Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Arty Party Has Come To An End

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

In hour one, Jason Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd look back at a busy weekend in sports, the boys discuss the Canucks trading Arturs Silovs (3:00), plus they look at the offseason the Carolina Hurricanes have had thus far with analyst Adam Gold (26:25), and if this current core for the team can finally go on a deep playoff run.  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.

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Welcome to Halferd and Bruff here. Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Alford here on July 14th. And Brough, good morning. And you know we're really in the hot part of the sports schedule when the intro audio clips begin with a foul ball being upheld. Yeah, it's All-Star Week for Major League Baseball, known as the slowest time of the sports year.

But believe it or not, we've got some Canucks news to talk about this morning. Good morning, A-Dog, how are you? I'm well, how are you? Basketball Ben, good morning, and you'll be excited this week because it's the British Open. That's fantastic.

There's lots to talk about. There is, good morning. There is, so what have we got on the show this morning? We'll go through the guest list here. Actually what have we got on the show this morning? We'll go through the guest list here. Actually, before we even go through the guest list, I will tell you that Haliford and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates Species, first and trusted choice for debt help.

With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit sans-trustee.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. And as always, 650 650 is the dumb bar lumber Textline and never too early to start sending your what we learned submissions in of course We'll do that at 830 hashtag WWL what you've learned in the last 72 hours in the world of sports the guest list begins at 630 Adam Gold Covers the Carolina Hurricanes

He's the host of the Adam Gold show in North Carolina We'll chat to him about the offseason that the Hurricanes have had and They're getting a lot of rave reviews for the work that they've done as they often do to be fair the Carolina Hurricanes No strangers to that. Yeah, I think most people out there would call them I don't know if they if someone were to say who do you think won the off season? They'd be a candidate Yeah, they they'd be a candidate them in vegas. I suppose for landing marnie. Yep 7 30 yes for sorensen white caps manager and very interested to have a chat with him because

The tide has really turned for the white caps. I mean they were such a positive story earlier in the season Of course, they go all the way Uh to the conCACAF Champions League final. We know how that turned out. And it seems like really since then they've lost a bit of their mojo lose again on the weekend, another three nil defeat. So some major questions also about player availability, potential exits from the club in addition to the form of his club. So a lot to get into with Jesper Sorensen at seven thirty and then at eight o'clock

we'll talk about one of the other local teams playing right now. They had a big win on the weekend. JC Abbott, he covers the BC Lions for 3 Down Nation. He'll join us at 8 o'clock and of course as I mentioned 830 we will do what we learned. So of course I'm filling in for Halford. I have to do it in reverse as well. We've got JC Abbott at 8 o'clock from Three Down Nation, Jesper Sorensen, White Caps manager at 730, and Adam Gold at 630 covering the Carolina Hurricanes. Before we do any of that, let's tell everyone what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action

because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed that? You missed that? What happened? What happened? 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 bccsa.ca. I went through the guest list talking Carolina Hurricanes, Whitecaps, BC Lions. It was Wimbledon. There was a lot of sporting action on the weekend, but we're starting with a trade that of course involves the Vancouver Canucks. They trade goalie, Archer Shilovs, most recently the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs for the Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks. He is now a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, Prospect Chase Stillman and a 20, 27 fourth round pick coming back to the Vancouver Canucks. She loves finishes his Canucks career with 19

regular season NHL games and 880 save percentage in the regular season, 10 games and an 898 save percentage in the playoffs. So we've, we came into already an angry text in the Dunbar lumber text line, 650, 650. If you want to text in and have a question or a comment for Dodd or I, and it just says, it's unsigned, it said, why would they trade Artie for Stillman and a fourth round pick? This guy's a prospect that hasn't been proven at the NHL level. I'm hoping I'm wrong and we come out winning

Sealov's is a prospect that hasn't been proven at the NHL level as well I think he was referring to Stillman It might have been referring to she loves I'm not entirely sure but I think that kind referring to Stillman. He might've been referring to the Shilovs. I'm not entirely sure. But I think that kind of proves my point. Um, listen, we all loved Arter's, Seeloff's, but if you were surprised by this trade, you, you, you weren't paying attention. The Canucks signed Lankinen and Demko to extensions. They talked up Tolopilo and Ty Young for Abbotsford next season, then drafted and signed another goalie in Alexei Medvedev.

The return they got was exactly what most reasonable observers were expecting based on previous trades. Now it's a bit unfortunate because again, we all loved what Sealov's did for Abbottsford in the Calder Cup playoffs, but the goalie market is fundamentally different from the skater market. And I think Pittsburgh was the perfect landing spot for Sealovs because the Penguins don't, well, they don't really care about them making the playoffs. In fact, they probably want to miss.

