Halford & Brough in the Morning - Roberto Luongo Is A Stanley Cup Champion

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason hear more reaction from the Panthers Stanley Cup win (3:00), we get a Jake Guentzel update from Elliotte Friedman (16:00), plus they go to Florida as Sportsnet writer Luke Fox is on the scene for the festivities (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

We knew it was going to be tight, you know, 4-7 for the cup. We knew it was going to be a real tight game and it was going to come down to one thing here and there. You know, we're an inch away from going ahead 2-1 right before they go ahead 2-1. You know, it's tough. They do a good job of shutting things down. We had our looks. Just didn't find it. Sucks.

Sucks. Yeah. 702 on a Tuesday. Come down Tuesday here on the Alfred Abruf Show on Sportsnet 650. Music. Yeah. I feel like our speakeasy just got busted. It sucks, I tell you.

It sucks. It was a long night in the city. That was Connor McDavid, by the way. Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Sorry, not accepting Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Connor McDavid. Soft. Soft. Some people texting in,

I have a problem. This is a recent text into the Dunbar-Lemmer text line. I have a problem with the MVP vote. McDavid is one of the best players of all time. He was brilliant at times, but he had no points

in the last two games, was noticeably quiet in the biggest NHL game of the last 50 years, and his team lost. Thoughts? Possibly Barkov? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't have had a big complaint

if Barkov had won the consmite. But I also didn't really mind that Connor McDavid won it. If you look at the scoring stats for the entire playoffs, McDavid was head and shoulders above everybody else. Okay, let's go through. The four of us, if we were on the voting panel for the consmite, Jason, who are you voting for? Probably McDavid.

I would put McDavid. Yeah. Andy, who would you pick? McDavid. And Laddie? Bobrovsky. Oh, really? He bounced back.

I thought the last game. I would have time with that, too. Yeah, yeah. I just want to make sure you're – I thought he was in the mix, at least. Either that or OEL. So, I know scoring's not everything, obviously. And Barkov, he was the guy that I said yesterday,

I'm looking towards Barkov to be the guy for Florida because Florida's going to have the last change. And I think he's their best player. 42 points for Connor McDavid in the playoffs, 22 for Barkov. Yeah. It's pretty remarkable. It's pretty remarkable what Connor McDavid did. Now, it's also remarkable what Barkov did defensively,

but I have no problem with Connor McDavid getting the conspite, and you know who probably doesn't have any problem with any of it? Barkov, Bobrowski. They're like, we got the Stanley Cup. Okay, let's do the business before we get to the open segment here. We are in Hour 2 of the program of the Halford & Brough Show. Hour 2 is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste,

Primetime is full flavor without compromise. Get some at a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it's made. This entire show, all of it, all of the hilarity and hijinks is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio.

Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafit, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. Did you mention Barkov's reaction to winning the cup, like the first interview? He's like, so how do you feel? And he's just like, it's nice.

Yeah. It was nice. Yeah, it's very nice. It's a nice feeling. First Finnish captain to win the Stanley Cup. Yeah, that's right. Didn't you think Luongo was a little understated? Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, he knows that he didn't do this as a player. No, yeah. He did it as a coach. It's different. And he was happy. Istated? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he knows this. He didn't do this as a player. I mean, he did it as a coach. It's different. And he was happy. I'm still in shock. Well, let's play the audio of Roberto Luongo after he got to hoist the Stanley Cup as a member of Florida Panthers management team.

Well, obviously, we're broadcasting back in Canada. You have so many fans in Vancouver. Olympic gold medalist. Any message for the fans north of the border? I just want to thank especially the people of Vancouver for their support.

I've received a lot of messages over the last two months. People are rooting for me, so I'm truly grateful for them. And I always enjoy going back there. I look forward to going back there next season. So that wasn't the first thing he said. That was a follow-up question

for Bertolunga. It wasn't like, my first thoughts are to the Vancouver Canucks. We should have played it like that. In the city, yeah. I was like, I got to talk about Vancouver, Kyle. I got to talk about Vancouver. He talked about just like, yeah, we put in a lot of hard work, and it's good to win the Stanley Cup. But it wasn't anything like, it wasn't like, finally, finally,

Roberto Luongo is on top of the world, right? It wasn't like, finally, finally, Roberto Luongo is on top of the world. It wasn't anything like that. Understated maybe, but once he actually lifted the cup, you could tell his reaction was like, okay, this is awesome. He said it didn't feel real was his quote. It doesn't feel real. Did you see the reaction from not only the crowd, but the Florida Panthers players, the players,

when Paul Maurice lifted the cup. Oh, yeah. At the bench. Ryan Lomberg was going nuts when he lifted it. He was jumping up and down, and he was like, yeah, yeah. They asked Reinhardt in his walk-off with Bukaskis, I think it was, one of the Sportsnet guys anyway,

and they asked about, because Maurice had just lifted the cup. So they're like, what does he mean? And he's like, I've never seen a group of guys basically listen and have the coach's message resonate so thoroughly. And he said it. He's like, the guy's been doing this for forever. We really wanted to win one for him.

