Halford & Brough in the Morning - That Was A Gusty Win By An Undermanned Canucks Squad

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk a massive win by an injury-depleted Canucks squadron over the Devils last night (6:00), plus they discuss the top NHL stories of the day with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (26:58).  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 the fucking Canucks? 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- You're listening to Halford and Brough. Demko's been doing a lot of work behind the scenes. He's going to start against the Devils. Brad and Fredford Carter is robbed by Demko. Full stretch into the splits. We got some new guys in, some guys from Abbey, so, you know,

and we're hanging in there. Lekkerbacki wide onto the right wing. Back into the slot on Marks from Stukes. He scores! Lekkerbacky wins it for the Canucks in the shootout. I think I got my swagger back. Oh! Oh! Good morning Vancouver. 6.01 on a Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday everybody. It is halifred, it is rough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey dog, good morning to you. Good morning.

Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Rough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in Step. Studio's got a little pep in its collective step this morning.

Everyone's excited to be here. We got a big show on a Tuesday. We got a lot to get into. Guest list today begins at 6.30 with Greg Wyszynski from ESPN.com. Vancouver Canucks beat his beloved New Jersey Devils last night. We'll look back on last night's game with Greg.

Greg has obviously dialed in to this Western Conference playoff chase, not only is he following the Canucks exploits, he also recently wrote about how laddie Dustin Wolf has saved the Calgary Flames season. So we'll talk to Greg about everything that's going on in this Western Conference playoff chase in the Vancouver Canucks at 6.30. He's excited to watch. Seven o'clock, speaking of exciting to listen to, John Arnold is going to join us on the program. We're gonna have a little footy talk at seven

o'clock this morning. John Arnold, who we've had on the show before, writes the getting conca-capped substack. It's been on ESPN FC, MLS. We'll talk to him about everything that happened in the Nations League tournament over the weekend. Mexico wins, Canada finishes third. What changed in the region? If anything, we'll look ahead to the gold cup and we'll answer that question we were kicking around yesterday about three countries, Canada, US and Mexico, co-hosting a world cup despite not loving each other at the moment. Political tensions. We're going to talk to John Arnold about that at seven o'clock. Eight o'clock, Landon Ferraro is going to join the program.

Huge win for the Vancouver Canucks last night. 4-3 in the shootout over the Devils in New Jersey. We'll talk to Landon about one of the gutsiest wins of the year. Talk to him about Thatcher Demko's return, Jonathan Leckar-Mackey's big game, and of course another monster effort from Quinn Hughes. That's at eight o'clock. At 8.15 this morning, we're giving away a pair of playoff tickets to see Game 1, when the Vancouver Giants take on the Spokane Chiefs this Friday, March 28th, at the Langley Event Center. Be caller number 5 at 8.15 this morning. The number here, 604-280-0650.

That number again, 604-280-0650. Be caller number 5 at 8.15 this morning for a pair of playoff tickets to see game one of the Giants and Chiefs this Friday at the Langley Events Center. Okay, that's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I'm moving. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca It was Connor Garland, not Pugh Souter, but Connor Garland who tied the game with 36 seconds left. It was Jonathan Leckermackie who got the winner in the shootout and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves in his first start in over a month of Vancouver Canucks, a huge 4-3 shootout win over the Devils in New Jersey on Monday night. First off, that was a great hockey game and a super gutsy win by the Canucks. Demko returns and had the save of the season in overtime.

Huge Leckermackie had a big goal and then scored the shootout winner. Hughes played half the game and was incredible as always. I thought Aturatu played well. And how about Pugh Suter? I thought Aturatu played well and how about Pius Suter, the new 1C with two points, one goal and an assist played 23 minutes on the night. Pius Suter. That's awesome. So I tweeted this out afterwards and I gotta be honest.

I have not cheered that hard for the Canucks all season. He's not joking by the way. I just loved seeing the effort. I loved seeing Demko get back in there for his teammates. I love seeing guys step up when the opportunity presented itself. And I know some of you may be rolling your eyes right now. You're in the tank category or you just want a good draft pick. You've given up on the season.

