little bit. I don't think he's been awful by any means. No, I agree.

But he hasn't been making the same impact that I think a lot of people expected, and he did get that big contract extension. So he's a guy that people i think are just starting to watch right now uh but you know getting back to whether or not let's just split up that trio and kind of spread the wealth and have brock besser drop down the lineup do you want brock besser with teddy bluger as a center no No. Right? No. We saw it. Besser was invisible. Yeah. So I think we'll probably see those three together again. And this is by no means either us saying they were fine. No.

They were not fine against Tampa Bay. And I hope that Besser and Pedersen and DeBrusque all heard what Rick Tockett said afterwards. He said, well, Tampa's top players were there. Braden Point, Kucherov, Gensel. And by the way, Ray Ferraro really wants to talk about Braden Point today. All right. I love Braden Point. He loves Braden Point. Braden Point's awesome.

Braden Point is a very good player. Those guys all showed up for Tampa Bay. And the only top player that really showed up for the Canucks was Hughes. Remember when Braden Point was one of the first guys named to Team Canada in the first six, and there were some people like, what, Braden Point? That was a bad take. Braden Point's awesome.

He is... I always forget how good he is. Whenever I watch him play, I'm like, oh yeah, he's awesome. He's one of my favorite players to watch in the league. He's so good. He was a third-round pick, so he didn't get a lot of buzz out of Junior, although he was on Team Canada, wasn't he? Yeah, he's awesome. He's one of my favorite players to watch in the league. He's so good. He was a third-round pick, so we didn't get a lot of buzz out of Junior, although he was on Team Canada, wasn't he? Yeah, probably.

I mean, he was one of the last guys. I don't know why we're going off on a big Braden Point digression here, but he was one of the last guys where his stats were outrageous in Junior, and he fell way out of the first round just because he's, like, slightly under six feet. Yeah. And then that kind of stopped happening with players like that, partly because of Braden Point.

People are like, oh, we shouldn't do that anymore. Trivia question for you. Who did the Canucks take in the third round? Oh, man. That year that Braden Point was drafted. 2014. So they went, that would have been. If you know this, I'll be very impressed by you.

That would have been for Tannen and McCann in the first round. And I think they had Demko in the second round. Was it Nikita Trampkin? Oh, my God. That's very, very impressive. The Gustav Forsling draft as well. Yes. Was he a fifth or something?

Fourth, I want to say. Fourth or fifth. Yeah. Yes. Was he a fifth or something? Fourth, I want to say. Fourth or fifth, yeah. So let's talk about JT Miller a little bit because there was a report that, I think it was Drager, that Miller is expected to return to practice on Wednesday. Now, the Canucks have already said that they have a plan with JT Miller, but they didn't exactly share what that plan was. They just said, we've going to play him with this guy.

So if he practices tomorrow, he's not going to play against the Blues. If he practices tomorrow, do you think he would be available for the game against Florida on Thursday? Because that's the type of team that you would really like to have JT Miller available for. Like, obviously they're defending Stanley Cup champs, but just the fact that they're big and they're heavy and the Canucks without JT Miller, the Canucks with JT Miller, you might say that their forward group is light. Without JT Miller, it's pretty light. It's interesting

because so often when a player is returning to the team, you probably earmark more than one practice before they're ready to get back into the game. But we've heard that JT Miller has been skating on his own, even though he hasn't rejoined the team in practice. And that's recent, but who knows? Maybe he never stopped skating. We don't know.

We have no idea what he's been up to since he's taken the leave of absence. So I guess it's possible that from a fitness standpoint, having his leg standpoint, he is ready to go after one practice. If I had to bet, I would bet on the next game right now, right? You get your practice in because especially that game against Florida, it'll probably be like just an optional morning skate in the morning. So do that and then have maybe one more practice and then you're good to go for the game on Saturday.

That seems more likely to me. It would seem pretty quick to go first practice back. I'm back with the team. Now I'm in the lineup playing, you know, a top six role for the team on the next day. But who knows? Maybe he's really excited to get back. They would never admit this,

but I wonder if it depends how things go tonight. Yeah, how much they need to win. How much they miss him. Because let's be honest, their first two games back from the road trip at home, yeah, they got the win against Columbus. But I can't. The first period was crazy.

