Halford & Brough in the Morning - Should The Canucks Limit Demko's Starts?

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they chat yesterday's Canucks shutout win over the Rangers (3:00), plus they discuss the latest hockey news and notes with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (25:09). 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 a fucking Canucks? Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Here's Liam Ogram with a burst of speed. Great way. To the Ranger line, shoots right on. He scores. Quick got a piece of it, but it trickled across the goal line.

I think we feel good during the game, but right now, it sucks. Congratulations to Leon Dreissel, 1,000 to rear points. Now McDavid, he'll walk in. The back hit. Scores! Incredible move! Good, morning maker is 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

This Halford, it is, bro. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming here live from the Kintek. and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Hey, dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well.

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visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics. Before the year runs out, visit Kintech.net. We got a big show ahead on a Wednesday. Lots to get into from last night. And a big guest list ahead. The guest list, of course, is the Duick Morning Drive,

brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host is going to join the program. 10 games in the NHL last night, lots to unpack the Scotia Bank Wednesday night doubleheader tonight. The Jets, the reeling, the struggling Winnipeg Jets go to St. Louis to take on the blues at 5, followed by Devil's Golden Knights at 7. David will join us at 6.30 to talk about all that. 7 o'clock Frank Saravalli, our NHL insider from Victory Plus.

What does Frank have for us in the aftermath of the Quinn Hughes blockbuster trade? We'll find out at 7 a.m. Frank's going to join the program. 7.30, Parker Burgess, Vancouver Giants' general manager, will join the program. Giants are back at home this Friday, December 19th, with a 7 p.m. puck drop against the visiting Victoria Royals. Parker will join us to preview that at 7.30. And then at 8, Randeep Janda, Sportsnet, 650 Canucks analyst. Two wins in a row now for your Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks blanked the Rangers at MSG yesterday, 3-0. Randipe was on the call. We'll go through it all with him at 8 a.m. Only one giveaway today.

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Golf Town $250 gift card at 7.30. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was...

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Thatcher and Emco made 23 saves for his first and the teams for. shutout of the season, and the Canucks won their second straight game in the post-Quin-Hughes era, 3-0 against the lowly New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Yeah, Demko was making his third straight start, and I'll probably get another Friday or Saturday against the Islanders or Bruins, respectively, and that back-to-back, and maybe he'll get another one. Monday in Philly before the Canucks head home for the Christmas break. Thatcher Demko, do you not know that the Vancouver Canucks desperately need a top five pick in this draft? The Canucks scored once in each period last night, and the first Kane got a nice pick from the official to go in alone on Jonathan Quick and beat him with a nice move.

In the second, new guy, Liam Ogren. Don't call me Ogre. Got his first as a Canuck and first of the season on a shot that was almost stopped and maybe should have been stopped by Jonathan Quick, and Connor Garland finished off the scoring with a beautiful empty netter. You don't hear that very often, but it was. Backhanded it from almost 200 feet away after the Rangers had pulled the goalie with over three minutes left because the Rangers were desperate to not get shut out again on home ice. Six times the Rangers have been shut out on home ice this season.

We'll get to them. They weren't desperate enough. The Canucks played a solid game. It was boring. effective. The Rangers had a handful of good chances, especially on the power play. But in the end, they only got 23

shots on Demco. The Canucks, if you haven't noticed, have been much stingier lately in terms of shots allowed, and they generally seem more composed in their own end. The penalty kill, remember that? It was killing them

earlier in the year. It's been a lot better lately, and here's Adam Foote, talking about the improved defensive play and the improved PK. Well, I like the way Dino's got to PK that was a really good time until today.

The guys are running their routes properly. You know, Camphor was coming from a different system and he, you know, they call it a, well, they call it the toilet bowl system. They come down as a forward too much. They come down and they rotate like this. And we don't play that way. We like to cut the top off.

And his routes are really good. He's real, solid penalty killer force right now. And, you know, the deer having more trust with what the forwards are doing, which is nice. So they're not early or late. They're not guessing. So we're more playing as a unit, which I like, and we're way better up ice. And I'd say overall defensively, we're not panicking as much as we were when things don't go our way.

We know our structure. There's going to be times. They're going to hem us in. And we didn't get loose or run around. So that's good to see. Two wins in a row Not bad Not bad

I like the I like to think They're like Camp We don't do the Toilet bowl thing here In that way Not in the

Not the PK way Some other way No toilet bowl No toilet bowl We cut the top off here Yeah they're playing They're playing better defensively Less panic

Less running around Now granted It was the Rangers Yeah The loss Drop the Rangers to 4, 10, and 3 at home. And again, the sixth time they've been shut out at home this season in 17 games.

It's terrible. You knew if the Cucks were going to get a shutout, it was going to come at MSG, of course. But it just seems ridiculous. Like each new shutout, you're like, I can't believe this keeps happening. At the beginning of the season, I thought, okay, well, this is just going to be a crazy blip, right? You know, they got, they were shut out three times. They were like, whoa, you won't see that. They've had to be shut out three more times after that.

