Halford & Brough in the Morning - Mancini's Got Swagger

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk last night's Canucks preseason win over the Flames in Abbotsford (3:00), plus they discuss the top hockey stories of the day with NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen (28:40). 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.

Whoa. Wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a fucking Canucks? Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Back to Kudhry outset, left circle. Eat over the track and scores. Coming deep to right center field. Going back, Taylor, track, wall, Sia.

Flight 50 is landed. Mariners looking to wrap it up, the one-two, swing and a miss. The Seattle Mariners are champions in the American League West. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford and his breath.

It is SportsNet 650. We are coming live from the tech studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Adag, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Broughton is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in Step. All the sports are happening right now. We have a ton to get into on the program. We have a ton of guests to talk to on the program today. Guest list today begins at 630.

Dan Rosen, Thunder Dan. NHL.com senior writer is going to join the program. I think what we'll do is a Eastern like an East Coast kind of tour also I want to do a season preview with Dan Rose and NHL senior writers we rip around some of the bigger stories percolating during this exhibition season

Dan's going to join us at 630 for some hockey talk 7 o'clock Adnan Verk from MLV Network is going to join the program I've got an update for you a betting update Okay guess who the new favorite to win AL MVP is Oh did Cal Raleigh get in there?

Yeah like significantly too I'm looking at a couple books now And do you remember, like, I don't know, like a week or two ago? Yes. We were kind of like, it's good that you do remember a week or two ago. I do remember it. And it was like Aaron Judge was still pretty firmly. And I was bemoaning that.

Yeah. I'm looking at some books now. Cal Raleigh, minus 210 to win MVP. Cal Raleigh did hit his 60th home run of the year last year. And the Mariners and the Mariners are on fire right now. They clinched the AL West yesterday. Yeah. So, I mean, Judge hit.

two home runs, too. And Vladdy, what a game for Vladdy, too, right? The big three. Oh, we'll get into that, the big three of the American League. Adnan Verk's going to join us at 7 o'clock to talk about all of that. So the Jays are slumping, the Yankees are surging. The Mariners are A.L. Westchance. We've got great, great wildcard chases in the A.L.

And NL right now. We'll get into all that with Adnan at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Brady Henderson, our ESPN, Seahawks Insider. Oh, yeah. It's Thursday. Thursday night football, everybody. Seahawks get their first taste of the prime time this season tonight on Thursday night football as they travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. Seattle, a slim one and a half point road favorite in this NFC Wesh. We will pre-NFC Wesh. The NFC Wess. Clash.

This is Sean Connery? Yeah. He's going to be quite a flash. He's going to be on Thursday night football tonight. Little known fact. Expecting a good game tonight. We will preview tonight's game with Brady, this NFC-Wesh clash at 730. 8 o'clock Brandon Astell is going to join the program Play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks

A Canucks game was played in Abbotsford last night But it was the Vancouver Canucks Taking on the Calgary Flames in NHL preseason action Canucks won 3-1 On the strength of some performances from guys that did star In that Abbotsford Calder Cup playoff run from a year ago So we'll talk to Brandon about what to expect from Abbotsford this year at 8 o'clock Working in reverse on the guest list

8 o'clock Astell, 7.30, Brady Henderson, 7 o'clock, Adnanverk, 630, Dan Rosen. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss that? You miss 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.ca. The Vancouver Canucks got their first win of the exhibition campaign on Wednesday night, beating the visiting Calgary Flames 3-1 at the Abbotsford Center. Niels Hoaglander, who we'll talk about in a sec, Victor Mancini, getting the A-Dog bump

and Philippe Heidel all scored for the Canucks, who led 3-0 before the flames put a consolation marker on the board. Demco stops 11 to 12, total appeal, cleans it up in the third period. Canucks win, Canucks. win. Let's get to the concerning news first, and that is Nils Hoaglander looked really good to start the game, but had to leave the game with an injury. Do we have an update on that situation? Lower body injury, according to multiple reporters on the scene, Hoaglander left the building

in the Chris Tanna Memorial Walking Boot, which is never a good thing. Adam Foote, the head coach of the Canucks was asked about it, said he hopes it's not too serious, but it'd confirm it was a lower body injury. Okay. For A dog, we will start with Mancini. The Canucks best player? Mancini, no, we'll get to that. Mancini played really well again. And the thing about this guy is, and I said this on X, I went back and did social media last night. Good for you.

I didn't regret it, which was nice. That's nice. Because I was ultra positive. Mancini has swagger. He has confidence. Like he wants the puck. To the point sometimes where I think it's a problem, like there was one play, I think it was in the second period,

where he was all the way down at like below the goal line in the offensive zone. And he turned back with the puck and he got hit and he got knocked over. And you're kind of like, well, that's a bad situation to be in as a defenseman. Oh, Victor. And those are kind of the things that he might need to. to clean up a little bit, I think Sat put it well. Like he has a lot of all or nothing plays.

