Halford & Brough in the Morning - One Day To Go Until The Biggest Whitecaps Game Ever

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with soccer analyst James Sharman (4:49) to help set up tomorrow's sold out Western Semifinals matchup at BC Place between the Vancouver Whitecaps and LAFC, plus the boys talk the latest hockey news with NHL.com's Dan Rosen (23:57). 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.

7.02 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody, sweet, sweet Friday. It's a Fiesta Friday here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford in Brough the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. score a debt freedom hat trick one no more interest too much lower payments three financial peace of mind visit them online at sands dash trustee.com we are now in our two of the program a j from a jays pizza is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two hour two is brad to bathe jason hominock at jason dot mortgage if you love giving the banks more of your money then don't let jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you visit them online at jason dot mortgage most days but not today we are coming to you live

from the kintech studio kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you and step it's because we're a live on location show now we're live on location today at duke on marine and then next week we're live on location again at a j's pizza on america thanksgiving let's bring him on the line now it's the owner as you call it halford thanksgiving a thursday uh owner and proprietor of a j's pizza on his broadway it's a jay here on the halford improv show on sports n650 what up a j hey what's going on hey can you do me favor can you ask some of the people from duke if they're willing to trade pizza for a tahoe I was just looking on their site.

I was looking on their site. It's a beautiful truck. I'm in. This is my best pizza. Yeah, the age old pizza for Tahoe trade. Classic in the bartering circles. That's what I was going to say. We're live on location all this morning until 9 a.m.

And then we're going to turn this around. And in less than a week's time, we're going to be live at your shop. 325 and 327 East Broadway. Can you set up for everyone what's going down on Thanksgiving, American Thanksgiving Thursday? I know there's a bunch of football on the menu, but you guys got a bunch of stuff playing as well. Oh, and you know what? It's our eight-year anniversary.

Hey, awesome. Yeah, yeah. So eight years, listen, it's going to be happy hour all day. We open the doors at 845. I already have Rezos. Football all day. I'm going to go out on a limb, and I'm going to do $3 slices for everybody all day.

It is going to be epic. It's going to be fun. It's going to be crazy. And I am so excited to have you guys on location. Well, we're excited, too. We're only one hour into this, and it hasn't been an abject disaster yet. So we're doing great so far, live on location.

The first time we've ever done a live on location. What's a breakfast pizza? Yeah, what's a breakfast pizza going to look like? I got breakfast pizza. You got a little sausage. You got some eggs. You got some jalapinos. It's going to be delicious.

Well, that's perfect for the Packers game. Can I get some sausage on it? Now, listen up, everybody. If you can't wait until Thanksgiving, go by ages this weekend. It is a great sports weekend for the locals. Tonight, you've got the Golden Eyes and their PWHL inaugural game. Right. How amazing is that?

I love that. It's going to be fantastic. Then Saturday, you've got the White Caps match. Sunday. You've got Canucks and Calgary. So you've got reasons, reasons to go to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. You don't even have to leave to go to the game. You can stay and watch with the sound on, eat pizza and drink beer.

AJ, hey, man, thanks for doing this today. Really appreciate it. We're very much looking forward to next week. Enjoy this weekend. It should be a lot of fun. Yeah, you guys, too. Have a great one. Take care. Thanks, buddy.

I appreciate it. That's AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. We better win at least one of these games, these next four games, because we're 0 and one. Because the crazy sports weekend actually started last night. What the Canucks lost to the Dallas Stars. Tonight, golden eyes. I think they're expected, or not expected, but they're actually the favorites to win the league this year. But Seattle's good, too.

Seattle's good, too. And then you've got tomorrow, White Caps, L-A-F, see and then Sunday Canucks Flames. So I think we got a chance to maybe get two out of three. We could come in on Monday's show and it could be great. We could come in on Monday's show

and it could be an abject disaster. We'll see what happens. A reminder, if you're wondering why this show sounds a little different than usual, it's because we are live on location. That's right, Halford in Brough in the morning at Duick-on-Marine 400 Southeast Marine Drive. There's a lot of great deals in sales.

on right now. We'll announce them throughout the show. Doors are open. If you want to get down here and check everything out, we'll be here until 9 o'clock this morning. The show rolls on, though. There's so many things happening. We mentioned that the Whitecaps are taking on L-AFC tomorrow. Our next guest will preview that for us. And everything else that's going on in the world of footy. He is the host of the Footy Prime podcast. James Sharman joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, James. How are you? Morning, fellas. Yeah, doing great, thanks. Lots's going on. Tons going on. I do kind of want to take a step back before we look forward and recap the week that was in World