I don't know what's going to happen with Maurice because a lot of people brought up. So at the end of Maurice's, can you go right to the end of the Maurice clip and find the part that he says about Winnipeg? Maurice ended his interview, which was a very poignant interview with, if I could have one more thing to say,

I wish that the Winnipeg Jets win the next Stanley Cup because he talked about how he thought his coaching career was at the very least going to be on hold after the Winnipeg situation where he just left. He's like, I'm burnt out. I'm done. And then, you know, Florida came calling, got rid of Andrew Burnett to bring him in. This is what it sounded like at the end. Here's Paul Maurice talking about the Winnipeg Jets.

Well, I was just lucky. You know what? It was, it was. So if I could have one thing more, it'd be for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup. So a lot of people are like, Paul, wait a minute. A lot of people are like, wait, wait a minute. If you're still coaching, your first thing would be like, you know, what I really want is to come back and win it all again.

Oh, yeah, okay. I see where you're getting at. Not say, you know, my first thing is I would like the Winnipegpeg jets to win this next so a lot of people are looking at this and saying was that a tip of the cap or a nod to be funny if he was like who is the coach there now do you remember when he left winnipeg really what his parting message was sorry you remember what his parting message was when he left winnipeg it was no just the fact that he didn't feel like his voice was resonating that much there anymore. Right. He just has a good feel for the room, I think, and he knew.

I think that room was a mess. Well, yeah, and he knew that he wasn't getting his point across, which is like the total stark contrast to what it feels like the situation was with him in Florida. So at the end of the day, he made the right call to bail on the Jets, even though it wasn't anything personal. He just knew that his time was up. Yeah, I'm not trying to relitigate his departure from Winnipeg. I want to make that abundantly clear. What I'm saying is I think

a lot of people looked and heard what he said as, is this a not a concession speech, but a speech that kind of hints like, I might be done here. Like, what better way to go out than a 30-year coaching career? Because he's 57. He's not old by the standard of the league in any

stretch. He just started really early. He was one of the youngest head coaches ever when he first got the gig. Have you seen pictures of him? It's hilarious. Oh, he's a kid. He's a little baby. A little baby Paul Maurice just coaching away there. What was his first team that he coached?

Hartford, right? Wow, really? I think so, yeah. Anyway, I do think personally that he coached started to put you on the spot. Hartford, right? Wow, really? I think so, yeah. Anyway, I do, I think personally that he just got caught up in the emotion of the moment and just said that because he wanted to say something really nice about Winnipeg, and that was what popped to mind. I don't think that

this was a calculated move in the first step of, I'm going to announce my stepping down or retirement or anything like that. I mean, that team, granted they've been to two Stanley Cups in a row, and that's taxing on anybody, but I'd be shocked if he walked away from the gig. Okay, so that's one of the things that was going around yesterday.

I got a text here from Peter in Cloverdale. Having game seven on a Monday, Peter writes, when nothing else is going on must have been great for ratings. If this game was on the weekend, people would have been busy with kids, functions, or watching golf. I noticed yesterday, I really noticed some of the most random people

that were tuning in that had been on my timeline that had never watched a hockey game in their lives. Like Bomani Jones, for example. I follow him. He's really, I find him very entertaining, but he is not a hockey guy. Were all your soccer guys? I was like, what?

Yes. Gary Lineker is watching the hockey game? Yeah. Gary Lineker was like, what is going on here? You know, so again. Truly one of the greatest matchups I've ever seen. 32 Thoughts. The guys on 32 Thoughts were talking about it.

Remember Reggie Wayne, former Indianapolis Colts? So he went to the University of Miami. He's a Miami guy. Okay. And so he was tweeting out yesterday. He's like, this is wild. I have no idea what's going on. I don't know the rules of hockey, but he was watching it.

And it was like just, and it wasn't good. Stephen A. Smith was at the game. Yeah. And there was someone else too that they brought up. Oh, Dan Orlovsky, also of ESPN. Right. So there was all these people tuned in, I think because McDavid is now starting to resonate

as a guy we need to watch. I've never watched hockey before, but I hear this McDavid guy is unreal. I heard Drance's take yesterday on the station when he was talking about, essentially, he asked the question, is it good for the league if the Oilers win game seven? Because it will catapult McDavid into the realm of,

and he used a funny example. He's like doing a speed stick commercial with Patrick Mahomes or something like that. And I was kind of like, yeah, I was listening to it. And I was kind of like, yeah, I get it. But does McDavid want that? Because you have to want being at the center of attention like that. I know McDavid does a lot of commercials up in Canada,

but does he want to be, you know, Wayne Gretzky went and hosted Saturday Night Live. Yes. That was. That was a big deal. That was a big deal. And Wayne Gretzky, his name went well beyond hockey circles. Everyone knew Wayne Gretzky had a cartoon with Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson. They chose him as one of the guys.

