Halford & Brough in the Morning - Sometimes You Feel Bad For Leafs Fans, But It Passes

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy long weekend in sports (3:00), plus they talk some NHL playoff action with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:59).  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.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- And it's Anton Landell! And the Panthers take a 2-0 lead! Hardly shot, he scores! He does it! The Stars are going back to the Western Conference Final! I walked around that practice facility, I walked around here, like, there's so many tools to work with. Look at all this workspace! So many robins in here, so many activities! Good, Marty Vancouver, 6- 601! On a Tuesday, happy Tuesday everybody, it is Halford and his bruv.

It is Sportsnet 650 and 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. Gladdy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and bruv of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for dead Dead Help with over 3000 five star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star,

Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Not as much space in here for activities. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Got a big show ahead on a Tuesday start of the week. Four day week, everybody. Let's get going. Guest list today begins at six thirty.

Greg Wyshinski, ESPN NHL insider is going to join the program live from Raleigh, North Carolina for the start of the Eastern Conference Final between the Florida Panthers and the hosts, Carolina Hurricanes. That game gets underway at five o'clock our time tonight, game one of the Eastern Conference Final. Name the arena now in Carolina.

Is it not PNC anymore? No. Oh. It's the Lenovo Center. Oh, that's right, I do love the Lenovo Center. Oh, that's right. I do love the Lenovo Center. Man, that place is going to be jumping. What do they make?

Printers? Lenovo's printers? Cameras? Is it cameras? What does Lenovo do? What do they even do? What do they do, Lenovo? Someone find out.

The game gets underway at 5 o'clock our time tonight. We're going to be joiners. Computers. Laptops. Laptops. Yeah. Every seat has its own laptop. Does it? It's super high tech. What a fun arena. But a Rogers Arena. Computers. Laptops. Laptops. Yeah. Every seat has its own laptop. Does it? It's super high tech.

What a fun arena. What a Rogers arena. Cup holders, that's right. And black seats. The game gets underway at five, I wanted to mention this because it's six o'clock, we're gonna be joining game one of the Eastern Conference final in progress

right here on Sportsnet 650. So you can hear it right here on this very station. Seven o'clock, Frank Saravalli, NHL insider from Daily Face Off. So now that we've chopped the playoff field in half from eight to four, what's next for the four eliminated teams? Washington, Vegas, and then two Canadian ones,

most importantly, Winnipeg and of course, Toronto. Lots of news and scuttlebutt from around the league regarding vacant coaching and GM gigs. So we'll talk to Frank about all that at seven o'clock. Eight o'clock, Kevin Woodley, our good buddy, nhl. So we'll talk to Frank about all that at seven o'clock, eight o'clock, Kevin Woodley, our good buddy, NHL.com and in goal magazine. Uh, he broke down the Eastern Western conference, a goaltending battles. It's the Otter, Jake Ottinger versus Stuart Skinner in the West,

Bobrovsky versus Anderson game one in the East. So we'll talk to Kevin about all that at eight o'clock. We've got a lot to get into on the program. So working in reverse real quick, uh, Kevin Woodley at eight o'clock Frank's their Valley at seven, Greg Wyshinski at six 30. There's a lot of hockey. There's a lot of stuff from the weekend we need to get into. So without further ado, 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'm. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it. You can be. What happened? You missed it?

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. I know that all this stuff happened on Sunday and Saturday and Friday as it

pertains to the national hockey league and the Stanley cup playoffs. But because we did not work yesterday, we're going to do it all in what happened and we're going to start with Sunday game seven Leafs Panthers baby. Sergey Bobrovsky 19 saves Florida scores three times in six and a half minutes in an eventful second period and the Panthers yet again route the Leafs in Toronto, 6-1, Game 7 to advance to their third consecutive Eastern

Conference final. Did we not say on our show last week that this would be the most hilarious way for the Leafs to go out? We did. That they go into Florida and they win Game 6 and everyone's like, maybe this team is different.

And then they return home for game seven to get blown out again. And right off the bat, Florida was in control of this one. Um, you know, it's not like Florida piled up goals. And I actually thought, I was thinking they're going, man, the Panthers better not waste this start. And Toronto had a fairly decent second half of the first period. They did.

It got to the point where the shot clock was even and all of a sudden you were like, oh, okay, well, maybe the Panthers are going to make a game of it, but the second period for the Leafs was not good and they ended up losing the game by a lot and they were booed and jerseys were on the ice and we had someone who texted in and said that they were listening to fan 590 because they wanted some shot in

Florida after that game. And the criticism and the harshness of the fan base for this team was off the charts. And I think we saw a glimpse of that after game five where they laid an egg at home. But then they go into Florida and they play a pretty good game, really good game. And they come away with a win, maybe a little bit lucky, like the Austin Matthews goal. I'm still not exactly sure how that went in if that tipped off a stick or was just you know beat Bobroski in an odd way. It was a good shot but I don't think it was the shot that Matthews intended. At any rate the point is is that Matthews

scored in that game. He scored a big goal and everyone's been saying these guys Matthews and Marner's they can't score big goals. Well he scores the biggest goal in game six and then they come home and it's the same thing. And this has to be it for Mitch Marner, this has to be it for Brendan Shanahan. We'll see about Tavaras and it's what I find the most remarkable is all the calls from the Leafs fans to trade Austin Matthews. Like Matthews has joined, like they cannot, this is a guy that had 69 goals last season. Nice. And you know, I realize he's had struggles in the playoffs.