Uh, the Canucks do care about making the playoffs and they couldn't risk give, giving Sealovs a spot on the NHL roster because of that. But they also didn't want to risk losing Sealovs for nothing on waivers. So they did the best that they could. Now I still have time for those who wonder about the contract they gave Dempko given

his injury history, but they were never, ever going to go into next season with Lankanen and Silov says their tandem. No, that wasn't on the table. And if you wanted to kind of backtrack to how we ended up with this goalie tandem going forward for the Canucks and going forward for the foreseeable future, right? With Lankanen signed for five years, Demko under contract next year, and then a three year extension beyond that, that's four years theoretically of certainty that it's going to be Demko

Lankan in the Lankan side of things. I think in retrospect is maybe a little confusing. Right. The five year deal at four point five million A.A.V. for a 30 year goalie who's never really been even part of a starting tandem. Now he played really well for them. When they signed that deal, I felt like maybe the writing was on the wall for Demko's time with the Vancouver Canucks. It's like, well, why are you going to give Lankton in that much money if you're then going to turn around and commit, you know, start a clear cut starter money to Demko? That's what they chose to do. And I guess their strategy is, hey, we're going to we're going to pour resources into the position.

So we feel we have a chance to have one of the best goalie tandems in the league fair enough The caps going up. I think you can stomach How much you're spending on that position? but that was really the key decision point for me and then once they decided to sign Demko as well as you said I Don't know that Patrick Alveon has ever tipped his hand as much as he did when asked about Archer She loves and he references not only Nikita told the pillow but also Ty Young and that was really the the tell to me like Ty Young was in the ECHL for most of last season and he played well there and

that's fine for a goalie like a goalie playing in the ECHL is not the same as a skater playing in the ECHL but the fact that they were so aggressively referencing all of the other goalies they had yeah Yeah. You could see where this was going. And, you know, I've seen people say things like, wow, what are they going to do if one of them gets hurt? They're not going to have it. Well, they're going to sign a veteran HL third type, like third goalie type to be in the organization. And I mean, this is just the waiver system working exactly as it's designed.

The waiver system does not prevent you to just hoard young talent in the AHL. It's designed to distribute it around to the rest of the league and it worked in this case, cause the Canucks felt they had to get ahead of it and make this deal. JT on Van Island texts in, I don't see why everyone is so angry. His numbers aren't that great.

He had almost no path to being a full-time backup. I hope he gets a legit shot in Pittsburgh. And yeah, like he's started not counting the playoffs, he started 18 games in the NHL and his save percentage is something like 880. Thankfully, the goalie that can't track pucks at long distance is going to the defensive juggernaut known as the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sure, it'll be great for him because they let teams get so close and do all this fancy cross ice passing. He's like, this is great. I love this. Yeah. Yeah. And Carlson's like, I'm not blocking shots. So he's going to see that. So look, look, I, I, listen, I, I understand why, why people are upset because seal off might have a bright future. Let's, let's, let's talk about the fact that this might come back to bite them because it's a goalie. Well, it's the thing. Never know. There's always and people will say, well, how do you only get a fourth round

pick for a guy who was just the Calder Cup playoff MVP? As you said, the goalie market is just so different from the skater market. And the reason I think it stings for some fans, well, because look, as much as we're saying like, hey, how can you be surprised by this? I also do understand you can be disappointed that she loves is leading the organ is leaving the organization while also understanding the logic. You know what I mean? Like, and especially he just had a great moment for the Abbotsford Canucks and are a great series of moments for the Abbey Canucks. And a lot of fans got on board with that. So I understand that. If you're surprised at the return though,

it's just, that's the nature of goalies. Because for a guy who is as unproven as he is, and we've seen flashes of brilliance in the playoffs. We've also seen some really low lows in the regular season for Archer Shieloves where he was essentially unplayable. They did not trust him. They trust him against Chicago. Yeah, they trust him against Chicago.

That was it. That was the only time they trusted him. No other team was he allowed to play against at a certain point last year. Now, he's still only 24 and goalies are so unpredictable that, yeah, he could end up being a

decent NHL starter. And then you're going to look back and say, oh, man, that's unfortunate. The risk, though, is is low enough that this is where the market was. They were they you're going to look back and say, ah, man, that's unfortunate. The risk though is, is low enough that this is where the market was. They were, they were never going to get significantly more than a fourth round pick and a throw in contract.

It is, does, does anyone out there, does anyone out there think that the Canucks should have traded Demko and had Lankanen and Sealovs as their tandem? Or if you want to say trade Lankankenen and Silovs as their tandem. Or if you want to say trade Lankenen and have Demko and Silovs as the tandem. I'd be curious to hear from you, if you think that's a, you might,

you put yourself on the record, because there is a situation out there, a possibility that Silovs goes to Pittsburgh, he plays really well. And then the Canucks, as solid as they look in goal right now, maybe Demko gets hurt early on and it's like, oh my God, like really? He's still not healthy.

And then, and then Lankin is playing too much and he wears down, he doesn't play very well. And then the backup, whoever that is, isn't trustworthy either. I mean, that could happen. Yeah, absolutely. That's not a totally crazy scenario to talk about. And by the way, Drance, oh Drance, Dodd.

Oh my God. You've been with Drance. I was just gonna say, you've been with- How dare you, sir. You've been with Drance for a while. And we haven't spoken much. Yep. What do you think about the Canucks

and what they've done, which is basically bring back everyone except for Pew Suiter and add a Vander Cane. Yeah, they swapped out Pew Suiter for a Vander Cane. I think it was, so the key one here is the Besser contract, right? Because that was the guy who it seemed like was out the door. And I think a lot of people were like, OK, it's over. Free agency is open. It's not going to happen. And then the surprise contract comes and he stays.

