Halford & Brough in the Morning - Mike Kelly on NHL Parity + What We Learned

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Israel Fehr are joined by Mike Kelly to get into the NHL and the Olympics. Lots of teams fighting for playoff spots in the NHL, with few emerging as leaders. Now we have an idea of the Olympic rosters, whose team stacks up as the best? After, the guys get into What We Learned, where they join the listeners in learning more about the world of sports. 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.

Welcome back to Howford and Brough, no Mike Halford, no Jason Brough. It's Josh Ellie Wolf and Israel Fair filling in. Halford and Brough 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 sands-trustee.com. This hour of Halford & Brough is brought to you by Campbell & Pound. Real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound.

Visit Campbell-Dash-Pound.com. Today we are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthodics. Kintech footwear and orthotics. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber Text line. Get your what we learns in and your ask us anything's in. Throw a pizza emoji on it if you would like to be entered to win a $100 A.J's pizza gift card. We will pick the best one later in the show.

But right now we go to the phone lines and we bring in Mike Kelly, analyst for the NHL Network. Appreciate you taking the time. Mike, how are you? Hey, my pleasure. I'm doing well. How are you doing? We are doing pretty good, but not as good, I assume, as Yarmelkelein and the Buffalo Sabres are doing.

They have won 10 in a row. and that kind of gets them barely into the playoffs, but they are in the playoffs nonetheless. What have they been doing over these 10 games that's been so successful? Yeah, look, you feel good for the Sabres fans. I mean, they are a great fan base, and they've had nothing to cheer for for about 15 years, right? So happy for them.

You know, they're keeping the puck out of the net. That's the biggest thing. If you look at their last 10 games compared to their season average, they've cut their goals by almost half. So that's the thing that jumps off the page. That has been largely great goaltending. Alex Lyon for a bulk of it, UPL, like their goaltending has been fantastic.

Slight improvement defensively in terms of how they play, which is good. They've cut down on what they allow off the rush, which is always going to help your goaltenders. And they're scoring a bit more. So any 10-game win streak, I don't care if you're Colorado or Buffalo or whoever, is a bubble to some degree, right?

Nobody wins every game. Some bubbles are bigger than others. I still think with the Sabres, you're looking at a okay team that's going to really have to fight to make the playoffs. They put themselves in a great spot now, but, you know, it's not like something magical happened where all of a sudden they're the Colorado Avalanche either.

So happy for them, and we'll see how long they can keep it going. Yeah, on this streak, some of the numbers are interesting, where a few of the underlines are quite poor, but they have some of the obvious signifiers. The goaltending has been good. They've gotten, I think, some improved special teams over this run as well

compared to the start of the season. What's the optimist take, though, on the Sabres and what that run could look like? Because as you said, this is a team that for a long time now, we're talking 14 years without the playoffs, hasn't given the fan base much to cheer for, and it feels like the fans are jumping, on this bandwagon because of the way that this team's playing.

So what's the optimist take based on what you've seen from this team statistically? Well, the optimist take for me is it's a talented team that's never played to its level of talent. And that is odd. Like, they've never committed to defense in a way that winning teams do. Like, you look at their roster and you're like, in any given year, you're like, okay, that's a good team. they could be a playoff team. They've had this, you know, rotating cast a goalie, so that's always been a bit of a question mark.

But they're committing to the effort and committing to team defense of things that have always been lacking. And they've gone through coaches, and no one's quite been able to get them to do it consistently. And the thing about, you know, attention to detail and playing defensively is almost entirely just effort-based. like to be a great defensive player it comes down a lot more to will than it does the skill

and they just haven't been able to do it consistently they're a lot better in that area I've watched a handful of these games during the winning streak and you can you can see you know that they're playing I don't more effort like they're just they're playing a better team game so optimistically I'd say hey they've always had the talent

and now it looks like they're actually committing to doing things properly, repeatedly. So that's good. But, you know, I'll go back to, and it's not apples to apples, but when they had that win streak in 2018 to 10 games in November, I remember listening to all these people talking about, oh, the Sabres' time has arrived, and they're this young team, and, like, they weren't that at all. And this team is still not perfect, so we'll see how it goes.

What do you make of this kind of Eastern Conference playoff race as a whole? It's a huge logjam in that conference right now. Do you see teams emerging, I guess, as the season goes on and kind of separating from the pack when it comes to that wildcard race? Yeah, I do. Like, Florida's a point out, right? And I think, you know, Matthew could, Chuck can't be that far away. He's not going to play in the Winter Classic, but tonight.

