Halford & Brough in the Morning - Pius Suter Is More Important To The Canucks Than Brock Boeser

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk a big Canucks win over the Ducks (6:00), Brough shares a Pius Suter hot take ahead of the deadline (14:22), plus they discuss yesterday's big 3-way trade in the NHL with Tampa Bay Lightning insider Erik Erlendsson (26:28). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Whoa! Wait a minute of bodies in the crease. Suzy tries to one-tie her right side. He scores! I got pushed in. I was just trying not to push the net off. Yeah, I thought they definitely made the right call. They're going to drop the gloves. Zegras going after Garland on the inboard. I thought it was pretty cool to see how Zegras fight.

I think it got the fans pumped up. That escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast. It jumped up a notch. It did, didn't it? Good morning, Vancouver 601, on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Ladi, good morning to you. Good morning. Ladi, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halferden Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you and Step. Got a lot to get into on the program today. We are now one day away from the NHL's trade deadline. We got four guests today. It's a hockey heavy show, although there will be some NFL talk.

Guest list today begins at 6.30. Eric Erlinson from lightninginsider.com is gonna join us. The Bolts made a big splash on Wednesday, two days ahead of the trade deadline, reacquiring a very popular figure in Tampa Bay, Yanni Gord, along with Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle, in a three team trade. So we'll talk to Eric about that. popular figure in Tampa Bay, Yanni Gord, along with Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle, in a three team trade.

So we'll talk to Eric about that. We'll talk to Eric about the hottest team in the National Hockey League. The Tampa Bay Lightning are 10-1-1 in their last 12. Eric Erlinson's gonna join us at 6.30 to talk about all that. Seven o'clock, we are gonna dive into the National Football League,

specifically the Seattle Seahawks. Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. It was a big news day in Seattle yesterday, specifically at the wide receiver position. Star wide out DK Metcalf has requested a trade away from Seattle. He prefers to be dealt to a contender. How nice for him. Then of course the other big news yesterday was that veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett was released after 10 years with the Seahawks, the second most prolific pass catcher in franchise history. So it's a lot of news to get to with Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider at 7 o'clock this morning. 730 Luke Fox is gonna join the program. NHL writer from Sportsnet

will whip around some of the major storylines from the NHL writer from Sportsnet will whip around some of the major storylines from the NHL going into tomorrow's trade deadline. The Meko Rantin story continues to get more and more bizarre out of Carolina. Now exploring all options on the talented winger. We'll ask Luke what's going on there. Could the Leafs potentially be getting involved

as they try and keep pace in the Atlantic Division arms race. Luke Fox is going to join us at 7.30 for that. Eight o'clock, Thomas Drantz is going to join the program. Canucks three, two winners last night over Anaheim. We'll look at that. We'll look ahead to the deadline, all that good stuff with Drantz at eight. Finally, Jason, you'll like this. We are giving away one $500 gift card to Golf Town today. What? What? We are giving away one $500 gift card to Golf Town today. What? We are giving away. I quit, I'm gonna phone in.

A $500 gift card to Golf Town today. So beginning March 7th, their trade-in event is on. You can take your old clubs to Golf Town and you can put the value of those clubs plus a 50% bonus towards new clubs. It's the perfect opportunity to save on new clubs and upgrade your current set. That's bad news for me

because I often yell at my clubs that you guys are worthless. Yeah, they have to announce that when they sell you used clubs. These ones are mentally and emotionally damaged. They've been yelled at repeatedly. Trade in early from March 7th to 19th. You can also get a free driver or iron fitting

when you trade in your clubs. For full terms and conditions, visit them in store or at golftown.com. If you want to win the $500 gift card to Golf Town. Be Caller 500. Right, it's going to be a lengthy process, but we're committed to the bit. I'll be here for a couple hours.

Yeah. Caller number five this morning. Five for 500. 815 this morning, we're going to the bit. I'll be here for a couple hours. Yeah. Caller number five this morning, five for 500. 815 this morning, we're going to do the call 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Caller number five at 815 this morning wins a $500 gift card to Golf Town, courtesy of the Halford and Brough show. Okay, that's enough for the rundown. Laddie, without further ado,

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

You missed that? 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 in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Jake DeBrusk, Teddy Bluger, and Carson Sousi all scored the Vancouver Canucks with a comeback

win over the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Arena 3-2 on Wednesday night. Kevin Lanken in 14 saves, Philip Horonik two assists in the first star, and the Canucks won for just the second time in six games, taking care of an Anaheim team that was on the second of a back-to-back and getting a very important win to start this upcoming home stand at Rogers Arena. Okay, are the Canucks in a playoff spot yet? No. Oh.

But they're about as close as you can humanly be. I think they went down to the third tiebreaker with Calgary. I think they're down to the wins in regulation tiebreaker now. They are because they've each got 67 points. They've each played 61 games, so 21 remaining. Uh, Calgary, 23 regulation wins, Vancouver, just 22. So they're right there. Oddly enough, their goal differential, exactly the same.

They are very- Minus 18. Despite being very different teams, they are almost the exact same team. Okay, so what was your main takeaway from the game? You and I were both there. What was your main takeaway? Let's just do the obvious, okay?