And I think looking at the Besser one specifically, you can have concern, A, about the lack of change on the roster, which I think is very fair because at the end of last season Certainly I was in the camp of man. They just need to make changes. It's so stale So I completely understand that but in the moment right when it was actually, you know 915 a.m. On July 1st and you're seeing what is out there. We have this cap space. What what can we do with it? They weren't going to find a better use of the cap space than that deal for Brock Besser.

They tried to. They tried to, and it didn't happen. And they weren't going to. So from that moment, and you can still rewind, and I still think, okay, if they had been able to move him at the deadline, get in extra assets, could they have swung a deal for a center at some point? Could they have done something else?

But from that moment, I don't think they were gonna do anything better than give him that contract and I like that contract I actually think it's gonna be totally fine. It's gonna age fine, especially where the cap is going no problem with it Garland Similar thing like with the cap going up no problem with that contract He's become a key player for them. The Demko one worries me a little bit just Get it shorter term and that's where they kind of manage their risk. But the AV is significant. I can see all of the moves in a vacuum. It is kind of striking when you step back.

And as you said, the only change is Pugh suitor out for a Vander Kane. And OK, those are very different players, but it's still just one kind of middle six forward out one middle six forward in mm-hmm You're betting a lot on the health you're betting a lot on alias Patterson bounce back I don't know if you've considered that that he's a really key player. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, anyways. I just wanted to bring out to your attention No, no, no. Yeah. Yeah, it is important. You know, you know how he's working out in the summer and everything that's gonna be really important, but You look at it. You're like, okay, I get that. But then you take a step back and it's like,

well, hold on, we're just running this back again. Like it's Adam Foote instead of Tocket and it's a Vander Cane instead of Pugh suitor. Those are the changes. Yeah. I guess. I mean, the two keys to me are, you mentioned it, stay healthy and Pedersen bounce back.

If those things happen, they should be a playoff team. If they don't, they could be a disaster. Yeah. Like the Besser contract is also dependent on a center that is able to get him the puck. And JT Miller got Brock Besser the puck, and when Miller was playing his best hockey, oh, weird that Brock Besser was also playing

pretty good hockey. Yep, and then when Miller wasn't there, it was like, oh, hey, no one's getting Brock Besser was also playing. Yup. And everyone Miller wasn't there. It was like, oh, hey, no one's getting Brock Besser with a puck in dangerous areas. Yeah, exactly. So those are the two keys for me. David Langley texts in, yes, I think we should have traded Lankenen or Demko and kept Seelove's. For me, it's more so the fact that we're now paying

13 million for goalies. And I get the cap is going up and that's everyone's justification, but if you're just giving every the fact that we're now paying 13 million for goalies. And I get the cap is going up and that's everyone's justification. But if you're just giving every player on your team more money because of that, it dries up pretty quickly. I'd like to see the Canucks for once prioritize some younger guys like Siloves and have some of the older guys that have, and move some of the older guys that

have bigger value or at least Lankton in similar value. I think when they made the commitment to Lankton and they were like, they're not going to trade this guy. No. Um, you know, you don't typically do that unless there is a fundamental change in something that's happened with, with the player. Um, Hey, like it would have been a huge gamble.

It would have been, I think the connects the way they see their team with the trouble that they had scoring goals because of a number of factors, mostly involving the top two centres, last season, one being moved out, one not producing. They looked at their team heading into next season and thought, listen, we better have the goalie position locked down.

Yep. And it still might not happen if Demko gets hurt or I don't know, maybe they just don't play well because goalies are unpredictable by nature, but it might be not the most exciting game plan, but it's not like they brought in an offensive specialist as the head coach. I don't even know if they brought in any offensive specialists on the coaching staff. Well someone's gonna run the power play. Someone's gonna run it. Someone's gonna run it. But you know it wasn't like they brought in like a guy with a ton of new ideas on how to create scoring chances or anything like that. I think they see their team as they got solid goal sending if everyone stays healthy and plays up to their ability, a really promising and good blue line. And they're

just going to try and win games three to two. Like it's not a two one league, you know, or it's not a three two league. So I don't know. Three to two. Whoa, that's fucking crazy. That'd be high scoring. Right? What a bar burner. Whoa. Three goals tonight. I'd read it too, whoa, let's not get crazy. That'd be high scoring. Right? What a bar burner. Whoa! We have three goals tonight. I just see it, and listen, I kinda get it. Yeah, they don't have a choice.

You can't. What are you gonna do? Like I know it would be great if the Canucks played a super exciting brand of hockey and it was running gun, but if your job was dependent on putting together the team that had the best chance to make the playoffs, wouldn't you lean into the goal-turning and the blue line? You'd lean into your strengths.

