Halford & Brough in the Morning - Marcus Pettersson, You Are A Vancouver Canuck

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk the Marcus Pettersson signing and look ahead to tonight's Canucks matchup in San Jose (6:00), plus they discuss the latest NHL news with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (26:00). 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- left in front to Hyman. Scores! Zach Hyman with a redirection! There is a nice energy in there and you know when you have bringing five six new guys there's there's new energy. Got an email here from Mike Crotch. Mike Crotch, Mike Crotch. Has anybody seen Mike Crotch lately? Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650 and we are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason good morning. Good morning. Adog good morning to you. Good morning. Ladi good morning to you as well. Hello hello. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda

customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. They pay 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 Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. We got a million things that we need to get into on the show today. We have four guests. It's a Canucks game day. I'm going to try and figure out a way to work in another crazy night in the National Basketball Association, more wild trades all over the place. But we'll start today at 6 30.

First guest on the program, Greg Wyshinski is going to join us from ESPN. Greg is like already fast forwarded. He's in full blown four nations face off mode. He's got a lot of content up at ESPN.com. He's doing a post game show with Arda on ESPN as well. So we'll talk to which about that. We'll also get into everything else that's going on around the NHL. Nine games tonight, including, as I mentioned, Canucks, Sharks,

7.30 from San Jose. We'll talk to Wish about all that at 6.30. Seven o'clock, Mike Tanier is going to join us live from the Super Bowl in New Orleans for our first Super Bowl preview of the week. Yeah, we've been remiss in our NFL coverage. Super Bowl coverage began Thursday, but we been remiss in our NFL coverage. Super Bowl coverage began Thursday, but we're gonna have a guest today. Tomorrow Moj is also gonna join us from New Orleans. And then on Monday after the Super Bowl, Nick Shook from NFL.com is gonna join us to recap the game. We'll talk to Mike today,

we'll the Chiefs 3P, we'll say Kwon Barkley run wild on Sunday. We'll talk to him about all that at 7 o'clock. Eight o'clock it's Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk right here on Sportsnet 650. Lots to get into with Drancer, Marcus Pedersen's contract extension in case you miss that last night. I believe Jason, we are the first show on air that

gets to break down the Pedersen contract because it happened after Sat and Dan finished last night. Really? Yeah. I think, no, I think they talked about it. They were and Dan finished last night. Really? Yeah. I think they talked about it. They were on for an extra hour. I think they talked about it. Oh, they went an extra hour?

Oh, good for them. They went an extra hour for the Marcus Pettersson contract? They did. God bless Vancouver. God bless. Hey, people wanted to talk about it. No, no. I mean, God bless those guys, but that's fun.

I like to... I have a visual of them leaving the parking lot and then screeching tires upon the announcement that Marcus Pederson had resigned Marcus Pederson has signed a contract that everyone expected him to sign you got to get back here Dan turn the car around like the bad signal in the air, but it's like Dan turn the smart car around so we'll be the second show to talk about the Marcus Pederson extension in case you missed it Drantz will join us at 8 o'clock for more on that one. Now at 8 30 we're gonna try this again. Richard Sherman is hopefully gonna join the program. Hopefully. Hopefully. We were supposed to have him on Tuesday. Wires got crossed or

something or other so he didn't make it on Tuesday. Hopefully he'll be joining us today. He of course is the keynote speaker. This year's JCC Sports Dinner so we'll talk to him. He did say he would promise that he would most definitely, certainly try. I love to hear that from Big Sherm. So that's great. Also, we can ask him. He's going to be part of our Super Bowl preview as well.

We'll look ahead to Sunday's big game. We're also hosting a party on Sunday as well, courtesy of the Clayton Public House. So a lot to get into there with Richard Sherman. And finally, Canucks Sharks, 7.30 from San Jose a reminder pregame postgame and the actual game. It's all right here on Sportsnet 650 So working in reverse on the guest list 830 Richard Sherman 8 o'clock Thomas Drantz 7 o'clock Mike Tannier 630 Greg Wyshinski We will do some what we learns at 730 this morning

730 get him in now start Dumbart number text line is 650650. Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. We're gonna do that at 730 instead of its usual 830 time slot. Okay, that is what's happening on the program today. 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? 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. The big news from last night, the Vancouver Canucks didn't waste any time signing newly acquired defenseman Marcus Pedersen to a six year contract extension worth $33 million for a $5.5 million

average annual value. Yeah, it was interesting that Patrick Alvin in his quote in the press release said, in just a couple of games, Marcus has already shown us the type of leadership poison character that we want in a top four defenseman because we got this text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line and it goes, it's unsigned, it says two games with the Canucks and a $33 million contract. What was the rush desperation? No, these guys know Marcus Pedersen really well.

Maybe some desperation. It's so well, some, some, uh, the, the, the, they know, they know them very well. They've been watching them for a while now. They knew them from Pittsburgh. Um, I, uh, you know, I think we said earlier in the week that we wouldn't be surprised if an extension got announced pretty quickly and Wednesday evening came and there was the press release. It is a lot of terms, six years for a guy who turns 29 in May, so hopefully he takes care of himself into his early 30s, but it speaks to a few things.

It speaks to the leverage that quality defensemen have when they're on the verge of becoming unrestricted. And I also think it speaks to what the Canucks are trying to build on the blue line. They've remodeled this thing real quick and there might be still changes to come. Tuesday against Colorado, Marcus Pedersen logged 23 minutes of ice time, including a couple of minutes on the PK. I see him, and I think most people see him as a clear upgrade on Carson Sousi, who may be on his way out now with Hughes on the top pair and Pederson on the second pair. The Connaughts are looking pretty solid on the left side in the top four.