The team has had struggles in the playoffs, but when he came out after the game and said there were too many passengers. And that the Florida Panthers were hungrier. And when the camera caught Mitch Marner saying wake up or whatever to his teammates and I noticed that a few people were like your hair seems to be quite dry while you're saying that so it's not like you're working your butt off. Mitch, there is, and I'm going to bring this word up again, because we've used it to describe the Canucks at time. There is a disdain for the Leaf Stars in Toronto.

Not from every, not from everyone. Don't get me wrong. There are some fans that are, I love my team, regardless, but the loudest voices and there are a lot of these voices like, do we hate these guys? You know what I mean? Like it's got to that point where they've just been, they've got their hopes up so many times in this one. I think the way game five went and then game six was like redemption. And then game seven was no, not redemption embarrassment. Yeah. So there's a lot.

And I mean a lot to unpack from this today at, I believe, 1030. I got to check if that's Eastern or Pacific, by the way. But anyway, this morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to do their end of year media availability and locker clean on. Now, that's a player's. So we're not going to hear from Barubei and Shanahan and Brad Tree living this morning, I don't think. But we're going to get a sense of maybe some more reflective

thoughts on what went wrong and then what the future has in store for guys, especially like John Tavares and Mitch Marner. So there's that. There's also. There's a really interesting narrative that came out in the aftermath of Game 7. That's kind of what I wanted to dive into right now. And it was the collective pity party that the Florida Panthers threw for the Toronto Maple Leafs after eliminating them from the playoffs.

It started with Paul Maurice and I'll paraphrase what he says because we don't have the audio. We have better audio for Marshawn and Kachuk. But Maurice essentially said, what's good for the NHL. And he kind of suggested what's good for the NHL is the frenzied passion in which people follow the Maple Leafs is bad for the Maple Leafs. And the narrative that came from this was that the city of Toronto is too mean and there's too much pressure on these hockey players and the ability to perform is being affected by the crushing weight of expectation and pressure from the fan base.

And these comments that started with Paul Maurice were then reflected by Brad Marshawn and Matthew Kichak. And I do want to play them right now because I think it's important. It does add to the narrative in a major way and it does speak to a lot of different things. Let's start with Brad Marshawn cause this is from the podium. This is about just under a minute in length, and I'll let the whole thing roll.

This is Brad Marshawn talking about the crushing weight of expectation and pressure in Toronto, and how it affected the Leafs potentially in this seven game second round loss to the Florida Panthers. Here's Brad Marshawn from the podium. When you win a cup and you play in some of the games that this team played in last year, these are not high pressure games. When you're playing for an actual cup and you play in some of the games that this team played in last year, these are not high pressure games.

When you're playing for an actual cup and you give up a three game lead and then you're in game seven, that's a high pressure game. In game seven, it's like, yeah, it's a high pressure game, but it's not compared to some other games the guys have played. When you actually look at that and then when you see the pressure that Toronto faces and You know everyone's talking about whatever the 2030 or build-up I don't even know what it is but you see the fans and the way they're talked like they just beat the pressure into this team and and it's it's got to be tough on those guys to walk to the rink every day and

Not feel that because I mean you see the way the fans treat them at the end like how do you not? Feel that every single day? Um, you know, and when you go through big games, like you realize which are actually big games and which are just, you know, big moments. I have no doubt that pressure has been a factor in Canada's Stanley Cup drought. I don't know how much.

I can't say exactly, but I have no doubt that it's a factor. Yeah. Uh, I think it just gets to the point where it's very difficult and the nervousness and the anxiety of the fan base translates to the players because how could it not? I remember 2011, Roberto Luongo, you know,

taking his walks around the seawall or whatever you would do. Sure. I mean, that's not a guy who is like, doesn't have anything on his mind. It's just like, eh, whatever. It's just hockey. I'm good at hockey. Footloose and carefree.

You know, I think we all, I think, you know, the feelings that you feel as fans and that's nervousness and anxiety. The players are naturally feel them too. And we had this discussion last week and I feel like nobody really gave my thought a lot of. Thought. I don't know, they were just maybe tired of me. And I was like, what's the factor?

I'm like, fear. Yeah. It's the fear. And I think I started talking about Rory McIlroy and how he was looking for this career grand slam or he was looking, frankly, in the last decade, he was looking for any major. He's playing really good golf.

He was at times the number one golfer in the world, ranked, winning tournaments. But when it came to the majors and especially the masters, it was like, oh, it kind of froze up because the expectations were so high and you just get in this feeling of like, what if, and then there's like, there's this, I don't want to say paralysis, but kind of, like it's the fear of like, oh my God, this is happening again and how are we going to get ourselves out of it? Okay, so let's work on that theory that there was this external pressure that maybe manifested

itself into like the fear thing that you're talking about with the Leafs, right? The notion is that it exists in Toronto, whereas it doesn't exist in other markets. That there is the heightened sense of expectation and pressure in Toronto. And this is what Kichuck talked about. We've got the audio here. We'll play now because Matthew Kichuck very clearly, and this is from the Spit and Chicklets podcast, very specifically about how much there is in Toronto and how much there isn't in Florida. Here's Matthew Kichuck on the pressure facing the Leafs following the game seven victory for the Florida Panthers. Sometimes you feel bad for for them because like they have some unbelievable players and a great team.