I cannot, I'm watching them last night and Panarin looks like the only dangerous guy out there. Yeah, that's fair. He had eight of their 23 shots and he's the pending UFA. I cannot imagine how bereft of offense they're going to be without Panarin and Miller will be one year older

and Zabana Jed will be one year older and Lafranier will be whatever the hell he is He'll be a year older. They'll all be a year older. No, no, but he's still young. My point with Lafranier, he's still young, but he's just, he's not a player. Like, I can't believe it.

I'm actually really surprised that he's been, I mean, is he a bust? Is he a bust? Is he a bust? He got paid, so it's not a bus for him. But their offense right now is just not happening for them, especially at home. And here's J.T. Miller trying to make the most of it. Mentally, how frustrating is it in the moment when you're going through it and you're looking up at the scoreboard maybe in the third period and it feels like, okay, here we go again?

To be honest with you, in the moment, we feel like we were dominating the game. I mean, quite literally felt like we were, it could have been five, too, today. I don't know. In the moment, you just think it has to come, it has to come, and then you get down to three minutes and you look up, it's 2-0. You can't believe you're pulling your goalie again. I think we feel good during the game, but right now it sucks. Yeah, there's more.

Like I have more, this can't be the standard we expect to play to and just leave that, go home the night and be like, oh, we play well again, I'll play the other team. We didn't score. So, a lot of good things the last two games. But to come out, 0-2 at home, this week, or these two games, just sucks. Like, I don't know, it's the same thing every game I feel like.

Yeah, the night before they lost 4-1 at home to the Anaheim Ducks. And JT, you guys were not dominant. He said it felt like they were dominant. Okay, well, that means he, Like they were dominating the Canucks. You felt it. But they weren't. I mean, they had a bunch of power plays.

So I hope you're kind of dominating on the power play. They had a bunch of zone time. But you're not scoring. And you only got, you got 23 shots on goal, and that was with a lot of power play time. So credit to the Vancouver Canucks, credit to Thatcher, Demko. Again, only 23 shots.

But there were some decent chances, especially from Panarin. I think Miller himself had a tip shot that Demko made a nice, save on. But I do want to discuss that guy, Thatcher Dempco. And since we've been talking about the future of pretty much everyone on the team, here's a question. I don't know how to exactly phrase this. How about this? Will the Canucks keep their goalie tandem intact for next season? It's a good question. I think the interesting thing with Demko right now,

is that everything, everything is predicated on his health. Not some things, everything. Can we all agree that when Demko's healthy, there's never been any question about his ability. You've never really worried about. Yeah, he's solid. You know what I mean? Like, you know, Garland keeps calling him the best goalie in the world.

I'm like, you might want to dial that back a little bit. But if you think about it, well, he's probably in the conversation, he's a top five, top eight goalie when he's on his game. And when he's healthy and on his game, and then when he's healthy and on his game, You can make the case that he's a Vezna caliber guy, which means he's his top three goalie in the world.

So there's that part of it. Everything's predicated on health. And I, you know, AIMAC was talking about this on the postgame show yesterday. The organization knows it. Demko knows it. And he actually hates talking about it. If you notice any time he gets asked about his health. Really?

He gets a real defensive right away. I thought he's usually pretty open about it. Yeah, just loves talking about his medical history. I'm glad you asked that question. It has been an issue for me. And I think the important thing is the rest of the league knows about it. to two. Would someone take a gamble on acquiring Thatcher Demko, which is part of this question, would the Kinecks keep their goalie tannibal for next season? Because if you're talking about

a difference maker when healthy, right now, he's the biggest asset the Kinnock's would have to move with the asterisk of when healthy, right? He'd make more of an impact, I would say, than any other guy on the roster to a team that would acquire him. And that's like whatever you think of what what Pedersen has left in the tank to give to another team, I would put him ahead of, like, if you were to offer a guy like Heronic, and then the UFAs that are going to go. Garland. Yeah, like all of them.

Like, you know, when Demko is on his game, just look at the last two. Last night was not a banner evening where he stopped 50 shots and stole a game for the Vancouver Canucks. He never looked like he was going to get beat. Then that's 100% what I'm getting at here. You never got that feeling over that stretch

where Lankan and Patera and Tulipila were in that. Imagine if he was healthy and the Oilers had gotten him instead of Tristan Jari, how different we'd be thinking about the Oilers. Yeah. Now, the follow-up question would be if the Oilers in this hypothetical world acquired him was, is he going to be able to play enough games for you

to make it matter? Of course. And that's the worst part about all of this. Look, I'm not saying that this was a season that could have been salvaged in any stretch because I think the team played way too poorly in front of its goalie. but you do have to acknowledge

that if Demko had played that really big stretch when he got hurt they were 7 and 7 and now that he's back they've won 2 of 3 since he's returned there would be a different team I don't know if it would have changed too many of the outcomes because they don't generate enough offense they don't generate enough shots you know they had 17 last night

