Halford & Brough in the Morning - Looks Like We're Getting A Stanley Cup Finals Rematch

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports that saw some memorable NHL playoff action (3:00), plus they talk the latest hockey news and notes with The Athletic's Sean Gentille (27:32).  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- Scores! Niko Mikola! Top corner! His second of the game! And the Panthers lead 3-1! Would you shotgun a beer in church? Wait a minute, this sounds like Rock and Roll. Three on one, Connor McDavid right circle, ditches, gets it back and scores! Good morning, Vancouver! It's 6 o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody, it is Halford at his broth at his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. It's so hot in here. And Ladi, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. I don't complain. Halford at his broth, good morning. The heat's broken. It's like 45 degrees in the producer's studio. It's ridiculous. Somebody left the door closed over the weekend.

But it's not even that. It's like, that's bad enough. But also, the heat is broken in here. Oh, it's fine in here. I'm glad. Yeah, I know. It's very comfortable in there. It's nice.

We'll be spending the show in there. You'll see us on camera. Can we come in there? No. We can. Alfred and Brad for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for NetHelp. With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit them online by sands and associates BC's first and trusted choice for that help with over

3,000 five-star reviews visit them online at sands dash trustee comm we are in our one of the program Our one is brought to you by North star metal recycling Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal North star metal recycling they recycle you get paid visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver We are coming to you live from the almost chilly in here kintex studio kintex footwear and orthotics working together with you in step We got a big show ahead on a Monday lots to get into it's a four guest here on the Haliford and Brough show On sports net 650 guest list today begins at 630 our good buddy Sean Gentile from the athletic is gonna join the program 30 our good buddy Sean Gentile from the athletic is going to join the program live from Florida ahead of tonight's potentially series clinching game of four of the Eastern conference final. First question for Sean,

what the hell has happened to the Carolina hurricanes? Hopefully he will be able to answer at six 30 again ahead of tonight's a Cain's Panthers game, which will be aired live right here on sports net six 50 seven o'clock Jason Greger from sports 14 40 and Edmonton is going to join the program. The oilers took a two one lead in the Western conference final yesterday afternoon with a big six one win in game three in Edmonton. What a weekend for Stuart Skinner in goal for the Edmonton oilers will touch a chat to Jason Greger about all that at seven o'clock.

Seven thirty Axel Schuster, white cap sporting director, is going to join the program. Awesome win for the Whitecaps on Saturday, rallying from a two nil deficit, two nil Jason in the first five minutes of the match. Incredible. Not a good start. Well, no, but what a finish. What a finish. Three to win for the Whitecaps at Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah on the weekend. Unbeaten Street goes to 14 matches for the cap. So we will also preview Sunday's big Conker calf champions cup final with Axel at seven 30 eight o'clock. Brandon Astle is going to join the program.

The play by play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. Abbotsford is in a game five winner take all this afternoon. Jason, this afternoon Jason this afternoon in the Calder Cup Pacific Division final against Colorado. You're telling me all this stuff like I have no idea. Two o'clock in the afternoon the game starts today. Why? It is Memorial Day in America.

Right. So we've got the call also live right here on Sportsnet 650 beginning at two o'clock. After that we've got Cane's Panthers. So like seven hours of uninterrupted hockey today on the station. We'll join. We'll be joined by Brandon at eight o'clock to talk all things. Abby, I love how there's just like no consideration for the visiting team and their fans. It seems like it's memorialed. Right. It seems weird. The two of them got that up in Canada, right?

I'm sure they do. Yeah. OK. Set the schedule the game. Classic two o'clock Monday game five Yeah, so working in reverse on the guest list eight o'clock Brandon Astle 730 Axel Schuster seven o'clock Jason Greger 630 Sean Gentile. It's a big show ahead got a lot to get into so without further ado laddie. 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? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? 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. Well folks, it's still not written in stone,

but it's looking more and more like we may get a Stanley cup final rematch. We will begin our rundown of the weekend with what happened yesterday afternoon in Edmonton, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman two goals apiece for the Oilers who cruised, although the score was a little more lopsided than the game indicated. Six one against the Dallas stars in game three of the Western Conference final at Roger's Place, as I mentioned on Sunday afternoon. Edmonton now has a 2-1 lead in the best of seven series.

Yeah, Florida's up three nothing on Carolina. So that one's done. Obviously, I'm worried about this and the Oilers and I'm not happy how easily they seem to be taking care of Dallas yet again. But I can admit that a rematch of the Panthers and Oilers, and I'm not happy how easily they seem to be taking care of Dallas yet again, but I can admit that a rematch of the Panthers and Oilers would be pretty awesome. Yep. The Panthers and the Oilers have been easily the

most impressive teams in these playoffs. They've each had a few hiccups along the way, but that happens in the playoffs and it especially seems to happen to the Edmonton Oilers, but, you know, I think the Dallas stars and Pete DeBoer were just trying to take anything positive away from yesterday's game. Um, you know, the, I saw Pete DeBoer's presser after, and he was like, you know, I was pretty happy with the game and the start and I get it. Like they did have an advantage on the shot clock and their second period did go up,