Yep. And the nothing can sometimes be a problem. But man, the all plays are fun. And he scored again and... Third star of the building. Yeah. And you, you know, like of the... It's a tough decision that they're going to have.

I know a lot of people are like, get rid of foreboard. And then people always forget, like, you need to kill penalty. in the NHL, right? And Forbord does it very well. He's a very good penalty killer, and the Canucks already lost some key pieces up front to their penalty kill. So Forbort isn't going anywhere, right? Like, he's going to be playing at least to start the season

until or if someone else on the back end proves that there is good of penalty killers, Derek Forbord. It's also the preseason, right? Like, these young guys are looking to stand out. They're looking to impress, and every year, like, You know, we get tricked a little bit, but, you know, I'm happy to be tricked by a guy like Mancini because, like, right shot defenseman with swagger, with confidence, like, you know, it's the same sort of things you hear about D.P.D., right? Like, wow, he looks confidence. Or he looks confident.

He's big out there. He plays with some swagger, which, like, I keep saying, I can't stop saying it. But, like, it's true. That's the way those guys are playing. They're playing with that, I don't know, that element that I think the Canucks have needed. Just say it again. Swagger. So I'm glad you brought this up because I think one of the talking points from yesterday, big picture, is that from probably their biggest area of strength, which is the defense, the early parts of this preseason for the Canucks have been a real testament to the depth that they have behind the guys that might be at the NHL level.

Because yesterday, Adam Foote, you've already talked about Mancini, You've already talked about D.P.D. Let's not forget, Tom Villander. No, Velander. Tom Vilander. No, Velander. Tom Vellander. You can't do it.

It's Willander. Tom Willander. Willie. Had another good game last night. A pair of apples for him. And this is Adam Foote speaking post game, not just about any of the one particular young defenseman, but all of them.

Putting forth a good showing this preseason. and putting forth a pretty reasonable argument to stick on the opening night roster. They're good. I mean, they're all working hard, and there's a good game for them tonight to be in. And seeing him made some good plays. You know, he's got that explosiveness and he hit those goals. But there's little things that I think Dean will really help him with, the little things that he'll be able to clean up.

I do wonder that at a certain point this season, if they need to address the 2C position in a meaningful way it's going to come with a significant removal from the blue line like the old good old fashioned give to get well that brings me to philipedal because if he plays like that they won't need to address the 2C position unless PD's a problem

yeah uh heedle played really well and you know adog was talking about mancini being the best player in the ice I think it was clearly heedle Last night He's got a ton of talent He's got a ton of talent Heedle was

Heedle stood out as clearly Like you know how they use that word Quality In soccer Like the quality of Philippeal

Was on display Last night He was clearly the The NHLer Out there And it was It wasn't a star Studded lineup

For either team I mean He's still very reckless though, but it always freaks me out. He likes to stick handle with his head down, like a lot. He's got the... Can you let me be positive about Philippeito for five seconds? I don't get it.

He just kind of scares me, that's all. Yeah, well, that's the thing, right? I think there were two questions that we came into the season with Heidel with. First of all, is he good enough to be 2C? And can he stay healthy? The can he stay healthy is like, we'll see. And the connects are trying to work with him a little bit on, you know, I know Adam Foote has talked about zone entries

and making sure that you're not doing too many East-West plays out there, especially with your head down and, you know. At any rate, I just thought he was really good. I mean, he scored a goal. He was creative. He made good passes. And I know there's a lot of people that

are talking about his comments about after he came to Vancouver and remember he looked really good for the first three or four games. And I think he told, I think he told Ian McIntyre, he might have told some of the reporters. Then he started talking to the coaching staff

and he started overthinking everything. And hey, I'm sure that was a factor, right? And then he kind of didn't play as well. Maybe last year's Canucks were overthinking things. Maybe they were. And maybe that's part of what Adam Foote wants to have them stop doing. Underthinking. And free them up a little bit, right?

Go back to a little bit of Bruce Boudreau where you let them play. you let them be their creative selves and hopefully that has an impact on Pedersen as well I think he was overthinking last season to the point that his like brain broke but yeah I was just really impressed with Philippeitel last night

and I guess I should have been considering the competition out there but still it's good to see regardless like you know we were talking about who's going to play that left flank position on the power play and this isn't a criticism of Evander Kane but at the power play, he was on that left flank,

you know, a position where J.T. Miller had been, and it's kind of like, well, that doesn't really fit Evander Cain. Like, you know, the guy's coming off the flank, either, you know, you've got the one-timer on the opposite side, which P.D. has on the right side, or you've got a guy that can make plays. And Evander Cain, to me, is better suited either in a shooting position or just in front of the net where he can,