But Florida will get in. they'll find their way as they do. I still think Tampa Bay is likely going to win the Atlantic. Detroit, to me, is pretty real. I think they're a top three team in the Atlantic. Carolina is good. The islanders, I mean, my goodness, if goaltending drops off at all there,

the way they defend slash don't defend, they could be in trouble. Got a little taste of that last night. Philly, I'm still uncertain of. And Washington just hasn't played up to their level either. We knew regression was going to come for them to some degree, but maybe steeper than we thought. It leaves a lot of things open.

So Detroit, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Montreal, I'd say, but they're pretty up and down too. And I think Washington will get together in Florida, but then that still leaves you some spots open, if that's right. Like Toronto's coming on now. Ottawa is just wildly inconsistent, but their A-game's really good. So there's a lot of question marks. We just talked about Buffalo and the savers winning streak.

On the other end, the Jets are a team that went into this season. With some expectations, obviously last year was a phenomenal regular season for Winnipeg, but things have fallen apart for the Jets here. They've had some injuries that they've dealt with. But in a Western conference that is really top-heavy, they're at the bottom now. What's gone wrong with the Winnipeg Jets? Yeah, well, to start the year for quite, a while. They were giving up a ton of shots, quality shots.

And Connor Hellebuck was, you know, playing an even higher level, I think, than he did last year when he won a league MVP. And then he got hurt. And then they started losing, obviously. Dylan Samberg came back and he's a great defensive defenseman. And that helps. And they've kind of gotten, you know, better in terms of team defense. But it's still not where it was last year at all. like they were goal-tending they had the best in the league and defensively they were a top-10 team in terms of what they allowed. This year, they're kind of average,

although trending better defensively. And now they're having trouble scoring. Like I think in their last 10 games, they're averaging about two and a half goals a game. And they're not in the top half of the league and goals. So there's a lot that's not going right for the Jets. Do you see them though as a team? I like, now they're at a point where it's like,

hey, you got to go on a run to get back into the postseason. Do you see them doing that as the season goes on? They could because there's just teams, like the Central Division is a bit of a juggernaut. I think those top three teams are going to be the top three teams in whatever order, right? Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota. But once you get past there, like I don't see why Winnipeg can't climb up. Nashville is playing a lot better, and I give them a lot of credit. Yossi came back.

They're playing faster. Stamco's scoring goals again. So, you know, we'll see what goes on there. But those other teams ahead of them, like, you know, Chicago's just ahead of them, and they're missing Bred. And, you know, there's no reason Winnipeg can't climb past them. So if you're going to say, look, one team's going to go on a heater, probably not a bad pick to pick Hunter Hellebuck as your goalie.

And it's had recent success like you talked about last year also. But they're in a major skid right now. They've got to stop out of it. The Pacific Division is a division where it's been pretty up and down. You know, some impressive performances from some young teams in Anaheim and San Jose to start the season. But the mainstays, Edmonton and Vegas, a bit of an uneven first half. Edmonton's made some big changes already, making some changes in goal. The Golden Knights made a big change in the offseason, bringing in Mitch Marner.

what is the trajectory for Edmonton and Vegas at this point? Are they, the odds are they'll still make the playoffs, odds are they'll still be the one and two seeds in the Pacific, but are they poised to be true contenders for the Cup this year? Or is this a year where maybe things haven't gone quite right for both of those groups? I think Edmonton can. I don't see any reason that Edmonton and Vegas shouldn't battle it out for top spot. I think they're clearly above the rest. And I know the ducks are kind of right there with them.

Man, San Jose is creeping up now, too. I still think Anaheim's in line for some regression this season. It should be Evanton in Vegas. Edmonton, you're right. They started the year, like, not well, couldn't get saves, played slow. And they've done this for a couple of years now, but it looked, you know, bad in a lot of areas. And they've kind of snapped out of it. Like, McDavid just has gone to another planet, and the power plays, how many?

and Heimann comes back and now he's producing and they're starting to look a lot more like, you know, for the most part of the team that we expect. So I think they're still in the Pacific Division to me the most likely team to have a good run at going and winning a cup.

It is the Alford & Brough Show. Josh Elliot Wolf is a real fair filling in joined by Mike Kelly from the NHL Network. So the Olympic rosters, the other three main teams heading to the Olympics this year outside of Canada a couple days ago. US, Finland, Sweden all announced today. Starting with the U.S.,

what did you think of the roster they put together? Not entirely surprised. Adam Fox being left off, I think, will surprise some people. And he was there at Four Nations, obviously. The concern I think that they may have with Fox is the pace of play at the Four Nations that look to overwhelm a little bit and it's going to be the same thing at the Olympics. Fox has always gotten, I don't want to say gotten by. I mean, he's been an elite defenseman.