but they were down three one after the second. They give up some, they give up some great A chances to the Edmonton Oilers and like Connor McDavid, like don't do not, not with him, not with him. I mean, or Zach Hyman, you know, or Ryan Nugent Hopkins. Well, the three stars on Sunday were Stuart Skinner, who we can talk about, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent Hopkins, which is hilarious because McDavid scored two goals. There were two of Edmonton's first three goals,

so pretty important, and he doesn't get a star. Never gets the recognition. His second goal was an absolute backbreaker too. Making it three one late in the second period that had been, like Pete DeBoer pointed out, dominated to that point by Dallas. Now the wild card in all this remains Skinner, but he's mostly been excellent since taking over in the Vegas series. Yep. You know, three shutouts, only one goal allowed the other day

against Dallas yesterday. But until he gets it done, he'll be doubted. And frankly, rightly so, right? Like each year he's getting pulled out of the playoffs and people are asking questions like, when is Calvin Pickard back? And I think that anytime that someone asks the question, when is Calvin Pickard back?

You can say that there's not full trust in the starting goaltender. On Friday, when we did the one to watch brought to you by Delaney's OK Tire, I made the one to watch Stuart Skinner. Because we were all wondering, is Calvin Pickard healthy enough to return to the series? Stuart Skinner throughout these playoffs, when he's been good, he's been excellent. When he's been bad, the Edmonton others have lost usually with a five or six on the scoreboard and

the goals against department. And it has been such a fascinating thing to watch because you never really know what Stuart Skinner you're going to get. But over the weekend, they played on Friday and Sunday. What was it? Stopped 58 and 59 shots faced, got a shadowed on Friday night, allowed one goal yesterday in a 6-1 win. Miko Rantan, in his post-game media availability, of all the players he could have picked, who the MVP,

he said the MVP of the match. He coined it in a very European way. Right. Said the MVP of the match was Stuart Skinner. He was the best player on the pitch. Yes. And he was. He made large stretches, the best player on the pitch.

I understand what De Boer and the Stars were trying to say after the pitch. Yes. And he was a bit large stretches, the best player on the pitch. They mean, I understand what DeBoer and the stars were trying to say after the game that, you know, the old Travis Green Line didn't really feel like a six one game, although it was a six one game. Like they outshot Edmonton 21 to seven in the second period, and they weren't just flinging the pucks on net like the Carolina Hurricanes. The high danger chances were pretty even. The problem is, the problem is they're not converting, that they're not, and Edmonton is doing a fantastic job

because of that depth that we've talked about it forward. Like you mentioned, Connor McDavid didn't get one of the three stars yesterday. And it's because the other guys that got them, Nugent, Hopkins and Hyman, justifiably deserved them. Like Hyman's line yesterday was two goals, an assist, 10 hits, 10 hits in the game and a plus five rating.

Plus five, that's pretty good. That's great. I think Newch had three assists. He was huge, right? And he's such an all around player too. By the way, if Dallas goes out, who's going to win? Because everyone was like, oh, Rantanen's the leader of the Consmite Trophy race. Is it going to win? Because everyone was like, oh, Ranton is the leader of the cons might trophy race. Who's going to is it going to be McDavid again?

The other betting options two and three right now are McDavid and Bobofsky. Stuart Skinner. Stuart Skinner, if they win the Stanley Cup, he'll either get a shutout or lead in 12 goals. Right. Like, here's the thing. I know we're projecting.

Never know. I know we're projecting too far ahead. Because it's either win the spiked or be bought out Yes, or Calvin Pickard will be in that at some point during the Stanley Cup final Hey, the swings back and forth though are kind of crazy. It's pretty comical. It's wild I don't think I've ever seen him play. He's right haven't been as many swing swings now lately, right? I was always told they valued consistency in gold thinners when I was growing up Apparently not. It doesn't you just need to have a shout out

every once in a while. Every now and again, you just have a game that you just throw, you just throw in the toilet and flush it. Who needs consistency, right? Yeah. So we're all wondering what's happened to the Carolina Hurricanes and we're going to talk to

Sean Gentile about that in about 20 minutes, but I have the same question about the Dallas Stars. Did they just expect that Rantanen would do all the scoring for them in these playoffs? And again, I know, I know they played reasonably well yesterday and missing hints was, was a blow for sure. Yep.

Like I said, I listened to DeBoer after the game and he was generally pleased with the performance, but they are not getting nearly enough from a bunch of their quote-unquote star forwards. Here's a fun stat Wyatt Johnston is minus 17. He's having a tough go. In the playoffs minus 17 in the playoffs that is like think about that first all, to get to 17 already, what have they put, have they even played 17 games? 16. 16 games.

So he's minus 17 in 16 games. And the teams made it to the conference final and they're only down two, one in the conference final to be minus 17. Duchenne is minus 13, Jamie Ben, I think he's minus eight or something like that. Jason Robertson, he had a goal yesterday, one goal in nine games.

And that goal yesterday wasn't exactly, it wasn't exactly a big one, right? He's clearly not playing it 100% because he's not invested. But he's not, those are the guys that you're talking about right now that did tons of the heavy lifting during the regular season.

Wyatt Johnson, Jason Robertson, Rope Hintz. I mean, they're getting nothing. Hintz obviously is injured now and we'll see what happens. He did take a warmup yesterday, so he might be able to get back in this series, but they haven't had enough. If you look at their leaderboard in terms of scoring, it's random with 21 points. And then there's a 10 point bulge between him and Thomas Harley, who's a defenseman. Like they're not getting nearly enough.