Which I would. I'm going to be on the blue line and then you go to goal prevention from there and you know what Demko's capable of at his best when he's healthy. And I think the best way to think, you know, as I've been thinking through, OK, they have both Lincoln and Demko signed to these contracts now. I think what it is is they wanted to invest in way more than a typical backup. I hope to give Demko the best chance of staying healthy so that they have a guy they can rely on to the degree where they don't have to ride Demko as every coach. Green Boudreaux T it has been tempted to do every coach who's had Demko at the NHL level has gotten into the mode where?

Man, I know he's played the last five, but we really need these two points. I'm just gonna play him again, right? I know he's I know he's working so hard with Ian Clark physically He's probably spent and like that's another thing that they've tried to stop. They have to from the top of the organization down to Thatcher Dempco get out of that mode and if investing 4.5 million and Kevin Lankidon gives them the best chance to do that then I can understand it from that perspective. I think that's the bet. Let's keep Dempco healthy, let's have a really overqualified backup behind him so we're always gonna have good goaltending and then we've got a defense core we feel really good about in front of them. So we're going to be one of the best goal prevention teams in the league. That's the blueprint. And if everyone stays healthy,

I don't think it's a stretch to see it working out. Now. I wanted to read this from a Snoop the dog who says, I was surprised by the trade to surprise that they netted a former first round pick in Stillman along with a fourth round pick. You called me Drantz accidentally a few minutes ago. I'll do my best Drantz impression here and throw cold water on the calling Chase Stillman a former first round pick. Technically accurate. Yes. He was the 29th overall pick in 2021. But if you're if you're talking yourself into this trade because they got a former first round pick as part of it, first of all, 2021 that's four years ago now.

So that's long enough for the first round pick shine to have come off. That was also the weird COVID draft year where like he was in the OHL. He didn't play in his draft year. So they were kind of drafting kids from the O blind that year. Like, I don't know this guy. We thought he was going to be good. Definitely. I looked at that. That was a, I hadn't heard much about this guy and I looked at his draft here. I was like, Oh yeah, that makes sense. It was a crap

shoot. Yeah. And since then his numbers both in the OHL after he was drafted and in the HL as he started his professional career, not very impressive. So I don't want to say he's never going to become anything, but if you're saying like, Oh wow, former first round pick significantly downgrade, you're at lower your expectations. This was a contract I actually looked at the athletic when they ranked the top penguins prospects back in January, he was not in the top 15. So just give, to give you a sense of what we're talking about here with chase

Stillman. Uh, okay. A few other things that happened over the weekend and we'll talk later in the show. Uh, the BC Lions went into Edmonton and absolutely dominated the Elks, another fine performance from Nathan Rourke. So the Lions are up to three and three, which is

encouraging because they went into Montreal staring at a one and four start and they got the win in Montreal and they got the win in Edmonton, the Montreal game, not really an expected win. They were the underdogs there, but you know, not huge underdogs and they got the job done there. It wasn't pretty, but they did. And then they went into Edmonton and like, I mean, yeah,

the Lions played well, but the Elks are, who the Elks are bad. And I don't know if this, this Trey Ford kid is exciting, but I don't think. Did you see the man with the balls he missed? Did you watch the game? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Crazy, he was not even close to his targets.

He wasn't close. But he can scramble. He can run around and scramble, he can't throw the ball, and I think they're probably gonna have to. Is passing important in this? It is. Yeah, it's interesting.

It's important in the game of football. The Whitecaps, man, they are, you mentioned earlier in the segment, they're going through a rough bit and we'll talk to Jesper Sorensen later in the show. The manager, I watched his post game and he was just like, yeah, we're not doing anything well right now. He wasn't trying to paint a pretty picture with what's going on. He's just kind of realistic with what's happening and they've got some injuries. They played a lot of games. They lost some guys to international duty and right now I think they've just lost their mojo. Wimbledon, that was a fine final, a good story for Yannick Sinner if you're a fan of his. He beat Alcáraz after blowing it, if you want to put it that

way in the French Open. So that so that's a good, good rivalry. And maybe we'll have a conversation about, uh, rivalries later on in the show. And, uh, Dodd, your blue Jays went into the all-star break with a pair of losses to the athletics, but more importantly, they went into the all-star break with a two game lead over the Yankees for first place in the division, and I guess the way the season started, you must be pretty thrilled that they've got a two-game lead in the division.

You absolutely can do, can be nothing but thrilled that they have that lead, and to be fair, the Yankees lost two in a row going into the break as well, so kind of no damage done to the Jays, at be fair the Yankees lost two in a row going into the break as well So kind of no damage done to the Jays at least concerning the Yankees the Red Sox all of a sudden are in a 10 game Winning streak, so they're only three games back in the AL East But as you said with where expectations were the lack of general excitement I think it's fair to say based on what the Jays did in the offseason or didn't do and how they started the season To have them get on that run and find themselves where they are right now. You can't be anything but very, very excited about the second half. All right. We will take a break here.

As mentioned, Adam Gold, he's the host of the Adam Gold show in North Carolina covers the Carolina hurricanes. We'll chat about their off season. Are they the winners of the off season so far, at least in the NHL? That's next here on Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650. ["Sportsnet 650 Theme Song"] Welcome back to Half of them brought your sports net 650 Jamie dot here filling in for Mike Halford. He'll be back tomorrow on the show.