He's always kind of excelled because of the way that he thinks the game at a super high level. So you can understand some logic there. Seth Jones, big, rangey, kind of do it all. Obviously with the role that he had with Florida quarterback and the power play,

you know, penalty kill, eating big minutes on a Stanley Cup championship team. He's got familiarity. to see with Zach Werencky if they want to get a pair going. So that makes sense to me. And Sanderson has just played his way onto the team. He's too good not to have there. So I get that.

I still think with that team, like the question for me coming in, and it's been this way for a little bit, is do you have enough goals? They're always a goal short, right? And even if you go beyond just losing an overtime to Canada, the last couple big events, Even in elimination round games, if you go back and look at the last handful of best-on-best, they don't score enough.

And they left goal scoring off. And, you know, I get Bill Guerin had his comment about, you know, you've got to be able to check and all that. And that's valid. That is absolutely valid. And if you take a look at a guy like Jason Robertson, great goal score, right? Great around the net. Not a great defensive checker. So I can understand that, but the other guys in that mix are Cole Cawfield and Alex to Brinket,

I think you had to bring one of those three. And for me, it would have been to Brink it because he can score in bunches and he's doing it. And the rest of his game is more rounded out than Robertson or Cawfield. So I would have brought him. Maybe by bringing Clayton Pellor, they think that they've got an elite playmaker, which they do, that's going to help you get those goals. But I still worry they're not going to score quite enough. It is interesting because heading into the four nations would probably be the most concerned I was as a Canadian, a Canadian hockey fan about the Americans and where they were coming and how much skill that they had.

And that obviously comes down to an overtime, but for whatever reason, I'm going into these Olympics feeling even better about Canada's chances versus the U.S. and maybe some of the lessons that the Americans took from the four nations being maybe the wrong ones. I think the way you put it is perfect, that this American team, this version that we've seen now, we saw last year, and then historically at the Olympics, has been a team that has been short on goals. So is it something that the Canadians should feel good about where the team is at? And we know that pretty much any team Canada is going to be an incredibly talented group,

but stacking up the Canadian roster with the American roster heading into these Olympics, that the Canadian hockey fans should be feeling. Not like it's a runaway, of course, but feeling pretty good about Team Canada's chances. We should. And I would say Canada is the favorite, and I think Canada's earned that. Like, what does Canada do at best or best?

They win, right? They've won the last four. It's just what they do. And I think as a Canadian, we're all sitting here saying, hey, this is our thing and this is what we do. And no matter who we bring over there, we're going to find a way to do it, right?

So it's funny, though, because, like, if not for Jordan Bennington making two outrageous saves in overtime, then USA wins the four nations. And USA is the favorite. And we're not talking about them not scoring enough goals. And we're asking why Bennington's there again. Maybe he's not because he didn't win that game. Like, tiny things can make such big differences, right?

And just what the perception is. So if you're, if you're the U.S., maybe you're sitting there thinking, hey, we were right there. We kind of won that game a couple times in overtime. I'm like, this is the team to do it. And on a different day, we will do it. Maybe that's what they're thinking, and maybe that's true. Canada, they still have the two best players on the planet. They got the best defensemen on the planet, and that's not changing.

And they've got, you know, what I would say is the greatest winner of our generation, one of all time in Sidney Crosby, clutch players, etc. Canada's still got that. And no other country has that. So as long as they have that, I would say they're absolutely the favor. it does feel like though we always talk about it kind of as a two-horse race right between Canada and the US but Sweden and Finland they're always around they have talented rosters as well if you were to make a case for for one of them winning and the I guess

the the way would unfold in the Olympics what would that be well Sweden's got a good team they always do their blue lines good they can move the puck well they're their goaltending you know I'm bringing the Minnesota tandem Gustafson and Wall said, we played really well this year. That's legit. And in a single elimination game, can one of those goalies stand on his head? Absolutely.

Same with Finland, right? Like Soros can do that too. You know, the Swedes have skill. Like when I was in Montreal for the Four Nations tournament, and that first game Canada played against Sweden, that first period of that game, I remember sitting there thinking, I have never seen this game played that fast in my life.

and you talked to people who played in it, coached it afterwards. And it wasn't just about that period, but just the tournament. And they're like, that's the fastest hockey we've ever been a part of. So Sweden can play fast. They did that with Canada, and they've got a lot of skill, and that's fine. They're not as deep. You go and look at like the, the blue line's solid, obviously. You go and look at their bottom, you know, six forwards and compare it to Canada or the U.S.

You see a big difference. Finland, they should terrify everybody. They are scrappy, they play hard, they are physical, they're a pain in the butt to play against, and they've got game breakers. Like they could absolutely win a 2-1 game in an elimination game against a big team. So, you know, guys like Lekinen is just exactly what a winning team wants to have. Colorado's seen it, Montreal saw it when they went to the cup final. Rantan is rancin and obviously, but, you know, Rupé Hintz,

to bash it all. They got a lot of good players. Hey, Mike. I'll tell you what. Sorry, real quick. If you want to get like sneaky, sneaky upset, sneaky team that does something weird to somebody, look at some of the top players for what this German team will put together. Really?

