Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 10/02/25

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they discuss last night's dominant 'Nucks win over the Flames in preseason action yesterday with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance. 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.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Whoa. Wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a fucking Canucks?

Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Connor Garland, right wing, in front they score. Derek Forward. Up in the rush, scores a short-handed goal. A swing and a high drive, deep break. Back goes Perez. Track walled.

There will be a game three tomorrow. Fly ball, right set of field, going back, Judge, going back, Judge is there, makes the catch. Victory for the New York Yankees. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody, is Halford. It is Brough. It is SportsNet 650.

We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adah, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Browth of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 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 the Mid-1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech, footwear and orthotics, working together with you and step. What a show. What a day this is going to be for all of you sports enthusiasts out there. It's the first hour of this show is all uninterrupted Halford and Brough as we walk you through everything that happened yesterday. And that will lead into today. A signature day in sports. And at 7 o'clock, we're going to talk to Adnan Verk from MLB Network. What a day to have on someone from the Major League Baseball Network.

With the Yankees, the Padres, and the Guardians all winning yesterday. Today, now the first time since 1981, that we got three sudden death games on the same day in the MLB playoffs. Hey. Hey. Sorry about your Reds, buddy. That's okay. They were the ones that couldn't make it four. The Reds weren't supposed to be there,

and then they went out and showed that they weren't supposed to be there. This Red Sox Yankees series has been a lot of fun. All the series, except for the Dodgers and Reds, have been very electric, very entertaining. But you're right, Red Sox Yankees has been played on a Knife's Edge. It feels like the entire game is played on a Knife's Edge. It's kind of brought back the old memories of those Red Sox Yankees series. Yep.

What's now two decades ago? Yeah, and it has to... God, we're getting old. I know we are getting old. There was a Dave Roberts reference last night. Really? Yeah, like it's, well, because there were so many base, we'll get into this later, but there's so many base runners in that game that didn't get cashed.

Every time a guy got to first, he's like, could you have a Dave Roberts moment here? Anyway, we'll get into a bunch with Adnan at 7 o'clock as we set up what is going to be an awesome day, especially with the weather outside. Don't go outside. Watch sports all day. Adnan's going to join us at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN is going to join the program. Seahawks host the Bucks on Sunday

in a very weird game. Crazy line movement in that one. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but Seattle, despite being at home, actually opened as a one and a half point underdog. When? The very, on the Sunday. I never saw that line.

I checked it out this morning. One and a half point underdogs and it swung all the way to three and a half point favorites because of all the injuries that Tampa Bay has had. Is Baker Mayfield a little banged up too? He's okay. he's going to play, but Bucky Irving's out of the lineup. They got major injuries, a wide receiver.

Not as bad, though. Not as bad as tonight's game, the San Francisco 49ers, who are going to be without Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Ricky Piersall, and there's one of the receiver that's hurt as well. Jerry Rice. Jerry Rice. Jerry Rice won't play tonight. Won't play tonight.

That's going to be crazy Sunday in Seattle, by the way. I know. I think they might have to move the start of the Seahawks game. They were at least talking about it because the Mariners play. at five. So the Seahawks game, what we can ask Brady about this? It might start at noon. So we'll talk to Brady Henderson about all that at 7.30 this morning. 8 o'clock, Thomas Drance is going to join the program.

Canucks talk, athletic Vancouver. As mentioned in the intro, massive win for the Vancouver Canucks last night in Calgary. 8-1 drubbing of a flames team, which I will point out had many, many NHL regulars in the lineup last night. Lots to like about the Canucks performance in their second the last game of the exhibition campaign. We'll get into all that with the answer at 8 o'clock. And then at 8.30, normally when we do what we learn is very special guest on the program. Current assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks and Canadian basketball

icon. Jay Triano is going to join the program live from Simon Fraser University. Jay and the Mavericks are currently up at SFU for training camp. A bit of a homecoming for Jay. Of course, being the former men's basketball coach at SFU, now gone on to a very storied NBA career as an assistant. The Mavericks, one of the most intriguing teams in the entire NBA. here in Vancouver right up on Burnaby Mountain. Lots to discuss with Jay about the Mavs, the league at large. Can get into some Canadian basketball talk as well

with the men's national team. That's going to be at 8.30 today when we normally do what we learns. Do you think he'll remember you from the basketball camps? I'm going to ask straight away. Gray and 8, Halford, Burnaby North, undersized guard. You're the kid that came with the shoes on the wrong feet.

I remember you. Did you say something about you wore plaid shorts? I think I wore plaid shorts one of the days. to the camp. And then I think I was He's like, hey, plaid shorts. This is a skateboard camp, pal. I don't know what you're doing here. But you know what?