Bruff here as well. Half of them, Bruff is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sans-trustee.com. 650-650 is the Dumbar Lumber text line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and runaway warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dumbarlumber.com. Guests on Sportsnet 650, call in on the hotline powered by power west industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at power west.ca today. They keep the lights on and now joining us to chat a little bit about what the Carolina hurricanes have done so far in the NHL off season. He's the host of the Adam Gold show in North Carolina covering the hurricanes. He is. Adam Gold. Adam, thanks for doing this today. How are you?

My pleasure is mine. I'm well. Hope you are. Yeah, we're doing very well. And you know, the Carolina Hurricanes getting a lot of very positive reviews, I think it's fair to say, for the work they've done so far coming off another Eastern Conference final loss. But as they continue to kind of, you know, take that next step and get over the hump, how would you evaluate big picture what they've done so far in the off season? I'm not sure I am. First of all, I love what they've done, but I'm not sure that they've addressed the gap in between where they are and frankly where the rest of the league is in Florida. So based on what they've done I think they're a better team today than they were at the end of last season but they still have a center issue to deal

with we're not sure how it's going to work on the right side of their defense so and the you know Nick Ehlers is good really good player and he should add some goals but is he that playoff goal scorer that they've lacked over the last three or four years? History tells us no, although he did have five goals in the playoffs this past season for Winnipeg. Is the center issue like all the other teams out there that are looking for a second line center? Every single one. I mean there's 15 teams looking for a 2C right? At least yeah. Yeah so yeah I think ultimately Carolina may try to solve

that from within but is that even the best possible solution? Probably not. Is Koken Yemi serviceable 3 three seat? Like what, what, what is he as a player? Because we've discussed him from time to time in Vancouver as a possible trade target. Have you ever heard the phrase, the all airport team? So what this means is that when they get off the plane, man, they just look good

Yes, Barry code can amy is definitely a player on the all-airport airport team. I mean he's six Two six three two hundred pounds The good skaters got a really good shot. He's a great kid It just hasn't worked for him for whatever reason. It didn't work for him in Montreal. It didn't worry. Hasn't worked for him here. Could he be a three C? Yeah, he should. I mean, frankly, he should be a good two C. It just hasn't really worked out, but if Vancouver wants the trade form,

let me just say this, he's an awesome player and he'd make anything better. Uh, just in case what The front office Patrick Alvin and my friend Jim Rutherford are listening. I would trade for him. I Don't think you need to convince them. We've heard repeatedly that they like the player So I think you preach into the choir there already and I think it was being sarcastic I would I would I, I would appreciate a trade. Have hurricanes fans started to, uh, started to like Stan Coven?

Oh, they, they loved him from day one. Uh, look, he, that's my dog. She also loves. No, he is a perfect Carolina hurricane player, man. He's a ball of energy. He plays in the middle of the ice too, which is when you're 5'8 on a good day and you can play in the middle of the ice. That's a plus. He fits really well playing with Saul and Martnock on that checking line too because of the way he plays.

He's got some goal scoring ability so yeah he's great. I'm glad Carolina gave him a long-term deal in the offseason and I love it. I appreciate them doing the right thing by knowing who they're going to keep long-term and locking them up at first chance. They did it with Jarvis the year before and now they're doing it with with Stankovic so good for them. Do you think at the end of the day Marty Nacius was just not their type of player? No I think he is. I think they went after Ranton and they have to give up Nacius nature yeah uh... i think the nature

though the finances for nature they're going to get in his way because he is a gold or he's an offensive producer he's not always dialed in defensively but he's not incapable i think that nature could be uh... could be a good $8 million player, because there are going to be defensive deficiencies and ultimately he's really just the wing. But he probably looks at himself as more than that, which is probably going to mess him up in Colorado.

But look, if Carolina ended up this offseason with Natchez back in the team I would have been cool with it. I love Marty and I think the head coach really liked him. It's just long term I don't know that it was going to work out but depending on what the contract is he's a dynamite offensive player and he can skate like anybody. There's probably only three players in the league that can skate with Natchez or beyond him. McKinnon, he's playing with McDavid and maybe McCarr. He is just that kind of skater. And he's got a good offensive idea.

He's a great pastor. I love him. I think the team liked him too, but they needed him to get Rampin' in, which obviously didn't work out. How much of the departure, as you said, obviously partly it was just they needed him to get ranted in which obviously didn't work out how much of the departure as you said Obviously partly it was just they needed to move him to get ranted in but I know there was kind of the contract Dispute earlier as well

How much of this was just from nature's side of maybe him wanting a different opportunity or to go to a different team? I know Marty pretty well. Maybe I'm wrong here but every conversation I ever had with him was he wanted to make Carolina forever. And his plan to me, he told me this before the season started when I had about a, I don't know, 25, 30 minute discussion with him, was his hope was to have a good start to the season,

and when the season was over, sign long term in Carolina. It just, unfortunately it got to the point where he got moved to Colorado and that's probably never gonna happen. But I think his first choice was to, I mean his best friends are here. You know, he and Andrei Svechnikov are really tight.

