Halford & Brough in the Morning - Sherwood? More Like Sure Good!

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk a big Canucks win over the Avalanche (6:00), plus they take a look around the NHL with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:42).  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. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose to the f***ing Canucks? You're listening to Halford & Brough. Kiefer Sherwood broke it up. He's got a breakaway. Sherwood, it alone scores! Some of you dream of as a kid, you know, like those are the kind of moments that you work for. He's obviously an aggressive guy and a guy that you need on the ice who gives us juice.

This market loves young guys. Young boys, young boys, young boys. Always about the young boys. Good morning, Vancouver. 6.01 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. This is Alfred and his bruv. 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. Laddy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and bruv of the morning. Ada, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Alfred and Brev 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 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices

on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, they recycle, 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, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec.

Got a lot to get into on the show today. Big guest list ahead. It begins at 6.30. Greg Wyshynski, our ESPN NHL insider, is going to join us. It's a busy night in the National Hockey League. Tonight, 10 games. We got a bunch of train wrecks we got to keep an eye on. The one that went north to Montreal from Buffalo. Got to keep an eye on that one.

They just had a chat with Terry Pagula, and apparently he wasn't even mad at them. He was just like, come on, guys. This is a fresh slate here stay the course I believe in you anyway I gotta go I got the bills try and win a couple games while I'm gone so

I will also keep it Nashville and New York the Rangers meet in a clash as well of floundering teams wish will join us at 630 talk about all that and more 7 o'clock Ray Ferraro is going to join the program for his weekly hit. I have no idea where in the world Ray Ferraro is right now. I think he's

still here. I don't believe he's got an ESPN game this week. I checked on ESPN's press room. I did some research ahead of the show. It's like a mystery. We'll find out where Ray is at 7 o'clock. 8 o'clock, first time Hal Bro guest from the Hockey News,

Adam Kurzenblatt is going to join the program. Kurzenblatt is going to join the program. We'll talk to him about a big win for the Vancouver Canucks last night, 3-1 over the Colorado Avalanche. I will also let you know that today and every other day this week, we are giving away a pair of tickets to the PWHL Takeover Tour on January the 8th at rogers arena rogers is a proud partner and fan of the pwhl pair of tickets every day this week is going to go to caller number five at 8 15 a.m our phone number here 604-280-0650 that number again 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650.

No excuses. If you're a live listener, if you're a podcast listener, if you're recording it on cassette and listening to it later, you all now know that we're giving away a pair of tickets to the PWHL Takeover, January 8th at Rogers Arena. Caller number 5 at 815 this morning. That's the program. That's what's happening today.

Laddie, 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? You missed that?

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. It was the Kiefer Sherwood show at Rogers Arena on Monday night. Sherwood scored his first ever NHL hat trick, a natural hat trick, no less. Vancouver Canucks win 3-1 against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

Yeah, I don't know. Who knows what's this team, I don't know. Who knows with this team? I don't know. The Canucks decided to have their legs last night. They had their legs right off the opening faceoff with JT Miller driving the net and almost scoring in the first 10 seconds. You could see right away as well

that Elias Pettersson was a lot more engaged, wanting the puck on his stick, more willing to shoot, and less willing to defer to others. But forget those guys. It took until 16-14 of the first period for the Canucks to open the scoring, and it was the third line of Sherwood,

Heinen, and Suter that got it done with some great forechecking, a couple of nice passes, and you go to the net, kids. You go to the net. And eventually, a hard-working, greasy goal by Kiefer Sherwood. Remember that name, because Sherwood scored his second of the night in the second period with the Canucks shorthanded after his linemate, Danton Heinen, took a penalty 200 feet away

from his own net. This was not a greasy goal by Sherwood. It was a beauty. The goal was unassisted unless you want to give it to McKinnon. You want to give him an assist on that? It was a careless entry pass by the great Nate. Didn't see that last night. That Sherwood picked off at the Canucks blue line, which led to a clear-cut breakaway. He beat Mackenzie Blackwood cleanly,

and then came the Kiefer-Sherwood chants at Rogers Arena. Yeah. Wasn't a JT Miller chant. Wasn't a Conor Garland chant. It was a Kiefer-Sherwood chant. It would not be the last Sherwood chants of the night. Now, the Avs did press a bit in the third, but the Canucks, with a lot of help from Thatcher Demko,

did not break. And with two and a half minutes left, Sherwood completed the natural hat trick with a long shot into the empty net. It was 3-0 Canucks. Sherwood now has 11 goals on the season, a new career high after scoring 10 in 68 games for the Preds last year. He scored, what is it, 29 or 30 games this year? I think it's 30 games. You know, the only

disappointment of the night was that Thatcher Demko lost his shutout bid with less than a minute to go when Nachushkin scored, but if that was the only disappointment on the night, that's a minor concern. Demko was awesome, and you do have to love what the Canucks have in goal right now. Now that Thatcher Demko is back, and apparently he's shaken the rust off. Yep. We got an early text into the show, and it's from project manager Patty into the