Regardless of all that, for me personally, it felt good to watch a game where you could feel how hard they were fighting for each other. The way they responded to adversity within the game was admirable. They fell behind twice in the third period and each time they battled back. That Devils goal where it bounced off the end boards, do you remember that one? I think that was their second goal, right? I thought that might be a dagger. I thought that might be like,

oh, it's just, it's not gonna happen for us. Nope, the Canucks kept battling. Their four centers last night were Suter, Bluger, Amon, and Ratu. And yet, I'm watching this game, the Canucks created more offensively than they have in a lot of their games this season. They weren't exactly the Colorado Avalanche out there, but they legit scored some nice goals through hard work and creativity and guys maybe stepping

outside their comfort zone a little bit. Suter's first goal was nice. He popped out into the slot, got his feet moving, went to the open space and Marcus Pedersen activates down the left wall and gets it to Suter for a goal. Lekker-Mackie's goal was nice in regulation time. Where they were rotating around, the defense were activated around again. Somehow Derek Forebord was behind the devil's goalie and you know, like working the blue paint

down there like behind the net. It was weird. And then, and then Lekker and Mackie coming down from the point into the slot to score. The tying goal was just hard work in desperation. Hughes puts the puck on net and there's a big scramble in front to the point where nobody knew who scored the goal because there were so many Canucks around it. You know, the announcer said Garland and I thought it was

Debrusk the way he went in there and celebrated. Yeah. It was originally announced Pugh suitor, and then it went back to to Connor Garland Garland stole his goal. We all game wiped off the board, you know I'm gonna give I'm gonna I'm gonna steal your look because I know what people are texting already I haven't seen the inbox, but I guarantee there's one or two The connects are still in tough. There's still a long shot to make the playoffs. I'm not blind, okay?

But we've had so much BS this season. Where you're watching this team and wondering, is everyone pulling the rope in the same direction? Is everyone trying to pull the rope in a direction? That guy just dropped the rope We know the group has been dysfunctional Very dysfunctional. It has been one of the most functional seasons in Canucks history

So to watch that game last night and to watch a team play like a team Knowing how shorthanded they were down the middle and knowing Thatcher Demko had returned to help his teammates. I just, okay this is gonna be cheesy you might want to play some like violins right now. I just enjoyed being a Canucks fan last night. I was legit proud of them. I'm proud of you you know that. I hope proud of you, you know that. I hope you do. That was beautiful, man.

Am I the only one that felt that way? Like, am I overdoing it here? No, no, no. Am I overdoing it? Like, I was watching that game and I'm telling you, I have not cheered that hard for the Canucks all season. You're not overdoing it. You're not overdoing it.

No eye rolling from Sea Legs in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. No eye rolling here, but let's get a little bit more grounded. Dare I say caustic. I'm going to ask a question. It's a leading question. Might be a bit polarizing given the authenticity of your feelings this morning. How much did this have to do with the fact that Canucks put forth that kind of effort and it was

without Elias Pettersson and JT Miller in the lineup? I think it had a lot to do with it. I just told you, we've watched so much BS this season and we've watched some underachieving and we've watched some dysfunction. And I know Pettersson has found his game a little bit, but we all know he hasn't back to the same Pedersen. So what I watched last night was overachieving.

I watched Derek Forbort make a really nice pass and Lekar Amaki take advantage of an opportunity and Atur Ratu stepping in and taking advantage of an opportunity, giving the team something it was missing and, you know, just winning face-offs. Thatcher Demko probably wouldn't be playing if his team didn't really, really need him.

It was overachieving versus underachieving. And, you know, coming together as a team and playing that way. And it was, for me, it was just like a pure hockey game. I wasn't watching it with like, I wonder if he's trying today or I wonder if he's upset today or I wonder if he's feeling angry today or sad

or I wonder if he's gonna be defensive after the game. You know, like I was just watching a team play hard hockey and was it super pretty? No, but it was somewhat creative. I thought again, I thought they made some really nice plays out there. You know, I don't think they just parked the bus out there and there were some mistakes defensively. Sure. But that's hockey and they just played a hockey game. You know, like it was, it was fun to just watch it purely from like, Hey, I'm watching my team work really hard and I'm watching my team overachieve. And I like cheering for that. Sure. I think the Canucks have the opportunity to the

most. And you pointed this out yesterday to do the most hilarious thing imaginable here. And it would be going on this sort of, I don't wanna say Cinderella or fairy tale run, but going on a run late without those two particular individuals contributing to it whatsoever. Now, who knows when Pedersen will be back in the lineup, but work with me here. They have an opportunity here to kind of redefine

what they're about and what this season was about. And the things that you were talking about, having pride in the hard work and rallying when the chips are down and being a likable, cohesive, no drama, no BS group is an interesting thing. Now, I wanna play some audio here from Quinn Hughes

with his interview and I believe this was with the, so ESPN and Amazon did the game yesterday. I believe this was with the ESPN guys afterwards. Hughes was talking about this year and he does drop, you know, this has been an incredibly long year and an incredibly trying year, which you would expect, but there's also some upside, some intrigue, some real positivity here about this group, what they're doing and where they're going

We'll play it now another monster game for the captain yesterday here is Quinn Hughes following a huge 4-3 shootout win for the Canucks over the Devils in New Jersey last night Yeah, I mean honestly, this has been the longest year ever. It's been a year of adversity and Guys in and out I think we've had you know, pretty pretty much everyone on the team. No one's played a full season. So I know a lot of teams go through that, but definitely a lot of adversity, really proud of our group. We got a lot of care and, you know, we're going to try to do everything we can to make the playoffs here. And I believe we can, but if that doesn't happen, you know, what we're building here for the next couple of years is the care factor. I'm liking what I'm seeing.