I actually, I was out and about, and I didn't get to know the first period was crazy I actually I didn't I was out and about and I didn't get to watch the first period and I had to do a double take when I saw the shot totals and the score I'm like

what has happened here were they were they drinking before the game or something they're getting outshot 17-2 and down

2-0 to Columbus anyway credit to them they came back and won that game but then they didn't win against Tampa Bay, right? And I'm curious, semi-curious, to see the St. Louis Blues tonight

under their new coach. Let's talk about some other NHL stories. We were chatting on the way into the show that I didn't mean like, I wish Halford was here because I don't. I'm glad you're here. But so Halford has had this thing for the last few months

where he is expecting Brady Kachuk to ask out of the Ottawa Senators. He has these hot takes that never, never happen. Never happen. I know when I saw that, I was like, oh my God, is Halford's hot take going to hit? Is that going to happen? In the Simpsons where Homer predicts that the asteroid will burn up. I'm like, saw that, I was like, oh my God, is Halford's hot take going to hit? Is that going to happen?

In The Simpsons, where Homer predicts that the asteroid will burn up, and they're like, oh no, he was right. Oh my God, that'd be terrifying.

I'm scared too. Yeah, I'm scared too. Yeah, Halford up there twiddling his thumbs. So, the SENS new owner, Michael Andlauer,

I guess, was down at the Board of Governors meeting, and he was saying like, he's getting tired of all the, quote-unquote, soft tampering out there. So what did he mean by soft tampering? So after the Rangers traded Jacob Truba, there was the story, I believe it was Brooksie, Larry Brooks, in the New York Post,

putting out there that, okay, hey, they've opened up $8 million in cap space. Their target is Brady Kachuk. That was the report from the New York Post, which may be a little more specific than we sometimes hear, but not completely out of the ordinary for the world of NHL rumor-mongering and reporting

that, hey, team is interested in player X. Now, and I know it's like a lesser scale, but how often have we heard the Pittsburgh Penguins directly penguins directly interested and connected to neil's hoaglander right is that tampering with neil's hoaglander or is that just guys reporting what they're hearing and i guess that's the what that's the specific report that amlauer is taking issue with here not so much halford actually as it is the New York Post. They're basically saying the Rangers are telling Larry Brooks that we're interested

in Brady Kachuk and we're going to call on Brady Kachuk. Michael Allen Lauer came out and said this was his reason. It's up on Sportsnet.ca. Frege wrote the piece. This is about protecting our fans, our players and their families.

Brady and his wife just had a baby. They don't need that in their lives. Okay, but I think it must also be that the Sens are worried that Brady Kachuk might say, you know what? If people are calling me on a trade, listen, because here's the thing with the Sens don't you think the easiest thing for them to do is we're not trading Brady Kachuk that's it absolutely we're not we're not trading him well that's the thing he's got he's under contract we're not trading him tampering is usually free agent yeah free agency right like hey this guy's about to be a UFA but we're gonna get the jump on it and we're gonna talk to to him and we're going to frustrate the current team's efforts to sign him to a new deal brady kachuk's under contract until 2028 like it doesn't matter he has no control all they have to do is not trade him and yeah he can ask out but any player can ask out can

demand a trade at any time so and then that's on you, the Ottawa Senators. That's not on any team that's going to call on him. I think any team that is scuffling often would get calls. They're like, do you guys want to shake it up? How many times? Listen, I watched Buffalo and Detroit last night, and it was hilarious because each team's fan base was furious at their team.

Because late in the third period, the Sabres were winning 5-3 over Detroit. And I noticed on social media, Iserman is trending. Lalonde is trending. He's their head coach. A lot of people want them fired. Then the Red Wings tie it.

And this game is in Buffalo. And the fans in Buffalo, the ones that showed up, there were quite a few Detroit fans there and quite a few blue seats, a lot of empty seats in Buffalo. Then it was Buffalo's fan base's turn to get upset at the team. And eventually Detroit won in a shootout, despite the fact that Buffalo had some chances in overtime and probably should have won. So how many times have we heard, you know, for example, in the case of Buffalo, do they want to make a big shake-up trade?