Dunbar Lumber text line at 6.50 6.50 he said I can't get a read on this team one day I'm telling myself this is the team to do it other days five guys need to be traded what do you make of it yeah it's

you know I thought pretty much everyone played well last night. Maybe Branstrom, not so much. Had the early puck over the glass penalty and then didn't play much after that. But, you know, okay, one guy had a bit of a rough night. One guy had a bad moment. I did think JT Miller played well, very physical. He had the matchup role against the McKinnon and Rantanen line and did very well with that. It was a scoreless draw between those two.

I thought Pedersen, again, I thought he played well. He didn't get any points, but if he plays like that every night, if he's that engaged every night, if he wants the puck on his stick and he's attacking, the points will come. He hit the post. He had a pass out to DeBrusque that DeBrusque could have scored on. DeBrusque kind of mishandled it. wants the puck on his stick and he's attacking, the points will come. He hit the post. He had a pass out to DeBrusque that DeBrusque could have scored on.

DeBrusque kind of mishandled it. Those two played well. But what's hilarious to me is that in the two games that they played well in, it was the lesser lights that really got it done on the score sheets. Like in the Florida game, and everyone was like, that was a great game. It was Max Sasson that got them off on the score sheets. Like in the Florida game, and everyone was like, that was a great game. It was Max Sasson that got them off to that great start.

And then last night it was Kiefer Sherwood. Maybe those guys are the leaders. Maybe that's the core. Sasson and Sherwood. The quote from Rick Tockett at Sunday's practice, this is the day before they go out and beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 last night at Rogers Arena was, we don't have the team to have three or four or five passengers. We just don't have it. Edmonton,

they can have four or five guys sleeping and they've got guys that can win the game for them. We are a team that needs everybody to play. That was the kind of the most disheartening thing yesterday, the Boston game, is, you know, we had some guys that weren't ready. You saw it last night, when almost everyone or everyone is going and cooking and paying attention to details and doing the things that the coaching staff

wants. They're great. I tweeted it out last night. This is a team that in three of their last games have put comprehensive victories together against two of the last three defending Stanley Cup champions. This is also the same team that on that same home ice has lost 6-0, 7-3, and 5-1.

That probably drives the head coach nuts more than if they were just consistently bad because at least they'd know what to expect on a night-to-night basis. Do you think it was the Buffalo trade rumors? Yeah, they should just do that every game. Threaten to trade them to a new city every game. And Buffalo should say if we make the playoffs,

one of you lucky guys can leave. I'm all excited. Let's go get a win. Maybe it'll be me. Maybe it'll be me. I noticed Patterson had zero points since Miller's return. Patterson played great last night. Zero points since Miller's return. Don't do this. He's almost on vacation. Just let him go. He played well last night. points since Miller's return don't do this he's almost on vacation

he played well last night he played well last night and you know what everyone noticed everyone noticed people were like wow he looks engaged out there which means that in the other games remember how we weren't going to do this part

you know what I want to keep it he's on vacation in a few this part? You know what? I want to keep it... He's on vacation in a few hours. Let him have it. For at least five more minutes, I want to keep it on a positive vibe because I want to talk about the second star of last night, Thatcher Demko,

talking about the first star of last night, Kiefer Sherwood. It's actually a good bit of audio from Demko who opens up a little bit and reveals what just makes Kiefer Sherwood such a valuable part of this team, both on the ice and off the ice. Here is Thatcher Demko, who opens up a little bit and reveals what just makes Kiefer Sherwood such a valuable part of this team, both on the ice and off the ice. Here is Thatcher Demko talking about the game's first star last night, the hat-trick hero, Kiefer Sherwood.

Yeah, he's a good dude. We love having him around. He's a guy that's positive attitude every day. You know, chatting guys up in the morning. Maybe you're a little groggy before, you know, practice or whatever, but he's bringing everyone's energy up. And, you know, he wears his harness, he plays hard for us. And, you know, he was definitely really annoying to play against.

So it's always nice when you meet a guy on the other side of it and you can cross him off your do not have a friendship with list. So, yeah, he's a good dude. We love having him around. Everyone's just pumped for him tonight. He played so well. Getting a hat trick is really special for him. Patrick Alveen in the offseason.

Hold on a sec. Can you have a do not have a friendship list? Oh yeah. You can have that. I've had one in sports before. Do you write them down? Yeah, it's in a note on my phone. Oh, it's on your notes. Mine's all up here.