you know, use his big frame and score. Now, Adam Foote did mention that Garland is still part of the equation, and Garland on the left flank would make sense, although I don't particularly want to see Connor Garland on PP1, love the player, don't think he's a great power play guy. He's a right shot, but he doesn't have a great shot. Maybe Philippaedal is an answer there. One final note, and on the subject of staying healthy,

maybe it's a sign that we're comfortable with Thatcher Demko's health because we didn't even mention the fact that Thanchardipko made his preseason debut, got through it unscathed. Which a great thing. 11 of 12, very quiet night for Thatcher Demko in goal. And I noticed that I think it was Ben Kuzma from the province made that sort of the lead story for him. That Demko came back and played his first game and looked good. And I guess that is an important thing to note because last year at this time,

we had no idea what was going on with Thatcher Demko. So my how things change a year. into it. So Demko gets through last night. And now the Canucks move on to another preseason game, which is, if I'm not mistaken, Friday against Seattle. Friday against Seattle, and I think this hasn't been confirmed, but it would make sense

that we would see Quinn Hughes, Elias Pedersen, Evander Cain, Brock Besser. All the guys. All the guys, maybe they'll give Heidel a night off, though. Okay. He's already played two games. Let's turn our attention now to the other local team

that was in action last night. The Vancouver white caps. What a wild night at BC Place in front of just over 20,000 in attendance. Veteran forward and fresh off the injury list. Brian White scored late in the 87th minute to secure a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. While it wasn't a win, which the white caps needed to stay in the chase for the supporter shield for the best overall record in MLS. The white caps did extend their on beaten streak to seven games in Major League Soccer. So last night, the reason I say it was crazy. The white caps are so short-handed right now, unbelievably short-handed. I can't even run through the list of injured players because it would eat up the remaining 15 minutes in this

segment. But put it this way. Yesterday, they were forced to start an 18-year-old striker who turned 18 last week in Ryan Alumi, who has been with their academy team pretty much the entire year. Yeah. They also started a left back and a right-back, both of whom are 20 years old. They also brought off the bench 19-year-old Jeevan Bodwell. That's how decimated the yard by injury. And in the second half of this game, they outplayed the Portland Timbers.

The first half, the timbers probably should have went up about 4-0. Yeah. It was pretty rough at times. It was actually a really tough game for Yesper Sorensen to manage because the young guys were they were on their phones the whole time. The entire time. The entire time. Also, he had to limit

screen time out there. I have done a beige tracker for Yesper Sorensen. For those that don't know, the whitecaps manager, Esper Sorensen, great guy, an amazing season that he's had. I've never met anyone more committed to wearing the color beige. He wears it every match. Did this start when I was at a game where I texted you? I don't know. You were like 10 seats away, but I texted you. I was like, yes per sure is wearing a lot of beige. He loves beige. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's a luck thing or if it's a superstition. It's a new thing. Like we've gone

from two skinny jeans. Like skinny jeans. Like skinny jeans. jeans, you know, T-O-O, like overly skinny jeans. Vanny had the skinniest of jeans. Yeah, yeah. And Yesper's got the basest of beages. It's really interesting. I don't know what it is. One day we'll get them on the show and ask them, but the white caps drew yesterday.

So they've got a busy schedule ahead. Hopefully some of these injured players, specifically Thomas Mueller, can get back in the lineup. They are in Seattle on Saturday night, a 7.30 late kickoff in Seattle, which is going to be another big match. as they continue to try and stick around I mean the supporter shield is the equivalent of the President's trophy it's the best overall record most points in the regular season

that's where you get the big shield as opposed to the big MLS Cup at the end of the playoffs Is it actually like a shield? It is a shield. It's a big plate. No sword, just a plate. Just a shield though?

I know. Why don't you get a sword? Because it's kind of lame. The whole thing's lame. Oh, I see. They call it the supporter shield which has got nothing to do with the supporters.

It's got everything to do with having the best regular season record. Okay, good for the White Caps, good result, considering the lineup. Let's start with the Jays, because... Let's do the Jays. Laddie, I'm not going to pick on you this morning. I'm sure you're still feeling so grateful that the Jays have had this season and that you're not worried at all.

Other people might be a little bit worried about this team. But as long as they don't have to face the likes of Garrett Crochet in the playoffs, I think they'll be fine. I also don't believe I use the phrase not worried at all, but yes, it's not the greatest. And I'm just very grateful that the Detroit Tigers exist. And I've taken most of the heat off the Blue Jays all this at home. Throw the New York Mets in there as well.

Yeah, the Mets too. Garrett Crochet eight shutout innings as the Red Sox hammered the slumping Blue J7-1 on Wednesday night. So while the Jays are assured of a playoff berth, they have now dropped into a tie with the Yankees atop the ALE East. Both teams sit at night. 90 and 68. One more loss will be very nice for both those teams. Four games left for each.