It seems to have even emanated from Buffalo. We want to do something. We need to shake up this team. We might be willing to trade away some of our young players for some guys that are more able to help us now. So everyone groups those three teams in the same category, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Detroit. They're in that division with teams that have constantly made the playoffs for years, Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Boston, and everyone's been waiting for the changing of the guard there. So Ottawa, Buffalo, and Detroit have all gotten off to, I would say,

so-so or even disappointing starts to the season. So why wouldn't other teams be calling these teams? Like we've heard, oh, I hope the Canucks call Buffalo on Bowen Byram, for example, or something like that. And I just don't really understand from the Ottawa perspective, are they worried that he's going to be like, they called on me? But this is what happens when you're a mediocre team, right? People wonder.

People speculate about your players. People talk. Their names get out there in trade rumors. The easiest way to avoid that is not by, you know, throwing a temper tantrum and stamping your foot. Every time one of your guys is out there in a big rumor, it's to be a good team, right? Be easily, comfortably in the playoffs.

And then guess what? Probably Randy Kachuk's not going to ask out if that's the case. So I guess we should talk about the fact that tonight, maybe we're burying the lead here, tonight could be the return of Thatcher Demko. Yes. As we said on the show yesterday, like, probably should be. It's going to be weird if it's not.

Is it going to be? Okay, so here's how it is. There's been no confirmation. No. Okay, but we wondered Friday if it might be the return of Thatcher Demko, but then it was kind of like, eh, he didn't get a lot of practice time on the road. Not tonight.

And then Sunday was a 1 o'clock start. Eh, he'd be out of his routine then. Not Sunday. It is Tuesday night. Mm-hmm. Even had a day off yesterday. Yeah. Had some practice time.

Comfortably back at home now. St. Louis Blues, I don't think there's anyone on that team where you're like, oh, I don't really want Thatcher Demko against Tampa Bay. You could view and say, do you want him playing against Kudrow? Those cross-team passes.

Yeah, cross-team passes. It's like you're going to have to wait for the worst team in the NHL to come into Vancouver. There's been plenty of practice time. We've been home for a while. Biddington might try to fight him. Yeah, that's true. That's a concern.

That's true. Tonight, I suppose, could be the return of Thatcher Demko. So watching this game as a fan, how are we going to be feeling about this? Obviously, hopeful that Demko is playing well, but are we going to be holding our breath a little bit? Like, can we do, are we going to be able to do this for the rest of the season? We can hold our breath every time Thatcher Demko is out there. See, I think you can't live your life in fear, right? Well, I do, though. I'm a Canucks fan.

But there's risk in every situation. You know what I mean? Like, you get in the car to drive to the store, you could get T-boned. It could all be over right then. That's my message today. I thought you were going to say, you could injure your popliteus.

You could absolutely injure your popliteus. But you know what I mean? It's like, yeah, there's risk. Of course there is. But that's no way to go through life. You just got to try to put it out of your mind as best you can and enjoy it and hope that he – I'm much more interested to see his performance and how quickly he gets back to peak Thatcher Demko and looking like peak Thatcher Demko.

Because the injury risk is just kind of baked in. It is what it is. I have no idea of judging what movements are more dangerous for the poplatius or what what types of saves you should be nervous about all of those things so i think just put it out of your mind try to relax as best you can which i know is asking a lot the much more interesting thing to me is he hasn't played a game yeah in forever how is he is he good does he look good or if he doesn't look good tonight, how soon is it before he looks good? Yeah.

Do you think the fact that is another factor in all this? The fact that he doesn't have his old goalie coach, Ian Clark, putting him through the paces? We'll see. I mean, I know Laddie is out there stirring it up, that there's a big rift between the two. Insider Laddie reporting that, you know, Thatcher Demko taking shots. That's clearly what I said.