Why is my name written three times? Mine's all up here. Do not have a friend. Like, I don't like people, but I've never had a do not have a friendship. It's a very That is legally binding. Mine is a very, very specific list. It's people that you only know through one facet of life.

Mostly for me, it was sports, right? So you play against the guy multiple times. You'd be like, that guy's a dick. I don't like that guy. But then you'd meet him and you're like, oh, this guy's all right. Isn't it always those guys, though? Not always. Not always.

Not always. Go on. Sometimes you just like they confirm your preexistingexisting biases like no i was right that guy's a colossal dick but sometimes sometimes they turn out like sure now i could understand what they were saying about sure because they saw him in the playoffs last year right front and center and he was running around and if you watch him play for five minutes you're like he must be wildly agitating to play against because he talks a lot too. Okay, I cut you off because I wanted to talk about the don't have a friendship list.

Patrick Alveen last summer, or the summer that just passed, when the contract negotiations were going on with Dakota Joshua and they got that one finalized, there was the line, this sort of famous line, is that we need to find the next Dakota Joshua. And they've absolutely done that with Kiefer Sherwood. This has been such a home run signing for them and has been such tremendous value. And again, I love looking at the previous regime and shaking my head

because it really does underscore so many things that that management group just never got right that this management group has got right. That this management group hasn't got right. I got a lot of time for this management group. I understand that they've had their misses. And I understand that they're not perfect. But the two things that I've loved are they're pro scouting. 90% of the time, they're able to find these guys.

Especially a forward. Defense is a little bit of a different issue. But also that they cut bait with guys when they realize that they've made a mistake. Now, Sherwood is on pace to score 20-plus goals this year. He's doing it for less than $2 million a year. And it is a guy that you kind of want to cheer for. Because if you read the story and look at his previous stops in the National Hockey League, he was often slotted into particular roles,

and I think it had a lot to do with the fact of the style of game that he played, which is a lot of energy and a lot of forechecking, and, oh, you're a bottom six forward by trade. And a lot of people also thought that he was a tweener. He was a guy that was going to bounce between the American League and the NHL. When he was in the American League, he scored a lot. And, you know, Rick Tockett spoken on a number of occasions about how when he talked to Sherwood in the summer,

Sherwood said, I've got offensive capabilities. Like, I can go and score. But look at the first goal he scored. That was a bottom six goal. Yep. I mean, it was awesome. I mean, there was some skill there, don't get me wrong. And Suter, who was a center last night, played on a line with Heinen.

He has some offensive ability. We all know about the versatility of Suter. But that was Sherwood doing a lot of hard work on the end boards in the attacking zone in Colorado's end. And then you'd appreciate this as a soccer guy. They had the diamond going. It was Sherwood down low, Suter. Love a good diamond.

And then Heinen was kind of around the net. The puck, it wasn't necessarily a pass to Suter, but Sherwood was working hard, and the puck pops up to Suter, who was above the play, and then he gets it to Heinen in front of the net. And then notice this, kids. Notice this, kids. If you're listening, you're not.

It's 6 in the morning. I hope you're sleeping. As soon as Heinen got the puck in front of the net, that's where Sherwood went. It was like a beeline there, and then Suter tried to score. The puck was loose, and Heinen tried to score, and then Sherwood was there to bang in the rebound. Go to the net. That's where the goals are scored. And then Sherwood was there to bang in the rebound. Yep. You know, go to the net.

That's where the goals are scored. So there was that goal there. So that was a hard-working goal. Yep. There was a shorthanded goal. And there was an empty net goal. So think about the opportunities that Kiefer Sherwood was presented last night. They probably had a lot of other NHL stops.

He wasn't. And he's making good on them. Now, why am I bringing this up? I think right now there's something like we saw with Max Sasson, right? He's a guy that kind of pulled himself up by the bootstraps, 24-year-old undrafted rookie, gets in the lab. Last night he's playing top six minutes in a top six role for the Vancouver Canucks. This team right now is getting the boost.

What a freaking boost. What a freaking boost. What a freaking boost. From these particular guys. And if you're trying to be the glass half full optimist type, you should be looking at this and saying, maybe this is the catalyst. Maybe this will get things going because I can't keep going with these colossal up and downs.