And I mean, it's been a great group. And they all kind of grew up together. But finances are finances and you gotta make as much money as you can while you can. And I will say this, Nate just kind of got the short end of it financially because they he played four years on an entry-level deal because he played in the minor leagues on a contract that they could slide. So it took him four years to crack the $1 million a year mark playing, playing professionally in the U S that's, that's kind of rough.

Uh, when you see everybody else and you see your best friend, Andre in year three or year four making 7.75 and you're still playing on the entry level deal. Adam, what was it like to see the Florida Panthers keep the band together and bring back all their unrestricted free agents? Well, I mean, first of all, it's great for the sport. Um, I can look at it from a lot of different ways. Uh, I hate that Florida kept that entire team together because it's the best team in the last 20 years, in my opinion, it's the best team in the last 20 years in my opinion

It's the best team the salary cap era I'll argue against whether it's Tampa Chicago the Kings The Penguins that won back-to-back. I think this Florida team is the best of the cap era And I put them, you know not with but as close as I've seen to the Islanders teams of the early 80s. It's a team that I grew up watching. But they're going to have issues keeping the team, keeping the team together for the entire season. But they have no room and they're over the cap now. So I'm assuming that Matthew Kachuk will start the season on long-term

injured reserve. Uh, but in lieu of that, they're going to have to get rid of players in order to have cap room to ice all of their players when they get to the playoffs, because Kachuk isn't going to be out for the entirety of the season. They're going to do a,ita Kucherov like they did in the crazy pandemic year where Canada only played Canada where Kucherov missed the entire season and then just returned for the playoffs. Yeah, it worked out for them. But unless Florida does that I don't see how they how they can ice their team.

They're, you know, what, four or five million over the cap right now. Yeah, they're going to have to do something there. I wanted to ask you about the the blue line in Carolina as well, because, you know, I think a youth movement, a fair to say, happening in that area with Orlov and Burns out, they make the trade for Kay Andre Miller. And then, as you said earlier, right? A trend with Carolina locking these guys up to long-term deals as soon as they're able, uh, they trade for him and then sign him long-term as well.

And the other player, but I know a lot of people are really excited to see full time. You saw him in the playoffs is the rush, the young Russian defenseman, Nikitian. Uh, what can you say about the counter Miller acquisition and also the role that Nikesh is going to play for this team next season? Love Miller always loved him as a player I know he had a tough year with the Rangers last year, but who didn't other than our Temi Panarin? Everybody stunk for New York last year. I

Think that Miller will excel in a Carolina system and a Carolina uniform. Uh, I know I've spoken with the head coach. He has Brady Shea vibes. Remember when Carolina traded for Brady Shea, uh, he was almost like a seventh defenseman for the Rangers. He had fallen out of their rotation, uh rotation on the blue line and Shea came to Carolina. They desperately needed a guy who could play and he absolutely rejuvenated his career. And you see what he's, you know, the contract he's got now in Nashville.

I think Miller will have very similar, if not better, success in Carolina. The only question is where ultimately is he going to play? Because Nikitian, Miller, and Slavin all play the left side. I do think this buys Carolina at least a year to have Nikitian play on a third pair. So you're not asking a rookie getting acclimated to the NHL to play in a second a second pair role against other top players. You allow him to ease

into it. Hey look and if he gets better and demands that he plays in the top four awesome and then you have to figure out who moves over to their offside. My guess is that they believe Slaavin could play the right side without a drop off and play. I wouldn't take the best shut down left-sided defenceman in the sport and move him at all. I would try other things, but at the very least, I think it gives Carolina a chance to start Nikitian on the third pair. Adam, so, you know, us fans in Vancouver would love to have a team like the Carolina Hurricanes

that consistently makes the playoffs, gets to the conference finals every few years. Um, but we also understand, uh, while our memories remember what it was like to cheer on a team that like just needed to get over the hump. I'm just curious what the conversation has been around the fact that, yes, they got to the conference finals again, but they really got hammered by Florida. Were there any calls to bring in a new system, which would mean bringing in a new coach or doing something,

just doing something dramatic. I even, you know, going out and getting a, a, a different goalie or, or, or something like that. I'm just wondering what the conversation is like. Are people happy with the Canes or they, or are they more frustrated that they can't get over the hump? Smart people are very happy with how things are going, have gone, will

go. Smart people are. Crazy people are frustrated that they haven't gotten past the conference finals and therefore there's something wrong that they have to change. Those are the crazy dumb reactionary people. I hope neither of you fall into that category. Because it's silly. Because for the Hurricanes, without a bona fide goal scoring star, let alone two, like so many teams have, ultimately you leave it up to chance when you get as far as Carolina has gotten. There's only one team that has advanced every year in the playoffs in the last seven years

in the entire NHL. That's the Hurricanes. They're one of four teams that have made the playoffs for at least seven years in a row. It is incredible the run that they're on and they have done it. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year. A lot of people didn't think they'd make the playoffs. They got to the conference finals. They're a really good team with a really good way of playing. Chasing point, Florida plays the same way. So whoever was the reporter from,

I think it was a reporter from Montreal last year, who questioned Rod Vrendemore about the system, and he goes, do you watch the team we just played? You know how they play? That's how we play, same way. In fact, they took it from us, because they knew that that was the way to get the most out of their players.