He was a major, major star in a league that actually don't – I can't compare the NHL back then in terms of popularity in the United States to, to it now. That was a garage league. I mean, let's be honest, but it was small potatoes.

Gretzky transcended. But all the leagues were, but all the leagues were so much smaller potatoes back then. Yeah. I mean, baseball was the biggest of them all. Well, football too.

Yeah. Football caught up to baseball. Yeah,. Yeah, football caught up to baseball. Yeah, it did. Football caught up to baseball. And there were four major leagues. And I don't think college football was as big as it was. Certainly soccer wasn't as popular now. So I don't know.

Regardless, back to McDavid. I just don't know if he's got the um desire based on the way he interacts with the public to be a super public celebrity to the point where you know uh you'll be watching games and you know like oh patrick mahomes is watching an nba game right he's sitting in front row he doesn't mind the attention i don't know if you'd go and say he courts the attention but he is a superstar in the true sense yep you know does connor mcdavid want that that's an interesting one because if you go back like so the king's ransom documentary the 30 for 30 did a good job of capturing uh gretzky's recognition of what he meant. The responsibility to grow the game in the United States.

He was the... He put it on the map in the States. He was the face. He understood it, but you bring up a good point with me, David. He also embraced it. Yeah. He wanted it.

I think to a certain degree, his personality... Gretzky's pretty comfortable, you know, in that I wouldn't call him... You wouldn't sit there and go, Wayne Gretzky is such an outgoing personality, but he is comfortable talking in public, telling stories. I just think his personality, he just either developed a taste for it or had a taste for it.

Yeah. The celebrity wife, all of it. Then you go and look at the lineage of faces of the NHL or the leading man superstar types. Then there was Sidney Crosby. And Sidney Crosby, nationally, he's tough to market because he does not embrace

that aspect of superstardom. On the ice, the way he carries himself, the way he's prepared prepared the way he's handled everything that might just be the life he wants yeah and that's fine but he was for i don't know a 10-year period it was him and ovechkin that was sort of their era yeah and ovechkin was more difficult because he was russian and it was inherently more difficult for him to be a spokesperson on that level. And now it's McDavid's turn, for lack of a better term. And it also coincides.

And this is really important. The McDavid era now is coinciding with ESPN and TNT fully leaning into hockey. And that wasn't. You and I pretty much worked the Crosby-Ovechkin era when NBC was the platform. But NBC never had the promotional power that ESPN does on a sports basis. And it was much more buttoned down, straightforward coverage. The stuff you see, especially from TNT,

with the panel and this and that and everybody else, it's just not even close in terms of how they present the game. We've got an update on Jake Gensel, courtesy the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast, which was published after the Florida Panthers defeated the Oilers last night. So here are Elliot Friedman and Jeff Merrick discussing Jake Gensel.

I had someone tell me there's a lot bubbling under the surface there. And that there are some really good teams that you wouldn't think could do it that are wondering, how can we do it i'm trying to think of where i want to go so hang on a second that's what i that's what i was doing too like like i wondered about kings you know Caroline is still around there I really don't know that Vancouver is gonna pull this off but what this guy said to me is

there are some teams out there that want to know if they can get Gensel because they want them they're good teams but it might mean they have to perform some surgery. Let me throw a name out at you. Okay. Who's always in and around it? You're going to say Vegas. Bingo! Where we're heading.

I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. The one thing someone said to me about Vegas is, you're right, they're always around it, but you have to figure an Eichel extension. Because he's two years away. So everything you do, you have to do with the lens of that. But, you know, I'm not saying no, I'm not saying yes. I'm starting to work on this a little bit,

but that's what someone said to me. There are good teams floating around him that are like, if we want to know, like they said, don't be surprised if a team you're not expecting tries to trade for his rights to see what it's going to take. Oh, I can see that. Yes.

And what surgery they have to do. This is what I keep coming back to. What's the timing on this going to be? Because there are so many hungry teams out there for the free agents. And Jake Gensel is one of the top players out there. Might be the top player out there, considering most of us expect Sam Reinhart to re-sign with the Florida Panthers.

So assuming he does that. Now, if he doesn't, then all bets are off. But if you're the Vancouver Canucks, the timing on this is tricky because you've got a lot of holes to fill. Meanwhile, you're probably telling a lot of your current free agents, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, just hold on, just be

patient. And those free agents are sitting there going like, my wife is asking me every day about this. I'm not feeling especially patient. This is, this is, nobody's feeling sorry for hockey players here, but these are the stresses that they endure, right? They've got families they've got to think about.

If it's not Vancouver, where do you want to go? Where would you be interested in? But right now they can't, I mean, they can ask their agents to do a little light tampering or, you know, I'm sure there's gossip out there that they can latch onto in some way. But if the Canucks take this all the way to July 1st and then they get Gensel, well, then great, they've got Gensel and then they can fill out the roster after that.