And I was actually saying this last night to to some of the guys, like if their team was not in like Toronto dealing with all like the crazy circus stuff outside of it, like they'd be like an unbelievable team and like such a hard team to play. Like they just have so much to deal with and I feel bad. I mean, we don't have to deal with that in Florida. I feel like that's what makes me and my team so lucky, but like you almost use that against them, you know, like the pressure that these guys have to deal

with day in and day out. Okay. So into the Dunbar lumber text line, there is a lot of, okay, whatever. Uh, someone texts in, I think all this pressure stuff is nonsense. Yankees and Dodgers do just fine. Okay. Well, when was the last time the Yankees won the world series? Seven.

Oh nine. I think. Oh nine. I mean, there've been a lot of, there's been a lot of, I mean, that's, that's a long time ago. The Dodgers. Um, do you remember, was it David Price pitching for, who's David Price pitching for? And like he couldn't, like the postseason for him was really tough.

And I think he finally got over the hump. Well Kershaw too. Clayton Kershaw. Yeah. Yeah. So sorry, yeah, but- No, price head issues in the play as well. Price head issues, sorry I'm confusing things, but like Kershaw head issues in the postseason.

Pressure ramps up individually on these teams. And the Dodgers spend so much money, it's like, be hard not to win the World Series at times. The payrolls are, you know, any way, it's a different sport, but pressure affects all these other teams. People say, oh, it's nonsense. Halfred and I support England. Pressure affects England.

It really does. And it's, and it's, um, you know, we've seen, uh, we've seen quarterbacks in the NFL in the narrative. The thing is once the narrative builds against you, that makes it worse. Sure. And the narrative, for example, on Lamar Jackson has built. So now it gets to the playoffs.

It was like, all right, I better perform. Right. Now, obviously some athletes are better at handling the pressure than others. And a lot of it comes from being prepared. A lot of it comes from being very good. Look at what Scottie Scheffler did over the weekend. He's the best golfer in the world and everyone else kind of fell by the wayside

while he dominated at the PGA in the final round. But this pressure thing, it's not a question of if it exists, it's a question of how much it really affects the team. Well, I think the real question here is the remarks made by the Florida Panthers in the aftermath. Is it truly reflective of what's going on? Because I understand that there is an increased amount of scrutiny playing in Toronto than there is in Florida.

But I also know that there is something with this particular group of players, whether they're, and you could chalk it up to pressure or whatever, but if you continuously fail in the postseason, the way that they have, I think it's naive and quite frankly, I think it's insulting to suggest that it's just they can't deal with pressure.

I think that there's a lot more that goes into it. I think that there is a sense of not truly understanding what it takes to succeed in those moments. I think it's the wrong makeup of players, and I think there's a certain stubbornness from the individual putting that group of players together. They give them a leash Like the numbers are staggering. I'll go just with Marner and Matthews cause they're the ones that are

in the crosshairs right now. Collectively, since those guys have come aboard, the Maple Leafs have played in 11 playoff series. They've lost nine of them. They're two and nine in 11 playoff series. In game sevens, Marner and Matthews have combined for zero goals. Zero. That's an collection of one game winner take all.

Now, is it that those two guys can't compete under pressure? Potentially. But if you're the leader of an organization that's in charge of building a cup contender. You have to recognize it. You have to recognize it. And don't be scared by all the people that say, But if you're the leader of an organization that's in charge of building a cup contender. You have to recognize it. You have to recognize it.

And don't be scared by all the people that say, well, don't look at all the points he gets in the regular season. And Mike texts in, if anything, that's what defines the best professional athletes, ones that can face pressure and rise above it. That's part of being the absolute best. Kinda, yeah.

Sure, some players and teams crumble under pressure, but that's part and parcel as to why they're not winners. And they're not the absolute best. Exactly. Pressure is part of it. Dealing with media criticism is part of it. Like that, you know... Now what they're saying, though, hold on, hold on.

No, no, but some people are like, well, like, they shouldn't. That's why it's unfair. That's why it's like they shouldn't. That's why it's unfair. That's why it's the media's fault. That's why it's the fans fault. It's like, well, no, because that's, that's the part of being a professional athlete is dealing with these moments. But what Marshawn said was that

there are going to be pressure moments and situations that are gonna unfold, I guess, as the universe wants them to. For example, going up three nothing in a Stanley Cup final, losing three games and then having to win a game seven when you feel like you're on the verge of collapse. And I will readily admit there's a ton of pressure involved in that. Like the Florida Panthers in Game seven last year must have felt collectively like they were having a nervous breakdown because they were on the verge of the