They've also got below that Derek Forebord, DPT, Prospects Kirill Kujadzev and Sory Mnio who played for Canada at the World Juniors. The right side has some promise too. For now you've got Hronik and Myers but don't forget that Tom Willander is on the way soon and there's also Victor Mancini who they got from the Rangers in the JT Miller trade. I expect him to see NHL time with the Canucks at some point this season. Now, am I guaranteeing that the Canucks are gonna have

this great defense for the next seven or eight years? I am not because there's still the matter of Quinn Hughes re-signing in a couple of years, but compared to a few months ago, I'm sure feeling a lot better about the guys below Hughes and Hronek, and that probably includes Hronik because he was out for a while and I think it's taken him a few games to find his game, but he

played really well in the last game and the last two have been without Quinn Hughes. The problem now, really, if you're thinking about a problem and there's always kind of an area where you want to improve, the problem now is a problem. The problem now is really, if you're thinking about a problem and there's always kind of an area where you want to improve, the problem now is a problem. The problem now is a forward group because JT Miller isn't there anymore. Um, and that's where really the biggest

unknowns reside, will Petey turn it around? And if he doesn't, what then? And then there's Brock Besser, a pending UFA that the Canucks are hoping will take a discount to stay here. Otherwise he might be gone. And frankly, even if PD turns it around and Besser stays, I still think the top six is missing something.

I don't know if it's size, snarl, um, you know, the ability to get to the front of the net, you know, tonight in San Jose, the top six is going to include DeBrusk, Pedersen, Garland, new guy Drew O'Connor, new guy Philip Heidel and Brock Besser. So I think we've all been impressed with Heidel. We haven't been talking quite as much about Drew O'Connor, but we probably will after this game. I guess we'll see what he can do in the top six role.

Um, just don't get your hopes too high for this guy. He's, he's played 212 games in the NHL and has 31 goals. So, um, interesting to note though, that in Elliot Freeman's just published 32 thoughts, just published on sportsnet.ca a couple of things on the Canucks and Elliott reports that the Canucks out wrestled Western rivals, Edmonton and Vegas among others for Drew O'Connor and they will attempt to extend him as well as they did with Marcus Pedersen.

So clearly there was a lot of teams around the league that looked at Drew O'Connor and said, that guy's got more to give. Yeah. I mean, when I brought it up yesterday about him potentially, see, I thought the fit was going to be him elevating to a top line role with either, I mean, take your pick on what

winger is going to get bumped, but it would have been Pedersen in Nebraska, Pedersen in Besser, and then O'Connor would have gone in and been the puck retrieval guy, the big body guy, the four checker guy, the guy that, you know, brings a different element to that line because in the case and it, my. He's not going to play with them though.

No, I know he's, he's moved into a top six role. But he's, so it's going to be, I think based on practice yesterday, it's going to be Peterson between DeBrusk and Garland. So Garland gets bumped up to that line and it's going to be, um, O'Connor with Heidel and Besser. Yeah, so two of the three new guys on a line together, which is interesting.

With Besser. Yeah. Because man, remember he said after the last game, because they switched around the lines after that kind of sluggish first period and Besser said, yeah, I got a few spins with Heidel on O'Connor and it was hard to keep up to those guys.

They're both very fast. I, yeah, I don't mean, again, I don't have any great hopes for O'Connor. I think it's interesting that he was in demand, that the Canucks were able to land him and that he's already been elevated into a top six role, but it does sort of speak to where the forward group is at right now.

And really it does speak to how impactful JT Miller was on the ice with this group, because with Miller in there, you suddenly feel and look a lot more dynamic, even just looking at the when the lines get like put out on social media, like when Batch tweets them out. All of a sudden you're looking at it and you're like, it's definitely not as dynamic and it's definitely not as fear imposing as it used to be. And that's just in terms of offensive firepower.

They're just not, I mean, and you see the results of it on the ice at times. They weren't a great finishing team this year to begin with. I can't count the number of times that Rick Tauke lamented their inability to put pucks in with pretty good chances on that. For me, it's just like, they don't have enough guys that make things happen. Like, on that. For me, it's just like they don't have enough guys that make things happen.

Like, and that's great analysis, but, you know, JT Miller would make things happen. Yeah. Pedersen hasn't been doing that lately. Now, Phillip Heidel, I think we've all been as impressed with his ability to get the puck and, you know, for lack of a better way of saying it, doing stuff with the puck. Yeah, just keep doing stuff, Phil. You're doing a good job of doing stuff. Do some stuff.

So that is, let's put that conversation to bed for just a sec. We can always come back to it later in the show because I think a story that's going to start to get, already is starting to get a lot of attention is whether or not Queen Hughes will or should go to the Four Nations tournament, which starts.

It's on the front page of nhl.com. Yeah. It's a big story. Which starts in what, six days? Yep. It starts a week yesterday. So he's not able to go down and play for his own team, the Vancouver Canucks in San Jose today.