Where's Jamie Ben Tyler Sagan had a goal in this series. Remember, he got shot out of a cannon, but it was all too brief. It's got to be very concerning for Dallas right now after scoring six in the opener to come back and get one goal over the course of two games. What a weird team, though. You remember like such a weird collapse at the end of the season, where they were just awful for a stretch of what was it? Ten games going into the playoffs. No, no, no, they're fine.

They had a seven game losing streak going into the playoffs. Yeah, the Canucks kind of triggered it, didn't they? Yeah, they broke them and then they came back. We thought they did. And now they look a little broken again. They just broke Wyatt Johnson. The Stars could have a lot of turnover this off season with Duchenne, Ben, Dattanoff and Grandland

all pending UFAs. Like those, that's four key forwards right there. I know there are some people that think the Canucks should go after a guy like Jamie Ben. I know there's some people that think the Canucks should go after a guy like Jamie Ben. I'm not so sure about that. You know, they gotta get faster. Jamie Ben is not gonna add to the speed at any rate.

He's having it, but I'm sorry to interrupt, but he's having a tough, tough postseason. Yeah, he's old, man. I know. He's old. But he's only one goal in 16 games. Yeah, but he's, again, he's old. He's having trouble keeping up.

Yeah. And when you got guys like McDavid out there, he looks even slower. And don't forget the Stars have already spent a big chunk of their cap space on extending Rantanen. So, you know, we always talk about stakes and trying to, you know, when you have a chance to win, you got to win Cause there's no guarantees for next season. And I realized that they've got these young players like Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston locked up, but it's like, yeah, but I think we're wondering right

now, like how these guys are good, but how good are they, you know, can they get the Dallas stars over the hump? Um, I was looking at the, uh, the 32 thoughts podcast title and it was, are we headed for a rematch? And, uh, rematches are always fun in the Stanley cup final, but, um, at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, uh, if it is a rematch between the

Panthers and the Oilers, you kids out there, you kids listening at six 14 in the kids out there, you kids listening at 614 in the morning, none of you are listening right now, you're still in bed and good for you. You're going to learn a lot. The Edmonton media is just going to be all over this. About the first time the Oilers won the cup back in 1984 and it wasn't a rematch against the New York Islanders. Long story short, 1983, they lose to the dynasty

New York Islanders. They learned a lot of valuable lessons about what it took to be a real champion. And then they beat the Isles the next year, ending one dynasty and starting another. But I think it's also worth noting, if you go back, I mean, the Islanders beat the Canucks in 1982 and they had won, it was something ridiculous that they

won like 17 straight playoff series. It was 19 straight playoff series, which is just crazy. And in that series against the Oilers, the Islanders ran out of gas. They had won four straight cups, played a ton of really hard hockey along the way. Meanwhile, in the conference final, they had their hands full with the Montreal Canadiens while the Oilers, they swept Minnesota. They were called the North Stars back then, kids, the Minnesota North stars.

They eventually moved to Dallas. Where they just became the stars. And, uh, and then, so the others swept Minnesota and got like nine days off before the finals started. So I just wanted to point that out because like it's the comparisons are going to be made and that's fine. That's fine. I mean, it could be relevant comparisons, but my point in all this is like, the

Panthers aren't the Islanders back in 1984. Like they're not totally banged up. They're not, like the Islanders had a ton of injuries that playoff year. The Panthers, if they can take care of business tonight, they're going to be sitting real pretty, but they should. Because they got to get Reinhardt healthy. And I wonder, is it even worth him playing tonight? No, he won't play tonight. I think Michalos banged up.

He is also here. AJ Greer, Reinhardt's the big one. Well, Michalos is too. He's also AJ Greer. Like Ryan Hart's the big one. Well, Mikala is too. He's a really good player. They brought Boquist into the lineup and like didn't miss a beat. He scored one of the goals against Carolina in game three. But all I'm saying is take care of business and get healthy. Yeah, there's going to be the risk of being rusty for the Stanley Cup final, but I'd rather risk rust than health. And you're going to have to prep for the Oilers., but I'd rather risk rust than health. And you're going to have to prep for the oilers. You're going to have to look a lot of video and you're

going to have to be prepared to go to Edmonton and face that crowd. And I, I think that's one of the best crowds I've ever seen in the NHL. Like they are, you know, I don't want them to win, but that crowd in Edmonton is awesome and they are loud. And we've seen it a few times and part of it has to do with the, with the Oilers quick strike ability, but we've seen teams like be like,

Oh my God, what's going on here? Right. You know, like I think we saw it twice with the stars yesterday, the oilers score their first goal. And then like whatever it was, 15 seconds later, they score again and you see the faces on the Dallas bench because that place is just so loud in there and they're like, Oh my God, what's going on here?

Like you need to keep your composure when you go into Edmonton. The quick strike ability of both of those teams is very notable. Like the Panthers on Saturday night, that was five goals in 10 minutes and 37 seconds of the third period. The Panthers have had a really, really effective way of racking up goals in short bursts

to just kind of, you know, like throw the rest of the dirt on the burial and finish it. They have a really good ability to do that. I, you know, you mentioned the the 1984 angle, and I think that it's an important one because A, it will be brought up by a lot of media members as they try and drive particular narratives. This one you can see coming from a mile away. But B, I actually think it's really relevant. Now, are the Florida Panthers the New York Islanders of 84?