Laddie, what did you tweet out? Because it's kind of interesting. I'm not trying to put you on the spot, but I know you got a big response to it. Yeah, Ian Clark for years has had this rule where there's no black gear allowed, and he thought it was, he always made them have a piece of white on the pad

just to help blend in with the ice a little bit better. Oh, okay. His idea was that black pads are a negative thing because players can see where the five hole is, I guess, and they shoot for the black. It was like a delineate against the netting of the goal. Yeah, which not everyone agrees with. Some people agree

that the ref loses sight of the puck more often when you have black gear, so you get more bonus whistles that you wouldn't normally get. So there's a huge debate about it in the goalie community as you can tell uh he had a rule though a hard and fast rule that you cannot wear all black equipment so day one he's out there on the ice for his return as a backup goaltender and he has fully black gear decked out head to toe all black gear on the first day without ian clark right so that would lead me to believe that he wanted to he like we've known for a while he's wanted to wear black gear he's he wanted to have a kirk mclean tribute he ended up

doing it anyway for the one game he was allowed to wear it um and he's wanted other just normal equipment sets with full black gear and he hasn't been allowed to wear them. So now that he has his chance, he took it and he was wearing fully black gear in that first game that he backed up. So Laddie, what if,

if Demko starts tonight, if you're a fan watching this, what should your expectations be for Demko? We just finished a few minutes talking about how Dakota Joshua missed some time in the offseason because he had that unfortunate cancer diagnosis, and he comes back, and some people are starting to ask questions like, oh, is Dak going to start producing soon?

And I said, okay, look, you've got to give this guy 10 to 15 games. I mean, not only the physical aspect of it, but also the mental aspect of it. Just give him some time. How patient should we be with Thatcher Demko, considering he's coming back, not quite right in the middle of the season, but quite a ways in.

He didn't have a training camp. He didn't have preseason games. What should our expectations be? Well, I think it's like with any goalie that goes from the AHL to the NHL, they tell you it's the pace of play. That's the heart. Nothing really replicates NHL speed. So the only way to get that is through game action.

And unfortunately for goalies, it takes a bit of time to get up to speed. You're going to get beat and look pretty bad on some goals. So if he does look like he's behind the play a little bit, that's to be expected. He hasn't even played a rehab stint. He's just practiced. So for me, it's the pace of play that he has to keep up with. He might be a step behind, which to me is totally fine.

It's totally expected that his first week or so back in the lineup, he's going to be a step behind. That's just how it's going to be because he's not getting any rehab starts down in the AHL. But for me, the concern comes when he moves in and out of his posts with the knee injury that he has that to me will cause the most strain on him because you when puck was worked low below the goal line you got to get into your post knee down on the ice that movement where you need to push off your post to me that would cause the most stress on his knee so that would be what I'm looking for in the game is just how he's moving in and out of his posts

when the puck is worked down low. Okay. Greg Wyszynski is going to join us next. And Wish has another one of his NHL Awards Watch pieces up. It was just published. And I don't think you guys are going to like what the voters are saying about the Norris trophy race. Greg Wyshynski will join us next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to Halford & Brough here on Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd here filling in for Mike Halford. Halford & Brough brought to you by the Dilawri family of Acura dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Hour One brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling,

Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. 1170 Powell Street, 650-650. the highest prices on scrap metal, Northstar Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid $11.70. Powell Street, $6.50, $6.50. That's the Dunbar Lumber text line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and renter warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their

three locations to serve you or online at DunbarLumber.com. You hear the music, that means it's time to chat from ESPN with our pal Greg Wyshynski. Wysh, what's going on? Oh, I'm good, man. I am currently hand-stitching Juan Soto's name on the back of my Mets jersey.

It's a great, I mean, listen, it's a good time to be a Mets fan. Rare is the moment we can steal something from the Yankees. But, you know, as I noted on the night that they announced the Soto signing, like visions of Bobby Bonilla are dancing through your head at the same time. Or you wonder, it is the Mets. It is the largest contract, like what, in the history of mankind. And the chances of this not working out remain fairly high, considering the team involved.