They have one game left before the break and that is Saturday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Uh, if he's not able to play that one, what's going to happen here? Well, let's hear from the head coach, Rick Taukett. He addressed this yesterday after practice, the

status of Quinn Hughes, confirming as Jason mentioned that Hughes won't be making the trip down to San Jose tonight when the Canucks take on the Sharks. addressed this yesterday after practice. The status of Quinn Hughes confirming, as Jason mentioned, that Hughes won't be making the trip down to San Jose tonight when the Canucks take on the Sharks. And then Rick Taukett also looked ahead to the future, including the Four Nations face-off. Here's Rick Taukett from yesterday at practice. It could be.

Depends on how close is the plan on Saturday. That's really what it comes down to. But yeah, we're going to have to's gonna have to have a hard long look at this. Like every player, you know, you're concerned about safety and healthy and all that stuff. Just to be clear, he's wanting to play these games, right? He says he can play. Ligar games now? Yeah. Well, I mean he wants to play but you know, he you know, he can't play. Put it this way, I can be the bad guy, I don't care. He's not gonna play.

Yeah, when he tried to gut it out, but I think he's a smart kid, too. He knows like gutting it out, it's not gonna help our team for us. Last game of the year, I don't even know if he'd play, probably, but right now, the kid's got a big will to play, but he knows better than that.

So talk it went on to say, this is a tough one. I know Quinn is a USA guy loves his country, wants to play with his brothers, a lot of positives to it. But like I said, he's a smart kid too. And he understands what's at stake also. I know there's a lot of people, including Rick Tocket by the sounds of it. And you know, me that are worried about Hughes playing in the four nations.

And some are suggesting that the Canucks should just put their foot down and strongly suggest he doesn't go. I get it. I get that line of thinking, but it sounds like the way they're looking at it is like, look, we had to trust Quinn. He's a smart guy.

Trust him to make the right decision. I would probably advise against anything heavy handed, especially if Hughes really, really, really wants to go. He has already been through a lot this season in Vancouver, and this team does not need any more drama, internal conflict or hard feelings. Like Tucket said, Hughes is a smart, thoughtful guy. You have to trust that he's going to make the right decision and not put his health unnecessarily in jeopardy.

At the end of the day, this is your captain, and he's one of the best players in the world. Talk it out with him. Let him know your concerns, but I think ultimately the decision should be his to make I think is gonna this is gonna be really interesting I feel like I'm talking about like a like a teenager you are a good teenager And we have to let him we have to trust him to make the right decision if he was a bad teenager We might have to make the right decision. If he was a bad teenager, we might have to make the decision for him, but he's a good teenager and he knows he needs to get that homework done.

You can just see mom and dad having the conversation behind the kitchen counter like, Don, you're gonna have to let him borrow the car, that kind of thing. And I do wonder, in this instance, if the parental guidance, which I guess is coming from Taukeet in this scenario, isn't gonna overrule. He did say, Taukeet did say, I can be the bad guy, I don't care. That's a classic parent statement. But that's for the Canucks. Not USA. That's for the Canucks. Yeah. Is it though? Yes. Is it though?

I think that's what he meant. Because I think this is all about the Canucks, friend. I think this whole conversation is about the Vancouver Canucks. I know. Guilt could be a good way. Guilt is a good way. Guilt would be a really good, if you want to go to the Four Nations and risk injury for your team, you're the captain.

So there's some responsibilities that come with it and you're the best player on the team. If you want to go and play for, not the Canucks, another team, another team, another team. Go ahead. You can guilt them the other way though. He was just like, okay, see ya. You can guilt them the other way.

Go say, Hey, oh, you want to let your country down? Okay, Quinn. Yeah. You can just leave your American brothers behind and rest that hand. Okay. I was thinking about this the other day. Well, it's more than the hand, right?

It's true. He's got something else going on right now. The hand, well, the hand was not keeping him out of the lineup. So he's got something else. It's, I think it's a lower body injury. Maybe a hip, maybe a knee. Could be a groin. Could be an ankle.

All of those are in the lower body. It's an ailment of some sort. I was thinking about this. I wonder- He's got a bad femur. Can, cause- Oh, my femur. Cause Bill Guerin's the USGM, right?

And I wonder if there's like an unspoken agreement among all these guys who are, because they're serving two masters here. Like, yeah, Bill Guerin is working for USA Hockey, but I think more importantly, especially for his finances, he's working for the Minnesota Wild. I wonder if there's like an unspoken agreement

between the general managers where they're like, don't add any extra pressure to these guys, right? Like you're talking about the guilt from the USA side of things. Like, I imagine that if one of Garen's players was in a similar situation, he wouldn't appreciate it if a fellow gym was leaning on his guy to go to the international competition

because he needs him for Minnesota. And it's different than if it was the Olympics and the International Ice Hockey Federation and all that. I think that's a different thing because this is very much an NHL product. It's also an All-Star game. Also, that means a lot more, I would assume. I think so.

The Olympics. Oh yeah, for sure. You also gotta remember the talk, it's on the bench for Canada. Maybe this is just, like Coop has said, like, talk and make sure Quinn doesn't go. He's playing 18D chess right now. Yeah Tauke's like, sorry dude, you can't go.

But, like here's the thing. I'm fine. No, no. Okay, like just going. It would be in your best interest not to go to this tournament. Right, just going around the room as Canucks fans, and I guess whatever lad he is,

none of us wanna see Hughes go to the tournament in the current condition, right? Like I'd like to see him play, but not given the circumstances. If he can't play for the Canucks, he shouldn't go to the World Nations. He can't play for the Canucks. Right? Like I'd like to see him play, but not given the circumstances. If he can't play for the Canucks, he shouldn't go to the Mournations. He can't play for the Canucks. Like talking to someone, he can't play. Like it was definitive, like he can't play.