Cup qualifying a handful of great stories you've got Ireland advancing to the playoff you've got Scotland going back to the World Cup you've got a chance for the UK to be very well represented when the World Cup comes to Canada Mexico and the US in 2026 and you've got the playoffs all set as well what was your big takeaway from the week that was James in terms of World Cup qualifying who got in and then who has still work to do in this playoff well I mean some of the small nations getting in, the Hades, Kate Verde before, of course, Carousel,

that they're amazing stories, right, for these tiny nations. And that's lovely, but it does remind you that the expanded World Cup is going to be some less than thrilling matches, shall I say, at least when you preview those matches. And listen, I'll get

a heat for that. I think it should be a 2014 World Cup personally. I'm an old school guy. I'm too old. But there's some teams in there lack of some star power, but with that comes the potential for massive shocks, right, and fairy tale runs. That's great. So, so good for them. Watching Ireland, you know, how they did it with Troy Parrott, who no one knew about before this, you know, week, I don't think,

in World Football, what he did with the Hatcherick to get over Hungary and Portugal, and then Scotland this week. I mean, I'm not sure if you saw the highlights of Scotland, and there's two out of time goals, but the goals that were scored, the over the head by McTominee to put them up and then you know the from halfway line in added time it's just it shows how great the sport is

right I know it's maligned and we can get on a lot of these teams and players cases and you know FIFA yada yada but at its purest form it's amazing and it still delivers every match window I didn't have a bicycle kick contributing to Scotland making the World Cup

on my odds but that's that's incredible do you think there might some hard feelings from some of the European nations. I'm thinking about Italy and Denmark. If they don't qualify and they see

Curacao in the World Cup are they going to be like, hey, what's going on here? Is this fair? Yeah, probably. But I mean, I don't know how is you do it. Europe's got more, you know, births than any other continent in the world.

Yeah. I mean, would I rather see Italy at the World Cup than Curacao? Yeah, of course I would. But I don't know how you balance it. You can never really appease anyone. And FIFA's mandates, so they keep telling us, it's about developing the world's game, right? And, you know, uplifting the game in some of these less sexy areas for world football. That's what Ginny Antoin has been saying for years. It's what his predecessor, Seth Blatter, good old Step said for years as well,

it's about growing the game in these regions. That's why we had to walk up in Qatar. That's why there's going to be one in Saudi Arabia. I suppose it's just the reality. Don't lose to Norway. There you go. Italy. It's pretty simple, right?

Just win your games and you won't have to worry about, you know, watching Currault against Kate Verde in the opening round. What do you want for Canada at the draw in December? Do you just want the easiest group possible? Or do you want one country where you're like, wow, this is a real soccer country and we're going to be playing them at home? Well, you know, the way the draw is, it's interesting because we're in pot one, right? which I was seeding, which means most of the huge sexy teams are going to be in part one, right?

We'll avoid them, which is great as far as, you know, potential of getting out of the group. I want a bit of a mix. You know, I'd love to see Canada in a group with, I think this can work. I wrote it down somewhere, but I think you can get a group with Colombia, Scotland, which would be great because in Vancouver or in Toronto, how much fun would that be? They bring the party, right, to these tournaments. That would be amazing. And then some, some, you know, lesser team and that fourth team. So that would give them a chance.

I'm not only getting out of the group, but play a sexy team in Columbia and then enjoy the party with Scotland. So I like to see a mix of it. I don't think you're going to get a group of death. You might get drawn Italy in that fourth part if they get through, for example, or a Denmark. He's a very good team, despite what we saw this week. So there's chances for a tough group, but the old-fashioned group of death is unlikely, I think, to see that come to a fruition, which is pretty a good thing for Canada. James, do you know how they place teams around the country?

Like, do they, let's take a team like England. They're not going to go to Kansas City, are they? Like, would they make sure that England is in one of the major cities or, you know, I'm talking about just the, or Brazil or Argentina? I was actually thinking it would be interesting if England went to Mexico as a bit of a throwback to 1986. But, you know, I'm just wondering if you know how that works. because there are going to be some people that are going to be planning trips to go see their favorite team. Yeah, I mean, listen, the less we speak of England and Mexico in 86, the better.

You know what? I think that was a handball. I think it was a handball. I think in hindsight it was a handball. It was a really good England team. Anyway, yeah, I think you're right. They're going to put them in a strategic place. I keep here in Miami, Florida.

Makes sense for a number of reasons. obviously maybe the Beck of influence there as well might be part of it but I can't see England being basically right in a smaller hub it's going to be I'm not sure how they do it hasn't been announced or discussed but you want to have the big nations in the big markets I think is that simple plus areas quite frankly that could handle the travelling support

because in being an example they're going to come in enormous numbers right enormous numbers they're going to be full of themselves it's going to be fun it's going to be on that edge of what's right and wrong I think in some areas so you want to deal with that. But, I mean, you'll see some big teams based in Canada, I'm sure. You're going to see that.

I mean, how great would it be to see an Italy, for example, or a France based here? That's possible, given our immigration here over the last, you know, 30, 40, 50 years. But, yeah, I'm not sure how they do it, but you're going to see some big teams in the big hubs. There's no doubt about it. And a fair amount of travel, I think, for these teams, too. We're speaking to James Sharman from the Footy Prime podcast here on the Halfer and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. James, it was tough for Canada to forge out what happened in their two friendlies during

what was a very busy and very dramatic window. But it wasn't for a lack of trying because there was some drama with regards to Canada and those two games and it had to do with their discipline or lack thereof. Two red cards, two straight reds for two kind of similar tackles or challenges or flashing of the studs, if you will. How concerned should Canada, Canadian supporters, and most importantly, Jesse Marsh, be about this team's discipline heading into the World Cup

given what happened over those last two friendlies? Yeah, I think even going before these matches, it's an area where Canada walks the line. They have what I call controlled tenacity in most cases. They have to play a certain way.