The peaks and valleys are too much with this team. I don't have a firm read on this team at all on a night-to-night basis. I have no idea what to expect. They seem to be befuddling Vegas on a near-nightly basis, right? Every time they're favored, they go out and lay an egg. Every time they're a dog, they go out and have a good performance. I'm grasping at anything right now, and I am hoping that some of these

less heralded sort of underdog guys can be the catalyst for a little bit more consistency or maybe drag some guys up to their level to where talk it doesn't have to say we have three or four or five passengers you know i did hear some criticism of the canucks of having too many ufas this offseason and that it kind of threw the team into a weird spot. But we just got a text in, and it's from Mark at the office. It said, 30 games in, the Canucks' leading goal scorers are DeBrusque and Sherwood and Suter. Nicely done, Patrick Alveen. Now, Suter has been here for more than a year,

but DeBrusque and Sherwood are new. DeBrusque has 14 goals. Sherwood has 11 goals, and Suter has 11 goals. Like, it's not all the new guys that are struggling. Like, when I hear, well, there are too many new players, I'm

kind of like, yeah, on the defense, like, Darren A was obviously not a great signing. He was good last night. But was that him who nearly ripped a puck into the Canucks bench? Or he did rip a puck into the Canucks bench? Was that him? I wasn't 100% sure.

Just a warning shot from De'Arne. It was some tall guy, so it was him or Myers. Yeah, I think it was De'Arne. And it was just like, oh, my God. That's a bit of panic in your game. But, like, you know know to me it it's it hasn't been the fact that there are new players there it's that um there have been some inconsistencies from some of the core players and the defense like as a whole but to be fair

Derek Forbort hasn't played that much no and. And I think if he can get up and running, and this was the problem in Boston, like he was injured a lot. And maybe that's because of the style he plays. If he can get up and running, then I think you've got a journeyman type of defenseman there, not exactly the same type of player as Ian Cole, who we're going to see on Wednesday, by the way.

But similar. Yeah. Capable, not flashy. Yeah. Now, the other thing, because I'm trying to look forward here, what is the future going to have in store? What are the next 30 games going to look like for this hockey team? So that was one of my hopes there in terms of consistency

and the lack of passengers. The other thing, and this might be the biggest takeaway from last night, is that that was a sort of old-school classic Demko game. And if you are able to roll out Demko and Lankanen, and they can maintain, Demko can maintain the kind of performance he had last night, and Lankanen can maintain the performance that he's had through the first two months of the season, you put it in the notes,

you're going to be in unbelievably good shape. Is that the best goalie tandem in the NHL? Demko's still got to prove, and I think someone texted in earlier. I mean, assuming Demko gets consistently back to his Fesna caliber form. Gurp from Surrey texted in earlier.

It's one of them. It has to be. It's one of them. If it goes. It goes to plan. Gurp one of them. If ever, if it goes. This goes to plan. GERP's text is the sort of caveat with Demko. He writes, is it just me or do you guys hold your breath to when Demko makes desperate saves? I thought he got hurt in the third period last night when he fell down and he made a save after he had fallen

and he didn't get up. I'm like, oh my God, he fell and he didn't get up. Like, ah! Where's his medical alert bracelet? Like someone, it was not, and he took a while to get up i'm like oh my god he fell and he didn't get up like where's his medical alert bracelet like someone it was not and he took a while to get up yeah and i know that he was fine because he came back in and almost got the shutout quinn hughes was not great at the end of the game by the way but uh i remember i heard there's a rift between hughes and demko it's like why are you throwing the puck up you know like four feet in the air good job by Ivan Ivan to knock it down knock it down but um Gurp you bring up a good point because what we're gonna see now with this

goaltending tandem is what Andy was talking about is that it has the potential to be the NHL's best or among the NHL's elite but I'm still that was the first time I had that real sort of like uh lump in throat moment when it came to Demko. Like we said it was going to happen. You know, he misses over 200 days with the knee injury. We've heard about the type of knee injury that it is. You're always worried that it's going to get re-aggravated. So if he can prove over the course of, I don't know,

let's say the next two or three weeks that he can play with regularity and he doesn't have to take nights off or go on short-term IR. Then they're in great shape. I don't think there's any way they're going to overplay Demko. I don't think there's any way, because this message is coming straight from the top. Yeah. Do not overplay Demko. Honestly, even if Lankanen struggles a bit in the new backup role.

Just platoon him still. Yeah. You can't risk it. I know that the playoff situation in the standings is a bit precarious. They'd obviously like to be higher in the standings right now, but you can't have a repeat of last year where I firmly believe that there was a lot of games between DeSmith struggling and the Canucks in prove-it mode that they probably threw Demko out there

on nights that he could have used the rest. So this is a question that I'll throw out to the listeners here. I know the Canucks are coming off a win, but I haven't checked the standings this morning. I assume they're still in a wildcard spot and their next game is, yes, they are. They're still in a wildcard spot.

Oh, they leapfrogged the abs last night. The lowly Colorado Avalanche. They're still in a wild-cut spot. They leapfrogged the Avs last night. The lowly Colorado Avalanche. They're now the number one wild card in the West. Those guys suck. They don't regret saying that. They're pretty good. If the Canucks are going to be worried about any team below the playoff bar,

is there one that really sticks out to you? The Calgary Flames are still there and they've got a pretty good young goalie in Dustin Wolf that might keep them in the game, might keep them in the race. And then after that, there's a couple of teams that I think might be compelling candidates to make a charge and that is Utah.