Toronto still in the driver's seat because they hold the head-to-head tie-breaker. That being said, the Jay's loss for the six-time in seventh games. They have scored, Laddie, one run or fewer in all six of those losses in their last seven. The bats have gone cold. First time since 94. That's right.

Do we have the John Schneider audio? Do you want to play Vladdy getting tossed or do you want to play John Schneider? Do you want to play both? Um, well, there's two things that I want to hear from John Schneider, the one where he swore, he said a swear. I've got that. Um, and I, and I also want, I also want to hear the part where he's like, we got to stop with this umpires are out to get us narrative. Okay. Well, let's play the clip that we do have. And if we don't, we can always pick up exactly, specifically what John Schneider's talking about. Here's John Schneider yesterday after a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox. Take it away. Yeah. I mean, even before, you.

you clinch a postseason spot, you're kind of playing playoff games. So the way I want and expect them to go about it is what we've done probably about 90% of the time this season. Try to beat the starting pitcher, play good defense, make good pitches. That's the way I want them to go about it. It feels like the sky is falling right now, and it's not. I mean, we got 90 wins and We're in the playoffs, and if the season ended today, like I said, you're winning the AL East. So I want them to come out and not press. I want them to come out and play confident, play fast, play loose. When we're doing that, we're really good, you know.

So I don't want them to get caught up in the last six days have been tough because this season has been really, really good. Okay, the other thing he said was we're not losing because of umpires. Ooh, I don't know about that. We're losing because we're not scoring enough runs. I don't want to feed into the narrative that the umpires are screwing us because they're not. We're not scoring enough runs. And it is hard not to look at two things. Number one, the injury to Bichette.

And when's he going to be back? And at what level is he going to be back at? And number two, the guy who got kicked out of the game yesterday. Because this was the same night where Cal Raleigh went off for the Mariners, and Aaron Judge went off for the New York Yankees. And in soccer parlance, a lot of soccer parlons. Vladdy was sent off in the Toronto Blue Jays game.

Vladdy was ejected by plate umpire Gabe Morales for arguing after he struck out looking in the seventh. We got the audio here, Laddie. Let's let it roll. There is a larger narrative brewing here. with the Jays versus the ums hitting coach David Popkins better knows David Pumpkins remember him remember that character David Pumpkins he also got tossed from the dugout uh here are the jays frustrations boiling over last night dan shulman on the call one two again and on the inside corner again at 99 for strike three call and guerrero just got tossed out of the game

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been kicked out of the ball game. Gabe Morales, the home plate umpire, tossing Guerrero out. I don't ever remember Vladie getting tossed out. I don't either. And, you know, I didn't think he was that out of me. So what's going on right now and why did Schneider say what he said? Well, Vladdy got tossed for arguing balls and strikes. And as Dan Shulman astutely pointed out in the clip,

doesn't happen very often. Vladdy's not a guy that routinely gets rung up and thrown out of games for arguing balls and strikes. The game prior, you'll remember we played the audio of the George Springer incident where he hit a ball down the third baseline that he thought was fair but was called foul and then was rung up on the very next pitch

for a strike three. John Boy, for those of you that aren't online terminally like I am, John Boy Media is an MLB content creator who does this great bit where he does the lip reading, right, where he takes the still shots in the video of guys arguing either at the plate or in the dugout. And while they're mouting the words, he tells you exactly what they're saying. He put together a five and a half minute one on George Springer after that game

the other day where they were playing the Red Sox. And from the bench after this sequence went down, Springer is very loudly saying that the umps are given the ALE East to the Yankees. I think that's why John Schneider said yesterday. He's like, that was a message not only for the fans, but maybe first and foremost for his players. Like, knock it off with this. George Springer is a 35-year-old veteran presence. Now, here's the thing. He was hot in the moment. Yeah, yeah. Right? He got robbed

on two consecutive calls he thought. He was trying to say some hurtful things because he was in his feelings. That's right. He was projecting, right? And it happens sometimes. But with where the Jays are at and at this time of the year and then I don't think the Vlady situation helped at all last night because what's the narrative now?

Jays are becoming unraveled. They're starting to blame the umps. They're not looking inward. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that's a narrative. I think that might be happening. We use some more therapy talk. You're not looking inward for solutions.

You're projecting outward to try and find solutions. Laddie, let's just, an open edit question. How do you feel right now? Uh, the baseball is kind of stupid And I also know that this all could just flip on its head tomorrow That's just how stupid baseball is That's gibby right now

Yeah That's baseball That's baseball And I know you guys hate when I use that But it's just I've It's all you can say at this point But can you concede that the rotation is a bit of a mess right now

Rotation's a mess and obviously the You know absence is looming large You take the hits leader out of a lineup that's going to have some repercussions, and they kind of, you know, carried on for a little while without them, but it's obviously starting to get for them. By the way. Bichette is like,

I would like that contract. Yeah. See, I am important to the team. By the way, in defense of what you're saying, the Mariners are the hottest team in baseball right now, right? The Mariners have ripped off 15 wins in their last 16, and they just clinched the alley. What were they the week before that?

