Halford & Brough in the Morning - Nothing Beats A Game 7 In The Stanley Cup Playoffs

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports including an incredible Game 7 win by the Jets and a storybook exit for the Avs (3:00), plus they set up the second round of the NHL playoffs, which is Canada heavy for the first time in years (27:00).  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- This is the Squire, passes across the shot. They score! Can you believe it? My goodness! What does that feel like? It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. It's kind of what you dream of. He off, shoots, they score! Game over, series over! Just so much fight.

Every single guy brought their game. Good morning, Vancouver, six o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Bref, it is Sportsnet 650, and we are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you.

Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Bref of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling,

Vancouver's premier metal recycler. While 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 and Step. Big show ahead on a Monday, got out a million things to get into,

little bit of a different guest list today than normal on a Monday. Four guests, entire first hour open, so it's just Halford and Brough. We actually have an 830 guest today, so what we learned will be in a bridged version. Today guest list today though begins at seven o'clock. George Richards from Florida Hockey Now is gonna join the program tonight. It is Panthers, it is Leafs, it is the start of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It begins in Toronto.

It's a five o'clock puck drop. You can watch it and hear it across the Sportsnet network. We'll talk to George about the Florida side of things going into tonight at seven o'clock. 7.30, Ken Wiebe from the Winnipeg Free Press is gonna join us. That was one of, if not the, yeah I'm willing to go there, greatest game sevens, at least in recent memory,

I don't know of all time, but whatever happened in Winnipeg last night was something special. Winnipeg, crazy comeback at the end of regulation, winning in double overtime in game seven. Imagine what it would have been like to have been in the crowd for a win over the St. Louis Blues in game seven. We'll talk to Ken Weeb about that at 7.30. Eight o'clock, Kevin Woodley, NHL.com,

In-Goal Magazine will join us. We'll do a state of the Canucks, talk about some of these goalie stories from around the National Hockey League and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Can the Oilers win with Pickard? Did Connor Hellebuck exercise the demons last night? We'll talk to Woodley about that at 8.30.

Mark Lazarus from the Athletic is gonna join us. Now Mark's a Chicago Blackhawks beat writer by trade, but he was working the Colorado Dallas series for the Athletic. Another crazy series, Great Game 7 on Saturday. And he wrote the end of year obituary for the Abbs Another crazy series. Great game seven on Saturday. And he wrote the end of year obituary for the abs, which is important because that team was visibly, visibly shaken after another early playoff exit. So we'll talk to him about all that at eight 30. Uh, okay. We're

also giving away tickets today. We are giving away a pair of tickets to see the seas. Yes, the Vancouver Canadians and the Everett Aqua socks at the Nat on Saturday, May 17th. Yes, the Vancouver Canadians and the Everett Aquasocs at the Nat on Saturday, May 17th. It's a Sportsnet 650 presentation. The women in sports day special guest appearance by Hazel May. Game time is one oh five. We are giving away tickets today. Caller number five at eight 15. I repeat caller number five at eight 15. The phone number six oh four two eight oh zero six 50. That number again 604-280-650 A pair of tickets every day this week for the Seas and Everett game on Saturday May 17th It is Women in Sports Day presented by Sportsnet 650 That was a mouthful we got a lot to get into so without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No No What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it?

You missed that? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Gotta start in Winnipeg. Gotta start in Winnipeg. Gotta start in Winnipeg last night. Boy, did I actually feel good for the city and the Jets and all the guys on that team. Even Rick Bonus working the broadcast from afar. Adam Lowry, 6'10 of the second overtime for the Jets. Improbable rally.

One of the most improbable rallies I think I've ever seen in Stanley Cup playoff history, game seven, game tying goal by Cole Profetti with 2.2 seconds left and then Adam Lowry in overtime. What a game last night in Winnipeg. Since this is a Canuck show, how many parallels were there with 2011 against the Chicago Blackhawks? Way too many. That was the Jets slay the dragon moment.

So I apologize for what's coming for you eventually. You know, you'll have fun along the way. You'll have fun there. It's good times. But the end is not good. Um, just with, uh, you know, the president's trophy and the thoughts of are we really going out in the first round?

Have we been sucked in by this, this team again? Um, I know a lot of people were very sensitive about this online, but, uh, the comparisons between Hellebuck and Luongo were out there to the point that Luongo was trending on social media yesterday. And it's, and it's good that we can still argue about Luongo more than a decade later. And some people were, some people will, will

maintain like, you know, like he wasn't, he didn't have problems in the playoffs look at the numbers look at the numbers you can't compare him to a hellebuck well a lot of people were last night but man it was just I okay so full disclosure that's actually pretty funny you know my dad turned 82 months ago and I said happy birthday on the show? I remember. Well, happy birthday to my mom. She turned 80 yesterday and we had a dinner out and it was a very nice dinner.

I was on my phone watching this game, kind of watching the game but also like, trying to converse with everyone. You were working. I was working. I'm a workaholic but I couldn't believe, I saw the first two periods and I was like, oh'm a workaholic, but, uh, you know, I, I couldn't believe I saw the first two periods and I was like, Oh God, the jets, the jets. And then I couldn't believe that they, that they

scored that game tying goal with 1.6 seconds. 2.2 seconds left. It was, it was unbelievable that they did it. And then I think equally unbelievable was the quality of the play in the first overtime. And then it gets through that without a goal scored and the second overtime, quite a bit of second overtime.