well defensively they were dreadful yeah like there was too many issues coming together now yeah if the Canucks were in a rebuild that they expect to last for a couple of seasons, I'm not sure it would make sense to keep two goalies with a combined cap hit

of $13 million. But that's the thing with the Canucks. It doesn't sound like they're in a rebuild that they do expect to last for a couple of seasons. You know, Sat was talking about it yesterday. It's just, this isn't how they operate. And it sounds like, well, it almost, sounds like this, this season right here,

this is the only season where they're somewhat okay, and they've had to be convinced of that, with finishing in a position where they're going to get a top draft pick or selling off pending UFAs of the caliber of Kiefer Sherwood. With that in mind, what if Dempco gets super hot and starts winning a bunch of games this season? will the Canucks be okay with that

because they've already said like all right, I know Jim Rutherford has talked about the importance of this year in terms of the draft he's like we have to do well at this draft and there is the possibility that the Canucks could have four picks in say the top

40 or whatever right because you would have your first pick you would have Minnesota's first pick you would have your second round pick which could be a top 40 pick and you're probably going to, well, you're maybe going to have a first round pick from trading Kiefer Sherwood. Yeah. It's probably going to be a late round first round pick,

but you might be able to add four pretty good prospects in what's considered a pretty good draft. I could see the Canucks. You know, we talked about this yesterday, right? They are a team that sometimes are like, we got these guys, they all got a hit. We can maybe have one bust. Yeah. You know, where other teams are like, we don't worry about it. We got like 15, first rounders in the last few years. It's okay if a few of them bust. I could see the Canucks being like, all right, this is the year. This is our rebuild year.

And then next season, next season, we got Petey down the middle, Rossi down the middle. Who knows about Heedel? He could be back. You never know. Heedle could be back. And then you're keeping your goalies. You got a pretty solid defense with, you know, Boo-Yom with Heronik and the young guys,

DPD and V-Lander will be, have a little more experience. Like, you could see themselves. Again, what the Canucks do is they talk themselves into the team each year. Yeah, and you know what else they do is they never really have a long-term plan. It just seems like a series of short-term plans that can change on a dime. So here's the thing. With this season, always remember, executives and general managers tank players don't tank they don't you can't ask a player to go out

and lose games if dempco is playing dempco's going to give you a shot of winning every game that he's in i mean i'm pretty confident saying that he has so few off nights and he's so confident and he gives the guys in front of him so much confidence you're going to have a hard time losing more games than you're winning when Demko is in net. That is how they built the team at the beginning of the season. That's why they have a combo of Demko and Lankinen.

It was because the plan going into the season was to be competitive, not to be the 32nd place team in the NHL. Just because you're that now, it doesn't mean it's going to continue on because you didn't plan for it. You gave yourself a puncher's chance by having an elite goalie locked up

long term. If you wanted to tank, you would have gone into this season, with Lankan in or Tola Pilo or God forbid Tola Pilo and Patera. Like that's how you lose games, right? So now you, and here's another thing, with the improved defensive play and the more low event hockey, quite frankly, they should have been playing from the beginning of the year. What do you say to the guys that are orchestrating this plan?

You can't do anything. You have to let it play itself out. This team was not built to be. Well, you can say, you can say you don't play Demko as much. And that's a good point. And you can just, even if you're just lying, although it would be true, you'd just say, uh,

he gets hurt a lot. The one way you can manage this is by showing the rare bit of restraint from an organization that loves to fall over itself when things go good for a little bit. Remember when Rick Tocke was here and they had that great start to the 20, 23, 2024 season, it was very clear that they overplay Demko and at some night,

on some nights they were putting Demko in that when it was like, that should be a Casey to Smith night, but they wanted to prove a point. They wanted to prove that they were good and it wasn't just a PDO bender that they were a good team and they were going to stay good. And they overplayed Demko and he got hurt. Now, will they be able to flip the script on that this year? Like, for example, this upcoming stretch where they go Friday, Saturday, Monday? Friday, Saturday, Monday, yes.

A conservative approach would be to only play Demko in one of those three games because he's played a lot. He just came back from injury. But they got a few days off here before that Islanders came. But I bet they don't do it. Yeah. I bet he plays two of three. I might play three at three at this point. I don't know.