Okay. So like the Leon Drysiddle Tim Stutzel, like, do you see them doing damage? Mo Cider. Yeah. Is it just like they're, they're, they're a. a plucky team? It can be plucky. Like, if we're talking the outsiders, the complete outsiders who might do something weird

to someone, you know, a dry-siddle, like we said, Stootsler are superstars and superstars, and Ciders having a Norris-ish-type year. Gruber is having a renaissance year for the Cracken. You know, kind of how we talk about like a Latvia in the world juniors or something, right? I got this weird feel. They could, you know, if someone's going to do something on that outside group, it ain't going to be France or Italy.

Fair enough. It'd be fun. It would be fun. We're looking forward to it. Mike, appreciate you taking the time and enjoy the lead-up to the Olympics here. All right. You guys too. Thanks for having me. There is Mike Kelly, analyst for the NHL Network. 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumbertex line. It is Alfred & Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolf, and Israel Fair filling in a few ask us anything's coming in, but we still got space. So send them in 650-6-50 with the pizza emoji. if you want to be entered to win the $100 AJ's pizza gift card there's this one from Spike if you could guarantee a championship

for either the Canucks or Canada at the World Cup this year so Canucks win I think at any point like in the we'll say the next 10 years or Canada at the World Cup this year which would you pick I'm going Canada for sure that has to be right yeah because that's like

that's an unbelievable story that is huge you went on home soil, I guess it wouldn't be that the wind wouldn't come on home soil, but like as close as you can. Yeah, exactly. And like, it would just be, it would it'd be huge for the program. It'd be, it'd be worldwide news. It would be incredible.

So I think you have to take that. And then, like, I just have to believe at some point that Knox will eventually win. Surely they don't go a hundred years without winning, right? Maybe. But, like, I think the, I think, the, I think if I were to bet

and this is not a hot take, it would take longer for Canada to win a World Cup than it would be for the Canucks to eventually win to stand again. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Okay, it is a hot take because of the horns. So if I could... It is now. It is now. If I could guarantee one,

I am taking the Canada World Cup for sure. How, like, the Brough and I were talking about this the other day, but outside of the Canucks, it's a very exciting time to be a sports fan in the lower mainland because he have the World Cup coming up. You have the Seahawks playing and potentially going on

maybe a Super Bowl run or at least like looking good going into into the playoffs. The Blue Jays and Mariners are both good. I like how you have to preface that. Aside from the Canucks. Aside for them aside. Please ignore the Canucks. Everything else is going to be fun. And then the Olympics you throw in as well. Like it should be a fun year to be a general sports fan in the lower mainland and then maybe the connect get first overall and like that's their win maybe i wouldn't bet on it i wouldn't bet on it either uh 650 650 keep the text coming in there we'll hit the what we learns so send those in and more questions for ask us anything friday send those in as well it is howford and brough josh elli wolf is real fair filling in on sports net 650 welcome to colonna

West Coast. Yeah. Colonna, baby. Best place in the world right here. Corona, bono. Corona, phone yeah. Colonia, Corona phone yeah,

Colomia. Hey! Colonna find you. Corona phone you. Corona phone you. A phone yeah. A phone your. Yeah.

Welcome back to the Halford & Brough show, Josh O'AWolf, Israel Fair, here with you. Coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Howford & Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt back in the game with a financial fresh start. Visit sands dash trustee.com. Howford and Brough is also brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive, downtown in Richmond, and at Duick Auto Group.

dot com and this hour of halpern and breath is brought to by the campbell and pound real estate appraisers trust the expertise of campbell and pound visit campbell dash pound dot com today 650 650 is the dumb bar lumber sex line get your what we learns in get your ask us anything's in uh we will hit those before the show is over but before we do that we'll go around the room uh and do some what we learns i don't have one today other than the winter classic is today and I kind of just keep forgetting that winter in heavy quotations winter in Florida

classic in I was going to say you got to add that too yeah it's a full quotations yes it's uh it's happening it's today at five which I think we came we came to the realization that's why the Canucks game is at 730 tonight so if you're upset about that you need to be upset at the NHL

playing a winter classic game in Florida not on New Year's Day either on January 2nd Why isn't it on January 2nd? I think they're avoiding the college football games. That makes sense. Fair enough. I just feel like they should, like tradition.

You're on New Year's Day. Keep it on New Year's Day. Just hope you can overcome. You won't, but think you can. Okay, so Mucow that, I guess. You got one? You won't. Just think that you can.