No, however, in this instance, there is one important similarity. And it's that if you face a team for the second consecutive year in the Stanley Cup final, they've set the bar. And for the Oilers, that's the team that they know they need to overcome to win it. Like, let's be clear here.

If you were to ask anyone who of the two best teams been in the Stanley Cup playoffs so far, they'd say Edmonton and Florida, most likely, right? Someone might throw a token vote in for someone else, but it's been those two. And then if you were to ask who has been the two of the better teams, I think most people would say Florida. Florida's looked like the most dominant team.

And part of that has to do with the fact that they're the defending Stanley Cup champs. They're on their way to their third consecutive Stanley Cup final. They're the team now, if these two meet in the final that Edmonton has to go through to get to the ultimate prize. The anecdote I remember about 94 or 84, sorry, was that in 83, after the oil is lost to the Islanders, they walked past the Islanders room after the Stanley Cup clinching win. There was no celebration from the Islanders

because they were all physically and mentally exhausted. It was a quiet room. It was like Paul Coffee and Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier. I all mentioned it. They expected to walk by and be like, Oh, man, we're going to have to walk by the champions room and there's going to be beer and champagne and celebration. And at that moment, there wasn't because well, they were bored of it.

It was their fourth straight. But they were also they were old at that stage and they were physically exhausted. And all the oilers said to a man, that's when we understood what it took to win that those guys knew how to win. They understood that they had to put push themselves to the brink and lay it all on the line and all those cliches to the point where when you won, you were so physically spent. And that's kind of you got, you were so physically spent. And that's kind of you got to dig in, they say. And that's what it's going to be if they play Florida again, because I'll say it like

Edmonton as the two best players in the playoffs right now, I think, in McDavid and Dry Seidel. But Florida is the better team right now. Like the way that the Panthers don't just play hockey, but seemingly break the will of their opponents. Yeah, there's really something to see They're gonna win the cup again Bryndamore and I think so. I think it's gonna be a toss-up man I mean they went seven last year. I look so dominant. Oh boy. Have you been watching the others when they're on? Redible great. They look good. It's a two best Florida looks better though You mentioned it via text over the weekend, like the Canes almost embarrassed themselves

becoming so unglued in that game because they thought that they had done a good job through two periods. It was a tight game. They had actually won a period, which is what Brendan Moore set out to do. And then it just unraveled. And a lot of that had to do with what Florida did to them.

Do you think, this could be a crazy idea. Shoot it at me, brother. Do you think this could be a crazy idea? Shoot it at me, brother. Okay. Do you think that the Florida Panthers are so physically intimidating that the Carolina Hurricanes were like, we need to match that physicality. Think it's a big part of it. And then you're kind of like, why?

You can't. Just play your own game. That series has actually been, I mean, I call Jamie Benold, this is gonna be even older, because I'm just like, it looks dangerous out there. Sometimes. And there have been times in these playoffs, honestly, that I'm like, I wonder if the NHL's gonna have to look

at hitting from behind again, because I grew up in the era where they started putting stop signs on the back of jerseys because it became a problem, right? Look at that little stop sign, that'll fix everythingseys because it became a problem, right? People were getting hurt. Look at that little stop sign, that'll fix everything. And I realized that a lot of times these players are turning away from hits and taking. And anyway, I just think some of the hits,

like I love physical hockey, but some of the hits in that series, I've been like, oh my God, like someone's gonna get seriously hurt out here at some point. Florida hits to hurt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think there's any, no point in sugar coating it. There's no point in sugar coating it. So we're gonna get seriously hurt out here in Florida Florida hits to hurt There's no point in sugar coating it they hit to hurt and

you brought up a good point with Carolina because one of the biggest hits from the Carolina side of things was the most unlikely guy was Sebastian Ajo on Reinhardt which is not Brian which was a dirty. It was a dirty hit and Ajo on Reinhardt, which has knocked Reinhardt out. Which was a dirty hit. It was a dirty hit. And Ajo has been on tilt. Yep. Out there. Yeah, and what happened when the game got comfortably out of hand for the Panthers in game three? Yeah, yeah.

Kachuk went and exacted his revenge, I think further throwing the Carolina Hurricanes into a tailspin, because they're like, not only are we getting beat on the scoreboard, we're getting beat up physically too. When you don't win a single facet of a game. That's when you really start to lose your marbles because that's where it's like, well, we can't do anything here. Yeah.

Like we can't play our style of game and they abandoned it at times way too early and way too often. I'm talking about the Carolina hurricanes. When you think you've won one of the small battles in a game like they did, like after 40 minutes They were pretty happy with how they played they had Mikko I got tossed from that game right for the five he got five in a game So they felt like they had an advantage going there I mean

Florida was down a couple key contributors And what happens you come up in the third period of a game that you need to win and you give up five goals in? Ten and a half minutes like that is deflating to the point where I do think it messes with you mentally. And we'll talk to Sean Gentile about all this. He's down in Florida. He's going to join us on the other side. Um, it's probably, and I hate putting it this way, but it's probably the most interesting thing about the Carolina hurricanes in the last couple of years. Like all due respect to them as an organization and a

franchise. And I know them making the move for Rantan was a big deal. But to me, this is an inflection point. And this is something that Florida has now foisted upon two different opponents in back to backgrounds. Because they sent the Toronto Maple Leafs into a mental tailspin after beating them. And look at the changes that got made there in the mid aftermath.