But they might have also lost some people in the meantime because those guys, as soon as July 1st hits, while the Canucks are signing Jake Gensel, they're like, I had to take something else. Like I had to, you know, I wasn't going to sit around until everyone spent their cap space. And I realized that there is, you know, more stuff that goes on behind the scenes. So it's not everyone plays by the rules. So you kind of know the timing and Jim Rutherford, who is the president of hockey ops is going to be able to guide Patrick Alvin very well and Patrick Alvin's been around the league for a long time he knows how this works this isn't his first July 1st it's not his first free agency but I still keep wondering

if this Jake Gensel thing is going to get solved before July 1st and I would probably think it is. Yeah. So I'm sort of out on Gensel, by the way. What? Yeah. Why? I think it's going to. What? Why? Yeah.

Just on a personal level. Explain. Okay. I think it's going to be stupidly expensive to get them. I think you're going to have to do a massive overpay on a guy that turns 30 in October. I also think that there's viable options out there. Like what? Toffoli?

Marcus and Gibson. Hold on! I'm going to read this text and then you can say. Marcus and Gibson's text saying, I'm worried Vancouver pivots off of Gensel and goes the Toffoli route. Toffoli is too similar to Brock and doesn't help team speed. That is

one thing that I really want the Canucks to address in a major way. They need to become faster. Do you think you get that much faster with Jake Gensel? Well, yeah. He's pretty fast player. He's quick. He really would be good though. Here's my line of thinking. Here's my line of thinking. Tavoli's

32. Gensel's 29. He's going to be 30 in October. I don't see that much of a difference age-wise. Tavoli's obviously not as fast as Gensel. And. He's going to be 30 in October. I don't see that much of a difference age-wise. Toffoli's obviously not as fast as Gensel. And he's not as good as Gensel. How many goals has Gensel scored in the last two years? He went 36 and 30.

Toffoli went 34 and 33. Yeah, their stats are close. They're not that big of a gap between the two of them. Toffoli scores goals. He is a more... Then you know he can play with better. He's not as good of a player. I will gladly concede that. But I also think

that the gap in salary might be... Yeah. He would be a very good consolation prize and I honestly, I still wish they picked him up at the deadline.

Like, I can't believe he went for so little. If you back up the Brinks truck, which I think they might have to do to get Gensel in the door, I think it's going to hamstring you on the cap. I also wonder what it says to a lot of the other guys. Like you're saying, the other free agents that are waiting and saying,

wow, you guys really bent over backwards to appease Gensel, as opposed to some of the other guys that played here or wanted to be here. I get it. I get it. Yeah. So I'm kind of out on the Gensel idea. Yeah, but you're always going to overpay on free agency. So, I mean, you got to expect that.

Are you always going to overpay on free agency? I don't think you're always going to overpay on free agency. I think you can find bargains in free agency. I think you can find bargains in free agency. Yeah, they can't find bargains last season. I think they did a great job in free agency last year. No, overpay for like the big names, I mean. So don't go down that road.

But here's the thing. They need more top-end talent. They do. And right now, we're not. And you're going to be overpay for the big names, I mean. So don't go down that road. But here's the thing. They need more top-end talent. They do. And right now, we're not... And they're going to be overpaying for those guys. And I think something that's hard for people to wrap their head around is... And maybe it's misguided. Maybe it turns out to be misguided.

But we're now treating the Vancouver Canucks like a team that could win the Stanley Cup. That's not misguided. They're in their window now. This is their window. No, yeah. The time to overpay, as annoying as it is because it sucks to overpay, is now. This is the current time to do that.

Yeah, no, I agree because they're not, whether you think they're complete enough to be a true Stanley Cup champ, it's kind of not going to get better than this. They've made their decision. They're kind of pot committed. They've given Miller his extension, and Miller's playing unbelievable hockey right now. They've given Petey his extension, whether that works out or not.

They've got a few more years left of Quinn Hughes, and they've got a couple more years of Thatcher Demko. The Heronic signing, they signed him long-term. They are committed to this core. So for the next few years, at least you can either do it, okay, well, until Quinn Hughes' contract is up, you are in go for it mode. Party.

Marty writes in Halford has an issue with the age of Gensel, but guess who else they signed at the same age. JT Miller. I acknowledge that Miller, but they didn't sign JT Miller in free agents that they re-signed JT Miller. Having spent a couple of years in Vancouver. So you also had, I guess,

proof of concept. He was here. He worked. They liked him. You've got certain guarantees. I think G proof of concept. He was here. He worked. They liked him. You've got certain guarantees. I think Gensel's a very good player. I think he would fit extremely well. I think he'd be awesome riding shotgun next to Pedersen.

My concern would be, given the bidding war that might go on, and how determined they might be to get their old buddy from Pittsburgh in the door. There's the elements of an overpayment. There's the elements of a really big contract with a lot of term and a lot of money. That's my concern. I don't care what they do as long as they get faster. They need to get faster,

and they need to add a top tier guy to their top six. It's a challenge. It's a really challenging offseason. But my whole point in this is I just wonder if we're going to find out about Jake Gensel one way or the other before July 1st. Because if you make that deal, you make Gensel becomes a piece of your core. He's not. Of course. Yeah, of course.