Just to expand on this, I have really fond memories of that camp. I don't think I ever learned more about a singular sport in the span of a week than I did up there. It was really good. Jay Triano, when we were kids, was Mr. Basketball in Canada. He was the guy. He was the guy. He was. If you needed anyone to talk about

basketball at any level, he was the dude. And yeah, now he's been, I mean, he's been around for 607 years old now, and he's still doing the thing at the NBA level. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm excited for this. I think this will be really interesting. And what we learned will just be like, hey, I learned we're talking to J. Adriano right now.

Yeah, right. So do we give the listeners of what we learned day off? We could just sprinkle some in throughout the show. Okay. You know, just do them here and there. Sure. Yeah, why don't we do that? But this means you really have to step up your game.

Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650, 650. Get them in now. if you get a what we learned red today, it means you're a very good what we learned submitter, okay? 650, 650, Dunbar Limer text line, hashtag it WWL. That's what's happening on the program today. Greg, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss that? You missed that? 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.ca. We begin with a massive performance for the Vancouver Canucks last night in Calgary. They douse the flames. 8-1

in exhibition action. I do want to play the game-winning goal, the eventual game-winning goal. It came on the power play, courtesy of Elias Pedersen. Here's what it sounded like early in the first period. The game-winning goal scored the second of eight goals for the Vancouver Canucks. Canucks win 8-1.

Here's PD on the power play. Pedersen right side threw it to the back door. I think he was hoping for a tip from DeBrusk, but it went wide of the net. Now here's huge high slot to Elyas Patterson. Right side. One timer. He scores. Elias Pedersen wires a one-time slap shot from the right circle over the glove of

Ivan Prosvatov. The Canucks strike on their first power play of the night and lead the flames two to nothing. Oh, that was like old times. Just like old times. Why, what we learned is PD is back. Yeah. Vintage Petey and he is back. But we are starting with the guy that set up that goal.

Yeah, you know what? Sometimes this show has a habit of like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Quinn Hughes was also good. But I think particularly in a season like this season where so much of it is about Quinn Hughes, we have to remind ourselves like how good this dude is. A goal and two assists last night for the Vancouver Canucks. And, I mean, his goal was very nice on a two-on-one with Brock Besser. You had the nice pass to Pedersen on the one-timer, put it right where PD needed it to be.

But the first assist, he had the stretch pass to Besser was also brilliant as well. I'm not sure what the flames were doing defensively there. I know we were joking on our text chat. Maybe Adam's foot system is just like having one guy goal suck. Yeah. Get breakaways. He's a breakaways guy.

We know what Adam Foot hockey looks like now. A lot of breakaways. A lot of breakaways and hope the other team falls asleep. Guy just beaver tailing a stick? He's like, let's go. Anyway, Quinn Hughes, just a brilliant night. But we get so used to this. And I know everyone's really excited about some of the young players on the Canucks

defense. And of course, they've got guys like Philip Peronick and Marcus Pedersen locked up long term. And there is a sense, and there's a small sense. Like, you know, like even if Hughes doesn't sign long term with the Canucks, there's still, you know, something pretty good at the Canucks Blue Line. And that is absolutely true, but let's not fool ourselves. Like Quinn Hughes, you add Quinn Hughes to what is coming and what is already there. And you're just like, man, this is the best blue line in the NHL.

Well, here's what I was thinking about this last night. I'm like, what's a good definitive take other than Quinn Hughes is really good? Not that that's not a good take. It's always important to remind ourselves of that, how good he is. But I think last night just kind of reinforced and reiterated how important it is that he stays healthy for the entirety of an 82 game campaign. Now, it's difficult to do with the Olympics. Guys are going to be targeting him without question. And I think, you know, this has always been, it's not exclusive to Quinn Hughes, but it's always been an opposition's MO that when you have a player of that caliber, you want to take a physical approach with them.

And we saw it in the playoffs two years ago, specifically in that first round against Nashville, where Kiefer Sherwood and the remainder of the predators, that's going to be one of our major priorities is putting a body on Hughes. Hughes only played in 68 games last year. And of the 68, there was probably, I'd say, 20 to 25, and I might be being conservative in that estimate,

where he was nowhere near 100%. So you're saying at that point, he probably played half a season healthy, I'd say, maybe a little bit more. I think it's a focus of his. the organization. Here's the question. And that seems obvious, right?

We'll stay healthy. But I do wonder if we'll see any variations in how he plays. If he, you know, with the depth that the Canucks have on the blue line, maybe he won't have to play as many minutes. Well, that's what I was going to ask you is like, here's my question. What do you do about it? I don't think there, I don't think there need to be nights as many nights where he's playing 30 minutes a night. Because we do need to talk.

And I think they need to find a way for him to be able to get rid of the puck more easily. So, you know, like you say, what's the game plan if you're playing the Canucks? It's like get after Hughes and put the body on him. Well, you know, a lot of the times he'll skate around that. But it is nice to have that option where you can just make a quick pass. Maybe it's the breakways. so I don't know, Adam Foot. Well, there were some games last year

where Tockeet would play Hughes. I don't want to say an inordinate amount because for a player of his caliber, I don't even know if there's anything or anything less than 30. You know what I heard a lot of though? What? Was that it was Hughes staying on the ice too long?