Hey, Wish, can you remind us of the typical groupings of the sports fans in New York? Like, are Mets... So it's... Correct me if I'm wrong here, but if you're a Mets fan, you're more likely to be a Jets fan

and an Islanders fan? I would say that's accurate. You have to remember the Jets fan and an Islanders fan? I would say that's accurate. You have to remember the Jets used to play on the Island. So, you know, way, way back in the day, they've got roots there. It is usually, and outside of the Islanders, this is me, a Mets, Jets, some would say Nets alignment, although that's not necessarily a fast and loose or a strict rule. You can play fast and loose with the basketball teams.

But typically it is a Yankees, Giants, Rangers, Trinity that you find on the other side of the aisle. Right. And then again, and then there's freaks like me who grew up in Jersey, like, you know, became devil fans in the 80s when they were losing seven wands to the Oilers. So it's like, you know, but typically it is, like you said, a Yankees-Giants-Rangers alignment. So let's get into the Rangers game last night before we get to the NHL Awards watch, and just as a warning, Canucks fans are probably going to have a problem with Cale McCarr being the lead candidate, even though points-wise he is leading Quinn Hughes. Just be prepared for that.

But I do want to talk about the Rangers because I didn't get to watch the game, but I saw that they lost at home to the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 last night. What was the story from the game and what was the reaction in Madison Square Garden? What's going to happen to the Rangers? Because things seem to be getting even worse. The reaction was booing. A lot of people very understandably upset the Rangers in a moment in which they should be trying to turn the ship around after the true betrayed loss to the worst team in hockey at home. So there was booing.

The story, I think, was kind of a lack of effort, if we're being honest. I mean, I didn't think that they necessarily played all that hard last night. And again, against a very beatable opponent. So that was kind of a bummer for the Rangers fan. They're two and six. Two and six since Chris Drury's to the other 31 general managers saying we're open for business.

Can I interest you in a slightly used Jacob Truba or a Chris Kreider was leaked. They're two and six since then. So if the idea was to put Kreider's name in the memo to fire up the veteran corps, it hasn't happened yet. One might say the only thing that'll fire them up is a firing. I got to imagine the next shoe to drop is La Violette, don't you? I would think so.

Well, unless it's Drury, likehip looks at this whole thing and goes, what are you doing, man? I think you've torpedoed our season. But Laviolette would be the more obvious choice, I suppose. Now, ownership in this case is one guy. It's James Dole. Exactly. When you're dealing with that,

you are dealing with someone who would fire everybody at the drop of a hat. In fact, he's done it before. I mean, like Jeff Gorton was fired in season and replaced with Chris Drury. So, you know, the line that got the most reaction from us was right of passage to get fired at MSG. I had current employees. I had former employees texting me being like, round of applause for Jacob Trudeau, speaking the truth about working for this organization.

So, oddly enough, the Rangers' next game is Wednesday in Buffalo against the Sabres, and we were talking earlier in the show how it was kind of funny last night during the Sabres' Red Wings because each fan base took time to be super angry at their team late in the third period the Red Wings fans were all upset because they were losing 5-3 to the Sabres but then the Red Wings scored two quick goals and took it to overtime wanted it in the shootout and it was the Buffalo Sabres fans turn to be angry at their team um what do you make of the buffalo sabers and in particular what kevin adams had to say uh i guess over the weekend when he had the press conference yeah i'm about done with kevin adams i don't know about you guys like

it is it is these press conferences happen seemingly every year i know it's because the media asks for them but like there's there's no real solutions coming out of this front office like the i again the much ridiculed idea that other places have palm trees and that's why people don't come to buffalo we're in a salary-capped league. There's only a certain amount of money each team can spend, which means that every team is able to attract talent. They can, just because of the way that the system works. If you've got cap space and you're willing to spend, you're going to find someone who wants to put their name on the dotted line. But my biggest problem with the Sabres and their construction, and by the way, I do think they should be better than what they are. I don't know what the malfunction is with this team right now,