Let's start with Petey. Okay. We need to start with Petey. Yeah, a lot of text into the Dunbar lumber text line in praise of Pedersen's game. Now the bar has been lowered in Vancouver and I suppose I will accept that that is just a fact that that's going to happen.

Um, we need to slowly progress back to old Petey because he had no points on the night and everyone is raving about him and I get it. He looked more decisive out there. He actually shot the puck. Three of them went on goal. Um, and, uh, right at the end of the game, well, frankly, all, all night, he was really good in the faceoff circle.

Right at the end of the game, there's five seconds left. The Ducks had an extra attacker on, and PD won an important draw and was able to kill the game. And that looks even better considering the faceoff that he lost against Seattle and then didn't cover his man and his man tipped home. That was one of kind of his worst moments of the season and one that I'm

sure infuriated Rick Tocket, but Rick Tocket had him out there for a lot of big draws and he won most of them last night. Just overall, he, he, he looked better. Um, now I do want to also credit his two line mates in Connor Garland in Dakota Joshua. I think those guys are good line mates for him right now because Garland is a guy that can make

things happen out there and Dakota Joshua is a big boy out there that can make space for Elias Pedersen. I think that is a good combination right now. I hope they stick with it. Pedersen was named the third star of the game. The first star was Philip Peronik, who was really good, especially with no Quinn Hughes.

Teddy Bluger scored a big goal. He was the second star. I thought it would have been nice if Connor Garland could get recognized, considering the crowd was chanting his name after he fought Trevor Ziegres. And he had four shots on goal. I thought he was a pretty good player. The goal scorers were Jake DeBrusque on a really nice goal. A nice pass from Brock Besser.

Besser's line actually got kind of caved in for most of the night, but Besser had some chances to score, but he did have that one nice assist to Jake DeBrusk. Um, and, uh, we mentioned already that Teddy Bluger had a big goal and Carson Sousi. Yep. Had a big goal, a little bit of a controversial goal.

And I have to admit when it comes to goaltender interference, sometimes I'm just like, I don't really have an opinion on this. We'll see what happens. Although I was kind of erring towards, Ooh, I think this one might be coming back and Ducks coach, Greg Cronin thought the same thing. Cause he challenged that goal.

Yeah. So Suzy made it three, one, uh, early or late in the second period, uh, on a play where every single skater on the ice, except Carson Suzy was in the crease at some point, it was a complete gong show. It was like one of those, one of those little cars where all the clowns just keep coming out of it. That's what it was. Sherwood, it was later deemed by the officials. The reason that the goal stood was because Sherwood was forced into the crease by an Anaheim defender. That was their explanation.

Laddie's already shaking his head. Go ahead, Laddie, jump in with your analysis. I'm sure the shove that he gave to Dustel's back while he was in there for about 10 seconds, that's because he was pushed in and held there too, right? So what, that shouldn't have been interferences? I thought it should have been interferences. I thought it was gonna come back. When the referee explained that the Anaheim defender did force the Vancouver Canucks forward to be in the crease,

what he left out is that Kiefer Sherwood, the Vancouver Canucks forward, decided to never leave the crease. He hung on the net? Yeah, he just. Maybe that's the rule, if you get forced in there, you can just do whatever you want. It's party time. Like just elbows and sticks.

I think at 6, 11 in the morning, Sherwood's still there. He's getting his mail sent there now. Like that's where he lives now. He was in there for a long time. But whatever, goal stood, Canucks win. And that actually ends up being the game winning goal, because the Ducks tacked on one in the third period. I want to play a couple bits of audio here.

I want to start with, Tuckett is obviously gonna be asking about Pedersen after a night like last night. And I think he's doing a good job of acknowledging there are some positive steps being made, but there's still a long way to go. There's still work to be done. And while the bar may be lowered,

we don't have to always point it out, but maybe always kinda mention that there's a higher standard that you still wanna reach, right? Instead of talking about the floor, talk about the ceiling. There's a lot of people texting in saying, actually, Jason, Pederson had an assist. That was the, that was the defenseman, Pederson. Elias Pederson had an assist. I thought the same, actually, when we were, because they, we didn't hear it announced. We only heard the surname. And I was like, oh, Pete even got a point tonight. It was the other one.

But hey, I'm- You were watching the game closely. I was dialed in. We were at the game last night. We were zoned right in. And I was like, hey, Pete- You were too busy distracted watching Radko Gudis, obviously.

Yeah, one of the top five captains in the NHL, Radko Gudis was out there last night. Did he cross-checked, was it Pedersen he cross-checked in the head? I think it was. As a matter of fact, Elias Pedersen, the defenseman. That's how they got their power play in the first period. Anyway, we're jumping all over the place here. Rick Taukett on Elias Pedersen. Here's what he had to say about his center that won a ton of face-offs last night and had a pretty good performance despite not finding the score sheet. His preparation last couple of days, I think I was telling you guys, I've liked his last couple of days.

I like the fact that he owned up with some stuff to you guys. And it's just, hey, another good day for you. I thought it was a good day, three good days for him. Like, you know, let's get some rest and have a good practice more. He's just got to go day to day. Don't worry about in the past.