They had lost four in a row and six of seven, and we had Softie Mahler on from KJR Sports Radio in Seattle, and he's like, we already feel the doom. like we know what's going to happen next. We're Seattle Mariners fans. We know that the collapse is inevitable. They won a game where they blew out the Braves 10 to 2, and then they just went on an unbelievable run

where all the bats got hot, everything turned itself around, and they started winning ball games. Now, the issue here is the Js only have four games left in the regular season. And if they lose this ALE East and they got to go into the first couple days of the playoffs, because there's not a big break between the end of the regular season, and the start of the wild card.

I know momentum, a lot of people don't think it exists. I do think vibes exist. Well, the rotation is more of a concrete thing. Like, who are you trusting right now? Like, who's starting tonight? They've got a reliever starting? This is Louis-Varlane's the opener. They've got the opener.

Yeah. They've got the opener tonight. Okay, we're going to park the baseball talk until 7 o'clock. Didn't even get to Cal Raleigh. Second hour, but we can talk about that with Adden and FERC. We can talk about the Mariners, the Yankees, and the Blue Jays with Adnan, plus the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians. Man, what a finish to this baseball season it is,

and we're going to have a great postseason as well. Dan Rosen is going to join us next, one of our favorite guests from NHL.com covers teams in the New York area, but we'll go through all the east. Maybe we will start with the Rangers, though, because I've got to say that the guys the Canucks got in the J-T's, Tim Miller trade. Mancini, good last night. Heedle, good last night. And even Marcus Pedersen. They got with the first round pick. They got that trade was out there, his usual

solid self. So we'll talk to Dan Rosen. Coming up next on the Halford Ibrough show on SportsNet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. 6.34 on a Thursday, everybody, Halford Bruff SportsNet 6.50. Halford for the morning is brought to my Sands and Associates. out of the penalty box of debt and get back into the game with a financial free start. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com.

We're still in hour one of the program on a thrash Thursday here on the Halford & Brough Show. Hour one is brought to you fittingly 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, we go. Our next guest is senior writer for NHL.com. Dan Rosen joins us here now, live on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Good morning, Daniel. How are you? Good morning, guys. What's going on? How are you? We're good. Things are good. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

We wanted to bring you on to do a little bit of a regular season preview as we inch through the preseason here across the NHL. And you know what? I'm going to start with the teams that might take a step back this season in your because, you know, Vancouver Canucks are one of those teams that's looking to move from out of a playoff position in, and in order for that to happen, someone's going to fall out. Now, your choice might not be one of those teams, but which team do you think will have the biggest drop-off this season? Biggest drop-off?

Well, listen, it doesn't mean they're not going to be a playoff team, but I don't, I answer this question, actually, in my mailbag this week. It's such a low-hanging fruit answer, but I think it's Washington and Winnipeg. the top two teams in the league. I've seen Winnipeg a lot. Winnipeg a lot. I've seen that. Yeah, listen, I think they're a playoff team, okay? And I think Washington's a playoff team.

I do. I would pick both of them to make the playoffs. But to think that the Winnipeg Jets are going to put up 116 points again, 56 wins, could think that the capitals are going to put up 111 points again. I think it's a little bit far-fetched. You know, first off, you think about what Washington did last year. Almost everybody had a career year.

right so when that happens you know it's not going to happen the next year it's just very rare that it does they're going to ask me a lot of pierre le dubois it's asking a lot of uh of strome it's asking a lot of logan thompson and and jacobitrin and and alex ovechon's for 44 goals last year he was chasing it all year the record he finally gets the record he's three away from 900. You know, I think there's always going to be motivation with Alex Ovechkin. I think he's just, you know, he's just who he is. But to ask him at 40 years old to score 44 goals, again, okay, he's not going to do that. Where does it come from then? So, plus the division's better. I think the divisions for both

of these teams are better. And then you look at the Jets, they took a hit. You know, Eeler's Dawn. You're going to ask a lot to replace for his production. Is Jonathan Taves going to be able to handle number two center in his first season since, you know, in a couple of years. He's 37 now coming off significant health concerns. So to me, those two teams, and it's easy because they're the top two teams, and you would expect a little bit of regression and somebody else to take that and it happens every year, right?

But I think there's going to be drop-off for both of those teams. I don't know that I see amazing, you know, like a ton of regression from some of the other teams who made the playoffs more middle of the path. There'll be some, you know, those changes, but those two at the top, I don't think you're going to see them at the very topic at this season. What are people saying about the New Jersey Devils that doesn't include Quinn Hughes? Like, we talk so much about the Hughes angle of the Devils, but I'm actually curious about, like, heading into this season,

they won't have Quinn Hughes. Like, what are the expectations for them? Because, you know, I feel like they've been kind of on the verge for a little while, but haven't truly emerged as one of the elite teams in the NHL. All right, I'll ask you this question. They're not going to have Quinn Hughes at the start of the season. Will they have loop hues at the start of the season? How about that one?