Yeah. Like he was the one determining that he wanted to play that much. Yeah. You know, obviously the coaching staff is putting them out there in the first place. But I do think they, want fewer minutes from him.

Right. And that is one way to lessen the likelihood of injury. He felt so much responsibility to do everything last year. Let's face it. I mean, with the things that were going on with that team, he just felt a responsibility. He's like, you know, like, I'm going to do this myself. I got to do this myself. But that's not good for the team. You don't want to have that.

and hopefully he doesn't put it this way hopefully he doesn't need to feel that way about the team that's a good way of putting it and I want to talk to talk next just about Pedersen because that goal got

a lot of Canucks fans excited it got me excited and there's lots to like about that goal including first and foremost the shot both the velocity and I know Shorty on the broadcast was talking about how fast it was and also like his willingness to take the shot. I also like that it was his third shot attempt on that power play and the first two, you know, they weren't successful, but he kept

going. You know, one shot was blocked and the other missed the net, although to be fair, that might have been a pass. Who cares? He kept shooting and that's good. But what I liked most about that goal was the way he slid down into an open shooting lane while Hughes was getting him the puck it's kind of subtle but he wasn't just standing there and way too often last season

he was just standing there and so many people would be like well he didn't shoot because it would have been blocked it was like yeah and it would have been blocked because he wasn't really moving right Like you have to move, you don't have to move like skating like crazy to open up shooting lanes, but sometimes it's just a subtle glide to open up those shooting lanes.

So that was really encouraging, and I hope it's a confidence builder for him. You know, I hope he's decisive like that and keeps hammering away on the power play for ever and ever and ever now, and we never have to deal with it. Otherwise, I thought PD was a bit up and down in the game, if I'm going to be honest. He got shoved off the puck a few too many times, didn't dominate at five on five with Besser and DeBresk, and we'll see if those three get another preseason game Friday tomorrow against the Oilers, or if they're just done for the preseason now. But enough about the negatives, right?

Let's go back to the goal. What a goal. That was a great goal, and we'll leave it at that. Yeah, and you know what, one thing, and I heard someone explain it to me, it's like, you need to have the OV shooting mentality without the OV shooting style because OV's very... OV moves like that. OV glides sometimes like that.

He is not as... He is not as stationary as everyone makes. Now, sometimes he's stationary. For sure. But he does glide to those spots. And I think you have to move more because nobody has the shooting ability that Ovecgen has.

Let's just put that out there. He is singular. He's one of one. He's the only one that can hit the puck like that. So to mimic his game is great. I think in volume, because one thing, if you watch enough Capitals games, like he'll miss the net a ton. And it almost doesn't seem to matter to him. Like a missed shot, the end result.

Like he obviously will celebrate harder when it goes in the net, but the mentality is the same. It's just almost like automatic. It's like load, reload, load, reload. And then away you go. And that's the mentality you have to have on the power play. If you're Pedersen, you got that shot. Absolutely.

Okay, let's talk about the battles to make this team. we'll start with the defense. I'm going to reference Shorty again. He said on the broadcast that he thinks the connects are going to carry eight defensemen with the long road trip that comes, starts, I guess, on the fourth game of the season. I think they go home, away home, and then like long road trip. That's a big road trip.

Okay. And we do have to remember the new rules this season where guys who are assigned to the H.L have to play at least one game down there before they can be called back. Now, if they keep eight defensemen, they might have to waive someone unless they don't keep Coots and Lechromacky. So there's so many balls in the air right now,

but Adag, Mancini, showed well again that he is, every time I watch him play, I'm like, this dude is a giant out there. He is a big guy and he can move really well. Lots of confidence with the puck. His party was spoiled by four boards shorty, though. So that ruined everything. Why was the party spoiled?

Because Forbort got a goal. He showed him up or something? Yeah, exactly. Well, Forbord, by the way. Anyone can score goals. I think Forbord only played one shift in the third. Yeah, he might be injured. He might be injured.

There's not a lot of media. Which he tends to be. He gets injured, right? So good for Mancini there. But I mean, I think Mancini and Forbort could have made a pair. Mm-hmm. You know, like they were a pair last. night, they're out there on the penalty kill together, which I think is pretty important to note because you need four defensemen to kill penalties. And if you're, you know, you only dress six. So if you're one of those defensemen that can kill penalties, that's a big deal. And obviously you don't, you don't want Quinn Hughes killing penalties. He is a, Mancini is a swashbuckler. Good old fashioned swashbuckler. I was having a text comment.

conversation with a listener, I think yesterday, and we were talking about swash bucklers. I saw it. I originally thought of Yer K. Lume. And I was like... It's the only other one. No, BXA swashbuckled a

little bit. Not in the Lume realm. No, but Lume was an elite swashbuckler. Right, but I don't want to diminish. BXA made other guys buckle by punching him in the face. He had some swashbuckled. I wouldn't say swashbuckling. Mancini's

Mancini's got great swashbuckling potential. Yeah. There needs to be a certain sense of recklessness that's both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. He actually had that. When he first came enough, plain and simple. When he first came into the league, that's what I noticed about him. That guy's got

he's a swashbuckling. Then they kind of unbuckled them. Coaches hate when defensemen have this one trick. Loomay also played in an era and on a team where he was singular like a one-of-one, like not like Ovi with his shooting, but Lumet was the definitive. Lumee was the definitive swashbuckler for this organization.