but they should be better than what they are. My problem with this team is that Kevin Adams did make the kind of trade that they need to make when he acquired Bo and Byram. You know, it cost him Casey Middlestad, but that's a player that hadn't necessarily found his stride over the course of multiple seasons in Buffalo. So he didn't own a guy that was a controllable asset because he was years away from UFA status. So while you can sit there and complain about free agents not wanting to come to Buffalo because they don't have palm trees, if your roster is underperforming, unless you're completely trigger shy now because of all the awful trades the Sabres have made over the last few seasons, then you should flip some of these young underperformers for another team's young players that are controllable for multiple years contractually,

and then try to retool the roster that way. But there's a lack of vision and a lack of boldness in that organization. And that's exactly why outside of my beloved New York Jets, they have the longest playoff drought in professional sports. So we've talked about the Rangers, and we've wondered if there's some more moves to make there. We've talked about the Sabres, and we talked about maybe they need a shakeup there. Which team do you think is the next one to make a big move either a hiring or sorry a firing

or a big trade because i think we should probably talk about nashville as well we've been wondering all season whether or not they're going to do something given the start they've had yeah i i don't really know how to read nashville to be honest with you because like there's a part of me that thinks that it's gotten to the point where maybe the season's not salvageable um there's also the fact that their their plan all along has been to kind of use veteran acquisitions to be placeholders for younger guys or to augment the younger guys that are already on the roster they've got kind of an inch they're in a kind of interesting spot where they kind of went all in on a season in which they punched above their weight, hoping that maybe it could mean to greater things in the short term,

and it hasn't worked out. So I don't know what that ultimately adds up to. I know that Barry Trotz has talked about the veteran players he acquired not necessarily being on the block, so it's really hard to read read as far as teams that are going to make a huge move I you know it's not a team that's necessarily struggling I think it's Dallas like Dallas now all of a sudden is in that position where maybe Tyler Sagan's going to get the Kucherov Mark Stone treatment with that injury they're going to have his cap space open and and now you have a chance to really add something to that roster uh for a team that i

think was already primed to maybe be a cup contender so you know we got a lot of teams that are struggling we got a lot of coaches that might be on the a scorchy seat right now but i look at a team like dallas and say to myself why not take care of business now versus you know wait until the trade deadline if you know what you need and you have the salary cap space and you have a good sense of how long Sagan's going to be out. All right, Wish, as we mentioned, your latest NHL Awards Watch piece is up now at ESPN, and the one that's of the most interest to Canucks fans out here is, of course, the Norris Trophy race, which does feel very much like a two-horse race between Kale McCarr and Quinn Hughes. The kind of headline from you is that McCarr earned 75% of the first-place votes

among the writers that you polled. Can you tell us a little bit about why McCarr did win so handily in this version of your awards watch? Well, you know, I think in McCarr's case, there's been a lot of chatter about the start that he had. I mean, you know, he started the season with an 11-game point streak. The only other player to do that was Bobby Orr. He started the season by leading all skaters in points or having a share of that lead at the end of the first month of the season.

The only guy to ever do that was Bobby Orr. So there's a lot in the ether about sort of the historic start that Kael McCarr has had. And as of right now, his point pace puts him right at around 100 points. You know, obviously Carlson did it a couple years ago, but I think there's only like, he'd be like the ninth guy to ever do it. So there's a lot of things happening from a car right now that are really impressive. On the other hand, and I think this is a very fair point for any Canucks fans that are upset that the voters haven't necessarily coalesced around a Quinn Hughes candidacy,

maybe because they're looking for a different winner this year, I think Hughes has been obviously the most important player on the Canucks. If you wanted to look at the Norris Trophy as sometimes a facto defenseman MVP award, you could easily say that Hughes fits that bill. I mean, he's got a pretty sizable gap between himself and the next highest scorer on his team, and he's played great in a lot of situations. So I'm a little surprised myself that the gap is as significant as it is right now between McCarr and Hughes. But there's still a real long time for Quinn Hughes to state his case. I don't usually get too wound up about these NHL awards watch or, frankly, awards in general just because, like,

I'm happy to have Quinn Hughes on the Canucks. Like, you know, whether he wins awards or not, whatever, I'm happy that he's on the team. But, I mean, even points- points wise you can make a case for Quinn Hughes because his points per game is actually higher than Cale McCarr's and if anyone is still paying attention to plus minus Quinn is a plus nine and Cale is an even yeah for sure and and and you know one of the arguments that people make for McCarr and for Nathan McKinnon is the injury situation that Colorado had to deal with earlier this season and how well those two guys propped up the team. So, like, I'm with you, man. I think there's a really strong case for Quinn to be the frontrunner right now. But you always have to be wary about the idea of voters just kind of looking for the next thing.