And you knew it would be like a point shot like that, that would eventually get it done. And you know, my first thought was Hellebuck must feel so good. He must feel so good. Now I don't know, and you kind of referenced this earlier in the show, if he exercised the demons, he did what he had to do to win the game. I think Bennington was actually better than him because he had way more shots and Bennington was incredible.

But Hellebuck got the job done. Yep. And we'll see if he can take anything from that, from coming out on the winning end and going into the next series against the Dallas Stars, who had an equally, not equally, but it was still crazy comeback against Colorado and we'll get into that. You know, I guess the questions going forward

are, um, the health of each of these two teams. Maybe you could run down the key players that we're going to be watching ahead of this Dallas Winnipeg series. Yeah. So Mark Shifely missed games six and seven of the first round series against St. Louis following the hit from Braden Schenne, although again, if you ask Jim Montgomery, it was hit from Radik Foxa. Josh Morrissey, perhaps equally, if not more distressingly, got hurt on the 2-0 goal yesterday.

And it looked as though that he had actually got shaken up earlier in the period on a hit from Oscar Sundquist. But then Joseph scores to make it two, nothing for the blues. And then Morrissey exited and did not return, which aside from losing their best defenseman, also like it put them down to five defensemen in a game seven must take winner take all. And Neil Pionk was unbelievable in that game, having to step up, played the most minutes ever in Winnipeg Jets franchise

history in that game. He got close to 50 on the night. Just a little- And they re-signed him too. Don't forget, like he's gonna be there for a while. Just a remarkable job by him. But anyway, so Morrissey hurt, exit, did not return to the game and no update afterwards

on the status of either Shifeley or Morrissey. Kind of understandable because there were a lot of other things to focus on the post of either Shifeley or Morrissey. Kind of understandable because there were a lot of other things to focus on the postgame media availability, but I do want to focus back on Connor Hellebuck here because in his walk-off interview with Sportsnet, he openly acknowledged how mentally trying this series was and I'm with you on maybe not necessarily starring in Game 7, but surviving it could be something huge for him moving forward. Here's Connor Hallebuck following a very, very emotional Game 7 double overtime victory to beat the Blues in round one.

Yeah, you know, I don't think it's any secret that this whole series has been a mental grind, ups and downs. And, you know, it takes a team to win. And, you know, we've been doing it all year and now I build. I continue to build and you know I'm looking forward to the next one. So for Winnipeg they win the President's Trophy and they get a big-time scare in the first round and believe it or not that's been a maybe not the President's Trophy but having a good season that's been a, maybe not the president's trope, but having a good season. That's been a fairly reliable indicator of teams that go to the Stanley Cup final at the very least. In 2011, the Canucks got a scare, but so too did

the Bruins in the first round against Montreal. They were a goal away from being eliminated and both those teams go on to win the cup. I referenced the other day, 1989, um, when the Canucks took the flames to seven games and that was the toughest series for Calgary. And they go on to win the Stanley Cup. I think they lost three games to the Canucks and

then three more games period for the rest of the run. Um, I don't know if it's going to be like that for the Winnipeg Jets, but sometimes when you go through something like the Jets did and come out good on the other end, it can be a galvanizing moment for the team and they can go on a real run. Now here's the problem. Dallas also had a galvanizing moment

against Colorado. And I want to galvanizing moment against Colorado. And I want to talk about that series. Right. These two teams who both win magical game sevens with two goal comebacks in the third period are going to meet next. So the Winnipeg Jets were the fifth team in NHL history to rally from a multi-goal deficit in the third period of a game seven to win. You know who the fourth team to ever do it in NHL history to rally from a multi-goal deficit in the third period of a game seven to win. You know who the fourth team to ever do it in NHL history was?

The Dallas Stars the day before against the Colorado Avalanche. Miko Rantanen took over when they needed him the most. He assisted on Wyatt Johnson's tie-breaking goal and then completed a third period hat-trick with an empty netter. Stars overcome a two goal deficit in the third period to stun the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Saturday night in what was another amazing series. If you want to talk about storybook narratives, like you had everything with Winnipeg last night, but if what happened.

Sports really came through this weekend, sports. If Winnipeg didn't happen last night, we would have been coming in here talking extensively and right off the top of what Rantanen did on Saturday because that was the kind of stuff that you can't script and you can't make up. All the drama surrounding the trade and his circuitous route all the way back to facing his former team in the first round and then he puts up a hat trick in a game seven. Now here's the thing.

I know that this conversation probably should be about Dallas and it should probably be about the team that had this great first round victory and is advancing. No it shouldn't, no it shouldn't. And it should probably be about the fact that it sounds like they're gonna get Mero Heisken in back and it sounds like they're gonna get Jason Robertson back. But this story is all about the Colorado Avalanche.

And this is now, so remember last week we were talking about, you have two types of teams in the National Hockey League at the end of the year that are frustrated. Most of them are the ones that don't make the playoffs at all. But there's a handful of ones where their first round exit was either unexpected or super disappointing and it might alter the course or trajectory of that team. And that's what it sounds like right now in Colorado. I had two clips. Two clips I want to play here. The first is Nathan McKinnon in the media availability afterwards, just laying it bare, talking about exactly what his team

did or more specifically didn't do against a weakened opponent. Here's Nate Dog following the loss to Dallas in game seven on Saturday night ending his season. I know from the outside people are going to look at this and say look at the best team because the league went to the break out of the wire in game seven. But is it hard for you guys to feel like you can win the Stanley Cup and go out in the first round? Yeah definitely. I mean they were missing their best D and maybe their best forward so we still couldn't beat them so yeah I don't know what we're gonna do. They're missing their best D, they're missing their best forward and we still couldn't beat them I don't know what we're gonna do.