Mancini has a long way to go to get there, but he's got swashbuckling potential. So if Forbort is okay, if he's not, that's, I mean, all bets are off then. But if forbort is okay to start the regular season, and they're not going to

scratch him. I'd be shocked if they did. He's a veteran guy, re-signed with the team, kills penalties. They're not going to, it just scored a goal. Scores goals. Gets up on the defense. It gets up on the rush. Big rush guy If Mancini makes it

Does DPD have to sit Or get sent down You know Referencing Shorty one last time He said it It's a good problem to have All these defensemen Vying for spots

And Arguments in the fan base Like no this guy should be in No this guy should be in And genuine excitement About these players The Canucks are going to practice today. So maybe we'll get some more clues about what they could do Friday or

heading into the regular season. And then they play the Oilers tomorrow at home, the final regular season or a preseason game before the regular season starts. Speaking of the practice lines, I should apologize to listeners because I got totally duped by the Canucks practice lines on Wednesday. Yeah. Yeah, you did. Well, we'll see. When the Canucks finally revealed their lineup last night, I was like, well, I guess we made too much of Baines' big opportunity with Hedle and Garland

because that's who he was practicing with. And I was like, okay, well, if they're going to play, that's who Baines is going to play with. Instead, Baines was out there with his old H.L. teammates, Max Sasson and Linus Carlson. And of those three, Sasson had the best moment of the night, scoring an absolute beauty off the rush. Give and go, though, with Jake DeBrasse,

two guys that can move. Sasson also scored the eighth goal, short-handed on a two-on-one with Baines. Although, to be fair, I think at that point, half the Flames Bench had kind of already gone back to the dressing room. They were done. Sasson is not a big guy to play center,

especially in the bottom six. I actually wonder if they could use them on the wing at some point. Who knows? But he, like, I don't think he's going to make the team. I don't think he's going to make the team. He's waivers exempt so they can send him down, but his speed is

definitely an asset, and it was very noticeable on that goal. Now, back to those practice lines that we saw Wednesday, and those were the ones that had Baines with Heidel and Garland and

cane with Coots and Lecker-O-Mackie. Now, the latter three didn't play at all. And I imagine we'll see those three together against the Edminton Oilers tomorrow. And I suppose that could be a regular season line. I don't know if the top line of EP 40, Jake DeBroske and Brock Besser, are going to get another preseason game or if they feel they're, you know, we're good. And we still need some spots open to determine the final spots. But, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm very curious to see the decisions they make because, you know, I know I made some predictions the other day, but, you know, I'm not 100% confident with those predictions because there are so many moving parts here. Like, there's guys that might be injured in Derek Forward.

There are some tough decisions, like if you only keep Mancini or D.P.D., which one do you keep? Do you go with eight defensemen and 13 forwards or 7? defenseman and 14 fourths, what if you have to waive someone, right? Is there a waiver pickup coming? Is there a trade you're me? Like there are so many things that could still happen to determine the final roster of the regular season.

There was a big roster, sorry, big waiver list yesterday with a bunch of names on it that I don't know, I mean, interesting isn't quite the right word, neither is intriguing, but guys maybe would have caught your eye for a team that is in desperate need and we'll find out it, I guess it's noon now, it's not 9 a.m. anymore

our time. I think it bumped it to 3 p.m. Eastern. But anyway, we'll find out today if any of those guys got claimed. I mentioned Tyson Joe's yesterday. He got claimed by Nashville. Well, another guy speaking of waivers, like Labate played my guy yesterday. He keeps doing something every game that he plays. And he's still with the team. Yes.