That energy, that edginess, it gets them results, has got them results. And it comes from their coach in Jesse Marsh, who's a big, loud voice and character on the sidelines. He's been red-carded before, for example. But that's the identity of this team. I think from the past week, I'm not that concerned about what happened.

Ali Ahmed's was as borderline. For me, it was a red card. I don't know it's quite polarizing opinions on that, but it was early in the game. The referee could have probably had a little chat with him, but the foot was up, you know, around neck height, generally speaking, that's reckless. That's a record. Konez wasn't. It wasn't a red card. That's a bad call. I think if there was a VAR, that would have been called back. And they weren't from, you know, being, you know, maybe being overly aggressive, sure, those two plays by two pretty aggressive players. In fact, Ali Ahmed's really out of that part to his game. You guys know this from Vancouver. I'm speaking to Ryan Gold yesterday. And he was telling us how he's noticed

in Ali Ahmed's game the last year, how aggressive he's become. And it's come from Canada. It's come from Jesse Marsh football. So these players are changing themselves and evolving into aggressive players. But I don't think it's from petulance or from losing their heads. It's just a moment the madness, maybe, that may not have been called on the big stage when all the camera's there and Vars there. So I'm not concerned. I quite like it, actually. Richie Luray is a prime example, right?

This is a guy that is despised by everyone in Concca Caff and around the world on the pitch. The nicest guy off the pitch, you could ever meet, by the way. He's brilliant. But on that pitch, he walks that fine line. And somehow, I believe he's never had a red card in his entire career, which is incredible, given the way he plays. But he gets under player's skin. He really is kind of the soul and heartbeat

of the way that team plays. And J.C. Marsh loves him for it. So I think we just just embrace it. Yeah, there might be some issues at the World Cup. It could be some controversial moments. Maybe not. Maybe they keep it just about under control and it gets them results.

Now there's an amazing pivot point here from what happened with the Canadian men's national team to what's going to happen on the weekend with the Whitecaps and LAAFC because the referee who awarded the two red cards in the Canada-Venezuela match, Rubio Vasquez, is going to referee Saturday's match between the Whitecaps and L-AFC. And I noticed yesterday that L-AFC manager Steve Chorundalo already started playing the games behind the scenes, and his quote was, white caps are a very active team, a fit team,

also quite aggressive at times and sometimes overboard. That's up for the referee to manage. So he knows what's going on. He knows how to play the game before the actual game. I've set up this lengthy preamble here to give you a chance to preview this match, James. What are you looking for when the White Cops host L-AFC in front of 53,000 people at BC Place on Saturday? Yeah, that's not great management, isn't it? Pretty impressive.

He's leaving anyway at the season. He doesn't care. I hate it, but I respect it. He's just making sure referee's aware of it. I'm sure referee is. I mean, he's sent off Ali Ahmed, so he's probably aware of some of these players. and active and fit. I mean, that is a way of saying,

watch out for these guys, right? They're coming out as physically. I think it shows a real respect to Vancouver as well. And I think maybe there's a little bit of, I wouldn't call it fear, but apprehension before this match. In years past, where L.A.'s kind of owned Vancouver, at least at this point in the season, there has been that before the match,

that concern within Vancouver. Like, man, L.E's a really good team. This could be tough. It's not that way this year. This team really pleasing themselves. The guys I speak to from the players in the pitch we've interviewed or, you know, journalists, reporters around the team all the time, they said the same thing. This team's mindset, it's so different to what it was even last year. They believe they can go at LAFC and that's how Vancouver play, right?

It's how they play it all year long. They fear no one. And then you just layer in the Thomas Miller effects, which has changed really everything. And even before him, you know, they were one of the top teams in MLS. It sets up for what should be a great match of great star power. It would be fantastic for 53,000 fans to see Hung Minson, for example, Dennis Boulanger, to two wonderful players for LASC so quick and so dangerous in transition. So that midfield battle will be key, I think, ahead of this one.

It's great that Vancouver's getting healthy. I know we complained about the three-week layoff between the two games. It is crazy. It's ridiculous. But I think for a team with so many injury concerns, Um, it's probably not the worst thing in the world, right? Brian White's back. Brian Hart has scored a beauty of his past week as well.

He's in fine form right now. Muller's had time to rest as all rickety bones. Um, so I think it sets up for what should be a fantastic match in front of a full house. And it just shows, right? You guys are there. Uh, the Vancouver football zeitgeist is alive and well. It is the, the football hub in Canada.

We got a great soccer city. I've said it like we're a sleeping giant here. We're a sleeping giant here. Yeah, no, for sure. And I think we just, And we've got the demographics here. With people really appreciate the game here. I'm going to ask you both a question here.