And again, the Canucks are going to play down in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. So we'll get our first look at them. I mean, the hockey club, they're the Coyotes, but they're in Utah now. The St. Louis Blues are playing better hockey. They're 6-2-2 in their last 10 under new coach Jim Montgomery.

And then do we throw in the Seattle Kraken as well? Because anything below the Kraken, it's like the Sharks, the Ducks, the Blackhawks, and the Preds, and those guys are done. It's that group of four, Calgary, Utah, St. Louis, Seattle. I can't say there's a team down there that I'm like, oh, once they get going, look out. There's no team that, like the Oilers last year got off to that dreadful start, and they were sitting below the playoff bar for a long time,

and I think most of us wondered, okay, they're probably going to put it together, right? I mean, right now it's funny because the playoff picture in the West sort of looks pretty paint by numbers. It's like Nashville out, Minnesota in, right? And then everything else stays the same from last year. There's not really that big of a change. I think that of the four that are hanging around, St. Louis probably makes the most sense

because I think they're going to have a bump under Montgomery, but I am more intrigued by Utah. Utah's got some good young players, Dylan Gunther, Logan Cooley, and then they've got the guys that are good players that have been around just on bad teams. Clayton Keller's a good player. And they also added...

Sergeyev? Sergeyev. Yeah. From the Lightning. And he's playing like 25 minutes a night for them. So I don't know if he's a true number one, but he's being deployed like a number one defense. He's a good player.

You know what's been the real big story in Utah the last few weeks? Our boy, Karel Vemelka. Yeah. Vemelka. Hey, who's this other goalie that they brought up? And I think his first game with them, he got a shutout. What is his name?

Jackson Stauber? Jackson Stauber, yeah. Oh, Stauber, yeah. Is that Rob Stauber's kid? It is Rob Stauber's kid. He was with the Blackhawks organization. Right. Really high on him, and they just let him walk.

Blackhawks had a bunch of other goalie prospects they wanted to look at. Let him go to Utah, and he's got a couple of shutouts in the NFL, if I'm not mistaken. He's pretty good. Utah started the year with Connor Ingram as their number one. He was one of the worst goalies in the league this year. Yeah, it was going okay, and then it wasn't. He was in the mix for the Canada job until this season.

They let it play itself out for a while, actually, before turning it over to Vegmelka. I know it's not pronounced Vegmelka. Well, they chant Veggie in the crowd. Yeah, right. And then Vegmelka's got a 9-15 save percentage. He's been one of the best goalies in the league. Yeah.

Okay, we've got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. More NHL talk to come. Greg Wyshynski's going to join us next at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Ray Ferraro is going to join the program. A reminder, get your What We Learns in Dunbar-Lumber text line at 650-650. Hashtag them WWL. 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. 6.33 on a Tuesday. Mind-blowing, mind-blowing version of the ESPN NHL music. I thought we'd mix it up a bit. Never heard it before. Haunting Spiritual

Doesn't it make you feel things? It does So early in the morning as well I'm not used to this Mostly it's just heartburn Halverd and Brough in 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 an hour one of the program. Greg Wyshynski from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour one. 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.

Our next guest, this is a great chemistry that we have with wischinski he just published the playoff bubble watch on esbn.com and we were just talking about the vancouver canucks and the playoff contenders below them in the standings in the western conference greg wischinski joins us now on the halford and breath show on sportsnet 650. What up, Wysh? There is a better than good chance that the version of the ESPN theme song you just played is the one they play

when they have to go to commercial because of injuries. I'm going to guess that's probably what it is. Do you know what I'm talking about? Like when you're watching the NFL on Fox and like somebody gets hurt and they play the soft piano version of the NFL theme. Like, I'm pretty sure that's maybe our version of that. Is there an even sadder one when they go to break and

they want to pass along the news that someone has passed away? I don't know. I think it's just one all-encompassing slow piano version of the theme song. But there is an even sadder version when the National Predators play. They have an even sadder, more gloomy version when the Predators play because of how sad everything is this year with them. Well, I wish if you've been following the crazy week that was for the Vancouver Canucks, you beat the Florida Panthers in a pretty resounding effort.

Then you lay a massive egg to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, followed by some trade rumors, courtesy Elliot Freeman. And then last night, have a really impressive victory over the Colorado Avalanche in the Kiefer Sherwood show. Well, I mean, it wasn't Elliot just theorizingizing what could happen it was just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks i mean obviously with the emergence of keifer sherwood you can move petterson whenever you want that's true actually you no longer need the guy yeah it's just funny though like what what what a roller coaster right like the beginning of the season i remember we

were having all these discussions about Pedersen and, you know, his lack of production and what the hell's wrong with him. And then he gets going and everybody's like, ah, here he comes. You know, we were just waiting for this to happen. And then, you know, he's got a pretty decent point total right now in the season.