Believe in yourself. What a motto. I don't know. Like, just commit to it being on January 1st every year. that's your thing you have January 1st college football might mess it up

but it's gonna get messed up some years not gonna be a classic when you don't even host it on the same day every year exactly

now it's like the winter kind of classic anyway go ahead it's fair reasoning I just I don't like it yeah I'll do my what we learned

it's college football related amazing oh wow this should move the winter classic so three college football playoff games yesterday. The fourth one, the quarter

finals was the day before, but this is the quirky one. Ole Miss beat Georgia to advance the semifinals. And the quirky part is that Lane Kiffin, who a few weeks ago left the Ole Miss head coach job to take the job

at LSU in a very reported and controversial decision. He got a $500,000 bonus because Ole Miss one. Now that is being paid by LSU, but he had that clause in his Ole Miss contract. If they won

a game in the college football playoff, he would get that bonus. And he still gets paid. In the negotiation, LSU said, well, we'll pay it. If Ole Miss won't pay it, because you're ripping up that contract to come work with us. So, in instance, also there's six assistant

coaches that will go to LSU with Lane Kiffin, who are still coaching at Ole Miss. So just completely messy college football. football shenanigans. And, of course, the reason that the Winter Classic wasn't yesterday. As we all know, and we all appreciate, and we all can acknowledge, is a very fair reason. Okay, Muk how that. Laddie, you got one?

Yeah, this was all over the highlights yesterday. I don't know if anyone else saw, but Will Ferrell made an appearance at another L.A. King's game of season ticket holder. He's there often. Not really big news. But what was big news yesterday was that he showed up, you guys, in full referee uniform including helmet the whole get up and he was sitting in the crowd mimicking the officials of the game in the kings and lightning game that they won or excuse me that the lightning won five to three but of course they had to send a reporter down to talk to will and this is where it gets interesting for me because he showed some real commitment to the bit you guys he learned the names of the referees in the game so listen to this will feral from yesterday's

King's game. I'm just, I've always been in support of the NHL referees. In fact, I trained two of the guys out here. They're two of my, two of my prize students, Brandon and Francis. They're calling a heck of a game. Heck of a game. Francis keeps looking back at you right now. Are you giving them cues? I'm telling like, relax. It's okay. You're doing great. You're doing great. So Brandon Schrader and Francis Chiron were the two referees in that game. So kudos to Will Ferrell. He pulled up Google. He looked up who the officials were and showed up to the game in full uniform,

which I've never done before. And if you guys have ever done that before. No, I haven't. It's good commitment to the bit, though. Do we know if he was wearing skates? I assume he wasn't back to him. That would be a little bit of much. That would be a little bit of much.

Well, I assume he's got the skate cards on them. He's not just like, the skates aren't. just destroyed at the end of the night. That zany Will Ferrell. What will have you have to do next to you guys? Is that spring training? He's doing this? That was fun. I like the spring training one.

Okay, Mook, how that? All right, we go to the humanoid submissions. Print those off. What we learned is brought to you by AJ's pizza on East Broadway, our favorite, AJ's sauce pie. An upside-down version of the bar pie with fresh fresh mozzarella and

Basel only at AJ's Pizza online at AJ's dot pizza okay so there are some what we learned in here including this one Mike Theorologist from Brockville what we learned the Athletica Seattle at a 5% chance

of making the playoffs and the Crackin are currently in the final wildcard spot it is a very weird year for parody in the NHL it is like in the east we've talked about that a lot where it's just like any team

could go on a run here and find their way into the playoffs. The sabers are doing it right now but every team is just the even Columbus who are in last place in the east right now there's still only six points out so it's not like an insurmountable gap and then in the West it's like

a lot of these teams are bad and the Crackin I don't believe in them I don't believe in the sharks the mammoth I feel like should be better than they are right now same with maybe the Kings, but I don't know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of, there's a lot of me. There's a lot of meh. Yeah, and a lot of teams that I'm like, you are setting yourself up to be destroyed by either Edmonton or Colorado in the first round. And that's what's going

to happen. At least in the East, you look at those teams and they've got a strength or two. They're not perfect teams, but you look at those teams and you go like, well, like, here's what Detroit has going for it. And here's what Buffalo has going for it. And Montreal and Ottawa and even like Toronto. Toronto, two weeks ago was a total mess. and now Awesome Matthews is back to scoring goals. And it's like, okay, well, there's a path for them for the Leafs to make the playoffs. In the West, outside of Anaheim and San Jose and projecting what that's going to look like in a couple of years, it's not like you're looking at these teams and being like, well, like, this is the thing that they, like, we know what the Kings are.