Will the White Capps start with Thomas Mueller, Brian White, and Ryan Gould all on the field together? I'll jump in first. I think they're going to because Yesper Sorensen has waited all year for this one opportunity, right? And this might be the only chance that he gets to do it. Gould and White, never mind Mueller. Golden White had barely played together this year because Gould got hurt so early. I think it'll be too tantalizing not to because that's been the dream all along

when Thomas Mueller came to Vancouver the first thing he talked about was like Brian White because he was excited to play with this striker that could finish I'll throw it over to you here James now curious to get your thoughts on the same thing yeah you know what is a really good question and in a perfect world of course Ryan Gold's starting

you know having spoken to him yesterday I asked him that exact same question and you said listen I'm here for what ever is needed which he's not going to give too much away, obviously. I just don't know the knees good enough for 90 minutes, and is he better of coming off the bench late in the game?

The way, you know, Ahmed and Savi have been playing as well. They've done so well without him. Maybe he hasn't got that in him for these playoffs, which is a real shame, obviously. So I'm going to say, I'll say no. I don't think he's going to start. You'll see him, certainly at some point in the match. But maybe that layoff, like I mentioned,

has been really good for him as well, right? Just getting three bits of training under his belt. coming off those couple of appearances. So I'm going to say no, he's not, let's have him wrong, because I want to see Ryan Gold Star. I mean, what a formidable attack that would be if he is at full health and, you know, alongside Mullet and Brian White. You know, we will find out tomorrow the Whitecaps in LASC get underway

in the match of the round, without question, the MLS Cup playoffs. James, thanks a lot for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the match tomorrow. It should be a good one. We'll do this later on down the road. Thanks, fellas. Yeah, enjoy it tomorrow, and good luck to you.

I hope you win. Thanks, buddy, appreciate it. That's James Sharman from the Footy Prime podcast here on the Halpert & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. So we're going to talk to Dan Rosen in about 10 minutes from NHL.com. Just a few minutes with Dan. I just want to check in on the New York Rangers and the J.T. Miller situation there. Just talk about what's going on with the Rangers and maybe talk about the Islanders as well, because Beau Horvac keeps scoring.

Huge win for them last night. So, I mean, Dan knows the New York teams very well. Maybe we'll throw in the New Jersey Devils as well. And then we're going to, we've got some time before Rick Dollywell, you know, throws the show into all sorts of arrears with his ricking. And we will go into the Dunbar Lumber text inbox and answer some Ask Us Anything. So text those in right now, just a reminder again, use the PC emoji if you want to be entered into the $100 competition for.

best ask is saying anything $100 gift card to AJ's Okay before we go to break I need to do the one to watch Brought to you by Limitless AV Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual Integration experts Who was it was it footy yesterday? Yeah okay well that you know like they played better

They looked like a better coach team Some deployment issues at the end though A lot of people are saying with a Vander Kaine I'm gonna move past that one Yeah fair because this one and shout out To one of our favorite textors from Buffalo who calls himself the biggest Seelovs fan in the world. I think Jason actually put that in there as his handle.

However, I'm going to make tonight's one to watch Archer Seelawks. The Pittsburgh Penguins are hosting the Minnesota Wild at 4 o'clock tonight. It's one of four games in the National Hockey League, and I got to give Archer Seelves a lot of credit. There's a statistic going around right now, courtesy of NHL.com, that goalies age 24 or under the last month. He is in rarefied air alongside Jesper Walsh, Spencer Knight, and Giaroslav Ascaroff, as all four bullies have a safe percentage above

920. He's done a remarkable job. Remarkable job in Pittsburgh since taking over. Bill from Buffalo is looking good right now. You know what, Bill, we've made fun of you. I will continue to do so, but for now know that you not only are a valued listener, but also the inspiration behind today's one to watch

brought to you by Limitless A.V. It is RDC Loss tonight, presumably getting the start when the Penguins host the wild. That is brought to you by Limitless AV. Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts, specializing in seamless video conferencing solution and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at LimitlessAV.C.A.C. Coming up on the other side of the break, more hockey talk to come. Dan Rose and Senior Writer with NHL.NHL.com is going to join the program. You're listening

to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks Talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Only a license and selfency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees to learn how. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in our two of the program with the midway point of the show. Dan Rosen from NHL.com senior writer is going to join us in just a moment here. Our two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at jason.org. If you love paying

too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.morgage. If you're wondering why the show sounds a little different this morning. It's because Halford and Bruff are live on location at Duick-on-Marine 400 Southeast Marine Drive in Vancouver. A couple of little housekeeping items here. Earlier in the show, the idea of trading pizza for a Tahoe was floated. We've been told that's not okay. It's not a sound business decision. And they're not like negotiating either. Like three pizzas. Yeah, you can't bring a different food item to the table. Bartering is off the table. However, if you want to get in on some of these deals, including the Black Friday deals that

on right now. Head on down here. Massive showroom. You can see us right in the middle of it. 400 Southeast Marine. We will be here until 9 o'clock this morning. We've got a lot more to get into on the program, though. We're just at the midway point of the show. We go now to the phone lines. Our next guest, as

mentioned, senior writer from NHL.com. Dan Rosen here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Dan. How are you? Good morning, guys. It's 7.30 for you. It's 10.30 for me. I'm living in the future. How's everything? Yeah, it's good.