He's got, you know, one game's been knocked down. We got what, 21 games left. He had a good game. That's it. It does sound like he's in We got 21 games left. He had a good game. That's it. I just didn't sound like he's in recovery. Three good days. He had three good days. Does he get a little chip or something?

Tomorrow's the fourth. Tomorrow's four good days. Day at a time. I mean, that's what they're doing. That is the approach. This is a team. And I hate using this phrase because it's kind of like taboo around here.

But, you know we live in the day-to-day they're they're living in the day-to-day right now they are operating as though they have this is a race they have 21 games left to try and get into the playoffs and that every day that something positive happens is great because it could lead to positive things the next day it didn't matter if they beat the Ducks 11 to 1 last night or three two, they gotta win. And that was the important thing. And if Tocket can sell this to the players

and the players can buy in, they do have the talent and the depth. And when Hughes comes back, and we're hoping he comes back cause he did not play last night, the star power to get into the postseason. And that's clearly, clearly their goal as an organization right now. Um, there was a line yesterday of, uh, Brock Besser, Pugh Souter and Jake DeBrusk.

How many of those guys will be with the team for Friday's game? It sure feels like Suter will be moved because I don't think that there's any hope of resigning or maybe they're just not in the cards to resign them. I don't know exactly how to classify that. Let's just say that an extension doesn't seem likely. Is that fair? And definitely, I would say an extension doesn't seem

likely for Brock Besser at this point either. Of the two, I'd say there's more of a chance that Besser signs than Suter. That seems fair. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So if Suter's not gonna sign, he's not gonna be around, and this management group has a history of,

and they've said it publicly, we're not gonna let assets walk for free, you move Suter. I got a feeling that- But, okay, come back. Piece in, piece out, piece in, piece out. They're gonna need to do a lot of stuff. I got a hot take here.

I like hot takes. Suter is a more important player than Brock Besser on this team. He is a center. He does every or a winger if you want him to be. He's versatile. He plays on the power play and short handed. He's not the fastest. He's not the fastest, but I think he's a pretty integral part of this team.

He can play up in the top six if you need him, and he can play on the bottom six. And you know, in terms of trade value, you know, there's a lot of teams, if you listen to allied Friedman on 32 thoughts or any other place, he's like, teams need centers. They need centers right now. But the problem for the Canucks is if they trade

suitor, what are they going to do with center? Go get another center. Right. But, okay. So how though? With Besser? With the, yeah, with the pieces that you might get, or have you seen the prices that people are

paying for players right now? No, I know. But like, I'm just trying to figure out what would they okay? Would they if they traded suitor? Yeah, is there any way they'd be like, all right We're gonna go with nils amon and teddy blueger in the bottom six trying to make the playoffs. I They could Hypothetically, I don't think it would work. They would fall short of the playoffs, but they could try it I think that do you recognize how important he is to the team? Like. Put it this way.

If they're not going to, if they're going to keep them as their own rental, which they've been loath to do historically, then that means that the push for the playoffs is on and they understand that they're a better team with suitor than without them. And they might not be able to do the pieces on the chessboard.

If they move them, I would say the immediate next move is you have to find a replacement. Yeah. Maybe someone you go out and you find someone that's got a little bit more term on their contract or you've got club control over and someone- But how do you get that?

How do you, I don't think Besser's getting any of that. I wonder if the assets returned from Besser and Souter could go out and get that. Right. That would be the move. I mean, again, I am blown away at the prices that people are paying right now for some of these guys. Like I know, I mean, in, I am blown away at the prices that people are paying right now for some of these guys.

Like I know, I mean, in Tampa Bay's a little bit of a unique situation because they just kind of throw caution to the wind in these moments, but they traded two first round picks for Yanni Gord and Oliver Bjorkstrand, who are nice players, no doubt, but they're middle six forwards at best. That's pretty underrated.

I like Bjorkstrand. They are, but what are they gonna be in Tampa. York Strand is pretty underrated. I like York Strand. They are, but what are they going to be in Tampa? They're both on the wrong side of 30 and they're going to be middle six forwards. That's great that they're going to help and they're good players, but they both fetched a first round pick. What do you think this deadline is going to be like?

Didn't it seem in previous years like a lot more business was done- Previous two? In the days- 100%. Yeah, like there's still- It's just really slow. I know there have been

a few deals, but it feels like we could actually have a crazy trade deadline day. Like has anyone figured out what Pittsburgh was doing yesterday? Or Nashville. Right? Why did either team make that trade? So it kind of went under the radar

because there was a lot of moves that happened yesterday. A lot of extensions got signed in a lot of places too, but the Pittsburgh Penguins made a very weird trade. So they traded Vincent De Harne, by the way, former Vancouver Canuck, now on his way to the San Jose Sharks, and then shortly after- He'll fit in well there. Yeah, shortly after making that trade,

Kyle Dubas goes out and sends Michael Bunting in a fourth rounder to Nashville for Luke Shen and Tommy Novak. Now, Novak I can understand because he's young and whatever you may be able to do something with him moving forward on the team. But Luke Shen to me, this doesn't seem like a move that a team that's clearly on the outside

of the playoff picture would want. This is a guy who would go to a team that has playoff aspirations. Maybe they're not done moving. Maybe they've got like, you know, how the Canucks have done before. You acquire a piece and then you move it really quickly, but the prices being paid right now are high.