That's quite a quote. I don't know what we're gonna do. I was like alright, that's fair. You know what he's gonna do though. He's gonna recruit Sid. Yeah we'll get to that in a minute. But that's out there in a major way. Sidney Crosby, in case you missed it,

Sidney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon are gonna play for Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships. They're going. Which just goes to show how much they love the game. And each other, potentially. And each other. And if you wanna start the Sidney Crosby

to Colorado rumors right now, fill your boots. I'm gonna throw in Marshaan as an unrestricted free agent too. The maritime monster, the three-headed maritime monster getting together in Colorado. right now, fill your boots. I'm going to throw in Marsha as an unrestricted free agent too. The maritime monster, the three headed maritime monster getting together in Colorado. Let's go win a cup, boy. I want to play some audio. That's a direct quote. Yeah. I want to play some audio from Gabriel Landiscock as well. I just want to give everyone

a sense of how pissed off and how shocked and how stunned they were that this went the way that it went. So the reporters were trying to ask all the Colorado guys, hey what was it like to have Miko Randin do this against you guys in game 7? Because you know he was on your team earlier this year and you guys won a Stanley Cup together and all that stuff and Landis Gogh was pretty blunt. I think we've got the question in here as well. This is Landis Gogh following the game 7 loss to Dallas ending his season. It was Miko who was the catalyst for that. I don't, I couldn't care less who scored for them. I really couldn't. I've told you Miko's one of my best friends and I love him but I couldn't

care whether he scored or somebody else scored. I don't care. You know who does care? The general manager of the Colorado Avalanche. Okay. So here's where I'm wondering. Um. Could not, that season could not have ended worse. Could not have gone worse.

You sure sound like someone who cared there for a second. And, and the way, the way it all went down and in case you need a refresher, Colorado, surprisingly mid-season trades, Rantantinen to Carolina. And Carolina thinks they're going to be able to sign them. Rantinen has no interest in signing with Carolina. It doesn't look like a good match on the ice anyway.

So the Hurricanes end up flipping Rantinen to Dallas of all the teams. And as soon as that trade happened, we were like, well, Dallas and Colorado could easily meet in the first round of the teams. And as soon as that trade happened, we were like, whoa, Dallas and Colorado could easily meet in the first round of the playoffs. And they end up meeting in the playoffs and then the script writers got together and said, what if, what if it's game seven

and Colorado has a two nothing lead, fully in control of the game. Now 12 minutes to go. Now what if Rantanen could score a hat trick and add an assist in a four two win for the Dallas Stars. What would that do to the entertainment value of this soap opera that we call professional sports? Well my question is what's it gonna do to Colorado?

Because right now, just consider this, in the first three games of this series, Colorado trailed for a grand total of 62 seconds. 62 seconds they trailed for. They lost two of those three games, right? That's a problem. In game three, they have one of the most emotional moments, the biggest pop that you've heard in the last five or six years in the National High League

when Gabriel Landiscauig returns after a three-year absence. Landiscauig comes back in this series, returns for game three at home, and they lost that game anyway. Then in game seven, they've got a two, nothing lead with 12 minutes to go and they lost not in overtime, but in regulation. Those are troubling signs for a hockey team. When Colorado won that Stanley cup in 2022, it wasn't that long ago. You remember that everyone was like, this is the start. This is McKinnon's moment. And now he's going to elevate to the next level

and they've got Kale McCarr. And this is going to be the jumping off point for this next new dynasty in Colorado. And since then they've won one playoff series. And Chris, you mentioned the general manager, the egg on his face from the rant in the situation, the Brock Nelson trade, which was an absolute disaster. Nelson finished that series with zero goals.

Marty Natures had one goal in the series. So Brock Nelson and Marty Natures had combined for one goal in that series. That's the team that I have like circled in red pen several times and say, that's the one you got to watch this off season. Cause if anyone should be pissed off about how their season ended, it's the Colorado Avalanche. And the fact that they've still got those players and they're going to try and look for anything

possible to help get them over the hump next season. And we've already speculated, a lot of people in hockey have already speculated about Sydney Crosby potentially, potentially being traded to Colorado and also Brad Marchand, pending unrestricted free agent, maybe joins the Colorado avalanche. Maybe both those guys join.

And then when the news broke this weekend that first of all, Sid's going to the Worlds, which is going to be held in Sweden and Denmark. Um, it was like, oh, that's awesome. Sid going to the world, man, that guy loves hockey. He's a, you know, I've heard from Canucks management that Sidney Crosby obsessed with hockey.

Little bit. That's what makes him so great. Little obsessive. Good practice habits. Always just loves the game, wants to go and play. And then we were kind of like, I think John Shannon reported like, hey, watch out for McKinnon as well.

And then soon after McKinnon was confirmed going to the roster and people spent about four seconds going, oh, that's cool. I might watch the worlds this year. Yeah. Yeah. Sid and McKinnon and then, and then their

brains clicked in and they're like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What if, what if, uh, Sid and Nate get together over in Europe and they're, I don't know, eating some fish or something like that in Denmark or in Sweden. They love fish. As you do in Europe and they're, I don't know, eating some fish or something like that in Denmark or in Sweden. Sure. They love fish.