A nice leisurely 10.30 in the morning out east. How nice that's right. Yeah. Hey, look, I know we brought you on because we wanted to talk about the Rangers and the Devils and the aisles and all of them played last night. And the Rangers, in fact, played the Avalanche. But I do want to start with the Colorado Avalanche who have lost a grand total of one game in regulation through their first 20. And they chalked up another win last night over J.T. Miller and the Rangers 6.3. I know you've talked recently about the Aves.

I know you talked to Scott Wedgwood. on the rink podcast. Can you let our listeners know, one, what you talk to Wedgwood about and two, what he had to say and what you guys are saying about this absolute wagon of a Colorado Avalanche team? Well, yeah, we talked to Scott Wedgwood this week on the NHL at the rink podcast. You can listen to it wherever you get your podcast. He was terrific. What a great guest he was.

Because not only did we talk just about the avalanche and what they're doing this season and what he sees, we talked about him and the incredible run that he's on. an unlikely number one goalie for them. It was supposed to be Blackwood, Blackwood, slow to recover from his off-season surgery. Here steps in Wedgwood, and he just keeps doing it, and he's even putting up some points now. We had an assist last night.

You know, so he's been just a phenomenal story. We talked to him about, hey, what about the Olympics? You know, why not? And he brought up an excellent point. Now, listen, let me clarify this. I don't even know if he's available for them. I don't know if he's in the drug testing for the Olympics right now. He could get in it.

We just recently saw that there was news that Matthew Schaefer, and he confirmed it. Now in that drug testing Olympic program, because he's become an option for Team Canada, is Wedgwood in? I don't know. We didn't ask him about that. And he also doesn't seem to have much of a grasp right now on how that whole thing works. So my guess is he's not in it, but he could get in it. And if you're, he brought up a great point. He said, listen, you can bring three number one goalies if you're Canada, right, to the Olympics.

You can only play one. But if you need a guy who hasn't played in seven days or ten days to come in and give you a start that's going to be good, why don't you do it with a guy who's used to that, right? Like who's used to not playing and then coming in and having everything on his shoulders. And that's been Wedgwood's career. This season, he's become a number one, or he's playing like one right now. And he's playing like a guy who could be getting. Olympic consideration. So we talked a lot about that with him.

And yeah, just, you know, he nerded out about goaltending and his goaltending gear as well. It was a great conversation, but about the avalanche in general. You know, like, as he said, he goes, you see it in practice. I'm up against it in practice. He's like, I see McKinnon coming down in a right circle and he's whistling one past the goalie on the other, you know, on the top right corner or whatever it might be. And he's like, yeah, I've been there before.

I feel for that goalie. I know what it's like. And he's right. You know, he faces it in practice every day. You watch him, and I was watching, you know, I've watched them a couple of times now up, you know, you know, really paid attention to what they're doing, and I was doing it again last night. They're just so fast. A puck is on and off their stick. It's so fast.

They're just so much faster than the opposition rise right now. And it's not like the Rangers last night, for example, played a bad game. They didn't. They were in the game. J.T. Miller tied it up, 3-3 in the third period, and 30 seconds later, McKinnon scored, because they were lightning fast down the ice and bang it was in the net again. That's just what they do. Does it make you nervous for the Olympics, Dan, as an American?

No, not at all. I mean, I'm willing to admit that Canada's goaltending makes me nervous. What do you think is going to be the strength of the American team? Because I think, you know, with all due respect to Kel McCarre, I look at the forward group for Canada and go, man, like, I don't think any country can match that. But then I look at the Americans, especially if they have Quinn Hughes on that blue line, which if he stays healthy, they will. And also, they're goaltending and think, oh, I don't know if any teams can match that. I think the strength of the American team, well, number one will be goaltending.

It's going to be, it's going to be strong. But like Canada, like we always hear from Canadians to say, oh, we have so many guys, we can bring two teams. You can only bring one. They're only allowed to bring one. And you do have great depth, but you have to pick the right team. And just for the U.S., great depth in goaltending, you can only play one, right? Only one guy can play in that position. So you've got to choose correctly for that game and for the importance of a short tournament, right?

But I think the strength, number one, you ask, goaltending. I also think a strength of the U.S. team will be its ability to shut down plays. They're quick on the defensive end, and they're strong on the defensive end. And whereas Canada and some other teams can come at you, I think the U.S.'s ability to shut down plays is going to be a very big factor. And I also look at the U.S., especially with the Kachuk brothers, expecting them to be healthy. And I think that they have guys who will drag them into the fight, will drag the whole team into the fight. And I'm not saying that Canada doesn't. I just think that's a staple of the U.S. team.

and I expect the games to be like they were in the Four Nations face-off, you know, the big games in the Olympics. I expect that to be the case. And I like the U.S. chances because I see guys who are just going to drag them in and go to the net and bang bodies and win battles in the corner

and shut down plays and then get the goaltending. So I don't know, man. Maybe I'm a little biased. I know. I think you're bang on. I mean, there wasn't much separating Canada in the U.S. at the Four Nations.