biggest collapse in the history of professional sports blowing a three Nothing lead in a championship finale would be it they'd be forever known as one of history's greatest collapses and chokes jobs So there's a high amount of pressure involved with that. Well March on is saying is that there's external factors and it was the way that he phrased that was actually kind of clever that there was external factors that made a that was actually kind of clever, that there was external factors that made a second round game seven, which is old hat for him in the Florida Panthers, made it an unbearable amount of weight on the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I thought it was a really interesting dynamic. Now you can take and the reason this conversation is compelling and also relevant is because we hear a lot about that here in Vancouver

as it pertains to the Vancouver Canucks is that a market as Frenzied and as passionate as this one and the countless throngs of media that are following the team do more harm than good when it comes to The team's on ice success. I don't subscribe to the theory but as a naturally inquisitive person I too am like whisk is the cat over here. I'm always curious about what makes people tick. I'm willing to entertain the idea of it, even if I don't necessarily believe in it. Like I feel as though the external pressure

that these guys are facing is real and at times can be draining. But I also like to often look to the past and say, your forefathers in the sport have dealt with this. And this is fair or not right or wrong. It is part of the package. If you don't want any of that external stuff, you do have a couple of options.

One, you can sign for the Florida Panthers, apparently. Right. And that's great. And that was I think which, by the way, I think part of this is an advertising pitch, maybe a recruiting pitch like, hey, all you guys that are frustrated with your Canadian residents is come to Florida for who? Marner. Yeah, I don't think so. I was going to sign for six and a half. Maybe. No, but I also think that.

People weigh in enough, and I do think that there's something to it, but I will also always go back to time immemorial and legions of past professional athletes on much larger stages. And let's be honest, sports that are covered much more aggressively and frenzied in their markets. They've been able to deal with it. And many of them have crumbled, though. Many of them have crumbled. Right. And that's the theater of sport in my mind.

And I'm sorry that we treat them like gladiators and lions and the Romans and all that stuff. But there is a certain element of that. Right. Is that as an entertainment entity, you want to see people achieve athletic prowess at their highest level, like the greatest athletes doing the greatest things. But you always bring it up. There's stakes involved sometimes that we understand the theater and drama of it.

And that's the entertainment factor for the fans. Oh, man, I can't believe the amount of drama I was. I watched Rory the Masters just like billions of other people did and watching him walk up to that putt on 18. Everyone knew the stakes. Yeah. And everyone understood how much pressure there was in that exact moment. That's the theater. That's the theater. The pressure provides. And if you can't hack it,

you'll never get to achieve the glory that comes from those pressure moments. And that's what the Leafs are dealing with right now. Second round exits at the best. There's only one Canadian team left in the playoffs now, and that is the Edmonton Oilers. How will they handle that pressure? Well, it's going to be, it's, it's a factor. It really is, especially since, you know, they, they came a long way last year

and fell one game short. They don't want that feeling again. Um, but I just want to talk a little bit about the Winnipeg Jets who went out over the weekend. That was a really tough way to go out with Mark Shifely, who just lost his dad sitting in the penalty box watching Thomas Harley score the OT winner.

Really felt bad for Mark Schaefle. And as much as I do cheer against the other Canadian teams, I didn't want that. And frankly, I would have enjoyed an Oilers jet series quite a lot. You know, I would have been nervous about it. Oh my God, one of these teams is going to go to the Stanley Cup final. We're going to have to go through this again. Right now, there are no Canadian teams. Like there's not a guarantee that there will be a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup final. We're going to have to go through this again. Right now there are no Canadian teams. Like there's not a guarantee that there will be

a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup final. The Dallas Stars, I've always loved them. Love the Dallas Stars. Haven't never called them boring and have never said, like, I don't care about this team. Why is it so green? Now I'm the biggest Dallas Stars fan ever. Connor Hellebuck finished the playoffs

with an 866 save percentage in 13 games. And although, speaking of pressure on the playoffs and the narrative building, narrative building, and although he seemed to right the ship as the Dallas series went on, his reputation will remain until he gets it done when the games truly matter. They won't look back and be like, oh, he played well in the last two games of the playoffs, right? Even though he did. 866 save percentage in 13 games.

This is a guy that, you know, is almost certainly gonna win the Vezina. Yep. Was he a hard finalist? Yep. Yeah, I mean, now we'll see what happens with Ehlers this off season. He's a pending unrestricted free agent for the Jets.

Lots of talk. I mean, I think every pending unrestricted free agent that's playing in the playoffs right now has been connected to the Canucks, whether it's Marner or Nick Ehlers or Sam Bennett in Florida. As for the Jets, man, it's hard to see this as anything other than, I would say yet another lost opportunity and maybe this is the biggest one ever. I often talk about the time that they went to the says anything other than I would say yet another lost opportunity.

And maybe this is the biggest one ever. I often talk about the time that they went to the conference final and met the expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights and lost. Vegas went on to lose to Washington in the cup final and everyone was like, ah, don't worry about they'll be back plenty of times. Well, they weren't.

And you know, they haven't been back to the conference finals since, and this is a team that just won the president's trophy. Dallas is a good team, obviously, and the addition of Rantanen has been an absolute game changer for them, the way he's played in these playoffs. And if you're Dallas and you're looking at

Edmonton and going, well, I didn't do very well against them last year. There's a reason why you're going to do better. You can say, well, we got ranted in now. Um, so I mean, it was, uh, it was quite a weekend of hockey. What I also enjoy is how, uh, everyone loves Brad Marshawn now.