The next couple of years, the care factor. Like what I'm seeing. The next couple years? That sounds great. Yeah. You can make something of this. Could you say three years or four years or five years? That would be nice. You want to sign some sort of piece of paper? Yeah, actually two years isn't enough.

Two years is actually worrying. Yeah, Quinn, could you please expand on that? There were two big things. The one part of that clip was talking about building towards the future and he likes where they got going. The other one is that they're clearly, clearly focused on making the playoffs,

which by the way, when we were doing the show yesterday, it was they needed eight wins to get to the playoffs. Well, knock one off that list, now they need seven, right? Go through the list and look at the teams they gotta play. You can do the real simple brass tacks. They probably need seven more wins to get into the playoffs. So start picking your opponents, look at the rest of this road trip, try and find seven more games on the slate that they can win with this group and what they've got.

I also want to talk about Thatcher Demko. Yeah. That was massive last night. That's incredible. That's saving overtime. May have saved the season. Awesome. I mean, the rebound on the third goal wasn't great.

He wasn't great. He wasn't perfect last night and he would admit it because he said afterwards, he was like, yeah, like it's not going to be a hundred percent. But if you're talking about this vibe and this narrative over these final 11 games now about what it's going to represent for the team, a lot of it is going to be, it might not look perfect.

It might not be perfect and we might not be a perfect team, but we're going to try and go out there and scratch and claw and fight. And I want to play the talk at audio because talk it spoke about not just the save that Demko made in overtime yesterday, but the fact that he was able to put up that kind of performance despite not having a ton of lead up time getting back into the lineup as far as it came to practices. Here's Rick Tuckett following the game yesterday on Thatcher Demko's big performance in a win for the Vancouver Canucks.

Well, I mean, he's saving overtime. That's Thatcher. Just really proud of him. It's been a tough six weeks for him and I think he's on the right track. Didn't have many practices. It's hard to do. It's not like he's had a lot of team practices to go in there and he had to the right track. Didn't have many practices, you know, it's hard to do. Like, you know, it's not like he's had a lot of team

practices to go in there and he had to do playing overtime. So made some post post saves. So yeah, he was terrific for us tonight. You want to play the Hughes audio too. So after Quinn Hughes in that same interview that we played talked about that save and overtime, he happened to be the guy playing the two on one, but it was Paul Cotter on the shot, right?

And here's a little snippet. Quinn Hughes, working blue last night in the interview, talking about Thatcher Demko's big save in overtime. It's not save, he made it overtime. You know, classic me playing a two on one like, but I can't say enough about Thatch. I mean, he had a right to play it like, believe he played what, 39 minutes last night. I think he

ended with- I think he was 33 or something like that. I think he ended with 33. I think he played over two thirds of the overtime. I think he was out there for over three minutes. Again, they're going to rely on certain guys now. Hughes, obviously. Demko now, assuming he can stay healthy and upright. That's a huge shot in the arm. And apparently Pugh Suter, and it's the guy that's gonna be driving the bus because up until about 10.30 last night, the third biggest, and we haven't got to Lech or Macchia, but the second biggest talking point was Pugh Suter scores a pair of goals.

And then his second goal was later credited to Connor Garland. But Suter scores a pair of goals, including the one with 36 seconds left in a one C position playing 23 minutes. Like that is, that's stepping up. That's playing, you talked about overachieving. I'm not sure how long you can go with Pugh's suitor being your one C

playing 23 minutes a night. Probably not long, but that's- It's also a Teddy Blugger as your two C. But that's the reality, right? Like that's what's gonna For the very at least for the remainder of this road trip It's got three more games on it because we'll get to Pedersen and Hoaglander in a bit They left and they're not coming back on this trip

These are the guys that are gonna be carrying the mail for the Canucks I'm gonna text in if they lost three to two, would you be this elated? What is the difference between this game and the Rangers game where you were so critical? They played hard in both games. Well, they won this one. Well, I just told you, I'm being dead honest with you. Pedersen not being out there made a difference for me. If you want to come at me for that, that's fine.