And if the Canucks, and I'm talking management and the executive here, put it this way, I'm more intrigued by the possibility of doing it partly from an entertainment standpoint. Like I wanna see the trading duo of Trader Jim and Trader Patrick, see if they can trade their way out of this, because it would be incredibly

difficult to do. Yeah. I think it would be very interesting to see if it works and you know, they've had, I mean, their brand as executives, has they going to hit this year? No question. Yeah.

We got a text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line and said, every year you spend months talking about trades and the Canucks never do anything. What? They recently traded GT Bill. Is that a real text? They have been one of the busiest management groups in terms of trades in the NHL. If not the busiest, look up and down the lineup.

There are players that have been acquired via trade. They've made two of the biggest trades in the NHL this season. They traded JT Miller and then promptly turned around and acquired Marcus Pedersen. Those are two of the bigger trades this year. They've happened within the last two months. Yeah. They're very active.

I don't know. I mean, that's great that... I think maybe this is a kind of like a league wide thing. There are a lot of deals that get talked up and never come to fruition. And a lot of the times, the trade deadline day, we're kind of like, that's it? That was it? That's the trade deadline day? You guys all know how this works. You know, you live for the anticipation, not the actual moment.

There's always that one deal out there that might get consummated that could really fundamentally shift things around. I really do wonder if, I know I asked this to Frank yesterday, I think, and he wasn't sure about it, but the whole ranted in situation, is that holding up some stuff? Is that, is that, and I don't know the answer

to this, um, but we've heard reports that, um, Carolina has now made, uh, Rantenden available or at least talking to teams. I don't know about available, but they're talking to teams about, so I guess he is available. I've got it here if you want. Go. So Freeds yesterday, according to multiple

sources of Elliot Friedman's the Carolina Hurricanes are doing what he's calling their Miko Rantin due diligence checking out potential returns as either a rental or with an extension assuming he's willing to sign anywhere before July 1 so the inference there is that he might not be willing to do it right now in Carolina among the teams believed to be very interested in Miko Rand and R, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Dallas Stars, and the Los Angeles Kings. And there's a lot of other teams as well,

for each notes, it's a ridiculously incomplete list, but those are the big three as he sees it. It is going to be wild if Carolina has to move off. I don't know what that would do to the morale of the team going into the post season, getting the big ad months prior to the deadline and then having to move that big piece. They'd have to get. Days prior.

They'd have to get players back, right? They can't just be like, we'll take a bunch of first round picks, right? Event, or even if they flipped them into something and they would have to do something. And they better do it pretty quick because the trade deadline is, is tomorrow. But I do wonder again, getting back to my point,

are there teams out there that are like, oh, if Rantinen's available, we need to wait on this before we consider any other rental winger. I think, I think a lot of the teams that want to go big game hunting, like Toronto's right in that mix now, because the Atlantic division just became like a lot more compelling. Florida goes out and adds Seth Jones, then puts

Kachuk on LTIR and everyone's like, well, what's their next big move? Huge opportunity for them. Tampa Bay goes out and acquires Yanni Gordon, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and just says, we're never going to draft in the first round again, but that's fine because we're loading up for the now. Oh, and then it's like, okay, your move,

Toronto, what do you want to do? People back East are calling this like Tri-Living's big deadline. Like he has to, has to do something there. And there's all sorts of talk about, you know, Braden Shen coming over from St. Louis. But I imagine if you're, if you're the blues, you want a big return for Braden Shen.

Yeah. That type of player and a guy who's won the Stanley Cup before, what he could add to the Leafs. You know, the Leafs are in a real tough spot. It's so funny. It is funny. Probably not funny to Toronto sports fans though. That's funny.

But how the Leafs are stuck in that division and it's kind of like the AL East of the NHL. Go look at Florida, Tampa Bay and Toronto, the record in the last 10. They're like nine and one or eight, one and one. They're all playing really good hockey. Toronto stunk last night, but still. Well, they stunk last night in Vegas.

Yeah. But Tampa Bay, they've won a cup recently, multiple cups, Florida defending Stanley Cup champs. They've been to two Stanley Cup finals. Like that's why everyone in Toronto is like, you got to win the division. You got to win the division and get, you know,

I don't know, maybe the New York Rangers. So right now, if it ended, it would be, Columbus is the first wild card, Ottawa currently the second wild card on the tie break. And that is absolutely what you want. It's imperative to win that division because if you don't, you're playing one of the Florida teams in the first round. What's more, you're playing them where they've gone out

and made, as I mentioned, the big acquisitions. And if Toronto doesn't, if Toronto decides to have a low key trade deadline and maybe adds around the edges, there's gonna be a lot of pressure, especially from the fan base saying, we're going through this again. Like the playoffs are where we need to define ourselves, not have the same thing happen once again

with maybe a first round exit. Okay, we're right up against it for time on the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. There's still a bunch of stories that we need to get to from around the NHL, including some really bad news for Jack Hughes. If you missed it yesterday, he's gonna be out for the remainder of the regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery again.