The Kings have been this for so many years now, right? Like they've just, they're, they'll grind it out. They'll probably get into the playoffs. They'll probably play against Edmonton. And they'll probably lose to Edmonton in the first round. I do honestly, just for the bid, I hope. hope they have to play against Edmonton again just because it'd be fun. Okay,

there's that, there's this ask us anything, Colin Intowalson, what is the funnest part of hosting the Howbrose show and what is the toughest part? And because it's a question about us and we're selfish, we are awarding it the $100 paid pizza gift card.

Congratulations to Colin into Watson. That's the hack. That's all you got to do. You've got to make us talk about ourselves. The most fun part working with the dogs that's what you were going to say right it was a big pause i honestly didn't think about what the most fun part was it is fun it's it's a fun like the the the textors i think

are on their a game the most yeah i think that's fair on this show that's the credit you heard it here first the best texters and i host a different show on the station i'm trying to get i'm trying to up the game for the other uh the other shows i want to see a higher standard. I want to see a Halbro standard later in the day. The toughest part is just waking up.

Yep. Yeah, dude. It doesn't get easy. Even if you do it for like multiple weeks in a row, don't get used to it. Laddie, you've been doing it for years now. Still not used to it. As soon as I get any kind of vacation or time off, it's instantly back to zero.

Right back. Okay. Yeah. So question, what day of the week do you find the most difficult in terms of the wake up? Ooh, good question. Because I have a take on this from my few weeks of hosting over the years. Probably Monday, honestly. Really?

It's got to be the first day. For me, Monday, I don't know why. I wake up and I'm like, okay, I'm ready to go. I think my body's so shocked that I'm trying to wake up that early that it's okay. I can never get to sleep at a good hour on Sunday. Okay. I also, to be fair, I just never fixed my sleep. Like, I never, like, last night I fell asleep after midnight.

I never fixed my sleep schedule when I'm doing mornings. Wednesday is the one I find the first. Yeah, I'm actually the same. Yeah. Because, like, Friday, I'm like, okay, last day I can do this. Wednesday, I think you have the accumulation of Monday, Tuesday, and you wake up Wednesday, and it's just, it's, you're like, I'm in the middle of this. But it's also Eurodance Wednesdays.

Oh, right. So then I'm woken up. A little pick-me-up. That's also why I'm so awake on Friday. That's why I'm so awake on Fridays, Fiesta Friday. That's right. Which we all acknowledge and have mentioned on the show. You have to.

Part of the nonsense. Yeah. That's the other thing, I think, is the most fun part, is, is, is trying to figure out all the things I have to say that Mike Halford usually says. Right. And the things I don't have to say because some things he says

that aren't necessary to say but then other things are necessary to say and people on the text say, they'll let you know. They get mad. They get mad. I got to say that you do a very good Mike Alford impression off the top of the show with the lineup in reverse and all that.

It's my favorite part. Actually, you know what, that might be the most fun part. Doing that, I appreciate it. doing the guest list in reverse just an expert way of like killing another 30 seconds he's been around that mic he's got it ironed out

okay another question ask us anything Jordan and North Van if you could have the foresight to know which day in 2026 would be your best and which would be your worst would you take it or keep it a mystery I think I take it

that's a funny question I think I take it because then I'm like I guess it would suck if like your best day was January 1st, and it sucked. And you're like, well, it's all down ill. I mean, that's why this is a funny question, because you get the best and the worst. And like you just said, like if it's early in the year

and it's your best and you know that that's the absolute peak and it sucks, then you're like, I am in for a tough year. This is going to suck. Also, think about the night before your worst day. Yeah, true. You know what's coming. Dude, but I guess there's nothing you can do about it, right? You're going to be so stressed out, though.

But that's the second thing is you don't know what it is. Maybe once you get closer to the date, though, you start to get an inkling of like... You can start to figure out what it might be. What the worst thing is going to be. The worst part is it would be if you have your best day early in the year and it's like not a great day. And then your tough day is the worst day is at the end of the year. And you're like, oh, man. The worst would be if it's an event that you're looking forward to that's the worst day.

Oh, what's going to go wrong at this event? Do I cancel? Do I not show up? True. But then, if like maybe canceling makes it the worst day and it would have been the best day.

Damned if you do, Dan, if you don't. Wow. There's layers to this now. So maybe... So I think on first blush, I would take it, but now maybe not.

I think I still would. I like the surprise. I think I like to know. But... What? Just to have the knowledge. Just to prepare myself a little bit better. Okay.

What we learned, Justin and East Van, Dylan Gunther scored his first career Hattrick with the Utah Mammoth. If he were drafted by the Canucks, he would be the team's leading goal score. That's fun. Also, he'd have the most points on the team by, I think, 12 or at least 10. I'll tell you that. Dylan Gunther is good. Yep, he is good.