Right? And he was a third line guy yesterday. And IMAX suggested that maybe they put him on waivers just like get him down there with all the huge list of guys on waivers. Snuck him through. Sneak him down. I don't know if maybe they had some intel, like someone might be interested in, in, in, in, in, in, in, and I, like, he's a guy that I don't think you can say like,

oh, for sure he's going down because he'd be down there already, right? Like, Abbotsford is, is studying their, their training cap. He did get called up and played for a Columbus team last year, and it wasn't playing out the string. Like, he joined them at a time where they were right in the thick of a playoff chase. Like, I'm not saying that he's going to be a huge impact guy for the connect. I'm not even saying he's going to be in the NHL, but I'm just reading the tea leaves a bit and saying like every time he goes out on the ice he does something he's also super physical and willing to fight which is something this team needs and he kind of keeps hanging around like that's the thing every time every time you think the body's

done the body's back uh we have a public service announcement for the listeners multiple people have texted in they don't know what swashbuckling means sometimes we do this on the halford and brush show. We go down our rabbit holes, or we go into the archives and talk about things that we think are common knowledge to the people, but they don't know. Sean, who's better known as big shoots on the program, a couple other people texted in. They're like, hey, what does swashbuckling mean? According to Google, it's a person who engages in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance. Flamboyance, daring behavior. Think Zorro. Jack Sparrow. I would say like a swashbuckling.

defensemen will carry the puck through dangerous areas with gusto. Yes. You'll make lots of like noise like, uh-huh. Yeah. You thought you had it, but now you don't. Yeah. You might swing it on a chandelier once in a while.

Okay. We got to go to break. Holding a princess. Are you just describing Zorro? Yeah, kind of. Kind of. Zorro. What did we say? Zorro. Who did you say? I said Zorro. Oh, you said Zorro. You said Jack Sparrow. Yeah. Is that the guy in the Princess Bride? No. That's... Oh, Jack Arrow is Johnny Depp.

Nico Montoya? Yes, all these characters. Okay. Way up against it for time. You killed my father. Prepare to die. Exactly. That's what Mancini said after the game yesterday.

Yeah. Murph was like, what the hell are you talking about? I'm slightly afraid. Weird interview. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. And what we just have to call Thomas Dran's erotica. Thomas Grant Erotica

Korsi Thomas Grant's Erotica Expecting goals Thomas Transerotica Todd Bottom Thomas Transerotica Run Russian Thomas

Thomas Transerotica P-D-O Thomas Dranderonica 8.03 on a Thursday, happy Thursday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halver and Brough of the morning is brats you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal

could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk is going to join us in just a moment. moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three is brought you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell dash pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear

and orthotics working together with you in step. 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 powerwest.ca. Today they keep the lights on. Let's go now to that PowerWest industry's hotline. Thomas Drance joins us here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. What up, Drancer? Gentlemen, good morning. Good morning to you.

We want to, do we want to start with the Bains thing right away? I know you teased it prior to going to break. Yes. Okay, let's begin there. On the social media platform, now known as X, it's the everything app. The what now? I only use it to tweet, but.

Yeah, yeah. What's the everything app? That's what Musk wants it to be, the everything app. You'll do your banking and everything on. on there. I had no idea. I would not do my banking. That seemed safe. That should go over well. You said Arsdeep Baines was a beast.

People in the comments suggested otherwise. What did you like so much about Baines' game last night? Yeah, I mean, there was six or seven different back checks, defensive plays combined with quick passes that got the play moving the other direction across the collection of the night. He won a draw after Max Sassen got booted from the circle that led to the Myers

three nothing goal, which really signaled that the route was on. The play that he made, obviously, on the two-on-one short-handed for his second assist of the night was gorgeous. I mean, really, really nice. And look, you can just see the speed element of his game has improved. I mean, there's more burst in his skating stride. He's clearly put a ton of work into it. to take another step or to add another step at the age of 24.

He's done so successfully. And look, I mean, I know the profile is not that common in that this is an undrafted CHL free agent. That that's not a story that typically ends with a guy carving out a long NHL career. But since then, you know, age 21, 22, 23 seasons in the American League has been close to 0.8 points per game. And that's despite starting slow as a rookie, his first year is a, as a pro. He was the game breaker that sort of made the difference in the conference final and in

the Calder Cup final at the age of 23, 24, I guess, because he turned 24 in January. So it was age 23 season, but he was 24 when they won. And I mean, at that point, like forget draft capital. We're now at the point where this guy has the sort of AHL scoring profile that often hints at a guy having top nine ceiling and any objections you could have had or any sort of things that you would have said, well, I don't know, he's going to have to get stronger. Well, he's gotten stronger. Like, he's going to have to get faster. He's gotten faster.

We're kind of running out of reasons to think that this guy is not an NHL player, aside from the fact that, you know, in his 20 NHL games played as a 23 and 22 year old, the past couple seasons, he has one point in 20 games. but that's not fate right like that's not necessarily fate um the way i view it i sort of look at the overall track record the overall profile and then what i see uh which is you know a guy who's a pretty talented playmaker and a really diligent defensive player who wins a ton of puck battles and his positionally sound uh i also see a guy who's got some untapped playmaking upside that we haven't seen at the n hl level but that we've seen at every other level he's played