A few other things I wanted to mention. Baines was put on waivers yesterday with the expectation that Ilius Pederson will return to the lineup Friday against the islanders. Who comes out to make way for Petey if he does indeed return? This hasn't been confirmed, but we're just reading the tea leaves here. I wonder I wonder if it's Max Sasson The newly signed Max Sasson Even though that would leave Drew O'Connor

At center The cane Drew O'Connor Sherwood line has actually been pretty good lately And if I was Adam Foot I might not want to break that line up So we'll see about that Nils Hoaglander has made a very quiet return to the lineup And that's not a good thing for him To be fair, it's hard to produce

When your center is David Kompf if foot wants to keep things simple in terms of not making many changes even though Elias Pedersen is coming back it's possible we could see Holglander on a line with Pedersen and Garland on Friday which would leave Rossi

between Bessor and DeBrusk in the top six. And then you keep the third line new third line, the third line Kane O'Connor and Sherwood yeah Ratu was scratched again and that's not great for him no this you know it's not a good situation for Ratu. It's not an emergency

or anything. It's only been a couple of games but ideally that guy needs to be playing some games. It is funny that they have the 30 second place team in the NHL is a log jam at 4. Well they just A little bit, a little bit. Yeah, but they just acquired

they acquired two forwards. Two forwards right? Yeah, but I'm just saying. But they acquired two forwards out of nowhere. It's like no forwards going going out the door. Yeah, the assassin thing he kind of seems like the most logical candidate not just to drop out of the lineup but go back to Abbotsford

and I know that sounds weird saying because he's played a pretty integral role integral air quotes around integrity well I don't think he needs to go back to Abbotsford if Baines is going down there so I think they'd be fine with numbers because Baines was a healthy scratch yesterday see I think when Pedersen comes back

I also think Ratu should be back in over Sassan and I know it's kind of like we're splitting hairs here it doesn't really matter but in the long term I think Ratu's got more upside and more potential than Sassan should be playing. I think they like Sasson's speed. That's fine.

You know? That's fine. I mean, it's just a coach's decision. Yeah, that's it. But like to what end? Like, it's not like Ratu was underperforming. I thought he had been one of their better forwards when he was in the lineup. He was leading the team in five on five points.

And he was taking a bunch of key faceoffs for them. And he was growing into a role where he could play it projected maybe more long term. So why is he scratched? It's a coaching thing. It's a numbers game. Yeah. It's a numbers game. And I can't get too worked up about it because it's the 4C spot on the 32nd ranked team in the

NHL? I'm not going to get too better shape. Well, I mean, it's like it's a guy that, you know, last season they were apparently, they were reportedly hesitant to trade. Remember his name came up in a potential Rossi trade and they're like, nah, we're not going to trade Ratu, so they obviously

see something in him. And that's it's not ideal that he's a healthy scratch. I don't think we need to, you know, bang our heads against the wall trying to figure out how to fix it. That's not our job, but you know, I do think that he needs to get back into the lineup

and I actually keep wondering, you know, are there going to be any more trades? Are they just going to keep rolling with this wagon of a team right now? Yeah. Okay. David, is it David Amber going to join us? David Amber's joining us on the other side. We will look back on a busy night in the National Hockey League. Ten games last

night, some really wild stories. Wild game in Pittsburgh between the Oilers and the Penguins. Wild game in Toronto between the Leafs and the Blackhawks. So we can get into all that and also previews, Scotia Bank, Wednesday night hockey. He's 7 o'clock hour, Frank Sarvalley, and Parker Burgess, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants. I apologize to Parker and the organization of calling him the GM earlier. That was my bad. Today?

That was my bad. Yeah, I did it this morning right up on pop. Yeah, no, not the GM. Bill and Buffalo noticed it. I think I just said it out of... Dominic Kelly is the GM. That's right. That's right, Greg.

He is. Former NHHL. I almost called you leg, which would be a combination of Lattie and Greg. Arm for a leg and a leg for an arm. We got to go to break. When we come back, David Amber, Hocken, Canada. A sports net NHL host is going to join us.

You're listening to the Halford-inbrough show on Sportsnet 650. It's Kinnock Central on Sportsnet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David.

David Amber he will tuck some hockey maybe it is time for David Amber he is on the hotline baby It is time for David Amber he will talk some hockey maybe I'm on the hotline baby I'm righted in the mushrooms talking I remember what I was doing at 23 pooping in my pants There's a massive butt coming here guys no one's fighting Rick talking no one wants to fight Rick talking I'm on the hotline baby it is it's David it is it's David Amber it is it's David on the hotline 630 on a Wednesday Happy Wednesday everybody

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visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com Still in our one of the program David Amber Hockey Night in Canada SportsNet NHL host is going to join us in just a moment here Hour one of this program is brought to 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. To the phone lines we go. David Amber joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, David. How are you? Good. How are you guys doing?

We're well. It was a very eventful last, what, 96 hours or so in Vancouver. Going all the way back to Friday, I got to ask you. The Connect solved all their problems, David. They traded away Quinn Hughes and the team looks really good now. That's it. That's all we needed. I'm not sure how Minnesota is doing well. doing, I assume not very well because they have Quinn Hughes now, but the

Canucks problem solved, buddy. When you first heard about the deal on Friday night, what was your immediate reaction? Well, it's funny. First of all, I did text a Canucks friend of mine and said, hey, Quinn was the problem obviously, and we had a good chuckle about that.

So we get off the set. I'm with DeVante Smith-Cully and Justin Bourne last Friday. We're doing Hockey Central. We walk off the set at 7 o'clock, clock Eastern time. I head out to a restaurant to meet some friends. And by the time I get there, you know, my phone's blowing up and I'm like, oh my God, this happened. Like we came very close to it happening while we're on air, which would have been obviously the dream.