All I'm saying is let him make the decision, or at least let him make him think he's making the decision. Like you sometimes do. I just want the relationship between the Canucks and Quinn Hughes to be the best it possibly can. So as a Canucks fan, that's your primary goal. That's my primary goal. Yeah, the relationship.

Don't care about the tournament, don't care about anything. Just make sure that the relationship is strong. Yeah. Okay. I can get down with that. And then if he goes and gets hurt, he definitely has to resign. Yeah. He's like, oh, Quinn, I remember when you selfishly went to the Four

Nations and then you got hurt and you kind of ruined the Canucks season. There should be all these- Here's an eight Canucks season. There should be all these- Here's an eight year contract extension. There should be all these participation clauses, like when your kids go to one of those jungle gyms and they got to sign a waiver, it should be one of those. Here's what happens if you fall and hurt yourself. Kids have to sign waivers to go on jungle gyms now? The indoor play areas.

Oh, like yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you got to sign a waiver And you have to buy their socks too. They get you with the socks. Yeah. A lot of funny texts coming into the Dunbar Lumber text line. Tyler texts in, the Canucks need to get them on a direct flight to Four Nations and pay off the airline to not say where the plane is going. And whoops, it arrived in Maui.

Canucks all inclusive. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It's funny. I actually want to, I want to see him play in this tournament. Of course.

I want to, I want to, even though. Just not in his current state. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I don't know, maybe, maybe there's a way that he goes and plays, um, can you join the team halfway through the tournament? I mean, they could probably make it up as the, I bet they don't have like hard and fast rules.

You still got a bit of time, right? What, it's another week? Like he could be fine by then. It's not that it's it's extra Unnecessary games for a guy that could use that time to recuperate from what's ever bothering him right now, okay? That's what I'm saying. It's like it's not just playing It's at that time off would be super valuable at this exact moment because he's going through it physically off would be super valuable at this exact moment because he's going through it physically.

Last night in the NHL, there were three games. The Rangers beat the Bruins. They came back from a 2-1 deficit and beat the Bruins 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. The Chicago Blackhawks had a comeback of their own, but they ultimately fell 4-3 to the Edmonton Oilers in the McDavid versus Bedard Bowl. And then the LA Kings, are they turning it around? Is it two in a row for the LA Kings?

Probably too early to say. May not be too early to say that the Montreal Canadians, thanks for coming out. They lost to the Kings six to three last night in LA. Um, I am loving the playoff race in the East. That game, that game last night between the Rangers and Bruins. It was huge.

It was huge. The Rangers are back in the race now. They're only four points back of the wild card spot. Uh, currently held the second wild card spot, currently held by Tampa Bay. Yeah. And Boston's on the outside looking in. Boston's on the outside looking in, but there are

all these teams in the race. Columbus is in the race. The Islanders teams in the race. Columbus is in the race. The Islanders are in the race because they had a big winning streak. The Rangers as mentioned are in the race. You know, I'm not, I think the Habs are going to, are going to fall off now. They're starting to fall off.

You know, they're three, six and one in their last 10. They had a nice run there for a bit. Um, some of it was, or a lot of it, I think was goaltending and timely scoring. I still like the future for the Habs, but, uh, they're not quite ready yet. Um, if you look at that Atlantic division, Florida is in first with 67 points.

Boston is in sixth, seven points below Tampa. It's the best race going right now in terms of any. It's awesome too, because remember a couple of years ago where the eight teams, the eight playoff teams in the East were essentially determined by Christmas. Yeah, we're going to get a bonafide playoff chase right down to the wire here because of the amount of teams that are involved. And because you've got new blood too, which is important. Ottawa, Detroit, Columbus hasn't really been a factor the last couple of years. All those teams being in the mix is super important. I know there's so much to be decided, but the possibility of getting a Toronto-Ottawa

first round series would be amazing. I would love to see a new wrinkle to the Leafs losing in the first round every year. Having them lose to Ottawa would be great. Like a whole new dynamic that we never thought about because it hasn't happened. So yeah, I'm very much looking forward to that. Can you imagine just like an energized Ottawa senators with all their youthful enthusiasm and

maybe Brady Kachuck, if he can get focused enough on the right things. Just. Well, you remember. I think that would be a fun series, man. You remember how. It would be a really fun series. You remember how big a role his brother,

Matthew Kachuck played in the Battle of Alberta. He was a driving force behind that thing. Brady could easily replicate that in the Battle of Ontario. Yeah. Like it would be perfect. Okay. We got to go to break.

Before we go, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between, Jan Pro. From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected. For a free quote, visit them online at janpro.ca. Coming up on the other side, Greg Wyshinski is gonna join the program from ESPN.

We'll go around the NHL nine games tonight. We'll talk a lot of foreign nations face off as well. He's very excited for the upcoming tournament. Best on best, first time we've had it in a long time. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening

with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 6.31 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halferd Brough, Sportsnet 650. This is a good version, Greg. Nothing is better than Greg constantly unearthing new various ESPN on NHL and ESPN themes. Well the next step is we gotta write lyrics for it. The bassline is the real star of this whole thing. I think you're right.