I think he's, if he can let go a little bit of playing that sort of coach's pet game in the NHL and let his skill show, I see no reason why this guy can't be an NHL player. And I'd say more than that, I think there might be upside that goes well beyond that, which we typically sort of ascribe to a player with this profile. Like, I don't think this guy has to just carve out a niche as an NHL fourth liner. This is not, for me, that sort of profile. I see a guy with some middle six upside as sort of a connective play winger, a guy who can, you know, he's not going to be necessarily like the highest scoring guy on the line or the guy you want driving it,

but a guy who can play a role and help even skilled players have the puck more frequently and have the puck in more advantageous positions. And I mean, I think that's pretty clear based on what he's put on, you know, tape through the preseason. I think he's been a standout like I think he's clearly separated himself from you know Sasson and Carlson the other sort of American League champion guys

I'd put Ratu in a different bucket just given his caliber and pedigree as a prospect and I mean I think he's made this team and I think he's going to get like this is no longer my take like I think he's going to get a top nine opportunity probably to start the year

well do you think I mean he practiced we talked about this a lot yesterday. He practiced with Heidel and Garland, and we were like, oh, what a big opportunity for Baines. And then he's out there in Calgary with Sasson and Carlson. And I was like, oh, that was a waste of a show. But do you think that might, do you think that might happen tomorrow against the Oilers? And I guess I'll tack on the question, do you think we'll see Kane with Coots and

Leckermackie? Because that was another practice line. Yeah, and we'll know more because they practice out at UBC today, but I wouldn't be shocked if those lines weren't just a total misdirector, like a total, you know, one-game trial. Like I still think we learned something from that practice on Tuesday. That would be my gut. And so we'll know more in a few hours.

But yeah, I mean, don't be surprised when Baines is on the 23-man roster and maybe gets a pretty significant opportunity to open this season, which, by the way, I think his form warrants. think his profile warrants it. It's a reasonable bet to make given this team's options to see what you've got with Baines, not just in a fourth line role, but higher up the lineup. Okay, let's talk a little bit more about last night's game. And by the way, the Calgary Flames just announced that head coach Ryan Huska has been extended for two more seasons. So they were so, sorry, I thought you were going to make a has been fired joke. No, are you serious? Yeah, they just

announced it. After that? Yeah. They're like, there's a, only one way to go and that's up. You know what? I made a point of watching his post media availability yesterday. And he was like, I'm going to quit. And they're like, no, you can't do that.

Here's a contract extension, hence the news. Because the funny thing is he's super level-headed. He doesn't really like blow a gasket or like he was about as irate as I've seen him yesterday. And he's like, I didn't love our game yesterday. I'm like, oh, Ryan Husk is losing it. That's funny. that they that's a what timing on that one that's really funny um okay what did you think of PD

last night i'm not doing the he's back thing yet to be totally honest with you i liked the power play goal the thing i liked most about the power play goal actually was formational where if you watch it off the draw like the video highlight sort of captures him creeping down a little bit low but what's what was really evident to me was off the draw um you know he he has to go to the weak side blue line right because that's what the flanker's job is but the moment the puck goes back down low, you know, back to the strong side where everyone else is, he starts creeping down and he's so low.

Like I'm talking like five feet beneath the dots in that blank spot. And when you think about sort of where Patterson's game on the power play had gotten to, you know, we sort of started to see that one-timer be used as almost like a point shot in a way that I think is partly responsible for why we haven't seen the, sort of one, like, why, why wouldn't we see that one-timer goal yesterday? We think, wow, that's vintage, PD, right? Like, we haven't seen that, that shot play in so long. And I think it's a really simple matter of physics. He's, he's been drifting too far away from the net to hammer at home with the sort of regularity that he did as a rookie. So I liked seeing that formationally,

and obviously the shot 90 miles plus per hour, accurate goalie had no chance on it. I mean, And that was awesome. Great to see. And I think there's, it looked to me anyway, like formationally, like there's an emphasis on getting Pedersen lower beneath the dots on that right flank. And if that's the case, then I think the Canucks of the Conucks coaching staff and probably in concert with Pedersen have figured out something that I actually think should matter, that should help him score more goals this year.

But, you know, I thought his overall game was. you know, fine. I mean, it was, there was so much good news for the Canucks that it's not worth belaboring. It's also just the preseason, but there were a lot of lost battles. I thought, I didn't think his five-on-five game was like, you know, imperious or domineering the way that Pedersen can be when he's just, I also just don't think he's moving differently, right? Like the vintage dominant version of Pedersen that we've seen in the past, like moves differently, like slithers up and down the ice in a way that I don't know that I saw yesterday. juicy slithering with juicy juicy legs and slithering no I know what you mean I never I've never said juicy

legs that's we we have we have making making fun of you you said juice a lot like two or three times I do say juice a lot but it's because it's a good word to describe like you can tell like it's it's not an analytic or anything it's like you can tell if he's got if he's got his legs yeah I know when I see it like you know he's got juice means I'm watching him I'm like, oh, oh, hey, look at that. You know, and you can tell. It's the, it's the, you know it when you see it, quotient. And Pedersen has it when he's on, and I don't know that he had it last night,