The underachieving of the star players on this team has affected the way I've watched this team. I mean, I've been pretty honest about it, right? Well, I mean, for me- Like, I don't want to dance around this issue. No, that's fine. The Pettersons underachieving has been one of, if not the top stories of the last year,

and it has affected how I've watched this team. Well, okay, I'll answer the question But don't do any PR for me like Like I'm just I'm just telling you that made a difference There was no Miller and no Pettersson and no BS last night. Okay The difference with last night's game as opposed to let's take the Rangers game where they also played very well. One the big differences is that they got two points from last night as opposed to zero from the Rangers game. The other point would be that they found a way this game to not shoot themselves in the foot. Especially in the third period when the the Meyer goal happened, and I tweeted out,

this team has a remarkable ability to not keep the good times going no matter what, they came back right away and put up a goal. And they were able to get that thing to overtime, scratch and claw, and do whatever they needed to do to get that extra point. Also, big difference last night, Demko comes back after six weeks off,

probably isn't 100%, probably isn't ready to go. And as you pointed out earlier in the segment, probably wouldn't be playing if the Canucks weren't in this situation. And he guts it out, puts up 22 saves, has a huge save in overtime. There's differences here. I know it sounds kind of nebulous to say,

well, guys stepped up here as opposed to other games where they didn't, but what has Rick Tauke had been speaking about all year? This team has been presented with so many big moments this year, and oftentimes it's been the other team that's capitalized on that big moment. How many times has he spoken about the moments this year? I've lost track.

They've had a lot of moments this year, not all of them good. But last night, the big difference for me would have been they got big plays Big moments and big performances from guys who were not the frontline guys I know Hughes was great and I know Demko was great but suitor leckermackie Garland coming up in a moment where they are fighting for their playoff lives That's the big difference to me if you wanted a straight answer Leckermache by the way

What a night for the kid. Mm-hmm. Now, apparently I was gonna lose my mind if he didn't get a chance in the shootout apparently That's your damn goal was told in the postgame scrum About Leckermache stick twirl, you know how you twirl the stick a couple of times right as you know He was out about he did I mean Demko said he did a stick twirl and then he took a pause He said we will have to talk to him about that. So I said it was a superstition though. I'm sure I don't think it's a big deal I know he's good. He's got a stick to twirl tick Yeah, dude, it looked badass though like it was like sort of doing like like like like

Pumping yourself up right before fighters. I'm like like the little stick like he knew he was gonna score like that's what it looked like Dean Youngblood out there It was so cool. Like he's like he was so confident. He knew he was gonna score absolutely 100% It was really cool It's like ice in his veins. It's a real old-school hockey rhetoric to not like Everyone Thomas Hurdle went between the legs and scored on Marty Buran? And then they had to sit him down, because they were like, ah, you embarrassed them. And they remember when we saw our first Michigan, and you had to sit for the rest of the period?

Like, those little things. I hope he does it every single time now. Well, I mean, you know what? If they go to more shootouts, the Connexors are three and one in the shootout this year. They haven't gone to many of them, but they've been pretty good in it. Debreseq was good in his shootout attempt as well, but what a performance

from Lekkeramacky as well. I remember when he got the most recent recall and I heard Tuckett's response to, you know, are you worried about, you know, throwing him in under duress and you know, there's a lot of pressure right now and he's like, Oh, give it a shot, right? Let's see what happens.

Like we may as well try him out. I was, I wasn't sure that he would be able to respond like that, but that was a very big performance from him last night with all of what? 10, 15 games of NHL experience under his belt. Okay. So the road is still not long, but difficult for the Canucks to come back and get that last

playoff spot. The New York Islanders are next tomorrow and they had an interesting game last night against Columbus. Yeah. Um, we've got the audio here as well. They had a goal chalked off late, uh, not to VAR, but, uh, it was disallowed by the official on the ice and then it went to review in Toronto.

And I think the Islanders were assuming that this thing was going to get overturned and allowed. It was not and that led Patrick Waum, we've got the audio here, to issue the following post game after they lost in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Paul Mary was out of the crease and we tipped it in and I think their goalie pushed him away at the same time. So, but that's how I see it. And if, if Toronto is afraid to overturn calls made by the referee, we don't need

Toronto. Well, we don't need Toronto. That's all I want to say. So the Canucks and the Islanders are in very similar spots, just in different conferences. The Islanders are one point back of Montreal for the final playoff spot. Montreal has a game in hand on them and the

Vancouver Canucks are three points back of the St. Louis Blues for the final wild card spot. And St. Louis, uh, has wild card spot and St. Louis has played one more game than the Canucks. So each of them are probably, like if you're looking at the statistics, not going to make the playoffs, but you know, Wednesday's game is huge for both teams.