And now we're back to, welcome to the Buffalo Sabres, Elias Pedersen. Like, can we just, Can we just settle on something? Is he here? Is he not? Do we want him to go? What is the deal? It's the most schizophrenic relationship, I think, between a city and a media and any star player in this league. Wish I'm on vacation for two weeks tomorrow,

and my vacation is not from the Halford and Brough show. It is from Elias Pettersson talk. And honestly, some of the listeners get to be on vacation from me because I have an opinion and it differs from a lot of theirs. And it's just like the conversation is exhausting but has to be had because it's Elias Pettersson. They're not a better team if they make that trade, that Buffalo trade that Elias put forth, are they?

No. I mean, it depends which version of Pettersson is playing. If he's at the top of his game, then absolutely not. But if he's the guy that was playing in the playoffs last season, then might as well make the trade, right? Like that's the problem. That's the issue that's going on right now. Can we move on?

I'm so tired. I'm honestly – I'm not going to put it up. Well, yeah, I know, I guess. Okay. I asked the question about – and then you went right to Pedersen, but fair enough. So do I normally.

And herein lies the delicate dynamic of the, but fair enough. So do I normally. And herein lies the delicate dynamic of the Alphanumeric. So do I normally. So let's talk a bit about the Utah Hockey Club because the Canucks actually play them tomorrow down in Salt Lake, and the Canucks haven't played them since they didn't move there. Remember, this is a new team. It just happens to be stocked with everything that was in Arizona. How much of a difference has Mikhail Sergeyev made for them?

Is Dylan Gunther a future superstar? What have you seen from Utah? He's a current superstar. He's got like 13 goals. The contract that they signed him to, you know, kudos to Bill Armstrong for having the foresight to secure this guy under contract before he, you know, continued to blow up the season. Halford mentioned the NHL bubble watch that's on ESPN.com right now.

It's a fun story. It's lengthy, as one knows when I write something. But it's got all these cool playoff probabilities courtesy of staff leads their you know model models out what the probability of teams making the playoffs is currently and utah's at 73 to make the playoff cut right now which is pretty impressive when you think about you know the hot start then the dip that they had and they've just kind of been like picking up points here and there. But when you look ahead and you look at what they have on the roster

and the way that the West is shaking out, the model really thinks that they've got a 73% chance of making the playoffs this year, which is fantastic for a new market. As far as what to watch tonight, it's the kids. I mean, it's Gunther, it's Cooley. Cooley's been great for them. Obviously, Clayton Keller has been a good soldier for that franchise in both places. And the interesting thing about them from a goaltending perspective is everybody thought that Connor Ingram was going to be the

star goalie for them this year because of how he played last year. He won the Masterton. He was maybe the best thing about a bad Arizona team. And he's been bad. And in fact, he's injured. And it's been Carol Vemelka, who's been arguably their MVP this year. 9-15 save percentage, close to seven goals saved above expected. So it's been a real kind of switcheroo in gold insofar as the guy they've been depending on versus the guy I think everybody thought would be one of the better aspects of this Utah team

but they're pesky, they're fast, they're fun and they've got some really good young players scoring a lot of points this year You mentioned Nashville earlier they've got a very interesting game tonight against another floundering team in the New York Rangers. Now, on the bubble watch, it's weird because by the standings, Nashville should be in that lottery-bound category.

They're awful. They are 8, 17, and 6. They have 22 points. They're in the basement. Yet they're listed as a long shot instead of lottery-bound. Why is that? The probability model has them, think above 10 percent maybe in the neighborhood of like 12 to make the playoffs which again this is why i use an abacus i don't

understand any of this stuff like they're they're they're basically right around where the blackhawks are in the standings and so far as teams that are you know a country mile away from a playoff spot right now but you know for me and I think and I think the Predators are probably the same way it's it's hard to shake the notion that this team put together the best like 15 or 16 games of any team last year and made the playoffs like they they had that streak in them and you know this is pretty much much the same group augmented by a few free agents that in some cases haven't necessarily worked out. If you're looking at teams that are outside the playoffs looking in and you're like, who could put together the kind of winning streak that you need to get back in the playoff picture? We've seen Nashville do it. It's not like too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that they could get on

a roll, especially with the talent on that roster. And especially when you consider that, you know, the track record that some of these players that have had awful seasons have had in the past, you know, maybe there is a second half renaissance for this team. Nothing's going to happen. And I think in the West, it's really precarious to try to think that they could get into a playoff spot with all the talent teams that are currently inhabiting them. But maybe that's factoring into this idea of they're not quite dead yet.