As you do in Europe. Yeah. Europeans love fish. They're well known. There's no Tim Hortons here, but maybe there's a, I don't know, a place where we can get some fish and coffee as you do. It's a morning thing. Come to Colorado, Sid.

Get out of Pittsburgh. Why do you wanna be there anyway? I know you said you wanted to, I know you said you said you want to retire as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. You never want to play for, for another team, but what are you doing? You guys suck. You're terrible. Terrible. You want to go out like this?

You don't go out like this. Come to Colorado. We need you, man. We need all, I'll be the first line center. You be the second line center We have Brock Nelson in here is terrible like we haven't been able to we've still haven't been able to Replace Nazem Kadri. We've tried we tried Casey Middlestad. We tried Brock Nelson. It's not gonna work We get Charlie Coyle. He's a 3c right come over here. We'll win a cup together

There was a guy by the name of Ray Bork came to Colorado He didn't really want to play for any other team here, we'll win a cup together. There was a guy by the name of Ray Bork came to Colorado. He didn't really want to play for any other team, but he said, you know, it's not working for me here in Boston anymore. I'm going to come to Colorado. He won a cup right away. Come do it. How is that story not going to get legs? It's going to get legs. I don't know if he'll ever leave Pittsburgh. It would take something of this ilk, of this nature, for it to happen. Because again, if you don't know the the backstory and the history between Sidney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon, it's not just the Tim Hortons commercials. By the way, there are Tim Hortons in Europe. There's one in Andorra

of all places. Anyway, yeah, there's one in Spain and then Andorra which is next to Spain. And then there's one in the Ireland and one in, I want to say in England, maybe in Scotland. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. They're neighbors in Nova Scotia. They're both from Nova Scotia. They played together at the Worlds in 2015. Obviously played together at the Four Nations Face Off.

They do the commercials together constantly. I am- They get wacky together? They're some, you know, what do we put these wigs on? They wear funny mustaches, chin putty. Again, I still think it's a... The worst acting I've ever seen. It's not great. They could work on their acting.

I don't know if it'll just stay at the rumour level, but let's not deny this. Sid's gonna get asked about it. Yeah, let's not deny this. This is what's going to drive the summer. I mean, we may not be driving it here. It feels like we might get invested in it, but it will be a driver throughout the summer. Okay. Um, real quick, we're right up against it for time. So I kind of don't want to introduce a new conversation, but we've got

the entire next segment as well. We can get into some other stuff from the weekend, including another win for the Vancouver Whitecaps who are an absolute wagon right now. But there was some change at the ownership level for the Vancouver Canucks confirmed over the weekend. I'll just read the statement that the club released over the weekend. In response to various media inquiries that we have received and due to a private family member, Paolo Aquilini has resigned from his position with the team and will be leaving the ownership group. So this comes after a week in which, oh God, it was a really busy week to unpack. The team announced that Rick Tauket wouldn't be back as head coach.

Shortly thereafter, they had to issue a couple statements to various sources that the team was not indeed up for sale after Nick Kiprios, a host of Fan 590, Real Kiprenborn, he wrote in the Toronto Star that he had heard rumors that the Aqualini was exploring a sale of the team. The Vancouver Canucks released a statement after that, and then of course over the weekend, a sort of addendum to that, announcing that no, the team is not for sale,

however, there was a change in the ownership structure, one of the brothers, Paolo Aquilini, is now no longer on the team. Some people noticed that he had been removed from the sort of like virtual masthead on the team's website and everything else. So there's still a lot of news around the Vancouver Canucks as we try and unpack it. We can get into this conversation

more on the other side. The draft lottery tonight too? And the NHL draft lottery tonight. We'll play one round of Tankathon. The Canucks have a 0.5% chance to draft in the top five. Let's go. So there is a chance. 0% chance of first overall.

And I can't believe we're back doing this again. Well, we are. And we're going to do it on the other side of the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4-6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 6.30 on a Monday.

It's 80s Monday here on the House of the Rough Show on Sportsnet 650. You cannot tell me that Huey Lewis didn't write this. This is in honor of that CFL draft pick that had nine fan substances in his body. The song is called The Power of Drugs. Power of Drugs. Power of Drugs. Yeah. Did y'all see this story? Don't need money, don't need fame.

Just need an Andra loan in my veins. There you go. Did you see this story? Doing this live. So there's a defensive lineman named Darian Newell who was drafted or he was at the CFL draft combine. And then he took a drug test and his sample tested positive

for nine different drugs, including testosterone, nandrolone, drostanolone, all the loans. Oxandrolone. He was like, I can explain the drostanolone. That's stuff he knows. Some of the drugs are so hardcore, they don't have a name. They just have letters and numbers. He also tested positive for GW501516.

Oh, that's a big one. I'd love to be the doctor that was like doing this drug test and like just seeing the results slowly. Your lord. Wow I've never even heard that siren before. So the CFL had a press release on this and the best part of it is it said Mr. Newell appealed the result on April 29th. On April 30th Mr. Newell withdrew his appeal. But that, you know what? He was quoted as saying, wow, that's a lot of drugs.