Brendan Shanahan's out. Who knows what's gonna happen roster wise. It's the same sort of story like a team that keeps making the playoffs but can made there in the mid aftermath. Brendan Shanahan's out. Who knows what's going to happen roster wise. It's the same sort of story, like a team that keeps making the playoffs, but can't get over the hump. Right. And for Florida to do this against back to back opponents, because you know that after this, there's going to be major underline, underline, underline, major questions asked of Carolina and what they're doing as an organization.

Would you say with the Leafs, the question it was like, core four, core four, can then, can you get it done with this core four? And ultimately the answer is no. And I think Marner is going to go and Tavares might too. Yep. Would you say like, what's the equivalent of the core four in Carolina? Is it just Bryndamore system? Is it the system?

Is it? Maybe. I hate it because I think he's a really good coach. I know. Yeah. But you can't. Didn't he sign like a-year extension fairly recently? Yes.

That makes me wonder if they'd be even willing to fire him. Although someone would probably just hire him right away, and they'd be out of that obligation. Here's the thing. You have to look at not being able to win a single game in the Eastern Conference final. Yeah. Like, that's a major, major red flag.

I don't know what it means. I don't know if it's a mental block with these guys, but you can't be as good as they are during the regular season and then through two rounds of the playoffs and then have a total inability to win in the Conference final. I know a bunch of these losses came against Florida,

but to go, because if they lose tonight, they're gonna go 0-8 in consecutive playoffs in the Eastern Conference final against the same team. Like that's a problem. Yeah. Right.

That's not being able to figure it out and not being able to unlock a single solution. Yeah. And, but again, I, I, do you put it all at the feet of Brendan? I don't know. It's a good question. I don't know if you can, but I think you've got to,

you've got to ask yourself the question of like, do we have the right mix in here? Um, and maybe, I don't know, I'm sure some of the players are just getting frustrated, but you know, I know Eric Tulsky there, the general manager, isn't just going to take the kind of conventional approach on this. You know, he's going to take somewhat of a

different approach. I'm just not sure what it is. Why don't we ask Sean Gentile? Let's do it. He's been watching the Carolina Hurricanes pretty closely. Sean Gentile is going to join us next on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen 4 to 6 PM weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 632 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com.

I feel like this song is a keeper. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. The Power West Industries hotline,

which all of our guests come courtesy of, takes us all the way to Florida now. Sean Gentile from The Athletic joins us from the Eastern Conference Final here on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Sean, how are you? Guys, where did that music come from? Was that like an Andy special pull?

Like that was incredible. I felt like I was on the match game or like the Price is Right 1976 or something. The guys also said that they were in the works Like that was incredible. I felt like I was on the match game or 1976 or something the guys also said that they were in the works of making you a jingle during the break That's how much time goes into these things We got Sean Gentile the phone now, yeah, there you go Yeah, if you guys if you guys can whip some lyrics together and set it to that music So that's how I on, that'd be great. Well, if and when we do have you on again, it might not be during the Eastern Conference

final because it could very well be over tonight after four games. My first question for you, Sean, what the hell has happened to the Carolina Hurricanes? Oh, man, I, I, I actually someone asked me this earlier today and like, I think we need to start with the Panthers. They're really good. Sure, right. Two-part cap a little bit to those guys. But like, that's also not that interesting. Like no one wants to talk about, you know, how good Florida is because I think that it is a big part of this, of this series is just the ongoing collapse of Carolina and it's, it's, they can't, they can't get the

puck out of their own zone. That's caused problems. And then when, when that happens, the Panthers smell blood in the water and the four checks starts. And you see the kind of stuff we saw, you know, particularly in the first, in the first minute of the game too, when, when, you know, particularly in the first, in the first minute of game two, when, when, you know, special cop turns that puck over, Gustav Forsling ends up scoring, but there's just chaos all over the place.

Kachuk, Bennett, it's, you know, just insanity. Um, so yeah, they can't get the puck out of their own zone. Um, turnovers, that was a big part of, that was a big part of game three. Um, and then just kind of more generally, and I think this speaks to something that's maybe a little more existential about for the Carolina Hurricanes is that they just can't come back. They can't allow the first goal, and they've done that consistently. And I think, and that's not, I'm not making guesses there.

That is Rod Brindamore just being like, we basically saying we're not equipped to do this, certainly against an opponent like this. And I think that's kind of the long and short of it is that Florida is getting on them quick with the exception of game three. And even, uh, of, of game three. And even then at the start of the third period after Caroline does a pretty good job of playing them, do a draw, they make a big mistake.

Taylor Hall does in the neutral zone and it's two one and then the flood gates open and you know, final score ends up being what it was. So yeah, it's, it's, there's not a lot that's going right for them. Have you thought about what might happen if they get swept again, which would be two straight sweeps at the hands of the Florida Panthers, but four straight sweeps in the conference finals, which is one of those crazy stats you're like on the, on the one hand, it's good that they're getting to the conference final on the other it's a, they're not winning any games once they get there.