This is the second year in a row where his season has been cut short due to shoulder surgery. So not a good development for the Hughes family, which is undergoing some serious health concerns right now. So we'll get into a bunch of the other NHL stories later in the show, but coming up on the other side of the break, we are going to talk a little bit more about this Tampa Bay Lightning team. It's the hottest team in the NHL 10, one and one in their last 12 games.

And they just pulled off one of the bigger trades going into this year's trade deadline. Eric Erlinson from the Tampa Bay Lightning insider is going to join us next on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts.

631 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Eric Erlinson from Lightning Insider is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of hour one, hour one of this show is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them in 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. The Tampa Bay Lightning made a big move yesterday. Did you see the line from GM, Julian Breezebaugh, about the mentality and the thinking behind the trade? We did not. It was very philosophical. He said, the calculation is that trying and failing will yield less regret than failing to try.

Really makes you think. Exactly. I think Adog has a poster. That says that. It's true. I do. Yeah. I look at it every morning.

And you're like, one day I'll do that. Yep. It sounds nice. I have to try that. To the phone lines we go. Eric Erlinson, Lightning Insider joins us now on the Haliford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Eric, how are you?

I'm good, and doesn't that same make you want to go out to a Zen garden and just kind of meditate a little bit? Just think on life. Just think about it all. It's a great line, and Julian Breezeball yet again did some great work. I think most people were happy about the deal getting back a familiar face,

but also adding Bjorkstrand as well. Prior to this deal being consummated, Eric, did you have an inkling that this was going down or did this one come as a big surprise? Well, I mean, knowing Julian and look, a part of the reason behind that comment that he gave was the only year that he didn't make a move at a trade deadline was 2019 didn't work out so well for them, right so You knew that he was gonna do something and you had a feeling it was probably gonna be a guy that was

You know, I've been saying middle six all along York strain It's probably more of a top six kind of guy But he's probably a slot right in on the second line with Anthony Sorelli and Brandon Hagel as a 20 goal scorer. So we knew he was gonna do something. The Yanni Gord is certainly gonna make the fans around here happy.

It's probably gonna make Yanni happy coming back here. He didn't wanna leave in the expansion draft for sure. He was not very pleased about having to leave this area. So he'll be happy to be back. Julian reiterated more than a few times yesterday that they hope to be able to get him to re-sign for next year. Julian never goes big game hunting on trade deadline day. So these are the kind of moves you usually expect from him. And usually it involves a couple of first round drafts.

Do the Lightning get the league wide attention that they deserve? I sometimes wonder if people just got tired of talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning, but I mean, you look at the standings, I know, I know they're not like running away with the division or anything, but if you look at their gold differential in the standings, plus 58, that's pretty impressive.

I think some of that was done earlier in the season, but this is now a team that's gotten pretty hot. Are people, what's your take? Are people sleeping on them? Are they just tired of them? Or are they getting the appropriate amount of attention? I think people are probably tired of them, um, or are they getting the appropriate amount of attention? I think people are probably tired of them,

right? I mean, we're, we're going back to 15 when they reached that first Stanley Cup final under John Cooper and they've kind of been at the top of the conversation and everything else. I mean, they've only missed the playoffs once since 2014.

And, um, I don't think they are. I think everybody looked at the offseason and, you know, Stephen Stamkos leaving and Mikhail Sergeyevich being traded and wondering where this team was going. And now you look at it here one day before the trade deadline and you know, the run they're on, they're 10, 10, one and one in their last 12 games. And you know, the goal differential, it's, it's something that they really emphasized in training camp, especially five on five play was how are they going to improve their, we can't rely on our special teams to carry us because as we know, once you get to the postseason, you're not going to get that many power play chances or not, not historically anyway. So they knew they had to improve five on five defensively.

And that's a big part of this plus this goal differential turnaround is their five on five play. I want to say they finished somewhere around minus 22 ish last season in that category and in goal differential five on five. Now they're somewhere around plus 22, 25, somewhere in that range. So I don't think John Cooper gets enough credit for especially a season like this where everybody thought they're gonna be on a downward track. And then you turn around and here they are in the conversation and

being where they're at. So I don't think they get enough of credit for what they're doing this year and probably is because people are just sick of them. I don't think they get enough of a credit for what they're doing this year and probably is because people are just sick of them. How good is Andre Vasilevsky been? He's the backbone. He's the guy that kind of carries the load a little bit and coming off the back surgery he had in training camp last year and he didn't put up quite the same numbers.

I think I saw one of the advanced stats the other day that, you know, Vazaleski was like minus two in terms of expected goals against, and now he's like plus 14 this season. So again, you want to talk about the turnaround. You know, usually it starts with the guy in gold and he's been very good and he's done it in classic Vazaleski way where he makes some of the difficult saves look routine. You know, so even at the age of 30, he still looks like he's the guy that this year anyway, he looks like the guy that was a five time, doesn't a finalist. You know, once he took over the number one job here.