But that's actually a bit of, oddly enough, seriously enough, that is a bit of a result of Randy Ambrosi's global ambitions because that player is from East Germany. I thought this was required. because that player is from East Germany. See? I thought this was required. You are listening to the Halferd and Brev show on Sportsnet 650. Halferd and Brev of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first entrusted choice, East Germany, first entrusted choice for dead help

with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at sans-trustsee.com. It doesn't even exist anymore. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Okay, prior to going to break, we brought up the fact that the Vancouver Connects did make a change in their management structure and announced that over the weekend, Paolo Accolini has resigned from his positions, plural, with the team leaving the ownership group.

So it's funny, I noticed the statement about them saying the team is not for sale and Um, and it added the remaining owners take their role as stewards of this community asset with deep responsibility and pride and remain fully committed to bring in the cup to Vancouver. This team holds great meaning for the family and is not for sale. There will be no further comments.

That's what I always hear when I ask questions of people in the know, like, do you think they'd ever sell? And the answer is almost always no. Right. Um, because it's more than just an investment. And by the way, the investment has done very well for them.

Um, they might've lost money a few years, but on the franchise value, it's probably gone up what, 10 times? NHL franchises have exploded in value over the last while. So I think they bought it for something like 250 million or 300 million and it's probably worth two to three billion right now, including Roger's Arena. Now as for Paolo's departure from the ownership group, I don't have a lot of experience with billionaire families.

Unfortunately, I'm not part of one. I belong to a thousandaire family, but we do okay. I did watch every episode of Succession, so I do feel like a bit of an expert and I know that a lot of times the family's assets are held in a trust. Now, this can be for tax purposes or passing it on in the future purposes, so you avoid taxes, but they're often held in a trust. And I guess what people are wondering is if Paolo, assuming he's a beneficiary of the family trust,

and I assume he is, they're wondering if Paolo could demand a significant payout to get away from the family business, which could potentially leave the team in a cash shortfall. Got it. Now, I'm sure it's very frustrating for the family, the Aquilini family to have all of this playing out in public, but that's what happens when you own what the family, the Aquilini family to have all of this playing out in public.

But that's what happens when you own what the family itself just called a community asset. People are very curious about this and people are interested in this sort of thing. Succession was very popular and it was based on the Murdoch family, Rupert Murdoch. Yep. And there have been plenty of other wealthy family dramas that have played out in public, not for this company, of course.

I mean, again, nothing has played out in public for the company that we work for, but a bunch of them have involved sports teams. Um, just to pick one random one, the Bus family, which owns the Lakers. They, when, what was the dad's name? Jerry, right? Yeah, Dr. Jerry Bus. When he, he's got a bunch of kids and when he died, he left Jeannie in charge of it all.

Correct. Right? And I think another one of his son was in charge of basketball operations. And there was at one point like an attempted coup on Jeannie Buss and she ended up winning in court. But the whole thing was a bit of a mess and people were interested in it. And there are also, by the way, minority owners

of the Lakers. I believe they brought them on when they wanted to build a new arena. So they teamed up with Phil Anschutz and they minority owners of the Lakers, I believe they brought them on when they wanted to build a new arena. So they teamed up with Phil Anschutz who owns the LA Kings and he eventually sold that minority stake and you know who he sold it to was Mark Walter who now owns the PWHL of which Vancouver will be getting a franchise very soon. Anyway, a lot of rich people talk here. I think what people are most curious about is whether or not this affects the Canucks in any way, whether or not it could lead

to a cash shortfall that affects their spending, whether it's on players or coaches or practice facilities or whatever. Um, now by all accounts, the Canucks stepped up and made a big offer for Rick Tauket. So I don't think you can sit there and say, wow, this caused them to leave or caused them to, to miss out on Rick Tauket. Like, I don't, I don't think that's, that's the case, but going forward, do they need to

bring on some minority investors or can they handle this all themselves? Um, you know, it'd be a bit, it's a, it's a big deal for on the business side of things for, for the Canucks. Like, I just want to point this out that, uh, at the ownership level across the big four sports in North America, there are countless examples of family businesses

that operate in that very high level and the drama that goes along with any family business. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Like go read up, by the way, because when we were talking about this over the weekend, I remember I read about Tom Benson, the former owner of the New Orleans saints and like just the stuff there,

like his daughter and his granddaughters and three estranged family members, like weren't even welcome at his funeral. And that was in large part because of the direction of the team. And it's such a weird dynamic because the team is, it's kind of like a community thing. And there's a lot of people that follow it, dare I say obsessively, but it's also like your insular family business that,

if you've got like, if you've got an interpersonal relationship that has nothing to do with the execution of the day-to-day operation, like what happened in New Orleans. Like it was about Tom Benson's third wife or something like that. Like his third wife kind of created a rift within the family, but that played out in the public because the New Orleans Saints were this huge thing in Louisiana and there was millions of fans and any like little interpersonal

dynamic on the family side played out in front of people who were like, who's our quarterback? Like, you know, what's the succession plan for Drew Brees? Nevermind the ownership group. So if you, you know, in the NFL, it's rampant and these things happen. I hate saying it, but it happens all the time, all the time. And the Aqualines will not want to be talking

about this, but people will be talking about it. So that's the story there. The other Canucks related news of the day is that today is the draft lottery. Now the Canucks have no chance of picking first overall, second overall, third overall, or fourth overall, but there's a chance, a very slight chance, they could pick fifth overall if they win the draft

lottery and they move up 10 spots from 15th. There's also a chance, very small chance, that they could actually move down in the draft lottery. I think if Calgary wins the draft lottery, then Calgary would move up to sixth overall and the Canucks would move to 16th. I'll be fitting that would be.