It's going to be fascinating. Now watch like Sweden win or something like that. Dan, J.T. Miller, probably going to be part of that American team. What was the reaction from Rangers fans when he pulled the Beer League impression against the Vegas Golden Knights? Yeah, so I'm not on the road with the team,

so I didn't get their reaction for, you know, the Ranger reaction. But I know the fans, you know, you see it on social media and it wasn't a good reaction. let's put it that way. I think they were wondering, like, what's going on there? I think it's interesting because, to me, it wasn't at the end of a very long shift, but there's time and place, there's scenarios, there's what it's expected.

It's hard for me to boil an entire hockey game and the play of a guy down to one, two or three second instance. I don't know what was happening for him in that situation. I don't know how he felt in that situation. I know it didn't look good. I wonder if he even thought he could be of any assistance in that situation. I don't know. It was not a good look.

Let's just leave it there. But he came back and he played a strong game against Colorado. So how are people feeling about the Rangers? And I'm just wondering, you know, what happens if they miss the playoffs and then they're not able to resign Panarin? And then all of a sudden you're looking at kind of a problematic roster in that, you know, your forwards are getting a little bit older. I don't know where Lafranier's game is right now.

I know earlier in the season it wasn't in a good spot. You've got some decent players on the blue line. You've got a really good goalie. So what do they do? They're in a pretty tough spot, aren't they? They need to go make the playoffs this year. Like, they need to be able to do that this year. have a team that I think is capable of doing it, especially in an Eastern Conference and a

Metropolitan Division that's pretty wide open, you know, like there's no dominant team right now, and there's a lot of injuries too. I guess you can look at Carolina and say, all right, they're the one, right, and New Jersey, but New Jersey's not going to have Jack Hughes for like 30 games now, right? I mean, so that makes a big difference. The Islanders are red hot now, but is that for real? I don't know. We'll see about that. Pittsburgh, Washington. So the Rangers have an ability here. They've got to go make the playoffs. And I wrote about this in my mailbag.

Like, they entered this season. I thought when you look at a top nine forward group, I thought they were three forward short of a really good top nine forward group. Noah Labba has come in and solidified the number three center spot. That's what's left in

two forward short. And that has allowed Nika Zamanajad and J.T. Miller and Vincent Trochek, who were all three centers to play in the top six. I don't love Connor Sherry in the top six. I would prefer Will Cooley on the third line than on the second line or the first line. So I think the Rangers still need to go out and make some moves here to solidify their top nine forward depth. If they can start to believe in Gabe Perrault, he's a top six forward and he's got to have the skill and you've got to be able to play him.

He got a couple of games, but they sent him back to Harper. and I'm not against that, to be honest with you, especially at this point in the season, but if he can come up and bring his skill, then they're one forward short. And I also think that they're a top 4D short. I think Carson Sousie, nice player, should be on your third pair, not on your second pair. So there's a lot there, but they got to be able to go make some moves to fill out some depth here and go make the playoffs this year because anything short of that is a massive disappointment for the Rangers with the, like you said, with the way the roster is built and the uncertainty of Panarin.

Yeah, what do you think will happen with Panarin? So there's two ways to look at it, right? One, if you're the Rangers, you look at it, we're like, where everybody's locking up their own guys, all right, we got to do the same thing, right? Let's lock up our guy. He's 34. It's a little bit different than some of these other guys, but Cap's going up. He's still a really impact player, still produces, still very dangerous offensively.

will be for the next few years, get it done. But if you're Panarin, aren't you looking around and going, I'm going to be the prize of the free agent class? Why would I sign? I can play all these teams against each other and drive up my price. So it's an interesting situation where I think the Rangers, I don't want to say they don't and shouldn't overpay, but they may have to stretch themselves to get it done

so it doesn't come to July 1st and they lose him for nothing or they trade his rights and get a draft pick or whatever it might be, right? I mean, that's an interesting, unless they have plan B that they're, and plan C, that they're eyeing that could be equally as good. And I don't know what those plans are right now, but we're in an era right now where the cap's going up and everybody's keeping their own guys. So I don't know where it goes, but to me that's got to be a ranger's focus.

just, you know, keep them. Bo Horvatt is looking like a bargain right now for the New York Islanders. I remember when he signed that contract, I was like, oh, that's pretty rich. He is playing some really, really good hockey. I've watched him a few times, and he's just got so much jump. Do you think he's Team Canada level? I honestly, I do. I don't know how he's not at this point.

I mean, because he's such a versatile player, too, right? I mean, you're not, we have the debate, and we talked about it on the NHL at the ring podcast. I'm sure you guys have talked about it a thousand times to Celebrini and Bedard. Should they be on team Canada, right? Well, like, to me, they're two of the top 14 players forwards in Canada, right? I mean, it's like, it's not even a question at this point. Heck, they could be two of the top five, right? But if you bring them, they're not bottom six guys.