For me. And that's kind of where i'm at with it for me it's like yeah i get it but your core guys are gonna be there's four of them core four right we all know this pedersen hughes miller demko yeah that's everything else around that is pieces well i guess harmonic is kind of the core now core five five. Yeah. Okay. With Gensel, core six. You can't have too much core. There's too much core. You can have six core. It's like a bad apple.

There's too much core. Luke Fox is going to join us from Sportsnet. He was at the Stanley Cup final. Game seven last night in Sunrise, Florida, where the Florida Panthers won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Finally, a reminder, the NHL Draft is this week. It's on Friday.

NHL Draft coverage on Sportsnet 650 is brought to you by Oxygen Yoga and Fitness. Not your typical yoga studio. Luke Fox is coming up next. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. It doesn't feel real right now. It's been a lot of work, whether that's on the ice or off the ice the last few years,

but finally we got there, so it's an unbelievable feeling. 7.32 on a big band Tuesday. Congratulations to Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers. You're 2024 Stanley Cup champions. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is 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 two of the program. This music, man. Luke Fox is going to join us in just a moment here. Boy, we're in a jolly, celebratory mood. What's going on? That trumpet's going off.

Hour two of this program is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer. Prohibition got you down? Get some Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste, Primetime is full flavor without compromise. You can get some at a liquor store near you. Not sold in dry counties. I went to a dry county once. Did you really?

Where were you? It's where Jack Daniels whiskey is brewed in Tennessee. What's it called? Kentucky? Williamsburg? Hey, dog. It's where you said it's where the whiskey is

brewed in Tennessee and a dog said Kentucky? Rival States. Kentucky, Tennessee. Is it Lynchburg or Williamsburg? I can't remember. The whole shtick is that it's a dry county. Oh, I see.

So they had to get special licensing, for lack of a better term, to have the distillery, not a brewery, obviously. But yeah, it's very odd being in one, because we went out for lunch, and we sat down, and they're like, would you like some lemonade? a brewery, obviously. But yeah, it's very odd being in one because we went out for lunch. We sat down. They're like, would you like some lemonade? I'm like, nope.

They're like, what about a sarsprilla? I'm like, a sarsprilla? Nope. Don't want that either. Anyway, primetime craft beer. Visit the brewery to see how it's made. Let's go to the phone lines now. Luke Fox from Sportsnet joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show

on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Luke. How are you? Doing pretty good. A little tired, but good. I always love talking to the beat writers the morning after the Stanley Cup is handed out. Because if you think it's just a party for the players, no. No, it's not.

The media members are having a good time as well. Thank you for taking the time to join us. We really appreciate it. How was the spread taking the time to join us. We really appreciate it. So now that you've had – How was the spread at the hotel after, Luke? It was good. You know what? It's kind of crazy. Like, you get into this business, and you're like, oh, you know,

I hope I get a job, or I hope I get to cover real games, or even maybe a final. And then it's all over, and you're sitting at a table trading the stories with Kevinvin bx and ron mclean and kelly rudy it's like how did my life get like this um it's it's a little bit of a pinch me moment but covering a cup final i i think you guys have before right yeah yeah it's like i don't know it's the it's the pinnacle right it's one of those moments where you really appreciate the job you get to do yeah the pinnacle for your life, the low point for your body.

Yeah. Just hammering back Miller lights and potato skins at two o'clock in the morning. So Luke, you've covered a few of these as well. Where does that Stanley Cup final rank among the ones you've covered, or maybe just of all time. Yeah, I mean, heading to the game, I was thinking, I probably have not covered a bigger sporting event in my life. The only one that maybe would come close was Game 7 of 2019, Boston-St. Louis. But this one, you know, the fact that there was a Canadian team involved, Canada hasn't won in 30 years, in case you haven't heard.

Florida had never won a championship. There was this threat of the reverse sweep, which has only happened once in North American team sports in history. This one had a little extra weight, and there was just an incredible buzz. Like I could not believe the number of Oilers fans that made the trip to, you know, South Florida. It is not an easy journey. Uh, at best you're taking one connection and two long flights. Some people had, you know, multiple connections. I know guys that tried mixed the train ride in there somehow.

So, you know, for them to show up in full force was really something. There was an incredible, incredible energy in that building. And then it was a really well-played hockey game, hard battles, like both teams leaving it all out there. And, you know, you hate the double off day between games but i wonder if that helped them get a little bit more refreshed like some finals you see the teams and there's nothing left these both teams had a little jump still and the florida panthers the headline on your story is desperate panthers grind out first ever stanley Stanley Cup is grind the operative word in that headline. I would say so. Yeah. You know that they got back to their style, which isn't a pretty style. It's

jump and chase, relentless on the forecheck. We're going to keep you away from the slot. We're going to find ways to get a couple goals, and then we're going to get a lead, and we're going to hold on to it. You know, this was the best third-period team in the regular season and in the playoffs. So once they got a 2-1 lead, that was enough for them. You know, Matthew Kachuk afterwards saying, you know, we kind of wanted an insurance goal, but we weren't going to do anything crazy to get it.