Halford hates all of those. You know what? You just, can I pause for a moment? Okay. The reason that I hate this is because last year when we were elbows deep in playoff action and we were one of the eight markets that got to celebrate second round Second round Stanley Cup playoff action. I look down my nose at those people playing with Tankathon. I'm like we're never going back there Mm-hmm. This is on a rocket ship to the moon. You're an idiot. That never gonna have to do this on May 5th ever again Well, we're doing it today

three two one Simulate lottery spin the wheel. Tell me what we one, simulate lottery. Spin the wheel. Tell me what we got. 15th overall. Yay. Anaheim won the draft lottery and moved up to seventh. Seattle also won. So in my tankathon, it went, Ooh, poor San Jose and Chicago.

So Anaheim, Seattle, San Jose and Chicago. Can I actually go 15th? Yeah. 15th, yeah. Have you already done your research on who you could be picking at 15th overall in the 2025 NHL entry draft? Well, they will not be picking because haven't we all just come to the conclusion that they're going to trade this pick? It's already burning a hole in their pocket.

Yeah, they're going to trade this pick. I mean, look, I think even if they were to win the draft lottery and move up to 15th overall, they'd probably trade that pick. They'd be like, Oh, we can get an even better center now. They can try and get that CFL guy. Yeah. That guy's committed to winning. Yeah.

Can he skate? Yeah. He's obsessive. He's obsessive about winning. You know what? Actually, if there's a year where you're going to be doing some moving and shaking, maybe on draft night, this might be the year to do it because they're decentralizing it. Apparently, it's only going to be for one year.

There's multiple reports that they're over the weekend. I think Cam Robinson from Elite Prospects had it as well, that the chatter right now is that they're going to go back to a centralized draft in 2026. Oh, Betman's going to be insufferable about this. He'd be like, not that I didn't tell you, but I told you. I told you so. You all said that you wanted to decentralize it, so I said, okay, okay, we'll try it for this year. Does everyone understand why a decentralized draft is better? I don't think everyone truly gets it. Explain it.

Well, it's easier to actually make moves and stuff when you're not sitting on the floor. I've talked to countless people who say the way that it's set up makes it really difficult to do trades, do business, because you don't have everything at your normal disposal. You're not in your office, you don't have all of your, God, literally equipment.

You've got these landline phones There's that great picture of Cal Duvus on the draft for one time holding two cell phones up like trying to make two calls At once and he looks like a Wall Street trainer for a trader from 1980 right like it's very our bonds General managers are now loath to talk to anyone on the draft floor because it's just a bunch of like Gawking public figures staring at you love doing that I used I was my it was like a bunch of gawking public figures staring at me. You loved doing that. I used to, it was like a pocket industry for me for a couple of years when we'd go to the draft. I'd be like, ooh, look, Joe Sackett is talking to Kevin Adams. Something could be brewing there. And then they were just talking about nothing, right? So anyway, Sackett goes up to Adams and he's like, are you still the general manager of the Sabres? That's crazy, man.

Good for you, buddy. That's great. You're hanging in there. So when you look at an NFL draft and they've got, I don still the general manager of the Sabres? That's crazy, man. Good for you, buddy. That's great. Man, you're hanging in there. So when you look at an NFL draft, and I don't think you can use the term war room anymore. I don't know what they call them now, but when you look at their setups, those setups are designed to make the movement, acquisition, and departure of draft picks easier.

It's like you just got everything at your disposal, right? You got your big stupid board up there, like you just got everything at your disposal, right? You get your big stupid board up there and you've got all of your information, all your draft profiles, everything. And that's why there's so much movement at the NFL draft in part. How much of it do you think is just done on like WhatsApp? Possibly.

Yeah. But they've just, yeah, it's just, they're not all- Who's this guy in the chat talking about like strikes on Yemen here? Right. What's going on? On chat talking about like, strikes on Yemen here? What's going on here? Wrong chat, wrong chat, wrong chat. Wrong chat, wrong chat. So yeah, I mean, I remember actually, you know what?

Interestingly enough, when the draft was here in 2019 in Vancouver, I don't know if you remember it or not, but we sort of ill-advised, talked up the event. No, no, no, no, no, no, you did. Okay, I ill-advised. You did. I was like, it's fun because in the last few drafts., no, no, no, no. You did. Okay, I ill-advised. You did. I was like, it's fun because in the last few drafts I said don't pay for it.

In the last few drafts that we had gone to, there had been a lot of action in the first round. There had been a lot of draft day trades and there was a lot of movement on the floor. I'll never forget Ron Hextall at the 2014 draft. He was the general manager of the Flyers, trying furiously to move up to get the number one pick so they could take Aaron Ackblad.

He was willing to move whatever he could. And it was funny watching him just sort of like Pac-Man around, didn't get done, but it was kind of a cool moment. Yeah. The draft here, and I can't put this all on having a centralized draft, I'm sure there are other factors, but the draft here was the most boring first round I can ever remember.

Nobody traded everything. Everyone up and just made their pick and thanked the Stanley Cup champion and sat back down. Right. And the issue with the NHL draft is that the first five or six picks are intriguing because you could actually see them in the, in the NHL that following year.