It's a great bassline. You are listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for,

sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. That music means that Greg Wyshinski is gonna join us in just a moment here. Hour one of this show 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. To the phone lines we go, Greg Wyshinski, ESPN, joins us now on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Wyshinski, ESPN joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Wysh? Hey, so I won't sleep until you guys find a reggae version of the ESPN theme. I don't know if there's any members of the Marley family living in the Vancouver listening area, but if it doesn't exist, we have to make one. That would actually be awesome. Yeah. Yeah, my goal in life is to find a chilled

reggae version of the ESPN theme. You know my goal in life is to find a chilled reggae version of the ESPN theme. You know, so when I pop a gummy to watch some games, I can have some background. Challenge accepted, friend. Everything is gonna be iry. We'll take care of it for you. I wanna ask you about USA going into the Four Nations

face-off, specifically the status of Quinn Hughes. How closely are you monitoring the status of Hughes? Because I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but he's not gonna play tonight in San Jose. It's unclear if he's gonna play on Saturday against Toronto. And Rick Tuckett was very non-committal about Quinn Hughes' participation in the Four Nations face-off.

Yeah, I mean, it's really hour to hour for me to monitor the injury status of people in a made-up tournament Obviously I'm very excited for four nations and like, you know USA Canada of it all the idea that I mentioned this on on a video that Arda O'Callan I did recently like the idea that you have generations of these young players trying to get a chance to represent their countries in a, as close to a best on best tournament we could gin up without Russian participation. But I don't want any of these guys to play hurt. I don't want any guys that are hurt to try to play. Like it is at the end of the day, a tournament that's happening in the middle of the season. If you're

not up to snuffs, don't risk it. It's okay. You know, your team is more important. The Olympics are more important. You'll probably play in that if you're healthy. So that goes for Quinn. That goes for Sid. That goes for any of these guys that maybe aren't healthy enough to play. In Petro Janssoulos' case, it was a little bit different in the sense of like, this guy is playing regularly for the Vegas Golden Knights and is merely saying, I want to take the time. I think there's a difference between a guy that's out and is trying to make it back for Four Nations

versus a guy that's just like, I could use the rest. Maybe that's nuance on my part, I don't know, but in Quinn's case, like, there are definitely bigger fish to fry, even if he'll be disappointed not playing with his brother in the tournament. Well, the added nuance to the Patrangelo thing was when he said, yeah, it really sucks that I can't participate.

And my response would have been like, well, then just participate. Like, no one's stopping you. You're playing hockey right now. Did he say that? Yeah, he said it. I didn't see him say that. He said it sucks. And I'm like, but you're playing right now. Just, that? Yeah, he said it. I didn't see him say that. He said it sucks.

And I'm like, but you're playing right now. Just I know how you can make it unsuck. Just do what you're doing right now and go and play. The obvious implication was that he's being asked. I thought he was a different case because obviously, like he's making that decision knowing that he's already accomplished all he needs to accomplish in international hockey and knowing that he doesn't need that tournament to like imprint on the power brokers of Team Canada. Like if he's in 26, he'll be in 26, but you know, whatever. I don't know. I still, that one still doesn't sit well with me. Obviously with Quinn and now with Crosby, it's a bit of a different situation because these guys are missing games potentially in this case a little bit, you know, more more than a you know it could be a week or

something I don't know we have to hear from Sullivan today or tomorrow but yeah the other thing is is a choice it is it is a choice being made to prioritize one's health over the tournament you know and and without repercussion like we talked about a few weeks ago I reported that the all-star rule of you have to miss a game before or after the break, if you decide to pull out of the all-star game, will not be applied to Four Nations. And so there's no repercussion for anybody deciding to do what Petro did.

What did you think of the moves that the Canucks made sending JT Miller to the Rangers, getting Marcus Pedersen and Drew O'Connor from the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a new look team. It's the first few games without JT Miller have been pretty promising and they just resigned Marcus Pederson to a six year contract extension and

Elliot Friedman is reporting that they want to do the same, not maybe not six years, but they want to get Drew O'Connor extended as well. I thought Kyle Dubas won the JT Miller trade. That unprotected tech in 2026 is a real big deal. I think that draft is going to be quite good. And I don't quite know what the trajectory of the New York Rangers is this season and next season.

And so getting that pick in a trade where he's dealing away two players that aren't in the plans for the Penguins going forward, I thought was really impressive. That's not to say that Vancouver didn't do well for themselves in getting Patterson. I think he's a very, very good complementary defenseman and locking him up is good and instantly makes their blue line better. And O'Connor is a scrappy sort. But you know, I don't know. It comes back to a thing I've always had with Jim Rutherford and his teams, which is it's

okay to acquire a player you haven't previously managed. No. It's okay. Wrong. You can do it sometimes. You can do it. I think there was a moment in Carolina when he was there where Joe Corvo was on the hurricanes

seven different times. He loved Joe Corvo. Loved him. Always got him. So when I saw the trade, I'm like, oh, that checks. He's, he's a Rutherford guy. And, and I understand why this is happening. And Rutherford, I think even said that in some

of his, his, you know, availabilities that he's done with, with different reporters about like the familiarity he has with Patterson. And it's fine. I mean, I think he helps. I just, I don't know, personal pet peeve that Jimmy has his guys. What do you think about Philip Heidel? Because he's never had Heidel before. See, that was a part of the trade that I thought people slept on. I really did. Like I know that there was so much focus on the return for Miller and maybe being bummed about it and and honestly like what are you supposed to