Yeah. And the last, at least the last two sweeps have gotten progressively worse too. Like 2023, I like bring them more rightfully, Rod, bring them more rightfully took a lot of black for something he said after the 2023 series, which is like, he was like, yeah, it was a sweep, but it wasn't really a sweep. And I, that's a, that's a dumb thing to say. Like I, I, I agree with that. But also you can see the logic, because they lost a quadruple overtime game,

and then they lost another overtime game, and then they lost another one goal game. Like there was, those guys were close, and these ones aren't. And Bryndamore said that, you know, has said that at a couple different junctures. Like, it's like, he's like, these are, you know, these are outside of game one, when we saw the brave face from him and the players, because they didn't play terribly. But we heard it after, you know, in the post game,

like, yeah, we're close. We like our game, blah, blah. Outside of that, the last the last two have just been, you know, varying degrees, I think of,oralization. That's a word Bryndam or dusted off after game three. Like these are, it's true, these are these are demoralizing ways to lose hockey games and I think that's the reason that we're trying to just run out the clock here. I got a flight back to Raleigh tomorrow that I was thinking at least it would go five and it's like, I gotta figure out what to do with that with the work travel portal

and see how cancellations work there, but potentially, I don't even know. So yeah, it's been a grind, but it also seems like it's almost over to tell you the truth. Yeah, I wanna stick on that topic, the demoralization thing, because we were talking about this in the intro. This is the second consecutive team now that the Florida Panthers have done this to. They sent the Toronto Maple Leafs quite famously to that Game 7 blowout loss in which there

was booze raining down on the ice and Mitch Marner getting booed when he was touching the puck. And then you saw the aftermath, right? They've already made the change with the presidency with Brendan Shanahan out There's probably more changes to come and then Jason kind of alluded to this with Carolina But I do wonder if this is gonna be a major inflection point for the organization Top to bottom because I don't remember Carolina Hurricanes fans ever really turning and beating his visceral in their disappointment as they have in this series Like I know this might sound like a little sort of generic and night

But they always seem like they're just happy that they've got a team and they're happy that hockey's fun and they like being there And we got a tailgate. Yeah, right. We're gonna roast a pig that kind of thing and then whenever They lost it's like well, we'll try again next year. And this year, it all feels different from Bryndamore's post game remarks to what the guys are doing on the ice to what the fans are saying. It just feels like whatever they've done up to this point isn't good enough. And now everyone's kind of fed up with it. Is that a fair assessment? I think for the most part, yeah, I, I, there's, there's definitely a segment of the fan base. It's like, Hey, cool tailgate, it's like hockey, fun time, like, we win great, if not, you know, so be it. College Hoop season is right around the corner or whatever. There's a pretty solid group of people down there that are serious about it and know what

they're watching. And I think, now, does that mean they haven't been positive over the last couple of years? No. I think a big reason for that positivity beyond just being like, you know, casuals, basically, a big part of the positivity for the people who aren't casuals is that they love Rod Brendan-Mor, and they're true believers, or have been true believers in his system and in that four-check heavy, you know, shot volume style that he's preached over the last seven years. You know, they trust it. They believe it. Cause Rod Brindlemore was the captain of a team that won the Stanley cup.

The dude is, you know, the face of the franchise in a way that we almost never say, you're the other thing guys, think of this, like, when was the last time you saw a coach who's just like the face of a franchise that Rod Brindlemore is with the Carolina hurricanes, like never happened. So the fan base, I think for the most part up until this point has been like, yeah, Rod says it, like it's gospel, like we believe it and Rod we trust. And this is anecdotal and I'm basing this way too heavily on, you know, replies to tweets and commenters on the athletic and stuff.

But these people are mad now. I think the result, I think this result in the way they've come about it, has people questioning the Rod Brindlemore method in a way that I, that, again, dilettante, I'm parachuting in, I do not cover the Carolina Hurricanes as my main job or anything, but people are not liking what they're seeing, um, to a degree that I don't really remember, uh, taking place with the, with the franchise over the last few years, at least. Do you think Rod Brindamore would ever question it?

I don't think so. I, I, that's been kind of a takeaway for the last week for me is like, you know, he's open, he's open about stuff. He's not, um, not an overly complicated dude. I don't, or at least doesn't go about coaching hockey in an overly complicated way. And he sees, he has his beliefs. He's saying like, Hey, here's how we win hockey games. Here's how we play hockey games. This is a system we execute to full effort, whether it's in October or February or May And that's what we need to do to win and that's it when we deviate from the system is when we get into trouble

In when we lose games, I guess it's kind of what he said last night. He was like, yeah You know, I like I liked our first two periods We played him we played him even and then we had and then we had a neutral zone turnover by Taylor Hall and We go down to one and then kind of what he's what he said and something this is paraphrasing But it's like well, we like we went down to one like what you expect Like with them we have to start chasing goals No, and we'll get out of our system and we can't win when we do that On some level like I understand it. But on the other, it's also like, dude, it's one goal.

It's a hockey game. Sometimes you're going to be trailing. Yeah. You're going to lose sometimes. You're not always going to score the first goal. You're going to have to come back against a team that maybe has some more offensive firepower than you. And they're not capable of it in a consistent enough way to come back from this. They're truly. We're speaking to Sean Gentile from The Athletic here on the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650.

Sean is in Florida for game four tonight of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Final. Panthers are up three nothing in the series, and the Panthers have been such a dominant force in this post season. I mean, maybe we should have paid a little bit more attention to them wiping the floor with Tampa Bay in the first round and realize just how well that they're playing.