They just do it with better and bigger players. And heck, Washington played the same way Carolina played this year. They just didn't do it fast enough when Carolina met them in the playoffs and Carolina was way better than Washington. A lot of teams are doing it. Carolina can play this way and they can win this way.

They just need a little bit more size. They need a little bit more goal scoring. They're hoping that Nick Ehlers will handle some of the goal scoring. But there's still a gap between them and Florida. But they're in good shape. They have a great head coach. They have young talent coming.

Again, just, if we watch Twitter, then we miss reality because Twitter is not reality. Wise words, wise words. Adam, thank you. We appreciate the time. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Hey, you got it. Take care, fellas. That is Adam Gold. He's the host of the Adam Gold show in North Carolina covering the Carolina hurricanes and dropping some wisdom on us there at the end, which is much appreciated. And you know, I think he is bang on about the conversation around the hurricane system. And I mean, man, how much did we talk about like

system as a buzzword here in Vancouver all this year without really ever going into too much depth about what it means, right? To just be kind of, you know, catch all like, oh, target system. Yeah, that's why Pedersen going to score 45 points this year. But the Hurricanes, their system gets talked about maybe more than any other teams in the NHL because it is so distinctive. It is so extreme. You know, we know how they love to shoot from everywhere. They've changed it a little bit over the years, but that's their style, right? There are a lot of dumping chase. Uh, don't like to carry the puck in, get the puck, shoot it on net, rack rack up those shots look for those greasy goals and

Because they keep falling short in the conference finals as he said there are people out there like oh can they win with this? But and this is a very similar conversation to the one Some of us were having as the playoffs went along about the Canucks system issues as well That's what Florida does Florida and Carolina play almost identical styles of hockey But shooting every dominant the shooting everything is different. I think it's a little different but not that much to be burnt like you watch Florida Then you know so often they force the turnover as the other teams trying to get out of their zone But then they make a nice play sometimes they do but sometimes they shoot they just throw it on that sure and they have They have two guys going hard to the net and the guy gets it and you're right. Sometimes it's a nice passing play. They do have that in their bag, which is important

But a lot of times it's hey, I just got this puck I am shooting it hard and low on the ice to the goalie because I know I've got Matthew Kachuk and whoever else Streaking hard to the net and they're gonna go try to make a play So I agree it is a little bit different But they have that element in there as well where we got the puck and we're going to immediately get it to the high danger area either by shooting it or passing it. So ultimately, why do you think last season and you can go back to the playoffs? Why did the Canucks have so much trouble, not only getting quality scoring chances, but actually getting shots on goal? Not only getting quality scoring chances, but actually getting shots on goal and both, right? Because it's not like you're right. Like if you want to point to a difference system wise between them and Carolina and Florida, those teams rack up shots and the Canucks were never able to do that.

Even when things were going really well for them going back to the the season before last. I think first first and foremost is a personnel issue. I just don't think they have that many talented forwards and when it was Miller and Pettersson and the early part of that season a best there was on an incredible goal scoring Street, you would say that and people here like oh, what are you talking about? They've got they've got some fantastic forwards at the top end. Yeah, but if you look at the depth beyond that It's not surprising to me that they're a team that would struggle to score. Yeah. Like I think if you really honestly assess what they have it forward, especially now going into next year, they are not set up to

be an elite offensive team. And I don't think changing things to prioritize scoring off the rush or prioritize passing or whatever it is, I don't think that's going to magically turn them into an offensive powerhouse. How many playmakers do they have on this team? Garland? Yeah, you hope Pettersson and that's it, right? That's it That's it. Like guys you would like talking about up front He uses obviously a playmaker guy forwards that you would say like oh man You got to be really worried if you're on defense when they have the puck on their stick in the office because they might shoot it They might pass it you never knew but they're gonna but they might beat you one-on-one exactly

You know unlock the defense and do something that puts us under stress and creates a look for their teammate or creates a look for themselves They're relying on Pedersen to be even Garland like I have a lot of Time and appreciation for Garland as a player. He is a playmaker and a play driver, but it's it's more, you know, he he turns the puck over on the forecheck, lifts the stick. And then again, similar to what I was saying with Florida, it's like, OK, now it's going right to the slot. It's not only a high level of creativity and it doesn't have a great shot. No, he doesn't have a great shot. Yeah.

So he's effective as a playmaker, but it's different than having that. Like you would never say he's a game breaker. And it's reflected in his numbers. He doesn't score much. He doesn't pile up points, which always brings us back to, okay, Pedersen, are you going to be able to create, because this is why we hold Pedersen to such a high standard and why he gets

so much criticism when he doesn't reach that standard or frankly come close to reaching that standard, we've seen him make plays by himself. And we've seen that hop in a step, that jump in a step. I'm going to pull a Drantz here. He's got the juice. Man. The juice.