The Norris, in particular, has been a very fickle award for repeat winners. And it has also been an award where a lot of, like, it's this guy's turn situations happen. So we'll see how it shakes out but i but obviously right now macar has sort of captured the zeitgeist for for the voters so we got a text into the show and i think it's a pretty good question i was going to actually ask it how much will the four nations event impact impact awards because i can't wait for a few games. Canada, US obviously and I think you know people are going to be watching Quinn Hughes versus Kale McCarr which is going to be a bit of an interesting situation for Canucks fans because a lot of us will be cheering for Canada but hoping that Quinn Hughes does well. The other thing in Vancouver will be

the US Sweden game because it'll be Miller versus Pedersen in that game. First of all, to the question, do you think it'll impact awards at all? And are there any matchups that you really want to see? I think it will impact awards. There's a couple of guys that I think could really benefit from it if they end up having really strong four nations tournaments. One guy is Philip Gustafson, the gold medalist for the Minnesota Wild, who has made things surprisingly close with Connor Hellebuck for the Vesna in the eyes of our voters. Keep in mind, they're not the ones who actually vote on this award. But I did find it interesting that there was so much gap made up by Gustafsson, and I think that's by virtue of the fact that the Wilds surpassing the Jets in the standings. If he

gets the crease for Sweden and plays remarkably well in Four Nations, that could fit. Based on the Four Nations is Anthony Sorelli. Sorelli was, I think, in our top three for the Selke. And I think the fact that he was named part of the defensive stopper. He could score a goal, right? No doubt he's a pretty good offensive player. But he's on that roster to be a fourth-line defender. Canada anoints you as such. You're dropping out a little bit there,

which, so we're, we're going to let you go. Do we need to reconnect or no, I think we're out of time. We were running out of time, but go, go,

go read wishes awards, watch on ESPN.com and wish if you're, if you're still there, thanks for joining us today. And we'll, we'll talk to you next week just that point on the four nations and how it could

impact I think I don't know if it's going to change awards voting this year very much but I think specifically on the Hughes-McCarr thing everyone still says Cale McCarr is the best defense in the NHL and I get that right he's won a consummate I think that's the thing that could, right? He's won a consmith.

I think that's the thing that could change, right? If Quinn Hughes is a monster for Team USA at that event and clearly outperforms Cale McCarr on that type of stage, I think at the very least he moves into where instead of just saying, oh, Cale McCarr is clearly the best defenseman in the NHL, it's Cale McCarr and Quinn Hughes are the two best defensemen in the NHL, where he moves into a tie just in league-wide perception. Maybe that impacts awards voting as well, but I think just the hierarchy of how we see those players

could change based on the Four Nations. What are you most looking forward to about the Four Nations? Honestly, just watching Canada. I love cheering for Canada Best on best international tournaments And yeah there's question marks about this roster But I think it's also going to be really Interesting to see how Cooper and Talkett and the rest of the coaching

Staff use them what kind of style they want To play I mean we're getting McDavid and McKinnon On the same team together and Crosby on the same team Together so like that's the easy answer for me Who do you think should be favored The US I think the US has the same team together and Crosby on the same team together. So that's the easy answer for me. Who do you think should be favored? The U.S.

I think the U.S. has the best team. I think the U.S.'s blue line and goaltending situation is outrageous. You look at Quinn Hughes having a monster season. Adam Fox is incredible. He's easy, but Fox is... People are down on him right now, but he's a good player. He's a really good player. Hughes will probably be with McAvoy, right, as a pairing? We'll see.