do when you have the guy has a full no move you're clearly dealing from a position of where you don't have the advantage because people know you're trying to ship this guy out you know that you have a purpose to do so. So I, the return was going to be what it is, but he don't, over the, I think it's the last three or four seasons, like only our Temi Panarin has a higher points per 60 than Heidel. Now granted, the bigger story there is sample size because Heidel can't stay in the lineup, but when he's in, I think he's really good. And I also think that he's one of I wrote about the Capitals a couple weeks ago about their ability to identify players who are of a certain

age let me know like mid-20s and haven't necessarily gotten the chance on the depth chart that they believe that they deserve and to me Hiddle has played behind played behind Zvantejad and Trocheck for many many seasons. He got relegated to being on the kid line in the playoffs and such. And I think that this guy has a world of talent and a world of upside and if he can stay healthy I think he's really he's gonna be a part of that trade that Vancouver fans look back on favorably. But again the caveat, the giant thing, the elephant in the room is if he can stay healthy. I want to circle back to that idea of reacquiring players that you're familiar with,

in the notion of the Rangers getting Miller. So I saw your take that you think Kyle Dubas won the JT Miller trade, which I liked your reasoning on it. I get that. And you've also said that you liked what it did for Vancouver. What do you think about what the Rangers did,

a team that's four point out of the playoff, big win last night though, reacquiring JT Miller as a sort of shot in the arm to try and get back into this thing? Well it addresses a couple things. I will steal a joke from somebody that I saw on social media which I thought was hilarious which is that the Rangers successfully successfully managed to have the first few years of JT Miller's career, not have him during his entire prime and then reacquire him in his early 30s. I saw that too. It was a really good line. Listen, their biggest problem is five on five. It's been their biggest

problem for several years now. And I think he addresses that. And I also think the other problem for this team, at least the ones they've identified, is a cultural one in the sense of they wanted to be nastier, they wanted to be more competitive, they wanted kind of a fire that wasn't necessarily burning within some of the players that they currently have on the roster. That was the crux of the Brady Kachuk soft tampering, if you remember, was the idea of infusing their culture with a little bit of Kachukism. I think Miller is not a Kachuk, but he certainly has that truculence and that drive to compete that I think that Rangers management has sort of identified this franchise as needing. So from a culture standpoint standpoint I think it's okay

because I don't think he's gonna be the same kind of guy in that locker room that he was in other places and from a strategic standpoint I think he helps them in in ways that they need help. So Wish I was watching that Rangers-Bruins game yesterday and Rangers end up winning 3- two and the Bruins ended up with 17 shots in that game and I'm watching and I'm like, these guys cannot create very much of anything. And I started thinking about Brad Marchand being a pending UFA. What do you think the chances are that he goes somewhere else. No, so I haven't explored this with some sources yet, but I mean, if you think about the history of that team and the way that Don Sweeney operates, it's not with a lot of sentimentality.

You think about the way that they handle Chara, for example, you know, like they certainly respect the guys that have been there. They try to do right by them, but ultimately, you know, like they certainly respect the guys that have been there. They try to do right by them. But ultimately, you know, what's right for the Bruins is right for the Bruins. And so I can't discount the idea that Brad Marchand could end up playing somewhere else. And obviously, if he's available, there are a ton of teams that are that are cup contenders that are going to line up and try to acquire this guy even as a rental. And the price tag can be quite high.

So I mean, if you think about where the Bruins are, if you think about what they lack, if you think about having to transition to the next thing away from the older players and just kind of recenter it on Pasternak and McAvoy, for example, then it makes total sense to trade them. But ultimately, I don't know if they see him as someone they wanna keep around for the

culture of it all and sort of make a part of the solution. But again, if you think about how unfeeling they can be as a front office and you think about all the things that they need to not generate 17 shots in a game, trading them makes a lot of sense. Do you have any time for the rumors and the speculation and maybe the dreams of some that McKinnon, Sid, and Marshaan all get together in Colorado? The Sid part of that, Marshaan's not out of the realm of possibility there, just because of the cap space

that they have and the need that they have, but the Sid part of this is so much more complicated than people think, right? Like if CID was traded, this is a Gretzky trade. Like this becomes a, CID is not going to be, you know, Nazem Qadri to Nathan McKinnon, you know, Nathan McKinnon. Like it's CID's team. Like he's not going to just go and be a complimentary piece.

And I think that's like when you acquire a Sidney Krause, you are acquiring all of Sid, everything that comes with Sid, the superstar of it all, the legend of it all. And I think there's this hesitation that I mean, I think there's just like naivete rather of, oh, you can just acquire him and give him second line minutes. OK. Good luck with that.

If Sid's still a viable guy. I mean, I think his ice time and his spotlight are a lot more important to Sid than people give him credit. It's not simply just chasing a ring. He's got three of them. It just feels, I mean, Pittsburgh's cooked right now. If you look at the standings, and they're not getting back in that mix.

And now Crosby's dealing with an injury Malkin's out of the lineup I know Mike Sullivan was kind of talking about their gridded teeth the other day like you're already way down there in the standings And I mean even if Dubas gets that Even if that pick turns into a lottery pick like how is that gonna help said really? Let me let me let me say I'm gonna make I'm gonna make two predictions One cause you will be a penguin as long as Malkin's a Penguin. I don't think there's a chance that he agrees to move if Gino is still on the team. And then the second thing is I would wager having covered Sid for as long as I have.