I, I mean, I hope Pedersen bounces back next season for a number of reasons. Top of the list might be so I don't have to hear Drantz say the word juice. So although he might say more, although he's got the juice now, he's got the juice. But also, but also it's not limited to the Pederson conversation for Drantz. Like now, it's just a catch all like he loves to talk about Utah. Utah has the attack. They've got the attacking lots of juicy juicy players got the juice. Yeah.

As an on a team level, they have the juice in a way that the Alias Pedersen did not. So you're right that but also just like for pure forget about the big picture. Oh, what's the path to them being a cup contender? If Pedersen doesn't bounce back all of that conversation like for pure enjoyment. When you sit down and watch the games. Who could possibly deal with watching another season of those types of performances from Alias Pedersen? Well, that's miserable. Well, it's all talking miserable.

I got a good point. Honestly, I go on to Canucks Reddit and I'm like, has the is the consensus now just that it was all talk its fault? Is that consensus among certain people yeah man go on to Canucks ready I know I mean they're just some you know that will never ever blame PD nothing for nothing anything for nothing he's he can do wrong was either talk it or an injury yeah and like there was nothing about his work ethic there was not there's nothing about anything that could

possibly I know Miller just hated him because he was a jerk not because he had a bad work ethic Not not that at all. No, I mean my is that I mean, I'd be some truth to both things there No, but he he did have a bad work ethic That was a huge part of the whole thing, right? I've PD came into the camp prepared and worked his butt off and played 110% every night, probably wouldn't have been as many issues. I know you're such a JT Miller standard. I'm not, but I'm just saying there's...

Wow. I'm just responding to the people that Bruff was talking about that will not blame Petey for anything. He has a lot to work on himself and he knows that. Well. And hopefully he's doing it. The organization will talk about his commitment and his preparation and going into shape. I still maintain from the bottom of my heart, this is a confidence issue.

That's a huge factor. This is a confidence issue and maybe what I'm hoping is that his relationship with Miller probably affected his confidence. Sure, that sure did. And maybe his relationship with Tocket affected his confidence. And I hope that Adam Foote and the rest of the leadership group and the rest of the team lifts

him up because again, we never heard about his fitness levels or his preparation when he was playing at a super high level. Right? And for me, I still hear from people that say, you said it with the yips. I was like, yeah, I think a from people that say like, oh, you said it was the yips. I was like, yeah, I think

a lot of it was. I think he was not confident with the puck. He didn't want the puck. He was scared to shoot the puck. I mean, to me, that's like, you don't, you don't fall so out of shape you're like, I don't like shooting the puck anymore. I don't like shooting the puck anymore. I don't like making plays anymore. Right?

Like you can go out and make plays and he just wasn't making plays. And I think it was a confidence issue and I, and I hope some time away from, from the organization. And I hope JT Miller not being on the team anymore will help that confidence issue because that for that, for that, for me is the number one thing. And I think we'll see it right away. I think we'll see it in pre I think we'll see it right away. I think we'll see it in pre-season. We'll see it right away if he's there or not.

It's gonna be so miserable if in pre-season we are straining, straining to find the signs of the turnaround, right? Because that's what people were doing down the stretch last year. And there were some games, like I remember there was one in Calgary, I think he had a point,

or maybe a big goal late or something. But the rest of the game, it just looked like normal, Pedersen, what we saw last year, which is to say very underwhelming. And I remember after the game, people like, Oh man, he's turning the corners like, no, we're reaching so much. We're reaching so much. I just want to stop that. I want it to be, stop talking yourself into blindingly obvious that he's back. There's no doubt. We're not going to games from start to finish. She's out there when he has the puck, he's dangerous

because that's the level we've seen him before. That's what got him the contract. Yeah. I know we've got to go to break, but Daily High posted this three days ago. It's a link from an article in nhl.com where we spoke with a Swedish reporter, Janne Bengtsson, and this is a quote directly from Peterson. And it says, maybe it was that early in the season, I had the wrong attitude that yes, now I've signed a big contract,

now I have to do more instead of just being myself. And when the points didn't come, I tended to start thinking and overthinking everything instead of just doing what I usually do. So I'm, Pedersen, the whole thing with that article is just about him pretty much overthinking things because of the pressure that he put upon himself. There you go.

Well, that's interesting. And I don't know that we've heard anything approaching that kind of in-depth of an explanation from Pedersen. And I don't know that we've heard anything approaching that kind of in depth of an explanation from Pettersen About three days ago. So that like I like to hear that level of introspection or at least acknowledging something was going on Thinking about what the possible causes and how he's going to address it All right We are gonna take a break as a dog mentioned 650 650 is the Dunbar lumber text line We got an open segment next before we chat with Jesper Sorensen, Whitecaps manager at 7.30.

So keep those texts coming in, 6.50. 6.50 is the Dumbar Lumber Text Line. A lot we can get into. We just mentioned really in passing the Lions, the Whitecaps, the Jays, also the Wimbledon final, Yannick Sinner wins his first Wimbledon title, beating Carlos Alcaraz. And one of the conversations we wanted to have another

budding, exciting rivalry in men's tennis. Is that the best rivalry in sports right now? If you have other suggestions, hit us up six fifty six fifty to the dumb bar lumber text. And we'll talk about that and more next. Halford and Bruff Sportsnet six fifty.