You know, they were always above the puck. They were throwing their bodies in front, blocking shots. You know, you think of that foursling taking the stick away of McDavid when he had like half an empty net there towards the end to maybe tie it. This is just, I can't remember a team where the whole team played defense, like every single forward, every single defensive, the commitment to playing the right way. And I really do believe that starts with their captain, Alexander Barkoff,

who never cheats. Sergey Bobrovsky missed practice on Sunday and that raised some eyebrows. What was the reason behind him missing that practice? So, you know, at the time, Paul Maurice said, oh, you know, this is, we're getting him in on a different schedule and everything, and we're rolling our eyes and something's up here. So I actually got to talk to Bobrovsky after he won the cup. And he said, this was his goalie coach, Rob Towers' idea. He said, look, you need a bit of a break. Like Bobrovsky is a notorious rink rat. He likes to be first on the ice, sometimes last off the ice.

He's doing all this stuff. Like he's, he's kind of a workaholic when it comes to hanging around the rink and putting in work. And he said, no, what go home, stay away from the circus, stay away from the rink. You need a mental reset. And he said, I just went home, hung out with my daughter. She's my motivation. She's my inspiration. I rested.

I cleared my head, came back the next morning, did the morning skate, and I felt ready to go. And I think that just speaks to, you know, the mental side of this grind. You know, you go four rounds after an 82-game season, which is hard enough, and you're facing an elimination game, and he needed to get his game back in order because he wasn't great for three games.

I mean, he got pulled in the 8-1 shellacking, and he never quite got it back. So good on goalie coach rob talus for for knowing his guy and knowing what he needed in that moment uh paul maurice what did you think of what he had to say or what did he have to say to you at least or to the assembled media we saw the tv interview um but what else did he have to say last night after winning the Stanley Cup and avoiding being that coach that was behind the bench for the reverse sweep? Yeah, I mean, he's a walking soundbite, right? His quotes have been great this whole run.

And it's those individual stories that you feel so good for those guys. Hockey lifer, he was at risk of maybe overseeing the greatest collapse and then all of a sudden he he realizes his dream and what i found interesting was uh a couple things one he said that you know he was asked why he closed his eyes um when he was handed the cup before he lifted lifted it and he said, I didn't want to be thinking about anything else. I just wanted to feel what it felt like. He said, you know, he always watches those commercials that clip together, all those players lifting the cup.

And the one that stood out to him most of all was Rod Brindamore, probably because of their past with the Carolina Hurricanes, probably because Brendan Moore's Hurricanes that year beat the Oilers. And he was a bit, Maurice was a massive Oilers fan as a teenager because Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey played in the Sioux. So there was that connection where he grew up. And he just wanted to feel that moment that he had seen on TV so many times. That is so cool. Yeah. And then he said when he opened his eyes, he saw everyone smiling, his whole team smiling at him.

And he had a great line saying, you know, that's the like to you know you're not part of it but you're there witnessing someone realize a lifelong dream and uh all the cliches kind of go away and it's just raw emotion so you're happy for him you're happy for a guy like khaled pozo 17 years in the league playing for crappy islanders teams and crappy Buffalo teams and puts in a clause, that performance bonus clause that I get an extra half million bucks if I win the cup. Like that's, that's how far he'd have to go to get that extra money. And it just kind of speaks to how much he wanted it. And then he gets it.

And he was a scratch in game six, gets in in game seven. So there's all these cool individual stories. I mean, for you guys, he wanted it and then he gets it and he was a scratch in game six gets in in game seven so there's all these cool individual stories I mean for you guys Oliver Eklund-Larsen bought out probably thought he'd never get a chance like this and then here he is lifting the cup and he played pretty well too there were times when the Panthers really needed him take some ice times and and he played well so Luke what's on your schedule now? Are you going to go back to Toronto and all sorts of Mitch Marner talk? Or are you headed right to Vegas for the draft?

I'm going back to Toronto today for about 18 hours. Then I'm going to reintroduce myself to my family. And then I'm doing some laundry. And then I'm getting on a plane tomorrow to Vegas for the draft and awards. Do you think Mitch Marner will be traded this week? There was a report from Frank Cervelli suggesting that it could happen this week. I still feel like I'd be surprised if it happened. I feel like he and his camp are pretty dug in, and really he holds all the cards.

Is it possible? Sure uh i think if the lead if he didn't have a no move clause and brad true living had his way i think they'd be you know i think there would be a good chance but really it's up to the player they have to find a situation that he's agreeable to and right now i've i've have no sense that he wants to get traded I think he he's going into a contract here he wants to pile up as many points as possible is there a situation where he can do that that's better than feeding Austin Matthews the puck that's a big question and as comfortable as uncomfortable as things are with him in Toronto right now, he still holds all the cards. This goes back to, you know, I think it's a flawed way of doing business,

but you hand these guys no move clause, which they've earned. They negotiate all, you know, you get what you negotiate, but it puts the team in a bad spot where their hands are tied. So I'm not convinced it's happening this week. Luke, I know you've got a whirlwind ahead of you. So with that, we'll let you go. Fly safe, travel safe. Enjoy seeing your family for less than 24 hours.