I think the thing about the U.S. is they've got, like, three really good lefties, three really good righties, and I could see you could make a case for any combination of them together, and it would look awesome. Yeah. It would be like, wow, that's a great blue line. That's a great defense course. I have no idea do you think um do you think many canucks fans will be cheering against canada

like when sweden plays them when the americans play them sure there'll be a few maybe people talk like people are just i'm not gonna cheer for brad marshall not do it no i'm the same way yeah yeah i hate brad marshall too but like I'm gonna cheer against Canada and hockey no chance no way so I think people talk a big game about that but I think when the game is actually on and I think also I might actually be nervous for the Canada US game yeah absolutely which is awesome by

the way which I'm saying is a good thing and I realize it's not the Olympics but the last World Cup that they had the one thing that I would say about it because it was kind of gimmicky with the young stars and team Europe thing I never got nervous no I was kind of just like well there's nothing really on the line here no you knew it just doesn't matter this doesn't prove anything but if the Americans win this tournament and there's a possibility that Canada and U.S. will play twice, right?

They'll play once in the round robin and possibly again in the final. Imagine if they win both those games. And then heading into the Olympics, you're kind of like, oh boy, guys, we better get rolling. I am a little bit concerned about a few things about Canada.

I'm a little bit obviously about a few things about Canada. I'm a little bit, obviously, concerned about the goaltending. But then do you worry a little bit about the age of some of the players? Do you worry about the age of Sid? Do you worry about the age of Brad Marchand a little bit? Yeah, absolutely. And I think more than anything, looking at that roster, the thing that stands out to me is it feels like the burden on the top let's say three guys for canada and i'll say mcdavid mckinnon and macar as the three best players on the team

normally canada is so deep that yes you need and you want great performances from the best player on the team but you think back to like the 2010 olympic team it's not as if there was one or two superstars carrying that team it was just loaded top to bottom this version of canada feels like the top two or three guys are going to have to carry the team to a much greater extent than we normally see from a team canada roster um oh my god armchair canuck is upset that we would cheer for Brad Marchand's team. You have no integrity. Even if his team is your country. He said, then you have no integrity.

You put winning a hockey game above values. I hope Marchand licks someone's face while you cheer him on. Hey, guess what? I respect your hate for Brad Marchand. That is strong hate. You hate him so much you'd cheer against your own country. You would be a traitor to your own country instead of cheering for Brad Marchand.

The idea that the only player... Tip of the cap. That is a level of hatred I aspire to have. The only player who has negative values in the NHL is Brad Marchand, of course. Every other team is filled with choir boys. You don't have to sacrifice your values at all to cheer for those teams.

Brad Marchand, the only morally suspect person in hockey history, in fact. That's the only person that you have to sacrifice their integrity to cheer for. It's really remarkable. Everyone else, perfect integrity. So the great thing about this Four Nations thing is I think it's

a table setter for the Olympics. And that's not necessarily how they're marketing this, but The great thing about this four nations thing is I think it's a table setter for the Olympics. Yeah. And that's not necessarily how they're marketing this, but it is one of the things they are saying about it. It's kind of like, all right, let's get a handle on what the team is, the Americans, the Canadians, the Swedes, and the Finns, but especially the Canadian and the American team. Yeah. And then it'll be interesting to see how each team adjusts to what happens in the four nations. Yeah, it's a small sample size, but it's the

only sample size you're going to get. So I hope everyone on Canada is ready to roll so we can assess correctly. Do you know what I mean? Like ahead of the Olympics? Because listen, I'll be nervous for this and I'll be upset if the Americans beat the Canadians, but then you've got the Olympics to make up for it.

And how many times, for example, on the women's side, would we see the Americans win the world championship? And then the Canadians would be like, yeah, but we win the Olympics all the time. We win the gold when it really matters. And I think that's one of the great things about this tournament. Ray Ferraro is going to join us next.

Ray was on the call for the Canucks Lightning game. So we'll look back a little bit on that. We'll talk to him about what he saw from the Canucks and also from the Lightning. But we'll also look ahead to tonight's game against the St. Louis Blues, which could and should feature the return of Thatcher Demko to the Canucks crease. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.