Connor Garland's fun sometimes. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumbertex line. um okay ask us anything scott and union bay uh you got do you guys have any idea what day it is am i supposed to be at work why is no one else here that is dude i've been feeling that

all like i mean everyone talks about this these last two weeks of the of the year i just have just the haze yeah and for us for us it's a little bit easier because we're still kind of working and you got to figure out like what days yeah there's some sports events yeah but for like I was talking to my wife yesterday

who's been on vacation for like two or three weeks now and she's like I think it's Tuesday and it was Thursday yesterday so she was wrong but yeah I have no idea and so I feel for everyone that's in these in the haze of like I don't know when I have to go back to work

I don't know what time I'm waking up everything is happening I'm confused calling into Watson ask us anything if you were the Canucks what would be your New Year's resolutions so something you're like in control of because if you were to be like hey what do you want to see the Canucks do this year

I think it'd be get the first overall pick and do all that stuff they're in control of my resolution would be to be less or more drama free would be my resolution if I were the Vancouver Canucks

they set the bar pretty high 2025 if you could just be normal for like a year that would go long way. I think mine would be to rebuild in a bit of a hybrid form. Dude, I have great news for you. They're doing it.

Yes. Be normal. I like that. I mean, that's my wish for my kids this year, too. Just be normal. Please. Just be normal. That's what you're saying every night. That's why you can't, it's why the Monday mornings are a struggle when you come in here. They weren't normal. Mike says, how about a practice facility? Yeah, that would be.

to make plans for a practice facility. That would be a good resolution as well. Keith the water guy, ask us anything. Would you trade Marco Rossi if a first round pick was on the table for him? I don't know. Like I, if you move, I think there's a level of like, you do have to keep some players, you know? Like you're not going to, as much as some people want to go full scorched

scorched earth all the time and just get rid of everyone and I get it because you're frustrated with the team teams are never going to do that they're never going to completely tear it down to the studs but when I look at this team like I I am fine with keeping anyone 25 and under especially if you kind of project them to still be like I don't know if Marco Rossi's going to be a top six center on a on a great team but like a third line center on a good team I could see that And so I have no problem keeping Rossi. I think I would need a bit more than a first round pick. I feel like Rossi though is a candidate for a guy whose stock could just plummet.

Yeah. Like absolutely plummet. Because I was going to say there's no rush, but then that came into my mind. He didn't have a huge runway before getting acquired. Like you had a couple of decent seasons. If he starts to tank with the Canucks, like there's no one that's going to give you anything for him, which is disappointing. Yeah, that's a tough line. Yeah, potentially.

I still think at least at the moment, like, We're talking. I don't think you have to trade him this year. Yeah, yeah. That's, you know, this, for this hypothetical. While he's young. While he's still, I guess he's last year of early 20s already right now. Yeah.

Yeah, I still think, like, even in the next year, I would need a little more than a first round pick. Unless you're getting, like, a pick between 10th and 15th overall, and there's someone that you like as a scouting staff there, then maybe you make the consideration. but for me it's I don't know I just need

There are other things on the list that need to be done yeah like you make other moves and then if you get to the point where you're like I don't know

it's not a priority also I think if Marco Rossi were available for that like he would have been they would have traded for him earlier yeah probably yeah like honestly

I do think if they if the Wilde had gone to the Canucks at the draft and been like 15th overall for Marco Rossi I'm sure they at least would have heavily considered it, if not said yes to it, because we all know

how desperate they were for a center and the obvious links to Marco Rossi around the draft as well. This asks us anything from Justin and East Van. Do you follow the five second rule when you drop food on the floor? I think it depends on what floor, but for the most part, yes. Yeah, me too. Yeah, because I'm not like, I'm not above it. Unless it depends on what food. It depends on what food. You're dropping a like a piece of jam on bread and you drop it face down. I'm not picking that up. It's over.

Yeah. I also have like I have two cats and like we do a pretty good job of like keeping it hair free and vacuuming and all that but something like there's going to be a couple and then it's just then I'm eating cat hair and I don't want that. That's disgusting. So I do I do follow it but yeah, you're right. It does depend on the food and what. I watched a guy the other day at a restaurant drop his burger on the floor and he picked it up

and kept eating it. I feel like a full bird? Did he have to reassemble it? Yep. Yeah. That's a tough look. You got to put it back together. Stop!

I could have dropped my croissant. I think he thought no one saw him, but I did. The worst is when, like, I feel like I've been in a situation where I've, like, dropped food or done something like that. And you kind of look around, you're like, okay, nobody saw. I can do this. And then as you're taking the bite, you see someone making it. direct eye contact with you?