So he is absolutely the guy that gives them confidence to make plays, you know, and, and to kind of be that team that can score. Uh, but they've also done a very good job in front of him in terms of blocking shots and having that playoff style mentality here the last little while. Uh, they decided to go with Jake Gensel over Steven Stamkos and that obviously made waves in the NHL, but ultimately how good a move has that

been for Julian Brizebois? Yeah, you know, Jake is one of those guys that like you see the numbers and you understand how good of a player he is. And then you watch him play every night and you understand why he's as good as he is, just understands how to play the game. Unassuming, not flashy. He's not a stick handler.

He's not dazzling speed. He's not that kind of guy. He's just so smart and how he gets to open areas and how he finds himself. And like anybody who plays with the key to Khrushchev is going to score some goals anyway, but he just understands it didn't take long for those two to understand each other and some of the goals they scored early on this year. So the instant chemistry, uh, you know, different player than Sidney Cronspey, but he

understands how to play with top players because he is that kind of a top player as well. And, um, yeah, he's been such a, a really good fit, uh, at both ends of the ice, really for this team. How important has the return of Ryan McDonough been to the organization? Massive. His return has been a huge reason why they've been so good. Again, watching McDonough play night in and night out, you don't see the fancy stuff

with Ryan McDonough. He's just business-like and he goes out and does what you expect him to do. He's unlocked Eric Cernak's game once again. And you know, you talk about five on five play in the matchups that they like to do with McDonough and Cernak. Just like it was in 20 and 21 and 22 when they reached, you know, the three straight Stanley Cup final appearances. And the leadership as well, his voice in the locker room carries so much weight because

you know he's seen so much in this league that when he speaks the guys around him just listen because he's going to have something to say and it's going to be impactful no matter what it is. And here's a return I don't think can be understated in what he's done. And just everything, it just kind of really balances out the way that they can handle the defensive pairings and everything they can do, especially with their top four guys. We are speaking to a lightning insider,

Eric Erlinson here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Eric, I don't know if you saw this video clip that went viral last week or not, but when Ryan Lombard made his return to Tampa Bay, okay, so you saw it. For the people that didn't, long time member of the Florida Panthers, Ryan Lombard, now with the Calgary Flames, in his return to Tampa Bay did a pre-game on ice interview. And I can't say what he said in full, but he said he you know I'll paraphrase it

I like the weather down here I like the palm trees But I effing hate these guys talking about the Tampa Bay Lightning from his time as a Panther in that interstate rivalry So I wanted to ask you like given how good the Florida Panthers have been the last few years and given that they're defending the defending Stanley Cup champions Just how intense is that rivalry right now between the Lightning and the Panthers? It's pretty high. There's no doubt about it.

You know, in the existence of the two franchises, there hasn't been many times where they've both been good at the same time, right? Florida made the Cup final in 96. That was also the first year the lighting made the playoffs and then for the next you know I think 15 15 or 16 was the next time that the two of them were in the playoffs together so they tried to build this rivalry up they you know in geographically wise and everything else and you know you you can't force these things sometimes in sports they had kind of have to happen and and now that they faced each other a few times in the postseason, you know, and going back to that, that series in 2021, which was a great first round series between these two teams, you know, there was a game

this year between these two guys down in sunrise, where it was just physical and heavy hitting and hard. And yeah, there's, there's not a lot of love lost between these two teams when they get together because they're both good at the same time, right? They're both good, they're both elite teams at the same time. You know, you factor in that the past five years it's been one of these two teams

representing the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup final. So not only do they not like each other because they're geographical in a lot of ways and they face each other in the playoffs, they've had to go through each other just to get to the standing cup final. Um, did you, were you able to chat at all with John Cooper about his experience with the Four

Nations? I mean, there are some players out there that are having some trouble, um, coming down from the highs of the Four Nations, Connor McDavid in Edmonton, perhaps being one of them. Coop has coached in so many big games over the last few years, but even for him, that must have been a challenge coming from the emotion of that and having to speak almost on behalf of a country

that was going through some stuff. What was his experience like? Uh, he loved it. Um, it was certainly a little different, right? First time really in that national spotlight, right? Because of everything that was going on with that tournament and especially that first game between

the U S and Canada. Um, you know, but like you guys saw every time we talked to the cameras, like he handles it so well. And if he's got that internal pressure, he never lets it be seen. He never shows that on the outside. So I think that he really, really enjoyed it. I think he loved the experience. I think he liked the pressure because you guys know there's a lot of pressure on Team Canada in any international competition and I had a little taste of it in the World Championships a few years ago and you know reaching the gold medal game but that was different. That took place in

Europe and that was still in the NHL playoffs. You know for him to go through that I think will probably make him better as a coach because it's always one thing to deal with your own team that you coach in pressure situations and he's certainly been in plenty of those. But when you've got a McDavid and a McCarr and a Crosby and those guys in your locker room, it's a lot different situations. So I think he learned a lot in those two weeks as well. So he'll come out better for the experience for sure.