But. You kind of know them, you know, you've heard their names. But unlike the NFL draft, if you're a team that made the playoffs last year and you're drafting 25th overall in the first round, you're going to see that guy play. If you're in the NHL and you're drafting 25th overall in the first round, you're probably not seeing that

guy play for one or two years at minimum. So it's kind of hard to get really excited about it. Like let's say we could just take a time machine right now. Yeah. Quickly travel into the future and find out who the Canucks win, or Canucks draft, and then we come back and we say the name to everyone listening right now.

What percentage of the listeners would know the Canucks 15th overall pick? Or could tell you anything about him other than he's a hockey player. A handful. Yeah. A handful, honestly. I couldn't. I know. And trust me, you will get countless, countless prospects, analysts, and interviews, and Q&As on this very station in the months following because that's what we do. It's a diehard hockey market and we're the home

of the Canucks and everything. And then someone will hear enough of those interviews and be like, I know who I want. That's my guy. The Canucks to take it 15th overall. Yep. Um, the Stanley Cup playoffs is on to the next round. And, uh, tonight there is hockey. Florida, um, at Toronto, uh, Toronto won the

division remember. Yep. So they got home ice advantage. That's a five o'clock start our time. Tomorrow, Carolina at Washington, four o'clock start our time and Edmonton at Vegas, 6.30 I think is the start for us. That's correct.

Wednesday, you've got game two of Florida and Toronto, and you've also got game one of Dallas and Winnipeg. So eight teams left, three of them are Canadian. Three Canadian teams, yeah. And I think this is the first time in a while that there have been three. Since 2008 per David Amber. Yep.

Since 2008? Yep. Okay. 17 years since we've had three of the final eight being Canadian teams. Ross looking at me in disbelief. No, no I'm just wondering who the teams were. Oh that in 2008 But three Canadian teams I put out a poll on social media yesterday And I said which Canadian team has the best chance to win the cup? And it was pretty even.

Winnipeg ended up winning the poll at 36.3%, Edmonton 35.1% and then Toronto at 28.6%. Um, I have a tough time trying to answer this question myself because I think all three of them are up against it in this next round. Like they could all easily lose, but chances are one of them is going to win this round. I know a lot of people are not giving the Leafs much of a chance, if any, against the Florida Panthers. And I get that, but I do think the Leafs are

pretty darn good team. Like they play the right way in the playoffs. I thought they were a lot more mature than the Ottawa senators in the first round. And I think that showed. And even though Ottawa put, I guess, a bit of a scare into the Leafs, the Leafs got it done. And they got it done in a, I would say again,

relatively stress-free way. Sorry, I said 2008, I meant to say 2004. Yeah. That's what I thought. And the teams were Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary. Yeah. That was the year that Calgary went. I thought, I thought, see, that's why I looked at you.

Yeah. I thought it was 2004. 2004. And that was the year that Calgary went. I thought, I thought, see, that's why I looked at you. I thought it was 2004. 2004. And that was the year that Calgary went to the cup final. 21 years ago. Lost to Tampa Bay. So it's been a long time.

You know, Winnipeg, obviously they're going to play a really good team in Dallas and you've also got some injury concerns with Shifeley and Morrissey and we'll see about them. And then Edmonton, they're going to play a really tough series against Vegas, a team that knocked them out a couple of years ago. Now the, the narrative out of Edmonton will be that well, the Oilers are, are battled hard, hard and

now, and they, and they, and they know how to, how to win in the playoffs. Look, they went to the Stanley Cup finals this year, one last year, one, one game away from winning it all. This is a totally different Oilers team that's going to play Vegas this year. I was like, I don't know about that. I away from winning it all. This is a totally different Oilers team that's going to play Vegas this year.

I was like, I don't know about that. I, frankly, of all the teams, of all the teams that might come to regret this, I believe in Edmonton, the least of those three teams of Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. I know they got McDavid and Drysaddle, but I do not trust that blue line. And Calvin Pickard's their goalie. Calvin Pickard, career backup. I just, I know McDavid and Drysaddle, right? Like that's, you always come back to those two.

They're so good. And you know, the LA Kings will tell you that just when you think you've got the Oilers down, McDavid and Dryside will show up and all of a sudden you're like, wait, what happened? Did we lose that? We lost that series?

They nearly did it to Florida last year. Florida had them down three nothing and they nearly came back and won that series. So the Oilers are never dead until they're dead. But I don't know, I just, I can't see it. I can't see it with the guys beyond McDavid and Dry Saddle. So, I actually go the other way on that one.

Cause I think that if one thing was proven over the last couple of years is that they can win with Pickard in that. This series to me was the real illuminating one that they could win different styles with Pickard in it because there was games where they were pretty tight defensively and he did a good job of mopping up whatever was in front of them. Like they they flipped that series

against Los Angeles so thoroughly and I know Los Angeles played a part in that but let's be real here. The other part of it was Edmonton. And we talked about this. We weren't sure exactly what or how, but they spoke and Kevin BX on the panel spoke about, they seem like they figured something out in that series against Los Angeles and then took over that series. That's what the McDavid and dry saddle factor is for me, is that I think there's a certain confidence that comes along with those guys where when they've got you

figured out, you're like, now we are screwed, now we are dead. Because there is an element of unstoppable with both. Like there's, you're gonna, they're gonna get theirs and there's certain things that McDavid and Dry Settle are gonna do that you're not gonna be able to stop. The key is to mitigate the damage. And what LA was unable to do over the four consecutive losses in that series was figure it out.