Yep. They've still got a chance. They're, they're, they're still very much in it. And the Isles have, you know, they're very similar teams. The Isles have a minus 16 goal differential. The Canucks have a minus 16 goal differential. And the Isles in their last six games have managed to get a point in all of them. But Horvath used to play for Canucks, now he plays for the Islanders. But three of them have been overtime losses. So the Islanders have a problem with

overtime losses as well. So this will be an interesting one. We'll see if the Canucks can keep this going. We often see when a team has got us back against the wall, it'll come up with a performance, right? Because the adrenaline is running. The adrenaline is going to have to run for the Canucks pretty much down the stretch.

I don't know if Holglinder or Pedersen are going to be back this season, frankly. Sending them back from the road trip is not especially, I guess. Well, it doesn't lend itself to optimism. It doesn't lend itself to optimism. The next time they got a chance to play is going to be Wednesday, April 2nd, when they play at

home against Seattle. Yeah. So that time they got a chance to play is going to be Wednesday, April 2nd, when they play at home against Seattle. Yeah. So that's at least a week on the shelf and three more games, New York, Columbus, and then you mentioned Winnipeg on the Sunday that they're not going to play. Okay. We got to go to break. When we come back, Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is going to join the program. Obviously big devil's guy.

We'll talk to him about last night's game. We'll talk to him about this Western Conference Playoff chase. It gets hot, hot tonight. There's a couple teams in action, specifically the St. Louis Blues and the Calgary Flames, so we'll be scoreboard watching all night. You're listening to the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts.

632 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halpern Brough's ForceNet 650. Halpern Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is gonna join us

in just a moment here. The highlight of hour one. Hour one of this show is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

On the television in our studio here, I'm watching highlights from last night's game, including Jonathan Leckermacky's shootout winner. Forgot that Jacob Markstrom smashed his stick angrily after the loss, broke it into two pieces. Through the paddle, which isn't easy. He was fired up, or fired down, I suppose. Thatcher Demko was fired up. Big win for the Vancouver Canucks.

Last night, 4-3, shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils. Joining us now to discuss that and a whole lot more, our good buddy, Greg Wyshinski from ESPN, here on the Haliford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Greg, how are ya? He might be upset because he sucks. That might be the reason why he was upset last night.

I mean, he was acquired to be the goaltending solution in New Jersey and quite frankly, I think they have infinitely more confidence in Jake Allen's abilities right now than Jacob Markstrom's. So we talked about this yesterday. We had James Nichols on the show from New Jersey Hockey Now, and he was saying that there's been a decided precipitous, dare I say, drop off in Markstrom play since he returned from the injury. And it's almost like, yeah, there doesn't really need to be a rotation because it's pretty obvious that Allen's been the better of the two. How long

has this been going on for? It's been going on for a bit. I mean, you know, I listen this is a team that has Really not played well since probably the beginning of the year Predating the two injuries. They're they're currently trying to manage through and And earn a little playoff revenue before piecing out in the first round But you know part of that has has been Inconsistency from from both goalters. I think Alan has clearly played better. It's a little frustrating, I think, for the devil, because, you know, sometimes defensively, as we saw last night, they can lapse and they need someone to bail

them out. And the bailout has not necessarily been there. And that was kind of the situation last year, too. And I think they felt they remedied ititted but look the bottom line is that you know they they banked enough points early where their struggles in 2025 haven't put them in a precarious position and somehow they keep gaining points here and there despite not having Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton so points here and there despite not having Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. So like it's, it's not a great place to be when you, when you know that your, um, your ultimate goal is out of reach because your number one center isn't going

to play until training camp. Uh, but, uh, but you know, last night, disappointing as it is, I think ultimately, you know, they'll take the point at this point, considering how things have been going. What'd you think of the Canucks last night? And, you know, they'll take the point at this point, considering how things have been going. What'd you think of the Canucks last night? Well, they were good. I mean, I think anytime you get your starting goalie back, and this

isn't to shade Lankanen, but like you hear Quinn talk about Thatcher Demko in such glowing terms, clearly a boost to get him back between the pipes and see him playing well. So, you know, I look at the West and, you know, Vancouver, Calgary, Utah's fading chances, all they're all serving at the pleasure of the St. Louis Blues. Like, the Blues are going to be the ones who decide whether or not this is a wild card race or whether or not they've just decided to take it. And I hope that they've decided to make it a race because I do like the idea of

there being a little chaos down the stretch, with the way that Calgary breathes through New York, and with Vancouver getting Demko back, and hopefully not having serious injuries to Pedersen and Hoagland, but the way the Blues have been going, it's gonna really kind of be their call, if that makes sense.