Listen, I wasn't shocked that Quinn Hughes got traded. I certainly was surprised that it was Minnesota. We kept hearing, you know, Detroit was going to make a strong offer. And I think last week we talked about how they'd be good suitors potentially for Quinn Hughes. And obviously, New Jersey. And Minnesota, you know, I love Bill Garon guys. Like, talk about a bold guy. Remember one of the first moves he made when he got to Minnesota's waiving those $98 million deals to Zach Parisi and Ryan Suter? Then he goes and signs Caprize off to the highest, you know, salaried contract in NHL history. And now this is another home run for him, or at least he's trying to make it a home run. I love the bold approach he takes. But my initial reaction was

shock because I just didn't see Minnesota on the radar at all. all. And, you know, it's worked out. The early returns for both teams look very good. And we won't know who wins this trade for a number of years. Clearly, if Minnesota can go and win a Stanley Cup, then it's done everything that they'd asked for. And clearly, if Vancouver, you know, added these three great parts and potentially a fourth great part, then this has been a fantastic call considering the circumstances that Alvin and Rutherford were under. Well, speaking of shock, the Toronto Maple Leaf's got a shock victory last night. Two goals, eight seconds apart, in the third period, and the winner comes from

good old friend of Vancouver Dakota Joshua right after Austin Matthews had scored, basically scored right off the subsequent face-off. It was a pretty wild night for the Maple Leafs, and it came after Craig Barube called out some of his top players. Matthews responds, but Dakota Joshua, interesting. I know he's had a tough start to his tenure in Toronto, but that was a big goal for him

last night. It was huge, and I don't know if you saw the highlights or if you're watching the game, but Craig Baroubae, like literally there was veins popping on his forehead during that first period, and he was screaming at the team. It's 10 minutes into the game. The Leafs are outscored 1-0. They're being outshot 7-1, and he's holding up one finger, and he's screaming at the bench.

We have one shot, one shot, and it's 10 minutes in, and this is against the depleted Chicago team without Connor Bedard, on home ice, coming off that bad, humiliating loss on Hockey Night and Canada at Edmonton. So he was just shocked how slowly they came out of the gate. And then what do you know, in the final 10 minutes, a couple of really significant plays. And Dakota Joshua, by the way, on the game-winning goal, he just out-muscled and out-hustled the defender. And really, that was when Toronto traded for him. That was sort of the power forward that they were looking to get in return.

So it was a great comeback win and maybe unexpected, considering they were down to love with 10 minutes to go. And post-game, you know, they clearly, I think, understand they're going to have to play much better to beat any average, you know, NHL team, you cannot put yourself in that position, but last night at least they were able to pull a rabbit out of their hat. David, tell us how much heat has been on Austin Matthews in Toronto. A lot. A lot. I don't think it's that dissimilar to some of the heat, you know, felt by Elias Pedersen in Vancouver. You know, when you set sort of a standard of this is the player I am, you get paid as an elite skilled player, the expectations are through the roof. I mean, what are we, 24 months ago we were talking about, is it McDavid or is it Matthews, you know,

and obviously McDavid is just such an incredible force. But Matthews also had a 69 goal season, something we haven't seen in 30 years. And you were just like, my God, in this day and age to score almost 70 goals and be a, you know, three-time Rocket Richard winner, MVP, et cetera. I mean, his resume has been exceptional. And then last year was his worst, at least productive and worst year, essentially, as a player with the injury problems and this year was it supposed to be

a bounce back and it just hasn't been that dynamic a player there's a lot of pressure on him you know Mitch Marner is gone now and the focus goes to 34 he's your captain he's your highest paid player he's supposed to be an elite

game breaker and on most nights this year he hasn't been that player if he could find his way back into that level of play that would mean everything to the Maple Leafs but there's a discernible amount of pressure on Austin Matthews to be the guy he was a few years ago. We're speaking to David Amber, Hockey Night, Canada, SportsNet, NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show

on SportsNet 650. Scotiabank Wednesday Night, you guys got the Winnipeg Jets. That's an interesting one. We've been following the exploits of the Jets a little more closely the last couple of weeks because of all the losses that piled up. And then Connor Hallibuck comes back over the weekend. They get a win over Washington. Then they lose again.

And now they've got another team that's been struggling. Division foes, both at the bottom or near the bottom, that division in St. Louis. What are you guys expecting from the Jets tonight? Well, I mean, the Jets, the one thing I'll say is Scott Arneill made a point of saying we're finally healthy. This is the team that we expected to have.

And, you know, I think that's a big, you know, that's not nothing. He has a, there's a lot of validity to that statement. They've had a number of significant injuries. Their captain was out. Samberg was out. Hellebuck was out. Perfetti was out.