They just couldn't figure, like, Edmunds had figured them out and there was no second chapter to that where LA figured out what was going on. They just looked flummoxed and lost. Now that being said, I do think that Vegas is a better opponent. I think Vegas has better forwards

to deal with McDavid and Dreisele. Like I think Eichel and Stone, even though Eichel and Stone weren't great in the first round against Minnesota, I think that they are a little bit better equipped than the Kings. The Kings had like a good system and good structure and that, but in terms of the one-to-one

head-to-head matchups, I actually like the Vegas forward group. And I like the Vegas defense a lot more than I like the Kings blue line. And that's even with Drew Doughty playing as well as he was, he's longer in the tooth, but that Vegas blue line is a tough piece of business. It might be the best one in the Western conference.

So I'm going to go around the room here. Toronto, Winnipeg or Edmonton who has the best chance to win the cup. The cup right here with the final eight. Oh man. It's a tough one. I honestly think, I hate saying this, but I think it might be Toronto.

I think it might be Toronto. If they can get past Florida. If they can get past Florida. Because- But what's the argument against Florida? What's the argument? Cause the argument against Florida is that Matthew Kichuck is nowhere near 100%, right?

He's playing hurt and he's not playing a lot. For whatever you think Brad Marshawn is, this version is 37 years old and is a third liner. And it's the difficulty of getting to a third consecutive Stanley Cup final. Just statistically, it's really tough to do that. You know, you wanna weigh in here. I have an argument against Toronto.

Is it Stolars? It's Toronto. Well, we're not asking for arguments against. I think it might be the Jets. Well, I just really tough to do that. I have an argument against Toronto. Is it Stollers? It's Toronto. Well, we're not asking for arguments against. I think it might be the Jets. Yeah. Well, I just want to counter help his point. No, no, I know. Because I think the Jets are the ones that I could see getting past their opponent, but I couldn't see Toronto or Edmonton.

The Jets are too worrisome because of Shifely and because of Morrissey. If they're out for any extended period of time, and Shifely's already missed two games, you can and if you couldn't go for a Game seven, he must be pretty seriously now that being said I just said that about Winnipeg Dallas Just won a series almost literally the exact same thing. I think it's gonna be Robertson. I think Winnipeg I could see them getting past Dallas I just don't know how the Oilers get past Vegas and of the Toronto past the Panthers. No way of the three

Winnipeg has the best vibes and mojo right now and I know Toronto's got the hey we actually went around that's great for us and Ruby's given them a sense of calm. I like what Myrtle said about Toronto when we had him on Friday He's like the blue line is so much better so much better suited just play hockey. It's just tight Yeah, it plays tighter the Harlow have given them something like he ran through some of the names that they were running out there It's just tight. It's just tight. Yeah. It plays there. And that was a runoff of having a big regular season when he hadn't played that much. I just think Edmonton is the scariest team to me. I think there's this illusion that they've got it

sort of figured out defensively, but LA doesn't really have much. And you look at the shot totals in the games that Pickard played. 28, 22, 27, and then 41, which was the overtime. Yeah. So like Pickard hasn't really been faced with all that much And he's gonna get thrown into the fire against Vegas. Yeah, you know I call me

Skeptical of that move as a lousy goalie myself I feel like when they put Pickered in that there was a Conscious switch where they were like okay. We have to do more in front of this guy 893 and they know in front of this guy. You put up an 893 and they went 4-0. I know, that's what I'm saying. You could see the style of play in front of him change. It's almost like if we put a weaker goalie in net,

you guys will maybe work harder. I don't know if he's weaker than Skinner. I know this sounds stupid, but well, Skinner's a better goalie. He's a better goalie. He's fallen on hard times, but in terms of talent, he's a better goalie. And it was interesting yesterday in Winnipeg is that I felt at times yesterday,

Hellebuck struggles, force the guys in front of him to do an even more like impressive and heroic job of blocking shots because they didn't wanna put it on him when he was shaky, right? Absolutely, you see it all the time. Brandon Tan of a nine million pucks yesterday. Like he was crazy the amount of shots that he was blocking.

And I was like, I wonder if he knows that he's got a shaky goalie in there. And like the more I can do to take the pressure off his shoulders, the better we're gonna be for it, right? There is that dynamic at play. And I think there's a little bit of that with Picker. Although I think that just happens now in the playoffs. Like regardless of your goalie.

Oh, but look at, I mean- In a mock you're blocking shots. And if you're not blocking shots, you're not playing. But St. Louis didn't block as many. Yeah. Right? I mean, and I do think like part of it was like, regardless of your goal. Oh, but look at, I mean. In a mock you're blocking shots. And if you're not blocking shots, you're not playing. But St. Louis didn't block as many. Yeah. Right. I mean, and that, and I do think like part of it was like, well, let's not get in Bennington's way here. He's, he's seeing everything and he was great yesterday.

Like Bennington was awesome. I, it low, I loathe the guy and I don't like offering him any praise, but between what he did at Four Nations, what he did in 2019 and what he did yesterday in the game seven double overtime where they were getting out shot badly. It was impressive. I'll give them that. Okay.

George Richards from Florida is going to join us next. So we'll talk about the Florida Panthers and we'll ask George if there's a weakness of this team right now, what is it? You're listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.