And I'm not Rob Rossi here. Like, I don't have a relationship with Sid, but like, I know him, I've covered him for a long time. relationship with Sid. But like I, I know I've covered him for a long time. I would tend to believe that team city venue would be more important for him in a next step than the chance to play with Nathan McKinnon. Sure. So by that, by that, I mean like if, if it was to end his career, like in Montreal, let's say. Yeah. That's what I keep thinking about. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I think that's more important to Sid

than simply chasing a fourth ring or getting a chance to play with another coal harbor boy. And that's why I don't put too much stock into the Colorado thing as much as I put in stock that if and when Malkin is no longer a penguin, there's a chance Sid could finish his career someplace where he's always really wanted to play. I mean, he's got that cachet, he's got that gravitas, he can make that call. Because has he liked Vancouver?

What does he think of Vancouver? The Canucks are suddenly, I mean, it is interesting, the position the Canucks are in right now. They've traded away JT Miller. They're hoping Phillip Edel has some upside and maybe he can be a 2C, but I don't think anyone thinks he's going to be a 1C and they've got this guy, I don't know if you've heard, Elias Pedersen's got this big contract and he is not

performing up to it and the Canucks have another major decision to make with him. I'm not really trying to make this about Sid, although we have joked and kind of seriously talked about it with the relationship with Jim Rutherford and the Pittsburgh connection. But what do you do? I guess it's an open-ended question. What do you think of the situation the Canucks are in specifically when it comes to the centre position, having traded away JT Miller and having Elias Pedersen there and going like, anytime buddy, anytime, turn it around. I mean, you make a really good point though about Rutherford and Sid.

I didn't put two and two together on that and obviously he's basically a Canuck now I mean with the way that Jimmy reacquires players that he's got. Yeah, I mean you're the guy accusing him of like, you know, he never goes out and gets anyone that he doesn't know. Well, I think he knows Sid pretty well. You know, he knows Sid pretty well. The other thing I'll say about Sid too is like, you know, Gretzky ended his career in New York, right?

And when he, and when guys are in their like 40s, not to bemoan the Western Conference, but maybe you want a nicer travel schedule. Yeah. Like he's had a pretty good one his entire career playing in Pittsburgh. I wonder about time spent on planes for Sid at the end of his career. I've argued that what they've done is what they should do, which is get Miller out of there. I mean, this is sort of informed speculation, but I do put more blame on him than anybody in so far as the untenable of the situation with Patterson. And then, and then see if Elias can respond.

And I don't know if that's the runway as the rest of the season. I don't know if it's this season and next season. I don't know what that looks like, but I, but I do think that, you know, his ceiling is higher than Miller's. He's younger than Miller. You're paying him a ton of money. The return you get for him at this point is probably not going to be satisfactory. So even if you want to ship him out, you got to give him some time to convince people that

he can still be that 100 point center. So I know what that looks like as far as timeline goes, but I do think that they've done the right thing, which is to just see if maybe that's the weight on his shoulders that's been keeping him down. And if it's not, then you act accordingly and see what Buffalo wants to give you. Because I think that's obviously the most interesting trade partner in my eyes. That's a team that needs to start packaging young players to get guys in their mid-20s that are stars. And the fit is just too, it's just too obvious with that

team. Do you think, this is a question I ask a lot of our guests when we talk about Buffalo, is Kevin Adams the guy to, like is he going to be the GM to make these moves? So you've asked two different questions. You asked if he's the guy. No, he's not the guy. He's shown nothing so far that would indicate he's the guy. I don't think there's a grand vision there. I don't think that there's a plan. I don't think there's been a move necessarily that's created a sense of this team has the upward trajectory of an Ottawa or a Detroit at this point. I got fooled into thinking we might make the playoffs this year because of the coach they hired but I was wrong.

But the second question you asked is like, you know, kind of a functional question like, you know, who is the guy to make those moves for Buffalo? And I think that's really the trick with Adams is that he was clearly Pagula's guy and the guy of ownership and the guy that they bought over from another department in the company to be their general manager because you know, he was gonna not push back. I truly believe that. I mean like you could go down a hundred different directions of that job and found someone with a bit more ego and a bit more personality and a bit more

I'm gonna put my own stamp on this team to push back on whatever plans ownership had but they didn't go in that direction. They hired from within and they hired somebody who I think is more political than anything else. So I don't have faith in them and I don't necessarily know if they're gonna go in a different direction despite the diminishing returns of this team. I mean, the sad part now is that they're dying this low or slow, long, painful death. And this week with the lack of pushback for Tage Thompson

and the ridiculous pushback to the pushback with the fight against the Blue Jack, it's like, it's such a dysfunctional lost organization, but they've been this bad for this long that it's apathy in the market. I know some people are upset, but there's more apathy than anger, at least looking from the outside.

And that's a really sad indictment because it's a disaster. It's a full blown disaster. They've got to be the worst franchise in the NHL now that Arizona's moved. And I don't know how you get out of it because so many things are so wrong on so many different levels in Buffalo. Yeah, apathy is the word for it. And like you said, that's in the stands and that's, I mean, actually they've been selling

some tickets lately, which is kind of interesting, but on the ice, the lack of pushback on the Thompson-Mason situation was more about like, you know, the competitive spirit of a team being broken than any measure of toughness. But let me tell you right now, if the Columbus Blue Jackets who had absolutely nothing

to do on KH Thompson's injury ever try to hit him, I bet they'll think twice now. Yeah. After that fight. I'll tell you that right now. Did you, was that not the stupidest thing you've ever, I would talk to one on the show yesterday, I'm like, I can't believe that they all had a players meeting and one of the things that came out of that meeting was like, should we fight Columbus?