Full judgment. And you're like, ah, well, I'm too committed now. It's like George Costanza picking the food out of the garbage can. Oh, man. Yeah. Gross. This one, J. Dogg the Carhawk, ask us anything. Who has been the Canucks best forward this year?

I've been arguing with my buddies the last couple days. So I assume this is like relative to expectations. And relative to expectations, it's, well, I mean even just in general. Kiefer Sherwood, yeah. Yeah. Linus Carlson you can maybe make a case for, but I think undoubtedly it's still Kepardture. There's somewhat of a Connor Garland case

when he's healthy in terms of the play driving and that he's been better on the power play too. But, I mean, Kiefer Sherwood's first few weeks were incredible, and then even when he's not scoring, he's bringing the hits and the physical dimension. Yeah, there's always... Also, there's not that many other people. It's Drew O'Connor, you guys.

How many names are we going to throw? that's not that's the list none of them are fun games or fun names I'll tell you that uh like there's yeah it's not the brusk it's not Besser it's not we have exhausted the list I would have loved if we could have been like

Elias Pedersen is the Canucks best forward this season he's not 650 650 Chantelle what we learned is Canucks bad luck can follow you like Bo Horvac getting injured after being named to team Canada apparently

but I did see a report I believe it was from Pierre LeBron half an hour or so ago saying that they don't believe the Horvatt injury is too serious. So good news for him. He should still be able to play for Team Canada at the Olympics.

We haven't spent too much time talking about it, but there's been a lot of talk on Canucks Twitter and such about Bo Horvatt being named to the Canadian team at the Olympics. I am not going to lie.

I was surprised. Like, I don't think he would have been on my team. He would have been really close to being on my team. I think I probably would have taken Sam Bennett over him. But it's close. And good for him. Like he exceeded my expectations, basically every turn of his career. Like when he was drafted, he exceeded expectations.

What he did in Vancouver exceeded my expectations. Keeping it up with the Islanders has been great too. So good for him. But I was definitely surprised when it was announced. Yeah, he's the name that people not have the most questions about per se, but you could argue and put someone else on. But I mean, they clearly like the skill set. And he has that skill set, as you said, Josh.

Even if he's not on everybody's mock team, he's always been pretty close. And even going back a few years when people would put B teams together, he was generally on a B team. The thing that surprised me is, Elliot Friedman, after the announcement, he was on the fan hockey show. And he was talking about how in 2022, Doug Armstrong won a Bull Horvatt on the team if they had gone to the Olympics.

And obviously, they didn't. But that surprised me mainly because, like, that wasn't the year Horvatt broke out, like the year he was traded to the Islanders. That was the year before. Yeah. Where he had 30 goals in 70, or 31 goals in 70 games. He had 50 points. So he wasn't like bad, but to me it's like there's a bar for team Canada.

And I know he has the face off ability and all that too, but I would have been extra surprised at that time. He was also really good against the St. Louis Blues in the bubble playoffs. And Armstrong doesn't forget. And as Doug Armstrong let us know, he's the one who built the St. Louis Blues because that's the reason that Jordan Biddington is not at fault. That was crazy.

He was like, hey, I know Jordan Biddington's been bad. it's just because the team is bad. And it's like, well, hold on. Dude, that's your job. That's your job. We're all trying to find the guy who did this. I think Seth Jarvis being left off is the biggest snub. You think that's the biggest snub more than Bedard.

He's the kind of guy I think you want to have on your team because he can do a variety of things and put the puck in the net. So I think that was the biggest. I think Celebrini can do that. Yeah, that's a fair point. But at the same time, I'm still gutted for Jarvis because he's a guy that was on the Four Nations team, didn't play poorly. Nope.

He's been a little banged up this year, but other than that, he's been great. So tough calls all around. Yeah, I mean, like they were always going to be in this situation, right? Where it's like there's three or four guys that you look at and you're like, how did they not make the team? But also, if they had made the team and someone else hadn't, we would have been talking about the guys that hadn't. Yeah.

It's a no-win situation. We'll end with this one from Rager, what we learned. Josh has a bit of a Seth Rogen laugh, and I can't unhear it. I wonder why. I don't believe you. That sounded kind of like Seth, Rogan. I don't believe you. Yeah, yeah. All right. I appreciate everyone texting in 650, 650 on the Dunbar Lumbert text line. Everyone listening as well. By the way, it is a Canucks Game Day.

And Canucks Game Day is brought to you by Panago. Game Day, the Panago way, get any large pizza plus cheesy bread for only 2499. Use code Canucks at Panago.com. Panic go for it. Restrictions may apply. Thank you to Zach and Laddie producing the show today. Thank you to my co-host is real fair. I've been Josh Elliott-Wolf. You get your regular scheduled programming back on Monday. Halford and Brough will return. But appreciate everyone sticking with us on SportsNet 650.