They now have everyone back, and now it's like this is supposed to be the team we have. They looked much better when they beat Washington last week. You know, they let it slip through their fingers in their last game. So against Ottawa, they're going to expect a bounce back. And the thing that's really working against Winnipeg, guys, is that division they're in. I mean, have we ever seen a division this top heavy where these three teams, you could argue. I mean, you could make the argument that Dallas, Colorado, and Minnesota are the three best teams in the NHL. I think, you know, they might be.

Yeah, yeah. Obviously, you know, Vegas and Edmonton, if they found themselves, might be kind of into that conversation as well. But, you know, that's the thing that's working against Winnipeg right now. It's like, man, it's not about making up ground. It's like, how do you even fight your way back against three teams that just are complete, you know, juggernauts right now? Have the Oilers found themselves?

I think so. I, oh, my God, McDavid, by the way. like I do hope we all kind of just appreciate you know I remember growing up watching Gretzky and and you know at the time it was just amazing watching him and you kind of didn't maybe respect it all until the end because you're like wow you just got so used to it and I think what we're seeing with McDavid is is not that dissimilar I mean he's just that good that explosive that much of the game breaker I think Edmonton has calm things down Zach Hyman is back you know they still haven't been

completely healthy. Devonte Smith-Pelly, I did the show with him last night, and he made the point of saying, you know, as good as the Oilers are playing tonight in Pittsburgh, you know, they still don't have Jake Wallman, they just still don't have Roscovick. So they're not fully healthy right now. And I think that's certainly a point worth making. I do feel that they kind of calm things down. You know, they have two of the best players in the world. Even if Tristan Jari isn't appreciable, better goalie than Stuart Skinner, It was just a matter of addition by subtraction. Like as Stuart Skinner said yesterday in Pittsburgh, we just needed a fresh start.

And I think that went both ways. So I think we can put all those factors together. You know, yeah, Edmonton is going to be a tough outcome playoff time. And they certainly, you know, might end up winning the Pacific Division when all of said and done. Pretty challenging, although I'm sure it's exciting for him situation, though, for Tristan Jari to enter into. Yeah. Yeah, I agree, guys. I mean, what was your initial take on that?

Because, you know, I'm not sure that's the solution. But I think for Tristan Jari, this is a great opportunity. And I think that's all that, you know, most players want is that opportunity to be on a good team, be a key part of that good team, and lead them somewhere special. Yeah, my initial take was, I think the Oilers had to do something, you know, and I don't think they could go back with Pickard and Skinnerd as their Skinner, Pickard and Skinnerd, Leonard Skinnerd, as their tandem. But, you know, I don't know if Jerry is up to it.

And we've been talking a lot about Thatcher Demko here in Vancouver, just because we're talking about the futures of a lot of members of the Vancouver Canucks right now. Demko has been really good, but I would understand, one, the Canucks not wanting to trade Dempco at all, and especially to the Edmonton Oilers and also the Oilers looking at Demko and being like, yeah, if he's healthy, he's a big upgrade, but what if we trade for someone like Thatcher Demko? and then he's not healthy, we would look like idiots. It was a tough situation for the others. It's not exactly a lot of goalies that you can just go out and get. No, and everyone was sort of, I mean, this is the thing. You know, it's all easy to say, we'll go get an all-star goaltone. Okay, well, tell me who.

I mean, I've been on your show before and we talked about this. It's like, who should they go in after? And when people say, well, Jordan Bennington, okay, well, Bennington's having a really poor year, by all accounts, you know? And, you know, sometimes goalies lose it and don't get it. it back. So there's no guarantees that Bennington, despite his resume, was going to be the solution. And as you said, there isn't

just a bunch of all-star goalies, you know, hanging out there ready to be picked up. You know, John Gibson was moved, but the same issues that Demco has, John Gibson has. You know, the most important ability is availability, and he hasn't had that in his career on a regular basis.

And then, you know, Spencer Knight, that's one thing I'll say that was a shrewd pickup by Kyle Davidson. He's really calmed things down for Chicago. He might even be on the US Olympic team. He's been that good, that steady. But again, he was coming with his own personal issues in the past and his own baggage. And there just isn't any guarantees, right? Like, how many goalies can you say guaranteed, can play 60 games, guaranteed, you know, the large majority of games are going to be solid? There's only really a handful. And they're not just

getting traded. So, you know, I think Edmonton did what they had to do under the circumstances. It wasn't simple. It wasn't easy. And it might not end up being the solution. But they certainly did something, which, as you said, you know, like they just needed to do something, shake things up, and they did that. I know it's only Wednesday, but it's difficult to not look ahead to Saturday. Edmonton and Minnesota. Have the wild suddenly become must-watch TV? I think so. I mean, you guys saw that night in, night out. Quinn Hughes is an electric player. You know, when you talk about sort of the handful of guys you really want to watch, and you can add Celebrity to that list. Did you see the goal he scored last night?

Oh, the spinorama goal, yeah, I've got it in our highlight pack. We're going to play it later because the call-off was hilarious. They just went nuts. It was right. Oh, here it is right here. Watch. What timing? It's in the TV in the studio.