You've got to play them in the top six. You've got to probably play them on the power play. But if you look at a guy like Horvatt, you could bring bowl. Horvatt, and you can play them on the wing on a third line or a center on a third line. You can play them on a fourth line if you need be. You can kill, you know, he can do a lot of different things. There's versatility

that he brings. What's that? You can take face offs? You can take face offs, exactly, right? So there's versatility that he brings that is valuable to that team, similar to what Sam Bennett brought to the Four Nations face-off team. Now, Sam Bennett's

not off to this, a very good start this He's in. Horvatt is, different player. Orvat is. Maybe Horvatt jumps ahead of a guy like Sam Bennett, right? Because a versatile guy can do so many things for you. And he can get really hot, too. I was watching The Devils the other day. And Luke Hughes is looking more and more now like Quinn Hughes when I watch him play. A lot of the reason for that is like he's out on the ice all the time.

I'm sure you've been asked us before, possibly from people from Vancouver. is there room for Quinn and Luke on the same team? Yeah, there is. Why not? Well, of course there is. You know, like there's room for Quinn, Luke, and Jackson on the same team. I was hoping he'd say no. No, there absolutely is on Team USA as well, by the way.

It's funny. Where I am, I'm in the New York, New Jersey, or I live in New Jersey, right? People around here talk about, oh, the doubles are going to go get Quinn Hughes, and they're going to say, yeah, here we go. go. We got all three Hughes brothers. Oh, it's not so easy, number one, right? Okay, Quinn, the Canucks have to trade Quinn Hughes. I look at it the other way, and I'm like, well, why don't the Canucks go out and get Jack and Luke to make a massive deal, right? You sound like Jim Rutherford right now.

All three of them. Why can't Vancouver have all three of them? That one's a little bit harder to pull off. Listen, there is absolutely room for the two, for all three of them. It would be an unbelievable story if it happened. I don't know that it happens. Quinn is an absolutely dynamic player, but right now it doesn't, you know, like Vancouver looks like it's a little bit stuck in the mud here and where are they going? And I, it's got to be weighing on him. It's got to be something that he thinks about and sees. One more Hughes-related query for me, and that, of course, is Jack, who's out long-term with the hand injury, early days and small sample size. But is there a correlation between Jack Hughes now being in the lineup and then them

losing and scoring one goal over their last two games, five, one to ten, Bay, and one-nothing to Florida? Yeah, a short sample size, some very small sample size, but I wrote about this too. I said, listen, the devils are going to have to tighten up defensively. They're going to have to win games, you know, a little bit tighter because they lost their most dynamic player. He's their most dynamic offensive player. They're not going to be able to score the way they scored on a consistent basis without Jack Hughes. It's just they're used to playing without Jack Hughes. And the good news for New Jersey is they got Dougie Hamilton back, they got Connor Brown back, they got Dadanoff back.

So those are really good things for them. you lost your most dynamic offensive player, so how can you beat the same team offensively when that happens? Just look at his brother. When Quinn Hughes is out of the lineup different position, the Canucks are not nearly as dynamic offensively, right? And the same would be for the devils. They're going to have

to figure out how to win these tighter games now. Dan, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We appreciate it. Enjoy all the games this weekend. Should be a lot of fun. We'll catch up with you later on down the road. All right. Appreciate it, guys. Thanks. Thanks. I have a good one. That's Dan Rosen for

at hl.com senior writer here on the halford and breath show on sports net 650 let's do a few ask us anything's here mike and nanimo ask us anything ovechkin passed joe sackick for 10th all time in points last night can you name a player that has hurt your team constantly but you respected as much as burnaby joe the first one that came to mind was a ginnla but then i'm going off the board here erin donald erin for the rams i don't i don't know i don't noticed that guy, obviously, and was terrified of that guy every time the Seahawks played the Rams, but I respected Aaron Donald. That guy was really, really good. Off the board, fantastic choice. Hall of Fame career, all of it spent in the Seahawks division. Elite run stuff for elite

quarterback pressure guy. He was everywhere. Yeah. He was everywhere. I was watching a podcast that Matt Stafford did the other day. I think it was with the Kelsey Brothers, if I'm not mistaken. and he was talking about one time the Rams did a thing. It was with like the Make a Wish Kid Foundation, and the kid's dream was to go work out with Aaron Donald. Now, the kid had gotten better from whatever ailment that he had, but they set him up with Aaron Donald, and Aaron Donald took him to the gym,

and Stafford said he turned around after 30 minutes, and the kid was puking into a garbage game because Aaron Donald had no off switch. It was like, it didn't matter who was joining him in the gym that day. He was going to lift and he was going to go crazy. because Aaron Donald, for not a huge guy, was one of the strongest players in his generation of the National Football League.

So, yeah, that's a good choice. My choice for this, and it's funny because you could pick any number of Avalanche players. Sackick is on my list of my most favorite players from that era because he's from Burnaby and everything else. Milan Hayduke, who I always

really appreciated as a player. And maybe the definitive Canucks killer of that generation. Now, he has competitors for that title. Sackick was there Forsberg killed the Canucks with regularity. Pretty much anyone that played with the Colorado Applach in the late 90s, early 2000s. But Sackick and Hayduke

were the two that jumped to mine right away. Of course, I have a great affinity for Joe Sackick. Stephen Nannous. Ask us anything recently. I've returned to officiate minor hockey after many years away, helping to pay for my kids hockey. What game that you played as a kid

could you right now drop in and officiate and survive? Could you handle the fans and player slash coach? which is yelling at you. I think I could do hockey at a U-11 level. You know what's... I actually did have to... When I was coaching a few years ago, the ref didn't show up.