Mad Fientist-Wilson, The New York Times I wish when Quinn Hughes comes to New York to play the Devils, how much chatter is there in New Jersey about trying to get him to New Jersey? Chris Bounds, The New York Times Well it's not like when he arrives and people are just like, Quinn Hughes is here, you better crank up the speculation. Maybe people hear it. I'll talk loudly in this coffee shop

and maybe Quinn Hughes will overhear me, you know, putting together a trade. No, look, every devil fan understands the situation here, which is that by the time Quinn Hughes becomes available, one, the cap will be astronomically high. But if the devil's needed to clear salary, Palat's regrettable contract comes off the books and Dougie Hamilton will have had one year left on his deal that could be bought out. So I mean- Oh, you've already cleared the cap space.

Well, listen, man, you asked me if devil's fans have thought about this. And my answer is, when you have two of the pieces of the Triforce and the other piece could become available without having to trade anybody, yeah, there's probably been some noodling through how that could work. But again, if they really wanted to do it, I mean, you could take Hamilton's last year off the books through a buyout and then sign Quinn to whatever he's looking for. And then, you know, hope that that the three boys run in this franchise for the next eight, you know, eight years works out. We're speaking to Greg Wyszynski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

You mentioned that the Blues might end up just dictating this playoff chase in the West. That's probably true, given the cushion that they've got, but you know, Vancouver's making its push. Calgary is hanging around as well, and a big reason for that is Dustin Wolf. I know you wrote a big feature piece on him for ESPN. I believe the headline is how Dustin Wolf saved the Calgary Flame season.

So how did he save it, and how well has this guy played this year? And should he win Rookie of the Year? Get it, because he's a goalie. Goalies make saves. I don't know. I don't write the headlines. I used to love writing the headlines of Puck Daddy.

I considered it a challenge. Yeah, likewise. And I wrote some real good ones. When we did it at NBC, it was the same thing. It was a challenge. I often failed at that challenge, but it was still a challenge. I've had so many headlines rejected at ESPN

that most of my stories just simply say, Greg Wyshinski writes about Dustin Wolfe. And then I just leave it to whoever does the headline to figure out what it's going to be. I don't understand SEO or anything about an editor anymore. Um, first off, I love talking to him because he is a native of Gilroy, California. So those who don't know Gilroy, California is the garlic capital of the world, like self self-proclaimed, but also because they have, did not know an extremely large

amount of garlic farms. When you drive through Gilroy- A vampire problem or I guess they don't? Not anymore. When you drive through Gilroy, a wall of stench hits you the minute you get within the city limits. I've always been fascinated by that. I used to live out in San Jose for a couple of years and I was been fascinated by that. I used to live out in San Jose for a couple years and it was always fascinated by that. I actually went to Gilroy Garlic

Festival at one point and I talked to Dustin Wolf about this and he said, yeah, it smells like home. I'm just like, imagine 10,000 Italian grandma is all cooking at the same time and that's the level of garlic smell we're talking about here and he takes one whiff and he's just like, man, my childhood bed. I just find that to be fascinating. As far as the Calder chances I'll be really interested to see I think that obviously if he backstops the flames to the wild card and it's pretty clear they're going to get it during the voting I think he's going to have a real shot at taking this thing because when you think about the value he's provided to that team,

when you think about where they were predicted to be earlier this season, or before the season rather, and where they are now, I think you can give him the lion's share of the credit. What's interesting about that though is should the Calder take into account what a player means to his team or is it simply just the best performance by a rookie? Because that's going to be the interesting question about Celebrene like like he's been great he is clearly in my estimation the best rookie 200-foot player playing well beyond his years you know people really talking about how he's gonna end up being a better player than than Connor

Bedard and that's not something that you heard a lot of before he was drafted. But the Sharks think, you know, to what end was all of this? It didn't really move the needle for the Sharks. They're going to be the worst team in hockey again. But when you look at Dustin Wolfe, it's clear that the Flames are a playoff, you know, contender because of him. When you look at Lane Hudson, it's clear that he's had a remarkable impact on what the Canadians have been able to do this season. So I'm interested to see sort of the team effect of

this thing because I think the other two candidates in the top three, and I think that is the top three right now, have that argument in a way that Celebrini doesn't. Wish, I want to ask you about the Islanders because the connects are playing the Islanders tomorrow and both teams are kind of similar positions just out of the second wild card spot in their respective conferences. How have the Isles looked lately? Well, they're going to be surly. They're going to be surly.