and I don't know that he didn't have it either. I just, you know, it wasn't like a leap off the screen, oh my God, he's back, performance for me by any means, but I loved the goal. And, you know, overall, I think the team looked great. So I guess more than anything, it's like preseason means nothing at all, right? The Florida Panthers lost a preseason game 8-2 last preseason. The Vancouver Canucks in 2010-11, they lost 8-2 to an Edmonton Oilers team

that would pick first overall for a second consecutive year later that spring or later that June, you know, the same month that the Canucks were in the Stanley Cup final, right? The 10-0 loss to Calgary a few years ago was before the 2020-23-24 season, which was a whole lot of fun. You know, we also saw the Canucks like out-shoot the coyotes like 32 to 7 in their final preseason game before starting Bruce Boudreau's first full season with the Canucks

on the back of the Bruce there it is run and we all know how that went, right? So it's like they literally lost their first seven games after that. So truly there is no correlation between what we see in the preseason and what we see when the regular season starts even when the results are fantastic. But yeah, I mean, you come out of that game

and thinking about the third period against Seattle on Friday and at the very least, it's like, okay, we got something of a reminder of what this team looks like at the top end of the lineup, right? They're elite talent when it's going, and it's fun to watch. And it's going to give them a shot to overachieve and make the playoffs this season. But which isn't sort of to take that to the bank or to be more confident in it because they absolutely tore apart the flames A1 last night. But, yeah, I mean, when you can see it, right, you feel more confident in it naturally. And Pedersen was part of that, at the very least. So you've hit on something interesting here.

And it's a conversation, Bruff and I've had a couple times about the preseason. So I've got a, I've had a couple complaints about it. It's existence, essentially. One, it's too long. There's too many games. You look at every other league and they're shortening up their preseason. This is shorter than previous ones, though, isn't it? And it's going to be shorter.

Absolutely. Alfred hates the preseason so much. It's very entertaining. I hate it with the passion of a thousand burning suns. I actually liked when they counted the offside goal because I was like I don't need to sit through a review right just let it go I was I was irate cost a shutout yeah but preseason shut out but like they should put the whistles away in the third period they should play running time like let's just get through this thing right anyway now but it's an interesting dynamic because when you cover it and I guess in the way that we do because it's so connect centric and you kind of I don't know if you talk yourself into it but I feel like sometimes you talk yourself into these games having significant. And then you look at bubble guys or guys that don't make the team and you're like, yeah, it legitimately does mean

something to them because regardless of the stakes, this is really their only opportunity to show something. And then when you talk about like, let's use the Braden Coots thing, for example. All he can do is play as well as he can and raise as many eyebrows as he can

during the preseason. But every time that he does, you almost have to add in the caveat that these games mean nothing to nobody. They really don't. Like, guys are out there just basically to not get hurt and to not have a situation. I know Barcoff gotten hurt in a practice.

Tell Hubertoe that. He was taking the puck hard to that. Right. Right. And there's another great point. What the hell is Jonathan Hubertoe doing? Why would you do that? Like, the game meant not... Being a leader. But it, that game meant nothing to nobody. Being a leader is making sure you're there for when the games matter, not getting hurt when it's 7-1.

I really hope he's okay. I really hope he's okay too because it was, but it was dumb and pointless, but I guess he was frustrated. but anyway, back to the Coots thing like it is a weird dynamic at play because he's doing everything he can to try and stick with the NHL team and maybe he's earned it and I would say based on

performance, he probably has some merit but at the end of the day it's in an exhibition season where it just it doesn't matter to anybody. Yeah, look at the end of the day you put 20 NHL level skaters on a sheet to play an organized

game regardless of whether what the intensity level is and the ability to hack it in that environment at all is a pretty meaningful indicator. For sure, for sure. Because of how good these guys are, right? I mean, you know, the NHL is not with, you know, all apologies to like Jeff Callins run, what, 15 years ago. But like the NHL is not a league like where, you know, you can hire the, there's like, the 150th best running back in the United States, right,

is probably like working at Target. And if he gets thrown into an NFL game and given 20 carries and the offensive line is good, like he can probably run for, you know, 20, 100, and two touchdowns, right? You sometimes see in the NBA, those guys sign like 10-day deals and then injuries hit and they get 25 minutes and get to take 12, 15 shots. And guess what? They can score 12 points. They can score 13 points.

They can stuff a box score. Like, you cannot go down to, you know, the, the, the, um, ECHL or bring up an HL third liner and be like, you're going to play 20 minutes for us tonight and have it look okay. Good point. Like, you can't do it in hockey. It's a different. Yep.