And I think it was just an exhibition game, so I went out there in raft and I did okay. A lot of it is... It's not so much the calls. It's the positioning. Like, where you're supposed to be. I was like, oh, sorry, I broke up that two-on-one there. That's a lot more important in hockey soccer,

I've refereed before. You just have to do a lot of running. Like the fitness test, it's funny because I think if they haven't already done them, for the FIFA World Cup, the fitness test for the officials are pretty high. Like the standards are high to become a World Cup referee, obviously. But you've got to run a lot. Yeah. So the running would kill me in soccer.

Yeah. I'm like, I'm just going to call the game from. Hey, we got some referees. They don't leave the center circle. This is my circle. I will not be leaving this. Have you ever refereed before other than that one time, or is that it? No, I've never referred to.

Okay. So our league right now. I don't know if they're doing. doing this in your beard league. Our men's league right now has an email out asking active players to take a referee course that they will pay for. Wow. Because there's such a lack of officials now. And for obvious reasons. I mean, officiating is a tough gig, right? And I'm probably the worst, both on the air and on the pitch for like constantly criticizing officials. And it's an easy thing to do throwing darts at a person that's trying to uphold the rules of the game. But I mean,

the thing is, is like, the way you become a referee, is you start doing it young and you get your reps. And I think the important thing is you're not forced out of it and that's what happens with a lot of young officials. Like my kid umped baseball

and he had one particular game that went sideways and one of the parents was, and he just stopped doing it. Right. And I went, what am I going to force him back? Like I don't want to,

you know, I asked him why he stopped doing it and he said, was it that bad call you meant? Yeah, I'm like, was it how you ruined the game for everybody? I'll let that hang in the air for a while.

And then, and he said he's like, well, it's just not worth it. I don't want to get yelled that because I'm learning. Yeah, what's the upside, right? He was cognizant enough to say, like, you could be crooked. He could, and I said, there's another avenue you could go.

But he said, you know, I'm learning how to do it. It's like, I'm not going to get everything right. And I'm like, it's a really cognizant thing for a kid to say. And I think a lot of the people don't understand how difficult it is. Do you know what I find is one of the toughest things, or it must be, maintaining your focus. It's tough. It's very tough. For the whole game.

It's very tough. I mean, I think that's tough. as a player. Yeah, because in the moments that you miss something, a good official put just thinking about, like, what am I going to do for dinner? Sure, right? Or you're looking at someone on the sideline.

Like, hey, look, a fuzzy dog, like that kind of thing. And then, but in those moments, the good officials will apologize. They'll be like, hand up, I blew it, I missed it. But here's the thing. You can't do that very often because then you're just a lousy official. Right. You can't say every five minute. I missed that one, too.

Sorry, guys. Well, it's a good thing that I'm good at admitting I'm wrong. Yeah, you do that all the time. Right. Which is great. I think it happened, what year is it? And they happened once this year, which is good. Well, I mean, you have to be wrong to admit you're wrong.

Rick and Langley, if you could clone the Canucks effort, chemistry, and shots on goal from last night, what do you think their record would be for the remainder of games in the season? In the season, I don't know, but if they play like that every night from the start of the season, they're in the playoffs. The problem is their margin for an error is getting shorter and shorter. They were good last night. It's Rick and Langley. They were good last night.

Like, let's not mistake that. It wasn't the greatest performance in the history of the game. Like, I want to contextualize this properly. I thought they were good in the second period. Yeah. First period was it ended 2-2, and I thought 2-2 was probably the right score. Maybe they'll play them by a bit. And in the third period, I mean, there was a large stretch where the shot total wasn't overwhelming.

It was a good performance against a good team. And Dallas is a good team. They didn't own the big moments. No. Five on three? And you know who did own a big moment yesterday? It was like Amico Randon, who's got elite level skill. And the goal that he scored, and that's an all-timer goal.

Or Onger. Right. And Anjur is a big guy, a big moment guy where is he having a great year? Statistically this year? No. Did he come up huge in a moment and outplay his counterpart last night? Yes, by a considerable margin. Does he love Pete DeBore?

No. Not a lot. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the Halford and Bradshaw. Dollywell's next. So this is going to be interesting. We've been told that Dollywell has some news that we have not mentioned yet on the show. so Dolly's going to be first to it. That's coming up on the other side of the break.

I should remind you that we are live on location at Duick on Marine 400 Southeast Marine Drive. Check them out on their socials at Duick Auto Group. They're doing a bunch of giveaways, including free Canucks tickets. So you're going to want to check all that out and also check out the sales they've got on. We'll mention them throughout the final hour of the program.

Again, we're here live on location at Duick on Southeast Marine Drive, 400 Southeast Marine Drive. We're here for another hour. So come check us out. Maybe walk away with a vehicle. You're listening to the Highland, Alfred and Breff Show on SportsNet 650.