Yeah, it was an amazing spinorama. Anyway, go ahead. I was going to say how many players can do that. You know, there's a handful of players, whether it's MacDavid or whether it's, you know, as you mentioned, Celebrini or Caprizo or Kuturov. There's only a handful of guys that you kind of say are, you know, Makar, McKinnon, must-see TV.

And Quinn Hughes is one of those guys. And Minnesota's already a fascinating team because I think they do have this great kind of mix of young talent with guys like Matt Boldy and guys like Caprizov. You know, they're an interesting team as it is, but now with Quinn Hughes, you know, must-see TV.

And I think that'll be a good litmus test for both the Wild and Edmonton. We'll see exactly where these teams are right now as far as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. So that will be as you put it, Must-C-TV on Saturday. Must-C-TV tonight. I know we set up half the preview already, but set up the rest of it tonight.

Wednesday night, Scotiabank double header on Sportsnet. Yeah, well, we got St. Louis and Winnipeg, and the last time we saw these teams play was that incredible Game 7, Cole Perfetti 1.6 seconds left, you know, sends it to overtime in game 7, and Adam Larry then pushes through in overtime

and Winnipeg moves on. So that's the first time we're seeing that. And the understory, you know, sort of the undercard of it is we do get Binnington versus Hellebuck, right? Which is a rematch of the four. nation and we'll see I think for both those goalies that is something that they remember and they kind of lean on a little bit so those are some storylines there

we're also going to do a bit of an Olympic preview two weeks today the Canadian Olympic team will be named and we're going to sort of break down who we think should be on it which is going to be interesting because I don't think you just sort of cut and taste the four nations face off team from Canada I mean no they were one shot away from not winning gold let's face facts they had to a few things kind of break their way to win that, you know, four-team tournament, I would expect there could be three or four or five guys from that team that don't make the Olympic team.

So we're going to kind of dig in on that. And I think that'll be a really interesting conversation during the night. And that's sort of the heart of Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey. The night cap, I think it's kind of going to be one of those plug-in plays. So it'll be on Sportsnet, the Devils and the Golden Knights, which is a great match-up. But we won't be in the studio for that one. but it'll be 7 o'clock Pacific time, New Jersey, and Vegas. Looking forward to tonight, David.

Thanks for doing this. We appreciate it. Really appreciate having me on, guys. Take care of every night. Yeah, see you, buddy. David Amber, Hockey Night and Canada, SportsNet, NHL host here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So Minnesota, right? They win 5-0 yesterday. We talked about it with David over the capitals. I didn't realize, like, they've got a ton of injuries themselves.

Like, Zuccarello's now playing Marcus Johansson, Mojo, the kids call them. Middleton, Jonas Brodine's not playing Yeah And then last night I had him to the blue line now I watched a bit of the game And then I checked the recap afterwards Like Hughes didn't really do anything

Last night He had an assist Did you see the power play goal? Yeah Did you see it though? Okay Did you really watch it though Because what happened on that power play goal

Was that Okay Just let me explain it Okay Hughes had the puck at the point And he feeds it to Boldie who is in PD spot. Okay.

On the right flank, okay? Now the key thing, A-Dog, is A-Dog listening right now? The key thing with Boldie is when he got the puck, he was ready to rip the one-timer. He had his stick in the air. That's how you. Very important.

Right. And so what happens is Boldie rips it on net. He doesn't score, but the puck finds its way back to the point for Hughes. And Hughes is like, well, you're dead to me, Boldie, because he didn't score. So he did his thing

and he put it on net with one of his wresters. I think it hit Joel Erick in front of the net, big body in front of the net, lands for Caprizov and he rips at home. So like if you're,

you know, we all thought like him and Caprizoff were going to be, well, this power play is going to be incredible. Maybe the guy to watch is actually going to be boldy because it looks like he's in that, he's in that PD spot.

He's a good player. But like you've got to be ready with your stick in the air for that one time or you can't just be like, hey pass me the pocket it's like well are you going to attack so you see um someone just texted it in as well they are using the adam foot approach to um queen hues's ice time in minnesota 30 minutes 29 33 favor not chris played 28 because they've got they've got that's going to be their

pair and then well what happens what brodine gets back well well brodine plays a lot and middleton the other guy that's hurt plays a lot so they had a who was it played three minutes last night Damon Hunt Spurgeon's not the player he once was He still plays a lot They have enough ice time for all these guys Well some of these guys have got to go Remember David Yerechek?

He's still on the team And he gets like 13, 14 minutes Their blue line, when healthy Might be the best in the NHL They need some help down the middle though I don't know This Yurov guy Who I know absolutely nothing about

He's 21 and I think he was drafted as a winger Three points last night. Second star. If Drew O'Connor can move from the wing to center? Why not? You're off. So I think we might be the only show at all that talks about this team, but the Cracken lost again. They're bad, man.