Not sure how I feel about that, but man, everyone's just like, he's a great guy. I hear Paul Maurice saying like he's a wonderful human being. What the hell is? He was so kind to the Maple Leafs in victory. Yeah. So kind. Honestly, if I was the Leafs, I was like, shut up, Brad.

That was what I was thinking. You're the reason we're in this situation. I was like, if five and O against us in game, it sounds just shut up, Brad, just shut up. Is this the most devious, sadistic press conference I've ever like between Maurice? And think about it. It's the head coach.

It's the captain. And then it's the newly acquired villain, all speaking glowingly about the team. They just be like, I don't know if this is a new sophisticated level of trolling, but it sure was something to see it unfold. OK, we got to go to break. We're going to talk to Greg Wyshinski on the other side. He's in rally for game one of the Easter conference final,

which does begin tonight, five o'clock puck drop. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan pro from showrooms to stock rooms and everything in between. Jan pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected for a free quote. Visit them online at Jan pro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on sportsnet six 50. 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 pord Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal

reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is going to join us live from Raleigh, North Carolina in a minute here. The highlight of hour one. Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. They pay the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar metal recycling. They recycle, you get paid. This is the middle of 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver to the phone lines. We go. Greg Wyshinski joins us now on the Haliford and Brev show coming to us live from the power West industries hotline here on sports net six 50. Good morning, Greg.

How are you? I'm good. I'm in one of those hotel rooms where you definitely need air conditioning in North Carolina, but the air conditioner sounds like I'm good. I'm in one of those hotel rooms where you definitely need air conditioning in North Carolina, but the air conditioner sounds like I'm in one of those planes that the military uses to drop troops into a war zone. It's that loud. So I'm contemplating how to handle this for the next few days. How is rally otherwise so far? Are you excited for game one of the Eastern Conference final tonight? I am.

The atmosphere in this place is always awesome. Like there's no like bad atmosphere in these last 14. Florida has really become a great place to watch a game since the Panthers got good. Obviously we know from Edmonton and the atmosphere there. And then the atmosphere in both Dallas and Carolina inside the arena is just tremendous for playoff games. And in fact, I mean, it's one of the true advantages that the Hurricanes might have

in the series is just how insanely good they've been on home ice. I think they're 5-0 now in the playoffs. They've, you know, they're giving up way less than a goal and a half a game, scoring over four at home. They don't have a hell of a lot of advantages against the Panthers, but one is the fact that they're gonna potentially have four games here in Raleigh. And the important thing is that neither Florida

nor Carolina have to deal with the negative, toxic, pressure-filled market that the Toronto Maple Leafs had to deal with. I know you wrote about this for ESPN. I love this headline in this tweet, by the way. It says, no player in Stanley Cup playoff history has tormented an opponent the way Brad Marshawn has tormented the Maple Leafs. He also thinks the city is too mean to them.

So we played the audio in the first segment. So everyone's heard it. And we played the Kachak audio as well. The sort of, I don't know if it was a trolling pity party or a legitimate one, but the pity party that the Florida Panthers threw for the Toronto Maple Leafs after that game seven victory. What did you make of it, Greg?

I think it's all genuine because there's a reason why none of these, I mean, you know, Maurice coached there, the other two have never played there. And in Marshaan's case, he had the chance to play there at the deadline, but opted to play in Florida and said, I think it's all genuine, but I don't think it's for the purposes that you'd hope it would be if you're a Maple Leafs fan. I think all of these guys don't want the Maple Leafs broken up because they just beat the crap out of them every time they play them, Whether it's in Florida or Boston or wherever. Why would you want this

beautiful, perfect organism of failure to be disrupted by letting Mitch Marner leave? Like who else will be there to get fiery at his bench and then do absolutely nothing on his own to help the team in a critical game? Like you don't want that to get broken up. You don't want to wake up tomorrow and find Morgan Riley as a Vegas golden night. Like you don't want any of that. You want all those, you want the core four, F-O-R-E,

to stay together as long as possible so you can keep getting a bye in the second round to the conference final in the Eastern Conference. Okay. That's very good. One, love it. What is your theory on, well, let's keep it to Marner and Matthews and how, you know, there's been statistical arguments put out there, not even arguments, just facts. Like first four games of the series, they put up points. Five, six and seven, they don't put up points.

Sure, there are exceptions. Matthew scored in game six in Florida, but for the most part, it's held that they're fine. Early on in a series, they're not fine when the games start to really matter. not fine when the games start to really matter. The idea, the idea that I'm going to give you, so I think all of these guys had zero points in games five and seven. Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, Riley, like all had no points in games five and seven.