Have you ever seen him lose his cool or lose his composure? It's not very often. You know he was ejected from a game by Wes McCauley one time. You know and like that even wasn't that bad. He didn't like lose his topic. He wasn't John Tortorella refusing to leave the bench type of situation with McCauley in that, in that place. Um, you know, when, when they, when they dropped game four against Colorado in the 2022 Stanley Cup final, and you know what they felt was a too many men in the ice situation,

he wasn't mad about it in the post game, right? He was very calm and collected in the way he handled it. So no, I, I can't think of too many times where we've seen his emotion really burst up. We've seen a couple of outbursts here and there, but not really mad mad. Yeah. What do you think his secret is? I wish I knew.

Yeah. People love, people love hearing him talk. You know, I noticed that. And I mean, you know, Mike and I have covered finals where he's been, you know, front and center, but the Stanley Cup finals are a little bit different than what we just saw. What we just saw was intense. People in Canada who don't normally watch hockey

were watching those games and they were listening to him speak and he just comes across so well when he's speaking. Everything is so thoughtful and so measured and it doesn't look at all like he's a guy under pressure. And I think that's part of the key and one of the reasons why he is the coach of Canada now in that

he, when he speaks, you feel confident that he's on your side. Yeah. And that's a great strength of his too. Right? Like you talked to, like, I even remember when he was first hired here and talking to some of the players he had in Norfolk and Syracuse and the AHL and the way that they talked about him and he just has that ability as a human being, and it's a

great trait to have as a coach that you you can be stern without tearing guys down right like I think about and I always go back to this in the 2020 playoffs when Blake Coleman made a mistake and tried to leave his own too early and led to a tying goal for the Islanders rather than sitting those guys down, he threw them right back out there for the next shift. And what did Blake Coleman do? He scored an answer like nine seconds later to put Tampa Bay back on top. And that was the conference final. So he just has the ability to put trust in players that they're going to put trust in him. And he's

going to do the best to put them in situations to help them succeed. And he does it in a manner in which, you know, sometimes you can use a little humor to get your point across. And I think he's great at that because he can, he can build guys up without having to tear them down the first time. And he does instill them with confidence and belief. And you know, that's, uh, that's a big part of why he's such a successful coach is the way that he can manage players and manage human beings Eric real quick before we let you go. Is that it for Tampa Bay going into the deadline or just Julian have something else up his

sleeves though Well with him, you never know. He keeps it very close to the vest. He learned from Steve Iserman. He was the best at it I think that they were probably if they had their their thought process They probably like to add maybe a depth defenseman, but they've got a tad under $800,000 in available cap space so they don't have a lot to work with. Julian said yesterday a big if if they could do it, but I've heard that from him before and he's made moves.

So I wouldn't be surprised if they bring in a defenseman by tomorrow, but we'll see. Eric, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. It's the Lightning and the Sabres. And let's do this again as we get closer to the playoffs.

Sounds good, man. I always appreciate coming on with you guys. Yeah, we love having you, Eric. Thanks, man. Eric Erlendson, Lightning Insider, here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. The depth of scoring that the Lightning have, just in terms of goal scorers,

Braden Point leads them with 32 goals, Brandon Hagel, 30 goals, Jake Gensel, 29, Kucherov, 28, and Anthony Cirelli has 20. So they've already got. They are a true top six because that's all the scores, their top six forwards. Right. Yeah.

After that, they don't have much. Mitchell Chaffee, I suppose, has popped in a few. Well, that's, but that's why they went out and got Bjork Strand and Yanni Gord. They needed to, they needed to add to their bottom six. Look, I'm dropping a look, 6.49 in the morning. The line that BreezeBot had about, you know, better to have tried and failed than not tried at all.

It, it's a great ethos for, but they have to be in a position to do that. Yeah. Like you can't. you have to be realistic. Yeah, you can't throw caution to the wind when you're not even close to being a contender, but I'm just going back and forth with someone in the Dunbar Lumber, text message in baskets,

saying, you wanna talk about making moves. If you're a trade first general manager and you're constantly trying to reinvent your roster in the immediate, as opposed to draft and develop, it's risky because your moves have to work out. Like they did the tenor genotrade which was a disaster for them. It did not work out.

But then- One of the rare big misses. But you look at this team right now and you wanna talk about extending the shelf life and keeping the Stanley Cup window open with two trade, two moves in particular, the Gensel move and the Hegel move. They almost reinvented what they were as a group.

They got a little bit younger. They got a little bit faster. They got more dynamic and it allowed them to do a move like they did yesterday where I mean, they're not picking in the first round until twenty twenty eight. So they don't have a first round pick at this year's draft. Then they go back in 26 and they don't have one there. And then they go back in 27 and they don't have one there either.

It's a big, big challenge to stay relevant when you're not picking in the first round for that many years in a row. What do you want to see as the matchup coming out of the Atlantic, the first round? So Florida currently tied with Toronto with 79 points. They played 62 games, but Tampa Bay Lightning have one game in hand, but three fewer points. So this division could really finish in any

combination, the top three. You know what I want? Which matchup do you want? Do you want Florida and Tampa Bay in the first round? Because people would be, people would complain about that. That would get people complaining. I wouldn't. I think if you can guarantee it, you take it whenever you can get it. Because that's the best rivalry in hockey right now. Yeah.