And everyone was like, yeah, that seems like a pretty good idea. I can't believe that that was the end game. Like Lindy Russ been around for a long time. You think he would have been like, please don't do this. It is one of those moments in like hockey culture that you just look at and you're like, oh, that's why like, you know, five, sixth of Americans don't watch the sport because it's just nonsense. It's just stupid.

It's like, what, what is the logic here and having that fight at all? Um, it's, uh, it was, if they, they, they somehow found a way to make an embarrassing situation even more embarrassing by having that fight. This was great, but thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again. Uh, next Wednesday.

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the flexibility by the way. No problem, bud. Thank you. Bigger. Greg Waschinski from ESPN here on the Hellford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Are we just going to keep talking about Sid getting traded somewhere else until he retires? Well, you know what the added wrinkle now is that the NBA just decided to trade everybody in the last 96 hours.

And it's like the the NHL kind of went there, had the rant and trade that had real like Luka Doncic vibes, like no one's coming. It was a big blockbuster trade. And then we had the JT Miller trade. That was a really big deal. When's the last time we've had two legit blockbuster trades in the NHL midseason? And then the NBA, it was a bit of a serve in volley back and forth, but then the NBA just went crazy with it.

Like if you missed it last night, Jimmy Butler is now on the Golden State Warriors. So Jimmy Butler's playing with Steph Curry now. And Andrew Wiggins is now- What's their combined age? 600. Now, Andrew Wiggins, one of the players going to Miami, so someone ran down, and I'll do this at 7.30 when we do our What We Learns.

Someone ran down a timeline of 96 hours of all the major players that moved in the NBA. It was like a third of the league, prominent guys. Did you see the clip of the fan sitting right behind the Miami Heat bench, yelling at the players, the details of the trade. And the players. Yeah, telling Kevin Love. Yeah, Kevin Love's like, tell me more. Oh, we got Wiggins, oh good.

Yeah, it's been an amazing week. For a league, I'll remind you, I know a lot of people don't follow the NBA that closely. The NBA has had a terrible season. The basketball's been unwatchable. Everybody's been criticizing how poor the product has been. It's gotten lousy ratings across the board. Is the product a relationship to all the three point shooting?

Okay, there's that, but there's also guys take time, nights off all the time. Right. Guys just don't play. It's the intensity of it. It looks like all-star game intensity. There's no intensity. Guys will have an injury come back from the injury, play a game and then sit out

again. Like I thought you were back from the injury. They're like, I'm still resting. Could the playoffs be pretty good though, with all the different storylines here? Yeah, that's what it's I mean, that's the whole subtext to what's happened over the last six hours is all of a sudden the Mavericks said, this is us to win now. Like the Mavericks. But they might not even make the playoffs. But they firmly believe that they firmly believe. They're like a 500 team. I don't know if they're crazy or what, but they firmly believe that they are better suited to

winning the playoffs now than they were before the trade, which is hilarious because Don just helped them get to the NBA finals last year. The Lakers suddenly become fascinating, like the moment that Lucas steps on the floor, everyone wants to see what this looks like. You can't tell me that you're not gonna be paying a ton of attention to a Golden State team now that, again, like if it was 2015, they'd be in their prime. It's 2025, so they're a little bit older.

But there's really interesting stories across the board. The issue is, and this has been the issue in the NBA for the last couple of years, the narratives have never really, in terms of intensity and excitement, matched the actual play on the floor. Because the playoffs last year were pathetic. They were terrible. There was no compelling stuff beyond the second round. The final was a bit of a wash. Obviously it was pretty much a cake walk for the Celtics. The Celtics were clearly the best team in the NBA and they went out and played

like it's real. And the Celtics for as good as they were, they still weren't that interesting. They were methodical and systematic and just taking people. Yeah. Right. They were just, they were better than everybody. And that's great. Like you love to see a really good team

play at the highest level, but you also want something dramatic and something compelling. Eastwood and New West text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line, the Paris Olympics reminded everyone that NBA players are very good and can play hard from wire to wire. Once the season started again, it made the effort level disparity so much more apparent.

Maybe that's what you were getting at too. There's too many nights off in the regular season. And I, you know, the, the NHL is the exact opposite. Like Quinn, he was missing two games with the myriad of injuries that he's got right now. Everyone's like, he's dying to get back out there. Yeah, yeah. And I understand the mentality.

I understand why the NHL doesn't want to go down the load management road because this is what happens. You open up this Pandora's box where it's like, well, if you're not feeling well, we've already sat you out for a more serious. You know what it's like? Do you remember before COVID when it used to be important for kids to go to school?

Yeah, that's a good analogy. That's a good, good solid analogy. Post COVID it's like, ah. Yeah. How are you feeling? You're like, not great. And you're like, take his temperature, put him in bed. He doesn't go to school for the week.

Yeah. That's kind of how it goes. And I know. How are you feeling? Fine. You know what? Do you want a day off? Yeah.

The threshold has changed. Anyway, OK, we've got a lot more to get to you on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up on the other side of the break, Mike Tanier is going to join us live from New Orleans for the Super Bowl. We will talk to him about Sunday's big game. 8 o'clock Thomas Drantz, 830 Richard Sherman. Fingers crossed that we'll get it done today with

Richard Sherman. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.