The two games that were the most must win games, maybe of their careers on home ice in Toronto. And so like there is a certain amount of blame that has to go to the players, but like, you know, those guys in Florida aren't wrong. Like they, all of these guys are scared to death of losing. Yeah, it's fear. That's that fear. That's the fear of the deaths of having to face the fans and the media and their neighbors and their

families and all of these people. Like that, that you could just see it. There's a reason why they lost six one in the two most critical games of the series on home ice. It's, it's not cause they're not good hockey players and it's not because they can't Occasionally show that they might be worthy of a cup. I mean the Leafs played really well this year and I it's not lip Service to say that this was probably the toughest they've played against any of their Postseason opponents that they've lost it in the game seven. I mean, it's a good team. It's pretty well built

But when it comes down to it, like, the demons that have been referenced, the ghosts that have been referenced, it's more like a poltergeist. It's more like a haunting. It's more like these guys get on the ice in a critical game and the fear takes over. And so, how do you get past that as a question? And I'll make this brief because I know this is a long answer, but I'm thinking about my time in Washington covering the Rock of the Red, Young Guns, Caps teams, right? Like they had a bunch of playoff failure too. And Ovechkin would get the same kind of grief that Matthews is getting for not, you know, carrying the team to victory past like the second round. And so what did they eventually do? You want me to ask you a question. Was Alexander Semon on the Cup Championship team?

He was not. Was Mike Green on the Cup Championship team? He was in Detroit by that point. You have to start shocking the system. And so if we're playing video poker, I'm holding Matthews, I'm holding Nylander, I'm holding Knives, and then I am re-dealing for my next hand. That's what I'm doing.

You have to shock the system and letting Marner, you botched Marner, but you let him walk, and then you'd find a way to get Riley out of there. You hold those three and then just reshuffle the deck around them and hope that you come up with the right combination. Are NHLGMs in general too scared to shock the system? Completely. But it's also in this case, here's the funny thing about Toronto. It's not the GM. Maybe it's true living.

Maybe that's why he got the job. But in this case, it was Brendan Shanahan. He's a guy that I really like, but he is the reason this core was kept together because of his experiences in other places where the core was kept together because of his experiences in other places where the core was kept together despite a lack of success. And then eventually they find success. And so, you know, Kyle Duvus say what you will about the guy. He wanted to break up the core and Brendan Shanahan's like, no, like we're

gonna, we're going to run it back again. And, and, uh, and so here's a guy I'm hiring that is agreeing to run it back again. And so it wasn't the GM in Toronto's case. It was, it was the team president that decided to kind of keep the continuity there. And at the end of the day, it was a, it was a bad call and it probably means he won't be the president next year. See, I think we're honing in on exactly what the right dynamic here is because yes, there's pressure, but it didn't just come out of nowhere in this series and it's specifically against

the Florida Panthers. I specifically against the Florida Panthers. I also think the Florida Panthers felt like they weren't getting enough credit for actually beating the Toronto Maple Leafs. Like I know Kachuk kind of had that, uh, air of, Hey, you know, we're a good team and they pushed us to seven, but we beat them in game seven. I definitely got that vibe. But going back to what you're saying, there is a self fulfilling prophecy about this core group of Leafs because every year the same thing happens.

They fall way short of their goal. Everyone lines up to say that you can't run it back again. And then Shanahan ran it back again. So I do think the players are just there thinking, well, you know. We're safe. There is an element of being safe, but also like this is kind of what we're destined to do.

Maybe that's it, but I mean that's kind of the Pollyanna view of it that probably Shanahan had of the roster. Like, you know, this is gonna work. It has to work. How could it not work with this many talented people on the same team? But then you look at like a team like Vegas, for example example where there's constant confidence in management that they're going to keep adding pieces that are going to eventually help you. But also there is fear instilled in there that if you aren't part of the solution, you're going to be part of the salary cap problem and you won't be there anymore. I don't think there's ever been a moment where the core four were ever really worried about not being in Toronto.

I mean, you know, at all. One, because you couldn't move them because they're trade protection in some cases in recent years, but overall just the sense of entitlement and the sense of management has our back and we're going to be here until we win or until, you know, it's time for me to decide to leave. So I don't think you're wrong on that one. I think the shock to the system sometimes comes from feeling, you know, there's always that moment in a season where a team trades a beloved player. Just mean there's a reason why Chris Crider's name was in that memo back in December for the Rangers. It's because they needed that level of shock to the system to get them to where Chris Jury thought they needed to go. And so, yeah, Toronto's never been in that situation, but they certainly are now. Of the four remaining teams,

do you see an obvious favorite? No, I don't. So, cards on the table, I'm picking the Panthers in six, and I'm picking Dallas in seven. And I've been on Dallas since October. I remain on Dallas. Here's a fun fact. Me and Marc Messier are the only two

people whose pre-playoff cup picks are still alive. He had Edmonton to the shock of no one, and I had Dallas. Everyone was picking the golden knights and stuff. We're the only two that have our cup picks still alive. It's kind of crazy. But you must have predicted that they were going to land Ranton in, in, in, in that trade. My, my, my, my prediction was more like, you know, bridesmaid twice. I really liked the makeup of the team. Um, when I made the pick, I didn't, I, I thought they, I knew they'd get a defenseman. I thought it might be somebody better than Cody C. C. But he played pretty well for them. And, uh, and you know,

I obviously didn't see Ranton and the Grandland thing is kind of of sneaky great too. You know, he was the center that they needed and now that they put together that Finnish mafia line of hints, Grandlin and Rantan, and that's really what kind of got Rantan into where he needs to be in the playoffs. But yeah, I'd faith in Ottinger, I'd faith in the way they play. I figured, you know, third time's a charm, that kind of thing. In this Edmonton series, I just like, I like the fact they have home ice. I think Otter's playing really well. Um, they're getting healthy at the right time. I mean, so is Edmonton.