You know that after what happened last night. Yeah, we talked a little bit about that. We played the Patrick Waugh audio earlier actually. Yeah. Yeah, we talked a little bit about it. We played the Patrick Waw audio earlier actually, yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty surprised he got upset about something involving a goalie, although usually it went the other way. They're doing what they need to do to stay in the playoff race. Their ride in Ilya Sorokin, I think he has now started 16th or last 18th. More importantly, they don't leave points on the table. Like, you know, last night didn't really go their way, but they still grabbed the point out of

it. So you know, they became 303 in their last six. So that's them. I mean, it's not impressive. It doesn't blow you away. Nothing. Nothing around the Eastern Conference bubble should blow you away. But where in other teams, blow those opportunities to gain points and then start to kind of save back, the Allenders have been able to kind of keep pace a little bit. So listen, it's not going to be a pretty game. They're going to rely on their goalie. You know how the Allenders play by this point. For God's sakes, they've had the same team

for like the last five years, it feels like. But they're doing what they need to do to try to get inch closer to getting the final wild card spot in East. WISH, what's a first round playoff matchup that you really want to see? Dallas and Colorado. I mean, it's going to happen. So that's the good news. We don't know who's going to get home ice. Unless one of those teams collapses in the Minnesota Wild Go on a hell of a run, it's clearly going to be the first round matchup. You know, not only because of the Nico Rantanen of it all,

going up against Colorado and also trying to prove his worth by being the quote-unquote playoff, you know, performer that he's been portended to be. And again, like he's, I think he's got a lot to prove. I mean, you know, we simply don't know what Miko Rantinen looks like minus Nathan McKinnon and minus Kale McCarr, we just don't. It's not to say he's a bad player, it's not to say this contract's gonna be a bust,

but we don't know what he looks like. We haven't seen enough of it to know really what he looks like. And part of proving his worth is being that post-season solution that the Hurricanes thought he was gonna be when they traded for him. So it's a physical nasty series with a great soap operatic undertone with Rantanen.

And then on top of that, you have two teams that could clearly win the cup playing each other in the first round. Which is kind of a bummer from a playoff system perspective, but also just raises the stakes astronomically. When you think about how good Colorado has been and how good Dallas can be when they're healthy, it's just kind of astonishing that one of those teams isn't going to make it out of the first round. And the other thing too, obviously, is like, is Miro, he's going to even play in the series, which is, I hope he does because if he doesn't, then I don't know

if Dallas has a way to get through that series. How much better do you think the Avs are right now compared to the team they were at the start of the season? Oh, astronomically better. And not just because of, you know, the Brock Nelson thing or getting coiled and getting lingering like they did at the deadline. I mean, the natus rantinum thing, you could argue is either a wash or, you know, ultimately an upgrade because you're saving money, but maybe a downgrade because natus isn't rantinum.

But you have to remember, like, before all of this happened, they fixed their goal setting. And to me, that is the biggest difference between the start of the season and now was the aggressive way that their GM, Chris McFarland, went out and acquired McKenzie Blackwood. He's been revelatory to the point where they gave him a contract extension after five starts. And so that level of aggressive managing, to me,

is really what set the avalanche on the right course this season. And then obviously, they went on a spree at the deadline to fill out this roster and improve the team. Could this be the year that the Kings knock off the Oilers in the first round? Dude, is there a more under the radar accomplishment this season than the LA Kings on home ice? We never talk. I will look at it every time. Every time we do like the team capsules. And I'm like, I can't believe this split. 25, 3 and 4.

And we never talk about it. 25, 3 and 4, they set a franchise record with 14 straight home games with at least a point. It is insane how good they are at home. It could be the year. Let's be honest. The Kings are playing extremely well defensively. They have a goalie in Darcy Kemper that's playing really well this season. So if the only way you're going to, you know, try to battle back against Connor

and Leon, assuming, assuming both of them are healthy for that series is, is by, you know, being as stout defensively as possible. Well, they've got the bona fides this year. They're playing extremely well defensively. My concern as per usual is it's really hard to keep Connor and Leon in check. And then what can you do offensively? And the Kings have shown they can flex a little bit. Like they popped, I think, seven goals against both Carolina and Boston recently. I think both on home ice, which probably isn't a coincidence. So they can flex offensively here and there with Kempe and Fiala and others, but ultimately, their path to victory against Edmonton is going to be by playing flawlessly defensively. And so far they've shown they can, they can do that.

I mean, they're second in the league in goals against, uh, per game behind Winnipeg and you know, they don't have Connor Hellebuck. So they're playing pretty well. We're speaking to Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. I know we're jumping around here to a bunch of different teams, Wish, but I was reading the most recent bubble watch at ESPN and there was in the new New York Rangers capsule, you had this line you wrote and it said the Rangers have JT Miller's quote, my problem is I care too much and quote intensity now as well. And I laughed and I'm like, I bet wish might

have written that might have written that with a smirk, a wry smirk on his face, because that's the Miller dynamic that we saw so often here. It's like, he always, you know, the lost art of giving an expletive, that was his thing. I feel like I've been apologizing for how much I care my whole career.