What did you hear about Terry Pagula's meeting with the Buffalo Sabres team that he just remembered he still owns in Montreal? Well, if you had Josh Allen, would you even be thinking about hockey right now? No. Who cares, right? I mean, you're polishing up the glass case for your Super Bowl ring at this point if you've got Josh Allen. But I heard the same thing everybody else did, which is that it was more of a vote of confidence thing than anything else.

You know, the answers lie within this room type conversation, which, again, is hilarious when you think about Kevin Adams crying poverty and saying that nobody wants to come to Buffalo because we don't have palm trees. And then the owner saying, the team here is good enough. We've got the talent. It doesn't seem to square we either have the talent or you can't attract it um this team should be better than it is i i i'm a little bit surprised that lindy ruff hasn't been able to unlock their offense a little bit better and i

think the real scrutiny of this team is starting to come into focus and jeff merrick and i talked about this last week on the MVSW thing on the show, the, the idea that they've rushed their young players, um, and that you're not seeing the development from some of these guys that you want to see in particular. And, and Kevin Adams shouted this guy out the other day. I think it was Kevin, either Kevin Adams or Lindy Roth, one of the two, but Owen power has not necessarily developed in the same developed in the way that they wanted him to. He's not quite where he should be yet.

And there's a number of guys that are good-named prospects that were highly drafted that are kind of in the same boat. So, you know, it's got pre-Conor McDavid Edmonton vibes a little bit insofar as, like, all this talent and it's not coalescing. But that's, you know, part of a larger problem in buffalo right now and the reason they're in this pickle that they're in yeah it was adams on owen power he called him a quote-unquote work in progress during that pressure that's not good no bad yeah that's not a good thing none of it's good they like based on your article here they've got a 0.1 chance of making not good and that's

gonna be the 14th straight year that they haven't been in the playoffs like this is getting to the point where i can here's the thing though it's getting the point where they need to quote unquote do something but the last time that they did something the last three times they did something they traded away reinhardt and eichel and Ryan O'Reilly, and they all went on to win Stanley Cup. So maybe it's the once, twice, thrice bitten, now you're shy. But it's such a bad situation. That's completely it, too.

They're trigger shy. I mentioned this in talking about the Kevin Evans press conference last week, was this whole notion of we can't attract talent to our team because of New York taxes and the lack of palm trees. I'm like, here's the thing that you could do too. Remember the middle staff for Byram Trade? Do a few more of those. And you'll have players that, even when they get to Buffalo and don't see a palm tree,

can't leave because of the way that the NHL's free agency rules work. You'll be able to get those guys for, you know, four or five years. And then maybe by then you don't suck and they'll want to stay. Who's to say, but if, if Elliot is, is like espousing an actual thing and not just chucking stuff at a dartboard,

like that's the kind of move that they should make. The Sabres are at a point where, you know, they're, they're like a hen sitting on an egg. That's not, that's not hatching. Like at some point you've got to take some of these young players that are, they're like a hen sitting on an egg that's not hatching.

At some point, you've got to take some of these young players that are on the roster that haven't come together to be a playoff team and yet might bite you on the rear when they blossom somewhere else. But at the same time, in theory, you're getting value for value. And those are the kinds of moves they have to start making because it can be 14 years without a playoff berth and you can't sit by and, and wait for something to happen. That's clearly not happening anymore. Are the Rangers going to make the playoffs?

Oh yeah. I think they're going to make the playoffs. They're in a, they're in a, a tailspin right now. Yeah. And, and I think that that's happening for a number of reasons,

but you know, ultimately it's, it's been interesting to kind of see what's happening with that team. Insofar as LaVoulette, in any other circumstance, probably gets fired. But there's, I think, a notion of maybe it's not the coach, it's the GM that's the issue with this team right now. And the target of the players, Vitriol, may be behind the scenes. And that makes a lot of sense. It's not Peter Laviolette who put Barclay Goudreau on waivers and treated him the way that he was treated last summer. It's not Peter Laviolette who botched the Jacob Trouba trade in the summer

and then had the sort of Damocles hanging over his head for the first few months of the season and undercutting his captaincy before he was forced to take a trade to the Ducks. And it's not Peter LaVoulette that didn't materially improve this team, you know, much at all during the summer, knowing that this was a really important season with a veteran core. So it doesn't surprise me that the GM is the one taking a lot of flack because I think he's done wrong by this team. And it'll be interesting to see, like you mentioned, Nashville tonight, they lose that game. You know, our change is going to be afoot. And how serious are those changes going to be?