They're getting at Coln back. And what scares me about Edmonton is how well they're playing defensively, they're playing really well defensively and, and that they are winning games without needing Leon and Connor to carry them. That's a very scary prospect. But over in the East, like, I really, I sat down and really tried to find a way to pick Carolina. Like I would love to see Brenda Moore play for,

have a Brenda Moore team play for the cup. I'd love to see Brent Burns and Taylor Hall and Freddie Anderson and all these guys that have been trying for a cup for so long to get a chance to play for one. And they've got two advantage, they've got two things going for him. I mentioned home ice before, but the other thing is when they got, when they

got beat by the Panthers last time, they didn't have a healthy stretch in the coffin, he's kind of, if you squint hard enough, that player who might score a big goal at a big time for them, he did in the Washington series. And that's what they obviously have lacked in the conference final before. But the Panthers are just, they're just too good. And then they're the perfect team to play Carolina because they are the last team to ever get like shaken or frustrated.

They're an unflappable team, as we saw in the Leafs series. And I think Carolina needs to play someone they can frustrate and I don't think the Panthers will get frustrated. Do you think the Vegas Golden Knights might do something to shock the system this offseason? Of course they will.

They're the Golden Knights. It's what makes them fun. I mean, Marner could end up there, couldn't he? Like first thing I thought of when he said Vegas, I was like, ooh, Marner. That makes a lot of sense. Right. I mean, like Marner needs to go someplace where he's not the guy that has to shoulder the load and be responsible for know, responsible for playoff

failure or success. He needs people that maybe have won before. He needs guys that are playoff tested. And so if he goes, let's say that Mark Stone for whatever reason isn't there anymore, okay? Sure. Like even if Mark Stone's not there, it's still Eichel and Petrangelo and that's, you know, that's your room and Marner walked into that situation. And so like he can just play, he can just be whatever he can learn from these guys. He can play for Bruce Cassidy, who I think will make him a better player. And maybe we'll all be lucky and we'll never have to see him fake yell at the bench and be all angry at his teammates while again, having zero points.

And I believe a minus four in Games five and seven of that series against Florida. What did you I mean take the Marner out of the equation? Although I mean he could be a solution because I thought they looked pretty toothless at times I mean they were shut out in their last two games I thought I call at times looked dangerous, but you know how much how much do you think they missed a guy like Marcia? So oh Without question I mean like you know that was a secondary scoring series because you know Edmonton had it and they did a hell of a job defending the Golden Knights top offensive players who couldn't get going and so you needed to rely on other guys to get going. Marcheseau is

couldn't get going. And so you needed to rely on other guys to get going. Marcius is a notorious self-starter in the playoffs. And, um, yeah, I mean, that's funny. I mean, I don't think his name came up all that much in these playoffs, but you're absolutely right. Like that's, that's an element they certainly missed to have that guy to score a goal at a critical time in a tight game and be the playoff hero. Uh, they, they, they certainly missed him for sure. We're speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here

on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. I know we're bouncing around to a bunch of different teams here, but a lot happened over the weekend and we didn't have a show yesterday. The Winnipeg Jets, watching the end of that game, one of the saddest, most gut wrenching things I've seen in an awfully long time with Shifeley being in the box for the game winner for the Stars,

and then everyone making their way over to the box to console being in the box for the game winner for the Stars and then everyone making their way over to the box to console them and the handshake line it was it was a lot emotionally for everyone obviously at the forefront of that was Mark Shifely and you know I understand why everyone sort of put the you know the analysis and the the elimination on the back burner to focus on the individual but that was a tough one for Winnipeg in a lot of different ways, you know, president's trophy champs and they suffered a lot of injuries. I think that they played really well. There were individual parts, which kind of failed them along the way.

I don't think they necessarily have anything to be not proud of because they fought pretty valiantly and they went, you know, they, they, they gave it, they're all, but at the end of the day, it's still a second round exit and another early exit for a team that I'm sure had higher aspirations. There's some stuff that you could take away from that run and feel maybe OK about it. You know, obviously Hellebuck had a ton of attention on him. His numbers on the road stink.

But I thought he played pretty well in game in game seven and in the elimination game rather and in game six and he and I thought he played okay on the road against Dallas he wasn't great and there were times he sort of melted down but not to the point of like what he was in the blue series you know they got good performances from some some guys I think that there's still something to be said for how they didn't play all that well in front of Hellebuck. I think he gets the lion's share of the blame for his numbers, but I don't think the Jets

should be off the hook necessarily for how they played in front of him. It's probably the best argument for him to still be the team USA goalie is there's a hell of a difference between having the Winnipeg Jets in front of you and having an all-star team in front of you in Italy. But ultimately, it's again, it's a kick in the gut. I mean, they can feel good that they didn't do what they've done in the last two seasons, which is bow out in the first round after a strong regular season. But I think they had every chance to potentially play for a cup this year and it just didn't