And I know, you know, they went to seven with Toronto, but games five and seven were very one-sided as everybody knows. And this is a team that feels like it's got max swagger. That's how I would play.'re confidence is off the charts. A lot of it has to do with the personalities that they have. Like after beating Toronto in Game 7 and then having and throwing a little pity party for the Leafs, that to me was like, that's a sign of a team.

It's got a lot of confidence. Brad Marshawn eating a Dairy Queen blizzard in between periods and kind of joking around. You thought that really happened, though? Is it so now? No, no, no, no. Didn't happen. No. But Bill Zito is the ice cream aficionado on the scene. Like it just feels like everything that they do

is geared towards being extremely confident and then knowing that they can go out and back it up in part because they're so physical. But I need to know what's going on. Cause I think Sean, you might've written about this actually. What's going on with I think Sean, you might have written about this actually. What's going on with the Dairy Queen story? That was just like they went to Dairy Queen in Raleigh, I think it was in between games one and two, the Panthers did.

And like Kyle Vakoskas, him and Marshawn, they joked about it. It was clearly like, they're clearly kidding postgame and they had, you know, B-roll of Marsh, of Marsh and like eating something in his locker and you don't see what he's eating and you certainly don't see the cup. He's probably eating peanut butter with a spoon because that's what, that's what guys do. He is absolutely not eating a Blizzard and they joked about it and Marsh on sold it so well where he's like, yeah, let's go, yeah, lifetime DQ and endorsement. Nothing's better than a chocolate chip cookie blizzard and like look into the camera and whatever is funny. But he like sold it too well to the point where people

like smart people think that maybe this dude was eating, dude eating a blizzard in between. Like, have you like, eat, pick up a blizzard. Those things are, those things are, you can see the dude putting that into his ball, that all that, all that, all that, uh, lactose into his body in between two and three. I don't, I don't, I don't think so.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that absolutely did not happen. Well, Halfords crushed now he's like, he's been, he's like, we can do that during sports. That's amazing. Um, what do we think? There was a, there was an old SNL sketch. So it was like in the nineties as well.

Feral is a fake commercial for a product called Cookie Dough Sport, and it was just people eating raw cookie dough out of Gatorade bottles while they rode bikes and played hoops. That was the only thing I could think of when we're sitting there talking to Paul Maurice about it. Like you... Oh, we gotta bring back Gentile. We lost him.

Not too excited about theizzard talk. He did. Shudgeon Tilly from the athletic here on the health of the ref show on sports net 650 joining us from Florida, the Eastern conference final game for goes tonight. A reminder, you can hear that game for right here on sports net 650. We have Abbotsford, Colorado game five of their Calder cup playoff round. Winter takes all tonight at two o'clock. Yeah, that's right. It's Memorial Day down in the States. So a two o'clock live game right here on Sportsnet six 50.

And then after that, we're going to jump right to coverage of Carolina, Florida game four to decide maybe tonight who goes to the Stanley cup final. Hey Sean, we got you back now. Um, I got a question for you about Brad Marshawn. What, what, what do we think about this turn into like this lovable, wise figure that everyone seems to be cheering for now? He got me, man. He got me. I was trying to withstand

the charms of Brad Marshand and I don't think I can. He's funny, he's engaging, he gives thoughtful, interesting answers now. He's so great at working scrums where it'll be like four or five guys sitting there with microphones talking to him. He's like making eye contact with everybody. Like, he knows what he's doing we're eating out

of his hand we're just guaranteeing that that guy gets more money than god from tnt whenever he decides to retire to go sit on a panel like he's been great and it's not just him being funny either i think that's kind of the i think that's kind of the you know the x factor for me is that it's him being thoughtful and sincere and smart. And I, and I think that's kind of the, that's kind of the variable here. Yeah. He, he's whatever I'm, I'm buying what he's selling unfortunately, and I can't believe that's true.

You know, my favorite Marshawn move is, is when he really butters up the team, uh, that he's playing right before the series. And then, uh, he's like, and then he goes out and destroys them. We had a, you know, just like, my God, when was that? It was game two, game one or game two, Shane Goss's bear shot the puck at him. He shot, he was, they had a run in Goss's bear, the puck at him. He shot he was that they had a run in

Gus bear, you know back in his own zone just totally totally fires a puck as hard as he can and it Marshawn's elbow and he just crushes him like really like right in the funny bone and You know Marshawn after it. He's like, oh, yeah, I didn't even didn't even didn't even see what happened I haven't even like wait like I'm gonna ask him if he had any thoughts on it He was like, nope, not much of a thinker. That was, that was the quote he gave. And then he, and then he comes out in the next game. And of course, just like hammers, gossips, bear with a cross check, like, like, like, like right in his lower back, like first, first opportunity has. So like, that's, I think that's it. I think that's in, in, in

and then goes out and scores, right? So that that's like that's the Brad Marshawn experience at least in 2025. Yeah, I'm unfortunately a Mark for it then I think with the gossips bear cross check. He was like, was that him? I I don't know I just saw a black jersey. Oh, yeah He was like he was a guy. He was like, I don't know. He's like I saw I saw black and red like I just you know I'm what are you gonna do? Oh, I've that was. He was like, I saw black and red. Like I was just, you know, I'm, what are you going to do? That was him. Interesting. Yeah.