There's one thing to give an expletive, but like to always have to announce it or show it or explain it, that I'm just curious to get your thoughts on that, Dan. Because when I read that, I laughed. I gotta admit, it was a very good line. Well, it made me angry when he started to address it because that was always my go-to answer

in job interviews about what my biggest flaw is. It's always, I care too much. You care too much. It's why I mean to my coworkers. You'll find that out. Yeah, that's right. What's your biggest flaw? Oh, I bully my coworkers until you're forced to trade me to another company. Because I care.

That's my biggest flaw. So I think the interesting thing about JT Miller, I don't think it's a coincidence that's the kind of player the Rangers acquired. Because if you want to believe the soft tampering around Brady Gachuck, and I don't think it's a coincidence that's the kind of player the Rangers acquired. Because if you want to believe the soft tampering around Brady Gichuck, and I don't doubt that it happened, then you can kind of understand whether it's Chris Drury, their GM, or most likely James Dole and their owner, they don't like the comportment of their core. And they want to change the attitude of this team into something different. So, you know, they trade Jacob Truba,

they bring in JT Miller, I don't think Zabana Jad and Kreider are probably longing for this franchise, Kreider in particular this summer. And so, you know, JT Miller to me is kind of the opening salvo of a personality makeover that we're gonna see for the Rangers

in trying to get a little bit more snarl and a little bit more attitude and a little bit more defiance in their lineup. And so it kind of makes sense that they went and reacquired him because I think it's the first step in a longer process we'll see play out this off season. Is Peter La Villalelet even trying anymore? Because I'll be honest with you, like I'm

watching Rempey out there against Quinn Hughes over the weekend and I'm like, that's not a great match up Pete. Yeah, I don't know. And I don't know what in general his security is going to end up being if they miss the playoffs or even if they make the playoffs. I mean the interesting thing about the Rangers right now, I think one of the reasons why they've been so

inconsistent and so seemingly distracted this year is because they know there's a storm cloud on the horizon and it's what ownership and management want to do to this roster. And so it's, I don't think anyone outside of maybe three guys feels all that safe. Um, you know, I think Adam Fox can feel safe. I think since Sherkin's contract makes them safe. And I, I don't quite see a situation where they like trade Panarin, although maybe that's the more likely option of the three. Um, but it's just, it's clear that the pieces don't fit.

The puzzle hasn't come together in the same way that it did last season when they made the conference final. And it's also being pretty clear being around the team that they know changes are gonna come. And when you trade your captain in season, I think it's a good indication that, you know, everything's on the table. So, you know, like, you know, you talk about like

what Pita Labulette is or isn't doing. I mean, I think you probably asked you talk about like what, what Peter Lavielet is or isn't doing. I mean, I think you could probably ask that question about a lot of guys in that roster, except for JT Miller, because his problem is that he cares too much. Is there a coach that you're watching the closest in terms of his future? I mean, here in Vancouver, Rick Tuckett's future is very much a, a topic of conversation. I think Tuckett would probably be near the top of my list and I think the second answer is tied to that which would be Tortorella. The Flyers are a bad hockey team with terrible goaltending. And what I find curious about that is that how bad

does your goaltending have to be where the Tortorella system doesn't even prop it up at all. I mean, they're, they're really bad. I mean, there's the, the, the work, the league's worst save percentage, um, you know, two years running. Uh, I mean, I think Tortorella even went as far as to reference the player whose name we do not speak and Carter Hart and talking about like, our goal-hunting was good and now it isn't. So it's gotten to that point. And so, like you said,

what is talk its future in Vancouver, given where the team is, and given the unbelievable amount of drama that surrounded the team in the last year and a half? I don't know. If he left, where could you see him going where he'd have a ton of control and be in a situation he wants to be in. And I, you know, I think that could be silly maybe, but who knows.

Wish this was great buddy. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy tonight and the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Tuesday. Anytime. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Warning, warning, soccer talk coming up.

Soccer talk coming up. Warning, warning. Little geopolitical talk as well. We're going to talk to John Arnold from getting CONCACAF. He covers the region better than anybody. I follow a lot of soccer writers and he does a great job of it.

So the Nations League is wrapped, the tournament, Mexico back on top, Canada finishes third, the US, what a terrible tournament for them. We can talk to them about if anything's changed, could look ahead to the gold cup, but the question that we were kicking around yesterday is what is it like with the political tensions off the pitch and the results on the pitch

for three countries co-hosting a World Cup with all the dynamics that are at play. There's feuds on the pitch, there's feuds off of them. And it's not just the three countries either. Denmark is probably coming to the World Cup as well. Well, they haven't qualified yet. New Zealand's coming, we know that. Japan's coming, we know that. It's going, we know that. It's gonna be very interesting.

So we're gonna talk to Jaren Arnold coming up on the other side from the getting Conka calf sub stack. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected. For a free quote, visit them online at JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.