work out. Any ideas on where Ehlers might end up? Nah, I don't know. I mean someone will pay him. He's a very explosive, great player and you could see teams maybe salivating about adding him to the wing of a great center that they already have. But the inability to stay in the lineup scares me. He's got a bit of that Martin Nacius thing of kind of disappearing for stretches offensively. I caution teams that get into the Nick Heeler's business, but there's no denying the talent. Martin Nacius, is he eligible for an extension this off season? Does he have one year left

on his deal? I do not know. Okay. Yeah. I just wonder how much of the conversation in Colorado is going to go back to, I mean, obviously a lot of the conversation is going to go back to the Ranton and deal, but I know we've talked about this before. I'm just wondering what people are saying on the road and if that conversation

comes up, because I keep coming back to like, it seems like Colorado just gave up too early in the negotiations. Oh, regarding the ranting and stuff? Regarding the ranting and thing, yeah. And did they try and get like a mini version of Natchez and then you're looking at it and you're like, he's good, but he's not even close to ranting it. No, he's not, but I mean, they tried to do a,

can we get 60% of Rantanen type deal in getting nature's, and then they had other financial considerations. I mean, look at all the moves that they made at the deadline, right? That's Chris McFarland basically saying that he thinks that team was a few players away from really contending for a cup, and so that's probably still the case, you know, as the roster changes over

after the season a little bit. And then you also have what is going to be a massive contract extension for Kale McCarr on the horizon too. So like there are financial reasons to have the negotiation they had with Mika Rantanen. And then, you know, his camp wasn't exactly asking for a hometown discount at the time either. Right. So it's a, it's a fast,

it's a fascinating question. And I think ultimately they, they made the wrong call because they are finding out that it's very hard to find another Miko Rantanen and seeing what he does in the playoffs. Um, but, uh, but it made for a great story this year. And by the way, the story might not be over if it's all of a sudden Carolina and, uh, and, and Dallas in the cup final, that'd be hilarious. Wouldn't it? What a, what a, what a cherry on the Sunday that'd be.

You know, we, I mean, it'd be incredible. There's all sorts of good storylines that are still left. I mean, a Florida Edmonton rematch would be a great story as well. Or even the rematch that nobody was calling for, Carolina Edmonton, who met 20 years ago in the Stanley Cup final. But, but in terms of style, Carolina style versus Edmonton, it'd be pretty fascinating matchup, I think. Um, you know, I keep coming back to all the moves that the Canucks want to make

this off season. And Jim Rutherford has said we need to add three forwards and he's not talking about bottom six guys. And Halford and I just keep coming back, he's like, how's he going to do this? Like not only do the Canucks not have many assets to trade, the competition, it just seems like the competition for players with the added cap space.

And I'm not just talking about unrestricted free agency because cap space also gives you room to make these big blockbuster deals. There's just going to be so many teams out there that are acting aggressively to get these players. Just what do you think about that just in general? I mean, it's not a great USA market outside of like Marner. Like everybody else is kind of on the down slope, I think, as far as who could help you. As you know, I'm a big cynic when it comes to offer sheets.

Me too, me too. Yeah, just because Doug Armstrong decided to attack Stan Bowman last year. Doesn't mean that we're gonna get offer sheets every summer, despite the fact that the Athletic writes 17 stories every season about the summer of offer sheets. Batten down the hatches, put on your seatbelts folks. I could talk about the athletic, I know you guys can't. We can. So, but the other part of that too, that you'd mentioned is how do we get player movement in this league?

We get player movement in this league sometimes because teams have to move out salary to then sign guys or, you know, give extensions or what have you. And as the cap goes up and as we know where the cap is going over a three year span, that pressure point might not be there where all of a sudden teams are like, I gotta move this guy out in order to sign this guy to an extension.

I mean, it may not necessarily be there. It was there for Colorado in that specific case, but it may not necessarily be there for a lot of other teams that don know don't want to trade a guy But have to because of cap considerations So we'll see what happens to the market where you know there's gonna be a lot of demand But I'm not like you I'm a little concerned about the supply side Greg this was great buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it as always enjoy game one of the Easter conference final tonight

Should be a good one. I shall thanks boys. Yeah, have a good one. That's Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Haliford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Marty Nacius can sign an extension on July 1. Yeah, I thought he had one year left on his deal. Yeah. That was always the knock on Nacius. He was a guy that was considered ultra talented

and a good player. Six percent of Mika Ranton. But should have been better. Take Ranton out of the equation, out of the conversation. He was a guy that kind of like drooled at his talent and watching him play. If you go and watch him play, you're like, whoa, this guy's unbelievable. But you were always left wanting more. And that was the risk that the abs took when they got up and he was nearly a

Canuck, Marty Natchez. Right. And I know again, like the talent is there for sure, but there's just, I don't, whatever X factor is missing in this game. Uh, lots more to get to on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Our one is in the books at seven o'clock Frank Sarah Valley from daily face off is going to join us news and notes free agency coaches general manager hires from across the league. We'll get into all that with Frank at seven o'clock seven thirty.

We got an open segment. If you want us to weigh in on anything that happened in the world of sports over the last ninety six hours because we didn't have a show yesterday do so now dumb bar lumber text line is six fifty six fifty hashtag it WWL, and tell us what you learned over the last 96 hours in sports. You're listening to the Halford and Breff show on Sportsnet 650.