It was a great. What a coincidence. It was a great performance. Uh, Sean, while we got you on, I want to ask you one question about the team you regularly cover, uh, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Um, what are they going to do? With their, with their lives, with their lives, with the state of the franchise, I don't know, hire a coach at some point I would imagine.

Oh yeah, they still need a guy. Think that probably needs to be at the top of the list for Kyle now that he's back from Stockholm or Denmark or wherever, wherever Canada was losing in the, in the, in the world championships. I think that's step one. I think there's probably some degree of short-term thinking there, right? Whereas if you've got to find a coach,

you got to figure out if you're gonna have two first picks or one in the first round of the draft, which is another outstanding issue for them. But yeah, man, they're, you know, they're in, they're in rebuild mode. There's, I don't, I mean, I think that, I think that's what they're doing. They're still, they're going to try to add assets and draft good young players and maybe sign some young NHL players. You know, Kyle talked about offer sheets potentially just like every

GM has now, now that they're allowed to do it after what St. Louis did last year. So I don't, I don't know, man. It's, it's for as much, for as much as changed over the last couple of years there, I think they're still kind of in a, in a holding pattern. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that Dubis has spent the last month with the World Championship team. So yeah, we'll see. I feel like their off season really only starts now. Well, it was all worth it for Dubis when Canada lost to Denmark.

Yeah, anytime you can go halfway across the world to lose a hockey game to Denmark, I say you skis it. I would also relish that opportunity. Sean, you're the best, buddy. Thanks for I say you see that I would, I would also relish that opportunity. Sean, you're the best buddy. Thanks for doing this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy your remaining time in Florida and on this series.

Let's do this again real soon. Yeah, fellas, it's starting to rain outside my hotel here. So time to go. Bye bye. See you buddy. Bye. That's Sean Gentile from the athletic, live from the Easter conference final in Florida here on the Haliford and Bref show on sports net 650. Should ask Sean live from the Easter Conference final in Florida here on the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet, 6.50.

Should ask Sean about the time we were all in Florida together in Tampa Bay. Remember that? When it started to rain? No. It rains in Florida? Oh yeah, hard. Like it just goes, it goes like, oh hey Doug,

you're so cute. It will just like have these crazy thunderstorms that will all of a sudden just start, it will pour rain, Halford got caught in Tampa. Yeah, but when we were in Tampa with Gentilly, he was working the series, I think he was with a different outlet at the time. Sean was always one of those guys,

he wasn't like a straight hockey reporter, he always tried to find like the niche-y. So anyway, when we were in Tampa Bay, in the conference center adjacent to the rank with some sort of Furries convention like the you know what I'm talking about and just the the people that dress up in the large Anthromophore I don't know how to pronounce it but like the dress up like animal and human-animal crossover Yeah, but this there seemed to be more furries thing. It was more of like a cartoonish type one anime. Maybe yeah cosplay

Personas they call me persona. We've danced around what it might have been I don't know pony fans. They call them bronies, right? I just don't remember exactly what the convention was for but there was a lot of people dressed up in outfits in Florida in June It was hot and sweaty and everything else. Makeup was running. Right. So gently there for that. He did the sort of like cross section of fans that were right next to the hockey rink for the Stanley Cup final that were existing next to, you know, this big competition and had

no idea what was going on. Didn't he go over there and ask them hockey questions? Yeah. Not the idea. Who was in the Stanley Cup final? Right. Have you ever watched a hockey game? Those sort of things.

It was it was a weird scene because the fans walking to the game by the arena were also walking side by side with the furries and be like, hey, what's going on? I think we probably didn't know each other in high school. You going to see the game tonight? Yeah. You going to see the game tonight? Yeah. But the kicker of the story was he would be running back

and forth between the convention center and the rink while wearing a backpack in the sweltering humidity of Florida. And then I took a picture of him when he sat down and he had a sweat outline of his backpack on his dress shirt. Oh, that was in Chicago. That was in Chicago when he was late. You could have just played along with the story.

No, I wanted to be truthful. Probably could have just gone along with the story. Why did you have to ruin it, bro? Yeah. You had us all going. Yeah, because we've told the story before and I'm all about truth and I'm all about Gentile stories. I was gonna ask him what it's like in the heat right now

down in Florida, because it's like 31 and super muggy. But I'm sorry I ruined your lie. Well, I also think- I'm sorry you lied to the listeners like that. I also think it was in Florida. I don't think it was in Chicago. It was in Chicago.

He was late. But did the Fries thing in Florida actually happen though? Yeah, that thing happened. Florida freeze? That thing happened. All right. We got a lot more to get to on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet at 6.50, seven o'clock hour.

We are gonna bounce to Edmonton to speak to Jason Greger. Game three of the Western Conference Final in the books. Edmonton takes a two-one series lead there. And then at 7.30, we're gonna talk to Axel Schuster, Whitecaps sporting director he's going to join us after a big win Whitecaps get comeback victory against Riel Salt Lake on the weekend we'll look ahead to the CONCACAF Champions League final on Sunday and try not to lie anymore okay I seriously think it was in Tampa Bay well ask our

remaining guests especially Axel and Jason if they know what furries are okay Axel Schuster do you know what furries are we might skip over that one you are