It's a good question, Dan. It's a very good question. That's the more pressing question for the New Jersey Devils. He's such a big part of what they want to do, and they've got to get him in camp, and they've got to get him, you know, sign. And you guys, we see this all the time, right? A guy, it's not a holdout.

A guy doesn't have a contract. He's still in contract negotiations with the team. And he doesn't really play in training camp, but doesn't get much time in training camp. Okay, he signs him for the start of the regular season. Yeah, he's in shape. He's ready to go. But he's not in regular season game shape,

simply because he hasn't had those runs in practice and preseason games, and it takes them a while to get up and running. And that's the fear, I think, here with Luke Hughes. But overall, let's assume Luke Hughes gets in, let's assume he's up and running a couple of weeks and whatnot, and the devils are healthy. To me, they are a top team in their Metropolitan Division. They're one of the top teams. They should be.

They're deep, talented. They've got the goaltending. They've got skill. They've got high-end talent, you know, game breakers, if you will. They've got a lot going for them. and I think the thing that's held them back, it certainly held them back. Last year's health.

Nikolish year's got to stay healthy, right? Kimo Myers got to stay healthy and productive. Jack Hughes has to stay healthy, you know, coming off of the major shoulder injury right now. And that's the thing with them. Last year, they get into the playoffs, they kind of creep into the playoffs,

crawl into the playoffs, if you will, and then they got all the injuries on the back end. They had no chance against Carolina with the injuries that they had. To me, it's helped with the Devils, and the big key is out. obviously getting Luke Hughes in. Because right now they only have one of the three Hughes brothers.

They're talking about having two, and maybe they'll get three. Right now they only got one. They've got to get their second one in before they can worry about the third one. Dan, you're one of my favorite Rangers writers. I know you've been following this team. Pretty much your whole life. We've already talked about the J.T. Miller captaincy, but I'd love to get your take on that decision by the Rangers

and just expectations for the team this season? Well, look, you guys well know. And J.P. pointed out on day one at Camp, you know, it was well documented what he went through in Vancouver. And so I think when he was named captain of the Rangers, I would imagine, I know what they had. It raised a lot of eyebrows out in Vancouver, right? Like, how is this guy the captain of the team

after what, you know, just transpired, you know, in Vancouver, especially with Pedersen and whatnot. He's an abrasive personality. He's, you know, he embodies the shirts that the Rangers are wearing, which is a no-b-s shirt in training camp. Somebody actually asked, you know, what's the meaning behind it, those shirts, and Jake D. goes, well, it's quite literal, you know. You can read it, right?

You can read it. Yeah, it's quite literal, and it is quite literal. But I understood, you know, like you want to get him to explain to where it came from and whatnot. But that's him, that's who he is. And to be honest with you, even with everything that transpired in Vancouver last year and his eventual trade to the Rangers, and maybe over a couple of years, obviously, that's the exact type of captain that the Rangers need. I thought Mike Sullivan was the exact type of coach,

and I think J.T. Miller is the exact type of captain. For too long in New York, it's been, and not because of the coach, but because of the players, it's been a little bit cushy, guys who have had, you know, their way, and the power play has gone unchanged, and, you know, you might mess with ice time here and there, but, you know, coach can only do so much with that because you've got to still try to win play your best guys.

But J.C. Miller has some of what Jacob Truba had and to be honest with you the way things transpired with Truba he last season going into last season his leadership ability was sort of taken away from him as it was as all the reports came out of the Rangers looking to trade him like how do you go lead when you you know the team you when everybody on the team knows well they're not going to want you for that much longer but J.C. Miller is the guy they brought in to help change the culture of this team. And Mike Sullivan is also the guy they brought in to help change the culture.

And they kind of see eye to eye and how that works. So it makes sense for me that J.C. Miller is the captain and the team. I think it's a bit of a slack in the face to the guys who have been around for a while in Zavannajad and Trocheck and Fox in particular. But I think it also says, hey, guys, this is what you haven't been able to do. it worked for a little bit with Jacob Truba and then we took that away but now this guy's going to be here for a while

and he's going to be wearing the sea and he's the guy that has the mentality and plays the style that we want to play. You know what's one team that gets zero buzz is the Tampa Bay Lightning? I don't know about you but we don't talk about the Lightning and this is still a team that had

what they had they had over 100 points in the standings last year to finish second in the Atlantic and actually had home ice advantage over Florida in the first round is it just that they're a team that

we know that they're going to be good but we don't know if they're championship level anymore yes that's exactly what it is you know like the teams like the Panthers were chasing them and now they're chasing the Panthers, right?