We are the only show that talks about them. And that includes Seattle. Yeah. They're bad, man. They had an okay start to the season. They are now 12, 13, and 6. They lost to Colorado last. night. There's no shame in that, but they went into the third period with a three-two

lead, and then Nathan McKinnon happened. He scored two goals, including an empty netter. That puts him up to 28 goals for Nate. Is that it? Come on, Nate. Step it up. The Canadian forwards going into the Olympics are insane. Yep. I have questions about... The Bred thing sucks, but outside of that, yes. But he might not... He wasn't even a lockdown make the team. But he's playing amazing. I know. Leading score in the next one likely.

I just sucks that he's hurt. Yes, it does. For sure. Now, I have questions about the blue line and, of course, the goaltending for Canada, but they are far in a way, the best four group. And I think this is, I mean, it's possible this is the greatest four group Canada has ever assembled. And I'm talking, you know, you go back to the famous 87 Canada Cup when you got Gretzky and

Lemieux out there making magic. Yeah, that's fair. This is, if you've got, if you've got McDavid, McKinnon, Sid, Celebrini. So you've got, you go, you know, guys right in their primes right now, and that's McKinnon and McDavid. And then you've got the old guard still playing very well in Sidney Crosby and the young guys playing amazing in Macklin Cellebrini. And then like all the other guys. Yeah. It is, to be able to say that you're a part of this forward group is going to be a real feather in your cap.

It is wild when you look at the three leading scores in the national hockey league right now. Like Travis Connecting is like, I'm not making the team that way. I shouldn't book a trip. I should book like, I should book like Kenyon and McDavid-Colabini are the three leading scores in the NHL right now. And by the way, Celebrity last night. I know I teased this already. Can we play the audio of the goal that he scored last night? Highlight Real goal.

Celebrini, no, you said no, you're not going to play it? Why not? I sent it along. See if you can find it. Celebrini, two goals, two assists. San Jose Sharks, by the way, not going away. So that's the thing that I like best about Celebrini right now is that he's not a good stats on bad team guy. Like, they are hanging around that wild card spot.

They've won three in a row. They got a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames yesterday. I'd be shocked if they make the playoffs. They're not a good team But we're well past American Thanksgiving now And they're hanging around it Like this I think right now This season is a success for them

Even how it's gone Like it's been There's actually fans in the Fans in the seats down in San Jose too Yeah and it's been massive for them Yeah and it's been It's been fun to watch The energy is back in that team

And Celebrini Routinely is having multi-point outings But I mean last night against Calgary It was really special. Two goals and two assists. Sharks beat the flames. Six, three. We don't need to get the audio laddie.

It's fine. We're all good. Matt and Surrey texts in. Is it just me or do the Cracken have like the most anonymously boring roster in the NHL? NHSU, Matt. I mean, the crazy part is that they got up to a great start. They were 11, 5, and 5 at the end of, or with a week left in November.

Yeah. And it looked like a couple things. One, Lane Lambert and that coaching change was proving beneficial in the wake. Well, they were locking things down. Yeah. Do you know how many goals they've scored? 77. Yeah, they've got a terrible offense.

That has to be by far the worst offense in the NHL. I don't think there's anyone. I'm just going to look up the stats right now, but there can't be anyone that's close to as toothless as that, except for maybe the New York Rangers at home. Yeah, no one, 2.48 goals per game last in the NHL. I guess Calgary and the Rangers are. are pretty close.

But yeah, you look at the roster and you're like, mm-hmm, that makes sense. Look at these guys. There's no one that can score on this team. Yeah. At a super high level. A team desperately, desperately

needs some star something, a star attraction because I don't know if you've been following what's going on in the NBA, but the NBA Cup was awarded yesterday, and that surprised me. I was like, Congrats to the New York next.

But the commissioner also said that they are going to look at expansion next year. It's coming, right? And we don't know if they're going to do it for sure because I think there are some owners out there that don't want to do it, like Dolan in New York. But if Seattle gets a team there, you're going to have a return to the NBA, which is going to be unbelievable in Seattle.

And that is going to be the talk of the town. Except for the Seahawks who are looking pretty good right now. The Mariners, you know, they had a good season. Maybe they come back and have another good season. You know, you're always going to have huskies. It's going to be a tough sports market to gain any attention. And again, this is not a hockey town. It's not a hockey town.

There's a lot of fans down there. You know, yeah, there's a few that go to junior games, but it's never has been a hockey town and the crack can haven't made it a hockey town. They need to do something and they need to do something big because they have just been boring and yeah, people like their uniforms

and I guess they got a, I don't know, a mascot that people like. It's a nice stadium. It's a nice arena, but you need more than that to keep a market's attention. Okay, we've got a lot more to get into on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Coming up on the other side, Frank Sarvalley is going to join the program at 7, our NHL Insider from Victory Plus. And then at 7.30, Parker Burgess, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants is going to join us ahead of Friday's game. Yeah, they play on Thursday, but Friday they're back at home at the Langley Events Center. That's the 7 o'clock hour. It's all coming up next on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.