Just in case you're wondering. But that means the Leafs win the division. But that means the Leafs maybe play Columbus in the first round and then lose to Columbus in the first round. Or Ottawa? Yeah. I'll take either of those. I would take that, Toronto, Ottawa in the first round. Or Ottawa? Yeah, I'll take either of those. I would take that, Toronto, Ottawa in the first round and Tampa Bay, Florida. Yeah, I take Toronto and Columbus too, if that was the one.

Columbus gets in, right? That great Cinderella story, nobody saw this coming. So much emotion and so much heartbreak and heartache from the Johnny Goudreau passing. I think it would be like borderline theater to watch that go down. So I am now rooting for Toronto to win the division, Florida, Tampa Bay first round.

I think it would be perfect. Chef's kiss would be so good. Speaking of things going on in the Eastern Conference around the NHL, we should mention, Alexander Ovechkin scored again last night. So that's 885. So it's now 10, 10 more than it needs. And everyone on the team,

including the head coach Spencer Carberry, are not just talking about breaking the record, but like kind of making sure that it gets done this year. Cause it's tight now. You're talking about 20 games left. Ovi's gonna have to score basically a goal every other game to get there if he can squeeze it in before the end of the regular season.

And all eyes are gonna be glued to this. I think ESPN and TNT are reshifting their broadcast focus to make sure that like every Ovechkin game moving forward is gonna be thoroughly covered. Ray is gonna be trailing around Alex Ovechkin. Ray Ferraro, of course, yeah. Sunny texts in, can you guys help me understand the deal between Nashville and Pittsburgh?

Can't, bro. Don't get it. Doesn't make any sense. Unless they're going to flip Shen. I don't understand. Someone tried to frame it. An unnamed author, because I don't want to throw the person under the bus, but they were trying to say, Pittsburgh picked up a key veteran defenseman for their playoff push.

I'm like, that's not a thing. They're going to go get Braden now. for their playoff push. I'm like, there's no, that's not a thing. They're gonna go get Braden now. That's not a push. Yeah, if they could get Braden Shen and then flip the package to someone, right? The Shen bros do that maybe, but I don't understand what they were- First round pick for the Shen bros.

Step right up. That's what you get. Maybe multiple first round picks. I don't know what Pittsburgh's doing here. I don't know what Pittsburgh's been doing for the majority of this season. I've disagreed with a lot of their moves. I think trading Pettersson for a first round pick

was probably the smartest thing that Dubas has done this year, because it was a nod to, hey, we're not gonna be competitive this season, so let's move one of our valuable defensive assets out and get a good, you know, get a potential good pick and return. The problem there is that then they went out and acquired Luke Shen, who is a veteran defenseman who would fetch you something going to the deadline. I got a feeling he might be on the move again.

That's just me though. Yeah. Was that the, it wouldn't have been the Preds shedding salary. Was it? So was it the Preds going like, do you think it had anything to do with the what Luke Shen's comments? It was just going to go there. Okay. So here's the deal, by the way, the Penguins sent a fourth round pick to the Preds for- It was Michael Bunting and a fourth rounder for Shen and Tommy Novak. Right. Okay. Yeah. And you'll remember a few days ago- Tommy Novak, who sounds like a guy that would steal your car. Yeah, he was an extra in The Departed. Who stole the car?

Tommy Novak. He's your idiot cousin, Tommy Novak. Anyway, the deal kind of reminded me of, it was when we talked about this, when Florida acquired Seth Jones, and Frank Ceravalli came on the show and said, that trade was expedited because Jones was openly critical of where Chicago was at and how poorly they were playing

and how he wanted out. Kyle Davidson, the general manager of Chicago said, yeah, that definitely sped things up. I do wonder if Luke Shen very vocally expressing his displeasure with where Nashville was at, kickstarted things for Barry Trotz to move him out. Because I would imagine at this stage of his career, Luke Shen is not super thrilled playing on a team

that one, is terrible, and two, is nowhere close to the playoffs. Maybe at his age, he'd probably want to play for a Stanley Cup. You'd have to imagine, right? I don't know how many more years he's got left. But I can't imagine that he's also thrilled about going to a team that might be in an even worse

situation in the Pittsburgh Penguins. So yeah, I do think that there's something there about maybe him being outspoken eventually led to the trade. If I'm Nashville, I'm taking a long hard look at what we've done this last year. And you almost have to do an autopsy and say, was this just an aberration? Was it too much of a change too soon?

Or did we really gamble and lose on veteran guys, specifically Stamcoast and Marshall? I think it's a ladder. I think it's a ladder. Okay. Who's coming up next? Seven o'clock hour. We got a big show ahead. Brady Henderson, ESPN, NFL Seahawks Insider is going to join us.

Huge day for the Seattle Seahawks yesterday. Tyler Lockett released. DK Metcalf requests the trade. You don't get more shakeup at your wide receiver position than the Seahawks had yesterday. So we'll talk to Brady about that at seven o'clock. Then at seven 30, Luke Fox and NHL writer for Sportsnet is going to join us. We'll go around all the major storylines as we head into tomorrow's deadline. Then at 7.30, Luke Fox, NHL writer for Sportsnet is gonna join us.

We'll go around all the major storylines as we head into tomorrow's deadline. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.