That's kind of how it goes. But if you look at the Lightning, they had, I think it was, four players who were in the top, like, of the first and second team All-Stars at the end of the season last year, four of them were Tampa Bay Lightning

players. It was Kucharov, was Hedman, I think it was Hagle, and Vasiliski. Kutrov was the only first teamer, but I think Hedman, Hagle, and Vasilislew, were all second team All-Stars last year. So, four of the 12th. That's pretty good, you know, and they're all bad.

You know, that's pretty good. They ran into injuries last year. Honestly, I think that was a big problem. They ran into the Panthers. We know that. But they ran into the Panthers in the playoffs at a time that Florida was getting healthy and the lightning were getting injured. Bjork strands, who was a free agent, you know,

a deadline acquisition for them, he got hurt a couple of days. or maybe a week before the end of the regular season. Yanni Gord got hurt in the first game of the, in game one against the Panthers. Sorrelli got hurt. He was suspended. It was a tough series for him. And there was some injury there too. They got, headman, I think, was playing, you know, banged up, really banged up.

Like, it wouldn't have been playing at all if it was the regular season. So they're getting banged up at the same time as their opponent, their biggest rival, the defending Stanley South champion, is getting. healthy. It was not a good, it was a bad mixture for the lightning. But you put that aside, there's Kutrov, Vaselof,

Vaseliski, Hedman, Hegel, Sorrelli. I mean, this team is still an elite team. And I'm talking to John Cooper over the summer, he was like, I love my team. And I love the fact that people might be overlooking us right now. And

we got to have that hunger to do to the Panthers with the Panthers, the done to us. And it's not just the Panthers, but that's really what it is for the lightning, you know, when you look at it. We're speaking to Dan Rosen here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Dan, of course, NHL.com, senior writer.

Let's keep it in the east, but let's turn our attention to a team that is more than likely not going to make the postseason, but it's still going to be pretty prevalent in terms of conversation. What are you expecting from the Pittsburgh Penguins this season? Well, it's the future of the big three. like that's the biggest question, you know, that goes into his Malken's in his last year of his deal.

Sidney Crosby, what's his future there? He has been tried and true and everything he said about, you know, you know, you know, you know, he has no what it is like. I mean, you know, his focus is on the season. That's exactly where that's it. That's what he's focused on. He believes he can help the Tangun to get back and he wants to be a part of it and everything. So how long does that go?

Where does that go? Let Tang, what happens with him and his. future. Like, they're in that transit. They're in, I saw one of our, our guy, uh, who covers the penguins for us, he's a correspondent for us in Pittsburgh, West Crosby, no relation to the president of his lead to, we did our 32 and 32 series in August, and he wrote the penguins and his lead was the Pittsburgh Penguins are between eras right now.

And they all, right? I mean, they're still trying to hang on to the previous era with the, you know, with I was with Malka and Latang. And they're trying to build towards something different, something new, bridging it with these three guys. It's a really hard thing to do. And they don't exactly have the top prospects and the best guys who are, you know, ready, NHL ready.

Their best prospects are probably not NHL ready. So it's, you know, they're kind of in between and it's this in-between era situation for the penguin. and how this transpires this season, I think it's going to be really interesting. This could be it for Malkin. This could be potentially Littang gets moved. And we know Crosby's not getting moved unless Sidney Crosby says,

yes, I want to get traded and here's where I want to go, right? I mean, that's kind of where it's at right now. But they're a fascinating team to watch right now because of the players that they have who have been for teammates for 20 years essentially like what happens to them now that's why they're so fascinating

to watch but they're not going to be a playoff team I don't see that I don't see them being very competitive in the metropolitan division I look at kind of them and the flyers as being the bottom two teams in that division right now

and how strange is that quite Dan this was great man thanks for taking the time to do this today we really appreciate it enjoy the 12 days left in the preseason. Not that I'm counting them down or anything. We'll do this again as we get the regular season underway. October 17,

I don't know. Thanks, buddy. Nice chatting with Dan. See you. All right. Thanks, you have. Thank you. I appreciate. Dan Rosen, senior writer from NHL.com here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Okay. There is a story that just landed, courtesy of the athletic, that

is going to make waves and is going to reverberate throughout the National Hockey League. Mark Lazarus of the Athletic, who we've had on the show, a number of times, based out of Chicago, but covers the NHL at large, recently went on a trip to Carolina and Las Vegas. The reason that he did so is because following the acquittals

of Carter Hart and Michael McLeod, Lazarus wanted to find out how the two most likely landing spots for these players, rumored anyway, Carolina and Vegas, how the teams were going to handle the possibility of signing these players. Would it be Carolina with, Hart and Vegas with

McLeod? Carolina's been tied to both okay Carolina has been tied to Carter Hart and Mikey McLeod and the Vegas Golden Knights have been tied to Carter Hart. Oh okay so Lazarus went to again Carolina and Vegas Eastern Conference Western Conference to see

how the two teams would handle the situation. In Carolina everyone was willing and available to speak I believe Rod Brindamore answered a few questions, as Laz put it politely, away from the larger scrum, so that he could have a more detailed, nuanced conversation with the reporter. But he said that Jordan Stahl spoke on it and that the organization was, I guess, forthright in acknowledging it and then addressing it. Gotcha.