It's a different league. And, and I just think the gap between like the 700th best hockey player and the 12th, best hockey player in hockey like it's wider than it is in you know probably everything but quarterback in football right uh and and and certainly uh the case in basketball i think baseball hitting so tough and pitching so different that that i wouldn't hazard a comparison so you know i still think at the end of the day you put coots and even though everyone's at 75% effort level or 80% effort level what have you you put a player like an 18 year old player who's never played a pro game in that environment.

And if you're like, hey, it looks like he can play at this level, that's still meaningful, even if the game itself isn't. Okay. In a couple of minutes, what is the biggest decision that Connects still have to make? There's a bunch of them, I guess. I think it's got to be on the back end, right? Because I actually kind of think, you know,

you have a pretty good sense. If you're keeping 13 forwards, then Lechermackie's probably the guy getting cut because he doesn't require waivers, right? If you're keeping 14, then I think you're pretty much set there. Max Sassin made a great showing yesterday and throughout the preseason, but ultimately you got to preserve your depth. So I actually kind of feel like the forward stuff is settled.

The defense stuff, I'm still trying to figure this out. I mean, I thought Mancini was excellent last night, second among all Canucks players in penalty killing minutes and had some really great reps in that spot. Does that edge him into the lead over Elias Pedersen and Tom Blander? What do you boys think, actually? Let me actually ask you that, not ask it rhetorically. Honestly, I went into this thinking like DPD is definitely making the team.

But Mancini played so well last night and the fact he did penalty kill and looked comfortable doing it, actually looked good doing it. Yeah, he did. Now granted, it's the Calgary Power Play, so I don't know how much to read into that. They were like 11th in the league last year. He's so, like, long that he's. He can get to a lot of pucks and then he's pretty confident with the puck when he does get it and he can clear it. I think something I guess to monitor is forbert's status because he might be injured in that case.

Like the decision might be made then. So I honestly, I don't know because I think, you know, I went into this thinking, well, DPD is definitely going to make the team. but if forbert's healthy and they like Mancini you could see a third pair of Forbort and Mancini and then you keep Joseph

to sit in the press box and then if you only go 7D then DPD goes down but maybe they go 8D maybe they haven't decided yet Drancer yeah I think I think that's almost certainly going to be the case

like I'm sure we're going to see another of those young defensemen on Friday. If we don't, that's going to give us our answer, by the way. And we'll know more then. We'll know more if Derek Forberts at practice at UBC. And, you know, even complicating it further is you look at the deployment on the PKK and how often Mancini was used. And you say, okay, well, I mean, if he's going to be that heavily used a penalty killer,

then he's on the team. But then you look at it and really what he was doing was short-shifting for Tyler Myers throughout the game. Like, he only started one shift in the defensive zone. Really, the unit was Marcus Pedersen and Myers, and then they had Myers short shifting off after clears, and Mancini would replace him. So is that just load management for a veteran,

or is this really a look that Mancini is getting? Like, it was so quirky that I still don't even have that answer. And even in trying to report it out earlier this week, like, you know, I know it's going to be Adam Foote's decision ultimately. And, you know, I don't, I don't, I couldn't get a sense of which way it was leaning. So, you know, this one to me is one of the more competitive, like, camp battles I've ever covered, to be totally honest with you.

It's very rare that we get to this stage, one preseason game remaining. And even if we think, you know, it's Mancini, like, he pulled ahead, like, what, would you say, like 60%, 30% Elias Pedersen, 10% Vland, or something like that? I mean, that's still pretty uncertain for this late in the preseason. And it's not something that I'm accustomed to. It's not something that I've encountered very often across 15 years covering or working in this league. And, you know, that's probably a testament to all three individual defenders, right? Like, that's probably a good thing overall.

But it is, it is unique, like it is rare that we get this deep into the preseason and can't confidently even handicapped sort of what exactly the pecking order looks like in the race for that sixth defenseman spot. Dranzer, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Cheers, boys. Be well. Yep, that's Thomas Drans from the Athletic Vancouver here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sports on 650.

I want to do a quick what we learned. It's also a shout out to a buddy of mine, Dennis, who is a, he runs a company that makes soccer goalie gloves. So yesterday during that Canadian championship, a lot of different stories going on, but he had three different guys in the game wearing these Canadian-made, custom-made, and very excellent, very affordable gloves. I think I've actually got you a pair before. It's called Keep Air. And wear them around the house. Just to do stuff? Yeah.

K-E-E-P-A-E-R-E-D-com. The starting goalie for V-F-C, Irving, was wearing him. The third stringer for the white caps, Zendahas. It's a Canadian company. They're super affordable, and they're about as high quality as you can get. I wear them. My kid wears them. My brother wears them.

If you've got, like, a kid that's wanting to play in net and trying it, you've got a young soccer player at home. Go check them on. If you work for a club or something, something and you're looking for it's an affordable uh product at a position that at times can kind of become an affordable like goalie goals are outrageously expensive like a lot of goalie equipment in a lot of sports so it's keep air visit them and it was a good night for them last night and shout out to dennis he makes a very good product you're listening to the best

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