Enjoy Vegas. Let's do this again next week as we get deep into free agency. Okay, sounds good, guys. Have a good one. Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Luke Fox, Sportsnet NHL writer here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So Dr. Terry from Sydney texts in to the Dunbar-Lumber text line, 650-650.

Dr. Terry's good. He's very active on Twitter as well. Mm-hmm. He says, Morning, guys. Props to the Panthers. Few teams, if any, in today's NHL could have lost three straight and turned around and won game seven. What bothers me the most is that in seven to ten days,

South Florida will have completely moved on and turned all their interest to college or NFL football. If Edmonton had won, they'd be celebrating for months, maybe years to come. Right team won, wrong city won. The Panthers will have their Stanley Cup parade on Sunday because they got to get prepared for

the draft in Vegas and that's going to be Friday and Saturday. So, you know, you obviously have to have your general manager there and your head coach there. So I'm sure the players are going to enjoy a very good week in Florida and then cap it all off with a parade on Sunday a few days. They're all going to be disasters by the time that parade arrives. Meanwhile, yet another Canadian city

will spend its off season wondering about what could have been. And I tweeted this out last night just to remind everyone of not only how long it's been since a Canadian team won a Stanley Cup. 31 years. But how close so many teams have gotten.

So the Canadian teams to lose the Stanley Cup final since the Habs won it in 1993. Obviously the Canucks have done it twice. 94 game seven loss, 2011 game seven loss. Calgary, 2004 game seven loss. Edmonton, 2006 game seven loss. 2024 game seven loss. So that's five game seven loss edmonton 2006 game seven loss 2024 game seven loss so that's five game seven losses now ottawa made it there in 2007 they lost in five to the ducks montreal made it in 2021 and they lost to the tampa bay lightning it's it's not just that there have been seven straight losses by canadian teams in the

stanley cup final since 1993 it's just how close some teams have come yeah i mean it does kind of make it feel like a curse because you're like what is preventing all these teams that are obviously more than good enough to win you get to game seven of the stanley cup final you're right there so what is it that is preventing them because people look at the canadian cup drought and they attach a lot of like really bad false narratives like oh this just further confirms that there's too much pressure in canadian markets and you guys make it too hard of it i think it's part of it i think it's part of it. I think it's part of it. I think it's part of it. What? The pressure. But several teams have gotten right there. And then they folded.

The pressure from games one to game six, not a problem. Game seven, it was a problem. It's just too much. Yeah. Connor McDavid cracked under the pressure of the relentless Edmonton media. Mark Spector finally got to him last night in game seven. That's why he was pointless. Terrible timing. It'sor finally got to him last night in game seven. That's why he was pointless. Terrible timing. It's a crazy argument to make.

I think there's really logical reasons. One is that there's, you know, a lot, there's 32 teams now and only seven of them are in Canada. That's the biggest one. There's a numbers game behind it. But the numbers suggest that a Canadian team should have won it. They do. I just think that, I just think like,

for example, one of the things that I was saying as the Oilers mounted this crazy comeback was eventually there will be a team that is going to come back from oh three down and win a Stanley cup again. It might take a while, but it's going to happen eventually. And I likened it to being a big March madness, NCAA basketball fan. Eventually, a 16 was going to beat a one seed in the first round.

It just was going to take a really long time for it to happen. And it did finally. Right. A Canadian team will eventually win. Yep. The proof is there that there's nothing other than an incredible string of bad luck that these teams couldn't get it done in game seven. And a couple of curses too. A couple of curses mixed in.

But the curse is just like something. The Leafs are cursed. They're not going to win it. See, that's down to six teams already. You don't think pressure is a factor at all? What about the teams that don't even make it to the Stanley Cup final? Like the Leafs have barely been out of the first round. That is different.

That's pressure? I think pressure plays a role. That's something more. I think pressure plays a role, and I think pressure plays a role, and the media landscape plays a role in some players not wanting to be in the spotlight. No tax is a factor for sure. Look at Matthew Kachuk.

I realize he – He left Canada to go get this. I realized he wasn't, um, frankly the best performer in that series. I don't think he was terrific in that series. Very underwhelming to be honest. Um, but he was an important player for the Florida Panthers.

Nobody can doubt that. And he left a Canadian market to go to Florida. Yeah. There are a lot of people too that just don't want to play in some of these smaller Canadian cities. Like his brother. They don't.

There you go again. Right. They just. I know. You know, the Jake Gensel thing, you know, I'll be curious to see if he signs in Vancouver. Okay. Why were you willing to come to Vancouver? Why were you willing to come to Canada?