And look at the team in the second wildcard spot right now. The Ottawa Senators are in a playoff spot, believe it or not. Yeah. I mean, they are. And I think it just, you know, it's tail as old as time. When you start getting saves, good things happen. And Lena Salmark's been one of the best goalies in the NHL over the past couple of weeks,

and that's manifested in what's happening in the standings. They've got two good lines. I mean, you know, there's no question that they could chuck line and then, you know, the Stusel line can definitely make the offense go. I don't like their depth all that much in their bottom six, and their blue line is hit or miss for me. But a lot of those concerns go away when you can get a save, and I think Olmark has really turned his season around

and is playing extraordinarily well for them right now. Hey, Wish, we were joking about this yesterday. Maybe you can add to this. You're Devils. Did Tom Fitzgerald just call a press conference to brag about the season? Because it came up on social media as Tom Fitzgerald will address the media shortly.

And then I saw a bunch of replies from Devils fans like uh-oh what could this mean so we're kind of like was this was this scheduled was this supposed to happen and then you know Laddie was following it during the show I'm like what happened what's going on in New Jersey he's like nothing he just seems to be like things are going well yeah he actually he announced he had to put himself on IR from slapping himself in the back too vigorously for having done such a great job. I mean, I think it was more probably like they asked for him and he hadn't been pressed in a while.

So it's good to drop in and talk. I mean, it's kind of like what Kevin Adams did, but in a very, very different way. And he should take a victory lap. I mean, now that Jacob Markstrom has kind of figured himself out and his numbers over his last seven or eight games have been absolutely stellar, that means literally every move that

Fitzgerald made in the offseason has hit. Dylan and Pesci on the blue line, Mason's second on the team in goals, which is insane. Cotter has been good in the bottom six like every every move that they made in the offseason now has has been a hit and uh and you take that and add it to a team where brett and hughes and he sure are just blowing up the scoreboard every night and uh and there's a reason why he should feel pretty good about life there's also a reason you feel kind of of hesitant about taking a victory lap,

which is that this team still inexplicably can't get into it mentally sometimes. I know that Rick Tockett just lashed out at the Canucks for this very thing, but there are just some nights where the Devils don't play. Either they don't play for the whole game, or they wake up about 10 minutes into the second period and they're already down 3-0 it's a really weird thing and the other thing that concerns me about them too

and this might even speak to a Les Pedersen thing which is the idea of the core of this team is not a bunch of Matthew Kachuks, like I don't look at Jesper Bratt and say to myself yeah this guy's got the Sam Bennett in him. You know, the core of this team is very good and very skilled, but ultimately not made up of the kinds of players that you look at a Stanley Cup champion and say, oh, yeah, that's the grit, bloody toughness that you need in order to win.

And that's been kind of a concern for me. But again, like, you trade that for insanely talented offensive players every time, i think but that that's in the back of my head with this team how is luke hughes's game coming he's been great oh my god like night and day from last season where he was kind of thrown into the fray because of the injury to dougie hamilton like his numbers are really good. I think the help and the lack of having to be given too much responsibility, you know, like he was last season, I think that's really helped him kind of get in the right headspace. He's been fantastic for them, as has most of that blue line. I mean, you know, again, like you bring Pesci and Dillon in

to bring some veteran toughness and some responsibility, and all of a sudden everybody can kind of like breathe a little bit easier as all of a sudden, everybody can kind of, like, breathe a little bit easier as far as the younger defensemen to kind of, you know, find their way. And I think Hughes has been the direct beneficiary of all of that. Wish, this was great, man. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it.

Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next week. I shall. Take care, boys. See you, buddy. Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Yeah, that devil's defense. You've got Dougie Hamilton.

You've got Brett Pesci on the right side. Luke Hughes. Brendan Dillon for toughness. Jonas Thiegenthaler, he's a good player. But I do wonder about the Devils and how they're going to be in the playoffs when things get real tough. They've got the talent. They've got the talent for sure.

They have some real Vancouver Canucks vibes over there there so they've added a couple guys in free agency that have actually really produced well offensively for them and as wish wrote in his espn.com piece the big cause for concern why does this team have so many non-competitive clunkers it's the vancouver can. And we saw it last night. On the good side, how do you follow up a lifeless, listless, 5-1 loss to a pretty profoundly important team in the history of the Vancouver Canucks, the Boston Bruins, on Saturday night? And that sandwich between beating last year's Stanley Cup champions

and the 2022 Stanley Cup champions. It's odd to me. Usually, I pride myself on being able to make sense of some things as it relates to sports. It's the only thing I really know. The only thing I really kind of understand. I don't get things like math and economics. How to pay your taxes.

Right. But everything else I get. I haven't paid them in years. Do you need to do that annually? Everything else I kind of get. This, it just doesn't make sense. Well, you know what? Why don't we ask a guy with over 1,000 games of NHL experience,

if it makes sense to him, Ray Ferraro is going to join us next on the Halford & Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Did Tom Fitzgerald just call a press conference to brag? I just wanted to say that I did some research and he was great.