I'm just going to read verbatim from Laz's piece how things went in Vegas. The Golden Knights took a different tack. The team declined to allow head coach. Coach Bruce Cassidy to speak to the athletic one-on-one after learning about the topic. Several minutes later, before Cassidy began a news conference, the Vegas Golden Knight spokesperson pulled an athletic reporter out of the room and told him to leave the team's practice facility immediately. The athletics press pass for that evening's preseason game was then revoked. The spokesperson said the athletic had, quote, ambushed Noah Hanofin during routine locker room

media interviews that morning, and the team was, quote, not comfortable allowing the reporter to cover the game. Hanofin, for his part, showed no irritation at the questions. He was one of only two established players who made himself available for interviews that day. Hanifin said that any player who joined the team would be shown love and support. So it is a report that is going to draw the attention of, I would say probably, every market in the National Hockey League for a variety of reasons.

One, everyone, everyone was wondering what the fallout would be once these players were acquitted, then reinstated by the National Hockey League, and then entered into contract negotiations with teams. There is a public relations angle to this, quite obviously. There are fan bases that you've either heard anecdotally or through social media that want no part of any of the acquitted players from the Hockey Canada sexual assault. to join their team. Because even though they were acquitted,

there's a lot of people out there, and I guess that includes the NHL that still thinks they did something amoral. There's a behavior aspect to it. Yeah. This is the thing, is there's the legal proceedings which have been done,

closed, and finalized. But as the NHL put in their statement upon reinstating the five players and their eligibility to sign and then play, there is a moral clause, essentially. that playing in the NHL doesn't necessarily hinge on whether you're innocent or guilty in a court of law. And that's a code that as an employer, the NHL is allowed to put out there. Now, each team is 100% absolutely willing and free to sign any of these players.

But it's naive to think that they're going to do so without any backlash. And that's what Lazarus kind of wanted to dig into. The response from Vegas, quite frankly, is stunning that they would go that route because he's not asking anything that's unfair or offside. It's a very obvious situation here that you are dealing with a controversial player when you sign one of the five players that were acquitted of sexual assault. It goes without saying to try and shut it down entirely. or suggest that it was an ambush is quite frankly comical. It's just questions. If this makes them so uncomfortable,

is this not a conversation they should be having with the general manager of their team who is putting these out there, potentially bring these players in? Is he not the one that he should be having this conversation with? I think if you're going to the route of where you're going to shut down a reporter for asking what the questions,

maybe there's a bigger question to be asked. Should you be bringing this player in? And are you going to address this in a fashion with transparency and openness? Or are you going to try and block everything off? Because I'll tell you that the ladder doesn't work, right? You can't just ignore this type of scenario and situation and hope that it goes away. You certainly can't on the road, especially when you go into those Canadian cities. And that's something you have to talk about as an organization.

And for those people that are like, well, they were acquitted, this shouldn't be a thing anymore. I think you use the right word there. That's very naive to think that way. Like West End Mike texted in, Milan Luchich was allowed at training camp after dropped charges and was never even suspended. That is his right. And that's the right of these five players too.

Once they're eligible to sign a contract, it is their right to go and try and earn a living and play in the National Hockey League. The right to ask them about what happened is equal. You know what I mean? Like that right also exists. It shouldn't be shut down because you see it as a distraction or a disturbance or an ambush.

It would be very interesting to see what the ramifications are because I think, personally speaking, the NHL has made it abundantly clear. And Gary Bettman's statement is that I don't think that they're happy that these players are coming back to the National Hockey League. I think they're doing it almost as a, we have to do this, we have to allow these players back. Or there be a grievance from the union.

But I think Gary Bettman's work. in that statement and said we are not pleased that these five players are going to return to the national hockey. That's my opinion on it. Feel free to weigh in. Dumbar Limeret's X line is 650, 650. We're going to move along. We've got Bill Daly on the show coming up at some point. I want to say October 6th.

Yeah, yeah. We'll talk to Bill about that because, again, there's a difference between something that is illegal and you're convicted of and something that some people still feel as amoral or just, just wrong, you know? Or a show to a lack of judgment.

And the NHL has the right to do that and they have already done it. Okay, we got to go to break. When we come back, we're going to turn our attention to the rest of the baseball story. I know we got into a lot of the Blue J stuff already. Still going to get through the Mariners, the Yankees, the AL Wildcard chase, the NL wildcard chase.

We're going to do it all next with Adnan Verk from MLB Network. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.