Do you see how I'm putting that? Willing to. Willing. Willing to. Willing. Yeah. You know, you got guys like Panarin, uh, who wanted to go to New York cause he wanted to

play on Broadway. Lots of players want to go to Florida. Lots of them apparently want to go to Vegas. The weather plays a factor too. Sure. You know, the weather in getting, attracting players, it definitely plays a factor. If I'm, you know, if I'm in that situation, man,

it would be nice on your body. If you're playing a physical sport like hockey and all season long, it's a real slog. Do you want to go outside and feel the nice desert air? Yeah. No, I would like it to be even colder than the inside. Or do you want to go, you know, even, not even the cold. Like I remember talking to Louie Erickson in his first year here

and he's like, sure rains a lot. Sure does, Louie. It's sure dark here. Yeah. Right. I think that's a factor in all of it, but I get what you're saying that some of it's just. That's why you got to bring free agents to Vancouver in the summer. That's a good here. Yeah, right? I think that's a factor in all of it, but I get what you're saying, that some of it's just... That's why you got to bring free agents

to Vancouver in the summer. That's a good idea, yeah. And just be like, it's always like this. It's very on their ignorance. When we went to Buffalo, I was like, I don't know when you bring free agents

to Buffalo to show off. At night. Yeah, right. At night, yeah. It was dark when I arrived here. It was dark when I left. I have an important update here. Roberto Luongo is awake.

He just tweeted for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup. He tweeted what a night with a whole bunch of cap exclamation points holding the cup as the picture. He also tweeted, I banged the bleep out of that drum. Yeah, he did. He didn't censor it like I did, but it's out there

and apparently he's up and at it. I thought he was going to break that drum. You pissed off. I'm giving her. One listener also suggests we point out, I don't know if you guys mentioned it yet, the Corey Perry curse is alive and well. He has lost his fourth cup final in only five seasons.

Do you think that's it for Corey Perry? I do. I hope so. Well, I would have said this three years ago, but he keeps finding gigs. He's worming his way back in there. How old is he now, 38? Yeah.

This run in Edmonton. When you're getting healthy scratched once in a while. This run in Edmonton was tough to watch at times. He just didn't have it. If he gets picked up by another team and they go to the finals, do you think they'd all be like, oh, no. Sir, please leave. We're not taking you on the plane.

Round two in Chicago, maybe? No. Yeah, probably not. We're not taking you on the plane. Round two in Chicago, maybe? No, yeah, probably not. Probably not. We don't know what happened. Probably not. I'm going with a no there, Greg. I don't want to ever say hard no, but in this case, it's a hard, hard no.

Why not? For that. Why, what happened? Okay, we've got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. 8 o'clock hour. Brendan Batchelor is going to join us. We will recap everything that happened last night in Game 7 Stanley Cup Final.

We've got what we learned coming up. We're low on giveaways. And by that, I mean we don't have any anymore. We're giving away our time. Yeah. And energy. And our love. Yeah. We're sending our love down the well. And energy. And our love. Yeah.

We're sending our love down the well to the listeners. Get them in. Hashtag them WWO. What did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Let us know. We've done so much Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7 stuff that we barely talked about anything else that's going on around the NHL. So if you want to weigh in on that, feel free. Euros and COPA are's going on around the NHL. So if you want to weigh in on that, feel free. Euros and Copa are still going on.

And by the way, today is a footy day. Stanley Cup final time. We can talk about soccer tomorrow. Yeah. Well, we've got James Sharman coming on. So tomorrow, we're going to have the results of England's final group stage match. So wherever they finish in the group, we'll know by tomorrow. And Canada at 3 o'clock today,

is playing Peru. Peru. Peru in their second match at the Copa America. I'm not going to lie. Did Brazil tie Costa Rica nil-nil? I watched it.

I had both screens going. How was that? Shocking. Did Brazil dominate? So Costa Rica used to have this keeper, Kehler Navas, who's very good.

He played in Europe. He played Paris Saint-Germain and a couple other places. He's an outstanding keeper. He's the best Costa Rican footballer ever, I would say. He's done now. So they've got this new goalie.

I had no idea who he was, so I looked him up. Pepsi. No, he's not Pepsi. He plays in the Spanish third division. Okay. Not La Liga. Yeah.

Not the Liga below La Liga. The Liga Liga below La Liga. And I'm watching him, and I'm like, I don't know who this guy is. I don't know who the team he plays for is. He stood on his head against Brazil yesterday. It was a lot of fun to watch. And it was not well received, obviously, by the Brazilians. That's a huge disappointment for them because Costa Rica is a minnow compared to them.

I didn't like how good the Americans looked. Christian Pulisic. Christian Pulisic. Bolivia. Yeah. I've been a bit of a Pulisic hater because I don't like U.S. I don't like him. CONCACAF, all that stuff.

But he was very good against Bolivia. Brendan Batchelor is going to join us next. We'll talk about the Vancouver Canucks and the week ahead for them. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.